“Do we have issues to discuss? I was unaware we had business,” Patrick responded, an innocent expression making him seem less dangerous than I knew he was. “We thought we’d made our position quite clear to both of your representatives.” His tone grew suddenly firm, ringing out with power. For a moment, the vampire with violet irises flinched under that icy slam of Patrick’s magic. I wouldn’t have noticed if I hadn’t been looking right at them, but I’d seen it.
“I am discussing Raine’s murder,” he said then added, “And Arthur’s.”
“I didn’t kill Raine!” I blurted, rolling my eyes.
“You are not to speak to your betters!” Konyam roared. “Has Cavanaugh taught you nothing?”
“Betters?” I spat. “Who says you’re my better?”
“She speaks when and where she pleases,” Patrick said coolly. “She’s more than earned it. Don’t you think?”
“I didn’t kill Raine!” I repeated, ignoring the passive aggressive power play. I was just aggressive. There wasn’t a passive bone in my body.
“I notice you are not protesting the other . . . what was his name? Arthur?” Baba Yaga added with the slightest accent making her words blunt and guttural. Arthur had been a Lebensblut board member who’d backed his one-time lover Darshan in a power play to take over Patrick’s territory to revive the kingdom he’d once lost. I’d killed both men and didn’t feel one bit guilty about it.
“Oh, I definitely killed him,” I said, giving her my best monstrous grin. Hers was better though.
“Maybe you killed Raine, maybe you didn’t.” Konyam shrugged as if her death meant nothing to him. “However, the fact remains that Raine is dead and the Chalice of Isis is missing.”
“This is our problem how?” I baited him.
He grinned at me, showing enough fang to make it a threat.
A glass door behind the orange trees opened and three vampires entered. One had a body draped over his shoulder while the other two dragged a second body between them. The vampire dumped Booker’s limp form on the ground, his face bloodied and his arm twisted at an odd angle. One of the vampires dragging the body grabbed the hair of the man between them and turned up Ev’s face for inspection. His eye was swollen shut and his bottom lip busted. The bruises forming beneath the surface of his skin would heal quick enough but he turned one clear sea-foam green eye up to meet my glare and the peace of impending violence settled over me.
“I’m s-s-sorry,” Ev stammered. “I couldn’t single them out with all the parasites around.” I knew he’d used that term to piss them off and show his defiance. He’d never used it before and never would especially since most of the vampires in Patrick’s colony in Columbus were his friends.
“He belongs to me,” Dean snarled as a hot wave of power rippled from him.
A shiver ran up my spine in response. It had been a long time since his magic had affected me that way but then again, there were very few times when he had had to demonstrate just how big and bad he actually was. The shifters in the room dropped to their knees, even Garrett who was Gaoh—Alpha—of his own pack in Pittsburgh. Konyam took a second look at Dean as if finally seeing the power that had been under his nose all along.
“You’ll pay for the damage done to him,” I said.
Konyam laughed a deep rumble and Baba Yaga’s high-pitched cackle rang out in harmony with the vampire. I couldn’t put my finger on why, but I had the feeling the witch was laughing for a different reason. After a moment, Konyam’s stopped abruptly and turned cold eyes on Dean.
“He will belong to you again if you return the Chalice,” he said.
“We are not in possession of the Chalice of Isis to return it. Really, this little display is getting tedious,” Patrick answered as if bored.
“I care not if you have it or don’t have it. I don’t trust any of my Lieges to turn it over. They are a blood thirsty lot,” Konyam replied with a proud grin.
“If you do not trust them, that displays more about your organization and in turn,” Patrick said in accusation with a dramatic pause, “you and your leadership than it does about them.”
“Mayhap,” the vampire said with a smirk, “but I do trust in your Warda’s sense of honor and responsibility. She’ll find it or I’ll slaughter her pup. That, Cavanaugh, I have absolute faith in.”
Glancing at Baba Yaga, I knew we didn’t have enough people here to storm the castle but maybe we had enough to grab Ev and Booker and get away. Live to fight another day and all.
The ancient witch merely grinned at me and winked, egging me on. She was enjoying this too much and something in the pit of my stomach screamed at me to think before fighting, instead of the other way around. Whatever this stupid Chalice was, I sure as shit didn’t want it in their hands. Call me crazy but if the big bad vampire wanted it, so did I.
“Fine,” I snapped, moving my right hand off my hip and to the slit of my dress along my thigh. I gripped a stake between my thumb and first two fingers. “I’ll find your damned cup!”
“Chalice,” Baba Yaga corrected in a chirp.
“Whatever,” I snorted, sliding my left hand beneath my skirt to the sheath strapped around my other thigh. “I’ll find it but if you harm him more than he is at this very moment, you won’t see another moonrise.”
“So dramatic.” Konyam laughed.
“Me?!” I snorted. “You’re the one kidnapping and holding hostages. I came for a party. I got all dressed up and everything!”
“Here we go,” Garrett mumbled.
I felt rather than saw my group tense behind me, preparing for the fight they knew was coming. They knew me well.
Quicker than I thought possible, I drew the stakes from their hidden sheathes and launched them across the koi pond. The first buried itself in the chest of the vampire on Ev’s right, sinking straight into his non-beating heart. He immediately burst into ash and fragments of bone in an explosion of particles. I tried not to breathe as the air filled with his death. He was old, older than I’d thought. The second stake sunk into the chest of the vampire on Ev’s left but it was a hair off with not as much strength from my left hand and the vampire stared down at it as if a spider crawled on his jacket. The vampire reached for the stake sticking out of his chest and dropped Ev’s arm.
I reached for him, leaning over the koi pond. If I could just get a grip, we could haul him over and get the hell out. Ev’s head turned up and panicked sea-foam green eyes met mine. He’d let his wolf come to the surface and I knew he was scared. The pit of my stomach tightened as the scent of his fear filled my nose. I couldn’t leave him or Booker here, not with them. Ev and Booker belonged with me. Ev belonged to me.
Inches away from his outstretched fingers, I reached. Almost there. I braced myself on the edge of the pond and stretched. Ev grabbed hold of Booker’s collar and stretched.
Beneath my feet, the ground shook with the force of a Mack truck slamming into the building. Standing on four-inch heels on a floor that was no longer stable, I lost my balance and teetered. Strong hands wrapped around my bicep, steadying me and putting more distance between me and my people who needed me.
Dean’s heat burned across my skin and Patrick’s firm grip on my hips helped keep me on my feet instead of face planting in the pond. The floor rocked and cracked, pulling apart until I was straddling an open cavern in the floor. Above us, the glass shattered from the shock of vibrations and showered us in sharp shards. Dean and Patrick covered me with their bodies so the glass wouldn’t slice me open like ripe fruit which would entice an entire a house full of vampires with the scent of my blood.
“Stop this now!” Konyam bellowed.
I peered up from under two heavy bodies shielding me, blew the hair out of my face and met Konyam’s determined gaze. His hands were shaking and his lips were a firm line of stone, par
alleling his prominent brow. As we stared each other down, the world stopped quaking, and even though I didn’t fall into his gaze or get hypnotized as most would from a vampire’s power, I did feel the eons of age on him. He was old. Older than the new world, older than when man was sure the world was flat. He was older than all the wonders of the world. I was pretty sure this fucker was older than fire. Suddenly, I was struck with what a shame it would be to have to kill him. He’d seen so much. Knew so much, and it would all die with him. Such a waste.
Waiting for Patrick and Dean to get off of me, I squirmed until their combined weight fell away. Patrick held out a hand to me, and Dean slipped his fingers beneath my arms to lift me to my feet. As I stood, I threw my shoulders back and slid my hands down over my dress as if the world hadn’t just broken apart under my feet.
“Fine,” I snorted, trying to bury the fear that raged just below the surface. I needed to keep a lid on it so neither the vampire king nor the grinning dark fae at his side saw it. Holy-fucking-shit! That vampire had just shaken the house clear down to the foundation. A telekinetic was one thing but this was just stupid. The amount of power it would’ve taken to move the house, the entire fucking house, clear down into the ground was unimaginable. If I thought too much about it, I might piss myself and that would ruin the dress. Jokes! Jokes helped me compartmentalize my fear. Jokes helped.
“You’ve cost me,” Konyam growled almost absently as he stared down at the pile of ash next to him and the vampire with the stake, now covered in his own blood, resting in his grip.
“As you’ve cost us,” Patrick added succinctly.
“I’ll find your stupid cup,” I said, cocking my head as if I wasn’t freaked the fuck out. Never let them see you sweat. That’s my motto.
“Chalice. It’s a Chalice, dear,” Baba Yaga added again as if nothing had happened. I’m pretty sure she corrected me simply to piss me off. It was working.
“Why are you here?” I snapped, unable to keep my mouth shut any longer.
She clucked her tongue at me and pursed her lips, silently chastising me, as if not wanting to give away the game.
“My confidants and employees are my business,” Konyam bellowed.
I couldn’t stifle the laugh that echoed in the now destroyed solarium. The very idea of Baba Yaga as an employee was completely and utterly ridiculous. Did he even know who she was? He had a tiger by the tail and a smirk crept across my face at the farce being perpetrated.
“I could kill him now,” Konyam said, baiting me. “If I wished.”
“But you won’t,” Patrick said, all smooth calmness and sophisticated ease. “You need us too much to jeopardize losing your precious Chalice forever. So, we will all play the game with the parameters set.”
“For the moment, Cavanaugh. For the moment.”
Chapter 19
Still in her evening gown and heels, Celeste hit the brakes too hard on the Ford F-150. The truck jerked, jolting her against the seat belt. She threw the gearshift into ‘park’ and hopped out. There was as much cover underneath the I-10 overpass as she was going to get since she didn’t have a lot of time for the exchange.
Patting the bed cover as she came around the back of the truck, she tossed the keys to Savannah. A groan sounded from the back of the truck but Celeste ignored it.
“Nice dress.” The tiger queen sneered, handing the keys to her car over.
“Shut up! I don’t have time. Look, he’s in the back. Go string him up somewhere. Set the trap we talked about. I need them out of the way for a little while.”
“I don’t need your attitude,” Savannah snapped, sliding the keys in her pocket and pulling her long auburn hair up into a pony tail at the apex of her skull. “I’ll take care of it. I’ve got it all set up at the zoo.”
Celeste stopped, her hand still on the door handle of the rental car waiting for her. “The zoo. Don’t set this up at the zoo. Those gators aren’t hungry enough. They get fed every day and I need The Blushing Death occupied for the rest of the night.”
“Sure, sure.” She smiled. “I got you covered. You won’t see them for the rest of the night. I promise, suga’.”
Celeste narrowed her gaze at the weretiger, rethinking the whole thing. She’d take care of it herself but Celeste was running on a tight schedule. Varick was already waiting for her. She couldn’t set the trap and wait it out herself when she was still working on breaking the spell, as well as other activities. Sighing in resignation, she opened the car door. “Just get it done,” she said before sliding into the midsize Nissan and starting the ignition.
Pulling away from the overpass support column, Celeste sighed as she glanced in the rearview mirror.
Savannah waved with a placating but snarky grin on her face as Celeste turned the corner, hitting the gas for just a little more speed.
Celeste had a sinking suspicion that Savannah was headed straight to the Audubon Zoo. “I hate that stupid tiger bitch.”
Chapter 20
“What do you mean, you left him with the vampires?” Brittany almost screeched.
Patrick sighed and I cringed at the distress—nope, that was pure terror—clear on Brittany’s face and shrieking through each and every word. “It was a calculated risk,” Patrick answered softly, “but considering our alternatives at the time, it was the best choice.” When her fingers started to twitch at her side, a soft glow of percolating magic in the air and objects started to levitate in the room around her, Patrick added, “Our options were limited.”
“But . . . “she started and a single tear slid down her cheek. As her shoulders slumped and her cheeks glistened with tears, items fell in a crash of broken ceramic dish wear and glasses.
I gripped her chin and turned her gaze full on me. “Do you trust me?” I asked. She nodded reluctantly. “Then believe I’ll get him back. I’m worried too.” I didn’t have to force any sentiment into my words to make them sound truthful. “But I need you to focus and learn. I can’t worry that you’ll go off half-cocked and get yourself into trouble and maybe kill him in the process. He’ll be all right. For now.”
I started pacing, unable to keep the tension and anxiety making my blood race hidden. I wanted to kill something, anything, just as long as it meant that we got Ev back. I’d lost too much already. And Brittany was right to be worried. I didn’t like Ev in the hands of those assholes any more than she did.
“What do we know about this damned cup?” I asked.
“Not much,” Dean offered.
“I have only heard legends of it. It seemed more like a relic of vampire folklore than any real chalice of power. I never dreamed that it actually existed.” Patrick’s voice was soft and amazed but when he met my gaze, I knew we understood each other. If Konyam wanted it, we had to find it first.
“So, this thing was what? Something vampire mommies and daddies told their fledglings about to get them to toe the line?” Yeah, I was stressed and it was coming out in snark. It could be worse after all, I could be drawing blood and hacking vampires to bits. Let’s take growth where we can find it.
“Something like that,” Patrick said with an amused grin.
“So, what was it? There’s often some truth in folklore. We just need to find it.”
“Jade,” Dean added.
“Brit, can you call Jade?” I asked, giving her something to do. Hopefully, keeping her busy would lessen her anxiety and dim the magic pooling in the palms of her hands. Hopefully, she wouldn’t kill all of us on accident.
Brittany nodded and shook the haze of desperation off. Tugging the smartphone from her back pocket, she dialed. The phone rang three times before Jade picked up the video chat.
“It’s your dime, make it good,” Jade answered, and I smiled. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed her since we’d been in New Orleans.
Jade was human, a hacker extraordinaire, and my best friend. She’d been with me from the beginning and I couldn’t imagine my life without her but—and there was always a but—she was fragile and we lived in a dangerous world. Being engaged to the Beta of Dean’s Pack helped a little since I knew Kurt would lay down his life for her. I understood that. Didn’t mean I worried less. Keeping her behind the computer was a good start. Keeping them both behind the computer was better. Jade was human but there were times I was sure she’d actually hurt someone. If something happened to Kurt, I had no doubt she would kill and not feel one bit of remorse.
“Hey, Jade. We need your help,” I said.
“Shoot,” she said. “Not literally, of course.”
“Of course,” Patrick added in a droll tone.
I ran down the entire situation with Jade from soup to nuts and waited as the silence on her end dragged out.
“I can’t leave you alone for a minute! Look at the trouble you get into,” she howled.
“Let’s be honest, I get into trouble with or without you. So, it doesn’t really matter,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“True. Do you need Kurt, Alex, and I to come down there?”
“No,” Dean growled and Patrick snapped—at the same time.
“Okay then,” she answered a little put out.
“Things have gotten . . . complicated. Baba Yaga is now involved.”
“Oh,” she said, pounding down on the keyboard in front of her. “That’s different then. Let’s find this cup thingy and get Ev back ASAP.” She pronounced A-S-A-P as if it were an actual word. “Okay, I’ve turned on the tracker in his phone so if they move him, I’ll let you know.”
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