Davian

I parked in the woods on the outskirts of Hudson just before dawn and made my bed in the trunk. Waiting for sleep, I planned my next move. First, another phone and reach out to my network. Then a call to my pack contacts. Someone had to know something about how to find Adele. If I couldn't go back to City Oscura, at least it gave me time to keep looking for her. My mind churning with everything that had happened, I drifted off into a deep sleep.

The next night arrived with a loud thump on the trunk. I jerked awake at the sound.

The trunk opened and pine-scented air rushed in.

One of the guards I'd attacked earlier leered at me with a smirk. The scar marked him as Thad. "Hey there, asshole."

Ekon, the one who'd had the darts, appeared and waved a phone at me. "We've been tracking you."

I sat up and tried to dive past him, but ran into the second guard who pushed me back. I tensed, preparing to fight. It shouldn't be too difficult. Two vampires of questionable intelligence did not make much of a challenge.

I just needed a distraction. Something to divide their attention. "Ten thousand dollars each and we're done," I said.

Ekon snorted. "We'd be dust before we even spent a dollar. No. You're coming with us, like Zion wanted."

"And you fucking sucked on me," growled Thad. "You can't pay me off."

I smiled. "You tasted like ass, by the way. You should pay more attention to your diet. Garbage in, garbage out."

"I'm not food." He swung at me and the fight was on. I ducked and parried, pleased to see their speed matched their intellect—slow, dull and not ever going to go very fast.

I slammed a fist into Thad's head, aiming for a one punch knock-out. The force of the hit threw him down to the ground. His eyes rolled back and he slumped to the earth, lifeless.

Ekon did the same thing as Thad. These two were like gnats. Annoying and nowhere near fast enough to avoid my fist smashing them into oblivion.

I ducked Ekon's predictable fists. "You guys really need to work on your game."

He didn't have a chance to respond because my uppercut had already snapped his head back and severed his connection to consciousness. He also fell to the ground.

Once again, I tied the men up, this time using their shoelaces, and dragged them into a clearing. Let the sun rise on their stupidity. Maybe before they burned to dust, they'd have a second to reflect on their regrets.

***

Stealing cars was becoming a habit. I slid behind the wheel of the Dodge pick-up the two geniuses who'd come after me had managed to procure and headed for Hudson in pursuit of phone number two. Phone in hand, I made calls with one hand and drove with the other, the pull to find Adele still stronger than I wanted to admit.

Everyone had heard about the blood ring. There'd been an alpha named Mason involved. He'd been killed just yesterday, but no one knew anything about Adele. Word was everyone in the building had died in the explosion. I got a rough layout of the pack lands in the area from a low-level Pack Council bureaucrat. He had cousins in the region and knew most of the packs.

"Huntsville's the biggest," he'd said. "Start there. The alpha's good. You can trust him."

I picked the rolling mountain that best matched the description I'd been given and aimed for the top. When the road ended, abruptly and in the middle of nowhere, I took that as a good sign. It meant someone didn't want people going any farther. Humans would turn around and leave, but shifters would know to keep going on foot.

I stepped out of the car and smiled at the faint musk of wolves dancing in the air. Yep. This dead end was a pack access road.

Trudging along, I followed the scent which led to a small city center that a sign named as Huntsville. This late at night, the bars had already closed. Any shifter still awake was out for a run, not beer. Just to prove the point, a yip sounded and a trio of wolves padded down the street. Lifting their noses in the air, they turned this way and that, searching. They'd caught wind of me somehow. Vampires didn't smell like much, but I'd been feeding from a werewolf. Adele's scent was probably in my blood now and making me more fragrant than usual. Not great news, especially now that I was deep in pack lands...uninvited. If they found me, it would be a fight to the death.

I ducked down a side street and stepped into a shadow. A howl in the distance distracted them, and they trotted off toward it. I must not have smelled strong enough to keep their attention.

Still, I left the town and headed for the woods, where the scent of pine and other animals would help cover me. I inhaled the smell of the woods around me. I lived in the City Oscura which was a massive cave network that had little scent, but I'd grown up in a place like this with the smell of loamy earth and living things in my nose. I used to run, too, but only as a human.

I sucked in more air, searching for a direction to go in, and caught the barest hint of lilac. Concentrating on the blood bond, I felt the barest flicker of a heartbeat. Frowning, I followed the lilac. Maybe I'd finally gotten lucky.

The scent grew stronger and stronger as I went, and eventually, I heard voices, too. A woman singing, the power in her voice making even my dead flesh quiver. Following it, I came upon a cabin nestled in a small clearing. The singing came from an older woman with hair white as the moon. Adele stood before her, pulling against the bonds that spread her between two pine trees. 

Before I could do anything, a younger woman ran over. I blinked because she looked just like Adele. Was this her sister?

"Hey! What are you doing?" yelled the younger woman.

The older woman didn't move at first, remaining still as a stone, save for her soft singing. Sharp knives lay at the healer's side, forming a neat, but deadly line. The fire's light danced on the blades.

"Marie! You're not going to cut her, are you?" The younger woman took a step closer.

The older woman slowly swiveled her head to look at the younger woman, her expression placid.

"Let my sister go." She edged to the side, looking like she might go in and untie Adele herself. She just wasn't sure she was fast enough. I could see the doubt in her body language.  

"In time, Lia," Marie said. "This is how it needs to be for now."

"Why?" Lia glared at the old woman.

"The vampires still have their fangs in her." Marie turned to Adele. "Tell her. You crave it, don't you?"

"Fuck off," muttered Adele.

"Look at your sister," Marie said, unmoved by the malice directed at her. "Show her the truth."

Adele turned her head and hid her face in her shoulder.

"I said, show her." Marie's voice rumbled, deep and ominous as bad weather. The hair on the back of my neck stood up as the older woman's power filled the air. Lia edged closer to her sister, hands reaching out but not touching.

"Now," barked Marie. An unseen force emanated from the healer and shoved into Adele. Lia stumbled as it hit her, too. She had to give up ground and stepped away, gasping as she fought to breathe.

Adele lifted her head, cords in her neck showing how hard she fought not to, but the old woman's power was stronger than her will. Lia's weight moved to her toes and she half crouched, ready to spring to her sister's defense, but when she saw Adele's face, she moved away, not toward her.

"Holy moon. What happened to you?"

From the light of the fire, I could see the whites of Adele's eyes had gone red. She had a feral, hungry look to her as well. I closed my eyes but I couldn't unsee it. She was blood struck.

"What's happening? What's wrong with her?" Lia's voice slid up into a screech.

"Vampires are an addiction of the soul," Marie said. "Their fangs don't just hook into your flesh. You may have taken her away from them, but she's not free. Not yet. She craves their embrace and blood. If I let her go, she would run to them. You'd never see her again."

"That's not true," said Adele, but her voice held a wild, slavering note that suggested maybe it was.

"So we just leave her tied up out here the rest of her life?"

Marie shook her head and gestured to the knives. "With enough time, I can purify her blood, remove the death from it, but that takes tremendous focus. She would fight me if I didn't tie her up, and I can't both heal her and fight her at the same time."

"That's why you drugged her, but why did you drug me?"

"I didn't. At least, not the way you are thinking. That tea always makes people sleepy. It relaxes the mind so it can heal." Marie nodded to Adele. "As for her, yeah, I drugged her. I'm over a hundred years old. I have arthritis. Fighting a twenty-something shifter isn't good for my health."

"So what do we do now?" Lia stared at the knives. I found them hypnotically alarming myself. What was the older woman going to do? From the talk of tea and drugging, she must be some kind of pack healer, but I wondered about her intentions. I slipped through the woods wanting to be closer to Adele in case she needed help.

"Well, Ryder can come out of the woods. That would be a start." Marie motioned to the woods behind her.

Off to the side, the bushes rustled, and a broad-shouldered man stepped forward, not too far from where I'd been hiding. I'd been too focused on Adele to notice him before. I moved to the side, hoping to use a tree trunk as cover, but he saw me. Growling, he lunged for me. His large hands wrapped around my shoulders and he threw me to the ground. We grappled in the dark for a moment, rolling into Marie's yard.

As we exchanged punches, Lia, the sister, came toward us. I put my hands over my face. "I'm not here to hurt anyone. Just let me up and I'll explain everything."

"You're a vampire." Ryder's growl thundered in the night. He gave me a shake, much like a mother wolf would admonish an unruly pup.

"A vampire?" Lia asked. She studied me closely, taking in my jeans and black T-shirt. She crouched down, ready to fight.

"What are you doing here?" demanded Marie, her tone sharp as a razor.

"I came to see if she was okay." I nodded toward Adele and everyone turned to look at her. "Let me up. Please?"

Ryder kept a hand on my neck, but allowed me to stand.

Adele's gaze locked with mine. "Davian." My name fell from her lips in a whisper full of agony.

"You know him?" Lia gave her sister an incredulous look.

"He bought me," Adele said, her voice faltering. Her eyes still had not left mine. She watched me, her gaze hard and desperate.

Lia moved so fast, I couldn't react. She flew across the yard and slapped my cheek so hard, my head whipped to the side in a blur. Before I could defend myself, she slapped the other cheek, slamming my head in the opposite direction.

"Yes, I bought your sister," I said when she paused to think about where she wanted to hit me next. A drop of blood welled at the corner of my mouth, and I swept it away with a quick lick of my tongue.

Lia made a fist and smashed it into my throat. "Here's a newsflash, bloodsucker. My family is not for sale."

I doubled over, making a strained wheezing sound. My voice rasping, I said, "It's a good thing I don't really need to breathe. I think you just crushed my windpipe."

She moved to hit me again, but I blocked her with my arm. "Let me explain before you make it impossible for me to speak." I held up both hands. "Please."

Lia gave a curt nod.

Licking more blood off my mouth, I said, "I bought her to save her."

Ryder snorted. "Sure you did."

I glared at him over my shoulder. "A vampire worth their fangs doesn't need a blood slave. I find it just as abhorrent as you do."

"Why did you buy her then? Why are you here?" Ryder gave me another shake.

"I had to pretend I was a slaver to get into the ring." I fished inside my pants pocket and pulled out a small wallet. Flipping it open, I dug my fingers into the secret compartment inside and showed them a gold badge engraved with the symbol for infinity. "I'm with the Vampire Council. I've been working to stop the blood ring for months."

Lia took the wallet from me, angling it so the light from the fire illuminated the badge. "Unitum in morte," she read.

"Latin for united in death," I translated, holding out my hand for the wallet back. "Our motto."

Lia kept the wallet. "Ryder? You know anything about this?"

Ryder shrugged. "Kind of. I fought a vampire once early in my career. They do have a council just like we do."

I stiffened. "I have no reason to lie."

"Oh, yeah. You're a saint, right?" Ryder shook his head.

Lia tossed the wallet back to me. "Okay, so let's say you're official. What the hell happened?"

"Someone was running a blood ring. I was sent to investigate and find out who was behind it." I looked away. "I had to buy my own blood slave. That's the only way they would trust me."

"So you bought my sister and fed off her?"

"I had no other choice." I licked his lips. "Ask her, she'll tell you."

Lia turned to her sister. "Is it true?"

Adele nodded. "They made him feed."

"Made him feed, or he made you think he had no choice?" asked Marie.

Adele's eyes widened. "I-I-I don't know." She rattled her chains and gave a low growl of frustration. "Was it all a lie, Davian?"

"No." I gave her a stricken look. "I saved you, remember? You do know that, right?"

She gave a slow nod. "Yeah. I guess I can't say whether he was forced to feed from me or not, but he did save me."

"How?" Lia asked.

"How do you think I got up into the ductwork at the club?" She pointed at me with her chin. "He gave me a boost."

Lia looked to Davian. "And then you left?"

"There was no time. It was the only way to hide her. If she'd left with me, they would've hunted us both down."

"Someone executed a lot of shifters," Ryder said.

I gave a somber nod. "I know."

"You only saved her sister." Ryder ignored Adele, his voice cold.

I licked my lips again. "The others had been bled too much. There was no saving them. They were thralls, at best, and on their way to becoming revenants, at worst. I couldn't do anything for them."

"But she was special?" Ryder asked.

I hesitated, regretting the amount of blood I'd given her after her overdose. Although she wouldn't even be alive if I hadn't. Settling for part of the truth, I said, "She was newer than the others. I took as little blood as possible and only fed because I had to. We were watched. I had to make it look real." That was all true. I'd barely fed on Adele. I'd been as careful as I could.

"It's true," said Adele. "And he was going to come back for me once it was safe." She yanked on her chains again.

"You've barely been fanged then," murmured the old woman. She threw another log onto the fire and reached for a knife. "That's better than I expected. This won't take long. You'll be free by sunrise."

"Wait! That's not necessary." My gaze locked on the knife Marie had selected.

"Oh?" She poked at the log with her knife, causing the flames to rise and dance along the blade. Lia stepped closer to the healer, her expression tight with what I took as anxiety.

I stood up straight and looked right at Adele. I wasn't sure it would work, she'd taken so much of my blood that maybe she did need the healer's knives, but hoping to spare her that, I put all my power into what I said. "I revoke my claim on your blood. I will not call you again. You are free." Something left me at those words, ripping itself from my flesh. A spark of hope, a dream never lived. It felt like I was losing my soul again.

For her part, Adele had gone limp in her bonds as if she, too had lost something worth having.

"That's it?" Ryder sounded skeptical.

I gave a stiff nod. "Yes. She's truly free now. You don't have to do," I waved at the knives "whatever barbaric thing you were planning."

"No," Adele moaned at the sound of my voice. "Davian, don't leave me."

"I can't stay, and it's not safe to come with me." I smiled to hide my regrets. "You're better off with your own kind."

Adele yanked on her chains and growled in frustration. "I'm only better with you."

"That's the blood talking," Marie said.

"No. It's not." Adele shot a glare at the healer, her eyes still red. "It wasn't just about blood with Davian. He's not like the vampires who bought slaves."

"I hate to break it to you, but all the bitten talk like this. They all think it's special. Once your blood is free of his influence, you'll feel differently." Marie stood. "Just to be sure, I'm going to treat you anyway. I'm afraid I don't trust your fanged friend here quite as much as you do."

"No," Adele cried out, her voice so high, a bat answered her call with its own sonic screech.

"Are you sure this is absolutely necessary?" Lia asked as she tracked the healer's movements.

"No, but I'm sure if I do this, she'll be free and clear of his hold on her. If I don't do it, we'll always wonder." She shot a dark look at me. "He could call you from anywhere at any time and you would have to go. Is that how you want to live your life?"

Adele looked at me with such longing that I almost wanted to take it all back. My arms twitched with the urge to scoop her up and run off with her, but I resisted. I needed to let her go. For her sake and mine.

Bloodstained tears tracked down both her cheeks. "Don't you understand? I want to be with him. Please just let me go."

"No." I held up a hand. "Stay with your pack. I can't guarantee my safety, let alone yours. To them, you're dead, remember? If we're seen together it will blow my cover. We still don't know who's behind the ring."

"What about after?" Adele's voice cracked. "When it's all over?"

"You'll have returned to your life." I stepped forward and cupped Adele's face with one hand. "I'm dead, not your mate."

A sob wracked her body. "I meant nothing to you, then?"

I leaned into Adele, pressing my forehead against hers. "I will always remember you. You're not nothing, but that's not enough. Not for us." I moved away as she sagged in her chains, her sobs loud and gulping.

"Liar," she shrieked. A chorus of bats answered her.

It took everything I had to turn my back on Adele and for a second my mask slipped. I didn't want to leave her, but I had nothing to give her but death. 

"Thank you," Lia said.

"For what?" I gave her a surprised look.

"For saving her and letting her go."

"The living are never ours to keep," I said with a bitter twist of my lips.

"That's it? You're just going to disappear into the night?" Ryder crossed his arms, his biceps bulging. "This blood slave ring blows into town and tears up lives and that's it?

"I'll make a full report to your Pack Council. We had hoped to resolve this privately and with no harm done to any of yours, but—" None of this was exactly true. Not yet, but I didn't want to reveal the chaos of the Vampire Council to virtual strangers. Eventually, it would all be reported, though. There would be no way to keep it a secret. Too many had died.

"Instead, it was a blood bath, "Ryder finished for me.

"Unfortunately, yes." I squared my shoulders. "I was too late to save anyone but Adele." I started to turn toward her, but caught myself and stayed facing Ryder.

Ryder ducked his head until we were eye to eye. "If there's no report, I'm going to find you, understood?"

"Understood."

"Go. Do what you need to do."

Adele yelped, and I closed my eyes at the sound that managed to make even my dead heart hurt. Then, with resolute steps, I walked away into the night, letting its darkness swallow me.

"No." Adele threw her head back and keened. In the distance, another wolf answered, followed by yet more, all lifting their voice with hers until dozens shared her grief.