Crimson Highlander (Onyx Assassins 2)

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, transitioning into a vampire—I technically could, thanks to my great-great-whatever being half-vampire, not that I’d seriously entertained the idea—but damn, at least then my muscles wouldn’t be screaming at me and sliding razorblades across my nerves. Maybe eating people wouldn’t be so bad compared to this.

I laughed at my own absurdity, thinking my mind may have raced off right alongside my energy.

“What’s funny?” Lyric asked from my right as she walked me toward the dining hall. Avi and Olivia had disappeared a half hour ago, likely using the time to discuss royal things I shouldn’t be privy to.

“I think I’ve been going nonstop for so long that my mind is starting to slip.”

Lyric chuckled, looping her arm through mine. “If you’re crazy, then I’m crazy.”

“None of that,” I said, rounding the corner with her. “The last thing the world needs is a crazy vampire queen racing through the night, screaming at people to read more.”

Lyric gaped up at me, then laughed harder. “You don’t know me.”

“Do so—”

“I don’t give a fuck what your supercomputer data says!” Lachlan’s sharp words cut my playful ones off. Lyric and I froze just outside the dining hall, eyes wide as we stared at Lachlan and Ransom. “You’re missing something. And for an ancient strategist, not to mention the supposedly best hacker on the planet, you can do better!”

Lyric gasped at my side, and I went absolutely still.

Lachlan had been grumbly with me since the first time we met, but I’d never seen him so…cold before. Not even a few days ago when I’d walked in on him and Alek on the tail end of what looked like a very serious discussion. Lachlan had laughed it off, told me not to worry, but looking at him now…

“Brother,” Ransom said, his voice a practiced sort of calm that raised chills on my arms. The playful flirt of a vampire was nowhere in sight. This Ransom was full Onyx Assassin. “Because I love you, I’m giving you five whole seconds to get out of my face.”

“Five?” Lachlan growled, then barked a dark laugh. “Or what, Ransom?”

“I want to get Daphne back for Valor,” he said instead of answering. “I do. We all do, and we’re all doing every fucking thing we can. But, in case you’ve forgotten, we’re in an all-out war here. Our lines are stretched as thin as they get. The aristocrats are up our asses, and we only have so many on the inside we can now trust. Not everything revolves around your mate’s needs!”

“For me, it does!” Lachlan snapped, his fangs descending.

Ransom’s eyes narrowed, and he shifted on his feet. “I’m not your enemy, brother. You need to—”

Lachlan growled, taking a step toward Ransom—

And stopped a breath away from Lyric who suddenly stood before Ransom. She’d moved so fast I hadn’t even felt her leave my side.

“Lachlan,” she said in a tone I’d never heard before—a combination of power and compassion. “I know we’ve all wanted to impale Ransom at one time or another,” she continued in a lighter tone. “But please, not before dinner.”

Ransom huffed a laugh from behind her, some of that fire lessening in his eyes. It was replaced with true concern as he stared down Lachlan.

And my heart ached in my chest as I watched Lachlan blink a few times, almost as if he couldn’t see Lyric or Ransom very well. Almost as if he’d just woken up from a bad dream. I took a couple of steps toward the trio but paused when his head snapped my direction.

The breath stalled in my lungs at the way his eyes pierced mine. It wasn’t in the way I was used to—all lust and primal dominance and just the slight hint of wickedness. No, the way he looked at me now? It was pure agony and need, and it threatened to bring me to my knees.

“Dinner,” Lyric said, clearing her throat. “Lachlan, please. Will you join—”

“I can’t, my queen,” he said, his voice sounding like he’d raked it with sandpaper. He dipped his head, just a fraction, to both Lyric and Ransom, before stomping my direction.

I reached for him, wanting to—needing to touch him—but he increased his speed, blinking out of sight so quickly I wouldn’t have been able to catch him if I tried.

I hurried over to Lyric, who was having some kind of silent conversation with Ransom, before he flashed her a wink and stalked into the dining hall. “What the hell was that about?” I asked, breathless. “Do they fight like that all the time?”

“No,” Lyric said, shaking her head. “The Order has its spats, but it’s always more playful than painful.”

“That…” I shook my head, my eyes cast down the hall where Lachlan had disappeared. “That was utterly painful.”

“Can you feel it?” Lyric asked, and I snapped my attention back to her.