My sword? Livia’s never given me a weapon. Livia. She broke him. His last memories crashed into him as he dropped the sword to his side. Unable to tear his eyes away from Sasha, he took another step toward her, ignoring Livia’s order for him to return. The sharp tug of his leash didn’t faze him. He felt stronger than he had in months, but his breath came fast and uneasy. Confusion overwhelmed him. His chest burned, sending his blood pumping through his body like liquid ice in his veins. The world tilted and Quinn feared he would pass out before he could draw his next breath. When his lungs filled with sweet air and his world righted again, everything was different. Sasha was his lifeline and he held onto her. His heart seemed to beat right out of his chest. His pulse raced alongside the gentle echo of another heartbeat. It gave him strength and calmed him in the midst of war.
Jin Jing’s sudden roar pulled Quinn into the present. He held his hand up to shield his eyes from the smoke. It's the orchard. Just like James said. And his grandmother was fighting Livia.
Something monumental had passed between Quinn and Sasha. Something that would change them forever, but he had to focus. This was Santi’s plan in action and he had some catching up to do.
Santi? Where is she? He scanned the rows of gnarled old apple trees for any sign of her. But the chaos overwhelmed him. His hands itched to fight, but he couldn’t settle his mind on who the enemy was.
“Stay with me.” Sasha stepped up beside him. “I’ll will not leave your side until this is done.”
Quinn nodded, a little unsettled by the cold look on her face. But the sound of Livia’s laughter brought his attention back to the fight. She was the enemy.
The silver-fire in Livia’s eyes flamed in fury, but the look on her face was one of panic. She was cornered. Quinn gazed around the orchard. Most of her team had fallen to his family, and those who remained were fleeing.
No, Livia! He watched in horror as Ming Lao fell to her knees at Livia’s feet. It made no sense. Livia was alone and outnumbered. His father and grandparents had her trapped and his great-grandparents stood at the ready to help.
“Go, son!” Daniel cried, taking up the fight against Livia. He shoved Quinn and Sasha toward his great-grandparents, Ju Long and Lu Li.
He couldn’t watch. His father was strong but Livia would exploit Daniel’s limitations.
“Relax, Quinnton. You are home now,” Ju Long whispered.
But he couldn’t relax. He knew Livia. Quinn knew she wouldn’t back down just because she was surrounded. He could see the power simmering in her eyes. She hadn’t just wounded Ming Lao. She’d done something horrifying. He could sense it in the air. They all could and they each took a step back.
“No!” Quinn sobbed when it hit him. Ming Lao and Jin Jing regarded each other as strangers. Something unnatural and heinous had putrefied their Complement bond. Quinn could sense the decay.
“What have you done, Livia?” Quinn roared.
“Ming?” Jin cried as she dropped her sword, clutching her chest like she wanted to rip her heart from her body.
“Mom!” Chloe burst through the trees, flinging herself between her parents, boldly standing between them and Livia.
“Chloe?” Daniel moved to put himself between Livia and his little sister.
With a sickening thud Quinn would never forget, Livia’s sword came crashing down, sending his father’s hand and his sword to the dusty ground. Daniel stumbled, holding the bloody stump of his arm, trying to stay on his feet.
Quinn cried out in frustration, breaking his great-grandfather’s grip. Livia had hurt Quinn so many times and he took it, but he refused to watch her hurt his family. He needed this nightmare to end. He wanted to go back to not feeling anything. Not caring was better than this.
“Don’t let her win,” Ju Long said. “She can sever their bond but she will never destroy this family.”
“Quinn!”
“Santi!” He turned at the familiar voice, finding her standing among the shadows of the apple trees.
“Come, please, we have to get away. Remember the plan? Please come back to me?” she begged.
“You did it,” he said softly, taking a step toward her.
“Let’s go. While Livia is distracted.” She reached for his hand.
Quinn gasped as his heart clenched in agony. He stared at Santi, but turned back to Sasha. The hurt and confusion on her face tore him up inside.
I’ll never be enough for both of them. I’ll always fall short.
“Listen to the girl, son,” Ju Long said. “You and Sasha go with her now. We will deal with this threat. We have the upper hand.”
“Santi?” Quinn took another step toward the girl he loved, aching at the pain he caused the other girl he loved just as much but in a different way.
“Yes. Remember James and Lennox? They’ll be on their way to us soon. We did it. You did it!” Santi’s smile overwhelmed him. He’d never seen her smile like that before. She was free. All they had to do was walk away, far from this place. But Sasha’s pain caused him to hesitate. He wanted to tell her not to give up on him.
I still love you, Sasha. So much it hurts. But after all this time, somewhere along the way, his love for her had transformed into something he didn’t understand. Rooted to the spot, he couldn’t make a choice between the two most important people in his world.
He saw the hardness sweep through Sasha. The way her shoulders stiffened. Her face grew cold and unfeeling. This was not the Sasha he remembered. She’d changed. Like maybe he wasn’t the only one who’d gone through hell and back.
Without a word, Sasha turned toward the barn … right into the arms of another man.
“Jayesh?” Her voice warmed with hope and a hint of pain. The smile that lit her face rivaled the sun.
The man with the face tattoo watched Sasha with eyes starved for the sight of her. Jayesh had promised he would sever all ties with Sasha. Clearly she hadn’t let him.
Santi’s hand wrapped around Quinn’s. It was a painful moment, watching Sasha cast a last glance over her shoulder at him. But when Jayesh turned and retreated back through the woods toward the house, Sasha followed, taking a piece of Quinn’s heart with her.
~~~
“Oh, but I can do much worse, my dear Alexis.” Livia’s taunt pulled Quinn away from Sasha’s retreating figure and back to the battle.
“Quinn, let’s go. Please.” Santi pulled his hand.
“I can’t leave my family to clean up my mess,” he said, turning to face Livia.
“Liv, don’t do this,” Quinn begged her to end this. “Please. We’ll come back with you.”
“No!” Chloe cried when Livia lunged toward Jin.
Quinn watched as Jin shoved his daughter behind him. Livia’s sword flashed silver in the brilliant moonlight.
No longer Complements? Livia had always kept her own abilities close to the belt. While she knew every nuance of her slaves’ individual gifts, the only thing Quinn knew she could do was hijack another’s gift.
“She’s severed their bond,” he choked. Their Immortality lay within the Complement bond. If that bond no longer existed … what would that mean for Jin and Ming’s mortality?
Gunfire sounded just as Livia’s sword arched toward Jin’s chest. The bullet hit Livia’s shoulder, but it was too late.
At the last moment, Ming Lao jumped in front of her husband. Livia’s sword had sliced right through her heart.
“Momma!” Chloe shrieked, dropping to the ground beside her mother.
“It is best that one of them not survive this, child,” Livia said, ruffling Chloe’s hair. Then she gripped her shoulder where bloodstains bloomed across her white shirt and set off across the orchard.
Chloe’s screams echoed in the sudden stillness of the night.
Quinn lunged to follow Livia.
“No, Quinn!” Santi pulled him back. “Let her go!”
He really wanted to believe in Livia. That she wasn’t the monster she seemed to be. But nothing gave
her the right to do what she’d just done. Cornered or not.
Livia joined Selena at the edge of the orchard, but Emma, Ju Long and Lu Li boxed them in. Michael waited for Livia along the orchard path to the gates, but seeing their predicament, he turned tail and ran.
Santi and Quinn’s plan was a success. Livia wouldn’t make it out of here a free woman—but it had cost his grandmother her life.
Quinn followed his mother, ignoring Santi’s pleas as she trailed behind him. He drew his sword, focusing on the woman responsible for all of this.
“Get back, son. She’s mine,” Emma said.
“Listen to mommy,” Livia taunted. “Shall we tell her of all the tortures you’ve experienced since you’ve been with me, Quinn?”
“You’re outnumbered, Liv. Give it up.” He cast a glance at Selena. She was busy with Ju Long and Lu Li. They were keeping her on her toes.
“I don’t give up.” Livia lunged her attack, stalking Emma like prey. But Emma was ready for her, countering her advances like the blade master she was.
Livia and Emma circled each other.
“You’ll never touch another hair on my son’s head,” Emma snarled. “I will soak this ground with your blood and dance on it.”
The two women were well matched. But Livia was young and she surrounded herself with those even younger. Emma had over a thousand years of experience and wisdom on her side. And she fought with the fury only a mother could know. She wasn’t going to lose this fight.
“Get my son out of here!” Emma shouted at Santi. The ground shook with the force of their blows as Emma moved in a blur, chasing Livia through the rows of trees. True to her word, Emma’s sword carved Livia’s flesh, spilling her blood all across the orchard.
“Quinn?” Santi whispered at his side.
“I can’t leave my mother and my great-grandparents to fight on their own.” But just as he turned to help Ju Long, his brand seared hot on his arm, forcing Quinn to drop his weapon. The tug of his leash brought him to his knees. Santi fell beside him as Ryan came to collect them.
Quinn searched the orchard for help. He wouldn’t go back. Not when his plans had led to the death of his grandmother and all of this bloodshed. No. He refused to be a captive any longer.
“You’re coming with me.” Ryan hauled him to his feet.
“No! Let him go.” Santi shoved him, scraping her nails across his face. “Go!” She shoved him again. “Turn tail and run like the coward you are,” Santi sneered, “we’re not coming with you. You’re outnumbered?”
“I’ll pull you back. You belong to Soma.” Ryan watched as Emma fought to bring Livia down. At the same moment, two Coalition joined Selena in her battle with Ju Long and Lu Li.
“No!” Quinn lunged to help his great-grandparents, but Ryan’s held him back. “Please!”
The Coalition thugs had given Selena the opening she needed. With a touch of her gift, she drained Quinn’s great-grandparents of their knowledge, dropping them to the ground when she was done with them. She’d make a fortune selling their priceless secrets.
In an instant, the Coalition moved in for the slaughter. Like the butchers they were, they ripped the Immortal’s hearts from their chests and tossed them into the nearest fire like proud hunters discarding the offal from a fresh kill.
Selena took a step toward Livia, like the well-trained dog she was, but Livia wasn’t her master. Marcus had given Selena enough freedom to make her own choices. With a smirk in Quinn’s direction, she fled the orchard with her Coalition guards.
With a roar of misery, Quinn broke Ryan’s hold. “Get out of here,” Quinn said. “Before I make you pay for this.”
Ryan cast a last glance at Livia, on her knees in the dirt, and followed Selena without a word.
Emma panted with fury. The effort of simply standing beside the woman who’d taken her son was too much for her. Quinn could see the coldness in his mother’s eyes. She wanted to make Livia suffer.
“Mom,” Quinn whispered. “She’s not worth it.”
The sound of her son’s voice pulled her back. Emma raised her sword and brought the hilt down on Livia’s head. The crack of her skull echoed in the silence around them as Livia slid to the ground in a boneless heap.
“I want to kill this woman!” Emma screamed in frustration. “She should die for what she’s done to my son and our family.” She gasped with the intensity of her anger.
“Mom. Can we go home, please?” Quinn asked, his eyes glued to the gruesome sight of his great-grandparents lying still in the moonlight.
“Yes, we have to go,” Naeemah said as she charged through the trees, coming from the direction of the gates. “If we’re going to get out of here at all, we need to move now.” She reached to pull the unconscious Livia across her shoulders. “Now, Emma. Get your sons and get out of here. I will see to our dead.”
Emma grabbed Quinn’s hand with a gentle squeeze and they were running through the trees, far away from the house, the orchard and the madness of the last hours.
Quinn pulled Santi behind him, hope stirring in his chest at the taste of freedom.
As they stood beside the row of cars his family had strategically placed in the woods for their quick escape, Quinn’s brand erupted, lighting him on fire. Santi buckled under the intensity of the pull. The desire to return to Soma filled them both. Livia still had their power, but Ryan had taken ownership of their brands the moment she fell. He would see to it they returned. If he had the strength to make them obey.
“Quinn? What is it?” Emma demanded, searching him for the source of the pain.
“It’s the Soma brand. They’re calling us back,” he gasped. “We won’t be able to resist it.”
Emma nodded. “I’m going to collar you both. It won’t help with the pain, but it should dull your desire to return to Soma. Eventually, you’ll be able to break the bond of the brand. But you’re going to have to outlast it.” Taking a set of magnetized collars from her hip, she placed one around his throat with a look in her eye that said she would never let him go.
“Do you mind?” Emma asked Santi.
“It’s okay. It won’t be long,” Quinn said.
Santi nodded, closing her eyes as Emma clasped the collar around her throat.
“Quinn?” Daniel stumbled to the car, clutching Graham for support.
“Dad. I’m so sorry. I—“
Quinn’s father wrapped his one good arm around his son.
“Don’t ever apologize.” Daniel’s face paled as he clutched the bloody stump of his arm against his chest.
“Let’s get our boys home,” Emma said softly as she helped Daniel into the front seat.
“Quinn!” Graham slammed into his brother’s chest.
“Little man, it’s good to see you.” Quinn cried, holding Graham tight. “But if you ever go anywhere near Soma again, I will personally nail your feet to the bottom of the lake.”
Graham helped Quinn and Santi into the back seat and a moment later, they were speeding along the dirt roads that ran along the backside of the property.
“Welcome back, bro,” Graham said softly as Quinn’s body erupted in agony, the pull of the Soma brand chasing all thought from his mind.
~~~
CHAPTER
THIRTY-FIVE
Sasha: Fall—The New Moon
Rural New York
“Jayesh?” Sasha charged through the trees and came to an abrupt halt at the edge of the lawn. “Gen?” She shrank back into the shadows cast by the blood red moon, high overhead now. The lawn in front of her sister’s home swarmed with the fleeing enemy. Voices shouted as Livia’s people rushed to secure their captives. This was the Coalition. Livia’s backup. At the center of all their activity, Imogen and her Complement, Lucien, were collared and waiting on their knees beside a roaring fire. Jayesh stood over them, brandishing a blade and barking out orders. A woman led Sasha’s cousin Dean by the collar she’d placed around his neck, shoving him into the caged back of one of their veh
icles.
Sasha couldn’t breathe. Had they just traded Dean’s life for Quinn’s? There was no way she was going to stand by and watch her sister and brother-in-law die in place of their parents. And she sure as hell wasn’t going to let Jayesh be the one to do it.
Sasha stepped into the circle of light, heedless of the Coalition agents scrambling to leave. “Jayesh. What are you doing?” she demanded as she stalked across the lawn to her sister’s side. “You can’t do this.”
“Sasha, no,” Imogen said gently. “You have to leave me here, sweetie. It will be okay. This is what Mother Raghavan was preparing me for.”
“You knew this was coming?” Lucien took his wife’s hand.
“I knew you and I were headed for a difficult time.” Her eyes shone bright in the moonlight.
“That’s why you’ve pushed me away since your return,” Lucien said.
“I was trying to distance myself from you. Hoping to save you from this.”
“Please let them go, Jayesh,” Sasha whispered.
“I can’t. There are too many eyes watching me.”
“Go Sasha,” Imogen said. “We will survive this. Jayesh, get her out of here!”
Arms pulled Sasha back, dragging her to her knees beside her sister.
“Wait,” Jayesh said. “I’ll do it.” He took the collar from the Coalition woman. His voice was hard, showing no trace of the careful mentor Sasha had come to admire. Or of the man she was falling for. The enormity of his betrayal broke her heart.
“Leave us,” Jay commanded.
The mortal woman released Sasha but she forced Imogen and Lucien to their feet. “Be quick about it.” She shot Sasha a glare as she shoved her captives toward the waiting van.
“No! You can’t, Jayesh. She’s my sister!” Sasha lunged after them, but Jayesh held her back.
“No, Sasha.”
“Don’t do this.” Tears rolled down her face. “Take me instead. Let them go and I’ll come quietly.”
Jay turned her to face him, keeping a firm grip on her arms. The cold look in his eyes grew warm as he stared at her. “I need you to trust me, angel,” he said softly. “I will not let them execute Imogen and her husband, but they’re going to have to come with me. For now. I have a job to do.”
Emerge: The Captive: (Book 3) Page 29
