Lorne (The Dark League 1) Read online

  “That, my dear Shana, has nothing to do with you!“

  “You’re a cruel shit!“ complained the woman, whose shrill voice gave me more of a headache. All this jabbering was altogether not good for my head.

  “Could the slut please shut her mouth,“ I uttered with difficulty.

  “What?“ screeched the chick and I heard the approaching clicking sound of pumps, then I felt a burning pain as she smacked me in the face.

  “Stop it now, Shana!“ said the man domineeringly. “Our guest is right. You should shut your mouth! Your screeching is even giving me a headache. Go and annoy Frank or Lamin!“

  “I hate you, Gregory Montgomery!“

  “Oh, come on, Shana. Piss off! I’m busy now anyway!“

  “As you wish! I only hope that Lorne kicks you in the arse when he comes!“

  “He’ll do nothing at all if he doesn’t want anything to happen to his little bird!“ I could tell by the diminishing volume of the clicking that this Shana was going away. Wherever I was, it was a big room with a stone floor.

  “Here!“ Gregory’s voice sounded next to me, then he pressed his open wrist to my mouth. I refused to drink from this bastard. “Drink! Or I’ll kill your mate on the spot when he gets here!“

  Reluctantly I began to drink. I felt the blood setting the healing process in motion in my beaten body. When Gregory moved his wrist away I was already able to open my eyes. I groaned and closed my eyes again immediately, as an awful dizziness turned my stomach. At least I now knew why everything felt upside-down. I was hanging from the ceiling, head down.

  Chapter 6

  Lorne

  “Where is she?“ I asked, glaring at Davina. “Is she with Gregory?“

  “You’ll find out soon enough when you get the demand!“ replied Davina spitefully.

  “Why? Why have you done this?“

  Davina laughed in mockery.

  “Is that not obvious? Because she took away from me what was mine!“ Her eyes were completely crazy. Why ever had I not realised before how unstable Davina was?

  “I was never YOURS and you well know that! It was only sex! I made that clear from the start. I never promised you anything more!“

  “But I was the one that you were with most! Sometimes you had no one else for months. I thought ...“

  “Then unfortunately you thought wrongly. And it still in no way gives you the right to hatch a plot against my mate and, what’s more, in collaboration with the Renegades!“

  I felt such rage that I was tempted to kill Davina here and now but that would cause me problems with Victor. She had to be brought to Las Vegas to be put on trial there. But that did not mean that I could not torture her a little. Protected with gloves, I took a silver chain from the table and wrapped it round Davina’s neck. She howled and tried to pull out of her guards‘ tight grasp, but the two hunters were holding her as tightly as could be. I casually reached for a silver dagger and looked across at Davina. She sobbed, looking anxiously at the blade in my hand.

  “No! Please don’t!“ she whimpered.

  “Speak!“ I said coldly.

  And she spoke. She told me everything that I needed to know.

  ***

  “I need to know whether I can rely on you!“ I said to my companions.

  We had parked the van and Charleene’s Honda near to Gregory’s villa.

  “You do nothing more than bring Trisha out of their unharmed and take her to safety.

  Sean, Lothaire and Nikolai nodded. Charleene was sobbing but she nodded too. I held her gently by the shoulder.

  “You’re her best friend and her blood sister! You will do what is best for her, not what she wants! She will not go with you voluntarily when she knows that Gregory has me. Use the tranquiliser if necessary and I’m damn sure it will come to that. I know my mate!“

  “I will do everything to rescue her, I promise you!“

  I nodded.

  “Sean! A word alone!“

  Sean nodded and we moved away from the others a little.

  “In case the moment comes when it’s clear that ... that Trisha won’t get over it ... Kill her. Quickly! Relieve her. Don’t let her suffer!“

  Sean nodded miserably.

  “I hope it won’t come to that, man. But I promise! It’ll be the hardest thing in my life – but I will do what has to be done!“

  “Thank you!“ I said and Sean slapped me on the shoulder.

  The guards let us pass with no problem. We walked through the entrance hall. I knew where I would find Gregory. I confidently led the others to the door that led to an arcade. At the other end stood four Renegades in front of the door to the hall.

  “You may only take two companions,“ said one of the men. He nodded to Charleene, then to Lothaire. “You and you! The other two wait here!“

  I turned to Nikolai and Sean.

  “It’s OK. He will keep his word and hand Trisha over to Charleene and Lothaire.“

  Sean was quite clearly not happy, but he nodded.

  “We’ll wait for the three of them!“

  “Good!“ I said and the guards opened the door.

  I entered, with Lothaire and Charleene behind me. Gregory was standing with his back to us in front of a screen and was painting on it with long, skilled strokes. He loved painting and the arts in general. The hall was bursting with pictures, statues and other works of art.

  Four more Renegades were sitting around a table playing cards. They looked up briefly when we entered and then went back to their game.

  “So, have you come to take the place of the little redhead?“ said Gregory without turning round. He made a final brushstroke, then put the paintbrush down and turned to us. Our eyes met. It had been a long time since we had last faced one another.

  “So we meet again, Lorne, old friend.“

  “Gregory,“ I responded briefly.

  “I must say I was surprised when I heard that you’d taken yourself a mate. After the business with Serge.“

  “What do you know about that?“ I snapped.

  “I have my eyes and ears everywhere, my friend. After Serge, likewise, defected to the League, I began to keep my eye on the two of you. It was easy to get to Serge’s little one. I knew that he would go mad after that. But there was no way of getting to you because you resisted taking a mate for so long.“

  “You’re a monster!“ I said, filled with hatred. “Serge saved your life more than once!“

  Gregory shrugged his shoulders.

  “Yes, that may well be true, but when he turned his back on me he lost the right to my goodwill. You both betrayed me! We were like brothers and then you simply defected to the enemy and Serge, the idiot, followed you, too. He had always been like your shadow. It was a wonder that he didn’t leave with you straight away.“

  “Where’s Trisha?“ I brought the subject back to the only thing that was still important to me now.

  “In the cell! Luther will take your friends to her.“

  Gregory turned to the Renegades playing at the table.

  “Luther!“

  A man with a bald head and strikingly green eyes got up. He was a giant of a man. Tattoos covered almost every centimetre of his body.

  “Take both of them to the prisoner. Then let them go. They are free to leave!“

  The mountain of flesh nodded and approached.

  I nodded in farewell to Lothaire and Charleene then both of them left the hall with the Renegade.

  Trisha

  I heard footsteps in the corridor and tensed up. If it was that revolting Gregory again then I would give him a piece of my mind.

  The door opened and Lothaire entered the cell. I looked at him, annoyed.

  “I’ve come to take you with me. You’re free!“ he said.

  “Where’s Lorne?“ I demanded to know. “You’re not going to tell me that he didn’t come with you! And anyway – why am I suddenly just being allowed to go?“

  Lothaire grimaced but remained silent. Angr
y, I let my claws grow and drew them across his face. He barely altered his expression, but the sadness that I saw in his eyes was clear.

  “Now I want to know the truth! Where. Is. Lorne?“

  Lothaire avoided my eyes.

  “We have to get out of here, Trisha. It’ll be light soon. I’ll explain everything to you late...“

  “Fuck you, Lothaire!“ I shouted. “I’m not going until you have answered me!“

  He hardly flinched.

  “Lorne ... Lorne has done an exchange with Gregory!“ he said finally.

  “What sort of an exchange?“ I asked impatiently.

  “He’s offered himself in exchange for you.“

  “What?“ I shouted. “He’s done what? Where is he? We have to ...“

  Lothaire had grabbed my hand, wanting to take me with him.

  “You can no longer help him!“ he hissed. “His wish was that you should be rescued and that I should take care of you. Don’t make his sacrifice worthless. Gregory will not hesitate to tear you apart before Lorne’s eyes if you try anything stupid.“

  “What does the son of a bitch plan to do with Lorne? Where is Lorne?“ I asked, beside myself.

  “I don’t know!“ replied Lothaire, but I could see that he was lying. I glanced at the wall where the silver handcuffs were hanging that I had, until a few moments earlier, been tied up with. As quick as lightening I grabbed Lothaire’s hand and put one of the handcuffs around it. Before he could react I had locked the cuff and I quickly jumped out of his reach. Lothaire bellowed angrily, staring at me wildly.

  “What are you doing? Have you gone mad?“

  “I want to know now where Lorne is. If you don’t tell me, then I’ll ask Gregory and I’m sure you don’t want that, do you?“

  Lothaire swore wildly but he seemed to understand that I was being serious.

  “At the moment he is probably still with Gregory. But they’ll soon take him outside.“

  “Outside? I don’t understand.“

  “They’ll chain him up in the inner courtyard and wait for the sun. That’s the punishment that vampires get for betrayal.“

  “Betrayal? Do I have to drag every word out of you? What is Gregory accusing Lorne of?“

  “Lorne was not always a hunter of the League. He was a Renegade. Gregory was his best friend.“

  “What?“

  This was new to me. I would never have guessed that Lorne had ever belonged to the Renegades. Now it made sense that I had been abducted. Gregory must have had it in for Lorne from the beginning and he had counted on Lorne offering himself up in exchange for me. And if I did not come up with a plan quickly then the man that I loved would soon roast in the sun. Literally. How long did it take for a vampire to die in the sun? I knew that we could be outside for quite a while when we were appropriately protected, but I presumed that in this case Lorne would neither be provided with sunglasses nor sun protection cream.

  “We have to save him,“ I said to Lothaire. “When they chain him up there, then we’ll simply free him.“

  “That won’t be so easy, Trisha,“ said Lothaire gently. “They have covered spectator stands that they’ll watch from. You can’t just burst in there and take Lorne away.“

  “But what can we do?“

  “Hide and wait. Hope they leave the spectacle before Lorne is dead. They’re sure to leave one or two guards there. We’ll have to knock them out before they can set off the alarm. I’ll help you, but only under one condition.“

  “What?“

  “You’ll do nothing rash but will leave the command to me. It’ll be hard. You’ll have to bear seeing him burn. We can’t move in as long as everyone is assembled there. There are at least twenty Renegades here. The two of us won’t deal with that many.“

  I closed my eyes, horrified. How was I to watch Lorne burning calmly? I knew that Lothaire was right and if we were going to rescue Lorne we had to go about it with a clear head. But I could not just switch off my heart.

  ‘You have to! If you want to save him then pull yourself together!‘

  “OK!“ I said finally, looking at Lothaire.

  “Could you undo this damn thing then?“ he asked. “The damn silver hurts!“

  “I know ...,“ I said, holding my hands in front of his face to show him my burnt wrists. “... from first-hand experience!“

  “Trisha! Get on with it! If you want to save Lorne, you’ll need me.“

  “OK,“ I said, sighing. I really did need him because he seemed to know his way around this damn house better than I did. I undid the handcuffs and before I knew what was happening Lothaire had locked them around my wrist and leapt away.

  “Sorry, Trisha, but I can’t allow anything to happen to you. Lorne will kick my ass if I lose you.“

  “You damn son of a bitch!“ I shouted at him, pulling at the silver cuff that was burning painfully into my skin. Reproachfully I held up my tortured wrist. “And you think he’ll be OK with you torturing me?“

  “Don’t exaggerate, Trisha. I’m not torturing you, but just making sure that you don’t do anything stupid. And a few scars are still better than dead! I promise you that I’ll save Lorne, but if anything should go wrong, then ...“

  “Then they’ll kill me anyway, so what have you gained?“

  “No one will kill you. Charleene has to ...“

  At that moment the door opened and my best friend entered the room.

  “Charleene!“ I said, relieved. “Untie me! This idiot thinks he’ll be doing me a favour if he prevents me from saving Lorne. Now that there are three of us, we can ...“

  “He’s right, Trisha. Sorry!“ said Charleene and I looked at her with a mixture of disbelief and anger.

  She took a syringe out of her jacket and came towards me. I shook my head.

  “What is that?“ I asked suspiciously.

  “This is a special formula that we’ve only recently developed. It’ll put you out briefly, but don’t worry, it’s only a tranquilliser.“

  “No!“ I shouted angrily, preparing to fight my best friend. I would not allow her to anaesthetise me. Lothaire and Charleene exchanged glances then they simultaneously leapt forward and whilst Lothaire grabbed me, Charleene rammed the syringe into my neck. It burnt like hell and I screamed.

  “Ahhhh! What the hell is that?“

  They both held me tightly and I felt myself gradually becoming tired. If only the pain would stop.

  “I’m so sorry, love,“ murmured Charleene. “I know it’s painful but it’ll be over soon. I can’t let anything to happen to you. I swore to Lorne by my blood. Don’t fight against the drug, go with it. You can‘t win the battle anyway.“

  “How long does it take? Damn it!“ I heard Lothaire say, as if through a fog.

  “She’s fighting it, that’s why it’s taking so long. It must take effect soon.“

  My knees gave way beneath me and I felt Lothaire catch me. Then everything went black.

  Lorne

  “I want to know whether you’ve kept your word, Gregory,“ I said, glaring at my once time best friend.

  “Do you really know me so little, my old friend?“ he asked, looking at me intensely.

  Yes, Gregory had always kept his word as long as I had known him, however lacking in scruples he was, he kept his word. But this was about my mate’s life and I simply had to be certain.

  Gregory shrugged and reached for my mobile that was on the table.

  “Call the girl that came with you.“

  I took my mobile and called Charleene’s number. It seemed to take ages before I heard her voice, rather than the stupid tone.

  “I have her!“ she said plainly.

  “What state is she in?“

  “She’s unconscious and wants to burn me in hell as soon as she comes round. But otherwise she’s fine.“

  “Thank you!“

  “What are friends for?“ she replied and I heard a quiet trembling in her voice. It must be hard for her, doing something like tha
t to her best friend. I hoped that she could help Trisha get over my death. My greatest fear was that Trisha might go mad like Serge.

  “Bye, Charleene. Take care of my girl.“

  “See you!“ replied Charleene, ending the conversation.

  I gave the mobile back to Gregory and he nodded to the four guards who were standing next to me. They took hold of me and I went with them without resisting. That was the deal. My life in exchange for that of my mate.

  Trisha

  For the second time since my abduction I woke up with an awful headache. Fortunately I was not hanging upside down this time. But I did feel sick and my stomach seemed to be turning over. I began to gag, then I brought up a torrent of blood. However the feeling of sickness was a little better after that. But not the damn headache!

  “I’m so sorry!“ I heard Charleene sob. I turned my head and slowly opened my eyes.

  “What the hell...“ I began, in disbelief, when I saw my best friend standing behind thick bars. Slowly, I looked around me and my brain needed a while to grasp where I was and what had happened. I was in the League’s prison, in one of the cells. Charleene and Lothaire had tranquillised me, then clearly brought me here. Anger and pain gave me the strength to leap up and stagger to the bars where I held on and stared at Charleene, filled with hatred.

  “I’ll never forgive you for this!“ I spat at her and she visibly flinched. Her eyes were reddened and smeared with blood. She had been crying. Was Lorne already dead? How long had I been unconscious? Had the sun already risen and taken from me what I loved most?

  I threw my head back and cried out, in emotional pain. Charleene called for someone. I heard footsteps and voices.

  “Are you sure that she’ll cope with two doses so soon after one another?“ someone asked.

  “She’ll harm herself if we don’t tranquillise her,“ sobbed Charleene. “We have to calm her until we have a response from the team.“