Born in Chains (Men in Chains #1)(11)
Author: Caris Roane

He took a step toward her and leaned close to her face. “Well, given that I intend to stay alive, too, I need to know what’s going on in that weak human skull of yours. It might even be to your advantage to work with me.”

For a long moment, probably because the chain vibrated heavily against her neck, Lily felt a powerful urge to tell Adrien everything, about Josh, about the attack on her family, about being strong-armed with Josh as the motivator, but she couldn’t. Even if she trusted Adrien, and she was far from doing that, Kiernan’s rules were simple: No one was to know about Josh, or she could kiss this deal, her life, and her son’s life good-bye.

So for two months she’d lived in this nightmare of fear and hope, of a resurrected son who’d been gone two long years. But he was in the hands of a man who had no qualms about using him as ransom for a mission that would take her deep into the world of the vampire, the last place she wanted to be.

“Right now,” she said, her chin level, “you’re on a need-to-know basis. So unless there’s anything else, I suggest you tell me about these fanatics and give me some idea where we should go to start our hunt for the weapon.”

He grabbed her wrist and shook his head. “Soon you’ll tell me what the hell is going on here, because something’s not right. Maybe it has something to do with Kiernan, maybe it doesn’t. But my instincts are screaming at me that we’re in danger on more than one front. As for the fanatics, there’s more than one group. Each is full of religious zealots intent on keeping the vampire world hidden from the human world—something I actually believe in as well.”

“Why aren’t you part of one of those groups, then?”

“Because they don’t hesitate to kill innocent people if they stand in the way.” He laughed harshly. “The stunned expression on your face tells me exactly what you think of me. You’re actually surprised that I’d hold a position like that, against killing innocents.”

“Yes, I’m surprised.”

“Why? You don’t even know me.”

“I know enough.” She let her hatred fill her words. “You’re a vampire. I don’t need to know anything else.”

She watched his eyes darken, his mouth turn down, his nostrils flare. This time she felt his opinion of her, his loathing of her kind.

He stepped close and breathed in hard through his nose. “I’ve always hated the stench so prevalent in humankind. It has a cloying, grasping quality, a desire for money above everything—the same reason you’ve bound me with a chain around my neck.”

“I think we understand each other pretty well now, don’t you? So let’s just get on with finding the weapon.”

Adrien thrust his fingers into his hair and turned in a circle. She felt his rage and his frustration as the chain all but thumped against her neck.

He turned on her and for a long moment as he stood over her, she felt his desire to strike her down, to slam her into the floor. Although her heart rate had skyrocketed once more, she straightened her spine. “Killing me won’t do you any good because you’ll die as well.”

He took deep breaths and finally calmed down. “This is Daniel’s doing and you’re just the f**king messenger, I know that. But I hate your opinion of my kind.” He clenched his fists. “And I hate that the bastard finally found a way to force me to do his bidding.”

“Daniel has asked you to go after the weapon before?”

Adrien shook his head. “No. He knew better than to ask.”

“I see what it is. Through me, he has control of you now.”

“Yes, and it’s about as perfect a plan as he could have constructed. I can’t go after him because I can’t risk you dying—I’ll die. And it’s also true the other way around, especially since you’re extremely vulnerable in our world, not hard to kill at all.” He glanced around. “I need to check my security system and then I need to get armed.”

He moved past her. “Come with me.” He headed to the end of the hall.

She hurried after him knowing that if she didn’t, the chain would tighten.

When he entered the living room, she saw him glance to his right, toward the front door. “Fuck.”

“What?”

“My security system has been compromised.”

Lily glanced at the panel by the door and saw that not one light was on. “You mean it’s off? Right now?”

“Yep. Stay with me. My weapons are over here.” He headed across the room behind a long dark leather couch, in the direction of a partially opened door.

Lily thought she saw something move inside the room just as Adrien hurried inside. She heard a shout and a loud thump. By the time she reached the doorway, Adrien was struggling with another man on the floor, a man who wore some kind of long, hooded black robe, something a monk might wear.

She saw a blade flash. The chains began to tug at her, pulling her forward, but she held her ground.

“Lily,” Adrien called to her, but not from the floor.

At first she didn’t understand.

“Lily, over here by the fireplace.”

Slowly, she shifted her gaze. There Adrien stood, another Adrien, straining in the direction of the mantel but unable to move.

Two Adriens.

“I need my weapons,” he shouted. “Step into the room, toward me. Help me. For God’s sake help me or we’ll both die.”

Shock held Lily immobile.

There were two Adriens.

Two.

How the hell was that possible, in this world or any world? Kiernan hadn’t told her about this.

“Lily!” he shouted.

The desperation in his voice broke the spell and she darted forward, positioning herself midway between the battling pair on the floor and the second Adrien struggling toward the fireplace.

The chain released him and he immediately jerked forward to the painting over the fireplace, pulled it away from the wall, then punched in a code to what proved to be a safe. But grunting sounds from the floor shifted her gaze to his other self on the floor.

The dagger flashed once more in the dim light from a nearby window.

The assailant rolled Adrien onto his back and pressed a dagger to his neck. Adrien battled to keep the sharp point from breaking skin.

She glanced in the direction of the fireplace. The second Adrien withdrew a chain, weighted at both ends, from the safe.

He blurred back to the assailant and, from behind, caught him around the neck, tightening as he pulled. The prone version of Adrien now grabbed the wrist holding the dagger, keeping the assailant’s hand immobile as the chain did its work.