Page 37 of A Hunter Found
Evangeline raised a perfectly arched brow. “Such a smart mouth on you. Tell me, can vampires also regrow tongues once they’ve been ripped out?”
Kane shot her a taunting smile. “Nope, but then you’d be deprived the privilege of my sparkling conversational skills.”
“You do think highly of yourself, vampire. But what else could one expect of the Born? Your species is entirely too arrogant.”
She reached a hand to the side of his head, her fingers stroking his hair. Kane jerked his head away in disgust, but there was only so far he could move. In response, her fingers gripped, yanking at his hair. “I tried to be nice,” she hissed. “Tried to get your cooperation through pleasure rather than pain.”
“Cooperation?” Kane scoffed. “I think you need to look up the definition of that word, lady. What you were doing is called manipulation. That was mind control. Mental rape.”
The pain on his scalp intensified and Kane gritted his teeth to keep from crying out as she twisted her fist tighter in his hair. “I need you alive for my plan, vampire, but that leaves all sorts of pain and very colorful ways of inflicting it at my disposal.”
In too much anguish to keep up the bantering, Kane asked, “Why? What is this all about?”
The tight grip on his hair lessened and she was back to stroking him like a pet. “Control,” she said, her tone implying it should have been obvious. “She who controls the Born controls the territory.”
Evangeline moved away from the table and Kane was forced to lift his head to keep an eye on her as she paced. “With you under my spell, you’d domybidding. Run the territory asIsaw fit, with no one the wiser. You’d be reduced to nothing more than a figurehead, while I’d be the one in control.”
Returning to his side, she looked down on him with narrowed eyes. “I underestimated your mental fortitude. The other vampires I took control of were as easy to mold as wet clay, but you,” she smiled, almost in admiration, her hand returning to his head to smooth the hair she’d mussed. “You have proved a challenge. One that, I assure you, I’m up for.” Leaning close but remaining frustratingly out of biting range, she purred, “Iwillbreak you, vampire. And I’ll enjoy every minute of it.”
Kane tried to hold back his grimace. She’d already come dangerously close to complete control over his mind. If it hadn’t been for Sophia, the witch would have succeeded. Only the thought of his dragon had given him the strength to break free. And currently, in his weakened state thanks to the numerous injuries that were making themselves known with near scream-inducing clarity, he didn’t know if he’d have the strength to fight if Evangeline managed to concoct a stronger spell.
Where was Jourdain? Had something happened to Nicky before she could reach the leader of the Order of Witches and enlist the man’s help?
He was searching his mind for another taunt he could throw at her, a provocative statement that would, hopefully, throw her off balance and buy him some more time until the cavalry arrived, when he saw her serene countenance shift to one of rage. “They wouldn’t dare,” she hissed, straightening up and moving quickly out of Kane’s line of sight.
The warehouse doors blew open with a clang and Destin Jourdain, accompanied by a much shorter, older woman in a blindingly neon-green turban, strode in, arms spread wide, a rhythmic incantation on their lips.
An unnatural wind swirled around him and Evangeline screeched. Kane could see her now, her feet leaving the ground as she was held by an invisible force, her back bent at an odd angle. There was a shrill cackle from Evangeline, her arm lashing out and she suddenly dropped to the floor as Destin and his fellow witch were both thrown back.
“You think you can take onme?” Evangeline shrilly screamed.
Recovering from their fall, both Jourdain and the witch that had to be Jamie’s friend, Nedra judging by the colorful clothing, once more began chanting, this time, joining their hands, and quite possibly – if Kane wasn’t mistaken – their power.
It was Evangeline who was thrown back this time as wolves began streaming in with ear-piercing howls and vicious snarls.
A cacophony of gunfire followed and Kane spotted Morgan and Jamie, as well as several others of his vampires. Even the staid and always professional Edward was there with a fierce expression on his face and a machine pistol gripped in his hands.
They’d come for him, Kane thought. All of them working together just as he’d imagined. Vampires, shifters, witches, united against a common threat to their territory.
Evangeline, he noted, was throwing out her hand, sending attacking wolves flying back while shielding herself from the barrage of bullets, but the effort was costing her. She could no longer maintain the glamour that had disguised her true form, her image flickering like an old television with bad reception, yet still, she threw back her head and laughed before yelling, “You brought an army, Destin, and it’s still not enough! You can’t win against me.” Throwing her arm out, this time, she sent everyone flying backward. “You’re all weak!”
They didn’t stay down for long, Kane saw with satisfaction. His people, his friends resumed the fight, and Kane’s gratified smile turned to laughter as he felt a familiar and welcome tingle under his skin. She was here. His Sophia.
Evangeline – who was now completely in her true form – turned those empty black sockets his way as she released another wave of power. “Your laughter is misplaced,” she snarled. “Do you actually imagine they’re winning? They could bring a thousand combatants against me and I’d still destroy them all.”
“They don’t need a thousand,” Kane said with a taunting smile. “They brought a dragon.”
As if on cue, Kane heard the metallic screech of metal rending and a second later, one entire wall of the warehouse had been torn away. A prehistoric roar split the night. Sophia. Gorgeous, powerful, and as she spewed a stream of fire over Evangeline’s head that was sure to leave Kane with one hell of a sunburn, scary as shit. His kind of woman.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Sophia’s rage knew no bounds as she saw Kane secured to a table. The flesh of his torso was marred with angry bruises and blood leaked from injuries at both his shoulders. She also noted that his thigh had been wrapped with a rough cloth that was stained red and his black jeans showed a darker area down one leg where the blood had run unchecked for some time before it was finally bound.
Travis blew out a trumpeting blast as he joined her and shot his own line of fire over the witch’s head. Evangeline was too close to Kane for them to hit her with a direct blast. As it was, he was probably still feeling the burn of dragon fire. Sophia would watch, wait for her opportunity. As soon as that witch moved away from Kane, she was toast – even if that wasn’t the plan they’d agreed on.
Destin Jourdain wanted Evangeline Duvalier contained so that her powers could be siphoned off and cast back into the demonic realm where they belonged. They’d all agreed, but that was before Sophia had seen Kane’s condition. The witch might easily be able to deflect gunfire that was being used more as a distraction so that Jourdain could overpower her with magic, but direct dragon fire for an extended period? Itwouldget through, of that, Sophia had no doubt.
The witch released a surge of power that felt like knives digging under her scales and both Sophia and Travis roared in pain. Wolves were whimpering, howling, staggering under the blow, vampires were hunched over in screaming agony, and blood leaked from Destin Jourdain’s eyes as Nedra collapsed on the floor.
