Blood at Stake (Warriors of the Krieger Book 2) (16 page)

“You’re right,” I smiled, but it didn’t
reach my eyes.

Elise left around two in the morning, saying
she wanted to take care of some things at her house before sunrise.
I hugged her when she left and thanked her for coming over to keep
me company.

Harlow never left his post by the wall,
standing where he could see all access points in the room. From
where he stood, he could see the front and back doors and most of
the windows on the main floor. Ignoring him, I stood up and made my
way to the back of the house.

I decided to take a shower and braid my hair
before sunrise. Ashby’s bedroom was in the back of the house and
there were no windows in the enclosed room. A steel door sealed
tight when we took to our death sleep each day.

The shower was hot and welcomed. The dark
tiles in his masculine bathroom made the room feel more
comfortable, and I found myself resting my forehead against them as
I let the heated water trail over my body. I rubbed my neck where
the bullet had entered, still feeling the phantom sizzle of my
flesh as the enchanted metal almost took my life. I wrung my hand
over my wrist, remembering where the chains had draped across them
as I was pinned to the table in the cabin when those men took my
blood. I could’ve been raped and killed, but my mate found me and
saved me.

The sound of the front door closing shook me
out of my thoughts. A heartbeat later, Ashby was sliding in the
shower, taking me into his arms.

“Hey, love,” he whispered, cupping my face
so that he could look into my eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing,” I sighed, closing my eyes and
just letting his touch soothe me. “I was just lost in my
thoughts.”

“You’re safe,” he promised.

“I know,” I replied, kissing his strong jaw.
He cupped my face gently in his massive hand and touched his lips
to my own.

We spent the rest of the night chasing the
sun as we found pleasure in each other’s arms.

Chapter 22

Ashby

“There’s been another body found,” Dragus
cursed. “We have to head out. Be ready in fifteen minutes.”

It’d been a week since I’d tried to keep
Lydia from going into the club to work, but that only lasted one
night. She’d been back at work the next night, but this time with
Charity and four
Krieger
guards to keep them safe.

“Yes, sir,” I replied, turning off the
computer in my office.

Rowland met me at the office door, his
blue-black eyes searched my face. “How’s Lydia holding up?”

“As well as she can, giving the situation,”
I cursed. “I have a bad feeling that something’s going to happen to
her, and I worry every time she is away from me.”

“Harlow is a strong warrior. He will protect
her,” he said.

“I know he will,” I growled, following
Rowland down the hallway and out toward the parking lot. Powle and
Bastian took a separate vehicle, while Dragus, Rowland, and I piled
into the other SUV.

As Dragus drove, I closed my eyes and
reached out for her with my mind. All I felt was her presence and
nothing else. I wished we could communicate the way Dragus and
Charity could with their minds. I was just thankful that in extreme
circumstances, Lydia could call out for me like she did when those
men had her in the cabin.

“They are fine,” Dragus chuckled. “Charity
and Lydia are in their offices and Harlow, Brock, Adam, and William
are all there keeping an eye on things.”

“Okay,” I said, pinching the bridge of my
nose.

As we rounded the corner of Newton Road,
several police cars lined the road in front of the farm house where
the body was found. Several human officers mulled around, looking
grim. Dragus parked the truck and we all exited the vehicle about
the time Bastian and Powle were arriving.

“Thanks for coming,
Krieger
,” an
officer said, walking up to us with his hand out. We made our
introductions. “My name is Matthew Constantine, and I will be
working with you to find out who is behind all of these
murders.”

“What happened inside?” I asked, peeking
over the man’s shoulder. The detective was a few inches shorter
than my six foot four. He looked to be in his early forties, and he
kept his brown hair cut tight to his scalp. His blue eyes appeared
to be older than he was, and I’d bet he’d seen more than most men
his age.

“There is a human female, age twenty-three,
drained of blood inside the upstairs bedroom,” he cursed. “These
women we keep finding are in their early twenties and that pattern
concerns me.”

“What concerns you the most?” Dragus
asked.

“They are all the perfect age for breeding,”
he said, handing over a packet of paperwork sealed in a manila
envelope. “The autopsies have come back and most of them had been
raped. Can you tell me anything to help me put these puzzle pieces
together?”

“What?” I cursed. I felt my blood surging
through my veins at the thought of these women being tied down and
taken against their will. If a vampire raped them, that alone could
kill them. We didn’t have sexual relations with humans for the
simple fact of our strength and the heat of the moment, could hurt
them…possibly kill them.

“Can your race breed?” he asked.

“Hell no,” Dragus cursed. “What in the hell
is going on?”

“These women were in the part of their cycle
where they could reproduce when they were drained of blood. Whoever
had them tried to get them pregnant as they introduced the vampire
blood into their system.” The officer ran his hand through his hair
and cursed. “Can you tell us why they would be wanting to breed
vampire children?”

Dragus looked at the four of us sending a
silent message as to if we thought it would be okay to tell the
human officer about the
Born Bloods
. There was nothing we
could do to keep it from them and all of us knew it. We all gave a
short nod of agreement and watched as Dragus pulled the human off
to the side to speak to him in private.

“I want to know who the hell is doing this,”
I cursed, my hands clenched at my sides.

“We will find out,” Powle said. “This is why
Elise doesn’t leave the estate.”

“She knows that it’s dangerous, brother,”
Bastian said, gripping his twin on top of his shoulder and looking
deep into his eyes. Something passed between the two men, and I
looked away at the bond they had together.

“We need to get with Doctor Mason and find
out if he can find out biologically if these changelings can
reproduce,” Dragus said as he walked up to where we were all
standing. “Because whoever is trying to force change on these human
females…I have a feeling they are trying to breed an army, and that
is something that we do not want on our hands.”

“Damn,” I cursed, looking at my fellow
warriors. “It’s time we sweep the city. I want these people found
and brought in for punishment. If they are out for my mate’s blood
and end up getting to her again, I will not be responsible for the
destruction I may cause.”

“Agreed,” Powle and Bastian replied
instantly.

“Let’s regroup back at the estate,” Dragus
said, conviction evident in his voice. “Rowland, I want you to head
to the hospital and meet with the good doctor. We will gather
recruits to hit the streets for any information they can find. It’s
time we end this.”

Chapter 23

Lydia

Harlow was standing at the entrance with our
bouncer, Gunther. The two of them looked like twin towers of
destruction as my employee checked ID’s and let customers into the
club. Charity was in her office doing payroll for the week while
her guards were in the back making sure no one breathed on her
wrong. That poor girl didn’t like all of the security, but accepted
it because she was sickeningly in love with her warrior and head
Krieger
of Port Royal, Master Dragus. I accepted my one
bodyguard and didn’t protest him following me around…much.

Meadow was on a break, leaving me to wait
her tables. I’d made my rounds, removing glasses from empty tables.
I wiped down a booth and nodded for Gunther that he could let in
another group waiting to get inside.

Tonight was extremely busy, and I loved
nights like this. We always made a killing and left our customers
smiling as they walked out the door.
Nights
was the premiere
vampire only club in the area because we worked our asses off for
years to keep this place at the top, and everyone who walked into
the building knew we were a high-class establishment. We didn’t
have dirty back rooms where vampires could get a snack or have sex
up against dirty walls. There were other clubs in town, but they
were usually shut down for sordid happenings in their filthy back
rooms. Drugs, humans and sex were not allowed here, because it only
caused trouble.

“Hello, love,” a familiar voice spoke from
behind me. I jumped with a start and spun around to see the one
person I hadn’t expected to be in my club.

“Walter,” I said, averting my eyes. “What
brings you here?”

“What’s wrong, Lydia? Why won’t you look at
me?” Walter stepped closer, and I took a step back. How the hell
was I going to tell the man who warmed my sheets for the past
eighty years that I wasn’t available anymore?

“I…um,” I paused, steeling my nerves and
looking up into his eyes. “I’ve been wonderful, Walter. We need to
talk.”

“Mercy,” he gasped. It only took him about
half of a second before he bowed low before me. “Who is the lucky
warrior?”

“
Krieger
Ashby and I mated just a few
weeks ago,” I answered.

“Are you…happy?” he asked, but gritted his
teeth.

“Very much so,” I replied, truthfully.

“That was awfully fast,” he chuckled,
darkly. “We were just together three months ago. Are you sure you
love this
Krieger
?” The way he said
Krieger
sounded
like he was spitting out something filthy from his mouth.

“It happened very fast,” I said, stepping
aside from a couple that was getting up to leave. “I’m sticking
with my decision, Walter. I love him.”

“Sure,” he said, glaring at my newly
transformed eyes.

“Would you like to come to my office? So we
can talk about this?” I asked. “I don’t want you to be angry with
me, Walter. You’ve always been a good friend to me.”

“
Friend!
” Walter growled, blood
filling his eyes as his anger bubbled. “Eighty years! Eighty years
I courted you and…nothing! You are nothing more than a cheap
wh…”

He didn’t finish what he was saying, because
I clocked him in the mouth with a well-placed punch to his jaw.
That just angered him even more. When he spun around, I gasped as
he reached for me with his left hand…his right was balled into a
fist, and I knew he was about to strike me. I tried to pull away,
but Walter grasped my upper arm in his tight grip, his fangs were
long and deadly in his mouth. I closed my eyes and waited for him
to deliver the blow.

That strike never came, because Harlow was
suddenly there, pushing my ex-lover to the ground with a knee to
the back of his neck. “Are you okay, Lydia?” Harlow looked up from
his spot on the floor, checking me over with his eyes.

“I’m fine,” I said, biting my cheek to keep
from crying.

Sudden chaos erupted in the club when
gunshots sounded from the front doors. Gunther took a bullet to his
side and immediately growled out a curse. Vampires scattered, most
of them heading for the fire exits at the back of the building.

Walter was released as Harlow shoved him
away in his attempt to protect me. I gasped as a bullet hit the
table next to me, slivers of wood raining down as I was taken to
the ground by my bodyguard.

“Are you hit?” he growled, pulling a weapon
from a hidden holster at his side. “Answer me!”

“N…no,” I cried. “What’s going on?”

“Human hate group,” he cursed, pulling me
close to his side. “We are going to run to…
fuck
!”

I started to ask what the hell he was about
to say, when I heard glass shatter. Harlow snatched me up from our
spot on the floor and then we were running. The scent of gasoline
tickled my nose as we reached the back door of the building.

In an instant, my world slowed to an almost
nonexistent speed. Customers and employees ran around us, calling
out for their partners and friends. I looked over Harlow’s shoulder
as he reached the back exit to the building. A flash of blinding
light was the only warning before my club exploded in a fiery ball
of wood, glass and metal.

Harlow was blown off his feet, tossing both
of our bodies, along with my customers and employees, out into the
alleyway behind the club. Car alarms sounded and people screamed in
pain and fear. My head cracked against the hard pavement, causing
stars to dance across my vision. The stench of charred flesh and
the alluring scent of blood surrounded me as I lay completely still
in the parking lot.

“Lydia!” Charity screamed, tears clogging
her voice as she dropped to her knees over me. “Oh, thank heavens
you are okay.”

“Charity, we have to move,” Adam barked
behind her, lifting her up and over his massive shoulder. “Harlow
will take her.”

Shaking my head, I tried to sit up, but my
brain felt heavy, and I slumped back onto the ground, but I wasn’t
there long. Harlow cradled me to his chest as he ran toward the
Krieger
Hummer parked at the back of the lot.

“You’re bleeding,” he cursed. When I looked
at my guard, his fangs were extended, long and thick. Blood trailed
down the left side of his face from a gash at his hairline.

“So are you,” I said, relaxing in his
arms.

Sirens wailed from a distance. Adam placed
Charity in the back of the SUV and moved out of the way so that
Harlow could place me next to her. We immediately wrapped our arms
around each other, crying for all we were worth.