42. Zan

Norman, the guy in charge, tensed for a moment, his hatred for us blatant. But he spat an order to the remaining men, who hesitated before exiting the room. Norman ran a hand through his graying brown hair while keeping his gun in his other hand.

"The rule is that your kind is never supposed to enter our cities," he hissed once we were alone. "You're breaking the deal we had."

"It was for a good reason." Viggo chuckled. "But we're done. And now we're leaving."

"Not so fast," Norman said, a wicked gleam in his eye. "This can work to my advantage."

I didn't react to his threat. I'd talked to him a few times over the years, and I'd never liked the man. He hated vampires, but he was also horrible to the humans he was supposed to be protecting. He was a cruel son of a bitch who would do anything to hold on to his power.

I wondered how the civilians would feel if they found out that the government they'd put their trust in was working with vampires.

Civilians believed that vampires and humans had come to an agreement that had ended the war. Which was true. But only a select few knew what that peace deal really entailed. Amaros was in contact with the humans in charge of PARA. We gave them things and they returned the favor. Of course, we all had our own secrets, but Amaros played it just the way he wanted. PARA believed we were all on an equal playing field when it came to power.

They'd find out too late that they were wrong.

"We're getting reports that Project Peace was attacked," Norman growled. "We have men going there now."

Viggo arched an eyebrow. "First time we've heard about that. Probably some rogue vampires. We'll handle it."

"Bullshit," he snapped. "Before we lost contact, we were told that their wall fell."

"Are you calling us liars?" I asked, letting threat enter my voice. "My father wouldn't be happy about that. Be careful, Norman. You don't want to ruin this peace deal we have. We didn't attack any cities. We know the rules."

It was clear he didn't believe us, but he was smart enough to keep his mouth shut. The agreement we had was fragile. And if he wrecked it, he'd have to answer to his bosses. Then he switched tactics.

"And one rule is that no vampires are supposed to set foot in our cities." He smirked vilely. "We can kill any who cross the walls."

"You know that doesn't apply to us," Viggo replied with a wave of his hand. "Unless you want to tell Amaros that you killed his sons. Any kind of peace we have would be shattered."

His eyes drifted over my shoulder to Warner. "What are you doing here?"

"Your men attacked someone who is mine," I growled, stepping forward. "Does the name Kali sound familiar?"

Viggo went still, but he didn't say a word. Amaros didn't want the humans to know Kali was important to us, and at the time, I agreed. But not anymore. I didn't care what the fuck I had to do to make sure she was safe from PARA.

"Yes," Norman responded with a scowl. "She's wanted for treason."

"Not anymore. She's with us. And I want your men to stop hunting her."

"No."

I tsked. "Now we have a problem."

I paused when I noticed a change to his heartbeat. Viggo cocked his head, hearing the same thing.

"Is she important to you?" I asked, listening intently.

His heart jumped again. "No. But we want to make an example of her."

He was lying. I knew that he always had hawthorn in his system, so it was impossible to entrance him. But just from the sound of his heartbeat, I could tell he wasn't being honest.

"Do you have another prisoner here?" I questioned.

"No."

Viggo snickered. "Lying to a vampire? Not smart."

"I'm not?—"

I strode across the room and was on him before he could raise his gun. I knocked it from his hand, wrapping my fingers around his throat.

"Show me who else is here," I snarled, sliding my fangs out. "Or I'll have to tell your bosses that your usefulness has expired."

"You can't kill me?—"

"Oh, I can." I cut him off sharply. "And your human government wouldn't give a single fuck. The peace we have is more important than your life."

"We don't have Kali," he shouted hoarsely. "They couldn't find her once she fell into the river."

"Then who else are you holding here that you don't want me to know about?"

"No one."

I squeezed harder, cutting off his air. "Don't fucking lie to me."

His face turned a shade darker as he gasped for a breath. I waited another few seconds before loosening my grip.

"Last chance," I warned. "Show me who else is here or you're fucking dead."

"Fourth floor," he choked out.

I released him, shoving him toward the door. "Let's go."

Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Warner back on his feet, holding on to the bars. Shock covered his face as he stared at me like he was trying to figure something out. Fuck me. I'd entranced him to forget about my blood, but I didn't have a chance to weave a story about how he wasn't dead from his bullet wound.

"Don't hurt her," Warner said gruffly. "If you find her, don't fucking hurt her."

"Worry about yourself," Viggo said as he followed Norman out the door. "Kali isn't your concern anymore."

I rolled my eyes, knowing Viggo was pissed that we were in this situation, and getting under Warner's skin was his way of lashing out. He was angry at me since it was my fault we were here, but he wasn't about to fight with me when we were in front of humans.

But I didn't have time to deal with Warner. We needed to see who Norman was hiding and then get the hell out of this city.

Norman dragged his feet up the steps, and Viggo pushed him to get him moving faster. We climbed up two flights of stairs before Norman unlocked the door with a code. My guard went up as we stepped through. This floor was much higher security than the other. The cells were solid concrete with no windows. I counted three of them, and I glanced at the keypad locks.

"Open them," I ordered, looking at Norman. "Now."

His jaw clenched, but he shuffled forward, going to the cell in the middle. The buttons beeped before the light turned green as he unlocked it. I yanked him back, knowing Viggo would watch him.

My heart beat wildly as I forced the heavy door open. The cell was pitch black, and the figure curled up in the back corner covered their eyes from the sudden brightness. Her face was covered, but I recognized her immediately. Rushing into the cell, I fell to my knees in front of her.

"Kali," I said softly.

She didn't move her hands, and I gently grabbed her wrists, pulling them away from her face. Her heart was thrashing, and she must have had lotion on because she smelled…wrong.

"Hey," I murmured. "I know I'm not the one you want to see, but?—"

I froze when she lifted her eyes to meet mine. Her light brown eyes were full of fear. Of pure terror. It was like she didn't even recognize me. Rage lined my veins as I stared at her. What did they do to her?

"Are you hurt?" I asked slowly, attempting to control the anger threatening to overtake everything.

She stayed silent. Something else forced its way through my anger, and I studied her, trying to figure it out.

The woman I was looking at was Kali…but she wasn't. This was all wrong. She was wrong. I couldn't fucking explain it. But the nagging in my chest wouldn't let up. My breaths came out fast as I reached out and grabbed her wrist, tugging her to her feet. She let out a cry, one I'd heard many times. It sounded just like her. But it wasn't.

"Zan, get her and let's go," Viggo called from outside the cell.

I didn't answer, turning her until her back was to me. She tried lunging away when I grabbed the hem of her shirt, but my grip tightened on her arm to hold her in place. My breath caught in my chest when I stared at the skin on her back.

Her bare skin. No ink. No tattoo.

"Let me go," she pleaded, her voice trembling.

What the fuck was going on? I spun her back around, grabbing her shoulders.

"What's your name?" I asked roughly.

She bit her lip, staying silent. Lowering my head, I stared into her eyes, attempting to entrance her.

"What's your name?" I repeated.

Again, she stayed silent, and I let out a snarl in frustration. Then there was a sudden deafening alarm just as Viggo let out a string of curse words. Keeping a grip on her arm, I dragged her out of the cell with me just in time to see Viggo backhand Norman across the face.

"The asshole hit an alarm," Viggo growled before looking back at Norman. "What the hell did you do that for? We all know you have to let us walk out of here. No one else is supposed to know who we are."

Norman rubbed his reddened cheek, shooting daggers at Viggo. "No one is supposed to know about her. Especially not fucking vampires."

"Who is she?" I snapped.

He didn't respond, and I was a second away from ripping his throat out. The girl I was holding on to was shaking uncontrollably, and I glanced at her, still unable to process that it wasn't Kali. Because she was identical to her in every fucking way.

Viggo looked at her with a frown. "What did they do to you, Kali?"

"That's not Kali," I said in a low voice.

Viggo let out a laugh. "Zan?—"

"It's not Kali," I roared, losing control. I had no idea where my girl was, and now I had to figure out why she seemed to have a fucking twin.

Viggo's eyes widened, confusion sprawled across his face. Before he could say anything, noise drew our attention to the hallway. By the sound of it, it was a small damn army. No way we were going to slip out of here now.

"Shit," Viggo muttered, coming to the same conclusion. "Now what?"

Military men were barreling into the room with enough weapons to make me more than a little uneasy. There were at least twenty of them, all wearing goggles that made it impossible to entrance. They'd shoot us in the head before we got a chance to run.

"Now, we call a meeting with Amaros," Norman bit out, gaining a bit of confidence now that he wasn't alone with us. "I'm sure he'll be happy to have his sons back. We can make a trade. You two for Kali."

That wasn't fucking happening. But I didn't voice that as the men surrounded us. I wasn't worried about them killing us. Norman was smart enough to know he couldn't kill anyone from the Kane family.

"Grab Warner too," Norman ordered one of his men. "They had an interest in him."

This entire deal we had with PARA was about to get a whole lot messier. Because I'd kill every last one of them before they got their hands on Kali. My eyes cut to the woman. There was so much more going on than even I knew about. What other fucking secrets didn't we know?