Blood Instinct (23 page)

C
aleb slipped
into the driver’s seat of his car and slammed the door behind him.

‘You got out alive then?’ Jake said, his feet resting on the dashboard.

‘You have such limited faith in me sometimes, little brother,’ Caleb said as he switched on the engine and made a three-point turn in the road away from the compound.

‘So what did they say?’

‘Kane will get me those alibis.’

‘I don’t know why you’re worrying. The second you get taken in, Feinith will be all over the TSCD making sure you don’t get shadow read.’

‘And the less I have to do with that bitch the better. Besides, two birds with one stone, Jake. Tuly was telling the truth: there
is
something going on between Sophia McKay and Jask.’ He veered left and then right, heading towards the south. ‘Proven by the fact Jask was playing it very,
very
smart in there.’

‘So she’s well protected?’

‘Oh yeah. He’s not going to let her loose on the streets, especially not now he knows that I know what she is. And no one’s getting near her unless they go through a pack of lycans. She’s safe for now.’

‘Was there any indication that they suspected why you really want her?’

‘Nothing that they were giving away. Kane kept things close to his chest, and Jask certainly wasn’t biting.’

‘But it’s possible that Sophia and Leila have made contact – that Leila has warned them.’

‘I’m not ruling it out.’

Eventually entering the south, Caleb pulled up at the kerb of the row he hadn’t visited in decades.

‘What are we doing here?’

‘There’s something else I want to check out. Tuly did say Pummel, didn’t she?’

‘According to Alisha.’

Caleb stepped out of the car and slammed the door, Jake doing the same.

He stopped outside of the burned-out row and took out a cigarette, lighting up as he surveyed the remnants of Pummel’s kingdom.

‘What do you want to check out?’ Jake asked.

‘Tuly mentioned being saved by an angel – a wingless angel, which would make this Jessie girl an envoi.’

He sauntered down the alleyway.

‘So?’ Jake asked.

‘So I’m following a hunch.’ Caleb turned left, checking each lock-up in turn, until he found the buckled mesh door off its hinges. He stepped into the room and scanned the array of crates before spotting the door in the far corner. He pushed it open and moved into the inner room.

He glanced down at the broken pool table, but it was the scorch marks on the floor that captured his attention. He stepped over to them, crouched and placed his hand on the blackened marks.

‘Fire?’ Jake asked.

‘Or one hell of a bolt of electricity,’ Caleb remarked, his gaze tracking across to where he saw the scuff and groove marks on the floor to his left.

Easing the shelf stack aside, he revealed another door behind it. He took a candle from the shelf before pushing the door inwards and stepping inside.

He could feel it as soon as he entered.

He flicked on his lighter and lit the candle, taking it with him to scan the mural on the wall. He edged his way around the periphery of the room as Jake lit the couple of candles left behind on the floor, illuminating the walls more fully.

It was all there, scrawled out like someone had stolen his nightmares directly from his head. Vivid images that had haunted him since the day he’d first seen the symbol in the midst of one of them – a symbol that came back to him, nightmare after nightmare. A symbol he’d eventually had tattooed on his back by way of confronting his fears: the Armun, which he’d since learned was the symbol of the chosen one.

‘What
is
this?’ Jake asked.

‘This, little brother, is the compulsive work of an envoi,’ Caleb declared. ‘It’s what they do: they record things to be, and they usually keep those recordings concealed somewhere’

‘Prophecies?’

‘And this one seems to have a very strong connection to
the
prophecy.’ He glanced around. ‘Either that or this place does, and she just happened to be the closest receiver.’

Despite the graphic nature of the images, it was less traumatic than the multicoloured, interactive detail he’d seen first-hand time and time again in his head: a mass of feet resting on the corpses of those caught in the crossfire of the enemy he saw only in his dream as a star-shaped abyss, the darkness within cold and empty and unending.

And he would wake up drenched in his own perspiration, unable to breathe, his hands clenching the sheets around him.

Having scanned the entire periphery of the room, he eventually worked out where the chronological tale began. He assessed the two intertwined figures, the dome that stretched over them the biggest clue.

‘Is that what I think it is?’ Jake asked. ‘Is that you and Leila?’

Caleb stepped a little closer. ‘Looks like it, doesn’t it?’

And if Tuly was right about the envoi and the guy she called Eden planning on getting the young back to Jask, their success could mean that the envoi had revealed what she knew about the prophecies to Jask. And the odds were that if Jask knew, Kane now knew too.

Kane, who, if he’d interpreted the mural correctly, would have seen what he was; would have seen the implications.

It was no wonder they’d been so cagey – they
did
know what he was.

Caleb lifted a cigarette to his lips and ignited the tip, exhaling slowly into the cool, dark air as he dropped his hand back to his side.

He wandered around the periphery before stopping in front of the star-shaped abyss. The abyss that was his enemy. The abyss he was prophesied to rise against. The abyss that caused it all.

Jake came to stand alongside him. ‘Is that the Dog Star? Sirius?’

‘Better known as the wolf star,’ Caleb said. ‘And revered by lycans.’

He could feel Jake’s gaze burning into him. ‘What’s going on, Caleb?’

‘Those dreams I’ve been having, those nightmares I saw the Armun in – the lycans played a big part in it, Jask in particular. He wasn’t siding with us but against us in this war I kept seeing, and I couldn’t work out why. He’s certainly not stupid enough to start a war. It made no sense. Except now it does.’

‘Sophia?’

Caleb looked across at him. ‘Can you think of any other motivation for the lycans to take me on?’

‘Do you think Jask has seen this?’

‘I don’t doubt it,’ Caleb replied. He exhaled another steady stream of smoke as he looked back at the mural of the star. ‘And just when I thought this couldn’t get any more interesting.’

‘
W
hat are you talking about
?’ Jask demanded.

‘I can see why you’ve all been led to believe it’s Sirius who starts this war,’ Leila said. ‘The Dog Star is referred to as Sirius but you know as well as I do that it’s known in other civilisations and cultures as the wolf star – and holds particular significance for your kind.’

Jask felt unease creep over him.

‘I was willing to go with the crowd in what you were all thinking because nothing else made sense,’ Leila added, ‘but now it does. You’re going to go to Caleb, you’re going to ask for his help and he’s going to say no. And what then, Jask?’

Jask’s gaze snapped to Jessie, who had since joined them in the corridor.

Her lack of shock at this revelation was the last thing he needed to see.

‘Jessie?’ he asked. ‘What the fuck is she talking about?’

Jessie’s attention flitted to Leila before her gaze locked on Jask’s again. ‘The wolf star was my first thought. I even mentioned it to Eden when I first showed him the mural. But like we both said at the time, it made no sense for the third species to turn on each other, and least of all for you to be the instigator. Then when Tuly mentioned Sirius’s name, him being responsible seemed to be the most logical answer.’

Jask’s full attention snapped back to Leila. ‘But you’re saying it’s
me
on that mural and not Sirius? That Sirius himself was a
coincidence
?’

‘Maybe. Maybe not. I don’t know. The mural only shows fragments. Sirius is definitely a part of it somehow, but the war that leads to all the devastation, the catalyst, is
definitely
hinged around that star. And if that
is
you…’

‘We talked about this earlier. What if he
does
refuse to help you?’ Corbin asked, his tone tentative as he pointed out the obvious. ‘How are you
really
going to respond to that?’

‘I’m not stupid, Corbin.’

‘And you’re not infallible either,’ Corbin replied, pulling himself from the wall to stand alongside Leila. ‘Especially not at the moment. Look what you did to Phia – was
that
intentional? What are you capable of doing to someone you don’t love? Your instincts are running rife right now. How much stronger are they going to be when it involves protecting your mate and your young? How are you going to react to anyone standing in the way?’

‘I’m
not
going to go to war with Caleb Dehain.’

‘And what if he goes to war with you?’ Leila asked.

‘Listen to her,’ Corbin said. ‘I thought this was out of the question before, but now it’s impossible. The risks, the implications, are too significant.’

‘I managed to keep my cool around him last time, and I can do it again.’

‘Phia’s life wasn’t literally hanging in the balance last time and we weren’t at the height of the blue moon.’

‘And I’m telling you I can do this, Corbin.’

‘And if we end up at war and something happens to Phia or the pack? You know what happened to you when you felt responsible for losing Ellen. You know what you became. That dark potential is there with you as much as it’s with Caleb. What if it happens again?’

‘Exactly. Which is why I can’t lose her. It has to be me who goes in there. And I don’t need your permission,’ he declared, turning to scan their faces. ‘Or your blessing.’

‘Then at least talk to Sophie first,’ Leila said. ‘Explain your reasoning to her. She has to know as soon as possible about the pregnancy, and it needs to come from you. It’s going to break her heart, but if she loses that baby in the interim it’s going to be one hell of a shock for her to deal with. And when she finds out we knew all along…’

‘And not be able to give her any hope?’ Jask asked. ‘The last thing she needs right now is more stress. I’ll tell her when I know I can make this okay. I’ll tell her when I get back.’

J
ask glanced
around the office and at the display of screens that monitored activity inside the Dehains’ club.

The desk in the far left-hand corner was a reminder of the astute business mind he was dealing with, the sword above it a reminder that Caleb Dehain was an equally proficient warrior.

A warrior particularly proficient at killing serryns.

The last time he’d been face to face with Caleb Dehain, it had been back at the compound when Caleb had arrived to negotiate supplies for Jask’s pack in exchange for alibis for The Alliance murders.

At the time, Jask had been forced to keep a hold on himself – and certainly to give nothing away about knowing he was the pending Tryan.

Now, after Kane’s revealing encounter with Feinith a couple of nights previously, the odds were that Caleb was now aware they all knew what he was – as well as the threat he posed.

Caleb strolled over to the two facing sofas that sat in the centre of his office. He placed Jask’s glass on the edge of the table on the side he intended him to sit, but kept hold of his own drink.

Jask accepted the invitation as Caleb leaned back into the sofa opposite, the vampire subsequently resting both feet on the table between them as he crossed one ankle over the other in a move that was relaxed and casual.

Jask searched for signs of an increased pulse in Caleb – anything that would show a semblance of anxiety at his presence – but there was none. Caleb either truly was that fearless or he remained the master of staying cool.

‘You came alone,’ Caleb remarked.

‘Just as you came to me alone. This is about negotiation, Caleb, not war.’

Caleb knocked back a mouthful of whisky. ‘You want to talk about Sophia.’

‘She’s pregnant.’

The vampire paused with his glass to his lips, his eyes not leaving Jask’s.

Caleb took a steadier mouthful; a smaller one, letting it linger on his lips before pressing them together to remove any trace of it. Ice clinked as he lowered his hand again along with his gaze. He traced the circular base of the glass across the arm of the chair before making eye contact again. But his eyes remained as unreadable as his expression.

‘A pregnant serryn,’ Caleb remarked, ‘that’s a first.’

‘Because she wasn’t born one. And because I caught her early.’

Caleb’s eyebrows lifted a fraction. ‘It’s
yours
?’

‘It’s mine.’ Jask knew he had to get straight to the point. He braced himself. ‘Which also now makes her defunct, Caleb – for your purposes at least.’

He let the fact linger between them for a silent moment.

‘I know what you are,’ Jask added, ‘and I know why you want her. But she has lycan blood in her now, which makes her tainted – too tainted for you to take her to the Brink like you need to. Your purpose for her is gone.’

Caleb held his gaze, unnervingly still not flinching.

He lifted his tumbler to his lips again, the cut glass glinting in the dim light. He took another mouthful before rubbing his thumb across his lips.

Jask was hoping for a little more of a reaction but Caleb being Caleb simply spread his arms across the back of the sofa. ‘And you’re here because you’re hoping I’ll believe this?’

‘And risking my life telling you this? I’m here because she’s dying,’ Jask said, it taking more willpower than he thought possible to utter it to her enemy.

And he needed Caleb to be careful – to be
so
careful of his own response, his heart full of anger that it was happening; the guilt that he himself had been responsible for making it happen.

That he had put his mate at risk
again
.

‘And so is my young,’ Jask added, keeping his tone as steady as he could. ‘The serryn in her is killing them both.’

Caleb’s gaze remained frustratingly impassive. ‘You said you came to negotiate. For what?’

‘The only way to save her, to give our young any kind of fighting chance, is to take her serrynity. Leila knows of a way to do it. She needs Phia’s blood, hers and yours. She also needs the purification book she left here, and a sample of her original serryn blood.’

There was the subtlest upward curve in Caleb’s lips, which both infuriated and unnerved Jask.

‘Ah,’ Caleb said simply. He leaned forward to place his glass on the tabletop. He settled back into the sofa again, stretching his arms along the back of it as he squarely met Jask’s gaze. ‘You want the syringe.’

It was the first confirmation of hope that Jask so desperately needed. And he needed even more to hear that Caleb hadn’t destroyed it.

‘Do you still have it?’

‘The syringe that Leila tried to murder me with?’ Caleb’s smile was fleeting. ‘As if I wouldn’t treasure such a memorable keepsake as that. And now you’re here because you want me to hand it over to you?’

‘Yes.’

‘So I
am
supposed to believe that this pregnancy isn’t a lie? That you don’t all have some kind of plan to use these things to kill me somehow? Maybe even divert the prophecy?’

‘Yes,’ Jask said firmly.

Caleb removed a cigarette from the pack in his pocket. He lit up and exhaled a cloud of smoke as his accusatory glare locked on Jask. ‘Because it’s not as though you’ve never hidden anything from me before, is it, Jask? It’s not as though you and Kane were intending to kill me while I was trapped in the TSCD. To escape with Alisha and Leila. To leave my brother and Hade behind. It’s not as though you sent Caitlin Parish in threatening to expose what I was unless I made sure you got the rest of your supplies.’

Caleb leaned forward, his forearms casually resting across his knees as he looked Jask square in the face. ‘And now you want me to help you
again
? You want me to save the life of some defunct serryn who, can I remind you, attempted to kill both me and my brother less than a couple of weeks ago?’

‘Now that Phia is defunct, saving her is your only chance of claiming your Tryan status. By conducting the spell, there’s a chance the serrynity will revert back to Leila.’

He saw the first glimmer of a reaction in Caleb’s eyes, albeit still unreadable.

‘That’s the best you’ve got?’ Caleb asked. ‘
That
’s the bargaining tool? I’ve got to want my Tryan status so badly, my guaranteed win
so
badly, that I’ll do this deal with you?’

‘I’ll do whatever it takes to save Phia’s life and give my young a fighting chance at survival.’

‘And if I stand in the way of that?’

Jask stated it as the fact it was. ‘I’ll stand down from my pack and this will become personal between us.’

Caleb tongued his incisor as he leaned back in his seat again. ‘I always knew you had guts, Jask. And I’ve always admired you for that. Just like I admire the way you’ve played the game for so many decades to protect what’s yours. We both have that very same desire, don’t we?’

‘Then you’ll know why I’m doing this.’

‘Has Leila told you what I did? How I knew she was still a serryn before I tricked her into giving it up? How I could have taken her to the Brink but instead I chose to take her serrynity from her? I wanted her to lose it, so what makes you think I’d be willing to give it back to her? The way I see it, you’re the reason Sophia’s dying, Jask, not me.’

Jask felt his pulse flick up a notch. He clenched his hands to prevent his talons from extending, his jaw locked to do the same with his canines.

Because he had to take steady breaths. He had to contain himself. For Sophia’s sake, for his pack’s sake, for all their sakes, he needed to restrain himself.

‘I’m not asking you to do it for me,’ Jask said. ‘I’m asking you to do it for Leila. Because for some reason I’ve yet to get my head around, she loves you. Yes, we wanted her to kill you while you were in your cell but she refused. Leila wants to come back to you. She’s been pleading with me from the second I took her out of the TSCD. I know Feinith’s fed you a pack of lies about her, but Leila was taken there like every other serryn in this locale to find ways to combat the fourth-species outbreak that you two caused. We’ve helped her close the dimension temporarily, and now she’s saying she wants to come back to you. Give me what I need and I’ll let her go.’

Caleb’s gaze lingered on him for a painful few moments.

‘Okay,’ the vampire said eventually.

Jask stared at him, tentatively waiting for the punchline. None came.

‘You’re saying we have a deal?’ Jask asked, barely able to believe it could be that simple.

‘Sure.
If
you bring Leila and Sophia here to do it.’

The hairs on the back of Jask’s neck bristled. ‘You know I’m not going to agree to that.’

‘And I’m going to agree to you wandering off with all the ingredients to some magic spell I know nothing about? All in the name of some phantom pregnancy I have no evidence of?’ Caleb exhaled another stream of smoke. ‘Bring them here to do the spell and, yes, we have a deal. Obviously you’re more than welcome to accompany them.’

Jask’s heart pounded, the green-eyed vampire staring him down with quiet resolve.

‘
That’s
the deal, Jask,’ Caleb reiterated. ‘Whether you agree to my terms or not depends on how much you want Sophia to live. You want to save
your
girl then give me back
mine
.’