Rapture (10 page)

“It better be,” Lisette interrupted.
“You know Father’s rules.”

How could she forget? They’d been on
her mind ever since she’d seen Ferox’s fathomless brown eyes. Father had
instructed them that they were to have no contact with males other than as
competitors in battle, and clearly she was already overstepping his rule. “Of
course,” she said. “What other purpose would I have in wanting to know?”

That seemed to appease both Lisette
and Lenora, but Caleen seemed to know better. She gave her a quick wink over
the brim of her drink.

“And which males are you asking
about, my dear?” the hag asked, finally listening in on the conversation.

Raine gestured to the group of
beings near the entrance. “Those, right there.”

“Ah, vampires.” She nodded. “They
are night dwellers.”

She hiked a single eyebrow. “Night
dwellers?”

“Mmm-hmm,” the female nodded. “They
cannot be in the sunlight without burning to ash.”

“How is that possible? They’re in
the light right now.”

“Mmm, there is no sun shining in the
sky. The council worked very hard to create synthetic lighting for the duration
of the games.”

Raine squished up her nose and
flicked a glance at her sisters before returning to the elderly female.
“Synthetic lighting?”

“Yes,” she replied as though it
should have made sense. “This is the part of the year where this part of
Brelaan sees no sunlight at all, so any light you see other than what reflects
off the moons is all fake.”

The council must have used their
knowledge of this realm to their advantage in picking the location of the
games, and then in creating enough light to last. Rather brilliant, she
thought. “What else do you know about vampires?”

The hag handed Raine her own goblet.
“Only the most important and disturbing thing about them. They bite each other
and drink each other’s blood.”

Raine had been inching her drink
toward her lips, but quickly pulled her hand and goblet away. She peered over
at Ferox’s group, more than a little scandalized at the conversation they were
having. “What do you mean, they drink blood? As in, they enjoy
sipping
it from each other?”

“Mmm-hmm,” she replied again. “Only
it is much more than sipping. It is how they survive.”

She and Caleen shared a look. The
very idea of beings living on blood alone was enough to make her stomach churn.
She was a meat-eater herself—except for fish, eww—but she just couldn’t imagine
purposely sucking the blood out of something and swallowing it. Shuddering, she
said, “You must be jesting. I have seen them ingest other foods.”

“That may be so,” the hag nodded,
“but blood is how they heal. You had better not get too close to them, dearie.
Sooner or later they will take a bite out of you.”

Chapter Nine

Newark
,
New Jersey

Present
Day

Demetrius
perched on top of the flagpole of one of
Newark
’s
tallest buildings, watching over the city that was certainly less chaotic than
any other night during the year. He hadn’t known where else to go after finding
the Guardians’ mansion in ruins and without a single warrior in sight. Not only
had the home been destroyed, but it had also been thoroughly ransacked to boot.
The grounds showed evidence of a battle that left many dead, though he didn’t
know if any of the burnt smudges in the snow outside had included any of his
brothers.

So
now he sat, looking over
Newark
in a desperate attempt to find at least one of them. If there were any
survivors, it was the best chance he had at locating them. If he knew the
Guardians—and he did—there was no doubt at least some of them would be out
doing rounds, even though it was Christmas. He’d have stalked Pandora’s Box,
knowing full well that they’d be hitting the bar for some drinks, but they were
closed up tight.

The
reason for his coming to
Jersey
had been
twofold, though he’d have gleefully waited until after the Guardians’
celebrations to give the bad news. He’d been tracking news reports from across
the country, and had found patterns of destruction that looked a little too
Lore-like to be human. Whoever or whatever it was had been creating a shit-ton
of chaos all along the country, and if he read between the lines well enough,
it was causing Lore creatures of every kind to scramble, cleaning up the mess
as much as they could before it caught human attention. He’d go after the
threat himself, but had no idea where it would show up next; and that’s where
the Guardians came in. Every one of them probably had contacts all over the
country that could keep an eye out and inform them immediately if anything was
amiss.

Demetrius’s
wings twitched, keeping him balanced as the wind picked up. He was freezing his
nuts off, but he didn’t let that take away from his concentration on the
happenings below. There were some businesses still open, and though there were
patrons out and about in the snowy weather, the foot traffic was certainly less
than the norm.

And
yet, he couldn’t see any Guardians. He just had to believe that his family was
well. There was a cloak surrounding the mansion, one that made it appear that
the house was whole until he’d passed the gates. He hadn’t known anything was
wrong at first—thinking he was showing up for the annual Guardian Christmas
party that he’d been invited to attend every year. Only when he was on the
grounds, he was met with death and destruction; scorch marks from the recently
fallen, and a home that no longer stood whole. Just thinking of the scene
brought a fresh wave of nervousness to course through him.

Spreading
his wings, he leapt from the flag pole and soared into the air. If he couldn’t
see them from the top of the building, then he’d have to scan the back alleys.
He wouldn’t give up on finding his men, even if he had to go back to the
mansion and track any steps he could find.

****

Tournament of Legends

Day Eight

Raine stood on the sidelines with
Lisette, looking on as the third siren sounded. Ferox had just approached,
dressed in his usual long coat. He stood beside her, gazing into the arena
since Damion and another vampire, Galvan, were also in this round. With her
sisters being in this battle along with Ferox’s family, a tick of unease worked
through her. What would he think when her sisters took out his brother and
friend?

“Good luck,” he said from beside
her, sliding her a friendly grin.

She returned it. “You too.” Because
his family was going to need it. She returned her attention to the battle as
the first set of demons collided. Damion and the other vampire flashed into the
middle, each taking a flag. If the two could keep their flags without losing
them, then the vampires would have an even bigger advantage in the upcoming
rounds.

“Ooh,” she winced as Caleen was
whipped to the ground. A demon had gone low and grabbed one of her ankles so
fast that her stomach smacked the hard dirt.

Ferox chuckled. “That looked like it
hurt.”

“Yeah.” She didn’t understand why
that would make him laugh, but she agreed that the fall looked a bit on the
painful side. Luckily her sister was back up on her feet and battling the demon
that had tripped her. From here, Raine could see the heat in her sister’s face
as Caleen went on the defense and dark clouds rolled in high above. Caleen
struck out, her wrist connecting with the bastard’s jugular. In the same
instant, lightning struck, making everyone, on both the battlefield and in the
seats, jump in shock.

Raine smiled on, knowing full well that
the others were in for a treat now. Caleen was pissed, and she had one Hel of a
temper.

The demon struggled to breathe,
gripping his neck tightly in his overgrown hands even as Caleen attacked again.
She stepped behind him and lowered to her haunches, spinning and kicking out in
time so that the demon tripped. He fell to his back, and she scrambled over
him, whipping her Hjörr out of its sheath on her back. She arched it high over
her head....

“Caleen, no!” Raine shouted. Lisette
had yelled as well, and between the two of them, they had gotten through to
Caleen. It brought her out of her rage just enough to stop her. Instead of
decapitating him—as Raine had feared she would—she held the shining blade to
his neck, demanding his submission.

Raine turned her attention to
Lenora, spotting a purple flag tucked at her sister’s waist. “I thought your
brother had the purple flag,” she said, leaning in toward Ferox.

“He did.”

“What happened?”

He shook his head, but a smile
played at his lips. “Your sister swooped in and stole it from him. He didn’t
even know she’d gotten it until she was across the field.”

Raine smiled. Father had taught them
well, ensuring she and her sisters were stealthy and strong. She glanced around
quickly, searching the field. “Where is he?”

“Oh, he’s out there. See him on the
other side of those Gerlachs?”

What in the ever-loving Hel was a
Gerlach? she thought, following his line of vision and spotting two dragon-like
creatures. They were close in height to the others on the field, but those
bastards had some powerful tail-action going on, as Damion was experiencing
first-hand. He narrowly missed the onslaught of both of them, having to flash
over and over again. “Why are they double-teaming him?”

“He stole their flag.” Ferox
continued to watch, appearing more than a little proud of his twin. Damion
rolled to the side just as one of the Gerlach’s tails slammed into him,
knocking the flag free. The other demon wasted no time in snatching up the
cloth and bolting away. Damion punched the dirt and stood, attacking the
Gerlach that still stood there with all the fury within him.

Raine averted her gaze from that
fight, searching instead for Lenora. She took a step forward, shocked at the
sight, as both Lenora and Caleen fought against a swarm of demons, defending
their flag. They were seriously outnumbered, but they battled on as clouds
roiled angrily, high in the sky. Her sisters used everything they had at their
disposal; their whips and blades, and even their Hjörrs when the occasion
called for it. Raine jumped up and down, screaming and cheering, as one by one,
the demons fell at their feet. They were almost there. The battle almost won—

Lenora’s scream echoed through the
arena as a flurry of lightning struck all around. Some demons screamed in pain,
falling to the ground as their bodies singed and smoked. Raine was running the
next second, staying to the sidelines, but nearing the battle. It had happened
so fast that she’d missed it. She had seen it sticking out of her chest—the
hilt at Lenora’s back just before the bastard that had run her through pulled
it from her body. Lenora stared up into the sky, blinking, before she fell to
her knees. More lightning lit the sky, and thunder clapped as she, Caleen, and
Lisette screeched.

Raine couldn’t get on the field, the
tournament’s bouncers holding her back from crossing the sidelines. She could
only watch as Caleen unleashed all her fury, battling any demon that neared
her. Though many of her enemies were incapacitated from the bolts that had just
shot through them, others had backed off, decidedly fighting others who held
flags. She only had one more to fight before the battle was won, and she did
everything she could to defend her sister from falling under attack once more.

When there were four victors
standing, Raine rushed onto the field, joining Caleen as they knelt over
Lenora, investigating her wound. Ice prickled through her veins at the sight.

“Worse than Lisette’s,” Caleen said
quietly, meeting Raine’s eyes. “She’ll not heal quickly.”

Raine nodded and reached under
Lenora, surprised as another set of arms beat her to it. Ferox. He lifted her
easily, and Raine stood, her gaze locking with his. “Thank you,” she said,
surprised that she’d found her voice. Valkyries were close to one another, so anytime
one of their sisters was injured, it was felt in all of them.

“No problem. Let’s get her to a
medic.”

“We need to get her to our tent,”
Raine replied as he carried Lenora off the field. Caleen was carted off to be
announced as a victor, and Lisette stood by, looking on worriedly. “Stay behind
with Caleen,” Raine said when they reached her. “She’s won the battle. She
needs to be congratulated.”

Lisette took one look at Lenora,
grimacing from the severity of her wounds. She may have argued that she should
go with Lenora, but there was no way she could keep up while she herself was
still healing. She nodded gravely and let them pass.