Darkest Risings (23 page)

“But
how did you find my sister? There are millions and millions of people, and she
could have been anywhere on Earth.”

“I
know someone who is very good at
finding
people. All I needed was Uriah’s blood for my friend to find Lindsey. Since she
is connected to him through Fate, she was easily pinpointed.”

“Mother!”

“Aldin,
if I had Trinidad’s blood, I could possibly have him tracked as well, but I
don’t.”

Wilhemina’s
anger at the nerve of this woman grew by the second. This whole ordeal was
becoming crazier and crazier with each passing minute. But suddenly, she
realized something that made her blood run cold. “You aren’t going to let us
leave. Are you?” She directed the question to Aldin, and prayed she was wrong
about the answer.

Aldin
could see the desperation in Wilhemina’s eyes, feel it in the air. The answer
he gave to her question could tear an irreparable void between them.

She
wasn’t just asking him if she and her sister were allowed to leave. She was
saying that if they were, she would take her sister and run as fast and as far
away from him as possible. A part of him wanted to let her go because it could
be the only way that she might ever be able to forgive him for what his family
had put her and Lindsey through. But he couldn’t lie to her.

“Please
leave us, Mother.” Aldin tried not to let the pain edge into his tone.

Marilena
looked at Wilhemina then Lindsey. “I know it doesn’t mean much to you right
now, but I am sorry. I made a mistake. I was trying to save my family. Instead,
I ruined it, and yours.” Marilena walked toward the door and briefly stopped
beside him. She laid her palm on his shoulder. “
I am deeply sorry, son. I hope one day you can find it in your heart to
forgive me.”

“I will always love you, Mother. But
my ability to forgive you no longer rests in my hands alone.”

With
defeat shining in her eyes, Marilena glanced at Wilhemina one last time before
nodding then exiting the room.

“Lindsey,
I’m Aldin.” He walked toward Wilhemina and her sister. “I’m sorry about the
circumstances under which we are meeting, but I am happy to make your
acquaintance nonetheless.” He sat down across from them, noting how they held
onto each other’s hands as if they were scared deer trapped in headlights. “I
hope you can both understand what I’m about to tell you.” He waited, but they
simply sat silently staring at him.

His
chest had a strange pang of pain nestled in the middle of it, and he was sure
it had something to do with the way Wilhemina was eyeing him as if he were a
complete stranger, a complete stranger she abhorred.

“If
circumstances were different, I would allow you, both of you if you wished”—he
looked at Wilhemina, hoping he was about to tell her the truth, but not sure if
he could let her walk out of his life or not—”leave at this very moment.”

“But
you won’t let us. Will you?” Anger vibrated through Wilhemina’s voice along
with pain.

“You
don’t understand. If I let you walk out that door, you would both be in danger.
Simply by being linked to us, you are no longer safe. Until we remediate the
danger, you must remain under our protection.”

“Take
us to the police. Let them protect us. I don’t want to be here any longer.”
Wilhemina stood, her eyes sparking with defiance.

“Wilhemina,
as much as I’m pissed about being kidnapped, I don’t really want to be reunited
with you only for us both to die. Don’t mistake my logic and think that I’m not
harboring a grudge as big as a football stadium against these people. But I
have to admit, I was treated like a princess while I was being held by
Marilena. She made sure to keep me up-to-date about everything—how you searched
for me, how you never gave up on finding me. She told me about Nana and about
your journalism. Maybe I’m suffering a mental breakdown or something by being
so agreeable. I don’t know.” She shrugged. “I just know that I want us both to
be safe. I never want to take for granted another moment I have been given to
spend with you.”

“I
cannot take you to the police. We’ve been over that one already. Even though
you’ve been shown proof that vampires exist, you are still refusing to believe
it. But they—we—do exist. The police cannot protect you from my kind, or
worse.”

“Worse?
There is worse?” Wilhemina cried, and tossed her hands up in the air in defeat.
She spun to Lindsey. “Are you telling me that you believe that vampires are
real?”

Lindsey
nodded. “Yes. But to be fair, I’ve had a much longer time to be
convinced
of and to get used to the
idea.”

“Why
would you be told at all about vampires?” Wilhemina looked from Lindsey to
Aldin.

He
frowned. “At this point, I cannot pretend to have any idea of how my mother’s
mind works. I don’t know why Lindsey was told about us. If I had to make a
guess, I would say that it was to enable her to protect herself better if
something were to happen with the prophecy.”

Lindsey
nodded. “I believe you are correct. I have been taught to defend myself well.
If I have to, I can kick some serious ass.”

“Lindsey!”
Wilhemina looked at her sister as if she were an alien.

“What?”
She shrugged. “It’s true.”

He
didn’t think it was possible for vampires to get headaches. He was pretty sure
they couldn’t unless they were injured in the head, but he swore he was getting
one. He was still in denial over his mother’s actions. How did he expect
Wilhemina to wrap her mind around it all, accept it all, when he was having a
hard time doing it himself?

“What
about these drifters? What are they?” Wilhemina asked.

“Asssshhhhe!
Alllldinn!”

The
scream that suddenly cut through the house penetrated through his skin and into
his bones like acid. He flew from his seat to the entryway to find Avril. He’d
never seen his sister-in-law look as terrified as she did at this moment.

Ashe
suddenly appeared beside him. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

Ashe
went to Avril and she collapsed against him. Ebony sprinted down the stairs and
stood beside Ashe and Avril.

“You
have to help Aiston! He’s at Drake’s. We went to the back and we were ambushed.
You have to get to him now. They are trying to kidnap him. He couldn’t shimmer
after they tagged him with a dart. Please. I had to get help. I didn’t stand a
chance against all of them.”

“We’ll
get him,” Aldin said before nodding to Ashe.

They
both shimmered to the back of Drake’s. Aiston was on his knees trying hard to
keep the five drifters surrounding him at bay. The ends of his fingers smoked.
That along with the huge burn mark on the wall behind him told Aldin that his
brother had taken out at least a couple of the drifters with his fire ability.

Instincts
made Aldin duck to the side as a dart zinged past his head and imbedded into
the wall. Since they had both been caught off guard, neither had wasted time to
retrieve their swords. They were going to have to take the drifters out the
old-fashioned way. With their fists.

Aldin
caught one of the bastards by the throat as it charged him, twisted, and
slammed it to the floor on its back. It screamed in fury and tore at him with
wicked, poisonous talons. He pinned the drifter’s shoulders to the floor with
his knees, grabbed his head with both hands, and wrenched it from its body. The
loud pop of bones crunching had never sounded more satisfying to his ears.

He
glanced at Ashe then froze when he saw Aiston sink to the floor and a drifter
go for his throat with a dagger. His stomach dropped. Even with his speed, he
would not get to him in time. But just as he thought his brother would be lost
to him, the drifter was caught in the face by a wicked kick.

When
Aldin looked closer at who had delivered that kick, he was surprised to find it
had been Grady. Grady gave Aldin a quick nod of the head, and they turned to
fight back to back. Within moments, only one drifter was left. Unfortunately,
before Ashe ripped its head off, he had an opportunity to fire a dart at Aldin.
This one didn’t miss. This one embedded deep into his neck.

“I’m
getting Aiston back to the house,” Aldin said to Ashe. “See you there.” He bent
and placed his hand on Aiston’s shoulder. That was the first time he was able
to assess the extent of his brother’s injuries. His leg was ripped open
starting at the outer thigh and wrapping around high toward his groin. He was
worried that his femoral artery had been severed. If that was the case, they
had little time to save him.

He
shimmered, but he could only manage to get them both as far as the entryway
before the dizziness and weakness caused by the tranq washed through him. His
stomach clenched, and he finally understood the meaning of needing to puke even
though he wasn’t physically capable of doing so.

He
reached up and yanked the dart from his neck and dropped it to the floor. Avril
rushed to Aiston and cried out when she saw the amount of blood covering his
body.

“You
have to get him a source,” she sobbed as she pulled Aiston’s upper body onto
her lap after sitting on the floor.

“Find
him a source, Aldin,” Ebony begged.

“There’s
not enough time, and I’m too weak to shimmer,” he whispered before dropping to
his knees.

“No.
Someone has to help him! Please, I can’t lose him.” She brushed the hair from
his face and rocked back and forth while she cradled him to her like a baby.

* * * *

Wilhemina
watched the horror unraveling in front of her. She was fairly certain her jaw
was gaping, possibly enough to drag the ground. She’d seen so much violence
throughout her journalism career, but even she hadn’t seen this much blood. She
felt sick and prayed she wouldn’t pass out.

“I’ll
help him.” Lindsey stepped forward.

Wilhemina
clamped her hand around Lindsey’s arm. “No!”

The
loud sound of knuckles cracking behind them made her jump. She turned around to
find Uriah standing behind them.

“Absolutely
not,” he said through clenched teeth.

“You
have no say so. I will do as I please.” Lindsey glared at Uriah.

He
started for her.

“Don’t
doubt for one moment that I won’t make you swallow your balls if you think to
manhandle me either.”

Lindsey’s
threat stopped him cold in his tracks. Apparently, that was something vampire
males and human males had in common. Neither could stomach a threat to the
boys.

She
couldn’t let her sister be a donor to a vampire.

“I’ll
do it.” She stepped past Lindsey and sank to her knees next to Aiston and
Avril.

“No!”
Lindsey said.

“Quiet.
I’ve made my decision. Now how do we do this?” She was trying to be brave, but
she was scared half silly.

Ashe
reappeared and sucked in a sharp breath. He’d obviously not known how badly
Aiston was injured.

“Let
her. I will make sure he doesn’t hurt her.” Ragnor suddenly appeared beside
Wilhemina and she jumped again.

She
was about to let Aiston bite her. Did they have to scare the shit out of her
any more with their appearing and disappearing acts?

“How
do we do this?”

Ragnor
lifted her arm. “Are you positive you want to do this?”

She
certainly wasn’t going to let her sister do it so that only left her. “Yes.”

He
ran his fingernail over her wrist and a small line of blood beaded on her skin.
He pulled her arm toward Aiston’s mouth. A split second later, his nostrils
flared and his eyes flew wide. She thought she might faint when she saw the
blackness that completely overtook the turquoise that should have been there.
He hissed and fangs poked past his upper lip. She turned her head away, afraid
she’d chicken out if she looked at his scary-assed face one second longer.

Her
eyes found Aldin. He was still on his knees, and he was ghostly pale. She
thought he’d only been exhausted from fighting, but now she wondered if he was
injured too. He swayed a little as his eyes locked on hers.

“Are
you okay, Aldin?” Ashe asked.

“Yes.
They darted me. It’s on the floor over there. The effects are pretty strong,
but it’s starting to wear off already.”

“Grady
knew about the ambush ahead of time. He was going to warn us. Unfortunately, he
was found and
detained
. He got away
just before the attack at Drake’s. That’s why he was there to help. We’re going
to have to give him some kind of protection.”

“We’ll
figure something out,” Aldin answered.

Aldin
never took his eyes from her. She was consumed with worry for him and barely
felt it when Aiston sank his teeth through her flesh. She closed her eyes for a
moment and fought back the terror that coursed through her veins.