Chapter Four
Valen
All Valen could think about was taking care of Briar. It had started after he’d attacked her. That day in Hudson’s lab was the single most terrifying experience of Valen’s life, and it changed everything. It left him spinning. Out of control.
When Asher had made him a vampire, he’d experienced bloodlust like all newly made vampires, but eventually, Valen had come back to himself. The red haze of hunger had dissipated, and he was left with two brothers and a creator whose sole concern was to claim what wasn’t his—lands, humans, glory.
He thought he’d left that behind him when he’d abandoned Asher for Annie. But now, here he was. Tied in knots over a human who not only was fragile in the way all humans were, but in ways they shouldn’t be. One beam of sunlight. One tiny beam of sunlight, concentrated on Briar’s skin, and she was burned to the bone.
And her scent.
No human had ever smelled as good to Valen as Briar. Her scent made her equally unique, but also tantalizing. His monster wanted to bite, but also to protect.
It put Valen at odds with himself.
Watching Briar finish a meal he’d made did something inside him. He was proud he could do something she needed, and he wanted to do more.
But he had to be careful. Briar was young, and she hadn’t been on her own long enough to know that accepting help wasn’t a sign of weakness.
Briar stood on tiptoes, placing a glass carefully back in the cabinet. As if she felt him watching, she smiled. It was just the corner of her mouth, and a rosy glow traveled from her neck to her cheek.
Valen leaned against the sink, gripping the counter to keep himself from sweeping her into his arms. He loved the way she felt there, but he wasn’t the only one who needed to hold her close.
Hudson—no—none of them liked refusing her help. But there was no other alternative. She couldn’t help them wage war against a psychopath. The further from Asher she stayed, the safer she’d be.
They had to minimize her exposure to him, and show Asher she wasn’t worth his attention.
“Do you have more studying to do?” he asked as she rested back on her heels.
She turned her stunning smile on him and nodded. “I always have more studying to do. I got a little distracted earlier.”
“With Sun Tzu,” Hudson stated.
“Yes,” she replied. “And I fell asleep. And I went to urgent care. And, you know, graduate school and sexy vampire boyfriends…” She listed the reasons on her fingers, and then, to his amusement, counted four fingers for each of her boyfriends.
“I’d like to study with you,” Valen said. “Tonight. If you don’t mind. I’ll try not to distract you.”
“Me, too,” Sylvain interjected. “I want to read the Chinese war general. I’m sure I already know everything he could possibly say about war. You know. At least it will be interesting.”
“Yes,” Marcus said dryly. “God forbid you are bored.”
“This works well. I need to plan with Marcus. You and Sylvain stay with Briar. Perfect.” Hudson crossed his arms and gestured with his chin toward the door.
It may have been perfect as far as Hudson was concerned, but Valen had hoped for a little time with Briar on his own. Would you rather Sylvain despised the sight of you? No. Definitely, no. He snorted, earning a raised eyebrow from Briar.
Rather than answer, he went to the round table and pulled out a chair, waiting for Briar to sit. She did, then leaned down to remove a book from her bag.
Valen read the title on the book. Damn. Briar was smart. Hudson and Marcus were smart, yes, but they’d had millennia to become that way. Briar was—what? Twenty-two? Twenty-three? And she kept up with his brothers. When he went to Hudson’s lab with Briar, she spoke easily with Hudson and Marcus. Words rolled off her tongue that Valen would trip over.
A haze came over Briar’s face as soon as she began to read. One moment, she was with them, and the next, she’d been whisked into whatever world this book opened.
Valen picked up the e-reader she’d left on the table. “Hey!” Sylvain pushed the side of his head, reached over his shoulder, and tried to pluck the reader from him. “I told you I was using that.”
“I have it. Wait your turn,” Valen growled as the screen lit up. He scanned the page. It is a matter of life and death. A road either to safety or to ruin. “Sylvain,” he said. Valen placed the reader on the table. Rather than ask his brother to sit, Valen kicked a chair at him. It barely missed hitting Sylvain in the dick. Damn.
Sylvain growled, and Valen quickly looked at the table, clenching his teeth to hide the shit-eating grin he felt threatening his lips.
“Look at this.” Valen pointed to the screen and read the section out loud.
“Yeah.” Sylvain sat with a sigh. He grasped the edges of the reader and slid it toward him before propping his elbows on either side. “Safety or to ruin. That fucking nails it, doesn’t it?”
Valen silently agreed.
Briar glanced up, eying Sylvain speculatively, but his brother was deep into War. He touched the screen, brushed his index finger across it lightly, and rested his cheek on his fist. “Shit,” he said to himself. “Come here.”
Valen slid his chair closer. Sylvain dropped his arm so Valen could see the screen. Each phrase, each paragraph the ancient general had written rang true. This was clearly written by a man who’d seen fighting, one who had planned and executed battles.
“Does it bother you,” Sylvain asked quietly, barely moving his lips, “that Marcus and Hudson have left us out. Like we are too stupid to understand what they do?”
It had been the way they’d always done things. He and Sylvain were the swords, and Marcus and Hudson pointed them in the direction they needed to stab.
But his brother had a point, just as Hudson had earlier. Times had changed, and they were fighting a different sort of battle now. No longer could he and Sylvain attack indiscriminately. They had to consider who could be watching, listening, or recording.
“It bothers me,” Sylvain continued. His gaze remained on Briar, but she was deep into her homework again and didn’t glance up. Sylvain’s voice was quieter than a whisper. She’d never hear them. “I have a feeling, Valen, and I’ve had it since before we attacked Briar. Something is off. We’re missing a key piece of information. And it could mean the difference between success and failure.”
Sylvain’s instincts were good, just as Valen’s were. They wouldn’t have lived human lives as long as they had if they hadn’t listened to those instincts.
His brother had been a colonist in the New World. He lived in the wilderness, subsisting on whatever he could grow and hunt. At any point in Sylvain’s fragile human life, it would have taken one seemingly innocuous event to end his existence. Not to mention the myriad of activities of daily living that had the potential to injure or maim—building a homestead, cutting trees, hunting. The list when on and on.
In Valen’s village, it hadn’t only been battle that felled the strongest of warriors. When he thought of the things that put his own tribesmen in the ground—simple scrapes or burns rotting and festering, an abscessed tooth—it was amazing either of them had lived long enough to become immortal.
And even if those things were beyond their control, they’d had to pay as close attention to signs of illness as they did to their enemies approaching. All of those things combined to make him and Sylvain the men, and now the vampires, they were.
Sylvain was right. They were missing something, and they’d missed it because they weren’t paying attention. Thank God Sylvain refused to listen to anyone.
“We’re missing something obvious?” Valen stated.
“Yes,” Sylvain answered. “I’m positive it has to do with Briar’s health. We think, because the doctor assures us she’s just run-down or not running a fever, that she’s well. But she isn’t, Valen. She awakens every morning looking more tired than she was the night before. She’s wasting away.”
The words struck terror into Valen’s chest. The image of Briar disappearing into nothingness was too horrible to contemplate.
“Give me something to battle,” Sylvain continued. “But this? What do I fight?”
“Are you okay?” Briar interrupted them. Her gaze flicked between them, a small frown drawing down the corners of her mouth. One side was slightly lower than the other as a result of a burn she’d suffered. When her face was neutral, one side would curl up, just a little, as if she was amused at a private joke. But now, as she frowned, all it served to do was remind Valen how much she’d already suffered.
“Yes,” Valen answered. “We’re fine.”
“Sun Tzu,” Sylvain deflected. “It’s a very interesting book.”
The frown remained, as if she didn’t believe them, and good for her if she didn’t. To Valen, Sylvain’s falsehood was glaringly obvious.
The man smiled, and Briar’s frown deepened. “You’re full of it,” she said, but then sighed. “But it’s fine. You don’t have to tell me.” Now a line appeared between her eyebrows, and Valen wanted to punch Sylvain, and then maybe himself, for putting that look on her face. They should have known Briar was as aware of them as they were of her.
“Are you hungry?” Valen asked, causing her to smile.
“You two.” Leaning back in her chair, she drew her fingers through her fine, brown hair. It caught the light, glowing like tarnished gold. “One,” she began, “I just ate, so thank you, but no thank you. Two, don’t try to distract me, and three…” She trailed off. “I forgot what three was. If I go to the living room, am I close enough that you can stay in the kitchen and plot?”
This girl saw right through them, and though it wasn’t funny, he couldn’t help shake his head and chuckle darkly. “Yes, little one. The living room is close enough. I’m sorry. We aren’t ready to share our concerns with you yet, but we shouldn’t have spoken about them as if you weren’t here. Forgive us?”
Briar shut her book and stood, cradling it to her chest. “Of course.” She kissed his hair, smoothing it down his neck while she held his gaze. Her fingers on his skin, soft but strong, zinged nerve endings and had him struggling to remain in his seat and not wrap her in his arms.
As she stepped away, Valen reached out, catching her hand in his. He turned it, palm up, and kissed her wrist. He breathed her in, the smell of ice and the sea soothing his anxiety. He opened his lips, sucking gently at the skin before releasing her.
Heat poured off her, warming his lips even as he drew away. He was tempted, almost, to give voice to the words that became harder and harder to keep inside. I love you.
Briar touched Sylvain’s shoulder, lingering for a moment before leaving them alone. Valen heard her settle onto the couch, the air softly deflating, leaving the cushion as she adjusted her position.
“It’s time to talk to our brothers, Valen,” Sylvain said quietly.
Nodding, Valen stood. It was time for them to work together, no longer delegating tasks. All of them would be equal going forward.