by Maya Daniels
“I believe you have found your match, Zoltan.” A voice like grinding rocks speaks, surging panic through my veins.
Zoltan stiffens.
“Cassius, I didn’t know you were back.” Fenrir luckily is capable of speech. I watch him stand up, reaching his arm to shake someone’s hand.
A shadow falls over the table announcing the person so close to us now that I can feel my skin prickling by his nearness. Neither Zoltan nor I break eye contact, but he gives me nothing. No indication if this person being here is a good or a bad thing. And then the name penetrates my panicked thoughts. With a groan, I look up to tell him he can ask his daughter to settle her own problems.
The words die on my tongue.
Chapter 18
A mountain of a man looms over the table. His body is relaxed, but danger screams at me while he handles my perusal with a smile on his roguish face. His jaw is too square, and his eyes are set too wide apart to be beautiful, but the harshness of his features, and the leather patch with a golden symbol covering his left eye, gives him an irresistible appeal. His muscles have muscles, and his legs look like tree trunks from this close. Dark auburn hair is cut short at the sides, the longer strands at the top combed neatly away from his forehead. Unlike everyone else I’ve seen so far, he is dressed in a tailored suit, no doubt made custom for him. The color matches with the dress code here, which is obviously black with gold, the thin golden tie lying flat on his broad chest confirming my assumptions. The one eye that is watching me with curiosity is so light brown, it’s almost yellow.
“I was told your guest has arrived.” Cassius turns away from me, and I take a deep breath, realizing I wasn’t breathing while we stared at each other.
“Yes.” Fenrir squares his shoulders, preening. “This is Francesca Drake.” The Fae shoves his hand in my face as if expecting me to take it. I stare at it like it’s a snake that will bite me. “My mate.” The last two words jolt me out of the insanity, and snatching Fenrir’s fingers with a punishing grip I jump to my feet.
“Very pleased to meet you.” Knowing full well that only a blind person will miss the paling of my face, I flutter my lashes at Cassius. His smile slips, and a line forms between the harsh slash of his eyebrows when I stab a hand at his chest for a handshake.
“She acts weird when she is nervous.” Zoltan rubs a hand over his face like he can’t stand seeing me embarrass myself.
“I see.” Cassius takes my outstretched hand, his plate-sized palm engulfing my fingers like a steel trap. I fight the instinct screeching inside me to snatch it back. “My daughter said she is aggressive, so I must say I expected something else.”
“You shouldn’t touch people without permission.” My mouth keeps talking despite my need to stay quiet. Or run away.
“And why is that, little Fae?” That one almost yellow eye stops my heart with its intensity.
That’s when the most crucial thing hits me like a meteor on top of my head.
I feel nothing.
I’m touching his hand, skin on skin, and I feel no emotions, no energy, not a damn thing coming from him. He is very much alive, staring at me with a knowing look in his one eye as whatever blood I have running through me drains from my face. Only Fenrir is supposed to know who I am. That was the only reason Roberti convinced me to come here in the first place. First Zoltan, and now this guy—whoever he is—know, and that does not bode well for me. The longer I stare at Cassius, the surer I am that me being here has very little to do with the innocent people in Sienna.
My heart slows down.
Thump.
“Oh shit! She’s going to bolt.” Fenrir’s panicked hiss jerks me out of the trancelike state.
Stumbling back a step, I yank my hand out of Cassius’s grasp, almost toppling over the armchair I was occupying a few moments ago. “Who are you people.” My eyes dart around looking for escape, anger burning in my chest because everyone else is totally ignoring our little group at the edge of the room. “What do you want from me?”
“Drake, calm down, let’s not bring attention here. Sit so we can talk.” Fenrir is trying to calm me down but only manages to irk me more.
“She has been here for two days.” Cassius glares at the Fae. “Have you not spoken to her?”
Inching around the chair, I eye the open doors of the dining hall. If they keep their attention on each other, I can reach the hallway in time to have a head start. It might not be easy to get through the forest with all the boobytraps they have set up, but I passed through it with just a handful of bruises. I’m confident when running for my life that I’ll get outside those gates with just a few scratches. Roberti will hide me after that, I have no doubt in my mind. I only need to get the hell out of this building.
“Franky, sit.” Zoltan’s soft words jerk my head in his direction. Hearing my nickname from his lips is enough to stop me dead in my tracks. “I will not allow anyone to hurt you.”
Those are the same words he whispered to me while he was holding me wrapped in his arms. A feeling of safety spreads through my limbs, making my legs shake and my fingers tremble. Three sets of eyes are trained on me, and I grab the back of the armchair to stay standing.
“Whose bright idea was it to meet here?” Fenrir turns a glare on Zoltan.
“You think that she would’ve come willingly to one of our rooms?” Zoltan speaks calmly like we are discussing something random, not my life. “Or that you could’ve stopped her when she decided to run?” His deep blue gaze searches mine. “We mean you no harm. All I ask is that you hear us out. You’ll be free to go after that.”
“You have lost your mind, Zoltan!” Cassius booms, and I jump away from them, my knees bending slightly.
Zoltan doesn’t blink an eye, keeping his gaze on me. “Just hear what we have to say. You have nothing to lose at this point.”
“Nothing but my life.” Stabbing a finger at the vampire, something about the way he looked at it made the whole situation hilarious.
A burst of hysterical laughter bubbles up in my chest. Biting my lips, I try to contain it, but I have no such luck. A snort is followed by another until I’m leaning heavily on the back of the armchair, tears streaming down my face. Every time I lift my head, I see their wary faces watching me with concern, and the fit starts again.
I did have a feeling my life will end here; I just didn’t know that it will be for nothing…that it would be a trap rather than protecting innocents.
Another thought strikes me, stopping all the laughter and giggles.
“Did you kidnap and then kill all those people just to trap me here?” Flicking my attention from face to face, I watch all their eyes widen at my accusation. “Wasn’t there an easier way to trick me? Did you have to kill all of them for this?”
“How dare you accuse us...” Cassius snarls at me.
Zoltan moves so fast I’m startled when one second he is sitting as if glued to the stupid chair, and in the next his broad back is obscuring my vision. Even now, with my life hanging by a thread, I can’t help myself as I trace his broad shoulders and narrow waist with my eyes. The black pants stretching over his round, firm buttocks as he leans slightly forward seem to mold to him as he gets in Cassius’s face.
“Back away from her now.” Goosebumps prickle my arms at the soft words. “I don’t wish to fight you, but I will. Fenrir will not be able to cover that up.”
Remembering the Fae’s words, that he can block everyone from hearing our conversation if he doesn’t have to move, I inch to the side, glancing at the rest of the people in the dining hall. Most of them ignore us, with a dozen throwing concerned looks our way and a few staring bluntly in our direction. I’m guessing the three men facing off with each other will get attention even if they can’t hear a word we say.
“You couldn’t hide us from view?” I watch Fenrir’s face like a hawk. If a muscle twitches the wrong way, I’ll know he is lying.
“Everyone saw us come in, and they saw Zoltan sit here before we
joined him. It’s less of a problem to hide a conversation than it is to cast a full illusion.” Shrugging unapologetically, the Fae lifts his chin up.
Those words calm me down more than any other words he might say. If they want me dead, I’m sure they won’t go to those lengths. Fenrir could cast an illusion and let Zoltan kill me when the demon attacked, and Azgor lost his shit, shifting into his ghoul form. A shiver races up and down my spine, the gravity of the danger I am in settling in the marrow of my bones. They haven’t killed me yet, because they need something from me. If I play my cards right, I might be able to get the hell out of here, but not if they watch my every move.
“I’ll hear what you have to say.” Without thinking, I place my hand right at the center of Zoltan’s back.
He stiffens, muscles jumping under my palm.
Feeling stupid, berating myself for doing things without thinking, I start pulling it back when he leans more into my touch. My fingers spasm slightly, the need to move and trace his back almost bringing me to my knees. The next second he is gone, my palm caressing the air where he used to be. The other two didn’t notice a thing, but that small shift in weight, a seemingly insignificant gesture, spoke volumes. It told me more than if Zoltan spent days trying to convince me he means no harm. It is a subconscious reaction, something he was not aware of doing, and the way he is avoiding my searching gaze right now confirms it. The vampire might not want me dead, but he still wants something.
I can work with that.
Ignoring the idiotic feeling telling me I’m being too harsh on Zoltan, I round the armchair and sit gingerly on the edge of the thick cushion. Looking pointedly at Fenrir and Cassius, I wait until they take their seats as well. When they keep glancing at each other, the blood boils in my veins, having just about enough of their crap.
“You needed me to hear you out. Let’s go. If you speak fast enough, I might catch the bar open in Sienna. I need a drink or two after this.” Folding my arms over my chest, I hide my still-trembling hands.
“You said you remembered something that you wanted to share with me,” Fenrir starts, but stops with a frown, my head already shaking before he is finished.
“Let me clarify how it’s going to work, Fae.” Glaring at him, my nails dig deeper into my skin to keep me grounded. “This will not be an exchange of information, so get that through your thick skull so we can move along. This is the part where you speak your peace, and if I don’t like one word coming out of your mouth, I’m out of here so fast you’ll think you imagined my presence.”
“She is perfect.” Cassius is looking at me with so much enthusiasm I want to puke.
“You must be special.” My eyebrows climb up my forehead as I watch him with pity. “Half of your brain leaked the day you poked your eye out, didn’t it?”
“That was uncalled for.” The mammoth of a man sounds insulted, but he can’t entirely hide the smile stretching his lips.
“None of these people you’ve seen here will pass the final exam to become a Daywalker.” Zoltan, always the man of few words, says the words so matter a fact it is almost like he slapped me. “They are all going to die.”
My eyes snap to his.
“You are killing them here?” Bile rises in the back of my throat, the acid burning my insides. “You trick them into risking their lives just so you can murder them here?”
“None of us are killing them, Francesca.” Fenrir sounds wary, the words pushed out with difficulty as his eyes take on a troubled look. “In the last few decades, no one has passed the final exam. At first, we thought that those who passed the trial to join us here were not strong enough, despite the ancient magic allowing them passage.”
“They aren’t traps set up through the forest?” A tremor rakes my spine. The memory of the ancient magic that I felt chases away the foreboding feeling. It didn’t feel wrong to me. Actually, it felt calming and inviting. Like a spider trying to catch a fly. The thought sours my mood.
“No, it’s ancient magic trials set up from the day the academy was built. We haven’t figured out where it feeds from, yet. Something is fueling it, but the source is a mystery to us.”
“I still don’t get what you’re trying to tell me.” My knee starts bouncing as I look from one to the next, all three men appearing determined. “What does any of this have to do with me?”
“From the beginning, we had four to nine graduates joining our ranks per generation.” Cassius’s rumbling voice vibrates in my belly. “The numbers started going down without raising red flags. Some generations are bred stronger than others.” At my accusing glare, he simply shrugs. “It’s a fact that cannot be disputed. Genetics work in strange ways. Anyway, no one thought it strange until it became one to three graduates per generation. The humans started poking our gateways, ambushing our teams, and forcing us to pay closer attention. When there was none in the last few decades, we started investigating.”
Cassius sends a side look to Zoltan, but the vampire clenches his jaw so hard a muscle spasms on one side. My knee bounces harder, anxiety making me jittery as hell. Why can’t they just say whatever it is? All this storytelling is driving me nuts.
“And?” Prompting him when he stays quiet for too long, I want to scratch his eyes out when he gives me a displeased look.
“We came to the conclusion that whatever they are looking for, they haven’t found it in the students attending the academy…”
“In the last few decades.” I finish the sentence for him, my voice devoid of emotion.
“Yes.” Cassius is searching my face, and I realize he expects me to put it together.
My mind is spinning with what they’ve told me so far. Ignoring Zoltan’s intense eyes, I squeeze mine shut, blocking out all distractions. Everything I know so far—all that they’ve told me here in the last two days and what I heard from Roberti—floats like puzzle pieces, switching and rearranging behind my closed eyelids.
My eyes snap open.
“They couldn’t find it in the students passing the trials, so now they started searching through Sienna.” Numbness covers me from head to toe, my bouncing knee stopping the erratic movement. “They are kidnaping people until they find whatever it is.”
Daren’s words come to mind. ”Rumor has it, all of them were not as pure-blooded as we all believed.”
“They are searching for half bloods.” Blurting it out makes it more real. “They need something only a half blood has.”
“That’s what we came down to, yes.” Cassius nods slowly, watching me warily.
“Who are they exactly?” My lungs burn as I hold my breath and pray the first thing that comes to my mind is wrong.
I hate the fact that the one time I’m right about something, it signs my death warrant.
“The Board of the academy.” Zoltan slams the nail in my coffin.
Chapter 19
“The three of you are fucking insane!” Jumping off the armchair, I don’t care anymore if I can’t fight all three to get out of here.
At least I’ll still have a chance.
“Sit down and hear us out.” Cassius glares, bloating up like a pufferfish.
“You are out of your mind if you think I’m going to just sit here and wait for them to kill me. I’ll die anyway, but at least I’ll go swinging,” Returning his glare, I let my fangs drop. “At your head.”
Zoltan materializes in front of me, his fingers wrapping around my shoulders in a tight grip. Calmness blankets me, my body sagging in his hold. I have no idea why I get so riled up when they are trying to explain things to me. I know I should sit down and hear the rest of their plans before jumping to conclusions. Grateful for his reassurance, I lift my gaze, locking it with Zoltan’s so I can thank him. The heat in his smoldering gaze lifts the fog from my mind.
Rage surges through me when I understand how he always calms me down. The jerk is a master in mind control, and he thinks that’s some smart shit to pull on me right now. Still watching him without blinking, my kne
e jerks up with as much strength as I can gather. Satisfaction is the greatest gift of them all when they find their target.
Zoltan doubles over, his hands dropping from my shoulders so they can wrap around his hopefully bruised balls. That should teach the arrogant fuck to mess with my brain. I don’t get the pleasure to hear his pained scream, but I’m happy with the long, low groan reaching my ears. The other two suck in sharp breaths, and their eyes are about to pop out of their skulls. For Cassius’s sake I hope he keeps his one eye.
So I can pull it out of his head in a minute.
“Don’t you ever mess with my head, vamp.” Leaning closer to Zoltan’s ear, I suppress the shudder passing through me from his scent. “Next time, I will rip off your cock and feed it to you.”
“I think she’ll do it, too.” Fenrir’s voice sounds morbidly fascinated and terrified at the same time.
Zoltan chuckles, although it’s a pain-filled sound.
“I deserved that.” Straightening up, he winces while adjusting himself, and my treacherous eyes lock on his hand like Velcro. “Let’s not try it again. Even my steel control has limits.” I’m envious of my knee, which is plain stupid, and that’s the reason I’m taken aback when I lift my gaze to his face.
His eyes are glowing brighter, the same blue color as they always are. Tiny veins branch out from his pupils, making them look like small suns spinning in the middle of his irises. I’m so fascinated by it that my upper body leans towards him so I can get a closer look. The only thing I succeed in doing is pressing my chest to his and bringing his mouth so near I can feel his breath fanning my lips.
My gaze drops to his parted lips, and butterflies wreak havoc in my stomach. Warmth pools in my lower belly and spreads through my core, and even I can smell my own arousal scenting the air around us. Zoltan’s fangs lengthen as I watch, the sharp points denting the pillowy skin on his lower lip. An entirely different groan rumbles in his chest, reflecting through my own body. It’s enough to jerk me away from him.
