Eternal Sin

22

Syn stared down at the diamond key, glittering on the hardwood floor. When had she ripped it from her throat? When had she tossed it away so carelessly?

His gut tightened painfully and he groaned.

He was one to talk about careless. It was all he’d been for months.

He leaned down and picked up the key. It fairly burned in his hand. The platinum and diamonds didn’t want to belong to him. Not after they had been resting against someone, something so pure.

Fucking hell, what had he done?

His mind and gut screaming in unison now, he left the hall and stalked past the kitchen and the metal artwork on the walls to his bedroom. Her face. Shite, her eyes, when she’d walked through the door into his ready torture chamber. He would never forget it. It was imprinted on his mind.

Utter horror.

Entering the closet, he pushed through the wool and leather and stumbled back into the room. He looked around, trying to take in everything as if for the first time. Witness it as she had witnessed it.

Fucking utter horror.

And it had been exactly what he’d wanted. All he’d wanted. The place where, he’d been convinced, vengeance would finally be his.

He moved into the room and grabbed one of the blades from the wall. Three feet of deadly polished steel. He slashed it through the air, cursing, hating himself more than usual.

Cruen had killed his first love. Now Synjon was allowing the mad vampire to destroy his last.

Sighing with frustration, with confusion, with misery for the life and future he’d just lost, he dropped onto the hard metal bench. He hated to admit it, but his need for revenge had started to wane the day he’d been abducted by the pussy brothers, placed in a cabin by the river, and given the opportunity of a lifetime: to feed his veana and his balas.

He stared at the blade.

Out there, in his living room, under a sweet-smelling pine, were baby books, a tub shaped like a duck, two stuffed toy rabbits, and a shirt with the words “Little Fangs” printed on it.

Syn’s throat went scratchy and tight. Bullocks. He had been about to bring filth and hatred and sickness into this house, into that sweet and innocent perfection. And the very worst, he’d lied to the veana he loved. The veana who had done nothing but save him. Over and over.

His gaze shifted from one implement of torture to the next. Cruen had no place here anymore. Maybe he never did.

Unfortunately, convincing Petra that he understood now, that he’d changed, that he saw what was real and right, and acknowledging that “desperately sorry” would never make up for what he’d put her through, was going to be a nearly impossible task.

But impossible hadn’t seemed to contain him lately. Not his emotions, and definitely not his capacity for love.

“I made ice cream,” Dani said in a playful singsong voice that she reserved for very special occasions. Like breakups, and Battlestar Galactica marathons. She circled her bowl in front of Petra’s nose. “You know you want some.”

Sitting in a chair on the tree house porch, overlooking the Rain Forest under a dome of twilight sky, Petra gave the female hawk shifter a tight smile. It was blatantly forced, but Dani knew that was how things were right now.

Broken heart and all.

Dani dropped into the chair beside her and started going at it, her spoon deep in the center of the chocolate scoop. “You sure? It’s the best I ever made.”

The soft, warm breeze blew Petra’s hair off her face. She’d missed it here. She’d been a fool to leave. She’d just been a fool, period. “Sorry, bestie. Blood’s my thing now.”

Dani made a retching sound. “Well, I ain’t offering up that.”

“Good,” Petra said with a soft laugh. “’Cause I hear yours is a little sour.”

Her mouth dropped open in mock surprise. “Who’d you hear that from?”

“Oh, one of the many males you hang out with.”

Dani pointed her spoon at Petra. “Now I know you’re lying because I don’t let anyone bite me.” She pretended to shiver. “That’s so weird and gross. How do you do it?”

A shock of memory barreled through Petra. Her fangs in Syn’s vein, his fangs inside her. The most perfect meal in the world, and she could never have it again.

“I don’t do it,” she said softly. “Not anymore.”

Dani sighed. “You’ll get over it, Pets.”

“I don’t know.” And she really didn’t. She’d allowed herself to believe in him, and in them as a family. How did you just get over something like that? Everything you ever wanted, desired, dreamed of, there for the taking. Then ripped from you without even a warning, or some heavy-duty pain-killers.

“You will,” Dani assured her, her ice cream momentarily forgotten. “And, girlie, it wasn’t meant to be. You know that.” She tilted her head to the side, her eyes filled with empathy, anger, love. “His whole deal, his world, his purpose was wrapped up in destroying your father. Now, granted, your father sounds like a big old douche, but seriously, that romance was doomed from the start.”

Maybe, Petra thought morosely. Probably. But even knowing that, admitting that, she wouldn’t wish it away. The beautiful times with him had been the very best times of her life. They may have been wrapped up in something ugly, but they’d been absolutely beautiful.

“Brodan?”

Dani’s one-word shock bomb had Petra turning to glare at her. “What?”

Dani laughed at her expression. “Just asking.”

“Seriously, Dani? Now? Right now?”

Shrugging, Dani slid a massive spoonful of ice cream into her mouth. “I’m just saying. Don’t waste too much time. Brodan’s been in love with you forever. All you’d have to do is say the word.”

The only words Petra wanted to utter with the bear shifter were friendly, brotherly ones. “Brodan deserves way better than me.”

“There is nothing better than you, bestie.” Dani granted her a wide grin, complete with chocolate-stained teeth.

Petra laughed in spite of herself. “You’re so pretty.”

Dani started laughing too. They almost didn’t hear a rustle down below, at the base of the tree house. Only when they quieted for a moment, listening, did they hear the sound.

“We have company,” Dani said. They both jumped to their feet and raced to the porch railing. Leaning over it, they saw Sasha crawling up the rope ladder.

“Oh, jeez,” Petra muttered, releasing a sigh of relief. “It’s just my brother.”

Dani eyed her. “Who’d you think it was? Or better yet, who’d you hope it was?”

“Your ice cream’s melting,” Petra said.

“Nice. Very smooth.”

“I try to make my evasions quick and sweet-tasting.”

Dani glanced down at Sasha, who was nearly at the balcony. “I wondered when they’d hear about this, you returning home and all, and come running. Or climbing.” She snorted at her joke, and the moment Sasha swung his large body over the balcony, she attacked. “What do you want, Whiskers? For fuck’s sake, can’t a girl and her best friend have some—”

“Stand down, Dani. Christ,” Sasha interrupted, his tone and his expression heavy with concern. “They’re here.”

“Who?” Dani asked, drawing back, instantly serious.

Petra stilled, wondering if her brother was talking about Syn, and maybe . . . Sara or her mate. But that impossible hope was quickly crushed with Sasha’s next words.

“The Order,” he said, his eyes shuttered. “They’re all at the gathering stones.”

Petra felt a shock like electricity move through her. Forget her and forget Synjon—the Order was looking for her father now. They believed him to have been abducted by the shifters. Held against his will. Something that Petra knew wasn’t possible. Once again Cruen was up to something. What a mess this whole thing was. Synjon had wanted to be the one to abduct Cruen, and yet her father had run off with some underground water shifters and was now becoming a dangerous, threatening problem to Petra’s family and friends.

Gods, why did she continue to care about that paven’s well-being?

Why did something inside her still hope and wonder if he might love her? Or at the very least, care about her.

“So what?” Dani said, already stripping out of her clothes. “Are they looking for a fight over that geriatric vampire who went looking for trouble in our Rain Forest?”

Sasha nodded, but his eyes remained on Petra. “Something like that.”

“Well, then, let’s give ’em one.”

Shifting into her hawk, wings spread and flapping in the breeze, Dani screeched at the two of them to climb aboard. And when they did, she wasted no time in soaring into the sky, her eyes narrowed on the growing firelight in the distance.

The jaguar, the hawk, and the water beast stood between the shifters and the Order in the center of the gathering stones. The night was very dark, punctuated only by a brilliant full moon in the sky and a bonfire down below.

Dillon didn’t know about Phane and Helo—and who the hell knew where Lycos was hanging out these days—but this wasn’t about choosing between vampire and shifter. This was about right and wrong. Bully and innocent. And the Order had just crossed that line.

For fucking Cruen.

“We are getting word that Cruen is staying with a group of water shifters,” Dillon said, her eyes flickering toward the leader of the Water Faction.

The male knew that a small band of his kind had broken off, were experimenting on themselves with plants and animals, trying to gain power and strength. And it wasn’t too far a stretch that Cruen would end up with such a pack.

“Produce him so we may see for ourselves,” said Feeyan, her white eyes shockingly bare in the light of the bonfire. She looked almost blind.

“He won’t come out for anyone,” Dillon told her. “These shifters aren’t following the rules of their land.”

“So, we’re dealing with rogue shifters.” Feeyan glanced behind her to the other Order members. “Even worse than I thought.”

Shit. Dillon should’ve known her boss would see things that way, would spin them that way. She should’ve anticipated. Now there did seem to be an actual threat.

“We ask you to step aside,” Feeyan said, her stark gaze running over every faction leader, Petra’s mother, and a few other shifter males, including the doctor. “Let us find Cruen and deal with the ones who took him.”

Overhead, a hawk was coming in for a landing. Dillon barely gave it a glance. She knew who was arriving, and wondered if it would have any effect on the situation. She guessed not. Feeyan had something to prove. Dillon had noticed it ever since she’d become the leader of the Order. And it had gotten worse as of late. It was evident in her actions, reactions, choices, even the way she continually looked to the other Order members for approval. From what Dillon had heard, Cruen had never given a shit about what the others thought or about gaining their respect. He did what he wanted, what he thought was right, and screw what anyone else said.

It made Dillon wonder if that was why Cruen remained important to Feeyan, and why the veana hadn’t attempted to investigate the paven for any of his many crimes.

“And if we don’t step aside?” Wen asked boldly.

Behind Feeyan, two of the more ancient members hissed. Looking pleased, she raised her hand to quell their ire. “We will have to wipe out this entire forest. Clean house, so to speak.”

The leader of the Mountain Faction stepped forward, close to the fire, and growled. “How dare you come here and threaten us, our home?”

“There is no threat, only an understanding.”

“Bloodsuckers will not dictate our actions or control our world!” cried the leader of the Avians.

“You either give back who you took or we go in and find him ourselves.” Feeyan beamed. “You see? Very simple.”

Petra came running into the gathering stones, her brother and Dani flanking her. “I’m Cruen’s daughter,” she said in a loud, clear voice. She looked around, searching, and when she found Feeyan, she addressed her directly. Dillon had to hand it to the pregnant veana. She had some serious balls.

“And a full-blood veana,” she continued. “Long ago, Cruen left me here. I was just an infant. He knows this species, has used them for experiments, and gave his only child to a pride of lions. They raised me beautifully. Clearly he trusts them, feels comfortable among them. If he wanted to leave, all he’d have to do is flash. He’s a powerful paven, is he not?”

The skin around Feeyan’s eyes twitched. “All Purebloods are powerful.”

“But Cruen is more so,” Petra said, lifting her chin. “Did you ever wonder why?”

Behind Feeyan, the other members stood stock-still, listening intently.

“He dipped into many species,” she continued. “Shifter, demon, gods know what else, all in the name of power. He wanted the ultimate vampire, and to do that he added the DNA of other powerful beings.” She stepped forward. “Do you really think he’s worth a war?”

Feeyan didn’t speak at first. She seemed less confident, almost worried, as she stood there and regarded Petra. Dillon stared at her, wondering what she was thinking, how she was going to play this now that Cruen’s daughter had proclaimed him able to leave this land anytime he wanted. If Feeyan fought that charge, she was basically saying that Purebloods were weak. If she didn’t, she herself looked weak.

Behind her, several of the Order members started whispering. Dillon heard things like, “We look like fools” and “Are we truly negotiating with animals?” and “Cruen would’ve never let this go on.”

Feeyan seemed to make a choice right there. Everything about her changed in an instant. Her demeanor, her stance, even the way she spoke. Clearly, she wasn’t about to let the Order members see her as weak. Even if that might be the truth.

“We want access to the Rain Forest,” she said finally. “We will find him ourselves. Question him about his activities ourselves.”

“Maybe he doesn’t want to be found,” Dillon said with a tight shrug.

Feeyan’s lips twitched with humor. “No matter what his daughter says, no Pureblood vampire wants to live in this jungle. And after this day, none ever will.” She turned to address the three Romans brothers and their mates, who had been silent and seething as they sat upon the rocks. “It sets a bad precedent,” she continued authoritatively. “The Eternal Breed and . . . whatever these things are will not live together.”

With one hand on her belly, Petra glared at the Order. “You can’t control where we live.”

A false smile on her face, Feeyan raised her hands above her head, then abruptly brought them down. Instantly, snow started to fall.

The shifters gasped and leaped to their feet, touched their heads and shoulders, wondering if they were being burned. Clearly, they had never seen snow before.

Feeyan eyed Petra. “I can control everything, my dear. This—what you see before you—is just a whisper of my power.” She turned to Wen and the faction leaders. “I will search this forest, find my Pureblood. And I will do it either with your approval or with your blood on my fangs.”