“She does seem protective of you. We’ve kept tabs on her since the day my little brother was killed. She stays secluded most of the time—loses tails—comes like the wind...except for when you are in trouble. Why is that?”
Denny shrugged. “Boredom?”
Kramer sipped his cognac. “Why are you here right now? What on earth would possess you to just walk in here without an army?”
“Because I don’t need one. I came here to give you one chance to stand down or I will destroy you, your family, GenLabs, and anyone else who threatens my people again. This is over. Right here. Right now.”
“Oh, but it is most certainly not.” He steepled his fingers as he studied her. “Have you ever heard of the Blutrache? It means Blood of Vengeance. My brother would not be dead if your mother hadn’t gotten involved with that witch. We allowed him to stay with his family, to raise you and your siblings. Even when he wanted to move to Savannah, we stood back and allowed Robert to live his life against our better judgment. And then she came. Everything changed. He risked everything for a woman who left him for a witch.”
“So...that’s a no. You want to kill a woman who can’t even defend herself.”
“Robert couldn’t defend himself. He was just a professor. He didn’t have to die—”
“And you didn’t have to chase them! You ran them into that tree. You have culpability in that little scenario.” Denny walked on up to the window and let her red eyes reflect off the pane.
“Your father was trying to save his marriage. He was trying to—”
“He was taking her to get the Hanta removed, wasn’t he?” Denny whipped round, red eyes flashing. “He had her leave her weapons because he was going to have you help him remove the Hanta. You weren’t chasing them. You were escorting them. Why else were you in the States, right behind them, going so fast? You don’t want just Valeria. You want them both, and you know if a Hanta demon jumps in my mother during the equinox, she will come after the whole lot of you and destroy everything you’ve ever touched. That’s why you are so afraid of my mother.”
He finished his cognac and set the glass down. “You are much brighter than I originally gave you credit for.”
“I’m young, not stupid. I’m inexperienced, but not a rookie. Not any longer.” She let her eyes flash redder and brighter as she prepared to open Fouet. “So, it’s both or neither.”
“It’s both, Miss Silver. I wish it wasn’t so, but the Blutrache is very clear. All parties involved in the death of a member must suffer the same fate.”
“So...you think I am going to just sit here as bait while you collect and kill my mother? Don’t be stupid. I was willing to be bait to catch Valeria, but you touch one hair on my mother’s head and I’ll kill you all so hard, your great-great-grandchildren will die before being born.”
“I don’t believe you yet understand the nature of these negotiations. In return for your cooperation to bring them both to us, you have my word we will leave your family and loved ones alone, including the Priestess Cassandra and her coven sister, Brianna.”
The Hanta rose up, filling Denny with barely suppressed anger. “I am not trading my mother’s life for anyone’s. There is no deal, Dr. Mengele. You have greatly underestimated me and my loyalty to my family and those I love.”
Karl Kramer rose. “Miss Silver, I apologize for seeming so insensitive, but your mother may as well be dead. She is trapped in a failing body. She has had no quality of life for many years, none—”
“Fine.” Denny moved closer to the window once more.
“Excuse me?”
“You’re right. My mother has been dead for years. Cassandra and Brianna have their whole lives ahead of them. If push comes to shove, my mother’s life is not as important as theirs.” Denny felt the Hanta fill her now. “But fortunately, I don’t have to make that call. All of my people will be leaving Europe alive and well. I can’t say the same for yours.”
“Valeria has been nothing but trouble for your family. Her love of your mother is toxic and has cost so many good people their lives. Surely you see that.”
Denny was looking out the window, watching impassively as the familiar blue glow of Legacy weapons swung through the darkness, taking out every demon, every witcher, every dog, every opponent in the way.
Turning around, Denny allowed her red eyes to show.
Karl Kramer was pointing a Beretta at her. “Call off your dogs, Miss Silver, or you will precede your mother to the grave.”
The lights suddenly went off and Denny dropped to the ground just as the Beretta fired where she’d been.
“Don’t be a fool, Miss Silver. You can’t possibly think you can get away.” He fired the gun again, narrowly missing Denny, who rolled to the right.
All the men fired rifles into the dark. Two missed. One bullet went through Denny’s forearm.
Snapping her wrist to bring out Fouet, she knocked all three off their feet even as Karl blasted the air with his Beretta.
The window she’d been looking out suddenly shattered, and Annalee landed nimbly on her feet, pivoted, and killed the first guard to her left before decapitating the guard on the right.
A crossbow bolt took out the third man in the room, and Denny decapitated the third guard before punching Karl Kramer in the face and cracking his head open against the fireplace, knocking him out.
“Everyone safe?” Denny asked Annalee.
“Oh, hell yeah. Dead dogs, dead guards, dead power lines. All dead. Dead, dead, dead.”
“Dead is good.”
“Is that him?”
“One of them.”
“Mansion’s too big to go through.”
Denny nodded. “No time. We got what we came here for. Let’s get this piece of shit out of here.” Denny threw Karl Kramer over her shoulder and carried him out the door.
“Is she here?”
“Who do you think took out most of the guards? She seldom shares in the killing, that selfish little New Orleanian.”
“Damn, I forgot how good she is.”
“You could have at least given me a heads-up that you called in the big gun. My one feeling is hurt.”
Denny grinned. “I was hoping we wouldn’t need her, but I wanted to know Peyton was within striking distance.” Walking out to the front porch, Denny faced Peyton Farquar, the Legacy hunter from New Orleans.
She looked like she had dropped too much weight on her already lithe frame, and there were dark circles under eyes. “Tried to start the party without me, I see.”
“It’s never a party unless you’re there.” Denny dumped Kramer to the ground and bear-hugged Peyton, noting how thin she had become.
Just as she released her, two bodies fell from the second or third floors, bolts protruding from their chests and necks.
“That butler-looking dude is really handy with a crossbow,” Annalee said. “Should we light this mother up?”
Denny picked up Kramer and tossed him over her shoulder again. “Hell yeah. I want them to know we’re coming.”
“Car’s down the road. Your trainer oughta be bringing it up...there he is!” Annalee pointed to Cadbury, who was jogging up from the tree line.
Denny dumped Kramer on the ground, removed his belt, and tied his hands with it behind his back. “You got this?”
Cadbury nodded. “These fools rely way too heavily on the firepower of modern weapons.” He shook his head. “Overconfident trash.”
Tossing Kramer into the back of the car, Denny stood back and watched as Annalee and Peyton brought up the rear.
“That was easier than what I—”
That’s when they all turned.
Coming in a single line through a field were at least forty demons side-by-side.
“Now there’s the party!” Peyton said, pulling out her weapon. “Or should I say there’s a feast?”
Jogging up to them, still in his dark suit, was Cadbury. “It would appear someone called for backup.”
Denny st
udied the approaching line of demons. “We have what we came for—this fucking rat bastard. Any others?”
“No clue. We just decided dead Germans were better than living ones.”
“So, ladies, are we going to fight these demons, or live to fight another day?”
“Three of us versus what, forty of them?” Peyton asked. “I like those odds.”
Denny opened the door. “They’ll all be dead by the time the equinox has come. Let’s just leave ’em be and get the hell out of here. Where did you leave Iris?”
Annalee shook her head. “You really think she’d have stayed anywhere I left her? She’s a stubborn one, your witch. Almost as bad as mine.”
Denny was crestfallen.
She pulled out her phone to call Iris, but found a text waiting from Iris already. Or at least from Iris’s phone. A picture of a man holding a gun to Iris’s head. The text message simply read: “Trade for Karl?”
Denny felt her stomach tighten. “God damn it.” Denny showed Annalee and Peyton the photo. “I’m gonna kill whoever that hand belongs to.”
“Maybe that’s why they didn’t try to kill you in there,” Annalee said, motioning with her chin to Denny’s bullet wound that was already healing. “They have an insurance policy.”
“They have a death wish is what those mother fuckers have,” Denny growled, texting: “Where?”
“At the Speyer Cathedral. Fifteen minutes.”
Denny got in the car and waited for the others to get in. “We’re lucky she’s still alive.”
Karl started to come to and an eerie chuckle escaped his lips.
Peyton’s response was to smack him in the face, knocking him out once more. “Annalee’s caught me up to speed, Rookie, but damn, girl, you should have called me sooner. This shit is intense.”
“I know. Thank you for coming so quickly.”
“I owe you. If I can help you and your family, so be it. So, what’s our end game here?”
Denny blew out a breath. Yes, she should have called Peyton sooner. She was the best Legacy hunter in the world. She had also tried to rid herself of the demon once before, so Denny knew she needed to tread lightly. “We’re gonna get Iris back and get to England before midnight.”
“So you’re going to make the trade?”
“I am. I can’t risk her life, and I won’t take any chances with ours. We need to get her and get the hell out of Dodge.”
Annalee turned to Denny. “DH? You’re letting them go?”
Denny nodded. “If I have to. The clock’s ticking, Annalee. We have to get to Stonehenge before midnight or all of this will have been for nothing. Besides, without demons, they’ll have to regroup, and that could take years.”
“What about GenLabor and that fucked-up bullshit?”
“My friend Lauren has been very busy carefully crafting letters to several major global networks and newsrooms. We don’t need to do anything to that corporation because the truth will bury them. They will lose everything in the court of public opinion.”
“Uh...nobody’s going to believe the witch piece.”
A slow smile spread across Denny’s face. “She’s not talking about witchcraft. Lauren is brilliant. She is posing the possibility that the German corporation is doing genetic research so expectant couples might one day know beforehand if their infant is a homosexual.”
“Oohhh. Well, that’ll piss off the entire world.”
“As long as we get it shut down, or at least better monitored, we can keep a watch on it. If the lab needs to be destroyed down the line, we can do that.”
Annalee placed her hand on Denny’s thigh. “Are you ready to end this, Silver?”
Thinking about her mother, about Valeria, and about the increasingly heavy mantle of being a Legacy hunter, Denny nodded. “I am. It’s time for me to find some peace in my life. I think we could all use a break.”
“Amen to that, sister.”
They stood in a fully blooming rose garden outside of the Speyer Cathedral and stared as Wilhelm Kramer held a gun to Iris’s head. Her mouth was duct taped, and her hands were bound behind her.
The Hanta raised its ugly head as Denny, Annalee, and Peyton stood, weapons out, with Karl Kramer kneeling in front of them. Denny had Epée pressed on his neck. The base of her skull tingled slightly. “More are coming,” she said softly.
Peyton nodded. “I feel ’em.” She adjusted the black leather jacket she wore and cracked her neck to both sides. “We’ve got this, Rookie. Make the trade.”
“They meet in between us, Kramer. You put the gun down. We lower our weapons. Nobody needs to get hurt.”
“Agreed.” He pushed Iris forward, keeping his weapon trained on her.
“There are more,” Annalee whispered. “Lots more.”
“I know.”
Peyton pulled Karl Kramer to his feet and shoved him ahead. “Go on, you neo-Nazi motherfucker.”
Karl stumbled slightly, then stopped and turned his head back to them. “How many lives will you lose to save one aging witch and an already dead woman?”
Denny took a step toward him, but Annalee stopped her. “Let’s just get Iris and get the hell out of here.”
The three Legacy hunters stood, weapons at the ready, as Iris and Karl Kramer came chest to chest. Karl seemed to be blocking her path as he looked into her face. “You are a seventh and one day, the most powerful of them all.” Then he looked beyond her to his brother. “I love you, dear brother, but rules are rules.”
Before Denny could stop him, Kramer ducked just as Wilhelm lifted his sidearm and shot Iris in the back.
“No!” Denny cried out as Iris fell forward, her head bouncing off the hard ground.
Wilhelm shot several more rounds before running into the darkness—a darkness three dozen or more demons came out of.
As Karl struggled to get to his feet, Denny leapt on top of him and snapped his neck. Then she grabbed Iris in her arms. “Don’t you fucking die on me.”
The battle around her began in earnest as the demons descended on them from all corners.
Annalee and Peyton stood on either side of Denny, weapons drawn, but everyone knew this was it. There was no way they would survive so many gun-toting demons.
Denny didn’t even look up. Holding Iris in her arms, she gently pulled the tape off her mouth. “Hang in there, Iris. Please. Please don’t die.” Denny held her tightly, rocking back and forth. Blood flowed from the wound in her lower back.
“DH?”
Gazing into her face, Denny forced a grin she did not feel. “Yes, love?”
“Don’t...die here. Get up...and...fight. Please.”
Looking at the gun wielding demons now half a football field away, she knew fighting was a moot point. “Nah. We’re in this together, me and you.” Then she caught Annalee’s gaze. “Get out now. Get back to the car. You are not dying here tonight.”
Annalee exchanged glances with Peyton. “Well?”
Peyton shook her head. “Tonight’s as good a night to die as any. You go on. I got this.”
Annalee took her fighting stance. “I can live being a lot of things, Farquar, but being a coward isn’t one of them.”
“Damn you...DH...please,” Iris pleaded.
“Not hearing you, kid.” Denny inhaled deeply and kissed Iris’s head. “Hang in there, little witch. This world is not done with you yet.”
“Ready, Farquar?” Annalee asked.
“Always. Let’s do this.”
Twenty yards from the tiny group huddled together, the demons stopped, suddenly, as if frozen in place.
“What the fuck?”
The three hunters turned around to find dozens of witches holding their hands straight out in front of them, Beatrice in the middle, her long hair flowing behind her in a wind that did not exist.
Magic.
“There is not much time, hunters. Bring the seventh to me. We can only hold them for so long.”
Scooping Iris up in her arms, Denny bolted tow
ard the witches, followed by Annalee and Peyton.
“Hold the line, ladies,” Beatrice said. “We must protect her at all costs.” Quickly turning, Beatrice led the hunters to a long line of Town Cars, then picked the one at the head of the line and flung open the door.
“Put her in the back,” Beatrice barked at Denny, who gently laid Iris across the back seat.
“Sorry if I hurt you,” Denny whispered.
“Get...to...Stonehenge, DH. Hurry. Don’t let this…cleansing…happen.”
Denny cast a worried look at Beatrice, who held the door open for another woman, who immediately began pulling out medical supplies and herbs.
“This is Siobhan. She is the best healer in our coven. Your witch is in the best possible hands. Now, you need to go. We have your driver in the fourth car back. The trainer Cadbury?”
Denny was barely listening as she knelt down and kissed Iris’s head. “If you leave this earth, kiddo, I’m gonna come after you.”
Iris opened her eyes. “I have no doubt...you would. Go get ’em, DH.”
Rising, Denny took Beatrice’s hands in hers. “I don’t know how to thank you.”
“You already have. Thinning the witchers’ ranks will make such a difference in our lives. So, thank you. We will contact you with updates on her condition. Now, do as your witch said. Go get them. She will be safe with us.”
Denny gave Beatrice her cell number before starting toward the fourth car in between Annalee and Peyton.
Just as she opened the door, Beatrice called out to her. “Hunter? One last thing.”
Denny turned. “Yeah?”
“Cassandra is deeply in love with you. She may not know how to show it, but trust me. She is.”
Opening the door, Denny pulled Cadbury from it. “Come on. We have a flight to catch.”
The flight to England was uneventful, but the inability to get constant updates about Iris’s health made Denny pace like a caged animal.
“Sit down, rookie. You’re making me nervous.”
Denny sat for half a minute, then hopped back up. It was nine o’clock at night. Three hours to equinox. Her heart banged inside her chest, her palms were clammy, and she couldn’t shake her failure that had put Iris in danger.
Coven Betrayed (The Silver Legacy Book 4) Page 19
