Heart of the Demon

chapter Eighteen



Keira felt her pulse jump in her throat. Finn had to be bluffing. He couldn’t really mean it. He couldn’t care more about his mission than he did about her life. She reached out with her empathic ability and drew a sharp breath. There was no insincerity from him, no doubt, no fear. Just the certainty that what he was doing was right.

She searched his eyes, looking for a hint of the gentleness she’d sensed in him before, the softness she’d experienced firsthand. There was only hardness. He might as well be wearing armor.

He was a warrior first and foremost. Always. Only.

This was the real Finn, then. This man toughened by his experiences, jaded by the life he’d lived. And she was to become the latest casualty of war, not even a blip on his radar.

The Finn she’d seen before, the one who’d told her he wanted something different, had all been an act so he could get past her defenses. So he could use her body to assuage his lust.

He must have lied to her when he told her that Tobias was still alive. If it furthered his mission, whatever that mission was, she believed he would kill Tobias.

And lie about his feelings for her.

She stiffened in Stefan’s grasp, listening with disbelief and sorrow as Finn told him how he’d gotten into this to gain his freedom from his father, who for his own reasons didn’t want more preternaturals coming through the rift.

“Personally,” Finn said, “I don’t care what kind of havoc you plan to create.” He took a few steps forward. “And if a few prets have to die in order to preserve the old order, so be it.” He moved a little closer. “Sorry, doll,” he said to Keira.

“I’d tell you to go to hell,” she replied, blinking back tears. “But you’d probably enjoy it there.”

His lips twitched. “I might.” He walked forward several steps, stopping only when Stefan told him to. “There’s no way out, Liuz,” Finn murmured. “Let her go and let’s settle this between us.”

Stefan tightened his arm, closing off her air supply even further. Keira clawed at him and fought to breathe.

Over Finn’s shoulder she saw movement, and as she was about to call out a warning—she couldn’t help it, she still loved the bastard—she recognized the man and woman walking into view. Tobias Caine and the woman that Finn had gone to see at her house.

Hope unfurled within Keira. If Tobias was here, obviously alive and unharmed, that meant Finn hadn’t killed him. He’d been lying all along. She met his gaze. He obviously knew she’d thought the worst of him, because his eyes chided her yet held such affection for her. She was ashamed she’d ever doubted him.

Stefan, on the other hand, wasn’t feeling so generous. Rage emanated from him. “You!” he snarled. “I thought you were dead.”

“Obviously not. Once again the master manipulator missed,” Tobias rejoined. A world of satisfaction and triumph rode the curve of his lips.

Stefan’s arm tightened again. Keira choked, gasping for air. She wished everyone would stop yacking and get on with it. She’d like to start breathing again, soon.

“Everything you’ve told me, everything you’ve done,” Stefan said, “has been a lie?”

Finn raised his eyebrows. “I’m surprised you didn’t have more people joining your group so they could stop your insanity.”

“I suppose you were in on it too, weren’t you?”

She felt Stefan’s face move against hers and guessed he was talking to her. She couldn’t respond—she didn’t have enough voice to speak, and the way he had his arm wrapped around her throat limited the movement of her head.

“Let Keira go,” Finn said. “If you don’t hurt her, you might come out of this with your head intact.”

“We have over an hour until the rift,” Stefan said. “I can hold on to her that long, and then I win.”

Keira slumped a little in his grip. Part of it was playacting; a larger part was because her vision was beginning to go dark from lack of oxygen.

“There’s no way you come out of this as anything but the loser you really are,” Tobias said. Satisfaction rode every lean line of his body. And something more, a savage fury that radiated from him in waves.

The woman with him—another vampire—felt just as strongly, though Keira sensed she was restraining herself a little more than Tobias was. The female vamp took a step forward. “You and I have some unfinished business, Natchook. There’s a little matter of you putting out a hit on my husband. And, oh, yeah.” Her eyes narrowed. “You nearly killing me a year ago.”

“Nix, my dear. How good to see you again. You’re looking well.” Keira couldn’t see his face, but she heard the smirk in his voice. Stefan asked, “Has it been a year already?” By Dagda’s balls, the man did not know when to quit.

“Nearly.” Nix took another step forward. “And I see nothing has changed, you’re still hiding behind a woman.” Disgust colored her tones. “Can’t fight your own battles, eh?”

Keira felt rage and anxiety rolling off Stefan and, for a brief second or two, doubt. She took advantage, letting herself go completely slack as if she’d fainted. Her action pulled him off balance, and he loosened his hold. She jabbed back with her elbow and ducked beneath his arm.

Finn jumped in, pushing the vampire away from her, and he and Stefan went at it with their fists. Very quickly blood smeared both their faces as lips split and knuckles crunched into bone.

“He’s mine,” Tobias bellowed. Keira looked to see him heading toward the combatants, his eyes black surrounded by crimson.

Stefan bit down into the fleshy part of Finn’s shoulder. Finn yelled, his face contorted in pain. “Then come and get the bastard,” he snarled and slammed his fist into the vampire’s temple. It loosened Stefan’s hold on him and Finn shoved him away.

Tobias jumped into the fray, landing several blows before Stefan turned and ran deeper into the mine. Tobias, Finn, and Nix all started after him, Keira on their heels. Tobias caught up with him after several yards, but Stefan shrugged out of his jacket, leaving it hanging in Tobias’s grip, and kept running. They took up pursuit again.

The further into the mountain they went, the colder it got. The shaft sloped downward, then hooked up with other shafts so that they zigzagged their way after Stefan. Keira hoped to God someone remembered the way back, because she was now completely turned around.

She was chagrined to realize they were all so much faster than her. Not because she was a slacker, but because Tobias and Nix were vampires who naturally were capable of moving at much greater rates of speed than other preternaturals, and Finn…Well, this was what Finn did for a living. He was used to chasing after fleeing subjects.

She redoubled her efforts and turned the corner into another shaft. The others were several yards ahead of her and it looked like Tobias was once again closing the gap. Stefan glanced over his shoulder, his expression a mixture of anger and disillusion, and maybe even a little fear. As he turned his head forward again Caladh stepped out from a cross-shaft, a wooden stake in his hand.

Stefan’s own momentum drove him into the stake. He let out a gasp and looked down, then dropped to the ground.

Keira ran up to the group and stopped beside Finn. She wrapped her arm around his inner elbow, gratified when his bigger hand came up and curled over hers. The warmth of it took away some of the coldness of her skin. And, more than that, it gave her comfort.

Tobias knelt beside the fallen vampire. His face grim, he muttered, “Damn it.”

“Isn’t he dead?” Finn asked.

“Yes. Damn it.”

Finn shared a glance with Keira. “I, uh, thought that was what you wanted. Him dead.”

“He wanted to be the one to do it,” Nix said. She walked up to her husband and urged him to his feet. Bringing one hand to his face, she cradled his jaw. “It’s done, Tobias. He’s finally paid for his crimes.”

He reached up and clasped her hand in his, and turned his head to press a kiss into her palm. The love between them was obvious, and Keira felt a pang of envy. Why did that type of love always seem to elude her?

Tobias let out a long sigh and turned away from the body, keeping his wife’s hand in his.

All of them stood in silence for a few seconds. Keira knew everyone else felt as much relief that the crisis was over as she did. All that remained was the dismantling of the machine. She was about to suggest as much when Tobias spoke again.

“You have perfect timing, my friend.” He held out his hand to shake Caladh’s. “I only wish we’d known we were on the same side.”

“Hey!” Finn shot the vamp a frown. “Just because Liuz was running didn’t mean he was going to get away. We would’ve caught him.”

“Of course,” Caladh said, a jovial smile on his face. As usual he was dressed smartly, his white long-sleeved shirt crisp and bright, his charcoal-gray slacks tailored to a perfect fit. “I am happy I could be of assistance to such brave and fearless people.”

“I don’t know about the fearless part,” Keira muttered. “I was plenty scared.” Finn slid his arm around her shoulders and gave her a quick squeeze. She slipped her arm around his waist and stared at Caladh. “How did you know to show up when you did?” When the others looked at her, she said, “I was working for him, that’s the whole reason I infiltrated the group. To stop them. At his behest.”

She heard Finn’s sharply drawn breath and glanced up at him. “I couldn’t tell you,” she whispered. “I wanted to, many times.”

“Same here.” His dark blue eyes began to shimmer with hope and something she was afraid to even dream that looked like love.

Dragging her gaze away from his, she looked at Caladh again. As she realized what his being here meant, her heart started a reggae beat behind her rib cage. “You didn’t return any of my calls. I never had a chance to tell you the location of the machine.” She took a few steps away from Finn and closer to the selkie councilor. “How did you even know where we were? Where the machine was? And how did you get in here without coming through the main entrance?”



Finn went cold, then hot as the impact of Keira’s words hit him. “The council was behind this?”

“No.” Tobias stared at Caladh. “They weren’t.” He glanced at Keira. “Were you working for the council at large? Did Deoul have Caladh ask you to do this?”

She shook her head. “It was just Caladh. He said he wasn’t sure who on the council he could trust, so we were to keep this between us.” She bit her lip and then whispered, “I trusted you.”

“I told you not to trust anyone.” He seemed pleased with himself, an odd attitude to take considering he was so outnumbered. Tobias still had a look of bloodlust about him, and Finn looked ready to strangle Caladh with his bare hands.

“You put Keira in danger for nothing?” Finn took a step forward. “Why the pretense? Why hide behind Liuz?”

Caladh didn’t respond.

Finn thought he understood. “It kept everyone’s focus on Liuz, and off you.” He narrowed his eyes. “That’s it, isn’t it? You let him manipulate people, use them, but all the while he was only a marionette dancing to your tug of the strings. Did he even realize you were using him?”

Caladh chuckled. “He was such a stupid little shit. Of course he never realized he was merely another cog in the wheel. He thought he was the wheel, turning and shaping events to bring in a new world order.”

Finn took a deep breath and held it a moment while he sorted through his racing thoughts.

“What are you up to, Caladh?” This from Tobias, whose face had darkened as he came to realize the extent of his coworker and friend’s perfidy. “What exactly didn’t you want anyone to see?”

“His bid to take over the council,” Keira answered. “You killed Deoul so you could be moved into the position of president. Start with the regional council, then work your way out to what? Setting up a national council? Or a worldwide one?”

“That would presume my ambitions are limited to the preternatural community,” Caladh said.

Finn noticed he didn’t deny killing Deoul.

“And they’re not, that’s what you’re saying?” Nix’s lovely face creased in a frown. “Oh, for God’s sake. Don’t tell me this is a ploy to take over the world.” She rolled her eyes. Finn was happy to see she was still as snarky as ever, and not only with him. She hadn’t let a little thing like being turned into a vampire change her for the worse. She propped her hands on her hips. “Couldn’t you come up with something more original than that?”

“You watch your tone, Ms. de la Fuente.” Caladh’s face blackened with a scowl.

“Or what? You’ll fire me? Oh, you can’t do that, ’cause I don’t work for the council anymore.” Her scowl matched his in ferocity. “And it’s Mrs. Caine now, thank you very much.”

“Enough!” Finn took a step forward. As much as he enjoyed watching Nix cut the selkie down to size, they had to get moving. “We need to disable that machine and take him”—he jerked his chin toward Caladh—“to council headquarters. Let them sort out what to do with him.”

“Are you sure none of them are involved in this?” Keira asked.

Finn looked to Tobias, who shrugged. “I have no idea,” the vampire said. “But we have to start somewhere.”

Finn started toward Caladh. The councilor drew a pistol from behind his back. “This is loaded with silver bullets, for the werewolves. And I have enough iron mixed in to cause any fey extreme discomfort. Of course, they won’t do lasting damage to a vampire, but one of these will put a vamp down for the count for a while. And if it stays in the body long enough, werewolf or fey, you will die.”

“Neither silver nor iron is poisonous to demons.” Finn stopped and stared at the selkie. “You’d better have good aim, brother, ’cause you’ve only got one chance before I rip your heart out.”

“And here I thought you were going to take me in.” Sarcasm dripped from his words like poisoned honey.

“That was before you pulled a gun. So make it count.” Finn watched as the gun started to swing toward Keira. Without thinking, he drew on his chameleon abilities and shifted into a vampire, vaulting through the air to crash into Caladh, deflecting his aim.

Being the slippery seal he was, the councilor rolled to his feet and ran down the mine shaft.

Finn took off in pursuit, the others charging behind him.

“We don’t have time for this,” Caine called out.

“You go take care of the machine,” Finn yelled. “I’ve got this.”

Caladh pointed the gun over his shoulder and pulled the trigger, firing blindly as he continued to run.

A bullet ricocheted off the rock wall near Finn, sending sharp shards of stone hurling toward his face. As a couple of them struck him, he grunted at the pain but didn’t slow his pace.

Another couple of shots. He heard Keira scream. As he slowed and looked over his shoulder, he saw her fall to the ground. He stopped short and headed back toward her. Caladh wouldn’t get away. Not from him. But right now all Finn could focus on was saving his woman.