Poking the Vamp (Knight Protectors #3) (11 page)

The moment she was within reach, he snared her hand and pulled her close. She resisted his attempt at pulling her onto his lap, so he settled with having her beside him. When she placed her head on his shoulder, he sighed with the warmth that heated his blood.

“And when you—we—get old, we can sometimes lose our grip on sanity.”

Carac nodded. “Without someone or something to ground us, it can happen quickly.”

“I was that someone she counted on.”

He felt Kate’s sadness as if it was his own. “You’re still here, my
fire
.”

“But not as someone who needs her protection. Carac has the city and the ring to keep him in check. She had my family line and now I’ve been taken from her.”

“Do you think she’ll become dangerous?” He directed his question at the sovereign.

“She has always been dangerous. The question becomes, how will that fury be expressed?” He sighed. “All we can do is watch and wait. She has not broken any laws nor has she moved against any under my protection. I can do nothing for her anger.”

A bolt of Katherine’s pain struck his heart. He turned his head and pressed a soft kiss to her crown. “I am sorry, my
fire
.”

“It’s okay. It’s not…” She chuckled and shook her head. “I was going to say it isn’t your fault, but it kinda is. Anyway,” she huffed. “What can you tell me about Jemshir? I’d like to know everything before I go in.”

“I believe you know the essentials.” Carac spoke the words slowly before focusing on Joce. “Unless there is more you learned from this Vinnie who almost killed you.”

Joce grimaced. “He’s a quarter pixie on his father’s side and before Pinxton…”

“Tried to destroy Griffin,” Carac added.

“Vinnie is my informant of sorts. Or he was. He passed along rumors of Broken.” Joce shook his head. “I’ve used him for years, but he sold me out.”

“And this wasn’t something you felt should be brought up before now?” There was no missing the quiet anger bubbling inside the vamp.

Katherine reached for Joce. She twined their fingers, giving him a gentle squeeze and the strength to continue. “I should’ve mentioned it earlier. I allowed myself to be distracted by finding my
fire
, and I haven’t been myself.” He glanced at Katherine and admitted the truth. “I lived for the time we spent together, for the few moments I was in your presence.”

“He was useless the rest of the time,” Simond drawled and Joce growled at the approaching male.

Simond shrugged. “It’s the truth.”

Ignoring the vamp, he continued his conversation with Carac. “I was jumped the second I entered the alley.”

“Pixies again?”

He shook his head. “No. Or at least not all pixies.” He closed his eyes, allowing the pain to emerge as he remembered those who struck him. “Vinnie, but a wolf too. A witch. Even a warlock.” Those two never worked well together—if ever. “A brownie? A fae.”

“A faery? Are you sure?” Disbelief filled Carac’s voice.

Joce could understand the sovereign’s surprise. Faeries were universally good. Or they were until recently. “Yes, a fae. Both a light and dark elf. I don’t understand why they all worked together.”

“An ark,” Katherine whispered.

They all turned to her. “What?”

“Say it again.” Shock had Joce shoving the words past his dry lips.

“An ark. It’s…” She closed her eyelids, but he saw her eyes moving beneath the thin skin as if she were reading a book. “A menagerie?” She shook her head. “I can’t remember the specific reference. Argh.” She pinched the bridge of her nose and he held his breath, waiting and somehow knowing this was important. “If you tear the world apart, you need to put it back together with the different races, right? The ones you chose. The One is—”

“Creating his ideal population. Oh shit.” Tory’s voice joined Kate’s. “The One will destroy. The One will create. The One will.”

“It’s not some weird repetition. It’s saying that everything will happen at the One’s
will
.”

“But why attack Joce? He’s not anyone,” Simond pointed out, and he hated the male for voicing that truth.

“Joce is a protector. The One tried to get rid of Griffin and Liam through the pixie king and Jemshir. Joce is part of the ring and they are still intent on destroying you all,” Tory corrected. “It’ll be even worse now that a true
fire
is here.”

“But no one knows.” His words earned an eye roll from Tory.

“I’m sure they know already. Or they will soon. Your witches have warded the house, but you all leave at some point or another. There’s no telling what their menagerie can accomplish if they pull a Captain Planet and combine their powers,” Tory drawled. “You don’t think they can’t pluck a thought from someone’s mind? A vamp? Or a human feeder?”

He mouthed the word, trying to place the
Captain Planet
reference. Tory often pulled parts of the human culture into conversations and he admitted many left him confused.

“And that would be bad,” the female added, saying the words as if he were a child.

Joce glared at her.
Annoying tiny female.

“Which makes this even more important.” Katherine squeezed his hand. “I have to do this.”

A fine tremor overtook his fire, and he shook his head. “No, we can find another way.”

“I don’t want any of you getting hurt. That frightens me more than breaking my vow pains me. I can do this.” She stared at him, those eyes glowing with care and a plea. “With you.”

“Always.”

The dungeon was cleaner than she expected. Almost sterile with its white walls and shining floors. It felt like she stepped into another clinic, but what were normally swinging doors were solid bars. A few gleamed with a polished shine while others were burnished brown or rusted steel.

“Silver for wolves. Different types of metal for various fae,” Joce murmured in her ear.

Unease dogged her steps, chasing her toward their destination. There was only one room secured, an aged wooden door closing off the space from the hallway. This one looked older than the doors that hid the protector rooms from the main manse.

Symbols were carved along the edges and larger ones created a swirling pattern in the center. She reached for it, fingertips tingling with the need to stroke the uneven surface.

It was only Carac’s firm grip that stopped her. “Don’t touch the symbols,” he rasped. “Ever.”

He stared at her, his eyes suddenly a menacing blood red, and she nodded her agreement. His gaze searched hers for one more moment and then he jerked his head in a brisk nod and released her. “Touch nothing as you step through the portal.”

She swallowed hard and stared at the hunk of wood. “What happens if I do sorta touch,” she rubbed her damp palms on her thighs, nerves attacking. “You know, on accident.”

“Don’t.” Carac’s word was firm and final. “The witch can keep him prisoner and protect you within the room as long as we do not disrupt her spells.”

“Right. Okay, no touching. Got it.”

“Her? Just her?” Joce growled low and brought that tidbit to her attention.

“Just me?” Yeah, she was calling bullshit on that one.

“You will be getting too near Jemshir for our comfort.” Carac’s attention shifted from Kate to Joce and back again. “She will have additional wards to cover Katherine, but it means she cannot protect another.”

“No,” Joce snapped.

Well, Kate wasn’t keen on the idea either. She turned toward her mate and placed her hand over his heart. “I’ll be fine. The witch will do her witchy thing. You know this has to be done.”

“We don’t even know if this will work.”

“We know that nothing you’ve done to him has worked so far.” She cupped his cheeks and stared into the eyes she’d come to care for despite their rocky beginnings. “I’ll be okay.”

Joce stared at Kate but snarled at Carac. “If the witch fails…”

“I will end her myself.”

A little more violent than she preferred, but considering Kate would probably be dead if the witch failed… she was all for the threat.

“Are you sure?” His voice was no more than a whisper. “I do not want you to hate yourself when this is done.”

She didn’t want to hate herself either, but from what she knew, this was a
save the world
type of thing. She wasn’t a super hero, but she could bleed and if her blood happened to be like acid to others… All the better.

Kate nodded. “I’m sure.”

Joce lowered his head and caught her lips in a gentle kiss, one meant to imbue strength and convey an emotion too new to name. “I will be waiting. Return to me.”

“I will,” she whispered against his mouth and then stepped back until they no longer connected. She turned to Carac. “I’m ready.”

The elder vampire murmured a few words and then reached for the rusted handle. It turned easily despite its age and the hinges were silent as he swung it into the room. Kate shuffled forward, easing toward the portal and then stood beneath its arch.

“Come, dearl— dear.” The witch—golden haired, blue-eyed, slim and tall—beckoned Kate forward. “He is secure.”

Why did she feel like the sentence should have ended with
for now
?

She turned her attention to the other person in the room—the daeva. A midnight cloud swirled around him, twisting and twining between his legs. He was tied to a single chair in the center of the room, wrists and ankles secured by glowing shackles.

A flowing white light contrasted heavily against his dark skin. Writings shifted across his flesh. Evil restrained by the light of good? Or was the witch’s spell coincidentally white?

“Come.” That time it almost felt like an order—feeling like a demand from Carac—just as easily brushed aside.

But her parents hadn’t raised her to be rude, so she stepped into the room, careful not to touch the door jamb nor the door itself. As soon as she passed the solid hunk of wood, it slammed home and locked with an audible click and scrape. Funny how it’d been silent in the hallway and rough within the space.

That sound sent a spear of discomfort down her spine. As did the witch’s smile. “There, now, we shall not be disturbed.”

Unease tingled at the base of her spine and her attention bounced between the witch and the one who was obviously Jemshir. “I’m supposed to ask him questions.”

She’d memorized them. Who knew medical training actually helped her memory?

“Yes, yes,” the witch flicked her fingers. “Ask, ask.”

“For a witch in the protectors’ employ, you’re awfully pushy,” she grumbled. She wasn’t sure where the witch got her balls.

“Ask your questions,” the woman snapped and Kate eased closer to the half-god while keeping an eye on the other woman. Sure, the protectors might trust her to keep Jemshir captive, but she wasn’t positive the witch was a friend.

“Right.” Kate got as close to Jemshir as she dared. “This would go easier if you’d answer my questions. I really don’t want to hurt you.”

More than anything she didn’t want to hurt anyone.

Jemshir smiled widely, jagged teeth stained black. “And why should I, lovely? Why should I tell a vamp whore anything?”

“Who is the One?”

His smile remained in place.

“Where can we find him?”

It stayed put.

“Who’s working for him?”

The smile turned into a grin that was tainted with mischief. “Who isn’t?”

“I’m not. None of the protectors are. Most of the world isn’t.”

“Really?” He raised a single brow. “You’re not in here ready to torture me for answers? You don’t feel the One’s darkness creeping in on you? Or perhaps you will leave me untouched. Are you not still doing what he desires when you tell your mate you could do nothing?” Jemshir leaned forward. “He is the darkness and the light. He is the yes and the no, little
fire
.”

If he wouldn’t answer questions about the One, maybe he’d tell her about what he’d done to Liam. “What about Liam? What are the marks on his arms? What did you do to him?”

He licked his lips, ignoring her questions as his gaze slid over her body. “I bet you would taste delicious. I cannot wait for my bite of your flesh.”

“You won’t have her,” the witch interrupted. “That’s not part of the agreement.”

The tone tore her attention from the half-god back to the woman. Kate stared, searching out the familiarity in the witch’s features. The tone nudged a memory, the way she stood telling her even more. Her eyes allowed Kate to make the connection.

“Galla?” She took another step away from Jemshir, but also her grandmother. “It’s not… What…”

The moment Kate said the woman’s name, the glamour unfolded, slowly slipping away with every beat of her heart. The natural hair color returned, the witch’s skin paling until it resembled a vamp’s. Those blue eyes darkened to blood red. Not only was her grandmother in the room, she was hungry.

“Get over here,” Galla snarled.

It was then Kate realized other things in the room changed as well. The walls turned dark brown, stripes of black staining the surfaces, while the surrounding scents altered. Blood. Old blood. The dark patches and circles on the floor had to be from the room’s previous occupants. Which was reality? Bright white or stained darkness?

She wasn’t sure, but it didn’t matter. Not when Jemshir brushed off the glowing ropes as if they didn’t exist and rose to his feet. That evil smile still in place, he took a step toward her. “You are a pretty, pretty treat, aren’t you?”

Kate swallowed hard. “I’m sure I’m bad for your health.”

The scent of fresh blood tickled her nose. Well, fairly fresh, and she spared a glance for the rest of the room. A woman lay crumpled in one corner, golden hair and closed eyes. The true witch.

“How did you do it, Galla? Why?”

“They took you from me.
Me
,” the vampiress hissed.

“Quit distracting my dessert, vampire,” Jemshir growled.

“Dessert? That’s my granddaughter. We had an agreement. I would free you and I would get Katherine.”

Her poor, delusional grandmother.

Jemshir snorted. “Keep believing that. Now, stay out of my way and you may make it out alive.” He spoke to Galla but his eyes were on her. “Come, pretty.”