27. Valeria
Valeria
The service road cuts through the pines that loom over the sides of the road. Fog slithers low to the ground, turning the headlights of Thomas Frost’s black SUV into hazy halos. I wait back in the tree line, bo staff balanced across my shoulders. The familiar weight always calms me.
Riley called, and I lost my enforcers while on Frost’s tail. Incompetent fools.
It’s just as well. Frost was going to die along with the rest of them eventually. They all will. I only planned to let him keep breathing long enough to sign away a few pieces of power first.
Now that I’ve been officially claimed by the Eligere via my ancient bloodline, they have me set for an unbound ceremony. Next thing I know, they will break out the breeding bench and set me up. That was sarcasm. Saint would be so proud.
I’ve played the dutiful house member long enough.
At first, I thought I could be a good Eligere member long enough to dismantle them piece by piece. Then I found out what the Frost house is doing. It’s sickening, and I need to stop it now.
A door opens, and Julian Jameson steps out from a car. He’s calm for a man selling his soul.
Frost steps into the moonlight, smoothing his jacket like this is a board meeting instead of a blood pact.
From the car behind him, Samuel Loft, leader of the Loft House, follows.
“Unbound for the next two seasons, Jameson,” Frost says. “You provide medical services on demand. No questions. In return, your girl and her pet agent walk. Vine gets exposed. Someone will be en route to kill Fuller within minutes. Simple.”
Julian’s jaw tightens. “One season. I agree to work under contract, but you double my current rate. And Lee Leighlan and Elliot Ryker receive permanent protection.”
Loft gives a thin smile. “You’re not in a position to negotiate, Doctor.”
“Of course I am,” Julian says. “I’m something you want.”
Interesting.
Frost’s smile fades by a fraction.
“Careful.”
Julian doesn’t blink at his warning.
“One season.”
“You will be handsomely paid once the Lopez bloodline produces an heir while you’re under contract,” Loft says smoothly.
“We expect first rights. The bloodline is ours.”
My stomach turns.
Lopez bloodline.
My blood.
Julian’s head snaps up, and he stares at Loft.
“Val?” Julian says, his voice changes, quiet now and dangerous. “You were bullshitting about the ceremony. It’s already been decided that we will marry? Does she know?”
No.
I did not know.
Julian is one of my sister’s best friends. He is in love with Lee, who is Marge’s other best friend. That arrangement would never happen. Not if I get a vote. Him either, obviously.
But that is the problem with the Eligere.
They have never cared about anyone’s votes. Frost is running the whole damn thing.
My hand tightens around my staff.
Frost turns his head toward the trees. I freeze. There is no way he knows I’m here or could see me through the clearing. He looks back to Julian.
“Miss Lopez understands the broad expectations of her inheritance since the moment her bloodline was verified,” Loft says. “Her ignorance of the finer details is irrelevant. She may be a Lopez, but she is still only a woman.”
Ah, yes, why would I, a little woman, be worried about the finer details like my own marriage and breeding rights. I’m really getting the hang of this sarcasm thing.
I’m going to stab him in the dick.
But before I can move, boots crunch on gravel behind Frost. A shadow detaches from the trees. Tall, broad-shouldered, moving like death wrapped in black tactical gear.
Gabe.
His face is carved in fury, and he walks with his gun aimed.
Hot as hell.
Frost sighs. “Why must there always be an inconvenience when it comes to Lopez house?”
“You were going to force her to marry him,” Gabe says.
His voice is cold and deadly. Whatever he does next will probably be really bad.
Loft’s smile returns before he speaks. “Valeria Lopez belongs to the Eligere. Her womb, her name, her blood, and whatever else we use her for, are all matters of our governance. It’s cute that you seem so worried about her. Does the help have a crush?”
Gabe pulls the trigger and, in an instant, blood and brain matter sprays, and Loft falls to the ground.
Frost crouches as a guard stands in front of him. Gabe doesn’t stop. He moves to the guards and takes one down. The others fan out.
I step out, staff spinning, then I crack the wrist of the nearest enforcer before he could aim at him.
Gabe’s eyes find mine across the firefight. For one frozen second, the world narrows to just us.
He looks wrecked.
Frost skitters to the car and climbs in.
“Julian, get behind the SUV,” I order and slide the knife end of my staff through the man to my left before he can raise his weapon.
“Val,” Gabe growls, voice raw even over the gunfire. He puts down another enforcer with clinical precision then closes the distance between us in three strides. His free hand catches my arm, yanking me behind Loft’s SUV for cover.
I peek over his shoulder and nod at Julian, who seems calm for someone in the middle of a shoot-out.
“You shouldn’t be here,” I hiss to Gabe, chest heaving.
He smells like gunpowder and laundry detergent. I’ve missed it so much.
“Neither should you.” His grip tightens, eyes burning into mine. Up close, he looks like he hasn’t slept in days. There’s a bruise along his jaw, fresh stubble on his face, and murder tucked neatly behind every breath. “I haven’t heard from you in weeks. I’ve been fucking terrified.”
He huffs out a laugh that does not even pretend to be real.
“Guess I didn’t need to be. My little killer can take on the whole damn Eligere with a walking stick.”
He is trying to tease me.
He is hurt because of me.
I haven’t been able to get away. I haven’t been able to answer him. I haven’t been able to do anything but smile at monsters and act like I’m on their team.
“It’s part of the plan,” I say.
His jaw flexes. “Don’t.”
“Gabe.”
“No.” He leans closer, voice rough enough to scrape. “Do not Gabe me with your sexy-as-fuck voice. Frost was going to marry you off. He said it like he was discussing livestock.”
A bullet slams into the SUV window, spiderwebbing the glass.
I shove Gabe down by the shoulder, rise just enough to swing my staff over the hood, and catch an enforcer across the throat. He drops, choking.
This needs to end.
“Julian,” I snap. “Did you give your blood yet?”
“No.”
“Good, we aren’t bound.”
Gabe narrows his eyes at me.
“Did you give your blood to be married to him?”
He doesn’t wait for an answer and shoots an enforcer crouching over the hood of the SUV.
“Lee,” Julian says.
“She is already moving,” I tell him. “Riley said she sent him coordinates. She told him what you did. If she doesn’t kill you, Riley and the other guys might. You drugged the woman you love and expected her to stay put so you could give yourself to the Eligere?”
His expression does something complicated and guilty.
I snort. “Men are so cocky when they make plans for us.”
Gabe gives me a look.
I ignore him.
A car engine sounds followed by tires on the dirt.
“Fuck, Frost got away,” Gabe spits out.
No more guns sound. We must have killed them all.
“What about the deal for Lee and Elliot?” Julian asks.
“Loft’s death makes the arrangement unstable, but not useless. I’ll take over his house obligations. Fuller’s protection was already cracking. Riley is working on getting everything to the press. I’ll handle the Eligere side.”
“Why?” Julian asks.
I give him a thin smile. “Because Lee is Marge’s family. Which makes her mine.”
His throat works.
“And because Fuller helped turn children into addicts for money,” I add. “Even the Eligere should have known better than to trust someone as awful as him.”
“He’s Eligere?” Julian asks, eyebrows raised.
“He was trying to be. That's why they agreed to your deal so quickly. They already had access to him, so he was an easy hit. And he was on the hook for losing contacts from Jack Vega, his sponsor.”
Gabe’s eyes stay locked on mine, heavy and burning with everything we’re not saying. The night air is thick with the metallic bite of blood and damp earth. Samuel Loft’s body lies a few feet from us, dark and still, his blood already soaking into the dirt.
Julian nods once. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet. Go get to Lee before she kills Fuller and posts about it on her dark website. It will make more work for me to cover up. If anyone asks, Loft killed Fuller tonight.”
Julian doesn’t hesitate. He turns and takes off into the trees, boots crunching over leaves and snapping twigs as he disappears into the dark.
A low groan pulls my attention. One of Loft’s enforcers is dragging himself toward the tree line, one arm useless at his side.
The staff leaves my hand on instinct. It cuts through the air and punches clean through the man’s forearm, pinning him to the ground with a wet, solid thud.
He cries out and tries to crawl farther, but he’s stuck.
My boots sink into the soft earth as I walk to him. “I need you to send a message about who killed Samuel Loft.”
The enforcer goes still, chest heaving, eyes wide with pain and fear.
Gabe glances at him then crouches beside Loft’s body. He reaches into the dead man’s coat and pulls out his phone, the screen lighting up his bloodstained fingers. “A messenger will set off a shitstorm.”
“Good,” I say.
His eyes cut back to mine.
“The Arbiters need to know Loft is dead,” I continue. “They need to know Valeria Lopez is not available to be bred.”
Gabe rises slowly to his full height, unfolding from his crouch with the kind of controlled power that comes from years of discipline. He’s built like a soldier because that’s what they turned him into. Even with dirt and blood smeared on his cheek he’s gorgeous.
“You are not taking credit for this. Frost didn’t see you. You can blame it on me.”
“I have to.”
“The hell you do.”
I step close enough that his chest almost touches mine. My head tilts to look up at him, and he stares at my lips.
“You killed him because of me. If they know that, they will come for you. But if they think I ordered it, they have to summon me before they punish me. And with the lack of houses, they won’t want to get rid of me.”
“Jesus, that isn’t better.”
I watch until Julian’s taillights disappear into the dark. The second they’re gone, Gabe’s hand closes around my wrist. His grip is firm, and the moment his skin meets mine, heat flares up my arm like it always does.
Before I can say anything, he pulls me in hard. My chest collides with his, and his arms lock around me, one hand splayed across my back while the other grips the back of my neck. He’s solid muscle and heat, and for a second, I let myself sink into it.
“Val.”
His heart hammers against mine. My eyes close, and I feel everything he’s thinking. His relief, fear, possessiveness all flow through our connection.
Even in Gabe’s arms it’s hard to ignore the fear that this could turn the entire Eligere against me. Well, not all of them. In my short connection with the houses, I’ve made some friends.
“Type a message to Riley and give him the phone so he can see if there’s anything for me to use.”
He looks down at me and then slams me against the SUV and kisses me. I melt. I’m only held up by his hand around my throat. He breathes me in when he breaks our kiss. His eyes stay closed for a few seconds before he speaks.
Without looking, he takes his free hand and fires three rounds in the guard I pinned to the ground. “Now it’s your word against Frost’s.”
I don’t even blink at the body.
“I didn’t know you had a gun in your pocket. I thought you were just happy to see me.”
He laughs hard enough his breath tickles my hair. I lean into him again, unable to help it. I stare at the smile on his face.
Gabe sees it. Something in his expression shifts. “Come home with me,” he says with another kiss.
I grab the front of his shirt and pull him down to me. I press up on my toes. His mouth covers mine. It’s so possessive that I almost cave with another taste of him.
“Gabe.”
“Val.”
He exhales hard, forehead resting against mine for a second. “I fucking love you. Do not get killed. And call me.”
I kiss him once more, letting myself linger this time, tasting the cinnamon flavor that is always on his lips. When I pull back, I smile up at him.
“You know you’re going to need to hide, right?”
“Worth it if those fuckers understand what happens when they try to force my girl.” His voice is so fierce and strong. I’ve never had anyone on my side the way Gabe is. “You’re mine, trouble. No one else gets to marry you except me.”
He’s so damn beautiful, I just stare for a minute.
“Promise I’m yours, Gabe.”
He shoves his fingers into my hair and pulls me against his mouth once more. It’s a promise and a claiming more than a kiss. And I let him have it.
I kiss him one last time, quick and hard, then make myself turn away before I change my mind.
“But really, Gabe. Hide. Get Riley’s help. I’ve got a plan.”
He chuckles, watching me walk away.
My boots crunch over leaves and dirt as I hover over the enforcer’s body, I plant my boot against his back and yank my staff free. It slides out with a wet, sucking sound. Blood drips from the end of the weapon onto the leaves. I wipe it across the dead man’s jacket without slowing down.
Gabe’s touch lingers on my neck. It takes everything in me to turn and walk back to where I hid my car.
“Love you, too, Gabe.” I shout over my shoulder, stepping through the brush.
“Bye, trouble,” I hear him say, his voice fading into the opposite side of the forest.
I steel my spine and get back into warrior mode.
Time to start the next phase in my plan.
Stab anyone who gets in the way.