by Aliya DalRae
“No,” he said, so quiet I nearly missed it. “I think I’ll just hold you here for a while. Is that okay?”
I kissed his cheek, his tears a salty-coppery tang on my lips.
“Of course,” I said, and snuggled myself closer against him.
“How’s my brother?” Raven whispered into my hair. I hadn’t told him that’s where I’d been, but I wasn’t surprised he’d puzzled it out.
“He’s okay,” I said, not wanting to betray Nox’s revelations. “Mason is sending him to talk to the cats.”
Raven sat forward, nearly dumping me on the floor. “He’s doing what?”
I patted his shoulders to get him to sit back. “He thinks Nox can get information from the girl who stabbed him. I think Mason is putting Nox through a lot of trauma he doesn’t need right now, but you know how your Warlord is.” It pissed me off all over again. Raven squeezed my shoulder and pulled me securely against him.
“There’s a meeting at eleven,” he said. “I’m guessing to talk about whatever Nox finds.”
“Probably.” I let out a weary sigh, relaxed against his chest. “Is this ever going to end?”
Raven’s shoulders raised and lowered beneath me and I nuzzled against his neck. When he shivered, I smiled.
“Maybe,” he said. “You know, if I finish those bagels, I might be able to revisit that ravishing question of yours.”
I melted against him, well aware of his attempt to give us both something positive to focus on.
“Oh yeah?” I asked, planting butterfly kisses on his cheek.
“God, yeah.”
Chapter Ninety-Four
“O h, God, No.” Kythryn jumped to her feet and ran behind the couch to stand next to her father. Seamus put a protective arm around her, but he didn’t burst out in objection the way she thought he should. In fact, he was studying that floor again, looking everywhere but at her.
“Daddy? You knew about this?”
Seamus swallowed hard, and tightened his grip on her shoulders, but he nodded. “I’ve talked to the Warlord myself, and he assures me that this Nox fella is not looking to harm you. Says he wants answers the same as the rest of us.”
“But what if he gets in my head and like, makes me run around like a chicken or something? What if he…he…”
Rachel stood and said, “He won’t do anything but find out who has done this to you. To all of us. Please, Kythryn.”
Something in that lady Vampire’s voice had Kythryn giving over. She was good, that one. Send in the soft sell, manipulate the cats, that’s what they were doing. But still, Kythryn wanted to know why this had happened.
Sure, she’d wanted to kill that bastard, Raven, for what he’d done to Malcolm, but she never would have broken Clowder laws. She was her own kind of rebel, but she loved her home and she loved her cat family. Never in her right mind would she have done anything to jeopardize that.
If letting Nox inside her head was a way to fix that, then she’d just have to tough it out. She’d been through a lot worse, that was for sure.
So, she nodded and Rachel’s brother left to go fetch the other Vampire.
Kythryn watched the big Warrior walk away, and her heart thumped, out of disgust, for sure. When she’d seen him walk in the door she’d had to restrain herself from running out the back. Nobody knew about her brief encounter with that Vampire, and she would prefer to keep it that way. She was in enough trouble the way it was. The last thing she needed was for him to start running his big mouth in front of her father and the Overlord, for chrissakes.
But it seemed like he was just as eager to forget about it as she was, so it was time to focus on more important matters.
The door opened again, and Harrier walked in, followed by the Raven look-alike. Good lord, he was a big one. Not as big as Harrier, but still large enough to make a smart girl back up. He was wearing blue jeans and a grey sweater, and he’d pulled his hair back into a messy tail. A black eye patch covered his left eye, the elastic strap holding it on stretched across his forehead making him look like a mean ol’ pirate.
Kythryn took that step back, but her father’s arm prevented her escape.
“Kythryn, I don’t think you and Nox have been properly introduced,” Rachel was saying as the pirate moved to greet her. Her daddy squeezed her arm before giving her a gentle shove toward the Vampires in the center of the room. Leonard Brandt seemed to be staying out of everything altogether.
Out of options, Kythryn put on her bravest face and met that Vampire halfway. Bold as you please, she stuck her hand out for him to shake, and looked him square in the eye. Nox took what she offered without a word.
The grief hit her out of nowhere, an extreme depth of sorrow that nearly knocked her to the floor. She staggered a little and would have fallen if the Vampire hadn’t grabbed her other arm.
“Nox.” Rachel sounded like she was warning him about something, but he shook his head.
“I haven’t yet begun,” he said.
Kythryn was surprised by the proper British accent. He didn’t sound a bit like she thought he would, no harsh slang or growly Vampire accent. It was nice, pleasant, and as she recovered herself, she let go of his hand and motioned to the sofa. She had a feeling this would all go better if they were both sitting down.
Once seated, she turned toward him, curling her knee under her to get comfortable, and he mirrored her position.
When their eyes met, that sadness struck her again. She’d done this to him.
“Is your eye going to be alright?” she asked, and he looked away.
“No,” he said. “They’ve had to remove it.”
Kythryn’s heart leapt to her throat. That had to be wrong. “But you’re Vampire. You guys heal from everything.”
His smile was a little wry, but he shook his head and said, “Not quite everything.”
“I’m sorry,” Kythryn said, and she was. “Sure, I wanted to hurt that bastard of a brother of yours. I hate him for what he did, but I don’t think I could have done that even to him. I’m real sorry that I hurt you like that. I don’t expect you to forgive me.”
Nox was looking at her funny, almost like he was weighing her words on a fish scale, but then he nodded and said, “I do forgive you. But there are others who will not receive my mercy. Shall we begin?”
Kythryn swallowed the lump that had crept into her throat and nodded. Might as well get this over with.
Chapter Ninety-Five
N ox reached out his hand and placed his palm on the forehead of the woman who had blinded him. She twitched a little at the contact, but otherwise remained unaffected. Good. This would be so much easier with her cooperation.
She moaned a little when he first touched her mind. Nox heard someone growl but ignored it as he reached further into Kythryn’s memories. He saw the moment when she attacked him, her own expression one of calm determination as she planted the shiny instrument into his eye. He saw the moment the spark faded from that eye, the purple light in his right redoubling at the loss.
Nox’s stomach clenched. Seeing it was no less painful than the actual experience, but that was not why they were here.
He delved further, pushed beyond the blocks and shields embedded in the poor girl’s mind. Nox saw her cowering in the shadows outside the barn, listening to her Clowder as they cheered for the torture that was taking place inside. He felt her desire to be with them, to participate, but there was another one of those blocks, keeping her on the outside.
Further still, he pushed, and there she was, outside the Polar King, her mind on the ritual, on—Harrier?
And then he was there, the Sorcerer responsible for the torment this girl had experienced and exacted. Kythryn gasped as the scene played out in her mind, remembering the encounter for the first time. Nox placed his free hand on her knee to relax her.
A door opened and closed somewhere in the house, but it barely registered.
The resemblance was astonishing. It was true that all Sorcer
ers shared a certain likeness, but this one? That patrician nose and the wideset eyes? The relationship was inarguable.
Nox removed his hand and Kythryn stared at him with wide eyes. Her skin had gone deathly pale and a fat tear formed in the corner of her eye. Nox watched, mesmerized, as it traced a path down the side of her face.
“What did he do to me?” she whispered, and Nox knew exactly what she was feeling.
“He compelled you to carry out the darkest desires of your heart. Acts you might think about committing, but common sense and your own moral code would never allow you to perform. He took away your filters, and then gave you the means to carry out the attack he was too cowardly to execute himself.”
Kythryn scrubbed the back of her hand across her cheek, her jaw set into a granite block. “He has to be stopped.”
“Yes, he does,” Nox said with a nod. “And your help today brings us one step closer to making that happen.”
Kythryn was looking at him as though he were a puzzle. “What is it?” he asked.
“It’s just. Well, you’re being awful nice to me. I mean, after what I did, I don’t understand why you’re being so, well, nice. If I was you, I’d be really pissed.” She lifted her chin toward his eye.
Nox cocked his head, considering.
“I’ve been where you are,” he said, “a pawn in a war that had nothing to do with me. I was used by a Sorcerer to exact vengeance upon my brother. I—killed people, destroyed them, and for no other reason than that this man wanted to ruin my brother’s life. It nearly worked, but that’s neither here nor there. Raven will live and die with the choices he’s made. I must live with the consequences of actions that were beyond my control.”
“Guilt?” Kythryn choked on the word.
“Yes.”
“But how? How do go on knowing that you’ve done something horrible and can never take it back? How do you live with the fact that somebody was able to turn you into a monster?” Kythryn gasped. “That scalpel he gave me. Is that why you lost your eye? Was it cursed or something?”
“That’s exactly what it was. So, you see, the results of what you have done are not your fault at all. If you had driven a steak knife into my eye, I would have been extremely perturbed, but I would have recovered. That pain? That would have been on you. What I’m dealing with now? That’s on the Sorcerer.”
“Do you know who he is?”
“I believe I do.”
Chapter Ninety-Six
H arrier was pacing by the Hummer when Nox and Rachel left the Overlord’s house. They still weren’t speaking to one another, but at least they didn’t look so angry.
They did, however, have a look of determination about them that had Harrier’s attention.
Nox climbed into the back of the vehicle while Rachel made a beeline straight for him.
“Where the hell did you run off to?” she hissed.
“It was getting stuffy in there. I needed some air.” Harrier wasn’t about to comment on the real source of his discomfort, specifically the annoyance he’d felt at seeing Nox with his hands on Kitty. Fortunately, Rachel had other things on her mind.
“What if something happened? Never mind. Nox got what we needed from the girl, and he knows who the Sorcerer is.”
“He told you this?”
“Well, he said it to Kythryn, but it’s the same thing.”
“What’s going on between the two of you, anyway?” Harrier finally asked the question that had been bothering him all night.
“He’s an ungrateful sod, but never mind that. We need to get home right away. Mason is going to want to hear this firsthand.
~~~~~
T he ride back to the Compound was as tense and quiet as the prior leg had been, but Harrier kept his thoughts to himself.
When they entered the War Room, it was a full house. Mason had his usual spot at the head of the giant oak conference table, with Merlin to his left. Tas and Viper had taken seats at the far end, with Raven and Jessica in between them. Three Soldiers—Perry, Martin, and that new guy, Kyte—took up space to Mason’s right, leaving just enough seats for Harrier, Nox and Rachel.
While Harrier would have preferred to stand, one look at his Warlord’s face and he knew he should sit down and clam it. No need to get on Mason’s bad side, even if he was itching to walk off some of the irritation he was feeling.
Once Nox filled in the peanut gallery, Mason was all business. “Martin,” he said. “What’s the status on the house your men have been watching?”
Martin sat up straight and cleared his throat. “There’s been no sign of the Sorcerer, sir,” he said. “I’ve had Soldiers on the place day and night, but he either isn’t staying there anymore, or he’s got some sort of magical way to slip by us.”
“Well, keep on it. Merlin, what have you found on Fuhrmann’s family?”
Merlin was listening closely to Martin’s update and jumped when Mason spoke his name. “I—just a minute.”
Harrier looked around the table, at the Warriors in particular, and each wore the same expression as his own. Merlin usually had answers before any of them knew they were going to ask the question. It only took a moment, though, and their e-geek was back on his game.
“Helmut and Sylva Fuhrmann, married forever ago. Three offspring. One died in childbirth, the second during the Lycanthrope Wars, which leaves one surviving child. A son.” Nox was nodding as Merlin looked up from his screen to deliver the bad news. “Ulrich Fuhrmann.”
Chapter Ninety-Seven
T alon stood at the edge of the hallway, his back pressed against the wall, while Phire watched him from her bedroom door.
Aunt Rachel had returned a few moments ago with Uncle Harrier, and they were not happy. Rachel was pacing the length of the floor, while Harrier stood in the center of the room, his ginormous arms folded across his chest.
“You’re just being stubborn,” Rachel said. “I don’t see why I can’t come along.”
“I’ve told you, it’s Legion personnel only. You’d just be in the way.” Uncle Harrier was a no-nonsense kind of Vampire, and Talon liked that about him. Out of all the Vampires they’d met since their arrival at the Legion Compound, he knew that Harrier was one who would never lie to them. Ever.
“What are they talking about?” Phire whispered in Talon’s ear, and he jumped a mile.
“Shh…” he hissed.
“Rachel, be reasonable. You know what those Sorcerer’s are capable of. And we have no way of knowing whether this guy is working on his own or has a shitload of subordinates lurking around, just waiting to take us by surprise. We have to be ready for anything, and I can’t do that if I’m worried about protecting you.”
“I’m perfectly capable of protecting myself,” Aunt Rachel huffed. “I haven’t stayed alive for all these years by being careless.”
“You’ve been hanging out in Detroit, married to a human, and living the life of a reclusive. Excuse me if I don’t throw a party to celebrate your survival skills.”
“There’s no need to be snarky,” Aunt Rachel said. “My first and only priority is protecting those children. I want—no, I need—to be there, to know that this is taken care of once and for all.”
“It will be taken care of,” Uncle Harrier said. “I won’t let that son of a bitch get away with what he’s done to our family. Screwing with us is one thing, but you don’t mind-fuck little kids and get away with it. I have to go. Mason is circling the wagons and I need to get my gear.”
“Harrier, wait…”
Their voices drifted off behind the sound of the closing door. Apparently, Aunt Rachel was chasing after her brother to press her point home.
Once the coast was clear, Talon and Phire came out of their hiding place and sat next to each other on the sofa.
“What’s going on?” Phire asked. “Why are they fighting?”
Talon looked at her with as much gravity as his twelve-year-old eyes could muster. “They’re going after Uli,” he said.
<
br /> Phire gasped. “No, they wouldn’t. Would they?”
“Weren’t you listening? They’re going to find Uli and kill him. I just know it. Uncle Harrier was really pissed, and not just because Aunt Rachel wanted to go along.”
“But why?” Phire cried. “He helped us.”
“You heard what Aunt Rachel said. They think he has something to do with those bad guys that attacked Jessica a few months ago.”
“Do you think they’re right? Do you think Uli might have been using us to get to the Legion for some reason?”
“I don’t know.” Talon stood and offered his hand to his sister. “There’s only one way to find out.”
Chapter Ninety-Eight
N ox stood as the others left the War Room, off to prepare for the ambush that was about to go down. Mason and Viper had laid out the plan, and everyone was eager to set it into motion. There was just one problem. Nox wasn’t included.
As Raven and Jessica filed out the door, Nox hurried to catch up.
“Raven,” he called. “A moment.”
Raven whispered something to Jessica. She nodded before continuing down the hallway and Raven stepped back into to the room. “What’s up?”
“I want in.”
Raven studied his brother for a second, but when he shook his head, Nox went on the defensive.
“Before you say no,” Nox said, “I must remind you that you aren’t the only one who has lost something to these creatures, and I’m not just talking about my eye.”
Raven put his hand on Nox’s shoulder, that damned look of pity setting Nox’s teeth on edge. “You’re not a Warrior,” Raven said. “Hell, you’re not even a Soldier. You don’t have the training, and Mason will never go for it. Besides, you’re injured. It’s going to take time for you to be able to function properly.”
Nox knocked Raven’s hand from his arm and pushed the male away.
