Rage was all he had ever really known, a profound rage born at his birth and built with the fuel of every evil deed Daniel had committed against him and against his brothers.
Yes, he let that go, all of it, let it drain out of his body like the poison it was. He saw it sinking deeper and deeper into the granite altar he was chained to, deeper and deeper. He let love wash through him, a cleansing force that built a new strength in his body, fired his muscles as it cleansed his mind and soul.
The part of him that was now an Ancestral vampire responded, adding a new layer of power and intention. Light shone in his mind, another purifying force that wiped the slate clean, that took all his hatred, all his anger, and transformed it into … purpose.
That was what he felt, an intense, searing purpose.
And his purpose in this moment was simple: to save the one he loved and the one she loved.
Power flowed into his muscles, new power, Ancestral power. But there was something more, and this was Lily’s gift to him as the added power of her double-chain ripped through him. The base of the granite table began to vibrate—then the whole structure started to rise into the air.
“What the hell is this?” Daniel cried out. “You there! Guards! Secure that table.”
Guards surrounded Adrien, hands on the table, forcing it back to the stone floor.
“Let the executions commence,” Daniel shouted. “And begin with Adrien, the one who betrayed me repeatedly, his own flesh and blood.”
Adrien smiled because now he understood that his father feared him, feared what he could do to him, what he was becoming. He would never have ordered Adrien’s death first, not when he could have inflicted more suffering by killing Lily or even Josh first.
Father, he telepathed, pushing into Daniel’s head. Shall we find out what you’ve really created in me?
Did he hear shrieking in Daniel’s mind?
“Use the blade and take his head! Now!”
Adrien opened his eyes and embraced all that his life was, including all that Daniel had given him as his father.
Adrien saw the sharp edges of the blade rise high above his head, the executioner’s hand steady, the man ready to obey Daniel.
But as the blade fell, Adrien lifted his fingers, focused his power, then released. A stream of energy flowed down his shoulder, through his arm, and outward in a powerful thrust from his hand. The blade flew from the executioner’s grasp, sweeping in a high arc that took it out of the Pit and beyond the surrounding seats.
Cries from the spectators flooded the arena.
He focused the same power within his body: his chest, arms, and legs. He flexed his muscles and one by one the wrought-iron links snapped and the manacles on his wrists and legs fell away. He heard the whirring of a long battle chain ready to strike. A guard came at him swiftly, the chain spinning. He reached in and plucked the chain away from the guard. At almost the same second, he flipped the chain toward two other guards. The chain wrapped around both necks and bound them.
The remaining guards backed up.
Adrien moved in Daniel’s direction, but he called out, “Kill the woman and child! On pain of death, do as I say!” He threw Josh in the direction of the guards. His words carried enthrallment power, and once more the guards, now glassy-eyed, moved to obey.
Adrien had a decision to make. He could go after Daniel right now and slay him, removing the scourge of his life from his world for all time. But if he did both Lily and Josh would die.
Or he could save Lily and her son.
But he couldn’t do both.
There was no real choice to make. In the same way Lily had refused to turn the weapon over to Daniel, Adrien refused to follow Daniel and take his vengeance.
As Daniel switched to altered flight and vanished, Quill and Lev following in his wake, the blades descended on Lily and Josh.
Adrien split into his two selves and with the greater power and speed of his Ancestral status, he destroyed the guards in quick succession, flinging the killing blades away, breaking bones, snapping necks until he was alone in the Pit with the woman he loved and her son. He re-formed quickly.
The assembly of Ancestrals broke into an uproar of shouting, at least those who either believed Adrien and Lily guilty or served Daniel. But Adrien also heard a lot of cheering as he broke Lily’s manacles.
He knew that even as he released Lily’s chains, some of the guards would return to do their duty. He had to get out of the Pit and get away now.
He took Josh in one arm and Lily in the next.
With the barest thought, he set them flying with his greatest speed ever, to his most secure residence in South Africa.
Within seconds, he stood in the living room, his astonished housekeeper staring at him as he held Josh and Lily in a tight embrace, mother and son weeping, the son finally enfolded within his mother’s arms.
CHAPTER 16
Lily led her son to the couch in the living room, then sat down and took him into her arms once more. Adrien moved into the hallway and she heard him on the phone talking to Gabriel and making arrangements to add to the security of the South African system.
She could be at ease now, at least where their safety was concerned, so she turned all her attention to her son.
She tried not to weep, but her tears escaped anyway, and she felt Josh’s emotions give way at the same time. For the next hour she let herself grieve and let Josh do the same, until finally they were both spent.
She reminded herself that this would be a long road, especially for Josh, so she reined in her emotions and focused on him, on what she felt coming from him, on what he was feeling.
There was a kind of blankness, almost an emptiness, as though the years of separation had robbed him of part of his personality, of who he was. And why wouldn’t they have?
At last he drew back and looked at her, his large hazel eyes a mirror of her own, but his nose and strong jawline like his father’s. “You were gone so long, Mom. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”
“Two years, sweetheart. But during most of that time, I didn’t know what happened to you. I didn’t even know you were alive.”
“You weren’t there, the night they came.”
“I was visiting my sister, your aunt, in Oregon when it happened. Do you remember? Can you tell me?” She wasn’t sure if the questions and timing were even appropriate, but she had to ask, had to know what he remembered so that she could help him.
He nodded. “The vampires came. I heard screaming.”
“From inside the house?”
“And from other houses. The next thing I knew, the vampires were in my room. One of them said, ‘Is this the one?’ The other nodded. They took me away. When I asked about Dad and Jessie, Mr. Kiernan said they were dead. He said you were alive, though, and that one day, if I was very good, I’d get to see you again. I tried to be good. I did. I guess I was good enough because here you are.”