29. Deacon
Chapter twenty-nine
Deacon
We arrive at Bite far earlier than we told Tamesis we would, but when Sam frowns, I know there are already people inside.
“Adam?” I ask, and he nods, jaw set.
Our hostages are in there too, then. I take a deep breath. I can’t pick out Tamesis’ scent, but that’s hardly a surprise. He’s been keeping that under wraps since he first came to London.
Next to Sam, Kieran shifts from foot to foot. Lucien is with us, as is Drew, and both look equally concerned. I clench my jaw and focus on the building. I can’t imagine it. If we lose Adam or Kieran, I worry for the consequences, but both of them?
Sam might just burn the city down, and I don’t know who would stop him.
“So what do we do?” Kieran asks. “Wait?”
“We need everyone in position,” I say. He knows this. We all do. Still, I can’t blame him for his impatience. I’m itching to get inside, too. “Then we’ll send you in.”
Sam nods. He’s going in too, even if Kieran told Tamesis he’d be alone. He has to expect Sam would insist on coming along—he knows he has the mage’s mate.
And this way, Sam can protect Adam and the others, giving us time to enter when things go south.
Levi jogs over. “Almost ready, alpha,” he says. “They turned off the cameras. Obviously. But from what we can tell, there’re a lot of people gathered in the club.”
“All the entrances?”
“They’re covered, yes.”
“Right. Get to your post.” I glance over my shoulder at Lucien and Drew. “You, too.”
They both nod. Lucien doesn’t hesitate to walk away, though I see the glance he and Kieran exchange. Drew reaches for Sam and squeezes his arm just for a second.
“I’ll be fine, sweetheart,” Sam murmurs, putting his hand over Drew’s. “So will you.”
“Yeah, I will.”
He follows Lucien over to where Rhea and her wolves are waiting. We have the building surrounded. No matter what happens in there, they’ll have trouble getting out.
Kieran looks over at me. “Any advice?”
I huff a breath. It’s harder not to think of Vasile here, and I don’t know what to do about that. I need to focus. I can’t have anyone hurt or killed because I’m not paying attention.
“Same rules as when you fight,” I say. “Don’t let him get the upper hand. If there’s one thing Tamesis is scared of, it’s dying. So he’s scared of you . Use that against him. Don’t show him any fear.”
Kieran nods, taking my words in. Sam crosses his arms over his chest. “He’ll be scared of us by the time I’m through with him.”
I don’t doubt it, but still— “You need to be careful, too. He knows you’re a threat. That’s why he sent Elliot; it’s why he’s attacked your mates. He’ll go after you first.”
“Got it.”
I don’t know if he has, but we don’t have time to argue. The doors to Bite open, and Kieran tenses beside me as he sees who’s stepping outside.
His father. I bite back a growl. We knew he’d be here, of course, and I’m suddenly glad Drew is with Lucien, somewhere he can’t see him.
“There’s been a change of plans,” he says when he approaches. We’re not the only ones standing there, and we haven’t hidden everyone’s scents. Still, Darren doesn’t seem to care. He focuses on the three of us, gaze moving impassively from one to the other.
“What’s the change?” Kieran asks.
“Tamesis wants the three of you in there,” he replies, looking at Kieran, then me, then Sam. “He doesn’t think it’s fair to just exchange one of you for the three vampires he took.”
“How do we know they’re still alive?” Sam’s voice has bite to it, and Kieran’s father frowns.
“One of them’s your mate,” he says. “You’re telling me you wouldn’t notice if we’d killed him?”
“The other two aren’t.”
Kieran’s father shrugs. “Come inside or don’t. Tamesis is going to do whatever he likes.”
He sounds different to how he was back at the building. More… defeated.
I shake my head. We don’t have time for all this. “We’ll come inside,” I say.
Kieran’s father shakes his head and blinks the silver in his eyes away. “Stupid decision,” he mutters and gives Kieran one last unreadable look before he turns on his heel, clearly expecting us to follow.
We do. Kieran enters the club first, then Sam, and I glance back over my shoulder once, meeting Chaya’s concerned gaze before I step into the darkness.
We pass by the unmanned counter and walk down a short, dark hallway before we enter the main area of the club. There are a lot of people in here, sure, but it’s not packed to the rafters, and for the first time since we came up with this plan, I think we might make it through.
Sam’s scent suddenly spikes, and Kieran reaches for him before I can, grabbing his wrist. He doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t need to. Sam nods and brings himself back under control, eyes zeroing in on Adam.
He, Elle, and Njáll are easy enough to see. The three of them are on their knees in the centre of the room, arms cuffed in front of them. They look uninjured, but I know that doesn’t mean anything. Vampires heal quickly enough, especially if they have a supply of blood—and I’m willing to bet Tamesis would feed them if it meant he got to inflict more pain.
“Well?” Kieran says, and a couple of the wolves flinch at the sharp tone of his voice. “Where is he?”
Darren shifts from foot to foot. Hale muscles out of the crowd, coming to stand near Adam, and Sam clenches his fists.
“On his way,” Hale says. He squares his shoulders, posturing, but Kieran’s gaze slides right past him as though he barely sees him at all.
I take a deep breath. The wolves might waver; it’s clear some of them don’t want to be here. The mages, clustered in pairs here and there, are watching Sam with no small amount of trepidation.
The vampires worry me. There aren’t many more of them than there are mages, but a couple of them watch us with glowing eyes. They’re hungry. Desperate.
Kieran meets my gaze, and I know he’s seen it, too. We’re as prepared as we can be, and when I hear footsteps approaching from the back corridor, I shift my weight and ready myself to fight.
Between the three of us, we can protect Adam, Elle, and Njáll long enough for the rest to pile in. I know we can. And I trust Kieran and Sam to be level-headed enough—despite everything—to do it.
The door swings open, and I see Tamesis for the first time in one hundred years. Time hasn’t touched him at all, except his hair is swept back from his face in a style he never would have worn back then. He meets my gaze across the room, and the corners of his mouth turn up in a smirk that doesn’t reach his cold, dead eyes.
I’m ready. Kieran and Sam are ready. A ripple of anticipation passes through the crowd we face.
And then—
Tamesis stumbles forward, down, landing hard, tackled by a figure with dark hair, and for a moment my heart simply stops .
I can’t be seeing what I think I’m seeing.
Because I think I just saw Vasile tackle Tamesis.
And I know Vasile is dead.