Chapter 31
Cain
I took Nyx a second time, this time roughly from behind, pressing deep, imprinting myself on her.
The primal thing had come fully awake. It pushed me to claim her in a way she wouldn’t be able to forget tomorrow, even in her sire’s lair.
Not out of anger or hurt. Out of the bone-deep fear that I could lose her before she really understood what she was to me.
Afterward, I gathered her against me. She yawned and fell asleep in my arms, soft and warm and trusting.
But I couldn’t settle. My nerves were stretched, my thoughts racing. Too much could go wrong tomorrow night, and I fucking hated how I’d lost control of the situation.
Careful not to wake her, I eased out of the four-poster bed and made my way to the war room. The soldier on duty informed me Talon and Brien were at the castle’s underground speakeasy—the Bite Club, as the thralls called it.
I headed back into the tunnels and the familiar red door.
Inside the speakeasy, the bass throbbed like a second heartbeat and colored spotlights swept over the club in purple, gold and red.
On the dance floor, thralls ground their hips to the rhythm, eyes heavy-lidded, bodies slick with exertion.
A handful of enforcers and soldiers moved among them, their faces edged with hunger.
Any other night, it would’ve hit me like a drug, but I wasn’t here for blood or sex.
I glanced around at the curtained alcoves. Talon had just finished feeding in one nearby, the silk curtain pulled back. He wiped his mouth and eased the thrall onto the couch, signaling a server who hurried over with a fruity drink.
Talon handed it to the thrall with a murmured thanks, and she relaxed against the couch arm, sipping it. An easy night for her—Talon didn’t fuck anyone but Eden these days. Same for Brien and Twilight.
I guess I’d just joined that club.
Talon rose and headed around the dancers to me. “You here to feed?”
“Nah.” I shook my head, unable to drink from anyone else so soon after being with Nyx. “I’ll just have a blood-whiskey.”
“Brien’s over there.” He tipped his head toward a black velvet couch, where our friend sprawled, mouth on another thrall’s neck. “Twilight’s with her halmoni.”
We ordered a trio of whiskeys—blood for me, straight for Talon and Brien—and dropped into the armchairs flanking our primus as he licked the thrall’s throat clean. She stood, and with a friendly nod to us, sashayed off, hips swaying in her short red skirt.
I handed Brien the third whiskey. We sat watching the dancers, Brien and Talon talking about nothing much.
I turned my shot glass in my hand, replaying the past couple of hours in my mind. Something was off with Nyx. She should’ve accepted my bond—we were mates, and she knew it as well as I did.
Fuck needing space. Now that I’d had time to think, that excuse didn’t ring true. Or at least, it wasn’t the whole truth.
So if that wasn’t the reason, what the hell was?
An unwelcome thought slid in: What scared her enough to lie?
Brien set his whiskey on the cocktail table and angled toward to me. “You okay, dude?”
I took my time answering, long enough for Brien’s brows to pull together and Talon to glance from the dancers to me.
“Something’s up with Nyx,” I said.
Talon frowned at me from the other side of the low black table. “Like what?”
“If this is about tomorrow night—” Brien started.
“She hasn’t changed her mind, if that’s what you mean.” I took a gulp of whiskey. “Hell, you two might as well know. I asked her to accept my mate bond.”
Talon grinned. “You fucker.”
Brien rubbed his chin, doubtful. “I— you sure?”
The hair on my nape lifted like he’d just threatened Nyx. My muscles locked before I forced them to loosen.
Brien was my friend. He knew Nyx was with us now.
“Very sure,” I said in a hard voice. “But don’t worry, she turned me down.”
They both recoiled a fraction, surprise flashing across their faces.
“What happened?” Brien asked.
“I don’t know.” I dragged a hand down my face, like I could scrape away the ache. “I told her I believe in her, would be hers if she’d just have me. I fucking begged—on my knees—asking her to trust me.”
“You begged?” Talon rolled his lips into his mouth, eyes gleaming. “On your knees? Now that, I’d pay money to see.”
“Fuck you.” I shot him a glare. “Yeah, I begged. More or less. She understood.”
“Not the best timing,” Brien pointed out. “With her friend and all.”
“And you did lock her in a cell,” Talon added, smirking. “And poisoned her with those new silver handcuffs.”
“Not helping,” I ground out.
Now they both had their lips rolled in, trying not to laugh. That was brothers for you, merciless when they smelled blood in the water.
I scowled at them. “Maybe my timing was off, but she wants this. I could feel it. In fact, I’ve been sensing stuff from her for a while, things I shouldn’t feel from another supernatural.”
“Emotions,” Brien said, serious now.
“Yeah.”
Talon scratched a stubbled cheek. “Sounds like the mate bond to me. Eden’s human, so I could always feel things from her. But now that we’re mated, she’s wide open. Everything pours through.”
“That’s how it is with mates,” Brien confirmed.
“Yeah?” I rubbed at my chest, right over the spot where I’d sensed Nyx reach out to me. It was tender. I had the feeling that if I lifted my shirt, I’d see a bruise. “What’s messed up is that I could’ve sworn I felt her for a few seconds, like she started to bond with me, then changed her mind.”
Talon pursed his lips. “Maybe she’s just being cautious. It had to hurt, the way you turned on her.”
“I had my reasons,” I muttered. “But yeah. There was something else, though. Like she was afraid to bond with me. I sensed fear.”
Brien’s brow creased. “Fear of you?”
“Maybe. She’s got every reason to hate vampires. You know the QCS—I wouldn’t blame her for running far and fast from a syndicate vampire, especially a lieutenant.”
“But she hasn’t run from you,” he pointed out. “Until now.”
“No, and that’s what bothers me. This plan of hers—we all know it’s risky. Too many variables, too many ways it could go wrong. What if she’s not afraid of me? What if she’s afraid for me?”
His nod was thoughtful. “Makes sense, especially if she’s your mate.”
“Yeah.” My knee started bouncing, restless and jittery. “She blames herself for what they’re doing to Perla. But I’m the guy who forced Nyx to come to Lilith Island. And I’m the guy who put her in Nazaire’s sights, dangling her like a piece of raw meat in front of a wolf.”
“Cain—” Brien started.
“No,” I said over top of him. “This is on me. Nyx’s only mistake,” I added, low and tight, “was trusting me.”
“Fuck that,” said Talon. “You made that call for the syndicate—especially for Eden and Jude. Doesn’t Nyx see that?”
I gave him a stark look. “Yeah, but like I said, she blames herself—not me. For sleeping with me in the first place, for handing over intel. So if we can’t save Perla—if Nazaire has some trick up his sleeve…” I paused and swallowed. “What if she’s thinking of trading herself for Perla?”
Brien let out a low whistle. “They’ll crucify her. And if they don’t, she’ll wish they did.”
“Yeah.” My voice came out like gravel. The crawling tension ratcheted up. “Screw it. We’re not taking her. I won’t risk her, damn it.”
“She seems dead set on coming,” Brien pointed out in neutral tones.
“Too bad. I’ll toss her ass back in that cell if I have to. I don’t care if she hates me for it. At least she’ll be alive.”
Brien leaned forward, hands braced on his knees. “Whatever you decide, the syndicate will back you. One hundred percent.”
Talon nodded, silent and solid.
“But—?” I said because I knew there was more.
“But this woman—Perla—is Nyx’s friend. And without Nyx, getting her out of there is dicey.
If we don’t take Nyx and something goes wrong, she’ll never forgive you.
Realistically, we might not even reach Perla without Nyx’s help.
It’s Nazaire’s lair, his turf. We’re not talking a clean extraction, we’re talking a dirty fight, blood and teeth, no holds barred.
And from what Nyx says, we’ll be outnumbered three-to-one. ”
“Nazaire might even kill Perla out of spite,” Talon added.
My fangs pricked at my gums. “Then we bring more people,” I shot back. “Fight harder.”
“How do we get them in without Nyx’s help?”
“I don’t fucking care. We’ll blow up the damn lair if we have to.”
“We can do that,” Brien agreed. “But if Nazaire survives, Nyx will never be safe. He’ll know if he gets to her, he’ll have you—her mate.”
My mouth pulled sideways. “But we’re not mates, remember? Because—”
“She said no.” Brien sat back, one brow raised.
“Hell.” Mind reeling, I gazed at the dancers without seeing them as I finally connected the dots.
“That’s why she rejected the bond. She knew that if she accepted, Nazaire would try to use it against us.
” I dropped my head into my hands. “I have to let her come, don’t I? I don’t have a fucking choice.”
“Yeah,” said Brien. “It might be the only shot we’ve got at prying Nyx out of his grip for good.”
“Fuck.” A red haze filled my vision. I dug my fingers into my temples, fighting the panic clawing at my lungs.
Brien’s laugh held zero humor. “Mating’s a bitch, isn’t it?”
I stared at him, fear a yawning cavity inside me. “I can’t lose her. I…won’t come back from it.”
Talon’s expression hardened. “Not happening,” he said. “We know what we have to do—get to Perla first. We don’t give Nazaire a chance to use Nyx as leverage. Then we end that sonuvabitch, once and for all. Brothers forever, yeah?”
He extended his left hand, palm raised, and I felt the phantom sting of the old wound, the vow sealed in blood.
We came to our feet at the same time. I slapped my palm against his and held it there, our fingers interlocked. “Brothers forever.”
Brien stood, too, and for the first time ever, wrapped his hand around ours. And damn if a gold spotlight didn’t swing over our heads like some kind of blessing.
“Brothers forever,” he said.
My throat burned. I couldn’t speak or move. I just stood there, letting it sink in—these two really were my brothers. Men who’d follow me straight into the grave if I asked.
Brien’s grip loosened first. “But just in case, we need a Plan B.”
“Yeah. But first—” I hauled them both in, an arm around each of their necks. “Thanks, you mofos.”
I got a couple of grunts in return. But they understood.
By the time I let them go, I had our backup plan. It came to me whole, like my subconscious had been working on it for a long time.
I turned to Brien. “Can you have Twilight meet us in your quarters? I have an idea.”