Chapter 32
Nyx
The Quebec City cemetery lay silent beneath a shroud of snow.
Cain and I halted under an ancient maple, its bare branches rattling in the icy wind.
Brien, Twilight, Talon, and the two enforcers—James and Adrian—had already slipped ahead in the shadows to wait near the Marchand crypt.
All of us were clad in black: long-sleeved nylon tees and tactical pants that held an arsenal of silver—daggers, switchblades, stakes.
Even I’d been allowed to arm myself. I’d tucked a switchblade up my left sleeve and a dagger rested in the holster on my right thigh. My hair was in a tight French braid, a twin of Twilight’s dark plait.
Cain moved closer, his lean-boned face glimmering in the darkness, his eyes molten silver, his fangs slightly elongated. He’d never looked more like a vampire.
He took me by the shoulders, his gaze skimming over me, not checking my gear—checking me. “You good?”
I exhaled. “As good as I’m going to be.”
He nodded. “Your only job is to open doors and provide cover. If something goes wrong, you hide in the shadows—I don’t care what it is. Understood?”
Perla’s bruised, frightened face flashed into my mind. I swallowed and didn’t answer.
His fingers tightened. “I can still pull the plug on this.”
My stomach knotted. I hated this as much as he did, was terrified of what my father would do if he caught me. But it was a chance I had to take.
I touched the metal disc at his throat—his lucky charm, the only thing he owned of his father’s. Maybe some of the luck would brush off on me.
“Trust me, cher. All right?”
A darkness prowled deep in his eyes. “I can still pull the plug on this.”
“Please, don’t. We both know you need me.”
“You think I don’t know that? It’s the only reason you’re here.”
“Then let me do what I came for.”
His eyes closed. When they reopened, the darkness remained—edgy, dominant—but this time, he let me see the raw fear driving it.
“Whatever happens,” he said, “I want you to know we’ve got your back.”
My heart squeezed. I rose on my toes to rub my lips over his. “Thank you,” I said against his mouth.
“Keep your thanks.” He touched his forehead to mine. “I don’t need gratitude; I need you to fucking survive. To come home with me.”
My throat clogged. This wasn’t Cain’s battle, it was mine, and I was going to do everything I could to keep him out of this.
But that he’d said it aloud, made it clear how important I was to him? That was everything.
The part of me who’d constantly had to prove her worth, who’d never been enough, drank it in like rain on a starved field, soaking deep, filling cracks I hadn’t even known were still open.
Because I was enough for Cane, just as I was. Me—Nyx.
Then he added, “And just so you know, I’m not leaving without you. That’s my promise to you. We’re in this together—mate.”
A cold finger tripped up my spine. “Cain, no. Don’t—”
“Too bad.” He drew back enough for me to see his face, his mouth firm with resolve, moonlight carving a hard line across his cheek. “You made your decision, I made mine.”
“I don’t want this,” I said, desperate now.
He gave me a very Cain half-smile, dangerous, maddeningly sure of himself. “Have some faith. You’ve got four badass vampires backing you up. Get us in there and let us do the rest.”
He didn’t wait for my protest. He kissed me, quick and hard, and turned me toward the Marchand crypt.
“You—” I shot him a narrow-eyed look over my shoulder.
He flashed his fangs, an alpha vampire who’d made up his mind. “Some arguments you’re not going to win, love. Now go. Everyone else is in place by now.”
A gust of wind kicked up, scattering powdery snow across our boots. I took a steadying breath, centering myself, then pictured Jérémie, a QCS soldier and a member of the lair, and began to walk. Within seconds, my body tingled, the glamour settling into place.
Cain followed in the shadows. I crouched to open the trap door camouflaged in the grass, the one leading to a tunnel that bypassed the crypt. The secret entrance that I hoped Nazaire would’ve forgotten I knew about.
That’s when I felt it, a fierce, all-consuming protectiveness that could only be coming from him. Every muscle in my body went tight. I flicked a glance at where I sensed he stood.
This wasn’t good—it was bad. Very, very bad.