Bad Mouth

chapter Thirty


Ezra was making a disaster zone of the Ancients’ files, but Kade didn’t give a shit. The Ancients were dead, and there were plenty of subjugates to clean the mess. He only wished for the night to end. He wanted to crawl in a hole somewhere and mourn privately. His friend must have sensed his despair because, for once, Ezra said nothing, not one inflaming remark. If Val didn’t contact him soon with information, he’d call off the search for the night, track her down, and drag her into his hole with him.

She loved him. His mind reeled at that euphoric knowledge. In all the centuries he’d existed, he’d never been loved. His soul sizzled with new life, firing each synapse. He’d absorb her into his spirit if he could. He’d never regret the absence of the sun another day of his miserable life because he had her to light him up. But for how long? Dammit, he couldn’t think about that now. He had too many other problems to deal with.

He needed to find Will so the VLO could wrap up their blooding cases, and there was still the question of the throne to deal with. He was too young to take over the Dominorum, and therefore the Immortalis as a whole. No way in hell he’d leave the vampire nation open to chaos, which would happen with a headless Dominorum.

Dammit, Olen, why’d you have to go and off yourself? But he knew the answer. His father might have been obligated to execute Evangeline, but no vampire could live on without his lifelong mate. Olen had known what he was passing off to Kade when the man gave up his blood, had known it would bring him death. A Rex was forbidden to give of his own blood other than to his mate, not even to create another Dominus. Not even to save the life of his only son, a son he’d said he was proud of.

The memory of Olen’s praise burned and eased his mind at the same time. Why had Olen never told him this? His father had left him in fetid isolation, an island in a perpetual typhoon surrounded by a sea of evil and lies. The man deserved to be dead, but justice didn’t relieve Kade’s grief. Funny how he didn’t hold the same grief for Evangeline.

Clearly, she had never been his mother. It had been Annette. All those centuries ago, Olen had impregnated Annette the old-fashioned way. Suddenly much of Evangeline’s behavior toward Kade all his life made sense. He hoped wherever Annette was, she knew his gratitude for all she’d sacrificed and for all her love.

“Find anything?” Ezra asked. Kade snapped back to his purpose. He’d been standing at the window gazing over the tops of the Douglas firs encircling the mansion.

“Nope. I doubt anything’s here,” he said. “Evangeline wouldn’t have wanted Olen to find any sign of her treachery.”

He’d sent Luc and Guns home. Ian and Declan were pumping the Dominorum Enforcers for information, but he predicted they wouldn’t have any luck. The Enforcers were all useless dipshits, a bunch of royal meat puppets. He’d make the overhaul of that organization the first matter on his agenda, modeling them after the Legion Trackers.

“Know what you’re going to do yet?”

Kade laughed. “Hell no, but I’ll figure something out.” He glanced out at the darkness again. “Dawn’s not far off. Enjoy what’s left of the night. We’ll pick up tomorrow evening. Guns and Luc can search during the day.”

“I’m sure you’ll enjoy your night.” Ezra waggled his brows. Kade gave him a shove. “And I thought such a night might never come. You’ve chosen well, brother. She’ll make a fair and perfect queen.” With that, Ezra opened the windows wide and leaped two stories to the ground outside. A moment later, he was gone. His friend made flashing look easy. Show-off.

Kade closed the windows and left the office. The click of the door shutting was like a death knell. He’d never step foot in that office again. He’d never step foot in this mansion again. He might even have it burned and leveled to the ground. Nothing good had ever come from here.

He started down the hallway when a shriek vibrated along the cold stone walls. That could only be the wail of one of the deranged. With the wolfish grin of the battle-hardened, he jogged toward the stairway landing when he heard a woman’s scream. Val!

He barreled to the foyer and found two subjugates on the floor, one with her throat torn to a single fleshy strand and the other with his abdomen ripped open. Against the wall, Val slumped to the ground with Will standing over her. Kade’s vision went blindingly red.

He lunged into Will, taking the vampire to the ground. The deranged was fast, the man’s bestial reflexes far advanced for a new vampire. Will rolled to his feet. Mud and blood splatter coated his ragged clothes. He smelled like a corpse. Will’s hands came up, curling like talons with the fingernails missing. Wherever the man had been, he’d had to claw his way out, which would make him a dangerous adversary.

The deranged came at Kade hard and fast, but lacked finesse. Kade dodged and responded with a vicious blow that sent him sprawling. Will jumped to his feet, shrieked, and charged again, but Kade met him head-on. The vampire’s fangs bit through Kade’s shoulder, tearing muscle and tendon. The pain wasn’t new to Kade, nothing compared with the pain of seeing Val lying limp on the floor, possibly near death or worse.

With a desperation he’d never known, Kade threw himself full-bore into transformational change and countered Will’s attack. The deranged couldn’t fully change and posed no match for Kade in this state. His fangs at full-length, Kade sank them deep into the young vampire’s throat, pulling back as he’d done a thousand times with his subjugates. A gurgle bubbled from the deranged’s foul lips, and then the man sagged against him. He bit down repeatedly, only releasing when he was certain Will was dead. With a swipe of his sleeve across his mouth, he dropped the dead weight and changed back to his more human appearance.

He rushed to Val with his heart in his throat. She was pale. So f*cking pale. He scanned her body but saw no wounds, only bloody handprints on her sleeves, but she wasn’t moving, and he couldn’t see her pulse. Panic seized him in a vise. His eternal winter flashed through his head, a vision of a future more hollow than any void. No fae eyes to gaze into at sunset. No lilacs in the desert of his life. No angry punches when he’d pushed too far. No vases flung at his chest.

“Val,” he whispered. She whimpered, her eyes fluttered, and he came back to life. He lifted her carefully onto his lap and cradled her head. “Wake up, baby. Wake up for me. Did he hurt you?”

She shook the groggy look from her eyes. “Kade? I saw…Where’s Will?”

He grabbed her shoulders and shook her. Hard. “You scared the f*ck out of me!” Tears pooled in her eyes. “Ah, f*ck. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

He folded her into his arms and buried his fingers into her gorgeous golden curls. He kissed her temple and then her forehead, each eyelid, each cheek, and ended up on her lips. He kissed her over and over, not stopping even when she tried to speak. Finally, she pushed him away. Her electric eyes sucked him into their depths like a whirlpool. He could live there forever. Except they didn’t have forever, not even one measly century.

“What happened?” she asked.

“Will’s dead.”

She didn’t cry like he’d thought she would. Regret was all he saw in her expression.

“Better him than you,” she whispered.

“Or you.” He kissed her again. He could have lost her. Drawing her against his chest, he stroked his hands along the curve of her spine. How he loved the satin of her hands against his skin. That pretty floral scent of her filled his senses, making him crazy. “I love you. I love you. I love you.”

“And I love you. I’m all right, Kade. I’m okay.” She brushed against his stubble and then back down along his face. Pleasure lit her expression, and his breath seized. He rasped his cheek along her throat, and she shivered. Hell, he’d rub his face all over her body now that he knew how much it turned her on. The thought of leaving marks on her breasts thickened his erection. She squirmed in his lap.

“Let’s get out of here,” he whispered against the shell of her ear. He nuzzled the sensitive spot behind it. Her shiver was more pronounced this time.

“I have to see him.”

“Val, it’s not a pretty sight in here.”

Uncertainty flickered in her gaze, but then she did that damned sexy-gunslinger thing again. “It’s not a request.”

“F*ck me,” he said. “You’re one tough woman.”

“If that was a request, it’ll have to wait a few more hours until we get home.”

His cock flexed like a muscle. She likely wouldn’t feel like sex after seeing the carnage behind him, but he’d take what he could get. With a silent nod, he stood, bringing her with him, and then stepped aside and watched her face.

When her eyes settled on Will’s remains, she didn’t even tear up, but her sorrow ate him alive. She’d loved that guy once, whoever he used to be. Kade probably should have felt jealous, but instead only pity filled him. The man could have kept her for a lifetime.

Kade would give up vampirism in a heartbeat for her, if he’d had the choice. He would have given up his heritage. Hell, he’d give up his last breath for her. For a human.

His old self would be rolling in his grave right about now, and that would be appropriate because that old self was dead and gone.

The object of his love turned into his chest, sliding her slender arms around his waist. If only he could wear her like this every day.

“Okay,” she mumbled against his shirt. “We can go.”

He laced his hand with hers and led her to the door just as Alice ran in.

“Okay, whew. I’m done dealing with the subjugates.” She brushed her hands together as if she’d been doing dirty work. “Val, I thought you left already. What’s holding you guys anyway? I mean, don’t you have to avoid the sun or something?”

He laughed. “Ran into some trouble. He’s in a heap in the foyer, if the SWAT would like to claim the body.”

Alice’s pretty gray eyes went wide as dinner plates. “You found Will?”

“The report should say the Rex legally executed him,” Kade said. “That should wrap up your cases adequately.” He caught her before she could go in. “It’s messy.”

“S’alright.” The woman shrugged, her expression bland. “I missed dinner.”

“Uh, okay.” Crazy woman.

Alice turned to Val, who still looked pale. “I’m so sorry, Val. I know you didn’t want it to end up like this.”

“No, I didn’t, but I knew it would. I’ll be fine.” Val gave Alice a shaky smile, but it was the look in her eyes that told Kade she really would be fine, a look that said she could take on anything and anyone if she had to.

Alice gave Val a hug before disappearing into the mansion, and Kade was grateful for her presence. It would take hours to clear the scene. He had no intention of spending the rest of the night dealing with that mess.

He led Val down the wide stone steps toward his car and then he stopped her. It was hard to look her in the eye, but he had to get this demon out. “I’m sorry, Val.”

“Sorry for what?” She looked at him with confusion.

“I killed him.”

She took his hands in hers and took a deep breath. “You had to. I know that. I’ve known for a long time now what would happen to him, especially after seeing him in the warehouse. That thing wasn’t even Will anymore.”

Her strength and understanding amazed him. He kissed her again. Seemed he couldn’t get enough. “I want to flash you home.”

“I’m game.”

“Can’t,” he said with regret. “Unless you can close your eyes and hold your breath for ten minutes.”

“You could kiss me the whole time.”

“You’ll be the death of me,” he muttered.

The trip by car back to Seattle was pure, unadulterated torture, and he wished he’d called for a driver. He could have been in the backseat fondling his tiny bundle of hotness in the hours left before dawn. By the time they got to the city, sunrise would bite at their heels, and he’d be sucked into the pull of sleep.

Val was too quiet, her face turned toward the window. Maybe she needed some private time as much as he did. He took her slack hand in his, and the squeeze of her grip eased his worry. She never let go until they pulled to the curb at the Towers. When she looked toward him, her expression was pensive.

“Are you taking over the Immortalis?”

“I can’t.” He dragged his hand through his hair and sighed. “I’m…at a loss. I’m too young to take it, but it’s too dangerous not to. There could be an uprising. Things were bad already between the Dominorum and the Legion. The Ancients didn’t want you to know this, but the number of rogues has increased so sharply, the Legion Trackers can’t keep up with them. I tried to warn them about that.”

“There’ll be a civil war.” Dread laced her words, and he couldn’t reassure her.

“Yes,” he said. “Even after all we’ve done to stop it, there’ll be a war.”