Adele

Once we landed, Zion hustled me off the plane and onto an asphalt runway. The night sky twinkled with stars telling me we were far from any major cities and a cool wind twined itself in my hair. A glimmer of pre-dawn gray streaked across the far horizon. Somehow things had moved fast enough that it was still night.

I sniffed, testing the air. Nothing but dry dust and jet fuel filled my senses. I didn't catch any living things like trees or animals.

"Where are we? The moon?"

"Quiet," Zion barked. He grabbed my hands, pinning them under one arm. Pulling a pair of sleek leather gloves from his pocket with his free hand, he put them on, wiggling and stretching his fingers until they were snug. Then he dug into his other pocket for what, I didn't want to know. I closed my eyes and reached for the moon, wanting to augment my strength like I had back in Huntsville. I was determined to fight, but Zion trumped that by slapping something across my arms. Opening my eyes, I found silver wrapped around my wrists. My fledgling connection with the moon disappeared, replaced with a sting that burned through my body like venom.

In my head, my wolf's presence waned until she was as faded as a ghost. He'd bound me in thin, almost gossamer chains and fastened them in place with a small padlock so fast I didn't even have time to blink. I tried to pull my arms apart, which did nothing other than causing the chains to dig into my skin, making the stinging worse. The chains might have been thin, but they affected me like an anchor, weighing me down, sapping my strength. I wouldn't be breaking free.

I growled at him. "Silver? Your bite isn't enough?"

"Any time you want to find out how big my bite is, I'm game." Zion shot a cold smile at me as he let me go.

"Take off the silver and let's find out." I waved my bound hands at him, pleased to see him take a step back. "I see you don't like the silver either. What if I just chased you around?" Silver stung vamps just as much as wolves, although I couldn't say what it did to their powers. I hadn't been there or done that...yet. Right now seemed like a great time to try it, though.

I lunged for him and he danced away, his eyebrows pinched together in annoyance. A picture formed in my mind of me looping my arms over his head and pressing the silver against his throat until it cut through his spine. I widened my stance, preparing to launch myself at him again.

But he cut me off before I could move. "Stop."

His compulsion hit me like a cement wall, immovable and thick. My body froze in place. "Oh, crap," I muttered to myself. So much for that plan. I strained to move of my own accord and went nowhere. Zion had locked me down tight.

"Follow me. Keep your hands down."

My hands dropped and pressed into my lower stomach as if he'd glued them there. My feet dutifully trudged after him. I did my best to regain control of my body, but couldn't shake off Zion's bite. He was in my blood, I was in his. There was no way out. Not unless he gave me an opening.

We crunched over the gravel toward a sleek black Mercedes idling at the end of the runway. As we went, I saw our plane wasn't alone. Rows of air craft—small planes, private jets—lined a field next to the runway. I counted across and then down all the rows I could see, quickly doing the math. Well over a hundred aircraft possibly all belonging to vampires.

"Get in the car and sit." Zion's orders hit my blood and took over my body. I opened the passenger door, twisting this way and that to reach the handle since I still couldn't lift my hands, and plopped into the back seat.

Zion joined me on the other side and waved for the driver to go. The car rolled away from the runway and picked up speed once we reached the gravel road leading away from the airport.

"You can't tell me what to do forever." I tried to move my arms, but they remained stuck.

"You'll do whatever I want you to," he said, pulling out his phone and thumbing through various screens. He pointedly ignored me for the rest of the ride and I let it go. Words would not set me free—freedom required weapons to separate Zion from essential body parts. Unless he renounced his claim on me like Davian had or some serious weaponry fell into my lap, I was stuck with him.

And with my luck, I'd just collect another shadow to lay over my wolf. I might never be truly free of Zion. It hadn't worked that way with Davian.

The Mercedes drove along a barren countryside, marked primarily by rocks and low shrub. I squinted out the car window. We could be in the desert. That would make sense. Or some kind of dead zone, one that vampires had created themselves to deter humans.

A few minutes later, the ground changed, rising instead of staying flat. We wound our way up a massive mountain and then into a tunnel, lit with dim yellow lights that did little to counter the dark. The tunnel was flat for just a few hundred feet and then corkscrewed narrowly down into the mountain.

Without guardrails, the sheer drop off looked ready to swallow us whole. It didn't help that I couldn't see more than a few feet down, the lights didn't go much further than that, but I had no doubt it was a long way to the bottom. I refused to look in an effort to convince myself we weren't about to fall over the side and to our deaths.

Or at least my death. I doubted I would survive a high velocity squishing, but casting a speculative glance at Zion, I considered that maybe a vampire could. Especially if he lapped up the blood that would ooze out of my pancaked body.

We reached the bottom without dying and the road evened out, going flat again. From there, we drove through an underground neighborhood and I watched it pass by with wide eyes. Illuminated by tall lamp posts, single story houses lined the street. Instead of grass, gravel covered the ground. There weren't any flowers or trees, but some of the rocks glowed in pretty patterns.

"What the hell?"

"Welcome to the City Oscura," Zion said.

"How big is this place?" I blinked, trying to see into the distance. I'd expected a big cave, but this was much more than that. It was a city in every sense of the word.

"We're as big as a medium-size human city."

"Holy shit. There are that many vampires on this planet?"

"More than vampires live here."

"Like who?"

"Anyone who doesn't want to be seen by the human world. Here, our secrets are safe. No one can see us and we have freedom to live our lives.

"Why did you ever leave if you are so free?" Huntsville had nothing to offer compared to this City Oscura. What made him think Appalachia was the ticket to a happy life?

"Because the human world has delights we do not."

"You mean blood slaves, don't you?"

"There's more to the human world than blood."

"Are there other places like this?" Two loud motorcycles overtook the car and zipped past us. I jumped at the loud roar of their engines. After that, the quiet neighborhood gave way to busy streets with all sorts of storefronts. It was disappointingly human: Chinese restaurants, massage parlors, movie theaters, retail stores.

I tracked the roads and all the turns we took, committing them to memory. The second I saw an opening, I would be gone. Yeah, Zion had his fangs sunk into me deep, but somehow, I would find a way out. This wasn't going to be my life. No way. I would rather die.

"At least one on every continent," Zion said. "The history of the various dark cities stretches back centuries. We have always hidden underground."

Unable to move my hands, I used my chin to point to the streetlights. "But now you have electricity. Welcome to the modern era, fang boy."

"Don't call me fang boy."

I ignored him. "Do you get cable down here?"

He shook his head. "We stream over the internet."

"Huh. Interesting." I couldn't help but try to imagine what it was like to live in the City Oscura. It looked like all the major conveniences were here. Someone could stay down here almost forever so long as the supplies—food, people—came in regularly. The only thing missing was the sun. "Where are we going?"

"My home."

"When's the auction?" I wanted to know how much time I had.

"You'll know when it's time."

I rolled my eyes at his enigmatic response, but let it go. Maybe I could get it out of the driver or someone else. Zion couldn't keep something like the auction under wraps forever.

***

Zion's house turned out to be a bona fide mansion with large grounds made up of gravel arranged in elaborate rock designs that glowed neon pink, blue, purple, red, green and yellow. It was pretty, like a nightmare dressed up to look better than it really was.

A fountain bubbled in the middle of the front yard. Different colored lights moved through the water like a drowning rainbow. The house soared three stories. White stucco swirled around the building and the windows had shutters that were probably gilded in gold given how much they gleamed in the light from several lamp posts scattered across the yard.

A big, tall dude came out of the house at our arrival. He smiled at me and I caught a glimpse of the tips of his fangs. Another vampire. Just what I needed. 

"Ah, good, Larry is ready for us."

The car stopped and the driver opened Zion's door while Larry opened mine and dragged me out by the elbow.

"I have a new guest for cell B," Zion said.

"Full chains, boss?" he asked, jerking me so close, my shoulder and hip pressed into him.

"Yes. Be careful with her, Larry. She's very valuable and a huge pain in the ass at the same time."

"It was you who came for me, not the other way around, remember? You're causing your own pain in the ass," I said.

"Quiet," Zion said putting power into the word.

I snapped my mouth shut, but that didn't keep an angry growl from rolling out of my chest.

He smirked at me. "You can growl, but you can't bite, she-wolf." To Larry, he said, "Take her. I'll be back to check on her in a bit. I have a meeting."

Larry nodded that he understood and dragged me past Zion then, hustling me through the front door and into a foyer with marble floors and furniture with gilded legs. The ceilings held intricate floral designs made of plaster and painted with more gold. Crystal chandeliers cast a muted light in the hallway.

On our way to the back of the house, I caught a glimpse of a living room with a huge white sofa, a lot of what had to be expensive art and a baby grand piano. After that came the dining room with maroon walls, more ornate art work and a white table with matching chairs.

We went through the kitchen which had white marble floors instead of the more customary tile or linoleum. The cabinets were—what else?—white and topped with the same white marble that made up the floor. It was pristine which made me think it never saw any use. It wasn't like vampires needed a kitchen. I looked at the stainless-steel fridge and my stomach grumbled at me. It had been hours since I'd eaten, and with all the fighting and stress, I was starving.

"You got anything to eat in this place?" I asked, pointing at the fridge. I froze and blinked at my hand. I could move again. Zion's compulsion had faded. Interesting. I waved my hands around a few times just to be sure. Yep. He could only compel me so far. Well, that was good news.

The vampire shook his head and hustled me along.

"I'm a shifter, you know. A werewolf, to be precise. I need to eat." I gestured toward my mouth. Now that I had my hands back, I couldn't keep still.

"There will be food later," he ground out in a gravelly voice.

I brightened at that. At least I wouldn't die of hunger down here.

He guided me to a door at the far end of the kitchen where he grabbed a ring of keys hanging on a hook. Shoving the keys into his pocket, he opened the door and pushed me forward. "Go."

I blinked at the stone staircase that stretched before me, a thin iron railing to the side the only thing to hold on to. They'd kept us in the basement at the strip club, too. "Why is it always the basement?" I asked. "Does dark, stale air make blood taste better?"

Larry ignored my questions and prodded me forward. "Down. Now."

Taking the first step, I asked, "If I'm in cell B, who's in cell A? Anyone I know?"

"You talk too much. Be quiet." He couldn't compel me like Zion could, but he gave me a none-too-gentle punch to the back of my spine that shut me up pretty quick.

I went down the stairs, caught between cell B and Zion's minion at my back. I had to do something, but what? I was weak, thanks to the silver chains. Zion had laid claim to my blood, and even if his hold on me faded with time and distance or whatever, having a vampire out there who could tell me what to do was like having a stalker with a serious penchant for micromanagement.

I almost stopped short at the realization that, even if I got away, I had no idea where I would go. Huntsville wouldn't want me after what Zion had done. The pack of my birth had too many bad memories.

I could live with my sister in her new pack. A pang went through me at the thought of Lia, my beautiful sister who deserved every good thing in the world. If only I could stop dragging her through hell with me. If I asked, she would help. No matter what, I knew I could count on her, but she didn't owe me that.

I'd sworn after the blood slave ring that I would never put her in the middle again. No more midnight calls for help. Or panicked texts. She'd almost died because of my bad decisions. And was that going to be my life? Running to my older sister so she could make it better?

No. I had to stand on my own two feet.

Which meant, I had a minute at best to take out Larry before he locked me up for who knew how long and to what end. Unfortunately, I was no match for a snail let alone a big, hulking vampire.

The stairs ended and a long narrow hallway stretched in front of me. If I squinted, I could make out doors at regular intervals running the length of the basement. Classic vampire design. Lots of doors and underground. It would be the strip club all over again and I wasn't going to repeat history without a fight. It was time to do something to save myself.

"Hey, did Zion tell you?" I spun around, my chest thrust out to exaggerate what bosom I had.

"What?"

"I'm an addict."

"So?" He shrugged.

"I crave vampires. Did you know that was a thing?" I went up to him and bumped my chest into his. "And I'm dying over here." I let my gaze drop to where our bodies touched. "Aren't you hungry, Larry?"

He grabbed my shoulders, picked me up and set me down facing the direction he wanted me to go in. He shoved me along the hallway, uninterested. "Just go."

I turned back around to face him and tried a different approach. All I needed was an in, and I could take him, I could feel it. I'd done my share of scamming. He had easy mark written all over him. "You don't look like a Larry."

"Let's go." He tried to turn me by the shoulders again, but I twisted away from his hands.

"How about Lars? I like the sound of that, don't you? It's big and strong just like you."

He kept moving me deeper into the basement, but interest flickered in his eyes and he actually responded. "I like it."

Oh, good. He'd cracked. I almost felt sorry for him. Larry wasn't the brightest vampire ever made. They should hand out IQ tests before turning folks. Maybe afterwards, too.

"Why don't we find out what else I can do that you'll like? What do you say, Lars?" I slowed down until he caught up to me, nudging him with my hip. Arching my neck, I bared my throat. "I'm so weak from these chains. You could do anything to me and I can't stop you."

Lust filled Larry's dark eyes. Did I know what vampires liked or what? Probably because they were addicts themselves. They'd do almost anything for fresh blood, and I knew exactly how that desperation worked.

I jerked my head toward the hall. "Does my cell have a bed?"

Larry nodded.

"Let's test it out, shall we?" I stalked off down the hallway, putting an extra sway into my hips.

The first several doors stood ajar and I caught glimpses of bare rooms with chains on the walls.  Each door had a letter and E, D, C were all empty. But B waited for me just a few feet farther down, the door half open. Beyond that stood a shut door with a black letter A in the center. Who was in there? Would I be able to talk with them? And if I was successful in my bid for freedom, should I let them out, too? Was any prisoner of Zion's my friend?

Ugh. I had no idea what was what. Cell A could be full of nightmares or a life saving ally. Decisions, decisions.

At the threshold of Cell B, I turned around and pressed my back against the wall opposite the door. "Kiss me, Lars. I can't wait."

He hesitated.

I showed him the chains binding my wrists together. "I'm totally helpless, remember? I can't hurt a fly let alone a strong vampire like you." Reaching out, I grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him toward me. "Or don't you want me?"

"No, it's not that. It's just—"

"Shh. Zion's not here. He'll never know, and it's not like we're together. If we were, he wouldn't tie me up, right? We're not friends and definitely not lovers. I'm just a lonely werewolf and I need a fang fix bad. I wouldn't let Zion touch me, ever, but you, you're different." I smushed my lips into his. He didn't respond at first, but after a second, his mouth moved under mine, and his fangs scraped the thin skin of my bottom lip.

Once I had him focused on our kiss, I slowly moved a hand to his front pocket, and ignoring the way the silver burned with every movement, I lifted the keys to the basement. One of my junkie boyfriends had been an accomplished pickpocket, and I'd learned a few tricks. I tucked the keys into the front pocket of my pants, covering any noise they made with throaty moans. Then I pushed Larry back, guiding him into the cell.

In between kisses, I said, "Let's get naked and bloody. What do you say, Lars?"

He gave an anxious nod, lips roving over my face. I nudged him with my hip, encouraging him to move toward the cell. He went wherever I wanted him to go, too distracted by my promise of sex and blood to notice. It was sad. Vampires would never be free of their addictions.

When we reached the threshold of the cell, I gave him one hard shove and slammed the door shut. The lock clicked home followed by Larry's confused, "Hey! Wh-what happened?"

"You thought with your fangs, Larry. That's what happened," I called through the door.

"Let me out." His body thudded against the door. It shuddered but held.

"I wasn't going to let you suck me, so what makes you think I would let you out?" I shook my head and turned my attention to cell A. Poor Larry. He didn't keep up well.

Banging on the door, I shouted, "Who's in there?"

"Adele? Is that you?"

My heart sucker punched my ribs. I knew that voice. I knew why it knew my name, too.

"Davian?" I stepped back on wobbly knees. My pulse revved like a race car in my chest, driven by the sudden appearance of the one man I could never let go, the one man who walked away without looking back. "Davian?" I asked again.

"Leave me, Adele. You need to be gone before Zion comes back. You shouldn't have come."

"I didn't choose to be here, believe me." I sorted through the keys, looking for the one that would open the door standing between me and Davian. None of them were marked though, so I had to test them one by one, fighting against the silver chain binding my wrists.

Just my luck. The very last key was the one. I inserted it in the lock and swung the door open.

The man I thought I'd never see again stared at me, his dark eyes brooding. Black jeans hugged his muscular legs and a T-shirt, also black, traced the outline of his powerful chest. He looked good. I had to clench my hands into fists to keep from running over to him.

"Davian?" I didn't know whether to slap him or kiss him. I settled for taking a step back. If I lost it and threw myself at him, more distance meant more time to gain control of myself. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same of you," he muttered as he poked his head into the hallway and scanned it.

"We're alone. Except for Larry, but he's locked up." I pointed to Cell B. "As for what I'm doing here, Zion went on a murder spree in Huntsville and grabbed me. Your turn."

Davian blinked at me, processing what I'd said.

"The weird thing is Zion didn't tell me you were here," I said.

"He probably wanted to see what we would do," Davian said.

"But why?" I drank in the sight of Davian. The wave of his dark hair, the high cheekbones and full lips. It hurt to see him again.

"He's telling everyone I had something to do with all those shifters who were killed," said Davian.

"I know. He brought me here to tell the council that."

He cocked his head, his expression confused. "But you were passed out. You couldn't have seen anything."

"You ran the whole thing. It was you," I said.

Davian stared deep into my eyes. "Did he tell you that?"

The question sparked a turmoil of uncertainty. My thoughts whirled, fast and impossible to pin down. I should know something, but I couldn't think what it was. I frowned. "I saw you?"

He shook his head. "Zion's compelled you to think that. We're both going to die if he has his way."

"If it wasn't you, then who killed them? Do you know?" I knew Davian had done it, that he was lying, but something made me ask anyway. Maybe I wanted to know what he would say.

"Zion. It was always him."

"But why would you blame Zion?"

"I'm not blam—" He stopped short and just sighed before saying, "It's the three Ps of the undead: Politics, power and profit."

"Oh." The economics of blood hit me in the gut. I'd just been a thing, an entry in a ledger sheet somewhere, my blood a fountain of money, my life worth only what someone was willing to pay. "So which P did you kill them for?"

"Adele, did you see me kill anyone?"

I thought and drew a blank. I shut my eyes and dug deeper. "I remember when we first met and the kissing and the...thing on the bed later."

"But no murder."

I shook my head.

"I know you've been told to believe differently, but you're going to have to trust me. It was Zion and he's in it for all three Ps."

"I don't like Zion," I said, finding common ground between what he said and what I knew.

"Same here."

"So, he ran a blood ring and you ran a blood ring, too?"

Davian sighed again. "No. Just Zion. He's a bad guy."

"Yeah. He is." I sucked in a mouthful of air and let it out slowly. "Now what do we do? You're free, but Zion's got his fangs into me and they're going to kill you for what you did to those shifters."

"I didn't...oh, never mind." Davian sighed yet again.

"You're breathing an awful lot for a vampire. Are you okay?"

"Yes, but Zion biting you is a complication."

I nodded. "Yup. I have to kill him. I mean, I was going to kill him anyway because of what he did to my new pack, but I really have to kill him now that we've swapped blood, you know?" I held up my hands. "Can you help me with these?"

Davian stepped close to me and examined the lock holding the silver chain in place. My heart thumped hard against my ribs, responding to his presence. I flushed, knowing he could hear it.

"I can break it." He tucked his hands into the hem of his shirt and picked up a section away from the lock. He gave a sharp, hard pull and the links gave way with a metallic snap.

"Thanks," I said.

He unwound the last of the chains with quick, deft movements to minimize contact with the metal. "You're welcome."

Was it my imagination, or had his gaze locked with mine longer than was absolutely necessary?

"What do we do now?" I asked. "Wait here for Zion?"

Davian chucked the chain into his cell. "No."

"Why not? Isn't that easier than going after him?"

In response, he pointed up to the ceiling.

"What?" It took a second, but when I saw it, my heart sank. "He's got surveillance down here." Of course he did.

"Yes. At the very least, Zion knows we're loose. If we wait, he'll have a whole squadron of vampires come take us down."

"We should get out of here then."

"That's our best option. We'll deal with him later, when he's alone. Come on." Davian headed for the stairs that led up to the main level of the house. "Let's get moving before they pin us in down here."

I hurried after him. "Where are we going?"

"I've got a place where he won't find us."

"Oh, really?"

"Come here." He held out his arms. "We're going to have to move fast and I don't want to lose you."

He reached out and grabbed me when I didn't move, scooping me up into his arms. I tried not to relax into his strength, but damned if it didn't feel good to be this close to him. My wolf despised cats, but she was purring loud as a pride of lions. She'd always liked Davian. Maybe a little more than I had.

Weirdly, the dark blob that had become my wolf's constant companion had thickened and darkened, too. Damn, but I wished that thing would leave me alone. I didn't want to carry around my own personal black cloud everywhere I went.

Davian hugged me tight against him, and with a quick flex of his thighs, the hardness of which bumped my backside, he jumped up the flight of stairs. Using his shoulder, he pushed the door open. The kitchen sat still and empty in front of us. If anyone was watching us on the surveillance cameras, they didn't seem to care we were leaving.

"Where is everyone?" I asked.

Davian shook his head. "I don't know, but let's not look for trouble."

He darted for the back door of the house, going so fast everything streamed by like someone had smeared it all together. I held my breath and clutched Davian tight. When we crossed the threshold into the musty cool air of the massive cave that housed the City Oscura, I let myself breathe normally again.

I'd escaped Zion and found the one vampire I couldn't get out of my mind. Being close to him soothed me like a balm. All the jittery edges that had poked at me the last few months instantly smoothed over in Davian's presence. I didn't know what to make of it, but the utter relief was the best drug I'd ever had.

Davian paused for a second, scanning the backyard. Zion had another gurgling pong and more rocks along with a nice set of wicker patio furniture. Lamp posts bathed the yard in soft, yellow light. Other than that, it was deserted.

"Did you really relinquish your claim on me?" I asked. "Because I still feel something with you."

"It's just an echo," he said.

He began to run again, this time out of the backyard, his gaze focused in front of us. He jumped the low slung fence at the back of the property and headed straight for the cave wall, aiming for a narrow crevice. Once there, he ducked inside. I tried to make myself smaller and held him even tighter. This wasn't the city anymore. It was pure cave, the wilds of the City Oscura.

Davian slowed down to a walk and I looked out into the dark. My night vision was good, but it relied on some light from the moon and stars. In the total darkness of the City Oscura, I couldn't see anything but black.

I filled the silence between us. It wasn't enough to be in his arms, I wanted more. He needed to understand that. "It doesn't feel like an echo. More like a sledgehammer. I-I haven't done well without you, Davian."

His grip on me tightened. "Are you using? Don't lie to me, Adele."

I shook my head. "I want to though. Every day I'm without you."

"I thought the healer was taking care of that?"

"So did I. But I think..." I trailed off unwilling to say it. He wouldn't like it.

Davian slowed to a stop. "You think what?"

"You were everything I needed," I said softly. "And then you left."

"Oh, Adele." He crushed me against him, his lips gently brushing against mine. "I can't be that for you."

"Why did you leave me like that?" The memory of that night flooded my brain. I'd been bound in silver to keep me contained while Marie worked to free me of Davian's influence. He'd shown up, not to save me as he'd promised but to tell me he was letting me go. Not anyone's idea of a good time.

"What would you like me to do? I'm a servant of the Vampire Council and I'm currently on their shit list. I don't get a choice. You do. Would you want to live here with the likes of Zion as a neighbor?"

"If you hate it so much, why do you stay?"

"Because your world isn't mine. I don't belong there."

"I don't think I belong there, either. Maybe you and I just belong...together."

He fell silent and resumed moving, taking us farther and farther into the crevice. The gap became so narrow, rock scraped my feet and my back.

"I don't think anyone is chasing us. You can put me down."

"Can you see?"

"No, but we can hold hands, right?"

He set me down in response and his strong hand wrapped around mine. I held on for dear life. When he'd left me before, I hadn't been able to stop him, but now, I was free, and I wasn't about to let go. Not until I had the answers I wanted.

Namely, what was the point of my life?

Did Davian have anything to do with the shadow in my mind?

And why did I want him so badly?

I was a werewolf. I should want a warm-blooded mate who could give me lots of pups, but after watching Chloe give birth, I didn't feel called to that life. Being a healer didn't fit right, either. It didn't stop my cravings for oblivion. I was bad at funneling the pack's energy away from me, and so far, nothing Marie had taught me had been a cure.

Maybe I was doomed to live a life marked by craving things I could never have. In which case, drugs weren't really the worst-case scenario; a lifetime of self-destructive need burning in my belly and fighting not to feed it was.

Did I deserve that? Had I been that awful of a person?

Or...perhaps, being kidnapped by Zion was really my second chance. Because the one time I had felt right with the world was when Davian had claimed me.

I just had to convince him to make me his again, and this time, keep me.