Consumed (Dark Protectors) (21 page)
Read Consumed (Dark Protectors) Online
Authors: Rebecca Zanetti
Chapter 22
K
atie shifted back to human with a series of sharp pops. Aches vibrated along her bones as they re-formed.
atie shifted back to human with a series of sharp pops. Aches vibrated along her bones as they re-formed.
Jordan shifted and instantly had her in his arms. “You shifted.”
She leaned back, joy filling every pore. “I know. The mating must’ve changed me.” Hope flared hotter than the joy. “You, too! Marking me would’ve altered your physiology, too.” Her excitement dimmed. Hopefully Jordan had changed enough he wouldn’t turn into a werewolf. “We should go after Brent.”
“No. Let Noah get the bastard.”
A sudden thought made her gasp. “Janie was hurt.”
Jordan nodded, stepping back to survey the cuts, bruises, and gashes marring Katie’s flanks. Gentle hands brushed along her hip. He leaned over to place a soft kiss above a bruise. “You need bandages.” He grabbed Katie’s hand and strode into headquarters. “Let’s hit the infirmary.”
After stopping for Jordan to yank on jeans, and Katie to throw a loose cotton dress over her head, they limped down several flights of stairs. Opening the door at the medical level, Jordan held both hands up in surrender, keeping Katie behind him. “The fight is over.”
Katie elbowed him, sidling to view the small vestibule. Max and Garrett flanked the single doorway cut into rock, guns in hand, stances set to shoot. Stone-cold determination sat comfortably on Max’s wide face. Anger and youthful bewilderment filled Garrett’s eyes. But his hold remained steady on the gun, and a hard line of conviction angled his jaw. The kid wouldn’t hesitate to shoot.
Jordan stepped forward. “The werewolves are gone—soldiers are pursuing them north.”
Max nodded. “I sent my mate, all the kids and nonsoldiers, as well as the injured to the level ten secured section. We needed to bring Janie here.” His expression remained the same, but a low hitch caught on his words. “Dage and Talen should be teleporting home any minute.”
Fear rolled in Katie’s stomach. With a nod, she shoved open the door to the small room better equipped than any big city hospital. Five beds lined the far wall, and Janie lay motionless in the farthest one, attached to several beeping machines. Cara held her hand from the far side of the bed while Emma checked her pulse, her gaze on the watch adorning her wrist.
Katie’s steps slowed on the spotless tile as she approached the bed. Janie’s cheeks lacked any color, her skin pasty and her lips blue. A devastating purple bruise marred her left temple to her jaw. The air around her seemed ... heavy.
Cara glanced up, tears shining in her dazed blue eyes.
Emma gently placed Janie’s arm back on the bed. “Her pulse is way too slow.” Pressing several buttons on the nearest machine, she shook her head. “I can’t get any brain readings.” She bit her lip, an obvious struggle not to cry on her face.
Garrett hovered closer. “Janie? Wake up.” The protector was gone, and a scared brother stood in his place. “Please.”
Katie slid an arm around his waist. He burrowed as close as he could get, his body trembling.
Male voices echoed outside, and then Talen Kayrs stalked into the room followed by the king. Dressed in black combat gear, a dark scowl covered Talen’s dangerous face. The massive vampire hurried toward the bed, stopping cold in the center of the room.
Then he blinked. Twice. Metallic green shot through the normal gold of his eyes.
“Janie?” He held a hand toward the bed, hesitantly moving forward. Once reaching his daughter, he dropped to his knees. “Janie?” Hoarseness lowered his voice to something guttural and full of pain.
Tears filled Katie’s eyes. She held Garrett tighter even as Jordan hugged them from behind. Fear had her shoulders shaking. The boy’s entire body stiffened, terror cascading off him in scents of sulfur and grass.
“Janie?” Talen smoothed a stray curl off the girl’s face. “Baby, wake up.” The entreaty, the desperate plea from a father for his child, had Katie swallowing a loud sob.
Dage moved closer to his mate. Dark circles lined under his eyes. Teleporting his brothers twice in one day had obviously taken a toll. “Emma?” The king took in the beeping machines with a glance.
Emma shook her head, leaning into the king’s large body. “She’s in a coma. Pulse slow, immeasurable brain activity.” The queen swayed, her face as pale as Janie’s.
Talen covered Cara’s hand with his free one. “What about blood?”
Emma closed her eyes, her hand to her head. “I don’t know. Vampire blood for a human teenager might kill her. Mates can take blood, but I just don’t know about a girl Janie’s age.”
Vampire blood was magical and full of healing power for their mates. But the thick liquid could be deadly for other races. Uncertainty kept Katie grounded in place. Too bad shifter blood didn’t help humans.
Garrett shrugged free. “We share a parent—similar genetics. What about my blood?”
Dage rubbed his chin on top of Emma’s head. “His blood would be safer than any of ours.”
Uncertainty wrinkled Emma’s brow. “Yes. But he’s still a vampire, and Janie is human. Plus, even though the kids share a mother, Cara’s genetic makeup had begun to alter when she became pregnant with Garrett. We don’t know ...”
Cara bit her lip. “I can’t get anything from her. No feelings, no thoughts ... nothing.”
As an empath, the girl’s mother should be able to feel something. Katie shuffled her feet, denial slamming hard into her brain. Janie would be okay. She had to be.
Talen kept one hand on his wife, the other on his daughter. He turned toward Cara. “Mate?”
Cara’s lips trembled. She eyed her mate and glanced past him to their son. “Are you sure, Garrett?”
“Yes.” Garrett yanked up his sleeve. “Losing a little blood is no big deal. And I’ve been eating healthy lately.” Hope and determination rode the boy’s words, and his teeth dropped low and sharp.
“No.” Dage grabbed his arm. “You’ll take off your wrist with those things.”
Emma nodded, reaching for a syringe. “We want to inject her.” She rolled Garrett’s sleeve up past the elbow and swabbed his vein before sliding in the needle. Filling the shot, she pivoted toward Janie. Dage slapped a bandage on the inside of his elbow.
Talen turned his daughter’s arm over, exposing her vein and flattening his hand over her small palm. “Not too much.”
Emma nodded. Seconds later, she’d injected about half the contents into Janie. “That’s enough for now.” Smooth movements had a bandage covering the wound. She exhaled. “Now we wait.” Tossing the needle into the garbage, she turned toward Katie and Jordan. “You both need medical attention.”
Right around dinnertime, Katie handed a green gun to Lance in the fully stocked armory. “How many werewolves survived earlier?”
The shifter passed the weapon to Dage. “Several. And they may not have attacked with their full force today.” He tugged down an almost see-through T-shirt. The shifters wouldn’t remain dressed for long, so the easier it was to tear clothing, the better. “The Chance brothers are scouting the area as we speak ... checking out defensive positions. Where’s Jordan?”
“He went to check on Janie.” Katie fought the sick rage burning in her gut. “Last I heard, there was no change.” The girl’s death would cripple the Kayrs family. The Realm.
Dage nodded. Fury and despair swirled bright blue throughout his silver eyes. “I’m going to recheck the secured areas down below. We have three hours until the moon rises, until the werewolves are at full power.” He frowned. “Do you think they’ll wait until the moon is high or hit early?”
Katie shrugged. “Waiting would be smart, but they’re ruled by blood and death, so instinct may take over.” But there was no doubt the monsters would be hitting and soon.
Dage slipped from the room.
Lance sighed. “Is there any way I can talk you into protecting the kids in the lower levels? You just shifted for the first time—being on the front line, especially where that jerk Brent wants you to be, is a bad idea.”
“I’m not going to the front line.” She settled her stance.
“What?” Lance rounded on her, fury lighting his stunning eyes. “You’re not saying what I think you’re saying.”
“I am.” She didn’t have time to convince her friends she knew what she was doing.
“No.” Lance reached for a green gun, his hands trembling as he checked the clip. “You can’t possibly be considering staying with Jordan while he shifts into a werewolf. He’ll kill you—I won’t let another one of my friends die. Don’t make me fight you on this.”
The mating could still save Jordan. Katie had to have faith in the possibility. “He won’t hurt me. And if his brain begins to explode, I have to shove him under the moon.”
Lance took a step back, shock crossing his face. “You’ll allow him to turn into a werewolf?”
“If that’s the only way to keep him alive.”
Lance’s head shook wildly. “Well, if that isn’t the fucking worst plan I’ve heard in my entire life, I don’t know what is.”
Anger narrowed Katie’s eyes and shoved doubt to the cellar. “I know what I’m doing.”
The smile sliding across Lance’s handsome face contained darkness and raw fury. “You don’t know shit.” He took a step toward her, gun aimed at her abdomen. “I really wanted to wait until you were forced to kill Jordan, but that’s not going to happen, is it?”
Shock kept her immobile. Then fury slammed her hand against the gun, swiping the barrel away. “Wait for what?”
He shot a hand into her hair, tangling and yanking. Pivoting, he hauled her back against his front, the gun pressed into her rib cage. “You’re being awfully slow here.”
She struggled, surprise causing her mind to blank. This didn’t make sense.
Pain flared along her ribs as he shoved the gun harder. “Stop fighting me.”
She stilled. Fear flared bright. The baby. “What are you doing?” Her mind fought with reality. This was a terrible mistake.
The hand in her hair tugged to the side, exposing her neck. He ran his mouth over her jugular, teeth scraping just enough to draw blood. “The scent of your blood covers the stench of Jordan on you. Barely.” Lance bit. “I guess you’ll be bleeding a lot in the future.”
A strong inhale centered her. She allowed acceptance to arrive. “Say the words, Lance. I need to know the truth.” She needed to believe the truth.
“Sure.” He straightened up, releasing her and turning her around, the gun pointed at her stomach. “I love you.”
She blinked. How could she get through to him? “No. You’re confused. You’re hurt because you lost your squad ... and because you lost Linda.”
His eyes swirled a maniacal blue and he snarled. “No. That bitch was a pleasant diversion. Smart, though. She figured out rather quickly my feelings for you.” The smile he flashed was one Katie had never seen on the tiger. “It was more fun killing her than the assholes you dated, I have to tell you.”
Katie stumbled back a step. “You killed them?”
“Sure.” Lance exhaled. “I couldn’t have you with another man.”
She shook her head. “What about Mitch? He didn’t turn into a werewolf?”
“No.” Lance snorted. “I just said that so I could go hunt him down. He died well, if that helps.”
Nausea rippled through her stomach. “You killed them because of me?”
“Yes. So we could be together.We need to be together. To live and get away from this war. I can’t let them kill you. I thought we’d mate. Though, now, well ... you fucked that up.”
She’d mated Jordan. “Right. So ... there’s no chance for us.” The guy was crazy. She eyed the nearest gun.
Lance growled. “You move, and I’ll shoot the baby. Jordan’s baby.” Lance’s voice promised he’d do exactly that. “I want you to like me, and I know if I take out the baby, you probably won’t. So I’ll let you have him, but that’s all you’re getting from me.”
“We can’t mate, Lance.” She spoke slowly, rationally. Where the hell was her friend? How had she read him so wrong?
He shook her. “I know. But we can still be together. And you’re gonna watch me kill Jordan after he turns into a werewolf. Well, if his brain doesn’t explode first.” Anticipation had Lance licking his lips.
She shook her head. Denial wasn’t going to get her out of this. Betrayal ate away the haziness. “Did you take the pictures? I mean, the ones from stalking me?”
“Yeah.” Arrogance lifted his chin. “You never noticed, not once. But”—he frowned—“I thought the photographs were for David. I had no clue he was working with Brent the werewolf, had no clue they were related. I figured David would challenge Jordan if somehow Jordan survived the moon.”
She tried to clear her mind. “That makes no sense. Why would you take pictures and give them to David?”
Lance sighed. “I’m starting to doubt your intelligence.”
“I’m right there with you,” she snapped back. How stupid was she to have missed this?
“Okay.” He exhaled, irritation curling his lip. “David paid me money, a lot of it, to get those pictures of you. I thought he had a hard-on for you ... and figured I’d take the money and deal with him later. One time he let loose he was going to challenge Jordan. So I figured I’d let them fight, then take out whoever survived. Simple plan.”
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