CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“Wake up, man.”
The sound of the male voice broke through the haze that Jake found himself in. Instantly, his eyes snapped open to find the sight of the familiar bedroom he and Gabby shared earlier, with no Gabby in it. That had him sitting up and staring at the man who initially asked him to wake up.
Familiarity hit him right away, and Jake found himself on the defense at the sight of the very famous Finn Jackles.
On the one hand, Finn was a shifter just like him—a more famous one, considering he was a dragon shifter and there were only four of those left in the world. He was known for his good humor in general, and even when he was no longer in the shifter world and doing missions with them, his name was still mentioned every now and then. Finn was also familiar, with his bright red hair, and that red hair now had Jake feeling a certain kinship between them.
On the other hand, Finn had done something few people would have had the guts to do—chosen Lucinda, the vampire leader, as his mate and been at her side since. That practically made him her right-hand man, and Jake could feel a certain wariness seep in as he stared at the dragon that was neither friend nor foe, who stared back from his standing position beside the bed.
His mind was still fuzzy, but there was no forgetting what Olivia had done to him and her confession.
“Where’s Olivia?”
Finn tilted his head. “Dead.”
Surprise filled Jake. “Who killed her?”
Finn’s face grew grim. This time, the surprise turned to dread.
“Gabrielle Montgomery.”
*****
The trial for the death of two village vampires and a human assistant were being held in Raz’s mansion’s meeting room, which was large enough to fit a grand party and still have plenty of space left. He watched as three people—no, vampires—sat on the long table, eyes following his movements as he entered the room with Finn.
In the middle of the room stood Gabby, her hands bound behind her and her body ramrod straight. She didn’t look in his direction when he stood next to her, instead facing the jury with a placid expression on her face.
“It’s good to see you awake, Mr. Kismet.”
Jake turned to the female speaking. With her long blonde hair and big, deep-set green eyes, she was easily one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen. But it was Lucinda Bennett’s graceful aura that set her apart, along with the waves of power that radiated from her. There was no doubt that she was the head here, even while she didn’t force her authority on them.
Instead, she tilted her head as Finn left Jake’s side and stood behind her seated form.
“Miss Montgomery and Mr. Kismet, this interrogation is merely a formality. Mr. Dylan Masters is traveling as we speak and on his way to our headquarters in New York, where we will be transporting you soon enough. For now, the vampire community just wants to know the truth.”
Jake’s mouth thinned, while Gabby nodded her head. It bothered him that she was so calm about this. Even Raz was less calm, his stone-faced expression indicating that he wasn’t in the mood to charm and be polite right now.
Jake glanced at the third vampire—the first-in-line. Anger surged inside him when he remembered Finn saying it was this one who rendered Gabby unconscious, but he banked it down and tried to listen to the questions.
They were basic ones, really, easily answered as Jake gave his account of everything that had happened, starting from the time Gabby was kidnapped to how they were brought here by Raz. He then told them word for word what Olivia had said, along with her confession that Raz had nothing to do with any of it. Jake understood his version of events sounded sketchy, especially when he couldn’t really tell what the assistant wanted with Gabby.
How could he, when he didn’t even know?
Then it was Gabby’s turn, and she gave them her own version. It started with how she was kidnapped last year while trying to meet up with Raz and had initially suspected him, and how she orchestrated their dinner this year, so she could be kidnapped again. She told of the witch in the container van taking her blood, of Raz helping them get to the village where they were attacked by two old vampires and had to kill them for self-defense…then, of Olivia’s attack on Jake and Gabby tracking them down, where she heard the assistant’s confession before she killed the woman to rescue Jake.
She was leaving out something, and it was what Lucinda zoned in on right away.
“But why would two vampires attack you if your scent was masked? And why would a lowly assistant want your blood? Clarify, Miss Montgomery.”
“My scent was no longer masked because I transformed into something. And my blood…it contains that something—something deep inside me that only gets to come out from time to time. Give me the chance to use my own chains, Miss Bennett, and I can show you.”
It was the oddest request ever. But the vampire leader didn’t even blink, and it was Raz who got up to retrieve said chains he found in the barn where Gabby and Jake had killed the vampire villagers. Everyone watched as Finn removed the restrictions from Gabby’s hands, then started to place the chains on her. The sight had Jake’s blood boiling.
“Wait,” he barked out. He glared at the dragon shifter. “I’ll do it.”
There was no protest to his request—or rather, his order. Gently, he wrapped the chains around Gabby’s hands, which were put out in front of her as she stared straight ahead. He watched her, waiting for her to meet his eyes, questions filling his mind at this very odd scenario.
She ignored him at first, up until his fingers brushed against hers and sparks zinged between them. Her gaze flew to meet his, and something swam in hers before she stifled it and read what his eyes were trying to say.
What are you up to, Gabby?
She shook her head, then pressed her mouth together. He saw regret simmer there before she kept her face carefully blank again.
When Jake was done, she stepped back from him first. Then she sat on the floor and nodded her head at her watchers.
“Please give it time. I can feel it raging inside me, and it will come out soon.” Her eyes bored into each of the vampires, then at Finn. “Don’t let me kill anyone. But I beg you not to kill me, either, so I can explain everything.”
Then she went quiet.
Jake didn’t know what they were waiting for, but he could tell everyone anticipated it all the same. They were offered food, and the vampires excused themselves for a few minutes before returning to keep waiting. Surprisingly enough, not even the tough-reputed Vladimir protested that this was bull, and he could sense a certain tension in the air growing thicker as if something was coming.
His hand reached out to touch her elbow, but Gabby jerked away as if burned, her eyes trained on the ground. He wanted to shake her, to…do something, but their situation prevented him, and he found himself standing beside Finn at the dragon shifter’s urging.
A few minutes after the vampires’ return, Gabby’s head snapped up, her eyes focused on Lucinda.
But it was no longer Gabby’s eyes.
Horror filled Jake at the sight of her dark, bloody red gaze. Then horror escalated when he watched her body transform to her half-wolf, half-fox form—all golden-brown fur in the size of a large fox.
Except it didn’t stop there.
Her fur fell off in some parts. Saliva dripped from her mouth, as dark as her eyes. Her sharp teeth turned yellow, and a gurgling snarl came out of her throat that was monstrous and hungry.
Then she lunged at them, her claws raking the ground and eliciting a shrieking sound. She was no longer Gabby, but a violent, irrational beast who strained against her chains over and over again until it started creaking. In response, Raz and Vladimir put more chains on her, ignoring her attacks and her cry for blood.
Finn kept his hand on Jake’s strained shoulder, ready in case he would attack, too.
But he wouldn’t because he knew they would hurt Gabby in the process.
Through it all, Lucinda remained quiet and serene, like she was watching a show. It made Jake want to lash out at her. But the sight of Gabby trying to attack them and hurting herself in the process rooted him in place, and his ears burned with the sound of her rusty voice asking for blood. For violence.
For death.
“I will kill you all…you all…drink your blood…”
Jake must have made a move, because Finn’s hand was suddenly on his elbow, a crushing grip. He cursed but held still as everything clicked into place.
Gabby’s secretive ways.
The cure she said she wanted.
Beside him, Finn whispered in his ear—about how a first-in-line traitor named Killian once mixed magic and blood to create monsters like Gabby, and how up until now, there was no cure found for her kind.
More fur fell, and she spread her saliva all over the floor as if marking her territory. It lasted for almost an hour until she was too exhausted to break out of her chains, her body riddled with injuries from where she strained against them.
When she shifted back to her human form, her aquamarine eyes met Jake’s once, regret and sorrow in them.
“I’ve been bitten by one of Killian’s creations, and the symptoms have been passed on to me. I’m not dead yet, so I’m guessing I’m a rare case. I’m…”
Her voice trailed off. Then her eyeballs rolled up, and she fell to the ground with a thud.