Chapter 16
Chapter
Sixteen
BECK
Istood across the street from the restaurant, my hands shoved deep in my coat pockets and my bear clawing at my ribs.
Charlotte’s scent hung in the air, the tuberoses and honey faint but traceable. I’d followed it from the airport, tracking her through Anchorage’s streets with rage pounding in my wake.
Dr. Henry had no scent signature. Nothing, not even a trace of cologne or the antiseptic scent of modern life that clung to all humans. He was a walking void, which was all the confirmation I needed.
Vampire.
Not that I’d needed confirmation. The memory of what happened at the airport rushed back, humiliation searing my gut.
Henry had met my stare across the top of Charlotte’s head, and his eyes had flashed that unnatural pale blue. Then his voice had seeped into my mind like oil.
You won’t interfere, bear. You’ll stand here and let Charlotte leave with me.
If you try to stop us, I’ll slaughter your entire clan.
Sixty bears, yes? I could kill them all in a single night.
Their mates and the little cub you idiots dote on.
I’ll suck the marrow from their bones while you watch. So keep your mouth shut.
The compulsion had wrapped around my throat like a noose. I’d stood there, sweating and shaking, a scream in my mind while he led Charlotte through the doors.
Stay, Henry had whispered in my head. Count to three hundred. Then you may leave the airport and return to your woods.
I’d counted, every second an agony. By the time I finished, I clenched my jaw hard enough to crack my molars. I’d fucking counted, but I hadn’t returned home like Henry ordered.
Summoning my magic, I’d tracked Charlotte to the little restaurant in the heart of the city. And now I stood outside in the cold while she dined with a monster.
My phone buzzed. I yanked it from my pocket and swiped the screen, revealing a text from Everett.
Any updates?
I typed back with shaking fingers.
Still waiting
My phone buzzed with Everett’s reply.
We’re ready if you need us
I pocketed the phone. Having my brothers close was a comfort, but they couldn’t help. Not against an ancient vampire. Henry could slaughter us all, just like he’d promised.
Charlotte’s scent shifted…then faded. She was on the move.
My bear roared in my head. I launched myself across the street, dodging traffic.
Brakes squealed, and a car horn blared. I ignored it as I followed Charlotte’s scent.
The signature floated on the air, the aroma as clear to me as a flowing river.
It led me around the building and into a narrow, darkened alley filled with garbage and dirty snow.
Dr. Henry stood with his back to me, one arm wrapped around Charlotte and his head buried in her throat.
My bear snapped its bonds. Magic surged through me, and my bones slid against each other. The skin on my forearms rippled as my beast tried to burst free.
Henry spun with Charlotte in his arms. Her eyes were closed, her arms limp. He ripped his fangs from her neck and lifted his head. His bloodstained lips curved, and his eyes glittered like icy blue diamonds.
“Ah,” he said, licking the puncture wound on Charlotte’s neck. She stirred but didn’t open her eyes. “The alpha. How quaint.”
I fought the shift, forcing my bear back even as rage threatened to consume me. “Let her go, filth.”
My mind raced, worries whipping through my head. Henry had flown all day, which meant he was a daywalker and easily a thousand years old. Maybe older. Vampires that powerful could compel entire crowds and move faster than the eye could track.
I was no match for him.
Charlotte lifted her head. Slowly, she opened glassy eyes. But no recognition gleamed there. She was still under Henry’s spell.
One arm locked around her waist, he used his other hand to pull a handkerchief from his pocket.
He dabbed at his mouth, the cloth coming away red.
“Charlotte and I have a bond you can’t break, bear.
She was mine long before you met her.” He tucked the handkerchief somewhere, the sleight of hand so swift I couldn’t track it.
“I’ve been cultivating her since she was fourteen. She’s my creature, not yours.”
“Leave,” I snarled, the words more growl than speech. “Now. And don’t come back.”
I couldn't let him take her. Even if it meant my death. Even if it meant the clan’s destruction.
Henry’s smile widened. “I’ll leave when I’m ready. But first…” He shoved Charlotte away. She stumbled, only to right herself. She faced him, her brown eyes wide behind her glasses.
“Dr. Henry?” she asked in an uncertain voice.
My heart clenched. Blood roared in my ears. How many times had he done this, feeding from her? She’d lost her parents, only to be found by a monster. He’d betrayed her trust, stealing her blood and her free will.
Henry snapped his fingers. “Come, Charlotte.”
She stepped toward him.
“Charlotte!” I barked.
Her gasp echoed through the alley. She swung toward me, and confusion flickered in her eyes. So did recognition…and hope. “Beck?”
I held out my hand. “It’s me, baby. And you’re stronger than he is. I need you to fight for me, okay?”
She hesitated.
“Don’t listen to him,” Henry said. She looked at him, and he bared sharp fangs, his mouth stretching wider than any human’s could.
Charlotte whimpered.
I risked another step forward. “You can do this, Charlotte.” She swung back to me, and I kept my hand outstretched like I approached a frightened animal. “I love you, sweetheart. Fight him for me, all right? Fight him for both of us.”
Henry growled, like sound rising and falling in an eerie wave. When he spoke, his voice boomed off the alley’s brick walls. “Obey me, pet, or I’ll rip out the bear’s throat.”
“He won’t,” I said, my beast roaring under my skin. “If he wanted me dead, he would have killed me already. He’s not going to hurt us, baby. Come here.”
Charlotte hesitated, the recognition in her gaze swelling. “I love you, too,” she whispered.
Hope surged in my chest. I was just two steps away. Close enough to touch her. “Let’s go home.”
She reached out. Then she froze. Doubling over, she clutched at her head. “No!”
Henry’s eyes glittered like headlights in his skull.
Charlotte fell to her knees, releasing an agonized scream as she held her head. Blood dripped from her nose and splashed the concrete.
I flung myself to the ground in front of her and grasped her shoulders. “Charlotte!”
A sharp crack echoed through the alley. She gasped and collapsed against me, her scent flooding my nostrils. For a moment, magic buzzed in the air. Then it dissipated.
Henry stared at her with obvious surprise on his face. Then he met my gaze, and cold, steady anger replaced the emotion. “Impressive. She broke the compulsion on her own.” He raked his gaze down my body. “You must be a good fuck, Antonovich.”
Icy disdain slid down my spine. My bear roared, but I shoved it down. Shifting was out of the question. Henry could kill me before I finished, leaving Charlotte alone and weak from blood loss and mind manipulation.
He focused on her. “Look at me.”
She jerked her head up, an angry gasp escaping her lips. Hatred burned in her eyes.
Henry smiled. “You can’t fight me forever, my dear.
I created you.” He pulled a flash drive from his pocket and held it up, the sleek metal glinting in the alley’s light.
“And your research is all here. Magnetic anomalies. Thermal signatures. Ecological dead zones and some very interesting data about bipedal masses on satellite imagery.” He gave the flash drive a little shake.
“I have everything I need to expose your boyfriend and his brethren to the humans.”
Charlotte shivered, but she was steady, her jaw clenched and anger sizzling in her eyes.
He looked at me, still smiling. “Don’t worry. I made several copies.”
Ice flooded my veins. “What do you want?”
Henry tucked the flash drive back in his pocket. “All in good time, Mr. Antonovich. For now, consider this a warning. Charlotte is mine. If I want it, Bear Cove is mine.” He bowed slightly, the gesture old-fashioned. “I’ll be in touch.”
He left in a blur of movement too swift for a human to track. I caught a flicker. Charlotte stiffened.
“Is he—?”
“Gone,” I said, pulling her against me because I couldn’t help it. I indulged myself for a moment, burying my nose in her hair as I let her heart beat against my chest. Then I eased her away just enough to tip her chin up. “Sweetheart, tell me you’re okay.”
Her lower lip trembled. “He bit me. He’s a…”
“Vampire,” I said.
Her eyes went stark. But even in shock, she was brilliant. I could almost see her mind working as she connected the pieces. “The insomnia. All the nightmares. The pills he gave me.”
“It was him,” I said grimly. “Very old vampires can make you forget they fed from you. They usually recruit human prey and string them along with promises of eternal life. But, sometimes, they drink without revealing themselves.” I brushed blood from under her nose with my thumb. “Henry bonded you to him.”
“But I broke the bond.” Hope flickered in her eyes. “I felt it snap.”
I shook my head, hating what I had to tell her. “You broke the compulsion tonight. That’s incredible, Charlotte. Most humans can’t do that. But breaking a bond, especially one put in place by a vampire as powerful as Henry, is much more difficult. It takes time and a great deal of effort.”
Her face crumpled. “So he can still control me.”
“Not as easily. You’ve proven you can fight him.” I cupped her face in my hands. “We’re going to figure this out, I promise. We’ll find a way to break his hold completely. Do you trust me?”
She nodded, tears spilling down her cheeks. “More than anything.”
I gathered her close and pressed my lips to her forehead.
She snuggled into my embrace, clearly seeking comfort.
I held her like that even as fear churned in my gut.
Because I had no idea if I could make my words true.
Henry was ancient and powerful. And he had Charlotte’s research.
He could expose the clan with a single phone call.
And somewhere in the darkness of Anchorage, he was planning his next move.
I tightened my arms around Charlotte, wishing I knew how to protect her from a monster I couldn’t kill.