Darkest Risings

by S. K. Yule

  “We’ll figure something out,” Aldin answered.

  Aldin never took his eyes from her. She was consumed with worry for him and barely felt it when Aiston sank his teeth through her flesh. She closed her eyes for a moment and fought back the terror that coursed through her veins.

  “It’ll be okay, Wilhemina.”

  Even after everything that had happened, his voice sliding through her brain was soothing. “I’m scared.”

  “I know. I swear they won’t let him hurt you. I won’t let him hurt you.”

  “I believe you.” She did believe that they wouldn’t let Aiston hurt her, but it didn’t make the situation any easier for her. So much had happened in the last few hours.

  “Thank you for saving my brother.”

  “Enough, Aiston.” Ragnor commanded Aiston to release her arm, and he immediately did so.

  She stood, and Aldin slowly got to his feet. He walked to her and tugged her arm up to inspect it.

  “I’m okay.”

  He nodded. Before she realized what he was going to do, he bent his head and ran his tongue over the bite mark. Her insides melted, and when his nostrils flared, heat centered in her core. How could he turn her on with such ease even when her mind was a jumbled mess? What was more shocking? When he touched her, everything ceased to exist but the feel of his caress. He had the ability to rob her of all logic with one brush of his sinful lips.

  She pulled her arm from him when Lindsey cleared her throat behind them.

  “Lindsey can stay with me in my room,” she said.

  She went to her sister and turned toward the stairs to find Uriah blocking their way.

  “You and I need to talk,” he said to Lindsey. He then looked to Wilhemina. “I’m sorry about my inappropriate behavior in the kitchen earlier, but now that things have come to light”—he glanced to Lindsey then back—”I hope you understand my confusion.”

  Wilhemina supposed she could. If Lindsey was his life mate then she’d certainly seem familiar to him in some way since they were sisters.

  “And I’m terribly sorry for that.” He motioned toward her bruised cheek. “I would never hit a woman. At least not on purpose,” he muttered before looking down.

  “Let’s forget about it. Okay? I think at this point in time, a few fading bruises are the least of my worries.”

  “And you and I have nothing to talk about,” Lindsey said to Uriah. “Now move.”

  Uriah hesitated.

  “I forgive you for hitting me, Uriah,” Wilhemina said. “But don’t think for one minute that Lindsey will be the only problem you have if you try to force her to do anything against her will. My sister isn’t the only one who can make you swallow your balls.” She looked down toward his crotch with a raised brow.

  “Fine. I understand you both need some time to mull over everything that has happened. But we will talk, Lindsey.” He looked to Wilhemina. “Even if I must suffer a shot to the boys for the occasion. It will happen.”

  When Uriah moved to the side, Wilhemina led Lindsey to her room.

  Chapter Twenty

  Aldin, Ashe, a still pale-looking Aiston, Uriah, Conrad, Dominic, Ragnor, and Malachi occupied the study.

  “I trust your trip here went smoothly?” Ashe asked Malachi.

  “Yes.”

  Aldin had recovered from his run-in with the dart, but that shit had packed a punch.

  “I’m surprised you could drag Geri away from her precious goats,” Aiston chuckled.

  Malachi didn’t look amused in the least. And as per typical, Malachi appeared as if he might bash Aiston’s head in at any moment. Malachi was the oldest of the hunters, the biggest, and one bad ass. He was the only hunter other than his brothers—on rare occasions—that had been able to put Aldin on his ass during training in the gym.

  “She goes wherever I go.” Malachi said in his low, gravelly, don’t-fuck-with-me voice.

  “Yeah, I know. Especially right now. Was just giving you shit about the livestock, dude.” Aiston chuckled again.

  Malachi gave him another unamused glare before going back to ignoring him.

  “Who the hell is that?” Dominic motioned toward Ragnor.

  “Yes, I guess it’s time to get to business.” Ashe sighed and pushed his fingers through his hair.

  “Malachi, Dominic, Conrad, meet Ragnor. As in the Ragnor,” Ashe said quietly.

  Aldin felt a tiny urge to laugh at the shocked expressions on the hunters’ faces. Even Malachi looked startled for a moment, which never happened.

  “Wait, wait, wait.” Conrad shook his head in disbelief. “You are saying that this is the Ragnor? As in the legendary Vampyre King Ragnor?”

  “Yes. And also my mother’s viata amant and our father,” Ashe said even quieter. “And before we all go ape-shit wild with the questions, that”—he pointed to Uriah—”is our baby brother, who my mother has kept locked up since birth.”

  An eerie silence settled over the room as Malachi, Dominic, and Conrad stared at Ragnor then Ashe, Aldin, Aiston, Uriah, and back. He knew it was a lot for the other hunters to swallow. Hell, he himself was still getting used to the idea. But as Ragnor had so delicately put it before, there was no time to deal with emotions in the current time of crisis. Which Aldin had basically taken as suck-it-up buttercup, and deal with it.

  Not only was he trying to deal with the fact that his father was Ragnor, but that he had another brother. He was pissed as hell at the little ass for hitting Wilhemina—even though he truly believed it to be an accident—and planned to pay him back. If Uriah was going to be part of this family, he’d have to learn that some lines didn’t get crossed, even accidently, without consequences.

  As he sat through the next hour of questions and answers about Ragnor and the prophecy, he barely kept his mind focused on what was going on in the room, too preoccupied with thoughts of Wilhemina. Had he damaged his relationship with her beyond repair? He was sure she’d been worried about him earlier when he’d returned with Aiston. And he hadn’t missed the way she’d reached out to him for comfort when Aiston had taken her blood.

  A knot of jealousy lodged in his gut, and he directed a heated stare at his brother. The jealousy eased when he saw that Aiston was staring back at him. There had been no other way, and Aiston would most likely be dead now if Wilhemina hadn’t helped him.

  “I’m sorry, Aldin.”

  He wasn’t surprised to hear Aiston’s voice in his head. He and his brothers had always been close and attuned to one another. “Don’t worry about it. There was no other choice.”

  “I know, but I also know how I’d feel if it had been the other way around. I would obviously want Avril to save you, but I can’t deny I’d want to beat your ass afterward for touching her. I’m truly grateful, Aldin.”

  “I might still beat your ass, but not until you’re back up to par. And I’m not the one you should be grateful to.”

  “Not too far from there now. Maybe we can work it out later in the gym.”

  “Maybe.”

  “And I will thank Wilhemina.”

  “It’s time to get down to business.” Ashe put a halt to the questions.

  Shortly after a knock sounded on the door, Ebony entered carrying a letter.

  “You have to see this,” she said quietly to Ashe.

  After Ashe scanned the letter, he growled low under his breath. He held it up. “This is from Trinidad.”

  Malachi gripped the arms of the chair he sat in until the wood cracked.

  “The war has officially begun. The first onslaught will come in three days at the deserted factory down by Eighth Street.” Ashe slammed the paper down on the desk.

  “It’s time to make my return known,” Ragnor announced.

  Ashe stood and led Ebony from the room. A few minutes later, he returned. After a brief explanation of the prophecy, no one cared who Ragnor or Uriah or anyone else was. From then on, it was all business, preparation, and careful planning in figuring out a way to beat T
rinidad back until the Aleksandrovs could fulfill the true blood prophecy and finish him for good.

  * * * *

  “You let them both get away, you sniveling idiot!” Trinidad backhanded Blane so hard he flew back several feet.

  “Please, sir! It wasn’t my fault. We did everything exactly as planned, they were just—”

  “Smarter than you. That’s what they were. You not only let the Aleksandrov spawn get away, you let Grady get away. I warned you what would happen if you failed me.” Trinidad spit the hateful words at Blane.

  “Please! I won’t fail you again,” Blane pleaded.

  “I should have seen you for the coward you are.”

  “But—”

  “Shut up!” Trinidad screamed in fury. “You!”

  The dark-haired drifter built like a tank with a nose piercing scurried toward him like a scared puppy obeying an abusive master. Just how he liked it.

  “What is your name?”

  “Hammer.”

  Trinidad barely controlled the urge to roll his eyes. He was working with a bunch of idiots. If it weren’t for the fact that an army of idiots was better than none, he’d have nothing to do with the drifters. However, they could prove quite useful once he became king.

  “I’m giving you two assignments in which you have twenty-four hours to complete. Find me the two best combatants we have in our ranks. And take him”—he pointed to Blane—”to the basement. There are shackles secured to the far wall. Lock him in them.”

  “Yes, sir.” Hammer nodded.

  “If you fail either one of these tasks, you will suffer the same fate as he.”

  Trinidad smiled as Hammer dragged Blane out of the room. The coward begged the whole way. He didn’t have time for any further fuck-ups. He had been training his growing army of drifters for the uprising, and while none of them on their own would last more than a couple minutes against the hunters, he was confident that numbers were greater than skills. In three nights, the first wave of the uprising would start, the first wave that would mark the beginning of the end of the Aleksandrovs.

  While he waited for Hammer’s return, he planned on spending some quality time with Blane working out his anger, frustration, and stress. It had been awhile since he’d been able to take the time to torture someone. Way too long. He was good at it because he enjoyed it. The Aleksandrovs would find that out soon enough.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “Spill it.” Lindsey lay on her stomach across Wilhemina’s bed.

  Her legs bent at the knee and her ankles were crossed. She propped herself up on her elbows and rested her chin on her hand.

  “Spill what exactly?”

  “How in the hell did you end up here? I mean that is one freaky coincidence, don’t ya think?”

  “Coincidence?”

  She was stalling, and she was sure Lindsey knew it, but didn’t care.

  “Yeah. Coincidence as in you ending up at the house of the man’s mother who kidnapped me.”

  “I’d really rather not talk about that. I’d rather talk about you, and do some major catching up.”

  When images from her first night with Aldin flooded her mind, Wilhemina fought hard to keep the heat from her cheeks at bay.

  “O-M-G!” Lindsey sat up on her knees and bobbed up and down before clapping. “You have a thing for him, don’t you?”

  “Lindsey, I—I—”

  “You do! You couldn’t lie if it meant your life. Your stuttering gives you away every time. Now tell me how you met Aldin.”

  “I’m here because I went to school with Ebony. I needed some peace and quiet so I quit my job on the East Coast and came back to Plainview. I’ve been working on writing my first book. Well, sort of anyway. Can’t seem to get into it much with everything that’s been going on.”

  “Wilhemina, although we’ve been separated for seven years, I still know you like I know the back of my own hand. I believe you will be a great writer, and plan to grill you extensively about your book later, but I do not believe for one moment that there is nothing going on between you and Aldin. The way that man looks at you is enough to make steam come off me just from being in the same room.”

  “Do we really have to talk about this?” Wilhemina scowled.

  “Yes. Now come sit and tell.” Lindsey patted the bed next to her.

  It was futile to argue with Lindsey. If anyone was more bullheaded than her sister, she’d yet to meet him or her. She begrudgingly sat on the bed.

  “I met him a few days ago at a club called Drake’s. We danced a-and talked and that was it. I didn’t think I’d see him again. When I ran into Ebony in Plainview, I was looking for a place to rent. She offered to let me stay here. I had no idea that Aldin was Ebony’s brother-in-law.”

  “Holy cow! That must have been uncomfortable finding out the man you had a one-nighter with was your friend’s brother-in-law.”

  “Yeah, but…hey! I never said I had a one-nighter with him!”

  “You did now. You really need to work on that little stuttering thing if you want to lie to me.” Lindsey laughed.

  “I swear, you are the one who should have been the journalist. You’re sneaky.”

  “Nyah. I just know how to pull my sister’s strings. You aren’t bad at it either, hun.”

  “Okay.” Wilhemina sighed. “Yes. I slept with him at Drake’s. Kind of anyway,” she muttered under her breath.

  “How can you kind of sleep with someone? You either did or didn’t.”

  “Welllll, he wasn’t happy when he discovered I was a virgin.”

  “O-M-G! You had a one-nighter with a man while you were still a virgin? You were still a virgin!”

  “It was a stupid idea, but you know what happens once I get something in my head.”

  “Yep. Trouble most of the time. Why do I have the feeling there’s so much more?”

  “There is, but it’s complicated.”

  “Wait.” Lindsey sat close and scrutinized Wilhemina before her eyelids flew wide. “You are in love with him.”

  Wilhemina didn’t answer.

  “You are. Aren’t you?”

  “It doesn’t matter.” Wilhemina stood. “How can I be with someone whose mother is responsible for kidnapping my sister?”

  “Really, Wilhemina. Aldin isn’t the one who kidnapped me. He didn’t know anything about it until recently. It’s not his fault.”

  “I guess I know that, but still. I can’t be connected to him. After we leave here, I don’t want to subject you to any of them any longer. It’ll only bring back bad memories. Besides, how can I be with someone who supports kidnapping? After all, he wouldn’t let me turn Marilena in to the police, and I highly doubt they are planning on punishing her in any way.”

  “Sit back down, Wilhemina.” Lindsey waited for her to sit before continuing. “Listen to me carefully. I will always be pissed as hell that I was taken from you, that I missed all those years with you, that I missed Nana’s funeral. But the thing I’m most upset about? The thing that I cannot ever forgive? What you went through because of my disappearance.”

  “Lindsey—”

  “No. Let me finish. Please.”

  Wilhemina nodded.

  “At first I was so scared, Willy. All I did was cry for you. For Nana. Then I just felt sorry for myself. But after awhile, I adjusted. It’s funny how you can do that when you have no other choice. Marilena gave me the best of everything. And she talked to me. A lot. I don’t know why. I got the feeling that she was scared and alone. I can never pretend to agree with or condone what she did, but I do understand. She was trying to protect her family. And as far as the nonsense about Aldin supporting her actions by not turning her in to the police like you wanted? What would be the point? No jail would ever hold Marilena, and they can’t risk others finding out what they are.”

  “I understand that she was trying to protect her family, but I hate her for taking you from me.”

  “I hate her for that as well. She couldn’t
see that, no matter what she did, she could not change Fate. And you know what I think?”

  “What?”

  “I think deep down she knew what she was trying to do would never work, but she refused to acknowledge that little fact. By the time she realized she had messed up big time, things had spiraled completely out of control. At that point, she’d dug herself into a hole so deep she kept up the charade until it became impossible to do so any longer.”

  “It’s no excuse. She deserves to pay for what she’s done.”

  Lindsey sighed. “While I agree, I can’t help but think that she has paid dearly already, and will most likely continue to pay for the rest of her life.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It’s obvious that Marilena’s family means everything to her. She would not have gone to the lengths she did to keep her children safe otherwise. Can you imagine the hell she is going through knowing that her own misguided actions have altered the way her sons, her whole family, now sees her? She’s probably lost Uriah forever. I can’t imagine he will ever be able to forgive her for what she’s done to him. And Aldin, Ashe, Aiston? She lied to them for years. She kept their brother from them. She kept their father from them. She also inadvertently hurt Aldin by hurting you when she kidnapped me. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a living hell to me. Believe me, I’m not making, nor will I ever make excuses for Marilena. I’ve just had a really, really, really long time to think about things.”

  “I guess I have to agree with that. It still makes me no less angry. And I can’t believe you are Uriah’s life mate.”

  “As far as Uriah is concerned? She never divulged that particular information to me until now. Besides, I don’t think much of him, especially after he hit you. Accident or not. He’s an overbearing, over-confident, pompous ass, and a bully. That’s not a good first impression.”

  She told Lindsey about how Uriah flirted with her in the kitchen and how she assumed he had done so because they were sisters. “And in case you didn’t notice, most of the Aleksandrov men seem overbearing. You have to admit that they are all delicious, though.” Wilhemina smiled.