Tangled Shadows (20 page)

“She’s right. This one is personal.” Nikolai took Brooke’s other hand.

“Let’s do this,” Brooke said and walked upstairs into the main room, her men at her side.

She froze in the doorway when she saw a big Vampire standing in the middle of the room, looking around in disgust.

Nikolai stepped around her. “Darius, I’m glad you made it.” Darius’ dark demeanor lightened when he saw them. “I could say the same about you.”

Edana and the kids huddled together in one corner of the room, but two kids had run to a couple of the women kneeling on the floor. Life returned to their eyes. Mother and child held on tightly to each other.

The children’s voices stirred something in the other adult survivors. They seemed to come out of a trance and look around. When they realized there were no Ferals present, they slowly climbed to their feet.

Brooke and the men stood a little away. “They are going to need a lot of help and therapy,” she said.

Darius nodded. “Stasia is on the ship. She’s a survivor herself and will help in the first instance. We will take them to Rabelais. There’s a clinic there that will help them.”

“How do you know about it?” Brooke asked.

“After we freed the first group of survivors, Stasia and I realized we needed qualified personnel. We hired doctors and nurses and set up the clinic. Rabelais is close enough to the core they will feel safer, and far away enough word won’t spread to the Guard. We also have to change their memories and turn their attackers into humans.

We’re trying to stop this from turning into a war.”
Do you trust him?
Brooke asked Galen and Nikolai.

Completely
, Nikolai replied.

Galen showed her memories of Darius fighting at their side, Darius protecting a group of humans from Ferals and, finally, an image of the big Vampire at his wedding.

His deep love for his wife was written on his face and persuaded her more than anything else Galen showed her.

Brooke relaxed even more when Darius’ lifemate Anastasia came off the ship. The woman was confident and knew exactly what to do with the survivors. Brooke helped her as much as she could, while Galen and Nikolai brought Darius up to date.

They disappeared for a little while to go through Silas’ computer. Darius updated the small group of warriors the Vampire Council had authorized. He transferred the 136

sales data and dispatched the teams in an attempt to recover as many of the settlers as possible.

Once the survivors were settled on Darius’ ship the
Empress
, Brooke and her men headed back to Nikolai’s house.

“Our house,” Nikolai said, his voice and grip on her hand firm as he held her gaze.

“Whatever I own belongs to you too.”

Brooke smiled, but fatigue weighed her down. It had been a long and exhausting day. Before she could take another step, Nikolai swung her up in his arms. “We’re here to look after you.” He carried her into the bathroom. Galen had already started filling the enormous tub.

Brooke looked at the steam coming off the water and moaned in delight. Nikolai dropped her back on her feet and the men undressed her. Brooke did the same to them.

Naked, all three crawled into the tub and settled down, Brooke in her now habitual position in the middle.

“What’s first?” she asked, her head on Nikolai’s shoulder and her legs entwined with Galen’s.

“I’ve started the run on Edana, no last name. There’s a lot of data to sift through.

She didn’t grow up in a Naema community, but younglings lose control during puberty. There will be traces of accidents, suspicious occurrences, weird disappearances. She’ll have moved frequently,” Galen said, massaging her calves.

“But that can run in the background. First priority is to find the Naema involved with the traffickers.”

“And we need to track down the Spaniard,” Nikolai rubbed his hand up and down her back.

Brooke’s eyelids dropped. “Tomorrow,” she murmured. “Tonight I just want to be with you.”

She couldn’t see it, but she knew her men grinned. The warm and happy sensation through her connection was like a light purr in the back of her mind. When they took turns at washing and kissing her, she relaxed more and more.

Here she was, with her Vampire and her Naema. Her lifemates. There were still a number of issues they needed to address, but right now?

Right now Brooke was exactly where she wanted to be for the rest of her hopefully long life.

In their arms.

The End

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