AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Saint
There weremultiple empty rooms next to the one Saint had borrowed for Jayden. He figured the owners wouldn’t mind the Brotherhood borrowing them. Or if they did, they could file a complaint with the ageless, immortal, efficient killers and see how far that got them.
The Brotherhood filed into the grubby entrance foyer, and the motel’s manager watched them pass by, covered in blood and dirt, and didn’t say a damn thing. Wise man. Seeing a bunch of beaten up gang members was probably a typical Tuesday for the neighborhood.
Octavius remained quiet, which meant he was overthinking again, but Saint gave him space and watched how the rest of the Brotherhood reacted to Saint’s arrival. They didn’t like it, but nobody was going to say a damn thing after he’d saved their ungrateful asses.
It was a damn shame Mikalis had kept their wings metaphorically clipped because from the small amount of battle he’d seen, they were each fine warriors in their own right. They could have been even more powerful, with the right leader.
Saint just wanted to save Octavius. When he’d found him on his back, bleeding, shattered, dying under a nyk, Saint would have set fire to the whole fucking world to save him. Damn the rest of them. Octavius was his and no wretched, freshly turned nyk would dare touch Octavius again. The same could be said for the Brotherhood. If any of them so much as looked at Octavius with hate in their eyes, they’d be getting up close and personal with Saint’s fangs. He’d only helped save them because he knew Octavius wouldn’t have left without them.
Saint studied the Brotherhood anew.
Storm was the second most dangerous creature in the room, besides Saint. In powerful terms, Octavius was next in line. Then Kazimir, then the quiet one with the knives, Aiko. Zaine was the youngest here, and physically the weakest, but he made up for it with enthusiasm and guns. He was also the one who had questioned the status quo first, and for that, he’d earned Saint’s respect. Kazimir had shown Saint kindness throughout the years. He was one of the good ones. Storm… Saint had history with him.
He’d been present when Mikalis had locked Saint away. Storm was Mikalis’s closest ally and was currently, although discreetly, watching Saint, the same as Saint was subtly sizing up Storm.
If they were going to put Saint back in a box, Storm would be the one to do it.
Saint didn’t want to be here. He wanted to take Octavius next door and watch him feed from Jay because Octavius needed it. Octavius’s well-being would always come first. The rest of them walked a thin line, a line Saint would cut if Octavius gave the word.
“They won’t hurt you,” Octavius said, sidling up to Saint, and made sure to say it loud enough so they all heard, making it half fact, half threat.
“They can try.”
Half of them turned to glare. All of them were curious. The Brotherhood nyk, the one who had turned on them, according to Mikalis.
“I’m just going to say it, where the fuck is Mikalis?” Zaine hissed.
All attention turned to Storm.
“You know as much as I do,” Storm replied, his face stoic.
“That’s not good enough,” Kazimir said with a thin edge of anger. If Kazimir’s team had experienced half of what Storm’s had, then he had every right to be angry. They’d been led to the slaughter. “The one time we rely on him, the one actual time we need him, and he’s nowhere to be seen. Why? Why now? Where is he, Storm?”
“I can’t answer that.”
“Can’t or won’t?” Aiko asked. A pointed question from the quiet, lethal one.
Storm’s top lip curled, revealing a small hint of sharp teeth. “Bickering changes nothing—”
“Bickering?” Kazimir snorted. “This isn’t bickering, it’s demanding answers we have a right to know, and you know it.”
“I don’t have those answers. I wish I did. Mikalis has… He’s not here. I don’t know where he is. That’s the truth. We can waste time going back and forth on where Mikalis is, but it’s not going to change anything. I’m all you’ve got for now.”
“You’ve got Saint,” Octavius said.
Saint blinked and arched an eyebrow. This wasn’t his fight, he just happened to be here. They’d all made that clear for many, many centuries.
“What?” Storm asked.
“We have Saint.” Octavius stared back at them all, daring them to say something that would set a match to the gasoline of tension in the room. “Let’s talk facts. Mikalis is Saint’s sire, that makes him powerful—”
“The fuck—” Kazimir spluttered. “His sire?”
“Shut up and listen.”
“Still a dick, Octavius?” Kazimir asked.
