Hans (The Clan Legacy)

by J. S. Striker

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  “We found the cave and scouted out the area until we thought it was safe to go in and plant the bomb. Mr. Grayson took the cure and I tried to plant the bomb, then sneak out before sunlight to activate its timer. But we overestimated the situation and there were still more rogues inside. They heard us taking the plants. I opened the portal for Finn, but they were already attacking. So Mr. Grayson…cut off some of his fingers so his wrist could slide off the cuffs. He was trying to protect us. I planted the bomb while they fought the rogues and we got out of there quick. Mr. Grayson covered for us on our way out. He was ambushed.”

  Silence filled the room as she finished her verbal report. From her seat behind a desk, Lucinda gazed at her almost serenely, her light green eyes betraying nothing. It was all Nell could do not to shift her weight on her other foot as she stood up in the middle of the office, three of the most powerful vampires scrutinizing her with unreadable faces.

  The other two, first-in-line Vladimir and second-in-line Raz, were the epitome of vampiric calm. Vladimir was the more ruthless of the two, and Nell waited expecting some kind of condemnation to come out of his lips.

  But before anyone could utter a word, Lucinda finally spoke.

  “Thank you, Nell. We will look into your report. Gentlemen, can you excuse us? I would like to speak with Miss Louise about her next assignment.”

  It was code for I’d like to grill her and give her punishment in private. Lucinda never liked making punishments a public spectacle unless absolutely necessary.

  The two vampires left the room, gliding across the floor gracefully. Raz shot her one more unreadable look before closing the door behind him, leaving only Lucinda and Nell.

  Five minutes later, a hidden compartment opened just on the wall beside Lucinda’s desk.

  Right. And Finn.

  “I’ve checked. It all checks. Dylan approved the mission and Hans needed the cure. The plants are being extracted by Sophia now for a cure potion.”

  Nell breathed an inward sigh of relief, but strained to make her face as calm as ever. She didn’t dare make any noise or unnecessary movement.

  “Hans is in containment. His fingers are gone and the resident shifter doctor is trying to fix what she can.”

  Nell froze as the reality of the situation hit. Hans no longer had some fingers.

  He lost them trying to protect her.

  Lucinda tilted her head. “Is he conscious?”

  Finn shook his head, blue eyes glancing towards Nell. Nell refused to meet his gaze. “He’s down. Heavy sedatives, heavily injured. The rogues tore up his ligaments while he was…well, while he was trying to buy us time. It was a hell of a sight. Ironic, too, considering the bastard was one of those who voted for my exile in the shifter headquarters. But yeah, hell of a sight. Wasn’t it, Nell?”

  Nell forced herself to nod stiffly. The two were now eyeing her in concentration, as if trying to find some answers from her. Instead, Nell inclined her head at her vampire leader.

  “My performance wasn’t satisfactory. I apologize, Lucinda. I had all the necessary equipment and didn’t do it right. I will accept whatever it is you deem as punishment for me.”

  Again, silence filled the room. Nell wondered what her punishment was going to be. A terrible feeling settled in her stomach as she recalled the events of what happened…was it just yesterday? Goodness.

  She almost got two shifters killed.

  “Nell?”

  Nell’s head snapped up as Lucinda finally spoke.

  “Yes?”

  “For your next assignment,” Lucinda began.

  Nell nodded firmly—

  “You will be on rest for two weeks.”

  Nell blinked.

  Then she stared at her vampire leader and blinked again.

  “Pardon?”

  Lucinda stared her in the eye, her decision firm. “I don’t want an injured assistant with me during my meetings. It’s a weakness in front of the council. You are to rest and recover, then I will call you once the two weeks are up. Is that clear?”

  There was no arguing with Lucinda. There had never been any arguing with Lucinda, unless you were her mate—or you wanted your head taken off.

  Nell reluctantly nodded, still refusing to meet Finn’s knowing gaze.

  Then she stepped out of the room and tried not to look lost. Two weeks of…doing nothing. Assisting no one. Being useless.

  What was she supposed to do?

  *****

  Nell wasn’t very good at not moving, despite the injuries she had sustained. It wasn’t like they were a big deal, anyway, considering all she had were the cuts on her legs and arms, a gash on her forehead, stomach and a broken wrist—basically a piece of cake for any vampire. Except she wasn’t as powerful or as fast-healing as the oldies.

  But still.

  Of course, there were also the blisters. But she tried not to think about the blisters, because it reminded her of a certain someone who healed the worst of it—and that someone had taken the brunt of all the injuries, because he was too pigheaded and wanted to prove too much.

  Stupid, stubborn man.

  She wasn’t going to think about him any longer.

  So Nell kept herself busy.

  She insisted to Lucinda that her left hand was good and did all the paperwork there was to do until her eyes all but fell off her head and her brain became tired. Her reports were stellar and absolutely perfect.

  She scourged the library for new books to read, rearranged books in alphabetical order until the librarian all but threatened to kick her out. She argued back and said this was beneficial for everyone, because who wanted to get lost in book clutters and messy arrangements? It would just delay reading and trying to find the book they needed.

  She made maps—particularly, a more accurate map of the mountain she traveled, because apparently witches were going to open the barrier now that the witch who created it was dead and the rogue threats were gone. They were going to clean up what they could and isolate what couldn’t be cleaned, and her map was going to lead the way.

  It was while she was puzzling over this map, on a huge table in the empty library, that a certain vampire came to pay her a visit. Nell was too absorbed to notice right away as she poured over her sketches—but a quick clearing of throat had her looking up and blinking. Then she was standing up and formally bowing her head, and the bow was surprisingly returned.

  What was Raz doing here?

  The second-in-line asked questions about how she was doing, then about her injuries. Then he made some interested noises about the maps, and she puzzled over his blond head with a frown as he bent down to study them quietly. Nell always liked him better than Vladimir, who put up airs too much for his own good—but then again, Vladimir was more powerful. Raz was second to him, fit perfectly in his position, and was charming and graceful.

  Cute, too, as his hypnotic brown eyes suddenly met hers.

  “I’ve got a question, Nell, if you don’t mind.”

  “Of course. Go ahead.”

  Obviously, he was also incredibly polite. She wondered if he was curious about the location she just went to, because he never exactly expressed interest before. Raz was mostly interested in private functions and spying for Lucinda, rather than roughing it out and getting dirty—which was Vladimir’s specialty, she supposed. Maybe Raz just wanted to discuss the map itself and the geography, or—

  “Can I have the honor of your hand in marriage?”

  Nell froze.

  What?

  Raz was looking at her seriously…no, solemnly. Intimately. There was polite sincerity in his gaze, and…what the hell was happening?

  “Why?” she blurted out.

  The vampire didn’t blink at the question, but he might as well have. “Why?”

  “Yes, why?” she asked. “You haven’t even…” Shown interest before, her mind finished. Flirted with me. Kissed me.

  An image of Hans’ kiss flashed in he
r mind. Hot. Passionate. Hungry. Her heart skipped a beat, and she inwardly cursed herself.

  “We are a perfect match,” Raz explained calmly. “You’re Lucinda’s most trusted assistant and I am her second-in-line. We want to serve her well. We both can make an impact in the vampire society, and that will help her in the long run. Isn’t that what you want?”

  She imagined herself serving Lucinda forever, and standing beside a man who was honorable and charming…and if she was honest with herself, boring. But boring was safe. Boring was dependable. He wasn’t going to hurt her.

  Was that what she wanted?

  Bottle green eyes filled her mind, and she let it float away. Then she stared at Raz, who offered her a charming, gentle smile. It would be so easy with him. It would be so…safe.

  “Can I think about it, Raz?”

  The vampire nodded. “Of course. Take all the time you need. We are immortal, after all.”

  She blinked at his attempt at a joke. It was delivered so awkwardly. Nell attempted a smile. Raz smiled back, then left her alone.

  She sat down and brooded over her maps.

  If she married him, there would be no more questions. No more adventures. She’d be safe. It was perfect.

  It also made her feel absolutely miserable.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  They blindfolded Hans before having Finn guide him through some kind of secret passageway—they being Lucinda and Finn, of course, and this apparently being some kind of privilege that not all guests had access to. Hans tried to be flattered, but it was currently difficult when he couldn’t see anything beyond the cloth’s darkness, and had to rely on his other senses to guide him through. The secret passageway smelled of damp ground, musk and vampires, and it made Hans want to squirm and bare his teeth by nature—except he couldn’t.

  So he tried to keep still instead.

  Finn attempted to make small talk by asking how his legs were doing, and Hans answered that he’d been better. Which was true. He was still limping when he walked, and he wasn’t going to kick ass at any missions soon, but he could hold his own in case of emergencies. The most important thing was the cure, which worked wonders and effectively got rid of whatever disease the dead witch had cursed upon his fellow bear shifters.

  Now they were safe.

  Finn then began to ask about his fingers, and Hans couldn’t help the grimace that slid out of him. Again, his fingers had been better—specifically when they were still there for him to use. Annie, the resident doctor in their shifter headquarters, had scolded him endlessly when he’d finally been conscious, spouting off about irresponsibility and recklessness—two things that Hans had never been until now. He flexed that hand now, feeling the twinge running through it. At least he only lost two fingers, and almost half of his palm. His thumb and two other fingers were still functioning, but he was going to have to learn every weapon using his left hand now.

  It would take time, but he was up to the challenge.

  He heard Finn pause in front of him, and so he paused, too. He was expecting some door to be opened, or for them to reach their destination, as Hans supplied an explanation of why he was here.

  Instead, Finn asked him a question with his voice full of suspicion.

  “What are your intentions with Nell?”

  Right. He was wondering if it was even safe to discuss this here, but the dragon shifter beat him to it.

  “It’s safe to speak. We’ve soundproofed the passage. It was just too much trouble whispering and doing hand signals in the dark in the past.”

  Ah.

  “To thank her for taking care of me in the mission,” Hans said evenly, careful not to give out any details.

  “You can always send a card, you know,” Finn muttered. “Or an assistant.”

  Hans wasn’t liking this, and a frown almost marred his face. But he controlled his expression and kept it as placid as possible. “What’s it to you, Jackles?”

  He heard Finn take a step toward him, then another. When Finn spoke, his voice was full of gravity, a surprising thing considering the dragon shifter had been all about fun.

  “I was there when Nell turned,” Finn began. “It had been a horrible time for her, but Lucinda helped her control her violent urges until she became a vampire who took hold of her humanity and stubbornly kept it a part of her. Which makes her vulnerable, more than she’s aware.”

  Silence. Hans didn’t say a word, letting the words wash over him.

  Then the threat came.

  “If you hurt her in any way,” Finn said, voice still soft, “I will end you.”

  Hans nodded his head. “Duly noted.”

  And just like that, the air was cleared. Hans felt a pat on his shoulder before Finn backed away and continued walking. He whistled, back to his cheerful self. Hans shook his head.

  Dragon shifters were very odd.

  *****

  Ten minutes later, they were deep in the passageway when Finn stopped again. They could hear voices on the other end, muffled ones, which made Hans realize that the hearing thing was one-sided.

  So this was the passageway’s other purpose. Clever.

  It took him a second to determine that there were two people—vampires—on the other end, speaking in low tones. It took him another to realize that Nell was one of them.

  Her voice had every nerve in his body standing on end, and the reaction caught him by surprise. His bear urged him to come closer, wanting to be nearer to the source. He honed in to the words being said, until his ears found them and finally understood them.

  Can I think about it, Raz?

  Someone called Raz was asking for her hand in marriage—like it was a damn business deal.

  And she didn’t refuse.

  The bear in him snarled, fighting to claw its way out. In response to it, Hans turned to Finn, who was unusually quiet. Hans scowled.

  “Who is Raz?”

  There was a very definitive amused tone from the dragon shifter when he finally responded. “He’s Lucinda’s second-in-line. A really agreeable fellow, if I do say so myself.”

  Hans’ scowl deepened.

  Finn snickered. Then, when the voices on the other side stopped and silence prevailed again, the dragon shifter finally slid open a door as Hans felt light trickle in through the cloth covering his eyes. Then they were stepping forward, the blindfold was removed, and he was blinking his eyes and staring at a library that was bigger than any he’d ever seen.

  An extra cheer entered Finn’s voice now. “Hey, Nell! Look who dropped by to see you. Was that Raz I heard? I wasn’t sure, I wasn’t really listening in.”

  Liar. Hans wanted to raise a brow at him, but it was proving difficult when his gaze finally settled on Nell, who was standing beside a table and staring at them with shock—no, as if they had grown three heads. Her reddish hair was down and framing her face, and she was wearing a white dress with pops of blue in it that brought out the color of her eyes. The hem fluttered above her knees, and he glimpsed smooth skin and some healed scars. She had long legs, he realized. Long legs in a petite figure, and she’d filled out since he last saw her.

  And she looked absolutely delectable.

  Pretty.

  Too pretty for some fancy schmuck named Raz.

  A roar pounded in his ears, and Hans barely heard Finn telling Nell that he needed to leave and asking her if she could blindfold Hans on the way out. Through Nell’s shock, she nodded, the movement causing her hair to move and expose some of her pale neck.

  Instinct urged him to take a step closer, and so he did.

  Now that he was here, he wasn’t exactly sure what to say anymore, so he tried to gather his words by staring at the table. Papers were spread out, and some map. A second later, he realized it was a sketch, and that he recognized it too well. Curiosity lit him up.

  “You made this?”

  Nell hesitated, then nodded when he stepped even closer and pored over it. The details were amazing, and she left little notes
on the side of what to watch out for and shortcut tips.

  “A team of witches are going to scourge the place out for any trace of rogues and make it good for regular civilians again,” she explained. “I just wanted to make their job easier.”

  “This is amazing,” Hans murmured, finger tracing the sketch on top. “You’re good at documenting things.”

  “It’s my specialty.” She seemed to appreciate his compliment, and stepped beside him to point out some things. “The distance here can help them calculate the days, and this here—the symbols—will tell them what type of encounter they’d expect once they reached that certain area. But they know that things might have changed since the explosion, so they’re gonna have to take that into consideration, too.”

  At the word explosion, he felt her eyes go to his hand, which was resting on the table. Hers was just alongside it. He stiffened as he expected pity to come out of her, but none came.

  “It’s healing quite nicely,” she said softly.

  Hans nodded. “Yes.”

  Silence.

  Hans finally looked up—mistake. He didn’t realize she was actually too close beside him, and now her presence made awareness seep into him like warm water. Her blue eyes flared with the same awareness, and her lips parted.

  Desire rushed up inside him.

  “Don’t think about it,” he blurted out.

  Nell blinked, and the connection was broken. “What?”

  “You said you’d think about his marriage offer,” he clarified. “Don’t. You don’t match.”

  Realization flickered in her eyes. Then they narrowed—the same expression she often used on him on the mountain that he couldn’t help the amusement that filled him now.

  “You think he’s too good for me? Is that it?” she asked slowly.

  “I didn’t say that,” he said.

  Agitation radiated from her. “Then tell me why I don’t deserve to partner up with a pleasant man who is going to treat me with respect and dignity?”

  “Because marriage isn’t about that.”

  “Marriage isn’t about respect and dignity?”

  “Respect, yes. But marriage is about passion too.”

  “Raz has passion,” she snapped at him.