by K Loraine
“No.” She turned that blazing violet gaze on me from the door. “You don’t get to be heard. Not now. There is nothing in this world that can make me listen to you. I did that once before and look where I ended up.”
“I didn’t know.”
“You didn’t know?” The laugh she let out cut through me like a hot knife. “Ask me how much I care? You knew what you were planning when you took my mating mark. You knew what your goal was when you took my virginity. You fucking knew plenty.”
The spark of humanity I’d worked so hard to squash over the century ignited. I couldn’t imagine feeling it every time she was with another man. The thought sent jealousy burning in my blood.
“If I’d had any inkling you were alive, Briar, I assure you, I would’ve come for you. I would’ve taken you away from them where the two of us could have been together as we should be.”
A sneer curled her lips. “And yet, you say you’re my mate. You should have sensed me as I did you. That’s all the proof I need to see that you and I aren’t meant to be together. We are the cautionary tale told to children at bedtime. The warning. The lesson needing to be taught.”
Reaching into her jacket pocket, she pulled out a bag of blood and tossed it at me. “Eat up. You have a date with some witches at sundown.”
Briar slammed the door behind her, the motion making the shade rattle on the window and causing my veins to hum with apprehension. Witches? I tipped my head back until it rested against the wall. Fucking witches. Nothing good ever came from dalliances with them.
She could’ve seen me dead then and there, but she needed me. Not because she missed me. Because she was using me as a bargaining chip. She’d said exactly that.
The bag of blood she’d tossed my way taunted me, just out of reach of my hands. I’d have to work for it, but I needed to heal myself if I was going to stand a chance at getting away. But what was I going to do about her? Could I leave her again? At the hands of the council? They’d find her. They’d tear her to pieces, and then I’d lose her for good.
I heard them. The two of them, walking above me, low murmured voices, the buzz of their thoughts, blocked but still present. Seb. That was his name. He clearly lusted after what was mine, but I wasn’t sure what Briar wanted. She’d let me inside her. Sure, she’d snapped my neck and left me dead to the world before I could finish, but still. I didn’t think Seb had been that close to her.
Raised voices filtered down to me, flashes of Briar’s thoughts, her unease with the situation, her worry about those close to her. It was a jumbled mess, but I caught enough to know there were some people she loved in her life. I wasn’t one of them.
After what felt like hours of stretching and reaching for the damned blood bag, I finally snagged the plastic and was able to drag it to me. Healing a broken neck wasn’t easy. It took a lot of my strength, but combining that with the hole she’d put in my side earlier in the night, I was an utter disgrace. Tearing the top off the bag, I drank down the chilled blood, shuddering at the taste. It had a strange cloying sweetness to it. One I’d tasted before.
My gut clenched and sweat beaded on my forehead as my head swam and my tongue grew thick. Fucking hell. Briar fed me dead blood. My last thought before I lost consciousness once again was that she must’ve been very cross with me indeed.
7
BRIAR
“When are we taking him to the witches?” I asked, pacing in front of the fireplace while Seb sat on the old moth-eaten sofa and set about cleaning and sharpening his knives. The man had a roll of silver daggers of all sizes. I didn’t understand why he didn’t just use his claws, but we each had different strengths. If weapons made him more comfortable, who was I to judge?
“Not yet. He needs to be broken first.”
“I don’t like having him here.”
Seb rose from his seat and strode toward me, catching me by the shoulders and stopping my pacing. “I know. If I could find the wolf who bit me and changed me, I’d want nothing more than to get away from him. But this can help us. And, who knows why he came for you. Maybe he’s working as a hitman for the council. Have you thought of that? He could be using your connection to take us all out.”
My gut twisted as cold terror settled in my chest. “I hadn’t. I’m glad they’ve all gone into hiding. You should leave too.”
“No. We’ve been together in this since the moment I found you. I won’t leave you.”
I smiled at him, relief chasing away the chill in my body. My connection with Lucas was in the past. The ghost of a love that was nothing but bad for me. Seb was here with no designs other than helping me stay safe. Why was I denying him? I wrapped my arms around him, holding him tight in an embrace that I’d sorely needed. “Thank you.”
“Briar,” he whispered, taking a long breath, scenting me, nuzzling my neck, leaving a bit of himself on my skin.
“Once he’s gone…out of my life forever…then—”
I hadn’t finished my statement before Seb grabbed my face between his hands and kissed me. Hard. Demanding. Passionate. He wanted to claim me as his. He’d wanted to for a long time now. But I didn’t have a bond to give anymore. Lucas had taken mine and squandered it.
I broke the kiss and pulled away. “Seb, you deserve better than this. I’m a mess.”
“You’re a beautiful mess. My beautiful mess.”
He pressed his lips to my mouth again, this time with such tenderness, my chest ached. “Seb,” I protested, but his hands were in my hair and he backed me against the wall, the hard length of his body along mine.
“I want you,” he whispered. “I don’t care about the rest.”
“You can’t be serious. The man I gave my mating mark to is chained up in our basement right now.”
Shrugging, he laid his forehead against my own. “You gave him your mark, and he threw it away. All that matters is who you want now. He has no claim on you. He doesn’t deserve one.”
I sighed and cupped Seb’s jaw. He’d never moved so far with me. He’d always been cautious and careful, protecting the friendship we had. But now that Lucas was here, it was obvious he needed to make me see he wanted more. “You’re right. He doesn’t.”
He backed away, giving me the space I needed but hadn’t asked for. Then with a roguish wink, he ran a hand through his dark hair and smirked. “Hungry? I could go for something to eat.”
I was hungry, but not for food. I needed to hunt. I hadn’t fed since Lucas arrived, and I hadn’t been a vampire long enough to last more than a few nights without feeding.
“I need to hunt.”
“Do you have another job?”
Pulling out my phone, I checked the messages I’d ignored over the last hour. Two jobs within a ten mile radius. “Yes. Money and food. A perfect combination.”
“I’d tell you to be careful, but…”
“I can handle myself.”
He nodded. “Quite right. All the same, I have to say it.”
With one last look, I left him in the living room and made my way to the foyer. My gaze slid to the locked basement door before I walked outside.
“He’d better be alive when I get back,” I called.
Instead of Seb’s voice, I heard Lucas shouting from where he was chained. “Have a nice day, dear.”
I couldn’t wait until we were rid of him, and yet part of me screamed to keep him with me. That was dangerous. The sooner he was gone, the better.
“What’s wrong with him?” I stared at the lump of vampire curled on the floor of the basement. Lucas groaned softly, pain twisting his features. A bag of donated blood we’d given him remained in his grasp, empty, torn open at the top. “He fed. He should be fine.”
Seb stood next to me, arms crossed over his chest. “He looks fine to me.”
“Dead…” Lucas’ voice was rough and weak. “Dead blood?” He coughed. “You really do hate me.”
Icy unease curled in my stomach. “What?” Dead blood isn’t something we toy with. It can
kill a weakened vampire, seriously hurt a strong one. Lucas was already hurt.
“Don’t worry, he won’t die. He’ll feel like shite for a while, but the bastard will live.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing from Seb.
“You gave me dead blood to feed him?”
Lucas chuckled, but the sound was pained as he got to his knees. Then he retched into the corner. A low groan came from him before he collapsed into a heap. “God…in…Heaven, Briar. I didn’t…think…you were this vicious.”
Another groan filled the air before he heaved again.
“Seb?” Worry churned in my gut. “He doesn’t look good.”
“He should be fine.”
“Should be? Just a second ago, you said he would live.”
Seb shifted from one foot to the other. “He’s strong. He’ll heal after he gets it out of his system.”
“He’s not strong. I impaled him on a tree branch earlier, broke his neck.”
Lucas shuddered, then coughed before attempting to crawl toward me. Then he whispered, “Van Helsing.”
“What is he talking about?” Seb asked.
“It’s too much. This is too much for him to handle. God, Seb, I didn’t want to kill him.”
“He’s a Blackthorne. He’s not gonna die.”
“He’s half human.”
“Shit,” Seb whispered. “You didn’t tell me that.”
“I didn’t think you’d try to poison him.”
Lucas’ heart still beat, but the pulse was erratic, stuttering, struggling. Was he going to die? Looking at him, so still, so pale, brow furrowed with pain, everything in me screamed to stop this, to do something.
“The witches won’t take a dead Blackthorne. What use will they have for a corpse? They won’t protect us if we don’t give them something.” Seb’s words were gruff and panic laced.
“Briar…” Lucas rasped. “I need fresh blood.”
“Give me the keys,” I ordered.
“What?” The shock in Seb’s tone said everything I needed to know. This was a bad idea, but I couldn’t let Lucas suffer. Not at my hands. When we delivered him to the witches, that would be a different story.
“The fucking keys for the chains, Seb.”
I held my hand out and waited as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring. “You’d better get out of here until this is sorted out. Lock us in down here. Go to the others. I’ll be fine.”
“You don’t have to do this alone.”
I stared daggers at him. “I want to. This is my mess to fix. And you’ll probably just stake him anyway. Then where will we be?”
“Don’t trust him, Briar. He betrayed you once. He’ll do it again.”
Jaw clenched, I forced myself to remain calm. Just like a man to think he can control me. “You’re right. He won’t get the chance.”
“I hope not.”
Seb left, the click of the deadbolt harsh in my ears. But I didn’t have time for anything other than making sure Lucas didn’t die on my watch. He shuddered where he was curled on his side. I’d never seen him so weak, so vulnerable. He was a shell of his former self.
“Fuck me, I am not a fan of your establishment’s services.” It was barely a whisper, but the fact that he was making jokes lightened something in my chest.
“I’ll be sure to pass on your feedback to the manager.”
He chuckled, a weak rasp, then retched again. This time I dropped to my knees at his side, my palm hovering over his back. I had no idea what to do to help him. With shaking hands, I unlocked the cuffs holding him in place, desperate to make him more comfortable in some way.
He immediately braced one palm on the wall, the other on the floor to support himself. Once he was done spilling his guts, he sat back on the floor, as far away from where he’d been sick as possible. His dark hair fell into his eyes, brow damp with sweat, eyes closed in pain.
“One star,” he said, his breathing ragged. “Would not recommend.” Again with the jokes. Even on death’s door, he was flippant.
“You need fresh blood. Don’t insult my hospitality. I have what you want.”
“You’ve always had what I wanted, darling. Don’t tease.”
Claws extended, I slashed a line across my wrist and watched the dark crimson blood well up. “Take it, but don’t get any ideas. I’m still stronger than you, and I can snap your neck again.”
“Promises, promises,” he murmured, wild eyes trained on my wrist.
He gripped my arm roughly, tugging me to him before flicking his gaze up at my eyes as though asking permission. My belly fluttered with anticipation, and I had to dig my claws into my thigh to keep from running.
The moment his lips touched my skin, I knew. I knew it wasn’t a lie, that he and I were destined even if we didn’t want to be. My silent heart thudded. Stuttered. Started beating a slow, even rhythm before racing so fast my head spun. No. No. He didn’t get to claim me as his. Not now. Not after everything.
“Lucas,” I whispered, my voice breathy because if I were any louder, I thought I might pass out. “That’s enough.”
He shook his head, never breaking contact with my wrist. His fangs dug into my flesh, and with every pull from him, the promise of pleasure built inside me.
Posture changing from frail to confident, he rose up on his knees and pulled me to him. The golden crest of an orgasm hovered, just on the edge. God damn him, he was going to make me come apart.
“Fuck,” I groaned.
Blinding pleasure raced through me, converging at my core before exploding in bliss that curled my toes and sent my back bowing. If he hadn’t been holding me, I would’ve fallen. As it was, my vision blurred and faded, and the last thing I remembered before losing consciousness was Lucas rising with me in his arms.
“Lock us in?” He chuckled, low and dark. “Oh, my love, nothing is going to keep me in this house. You and I have important business to which we must attend. ”
“I guess you don’t know me as well as you think you do.” I bit out the words, fury curling in my chest.
“Or perhaps, I know you too well.”
“Where the hell did you take me?” I looked around, the space strange and small, a constant hum in my ears, the air stale.
“Ah, this is my private jet.” He paused, cocking his head as though he was speaking to a small child. “You see, times have changed, and travel by air is common amongst people of the world. The wealthy own airplanes much like they did automobiles before you were…gone.”
I rolled my eyes and pulled my leg from his grip. “I know what a private jet is, Lucas.”
He settled in the buttery leather chair opposite the one I’d been reclined in. “Don’t get your knickers in a knot, darling. How was I supposed to know? The way I hear it, you’ve been locked in a tower since the last time we saw each other.”
I gritted my teeth against the memories of Nik torturing me, of his madness caused by the pain of the wounds inflicted by the pack. That paired with being shunned, killing him was almost a kindness.
“I’m a fast learner.”
He chuckled. “I see that.”
Sitting up, I forced myself to remain calm. There was no way out of this until the plane landed.
“So, where are we headed?”
He leaned back in his chair and grinned. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“Yes. That’s why I asked.”
“What would you say if I told you I thought I’d whisk you away on the honeymoon we never got to have?”
My chest tightened. It still hurt to think of the mating mark I gave him. The one he’d removed.
“Instead, you had to drain me until I passed out in order to get me to go with you.”
“Oh, love, I didn’t drain you. I pleasured you to unconsciousness. I’m simply that good. Or don’t you remember?”
I couldn’t keep from laughing, but I also couldn’t deny the truth in his statement. He was good. That might have also been because I had no basis for com
parison. And my memory wasn’t the best thing to rely on there.
My thighs clenched at the flash of remembered whispers and sighs. Of tender touches and hungry kisses.
Lucas inhaled long and slow, a groan coming from deep in his throat. “That is one I relive frequently when my control slips and I have to revisit my time with you.”
Was he saying he…fantasized about me? At first, I admitted, I had dreams of him coming to my rescue, of him taking me from Nik and giving me reason to believe in him again. But those dreams became nightmares the longer Nik had me.
“You don’t have me chained and bound. That seems overconfident considering I have bested you twice already.”
With annoying confidence, he simply lowered his seat back and threaded his fingers behind his head.
“I’m not holding you captive, Briar.”
“Then what are you doing?”
“I’m returning you to your pack.”
His dark caramel irises locked on mine, challenge sparking in their depths.
“What?”
Icy cold dread formed a pit in my stomach.
“Your mother is holding my family hostage in exchange for your safe return. You’ve done a fairly good job of hiding in plain sight, but your chosen occupation as an assassin for hire just won’t do.”
“Well, you have no say in what I do.”
He grinned. “I don’t. But your actions make you a target for both the shifter and vampire councils. You’re a wild card. They’ll take you out if they have to.”
“I’m aware of the risks.”
“It’s not something a pack alpha does, Briar.”
“I’m not the pack alpha. My father is.”
A serious expression changed his entire demeanor as he sat up and leaned forward, palms pressed together, head bowed.
My heart stuttered when he offered me his gaze again. “Your father is dead. You are the new Dumond alpha, Briar.”
A hum built in my brain, sending tension speeding along my muscles. Dead? No. He couldn’t be.
