Part 14 (2/2)

The area around the mine was quiet when I returned, but that didn't mean they weren't already closing in on our position.

I stopped just outside the door and tapped on the steel. ”It's me.”

A moment later, it moved, and Mikjall stepped aside so I could enter.

”Any trouble?” Charlie stepped forward in the dim firelight.

I shook my head. ”It was quiet. I didn't hear any heartbeats close by.”

”We haven't used the lake house in almost a year. It shouldn't be on their watch list, and it's off the main highway,” she added.

”You're next, Charlie,” I said, stepping closer. ”Take a deep breath.”

”Wh-aa.”

I didn't give her time to argue. Even though there were no signs that the SECR knew where we were at the moment, I could return from the lake house and find all of them captured or dead. Each time I left the mine, my head filled with visions of my dead friends on the side of the river. I didn't want to lose the few I had left.

When I set her down on the stoop to the lake house, she shuddered and gasped for a breath.

Travis opened the front door. ”Come on in. Eira, you doing okay?”

I was semi-okay. My thirst was high, but I needed to make at least one more round trip before asking someone to feed me again. The hunger I felt right now was only a dull ache.

”I'm fine.” I waved him off and left Charlie in his very capable and eager hands.

I ended up making two more trips, bringing Garrett and one of the other Lycans over before I really felt my hunger overwhelm me.

The young man I'd just dropped off smelled like the sweetest wine. I licked my lips and felt the tips of my fangs descending. My mouth watered with each thump thump of his heart. I could almost hear the rush and flow through his veins, the same sound people hear when they put their ear to a seash.e.l.l. It's not the ocean, but the echo of the blood flowing inside your body.

”Eira?” Charlie's voice called from the porch as the latest drop-off left my side. I glanced up and frowned. ”You need to drink before you return again.”

”It's more important to get everyone away from that mine as quickly as possible. I'm used to going hungry. I'll be fine.”

”You were eyeing poor Landry's neck like I'd eye a piece of prime rib.”

A smile tugged at the corners of my lips as I dashed down the road. Away from the lake house. Away from the sound of Charlie worrying over me.

I was fine.

We didn't have time to stop. I didn't have time to stop. Everyone was depending on me.

Chapter Twenty-Five.

XERXES.

”I should've killed that f.u.c.king dragon when I had the chance!” I threw the crystal lowball gla.s.s in my hand against the wall and glared at Manda from across the room. ”Now there are four Drakonae living in Sanctuary instead of just those two lonely, miserable b.a.s.t.a.r.ds.”

She sat on the chaise lounge in my office, holding a ripped blouse over her bare b.r.e.a.s.t.s -a weak attempt to hide her naked body. Her heartbeat raced, and she stole glances at the door each time she thought I wasn't paying attention.

The pungent smell of s.e.x permeated the air. I'd taken my pleasure and my fury out on her. I should've killed her for betraying me, for stealing away with my prisoners, but I needed her to further my power in the SECR government. If she was dead, she wasn't useful. And she was still very useful, even if she was behaving badly.

The fight in the street had gone south quickly. The Drakonae in dragon-form gave me no choice but to leave in a hurry. I couldn't fight him, not without s.h.i.+fting myself, and I refused to reveal that card to the humans.

They killed dozens of my soldiers before I secured Manda. And I nearly lost her to a f.u.c.king Phoenix of all things. A Phoenix... I hadn't come across one of those in centuries. Rose had a few more tricks up her sleeve than I'd antic.i.p.ated. Who else had she talked into joining her merry band?

All the other prisoners had been lost. Charlie. Eira. The Kitsune female and her baby. Gone. I needed that baby.

The only ones that didn't escape were the Lycans I'd already killed. At least the death of Charlie's parents would be a heavy blow to the pack.

b.i.t.c.h. I gave Manda another glare and snarled.

I was left with a rebellious Djinn who could barely be controlled. Even after taking away her teleportation abilities and torturing her at every opportunity, the female still seemed more determined than ever to undermine my plans.

Humans were fickle creatures, though. If I killed her now, it would create a power vacuum in the SECR, and her open position in the government would attract more attention and chaos than I wanted to deal with at the moment. I needed to have a lieutenant beneath her to step in, but I didn't yet. Losing the Kitsune baby was a huge setback for another project. Now everything had to start from scratch again.

f.u.c.king vampire. f.u.c.king dragon.

”You f.u.c.king b.i.t.c.h, you just had to stick your neck out. They will never trust you again. Even after letting them out of those cages. If you think they'll ever talk to you or even look at you, you're wrong.” I reached out in the air with my empty hand and curled my power around her neck, squeezing until she began to gasp for air. She dropped the blouse and clawed at her neck, as if she could remove the invisible force that held her tightly.

”Please,” she coughed. ”Master.”

”That doesn't work anymore,” I answered, clenching my fist tighter. Then I pushed out my arm and launched her through the air. Her body hit the wall of my office with a thud, and she fell into a heap on the hardwood floor.

She raised her head and met my gaze, revealing the spark of determination I'd hoped the last beating and f.u.c.king had knocked out of her. It hadn't.

This strength of will was what made her such a strong queen and such a valuable a.s.set in my war. No matter how hard I hit, she just kept getting back up. But I hadn't climbed to where I was today by allowing a woman to dictate my actions. She would pay for this mistake like she'd paid for the ones before it.

I just needed the right victim. She was willing to let some of the Lycans die. She'd even tried to kill herself to escape me. That needed to be nipped in the bud immediately.

”Get up.”

She climbed to her feet and wiped blood from her bottom lip. ”Just kill me. It would make both of our lives simpler.”

”If you don't start following orders like a good little b.i.t.c.h, I'm going to kill someone.” My lips turned up into a wicked smile as the answer to my problem popped into my head. ”It's just not going to be you.”

If she was afraid, she didn't show it.

”I'll just keep trying. I refuse to continue to help you gain even more power.”

”You will help me. I don't offer choices. You will serve me in all capacities or I will bring your ladies-in-waiting out of the quppu boxes they're in and kill them one at a time in front of you. If that doesn't motivate you, I'll bring out the rest of your court and kill them slowly and painfully while you watch. So they can know their queen chose the lives of others over her own people.”

”You are a b.a.s.t.a.r.d, Xerxes Amir Hilah.”

”I take it we have an agreement then. From here on out, each misstep will cost you the life of one you hold dear.”

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