by K. A. Tucker
A mirthless smile touched Mortimer’s lips. Those two would never get along. “And will you be able to defend both yourself and Celine at the same time? Because hurting her to destroy you will be Viggo’s end goal.” Near-black eyes swept over the group. “All of you would do well to remember that. I, for one, am terrified. There is a maniac somewhere out there with a hit list and all of our names are on it. The love of my life is on the top of it. Viggo will not think twice about killing Veronique for revenge.” He cleared his throat twice, one of Mortimer’s few tells that his emotions were getting the better of him. “I have half a mind to take her and run to the most remote spot in the world to live my life in peace.”
“I am well aware that we have not seen the last of Viggo. I will deal with him when the time comes. Quickly and without mercy,” Sofie snapped. “Let’s focus our efforts on the real issue at hand.”
From the corner of my eye, I caught Lilly’s lips purse. There was a long list of people who wanted to deliver Viggo’s death to him. Sofie, for a hundred and twenty years of misery. Lilly, for the murder of her mother and theft of her ashes.
And me, for my mother’s murder.
But Sofie was right. Stopping the fledglings was probably more critical than exacting revenge on Viggo right now.
Mortimer’s long finger jabbed the air. “Fine, but if there is so much as a hint of him, I am taking Veronique and I am leaving. Understood?”
Sofie blinked once. I supposed that was the only answer she’d give.
I heard a faint clank of metal behind me and my head instinctively whipped around, timed perfectly with Caden’s. I smiled. Finally, we were in the same league.
The two figures standing side by side at the mine entrance widened my smile. Not because their arms were laden with metal coolers from their blood bank run, but because these were two friends who I’d previously lost and who’d since been returned to me.
Though the Fates had saved me at the hour of my human death, Fiona had been left in a charred heap in Viggo and Mortimer’s Fifth Avenue palace after the first sorceress attack. It was only because of Sofie’s deal with the Fates that my friend was now watching me through those mesmerizing violet eyes.
“Everyone’s out. Every last blood bank in New York City has been tapped,” Bishop announced, his muscular arms bulging through his light T-shirt as he held the metal cooler in the air. Fiona held an identical cooler. “We’re better off hitting up the hospitals outside of the city. Their supply is pathetic, but it’s better than nothing.”
Bishop winked at me as they passed, already having forgiven me for my part in the deception back in Paris. Thank God all those perverse delusions had been wiped out of his head the moment the spell had been broken. I had yet to ask him if he’d told Fiona. I worried what she might do when she found out that her very attractive eternal boyfriend had kissed me and had wanted to do a lot more. Would it damage our friendship?
Another problem not worth worrying about right now.
My ears picked up on a strange and very irregular heartbeat behind me. Spinning around, I saw Kiril standing in the entranceway in his human form. “Is that normal? His heart, I mean.”
“Yeah, all of them sound like that. It’s good. That way you won’t accidently bite them,” Caden said with a sly smile, “because they bite back.”
I watched the werewolf march past to stand behind Sofie.
“Someone is one step ahead of us with the blood,” Lilly mused. “The question is, who? The Sentinel? The witches? The fledglings certainly don’t need it.”
A second of worry flickered across Sofie’s face. “Please take that back to the haulage tunnel,” Sofie ordered Bishop and Fiona. “We have it set up with a small generator to keep the refrigeration working, should it last long enough. Evangeline,” she turned to me, “go with them.”
I nodded but stayed my feet as they passed by, my interest in the dire situation more compelling than a cooler of blood. If Sofie noticed, she was too preoccupied to say anything.
“Is nuclear warfare even an option?” Sofie asked.
“Galen, how long would it take for Isaac and the others to get into a missile control center?” Lilly asked quietly, her baby-blue eyes darting back to meet mine for a mere second. Sofie had alluded to Lilly’s stealthy connections in the past but it still baffled me how the little vampiress—a thirteen-year-old child to anyone who didn’t know better—and her group had ways to get into the most highly classified areas in the world.
Her military advisor didn’t miss a beat. “There’s a ballistics submarine a few hundred miles off the coast. It’s fully loaded. They can appropriate it within four hours.”
Four hours. We could blow up New York City in four hours.
A hiss from Caden had me glancing down to see that my nails were embedded in his forearm. “Sorry,” I mouthed, rubbing the wounds away until they healed.
Sofie paced. Though I couldn’t imagine her giving Lilly the go-ahead to destroy the entire city of New York, Mage was adamant, and Sofie seemed to trust Mage’s opinion.
“The Fates have the power to stop this at any time but they won’t. They want the human world to fall, they want their game to play out, so they can move on to the next world, the next source of entertainment.” Her lips furled with disdain. She had remained silent about her encounter with the Fates but, from the hardened glare every time they were mentioned, I quickly deduced that Sofie’s meeting was far more confrontational than mine.
“And they will get what they want, if we wait any longer, Sofie,” Mage reminded her.
Sofie’s deceivingly dainty hand pushed through her mane of wild red hair, the weight of this decision visibly wearing on her. I’d never seen her look so anxious. “Where are the witches?”
“There’s a faction in Boston but they’re harmless,” Lilly answered.
Kiril’s gruff voice filled the room, the words lost to me in his native tongue. They weren’t to Sofie, though. “Apparently not so harmless after all … The Witches Order boarded planes yesterday from London and St. Petersburg. They might cause additional problems.” I’d never heard of this “Witches Order” before but I assumed they were the more powerful ones. Sofie snapped her fingers at Kiril. “Send ten wolves down there and put a tail on them. I want to know what they’re up to at all times.”
The tall blond werewolf nodded curtly and marched away, his thumb already punching numbers on his cell phone.
Watching him disappear, Sofie’s jaw tightened with resolution. “We go in. We exterminate every single one of these fledglings. Burn their bodies and all evidence, without pause, without mercy.” Her nostrils flared. “And without worrying about collateral damage. They will still be traveling in packs. If we have not stopped the spread by sunrise …” She turned cold eyes on Lilly. “We eliminate the city.”
A rash of nerves fluttered inside my stomach. Was I ready for this?
Lilly nodded curtly. Though she had pledged her allegiance to me, I had in turn demanded she follow Sofie’s guidance as it related to this war.
I hoped Sofie knew what she was doing.
Sunrise couldn’t be more than twelve hours away.
“Let’s get ready. It’ll take at least an hour to get to the city on foot.” Everyone mobilized.
“Wait …” Kait and Galen stepped forward, exchanging hard glances. “There’s a matter of a deal,” Galen said.
“Oh, for God’s sake! We don’t have time for that,” Mortimer objected harshly.
“It takes seconds,” Galen insisted.
“And what will they feed on? We don’t have enough to feed five fledgl—”
Kait’s shrill screech drowned out Mortimer’s objections. “I’m not leaving here until I know Brian is safe!”
Brian?
Sofie’s eyes flickered to Mage, who shrugged and said, “A deal’s a deal.”
Sofie heaved a sigh. “Where are they?”
“At an inn, in town. Ten miles away. We didn’t want to bring t
hem near with the fledglings,” Kait explained, throwing a look of disdain my way, as if I were leprous.
“Bring them here and Mage will do it. But you and Galen are coming with us and we are leaving immediately after.”
“And what? Leave them unguarded? No,” Galen argued.
“They will not be unguarded,” Sofie snapped. “But we cannot lose time waiting for their transformation. I need every able body.”
“We’ll come after they’ve transformed.”
“You will come immediately after and that is an order!”
I didn’t hear the rest of the argument as Caden led me in the direction that Bishop and Fiona had disappeared.
*
“Nothing at all? Still?” Caden yelled over the generator, its loud roar amplified by the long, narrow tunnel. Dark and dank, it smelled of cold earth and stale air. Far from comfortable.
Caden’s and Amelie’s intense gazes drilled into me. Waiting for my reaction. For my pupils to dilate, for the whites of my eyes to turn crimson, for the veins to throb.
For the eyes of a ravenous vampire to appear.
I shrugged, more concerned about what had happened to my friend and the delicate Veronique. The last time I saw them, upon awakening, there were smiles and an exchange of words and affectionate touches. Now the two sat hunched over their small coolers like coyotes over a corpse, their backs to me, empty medical bags tossed haphazardly to the ground. I couldn’t see their faces but I heard the small grunts and groans.
One word replayed in my head: feral.
It wasn’t a state I ever wanted to be seen in.
“I can smell it.” I inhaled as if to make my point. “It smells like …” Human blood certainly hadn’t had a scent before. Now, it smelled deliciously sweet. There was no mistaking a burning desire growing in the pit of my body. If I were human, perhaps it would inspire hunger pangs. “… like something I’d like.”
“Something you’d like?” Amelie’s springy blond curls bounced as she cocked her head, her emerald-green eyes dissecting me. Apparently there was something wrong with me, though I wasn’t too upset about it. In fact, if anything, I was relieved. Elated!
Then again, if I wasn’t a blood-crazed fiend by now, then what was I? Had the Fates found a way to perverse things yet again?
Amelie thrust a bag into my hands. She’d always been the exuberant one of the bunch. “Maybe you just need to taste it for the first time,” she said, her voice raspy, goading me like a puppy. “Go on … try it!”
Caden’s hand held mine. “Maybe we should talk to Sofie about your … differences first.”
My fingers gently squeezed the bag of red liquid. And then I looked at Veronique and Julian again. If I tried the blood, would I morph into a feral creature with the first taste? “How long will they be like that?”
Amelie’s eyes followed mine. “It should ease up after a few days, but …” Her face fell. “I miss him already.”
“They’ll be fine soon,” Caden said, his hand rubbing gently against the small of my back. “It’s a blink in our time, really.” I knew what he was really telling me. It’s not forever. I would be fine. Eventually.
I gritted my teeth with the thought of Caden seeing me with those eyes, the bag in my hand suddenly feeling like a lead weight. I’d be hideous. But, there was no point in stalling this any longer.
Shaking my head, I muttered, “Let’s not bug Sofie.” With everything else she had on her plate? She worried more than any biological mother ever could. “I want to get this over with.” My attention was on the red bag but I didn’t miss the sharp look between Caden and Amelie. I was probably the first reluctant fledgling in all of vampire history. I was probably also the first one to question how gross this might taste. “How do I open it?”
Amelie smirked. “Just bite it.”
“But I don’t—”
“Just bite it!”
Trusting my friend—a seven-hundred and fifty-odd-year-old vampire who knew more about this than I obviously did—I held the bag to my open mouth. With wary eyes on Caden, and a glib mumble of, “See you in a few days,” I sunk my teeth in, anticipating resistance.
My teeth sliced through the thick plastic and liquid burst out unexpectedly, rushing into my mouth, a small amount trickling down along my chin. Trying to stem the sudden flow, I took several long drags of the sweet liquid. It was like nothing I’d expected and nothing I could describe. It reminded me of a high-quality maple syrup, but without the sickly sugariness. I certainly couldn’t guzzle a bottle of maple syrup and yet here I was, draining the bag with little effort, my mental conflict dissolving as I felt the thick fluid flow down my throat into … where? How did this new body of mine process it?
Within seconds, my muscles felt stronger, my mind felt more alert. I felt more alive.
When nothing but a flimsy pouch remained, I pulled it away from my mouth.
“So?” Caden’s brow furrowed deeply. “How do you feel?”
“Fine. Great, I guess. Stronger?”
“Here.” Amelie tossed me another bag. It came fast and to the far left and yet all I had to do was think about catching it and it was in my hand. I drained four more bags in under five minutes and waved Amelie away when she moved to toss me a sixth, earning a hard look from her.
“What? I’ve had enough.” I wiped the blood from my chin.
Amelie and her brother exchanged another raised stare. One that finally spiked my irritation.
“Would you two stop doing that? I get it. I’m not normal! But you’re starting to freak me out!”
Amelie gestured at Veronique and Julian. “Those two haven’t so much as looked up to acknowledge you since you stepped in here, and yet you just waved this away with a ‘no thanks’?” Her ringlets whipped through the air as her head spun back, scowling. “And your eyes! They didn’t change.”
“Uh … I’m sorry?” I said a silent prayer of thanks.
Amelie’s pretty face pinched in thought for a long moment. I caught her swift movement a second before a snapping sound followed by sharp pain rocketed through me.
“Amelie!” Caden roared through my cry as Amelie dropped my arm. It hung limply next to my body, my forearm bone protruding through my skin.
“You broke my arm!” I shrieked in horror. “Are you insane?” No sooner had the last word crossed my lips than the bone began to fade. Before my eyes, it vanished and the wound sealed itself. Mouth agape, I flexed my hand to test my strength. Perfectly normal, once again.
“At least we know you can heal like the rest of us,” Amelie explained.
“And what if she couldn’t?” Caden snapped.
“Well, then, I guess she wouldn’t be jumping in front of any bullets now, would she!” Amelie retorted. “But you’re right. We should tell Sofie about this.”
“Tell Sofie about what?” a voice called out behind us, making me jump. Even with my new abilities, I guess the woman was still capable of sneaking up on me.
“Nothing,” flew out of my mouth. I gave Amelie and Caden a stern look. Whatever the reason for my lack of blood-crazed desire, I hadn’t crumpled in a fit of agony or died when I consumed it. We needed to focus on New York City and not my personal issues. For once.
Unfortunately, Sofie was always on DEFCON One alert status as it related to me. “Why aren’t you feeding, Evangeline?” It sounded like an accusation.
“I’m just taking a break.”
“Taking a break?” Her stunning, delicate features pinched up. “No fledgling takes a break once they’ve started. That’s simply …” Sofie’s eyes flashed wide. She muttered something in French that I couldn’t understand but, by her tone, I knew she was upset. Turning hard eyes at Caden, she exploded. “She didn’t hunt, did she? You lied to me!”
“I’m fine, Sofie!” I cried out but she wasn’t listening, her hands finding their way to Caden’s chest, shoving him against the wall.
“Don’t worry about me, Sofie. You should worry about—” My word
s cut off as thin purple ropes sprung from Sofie’s fingertips. I followed them with my eyes as they coiled around my body, the ends disappearing into me like cool little fingers slipping into my flesh. Not painful but certainly not pleasant. “What are you doing?”
A pause. And then the tentacles retracted. “You can see those?” she hissed, her eyes even wider than a moment ago.
“Yes. I can feel them too,” I clarified, repeating my question. “What were you doing?”
“You shouldn’t be able to see it.” The long tendrils appeared again. They reached out for me, more cautiously this time. Part of me wanted to run but I stayed, curious as to what she may discover.
I stayed still while she prodded around my body, her face a mask of consternation. After a few moments, they finally retreated.
“And?” Caden and Amelie asked in unison.
“And … nothing.” She frowned. “I found nothing unusual.”
“Does that mean she’s fine?” Caden pushed. “Are you worried?”
An odd, soft smile touched Sofie’s mouth. “I’m always worried about Evangeline.”
“You don’t need to worry about me anymore,” I said.
Her hypnotic green eyes twinkled. “And yet, I will never stop.” I smiled because I knew it was true. Most would call me insane for accepting Sofie’s offer of employment and climbing into a plane with her, only twenty-four hours after stumbling into her café. I had nothing to leave behind at that point. Except loneliness and sad memories.
Little did I know at the time that I was no stranger to her.
She had been watching over me since I was days old.
Since that time, after all the secrets and lies and motives were finally revealed, one painful layer at a time, Sofie had become like a mother to me. A super-powered, overprotective mother with more escape routes than one could fathom.
