Darkest Risings (24 page)

“
It’ll be okay, Wilhemina.”

Even
after everything that had happened, his voice sliding through her brain was
soothing. “
I’m scared.”

“I know. I swear they won’t let him
hurt you. I won’t let him hurt you.”

“I believe you.”
She did believe that they wouldn’t let Aiston hurt her, but
it didn’t make the situation any easier for her. So much had happened in the
last few hours.

“
Thank you for saving my brother.”

“Enough,
Aiston.” Ragnor commanded Aiston to release her arm, and he immediately did so.

She
stood, and Aldin slowly got to his feet. He walked to her and tugged her arm up
to inspect it.

“I’m
okay.”

He
nodded. Before she realized what he was going to do, he bent his head and ran
his tongue over the bite mark. Her insides melted, and when his nostrils
flared, heat centered in her core. How could he turn her on with such ease even
when her mind was a jumbled mess? What was more shocking? When he touched her,
everything ceased to exist but the feel of his caress. He had the ability to
rob her of all logic with one brush of his sinful lips.

She
pulled her arm from him when Lindsey cleared her throat behind them.

“Lindsey
can stay with me in my room,” she said.

She
went to her sister and turned toward the stairs to find Uriah blocking their
way.

“You
and I need to talk,” he said to Lindsey. He then looked to Wilhemina. “I’m
sorry about my inappropriate behavior in the kitchen earlier, but now that
things have come to light”—he glanced to Lindsey then back—”I hope you
understand my
confusion.
”

Wilhemina
supposed she could. If Lindsey was his life mate then she’d certainly seem
familiar to him in some way since they were sisters.

“And
I’m terribly sorry for that.” He motioned toward her bruised cheek. “I would
never hit a woman. At least not on purpose,” he muttered before looking down.

“Let’s
forget about it. Okay? I think at this point in time, a few fading bruises are
the least of my worries.”

“And
you and I have nothing to talk about,” Lindsey said to Uriah. “Now move.”

Uriah
hesitated.

“I
forgive you for hitting me, Uriah,” Wilhemina said. “But don’t think for one
minute that Lindsey will be the only problem you have if you try to force her
to do anything against her will. My sister isn’t the only one who can make you
swallow your balls.” She looked down toward his crotch with a raised brow.

“Fine.
I understand you both need some time to mull over everything that has happened.
But we will talk, Lindsey.” He looked to Wilhemina. “Even if I must suffer a
shot to the boys for the occasion. It will happen.”

When
Uriah moved to the side, Wilhemina led Lindsey to her room.

Aldin,
Ashe, a still pale-looking Aiston, Uriah, Conrad, Dominic, Ragnor, and Malachi
occupied the study.

“I
trust your trip here went smoothly?” Ashe asked Malachi.

“Yes.”

Aldin
had recovered from his run-in with the dart, but that shit had packed a punch.

“I’m
surprised you could drag Geri away from her precious goats,” Aiston chuckled.

Malachi
didn’t look amused in the least. And as per typical, Malachi appeared as if he
might bash Aiston’s head in at any moment. Malachi was the oldest of the
hunters, the biggest, and one bad ass. He was the only hunter other than his
brothers—on rare occasions—that had been able to put Aldin on his ass during
training in the gym.

“She
goes wherever I go.” Malachi said in his low, gravelly, don’t-fuck-with-me
voice.

“Yeah,
I know. Especially right now. Was just giving you shit about the livestock,
dude.” Aiston chuckled again.

Malachi
gave him another unamused glare before going back to ignoring him.

“Who
the hell is that?” Dominic motioned toward Ragnor.

“Yes,
I guess it’s time to get to business.” Ashe sighed and pushed his fingers
through his hair.

“Malachi,
Dominic, Conrad, meet Ragnor. As in
the
Ragnor,”
Ashe said quietly.

Aldin
felt a tiny urge to laugh at the shocked expressions on the hunters’ faces.
Even Malachi looked startled for a moment, which never happened.

“Wait,
wait, wait.” Conrad shook his head in disbelief. “You are saying that this is
the
Ragnor? As in the legendary Vampyre
King Ragnor?”

“Yes.
And also my mother’s
viata amant
and
our father,” Ashe said even quieter. “And before we all go ape-shit wild with
the questions, that”—he pointed to Uriah—”is our baby brother, who my mother
has kept locked up since birth.”

An
eerie silence settled over the room as Malachi, Dominic, and Conrad stared at
Ragnor then Ashe, Aldin, Aiston, Uriah, and back. He knew it was a lot for the
other hunters to swallow. Hell, he himself was still getting used to the idea.
But as Ragnor had so delicately put it before, there was no time to deal with
emotions in the current time of crisis. Which Aldin had basically taken as
suck-it-up buttercup, and deal with it.

Not
only was he trying to deal with the fact that his father was Ragnor, but that
he had another brother. He was pissed as hell at the little ass for hitting
Wilhemina—even though he truly believed it to be an accident—and planned to pay
him back. If Uriah was going to be part of this family, he’d have to learn that
some lines didn’t get crossed, even accidently, without consequences.

As he
sat through the next hour of questions and answers about Ragnor and the
prophecy, he barely kept his mind focused on what was going on in the room, too
preoccupied with thoughts of Wilhemina. Had he damaged his relationship with
her beyond repair? He was sure she’d been worried about him earlier when he’d
returned with Aiston. And he hadn’t missed the way she’d reached out to him for
comfort when Aiston had taken her blood.

A
knot of jealousy lodged in his gut, and he directed a heated stare at his
brother. The jealousy eased when he saw that Aiston was staring back at him.
There had been no other way, and Aiston would most likely be dead now if
Wilhemina hadn’t helped him.

“
I’m sorry, Aldin.”

He
wasn’t surprised to hear Aiston’s voice in his head. He and his brothers had always
been close and attuned to one another. “
Don’t
worry about it. There was no other choice.”

“I know, but I also know how I’d
feel if it had been the other way around. I would obviously want Avril to save
you, but I can’t deny I’d want to beat your ass afterward for touching her. I’m
truly grateful, Aldin.”

“I might still beat your ass, but
not until you’re back up to par. And I’m not the one you should be grateful
to.”

“Not too far from there now. Maybe
we can work it out later in the gym.”

“Maybe.”

“And I will thank Wilhemina.”

“It’s
time to get down to business.” Ashe put a halt to the questions.

Shortly
after a knock sounded on the door, Ebony entered carrying a letter.

“You
have to see this,” she said quietly to Ashe.

After
Ashe scanned the letter, he growled low under his breath. He held it up. “This
is from Trinidad.”

Malachi
gripped the arms of the chair he sat in until the wood cracked.

“The
war has officially begun. The first onslaught will come in three days at the
deserted factory down by Eighth Street.” Ashe slammed the paper down on the
desk.

“It’s
time to make my return known,” Ragnor announced.

Ashe
stood and led Ebony from the room. A few minutes later, he returned. After a
brief explanation of the prophecy, no one cared who Ragnor or Uriah or anyone
else was. From then on, it was all business, preparation, and careful planning
in figuring out a way to beat Trinidad back until the Aleksandrovs could
fulfill the true blood prophecy and finish him for good.

* * * *

“You
let them both get away, you sniveling idiot!” Trinidad backhanded Blane so hard
he flew back several feet.

“Please,
sir! It wasn’t my fault. We did everything exactly as planned, they were just—”

“Smarter
than you. That’s what they were. You not only let the Aleksandrov spawn get
away, you let Grady get away. I warned you what would happen if you failed me.”
Trinidad spit the hateful words at Blane.

“Please!
I won’t fail you again,” Blane pleaded.

“I
should have seen you for the coward you are.”

“But—”

“Shut
up!” Trinidad screamed in fury. “You!”

The
dark-haired drifter built like a tank with a nose piercing scurried toward him
like a scared puppy obeying an abusive master. Just how he liked it.

“What
is your name?”

“Hammer.”

Trinidad
barely controlled the urge to roll his eyes. He was working with a bunch of
idiots. If it weren’t for the fact that an army of idiots was better than none,
he’d have nothing to do with the drifters. However, they could prove quite
useful once he became king.

“I’m
giving you two assignments in which you have twenty-four hours to complete.
Find me the two best combatants we have in our ranks. And take him”—he pointed
to Blane—”to the basement. There are shackles secured to the far wall. Lock him
in them.”

“Yes,
sir.” Hammer nodded.

“If
you fail either one of these tasks, you will suffer the same fate as he.”

Trinidad
smiled as Hammer dragged Blane out of the room. The coward begged the whole
way. He didn’t have time for any further fuck-ups. He had been training his
growing army of drifters for the uprising, and while none of them on their own
would last more than a couple minutes against the hunters, he was confident
that numbers were greater than skills. In three nights, the first wave of the
uprising would start, the first wave that would mark the beginning of the end
of the Aleksandrovs.

While
he waited for Hammer’s return, he planned on spending some quality time with
Blane working out his anger, frustration, and stress. It had been awhile since
he’d been able to take the time to torture someone. Way too long. He was good
at it because he enjoyed it. The Aleksandrovs would find that out soon enough.

“Spill
it.” Lindsey lay on her stomach across Wilhemina’s bed.

Her
legs bent at the knee and her ankles were crossed. She propped herself up on
her elbows and rested her chin on her hand.

“Spill
what exactly?”

“How
in the hell did you end up here? I mean that is one freaky coincidence, don’t
ya think?”

“Coincidence?”

She
was stalling, and she was sure Lindsey knew it, but didn’t care.

“Yeah.
Coincidence as in you ending up at the house of the man’s mother who kidnapped
me.”

“I’d
really rather not talk about that. I’d rather talk about you, and do some major
catching up.”

When
images from her first night with Aldin flooded her mind, Wilhemina fought hard
to keep the heat from her cheeks at bay.

“O-M-G!”
Lindsey sat up on her knees and bobbed up and down before clapping. “You have a
thing for him, don’t you?”

“Lindsey,
I—I—”

“You
do! You couldn’t lie if it meant your life. Your stuttering gives you away
every time. Now tell me how you met Aldin.”

“I’m
here because I went to school with Ebony. I needed some peace and quiet so I
quit my job on the East Coast and came back to Plainview. I’ve been working on
writing my first book. Well, sort of anyway. Can’t seem to get into it much
with everything that’s been going on.”

“Wilhemina,
although we’ve been separated for seven years, I still know you like I know the
back of my own hand. I believe you will be a great writer, and plan to grill
you extensively about your book later, but I do not believe for one moment that
there is nothing going on between you and Aldin. The way that man looks at you
is enough to make steam come off me just from being in the same room.”

“Do
we really have to talk about this?” Wilhemina scowled.

“Yes.
Now come sit and tell.” Lindsey patted the bed next to her.

It
was futile to argue with Lindsey. If anyone was more bullheaded than her
sister, she’d yet to meet him or her. She begrudgingly sat on the bed.

“I
met him a few days ago at a club called Drake’s. We danced a-and talked and
that was it. I didn’t think I’d see him again. When I ran into Ebony in
Plainview, I was looking for a place to rent. She offered to let me stay here.
I had no idea that Aldin was Ebony’s brother-in-law.”