Ten, page 50
“One step at a time, Little Bit,” Kyle said. “After all, running away and improvising seems to be our strong suit.”
“We have to save him,” she said as she gingerly touched Lorcan’s arm. She saw the flicker of green out of the corner of her eye. “Because if we don’t, I have a bad feeling—”
Kyle squeezed her arm. “One step at a time,” he said. “We’re almost home free.”
Steve wandered over and took her other arm. The vampire shot a warning look over to Kyle. “I got her,” he said as he helped her out of the van. She leaned against him and limped across the darkened marina.
“Great-Grandpa Steve, I’m sorry—”
He pulled a lemon drop out of his pocket and handed it to her. He looked over at the werewolves dragging the lifeless husk of Lorcan out of the van. “It doesn’t matter what happened, we’re still family; and now that insufferable prick is my great-grandson-in-law. There is no way in hell I’m going to let that opportunity slide by, Pipsqueak.
Plus, I couldn’t leave Georgia in a bind, even if she won’t give me the time of day anymore.”
“You, and Georgia? Morgan’s sister?” Paige asked.
“Lots of explaining once we’re on the boat!” Steve said as he led them to an incredibly fancy-looking wooden sailing yacht at the end
of the pier.
“You want me to get into a giant floating box of wood with a bunch of werewolves? Are you insane, mien bruder?” Minerva asked as she stared at the pointy end of the prow.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Steve sighed. “Just load up and shut up.
Sorry about my sister, but she’s not that bad once you get to know her.”
“Your sister is coming too?” Paige asked as she surveyed the irritated-looking blonde in high heels and a teeny tiny dress.
“What can I say, family is family,” Steve sighed.
37
GEORGIA TAPPED her feet as they waited for Steve to be done at the marina office. Minerva tapped her feet as well as she kept a lookout at the main entrance. The vampire finally looked over at the haggard, trembling human.
“Why are you doing this for a brother you’ve never even known?”
Minerva asked.
“Why are you doing this for a brother you claim to hate?” Georgia fired right back.
“Because in the end, family is family, and we do what we have to do to protect them,” Minerva sighed. “You could have stayed and toyed with Arthur, you know. I’m sure that some of Ren’s old feelings
—”
“Ren is still alive in there,” Georgia said staring at the water.
“Was? ” Minerva asked, suddenly interested in the human girl.
“How can you possibly know that, Berliner?”
“Because before he supposedly died, he got a contract to set me free. He told me to forget him and tried to have me do everything in my power to get away from this damn ball as soon as I could. I just didn’t follow his orders,” she said softly. “If there is one thing the real Ren would always do—”
“Is take care of the ones he loves,” Minerva finished. “But that Ren is gone now—”
“There is some part of him still in there, still fighting, and if anyone is going to find a way to beat King Arthur, it’s probably his
really angry son and his pack of werewolves,” Georgia said. She squinted as she saw headlights in the distance. “I hope they can do it. In the meantime, I’ll go back there and see. . . see what I can do.”
“You really believe that you can save him?” Minerva asked as she hopped back onto the gangplank to join Georgia. A harried Steve came running from the docks. He hadn’t bothered to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth.
“Minerva, what did you do?” Georgia asked as the lights grew brighter.
“Get out of here while you can, Berliner. You don’t stand a chance,” Minerva said as Steve finally reached them. She smiled triumphantly at her brother and showed off her phone.
“Minerva!” Steve snapped as lights flooded him. Georgia stepped onto the docks, while the others rustled below deck.
“Get out of here now!” Georgia cried. A car door slammed. Even backlit, she recognized the shadowy form wandering towards the docks. She could also see the sword at his side.
“Your loyalty is appreciated, Minerva,” Arthur said as he joined them on the dock. More cars started rolling through the marina gates.
Steve shoved his sister towards his former servant. She gave her brother her sweetest smile and then stepped over to Arthur’s side.
The vampire lord reached out his hand.
“Georgia, why don’t you join me?” Arthur asked. “I’m disappointed in you now, but I’m certain you can make it up to me.”
Steve grabbed her arm and yanked her back. Arthur’s face darkened.
“There is no one else on this earth for you, Georgia,” Arthur said as he gave a pointed look to Steve. “You will be mine.”
“She’s not yours,” Steve said. “She doesn’t belong to anyone.”
“We really need to get out of here,” Nadia said as the engines roared to life.
“It doesn’t matter where you run to, Jaeger. I will follow you to the ends of the earth,” Arthur said, taking another step forward and turning to address Georgia. “You are the only woman I will ever love, and I will not lose you to some—”
Steve interrupted Arthur by grabbing his arms and roughly kissing him. Georgia and Minerva’s jaws both dropped as Steve continued to embrace him. Arthur shuddered slightly, and Steve let him go. The Pendragon lord stared confusedly at the syringe stuck in his arm.
“You will forget Georgia Sutherland. You’ll forget everything about her,” Steve commanded before pushing the red liquid into Arthur.
“No!” Georgia cried as she watched the stunned vampire collapse onto the docks. She felt arms holding her back, dragging her kicking and screaming, as the world seemed to transform into slow motion.
Steve grabbed his head and stumbled back. Minerva dropped to Arthur’s side.
“Mien bruder—”
“I’ve given him a command, now give him a reason to forget,”
Steve said before he ran back to the gangplank.
“Ren!” Georgia screamed, but Steve grabbed her and held onto her, almost to the point of suffocation. She beat her arms against his chest and cried. “Ren!” she screamed again as the boat pulled away from the docks.
“How could you?” Georgia asked as she finally shoved away from him. “I promised that I would. . . I would give him a chance. Mr.
Lambley is still there too. I didn’t even get to say goodbye—”
Steve said nothing and just slumped against the deck rail.
Morgan took a cautious step towards his sister but couldn’t find any words either. The ship sailed away in silence, heading towards destinations unknown.
Georgia leaned against the opposite rail and let the ocean breeze dry her tears. She watched the moonlight reflect in the water and looked over at the stoic Paige kneeling by Lorcan. Finally, she took one deep breath and clutched the necklace still around her neck.
“Mada ikite iru, Ren,” she whispered. “Mada ikite iru.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author would like to thank her amazing “Bite Club” of dedicated beta readers. Kate, Deb, Katie, DJ, Kris, Spindocked and Hezzo; Ten would not exist without your dedication and support. Once more, my buddies at my local coffee shop and work cafeteria kept this author going. A book is always judged by its cover, so a special thanks goes out to the awesome Reginald Atkins. I do need to add a special thank you for a second edition proofreading by Melissa Levine (a.k.a.
so many commas!) Finally, the awesome Amy Wolf needs to be thanked for making this manuscript all presentable in the end.
If you cannot get enough of Rules Undying and you would like to know more, please check out www.rachelecarr.com, or follow me on Twitter @TotalRECarr.
As always, this series owes its success to you guys, the fantastic Four fans who kept author going through thick and thin. Tune in soon for Zero… the penultimate installment of the Rules Undying series.
Oh, and there may be a little novella called Point One Five on its way too…
Document Outline
Title Page
Contents
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Acknowledgments
R. E. Carr, Ten
