Honoria Ravena (9 page)

***

I was being carried. My eyes flew open. Kalen grinned down at me as he carted me through the hall. Kennedy walked ahead of us. Brant and Aneese were gone.

“You can put me down now. I’m awake. Actually, you could have woken me up instead of toting me around.”

“You wouldn’t wake. And I’m quite comfortable with you right where you are.”

Okay, no more being polite. “Put me down, or I might have to hurt you.”

We stepped into the living room, and he set me on my feet.

“Please don’t harm Kalen; he’s one of my best warriors.” A cold voice came from the woman draped across the chaise longue. She stood gracefully and straightened to her impressive height. She had to be at least five-foot-ten. Her auburn hair was done in some complicated style with lots of curls and braids. The long white dress she wore was made of feathers and dragged the floor as she walked. She was quite a sight. Almost like a goddess. I didn’t want to be impressed.

“What’s all this recruitment crap I’ve heard about?”

Her face remained expressionless. “I’ve been taking Gifts and giving them a choice. They can either become vampires or be blood-bonded to one, to fight against Dorian.”

I snorted and crossed my arms over my chest, giving her my most mocking expression. “Wow, that’s ambitious. Don’t most of them think you’re nuts? And even if they believe you, most of them would rather go back to their lives.” And a lot of them were vampire hunters raised by witches. They wouldn’t like taking orders from them. They were some of the most aggressive hunters out there because of early negative encounters with vampires due to the fact that they attracted vampires. I’d often wondered if I was one, but Alaric would never confirm it. I wasn’t even sure he knew. He’d found us, after all.

“They don’t get that choice.”

My sarcastic smile slipped away. “So you’re enslaving people?”

“If you wish to call it that. I don’t. They are treated well, and when Dorian and his army are killed, they may go back to their lives if they choose. I would like to believe that most of them wouldn’t.”

The problem with giving them an option once the war was won was that if the vampire they belonged to didn’t want them to go, they would have no choice but to stay. I’d experienced what the blood-bond could do. The only reason I was able to resist was years of training. Anyone without that training would be lost to them.

She waved a dismissive hand. “At any rate, it’s a necessary evil. Dorian has been building his army for thousands of years. He wants to enslave the humans.”

Jesus, thousands of years to build an army? We should have attempted to kill him, even if he had been healing remarkably fast. But her methods of recruitment still turned my stomach. I curled my lip at her. “A necessary evil? You have no right to kidnap these people. They know nothing of our world, and they shouldn’t. If they want to join the fight, they should choose to.”

Dara’s gaze heated. It looked like the ice queen was getting pissed at my insolence. “They are the children of vampires. They are of our world, and if I didn’t take them, Dorian would. To serve him would be true slavery. And that’s if he let them live.”

I spat on the ground and succeeded in getting a disgusted look from her. Goody. “I won’t be a part of this. If you try to keep me here my…master will come for me.” God, calling Zarek “master” was almost physically painful.

I turned to leave, and Kalen and Kennedy stepped in my path.

“Kennedy, come on. We’re friends. Why are you working with this whack-job?”

She shook her head. “This is important, Regan.”

My lips turned up on one side. “You’re really going to want to move.”

“You don’t understand, little girl. Dorian is the biggest threat this world has ever known, and most don’t even know he exists. He was a bloodthirsty psychopath in life. With the power of the Scourge, he is more of a threat than your atomic bomb. His only failings are his overconfidence and the fact that he would rather toy with his victims before he kills them. It’s the only reason you’re still alive.”

I sighed and pivoted around. “So what do you want me to do? I’ll hunt vampires with the Scourge, but right now I’m kind of running from the oldest and most powerful vampire in existence.”

She smiled, apparently trying to appear friendly. It didn’t quite reach her eyes. Even if it had, I wasn’t buying into the sweet lady act.

“I suggest you stop running from Zarek. He’s become a good man, and with Dorian after you, you have bigger problems.”

I snorted. “I’m not going back to Zarek. I’ll make it on my own.”

She nodded. “When I was you, I wouldn’t have gone back either.”

I arched an eyebrow. What the fuck did she mean by that?

“I was once kidnapped by vampires, too, but I won’t tell you that story.”

“I will.” A masculine voice came from behind me. A vampire’s presence sent a shiver up my spine. Another one. Great.

Dara bared fangs and hissed at him.

I jumped back. “Holy shit, you’re a vampire?”

“Yes.” She snarled. “I’m just very adept at hiding it.”

A chill went down my spine. She hadn’t shown any signs of it until now, and I hadn’t gotten the psychic warning I got around most vampires. I wondered how many could hide themselves like that.

Warm breath brushed the back of my neck, and I tensed further.

“Not many,” the man whispered in my ear. “She’s never drained a human dry. Being killers makes us more powerful and thus easier to sense. Dara also practices. Most of us don’t give a shit if Gifts or sensitive humans detect us. You’re easy enough to kill.”

I spun around and came nose to nose with the amused vampire. His long hair was pitch black, and his eyes were such a dark brown that they were almost black too.

“Gabriel, what are you doing here?”

He straightened and stepped around me.

“King Macon would like to send his regards and his approval of your practicality in the conscription of the Gifts. He wants to join forces with you.”

Dara’s upper lip curled into a sneer. “He agrees with what I’ve done?”

I grinned. “Leaves that bitter taste in your mouth, don’t it?”

She glanced at me and swallowed hard. “Yes.”

I shook my head. “I can’t believe anyone would agree with what she’s done. But I guess if anyone would want to enslave humans, it’s the vampire king. Why not just agree with Dorian and stop fighting?”

Gabriel arched an eyebrow. “On the contrary. The king is against the slavery of our…food source.”

“And why is that?”

“Because if vampires controlled humans, they would kill without thought. It’s the same reason he’s taken measures to control our population. We could wipe our food source from the planet if we aren’t careful. While that isn’t a problem now, it could become one and—”

Dara interrupted. “None of this matters. Tell Macon no. I have all the help I want here, and I can’t stand the sight of him.”

“Next time he makes this request he’ll send Jeremy.”

She flinched and sank onto a couch. “He lives, then?”

Gabriel grinned. “Of course. Macon had to pull him out of a very secluded part of the Amazon rainforest, and he wasn’t happy to go, but he’s alive and back in the U.S.”

She glared at Kalen and Kennedy. “Leave us.”

Kalen frowned. “What about Regan?”

Gabriel cleared his throat. “If I may make a suggestion. Regan is correct. Her master will be furious if you keep her here. He won’t be parted from her long enough to complete her training.”

Dara nodded, her expression sinking back to that calm, cool mask. “Take her to a hotel. She’s free to go wherever she wishes.”

Gabriel shook his head. “You should return her to her master. He would be most grateful.”

Dara passed me a glance and quickly looked away, but not before I saw the sympathy in her eyes. She sighed. “Very well. Kennedy, take her back to The Devil’s Trap. Kalen, escort her. Take some sedative.”

Panic bubbled in my chest. I had to do something. “Hey! Wait. I don’t want to go back to him.”

Dara rubbed the bridge of her nose. “You have no choice. Even if I let you go, he would find you. Or Dorian would. Trust me, being with Zarek is better than meeting up with Dorian again. He’ll kill you, after a long, slow torture.”

Enslavement or torture? Everyone seemed to think those were my only options. I was really getting sick of people underestimating me.

I stomped my foot like a petulant two-year-old. “I am not an incapable child! I can take care of myself. I’m tired of my ‘betters’ deciding what’s good for me. I’ll make the choice.” I pointed at her. “This is my life you’re screwing with. I won’t be Zarek’s slave, and I’ll protect myself from Dorian. Just let me get to a freaking hotel!”

Gabriel rubbed his eyebrow with his thumb before jerking it at me. “I like this woman.”

I sighed. “Great. Another vampire likes me. It’s just what I’ve always wanted.”

He laughed and dropped his formal demeanor. “It’s the stubborn-bitch thing. Most vampires like a woman they can’t bowl over. Supposedly, instinct makes us hunt for a strong mate. Only mentally tough people can survive the transformation and thrive as vampires.”

Dara arched an eyebrow. “Unfortunately, your unbreakable will won’t stop me from sending you back to Zarek.”

I raked a hand through my hair. “Look, you said when you were me, you wouldn’t have gone to a vampire willingly either. Can’t I get some sympathy here?”

She met my eyes, and I saw the full force of her understanding. “You have it, but I am no longer you, and I’m still sending you back to him.”

She nodded to Kennedy and Kalen, and they seized my arms. I let them lead me from the room. I didn’t want to start fighting until I had the perfect moment. Right now I’d just get tranquilized.

Regan, just give in. Come home.
I jumped as Zarek’s voice filled my head.

I’m not at home with you. Home is a sanctuary. A place where a person feels safe. I’m not safe with you.

Your brother misses you.

Oh, that was low-down and dirty. The pang in my chest told me to go back to my brother. And that traitorous part of me whispered that I should return to Zarek. But, then, Zarek knew that would happen.

He could use a friend now, a sister…I’m a poor substitute.

I laughed out loud, and Kennedy and Kalen passed me a worried glance.
For someone he actually likes? Yeah, you are definitely a poor substitute.

Kalen shoved me into the back of the car while Kennedy got behind the wheel. I hadn’t been able to convince Dara to let me go, but maybe I could get Kennedy to. We were friends.

Kennedy started the car, and we drove down the long, winding driveway.

I took a deep breath and prepared for some fancy talking. “Kennedy, you’re a witch. You can’t possibly support this. You’ve hunted vampires your entire life!”

“I’ve also seen what the Scourge can do. Trust me, vampires are the lesser evil.”

That might be, but did that mean I wanted to go back to my vampire?
My vampire?
Where had that come from? “You really think the vampires are going to let those Gifts go? I doubt it. Zarek will never let me go. If other vampires are half as territorial as he is, they’ll feel the same way.”

Kennedy met my eyes in the mirror. “They’ll let them go. Dara will make certain of it.”

I snorted. “Yeah, like she can keep an eye on them all. The bigger her army gets, the more likely there will be a coup d’état. No leader stays in power forever.”

She didn’t respond, and her eyes returned to the road. Great. I was going to have to fight to get out of this mess. My saviors had suddenly become my captors.

I eyed Kalen, searching for bulges under his clothing that might indicate he was concealing weapons. There was nothing, but that only meant he was very adept at hiding them. And even if he didn’t have a weapon, he did have a syringe full of sedative in his right hand.

If I wanted to get away from them, I’d have to take him out hard and fast. Dara had said he was her best warrior, and I didn’t doubt that. He also had at least a hundred pounds on me, and he was all muscle.

I needed to get that sedative away from him.

Kennedy met my eyes in the rearview mirror. I thought there was a second of camaraderie in her eyes. The kind you can only get from going into battle with someone. But she blinked, and it was gone. She switched her attention back to the road. “Kalen, will you take a look in the backseat and try and find my purse? I don’t see it, and if we get pulled over, we’ll be in big shit because my driver’s license is in there.”

Kalen glanced at me but reluctantly nodded. “Yeah, I’ll look.”

He unbuckled his seat belt and hung himself over the seat to look in the back. That’s when Kennedy struck. She released the wheel, leaned as far into the backseat as she could, and shoved a hypodermic into Kalen’s ass before she swung back around and managed to grab the wheel before we ran off the road. Everything happened so fast.

Kalen yelped and yanked the needle out of his skin. He stared at the needle in his hand. “What the hell, Kennedy?”