Bane of Tenebris (Wolfgods Book 2) Blaise Ramsay (classic literature books txt) 📖

Tala was in a coma, her body exhibiting signs of some small cuts on her shoulder but otherwise she was physically fine.

Kain pushed by Damien to go into the room. Dropping onto the side of the bed, he took Tala into his arms, rocking her and pleading with her to come back to him. He could feel the mist of tears fogging his eyes. Something he hadn’t done since Pentacost died centuries before.

Chapter Twenty

In the days following the encounter with Bard, Kain barely left his mate’s side. Zane visited at Kain’s request since Tala was his niece and asked what happened. Kain told him which angered the vampire further at the situation. He left to help Damien interrogate Stoker shortly after.

Kyle checked back to make sure Tala’s vital signs were okay and to keep her supplied with a steady supply of fluids. “I’m sorry, Kain. I don’t know what’s wrong. By all medical accounts, she’s like Damien was when Jill turned him. She’s fine.”

“Thank you, Kyle.” Was all Kain said, his mind occupied by the mysterious scars on his mate’s shoulder. “I need to be alone, please.”

Kyle nodded, leaving.

With a sorrowful sigh, Kain touched the small pattern of cuts. His arm ignited in flames, his mind jerked into the black plane where he crashed through what felt like a glass ceiling before hitting a second barrier with a thud!

Somehow, he’d been blocked from entering Tala’s mind. He tried to break through once he saw her encased in what looked like a wind of miasma. Her face distorted in pain each time a new cut bit her tender skin.

Barghast’s sinister laugh broke the screams of the wind. “Do you like my gift to you, my soldier?”

Kain’s nails raked down the glass. “Let her go. I beg you.”

“You beg me? I do not think so.” Barghast pushed Kain’s face into the glass. “Look at her. All you had to do was accept my offer. Look!”

The god slammed Kain’s head back down. “I offered you freedom from pain. You threw it back in my face. Now, she will suffer unless you are willing to make a deal.”

Nausea filled Kain’s stomach. He knew any deal he made would damn him after his death but he couldn’t let Tala suffer for what he saw as his sins. “What do you want?”

The god laughed, releasing his hold. “You have strength, Alexander Kain, but even you can be broken if your heart is attacked. I will tell you what I want but first, my servant will call on you and you will answer. Refuse, well. I do not believe I need to explain.”

Tala’s screams pierced Kain’s heart. “Stop! I will do what you want.”

“Good boy. See you soon, dear one.”

The following day, Kain requested Damien to accompany him on a visit to see if the packs housed in the motels in the city were doing alright. He’d met Calen, the pup Damien once saved from his friend Chelsea, who had been turned into a vampire. The pup wondered how Kain was doing and why he’d been gone for so long. Kain responded by petting the pup’s head, nothing more.

By the time they’d gone to the third motel, Damien inquired about Kain’s silence. “Okay, what’s the problem? You’ve been more quiet than usual. It’s getting creepy.”

A snicker through his nose interrupted Kain’s downtrodden mood. “I was thinking.”

“Yeah, I got that. What about?” Kain told Damien about the encounter with Barghast, leaving out no details. Damien stopped walking, forcing Kain to do the same. “Like hell are you turning yourself in, Kain. We’ll find another way.”

“Damien, Tala is suffering. She is not accustomed to the mental strain the dark god can inflict. The longer he has her, the more chance her damage can become permanent.” Kain lowered his head, his eyes closed. “She is my mate, brother. What else can I do?”

Damien ran his hand through his hair, down his neck. His eyes enlarged, a devious smile across his face. “We go see a certain bastard of a vampire. Get your interrogation gloves on, Kain.”

Kain blinked a few times before displaying a devious smile of his own.

Kain pulled his car up to Ramona’s coven during the hour of twilight. He’d called Zane earlier to meet him and Damien to interrogate Stoker.

Upon Kain’s request, because of Damien’s history with the catacombs, Zane moved Stoker to one of the abandoned servant houses behind the main mansion.

When they arrived, Stoker was on his knees before Magnus. Zane stood against the wall, nodding for Magnus to remove the blindfold they’d put over the former noble’s eyes.

Stoker blinked, sneering at Zane. “About damn time. I demand to know why I have been dragged here, thrown into a dingy cell and kept prisoner by my own kind.”

When Stoker saw Damien, he rolled his eyes and smiled. He didn’t appear to notice Kain who kept to the shadows. “Well, well, Damien Pierce. It’s been too long. You look good for a coward who hides amongst the dogs.”

Magnus smacked Stoker across the back of the head, sending him to the floor.

Damien shook his head, annoyed. “And you look good for a coward who kisses the ass of the local Don to avoid getting captured. Gotta say, Stoker, you’ve really fallen. Too much of a chicken to take me on yourself? Gotta beg Anthony to help you finish what Lilith started?”

The exchanges between Damien and Stoker made Kain cover a laugh.

“Fuck off, Pierce! You wouldn’t be alive were it not for your little mongrel whore or--” Stoker’s words froze in his throat when Kain emerged from behind Damien. Beads of sweat formed on his brow. “Of course. Your boyfriend is here.”

Damien looked back at Kain, his brow crooked in confusion. “Seriously? First, you’re my man-crush and now boyfriend? What the hell?”

Kain shrugged. He never understood the references either. To him, it made the commenters look more stupid and ignorant.

“Listen vampire, we