Dark Lover (52 page)

As he took shape again, he shuddered.

Parts of downtown were foul. Truly foul.

The alley he'd chosen was right next to one of the clubs, Screamer's. He'd heard from some of the civilian vampires whom he had treated that the brothers frequented the place. As he considered the human crowd waiting to get in, he could see why. They were an aggressive herd, reeking of lust. Depravity.

Up to the brothers' low standards for companionship, no doubt.

Havers started to lean back against the building, but thought better of it. The bricks were filthy and dripping with some kind of condensation. He could well imagine what kind of culture might be running on the slime.

He looked up and down the alley. Sooner or later, he would find what he was looking for.

Or it would find him.

Mr. X locked his front door and stepped out into the night. He was pleased with the way the ceremony had gone. Billy had been shocked as hell, to say the least, but he'd pressed through the initiation. Especially when he'd learned it was either that or he was going to be killed on the table.

God, the expression on Billy's face when he'd seen the Omega had been priceless. Nobody expected evil to look like that, and you could almost be fooled. Well, at least until the Omega's gaze fell upon you. Then you got a taste of your own death.

A little sip with the promise of a whole six-pack.

When it was over, Mr. X had carried Billy to the house, and Riddle was resting in the guest room. Kind of. He was throwing up right now, and that would last for the next couple of hours, while the Omega's blood subjugated what had been pumping in Billy's veins for his eighteen years of life. Riddle also had a chest wound. The raw gash ran from his throat down to his sternum, the skin having been soldered shut by the Omega's fingertip. That was going to hurt like hell, at least until the morning. By nightfall tomorrow, however, he'd be strong enough to go out.

Mr. X got in the Hummer and headed south. He'd told one of the prime squadrons to cover the downtown area, and he wanted to watch them in action. He hated to admit it, but perhaps Mr. O had a point about motivation. Besides, he needed to see how the group functioned in a battle situation. With Mr. M's demise, he was toying with letting Riddle fill out the ranks, eventually, but he wanted a sense of the squadron's current dynamics before he made any decisions.

Billy also needed to be assessed. Having trained him in the martial arts, Mr. X was confident in Riddle's fighting skills. He just wasn't sure how the guy would react to his first kill. Mr. X suspected it would be with excitement, but you never knew. He certainly hoped Riddle would make him proud.

Mr. X smiled, amending himself.

He hoped Mr. R would make him proud.

Havers was getting antsy. The night-dwelling humans presented no threat to him, but he couldn't stomach their vices. In the back of the alley, two were necking, or perhaps going even further, and one was smoking crack. Between the grunting and the sickening smell, Havers was dying to get home.

"Well, aren't you the fancy one."

Havers shrank back. The human female in front of him was dressed for sex, a narrow spandex strip covering her breasts, her skirt so high it barely covered her crotch.

A walking advertisement for penile implantation. His skin crawled.

"You looking for a date?" she asked, running a hand over her stomach, and then through her greasy short hair.

"No, thank you." He walked backward, going deeper into the alley. "Thank you very much. No."

"And a gentleman, too."

Good lord, she was going to touch him.

He put his hands up. Kept moving away. The farther he got down the alley, the louder the music became, as if he were getting close to a back door.

"Please leave me," he said as some god-awful, obscenity-laden song flared.

Suddenly, the woman paled and took off as if she were running from a crime scene.

"What the hell are you doing here?" The male voice behind him was a dark, nasty one.

Havers turned around slowly. His heart started to pound. "Zsadist."

Chapter Forty-seven

Wrath had no interest in whoever was pounding on the door of his chamber. He had his arm wrapped around his
shellan's
waist and his head tucked into her neck. He was going nowhere unless someone was half-dead.

"Damn it." He shot out of bed, grabbed his sunglasses, and stalked naked across the room.

"Wrath, don't hurt them," Beth said with amusement. "If they're bothering you tonight, they probably have a good reason."

He took a deep breath before throwing open the door. "You'd better be bleeding—" He frowned. "Tohr."

"We have a problem, my lord."

Wrath cursed and nodded, but didn't invite the brother in. Beth was naked in that bed.

He pointed across the hall. "Wait there."

Wrath threw on some boxers, kissed Beth, and locked his chamber. Then he went into Darius's room.

"What's up, brother?" He wasn't happy about the interruption, or that some type of shit had wings and was airborne. But it was good that Tohr had come. Maybe things were thawing between them.

Tohr leaned back against D's desk. "I went to Screamer's to meet the brothers. I got there late."

"So you missed Rhage working out some chick in a dark corner? Pity."

"I saw Havers in an alley."

Wrath frowned. What was the good doctor doing in that part of town?"

"Asking Zsadist to kill you."

Wrath quietly closed the door. "You heard this? Clearly?"

"I did. There was a lot of money on the table."

"What was Z's response?"

"He said he'd do it for free. I left and came here immediately in case he moved on you right away. You know how he works. He's not going to take his time about it."

"Yeah, he's efficient. It's one of his strengths."

"And we've only got a half hour until daybreak. Not enough to do anything offensively tonight unless he shows up here in the next ten minutes."

Wrath looked at the floor, putting his hands on his hips. By vampire law, Z was now under a death sentence for threatening the king's life.

"He'll have to be put down for this." And if the brotherhood didn't take care of the job, the Scribe Virgin would.

Man, Phury
. The brother was not going to take this well.

"This is gonna kill Phury," Tohr murmured.

"I know."

And then Wrath thought of Marissa. Havers was also dead for all intents and purposes, and the loss of him was going to rip her apart.

He shook his head, dreading that he was going to have to kill someone she loved so much after everything she'd been through already as his
shellan
.

"The brotherhood needs to be told," he said, finally. "I will call them."

Tohr pushed off the edge of the desk. "Listen, do you want Beth to come stay with me and Wellsie until this is finished? She might be safer at our house."

Wrath glanced up. "Thanks, Tohr. I would. I'll send her over as soon as the sun sets tonight."

Tohrment nodded and walked to the door.

"Tohr?"

The brother looked over his shoulder. "Yeah?"

"Before I mated Beth, I was sorry for what I said to you. About you and Wellsie and how devoted you are to her. Now… I, ah, I understand firsthand. Beth is everything to me. More important even than the brotherhood. Wrath cleared his throat, unable to go on.

Tohr came forward and put his hand out. "You are forgiven, my lord."

Wrath grabbed the outstretched palm and yanked his brother into his arms. They clapped each other on the back hard.

"And Tohr? I want you to know something, but you've got keep it from the brothers for now. After Darius's death is avenged, I'm stepping aside."

Tohr frowned. "Excuse me?"

"I'm not fighting anymore."

"What the hell? Like you're taking up knitting or something?" Tohr pushed a hand through his short hair. "How are we going to—"

"I want you to lead the brothers."

Tohr's mouth fell open. "What?"

"There has to be a total reconfiguration of the brotherhood. I want them centralized and run like a military unit, no more of this fighting-alone crap. And we need to recruit. I want soldiers. I want whole battalions of soldiers and training facilities, the best of everything." Wrath eyed him steadily. "You're the only one who can do the job. You're the most levelheaded and stable of them."

Tohr shook his head. "I can't… Christ, I can't do that. I'm sorry—"

"I'm not asking you. I'm telling you. And when I announce it at my first forum, it's law."

Tohr let out his breath in a low hiss. "My lord?"

"Yeah, well. I've been a rotten king. Actually, I haven't done the job at all. But that's going to change now. Everything's going to change. We're going to build us a civilization, my brother. Or rather, rebuild one."

Tohr's eyes glistened, and he looked away, casually rubbing under them with his thumbs. As if there were nothing much going on, just a little irritation. He cleared his throat. "You're ascending to the throne."

"Yeah."

Tohr dropped to the floor on one knee. Bowed his head.

"Thank God," he said hoarsely. "Our race is whole again. You're going to lead us."

Wrath felt sick. This was exactly what he didn't want. He simply couldn't bear the potential for tragedy inherent in his being responsible for so many. Didn't Tohr know he wasn't good enough? Wasn't strong enough? He'd let his parents die, had acted as a feeble weakling, not a worthy male. What had truly changed?

Only his body. Not his soul.

He wanted to walk away from his birth burden, just leave…

Tohr shuddered. "So long… We have waited so long for you to save us."

Wrath shut his eyes. The desperate relief in his brother's voice told him how badly a king was needed. How hopeless so many were. And as long as Wrath was alive, by law no one else could fulfill the role.

Tentatively, he reached out and placed his hand on Tohr's lowered head. The weight of .what lay ahead of him, of them all, was too immense to comprehend.

"We're going to save the race together," he murmured. "All of us."

Hours later, Beth woke up hungry. Slipping free of Wrath's heavy arm, she put on a T-shirt and drew his robe around herself.

"Where are you off to,
leelan
?" Wrath's voice was deep, lazy, relaxed. She heard his shoulder crack, as it did when he stretched.

Considering the number of times he'd made love to her, she was surprised he could move at all.

"I'm just going to get something to eat."

"Call for Fritz."

"He did quite enough last night and deserves the rest. I'll be right back."

"Beth"—Wrath's voice was sharp—"it's five in the afternoon. The sun is still out."

She paused. "You said I might be able to go out during the day, though."

"It's theoretically possible—"

"So I might as well find out now."

She was at the door when Wrath flashed in front of her. His eyes were fierce.

"You don't need to know at this moment."

"It's no big deal. I'll just head up—"