by Aliya DalRae
Raven made a sound that had me turning around to look at him, because I could have sworn I was hearing things. And yet, my eyes confirmed what my ears already knew—he was laughing at me. Not his rare, wonderful, happy laugh that I had become so addicted to. This was an evil laugh. A horrible, malicious sound that I’ve only ever heard in my dreams.
No, my visions.
He pulled the car to a stop at a red light and turned toward me. His eyes were beginning to spark, his extended fangs reflecting red in the glare of the light, and his laughter grew at the horror that contorted my face. I flattened myself against the door, as far away from him as the tight confines of the sports car would allow. Scrambling behind me for the door handle, I found it and pulled, ready to tumble into the street and run as fast as I could. The door didn’t open. I yanked the handle again and again, but nothing happened, and that horrible laughter grew louder.
He was telling me the truth, back at Chuck’s. I was definitely the doppelganger’s next victim. Only I was too wrapped up in my own drama and hurt feelings to comprehend that this Raven wasn’t there to rescue me.
For my own good.
He had tried to warn me, back at the Compound, when I was so mad at him, at myself, at everyone. He said there was news, something he needed to tell me, but I wouldn’t listen. I wanted to be done, to be rid of the whole lot of them, to forget this world ever existed. I should have known better. I would never be safe from the things that go bump in the night.
It was my own fault, really. I was the one who opened Pandora’s Box and let them into my life. I was the one who naively thought I could tame a vicious Vampire, and hold my own in his world of blood and violence. I should have let it lie. When I saw Raven at that fund raiser, I should have turned around and walked away, but no. I was curious. I was insistent. I was in love, or would be soon, and this is where it brought me.
I heard screaming, and the ever present little voice in my head told me it was probably me. I really hated that little voice. The Raven look-alike continued to laugh and visions of him tearing into Mandy Jenkins, into Perry’s girl, Heidi, filled my mind’s eye, while that sinister laughter filled the vehicle. It was the most frightening thing I had ever experienced. Then he did something even scarier.
He stopped laughing.
He reached across the car, those violet eyes, Raven’s eyes, staring at me like purple orbs from the depths of hell. I tried the door handle again, tried to escape, but there was nowhere for me to go.
He touched my temple, I couldn’t stop him, and that’s when my head exploded, such pain as I’ve never felt before. It was like a herd of tiny water buffalo stampeding across my synapses, pounding their hooves through my grey matter, trying to run their way out of the corral of my skull.
Then the world went blessedly dark.
Chapter Ninety-Four
R aven collapsed against the back of the sofa and exhaled a gust of air, completely staggered by what Tas had revealed. No wonder Jessica was pissed. Patrick and Maggie Dane, the Alphas of the local Werewolf Pack, were her parents? It boggled the mind.
What Raven still didn’t understand was how these people, and he used the term loosely, could remain hidden from Jessica, after all she had done to rescue their daughter, her own sister.
And how had Jessica discovered the truth? About the Danes, about Malcolm? Where had all of this information come from? Raven could think of only one person close to Jessica, outside of the Vampires, who would be privy to all of it. But as far as he knew Jessica had yet to develop the ability to communicate with cats. Unless Malcolm…
No. He wouldn’t reveal himself, would he? The wolves would shred him to pieces. Still, Raven would be deceiving himself if he refused to acknowledge the feelings he knew that pussy had for his female. Had he gone so far as to reveal himself to her? To confess the lot of it to her? That would certainly explain her attitude toward everything supernatural.
And yet, Raven couldn’t help but think this was something that could be fixed. All he had to do was find her, explain what he did and didn’t know, and let her know he would be there to help her through.
“So what are you going to do?” Tas asked, his intuition on point.
“What do you think?” Raven countered. “I’m going after her.”
Tas leaned forward in that big chair, dragging a hand through his thick, blond mane. “Wait a minute,” he said, holding his palms up in surrender when Raven’s eyes sparked.
“I’m just saying,” he offered, “maybe it would be best to give her some space. You know, she’s been through a lot, and it’s only been a few hours. She’s probably still working off the anger. Maybe it would be better to let her be for a bit. Let her sort through everything before you go all up in her face.”
“I wouldn’t…”
“Yeah, you would,” Tas said. “We both know how you can get when someone’s being unreasonable. And let’s face it. She is a woman.”
Raven stood and paced. Tas was right, of course. If he went at her now, she would shut him down, and he might do more harm than good. He would give her the space she needed, and he would be patient.
Riiiight. Because patience was so one of his virtues.
Chapter Ninety-Five
I woke up shivering. Groggy, I reached for my blankets. I must have kicked them off in my sleep, but I couldn’t find them, and I groaned. I didn’t want to open my eyes, just wanted to go back to sleep, but I was so cold. Giving up the search, I cracked my eyes open. It was so dark I had to touch my face to be sure I’d accomplished that simple task.
That was weird. I could have sworn I took down all the light-proofing before I left for the Oregon District with Piper. Awareness seized me and I bolted upright, only to return to a fetal position when a mini H-bomb exploded in my head.
“You’re awake,” someone spoke, but I was in too much pain to acknowledge him. “Good,” he said, and I felt more than saw a large figure approaching where I lay.
“The pain will ease,” he said, his voice deep and melodic, a proper British accent giving it an appeal I didn’t want to concede. “Are you thirsty?”
I tried to respond, but my throat was raw, and nothing came out.
“Let me know if you need anything,” he said, and the figure retreated into the depths of darkness.
Time passed, I don’t know how long. I must have fallen asleep again, passed out. Whatever. When I woke up I was still in the darkness, but my head was clearer, the pain just a bothersome ache. Two people were having a whispered argument somewhere in the shadows.
“What did you do to her?” a man asked. He sounded foreign, but given their whispers and my current state, it wasn’t an accent I could bring to mind.
“Only what you told me to do,” was the response. This from the voice I heard earlier. “I knocked her out. She should have come round by now.”
“If you’ve damaged her,” the other man snarled.
“Relax,” said the first guy. “I know what I’m doing.”
“So you say. Just be sure she’s taken care of. We want her in prime condition when our guest arrives.” A door opened, letting in a sliver of dim light, and shooshed closed again.
“Whatever you say, Father,” the British voice groused. “Wouldn’t want to screw up your little plan.” Footsteps, then the sound of someone sitting.
“Help,” I croaked. Whatever this guy had whammied me with, it was having a lasting effect.
“Among the living, are you?” I heard him stand again, then advancing footsteps.
I cleared my throat. “Help me,” I said again, reaching in the dark, begging.
“Right,” he said. I heard a scratch, and a match caught fire a few feet to my right. The tiny flame grew larger, revealing an old fashioned oil lantern. The man had his back to me. He was standing next to a small table, fiddling with the light, and he chuckled a little.
“And why would I do that,” he asked, “when I’m the one who brought you here?”
He
picked up the lantern and raised it, first high enough that I could see the shadow of his form, and higher still, bringing his features into full view.
My memory came flooding back, as Raven’s face glared at me from that patch of illumination in the pitch dark room. The Vampire smiled, lantern light reflecting off his extended fangs.
And I nearly choked on the scream that scrabbled from the pit of my stomach, a solid ball of terror lodging itself in the back of my throat.
Chapter Ninety-Six
“R elax, love,” he said as I scrambled across what I now saw was a musty old mattress, and pressed myself against a cold, damp wall. “You heard the man. Nobody’s to hurt you unless he gives the word, so you’re safe. For now.”
He turned and proceeded to light several more lanterns hanging from the walls intermittently. As the room brightened, I could see I was in a small, windowless space with concrete walls, floor and ceiling. There was a bare light bulb hanging dark in the center of the room, but given all the lanterns, I took a leap in thinking that wherever we were, there was no electricity.
His task complete, the monster from my visions turned to me and smiled. His fangs had retracted, and yet his visage was no less sinister, that smile disturbing in its resemblance to the one I was so familiar with. The nose was off a bit, and the hair was less tidy than what Raven was wearing now, though in both cases it was long and luxurious. And those eyes, so much like Raven’s, right down to the amethyst light swirling through his dark sapphire irises.
As I studied him, I found myself calming, yet I would not let my guard down as long as he was in the room. I needed to figure out who he was and why he was doing all of these terrible things.
“Thinking awfully hard, then, aren’t you love?” he said. “I suggest if you have a question, you should go ahead and ask it.”
He took a few steps across the room and returned with a metal folding chair. He set the original lantern back on the little table next to a plastic water pitcher and cup, and placed the chair near the mattress. Taking a seat, he planted both feet flat on the floor, crossed his arms over his chest and said, “Go on, then. Ask away.”
I hesitated. The last thing I wanted to do was follow orders from this freak, but if I was going to escape this place, I needed some information. I started with the basics.
“Who are you?” I asked.
“I’m called Nox,” he said, flipping his hair out of his eyes as he leaned forward and extended a large hand for me to shake. I shied back even further. No way was I letting him touch me again. Headache notwithstanding, I’d seen what those claws could do.
When he got that there would be no hand shaking going on, he retracted his palm, brushed his hands together as if it were his intention all along, and returned himself to his original position.
“Where are we?” I asked, looking around. The place had a definite underground feel to it, cold, stale. Military, almost.
“Now, love, where’s the fun in telling you that?” he grinned. It was worth a try.
“Why did you bring me here?” I tried another tack.
“Ah, see, now that’s the right question,” he exclaimed, leaning forward with his arms on his denim-clad thighs and rubbing his hands together vigorously. “It seems you and I have a mutual acquaintance. Well, I’ve never been formally introduced, but I’m sure you can see that he and I have loads in common.”
“Raven,” I whispered, but he heard me, of course.
“Right in one,” he crowed, clapping his hands together. “You see, your boyfriend, or should I say ex-boyfriend? Right, well, we have some catching up to do. And I’ll save you from asking the obvious follow-up question. The answer is yes, he’s my brother. And yes, we are twins. Uncanny likeness, don’t you think?”
“But, why?” I asked. “What has he done to you to make you want to hurt him like this?”
That, apparently, was the wrong question. Nox, if that truly was his name, leaned forward again. His eyes were going full on spark now, and the fangs that I had been so pleased to see retracted, lengthened again, and his hands—oh my God! The claws I had seen tearing Heidi and Mandy apart were growing right before my eyes. I wrapped my arms around my middle, as if that action alone could protect me from having my guts torn out.
I had gone as far as I could against the wall, so there was nowhere for me to retreat when he started toward me. He was off the chair now, one knee on the mattress, then the other, creeping toward me on all fours. It wasn’t a large mattress, but he dragged this little stage crawl out, obviously enjoying my terror.
When his face was mere inches away, he placed his hands on the wall to either side of my head. I clenched my eyes shut tight, ready, waiting for the horrible pain to begin the moment he touched me, but it never did. Surprised, I opened my eyes again, just as he leaned his forehead against mine, closed his own eyes, and whispered, “He stole my life.”
Chapter Ninety-Seven
N ox stayed like that, our foreheads pressed together for a short eternity. When he did move, it was Vampire fast and he was out the door before I could blink.
Now that there was light, and I was finally alone, I drug myself off the mattress to figure out what I was dealing with. I went straight for the door, but of course it was locked. I grabbed the doorknob and jiggled it, gently at first, and once more with a bit of ass behind it, but to no avail. Bitch wasn’t going anywhere.
I paced the room, one direction, and back the other, and discovered it was about fifteen by twenty paces. My mattress, table and chair were the only furniture, but there was one of those Asian folding screens in the corner furthest from the mattress. Behind it I found an old people’s portable commode and a roll of toilet paper. Joy. They’d thought of everything.
I felt all along the walls and kicked around in the corners, looking for any weaknesses, but there were none. It was a crypt, and I had a disturbing sensation in the pit of my stomach that said it probably wasn’t far from the truth.
With nothing to show for my efforts, I sat down in the metal chair, which was still warm from its previous occupant. How long have I been here? It seemed like it should still be Tuesday night, but how would I know? I could have been unconscious for days and not know it. I puffed up my cheeks and blew the air out before standing to resume my pacing. I needed to think.
Raven was obviously unware that he had a brother, a twin no less. Unless that was what he was trying to tell me when I broke up with him. Had the Legion discovered that Nox was out there, raping and pillaging in his brother’s name? Seemed likely. I was really regretting not letting Raven fill me in on all that he knew. Probably would have been handy in my current predicament.
I don’t know how long I was alone. Long enough to pace the room six hundred and eighty three times, practice some Tai Kwon Do forms and fighting moves and take another nap. So, when the door opened again I had worked through my fears, and was focused on the situation at hand.
I knew I would never be able to fight my way out of this. Nox was Raven’s brother, with all of his size and strength, and if I tried to take him on I would most certainly lose.
I had no idea how this Vampire had been raised, or what he had been through in his life. But if Raven could be saved, I had to believe that Nox could be as well. He made it clear he was not the one calling the shots—the other man he’d argued with was. So if I could get Nox on my side then maybe, just maybe, there might be a way out of this.
Chapter Ninety-Eight
N ox let himself into Jessica’s cell, careful to ensure that she was in sight and not hiding behind the door waiting to attack. Not that he was afraid of her. He simply did not want to be in the position to have to hurt her. Father would be furious if his new toy were damaged, and this girl had a reputation.
The coast was clear. Jessica was sitting on the mattress, her back in the corner and her eyes focused squarely on him. It was easy to see why his twin was so infatuated with this human. Though she had been frightened before, she had apparently r
egrouped.
Conjuring up his most charming smile, Nox stepped further into the room, and closed the door behind him with his foot. In his hands he had several paper bags with a smorgasbord of fast food fare and a huge cup of soda. Unsure what she would like, he had purchased a little of everything, though why he should care was beyond him. He was the captor. She would eat what she was given or starve. Period.
And yet…
He walked to the little table and pulled food out of the bags. The water jug from earlier was still full, and he frowned. She had been here a full night and day and had drunk nothing? True, she was out for most of it, but she should have been thirsty.
“I’m not eating that,” she snapped from her corner on the mattress.
Nox whipped his head around and stared. “Why not?”
“Are you crazy? I have no idea what’s in that.”
“It’s fast food,” Nox said. “Nobody knows what’s in it.”
“It’s probably poisoned,” she said, “or drugged. I’m not eating it.”
Oh. That’s why she hadn’t touched the water.
“I assure you, there are no drugs. There’s a burger, chicken—sandwich or nuggets. Pick your poison.” He offered her a grin, sans fang when she growled at him. Manners dictated he should apologize, but he was enjoying himself.
“Fuck you,” she mumbled. “I’m not hungry, anyway.” The words were no sooner out of her mouth when her stomach gave a contradicting rumble. Nox looked at her, eyebrow raised. She held his gaze for a moment, and looked away, staring past him.
“You have to eat,” he tried again, but she continued with the staring. Nox sighed. He had no idea how long she was going to be here, and Father had been insistent that she be taken care of. Nox didn’t know why. It wasn’t like she was getting out of this alive, but he had learned over the course of their brief partnership not to question the other man’s motives.
