Shiver (18 page)

“Get your filthy hands off her!” Meiling looked a mess. Her formerly pristine outfit had melted onto her slim frame and half of her face was burnt so badly it had become a drooping muddle. “She already has a husband ready and waiting for her.”

Keeping his arms around Lian, he bared his fangs.

“Get out of my way!” the matriarch screamed, her eyes wild with madness. “We have to get on my ship before it’s too late.”

Lian stiffened in his arms but didn’t move. “Get away from me.”

“What?” Meiling’s eyes widened. “The memory-wipe should have worked.”

“It’s over. You’ll never get your hands on her again,” Knox growled. “I’ll protect her with my life.”

Out of nowhere, Moe sprang on Meiling and latched on to her throat like an animal. Chunks of flesh flew everywhere as he tore at her with a row of regenerated teeth.

Lian stepped out of his embrace to watch the scene.

As much as he wanted to protect Lian from everything, he knew Moe needed to be put down. He was a vile creature, feeding like a thing. Moe was beyond help. If the silver hadn’t killed him, Knox had no choice but to finish him another way.

He made a move but Hogan stepped in front of him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“You’ve done enough for one day. Let me,” Hogan said, almost completely covered in a hooded coat.

Knox hesitated but finally nodded, feeling a strange sense of camaraderie toward this man.
 

“Besides, don’t you know that you can’t kill a vampire by ramming silver down his throat?” Hogan shook his head, as if dismayed. Though, the smirk stated otherwise. “You have to ram it into his heart. Or cut their heads off.” He pulled a long, silver blade from his pocket and headed for Moe.

Knox turned away but heard the squishing sound and felt the ash and gunk strike him in the back. Lian shuffled past him and he let her go, knowing she probably needed closure with her mother. Instead, she ignored Meiling and headed for the wounded guard. She fell to her knees beside Vera and took her hand.

“Li,” Vera whispered, then coughed blood.

Knox watched Lian lean closer to the woman. She pushed the guard’s hair away from her face and whispered to her. Meiling—the woman cruel enough to destroy her own house and everyone in it—lay nearby like a discarded mannequin.
 

He glared at Meiling, fighting the desire to finish what Moe had started.

She gurgled and a surge of blood spilled from her mouth. “I didn’t…have a…choice.” Her breath came in quick spurts, her heart sounded sluggish.

He thought about calling out to Lian because her mother was obviously trying to convey one final message, but he held his tongue. Lian had made her choice and held Vera’s hand, sobbing until she stopped breathing. Knox heard the last beat of Vera’s heart.

“I’ll never forget you,” Lian whispered and kissed the guard’s cheek.

Hogan pressed a hand on Lian’s shoulder, which she patted. Knox felt a pang of jealousy flow through him. He took a step, but Meiling grabbed a hold of his leg.

“Tell her…I had no…choice.” A line of blood rolled down the side of her mouth before becoming a gush of crimson liquid. Strangely, it didn’t stir his hunger.

“We all have choices,” Lian said, stepping up beside him.

“Now, you can…finally be free,” Meiling whispered.

Lian glared at her mother for a long while, her brow furrowed as if she was trying to understand something far beyond her grasp.

Knox looked away and spotted Hogan speaking with the huddled crowd of survivors who’d been through so much today. They mostly looked stunned and scared, but nodded at whatever he was telling them.

When a huge, blocky transport cut through the smoky sky and headed for the clearing, everyone stood back and waited for it to land. Hogan opened the sliding door and motioned for the scared staff to climb onboard. He then leaned into the ship and shouted commands to the pilot before heading for Knox and Lian.

“I’ll get these people to Shiver and alert the authorities about what happened.”

“Wouldn’t that be a waste of time?” Knox said. “I assume Meiling owned whatever passes for authorities around here.”

“She doesn’t own everyone.” Hogan met his eyes. “I know who to trust.” He turned his gaze to Lian. “I’ll also take Vera with me.” He didn’t wait for a response, instead made his way back toward the rocky overhang and passed them by with Vera in his arms.

“Wait,” Lian called, stopping him. “I just want to…” She leaned toward the dead guard and kissed her forehead. “I’ll never forget you.” When she stepped away, Hogan carried Vera to the transport and laid her inside. He jogged back toward them.

“Hope you don’t plan to tell the authorities everything,” Knox said. The thought of his new condition being advertised to strangers didn’t appeal to him.

“Nah, just the believable parts,” Hogan said.
 

“Make sure everyone gets whatever medical attention they need,” Lian said as she grabbed Knox’s hand. “And I’ll take care of Vera.”

Hogan glanced at their joined hands and smiled. “Do I need to return for you two?”

Knox glanced at Lian, who shook her head. “Not yet. Take care of them”—he waved at the waiting transport—“and
then
come back.”

“Or, you could use a snowmobile to get to Shiver.”

“I thought everything was destroyed—”

“It was, Lian.” A grin twitched his lips. “But you might find one hidden in a copse of trees in the nearby forest.”

“An escape plan,” Knox said. He was starting to like this guy.

“More like hopeful planning. Just don’t let the wolves get you.” Hogan turned away. “I’ll leave you to it.” He paused for a second and looked back at them. “When you’re both ready to face the world, you can find me at the biggest tavern in town. I’ll be there drowning my sorrows.”

“I don’t think beer is going to cut it for you anymore,” Knox said with a laugh.

“I’m sure I’ll find what I need.”

Knox entwined his fingers around Lian’s as they stood together, silently watching Hogan jump onboard the transport, and slide the door shut. They shielded their eyes from the blowing snow as the metal beast took to the sky.

Freedom had come at a painful price, but Knox was determined to live the rest of his life without chains. He would enjoy his new life, with his beautiful savior by his side.

Epilogue

“Well, what do you guys think?” Hogan spread his arms wide like some kind of real-estate agent selling them their first home.

Lian couldn’t help but smile, because in a way that was exactly what he was doing. She stepped past him, tugging on Knox’s hand so that he’d follow. After all, this was going to be
their
ship. A wave of giddiness swept through her at the thought of what this actually meant—a new life of adventure, exciting opportunities, and the man of her dreams—literally.

She squeezed his hand, then let go to wander around like an excited little girl. It was spacious—sleeping quarters big enough for two, amenities, a small dining area, a storage compartment, and a very roomy cockpit.

“Wow, how’d you get this?” Lian couldn’t believe her eyes. When she stepped back into the cockpit, she found Knox inspecting the walls and Hogan standing nearby with a proud grin on his face.
 

Knox whistled and nodded approvingly. “Not bad, mate. Not bad at all.”

Lian strolled past them and dropped into the pilot’s seat. She didn’t know the first thing about flying a spaceship, but it still felt like home. “Seriously, Hogan, this is an amazing ship. How’d you find it?” she asked again.

“I got a good deal on several transports. A whole fleet had been kept in storage for years, since Maine enforced an embargo on our world. So the seller was glad to get rid of them.” His grin widened. “You’re not the only ones hoping to put some distance between you and this planet. By the way, I hope you don’t mind me spreading your mother’s wealth around because I paid for every vehicle with her credits and loaded the on-board account in each with plenty of funds. There was even enough left over for those who want to stay.”

Lian beamed. “Of course not, it’s the least we can do.” After so many years of wishing she could do something to help the staff her mother mistreated, she was glad to see Meiling’s precious wealth pay for their freedom.

She didn’t miss her birth mother and hoped to truly forget about her someday. She’d read snippets of excuses in her mind while she was dying, but Lian didn’t care. Any good intentions had long ago been drowned out by her actions. What broke her heart was losing the woman she’d considered her real mother.

She blamed Meiling for Vera’s death.

Lian had Vera’s ashes stored inside a canister and would spread them where her favorite childhood story took place. Where the tribe prince fell in love and spiritually married an innocent girl, and they had a beautiful son together—on the forest moon of Sullen.

Hogan slapped his hands together and looked the happiest she’d ever seen him. “Well, guys, I’d love to stay and chat but I have to get going.” It was good to see him wearing his own clothes rather than a bland uniform, and without the silver collar.

“Where are you headed?” Knox asked, inspecting the dashboard.

“Nowhere special—”

“Hogan, what’s going on?” She’d known him long enough to recognize when he was trying to hide something. Hogan’s mind was the only one completely shut off to her. At first she’d thought it might be a vampire thing, but the fact she caught snatches from Knox contradicted that. Although, the reason she could read Knox might be because of the nano-mites he drank with her blood.

Hogan sighed and ran a gloved hand through his short, black hair. “I could never keep anything from you, could I?” A rueful smile broke out over his handsome face. “I have a lead on your mother’s
supplier
that I want to investigate.”

“You don’t have to do this.”

“Yeah, actually, I do. She wasn’t abducting them herself—someone was supplying them via Jenks Maine and I’m going to chase this lead until I find out who’s responsible. Besides, she mentioned she was keeping slaves somewhere else and I need to find where that is.” He looked away. “You don’t need to worry about me. Even if my hand didn’t magically grow back, I’m a big, bad vampire now. I can take care of myself.” He raised both arms in the air with his gloved fingers outstretched like claws and flashed his fangs.

While Knox kept his vampiric qualities in check at all times, Hogan used them to show off and emphasize his jokes.

Knox frowned. “Don’t forget the rules we set for ourselves.”

“How could I? You’ve drummed them into me enough times.”

“Obviously not enough, after
that
display,” Knox said with a snort of derision. “Hopefully I’ll have more concrete info about our condition soon.”

Hogan rolled his eyes. “You need to relax a little, man. I think we know enough.”

Lian nibbled on her bottom lip. It didn’t matter that Hogan was a vampire now—she didn’t like the idea of him chasing dangerous leads. “We should go with you.”

He shook his head. “You two deserve to live a life of freedom, without any boundaries. You’ve both been trapped enough, don’t you think? Freeing others is my thing. It’s what I live for.”

“We all need some sort of passion in our lives,” Knox said, and the two vampires exchanged a look.

Lian couldn’t disagree with that and pushed off the chair. “You promise to take care of yourself, right?”

“Of course, and I’ll keep in touch.” He held her gently by the arms, careful not to linger. “You’ll get sick of me bugging you in no time.”

“Never! You better keep in touch.” She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight. She’d lost Vera and was now losing Hogan too. “I’m going to miss you.”
 

“Me too, Li.”

Lian closed her eyes to keep the tears at bay.

Hogan stepped back. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to only bug you at the most inopportune times,” he said with a wink.

She couldn’t help but laugh.

“You better not mean that,” Knox said.

Hogan looked away. “And
you
better take good care of her.”
 

Knox clapped him on the back. “You know I will.”
 

“Well, this is farewell.” Hogan turned away and headed for the door. “Don’t forget to get your clearance codes from admin when you’re ready to leave.”

“Will do, mate.”
 

“And thanks for giving me a choice.” With that, Hogan turned away and left their ship.

“Well, what do you think?” Knox asked her.

“Huh?” She was deep in thought, hoping Hogan didn’t depend too much on his vampiric wiles and get himself hurt. But mostly she hoped he would find what he was looking for and that the leads he was chasing didn’t put his life at risk. “About what?”

“Hey.” Knox pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. “He’ll be okay.”

“I know.” It didn’t mean she wasn’t going to worry about her friend, but she didn’t want to upset Knox. She peeked out the front window, watching Hogan walk away. When he left the holding bay, she turned back inside.