Chapter Twenty-Six

Natural Born Rifter-Killers

 

“I have come,” Himself told us, “because the rifters are close to breaking free. You will live in misery like you’ve never known if they are not conquered. And there is only one way to begin their defeat.”

He looked at me.

I blanched. “What do I do?” I asked. Not because I wanted to know, really, but because I had to.

“You will feed the earth your pure blood,” Himself said. “You will awaken the vampires. The true vampires. They are the only ones who can crush the enemy. They are the only ones who can set things right.”

He looked around the room, then settled his gaze on Rhys. “You must do many things. You know them all. And you know the order in which they must be completed.”

Rhys nodded somberly. “I’m weakened by the shifts.”

“I will lend you what I can but even I am limited by your curse.”

Rhys stood, almost as slowly as Himself had sat, and walked to the king. He gave him his hand, and then, with a laboriousness that was hard to watch, he knelt.

I saw it happen. I saw Himself share power with Rhys. I saw Rhys brighten, and I saw his energy return. At least some of it.

When he stood, it was as though he’d never been hurt—but I had no idea how long it would last.

Himself looked at me. “You have your hunters, and you have your master. Natural born rifter-killers all.”

Clayton caressed Blacklight’s gleaming hilt, and there was a fierce, strong pride in his eyes.

“She has given you the silver horn,” Himself told Angus. “The rifters are immune to silver, but they will not be immune to yours.”

He stood and stared down at all of us, Nadine looming and quiet behind him. “You have chosen wisely,” he told me. “Even when you did not know that you were choosing. Go into Willow-Wisp just before the sun is gone tomorrow and release your blood into the earth. Your master will pull you back before you fall. Trust him. Call them. Call them all. The elders believe their prisoners will break free tomorrow night. And we will fight the battle of our lives.”

Himself and Nadine left the same way they’d arrived, leaving a roomful of silence and dread behind.

No one spoke.

Everyone knew we might not survive the battle—at least not all of us.

And then I looked at Shane and began to shake, because when I looked at him, I saw death in his face. And I couldn’t bear it.

Darkness had barely fallen before Amias came into the way station. “Tomorrow, you will come into Willow-Wisp,” he told me. He didn’t approach me. Didn’t try to touch me. Just told me what would happen. “You will bring them back.”

He was shaking, as well. But he trembled with joy. With pure happiness. His eyes were lit with it. His vampires were coming home—alive, healthy, his.

Whatever else loomed, that imminent resurrection was bigger than anything else.

“Amias.” I held out my hand. “I…” I’m sorry I didn’t consider your loss. I’m sorry I didn’t comfort you. I’m sorry I didn’t really understand your grief. “I’m sorry.”

He took my hand, then pulled me to him.

“Why not raise them tonight?” Leo asked.

“Because the humans are going to need at least one night of peace,” I said. “I need to tell them all what’s coming and help them make plans to stay as safe as they can.”

“The humans are not the reason we wait,” Amias told me. “When my children get the first taste of your blood and rise from their deaths, their sickness, and their prisons—from their despair—they will be at their most powerful. That is when they will fight.” He clasped his hands over his chest. “They will be bursting with life and pure blood and eagerness to once again face our most hated enemy.”

And then, he looked at Jamie. He hissed and flashed his fangs, and the sudden power surge in the room caused the lights to flash.

Al stepped in front of him. “He belongs to me. I won’t allow him to be hurt.”

I grabbed the master’s arm and pulled him around to face me, taking his stare off Jamie and Al.

I ran my thumb over his lips, catching the pad on one of his sharp fangs. His nostrils flared at the scent of the blood that beaded on my skin, and I eased my thumb into his mouth. “There is a much more important fight ahead and it doesn’t matter who freed the rifters. Jamie Stone is the reason your vampires are coming back to you.”

He watched me, flicking his tongue over the tiny wound, pulling the taste of my blood into his mouth, into his brain. Finally, he smiled and let my thumb slip from between his lips. “Of course, my love.”

“Get Jamie out of here,” Angus told Alejandro.

“Like taming a wild beast,” Shane said. “Wave some bloody meat under its nose, and you own it.” When Amias shot him a narrow-eyed glare, he shrugged.

Al hurried Jamie from the way station. When he returned to fight, he would leave Jamie at home. “Why did he bring Jamie?” I wondered aloud. “He knew it’d be dangerous.” I glanced at Amias. “Lucky for him you only flashed the lights instead of putting him through a wall.”

Amias lifted an eyebrow. “My power didn’t flash the lights, Trinity. The witch’s did.”

“What? He’s not powerful enough for that.”

“That’s why his master brought him here. He wanted him to absorb the power of the way station. The power of us.”

“Jamie’s ability started to awaken when he used it for his mother,” Leo said. “Alejandro wants to help strengthen it.”

“Yes,” Amias agreed.

I frowned. “Jamie needs a teacher, then. Not a human dominant.”

“Alejandro will handle it,” Rhys assured me. “Don’t worry about Jamie.”

“We need the last two ingredients,” Jin said. “We must finish the potion.”

Amias pulled a tiny wrapped bundle from his pocket and gave it to the impatient Jikininki. “Now the blood,” Jin said. He pulled a small knife from his pocket. “I will take it.”

“No,” Amias said. “I will.”

Jin pursed his lips. “It belongs in the vessel, not in your mouth.”

“I know where it belongs,” Amias said dryly. “I can make it feel good. She would prefer pleasure over pain.”

“Not always,” Shane said, offering me a wink.

Angus sighed. “Somebody get the fucking blood.”

I strode forward, grabbed the blade from Jin, and dragged it over my palm. “There you go.”

The men gathered around as my blood dripped into the vessel. The instant it hit the other ingredients, they began to smoke, then to melt, and finally, to combine with the blood in a thick, boiling soup.

Jin stirred enthusiastically, lips tight, jaw clenched, eyes bright, and I wondered if he might try to steal a taste if he got a chance.

“That is all we need,” Jin told me. “Tend your wound.”

Clayton walked with me to the sink, where he gently washed the blood from between my fingers, then pressed a cloth to the wound. “It doesn’t want to stop bleeding.”

“I will stop it,” Amias said. He took my hand from Clayton, and my breath caught as he ran his tongue over the wound. It sealed with a hiss and a quick, cold burn, but he didn’t release my hand. He kissed my fingers, not taking his stare from mine.

“The beauty of you shines from your eyes,” he said quietly. “Even without our bond, I would have loved you.”

There was something new in the master’s eyes. Something enticing. Not vampire allure, but pure seductive male heat.

But still, the sadness remained. Sadness for me.

When I returned to the table and peered into the pot, I saw that the soup had become a thick, somewhat fluffy mass that resembled dark red clay. Jin broke off pieces and handed each of us a chunk. “You have only to pinch off a small piece and fling it at a demon. It will stick to him and will be impossible for him to detach. He will not trouble you further. Store it somewhere safe, and carry a small amount with you always. You will need it at unexpected times.”

“Can we make something to defeat the rifters?” I joked. “With their power, we may need a little extra help.”

“You’ll have it,” the giant said. “There is no rifter that can stand against me.”

But Leo’s power wouldn’t differentiate between friend or foe. In a battle where vampires fought rifters, Leo couldn’t use his power to kill rifters without also killing vampires. And that was the weakness of his ability.

Still, it was magnificent, and if we got an advantage over the rifters, it would likely be because Leo fought with us.

“I’ll be careful,” Leo said, as though he’d read my mind.

I nodded. “I need to let the humans know we defeated the demons and prepare them for tomorrow night.”

“We all have to prepare,” Rhys said. Then he looked around, catching each of us in his glance. He didn’t have to say what he was thinking.

That moment right there might very well be the last moment we were all together, all safe, all alive. We weren’t being pessimistic. It was simply a grim truth.

Rhys leaned forward and kissed me. He gave me a kiss that made me forget I was in a hurry to get to the city.

I held his face between my palms and pressed my body against his, but even as I felt him begin to grow hard against me, he pulled away.

“I’m tired of waiting,” I murmured.

“Our time will come, love.” He put his lips against my ear. “We are so fucking close.”

I shuddered as his promise slid into my ear, and suddenly the room was full of tension. Desire shot through my body and pooled between my legs. I moaned, and my fingers tightened reflexively around his arms.

He straightened and smiled down at me, his stare hot enough to set me on fire. “I can’t get you ready for me, but I can get you ready for them.”

He wasn’t lying.

I wanted to forget the coming dark battle. I wanted to forget the death in Shane’s face. I wanted to forget that we might have one last night of peace before horror arrived.

And I wanted to do it in the arms of my men.