Mortal Defiance (Dark Betrayal Trilogy #2)

Roland looked around, concerned. “Where are Teagan and Sophie? We saw Bryce and Juliette out back. They were checking to make sure no Dark Ones had taken refuge in the shed or in the trees.” As if on cue they came around the corner of the house and joined the group on the grass. Bryce crouched down while Juliette leaned against one of the cars in the driveway.

“When was the last time someone saw Teagan or Sophie?” Drake stood up from where he had been kneeling next to Susan. “And what of Tristan?”

Ree shook her head, fear settling into the pit of her stomach. “I’m going to look for them. You guys get our parents back to the shop.” She looked at her friends and turned on one heel to head for the rear of the house.

Chapter 34

“Don’t you dare try to send us away, Alastriana McKenna.” Susan stood up and put her hands on her hips. “We’re not leaving without you.”

“Mom. Go. I’ll be there soon. I have to find Sophie.” Turning back to face her parents, Ree shook her head.

“Don’t try to tell me what to do, Ree. I’m your mother, remember?” Susan crossed her arms and stared at Ree.

Throwing a look over her mother’s shoulder, Ree silently begged her father for support. Unfortunately for her, he was looking at his wife with pride. Pushing the hair out of her face, Ree walked over to her mother and grabbed her shoulders.

“Remember when you said in the house that you can’t do what I can? Well, this is where I need to do that kind of stuff and can’t be distracted by having you out here where it isn’t safe.” Ree looked into her mother’s gray eyes and hoped she was penetrating that stubborn expression. “I’m going to be fine anyways. It’s still daylight, and as long as I can stay out here I’ll be safe. You guys need to go to the shop. Once I have Sophie and Teagan, I’ll come back for you.”

“I’ll be with her,” Paden said. “She won’t be alone.”

“No, she won’t.” Roland stepped forward and smiled at Ree. He held his hand out and Ree was surprised to see her dagger. She hadn’t even realized she had dropped it. “I hope you don’t mind. Came in handy while we were in the house.”

“Not at all. Thanks.” Ree flicked it in her hand and was glad to have the knife back. Looking back at her parents she saw her father had stepped closer to Susan and had placed his hands on her shoulders.

“I don’t like this, Ree. I don’t like it all.” Susan shook her head and a little bit of dust floated out of her hair.

“I don’t either, Mom, but it’s what we’ve got to do.” Striding quickly back to her mom, she hugged her and whispered so no one else would be able to hear her. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I will explain everything later. I love you.” Her mother nodded her head and kissed Ree’s cheek. Her father hugged them both and placed a quick kiss on Ree’s head.

“Be careful, sweet potato.”

“C’mon, Mr. McKenna. I can show you all the cool weapons we have back at the shop.” Weylin jerked his head toward Ree’s parent’s car. “Hey, can I drive? I’ve always loved the Audi.”

“I don’t think so, Wey. That’s my work car and I seem to remember you hitting a mailbox during your driving exam.”

“Aw, c’mon! I was fifteen!”

Steven winked at Ree, before turning to slap Weylin on the shoulder. Her father tossed his car keys to Drake, who caught them and smiled. Weylin’s indignant huff could be heard through the neighborhood, but Ree knew it was all for show. Susan smiled at Ree sadly before letting Melanie take her arm and guide her toward the car.

“C’mon, Ree. Let’s figure out where the others are.” Paden looked around the yard and headed toward the back of the house. “Any ideas of where to start?”

“Uh, no. Where did you see Sophie fighting with Tristan? He wasn’t in the house was he?” Ree looked between Paden and Roland.

“They were in the front street, last time I saw Sophie. There was no sign of Tristan in the house.” Roland frowned and lifted his head to sniff at the air. Shaking his head, he looked at Paden, but the other Guardian signaled that he didn’t smell anything either. Grumbling at their decidedly inhuman behavior, Ree closed her eyes for a moment and let the power reach out of her to see if she could sense anything that would help. Nausea had settled into the pit of her stomach. It wasn’t like Sophie to just disappear. She didn’t know Teagan very well, but it seemed odd that she hadn’t been in the house. When you added those things together, Ree knew something was wrong.

Focusing the power into a low field of energy, she sought along the ground for signs of life that glowed a little brighter than that of a normal person. Searching the street turned up nothing. Even the humans seemed to be bunkered down as if they could feel the wrongness of the last few hours. Ree started walking, letting her instincts set the direction. She walked back toward town, stopping occasionally to let the guys do a little searching with their extra senses. The longer Sophie was gone, the worse Ree felt. She knew this was a bad omen. Sophie would never leave her like this if she could help it and Ree knew that despite the extra power the Guardian had, she wasn’t a match for Tristan. Not after he had been feeding on immortal and Alastriana bloodlines.

In fact, Ree didn’t think she was a match for Tristan at this point. There was something going on with him that wasn’t adding up. Why had they started hunting down the immortal lines? And what exactly had it done for Tristan? Could they claim the other side had cheated by trying to use lines from Earth to better themselves? Would it matter at this point? Ree’s mind was focused on so many questions she almost didn’t sense the soft glow of a nearby immortal. Her steps hitched and she stopped in her tracks.

Roland’s head picked up and his mouth opened in shock. Ree turned and ran in the direction of a small road that ran behind a few houses to private driveways. Blood covered the ground, but was especially heavy near a small shelter where there was trail that looked as if someone had dragged a wounded animal. Ree started to duck into the shelter, but Paden placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Let us go first.” He nodded at Roland, who was already moving toward the door. Ree knew there were no Dark Ones in the building, but she also knew they were more worried about what they would find. Biting her bottom lip, Ree prayed Sophie was still alive.

The quiet, rhythmic sound of Roland’s voice touched Ree’s ears and she started forward. She couldn’t understand what he was murmuring, but she could understand the fear and shock that underlined his words. Inside the dark building, Ree was greeted by a blood-soaked floor. The next thing to catch her eye was the black boots sticking out from behind a bunch of boxes.

Roland was kneeling on the floor and quietly speaking to someone, his voice strained. Taking a shaky breath, Ree stepped around the boxes and almost staggered at the sight. Sophie was sitting on a box; her throat and arm had been savaged. She wasn’t healing quickly and Ree could feel that the immortal was close to unconsciousness. The Guardians didn’t heal well from Dark One bites. Something in the Dark One’s saliva seemed to interfere with their natural healing abilities. The worst thing hiding behind those boxes was Teagan’s blank stare. Her neck was at an odd angle and her face still had a lingering look of shock.

Roland ripped a strip off of the bottom of his shirt and pressed it to Sophie’s neck. Paden stepped past Ree, gently moving her out of his way, and went straight for Sophie, his hands already glowing. He knelt next to the older Guardian and gently touched her neck and shoulder with both hands. She winced and tried to move away from his touch, but Roland held her still. His soft words cut through the thick silence and Ree couldn’t help the tears that rose in her eyes.

Looking away from the scene, Ree’s gaze was drawn back to Teagan’s dead eyes. She couldn’t help but feel it was an insult to the woman, who had given her life for the war, to let her lie on the floor like discarded trash. Anger and grief filled Ree’s heart. Falling to her knees, Ree gently closed the redhead’s eyes. Gently, she turned the woman’s head so it looked more like she was sleeping and arranged her arms to a more comfortable-looking position. There was dirt along Teagan’s face and Ree used her sleeve to brush some of it away. The glow of Paden’s power brightened the room and Ree turned back to her friends.

Sophie looked better, but far from perfect. There were angry red welts where the original gashes had been along her neck, arm, and shoulder. Her eyes were dark and tired, rimmed in red and black shadows. The wind blew a branch against the metal wall and the Guardian jerked her head as if she was going to be hit. Roland lifted her to her feet, but she sank back to her seat and groaned.

“Paden?” Moving closer, Ree touched her Guardian’s shoulder in question.

“I’ve done all I can. The gift stops once it can do no more and nothing I try will make it work anymore.” Shaking his head, he looked at Sophie and then at Ree with tired eyes.

“What’s keeping her from healing all the way?”

“He took a lot of blood.” Sophie’s voice was weak and hard for Ree to understand.

“Too much.” Roland ground out through his clenched teeth. “If she doesn’t have enough blood, then there is nothing for Paden to use to heal.” He looked at Ree and frowned. “She needs more.”

“More?” Paden looked at Roland as if he had grown another head.

“More blood?” Ree looked at Roland in confusion. “From where?”

Roland didn’t say anything, just looked up at Ree with a serious expression. Paden growled at Roland, his hand twitching on his leg as if he was fighting an impulse. Roland frowned but held Ree’s gaze until things clicked in her mind.

“Oh.” Ree looked back at Sophie and felt her throat go dry. “I see.”

“There are reasons the Guardians have fangs, Ree. Not everyone has a healer on hand for serious wounds.” Roland reached out to touch her, but Paden quickly knocked him away. A deep, angry sound vibrated low in his chest. Frowning, Roland rubbed the back of his neck and looked at Ree. “The gods didn’t know what to expect from the Dark Ones. The fangs were made to multipurpose. They could be used in battle, to bite and tear at the Dark Ones. Or they could be used to replenish a Guardian’s strength so the Alastriana wouldn’t be left to battle on her own.”

“Oh. I see.” Ree had wondered briefly about the fangs, but in the great scheme of things she had figured it really wasn’t important. That the gods had given the Guardians something that might be able to fight back with the Dark Ones had made sense and was apparently a good guess. However, she hadn’t thought of them using their fangs in the same way that the Dark Ones did. She shivered and looked at Sophie and then at Paden. He looked and felt guilty, she could tell. He had known this all along but felt it wasn’t necessary. Of course his gifts wouldn’t have helped him. As far as Ree knew, he couldn’t heal himself any more than the other immortals.

“Okay. How do we do this?” Ree stepped toward Sophie but the Guardian shook her head.

“No.” Sophie’s voice was a hoarse croak. “Not Ree. Too important.”

“Hush, Sophie. We need you too.” Ree knelt next to the Guardian.

“Sophie. You have to do this. She still needs you. We still need you.” Roland’s voice was rough with emotion. Ree’s heart tore at the pain behind his words. Sophie was the only family Roland had left.

“No.” Sophie closed her eyes, but not before Ree saw that her fangs were descended. It must’ve been a natural instinct to drink when hurt so badly.

Not wanting to waste more time, Ree yanked up her sleeve before grabbing her dagger. She ran the blade across her wrist with a hiss and held her arm out in front of Sophie’s face. Paden’s voice was too loud in the small building as he cussed. Roland looked at Ree and she could feel his relief and the tiny bit in him that was jealous Sophie would get to taste her. Sophie closed her eyes and turned her head away, but Ree could feel the Guardian’s determination waiver.

“Don’t waste it, Sophie. I’m the Alastriana and this is my decision. Drink and get better. I still have a lot of questions for you.” Ree turned Sophie’s face back toward her and lifted her wrist. Seeing the blood was making her woozy and she could feel Paden debating on healing her right then and there, but she knew this needed to be done. “Drink, dammit!”

Sophie hissed at Ree in anger, but grabbed her hand. She opened her mouth, flashing her fangs, and Ree shivered. There was a quick moment where everything seemed to slow down and then Sophie sank her fangs into Ree’s wrist. It was painful—much more painful than the dagger had been as it ran across her skin. The Guardian worked her jaw as if kneading the blood out of Ree’s arm. Slumping in front of Sophie, Ree bit her lip and tried to not make any noises. Paden moved behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist, cuddling Ree against his chest.

Roland leaned down as well, but moved so he was in front of Ree’s blank stare. “Look at me, Alastriana.” Her skin ran hot, then cold, her stomach was clenched in nausea, but she raised her eyes to his and tried to ignore the slurping sounds Sophie was making. As soon as her blurry gaze met his, something in Ree snapped and the rest of the world floated away. His deep blue eyes seemed to sparkle with mystery and she had the intense need to be closer to him. He touched her cheek and moved closer to her body, making her giddy. She tried to close the distance between them, but something tugged her backward. Ree struggled against the arm holding her and whimpered when a sharp pain in her arm caused her attention to be distracted from Roland’s sapphire eyes.

“Look at me, Ree. Look at me.” Moving forward, Roland grabbed Ree’s chin between his thumb and forefinger. She did as he asked and looked into his eyes. Her breath left in a rush and she tried to move closer again. She needed to be closer to him, to feel his hands on her. He seemed to understand and slid his hand up to cup her cheek, while using the other to reach behind her head and fist in her hair. Someone growled behind Ree, the sound of his voice distracting her. Roland replied in a soft voice, his breath warm on Ree’s face. Turning back toward Ree, Roland’s nose brushed hers and his breath stuttered across her face. In that moment she realized he was just as affected as she was by what was happening. Her heart sped up and she leaned forward, intent on touching her lips to Roland’s.

Shaking his head, Roland kissed her nose instead. “No, Ree. Not like this. I want my kiss when you aren’t caught up in the pheromones.”