No Escape From Destiny (13 page)

After Damian had sent the text to Osias, he had hidden around the corner of the building to watch the
kynigos.
He didn’t want to be seen by them, so he made sure to stay in the shadows. He knew he was well hidden when
Thanatos
didn’t even see him. When he saw
Thanatos
approaching them with his hands raised in the air, he thought he was baiting them, until he heard words that made his blood run cold. “I have important information for you about how to locate our prince.”

He had heard rumors that
Thanatos
was the prince’s cousin, and he would do anything to overthrow him and take the crown, but he never in a million years could guess he would stoop this low. He sent another text telling Osias to hurry, hoping that someone else besides him and the other new recruits would hear the traitor.

He immediately got a text back that all the other warriors were busy and that
Nikkos
himself was on his way.
Adrian
was coming, too, but
Nikkos
would be there quicker. Well shit, now what was he going to do? If
Nikkos
came, he would be in danger, as he was sure that
Thanatos
would not lift a hand to help him. He may even fight against him. He hit Osias back with another text.
Tell
Nikkos
not to come. He will be in danger.
Thanatos
plotting against him with kynigos.

It seemed like time stood still while Damian waited for a reply from Osias that he had gotten the message and stopped
Nikkos
. When the text came back, he couldn’t believe it.

Can’t reach
Nikkos
, should be there ASAP, who is with you and are you armed?

Damian sent back the names of the four other trainees with him and that they all had their daggers issued to them for protection at the beginning of training. And then he waited again. The text that came back shocked him even more.

Protect the prince at all costs!

Damian showed the texts to his friends, and they immediately palmed their daggers. They knew their role in protecting the prince and all civilians of their race. This was what they were training for. The
kynigos
were hunting their kind to extinction, and they needed to protect every life, no matter what. The
kynigos
had always been enemies to the vampire race. They had started out as humans that had been recruited by the goddess
Nyx
to punish Zeus for killing her son. Zeus’s wife Hera had created the vampires and
Nyx
wanted revenge for her son’s death. She gifted the
kynigos
with extra sense and strength needed to fight the vampires. The vampires were still stronger, but the
kynigos
were greater in number, making them a threat to the entire vampire race. While the vampires tried to keep their race hidden from the humans, the
kynigos
had no problems making the presence known. This put the vampires at a disadvantage when it came to fighting in the human world. They were ready to protect the prince, should he need it, but where was he? There was no sign of
Nikkos
when
Thanatos
turned his back on the
kynigos
and walked out of the alley.

He walked right past Damian and his friends without even glancing at them. As soon as he was out of sight,
Nikkos
came around the opposite corner and walked toward the alley. Damian knew he needed to tell
Nikkos
what he had overheard, but he also knew that the
kynigos
needed to be taken care of before they could report their information back to the rest of them.

He approached
Nikkos
before he got to the alley and caught his attention. “There are three of them in the alley, and
Thanatos
just left,” he told the prince.

“What was
Thanatos
doing here?”

“He was giving information about you,
Adrian
, and a female to the
kynigos
.”

The burst of cold that came from
Nikkos
was enough to chill Damian to the bone. “Get inside and stay out of this. I can handle it, and
Adrian
will be here in a few minutes,”
Nikkos
told him as he turned toward the alley.

“Apologies,
Prigkipas
, but Osias told us to protect you at all costs.”

“I’m sure I will be fine. I don’t need protection. Go inside where it is safe.”

“Beg your pardon,
Prigkipas
, but we took an oath to protect our kind and assist you in any way we can.”

“You can assist me by going inside so I do not have to worry about you getting killed,”
Nikkos
said, growling at the trainees.

Adrian stepped up behind the trainees and agreed with
Nikkos
. “We’ll be fine, go inside.”

As much as they wanted to follow
Osias’s
orders, no one argued with
Adrian
. The meaning of Adrian’s name in Greek was “the dark one.” As the best friend and personal protector to the prince, everyone knew “the dark one” was not to be disobeyed. Not if you wanted to walk again in the near future. The five of them sheathed their daggers, turned, and walked back toward the line that didn‘t seem to be moving.

Nikkos
called out, “Damian, report to the mansion when you are finished for the night. I want your report on what you witnessed, and I want it tonight.”

“I can meet you there as soon as you are finished with the
kynigos
.”

“No, you go and have fun tonight. I will be there when you are finished. Be safe and report any more problems to me directly. I will have Osias send you my cell number. Contact me anytime, day or night.”

Damian could do nothing but nod his head. The prince wanted a report from him and wanted him to contact him with further problems.

Adrian then spoke up. “He will send you mine, also. If you cannot reach
Nikkos
, call me and I will handle whatever is needed. Also, don’t worry about
Thanatos
. He will be taken care of. Now get inside where it is safe and have some fun.”

Adrian got the attention of the bouncer at the door that immediately motioned for the group to come to the front and escorted them right into the club. Damian knew what “taken care of” meant. One did not do anything to endanger the prince without feeling the wrath of
Adrian
. The male would be imprisoned, or more likely than not, dead by morning.

* * * *

Nikkos
and Adrian stalked into the alley toward the
kynigos
, palming their daggers. The three of them were talking and not paying any attention to their surroundings. When the warriors were a few feet from them,
Adrian
cleared his throat. “Heard you were looking for us. Here we are. What can we do for you?”

If the bastards could pale any more, they did when they caught sight of the two huge males in front of them. They were definitely not new recruits into this war, and
Adrian
would enjoy putting them down.

The one in the middle made the first move by raising a gun toward
Nikkos
. He didn’t have the chance to pull the trigger.
Adrian
was quicker with his throwing stars, and they sunk into the
kynigos’s
neck. The fight was over before the males could break a sweat. Unfortunately, while they were finishing off the enemy, their backup arrived. One of them must have called their friends to pass along the information before
Adrian
and
Nikkos
had arrived.

Before
Adrian
could respond,
Nikkos
was struck with a bullet to the thigh, and he dropped to the ground.
Adrian
launched himself at the male with the gun and made quick work of him. When he returned to the already-unconscious
Nikkos’s
side, he could smell the male’s blood and knew he had to get him home now. Problem was, they were both out on patrol and didn’t have vehicle.

He knew the closest other warriors were several miles away, and it would take time
Nikkos
didn’t have for them to get there and get his male back to the mansion. He flipped open his cell phone and called Osias.

“Call Damian, tell him to get his ass out here and bring car keys.” With that, he hung up and held his male in his arms. Before he knew it, Damian and the other four trainees were standing over him. He looked up. His heart was in his throat. He asked, “Does one of you have a car?”

One of the others spoke up. “I do, it’s around the corner.”

“Go get it now, and hurry!”

The male took off like his shoes were on fire, disappearing out of the alley. The wait for him seemed like hours, but it was really only minutes before the SUV pulled in. Damian bent down to help
Adrian
lift
Nikkos
, but the male hissed at him. No one was touching
Nikkos
but him. He gently placed his male into the back of the SUV and ordered the rest of the males in, telling the driver to get to the mansion ASAP. When they were on the road,
Adrian
called Marcus and told him they were coming in and to get Mikhaila and Lucian ready.
Nikkos
was shot and losing blood fast.

Chapter Thirteen

It had been a week since Anstice first met Adrian and
Nikkos
and had been brought to the mansion. The boys, as she had come to call them, had brought her everything she needed from her apartment, including her four-year-old boxer,
Ajax
.

When they sent the servants to retrieve her belongings,
Ajax
had not liked them, so the boys had had to go get him. He had always been protective of her, but once he smelled her on them he was more than willing to return to the mansion with them. They had put him in his own room, but he was not happy there, so he now lived in
Nikkos’s
room with her.

Adrian stayed there every night, too, but left his belongings in his old room still. They explained to her how their race thought homosexuality was a sin, and that was why that idiot had brought Osias to their room last week. She didn’t understand how a race as civilized as theirs could be so closed-minded, although she knew there were plenty of humans that were homophobic. In the human race, there were many people who accepted people no matter what their sexual orientation, but in the vampire world no one accepted them. She wished she could change the way people thought, but she had learned from experience that people don’t change just because someone else wills them to.

They had also explained to her that their race had come from ancient
Greece
, which was where
Nikkos’s
mother had lived until she met an American and moved to the States.
Nikkos
and Adrian had visited
Greece
at least once a year since they were born and spoke fluent Greek. They had promised, if she stayed with them, to teach her Greek and take her there to show her their race’s origins. They were also going to check her family tree and see if they could find some living relatives for her to meet while they were there. She didn’t think they were going to find anyone, but she was hopeful.

Even if they couldn’t find family for her, she couldn’t wait to go and see where her family had come from and learn more about the vampire race. She couldn’t believe they were all Greek. Maybe her
pappou
had been right. He always used to tell her, “
To
pepromenon
phugein
adunaton
.” It’s impossible to escape from what is destined. These men were her destiny.

She had been given a tour of the mansion, and they told her she could go anywhere she wished inside and out as long as she didn’t leave the grounds. It should have bothered her that they told her she couldn’t leave, but they had explained that it was for her own protection right now. The
kynigos
, as they had called them, had been seen at her apartment building, so they must have somehow found out where she lived. According to the boys, they were good with computers and probably hacked her work records, which was what Marcus had done to find her address.