Devour, A Paranormal Romance (Warm Delicacy Series, Book 3) (31 page)

“We can’t, but what other choice do we have? Where else can we turn to get information about Baal before his next attack?” No one said anything and I knew I had made my point. There was no other way.

“And you truly believe she is going to reveal all her master’s secrets just so she could have
that
back?” Titan asked, sounding as doubtful as my father.

“Yes. Wouldn’t you?” His eyes burned with rage for a moment, until it fizzled away leaving a glossy sheen of unshed tears. I’d struck a nerve, but I’d also made another good point. If Baal
had
successfully used Titan’s wife’s soul to create a stone he would have traveled to the ends of the earth to get it back. When a vampire found a true mate, it was forever. It didn’t matter if they were married for one hundred years, or together for only a decade.

“I would,” Titan admitted. “How did her mate die? This Luka?”

“I killed him,” I replied, not proud of the fact. Yes, I’d done it in self-defense but… that didn’t change the fact that I had killed a living, breathing being. Killing the dark vampires was different, they were grotesque monstrosities, but Luka looked like everyone else. Yes, he was a murderous asshole, but the memory of his dead eyes staring vacantly at the ceiling of my old bedroom would haunt me forever.

Titan’s brows reached for the ceiling as he stroked his chin. I wished I could know what he was thinking, but I bit my tongue and remained silent. At least the hard part was over; I’d gotten them to listen to me.

“What’s your plan?” Arrick whispered into my ear.

“I’ve got to make her talk,” I said simply, trying to hide how elated I was that he was talking to me again. He followed me as I took a seat away from the others, allowing Titan and Ronon to discuss things privately. My father retreated to a window to stare out into the night sky and toil on our predicament.

Arrick nodded his head, his eyes shifting back and forth between Ronon and Titan. I watched as he flexed his jaw muscle and I knew that meant he was stressed out. He always clenched his teeth when something was bothering him. That something was me, of course. I wanted to apologize, but would sorry really be enough for what I’d done?

“Arrick…” His name escaped from my lips unexpectedly. I reached out to touch his hand, but he pulled it away. “I didn’t mean to…”

His eyes met mine then and they were full of love, but that love was shrouded by a veil of sadness. We stared at each other for what felt like eons and I tried desperately to convey to him how sorry I was, and how much he meant to me. Just when I thought I’d gotten through to him he turned away from me, shaking his head and muttering things under his breath.

“Do you have any idea how much that hurt? Blocking our bond is just as painful as severing it.”

“I didn’t mean to hurt you. It wasn’t like a conscious decision or anything. I just felt everyone trying to stop me and I just wanted…”

“Wanted to what, Claire?” he said, full of frustration.

I wanted to tell him that I only wished for everything to be over, but all that came out was the blubbering of tears. Could there be a worse time to start crying? Even though I could feel he was still miffed at me, Arrick pulled me into his arms and began rubbing my back as I worked on fighting back the downpour.

“Everything all right?” my father asked, strolling up to the table Arrick and I shared.

“Yeah,” I lied, brushing away the tears on my face, as if it would hide the fact that I’d been crying.

“I hope you know I’m not upset with you, Claire. I’m disappointed, but not angry. I could never be angry.”

“But I deliberately disobeyed you.” I was glad he wasn’t angry, I didn’t want him to be, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have every right to be.

“Yes, yes you did, but like you said; if you hadn’t then we wouldn’t have the opportunity that we do,” he said, taking a seat on the other side of me; opposite Arrick. “You see, Claire, sometimes it is the mistakes in life that open the door to possibility.”

“I’d rather that door open, without another hitting me in the butt beforehand,” I said, resting my elbows on the table.

“Well, once in a while everyone needs a swift kick in the…”

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence!” I pointed my finger at Arrick, fighting to keep the smile off my lips but failing miserably. He lifted his hands up in surrender, and for the first time that night he smiled back at me.

“We’ve made a decision,” Ronon announced with a booming voice. The three of us stood, and approached them. Every nerve in my body began to buzz, and I hoped they would agree to my plan. We had to work fast if we were going to stop Baal.

Feeling my anxiety, Arrick laced his fingers in mine and I was never happier that he was my Blood Mate. He was strong, brave, and gorgeous, but most of all, he was forgiving.

“I will allow you to use that vile piece of dark magic to make that vampire talk, but if I feel the tiniest spark of its power… I will kill you.” Titan locked his eyes onto mine without blinking and all I could do was gasp.

“You won’t lay a finger on her,” Arrick replied, while my father growled as he tucked me behind his massive frame.

“She broke our laws, and the punishment is death. My father is showing mercy by giving this traitor another chance,” Ronon spat.

Arrick opened his mouth to begin his verbal assault, but I placed my hand on his shoulder to stop him. As much as I couldn’t believe it myself, I was going to agree to Titan’s demands. I wouldn’t use the stone. I only needed to dangle it before Ana and her secrets would come pouring out. It would be easy… or at least I hoped so.

“Very well,” I said, trying my best to sound confident even though everything inside me was screaming in protest. Even the anger inside me that Ronon had guided me to embrace now wanted to punch him in his chiseled, smug face.

Arrick and my father’s faces were creased with worry as Titan and Ronon smiled their approval of my answer. A shudder ran up my spine when I noticed that Ronon’s face still held the same hungry gaze it always had when he looked at me. Something told me he enjoyed the thought of killing me as much as he enjoyed the thought of bedding me. Bile rose up in my stomach, and I pushed my body closer to Arrick, who answered my closeness with a strong arm sheltering me beside him.

“Bring her in!” Titan ordered to his guards and they left the room soundlessly. “I’ve got some questions of my own for this Ana.”

I shifted under Arrick’s protective arm nervously. My plan was to question Ana alone. She wouldn’t respond well to Titan’s threats. If anything, they’d likely be what kept her from telling me what I wanted. I mean, she was a minion of Baal; threats wouldn’t be anything new for her. As terrifying and obviously powerful as Titan was, I doubted that he could do anything worse to her than Baal had already done.

The guards couldn’t have been gone for more than five minutes before they barged through the doors with Ana dangling from their bulging biceps. She still looked like a ragdoll, but Mikel had followed my orders and cleaned her up. Her blonde hair was a frizzy, wavy mess but there was no trace of blood or matted clumps. Her blistered skin was almost completely healed and she was no longer covered in dirt. She had even been given clean clothes and I prayed that that small bit of kindness had softened her up a bit.

Ana was unceremoniously dragged to the center of the room and dropped on the cold stone floor before us. Titan and Ronon looked down at her like she was a disobedient dog who had just shit on their carpet. I tried my best to keep my face void of any kind of expression, and I could tell Arrick and my father were trying to do the same.

I was surprised when Ana pulled herself up from the floor and tucked her knees against her chest. She didn’t look at us though, she stared at the ground, wrapping her arms around her legs and hugging them close to her.

“Ana,” I said her name, trying to sound soft yet stern at the same time.

“What do you want with me?” she asked, her voice was full of hate as I stepped closer toward her. “Why haven’t you killed me yet?”

“Because I don’t want to kill you.” Okay, I was lying a little bit, but killing her right now wouldn’t help our situation.

“You’re lying.”

“Maybe so,” I shrugged, circling her. “But that doesn’t change anything.”

“She may not kill you, spawn of evil, but
I
will,” Titan interjected, pulling his knife from its sheath. The ring of steel echoed throughout the space and Ana lifted her head to look at him. She shuddered under his penetrating gaze before she scanned the room and found me.

“What do you want?” she asked again, bringing back the familiar sneer I knew so well. She certainly had some guts being so bold, especially in such company. I knew she didn’t fear me, but Titan and Ronon… they wouldn’t hesitate to tear her limb from limb and then throw a party as they danced in her blood.

“I’ve got a proposition for you,” I replied. Her eyes narrowed at me, and I smiled baring my full grown fangs in her face. “How much would you say this is worth to you?” I asked, pulling the stone with Luka’s soul from my pocket. When I’d realized his soul was trapped inside I was surprised that it still obeyed me; that it didn’t lash out at me, especially when Ana was so close, but it didn’t. It felt the same as the rest of the stones. It had the same constant current of emotions, an ever flowing need to exact revenge on Baal. Considering I was the one who had killed him he should have wanted revenge on me.

“Give him to me!” Ana shrieked as I dangled the stone before her and pulled it away, just out of her grasp.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, Ana.” I wagged my finger at her. “Not yet. You have to answer some questions first.”

She looked totally pissed at my demand, wrinkling her brow at me and dragging her eyes around the room as if surveying her chances of escape. If she was smart, she’d realize they were nonexistent. She’d either leave here in pieces, or she’d leave by answering my questions. There was no other option.

Realizing this, she bit at her lip and brought her eyes back to the stone. She was taking the bait, just as I knew she would.

“Good girl. Now, first question. How is it that Luka’s soul is trapped in this dark stone?”

“Claire killed him. I saw his body,” Arrick added, stepping up beside me.

“Stupid Blood Mate,” Ana said, spitting at his feet. Arrick stepped back, slinging a curse at her but it was Ronon who came up behind her with lightning speed and struck her across the back of her head with this boot.

She cried out as she fell to the floor, clutching her head. She began hissing like an angry cat, lifting her head and revealing a dribble of scarlet dripping from her chin. It was evident how much she wanted to kill Ronon right then, but the way she kept eyeing his sword she knew he’d kill her first.

“Answer the question, Ana,” I commanded.

“They were supposed to save him,” she said.

“Who were?”

“My parents.”

“Did they trap him in the stone?” She shook her head. “Then how did he get there?” I held the stone before her again, enticing her to keep answering. To keep telling me what I wanted to know.

“Baal,” she answered, sadly.

“If he trapped your mate’s soul, then why are you doing his bidding? You should be fighting against him,” Arrick said, accusingly.

“Does Baal have your parents?” I asked, trying to fit the pieces together. Arrick had made a good point. It didn’t make sense that Ana sided with Baal, even though she was a giant bitch. He had trapped Luka’s soul; that should have pissed her off.

She nodded. “They have been his loyal allies for decades and he betrayed them. Baal promised that our family would rule the Noire region, but he was only using us for information.”

“What information did he want from you?” I asked.

“What does it matter?” she growled, sinking her head back down to her knees.

“It matters because we want to stop him, Ana. Baal has destroyed thousands of lives. It’s time he paid for his crimes.”

She started to laugh. It was an eerie snigger that made chills run up and down my spine. “And who’s going to make him pay? You?” Her snigger erupted into a cackle.

“I will make him pay!” Titan answered, boldly. He stepped away from his seat, and approached Ana, towering over her like a mammoth tree. She shrank before him, trying to bury herself in her arms as he leaned down and plucked her from the floor by her neck like a weed.

Titan held Ana before him, her toes just barely brushing the stone floor. His eyes took on a faraway look, and he licked his lips as a hungry expression darkened his features. Bile rose in my throat as déjà vu hit me. Had this been what I looked like when I held Ana before me? The thought frightened me. There had to be a balance between my humanity and my anger, and in that moment I realized that I had yet to find it.

“What information did he want from you?” Titan repeated my question, making sure to bare his ivory fangs every chance he got.

“E-e-everything,” Ana answered, sounding frightened for the first time.

“What do you mean?” I asked. Titan released her, shoving her toward a seat in the corner of the room.

“You’re all so stupid,” a small cackle escaped her again, but when Titan lurched forward she swallowed it away. “Baal isn’t just after one region. He wants them all.”

“Yeah, we know that,” Arrick interrupted, not hiding his irritation.

“Did you know that he had countless spies in all your regions?” Ana spat back at him.

That
shut us all up.

“There are no such spies in my region!” my father bellowed.

“Nor in mine!” Titan roared.

Ana simply smiled at their outbursts like she was proud of herself. “What aren’t you telling us?” I asked, feeling my fury begin to bubble. “Tell me now or you’ll never see this stone again!” I shoved the stone in her face and then tucked it away in my pocket.

“You’re all just as he said you were. So very arrogant.” Titan and Ronon bristled at her words, growling like angry wolves. “He counted on the fact that you would think he was dead,” she said the words looking directly at my father. “He predicted you would grow complacent and you have. Or that
you
thought you could hide from him, and build an army that was dillusioned into thinking they could withstand his forces,” she sneered at Titan, and his face went blank.