Dark Secrets (10 page)

“You’re mine, Ella,” he said between hot, drugging kisses.

“Always,” I murmured.

He pulled back. His face darkened with possession. “Julian
tries to kiss you again, I swear on everything that is holy I’m gonna shoot him
in the face.”

A soft laugh left my chest. That sound, the little freedom,
loosened something deep inside—the guilt I’d been harboring eased. “Just make
sure you do it when I’m not around so I don’t get in the way.”

Remorse filled his eyes and he instantly stilled. Damn. I
was a bitch to be so careless with my words. I knew the guilt he carried
inside. During a fight between Julian and Micah a few months ago, my lover had
aimed a stake at my sire’s heart. Some freakish vampire instinct had me phazing
between the two men and I had taken the blow meant for Julian. Micah couldn’t
stand the fact that he’d hurt me, or that he’d had to pull the wood out of my
shoulder after my skin had healed around it.

“Sorry,” I said softly and stroked the wet strands of hair
from his face. “I shouldn’t have brought that up.”

He brushed his fingers against my shoulder, any evidence
that I’d been hurt gone. “Don’t be. It’s a good reminder. I hurt you once. I
won’t do it again.”

“I love you, Micah.”

“I love you more than you’ll ever know.”

We made soft, slow love in the shower, pushing and pulling,
milking every last drop of pleasure there was. When the water cooled, the heat
radiating from Micah warmed me. Nothing mattered except him and me. He held me
tight, his thrusts speeding when he approached his climax.

The protective walls he surrounded himself with fell,
leaving his soul bare. Heat rushed through me and I cried out. Pleasure mounted
and coiled. I came in an explosion of bliss that decimated the world around me.
An onslaught of thoughts and emotions hit me, his and mine, mixed. I tried to
pull back—tried not to get sucked into the vortex—but I was too raw to shield
either one of us.

I knew in that instant all of the reasons Micah had kept his
distance from me. He’d been trying to shelter me from the truth, the depth of
his love, the lengths he was willing to go to in order to keep me by his side.

Micah was going to kill Richard McGregor and he didn’t want
me to live with the guilt of yet one more death.

Tears filled my eyes and I clutched him closer, hoping he
felt how very much I adored him. Right or wrong, I loved him even more for
wanting—no, needing—to protect me at all costs.

What kind of a person did that make me?

A survivor.

I pulled away from his thoughts as Micah cried out against
me, shifting his hold from my hands to my hips where he clutched me close and
kept pounding. I opened my eyes, enjoyed the sight of him losing control as he
rode out the cresting waves of his pleasure.

I scratched my nails down his back. The rich scent of blood
filled the air and coaxed my fangs free.

“Fuck, yes,” he gasped.

Micah threw his head back, his wet hair plastered to his
forehead. His mouth parted open as he closed his eyes tighter. He came deep
inside me, hot semen flooding my womb, marking me. In that moment, he’d never
looked more feral, or more masculine.

I stroked a hand down his chest and pulled my lower lip
between my teeth while I waited for him to come back to me.

He thrust twice more, wringing out the last facets of his
orgasm before he stilled and drew my cheek against his pounding chest. He
pulled in one deep breath after another. I shut off the shower and Micah slid
me from the shelf. He wrapped an arm around my waist to keep us locked
together.

Dripping wet, he carried us from the bathroom and into the
wide-open space of the bedroom, settling me on the four-poster bed that
dominated the space we’d claimed as our own. Cool air drifted over my skin from
an open window, the subtle flapping of drapes a familiar, comforting noise. I
shivered.

“Cold?” he asked, laying down next to me.

I curled into him, sighing at the instant surrounding of
heat. “A little.”

He pulled the blankets at the end of the bed over our bodies
and tucked me into his side. In the complete dark, we lay curled around each
other, my head on his chest and his fingers dancing through my wet, tangled
hair. I was seconds away from either purring or falling into a deep coma-like
sleep.

Micah’s voice was raspier in the darkness. “I know the
timing sucks, but we need to head up to Albany as soon as the sun sets.”

“Your mom?”

“Yeah. We need to scope out the hospital she’s being held at
and see how many guards they’ve got on the facility. We’ll have to figure out
the best way to get in and get her out. Castro gave me the blueprints for the
building—seems pretty straight forward.”

I closed my eyes tight and tried not to think about my uncle
lying in a hospital bed. “What do we do about Roy? I can’t just leave him…”

“He’ll be in an induced coma. I know you don’t want to leave
him, but we’re running out of time. Your trial is in a few days and if we can
present my mother—get her to testify about my genetics, well, they won’t be
able to ignore her. Did you know my mom’s uncle is on the council?”

“Cornelius Reynard, right?”

“Yes. He isn’t a fan of Richard either. This is our best
shot to both clear your name and bring their attention to what’s been going on.
It has to be stopped. Dante and Eli will come with us. Hannah will want to help
too. I think we should let her—she’s a part of our world, like it or not.”

I played my fingers through the soft, springy hair on his
chest and knew he was right. “I don’t want her to get hurt.”

“She can take care of herself, and you know Dante and Eli
won’t let anyone or anything harm her.”

Resigned to the fact that I was no longer my sister’s sole
protector, I nodded and snuggled in closer. It was as solid a plan as we were
going to get.

“Are you nervous about seeing her?” I asked and decided not
to bring up the fact I knew he was plotting Richard’s death.

His deep, heavy sigh told me he knew exactly who “her” was. “Yes.
No. I don’t know how to feel. I thought she was dead. It’s hard to reconcile
that she isn’t, that the reason why I’m alive today is because she was raped.
I’m probably the last person she’s going to want to see after being back in
that place.”

I rolled over on top of Micah so I could look down at him.

“Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it together.”

Micah cupped my face and stroked my cheek with his thumb. “Together.
Now, let’s get some sleep while we can. I don’t think I’ve ever come so hard in
my life, I’m about to pass out any second—which is normally your job after sex.”
As he spoke, he guided me back to the mattress.

I closed my eyes and inhaled our mingled scents.

Micah’s voice jarred me back to consciousness the second I’d
started to drift. “As much as the break sucked, I think not coming for two
weeks just caused me to have the best orgasm of my life.”

I popped my eyes open and lifted up on my elbow to study his
face. His eyes were closed, his mouth parted. He chest rattled as if he were
seconds away from snoring.

“Wait a second.”

“Sleeping now,” he grumbled.

“You didn’t come for two weeks, you didn’t even jack off?”

He opened one eye and peered at me. In long, lazy strokes,
he rubbed my back. “No. Did you?”

“FYI, girls don’t jack off.”

He opened the other eye. “Smart-ass. You know what I meant.”

I grinned at him, feeling lighter than I had in weeks. “To
answer your question, yes, like every day. I’m used to a steady string of
orgasms. Just because you took away the goods didn’t mean I had to go without.
Not having it just made me want it even more.”

Heat filled his eyes and his caress shifted into something
more, something with purpose. He rolled me beneath him and drew his hips
against mine. Between us, his cock pulsed.

“That is so fucking hot, do you know that?”

I licked his lip. “How hot?”

He cupped my ass and drew me against the hard length of his
erection. “Hot enough that neither one of us is getting any sleep. Just
thinking about you with your fingers buried in your pussy, your hips rocking as
you get yourself off…fuck.”

He pressed his mouth against my neck, teeth nipping as he
sucked on the flesh. When he clamped down, I dug my nails into his ass and
gripped him close, pushing my throat farther into his mouth.

“Sleeping is overrated,” I purred and gave into my mate.

“You bet your sweet ass it is.”

Wind swept through the forest with such force, the Jeep
swerved to the left. Barren limbs scratched against the exterior of the SUV and
sent a line of goose bumps trailing down the back of my neck. After a nearly
silent five-hour drive up to Albany, the noise was too loud. I gripped the
steering wheel tighter as our destination came into view through a gap in the
thick trees. Sweat slicked my palms, making my grip slippery. Under my hands,
thin wisps of curling smoke rose, dancing in front of my vision.

I let go of the wheel and stretched my fingers, a poor
attempt to pull back the waves of anger threatening to consume me. Through the
bug-splattered windshield I stared at the place that housed my mother—a woman I’d
been told had taken her own life.

I’d been raised on bullshit lies.

Resentment filled me and I clenched my jaw, fought to stay
inside the vehicle when all I really wanted to do was rush in guns a-blazin’.
Emotion made you weak and sloppy, a lesson I’d learned after years of Richard’s
abuse. If I wanted to get my mother out alive, I needed to think smart and push
back all the crap swirling around in my head.

Chain-link fences topped with barbed wire surrounded the
wide, L-shaped two-story concrete structure. Hospital my ass. This place was a
fucking prison. Guards stationed in towers, one at each corner, aimed rifles
into the dark forest that isolated the institution from the main roads.

I watched for movement, studying the layout and trying to
compare it against the blueprints I’d studied after Ella had succumbed to
unconsciousness after we’d fucked for nearly four hours straight. Two guards
dressed in army fatigues patrolled the grounds and I wondered if there were
more stationed on the sides we couldn’t see from our vantage point.

They walked in a specific, straight-backed rhythm I pegged
as paramilitary. I had visions of breaking their necks, of feeling their bones
snap under my hands. I licked my lips and hated the savage pleasure surging to
the surface.

Do it.
The voice inside my head was dark and twisted,
the words jumbled in a way I didn’t think anyone except me could have
understood.
Blast a hole in the side of the building and stroll inside. We
own them. They can’t touch you.

I shook the thoughts away and wrestled my demon into submission.
The hard ball in my gut burned brighter.

“What the hell is this place?” The sexy rasp of Ella’s voice
drew me from the dark and I looked to her.

We should still be naked in bed, tangled in each other
and drunk on pleasure.
The taste I’d gotten earlier wasn’t enough to slake
me, would never be enough to satisfy my craving for her.

Hannah, a ball of fucking sunshine and roses, leaned forward
from where she was sandwiched between Dante and Eli in the backseat. Her blonde
hair was bright in the interior of the car, a spot of light in the darkness.
She tugged on Ella’s ponytail before resting her chin on the headrest.

“This place looks like a jail.”

If I could trust what was going to come out of my mouth, I
would have agreed. Instead, I returned my sight to the hospital. Was this where
I’d been born? Who was my father? Why the fuck had Richard lied?

“I think Hannah should stay in the car,” Ella said, the
worry in her voice pulling at my conscience.

A better man would have taken her hand and comforted her,
told her everything was going to be all right just to make her feel better.
Fuck that. Ella wasn’t some shrinking violet. She’d be the first one to kick my
ass if I tried to treat her like one.

Things weren’t going to be fine. Hunters had tried to kill
her. An entire council of bigoted assholes wanted her head on the chopping
block. Vampires were running wild. Julian was a dick. And Hannah—she was
fragile, so easily broken, something that had been proven only a few short
months ago.

Violence crept closer to the surface—the world I saw tinged
by the red I was slowly getting used to. A world drenched in blood. This was
something awakening in me, something primal.

I glanced in the rearview mirror at my brother and met his
gaze. He sat with his shoulder pressed to the window, as far from Hannah as
possible. He was probably in his own private hell back there.

“Ella’s right,” I said slowly. “Hannah should stay here. I
wasn’t expecting so many guards. Either they’ve got a fuck of a lot of secrets
in there or someone tipped them off that we were coming.”

Dante shook his head and sent his mane of hair bouncing. He
slid his hand from Hannah’s knee to her thigh and squeezed. I had a feeling if
he could have pissed on her to mark his territory, he might have. “Not leaving
her here.” His tone broached no argument one way or the other. I needed Dante.
Hell, I needed Hannah and her crazy memory to help us navigate the inside of
the facility. If shit went south, she’d be the best person to get us out in a
hurry.

Eli glared at the other shifter and curled his lip at him.
The feline responded in kind and the testosterone in the too-tight vehicle
kicked up about ten notches. Time to break up the party before fur flew.

“Have it your way,” I said.

“No way.” Ella shook her head. “He doesn’t get to make
decisions for her.”

Dante stared Ella down without an ounce of fear. “My bed, my
woman, my say.”

Ella narrowed her eyes and I let out a low whistle at the I’m-going-kick-your-ass
glare she shot him. This wasn’t going to end well.

Hannah, who seemed even more innocent all of a sudden,
looked between all of us. Two months ago she might have played the Barbie card,
but not tonight. “We all discussed this and agreed to it before we left the
house. How about I decide what I want? I’m a part of this team and I’m going in.”
She tapped the side of her head. “I’m the one who memorized the blueprints. You
need me to plot the course through the inside of that place and get your mom
out safely.”

“Then it’s settled—again.” I pushed open the door and
stepped out into the night.

Cool air filled my lungs and helped extinguish some of the
heat. Boots crunched through the snow and I didn’t need to look to know it was
Ella. She stopped at my side, her shoulder brushing my arm, a silent
reaffirmation of her support.

We were in this together and thank fuck for that.

I shoved my hands into my jeans pockets and studied the
building. Car doors opened and then closed.

“What’s the plan?” Dante asked.

I glanced at him and fought not to shake my head. As if they
were made of glue, Hannah was adhered to his side. He had an arm wrapped around
her, holding her tight. The tip of her nose was red from a cold I couldn’t
feel. She shifted from one side to the other despite the layers Ella had
insisted she pile on. I looked away from her skintight black jeans, black fur-lined
boots and the black puffy jacket that shimmered in the moonlight. B&E, high-fashion
style.

“Hannah,” I said, my gaze never leaving the building, “you
studied the file on the way up. What’s the best way to enter?”

Her voice shifted and she sounded older. “Four towers—each
armed with three guards. Castro made some notes regarding shift change. One is
coming up soon. We wait, cut through the fence and get as close to the building
as we can. Dante and Eli can shift, draw attention from the side entrance while
Ella phazes inside.”

I turned, looked her over from her curled hair to her fuzzy
boots and lifted an eyebrow. Who the hell was she?

A blush colored her cheeks. “What?”

I wrapped my arm around Ella’s shoulders and drew her into
my side. I pressed my lips against her temple, needed to feel her skin, smell
her shampoo. “Nothing. It’s a good plan is all.”

Ella rubbed her cheek against my arm and my cock inflated.
Stupid bastard.

“That sounds good in theory, but we’ve got one problem,”
Ella said. “I can’t phaze inside. I’ve got to picture it in my head or it doesn’t
work.”

Dante grinned and reached into his back pocket. “Gotcha
covered.”

He handed Ella a folded photo. She opened the paper and I
gazed down with her. A grainy picture showed two guards standing inside the
doorway Hannah wanted Ella to transport to. Affixed to the wall was a placard
that read “R&D 1B-C”. I didn’t know what the hell it meant, but it was
something specific Ella could use to ensure she ended up where she wanted to
be.

I flicked the paper with my finger and smiled up at Hannah,
feeling hopeful I wouldn’t have to bash in anyone’s skull—however much my demon
might have enjoyed that particular activity. Get in, get out.

Hannah grinned. “The research offices are down that
corridor. Once Ella is in, she can open the door and let us through. I know
where the records are kept. Best thing would be to look through the files, find
out exactly where your mother is. We are going to need some kind of paperwork,
documents, anything we can use for the trial. My instincts tell me those guns
aren’t to keep the people inside safe.”

I rubbed my jaw. “Dante, Eli, you okay with this plan?”

In answer, Dante—who stood in the frigid temperature in
little more than a tee and faded jeans—grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled
it over his head. Hannah’s blissful sigh had me rolling my eyes.

“All right then,” Ella said and turned her back about the
time Dante reached for the button on his jeans.

I met the shifter’s gaze and then my brother’s, making sure
they both understood what was at stake. “If we get separated, we meet up back
at the car.”

Dante’s gaze was penetrating. “You get my girl hurt, you’ll
pay.”

Ella made a rude sound in the back of her throat and turned
her head to glare at him. “Sometimes I hate you.”

Hannah lifted onto her toes and pressed a kiss to Dante’s
cheek. “I’ll be fine, seriously. I can handle this. Do you not remember badass
Hannah who helped take out a master vampire?”

Before she got two steps forward, Dante grabbed her arm,
pulled her back and captured her lips in a kiss that had me looking away before
he slipped his tongue into her mouth.

I walked over to Eli and ran my hand over his buzzed scalp.
I brought his head to mine so we were eye to eye. “Keep your head in the game.
Be safe. You get hurt—I’m going to kick your ass.”

“I’m bulletproof.” He backed up a step and pulled his shirt
over his head, dropping it to the ground.

Light flashed and I averted my gaze as the otherworldly,
vibrating energy from my brother bathed my skin in electricity. After a few
seconds, the intensity dimmed and I found Dante had shifted as well.

We didn’t have to wait long before the compound erupted in
movement. The guards changed shifts, coming in and out of doors to switch
positions. As a group, we stuck close to the trees, moving as stealthily as we
could considering we had two large animals with us. Dante went off in one
direction, Eli the other and bounded into the shining spotlights positioned at
the corners of the hospital.

I cupped the back of Ella’s head and brought her forehead to
mine. “Showtime, babe.”

“Be safe.”

“Always.”

Then she vanished, taking a piece of me with her. I pulled the
gun from the back of my pants and stepped in front of Hannah, keeping her
behind me. We crept down the embankment and I held my breath for the few
moments when we were out in the open. Every step sounded too loud in the night.
At the gate, I held out my palm and Hannah set a pair of wire cutters into my
hand.

I snipped the metal, each snick of the pliers bringing me
closer to my goal.

“Hurry,” Hannah whispered.

I grit my teeth and systematically peeled back the links I’d
severed to create a space for us to fit through. The second the hole was large
enough, I slipped through and grabbed Hannah’s arm, pulling her with me.

“Go,” I ordered, shoving her into a run.

We sprinted the twenty feet across the open concrete, the
echo of our boots a heavy pulse in my head. The entire time, I stared at the
door I knew Ella was behind.

I pressed my back to the wall and waited. The racing din of
my heart was the only thing I could hear. Ten breaths went by before the door
opened and Ella poked her head out.

“Problems?” Ella checked left, then right before motioning
us forward.

Hannah, rosy-cheeked and bright-eyed, grinned from ear to
ear. “Oh my God, my heart is beating ten thousand miles a minute. Is it always
like this?” she panted.

I shoved her inside the door and looked behind me to see if
we’d been spotted. Nothing yet. Hannah’s grin faded when she looked at the body
laid out on the white tiled floor that was speckled with dark red droplets.

Damn. Hannah’s success rate for not passing out at the sight
of blood was fifty-fifty. Her swallow was audible. She looked up and met Ella’s
gaze, her face colorless. “Is he—dead?”

Ella frowned at her and I didn’t miss the flash of hurt she
quickly buried. “Of course he isn’t dead! Why would I kill him? He didn’t do
anything wrong except pick the wrong place to work. I just,” Ella made a
gesture of putting the man in a headlock, “incapacitated him. Not my fault if
his nose got in the way of my elbow.”

“Sorry, Ella—he just looks so…”

I knelt next to the unconscious guard and pulled out a zip
tie from my pocket, working quickly to bind his wrists. I snatched a set of
keys, a two-way radio and an ID badge I wasn’t sure I’d need.

“Where to, Hannah?” I asked as I stepped over the body and
stalked down the long, barren hallway.

The fluorescent bulbs overhead flickered, and I tried to
ignore the subtle buzzing. The walls were white, peppered with strange
motivational posters of mountains, lakes and other landscapes. “There is no ‘I’
in team”.

What the fuck was this place?

Beside me, Ella’s breathing changed. Her heart increased
into a thunderous rhythm that made me feel like I’d just snorted a line of
coke. I glanced at her. Her pale face looked a little green under the
artificial lighting. She clenched and unclenched her fists, drawing my attention.