Chapter 21
Kohl awoke with a start, his heart pounding in his chest. Glancing down, he saw he was lying on top of his mattress, still in the same clothes he’d had on last night.
For a moment, he was disoriented. And then the events of the previous forty-eight hours crashed into his consciousness.
Devon.
Grabbing his phone off the nightstand, he checked for a text or a missed call. Nothing. If the time was right, and there was no reason it shouldn’t be, he’d only slept a few hours. Which meant it was the middle of the day.
He laid the phone down beside him and went to get cleaned up. As he showered, he struggled with the urge to run back to his phone and call her. Or at least text. Maybe he should just take a ride by her place.
Sticking his face under the hot water, he admitted the truth to himself. He wanted to see her. He needed to see her. And not because he was thirsty. Because he missed her. He wondered if she’d actually left town, yet.
Soap stung his eyes.
Surely, that was it.
Kohl shut off the water and got dried off. He was being a fool. If he went after her now, he would be hunted like a boar, accused of running from his punishment. The Master wouldn’t stop until he found him, and then he would be dead for sure.
Torn between what he knew he should do and what he wanted, Kohl walked back into his room and stared down at the phone for several long minutes.
Picking it up, he slid it into the back pocket of his jeans. He’d made his choice. And the Master would make his. Perhaps he’d get lucky and he’d only be kicked out of the coven. Then he’d be free to find Devon. He could put her on the back of his bike and they could ride away, and never look back.
Though unrealistic, it was a nice dream.
With a last look around to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything, he left his room and went in search of Hawke.
The rumble of a crowd came from the direction of the throne room, and though he wasn’t quite ready to face the Master again, Kohl changed direction and headed that way.
Turning the corner, he frowned. Something major was going down, and as no one had bothered to come get him out of bed, he knew it had nothing to do with him. Still, Kohl approached the circle of vampires surrounding the Master’s throne with some caution.
The crowd was restless, bloodlust thick as fog in the air. Hisses and growls of excitement echoed throughout the chamber, rising and falling with whatever was happening at the center of the circle. He saw the Master standing near his throne, his back to the crowd.
Kohl suddenly had a really bad feeling about this.
Hawke hovered toward the back of the crowd, and Kohl walked quietly up on his left side.
The vibe in the room made him twitchy, and he hated to ask, worried this all had something to do with him and whatever outcome the Master had decided upon, but not knowing would be even worse.
He kept his voice barely above a whisper, knowing Hawke would easily hear him. “What’s going on?”
Hawke turned, startled. Glancing quickly around, he shoved Kohl’s head down and walked him to the back of the cavern and around the corner, peering back over his shoulder to make sure no one had seen them.
When they were out of sight, he released him.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Unlike the rest of the group, Hawke showed none of the signs of bloodlust. As always, he was calm and in control.
Kohl ran a hand through his hair, wondering that exact thing.
“I came to see if I could talk to the Master. He gave me a choice this morning—death or banishment. Not my choice,” he clarified.
“His. If he was gonna kill me, he would’ve done it right then and there.
Which I hope means he’s leaning toward banishing me.
But, this is my home. You’re my family. I belong here with you. ”
“Why didn’t you answer my text?”
“What text?”
“I texted you, Kohl. I tried to warn you not to come back here.”
“I’m not gonna run, Hawke.”
Hawke started to say something. Stopped. And then, with a resigned sigh, said, “Kohl. Devon is here.”
The air punched out of his lungs and he suddenly forgot to breathe. No. That couldn’t be. She was leaving. He’d seen it in her eyes. “That’s not possible.” Kohl stared at his friend, the only one he completely trusted in this place. Hawke would never lie to him.
The truth stared back at him. And it wasn’t good.
A red haze blocked out their surroundings. His fangs shot down fast and hard, and he pulled his upper lip back in a snarl. “Where is she?”
Hawke nodded once toward the throne room. “In there.” His hand gripped Kohl’s arm in an iron vice before he could run back there. “But if you want any chance at all of staying with us, you can’t interfere.”
Kohl tried to pull away. Hawke’s fingers dug into him. He dragged him further down the passageway. “Kohl! It’s too late. You can’t just waltz in there and take her. Not now.”
“The fuck I can’t.”
“Kohl, the Master will rip your goddamn head clean off if you show up now.”
“I’m not letting them hurt her, Hawke. You can stand with me on this, or you can take their side. I get it. Either way. I do. But I can’t…” He closed his eyes tight as the dragon stretched its wings and released a menacing growl deep in its throat. The sound reverberated off the walls around them.
Hawke dropped his hand from his shoulder and took a step back, eyeing him warily.
Kohl opened his eyes. “I won’t allow them to hurt her. She is mine.”
Pacing away, Hawke covered his face with his hands. His voice was muffled behind them. “Aww, man. Please don’t tell me you fed from her.”
Kohl saw no reason to hide it anymore. “I did.”
“Fuuuuuck, Kohl.”
“I know.” There was no excuse for it. He’d explicitly gone against the Master’s direct order, adding to his list of crimes.
“Jaz and a few others followed me the second night I saw her. He got a hold of her and bit her before I could get her back.” He rubbed the back of his neck, trying to disperse the heat building there as he recounted what happened that night.
“He fucking bit her. Claimed her. I couldn’t allow it. ”
“Well, that explains how he found her again.”
Kohl hissed, his fangs aching to tear into vampire flesh. “That’s not how. I overrode his claim.” He turned to go find Devon, and again, Hawke stopped him.
“You’re sure you drank from her?”
What game was he playing? Kohl didn’t have time for this shit. “I’m fucking positive, Hawke. She’s mine.”
Hawke gave him a strange look. “Then why didn’t you know she was here?”
Kohl stilled as that truth slammed into him like an avalanche.
He was right. He should’ve known she was here.
He carried her blood. It should call to him like a fucking siren when they were this close and she was in trouble.
Why hadn’t he known she was here the moment he left his room?
Or even before. “I’ve never claimed a female before.
” He paced back and forth in the narrow space, restless.
“I felt her blood immediately after. Not so much a few hours later.” And barely at all when he’d gone back to warn her.
“Maybe it’s just another thing that’s fucked up about me. ”
“How do dragons claim their mates?”
His stomach rolled. “They burn them.” Lifting his chin, he caught Hawke’s look of disbelief.
“Holy fuck.”
“Not all of her. Just…like a brand. Like cattle. Dragons breathe in the ash of…the burn…and it embeds into the dragon and becomes a part of it. Something like that. Or, so my mother told me before she died.”
“Well, why hasn’t your beast stuck his name on her?”
Kohl pulled up short. “You’re not fucking serious.”
Hawke shrugged. “I’m just saying.”
“She’s only been around the dragon once. The night Jaz tried to take her. I started shifting as soon as I sensed they were there. I couldn’t stop it.” He thought of blowing fire on that perfect skin. “Besides, I don’t think I could stomach doing that to her.”
“Well, that’s your choice. But I’m just thinking, if your beast—as you like to call it—laid claim to Devon…well, that sure as hell would make things interesting around here, wouldn’t it?”
Kohl didn’t have time to solve riddles. “I’m going after her, Hawke.” His friend grabbed his arm and he shook it off. Baring his fangs, he hissed at him. “You can’t fucking stop me. So, stop trying.”
Hawke held both hands palms out in front of him. “I get it. You do what you have to do. But you need to know. She’s not in good shape. I wasn’t involved. She was like this when she was brought in.”
He must’ve said something, made some sound, for Hawke backed farther away.
“One more thing I think you need to know. Because I have the distinct feeling only one of you is going to survive this night—either you or the Master. I wanted to tell you before now, but I didn’t have the chance.”
“What?” The word was barely understandable.
“It was Jaz. It was all Jaz. He’s the one who recognized Devon the other night at the club.
He’s the one who mind fucked some humans into shooting up the place.
He’s the one who’s been after her. And the Master knew about it the entire time.
Though it did throw him off guard when Parasupe actually showed up here. ” Hawke grinned.
Over the commotion of the vampires, a moan of pain came to Kohl’s ears.
It was so faint it was barely there, but Kohl knew instantly who it was.
And it came from the throne room. With a last flash of his fangs, he bolted back down the passageway and barreled straight through the circle of hissing, hungry vampires, knocking them out of the way in his urgency to get to Devon.
In their trance of bloodlust, they sprang back up behind him and resumed their spots.