Cyclone Read online

Images of Frieda tied down in a bed while Rudolph stood over her flashed through his mind. Stewart didn’t even care if that wasn’t what the king was thinking of. He reacted on instinct, his form half-shifting as he lunged at the king. Rudolph didn’t even blink. Not that he needed to. Even as Stewart moved forward, the guards reacted.

  A fist rammed into his stomach, causing him to choke and collapse to his knees. The chair clattered away as the guards took turns hitting and kicking him. Rudolph chuckled as Stewart curled into himself. He tried to protect his stomach and face. The metal cuffs bit into his wrists. Pain washed through him as the blows rained down.

  “You need him.” Frieda’s voice was utterly unconcerned when it broke through the pounding noise.

  The blows continued, making Stewart grunt and groan with each one.

  “You need him.” There was no worry in her voice, only firmness.

  Rudolph sighed. “Stop.”

  The blows eased off. Stewart couldn’t help but groan in relief, even as the pounding in his head continued. His wolf snarled at him to shift and attack the vampires, but he held back. The cuffs were digging into his half-shifted wrists, and he could only imagine the damage they would do if he tried to shift all the way. He swallowed and peeked through swelling eyes to see Rudolph and Frieda staring down at each other.

  “And what do I need him for?” the vampire asked, sounding bored.

  “You’ll see.”

  Rudolph snorted. “And how do I know that you’re not saying that to protect your mate? You shifters… you’re always so soft on the ones you love. It’s almost tragic, if it wasn’t so disgusting.”

  Frieda smiled. It was a chilling smile that Stewart had never seen on her face before. “He’s not my mate.”

  It almost made him flinch. He opened his mouth, a protest catching in his throat. He stopped himself just in time, though. One of the guards nudged him and a shot of pain went up his spine. He grit his teeth and held in everything he wanted to say. Frieda was just playing the game—and honestly, didn’t he deserve it after what he’d said about her before?

  “Get him out of here,” Frieda continued and then smiled. “And then we can find out just what uses my mouth has.”

  His stomach plummeted. A snarl ripped from his throat, but before he could do or say anything, the king had gestured, and he was dragged to his feet by the guards. They yanked him from the room. The last thing he saw of Frieda and Rudolph was the king pulling her to her feet, a wicked smile on his face.

  Chapter Ten

  Polaris

  Frieda struggled to keep her expression blank as Stewart was dragged from the room, groaning low in his throat. Her wolf snarled at her ribs, wanting her to jump up and defend her mate. Wanting her to prove to the world that the words she had just spoken weren’t true. It had hurt more than she thought it would, saying that he wasn’t her mate. She hadn’t even considered the possibility that Stewart was her mate… there was some part of her, deep in her heart, that had known for what seemed like forever. She had just never consciously thought about it before.

  But of course, he was. Saying that he wasn’t went against every fiber of her being.

  Rudolph wasn’t about to listen to them, though, so she needed to fall back onto plan B. This was going to be more difficult than she had originally thought. In her life, she had had to do a lot of things for the Brotherhood. Things that she didn’t like to think about but had been necessary in the end. She only hoped that she could actually make this believable.

  The king pulled her to her feet by the cuffs around her wrists and stared into her eyes, his own baby blues glittering. “Well, then. What uses does your mouth have?”

  Frieda kept her face blank, hiding the way her skin crawled at the look in his eyes. Most vampires thought it disgusting to even consider any sort of physical interaction with shifters that didn’t involve killing them. It was clear just looking at Rudolph that he didn’t have the same sort of qualms. Well, she would deal with that if it came to it. At the moment, she needed to make sure that he believed her when she spoke.

  “Many uses. One of which is speaking,” Frieda said pointedly.

  She tugged her hands free from him. There were still a handful of guards in the room; she wouldn’t be able to attack and kill the king. Not yet. She needed to get him at ease first. Her stomach clenched as she thought about offering her body up for that, but the way he was acting, he’d probably just have the guards watch.

  No. It wasn’t going to come to that. She would not let it come to that. Yeah, she had done a lot of things for the Brotherhood, but letting a vampire inside her? Fuck that noise.

  “I didn’t come here just for money,” she said, keeping her gaze locked on the king’s. She forced herself to keep her face blank. This was going to be difficult… but the alternative was even worse. “And I didn’t come here to go against the Brotherhood. Not just against the Brotherhood, at least.” She lifted her chin. “Typhoon’s a beast, and I have no loyalty to him. Sure, this latest attack worked out in the end that I wasn’t punished for it, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t reacted in other situations. But I am here because of Guinevere.”

  The king’s brow rose. He seemed to be taken aback, and Frieda allowed herself to smile at that. Her heart pounded against her ribs, her hands going cold even as she fought to keep herself steady. After a moment, Rudolph nodded at her and gestured at one of the guards. He came forward and unlocked the cuffs before retreating. Frieda rubbed her wrists, sighing in relief. She could shift and kill him now, but that wouldn’t do her much good in the end. No, she had to keep patient.

  “What about Guinevere?” Rudolph asked, sitting on the edge of his desk.

  “Her… mate,” she spat out the word as though it was poison. “Doesn’t belong to her. Twister was my superior for years. He and I were mates. And it wasn’t just sex,” she added, hands clenching, trying to bring forward all the hatred that she didn’t feel—but needed to show in order to pull this off. “He loved me. I loved him. And then she bewitched him and stole him away from me. Just because…”

  She turned her face away, feigning hesitancy to continue.

  “Because what?”

  She pitched her voice low, into a reluctant whisper. “Because she had his child… and I’m infertile.”

  Silence. Frieda didn’t dare look at the king. Her stomach churned. If he didn’t believe this, then they didn’t have much left. He said he needed them for his experiments… the thought made her feel even sicker to her stomach, but it would at least ensure their survival, right?

  “I see,” Rudolph said. His voice was oddly gentle. His fingers brushed her cheek, making her look at him again. “Well, I can see why that would make a female like you angry enough to come here… but what could you possibly offer me that would hurt her? I know about that half-shifter abomination. The only reason it should be allowed to exist is to learn how to make vampires stronger.”

  “It shouldn’t be allowed to exist at all,” she snarled back, recalling what a few members of the Brotherhood had said before she straightened them out—with force. “She ought to be burned at the stake, and he… If her bewitching wouldn’t end at that, then it would be a kinder fate to kill him with her.”

  The king smiled and laughed. “Ah, yes. The true fury of a woman scorned.”

  She ignored the sexist remark. She had heard plenty worse in her time. She had a feeling that he wanted a reaction from her more than anything else.

  “That doesn’t tell me what you can offer me to use against Guinevere and her shifter mate.”

  Frieda looked back at the king. Her wolf snarled, warning her not to speak, but what choice did she have? She ground her teeth together for a moment, then glared at the king, wishing she could just tear out his throat at this moment. It wasn’t just her own life that she was concerned about. If she killed him now, it was a sure thing that Stewart would be killed as well.

  “The man I brought to you, as you so cleverly deciphe
red, isn’t just some random shifter. He’s Twister’s brother. Guinevere’s brother-in-law. Twister loves his family dearly, and I am certain you can find a proper use for Stewart.”

  Rudolph’s eyes widened. His jaw started to hang slack before it snapped back. He jerked his head toward the door and one of the guards slipped out. “If what you’ve said is true, then it will indeed be of use to me. And if you’re lying, you will be of use to me.”

  Frieda rolled her eyes. “It’s the truth. Now let’s start talking about my reward. Argentina is off the table… I want to retire in the French Riviera. Everyone knows that you have money. All I want is a little splinter of that.”

  The king grinned at her. “Well. We can talk about that for certain. But first, let’s move to a more comfortable location.”

  ***

  Frieda had to admit, the king’s personal chambers were every bit as lavish as she expected. Everything, it seemed, was gilded in gold. Velvets, silks, satins, it was all there. Rich, deep purples highlighted with red and amber. It was almost enough to give her a headache, really, and she had to wonder if the clashing colors meant that Rudolph was color blind.

  Not that she asked it out loud. Instead, she said a few complimentary things about the room before they sat down and started to negotiate. In the end, she was promised half a billion dollars. It was more money than she had ever heard of. The only person she knew who could possibly have half a billion to give away was Hurricane—and she wasn’t entirely certain that he would be able to toss it aside so easily.

  A guard slipped into the room and moved to the king’s side sometime later. He whispered into Rudolph’s ear in what sounded like German, and Rudolph’s face broke into a wide smile.

  “Well, Polaris, it turns out you were telling me the truth. My men have just informed me that the shifter you brought in is, in fact, Stewart Franks. Brother-in-law to Queen Guinevere. This is quite a boon for me. I don’t act like it’s enough to make her hand over her half-breed child, but there is plenty else I’ve wanted from Guinevere that she has always refused.”

  Frieda inclined her head. She didn’t ask what it was that he wanted, nor did she want to know. “How soon can I get my money?”

  Her heart started to pound a little harder again. She was running out of time. How was she meant to get the king alone long enough to kill him? And after that, how could she get Stewart out alive? She tried to force the panic down. After all, they had yet another backup plan. It hinged on whether Rudolph would inform Guinevere about his capture right away, though…

  “Soon enough.” Rudolph waved his hand carelessly. “Right now, though, I think you and I should get to know each other a little better… I have to see how willing Guinevere is to give me what I want, after all.”

  “So you’ll be ransoming Stewart soon, then?”

  “A message was already sent.”

  Frieda frowned—when had he had the time for that? She didn’t ask, though. Her hands were starting to go cold again, and with a prickling at the back of her neck, she realized that all the other vampires had slipped out at some point. Her breath started to catch in her chest, even as she tried to force herself to breathe evenly.

  “Our business deal is done. What reason could we have to get to know each other now?” She prayed that her voice wasn’t trembling too much. She needed a little more time. If they were going to get out of here alive, there needed to be time for Guinevere and Twister to act… “You have Stewart. You’ll be able to blackmail Guinevere into doing whatever you want with him. There is nothing more for—”

  “Oh, but there is.”

  Frieda pressed herself into the chair she sat in as Rudolph poured two glasses of wine. Her wolf snarled at her to just end him. Not yet. But what if she lost her chance? Her mouth was dry, her mind switching between the horror of what would happen if she missed her opportunity to the horror of what he clearly expected.

  “There’s more that I’m not entirely certain of,” the king continued. He lifted his gaze to hers, his eyes smoldering as he offered one glass to her. “Is it just revenge and money you’re after? And how does Typhoon really figure into all of this? You were quite vague about why you hate him, after all…”

  “I don’t—”

  “Take it.” Rudolph growled, pressing the glass into her hand. “There is no reason this has to be unpleasant for you, Polaris. You’re a lovely female and I like you. I want to know more about you.”

  With a cold hand, Frieda took the glass. She didn’t even pretend to drink, instead narrowing her eyes at Rudolph. It couldn’t be clearer what he wanted now. Did that mean she had more time to do what she came here to do? Or did it mean that he would be expecting her to attack? That he planned to use physical force on her? And was prepared to put her down if she did try anything?

  “I only joined the Brotherhood to honor the memory of my dead brother,” she said, and to her relief, she didn’t sound half as scared as she felt. “That’s not a good enough reason anymore. Especially not with Typhoon.”

  “And what did he do to earn your contempt? You let him fuck you, too?”

  Frieda hissed between her teeth. Her hand clenched. “Sex isn’t the only motivation women have, you know. I have had to work twice as hard and be twice as successful in my career as the men I’ve served under and he still acts as though every little mistake I make is proof that I shouldn’t even be in the Brotherhood. Not to mention the way he lets the men harass all the women like me trying to carve out a place for ourselves.”

  Rudolph laughed. “And you say it’s not to do with sex?”

  She glowered back at him.

  “If you’re so concerned about the other females in the Brotherhood, why aren’t you doing more to help then, rather than running to the French Riviera?” Rudolph sipped at his wine and leered at her. “I could help you put Typhoon in his place.”

  “Typhoon really isn’t worth that much to me.”

  Rudolph smirked. He strode casually across the room and peered at his reflection in a mirror, picking at something invisible beside his fangs. Was that a veiled threat? Frieda set the glass aside and got to her feet. This wasn’t happening. Even though she shivered, and her stomach cramped, she wasn’t about to let herself start thinking that it might.

  “Just give me my money and I’ll be out of your hair.”

  “Oh, but you haven’t even gotten into my hair yet.” Rudolph turned and grinned at her. Were his fangs getting longer? He glanced at her wine, then lifted his own and drained it. “You’ve told me the truth, Frieda, and I keep my word when I give it. I promised you money. But when did I ever promise you’d leave my kingdom? I have been thinking… it would be beneficial to have a shifter around. Permanently, I mean. There’s only so much I can do with the ones that I bring in and cut open.”

  Her chest started to heave as her stomach clenched tighter. Was there enough time for Guinevere to mobilize yet? She knew that there were massive tunnels connecting the various kingdoms below ground, but was there enough time for her to get here already? Vampires moved fast—but that fast?

  “I don’t think you’d enjoy having me around.” Her throat was so dry that her voice came out cracked. “I can assure you that I’m not worth this trouble. You’re a king, I’m sure there are others that you would rather spend your time with, besides a shifter.”

  “You being a shifter is part of the appeal. Now. Will you take your clothes off or shall I tear them off you? I’ll say it again.” He grinned at her. “This doesn’t have to be unpleasant for you.”

  He came at her so fast that she barely had time to flinch back. The next thing she knew, he had her pressed against the wall, her wrists pinned to either side of her head. Everything froze in that second, the pressure of his fingers on her wrists so tight she knew they’d leave bruises. She stared at his gleeful eyes, her lungs unable to expand properly as she stared at him.

  “You weren’t expecting that, were you?” he crowed. “Expecting me to be like the regul
ar vampires?”

  “You’ve experimented on yourself,” she realized, her voice hollow to her own ears.

  “That’s right. You shifters can give us so much. We were originally one species, you know. Evolution separated us, the way it separated us from humans. But your specific gifts can propel vampires to our next stage of evolution.”

  He was faster than other vampires. Stronger. She didn’t need to ask exactly what he’d done to know that. No vampire should be able to hold a shifter down like this. Her blood pumped in her ears and she lunged forward, bringing her wolf forward. Her teeth scraped against Rudolph’s throat—and then she was slammed face-down on to the floor.

  Fangs pierced the back of her neck. She felt the venom enter her bloodstream. Her wolf howled and thrashed, but it was already taking effect.

  “You’ll be begging for me soon enough,” Rudolph hissed into her ear. “I hope you’ll be more reasonable next time.”

  He released her, and Frieda reached to press her hand to her gushing wound. The venom spread through her body, fiery and burning. She screamed in pain—and the next sound she knew was glass shattering.

  Chapter Eleven

  Cyclone

  Stewart grunted as the vampires dragged him to his feet again. He wasn’t certain how long he’d been in the dark dungeon cell, or if he’d fallen asleep or not. What he did know was that he felt a lot better now than he had when he’d been put in. It still amazed him how quickly he healed now that he was a shifter. However, he didn’t want to let on how much better he was feeling, and so let out an exaggerated moan. One of the vampires lifted him off his feet and carried him a few steps, back into the light.

  “What’s going on?” he grunted, letting his feet drag as the vampire pulled him along.

  “The king wants you to see,” the vampire who was half-carrying him replied, not looking at him. “Gods, I hate it when he does this.”

  Does what? A chill stole down Stewart’s spine. He opened his mouth to ask, but one of the other guards gave him a light punch to the kidneys; not enough to really hurt but enough to remind him to stay quiet. His heart started to pound. What had Rudolph done to Frieda? What were these guards doing, where were they taking him?