by Tracy Tappan
Flannigan and his group of jock buddies had guffawed until Alex whirled around and punched the star athlete square in the face. Flannigan was a total butt-wad and had deserved it, but Alex had still felt ashamed that he’d lowered himself to using his fists. Not that he’d thought the matter through. When it came to his mother and Tonĩ, Alex’s temper tended to be a little hair-triggered. Or at least it had been since the age of eight, when Raymond Parthen, father extraordinaire, had divorced his mother and walked out on all of them forever, promoting Alex to the position of “man of the house.” And even though Luvera wasn’t officially one of the women in Alex’s life, he felt the same way about her. Sitting here in Ţărână’s courtroom, trying not to look at Shọn slouched in the offender’s chair at the end of the U-shaped Council table, Alex couldn’t help entertaining all kinds of tearing-limb-from-limb fantasies over the idea that the youngest Brun had hurt her.
To confuse matters, Alex also felt sorry for Shọn. The Brun brothers hadn’t exactly had a Chuck E. Cheese childhood, being raised among the Om Rău in the horrendous living conditions of Oţărât and by a demon for a father. A person couldn’t come out the other end of a past like that and not have some baggage. The fair side of Alex wanted to offer Shọn some understanding, especially now, with the man looking like he had a John Belushi hangover times fifty. What was up with that?
Roth banged his gavel to get everyone’s attention, even though there were only six of them in the courtroom. “Let’s begin the proceedings.”
Both Roth and Tonĩ were serving as judges this evening, positioned at the head of the U-shaped table. Eventually, for the trial, there would be a four-person jury, but tonight was just to levy charges. Ţărână’s new judicial system was still in flux, partly waiting for Alex to become a Soothsayer and contribute his two cents to the whole operation—how wonderful was it that he still hadn’t done that? But also the community lawyer, Kimberly Stănescu, was helping them develop a system that more closely mimicked the one topside. They might need her guidance tonight, but she hadn’t been able to break away from her practice topside to come down.
Tonĩ pulled a sheet of paper in front of her. “I’ll read the list of charges. Shọn Brun, you’re accused of unlawfully fraternizing with a Vârcolac female, endeavoring to break your solemn vow of celibacy, and an attempted forced bond.” Tonĩ glanced up at Luvera, who was seated next to Dev on the bench across the aisle from where Alex, Jaċken, and Nỵko were lined up in a row of stiff, uncomfortable statues. “Luvera Nichita,” Tonĩ went on. “You’re charged with unlawfully fraternizing with a Vârcolac male.”
Alex stared at Luvera’s pale profile and blew out his cheeks. Now it finally made sense why she’d been looking so guilty lately, although the thing he didn’t understand was why now, here in the courtroom, she looked like she’d given up all hope. Vârcolac law wouldn’t punish her too harshly for her crime, would it? If the court tried to do that, he was definitely going to voice his opinion.
Tonĩ folded her hands on top of the list of charges. “You’re both to be remanded into custody until which time a trial—”
“I plead guilty,” Shọn drawled, “to all charges.”
Tonĩ frowned. “You’ll be given the chance to state your case during your trial, Shọn.”
Shọn’s jaw jutted forward. “I’m not going to state my case,” he returned in a corrosive tone. “The reasons I did what I did are nobody’s business.”
“The facts matter to sentencing,” Tonĩ said softly. “This is a hefty list of—”
“No.” Shọn’s jaw was an inflexible brick.
“Very well.” Roth picked up a pen. “You leave us no choice, but to—”
“Please.” Luvera stood up, her eyes round and dark. “This isn’t entirely his fault. I was a willing participant, at least at first, and we…we just…” She paused to swallow, the beaten-down expression on her face eating through Alex’s heart. “We were just two very lonely people who wanted to do…to have some experiences. We’ve passed so many years never being touched.” Her face tinged pink. “It’s a horrible way to live.”
Alex ducked his head. Man, he couldn’t even begin to imagine what it’d be like to live a life without the kind of caring touch he just took for granted.
Roth leaned back in his chair, his eyes narrowing on Luvera. “This is the part of the case I don’t understand, Miss Nichita. Unless you and Mr. Brun are a couple of masochists, then the mode of touch you’re alluding to would be impossible outside of a bond.”
Luvera’s blush darkened. “Well, it’s possible if, um, you do a…” She darted a glance at Shọn.
Shọn straightened in his chair. “Right, listen up,” he said, his upper lip curling insolently. “You’re gonna want to pass this on to the single guys out there.”
Alex caught Tonĩ’s gaze at the end of Shọn’s explanation of a Blood Ride. The courtroom was weighted with tension up the ying-yang now, but his sister could only answer his questioning look with a subtle eyebrow-shrug. As humans, neither of them could fully understand why the Vârcolac were so shaken up about this Blood Ride thing.
Dev turned toward Luvera. “You did this, Luvera? You…ingested Shọn’s blood?”
Luvera sank down onto her bench. “Yes,” she croaked miserably.
“You’ve blood-claimed him, then.” Dev’s face was stricken.
“I know.” Tears shimmered in Luvera’s eyes. “And I don’t know what to do, Dev.”
Dev spread his hands in a helpless gesture. “Me, either. I’ve never heard of anyone blood-claiming a person they didn’t want, and you…I’m assuming you don’t want Shọn.”
“I don’t,” Luvera responded in a voice so small it was barely audible.
Shọn focused his gaze on a spot of floor between his boots.
“I was just lonely, like I said.” Luvera rubbed her lips together. “But now I’m trapped.”
Alex raked a hand through his hair. He couldn’t believe how awful this was for— Holy smokes! He sat bolt upright on his bench, the Light of Knowledge beaming directly into his brain. Blood-claimed! Holy-holy smokes! He drew a shuddering breath as all the puzzle pieces slammed together into a coherent picture. This was why Luvera had been refusing to go out with him. She thought she was stuck with another dude!
“Did you—?” Dev began, but Alex butted in.
“Excuse me.” He raised a hand to get the court’s attention. “But might I ask what law says that Luvera must stay with Shọn?”
The question knit Roth’s brows. “There’s no law, per se. It’s more of a cultural standard. Blood-claiming is a Vârcolac form of engagement, you could say. The next step is always bonding.”
“But people can change their minds, right? In the human world, we break off engagements all the time. I can’t believe that’s never happened in the Vârcolac culture.”
“It just isn’t done,” Roth pronounced.
“But these two don’t want to bond,” Alex reasoned, fighting to keep his voice level. “You wouldn’t force two people who don’t love each other to form an eternal union over a mistake, would you?”
“Alex, please,” Luvera intervened quietly, the corners of her eyes downturned. “You don’t understand. By taking in Shọn’s blood, I’ve tainted myself for all other men.”
Tainted? He’d never heard anything so ridicul— But no, apparently this wasn’t a laughing matter. The rest of the Vârcolac thought the same; Alex could see it written on every face. He sobered his expression. “You’re not tainted in my opinion,” he told her somberly. “I’m human, Luvera. This blood-claiming stuff doesn’t matter to me.”
She smiled feebly. “That’s nice of you to say, Alex, but in my mind, I’ll always know I did this.”
He stared at her, his chest tight and achy. He had no freaking idea how to combat this. “Why don’t we go on a date and just see what happens?” Now he sounded desperate. “You and I are so good together, Luvera. I think we could make each other
really happy.” He’d filibuster his way out of this, that’s what he’d do, just keep talking until she said yes. He hadn’t fought for her before, so this time it was all about storming the hill and taking no prisoners. “Are you going to give up a chance at happiness with me over one mistake?”
Luvera bowed her head and concentrated on her fingernails.
Shọn watched her from beneath his lashes.
Alex flexed his hands, by turns hot, then cold, angry, then helpless. What was he supposed to do if she remained cemented in her imaginary “taintedness?” Go back to dating a bunch of other Vârcolac women? He might as well head topside and resign himself to going out with regular human women for all the joy that would—
He stilled, an idea slapping him across the head. He’d been dating women since he was seventeen, lost his virginity at eighteen… His heartbeat quickened as his idea took full shape. “All right, if you want to get technical about it, Luvera, I’m tainted, too. So I guess that makes us even.”
She met his eyes and frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m not a virgin,” he said. “That goes against Vârcolac culture, doesn’t it?”
“No, Alex,” she sighed. “Vârcolac don’t expect such a thing of humans. We recognize that you were raised differently in regards to sex.”
“Exactly! And my culture has different ideas about matters of blood.” He crossed his arms. “You can’t just be allowed to forgive me for having had previous relations with women and then not allow me to forgive you for blood-claiming another man.”
She opened her mouth. “But—”
“No buts. It has to go both ways or it’s not fair.” He swept his gaze across the other people in the courtroom. “We’re always talking about how this is a community of mixed cultures now, aren’t we? About how we need to accept each other’s ways and find a middle ground. Well…is that true, or just a bunch of talk?”
Roth exchanged an unreadable glance with Jaċken and Nỵko.
Tonĩ’s eyes twinkled at him.
Then an unexpected ally came to his defense. “Alex is right,” Dev told Luvera. “You need to forgive yourself for what you did with Shọn and move on. Between Mom raising you with barely veiled hostility, Dad treating you like a useless female, me”—Dev grimaced—“basically ignoring you, and Alex gallivanting around with a bunch of other Vârcolac females right under your nose, you’ve been through a lot.”
Alex squirmed. That probably had helped push Luvera into a Blood Ride.
With one hand, Dev cupped the side of his sister’s head. “It’s totally understandable that you would’ve turned to someone else for comfort.” He smoothed his palm down her hair. “And I don’t think you’re tainted, either.”
Luvera blinked up at her brother, tears gathering along her lashes. “Do you really mean that?”
“I do.” Dev smiled.
Luvera released a shaky breath, some of the rigidity easing from her shoulders.
She’d needed acceptance from one of her own, and Alex dang near fell to his knees and kissed Dev’s ring—or buttons or shoelaces, since the warrior didn’t wear any rings—for coming to his rescue.
“You know, Luvera,” Dev went on, “we spent all of our lives watching two people who didn’t love each other stuck in a bond. Do you want to end up like Mom and Dad?”
“No,” she whispered.
Alex knew a cue when he saw it. He walked up to Luvera, and then he did go down on his knees, right in front of her. “Go out on a date with me,” he said, taking her hand, “and we’ll start from there. The past gets left in the past and we’ll only look to the future. If it ever comes to us getting together, all I care about is that you honor any commitment you make to me then. Nothing before us matters.”
“I would never be unfaithful to you,” she vowed quietly.
“I know.” He squeezed her hand. “So we’re good.”
“O-okay.” A tear leaked from Luvera’s lashes even as her face lit up. “I’ll go out with you, Alex.”
Alex blinked, once, twice. “Holy Moses, really?” He glanced over at Dev. “Did she just say yes?”
Dev laughed. “Just hug her, you space cadet.”
Grinning widely, Alex leapt to his feet, tugging Luvera up with him. He hugged her tightly, inhaling her innocent daisy scent, warmth filling his chest to overflowing. What would be proper protocol at a moment like this? A “wahoo!” or “hot dog!”
Before he could decide, the courtroom door was flung open, and Thomal charged inside with Llawell, his fist tangled in the scruff of the body shop guy’s shirt. “I gotta interrupt,” Thomal barked.
Llawell was clutching his chest and his legs looked rubbery enough that, if not for Thomal’s supporting hold, the man would’ve been on the floor.
Jaċken surged out of his seat. “His radar’s going off.”
Tonĩ jumped to her feet and moved rapidly around the Council table.
“Yes, yes, it’s my wife.” Llawell bared his teeth in pain. “I think something’s happened to Candace.
Chapter Forty-one
Alex sat at the main console in the computer command center, his fingers flying over the keyboard, his eyes pinned on the screen as information steadily scrolled past. “According to the Travelers’ schedule for the day, Candace isn’t due back into the community for another few hours.” He looked up at Tonĩ and Jaċken, both hovering over his chair. “She’s not even officially late.”
Tonĩ glanced over at Llawell, who was on his knees at Roth’s feet groaning. “Well, something’s obviously wrong.”
“Has Candace checked in at all?” Roth asked in a clipped tone, his expression about as cheery as the Grim Reaper’s.
Alex shifted his focus to the screen of another of the ten computers he commanded. “No. But that’s not unusual, is it?”
“Why don’t you do a quick scan of the local hospitals, just to humor us,” Tonĩ said. “You should be able to search the ones you’ve already hacked into relatively fast.”
“All right.” Clackity-clack went his fingers while everyone waited for him.
Jaċken held himself with that strange battle-ready stillness that every warrior seemed to excel at, while Roth paced, and Llawell moaned with hair-pulling ceaselessness. Dev and Thomal were upstairs for the moment, escorting Shọn and Luvera to upstairs bedrooms, where they would remain under house arrest until their cases were decided. At least they weren’t being detained in basement jail cells. Alex didn’t think he could’ve borne imagining Luvera there.
A soft bleep sounded, and a silent oh, no passed through Alex’s brain. That meant Candace’s name had popped up at a hospital.
“Crap.” Tonĩ knew it, too. “What is it?”
Alex skimmed the information, and went cold to the marrow of his bones. “Tonĩ,” he said in a hushed tone. “Candace’s name just came up at your old hospital. Scripps Memorial.” He spun his chair toward Llawell. “I’m so sorry.” His throat worked around his next words. “She’s in the morgue, Llawell.”
“My God.” Tonĩ’s lips parted. “What does the report—?”
Llawell threw back his head and let out a deafening howl.
“Ahhh!” Alex pressed his hands over his ears as the raw, piercing anguish of the sound ripped through the command center, ricocheting off every corner in the room.
“Watch out!” Jaċken shouted.
The overhead light fixtures began to burst apart, the exploding bulbs boom-booming like a volley of mortars.
“Get down!” Jaċken grabbed Tonĩ around the waist and Alex by the shirt, dragging them both to the floor.
Alex belly-flopped to his stomach with a hard splat. Blade-like pieces of glass showered down from the ceiling, and Jaċken shoved Tonĩ deeper under the long desk. Alex scrambled to get farther under, too.
Pow! Pow! Pow! One after the other, his computer screens exploded, glass blowing outward across the room. Through squinched lids, Alex watched the shards hit the opposite wall. Jesus
Christ, no…
With a long, gasping moan, Llawell finally stopped his tormented cry. Toppling over onto his side, he buried his face in his hands and began to weep.
Jaċken lifted to a crouch above Tonĩ, his eyes wild on his wife. “Are you okay?” His hand cupped her belly, still slender and flat, but nevertheless in charge of baking Baby Brun.
Tonĩ nodded mutely.
Alex crawled forward and cautiously popped his head above the edge of the desk to check out the damage. His heart sank into the earth. It was the apocalypse. Only one of his precious computers hadn’t been destroyed.
Roth rose from his own crouch, his face red. “Explain this,” he demanded of Alex. “What did that report say about Candace?”
Alex glanced at Jaċken. “Why don’t we take care of Llawell first?”
Jaċken helped Tonĩ up, then moved over to Llawell and did the same. “Come on, man. Let’s get you to a couch to lie down.”
Bracing his hands on the edge of the desk, Alex shoved himself to a standing position. “The autopsy report was only preliminary,” he told them just as Jaċken re-entered. “But it said the body showed signs of torture.”
“Torture,” Roth hissed. He bolted a look over to Jaċken. “This means the Topside Om Rău got hold of her.”
“We can’t be sure of that,” Jaċken argued.
Roth’s eyes snapped. “Who else would want a Traveler?”
“How would the Om Rău even know about our Travelers,” Jaċken countered, “or be able to identify one?”
Alex looked between Roth and Jaċken. “And why torture her?”
Roth’s spine locked stiff. “As a Traveler, she knows how to get in and out of our community.” Roth exhaled air through his nostrils. “Those creatures are trying to find our entrances!”
“If that’s the case,” Tonĩ intervened, “then we need to discuss security options for—”
