Just a Vampire [tribal Bonds 1] (11 page)

glanced around. Half of the vampire soldiers in the room belonged to
him. He knew he was relatively safe. He couldn’t say the same for
any member of Alpha Carlton’s wolf pack.
“That wasn’t very smart of you, now was it?” Everson asked as he
stepped over to stand in front of the wolf that had spit on his shoe.
“Because you are a member of Carlton’s pack, I am now bound not to
kill you. That does not mean, however, I can’t make you wish you
were dead.”
Everson nodded. Luca’s jaw dropped again as one of Everson’s
soldiers produced an iron collar and clipped it around the wolf’s neck.
It was locked into place, and then the key was handed to Everson. “Do you know what this is?” Everson smirked. “This iron was
discovered on a Spanish galleon off the coast of Jamaica about ten
years ago. I wouldn’t have known about if I hadn’t been one of the
investors of the salvage expedition.”
“So?” The wolf snickered. “It’s iron, old iron at that.” “True.” Everson nodded. “But this is special iron. It was part of a
horde of precious gems and metals that the Spanish were smuggling
to the New World from the Middle East.”
Everson suddenly squatted down in front of the wolf and reached
out to grab the iron, yanking the wolf’s face close to his. “This iron is
cursed. Once it is cast into its mold, it can never be broken.” “S–So?”
“Unless I remove the collar from your neck, you cannot shift.
Ever.”
Luca blinked. Seriously? There was something out there in the
world like that? It was a scary thought.
“It was meant to keep your kind under control during the sixteenth
century, a way of controlling shifters. I funded that expedition after
discovering the existence of these collars. At first, I was merely
curious, but now…now I have a better use for them.”
Everson pushed the wolf back and stood to his feet. “Go ahead.
Try and shift. See how far you get.”
The wolf growled. Luca’s eyebrows shot up when he saw him
trying to shift. Hair spurted along his arms then faded away. Claws
tried to extend then retracted. The wolf began to howl as his attempt
to shift came and went.
Finally, the wolf slumped and his head dropped down to his chest.
“What do you want to know?”
Everson smiled over at Luca and waved his hand at the wolf. “Ask
your questions.”
Luca grinned and shook his head. Everson was full of surprises.
He turned and looked down at the wolf. “Where’s Rowan?” “I don’t know.”
Luca growled.
The wolf’s head snapped up. “No, I swear. I don’t know where
Rowan is. That’s what Alpha Carlton and I were arguing about when
you attacked us. He wanted to send some of our soldiers out to search
for Rowan, and I was telling him to let it go.”
Luca’s eyes narrowed. “Let what go?”
“His damned obsession with Rowan.”
Luca tensed when Everson growled. He needed to defuse the
situation and fast. “You do understand that Rowan is my mate, my
anamchara. I will never give him up.”
Surprisingly, the wolf rolled his eyes. “Please, Rowan no more
wants to be Alpha Carlton’s mate than I do. The alpha just won’t give
up on bringing Rowan’s bloodline into our pack.”
“He had Rowan’s bloodline in the pack,” Seth snapped from
across the room. “Carlton is the one that banished him.”
The wolf’s head snapped around to Seth. There was venom in his
voice when he replied to him. “Rowan should have followed the
orders of his alpha. Then maybe none of us would be in this position.” “He was supposed to submit to Carlton just because Carlton said
so?” Seth shouted as he stormed across the room. “Carlton is not
Rowan’s mate. He cannot force Rowan to mate with him.” “He is your alpha!”
“He
was
my alpha.” Seth snickered, crossing his arms over his
chest. “I no longer have to listen to Alpha Carlton, or you.” The wolf growled and lunged. Luca’s eyebrows shot up when
Seth calmly kicked the wolf right in the face. The wolf flew back,
landing on the floor on his back. Blood dribbled down his chin when
he raised his face and stared at Seth. Luca snickered. Maybe there was
more of Rowan in Seth than he had first thought.
“Okay, look, this isn’t getting us anywhere.” Luca stepped
between Seth and the fallen wolf. “I simply want to know where my
mate is.”
“I don’t know.”
“What do you know?”
“Alpha Carlton came home and ordered me to round up a group of
guards. He said he had been at Rowan’s parents’ house when he
smelled a vampire. He went racing outside just in time to see a limo
with Rowan inside take off down the road. He wanted us to go after
Rowan.”
Luca frowned. He couldn’t tell whether the wolf was telling the
truth, but things could have happened that way. Of course, the wolf
could be lying, in which case, Luca was just going to have to kill the
man.
“Did Carlton say who took Rowan?”
The wolf nodded. “Some vampire named Darius.”

Rowan pulled at the chains around his ankles, but they wouldn’t budge, no matter how hard he yanked on them. The iron manacles were old and rusted, but they were strong. They also kept Rowan chained to the wall. He figured he had about ten feet of chain length to walk around the cell he was in.

This totally sucked. Luca was going to have vampire puppies when he discovered Rowan had been kidnapped—again. And this time, he didn’t even have Jackson to help him. He was all on his own.

Rowan hadn’t been able to contact Luca at all. He suspected it had something to do with the dart Darius had shot him with. After he woke up, his head had been fuzzy. All he was getting was static ever since. It was the same way he felt after Electus Everson had shot him with a dart. He hadn’t been able to contact Luca through their bond then either.

What Rowan wanted to know was why Darius had kidnapped him? He had to know Luca would be coming after him. What sort of leverage did he hope to get over on Luca by holding him hostage? It just didn’t make sense. Luca would search the Earth until he found Rowan.

He scooted closer to the wall when he heard footsteps. Rowan was unsure where he was or how many people Darius had working for him. He couldn’t shift, that much he figured out, so he was feeling a little helpless right about now.

Rowan pushed against the wall, standing, waiting, and holding his breath in his lungs as a key scraped in the lock and then the door slowly opened.

A vampire he didn’t recognize came in with a tray filled with food, standing just inside the doorway, and then Darius stepped into the room behind the vampire. Rowan growled.

“You can growl until the cows come home, Rowan, but you can’t shift,” Darius said as he stepped further into the room, his brow arched as if daring Rowan to try anything.

When the vampire moved closer, bringing the tray of food over, Rowan slung his arm out, knocking the tray and all of its contents to the floor. That might not have been the smartest move. He wasn’t sure how long he would be here before Luca could rescue him. But he also didn’t know what the food contained. It could have been poisoned.

The vampire who brought the food hurried from the room as if he was afraid Rowan would attack him even though he was chained to the wall. Rowan turned his eyes to Darius.

Darius raked his eyes over Rowan, a sneer pulling at his lip. “Why else? Power, leverage, position. Do you think Luca would not give up everything he owns to get you back?”

Rowan knew Luca would do just that. He had told Rowan that he would do anything in order to get him back. Rowan could feel the anger building inside of him at being used against his own mate. This scum bastard had to die. The world would be better off without Darius breathing the same oxygen.

God forbid the psycho reproduce.
“I won’t let you use me against my mate!” Rowan snapped. Luca might love him, but the man would never be the same if he was forced to give up his tribe. Rowan knew deep down inside that it would create a rift between him and Luca that might never be mended. He couldn’t allow that.
Darius clucked his tongue as he crossed his arms over his chest, a smug smile pulling at his lips. “What can you do about it, dog? You’re shackled to the wall, unable to shift.”
Rowan had to find out where he was. He had to find a way out of this before Luca gave up everything. Rowan couldn’t live with himself if Luca had to make that choice. Having an entire army of bodyguards was looking better by the moment. Maybe Rowan wouldn’t fight Luca so hard the next time he tried to assign him his very own platoon.
“And how will you keep your position once I’m given back to Luca?” Rowan had to believe he was going to be given back. He couldn’t see any other way out of this place. He also wanted to know Darius’s plans. All evil bastards loved to brag, and Darius would be no exception. He could see the arrogance in the man’s eyes.
“I’ve brokered a deal for a lot of those shackles, along with some collars and a few cuffs. Once I have the dogs wearing them, they will be at my mercy, doing as I bid. Luca won’t be able to touch me.”
Shit.
This was not good. Rowan had to think. There had to be a way to warn Luca of Darius’s plans. There had to be. He knew it would take some time for the dart to wear off. He just feared by the time he was able to communicate with Luca, that it would be too late.
How long had he been out? Minutes? Hours? Days? Rowan turned his back on Darius, trying once again to talk to Luca through their bond.
Nothing. Crap.
“Do not give me your back, dog!”
Rowan smirked. Darius wanted authority and respect so badly that he was unraveling from the obsessive need. Rowan could hear the desperation in Darius’s voice. He kept his back to the vampire, refusing to kowtow to anyone.
“You worthless dog,” Darius snapped.
Rowan could feel the air move as Darius walked across the room. At the last second, Rowan reached down and grabbed the food tray, swinging it around and smacking Darius dead on the side of his face. He repeated the action over and over again until Darius finally overtook him and yanked the serving tray free, throwing it across the room.
“You’ll starve in here,” Darius threatened as he backhanded Rowan.
Rowan saw stars dance before his eyes as he slumped to the hard concrete floor. He vaguely heard the vampire leave the room as his mind slowly cleared. Rowan pulled his knees to his chest, a single tear sliding from his eye as hopelessness filled him.
Luca was going to give everything up, and there was nothing Rowan could do about it. If Luca didn’t rescue him, he was dead. If Luca did rescue him, he’d have to give up everything. Either way, Rowan was fucked.
“Rowan?”
Rowan sat up straighter when he heard Luca’s voice in his head. The dart must have worn off. His hand landed on the wall behind him as he pushed to his feet, relief and excitement filling him.
“I’m here, Luca.”
Relief thundered through Rowan. So did the need to see his mate, touch him. Hell, he wanted to be cuddled and cradled and loved on and—he’d even take being surrounded by an entire platoon of bodyguards if it meant being back with Luca.
“Where are you, anamchara? Tell me where you are.”
That was the million-dollar question. Rowan had no clue where he was. So how was he going to tell Luca where to rescue him from? Guess? Where was a psychic when he needed one?
“I–I don’t know. It’s some sort of room. Darius has me shackled to a wall by my ankles with some sort of iron that won’t let me shift.”
Rowan heard a loud curse. He smiled. It was good to hear his mate’s voice in his head, even if it was a curse.
“He wants you to give up everything to get me back, and he is going to use shifters as his bodyguards. He plans on making the shifters his slaves.”

Rowan covered his ears as he heard his mate roar. Damn, Luca was loud even through their bond.
“Tell me what you see, anamchara.”
Rowan looked around the small cell he was in. It wasn’t much.
“Well, there are no windows and only one door, and that’s locked from the outside. The room seems to be made of some sort of aged red brick, so I think I’m in a basement of some sort, but I can’t be positive.”
“Rowan, you’re a wolf.”
Luca chuckled.
“Use your senses. What do you smell and hear?”
Rowan desperately wanted to roll his eyes, but he knew Luca was right. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the scents he could smell and the sounds he could hear.
The scurry of little feet made him shudder in disgust
. “Well, we have rats.”
“Rowan!”
Rowan snickered then went back to concentrating.
“I hear water dripping somewhere. It’s close but not too close.”
“What sort of water?”
Luca asked.
“Like from a sink tap or from outside?”
“Um…”
Rowan listened closer, tilting his head slightly.
“I think it’s a gutter or drain or something. The water is falling several feet before it hits the ground.”
“Is it hitting the ground or some sort of flooring?”
“I actually think it’s hitting something metal, so maybe a drain of some sort.”
Rowan was sure of it.
“I can hear it tinking as it hits.”
“Okay, that’s good. That means you’re probably in some sort of large building and not a house.”
“How do you know it’s not a house?”
“Because it would probably hit the ground if it was outside.”
“Oh, that makes sense. Does that help?”
“It narrows down our search. Now, what do you smell, anamchara?”

Rowan drew in several deep breaths of air.
“The air is damp and dank, so I’m really thinking I’m in a cellar or something now. There’s also a slight musty smell like the place hasn’t been used in a while.”
Rowan frowned and wrinkled his nose, inhaling deeper.
“I smell garlic.”

“Garlic!”
Luca shouted.
“Yeah, and it’s pretty strong.”
“Are you sure you don’t smell Italian food?”
“Nope, it’s straight up garlic, no other spices.”
“Okay, fresh garlic or processed?”
“Fresh, but like freshly cut fresh, not growing fresh.” “Well, that narrows things down a bit.”
“So, you think you might know where I am then?”
“Let me talk to Everson and see if he has any ideas. I’ll get back