Wild and Free by Kristen Ashley

“Or, it could mean The True decimated them and there’s no one to report back,” Lucien finished.

  “Fuck,” I whispered, not relaxed anymore at all.

  “We cannot know until we know,” Jian-Li pointed out the obvious. “So there is no need to waste negative energy on lamenting loss when we aren’t certain we’ve sustained one. And as positive energy sustains these beings, gives them their light, their lives, it’s crucial we honor them by staying as positive as we can.”

  Yeesh, if all her ancestors were as wise as her, it was no wonder Abel was so smart.

  On this thought, I felt something funny so I looked to Abel to see his gaze aimed across the room. There was a small smile playing at his mouth.

  I looked where his eyes were aimed, but I knew what I’d see.

  The mirror image of my man, including the smile playing at his mouth.

  Cain.

  He knew his parents had chosen well as to who would raise Abel.

  But I bet it didn’t suck to have that confirmed.

  We all fell silent and I held Abel and his brother’s nonverbal communication close, using that to send positive energy out there to Serena and her mate and all those who were trying to save her.

  Our silence lasted awhile before Dad broke it, muttering, “Christ, I could use a doobie.” I looked to him to see his eyes on Gregor. “You got any pot around this joint? My stash ran out three days ago.”

  I felt Abel shaking with laughter and I turned to grin at him just when an unmistakable boop, boop, boop-ing sound came from Gregor’s computer.

  His eyes sliced to it as his hand went with vampire speed to his mouse.

  He clicked.

  The boop, boop, boop-ing stopped and the room filled with a deep, smooth voice.

  “Serena has been secured.”

  I slumped against Abel as relief swept the room.

  “However, the losses were again great,” the voice went on.

  The relief vanished.

  “We’re safe. My mate is weak, but she’s being seen to,” the voice kept going.

  That meant it was Gastineau.

  “The news of losses is distressing, Gastineau,” Gregor replied to the computer. “But I’m very pleased to hear of Serena’s rescue.”

  “You have the phantoms,” Gastineau declared, and I stopped slumping against Abel. “A delegation is en route to your compound now. I’ll send missives to the rest. And you’re already aware that my queen has committed her wraiths to the side of The Real True.”

  “We’re most grateful,” Gregor told him. “I await your delegation and word of Serena’s successful recovery.”

  “Right,” Gastineau returned, then there was a different boop sound and I knew he had disconnected.

  “Not a surprise. Positive energy works,” Teona stated, and I saw her smiling at Jian-Li. “Not our asses on the line, and probably just hopeful we did anything to help, but hope is powerful. We can never forget that.”

  She was not wrong.

  “No truer words spoken,” Barb voiced my thoughts (kinda).

  “I’d suggest another jamboree, but all I got in me is to fuck my vamp and crash in preparation of whatever shit we’re gonna face tomorrow,” Dad declared. “So I’m off to hit the hay.”

  I grinned and looked at Abel, who was looking at Dad and shaking his head.

  It didn’t take long for us to disburse, which we did on quiet, relieved, but edgy good-nights and tight hugs.

  Abel and I were silent all the way to our room. We remained silent as we got ready for bed.

  I continued the silence when we slipped between the sheets and he pulled me in his arms, front-to-front, and tucked my face into his throat.

  I was guessing this meant no nookie.

  I was disappointed, but I got that. He had a lot on his mind and I had to give him space to sort through it.

  After a while, Abel ended the silence, giving me what was on his mind.

  “They’re gonna be pissed that we got Serena.”

  I closed my eyes.

  “Yeah,” I whispered, pushing closer and holding him tight.

  “They’re gonna retaliate.”

  “Yeah,” I repeated, moving in to press my lips to the column of his throat.

  “A lotta them still got concubines.”

  I gave him a squeeze.

  “This shit is gonna explode, Lilah, and soon,” he said.

  “Probably,” I agreed.

  “I hope like fuck we’re ready,” he muttered.

  I did too.

  But I did it to myself.

  Out loud, I stated firmly, “We’re ready.”

  “And I hope like fuck you’re right.”

  “Shh, baby, clear your head. Sleep.”

  “Need your hands and mouth on me.” He pulled me up so we were facing each other and dropped his voice low. “Need your wild. Need your brand of alive. Need to feel free the way only you can give to me even when we’re cooped up.”

  “Whatever you need, honey,” I whispered, moving my hands on him.

  “Love you, Lilah,” he whispered back, moving his hands on me.

  “Love you too, Abel,” I replied before he dipped his head and kissed me.

  Then I gave him my hands. My mouth. My wild. My brand of alive. And I did the best I could to make him feel free.

  I guess I did all right, because after the third round, he cuddled us close again and fell asleep.

  But I lay awake, hoping. Doing lots and lots of hoping. Sending my positivity into the universe with more hope that it would reach the fates that tied me to Abel, handing me beauty, making them decide on the side of right.

  Only after I’d tired myself out hoping, I fell asleep.

  * * * * *

  They were dead.

  All of them.

  Every one.

  Blood dripped in the gutters as I stood in the street amongst the results of pure evil, staring at the blond vampire. Taking in his arrogant grin. But also taking in the malevolence in his eyes.

  Yes.

  Pure evil.

  And also fury.

  My body was locked, frozen, but I still felt the chill race up my spine as terror took hold of my heart.

  “Tell them,” he hissed. “Tell them to give us The Three. Tell them there will be more of this,” he snarled as he swung out an arm, “if they do not capitulate.”

  His chin came up an inch and he stared down his nose at me.

  “We’re prepared to face a death of hunger and completely annihilate the weaker species, if they do not yield. We will lose our lives and they will lose theirs—an end to the earth as we know it, opening the chance for a new beginning. Tell them. Tell them we’re prepared to wipe the earth clean. Tell them to give us The Three.”

  * * * * *

  “Goddamn it, Lilah, baby, wake up!” Abel roared, and I jerked awake.

  The instant I did, a sharp knock came at the door.

  Abel, looming over me and looking freaked out, whipped his head that way.

  “Downstairs!” a voice I didn’t recognize shouted. “Immediately! Library!”

  “Fuck,” Abel snarled, rolling over me and taking me with him when he exited the bed.

  I wasn’t exactly awake so he guided me to my clothes, bent, nabbed my panties, and handed them to me.

  I had them on, and he had his jeans on, when I asked, “Was I dreaming?”

  “Yep,” he replied, bending to snag my jeans.

  “Do you know what’s going on?” I asked.

  He handed me my jeans, and when I took them, he cupped my jaw in his hands, leaning in close.

  “No clue, pussycat. Now, do me a favor and dress. Quick.”

  I nodded and did the best I could, shaking off sleep as I did it.

  The minute I was dressed, though both of us were still barefoot, Abel grabbed my upper arm, pulled me into his hold, and whoosh, we were out of the room and in the library.

  Gregor was there, his hand to his ear on the phone. Lucien and L
eah were there. No one else had arrived yet.

  They all had their eyes glued to one location in the room.

  I looked that way as Abel put me to my feet and I saw that the media cabinet, which usually shut the large, flat-screen TV from sight, was open. It was playing the news, a newscaster reporting, a scrolling bulletin going across the bottom of the screen, pictures inset to the top left.

  “…carnage today. Current reports state a small town in northeast Iowa, a village in the highlands of Scotland, another village just outside Sofia in Bulgaria, and a hamlet in eastern China were all decimated. In each instance, only one survivor, a witness, was left alive. The attacks were timed, occurring precisely across the globe. When the first reports came in of the slaughter, this video was sent to the press.”

  The newscaster disappeared and the head of a handsome, clearly uppity, blond man came on. Just his head. A black background.

  Etienne.

  “Today, The True successfully carried out our first mission. It was important to do so to make our intentions clear. However, now, we wish no further bloodshed. Therefore, we urge the leaders of the world to submit their populations to us without delay. The True immortals, the vampires, werewolves, and golem amongst you, demand your capitulation.”

  I felt Callum and Sonia join us, but I didn’t move my eyes from the screen as the blond vampire continued talking.

  “We will no longer hide our supremacy. We will no longer live in the shadows. We will no longer tolerate the efforts of our brethren to protect our human slaves from their rightful bondage.”

  His eyes went scary and I felt my throat get tight.

  “We will not be denied,” he warned. “Yield. Or you will fall.”

  After that, he bared his teeth, extended his fangs on a snap, and the screen went back to the newscaster, who wore a troubled look.

  “I can imagine our viewers believe this is another hoax. It distresses me to report that it is not. The thousands of victims of this senseless slaughter have been reported to be torn apart and drained of blood. Not a one has been found to sustain an injury by any weapon. The witnesses, all of them, thousands of miles apart, report that men and women with extreme speed and strength, as well as a number of wolves and what they describe as ‘hairless giants,’ invaded their towns, their homes, and wrought their butchery, leaving nothing but death in their wake and thousands of losses.” He leaned slightly toward the camera and lowered his voice as he finished, “And these attacks lasted moments.”

  “This can’t be happening,” Sonia whispered.

  Lucien, holding the remote, lifted it and clicked.

  The next channel was news of the slaughter.

  He hit another button.

  More news of the attacks.

  And another.

  Every channel had been taken over by the news.

  He left it on one with a female newscaster who was stating, “The videos seen several days ago all over social media sites were apparently exactly what they seemed to be. There are vampires amongst us. With the most recent heinous attacks perpetrated by these creatures, we have yet to receive explanations as to why the media received false information to relay to our viewers.”

  “Get off the fucking phone,” Abel growled in a way my eyes went directly to him.

  He was looking at Gregor.

  “Off the fucking phone!” he roared.

  “Honey,” I whispered.

  “Yes, good. I’ll phone you back,” Gregor said and dropped his phone from his ear.

  “Thousands dead. Us sitting on our hands and thousands dead,” Abel snarled.

  “Avery is on his way. He’ll be here—” Gregor began.

  Abel was in Gregor’s face in the flash of an eye.

  “I do not give one fuck where fuckin’ Avery is.” He kept his face in Gregor’s but threw an arm toward the TV. “Thousands. Slaughtered!”

  “Brother, stand down,” Callum called quietly.

  Abel turned swiftly away from Gregor and narrowed his eyes at Callum.

  “You down with that?” he bit out.

  “You know I am not,” Callum retorted curtly. “Do not turn on me, Abel. Do not turn on your own. Get a fucking lock on it.”

  Abel drew in a deep breath and stepped away from Gregor.

  But the fury still burned in his eyes.

  “Do we have any idea, whatsoever, where they plan to strike next?” Lucien asked Gregor.

  “We don’t,” Gregor answered. “The President of the United States is about to make a statement, one he’s worked on with The Council and we approve.”

  “And what’s that going to say?” Leah asked sharply. “Yes, there are immortals, and yes, some of them are evil, but, rest assured, most of them aren’t. We have no idea what the bad ones are up to and only a few more million of you are going to die…we hope…before we sort this. But hang tight.”

  It was kinda funny.

  It was also totally not.

  “We must move,” Abel declared.

  “To where?” Gregor asked.

  “I don’t know,” Abel clipped. “Somewhere.”

  “I know you’re frustrated, Abel—” Gregor started, but Abel cut him off.

  “Yeah? You know that?” he asked sarcastically.

  “As am I!” Gregor thundered, and the room went completely still at his uncharacteristic loss of control.

  But he wasn’t done.

  “I have eaten and slept and breathed these fucking Prophesies for decades, knowing one of the few beings I love on this earth was vulnerable to them.” He swung his arm to Sonia. “Knowing that though we could prevail, we could also not and all would be lost. All. All would be lost. And I’ve been working every moment to see that this does not happen. Yes, Abel, I know you’re frustrated. As…am…I.”

  Abel drew breath in through his nose and his voice was a lot calmer when he said, “I hear you. I was out of line. I’m pissed. And you got my apologies.”

  “I’m grateful for that,” Gregor returned, also sounding calmer, but his voice was still terse. “And I hope you understand that since we became aware that The Prophesies were about to come true, I have lived nothing but being certain The Three were safe. I hope you understand my caution. You are our only hope. And it has been my duty to my people, to the immortals, to all who inhabit this planet, to do just that. So I did.”

  “I get you,” Abel said quietly, perhaps not calm, but now wanting to calm Gregor.

  “Now,” Gregor kept going. “I’ve ordered all the teams that were preparing to take the hanger training camps to move as soon as they’re ready. They’ve been ordered to capture as many immortals as they can. Once that’s done, my suggestion is that we move from here to the nearest camp in order that Abel can work his way through the captives. We’ll be certain to have a very tight security detail on you as you travel. The phantoms and wraiths have already been contacted and are at the ready for our command. Although The True will be on alert that we may use them and their invisibility to attempt to get close and gather intelligence, we have no choice but to send them in. This will make these missions extremely dangerous, but we must do all we can. And last, The Council is currently speaking with leaders across the globe to procure their allegiance in military matters and in attempting to calm the fears of their people. That’s all I have. Now tell me, are you ready to move?”

  “Yes,” Lucien stated immediately.

  “Absolutely,” Callum agreed.

  “I’m with this all the way,” Sonia added.

  “Me too,” Leah said.

  I just nodded.

  Abel grunted, “You know what I think.”

  “I’ll arrange the detail,” Gregor muttered.

  “No,” Abel said. “We got mouths, we’ll deal with that shit. You got enough on your plate. Deal with that, and just sayin’, any of that we can take on, give it to us.”

  Gregor looked to him and nodded.

  Then, in a blur, he was gone.

  My eyes drifted
back to the TV.

  “It’s begun,” Sonia said.

  “It’s begun,” Leah repeated.

  A chill slid up my spine that was highly unpleasant and weirdly familiar.

  “It’s begun,” I whispered.

  * * * * *

  “My fellow Americans,” the president said on TV.

  We all were sitting together in the library. All of us save Aurora, Teona, and the other witches. They were off somewhere trying to find Etienne as well as working like crazy casting protection spells on The Three, on our loved ones, who had since declared they were going with us, and on the teams that were right then invading the training camps.

  Gregor also wasn’t there. He had shit to do.

  If our morning wasn’t bad enough, through an email communication direct to The Vampire Dominion, as well as one to Callum, we learned that the rest of the concubines being held were murdered, the proof of this further atrocity irrefutable as they’d videotaped each life being blinked out.

  One hundred and seven concubines gone, including another member of Leah’s family.

  Now our bags were packed. We were ready to roll the minute we got the word.

  “As you can see,” the president went on, “there are immortals in this world.” He gestured beside him to a handsome, blond vampire named Rudolf, a Council member, who had just extended and retracted his fangs. Also beside him was a wolf named Saint, who the cameras had caught transforming but now sat docilely, being pet by a beautiful, dark-haired she-wolf in human form, his mate, named Juliana. And last, there was a stunning, ethereal wraith hovering, seated over another chair.

  The president drew in breath and locked eyes with the camera, but it didn’t pan in, keeping the immortals sitting beside him, who seemed normal and, more importantly, not aggressive, in the frame.

  “They have lived among us as long as there have been humans roaming this planet,” the president went on gravely. “They are your colleagues. Your neighbors. They are productive, involved citizens. They pay taxes. They create jobs. There are some who are doctors who save lives. Nurses. Scientists who help to eradicate disease. Our existence with theirs has been harmonious for millennia. They have kept themselves hidden only for the purpose of our safety, however, there are many among us who know of them. Work with them. Take them as husbands and wives. Indeed, they are of us, human, just a different race. But as with any race, there are those who desire to destroy harmony.”