Pleasure of a Dark Prince

Chapter 15

That night, Garreth shot upright on his cot. He sensed Lykae all around Val Hall. Were they planning to war with the Valkyrie to free him and retrieve their queen?

Please, gods, let his brother be one among their number….

“I’m taking Emma from this place tonight,” Lachlain called from outside the manor.

His brother’s voice. Garreth’s eyes slid shut, and he sagged with relief. Just doona war with them, doona hurt Lousha.

Annika called back, “Never would I give my daughter to a dog.”

Good luck with that one, Lachlain.

“Then trade me for my brother.”

Wait, bargaining himself for Garreth? Oh, bluidy hell no. Brotherly irritation—so welcome to Garreth—flared. In Gaelic, he bellowed, “Goddamnit, Lachlain, I just got into this house!”

“Or take both of us,” Lachlain amended. “Just let me talk to her.”

More whispers from within. They’d be fools to turn down his offer—and the Valkyrie were no fools. Moments later, Garreth heard louder footsteps upstairs and scented his brother inside. They were bringing him to the basement. So I can see him for myself.

Once they led Lachlain down the stairs and into the cell, Garreth stared at him as though seeing a ghost. Lachlain didn’t resist, even when the door clanged shut behind him.

Since the last time Garreth had seen Lachlain, his brother’s appearance had been altered—his build was rangier, his countenance more haggard. But it was Lachlain before him. Running a hand over his face, Garreth muttered, “My eyes doona betray me?”

“No, it’s me.”

Garreth rushed to him, grin in place, and whaled slaps on his back. Now everything would come together. Lachlain would explain what really happened to the vampire, and they’d figure out how to heal her. Lucia would see that the Lykae weren’t that bad. Aye, all will be better with Lachlain’s return. “Well, brother, what have you gotten us into now?”

He raised his brows. “It’s good to see you as well.”

“I thought you were…” Garreth trailed off. Gods almighty, my brother is just here before me. Shaking himself, he said, “When they said you’d taken Emma, I thought they were mad. Until I saw her, saw you’d marked her.” He frowned. “Marked her hard, no?” He shook his head. “Ach, anyway, it’s good to have you back. Under any circumstances. I’ve so many questions.”

Where have you been that I could no’ find you? Why did you leave against our warnings?

Are the rumors of Demestriu’s tortures… true?

Yet Lachlain looked so tormented with worry over his mate, Garreth said, “But that can wait. You need news about her?”

At his nod, Garreth said, “She’s injured, Lachlain. She has gashes down her side, and she could no’ drink though she was… she was about to die in just the first couple of hours.”

Now the scent of blood arose. Garreth glanced down, saw Lachlain’s claws stabbing into his palms. His voice a rasp, he said, “What saved her?”

“An IV.”

When Lachlain’s brows knit in confusion, as if he’d never heard the term, a jolt of dread ran through Garreth. Where had his brother been? Lucia had said, He could’ve been trapped somewhere, tortured.

Garreth explained, “They gave her blood through a tube that fed it straight to her veins. They think she’s stabilized, but the gashes will no’ heal. I suspect whatever got her had poisoned claws. Maybe a ghoul, but I doona know.”

“I do.” Lachlain ran his hand through his hair. “Demestriu did this to her. I saw it all.”

Demestriu. Garreth gnashed his teeth. For millennia that evil fiend had been a scourge on their family. What else had he done—what else could he do? This time I will find him, destroy him—

Lucia entered then. His plans for revenge immediately shifted to concern for his mate. He could see that she’d been crying, and even after all she’d done to him, and to Lachlain, Garreth’s chest ached at the sight.

As Lucia descended the stairs, Garreth shot to his feet beside his brother, both standing so tall and proud. She was struck by how similar they were in looks, with the same rich brown hair, the same intense golden eyes.

Absently, she wondered if Lachlain had told Garreth about the Valkyrie’s incursion yesterday at Kinevane—specifically Lucia’s own actions. And she might have felt a twinge of guilt that the brothers’ reunion had to be as prisoners in her basement.

“Lucia?” Garreth said, a question in his gaze.

Not wanting the Lykae to see she’d been crying, she tilted her head so her hair covered her face.

“She’s no’ better?” he asked.

Lucia shook her head. “Aunt Luce, am I dying?” Keep it together, Lucia!

Lachlain clenched the bars, looking to be in agony over Emma. “She heals whenever she drinks from me.”

Garreth appeared stunned. “You let her…?” When Lachlain nodded, Garreth said to Lucia, “Then Lachlain must go to her.”

“Annika forbids it. He’s not to go near her. Emma sees things that aren’t there, mumbles nonsense as though she’s gone mad. Annika puts the blame squarely on his shoulders.”

Garreth asked, “What does she see?”

“Emma says that Demestriu was her father, and he put her in the fire, so she killed him.”

Lachlain answered, “She—did.”

Both of them swung their heads toward him.

“She did. She killed Demestriu.”

Lucia shook her head. “Sweet Emma? Kill the most powerful and deadly vampire ever to live?”

“Aye. He hurt her. Do none of you believe her?”

Garreth gave him an incredulous expression. “Demestriu’s finally dead? Because of that wee thing? I’ve seen her—she’s as fragile as an eggshell.”

Lucia added, “Lachlain, when she finds a moth inside and tries to free it—well, if she accidentally dusts its wings, she’s distraught for an entire night. I just don’t see her killing this fiend on his home ground when our fiercest Valkyrie have failed to do so on a field of battle. And Furie, the strongest of us? If Demestriu could be killed by a Valkyrie, then surely she’d have done it.”

“You doona know Emma as I do. No’ anymore—”

“Then what does she mean when she says Furie is alive but shouldn’t be?” Lucia demanded, afraid to hope….

“She’s been imprisoned by the Horde. Demestriu never expected her to live this long.”

Lucia swayed. Imprisoned? Perhaps trapped at the bottom of the ocean? In a smaller voice, she asked, “And when she says King Kristoff has her blood?”

“They’re first cousins.”

Her lips parted in surprise. “Furie lives.”

“If you doona believe me, there’s a video of the entire fight. I left it with Bowen, a member of our clan.”

Garreth stopped gaping at Lachlain and turned to Lucia. “Go get it. For Annika to see.”

She raised her eyebrows. “You want me to go to the clan?” To the compound? The kennel?

Garreth said, “Tell them I sent you, and they will no’ hurt you. I vow it.”

Please. “I know they won’t succeed in hurting me. But you’re sending me, who’ll be carrying a bow, among your people. They will not thank you for it.”

“I would do it myself,” Garreth snapped. “But I canna since I’ve been put in a cage after coming to your rescue.”

What if all he said was true? Then Emma desperately needed to drink from Lachlain. But Annika would never allow it without proof. “I’ll retrieve and review it,” Lucia said, “then give it to Annika, if it’s as you say.”

Lachlain growled low in his throat, straining against the bars. “Damn it, that will take too long. Can you no’ just take my blood for her to drink?”

“Annika forbids it. I’m… sorry.” She turned for the stairs.

Regin met her as she was hurrying toward the front door, about to haul ass to the kennel. “Where are you going?”

“Apparently I’m traveling to the Lykae compound. Lachlain swears there’s a film that shows little Emma killing Demestriu. Stay here and call me if anything happens.”

Once she was gone, Garreth continued to stare at the door, telling Lachlain, “Lousha will be quick about it.”

“How long have you known she’s yours?”

That obvious? Garreth faced his brother. “A while now.”

“I wondered why you were so eager to remain,” Lachlain said, examining the cell for weaknesses. “You’ve no’ told her?”

“Lousha’s tricky. And I suspect she’s a runner. Tell her something she does no’ want to hear and she’ll disappear. And she feels no love for me. She’s the reason I’m here in the first place,” he admitted. “She’s an unmatched archer, but suffers agonizing pain when she misses her target—that’s why she’s so bluidy good. Annika set a trap, baited it with Lousha missing and screaming in pain, and I ran headlong. I should have known there was no way she’d miss again. You’ve never seen a creature shoot as she—”

“I have a good idea.” Lachlain drew his shirt aside, exposing a wound on his shoulder.

I’ll bluidy kill her. She went to Scotland and shot my brother!

“I harbor no anger toward her.” Lachlain fisted two bars, struggling to stretch them apart. “They’ve reinforced these?”

“Aye.” Garreth joined him, grasping the same bars Lachlain contended with. “These creatures ally with the witches. Annika told me nothing physical can bend these.”

When they both failed to make a dent, Lachlain began pacing, only stopping to punch one of the cement walls.

“I canna believe she shot you.” Garreth had known she’d been gone for an entire day before Emma had returned but hadn’t thought she’d been to Scotland and back. “When we get out of here, I’ll—”

“No, I doona care. Especially since you seem to accept that my mate’s a vampire.”

Not bothering to hide his exasperation, Garreth grated, “I would no’ give a damn if she was a Fury, as long as you are content with her. And it’s clear you are.”

“Aye, but I have to get to her.” Lachlain knelt down, clawing at the floor.

“At least we’re no’ chained. When they open this door, we can attack.”

“I’d prefer to be only chained,” Lachlain said, his eyes wild. “I’d take off my hands before I let Emma suffer any longer.”

Garreth studied his brother’s expression. Any Lykae would do the same for his mate. But Lachlain had made that statement as if he spoke… from experience. What has happened to you out there, brother?

“Trust me, Garreth, it is no’ so bad as this feeling—”

When a whimper sounded from Emma’s room, Lachlain growled in answer, pounding at the bars. Then he deliberately raised his gaze to the ceiling. “I can dig through.”

“Lachlain, I doona think that’s wise. This house is centuries old and gets battered as you would no’ believe.”

“Doona care.”

“You might care that all three stories are tongue-and-groove construction. One piece falls, it’ll be like a domino effect. War, hurricanes, and constant lightning have made it unsound. I doona think Val Hall can take a Lykae biting through the first floor.”

“Support it while I’m gone.”

“Hold the floor? If I canna, you could be hurting both our mates. This place could come crashing down.”

Lachlain slapped him on the shoulder. “Be sure that you doona drop it.”