Enslaved by the Others (23 page)

‘You owe me.’

The voice was a whisper in the back of my mind, but I did my best to ignore it. Gideon gave no outwardly visible sign that he was mentally badgering me with demands, much like the spirit in the hunter’s belt used to whenever I wore the enchanted artifact. I didn’t want Angus or Arnold to hurt Gideon, so I tried not to show any signs of how creeped the hell out I was, either.

‘I promised to get you two out. I intend to keep my word. After all, if they hurt me, she’ll feel it, too.’

That made me falter. Arnold’s hand on my shoulder steadied me, but I couldn’t bring myself to move again right away.

‘She’s mine now. If I go down, she goes with me. Keep that in mind.’

Great. Just fucking peachy. Like I had any way of explaining that to Arnold or the vampires that wouldn’t make them
more
inclined to forcibly separate his head from his shoulders.

On the bright side, by keeping Gideon tied up, Max might not jump to the conclusion he’d turned traitor and kill him first.

Shivering with a combination of nerves and dread, I trailed behind the others. Arnold kept his hand on my shoulder, and I set my hand over his. We’d been through bad times like this before. Maybe not quite this bad, but we’d figure out a way to fix this, just like we always did. Somehow.

The necromancer led the way downstairs, down a corridor I wasn’t familiar with, and then to a recessed oak door with a padlock on the outside. It was deep in the house in a shadowed alcove, easily overlooked. Gideon jerked his jaw at it, then rubbed his cheek against his shoulder, trying to dislodge the gag.

Angus elbowed him aside and reached for the lock. Gideon kicked the back of his knee until the vampire swung around and planted a fist through the wall next to the necromancer’s head. Slowly, deliberately, he then set the knuckles of the hand with the sword on the other side.

Gideon’s back thumped against the wall, and he stared up at the vampire. A new scent wafting from him filled the air, one that made me consider him with new eyes. A predator’s eyes. Hunger cramped my stomach so badly I had to bite my inner cheek hard enough to fill my mouth with my own blood to quiet the building need.

Plaster chips pattered on the floor as Angus yanked his hand free of the wall. His thick fingers hooked under the cherry red tie, pulling it down, then tugging the balled up pillowcase out. Gideon gasped and coughed, then choked out a few words.

“Some ... Ow! There are some vampires in there, too, you ungracious Neanderthal.”

Angus growled, but backed off. I eyed the hole he left in the wall, suitably impressed. Vampires didn’t often make such an obvious show of their strength around me. Knowing they could do it and seeing it were two very different animals.

The necromancer stayed where he was, not protesting as one of the vampires took his arm. Angus wrapped a hand around the lock and wrenched it off, tossing it over his shoulder. So much for going in quietly. He hefted a booted foot and kicked the door in.

I was getting the idea he really enjoyed doing that.

We moved in, the vampires leading again.

There were an awful lot of Max’s vampires inside, and they were well prepared to fend off our assault. Many of them moved like Angus, with the same fluid grace and speed, which meant they were all elders. They had guns, too, which had Angus and Soo-Jin quick to backtrack and yank me out of there. But not before I spotted Sara, Iana, and several of the other girls by the far wall, trapped behind a set of bars bolted into the wall like some jail in the Old West and backed up as far from the fight as they could get.

They left me in the hall outside with Gideon and the vampire holding him in place, even Soo-Jin slinking back through that door to rejoin the fray.

“Well, this is lovely. I feel so useful like this,” Gideon said.

“Shut up,” the vampire holding him snapped.

The shriek of wrenching metal made me cringe and cover my ears. My hands didn’t drown out the sounds of the battle as they became more of a fever pitch, the snarls and growls and yelps outnumbering the gunshots. There was a flash of light, and a roil of flame rolled out of the room and into the hall, scorching the door frame and the wall opposite. We all scrambled out of the way. A particularly chilling cry rang out, quieting everything else for a moment.

Smoke drifted out of the doorway and filled the hall.

“Jesus, Mary and Joseph.”

Gideon quirked a brow at me. “I don’t think they had anything to do with that, Copper-top. Looks like your little mage friend got pissed.”

“Didn’t I tell you to shut up?”

Gideon turned a flat stare on the vampire. “Why, yes.” He then returned his gaze to me. “So. How about you undo these ropes so I can be of some use, hmm?”

An urge to do just that rose in me. With a growl, I stalked closer—and slapped him, hard. “Don’t you
ever
fuck with my head again or I will rip yours off. You hear me?”

The vampire stiffened. “What did he do?” Then shook Gideon. “Hey. What did you do?”

Gideon smirked and tilted his head up, slowly licking the blood from his split lip. The scent of it drew me closer, and that was when I realized there was some on my knuckles. Before I knew it, my hand was inches from my mouth, my throat burning for the taste of it. The only thing that stopped me from licking it off was how very interested Gideon appeared to be in my actions.

“Go on,” he purred, “drink up. It’s what you’ve wanted to do all night, isn’t it? Drink until there’s nothing left.”

The vampire shook him again. “If you don’t shut up, I’m going to stuff an old sock in your mouth next. Can it and leave her the fuck alone.”

I met the necromancer’s too-interested gaze as I swiped the back of my hand down my jacket, wiping the blood off. He frowned, then shrugged, as if he hadn’t had some kind of investment in the outcome a moment ago.

Soo-Jin had warned against giving in to the urge for blood. I was starting to get the idea that it might make the monster inside of me come out to play if I gave in to the need.

That would, in turn, make me easier for Gideon to control. What a dick.

After successfully tamping down the urge to smack him upside the head again, I sidled closer to the door to peer inside. The smoke made it hard to see well enough to tell who was winning, but there were still plenty of bodies clashing, moving with inhuman speed.

Three figures were headed this way, shadowed by smoke and clinging to each other, edging around the fighting. I thought about going inside to work off a little steam, too, but better sense prevailed. I backed up a couple of paces until I was beside the vampire, drawing and leveling my gun at the doorway in case whoever was coming wasn’t on our side.

Chapter Twenty-Three

I snapped the safety back on and put it away as soon as I saw it was Iana, using her great strength to half carry, half drag Arnold and Sara on either side of her. The two of them were coughing and limp in her arms. I got on the other side of Sara, putting her other arm over my shoulder and helping her along until we were a good distance from the doorway.

Gideon and the vampire both watched us with avid interest as Iana and I helped Arnold and Sara settle on a nearby settee. Iana was breathing hard, but the blood on her hands and smearing her white robe weren’t hers. As soon as he stopped coughing so much, Arnold wrapped his arms around Sara, who clung to him, tears streaking down her pale cheeks.

“Oh,” Gideon said, his tone giving away his delight. “Oh, ho, ho! They’ve got it worse than I thought.”

“Shut. The. Fuck. Up.”

Gideon rolled his eyes, but obeyed the vampire. For the moment. The way he watched Arnold now was different and sent a pang of worry through me. Nothing that monster was planning could be any good. Not for the mage or Sara or anyone else.

Iana placed a hand between my shoulder blades, making me jump with the unexpected contact. Even with my heavy jacket between us, her blood ran hot enough to burn through the material. She sidled up beside me, her eyes alight with a deep golden glow as she stared down at Arnold. “Is this the one you promised me?”

The husky words might have sounded like desire coming from someone else. It was a type of desire, but there was nothing sexual in it. Just a deep and abiding longing for her freedom.

“Yes, that’s him. I think he needs a minute.”

“He does,” Arnold managed between coughs. Sara added a vehement nod, tightening her grip on him.

I backed off a bit, focusing on the doorway to give them a semblance of privacy. Not that they’d get it with Iana, Gideon, and the vampire all staring at them like bugs under a microscope.

Arnold sat up a bit straighter, his eyes going wide. Though still hoarse, his words were clear enough to send a chill through me.

“Shit. We need to move. Max found Kimberly and the others. We’ve got a serious problem.”

The sounds of fighting from the other room were still going strong. If I’d had one, I would have been tempted to pull out a stopwatch just to see how long they would keep it up. Considering the fight in Royce’s basement with Max had lasted half a night, it wouldn’t surprise me for this one to drag out for an hour or two as well. There was no way Angus, Soo-Jin, or any of the others would wrap that mess up in time to find Kimberly and the vampires who had gone with her.

Gideon cleared his throat. “I can help.”

The vampire smacked him on the back of the head. He cried out and shot forward, cheek and chest smacking against the opposite wall. He couldn’t catch himself, sinking to his knees with a groan.

Iana stalked over to him, grabbing his jaw and forcing him to look up at her. “How can you help, dark one? I know what you are.”

“The mage is tapped. I can fix that. Once I fix that, he can fix you.”

I stood a bit straighter, tension building in my arms and shoulders. “That doesn’t sound right. Don’t trust him. Not with that.”

Gideon growled and fought the bindings on his wrist. “For fuck’s sake, I want Max dead as badly as you do. Fabian will never be mine as long as Max is alive to control him and take all his wealth in tributes. We want our freedom, just like you! Let me go and I’ll do whatever you want.”

Iana studied his face briefly, then smiled without humor. “It sounds like truth, but smells like deceit. Nice try, heartless thing. I know you for what you are. I see you.”

The necromancer inclined his head, his own smile sly but humorless, as much as admitting defeat. There was something comforting about knowing Iana was Other enough to smell his lies. At least one of us had that power. “Fine. Not all lies. Half-truths, maybe.”

“Come on. We don’t have time for this. Kimberly needs help,” Arnold said.

Iana frowned and shoved the necromancer down, leaving him to get up on his own off the floor. She stalked over to the mage, baring her teeth in a semblance of a smile. “Fine. Remove the collar and I will save this woman, assuming there is anything left to save.”

Arnold, holding Sara against him and stroking her hair, studied Iana. He reached up to nudge his glasses farther up on his nose, then gestured for her to come closer.

“I’m not too tapped for that. Turn around and kneel for me, please. And hold your hair out of the way.”

She did as instructed, practically vibrating with suppressed excitement. Arnold winced when he saw how red and raw the skin was around the collar. A few feet away, despite looking a bit put out, Gideon pretended not to watch and had taken to sulking in a crouch by the wall.

“We’ll heal this. When it’s off. When we get out of here, there’s someone—”

“If you remove it, that will not be necessary,” she said.

Arnold didn’t waste any more time with small talk. With one arm around Sara’s waist, he reached out to circle his fingers around the collar. He closed his eyes tight, an expression of intense concentration crossing his features. Iana didn’t move, but her eyes closed as well, her teeth bared in anticipation.

A sharp crack sounded. The metal grew dull, losing a sheen I hadn’t quite realized it had until it was gone, and it fell away to clatter on the floor.

Iana surged to her feet, her eyes and skin blazing with a warm, golden glow as she spread her arms. That warmth began gathering in her palms like she was holding growing balls of condensed sunlight. A low growl rumbled in her throat and rattled my bones like the thunder of a diesel engine as she turned her focus on the necromancer, who was making an effort to inch away from the pissed off Other leaning meaningfully in his direction.

“Don’t,” I warned. “We need him to find Max.”

She looked less than pleased and didn’t give any sign that she heard me. Instead, she took a step closer, her fingers curled into talons around the globes of light in her palms. Even the vampire was looking nervous by this point.

“Iana.”

She paused, fingers twitching, never once turning her fierce gaze off of Gideon’s cringing frame to focus on me.

“Listen to me. We need him. Now is not the time for this.”

Gideon, pale and shivering, bobbed his head up and down. “Right, I’m useful, remember? You need me.”

Her growl deepened in pitch, then cut off. The sense of a storm gathering around her, all crackle and electricity, faded. “So be it.” The light gathering in her hands disappeared like it had never been. She moved on the balls of her feet, still too predatory for my liking, and yanked the necromancer around to slice through the bonds on his wrists with her nails.

The vampire dashed forward, grabbing their arms so neither could slip away. His features twisted in a what-in-the-hell-is-wrong-with-you glare I was more used to seeing being leveled in my direction.

He didn’t keep it up for long. Gideon’s free arm slid around until his palm—the one with the tattoo—rested over the vampire’s heart.

That was all it took. In the space of a breath, the vampire’s expression went blank, a chill wind with no origin I could detect sliding through the hall. Every hair on my body stood on end, an electric tingle skittering over my skin until I broke out in goose bumps.