by Katie Reus
Blaine looked just as confused as Dawn.
“What about Rene Ballanger?”
Blaine’s expression remained blank, but Dawn swallowed hard.
“Dawn,” he growled when she didn’t respond.
She shrugged jerkily. “I guess he saw me and Blaine taking the girl from the hotel. He confronted me about it and tried to blackmail me into having sex with him so he wouldn’t tell you.” The truth was in her scent.
“You refused him?” Then likely killed him.
She nodded, her expression turning hard. “That kill was justified. Stupid asshole thought he could force me into fucking him.”
Finn bit back a sigh and stood. He was as positive as he could be that she was telling the truth about everything. He looked at two of his warriors and nodded once. They understood and hauled the two wolves up. They would await sentencing back at the compound. Under normal circumstances he’d take care of them immediately, but he didn’t have the luxury of time. Two of his wolves had worked with a vampire to kidnap an innocent girl and all for money. He knew what their sentences would be.
“I’m sorry, Finn! Please, I don’t want to die,” Blaine shouted as he fruitlessly struggled against Jason’s iron grip.
“Come on,” the warrior muttered, dragging Blaine off.
“I didn’t know Dawn killed Rene and I never would have agreed to her scheme if I would have known the girl is your daughter. You’ve got to believe me!”
“Shut up, you fucking idiot,” Dawn snarled.
Finn froze as the male’s words registered. His daughter? No. Fucking. Way. Turning, he met Lyra’s fearful gaze.
And saw the truth written all over her beautiful, traitorous face.
Chapter Ten
Lyra forced her gaze away from Finn, unable to take his accusing stare. She desperately wanted to explain things to him, especially since she realized she’d never stopped loving him. She’d been fighting the truth because it didn’t matter. They didn’t have a chance in hell of making things work. It also didn’t matter if she deserved his wrath right now. She didn’t have time to drown in guilt. Once Vega was safe, Lyra would deal with Finn.
She turned to the vampire Justus was holding. “Let him talk,” she ordered.
Immediately the warrior vamp loosened his vise-like grip, but didn’t let the male fall to the ground. The bloodied, now-captive vampire made a gurgling sound, his eyes bright amber as he stared at Lyra in fear.
“Can you talk?” she asked quietly, her voice as deadly as a blade.
“Yes.” It came out raspy, but well enough for her to understand.
Her blood was up, roaring through her veins. “Good. Where did Claudius take my daughter?”
“Fuck you,” he spat, his eyes going even brighter.
Before she could say anything else, Justus withdrew a blade from behind his back and decapitated the vampire in one smooth slice.
She stepped back out of the way to avoid arterial spray as the vamp fell. Before he’d even hit the floor, he turned to ash.
Justus turned to where Gabriel held the other vampire. “Bruno, you are in front of royalty right now. You will answer her questions or your death won’t be so easy.” He pointed to the dust splattered against the wood floor. “I’m still torturing vampires who dared defy Claudius—thirty years ago.”
Lyra wondered if that was true, but by the terror oozing off the vamp named Bruno, she guessed it was probable.
Gabriel loosened his hold on the vamp and he coughed as his neck and throat began mending itself back together. “New Orleans.”
That was barely an hour and a half away. She could make that before sunrise easily. “Exact location.” Her voice was a low growl as she let all her power and anger flow through her.
Bruno flicked a glance at Justus then her. “He’s not going to kill her,” he rasped out.
“You can’t believe that,” she said. She knew her brother. Besides, once he’d opened a hell gate with Vega’s blood, he would want to get rid of her.
“He’s not! He needs her blood to control the Akkadians once they’re free.”
“He thinks she’s part of Kush’s prophecy?” Justus demanded, as he clearly started putting the pieces together.
Bruno nodded as Finn came to stand next to Lyra.
“So he’s been letting them out?” Finn asked in that deceptively quiet voice.
Lyra forced herself not to look up at him. She was doing her damndest to ignore the man, but it was impossible. He deserved answers, and once they freed Vega, she’d deal with everything he had to throw at her.
The vamp nodded. “Yes.”
“Why are they in Biloxi?” he continued.
“Sent here…” He coughed once, but his neck was almost healed on the outside. “As a testing ground. Wanted to see how your pack faired against them.”
“The car bomb?”
An oily scented spike of fear filled the room, making Lyra sick. The vamp didn’t answer, but his fear was enough confirmation. He might have even rigged it himself, which would explain his abject terror.
“Why didn’t you come to me about Claudius’s plans?” Justus asked, a mixture of anger and confusion in the harsh question.
Bruno turned burning amber eyes on the warrior. “Because I agree with what he’s doing! We shouldn’t have to hide from these stupid fucking humans. They’re dinner.”
Lyra tightened her jaw so she wouldn’t say something she’d regret. She’d made a good home in the human world. Humans screwed up a lot, but they also had such a capacity for love that it sometimes amazed her. Someone like him would never understand that though. And she still needed the location of her daughter so she kept her mouth shut. Right now the vamp was talking and they needed him to continue.
“The demons will destroy the planet. There won’t be any humans left to rule,” Justus said quietly.
Bruno shook his head, defiant. “Claudius isn’t stupid. He’s freeing some of them, not all of them. He wants to let them feed on the humans until they’re terrified to leave their homes. Then we’re going to save them.”
“Vampires?”
“Yes. We’ll send the demons back where they belong.” It sounded like he was repeating a rehearsed speech. Or more likely Claudius had brainwashed him with it.
Lyra hadn’t forgotten how much her brother hated humans—or anyone who wasn’t a vampire. It wasn’t a stretch to believe her brother was behind this. “And you think what? That the humans will be so happy about it they’ll welcome subservience to vampires?” she asked, unable to keep the incredulousness out of her voice. Humans might be physically weaker as a whole, but they had numbers, ingenuity and would never accept that they weren’t highest on the ecological pecking order.
“It doesn’t matter what they want. It’s happening. And it’s a good plan. One he’s been working on for years. If your daughter hadn’t run away from you we would have bagged her at your place. Oh yes, we’ve known where you were for the past couple weeks.” Disdain dripped from his every word.
Lyra masked her surprise. She’d been careful about keeping her whereabouts private from anyone from her past life. Her daughter didn’t have any social media accounts either. They were both so cautious, Lyra had no idea how he’d found them.
“When she ran from you, it screwed up his plans. Claudius had to hire shifters to take her.” He sounded disgusted by the very thought.
Before Lyra could respond, Finn moved lightning fast, ripping the vamp from Gabriel’s hand. He threw him against the nearest wall so hard a crack split right up the middle of it. Before the vamp had moved, Finn was in front of him, pinning him up against the cracked plaster. Bits of it dusted his shoulders and hair. “Give us the exact location or you’ll be begging for Justus’s form of punishment rather than mine.”
Lyra heard none of the man in his voice, only the wolf, and though she couldn’t see Finn’s face, the vampire must have believed him because he started shaking. He whispered something so low ev
en Lyra couldn’t hear.
Finn dropped him then looked at one of his remaining warriors. “Keep him alive in case he’s lying.” Then he pinned his gaze on Lyra, so many emotions—anger and hurt being the most prevalent—in his ice blue eyes that she nearly crumbled under the intensity of it.
But she stood her ground. She might have made the wrong choice by not telling him the truth a couple days ago, but she couldn’t second guess herself now. Couldn’t worry about the fallout. Vega was all that mattered. “He told you the location?”
He nodded then turned toward Gabriel. “Contact Victoria and a team you trust. They need to leave immediately. We’ll meet them in New Orleans.”
Without a word, Gabriel moved into action, the remaining warrior dragging the vamp with him.
Neither Justus nor Christian made an attempt to stop them. As they left, Justus looked at Lyra. “We want to help you stop Claudius and find your daughter. If he truly believes she’s the one to fulfill Kush’s prophecy we don’t have much time. There’s an eclipse in a day and a half.”
Lyra knew that very well. Each second that passed, it was harder and harder to control her panic. “I know.” She gave him her cell phone number and was surprised when Finn did the same.
As the two vamps programmed the numbers into their phones, Finn grasped her upper arm in an unforgiving grip. Did he think she’d actually try to leave? While his hold didn’t hurt, she wouldn’t be able to pull away from him without a struggle. Justus and Christian both noticed and went for their blades.
She held up a hand. She’d forgotten what it was like to be considered royalty. Well, not considered, she technically still was. She’d just assumed her entire coven loathed her. “I’m riding over with Finn?” she said, phrasing it as a question as she looked up at him.
Jaw tight, he nodded. “You’re not leaving my side.” The air around him seethed with pent up emotion.
Oh yeah, he’d have a ton of questions. Some of which she wasn’t sure she was ready to answer. But he deserved to know the truth. He was also insanely angry. Something she tried to ignore.
Justus nodded at Finn. “I’ll try to contact Claudius. Perhaps if he believes we support his cause we can get close to him.”
“You can be involved, but nothing gets in the way of rescuing my daughter. I’m leading this group. We head out now. My pack will be minutes behind us. Once we’re there, my pack and I will assess the location. Claudius will die, but Vega’s safety is the most important thing. If that means letting him temporarily escape, so be it. If you put my daughter in danger, I’ll end you.”
It jarred Lyra to hear Finn say ‘my daughter’. Justus looked to Lyra and it took a moment for her to realize he was waiting for her approval.
She nodded. “From this point forward, we’ll do everything Finn says. Vega’s safety is the only thing that matters.”
“And you two will ride with us. I want to hear your conversation when you call Claudius.” There was no room for argument in Finn’s voice and Lyra had been thinking the same thing. She was glad he voiced it.
These two vamps might be treating her with respect, but she wouldn’t take anything at face value. Not with Vega’s life hanging in the balance. The only thing that eased some of her worry was the fact that Claudius needed Vega alive. Her blood had to be fresh. And Lyra was determined that not one precious drop would be shed.
Chapter Eleven
Finn didn’t like having anyone at his back, especially not two vampires he didn’t know. So he’d ordered one of Lyra’s former coven members to drive. The other vamp, Christian, was in the front passenger seat directly in front of him.
“I should have told you a couple days ago. I’m sorry,” Lyra whispered, though he knew it wasn’t because she was trying to keep their conversation a secret. The vamps in the front would hear everything in this enclosed space.
Finn’s hands balled into fists as he tried to contain his inner wolf. Did she think that lame-ass apology was going to cut it? He couldn’t ever remember being so angry. And he rarely needed to fight his beast for dominance. Right now he was walking a razor’s edge of control. The wolf was right there, ready to take over. He couldn’t believe he had a daughter. He hadn’t even suspected Vega might be his. That kind of hybrid mating seemed impossible. “Days ago? Try seventeen fucking years ago.”
She whirled on him, no longer avoiding his gaze—and apparently not caring about their audience. “I won’t apologize for not telling you then! I was ready to tell you that evening at the library—had already told my brother about it! Which was a big mistake in hindsight.” She laughed bitterly, the sound taking on a hysterical edge. “Then you made the decision for us, for me—that it was too damn dangerous for us to be together. You just kicked me out of your life.”
“It was too dangerous!” He didn’t give a shit about their audience at that point either.
Her eyes shot sparks at him. “If it was so damn dangerous, what would the knowledge of a child have changed?” she challenged.
“I had a right to know!”
“No, you didn’t. You can’t have it both ways. If it was too dangerous for us to be together, then it would have been even more so for a child of ours. If your uncle would have found out about her…” She trailed off, some of the edge of her anger seeming to fade as she acknowledged the truth of how impossible their relationship had been back then.
Damn her, she was right. If his uncle had discovered Vega’s existence, he wouldn’t have rested until they were all dead. “You still should have told me. If not seventeen years ago, then when you first came to the compound.”
“Are you freaking kidding me? I hadn’t talked to you in all this time. I was terrified you’d either not believe me and then I’d still be back at square one: alone with no one to help me in the search for Vega. Or, you could have believed me, then still kicked me out of your life—again—and not let me help in the search. I couldn’t ask any of my human friends for help.” She snorted at that, but continued. “I had no one else to turn to and I wasn’t taking a risk you’d keep me in the dark. Finding Vega was and is all that matters to me.”
Finn wanted to be angry, tried desperately to hold onto that rage, but he tried to see things from her perspective. Still… “I never would have kept you from finding your—our—daughter.” And it pierced him soul deep she actually thought that.
She looked away then, but not in submission. Staring out the window at the passing cars on I-10, he could see how tense she was. “After a couple days, I realized that. I just didn’t know how to tell you.”
Scrubbing a hand over his face, he let his head fall back. Fuck. He had a daughter he’d never known about. With the woman he’d once loved. Had never stopped loving. He wondered if Lyra knew. Hell, how could she not? He hadn’t thought twice about helping her after so long. He’d brought her right into his pack and would kill anyone who dared harm her.
“You went back to Claudius after I ended things?” he asked even though he knew the answer. After what she’d said to Justus back at the rental house it was clear she had.
“Yeah. I swallowed my pride and asked him for shelter until I could move out.”
“He kicked you out, even knowing you were pregnant?”
“Because I was pregnant,” she muttered. “He’d apparently known about us, but hadn’t cared. But when I told him… it was too much for him.”
“Why not go to Titus or another coven?” He didn’t know much about her other brother. Only that recently he’d had issues with a werewolf pack Finn was on very good terms with. But damn, he hated thinking of what she’d gone through alone. Kicked out of her coven with no one to help her, cut off from him, then dealing with the pregnancy, birth and raising a child all on her own.
She laughed again, that bitter sound slicing right through him. “He’s worse than Claudius. They hate your kind.”
“It’s true,” Christian murmured quietly from the front, the first words Finn had heard from the tall, lean
vampire. “Claudius has archaic ideals and Titus is slowly losing members of his coven because he has the same attitude. One of his best warriors recently mated with a powerful Alpha. Times are changing and their attitudes do not reflect the majority of how our coven feels.”
Yeah, he knew about the recent vampire-shifter mating. Rumors about it had made its way across the supernatural grapevine, but he’d heard it directly from the Alpha.
Lyra turned back from the window, but didn’t respond to Christian. It was clear she was surprised though.
Finn wasn’t done discussing Vega with Lyra, but he needed a mental break. Something else to focus on. Gabriel had already texted him that he and a team of warriors were on their way to New Orleans. They were likely only minutes behind them. He tore his gaze from Lyra and looked at the vamp in the front seat. “You disagree with your leader yet you followed his orders to kill two shifters you didn’t know?”
“I disagree with his ideals, but he’s still my coven leader. Or…he was. And I had no reason to believe he’d lied. He’s always been truthful with us. Killing those who kidnapped a member of our royal line was a just order.”
Justus nodded in agreement, but remained silent.
“Do you have a picture of Vega?” Finn asked after a few minutes of silence. He wasn’t sure what he felt right now, aside from anger and loss that he’d been deprived of knowing his own child for all this time, but he wanted to see what his daughter looked like. Especially if… No. Hell, no. They would rescue her.
Guilt flashed through Lyra’s expression for a moment as she nodded and pulled out her phone. He’d asked her if she had a photo earlier but only because he wanted to give it to the others while they were searching. She’d said she didn’t have one on her.
After pressing in her security code, she tapped the camera icon then handed it to him. “I’m not much for these things, but Vega…” Tears filled her eyes as she looked away again. “She got me hooked. They’re almost all of her.”
He opened the first picture…and forgot to breathe. A tall, young woman with midnight black hair stood next to two other teenagers around the same age. They all wore jeans and T-shirts and had their arms around each other as they smiled widely. He didn’t need Lyra to tell him Vega was his. He could see himself reflected in the young, vibrant and beautiful woman she clearly was. It was in her Mediterranean coloring, her facial structure, and that hair.
