Enemy Within (Vampire Born Trilogy, #2) (2 page)

PR
OLOGUE

Brooke

I was four when I learned what it meant to not have a father. We lived in New Mexico on a street with little houses surrounded by red dirt. Not a lot of grass in that small, dusty town, but the park had some. My mom would take me there to play on it. I'd have my shoes off before she could stop the car. The soft crunch of the green blades tickled my feet.

Kids older than me played Red Rover on the far side of the lawn. Smaller kids filled buckets with twigs and dirt from the sandbox. Screams and laughter filed in from all four corners. But not too far away from where I rubbed my toes across the grass was a girl about my age, maybe younger. She rode on a man's shoulders. Wind tossed her blond curls behind her. She squealed as he made motorboat sounds. Her giggle was harmonious and happy. "Go faster, Daddy. Faster!"

He sped up, weaving in and out of an invisible maze, taking her on a wild ride.

I wanted to ride too. I ran over to them. "I wanna go fast."

"Brooke!" my mom yelled. "Wait up."

The man stopped, but the smile remained. He looked around. "Where's your daddy?"

I blinked as confusion filled me. 

My mom caught up to us. "Sorry about that." She traded a look with the man as he followed us with his eyes. "Let's go play on the swings," she said excitedly, leading me away.

I wouldn’t be distracted. I kept looking back. Where was my daddy? Did I get one? And if I did, why didn't he carry me on his shoulders like that daddy?

I guess I did get one. Everyone gets one, but it comes down to if he sticks around or not. Mine didn’t, and all my life I’ve been plagued with a deep void because of it. It settled deep within my gut and weighed on me.

The weight lifted when I finally found my father. I met him face to face and delighted in our matching blue eyes and the creases at the corners of them when we smiled. His face appeared to light up when our gazes met, so of course my mind filled with ideas of a daddy who would place me on his shoulders, if I were still little.

Not this daddy, though.

My daddy wants me dead.

C
HAPTER ONE

Mirko

Immortality is a lie. It’s something the Pijawikas tell themselves to feel godly. Pijawikas and Zao Duhs don’t age like humans, but we do age and we can die. With Pijawikas directing the Zao Duhs to do their dirty work, the lie that they will never die is a lot easier for them to believe.

Not so for Zao Duhs. Death doesn
’t just haunt me. It slaps me in the face and then holds my eyelids open as person after person dies. I’ve watched people I’ve known, loved, and who didn’t deserve to, die. Pijawikas don’t mind. As long as the person dying is only a Zao Duh or a human, nothing is lost to them.

Brooke is part Pijawikan and instead of them adding her to their list of sacred lives among the chosen, they see her as an abomination—a death sentence deserved. One I can’t allow them to make good on. I’ve fought for and against the Pijawikas, but I’ve never felt as strongly as I do now about not giving them what they want.

Brooke is innocent, and she holds a place within me so deep, I didn’t think it existed before I met her. Pijawikas have broken my heart, broken my body and almost my mind, but I can’t let them harm her.

Not this girl.

When she ran out of her father’s house, the look on her face sent a cold chill through my limbs and sinking horror in my gut. Whatever we thought we conquered came back tenfold.

She was tired and battered, barely able to clean the dirt and blood off her face and change into clean clothes. Even the nap on the plane couldn’t replenish her, although she still had some fight left in her to make sure I took her home instead of on the run from her father.

“He’d find us anywhere,” she had said. “Please. I want to go home and see my mom and Kaitlynn.”

She’s right. The bruised and heart-rending look she gave me thawed any resistance I would’ve put forth. I’m not prepared to fight this battle. Not against the Head of Pijawikas. We need resources and a plan. Garwin can provide the resources. I still have to come up with a good plan, but no matter how creative a solution, my time with Brooke is limited. Zladislov will hunt her down and kill her. Realistically, I can’t save Brooke from her father, but I sure as hell have no doubt I will die trying.

My days are numbered.

Garwin comes out the front door as Brooke, Jaren, and I make our way up his steps. Yes, Jaren’s still hanging around. I can’t seem to get rid of the kid.

Garwin meets Brooke with open arms, and even though she whimpers a little when he squeezes her tight, the relief on her face is palpable.

“I’m glad you’re all right. I have been so worried about you,” Garwin says as he walks us inside.

Garwin’s increased his security since the last time I was here. Strange faces litter the hallway, and a burly man stands by the marble statue. I take note to test his reflexes and agility later. We need more than to look like a strong force. I need everyone to deliver when Zladislov arrives.

“Where’s Mom?” Brooke asks as she studies the security detail.

“She’s on her way,” Garwin says. “She’s been so worried. I haven’t told her anything yet, only that you were coming home.” He eases Brooke down on the couch inside the den and then takes a seat in a large chair by the fireplace. Jaren and I sit on the couch with Brooke. “I understand you had to be discreet while talking to me on the plane as it was a commercial flight, but I can’t wait for Brooke’s mom to get here. What’s going on?” Garwin has a calm demeanor, but anxiousness leaks into his voice.

Brooke answers. “Zladislov—my father—wants to kill me.” She doesn’t sound scared, but she does sound hopeless and tired.

“Oh, dear God.” Garwin runs his hand along the outside of his mouth and stands. He walks over to his liquor cabinet and drops two ice cubes into a glass, followed by his favorite brandy. He swirls the liquid a couple of times and takes a swig, staring ahead as if looking at something but seeing nothing. Wherever his mind is, it isn’t in this room.

I’ve never seen Garwin speechless before. He always has someone to call or a brilliant idea to offer as a solution.

Brooke tenses. “Garwin? Say something.”

Our situation is daunting, but I never expected that eerily distant look in Garwin’s eyes, which only sets Brooke further on edge. She is scared, but her eyelids grow heavier and heavier with every exhale.

Garwin stares on for a moment longer before he turns to us. “I have a lot to think about and you need to get some rest,” he says and looks at me. “Will you make sure she gets to her room all right?”

“Of course.” I stand and gently tug Brooke up by her arm.

She yelps and guilt slices through me. She’s injured and anywhere I touch her will cause pain. However, she doesn’t appear to have the strength to get off the couch, let alone climb the stairs to the bedrooms. I bend over and catch her underneath her knees. They buckle and she rests in my arms.

Jaren rises, a scowl on his face, and his footsteps sound behind us. There is a reason Garwin asked me to take Brooke up to her room and not him; I am best suited to handle her.

Brooke’s breathing is rough and deep, full of exhaustion and pain. I hope once I lie her down, she will fall asleep and the pain will subside.

I walk as smoothly as I can and pay attention not to jostle her as I climb the stairs. “Which room?” I whisper. I’m familiar with the layout of Garwin’s home, but I don’t know which room she has been using.

“Second to last door on the right,” Jaren says.

I don’t him knowing where her room is. I clench my jaw.

Jaren’s footsteps speed up as he goes around us and turns the doorknob. I pause for a second before entering. A part of me doesn’t want to put Brooke down and that side wrestles with the part of me that wants her to be in a painless sleep. The selfish side loses. I move forward and set her on top of the bed.

A content sound escapes her lips, telling me she needs the rest as much or more than I assumed.

“Thanks for carrying her up,” Jaren says, as if I did him a favor.

“I didn’t do it for you.” I grab the fuzzy blanket from the foot of the bed and cover Brooke’s arms. Her breathing relaxes.

I kiss her forehead, comforted because she is.

I walk away, but Jaren steps around me and kisses Brooke on the cheek. Anger and possession flare inside me. She has yet to choose me, but she is mine. My days with her are numbered and I’m not sure how many of them I can deal with this punk trying to one up me. I focus on Brooke to read her response to Jaren’s affection, but there isn’t one. I expect at least some sort of reaction, even in the slightest, but there is nothing. Almost as if he kissed the cheek of a corpse.

My heart skips an anxious beat. I’ve experienced this before, but I have to make sure.

I stride back over to Brooke’s side and shake her shoulder. “Slatki.”

Nothing.

My fears are confirmed.

“What’s wrong?” Jaren asks from behind me.

Not even her eyes flutter from behind her lids. “She’s in a spavati.”

“And that means what?”

I turn to face him so he knows exactly how serious I am. “It means no one comes into this room alone. When she wakes from this deep sleep, she’s going to be ravenous for blood. Anyone in here when she comes to will not be you, or her mother, or anyone else she recognizes. Until she feeds, she will be completely controlled by that hunger. You are not to call Kaitlynn, and no one is to come in here without me. Is that clear?”

He glares at me. His jaw tightens but he nods.

I smirk and wait at the door until he clears it and then I shut it behind me, letting him see that I alone control access to Brooke. My commands go deeper than any boyish possession over her. Lives are on the line.

He marches across the hall, opens a door to another room, and closes it behind him. Does he think he’s going to stay in the room across the hall? I shake my head and look to the doors next to Brooke’s, opening the one to the left. Furnished but bare of any personalization. I’ll talk to Garwin about taking this one.

Brooke’s spavati complicates things. It won’t be easy to move her in her condition and any plans we make will have to be implemented without her input. We can’t wait for her to wake, though.

I descend the stairs two at a time and stop at the burly man standing at the bottom. I don’t need to ask Garwin his thoughts on him as the guy’s mere presence tells me everything I need to know. “Zao Duh?”

He nods.

“Good. Don’t let anyone go inside her room. She’s in a spavati, but if you hear her come out, grab her.”

His nostrils flare. He knows what this means, but I’m not sure if he’s seen it or only heard about it. “Are you Mirko?”

“Yes. And you are?” I’m familiar with many Zao Duhs, but this one is unknown to me. This would normally unsettle me, but I trust Garwin’s judgment. Especially when it comes to Brooke. He did hire me at the onset, which is the best call he could’ve made for her.

“Rorik.” He sticks out his hand and I shake it. His grip is firm and assertive. His light brown hair is clipped short to his head, and his firm green-yellow eyes never waver as I look him over. “I’ve heard a lot about you. It’s a pleasure to finally meet
the
Mirko.”

I grin. Damn right he’s heard of me. I lead some of the fiercest and most sought after Zao Duhs on the planet. Depending on how Rorik performs, I could add him to those ranks. “I’d like to say the pleasure is mutual, but I need to know a few things first.” Business before anything else. That’s the way I work, which is what keeps people alive. I’m not about to let my guard down because someone is impressed with my name.