Page 56 of Ruthlessly Mated
The sun is on our faces, the vampire threat is null and void, and we have well and truly escaped the stronghold of human bigots. But we all smell the acrid air of the burned port many milesbefore we get close to it. There’s a haze hanging in the breeze, as if parts are still on fire.
I feel angry. Angrier than I was before. I have been distracted by the many subsequent disasters, but now that I smell the port I remember how much we lost to the attack. I very nearly lost my life, and I feel as though I lost part of myself. I am not the same as I was before Alexander got his hands on me.
The memory of the vampire’s cruelty will not abate any time soon. I feel a cold shiver running down my spine, along with a flare of rage. I have been temperate about all these events, but I have not forgotten what he did. Kita’s acting out, Conroy’s rage, those tend to take center stage. Damon’s fury and my desire for vengeance are less obvious, but no less powerful.
“Should we go?” Conroy leans over to me.
He wants to go to the port site. It’s a crazy idea. It’s an absolute nonsense notion. We are here to collect funds to start a new life, not to dig around in the ashes of the old one.
“Why?” I ask.
“For old time’s sake?”
“Old time was last week,” I remind him. “It could be dangerous. The vampire may have left lookouts. They have human thralls. We could be making ourselves a target by returning. We’re here to get money, not to get into trouble.”
“Our lives are always dangerous. I think we should check it out. We could rebuild.”
I try not to roll my eyes. I fail.
“Nobody is coming back to a secret port that was firebombed. Not worth the risk.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t want to raise pups in a smuggler’s port.”
“She’s not even pregnant yet. We should go back. See if there’s anything worth salvaging. See if we can open the safe. Remember the safe? The insurance could probably do with some supplementation.”
I turn the car toward the port, outwardly reluctant, but inwardly actually very keen. This is not a good idea, but technically it is Conroy’s idea.
The old route to the port, which used to be guarded and hidden, is now wide open owing to all the fire. As we crunch over the road at low speed, it is obvious that our old world lies in ruins. It was burned to a crisp. Every building has been reduced to ash and cinders. It is very hard not to be consumed with rage.
I stop the car and we all get out. The sound of the ocean is soothing. It’s the only thing that is in any way calming. We are surrounded by the skeletal remains of what used to be a bustling underground port.
I am very much aware of all we have lost. Our lives. All we worked for. All we valued.
“The safe’s still here!” Conroy calls from over in the remnants of the office.
I remain at a distance as he and Damon go over to open it up. There are some gold reserves inside, which will certainly come in handy. I look around, mentally tallying up the likely costs of rebuilding. The costs will be in the millions. Even if we openthe port in a diminished capacity, the berths have been burned. There’d be wood to cart, and a lot of carpentry work to re-do.
I suppose we could enact one of our earlier plans, which is to make the place look like a seaside resort, and therefore hide the illicit activities in the plain light of day. It would certainly make burning the whole thing down more of a socially unacceptable thing to do. We could pretend to go straight, perhaps pick out various types of cargo that we deemed to be generally safer.
I am aware that Kita is hanging around me, guilt emanating from her.
“What is it, pup?”
“I’m sorry,” Kita says softly. “I did this to you.”
“You did not. The vampire did.”
“I brought the vampire to you.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“I kind of feel like it does.”
I pick her up, physically, off the ground, and press her against the nearest standing column, a steel beam that refused to burn, something foundational and unyielding.
“If you insist on blaming yourself, I will whip you like you have never been whipped before,” I say, my tone quite even, but very serious.
