Darkest Risings (34 page)

“You
aren’t going to get away with this. We will stop you,” Ashe said.

“I
don’t think so. If you could stop me, you would have by now. Although”—he
turned his black-cowl-covered head toward Aiston—”I can’t say I enjoyed being
burned. I’ll make sure you pay for that one.”

 
“You won’t touch my brother or any of my
family,” Aldin said.

Fury
built inside him minute by minute. Trinidad may be scary as hell, but he hadn’t
met anything that couldn’t be killed—yet. Trinidad needed to be killed…in a bad
sort of way.

“I
will do what I want when I want. The sooner you realize that, the sooner I can
get on with my plans.” Trinidad’s hands snaked out from the sleeves of his
cloak and he rested his bony fingertips against one another. “Glad to see the
fourth brother has finally been
set free
to
play,” Trinidad said.

“Fuck
you,” Uriah answered.

“Tsk.
Tsk. I wish I could have located you before mommy freed you. I’ve known about
you for a long time, but I could never quite pinpoint your exact location.”

“That’s
because my mother is smarter than you.”

“If
your mother was smarter than me, she wouldn’t have turned you loose.” Trinidad
cackled again.

Apparently,
Trinidad was not privy to the prophecy and what Uriah’s freedom could
ultimately lead to. That gave Aldin a shimmer of hope.

“This
shit stops tonight,” Conrad said.

“Such
language.” Trinidad tsked again, chastising Conrad as if he were a little boy.
“I like the blonde ones. I think you and I could have some
fun
together.”

Before
they could stop him, Conrad charged Trinidad. Unfortunately, about ten feet
before he reached Trinidad, Trinidad slipped a dagger from his sleeve, flicked
his wrist, and sent it slicing through the air. It embedded in the side of
Conrad’s neck and sent him to his knees, clutching at the handle protruding
from his throat. The sickening gurgling noise coming from his mouth told Aldin
he’d bleed out quick. If they didn’t get him out of here fast, he’d likely die.

When
Dominic went for Conrad, a dart flew from Trinidad’s other hand and found its
mark in Dominic’s chest. Dominic stumbled, reached for the dart, but a split
second after he yanked it out, he sprawled to the ground and went motionless.

“Now,
who is next? We shall
end this,
as
you so bluntly put it, tonight, but ending it means you will all be coming with
me as prisoners.” Trinidad snarled, obviously losing patience.

Aldin
had never seen a vampire move as quickly as Trinidad. They had to be careful or
he had no doubt Trinidad would make good on his threat. He looked where Conrad
lay. The pool of blood under him grew bigger by the second. They had to get him
out of here.

“Go
fuck yourself!” Malachi shouted.

“I’m
too smart to be baited, Malachi. But have no fear. I will get to you again at
some point in time.” He tapped his bony finger against his face.

Aldin
assumed it was his lips, but still couldn’t see his features clearly.

“I
think it’s time for you to know what burning alive feels like.” Trinidad
pointed to Aiston.

Aldin
threw up his hand and used the last bit of his power to call down the lightning
before jumping in front of Aiston. Trinidad proved to be faster, dodged the
bolt before it hit him, and shot fire from his fingertips. The blast hit Aldin
full force as he fell in front of Aiston to shield him. The pain was
excruciating. Vampires could be burned to death, but it took awhile, and it
wasn’t pleasant. His skin felt as if it was bubbling and melting from his
bones.
That’s because it is.
He
fought back the urge to scream. He’d never screamed out in pain in his life,
but he was getting close to doing so now.

Aiston
jerked Aldin’s duster—which was still in flames—off him, removed his own
duster, tossed it over Aldin, and smothered the remaining fire on his body. The
excruciating pain froze him. The poison in his body from the drifters’ talons
and tranq kept him from healing as quickly as normal. His hands contorted into
balls, and his muscles twitched in effort to repair themselves.

Aiston
touched him, and he gasped in pain.

“You
okay, bro?” Aiston whispered.

“Thanks
for putting me out, but don’t touch me,” he panted.

Trinidad
took a couple more steps and bent down next to Conrad’s body.

“Too
bad. You were pretty. I would have liked to play with you.”

Aldin’s
chest surged with pain even through the screaming inferno of his burns. Was
Conrad dead?

By
the time Trinidad stood again, the hunters had formed a tight circle around
Aldin. They’d command him to shimmer if he could, but he was too weak. None of
them could get him to safety as at this point, they needed every man on deck.
Aldin wouldn’t leave his brothers and fellow hunters anyway.

“Who
shall be next?” Trinidad screeched as he came even closer.

“Don’t
do this, brother.”

Trinidad
froze when Ragnor’s voice came from behind him.

“So,
you finally figured out who I am,” Trinidad said before turning to face Ragnor.

“I
did. What I don’t understand is where all of this hatred has come from. If you
would have come to me, we could have worked this out.”

“Worked
it out! Worked it out?” Trinidad screamed in fury. “I wasn’t allowed near you
or anyone else in that damned village. Or did you forget that?”

“No
one had knowledge of your mother’s pregnancy before or after she was cast from
the village. That village has been gone for hundreds upon hundreds of years
now. You could have come to me at any point in time. I had no idea who you were
until tonight.”

“Isn’t
that special? Don’t expect any warm, fuzzy reunions. I plan on finishing what I
started. I will finally have what should have been mine all along. How pathetic
is it that the great Vampyre King couldn’t figure out he had a brother until
now? You are weak, and it’s time for someone new to rule.”

“I
won’t let you hurt anyone else, Trinidad.”

“Oh.
You won’t
let
me, will you? And you
think you can stop me?”

“You
are not what you think you are.”

“I’m
exactly what I think I am.”

“What
the fuck is going on?” Aldin asked.

Ragnor
had called Trinidad brother. Surely he could not have meant that in the literal
sense.

“Got
me,” Ashe replied.

“Not
a damned clue,” Aiston agreed.

“Please.
Let us start new from here. What you are trying to do is wrong. You must know
you will never succeed.” Ragnor held his arms wide.

Trinidad
snarled and charged Ragnor. Everyone tensed, waited, hoped either Ragnor would
finally take Trinidad down or there would be an opportunity to catch him
unawares. Malachi looked at Ashe, and Ashe nodded before they both crept toward
the ensuing fight.

Ragnor
blasted fire from his fingertips at Trinidad. The fire slowed him, but didn’t
stop his approach altogether. Aldin didn’t miss the surprise on Ragnor’s face
even through the mind-numbing haze of pain still wracking his body.

Trinidad
began waving his hands in front of him in an intricate manner, weaving side to
side, up and down as he continued toward Ragnor.

Aldin
scowled. When Trinidad had kidnapped Malachi, he’d said that he’d held him with
the tranq and some kind of spell. Was he using magic now?

Suddenly,
an invisible force sent Ragnor flying back toward the edge of the building. He
caught himself just before going over, disappeared, then reappeared behind
Trinidad.

Ragnor
punched at Trinidad’s back and his fist went through cloak, skin, and muscle.
Aldin assumed he was going for the bastard’s heart, but Trinidad spun and
caught Ragnor’s arm with another dagger. Ragnor didn’t flinch even though his
hand now dangled from his wrist by a thin hunk of skin.

Ashe
got to Trinidad just as he went for Ragnor again, but Trinidad flipped Ashe to
his back with such speed even Aldin barely caught the movement. His brother was
about to die. Without thought to himself or his injuries, he used the fear of
losing Ashe as motivation to amplify the meager strength he had left and called
the thunder and lightning right before he shimmered and reappeared between Ashe
and Trinidad’s dagger.

This
time, Trinidad was not quick enough to dodge the lightning as it struck him in
the middle of his back. Aldin hoped it hit the same spot Ragnor had put his
fist through only seconds ago. Trinidad screeched, but raised the dagger again.
Aldin was about to get a blade to the heart, and there was nothing he could do
as he was a sitting duck having depleted every ounce and then some of his
strength.

He
hoped somehow he’d survive even though the odds were stacked against him. He
didn’t mind giving his life for his brother, but he was sad that he might not
be able to keep his promise to Wilhemina and return to her.

Ashe
pushed out from under him, but Aldin knew it wouldn’t be fast enough to stop the
blade coming for him. At the last second, a blur of movement appeared behind
Trinidad. Unfortunately, Trinidad must have sensed it as well, and changed the
direction of the dagger. He ducked and twisted, spun on his heel, then came up
slashing in an arc from left to right.

Ragnor
buried his good fist in Trinidad’s chest, and Aldin thought this time Ragnor
would succeed at ripping Trinidad’s heart out. Instead, Ragnor jerked his hand
back, and Trinidad stumbled while holding his chest. Blood oozed between his
crooked fingers.

“You
will die knowing I have beaten you, knowing I will kill your entire family and
everything you love.” Trinidad’s words were punctuated with flying spittle.

Trinidad
disappeared, and although the bastard had gotten away alive once again, relief
washed through Aldin. That relief was short lived when he saw Ragnor reach
slowly for his throat. Blood began to leak through his fingers and down his arm
and chest. He sank slowly to his knees, and Malachi caught him before he
planted face first on the ground.

The
urgency of the matter was driven home when Ragnor’s head actually started to
slide from his body. It cocked sideways and hung from his neck, mimicking his
injured wrist. Ragnor was as close to decapitated as one could get without technically
being considered so. Aldin was sure that no one could come back from an injury
like that. Not even the great Ragnor.

“No!
No! No! No!”

Dominic’s
screams tore Aldin’s gaze from Ragnor. The hunter had come to and was cradling
Conrad’s limp body in his arms.

“This
is fucking bad,” Aldin whispered.

All
of the hunters gathered around to assess the damage.

Aldin
looked at Uriah who stood a bit to the side of the other hunters. Marilena had
obviously made sure Uriah had been trained well. He was as skilled as the rest
of them were, and Aldin was gaining respect for his new brother even though he
still owed him an ass kicking for hitting Wilhemina.

“This
is real fucking bad,” Ashe replied. “Malachi, please get Ragnor to the safe
room. I need to get my brother home so he can heal and deal with the mess
here.”

“You
giving me permission to shimmer inside your precious house now?” Malachi asked.

None
of the hunters had been given permission to shimmer within the Aleksandrov
estate for safety reasons, but Aldin assumed they were way past that at this
point.

“Permission
granted.”

Malachi
nodded then disappeared with Ragnor.

“Aiston?
Can you please get Aldin home so I can help here? I think Uriah, Grady, Alaina
and I can deal with Dominic and Conrad.”

Aiston
nodded. “Yeah, I think I have enough juice back to get us home. I’ll tell Ebony
you’ll return soon?”

Ashe
nodded.

Aiston
walked over to Aldin and knelt beside him. “Ready, bro?”

“Yep.”

“Some
fucked up shit,” Aiston murmured as he laid his hand on Aldin’s arm.

“Some
seriously fucked up shit,” Aldin agreed.

Wilhemina’s
head was reeling. Malachi had brought Ragnor to the safe room only a few
minutes ago before leaving with Geri. Marilena now worked on cleaning the
ghastly amounts of blood from him and tending his wounds. She hadn’t seen his
actual injuries, but she doubted anyone could survive that much blood loss,
even a vampire. From what she’d overheard, things did not look good for Ragnor.

Panic
rode her hard. She’d been seconds away from ripping her hair out with worry
when Aiston returned. Avril ran to him, and he gave her a kiss that bordered on
X-rated. Wilhemina actually blushed.

“Where’s
Ashe, Aiston?” Ebony asked.

“He’s
okay.” He turned to Wilhemina. “Aldin is okay too, but in rough shape. I’ll
take you to him in a moment.” He turned back to Ebony and Avril. “Conrad didn’t
make it.”