The Warrior Vampire (39 page)

The male took up a place near the group of twenty or so who had gathered outside of the elders' building. His dark brows drew down severely over his eyes and his mouth formed a hard line. Arms folded across his chest as he braced his legs apart. He carried himself with the air of one who held authority, and it was obvious that in the absence of their chieftain they looked to the younger male for guidance.

“Okay, Luz, get ready to make a break for it.” Naya shifted in her seat as Manny brought the truck to a stop on the opposite side of the street. “Make the powder as quickly as you can and get your ass back over here.”

“What are you going to do?” Luz reached for the door.

“I'm going to wing it. Now, go.”

Manny cut the engine and hopped out to chase after Luz. Naya took a deep breath and let it all out in a forceful gust. She wasn't facing this alone, though.

“Leaving the chieftain where he is?”

She hiked a shoulder. “Seems like the best idea for now. When Luz gets back, we'll haul him out of there.”

“All right.” When the others discovered that Naya had bound their leader it would only ruffle the shifters' fur. “What's our play for now?”

“Now,” Naya said as she reached for the door handle, “we distract them.”

 

CHAPTER

34

No way would Joaquin buy that Naya had brought Ronan in to turn him over to the elders. Not after admitting to him that she was Ronan's mate. She didn't really need Joaquin—or any of them—to believe her. She just needed to stir enough curiosity and confusion among the elders gathered on the street to buy Luz enough time to make the truth powder.

Naya gathered magic in her palm. Without intent it was simply raw energy. How she used it would be up to the elders and Joaquin. Because one thing was certain: She wasn't taking shit off of anybody else tonight.

“Naya, you captured the vampire?” Diego, one of Joaquin's closest friends, asked with an insulting amount of surprise. She hunted demons, repossessed rogue magic, and protected her people as she patrolled
El Sendero
night after night. But the thought of her capturing a vampire was a gods-damned
shock
?

Joaquin didn't waste any time setting the record straight. “He's not her prisoner.” Joaquin's lip curled with disdain and he spat at Ronan's feet. “She thinks the vampire is her
mate
. She's playing at something.”

“I smell magic,” another of the elders spoke from the rear of the group. “A fair amount of it, too.”

Naya brought her palm up and regarded the golden light glowing there. “I am a
bruja
. Wouldn't you agree that the scent of magic clings to me?”

Beside her Ronan stood stoically, but from the corner of her eye she noticed the flex of his jaw and the angry muscle that ticked there. Luz needed to hurry the hell up before the situation went south.

“The vampire has slaughtered innocents and, through the spread of corrupted magic, created mapinguari to ravage this town. He has taken lives and he has violated the secrecy that protects not only his kind but ours as well. For whatever reason you have come here tonight, Naya, it is your duty to hand him over to us so that we might mete out justice.”

Twenty angry Bororo shifters against one enraged vampire? Naya already knew who she'd put money on in that fight.

“Hand him over.” Joaquin stepped forward, every bit his father's son. “If you don't, you're proving that you're in league with the vampire and a betrayer to our people.” His brow furrowed as she kept her gaze forward, her face impassive. “Do you want to die alongside of him, Naya?”

Joaquin's anger prickled over her skin, abrading with each shouted word. Drums pounded in the depths of her soul, a precursor to the magic that initiated a shift. Joaquin was tired of talking, it seemed. He'd always been a rash male with a too-short temper.

“Luz is coming.” Ronan murmured the words under his breath for Naya's ears alone. That he could hear Luz approaching from around the block renewed Naya's admiration for his keen senses. “Time for a new distraction.”

“What? No.”

Ronan threw himself at Joaquin. With a quick snap of his head the sounds of their skulls cracking together echoed in the space of the nearly deserted street. Joaquin whipped back from the force, his shock apparent in his wide eyes. He righted himself much too quickly, though, and swiped at the blood that trickled from his nose before charging at Ronan with a violent battle shout.

Others moved to come to Joaquin's aid, but one of the elders raised his hand to stay them. “They'll fight to the death!” he proclaimed over the din of the fight. “The truth will lie with the victor.”

Useless, antiquated logic. Why not dunk them underwater? Set them on fire? Drive them off the edge of a cliff? That sort of thinking worked well in the witch trials. Why not use it here, right? The stupidity of it all made Naya want to scream. Ronan had been right. Her people needed to step into the damned twenty-first century.

Even with his wrists bound, Ronan was a formidable opponent. His speed was beyond impressive as he dodged each swing of Joaquin's fists. The dagger he clutched in his right hand flashed silver under the streetlights as he stabbed down at Ronan's shoulder. It was a wasted effort, though, as the weapon made contact with nothing but air. Ronan used the other male's misstep to his advantage and brought his knee into Joaquin's gut.

The static charge of magic thickened the air as Joaquin gave himself over to the shift. In his jaguar form, he'd be even more formidable. Faster. Stronger. As deadly as Ronan, with sharp canines more than capable to rip out a throat. Her mate would lose the upper hand, and in the court of warriors Ronan would be found guilty, his sentence delivered before the verdict could even be made.

Magic pooled in Naya's palms. Her own worry and anger fueled her power. It built in her body, and her limbs quaked with the effort to contain it. Change was going to come to the Bororo and it would begin with this pod.

“Stop!”

Energy exploded from every pore in Naya's skin, leaving her body in a mad rush that sent out a massive shock wave. The ground shook with the force of it and sent bodies sprawling to the pavement. Ronan whipped around to look at her, shielding his eyes from the burst of bright golden light of Naya's magic. In the ensuing chaos and confusion she could hear nothing save the sound of music that rose to a crescendo in her ears.

“Naya…! Naya…!”

Luz's screams were muted by the music of Naya's own magic. The rush of power as it funneled from her body left her weak and shaking. Her knees buckled and her vision blurred as Ronan changed course to rush to her side. The muscles of his arms bulged and cords of veins pressed to the surface of his skin as he yanked his wrists apart and snapped the gold chain that secured the cuffs together. He scooped Naya up in his arms and held her tight against his chest. “I've got you, love,” he said close to her ear. “I've got you.”

“No.” She'd be okay. She just needed a minute to gather her focus. “Luz. Protect Luz and help her with Paul. Distraction, remember?” Ronan's brow furrowed with indecision and his jaw squared with his downturned mouth. “Don't think about it,” she ordered. “Do it.”

He set her down and took off toward Luz's 4Runner. They couldn't take their eyes off the prize when they were so close to getting some real answers. It was going to take a gallon of Ronan's blood—or a few hours of mind-blowing sex—to replenish Naya's stores and she wouldn't have an opportunity again tonight to run interference.

Thank the gods Naya and Luz had placed wards of protection on the city block that the pod occupied. Otherwise, there'd be a few of Crescent City's finest to add to the mess of the night. What happened on their block remained contained. Any sound, the shock wave created by Naya's magic, would be undetectable to anyone outside of their property. 'Cuz this was some fucked-up shit.

Joaquin and the others had begun to shake off their disorientation. They gathered en masse, their gazes fixated on Naya and all of them full of awe. And fear. She supposed the power she'd unleashed had been a little damned scary. Hell, she'd managed to shake herself up.

Over the murmur of voices, Luz's rang out. “On penalty of death, I, Luz Morales, apprentice
bruja
to the Crescent City pod, swear that the charm cast upon our chieftain, Paulo Alvarez, is sanctioned by the goddess, the mother of magic, the first of our ears. And the words hereby spoken from his mouth are truth.” All eyes turned to Luz, including Naya's. She pushed herself up from the ground only to find Ronan by her side before she could stand up straight. He helped her to the 4Runner where Paul stood, immobile. “You wanna take it from here, Cuz?”

Naya's throat was raw, her voice a harsh rasp, as she asked, “Paulo Alvarez, did you willingly use foreign magic and allow it into your body?”

“Yes,” Paul spat.

His malicious gaze slid over her, but Naya refused to be intimidated. “Have you created mapinguari from that same magic and unleashed them to do your bidding?”

His teeth audibly ground in his attempt to keep from answering. After a moment the word burst from his lips. “Yes!”

Murmured voices carried from the elders as they stopped dead in their tracks, stunned by their leader's admissions. Joaquin remained silent, his jaw hanging slack and his eyes wide as he looked from his father to Naya and back again.

“Are you in possession of a stolen vampire relic?”

Spittle dribbled down the chieftain's chin. “Y-yes.”

Naya looked over at Ronan, took his hand in hers, and squeezed. “And have you taken captive a female dhampir?”

Paul's eyes narrowed with hate as he looked at Ronan. “Yes.”

Ronan's body tensed beside her and Naya funneled every ounce of calm she could muster through their tether. She needed him to stay level, to let the pod handle this business, as was their right. He let out a rush of breath at the same moment she filled her lungs. “Where are the relic and dhampir? Tell me, now.”

Paul's words were stilted as the magic forced them past his lips. “Beneath the ground. Fifteen miles from here. There's a cabin off of Humboldt Road, deep in the Elk Valley land trust.” His eyes lit on Ronan's once again and his lip stretched in a sneer. “But the female isn't a dhampir. Not anymore.”

*   *   *

“Does it offend your sense of originality to find out you're not the only one in the pod with a secret hideout?” Luz said to Naya as they sped down the Redwood Highway to the Elk Valley land trust. “Any guesses on what we're going to find there? I'm starting to think we should have brought an army just in case.”

Ronan shifted in his seat, cracking his neck from side to side in an effort to relieve some of the tension that pulled his shoulders tight. He was inclined to agree with Luz. They had no idea who—or what—Paul might've set to guard his private sanctuary.

“He couldn't lie under the influence of the truth charm, Luz.” If only Ronan felt as confident as his mate sounded. “I asked him if anyone else was out there. He said no.”

“Who's to say he couldn't have found a way around the truth?” Ronan suggested.

Naya cut him a look and her jaw screwed up in a lopsided set. “Are you saying you don't trust our
magia
?”

“Hell,” Luz chimed in, “I don't know if
I
trust our
magia
. We've been through some shit tonight, Naya.”

Sunrise was just over four hours away. Already Ronan could feel the brightening horizon as a prickle on his skin. What condition would they find Chelle in? And would they be able to get her—both of them—out of there before the sun crested the horizon?

“It'll be all right, Ronan.”

Would it? “Chelle's a fighter. There's no doubt about that. But, Naya. I don't want you to sugarcoat anything. I know what we might find there. And I have to be prepared for what needs to be done.”

There were no more reassurances to give. No conjecture to be made. The trio remained silent as they negotiated the back roads of the Elk Valley reserve, following Paul's instructions to the cabin that was tucked away in the forest, far from where anyone would find it.

Ronan took a deep breath and held it as the 4Runner came to a stop in front of a newer cabin that looked more like a large shed, isolated in the dense trees. Cold darkness rose up inside of him like the tide, and the thirst he'd managed to push to the back of his mind raged like an inferno in his throat. He wasn't worth a damn to anyone in this state, but he didn't have a choice. Chelle needed him.

“Ronan? Are you all right?” Naya's gaze searched his face, her brow furrowed with concern.

He swallowed against the dryness that coated his mouth as she tilted her head slightly to the right, revealing the delicate curve of her throat.
Starving
. Ronan was fucking starving. He wanted to open Naya's vein and glut himself.

“You're hurting me,” Naya said in a calm, even tone. He looked down to find that he'd wrapped his hand around her wrist and squeezed it tight. With a shuddering breath he forced his fingers to uncurl, though they remained bent like stiff claws. Gods, if he didn't feed soon he was going to lose his damn mind. And why? He'd taken more than enough of Naya's blood to sustain him for weeks.

“I'm sorry.” He wanted to smooth her skin, kiss her there, to soothe his careless rough touch, but Ronan didn't trust himself not to sink his fangs into her wrist. He didn't trust himself to stop at a sip or several swallows of her blood. His need was absolute and nothing short of drinking his mate to the point of death would satisfy him. “Gods, Naya.” The words lodged in his throat, strained. “I'm
so
sorry.”