by Raven Steele
“Good,” he said. “Keep coming back to me.”
I inhaled and exhaled slowly, quivering inside.
He leaned away from me and searched my eyes. “Better, but not where I’d like it to be.” He leaned closer. “I think I know what you need.”
His breath washed over me, a slight hesitation, and when I did not stop him, he lightly brushed his lips over mine. A soft kiss.
My lips tingled, and my chest opened; I hadn’t realized the crushing feeling inside me until it was released. I breathed him in and slid my hands up to cup his face. I needed more. He sealed his lips over mine, groaning as he claimed me with his lips, his tongue sweeping into my mouth. I sucked on it, oblivious to my fangs growing long.
“Take it,” he whispered through my kiss.
I pricked the soft flesh with my fangs and lapped at his tongue with my own. His warm blood flowed into me, a taste so sweet and invigorating I moaned in ecstasy and pulled him closer until our bodies were flush against each other.
His blood, laced with strength and power, slid down the back of my throat and raced through my veins. It pushed back the dark tendrils that had begun to dig its claws into my heart and mind, until I felt like myself again.
I pulled back, sucking in a great breath. I’d forgotten how potent and healing Mateo’s blood was to mine. It was as if it knew what my soul needed in the moment and gave it freely. Whether it was comfort, courage, or even to heighten my sexual pleasure, his blood was my antidote to everything.
Mateo wiped at his mouth. “Look at me.”
“I’m better. Thank you.” I avoided eye contact, embarrassed I’d taken his blood, something usually only done between lovers.
He latched onto my chin and gently guided my face forward. His golden eyes held the power of the sun. “Every last drop of my blood belongs to you. It always has.”
I nodded. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me, Samira.”
A small smile tickled my lips. He hated it when I thanked him for his strength. His bond to me was reason enough, he’d always said. I traced his lips and he nipped at my finger, but my smile slipped off my lips. “How do we get her back?”
“I’ve been thinking about that.” He led me to the couch, and we eased into the cushions. “It’s too risky for you to return to Winter’s Cove, but I can with my men.”
“You can’t risk Korin discovering—”
He held up a finger to silence me. “Once I’m inside, I will create a distraction. Maybe I’ll start the house on fire. Something to get everyone out of the house. Once she’s out, you’ll grab her.”
“Korin will compel every last one of you into telling the truth. It’s too risky. Even having this conversation is dangerous.”
“It is time for me to get involved, Samira. I’ve stood by for too long.” His eyes searched mine. “I know what Faithe means to you. I will take this risk. It is worth it to me.” His golden amber eyes turned to steel. “I will leave it to you to find her once the fire has started and to take her to safety. In the meantime, I have decided I will kill him.” I gasped, surprised. “I let him control me for far too long. It’s time I take my power back and destroy him, while his compulsion has no power over me.”
I sucked in a deep breath. “But—”
“I will do it swiftly. I’ll wait until he goes into his office, and then I’ll start the fire just outside. As soon as he runs out, I’ll be waiting for him. This can work. I know it.”
I was quiet for a moment, thinking. Korin may be so distracted with the fire that he wouldn’t notice Mateo just outside his door. “It could work. As soon as I get Faithe out safely, I will find you and help if you need it.”
He nodded, and the bond between us strengthened. We would do this, together. He searched my eyes and raised his hand to my face, caressing it gently. His gaze dropped to my lips, and he moved toward me. A knock at the door interrupted the moment.
“Sorry to bug you.” Briar opened the door, her eyes puffy and red. “But I just wanted to let you know, Mateo, you’re welcome to stay. Sun’s coming up soon.”
“How’s Lynx?” I asked.
“She has some nasty cuts, but she’ll survive. Roma’s coming over with Owen. They’ll help heal her.”
“I should go to her.”
Briar lifted her hand in a stopping gesture. “She doesn’t want to see anyone. I had to force my way into the bedroom just to talk to her.”
My muscles tightened. “Why?”
Briar sighed and raked her fingers through her hair. “I think her pride was hurt more than her body. Like the rest of us, she realized just how out of our league we are. I mean, seriously? Did you see those monsters in the fog? How do we fight that shit?”
I nodded, biting my lip. We were out of our league, but not because of the Legions of Hell. I’d fought them once before. The Phoenix was the unknown variable.
“We’ll figure this out,” Mateo answered for me. “I know people. All is not lost.” For whatever reason, he didn’t mention our plans to her about killing Korin.
Angel appeared in the doorway behind Briar, his green eyes hard and angry. Every muscle in his body stretched tight. “Mateo, I’m staying here for the night.”
Briar whirled around. “I thought you said you were leaving?”
His eyes found hers. He hesitated briefly, then said, “I can’t.”
Her breath hitched and shoulders dropped. “Thank you. There’s a coffin downstairs.” She glanced back at us. “You two don’t mind sharing one, do you? Assuming you’re staying, Mateo?”
His hand tightened on me. “I’m staying.”
I didn’t dare look at him, afraid he’d see how relieved I was at his words. Rarely did I need a man, even Mateo, but I needed him tonight more than ever.
We left Briar’s office and hung back while she assured the pack they were safe. She managed to keep an air of strength to her voice for the pack’s sake, but I knew the truth. She had no idea how to keep them safe. Neither did I. Maybe it was time to call upon old friends. I thought specifically of Aris Crow and his unique abilities. They could help. Detrand, too.
Mateo tugged on my hand. “Let’s go.”
I nodded, feeling the sun’s rays tugging on me, just barely. My body was too numb to feel much of anything.
I showed Mateo to the basement. Angel wouldn’t be too far behind us. He had been hovering on the edge of the living room, anxiously waiting for Briar to finish her speech.
“It might be a little tight,” I said, staring down at the coffin I’d slept in the night before.
“Good.” He climbed inside and held out his arms to me.
I crawled in after him and closed the lid, sighing when his arms folded around me. We lay in silence for a long while, our thoughts our own, before the sun tugged our minds into darkness. But reposing there with him, his strong and steady presence calming the storm of my rage, planted a tiny, hopeful seed inside me. We would get Faithe back and destroy Korin. The last time we’d separated, allowing Korin to control us, we were weak. But this time, together, we could make it work.
We had to.
Chapter 35
The sound of Angel’s coffin lid opening made my eyes open. Darkness greeted me as well as Mateo’s body warming my back side. I hadn’t slept that well in centuries. My mind felt crisp, my body strengthened. Somehow, tonight I was going to get Faithe back, then Mateo and I would fight Korin. Just how it should’ve been all those years ago.
I moved to exit our casket, but Mateo’s arms tightened around me. He breathed in my ear, “Just a moment longer.”
Settling into him, I allowed his hands to trace my stomach, his lips to move down the back of my neck, his warm breath igniting a fire within me. I would use it as fuel to fight harder, strategize better, do whatever I had to do to get us safely away from Rouen with Faithe.
As if sensing my new determination, he said, “It’s time.”
I lifted the lid to find my blades by the coffin. I
slid them into place at my back, and without another word we headed upstairs. Angel was already there in the shadows, leaning a shoulder on the living room wall while his gaze took in everything and everyone.
Eddie was on a sofa with Folas and a few other fae, speaking in hushed voices. Opposite them on another couch sat Owen and two witches I recognized from the Apex. I didn’t spot Roma or Lynx.
The rest of the living room was packed with shifters. Briar saluted me in passing as she hurried around the room, giving out orders. Add more security around the property border. Find more weapons. Guns, knives, bows. At one point, she asked someone for a cannon.
Mateo left me, his fingers grazing my hips as he headed toward Angel. He was probably going to tell him about our new plans. They would work. We just had to make sure Winter’s Cove caught on fire long enough to get vampires outside.
Luke caught my eye from the kitchen and nodded me over. I moved to join him when the front door flew open. Roma stood in the entry, gasping for breath with wide eyes. I glanced behind her into the darkness, half expecting to see the Legions of Hell, but no one was there.
At the same time, Briar and I hurried over to her.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Lynx. She’s gone! I told her not to.”
Briar grabbed her arm. “Not to what?”
“She went back to White Pine to try and track the Phoenix with magic. She had this scary look in her eyes, like she’s trying to prove something. I tried to stop her, but she did some voodoo shit on me and knocked me out.”
Briar and I looked at each other at the same time. We didn’t have to say anything. We knew we would go after her.
I stepped out the door first, followed by Briar. Luke, Mateo, and Angel joined us.
Roma called out, “Hurry! It’s going to destroy her mind if she tries to track such strong magic.”
Briar jumped onto the back of Luke’s motorcycle. Angel slid onto his own. Mateo gave me a look. If we super sped and cut through the mountainous hills, we could beat them. I nodded once.
Together we darted behind the house and sliced through the woods. A blur of trees and darkness whipped by me. The scents of earth, water, and chemicals filled my nostrils all at once. I rarely traveled this fast. It could be disorienting for the first few minutes after I stopped, but I wasn’t racing into battle. I was racing to stop a friend from doing something that could destroy her.
We came to a screeching halt half a mile before reaching White Pine. I inhaled several slow breaths to calm the swimming sensation in my head and stomach, then listened closely. I couldn’t detect voices or movement, not like I could last time I was here.
“Go slowly,” Mateo whispered.
We separated about a hundred yards apart and cautiously approached the area. Within a short time, I knew the place had been abandoned. We emerged from the forest and came together. All the garage bay doors were open, spilling darkness into the moon’s full light.
“Lynx!” I called out. In the distance, I heard the familiar roaring of motorcycles approaching.
“I’ll go inside.” Mateo jumped into one of the openings.
I circled the building. Near the rear, I caught her scent. Just barely.
Luke, Briar, and Angel arrived just then, their bikes leaving angry marks along the ground.
I jogged over to Briar and pointed the way I just came. “She was here. I can smell her over there.”
“Everyone split up. She’s probably in the forest.”
We split ways, each of us trying to track her scent. I thought I could smell her, but the next second I couldn’t, only to pick it up again several yards further. The way she kept breaking up worried me.
It wasn’t long before I sensed I was far away from the others. I thought about returning to White Pine when my phone vibrated in my pocket. I fully expected it to be Briar calling me back, but it was from a number I didn’t recognize.
I hit the answer button. “Yes?”
“Thank God it’s you!”
My pulse raced. “Faithe? What are you doing?”
“I snuck away. Come get me right now. I only have a few minutes before he finds out.”
“Where are you?”
“It’s a butcher shop. Korin took me here once before. It’s the only place I knew to go.”
“I’ll be right there.” I knew exactly where it was. It was Mateo’s building. I’d met him there once with Briar.
I moved to super speed there but paused. What if it was a trap? What if Korin was waiting for me? I glanced back, thinking about calling for the others to help. But if I took them, then there would be no one to look for Lynx. Plus, if it really was a trap, would I want any of them near Korin? He could compel them to do anything.
I exhaled a large breath. I had to do this on my own. Faithe had sounded truly terrified. What if this was my only chance to save her?
Once again, the world transformed into a blended mess of grays and blacks as I raced along the forest floor, moonlight warming the blades on my back. The landscape changed to darkened buildings, parked cars, and street lamps. I kept to the shadows as much as I could until I reached my destination. I stopped on the sidewalk of Chuck’s Butchery Shop and stared ahead, wishing I could see through the cinderblock walls. No sounds echoed from within.
I opened the door, glancing at an annoying jingle of a bell above me. The tangy smell of fresh blood punched me in the gut. I’d forgotten to eat when I’d woken for the night, and the pain was sharp. I shoved the sensation aside and proceeded forward down a hall that led to the back. I pressed my ear to a closed door. On the other side, a cold storage room held fresh meat. The only sound I could hear was the barely squeaking sounds of metal hooks holding up slabs of beef from the ceiling.
Soundlessly, I pushed open the door and slipped inside. Using my night vision, I maneuvered my way through the skinned pigs and cows. There were so many more hanging compared to last time. The scent of all their blood made me dizzy. I backed up into one and jumped, my nerves on edge. Something didn’t feel right.
Taking a quick moment to calm myself, I proceeded forward. Within the aroma of the animal blood filling the air, a whiff of something unexpected stung my nostrils, and I froze. Vampire blood.
My heart slammed against my ribcage. “Faithe!”
I stumbled forward around a large pork carcass and sucked in a breath. Kristina hung upside down by her feet, her arms outstretched. The tips of her still fingers rested in a puddle of dark crimson blood.
I covered my hand with my mouth to keep from screaming. What was she doing here? Teddy said she left! Crouching down, I quickly felt for a pulse. My eyes slid over her slit throat. Kristina was dead. Too much blood loss. I lightly touched her face, regret and guilt swelling within me. But in my next breath, pure rage surged to the surface, ripping open recently patched wounds.
“I knew you would come.”
I stood slowly and turned around.
Korin detached from the shadows at his back and snapped his fingers. Small fires ignited around the room. I didn’t see Faithe.
“Where is she?”
“She’s here.” He glanced back into the darkness. “Come, child. Your Mother wants to see you.”
I heard the shuffling of feet in the room behind him before I saw her. Hell’s fire cast dancing shadows across her lithe frame as she emerged into the light. The orangish glow reached her face. I gasped in horror. One of her eyes was swollen shut, and she had dozens of cuts all over her body. None of them had healed which meant Korin had used a rare Saranton knife.
“What have you done?” I growled.
“I gave her what she deserved.” He paused. “Things changed after you left. I couldn’t be so soft on everyone.”
He smoothed the back of Faithe’s hair. Faithe stared straight ahead, her eyes lifeless.
“Faithe?” I asked, my voice gentle.
She didn’t respond.
Korin eyed her curiously. “I think we broke her. Nabu
rus especially. He was particularly cruel.” Korin’s eyes dropped to the lower half of Faithe’s white dress that was now stained red.
A wave of raw rage crashed through me so suddenly I sucked in a breath. “I’m going to kill you, Korin.”
He chuckled. “Impossible.”
In a split second, I had my sword in my hand and was swinging it to Korin’s throat. He caught it just as quickly and twisted it from my grip. He tossed it to the ground. The clanking sound echoed against the concrete floor.
I spun on my heel to round-kick him, but he darted out of the way and drove his palm into my chest. My sternum shattered as I flew backwards into a pork carcass, pain lancing every inch of my body. I collapsed to the floor, my body quivering.
“You can’t save her.” His voice held a note of regret. He turned to Faithe and ran his fingers through her hair. “I did enjoy you some of the time.”
“Please, Korin,” I begged. “Don’t hurt her. I’ll do whatever you want.”
I pulled myself to all fours.
“I wish I could, but I simply cannot trust you. And you need to stretch yourself, Samira. It’s the only way. Sacrifices must be made.”
My eyes dropped to my sword a few feet away from him.
He followed my gaze. “You’ll never make it in time, but I’d like to see you try.”
Latching onto the dark tendrils that had begun to crawl out of my fragile heart, I leapt forward, driven only by rage and anger. My fingers grazed the handle of the sword just as Korin’s elbow crashed into my spine. The sound of my back cracking hurt less than the pain that followed. For I knew in that moment, I had lost the one thing that mattered most to me in life.
“Faithe,” Korin began, his voice sticky sweet, “Please pick up Samira’s blade.”
She did as he asked, not casting me a single look. I couldn’t tell if she was compelled or not, but one thing was certain. The Faithe I knew was gone.
Faithe stopped in front of him, the sword hanging limply at her side. Korin smoothed back her hair and kissed her as tenderly as a lover would. “My beautiful, sweet pet.”
