“I enforce the laws in this region, and it is up to me to decide what is acceptable and what isn’t. In addition, I’m certain that Emperor Zhao wouldn’t want to be bothered with this mess your coven is making,” he bit out. “Your maker offered you a chance to take your pathetic little troop and leave, but you refused. Since you’ve chosen to stay, you will accept my judgment.”
“Fine,” Olivia added quickly. “I’ll contact Vincent and tell him that we’ll leave with him tonight. All of us, including Maya.”
“It’s too late, Olivia.” Augustus glared down at them. “Vincent is gone. You made your choice, and now you and the rest of your coven will live with it.”
Doug watched as the two women on the platform looked at one another briefly before nodding in agreement. The men to the right did the same. The senators seemed more like puppets than freethinkers, and they disgusted Doug. Apparently, humans hadn’t cornered the market on being assholes.
The czar held all the power, and no one was willing to question him or stand up to him. Maya wept quietly, and sympathy tugged at his gut. She was just a kid. Not much different from Brittany or any number of victims he saw over the years. Vampire or not, Maya was a victim of the brutal world.
At least now Doug had a chance to stop a crime before it was committed.
“How about a trade?” Doug stepped forward and stood in the center of the room with his hands on his hips. He resisted the urge to draw his gun because he knew it wouldn’t end well for anyone. Himself, he didn’t care about. He was ready to die, but starting a bloody fight was too risky for Maya, Olivia, and Pete. “Me for her.”
What the hell are you doing, Paxton? Olivia’s panicked voice touched his mind. This is not a game.
“How dashing!” Augustus clapped his hands and looked curiously from Doug to Olivia. “You want to trade your life for Maya’s? Now that is refreshing!”
The senators perked up and whispered giddily to each other, which only irritated Doug. They had been alive for so long, they only found pleasure in the torment of others. Nice.
“Yeah.” Doug jutted his thumb toward Olivia. “Olivia and I will hunt down the rogues. When the job’s done, then you can kill me instead of the girl” He shrugged casually. “No harm, no foul. A life for a life.”
“Doug, no,” Olivia pleaded. She placed her hand on his arm and pulled him to face her. Her brow furrowed, and her voice hovered just above a whisper. “Please.”
Please don’t do this. The pleading look in her eyes was matched by the tone in her voice, and it tore at his heart. Doug swallowed the lump that formed in his throat as he kept his resolute gaze locked with hers. “So, do we have a deal, Augustus?”
“Just when I think I’m bored to tears, someone comes along and spices things up. My goodness, I thought New York City was going to be exciting, but it wasn’t until this rogue nonsense.” Augustus laughed louder and ascended the stairs to his seat. “We have a deal, Detective Paxton. Put down the rogues, and I will release the girl, taking your life in exchange for hers.” He frowned and played with the roping on his robe. “To ensure that you do as I command, the girl will remain here.”
“Damn it.” Olivia dropped her hand and stepped away from Doug, turning her full attention to the czar. “How do I know that you won’t harm Maya before we return?”
“She will stay under my protection.” Shane flew down the steps next to Maya. “I have been a sentry for four centuries and have pledged my life to the Presidium. You have my word that she will not be harmed.”
“How chivalrous,” Augustus said with sarcasm. “You beat me to the punch, Sentry Quesada. You see, neither of the sentries will be aiding you, Olivia. You and your newest progeny will hunt on your own.” Augustus grinned wickedly. “Be back here in forty-eight hours, or I’ll assume that you failed, and the girl will be put down… along with the rest of your coven.”
Pete started to protest, but Olivia raised her hand to stop him. Doug’s focus remained on Augustus, and though his fingers itched to grab his gun, he refrained from starting a bloodbath and let Olivia continue.
“You are absolutely right.” She turned her attention to Shane and Pete. “I would trust any sentry with my life and the lives of my family.” She smiled sweetly at Augustus. “Not that I think our esteemed czar would go back on his word, of course.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” He sighed. “Now be gone.”
Doug nodded to Augustus and followed Olivia, Pete, and Shane into the main hall.
“That is one cold bunch of assholes,” Doug said tightly.
Olivia looked at him intently. “Not all of us are like that,” she said quietly.
Doug stared into those pools of green, and the need to touch her, to cradle her beautiful face, clawed at him. He knew she wasn’t a monster. He saw the look on her face when Augustus threatened her coven, and the fear was evident. Olivia was a good soul, and no matter what, she would never revel in the pain of another the way Augustus did.
Doug, however, was another story. Ever since he was turned, all he could think about was finding the bastard that killed Tom and drinking him dry. He tore his gaze from Olivia and headed toward the exit. Looked like he was a monster, after all.
Chapter 11
Xavier stood on a stool at his lab table in his stained, white lab coat, so engrossed in what he was doing that at first Olivia thought he didn’t notice they were there.
A moment later, he raised his pudgy hand and waved them in without looking up.
“A friend of yours?” Doug had kept one hand on the gun tucked in the back of his pants since they had left Augustus and the senators. She couldn’t blame him. He endured a whirlwind introduction to his new world, and he was handling it pretty well—aside from the desire to kill himself, or more to the point, let Augustus kill him. How on earth was she going to stop that from happening?
“Friends?” Xavier laughed loudly and flew down from his perch to meet them. “You bet your ass we’re friends. I moved my lab to New York just so I could be close to her.”
He leaped into Olivia’s arms and gave her a vigorous hug. She laughed and hugged him back with equal fervor.
“Good to see you, old friend.” She looked at Doug as she held the scientist. “Xavier is the best weapons man in the business, and his inventions have saved my ass more times than I can count.”
“Right.” Doug nodded, and Olivia could tell he was trying not to stare at Xavier.
He was a dwarf, and in his human life, he worked with a circus, living on the rails until his maker found him and turned him. His shock of white hair made him look like a miniature version of Albert Einstein. Xavier gave Olivia a kiss on the cheek before jumping from her arms and flying back to his stool.
“What’s the matter, big guy?” Xavier scooped up two vials of blood and looked intently at Doug. “Never seen a little person before?”
“Well, not one that’s a vampire,” Doug said bluntly.
“Fair enough.” Xavier chuckled and held the two vials out for Olivia. “Pete told me that the synthetic blood from the rogue worked, so I whipped up more. I’m betting that the first dose you took wore off or will soon.”
“It did.” She nodded. “I dusted the one that attacked Paxton.”
She took the vials from Xavier and watched Doug take stock of the lab. She noticed that one of the first things he did was survey the space around him, and it was one habit that would help when they were hunting.