by Kim Faulks
I could smell the Holland stench from here. They’d left a trail of bodies in their wake. I’d follow that path all the way to Hell if it led me to her.
The dark blue car wove in and out of traffic for what felt like eternity until it stopped outside an abandoned building—an imposing brick giant with crumbling corners and a filthy face. I glanced to its blacked-out windows and felt the emptiness in my soul stir.
The fool had led me straight into the lion’s den.
Nova
You belong to us, Nova. You belong to us.
Their voices mingled inside my head until the sound was deafening. Out of the darkness more of them came, men and women slithering along the ground like hungry serpents, ready to strike. Their eyes were bright with need, their ivory fangs lengthened over bloody lips.
And from the center of these pathetic creatures stepped a ghost.
A wounded sound slipped from my lips. No, it couldn’t be. But it was.
Devlin Holland. His pale skin shimmered and dark brown hair flicked high on his forehead, just as I remembered.
“Nova.” He reached for me. “It’s lovely to meet you.”
My insides turned to water as his icy fingers touched my hand, then trailed along my arm. My voice wavered. “N…no. This can’t be real. You’re dead. You’re dead!”
Slate grey eyes bored into mine. Pale pink lips curled at the edges in a smile that never reached his eyes. He was the same as I remembered, but subtle differences taunted me. He moved differently, looked at me with a mixture of loathing and intrigue.
“My brother haunts you, doesn’t he? He lingers in your memories, touching you even while you’re awake. There is poetry in that, I believe. Our revenge will be sweeter.
I scowled at him. He was Devlin, but not.… Those subtle differences were more apparent now. His hair a little darker. His face thinner. Yet he still had that same cruel gaze and penetrating tone.
“I look like him, don’t I? Don’t worry, my beautiful big brother is still very dead. You and your pathetic excuse for a vampire saw to that. But I can see why Devlin was drawn to you. Your hair is the most beautiful shade of auburn, and those big, beautiful eyes…”
Lighting carved my mind. An invasion that tore through my thoughts.
Devlin’s voice floated to the surface. You’re a fighter. Good, I do enjoy a challenge. Come to me now, Nova.
I shuddered. The last thing I wanted to remember was that night.
“There’s only us now, Nova.” Adam brushed his fingers along my hair. “My brothers and I are going to enjoy you. We might even keep you for a while. How does that sound? You could return home with us. We’ll keep you as a little pet and share you… we like to share our things.”
Blue eyes called to me. Kol whispered, don’t give up… don’t give up on me. Hold on. Hold on, Nova. I’m coming.
I was on a raft lost out at sea waiting for him to rescue me, just like he had before. He’d never failed me… he’d never failed me.
“But he did, or don’t you remember? He let you leave that office alone. He could’ve stopped you before you stepped onto our brother’s boat. He could’ve stopped you if he cared.”
I shook my head, my thoughts jumbled. He couldn’t—not without breaking some vampire code. I understood that. But he still came for me. He still came.
“Only it was too late by then.” The voice was soft, insinuating. “He knew that. Why do you think he’s been so distant? He failed you, and so he pulled away. He doesn't want to face you. He doesn’t want to face what he’d done. He’s not coming, Nova. The code, his honor, and his own selfish reason prevent him from doing so.”
Those words wormed their way inside my head, twisting my thoughts until a loaded gun pointed at the vampire who stole my heart. Kol had been distant. He looked at me with a tortured smile—he touched me… like somehow I was to blame, like he’d be better off without me.
“He’s moved on.”
A hot lance pierced my heart.
“He never loved you, Nova.” Isaiah whispered. “He owns you, there’s a difference.”
A tear slipped down my cheek.
“He never loved you, and he never wanted you. But we want you. We want you….”
My mind was weak, drinking their words down like I was dying of thirst. Yet my heart refused. Beaten and bloody, it still called his name. Kol… Kol… Kol….
I clenched my fist. The sting was instant, driving their slippery words from my mind. Chains rattled, shackles slipped. My nails bit into my palm.
“No. No.”
I stepped backward. A stony chest stopped me. They closed in, hungry beasts of the night, drinking my pain.
Kol wasn’t them.
Hoarse words tore from my throat. “He’s coming for me. He’s coming and he’ll kill every one of you. He’ll rip and tear your pathetic humans apart—and then he’ll come for you. You have no idea what he’s capable of. You have no idea….”
“Force her,” Adam snarled.
I wrenched my head from side to side as pressure built inside my head.
I’m here, Nova, can you feel me? Isaiah’s voice slipped into my mind.
I’m here, Adam murmured.
And me, Nova. I’m here too. Adam’s growl blended with the other. Layer upon layer they joined together. My barriers were breached. I was helpless against this unseen tide.
And now me.
I closed my eyes as the last of the barbarians forced his way in.
My hands shook. I reached for my head. My thoughts were snatched aside. Kol lingered for a second, then was smothered in a blanket of cold, gray fog.
He won’t come, Nova. But if he does, he’ll die. Right here. Today. You’ll stand in his blood. I think I like the thought of that. You’ll stand naked in his blood and all you’ll look at is me. Isaiah whispered.
My skull was invaded. Raped. They crammed inside every private thought—nothing was sacred.
My mother was resurrected with a cruel stroke of their brush. She lay on the bed, cold and shivering—her beautiful chestnut hair was long gone—all that remained was smooth scalp. She was a shell of the woman I’d once known—but she was here—she was still here with me. I leaned close and brushed my lips across her sunken cheek. The sheen of sweat tasted bitter on my lips. The drugs drowned her.
“Nova,” she breathed as her eyes fluttered open.
These were the last days. The ones hidden so deep I barely remembered them.
“Nova,” she called me.
My hands gripped her frail fingers, too thin for the gold rings she once wore. Her haunted gaze held me. Her eyes bright like the sparkling night sky, desperately trying to hold on for one more second.
“Be happy,” she whispered. “That’s all I want for you. Just be happy.”
Then she was gone, ripped savagely from my hold. The loss was a knife to my heart. My heart thundered, drowning out the endless silence in my head. Momma. Momma.
Agony trembled my knees. There was nowhere for me to go, but down.
Stand.
My thighs tightened. My muscles quivered. These vampires forced me to open like a flower, one clinging petal at a time. Kol appeared inside my head, towering over me. Water from the shower stung my eyes. The bath was cold against my back. Yet he was here, pushing into my body, filling me with his love, filling me with his seed. I raised my head, and stared into his blue eyes. His fangs lengthened, blood welling from a nick on his lip.
Look at me, he growled. Look into my eyes.
My azure world hardened to steel.
I shivered under his gaze. Kol slipped from my grasp, morphing into a harder face, a cruel face… the face of Devlin Holland.
Take off your clothes, Nova.
I shook my head. Strands of hair slapped my cheek.
Feel your buttons under your fingers. You’re threading them, opening them one at a time. You’re here with us. We are your future.
One after another they filled my mind. One after one they
closed in around me.
My fingers trembled.
My knuckles ached.
I closed my eyes and reached for the collar of my shirt and lifted my head to the others in the room. A door opened, a soldier carrying an automatic weapon moved into the warehouse, others followed in his wake to line the walls and behind them was Detective Manning. They’ll riddle his body with bullets. He’ll be in too many pieces to resurrect. They were waiting… waiting for Kol to come. Waiting to end him.
Icy air tickled my skin. The brush of Isaiah’s hand made me flinch. His frigid fingers followed, spreading my shirt wide as I released one button at a time.
Giving into the combined pressure of their minds, even as a silent scream filled my head. “No!”
Kol
“You charge in there like some damn white knight and you’re as good as dead.”
I turned to look at Angelique. She moved like a shadow, creeping up to the car. I nodded, catching the glint in her almond-shaped eyes. She looked like a Geisha with stunning Asian features and a petite build.
But looks were deceiving. The woman was a cold-blooded killer.
Specks of fresh blood marred her cheek. A crimson smear ran along the underside of her jaw.
I lifted my hand and pointed. “You missed a little.”
Her smile was quick. She reached up and probed her face, finding the drop, then sliding her finger between her lips.
The seductive gesture turned my stomach to stone. “My team?”
“Safe, and so is that fat fuck, Raymond Burrow. Goddamn human wouldn't stop screaming. Can you believe he touched my ass?”
A vision surfaced… pieces of Raymond Burrow was scattered across his lawn, with the hand that touched her ass inserted up his own.
“He’s lucky I’m not in charge of his fucking detail. I’d bathe in his blood just for the hell of it.”
I nodded, but my mind was racing, trying to catch up. There were too many variables. If we had someone on the inside to talk we might know what we were walking into. “Did you leave any of Holland’s men alive?”
She turned her head and fixed me with her gaze. “No.” Her look dared me to object.
I knew that look. I’d seen it before. Her long midnight hair fell like a curtain as she leaned lower. I caught the scent of fresh blood and felt my own dark hunger rise. Long fangs carved a path over her red lips as she smiled.
Angelique was high on blood-lust and ready for more—exactly what I was hoping for.
She was the only other day-walking vampire I knew—which made her a vicious rival, but right now, when I needed someone the most, she was a formidable ally.
“You ready?”
“Yes.”
I lifted my gaze. Those inside the building were hidden behind blacked out windows and steel doors. They thought they were safe, hidden behind corrupt cops and the fear of the Holland name. But we weren’t in Seattle, and not even steel would save those who took Nova from me.
“You know, if you wanted to be inconspicuous you could drive something a little more… generic,” Angelique murmured. “This car makes it easy to spot you a mile away.”
She had spies everywhere, watching me from the moment I left my lair until the moment I returned, just as I had spies watching her. But with Angelique in my corner I might have a chance at getting Nova out alive. If only I thought the same about my maker. “They got to Rurik.”
Her voice dropped an octave. “By the time my men got there he was gone. We found no trace of ash— nothing at all.”
A dark chasm in my chest opened wide. I was falling, tumbling into this pit of despair. “I should’ve known you’d find where Rurik lived.”
“I can find anyone with enough time. Ending your maker would leave you fragile, and if you and I ever went to war, I’d take every opportunity to defeat you. Business is business, Kol, you know that. But this… this isn’t business. This is personal.”
I got out of the car and scanned the road. Shadows moved along the edge of the building as her men took up their post. “How many men do you have?”
“I’ve stationed most of them around the city, but I have ten good soldiers here ready to fight.”
Ten wasn’t enough. But it’d have to do.
“I’ll go around the back, while you and your men go in the front.”
She nodded and took one step before turning. “I’ve always told you we’d make a good couple, Kol. I just figured it’d be under different circumstances.”
She strode across the street as silent as when she arrived.
The Holland brothers had no idea what they’d started. But I knew how it would end.
Her team descended like Hell itself swamping her from all sides with their rifles raised. Angelique needed no firearm. With nothing more than the sword nestled between her shoulder blades she was the deadliest weapon amongst them. God help those inside.
I turned to the rusted roller door, then to the small side entry. They’d expect me to charge in without thinking, desperate to save my woman.
I searched the rusted edges of the roof. If there were cameras around I couldn’t see them. I stepped around the rear of the Camaro and onto the footpath. The chipped brick building had seen better days. Cracked windows on the third floor would be an obvious choice for entry. Movement from the fractured glass drew my eye. A shadow shifted. Something pressed against the surface.
The first shots rang out. I looked to Angelique and shouted. “Get down!”
More shots filled the air with the sound of automatic gunfire. Angelique raced ahead and lunged. Her movements were seamless, pushing off the crumbling brick to reach for the roof.
I turned back to the roller door. I needed something more secretive, something they weren’t expecting. I needed height.
A chain-link fence ran long the boundary, dividing one decrepit building from the other. I grasped the wire and climbed as more shots rang out. A shrill cry was followed by silence. Angelique was already inside.
I balanced with one foot on the fence and reached for the gutter, my muscles straining.
Hold on, Nova. I’m almost there… hold on.
I could feel her panic. I could taste her fear. Her ocean of terror swallowed me like a tsunami. I grasped the steel and pulled. A snap echoed as the gutter gave way.
Her whimper pushed at the edges of who I was. I was ready to shed this skin—to be the monster I needed to be to save her.
My fangs lengthened, nicking the inside of my mouth as I lunged. I landed with a thud on the broken tiled roof. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. The old skylight stood like a lone soldier in the middle of the roof. I moved quietly, crossing the expanse and knelt beside the glass. The inside of the warehouse was too dark too see, but I knew Nova was in there.
Missing screws made the job easier. I parted the iron and eased the tiles out of the way, just enough for me to slip inside. The roof space was open with long beams running from one side of the building to the other. I swung my foot until I caught the edge and lowered myself into the building.
Voices floated to me from the warehouse floor. I grasped the beam and searched for Nova. Armed thugs pointed guns toward a darkened corner of the room. Faint voices drifted to me.
“I take it you’re Angelique?”
A vampire strode from the group of soldiers to stop at the head of the pack. My hands slipped from the metal bar. I searched the darkness and found a crossbeam beneath. The entire roof was supported by these cross-hatched bars, making my descent swift. I moved as below me the male spoke.
“My name is Isaiah Holland, and these are my brothers, Adam and Nathaniel. We’re not sure why you’re here, Angelique. We were expecting someone else.”
She gave a saucy toss of her head. “Sorry to disappoint, especially since you’ve come all this way and have organized such a lovely welcoming party.”
Angelique’s men moved in, flanking her on all sides. Traces of fresh blood wafted through the choking dust. I counted seven
men, which meant three were already dead.
“What do you want, Angelique?” Isaiah again, his voice curious—and more than a little interested.
Angelique moved like a fighter, skirting the shadows to maintain the distance. Her seductive voice echoed. “This show of force is because of one thing—courtesy. Did you think you could come into my home and wage war on my business with no repercussions?”
The shadows became clearer. I dragged the musty air into my cold, dead lungs and found her—Nova. She was dressed in nothing but her sheer, dusky-pink underwear. Her pale skin seemed to swallow the darkness. The sight of her was like a boot to my stomach. Worse, another man’s hand was around her throat, his body pressed against hers.
My blood turned to ice.
“We touched none of your clients, Angelique. We betrayed no oath with you.”
I couldn’t tear my gaze from Nova. Her eyes were glazed, she made no attempt to move.
Angelique clucked her tongue. “We were in negotiations with Raymond Burrow. He had been… dissatisfied with Rurik and as such was in the midst of transferring over to me. But not anymore, thanks to you. He’s talking of moving, of going into hiding. Now, that’s a substantial client to lose to either company.”
“We didn’t know. I apologize if our plans put a dent in your services. I can assure you, that wasn’t our intention.”
Angelique stepped closer. “What exactly was your intention?”
The vampire stilled. Silence filled the space as all three brothers waited for her response. “Retribution.”
A hiss slithered from Angelique’s lips. I swore under my breath. Her emotions gave her away.
Isaiah Holland clucked his tongue. “I see… very smart. Kol sent you instead of coming himself.”
One beam was all that remained between me and those who held Nova captive. I stared at the three Holland brothers. The one with his hand around her throat couldn’t take his eyes off her. His other hand descended, skirting the swell of her breast. My whole body tightened with anger.
The sound of boots echoed underneath. I glanced down to the three men directly below me. The last man was familiar, the way he stood, the way he moved. He motioned the others forward, yet lingered behind. I dropped lower, hanging from the bar as the detective who took Nova looked up.
