Shon (The Seeker Series Book 2) (12 page)

Chapter Twenty-Four

Shon stepped from the shower and dressed in record time. He checked in on his still-sleeping brother before trailing off toward the kitchen. He found Ember standing next to the refrigerator, pouring them both a glass of wine.

“Who knew vampires would be such alcoholics,” Shon muttered, accepting the glass she held up.

Ember smiled. “Makes no sense. We can’t even catch a buzz. I think it’s the taste of it. It lingers on the tongue as a reminder of what once was.”

“Don’t go all philosophical on me, cousin.” He took a long drink. “Have you heard from Laura?”

Ember shook her head. “That’s what I came over here to ask you. She’s not answering my calls or texts.”

“She’s pissed at me.” Finishing off his wine, Shon extended his empty glass toward Ember. “One more?”

Ember poured him a hefty sum. “What did you do this time?”

“I left her a note after we had sex, pretty much telling her I’d had a good time, but that she needed to be gone before I returned.”

The crack of Ember’s palm across his cheek, though well deserved, was unexpected. Shon ground his teeth, biting back his anger. “It’s not what you think, Em.”

“Really? Why don’t you tell me what the hell else it could be? How could you hurt her that way?”

Setting his glass down on the counter, he rubbed at his weary eyes. “I never meant to hurt her. Last night was the best night of my life, Em. I had finally gotten everything I’d ever wanted. And then Angel showed up to inform me that the elders had been called in. Gina already had Laura’s parents. I wasn’t about to endanger her any more by exposing her to the elders.”

Ember’s expression softened. “So, you sent her away to protect her.”

“Yes, but she doesn’t know that. She thinks I used her. It’s killing me inside to know that I hurt her, Em.”

“I’m so sorry.” Ember wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tight.

Shon pulled back to look into his cousin’s eyes. “She’ll never forgive me.”

Ember shook her head. “Not true. I’ll keep calling until she picks up. I’ll talk to her, Shon. Once she understands why you wrote the note—”

“No,” Shon interrupted. “She has to believe it’s true until the danger has passed. I can’t have her coming back here right now. Not while Gina is still alive.”

“I agree, but I have to tell her something.”

Shon snagged a rubber band off the counter and pulled his hair back into a ponytail. “Not about me. But it wouldn’t hurt to go check on her. I’m sure she’s talked to her parents by now and knows they’re safe.”

Ember finished her glass of wine. “Angel won’t let me go anywhere with Gina on the loose, but I can send Nita to Laura’s house with a note to call me. I’ll make sure it says
urgent
.”

“Thanks, Em. You’re the best.” Shon kissed his cousin on the cheek and drifted off toward the master bedroom to grab his boots. His brother should be waking soon, and God only knew what would happen when John realized he’d been drugged.

A snarl came from the guest room, telling Shon that his twin had awoken. He blurred his way to the open door. “John?”

John bounded from the bed, crouching low, fangs elongated. “What have you done?”

Shon slowly extended his arms out to his sides in a show of trust. “I saved your life. Now if you would be so kind as to have a seat, I’ll be more than happy to explain what’s going on.”

“You have no idea what you’ve done.” John’s frantic gaze darted around the room. “I have to go back.”

Lowering his arms, Shon stared at his twin, this stranger that looked so much like him without the long hair. “You can’t go back. She’ll have you killed.”

“I don’t care!” John shouted, taking a step toward the door Shon blocked.

Shon’s body tightened on instinct. “Well, I care. I can’t allow you to return to that sadistic bitch, John. Not gonna happen.”

John slammed into Shon with enough force that he flew across the hall, shattering the sheetrock behind him.

He gripped Shon’s neck. “I will kill you myself if you do not stay down.”

“She’s brainwashed you, John. Fight it. I know you’re still in there. I can see it in your eyes.”

John’s gaze briefly softened, before turning to ice once again. “John is dead, brother. Nothing is left in this shell of a body but what remains of my heart. And it beats for no one but Roxie.”

Shon blinked up at him. “Who is Roxie?”

“My mate. And if I don’t return at once, Gina will drain her dry.”

“She’s human?”

“For now,” John growled, releasing Shon’s neck and jumping to his feet.

Shon bounded up also. “Then let me help you.”

“You’ve done enough damage already. You’re going to get us all killed.”

“I’m not afraid of Calimari,” Shon snarled, holding his brother’s gaze.

“You should be.” John spun toward the door, jerked it open, and disappeared into the night.

Shon grabbed his key off the counter and darted down the steps to his motorcycle. The roar of the engine split the night as he kick-started the bike and sped out of the parking lot in search of his brother.

There was only one place that John would go…back to Gina.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Laura had never hurt as much as she did in that moment. Pain throbbed in nearly every place in her body.

She attempted to open her eyes without success. They were swollen shut.

The insistent screaming continued throughout the room, preventing her from hearing the sounds of Ellis’s presence.

With every ounce of strength she possessed, Laura strained to see through a narrow crack between the lids of her left eye. She was alone in the room.

A shudder passed through her as she gritted her teeth and attempted to roll to her side.

Searing agony shot through her shoulder and stomach with every inch she managed to scoot to the side of the bed.

Laura rolled off the edge, landing face down on the carpet. She could no more hold back the cry that burst forth than she could stop the blood from seeping into the only eye she could see from.

Using her chin against the mattress for leverage, she wiped her face on the sheet, clearing the blood from her eye, and awkwardly got to her feet.

She tilted her head back to get a visual of the room. Both windows were boarded up, leaving her no way out but the door.

Laura clenched her teeth against the agony slicing through her body and stumbled toward the closed door.

After several steadying breaths, she pressed her ear against the door and listened for several heartbeats before turning her body and twisting the knob. It opened without a hitch.

Please don’t be out there, she silently prayed before staggering down the hall to the bathroom.

Laura bit down to stop her teeth from chattering, all the while listening for signs of the Seeker.

She hooked her shoe on the cabinet beneath the sink and toed it open. Finding it empty save for a few rolls of toilet tissue, she tried one of the three drawers running down the side of the cabinet door.

Scissors
. She nearly cried in relief.

Twisting her body around, she inched down to her knees and attempted to pick up the scissors, but her fingers were too numb to move.

Come on. You can do this, she mentally chanted, forcing her hand open with everything she had.

The scrape of the scissors across the bottom of the drawer told her she’d snagged them.

Slowly straightening her knees, she watched in the mirror as she managed to open the scissors and twist them to the correct position.

Laura began to cut through the ropes. She cried, begged God to help her, and after excruciating minutes of sawing away at her bonds, the rope finally severed.

Another cry surfaced with the rush of stinging sensations attacking her hands. The more the feeling returned the more agonizing it became.

“Bitch!” Ellis shouted, the sound of his footballs growing louder as he neared the bathroom.

Laura pressed her back against the wall and held the scissors in a death grip in front of her.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion after that. As if she were watching it from afar.

Ellis flew into the bathroom, eyes wild and full of fury. He threw up his hands a second too late as Laura screamed and buried the scissors in his shoulder before shoving him forward and falling out into the hallway.

She scrambled to her feet and ran with everything inside her. She ran for her life and for the lives of everyone she cared for. Including Shon.

Bursting through the front door of the house, Laura limped her way down the dimly lit driveway and into the woods beyond.

* * * *

Laura wasn’t sure how long she’d traveled before her legs finally gave out. She crawled to the nearest tree and propped her back against it.

Tears of fear and weariness dripped from the corners of her swollen eyes. She had no idea where she was or how far she’d have to go for help.

Sounds seemed to come alive around her. The hoot of an owl, crickets singing in the distance…and the howl of a wolf.

A wolf
? Where the hell had Ellis taken her? she wondered, scanning the area with the one eye she could see from.

Footsteps ricocheted off the trees, growing louder by the second as they rapidly approached her.

Laura tried to stand, but her legs wouldn’t cooperate.

“You fucking bitch,” Ellis snarled, gripping a handful of hair as he stopped in front of her.

He yanked her head back. “You’re going to wish you’d never been born.” His fist slamming against her eye was the last thing Laura felt before the blackness claimed her once again.

* * * *

“Wake up, Miss Donovan,” Ellis crooned, tapping her on the face with his open palm.

Laura moaned in agony. If she thought her body hurt before, that was nothing compared to the anguish she felt now.

The feel of her shirt being ripped open sent panic soaring through her. She tried to fight before realizing that her wrists were tied above her head, and her feet were spread apart and restrained.

“Please don’t,” she croaked, forcing the words through her swollen lips.

“Yes. Beg. You’ll be doing a lot of that before I’m finished with you.”

Laura tried to open her eyes, to no avail. She jerked at her bonds, sending white-hot pain shooting through her arms and shoulder.

Her pants were cut away next and her shoes removed.

“Where shall I begin first?” he muttered in a singsong voice that nauseated Laura. “Oh, yes. This looks like a good place to start.”

The feel of a blade sinking deep into her thigh forced an agonized scream from Laura’s throat. The sound seemed to go on forever, reverberating through the room in a horrifying sound of pain and desperation.

He pulled the blade free and sank it into her other leg.

Laura’s continuous scream grew hoarse until no sound could be heard but the laughter of the Seeker.

Another slide of the blade sinking into her abdomen bowed her back off the bed. Her mouth opened without sound.

The laughter suddenly stopped. A vicious growl rent the air, filling the room with an unearthly presence.

Ellis’s weight was suddenly ripped from Laura’s legs, and a crashing noise could be heard above his terrified screams.

The growling intensified, followed by snarls and the evidence of furniture breaking.

Laura moaned, no longer from fear, but pain. Blood filled her throat, choking her until she could breathe no more.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Shon’s cell phone buzzed in his shirt pocket. He fished it out and brought the device to his ear. “Hey, Em. What’s up?”

“Laura’s hurt, Shon. Where are you?”

Shon’s stomach clenched so tight he could barely speak. “What? Where is she?”

“Nita found her in some house a few miles from here. Nita’s bringing her to us, but she said Laura’s in bad shape and is in need of blood.”

“Fuck,” Shon snarled, bringing the bike to a stop. He spun it around and shot back toward the condo, opening it up full throttle. “I’ll be there in less than five minutes.”

Returning the cell to his pocket, Shon tucked his head low and gloried in his fangs ripping through his gums. He would rip out the throat of the one responsible for hurting Laura.

Minutes felt like hours as Shon sped down the Parkway, weaving in and out of traffic until he slid sideways into the parking lot of the condos.

He blurred his way up the stairs, bursting through Ember’s door without knocking. “Where is she?”

Ember stood in the kitchen, wringing her hands. “You beat them here. Nita is trying to drive and stanch Laura’s bleeding.”

Shon put his fist through the wall.

“He is a hothead, that one,” a voice murmured from the living room.

Slowly turning around, Shon lifted his gaze and met that of a short, blond vampire wearing a burgundy-colored robe. “And you are?”

Angel intervened. “This is Atticus. One of the elders.”

Shon nodded before dismissing the elder from his mind. He spun toward Ember. “What happened?”

Ember took him by the hand. “Let’s go next door. That’s where Nita’s bringing her.”

Blurring his way back to Angel’s condo, Shon tossed his key on the counter and rested his hands on the bar. “Tell me.”

Ember closed the door and moved to stand next to him. “I sent Nita to Laura’s place to deliver a note. When Nita arrived at the house, she found the door standing open, the scent of blood in the air, and Laura’s bag lying on the living room floor.”

Shon squeezed his eyes shut to try to block out the image of Laura being attacked. “Go on.”

“Nita shifted and followed the scent of Laura’s blood. It led her to some woods a couple of miles from Laura’s house. More blood was discovered in the woods, along with signs of a struggle. Nita followed the trail back to a little farm house on the outskirts of town.”

“What happened next?” Shon prompted between clenched teeth.

“I-I don’t really—”

“Tell me,” he growled, keeping his head down and his eyes tightly closed.

“Nita found her tied to a bed, naked, with…”

“With what?” Shon shouted, gripping the bar tightly to prevent his hands from trembling.

“A man on top of her, stabbing her repeatedly.”

The countertop splintered beneath Shon’s crushing grip.

He opened his rage-filled eyes and turned to face Ember. “Is he still alive?”

“Barely. Nita tied him and dumped him in the trunk. She figured we’d want to question him before killing him.”

“She figured right. No one touches him but me.”

The sound of a vehicle pulling into the parking lot caught Shon’s attention. He blurred his way outside and down the stairs, jerking the passenger-side door open on Ember’s car before it came to a complete stop.

The sight of Laura’s naked and bloody body huddled in the seat tore at his heart.

“It’s okay, baby. I got you. He can’t hurt you anymore. No one will ever hurt you again. I swear it.”

Scooping her limp form out of the seat and into his arms, Shon blurred his way up the stairs, back inside the condo, and rushed to the master bedroom.

He gently deposited Laura onto the bed and touched his fingers to her neck.

“Oh, God,” Ember gasped, running into the room behind him. “Is she…?”

“She’s alive, but I don’t know for how long. Her pulse is weak.”

Shon bit into his wrist and placed the bleeding wound over Laura’s parted lips. “Take it, baby. It’ll help you heal.”

Laura moaned and tried to turn away.

“You have to drink it, Laura. It’ll make the pain stop.”

Her tongue tentatively touched his skin before she opened her mouth and allowed Shon’s blood to flow freely inside.

Relief poured through him with the first sign of her swallowing. “That’s right, love. Take more. You’ll be better in no time.”

Shon wasn’t sure how much time had passed as he knelt beside the bed, feeding Laura from his vein.

He allowed his gaze to drift away from her face, down her neck, across her chest, to the stab wound in her stomach.

Tears gathered in his eyes to spill down his cheeks. “I’m so sorry, baby. Ah, God, I’m sorry.”

More wounds could be seen on her thighs. Her shoulder was swollen and black, as were both her eyes.

He lifted his tormented gaze to Ember. “She suffered greatly because of me.”

“Because of us,” Ember corrected, her voice wavering with sorrow.

Shon reached up with his free hand and laid his fingers against Laura’s throat. “Her pulse is getting stronger.”

“Look,” Ember breathed, pointing at one of the wounds in her thigh. “It’s closing.”

Another tear tracked down Shon’s face. “Thank God.”

Minutes ticked by as Shon watched Laura’s injuries slowly began to close. The swelling around her eyes subsided enough that she could open them. She stared up at him with an empty look, as if not really seeing him.

Laura suddenly jerked back with an ear-piercing scream. Her arms flailed at her sides, and she kicked out with her feet.

Shon threw his body across hers, holding her down to prevent her wounds from reopening. “Laura? It’s me, Shon.”

“Laura!” he shouted to be heard above her screams. “Look at me.”

Tears poured from her black and swollen eyes as she stilled and met Shon’s gaze. “Shon?”

“Yes, baby. It’s me. You’re okay now. No one is going to hurt you ever again.”

“Laura?” Ember whispered, sitting on the side of the bed to take one of Laura’s hands. “You’re safe.”

“It hurts,” Laura whimpered, squeezing her eyes shut. “It hurts so bad.”

Ember bounded from the bed. “I’m going to get one of Angel’s concoctions. The one he gave me last year when I was in heat. It’ll help with the pain.”

Shon watched Ember run from the room with vampiric speed. He was grateful she had something to ease Laura’s suffering.

“I didn’t tell him anything,” Laura rasped between bouts of shivers. “He wanted me to help him set a trap.”

“Did he…” Shon paused, afraid to know the answer to the question he needed to ask. “Did he rape you?”

Laura shook her head. “No. But he would have killed me if Nita hadn’t shown up when she did.”

Rage unlike any Shon had ever felt slid through his body. Laura had almost died. If not for Nita arriving when she had… He couldn’t finish the thought. “I’m so sorry.”

A wrinkle appeared between her brows. “It’s not your fault.”

“Yes, it is. If I hadn’t left that note, you would have been with me instead that psychopath.”

“Don’t feel guilty about the note. You can’t help how you feel…or don’t feel.”

“I only wrote that damn note to keep you safe. I knew your pride would demand that you leave.”

“But why?”

“The elders were coming, and no one could guarantee yours or Nita’s safety from them. Not even Vlad. Plus, Gina will be summoned and judged. I knew the only way to make you go would be to hurt you.”

“But my parents—”

“Are tucked away in Alabama, safe from harm.”

“How?”

Shon averted his gaze. “By striking a deal with the devil.”