On screens, we followed our unit sprinting through alleys, over fences, and Koun raced through a restaurant, out the back, and over a wall. Eli, showing off, jumped a six-foot-high wall into an alley. He grunted with pain and laughter when he landed. I let a faint smile cross my face. He was having fun. I could feel the sheer pleasure coursing through him. He’d always missed the adrenaline rush of battle.
Alex cut the volume on comms and swiveled his desk chair to me. “And now, My Queen, we need to figure out where our enemies are laired up. And end them.”
That was the kind of comment made by a military advisor, not my kid brother. His expression was unyielding, tough as nails, and completely emotionless. It told me nothing except that he was utterly determined.
End them.Right. “Is Leo still staked?” I asked. When Alex nodded, I said, “Have him brought down here. Leave the cuffs on and the stake in place. And get a couple of willing donors to stand by. He’ll be hungry when I pull out the stake.”
“You will not pull a stake from a vamp, My Queen,” Quint said. “That’s my job.”
“Whatever. I want some more of Deon’s wine broth. And a side order of bacon. For me, not the outclan priest. I am not sharing.”
***
I was finishing off two pounds of bacon and a gallon of wine broth when four security people entered. One held Leo’s feet, one held the left arm, one held the right, and one followed, weapon ready, the mag marked as containing silver-lead ammo. As if they were swinging a jump rope, they rocked Leo back and forth and up onto the big table, bumping his head in the process. He landed in the same spot where Eli had last been. Bleeding to death. And now my brother was within a city block of a truck possibly full of explosive material.
I fought down my panic. It would only upset Eli. Butdang it all to heck and back. Why did he find this kind ofthing fun? Duty I got. Responsibility. The joy of a job successfully completed. But fun? Uncle Sam’s finest were always adrenaline junkies and usually nuts.
Two humans crawled up beside Leo, snuggling close. I deliberately looked away, hating that I contributed to the mental slavery of humans by not killing every vamp I saw. As if she felt the same way, Liz tightened her hand on my arm. “I bruise,” I said softly.
She turned her eyes to me and released her hold. Our eyes held. Hers were full of remorse for things not said and done, fear for Eli, and anger at me.
“I’m just glad Carmen isn’t here right now.”
Carmen’s husband had been killed by young vamps. But Tommy wasn’t why Liz was upset.
“I am not your enemy. Nor am I responsible for Eli’s decisions.”
“He’d give his life for you.”
At first, I thought it was jealousy speaking, then recognized her tone as confusion and bewilderment. “Girl, you’restillnot seeing it. Eli would give his life for his worst enemy. It’s what Uncle Sam’s warriors do. They run into the fire. They die for us. Their families suffer for us. You love Eli, you make a life with Eli, that’s who he is. That’s your future.”
Her eyes filled with tears. She jerked her arms to her ample chest, crossing them. Looked down. “Yeah. Save his worst enemy. That describes him to a T.”
“And for people he loves?” I said, making it a question. I leaned in close. “I’m not an Everhart, but you and me? We’re sisters in his eyes. Worse, we’re fellow warriors in his eyes. There is nothing at all that he won’t do for us. Nothing. And you need to remember that.”
She nodded, the motion jerky and protective.
I looked at Bruiser and nodded. “Do it.”
Quint cleared a place around her and pointed two handguns at the former MOC. I sighed as a dozen people drew weapons and pointed them at Quint. My bodyguard needed a discussion about guns in the security room. “Put the weapons away. Everybody,” I said, waving an arm in the air. Slowly they all complied, even Quint, but she looked at me with disgust in her eyes.
With deft motions, Bruiser freed Leo from his arm cuffs. Then from his head restraints. Leo lay there unmoving. Gently, pressing a human blood donor in close, Bruiser slid the wooden stake from Leo’s belly. It made an awful sound, kind of slurping. Leo did nothing for maybe thirty seconds. Then he took a breath and, almost tenderly, reached up with both arms and took the head of the nearest human in his hands. He pulled her down to him. His jaw unhinged and his fangs clicked down.
I got up and walked into the hallway, carrying a bottle with its last dregs of bone broth. Quint followed. We stood on either side of the doors, backs to the walls, Quint’s position giving her adequate lines of fire up and down. I drank wine broth, the best part, with all the spices and herbs a dark cloud in the bottom. Quint watched me.
“Why?” she asked.
“Why did I make you put your weapons away? Why do I allow you to follow me around like a rabid attack dog? Why what?”
“Why do you allow Leo to live? He might try to take your kingdom back.”
“Of all the people who actually want it, he’s the least monster-ish and best qualified to be MOC of NOLA.” I tilted up the last of the spicy herby deliciousness and swallowed. With the gallon flask, I gestured up and down the hallway. “If he wants the place, he can have it.”
Quint blinked, which she didn’t do much, and looked confused.
“It’s this way. I have a love/hate relationship with places and people. I don’t claim any place because cities and land and places can be taken away in a heartbeat. Places don’t give anyone security. People? That’s even worse. They can be taken away too, and it hurts a lot more. People need protecting. It’s kinda what I do. So if you protect me, then you need to learn what that means. It means you have to protect everyone around me, because I’ll run in to save them when I need to.”
“You’re even more stupid than Eli.” She sounded surprised. “I heard what you said to Liz. And you are just as bad because you don’t have the skills to fight some of the things you go up against.”
