Eternal Hearts (24 page)

“Consider who my best friend is when you ask me that question,” Clint snapped. “Oktober’s the bastard who killed her family and sent her a goddamn video of it, Drake. That video and his fucking letter were what got her banned from the city in the first place.”

Drake couldn’t even begin to believe that accusation. “What? Why would Oktober kill a human family? He moved past killing humans a couple thousand years ago, Clint…and he sure as hell doesn’t leave letters. Besides, that Natasha chick is the one who killed her family. I saw it in her nightmares.”

“No, Natasha Stryker is the one who sold her family’s address to Oktober. She may have played a small part in it all, but he’s the one who killed them. And he didn’t just kill them – he fucking tortured them on camera and then sent her the damn video at Noon. At fucking Noon, Drake! She damn near died trying to leave her apartment to go save them.” He snapped his mouth closed then shook his head. “I don’t even know why I’m bothering. You’re no better than him. You’ll both do whatever the parameters of a contract call for, and we both know it.
Special rounds?
Check. Smear someone’s entrails from one end of the street to the other? No problem. Fuck, Drake, you’d slit a dog’s throat and hang it from someone’s favorite tree if that’s what the contract called for. So don’t tell me he wouldn’t send a letter.” A deep scowl cut around his mouth as his eyes moved over Toni’s limp form again. He thrust his arms out. “Give her to me. I’ll take her back to my home and protect her since you can’t seem to do it.”

When his beasts thrashed, Drake tightened his hold on the precious woman in his arms. “The fuck you will! She came with me, she’s leaving with me.” He opened the car door and carefully put Toni in the passenger seat before he turned to face Clint again. “You may be old, but if
Tober’s
after her…it’ll be a hell of a lot easier for him to kill you than me…”

Drake knew what was
happening
the second Clint’s eyes left him and darted around the parking lot. The red stain permeating everything he could see took on an iridescent sheen.

His eyes were glowing.

Clint focused back on him, his jaw locked tight. “Need I remind you that you’re standing in the middle of a public parking lot? I know you’re used to living by whatever rules you please, but here in Chicago we have this little rule called the Veil – and you’re doing a damn fine job of blowing it to hell. Now, I suggest you turn your angry eyes off and close your fucking mouth lest I do it for you.”

Shadows crawled across Drake’s field of vision, nearly blotting out the flickering crimson as his beasts pushed ever closer to the surface. “I’m going to take Toni back to her hotel room, and then I’m going to find out what the hell Oktober was doing with her. If you’re willing to fight me for her, I suggest you pack a lunch and come back with a few friends. Because if you think for one second I won’t rip you to shreds to keep her – you’ve never been more wrong.”

Clint’s face sobered instantly. “My God…you like her, don’t you?” He stared up at Drake as if the mere thought made his Ancient blood run ice cold. “It’s not just the contract, is it?”

Kill him.
Drake grabbed Clint by the shirt and lifted him until their noses were scarcely inches apart. “Why is it such a shock that I might actually like her? Why is it that you, and everyone else, treat me like I’m completely devoid of emotion? You’ve killed thousands of people since you were turned, but no one even bats an eye when you take yet another lover. But just because of my lineage and my profession, you assume I’m inherently evil and incapable of anything but murder.”

Drake tossed Clint back away from the car, but to the Warrior’s credit, he maintained his strong, fearless exterior. “If you showed me something different, Drake, maybe I wouldn’t think that way. But this is the only side of you I’ve ever seen.”

Closing the distance between them in one step, Drake bent down to Clint’s level. “I suggest if you don’t want to see that side of me up close and personal, you get the hell out of my way.”

Drake stilled as his instinct took hold and blackness crawled out from under his car, wrapping wispy tendrils around his body. Pulsing in time with his heartbeat, he knew if he didn’t leave now, not only would he break the Veil but he’d seriously hurt Clint.

Drake pushed past the old Warrior then rounded the front of his car and climbed into the driver’s side. After fastening the seatbelt around Toni, he jammed the key into the ignition and threw the car into reverse. He slammed his foot down on the gas, narrowly missing Clint as he backed out of the parking space, before he shifted into drive and headed for the Legacy Suites.

Bile rose and singed the back of his throat as he sped through the streets of Downtown Chicago. He felt sick. Not only had he failed to protect Toni from Oktober, but he’d seriously lost his temper with the man she loved like a father.

You’re no good for her.
He let his eyes glide over the woman sleeping peacefully in the passenger seat and shook his head. He wanted to argue with the voice in his head, but this time he couldn’t. Instinct was right. He was no good for a beautiful, caring woman like Toni. He’d been a monster since the day he was born, and now he had enemies that spanned the globe. No matter what he did, no matter how much he tried – the truth of him would always show through. And in the end that bitter truth might kill her.

He couldn’t, and wasn’t willing to take that chance.

Focusing his attention back on the road, Drake turned his thoughts to Oktober. Why didn’t he finish with her? He knew how Tober was when it came to women, and he’d had more than enough time to fully...

Drake shook his head. He couldn’t let the thought finish, but he knew he had to be missing something. He’d been friends with Oktober for over a decade and had never heard anything about him fulfilling a contract on a human family. He gained nothing from it.

Drake whipped his car into a space in the hotel parking garage then killed the engine. There was really only one way to clear things up. If he wanted even a small clue about what the hell was going on, he needed to talk to Oktober. Even more, he needed to tell him to keep his hands off of Toni. Better yet, Tober just needed to stay as far away from her as humanly or supernaturally possible.

Drake glanced around the parking lot. When he was certain no humans were in the garage, he unbuckled Toni and pulled her into his lap. He held her close as he worked to clear his mind then concentrated on her hotel room. After a short feeling of separation and distention, they appeared just inside the door of the hotel room. He willed the lights on and scanned the room to make sure they were alone before he walked over and laid Toni gently on the bed.

The sick feeling he already had tripled as he stared down at her. He didn’t know how she’d done it, but in the space of roughly twenty-four hours she’d managed to wiggle her way into his closely guarded heart.

He cared about her. There was no other explanation for the way his gut wrenched and twisted because he hadn’t been there to save her. And just knowing Oktober’s hands had been on her body drove the beasts inside him into a near frenzy. Worse yet, it made him want to kill. But much like he wasn’t supposed to touch Toni, he couldn’t kill Oktober either. It was yet another rule instituted by the fearless leader of The Organization.

Brothers never killed brothers.

Drake tucked Toni under the blankets then used his mind to slide the desk chair over to the bed. He sat down and buried his fingers into his hair as he searched for any plausible reason as to why Oktober would kill a human family. Tober killed humans on a regular basis because of his odd feeding requirements, but never for money. And contracts were given to assassins based on the power level of the mark. There wasn’t a mortal alive who had a snowball’s chance in hell of beating Oktober. Hell, most Ancient vampires didn’t stand a chance against Tober.

Drake massaged small circles over his temples. Humans were completely off Oktober’s Radar. Only Fledgling members of The Organization were sent to kill non-supernaturals.

Nothing about the situation made any sense!

Drake lowered his hands and cast a glance over to Toni. He watched the steady rise and fall of her chest as she breathed, then the stillness of her eyes. He had to get answers for her. And if not for her, at least for
himself…
so that he could protect her the way she deserved.

Only when he was confident that she’d stay asleep for as long as the interrogation might last did Drake lower his head and commence with the heavy concentration. It took him a few long minutes, but he eventually got the result he was looking for. He gnashed his teeth as a jolt of pain rippled down the center of his chest right before he felt himself separate…
from
himself
.

There were now two Drake’s in the room. One still sat near the bed while the other stood.

The sitting Drake leaned forward and rested his arms on the bed. He couldn’t believe how important Toni had become to him or just how much seeing her smiling face meant. And he’d never be able to forgive himself if something bad happened to her.

The standing Drake closed his eyes and concentrated on Oktober…

Drake appeared on the front porch of Oktober’s old Victorian manse, located only a few minutes outside the western city limits of Chicago. Set back at least a quarter of a mile and shrouded by droves of twisted oaks, he could barely see the street from where he stood. He drew in and then blew out a long series of deep breaths before he moved to the door.

Oktober had to have a reasonable explanation for what he’d done to Toni. He didn’t do anything without a purpose.

Drake repeated those two sentences a good ten times before he finally reached for the handle. But when he pushed the door open to a view of Oktober and the dark haired woman he’d left The Underground with doing the naked nasty, he shook his head. Truthfully, the scene was vintage Oktober. The woman was on all fours, ass in the air, while Tober mounted her from behind. He had her hair wrapped around one hand, her hip gripped tightly with the other. And it wasn’t until she kicked her head back and screamed Oktober’s name that Drake caught the distinct crimson trails staining the side of her neck.

He purposely cleared his throat far louder than necessary. “Tober, you got a minute? I need to ask you a few questions.”

Oktober didn’t even bother to stop what he was doing, but then again, neither did his guest. He simply released her hip and pointed at the doorway across the room. “There’s beer in the kitchen. Help yourself. I’m almost done here.”

Drake crossed the floor, happy for the change of scenery when he reached the dimly lit kitchen. He grabbed a beer from the black refrigerator and rolled his eyes. He’d been here a hundred times, but until now, he’d never realized how much of
Tober’s
house was black. There were a few silver accents here and there, but everything else was dark as pitch.

Staring out the window over the, you guessed it, black marble sink – Drake waited for Oktober to finish up his business. He had no choice but to hear the moaning and panting that carried on for another ten minutes before the woman involved made the biggest mistake of her life. She screamed, and then pleaded for Oktober to fuck her until she couldn’t take it anymore.

Drake let his head roll forward before he slowly shook it. That was the last thing any woman, human or other, should have ever asked of Tober.

He squeezed his eyes closed when a scream of complete ecstasy erupted from the living room, then tried to think about other things when a loud crack echoed through the house, followed by a stretch of eerie silence.

After another five minutes of fluffy pink bunnies and greasy cheeseburgers, Drake finally heard the footfalls of Oktober’s heavy boots against the tiled kitchen floor. He turned around to see his friend fully dressed, licking fresh blood from his fangs.

Oktober grabbed a beer from the refrigerator then turned around and leaned back against the door to close it. “So, to what honor do I owe the late night visit?”

Drake drew yet another deep breath. He needed to stay calm. He had to stay in control. “What’s going on with you and Toni?”

Tober chucked.
“Me and Toni?
I wasn’t aware we had a thing.”

Rage sliced through the calm he was desperately struggling to maintain, but somehow Drake found the strength to hold on. “What the hell happened at The Underground?”