Love Like Blood: (Royal Blood #5) (17 page)

L
afayette spun
on his heel as I entered the library, his lips pulling into a wicked smile.

“
Belle
,” he said, opening his arms, his gun dangling from his right hand. “So good to see you again,
mon amour
.”

I stepped into the room, tracking my gun in front of me. “Give yourself up, Lafayette. It’s over.”

“You want answers, no?” he asked as the end of my gun pressed against his chest. “I hear your father had you tortured and brainwashed. Such a loving relationship you had. I’m sure there are a great deal of memories missing from our joyous time together. I’m more than happy to assist in filling in the blanks.”

I pulled the gun away and went to strike the fucker in the face, but he grabbed my wrist and twisted, dislodging the gun from my hand. It clattered to the floor just as the butt of his pistol collided with my temple.

I fell to the floor, my head spinning, suddenly realizing why The Watchman had burned my emotional capabilities away.

“Your father took great delight in disrupting my operation,” Lafayette said, standing over me. “You would think the day I acquired you from Sykes was the jewel in my crown, but it wasn’t. The day I raped you until you bled was. Then the moment I let my men do whatever they pleased with the leftovers and watched.”

I pushed off the floor with all the strength I could gather, but his boot came down hard on my back, and my face hit the floor with a thud. Pain shot through my body, bright lights bursting through my vision.

Darkness, pain, burning…hot, sticky blood. Please stop. Stop, stop, stop, stop. Kill me.

“
No
…” I choked out, the abrupt surfacing of the memory I’d buried too much to handle.

I had to kill him. I had to put an end to this once and for all. I couldn’t allow that man to take another breath knowing what he’d done to me. Not just me…countless others that were bought and sold like their lives meant nothing. He took the light from the world and made it black.

I was made into the worst version of myself, but before, I’d been Lorelei Lansford. Gallery curator. My life was about color, beauty, and celebration. My life was about loving Sebastian Vaughn.

“Yes,” Lafayette said, chuckling to himself in triumph. “Thirty years in the business and you were my crowning achievement. It pained me to lose you, but do you know the one thing that has allowed me to remain the undisputed king? Knowing when to strike my enemies. I never forget, little whore. I lay in wait for my prey to stumble…then I strike. I don’t care how long it takes.
I always get what I want
.”

Closing my eyes, I tried to stop my head from spinning. I saw my past laid out before me as plain as day. I saw the darkness lay claim to my soul. I saw the moment my father plucked me from the prison Lafayette had created for me. I saw The Watchman and what my life had become in the wake of so much suffering. Then I saw Vaughn and heard the words from his mouth.
I will love you forever
.

I couldn’t go back, not after all the pain I’d felt and the blood I’d spilled. I could never be the woman from my past again. All I had left was right now, and there was only one thing I could do.

I could very well claim it as revenge, but that would serve no purpose to the women who’d had their souls stripped from their bodies. This was bigger than me. It always had been.

My life was now about justice, and justice was killing Jacques Lafayette.

His hand fisted painfully into my hair, and he pulled me from the floor. “You’re coming with me, whore. I’ve got a special menu of depravity laid out just for you. You’ll love it.”

He tugged me against his chest, pinning my arms against my side as he rubbed his filthy cock against my ass. “You won’t want to come, you’ll want to fight it, but your body won’t let you. You’ll come hard, little Lorelei, and you’ll like it. Your self-loathing will break your resistance, and when you willingly suck my cock, you’ll truly be nothing.”

Rage bubbled hot through my veins, and I raised my boot and brought the heel down hard on his foot. He grunted, the pain reflex loosening his grip just enough that I could twist away from him. My scalp burned as the force ripped a clump of hair from the root, but I was trained to compartmentalize anything that would stop me from completing my mission objective.

A gunshot split the air from somewhere behind me, and I stumbled. The bullet clipped Lafayette’s arm, and he stumbled backward. Turning wildly, my gaze met Vaughn’s.

He stood just inside the room, his gun raised, his expression full of blind rage. In that moment, something shifted and fell into place. Something that had been just out of my grasp ever since I saw him lying bloody and beaten at my father’s feet. I
understood
.

He stepped forward, and in the mere second that had passed since he’d appeared, another gunshot split the air with a
boom
that seemed to echo on and on into infinity.

Vaughn’s expression crumpled in surprise, and he doubled over before falling to the floor at my feet, his stomach dampening with blood.

No, no, no, no, no!

My legs gave way underneath me, and I landed next to him. Everything that we had worked to build since we were reunited was unraveling and imploding right before my eyes.

A metallic click brought me back to reality. Lafayette stood over us, his gun pointed right at my head.

“Shame,” he said.

I glanced at Vaughn, whose gaze was fixed on mine. I felt something hard being nudged against my leg just out of Lafayette’s line of sight.

The monster above me tutted like he was disappointed. “I was looking forward to fucking your sweet little—”

Snatching Vaughn’s gun from the floor, I raised it and fired.

The bullet hit Lafayette in the stomach, and he stumbled back a step, his grip loosening on his own gun. His mouth fell open as I fired again and again, emptying the entire clip into his torso. He flailed like a rag doll as the metal embedded into his flesh, his eyes wide with shock.

Finally, his back collided with the wall, and he slid down to the floor, leaving a trail of blood behind him. He coughed once, a trickle of red trailing from his lips, and his eyes glazed over.

Letting the gun drop from my hands, I collapsed beside Vaughn, pulling up his shirt. Blood was gushing from the wound in his stomach, pulsing with every beat of his heart.

No, no, no, no, no…

I pressed my hands over the hole, tears beginning to stream unchecked down my face.

“Vaughn,” I wailed. “
No!
”

“Lorelei…” he said, his voice sounding very faint and far away.

“Is this what love is?” I asked desperately as I tried to stem the flow of blood from his abdomen. “Is this what it’s like?”

He moved his lips, but no sound came out, just a trickle of blood that trailed a path across his cheek.

“If it’s love,” I said, trying to keep the light from going out in his eyes, “Then I love you, Vaughn.
I love you
.”

He smiled, his eyes drooping.

“No,” I cried. “Keep your eyes open. Look at me, Vaughn. Hold on, okay? You can’t leave me now.”

His hand closed around my wrist, his grip loose.

“Think about the boat,” I murmured, my hands sticky with blood. “Think about the boat you’ll build on the beach. Think about the sunsets and the stars…”

“Lorelei,” he rasped. “I love you. It’s okay to let me go.”

“No,” I spat. “Never.
Never
.”

He never left me when I did my darnedest to drive him away. I’d fight to the end.

No matter the cost, I’d pay it ten times over to save his life.

I
burst
into the library and skidded to a halt.

Lorelei was huddled over Vaughn and blood was everywhere. I wasn’t sure where it was coming from because my gaze was pulled to a very dead Lafayette, who was propped against the wall with a trail of blood leading to his corpse.

“Lorelei,” I said, walking forward.

She glanced up, and her face was stained with tears and blood, her clothes dark with it.

“He shot Vaughn,” she said. “He shot him. I can’t… I can’t stop the bleeding.
You have to help him
.”

Fuck
.

“Guess you got rid of me after all,” Vaughn rasped, blood trickling from his mouth.

“Not if I can help it,” I replied, reaching for my phone.

“What are you doing?” Lorelei asked, her voice full of panic.

“Calling in a favor.” I dialed Mei’s number and hoped to fucking God that she was in a good frame of mind.

“No,” Lorelei exclaimed. “They’ll take him from me.
Don’t!
”

“I don’t see that we have a choice,” I spat. “It’s either take him to an MI6 hospital or let him bleed out right here.”

Her eyes widened, and she glanced back at Vaughn.

“He’s right, love,” Vaughn said, sounding slightly delirious.

“X?” Mei’s voice echoed down the line, and I turned away from them.

“We need immediate medical assistance,” I declared. I didn’t know how much time we’d have to get Vaughn to a hospital before his body completely fucked up on him.

“Are you and Mercy—”

“It’s Vaughn,” I interrupted. “Lafayette shot him in the stomach. I know it wasn’t in the mission parameters, but he helped me, Mei. I owe him. As far as asking for favors go, this is the first and last time you will ever hear me beg.”

There was a second of silence before she said, “Lafayette?”

“Dead.”

“
Fuck
.” It was the exact response I was expecting.

“Allaire’s residence is secure. You can send all the agents you want to clear out the place and dismantle what you can.” I glanced at Vaughn, who was beginning to turn gray. “Either you provide immediate assistance for Vaughn or Mercy and I walk.”

Lorelei’s eyes widened at my bold statement, and Vaughn attempted to laugh at the irony.

“Stay still,” she murmured to him. “The bleeding has slowed, but you’ll kill yourself moving.”

“Fine,” Mei said. “Where are you?”

“In the library at Allaire’s mansion in Hampstead.”

“Tactical and medical team on their way. ETA ten minutes.”

“Thank you,” I said with a sigh.

“Don’t make me regret helping you, X. Moltke is already pissed with you, and he’ll be none too happy to hear Lafayette is a corpse.”

“Too bad,” I retorted. “There was no other option.”

“I’ll meet you at the hospital, and we’ll discuss this further,” she said before the line cut off.

Dropping my phone into my pocket, I knelt beside Vaughn. Knocking Lorelei’s hands away from his stomach, I applied pressure to the bullet wound with my palms.

“I can see two choices here, Lorelei,” I said. “Either you leave before the tactical team arrives or you go with him and risk your own freedom. I won’t force you to do anything. This is your choice.”

She glanced at Vaughn with a look of despair so profound I knew she had fallen in love with him all over again.

“No,” she said, wiping the back of her hand across her cheek. “I won’t leave him.”

“Lorelei,” Vaughn croaked. “You need to leave me.”

“Shut the fuck up,” she hissed at him, cupping his face in her bloodstained hands.

“That won’t be hard,” he whispered, his eyes closing.

“I’m never leaving you again, okay? Not after I just found you.” She looked at me, her eyes narrowing with a silent plea.

I grimaced, knowing she wanted me to help them slip away once Vaughn was well enough to move. It was risky, and if I were caught, I’d be put on Section Seven’s shit list right at number one.

“I’ll do what I can,” I said. “But I can’t promise anything.”

“Save his life,” she replied. “I’ll handle the rest.”

I
remembered
a lot of things as I rode with Vaughn to the hospital, my hand wrapped tightly around his.

I remembered the vision I’d had of white lights and a splash of red against a dark backdrop. Vaughn holding me on the balcony of his house in Bloomsbury, the balustrade wrapped with hundreds of tiny, white fairy lights. His lips on mine and the sensation that had ignited my body the moment we touched.

I remembered Bex, my best friend who’d believed in me more than I’d ever believed in myself. I remembered the feel of the knife as it punctured her brain, and she fell lifeless to the floor.

I remembered Sykes hanging me from the ceiling until my fingers ached from the blood that pooled in them. The darkness that followed.

I remembered Lafayette and his men. The things they made me suffer were too unspeakable to even comprehend.

I remembered it all.

And knowing it all hadn’t given me the closure I’d hoped for because none of it mattered without Vaughn.

X followed me as the gurney was wheeled into the hospital. Doctors and nurses swarmed us, and my fingers slipped from Vaughn’s as he drifted away into a sea of chaos.

His eyes fluttered, his hand dropping limply at his side, and suddenly, there were alarmed cries from the doctors. I watched in horror as someone leapt onto the gurney and began chest compressions as they moved away from us.

I lunged, desperation overriding any sense I had left in me.

“Lorelei,” X said, grasping my arm.

“
Vaughn!
” I cried, struggling against the arms that held me back.

“
Lorelei
.”

I fell back against X and watched numbly as the doors swung shut, and Vaughn disappeared.

“He’s in the best hands now,” X said, loosening his grip. “All we can do is wait until he’s out of surgery.”

“How… How did he know to come?” I asked.

“Mercy had to retreat after Lafayette clocked you,” he replied. “It was too big a gamble to try to get you out herself. She found us in the other wing of the house, but I thought it was too risky to try to grab him while he had you. Vaughn didn’t like it of course, so he gave us the slip and went after you.” He shook his head before rubbing his eyes. “I went after him, and that’s when I found you in the library.”

“He sacrificed himself…” I murmured. “For me…”

“He loves you,” X said sincerely.

Turning away from the doors, I stared down the hall, not ready to face the fact that people I didn’t know or trust were currently trying to bring Vaughn back to life.

All I wanted was a quiet place to wait for Vaughn, but a pretty Asian woman flanked by two burly men strode toward us, and I knew I was about to enter a shitstorm of my own. I glanced uneasily at X, and he grimaced like he knew this had been coming all along. I hadn’t once thought about what implications my being here would have on my own fate, and suddenly, I began to wonder if the moment Vaughn had been wheeled away from me and into surgery was the last time I’d ever see his face…even if he survived.

“X,” I began.

“I hoped to save you both from this,” he replied. “I wanted to convince you both to become informants.”

“Informants?” I asked, scowling. “For MI6?”

“Section Seven.” He corrected. “Off book stuff. Our orders were to bring you and Vaughn in along with Lafayette.”

“But—”

X held up his hand to silence me. “I’m going to fight for you, Lorelei. I didn’t want this.”

How could I believe him? He helped save Vaughn’s life, but was that just to save his own ass after I riddled Lafayette’s body with bullets? I tensed, not knowing who was on my side. It was just me.
Just me
.

“Mei,” X began, angling himself in front of me.

“Step aside, Agent,” the woman commanded.

“We had a deal,” he hissed, giving away that he was familiar with her, but I already knew that. The woman he’d called Mei had a stature that had high-ranking Intelligence written all over her.

“We had a deal to bring Vaughn here for medical treatment,” she replied. “You understood the mission parameters when you were assigned.”

“You seriously want to take her into custody? How many times do I have to tell you she’s more valuable as an asset? Treating her like—”

I backed away slowly, but the movement caught everyone’s attention.

“Arrest her,” Mei said, flicking her hand toward me.

I jerked backward, but I hit the wall behind me, and the men grasped my arms. I began to struggle, but X held up his hand, his expression full of regret.

“Don’t fight them, Lorelei,” he said.

“
I can’t leave him
,” I wailed. “
I can’t—
”

“I’ll get you out of this,” X said as I was dragged away from the doors Vaughn had disappeared through. “
I promise
.”

“Moltke wants to meet with you in the morning, X,” Mei said to him as I was hauled away. “He’s none too pleased with you and Mercy.”

Looking back over my shoulder as X disappeared from view, Mei caught up with us, her coldness not boding well for my fate. I’d remembered my past, made peace with it, gained control over my mind and future, only to have Vaughn taken from me. Now I was going to be locked away in another kind of darkness. It was a cruel twist of fate, one that I wasn’t going to take without making a bloody good fight of it.

I let them haul me out of the hospital through a service entry and was tossed into the back of an unmarked van. Inside, there were no distinguishing features other than a metal bench on either side of the space and a partition between us and the cabin up front. No doubt it locked from the other side to keep miscreants like me from distracting the poor driver.

I was shoved down onto the bench on the right, and one of the guards fastened my hands together in a pair of metal cuffs, hooked a chain between my legs, and locked me to the bench below.

“All secure,” he said to Mei, who nodded sharply.

The rear door slammed closed, and I was left alone with her. A moment later, the van’s engine came to life, and we began to move.

“Lorelei Lansford,” Mei said, looking me over. “We’ve heard a lot about you.”

I rolled my eyes and said nothing.

“You are a victim in this,” she went on, and I narrowed my eyes. She was trying to play me. “But you’re not exactly clean, either. Which is why you’re here.”

I pulled against the handcuffs, using the bite of metal against my skin to ground me in the moment.

“We found three women in the basement of Allaire’s mansion,” she said, her expression giving away nothing. “I suppose we should thank you for that at least.”

My stomach rolled, and I felt bile rising in the back of my throat.
Women in the basement
. I let my head fall into my hands—hands that were still covered in Vaughn’s blood—making the chain rattle against the bench.

“X told us the circumstances around your interest in Lafayette,” she went on.

“What’s that got to do with anything?” I hissed, raising my gaze to meet hers.

She shrugged. “You tell me.”

I wasn’t sure if she was being sincere or patronizing. Either way, I knew she had the key to the cuffs in her left pocket, and just before the van had started up, there was the sound of one door closing. One driver. One key. One patronizing bitch. Child’s play.

“I didn’t want to be this,” I snarled. “They made me this way.
They made me
.”

Mei shook her head. “I’m sorry, Lorelei, but I can’t help you if you can’t help yourself.”

I figured I had two choices. The first was to let this woman lock me up without a fight…and never see Vaughn again. The second was to disappear, hope Vaughn made it through, and then find a way to be together. Mei was betting on the first option, considering she was trying to play a woman she suspected of having a broken mind. That was where she was wrong.

“What will it be, Lorelei?” Mei asked, taking my silent deliberation as defiance.

Taking a deep breath, I centered myself and struck. Rising to my feet, hunched at the waist because of the cuffs, I kicked out with my right foot and clipped her in the temple. She fell with a surprised gasp, her head slamming against the bench as she fell.

Pushing up, Mei made a grab for her gun, but I’d already anticipated and made calculations on every move she could possibly make. The sole of my boot smashed into her temple, and she slumped to the floor, unconscious.
Bitch
.

It took a little time to dislodge the key from her pocket and lift it within reach of my hands using my feet, but I freed myself and decided I needed to take care of the driver. Quick and easy. A clean getaway.

Leaning against the partition, I knocked against the metal. When it opened, I reached through, fisted my hand into the driver’s hair, and smashed his head down onto the steering wheel.

Letting go, I fell back onto the floor, my body thrown from side to side as the van swerved violently and tipped onto two wheels. Lunging for Mei as the sound of squealing tires filled the air, I wrapped my arms around her unconscious body and held on as tightly as I could. The van tilted further and finally flipped. The world angled sharply to one side, and we were flung around like rag dolls. My back smashed against the metal wall, almost dislodging my grip on the woman who was about to take away my freedom.

The sharp sound of metal scraping on bitumen echoed through the vehicle as it slid down the road. It slowed as the screeching of tearing metal lessened until we came to a complete stop.

Breathing deeply, I swiped the back of my hand across my forehead. It came back red, and I pushed myself to my feet, shaking off the fog of disorientation that was clouding my vision. Mei was still unconscious and relatively unharmed, but she most likely would have sustained some broken bones in the crash. Leaving her where she was, I kicked the rear door, once, twice, until it fell open with a crash.

Outside, the road was dark and empty.

Rounding the tipped van as the engine clicked and the wheels spun, I peered into the cabin at the driver, who lay against the side window. He was covered in blood, a gash across his forehead. Reaching through the broken windscreen, I pressed my fingers against his pulse. Alive.

The radio crackled, and I paused, listening to the voice on the other end.

“
Base to Alpha Team, over
.” Static. “
Base to Alpha Team, do you copy?
”

Glancing at the driver, I made a decision not to be the monster my father had molded me into and to be the Lorelei I wanted to be. The sum of all my pain and suffering…and my love for the one man who never gave up on me.

Reaching into the cabin once more, I picked up the radio receiver. Pressing down on the button, I said, “You have two agents that require immediate medical assistance. I suggest you get your asses moving.”

There was a crackle and the sound of someone replying, but I’d already dropped the radio.

All I had left now was hope, and to an assassin, that was useless. I wasn’t sure I could even call myself that now, not after everything that had happened the moment I laid eyes on Sebastian Vaughn all those months ago in Bristol.

I was not the Lorelei he’d once known, nor was I the Lorelei that had been shaped by The Watchman’s hands. I didn’t know who I was or where I should go from here.

As I disappeared into the darkness, I knew all I had now was faith, and I had to give up on the false beliefs of my past. I’d found my truth. It wasn’t the one I’d been expecting, but it was mine nonetheless. I was free.

I would find Vaughn again someday, in this life or the next.

I just had to have faith.