Arctic Bound (26 page)

“The wolves call us Hunters. Some of my line, are in fact human.”

“Like me?”

“Nothing like you. You're a product of your mother and me. When you were born, you showed signs of changing. I suppressed your Vampire traits because I wanted you to have a normal life.”

How normal did he think her life was? He was the head of a crime syndicate.

“Father, my life was never normal. Who started the fire?”

That took him a while to answer. He paced the length of the room for several seconds before stopping in front of her to give her a direct answer.

“The Mistress sanctioned it. It was Raven and the rest of the team that started the actual fire.”

Rage, hatred, and pure murderous intent filled Nerina's soul. Her hands shook with the force of her emotions. Her legs threatened to give out. She had to sit down in order to hold her composure. If she hadn't,
her and the floor were going to become intimately acquainted.

“There isn't much time. Now that you've had Werewolf blood, and the beast has marked you as his, you're in need of an immediate transfusion.”

“A transfusion why?”

“If we don't do this now, there may be no telling what could happen to you. I can't take the chance that I'll lose you again. I don't know how long it will be before you won't be able to control your thirst. Right now you seem fine, but in a few days or weeks there is no telling what will happen. We have to be prepared for the worst.”

The worst? What's the worst that could happen?”

“You could go on a feeding frenzy killing half the population in a matter of weeks.”

Nerina looked to her father. Was he a mind reader to? She hadn't said that out loud.

“It's all over your face
Cara
. Come now, we may have been separated for two years, but I know my own flesh and blood.”

“Will I really crave blood to a point I won't be able to control myself? I've had Victors blood in me more than a few days, and I feel fine father, really.”

“YOU WILL DRINK MY BLOOD!” Her father roared.

This was when she knew he wasn't telling her the entire truth. She knew when he was trying to hide something from her. Why was it so important she drink his blood? It wasn't like she wanted blood, she'd beat Raven to a bloody pulp and she hadn't craved a drop. What if it was a way to control her? She'd seen plenty of movies with vampires and werewolves. What if it was all a game to her father and something more sinister was going on. He was after all, Roman di Bagonerigo of the Civiti crime family. She'd been witness to her father's brutality first hand.

He's lying.

Nerina was trying to find a way out of the current situation she was in, when there was a knock at the door.

“We have company. The wolf is at the door.”

The wolf? Victor? It had to be Victor.

 



If the Hunters wanted a fight, they would get a fight. Victor wasn't about to hand over the Bow. It was something given to his people long before Ambrogio had come in and stolen it. It was an instrument used to control his kind and it had been away from them for too long. The only silver he could touch was the Silver Bow of Artemis.

“We're doing the right thing.” Blue reiterated for the hundredth time. It had been decided by his father that the artifact would not be put into the hands of the Hunters. But he'd gone to the hotel anyway to bargain with Nerina's father. Her father who was the
first vampire ever made. Centuries had gone by and they'd long since stopped calling them vampires. They were Hunters. Because that's what they did. They hunted. Trying to exterminate his kind anyway they could. His first instinct had been that Nerina wasn't a Hunter. There was the name Civiti. It all made sense now. Ambrogio was from Civiti. Nerina was the human daughter of the original Hunter. This meant she could be turned easily, if she hadn't been turned already.

Hunters appeared human all the time. The older ones could day walk. One of the reasons they'd fled to Alaska was because Hunters loathed the cold. They preferred warmer climate. Still, it baffled Victor he hadn't been able to tell Nerina apart. He'd slept with the enemy. Even Demon and Daar were fooled by her. She'd found a way to mask her true lineage. If she could do that, how many others out were out there doing the same thing?

“I know. You don't have to keep reminding me. Let's just get in there and get out with our throats intact.”

Victor and Blue made their way to the room number Raven had given them. They were in the penthouse and as they neared the door, Victor could feel Menes trying to surface. It was ingrained in his kind to attack first and ask questions later when it came to Hunters. There was a time when they dwelled in peace together. All that changed when Ambrogio had the grand idea that the wolves would be his army. Nerina's father craved power just as much as he craved blood. The man was merciless in his campaign to take over the world. He wanted to enslave the human race, and wanted the wolves to help champion his cause.

The door opened before they knocked. It was her Uncle Oscar.

“Looks like you guys made the right choice, for all parties involved.”

Well, they'd see if it was the right choice or not. He'd already claimed Nerina. By law, she was his. He was still expected to mate with Sasha. He knew he'd wounded Nerina by not vocalizing his feelings for her. Everything was jumbled and misconstrued. Even now, he still didn't know what all of this meant. His blood was coursing through her veins; there would always be a connection. There were other males in the room when he and Blue entered, and he'd yet to see Nerina, or her so-called friend.

“We're here to discuss terms with your master.”

Oscar smiled. His fangs elongating as he hissed in anger.

“There will be no terms. Roman has stated what needs to happen and we fully expect you and your dogs to obey.”

Blue's anger was escalating. Victor could feel his friend's short hold on his emotions. Blue had fought in Roman's Varangian Guard. A campaign that massacred half of Europe's inhabitants between the tenth and fourteenth century. They scoured the Byzantine Empire killing and enslaving all in their path.

“If you say so, but I'm sure Roman will be interested in
Kievan
. There are rules and laws for our kind, put in place for a reason.” Victor reminded Oscar.
Kievan
was an old tradition. One that if used, could not be negated. Selene, Goddess of the moon had put it in place as a way to remind those who thrived in the night, that there would be balanced. By right, because Victor had completed the claiming with Nerina, it was his duty to either keep or sever ties. It was something his father and the rest of the Packs would not be happy about, but it was the only way to keep the Silver Bow of Artemis.

“What's this about
Kievan
? You have no claims on my daughter.” Roman walked from an adjacent room into the open sitting area. Nerina still nowhere in sight.

“I have every right.”

“You think you do. But you don't. She's not even a child of the night. It's true she is of my blood, but she was inoculated as a baby to ensure her powers never came to fruition.”

“Then by right Victor has even more claim on her now. All she has to do is accept him.” Blue interrupted.

“I doubt very seriously that my daughter would want to play his second wife. Isn't that right Bella?”

Nerina walked from the bedroom. Her hair was up, her face an emotionless mask that he couldn't read. She looked beautiful, but broken. Blue stepped forward, taking Victor off guard.

“Nerina, you don't know what your father is capable of. Come with us now, we can protect you. Victor can protect you.”

Her eyes focused on Blue before centering on him. Her voice was a silver-dipped knife that pierced the very heart of him when she spoke.

“Protect me? From my father? You think you know me, but you don't. I came here to live in peace. To get away from all the drama. You don't know a single solitary thing about me, nor have you bothered to find out. All you wanted were my secrets, my submission. Not me, not the real me. I know who my father is. I just didn't know he's a Hunter. It doesn't change the fact that he's my father. Just like you, I've killed. I've lied, stabbed people in the back, literally when they weren't looking. And if there's one thing I know about myself, I am my father's daughter. I won't be some person that you visit in the middle of the night to fulfill what duties you see fit to bestow upon me. I sure as hell won't spend my life as second to some other woman.”

Everyone in the room was smiling, save for him and Blue. Things weren't going exactly as he planned.

“Neri,” Victor growled. She was really starting to piss him off with her disobedience. He didn't care about the things she'd done in the past, he wasn't a saint either, but he did care what happened to her in the future. “You gave me your submission. You're my Eros. You will come to me.” His voice was layered with his wolf's voice compelling her to obey and follow his command. She resisted. He could see it in the way her jaws tightened and her nose flared. Her hands fisted at her side as she stood her ground. Blatantly defying him. Didn't she understand it was for her own good, for her protection?

“See, my daughter is no fool. Hand over the Silver Bow now.”

“No. I can't do that and you know why.”

“Because of Selene? Your precious Moon Goddess. When was the last time she placed a loving light on your kind? When has she shown you any type of kindness or mercy for that matter? Why did she allow countless of your kind to be slaughtered by Hunters, hmmm? I offered to let you rule by my side. But your ancestors were too softhearted. Humans are sustenance, a warm body to spend yourself in for a time. They are not to be protected, treasured, or loved. I have gone through countless humans, fathered many children, and none of them have ever swayed me from my course. It's temporary. Here, let me show you.”

Roman reached out grabbing Nerina by the throat. She tried to fight back, but was unable. Grasping her father's wrists, she tried to gain the upper hand. Even with his blood she was no match for Roman's power.

“You see how she struggles? How her eyes plead with me? She wants to know why this happening. She's wondering how is it that I, her own father could handle her in such a fashion.”

Roman turned cold eyes on Victor and Blue. Then he focused in on Nerina, his fangs lengthening as he zeroed in on her pulse.

“Don't! Stop this now.” Victor took a step forward, but Blue held him back with an arm banded around his throat.

“Let it happen, Victor. There is nothing you can do to stop him.”

Raven screamed and Oscar and another man held her down, as her friend tried to claw her way out of their grasps.

“Bella, my dear. You were never meant to survive the fire. I'm sorry, things are this way for a reason. Humans are food, and your mother knew how I felt about children, yet she kept you anyway. I allowed it for a time. It was an experience I'll remember always.”

Roman sank his fangs into the flesh of her neck. Nerina didn't even cry out as her father began pulling her life's blood into his mouth. She couldn't die. He wouldn't let her. Blue's grip loosened allowing Victor to free himself. His bones cracked. His veins bulged with the adrenaline that coursed through his system. He was going to tear everyone in this hotel room apart, limb by fucking limb. She was his. All that mattered was her. Not Sasha, not the goddamn Pack, but her. She was the only one that had asked nothing from him in return. She hadn't forced anything ever on him. Even when they couldn't stand each other, she'd accepted him for who and what he was. Never limiting him or forcing him to be something he didn't want to be.

The room exploded into pandemonium and he couldn't bring himself to care. Blue was there, and could take every last single one of them down if need be. He just needed to get to Nerina before it was too late.

 



If there was ever a time to fight back, it would have been now, Nerina thought to herself as her father took large pulls on her neck. Her feet were tingling, and her fingers were numb. That was the extent of her mobility. Everything else was in a state of complete calm. Is this what his victims felt like as their blood flowed freely from their body into his? Seconds before he grabbed her, apprehension became existent as she listened to her father speak about past children and lovers. How humans were for food and warmth.

How could you have not seen this coming?

Well, that was an easy enough answer. He was her father, and although she knew him to be a murdering bastard, she never once thought he could do it to her. Not once.

She thought she knew Roman. She'd seen firsthand how he treated his people. He'd done nothing but been a loving and supportive father her entire life. Now she was his sustenance. It was the worst kind of betrayal she could have ever imagined. Her vision was already shrouded in darkness, but she could hear the shrieks and howls that seemed to be coming from all directions as her father continued to greedily pull at her neck. Each pull on her throat made her skin chill further. There was a violent roar that ripped through her ears, followed by complete silence.



 

Victor watched in horror as Nerina's body was discarded like a rag doll in the corner of the hotel room. Her friend Raven, frantically trying to get to her body as it lay limp on the floor. Like a maddened beast, he tried to make his way over to her, but there were just too many of them. He was largely outnumbered and although Blue was holding down his own, if the two of them stayed, they'd end up like Nerina. Dead. Hunters were their one and only enemy that knew how to end their lives permanently. Victor took down a Hunter that appeared in front of him. He was holding a silver dagger in his hand. The Hunter hissed and swung the dagger left to right in a vicious arch catching Victor
in the shoulder. The pain from the silver only fueled his anger further.