Blood Vengeance (An Adult Paranormal Romance) (Deathless Night Series #2) Read online

  She would really appreciate a drink before she went though. And she needed to talk to Nikulas about Emma, ask him to look out for her. She had no one else.

  Her last thought before she drifted off again was of her sister, running through the field in her short, billowy, summer skirt, laughing as Keira chased her.

  Chapter 22

  Dante

  “Would you drive faster? We don’t know how long he’s going to stay out. And this is one mother fucker I do NOT want to tangle with.”

  “Relax, he’s chained. Even if he wakes up, he can’t do anything. Besides, the sun is coming up. He’ll be dead till sunset.”

  Dante kept his eyes closed and his breathing steady, taking stock of his body for injuries while he listened to the conversation going on in front of him. Other than the awkwardness of being chained with his arms behind him and his knees bent so his heels were touching his ass, he appeared to be uninjured. Good.

  He remained prone, listening, waiting for the right moment to let them know that he was awake, keeping the element of surprise on his side.

  And it was definitely “them”, plural, he was dealing with. He remembered a driver and two male passengers. They had jumped out of a black SUV to “check on him” after the driver had barely missed sideswiping him, right in the parking garage of the apartments he lived under. One had attempted to sneak up on him, and when he’d confronted him, he’d made the mistake of turning his back on the other one, who had jabbed a needle in his neck. Whatever the fuck was in there had knocked him out cold.

  “Are you sure about that?” The third one confirmed his presence. Three males. Not that it mattered. Dante had no issue with killing a female.

  “Both of you shut up. We’re almost to the plane.”

  Dante quietly tested the chains. They were silver. He could tell by the drain on his muscles, which meant these fuckers knew what he was.

  However, they hadn’t done enough homework on the vampire they were dealing with if they believed silver chains would be enough to restrain him. Or sunlight, for that matter. As disciplined as he was, he could stay awake all day if necessary.

  Slitting his eyes open just enough to be able to see, Dante confirmed that no one else had joined the group while he'd been napping. He saw only the driver, an older man with a bald head, and two more sitting behind him, both of them younger and inexperienced looking. Dante himself was trussed up on the floor of the vehicle just behind the two passengers where the third row of seats should have been.

  As inconspicuously as he could, he took a deep breath, scenting them.

  Humans? Whoever had ordered this had sent humans to capture a vampire?

  A sinister smile spread across his face.

  With a quick, hard yank, he broke the chain attached to his cuffed wrists.

  “Fuck! Fuck! He’s awake!”

  “He broke his chains! Stop the fucking car!”

  The vehicle swerved as the driver peered over his shoulder to see what they were panicking about. Dante took the temporary distraction to reach down and break the chain between his cuffed ankles while the humans braced themselves for a crash that never came.

  Moving faster than any of them could track, he rose up to one knee, and broke the first one’s neck. Wrenching it to the side, he sank his fangs into the still-pulsing artery, sucking down great mouthfuls of blood. Throwing the body aside, his eyes shot over to the other male, giving him a bloody grin when he screamed.

  Suddenly, a ray of morning sun hit him directly on the face, as the driver opened the wide sunroof before he had the chance to snap the other’s neck.

  Hissing in pain, Dante retreated quickly to the shadows at the back of the vehicle. He kept his eyes trained on his prey as he crouched there, blood dripping from his mouth, his smoking skin already healing.

  Like a cornered animal, he waited.

  “Shut up!” The driver screamed at his hysterical companion. He glanced back at the dead one. “Fuck. Fuck!”

  The passenger finally got it under control and took off his seat belt and slid off the seat, placing his back against the middle console. Wide eyes zeroed in on Dante's exposed fangs and stayed there. “What the hell do we do now?” he asked the driver in a high voice.

  “I dunno. Let me fuckin' think a minute. We’re ok as long as the sunroof is open. He can’t get past it without becoming a shish kabob.”

  “You also said the chains would fucking hold him!”

  “I was told that they would,” the driver spat.

  “But how are we going to get him into the plane? He’ll kill us as soon as we’re out of the sun.”

  “I don’t know! I said let me think!”

  They drove on in silence, the human in the back never taking his eyes from Dante.

  He distantly wondered why? Did he prefer to see death coming for him? If he were the human, he would rather not know. He’d rather die instantly and unaware like his friend had.

  Fifteen minutes later, they pulled up in front of a large airplane hanger in the middle of nowhere, but didn’t drive in.

  By this time, the passenger watching him was nothing but a statue of silent fear. Dante could smell it oozing from his pores.

  “Stay here,” the driver told him. “I’ll be right back.”

  “Are you fucking crazy? You can’t leave me here with him!”

  “You’ll be fine as long as you stay where you are. I’ve got guns in my car, brought ‘em along just in case. I won’t be long.”

  The driver got out, slamming the door behind him.

  Dante cocked his head as the passenger slid farther away from his dead friend and closer to the door, putting his hand on the handle.

  Dante leaned forward, placing his hands on the floor. “You don’t really think you could escape before I got to you, do you?”

  The human’s eyes bulged from their sockets as the stench of urine filled the small space. Dante sneered, inhaling the sour smell of the human’s terror.

  Just then, the driver returned, yanking the door open, calling an end to his fun with the passenger.

  “Jesus Christ! Did you piss yourself? Really? Get the fuck out of the car!” He grabbed the passenger by the back of the shirt and yanked him out into the sunshine, handing him something.

  “Take this, and get into the drivers seat. We’ll drive in with him and I’ll get him onto the plane.”

  Walking around to the rear of the vehicle, he opened the back door while the other one got into the driver's side. Dante shrunk back away from sun, now caught in the middle between its rays.

  “See this, asshole?” The first driver pointed a semi-automatic pistol directly at Dante, and pulled back the hammer. “I’d behave if I were you.” Stepping up onto the hitch with the door open, he hung onto the roof with the other hand and told the driver to go.

  Dante barked out a laugh as the vehicle pulled slowly forward. “A gun won’t stop me, asshole.”

  “This one will. It’s made with special bullets. Exploding bullets, that’ll blow a hole in you so big it’ll cut you clean in half.”

  Narrowing his eyes at him, Dante studied his features, looking for any telltale signs that he was lying.

  He saw none.

  “My buddy up front there has another one of these, so even if you managed to get to me, he’d shoot you before you could get us both. Hell, he may shoot you anyway, out of sheer fright. So, I wouldn’t make any sudden moves if I were you. We’ll be rid of each other soon enough.”

  The SUV stopped just inside the hanger, and Dante weighed his chances of overpowering the two of them in spite of the driver's warning, before either had the chance to fire at him. He wouldn’t even hesitate if it weren’t for the fact that he could still feel the effects of the silver. It would slow him down. Not much, but enough to make him not want to risk it.

  The older human stepped down from the hitch as the nervous one came around to back him up. They stepped back, giving him plenty of room to get out, guns raised at the rea
dy.

  Dante crept forward on his hands and feet, and lowered himself slowly out of the vehicle, combat boots landing with a loud thud on the concrete.

  Indicating the plane with the barrel of his gun, the driver indicated for him to lead the way.

  He stayed where he was just long enough to make them nervous, wiping his hands on his jeans, and then he smirked and headed towards the plane as they followed behind him.

  The pilot waited by the bottom of the steps as they approached, and he was also packing.

  Dante ignored the three gun barrels aimed at him and looked up, intrigued. This was no ordinary plane. This was a V-22 Osprey, a military aircraft that could fly long distances like a jet, yet could take off, hover, and land like a helicopter. How the hell had three homeless looking humans gotten a hold of one of these?

  “Get in, asshole.”

  Cold metal jabbed him in the back until he started up the stairs.

  Once inside, Dante halted, awaiting further instructions. The interior was lined with troop seats.

  Another jab in the back with the barrel of a gun. “Back of the plane, find a seat.”

  Though it irked him to play along, Dante did as he was told. They may or may not be bluffing about the guns, but he wasn’t going to take the chance. He had no desire to die today.

  He found a seat and sat down, while the humans strapped themselves in towards the front.

  Guns trained on him, they taxied out of the hanger and took flight.

  Chapter 23

  Nikulas

  Nikulas rushed back to the apartments as fast as he could go, without raising suspicion from the hoard of humans on the crowded Seattle streets.

  As he dodged tech nerds and tourists, he shook his head, again, at his brother’s words. He couldn’t believe that Luukas would really let that female die, not on purpose, not like this. The urge for revenge must be overwhelming for him, but if the witch was truly “his” like he kept shouting to everyone, it wasn’t possible for him to let her die. Not if Luukas felt for her anything near what he felt for Emma.

  The constant ache in his chest expanded into a gaping, jagged hole at the thought of his female's lovely face. His head pounded, his throat ached, and his gums burned from the memory of her sweet blood. Her large, hazel eyes followed him everywhere he went. He couldn’t escape the memory of her, and he didn’t want to.

  More and more every day, he felt the physical effects of being without her, and he just couldn’t be sure how, when, and where it would get worse. It seemed to be coming in spurts. He’d feel a bit better right after he choked down some bagged blood, but it only lasted a few hours, and then his energy level would fall and his body would begin to ache. He imagined it was similar to what human’s felt when they had the modern flu. He had to feed a lot more now just to try to stay somewhat level, and to enable him to get through a night while resembling any type of normalcy. When dawn came, he fell into his bed like the corpse he soon would be.

  And it had only been a few days since she’d left.

  Pushing the thought of her eyes, so like Keira’s, out of his head, he concentrated on the task at hand. He couldn’t let the witch die, if not for Luukas’ sake, then for Emma’s. He’d do whatever he had to do to keep that from happening.

  Ducking through the front entry of their apartment building, he hit the stairs, beating the elevator up to the top floor, even in his weakened state. With a quick rap on the front door, he let himself into Luuk’s apartment.

  “Luuk? I’m back. I brought the antibiotics, and some more food.”

  The apartment was quiet. Setting the food on the counter, he glanced around, but didn’t see his brother anywhere, so he headed for his bedroom.

  He knocked again, softer this time, and cracked the door open. Still no Luukas. Walking over to the bed, he saw that Keira had fallen back to sleep.

  He shook her gently by the shoulder. “Keira? Keira? I need you to wake up now. I’ve got the antibiotics for you.”

  Her eyelids fluttered, and he set down the pharmacy bag on the nightstand while he went into the bathroom to get a glass of water. Dumping a couple of pills into his hand, he slid an arm behind her to help her sit up a bit. Her skin felt way too hot, even through her clothing, and he frowned.

  “Here you go. Open your mouth. That’s it.” Lifting the glass to her mouth, he pushed the pills between her lips and helped her to take a drink, then gently lowered her back down to the bed.

  “I’ll be back before dawn to make sure you take another dose,” he promised.

  “Thank you, Nikulas,” she murmured. Burrowing into the blankets, she was asleep again before he managed to get the top back on the pill bottle. He left it, and the glass of water, on the table beside her.

  Closing the door quietly behind him, he set out to find his brother. He found him in the spare bedroom, sitting on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands.

  Nikulas cleared his throat. “I gave her some antibiotics. She’ll need to take some more before you crash at dawn. I can come back, so you don't forget.”

  Luukas lifted his head and stared at him coldly with those foreign, dark eyes. “You shouldn’t have bothered. She deserves whatever happens to her.”

  “How can you say that, man? She’s not a bad person…”

  “Do you know what she did to me in there, little brother?” Luukas interrupted him. “Do you know what she put me through?”

  “She had no choice, Luuk, you know that.”

  “No choice?” Luukas scoffed with disgust. “She had a fucking choice. She chose to help Leeha with her sick plan to, I don’t know, break me down or whatever the hell it was she was trying to accomplish. She chose to help her by taking my power. She chose to help her by keeping me weak. She chose to hold me immobile with her magic while they beat me, whipped me, salted my wounds…she chose to help them while they fucking burned me alive.”

  Nikulas’ couldn’t have heard that correctly. “Burned you?” he breathed. “That’s not possible.”

  His brother stood up, and began to pace back and forth. “Oh, it’s completely possible when you have a witch chanting a spell during the process. A spell that allows you to feel every single inch of your skin and muscle sizzling away in the flames, allows you to feel your own blood boiling, while not allowing any actual harm to come to you at all.”

  Nik’s mouth fell open, and he quickly closed it again.

  What the hell was he supposed to say to that?

  Crossing his arms over his chest determinedly, he stepped in front of his brother, halting his incessant pacing. “She also gave your power back to you, and correct me if I’m wrong, but she hasn’t lifted one finger to harm you since you both left that place. She’s stayed here with you…”

  “Because I won’t let her leave.”

  “Of her own choice. She’s an extremely powerful witch. You know as well as I that she can leave here whenever the hell she wants.”

  He pushed his hair back off of his face. “She hated doing that to you, Luukas.”

  “And you would know this, how?”

  “Because she told me, and I believe her. Leeha threatened to kill her sister if she didn’t do as she was ordered. Her sister, Emma. The only family she has left. She had to choose. And she didn't even know you at the time. I would’ve done the same.”

  Luukas lifted his chin defiantly, a bit of that old cockiness showing, and remained stubbornly silent.

  Nikulas sighed dramatically. “Well, if you hate her so much, maybe I’ll just take her down to my place, and take care of her there.”

  Spinning on his heel, he only made it one step before he had a face full of angry vampire. The temperature dropped and the air stirred around them with Luukas’ fury, rattling the lamps and lifting the bed quilt.

  His brother bared his fangs at him, “The witch in MINE,” he hissed. “You won’t be taking her anywhere. Brother.”

  Nik leaned forward, his own fangs bared in challenge. “Then help her, y
ou stubborn bastard. Give her your blood. It will heal her.”

  Luukas hissed at him again as they faced off, his rising anger pulsing in the air, whipping out at his brother.

  Nikulas’ muscles began to ache from holding himself against the invisible force of the Master vampire’s wrath, but dammit, he refused to give in on this.

  Suddenly, the pressure eased.

  “No.” Sheathing his fangs, Luukas backed off first. Drawing his anger back completely, he turned and left the room without another word.

  Nikulas sucked in deep breaths of air, not quite sure how he’d gotten out of that one unscathed. If his brother had been back to his normal self, he never would’ve put up with such an act of disobedience, not even from his own brother.

  Following him out into the other room, Nik refused to give up. “Just think about it, Luuk. If she is your mate, and you let her die, you won’t be far behind her.”

  Before he left, he tossed out one last parting shot, “You’d have escaped Leeha’s torment, made it back home alive, only to let her win anyway.”

  He thought he saw Luukas stiffen, but didn’t hang around to be sure.

  ***

  Exiting the stairwell on his own floor, he found he had visitors in the form of four very large, very exhausted werewolves, in human form, sprawled in the hallway outside of his door. They jumped to their feet as soon as they saw him.

  “Nikulas!” Cedric, the leader of the pack, greeted him with his heavy Scottish brogue, his startling, blue-white eyes shining happily in his tan face. “We thought we’d stop by tae chat and see how things were goin’ with Luukas.”

  Nik ushered them all inside, closing the door firmly behind them before answering. “Did you guys find anything after we left?”

  “No, we dinna. I’m sorry, my friend. We searched th’ entire place, every passageway we could find. It’s like they disappeared with Aiden into thin air.”