Redemption (13 page)

Like a mouse she scurried into the shadows. Irritation spurted through him, but he forced it back as he remained standing, his gaze unwavering upon Calvin's. "I'm sure you're aware of the laws Braith has instated and changed."

"You'll find no blood slaves here," Calvin replied casually.

"There were more than just blood slave laws that were changed. There is to be equality throughout the land for vampires and humans alike."

"You will find that here," Calvin smiled at him over top of his glass as he took a sip of his drink.

"I haven't so far."

Calvin's gaze slid to Lucas, but to his credit, the young vampire remained where he was with his shoulders thrust back. "I don't know what Lucas has been telling you..."

"Lucas has told me nothing. I have eyes; I see the way the people in this town react to you. You lead here by intimidation and that is going to end," Jack told him.

For the first time he saw a crack in the man's flawless demeanor. The smile slipped from his face as he leaned forward on the sofa and placed his drink on the table next to him. "I have been in charge of this town..."

"For too long." A dim part of him was aware of the fact that the authoritative tone of his voice sounded like his father, but for once he didn't shy away from the association. If it got Calvin to stay away from Hannah, and to stop tormenting the people within this town, he would do what he had to in order to get his way.

"You have no right," Calvin said in a low voice.

"My brother gave me every right to take charge and make changes as I saw fit. You saw these vampires as weaker and you took advantage of that. There
will
be equality here."

"Is this about Hannah?" Calvin inquired as he rose from the sofa.

William shot Jack a questioning look; Lucas took a step closer at the mention of his cousin. Jack didn't miss the subtle movement of William's hand to the small crossbow tethered to his belt, hanging down against his thigh. "This has nothing to do with her," Jack told him though a trickle of aggravation filtered through him.

"We all know how women can exaggerate things."

Jack's mind flashed back to their conversation in her room. It was Lucas that stepped forward to speak though. "What are you talking about?"

Calvin gave a casual shrug. "We simply had a pleasant conversation, but as you know women can be stubborn and they don't always know what is best for them."

"What are you talking about?" Lucas demanded again.

"Sometimes women must be persuaded," Calvin replied.

Jack recalled the shadows on her hand and suddenly he understood. What he didn't understand was the haze of red that descended over his eyes or the fact that he was moving without even realizing he was doing so. In less time than it took to blink, he was leaping over the table in the center of the room and seizing hold of Calvin's throat. He lifted the man and propelled him back three feet before slamming him against the wall. Calvin's body crashed into the wood with enough force to knock one of the suits of armor over. The clatter of the metal resonated within the large room.

Calvin's feet kicked against the wall, his hands clawed at Jack's but Jack only squeezed harder. Though Calvin didn't require air, his face became florid as his eyes bulged. "Don't even think about it," William grated out.

Jack glanced back to where he'd left his friend. He'd pulled the crossbow at his side free and had it leveled upon Kane. The vampire's lip curled into a sneer. "You think you can take me,
human
?"

William just smirked in return. "I wouldn't push your luck,
vampire.
"

Convinced that William could handle Kane, he turned his attention back to Calvin. The man had gone still within his grasp; his ruby colored eyes were riveted on Jack, his hands were wrapped around Jack's wrist. It took everything Jack had not to smash his head against the wall or tear his heart out.

"You're not stronger than me," Jack growled as his fangs lengthened and he leaned closer to the man. "You may be stronger than the residents of this town, but you're not stronger than
me
."

The red of Calvin's eyes grew even more vivid but he remained unmoving within Jack's grasp as his eyes slid past him. A small gasp brought Jack's head back to the hallway. Just barely visible amongst the shadows, her hand pressed against her mouth, Hannah stood within the doorway. William kept the crossbow trained upon Kane as another one of Calvin's men slipped out from behind Hannah and started walking toward Kane.

Ellen had been sitting by Hannah's side when she'd woken again. Her friend was hesitant in the beginning but Hannah had finally managed to pry from her where Jack had gone. Though her back wasn't completely healed, the dress she wore was loose fitting enough that it didn't press against her sore flesh. She didn't know what he had been thinking, or what he proposed to do, but she was going to make sure her cousin stayed safe and that Jack didn't do anything too reckless.

Both dogs were still patrolling when she'd arrived at Calvin's home but Lionel had been standing by the gate and let her in. The short vampire, with no hair on his body at all, and nearly white eyes had always been friendly to her, but she didn't trust anyone that worked with Calvin. Lionel had kept up a string of idle chitchat as they'd walked into the house, but her anxiety had only grown at the knowledge that Lucas and Jack were deep within the lion's den.

Stepping into the massive sitting room all rational thought had fled her brain at the spectacle before her.
They were all as good as dead
; the realization was like a cement block around her neck. She was unable to move a foot further into the room as she glanced between Calvin, Kane, and Lionel. These were only two of his men, there were at least a few dozen others somewhere around here and there were rumored to be even more in nearby towns. Jack was holding his own against Calvin right now, but he'd never be able to fend off a small militia of vampires.

She couldn't tear her gaze away from Jack. She didn't know if she was more infuriated with him for doing this or if he'd just stolen her heart for the rest of her life. She wanted to kill him but she wanted to kiss him in equal waves that were beginning to make her feel as if she were completely and absolutely nuts. She'd never been one to be so uncertain and confused in her emotions before but since Jack had walked into her life she felt like a discombobulated mess. That fact only made her want to kick him.

Then his eyes met hers and she felt a newfound strength surging through her extremities that cracked the concrete encasing her. It would be ok, as long as he was here, it would be ok. He'd keep her safe; he'd keep them
all
safe. She didn't know how or why, but she trusted he would be able to make Calvin back down.

He slowly turned away from her and focused on Calvin once more. "If you even dare to touch her again, I
will
kill you. If you mistreat anyone within this town again you
will
be locked away. You are
not
in charge here anymore."

With those final words, he lowered the larger vampire to the ground and stepped away from him. Calvin tried to retain some of his dignity and confidence as he straightened his coat and tugged at the collar of his shirt. "You have no idea who you're messing with," he said to Jack as he made his way toward William.

"I have every idea of who I am messing with and believe me when I say that I am not impressed," Jack responded without looking back. "Let's go," he said with a nod to William and Lucas.

Her head tilted back as he stopped before her. "What have you done?" she whispered.

"He's not going to bully and frighten anyone in this town anymore." With tender care he took hold of her hand and tucked it into the crook of his arm. "And he's definitely not going to harm you again."

Her eyes flew back to his as his thumb stroked over the flesh of her now healed hand. She knew, without having to hear him confirm it, that he was aware of at least a little bit of what had transpired between her and Calvin yesterday. "I'm fine," she told him. "
No
one is going to be hurt because of me."

"This is because of
him
Hannah, he's made the wrong choices; he's the one that has abused his power."

Hannah kept expecting someone to attack them, she repeatedly glanced behind them. She realized that Jack might be even crazier than she'd originally thought as he kept his gaze focused straight ahead. He'd lost his place in this world when the war had ended and he'd returned to the palace. Lost his place when David had been killed and she wondered now if it had made him a little reckless. He didn't seem reckless now though, in fact he seemed unbelievably self-assured as he made his way casually through the house.

"Have you lost your mind?" William demanded when they stepped outside. "You could have given me some warning on that. You said you only intended to talk to the guy."

"We did talk." She felt the tension in Jack's large frame as they moved swiftly down the stairs, but he kept his step effortless. "I just didn't like what he had to say."

"Jack, we're outnumbered in this town. I assume he has more men than just those two."

"He does," Hannah confirmed.

"He won't come after us, not yet anyway," Jack said with confidence. She didn't know where the dogs had gone but nothing attempted to stop them as they walked to the front gates. Jack pulled one of the gates open. He pressed his hand into the small of her back as he ushered her through quickly. "From what I could tell there were only four men in that house, where are the others?"

"Other than Kane they're all like us and live within the town," she told him. "There are rumors that there are more in surrounding towns."

"It will take him some time to gather them if there are," Jack said.

"Not much," she gushed out.

Jack's hand pressed more firmly against her back as he looked down at her. "He won't come after us right away; he'll come up with a better plan than simply attacking us. We may be outnumbered by him but he knows that William and I cannot simply disappear without bringing Braith's attention to this town. He'll try and find something on us, something that will give him a reason to execute us first."

"And if he doesn't?" Hannah prompted.

"He'll come for us," Jack said it as casually as if he'd just stated the sky was blue. Inside, her stomach felt like a seething mass of worms squirming around her belly. The thought of anything bad happening to him made her skin crawl and her hand tightened around his. "Are there any vampires in this town that would be more on your side and able to travel with William?"

"I'm not going anywhere," William proclaimed instantly.

"You know the last time, and in what town, we ran into some of Braith's troops. I need you to locate them and bring some of them here."

"We can send someone else..."

"They're not going to listen to a stranger; they'll listen to you though."

William's jaw clenched as he glowered at Jack. "Ass," he muttered.

Hannah glanced between the two of them, she knew they were friends but it was still shocking to hear someone call a prince an ass, and a human no less. Jack only grinned at him as he clasped hold of his shoulder. "So I've been told." William still didn't look at all happy but he didn't protest any further. "So do you know of anyone?" he asked again.

"Marvin, he doesn't have fangs but he's strong and fast and he hates Calvin," Lucas finally answered. "I'm sure I could get him to go."

"You can take the horses to find the troops," Jack said.

Hannah chanced a glance up at the man at her side. Her brow furrowed as she tried to figure him out.
Why was he trying to help them? Why was he putting his own life at risk when he didn't even know them?
She'd never met anyone like him and as he stopped to speak with Lucas and William she found herself entranced and baffled by him in equal measure.

"Go and see if this Marvin can go tonight," he said to Lucas.

"You expect us to leave tonight?" William demanded.

"The sooner the better."

William folded his arms over his chest and shook his head. "Leaving you here alone is not a good idea."

"If you get moving tonight you could be back by tomorrow night or the next day. Go Lucas."

Lucas nodded and scurried into the night. "Why are you doing this?" Hannah couldn't stop herself from asking. "You don't know any of us, there's no reason why you should be putting both of your lives at risk like this."

There was something wild and dangerous about this man, she realized as he looked at her again and a flash of red ran around the outer edges of his eyes. "My father and brother Caleb were like Calvin, no one deserves to live under men like that."

A shiver ran through her at the same time her heart went out to him. He'd spoken briefly about what he had gone through with his father, but she was beginning to realize that what he'd shared had only been the tip of the iceberg. She couldn't imagine all that he had gone through, whatever it was had been bad enough to drive him away from a life of opulence and luxury and into a life in a forest, and finally here.

Without thinking, she rested her other hand on his arm. It had been such a natural, instinctive reaction that felt incredibly right as her fingers closed around his flesh. He stared at her for a minute before wrapping his hand over hers and interlocking their fingers. "Besides, no one likes a bully."

She released a small laugh, but she was mostly focused upon the warmth blazing up her arm and creeping through her body from the feel of him rather than paying much attention to his words. He was so much tanner than she was, golden and powerful. His fingers were marked with scars acquired from his time spent fighting but most of them would eventually disappear.

She loved his hands. Ugh, she did a mental groan at that thought and shook her head. A broken heart was the last thing she needed right now and acting like a besotted teen was going to get her exactly that when it came to him. Coming back to her senses, she squeezed his hand and gently pulled hers away.

"I'm sure I'm needed inside," she said crisply. "Plus, I should let Uncle Abe and Ellen know about what just happened."

Jack nodded and followed her up the stairs with William close on his heels. Hannah opened the door and stepped into the crowded tavern. Laughter and the clink of glasses settling on the table greeted her but she didn't think the laughter would continue for much longer. Jack didn't believe Calvin would come after them tonight, but she wasn't so certain.

"Well I'll be," Jack said and nodded toward a table in the far back. The largest man Hannah had ever seen was at a table drinking a beer as he watched Ellen play her flute. "Look who's here William."

William smirked as he caught sight of who Jack had spotted. "That's a face I never thought I'd see again."

"Who is that?" Hannah asked, not at all certain the man would be able to stand up straight inside the tavern when he was on his feet.

"Timber, he's an old friend of ours. We haven't seen him in a few years though," Jack answered.

"He likes to wander," William responded with a shrug.

"Well it seems his wandering has finally brought him across our path again." Jack broke away from her and weaved his way through the crowd with William close behind him.

The giant must have sensed their approach as he turned to look at them. A smile split his broad face and he rose to his feet. His head just barely missed hitting the beams running across the ceiling. Jack was stretching his hand out to greet him when Timber, a name she found incredibly fitting, pulled his arm back and drove his fist straight into Jack's face.

It took everything she had not to fly across the room and attack the monster of a man as rage burst to blazing life within her. The tavern went deathly still as they waited to see what would happen.