Chapter 10
The couple met up with Erin and Derek outside the loft. Derek was still shaking with his anger. Belinda had been one of his progenies. They found the loft empty, no doubt Elora and Corbin were doing a final circle of the city, and Liv and Kyle were still hunting. The rope that had bound Jasmine had been discarded on the floor by Kane’s pillow.
“Ye have got to be kidding me. Where the feck is he?” Derek growled. Clearly his patience for Kane had run out. Erin looked around then pointed out the window. The fire escape was opened, the planks of wood that had been used to protect the vampires from the sun were placed carefully to the side. She peered outside and waved Tori over. Jasmine was sitting in a bundle of blankets, with Kane sitting beside her. They stepped out onto the small balcony and looked at Kane and his prisoner.
He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and Tori noted how Erin scanned his torso, getting an eyeful of his tattoos. Mostly roses and thorns, a few birds. But running down his arm was an intricate rosary bead. Erin’s gaze stopped at the bottom of the design by his wrist. Where the cross should have been, was instead, a blackened mark, as if the cross had been burned away. Side effect of the transition, and a brutal reminder of the life he chose. Bryce jumped out past Erin and Tori, out on to the balcony. Jasmine looked up at him in alarm, her eyes the same deep brown that Jade had. It was clear she had been crying.
“It’s all right, lass. I just want to talk to ye.”
Jasmine pulled the blanket tighter around her chest as if that could protect her from the vampires in her company. Kane looked at Bryce, “She’s told me everything without me needing to compel her.”
Bryce looked at Kane in disbelief. “Has she?”
Kane stood up and leaned back against the metal railing. He was so muscular, Tori wondered how the railing didn’t snap beneath his weight. “Use your glamours if you feel you have to, but Jasmine has been very honest.”
“I wanted to know what happened to my sister,” Jasmine spoke bravely to Bryce. “Kane was honest with me. So, I was honest with him.” Jasmine’s eyes rolled from Bryce, then back to Kane. “I used to live here in London with Jade. But she fell into the wrong crowd and came home with this tragic love story of wanting to be claimed. That’s when I did my own research, and discovered our bloodline was traced back to Weres. It’s not a life I wanted. I begged Jade to reconsider. It all seemed very dangerous to me. But she had fallen in love with a Were and talked to me about having a master. A powerful hybrid named Dante.”
Jasmine looked over at Kane who nodded, encouraging her to continue. “Again, I was terrified for her, but it was too late. Faolan had claimed her, triggering her wolf curse. She sought me out again, saying she wanted me to be claimed as well. That she loved her new life. Like I said, it seemed very dangerous to me. I had already lost my sister to that pack. I didn’t want to risk my life as well. So I took off. I kept in touch with Jade, but never let her know where I was. I was always moving. When last we spoke she was in New York, she had orders to fetch two vampires…” Jasmine looked defiantly at Bryce, and then to Tori.
“She said she’d call me the following day. She never did. So, after a few weeks of hearing nothing, I came back to London to look for her. She was supposed to return by the full moon, I knew that much. People didn’t know Jade was a twin. She tried to protect me by keeping me a secret. Not even Faolan knew about me.”
Jasmine sighed, the story getting more difficult to tell. “So I went to this bar I knew she used to hang out at, and the bouncer thought I was her. The next thing I know, I’m having drinks with this guy”—she cocked her head in Kane’s direction—“and wake up tied to a radiator with a fanged-out vampire looming over me. It was like I woke up trapped in a CW television series. Then he told me the truth about Jade, and—”
Jasmine brought a trembling hand to her mouth and started crying again. Tori knelt down in front of her. “Jade was very brave, and very much in love with Faolan. She couldn’t live without him, and so…” Her voice trailed off.
“I know what she did, Kane explained it to me, even though he said he wasn’t actually there when everything went down.”
“I was there, as was Bryce. She took her own life, it wasn’t something we did,” Tori reassured. “I know you don’t have any reason to believe us, but it is the truth.”
“What about her body?” Jasmine sniffed, the tears rolling faster down her cheeks.
“Bryce buried her in a garden behind Derek’s land. It’s actually a beautiful spot.”
“You buried her? She would have killed you.” Jasmine stared at Bryce as if she were looking through him. “If her orders were to take you by any means necessary, she would have killed you if given the chance.”
“She almost did,” Erin stated without emotion. “She had Derek by the throat and she threatened to bite him, which as I’m sure you know, a wolf bite is fatal to a vampire.”
“I did know that. And for that, I am sorry. I haven’t been hurt in your presence, and Kane assures me I won’t. Not that I like trusting a vampire, but it’s all I have right now. What he didn’t tell me is why I’m here.”
Bryce looked over his shoulder. The dark sky was getting lighter. They would have to go back inside and board up the window.
“Tori is probably the best one to explain our reasoning. But I must insist we go inside first.”
Jasmine nodded and took Kane’s hand to help her up. Once inside, she removed the blanket and handed it to Kane. That’s when Erin’s eyes fell on the sweater Jasmine was wearing. It was Kane’s. If it upset her, Bryce couldn’t tell and went to the task of sealing up the window. He had enough on his plate without having to deal with romantic love triangles under a roof they all had to share.
He didn’t blame Kane for flirting with Erin, or any other woman for that matter. Before Bryce had committed himself to Tori, he had been a bit of a flirt himself. As for Erin, well that was a bit more complicated. He honestly couldn’t see her ending up with either Kane or Derek. Despite how much they loved each other, the fact remained: Derek was a vampire, and Erin a slayer.
Derek helped Bryce board up the window to seal out the sun, then took Erin into their area of the loft to rest. The rest of their party had returned. Liv and Kyle also disappeared into their curtained area. Corbin and Elora went to make a pot of tea by the far corner of the loft that had kitchen appliances. That left Jasmine with Tori, Kane, and Bryce.
Kane, being the only vampire Jasmine trusted, sat beside her as Tori explained their plan. From the fear in Jasmine’s eyes, it was clear to Bryce that she wasn’t so easily convinced that this was their best bet.
“So... what? I agree to act as Jade and present you to Dante and if we live through it, I’m free when it’s over? If not… what? You’ll kill me?”
“I’m nae gonna kill ye, lass. But, yer our prisoner. Tori can compel ye to do it either way, but I’d rather ye chose to do it willingly.”
“If you can force me, then why even offer me a choice? Either way, you win.” Jasmine looked heartbroken. Her gaze fell to her hands. Bryce noted they were trembling.
“Dante was the driving force behind yer sister’s death. He sent her like a pawn to be slaughtered rather than retrieve us himself. I would think ye would want to help us avenge her death.”
“You’re not avenging her death. You have your own reasons. How am I to know you’re not any better than they are?”
“I could have drained you dry when you woke up. I didn’t,” Kane offered.
“But you wouldn’t have done that. Clearly you need me. You’re not offering me anything. Anything worth fighting for.”
“You may only see me as your kidnapper, but I saved your life. The bouncer thought you were Jade, and you led him to believe you were. By now news has traveled to Dante, they know Jade has returned, and he’s wondering why she isn’t back… which means he’s looking for you. If he found you on the street and realized you were not Jade, you would probably be tortured for claiming to be one of his wolves and lying to the others as well. You face him with us, we’ll protect you—I’ll protect you. And when this is all over, I’ll take you personally to New York and show you where your sister is buried.” Kane's eyes were warm with his promise to her.
Bryce was surprised by Kane’s words. He had always labeled him as mindless muscle and someone eager to get laid, but this Kane… this was someone Bryce could actually respect.
Bryce turned to Jasmine and watched how she studied Kane’s face, searching for sincerity. Then as if she were a doll turning herself over to be played with, she closed her eyes and nodded in agreement.