Hunted

Chapter 15

The air heated in Conn’s lungs. He frowned. “No, you’re not.” No way in hell was his youngest brother going into a mind-battle with the demons. Jase still carried the scars from fighting and killing when a mere teenager—a fact that plagued the king daily. “My job is on the front lines, Dage.”

“I’m aware of that.” Dage flicked his gaze to Jase and then back to Conn. “Unfortunately, we have more than one front line going on right now. I need you here.”

“No, you don’t.” He’d hit his brother before, but never when Dage acted as King. This would be a first. “I planned this development. You’re protected, as is everyone else here. The greater threat lies in the Baltic States.” The demons had centralized their location during the last several decades, and the war needed to go to them.

Jase stepped into danger range. “What about Moira, Conn? What about the swirling vortex of possible pain hunting your mate?”

Conn rounded on his younger brother. They stood eye to eye, both packed hard. Jase had always known how to aim for the jugular. “Fuck you.”

Jase smiled. “You’re the only one with the ability to utilize quantum physics and practice magic. Even Dage can only use string theory by teleporting.” He tucked his hands into the back pockets of faded jeans. But not before Conn saw the purple painted nails on his left hand. Obviously he’d lost to Janie at Go Fish again. “What if this vortex, or whatever it is, hinges on magic? You’re it, brother.”

The logic in Jase’s words slammed Conn’s temper even closer to the surface. He had to protect Jase. He couldn’t let the demons rip into Jase’s mind. His youngest brother should be playing games all the time, having fun and being young. Not facing death or insanity. “Just because you’ve immobilized your hands doesn’t mean I won’t hit you.”

Jase shrugged. A wall of shimmering ice rippled through the air between them. “Try it.”

Conn could. A plasma ball would destroy the wall. But hurting his brother seemed counterproductive to the conversation. “You’re forgetting about the magic, asshole.”

“Am I?” Arrogance coated Jase’s low voice.

Conn flashed back to the time he’d taught his brother to drive their first Model T Ford, which of course, they instantly modified into a beacon of speed. “I like you fine without your mind all warped.” He pivoted to face Dage. “How can you order this?”

Blue shot hard spikes within Dage’s silver eyes. “Duty’s a bitch, Conn.”

Emotion turned the king’s voice raw in a tone that actually slammed pain through Conn. He struggled to reason with his brother. “My job is to face the biggest threat, and that comes from the demons.”

Talen stepped closer. “No. The biggest threat is someone using the ability to take our mates right out from under our noses”—he crossed his arms, his golden gaze narrowing on Dage—“which is why Conn stays here to figure out how to counter them, and I go to the Baltic States.”

Jase growled low. The wall of ice shattered. “You know, this lack of faith is starting to piss me off. Talen, your mate is due to give birth this month. You’re useless away from here.” He ignored Talen’s dropping into a fighting stance. “I may be younger than all of you, but I’m three hundred years old. The elements follow my orders, which will be invaluable against the demons and their mind tricks. I’m going, so deal with it.”

Good God, Conn might actually have to beat the crap out of him. Conn turned to face Jase. “What if the demons are the ones controlling the vortex, Jase? Frankly, who the hell knows?” The demons destroyed minds, but maybe they’d learned to harness the dimensions, which was necessary in teleporting.

“Not a chance.” Jase yanked his hands out of his jeans to cross his arms. “Vampires are the only species known to teleport, and merely a select few can do so. The Kurjans are genetically similar with their thirty chromosomal pairs, so chances are the Kurjans have developed this talent along with developing the virus that takes our mates back down to human form.” He cleared his throat. “Kane and I are the only brothers without mates. The rest of you need to stay close to yours.”

“No.” Talen’s eyes shot green through the gold, guaranteeing his temper would soon blow. “We need to ensure our women are safe, which they are. These women are strong and knew our jobs and duties when agreeing to be our mates.”

“Like Cara had a chance to disagree.” Jase stepped to the side, closer to Dage.

Humor tipped Talen’s upper lip as he mirrored Jase’s movement, creating a square of power between the brothers. “I’m sure I asked at some point.”

“You can’t leave her when she’s so close to giving birth.” Jase dropped his voice to a softer tone.

Enough. Conn focused on Dage. The king needed to be convinced. “My mate isn’t with child, Dage. She’s worked as an enforcer the last few decades and understands the life of a soldier.” Probably with more clarity than he’d like. “She’s safe here with you.” He pressed the advantage when Dage didn’t reply. “What if Jase and I go together? With our combined skills, we’d be back in no time.”

“I don’t need your help,” Jase murmured. “And now you’ve done it.” He turned his gaze on Dage.

“I’m going.” Dage hardened his jaw. “Your reasons are valid and apply to me more than you. We have three hours to put contingency plans into place before I go.”

Irritation battled with anger down Conn’s spine. “You can’t go.”

Dage raised an arrogant brow. “Why the hell not?”

“Because you’re the fucking king.” A fact his brother would like to forget more often than not. “We have enemies on all fronts, and we need a face as well as a centralized location. You’re needed here, Dage. Like it or not.” Conn didn’t need to turn around to know Talen and Jase nodded in agreement. “Do your job. Let me do mine.”

Dage sighed. “You’re right. My job is to lead.” His lip curled. No doubt he’d rather face all the demons at once than sit in place for the good of the Realm. He turned toward Jase. “You leave for Russia first thing in the morning.” The blue shoved silver out of his eyes. “Stay safe and kick ass.”

Jase straightened to his full height. “I’ll submit a plan within two hours.” Without another word, he pivoted and strode from the room.

Conn didn’t move when Talen shifted his weight to face Dage alongside him. “He’s not ready.”

Dage’s nostrils flared when he sucked in air. “You both need to go over his plan—look for ways to keep him safe.” He ran a rough hand through his hair, the only sign of distress he showed. “If I was somebody else, if we were somebody else ... I could send a different soldier to lead.”

Conn shook his head. “You’re not. We’re not. As the ruling family, we’re the first to go, the first to bleed if necessary.” The first to die. He didn’t envy his brother in having to send one of them to possible death. How the hell did Dage sleep? Or did he? “Let me go with him.”

“No.” Lines etched into Dage’s face that hadn’t existed the year before. “I need you here. Work with Moira, figure out who has learned to force others to teleport. And keep the Nine from withdrawing from the Realm. We have enough enemies.”

Indecision kept Conn in place.

Fire leaped into Dage’s eyes. “I’m ordering you as your king, Connlan.”

Conn met Dage’s gaze squarely. He’d do anything for his brothers. He’d taught Jase to fight and had made sure to protect him at all times during the last war—amid blood and carnage. But Dage had taught Conn and had always protected his back. As rulers, as brothers, they needed unity. “I understand.” He made his statement, his vow. There’d be no turning back.

Dage focused on Talen. “And you?”

Talen gave a short nod. “We’ll come up with a solid battle plan.” He rolled his shoulders, heading for the door. “I need to check on Cara and then will give Jase a hand with strategy. We should ask Caleb to go with him.”

“Already did.” Dage’s eye color returned to normal. “Caleb has been fighting the demons for a century, and this will give him more time to deny he’s now a prophet.” The prophecy mark had appeared on Caleb’s neck after Dage had killed one of the three living vampire prophets to save his mate Emma. The prophet had had some crazy idea that Emma and Cara would bring down the Realm.

Talen nodded, then disappeared down the hallway.

“Fair enough.” Conn relaxed his shoulders, his gaze remaining on Dage. “The Coven Nine is concerned about their soldiers training under ours—more specifically, Trevan Demidov is concerned their soldiers will follow you and not the Coven Nine.”

“All I need is that brainiac arguing philosophy rather than battle strategy. Let’s put that guy on the training field.” Dage rubbed his chin.

Conn snorted. “Yeah, right. The Nine is also worried about humans finding out about us, as am I. We had a close call not too long ago and Max saved our butts.” Not only did the vampires employ humans, but Emma wanted to use their research to help cure diseases, which might open them up for exposure.

“We need the human researchers.” Dage shook his head. “We haven’t been studying biology the last century like the Kurjans. We need the researchers just for sheer numbers.”

Conn didn’t like humans anywhere near their genetics. As the king’s soldier on the front line, the whole idea made him twitchy. “Emma wants to share our research with human geneticists.”

“Emma will keep silent whether she likes it or not.” Dage used his king voice.

Conn bit back a grin. As far as he’d noticed, the queen didn’t give one hoot about Dage’s orders or king voice. “If you say so. My mate is as big a concern as yours right now, if not more so.”

“Yes. If the Nine withdraws from the Realm, her first order will be to remove your head. Probably.” Dage flashed his teeth in an anticipatory smile. “At least my woman only wants to take action to possibly reveal our entire race. Yours might need to kill you.” A deep chuckle rumbled from his chest.

“Very funny.” Conn rubbed his five o’clock shadow. He needed to shave before kissing Moira again. The woman had delicate skin. “What’s the plan?”

“Well. The plan with Emma is that I’m monitoring all research and communications with humans. If there’s a hint she’s about to let our existence go public, I’ll shut her down. Virus or not.”

Conn did not want to be in the vicinity when that day arrived. “The idea of ending her research will probably result in a bounty on your head.”

“True.” Dage lifted a shoulder. “Speaking of which, what’s your plan with Moira?” The fact the leader of their world deferred to Conn regarding his mate showed trust as a king and loyalty as a brother.

Conn gave a short nod of acknowledgment. “Should the Nine withdraw from the Realm and essentially declare war on us, I have two options. One is to use her, give her false information to misdirect our enemies.”

“And the second option. You know, the one you’ll actually use?”

Conn appreciated the faith. But if it came down to survival of his people, he’d do what he had to do. “Put her somewhere safe, away from our enemies. Including the Nine.”

Dage shook his head. “God, I hope that day never comes.”

“As do I.”