As Canute ran out of the portal with three of Himiko’s best warriors in tow, he felt an unnerving sense of calm.

Maybe it was the knowledge that Haru was waiting for him back home, and perhaps it was the understanding that there would finally be an end to the violence—at least where Canute was concerned—but the former Viking knew that the calmness he felt was kind of like the berserker’s trance. There was only the mission. There was only fury, only anger, and a desire to snuff out his enemies, but it was tamed with a patience and evenness unlike anything he’d ever felt before.

It definitely helped that Canute still felt the rush of rage over Ranmaru and Oda’s betrayal, regardless of the fact that he’d found his true Kindred. Some betrayals were things one just couldn’t get over…especially something as sacred as the Kindred bond.

Like some kind of seam being sewn up rapidly, the portal dissipated with whatever shamanic ether Himiko had used to create the spell in the first place.

Canute was in unfamiliar territory now. He would be cut off from any support, back-up, or reinforcements.

Still, he couldn’t stop thinking about what Haru had told him. Something felt off about this entire situation. Maybe it didn’t need to be this way. Maybe he didn’t need to kill. But that was all Himiko really wanted him for, wasn’t it? Since he was a soldier who didn’t complain and did as he was asked, he was the perfect automaton for Himiko’s plans.

The thought bothered him. And it also didn’t help that being bothered actually bothered him even more. Hundreds of years ago, it was the same for him as it always had been. He had a purpose. He had a mission. Now, the only thing different was that he had something more to think about—a Kindred. He had been, after all, a drengr.

Was that why this situation seemed so…off?

Canute sniffed the air curiously. He couldn’t smell too many people, and the sounds that reverberated the air were a little quieter than usual. He could sense perhaps… five, ten men in the vicinity, and they weren’t even alert. The group would be easily dispatched by the other soldiers he was with, and they wouldn’t really even need to produce lethal force. Perhaps the distraction tactic had been successful.

Everything, up until that point, had gone swimmingly.

Almost too swimmingly, in fact.

Maybe that was what discomfited Canute.

Canute walked around warily, his senses heightened. He darted his eyes to and fro with only an intensity that could be borne from understanding the danger of the predicament he was in. Cut off from further support, Canute knew that he couldn’t make a mistake now. Any danger he came across was his to deal with alone. There was no room for error.

Still, he couldn’t shake off this feeling of inherent wrongness that niggled in his mind.

“Canute, are you there?”

Himiko’s voice rang in his earpiece.

Canute’s voice was the barest whisper. “I can hear you loud and clear.”

“Good. I sensed your worry for a moment. Tell me what you see.”

Of course, the shaman queen sensed it. Although it was a little suspicious that she wasn’t able to sense the same things Canute felt now. Then again, she’d proven fallible before. She certainly wasn’t the end-all be-all of precognitive abilities.

“I’m right about where you told me. A floor plan would have been helpful,” Canute said. “Because as I look around, it feels like something isn’t quite right.”

He looked around. The open courtyard-like garden was exactly as Himiko said it was. There was a koi pond right to the side. There was a sliding door that was slightly parted open to one side. It was eerily silent, with only the sound of a light stream of water flowing down onto the koi pound from a small, water fountain fixture on one of the walls.

Above all things, however, what Canute immediately recognized was that where they had teleported to was not a defensible position. If there had been enemies around, Canute’s group would have been swarmed immediately. There were doorways into the garden at basically every direction, with only a wall behind them.

Cornered—trapped—as soon as any person dared to come in.

But why was no one there?

“What do you mean?” Himiko asked.

“I can’t shake the feeling that somehow, this is all proceeding a little too according to plan,” Canute said. “Like we’re being manipulated somehow.”

“Shall I open a portal back for you, then?”

Canute sighed. “No. Let’s see this through.”

If Canute was going to be manipulated the way he was, he knew that the best thing was for him to let himself get captured, and let the others pull back. It was a stupid decision, all things considered. They could have just regrouped and ran back home, but letting this war go on longer was becoming exhausting. Not just for Canute, but for everyone.

Canute knew that maybe, just maybe, if he allowed himself to be pulled along like a puppet, they could see a clearer picture of what was happening. Maybe he could report back. Either way, Himiko could find a way to save him from his stupidity, and make sure that none of the others would be forced to undergo what he would have to. “Call your men back. If this is an ambush, I don’t want any extra blood on my hands.”

“That’s madness. I know you’re a soldier without equal, but you can’t stay in enemy territory alone,” Himiko said.

“Yes, but if this does turn out to be a trap, at least none of your men will have to lose their lives,” Canute replied. “And I’m not going to die without a fight. This is not yet my time.”

He had something—someone—to go back to, after all.

It was strange how none of them had even thought twice about this plan of action while they were plotting it out just the other day. Everything had seemed so solid, so perfect, that it seemed as though the vampire matriarch’s plan was foolproof. Now that it was in action, though, Canute was beginning to see the real holes and gaps in the plan.

It wasn’t foolproof at all.

Canute was beginning to think that the magic that Ranmaru used had ensorcelled them all far more acutely than he first thought.

In fact, he had an inkling of a suspicion that this was all some plot by the siren and his lover.

 “If my instincts are correct, you’re going to need your men more than I do,” Canute said. “Because if this is a trap, like I think it is, the more manpower you have, the better my chances of survival. But if you throw us all in there now, you might need to add more people to the tally of those you’ve lost.”

Himiko was silent for a moment. Canute was hoping that Himiko would see things his way, and finally, when she muttered a soft curse underneath her breath, he knew that she understood.

Canute turned to look at the men with him, who were looking at him with confused expressions on their faces. “Get your men back to safety, Himiko. I’ll do this alone. Trust me.”

Himiko’s laugh was a smidge more bitter than it probably should have been. “I can’t even trust the words coming out of my own mouth, what makes you think I can trust in yours?”

“You can’t,” Canute replied honestly. “But with more men, you can make sure I don’t get killed. If perhaps any Siren magic is lingering in my head or yours, I can buy you some time to fix it once and for all.”

It took a moment for the vampire matriarch to finally sigh in acquiescence. “Fine. I’ll call my men back. I shouldn’t be exhausting my magic like this, but I trust in you.”

“Can you tell Haru something for me?” Canute asked.

“What is it?”

“I’ll be back for him. I swear it.” In this life, or the next. Not that Canute wanted to be grim, but he needed to be realistic about his chances.

“You better make good on that promise.” Himiko took a deep breath. “He’s not going to like that you’re doing this.”

“I’m not either. But you need your men, and I can handle myself,” Canute said. “Get your soldiers back home and try to get back to me in time.”

“Is there no other way? We’re acting as though this is all imperative, but if we can’t trust our own minds and the way we think—”

“You’re right. I know. We’ve been rushing into this and they’ve been ten steps ahead of us this entire time. In fact, we don’t even know if this, the way it is now, is exactly what they want,” Canute interrupted. “But what’re our choices at this point? You’ve already executed the first half of this plan. I think we should see this through to the end.”

“The fact that I am not seeing things so clearly is unsettling,” Himiko admitted. “And this uncertainty is what disconcerts me. We can still cease this nonsense and pull back. I can give the order to attack…this time, to kill. And we’ll get you out of there. It’s dangerous, Canute. I cannot, under good conscience, ask you to do this.”

“Tough, because we’re already in this situation,” Canute said. “If things go awry, at least you’ll have time to regroup and prepare.”

“And what of your Kindred?”

“Like I said, I’ll be back for him.”

There was yet another moment of silence. The entire compound around Canute felt like a ghost town. He could sense some people—in fact, some of them seemed to be moving, if he could believe the soft tapping of footsteps on the ground—but not as many as there should have been in such a large dwelling. The soldiers with him would not be safe. Canute couldn’t assure it, and knowing they were stepping into enemy territory, he didn’t want their blood on his hands.

“You have to be right about this, drengr. Because if you aren’t, there’s a kami here who will be very angry with you.”

This ordeal—because it was exactly that, and there was no way Canute would see it as anything but—had been insufferable for more than a couple of reasons, one of which was the fact that he couldn’t trust himself nor the people around him. When Himiko asked him if he thought there was no other way, he certainly felt as though it was true. But he didn’t have all the facts, nor did he have the time to question his decision. Something in his brain felt murky, but at this moment, his mind felt clearer than ever. He didn’t know if it was because of Ranmaru’s magic or if it was just emotions clouding his judgment. Hell, he didn’t know if Ranmaru placed a curse on Himiko’s home and that’s why everything seemed to go so smoothly…and then immediately, all their plans fell apart. At this point, it was all conjecture. But what was true was that they were in this predicament now, and even if this was going exactly according to Oda’s plans, he knew that he had to play the hand he had been dealt. Call it being paranoid, but if there was a curse placed on Himiko’s home, or at the very least all of the people staying in it, it meant that any deviance from the plan would be dealt with accordingly. This seemed like the safest way to proceed.

Canute just had to trust that Himiko would get back to him in time.

“I don’t have the luxury of second-guessing,” Canute said. “But I do have the honor of making sure you all fight to live another day.”

“Fine. Stand by for the portal. Stay safe. And keep in constant communication. At the very least, if we can hear what’s happening to you, we can be surer about what to do later on.”

“A good idea. Let me be your scout.”

Canute turned up the volume of his earpiece slightly and nodded to the group he was with. They acknowledged him with a single nod of their own, and as the portal ripped open once more and they went back to safety, Canute knew he was well and truly alone.

Though maybe, for the moment, that’s how he preferred it. If Canute’s theory was right, the magic that had ensnared them all had been so strong, yet so subtle, that he couldn’t yet trust his mind. And what could have been more terrifying than that, to know that you couldn’t even trust your own mind from betraying you?

Then again, if he was wrong, maybe that was the best-case scenario. Siren magic was terrifying, but knowing it no longer plagued him would be a weight off his chest.

Canute gritted his teeth. As soon as he went back home with Haru, he was going to swear off magic and all of its craziness forever. Even the hedge-witches and the ones who called themselves shamans and druids would never have been able to bend a vampire’s mind the way a siren could. Maybe it was a good thing that there were so few of them out in the world.

That didn’t matter at this very second, though. What mattered was that he could finally hear the sound of footsteps coming closer and closer, and he needed to find a way to keep from being seen or heard.

Canute’s heart thundered in his chest. He wet his lips, his fingertips feeling a chilling cold as the adrenaline rushed through his veins. The footsteps grew louder and louder until Canute knew he had no choice but to swiftly meet these opponents head-on, and silence them as quickly as he could.

The doors opened. It took only a moment for Canute to act, but that was really the only time he needed. As soon as Oda’s men walked out towards him, Canute drew both of his arms back, and slammed his palms right into the pair of chests in front of him until heard a loud crack accompanying the harsh, but quick sound of bones breaking.

They fell immediately. The loud, disconcerting crunch followed a pair of groans and gurgles that came from the back of the men’s throats. Pained though as they were, he tried to aim for spots that weren’t fatal—he had to remember his Kindred’s wishes.

Haru. He needed to think about Haru. Only the young man could let him come out of this with his soul unscathed.

Even now, the thought of his Kindred made Canute wonder just how the young kami would react to Canute’s actions. If Haru found out about what he was doing—becoming the bait, the decoy, the scout, while Himiko’s main force recouped and regrouped—how would the kindhearted man react to that?

Shit. Canute shouldn’t have distracted himself with those kinds of thoughts. He needed to stay focused on the situation at hand. So much of his recent past had been tainted by Oda and Ranmaru, and the magic they wielded as though they lorded over both mortal and immortal alike. Magic was an unfathomable, fickle, merciless thing. So much power rested in the hands of a select few that could bend the very universe to their will could bring nothing but harm.

Reminding himself of the thought just pissed him off more. Good. Get angry. You can’t even trust yourself—that’s how deep this deception went, and how much Canute knew he had lost. To lose faith in oneself, and in one’s mind, spoke volumes about how grave the matter was.

How much of the world around him could he really trust?

As Canute warily strode forward, he took deep, silent breaths and centered himself into the moment. Closing his eyes, he felt the static and sounds vibrating around him. There were three people nearby. The sound of a soft giggle wafted through the air, cloying enough to be almost offensive to Canute’s senses.

It was Ranmaru.

That bastard.

The sound was making Canute lose even more of his already-teetering self-control. He gritted his teeth and slunk back against the wall, both to listen in more closely to what was happening, and to make sure he was at least somewhat obscured in the shadows.

He couldn’t sense any other nearby presences, just these last three people. Was one of them Oda? No—that couldn’t have been possible. Canute remembered the sheer presence rolling off of the vampire patriarch, and these men had a strength and power that was minuscule by comparison.

One thing was for sure, though, and that was that Canute recognized Ranmaru’s presence. He was there, beyond the slightly parted doors of a nearby room as though privacy meant absolutely nothing to him.

“Oh, you’re so big…”

Ranmaru’s lilting laughter felt even more abrasive to Canute’s senses than ever before. Maybe part of it was the thought that the siren had never laughed like that with Canute, and the sting of betrayal was still fresh in Canute’s mind. Perhaps another, greater part of it was the hatred that consumed Canute as though he had tunnel vision.

Laughter paved the way for breathy moans. Soft, suckling clicking sounds followed, and then a crescendo—first soft, and then it built up to a fast rhythm—of flesh smacking against flesh. It was unmistakable to Canute what was happening right beyond the walls.

The only thing that would have damned Ranmaru even more was if there was the sound of squeaking bedsprings.

To Canute, this whole situation felt a little bit more like eavesdropping on a lover who was committing adultery, which made this feel…awkward. On the one hand, he had to be thankful for the fact that the building had eschewed the traditional Japanese style of thin, tatami walls. Otherwise, Canute wouldn’t be able to hide the way he was.

“Ah, that feels so good…”

Canute peeked into the doorway, taking great pains into making sure he was as unobtrusive as possible. As he expected, there Ranmaru was, settled in the midst of not one, but two lovers—none of which was his supposed Kindred, Oda—both of whom had their cocks hilt-deep inside Ranmaru’s ass. The expression on the siren’s face was one of pure, unadulterated bliss.

Was the siren cheating? Canute wouldn’t put it past him. Ranmaru was acting like some kind of wanton hedonist, gyrating and rocking his hips like his life depended on the connection to the pair of burly men who’d sandwiched him in between their bodies. The slick noise of flesh against flesh filled the air, with only Ranmaru’s sighs and moans breaking through the overtly sexual sounds.

The feminine, long-haired male leaned back against one of his lovers, parting his lips in for a kiss. Like a dog hungry and begging for scraps, the ensnared man pushed his tongue into Ranmaru’s mouth and partook of him.

It would have made for an arousing sight, if Canute didn’t completely despise the siren in front of him.

“Are we pleasing you, milord?” One of them asked, sweat shining and cascading down his back. He was rocking his hips forward, and clenching his rear. Canute could only assume the expression on his face was a happy one.

“Lord Oda was very wise to give you two to me as my personal bodyguards,” Ranmaru replied. “My body needs as much guarding as it can. And from such virile young men, too…”

Canute shook his head. Disappointing though this was, it didn’t matter to him, nor did it mean anything. Canute had Haru.

The only thing Canute wanted from Ranmaru now was his head off his neck.

Canute waited until the “lovers” were deeper into the throes of passion before he rushed in. After all, one only needed to catch someone unaware to get the upper hand in a fight. Canute quickly barged in, sliding the door to the side with a loud bang. The trio of men were moaning, grunting—a moving pile of limbs, sweat, and sexual release—and it provided the distraction Canute needed. He immediately gave a harsh, loud chop to the neck of the nearest man who was turned away from the door, rendering the so-called bodyguard unconscious.

Although it would have been much easier for Canute to kill the man, he took satisfaction in the fear that suddenly glimmered in his deceiver’s eyes. That normally dull, lifeless gaze was now tinged with a real expression of abject terror, perhaps due to being seen doing something so…personal, to say the least.

At the very least, even if Canute hadn’t crush the hapless bodyguard’s heart through his chest cavity, this would do. It helped that Ranmaru wasn’t acting like some kind of emotionless automaton. That really tickled Canute’s fancy.

As the bodyguard toppled over like a house of cards—though Canute made exceedingly sure he didn’t use lethal force—that gave him just enough time to really look right at Ranmaru and the last guard standing.

Well, the last guard with his dick fully hilted in the man Canute thought was his Kindred, anyway.

“Surprise,” Canute muttered. “Karma is calling, and it knows what you’ve been doing.”

“C-Canute.” Ranmaru’s voice wavered, the volume just a ghost of a whisper. It seemed as though his already porcelain-colored exterior had turned even more pallid from the surprise. The siren had blanched, and his throat bobbled up and down nervously. “Why are you here?”

Was that a serious question?

Canute was almost disappointed. “And here I thought you orchestrated all of this with your magic. It seems I’ve given you more credit than you deserve. Did you expect me to arrive, guns blazing, with just enough time for you to escape while your bodyguards threw their lives away for you?”

Canute aimed a meaningful look at the one who remained right behind Ranmaru, whose erection had probably wilted enough that he suddenly pushed the siren down onto his companion and tried to leave the room. The so-called guard was naked, afraid, with wild eyes that darted from side to side. He fumbled onto his feet, perhaps thinking he could run past Canute. The man was wrong, of course, because Canute only needed to aim a punch right straight into the man’s solar plexus to make him fall over, the pain of his fist so acute that the man had fainted as well. He’d probably seen white.

Two down, one to go.

“You know, I made a promise to someone that I wouldn’t kill anyone,” Canute said. “But seeing you here like this makes me want to rethink that.”

Ranmaru’s eyes widened, and it was almost like Canute could hear the thoughts in the siren’s mind. Could he escape? No, he was cornered. There were only walls around them, and a single exit out of the room, aside from a tiny little window that was too high and too small to crawl through.

Resigned, those eyes turned lifeless and doll-like once more. “If you’re going to kill me, you should know that my lord will rend through heaven and earth to find you. He will know the moment I take my dying breath, and he’ll rend you limb from limb.”

“Does he know you’ve taken to sleeping with your bodyguards?” Canute asked. “Or have you been faking your Kindred bond with him, as well?”

For the briefest moment, Ranmaru winced. There was a flicker of emotion there. Perhaps Canute had been right on the nose.

Canute smirked. “Regardless, that’s what I’m counting on. A quick, painless death is far more than you deserve for toying with something as sacred as a Kindred bond, as important as a person’s mind and soul. Do you even feel any remorse?”

Ranmaru smirked. He slowly rose up from where he sat, the clear trickle of sexual release dripping down his inner thighs as he wobbled up to his feet and stood there, naked and defenseless. “I did it for my lord. That shaman witch was about to bring foreigners into our war,” the siren said, sneering at Canute. “Whether it was Herod, or Cyrus, or whoever else, none of you had any right to stick your noses where it didn’t—and doesn’t—belong. Himiko should have just accepted that she was going to lose, one way or another. None of this would have needed to happen.”

For some reason, the almost impeccably beautiful façade that Ranmaru had, seemed to be a little less pristine than before. When he was ensnared by the siren’s enchantment, it seemed like there was a kind of fog that covered all of Canute’s memories of Ranmaru. Now, the Viking could clearly see who he was dealing with. Ranmaru was no more than a selfish brat whose self-interest far surpassed his desire to actually help the people around him.

Ranmaru was a man who didn’t think about others, whose emotions were so very clearly centered around his own self-interests, that everything he’s done seemed to serve only his desires and what he wanted. All of this became clearer to Canute, especially as he watched Ranmaru cross his arms over his chest, a flicker of defiance clear as day in those eyes.

“So, your grand plan was to sow as much needless, senseless discord, which ultimately would have brought the attention of the conclave here?”

“Isn’t that what a siren does best?” Ranmaru asked, his voice sardonic, his gaze unapologetic. “Don’t we lure men to their deaths, no matter how senseless, no matter how needless?”

“Himiko’s actions were—are—inexcusable. This war has been going on for years and years, and she knows she’s been losing. Oda is the better tactician. He has strategy on his side. He didn’t have magic, but that’s why he needed me. She is the inferior leader, and had she just accepted her defeat, none of this would have come to pass,” Ranmaru said. He was completely unemotional, as though he was having a conversation where he wasn’t completely naked and dripping seed out of his rear. “Your involvement, and the steps I took to correct this situation, were just a few necessary steps we needed to take. I had to make sure Oda wrested control from Himiko’s territories. Unfortunately, that meant having to cross a few gaijin like you, or Herod, and a couple others on the conclave.”

Ranmaru shrugged. “Oops,” he said, though he rolled his eyes. The expression on his face was as aloof as ever.

Canute felt the tiniest twitch of annoyance in the corner of his lips. Anger coursed through his veins. It shouldn’t have bothered him to be treated like a pawn. He prided himself on being the quintessential soldier. But with Ranmaru being this duplicitous, and not even being sorry about it made Canute clench his fists and grit his teeth.

That only told Canute that killing this horrible wretch was an even better idea than ever before.

Canute shook his head. “I keep giving you the benefit of the doubt, and more credit than you deserve,” he said underneath his breath. “I wanted to see if you had some sort of redeeming quality throughout all this. It shouldn’t have surprised me to find out you had none.”

“Oh, I may have a redeeming quality or two,” Ranmaru said.

Canute smirked. “And what would that be?”

The smile on Ranmaru’s face was unmistakable. It was chilling—and it told Canute he had not been wrong in his assumption that the siren always had a trick up his sleeve. “I know how to keep your attention long enough for you to forget you’re still in enemy territory.”

And when pain blasted the back of Canute’s head and the entire world around him started to turn black, he couldn’t even feel vindicated that he had been proven right.

Somehow, in some way, there had been a ruse—and he had fallen for it.

He hoped Haru would forgive him for this.