by Misty Evans
“Arman and Maddy first.”
His hand moved to the spot where Parker had cut me. He murmured something in French and probed the cut with his fingers. A fresh wave of pain set off an explosion of fireworks underneath my eyelids. I moaned.
A second later, I felt the tip of a knife against my skin. Lines forming over my ribcage. A jolt of magic ripped through me. A renewed sense of strength came with it.
Powerful magic, that. I sat up, blinked. Whatever he’d drawn on me revived me in record time, but my sight was still AWOL. “What the hell was that?”
“Healing rune.” He patted my shoulder. “Stay here, stay down, and I’ll be back in a minute to get you out of here.”
Healing rune? Those didn’t work on me because of my demoness. Or at least that’s what I’d believed until now. Maybe the virtue side had some influence in that department. If so, I was all for it.
Before I could ask Rad about the possibility, the ocean smell moved away in a clash of metal on metal. That tiny seed of fear returned and rooted in my stomach. I couldn’t see what was going on, only hear and sense it.
Unnerving to say the least.
A vamp approached on my right. I heard his quiet footsteps, smelled his desire and hunger for my blood. I also felt his essence—his aura—hovering just out of my reach like a ghost. Slowly, step by careful step, he hunted me.
Keeping my head up and my heightened senses on alert, I patted the ground for Volante.
She wasn’t there.
Touching my fingers together, I tried to bring up my protective shield. A cool blast of air stroked my skin, the bubble snapping into place.
Ahhh…
And then it popped.
No cloak of weapons, no whip, no protection magic. Just me. Blind, injured and exposed to my enemy.
Cries rent the air. The vampire stalked closer, not as impulsive as his counterparts had been, but just as eager to try his hand at taking me down.
“Kali!” Cole’s voice came from my left. He must have arrived with Rad. “Volante. Incoming.”
I jumped to my feet, holding out my hand. A slicing sound whistled through the air as the whip flew toward me, thanks to Cole’s accurate aim and her ability to hone in on me. A second later, she lay secure in my palm, her tail lashing out at the vampire hunting me.
I gripped her tight and let her fly.
There was a sharp smack, a horrible screech and a juicy sounding thunkthunkthunk when the vamp’s head hit the ground and bounced.
Breathing deeply, I forced myself to hold still and pick up the next threat. Sure enough, I heard the barely-there footsteps of someone else sneaking up behind me. Female. Human. Smelled like a traitor.
Parker.
The scents of silver and human sweat invaded my nose. Volante trembled in my hand, anticipating the command to attack.
“What are you waiting for?” I couldn’t resist provoking her. I might be blind and in pain, but I was just getting started in the make-her-pay department. “Finish the job, Parker.”
“You were never the job,” she said, sotto voce. She was close enough her breath brushed my neck where the vampire bite was already healing.
Confused, I searched for her angle. She’d attacked me and my friends. Sent a renegade group of vamps after me. “Then why are you here?”
She leaned in so her mouth was next to my ear. “For him,” she whispered.
And then she was gone.
Anger made my hands tremble. A trap. Parker had attacked me in order to get to Rad.
I had to give her credit. She was a bitch, but she was a smart bitch.
“Rad!” I yelled over the noise of the battle. What was she planning? Payback for him ditching her? Payback for him firing her father? Payback for him rejecting the Noctifector way and going dark side again? Check, check and check, but it didn’t matter. Payback was payback, and that was a subject I knew everything about. Her earlier offer had been a test. A test I’d failed. Now she’d pulled out the big guns…using me to get what she wanted.
I’d walked right into her trap.
Her angel-fire forged weapon could kill Rad as easily as me. I had to warn him.
I yelled again, but got no reply. Being blind on the battlefield was worse than being paralyzed.
Slowing my breathing, I also stopped my racing thoughts. Rad could handle one scrawny Noctifector. He was one of them—had been one of them. He knew their MOs. Especially Parker’s.
The smell of lip balm hit me right before I felt Maddy’s hands on my arms. “Kali, are you all right?”
“Where’s Rad?”
“Why are you looking at my stomach?”
“I’m not looking at anything. I’m blind.” Spots now danced in my field of vision and the heavy darkness seemed lighter, more translucent. I hoped that was a good sign. “Where is Rad?”
“Blind?” Her hands ran up and down my arms. Vamp magic poured off her as her tension spiked. I sensed her scanning my face and trying to get my eyes to track her fingers. “How did that happen? When you fell? Do you need blood?”
The rune cocktail Rad had infused me with was wearing off. My arms felt like hundred pound weights and my wounds throbbed in time with my heartbeat. The only positive thing was my vision was definitely clearing, the temporary blindness wearing off as fast as it had come on. I could suddenly see Maddy’s outline.
“Listen. This is a trap. Parker’s after Rad. She attacked us to get him here. Can you see him?”
“Yeah, he’s right…”
“Here.”
Rad was suddenly in front of me. His features were a blur, but I could make out his broad shoulders and his bedhead hair sticking up in all directions. I smelled his scent, felt his emotions.
He leaned close, scanning my face. “Can you see me?”
An unexpected bubble of relief burst inside my chest. I could see him. Not in high-def or anything, but well enough to see the worry crease dancing across his forehead and the tight set of his generous lips.
“Yes,” I murmured. My eyesight might be returning, but my strength was fading faster than ever. “I can see you now.”
The last ounce of strength I had disappeared and I fell into his arms, the world once again going black.
Chapter Nine
I regained consciousness at the Bridge Institute’s infirmary. Like human hospitals, it was cold, sterile and rocking the white-on-white effect.
Kirill, the closest thing we had to a doctor, was holding a mean-looking needle in one hand and feeling around for a vein in the crook of my arm with the other. An archdemon and one of the three top dogs on the Bridge Council, he looked annoyed to be relegated to what appeared to be a common blood draw.
An IV pole, with some funky yellow liquid in a bag, stood sentry next to the bed, pumping the yellow goo into my forearm. Kirill poked me with the syringe, narrowed his eyes, and started probing the tip around under my skin.
“Ow.” I tried to jerk my arm back.
He held firm, his black-eyed gaze shifting to my face. “You’re awake.”
Everything, including his pudgy face, seemed to have a fuzzy gray shadow around it. I blinked a couple of times but the shadow outlines didn’t disappear. How had I ended up here and what was going on with my vision? My memory was unclear, so I mentally poked and prodded my brain, but it only produced disjointed blips. Like a book with a cartoon picture drawn on each page. You flip them in running succession to produce a motion picture. Only my individual memories didn’t flow into a bigger picture. They simply produced confusion.
I flexed muscles in various places on my body and was happy to note everything seemed normal. My magic felt fine, as well. Once my memory came online, I’d be good as new.
Except for the fact that Kirill was torturing me with that damn needle. The tip sank deeper as if he were purposefully trying to hurt me.
“You’re not exactly Florence Nightingale, are you?”
“Don’t be such a baby.” Finally, he hit a vein and dark
red blood with a viscous black and green tinge began filling the tube. “Nightingale. That old bitty put a crimp in my infection rate during the Crimean war.”
Kirill was better at spreading disease than curing it. But his knowledge of diseases, infections and poisons made him invaluable as our resident demon doctor. There wasn’t a sickness on the planet he hadn’t dabbled in and knew the cure or antidote for.
Another memory surfaced. “Pestilence. You’re friends with the Red Horseman, aren’t you?”
“Friends?” He snorted. “He’s my boss.”
“But you work for the Bridge Institute now. Damon’s your boss.”
“Damon is not my boss. We’re equals.”
Uh huh.
Kirill watched the blood fill his syringe. “Pestilence is not a demon, and once you belong to him, he’s your boss forever. He currently doesn’t know where to find me and I prefer to keep it that way.”
The map of Chicago Sal had decorated with red X’s flashed in front of me. “Oh, I think he does. He’s in town. Do you know how I can track him down?”
“He can’t find me.” Kirill’s gaze rose from the vial to meet mine. “And you can’t kill him, Kali, if that’s what you’re thinking. The Horsemen are invincible. God created them to bring about Armageddon.”
“So they’re like angels?”
“Not angels. A separate species. They’re not human, angel or demon. They’re simply the Horsemen. Haven’t you ever read Revelations in the Bible?”
“I live the war between good and evil on a daily basis. Why would I want to read about it?”
He cocked his head, withdrew the needle. “Point taken. However, you probably should brush up on the basics about the Beast, the Horsemen, the False Prophet, etc.”
I’d get right on that. “Why does my blood have that greenish tint to it?”
Kirill frowned. “I’m not sure. Could be holy water poisoning. It’s killing off your demon cells. Rotting them, like a blood gangrene.”
Yuck. Bits and pieces of the fight at the park came back to me. Renegade vampires, Parker, and her plan to capture Rad. The cut from her dagger. “Is it possible the dagger Parker used on me was forged with angel fire?”
He looked like I’d struck him. “Possible, I suppose, but highly improbable.” He fixated on the blood vial, his forehead creasing deeply. “I’ve never seen that type of wound or its effects on demon blood.”
He held the vial away from him, his chubby cheeks hanging even lower from his frown. “I’ll take this to the lab and see what I can find out.”
“Is everyone else okay?”
“A few cuts and bruises, but otherwise fine. Radison and Cole are transferring your personal belongings to the upstairs apartment. Maddy and Arman are downstairs in the cafeteria. Radison stated your friends Neve and Aphrodite will be here in the morning.”
Relief loosened the tightness in my chest.
“How’s the vision? Maddy stated you experienced blindness during your encounter with the Noctifectors.”
I blinked again, took another scan of the room just because I could. It was good to have my sight back, even if everything did have a shadow. “Sucks to be blind, but the baby browns seem to be working okay now.”
He taped the injection site. “Could have been caused from your head wound or from Parker’s blade. Either way, it’s good it was only temporary.”
I touched my temple. There was no lump or tenderness, no pain. That rune packed a punch.
I pointed at the IV bag. “Do I really need that?”
Kirill made work of labeling the vial of my blood and collecting his plastic carryall loaded with lab supplies. “Yes.”
“What’s in it?”
“You don’t want to know. For now, it’s your sugar daddy. Whatever you do, don’t pull that IV out or your ass will be dirt.”
“Ass will be grass.” I really needed to hook him up with an urban dictionary. He and Damon both needed a jolt of modern day American lingo. “If I’ve been poisoned, why don’t I feel sick? Is it because of the healing rune Rad carved into my side?”
He held up the tube. “I’ll know more about your condition once I analyze this.”
He left, taking my blood and his white cart of supplies with him. I studied my surroundings and twiddled my thumbs. No TV, no magazines, not even my MP3 player. This was so not going to work.
Throwing off the covers, I slid out of bed and gave the bleached hospital gown a frown. I was naked underneath. Had Kirill undressed me, or Damon’s right-hand groupie and fellow council member, Yasmin? She was nowhere to be seen, nor could I smell her burnt sugar scent. Probably hanging out by Damon’s side. Better him than me.
A square bandage covered part of my ribs. The area wasn’t sore to the touch when I probed it and a faint scar lingered silvery-white where Rad’s healing rune was imbedded. I never used runes. Up until now, I hadn’t believed they’d work on me and the act of carving into someone’s skin brought back too many bad memories of my days in Maria’s court.
I grabbed the IV pole and dragged it with me to the attached bathroom. There I found my clothes. My sweater wouldn’t go around the tubing attached to my arm and there was no way to work a bra around them either. I considered rejecting Kirill’s order not to pull the damn thing out, but in the end, the thought of the greenish blood stopped me.
At least I could cover my ass. I left the room a few minutes later in my leather pants and the stupid hospital gown tied securely around my torso.
In the hall, I ran into Lainie, the Institute’s house mother. She didn’t ask me what had happened, just looked me over and made motherly clucking sounds. She ordered me to stay put, disappeared for five minutes and returned with a red and black flowered kimono. I didn’t see how that would help until she revealed that the sleeves and sides had no seams and were held together by ties. She covered me in the beautiful satin material and I took the elevator to the second floor, pushing my IV pole ahead of me into Damon’s office.
He sat at his desk, his aura dark and disturbed. Across from him sat Alexandru, House Master of the Chicago vampires and my partner in the world of freakdom.
Upon seeing me, both males rose. Old fashioned but kind of charming. Blood pounded in my ears as Dru’s blood called to mine. Embarrassing heat pooled between my legs.
Damon looked annoyed, Dru looked happy. Nothing new there. Damon was generally annoyed at me and Dru was constantly trying to get me to sleep with him.
Damon searched my face. “How are you feeling?”
Dru motioned me to the chair he’d vacated, taking my hand and rubbing a thumb over my wrist. He leaned his head close to mine as I sat, murmuring in my ear. “You look stunning as always.”
I rolled my eyes and withdrew my hand. Outside the office window, the night sky was still dark. Gusting winds whipped the Lake’s waves into a white-tipped frenzy. The antique wall clock showed it was a few minutes after six a.m., but the sun was nowhere to be seen.
I caught Dru’s eye. “Did you come to see me or to talk business with Damon?”
His brown eyes danced, sending me an unspoken message. Vampires didn’t seem to have an aura, but they rarely cloaked their emotions. A combination of lust and powerful magic rolled off him and reached for me. He was in the beginning stages of laying claim to Vlad’s position as head of the entire vampire nation and he wanted the Institute’s backing.
He wanted my backing too. Regardless of whether the Bridge Council stood by him in his quest, he wanted me as his right-hand demon queen. He’d purposely kept his plans nonspecific, but the fact we shared each other’s blood gave me insight into his mind and emotions. When the time came, he was going to offer me a world of supreme power and unlimited possibilities.
A warm rushing sensation, followed by Damon’s voice, entered my head. He came to check on you. But he’s always hoping to talk business.
“You were my first concern,” Dru admitted. “I’m glad to see you’re up and about. Kirill said you’d
been poisoned. I brought a pint of my blood in case you need an extra boost.”
Dru had saved my life with his blood and I’d returned the favor shortly afterwards when his heart had been nicked by a stake during a fight. By sharing my blood with a pure-blooded Master vampire, I’d broken every cardinal rule the Bridge Council had—demons, especially those who worked for the Bridge Council, never shared their blood with another supernatural.
But here I was, their top enforcer, with not one, but three blood slaves. Dru and I were friends—a rare thing in my world—and he’d earned my loyalty. That loyalty had nothing to do with him saving my life.
Well, maybe a little, although being tied to a vampire was my worst nightmare on many, many levels. In essence, I was now his blood slave and he was mine, and we were both Frankensteins in the supernatural world. Which was saying something, considering supes are freaks of nature to begin with.
I knew without a doubt, Dru would be my friend and confidante long after the Council terminated my employment. And that could be any day. I was hardly a model employee.
The biggest thing I brought to the table was skill. Demons who would protect humans were few and far between.
Damon resumed his seat. Dark shadows edged his eyes. Or maybe that was my off-kilter vision. “I debriefed Madison and Arman earlier about tonight’s affair and shared the information with Alexandru. We have grave concerns about the renegade vampires you encountered and about the idea that Chicago’s shifter leader may be involved with the recent attacks on human women. If you’re up to it, we’d like to hear your version of tonight’s events.”
We had bigger things to worry about, but I had the feeling Damon wasn’t up for sharing the end-of-world stuff with Dru just yet. You could have just said, ‘what happened, Kali’.
A nerve under Damon’s eye twitched. “What happened, Kali?”
I pinched my lips to keep from grinning, took a deep breath, and started at the beginning. As I told my story, the crease in Damon’s brow deepened. Dru, who’d pulled up another chair, sat forward, frowning as well. Neither interrupted, even though I could see dozens of questions in their eyes.
