Two other women—one on either side of the first—were gagged with leather straps and immobilized inside iron cages barely large enough for their bodies. They were both marked, bloody runes and sigils carved into their skin. A ring of salt surrounded the cages. Witches.
“Angus! Show yourself!” Declan called, and one of the gagged women banged her head against the cage and did her best to gesture to Declan’s right. He whirled around as his sire barreled towards him and drove his shoulder into Declan’s solar plexus.
The crossbow flew across the room, clattering against the stone as Angus and Declan hit the ground. Where were the others?
“You are no match for me, boy,” Angus growled as he slammed his fist into Declan’s right eye. Bones shattered, and the room took on a red sheen as blood seeped into Declan’s vision.
“Maybe not,” Shannon called from the stairs. “But the lot of us together…”
Four other vampires rushed into the room, and a wooden arrow embedded itself in Angus’s shoulder. The elder vampire roared and threw Declan against one of the cells.
“I…can…help…ya’,” the bloodied witch with the knife in her breast managed in a hoarse whisper. “Get…me….out…”
Ripping the cell door clean off, Declan yanked the blade from her flesh and used it to cut the bindings around her arms and legs. Supporting her with his arm around her waist, he reached for the chain crushing her windpipe. It burned his skin, and he hissed. “Silver.”
The witch curled her fingers around the chain. “I will protect you.”
“Your fingers will be crushed.”
Behind him, Seamus screamed, and Declan cast a quick glance over his shoulder. Fuck. The blond vampire slumped to the ground as Angus shoved one of the spent arrows directly through Seamus’s heart.
“Do it,” the witch ordered. He did not have a choice. With his hand over hers, he pulled with all his strength. The female’s delicate bones cracked under the pressure, but the chain fell away.
She pushed away from him and landed in a crouch. Dipping one of her unbroken fingers into the blood on her chest, she traced a symbol on Declan’s forehead, then turned. “Angus Ó Curráin, you will pay for your crimes,” she hissed. Starting to chant in a language Declan did not recognize, she wove her hands in a complex design in front of her, and the blood from the cauldron rose and swirled around her in a violent, crimson tornado.
Declan ducked past her to try to help Shannon and Kellan, but Angus grabbed a heavy ball mace with sharp spikes and swung it wide. It caught Declan in the shoulder and he stumbled back into the witch, then landed on his arse. Her spell surrounded him, and his entire body felt like it was on fire. The other two vampires went flying across the room, and Angus stood alone.
With a feral scream, the witch flung her arms forward. The storm of blood and magic hit his sire, covering his body, then slithering into every orifice. The witch collapsed into Declan’s arms. As he stared down at her, his past melded with his present.
Declan sat bolt upright, his chest heaving. He knew those green eyes. The delicate nose. The high cheekbones and the little bow mouth. The witch he’d rescued all those years ago…the one who’d died in his arms after ending his sire’s life…was a dead ringer for Riley.
* * *
Riley
Loudthumpsinvaded her nightmares, vampires banging against the bars of the small cage, taunting her, telling her how they couldn’t wait to drink from her again.
She sat up with a quiet yelp, and only then realized someone was knocking. Declan? No. The bedside clock said it was three in the afternoon. He’d still be underground.
“Who is it?” Staggering towards the door, she checked the peephole. “Oh, my God,” she whispered. The cute—and massive—cop, Edgar? Evan? No, Ewan—had his fist raised to knock again.
“Riley, please let me in. Others are coming, and yer not safe.”
“Others?” she asked through the door. “What…others?”
“Hunters. This isn’t a conversation we should have in the open.”
“Go away, or I’m calling Security.” Ever since she’d seen him outside Dublin’s oldest pub, she’d had a bad feeling about him, and now, memories floated in and out of her mind.
A picture of Ewan holding a gun.“I’m a bloody good shot, mate.”
She held her breath as she prayed he’d listen, but he just sighed loud enough for it to carry through the wood. “Step back then, Riley. Because I’m comin’ in whether ya want me to or not.”
Sprinting for the phone by the bed, she’d just picked it up and pressed 0 when the door burst open with a crack of wood, and Ewan was at her side, tearing the phone from the wall. “What the hell are you doing?” Riley screamed, but Ewan clamped his hand over her mouth and hauled her against him.
“I told ya. Yer not safe. Now either come with me willingly, or I’ll have to use this syringe in me pocket.”
Ohhellno. She bucked and thrashed, trying desperately to kick at him, but he pinned her arms at her sides and picked her up off the floor. Throwing her onto the bed, he kept one hand on the back of her head, pressing her face into the blankets, and sat on her ass.
“Stop wrigglin’, lass. I won’t hurt ya. But this has to happen.” After a quick prick to her neck, the world went soft and fuzzy, and Riley was only dimly aware of being picked up and walked out of her hotel room. He murmured softly to her in his lilting accent, but his words didn’t make any sense. Blood, special, safe. There were more, but her mind floated, and her pounding heartbeat obliterated all other sounds.
The hallway passed in a blur of muted blue carpet, and then cool air caressed her cheeks. She tried to speak, but her tongue felt too big for her mouth, and her arms, though free, wouldn’t move when she tried to push Ewan away.
Falling. Against something soft. The scent of leather, then Ewan leaning over her. “I’m sorry, Riley. I never wanted it to come to this. But yer special, luv. They want to use ya’ to end the war.”
As the engine started to rumble, she fought to keep her eyes open, but failed and started to drift off. Tires squealed, and the car bounced against something. The airbag hit her square in the face, and everything went dark, her last thoughts of Declan.
