“If you have a better idea, I’m all ears.”
Aiden stood. “I have an idea. We fight to the end. We can’t let them take any of us alive, or they’ll make slavery in a human household look like a vacation.”
An uncomfortable silence fell as the reality of the situation sank in. Yes, they would fight. And they might even believe they could win. But even if they did win, it would inevitably cost them lives. So much death and blood between vampire clans when it should be the humans they were battling.
Takis tugged Aiden’s arm until he sat. “We can send the children and those who can’t fight on the run. Even if the location of our vehicles is compromised by a spy, they can flee—”
“To where?” Jaggar said. “The forest is full of hunters and VAST, and even if they get past the humans, they’ll be out in the open until they can make it to a friendly clan.”
“And there’s no guarantee any clan will take them in,” Hunter said, echoing Riker’s thoughts. Any of the plans they’d come up with over the last few days would have at least given them a chance, no matter how minute. But if the clan had been compromised, all bets were off.
Katina cursed. “We should never have borrowed Neriya. Things were already tense between our clans. This was the excuse they needed to engage us.”
Tense was an understatement. Riker’s mating to Terese had been the spark that ignited the smoldering fire. And once again, because of him, because he’d failed to save Neriya, another spark had started a firestorm.
This was his fault. He’d been so full of anger since the day he’d turned into a vampire that nothing mattered but sticking it to the enemy. Any enemy, human or vampire. He’d been reckless with not only his life but the lives of everyone around him. Nicole had said something similar, and she’d been right.
And now, MoonBound was going to end up like the clan depicted in the bloody battle scene in the painting behind Hunter. Extinct.
Riker inhaled sharply as a thought whacked him upside the head. If he’d started all of this, he could end it.
Hunter turned to Riker. “What is it?”
Damn him. How did he do that? “I know how to end this. It sucks, but it’s probably the only shot we have to prevent war.” He stood, meeting his chief’s steady gaze with one of his own. “Kars has been gunning for me since the day I mated Terese and humiliated him. I’ll offer my life as payment for Neriya’s.”
The room exploded in curses and “Screw that”s and “No way”s. Only Hunter kept silent, and Riker knew the male was searching his brain for a counterargument.
But Riker knew there wasn’t one. Hunter had to know that, too.
“And if Kars doesn’t take you in trade?”
“He will.”
“You do this,” Baddon said, his voice as bleak as a graveyard at midnight, “and you’re a dead man.”
“If I don’t do this, then we’re all dead.” Riker turned back to Hunter. “I’m going to need your word that Bastien will be taken care of.”
“Of course,” Hunter said.
“And no one harms Nicole.” He locked his sights on every warrior in the room, one by one. “You will all treat her like a clan mate. Can I count on you?”
Everyone nodded. Including Hunter.
“Then let’s get this over with.”
Jaggar grabbed his arm. “There’s got to be another way.”
Riker clapped Jag on the shoulder. “If there is, you can get me out of there. I’ll try to stay alive until you do.”
“That’s not funny, man,” Baddon growled. “Not fucking funny.”
All eyes latched onto Riker, and too many of them were red-rimmed. A few guys were shaking their heads, cursing. He had to get out of here.
“Let’s rethink—”
Riker cut Hunter off. “I’m ready. Alpha Mike Foxtrot.” Adios, Mother Fuckers, as his sniper buddies used to say. Said to friends, it meant good luck, but Riker figured his luck had run out. Best to go before anyone got sappy.
Which was why there was no way Riker could say good-bye to anyone, let alone Bastien and Nicole. He liked to think he was strong, but if one or both of them asked him to stay, he’d lose it. He’d fucking lose it. And if he’d learned anything in his life, it was that the last time you saw someone, you didn’t want it to be ugly. Better that Bastien remembered Riker as trying to put together a relationship with him. Nicole . . . she’d remember him angry and being an asshole.
But it was far better than remembering him as an emotionally compromised male who ignored her pleas to stay.
Or worse, for him to remember her telling him to go.
WHAT IN THE hell was going on? Nicole had stepped out of her chambers to visit Bastien and had nearly been flattened by a group of males and females charging through the hall. The guard at her door was gone, but Katina skidded around a corner, her silver eyes bloodshot and rimmed with red.
“Come on,” Katina shouted as she ran past. “Bastien is already in the lab.”
“What’s happening?”
“We’re getting children and . . . ah . . . humans to safety.”
“Safety?”
“ShadowSpawn is coming.”
Oh, God. She let Katina guide her to Grant’s lab, where children and a few adults with obvious injuries or illnesses that would prevent them from fighting had gathered. Bastien appeared to be occupied by something under a microscope, and Morena was pacing nervously around the lab, practically wringing her hands.
Grant looked up from the pallet in the corner, where he was smoothing ointment on a badly wounded female. He uttered a few whispered words to the injured vampire and then hurried over to join them.
“I want to go,” he said. “I can fight.”
“Sorry, man.” Katina threw one booted foot up on a chair and tugged the laces tight. It didn’t escape Nicole’s notice that Katina’s hands trembled. “We need you to take everyone to safety.”
“Do I look like a babysitter?” Grant made a sweeping gesture at the lab equipment. “Maybe I can give the kids flasks of acid and Petri dishes of bacteria to play with?”
“Are you deranged?” Katina straightened. “I’d save those for snacks.”
“Funny,” Grant muttered.
“You’re the closest thing we have to a doctor,” Katina said. “Hunter needs you here. Nicole, too.”
At the invocation of Hunter’s name, Grant cursed but stopped arguing. “Are we going to the alternate site?”
Katina shook her head. “It’s possible the site has been compromised. Plan B.”
“Hide everyone in the secret passage? That’ll be comfortable.”
“You don’t have to go yet. Not until you know the compound has been breached.” Katina touched her finger to the hilt of the dagger at her hip. “We hope it won’t come to that. If Riker’s plan works, we’ll be spared.”
At the mention of Riker, Nicole’s heart skipped a beat. Apparently, it hadn’t gotten the same message her brain did, that he didn’t want anything to do with any part of her body. “Riker’s plan?”
“He’s giving himself up in exchange for Lucy and as payment for Neriya’s death.”
Nicole couldn’t speak. She could barely breathe. Riker was giving himself up? “He can’t. They’ll kill him!”
“Probably.”
“He can’t do that. Did anyone try to talk him out of it?”
Frustration and sadness drifted from Katina . . . and wait, how did Nicole sense that? But it wasn’t so much a feeling as it was a smell. Like burning sugar and stagnant water.
Nicole sniffed the air, taking in other odors, most of them identifiable as both specific fragrances and emotions. Had she been living in such close proximity to vampires that she’d learned to read them by scent? It was a question for Grant but later. Like when they weren’t on the brink of war.
“Trust me,” Katina said softly, “none of us are happy about this. Riker is one of our best fighters, worth any two of most of us. We’ll work on a way to get him
back, but right now, this is all we have.”
“What, you’ll work on getting his body back?” Nicole’s harsh words weren’t fair, and she knew it. Katina wasn’t responsible for any of this, but dammit, Nicole had hoped that they could talk after Riker cooled off from their fight.
No, she didn’t see a future for them, not if he couldn’t let go of his anger and guilt over Terese’s death and her family’s role in it. But Nicole wanted to be in Bastien’s life, to make amends for her family’s sins, which meant that she and Riker would have to learn to work together.
And she couldn’t deny her love for Riker. No matter how he felt about her, she didn’t want him to die.
“We’re going to do everything we can to get him back alive. I swear.” Bastien looked over and waved, and Katina lowered her voice. “It’s probably best to not let Bastien know what’s going on.”
“Of course.”
“You’re cool for a human,” Katina said solemnly. “And don’t worry. Riker made sure we would treat you like any other clan member for as long as you’re with us.”
Nicole’s mouth went dry. He’d done what she’d asked and made sure she was safe.
“For the record,” Katina added, “it wasn’t a hard sell. We appreciate the help you’ve been to Grant and Bastien, and we’re grateful for how you tried to rescue Neriya.” She pivoted toward the door.
Nicole’s mind raced. She had to stop Riker from doing this. But how?
First things first. She had to get to him. “Grant.” The vampire looked over at her from where he was trying to comfort a mother holding a newborn infant. The one Neriya had delivered before she was taken, perhaps? “I’m going to grab something from my quarters,” she lied. “I’ll be back in a little while.”
She doubted he believed her, but, overwhelmed with a lab full of people, he didn’t bother arguing. “The secret passage is behind the back wall in the chem closet.” He pointed to the door on the far side of the lab. “If you tip the bottle marked fermented guano, the wall will slide open.”
“Fermented guano?”
He shrugged. “I figured no one would randomly pick up anything they thought was full of superstinky bat shit.”
Crazy smart thinking . . . exactly what she’d expect from a mad scientist.
“I’ll be back in a little while.” She hurried over to Bastien, who was now pacing in front of the wash station. “How are you doing?”
Bastien swallowed. “Too many people.”
She looked up at him, thinking he’d grown since he arrived. He seemed a little taller. He’d definitely put on some weight. “It’s okay to be afraid, you know that, right?”
“I’m not afraid,” he said. “But I don’t know what to do.” He thrust his hands into his jeans pockets. “Where’s my . . . um . . . Riker?”
Ah, damn. She should have seen that question coming. “I’m not sure,” she said, and that, at least, was the truth. “But I promise he’s doing everything in his power to keep you and the entire clan safe.” She glanced over at the group of people milling nervously about. “And do you know what you can do? See all those kids? I’ll bet that if you take them your picture cards, they’ll love to guess the shapes. And I’m sure they’d love it even more if you read them a book.”
Bastien’s eyes grew bright. “Really?”
“Yep. That would help Grant a lot.”
Grinning, he swiped the deck of cards off the table. And then, in a surprising move, he hugged her. It was a fleeting embrace, and he blushed shyly as he broke it off, but it was nice to see him getting comfortable enough to show affection. He’d come a long way in just a few days.
She waited until he was too busy with the kids to notice her exit, and then she hurried to her chamber, grabbed a coat someone had loaned to her until the clan placed its next supply order with their human contact, and went in search of a way out of headquarters. She just hoped no one would stop her, and fortunately, everyone was too focused on the coming danger to pay attention.
She fell in behind a group of young males who were so preoccupied with anxious boasting about how badass they were going to be in battle that they didn’t notice—or care—that she was following. Apparently, vampire youths were as full of swagger as human teens.
The group moved swiftly through the forest, and she had to struggle to keep up.
She knew the moment they got close to the front line. The forest animals became silent, and raised voices vibrated the very branches on the trees. Tension hung heavy in the air, an invisible fog that seemed to squeeze the breath from her lungs. As she topped a ridge, she came upon MoonBound’s warriors, and between them in a clearing, in perhaps a fifty-yard span, were easily three times as many ShadowSpawn fighters.
Where was Riker?
She pushed desperately through the forest of vampires and weapons toward the front of the crowd. Hunter’s angry voice rose above the others, followed by another equally loud voice, and she wondered if he was talking with the other clan’s leader. She was almost at the front when a hand came down on her wrist and yanked her aside.
“Don’t.” Myne’s voice was a low growl in her ear. “You’ll only make it worse for him.”
She opened her mouth to ask what he was talking about, when two people shifted, creating a gap through which she saw what Myne was trying to hide from her.
Riker was kneeling with his head bowed in front of a massive ShadowSpawn male carrying a bloodstained club, wrists bound behind his back, a chain looped around his neck, and blood streaming down his face.
“No,” she croaked. “No.”
Riker lifted his head, and her heart stopped. Had he heard her? The two vampires closed the gap. She struggled against Myne’s grip, but she might as well have been as chained as Riker. Myne held her against his big body, his hold bruisingly firm.
She heard a noise, the sickening thud of something hard and blunt striking flesh. A chorus of angry growls and curses stirred through MoonBound’s ranks. Myne’s bloodcurdling snarl drowned them all out.
“What’s going on?”
Myne held her tight, ignoring her, as a new sound rose up, as if a herd of horses was circling. Standing on her toes, she looked out at the enemy, who were doing exactly what it sounded like. The entire clan was surrounding MoonBound.
Suddenly, the enemy disappeared, melting into the forest. The last thing she saw was Riker, being dragged by his feet into the brush.
“Riker!” Her hoarse cry was cut short by Myne’s hand over her mouth. She kicked, screamed deep in her throat, beat at him with her fists, but he only held her more securely against him to quell her struggles.
“He’s gone.” Myne’s shredded voice sounded like it had been dragged over sharp stones with Riker.
“We have to do something. We have to—”
“There’s nothing you can do.” Myne released her, but he hovered close, prepared to grab her again. “But I’m going to make those fuckers pay, Nicole. I promise.”
Rage, unlike anything Nicole had ever felt before, welled up. She’d spent her entire life drifting, passionate about the scientific field she’d chosen but knowing she’d be forced into a company position she didn’t want. Since being captured by Riker, she’d learned to hate that company, to wish for its destruction.
But now she wasn’t going to let her entire life go to waste. Daedalus was going to do something good for once.
Daedalus was going to save Riker’s life.
NICOLE DIDN’T SLEEP at all that night.
She’d fought Myne until exhaustion left her so numb and worn out that by the time they made it back to clan headquarters, she could barely think, let alone move. She’d let one of the females, Alina, take her to her room, where a pounding headache and nausea joined the exhaustion as she pored over the files she’d stolen from Daedalus. Surely she’d find something to take to ShadowSpawn, perhaps information on where to find clan members snatched by the company.
So far, nothing.
She’d c
ome across a lot of fascinating research but nothing of potential use in getting Riker back.
At six A.M., as she was fighting to keep her blurry eyes open, a thumb drive fell out of one of the files. Hoping the walk to the lab would help wake her, she shuffled down desolate halls that should be bustling with vampires coming in from night hunts. Instead, there was only silence. The clan had been spared a horrific battle, but Riker’s loss had hit them hard.
It had hit her hard.
Spurred on by renewed desperation, she sprinted the rest of the way to the lab, where she found Grant entering data into a computer.
“You look like shit.” He peered at her from over the computer screen as she took a seat in front of the laptop across the table from him. “Are you okay?”
No, she wasn’t. And she wouldn’t be until Riker was back. “I’m fine.” She jacked the thumb drive into the computer.
“You sound like shit, too,” Grant added. So helpful. “Did you get any sleep?”
Several dozen files popped up on her screen. “Slept like a baby.”
The files all appeared to be related to the breeding program. She steeled herself for a lot of disturbing data.
Grant’s chair squeaked as he started to stand. “I’ll get you some coffee.”
“Thanks,” she muttered, “but my stomach isn’t playing nice today.” As if to bring her words home, a wave of nausea hit her hard enough to make her sway.
Grant scowled at her. “Have you eaten?”
“I don’t think I can.” Was she coming down with something? She couldn’t afford to be sick. Not now. Not when Riker could be dying.
“I’m going to get you something.” Grant headed toward the door. “And don’t argue,” he added, when she opened her mouth to do exactly that.
Sighing with resignation, she refocused on the computer screen and clicked on a file labeled Fraser’s Notes. Dr. Fraser was a colleague, a vampire physiologist whose work in the field had led to major advancements in human medicine, including a cure for type 1 diabetes. But even among the ranks of his fellow scientists, his methods were considered questionable, and he’d recently come under fire by vampire-rights groups who claimed he was killing and torturing vampires unnecessarily.