Bounty

by K. N. Banet

  There wasn’t anything else alive within thirty feet of us. I would have known. Everything had run off when we drove up, and the appearance of another vehicle this far out would scare off anything that was trying to come back. Wildlife was skittish like that.

  I could see Sinclair holding the back of Carter’s shirt, forcing him to come forward. Carter didn’t look any worse for wear, no signs of any beatings or torture, but that only gave Sinclair so many points. He had still abducted a vampire who was a good friend of Cassius and me and a member of the Phoenix vampire nest. He’d probably starved Carter as well, and going twenty-four hours without blood at Carter’s age was like going a week without food for a human…a month for me. I had no doubt Carter was weaker than he normally was, which was saying something because he was a young vampire. He wasn’t all that strong to begin with.

  “Carter!” Cassius called. “How are you?”

  “I’m—”

  A hand clamped over Carter’s mouth. Sinclair glared at our group while the fae, Tom Lennon, held Carter.

  “Now, now. You haven’t earned the privilege to speak to him yet. You have something I want, I have something you want. You can talk to him once the exchange has happened.” Sinclair was back to his professional persona, not the murderous piece of shit he had been at my house. It was the same face he had given me at the rented home in Scottsdale, his normal face.

  But now I knew there was something lurking beneath the surface, something that hadn’t been there in the eighty or so years I’d dealt with him.

  “Tell me, do you really think we’ll keep your crimes a secret?” I asked loudly.

  “I think you’re morally grey enough to do whatever is necessary,” he answered, smiling. “You’ve always been…bad for the people around you. Friend or enemy doesn’t really matter.”

  How right you are.

  “We have no intention of trading. I’m willing to let you and Tommen walk if you hand over Carter to us,” Cassius said, his posture telling me he was ready for a fight. Tommen, Tom—Cassius knew this fae.

  “You have no authority over me, Lord Cassius, the one without a Clan,” Tommen sneered. “You ran from power when it was offered to you after your piece of shit of a father walked away from us. Your entire family has proven to be nothing but worthless. Oberon and Titania would be ashamed.”

  “Be careful,” Cassius whispered, his voice carrying on the wind. “They might be ashamed, but they haven’t taken my power, and my line is far more powerful than yours.”

  “Not that you ever use it,” Tommen said, spitting in the dirt. “Sinclair warned me you might try to help the nagini once she got involved. I don’t know why he’s worried.”

  “Let me warn you of something then,” Cassius said with a smile. “If you think Sinclair is going to share any of the spoils with you, you’re a fool.”

  “I don’t betray my business partners,” Sinclair said blandly, almost bored with the conversation. “Your offer is denied, Cassius. I’m not here to make deals. I’m here to see if my offers were accepted or rejected.”

  “Reject—”

  In a blur, able to move faster than anyone there, I pulled my hunting dagger from my left thigh sheath and brought it up to Cassius’s neck. In the exact same moment, I pulled my Beretta from my right thigh holster and pressed the muzzle to the side of Raphael’s head.

  There was silence as everyone realized what I had just done.

  “Start walking,” I ordered Raphael softly.

  “But…”

  “He has something I want,” I snapped. In my head, a small voice called me a hypocrite. I told Cassius we couldn’t do this. I fought with him over it. But now, there was more on the line. “I’m not letting it get away from me.”

  Raphael stepped forward, and I kept the gun aimed for his head. Cassius was smart, not moving. I had the blade pressed directly to the skin of his neck, and we both knew who was faster. If he made any move, I would give him a very serious injury.

  “Send Carter,” I ordered, looking across the rocky desert at Sinclair. He nodded and handed something to the young vampire, who walked fast. Tommen released the light bindings he had put around Carter’s arms and legs, giving him the ability to run.

  Raphael walked, though, confused, scared, and I felt terrible for each step he took.

  “Kaliya, why?” Cassius begged. “There were other ways.”

  “I made my choice,” I answered, hoping he understood the meaning, hoping he put the pieces together. I could have it all if he understood what I wanted. I pressed the dagger against his neck harder. I hadn’t treated it with venom for this reason. If Cassius or I moved at all, it would slice him open, just a little. A little more pressure and I could kill him without having to work at it.

  We watched Carter draw closer, running as fast as he could. He held up a USB when he was close enough for me to see it.

  “This must be for you,” he said.

  “Get in the car,” I ordered sternly. We didn’t have time for chit chat. I needed him to get ready to leave. Once I heard the door close, I lowered the gun pointed at Raphael and the knife I had on Cassius. Now was the time. It had to go perfectly right. “Raphael, now!” I roared.

  He turned and made it three steps before light bindings whipped around his legs.

  “Cassius!” I snapped, lifting my gun to fire at Tommen. Sinclair was moving fast for Raphael, his face not angry or upset—just determined.

  “I hate you,” Cassius growled at me. He pulled up his rifle and started firing.

  Sinclair was fast, and grabbed Raphael, yanking him up. A shimmer appeared between us and them, right as Raphael’s eyes turned red and black. He couldn’t break the bindings, though, his muscles bulging.

  “Damn it!” Cassius snapped. “He threw up a field.” He kept firing, unloading all his ammo into the shimmering wall between them.

  “Cassius, shadow step!” I yelled. “Now!”

  “I can’t!” he roared. “I can’t go through light magic with dark magic!”

  I cursed and started running, holstering my Beretta. Beyond the shimmering wall, I saw Sinclair catch Raphael’s gaze and grin. Raphael sagged.

  I pulled my talwar out and sliced the shimmering wall just as Sinclair struck, sinking his fangs into Raphael’s neck . The iron of my blade broke the wall, leaving Cassius able to move.

  “Get Raphael!” I screamed, running for the pair. Light bindings grabbed my ankles, sending me to the ground, and I sliced them off with my sword, glaring at the fae as I stood. A roar filled the night, and I turned to see what had happened, fae already forgotten.

  Raphael slumped to the ground, pale and weak. Sinclair stood over him, his eyes now looking like Raphael’s, black ink filling his veins and taking over his face and neck. His fangs were longer than I had ever seen, coming down nearly an inch, and his other teeth were razor points as well.

  “This is power,” the vampire murmured, clenching his fist.

  I dropped my sword and lifted my Beretta again. I fired the entire magazine into the vampire, who only smiled as the wounds healed, and the bullets fell harmlessly to the ground.

  When Sinclair started walking for me, I backpedaled, making sure to grab my talwar as I tried to keep the space between us. Behind him, I saw Cassius erupted into vision in a pop of black smoke. He grabbed Raphael, saying something as he took one step, holding him, disappearing in another small pop of black smoke—shadow stepping.

  “So, this was the plan, huh?” I asked Sinclair. “You vampires get stronger when you feed off supernaturals, but it’s not allowed. You wanted to feed off him and see what kind of power he gave you.”

  “Oh, I knew what kind of power he would give me. There were some things Mygi told me over the phone, not in writing. No chance of it leaking to other vampires and having to fight too many for the privilege,” Sinclair explained. He wasn’t running at me, still going at a normal, vampire walking pace. That meant I was still the fastest person around and could ou
trun him. I kept trying to back up to the ride, though. I could hear Cassius and Carter arguing about whether to leave me or not. Who was on which side, I didn’t know.

  “That was nice of them. You know, I thought when vampires fed off supernaturals, you didn’t get the powers of those you fed off of.”

  “Raphael is different, special. I intend on keeping him. You’re not leaving with him, Kaliya.”

  “But I am,” I said, turning and starting to run. That’s when I saw the light bindings raise up and grab the SUV. Cursing, I hauled ass and sliced them. One grabbed my ankle, and this time, I couldn’t catch the fall, landing hard on the ground, face meeting rocks.

  The very satisfied roar behind me sent chills down my spine. Someone reached down and grabbed the back of my shirt, yanking me up to my feet. I saw Cassius, his eyes a swirling mix of white and black—light and dark. His lineage was the stuff of legend, even though he wasn’t as powerful as his parents. Turning, I saw that he summoned dark bindings, and they grabbed both Sinclair and the fae.

  “Why didn’t you do that earlier?” I demanded.

  “Because it’s hard for my kind of fae to use our big abilities in this world,” he reminded me, sounding tired. I looked at his face and saw it looked a little washed out. “There’s no human blood in me to anchor me here like Clan fae. Those won’t last long. Get in.”

  I nodded as the last of the light bindings broke off our ride. Cassius jumped behind the wheel and hit the gas before I could even close my door.

  I turned to the back seat, looking over the two people back there. Carter’s eyes were wide. Raphael’s were half closed, but he was alive.

  “How’s everyone feeling?” I asked.

  “What the hell was that plan?” Raphael muttered.

  “Cassius was supposed to save you faster,” I explained.

  “You said to be ready to use it if it’s the last possible option,” Cassius snapped. The SUV bumped hard and sent all of them close to the ceiling.

  “I meant, use it when I told you to,” I hissed back. “Why did it take you so long to figure out it was a ploy?”

  “Because…” Cassius didn’t finish the statement.

  Because he doesn’t trust me to make the right call when it comes to my parents’ killers.

  “Well, it’s fine. Sinclair is just on the vampire equivalent of steroids, and we need to get out of here. But other than that, it’s fine. Carter, are you okay?” I searched the young vampire’s face. “I’m sorry this happened.”

  “It’s fine.” The SUV hit another hard bump, and we all bounced. “He didn’t hurt me or anything. Look, maybe I can do what he did, and—”

  “If you feed off Raphael, I’ll kill you,” I said evenly, meaning every word. “Not only because I think it’s wrong, and it’s illegal, but also because we don’t know what he just did to himself. I’m not letting you act stupid. He has a whole lot more information on this than we do.”

  “Okay.” Carter nodded. “Then can we switch seats? I haven’t fed since that fae broke into my light proof room and grabbed me.”

  “Sure,” I said nicely. I shifted to make it easy and got into the back. Carter carefully walked over me and fell into the front seat. When I shifted back, I looked out the back, seeing only two small dots for headlights. “They’re gaining on us,” I said softly. “Cassius, can this thing go any faster?”

  His foot hit the gas, but the lights kept getting bigger.

  “To outrun it before we reach the city? I don’t know, but I can make sure they don’t drive us off the road,” he answered.

  “That will have to do,” I said. “Raphael?”

  “I’ll be fine,” he mumbled. “Just need a few minutes for the punctures to heal and the blood to replenish.”

  “Has a vampire fed off you before?”

  He shook his head.

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered, touching the bite gently. “He heals faster than you.”

  “He’s also a vampire,” Cassius said from the front. “He already had a better-than-average healing factor. He’s full of rich, fresh blood, and it’s supernatural with its own quirks. There’s no telling what he can do now.”

  That was terrifying.

  I watched as it gained on us, heart racing. The getaway should have been the easy part. It should have been the part where everyone took a moment to breathe.

  “We need to talk about your communication skills when we’re done,” Cassius said from the front seat.

  “Yeah,” I agreed. “I really thought you would get it sooner.”

  “Shadow stepping with other people is stupid and dangerous, and you’re lucky Raphael is alive.”

  “What did you tell him before taking him?”

  “He told me to hold my breath,” Raphael said with a groan. “How close are they?”

  “Too close,” I answered.

  “Do you have the thing you wanted?” He didn’t sound mad. I was a little grateful for that.

  “Carter? You have that USB still?”

  “Yeah.” He held it back, and I grabbed it, shoving it into my pocket for later. “What is it?”

  “Intel on who killed my family, on whoever is trying to wipe out my kind. Sinclair told me he had it, hoping I would go for the easy trade. I really didn’t consider he would get a bite out of Raphael and actually get his powers,” I explained. “That’s not normal.”

  “Nothing about this entire situation is normal,” Cassius snapped, but it was missing the bite he normally could put in his voice. Did that short distance shadow stepping really take it out of him that much?

  I didn’t have time to care about it. Sinclair’s SUV was pulling closer, and I watched as the vampire crawled out onto the roof. My eyes had adjusted enough to the night to pick out some new changes to the vampire. His red eyes were glowing. His muscles seemed bigger, and the black veins were now visible on his hands. His face was nearly all black and his teeth? They looked like they could scissor off a limb.

  What the hell is he becoming?

  I didn’t get much more of a chance to think about it. He leapt off his SUV as it drew closer and landed on the top of ours. Black nails sank through the roof like butter. Carter was the one screaming as Sinclair peeled off the roof.

  28

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  I was shocked speechless. Unable to say anything, I grabbed Raphael and yanked him down, keeping him out of Sinclair’s reach. Unthinking, I tried to put my body over his head.

  “Hold on!” Cassius yelled. He slammed on the brakes and tires squealed. Raphael and I hit the back of the seats in front of us. My head spun as it hit a metal frame piece inside the seat, but I was quick to look up and check on Raphael, hoping he was okay. He didn’t seem worse for wear, but I didn’t have much time to really ask him how he was doing.

  The SUV spun, control fading as it tried to stop, the wheels still screeching on the road as Cassius kept his foot on the brakes. I grabbed Raphael’s jacket, pulling him closer, keeping my body over his as the SUV finally made its way to a stop.

  “How is everyone?” Cassius asked. “Kaliya? Say something.”

  “I’m okay!” I said as loudly as I was able. “How’re you and Carter?”

  “We’re fine. Carter hit the dashboard, but he’ll be okay,” Cassius explained back to me.

  I looked over Raphael, lifting off him. He groaned as he sat up, looking at my face.

  “You…”

  “Don’t think too hard about it,” I said, swallowing as he realized I had thrown my body over his to protect him. Biological instincts were funny things like that. “Where’s Sinclair?”

  “On the road about fifty feet in front of us,” Cassius answered.

  “Get moving again—”

  I didn’t get to finish that. The fae rammed his SUV into our backend, and the entire vehicle spun again, sliding on the road, debris flying everywhere.

  “We need to get out,” Raphael yelled.

  “On it,” I snapped as it
came to a stop. I forced my door open and staggered out onto the road. I helped Raphael out and checked Carter over once he was next to me. Cassius stood in the road, glaring at the fae in the other SUV.

  “Cassius, we’re going to have to fight this out!” I yelled. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, not while trying to protect two people and getting everything out of the deal while Sinclair got nothing. That was why I had avoided it and decided on a getaway instead. I could always hunt Sinclair down after the fact, especially since I had leave to kill him at any point.

  Now, I didn’t have much of a choice.

  “Let me feed on Raphael. Maybe I can fight him.” Carter was looking at Raphael with a ravenous expression that made me uncomfortable.

  “No,” I said, looking around. Sinclair wasn’t in front of us on the pavement like Cassius had said. I pulled the katana from my back and stood ready. Glancing at Cassius out the corner of my eye, I saw he was still waiting on the other fae, ready to fight against his own kind in some kind of grudge match I wanted no part of.

  I wasn’t as ready as I thought I would be. Coming in from the darkness off the road, Sinclair slammed me into the side of the SUV, snarling viciously. I screamed as my back hit the metal and glass tore into my back. My grip on the hilt of my katana failed due to the sheer force and pain of the impact. I tried to kick and push the deadly sharp fangs from me, but I knew I was going to fail as they snapped again, grazing the skin of my neck. I decided to bite back as Carter and Raphael struggled to pull Sinclair off me. I sank my fangs into him and depleted the small amount of venom I had been able to replenish since killing the witch. Sinclair roared and dropped me, but even through my double vision, I could tell there were no signs my venom was effective.

  Raphael’s blood. He’s immune because he fed on my fucking possible mate, and there goes my most efficient way of killing someone.