Arctic Bound (27 page)

He couldn't see Nerina anymore, there were too many bodies blocking his view. He could hear Raven calling out to her in a desperate plea, and behind him he could hear Blue telling him they needed to leave.

“Now Victor. We have to go, now!”

Roman stood in the far corner, a smirk on his face. He pinned Victor with his icy glare.

“Yes, Victor, leave now, and don't return unless you come with the Bow.”

Roman lifted his hands in the air and in a gust of powerful wind, carried Victor and Blue through the hotel door and out into the hall. They landed painfully atop each other. He could hear Raven on the other side of the door screaming for Nerina to wake up, and then she too went silent. Barely able to get to his feet, Victor stood limping his way to the elevator. Blue limped next to him. Both of them using the other for support. When they made it to the lobby, his father and brothers stood waiting for news.

“Where is she?”

Dead.

“Gone.” Blue said.

“Gone?” Colin whispered.

Victor dropped to the ground, his knees crashing into the cement, jarring him from the inside out. She was gone. There one moment and gone the next. How the hell had it come to all of this in a single night? His inner beast raged, his warrior tried to surface as unimaginable grief pulled at ever nerve in his body. It ignited something dark and vulnerable. It filled his soul and drained him dry of any coherent thoughts. Victor let go of a double-layered howl that splintered into the night sky. There was nothing he could do. There were too many of them and only him and Blue. He couldn't save her. Couldn't save the one woman he was destined to spend his life with.

“He took her, right there in front of us. His own daughter. Gave no care to her life at all. He just drained her dry right in front of me. There was nothing I could do.” A sob threatened to spill from his lips, but Victor held it back. It would do him no good to show that kind of emotions in front of the others. There would be repercussions because of what took place in the hotel room. A huge scale would be balanced. It sat precariously on its left, due to the grief that weighed down what was left of his heart.
Balance will be restored.
He would avenge Nerina's death. Somehow. Someway. And all of his actions would be brutal. Gruesome.

His father dropped his head to his chest and growled. His black eyes dull with anger. Why was she so important to his father all of sudden. Up until recently, they'd all wanted her dead.

“That's not all.” Blue said, gaining everyone's attention. “Roman won't leave until he gets what he came for. He'll take the entire town apart until the Silver Bow of Artemis is returned.”

“He's not getting the Bow back. If it's a fight he wants, that's exactly what he'll get.”

Damn straight.

He wasn't going to give up without a fight. He wanted Nerina's body back. He wanted to honor her the only way he knew how. She'd have a burial fitting as though she were his intended mate. He didn't care what anyone thought. He at least owed her that. Sasha pushed through the gathering crowd as Victor made his way outside. The fire at Eden's Den had long been put out and people were starting to settle back down and make plans for their next course of action. This meant going to the council and requesting an audience. He'd brought the instrument that had tamed his kind, back into the fold. The elders had better give in and allow them to engage the enemy. They were not packing up. They were not going to run and hide. The time for fighting was now. There was nothing over their heads that could control them any longer. Fear was something that if allowed to creep in could suffocate an entire Pack. He was tired of choking on its stench.

Blue was at his side when Sasha stopped him mid-stride.

“Victor, what are we going to do now?” Her breathing was labored. She was concerned. Finally about something more than just herself.

“We're going to fight back.”

“We can't do that? The council won't allow it.”

“I don't care what the council has to say in this matter. We are fighting back, and that's all there is to it. If you and your Pack wants to run and hide, be my guest. It wouldn't faze me in the least.”

“You don't mean that, Victor.”

Blue grunted, and yeah, he had to agree with his friend. The entire situation was really not up for discussion.

“Go home Sasha. When all this is over, I'll come and find you.”

“I'm not going to go home. They could be there waiting for me.”

“Well, then go hide somewhere.”

“Where?”

Victor stopped walking and faced the new irritation in his path. This is what life would be like if he mated Sasha. Whether she was his first or second mate, she'd always be extra drama he didn't need. Her confidence was a façade. Deep down she was clueless and a wreck. She needed a strong hand to keep her in line, and a few months ago, he would have gladly taken on that responsibility. Now, he just wanted her out of his face. She'd be a disgrace to his Pack. Breeding with her would weaken his bloodline and turn his pups into whinny wimps.

“I really don't care at the moment. Like I said, I'll come find you when it's all over.”

Victor pushed her out of his way and made his way to his truck. Blue right beside him and Colin following up the rear.

“This is because of her, isn't it? It has nothing to do with the Bow or keeping the Pack safe. You're fighting because of her.”

Damn right he was. They'd taken her from him. Robbed him of the one thing that mattered to him. He had to lose her in order to truly find himself. It was the ugly truth. It was a painful truth. But it was the truth all the same. He and Nerina would have had a beautiful life together.

“Are we really going to do this then, brother?”

“Yeah, we are. I'm tired of running, aren't you?”

“Been tired.”

“You all followed me up this mountain.” Blue said. A grin tugging his lips as he shut the passenger door. Blue had been the one to lead what was left of the Packs towards Mt. McKinley, they'd settled their first before staking out on their own. In a way, Victor guessed, Blue felt responsible. It wasn't his friends fault. It was Roman's fault.

“Now that we have that settled, let's get this shit over with. Colin, phone dad, let him know that he and the rest of the Packs willing to fight need to meet us at the cave at McKinley. Fighters only.”

Colin grabbed his cell from his pocket and started punching in numbers. When everything was said and done, there would only be one outcome, and it would all be in his favor.

Chapter 19

 

“You fucking killed her, Roman! Why? You said she wouldn't get hurt!” Raven screamed. Well if she could hear her friend cursing out her murderous father, that meant she wasn't dead. At least not yet.

“Quiet bitch, before I drain you dry. I don't care if Red has you under her protection or not.”

Nerina lay perfectly still. She didn't want anyone to know that she could hear what was going on. Her throat felt like it was on fire, and her skin was ice cold. She
was
dying, she decided seconds later. It was just taking a lot longer than anyone anticipated. Her body was at an awkward angle, and it took everything for her not to try and straighten her limbs out. Instead, she lay there listening to what was going on around her. The smell of blood filled the air, and Nerina could tell it was not only her blood, but also stale cold blood.

Hunters.
More aptly called Vampires. Blue and Victor must have taken a few of them down before they got away. Or, at least she hoped they got away. She couldn't smell any Werewolf blood, and the only reason she knew what that smelled like was because of Victor's blood. She refused to move, or even open her eyes for fear someone would know she was still alive. She could only listen to her surroundings and try and discern what was going on.

“Do you think they are going to bring the Silver Bow of Artemis boss?”

“Oh, they better bring the fucking Bow, or I'm going to drain this town dry. Human or werewolf, I don't give a fuck.”

“Right boss.”

That came from a guy name Greg. She'd worked with him before on a couple of jobs for her father. How was it they could be out in the daytime? Didn't Vampires only thrive in the dark and shit? What about their allergy to the sun?

“I hate the fucking cold.” That was said by her Uncle Oscar.

“I want to go back to the city. Soak up some fucking sun. Eat some pasta.”

“We all want out of this icebox. But for now, this is where we'll be until we get what we came for.”

“And if they don't cooperate Roman, then what?”

“Then we drain the fucking town dry. Did I stutter?”

There were a few chuckles from other men that were in the room. But nothing else from Raven, or her uncle.

“What do we do with her body?”

“Burn it. I don't want her coming back to life.”

“Last time we tried fire, she got away. You still think she's human?”

“Of course she is, her blood was hot like fire. She's not a Hunter. She's not even half. Take her out back and set her ass on fire.”

“Yeah boss, we got this.”

“Why do you have to do that? Can't we just take her back and bury her, at least give her that?” Raven pleaded. It seemed her friend did care about her. In some way.

“Why do we even keep this one alive again? We don't need her.” Oscar asked. There was a sneer to his voice. He obviously had something against Raven.

“We keep her alive, because she's under Red's protection. You don't want to get on Amelie's bad side. Once we retrieve the Bow, all bets are off.”

Well at least now she knew what Victor had taken from the Mistress. She could see why he would keep it from her. Like her, he had a hard time trusting people. She would have done the same, but then after what she'd given him, she would have thought they would have moved past their trust issues.

“We won't be burying her. She gets burned, she's been bitten, and there is a chance she could come back. Even if she wasn't inoculated, she still has my blood coursing through her veins. I don't want that on my conscious. Her body gets burned, and that is final.”

“I'll take her then.”

There must have been head nods, or something exchanged, because Nerina didn't hear Roman give the all clear. She just heard him tell one of his goons to escort Raven out to ensure the deed was done. This could work to her advantage. Nerina just needed to play dead a little bit longer.

“When you get back Raven, I want you to help with the clean up here, and then go and find me someone to warm myself with. Otherwise, I may see you as my next course.”

“Yes Roman.”

Nerina stayed as still as possible as her friend, gathered her legs and pulled her over into the open entryway, where her body was covered by a sheet of some kind. She tried to stay as still as possible and wanted to make sure she could get away without too much blood shed. Although she was in jeans and a sweater. Her top was completely soaked in what was left of her blood. She could feel the heart in her chest slowly start to stir, as if it too was waiting to be clear of her father's hotel room. It had to be Victor's blood. That was the only other explanation of why she wasn't dead. Perhaps he'd given her more than he thought, and because of it, it was just a little bit harder to end her life. She could feel the brutal wound at her neck slowly closing as she was lifted and then carted out into the hallway on the shoulder of one of her father's men. They couldn't all be Hunters. Maybe some of them were humans. Although the guy that was carrying her had no problem with her weight. He definitely didn't feel cold. On the contrary, he felt very warm. Hot to the touch. His body heat was seeping into the sheet she was wrapped in covering her in a warmth that almost made her shiver with ecstasy. It wasn't sexual in nature, but comforting. It lured Nerina. Made her want to reach out and touch the skin. She didn't have much time to get used to the new feeling when her body was tossed into what could only be a trash bin, if the smell was anything to go buy.

“Roman want's her burned.”

“Yeah, well, we also have to clean up the rest of the mess upstairs, might as well set one fire.”

“Man, that shit upstairs was whacked out! I wasn't expecting Roman to go all fangs and shit on his own daughter.” The guy working with Raven said.

“Yeah, well, he's a Hunter, what did you expect. Isn't that what you want? To be brought over as a made man.”

“Hells yeah, that's what I want. My father has wanted nothing more than for me to be a part of the Civiti Crime family.”

“Well, do your job, and you'll get exactly what you deserve and more. Now shut the hell up, we got more work to do.”

She heard their footsteps as they began walking away. The guy still talking about joining the family. At least most of what he said made sense to her now. The guys talked about being made. Her father always made sure she wasn't at any of the meetings when another member of his group joined the family business. Silly her for thinking he was simply inducting them in some male bonding ritual where they'd have a few drinks and play a hand of cards. He was making them Hunters. It still didn't explain how they could be out in the daytime or the fact that they could eat garlic. There was also the fact about her dad being a devout Catholic. Was anything about Vampire myths even true?

Slipping quietly out of the trash bin, Nerina looked around. She was completely healed, and save for the fact that she was freezing, all her bodily functions were in order. She made her way to the front of the hotel, trying to figure out what she needed to do in order to get back to her place. She wasn't going to go to Victor. That door had long since closed. She was going to go home, pack another bag, and hit the road. Again.