1
Ruth
“Ruth, breathe!”
I coughed and rolled to my side, digging my fingers onto the hard asphalt.
Cold water sloshed in my belly. Fire burned through my lungs.
I took in great gulps of air, but they didn’t quell that burn in my chest, or the churning of my stomach. My throat was fisted tight, unable to open, unable to release. I was on the edge of consciousness…half swallowed by the dark…part of me was still in the water…still drowning.
“That’s it. Just breathe, come on.”
Someone rubbed my back with long, careful strokes. The same someone murmured in my ear. Somehow, I was sure the deep, guttural snarl was meant to be soothing, but inside, I was terrified.
“I’m going to kill them, whoever did this to you…I’m going to tear them a-fucking-part!” Another male roared, his movement a blur in the corner of my eye as he paced.
The soothing motion on my back stopped. “Justice,” the male behind me growled.
It was just one word. He never yelled…never swore. But the way he spoke made the strongest part of me want to cower.
I closed my eyes for a second and tried to gather the threads of my memory, tried to remember who they were and why I was here. But the harder I pushed, the more panic seemed to rise. My belly clenched, driving bitter water up my throat and onto the ground.
Not just water…river water.
I coughed and gagged, then lifted my head, strands of hair sticking to my face.
The river?
My body shuddered. Soaking clothes stuck against my skin underneath a pile of expensive jackets. Two cars sat in the distance, one small and blue, the driver’s door still open, the interior light on. The other was hulking and wide, its black paintwork gleaming against the weak yellow light in the middle of the parking lot. It was that vehicle that called me. That vehicle I knew.
It was a Chrysler…
Someone’s Chrysler…
A shadowed outline was slumped against the car. Dark and hazy, the blur spilled onto the ground beside the driver’s door. I tried to blink, tried to focus on that darkened form, until the male in front of me shifted, and blocked my view.
That blur…something about it. Something desperate. Something I needed to understand.
I cough and wretched and more water shot from my mouth.
It’s okay, Ruthy…dad’s voice pushed through my mind. It’s okay to remember.
Dad?
Stars exploded behind my eyes. Screams and gunshots followed, making me flinch and whimper…making me fear.
“It’s okay,” the guy beside me murmured, doing his best to make me feel safe. But still, the loss of my father pushed into my mind, the pain so vivid it was a punch to my chest. The image of a casket lowering into the ground made me sway before another memory swept the agony away.
Desire, so crystal clear it cut like glass.
Desire hidden in the steely gaze of four of them.
The nightclub…the sex…Jesus, the sex…
“Elithien.” His name a whisper.
“I’m right here,” he murmured at my side, his hand gentle on my back.
I blinked into a trickle of water from my sodden hair as I lifted my head. Silver shone in the perfection of his eyes, catching me off guard. I froze, my breath burning. Vampire. The word surfaced.
My Vampires.
I was going to take you with me. But when I saw what they did to you, I knew that was no longer part of my plan. Alexander’s voice spoke in my head.
Alexander?
His hate.
His rage.
All simmering under the surface.
No, Alexander, no! My own scream rang in my ears, making me flinch. Those gray, Immortal eyes hardened as the Vampire pulled away. Fear and rejection colliding in his eyes. But it wasn’t him I was afraid of…it wasn’t him at all.
Terror moved in. My family. My business…my life. Gunshots rang out in my mind. Gunshots here. The end rose up. The phone ringing in the car. I flinched with each one. But there was no more shattering of glass…no more cries from the impact. The bullets were all spent, burrowed in the body of the man who tried to save my life.
I lifted my head, and that shadow beside the black car sharpened. I knew what it was now…I knew who it was. “Russell. Russell!”
“Easy.” Elithien grabbed me. “Ruth!”
I froze with his panic.
“He’s gone,” Elithien whispered in my ear as he pressed me close against his body. “Ruth, listen to me…your bodyguard is gone.”
“No…no…no...no…” Grief swallowed me.
I could still hear his deep, rumbling chuckle, still see the sparkle in his eyes when he smiled, still feel the warmth of his respect and friendship…
Ruth…RUN!
Still hear those desperate pleas to save me.
I swayed with the impact of the memories and turned to Elithien. Sodden strands of his hair dripped down his face, and the wet clothes stuck against his skin. “Alexander…Alexander did this. It was all him…all of this was him.”
“Fucking sonofabitch,” Hurrow hissed, and bared long white fangs.
“The lawyer’s dead.” The quiet voice was so controlled, but the words were strangled. Justice stood beside me, his clothes dripping an enormous conduit of menace. “They’re all dead. Every one of them, Ruth. I swear it on my life.”
“Justice…” Elithien called.
But torment sparkled in Justice's eyes as water trickled down the bridge of my nose. Fangs punched out from between his lips. “I have to kill him…I have to…”
“Justice, no.” Elithien rose from behind me.
But he was too late, as the towering Immortal stepped backwards.
He curled his hands into fists and wrenched his gaze from mine. His movement was a blur speeding through the parking area before a thunderous crack shattered the silence. The weak yellow light from the power pole brightened for an instant before it flickered out.
Flashes sparked before I saw the destruction. The thick timber was snapped like a toothpick. Live wires sparked blinding white as the pole fell and hit the ground with a loud thud.
A scream followed from my protector, bloodcurdling and horrific, filled with anguish and need, and in the sparks of faint light, all I saw was savage love.
“I’m going after him,” Hurrow snarled. “Right now…right fucking now, Elithien.”
“No,” Elithien commanded, and lifted his gaze to Hurrow. “Ruth is our priority right now. She’s the only thing that matters. Do you hear me? There are other times, Hurrow. I promise you. There are other times.”
Something shifted in Hurrow’s gaze as he found mine. There was a flinch, followed by a deep breath. He licked his lips and gave a nod. “You’re right…of course you’re right.”
“Save Russell,” I whispered and turned my head, my focus fixed on the blur beside the black car.
My Vampires looked at me…with murder in their eyes.
“Ruth.” Elithien shook his head. “He’s gone.”
I closed my eyes and shook my head as the last moments of my bodyguard's life rushed back to me. Don’t…Don’t hurt her. We can talk about this. We can…