Jared chuckled. "A while. But I'd like some rest, too. So everyone get comfy, and maybe we can catch some shut-eye before we start out of here."

The roar of a chopper overhead made all of us wince and Jared lowered his flaming hands a second later, plunging us all into semi-dark. But it was better than being spotted.

Mikjall moved to the mouth of the tunnel and crouched low. If anything came near, he'd be able to see it through the darkness before any of the rest of us. Rumbling growls resonated through the tunnel.

No one was going to sleep.

"We can't stay here, Eira." Charlie groaned as she settled on the ground next to Travis. "Not if they already have the soldiers searching out this far."

I stretched my neck and sighed. I didn't need to sigh or breathe, but psychologically, it felt good to release tension that way.

"The farthest I could move everyone is the old house on Blackshear Lake. But I'll need to feed several times to carry so many." I surveyed the group. Seven of us had come to Savannah. Only seven Lycans were returning with us. Then the mystery woman and her baby. I didn't know what she was, but for now, it didn't matter. She needed help just like the rest.

Fifteen people and a baby to carry two hundred miles. The trips would be easier if I took them one at a time. Especially when taking the men. They were more than double my weight. But that meant I would have to blur... I counted it up in my head and frowned.

"Please, take what you need. Please just help us." A frail voice from the corner spoke up. It was the woman and baby Mikjall had carried off the street.

"Hush. She's not taking any of your blood," the Drakonae growled.

If I wasn't mistaken, I detected a fair amount of possessiveness in his demeanor already.

"You can have as much of my blood as you need. I'm sure the others will be willing to feed you as well. No one else can travel as fast as you can," he continued, turning to face me, his eyes still glowing with orange flame. "If I thought I could fly us out of here, I would. But I fear that would only draw more attention."

"Yeah, that didn't work out very well for your mother. I'm going to have to say no to the flying dragon plan."

Mikjall let the corners of his mouth turn up for just a moment.

"Thank you, though," I said, placing my hand on his forearm. "I will need your blood especially. After several trips, I will be dragging."

Killian leaned against my shoulder. "You can do this, my love. We will help you any way we can."

"You are welcome to my blood as well, Eira," Jared called out.

Alek raised his hand and waved, acknowledging my request.

Perhaps, with enough help from them, I could pull this off. The wolves wouldn't feed me, and I knew not to ask. Travis and Garrett were doing their absolute best not to make eye contact. Even Charlie's gaze remained glued to the floor. Her guilt cried out so loud it could've raised the dead.

It didn't matter. Lycans were a superst.i.tious bunch. No matter that I'd practically lived with the pack for years, none of them felt comfortable donating even a single drop of their blood. Always concerned they'd fall under my thrall.

Killian cupped my face in his hands and pressed a kiss to my lips. His mouth covered mine with a hunger I wished we had time to explore. Instead, I was going to run cross-country, hopefully moving our group far enough away that Xerxes would call off his soldiers.

He'd lost this one.

At least I hoped that's what he thought. There still was the matter of the dagger he was after.

I ran my hands through Killian's thick, sandy blonde head of hair and then pulled away from his hungry mouth. G.o.ds, I wanted to just stay and kiss him, but the rumble of another helicopter nearing the mine brought my fantasizing mind crashing down to our dire reality.

"Alright. I need to feed before I start. I hate to ask for more, my love. But-"

"I'll manage, Eira. Take what you need."

I could see Killian in the dark. The tiny bit of firelight Jared was throwing off from his hands glistened against his skin. His bright blue eyes sparked with desire, and he nodded, leaning his head to the side, baring his neck for my bite.

The sound of his heart beating and his blood rushing through his veins clamored in my head. My fangs descended, and the hunger I'd been ignoring since the fight overwhelmed me as I sank my teeth into his neck.

The sweet taste of his blood flowed into my mouth, revitalizing my tired body. The hint of magick in his blood was powerful in its own right. Even though Killian had no extraordinary powers, the magick that made him live thousands of years coursed through his veins, making his blood very strong and very satisfying without drinking a lot.

I sealed his skin where I'd bitten and pulled away, licking my lips. I could've drunk more. I wanted more. But I wanted him strong and coherent, too. We had a long night ahead of us, and he would likely have to feed me at least once more, if not twice. I needed to pace myself.

"I should take one of you first," I said, turning to Garrett and Travis.

Travis stood and nodded. "I'll go. How long will it be between your runs?"

"I can get to the lake house in less than five minutes."

His eyes widened. "Two hundred miles in a few minutes?"

A sigh slipped from my mouth. "Yes."

"I knew vampires were fast, but d.a.m.n..."

"Yes, well. We try not to broadcast our talents to the world, either. Mikjall, will you push open the gateway?"

The Drakonae nodded and pushed aside the steel grate, letting in a swath of bright moonlight.

I grabbed Travis before another word could be spoken and ran. The landscape pa.s.sed by as if we were in a jet plane. Everything was a dark grey and blue blur. The ground flew beneath my feet, changing from dirt to gra.s.s to pavement and again to gra.s.s. I stopped next to a rundown lake house and set Travis' large form on the ground.

He stood and bent at the waist, sucking in deep breaths trying to regain his bearings.

"You... You c-could've at least warned m-me," he coughed out.

"Where would the fun have been in that?"

He grinned at my retort and gestured with a hand to the house behind him. "How do I get in?"

"I recommend the door."

"No s.h.i.t, Sherlock." His eyes flashed yellow, and a growl rumbled from his chest.

A snort of laughter left my mouth. "The spare key is behind a loose brick underneath the big bay window."

"Thanks."

I nodded. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

He waved me off, and I left, running even faster without a body to carry.

The area around the mine was quiet when I returned, but that didn't mean they weren't already closing in on our position.

I stopped just outside the door and tapped on the steel. "It's me."

A moment later, it moved, and Mikjall stepped aside so I could enter.

"Any trouble?" Charlie stepped forward in the dim firelight.

I shook my head. "It was quiet. I didn't hear any heartbeats close by."

"We haven't used the lake house in almost a year. It shouldn't be on their watch list, and it's off the main highway," she added.

"You're next, Charlie," I said, stepping closer. "Take a deep breath."

"Wh-aa."

I didn't give her time to argue. Even though there were no signs that the SECR knew where we were at the moment, I could return from the lake house and find all of them captured or dead. Each time I left the mine, my head filled with visions of my dead friends on the side of the river. I didn't want to lose the few I had left.

When I set her down on the stoop to the lake house, she shuddered and gasped for a breath.

Travis opened the front door. "Come on in. Eira, you doing okay?"

I was semi-okay. My thirst was high, but I needed to make at least one more round trip before asking someone to feed me again. The hunger I felt right now was only a dull ache.

"I'm fine." I waved him off and left Charlie in his very capable and eager hands.

I ended up making two more trips, bringing Garrett and one of the other Lycans over before I really felt my hunger overwhelm me.

The young man I'd just dropped off smelled like the sweetest wine. I licked my lips and felt the tips of my fangs descending. My mouth watered with each thump thump of his heart. I could almost hear the rush and flow through his veins, the same sound people hear when they put their ear to a seash.e.l.l. It's not the ocean, but the echo of the blood flowing inside your body.

"Eira?" Charlie's voice called from the porch as the latest drop-off left my side. I glanced up and frowned. "You need to drink before you return again."

"It's more important to get everyone away from that mine as quickly as possible. I'm used to going hungry. I'll be fine."

"You were eyeing poor Landry's neck like I'd eye a piece of prime rib."

A smile tugged at the corners of my lips as I dashed down the road. Away from the lake house. Away from the sound of Charlie worrying over me.

I was fine.

We didn't have time to stop. I didn't have time to stop. Everyone was depending on me.

Chapter Twenty-Five.

XERXES.

"I should've killed that f.u.c.king dragon when I had the chance!" I threw the crystal lowball gla.s.s in my hand against the wall and glared at Manda from across the room. "Now there are four Drakonae living in Sanctuary instead of just those two lonely, miserable b.a.s.t.a.r.ds."

She sat on the chaise lounge in my office, holding a ripped blouse over her bare b.r.e.a.s.t.s -a weak attempt to hide her naked body. Her heartbeat raced, and she stole glances at the door each time she thought I wasn't paying attention.

The pungent smell of s.e.x permeated the air. I'd taken my pleasure and my fury out on her. I should've killed her for betraying me, for stealing away with my prisoners, but I needed her to further my power in the SECR government. If she was dead, she wasn't useful. And she was still very useful, even if she was behaving badly.

The fight in the street had gone south quickly. The Drakonae in dragon-form gave me no choice but to leave in a hurry. I couldn't fight him, not without shifting myself, and I refused to reveal that card to the humans.

They killed dozens of my soldiers before I secured Manda. And I nearly lost her to a f.u.c.king Phoenix of all things. A Phoenix... I hadn't come across one of those in centuries. Rose had a few more tricks up her sleeve than I'd antic.i.p.ated. Who else had she talked into joining her merry band?

All the other prisoners had been lost. Charlie. Eira. The Kitsune female and her baby. Gone. I needed that baby.

The only ones that didn't escape were the Lycans I'd already killed. At least the death of Charlie's parents would be a heavy blow to the pack.

b.i.t.c.h. I gave Manda another glare and snarled.

I was left with a rebellious Djinn who could barely be controlled. Even after taking away her teleportation abilities and torturing her at every opportunity, the female still seemed more determined than ever to undermine my plans.

Humans were fickle creatures, though. If I killed her now, it would create a power vacuum in the SECR, and her open position in the government would attract more attention and chaos than I wanted to deal with at the moment. I needed to have a lieutenant beneath her to step in, but I didn't yet. Losing the Kitsune baby was a huge setback for another project. Now everything had to start from scratch again.

f.u.c.king vampire. f.u.c.king dragon.

"You f.u.c.king b.i.t.c.h, you just had to stick your neck out. They will never trust you again. Even after letting them out of those cages. If you think they'll ever talk to you or even look at you, you're wrong." I reached out in the air with my empty hand and curled my power around her neck, squeezing until she began to gasp for air. She dropped the blouse and clawed at her neck, as if she could remove the invisible force that held her tightly.

"Please," she coughed. "Master."

"That doesn't work anymore," I answered, clenching my fist tighter. Then I pushed out my arm and launched her through the air. Her body hit the wall of my office with a thud, and she fell into a heap on the hardwood floor.

She raised her head and met my gaze, revealing the spark of determination I'd hoped the last beating and f.u.c.king had knocked out of her. It hadn't.

This strength of will was what made her such a strong queen and such a valuable a.s.set in my war. No matter how hard I hit, she just kept getting back up. But I hadn't climbed to where I was today by allowing a woman to dictate my actions. She would pay for this mistake like she'd paid for the ones before it.

I just needed the right victim. She was willing to let some of the Lycans die. She'd even tried to kill herself to escape me. That needed to be nipped in the bud immediately.

"Get up."

She climbed to her feet and wiped blood from her bottom lip. "Just kill me. It would make both of our lives simpler."

"If you don't start following orders like a good little b.i.t.c.h, I'm going to kill someone." My lips turned up into a wicked smile as the answer to my problem popped into my head. "It's just not going to be you."

If she was afraid, she didn't show it.

"I'll just keep trying. I refuse to continue to help you gain even more power."

"You will help me. I don't offer choices. You will serve me in all capacities or I will bring your ladies-in-waiting out of the quppu boxes they're in and kill them one at a time in front of you. If that doesn't motivate you, I'll bring out the rest of your court and kill them slowly and painfully while you watch. So they can know their queen chose the lives of others over her own people."

"You are a b.a.s.t.a.r.d, Xerxes Amir Hilah."

"I take it we have an agreement then. From here on out, each misstep will cost you the life of one you hold dear."