Blood Shadows (45 page)

‘And I see you’ve brought Caitlin back safe and well.’

‘As per our agreement,’ Kane said.

The soldiers shoved the lycans over to the concrete post, kicked them onto their knees and secured them to it.

‘I’m glad you finally took me up on my offer,’ Xavier said. ‘I hope this is the first step in the right direction.’

‘So much for your claimed protection of everyone in your care,’ Kane remarked.

‘I have no sympathy with what they have done. I understand your need for vengeance for your sister. Who am I to stand in your way?’ He took another step towards him. ‘I’m willing to do what it takes, Kane. To convince you that you can trust me. Of what a formidable force we can become. This territory will be yours. You’ll never want for anything again.’ He held out his hand towards the lycans. ‘See this as the first offering of my loyalty. You only had to ask for them. This is how it will be. You ask and I’ll give.’

‘Humans and vampires will never be able to form an alliance – not a true alliance. We are both too inherently in need of control.’

‘But that’s not to say a vampire and a human who will mutually benefit cannot work together. Keep your territory under control – that’s all I ask. And enforce what I need you to enforce. And in return, I will let you do whatever you want to do with no fear of retribution. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain, Kane.’

‘Loyal to me, but not to your own, is that right?’ Kane asked.

Xavier took a step closer to him and lowered his voice. ‘I will do whatever it takes to have this happen.’ Xavier clicked his fingers and held out his open palm towards one of the soldiers.

The soldier marched over to the car and came back with a small wooden box. He placed it in Xavier’s hand and stepped back.

Xavier took a few more steps closer to Kane, the soldiers closing in on them a little more.

As Xavier opened the box, Caitlin pulled herself off the bonnet to take a few steps closer.

The tension in Kane seared through her.

‘They told me where they’d stored it. I told you I’d kept it safe,’ Xavier said.

‘I knew you would have,’ Kane said, Caitlin knowing him well enough now to know it was the tension of restraint. ‘You’re not going to squander a trophy like that, are you?’

Caitlin’s heart pounded audibly in her ears.

‘Not a trophy for me, Kane. I wasn’t the one who tore it out of her body.’ He glanced across at the lycans. ‘I’m not the beast that guts its victims like they were animals.’ He looked back at Kane. ‘It’s my gift to you. The final sealing of our loyalty. Arana’s heart and the blood of the lycans who murdered her,’ he held his hand towards Caitlin, ‘and the soul of a shadow reader to complete the resurrection.’

Panic encompassed her. Sickness burned the back of her throat as she drew level enough to stare down at the withered heart in the sickening epiphany moment.

She stared back at Xavier in horror.

He smiled.

Resurrection. Arana back. The only thing Kane would ever bargain for. What Kane had been planning all along now hit her like a concrete wall.

And she’d fallen for it.

But it wasn’t him she lunged at – it was Xavier.

‘You’re nearly as ruthless as me,’ Kane said to Xavier, wrapping his arms around Caitlin and tugging her against his chest to restrain her effortlessly as he clamped his hand over her mouth. ‘Sacrifice all to get what you want. That’s dedication. Maybe you and I are alike after all.’

‘I’m glad you’re beginning to see it.’

His words paralysed her. If Kane hadn’t held her so tight, she would have dropped to the floor, the distance in his eyes as he focused on Xavier chilling her.

‘You see, Kane – I can bring light out of the darkness. Those beasts stole your sister from you, but I’m giving her back to you. This is how it can be. We can do immeasurable things.’

He didn’t know. Xavier was still clueless. Caitlin’s heart pounded. He still hadn’t worked out that Kane knew he was responsible. Somewhere in-between, they had made this deal and it clearly had seemed like a perfectly reasonable exchange to Xavier if it had got him there.

She glanced anxiously around at the soldiers. Kane was going to kill them all. Somehow he was going to end it all.

She needed to yell at Xavier and warn him. She needed to give her unit a chance. She shouldn’t have hesitated. Kane had clearly betrayed her. He had tricked her, just like he’d tricked the others.

But as her heart splintered enough for her to cry out, Kane, as if sensing it, weaved his free fingers into hers, squeezed lightly, the private exchange of his thumb sliding over her hand enough to make her hesitate.

‘You understand me,’ Kane said, words that could have been directed at her as much as they were at Xavier.

‘That’s right,’ Xavier said. ‘I understand you perfectly.’

‘Then nothing I do will surprise you,’ Kane said, gently easing Caitlin away from him.

She reluctantly took a few steps back and looked over her shoulder as the rear passenger door of Kane’s car opened.

But it was no longer the image of her mother that stepped out. She saw the head first, the long dark hair. There was no mistaking the porcelain skin or the large dark eyes.

The soul ripper stood perfectly still, its head tilted slightly to the side, those eyes staring intently across at Xavier.

He glanced around the room nervously as if checking it wasn’t an apparition of his own mind, searching to see if anyone else could see what he could. They could, but they kept their guns on Kane.

‘Impossible,’ Xavier said, staring at the likeness of Arana as it approached. ‘It’s impossible. What is this?’

Caitlin took a wary couple of steps back.

‘Impossible as you arranged her death so perfectly,’ Kane said, his arms folded.

Xavier stared back at him in shock. ‘You know?’

Kane held his gaze. ‘Just as I know what my sister cursed the Parish line with.’

Xavier’s attention snapped back to the soul ripper, his frown deep as he tried to work out what was happening.

‘I know things you could never know, Carter. I know third-species secrets that will never fall under your knowledge – and all this is an example of why. Your kind has an agenda – always has had and always will have. Under your guidance and control, all hell would break loose in this district. So, as I keep telling you – no, I will never work with you.’

‘You’re a fool, Kane,’ Xavier said, trying to look calm. But even from where she was stood, Caitlin could see the perspiration trailing down his temple. ‘It doesn’t have to come to this.’

‘Come to what, Carter? Me getting you to accept my refusal once and for all?’

Xavier glanced nervously at the soul ripper again as it stood beside Kane. He looked back at Kane. ‘But your sister. You must have the shadow reader’s soul for it to work.’

‘A lie to get you here. I can’t bring her back. My sister has gone, Carter,’ Kane said. ‘You saw to that. But she left me this legacy,’ he said, pointing at the soul ripper. ‘Just so I’d know how to track you all down.’

Xavier backed up further as the soul ripper stalked towards him, its eyes fixed on his. He lifted his hand to command the soldiers to shoot, but the soul ripper was quicker.

The guns were simultaneously ripped from their hands first, smashing into the walls behind them. In perfect timing, the men were lifted swiftly and horizontally into the air before being slammed down onto the floor on their backs.

Panic flared in Xavier’s eyes as he scanned the room before looking back at the soul ripper. He took a few wary steps back. ‘What’s it doing?’

‘What I’ve told it to do.’

The soldiers writhed as if in agony then slowly their ethereal bodies rose from within them, the phosphorous glow of their souls still intact, hovering a couple of feet above their unconscious forms like translucent shadows.

‘I could have killed you before now, Carter,’ Kane continued. ‘So many times. But I resolved this was worth the wait.’ He strolled back over to the car, placed the wooden box containing Arana’s heart safe on the driver’s seat before coming back out with a dagger. He spun it in his hand as he sauntered over to the two lycans. ‘You have to be stopped, Carter,’ he said as he carved an A for Arana into their foreheads.

As he turned to face Xavier again, Xavier took a step back.

‘You can’t do this, Kane. Everyone will know. You’ll be finished. I protect you. My no-touch policy on you is the only thing that keeps you alive.’

‘We’ll find out soon enough, won’t we?’

Xavier stumbled backward as the soul ripper closed the gap. ‘Get away from me!’ he demanded, falling against the bonnet of his car. ‘You hear me? Stay away from me! Keep it away from me, Kane!’

‘You have no idea how hard it’s been waiting this long,’ Kane announced, following behind it. ‘But I knew when it was coming back, you see. All I had to do was find a way to command it. I just had to take the one thing it craved – Caitlin’s soul. And then I could make it do whatever I wanted it to.’

‘Stop it,’ Xavier said, his tone laced with panic. ‘Stop it and I will do whatever you want.’

‘I don’t need anything from you. Max and Rob are about to go live with confessions of exactly what they and you did. You’re finished, Carter. But prison is too good for you. Death at my hand, however agonizing I could make it, is too good for you. It’s going to tear out your astral body and soul and take you into an eternity of slavery. Just like what happened to Rick and Kathleen Parish.’

The soul ripper arched its back, ethereal white tendrils streaming from its body, lunging towards Xavier’s chest.

He screamed as he fell back against the bonnet. ‘Whatever you want!’

As Kane stepped back, as he glanced across at the soul ripper, as its tendrils lunged into Xavier’s chest, Caitlin flinched and momentarily turned away.

That was what happened to them. That was the cruelty that stole her parents from her. Her life. Her dreams. Her peace of mind. And it was coming after her. Within minutes, it would turn on her, ready for Kane to meet his side of the bargain.

‘I know about the prophecy!’ Xavier cried out, his tone wretched. ‘The secret.’

Caitlin snapped back to look at him.

‘I know what you need!’ Xavier added. ‘I know what you need to make it happen! I can get it!’

‘Wait!’ Kane commanded the soul ripper, his hand raised.

It ceased and looked back over its shoulder at him. Its tendrils disappeared back inside its body.

Xavier sank to the floor as Kane stepped over and crouched in front of him.

‘And how do you know what’s needed?’ Kane asked.

Xavier stared at him warily.

Caitlin took a couple of steps closer.

If Xavier bargained with him, if Kane had reason to keep him alive, Kane could kill the soul ripper. Her pulse raced. She wouldn’t have to resort to what she’d planned. It could work out. But at what cost? She stared back at Xavier. Selfish to the end. He couldn’t seriously be talking about helping the vampires fulfil the prophecy. It was everything he stood against. Everything she worked for to stand against.

Enraged by Xavier’s silence, Kane grabbed him by the throat. ‘How do you know?’ he asked, his tone dangerously low.

‘Call it off,’ Xavier said. ‘Give me your word you’ll call it off and I’ll tell you.’

‘You’ll tell me now,’ he said as he squeezed.

‘You won’t kill me. You said it yourself that I deserve worse. Give me your word. Give me your word and I’ll tell you.’

The seconds ticked by.

‘You have my word,’ Kane said.

Caitlin sighed with momentary relief, albeit muted. But it couldn’t be true. Kane wouldn’t give up that easily. He was just getting what he wanted.

Xavier hesitated for a moment longer before saying, ‘Feinith. Feinith told me.’

Feinith? The only Feinith Caitlin knew of was one of the Higher Order vampires. She was one of the diplomats with the Global Council and occasionally communicated with the TSCD on particular matters, but only those related to strategic vampire management issues.

Kane’s silence told her he knew exactly whom Xavier was talking about. His continued silence told her he wasn’t happy. But he released his grip just enough to let Xavier take a few panicked deep breaths.

Xavier glanced warily back at the soul ripper. ‘Get it away from me.’

‘Why did Feinith tell you?’ Kane asked.

‘Because she wants me to help get it.’

Kane released him and stood. He took a step back.

Xavier rubbed his throat, his gaze warily locked on Kane. ‘Join us. Make this happen. Rule our army.’

Caitlin took a few steps closer, shock coiling through her. ‘What are you saying? Are you insane?’

But Xavier didn’t break his gaze from Kane to acknowledge her. ‘Did you hear me, Kane? Feinith has plans. Big plans. And she wants you to be a part of them. That’s why I needed to get you.’

As Caitlin pulled level, Kane caught hold of her forearm, preventing her moving any closer. He didn’t look at her either, but he didn’t need to.