Rise to Live Read online

  Rise of the Changelings, Book 7

  Rise to Live

  Marco and Remus have been best friends since they were small cubs. Marco worshiped the ground Remus walked on. If only the leopard wasn’t so thickheaded Marco just might have a shot at happiness. But when he helps Remus in rescuing a werewolf from Dexcom labs, his life takes a turn that will scar him forever.

  What starts out as two best friends helping out their alpha turns into a nightmarish situation that Remus isn’t sure he can survive.

  Meanwhile, the war has spilt onto the front doorstep of the White House. Enrique Marcelo is determined to make the president either call a halt to the insanity, or kill the man for wanting the changelings exterminated—maybe both.

  But ending the war won’t be easy, and neither will the task of disbanding the Breed Hunters and mercenaries. Rick, Dorian, and the people who have fought by their side encounter betrayal, lies, and deception that rock their very foundation as they rise to live.

  NOTE! You are purchasing Siren’s newest imprint, the Siren Epic Romance collection. This is Book 6 of 7 in the Rise of the Changelings series. The series shares an overall story arc with many crossover characters playing major roles in each book. These books are not stand-alone and should be read in their numbered order.

  Genre: Alternative (M/M or F/F), Paranormal, Vampires/Werewolves

  Length: 72,850 words

  RISE TO LIVE

  Rise of the Changelings, Book 7

  Lynn Hagen

  SIREN EPIC ROMANCE,

  MANLOVE

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  ABOUT THE E-BOOK YOU HAVE PURCHASED: Your non-refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to only ONE LEGAL copy for your own personal reading on your own personal computer or device. You do not have resell or distribution rights without the prior written permission of both the publisher and the copyright owner of this book. This book cannot be copied in any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer program, for free or for a fee, or as a prize in any contest. Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law. Distribution of this e-book, in whole or in part, online, offline, in print or in any way or any other method currently known or yet to be invented, is forbidden. If you do not want this book anymore, you must delete it from your computer.

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  If you find a SirenBookStrand e-book being sold or shared illegally, please let us know at

  [email protected]

  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Siren Epic Romance, ManLove

  RISE TO LIVE

  Copyright © 2013 by Lynn Hagen

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-62242-201-2

  First E-book Publication: April 2013

  Cover design by Les Byerley

  All art and logo copyright © 2013 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  Letter to Readers

  Dear Readers,

  If you have purchased this copy of Rise to Live by Lynn Hagen from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

  Regarding E-book Piracy

  This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book.

  The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment.

  This is Lynn Hagen’s livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Hagen’s right to earn a living from her work.

  Amanda Hilton, Publisher

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  www.BookStrand.com

  RISE TO LIVE

  Rise of the Changelings, Book 7

  LYNN HAGEN

  Copyright © 2013

  Chapter One

  Rick twirled the knife in his hand and then shoved the blade in the sheath at his thigh. “I don’t think he’ll be getting up anytime soon.”

  Dorian scrunched his nose as he shivered, standing there looking as if he were going to be sick. Rick damn near laughed at the look on his mate’s face. “Not after you cut out his heart. That was just plain old gross.”

  “That might be, gatito,” Rick said as he tossed the heart as far as he could, “but it’s the only way to truly kill a vampire. I don’t see how you’re still squeamish after all this time.”

  Dorian pulled his gun from his holster, aimed, and shot the vampire in the head. Rick knew that even though Dorian was changeling now, he still preferred to do the things that made him most comfortable. Rick would give him that. A slow grin tilted up the side of his mouth as he shook his head. “Feel better?”

  “Much,” he said as he reholstered his gun. “Now I know he’s truly dead.”

  Rick clapped his mate on the back, and then gave his shoulder a light squeeze. “Come on, babe, let’s get back to our group.”

  That was the seventh vampire they had to kill in two nights. Rick was getting irritated as hell. The Rebellion group was making its way to Washington, but it seemed every time they turned around, either someone needed help, or they were fighting their way out of a situation. It didn’t help that the master vampire, Kraven, was in hiding, but sending his Soul Reapers after them every few days. They never killed anyone, and Rick was starting to think it was Kraven’s way of fucking with their heads.

  Like they needed that. Rick would love to get his hands on the damn man.

  Not even Salvador, an ancient vampire from Brazil, could detect where Kraven was. And that didn’t set well with Rick. It either meant Kraven was growing in power, or messing with some dark voodoo shit.

  Dorian walked to the truck and slid into the passenger’s seat while Rick set the body on fire. He wanted to make damn sure the thing was dead. There would be no getting up from this. He made sure there was a roaring blaze before heading toward his truck. Why the vampires were suddenly attacking, Rick had no clue. Maybe Kraven was sending them. Maybe he wasn’t. It wasn’t like he stopped them in the middle of fighting to ask. But whatever was going on, it had the vampires attacking the Rebellion groups all around. The vampires and the Soul Reapers could be two separate incidents, but Rick highly doubted that.

  Walking across the grass to reach the road where he was parked, Rick scanned the area one last time. He knew they needed to get to Washington. Rebellion groups across the nation were waiting on him to call them into action. But Rick didn’t want to make that call until he was closer to the White House. With all the delays they were experiencing, he wasn’t sure he would be there in a few days’ time.

  Hell, he was praying they made it there sometime before the end of the year, which was a long way off. With the vampires attacking and small things slowing them down, Rick was starting to think fate was keeping him away from his goal.

  “You coming?” Dorian asked as he leaned forward, glancing from the passenger window, his Peruvian-brown eyes staring intently at Rick. “Unless you think more vampires are a
round. If there are, I’m sitting in the truck. Watching you cut their hearts out is not my favorite pastime.”

  A grin tilted the side of Rick’s mouth as he rounded the truck and slipped into the driver’s seat. “You are such a wuss.”

  Dorian gave a throaty protest as he sat back and tucked his arms over his chest. “I was a deli clerk before all of this started. I highly doubt I can add Rebellion and vampire slayer to my résumé once this is over. I’m sure no one would like me writing that I can slice meat while cutting a heart out.”

  Rick chuckled, needling his mate. “You’re still a wuss.”

  Although Dorian was glaring at Rick with narrowed eyes, Rick could see his mate fighting not to laugh. It was good to see him back to his old self. He had hated—and felt helpless—when his mate had gone through his meltdown not too long ago. It was something Rick never wanted to see his mate go through again. He had feared losing Dorian while the man worked things out in his head. Rick couldn’t blame Dorian. He was right. The guy had been a deli clerk before all of this had begun. Throwing his mate into this and expecting him not to crack was pure stupidity on Rick’s part.

  He should have anticipated something like that happening. But Rick had been so caught up in the fight that he hadn’t paid attention to the signs.

  He was paying attention now.

  Pulling from the grass he had parked on, Rick drove onto the road and headed back to the safe house they were currently residing in. He should be unwilling to use anyone’s home after what had happened before, but there were no more detention centers, and he prayed like hell no one else betrayed them.

  “Have you heard from Salvador?” Dorian asked.

  Rick shook his head as he gazed at the road. “No. Freedman, Omar, and Salvador were last seen up in Canada. I’m not sure how much closer they are to tracking Kraven down.”

  Dorian looked as if he was mulling that over in his mind, and then he spoke. “You would think that as powerful as Salvador is, he would have no problem catching Kraven. I saw what he can do, we all did, and it was some spooky-ass shit.”

  Rick agreed. Since this war had started, his eyes had been opened to many things. There were some horrors that would forever haunt him. But Salvador topped every weird thing he had ever come across.

  The ancient vampire even topped the ghost that had helped them free Ian from a vampire hurting him in the dream world. “Speculation is that Kraven is messing with some very dark voodoo.”

  “Like Miguel’s grandmother?” Dorian asked as he turned in his seat.

  Rick shook his head. “No. She dabbled, but she wasn’t malevolent. Kraven is evil down to his damn core.” Rick would almost bet the master vampire was a spawn of Satan himself. He’d never met anyone who had absolutely no conscience about what he did to others or how he hurt them. The man simply did not care. If something didn’t benefit him, he simply walked away from it, or killed whoever stood in his way.

  He had even abandoned his coven when Salvador took off after him, leaving them to be slaughtered by the military men who had tracked them down. “I hope he catches the bastard and uses his little freaky-deaky tricks to rip Kraven’s balls from his body.”

  Dorian’s pert nose scrunched, his expression disapproving. “You are just so damn graphic.”

  Rick wiggled his brows as he turned down the street they were staying on. “But you love my crude—” Rick slammed on the brakes, the tail end of the truck swerving before coming to a complete stop.

  His mate had his hand on the dashboard, but he was belted in, so he hadn’t flown forward.

  “What the—” Dorian’s words were cut short when he glanced out of the front windshield. “Go, go, go!” he shouted.

  Rick backed the truck into a driveway and then drove forward, driving the way he had come. His foot was to the floor, but for him, they weren’t going fast enough. The military Hummer was hot on his ass.

  How they had found the safe house, Rick hadn’t a clue, but he wasn’t going to stick around to find out. “Call Nate and make sure he, Selene, and Sasha are all right.”

  The three were the only ones in Rick’s Rebellion group at the moment. The others had gone to different places where other groups needed them. If anything happened to those three, Rick was going to blow the fucking White House off the map.

  Dorian scrambled to grab the cell phone from the center console, dialing quickly as he glanced behind them. “They’re still following.”

  “I see, gatito.” Rick took a corner sharply, nearly overturning the truck. The tires on Dorian’s side had left the ground, the truck bouncing when it landed back on all fours once more.

  “Get out!” Dorian shouted into the phone. “They know where we are.”

  Rick took another corner, spinning the steering wheel so tightly that he began to pray the truck didn’t overturn. He was not going to allow him and his mate to be captured. They were too close to taking the fight to Washington. They were also too close to either winning or losing this damn war. He hadn’t come this far to lose.

  “You what!” Dorian shouted. “You are such an asshole, Sasha.”

  “What?” Rick asked.

  “Pull over.” Dorian tossed the cell phone onto the center console, and then ran his hands down his face. Rick could tell his mate was frustrated.

  “What do you mean pull over?” Glancing in the rearview mirror, Rick could see the Hummer still heavy on their asses. There was no way he was going to turn around and just hand him and Dorian over to the very people who wanted them dead. “Are you nuts?”

  “No, but Sasha is. That’s him driving the damn truck chasing us.”

  Rick slammed on the brakes, the truck swerving before stopping.

  Shoving the gear into park, he slipped from the driver’s seat. The Hummer pulled up behind them and that was when Rick saw the long blond braid over Sasha’s shoulder. What in the hell was the cat thinking? It didn’t matter. Whatever game he was playing was just flat-out wrong.

  Yanking the Hummer door open, Rick grabbed Sasha’s shirtfront and pulled him free of the truck. He cocked his arm back, ready to punch the bastard when Sasha quickly moved out of the way. Rick’s fist ended up in the side of the Hummer.

  Fuck, that hurt!

  “Is this some sort of sick game for you?” he shouted, still feeling his heart beating wildly at the thought of Dorian coming to any harm.

  It wasn’t funny. Sasha could have made Rick kill Dorian in those defensive maneuvers he was pulling off when he cut the corners so quickly.

  A growl ripped from Sasha’s lips as he shoved his hands into Rick’s chest. “If you ever put your hands on me again, I’ll kill you.”

  “Then explain yourself!”

  “Fuck you!” Sasha spat.

  “Whoa,” Nate said as he slipped from the backseat. “Calm down, both of you.”

  “Not when your mate thinks it’s funny to chase me and Dorian around city blocks, pretending to be our enemy.”

  “That’s not what happened, Rick.” Nate pulled Sasha behind him and Rick could see the enforcer was torn between his mate and his loyalty to Rick. “When you were coming down the street, we were running for our lives.”

  Rick’s gaze raked over the ugly army-green Hummer, seeing Selene sitting in the passenger’s seat, her expression wide-eyed.

  Placing his hands on his hips, Rick blew out a long breath, reining in his fear and anger. “What happened?”

  “You should have asked that before you acted like an asshole!”

  Rick went after Sasha again. He grabbed for the leopard, but Sasha was fucking quick. Nate inserted his heavily built body between them again. “Will you two stop trying to kill each other?”

  Rick threw his hands up in the air in frustration. “Fine, tell me what happened.” He cut his eyes at Sasha, daring the man to say another word. Instead of his normal flirtatious ways, the alpha was glaring at him, his kelly-green eyes promising retribution if Rick came after him again.

  Like he
cared.

  “We would have called and told you it was us behind you, but we had to run as fast as we could,” Nate said. “Dorian called before we had a chance.”

  Okay, so they hadn’t done this on purpose. But Sasha was still an arrogant bastard. Rick had been wanting to punch the man for a long time now.

  “They just showed up,” Nate continued. “We climbed out of the second-floor window and stole their vehicle while they were downstairs.”

  “I fucking give up!” Rick shouted as he kicked the front tire of the Hummer. “That’s another sympathizer who turned us in. I’m getting sick of this betrayal shit.”

  It looked like motel rooms from here on out. Rick was not going to chance their freedom and lives again. Not on someone loaning them their home. This was bullshit. He was sick of people smiling in his face while they contemplated cashing him in. The bounty on his head was astronomical, but damn. Could he get some loyalty somewhere?

  “You better be lucky Nate likes you or I’d rip your ass apart.”

  Rick turned, heading back toward his truck. “Fuck you, Sasha.”

  He’d like to see the goddamn man try.

  Dorian had the gun lying in his lap. He really didn’t want to use it, but he wasn’t going to sit here and watch Sasha hurt Rick. When he saw his mate heading toward the truck, he tucked the gun in the glove box.

  But Rick didn’t climb in. Instead, he paced in front of the truck, talking to himself—no, arguing with himself in his native tongue.

  Yeah, he was pissed.

  Dorian opened the door and got out, going to the front of the truck. “What’s wrong?”

  Rick stopped pacing, but the scowl was deeply embedded on his face. “Another person loaned us their home and then tried to cash in on us.”

  Dorian could feel his own anger begin to boil. Back when he was living a mundane existence, he had never gone through so many emotions in his life. Since all of this happened, he had tapped into every single emotion a person possessed, and some he didn’t. This was getting on his last nerve. “That’s it then. We don’t take help from anyone we don’t know.”

  “We’ve been betrayed by people we know as well, gatito,” Rick reminded him. “Fuck it. Get on the wire and tell Clyde to put the word out. I’m sick of this shit and I want it over. We’re heading to Washington.”