Blade to the Keep (21 page)

Enyo screamed so loud it hurt Rowan’s head. She lost her hold on Enyo’s face as the blood made it impossible to hold on.

Enyo turned and sank her teeth into Rowan’s arm so hard it broke bones.

Brigid screamed back at her in Greek. Rowan made a note that if she survived this fight, she’d have to use some of the more creative insults later on.

“I’ll make you die slow for that,” Enyo snarled.

“If so, you’ll do it with one eye. Maybe you can get a patch with some sparkles on it. A jaunty pony. You guys can’t grow organs back, can you? Is the eye an organ? Maybe we can call you Pirate Polly from now on.”

Left arm useless, in pain from all the shredded muscle and tendons, Rowan managed to get her back away from the wall of glass. The wounds on her arm weren’t healing, so several major arteries had been severed and she was bleeding heavily. Enyo must have used poison on her incisors to counteract the coagulant.

Vater!
If you can hear me
,
I
need your help.
Please.
Orangerie.
Enyo has attacked me.

He used to be able to hear her thoughts a long time ago when she’d been beaten and in pain. It was probably useless now, but what the hell did it hurt to try?

“Where’s your little sword now?”

“Being cleaned after I jammed it into Victoriana’s heart earlier and killed her. Good thing a thumb can poke an eye out just fine.”

Brigid pushed into her harder, took up more space inside Rowan. The pain subsided enough to keep her from passing out, but at the same time it was harder to hold on and keep control of herself.

“You’re all talk now as you bleed out.”

“This coming from a coward who uses poison and attacks a back in the dark instead of openly in the challenge square? I had forgotten until now how Moibeal had died. What’s the matter? Afraid a fair fight isn’t one you can win?”

“She wasn’t like you. You’re vulgar, and you don’t know your place.”

“Yeah? Fuck off. Stupid fucking twat. You glide in here and think you can use magic to control shit instead of working for it like everyone else? And you think no one will notice? You’re so dumb I cannot even. And yet, here we are. You killed her and for what?”

Enyo moved to the left, but Rowan remembered that feint and ducked, just barely, when she came hard with a right.

“She was a fool. Like Brigid is a fool. I know what it means to destroy a battlefield. She fed the fires to make the swords. I fed the bloodlust and greed that rendered great cities into dust.”

Brigid spoke this time. “Vampire, you are no Vessel. You lack the integrity and mental stamina to host a goddess. Even one as Enyo.” Rowan grabbed Enyo’s ear and yanked her head back into the glass at her back.

The violence of it echoed through Rowan’s body, and she clenched her jaw to keep from crying out.

“What I am is better.” Enyo twisted from Rowan’s grasp and grabbed her injured arm, digging her nails in and pulling the shoulder, already injured earlier, from the socket again.

Her vision went white at the edges. She hit the ground with Enyo astride her body. Rowan used her good arm to fend off those snapping jaws, managing to get in a few hard punches to the face and a deep set of scratches down the side of Enyo’s face.

Enyo’s wrist, the one Rowan had broken earlier, had healed enough to keep hold around Rowan’s throat, squeezing. With her free hand, she punched Rowan’s side hard enough that several ribs broke and one of them pierced something important enough to send pain dancing through her body.

Rowan used the last bit of her energy to whip her leg out and kick it back as hard as she could manage, knocking Enyo from her perch.

Coughing and gasping, Rowan rolled away and managed to get to her knees, swaying slightly as each breath she took sent waves of torment through her body.

“No one will remember you when you’re gone.”

Rowan might have believed that even six months before. But she finally knew better. And she needed to keep her spirits up and continue to keep Enyo off balance every way she could.

“Bullshit. I’m awesome. Everyone will remember me. When I die of old age many decades from now,” Rowan said as she managed to stand. The left side of her upper body was useless, but she was right-handed anyway.

“On the other hand, you’re an old hag. Your little buddy is dead, her little buddy is dead, and Theo isn’t going to let Marcilius out of his dungeon. Ever. So who’s gonna care when I dust you?”

Enyo rushed her, knocking her to the ground again, but Rowan extended the fingers in Enyo’s mouth, gagging her, and then she grabbed her incisors and yanked as hard as she could.

Teeth came free and she tossed them behind her, blood rushing all over the place. Some of it Enyo’s, some of it Rowan’s.

A lot of it Rowan’s.

If she lived through this, she was going to spend a week at her favorite spa getting massaged and oiled up and taken care of. Probably after she spent a week in the hospital.

Enyo screeched again, loud enough that rustling sounded in the nearby bushes as whatever sleeping creatures woke up and ran for cover.

It took Vampires months to grow back incisors they lost. The satisfaction of that knowledge enabled Rowan to make a fist and punch Enyo’s face hard enough to get her off, though she’d pay for that once Brigid left her body and the true toll of her injuries hit.

They went at it again, Rowan ducking and kneeing Enyo in the chest. Rowan needed a way to pull Enyo’s head off or destroy her heart. It was the only way to kill a Vampire, and one this old didn’t last so long without being really good at staying alive.

Brigid burned bright within, reminding her that Rowan had to be better. She searched around, mopping the blood from her facial wounds to keep it from her eyes.

Using her good arm, she managed to wrench a large tree limb free.

Enyo’s laugh was dark and violent. “Do you plan to give me a spa treatment or kill me?”

“God, one thing I hate most about Vampires is how much you all yap your damned gums. Talk, talk, talk. Shut up and die already.”

* * *

Clive kept an eye on the doors, but it seemed as if everyone in the Keep came through them but Rowan. Figures that they finally had some time, and yet again, someone else stole her away from him.

He headed out into the main entry and saw Recht there. She’d gone off to meet with him, so where was she?

“Do you know where Rowan is?”

Recht shook his head before jerking it in the direction of her rooms.

She might have gone to change. He nodded his thanks and headed up. He smiled, imagining her in the shower. That worked for him just fine.

But she wasn’t in her rooms. He stood at the windows, looking out over the grounds wondering where she’d gotten off to.

“Mr. Stewart, is everything all right?”

Clive turned to David. “I was just looking for Rowan. Have you seen her?”

“Not since she left the room. She was meeting with Recht.”

Clive nodded. “I saw him downstairs. He’s not with her now and seemed to think she might be up here.”

“She hasn’t been in her rooms at all since she had to give up her blade again after the challenge. She changed from her ruined shirt but went right back downstairs.”

Clive didn’t like it that she wasn’t allowed her blade. Especially after that challenge.

But he
really
didn’t like not knowing where she was. Worry began to slide down his spine.

“I’ll look for her up here. Is her...is The First downstairs? Perhaps she’s with him?”

Clive shook his head. “He’s still in the great room. She was with Recht, but now that’s over too. Maybe the kitchen.”

“Go. I’ll look too. It’s not like her to disappear like this, but she has many people to reconnect with since her return.”

David didn’t sound overly convinced of that either.

Clive headed back downstairs, stopping in the kitchen to check if anyone had seen her there and no one had. Worse, he’d realized he hadn’t seen Enyo either. At that point his slight concern had grown considerably. It was just better to go straight to the top.

He approached The First, and he must have sensed a problem immediately because his gaze sharpened and he shooed everyone else away.

“What is it?”

“
Ovilius
, have you seen Rowan?”

“I believe Recht went to speak with her.”

“Yes. I spoke with him a few minutes past. They finished up about half an hour ago. Her valet has not seen her. She has not been through the kitchens.”

“Have we seen Enyo lately?”

Damn it. “No.”

The First rubbed his temple. “I thought earlier that I heard her. I thought she was here.”

The First looked around the great room, sharp eyes missing nothing. He sent Enzo off to look and then stalked over to where Celesse sat with Rex Espy and Roth. “Have you seen Rowan of late?”

They all shook their heads, but it was Rex who caught the situation quickest. “Is she missing?” He stood, not bothering with more than a tip of his chin toward The First.

“She has not been seen recently. I’m sure she’s off doing something she never realized would worry anyone.” The First’s voice drifted off at the end of the last sentence as he looked around.

David entered the room and came over. “No one has seen her in at least thirty minutes. But one of the staff said he gave her a note.”

The First’s gaze sharpened. “A note? From whom?”

“He didn’t know. It was left on a table in the butler’s pantry. He saw it and kept it in his pocket until he saw Rowan about half an hour ago.”

A lot could happen in thirty minutes. Especially if Enyo was involved.

“She’s a coldblooded killer. Why are you all so worried?” Roth asked, clearly puzzled. Which at least took him off Clive’s list of suspects.

“I’ll have my staff look into it. I’m sure it’s fine. I’ll let you know what I hear.” The First moved away, but Rex didn’t let that go. He followed them out into the hall.

“This is obviously a concern, given the fact that another person is also not here and it’s an ancient Vampire who wants Rowan dead. So you’ll have to excuse me but I’ll be helping. My wife would skin us all alive if I didn’t.”

Dina came out into the hallway, heading straight toward The First. “
Ovilius
, pardon my interruption, but I was just outside cutting a very long smoke break by one of my staff short when I heard a terrible noise. A scream that made the hair on the back of my neck go straight up. The Scion had just been asking after Ms. Rowan and...it’s probably not connected.”

Theo nodded, his eyes shifting to that of an ages-old predator. Nadir showed up, Recht at her side.

“She’s out there, and most likely so is Enyo. She doesn’t have her blade. She turned it in earlier, so she’s most likely unarmed.”

Nadir nodded and moved away from them. Within moments the Five had gathered, put their heads together and slid from the room, on the hunt.

“I’m going out there too. If you wish to accompany me,” The First spoke to Rex, “you should know it’ll likely be dangerous.”

“I’m a dangerous man, sir. You should know that if there’s a threat to Rowan, I will not hesitate to step in to protect her.”

The First looked him over and then nodded. “All right then. Clive, I assume you’ll be with us.”

As if he’d be anywhere else.

The Keep took up a great deal of land, and they stood out beyond the back of the kitchen and listened hard.

“There’s a lot of area to cover.” Rex stood in front of them both. “She told me you both gave her blood after the fight she had with the rogue in Las Vegas. Can you use that somehow? Don’t Vampires have a sort of connection with those whose blood they’ve shared?”

Clive sucked in a breath. “Yes.” He hadn’t even thought of that, which was as stupid as it was obvious.

“Let us both try.”

Clive closed his eyes at The First’s words and searched for his connection to her. She lived in him in so many ways, but his lifeblood lived in her. Ran through her veins. There had to be a connection, even if it was faint...

In the distance they heard a scream of rage and pain. Clive gave over fully to what he was, using all his speed and senses to race in the direction of that sound.

But the First was faster. So much faster, and as Clive skidded into the tiny clearing near the orangerie, he smelled the blood before he caught sight of Rowan.

“Here!” Clive shouted, hoping Rex could hear.

“You get away from her now!” Theo spoke. He did not yell or scream. But the force of that command echoed through Clive’s bones, through sinew and muscle.

Clive heard the gurgle of lungs full of blood. Pain laced the sound. He stepped to the side as Enyo flew across the space and hit a nearby tree trunk. A flash of movement, pale hair in the moonlight, as The First followed Enyo’s flight, his face a mask of rage, incisors needle-sharp, extended, eyes ablaze.

Clive tore his attention away. Rowan lay half-sitting, her face a bloody ruin. Her chest was covered in blood, her breathing irregular, her body trembling. Her eyes were closed. Her life force, usually so vibrant and vivid, had paled, flickering. She was dying.

“Rowan?”

She whimpered, but one of her eyes opened. “I know you,” she whispered as Clive went to his knees, schooling his features the best he could. Her left arm was a mess of wounds so deep he saw bone in several places. Her muscles had been torn; she bled a great deal. She needed treatment immediately or they’d have to turn her to keep her alive.

He tried to pretend he wasn’t terrified. “Of course you do, Hunter. You live to give me trouble daily.”

“
Her
. I know her.” She coughed. Hard, racking coughs that left her lips red and glossy from blood. Her face was swollen and beginning to bruise. Her jaw appeared to have been dislocated and maybe even broken. One of her legs lay at an odd angle, and the bone pierced her flesh.

“Hunter, you’re in bad shape.”

In the background he heard snarling and movement, but he couldn’t tear his eyes from Rowan.

“I poked her fucking eye out, Scion. And I yanked her incisor out too. Ha.”