Well, sort of won. A lump formed in my throat.
Rurik gathered me into his strong arms and squeezed me tight as if to make sure I was real then rubbed his face into my hair. “My hero,” he whispered.
I shifted my position to face him and pressed my lips to his for a fast kiss. “We need to break this bad habit of having to rescue each other.” The adrenaline faded and my arm throbbed, weariness stole over my body.
Watching a distraught Archios get to his feet, I was surprised to find I felt nothing except pity for him. He faced Rurik. “I won’t cause any more trouble. All this was for naught without Belatia. I did it for her. I only wish to join her now.”
Anger erupted through the pity. “You pompous ass, what do you mean you did this for her? She ran to me through the Tree People-infested jungle by herself to help them.” I pointed at my vampires. “She didn’t want to be part of this fiasco.”
Rurik held me back.
“Let her stake me. I deserve it. She’s right. Bel wasn’t capable of understanding why we needed to be rid of Tane. She knew nothing until tonight.” He held out his hand to the side and offered his chest.
“I can’t figure why you needed me dead. Enlighten me.” Tane crossed his arms over his half-healed chest.
Archios glared at him. “It’s all your fault.” There was no anger in his voice, only surrender.
“You’re asking for mercy, yet I’m not feeling very merciful tonight, Archios.” My bald master spoke as if he had trouble controlling his rage.
I pulled from Rurik’s comforting embrace to step between them. “She was the one killing the girls.”
Archios’s gasp confirmed my suspicions. “Did she tell you?”
“No, but she told me about her loneliness, and how she’d use the jungle trail to get to the city, even though you told her that ridiculous story about the Tree People. Why else would she go there? The young women were all found dressed in lovely clothes and their hair done in elaborate styles.”
“Her hunger drove her mad. No one understands how much it changed her.” Blood-tinged tears spilled from Archios’s eyes and he hung his head.
Tane came to stand next to me and I wrapped my arms around his narrow waist. “I thought when she became vampire it cured her.”
Archios shook his head. “No, it only masked it. She could never control her thirst.
Once she started to feed—”
“—she couldn’t stop.” I finished his sentence. “Not until they were dead.” I thought of the bodies in the kitchen.
“Dragos didn’t care, but you do.” He glared at Tane. “You would have executed her.”
“Yes, I would have, except you managed to do it for me.”
I gasped at Tane’s callous words yet understood his meaning. The ruler of a predatory race couldn’t afford pity. He needed to be strong and feared to get vampires to comply with the laws, especially since Dragos allowed some of those laws to be bent.
The execution of the traitors at the party set a standard. No tolerance.
Tane’s words struck Archios like a physical blow.
His tears streamed unchecked now as he stared at his ash-coated hands. “I loved her.”
Rurik grabbed the stake off the floor. Time slowed as I realized his intent. With a single one-handed smooth jab, he ended Archios’s existence. He got his wish and joined his beloved Belatia. Making him continue on would have been the true punishment.
I sensed Tane tense in my arms. He stared at Rurik, confusion apparent on his face.
My lover twisted to look at my blood bound vampire. “Traitors can’t be shown any mercy and deserve an execution.” I couldn’t have been prouder. Rurik did the one thing Tane couldn’t do, show mercy.
Tane relaxed and placed his arm around my shoulder to pull me close. After he placed a gentle kiss on my forehead, he whispered, “Thank you.” Technically, he should have been able to move fast enough to stop Rurik, but he didn’t and I loved him for it.
I felt my eyes widen with the thought.
The sounds of running footsteps echoed through the house before Colby and Gwen stormed the room, both armed like commandos, stakes in hand. They stopped a couple steps into the room.
Colby glared at me. “I thought I told you to stay out of the house.” He aimed his gun at Luckard’s body as he approached it slowly.
“He caught me and dragged me in.” A little white lie didn’t hurt anybody. “I staked him.”
My ex-boss glanced at me. “Nosferatu aren’t dead until decapitated and their hearts burned to ash. They’re tough bastards to kill.” With this comment, he glanced at Tane.
“Connie, you’re bleeding.” Gwen holstered her weapon and crossed the room to kneel in front of me. Blood dripped from my fingers.
Rurik lifted my hand and twisted my arm to examine the wound with Gwen.
“Just bandage it. I will heal it when we return.” Tane stroked my hair. “I need to attend to Luckard first.”
I nodded as he passed me to Rurik’s loving arms. “Let’s go home.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The last rays of golden sunlight disappeared behind the horizon. Bright orange faded to coral, then to pink, until the night swallowed them all. It reminded me of Tane, my personal demon turned…into what, a friend? I wasn’t sure anymore, yet he engulfed my life just like the night.
Kam, Gwen’s brother, walked ahead of me, searching the manicured garden for any would-be attackers. The ass refused to tell me where she went, but I was sure she was hot on Colby’s trail. He disappeared shortly after destroying Luckard’s remains with Tane.
From the look on Gwen’s face the last time I saw her, I think he may have broken her heart. God help him.
I wandered, unable to sleep, searching for a cure to my torn heart. Bel’s grotto came into view and I approached. White, translucent curtains hung in the doorways as if someone had closed the small building in mourning. Stepping inside, I found it empty so I flicked on the dim light and settled onto a plush beige pillow. They filled the depression in the center of the room so I stuffed a few under my knees and back.
Kam peeked in. “I’ll stay out here. Shout if you need something.”
I nodded as he left. The cool night air played with the curtains, something by the doorway drew my attention. I crawled onto my stomach to get a better look in the poor lighting.
Sitting in the corner of the mural away from all the predators, I found a treasure. A grey rabbit painted by the exit, balanced on its hind legs, ears forward, nose sniffing the air. It watched whoever came into the grotto. Next to the rabbit, huddled at its side, was a small field mouse.
Belatia must have painted it after the party. Everyone judged her as simple yet she saw through the bullshit. Her mural showed insight.
She was a killer and I should hate her. Instead I sympathized with her. The hunger took control and she became its puppet. I exhaled a trembling breath. Like it or not, Bel and I were similar. I hoped not to experience the same fate, and would fight with my dying breath before allowing the hunger to get the better of me. That meant I needed to stay close to Tane.
What if Luckard had never abducted me? I wouldn't have found out my true blood bond was with Tane. The hunger would have driven me insane. What if Tane went missing again? It’s what happened to Bel with Archios.
A cold claw of dread clutched at my stomach. The Master of all vampires had a target painted on his back.
I reached and touched the mouse at the rabbit’s side. Tane entrapped my soul, and Rurik my heart. Caught between two vampires, I sure could use a friend right about now, even a crazy one.
A brush to my mental shield, like a soft caress, told me Tane was awake. He usually didn’t sleep, but after his injuries, the fight and having to heal my wound, he decided to take a nap.