Blood Price (New Breed Book 1) Read online

  That was a really shitty last memory to have.

  Once they were in the hallway, John wanted to run, but the silver handcuffs around his wrists stopped him. He had to wait for Dante to release the lock before he could do anything.

  “I’m going to stay here,” promised Dante.

  He yanked his newly freed hands away, shaking with the urge to use them on something. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?” he snapped. He was sure Mikel was listening, but he didn’t give a fuck right now.

  “It should. I’ll keep Mikel from doing anything worse to her. I’ll be the one to end it for her. It will be quick. As painless as possible.”

  John twisted around and hit Dante hard enough for him to go right through the wall behind him. As quickly as he went down, Dante was back up and standing in the hall as though nothing had happened, save the dust and debris now coating his jacket.

  “I’m your only ally here,” he snapped. “Be careful.”

  “You’re not my ally,” spit out John as he went for the elevator. He thought Dante would leave it at that, but instead the Vopura got on the elevator with him.

  “Don’t do anything stupid,” warned Dante as the doors closed.

  “How long do I have until sunset?”

  “It doesn’t matter. You’re not going to be able to stop this. Even if I wanted to help, it would be the two of us against an army.”

  An army. He would need an army, and the only one nearby was behind that damn wall. “I get it. You’re loyal to Mikel. He’s blood. I’m not. If you need to report that back to him, do it. Whatever hold he has over you, he doesn’t have me on any fucking leash. I’m a free man, and if this is my last day, I’m going to die a free man.”

  “What does that—”

  The doors opened on the fourteenth floor. “Go back. Tela has been alone with Mikel too long already.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to play a game of chicken with free will.”

  This time Dante didn’t follow him, and he ignored the man’s shouts as he made it back to his apartment. Good. He would need Dante to watch over Tela. Judging from the clock in his living room, it was half an hour before sunset. The city would be mostly in shadow already, but Mikel would wait until the official sundown. More dramatic, and that way, he could be sure that there would be a crowd to see the spectacle. That gave him almost no time to do what he needed to do.

  He sped to his bed and ripped the comforter from the mattress. He smelled Tela in every room. Even though she hadn’t been there in a week, he could picture her in every room. Feel her around him. Taste her on his tongue.

  And then he did the hardest thing he’d ever had to do. He left the building. Walked away from Tela when she was in more danger than she’d ever been in. Because he might not be able to prevent her death, but he could do one last thing, damn it.

  He wrapped the comforter around him, hoping it would be heavy enough to keep the sun’s rays away, and ran. He ran as fast as his supernatural abilities would allow. He ran until the world around him was a blur. Obstacles were barely visible as he zigged and zagged around at the last possible second. He ran until he could just see the wall in the distance.

  And then he ran right into it.

  Tela’s heart had slowed down. She never would’ve suspected any sort of calm in the face of her own certain death, but somehow she’d found it. Maybe if she thought there was any purpose in fighting it, she’d be more nervous, but the absolute futility of her situation was obvious.

  Mikel had left, thank goodness. So had all of his goons, except for the one who seemed closest to John. The one who, for some reason, was trying to keep her safe. At least until he killed her. She knew from looking at the clock on the wall that it was only a matter of minutes before she was going to be hung up like a macabre human sacrifice.

  She would’ve been happy to suffer her last few minutes in silence, but she felt the couch dip as the vampire sat next to her.

  She cracked an eye open to peer at him. Like John, this one was also big. Obviously a fighter. She probably looked like an ant to him.

  “I don’t have a choice,” he said.

  She wasn’t sure whether he was talking to her or himself. The last thing she wanted to do in the last few minutes of her life was make her killer feel better.

  “I didn’t either,” she offered weakly.

  “You could’ve chosen him.”

  So that was it. He was mad at her for betraying his friend. She closed her eyes again. What was John going to do? She hoped that when he left it was to calm himself down, but she had a bad feeling. He’d seemed so... helpless. He’d always been her big, strong protector. The idea that she’d put him in such a hopeless position gutted her.

  “I have a sister,” she breathed. “I can’t choose them both. I played this out a thousand different ways in my mind. There’s no situation where I can pick both.” More information than this guy needed to know, but what did it matter anymore? These might be the last words she ever spoke out loud. Shouldn’t she make them count? “Tell John....” Her calm stripped away and she squeezed her eyes shut. She wasn’t going to cry. She was going to go out like the badass she was pretending to be. “Tell him I’m sorry.”

  “I’m sure he knows you’re sorry already.”

  “Not that. I’m sorry he didn’t get a chance to really know what freedom is. That we didn’t have a chance to—” She stopped herself. This was ridiculous. She wasn’t going to convince this stranger of anything. She didn’t even know what she was trying to convince him of. Or herself. She was just saying random, last-minute wishful thoughts. So much for being a badass.

  “Never mind. It doesn’t—”

  The room started to shake as a boom echoed off the walls. Tela, using her bound hands from behind her back to give herself a little push, jumped up. But the vampire moved much faster than she could’ve; he was next to her one moment, and the next, he was pulling back a curtain to look out the window.

  “What happened?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper. Please don’t be bombs. It had only been a matter of time before the government decided to cut their losses and nuked the whole city.

  The vampire shook his head and let the curtain fall back. When he turned to look at her, he had a sharp, glinting knife in his hand. “The wall has just fallen. It’s time to get started.”

  John didn’t know whether he expected to die as he’d run full speed at the wall, but he hadn’t expected this. His eyes were open, but he couldn’t see anything. His whole body was numb. No, not numb. There was a tingling going through every inch of skin. The only reason he knew he wasn’t dead was because he could feel himself breathing. The cold air coming in and out of his chest.

  He blinked and a tinge of color seeped through the darkness. Wincing, he tried to adjust to his rapidly returning vision as he realized he wasn’t alone. In fact, he was surrounded by an assortment of guns, all pointing directly at him.

  As he pushed himself up with one palm flat on the ground, those guns all cocked in preparation to fire.

  “Hello there,” said a familiar voice.

  He narrowed his eyes and demanded them to focus, and there, over the shoulder of one of the gunmen, he recognized Travis. The man talking with Tela at the party.

  “I need to go back.” John pushed himself up. “I need a team of your best men.”

  Travis pushed in front of some of the armed men, and John looked around at his new surroundings. Cars, tents, and dozens—maybe hundreds—of human military surrounding him. Well fuck, he’d made it through the wall.

  “You can’t go back. You just got here. We have to go through protocol and procedures and—”

  “They have Tela.” He tried to say the words matter-of-factly. One soldier to another. But they were ripped from his throat. Glancing at the sky, he could tell that sunset wasn’t for another few minutes, but the shadows from the trees and tents around them were protecting him from the sun. He
didn’t know where the comforter that had been protecting him went. Maybe it burned up as he’d catapulted through the wall....

  If it had been a few minutes earlier, the sun might’ve taken care of him, even after he’d managed to survive the wall.

  “I need to go back to Tela. I need men. It’s the only way we can get her back.”

  “Hey, man. I’m going to work with you. I want to help Tela as much as you do. But first—”

  His patience was gone. John reached out and grabbed Travis by the neck, yanking him off his feet. “Nothing first. Tela first.”

  “I’ll go with you,” said an unseen voice.

  He turned to see the voice, expecting it to be a soldier. But instead, an unarmed man stood between a few of the guards. He wore all black and seemed very unbothered by John’s presence, unlike all the soldiers.

  And John immediately knew why. This man was a Vopura too.

  John stared at the group of Vopura around him. All from outside the wall. All supposedly native to this world. He had so many questions and didn’t give a damn about any of the answers now.

  The unit going in with him were getting equipped with something called “bodycams” before going in. Giving the humans some idea of what the status of the city was before they moved in.

  Did he really need to wait? He’d gotten the wall down. Maybe that was enough of a distraction to hold off Mikel. Maybe it would be enough of a distraction for him to get her out of there without backup.

  “I don’t know how you did it, but thank you. You saved a lot of people today,” said Travis, who, for some stupid reason, was still hanging around. Though now that he thought about it, it seemed like Travis was the only human who wasn’t afraid of him.

  “I only care about saving one, and everyone is taking their sweet ass time,” he growled, loud enough for the Vopura to hear.

  “How did you do it? Bring the wall down?” asked Travis, not backing down.

  “I knew it kills humans who tried to pass through. I don’t die as easily as a human.”

  Travis scoffed. “That’s it? That’s all you had to go on?”

  John turned to stare down Travis, and the man was at least smart enough to back away. “If I tried to get her out of that tower, both of us would die. I figured this way she’d at least stand a chance.”

  “I know she would’ve appreciated what you did.”

  “She will appreciate it. When I tell her in person. And I’m leaving in thirty goddamn seconds!” he screamed.

  The head Vopura, the one who he’d spoken with so briefly, started to walk over but stopped as a woman blocked his path. Another Vopura. Fuck, how many were there? They shared a kiss, and John couldn’t stop staring. How little did he truly know about this world?

  “When you see Tela, tell her I have confirmation that Dani is out safe.”

  That pulled him out of his voyeurism. “You knew what she was going to do. You put her up to this.”

  Travis took another step back. “I didn’t—”

  “We’ve decided car is the most efficient way to travel. We’re taking a SWAT truck. This way,” said the Vopura who was walking past John and leading him to an oversized black van that was already filled with a few soldiers.

  The van immediately started toward the city while everyone at the camp scrambled to prepare for the inevitable battle to come. It was only a matter of time before Mikel started to go on the offensive. The wall going down was just the beginning.

  But none of that was his problem. He got the damn thing down. Everyone else could deal with the mess.

  “I’m Nicolas,” said the apparent leader. The one with the woman.

  “You can call me John.”

  “I gather we’re on a rescue mission?”

  “A human woman. She’s set to be executed at sundown.” He didn’t need to look back at Nicolas to know the worry that crossed over his face. “I have to try,” he said before the Vopura could give him any stupid, pitying comments. “You probably won’t make it out alive,” he warned, trying to get the attention off him.

  “Don’t be so sure. I’ve survived a lot worse than this. Besides, Anna would never let me die without her express permission.”

  Anna.... “I didn’t realize there were Vopura women here.”

  “We’re vampires here, buddy. Your people didn’t tell you?”

  Maybe this meant Tela would finally stop calling him a vampire. Or maybe it would just reinforce her incorrect terminology. “I’m guessing they didn’t tell me a lot of things.”

  “We came through the gate centuries ago. We were doing pretty damn good at keeping our presence here a secret until you all showed up.”

  “Was Anna one of those who came through then?” Could that earlier breach have something to do with the crisis back on Vora?

  “No. Anna was born human. She was turned.”

  John stopped. “What do you mean, turned? I thought that was just human fantasy.”

  Nicolas raised a brow. “No. It’s dangerous. There’s less than ten percent who make it through the transition. But it’s not impossible.”

  How much had Mikel kept from him? “I can tell your woman cares for you. Mine is in danger and she needs me. Now, can you keep up?”

  Nicolas pulled a nasty-looking silver dagger out of a belt holster. “I’m ready.”

  The van picked up speed. There was no more talking. Just tense waiting. The closer he got to downtown, the more chaotic it was getting. John leaned forward to look out the windshield at the havoc outside. Humans were making a run for the wall all around him. A few of the vampires were working on rounding up what mortals they could, but it was too early for Mikel to have coordinated his men, and there was no plan in place for this.

  It was only when he rounded the corner for the Sorenson that he allowed himself to accept the adrenaline running through him. It was the moment of truth. Was Tela hanging from the balcony as Mikel had said, or had his distraction worked?

  If there was any sort of justice in the world, Mikel would be too distracted to deal with her.

  He jumped out of the van before it had even come to a stop and looked up. All of his hopes crumbled. Because there, hanging dozens of floors above him, was the love of his life.

  A feral, guttural scream ripped from his throat. Mikel was going to pay. John was going to corner the son of a bitch and rip out each and every one of his cursed organs until just his heart remained, and then he was going to stomp on it so hard there was nothing left to beat that damned blood through his veins.

  “She could still be alive.” Nicolas turned to the men he’d brought with him. “Run reconnaissance. Report back numbers, security, anything else you see to the base.”

  John didn’t hear the rest. He didn’t owe them a damn thing. It was too late. He didn’t remember going inside. He didn’t remember the elevator. Everything was a blur as he tried to get to Tela. He’d failed. Of course he’d failed. What did he expect to happen? He’d left her to die alone. Terrified. Surrounded by enemies.

  He should’ve attacked Mikel right then and there. So what if he died while trying to save her? At least she’d know he cared. There were no sides anymore. He didn’t care whether he’d have to go into hiding for the rest of his immortal life to be with her. It would be worth it.

  The building seemed to be deserted. Outside, there had been fires and fighting. Panic, chaos, war. Gunshots and screams. But here it was quiet. Like a tomb.

  He passed the hole in the hallway where he’d thrown Dante through the wall and kicked in the door to Mikel’s office. In a flash, he was pulling on the ropes that held Tela’s wrists. She’d seemed lifeless before, but the confirmation now was like an ice-cold knife going through him.

  “I’m sorry, man,” said Nicolas, who was apparently behind him.

  John finished pulling Tela over the balcony and cradled her in his arms as he carried her to the couch and gently set her down.

  She was still warm. Her skin still seemed pink and flu
sh, even with the blood loss. She looked just as perfect as always, with one very important exception.

  There was no heartbeat.

  John collapsed next to her, his head resting against her stomach. He’d done this. He said he’d protect her and he’d failed. Tela finally had her chance to be free, and now she wasn’t going to see it.

  He’d seen humans face death. They’d break down and cry. Tela deserved tears. She deserved so much more than what she’d gotten.

  But John didn’t have any tears. He felt so empty. Numb. He felt more like a slave than he ever had before.

  “Hey, buddy,” said Nicolas. “We’ve got company.”

  John managed to turn his head enough to see Mikel and a line of guards file in. Once again, he wanted to be angry. He wanted to fight, but there was just so little fight left in him.

  He did a quick count of the threat. Seven of Mikel’s most trusted men and then Mikel himself. Two on eight. Possible, maybe. But not probable.

  “Johnny. Nice to see you’ve come back. As you can see, things aren’t going great here. Any idea why that would be?”

  John’s hand fisted in Tela’s sweatshirt. He didn’t want to let her go. He wanted to take her out of this city, even if in death. She deserved that. “I’m not answering to you.” John’s voice cracked. He didn’t want to talk to this man. He didn’t want to look at this man. He didn’t want to be in the same room as this man. Right now, he didn’t even want to fight. He just wanted to give Tela some semblance of peace.

  “Oh Johnny, you do answer to me. You always answer to me. As I own you, and I always will own you. And it’s about time you got used to that.” He gestured to his guards. “Take care of this.”

  The men started to close in around them, but Nicolas wasn’t worried. “I don’t think we’ve met. My name is Nicolas, and I also don’t answer to you.” Quickly, almost too fast for John’s Vopura senses to follow, Nicolas struck out with a silver dagger, and two of the guards fell to the floor: one with a giant wound where his heart would be and a second with his head barely hanging on. A flash of something—fear—passed through Mikel’s eyes. The first time John had ever seen it there. Now it was six against two. Those odds weren’t that bad at all.