Vengeance (The Captive Series, Book 6) (26 page)

“More vampires for them to try and convert,” he murmured.

“Yes,” she confirmed. “
Lots
more. There’s better land and weather outside of these mountains.”

A sinking sensation filled the pit of his stomach, but it didn’t matter. They couldn’t stop them from fleeing, not now; all they could do now was escape with their lives, and the little information he’d managed to learn about the woman claiming to be queen.

“You!” someone shouted. “You!” His head turned toward a white robed figure pointing at him in the street. “You’re the one the queen wants.”

“Son of a bitch!” he spat.

The figure in white charged at them, young, reckless and looking to make a place for himself amongst the side he’d joined. William swung Tempest behind him and released her before turning to face the young man. He wasn’t in the mood for anyone’s crap, especially not this hothead. With no regard for his vulnerable areas or even his life, the vampire put his head down and charged at him.

A snarl curved William’s lip; his arm shot out. Bone crunched and splintered apart beneath his fist as it drove through the man’s chest. Gurgled blood exploded from his mouth when William wrapped his hand around his heart. He held the man’s brown eyes before jerking backward and tearing the heart from his chest.

The vampires that had escaped from the prison with them fell back as the man’s twitching body flopped onto the ground. They glanced between him and the dead vamp before pressing closer against him and Tempest.

“Fool.” William dropped the heart on the ground and wiped the blood from his hand in the snow. Turning toward Tempest, he grabbed hold of her hand again and pulled her forward. “Don’t
ever
do what he just did,” he told her.

She glanced back at the prone body in the snow. “Protect your chest,” she muttered.

“Always.”

He cradled Tempest’s head against his chest as they ran in between two burning buildings. Bits of debris and sparks rained down upon them. Demon hands of fire leapt toward them, seeking to use their bodies as more fuel for its hungry flames. A cry of pain escaped her; he hurriedly brushed aside the cinders falling on her cheek.

Bursting free of the crumbling buildings, he ran with her across the snow to the entrance of the cave they’d come here through. He didn’t look back as he followed her into the crevice.

Tempest led the way through the cave, running as fast as her legs would carry her. The damp, mildew scent of the rocks couldn’t drown out the aroma of the smoke and fire consuming her home. It wafted through the cave system and clung to their clothing, hair and skin. It would forever be burned into her nostrils, and she knew she would never forget the smell or erase the screams of the dying. Nor did she want to; she should always remember what
she’d
done.

She turned sideways and hurried through the rocks toward the exit of the cave. The coolness of the stones around her felt almost as good as cool water would have against her burned skin. Plunging into the lake right now sounded like a little bit of heaven, but so did getting out of here.

Ahead of her, William slowed as he approached the exit. If the rocks felt like heaven against her skin, she could only imagine what they felt like against the blisters and burns covering him. She wanted to grab hold of him and hug him close, to reassure herself he really was alive, but that would have to wait until they were free of these mountains. As soon as they were safe with his family, she intended to hold him for days on end.

William stuck his head out of the cave and looked both ways before stepping out. “Stay,” he whispered to her. She crept to the very edge and was about to walk out when he returned and took hold of her hand.

She stepped onto the ledge and moved over for the others to exit. Her gaze ran over William while she waited; she shuddered at the sight of him. His pants had been burned away nearly to his knees. Blisters were beginning to heal on his calves, but they were bright red and oozing still. One of his sleeves was completely gone, the other still intact. Blisters and burns marred his face, but like his legs, they were fading away. His broken nose had almost healed; only a large bruise across the bridge and a bump in the middle indicated it had been damaged. Two scratches on either side of his chin were still healing; she could see the muscle repairing itself.

“Where to next?” he inquired.

“Down the ledge,” she told him. “I’ll lead.”

“No,” he said and started down the ledge before she could protest.

“It ends abruptly!” she shouted into the wind at his back.

A firm squeeze of her hand was the only indication he’d heard her. She stared at the back of his head as they walked. The bottom of his hair had been singed; it wouldn’t repair itself, but at least it would grow back. The bow and quiver he’d reclaimed from where they’d hidden them away in the cave bounced against his back. He came to an abrupt halt when they arrived at the rock wall at the end of the ledge.

“We have to climb down!” she yelled to be heard over the wind whipping through the mountains and tearing at their hair and clothes. The villagers leaned forward to look over the ledge; two shook their heads and stepped away. “You either climb, or you go back and take your chances in the town!”

Their gazes darted between her and the steep cliffs; for a minute, she didn’t know what decision they would make, but they finally began to nod. “I’ll lead the way,” she said. “Follow where I put my hands and feet; keep your body close against the cliffs to avoid the wind pulling you free.”

She realized those hadn’t been the best choice of words, when all of them visibly paled. “You’ll be fine,” she assured them.

She bent down to grab hold of the wall, but William seized hold of her arm and dragged her up against his solid chest. Before she knew what he intended, his hand snaked into her hair; he pulled her head back and took hold of her mouth with a passion that left her limp and shaking. His tongue swept in to taste her with a desperation she’d never felt from him before. She clutched his arms as he made love to her mouth with deep, penetrating thrusts of his tongue.

Pulling away, his forehead rested against hers; his mouth hovered inches away from hers. “You should have listened to me, but thanks for saving my life.”

“I did listen to you,” she replied with a smile. “I kept my promise. I sent Pallas on with your patch and your message for your sister. I couldn’t leave you behind, William. I simply couldn’t.”

His eyes searched hers before he bent and kissed her nose. “I would do the same for you. I would do
any
thing for you.”

A thrill went through her at his words. She lifted her head to kiss him again. “We must go. I’d like to catch up to Pallas before they make it to the other side of the caves, in case they run into those things.”

“I’ll be right beside you; let me get off the wall before you.”

He stepped back as she turned to the wall once more. Going on years of practice, and her drive to be free of this place, she lowered herself over the edge and began to climb down. Behind her, she heard the shuffle and the muttered words of the villagers as they followed. Halfway down the wall, she glanced up to see the line of villagers following her like ants at a picnic.

She turned her attention back to the climb down. Her arms and legs quivered with exhaustion; her fingers hurt from gripping the wall so tight. Her hair, torn free from the hood that had been knocked back from her face, whipped in the wind. The strands of it beating against her frozen cheeks stung, but she continued stalwartly on toward the next ledge.

Hugging the wall, she watched as William dropped onto the ledge and did a hasty patrol of the area before coming back and waving at her to join him. He stepped aside to let her down; his warm hand burned through her cloak to heat her back. Her entire body felt like rubber. She barely had the strength to move out of the way of the villagers before collapsing again with her back to the wall.

William settled beside her, his broad shoulder brushing against hers. A minute passed, before she looked up at the six villagers still on the wall. They were making good time for ones so inexperienced. Her gaze traveled above them, but she saw no one else on the ledges or cliff face.

She pushed herself to her feet and rested a hand against the chilled rock in order to keep herself steady. The other villagers collapsed beside her, their shoulders heaved as they bowed their heads. “We won’t have to climb again,” she told them.

“Thankfully,” the one beside her murmured.

Taking hold of her hand, William turned and hurried down the ledge with her behind him. “Up here, on your right!” she yelled to him.

She squeezed his hand when they were almost to the entrance of the final cave. She almost jumped for joy when she stepped into the shadows of the cave, but she managed to keep herself restrained.

She only made it ten feet before William jerked her back. The force of his pull caused her to stumble awkwardly. She was trying to right herself when he spun her away and pinned her against the wall with his back. A startled cry escaped her; the jagged rocks protruding from the wall scraped her skin and bit into her back. Her hands fell onto his shoulders. His muscles tensed and vibrated beneath her touch like a cat ready to pounce on its prey.

She had no idea what had caused such a reaction, but she knew something wasn’t right. Her mouth dropped when she spotted the group of white clad men and women emerging from the shadows of the cave. There were at least nine of them, but they weren’t the ones who drew her attention the most.

Her fingers tensed on William’s shoulders when Kane stepped forth. The smug smile on his lips tugged awkwardly on his scar, pulling half his face up in some kind of macabre theatre mask. His hazel eyes twinkled with delight as he turned and waved a hand at the shadows behind him.

Tempest’s heart plummeted; her stomach curdled when two more white robed figures led Pallas, Abbott, and the rest of the children forward. Agnes clung to Pallas; the tears streaming down the young girl’s face glimmered in the glow of the guard’s torch. Pallas’s eyes shone with unshed tears.

“I’m sorry,” Pallas whispered. “I didn’t know they were following us.”

Kane’s smile grew as his eyes turned toward her. Tempest almost cowered away from the malevolence in his gaze, but she remained unmoving by sheer strength of will. “Well, when I saw my missing resident of the orphanage fleeing from the home and toward the mountains, of course I became curious as to why you would suddenly reappear at the same time as…” his gaze slid pointedly to William, “
you
.”

William shifted before her, his muscles rippled. The power within him swelled beneath the tips of her fingers, electrifying her skin. He was so strong, so powerful, yet she didn’t think it would be enough. Not against Kane. Tempest bit into her bottom lip as Kane ruthlessly stared at William.

“I thought where there was smoke, there must be fire. I didn’t see her slip out of the cave to return for you, but when we caught up with the children, I knew she’d return for them.”

Tempest kicked herself in the ass for being spotted, but she’d never seen him following her, and there had been no way to remain completely hidden from view. She’d led Pallas and the others to the first ledge before taking a different way out of the mountains and back to Badwin. It had taken her longer to return to the town than she wanted, but she couldn’t put the children in more peril by risking being seen exiting the cave.

Kane’s tongue flickered out to lick his lips when his gaze slid over her. “I don’t blame you for following the girl into town, she is a fine piece.” The growl William emitted caused the village vampires to take a step back. Tempest’s hands tightened on him, in an attempt to keep a hold of him in case he tried to launch at Kane. “I’m going to enjoy using her in every way and breaking her beneath me when you’re dead. Maybe I’ll keep you alive to watch, for a while.”

Her grip on William proved useless when he tore free of her and leapt at Kane with a roar that would have made a wolf cower. Kane braced himself, but the force of William’s shoulder slamming into his chest threw them both into the shadows of the cave and out of view. A scream for him built in her throat; she managed to keep it suppressed as she spun toward the remaining white clad vampires.

Their eyes shone red in the firelight playing over them. Smiles curved their mouths as they adjusted their spears in their hands. Tempest tugged two stakes free of her cloak and braced herself the way William had taught her.

“Do you have any more of those?” a village woman with vibrant red hair inquired of her. Tempest dimly recalled her name was Moira.

She glanced over the other villagers, but they all had the same resolute look on their faces. “You saved our lives. They won’t take us without a fight, not this time,” a man said.

Digging into her cloak, she pulled out the other four stakes tucked within. They took the stakes from her. She handed a fifth vampire one of the stakes in her hand.

It had been foolish, a mistake to rise to Kane’s baiting, but he’d never been known for his cool and level head. He’d meant to stay calm, to assess the situation and do what he could to get them out of it. Then Kane had said that about Tempest and all he’d seen was red, all he’d wanted was Kane’s blood.
No
one would ever touch her or harm her in such a way, especially not this piece of shit. It had gone on too long; this man had to die. He
deserved
to die.

They rolled into the shadows together before crashing against the wall with so much force rocks and debris fell down upon them. Caught up in each other, he found it difficult to get a solid punch in, but he drove his fist into Kane’s gut repeatedly. If Kane had been human, the blows would have forced him to curl in on himself as he gasped for air, but he did neither of those things.

Kane’s hands dug at his stomach; his fingers scrambled and tore at William’s skin as he tried to rip into the scar he’d left on him after their first battle. William flung himself back, rolling away from Kane before he could dig too deeply into his flesh. The vampire was stronger than he was, faster. He had to stay on the move if he had any chance of getting the upper hand. Outside the orphanage, he’d had the element of surprise on his side when he’d attacked, now he had none of that. Tempest’s strengthening blood still ran through his veins, but he didn’t know if it would be enough to take Kane down permanently.

He rose to his feet and charged at Kane with his shoulder down; the vampire dashed to the side as William had anticipated. Before he would have hit him, he’d switched direction. He ran back toward the main cave and the sounds of feet scraping on stone, grunts and cries of pain coming from there. When he’d gone for Kane, he’d made the horrific mistake of leaving Tempest out there with those other vampires.

He didn’t have the time to berate himself for allowing his hot-tempered tendencies to get the best of him. He had to get to her and make sure she survived whatever happened here. Kane wasn’t his main concern.

Racing out of the shadows, he crashed into the back of a white cloaked vampire closing in on Tempest. Lifting the vampire up, he smashed him face first onto the floor with enough force to knock the spear he’d been clutching free. The man’s neck snapped from the impact and twisted at such an unnatural angle that his eyes were now looking up at William. His hands scrabbled against the floor, ripping off his fingernails as he gouged away chunks of rock from the floor. William snatched up the spear and drove it through his heart. He yanked it free and spun to face Kane when he came at him again.

William swung the spear up, catching Kane under his chin and knocking him back enough to buy him some more time. From the corner of his eye, he watched Tempest as she squared off against a man stalking her with lethal intent. Tempest swung at the man, who dodged back to avoid the stake in her hand. The vampire leapt forward, but instead of trying to catch him with her stake again, Tempest leaned against the wall and drove her foot up. She kicked him in the crotch with enough force that William was certain the man could now be classified as a woman.

The vamp howled; his hands clasped at his nuts. His face turned the color of a tomato before his legs buckled and his knees hit the floor. Showing no mercy, Tempest pulled her arm back and drove the stake deep into the man’s heart. The vampire’s eyes rolled back in his head, Tempest yanked the stake back out before the man slumped to the floor.

“Who taught you that move?” he inquired as he arrived at her side.

She grabbed the vampire’s spear off the floor. “You told me to do whatever was necessary to win.”

“I did and I approve.” He turned back as another vampire fell to one of the village vampires, but more bodies of the villagers littered the floor. “Stay close to me,” he commanded gruffly.

“I should be saying that to you,” she retorted. The fire in her eyes and the set of her chin showed her anger with him more than her words ever could. He had the urge to cover his manhood as she continued to glower at him.

He squeezed her hand. “Sorry.” The word sounded strange spilling from his lips; over the years he should have offered many apologies; he’d only ever issued a few. “It won’t happen again.”

His bow and arrows beat against his back, but in such close confines, and with so many vampires shuffling about the cave, he couldn’t take the chance of hitting someone on their side with an arrow. It would also be unlikely he’d be able to get off many shots before he was overtaken. The spear was the better option right now, no matter how badly his fingers itched for his bow.

He charged back into the fight, keeping Tempest beside him as he swung the spear at first one vampire and then another, pushing them back. The children and Pallas had all huddled into the back of the cave, sheltered behind some boulders. The flickering light of the torch danced over the rocks as the clash of spears, and the coppery stench of blood filled the cave. Flecks of blood splashed over his face and soaked into his clothes. He worked to carve away the white clothed figures while trying to make his way back to Kane, who was just as ruthlessly cutting his way through the villagers.

He drove his spear through another vampire, and grabbing the vamp’s discarded spear from the ground, he tossed it to the woman with the strawberry colored hair. By his side, Tempest hit a woman who leapt at her with her spear, knocking the woman back. Before the woman could completely regain her footing, Tempest swung the spear low, sweeping her feet out from under her. Not missing a beat, she leapt forward and drove the spear into the woman’s heart.

Fast learner
, he thought with pride.

He spun back to the fight as Kane burst free of the crowd and rushed at him. A grim smile spread across William’s mouth; he braced his legs and swung his spear up. Kane’s spear crashed against his, rattling the wood within his grasp. His fingers clenched on the weapon as he fell back beneath Kane’s furious blows.

He fended them off, wielding the spear with the expertise of his training. His arms ached, his hand vibrated as the spear was beat repeatedly. He turned to the side, avoiding Kane’s lunge and managing to crash his own spear down onto Kane’s back.

The blow should have knocked Kane to his knees, but he managed to catch himself before falling down. William spun the spear so the arrowhead pointed at Kane’s back. The vampire spun and grabbing the bottom of the spear broke the arrow off. It clattered across the stone floor with a rattling
ting
as it spun into the shadows of the cave.

William didn’t have time to recover before Kane’s arms wrapped around his knees and he was dragged down beneath him. His back slammed into the rock; his head crashed off it causing stars to burst before his eyes when his brain rattled against his skull. He almost lost his broken spear, but somehow managed to keep hold of it as Kane scrambled to grab his legs.

Getting his knees in between them, William thrust upward with enough force to dislodge the smaller vamp. Kane rolled away into the darkness as William staggered back to his feet. He looked toward where Tempest and the others stood; the rest of the white cloaked vampires lying about their feet. There were only a handful of the village vampires left, but at least some of them had survived. Tempest’s skin had taken on an ashen hue, blood speckled her cheeks, but she appeared unharmed. His gaze fell on the cowering children.

“Run!” he yelled at them. “Tempest, take the children and
run
!”

It was the mention of the children that finally broke through to her, as he’d known it would. Spinning away, she began to usher the children and others forward with a hurried shooing gesture. “Go!”

William spun toward the shadows as Kane bolted toward him with his shoulders down. He swung his spear up, prepared to drive it into Kane’s back. At the last second, Kane rose up and threw his spear at him. William dodged to the side, but not in time to avoid having the spear tip plunge into his shoulder and burst out the other side.

He bit back a shout of pain, afraid to draw Tempest’s attention to the fight again, but he couldn’t keep back a grunt from the force of the impact. Turning back to face Kane, he didn’t have time to get out of the way as the vampire hurtled across the earth and dove at him. William stumbled back. He realized too late that he’d been standing near the entrance of the cave. With another violent shove from Kane, he lost what was left of his balance and toppled over the edge of the cliff.

***

“William!” Tempest screamed when she saw him tumble away into nothing.

She’d led the others farther into the cave, urging them to run faster, and making sure the children would make it to safety before doubling back to help him fight Kane. She’d been too late to help though, too late to save him. Rage and sorrow left her shaken as tears streamed down her face. The tears fell, but the rage drove her forward with a bellow she’d never expected to come from
herself
.

Quiet and hiding in the shadows all her life, she knew now she’d never be that girl again. No, now there was no hiding from her problems, they had to be faced head on, and this one she planned to face with the ruthlessness of a mountain lion.

She threw her spear at Kane with far more speed than she’d known possible. Kane lunged out of the way, but she didn’t go after him again; she ran to the edge of the cliff and looked over the side. A shelf two hundred feet below had stopped William from plummeting all the way to the bottom of the valley and onto the jagged boulders lining the lake.

His head, twisted to the side, faced a direction that never should have been possible. Blood, seeping from the back of his head, had begun to form a scarlet puddle in the snow. One of his legs was bent behind his body; more blood spilled from where his broken femur had pierced through the flesh of his thigh.

The spear Kane had thrown at him was still embedded in his shoulder, but the broken spear he’d fallen over with had pierced through his chest, close to his heart. It might have pierced his heart she realized with a wave of misery so intense she almost fell to her knees. She couldn’t see his eyes, but she had to believe he was still alive and that the spear had missed.

A choked sob escaped her, if there was a small chance he was alive, she was going to help him and no matter what, she would
not
leave his body down there. Bending, she grabbed hold of the edge of the cliff in order to lower herself over it. A hand snatched her arm, jerking her back before she could go over. A red haze suffused her vision; she turned on Kane with the fury of a hellcat kicking and spitting as she clawed at his face and battered his shins.

“I’ll kill you!” the scream tore from her already raw throat as she threw herself at him, shoving him into the cave wall.

He grabbed at her arms, shoving them down to her sides. Before she could gather herself enough to go back at him, he backhanded her across the face so hard her cheek split open and blood spilled into her mouth. Her hand flew to her cheek; she staggered back and crashed into the rocks.

He leapt at her, clutching her arms. Tearing her away from the cave wall, he threw her to the floor. Tempest bit back a cry as her hands and knees slapped off the stones. Scrambling forward, she tried to regain her feet, but he grabbed hold of the hood of her cloak and yanked her backward. Her fingers clawed at the brooch and cloak cutting into her neck in an attempt to tear it away from her body.

Before she could get the brooch to let go, he lifted her within his arms. His powerful grip crushed her ribcage as he squeezed her. Tempest kicked her feet, trying desperately to connect with some vulnerable part of his body. Swinging her head back, a bellow escaped her when he managed to dodge a blow that would have shattered his nose.

With a sound of disgust, he threw her away from him and onto the floor. Tempest’s fingers scrabbled over the rocks, trying to find some purchase as he grabbed hold of her feet and pulled her toward him. With a brutal jerk, he flipped her over. Her head cracked off the rocks; her vision blurred and pain exploded in her skull.

She fought to stay conscious as he grabbed hold of her wrists with one of his hands and bashed them into the floor with enough force to break a knuckle in her right hand. She tried to buck him off, but his weight upon her was too much, his grip on her stronger than iron.

“No!” she screamed at him, squirming within his grasp as he leered down at her.

His lips skimmed back to reveal his fangs. “I’ve wanted to do this since the first time I saw you,” he murmured as he ran his fingers over the front of her shirt.

Bile filled her mouth; she gulped it back as she renewed her battle to get away from this monster. The slapping of feet bounced off the cave walls. His head lifted as Moira and Abbott rushed out of the shadows toward them. Moira swung her spear out, but Kane grabbed hold of it with his free hand and jerked it from her grasp.

Lifting the spear, he released Tempest’s wrists to swing the weapon at Moira. It cracked against her back, knocking her to the floor. He swung it at Abbott next. Abbott tried to jump out of the way, but he couldn’t avoid his legs being knocked out from under him. His head hit the rock with a solid thwack that made Tempest cringe. He lay, unmoving on the ground.

Tempest sat up, her fingers hooked into claws as she dove at Kane. She dug her nails into his cheeks, raking away strips of skin from his face. She’d been aiming for his eyes but he’d moved at the last second, making her miss the mark. This time he didn’t slap her, but drove his fist into her face so forcefully that her nose shattered from the blow, and she swore she felt a jagged line run through her broken cheekbone. Her head shot back, blackness swirled up around her, looking to embrace her within its endless depths.