by Lizzy Ford
I’m the fool, he thought darkly.
He strode from his wing of the lodge into the main house and to the railing of the second floor overlooking the spacious foyer.
Ashley was fighting fast and hard. But her speed wasn’t going to defeat two dozen vamps; it’d take stamina and her killing those that were down so they didn’t get back up to face her again.
“Stop!” he commanded.
The frenzied movement below slowed and then stopped. Jonny waited until Ashley had lowered her weapons as well under his glare before moving to the stairs. He descended with control and discipline he wanted to toss out the window in order to face Ashley.
“What the fuck is this?” he demanded.
His vamps moved out of his path and cleared the way to Ashley. The fury was back in her eyes, and he resisted the urge to either touch her or unleash his power.
“This.” She reached into the pocket at the small of her back and wrenched free a phone, throwing it at him.
Jonny caught it, bristling with agitated energy, and glanced at the screen.
“My brother disappears and you’re going to pretend you didn’t do it when your location is on his phone?” she snapped. She was breathing hard, her emotions as fiercely displayed as her fighting talent.
Jonny didn’t know what was going on. Brandon had checked in with the locations of Valon’s vamps and Jonny had gone to bed. “Charles,” he said over his shoulder.
His second motioned to the vamps nearest Ashley.
Ashley glared at him and lowered herself into a fighting stance. Realizing no vamp was going to get near her when she was this pissed and ready, he moved towards her. He Traveled twice, one to throw her off and the second time to shift close enough to lay a hand on her.
She tried to whirl, but his magic kept her in place. He knocked her out with his power and caught her as she fell, not about to take any chances she hurt herself or one of his vamps.
“Take her to a cell,” he ordered, handing her off to the two vamps. He returned to the stairs. He joined Charles and spoke quietly enough for only his most trusted vamp to hear. “Charles, you know why nothing can happen to her. Go with them.”
Charles grimaced and nodded.
Jonny returned to his room, too angry to face Ashley and sensing she wasn’t going to cooperate until she, too, had a chance to cool down. He sat on his bed and flicked open Brandon’s phone. It was unlocked, and the strange message and address were locked in place on his screen.
As he sat, his anger slid into interest, and he considered who would know where to find Brandon and why he’d been taken. Someone who could Travel, and he knew where all his vamps with such a skill were last night. The Guardians weren’t going to kidnap their own. That left Valon, the rogue vamp leader.
Why would Valon want Brandon or Ash? Did the rogue vamp suspect Jonny had been in contact with them? Was he trying to draw Xander’s attention – or Jonny’s?
He ran a hand through his hair and studied the wall. He was far from calmed down, but if Brandon were in trouble, and a vamp were involved, he was going to get the unwanted visit from Xander, if not Damian. At least, he told himself this was why he wanted to talk to Ashley. His interest extended beyond the situation to the woman who had brazenly attacked his headquarters.
Jonny left his room and went to the cells located in what had been the horse stables. The building had been retrofitted with steel and concrete. One of the guards opened the door for him as he approached, and he crossed to where Charles waited outside one of the cells.
Ashley was awake and pacing inside the cell. Jonny shook his head, not at all happy to see her at his headquarters, and opened the door.
She faced him.
Jonny entered. “I don’t have Brandon,” he started. Charles closed the door behind him.
The small space seemed even smaller with his charged energy and her agitation. Jonny’s thoughts went to the kiss last night which was followed by the hardest he’d ever bitten anyone. He had felt himself sinking in to her, losing his sense of control, when she kissed him passionately. The bite was an attempt to give her a reason to stay away, since his hands always ended up on her when they were together. He didn’t want to be drawn to her, and he wanted her to choose to stay away.
“Why else would he have your address in his phone?” she retorted.
“He didn’t tell you?” Jonny sat on the chair in the corner. “He was working for me.”
She stared at him. “What?”
“He’s helping me track the rogue vamps. We needed a second skilled hacker, and he was more than willing when I promised to leave you alone in exchange for his help.”
“You blackmailed my brother.” She was reaching for one of the weapons the guards had removed when she was unconscious.
“I needed his assistance.”
“And now he’s gone.” She began to pace again. Her irritation wasn’t the only thing he sensed. Without his fangs in her neck, he couldn’t read more from her body, but there was a tremor in her hand.
“Charles,” Jonny glanced towards the open window in the door. “Have Stuart check the link he has to Brandon’s computer. Maybe he got hacked and Valon found him that way.”
“Yes, ikir.”
Jonny waited until Charles was gone. “You need to calm down, Ashley.”
“Calm down? My brother is missing, and you want me to calm down?” she all but shouted the words.
“You’re about to have a seizure.”
She froze in place. Without another word, she sat woodenly on the metal cot in the cell.
“I don’t have him. I’ll find out if Valon does and then I’ve got a choice to make,” Jonny said in as level of a tone as he could manage. “You challenged me on my territory in front of my vamps. You know what happens to a vamp who does this?”
She was eyeing him.
“Let’s just say mercy is viewed as weakness,” he continued. “I can’t let you go.”
“But Brandon is –”
“I told you. This isn’t a game. You don’t get to throw down the gauntlet with a god and then call off the fight, Ashley,” he said with more heat than he intended. He watched her expression, suspecting this was only the second time in their history together where she’d actually heard him. The first was the night before. “You fucked up coming here and now you can’t go after your brother even if you want to.”
Emotion flickered through her gaze. As if realizing how serious he was, her anger vanished. “Look, Jonny, he’s my family. I’d do anything, even challenge you, if I thought you had him.”
“Which you did and which I don’t.” Anger entered his voice. “I was willing to hide your identity as the vigilante. But I can’t cover this up.”
Her hands both shook, and her pupils were dilating.
“I’ll have to decide what to do with you,” he said, standing. “Chances are, you won’t leave this place.”
“Jonny, you can’t keep me here!” She leapt to her feet. “I can save him!”
“You should’ve thought of the consequences before walking into my headquarters.” He opened the door.
Her voice trembled. “If you keep me here and something happens to Brandon, I will do whatever it takes to find a way to kill you.”
He left.
“Fuck you, Jonny!” she shouted as the door closed.
Jonny released his breath and lingered, furious at the position she’d put him in and even more agitated by the sexual tension between them. He could think of one solution, one she’d hate him for if she didn’t already.
The sound of her hitting the floor hard caused him to grind his teeth. He wasn’t going to get pulled in by emotion again. It was too dangerous and there was too much at risk. If he walked away now, she’d definitely get the hint he didn’t care, especially after he did his best to discourage her the night before.
She slammed into something mid-seizure, and he flinched physically to know she was suffering.
Except I do care. “Fuck,” he
murmured, unable to leave her in the state she was in.
Jonny opened the door to Ashley’s cell. She was convulsing on the ground, eyes closed and face blanched. He knelt beside her and rested one hand on the exposed skin of her neck. His eyes went to the pulsing vein beneath her sensitive skin, and hunger filled him despite drinking his fill from her the night before.
His power stopped her seizure. She lay still, breathing raggedly and balled up on her side.
“I don’t want … your help,” she whispered weakly. “Unless it’s for … Brandon.”
“Quiet, Ash. You aren’t fooling anyone.”
An expression of torment crossed her features. She swiped his hand away. “Get away from me.”
“You brought this on yourself,” he reminded her. “I’m the one trying to find a solution that lets you live.”
Her eyes opened. She peered up at him, gaze foggy. His power was working its way through her system, soothing her despite her rejection.
“Traveling fucks you up,” he added. “That’s why you have episodes more frequently when you Travel.”
“I didn’t … someone …” she clamped her mouth closed.
Someone else had dropped her off. He knew it wasn’t Xander. It had to be another Guardian, and they were supposed to know his property was off limits.
“Your body can’t handle it.” He touched her again to assess her. “You can’t be in direct contact with someone who Travels or you risk this happening.”
“I hate you … Jonny.”
He was almost disappointed his talk last night appeared to have worked. He almost believed her this time, unlike yesterday. “I became the Black God when I killed my predecessor to save my sister’s life,” he said quietly, thoughts on the idle threat he’d made before about turning her into his personal food source. It was starting to look like a viable option. He had to do something about her challenging him in front of his own vamps. “What would you do to save Brandon?”
“Anything,” she replied without hesitation.
“Are you sure?”
Ashley nodded.
“You may not like what I have in mind.”
Unease was in her eyes. She forced herself into a seated position and leaned against the wall for support. She was weak, trembling, pale. She resembled the girl he remembered from four years ago rather than the strong warrior she had become. “Are you going to blackmail me, too?” she ventured when he said nothing else.
“I’m considering it.”
“I can’t hack. All I can do is fight.”
Jonny touched the light scarring on the side of her neck. “You can do more than that, Ashley.”
She recoiled.
“You’ve got all the time in the world to think about it,” he said and rose once more. “We’ll discuss it later.” This time when he left, he didn’t pause or turn back. What he planned wasn’t going to win him any favor with Xander or Damian. Chances were, it was going to end up a huge mistake since he already struggled not to feel anything when she was around.
Her unique regeneration gift was something he could use. His vamps would applaud turning Xander’s adopted daughter into a blood slave and Jonny would lose no face with them.
And he’d have an excuse to keep Ashley alive. There was no debate about the morality of his plan. It was wrong in every way. His anger faded as he realized Ashley had unknowingly given him the excuse he didn’t know he needed to pursue a relationship, even a complicated one, with someone he could actually relate to and cared about.
But doing so, even if she forced his hand, was dangerous. He didn’t want to feel ever again, and she had placed herself in danger whose consequences were going to fall on him.
He went to the command center, where Charles and Stu sat side by side in front of the hacker’s computer.
“They tracked him through his computer,” Tasha reported before Jonny could ask. She was leaning against Stu’s chair, gaze on the screen. “Locational data, headquarters information, and any other data we sent him has been potentially compromised.”
Jonny frowned. “They know where we are.”
“They know where all of us are,” replied Stuart.
Dread settled into his stomach. “Issue orders for everyone to move now,” Jonny directed Charles. “Double our guard and warn everyone we’re preparing for confrontation. Set up wards around the property.”
“Wards won’t trip if they’re vamps,” Charles replied.
Jonny hadn’t had the chance to ask Ashley how she got to Oregon. She’d had help from someone who could Travel. “Set them up anyway. I want to know if anyone or anything else is headed our way. Issue evac protocol. We’ll be out of here by tomorrow morning.”
“Got it. You want the girl moved or a note sent to Damian to pick her up?”
“Moved.” Charles glanced up at Jonny’s firm tone. “I’ve got a plan with how to deal with her once and for all. No more vigilante, no more stupid as shit attacks on our headquarters.”
Charles smiled. “What about Brandon?”
“We’ve got a bigger concern right now,” Jonny replied. “They’re going to know not to hurt him. Every vamp and Guardian out there knows not to mess with Xander.” It wasn’t an answer Ashley would accept, but Jonny had to think of his vamps first. “Stuart, check their phones.” He handed Ashley and Brandon’s cells to Stuart. “See if there’s any clue as to where Brandon is. Tasha, we need an inventory and raid party assignments by tonight.”
“You ready for this?” Charles asked.
“Absolutely,” Jonny answered. “It’s time to set things straight. Rogue vamps are to be killed on sight.”
“No mercy.”
“None.” Jonny’s mind went to Ashley and Brandon. He didn’t need them distracting him at a time like this, when Valon had everything he needed to make his move.
Then again, Ashley fought like no Guardian or vamp Jonny had ever met. She might have a dual use for him in the near term, assuming she’d yield to his plans without fighting him again.
Chapter Twelve
Jonny was serious.
It was the first thought that emerged from the sluggish depths of her mind. Her eyelids were lead, her body wooden. She managed to pry her eyes open and stared at the wooden beams of a ceiling she didn’t recognize.
It came back to her slowly. Brandon disappearing. Her confrontation with the vamps in Oregon. Jonny’s determined look when he said he couldn’t just let her go.
Ashley groaned and rolled onto her side, cursing herself repeatedly. Morning light filtered in through thin curtains over wide windows. The room wasn’t in Jonny’s prison. It was small and comfortable with a half-bathroom behind a partially opened door in the corner. She wore her clothing still, down to her boots, and was draped in a thick quilt. She heard no movement outside the closed door to her room and sensed no one nearby.
If she had had more energy, Ashley wouldn’t have dropped off into deep slumber. She had rested her head in the crook of her arm for a moment, torn between needing some serious sleep and desperation to find a way out of Jonny’s prison when she toppled into sleep.
Rested, if hungry, she pushed herself into a sitting position and flung off the covers. Her body was a little stiff though not as bad as she usually felt the day after a seizure. Normally, she felt like she’d run a marathon and smashed into every tree along the homestretch.
Ashley made it halfway to the door before something tight around her ankle prevented her right leg from moving. She looked down, surprised.
“Oh, real nice, Jonny,” she muttered. Her ankle was chained to the bed. She retreated to the post she was connected to, surprised to see someone had made the effort to cement the bed into blocks too large for her to budge.
She tested her distance and was able to make it into the bathroom but not close the door. Her wallet and phone were gone, along with her weapons. She had nothing to occupy her in the tiny room and crossed to the window. Her view was of the forest except … She frowned.
It wasn’t the same pine forest she’d gone to sleep in. This was a forest of deciduous trees with flat leaves and white trunks. Jonny could have moved her anywhere in the world. Where was she?
Irritated, Ashley returned to the bed and sat. She didn’t have time to fiddle with her restraints. The door opened, and she sprang to her feet, ready to defend herself with hand to hand combat.
The vamp that entered was one she recognized from the lodge. Jonny had seemed to favor this one. Tall and broad shouldered with red eyes and dark hair, the vamp bore a McDonald’s bag in one hand and a bottle of water in the other.
“Breakfast.” He growled as he set the food down on the bedside table, as if disgusted by her very human choice of food.
“Where are we?” she asked.
He ignored her and knelt to unlock the cuff from around the leg of the bed.
Ashley watched and waited for the lock to click free, tensing to make an attempt at a getaway. The moment she started to lean forward, the vamp raised a Taser, and she sat back.
He couldn’t match her in battle, but Tasering her would knock her out of commission.
“Dammit,” she muttered and snatched the bag of McDonald’s instead. She pulled out a breakfast sandwich and unwrapped it.
“You are only alive because of Xander,” the vamp said and stood. “We train now.”
“Train?” She asked through a mouth full of food.
“Jonny thinks you can help us fight the rogue vamps.”
“Why the hell would I help him?”
“Because they have your brother.” The vamp tugged on her chain. “We’ll see who wins this bet.”
She dwelt on his words long enough for him to tug again. Ashley shoved the rest of her breakfast into her mouth and trailed him into the hallway. They appeared to be in a dorm of some sort. Private rooms similar to hers lined the hallway. The décor was dark and woodsy, the dorm quiet.
When she could talk again, she drew closer. “Those other vamps … why do they have my brother?”
“Maybe because Jonny was using him to track them. Maybe because they want to send Xander a message.” The vamp shrugged. “Doesn’t fucking matter. They’ll be destroyed anyway.”
