Box Set: Rune Alexander- Vol. 1-3 (Rune Alexander Box Set)

by Laken Cane

Her hair had been torn from its braids and hung in messy disarray around her shoulders.

  And even though her tormentors had punctured and plugged her ears with God only knew what, perhaps she could still absorb information.

  For her face lit with terror and she stumbled back suddenly, seeming to realize what new nightmare COS had pitted her against.

  Likely she smelled them.

  Zombies.

  They advanced on Lex, moaning as they lurched toward her.

  These were zombies created by Fie. Zombies she’d called from the grave.

  Not magical, not different, not fast. Just your regular, garden variety zombies, and Lex had been shoved into a cage with them.

  Apparently, COS could do anything—including corralling a bunch of zombies for Otherfights.

  Guards, five that she could see, had been evenly spaced along the front of the crowd. They were armed and stood with their arms crossed, wearing smug looks of superiority.

  Lex backed away, her voice blending with the moans of the zombies and the shouts of the crowd. When her back hit the wall she slid down and wrapped her arms around her knees, burying her face against them.

  She had given up. Alone in the dark, with only the scent of the zombies.

  COS was her second greatest fear. Her mother was her first.

  Zombies came in third.

  And now, she was being terrorized by them all.

  Rune felt Lex’s despair. For a second, she was the one huddling blind on the floor, and it snatched the air from her lungs.

  Feel me, Lex. I'm coming.

  Lex lifted her face from her knees. “Rune,” she screamed.

  Rune shot her claws out with a painful force. The silver claws brightened and undulated before her, slashing any human stupid enough or slow enough to stay in her path. She charged the cage.

  Only one of the guards pulled a gun. The other four, perhaps figuring—and rightly so—that they weren't getting paid enough to take on an enraged monster, ran for cover.

  The one remaining guard dropped his gun and held up his hands, and that saved his life. She kicked him into the crowd of overly-excited onlookers and didn't give him another thought.

  Thin, silver netting wrapped the cage and it parted like butter beneath her claws. And then, she was inside the gory arena.

  Suddenly the only sounds were the zombies’ low, incessant moaning and their shuffling feet.

  The crowd had been shocked into silence as they surely wondered if this was part of the game or a new development that was about to get them killed.

  "I'm here," Rune said. And maybe Lex couldn't hear her, but she quieted as though she could. And Rune went after the zombies.

  And because she needed to know, had to know, for one tiny second she concentrated on making them turn away from Lex and toward her. She had to know if she could still control the zombies.

  As one, they turned toward her.

  Fuck me.

  She could have controlled them, could have ordered them to hold still for her blade, could have slaughtered them as they stood in a line and waited for it.

  But she didn't. If she was going to kill something, she was going to let it have half a chance at defending itself.

  So she didn’t even try.

  There were close to twenty of the monsters, and Rune flung herself into the middle of them with an almost surprising savageness.

  She'd destroyed nearly half of them before she realized the crowd was once again cheering, their voices loud with the hysterical thrill of fear.

  Lex didn't move, not even when one of the zombie heads landed with a splat beside her.

  Rune yanked the zombies into her dark, eager embrace, and when the cage was littered with rotting, stinking body parts, she went to Lex.

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  Rune knelt beside the girl, eyes darting as she watched for the threat of slayers. She touched Lex's shoulder. "Lex?"

  Lex screamed and jerked away, her hands in front of her. Deaf, blind, and locked inside a world of quiet terror, the Other was expecting only more pain.

  Then her head lolled on her neck and she mumbled something. There, then gone, then back again.

  "God, baby." Rune pulled Lex against her chest, wrapping her securely in her arms. "It's me. Shhh."

  Lex was sluggish and slow, as drugged as the fake twins had been. But on an Other the drugs would have a different effect. They were just enough to make her vulnerable and weak.

  Just enough to be sure she was down, but not out. COS had wanted her to know exactly what was happening to her. Or at least to have snatches of reality mixed in with the chaotic blackness inside her mind.

  They’d wanted her to fight.

  And Karin Love would want to see it.

  Through the back screen, she spotted two men with video cameras, and had no doubt they'd been sent to film Lex's terror for the monster Lex called Mother.

  Lex shuddered, understanding at last that Rune held her. She grabbed Rune with a desperate hold and buried her bruised face against her, humming softly.

  Rune shook with rage. They'd pushed the little Other too far this time, and Rune was terrified she wasn't getting her mind back. Terrified that finally, even after years in the cruel grip of Karin Love, Lex had broken.

  “What’d they do to you?”

  But Lex couldn’t answer.

  She clung tightly as Rune stood, trying to burrow through her side, to safety. And trying, whether she realized it or not, to feed her addiction.

  Rune held a gun in one hand and with her left arm around Lex, walked from the cage and down the ramp.

  The humans tripped over each other trying to back out of the way.

  Three of them, right in front of her, stumbled and fell to the ground. The one closest was a stern man in a business suit. His glasses askew, he tried to scoot back away from her, but couldn’t get through the crowd.

  She leaned over and put her gun to his forehead. "Point out a slayer."

  He pointed to the man next to him, who scrambled up and tried to lose himself in the crowd.

  Even with Lex holding onto her, she had no trouble. She holstered her gun and grabbed him by the back of his neck before he could manage to extricate himself from the crowd. She yanked him to her.

  "He's a fucking liar," the man screamed. "He's the slayer. I'm not COS!"

  Lex moaned, as though she could smell the word COS.

  "Take me to Horner."

  "He'll kill me!"

  She dropped her fangs. “I’ll kill you worse.”

  He held his hands up. "Wait! Okay."

  The crowd thinned as most people finally managed to fight their way to the gates.

  She didn't care about the crowd. She wanted Horner.

  The slayer led her behind the cage and pointed toward a large tent. "He was in there." Then he backed away, his hands in the air. “Can I…” Then he gave her a terrified but hopeful look, turned, and ran away.

  She let him go. As much as she wanted to slash his throat and leave him to bleed out on the ground, she let him go.

  She knew before she stepped into the tent, almost fully supporting Lex, that Horner was gone.

  He'd left hastily—a few trampled bills lay on the ground, most likely dropped as he'd grabbed the money and split.

  But though he'd fled like a frightened child, he'd left men behind to see to her.

  When she headed back out, a dozen of them were waiting for her.

  They stood in a line, rifles pointed, and it was Lex who saved them both.

  The slayers must have had orders to try taking their little money maker alive, because they hesitated.

  Even Horner wouldn’t have wanted his slayers shooting close to the crowd of humans. But there were no humans near the tent.

  She turned and ran back inside the meager shelter, her arm around Lex’s waist, carrying the little Other along with her. At the back of the tent, she shot out the claws of her free hand and sliced through the wall.


  They were surrounded by slayers with guns.

  “Son of a bitch,” she muttered. If she left Lex inside the tent and went to kick slayer ass, someone would take the girl.

  As fast as she was, and as strong, outside the tent waited a hell of a lot of guns. They wouldn’t kill her, but they could stop her long enough for COS to get Lex.

  And she wasn’t willing to let that happen. Not again.

  “Send the girl out,” a man yelled. “Or she’ll die along with you.”

  “Okay,” Rune called. “Just don’t shoot.”

  Lex mumbled something.

  Rune squeezed her shoulder. “I’ve got you.” Then suddenly, she had an idea of how to help Lex come out of the darkness.

  She pried Lex’s arm away from her waist and clamped the Other’s cold fingers around her wrist. “Read me, baby. I could use your help.”

  Lex tightened her fingers around Rune’s wrist, and that’s when Rune knew the girl was still there.

  Lex began vibrating, just a tiny bit.

  “Send her now,” the man screamed, and started shooting. He shot high to scare her, ripping the top of the tent to shreds.

  The slayers at the back of the tent heard gunfire. They began shooting as well, and they did not aim high.

  “Fuck,” she screamed, and pushed Lex to the ground. She threw herself on top of the Other. Lex couldn’t take a bullet.

  Lex shook her head violently. “Take them out,” she cried.

  “Lexi…” Rune tightened her grip. “I’ve got you.”

  But Lex would not be still. She pulled her arm from under Rune and slapped at her ear. “Take them out, please, take them out.”

  God. Rune closed her eyes. Lex wanted the plugs out of her ears. “I can’t, baby.”

  The gunfire stuttered to a stop.

  “He wants her alive, you stupid fucks,” a man screeched.

  “You started shooting,” another man yelled. “What the fuck was I sup—” Then there was one more shot, and the man arguing didn’t say another word.

  The slayers were afraid to come inside the tent. They knew what Rune could do.

  “Is Alexis alive?” the first man called. “Is she alive?”

  “Take them out,” Lex screamed.

  “I hear her,” the man said. “Send her out, Alexander.”

  “They hurt so much,” Lex whimpered. “It’s too dark. I can’t feel. I can’t think. I can’t see.” She started digging for the plugs while she struggled to get out from under Rune.

  “Okay,” Rune said. She pulled Lex’s fingers away from her ears. “Let me try.”

  As though she understood Rune was going to help her, Lex went still and silent.

  “We’re coming in,” the man yelled.

  “I’m sending her out,” Rune called. “Just give me a fucking minute to tell her goodbye.” Maybe it’d buy her a few seconds, maybe not. But it was all she had.

  She closed her eyes, felt for the end of one of the plugs, and finally, got a grip on it. There was no easing it free. She took a deep breath and dug the plug out, then flung it across the tent. “Lex?”

  But Lex had gone boneless and quiet.

  Rune left the other plug where it was. One out would have to be enough, because not even Lex could get her to do that again.

  She jerked, startled, when gunfire began again. But this time, it wasn’t aimed at the tent. “What the hell?”

  Lex moaned. “Rune,” she whispered. “Rune?”

  “I’m here, baby.”

  “Promise me,” Lex said suddenly, “that when my mother gets out of prison, you will hunt her down and kill her. Promise me.”

  But before Rune could promise, before she could say a word, her crew was there. They charged into the tattered tent and yanked Rune and Lex from the floor. Lex continued to cling to Rune, unwilling to leave the security she’d found there.

  “Promise me you’ll kill her,” Lex cried.

  “She will die,” Raze answered, his deep voice full of something that was part relief, and part darkness. “I swear it.”

  Finally, Lex backed out of Rune’s arms. “Raze,” she cried, like a bewildered child. “They hurt me.”

  And with that, the little Other broke down. She sobbed, and held her arms out to Raze.

  As her legs gave out and she started to fall, Raze caught her. Holding her to his chest, he ignored the others and carried Lex out of the Camp.

  Staring after them, Rune tried to shake off the feeling of desolation that overtook her. Until Karin Love was dead, Lex and the twins would never be free.

  Let her out of prison, you fucks. Let her out.

  Because when they did, Shiv Crew would be waiting.

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  Rune stood at the foot of the hospital bed, watching as Elizabeth read to the child from an enormous, brightly illustrated book.

  Fie leaned against Elizabeth’s chest, occasionally giggling as a particular passage amused her.

  Elizabeth still looked like death, with her white-as-paper face, sunken cheeks, and haunted eyes, but she was recovering.

  Fie was helping that along.

  “You want her,” Rune said.

  Elizabeth glanced up. “I’m taking both children. Just as soon as George wakes up, he’s coming home with us, isn’t he, Stefanie?”

  The little girl nodded solemnly. “He’s still asleep.”

  Elizabeth’s smile was rueful. “She’s complete charmed me, I’m afraid.”

  “That’s okay. You needed a reason to go home at night.”

  A cloud passed through Elizabeth’s eyes. “I’ll be fine,” she murmured, as though Rune had suggested otherwise.

  “Yeah.”

  “Ellis has agreed to help Bill out until I’m ready to return.”

  Rune nodded. Ellie was ensconced in his new position. Even knowing he would live his life always one bite away from turning was something, he’d said, he could handle.

  Rune didn’t believe him.

  What he couldn’t handle, he’d told her, was not getting the twins back. Not getting Levi back.

  That, she believed. “We’ll get them back, Ellie.” But she was sick of speaking those empty words. Time was running out for the twins, if it hadn’t already. She had to find them.

  Bill Rice had settled firmly on the RISC throne. It was all his baby now. The humans wouldn’t have him back as police director, and he didn’t want to go back.

  One of the things he promised her was to use every available resource to track Horner and find the twins. Sooner or later, the slayer would surface, and RISC would be waiting for him. But Rune didn’t really care about Horner any longer.

  Nothing mattered but finding the twins.

  And they had no idea where the boys were. They’d torn the Camp apart—torn the county apart. The twins were not there.

  Rice seemed to think COS would contact RISC and the crew soon. They’d want something in return for the twins.

  Rune had a feeling that something was going to be Lex, but that wasn’t a trade the crew was willing to make. They had to find another way.

  When she’d gone to the RISC building to pick up her package from Amy, Rice had stopped her in the hall.

  He’d seemed content. “I belong right here.” His eyes were still haunted by the horror he’d witnessed, but he managed a smile.

  “Yeah,” she said. “This is where I belong as well.”

  He stared at her for a long moment, and just as she’d started to feel uncomfortable under his serious regard, he’d spoken. “You’re mentally ill, Rune.”

  It was the last thing she’d expected him to say. She’d stepped back and dropped her fangs without meaning to. “Fuck you!”

  But he reached out and patted her shoulder. “It doesn’t mean you don’t belong here. You’re my best operative—maybe because of your illness. I just want you to know I’m aware.”

  “Why?” She tried not to whisper, but that’s how the word came out.

  He shook hi
s head. “I don’t know. I…maybe because it doesn’t matter. I accept you. I admire you. I want you to feel less alone. And maybe because I worry that you haven’t accepted yourself.”

  “I have.”

  “Don’t self-destruct, Rune. If you feel in need of anything, come to me.” His eyes had been intense, and something lurked there that made her mumble some excuse and run away from him.

  What the hell?

  She hadn’t a clue.

  She had no idea who Rice really was.

  Strad slipped into the hospital room, amazing her anew at how quietly he could move.

  Fie’s eyes lit up. “Did you bring it?”

  He grinned and pushed the door shut. “Of course.”

  Fie squealed and bounced in Elizabeth’s arms, causing the woman to flinch with pain. But she stared at Fie adoringly. “Quietly, darling. The nurses wouldn’t be happy with Mr. Matheson’s gift.” She tentatively moved away from Fie and looked at Rune. “May I use your cell to call Owen?”

  “Sure,” Rune said, and handed her the cell.

  Elizabeth smiled her thanks and slid off the bed. She carried the cell into the bathroom. “I’ll just be a minute.”

  Rune frowned. Elizabeth’s walk was slow and careful, and she appeared to have lost weight. She was no longer slim. She was skinny and frail.

  But she was alive, and she would be okay.

  Strad went to the bed and carefully withdrew the smallest puppy Rune had ever seen from inside his coat. “Be gentle, Fie. He’s a baby.”

  Fie’s eyes grew huge and her lips formed a perfect O as she carefully took the animal. “It’s adorable.”

  “I have to take him back,” he told her, “but he’s yours as soon as you’re home.”

  “I’m going to live with Elizabeth,” she said. “And Rune will visit. And George will live with us when he wakes up.”

  “What will you name your puppy?” Rune asked.

  “Hmmm. I don’t know.” She laughed as the puppy squirmed in her arms, but then she scrunched up her face and squealed. “It peed on me!”

  “Time to take the puppy home,” Strad said. He looked at Rune. “Walk out?”

  Elizabeth opened the bathroom door and joined them, returning Rune’s cell. “Thank you.”

  She nodded. “Goodbye for now, Fie. Elizabeth, do you need anything?”