by Abella Ward
Not off to a great start. "Of course."
"Well… you remember me saying it had nothing to do with drugs?"
Adam stiffened. His eyes flashed.
Christopher flinched as he looked at his brother. "I'm not on drugs. I'm not that stupid. But… my debt to Jonas was a little deeper than I led you to believe. I owed him almost five hundred thousand. I know, I'm an idiot, but he offered me a way to pay it back without getting you involved. He wanted me to bring some heroin back from Cabo. But… the shipment was destroyed. Almost two million dollars' worth street value."
Adam's hands clenched. He sucked in a deep breath, trying to keep himself under control, but was rapidly losing that battle. What had his brother been thinking? Christopher wasn't dumb – at least, Adam hadn't thought he was until now.
"He said that Wanda knows things about his operation. Things that will get him thrown in jail. He threatened to come after me if you do anything. I just don't know what to do. I know that nothing I say will stop you from going after him if he's into drugs or if he did anything to Wanda, but there has to be a way to leave me out of it. At least let me pay—"
"Leave you out of it?" Adam exploded. He slammed both hands onto his desk. "You smuggle two million dollars' worth of drugs into my kingdom and you expect me to leave you out of it?"
"Adam—"
"You're lucky if I don't have you thrown into the dungeons right now. How could you be so stupid and reckless? What were you getting out of it? I have bailed you out time and time again. What made you think that a stupid five hundred thousand dollars was going to make a difference? I would have given it to you. But now, not only are you a criminal, you have put me in a compromised situation."
Christopher ground his teeth together. "I know. And I am sorry."
"Sorry? Sorry doesn't cut it." Adam sucked in a deep breath to calm himself. "Jonas is doing more than just dealing drugs, although that is bad enough. He is buying girls from their parents and keeping them as slaves."
His brother's already-pale face paled further. He swallowed and opened his mouth, but Adam didn't want to listen to his excuses.
"I am going to organize a raid, arrest him and his vampires, and free those humans. And I want you to be ready to testify against him. Maybe I'll be able to lighten your sentence if you do that, but you are still going to jail."
"I know. I know, okay. I'm going to jail." Christopher's hands shook. "I'll go. I'll testify against him, and I will go to jail without complaint. I will do news broadcasts and say I deserve it and I stand by your decision to prosecute me. But please. Please, give me the money to pay him back first."
Adam narrowed his eyes.
"Please!"
"No." Adam pointed at the door. "You can either turn yourself in at the dungeons or I'll get someone up here to arrest you."
Christopher stared at him for a long moment, his expression turning from disbelief to acceptance. His shoulders hunched as he headed for the door. There, he glanced back. "I'm sorry, Adam. I really am."
"It's not the right time for that."
The king turned towards his window, ignoring his brother. Anger rolled through him, but he forced it aside. Christopher had made his choices, and now he was going to have to live with the consequences. It was going to break Lena's heart, but he couldn't make exceptions. Not even for his little brother. Once he started doing that, then everything he fought so hard for would start falling apart.
Once he had himself back under control, he returned to Wanda's room. The door was opened, and Wanda and Lena stood inside. Adam hesitated, not knowing if he should tell his mother what had occurred or if he should just let it wait.
No, it couldn't wait. She deserved to hear it from him, not somebody else. "Mother. I need to tell you something."
Lena turned to him. Seeing his expression, her face paled. "Is it Christopher?"
"He's… gotten himself into trouble. He owes Jonas two million dollars for losing a shipment of heroin. I'm going to have to have him arrested. But first, I am going after Jonas."
His mother swayed on the spot, but Wanda came to him, holding her arms out. He gratefully accepted her embrace. Putting Christopher in prison… it was not a task he was looking forward to. In the meantime, though, he had to concentrate on Jonas. The vampire had gotten away with too much for too long.
"I'm sorry about your brother," she whispered.
Adam sighed. "Me, too. But what's done is done. I just wish he had come to me, instead of… But I have to go. The sooner I get Jonas behind bars, the better."
Wanda nodded, though she seemed reluctant to release him. "Come home quickly."
He brushed a finger across her jaw. "I will."
***
It wasn't until he was in his armored van, driving with a dozen of his best soldiers to arrest Jonas, that the first trickling of doubt started to sink into his mind. Christopher's insistence on paying back the other vampire before he was arrested was strange. More strange was how he looked like he hadn't been sleeping or drinking. There had to be something else going on. Why else would Christopher be so desperate?
Adam's brow furrowed. Had he let his anger get the best of him once again? He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and quickly dialed Christopher. He didn't answer. Adam doubted that he had actually turned himself in to be arrested, but it was as equally unlikely that he wanted to talk to his big brother at the moment. The king called Lena instead.
"Is everything okay?" she answered, worry thick in her voice.
"Yes. We're just heading out right now." Adam glanced out the window as the sprawling, immaculate yard around the palace faded to the first houses. It would take an hour to get to Jonas' property. It might give the other vampire time to flee, but not enough for him to hide all the evidence. "I need you to talk to Christopher."
He heard the doubt in Lena's voice when she spoke. "What about?"
"Why he did what he did. I can't shake the feeling there's more to the story than he told me… than I let him tell me."
"Okay. I'll talk to him."
"Thanks." Adam hung up and leaned back in the seat. Whatever Christopher was going through was going to have to wait, but, hopefully, Lena could get through to him.
Maybe there was a way to protect his brother in the end after all.
Chapter Ten – Wanda
Wanda's heart thudded in her chest as she raced through the palace halls. She had just received a phone call from Christopher, telling her to meet him in the garage. Something had happened to Adam, and he needed her right away. Images flashed through her mind of Adam hurt, bleeding, Jonas laughing over his dying body. Part of her wanted to run and hide, to pretend that everything was going to be okay. But she wasn't going to get any more information until she got to him.
The king's brother waited for her at the entrance to the garage. He paced in circles, clearly distressed about Adam's wellbeing. Dread filled Wanda and she rushed to him, grasping his hand when she got close enough.
"What is it?" she demanded. "What happened?"
"Adam's fine," Christopher assured her. He grasped her elbow and herded her towards a car. "There's just been a… development. It's going to be okay, though. He's going to be okay."
His assurances did nothing for Wanda's nerves. Probably because he sounded like he was trying to convince himself. She hurried into the passenger seat of a sleek Chevrolet, feet tapping against the floor anxiously as she waited for Christopher. He held his phone to his ear as he rounded the car, but she couldn't hear what he was saying.
"Buckle up," he told her when he slid behind the driver's seat.
Wanda waited for him to start talking as they pulled out of the garage, but he was silent, his knuckles white on the steering wheel, his gaze steadily ahead. He was so nervous… Clearly, something horrible had happened to Adam. Why wouldn't he tell her the truth?
"What happened?" Wanda asked eventually, unable to hold it in any longer. "You said that Adam needed me."
"Yeah.
I did. I don't think you understand just how deeply he feels for you, Wanda. I don't even think he knows how much he feels for you." Christopher's shoulders sagged. "I have never seen him this way before. So concerned for someone who isn't himself."
"Then you don't know him," Wanda shot back. "Everything he's done, he's done for other people. He wants people to be safe and healthy and not have to kill like he has."
Christopher grunted. He glanced at her. There was a look in his eye… Guilt? Wanda twisted her hands in her lap. What did he have to feel guilty about?
"I'm sorry," he said. "I know that you don't deserve this. Any of this. But if Adam has done everything for others, then I guess I'm the one who does everything for myself. There isn't any other way. If he had only just given me the money—" He cut himself off and shook his head. "But of course he didn't. Maybe if I had told him the truth. But if I had done that—"
"What are you talking about?" Wanda demanded. Fear tingled in her fingertips, but she refused to allow it to cow her. "Where are you taking me, really?"
Christopher was silent for a long moment. He sighed. "When you were with Jonas, did you know a girl named Melissa?"
"Melissa?" Wanda knew her. She was a dark-skinned beauty that Jonas saved for his most special missions. Just before Wanda was taken to Adam, there were rumors that she had picked up a boyfriend outside the house. Something Jonas strictly forbade. "Wh-why are you asking about her?"
"Because I met her in Cabo, and we… we fell in love. Jonas agreed to free her if I could deliver a bunch of drugs for him, but I failed. Now the price of Melissa's freedom is two million dollars. Or something worth even more."
The dread already building in Wanda's body solidified, squeezing her insides until they felt like so much mush. She couldn't breathe. She knew where this was going. "You mean me. Because Adam… Because with me, Jonas can bargain… blackmail. He'll use me against Adam."
"If I don't hand you over, Jonas will kill Melissa."
"Adam is on his way to Jonas' house right now. You can't—"
"We planned for this. Ever since Jonas gave you to Adam, he's been waiting for Adam to come after him. I really am sorry."
"No," Wanda whimpered.
What would Jonas do to her to get at Adam? What use was a hostage if he handed her back over? She would be separated from Adam forever and remain in Jonas's clutches… The thought made her want to vomit. She thought she had finally escaped that beast. But now it seemed like she would have no escape.
"I have to protect the woman I love."
"There has to be another way. Please, Christopher. Don't do this."
Christopher swallowed hard. "He won't hurt you. You're worthless to him dead. But Melissa? If I don't do what he says, he will kill her. I can't live with that."
"And what about Adam?" she asked. "What about him?"
"I know he'll kill me for this. But Melissa is worth it. Please, try to understand. I love her. I haven't loved anybody since I lost my wife when I was human. I can't let another person I love die because of me."
She yanked off her seatbelt. If she couldn't get away, she'd jump from the car. Christopher saw what she was doing, and grabbed her firmly by the wrist. She yanked away, but his grip was too tight. When she unlocked the door, Christopher yanked her over, pulling her half onto his lap, arm tight around her waist.
"No!" Wanda screeched, trying to yank the steering wheel around. Even one-handed, Christopher was too strong. "Please, you don't know what he'll do to me."
"He won't hurt you. He's not suicidal, and if he hurts you, he's got nothing against Adam."
Wanda jabbed her fingers at Christopher's eyes. He slammed her back into her seat, then grabbed her by the collar and all but threw her into the back. Her hand slammed against the window and she cried out, black spots waving before her eyes. The locks back here weren't accessible; she tried to scramble back to the front, but Christopher threw out an arm and stopped her.
"He will get you back, one way or another," he mumbled, still sounding like he was trying to convince himself. "He'll save you. Tell him… Tell him I'm sorry."
"I'm not doing anything for you," Wanda hissed. "You selfish, horrible—"
"I'm doing it for Melissa. And what about you? If you had told Adam about the other girls that Jonas has as prisoners before this, then he could have dealt with him long ago! You call me selfish for trying to save the woman I love? What about you, who escaped his clutches and then did nothing to stop him?"
Wanda froze. All her excuses flitted through her mind, but in the end, she could do nothing to deny it. She had been selfish, horribly selfish. It was her fault that those girls were still in Jonas's clutches. Yes, she had told Adam about them, but only after weeks of being free.
How many of them prayed that she would come back to save them?
She sat huddled in the back for the rest of the trip. She wanted to plead or bargain or scheme, to find some way that Christopher could still save Melissa without handing her over, but nothing she thought of would work. Even if she did come up with a plan, she was certain Christopher wouldn't listen. He was too focused on saving Melissa. Any deviation from the plan he had been given by Jonas would put her in danger.
When they pulled into the garage of a large two-story house on the opposite side of town from the palace to find Jonas waiting for them with a dozen guards, Wanda nearly threw up. This was what she had been dreading more than anything, and it had happened. Her heart palpitated, hands trembled, and every cell in her body felt like it was frozen. She didn't even fight against Christopher when he dragged her out of the car and passed her over to Jonas.
The familiar bruising grip made Wanda whimper. She wanted to punch or spit at him, but her survival instincts kicked in and she couldn't make herself do anything but stand there, staring at him.
Jonas grinned at her. "Finally, I have something that I can use against His Royal Majesty. Who knew that a pitiful little human would do the trick?"
"He's going to kill you," Wanda blurted, finally finding her voice. "Adam is going to tear you to shreds, and when he's done, there won't even be a body for them to find."
Jonas chuckled. At any other time, he would have hit her for daring to speak back to him, but he knew he held all the cards. Wanda tried to free herself unsuccessfully. He grabbed her by the neck and pulled down her collar, revealing the scars he had given her.
"You always belonged to me," he whispered. "And you always will. My brand will always be there."
"Where is Melissa?" Christopher demanded.
Jonas cast him a disdainful glance and gestured behind him. Two of the guards left the garage through a door into the main house and returned with Melissa pinned between them. Her eyes were wide frightened, but she looked none the worse for wear. When the guards released her, she ran into Christopher's arms. When she saw Wanda, she froze.
"What did you do?"
"Are we free to leave?" Christopher asked, wrapping his arms around her.
Jonas nodded.
Melissa pulled back a little. "What did you do?"
Christopher ignored the question, picking her up and running back to the car. Wanda watched them go silently. Dread filled her, but she pushed it back little by little, focusing on her situation. Jonas wanted to use her against Adam? Well, she would just have to find a way to make sure that couldn't happen. She had always been able to escape before. No matter where they put her, she would get out. She would make her way back to Adam.
And Jonas would pay for what he had done.
Chapter Eleven – Adam
Jonas's house was utterly empty. Adam and his men searched it for almost an hour and found nothing. From the state of it, it looked like it had been empty for almost two weeks.
This was more than a tip-off. This was planned. Jonas expected him to come and took steps ahead of time to make sure that he wasn't going to be caught. Frustration and anger welled in Adam, but he couldn't deny that he had been outsmarted in this instance. Still, W
anda's testimony was not for nothing. He would still get Jonas in jail on all charges.
"I want an APB out on Jonas and all of his associates," he ordered as they left the house. "I want that vampire found."
He threw himself back into his vehicle, grinding his teeth together. Where had he taken the drugs and girls? He hadn't fled town after his arrest; Adam had seen him around.
I should have just kept him in the dungeons, he thought bitterly. I should never have released him on bail.
His cell phone beeped. Adam checked it; it was a text message from Christopher. Adam's heart stopped beating. All it said was, He has her. Go alone, and an address, but that was enough. Christopher delivering a kidnapping demand? Jonas must have them both and be using Christopher's phone.
Go alone.
Adam growled under his breath. If Jonas had Wanda and his brother… He had to do as instructed. He couldn't lose them. He stuffed the phone into his pocket and closed his eyes as the vehicle pulled away from Jonas's house. If this was how it was going to be, then it would be so. But the question remained: what did Jonas want? It had to be more than just keeping himself out of jail. Money? Power? Freedom to keep running his drugs?
No matter. Adam let out a breath. He'd know soon enough.
***
Jonas had a cocky, arrogant smirk on his face when Adam barged into the house he had been directed to. He pulled in a deep breath and smelled the distinctive perfume that Wanda liked to wear. Fury flooded his chest and he wanted to attack on the spot. He glowered at Jonas, making the smirk falter.
"Where is Wanda?"
"Safe." Jonas pulled himself up. "With the rest of my girls."
Adam growled. "You disgusting pervert."
"Pervert? I give them jobs, shelter, food. They were all living on the streets when I found them. And I certainly do not dabble sexually with them or permit my men to touch them." Jonas actually looked affronted. "I am not a pervert."
"What do you want?" Adam didn't care what the pervert claimed. If he got that chance, he'd rip the other vampire's head off.
