Crown of Smoke and Blood

by Sadie Jacks

  She shook her head again. “You could die, Koehn. I can’t let that happen.”

  I snorted softly. Putting my lips next to her ear, I said, “Don’t tell anyone, but I’m a vampire. We’re very difficult to kill.”

  Even though I couldn’t see her face, I swear I could feel her rolling her amber eyes. “That’s not what I mean. And vampires aren’t that hard to kill.”

  I pulled back. “You’ve killed some of us, then?”

  She shook her head. “No, but out of everything I’ve killed, vampires rank pretty low on the scale of power.”

  “What a Modest Molly, you are.” I smiled at her.

  Her cheeks heated as her eyes narrowed. “Is that like Grumpy Gus?”

  I nodded. “A bit. There’s also Nosey Nancy, Chatty Cathy, Debbie Downer, Gullible Godfrey. A whole village of people, really.”

  Her lips quirked up at the corner. “I see. I’ll keep them in mind.” She looked down for a second, frowned. When she looked up again, she was glaring at me. Stepping back, she pulled free of me. “And you’ve got to stop touching me.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

  Bad things happen when people touch me. Her mental words broke my heart.

  “Nothing bad has happened yet.”

  Her laugh was a hard scrape of sound. “Are you kidding me? We both have brands now, my power has mutated, we’re mated and don’t know each other, and you didn’t get killed by the sun.”

  My brows winged up. “The last one is definitely not bad. The others are…on the lower end of the good scale.”

  She raised a single dark brow. “The lower end of the good scale? Seriously?”

  I nodded. “Who knows? Maybe your powers changing is a good thing. We are mated and going to get to know each other. That should be interesting, at least.”

  Her lips twisted. “What if we don’t like what we learn?” The caution in her eyes had me biting back the flippant answer perched on the end of my tongue.

  “Well, have you ever been mated?”

  She shook her head. “Obviously not.” She looked me up and down. “You?”

  I shook my head. “Not anything like this, no. So who’s to say that our mating has to look like anything in particular? We could make it whatever we want.” As long as I get to taste and touch you. Feel your body against mine.

  “I heard that.”

  I shrugged. “I’m not going to hide what I want from you. That would be stupid. And we’ve got to figure out this telepathy thing. Not that I don’t enjoy hearing your thoughts, but I think our heads should be private.”

  Trying to work on that immediately, I shoved a Vari shaped doll into the hole she’d made in my mind. She didn’t need to know how rabidly psychotic I was when I was with someone. My cool and casual demeanor covered a lot of sins.

  She moved into my personal bubble, careful to keep space between our bodies. “I could feel you thinking, but I didn’t hear that last part. What did you say?”

  Thank feck. I shook my head. “No. Feeling me think is fine. But my thoughts are mine unless I want to share them.”

  “Then teach me how to do it.” She glared up at me.

  “Figure it out for yourself, Oh Great and Powerful One.” I stepped back. Looked around the room so I didn’t reach out and touch her. Glide my fingers over her bottom lip that pouted. “I’m guessing that you’re going to live here.”

  The words were out of my mouth before I thought them through. Shite. She’d have to live here. I spun around, looked at her. If she lived here, then the coven would…SHITE!

  I shook my head. “You can’t live here.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “Do you have multiple personalities?”

  I laughed as she threw my question from before back into my face. “No. At least not before meeting you.”

  She raised her middle finger. “Arsehole.” She stomped off through the kitchen.

  “Vari, wait!” Chuckling, I rushed after her.

  “Tavis. Can you take me somewhere else? Apparently, I’m not wanted here.”

  I didn’t hear his reply because the blood rushed through my ears so hard and fast I had trouble keeping my beast contained. “The feck he’ll take you anywhere.” My vision was bleeding in and out of vampire as I finally reached the foyer. I stepped between them, glared up at my friend. “Don’t even think about it.”

  He held up his hands. “I wasn’t planning on it.” He turned back to her. “Look, Vari, I’m glad ye’re not Horde. I’m sorry I’m an arse. But I can’t be around ye right now.” He shook his head, his cheeks filled with red. “I-I-I need some time to sort things.” He moved around her as if she were a viper about to launch at him. Scuttling out the door, he pulled it closed behind him.

  Vari turned and looked up at me. “He hates me.”

  I made a mental note to check on him later. Now that he wasn’t going to try to take this woman from me…Blowing out a slow breath, I shook my head. “He doesn’t hate you. I think he’s scared of himself at the moment.” Honestly, I had no idea what was going on with the man, but I’d never seen him act the way he had in the basement or running out of here like a dog with his tail between his legs.

  “Well, I’ll see you later then.” She spun on her heel and made a beeline for the door. “Bye.”

  The feck I was going to let her leave. I caught her hand before she could touch the doorknob.

  She yanked her hand from mine. “Stop touching me.”

  I pulled my hand away, lifted it in surrender. “You’re the one who was all touchy touchy downstairs. But fine, I’ll stop touching you.” I shoved my hand in my pocket. “You’re staying here. But you can’t be here tonight.” I winced at the harshness of my words.

  Her eyes widened. One dark brow rose high. “I won’t be staying here. I’ll find somewhere else. I don’t need anyone’s charity.” She made another move for the door.

  Once again, I blocked her. I felt like we were playing some kind of chess game, but I couldn’t tell what piece she was. Hell, I didn’t even know what piece I was. “You will be staying here. I’ll put you up in a hotel tonight.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “What’s a hotel?”

  My mouth went a little slack. Was she serious? “A boarding house? A lodging for strangers or relatives you don’t really like?”

  She shook her head. “Except for my father, I like my relatives.” Not that I have a home for them to come to.

  I didn’t react when her words splashed across my mind. If she couldn’t figure out a good telepathy shield, that was on her. I was more than willing to let her thoughts traipse around in my head. “How many relatives do you have?”

  She stepped back, wrapped her arms around herself. “Enough. Why do you want me to stay here?”

  I gritted my teeth at her non-answer. “Because we need to get to know each other. We need to learn about this mate bond. We need to figure out what the hell is going on with each other and our powers.” And I need to get you in my bed.

  “We can do that and not be under the same roof. Why do you want me in your house, Koehn?” The direct stare she gave me made me feel more exposed than if I’d stepped outside into the street buck naked.

  “Because I don’t want you anywhere else.” The words fell from my mouth without my conscious control.

  Her brow furrowed for a moment before smoothing out. She nodded. “Fine. I’ll stay. I need to find some new clothes.” With a quick twist of her arms, the cloak that hid her nakedness fell to the floor. The material fell with some heavy clunks, but that was the furthest thing from my mind.

  She was topless, and her small body was in perfect proportions. The brand I had on my lower right side was mirrored on her left. A couple of horizontal swirls with a line drawn straight through the middle. It looked like a dagger or a sword. Well, it did if I squinted just right.

  And I wasn’t really in the mood to squint when I had her lithe little body to look at. Her breasts were small, but perfectly shaped. The faint ridges of he
r abdomen made the tips of my fingers burn. I wanted to touch them so badly.

  “So? Do you?” she asked as she moved her hands around at her waist.

  “Uh…what?” I snapped my mouth closed, looked up into her eyes. “What was that?”

  She smirked. “Do you have a shirt I can borrow? You’re big enough that I shouldn’t need pants. But I’ll need to find someone to barter with since I don’t have any coin.” She looked down at her cloak. “Do you think someone would barter clothing for a blade?”

  When she looked back up again, she flicked a wrist. Her shredded pants fell to the floor. She was naked underneath the leather. She stood there in her nude glory and I felt like someone had punched a hole in my chest and squeezed my heart.

  Annabeth’s face flashed in my mind’s eye. A sweet smile on her beloved face.

  I shut my eyes, angry with myself. One small naked woman wasn’t going to make me fall in love with her. Mate bond or no mate bond.

  But you’re not going to share her? A part of myself asked.

  I shook my head mentally. Feck no. I don’t share.

  You’re going to keep her, feck her, but not love her? That deeper part of myself snorted, the derision easy to hear.

  I could try.

  Good luck with that, mate.

  In my mind’s eye, Annabeth was laughing as well. Her cheeks filled with pink. My innocent wife had been the epitome of decorum and ladylike grace. We’d made love, never fecked.

  The images in my mind changed. Gone was the sweet and romantic restraint I shown to Annabeth. Vari rode me like I was a beast as I clawed my hands down her sides as we both groaned and yelled our pleasure to the stars. When we finished, we lay panting. Willing victims of a sultry war.

  I shook my head. “Yes. I have some clothes. No, I doubt anyone will barter clothing for a blade. You might be able to sell it, but you don’t have to do that. I’ve enough money to loan you some.”

  She studied me for long moments. “Fine, but a loan only. I don’t want your charity and I don’t take handouts. I earn my way.” She nodded and stormed off up the stairs. Where she was going, I had no idea. But sweet hell, I was willing to watch her stomp up the stairs naked on any day that ended in Y.

  She stopped halfway up. “Are you going to keep looking at my butt?”

  I nodded. “If you keep walking around naked, yes, I promise you I will be looking at your arse.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Well? Give me some clothes then.” She turned and stomped up the rest of the stairs.

  I rushed to follow her. “Where are you going?”

  “To your bedroom. You do sleep up here, yes?” She turned to the right at the top of the stairs.

  “Yes, but how do you know that?” I hurried up behind her.

  “Your scent is concentrated. I’m following it.”

  Uh. Was that really a thing the Fae could do? I followed her, interested to see if she found my bedroom.

  She stopped at each door for barely a second before making her way to the second to the last room. Without hesitation, she turned the knob and pushed the door open. She blinked rapidly for a moment before jumping back out of the room.

  This woman was amazing.

  “Oh, my stars, Koehn!” A look of horror on her face.

  I chuckled. Really? Feminine outrage over a messy room? It was a little overblown, but I could work with it. “I wasn’t expecting company.” I leaned against the wall, crossed my arms.

  “You’re a-a-a-a....” She looked up at me with so much pity on her face I felt my cheeks flush. “Did you lose your mother early, too? Did no one teach you to clean up after yourself? To safeguard your home?” She moved towards me, her hands outstretched. “You poor th—”

  Pulling back from her, I rolled my eyes at her dramatics. “It’s dirty clothes, for saint’s sake.”

  She stopped suddenly, raised a single brow high. “Uh. No. A bit more than dirty clothes.” Her expression morphed as she studied me from a foot away. “You might need to go look in there.”

  The woman was loony. That’s what was going on. Actual bats in the belfry, this one. I pushed by her, went to the doorway.

  With the shutters down, the room was cool and dark. And I was right, there were dirty clothes on the floor. I’d missed the hamper with a couple socks and maybe a pair of underwear.

  But she wasn’t wrong.

  I stood in the doorway to my room and gaped. “What the actual feck?”

  Her body heat warmed my left side as she moved up next to me. “So this isn’t normal for you then?”

  I shook my head. “I-I-I’ve never seen that before in my life.”

  She pushed the door open wider. “Well, I’m glad to know that you don’t actually keep your lanterns lit while you’re out or away on a normal basis.”

  I looked down at her. “You were horrified that you thought I left my lanterns on?”

  She nodded. “Yes. What if they’d started a fire? That could have jeopardized your whole home. Not to mention the lovely rug.”

  “You didn’t care the lanterns are actually dead bodies?” Hanging around the room like some kind of Halloween store rejects, human female bodies were slumped against the walls. The tops of the skulls removed. A shallow plate held candles that flickered through the empty eye sockets and danced a low glow around the darkened room.

  Her brow furrowed for a moment as she looked up at me as if to check if I was feeling alright. She shook her head. “You’re a vampire. I just figured you had interesting decorating tastes. And besides, human lanterns aren’t that abnormal.” She shrugged. “That’s what most of our lanterns were made out of in the dungeons.”

  She stood at the door, her lower lip caught between her teeth. “But now that you mention it, it doesn’t really work with the rug at all. The colors of the skin are wrong.” She tipped her head to the side, gaze intent as she shifted between looking at the dangling humans and the bloody rug. “We didn’t have rugs, but these are nice. If you’re going to keep the lanterns, I suggest you find some darker skinned women. They have better undertones.” She turned to me, nodded. “Yeah. Or a darker rug. But the light skin and the light rug just look weird.” She shrugged. “I’m probably not the right woman to ask about decorating, but that’s my humble opinion.”

  So saying, she walked into the room. Went to the large armoire that was tucked into the corner. Yanking open the door, she pulled down the first shirt she could find and slid it on.

  Well, sweet shite. The rich fabric of the white shirt against her golden skin had the moisture in my mouth drying up like I’d stuffed it full of cotton. The tails of the shirt flirted with her thighs.

  She shook her head, blue-black curls fanning out for a second before settling once again. She shrugged and jumped a couple times. Nodded. “That will work. Thank you.” She walked back towards me.

  Easing by my frozen form, I watched her walk down the hall in the opposite direction. Again, she barely paused at each door before one felt—or maybe smelled—good to her. And of course it was the one at the end of the hall. It overlooked what would have been the courtyard if I’d kept up with the landscaping.

  There are many things about my house that have been updated. But as the times had changed, I wanted my home to blend in. Not stand out any more than a Regency era manor already did. I didn’t need nosy neighbors or realtors knocking asking if I’d like to sell. It was just like any other over-sized house in the ritzy neighborhood. Nothing unusual or important.

  “I’ll take this one. Thanks.” She shut the door behind herself.

  I stood in the hallway, gobsmacked. Had she truly just rifled through my closet and then taken a room? I blinked after her. She was one of the strangest women I’d ever met in my life.

  And now she’s your mate, part of me said.

  Nodding, I finally moved all the way into my room. Yeah, she was. And we needed to figure that out immediately.

  The candles flickered as the air conditioning kicked on. I wince
d. We’d figure that out as soon as I understood why I had dead bodies acting as bloody lanterns in my master suite.

  Chapter 17 – Vari

  I slumped against the door as soon as I heard the latch engage. My knees threatened to crumble as I blew out a deep breath. Sweet stars, that man was intense. I just hoped I came off as cool and collected instead of the woman so far out of her depth as to be useless.

  Walking across the room that I’d chosen, I wandered to the lake-sized bed. With a little jump, I managed to gain the top of it. Laughing softly, I sank down into what felt like velvet folds of deliciousness. With a flop, I landed on my back and stared up at the ceiling. It looked like clouds had been plastered into it.

  Everything in this house was over the top plush and sensuous. The fabrics, the woods, the colors. Hell, even the stone work looked sumptuous.

  The perfect counterpoint to the hard male that had me aching in ways I didn’t understand and certainly didn’t like. First and foremost, I was a warrior. A killer. A king’s assassin. Not some wobbly kneed woman who needed a man between her thighs to feel complete.

  My brow furrowed. And definitely not a man like Koehn. He had high maintenance written all over him. He was fussy, asked too many damned questions, and the touching…I swear, the man didn’t know what boundaries were.

  “You’re the one who was all touchy touchy downstairs.” His words rattled around in my mind again.

  I blew out a breath that disturbed the fringe of bangs across my forehead. He was right; I had been touching him. Almost constantly as soon as his skin was revealed. Seems I needed to learn some boundaries as well. I needed some behavioral modifications.

  Popping my head up from the bed that made me feel like I was drifting on a cloud, I searched for my cloak. My weapons.

  When I remembered dropping it on the floor at the base of the stairs, I knew I needed to get my head screwed on right. An assassin without her weapons? I needed to be run through…and quickly.

  Shaking my head, I curled up into a seated position. I had a job to do. The one that had prompted my escape. And Koehn was nothing but a complication.