Page 23 of Between Bloode and Death (Between the Shadows #5)

CHAPTER

TWENTY-TWO

Khent walked past Rolf, not surprised when the draugr accompanied him.

“Who’s come to play?” Rolf asked.

“My human’s friend.”

“Oh, the poisoner. Cool.” Rolf trailed him like a puppy then disappeared out into the front yard. The moon hid behind puffy white clouds, tucked away while the stars glittered overhead.

Khent could see just fine though, and he knew the golden eagle shifter could as well. He’d done some research into Talon months ago, when the shifter had proven himself an enemy, having poisoned Kraft.

Though Khent wouldn’t have missed his companion overmuch, he didn’t like the thought of anyone but one of his own kin killing a brother vampire. It just wasn’t done. Those Of the Bloode had the right to annihilate their own kind. No one else did.

Yet he also felt a surge of respect for anyone who tried.

He felt for his pets and watched through their eyes. The golden eagle sat high in a hemlock. A poisonous tree. How amusing, as well as appropriate. Had the shifter done that on purpose?

Khent didn’t bother hiding his presence.

He wiped a speck of dust from his shirt, aware he looked perfect, never less than his best in dark trousers and a dark, long-sleeved linen shirt.

Though the weather had warmed, an early May morning promised colder temps.

But as a vampire, Khent acclimated, never feeling too hot or too cold, no matter the weather.

The bird, with those feathers insulating him, wouldn’t feel it either. But they couldn’t converse unless Talon shifted.

“Well?” Khent stared up at him through the many needles of the tree. “I’m waiting.”

The bird flew to the ground while Rolf silently took his position in the hemlock. Talon shifted to human, wearing nothing but a weird contraption cinched across his chest.

“Damn. It’s cold out here in skin.” He shivered.

Khent sighed, constantly surprised by magir weakness. He’d much prefer a battle where the enemy didn’t whine so much. Before he could respond, Kraft appeared at his back while his lycan mate walked forward with a blanket.

Odd that he hadn’t heard Riley return to the home. She often worked for her pack when not joined at Kraft’s hip, so her absence was to be expected.

“Here.” She tossed the blanket at Talon and in a growl said, “It’s more than you deserve.”

Khent had to admit she was a proper addition to the clan. She’d helped her mate fight a hell beast ten times her size, after all. And she didn’t appear to appreciate Talon’s complaining either.

“Still holding a grudge, eh?” Talon smirked.

Khent held back a grin and saw Rolf smiling up in the tree, his white teeth blinding in the dark.

Kraft glared up at him and snarled, “It’s not fucking funny, Rolf.”

“It kind of is,” Khent had to say, always one for pulling their youngest’s tail. The nachzehrer was so easy to rile. Almost too easy.

“Leave him alone, Khent,” Riley said with a huff. “I swear, you guys are so mean.”

“Thank you.” He bowed his head toward her.

She rolled her eyes before turning back to Talon. “What are you doing here?”

“I want to see Valentine.”

“Who?” Riley frowned.

“My friend,” he said at the same time Khent explained, “My human.”

He felt everyone’s attention turn to him and shrugged. “What?”

“You have a human?” Kraft blinked. “Like, pulled apart in your lab? Drained for dinner? Or to make some other fucked-up dead thing to play with?”

Seeing Talon tense was its own reward, so Khent allowed Kraft his insolence. “One day I will cut off your head and then reanimate you.” He smiled, pleased at Kraft’s frown…and the way he subtly stepped behind his mate.

She didn’t hide her smile well enough. “He’s teasing, Kraft.”

“No, he’s not.”

“No, I’m not.”

She ignored them. “Talon, what human?”

“Valentine Darkmore,” he answered. “Khent ordered her to come here and help him. It’s been over a day, and she hasn’t come home. I want to see her.”

“If I did kill her?” Khent asked, curious. “What then, shifter?”

Talon’s expression turned flat. “Then I will end everything you know and love.”

From the tree overhead came clapping. Rolf cheered. “Nice. That sounded real. Threatening. Like he meant it.”

Kraft looked puzzled. “Why is Rolf in a tree?”

“Why does Rolf do anything he does?” Riley muttered. She cleared her throat and added, “Not that we don’t love you, Rolf.”

“Ha. Knew it. They all want me.”

“Don’t encourage him,” Kraft said.

“Yes, please don’t,” Khent added. “Talon, my human is fine but tired. We fought undead creatures on Tiger Mountain, and a demon blew up the mountaintop.”

“Again, nice work.” Rolf appeared next to him in the blink of an eye. Riley snarled in surprise, a sound more wolf than human.

Kraft didn’t react except to put an arm around his mate’s shoulders.

Talon stared at Khent, not appearing at all alarmed about his impending death. Such courage to threaten one Of the Bloode.

“Talon?” Valentine’s lyrical voice sounded from behind him.

Khent refused to acknowledge that he’d felt her before he’d heard or scented her. And that hadn’t been through his pets’ impressions either.

Talon looked relieved. “There you are.”

She tried to walk past Khent, but he stopped her. She glared up at him but didn’t try to break free from his grip on her wrist. “Talon, what are you doing here?”

“I got worried when you didn’t answer your phone.”

“Oh. Sorry about that.” She ran a hand through her hair, bits of the dark mass sticking up in places. “I used a lot of energy. I needed the rest, I guess. I passed out as soon as I hit the sheets.”

Talon narrowed his eyes on her. “Not from blood loss?”

“No. Stop worrying so much.”

“Yeah. It’s not like we’d try to poison her or anything,” Riley said with a wide smile. “We’re all friends here, aren’t we?”

Instead of sticking up for her friend, Valentine crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Talon.

Talon blew out a breath. “Fine,” he snapped.

“I’m sorry. For the millionth time, I’m very, very sorry,” he apologized to Riley.

“But we needed to take out that hell beast, and I knew you and your cousin were the only ones who could do it. I had no idea your vampire would get in a snit about it too.”

“Snit?” Kraft pointed to himself. “There’s no snit here. If you piss me off, I’ll just eat you. Eagle, it’s what’s for dinner.”

Rolf snickered.

Riley put a hand on Kraft’s chest when he tried to move past her. “Let it go. I wanted an apology. Plus, I like all the tasty guilt on the bird’s face.”

“Anguish, guilt, anxiety, take your pick.” Talon sounded tired, and Khent studied him, seeing past the physical to the wounded soul beneath. Not that Khent was that in tune with emotions, but he was particularly good at sensing weakness in an opponent.

The look Talon exchanged with Valentine interested him because it spoke of a shared experience. Hadn’t she said mentioned the necromancer killing her family and Talon’s as well? They shared past trauma.

Vengeance, he understood. Even approved. But a challenge from a lesser being… He didn’t know if he should let that stand. Who was Talon Goldwing to threaten a reaper?

Before he could issue his challenge, Valentine pulled away from him, the loss of her shocking. He hadn’t realized she’d been tapping into his energy until she’d pulled away.

How could such a lesser being interfere with a reaper? Enraged she thought to screw with him—and in front of others, no less—he plotted how best to take his revenge before she stopped and turned to him in shock.

“Wh-what did you just do?”

He considered her confusion. Knowing he’d done nothing to her, he realized she didn’t know what she’d just done to him. A surprising power locked inside the little human. That interested him especially.

Khent loved puzzles.

“I’ll tell you later. Now issue my challenge to your friend, so that he may pay his last respects before I bleed him dry.”