Boundary Born (Boundary Magic Book 3) (19 page)

“Allison,” said a hollow, unpleasantly familiar voice. “We need to finish our conversation.”

C
hapter 34

I stomped on the brake, halting the Kia in the middle of a deserted street.
Lysander had Elise.
And in a split second, I knew how: someone
had
been following me on Pearl Street the other night. And I’d led him straight to someone I loved.

My foot stayed planted on the brake, and everything else inside me hardened at once. My muscles went tense, my fingers clutching at the phone. I felt my abdominal muscles contract, along with my lungs. I forgot everything around me. My focus was absolute. “Where’s Elise?

“It is unfortunate that you have brought us to this precipice. Today could have gone very differently.”

I pushed the words through clenched teeth. “Where. Is. Elise.”

“She is with me. She is even still alive, although that will change very soon.”

“What do you want?”

“I want what I came for,” he said, and for the first time his voice took on an edge. “Maven dead, and you in my service.”

“What does that mean, in your service?” For some reason I didn’t think he wanted me to swear an oath of loyalty. He wanted me
for something.
I was just hoping it wasn’t the thing with my uterus.

“Emil will collect you at the sculpture garden. Do not inform your friends. This is a family matter.”

I opened my mouth to scream at him, to demand to talk to Elise, but of course he’d already hung up the phone.

I squeezed the cell until my knuckles ached, looking around at the darkened street. Quinn was expecting me back at John’s any minute now. What was I going to do?

I could call Quinn and tell him everything. There was no question that he and Simon and Lily would help me take down Emil and Lysander. But how did I know Lysander didn’t have someone watching me right now, or monitoring my phone? Hell, Emil could be doing that. Just because he was meeting me at the sculpture garden didn’t mean he was there already.

I looked down at the phone in my hand. If Quinn didn’t hear from me, he’d track my location. If he showed up at the sculpture garden, Lysander might kill Elise just to punish me. I couldn’t risk it.

I drove farther into town until I reached one of Boulder’s many coffee shops. It was closed now, but I set the phone on the concrete sidewalk next to the door, behind a little shrub. If Quinn tracked the phone to the coffee shop, he’d assume I was there, still talking to Kirsten. As long as he didn’t Google the coffee shop’s hours, it should buy me a little time.

I looked at the small duffel bag that lay in the footwell of the passenger side.
Be smart
, Sam’s voice warned. But what was the smart move? At the moment, I could really only see
one
move.

Spring the trap.

I parked several blocks away from the sculpture garden and approached on foot. I’d changed into dark clothes from the duffel, and I crept along the row of hedges to circle the side. I got low to the ground and peeked between the bare branches. I was expecting to see Emil waiting there with a smug grin. If I could catch him by surprise, maybe I could get the drop on him. If Lysander would trade Emil for Elise—

But as I turned the last corner, my hopes were dashed into the spring grass. Emil was there, all right, standing in front of the bench near the
Crossing the Prairie
sculpture with a smug little grin. He wasn’t alone. I had half-expected Lysander, but instead there were six vampires standing in a circle around Emil, obviously there to protect him. One of them bent her head and whispered something to him, and he nodded.

“Hello, little sister,” he called. “You might as well come out—you’ve been spotted. Well, scented, anyway.”

Crap. I stood up and strode around the corner. “How’s it going, Emil?” I asked, as casually as I could. My eyes were fastened on the vampires. I recognized two of them from the photos Maven had shown us of the Denver vampires. Three of them I didn’t know. And the last . . . I took a small step sideways so I could see the woman behind Emil’s shoulder. Shock flashed through my chest. It was Opal. She was one of Maven’s vampires, and I had thought she was loyal.

“You?” I blurted. “How could you?”

Opal didn’t respond. In fact, I realized, none of them were responding to anything. “She can’t hear you,” Emil said, not unkindly. “None of them can. He’s pressed them.”

I swallowed hard. Of
course
Lysander could press vampires. Why hadn’t I thought of that? “That’s how he got Ford and the others to come after me,” I said, mostly to myself. Emil wasn’t working for Ford. Lysander had pressed the vampire to do what he wanted.

Emil frowned. “Yes. And if you’d just gone with them, you could have saved everyone a lot of trouble. We could have laid Lysander back to rest by now, and two fewer people would be dead.” He didn’t sound smug, or like a supervillain in a comic book movie. He just sounded . . . tired.

“Where’s Elise?” I demanded.

He flicked on a heavy-duty flashlight, pointing it over his shoulder. I recognized the metal sculpture at the back of the garden, raised above the others with a few concrete steps. It was a cowboy on top of his horse, reining in a wild mustang as it reared on its back two legs. But the sculpture had always been a rusty brown color, not silver. I squinted at the flashlight beam and recognized the long silver bundle draped across the cowboy’s lap. It was Elise, wrapped in duct tape from her ankles to her armpits. A rectangle of tape was plastered over her mouth as well.

“Elise!” I shouted, and began to run forward.

A vampire stepped in front of me, his expression completely blank. “No, you don’t,” Emil said. He nodded at one of the vampires in the back, who walked mechanically over to Elise, baring his teeth.

“How do I know she’s alive?” I shouted.

Calmly, Emil dipped two fingers into his shirt pocket and pulled out a thin cigar, sticking it between his lips. He patted his pockets for a lighter and finally flicked open a silver Zippo to ignite the end. After taking a deep drag and exhaling, he finally spoke over his shoulder to the vampire near my cousin. “Hit her.”

Before I could so much as open my mouth to protest, the vampire lifted Elise’s head, ripped off the tape, and slapped her hard across the face. “No!” I shouted, but Elise moaned, shying away from the blow. The vampire let her head fall again. I screamed at the sound of her cheekbone striking the metal sculpture.

“There, see? Alive,” Emil said.

“Walk away,” I said through clenched teeth. “Leave now, and I won’t kill you.
Brother
.”

In response, Emil reached down and adjusted something on the bench. “Come on now, Lex,” he said in a soft, soothing voice. “Let’s get to the car. We’ll leave Officer Luther here, where someone will find her in the morning.” He held out an arm.

I stepped forward, ignoring the vampires who’d begun to close ranks around Emil. “Didn’t you hear me, asshole? Get the fuck out of my town.”

Emil paused, genuine shock on his face. “How are—why aren’t you listening to me?” he sputtered. He touched his shirt near the collar, probably feeling for his necklace.

“You mean why am I not smiling and curtseying and following you into hell?” I snapped.

He glared. “That was a perfect grid, and I buried the stones this time.”

I reached into my own neckline and pulled out the dangling cord, showing him the chunk of mahogany obsidian. I was expecting his face to fall, or maybe get angry, but the look he gave me was different. There was surprise there, and maybe even a bit of respect.

Then the look vanished, and he shook his head. “All right, fine. We could have done this the easy way, but you really are your mother’s daughter. Lysander’s not going to like that.”

“Where is he?” I demanded. “Why didn’t he come himself?”

“He finds it hard to control himself in public places,” he said, his voice cool. “And his . . . mmm . . . supervisors have forbidden him from mass murder. That’s why he has to travel with a keeper.”

That surprised me—not what he’d said, but the fact that he’d answered so candidly. “What does he want with me?”

“Haven’t you figured it out yet?” he said with a broad smile. “You’re the new keeper. And if all your reproductive organs work correctly, the new surrogate. You’ll bear his child.”

I gaped at him, but he just gave a little shrug, unapologetic. I shook my head in disbelief, taking a step back. “No.
No
.”

“Is it the incest thing?” he said, putting on a sympathetic expression. “Don’t worry. These days we use artificial insemination, so you won’t actually need to sleep with him. It’s all very modern. If it helps, we don’t think his offspring are susceptible to the same genetic defects caused by interbreeding, say, Dalmatians.”

“
Why
?” I practically screamed.

“Because,” Emil said, as calm as I was upset, “he needs a minder, and he needs to reproduce. Otherwise the boundary line will fail.”

“Let it,” I spat. “And you’re his minder.”

“Not for much longer,” he said casually. It brought me up short. He pointed to the cigar dangling between his lips. “I’ve got six months, maybe a year. He was going to find you eventually, of course, but it forced us to move up the timeline.”

“Why me?”

“Because you’re the best,” he said. He was trying to keep his voice light, but there was an edge of resentment there. “The strongest. Like your mother. He was
pissed
when Valerya got away. You’re like a second chance at her.”

“I won’t do it,” I whispered, taking a step back.

“Your choice. But, of course, we’ll kill the good officer. And I doubt Lysander will stop there. He’s just dying to be let off the leash. So to speak.” He smiled at his own joke. “He’s had to be so careful since the Concilium fell. If you anger his sponsors, they’ll let him have this city.” He waved a hand dismissively. “They can always make up a story. Bird flu. Airborne Ebola. Zombie apocalypse. You know.”

“Why are
you
doing this?” I asked him. “You’re not a true believer. Do you even care about the bloodline?”

He paused at that, and the look that passed over his face was dark and complicated. “It’s not that I don’t care,” he said after a moment. “It’s that I care about other things more.” His voice quieted. “My mother, for instance.”

My anger stuttered to a pause. What had Sam said about Emil? That he was basically a good guy who’d done some bad things? “Lysander threatened her,” I said, understanding. “You have to help him. What will they do to her if you don’t?”

He was obviously trying to appear nonchalant, but the anger was showing through it. “They’ll make her try again. She’s too old, of course, but her body doesn’t appear that way. They’ve made her try for the last five years, going through the process over and over. I need to find her replacement before I die.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, and I actually meant it. “Sorry for what they did to you both. But I am no one’s fucking concubine. Leave my town now, and I won’t come after you. I promise.”

He studied me, and for about two seconds, I actually thought he was tempted to listen. But then he tossed the cigar on the ground, stepped on it, and pointed to me. “Take her,” he told the vampires.

When they stepped forward, Opal was in the lead.

C
hapter 35

One of the six stayed near Emil, making sure I couldn’t harm him, but the other five slowly stalked forward, spreading out so they could surround me. I gritted my teeth. Now what? I made eye contact with Opal, who was closest. Lysander hadn’t warned them to avoid my eyes, and unlike Ford, Maven didn’t train her people to evade me. I’d never tried to undo a press before, but there was no time to think about it. If they got me into a car, I would never return.

I closed my eyes quickly, dropping into the mindset of my magic. The vampires appeared to me as glowing red embers, brighter and more vibrant than the blue of Emil and Elise’s humanity. I darted forward and placed my tattoos on either side of Opal’s face. More quickly than I’d ever done it, I opened a connection between the two of us and locked her into it. “I’m not your enemy,” I said softly. “I’m your ally. Remember me.”

She halted, and in her body’s stillness I could feel the confusion. Instinctively, I realized that Lysander’s press had gone deep, deeper than I ever could. It was like he’d rewired their brains. The other four vampires were closing in—I could feel them only inches from my back.

Well, I would just have to try harder. I poured everything I had into Opal, all the power I could summon. “
Remember me
,” I said fiercely. “Defend me.”

Then the others were on me, and I lost my grip on the mindset as I was bodily pulled away from her. The two vampires who reached me first were the ones from Denver, and although I tried to catch their eyes to press them too, they carefully avoided my gaze. They grabbed at me, but they were clumsier than the vampires I had fought in the past. Maybe Lysander’s press had dulled their reflexes. The one at my back grabbed me around the waist, and before anyone could seize my arms I snapped an elbow back fast, bursting his nose. He was surprised enough to loosen his grip, and I dropped low, ducking between their legs to dance back.

I felt pretty good about that for about two seconds, then one of the female vampires I didn’t know was suddenly in front of me, wrapping one hand in my hair and pinning my left arm to my body with her other hand. I tried stomping on her instep, but she barely even flinched. A male vampire in front of me snatched my right wrist and began wrenching it backward, until I cried out in pain. A third vampire ducked down and grabbed both of my ankles, and no matter how much I struggled I couldn’t kick free of his grasp as he began to lift me. Emil was saying something in front of us, but I didn’t bother listening. “No!” I screamed, but the most I could do was wiggle. I twisted as violently as I could, but their grips were absolute.

Then there was a sickeningly loud crack as the head of the vampire bending back my arm seemed to snap to one side. His grasp abruptly loosened, and he crumpled to the ground. I twisted to peer down and saw that his neck was broken. My eyes went up, and I saw Opal standing there. She gave me one quick, meaningful nod, then punched the vampire holding my left arm so hard that her nose seemed to cave inward. It must have done something to her spine, because she dropped, too.

Two down.

Startled by this new threat, the vampire holding my legs shifted his grip, and I caught him off-guard by intentionally toppling myself backward onto the ground. I used that precious second of surprise to tug the shredder free from my forearm. I couldn’t get an angle on him, but Opal recognized my intention and grabbed his shoulders, slamming his back against the ground. I regained my balance and struggled forward to plunge the shredder into his chest. His heart exploded soundlessly, and the light left his eyes as his body began to decay.

Three down. Two left.

Emil was shouting instructions to his vampire guard, but I tuned him out and focused on the remaining vampire near us. His teeth bared as he stepped toward me, single-minded, and I realized he couldn’t adjust Lysander’s press—I was his target, and he couldn’t look away from me and focus on Opal even if it killed him. Which it did, a heartbeat later, when Opal snapped his neck. He would survive, as would the other two, but it would take them awhile to recover.

Opal reached down, offering me her hand. I took it and climbed to my feet. “Are you okay?” she asked, looking worried. “I’m sorry, I . . . I’m not really sure what’s going on.”

“Tell you later,” I promised. “You’re doing great.” I turned to face Emil, my hand going to my back. “What do you think,
brother
? You want to send your bodyguard after us, too? I don’t like his chances.”

Emil’s mouth dropped open, but he wasn’t looking at me. He was staring at Opal, his eyes wide. “You broke his press,” he whispered. He said it like I’d deciphered some famously unsolvable math theorem. He turned to me, shock still written on his face. “Come with me,” he said, his voice weak.

“I thought we settled this. I’m not going anywhere with you.”

He gestured with frustration. “That’s not what I mean! Come back with me. You and me and my mother—maybe we could find a way to stand against them.”

“Them?”

“Lysander and his other followers. The Knights of Death. Our family and a few others.”

My eyes narrowed. “You are
not
my family. I have a family.”

The look that he gave me was unmistakably puzzled. “But you don’t belong with them.”

“Of course I do,” I said without thinking.
Dammit, Lex
. I shouldn’t have taken the bait.

He took a pleading step forward. Opal tensed, but she watched me, waiting for a cue. “The Luthers aren’t like us, Lex,” he said urgently. “They age quickly, and live just as fast. Soon they’ll leave you behind. Then, not so long from now, their lives will be finished, and where will you be?”

I didn’t want to listen, but I couldn’t help it. My thoughts leaped to how Dani was nearly a teenager, how Elise and Anna were both in serious relationships that might lead to marriage. Paul was moving to New York, my dad would be retiring in a few years, and Charlie would start preschool the following year. And where was I? Working at a convenience store by day and running around with vampires at night. I couldn’t even bring my boyfriend to family dinners.

Sensing an opening, Emil took another step forward. I reacted instinctively, drawing the Smith & Wesson from the fanny pack I’d twisted backward. It had been pointless when there were so many vampires against me, but Emil I could shoot. I pointed it at his forehead, but he ignored me. “It’s already happening, isn’t it?” he said softly, his eyes probing. “Marriage, kids, careers. All those things you can’t have. And they can’t understand why not.”

I tried to push the words out of my head, but he’d hit me in just the right spot. It
did
feel like a gap was opening up between me and my family. Would it really just get bigger? Would they all drift away from me?

Would I have to watch them die?

“Come with me,” he pleaded, his eyes desperate. “Help Sophia and me stand against the rest of them. We’re your flesh and blood. We understand what you’re going through—the slow aging, the vampire relationship, all of it. Your vampire can come too, if he wants. You could learn from my mother, and together we could do more for boundary magic than the Knights ever did.”

I looked at him for a long, frozen moment. “You choose your own family,” I said quietly. “You came to my town, you tried to kill someone who’s been good to me, and you allowed
that creature
to take innocent lives. Last chance to walk away.”

His face hardened with fury, and I saw my error. In his eyes, he’d just offered me an olive branch, a true connection between equals, and I’d spat on it. “Kill them both,” he growled.

The vampire shot forward, but I put two shots in his body mass. It wasn’t anywhere near the heart, but it slowed him down enough for Opal to smash into him, snarling as she rode him to the ground. Seeing this, Emil pulled a knife out of his pocket, flipped the blade open, and turned to run—but not toward the parking lot and freedom. Toward Elise.

I raised the gun and put a bullet in the back of each of his thighs.

He crashed to the ground like a fallen tree. When I was positive he wasn’t getting back up I ran forward, fumbling to undo my belt to make a tourniquet. I dropped to my knees next to him and saw that blood was spurting out of the wound on his right leg. I’d nicked the femoral artery. He was dying.

I yanked out the belt and tried to gingerly ease it under the leg, but Emil saw what I was doing and held up a hand. “Please,” he begged. “Don’t.”

We locked eyes for a moment, and I understood. He wanted to go out like this, instead of in six or twelve months. More than that, he didn’t want to be the draugr’s daytime pet anymore. I nodded once.

Letting go of the belt, I fumbled at his pockets and came out with a cell phone. I tossed it to Opal. “Call Quinn,” I ordered. “Get him here now.”

Without watching to see if she did it, I turned back to Emil. He was looking at me with resignation. “You don’t know what you’ve done,” he said weakly. “If you don’t surrender, he will level this town. I can’t stop him now. Your niece . . .”

His eyes began to roll back, and I slapped him across the face. “What about my niece?”

“When I found you, I did my homework. Lysander wants Charlotte dead. All nulls dead.”

The sudden fear stung me, but I had to push past it. “My mother, what really happened?” I demanded.

His eyes went distant. “I met her a few times . . . didn’t know her well. My father and the other families, they took her from her home when she was nineteen.” He coughed weakly. “She was never willing.”

My hands balled into fists, and angry tears burned my eyes. They’d let the draugr rape her. I wanted to hit him, to shoot him again, to hurt him like they’d hurt Valerya, but then a hoarse whisper floated from his lips. “The same as they did to Sophia. And every other strong evocator they’ve found in the last five hundred years.”

Through a blur of tears I could see that Emil was fading. I’d held enough dying men in my life to recognize it. “What was the plan?” I hissed. “Where were you going to take me?”

“He wouldn’t say, in case,” he mumbled. “I was supposed to call when I had you.”

Shit. “Where has he been hiding out during the day?” It wasn’t like a blue giant could check into the Holiday Inn.

“My dealer, she hooked him up with a spot.” His eyes were already beginning to lose focus. “He wouldn’t tell me. Didn’t trust me. He just said it was somewhere where he’d feel at home. Lots of dead. Here . . .” His arm floated up to touch his chest. “Take it . . .”

I yanked down his collar to see the heavy crystal necklace he’d been wearing the night of his attack on Maven. Emil touched one stone in particular, tapping at it weakly. “It was Val’s,” he whispered. “Sophia made it for her. I’m sorry, Lex.” His eyes drifted closed.

“The dealer!” I shouted, shaking him a little. “Who’s your dealer?”

I bent my head down and managed to catch Emil’s last, whispered word.

“Atwood.”