Davina (Davy Harwood #3)
Tijan
They started the chanting again, and I closed my eyes before I bent my forehead to rest on my arms. Would it ever end? They’d been trying for six months now, or so it seemed. I had tried to keep count, but every day melted into the next. Some of the times when I would wake, I didn’t know if it was the same day or a different one. There were six flies instead of two on the sandwich some vampire slid into my cell. I hadn’t touched it then and still hadn’t, but I guessed that an entire day had gone by. With every day, the flies multiplied in numbers. Tomorrow there would be twelve or fourteen.
“There, there, no appetite for the human-no-longer?”
Lucan squatted next to my head outside my cell. He wrapped a hand around one of the bars and bent low to peer into my eyes.
I didn’t flinch or look away. “I’m still human, Lucan.”
“No, you aren’t. You would’ve been dead a long time ago.”
I sighed. It was the only thing I could do. Time and time again, his witches would chant. He’d get excited, as human as he ever was, and he’d stand by for The Immortal thread. It had been his plan since I turned him into a human. He wanted the power so he was determined to get it. He really thought he could be the next thread-holder; he refused to believe there would be no more thread-holders. It was only The Immortal now. I had tried to explain this to him, but since there was no lore about The Immortal, he never believed me.
And then one day, I grew tired of the torture, and said to him, “Do you miss him?”
Lucan grew still beside me. He loved to sit beside me and feel my pain. I knew every time he thought they would break me, when the thread would join him, but it never happened. He still sat beside me every day.
“You two look so much alike.”
“Shut up.”
I thought it would take more for his reaction. “Roane is all about duty. He’s sworn to protect people who he feels are right no matter who it’s against.”
“Shut up,” he snarled again.
“He’ll come after you, you know.”
Lucan shot to his feet, but he didn’t go anywhere. He didn’t leave. He didn’t threaten. He just stood there and waited . . .
“He loves me. Do you think he won’t come for me now?” I saw how he stood there. “Do you think he won’t go against you for me?”
He jerked on his feet, but settled back.
I said further, “He loves me, Lucan. He loves me more than he does you. You’ve hurt me. You continually hurt me, and that’s only going to make it worse for you. Every time you hurt me, he’ll hate you more for it. Are you ready for that? Can you handle his hatred?”
“Shut up,” he whispered this time. It had been a snarl before, but not now.
My eyes glinted in triumph, but I knew it was short-lived. He’d do what he would do. Lucan was like Roane. Both believed in their own courses, and neither would change for anyone. They both felt they were right.
It was now a matter of who would win, and my heart was on my lover.
“Again!” he roared, and the chanting began again.
I rested my forehead against one of the metal bars. The pain would start in a few seconds.
ROANE
Roane jerked his head up when his office door slammed open. His senses should’ve alerted before the intruder had breached his inner sanctum, but when he saw who stood before him, he knew why they hadn’t. She wasn’t human. He sniffed the air and knew she wasn’t a vampire either, nor a werewolf.
He stood slowly. “What are you?”
The girl cocked her head to the side. She had long black hair with blue tips. A large mark covered the side of her face and she stood in a warrior’s stance in blue leather. She stood confident. A sword was slung across her back.
She sneered at him, “I am Saren. I am not from your world.”
“What are you?”
“I am not from your world; it is not your business. I am here to help you rescue Davy.”
“Davy? What do you know about her?”
She stepped back, a slow and methodical step. “She was taken by your brother, and she’s held in a fortress. He’s surrounded himself with Mori vampires. You have no hope of getting in there and getting her out.”
“But you do?”
Her chin raised a fraction of an inch. “I am only visible to your eyes because I choose it. Do not push me, Vampire.”
“How do you know Davy is there?”
“Because I am more than you can understand.” She cocked her head to the side in a defiant stance.
Lucas regarded her. He didn’t know who she was, but she was there. And she had information about Davy. He had little choice but to accept her word. He also smelled the sense of recognition. She did know Davy. He felt it in his gut, and she was as concerned as he was. All other questions would have to wait.
He jerked his head in a nod. “Tell me what you know.”
“You have power, but your Hunter tattoo is turned off. I can sense how your powers are leaving you. You’re going to need help. You can’t depend on me, but I will be there. I will hold my own. I will be the one to find Davy. You will follow behind with help.”
“My help?” He moved around his desk. “My best warriors were taken with her.”