William (3 page)

Growls and curses rang through the bar, all in agreement. There were no more witches.

Don cut them off by raising his hand. Silence came instantly. All of them were happy to shout and curse at the Valentines, but for Don, they shut up.

“This shit real?” Don asked.

“More real than you could ever imagine. I had her in my arms. I saw the power she’s got. What she’s capable of,” William confirmed, his sincerity and adoration obvious to everyone.

Adam saw Don nod and look at each customer in turn, assessing the room.

“Who took her?” Don finally asked after a pause. A simple question, but all the immortals in the room looked at each other for the answer.

“The Alpha wolf, James. The same night he murdered my father,” William replied.

“Shit,” Don cursed.

Adam didn’t have a clue what the older man was swearing at.

“What has the witch got to do with you?” the older man asked.

“I promised to take care of her,” William answered.

“I swear we don’t know anything here. This is a place for us all to come, relax and drink,” Don told the Valentine men.

Adam looked around at the clientele again. They were all nodding. He wondered what the hell William was going to do. The man was on the edge. There was no predicting him anymore.

William glared around the room. Tonight had turned into another dead end, more useless information that led him nowhere. Not only had it led him nowhere, but straight into a fight with Don Hargreaves, the warrior who had supported his father back in the day, helping to support the alliance between the species. Back when they hadn’t fought each other but had worked to protect each other and to build peace.

It seemed that Don had succeeded where their father had failed. His bar offered a place of safety for any immortal, with the promise that they would be protected by the warrior himself.

Wiping his brow, he felt the blood dripping down his face. He welcomed the rush of pain, the first real feeling he’d had since Katie had been taken from him.

“Any information you get, let me know?” William asked.

Don hesitated for a split second, then nodded. Satisfied with his answer, William turned to the room at large.

“I don’t believe all of you are as innocent as you claim. Let the word on the street spread. Tell James, Alpha of the Beyer West Pack, that William Valentine is looking for him and he wants blood. I’m bringing this war to his door. That witch dies and his pack is forfeit.”

William made sure his message was clear to all. They looked like a combination of scared and pissed off civilians. Quite frankly, he didn’t give a fuck—he was on a mission and anyone who stepped in his way was about to have their life turned upside down.

“See you around,” he said to Don, moving towards the door.

“How’s your mother?”

The question took him by surprise. Turning around, he saw Don had shut down, a neutral expression firmly in place.

“She’s coping as best she can.” At least, that was what Adam had told him earlier.

“Send my regards.”

William acknowledged Don, nodding one last time before leaving the bar.

Flicking open his phone, William placed a call. The phone rang and rang and, finally, on the last ring, someone picked up.

“You gave me wrong information. I’m coming for you.” He flipped the phone closed and started walking away. Humans moved out of his way. They must be able to see the evil within. It was just beneath the surface, like a second skin.

Adam caught up with him and walked beside him, emanating anger.

William kept walking, steering them down an abandoned side street, the only place nearby suitable for a stand-off. Younger brother or not, William was on a mission and he intended to complete it.

“Why are you here?” he asked.

Adam shrugged.

Irritated, William repeated himself. He didn’t like his questions to go unanswered.

“Robert sent me. He wants you home,” Adam admitted.

William laughed, sounding hysterical. “And Robert thinks you’re the one to do it,” he mocked.

William didn’t know why he was intent on hurting Adam, but he wanted him away from him. He no longer felt safe to be around. William could feel the beast rising inside him with every passing second that Katie was away from him. If he wasn’t careful, William knew he would hurt Adam.

His sense of her had melted when James had taken her. The only way Katie could be this invisible to him was if she was protected by a spell. Impossible, as Katie was the only known witch. But James had done
something
to keep her emotions, their connection, locked away.

“Robert is a little busy at the moment,” Adam growled in reply. William turned back at his brother’s words. William frowned, wondering what he’d said.

Several seconds later, he realised.

That’s it, little brother, be angry with me. I can deal with anger.

“I’m sure having his little mate Sophie waiting in the wings to take care of his problems and dealing with being head of the council is really busy work.” The sarcasm leaked from his tone.

His taunting was having the effect he desired. Adam’s hand was fisted at his side. He looked ready to pounce. William needed to give him a little more ammunition to fuel the anger. He wanted to get rid of his brother and, by showing him his lack of caring, hopefully Adam would lose interest. 

“Don’t diss Sophie. She’s been fantastic throughout all this. Which you’d see if you came home.”

William didn’t doubt it. She might be small but she was one tough gal, just like his Katie.

“Well I’ve got stuff to do—”

“What? Your crusade of trying to get yourself killed? Do you think Mum needs to deal with your little martyr complex?” Adam growled at him.

William tensed. His brother had no idea what was going on. Saving Katie was more than a martyr complex. He’d begun the mating ritual that distant night, long ago. She owned his heart and soul and he wouldn’t rest until she lay safe and protected in his arms.

“Go back to Robert and give him your report.” William dismissed him.

“Always the coward’s way out,” Adam hissed at his retreating back.

William reacted, spinning around and slamming Adam against the opposite wall. The brick building shifted. Any more pressure on the building and it would fall to the ground around their ears.

“What the fuck are you saying?” William’s fangs sprang out, his aggression ready to find a target.

“You’re nothing but a coward,” Adam yelled the words at him, pressing against the arms that held him against the shaking building.

“You’d better be thankful you’re my brother—”

“Or what?” Adam interrupted him.

William was tempted to hit him, but as soon as the thought came to him he dropped his arms. He would never—could never—hurt his brothers or sisters. A small amount of control was coming back to him. Where moments ago he’d wanted to hurt his brother—to do damage—the idea now repulsed him. An image of Katie smiling at him broke into his mind, fracturing him into a million pieces. She would be ashamed of him if she saw William attacking his own brother.

William sagged and let Adam go, the shame of what he’d been about to do to his brother filling him with utter regret.

“Come home,” Adam pleaded.

“I can’t,” he whispered.

Adam shook his head and William could see the exasperation in his face.

“We’ll figure this out—you, me, Robert and Jason. We’ll have the council backing us.”

William shook his head. “This is my battle.”

Adam sighed.

William stood waiting. He needed to make sure Adam was okay to get home—he couldn’t have his life on his conscience. The last thing he needed was to take his anger out on his little brother.

“Why, Will?”

Will, a small word he hadn’t heard in such a long time. The last person who had called him Will had been Emma, on the day of her death.

Emma, the other witch he’d failed—the other bonded mate he’d lost to the alpha wolf.

Shaking his head, William looked at his brother. Adam had aged in the weeks since their father’s murder. Strange, considering that vampires aged at a slower rate than humans. William could see the outline of too much crap and not enough time to deal written all over Adam. His stance—his very energy—had changed.

He shook his head. This was not how their lives were supposed to be.

“I promised her I’d keep her safe,” he said.

“The witch?” Adam said.

She’s more than a witch. Katie is my salvation.

“I promised her, gave my word, and this is something I’ve got to do. Alone,” he added for good measure.

Shaking his head, Adam looked at him. William stared back. He’d nothing to hide. This was what he had to do.

“What makes you think she’s still alive?” Adam tried to reason with him.

Because I can still feel her. I would know if she’d died—no magic in the world would be able to mask that.

“I know,” William replied.

Adam hesitated, glancing up and down the street. “Call Robert, okay?” he said.

William nodded. He’d phone Robert at some point but he wasn’t ready to talk to his older brother just yet.

Robert had everything he wanted, while William was still hunting for what was his.

Adam sighed and William watched him disappear around the corner. The younger man shouldn’t be worrying about this. He was no part of this war. William didn’t want to be part of this war, either. He wanted to be with his mate and at peace.

Life didn’t always go to plan.

William waited for a few moments, until he could no longer sense his brother nearby. He took time to gaze at the moon and the stars.

The stars, lonely and bright in the sky, with so much space to immerse themselves in.

“William.”

The words whispered through his mind. He tensed, spinning around, trying to see who had spoken his name. No sign of life down the alley. William frowned but went back to looking at the night sky.

“William, help me.”

He held his head as a sharp pain zapped through his skull. He screamed, lost and alone in the empty street.

Her voice—Katie’s voice was speaking to him.

He collapsed to his knees, crying out in agony, not only from the pain in his head but from the pain piercing his heart as well. 

“Where are you?” he asked the empty space.

For the first time since her disappearance, he sensed her emptiness, her lack of life, her resignation. She didn’t believe he would come and get her.

“I’m coming, Katie. I’ll never give up.” He muttered the words to no one but himself.

William prayed that she would hear him, that she would feel his determination to get her back. Feel the love filling his heart.

But there was no answer. The buzzing in his head disappeared as if it had never been there, the pain leaving his body. William mourned the loss. He would have borne any pain to know that she was there, in some distant part of his mind.

Was Katie trying to connect with him somehow? He didn’t know.

Was he imagining her trying to reach out? Had his insanity taken hold and ruined his already scrambled mind?

He would never give up, no matter what.

William got up from the ground and walked down the alley until he was out in the open street. Dawn was fast approaching and he had a few more spots to hit before the night was over.

Only then would he allow himself time alone.

Time spent dreaming about her.

Poppy watched the men from a secluded corner of the street. They were certainly not human, but then as soon as she’d seen them at the bar she’d known who they were. The Valentines were hard to miss. Their reputation preceded them—gorgeous and all deadly. At least, these two were sexy and dangerous.

She tensed, tempted to move from her secluded spot when she saw the crazy one—William—turn on his brother, the one with the sandy hair and shockingly expressive face. An aged vampire who still wore his emotions on his face was someone she would love to meet.

She tensed, wondering what she was supposed to do. She didn’t want to see him hurt. He looked like he could handle himself but he was fighting his brother, being pressed against the brick building by the crazy vampire.

Moments later, after a brief talk that she didn’t quite catch but that looked important enough to have the crazy vampire retreating into himself, she watched the other man leave. Moving down the street, pausing for a second to glance her way. Poppy felt her heart stop as his piercing green eyes sought out the darkened corner, scanning the area for a foe. Unable to sense anything—she wasn’t his enemy—he moved on, not even giving her the time of day.

No man gave her the time of day.

Her eyes went back to William. He was broken, she could see that, but he was hurting and she understood the pain. Why couldn’t anyone else see his raw need to find his mate? She could, and she wished she could help him, but she wasn’t here to help one Valentine. She was here to help in the fight against the wolves and the coming war.

Once William was preoccupied with looking at the moon, Poppy made her escape and followed the other man. The intriguing one. She had no clue why she was risking her life but she had learnt something, even if it had been through eavesdropping.

As he turned to look behind him she ducked behind a nearby bin.

Once he continued walking, she followed him again. He was moving faster now. She tried to keep up. She closed her eyes for a moment as her hair fell across her face. When she opened them again, he was gone. Poppy panicked—her information was important. She’d got some bloody, fresh scars from the witch who’d told her where to go. The Valentines needed her.

The air rushed out of her as she was pulled against a firm body. One hand seized her neck in a death grip while the other roamed her body at the same time as pushing her against the wall.

“Why are you following me?” her captor demanded as he moved his hand down her body. Poppy shrieked as he cupped one of her breasts.

She struggled against him even as her nipple came to attention. Now was not a great time for her hungry body to come alight. The man was ready to choke her, for crying out loud.