by L. J. Red
Chapter 19
The garage beneath the Sanctuary was loud with the sound of roaring engines. Eden hadn’t realized this vast underground space even existed, let alone that it would be filled with all sorts of cars, from high-end racers in gleaming colors to the heavily armored trucks the Shadows were currently loading up.
They were going in heavy and they were going in fast, with only Dana staying behind to protect the vassals at the Sanctuary. All the others were going to the warehouse at the docks that Eden had been able to identify on the map. The plan was to cut off the Ravager’s store of weapons entirely and destroy the supply chain so securely that no more weapons could be smuggled into the city.
Eden stood awkwardly in the corner, watching vampire guards hustle to and fro. She was going as well. She would be needed at the gate. She was their only chance to get in past the security and their impressive weaponry.
The Shadows had one of their informants outside Bloodchase right now, and he had seen Riker go in only moments ago. They weren’t sure how long Riker would remain at the club, however, so the window of opportunity was short.
Eden hadn’t had the chance to find Hope and try and reconcile with her after their argument earlier. She hoped she could find her after. She hoped there would be an after. She was deathly afraid to be going into battle, even if the Shadows had no intention of actually letting her near the fighting. Still, this was her chance to deliver a blow to Riker and all his men. She hungered for that chance.
Dr. Patil appeared behind her. “Here,” she said, thrusting a medical bag into Eden’s hands. “If anything should go wrong, at least they have someone with some training with them.”
Before Eden could protest that she didn’t know enough, Dr. Patil disappeared back into the Sanctuary building. A moment later, Eden heard her name called and turned to see one of the vampire guards beckoning her toward the front truck.
“Ma’am, my name’s Benedict, I’ll be your escort.” He was tall and broad, with spiky black hair. “Please,” he said, gesturing for her to climb in. She turned and saw Talon had appeared beside the truck. He glanced at her, his gaze raking through her, then away, but he said nothing, and she didn’t break the silence. She still didn’t know what she was going to say to him. She smarted from the fact that he had kept his identity secret in the dreams.
She climbed into the back seat. At first, she thought the car was empty, dark with shadows, then she did a double take when she realized the shadows were wrapped around a figure in the back seat.
All around him was silence and stillness except the two piercing blue eyes that seemed to appear out of the darkness. His face gradually emerged, chiseled and sharp. The same breathtaking aura all the Shadows had surrounded him, that heady mix of savage, sexual energy, but there was a breathless, waiting quality to the darkness around him, like a bow, its string pulled taut. Eden shrank back, relieved to feel the familiar, wild texture of Talon’s presence at her back. “This is Jacob,” Talon growled from behind her. “He’s riding with us.”
Jacob nodded to her silently, then turned and stared out of the window. Taking that for the most greeting she was going to get, she clambered fully into the truck, Talon at her heels. With the doors closed, she was enveloped between the two Shadows. She should’ve felt terrified, sitting between these two dangerous warriors on her way into battle, but instead, she felt only a kind of anticipation, a rush that echoed through her bones. Similar to the feeling when she was dancing in the ballroom, but more focused, sharper. The same sense of family but with a far more deadly purpose. For a second, she imagined this life. Learning from Dr. Patil, going out with the Shadows, not with just a tiny medical bag by her feet, but with real equipment, real knowledge. She could do something; she could actually make a difference.
The engine started and she was thrown against Talon as they swerved out of the garage and into the dark Chicago night, her thoughts knocked aside by the nearness of him. She was pressed against him from shoulder to hip, and the heat that emanated from him stole her breath. Was the heat part of the bond? Just like the strange, slow heartbeat that had begun the moment they touched—the soulmate bond awakening their bodies to each other. She pushed the thought away and shoved herself quickly away from Talon at the same time, the line of her body that had touched him feeling suddenly cold.
They shot through the dark streets, bright lights smearing the windows, catching their faces in quick flashes. Eden was caught up in the adrenaline of the moment, tiny things standing out bright to her, like the piercing quality of Jacob’s eyes, or the paleness of Talon’s hand on his knee, so close to her own. So close she could almost reach out her fingers and touch him.
She felt paralyzed by the nearness of him, unable to move. Every swerve of the truck brought her closer toward him, narrowing the gap between them until she could focus on nothing else. Finally, after what seemed like both an age and barely seconds, they arrived at the docks.
The truck pulled up outside the gate’s security box and Eden leaned forward out the window, pressing close to Talon, their bodies finally touching. She swayed, almost overbalanced, and his hands came up against her ribs, holding her up. She sucked in a breath, unable to hold in her reaction at the warm heat of her palm on her chest.
The security guard pushed open the window of his cubicle and stuck his head out. “What are you doing here? What’s all this?” he asked, pointing at the line of trucks.
Eden caught the guard’s eyes. “Riker’s orders,” she said, focusing intently, trying with all her might to put her vampire abilities to bear. Trying to convince him that she was telling the truth. “You should let us pass,” she said. “He’ll be angry if he doesn’t get these new guards on site before the next shipment.”
The guard’s expression flickered, then darkened, and Eden’s stomach sank. Shit. He wasn’t buying it.
“The new shipment?” the guard asked. Eden nodded, adrenaline rushing through her. She tensed and felt Talon react underneath her, readying himself to launch into a fight. She placed a restraining hand on his arm. “But… it’s already arrived,” the guard said, his eyes suddenly opening wide.
Relief shuddered through her body, her shoulders relaxing.
“Let us in now then,” she said, recovering quickly “Right now, Goddamnit, before Riker finds out.” She pulled herself back into the truck as the guard quickly opened the gates and waved them through. Her breath was coming quickly, her frame shaking as adrenaline rushed through her. She realized Talon’s hand was still on her side.
“Well done,” he said softly, and then he withdrew his hand from her waist. She felt the loss of it and had to fight to stop herself from reaching out. The bond flared between them, heavy with restrained emotion. She tried to force her mind away from it. Neither of them could afford distractions. They were in enemy territory.
“There,” Jacob said from beside her. She looked where he was pointing and saw the bustle of activity between a boat pulled up at the dock and the warehouse building.
“I see it,” Talon said grimly. He looked at her. “Stay here. Our guards will remain with you. Do not get out of the truck,” he said intently.
Eden nodded. She had absolutely no intention of getting involved in the fighting.
Talon and Jacob climbed out, and she watched them meet with the others. She felt a flash of worry for them and couldn’t stop the slip of her feelings straight down the bond toward Talon. He half-turned toward her. She tried to stifle her worry, it would only distract him, and he turned away, his profile sharp, silhouetted against the warehouse light.
Between one heartbeat and the next, the Shadows who were clustered around the trucks melted into the darkness. Eden could barely see them flitting across the ground toward the dock.
The wait was interminable, stretching out to what felt like days, weeks. Gradually, Eden felt the press of the approaching dawn upon her senses, and her tension ratcheted up. She didn’t want to be caught out by the sun; she hated th
e sickness and exhaustion it always brought her.
Suddenly an alarm went up from the warehouse building, followed by shouting, and then screaming and the rattle of gunfire.
Worry tightened Eden’s shoulders. They were Shadows, she repeated to herself. They knew what they were doing. Still, she couldn’t help the thread of concern for the warriors whose honor and loyalty had become so obvious to her over the past few weeks.
She couldn’t lie to herself; she worried most for Talon. She feared the wildness with which he had killed Max. The total lack of care for his own safety. But his fellow Shadow warriors were there with him. Surely they wouldn’t let him lose himself? She thought of Lucian and Neal trying to drag him back from Rune, and she worried Talon would lose himself too deeply in his rage.
There was a sudden rattle against the exterior of the truck and she realized she ought to save some worry for herself. A group of Ravagers had come out of a side building, splitting off toward her, one hammering on the truck’s tinted windows.
“Hey,” he called “Get out. Who’s in here? Can’t you see we’re under attack?”
Eden exchanged a wide-eyed glance with Benedict and the other vampire guard left in the truck with her.
“I’ll go,” she said.
“No, ma’am. We’re under orders to protect you.”
“Don’t be stupid,” Eden said. “I’m the only one they have a chance of recognizing. If they see you two unknown, armed vampires they’ll obviously attack.”
“But, ma’am, Talon ordered us not to let you—”
Eden pushed the door open before they could stop her. She knew what Talon had said, but he wasn’t here, and they had no choice. There were only two guards and at least ten Ravagers.
“It’s okay,” Eden said, walking out with her hands up, showing they were empty. “Riker wanted me to bring these reinforcements,” she said. “Go on, you should be at the warehouse with the others.” Better to send them toward where the Shadows could take them out than let them escape and call Riker.
“Who the fuck are you to give us orders?” one asked, stepping forward.
“Hey”—another tugged him back before Eden could reply—“that’s Riker’s girlfriend.”
“Oh yeah?” The first guy looked her over with a sneer. “Well, what are you doing here?”
“I was meant to meet Riker,” she snapped, thinking quickly, “but clearly something has gone wrong. You need to get in there and fix it. Or do you want me to report to Riker that his men are cowards?” From the corner of her eye, she saw Benedict and the other guard sneaking out the side door of the truck and circling around the Ravagers. There were still too many of them to take on. She needed to get them to move. Eden placed her hands on her hips, glaring at them, channeling the implacable command she would use on Hope when she came home exhausted from a night shift and her sister was throwing a tantrum. “Go to the warehouse. Now!” she commanded, and miracle of miracles it worked. Well, it half worked. Most of the group slunk off, leaving only four left in front of her.
The odds still weren’t good, Eden thought. Two Shadow guards against four Ravagers? “You guys as well,” she said.
“Nah, we should stay with you,” one of them said. “Riker won’t be happy if anything happens to his piece.”
She bristled at that. Riker didn’t own her. She felt an answering flicker along the bond as Talon reacted to her anger and her fear. Oh shit. She was distracting him. He could be in the middle of a fight. She tried again to block the bond, pushing it down inside her, narrowing it, constricting it to a tight, narrow thread, but she didn’t know if it worked. She wanted him here. She knew she shouldn’t be distracting him from the main fight, but she was afraid and outnumbered.
“We should call Riker,” the Ravager said. “He should know what’s happening here.”
“No,” she exclaimed. They all turned to look at her as one. “I… I already told him. He knows.”
They looked unconvinced. And the one that had spoken frowned at her as if remembering something. “Hey, wait a minute,” he said. “Didn’t Riker say she was missing?” He turned to his fellows. “He said she’d run off somewhere, weeks ago, remember?” He turned and glared at her. “What the hell are you doing here if you’ve run off?”
“I didn’t run off,” she said. Her gaze flickered over his shoulder. Benedict was in position behind the group. “I was just—”
“Yeah?” The Ravager cut her off, stepping aggressively toward her. “This is what we do to bitches who run away.” He drew back his fist. A roar came from behind as the guards leaped onto the Ravagers. The vampire before her spun around, his hand going to his gun, and Eden took her chance, leaping on him and trying to tug his hands away from his weapon. They were all of them vampires and they moved whip fast. Shots rang out and one of the Ravager’s heads exploded in a splatter of blood and brain before turning to ash. Eden didn’t have any weapons; it was vampire strength against vampire strength, and he was bigger than her. It didn’t take him long to kick her off and slam her back against the truck. She raked her claws down his face, opening dark lines of blood across his cheek. He screamed and grabbed her, throwing her to the ground “You’ll pay for that, you bitch” he said, looming over her.
Eden braced, then felt the whoosh of displaced air as something moving fast slammed into him with enough force that they both hit the truck and dented the metal in. The shape sprung back and resolved into Talon, shadows streaming around him like a whirling dark fire. His eyes were black holes full of rage and his white fangs were bared, sharp against his lips. “No,” he said, and his voice was like ice, “you’re the one who’ll pay.” He threw himself forward again, tearing the vampire limb from limb with such force the blood sprayed high into the air, finally turning to ash as Talon snapped ribs with a brutal crack and drew the heart out of the vampire’s chest.
He turned on the other Vampire Ravager members who had stopped fighting the guards and were staring in terror. Moving faster than the eye could see, he ran them down.
Eden felt his rage deep in the bond, but unlike the time in the ballroom, he wasn’t lost to the wildness, but focused with a pure and terrible intention: to obliterate those who had harmed her. She felt his emotions clearly within her through the bond, and the violent grace of his lethal dance didn’t terrify her but filled her with awe. That was why he had leaped on Rune. It hadn’t been because they were dancing together as she had accused him of. Talon had felt her fear when Rune’s hand had shifted over her scar—she had been afraid Rune would feel it through her top, and her memories of how she had got it, dark and painful had risen up. That had been the moment when Talon had attacked. He could have been standing there for hours before then. She had no idea how long he had been watching her dance. It was only when she had seemed to be hurt that he had attacked. Realization dawned over her, the movements of the vampires before her seeming almost in slow motion as her world changed, the pieces sliding and clicking to fit into this new understanding.
***
Talon rocked back, the last vampire’s heart crushed under his grip. He raised his eyes, only the Shadows’ guards were left, their hands raised, non-threatening, and for the first time, Talon pulled back from the killing rage. He spun around, back to Eden. She was staring at him with shock in her eyes as he came back to himself.
He realized he had again shown her only violence. He had torn his last chance at proving to her he was more than a monster. His heart sank, crushing despair closing in upon him, crushing the bond between them. Her expression shifted into a kind of anguish and she stepped forward quickly. “No,” she said, coming close and raising her hand to his cheek. “Don’t pull away.”
“I’m a monster,” Talon whispered, even as he turned his face into her palm, savoring the warmth, wishing he could accept the comfort she was giving, but knowing it would only be ripped away from him.
“No,” she whispered, “it’s not going; I’m not going anywhere. Listen to the bond,”
she urged. “Listen to what you’re feeling from me.” She caught his hand, still slick with the blood of their enemies, and placed it on her chest. “Feel me,” she said. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Talon stared at her in wonder. The bond was open between them and he felt the truth of her words. She wasn’t pulling away. She was doing the opposite; she was embracing the bond. Hope rose within him. “But why?” he whispered.
“Because you’re not a monster,” she said. “I know monsters. I’ve lived with them for far too long. Talon, you’re no monster. I understand now. The violence within you, the wildness, the rage. You don’t have to hide it. It’s a part of you, but it’s not all of you. You just needed an anchor.” She smiled up at him. “I can be your anchor. The bond is what will keep you from losing yourself to the wildness.” Talon couldn’t believe what he was hearing. She wanted him? As he was?
“You’re a warrior, Talon. You’re everything you’re supposed to be. You don’t use your strength to hurt the innocent, you use it to protect them.” She stared up at him, her eyes intent. “That makes all the difference. I understand why you hid your face. You were afraid I would reject you, but Talon I won’t. I’m not rejecting you. I want this bond,” she said hesitantly at first, then her voice growing firmer. “I want it. I want to be your soulmate. I want to be a part of the Shadows. All of it. I want you,” she said.
The bond was open between them, wide and clear and honest, and he felt the truth of her words. Unable to stop the rising surge of passion, he dragged her roughly toward him and kissed her deeply. She moaned into his mouth, and the raging desire from the bond rose up between them both, engulfing them, firing up their nerves with a potent energy they couldn’t hold back. His fangs sank into his mouth and he hungered to bite down, to claim her but—
“Not here,” he said. “I don’t want it to be here.”
“No,” Eden said, shaking her head, looking dazed as he stepped away from her. “No,” she said, “of course you’re right. We should…” She looked over to the warehouse, where the sound of fighting had stopped. “We should wait…”
