Arctic Bound (25 page)

“Pull her through, I'll be right behind you.”

He watched as she dragged an unconscious Sasha through the door. He could feel the wood crumbling against his hold as the fire licked at his skin. Before it was too late, he dropped the beam and followed Nerina up, taking Sasha from her arms and leading the three of them outside. The air was crisp and cool as fellow Pack members all gathered in front of the burning building and taking stock of their injuries. Nerina walked over to a tree behind the club and collapsed. Her head between her legs as she took in large gulps of air.

Victor sat Sasha on the ground with the others and walked over to where Nerina sat against the tree.

“Are you alright?”

She didn't answer at first. Gritting his teeth he prayed for patience. They'd just suffered a near death experience; the least she could do was speak to him.

“Nerina, I asked if you were alright?”

“I'm fine Victor, just trying to catch my breath. Go and see to Sasha, she needs you.”

She was being rude to him. Verbally brushing him off as if he wasn't any one of importance.

“I'm checking on you right now. Sasha will be fine.”

“Oh she will, will she, and how do you know?”

“Because she's a Werewolf that's how I know.”

Nerina's eyes widened significantly, as if the words he said had slapped her across the face. He didn't see why she was getting so upset. It was true what he said. She was human, and Sasha wasn't. It was only natural that he tend to her needs first to make sure she was okay. He checked her for signs of burns, and noticed that her hands were raw. There was a gash on the inside of her thigh. The robe she wore was singed, its frayed edges sticking to her sweat-soaked skin. His skin would heal. Hers wouldn't unless he gave her more of his blood. Bringing his wrist to his mouth, he bit down placing his open wrist in front of her. She stared at it for long moments before looking up at him.

“I don't think so.”

“Drink Nerina. It will heal your burns.”

“I said no! What part of no don't you understand, the N or the O?”

“Stupid girl, fucking drink the blood!” He roared getting everyone's attention.

“Fuck off, wolf boy!” She spat back before standing up and making her way over to the others. Blue walked up to him then, no longer in his beast form.

“Give her time. She's not handling all of this well. We need to figure out who torched my club and then we need to see to it that they never do it again.”

The sound of a branch breaking beneath feet, alerted them that they weren't alone.

“Step out of the darkness. Come into the light where we can see you.”

The fire blazed low behind them as the wolves worked to get the fire contained. There would be no firefighters coming to the rescue. Not at Eden's Den. Some type of ward Blue had put up to keep things quiet for emergencies just like this one. To a human the club would look closed down.

Out of the shadows came one of the girls that has showed with Nerina that night at the club. Raven he thought she was called.

“What do you want? Are you responsible for this?” Blue asked.

“Yes and no. Oscar set the fire, I only meant to knock your asses out with the silver nitrate so that we could get our hands on Mr. Canidae there, and take our girl home where she belongs.”

“Nerina stays here with me.”

Raven looked over to where Nerina stood. She looked between her friend and then back to Victor. Something desperate clouding her face as she took a limping step forward.

“Rina will be coming home with me. Her uncle has promised her safe passage back to New York. She's no longer implicated in her parent's death. They know she didn't start the fire.” Raven looked at his Neri with beseeching eyes. “Rina come home with me, I promise all will be safe.”

When she still didn't move towards her friend, Victor let out a sigh of relief.

She's not leaving with them.

It wasn't until a man he had never seen before stepped from that shadows that the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.

“Bella?”

 

 



 

Nerina's entire body froze. She could see him as clear as day. Nothing on him had been changed. It was like his ghost had gone and gotten a complete makeover. The man that stood next to Raven was her father. Her motherfucking father who was dead! DEAD! How in the hell could he be standing not five feet away from her? She was so into the scene in front of her she wasn't paying attention to the scene behind her. Numerous growls were emanating from every single Werewolf that stood behind her. The blood in her veins was starting to heat to an almost unbearable level.

“Bella, you reek of dog.” Her father commented as he wrinkled his nose and stepped closer. The growls behind her got louder.

“Neri.” Victor growled. She could barely make out her name his voice was so gruff, “Who is this vermin to you?”

Completely ignoring Victor, she continued to stare at the man that looked to be her father.

“How is this possible? How are you here?”

“Bella, there is so much we need to discuss. I need you to come with me, away from this place, away from these despicable flea bags.”

Nerina wiped the soot from her arms on her robe and realized she was barefoot, in less than thirty degrees weather. The fire behind her was now just black smoke and burning wood. A strong arm grabbed her from behind. She was pulled into the arms of a naked Victor, who had no shame about his nudity as he stood in front of her father.

“Nerina isn't going anywhere with you. You tell her highness that if she wants the Bow back too damn bad, she can't have it. Nerina is staying with me.”

Her father threw back his head and laughed. It was a deep laugh she knew very well. It was a laugh that wasn't meant to comfort. It was a laugh meant to demean.

“If you think my daughter is going to stay here with someone like you, you're sadly mistaken.”

“Daughter?”

The hand wrapped tightly around her arm loosened. Nerina turned to look at Victor who was staring at her as if she were a stranger. His eyes roamed her face, her neck, going the length of her body.

“Impossible. She's human.”

“Of course I'm human. What the hell are you going on about Victor? Let go of my arm.”

“Little one, come away with me now. I have a jet waiting and there is someone that wants to see you badly. We've been searching everywhere for you.”

Victor was still eyeing her as if she were an anomaly when she turned back to face him. The others behind him were still on the defensive. Some of them were mumbling. She heard words like, bloodsucker, Hunter, and the one that sent a chill down her spine, Vampire. Pulling herself from Victor's grip she took a step towards the only man she ever trusted.

“How can you be here? You're dead.”

The smile her father gave her was one she'd seen a hundred times before. The one reserved for only her and her mother.

“All will be explained when you come with me. This creature you're keeping company with does not want you
Cara
. I smell his mark on you. It won't be what he's promised. I bet there is someone else he has ties to. Some other dog among his Pack he's to be mated to.” Roman pierced her with knowing eyes. He knew he'd hit his mark dead on. She was never one to hide anything from her father. She didn't even have to say a word, but he knew.

“Let her go and be with her kind.” Someone from the crowd shouted, “She's not one of us, Sasha is your chosen mate Victor, let her go.”

There was some growling and more talking when Sasha parted the crowd. She too was still naked. Her long blond hair parted to cover her breasts as she stepped forward and stood to Victor's right.

“They are right, Victor. She's the enemy.”

The enemy? She wasn't the enemy. Victor stepped anyway relinquishing his hold. He didn't even fight for her. As weird as the situation was, she at least thought he'd protest. He'd done nothing but let her go.

Nerina walked into the arms of her father, who embraced her pulling her tight to his chest. He smelled different. His skin, which she remembered, being warm, was cool to the touch. The grey that used to color the sides of his hair was a healthy black. It all had to be some strange nightmare.

Wake up now.
She thought as she held fast to the only true anchor she'd ever known.

Roman's arms tightened and the guilt and the sorrow over the death of her parents all came crashing back. Her limbs began to shake, and her eyes closed as she tried to stop the deluge of pain and horrifying memories of that night in the fire.

“Shhhhhh, it's okay
Cara Mia
, papa's here now. No harm will come to you. I've been searching everywhere for you.”

The tears wouldn't stop flowing as her father tried to console her. Two years she lived with the knowledge that she wasn't strong enough to save her parents.

“You will bring what you stole to the hotel in town. If I don't receive it before sun-up, there will be much to regret for you and your kind. Oscar was kind the other night when he visited your home. Now that I have my daughter, I suggest you return what's rightfully mine. Raven see to it that he has the room number where we're staying.”

A small part of her had hoped Victor would fight for her. They hadn't known each other long, but there was a connection. They were connected, if even by his blood. She would have thought she meant something more to him. Obviously she was wrong.

 

Chapter 18

 

Nerina followed her father back to the hotel. It was the same hotel her and the girls stayed at. When had the entire debacle that was her fucked up life start spiraling out of control? Had she just never tried to save Victor and his brother, would the outcome be the same? Or better yet, had she not followed Demon out into the snowstorm, none of this would have happened.

Take it a bit farther than that.

Yeah that was true, had she never fled to Alaska, she wouldn't be in the mess she was in now. Confused and still disoriented from finding her father still alive, Nerina sat down on the plush sofa of the hotel room while Raven grabbed her a fresh pair of clothes.

Her father stood in front of a large window overlooking the street below. His broad shoulders slightly hunched forward as he took a deep breath as if he was the one going through some serious trauma.

“Father,” his head turned sharply in her direction. She watched as he placed his hands behind his back and slowly approached her.

“Explanations are definitely long overdue my dear. How about I just start at the beginning.”

Nodding, Nerina waited for her father to begin. Raven was fast returning with a change of clothes.

“Go ahead. Change, I'll be here when you get back.” Her father gestured toward the double doors. Raven helped her to the room and watched as she washed and changed into a pair of black pants and a soft crème cashmere sweater.

“How long have you known my father was still alive, Raven?”

Her longtime friend didn't respond to her for several long moments.

“We've always known he was alive Nerina. I was under direct orders from Red not to tell either of you that the other was alive.”

“Why the fuck would you or Red give a care about whether or not my father and I knew the other survived the fire?”

“It's not for me to say.”

Grabbing Raven by the throat was to hold her in place. Punching her repeatedly in the face brought a sinister smile to Nerina's face. She punched her for every time her friend called and lied through her teeth.
Twenty-four punches to be exact.
Nerina he felt the cartilage of her friends nose break under the onslaught of her fists.

“Let her go Nerina. She'll be dealt with in time.”

The voice of her father brought her out of her mini-tirade. Blood covered her knuckles, some of it even hers as pain radiated outward in waves up her arm, but quickly abated as she focused in on her father's voice.

“There is so much I want to say to you.” Nerina ran to her father burying her face in his chest. His heart was strong and vibrant as it thumped against her cheek.

“There is so much both of us need to say, but first, let me have a look at you.” He pulled her out of his arms so that she could stand in front of him, his eyes searching her from head to toe. “You still reek of him, but no matter, I'll take care of that soon enough. First, we'll talk.

“What did he take, and how are you and Red acquainted?”

“I met Selene and Artemis a long time ago, dear. A very long time ago. I was young then. An adventurer some might call me, but I was really an opportunist. I wanted it all, and the only way I could make that happen was by talking to the Oracle of Delphi.”

“The Oracle of Delphi? You're not making any sense.”

“If you'd just listen and stop interrupting I can explain all there is for you to know. Set your opinion of what's right and what's wrong straight.”

Nerina sat and listened to all her father had to say. He spoke of the two women as if they were the loves of his life. He also told her how the Sun God Apollo cursed him for his infatuations with both his sister and his handmaiden. How he lost his soul to Hades, and later was tormented to crave human blood for the remainder of his long life. All because he couldn't decide on which woman he wanted to court when he was a young man. When he tried to redeem himself, he'd been tasked by Hades to retrieve Artemis' Silver Bow. It was used to control the animals of the night. Wolves. The same wolves that were children of Anubis. None of it made sense, but everything appeared to be true. When she put together what Victor had told her along with what her father was saying, it was all starting to make sense.

“So you're a Vampire?”

Her father nodded.