Chapter 11
Kane
Blair is asleep. Even through a locked door, even one floor down, I can feel her. My body can tell that her pulse is slower now and her breathing is even and her anger has been dulled by exhaustion.
The bond doesn’t shut off just because she’s unconscious. If anything, it only hums louder.
Rook sits at the kitchen table, his arms folded and his jaw tight. If vampires actually needed sleep, he’d look like he hasn’t slept in days. Kylie is in his bedroom, turned their bedroom, and Cal leans against the counter, arms crossed and waiting.
No one speaks at first, but with the way Cal keeps tossing glare-daggers my way, I know I’m going to have to be the one to break the tension. After all, my extracurriculars are the most recent cause.
“There are more casualties.” I shrug. “I…well, I killed the men who were there to take Blair.”
“Fuck,” Rook mutters.
“Shit, Kane.” Cal’s jaw ticks. “How many?”
“Two,” I admit. “Mark and Evan.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Cal sighs. “You killed Holland’s boys?”
“In my defense, I didn’t get to pick who they sent for her, and they technically started it. I just had to finish it.”
Rook drags a hand down his face. “Jesus Christ, Kane.”
“They were taking her to some piece of shit elite’s private hangar so she could fly to his penthouse in New York.
” I hold both of their gazes. “I couldn’t let that happen.
Especially when I could tell not a single one of those fucks had any intention of making plans for her to come back from New York.
She was either getting used by Damien or taken to the auction, and neither one worked for me. ”
Cal nods once. “Damien, as in Damien Snow?”
I shrug.
“Well, shit. Somehow it just keeps getting worse.”
“It was just two more gofers, you know?” I toss out, trying to add some levity to this very serious, they-want-us-dead situation. “We’ve still kept the death count to only one hand.”
Cal bursts into laughter. “Fucking hell, Kane. Now isn’t the time for jokes.”
“What?” I flash a smile at him. “I think we’ve all been really level-headed about the whole thing.”
“Level-headed?” Cal tosses back. “Between the three of us, we’ve killed five of the elites’ fuckstains and kidnapped two women. One of which is blood of the three.”
I grimace. “Technically, it’s two.”
Cal’s eyes go wide. “She’s blood of the three too?”
I nod.
Rook barks out a laugh. “Well, I’d say that pretty much does it.”
We were already enemies after he took Kylie, but now? We are quite literally enemy number one to any vampire elite from here to New York.
Kylie appears at the threshold of the living room, but she doesn’t look panicked or uncertain, even with the newly kidnapped woman in the bedroom upstairs.
She walks straight across the room and into Rook’s lap like that’s where she belongs.
Rook’s entire body shifts, and he slides his hand around her waist automatically while his chin rests against her shoulder.
She doesn’t ask what we’re talking about, but I don’t miss the way she and Rook are looking at each other. Something silent passes between them, and it’s clear their bond is solidified. And more than that, it’s really fucking strong.
They don’t need to say things out loud to gossip. They can do it in their fucking heads.
“You two are getting really creepy with that silent thing,” Cal teases.
Kylie giggles and presses a kiss to the corner of Rook’s jaw. He looks down at her like a man whose entire world resides inside her eyes.
Damn. I never thought I’d see the day when my grumpy-as-fuck big brother Rook looked at a woman the way he’s looking at her—even a month ago, he was barely tolerable. Now, he’s practically starring in commercials for .
Eventually, Rook looks back at me, his moony eyes shuttering noticeably. “Okay, so explain to me again how you even came into contact with Blair?”
“You know that event Holland was trying to get Kylie to go to?” I toss out. “Well, we followed the bastard there to scope it out. And it wasn’t some networking bullshit like he was selling. It was a preview for the upcoming auction.”
Kylie stiffens. “For an auction?”
“Yeah,” Cal says. “It’s called the Selection. The vampire elite get to buy the human woman of their choice. It’s been going on for way too damn long.”
Kylie’s hand tightens in Rook’s shirt, and shock turns the corners of her mouth down. I don’t blame her. She was supposed to be there. In fact, there were three men in her driveway that morning trying to make damn sure she attended, and if we hadn’t dispatched them, they would have.
“We just stayed in the shadows,” Cal adds. “Listened.”
“Selection’s coming up soon, by the way,” I chime in. “No official date yet, but it’ll be in New York. Apparently, it’s all planned, and they give forty-eight-hour notice to keep the secrecy intact.”
Rook sighs and runs a hand through his hair. But when Kylie pales, he wraps his arms around her body and holds her closer to his chest.
“They don’t know what it really is,” I say. “The women preparing for it. Every single one at that event was na?ve to the reality.”
“They think it’s elevation of status. A privilege. They think they’re being fucking chosen,” Cal adds. “They were calling it The Choosing Mixer.”
“Fuck me,” Rook mutters. “And yet, they’re being sold.” His voice is flat. “Anyone we would consider an ally in that room? Any good vamps at all?”
Cal shakes his head immediately. “Not a single fucking one.”
“So…how does Blair come into this?” Rook asks, his eyes meeting mine. “I mean, how the fuck did you end up bringing her here?”
“She was there. At the preview.” I don’t hesitate. “And I could read her intent.”
Rook raises a brow.
“She was na?ve,” I continue. “Excited, even, to be chosen. She had no idea what any of them has planned.”
“But as you already said, most of them don’t,” Rook says evenly.
“Yeah,” I admit. “But this one is mine. I felt it immediately. She’s my destined.”
“What are the fucking odds.” Rook sighs and shakes his head. “Not only did we take two women they thought belonged to them, but both are blood of the three.”
I laugh. I can’t help it. “We’re pretty fucked now. I mean, we were fucked when you took Kylie, but now we’re, like, really fucked.”
“Yeah. All thanks to you two bastards, I’ve got the elites wanting my head on a silver platter.” Cal runs a hand over his mouth and lets out a deep chuckle. “And I don’t even have a fated mate by my side to show for it.”
I huff a short laugh. “My fated mate is currently locked in my bedroom upstairs because she’s trying to escape me. Let’s not act like it’s all rainbows and sunshine on this side of things.”
Kylie grins. “I wasn’t exactly nice to Rook at first.”
“Pretty sure I deserved it, baby.” Rook laughs, pressing a kiss to Kylie’s forehead as he does.
“Okay.” Cal smirks. “Fair.”
“Probably be thankful,” I mutter.
Kylie shifts in Rook’s lap, studying me. “So, she doesn’t understand any of it, then? What really happens there?”
“No,” I say. “She doesn’t.”
“Well, what’s done is done, and we can’t go back. Still, we need a clear picture. Anything else you need to get off your chest, Kane?” Rook asks. “No extra bodies you forgot to tell us about? No additional women you took without permission?”
“No, dickhead,” I say through a laugh. “Nothing else like that.”
“You’re holding something back.” Rook furrows his brow as he looks at me. “What aren’t you saying right now?”
“Well…when she’s near me,” I say slowly, “I don’t just read intent. I can stop it.”
Cal tilts his head.
“What do you mean?” Rook asks.
“If the intent is reckless. Or na?ve. Or coming from fear. I can interrupt it. Well, at least hers.”
“Like you interrupted her screams?” Kylie says softly.
I nod.
Rook glances at Kylie again.
They don’t speak, but I can tell they are communicating.
“You can hear her,” I state. “Like, completely hear her thoughts.”
Prior to Kylie, Rook had been able to read minds, but he had to have permission from the person before being able to get inside their head. And it also wasn’t that reliable. But right now, it feels like he and Kylie are having a full-blown conversation that no one can hear but them.
“Yes,” Rook admits. “And she can hear mine.”
“Holy shit,” I mutter. “Fated mates is fucking crazy.”
“I don’t know because I haven’t experienced it yet.” Cal sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “But I’m a little worried if I do find my fated mate anytime soon, our ship is going to be sailing through some pretty rough waters.”
I laugh and walk over to offer Cal a friendly slap to his shoulder. “Who knows? Maybe your fated mate won’t be blood of the three. Maybe she’ll just be a random girl you meet in the grocery store or some shit.”
The thought lands heavier than the joke.
“This is when it would be nice to know who the fuck our parents are,” Cal mutters. “At least then we’d have a little more info on how we were brought into this world and who our father is.”
Rook’s jaw tightens slightly. “We’ll never fucking know that, Cal,” he says flatly. “So don’t waste time on it.”
He’s right. We don’t know. We were dropped into foster care before we could remember anything.
“Well, we do know one thing—the elites are going to retaliate,” Cal comments. “It’s only a matter of time.”
Neither Rook nor I say anything, but it’s because there’s nothing else to say.
We’re all fucking in at this point.
Upstairs, Blair shifts in her sleep, and I feel it immediately.
The pull. The certainty. The bond.
I know without question why I took her.
And just like Rook said—there’s no going back now.