Chapter 29
Kaleb rolled his brand new black denim, Night Rod to a stop in the gravel parking lot, near the shed where Alec had held Cara captive some six months prior. He balanced the bike between his jean-clad thighs and stared into the forest. The now-dead vampire had sliced her throat from damn near ear-to-ear, forcing Kane to make the decision to turn her. His twin had made the sacrifice which cost him his P patch, though Kaleb would bet Kane hadn’t once regretted his decision.
Cutting the engine, silence descended about him. Other than the sounds of birds taking flight and the scurrying of forest critters, his hearing didn’t pick up anyone or anything else in the near vicinity. He could smell Rosalee, though, over the scent of pine and knew that she was near. He couldn’t help but second-guess his decision to go it alone, it no doubt being a suicide mission. But he couldn’t risk Suzi’s life, and there was no way any of the vampires could’ve come within a mile and have Rosalee’s olfactory nerves not privy to the fact.
Kicking down the center stand and stepping over his bike’s black, leather seat, he hung his helmet on the rubber handle grip, then headed for the path leading into the thick of the woods. As he drew closer, he caught Suzi’s unique scent as well as that of someone he couldn’t quite put a face to. He had smelled the odor before, and knew the rat in cahoots with Rosalee had to have been near him at one time or another. The person riding her coattails was no doubt someone he had done business with in the past and probably felt he had a score to settle.
Soft muffled voices traveled to his ear the nearer he came to the shed. He could easily pick Kane’s ex by the sound of her grating voice. The egotistical bitch thought to take him down, but he sure in the hell wouldn’t go easily. Kaleb had yet to hear even a whimper from Suzi, giving him no indication if she was still alive, though he doubted Rosalee would be so stupid as to kill off her one bargaining chip. Just as he rounded a bend in the path, and the old, graying shed came into view, Bird stepped from the doorway, a cocksure smile on his face, telling him that Rosalee had indeed detected his arrival.
The son of a bitch.
Kaleb had known one of the Knights had sold them out. But the VP? The man Red had trusted most to sit at his right? Kaleb’s desire grew to rip his head clean from his shoulders. He wanted to wipe the condescending look from his face … pull his beating heart from his chest and shove it down his throat. One thing was a definite, no matter the method, Bird would not draw breath come tomorrow. If nothing else came out of this death trap set for him, Kaleb would take Bird to hell with him … kicking and screaming the entire way.
“Nice of you to show, Hawk.” Bird chuckled, then spit in the dirt to the right of his own boot. He wiped a grimy hand across his thin lips.
Just the thought of those hands anywhere near Suzi brought out the animal in him. He wanted to rip the bastard’s throat out with his fangs. Kaleb stopped a few feet short of him, not trusting himself to keep from following through with his desires.
“I don’t think I was given much of a choice, ass wipe. Where the hell is Suzi?”
“Here.” Rosalee stepped from the shed, her hand fisted tightly in Suzi’s hair, shoving her toward Bird. Suzi’s sneakers caught on a limb, half buried in the dirt, and stumbled in the VP’s direction.
Rosalee towered over Suzi, easily manhandling her with her size and strength. The bitch shoved her again. Bird caught her before she went face-first into the dirt. Every muscle in Kaleb tightened, his willpower at the snapping point. Bird gripped Suzi’s shoulders and forced her to her knees so that she faced Kaleb. Gray duct tape covered her mouth, while her hands were bound with a white zip strip. Rage simmered in Kaleb’s gut, burning slow and hot. His gaze heated as his gums ached with the lengthening of his fangs. If Rosalee even so much as gave him an inch, Bird was a dead man.
“The choice is yours, Hawk.” Rosalee regained his attention. “I will spare her life for yours.”
“Then let her go, bitch. I came as you requested. Alone.” He glanced briefly at Suzi, who frantically shook her head, eyes wide, tears making dirty tracks down her cheeks. “Cut her loose, and I’m all yours.”
Her lips quirked to one side. “You must think I’m some kind of stupid. I let her go and what leverage do I have?”
“You and I both know, alone, my strength doesn’t compare to yours as a primordial. You can outrun me, Rosalee. I have nowhere to go that you won’t catch me. But I promise you this, I’ll still put up one hell of a fight, and your man over there”—Kaleb jerked thumb toward the scum still holding Suzi—“won’t make it out of here alive. Now, let her go.”
Rosalee’s dark reddish-brown hair glinted in the sunlight peering through the trees as the slight breeze picked up and brushed tendrils across her tanned flesh. The woman was stunning, he’d give her that. She no doubt had men, and vampires alike, vying for her attention and the sole reason she was able to get scumbags like Bird to follow her every directive. All Kaleb saw now was the hideous, black-hearted person she hid beneath the exterior to everyone but the Sons of Sangue. Each and every one of them would rather kill her on sight, than humor her.
Rosalee glanced at Bird, and with a quick nod of her head, said, “Let her go.”
“Seriously? I say the bitch dies anyway.”
“Cut her loose, Bird.” Rosalee glared at the greasy haired biker, giving him no room for argument. “Don’t question me, or I’ll let Hawk make good on his promise to take you out.”
Bird leaned down, caressed Suzi’s shoulders beneath her scrubs, and licked the shell of her ear. “Today’s your lucky day, doll. Too bad. I could’ve had some real fun with you.”
Suzi shivered and Kaleb growled, tamping down the beast inside wanting to tear the man limb from limb. Curling his hands into fists at his side, he bit back the urge to bleed him dry. Kaleb would be no good to anyone if he acted on impulse. He needed to get Suzi the hell out of here first.
“Sorry, doll,” Bird said, right before he gripped the edge of the tape and ripped it from her mouth.
Suzi cried out, the skin around her mouth instantly reddening, little beads of blood drawing to the surface in spots. Kaleb steeled his jaw, a muscle ticking in his cheek, but stayed his position. Any movement from him could cost Suzi her life. The VP of the Knights reached into his pocket and pulled out a switch blade. With a click, the knife sprung free and he cut through the white, plastic zip strip binding her wrists as easily as if only string bound her, telling Kaleb how sharp he kept the blade. Suzi stumbled to her feet, looking as if she meant to run into Kaleb’s protective hold, and damn if he didn’t want her there. But he shook his head for her to stay her position.
“Don’t do this.” Suzi glanced at Rosalee, though Kaleb knew her pleas fell on deaf ears. “I can’t lose him. I’ll do anything.”
“You’re breaking my heart, sweetheart.” Rosalee laughed. “But I suggest you accept my hospitality. My beef is with the Tepes boys. You just happen to be my means of getting Hawk here. I swear the boy has more lives than a cat.”
Rosalee approached Suzi, framed her face within her palms, and forced her to look into her obsidian gaze. Thankfully, Rosalee meant to hypnotize her. “You’ll forget the last few hours and everything you’ve seen. Turn around and head for the road and don’t look back. Return to work, little girl.”
Without question, he watched Suzi turn and head for the road, her gaze unfocused. She’d no doubt wake from the stupor Rosalee placed her in a few short miles down the road, and wonder how the hell she got into the middle of the forest, with no recollection of leaving the nursing home. Kaleb was thankful that Rosalee took the initiative, though it was more likely out of consideration for herself than Suzi. Kane’s ex was way too selfish to hypnotize her for any other reason than to erase her own memory from Suzi’s mind.
“What’s to stop you from going after her once you kill me?” Kaleb asked, gaining back the witch’s attention.
Rosalee shrugged. “I don’t suppose my word is good enough.”
“Not in the least, bitch. You and I both know it could take her over an hour to get back to Pleasant by foot.”
“Killing her at this point gains me nothing, Hawk. She won’t remember me, won’t remember being here, and once she finds out that you lost your head … she’ll be heartbroken. Much more fun to watch her suffer over your loss.”
“Will my death finally satisfy you?”
Rosalee shrugged.
“Look, take my life and end this here. My death will serve your purpose in making Kane suffer. Go back to Italy and let him live in peace.”
“You know I can’t do that.”
“Why the fuck not? You’ll never get him back.”
“Because I’m his mate!” Her face reddened as her ire rose. “You and I know that’s for eternity.”
“Then take it up with your stepdaddy. He granted Kane the right to take on a new mate. Even he knows what an evil bitch you are.”
“Face it, you’re a dead man, Hawk.” Bird cackled, drawing Kaleb’s murderous glare. “You won’t mind me having a little fun with Suzi—”
His words were cut off by Kaleb’s fist wrapping his neck, dangling him in air. His legs kicked as his fingers tried desperately to loosen Kaleb’s hold to no avail. Kaleb would have easily crushed his windpipe had Rosalee not intervened and gripped the hair at his nape in her vise-like grip. Bird dropped like the sack of shit he was to a pool at Kaleb’s feet, clutching his injured throat. She forced him to his knees in the dirt, stones digging into the soft material of his jeans. She stood so close that her legs brushed his shoulders. Kaleb knew she could easily remove his head from his shoulders with hardly any effort. If he didn’t keep her focus elsewhere, he’d be dead in mere seconds.
Bird scrambled to his feet, stumbling as he did, his hand still covering his bruised throat. “You, son of a bitch,” he rasped. “I’m going to enjoy watching Rosalee kill you.”
“What’s in it for you, Bird? Why make a pact with the devil’s spawn?”
“To be like you.” He spat at the dirt, just inches from Kaleb’s knees.
“Shut the fuck up, Bird,” Rosalee warned the biker.
“Why? Not like he’ll be alive to tell anyone.” He used the toe of his boot to kick dirt at Kaleb. Stones and dirt clods pebbled his chest.
Kaleb struggled to no benefit in Rosalee’s iron-like grip. “You best hold on tight, bitch. If I get loose, I’ll send you both to hell with Alec.”
Her fingernails pierced his flesh and dug into the muscle of his rotator cuff, smelling the fresh blood trailing from his shoulder. Kaleb bit back the grunt of pain, not wanting to give the satisfaction of letting her know she caused him pain.
“Just think, Hawk,” Bird went on, not heeding Rosalee’s warning, “you die and I get to have immortality.”
“And just how do you think to accomplish that, you ass wipe?”
Rosalee’s nails twisted in his flesh. Kaleb cried out, not being able to contain the anguish.
“Rosalee promised to turn me.”
“You really are an idiot. I almost feel sorry for you.” Kaleb chuckled, his humor bubbling up from his gut. “Rosalee can’t turn you. Only a male of our species can turn a human into a vampire.”
Rosalee tightened her grip, her bone-like claws wrapping his clavicle. Much more and he feared her ripping his clavicle from his body. The scent of his blood filled the air.
“Son of a—” Kaleb grit his teeth, trying instead to focus on the dumbfounded look on Bird’s face. The man had clearly been duped by Rosalee for her own gain. But then, Kaleb highly doubted she did anything without benefit.
“He speaks the truth?” Bird asked, his brows meeting over the bridge of his nose.
Kaleb heard Rosalee’s exasperated sigh. “I might have missed that tiny little detail.”
“So I’ve been helping you all along, for what? A good piece of ass?”
“Oh please, there was nothing good about that piece—” Kaleb’s insult cut short as Rosalee tightened her grip on his shoulder bone, ready to hear it snap at any moment. “Shit!”
“I needed you, Bird.” She paused long enough to twist her nails into the muscles, tearing at the tendons. Kaleb cried out again. “Now, I don’t.”
“I suggest if you want to live, you let the boy go,” came a fourth party, a deep pitch Kaleb was unfamiliar with.
Kaleb caught a whiff of a primordial other than Rosalee. The strong stench of Kaleb’s fresh blood likely kept Kane’s ex-bitch from detecting the intruder’s approach. The timbre of the man’s voice rose the hairs at his nape, telling him they should fear the man behind it. Kaleb glanced about the clearing, seeing no one. Sniffing the air, he tried to pick up the scent again, something other than that of his own blood, but failed. Rosalee loosened her grip just enough that Kaleb broke free and rolled from her reach. The witch stood perfectly still, her gaze darting about the forest as if even she feared the evil that lurked in the shadows. Standing, Kaleb’s gaze snapped about the thickening of pines, seeing no one. When he turned to look at Rosalee, her wild gaze continued to case the area. Whoever lurked in the shelter of the forest clearly had the primordial bitch worried.
Bird, on the other hand, still focused on the fact he had been duped and wasn’t going to make vampire status. “You bitch!” He cursed. “I should—”
A deep blue streak moved through the clearing, faster than Kaleb’s eyes could track. Bird now laid face-first in the dirt, neck at an awkward angle, no longer drawing breath. Next to the prone body stood a man, easily towering a good couple inches taller than Kaleb, his long, blue-black hair hanging lose about his face. Broad shouldered and heavily muscled, the man stood sizing Rosalee up, paying Kaleb little mind.
White fangs stood out in contrast against rich red lips as he smiled. “My dear niece. Pray tell, dear, what dastardly plan did you have devised for my grandson? Surely, you didn’t mean to try and end his life?”
She stumbled back a foot. “You’re dead.”
“Last I checked, the tomb was empty.” The man’s smile widened. Even Kaleb had trouble believing what … who stood directly in front of him. “But you, my dear, deserve nothing less. I should kill you outright.”
“Vlad?” she whispered.
“In the flesh.” He raised his arms in a Christ-like pose. Then, in the blink of an eye, Rosalee dangled from his fingertip. Jesus! His forefinger pierced the flesh beneath her chin and all six-feet of her dangled from that one finger stuck through her flesh.
“I assure you I’m just as strong and healthy as the day I supposedly died. Now, unless you want your head sent back to your worthless father on a pike, I suggest you collect your things and return to Italy before I change my mind. Tell Mircea, the cowardly bastard, I’ll be by to see him shortly. I’ll allow him to decide your fate, you insolent little brat, for daring to take my grandson’s head.”
He dropped Rosalee to her feet, blood leaking from the hole left by Vlad’s finger. She stepped back from his reach, though his great grandfather had already proven should he desire to take her in his hold again, she couldn’t back up far enough. Her limbs trembled, proving Vlad scared the bejesus out of her and rightly so. Hell, the man scared the shit out of him and Kaleb was his flesh and blood.
“Go!” Vlad’s voice rose to a near deafening pitch, spurring Rosalee into action.
She took to the forest on long legs, disappearing into the foliage within seconds. Kaleb glanced back to Vlad, still shocked by the man who stood next to him. How the hell was that possible? His great grandfather placed a hand on his shoulder, Kaleb’s wounds already nearly self-healed from Rosalee’s nails.
“Suzi…” Kaleb voiced, suddenly worried that Rosalee might yet take her life. “I need to make sure she’s safe.”
Vlad clapped him on the back. “Trust in me, son. I took care of your woman. She is worth your life?”
Kaleb nodded.
“I thought as much.” Vlad glanced to Bird lying prone in the dirt. “Let us return to the clubhouse, you’ll find your woman there. I think it’s time to meet my other grandson.”
“I brought my bike. I don’t…”
“I have no use for cars, motorcycles or otherwise. I’ll go the way of the forest and meet you there. See if you can beat me on that contraption of yours.” His grandfather winked at him, then turned to leave.
“Vlad?”
He looked back at Kaleb. “How long have you been here … in the States, I mean?”
A smile warmed his tanned handsome face. “Long enough to know Rosalee was up to no good.”
And with that, he was gone. Kaleb stared into the forest for long moments before turning and heading to his bike, still not quite believing what the hell just happened. Vlad’s return. He couldn’t help but wonder if it were a good thing … or a very bad thing. He sure hoped the eldest primordial approved of the life Kane and he led. Kaleb didn’t relish the idea of any of his friends or family winding up on one of Vlad’s pikes.