Page 50 of Above Cursed Winds

When the bell had rung and his opponent launched at him, Jeremiah didn’t fight back. Connecting him savagely with the chain link, Rake’s fists began their assault. Face, torso, abs. Nowhere was safe.

The collection of strikes across his body began to overwhelm the pain within. Every blow that connected with bone, every strike that bruised flesh, every hit that battered muscle: the agony of his injuries escalated and drowned out anything else.

Three bodies. Three people. Three immortal lives that’d been lost because of Jeremiah’s failure.

Just as the blows began to weaken, his opponent tiring himself out, Jeremiah attacked.

Chapter Twenty-Five

“Why are they targeting the vampires?”

Suppressing a shudder, Zia straightened. Only minutes after Jeremiah left, she’d responded to Nero’s telepathic hail and teleported to his side. Now, the majority of the Accords dignitaries were on a conference call discussing what’d happened. While Nina had signed on late, all of them save Kane and Nova had attended.

Except Jeremiah.

It was Drake who answered the initial question, the vampire looking unusually disheveled. “The werewolf dens are more remote; they’d know if an enemy was approaching. Our Houses are all in urban areas, surrounded by different scents and people. Any number of people could’ve accessed Kane’s roof with the right equipment during the day. When we are asleep, we’re vulnerable.”

The admission seemed to burn in Drake’s throat, and his earthy brown eyes seemed lost. Nina, having gone to Kane’s House to aid in his recovery, had only recently teleported back to her own home.

“Of any of us, I fear the vampire Houses continue to be most at risk currently.”

A beat of silence before Nero asked, “How many died this time?”

“Three.” Nina’s features tightened. “The younglings were in small, enclosed spaces, and passed even before Jeremiah was on the premises. No one could have saved them.”

“Each of them was no more than twenty years into their immortal lifespans.” Hostility surfaced in Drake. “The Citizens need to pay for this.”

“And they will,” Nero responded readily. “Jeremiah and Zia had been working to find answers, and Jeremiah’s contact was able to trace the documents to a computer in Philadelphia—which is suspicious in and of itself, given Kane’s House was only blocks away. Upon entry into the apartment, silver was dispensed into the air and compromised their position. Before leaving, Jeremiah yanked the hard drive, and they snagged the hard copy images.”

“Images of what?”

“Us.”

The disclosure went over like a lead balloon, the Accords members all falling silent. As Zia’s gut tightened, her own horror at the situation was mirrored on each of their faces.

“They have images of us? All of us?”

Glancing at Gideon, Zia nodded. “Three or four images of each of the members who make up the Accords delegation.” She paused, glancing to where Isaiah and Rukia were in the frame together. “All except you, Isaiah. Whoever they are, they had dozens of photos of you.”

“Of me?”

Face twisting into bewilderment, Isaiah stiffened. Beside him, Rukia jumped to her feet, draping her arms around him protectively as her strong features tightened.

“How did they get photos of us?” Zeke was the voice of reason, asking the question she had expected. “Any of us would’ve sensed an immortal or human following us.”

“Except if they were a Shield or Blunt.”

Nina’s quiet comment brought another round of tension to their discussion, but all signs pointed toward the same thing.

As things clicked into place, Zia regarded Nero. “Sovereign, that must’ve been how they got into my office. The Raeth that’s working with the Citizens must be a Shield.”

Pinching the bridge of his nose, he nodded. “My tripwires hadn’t accounted for a competent Shield, certainly not one who could breach our walls as a Void and alter our tech without our knowledge. The wards around my territory will be modified to account for a Sheild from now on. It’s the only way someone could’ve gotten past me.”

Relief, misplaced or not, washed through Zia. Knowing that a Shield might have taken part in the breach of their territory and stolen the information relieved a portion of the guilt she’d shouldered.

Regardless of whose fault it was, three people were already dead because the addresses had been stolen. As her chest tightened, she asked, “How is Kane?”

“Much like when Drake’s House was attacked, Kane took the brunt of it while he escorted his people to safety.” Grimacing, Nina’s shoulders loosened when Zeke’s hand came to massage her neck. “He’s resting, trying to recoup from the sunlight poisoning.”

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