Release (The Protector Book 3) (26 page)

A shuffle came down the hall and two vampires returned with the very girl I’d left bleeding and begging for help in the parking lot. The shock at seeing her overpowered the guilt, but something wasn’t right about. She looked…different.

“Such is my power, Chase.”

I turned to her. The smile that crossed her lips was devious, and in that moment she looked just like Vincent. She tapped the side of her head and didn’t take her eyes off me.

Panic rushed through me. I had made sure my shields were up; she couldn’t possibly have read my thoughts.

“You underestimate me.”

“I…it would seem so.” I tried to remember everything I’d thought but didn’t say out loud. My pulse sped and the sweat returned with a vengeance.

“Bring her to me and leave us,” Alessia said.

The vampires pushed Veronica forward, revealing her hands bound behind her back with rope. The pair then bowed and disappeared back down the hallway.

Alessia touched Veronica’s face but she pulled away. “Don’t touch me,” she said. Her voice was cold and raspy.

“Don’t take that tone with me, young lady.”

Veronica’s response was to spit in her face, and I expected Alessia to lash out, but she didn’t. She grabbed a napkin off the table and wiped away the foamy white saliva that speckled her pale skin.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand your hatred of me, my dear. I’ve given you what you’ve always wanted, what you’ve been serving my son for in hopes of earning. After saving your life while you bled out in the street and nourishing you back to health with my own blood, I’ve allowed you to be reborn a goddess of the night. I fulfilled your deepest desire, yet still you deny me.”

“I don’t serve you, and you haven’t earned my respect. I will now, and until my death, serve your son. I know what you did to him and I won’t bow to your insatiable cruelty.”

“You poor, naïve girl. If you’re so familiar with me, then you must be extremely stupid. I could tear you apart without a touch.”

“I’ve survived far worse than anything you could do.”

Alessia’s gaze hardened and her lips pursed. I waited for her to reach out and slap Veronica, although I had to admit I admired her fiery spark. I’d only ever been on the receiving end of Veronica’s attitude and it was a pleasant change to be watching it from the sidelines.

Veronica smirked and lifted her chin, as though she expected Alessia to respond violently. But Alessia just took a long, slow breath and stepped away from her.

“I give you my son’s favorite: a woman who has served him faithfully for half a decade, but who he has not yet turned. I present her as a gift. I want you to take her with you and deliver her to my son with a message: if he concedes to my offer, the rest of his family shall go free and unharmed, including Veronica.”

“If it’s against your laws to create vampires, why would you do this?”

“As much as I enjoy a good hunt, I’m not one for war. I want my son back, Chase, and I will convince my husband and the rest of them to abide by my wishes. I will get what I want. I always do.”

“How are you going to convince ancient vampires to suddenly change their ways?” Tiki leaned forward, finally speaking.

“You leave that up to me, my dear. I assure you, my methods of persuasion do not fail me.”

“It’s daylight; she can’t leave with us,” I said.

“Bring the vehicle you arrived in to the door. We have blankets to cover her. I trust I can count on you to do this for me?”

“I don’t see much of a choice.”

“Wonderful!” Alessia smiled. Before I could move, Alessia was in front of me, placing a soft kiss against my cheek. Power vibrated beneath her lips and I shuddered. “You’re such a good boy.”

I pulled the Jeep around to the barn. Alessia had Veronica at the bottom of the stairwell covered in blankets. Willy didn’t make any attempt to help. Instead, he sat with his eyes facing the floor as we guided Veronica up the steps and laid her down in the back.

The only part of Alessia I could see were her eyes glowing like violet embers from the shadows. Her voice echoed in the darkness and her power made my chest tighten. “I’ll be in touch soon, my sweet hunter.” And she was gone.

Driving away from the doorway, a small funnel of air appeared in the rearview mirror, and in moments, there was nothing but long weeds covering the grass once again.

I watched Willy sitting silently in the backseat and staring at his hands.

“You okay?” I asked.

“Just take me home so I can scrub my brain with steel wool. I never thought I’d feel like that again.”

“Again? So this wasn’t your first time?” I smirked.

“Jokes, really? You have no idea what it’s like, Chase. Let’s just say Vincent and Alessia share more than just a perfect complexion. And being forced to do something you don’t want to do is never funny.”

The smile faded from my face and guilt pulled at me. “You’re right. I’m sorry, Willy. I’m seriously asking now, are you okay?”

Willy shook his head. “Just take me home.”

Chapter 23

“Can you take these damn things off?” Veronica grumbled. Her attitude had started before I even had the Jeep’s hatch all the way up.

“I’ll leave that to Vincent,” I said, pulling the blankets off.

Veronica cringed and covered her eyes before realizing we weren’t outside. We were in the condo’s underground parking lot, where she was safe from the sun.

“Just take them off before I—”

“You’re new to this, so I’ll make this easy. Before, you were human. Now, you’re not. Since I have no problem killing demons, it’d be smarter if you didn’t finish that sentence.”

Veronica opened her mouth but thought better of it and remained silent. Tiki and I grabbed each side of her to help keep her balance and pushed the button to the elevator, while Willy disappeared into the stairwell. Luckily, all we had to endure on the way up was Veronica’s endless deep sighs and toe tapping.

Most of the injured shifters were up and moving around now. Whatever Grams had been doing seemed to be working. Veronica was covered with the blankets again as we entered the brightly lit condo, and some of the shifters sniffed the air, turning to us. Low growls came from their throats and their stares didn’t falter.

Swarms of people were packing things up and carrying them out the door.

“The Triquertas are done with the wards on the warehouse. We’re moving everyone over there now.” Marcus lifted a large box down the stairs and set it on the table. “Who is this?”

I explained the situation to Marcus and he shook his head. “Vincent is in Tiki’s bedroom. Probably best to put her up there with him…for now.” He eyed her from head to toe. “Once you’re done, come see me.”

“What’s up?” I asked.

Marcus eyed Veronica. “I’ll tell you once she’s settled.”

I pushed open the door to find Vincent lying on Tiki’s bed. His eyes were on the ceiling and he didn’t flinch when the door opened, or as I stood beside the bed.

“Vincent?” I asked.

Nothing. I waited a moment longer and reached over to shake him. With supernatural speed he was beside me, a razor-sharp talon pushed against my throat.

I waited for him to back up, and when he didn’t, I dropped Veronica’s arms and threw my elbow back into his stomach. Avoiding his claw, I ducked under his hand and rotated with a hunter’s speed. After a series of quick movements, my blade was against his neck and I let the edge bite into his skin.

“What the hell is your problem?”

Vincent’s eyes moved from my blade to me and he held his hands up, the claws retracting back into his fingers. The holes they’d torn in his skin closed and not a drop of blood was spilled.

“My apologies, but you should know better than to sneak up on someone when they’re sleeping.”

“Sleeping?” I asked, pushing him away and sheathing the dagger. “Your eyes were open and you looked…normal. Or as normal as you ever look. Vampires become rotting corpses when they sleep.”

“You were going to do that on my bed?” Tiki grimaced.

Vincent eyed Tiki. “Not all of us, Mr. Williams. You know, for a hunter, you are sorely uneducated in the ways of the Underworld. Why do you think that is?”

“I’d only started to get into demonology when I was exiled, for one. Secondly, I don’t care much for your sleeping habits. I focused more on how to kill you than anything else.”

“Yet you’ve continued to fail at that.” Vincent pushed past me and fell back on the bed, posing with his hand supporting his head. “I don’t recognize this scent. Who is in the bag?”

“It’s a blanket, and you should, she’s yours,” I said, shoving her forward.

Vincent questioned me with a raised brow and peeled back the blankets. As Veronica’s waist-length blonde hair fell around her, her blue eyes found Vincent, and Vincent didn’t try to hide his surprise.

“Veronica…” he whispered. “I thought you were dead…” He got to his feet and put his hand on her face. “What’s happened to you? You’re a—”

“Vampire,” I said. “A gift from your mother.”

Vincent’s milky skin faded as his demon came out. “Mother? Tell me everything, now.” His voice was a low growl.

I relayed the events to Vincent, and his face grew angrier by the second. He tore off Veronica’s restraints with a single tug and let her sit on the bed next to him.

“How did she find you?” Vincent turned to Veronica.

“She found me on the street. I was too weak to fight and she ripped through my mind, finding the safe house’s location.” Veronica dropped her gaze, sounding disappointed.

“Do not feel guilt, my dear. Mother’s powers affect many vampires. Even at full strength, and with your training, you could not have resisted her.”

“She can compel vampires too?” I asked.

“The Sovereign is capable of more than you know, hunter.”

“Thanks for the heads up.”

“I did not expect her to be there, obviously.” Vincent rolled his eyes. “What’s important is that you’re alive…in a way.” He turned to Veronica. “Are you alright?”

“Well, your mother is bat-shit crazy,” she said.

“Such is my family.”

“What are you going to do?” I asked. “She’s made an offer and I doubt it will be on the table for long.”

“I am going to respond in the Taryk way. We’ll need to infiltrate the safe house before she lets the rest of the Sovereign know what she’s done, and rescue the others. How many are there?”

“A few dozen. Most of us who escaped are still alive. I don’t know about the other safe houses,” Veronica said. “From what your mother told me, they killed only a few to set an example. They are going against their nature in hopes to bring you back willingly.”

“Wait, you’re going to attack them?” I asked.

“No, Mr. Williams,
we
are going to attack.”

“I felt your mother’s power, Vincent. Attacking a group of ancient vampires like her is suicide.”

“You agreed to help me. And I don’t think I need to remind you that you killed a pure blood vampire—a creature that is more monster than any member of the Sovereign.

“And I don’t need to remind you that I nearly died trying. Not to mention that was only one vampire, and everyone’s life was on the line.”

“And so, it seems they are again. More lives in fact. Just because you do not know them does not devalue their worth.” Vincent narrowed his gaze on me. “Do not fret the Sovereign’s numbers, they are not all here. There will be but a few—my mother, father, and my sister. The Sovereign is not so foolish as to leave their entire territory unprotected just to get little old me. No…this is family business.”

 
“Whatever we’re doing is going to have to wait. We need to travel to Silas first and retrieve the Claw.”

“Oh of course, your agenda takes precedence. Nobody else is important at all,” Vincent snapped. “I’ve already spoken with Marcus and declined his offer to go with you. I will await your return and we will take action then.”

“Maybe you need a reminder. If we don’t stop Riley, saving your family won’t matter.”

“So you keep saying.” Vincent rolled his eyes.

Anger bubbled up inside me and I clenched my fists. “I need to see Marcus. Keep your pet in check.” The fire crackled beneath my skin and I pushed it away, slamming the door behind me.

Marcus was in the library, surrounded by boxes full of books. He continued to pack, turning the pages of each volume before setting it in a box.

“We’re moving then?” I asked.

“We can’t possibly keep everyone here, and now that the warehouse is protected, I think it’s best for everyone.” His voice was low and focused.

“I’m not arguing. Anything that keeps distance between Riley, the Dark Brothers, and us is a good thing in my book. So what’s the bad news?”

Marcus nodded, flipping through the pages of a yellow, leather-bound book. He shook his head and dropped the book in the box. “The Circle is the bad news.”

“Let me guess. They only want us to work with them on their terms. Well, they can forget it. We work together or that’s it. I won’t be their puppet.”