Compelled (Shadow Beast Shifters Book 5)

Valdor’s door was familiar to me, with its red etchings depicting the Crimson City, where the most powerful tier one master vampires had their enclaves. There were many other cities in their world, but I’d never gotten to see any of them. I’d only heard about the golden gates of the Imbride Province, which was the closest in power base to Crimson City, and the purple fields of Hargin, which had the third largest population.

But I’d never been to either.

Vamps weren’t real big on taking their food out for sightseeing.

Len remained at my side as we traversed through the library, his silver coat floating out gracefully behind him. When he kept pace with me like this, it almost looked like he was walking, since my speed had nothing on fae or vampire.

It took real effort for him to go slow enough to stay with me, and a trickle of warmth filled my gut at the concept of being protected and cared for, even if just as an extension of Mera. It really didn’t matter to me what his reason was, just the fact that he was doing it meant everything.

As a latchkey child, with parents who’d made me a last priority on the regular, I’d never known a true “home” or pack, outside of Mera. For Len to give me a semblance of that, well… I kind of loved him a little. Probably also explained why I’d fallen so hard for Lucien. Home was an addictive feeling for one who’d never experienced it.

“You deserve an amazing mate,” I told the fae, and as his silvery eyes widened, gaze clashing with mine, I knew I’d taken him by surprise. He didn’t get to reply because we’d arrived at the drama.

Lucien and Gaster were facing off against eight vampires. They wore tier two master outfits, which were black with red armor molded to their breast, stomach, and thigh areas. I couldn’t see any of their faces since black ninja masks covered their heads.

The eight stood in a V formation wedged between the shelves. We were alone in this section, all other inhabitants having bailed at the first sign of battle.

Lucien didn’t turn my way when I arrived, but somehow, I still knew he was pissed off that I’d followed. Well, tough fucking luck, cupcake. He was the one who’d told me that there was no more hiding from this.

“Simone,” the closest vamp called, his deep masculine tone mildly muffled by the mask. “You are requested to return to Crimson City by the council of tier one masters. We are here to accompany you.”

He held out a hand, but before I could step forward or respond, Lucien moved, crashing into the male and disabling him in about a third of a second. A distinct snap of bone was heard as Lucien stomped on his arm for extra measure.

A silence moment stretched until Len chuckled, uncaring that his brother had just attacked a vampire.

“Lucien! What the hell, dude?” I snapped, and fuck if everyone didn’t freak out at me addressing their powerful master like that. Not only was he a tier one, which was royalty to all the vamps, but Lucien’s family was one of the oldest and most powerful. Their enclave, Crimson House, was never challenged, and its leader commanded the absolute highest respect. No one would dare to address him as I just had.

Not that I gave a single fuck.

“Release him,” I said with another snap, moving forward. “This is not your fight.”

He jerked his head up so I could see his eyes, dark sparks sprinkling the green as he snarled, his fangs visible between his parted lips. “They dared to step into this territory when I told them I would return you today,” he rumbled. “They disobeyed my order, and I can’t let that slide.”

Well, shit. Seemed his actions had nothing to do with me and I’d just stepped into a pile of vampire politics when I shouldn’t have. With another snarl Lucien moved, zipping between the black-clad vampires, taking them down like they were humans. They tried to fight back but were so outclassed in power and skill that it was fairly embarrassing for them.

Gaster, who was clearly growing more agitated at the mild destruction of this section of library, finally smashed his hands together, releasing a visible wave of power. It passed through me without causing any damage, but the vampires weren’t as lucky as they ended up plastered against the very shelves they were disturbing.

Even Lucien appeared unable to immediately break free from the goblin’s hold, and I had to say, I was impressed. Len crossed his arms, leaning back on a nearby shelf as he smiled. “No one ever expects the demi-fae to kick ass, which is generally their first and only mistake.”

“I expected it,” I said simply. “Shadow wouldn’t have someone weak in charge of his library. Gaster was also the one chosen to deliver his child. Something tells me we haven’t seen even a fraction of what our friend can do.”

From my peripheral it looked like the goblin’s thin lips curved into a smile before he returned his full focus to the vampires. “I’m going to release you now, but the second there’s any aggression, I will simply toss you back into Valdor. Bounty or not, this is unacceptable.”

He lowered his hands, and most of them crashed into the floor. Only Lucien and one other male landed gracefully on their feet. I had a feeling it was the male who had spoken first, demanding I accompany them.

When all the masters were once again standing, they had a terse conversation with Lucien before they finally left.

At that point Gaster checked in that I was okay.

“I’m fine,” I told him. “Thanks for helping out.”

He squeezed my hand, so much more affectionate than I remembered from my last time here. “I’ll see you soon,” he said as he left, and I took that as a promise since I had to hope this trip to Valdor wouldn’t spell my last days in these worlds.

Len stepped forward to stand shoulder to shoulder with Lucien, both of them staring down at me. I couldn’t read either of their blank expressions, but the vampire still had rage in his eyes, despite the once-again green color.

“So,” I said casually, “seems my time is up? Should we head to Valdor now?”

Lucien’s jaw tightened as he shook his head. At first, I thought he was saying no, but then I realized he was just gathering his thoughts. “The council ignored my message, and I have no doubt that they don’t trust me to return you. They’ll send more.”

Great. Excellent. Fan-fucking-tastic news.

“It’s not worth going to war until we know for sure they want her dead,” Len said.

Lucien finally nodded. “Yeah, I agree. I have the power to get her out of there if the shit hits the fan, so we might as well just go forward and hope there’s a simple fix.”

“No way!” a voice snapped from behind us, and I blinked to find Angel was the one who’d spoken. I’d expected Mera, but apparently Shadow still had her tied down. Probably literally.

“I know you’re powerful and influential in your world, Luce,” Angel said stiffly, “but you have no idea what to expect. Someone is keeping secrets from you, and we’ve had too many world-ending battles lately for me not to assume this will be the same.”

Lucien’s gaze flicked up to Reece, who was standing protectively at Angel’s back, before he returned it to her level. “They will not stop, and we don’t know yet how bad it could be. I’ve managed to hold them off for months, but they’ve decided enough is enough.”

“We can stop them,” Reece said simply, like he didn’t have a care in the world. Typical attitude of the gods.

Lucien met his brother’s gaze again. “You want war? Before we even know what their summons is regarding? A lot of innocent lives hang in the balance, including our newest baby.” His eyes dropped to Angel’s stomach. “And the one soon to be born. War is always the last option.”

Reece let out a huff, but he didn’t argue. “Okay, then what’s the plan if you get there and they decide to end Simone’s life.”

Right? What was the freaking plan if that happened?

Lucien didn’t even frown. “I believe that if they wanted her dead, the bounty would be for her head. They also wouldn’t have been put off for months. This is something more… like political machinations. Maybe even against me. For now, we should just play their game until we have all the facts.”

Angel was still shaking her head, but in the end, it was my life to gamble with. “I agree to Lucien’s plan. No one else gets to make this choice for me. I will face the consequences of my actions—the piper plays for everyone eventually.”

“Mera would kill us,” Angel said in a rush, her eyes wider and pinker than usual as she tried to appeal to my love for Mera. “And none of us want to see you hurt. You’re part of this family, and we protect our family.”

My chest was doing that stupid aching thing again, the unfamiliar burn of “family love” going to knock me off long before the vampires got to me. “You have no idea how much it means to me to be considered part of the extended Shadow family,” I said, wishing I didn’t sound so breathless. “I’ve been alone most of my life except for Mera, so… it’s a lot. But I really don’t want to go in there guns blazing, so to speak, and cause more issues—let’s save the A team for a worst-case scenario. Unintentionally starting a war is the last thing I want to add to my daily goals.”

Lucien let out a low chuckle as he stepped closer to me. So close that I could breathe in his crimson scent and see the many pigmented facets of green in his eyes. “I’m the A team, B, and you fucking know it.”

“I’ve got two letters for you too” I told him with a smirk. “F and U.”

He smiled. A perfect smile, flashing sparkling teeth and the hint of fangs. My body warmed more than I’d admit, even as I squirmed just enough to ease the discomfort low in my gut. Sexy vampires were apparently my Achilles’ heel.

With his gaze locked on me, I felt Lucien’s power rise. “You will come with me now,” he said, his voice a low hypnotic buzz. My wolf attempted to surge up, but we were just too weak to fight his compulsion.

“There’s no need to do that,” Angel snapped from beside him; I couldn’t move my gaze from Lucien to see her. “She said she was going to go peacefully.”

Lucien reached out and wrapped a hand around my wrist, engulfing it in his strong grip. I couldn’t look away, no matter how much I fought his power. Lucien had me completely under his control.

“I cannot have them questioning my loyalty at this point,” he told Angel. “The reason they haven’t filled me in on what this summons is about is because I’ve stepped in for Simone multiple times already. A shifter… effectively food. If I want to stay in the loop, I now need to act like a master vampire again.”

The hand that had been around my wrist moved to circle my waist, and in the same breath, I was up and over his right shoulder.

His fucking shoulder. Like a piece of meat he was carting home for dinner.

Made sense since I was food.

Wait until I broke through his power, because given enough time, I’d figure out a way.

And then they’d all pay.