Blood Law

by Karin Tabke

  Part of Falon’s anxiety relaxed. She was not a Slayer, but—she eyed Corbet cryptically—while she may have read more into her initial meeting with him, there was more to all of this. “Why did you try to capture me at the warehouse? And how did you know Rafael would show up?”

  He shook his head at her like she was a child. “The answer is not plain to see?”

  “I’m not good at cat-and-mouse word games, Edward.”

  “Why capture you? Bait. If I could not destroy Rafael then, he would come for you, and I’d destroy him now. In my own environment, I am unbeatable. How did I know Vulkasin would show up? Smythe, may he rest in peace, maneuvered his employer seamlessly. It was Harold who kidnapped the daughter, then suggested he go to Vulkasin for help. Harold’s magic is—er, was—strong. He hid his Slayer status, but then you, my dear, saw through it.”

  “How do I see through it?”

  Corbet shrugged again. “That is the question of the day now, isn’t it?”

  “Why did you kill Smythe? He’s one of you.”

  “I would never kill a Slayer. His employer discovered his duplicity and”—he shrugged nonchalantly—“he was eliminated.”

  “So let me get this straight: your guy gets whacked, and you could care less. You used an innocent child as bait, who you would have allowed to die had Rafael not cut the rope. Your war with the Lycans spreads into the innocent human world. What honor is there in that?”

  He shrugged, nonplussed. “Collateral damage is a sad fact of our quest. It does not happen often.”

  He was so blasé about it. Not one shred of remorse. No wonder Rafe couldn’t wait to chop off this guy’s head. She might beat him to it.

  Edward looked past her shoulder and motioned for someone to approach. Falon turned to see several large broadsword-armed men walk toward them. Her heart almost jumped out of her chest.

  “You have nothing to fear from me, Falon, or anyone here,” Edward said. “I can protect you from both brothers. If you will allow me to.”

  Because she was human, he’d said, and that was it. Right. Falon coolly regarded him. He was not offering anything for free. “My ability to pick a Slayer out of the crowd when a Lycan alpha can’t doesn’t have anything to do with your invitation, does it?”

  His eyes glittered with excitement. He nodded. “Among other things.”

  “I’ll take a rain check. I’m not going to be your worm on a hook. Besides, I have unfinished business with both brothers. You’ll have to find someone else to use as bait.”

  His face drew tight, his lips thinned, his eyes darkened. “Whatever that business is,” he snapped, “let it go. If you step outside of this building while either brother is alive, you are as good as dead.”

  “Thanks for caring,” Falon flippantly said. Nervously she smoothed her hands down the front of her jeans. “I’ll take my chances.”

  “I’m afraid, Falon Corbet, that I cannot allow you to leave at the moment,” Edward said, standing.

  “I had a feeling you were going to say that. But I really do insist on leaving.” Imperceptibly, he nodded to the men who had gathered close behind her, forming a semicircle. Trapped like a rabbit in a snare. She had only one way to go, into the stone wall. Or . . . Immediately she shut down the fear that flashed like a sputtering neon sign and focused on extracting herself from her stupidity.

  She leapt straight up into the air, stomping on Edward’s head and using it to propel herself higher. She did a high backflip and landed behind the goons and Edward. He turned slowly, smugly, his confidence unflappable. “Very impressive. If I did not know better, I would say you were a highly trained Slayer.”

  In a blur he jumped high in the air. As he came down to land in front of her, Falon focused every brain cell in her head on shoving him back into the thugs who closed menacingly in on her. Just as Edward’s feet touched the floor, his body slammed backward into the wall, unhinging a corner of the tapestry of the Slayer with the ring. Falon didn’t waste any time to gloat. She leapt toward the thick wood door and hit it feetfirst. It splintered into a dozen pieces as she tumbled out of the building. As she mentally slowed the velocity of her fall, she pushed off the steps, continuing her high leaps. A large hand grabbed her right ankle and yanked hard. She went hurtling backward onto the stone steps that led to the fortress. She hit with such velocity, the sound of cracking bones overrode her painful cries.

  “You will never best me, Falon Corbet,” Edward said as he yanked her up and threw her damaged body over his shoulder. He pushed what was left of the door out of the way with a flick of his hand. Incredibly, as if they were whole, they slammed shut behind them, the thick steel bars slamming into place.

  She was a prisoner.

  PACK VULKASIN MADE good time to Oakland. It was a ride Rafe had made one hundred times, and each time he’d added a kill notch to his belt. Tonight he would add more.

  The night air was cool in his hair, and Falon’s scent messed with him the entire ride down the mountain, onto the Sacramento flats and along the salty breeze of the bay. Each time his heart ached for her, he forced the emotion aside. He refused to think of her as anything less than an enemy of the state. Even if he gave her the benefit of the doubt—perhaps Lucien had tricked her?—her flight into the enemy’s arms destroyed it.

  But his love could not save her.

  He shook the emotions from his heart and soul. Like the exhaust fumes from the chopper, they evaporated into the night air. He was not destined to live with his true love. He was destined now to choose a second mate that would be best for his pack, not his heart. Never again his heart. He and Lucien lived by the same curse. Neither brother would have their true chosen one beside them.

  As many alphas before him had done, Rafael would sacrifice his own desires to do what was required to keep the pack safe and thriving. That he had put his own selfishness before the pack’s well-being gnawed at him. Could he help that he was not a cold-blooded murderer? Could he really condemn himself for failing to take a mate, when doing so would be handing her a death sentence? On the other hand, hadn’t he acted quickly and without remorse, killing Lucien’s mate when it was the best thing for the clan?

  He should have immediately chosen a mate, made the sacrifice, and moved on. But the injustice of it all prevented it. He had obeyed the Blood Law, damn it! Rafe clenched his jaw so hard his teeth ground. What was done was done, and now he must see the rest through.

  It would eat him alive if he dwelled on the right and wrong of it. He must focus on the task in front of him. Capture Falon. Destroy Edward.

  With Balor back East drumming up soldiers for the rising, Edward would not have reinforcements. But Rafe did.

  He glanced behind himself and nodded. Pack Ruiz joined them in Vallejo, pack Casares pulled up behind them as they screamed through Richmond. Clan Corbet was strong, well-armed, and had a very defendable fortress, but Rafe had the element of surprise, the benefit of numbers, and the full moon on his side.

  He glanced up at the rising moon. By midnight it would be at its highest for this cycle. Rafael, too, would be at his peak strength. The timing was in the Lycans’ favor tonight. It was a rare full moon when a Lycan fell beneath a Slayer’s sword.

  As the packs approached the off-ramp to the road that would wind high up into the hills, Rafael slowed, allowing the bikes to condense. They swarmed off the highway onto a wide boulevard, blowing through one red light after another. Not a cop in sight. They would be noticeably scarce for the rest of the evening—Rafe’s call to Taylor had insured it. The man was connected. Calling off the cops in advance would make what Rafe had to do go that much smoother.

  Falon’s scent intensified. Overriding her fresh natural scent was the pungent smell of fear. He growled, wrangling with his instinct to protect her. In his mind, he heard her calling to him for help. To come for her. Begging for forgiveness, for something she had no control over. But more urgent was her warning that Corbet was waiting and to stay away. He clamped his jaw
so tight it threatened to snap.

  Once again his gut told him he had overreacted when he woke that morning, that she was an innocent in a deadly game to which she didn’t know the rules. That he was too quick to a temper when it involved Lucien, and he’d let his emotions overrule his reason. The very least he should have done was to hear what she had to say. Instead, he assumed the worst.

  He closed his mind and his heart to her pleas and warnings. He would not soften.

  Rafael turned off the main road to a less traveled one and began his ascent into the foothills. After a few miles, he slowed then came to a complete stop. The packs swarmed around him. He cut his engine and motioned for them to do the same. When nothing but the distant traffic could be heard, he said, “In an eighth of a mile we’re going to turn off onto a dirt road. We’ll dismount, shift, and surround the fortress.” He looked over to Amon, his armorer, who pulled up behind them in a blacked-out van. “I was not going to use them until the rising, but we’ll need them tonight if we’re to survive until then.” He looked over at the van. “Amon has flack jackets and thick, leather studded collars made especially for Lycans. Half of us will shift and we’ll outfit them. Once that’s done, the rest of you will shift and Amon will outfit you.”

  Amon slid open the panel door to reveal stacks of flack jackets.

  “The collars will help prevent beheading, and the jackets will stop most caliber silver bullets. Do not shift back to your human form unless I give the command. We’ll form a wide noose around the fortress and slowly draw it tight. Under no circumstances can any harm come to”—a rise of emotion caught in Rafael’s throat—“my chosen one. Tomorrow night I will deliver her to Lucien, and the Blood Law will be avenged.”

  Collective sounds of surprise rippled through the packs, followed by knowing yet sympathetic nods. They knew, as he did, it must be done.

  “When we have the fortress in sight, I will shift and find a way to breach the structure. Once I locate the woman, if there is a way for me to extract her without a full-out assault, I will choose that route.

  “Once she is extracted, we’ll go in and do what is necessary.” He looked across the sea of determined faces. Their days of being the hunted were coming to an end. Tonight Edward, tomorrow Balor. Rafe’s only regret was that the man who slew his parents, Thomas Corbet, was nowhere to be found. For that Slayer he would be extra specially vicious.

  Rafael lifted his nose to the air and inhaled. The scent of Slayers was strong. His blood quickened.

  At heart, he was a predator. They all were. It was how they’d survived, but their humanity had tempered much of it. Wolves in the wild did not kill for the sake of killing; they killed to survive. That it thrilled was a by-product. Rafael and his people were no different. Yes, there were those like his brother who lived to kill. His pack was bloodthirsty and untrustworthy. Pack Vulkasin was more civilized. And it had cost him, Rafe realized. If their positions were reversed, Lucien would not have hesitated to take a mate so that Rafael would avenge the Blood Law. Once done, Lucien would have chosen another and begun to build his dynasty. Rafael had stumbled by not wanting to have a hand in killing an innocent. Everyone he cared for had suffered for it. It was what separated him from his brother. Rafael valued life and was compassionate. And maybe, too, there was a part of him that wanted Lucien to suffer more. He failed to admit his woman was a Slayer. And so Lucien lived while Rafael would have to sacrifice an innocent.

  “Do not spare one Slayer life tonight,” Rafe said. “Each one you take is one less we will battle in the coming months, and one less threat to the Lycan nation.” He looked over at Amon, who nodded. “Pack Vulkasin and pack Ruiz, shift.”

  Less than thirty minutes later, Rafael sat upon the slanted roof of the northern wing of Corbet Keep. Falon’s scent cried out to him for rescue. His anger flared at her stupidity. What did she think Corbet would do when she approached him? Welcome her with open arms? She was marked by the most powerful alpha in North America. Corbet would never allow her to leave. The only reason she lived now was because Corbet had known even before Rafael had that he would come for her.

  He had no choice, just as Sharia had said.

  He slid a heavy smoke vent aside and peered down into the bowels of the hall. Immediately his gaze trained on the two metal cages. His nose twitched. Lana! He realized she’d betrayed them all by giving Corbet the heads-up on Falon. Now she paid the price. As much as he despised her treachery, he would not leave her here for the Slayers to rip apart. He would bring her home where her pack would exact their justice.

  His eyes traveled across the ridiculous thrones to the other cage. A small pelt-covered lump lay balled up in the corner. His heart thudded in his chest.

  Falon.

  Her head snapped back. She looked up. Their gazes locked. The longing in her eyes tore him in half.

  Rafa, you came!

  I came for my pack. You belong to my brother now.

  She sat up. Grabbing the metal bars, she winced in pain as she tilted her head all of the way back so that she could fully see him. No, Rafa! I am your chosen one. I would never willingly go to your brother.

  You already have.

  She stifled a cry. Lucien tricked me. He came to me in my dreams. I thought it was you, but he never, we never—there was no consummation, Rafael, I swear it!

  Did Corbet trick you, too?

  “No.” She stared up at him, grasping the metal bars as if she could pull them apart. I came here for answers. I realize now it was foolish!

  Silence!

  But it was too late. Corbet materialized beside Falon. He grabbed her hair and yanked her head hard against the metal bars. Falon snarled and grabbed him, digging her nails into his skin, shredding him. Corbet shoved her away and looked at his bloody hand. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were a bloodthirsty Lycan bitch.” He looked up at Rafael, who leashed his primal urge to drop on Corbet and tear him apart.

  “You came as expected, Vulkasin, the full moon and all,” Corbet sneered. Armed Slayers stacked up behind him.

  When I drop to the floor, use your powers to blow the front door off its hinges, Rafael instructed Falon.

  She nodded and turned toward the front of the hall. Corbet continued to stare up at Rafael.

  “Come down, Vulkasin. And let us discuss a reasonable exchange.”

  “The lives of my entire pack for what? You killing my chosen one for the hell of it?”

  “Give me the Eye of Fenrir, and I give you my word I will release her and allow all of you to leave in peace.”

  Rafael laughed. “Your timing stinks, Corbet. I left the ring behind.” A lie. As he’d always done before, he had swallowed it. If Corbet knew he had, he’d gut him.

  “That is unfortunate for your whore. But fortunate for me,” Corbet said, grabbing Falon’s leg and yanking her hard against the metal bars. He shoved back her pant leg and ran his hand along her smooth calf. “Such supple skin. You do remember, Vulkasin, how skilled I am at skinning.”

  Rafael snarled as the beast in him fought for release.

  “Robert paid for your despicable acts, Corbet. Do you want your daughter to pay for another?”

  Corbet shrieked with such fury the sound reverberated against his ears. The Slayer drew his short blade, sliced Falon’s ankle, and ripped a slice of skin from her. Falon screamed in pain, yanking her leg back through the metal bars. Stunned by the vicious act, Rafe looked down at the bloody pulp of her skin. His vision clouded crimson. Corbet would regret he was ever born. An eye for an eye. He would exact more than a pound of skin from him.

  He may have to take Falon’s life to settle the Blood Law, but no one hurt his chosen one. No one. Rafael howled, his rage so complete the beast in him took over. He dropped to the floor in full wolf.

  Eighteen

  FALON FOCUSED ALL of her energy on blowing out the front door, but she couldn’t get the visual of Rafael in all his wolfen fury out of her head. And something else was happening to he
r . . . she was having trouble focusing. Her vision honed then blurred. Her bones ached. Her organs were tight. Primal fury clawed at her from her insides out, demanding release. Only she didn’t know how to release it.

  Each time Rafael lunged at Corbet, taking a bite out of him, the Slayer got in his own licks. Her mate’s blood splattered in a high arc into the air. Warm drops spattered across her face. Falon snarled and lunged at the cage. Her teeth gnashed at the metal bars while her hands and feet dug and tore at the corner. Her vision clouded. Her heart beat furiously. When she couldn’t break free, she sat back on her haunches and looked around the room, seeing it so clearly it was like 3-D magnified.

  More Slayers circled Rafael, each taking a hack or a stab at him. Some paid for it with the loss of a hand, but the combined efforts began to take their toll. Blood smeared his beautiful coat. His lunges were shorter, his bites less accurate. Falon turned toward the door and the howling from beyond. Hurry, she urged the pack before turning back to Rafael. The Slayers closed in a tight circle around him. He snarled and lunged, tearing into them. But for each bite he took, two Slayers wounded him. Blood dripped from his fur to the stone floor. His front legs buckled beneath him. She felt his weakening.

  She strengthened. He needed her.

  Falon grabbed the bars to her cage and pulled, never taking her gaze off Rafael. The howls outside of the building intensified. The Slayers within rallied, their weapons drawn as they prepared to battle. She knew she had to find a way to let the pack in, but she knew if she focused on the door, Rafe would fall beneath Edward’s sword.

  “Fight me as a man!” Edward screamed, jabbing Rafe’s right flank. “Or die like the cur you are!”

  “No!” Falon shouted. If Rafe shifted back to his human form, he would have no weapon, no protection. It was best for him to remain in his wolf form.