Chapter 8

It was almost eleven-thirty and Bryce was pacing in circles like a beast ready to attack. They were expected to meet the Blood Clan at midnight in an abandoned warehouse to discuss their strategy. It was the first night of the full moon, the night that Averill and Dante expected Jade and Faolan to hand the treacherous vampires over to them. The Council was still unaware to the fact that the wolves, Faolan and Jade, were dead, but after tonight, the Council would become suspicious. The moon would be full for three nights, tomorrow being the brightest. Bryce wanted to attack on the third night. Derek agreed that the Council would have sent off a few search parties by then, diminishing their force.

“Where are they?” Bryce growled at Elora as if she were responsible for Corbin and Kane not returning on time.

“Corbin isn’t easily caught. If something happened to Kane, she would’ve alerted us. She’s in her raven form tonight. Y’all need to calm down.” Elora snapped back and twirled around giving Bryce her back. A sea of colors swirling around her as her layered skirts created a mini tornado from the waist down. Tori glanced at Bryce whose eyes glowed green, fueled by his frustration. He may have acted enraged, trying to stress their absence as disobedience, but she knew he was worried. Every life lost would be on him, whether it was their choice or not. Bryce was the reason they gathered, if they were to fall, the blood would be stained on his hands for centuries. Elora crossed her arms and tucked in her bottom lip. Tori had never seen her cry, but Corbin was Elora’s soulmate, and she could see that Elora was kicking herself for not going with her. Tori walked over to her and placed a hand of comfort on her back. Elora spun around about to say something when the door swung open.

Corbin ran in, slammed the door behind her, tossing a shawl that Elora had left by the door around her shoulders. She had left the loft in her raven form, so no one was surprised to see her return in the nude. Her eyes were wide, searching the room before she locked her gaze on Bryce. Tori slid her hand up and gave Elora’s shoulder a squeeze.

“Sorry we’re late, Bryce, but we found something.” She looked like she wanted to get to Bryce before Kane did. Where was Kane anyway? Tori thought. The knob turned and the door was kicked open. Kane filled the doorway with a figure draped over his shoulder. He walked past everyone, his eyes narrowed as he took his prisoner to his curtained area of the room. Tori could see her pin straight hair hanging long and dark over Kane’s shoulder and down his back. Her arms were limp.

“We dinna take our meals to go, Kane. Ye know better than that.”

Kane ignored him and laid her down on his bed of blankets. Corbin pushed past Bryce and handed Kane some rope. He expertly wrapped one end of the rope around the girl’s wrists and then the other end to the radiator. The room was silent, until Kyle asked, “Who is she?”

It was the question on everyone’s lips. Kane parted her hair like curtains revealing her delicate Asian features. Her eyes remained closed, but even still it was like staring at a ghost. Tori gasped and Erin pulled out her crossbow.

“She killed herself!” Liv shrieked. “We all watched her die.”

“Yes, you watched Jade die,” Kane confirmed. “This is her twin sister, Jasmine.”

“You brought a fecking Were into our lair? Are ye mad? Dante is linked to them!” Bryce shoved Kane hard in the chest. Kane caught his balance and was in Bryce’s face in a flash.

“She’s not a wolf. Females have to be claimed in order to ignite the curse.” His anger seemed to melt a bit. He glanced down at Jasmine. “She’s just a human with some trigger-happy DNA encoding,” Kane said with a smirk.

“Bryce, we went to the wolf bars like you asked and tried to get a rough idea of how many there were. We saw Jasmine talking outside to a bouncer. Kane overheard the bouncer call her Jade and ask her about Faolan. Clearly he was a wolf. She played along saying he should be around soon, then when he started asking more questions, she made an excuse and took off. Kane followed her and compelled her. She told him she was Jade’s sister, and she was looking for her.”

Bryce seemed to soften a bit and leaned against the wall, looking from Corbin to Jasmine who was still out cold. “So she doesnae know her sister is dead? Or Faolan?”

“No,” Kane said. “I just found out who she was and what she was to Jade. I thought we could use her, so I gave her a drink that knocked her out and brought her here.”

“What are you, the frat guy who slipped Ruffies into girls’ cocktails?” Erin asked, appalled by the notion.

“Uh, no…” Kane tilted his head to the side and flashed his dimple. Although he had offered her a smile, his eyes shone with disappointment.

“I gave him a vile, sugar.” Elora broke the tension. “I knew he was going to a bar full of wolves, so I offered him a few different potions if he needed a way out. That’s all. Just trying to help.”

Corbin ran her hand over Elora’s wild hair. “And you did. Worked like… a charm.” She smiled at her partner. Elora took Corbin’s hand in hers, lacing their fingers together.

“I apologize.”

“I still wish ye would have asked me first. Ye have a phone, ye know? A phone that probably has about fifty missed calls by now.” Bryce glared at Kane who reached into his back pocket and pulled out his iPhone. He swiped the screen and his frown deepened.

“So I do. Sorry. It was on silent.”

“We’ve got to go—they’re expecting us. We’ll discuss this when we return.” Bryce stepped toward the door with Derek.

Kane wiped his bottom lip with the back of his hand, shook his head in disgust then rested his hands on his hips. “I thought you’d be thrilled. She’s our ticket to getting inside.”

“She didnae threaten us, Kane. We’re nae like them. We dinna take prisoners unless it’s absolutely necessary.” Derek looked at Kane, his eyes narrowed in contempt as he exited the door. The sound of his footsteps echoing in the stairway as he descended outside to wait for the others. Erin went to follow then stopped short.

“She looks exactly like Jade, it’s pretty eerie,” she said as the realization of what Kane had intended swept across her Irish features.

“Aye. I thought I saw a fecking ghost before.” Bryce’s mouth twitched as he looked at Jasmine. She remained out cold.

“Bryce…” Tori began as it clicked in her mind as well. “It’s the full moon, and they expect Faolan and Jade to bring us to them.”

“She’s nae a wolf. Dante would know the difference right away.” Bryce shook his head.

“We just have to get inside. Isn’t it better to be welcomed in, then to fight our way through?”

“Welcomed in, lass? Ye think if we compel her to turn us over that they’ll have a tea party waiting? We go in wi’ her, we go in draped in silver chains and outnumbered.”

“I can go with you. You need me on the inside, Bryce.” Elora looked scared but determined. Bryce’s gaze drifted from her eyes to her necklace. The necklace that held the oldest vampire in existence confined to a block of stone. Bryce stepped toward Elora, and held the stone hanging off of her neck. He felt it in his hands, funny, he thought, it didn’t feel very powerful.

“She really does look like her, Bryce. I think it will work,” Liv said as she squatted beside Jasmine and studied her face. Kyle knelt down beside her, sniffing at Jasmine’s neck.

“She smells a lot better though. Bryce is right, Dante will know.”

“By the time Dante knows, it will be too late. We’ll already be inside.” Tori rested her hand on Bryce’s shoulder. “Let’s offer the situation to the clan, let them decide.”

“Nae. I’m the leader, and I canna lead my clan if I canna make a decision. Fine. Jasmine will be compelled by Tori. She’ll take me in. Only me.”

“Bryce! Why do you have to be so damn thick?” Tori cried, feeling equally devoted and frustrated with her mate.

“When will ye unnerstan’?” He reached over and took her face in his hands, a bit more forcefully than she was accustomed to, but then again war makes men behave in strange ways. “I will nae let anyone put chains on ye and lead ye to yer doom. I’ll be wrapped in silver—it will weaken me. I need ye to be at full strength.” He kissed her forehead and then shook off his pain. “Come, we need to go.” He stepped away and, heartbroken, Tori followed, stopping at the door to look at Kane who had squatted beside Jasmine.

“I’d like to stay with her,” Kane said.

“I’m sure you would,” Erin scoffed.

“No—it just seems cruel to have her wake up in a strange room all alone, tied to a radiator. She’ll probably be scared.”

“How’d you get her to agree to even have a drink with you, far less slip something into it? Compulsion?” Erin asked skeptically.

Kane shrugged. “You know some women find me charming.”

“I’m not a woman. I’m a slayer. You seem to forget that.”

“How could I forget? Your words have been a stake in my heart ever since we first met.”Erin turned and walked out, but it was too late. Kane had already seen the blush on her cheeks. Tori had seen it too, and she knew that this thing between them would only end in heartbreak.