Stiletto Read online

  He wasn’t the only one with a blade. I reached into my shoe and pulled out my dagger. The handle fit perfectly into my hand, and when I raised the weapon to throw it, I knew the weapon and I understood each other.

  The dagger sailed across the room and sank into the vampire’s back. He screamed and writhed.

  It wouldn’t kill him for good. I needed a wooden stake for that, or a few more bits of steel to drive into his heart. But it would keep him down for several minutes—long enough to get Rowan out of here.

  A vicious wind hit me with the full force of a storm. Sienna advanced toward me, swirling her hands through the air. The wind tore at my clothes and hair and filled my mouth. I choked and shoved my mouth into my shoulder, creating enough of a pocket that I could breathe. I hated wind magic; there was nothing I could do to fight it. I tried to throw the dense energy of earth into the swirling gale around us, but that only backfired and added weight to the storm as it tugged at my body.

  The only thing to do was to deal with the source of the problem. I pushed into the gale and took one slow, staggering step after another toward her.

  Triumph lit in her eyes. She had me. All she had to do was throw a little fire into the tornado, and I would become ash and embers being blown away by a breeze.

  I looked around for help, for an idea, for anything—and then Alec stepped into the storm. His massive body was heavier than mine, and he wrapped his tail around me and shielded me.

  “Toward her,” I shouted over the sound of the wind rattling the furniture in the room and whipping his fur into my face in a thousand tiny lashes. “Back her into the wall.”

  He inched forward, keeping me shielded and protected by the bulk of his body, and the wind died down further when Brendan came up behind us and blocked the magic from that direction, too. I couldn’t see what was happening, but I felt their strength and warmth around me. I balled up my fists and heat rushed into my palms.

  Then Alec leaped away, and the wind died down the instant he used his giant paws to pin Sienna against the wallpaper. He leaned forward as she struggled, his teeth bare and dripping with saliva. He snapped his jaws at her.

  Rage burned in her eyes. There was no fear there, just fury.

  I could match that.

  I ran to the vampire, who was now unconscious on the floor with my weapon still sticking out of his back. I yanked the dagger free. Blood dripped down the blade and disappeared into the thick crimson rug.

  In an instant, I was back across the room with the blade to her throat.

  “This is over,” I said.

  My voice trembled, but my hand was steady.

  I’d never killed anyone before. Not a person. But now I felt ready—ready to do what needed to be done to protect my family.

  I took a deep breath.

  “I didn’t want it to come to this.”

  She needed to know that, before she died. This—this moment, and everything that was about to follow—hadn’t been inevitable. She had been given a dozen chances to go down a different path. And over and over, she had hurt the people I loved.

  Where we were now—this was her choice.

  She spat at me. It landed on my cheek, and Alec growled at her as the wetness ran slowly down my skin.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “I really am.”

  I tightened my fist around the hilt of the dagger. She glared at me, then, slowly, closed her eyes.

  A weak voice broke through the silence.

  “Don’t,” he said. “Let her go or your girl dies.”

  I glanced over my shoulder. The vampire, the one I’d thought would be out cold until long after we’d left this eerie place, had dragged himself to the sofa where Rowan still lay with her face like death.

  The vampire was kneeling, but he’d managed to drag his sword over and now had the blade resting lightly on Rowan’s throat.

  “Let my queen go,” he said, putting one hand delicately on the other side of the blade. “Now.”

  31

  Sienna’s eyes were wide, the light in them sharp and panicky. Alec held her against the wall, and Brendan—Brendan had been standing aside during the whole thing.

  “Goddamn it, Brendan,” I said. “Why weren’t you watching him?”

  Brendan stared at me, and although he couldn’t speak in his wolf form, it was clear he was kicking himself as hard as I wanted to kick him.

  I kept my dagger next to Sienna’s throat.

  “You won’t do it,” I said. “You don’t have the strength.”

  “I have enough for this,” the vampire said.

  Brendan shifted, his massive shoulders twitching slightly, and the vampire looked sharply at him.

  “By the time one of your dogs gets over here, she’ll be dead.”

  I bit the inside of my cheek and clenched the handle of my dagger a little tighter.

  I had Sienna. I had her, and I could end this right now and never, ever have to fear for my family’s safety from her ever again.

  But I wasn’t willing to pay with Rowan’s life.

  Today was a day of life. We had rescued Mom and Grandma and all the coven children, and they were breathing and healthy and, I hoped, well beyond the reach of Sienna’s vampires. Even now, the joy of that thrummed inside me beneath my rage and fear.

  I wouldn’t destroy it.

  “What are your terms?”

  “Don’t you dare,” Sienna growled, and we both ignored her.

  “You release her,” the vampire said. “Then you get your pet back.”

  “You back away from Rowan first.”

  “You invaded my home,” the vampire said. “I don’t trust you.”

  “You imprisoned my elderly grandmother,” I snapped. “You don’t get to talk about trust.”

  Brendan’s fur rustled softly as he shifted back to his human form.

  “Give them both to me,” he said. “I’ll make the trade.”

  The vampire sneered. “I’ve heard too much about you,” he said. “You must be the Wildwood alpha.”

  “Then you’ve heard I’m an honorable man,” Brendan said.

  Sienna scoffed, and we ignored her.

  “You’ll release Rowan to me. I’ll carry her out of this place, and these two will follow me.” He nodded at Alec and me. “Scarlett will bind you and Sienna with a charm that will keep you still and silent for a few minutes, just long enough for us to get off your property, but we won’t harm you. And then we’ll be out of your hair, and you will never bother a member of the Crimson Daggers coven or the Wildwood pack ever again.”

  “Luke doesn’t have the authority to make that deal,” Sienna said. “And you’re a double-crossing back-stabber.” She strained a little, but Alec hadn’t wavered. Sienna glared at me. “If you’re going to kill me, get on with it. That’s the only deal you’ll get today.”

  I considered her, then the vampire, Luke. He looked steadily back at me, and after a long moment, I nodded.

  He lifted the sword and dropped it to the floor, where it landed on the carpet with a soft thump. He almost collapsed a moment later; keeping the weapon against Rowan’s throat had taken all his energy.

  It was a perfect moment to kill Sienna and rescue Rowan, but Brendan had given his word, and I would hold to that. I lowered the blade. Sienna tried to leap for me, and Alec shoved her back harder.

  I lifted my hands. The spell to bind her took less than a minute, but I knew it would hold. I visualized cobwebs trapping her against the wall and made each psychic cord extra strong. The enchantment would keep her still for more than the few minutes it would take for us to get out of this house.

  The hatred in her eyes as I worked was so intense I felt like I could reach out and cut myself on it.

  “You’re not going to honor that agreement to leave me and mine alone,” I said softly, with my face up close to hers. “I know that. So you do what you have to do, and so will I.”

  She opened her mouth to retort, and I cut her off with a final few stra
nds of the spell. Her mouth clamped shut, and though I could see her throat working, words were no longer an option.

  “See you when I see you,” I said, and then Brendan had scooped Rowan up, and Alec was nudging the door open with his nose. I crouched over Luke and performed the same spell on him, and then I followed my wolves out of the room, out of the creepy, sleeping house, and into the morning sun.

  32

  I had been home all of fifteen minutes before Clancy banned me from the infirmary on account of my “hovering.” I had to admit my wandering between Mom and Grandma’s beds like I was stuck on a loop had to be distracting, but what else was I supposed to do? Sienna’s victims were alive, all of them, and I couldn’t bear the thought of being anywhere else.

  Since I couldn’t pace inside the room, I paced outside it, while Brendan and Alec watched me from where they sat on the floor with their backs against the wall opposite the door. In between their differently shaped but identically colored hazel eyes and the way they both sat with their elbows slung over their drawn-up knees, the family resemblance was strong.

  “You’re going to wear a hole in the carpet,” Brendan observed.

  I ignored him.

  “Where are the moms?” Alec said.

  I glanced down. “Grandma thought it was best not to tell anyone they’re home until Clancy’s checked everyone out. Can’t risk that many Daggers descending on the infirmary at once. Anyway, she needs to check them for curses and poison and sleeper agent enchantments and all that stuff.”

  “Sleeper agent enchantments a big problem for you lot?” Brendan asked.

  “Just the once, but Saffron’s been overly cautious about it ever since.”

  I only knew the story—the mind-control incident had happened before my time—but we’d heard the warnings enough to take precautions, if only to avoid a lecture from Saffron.

  Finally, after I thought I was about to lose my mind with impatience, the door cracked open.

  “The Stiletto will see you now,” Clancy said.

  Her voice was cool and collected and designed exactly to aggravate me. I was at the door and through it before she could get the last word all the way out.

  Mom waved me over and pushed a wheeled stool my way. She was sitting up now and looked a lot happier for it. She’d never handled being in the infirmary well and usually spent more time proclaiming how great she felt than actually trying to heal. I dropped my full weight onto the seat and wheeled my way back over to Mom’s bedside.

  Grandma was lying in her own bed, twiddling her fingers and making a show of being a good patient. Clancy had stuck a variety of crystals and woven cords on the table next to the hospital bed, and both Mom and Grandma were hooked up to IVs.

  “We’re just dehydrated,” Mom said when she noticed me eyeing the bag of liquid. “Sienna’s crew weren’t good at providing refreshment outside our regular feeding schedule.”

  “Makes it sound like you were animals,” I said.

  “To vamps, we might be.” She glanced at me, then at Clancy, who was on the other side of the room attending to one of the children, and tried to get off the bed. She was quickly pushed back by the force of the restraining spell.

  “You should probably just stay there until she lets you loose.”

  “I’m not ill,” Mom said.

  Grandma waved a hand at her. “None of us are ill, and none of us are getting out of here until we have her say-so. You may as well sit back and enjoy the painkillers.”

  “Painkillers?” I said.

  Mom snorted. “Your grandma thinks she’s hilarious. I’ve taken exactly one ibuprofen, and it’s done nothing to help the headache I’m getting from lying in this bed.”

  “I thought I was bad at being in here,” I said. “Anyway, you deserve it.” I shot a sharp look at Grandma. “Both of you.”

  I had expected argument or outrage or confusion, some kind of “how dare you” or “what on earth are you talking about, Scarlett?” But Grandma just shrugged. Her short white hair was a mess, and her face was dry from lack of her usual regime of moisturizers and potions. I knew it must be driving her crazy to be in the infirmary instead of a warm shower, but she seemed as calm as I’d ever seen her.

  “You shouldn’t have run off in a heat like you did,” I said.

  The thought of me lecturing anyone on the dangers of acting rashly would have been hilarious if I wasn’t still spiraling inwardly at the shock of finding them alive and well.

  Grandma held out a hand, and I pushed my wheeled seat over and took it.

  “The same might be said for you,” she said. “I notice you didn’t exactly storm Sienna’s castle with a whole army.”

  “We needed to be light on our feet,” I said. “And the one Dagger I did bring with me—have you seen her? Clancy said she’s stable, but…”

  I trailed off, then nodded toward the curtain that separated Rowan from the rest of us.

  Grandma and Mom exchanged glances.

  “She can’t be,” I said. “Clancy can fix her.”

  “Sit with me a while,” Grandma said, pulling me closer.

  Her hand looked frail in mine, but it was as iron-like as ever, and I knew that if I tried to pull away, she would have me in a headlock before I knew what had happened. The knowledge was comforting. Fresh cookies and knitted sweaters belonged to other people’s grandmothers; mine was a woman of empires and judiciously applied violence.

  “She’s not.” I searched Grandma’s face, and it gave nothing away.

  “You did well this time,” she said.

  “Yeah, this time.” My previous missions ran through my head: my first disastrous assignment at the fashion house, the time I’d tried to rescue Grandma from the Wildwood pack and ended up with one Dagger dead and my understanding of the werewolves turned on its head, the misadventure when I’d meant to survey an ice cream parlor from an alleyway and ended up getting licked by a slobbering werewolf who could just as easily have bitten my head off.

  Grandma patted my hand. The soft warmth of her skin was deceptive—or maybe it was the truth of her, living in tandem with the iron strength of her muscles and bones. “Clancy tells me you managed things well in our absence.”

  I shrugged. “Kind of had to.”

  “You could have handed over your responsibilities to the others.”

  “Or you could have tried to come after Sienna the minute you thought we’d been killed,” Mom interjected. “That would have been your style.”

  I bit the inside of my cheek. Even now, with them beside me, the moment I’d first believed they’d truly been murdered lived deep inside me. I had a feeling it always would, like a cold stone deep in my gut that I would never quite dislodge.

  “I had to lead the coven,” I said. “I’m a Stiletto.”

  “That you are.” Grandma patted my hand again, then tugged on it and waited for me to meet her eyes. “And you did well, because you have been leading the coven.”

  I didn’t need her to explain. I’d felt it, these past few days—the weight of the responsibility I felt over them all, and the power that came from having them at my side and under my command. The old me would have marched into the vampires’ nest alone without telling anyone where I’d gone. The new me knew that running off on my own posed a risk to the whole coven, and I couldn’t risk the safety of my sisters.

  Not without their input, anyway. Whatever had happened to Rowan, she had chosen to come with me. It was her right as a Dagger, just as it had been my right to act as Stiletto.

  “She’ll be all right,” Grandma said. Her gaze followed mine to the curtain surrounding Rowan’s bed.

  Clancy’s footsteps moved just behind it, and then the curtain moved aside with the high-pitched rattle of curtain hooks.

  Rowan blinked slowly a few times, her eyes seeming darker than ever in her deathly pale face. She smiled across the room at me, and the sharp points of her canines caught the light.

  33

  I threw a twig in
to the fire crackling outside the wolves’ den. The small piece of forest debris lit almost immediately, then curled into glowing embers and powdery ash.

  “She says she feels normal,” I said.

  Brendan snorted, and Alec threw a tiny pinecone at him. Brendan tossed the pinecone into the fire, and I leaned back as it popped a spray of embers into the night air.

  “Seriously, though, what’s normal for a vampire?” Brendan said. “You think you can take anything she says at face value?”

  “She’s still Rowan.”

  I said the words like I meant them, but inside, doubt wrestled with conviction. She didn’t look like Rowan anymore, not quite. Her cheeks were still dimpled and round, but they’d lost their freckles and flush, and her dark eyes looked the same except for the faint crimson glow I sometimes caught in their depths. She spoke with her own voice and laughed with her own laugh, but when she laughed it was impossible to miss the sharp points of her teeth—fangs designed by evolution or whatever dark goddess was in charge of vampires to pierce human flesh like the delicate skin of a peach.

  “She’s doesn’t seem to have changed,” I said. “At her core, I mean. She’s still in the kitchen right this second baking cookies, and if that’s not Rowan processing her way through a difficult week, I don’t know what is.”

  “Yeah, but, like, what’s in the cookies?” Brendan said.

  I threw another twig into the fire. Alec picked at the log where he sat. A long silence descended.

  “I did catch her reading an old recipe for blood pudding in one of the antique cookbooks.”

  “There you go,” Brendan said.

  Alec made a soft noise, maybe of disapproval, but didn’t say anything.

  “She helped us rescue the kids,” I said, even though Brendan hadn’t made any more accusations. “And my mother. And my grandma.”

  “That was before they turned her.”