Dark Flame (Flame 3)

He rose to his feet, intending to go to Juliet, but suddenly, Roche leaped onto his back. Brannick knew he needed to be all vampire right now. He threw his elbow back and heard the crunch of a couple of Roche’s ribs.

When Roche staggered backward, but remained upright, Brannick turned toward him and summoned his physical strength. He

sent every bit of energy he had into his right fist, closed the distance between himself and Roche, then plowed into Roche’s chin.

His head snapped back and Brannick heard another crunch of bone. A broken neck this time. Roche fell backward and landed on the floor. His eyes were open, but the pupils were fully dilated. Blood trickled from his nose.

At almost the same moment, the dreamglide vanished and Brannick came back to himself on the living room floor.

The dissipation of the dreamglide was a sure sign Roche was dead.

In real-time, Brannick remained on the floor with Juliet next to him. He made sure she stayed prone. He listened for more gunfire, but the battle appeared to be over.

Fergus wasn’t far. He gained his feet first. “My wolves are scouring each room. Looks like Roche’s men are all dead.”

Brannick rose, then turned in a slow circle, giving the space a careful visual check.

Fergus moved in the direction of the hall. “I’ll check out the study. I want to make sure that bastard really is gone.”

When Fergus disappeared through the doorway, Juliet gained her feet as well. “There’s no question. Roche is dead.”

“I know.” Brannick marveled at what he could intuit. He felt Roche’s death as though it had been imprinted on his mind.

Fergus returned a minute later. “He’s not breathing, no heartbeat, nothing. He’s gone.”

Brannick took Juliet’s hand. She squeezed his in return. They’d done it. Together, and with Fergus’s help, they’d taken the monster down.

Fergus glanced around. “So how do you want this to go?”

But it was Juliet who said, “We’re done here. Put all the bodies in the elevator with Roche on top, then send it down to the factory floor. That’ll be enough of a message for tonight.”

Fergus scowled. “Wait a minute. We can’t stop now. We could take the factory. Bring Keelen and his troops over here. I know we could do it. I’ll call in my pack from Savage.”

Brannick turned to him. “And declare war against the cartels? Because that’s what we’d be doing.”

Fergus met his gaze. “Isn’t that what we’re already doing, by taking out Roche and his men?”

Brannick shook his head slowly. “Roche was always a wild card with the cartels. They won’t mind changing him out for a factory manager they can better control and they’ll get to keep his hefty percentage. We can leak the story about Roche’s obsession with Juliet, that her kidnapping was the only reason for the attack in his home. Once she was safe, the battle ended.”

Fergus ground his jaw a couple of times and made a wolfish grunting sound only the shifters could do. After a few minutes, his nostrils flared. “You’re right. Because if we destroyed the drug supply, which is where the cartels make their money, it would mean a bloodbath afterward unlike anything Five Bridges has ever seen.”

Brannick met and held his gaze. “We’re alive, brother. We’ve survived and we will fight another day.”

“Damn straight.” He shifted his gaze to Juliet. “We’ll do as you’ve said.” He then ordered his wolves to haul Roche and his men to the elevator.

But when they brought the first body through, Brannick leaned down to Juliet. “We should leave. You don’t need to see this.”

Juliet held his gaze firmly, and he saw her determination. “I know what’s coming, Brann, and I need to get used to this. We might not be at war tonight, but at some point, it will happen.”

~ ~ ~

As Juliet reverted her attention to the bodies being taken to the elevator, she spoke quiet prayers within her mind. Roche was last, his red hair dragging on the floor, face white, eyes open and blank. He’d caused so much pain and terrible suffering, but now he was dead. She wanted to rejoice, but that’s not what she felt.

Instead, she saw a man who had once been someone’s infant child, a spirit to be loved and shaped. Yet somehow that life had gone horribly wrong. Maybe he’d been born with the inability to feel remorse about anything. Or perhaps he’d been tortured and abused as a child. She would never know. But the alter experience had turned him into a monster, adding enormous power to his already twisted mind.

And now the monster was dead.

Brannick squeezed her waist and spoke quietly. “Just heard from Keelen. The Revel Border Patrol chief showed up and sent Keelen and his men away. He also ordered several units out here onto the street.”