Enemy Within (Vampire Born Trilogy, #2) (3 page)

“I assume Garwin filled you in on why you’re here?”

He frowns. “Zladislov is after the girl.”

“And you care because?” His answer is crucial in gaining my trust.

“I had a sister about her age who was killed by Pijawikas. I aim to protect the innocent. No matter who the perpetrator is.”

“Do you understand if you get caught, you’ll be arrested for treason?” Not only is that a loaded question—asking him if he’s aware he’s committing treason—but I want to see the look on his face when the idea of death becomes fresh in his mind.

He doesn’t even flinch. “Yes, sir. I do.”

I shake his hand again. “Good. I think we can work together.” One down. I only need about one thousand more to call it a fair fight.

To get a few more, I go to the rental car for my phone and dial Ace.

“Hey, man. How’d it go?”

“Jelena was neutralized—by Brooke, actually,” I say.

“No shit? How’d she do that?”

“That will have to wait for later. I need a favor, and what I’m about to ask you is huge. I’ll understand if you can’t do it, but I need you.” I never order Ace to do anything. I have enough respect for him to ask him and even more to accept his answer if he says no.

“Bro, you know whatever it is you need, I’m there. What’s up?”

“Zladislov knows about Brooke and he’s going to kill her. I need reinforcements. I know it’s as close to a suicide mission as you can get, and I’d never ask this of you, but I have to put up some resistance for her—something to make Zladislov’s men think twice when they come for her. I can’t let her go down without a fight. I’m sorry, Ace, but I love her. I can’t not ask this of you.” Ace knows how deep my feelings are for Brooke. I’d made them clear when he and Brooke talked me into using her as bait for Jelena.

“Whoa. That’s pretty steep.” Silence hangs in the air, and I almost regret asking him. “But you know I’m with you. Where are you? Are you on the run?”

Relief the strength of something unnatural washes over me in waves. The kinship Ace offers is unlike anything I could’ve asked for in my life. Sure, I’d been there to save his ass more than I can count on two hands, but every time I’m in a bind, he’s there. Just like the time we met.

I was on a mission to save a kidnapped Pijawikan girl from a rogue Zao Duh. The Zao Duh captured her and threatened her life in exchange for money. Life as a Zao Duh is tough, but you don’t use a child like that. Ever. Let alone a Pijawikan child. They’re rare and almost revered within Pijawikan culture. It wasn’t only a recovery mission, though. It was a rescue and assassination. Things went wrong and when I thought my life was over, Ace came out of nowhere and rescued me. Brothers ever since.

“I couldn’t talk her into running. And these might be her final days, so she should get to spend them the way she prefers. But she’s in a spavati right now, so any persuasion I would normally use to get her out of here won’t work, and I can’t take her. No matter how bad I want to, it’d be wrong, and she’d never forgive me. I can’t do that to her.”

“A spavati? Talk about worst-case scenario.”

“God, you have no idea.”

“So where are you now?”

“Lexington, Virginia. Garwin Johnson’s home. Come and bring everyone who’s willing. Tell them what’s at stake, but let them know how important this is to me. I can’t thank you enough for this, Ace.”

“I’m with you. Hang tight. We’ll be there soon.”

I hang up and smile, and an unexpected happiness takes root within my chest. I may not be able to stop Zladislov completely, but I am one step closer to delaying him.

The next step is a plan and I need Garwin for that, so I go back inside to find him. My phone rings before I reach the den. When I pull it out of my pocket,
Unknown
reads across the display. Good. I forgot to ask Ace to bring the RDIF tracking device with him. “That was quick,” I tell Ace when I answer.

“Yes, I do pride myself on efficiency.”

Acid rises in my throat. “Dikan.”

“It really is heartwarming to find you remember my voice. We’ve had some good times, haven’t we?”

The bastard’s taunting me. Our ideas of what constitutes a good time are not even in the same hemisphere. “How did you get this number?”

“A little birdie from The Base gave it to me.”

I growl.

“Ah, now, don’t take it out on the little birdie. I’m a hard one to resist, as I’m sure you’re well aware.”

I know exactly how hard it is to resist him. Resentment takes hold of me so swift and strong I hear the phone creak as I squeeze it. I force myself to release some of the tension in my fingers. I can’t afford for the phone to break and end the call. Dikan called for a reason beyond taunting me. Everything he does has an ulterior motive. I have to hang on long enough to figure out what is this time.

My jaw clenches, so I have no choice but to speak between my teeth. “What do you want?”

Dikan chuckles. “I’m calling out of consideration for you, old friend. I saw how much you were taken by the young melez. It’s sweet really. And disgustingly fitting for you. Too bad it won’t last.” His smirk is layered within his tone. “Jelena’s death will be avenged. Your time with Brooke should be well spent as it will end soon.”

“You come near her and I’ll kill you. You have nothing to use against me this time.”

Dikan’s maniacal laugh fills the line. “I’m afraid that’s not so. But until then, I bid you farewell and a pleasant time spent with your lady friend.”

The call ends, and hatred I had long ago conquered swells up inside me. Its tentacles wrap around my heart, my gut, and possess all possible thought within my mind. I ride it for a few minutes until I realize I can’t allow myself to be controlled by hatred and resentment again. I have a purpose beyond revenge and bloodthirsty justice for a past so ugly and wrong. Brooke is my focus now. I fight the hatred, trying to quell and lock it up to clear my mind and get a handle on the proper move I need to take.

I concentrate on Brooke: her laughter, her blush, the lemon-drop smell of her hair, and the memory of her velvety skin as I stroke her cheek. The acute memory helps ebb the anger, but what replaces it is less satisfying.

I look down at the phone and hit redial. Ace answers on the second ring.

“I know I said warn the others and to ask those who are willing to come. But I need more than that,” I say, hopelessness thick in my words. “Offer them money. If they won’t come for me, or for Brooke, or because protecting the innocent is what we stand for, offer them money. I’ll split everything I have with those who will be persuaded by it. Get anyone and everyone you can.”

“Sure, sure. What happened, man?” Ace knows me and he knows it’s unusual for me to sound like this—desperate.

“Dikan called. He’s up to something and I don’t think it has anything to do with Zladislov.”

“Oh, shit. I’ll see what I can do.”

Oh shit is right.

CHAPTER
TWO

Brooke

I go in and out of consciousness. When I’m awake, I can’t move, I can’t speak, nothing. I panicked at first, frightened it was delayed paralysis from my fight with Jelena, but Jaren comes in a short time later and eases my fears.

“I guess you’re in some kind of sleep that happens to vampires. Mirko told me not to come in here, but I’m sick of him trying to keep me away from you. Plus, I don’t think you’d ever hurt me.”

Something melts deep inside of me. Ever since we found out I’m a vampire, I’ve been worried Jaren is more than weirded out by me. I’m terrified he fears me. I didn’t realize how much that bothers me until he told me he didn’t think I’d ever hurt him.

A glass echoes against the nightstand. “Here’s some water for you when you wake up. I’m sure you’ll be thirsty.” There’s a whine next to my bed. Jaren must’ve sat in a chair there. He touches my forehead and brushes hair away from my eyes, tucking it behind my ear.

His cologne smells so good.

His fingers stroke my hair. “I love you, Brooke. I’m sorry I pushed you away. I know you say you forgive me, but I can’t forgive myself. I’ve never loved anyone like this before. It’s new to me and I’m not sure what to do with it.” He sits silently while he strokes my hair. “But what I can’t figure out—what I can’t make any kind of sense of—is why I would feed into Holly Anne’s advances at The Base? It’s not something I would normally do. Even when Tiffany and I were taking breaks, I never spent any time with other girls. I noticed you, but I never acted on it. And I never even felt for Tiffany what I do for you. I was scared when I pushed you away, but I never once questioned if I loved you.”

He hurt me, and I wish he never would’ve done all those things, that he never made me cry or broke my heart. But he does love me. And fear can make a person do crazy things.

Jaren strokes my hair for a minute before he speaks again. “I wonder if Holly Anne used Sanjam on me. I can’t prove it, but that’s the only thing I can think that makes sense.”

That skank! Mirko said it was against the rules so I didn’t press it, having too much other stuff to worry about. But she was with Jaren by herself when I caught them by the soda machine. It couldn’t have been that difficult for her to find other opportunities, either. A look, her will, and a command, and Jaren would do whatever she wanted. Heat rushes through me so hot, my face flushes.

“I’m gonna make it right.” Determination is thick in his voice. “No matter what Mirko says, I know we’ll make it through this situation with your dad. Your dad was excited when we told him about you, and he was worried when we told him Jelena had you. There has to be a part of him that wants you alive and safe. All we need is to find a way to bring it out of him. He cares about you, Brooke. I know he does. I know what a father who doesn’t care looks like, what they say or don’t say. He didn’t seem that way to me. He definitely loves you.”

My throat tightens, but this is the only response my body allows. Jaren is a good person. That’s why I love him. That’s why I hold onto him. Him not saying anything earlier about Holly Anne’s possible use of Sanjam proves it. He suspected it and it’s certainly possible, but his integrity in not accusing her of it without evidence speaks volumes about his character. It’s part of what causes me to question us being together again.

I go in and out of consciousness a couple of times after that. One of the times I’m awake is when my mom arrives. She freaks out and goes off on Garwin and Mirko about me not being in a hospital with an IV for hydration. Things are foggy for that part, but Mirko is able to finally calm her down because she leaves and then it’s quiet when I wake up again—with an IV sticking out of a vein in my hand. It itches and I try to pull it off, but I can’t move. It drives me nuts until I finally drift back under.

When I wake up sometime later, Jaren and Mirko are in the room.

“I know you love her,” Mirko says. “But it won’t last.”

“Oh, yeah?” Jaren asks, not even attempting to tone down his hostility. “And what makes you think that?”

“Because she loves me too. Look, you’re a good kid. I think you could make some girl very happy. But not this girl. Her world isn’t fit for your romance anymore. You can’t protect her. You can’t challenge her mentally or physically like I can. She’s going to need that if she survives.”

“Why would you say something like that? You’re already talking like she’s gone.”

“I’m not. I’m realistic. For one, you don’t know what Pijawikas are capable of, and two, you have no idea what Zladislov is capable of. I wanted to run, but Brooke was right—it doesn’t matter where we go. He’ll find her.”

“There’s gotta be something we can do. We thought our situation with Jelena was impossible, but look how that turned out.”

“Yes, but we got lucky, and this is much, much, much worse than Jelena. Jelena looked for her for years. Zladislov didn’t know about Brooke. She could hide from Jelena easier than she could from Zladislov. And because of who he is, we have no allies. Even people who I thought might align with us, won’t. It’s worse than treason.”