by Stacy Lee
“No.” I turn and stalk from the room. . I just needed to get on that chopper. Sprinting down the hall I reach our room and slam the door. Quickly I search in the same spots Archer was pulling weapons from. I find a small dagger under the mattress but nothing else. I tuck it in the back of my pants then crawl out the repaired window. They weren’t stopping me from going.
The only one who could stop me from getting on that chopper was Dare and he wasn’t here to command me to stay. In my head I twist things to the point that I convince myself he wanted, needed, begged me to go and save him. He would need the power I gave him, he would want my blood to heal any damage done and he would beg me to be careful above all else. For a split second my body freezes but my mental games pay off allowing me to flee quickly and quietly. Thank God for small miracles!
Skirting the houses I reach the helipad just as five choppers land. I sprint towards the closest one, jumping rapidly into the open door I roll under the seats cramming my small body into the compartment there. I manage to slide the door shut hiding me from view in the cramped space. Something was poking me in the middle of my back painfully but I leave it alone when I hear men begin to enter the chopper. I’m hopping with all the noise they won’t hear me breathing, at least not till we are far enough away that they won’t turn around.
“Did you find her?” Archer’s heated voice makes my body shudder. The chopper begins to lift.
“No and I don’t have time to babysit Dare’s mate.” Bane growls out. Oh, he was mad too. I was going to be in so much trouble for this.
“I’m sure she probably ran to Angie crying like women do.” Cash’s calm voice is punctuated by a double tap to the door I’m hiding behind. Did he know I was there?
“You better be right. If she finds a way to come Dare will kill us all.” Fin mutters under his breath. I had to pick the chopper holding them, didn’t I? I couldn’t have gotten into one with the other men. No, five to choose from and I had to pick theirs.
“Have you received anymore texts from Dare?” Emmitt asks, his voice on edge.
“Only one. They were supposed to be heading into Yellowstone. He believes they are going to land in the same clearing we fought in. It would make for a good ambush spot if that’s where they’re going. He isn’t sure. I wish I knew what Chuck used to get him on that chopper alone. It’s not like Dare.” Archer muses.
“Yeah, I didn’t think he would leave Marnie alone after last night. I mean, I have seen Dare mad before but I have never seen him like that. That man never loses control of himself and last night he was downright insane. I had thought I wanted a mate till watching him. I don’t know if it’s worth it.” Emmitt chuckles lightly.
“You know damn well you would have traded him spots in a heartbeat. Even as pissed as he was we all want a mate. Dare may have done some things we wouldn’t have but he loves that woman completely. If he didn’t he would never have lost it like he did. I just hope she realizes if she puts herself in more danger he’s liable to get them both killed trying to save her.” Oh yes, Cash knew I was here. That was said for me not his brothers. My heart rate picks up to dangerous levels. A thunk sounds on the door like it had been kicked. I take it as the warning he meant it and try to calm down before they all heard me.
“You’re right. No matter what hell he’s going through I would trade him places if I could. I was pissed when I first saw her. When Dare said he found a mate I was hoping…..I guess we all were, huh?” Someone slaps Bane on the shoulder in comfort as ‘yeps’ and ‘yeses’ sound from the brothers. Being with these men the past few days I would never believe any of them wanted a woman in their lives much less this badly. I hope more mates show up soon though I hope they have a better time of it than I have. I relax in my hole as much as I can with the thing poking me and wait for the chopper to stop. What I would do then I had no idea. Cash’s words flit through my head haunting me for the rest of the flight.
“Dare may have done some things we wouldn’t have but he loves that woman completely. I just hope she realizes if she puts herself in more danger he’s liable to get them both killed trying to save her.”
Chapter Nineteen
I search the woods surrounding the clearing but see nothing except trees as we come in for a landing. The campsite is less than half a mile from here and I’m not sure if he intends to jump me here or there. Out of habit I strapped my daggers to my waist before leaving but had nothing else with me. If there were more than a few I was shit out of luck. I could shift but unless my opponent was also a Shifter it wouldn’t do me any good. Magic against claws wasn’t a fair fight. Magic would win.
Hopefully my brothers were armed to the teeth behind me. They were in a faster newer chopper and should have caught us quickly since Chuck hadn’t been in a hurry. Archer’s last text said they were staying far enough back to escape detection till we were on the ground. Well, we were on the ground, hurry the hell up.
“We hoofing it from here?” I ask as I climb down and press a hand to the center of my back. A cramp had started up some time ago that I couldn’t seem to work out.
“Um, yes.” His eyes dart to and fro as he slowly climbs out of the chopper. His nervous chuckle isn’t reassuring.
“After you.” I say waving my hand forward. He nods then sprints into the woods with me following him. With the trees and other plant life my sense of smell is inhibited while I try to determine where the enemy might be hiding. I keep my eyes peeled but see nothing out of the ordinary on the way. We reach the clearing in only a few minutes, Chuck stopping in the middle.
“Where was the tent?” His voice cracks, his eyes dart, and his hands clench and unclench by his side.
“Are we still playing this game, Chuck? You weren’t sent here for equipment. How many are coming for me? Or do you plan on taking me out alone?” I stalk towards him with my hand on my dagger. His body grows rigid before he pulls a tranquilizer gun from his waistband. “So that’s how you plan on doing it? The chicken shit way? You beat up on a defenseless woman but when faced with a real fight you cheat.” I growl out as flashes of Marnie’s pain spur my anger on.
“She wasn’t defenseless! That damn woman broke my fucking jaw!” He screams making my pride swell for her and my temper rise dangerously at the same time.
“You shouldn’t have been screwing with her to begin with. Haven’t you learned in your fifteen hundred some odd years that women are dangerous when backed into a corner?”
“Did she tell you how she licked the cup of Cash’s blood clean? She practically begged for more of him. I wouldn’t worry too much about her after your dead, she will be all over that man before her tears dry.” He laughs at the anger that crosses my face. I push the jealousy away knowing he was only taunting me. Besides, if he managed to kill me she would die too, he obviously didn’t know as much about us as he thought.
“How did you know the blood would work? Weren’t you taking a big risk forcing it down her throat?” It takes every bit of will power I have to keep my steps even and measured as I stalk towards him. One dart and I was a sleeping target. And a sleeping target was a dead target.
“I have been studying your bloodline for years. Most of The Binding is a mystery but I did find one passage in an old scroll stating when a woman was bound by blood and her mate died she could be sustained by the blood of a male relative if any existed. Well, that is if she lived. It is unknown if killing the mate will kill the woman. Over two thousand years ago during the one instance when The Binding has been successfully completed without killing the woman in the process they were killed at the same time to stop his reign of terror. I’m surprised you had the guts to try The Binding with how many women have died during The Changes.” What the hell was he talking about? Archer had said no one knew of The Binding but him. Seeing my confusion he laughs.
“You didn’t know that, did you? Your Uncle Gregory, being the oldest, knew the secret and decided he wanted to try it. He picked random human woman at first as test su
bjects. Of course, they weren’t intended mates and they died with the ingestion of his blood. He then got the idea of finding his brothers mates and using them. He would find them then challenge her chosen, killing off his brothers one at a time.” That’s why our father made the change to the challenge a thousand years ago? He changed it to no longer be death but unconsciousness or surrender. Had it been because Gregory killed all of his brothers on purpose?
“The first woman made it through the first four feedings, however when he pried her jaw open to force her to bite him he was too rough. Ripped it right off her head. The second didn’t survive the first part of The Change. She died three hours after The Binding was complete. Gregory said she was ranting incoherently about evil filling her body and taking over her mind. She managed to break a mirror and slit her wrists repeatedly till she bled out. With The Change not complete it killed her.” Evil filing her? The emotions and pain of being separated, Marnie and I shared those from the moment The Claiming had finished, or The Binding, I guess. I feel Marnie as if she is under my skin, with every breath and every thought she is with me. Was that what she experienced or was it something more?
“The third made it to the forty-eight hour mark but something went wrong as the hour struck and she was vaporized in a blinding white light. The fourth was your mother.” My procession halts on his words. A blinding white light? Had us being joined when the clock hit 12:05 been the only thing to save Marnie? The thought makes my insides roll with fear. I could have killed her if she refused me. And my mother? How the hell had he taken my mother?
“Excuse me?” I bite out.
“Brandos was the youngest, as you know. He had been searching for his mate since he realized what his brother was doing. He found her but for The Choosing to work Gregory had to be there. Your father found a loop hole though, Gregory didn’t know the woman was in the room. He left right before the choice was announced. Spies in your father’s compound alerted Gregory of what happened then told him of her whereabouts. He kidnapped her before your father could begin The Claiming. Of course he reached her in time to save her because the stipulations of The Binding required a full moon and it was the next night. Brandos killed Gregory while fighting to save Patrice, which affectedly ended your bloodline except for him and your mother. It was a happy day when she gave birth to Archer.” He spits this out like the words are a foul taste in his mouth. It obviously hadn’t been happy for him. “Brandos was the one who changed the rules to The Challenge, no longer does it require death.”
“What I don’t understand is if the first surrender had to be willingly done for The Binding to work how did he manage it by force?” I ask through gritted teeth. I needed all the answers before I killed the man.
“An intended mate will crave blood once it is introduced into her system. It isn’t unusual in most Claiming’s for the first feeding to be done by force, at least to begin with. If she didn’t except it the first time she more than likely would the second even if she didn’t want to. Her body wanted it, needed it, craved it, even if her mind didn’t. By swallowing the blood without fighting it she surrendered willingly whether she knew it or not. All it took was one second for her to let it go down without a struggle. One drink, one uninhibited drop and it was over.” Even Marnie had fought it to begin with. It was the idea that bothered her. Once she tasted it she had drank freely as if she had been starving for me her entire life. If others felt the same thing she did it would have been hard for them to fight the natural pull to drink, therefore freely giving up her surrender to The Change.
“This craving is why it’s not uncommon for mates to live solely on blood even without The Binding. They can eat but prefer the blood to food. It is more satisfying. Your own mother would go hundreds of years without a single bite of food passing through her lips.” He is correct. Mother rarely ate food. As a matter of fact I believe it was only during pregnancy that she did.
“And you know all this, how?” I ask skeptically.
“I am fifteen hundred and thirty eight years old. I was there. Who do you think held the women down for him? Who do you think took those first humans? Luckily your mother never saw me or I would have had to hide all these years. They were none the wiser after it was all done and I was able to plant myself into your compound after their deaths without any questions asked. Who do you think helped set up the ambush that killed your father?” His chest swells with pride. I roar in fury and launch myself towards him knocking him from his feet when my shoulder plows into his stomach, the tranquilizer gun flies through the air. This man has caused my family, my mate, enough trouble. He was going to die and I was going to kill him.
I slam my fist into his jaw, rebreaking it. He howls in pain when my fist comes down again and again crushing his skull. His cries are cut off with the third blow. Retrieving my dagger from my belt I plunge it into his neck yanking left then right before watching in satisfaction when his head rolls away. He would never lay a finger on Marnie again.
A slow steady clapping draws my attention to the clearing. I survey the fifty or so figures rimming the meadow. Stroli, Vampires, Shifters, Witches and even a Thanus or two stand watching me with varying degrees of humor etched on their faces. Clenching my fist around my dagger I drag myself to my feet to face the one clapping. Monty.
“I knew you would want to dispose of that coward. That’s why I let him flee last night. I couldn’t take the satisfaction of killing the man that harmed your mate away from you. I wanted it to be the last thing you did before I had you killed. For Naveen, of course.” I growl at the name she hated.
“Her name is Marnie.” I rumble out and cross my arms over my chest.
“No, her name is Naveen Marnie Hannock. Do you happen to know my full name?” I raise a brow at him. What in the hell did his name have to do with anything? “Neevan Monty Hannock.” My eyes widen as I realized the name he says that sounds more like ‘Knee-vawn’ was Naveen spelled backwards. Pride swells his chest.
“She was named after you? How much force did that take? Did you hypnotize her mother into sleeping with you also?” I grind out to his laugh.
“No need for that. I have a natural charm with the humans. When they dare to get close enough, that is. Had I known the secret to your mates I would have thought twice about fathering a child with her though. I learned my lesson and have made sure I didn’t sire any more mates for you assholes.” Why did I feel like everyone else knew more about my life than I did?
“Our mates have to be half Vampire?” I ask with confusion clear in my voice. He throws his head back and laughs.
“Not necessarily. I can’t believe you don’t know this.” He shakes his head. “Since I’m going to kill you anyway I’ll tell you the secret to the birthmark. It signifies not only they are meant for your kind but that they are half breeds. Whether it be Vampire, Shifter, Witch, Fairy, it doesn’t matter what breed the half, only that the second half be human. Some are more powerful than others although until they are mated their unique brand of magic isn’t normally released, though some show more promise than others. Marnie has something special about her. I saw it in her as a child. That’s why I had her mother killed and gave her to that imbecile of an Uncle to break. I planned on trying to mate her with a Vampire to draw it out of her but thanks to a few mishaps where she escaped my best vamp you idiots beat me to it. It’s a waste to have to kill you. I’ve enjoyed our sparring matches over the years. Nonetheless, you need to die to free her to take another mate.” Sparring matches? We had been in war for hundreds of years and he called it a sparring match? Stupid ass Vampire. Innocent people died and he thinks it’s a game.
“You will never have Marnie. She is safe far away from here, my brothers will make sure of it.” Besides if he kills me Marnie dies with me or so we think. I have hope maybe she won’t if Chuck found knowledge of the brothers being able to sustain her if I die. With luck she will live through this but I didn’t want to have to find out. I pull my other dagger readying for the f
ight.
“You’re all idiots. I have it on good authority she hopped onto their helicopter and hid. They don’t even know they brought her along.” He seems to find this extremely funny. I never knew ancient Vampires giggled like teenage girls. This one did.
Damn it, Marnie. She better stay hidden till this is over or she will have hell to pay when I get her home.
“Shall we do this then? Me and you, or you going to be a coward and sick your lackeys on me?” I motion to the men and women surrounding me. Without warning two large men lunge forward shifting into tigers midair. “Lackeys it is, then.” I mutter and I send a burst of power into the earth to shake the rest off their feet, then shift into a panther and charge.
****
“I’m right behind you.” Cash’s voice causes me to cringe as the others leave the chopper. The door on my hiding place is slid open revealing his disapproving face. “You know you are in some major trouble right now, don’t you?” I nod. “Come on, get out of there.” I drag my cramped muscles out of the small space and force them shakily to stand. Being in the tiny area for so long had locked up every joint in my body. I stretch to get the feeling back in my fingers and toes while Cash watches disapprovingly. “Now sit.” He points to the seat closest to me. I obey rigidly.
Turning his back on me he grabs a length of rope from above the pilots head. The smirk on the pilot’s face said he knew exactly what was coming. I jump up and back towards the door. “Cash. Don’t.” I force out between gritted teeth. He turns back to me grabbing my arm and slinging me gently into the chair. He binds my wrists together then ties the length of rope left to the bottom somewhere under the seat. “Cash, please. I can help him. Drinking my blood gives him power. Please.” I beg as I thrash in the chair. “You can’t leave me here alone. What if someone comes? They will take me!” I wail. Nothing changes his actions. Once done with the rope he grasps my chin to look me in the eye.
