Viper (Sons of Sangue)

by Patricia A. Rasey

  Kaleb cleared his throat, bringing Kane back to the unanswered question. He turned from the window, squared his shoulders and looked at his brother.

  “That’s the hell of it, Kaleb. I don’t have a fucking clue what I’ve done to piss off one of the ancients.”

  One name weaved its way into his musings: Rosalee. His gaze narrowed as the thought took purchase. If he was correct, she’d have every reason to hate him and want to see his liaisons taken out.

  “You don’t think Rosalee?” Kaleb asked, thinking along the same lines.

  “Mircea would never allow her to leave,” Kane responded, yet he wondered at the validity of his statement even as it left his lips. “Rosalee broke his heart, and he’s not likely to forget or forgive her sins any more than I.”

  “Don’t be so sure, Viper. Rosalee is used to getting her way. At one time his stepdaughter could do no wrong. Ten years is a long time to heal wounds.”

  “A decade is but a blink of an eye in our time, not nearly long enough for me. A century could have gone by, and I’d still not welcome her sorry ass back into my life.”

  “You know your anger won’t bring Ion back.”

  Heat rose from his gut and burned in his ears. How dare Kaleb brush off his son’s death so easily? “She’s the reason Ion is dead. What the hell are you defending her for?”

  Kaleb looked at him queerly. “Have you lost your fucking mind? Did I say I forgave anything that bitch did? I was playing devil’s advocate, for crying out loud. Speculating on why Mircea might have pardoned her. As far as I’m concerned, she can rot in hell for all eternity. If she steps back in the States, I’d be happy to be the one who ends her immortality.”

  “You’ll have to get in line behind me, Bro.”

  “What’s going on?” came from a groggy Cara as she shuffled her bare feet down the hallway, running her hands through her sleep mussed hair.

  Kane wanted to replace her hands with his. Damn but he wanted to pick her up, throw her over his shoulder, and return her to his bed. She looked cute and sexy as hell in a loose pair of pink sweats, hanging low on her hips with white tank clinging to her breasts on top. He could just make out the outline of the dark pink bra beneath. Cara might not realize it, but she made quite the tempting package. His groin semi-hardened just at her appearance. He had it bad.

  “We were discussing how you, and whoever the hell else is here, will be finding other digs tonight,” Kaleb told her.

  Cara glanced at Kane, all sleep quickly gone from her gaze. “You found someplace else for us to stay?”

  “Hawk is jesting, Cara. You’re welcomed to stay here until we figure out who this primordial is and we take him down.”

  “Or her,” Kaleb added.

  Kane could have kicked Kaleb’s biker ass for that slip. And by the look on Cara’s face, she wasn’t going to let it pass.

  “Once we—” Kane began, hoping he could quickly move past his twin’s slight.

  No such luck.

  “Wait, Kane. Her? You mind telling me what that’s about?”

  “It’s only a theory.”

  “Fine,” Cara said as she crossed her arms beneath her breasts, causing the soft flesh to spill over the neckline.

  Kaleb’s gaze went right to the swell of her breasts, causing Kane to want to cold-cock him.

  “Eyes up here, brother,” Kane warned.

  Kaleb’s brows pinched. “Seriously?”

  Cara moved right past the brothers’ pettiness. “I appreciate that it’s only a theory, Kane, but I want the details anyway. Stop glossing things over and give me the straight facts. I’m a detective. I deal better with facts.”

  Kane grasped her beneath the armpits and sat her on a stool beside his brother. “Then sit and listen. I’ll tell you the everything if you promise not to interrupt.”

  She nodded.

  Cara deserved the unvarnished truth of who might be after her and what she was capable of.

  “Her name is Rosalee. I’m not saying she’s the primordial after you, but it is a very good possibility. What Kaleb and I were talking about is we can’t figure out how she’s even left Italy, if it is her.”

  “Why?”

  “Rosalee did something that upset her stepfather. He’s the eldest primordial in their clan. Mircea II. He banned her for eternity from leaving his side. She’s not allowed outside of the country. To do so could mean certain death for her.”

  “What did she do?”

  “She’s a fucking cold-hearted bitch,” Kaleb added.

  Kane nodded, then continued, “She caused her son’s death, Mircea’s beloved grandson.”

  Cara's breath caught, her shock evident in her rounded eyes. “Surely, the death of her own son was certain punishment. What happened?”

  “Rosalee lived here, in the States. Her son was born here. He was a good kid, always trying to please his mother. He would have done anything she asked. She used that to her advantage.

  “About ten years ago, the Sons had a rival club in Oregon. They made their way north from California. Their hope was to take over the coast. The Knights and Sons were to band together against this club. But they had powerful men backing them. The cartel had special interest in taking control of the coast. Running their drugs was the main focus, and the Devils would do their grunt work.”

  “So what did Rosalee and her son have to do with all of this?”

  Kane didn’t want to relive the ugliness, but Cara needed to hear it. Those final days with Rosalee were some of the darkest days of his life.

  “Rosalee is a beautiful, seductive vampire. Most men could not resist her charm, even if they wanted to. But these men were ruthless killers. They didn’t do anything without having something to gain. And if you got in their way, they wouldn’t simply kill you, they’d send you a fucking message.”

  Kane paused and took a deep, steadying breath. Ten years had done nothing to dull his pain. He felt the knife to his heart as if it were just yesterday. Cara watched him, hanging on his every word. He wondered how she would react to the fact he had created a life with not just any woman but a mate. When vampires mated, they mated for life. Rosalee would no doubt try as she might to remind him of that. Kane, however, would never honor it.

  “Against club decree she took Ion with her. She met with one of the drug lords. She seduced him, stupidly believing herself far superior in all ways. In the end, when she demanded he pull the Devils from Oregon, he laughed in her face. Rosalee took that as a direct insult. She bled him dry and tossed his carcass aside, knowing his brother would find him. She hadn’t counted on the retaliation, thinking the way she had murdered the brother would send the superstitious men fleeing south.”

  Tears filled Kane’s eyes but they didn’t fall. Cara laid a hand on his forearm.

  “What happened?”

  “His brother tracked her. She hadn’t even gone twenty miles before they caught up. Rosalee hadn’t bank on them finding her. She thought that finding the drug lord had been killed by a vampire would make the brother and other members of the cartel so scared of the unknown that they’d pull their puppet club, the Devils, from Oregon. Instead—”

  Kane cleared his throat. “Instead, they caught up with Rosalee and Ion. They staked Rosalee and Ion to trees facing one another. They beat them both mercilessly. Rosalee lost enough blood to make her weak. All she could do was stare in horror as they lit the other tree on fire and burned Ion to death, then separated his charred skull from his shoulders.”

  “My god. She must have been horrified. How did she get loose?”

  “She grieved for two days before we found her and released her from the tree. She wanted to die there. I wanted her to die on that damned tree, but I knew I’d suffer the wrath of her stepfather.”

  “So the cartel killed her son and Mircea’s grandson? Why didn’t he retaliate?”

  “Because the cartel agreed to pull their MC from Oregon and Washington, to never enter our states again. They get to continue runn
ing their drugs in California, and we agreed not to go to war against the Devils. A life for a life.”

  “And Mircea ordered his daughter back to Italy as punishment?”

  “And away from the love of her life who now hated her.”

  “Who is Ion’s dad? The love of her life?”

  Kane stared at Cara for a long moment before her mouth rounded. Tears filled her eyes and slipped down her cheek before she stated the obvious, “Ion was your son.”

  Chapter 19

  Kane’s story rendered Cara speechless. She had no idea what to even say to someone who had lost a child. Surely, he didn’t want her sympathy. That wasn’t what his confession was about. But her heart went out to him anyway. Parents weren’t supposed to outlive their children. Cara couldn’t begin to imagine the pain and loss he had endured.

  Tears slipped down her cheeks as Kane watched her. Cara took a deep breath, feeling the biggest kind of sappy fool as she tried to get her emotions under control. His glassy eyes were the only sign at all that the remembrance affected him. No wonder he hated Rosalee. She might have meant well, wanting what was best for the club, but her arrogance had cost them their son’s life.

  Kaleb drummed a nervous tempo with his fingers against the bar top, watching them both, the only sound in the clubhouse as silence continued and tension mounted. If Kaleb hadn’t been there, she might have gone to Kane and attempted to comfort him in some small way. But Kaleb’s dislike of her kept her from doing as she desired.

  Finally, for lack of anything better to say, she commented on his relationship with Rosalee instead. “So you were married?”

  Kane grimaced as he rubbed his temple. Obviously, his relationship with Rosalee was something he’d rather not talk about. “As far as I’m concerned, she’s free to mate with whom she pleases.”

  “But you were together?”

  “We were mated. Yes.”

  “Is that the vampire form of married?”

  Kane winced. It seemed Cara put more weight on the fact he had been mated than he did. Rosalee was obviously no longer a part of his life. Fifty percent of marriages ended in divorce, so it really wasn’t something that should bother Cara.

  “There’s no need for a union to be docketed on paper. No vampire would touch another’s mate. It’s a sacred bond.”

  “So what happens then? I assume there is no such thing as a divorce since there is no marriage. You just, what? Go your separate ways?”

  “No, Cara.” Kane scratched his nape. The sorrow in his gaze vanished as he suddenly looked as if he rather be anywhere but standing here having this conversation.

  Kaleb smiled. “This should be good.”

  Kane glared his twin into silence before answering her. “When vampires mate, Mia Bella, it’s for life.”

  “Oh, well … what about the other night? Is that considered an affair? Am I now a mistress?” Her voice cracked in her distress. She couldn’t help it. Cara would never consider an affair. And the thought of being a mistress to a vampire was unthinkable.

  “Rich,” Kaleb said with a chuckle. “Yes, dear brother. Care to respond?”

  “Butt out, Kaleb. Don’t you have something better to do?”

  “Nope. Don’t believe I do.”

  Kane shook his head, tilting his gaze to the floor. Cara’s heart lodged in her throat, making her want to gather her things and leave. Suddenly, she felt like a complete outsider, one who had no business at all standing here having this conversation. When she screwed up, she did so royally. What the hell had she been thinking when she opened herself to Kane and let him in? Jesus, she had had the best orgasm of her life with another vampire’s mate. The last thing she needed or wanted was a psycho vampire after her because she had the audacity to sleep with another vampire’s mate. Her gaze snapped up.

  “You think Rosalee is the one after me? Of course,”—she snapped her fingers—“it all makes sense.”

  “Cara, you slept with me after that message appeared on your mirror.”

  “True, but maybe she didn’t know that. She could be killing off your lovers one by one.”

  “You forget I didn’t know the first two victims.”

  “At least you don’t think so, dear brother,” Kaleb added, earning him another warning glare from Kane.

  “Something you need to tell me, Kane? If you knew these women—”

  “I didn’t. At least I don’t think I did. I can’t be expected to remember every woman I have slept with.”

  “How many?”

  “You really don’t want that answer.”

  “No, I don’t suppose I do.”

  “This isn’t about my sex life.”

  Cara rolled her eyes. “Of course not, Kane. Are you serious? It looks as if it has everything to do with your love life.”

  “Sex life,” he corrected.

  “Whatever.”

  “If she’s here, trust me, she already knows everything about me … us.”

  “Great. And if she’s not the one who wrote on my mirror, then I’ll have two psychotic vampires wanting to drain me. Just shoot me now!”

  Kane gripped her shoulders and looked down upon her, his dark gazing blackening in his intensity. “Cara, no one is going to hurt you. I won’t allow it.”

  “You might want to talk to your wife about that.”

  Kaleb started laughing again. At least someone was having a good chuckle at her expense. Cara wanted to knock his sarcastic ass from the stool. Instead, she ignored him and turned to Kane.

  “Get this straight, Cara. Rosalee is not my wife or my mate.”

  “Well then, color me confused. You just said you mate for life.”

  “Normally, yes. But there is nothing normal about this. I would never take Rosalee back into my life. My life is my own and I will see whom I choose. Rosalee no longer has any say in how I live my life. When she went against my wishes and cost me the life of my son, she broke that bond.”

  “What do you think Rosalee would say about that?”

  Kane jammed his hand through his hair and blew out a stream of air. “I don’t care what she’d say. It doesn’t matter. And trust me, she knows that. Rosalee is anything but stupid.”

  “So you’re free to mate with another?”

  There was no mistaking the truth in his eyes. Kane had no desire to travel down that path again.

  “As I said, my life is my own. I see whom I choose. Rosalee proved to me that finding a mate is not something I ever desire again. Not in my lifetime.”

  His confession shouldn’t have hurt. But damned if it didn’t. It cut her straight to the heart. Not that she wanted to be strapped to a blood sucking vampire for life, even if he had been the best sex she’d ever had.

  Cara needed to distance herself the only way she knew how. “I need to get to work.”

  “So that’s it? We’re finished with this conversation?”

  “What more is there to say? I have a job I need to do, and that’s to find this person who’s taking innocent lives. Even if this person is a blood sucker.”

  Kaleb laughed again, clearly amused at their expense. She might have shared the humor at the ridiculous situation, had she not been so damned miserable because of it.

  “Look, I’m going to go get dressed and head for the office.” The look on Kane’s face had her quickly adding, “I promise I’ll be back by dark.”

  “You’re leaving me here alone with them?” Suzi asked as she made an appearance, her eyes wide and weary.

  Kaleb’s gaze snapped to the petite brunette before glaring at Kane. “This is the other woman you brought here? Un-fucking-believable!” He stormed from the room.

  Cara gaped at Kane then Suzi, who didn’t seemed surprised by Kaleb’s outburst.

  “Well, that was certainly rude,” Suzi said as she flopped down on one of the sofas and propped up her feet. “What’s for breakfast?”

  * * *

  Kaleb sucked in a deep breath, the icy-cool morning air feeling good to his lungs
. His heart drummed against his sternum and his pulse beat a tempo in his ears. He hadn’t been this angry since Rosalee had caused his nephew’s death. Out of all the women Kane could have brought to his home, why this one?

  His thoughts returned to some ten years back when he had first laid eyes on her: petite, brunette and a svelte body that made his mouth water and his dick hard. He had always preferred his women diminutive, loved wrapping himself around them. But he also preferred them spunky, and Suzi fit both bills to a tee.

  She had walked into the Blood ‘n’ Rave, wearing a very short black leather skirt barely covering her small but muscular backside. He remembered his first thought was to mold his palms perfectly to those taut gluts, to pull her flush against the massive erection she had caused. He never could resist a great ass, and damn if hers wasn’t first rate. Upon meeting her, he did exactly that and filled both hands, resulting in a dressing down like none he’d ever received. Suzi had promptly told him that her ass was off limits, and she would damn good and well tell him when or if he could ever touch it. Just the thought of this tiny five-foot-two stitch of a woman scolding a man who easily stood a foot taller, brought a smile to his face.

  She had spunk all right.

  Probably the reason she was the one woman who had grabbed him by the dick and never let go. And damned if he hadn’t tried to forget their one orgasmic night. Kaleb had fucked immense amount of women since, but none had managed to scrub her from his thoughts. Reason enough to run like hell. Which he had and never looked back.

  Kaleb liked variety, a different woman every week if he could help it. The idea of one woman having so much control over him pushed every one of his panic buttons. Mating wasn’t something he could ever commit to. Better to take what he desired and send them on their way.

  Mutual gratification. No questions asked.

  Suzi Stevens had been the first and only woman to jeopardize that way of thinking. One taste of her and he had turned tail and run like hell as far and fast as he could. For weeks following their one sexual encounter, he had managed to avoid her, find other donors to meet his needs. That was, until Suzi had become Ion Tepes’ main focus. Not that Kaleb could blame him. Suzi was a vampire’s wet dream. Ion had not been one to confide in his father, and certainly not his mother, leaving his Uncle Kaleb his main confidant. He had made it known that he planned to win Suzi over, take her as his mate. And though Kaleb had no idea what her true feelings were where his nephew was concerned, she seemed pretty interested in Ion whenever Kaleb was within the vicinity, causing the green-eyed monster to simmer deep within his gut.