Embrace the Night

14

Chloe woke to darkness.

It took everything she had not to scream as blind terror exploded through her. Her blood froze in her veins; her heart stopped and then jackhammered against her breastbone. The blackness closed in around her, suffocating her. She lay on her side, and her hands were bound behind her, bronze blistering her flesh. Her fingers trembled, and she fisted them tight, trying to fight down the need to gag.

She didn’t know where she was, just that she was bronze-bound and alone in the vast, gloomy nothing.

It was the sum of al her fears. Her stomach heaved at the thought, and she swal owed bitter bile that coated her tongue. Sweat slid down her face to burn her eyes. Tremors ran through her muscles, and she panted, her face pressed to the hard, cold floor.

Something landed on her back, and she bucked, biting back a terrified shriek. Whatever was on her rol ed away, but she knew it wasn’t gone. She could hear it breathing. She went rigid, waiting for the next nightmare to materialize. Sandpaper rasped against her left cheek, and she flinched away from the harsh sensation.

“Prrp.” Ophelia laid a paw against her cheek, then rubbed herself down Chloe’s torso. How her familiar had gotten here, Chloe would never be able to guess. The cat crawled over her and settled against her back, vibrating with a purr. A few seconds later, the bronze shackles clanked to the metal floor.

Chloe choked, freed, but reminded far too much of being stranded with her familiar in the forest as a child. Only this was worse, because now she knew the danger she was in, knew there were people out there counting on her to help them and not just herself. She couldn’t give in to her fears; as much as she wanted to curl up and sob as she once had, she didn’t have time for any weakness.

Alex and Tess needed her.

She got a vice grip on her control, pul ing her injured wrists into her chest. Forcing her mind to focus on healing spel s helped drag her back from the abyss. She clenched her jaw to stop her teeth from chattering.

Wherever she was, there were vampires and werewolves out there, and they could hear if she made too much noise.

Swal owing hard, she forced back the darts of panic that shot through her. Memories exploded through her mind. Merek shot, bleeding out faster than she could extract the bul ets and seal the wounds. A screaming and struggling Tess hauled away from Luca by a werewolf. Alex roaring, so much grief on his face it hurt to recal it. He’d left her with Merek, shooting forward to attack those who’d hurt a man they both loved. The teen’s body had frozen after no more than two steps, his muscles flexing in uncoordinated jolts as if he were struggling against himself. His eyelids fluttered, and he shook his head hard, prying them open. A vampire stood across the room, her gaze locked on Alex’s face—hypnotizing him into unconsciousness.

Chloe had stopped healing Merek long enough to heave one of her fire canisters at the bloodsucker, but the other woman had stepped smoothly out of its path. She didn’t even lose eye contact with Alex. Merek choked, blood gushing from his mouth and nose. Energy she didn’t know she had poured into him for the spel s, and she’d felt her own grip on reality, on life, begin to fade. Jerking, she’d tried to refocus on Alex, searched for him . . . and was caught by the vampire’s gaze herself.

That was the last thing she remembered, before now.

Patting her hands along the hol ow metal floor, she tried to feel for anything that would orient her. A van?

The space felt smal enough for that. She fended off a wave of dizziness as the darkness assaulted her once more. A tiny part of her couldn’t believe this had happened again. Trapped in the black, scorched by bronze, those she loved most lost to her, perhaps forever. She snorted, tears stinging her eyes, hysteria rising.

No. She was no longer a scared child. She refused to let her fears rule her, refused to let them freeze her up. She didn’t know where she was, but she knew it was nowhere she wanted to be. She didn’t know where Alex and Tess were, but she doubted it was any safer. Luca and Merek were— Agony poured through her like acid, and she pushed that away as wel . Not now. If she survived this, there would be plenty of time for grief. Years. Decades. Centuries.

She shuddered, but made herself complete her train of thought. As far as she knew, both men were dead.

No one was coming to save them. No one was going to protect them. No one was going to get them out of this. That was her job now.

Cracking open her senses, she tried to stretch out her magic and see if there was anyone else within reach. Nothing stirred outside the van, but there was a flurry of activity in the distance. Her ears buzzed with the life forces of many different kinds of Magickals. Mostly wolves, which only made her bel y cramp tighter.

She’d never felt so many wolves in one place at one time. This was not good.

Her hand came into contact with the side of the van, and she got to her knees to try to feel around for the door. Quietly. Was the van parked on the street? In a garage? Could she scream for help? If she did, would anyone but the wolves hear her? She didn’t know so she couldn’t risk it.

The hinges for the rear door bumped under her questing fingers, and a spurt of triumph went through her.

She slid over on her knees to find the middle. If she could use her magic to unlock and ease the door open .

. .

But the doors creaked open, and a shaft of light pierced the gloom. A pale streak told her Ophelia had bolted, disappearing to the gods knew where. Chloe turned her face into the brightness, relief so huge it made her shake coursing through her body. She sent a firebal through the narrow opening, and heard an angry shout on the other side. One door whipped open, and a gun pointed at her face. Shit.

“Are you going to behave, or am I going to have to put you back into the cuffs?”

Blinking away the light, she focused on the man with a familiar, quiet voice. She couldn’t keep her mouth from fal ing open, then it snapped shut on a snarl as welcome rage rol ed over her. Her fists clenched to keep from torching the treacherous asshole. “Peyton.”

“You remember me.” He grasped her upper arm and pul ed her from the van. Every muscle screamed a protest at the quick movement.

“Hard to forget a man who helped torture you.” She jerked away from him, but he held on with disgustingly little effort. His jacket lay in a smoking heap on the cement floor, and she smirked.

“Let’s get moving. Your friends are waiting for you.” He propel ed her across a large loading dock. “We’d have moved you at the same time, but it took quite a few men to handle young Nemov. Someone trained the boy wel .”

“Detective Kingston.” As much as she’d like to fry his nerves with a spel , she managed to stop herself from fol owing through with the thought. He was taking her to Alex and Tess, and acting rashly wouldn’t help any of them. She would need al the magic she could marshal to get them out of this. She refused to consider any other option. They would get out of this. She satisfied her ire by spitting out, “They kil ed him and Agent Caval i, you know. I hope you’re happy, traitor.”

Some emotion flickered in his eyes, but was soon gone, and his face became a smooth mask. “No, I didn’t know. This way, please, Dr. Standish.”

Since she didn’t have a real choice, she let him lead her through a secured door and down a long, brightly lit hal way. It looked like they were in an office building, which was so ordinary it was disconcerting. They passed armed men and women who nodded to Peyton and looked her over like so much prey. She clenched her jaw, lifted her chin, and refused to cower.

They sped up endless floors in an elevator, but there was no dial or buttons to say exactly how many.

Peyton pushed her out to turn into a few interior hal ways, and she lost track of where they’d gone as they wound deeper into the building. The wolf swished a keycard in front of several security panels to get them through a series of doors. She could smel the familiar scent of a laboratory, and her insides twisted tighter.

If they tortured her again, she had no defenses left against tel ing them everything about the formula.

Stepping into a room that was, indeed, equipped as a lab, she wasn’t surprised to see Ivan Nemov standing there with a handful of other Magickals. He looked like hel warmed over, and Chloe couldn’t summon a single scrap of sympathy. He’d sold out her research to terrorists, gotten Damien and his pregnant fiancée murdered, and abandoned his only child. She offered him a baleful stare, and he winced and glanced away.

Toward Alex.

She couldn’t prevent the cry that burst out, and Peyton hauled her closer when she tried to break for Alex.

He was in a cage. And he wasn’t the only one. An unconscious Tess lol ed against the bars in the cage next to him. So many cages. Dozens of wolves were locked into silver dog kennels, some in human form, some in animal form, but there wasn’t enough room to stand up, let alone half-shift. Shredded newspaper on the floors of the cages was the only thing between them and the silver. She winced when a wolf rol ed over and yelped in pain as it brushed the bars.

Her mouth worked for a moment before she could form a coherent sentence through the horror. “What the hel is this?”

“Dr. Nemov’s grand experiment.” A slender man pushed away from the large lab table in the middle of the room. “It’s nice to final y meet you, Dr. Standish. I’ve heard so many good things about your work.”

“Leonard Smith.” She didn’t need his nod of confirmation to know. What startled her was the complete lack of evil in his eyes. A man who’d orchestrated al this should have a face twisted and deformed with malice, but he just looked like a middle manager appropriate to the office building they stood in. She swal owed, pushed away the inane thoughts, and refocused on what was important. “How are so many werewolves missing and no one reported anything?”

She knew before the words were past her lips. These weren’t registered wolves. These were Normals they’d turned into werewolves. Smith’s words rang in her mind again: Dr. Nemov’s grand experiment. Her gaze swung to Ivan. “How could you?”

“For Jaya. For Alex,” he rasped, his Russian accent thickening. Eyes as green as Alex’s met hers. They burned with an intensity that bordered on fanatical. “Our work wasn’t going fast enough. There are too many regulations on our experiments. We were so close to a breakthrough, and it would have stil meant years of verification testing. Years. We’ve already lost so many years. Every month means more of us don’t make the Change; more of us die. I already lost my wife. I won’t lose my son.”

The utter blankness on Alex’s face when she looked at him told her Ivan had already lost his son, whether he was alive or not. Her soul ached for the boy, but she made herself address Smith. “I won’t help you with this. It’s il egal and immoral. Dr. Nemov seems to have forgotten his oaths to medical ethics.”

“I agree with you,” Smith responded with a benign smile. “Ivan’s work is a regrettable means to an end for me, one I don’t relish, but necessity wins out.”

“What end could possibly be worth this? ” She waved a hand at the people caged like mindless animals.

At her godson and her best friend.

“Freedom,” he said simply. “The pack leaders are ineffective. How long did they fail to get this kind of research funded? Instead of granting werewolves a modicum of independence, they sold us out to the vampires, who wil be more than happy to control treatment, to make slavering dogs of our entire race.” He arched an eyebrow and spread his hands. “Deny they despise us, Dr. Standish.”

She licked her lips, swal owed, scrambled for some logic when her mind spewed repulsion. “Vampires despise everyone, but they had the means to pay for the experiments.”

An impatient gesture from Smith stopped anything else she might say. “Werewolves have stood apart too long, hiding behind the wal s of pack lands and the hive-minded obedience of pack law. It’s time to take our own destiny in hand.”

For the most part, she agreed with him. Right up until he got to the part about kil ing people and letting Ivan Change innocent Normals into wolfish lab rats. The terrorist’s face and voice were calm, his manner implacable. There would be no reasoning with this man. He was a hero in his own mind, a savior.

Smith gave her a smile that was almost regretful. “I’m afraid Dr. Nemov has run into a wal with his work.

He needs you to finish the formula.” He paused, waited for her to speak, and arched an eyebrow when she didn’t. “I understand your reticence, truly I do. However, I must have an effective treatment, so you’l understand if I feel the need to build some safeguards into your timeline.”

“Safeguards?” Ivan’s blond brows lifted. Apparently, he wasn’t in on al of Smith’s plans. Chloe braced herself, not knowing how bad it could get, but knowing it was going to be ugly.

Smith ignored the other wolf and glanced at his watch. “You have roughly ten hours until the sun sets, and the ful moon rises. When that happens, we’l take whatever you’ve come up with and administer it to your young pup, there.” He nodded to Alex’s cage; the boy’s expression remained bland. “Just to make certain he can both control the Change and the rampage, we’l put your friend in the cage with him.”

Chloe’s lungs seized, her heart skipping several beats. No. Gods, no. If the mixture wasn’t perfect, it could be lethal. It most likely would be, and she’d have kil ed her godson, a boy she loved as much as she could any child of her own. If it didn’t kil him immediately, but left him unable to resist the rampage, her best friend would be bitten . . . or worse. Every ounce of blood rushed out of Chloe’s face so fast, tingles pricked at her cheeks. Peyton actual y had to hug her close to keep her legs from col apsing under her. Her bel y revolted at his touch, and she locked her knees to pul away from him.

A shocked breath whistled out of Ivan’s throat.

“What? Smith, I came to you with this. I gave you everything! You can’t think to use my son. We have plenty of other wolves for that!” He gesticulated wildly, sweeping a hand toward the many kennels. His eyes flashed with feral light, and he turned on Smith with bared fangs. Smith drew a weapon from his coat, pointing it at Ivan’s head; the scientist froze, nostrils flaring at the scent of danger.

“Yes, plenty of wolves, but none who would make Dr. Standish give me what I want when I want it. You don’t seem to realize that neither my funds nor my patience are limitless.” He sighed, shook his head. “I believe we’ve exhausted your usefulness, Doctor.”

And then he pul ed the trigger. Once. Twice. Three times.

Ivan crumpled to the floor, and Chloe stared blankly at the broken body, the blood spreading out from under him. Shock made her limbs go numb, and she braced her hand on the table to keep from toppling.

Smith tucked his gun away and motioned to the other two people in the room, a man and a woman, to take care of the mess.

She recognized them both. The Fae woman who’d helped Peyton torture her, and the vampire she’d hit with the SUV. His shock of bril iant red hair gave him away. He offered her a befanged grin as he walked past carrying one end of Ivan’s body. “No hard feelings about running me over. It’s a dirty business.”

“Gregor,” Smith’s tone was reproving. The two people walked through a doorway into what had to be a morgue. There were a lot of bodies. Ivan’s failed experiments? Normals who hadn’t made the Change to wolf? People who’d gotten in Smith’s way? Probably al of the above.

Smith waved a hand at Gregor when they came back into the room to mop up the blood. “Unfortunately, operating outside the law means dealing with some unsavory characters—”

The vampire smiled affably and made no comment.

“—but Gregor is the best at what he does. He’l be keeping an eye on you today. Another safeguard.”

“Fine, but I need Alex. He’s an expert in computers, and he’s worked in my lab before. Let him help me.”

Because she didn’t think she could stand looking at him trapped in that kennel while she formulated her potions. It was bad enough with Tess unconscious, but Alex would be watching her, knowing what would happen if she fucked up. Downward rushes of cold dread made her insides shake as it continued to hit her just how much was at stake. She met Smith’s gaze and shrugged with a nonchalance she didn’t feel. “You kil ed the only other person who might have been useful.”

“Since his life is on the line . . . it only seems fair. Be aware this room has been specifical y designed by Normals and warded by Magickals to prevent unauthorized entry and exit. With the guests we have staying here, it’s proved necessary.” He motioned for the Fae woman to open Alex’s cage. The boy didn’t hesitate, bolting forward. A shield snapped around the Fae, and Alex ricocheted off of it. Smith smiled indulgently, and it sent a chil down Chloe’s spine. “Come, Peyton. Let’s leave them to it. Gregor, Sasha, watch them.”

The two werewolves glided out, Peyton glancing back to send her a long look she couldn’t read. Gregor gave Chloe a smile that told her he would enjoy himself immensely if she tried anything stupid. Alex glared at him, moving to her side. She reached for his hand, her grasp tightening in reassurance. The Fae woman, Sasha, positioned herself by the door and stood at the ready with a deadly little pistol in her hand.

“Okay, let’s do this.” Chloe ignored both terrorists, took a deep breath, and got to work. There weren’t many hours between now and sundown to get it right, and she could not mess this up.

Lives depended on it.

Pain echoed through Merek’s torso, a pounding drum that should have . . . hurt more. It was the lack of agony that brought him to ful consciousness. He let his eyes crack open, careful not to move. The iron stench of blood fil ed his nose, but he lay on something soft. Where was he? More important, where were Chloe and Alex?

“Ah, you’re awake, my friend. Good. I’d hoped those healing spel s I used on you would work, but casting isn’t an expertise of my kind. I’m afraid my methods are rudimentary at best, so you’l wear those scars for the rest of your life.” Luca’s voice sounded from his left, so Merek turned his head before he ful y opened his eyes. “You’re lucky Dr. Standish managed to remove al the bul ets before she was taken, and before the bronze got into your system, or there would have been little I could do in the state I was in. You don’t want to know how I managed the transfusion you needed.”

Luca rose from the chair he was lounging in. “They cut the phone lines, and our cel s were victims of the battle, so we’ve been isolated from any outside contact al day.”

Merek had never seen a vampire so pale, cheeks sunken in, eyes ringed with dark circles. He rol ed his tongue around in the parched desert of his mouth to generate some moisture. “You need to feed.”

A faint grin curved the other man’s lips, the tip of one fang flashing in the lamplight. “Yes, wel . I’ve had enough to keep me going, but I’m not about to suck your blood, now, am I? After al the effort I went to, to get more into you.”

Blankets had been nailed over the windows, so there was no tel ing what time of day it was. No way of knowing how long it had been since Alex and Chloe were taken. Utter failure stabbed into Merek. He’d failed the people he cared for most. Again. Failed to protect them, failed to keep himself from getting shot, failed to stop them from being taken by terrorists. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead. Everything he’d promised them and Mil ie and himself, he’d failed at, and now his people—his family—were in the hands of Leonard Smith. Merek didn’t even know if they were stil alive, and the thought alone made bile burn the back of his throat. He swal owed hard, shoved away the yawning sense of desolation, and got a hold of his emotions. If there was a chance, no matter how slim, that they could be saved, Merek and Luca had to act now. Lying around feeling sorry for himself would help no one.

“What about Smith’s people?” Merek sat up slowly on the living room sofa, waiting to see if the world would spin. It stayed steady, though every muscle in his chest and back protested the movement. The bul et wounds had healed to tender scar tissue. Not pleasant, but manageable. “Any of those bastards stil breathing?”

“Funny you should ask.” Luca nudged a man sprawled across the floor, wet with blood and his own urine.

Elf, by the points of his ears. He groaned, twitching away from Luca’s boot. The vampire crouched beside him, his fangs bared in what only a fool would cal a smile. “You have blood and information. I need both.”

“Fuck you, Caval i,” the elf spat. When he turned his head, Merek could see that the flesh on half his face had been melted. The victim of some kind of flame spel ? Had Chloe done it? He knew he hadn’t. The clawing need to get to Chloe, to know where she was, tore through him, but he gave the scene before him an impassive stare. He wouldn’t fail again by giving this terrorist even the slightest advantage.

“Ah, good.” Luca’s purr could rival Ophelia’s at her best. Talons extended from his fingertips, and he used one to bring the elf’s head around to face him. “You know who I am. I’m not going to bother making threats because if you were someone who cowed to them you wouldn’t be working for Smith. The only thing I wil say before I drain you dry is that you’ve taken my woman, and I cannot abide that. I want her back.”

“Smith is probably going to toy with your bitch a bit before he kil s her.” The elf winced when Luca’s deadly talon slid along his scorched flesh. “Too bad I’l miss it. And don’t even think you can mesmerize me, bloodsucker. I’m stronger than that.”

“I’m sure you are. For the moment.” The vampire sank his fingers into the melted clumps of the elf’s hair, pul ing back the man’s head to expose his neck. “The more blood I take, the weaker you become, and the easier it is to mesmerize you. I wish I could say I’d try to make it painless for you, but we both know I won’t.”

“Fuck y—” The elf’s voice whistled to a high-pitched scream as Luca drove his fangs deep into the other man’s throat.

Long moments passed while the elf gurgled and struggled helplessly in the vampire’s grasp. His hands scrabbled and clawed at the carpet, his squeals growing fainter and fainter.

“Much more, and there’l be nothing left to mesmerize, Caval i.” Merek kept his voice nonchalant as he looked around at the carnage strewn through the house. Or at least, the parts of the house he could see.

Congealed blood sprayed across every wal and added to the reek of death. Broken bodies littered the floors, and it was obvious many of them had seen Luca’s fangs before they went. Merek flexed his arm and saw the distinct twin puncture marks on the inside of his elbow. Luca was right—he didn’t want to know how the transfusion had happened. He just wanted Chloe and Alex back, safe. He didn’t give a damn how many people Luca and he had to kil to make that happen. Ruthless desperation burned everything else away. If there was even a possibility of saving his people, he’d do whatever it took.

Luca ripped his fangs away and threw his head back, blood pouring from his mouth to coat his chin and mat his soul patch. He gasped for breath, shaking his head like a dog until the crimson liquid went flying to add another layer of spatter to the wal s. His eyes shone in the way only a predatory animal’s could.

He used his hand fisted in the elf’s hair to jerk him up until their gazes were level. Luca’s voice dropped to a low, chil ing hiss. “Tel me what I want to know. Where is Smith? Where has he taken the women and the boy?”

A groan rattled from the elf’s chest. He stared blindly into the vampire’s eyes, his pupils expanding until they nearly eclipsed the blue irises. His fingers twitched against the floor, some last token of resistance.

“Mercer Tower.”

Merek leaned forward, his fists bal ing on his thighs. Impatience thrummed through him, but he shoved it aside. “Mercer Tower downtown?”

But the man was dead, as drained as Luca had promised.

The vampire dropped the lifeless body, swiping a hand down his face. “How’s your invisibility spel ?”

Merek blinked at the non sequitur, but answered anyway. Whatever the vampire had in mind, he was game. Anything. Anything to save them. Anything not to fail them again. “Not great. Normals can’t see through it, but any Magickal worth his salt can sense it, if not look right through it.”

“Blocking Normals is good enough for me. It’s nightfal , and that wil help us as wel .” Ruddiness flushed Luca’s cheeks, and he looked healthier than Merek had ever seen him. The big vampire rose to his ful height, flexing his arms into curves the way a bodybuilder would. His eyes burned to red, his fangs and talons exploding to their ful , terrifying lengths. Muscles corded in his neck and face, veins bulging as he strained. A sound similar to that of a werewolf’s Change rent the air, bones snapping, cloth tearing as massive wings exploded from the vampire’s back. They flexed out, black tissue stretched taut between each hinge of bone. “I think I can get us there faster than a boat or cal ing in a helicopter would.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Merek shook his head, climbing to his feet. His leg ached like a son of a bitch, but he ignored it. Pain didn’t matter. Exhaustion was nothing. Only getting to his family. “Remind me never to piss you off.”

Luca flicked dismissive fingers, his talons clicking together. “You’re too intel igent for that anyway.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence . . . and the healing.”

“I needed your skil s.” The vampire shrugged as he made the cold-blooded statement, but gave him an intense look, his eyes narrowing. “You realize your superiors at the police department may not be wil ing to look the other way if they get wind of everything we do tonight.”

Shrugging in return, Merek met the other man’s stare. What was a job compared to Chloe and Alex?

Nothing. It was that simple.

The considering expression didn’t change. “For whatever it’s worth, I’d look the other way . . . if I were your superior.”

“Let’s just focus on everyone surviving.” Dredging up as much magic as he could, Merek threw a cloaking invisibility spel over them both.

The vampire gave a hum of approval as they disappeared from sight. “Shal we go?”