Page 95 of The Firebrand
Aisen bent over a file, consulting his records. “She is here.” With his brows tight, he peeked up at his brother. “You tasted her, Silas.”
“When?”
“Long ago.”
The vampire jerked his head around. “She’s alive, though?”
“Yes, she’s well. You did no permanent damage.”
With a swoosh, Silas released the breath he held. “That is good. Otherwise, he would kill me. Our boss is not a male to toy with. His orders are clear. No human is to be harmed until the result from a lab test is confirmed.”
Though Silas feared few Aeternals, the male who had hired him to oversee this monumental task was cause for alarm. He took joy in torture, burning his victims in the hottest of hell fires or drowning them in ice. Over and over. All the while his eyes lifeless.
When annoying screams along with wails interrupted Silas’s conversation with Aisen, the bludfrenzied vampire grabbed his brother’s elbow to drag him outside the main farm building.
“It’s better here.” Silas popped his hands over his ears. “The miserable, crying wretches get on my nerves. Can’t they shut up? Accept their fate? Earthers are annoying, but they’re also sirens. Ah, their aroma. Seductive. Their blood is a magic elixir luring me onto the rocks. How can you stand it in there?”
The frenzy was strong today, his thirst still raging despite what must have been a recent feeding.
“You get used to it,” said Aisen, eyeballing his brother.
“Humans are weak, born to corrupt us. They do not deserve their short, sad lives. Because we are superior, we will reign.”
“Agreed. Cerberus will deliver victory. The Ulfur incident is a minor setback. The Scion Firebrands captured the shifter, but he knows little of the operation.”
While his body quivered, trying to shed the frenzy as a snake sheds its decayed skin, Silas concentrated on Aisen’s words. He stared at his brother’s lips. The maddening voices from the compound faded. With the silence, lucidity returned. “True, but I don’t like how close they are getting. Have you finished gathering samples from the new captives?”
“I have. They are in the refrigerator where you can pick them up for testing.”
Silas fisted his younger brother’s shoulder. “Thank you, Aisen. Without your help, I would surrender to this disease. Even when the frenzy possesses me, you keep the stockades going.”
“I will support you until my last breath, brother, but you must continue to battle the malady’s effects.”
Silas nodded, rubbing his arm. It was nearly healed where the Earther had clawed him. “That female is proving resilient. Why were Alliance agents at her apartment? Perhaps Rein is so besotted with her he hired males to protect her on Earth. Whatever the case, the order still stands. We must bring her in.”
“How will you do that with the Firebrand on guard all the time?”
“If she returns to Scath, I have a plan to draw Rein away, to distract him. He will have to remove the protective spell around the human. When he does, I’ll swoop in to take her.”
****
Oncethe sun set behind the skyline, Rein strapped on his chest harness loaded with blades, preparing to leave his condo. He was heading to Darque to check out the ongoing yeti and gagan conflict. But on his way to a portal, his D-chip buzzed. He tapped his wrist.
“Rein?”
“Father.” Since Alarik phoned from a cell, the conversation was aloud. Only Firebrands spoke thought-to-thought via embedded D-chips.
“I have bad news. George James called to tell me his daughter, Braelyn, was ambushed again. Paramedics took her to a hospital. When she can leave, he wants her brought to Scath. With Scion Firebrand protection, she might be safer until we find out what is going on.”
Rein held his breath, his pulse hammering in his ears.He had to ask.“How bad is she?”
“I understand pretty banged up, a concussion, a few cracked ribs, a broken arm, bruises, lacerations, but they expect her to recover. She’s in a coma right now.”
“Who did this?” Rein’s jaw clenched tight enough to crack teeth.
“George doesn’t know. She and an Alliance agent were outside her apartment when someone struck the guy. Knocked him out. When she signaled her two bodyguards posted downstairs, they arrived in time to save them both. I don’t have all the details.”
“I’ll go get her.”
