Eternal Prey (28 page)

“Guess we’d better get going. Don’t want to keep Adam waiting,” Utah lied. He’d love to keep the bastard waiting. Forever. But he wanted out of this room. And he was sort of curious about what Adam would say now that he knew Seven was taking his vampires.

“You need a driver now that Lia isn’t human. Greer will take over that job until further notice. He’s about as human as you get around here.” Fin smiled, and this time it reached his eyes. “I hope you appreciate the sacrifice I’m making. I’ll have to cook my own meals. It’s hard to look godlike when you’re burning the bacon.”

Fin waved them out the door. “Greer’s waiting for you in Utah’s new car. And yes, I remembered that neither of you had a vehicle. Tell Jude he can pick up his car here.” He met Lia’s gaze. “Stay strong. Utah can help you fight the compulsions.”

They didn’t speak on the way down in the elevator.

When they finally stopped beside the car, Utah asked the inevitable question. “Where do you want to sit? You in front, me in back, or vice versa?”

“Let’s try both in back.” She waved off his attempt to interrupt. “I have to work on my control. If I let Zero dictate how I live my life, then he wins.”

He nodded, and they climbed in.

Greer headed for Old Town. “Hope you don’t mind, but I drive fast and hard. It’s the only power trip my tiger ever gets.”

“The faster the better.” Lia sounded fierce.

Utah loved that about her.

“What do you think about Kione?” She sat pressed against her door.

Utah gave her all the space he could. “Don’t have a clue. I can’t read him.” He hoped he got a chance to see the fae prince again.

The conversation lagged as awareness reared its sexy head, at least for him. Lia’s tension might have a lot to do with her urge to slide across the seat and sink her fangs into his neck.

Logically, he knew she was vampire. That should translate to hate in his mind. Well, his mind wasn’t getting the message. It along with the rest of his body thought she was fine in whatever form she wore. No use fighting the inevitable. He thought Rap would understand.

Luckily for all concerned, Greer’s driving was insane. Couldn’t concentrate on much of anything when death waited for you around every curve. They were soon parked behind the art gallery.

Greer turned to look at them. “Fin wants me to wait out here. Better that way. Don’t want the bastards to be picking their teeth with my bones and drinking to each other’s health with my blood. Times like this I wish I was a real shifter, none of this a-tiger-in-my-heart shit.”

Utah clapped him on the back. “Stay safe.” Then he and Lia climbed out.

Reed still waited like a fanged goliath by the door, but someone else waited too.

Kione stepped out of the shadows.

S
he was glad to see Kione. That surprised Lia. Maybe seeing how he’d suffered, how he’d
loved
, made him more . . . human. Or not. You couldn’t judge someone’s humanity on a sliding scale. And being human didn’t guarantee goodness and light. Besides, she didn’t qualify as a judge of humanity anymore. She should change her wording. Seeing how Kione had suffered made him seem more
vulnerable
. And vulnerability softened some of his sharp fae edges.

Oh, and she was also glad to see him because he could act as a buffer between Utah and her.

“Where the hell have you been?” Utah’s grin balanced out his gruff words.

“I had to make sure my vampire friends did what they promised.” Kione’s cold eyes seemed to warm a little as he reached them.

“Did they?” She hoped so. No one deserved to live with that kind of pain.

“Yes.” For a moment, Kione looked almost disbelieving. “I’m free.”

“From
everything
?” Utah tensed.

Kione laughed. A rare sound. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep my promise to Fin.”

Utah relaxed. “Good. I’d hate to have to break in a new partner.”

Lia interrupted. “Guess we’d better go see what Adam wants. It probably won’t be good.”

As usual, Reed had nothing to say as they entered the building. Another silent vampire opened the door to the tunnels. Utah took the lead as they walked down the dark corridor toward where the tunnel opened to a slightly larger area, and Adam sat with his vampires grouped in a semicircle around him. Candles cast shadows across their still faces. The play of light and dark highlighted Adam’s perfect face, accented his golden eyes, and chilled her blood.

There were a lot more vampires this time. They waited, silent, with unblinking eyes that gleamed black in the candlelight. Adam stood as Utah reached him.

Uneasiness poked at Lia. There shouldn’t be this many vampires here right now. This was prime hunting time. In front of her, Utah tensed. He felt it too.

“You wanted to see us?”

Utah sounded relaxed, but as Lia stepped up beside him, she could see his narrowed gaze scanning the semicircle of vampires. Behind her, she knew Kione would be doing the same.

“Have a seat.” Adam smiled, but his eyes stayed hard.

“No.” Utah didn’t waste words.

Adam shrugged. “I won’t need your services anymore. Christine and I have come to an agreement.”

From the corner of her eye, Lia could see the semicircle closing a little. Behind her, Kione hissed a quiet warning. She nodded to let him know she’d heard.

“So your deal with Fin is off?” Utah moved a few inches so that Kione could fit between Lia and him.

“That’s about it.” Adam abandoned even the semblance of friendliness. “She made me a better offer. I join my forces with hers, and then when she leaves I take over everything.”

Lia couldn’t keep quiet. “You’re already
our
leader, so what did she offer you beyond that?” This was bad. If Adam was able to deliver the whole vampire nation to Seven, the Eleven and humanity were in deep trouble. Jude wouldn’t go along with it, so Adam would have to destroy him and any other regional leader who didn’t cave.

Adam’s eyes glowed with excitement. “She’s leading more than just vampires. Once she’s gone, I’ll control all the shifters, demons, and other nonhumans she’s gathered together.” He licked his lips. “I’ll control the world.”

“That’s right, think big.” Kione’s murmur broke the stunned silence.

Lia chose not to point out that Zero had other people out there recruiting, and that not all of
their
nonvampire recruits would follow Adam. She’d let him keep his illusions of world domination. No need to tick him off with a dose of reality.

“Guess we need to leave then.” Utah backed up a step. Lia and Kione backed with him. “Where do we pick up our checks?”

Adam looked apologetic. “Sorry, but there won’t be any severance pay because . . .” He smiled. “You’ll be dead.”

“Adam, you are such an optimist.” Lia decided her former leader wasn’t as smart as she’d thought he was. “Have you really thought this through?”

The strange connection she had with Utah told her his beast was close to the surface. She glanced up—about seven feet clearance right here. Lia hoped that would be enough. His twenty-plus-foot length would fit, but he wouldn’t have any maneuvering room. The tunnel was probably twenty feet wide plus whatever width the cells gave it. Enough for him to turn, but not comfortably. And no way would he be chasing anyone. She’d bet these tunnels narrowed in spots.

“I always think things through.” Adam drew a gun. “Please don’t move. I’m very good at head shots. Even if I don’t kill you, I’ll put you down long enough for my friends to finish you off.” Adam smiled, and there was real enjoyment in his smile. “I’d enjoy watching that.”

“Fin will hunt you down.” For once, Lia hoped Fin was monitoring her thoughts.

Adam seemed unconcerned. “Christine promised I’d be under Zero’s protection. Checkmate.” He glanced at his watch. “We’ve wasted enough time. First I get rid of my dark fairy.” He stepped aside so they could see the circle on the floor.

Then Adam rattled off some words in a language Lia didn’t understand. From his gestures, she figured he was saying something like: “Get your ass into the circle.”

While Adam was speaking, his vampires closed in around them. Lia glanced at Utah. They were surrounded.

Fin’s voice in her head almost drew a startled yelp from her.

“Adam’s been trying to get into your mind since you entered the tunnel. He failed because I’m shielding you and Utah. I think Kione can take care of his own mind. None of the Eleven’s beasts will fit in the tunnels, so I’m sending in Shen. I’ll keep Zero from interfering.”

Shen? What could he do? Then she stopped thinking about Fin’s assistant as she watched Kione move toward the circle.

He was obeying a little too easily. Didn’t Adam see that? Guess he was too caught up in his own power trip. Lia edged away from Utah. She could almost hear the howl of his beast. Any second now . . .

Kione stepped into the circle and stood waiting. He looked bored. “Say your words, vampire.”

Adam frowned. He liked creating fear, and Kione wasn’t cooperating. Lia slipped her hand into her coat pocket and gripped the gun Jude had loaned her. Zero still had her sword, but she now had all her shiny new vampire skills to make up for its loss.

Adam’s arrogance would bring him down. He wanted to drag out their deaths, play with them. A major mistake. You didn’t give your enemies time to prepare.

If Adam thought Utah would stand quietly until it was his time to die, he was stupid. Maybe he thought he and his vampires could react fast enough to keep Utah from releasing his beast. Maybe he even thought Utah wouldn’t take the chance of becoming raptor in the confined space of the tunnel. If that’s what he thought, he was wrong on both counts.

Utah waited until the moment Adam’s attention switched to Kione. That moment was all he needed.

Adam had never seen how fast Utah could change. Utah leaped, and by the time both feet hit the ground, he was raptor. The vampires were a second too slow. Adam’s bullet slammed into Utah, but Utah in raptor form didn’t even flinch.

Lia’s fighting instincts kicked in. She knew better than to get in front of Utah. Adam might have trouble killing
him
, but she’d make an easy target. And getting caught between the raptor’s huge body and the tunnel wall was asking to be flattened. So she ran behind him. Way behind him. As a few of the vampires were learning, his tail was a lethal weapon all on its own.

Gunshots echoed through the tunnel again and again. Then she heard the click of Adam’s empty gun. The candles flickered out. The darkness was a blanket settling over her—suffocating and totally black.

Something savage and eager woke in her. Even without light, she could see the shadows of Adam’s vampires moving in to attack Utah and her. Where was Kione? She curled her lip to expose her fangs. Bloodlust flooded her, burned through her body, screamed its need to tear, and kill, and feed. Lia launched herself at those shadows.

For the first time in her life, she fought as vampire.

Blood. Nothing else mattered. She forgot about her gun. She would rend flesh with her bare hands, sink her fangs into soft throats and drink from spouting rivers of blood, bathe in the warmth flowing over her hands, her body.

Lia loved it. She’d never felt this alive when she was human. Had she ever been human? She couldn’t remember what it felt like, couldn’t remember anything that came before the
blood
.

Her enemy was all about speed, strength, and fangs. He thought that was enough. Lazy, stupid vampire. Didn’t he know that she’d kill him because she wanted it more—the blood, always the blood. Lia realized she was laughing wildly. Why? Didn’t matter why. It felt so good, why shouldn’t she laugh?

Even when something flung her to the floor, she kept on laughing. Her hands slipped in the puddle of blood collecting around the head of one of Adam’s vampires. She didn’t know where his body was, didn’t care. She had to get up to kill some more. More blood. She needed more damn blood.

Something slithered past her. It felt like . . . a snake? What would a snake be doing in the middle of this?

Before she could think about that, someone yanked her to her feet. Lia leaped at him . . . and immediately ended up back on her ass. She tried to puzzle through the reason for this, but she couldn’t think past the scent of blood all around her.
Bloodbloodblood
—

“The bloodlust has you, Lia. Fight it.”

The whisper sounded familiar, but she couldn’t think. In front of her, the dark mass that was her beast methodically tore apart vampires. He wasn’t even trying to drink their blood. That puzzled her. Wait,
her
beast? Why was he
her
beast?

The reason eluded her. Lia turned her attention back to the killing. But there were no more moving shadows. Everything was still. No, it couldn’t be over. She could smell so much blood, and it just made her want more. More death. More, more,
more
.

“The battle’s over. Adam has fled. He was the only one to escape.”