The northern windsbit into Erik’s skin as he stood on a hilltop near the edge of the small town, arms crossed. He’d brought three guardians with him, the three who knew about Prince Vector’s Death Decree. The three whom Vector—the stubborn bastard—had forced to attack him or die. Talon, Kael and Lorien remained at his side to finish what they started.
The report had come in an hour ago. Someone had found Vector. Not just any someone, a human. Somehow, the stubborn prince was still alive and had been transported to a human hospital. The humans were not allowed to know about any species in the kingdoms. Any human who discovered them—and was not accounted for and controlled—was executed.
Now the humans had their hands on Vector. Taking his blood. Doing scans and running tests. Doctors. Nurses. Lab technicians. Cleaning staff. Fuck. Too many.
Talon cursed under his breath. “This is bad.”
Kael’s silver eyes were calculating. “We can’t kill them all. Not without raising suspicions. We have to get him out of there.”
Lorien cracked his knuckles. “We get in. We get him out. No mistakes.”
“Every record must be erased. Every test result. Every note. Every memory.” Erik exhaled slowly, looking toward the town below.
“We’re gonna need the elves or the vamps for that.” Talon rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. “I knew we should have sent his ass back to Italy. You never should have agreed to see him.”
Vector sighed. “It would have been an insult to King Ryker.”
Kael had the nerve to chuckle. “We did just kidnap his mate.”
“That was business.” Erik took a deep breath and hid a snarl as his dragon paced within.
Humans stink. Go home now.
Erik couldn’t argue. At home he was surrounded by wild meadows and ocean cliffs. There was no stench of asphalt and sewers, car exhaust and garbage. They had no choice. To leave Vector in human hands was not only against his personal code of honor, but could get his people killed. “Get the car,” he ordered.
Tires spun against the dirt as their vehicle headed toward the hospital. They had to go in as humans. Take Vector before morning came. He sent a message to the closest vampire clan and hoped the bloodsuckers would be discreet. He and his guardians would take care of the dragon. The vampires would have to take care of erasing memories, hacking into the humans’ computers, deleting all traces of Vector’s existence.
But vampire gifts often didn’t work if the human’s memory was linked to powerful emotion. Terror. Rage. Love. If the woman who had found Vector was still there, she would need to be dealt with, too.
Prince Vector Draquonir– Midnight, Human Territory
Pain.
It dragged him back to the surface, slow and merciless, like claws raking against stone.
His breath came in shallow bursts. Each inhale was thin, weak. The air around him was wrong. Sterile. Cold.
Not the mountains. Not the battlefield.
A slow pulse of unease crawled up his spine.
Then, voices. Muted. Human.
His body went rigid.
No.
The memories hit him all at once. The cliffs. The fight. The blood.
Andher.
His breath shook.
He could still feel her hands against his wounds, pressing down, urgent and warm. He didn’t understand why she hadn’t left him. Why she had tried to save him.
No human should have been there. No human should have cared. And yet?—
Her scent still clung to him. Wild roses and sea salt. Like a storm just before it hit the shore.
