Authors: Judy Teel
And we were still bonded, I told myself firmly. We had to be.
"Not much of an audience," I commented to Noah as we came to a stop outside the other side of the ring.
"We don't crowd around to watch our chickens get slaughtered before dinner, either," he muttered, frowning in Deg's direction. "You're only chance to survive this is to trip over the rocks on your way in and fake an injury. Deg's hotheaded, but he won't fight a hurt opponent."
"Nope. Not gonna happen." I backed up a few steps to do some warm up lunges.
"I can still negotiate an apology," he said, watching me as I changed to stretching my waist from side-to-side. "You'll have to grovel some, but he's probably realized that he's embarrassing himself by fighting you, so I think he'd let you off."
"I have something important to discuss with Miller. Let's get this over with." I rolled my wrists a few times and then pulled Wolf's Blood out of the sheath in my boot. I tossed it from hand to hand to get a better feel for the weapon and got the extra bonus of stirring up a huddled discussion on the other side of the ring. I smiled and stepped over the stones.
The compound went silent as if holding its breath.
I glanced around, feeling more eyes on me than the ones Deg's cronies accounted for. I pictured one of the old Western movies I used to watch when I was little with the townspeople peeking through curtains and out of doorways as the sheriff and the gunslinger faced down each other in the street.
Yup. Nothing like a good bloodletting to brighten up the day.
*
*
*
Panic crawled up Cooper's back like a dozen scorpions. "We'll find a cure."
"It's moving too fast for that," his brother said. "We're not even sure how it's passed. Only that whoever's closest to the victim when they die has the greatest chance of infection."
"Knox has it," Cooper said. "But Travis' mate was next to him when he died."
Ryker's shoulders bowed a little as if the impossible weight he already carried had somehow doubled. "I only know that it's steadily wiping us out. Blood Clan has half the numbers they did three weeks ago. In another week Bone Clan will be the same. At least Virginia hasn't been touched yet, so Sun Clan and Moon are safe for now."
Cooper's fears deepened. "And Maya?"
"No one who isn't old enough to shift has been affected," Ryker said, a whisper of relief in his voice. "And only two adolescents have come down with it."
A bitter anger gripped Cooper as he thought about his baby niece growing up without her parents. "We have a high-level practitioner with us. He could help Dr. Barrett—"
"I won't leave my daughter and whatever's left of our people without protection. You wouldn't either." Ryker gripped the carved armrests of the chair that had been a wedding present to their parents 122 years ago. Sweat beaded his forehead. "Do you accept your position as
Aesei Siian
?"
Addison...
How could he face what was ahead without her?
Cooper fought down another wave of dizziness. But how could he turn his back on his niece and the people that his father and grandfather and his grandfather before him had given their lives to protect? How could he turn his back on the brother he'd gone into exile for rather than kill him to be Alpha?
"I accept," Cooper said, his voice rough.
Ryker released a long breath and leaned back as if all his strength had drained away on that promise. "Thank you."
After a moment, he pushed himself up from the chair and went to the door to speak to the guards. When he was done, Ryker crossed to the rolltop desk in the corner and pulled a worn leather pouch from the top drawer.
"I hope you have the code for this PRC handy," Cooper said as Ryker returned to his chair.
"No, but I have this." His brother reached inside his shirt and pulled out what looked like an old-fashioned watch face with a magnet on the end of it.
"Where the hell did you get a vamp decryption unit?" Cooper asked.
"Amazing what unwanted guests carry around with them these days."
Despite everything, the flash of his brother's familiar teasing smile made Cooper laugh. How many times when they were boys had they found themselves doing the worst jobs in the compound after getting caught in one kind of mischief or another?
His moment of happy nostalgia died as the door opened and Rosalind strode in. She locked the door behind her and turned to face him, her expression set in tense but determined lines. "
Aesei
," she said with a polite nod of her head.
Ryker handed her the decryption unit as she passed him to stand behind Cooper. "As fast as you can, understand?"
How easy would it be for her to be just a little too slow, Cooper thought, realizing even as he did how crazy that sounded. As Isabel's childhood friend, Rosalind was his niece's godmother. She was also a ridiculous stickler for following the rules and loyal almost to the point of fanaticism. But she'd never approved of racial intermixing. Would she jeopardize the Clan over his relationship with Addison? Maybe. If she knew they were bonded.
He forced his mind to focus as Ryker got up from his chair and positioned himself in front of the couch. Opening the leather pouch, his brother pulled out a small knife, carved from the femur of the first Alpha. The blade of the knife was smooth and sharp and stained with blood.
Cooper braced himself. What was about to happen could never be undone and it would change everything. He hoped he could endure that.
Standing over him, his brother cupped his left hand under Cooper's right wrist and then positioned the knife over Cooper's artery. "Just so you know, Ry," he said, giving his brother a quick smile as he leaned his head back against the sofa to give Rosalind better access to the PRC, "blood is a bitch to get out of carpeting."
He was rewarded with the flash of a genuine smile across Ryker's tired face. "I'm fairly certain that's the least of my worries."
His brother's expression sobered and he glanced at Rosalind. "Ready?" Then he raised the knife. "Blood of my blood, bone of my bone, the line of our Clan plunges deeply into this Earth, stretching back to the beginning. Back to the dawn of our people. By the bone and the blood, the will of the Alpha and the blessing of the Huntress, it will reach forever forward into time, into the hearts of those yet to come."
With a quick strike, his brother swiftly carved the symbol of their Clan deep into Cooper's wrist. Blood welled up, pouring down over Ryker's palm.
The black dots flirting at the edge of Cooper's vision gathered into a thick hoard of darkness that crept steadily toward him. As his vision blurred and faded, Cooper idly wondered if his father would let him come back a second time. Then Rosalind was pressing the vamp decryption unit against the code box of the PRC.
As he waited to hear the whine of the warning alarm and feel the sting of the laser taking his head off, he pulled his thoughts into the memories of holding Addison in his arms, their bodies entwined, and of her laugh. And of the way she smelled like sunshine.
As if from far away he heard the click of the collar disengaging.
Rosalind tore the PRC from his throat and an explosion of power ripped through his body, chasing back the darkness and setting his teeth on edge as his bones, blood, muscles and organs seemed to ignite with it. The tidal wave of energy overwhelmed him as it crashed through every bruise, every cracked rib, and every dying cell and then flowed into his wounded shoulder with a blast of healing fire that took his breath away.
And then, on its heels, the sweet, sweet warmth of Addison swept into his awareness. Cooper sucked in a breath as the knowing of her hit him. Feelings raced through his heart — worry, anger, love, and then sharp surprise as his Were DNA reasserted itself and the connection between them was reborn. He heard Rosalind gasp behind him, but he didn't care that she and his brother had felt it, that they could smell Addison on his skin. She was his again.
His vision cleared and he looked down at his wrist. Pink lines of new skin formed the symbol that marked his new position in the Clan.
Ryker put the knife on the coffee table behind him and stared down at Cooper, surprise and worry in eyes. He hesitated, then dipped two of his fingers into the blood cupped in his hand. With a quick swipe, he spread the blood across his mouth. His expression grim, he dipped his fingers in again and drew two parallel lines down Cooper's forehead, the bridge of his nose and over his chin. With the last of the blood, he dragged his fingers in a horizontal line from Cooper's right ear to his left.
"Body, mind and soul, you belong to your people as have all that have gone before you. You are
Aesei Siian.
Protector of Bone Clan, guardian of my daughter and Alpha in all but lineage," Ryker said, his voice rough with emotion.
With his bloodied hand, he clasped Cooper's healed wrist in a grip that would have crushed the bones had Cooper still worn the collar. As he pulled Cooper to his feet. Their gazes locked and Cooper dove into his brother's soul as he released the iron hold he kept on himself. His will to dominate collided with Ryker's, pushing against it, hungry to win. The force of two Alphas battling for superiority, fighting to contain their instinct to kill, crackled between them.
He released Cooper's wrist and took a step back, giving Cooper a short bow of his head. Rosalind edged around the sofa and kneeled between them. "Rosalind Amelia Grey," Ryker said to her, "will you stand with the
Aesei Siian
? Holding his life above yours? Balancing his will to lead with your strength? Accepting and protecting Maya as if she were your own daughter?"
She bowed her head. "I will."
Cooper wiped his blood from his brother's mouth with his thumb as Rosalind lifted her face, her worried gaze meeting his before dropping away. He pressed the pad of his thumb against her forehead, leaving a bloody smudge. "Rise, Lieutenant Grey. I accept your pledge."
Turning to Ryker, he mirrored the short bow that acknowledged them as equals. "I will guide and protect your line with all that I am and all that I have, even to death, until such time as the true Alpha may take her rightful position in the Clan."
"It is done," they all said in unison.
*
*
*
I pulled in a deep breath to calm the butterflies in my stomach. "Hey!" I called across the ring to Deg. "Are you ready to apologize for being a rude moron so that I can get to my dinner?"
Deg stared at me, appalled, and then his brow lowered. He stepped into the ring. "Are you anxious to die?"
"I hope your fighting style is more interesting than your banter." I smiled and his scowled deepened.
Lifting his arms, Deg turned in a slow circle as if addressing the entire compound. Maybe he was. "A challenge is issued," he called out.
I kept my gaze on him. "A challenge is accepted," I yelled back, taking a guess at the expected response.
"You're either the stupidest human I've ever met or the bravest," Deg said as he faced me, and I didn't think it was a complement.
I opened my mouth to launch another taunt at him when a blazing rush of agony slammed into the top of my head and drove me to my knees. The forest around me lost focus and a wave of nausea bulldozed over me. Sweating, I clutched my stomach and bent over, gasping for breath.
Noah dropped to his knees next to me and grabbed my shoulders to keep me from falling over. I jerked in a ragged breath and the sweet scent of moonlit meadows filled my lungs. My heart beat faster, and then burst with a bright warmth like the first rays of Spring sun after a long winter. Then, as quickly as it had come, the onslaught was gone.
"Cooper," I whispered. An explosion of joy rocketed through my body as our bond drenched my soul. I never wanted to be without him again.
Noah tensed, his fingers digging into my biceps as he pulled in a sharp breath. He shook his head and then looked at me like he was seeing me for the first time. Holding me down, he stood up and faced Deg. "She's sick. She can't continue."
"No." I pushed his hand off of me and got to my feet as strength poured into me. My vision sharpened, taking in Deg's uncertain expression and the mixture of worried and contemptuous faces in the gathering crowd. I grit my teeth. "I owe Cooper the respect of his Clan." I tightened my grip on Wolf's Blood and rushed at Deg.
He dodged to his left to avoid me as I expected him to do. Not a bad move if my goal had been to stab him. Instead, I turned and sprang at him, hitting him in the side with my shoulder to push him further off balance. Pivoting, I swiped my knife horizontally across the small of his back, cutting through his leather shirt and deep into his muscles.
With a roar, he spun around, leading with his fist in a swiping blow that would have cracked my skull if I hadn't ducked under the swing. I reached up, grabbed his wrist and spun like a dancer, twisting his arm as I went. The pain of certain dislocation forced his body into the turn and as he came around, I rammed the blade of my knife into his stomach up to the hilt.
Blood pumped over my hand as he staggered back and I lost my grip on the slippery handle. In disbelief, Deg stared at the knife sticking out of him, then reached down and yanked it out. Blood spurted from the artery, fanning out over his shirt and pouring down into the waistband of his jeans. If he'd been human, he'd only have a few moments to live before he bled out.
But as a paranormal, he wasn't in danger. The wound across his back had already closed up and my latest strike would soon follow. If I hadn't lost my knife, I would have gone for the iliac on his thigh or the carotid if I could get to it. He'd then have lost enough blood to be too weak to bother me and I would have walked away from the fight without a scratch.