Vampire Elite (49 page)

He played his trump card. “I offer Odji for their life and freedom.” He’d failed to save all of his people; at least he could save these two.
 

* * *

“Life only,” said Anock, his mind savoring his partial victory. He could spare these two. No big deal. The Guardians had ten other bloodstock in this building alone. He’d still have plenty of leverage against Oberon.
 

“Life and freedom,” Oberon mumbled stubbornly.
 

“They can’t shield. They’d just be recaptured immediately.”

“Then one of your warriors will protect them until they learn to shield.”
 

“You’re kidding, right?”
 

“I guess that depends on how badly you want your brother back. These are my conditions.”
 

Wow, he had to hand it to the guy, bargaining in his situation.
 

He looked at the bloodstock again, weighing the danger they presented—wan, drained, cut off from their powers—against the possibility of getting Odji back.
 

“Okay, Oberon. I accept your terms.” Anock turned to the two Guardians who’d joined in the beating. “Who wants to take care of these two? You’ll have to protect them until they learn how to shield, and then you can let them go.”
 

They both looked at the girl, visibly thrilled.
 

“You’re volunteering for both or neither,” Anock clarified. The Guardians looked at the boy, then back at the girl, and stepped forward to volunteer.

Anock was with them; he had the same strong desire to protect, not to kill. Cara had shown him that. The Sekhmi were fighting against their true natures; they just had to be made aware of it. If only he could find a way out of this bloody clash ...
 

Blade pulled Lydia to her feet. One of the Guardians lifted her in his arms and headed toward the exit. The boy hesitated, looking skeptical, and then following them out after the other Guardian waved him along.
 

Anock turned back to Oberon. “I did what you asked, Oberon. They’ll be safe. Now it’s your turn.”
 

“I’ll tell you, but I need to make a call first.”
 

“A call? Are you joking? Absolutely not. No more bargaining, Oberon. Where’s Odji?”
 

“I need to take care of someone before you go there. Just let me make the call. You’ll still get Odji.”
 

“I said no. What the fuck, Oberon? You know all it’ll take is a word from me and the bloodstock will be right back here with swords at their throats.”
 

* * *

Oberon forced his way through the fog of his brain to think through the risks for a few moments. He didn’t care about the humans at the research station, and besides, they were protected by the Confederation Law of No-Kill. Odji would take care of Zlata. As for Desiree, she was blood-bonded to Crian, one of the most powerful Sekhmi, who’d never let anyone harm so much as a hair on her head.
 

Those two had been so naïve, thinking they’d kept their centuries-long relationship from Oberon. He was the Keeper of the Hidden; he’d known about them from the very beginning. But what could he do about it? Either he looked the other way or issued her death warrant—and she was his sister, his only family, so it was no choice at all. Hathor forgive him.

“Odji’s at the human research station on Lake Baykal in Russia. Bring me a map and I’ll tell you what to do.”

Chapter 64

Anock held his breath, forcibly keeping himself from betraying his emotions, his face like granite. He had to restrain himself from dashing out of the basement, grabbing his crew, and rescuing his brother right then. That would have to wait; he had not yet finished with Oberon.
 

“What a perfect hiding place, Oberon. Who would have ever guessed?” He
tucked the map back into his pocket and signaled to the handlers. “Bring two more bloodstock, both females this time.”
 

“Now, we continue our game, Oberon.”
 

He waited for them to return with the Amiti, keeping his face blank to heighten Oberon’s anxiety.
 

“I see you like to save lives. Let’s see how many more you’re willing to save.”
 

He nodded to Blade. Blade pulled one of the females forward and forced her to her knees in front of Oberon’s cage.
 

The woman reminded Anock of Cara: the same hair, same high cheekbones, same eyes.
Strange. Very strange.
 

“The game we’ll play is one for one—you give me a Keeper, I give you the privilege of knowing you’re not responsible for the death of one of these bloodstock.
Tell us where the Keeper of Death is and you’ll save this woman’s life. Don’t think too long. I’ll count to three. On three, her head will be separated from her body.”
 

* * *

Oberon closed his eyes. He couldn’t do this; it was too much to ask. Odji was theirs, one of the Elite, so in revealing his location he’d just been returning to the Sekhmi someone who already belonged to them. But the Keepers were the Amitis’ last hope. No matter the consequences, he
could not
sacrifice the Keepers. It would be tantamount to forsaking the Goddess and dooming the Amiti race.
 

“I can’t do that, Anock.”
 

“Oh, but you can. You don’t want this female to die, do you?”
 

“No, I don’t, and I appeal to your mercy, Anock. You can spare her life; it’s your choice as much as it is mine.
More
than mine. I will not give the Keepers up. There’s nothing that you can do that will change my mind.”

“Yes, Oberon, you will. At the count of three.
One
.”
 

“I am so very sorry.” Oberon glanced at the woman. She held her head down, but her shaking shoulders betrayed that she was crying. “There is nothing I can do for you. The Keepers hold our people’s survival in their hands. We can’t lose them, no matter what the cost.”
 

Please Goddess, kill me. Spare me from having to make this choice.
 

* * *

“
Two!
” Anock was bluffing. He had no intention of letting the woman die. It was a test of wills.
 

“Please, Anock. You’re a warrior, not a butcher. How can you reduce yourself to this level? Torture me, kill me, do whatever you want, but please, don’t waste her life.”

Anock looked one last time at the Amiti.
 

This is so wrong.

“
Three!
”
 

Blade’s sword hissed through the air, slicing through the female’s neck. Her head hit the floor and rolled toward the cage, lifeless jade-green eyes staring into Anock’s soul.
 

It took a few seconds for the body to collapse to the floor.
 

The hysterical screams of the other Amiti filled the room.
 

Anock stared, transfixed, at the lifeless eyes.
 

Cara’s eyes.
Oh Goddess
.
 

“Take the bloodstock to her cell and clean the place up.” He ordered, his voice and brain totally disconnected, and left.
 

He barely made it to his office. He kicked the door open and flew to the bathroom, where he threw up for what seemed like hours. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the Amiti’s head rolling across the floor and gagged again.
 

Finally he stood up, covered in sweat, legs wooden. He grabbed a bottle of cognac from the wet bar, taking deep swallows straight from the bottle until it was empty.
 

Those eyes,
her
eyes. He’d be haunted by them forever.
 

He went to his desk, booted up his laptop and logged into the Guardians’ database to run a query on the bloodstock whose execution he’d just ordered. Her name was Olivia—

Horror exploded in his chest as he scanned her file: captured twenty-five years ago ... small Arizona town ... suspected to have hidden an infant among human children ...
 

He couldn’t bear to read any more, turned away to bury his face in his palms.
 

He’d just executed Cara’s mother.

Chapter 65

Hour after hour, Anock sat in front of his computer, staring mindlessly at the monitor. Kaleidoscopic images of a wonderful future with Cara as his blood-bond—images that would never become a reality—swirled through his mind. His dreams had been crushed, lost to him forever. He could never blood-bond with a female whose mother’s murder he had ordered. How could he possibly look into her eyes knowing what he had done? It was too disturbing to think about.

With effort, Anock pushed all thoughts of Cara aside and concentrated on his immediate priority: Odji. For this mission, he’d chosen six of his best Guardians, plus Blade and himself. Oberon had drawn them what looked like a comprehensive map, and he’d told Anock that there were humans on site—which meant that Anock had to take the Confederation’s No-Kill policy into consideration when planning the attack. In order to disable the humans without injuring them, they’d be using canisters of sleeping gas. They’d enter the building after everyone was asleep and get Odji.
 

The team took the Guardians’ jet to Russia. At Irkutsk International Airport, they rented three SUVs and sped toward the Project station, stopping the cars two miles from their destination. Three warriors stayed with the vehicles, waiting for a signal to bring them to the station when the mission had been accomplished. The other five, including Anock and Blade, traveled on foot to the station, taking full advantage of their vampire speed. Oberon had warned them that there were psychically sensitive humans at the station who could sense immortals, so they had to move quickly, a
coup de main
before the mortals had time to wake up and react.

With lightning speed the team surrounded the station, and at Anock’s signal, the Guardians threw the canisters of sleeping gas through the station’s windows. After giving the gas a moment to take effect, they pulled on respirator masks, blasted the door open, and rushed into the facility, fanning out to search the building.
 

Anock found Odji in a cell in the basement. He lay on a bed, either sleeping or unconscious, his body covered with wires connected to a row of monitors along the wall.
 

Grabbing Odji’s shoulders, Anock shook him gently, then harder. “Odji, wake up. It’s me, Anock.” No response. Anock pulled the wires from Odji’s body and checked his pulse. It was too weak. Something was seriously wrong with his brother.

“Damn, what did they do to you?” Fucking primates, daring to experiment with one of the Elite.
 

He picked up Odji and carried him to the building’s entrance.
 

These humans were lucky there was a No-Kill law.
 

Anock wouldn’t kill them; the frost would do it for him.

“I want every fucking window in this building broken before you leave,” he told his men.

“Pleasure, boss.”

Still holding Odji, Anock signaled to the guys who’d stayed with the vehicles and then waited at the entrance, listening as the Guardians moved around the house blasting the windows, obviously enjoying the destruction, wreaking havoc like oversized kids. He imagined the Siberian wind playing along with them, gusting through the openings, chasing the Guardians and caressing everyone asleep inside with its deadly breath.

“We have to go,” Anock called out once he heard the clamor die down. Without waiting for them to answer, he started to step outside, but then turned to the Guardian behind him. “Did you make sure that there aren’t any other immortals in the building?”
 

He really didn’t need to ask; his men were all well-trained and familiar with standard procedure. In fact, two of them were already coming upstairs, each holding a sleeping immortal in his arms.
 

“There are two more downstairs,” one of the guys announced. “We’ll just get these two into the car and retrieve the other two.”

“Make sure to contact their tribes and packs and see that they get home safely.”

“Sure, boss.”

“Look who I found.” One of the Guardians showed Anock a female he held, her golden hair swaying in time with his footsteps.
Amiti. No mistake.
What a fantastic stroke of luck.

“Yes, the Goddess has smiled on us tonight,” Blade replied, coming through another doorway with a second female in his arms. Anock thought she looked familiar, and as soon as Blade turned and her face came into view, he recognized her.
 

“It’s Desiree, Oberon’s sister.” Even if Anock hadn’t recognized her based on pictures in the Guardians’ database, he’d never forget her role in getting Arianna busted for making contact with the Order. “So that’s why Oberon was so desperate to make a phone call.”

“Something’s wrong here,” Blade muttered, looking at the unconscious Amiti in his arms. “Oberon would never have given up Odji’s location if it meant jeopardizing his sister. There has to be more, something he didn’t tell us that’s protecting her somehow.”

“Put her in the car. We’ll figure out what to do with her later.”

“What about this one?” asked the Guardian holding the golden-haired Amiti.
 

“Consider her your reward. Have a feast, my friends. Just make sure she’s not alive when you’re done with her. But do it quickly; we need to get Odji back home.”

His men deserved a reward and acknowledgment of a job well done. What better prize could there be for a vampire than to take the vein of an Amiti without the risk of a blood-bond? Feeding directly from an Amiti was a fantasy of every Sekhmi, so this was a rare treat.
 

It was the beginning of February and a good thirty below zero centigrade. But the six Guardians, overcome by rising bloodlust, didn’t care what the temperature was. They dropped the Amiti onto the snow and pulled her clothes off, exposing her flesh to give themselves better access. Then in total silence, surrounding the girl like a pride of hungry lions, they took her veins at the neck, wrists, and groin.