Skye and Gian joined them outside of WyldFyres a few minutes after sunset-the sight of Gian's raised eyebrows and smirk sending a bolt of renewed irritation through Brann. Irritation that once again he'd been unable to compel Syndelle to do his bidding, to stay home where he knew she would be safe.
Despite a day of loving, of sex both carnal and tender, her will had not faltered, even when compulsion had given way to threats. You will not leave me here while you and Rafe go there, she'd said, determination written in every line of her body. Her fingers toying with the coin on her necklace while her eyes flashed with the silent message that she was his equal and he risked much if he confused a companion with a slave. You have marked me as yours to protect, none would be so foolish as to probe, none will know anything beyond what is obvious, that Angelini blood flows through my veins-as does yours. Even my sister's mate doesn't know what I am and he is an ancient of your line! So do not try to scare me with dire predictions and phantom bogeymen!
'Round and 'round they'd gone, with Rafael stretched lazily on the bed, wisely staying out of the battle, until Brann had relented, settling for a promise from Syndelle that she would stay by his side, or Gian's.
Think before you speak or I will command you to silence, Brann growled as Gian opened his mouth, no doubt to needle him with some barb about Angelini mates.
Skye rolled her eyes before glancing at Rafe, snickering, then saying, "Gian has your medallion. He fixed the chain for you, shortening it while he was at it."
Rafe laughed. "And I'm sure Brann approves. You can see what Syndelle wears. A collar. Though Brann is having a hard time finding a place to attach the leash."
Brann hissed, but amusement overwhelmed his aggravation. After centuries of being feared and pandered to, he enjoyed the sharp wit of his companion. And in truth, it pleased him that the vampires of his line were like Gian, irreverent and unafraid.
He held out his hand and Gian retrieved Rafe's companion necklace from his pocket, both of their eyes widening when his hand touched Brann's and the ancient magic stirred to life with the promise of sunshine. You are changed? Gian said, disbelief and hope roaring through him as his heart thundered in his chest. Syndelle?
Yes. She is the one we have long waited for.
Take her home then, keep her safe. I will attend to this matter on your behalf. I will question Andre and execute him when he is judged guilty.
Warmth rushed through Brann at Gian's concern for Syndelle's safety, for Gian's willingness to risk death himself should a challenge arise. Even so, he couldn't resist saying, And you will send your Angelini mate to Fangs so that Syndelle doesn't worry for her sister as well as her sister's mate?
Gian grimaced, daring a look at Skye whose very expression said he'd be a fool to try and send her away. "Perhaps there is safety in numbers. Shall we go in and find Andre?"
Brann laughed and turned to Rafe, placing the companion necklace on him. "Yes. I imagine the expression on Andre's face when he sees both of my companions will spare us much questioning."
Skye frowned. "How can you be so sure that he's here? How come he's not in hiding already? He must know that you'll come after him for ordering his slave to attack Rafe."
Brann shook his head. "For all his years, Andre has never gained much power. That's why he was unable to make the men who attacked Syndelle forget their actions completely. He was only able to alter their thoughts by weakening them with drugs, then touching their minds at the moment they spewed their seed into Yvonne. As for Frankie, he will know that his slave is dead, but not how or why, unless he has paid a visit to the police station or the morgue and asked. Andre would not expend such energy on beings who were disposable from the first moment he met them."
Unlike what Syndelle had seen in Rafe's memories of Drac's, WyldFyres was gaudy, a tribute to the lusts and sins to be had in Las Vegas. Male slaves guarded the doors, clad only in G-strings, though one also sported a feather boa and long, painted nails.
They stood aside, opening the doors, their gazes hastily averted when Brann stiffened at the sight of their eyes touching Syndelle and Rafe. Their whispered "Pardon, Master" holding real fear.
Gian directed a question at the more masculine of the two slaves. "How many are inside?"
"Twenty, no more than thirty, Master."
"Andre is within?"
The slave shivered. "Yes, Master."
"And Lilith?"
"Yes, Master."
Screams greeted them as soon as they stepped inside. Sounds of pain and terror that had nothing to do with what some subjected themselves to for pleasure.
The wolf stirred in Syndelle, reacting to the violence, to the scent of blood. Its body vibrating with the primitive urge to attack, to rip at flesh, the screaming a trigger urging it to join the frenzy and kill.
Brann and Gian shifted, putting themselves in front of the women while Rafe moved behind them. Syndelle's mind touched Skye's and found her also battling with the wolf of their line, subduing it with the promise that should the need arise to defend them, she would not hold it back.
"So far this is not a real sexual turn-on," Skye muttered, casting a look in Syndelle's direction. It's not even close to what I imagined after talking with you and Rafe.
Gian's teeth flashed white in the dim hallway. "The night is young, and for some, this is the appetizer. Each club has its own flavor, though this one varies with the diners who are in attendance."
"I think I'll pass on the meals that get served here," Rafe said, his hand stroking along Syndelle's back and she knew without probing that the scene they were about to enter bordered too closely along memories from his childhood.
When my family arrives, I will ask some of my brothers to join in the hunt for Diego and his followers. None are better at tracking than the Coronado Angelini who can take the shape of wolves.
Emotion rolled through Rafe, unchecked and unhidden, flowing into Syndelle and making her heart swell with love. You are my life, he said.
As is Brann, she reminded, and felt Rafael's smile along their bond.
As is Brann. When he's not being a pain in my ass.
They stepped through a doorway, stopping just inside. Vampires and their slaves and companions lounged on couches, some feeding, but most were idly watching as a thin vampire shook out the lash of his whip, his focus on the whimpering, blood-covered man whose feet were tethered to the floor while his naked body sagged, held upright, arms spread, wrists bound to a bar suspended from the ceiling.
"Is this your newest slave, Andre?" Brann asked, his voice a smooth purr. "If you're not careful, he'll be just as dead as Yvonne and Frankie."
The vampire's fear at hearing Brann's voice rippled across Syndelle's senses and the wolf licked its lips as the ancient magic stirred deep within her, judging Andre unfit without even seeing his face.
Brann motioned toward the nearly dead human. "Release him. Andre will be taking his place. By our laws, he is mine to punish as I see fit-even unto death-for the actions of his slave, Frankie, who assaulted my companion Rafael and turned him over to a man who is even now in police custody for raping, torturing, and killing other humans."
"I have done nothing to you. You can prove nothing."
Gian and Brann stepped aside, and true terror passed over Andre's features at the sight of Rafael, Syndelle, and Skye. At the sudden awareness that there were Angelini present, and even bound to vampires and without the tattoos of a hunter, none would question their word if they had evidence supporting Brann's claims.
"Do any here dispute my right to punish Andre?" Brann said, even as slaves removed the human and other vampires, afraid of Brann's wrath or perhaps wanting to enjoy a different type of entertainment, made short work of subduing Andre and placing him in the blood-coated restraints.
Lilith stood, her sultry companion rising with her, both stepping forward as though intending to leave.
Brann smiled with feral pleasure. "I think not," he said, his power pulling on Syndelle's as he chanted words so ancient that they sprung from the dark abyss within her, creating an impenetrable barrier along the border of the room, trapping everyone inside.
Murmurs of protest and excitement bounced off the unseen wall, but none dared challenge Brann directly, not even Lilith. With a thought, Brann told Gian and Rafael to stay at the edge of the circle, guarding Syndelle and Skye. Then he moved forward, picking up the dropped whip before stopping in front of Andre, whose terror now fed some of the vampires who'd only a few minute earlier been enjoying Andre's torment of the human. "You will die, Andre. Nothing you can say will spare you that fate." Brann shook out the whip. "But I offer you the choice of how you will die. And how long it will take you to do so. Whether or not you provide a night's worth of entertainment and then meet the sun's rays, or whether you die quickly, your passing gentle when you deserve far worse." He cracked the whip, its tip a dark flicker that made Syndelle think of a snake's tongue leaving behind an ugly red mark where it caressed Andre's cheek.
"Do you admit that the human known as Frankie was your slave?" Brann asked, the lash of the whip slithering across the floor as though anxious to rear up and strike again.
"Yes."
"Was the human known as Yvonne also your slave?"
"Yes."
"And through her you ordered the attack on Syndelle?" The black lash undulated at a faster rate.
"I didn't know you had claimed her," Andre whined. "I didn't know she was Angelini."
"But you admit that you ordered the attack?"
Andre sent a desperate look toward Lilith, who'd returned to her seat and was stroking her companion's now bare breast, her eyes expressing only boredom at the events unfolding in front of her.
"I did it for Lilth," Andre said. "She wanted the woman and Rafe dead. She told me about the human killer and sent Yvonne to me."
The snakelike motion of the whip stopped and Brann moved closer, his eyes boring into Andre's. "I can easily take your thoughts, so do not bother lying to me. Did Lilith or her companion or any one of her slaves ask you to have Rafael or Syndelle killed?"
"Ishana. Ishana asked me to take Syndelle or have her killed. She told me to arrange for Rafe to fall into the killer's hands. She shared some of her blood with me and promised that Lilith would do the same if I would do this for them."
Satisfaction moved across Brann's face as he turned toward Lilith and her companion. "Do you deny Andre's claim?"
With cool grace, Ishana stood. "I freely admit that I asked Andre to strike out at Rafael's woman and Rafael. I did so without Lilith's knowledge and to settle an old grievance with Rafael. Because of his actions at Drac's two years ago, his failure to tell me that he belonged to you before fucking me, I was punished by Lilith, cast out of her bed and humiliated until she found it within her to forgive me." A triumphant smile settled on Ishana's face. "Our rules are quite clear on this. When an insult that would warrant a death penalty is brought about because of a grievance between companions, then it is the companions who must settle it-fighting to the death or until the one who claims them concedes defeat and yields a boon of the victor's choosing."
Syndelle tensed, Brann's instant uneasiness colliding with Rafe's surge of joy. Ishana turned to the others in the room. "Do all agree that those are our rules?"
A murmur signified the truth of the law and Ishana turned back around, her gaze falling on Syndelle, her lips curling in expectation. "Since my first act warranting punishment under our laws was to arrange for an attack against the Angelini female who is now Brann's companion, then it is my right to fight her first."
Lilith stood then, her eyes flicking dismissively at Andre. Her smile pure evil. "Dispose of him, Brann. He has served his purpose."
Hatred blasted through Brann. A desire to violate the law and destroy Lilith and Ishana where they stood-but to do so was to sentence Syndelle and Rafael to a living hell. He moved in to a struggling Andre, and with ancient words he traced a symbol on the other vampire's forehead, then watched impassively as the life force animating him flickered out and his organs dissolved, his skin shrinking and folding in, drying so that within seconds he looked like the mummified remains pulled from an ancient tomb.
When Brann turned back toward Lilith, he found that she'd already drawn a combat circle. Another vampire stood in its center, holding a velvet-lined case containing the athames used in such challenges.
Ishana had stripped off her clothing and waited next to Lilith. "You can concede now, Brann, and spare your unmarked Angelini this disgrace," Lilith purred.
Despair and anger swamped Brann, along with fear and self-loathing. Why had he not seen this trap? Why had he not found a way to destroy Lilith in all the centuries that they'd battled? To risk Syndelle this way...and yet to grant Lilith a boon...
Do you have so little faith in your Angelini mate? Syndelle teased, her rapidly pounding heart making the calmness of her voice a lie.
Syndelle...
Rafe pulled her to him, blaming himself for this moment, for not leaving Drac's, for...
Enough! the wolf growled. We are not defenseless!
"Do you grant a boon, Brann? Or does your companion answer the challenge?" Lilith asked.
Syndelle answered for him by pulling away from Rafe and stripping, her arms covering with goose bumps as she felt the eyes of so many strangers moving over her body, as the wolf's hackles rose. Without a word she entered the circle, watching as Ishana confidently did the same.
Both of them stopped within reach of the athames. The vampire holding them directed his attention to Syndelle. "Since you are the one accepting the challenge, you may choose the first blade."
She nodded though her fingertips tingled as her talons grew ready to emerge. Her mind raced, crowded with her mother's warnings and teachings. To handle a knife and draw blood with it while there was so much magic was to risk turning it into an object of power. But to refuse was to give up an advantage of surprise. Syndelle took the knife in her right hand, her weak hand.
The vampire offered the remaining atheme to Ishana, then said, "In accordance with our laws, neither Brann nor Lilith can use their power to interfere, nor can you draw upon their power. The circle has been warded so that to do either is to be marked as defeated. The challenge begins as soon as I step outside the circle of challenge. You will fight to the death unless either Brann or Lilith calls a halt." He closed the empty box and moved away. As he did so, Syndelle and Ishana began circling each other, studying each other.
Wait, the wolf whispered, growing larger inside Syndelle, filling her more fully than it had ever done. Its instincts dominating. Its thoughts guiding Syndelle's movements.
They circled for endless minutes, Syndelle only barely aware of Ishana's mouth moving, of her taunting words, of the hatred and determination that burned in the other woman's eyes. The wolf wasn't interested in those things. It cared only about what Ishana's body was saying. It cared only about watching...waiting, then jumping out of reach as Ishana lunged, the deadly blade missing Syndelle by a wide margin, Ishana's hiss of fury satisfying to the wolf.
They resumed. 'Round and 'round.
The wolf was a patient hunter. It could play this game all day. But it would prefer to kill this threat and return home with its mates.
Filth spewed from Ishana's lips after a second, then a third miss.
Anticipation rippled through the wolf. Get ready, it whispered, shrinking inside Syndelle, yielding control. Now!
Syndelle dropped the athame. Trusting the wolf without question.
Pain whipped through her fingers, the poison-filled talons emerging just as Ishana attacked. Syndelle swung, raking across Ishana's chest even as the wolf danced away from the flashing knife, moving to the edge of the circle and stopping, separated from its mates and allies by only the thin line.
Fury filled Ishana's face, then agony as she fell to the floor, screaming and writhing, her body thrashing in a death that filled the room with fear.
Lilith screamed. A sound of rage and grief as she hurtled herself into the circle, grabbing the discarded knife and rushed toward Syndelle, attacking-only to be stopped by Skye, only to look down in stunned disbelief and see a knife driven through her heart in the split second before the force animating her dimmed.
Brann stepped in before anyone could stop him. Doing to Lilith what he'd done to Andre, reducing her to skeletal remains so that even with the removal of Skye's blade, she would not live again.
When it was done, silence reigned until the vampire who'd officiated the challenge stepped into the circle and collected the athames. "These deaths are justifiable in accordance with our laws. If you will lift your ward, Brann, then I will see to the disposal of the bodies."
Brann nodded, his low voice barely audible as his chant brought down the barrier keeping them in the room. Then he joined Rafe, his arms going around Syndelle, his hands joining Rafael's as they stroked over Syndelle's naked form, his heart buffeted by a choppy wave of emotion.
He'd thought to possess her, but it was he who was possessed!
Should I replay one of your many lectures about Angelini mates, Sire? Gian asked, his snicker like sandpaper against Brann's nerves.
Would you like to end up in the same condition as Andre and Lilith?
Gian's laugh indicated his lack of fear.
Skye bent down and retrieved Syndelle's clothes. Leave it to you guys to demand that your companions have to fight to the death naked.
Blood and death and sex are all closely entwined for us, Gian said, leaning in to kiss his Angelini mate. His erection proving the truth of his words.
The wolf stirred. Now that the danger had passed it wanted to celebrate, it wanted to mate. Syndelle pulled back, her gaze meeting Brann's, then Rafe's, her heart swelling at the pride and love she read in their eyes, her nostrils flaring at the scent of their rising lust.
Syndelle stepped away from them and took her clothes from Skye, hugging her sister, the hum in their blood becoming a roar of love and solidarity so that no words were necessary between them.
"If this is what happens from discovering I've got a sister," Skye teased, "I can hardly wait to see what happens when I meet the rest of the family."
Syndelle laughed. "I think you will find that our brothers are always up for a good hunt. You will fit in well with them."
Rafe grinned then, the last of his fear and guilt fading away. "Ready to blow this joint, babe?" he asked, laughing when her nose wrinkled at his gangster imitation.
She hastily donned her clothes. "More than ready."
Rafael took one of Syndelle's hands. Brann took the other, bringing it to his lips and saying, You are my life.
The link shared by just the three of them filled with Syndelle's tender amusement. As is Rafe, she reminded, and Brann laughed in response. Parodying her earlier conversation with his often troublesome companion, saying, As is Rafe. When he's not being a pain in my ass.