Amethyst Flame (The Flame Series Book 2) (16 page)

“Then let’s go.”

She eased off his back, but didn’t land on the ground. Instead, she flew straight up, moving through her security spell and into the sky. He joined her. The ghosts traveled near Emma, but were still somber and very quiet.

Sure enough, Brannick and five other Crescent officers were hovering above a house on the next street over from Emma’s.

Once she and Vaughn reached them, Brannick handed Vaughn his sword. Vaughn, wearing one of Max’s belts, clipped on the sword sheath and re-checked his Glock.

She could feel Vaughn communicating with Brannick telepathically. The entire team was tense but remained silent, each officer repeatedly checking the skies from all directions.

Emma did as well. But Brannick was right. There were no Elegance warlocks or witches out tonight, at least not right now, which matched the images in her vision.

When Brannick and his men took off west to meet up with Fergus and his squad, Vaughn met Emma’s gaze.
Shall we get this party started?

With pleasure.

As she flew in the direction of Loghry’s mansion, she reached for Vaughn’s hand. He grabbed it and gave her fingers a squeeze, then released it.

She didn’t say the words out loud, but she didn’t need to. They both knew there was a good chance tonight neither of them would make it out of the labyrinth alive.

~ ~ ~

Vaughn had never been this torn in his entire life. He wanted Emma with him. But at the same time he wished she was heading anywhere other than Loghry’s fortress-like residence, complete with a labyrinth dungeon.

He forced himself to remember that she wasn’t just a woman he loved, but she was a trained Tribunal officer and knew how to use her weapon. She might not have had as much experience as he did in actual shoot-outs, but she had grit.

Her voice entered his mind.
We’re exactly where we’re supposed to be according to the vision.

Good.
What else could he say? He wanted to turn around, take her back to her house, and chain her up so she’d be safe. But that door was now shut tight.

As he flew directly over the mansion, he saw no sign of Brannick which was a good thing. The support team would come in from the opposite end of the property and hide in the trees to wait for the rescue. If Emma had seen any of them in the underground maze, he would have asked them to join their below-ground mission in a heartbeat.

He followed Emma’s lead and headed toward the guest house, well beyond the pool. Once there, he dropped down behind what was a small stone structure, an unusual choice for the desert. The gate was right where she’d said it would be. She reached for the latch, but he wasn’t willing to let her go first, no matter how much courage she had.

He caught her arm and held her gaze, though he spoke telepathically.
I don’t care what your vision showed you, I’m going in first.

But her quirky smile appeared.
Oh, don’t worry. You went before me. And believe me, I won’t argue with you on this one.

He couldn’t help but smile. She knew the chances they were taking, but she could still joke with him. Yeah, the woman had grit.

He drew his sword from its sheath, then his Glock. He wanted both weapons in hand.

Were we running or levitating?

Levitating, to keep the noise level down.

Got it.
He moved slowly, floating just above the stone steps. When he got to the bottom, the entrance led to the right. He grabbed the knob and turned, then pushed. The damn door wasn’t even locked, another sign they were being drawn into Loghry’s lair. Bastard.

He saw the small caged lights, just as Emma had described them, as well as the stone walls and deep shadows. The smell was musty, but not surprising.

At the outset, three paths presented themselves.
Which way?

Take the center path, then the one that bends slightly to the left.

He moved swiftly and she continued to give him directions.
Make a quick right, left, then right again. Yes, this is it. Now take the straight path, but it will veer to the left.

He heard the girls weeping, just as Emma had said they would be. He could feel her flying behind him, sticking close.

When he reached another branch of three, her voice hit his mind.
We’re almost there. Turn right, but swing back left, then we should be in the center.

He sped quickly, slowing only to make sure that when he took a turn, he didn’t collide with anything unexpected. But the path was unobstructed and opened almost immediately to the wrought iron cages Emma had described.

Opposite, he saw the five girls clumped together, comforting each other.
Were they huddled like this in the vision?

Yes.

And I see that the triplets are floating near them. What are they doing?

I think they’re trying to comfort the girls. If anyone knows how they would be feeling right now, Becca and her sisters would.

No doubt about that.

A hiss behind Vaughn had him turning to face the female vampire, the only other prisoner present. So, the rumors were true that Loghry kept a woman locked up to feed from him.

She looked like an animal. Her bare feet hugged a lower section of the cell-like bars while her hands grabbed at an upper part. Violet-colored flames, though mottled, streaked over the bared portion of her chest and throat and up the back of each hand and along her forearms. Whatever else Loghry did to the woman, his blood kept her addicted to one of the most toxic flame drugs in Five Bridges, amethyst flame.

She shook her body back and forth and let out an ear-shattering shriek. Her long black hair hung down the front of her face showing only a portion of her eyes, nose and mouth. Her dark red dress was filthy.

He’d heard a kind of insanity could afflict vampires who grew addicted in this second-hand way.

Being one of her kind, he was horrified at what she’d become. Yet something about her drew him closer, maybe because she was a vampire, or maybe it was a kind of enthrallment the addiction caused. Flame drugs were highly unpredictable, and often showed different effects from one addict to another. He kept moving toward the woman.

“Vaughn, what is it?” Emma tracked with him.

When he was within three feet of the cell, the vampire stopped all her movements and stared at him. Slowly, she lowered her feet to the ground. She was tall, at least six feet, and had gray eyes.

She pushed one side of her hair away from her face, then the other. “Nathan?” His name came out on a harsh rasp. “Is that you?”

Vaughn recoiled. He sucked in a huge amount of air, then shouted long and loud, “No-o-o-o!”

~ ~ ~

Emma gripped Vaughn’s arm. “What’s going on? Who is she? What’s wrong?”

Vaughn turned to Emma. “This woman is Beth. My sister.”

Emma shifted to stare at the prisoner. “You mean, Loghry’s had her all this time?”

Vaughn nodded.

Emma put her hand to her chest. “Oh, dear God.”

The woman’s wild movements had ceased, though she still clung to the bars of the cell with her hands. She bore a specific sign of a vampire who took blood from a drug-addicted host. The usual flame markings were broken up and had a spotty look, which meant she didn’t take the drug herself. Even her bare wrists and arms showed the mottled flame markings. All of Five Bridges knew Loghry was addicted to amethyst flame.

A masculine voice called from across the central area of the labyrinth. “Well, Emma, isn’t this a delightful coincidence? I brought Beth to Loghry, you stole the triplets from Loghry with Officer Vaughn’s help, and now here’s Vaughn’s sister trapped in the labyrinth. It’s as though we’ve all come full circle. Sometimes the
alter
life can be damn poetic.”

Emma recognized Dagen’s voice, but when she turned to scan the area, she couldn’t see him. She drew close to Vaughn, but her hand went to the butt of her Sig.

Movement near the cage holding the teens drew Emma’s gaze. Dagen stepped into one of the pale circles of light. He held an AR-15, supported by both hands.

Vaughn slowly turned to face Dagen. “You did this to my sister? You abducted Beth? But I watched vampires carry her into the air.”

“What can I say? Those vampires owed me. Loghry wanted your sister, those men were in deep to him and I gave them a way out of the mess they’d made. Eventually, I had to kill them off, of course, because you were so persistent in your efforts to find your sister. Such remarkable sibling affection.”

Dagen’s gaze slid from Vaughn to Emma. “As for events of last night, Emma, you’ve finally worn out Loghry’s patience and I can’t protect you anymore.” His nostrils flared. “I think you’ve been extremely foolish in choosing Vaughn because you and I could have become a real power couple in Five Bridges. Instead, your Border Patrol officer will never be able to keep you safe in our world. Very stupid, if you ask me.”

“Nobody’s asking.”

“Your funeral.”

She glanced at Vaughn. She could see he was still in shock about his sister’s fate. He even turned away from Dagen and faced Beth once more.

But Beth had begun to climb the bars of the cell again, holding on with her toes and fingers then swinging wildly back and forth like an ape. She shrieked long and loud, making a sound Emma didn’t think possible for a woman to utter, not even an
alter
female.

“Just ignore the vampire. I want your weapons in the dirt. Both of you. Now.”

Emma ignored his order. She wanted the whole truth first because in this moment she didn’t care if she lived or died. “Did you kill Max? And I’d appreciate a straight answer this time. After all, there’s no reason not to tell me now.”

Dagen’s lips turned down. “That bastard was squeaky clean and the wrong kind of leader for our pack. I had no choice but to put him down.”

Emma worked at breathing. She wanted to claw Dagen’s face off, to hurt him, to destroy him. “He was a good man who wanted his pack to thrive. And he wanted at least part of Savage Territory not to be in league with the cartels or wizards like Loghry. He stood for something good, decent and honorable.”

Dagen moved slowly in her direction, his rifle loose in his hands. He didn’t seem worried at all and he definitely didn’t care.

That’s when Emma realized he’d brought a force with him. She could feel the warlocks drawing closer to the central cage area even as Dagen moved. “You understand so little about Five Bridges. Don’t you get it, Emma? You would have died a long time ago if it weren’t for me. Until tonight, Loghry has allowed you to keep breathing because I asked him to leave you alone. I see that surprises you. But do you honestly believe that Savage Territory is held together by honor among the packs? Hah. I do a lot of favors and spend a helluva lot of money so that the cartels will allow us to roam our forests without injury.

“As for Loghry, the wizard has known you were a threat for a very long time, something having to do with his gift of prescience. That he values my service should tell you a lot. And despite his wish to get rid of you, he’s allowing me to make you a final offer. You get one last chance. If you come with me now, you’ll move to Savage and live with me. You’ll submit to me. If not—” He gestured to the cage holding Beth. “You’ll be food for Loghry’s favorite pet.”

Emma stared at Dagen, at the confident set of his shoulders and the way he held his chin high. He was a man in charge of the situation, holding both her life and Vaughn’s in his sleazy hands. “You’ve been frank with me so let me return the favor. I’d rather eat shards of glass than spend a second as your woman. And that’s the choice I make tonight. Have I made myself clear?”

Disgust drew Dagen’s cheeks back. “You’ve looked down on me from the first. But it’s Max who’s dead, not me.”

“Because you killed him, you bastard. So do whatever it is you’re going to do. I won’t submit to you, not now, not ever. Death would be preferable.”

He stared at her for a long, hard moment. “You fucking bitch.”

Those words brought Vaughn from his shocked out state. “How about you and I battle, right here, Dagen, and see who deserves Emma.”

Dagen merely smiled. “We’ll be batting all right, but it will be on my terms.” He then lifted his hand and made a swirling gesture.

His troops poured into the space so fast, Emma didn’t even have time to draw her Sig. Vaughn’s Glock had just cleared his holster, when both she and Vaughn were shoved face down into the dirt from behind. A warlock had a knee in her back as he disarmed her and several more kept Vaughn pinned. One held fingers sizzling with power to the back of his head.

Don’t move, Vaughn.
The warlock has his killing energy lit up, his fingers poised behind your head.

I know. I can feel it.
He started cursing aloud, calling Dagen all kinds of beautiful names. Dagen snorted and nodded to a nearby warlock, who in turn brought the butt of his rifle down hard on the back of Vaughn’s head. His whole body went limp.

Dagen drew close and kicked dirt in Emma’s face. “And you go in the cage, where you deserve to be.”

Two warlocks lifted her to her feet in grips so tight all she could do was kick at them with her legs. But two more men grabbed her lower half so that she was now horizontal in the air.

As Dagen worked the cell lock, Beth began to shriek all over again. She leaped once more from the side bars of the cell to the front then to the other side.

Dagen delivered his orders. “As soon as I open the door, throw her inside.”

When Beth was in the opposite corner, clinging to the bars with toes and fingers, Dagen flipped the door open. Before Beth could get near any of them, the men holding Emma threw her onto the floor.

She tumbled in the dirt, righting herself quickly, her gaze fixed on Beth. Using her peripheral vision, she could see that Dagen had ordered Vaughn to be removed from the central area of the labyrinth. It took all five warlocks to carry him out.

Dagen sneered. “I’m leaving the door unlocked in case you miraculously avoid your cellmate’s fangs. Part of me hopes you escape then I can hunt you down. But good luck.” He laughed as he disappeared down the passageway following after his force and Vaughn.