Davian

Pain sliced my heart as I left. Walking away from Adele was hell. It didn't make any sense. I wasn't her mate, yet I felt called to her anyway. Gritting my teeth, I kept going. I'd left the shifters in my life behind a long time ago. All I had were fangs. I didn't belong.

Picking a random direction, I barreled through the woods until I stumbled into a clearing. To my surprise, it was the one where Zion had brought me, and the SUV was still there. The doors were locked so I punched out the window. Inside, I searched for keys but didn't find any. Yanking off the panel around the steering wheel, I hotwired the car. It wasn't my sharpest skill, but I had a rough sense of how to do it and the time to make mistakes.

It wasn't like I had anywhere to go, either. City Oscura was closed to me and I couldn't stay here, not if I truly wanted to let Adele go. I hoped she would stay clean. She'd made mistakes, but she'd also struck me as a good person. She deserved to be happy. I'd certainly gone to a lot of trouble to give her a chance. If she wasted that, I didn't want to know. The temptation to step in would be unbearable.

I'd revoked my claim. We'd had an interlude and nothing else. We were done.

The SUV roared to life and I sped my way down the mountain and out of Appalachia. I refused to look in the rearview mirror.

I drove from road to road. When one ended, I picked left or right and floored the accelerator. I'd travelled most of the US in my work with the Vampire Council. Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Dallas were favorite destinations, but just then they seemed old and tired. Besides, it would be better if no one I knew saw me.

This was no time for friends. I had my allegiance to the Contessa, others had pledged themselves to her enemies on the council. Zion had an eye for detail. If he'd framed me, it would take time to prove my innocence. I needed to stay out of sight until the Contessa gave the all clear.

Staying away from cities, I zigged and zagged through the countryside. With dawn turning the edges of night gray, I found a motel with cracked white stucco and dirty windows off a dark exit. Semis filled the parking lot and I crinkled my nose at the scent of diesel mixed with cigarette smoke.

I paid the motel clerk in cash, and was given a key to a battered room that smelled of mildew, old smoke and cobwebs on the verge of turning into dust. Cigarette burns pockmarked the beige comforter on the bed despite the plastic 'No Smoking' sign on the nightstand.

I made sure the green plaid curtains were shut tight and then settled into the soft mattress. I pulled the comforter over my head just in case the sun still managed to leak through. Exhausted, and finally feeling like the worst was finally over, I fell into a deep sleep.

I woke the next night to the sound of someone fiddling with the door knob. Throwing off the comforter, I sat up and stretched, forcing what blood I had in my system to redistribute and resolve any numbness caused by pooling while I'd slept. The lack of a beating heart made most vampires sluggish when they woke. Only the very powerful could maintain their bodies through their sleep. They also fed on a lot more blood than I did. That was pretty much how they became so powerful in the first place.

Voices joined the scraping and jangling of the door knob, snapping me out of my groggy thoughts. Someone out there wanted in. I stood and went to the far side of the window. Moving the curtain just a hair, I peeked to see what was going on.

Zion's men had found me. Again.

I dropped the curtain and moved back. It must have been the car. Or maybe my phone. There were only so many places to buy one. If they were creative, they would've gone to all the stores and dug up my number. I should have ditched both the phone and the car when I had the chance, but the two fanged bozos at my door were supposed to be dust in a field. They couldn't take me, but they kept escaping and finding me somehow.

Their lock-picking skills weren't so hot, though. I settled in the chair to the side of the door and timed them on my phone. It would be easier to just open the door and attack them, but a fight in the parking lot would attract attention. The smarter option was to deal with them quietly in my room. I watched the minutes tick by.

Five.

Ten.

Fifteen.

Twenty minutes.

Thirty.

I sighed and tapped my toe on the floor. If Zion realized how stupid these two were, he'd kill them for me. This was just shameful. How did these two idiots call themselves vampires?

Finally, they got it and everything happened at once. The lock clicked, the door swung open, and they spilled into the room.

I jumped to my feet, hands fisted, ready to punch. For a few seconds, I thought it would be easy. Clunk their heads together, tie them up, open the curtains so the morning sun turned them to ashes—this time I would make sure it happened—but they had a few surprises for me. They'd learned from our last encounter and I'd failed to anticipate it.

Thad, the blond with the scar, assailed me with punches and kicks. The other one, Ekon, rounded my flank. I kept the wall at my back, prepared to deal with both vampires at once, but instead of punches, sharp hooks pierced my skin and a bolt of electricity shot through me.

My face met the floor with a loud thud and my body jerked and flailed for far too long. They'd brought a taser to a fang fight. No class. None.

The two men high fived and then Thad bent low to snort in my face. "We were ready for you this time."

They tied me up with silver, binding my arms at my sides. Then, they dragged me out to their car, a small, four-door sedan in tired gray. After popping the trunk open, Ekon took my feet and Thad grabbed my shoulders. With a big heave, they dumped me into the trunk and slammed it shut. The motor started, idling rough enough to make the car vibrate, and we went for a very long drive to no place I wanted to be.

The silver burned my skin and sucked out my energy even through my clothes. Unwilling to go quietly, I strained to break the metal and weighed my options.

The two thugs trailing me had finally gotten smart. Or, more likely, someone—probably Zion—had given them some good ideas. I would rip their heads off the next time I escaped. I didn't want any more doubts at my back. They were wasting my time.

Not making any progress on the silver, I decided to make a phone call. Slipping my hand into my pocket, I pulled out my cell phone and called the Contessa, pushing the button for the speaker since I couldn't bring it to my ear. I wanted to know where things stood.

"Oh. Hello. It's you." Her throaty voice rumbled like a purr.

"I take it you can't say my name."

"Lots of things are better left unsaid. Where are you?"

I shrugged even though she couldn't see me. "In the trunk of some car driven by Zion's goons and tied up in silver."

"That's...unfortunate."

"I'll figure it out. Tell me what's happening."

"I've left the City Oscura, but," her voice dipped down into a lower register, "I'm being watched. We all are. Our enemies find it convenient to blame us for the blood ring and the Pack Council wants someone to punish. None of us are safe right now."

"What's the next move?"

"Same as before. Hide and wait it out," she said.

"That's it? We give up? Let Zion have his way?"

"People like Zion. They think he should sit on the council." She sighed. "If we had proof, if there was someone who would turn on him and tell the truth, we might be able to prevail, but he has seized power and won't let it go without a fight."

"And there's nothing we can do? What about the Baron? The General?"

"You forget, we are a minority. A small group that thinks about the future and doesn't count on power alone to protect us. The rest...they see this world as theirs. Like Zion, they will take what they want. They all know we are innocent, but getting rid of us will make room for the old ways."

"Pillaging." I closed my eyes and remembered my sister's bloody body. She'd been so tiny, they'd shredded right through her. It still hurt to think about it."That will mean war. With the packs. And the humans—" 

"Might find out about all of us," she finished for me.

"This doesn't make sense." I wished my hands could move enough for me to rub my forehead. Zion was giving me a headache, no small feat since I didn't have a pulse that could throb. "He's framing us for the blood ring, yet he's going to make more. It's crazy."

"No, not crazy. Politics. This is a calculated power move. First, they get rid of us. Then they slowly implement their agenda." Her voice grew bitter. "No one will remember us. They'll be awash in blood and thinking it's without consequence."

"Except war."

She laughed. "War is nothing but more fresh blood." She fell quiet for a moment and then said, "No one reads the history books. We dead are so very human sometimes. Immortality changes very little, I think."

"I'm going to prove Zion's lies," I said. "We have to expose him for what he is. A madman leading us to destruction. The world isn't like it was in the very old days. Humans have better weapons. Shifters are more organized. We aren't invincible. We'll die, too."

"Get me the proof and I'll make sure it's seen and we'll see if the tide turns."

"You don't sound like you think it will work."

"We're dealing with bloodlust and hunger, not facts and truth. You can't prove anything to people who already have the answer they want to hear."

"We have to try though."

"I won't lie. I admire your spirit, but I doubt its success." Someone spoke to her in the background, the words too soft for me to make out. "I have to go. Good luck."

She hung up before I could say goodbye. With a sigh, I leaned back and stared into the darkness. Then, I tried even harder to break the silver, straining until my muscles quivered.

Vampires were tearing my world apart for a second time. I wouldn't let it happen. I refused. I had resources the Contessa didn't. A network of contacts in places that would want to hear about Zion. If she couldn't make the Vampire Council accept the proof, I might be able to apply pressure from the outside. At the very least, the world would have some warning.

Frustrated, I gave up on the chain and kicked out the taillight, taking satisfaction in feeling the plastic snap under my foot. If I couldn't get free of the silver, maybe I could at least escape the trunk.

The contortions to get my head down to where my feet had been were not pleasant, but I had nothing else to do with my time so I inched along, doing a garbled somersault to get my face to the tail light. Peering out, I looked for clues to my surroundings, but all I could see was asphalt and the hint of dawn on the horizon. The night was almost done. Not the best time to fight my way free. Finding a rag, I used my mouth to stuff it into the broken tail light to keep out the sun.

I had no choice but to wait and see. Even if I got the silver chain off, the sun would keep me in the trunk.

The car left the highway a few miles later, the change in speed palpable, and parked somewhere. The doors opened and then clunked shut. Footsteps shuffled and came around to the back of the car. I tensed, knowing I would have a very small window of time to take any action. They would be stronger than me, but I knew how to fight for my life and win.

With a sharp creak, the trunk opened, ushering in cool night air. I lurched upright, intent on jumping out of the trunk and bowling over Zion's men with my body weight. They shook their heads and snickered, amused rather than afraid of my movements. More sharp hooks burrowed in my skin to zap my body.

I went limp, taken over by the electricity. Pain exploded through my nerves, but it would pass. I relaxed into it, refusing to let the pain win. With any luck, I would have a second chance.

But Ekon jabbed me with another one of his tranquilizer darts. He patted my shoulder and looked into my half-closed eyes. "Told ya we came prepared this time. This should keep you quiet until we get to Zion. He's got some big plans for you."

My eyes slid shut and darkness swelled up from within me. The last thing I saw was Adele's face in my mind's eye. The memory of her flooded my senses with need that ached like freshly broken bone. She'd cracked something inside me, and the inability to get up and run to her hurt more than the taser.