Kindling Flames: Smoke Rising (The Ancient Fire Series Book 3)

by Julie Wetzel

  “I do know,” Sara huffed. “I stopped over to say hi and checked her out. The only mark I could see was an old bite on her right wrist. And if he had drunk from the femoral artery, she would smell like sex. She doesn’t; therefore, he didn’t.”

  Aiden rolled his eyes at his sister. “Just because one drinks from a woman’s thigh does not mean that they had to have had sex with her.”

  “Well, name one time that you drank from a girl’s inner thigh and didn’t sleep with her,” she snapped back. “Oh wait, you’ll sleep with anything that moves.”

  “Well, how many guys did you pick up in the bar last week?” Aiden jabbed at her again.

  “How dare you—” Sara started.

  “Enough,” Christian hissed at the two bickering siblings. “Save your petty squabbles for later.” He stood up from his seat and headed over to the group Darien was talking with.

  ***

  “I’ve always wanted to try crawfish, but they’re rather intimidating,” Brian said from where he leaned over the back of the couch between Darien and Vicky. “I mean, what part do you eat?”

  Darien chuckled. “Crawfish are good, but they are a lot of work.” He held up his hands in front of him, grasping an imaginary crawfish. A quick, twisting motion showed them how to pull the head off the shellfish. “You twist the head off. Some people suck the juice out, but it’s mostly trash. Then, you pinch the tail to crack the shell.” He squeezed the imaginary tail and mimicked cracking it back. “Then, pull it open and eat just the meat inside.” Holding up his pinky finger, Darien marked a point on it with his thumb, showing the approximate size of the tail meat. “It’s usually about that much.”

  Roger gave him an unsure look. “That’s a lot of work for such a little bite.”

  “True, but they are fun to eat. I’ll have to get some and boil them for you.” Darien grinned. “It’s the corn and potatoes tossed down in the crawfish boil that really make the meal.” He looked up from his conversation as Christian approached.

  “Good evening, Master Darien,” Christian greeted them. “May I join you?”

  Darien’s easygoing demeanor stiffened slightly. “Of course.” He pulled on a professional smile. “Pull up a chair.”

  Christian looked around and found an empty chair to drag over.

  Vicky tensed slightly at the addition, and Brian patted her gently on the shoulder.

  Zak growled at the new vampire.

  Darien rubbed his hand into the fay, trying to calm him slightly.

  Zak gurgled and snapped at his fingers, making Vicky scold him lightly for his rude behavior.

  “What type of dog is that?” Christian asked as Vicky rubbed Zak’s fur back from his face.

  “An opinionated one,” Darien growled, looking over his hand for teeth marks.

  Zak kneaded Vicky’s lap with his front feet while Roger laughed at Darien’s answer.

  “Yeah, the only one he listens to is Vicky.” Roger looked at the hellhound. “He still creeps me out.”

  Zak gurgled at him.

  “He’s just misunderstood.” Vicky picked Zak up and turned him to look at her face. “Isn’t that right?”

  Zak gurgled and licked at her cheek.

  She giggled under the torment of his little, pink tongue.

  Christian’s eyes caught unnatural movement from the end of Zak’s fur as he wiggled in happiness.

  Vicky resettled the happier dog into her lap.

  “So, where did you get him?” Christian asked, still interested in the creature.

  “He followed Miss Westernly home.” Darien shrugged.

  Zak gurgled possessively at him.

  “I see.” Christian nodded, seeing he wasn’t going to get any answers about the dog. “So, what type of business do you run?” he asked, turning the conversation.

  “My main business started out as shipping,” Darien explained, “but I have branched out over the years. Now I do a little of everything.”

  “Really.” Christian had heard that Darien’s interests were varied.

  “I like to dabble in the little stuff when I can.” Darien went on about his business endeavors as Christian tried to figure the man out.

  He followed Darien’s words and paid close attention to the man’s body, trying to discover if he was human or vampire. Darien didn’t have the presence of an old vampire. That air of aloofness that came with years of being revered for your power was missing, and he was much too warm in personality to be as old as the stories claimed. But, he didn’t have the proper feel to be human. Darien loosened up a bit as they prattled on about the differences between big business and hometown mom-and-pop shops. Christian was surprised when Darien’s pulse shifted to match Vicky’s as she leaned over against him.

  ***

  “Pardon me, but I thought you would like to know that it’s almost sunrise,” Clara interrupted the two men deep in debate about the pros and cons of green technology.

  Christian looked up at her, surprised that the night had gone so quickly.

  “Thank you.” Darien nodded as he looked down at his hand tangled in Vicky’s golden curls. She had oozed over in her sleep until her head was resting on his lap. “I guess it is past time to head to bed.”

  “Did you both get something to eat?” Clara asked, making sure her guests were taken care of.

  “Yes,” Christian said. “Jenny saw to my needs right after the meeting.”

  “Not yet,” Darien replied.

  Clara pursed her lips slightly in disapproval.

  “Don’t worry, I will get something before I rest,” he reassured her.

  “Very well.” She sighed at him. “I think Josie is still awake.”

  Darien looked around to see the blonde woman sitting in one of the padded chairs, reading.

  “Thank you.” Darien nodded his understanding.

  Christian looked at the woman sleeping on the loveseat next to him. “Aren’t you going to feed from your pet?”

  Darien smiled as he rubbed Vicky’s head. “Miss Westernly is not my pet,” he corrected Christian. “She is my personal assistant, and I don’t feed from her.”

  Christian’s brow wrinkled in thought. “So, you’ve never fed from her?” He didn’t understanding why a vampire would keep a human if not for food.

  “I can’t say that I have never fed from her…” Something dark passed behind Darien’s eyes, but it was too quick for Christian to catch. “…but I don’t make a habit of it. Victoria keeps my life running smoothly, so I don’t have to worry about it.”

  Christian nodded, understanding Darien’s point. “I can see where that would be helpful.”

  Darien carefully extracted himself from under his sleeping assistant. “It’s necessary when you deal with as much as I do.” He looked around the room and found that most everyone had already retreated for the evening. Other than Christian, the only people left were Josie buried in her book, Roger asleep on his couch, Clara waiting to take the new master to his fledglings, and Vicky sleeping with Zak on her lap. “Good night, Christian. Rest well.”

  Christian stood up to follow Clara. “Good night, Darien.”

  “Good night, Master Darien.” Clara bowed slightly and headed to the door.

  “See you later, Clara.” Darien waved his farewell before heading over to the blonde deep in her book.

  Christian paused long enough in his exit to watched Josie mark her place before standing up to see to Darien’s needs. He quickly turned and followed Clara out before Darien began to feed from Josie’s wrist. “He’s unlike any vampire I’ve ever met.” Christian shook his head as he followed Clara walking down the hallway.

  “Master Darien is…” Clara paused as she searched for the right words to describe the eccentric man. “…unique. He’s been that way for a long time now.” She led Christian across the foyer and into the other side of the manor.

  “How old is he?” Christian asked, unable to contain his curiosity anymore.

  A smile crossed
Clara’s face at the taboo subject. It was considered bad manners to ask a vampire his age. “Old,” Clara said vaguely. “But you’ll have to ask him for an actual age.”

  Christian got the impression that when she said ‘old,’ she meant ‘really old’. The oldest vampire Christian had run into was around seven hundred, but Darien did not feel as strong as he had been. Christian let the matter slide as Clara opened a door for him.

  “Your fledglings are here.”

  “Thank you.” He bowed slightly to his host. “Rest well.”

  “And you.” Clara turned and left for her own chambers to rest for the day.

  He closed the door behind him and turned to find his minions were already in bed.

  “Did you find out if he’s a vampire?” Sara asked from where she was curled up with her brother.

  Christian looked at the two on the bed before turning to take off his suit. “Everyone says so.” He hung up his jacket in the closet. “But I still can’t figure him out.” He tugged his tie loose. “He just seems so human.”

  “Did he feed?” Aiden asked.

  “He had just gotten up to feed on one of the Council’s pets as I was leaving,” Christian answered.

  “I told you he hadn’t fed on that woman.” Sara grinned smugly to her brother, who elbowed her. She retaliated by attacking him with a pillow.

  “He doesn’t feed from her,” Christian informed them as he folded up his pants. Both of his fledglings stopped their wrestling and looked at their master. “She is some kind of employee, but he seems sweet on her.” The twins settled down as Christian came over to the bed.

  “Is he going to be a problem?” Aiden asked as Christian crawled into the bed between them.

  “I don’t know.” Christian settled in as he talked. “He claims to be outside the Council, but I think he would have something to say if we went ahead with our plans. I think it would be best if we deal with him first. That way, he can’t object to the changes.”

  Sara and Aiden agreed as they curled into their master. The three vampires breathed out and stilled as the sun rose and stole the life from them for the day.

  ***

  “Victoria.” Darien patted Vicky’s shoulder. “It’s time to go to bed.”

  Zak gurgled as she opened her eyes and sat up from the couch. She yawned and let Darien help her to her feet. Vicky leaned her head against him as he wrapped an arm around her.

  “Come on.” He led her down the hall to one of the suites Clara kept for guests.

  Vicky was still too far asleep to realize this was the same room where she had her first encounter with vampires. That night had been a rather rude introduction to the world of the night for Vicky, but it had done Clara some good. Michael’s get had given her a lot fewer problems since Darien had shown up at his house during the day with a bag of wolfsbane, ripped his young to life, and demanded that the younger vampire be more respectful to others. Michael took his words to heart and straightened up his act somewhat.

  Zak jumped up on the bed and sniffed around as Darien released Vicky.

  The vampire rummaged in the dresser and pulled out a short nightgown for Vicky to change into. When he turned back around, he smiled at the partly dressed woman. She had already started stripping out of her slightly rumpled work clothing.

  “Very nice.” Darien slid his hands across Vicky’s bare skin. He drew her in against him so he could kiss her softly.

  Vicky dropped the shirt she had just taken off as she responded to his lips. She wrapped her arms around him and deepened the kiss.

  Darien pulled away from her inviting mouth, leaving a coppery tang that she had come to associate with him. He drew in a deep breath before shifting his lips to the side of her neck.

  Vicky let out a soft moan as he laid a line of kisses down her neck to her exposed collarbone. She melted under his hands as they moved her to the bed.

  Darien supported her as he bent her backward, laying her across the comforter. He released Vicky long enough to pull off his shirt before reclaiming her lips.

  Zak gurgled his annoyance as he jumped off the bed. The fay shook off the long hair of the Shih Tzu and wiggled in his tentacle form over to the overstuffed armchair. Jumping up into the chair, he turned around several times until he was comfortable. Plopping down, he watched the two people wrapped up in each other on the bed. Zak glared at the vampire, waiting for an opportunity to make his displeasure known. Just because he agreed to share Vicky didn’t mean he had to like it.

  The afternoon sun warmed the blankets wrapped around Vicky, waking her from pleasant dreams. She stretched and looked around the room to find the man that had been occupying her thoughts was nowhere to be seen. Movement from the foot of the bed caught her attention, and she rose up to see a familiar ball of tentacles furiously mauling something on top of the covers. Vicky pushed up to her elbow, trying to see what Zak was chewing on. It took a moment for her eyes to reconstruct the mass of shredded, gray material scattered across the foot of the bed. Vicky dropped back down to the bed, laughing.

  Zak looked up from his massacre and gurgled at the woman.

  She pushed back up into a sitting position and tucked the blanket around her before holding her arms out for the fay.

  He happily wiggled over and buried his face into the covers wrapped around her middle.

  “Oh, Zak.” Vicky ruffled the soft feelers along his top side. “You really have to stop this.”

  He purred at the woman as his teeth crunched against something metal.

  “It’s not good to eat Darien’s pants.”

  Zak’s teeth clicked a little louder on the bit of metal in his mouth.

  She picked the wiggly ball up so he was even with her eyes. “Just because I love Darien, it doesn’t mean I love you any less.”

  He gurgled and wrapped tentacles possessively around her arms.

  She sighed. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with you two.” She kissed the little fay before setting him down and carefully pulling her hands free from his grasping ends. “I need a shower.” She slipped from the covers and stepped over the short nightgown discarded on the floor, unused. “Come on, Zak. Bath.” Vicky patted her hand on her leg, calling the fay as she went into the bathroom.

  Zak chomped on his tidbit one more time before spitting the zipper pull from Darien’s pants out on the bed and chasing after her.

  ***

  Darien lounged on one of the chairs at the kitchen table. “I was thinking about getting the fay to help with decorations.” Clara’s right-hand man, Brian, listened as Darien laid out his plans for the Halloween party. “I still need to get the floor repaired in the warehouse, but that shouldn’t be a problem.”

  “I think it’s a fantastic idea,” Brian answered as he played with an apple from the bowl of fruit on the table. “Do you think Lord Dakine will agree?”

  Darien nodded and shifted against the arm he had hooked over the back of his chair. “I talked to him this morning, and he thinks the lesser fay would love the chance to play with mortals.” He traced the grain of the wood table with his finger.

  Brian cocked an eyebrow at this suggestion.

  “Everyone will be safe,” Darien chuckled as he rubbed the surface in front of him. “Dakine has already agreed to set up wards to make sure the little ones don’t run off with anyone.”

  Brian snickered back. “Busy morning.”

  Darien smiled slightly and shrugged his shoulders. “I usually get up early.”

  “But you also didn’t go to bed last night,” Brian pointed out.

  “True.” Darien’s smile widened a little. “I made the mistake of eating right before heading to bed. All it did was wake me up.”

  Brian started to make a comment about what might have woken him up more than the blood, but he shut his mouth when Vicky walked into the room. “Good afternoon,” he said instead.

  “Hi,” Vicky said, greeting the muscular, blond man.

  Darien’s eyes swept over the fi
tted top and jeans the woman had found in their room.

  She pattered, barefoot, over to where he was sitting to greet him. “Hey.” She smiled softly at him.

  Darien snaked his free arm around her waist and pulled her hip against him. “Sleep well?”

  Zak growled at the vampire, wiggled over to his crossed ankles, and chomped down on the hem of his jeans.

  “Very.” Vicky reached out and dropped a few pieces of metal on the table in front of Darien. “But your pants didn’t make it through the morning.”

  It took him a moment to realize the twisted bits of metal were the pull and a few teeth from the zipper of his slacks. “Hey!” Darien released Vicky so he could snag Zak up by a few of his thicker tentacles. He brought the little horror level with his eyes. “Those were Armani!”

  Zak glared at him for a second. His tentacles writhed fearsomely as he spit out a chunk of denim he had just chewed from Darien’s jeans. It hit Darien’s T-shirt with a wet splat.

  “Zak!” Vicky scolded as she reached out and grabbed his thinner feelers. She tugged gently to get the fay’s attention. “We talked about this in the bath.”

  Zak wilted a little and whined.

  “Come here.” She reached out and took the fay from Darien’s hands.

  A pang of jealousy hit Darien as he processed her words. “You took him to the bath with you?” Darien asked, shocked, as he slipped his arm back around Vicky’s waist.

  “Well, a shower,” Vicky said, soothing the grumpy fay.

  Zak wiggled around in her arms until he was facing Darien.

  “He needed a good washing.”

  Darien pushed his jealousy away, reminding himself that Zak was a creature and could never replace him in her heart.

  The fay looked at him smugly, wrapping his tentacles around Vicky’s waist between her back and his arm.

  Darien glared at the little fay and bared his fangs in a growl.

  Zak growled back at him.

  Brian laughed as he watched the fight over Vicky simmer. “Do they do this often?”

  She shook her head, exasperated. “All the time.” Sighing, she petted the fay in her arms. She leaned over and kissed the top of Darien’s head.