by Lexi Blake
I could do this. I could steal some pleasure from him.
“You can try, bella.” He chuckled even as his free arm tightened around my waist and he dragged me close, bringing our bodies together. “You can try to hold yourself apart from me. This, I think, will be an interesting game. I agree to your offer. Let us begin.”
I felt something pulse across my skin, something infinitely warm and welcoming. My body went soft and I suddenly wanted his bite more than I wanted my next breath. The world seemed to go a little fuzzy, but in a good way, like it was a better place now that he was here with me.
I relaxed, ready to take everything that vampire had to give me.
* * * *
Zoey
I let Daniel lead me through the hallways of the Council building toward his office. We were set to meet Myrddin but when we turned the corner that would lead us to the appointed place, I noticed Myrddin was standing in front of the big conference room and he wasn’t alone. Nimue was there and another familiar face. Olivia Carey was with them.
She’d helped Kelsey many times, and Sarah seemed impressed with the young witch. But according to my son she was keeping secrets. Liv wore the same robes I’d seen Myrddin and Nim wearing earlier, and she had a box in her hands.
Myrddin turned and I could see I’d lucked out. He gave Daniel and me a big smile. He didn’t look at all like a man who knew I had stolen his most precious resource. “Your Highnesses, I am so happy you’ve come. I believe Ms. Carey here has found a solution to our problems.”
“I thought you were struggling with your magic.” I was suspicious. I’ll admit it. I didn’t like the idea that Nim was meeting with our witches. Maybe they’d been talking about their lives and what it is like to visit the Hell plane, but I doubted that. Otherwise Kelsey would have known, and Kelsey would have been every bit as suspicious as I was.
“I’m slowly recovering,” Liv said, her chin up like I’d insulted her, which I certainly hadn’t meant to do. “I’ve been getting bursts of magic for the last few weeks. It can be unreliable, but I think I have it now. It’s a locator spell, but I’ve used a magical creature to tune it.”
“A magical creature?” Daniel asked.
Nimue looked calm and serene in her all black, her violet-colored eyes revealing nothing to me. “Yes, Liv had the idea that if we spelled a creature close to Dev, one with magical powers, we might be able to use it almost like a homing device. It was quite brilliant.”
“That’s excellent.” Daniel gave my hand a squeeze. “Let’s do it.”
I thought he was getting ahead of himself. “I’d like to know what creature we’re talking about, and how does the spell work? I’d like to talk to Sarah about it before we actually do anything.”
Magic often goes wrong, and I didn’t want a witch with not-so-solid powers experimenting on someone who could get hurt. Especially someone close to Dev. No matter how much I wanted to find my husband, I wasn’t going to risk other lives. I’d already lost Kelsey.
Liv frowned. “I don’t need Sarah’s help. I had Nimue. She’s a far superior witch. Sarah could learn a lot from her.”
Nimue put a hand on Liv’s shoulder, as though reassuring the younger witch. “Sarah Day is an excellent witch. She simply doesn’t have enough experience in this.” Nimue nodded my way. “I’ve decided to take Olivia under my wing, so to speak. She’s had trouble regaining her magical strength after the witches in Wyoming drained her.”
“I thought Sarah and the coven were helping her with that.”
“They all have broomsticks firmly lodged in their asses,” Liv said with more venom than I’d ever heard from her before. Liv had changed since that night in the woods when she’d nearly died, but it wasn’t until this moment that I realized how much. “They want me to wait. To sit on my butt and hope that my magic will come back.”
“I think they want you to be patient.” I would have to talk to Sarah in the morning because I didn’t like the thought of Liv practicing when her magic was so unreliable. “Pushing the issue could cause more damage.”
“Zoey, I know what I’m doing,” Nimue promised. “Liv isn’t the first witch to have her power drained. I’ve seen it before and I can help her through it. She no longer needs Sarah. I’ll handle the problem. I’m going to be her mentor.”
“And I’ll help, of course,” Myrddin added. “I expect great things from our Olivia. Now, let’s find our missing friends so we can concentrate on the upcoming negotiations.”
I started to hold up a hand because I thought we still had some things to talk about, but Daniel leaned down to whisper in my ear.
“Please, Z. I know you’re upset, but let’s get Kelsey back and maybe she can talk to Liv. Let’s get them all back and we can solve the next problem.”
I sighed and nodded. “All right. Let’s talk about this creature you want to use. I need to know how the spell works.”
Liv’s eyes rolled. “It works fine and I already did it. Now all we have to do is follow it and it will show us where they all went.”
She opened the lid of the box and I watched as a familiar ruby-red pixie rose on faltering wings. My breath caught in my chest as I realized this was Arwyna, the leader of the kaleidoscope of pixies who lived here at the Council headquarters. She was a vibrant creature normally. She’d been my best spy for years. She was also my friend.
She looked sluggish and I could tell something was deeply wrong with her.
“What have you done?” I asked, reaching up a hand to give her a place to land.
Arwyna ignored me and began flying down the hallway in a weird pattern. Like she was flying drunk. She couldn’t quite keep steady.
“It’s fine,” Liv insisted.
“She. Her name is Arwyna.” I strode down the hall after her, worried she might hurt herself since she couldn’t seem to fly in a straight line. “And she’s obviously not fine.”
Myrddin and Nim followed behind me. Daniel hustled to get to my side.
“Your Highness, the pixie will certainly be all right,” Myrddin said. “I did not realize this one was close to you. I’ll ensure that it…she suffers no ill effects. I truly believe this is the best way to find your husband.”
“You should have asked us before you let her work that spell.” Daniel knew how I felt about the pixies.
“I want to know if they bothered to ask for her consent.” Anger thrummed through my body. “I seriously doubt Arwyna would have agreed to something like this without informing me. Did you trick her? Did you tell her I asked her to allow you to do this?”
Liv frowned. “I didn’t ask her at all. I thought finding Dev was more important. I didn’t have time to get the whole group together for a discussion. It was just a spell.”
“We will talk about this, Olivia,” Daniel said in that voice he used when he was in king mode.
Arwyna continued her clumsy flight and it hurt my heart to see her that way. She was graceful and precise. She was a queen and she’d been treated like a lab rat.
“She won’t even remember it, Zoey,” Nim said in a tone that let me know she thought I was making too much of this particular crime. “When she’s found her priest, I’ll disengage the spell myself. I thought it was important to Liv that she work through this. It was her idea and she’s made great strides.”
“I get it. The witch is more important than the pixie, and screw whatever the Fae creature needs. The witch wants some practice,” I shot back because I wasn’t playing politics.
“I didn’t say that,” Nim replied.
“You didn’t have to.” I stopped because Arwyna was banging against the door to Daniel’s office. She hadn’t landed on the doorknob or clung to the door itself. She was literally banging her body against the wood of the door. “Arwyna, stop, sweetie. Let me help you.”
“She won’t stop until she gets where she wants to be,” Myrddin said in an academic tone. “It’s best to simply allow her to finish her task. Though something’s gone wrong if she’s trying to get
into the office. We know Devinshea isn’t there.”
“Unless he’s hidden in some way,” Nim mused. “What if they’re simply out of phase and we can’t see them?”
Daniel opened the door. “I’ll let her finish, but we will have a talk about your tactics when this is through.”
“Of course, Your Highness,” Myrddin said as he followed the pixie in. “I had no idea the small creatures were so important to you.”
“I did it,” Liv insisted. “I wanted to show everyone that I’m still capable of helping. I didn’t think it would hurt her.”
I entered Daniel’s office and Arwyna had found her target. She landed on the painting that dominated one of the walls. I stopped and watched as her ruby wings fluttered. A chill went across me because I realized we weren’t alone in the room. Jacob sat on the small sofa and there was a grave expression on his face.
We were here. Whatever Jacob and Gray had talked about, the time was now and I suddenly knew I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t ready for things to change.
But I was ready for one thing the prophecy had promised. Summer is coming.
Was Summer the “event” Jacob wanted to witness? I looked up at Danny, who hadn’t noticed Jacob. He was staring at Arwyna and then looked down at me, disappointment plain on his face.
“I’m sorry, Z.” He glanced back at Myrddin. “You should fix her now. It’s obvious the spell didn’t work.”
“I did everything right,” Liv was saying as I moved toward the painting. “I know it worked. I felt it. I felt my power. It should have worked.”
Arwyna’s body shook and I realized why. She was beating her head against the damn painting. Over and over. Now that I was closer I could see how pale she’d gone, losing the luminous shine she normally had.
“It’s okay, sweet friend.” I whispered the words to her because I was afraid to jostle her more. I held my hand out. “Let me get you fixed up. I’m so sorry for what’s happened to you.”
She didn’t even look back at me. She simply beat her head against the painting.
The painting that Marcus had seemed so enamored of.
The painting that had been in this room when Dev disappeared.
The painting that Myrddin had given my husband.
I had never liked that painting, but now I truly looked at it. Where had the girl gone? She was missing and the field she’d been in was empty.
I stepped closer. “Myrddin, where did you get this painting?”
Daniel moved in behind me. “He painted it himself.”
“The scene came to me in a dream,” I heard Myrddin say. “I knew the minute I started that it would be for the king.”
I leaned in, the brushstrokes seeming to change, and I heard a humming sound. Arwyna seemed to disappear before my eyes and then the world seemed to twist and turn around me.
“Zoey!”
But I was gone. I felt space and time turn around me and I fell into another world.
Chapter Sixteen
Summer
Marcus’s fangs sank into my neck, but I didn’t feel any spark of pain. My body had come alive in a way it never had before, and nothing seemed to matter except his arms around me, his body pressed to mine. I wrapped myself around him as wave after wave of pleasure coursed through my veins. I could feel the blood pumping through my body, feel the rhythm of my heart beating, and that it had somehow synched to his. I forgot where I ended and he began.
The sweetest sense of peace flowed through me, like something had been missing, some piece of me I’d never known I’d lost had finally fallen into place.
This was the danger Marcus truly posed. He was better than any spell or glass of ale, better than the drugs on the Vampire plane.
He tightened his hold as the orgasm flashed through me unexpectedly. It was far better than anything I’d ever gotten from a lover. A tremble went through my body and I wasn’t sure I could stand on my own as he released my vein. Marcus kept his arms around me and held me close, his tongue dragging over where he’d sunk his fangs in.
“You, bella, are absolutely a companion,” he whispered against my skin. “And I am completely addicted. My companion.”
I knew I should argue, but I’d made a deal with the male and I meant to keep up my end of the bargain. In that moment I wanted to forget everything that had come before or would come after and be nothing more than Marcus Vorenus’s companion. He would take care of me, love me, treasure me. I wouldn’t have to do anything beyond let the vampire worship me.
He kissed his way up my neck, holding me to him with one hand while the other wound its way in my hair. He tugged lightly, guiding me to look up and into his eyes.
His eyes were the color of a moonless night, ebony dark, and there was nothing cold about them. I could fall into those eyes and never come back out.
“I’m going to kiss you now, bella,” he said.
I nodded because I wanted it too, and in that moment I didn’t care if the desire was coming from him or from my own soul. All that mattered was that I wanted. I realized what had been missing from my life. Wanting. I’d gotten so used to simply surviving, to working toward Dean’s future, to every moment of every day being about a penance I knew I could never attain. This was something more. This was beyond lust, though it was absolutely a component. I wanted Marcus. I wanted him for myself.
I relaxed as he loomed over me, his mouth a mere breath away from mine.
“You have no idea how long I’ve waited for you,” he whispered.
How long had I waited for him? For one thing I might have for myself? Was it even fair to let him get close to me when we couldn’t truly be together? When I couldn’t give him what he so obviously needed?
I was selfish, but I let those thoughts go. I let them fly away because nothing was going to ruin this moment. My body was already soft and warm and ready for him. He leaned forward and brought his mouth to mine. He kissed me, softly at first, but then I felt his tongue pressing inside and I let him in. I let our tongues tangle together and enjoyed how nothing else mattered. I was still wrapped in his magic, that magic that could make any creature crave his bite, but in particular it spoke to me. Because he was right. I was truly a companion like my mother, and somehow that gave me strength. For so long I’d worried that I was nothing now that my magic was contained, that I had nothing special about me. Marcus’s bite had told me I still had a connection to my parents. They had given me form, and also that unique spark my mother had.
Hope, I was finding, did wonders for my libido.
I let my hands roam from his waist up to his shoulders, loving the feel of strong muscles under my palms. I wanted out of my clothes so I could be skin to skin with this male. I wanted my breasts to brush against his chest, our legs tangled together.
Marcus kissed me again and then took a deep breath. “We should get back.”
I stared at him for a moment because I wasn’t sure exactly what he was saying. I was ready. I didn’t mind the woods. I wasn’t picky.
He took a step back and reached down for his shirt.
“Get back where?”
He shook out the shirt as though trying to get rid of wrinkles that were never going to come out until someone took an iron to them. “Get back to Kelsey and Devinshea. We need to find a way to the Earth plane. I don’t want to go too far from the door, but I’m worried about the wights. Do they stay in the fields or should we expect them to come into the forest? It will be dark soon. We have decisions to make and because of your sacrifice I can think clearly now. I thank you, bella.”
He was thanking me? “I kind of thought we weren’t done here.”
He shrugged into his shirt with a shiver. “I have waited two thousand years for you, Summer. I’m not shoving you up against a tree.”
“But there are so many of them.” We could do this thing pretty quick. We didn’t need some super-pretty room to do the deed, as Dean’s vampire friends would say.
His lips curled up and I noticed his eyes w
ere normal again. “When we get back to the Earth plane, I will show you all the luxury and comfort you should expect from your lover. I’ll take you to my home in Venice and we won’t leave the bedroom for weeks. We’ll make love and I’ll bring in the best chefs in the world to feed you. I’ll spoil you rotten, bella.”
I didn’t want to be spoiled rotten. “I told you I would be your companion while we’re here. On this plane.”
“Then I’ll have to try harder when we get home.” He stepped up to me, looking down with warmth in his eyes. He cupped my face in his hands. “I don’t want to start this wrong. I know this is a purely transactional relationship for you, but it is everything to me. If this is all the time I get with you, I want it to be perfect. Besides, perhaps if I withhold my body from you, you might be more amenable to staying with me when we get home.”
Maybe he hadn’t felt the same things I had. Now that he’d been fed, he didn’t seem to want me anymore.
His jaw tightened and he dragged me against his body. “Don’t even think that way.”
I growled up at him. “Stay out of my head.”
“Then don’t shout your every emotion my way,” he growled back. “I want you. I want you so much I can’t think of anything else, but you don’t want me that way. You need time to come to care for me. I intend to give you that time. I want you to understand I am not that man I see in your head. What is his name? Is he a vampire? Is that why you’re so skittish around me?”
I didn’t want to talk about Turi, but if Marcus was sticking around, it would almost inevitably come up. “He’s from another plane. They’re much like humans though physically stronger. They have some magic. It’s a type of blood magic. I think the word you would use for them is barbarian. I say he’s the leader, but conqueror would be a more accurate word.” If he wasn’t going to make love to me then we should get moving. I drew in a deep breath to banish the feeling of being unwanted. Again. “Darkness comes on quickly here. We should get moving. It’s a long walk from here to the brugh we’re staying in. I think we should stay there tonight. It’s safer than being in the woods.”