Bonded by Blood

chapter TWENTY-FIVE

MACKENZIE’S FEAR RUSHED through Dom like a flash flood. He stretched out his senses, trying to get something more from her—thoughts, a mental picture of what she was seeing, something concrete like he had before. But there was nothing. All he felt was her emotion. And even that was faint.

He roared out his frustration inside the armored SUV, pounded his fists on the dashboard. His enemies had her. She was frightened and scared. And here he was trapped on a goddamn ferry in the middle of Puget Sound, still unable to vapor. His only hope was that her attackers were taking her to the testing facility. If their intent was to drain her like they normally did…

By the time it docked a half-hour later, a cold rage had settled into his veins. He didn’t give a shit about protocol or laws—vampire or human. No matter what it took, he’d find Mackenzie and destroy everyone responsible for her capture with his bare hands.

He vaguely remembered hearing brakes screeching and horns honking as he raced through the Seattle streets to the old high school. But when he saw Corey’s car and the weak, almost-dead-battery glow of the headlights, his heart sank even deeper into the pit of his gut. With her motorcycle lying in the driveway, there went his last hope that she had escaped the Darkbloods and was simply hiding out somewhere.

Mackenzie, where are you?

He pressed his fingers to his temples and stilled his breath, worried he might miss the subtlest of signs. Faint chills of panic—her panic—coursed through him. Their bond was too weak to pick up anything more.

He grabbed his cell phone. “Lily, talk to me. Tell me you’ve heard something. They’ve definitely got Mackenzie.”

“Oh, Dom, I’m so sorry. I’ve been texting my contact to see if he knows anything more, but I haven’t heard back from him yet. Security within the Alliance is tight, but he promised to get ahold of me as soon as he heard something new. But that was days ago. And I’m worried, too, Dom. He’s a…he’s risking his life. If they find out about him, that he’s been a mole inside the Alliance for years, they’ll kill him.”

“Where are you? How soon can you get back? You can track her scent.”

“I’m at least two hours south. I won’t be able to make it there by daybreak. Where’s the scent-tracker from your team? Layman? Layton?”

“Too far away.” Guess I’ll be going it alone.

He tossed the phone on the passenger seat and careened back down the driveway. Maybe he could pick up her scent or energy trail from her bike. He jumped out of the SUV and canvassed the scene. Adjacent to the Bonnie’s rear tire was a strip of fresh rubber on the pavement. Just beyond that was a pile of ash. Had she gotten off a shot and hit one of them with a silvie? It certainly wouldn’t surprise him, given her performance at the gun range. Had she injured the other one as well?

Buoyed by this revelation, he gripped the handlebars of her bike and concentrated on her presence. He filtered the scents, focused inward on her latent energy trail. But he picked up nothing. Just the foul stink of a newly dead Darkblood.

She was gone, and so was their blood bond.

AFTER THEY’D BOUNCED around on the floor of the Jeep for what seemed like forever, rough hands grabbed Mackenzie and yanked her out of the rig. She barely had time to look around before she and Corey were shoved toward an ominous concrete building with barred windows that reminded her of gaping black teeth. What the hell was this place?

When an icy blast of wind hit, the thin layer of sweat under her hair conducted the cold straight to her bones and she shivered. Glancing around the darkness that surrounded them, she couldn’t see any other lights except the sickly yellow from inside. She got the sense they were in the middle of an open area surrounded by nothing more than forest. Crickets chirped and a few wispy trees stood like skeleton sentries, but that was the only sign of life.

Inside it wasn’t much better. Damp and musty, it was clear the place hadn’t been used in years. In between the sound of their scuffling steps, she heard the sound of dripping water as they walked down a dingy hallway.

Their captor turned away, but not before she saw the pained look on his face. He was holding his breath. Her blood. Damn. Her hands were smeared with blood and gravel. She wished she weren’t handcuffed so she could cram them into her pockets.

“Silver-tipped bullets?” he said. “Very clever. Your Guardian boyfriend help you with that?” When she didn’t answer, he sneered and leaned in close. She almost choked when she smelled the blood on his breath. Had he just killed someone? “Looks like your luck has just run out. M’lord will be thrilled to finally meet you.”

His gaze dropped to her neck as he spoke. She shrugged her hair forward and broke his trance.

“Do you know why a rancher has to shoot his own cows?” He was behind her now—thank God she wasn’t breathing his air any longer. She walked faster, urging Corey forward. “Because when they smell the death of the butcher’s van, they run. Adrenaline from their fear makes the meat tough. But I say it makes it much sweeter.” He whispered the last word, drew it out longer on his tongue.

“Kenzie, what’s going on? What’s he talking about?” Corey sounded on the verge of hysteria.

“Shut the f*ck up,” their captor barked and Corey jumped.

Mackenzie took his handcuffed hands in hers as best she could, hoping that he found some measure of comfort in her touch.

They rode a battered elevator down to a lower level and the doors opened onto a long gray hallway. Only a few of the overhead lights worked and several of those flickered on and off, creating dark corners and eerie shadows on the walls. The hallway seemed more like a tunnel and they passed several other corridors that disappeared into blackness. What was it with vampires and tunnels anyway? Something scurried away as they passed, its toenails scrambling on the floor.

At the far end, a light shone from another hallway. Around the corner several ominous figures, outfitted in portable gas masks and dressed in hospital scrubs, flanked the doorway of a room, obviously awaiting their arrival. Their guard pushed them inside and her knees nearly buckled when she saw the metal gurneys, the overhead lights and the trays of medical tools.

What was she going to do now? Never in her life had she felt so hopeless, so incapable of handling things on her own. Being responsible for Corey, she should do something, but she could think of nothing. They were trapped and she had no idea what to do.

Is this what happened to Dad? Will Corey and I suffer the same fate? Oh please, Dom, where are you?

She felt a restless stirring inside. Was that him? She called to him with her mind, searching for his thoughts, but he didn’t reply.

Maybe he was too far away. The sensation was weak, but it was definitely him she’d felt. Although it was nothing compared to what it had been, at least he was still inside of her somewhere. She tried to convey to him what little she knew of their location and hoped he’d be able to detect some of it. She tried not to think about the warmth and safety of his arms, but she couldn’t help herself.

“Well, look what we have here.”

Mackenzie spun around to see a gaunt man, his face hardly more than a skull with sallow skin pulled taut over bone. Although he was tall, his body appeared frail and his shoulders were rounded and hunched inward. Clasping his bony, ring-clad hands together, he appraised them like cattle going to market.

“Two members of the famous Shaw family. I’d say this is my lucky day.”

“Kenzie, who are these people?” Corey crowded into her. She positioned her body slightly in front of his.

“Haven’t you told him? Does he not know what we are?” The man’s eyes sparkled with twisted excitement. “About your family? About Sangre Dulce?”

“Shut up. Don’t listen to him, Corey.”

“What’s he talking about?” Corey’s voice cracked.

“Oh, my goodness. He doesn’t know. What kind of big sister are you to keep such important secrets from your baby brother?” To the guard, he said, “Strap this young human male to the table. I’d like to give him a little hands-on demonstration.”

She had to stall him. Every second brought Dom closer to her. “You seem to know a lot about us. So who the hell are you?”

The man tipped his head back and laughed, his large mouth gaping open like a macabre puppet and revealing long, yellow-stained teeth. “Yes, I suppose I do know quite a lot about you and your family. You’re Mackenzie Shaw—forgive me—Foster-Shaw and this is your brother, Corey Shaw.”

“Kenzie?” Corey looked as if he was going to throw up.

Skeletor continued. “Some know me as Pavlos, but, honestly, I prefer to be addressed as the Overlord.” He bowed, swept his arm dramatically in front of him, and her breath clogged on a thick lump in her throat.

The one who killed Dom’s parents.

Fury settled into her veins like a fast-acting poison and heat rushed to her face. This was who Dom had been searching for.

When Pavlos straightened, he snapped his fingers at the guard.

“You keep your filthy hands off him.” She moved completely in front of Corey and widened her stance.

“Isn’t that touching? I’d prefer to demonstrate on you, but I’m afraid I’d be unable to stop.” His hollow gray eyes darted hungrily from her face to both shoulders, or maybe both sides of her neck, then took a slow journey down her torso, finally stopping at her toes.

Instantly her skin felt dirty—she wanted to shed it like a snake.

“It’s been weeks since I’ve had a sweetblood because we’re saving those we find for our little experiment. Wait. I lied.” He covered his mouth with one bony hand. “I did have one yesterday. She failed to pass our tests, so I disposed of her myself. Besides—” he crinkled up his nose “—you reek of him. I’d need to have you properly prepared for me before I’d consider partaking in you.”

Corey’s eyes widened, the whites showing all around.

Pavlos snapped his fingers again. “I can’t wait all night.”

Their guard grabbed Corey as if he weighed nothing. Although she knew it was no use, she clung to her brother as tightly as she could.

“Alfonso, get her, will you?”

Mackenzie gasped when a figure emerged from the shadows near the doorway. How could she not have noticed him standing there when they walked in? Had he come in later?

Wait. Did Pavlos say Alfonso? As the man drew closer, her eyes widened. Although the coloring was different, the strong jawline and the icy-blue stare were exactly the same.