Entangled

by Olivia Stocum

  Maybe. Probably. He knew this was just one more reason why in the long history of the Council he was the first ever to have taken a mate. She divided his loyalties.

  But she also pushed him toward a fate bigger than himself.

  “Does it matter, this right?” he asked, setting her down in their room.

  “No, I guess not. It would be nice if we could go one day without fighting about something though.”

  Despite all their differences, they mirrored each other at the soul level. Until they—if it was even possible—could merge into one soul, the struggle would continue.

  “I cannot promise,” he said.

  “Yeah, I know. Neither can I.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Vesper stirred when he came in. Nick winced, knowing he hadn’t been discreet about opening and closing the door.

  “Sorry, beautiful,” he said.

  The blinds were closed and it was dark. Just because Vesper was nocturnal didn’t mean she wanted the sun shining down on her while she slept. She blinked up at him blearily. “What happened?”

  “I tried to have breakfast.”

  “And you ate nothing?” she asked, sitting up. The blanket slipped away to reveal—Vesper beneath. She was lean and athletic but motherhood had left its imprint. Her breasts and hips were full, stomach sloped provocatively.

  “Judging by my mood?” He smiled though. Seeing her there like that, her long black hair tousled from sleep, had a way of changing his mood entirely.

  “Well, yes.” Then she smiled knowingly. “You want to talk about?” she asked in her Baltic drawl, sexy as hell. “Or something else on mind?”

  “Or something.”

  She held out her hand and he came to her. Vesper tugged him down on the bed. “You should eat.”

  “So should you.” He glanced at the clock. “We’ll have to make it lunch then.”

  Her smile widened. “There is something you want?”

  He brushed her hair off her shoulders to see her better. “You.”

  Being with her reset him, clearing the slate so that he could clear his head. It was the first time in his life he’d had someone who knew him this well, and accepted him despite of it. It was almost as if she needed him as much as he did her. Or maybe he just liked to think that she did.

  “Aren’t you tired?” he asked, stripping off his shirt anyway.

  “Not so much. We are here until sundown. Plenty time to eat and sleep.”

  There were benefits to having a mate who only needed four hours of sleep a day. He finished undressing, Vesper looking at him like most women did expensive jewelry. Of course, she was rich, and could buy her own things.

  She couldn’t buy him though. No one could. Which was why he was broke, and why she was grinning. Not because he was broke, but because he hadn’t been bought, he’d been given.

  He joined her and she wound her arms around him tightly, her skin hot and perfect under his hands.

  “We should probably not break the bed,” he breathed.

  She laughed. “No worries. I will buy new one.”

  Sufficed to say, their bill was going to be higher than originally planned.

  They wound up on the floor in front of the fireplace, Vesper draped over his chest, Nick toying with her black hair.

  “Will he change her?” he asked finally.

  She drew in a breath as if buying time. “Sometimes they do keep mates mortal. Is risky. She is so fragile.”

  “They shouldn’t be sleeping together.”

  “I could break you,” she said, running her hand over a fresh bite mark on his stomach.

  “Not as a woman you can’t, but yes, I know what you mean.”

  She lifted her head to look him in the eyes. “Sometimes pleasure of blood drawing is great and he will not change her. Woman sometimes, does not want for same reason.”

  “That’s just sick.”

  “Just is.”

  “You seem very calm about it.”

  “I grew up with knowing, followed Database as child. I learned their habits a long time ago. Is not uncommon for male vampire to keep mortal as mate.”

  “Do the females?”

  “Act of bloodletting is more pleasant for mortal female than male. Some believe first vampire was male, and reason why we have female Masters is because at one time a female lost her first mate to werewolves. She chose another, and she owned him for it.”

  Nick slid his palm over her arm, wrapped his fingers around her wrist. She pulled against his grip growling playfully. “Guess you guys have that in common.”

  “We are monsters too,” she said. “We do not deny. But we do not live off humans.”

  He let go of her. “Some are worse than others. What is it with leadership and corruption anyway?” He was referring to Lothar’s recent deception. She knew what he meant.

  “I am not sure what was going through my brother’s head. Only he knows. I can tell you that he is not corrupt. I know what looks like and is not him.”

  Open mouth, insert foot. She’d grown up with an uncle who had used his venom on human females to kill them, then performed sex rituals on the bodies.

  “Duly noted,” he said. “He didn’t tell Danielle he knew about Kendra and Alessandro, you know. I did.”

  She opened her mouth, then closed it.

  “Yes?”

  “Maybe next time you should leave alone.”

  “He hides things from her. Shouldn’t she know the truth?”

  “You two might be compatible, but she is not your responsibility. Neither is Kendra.”

  Did he sense an edge to her voice? “It isn’t like that.”

  She shrugged dismissively and rolled off his chest. Vesper sat up, looking at the fire, her bare back to him.

  “I don’t want her,” he said quietly. “I care, but I don’t want her. I want you.”

  She looked over her shoulder. “It hangs over our heads. Always will. Even our children will be hers.”

  She hadn’t said it out loud before. He assumed she’d accepted that the only way they could have kids was with the help of a test tube.

  “I’m sorry.” He shifted around, wrapped his arms around her waist. “I’d give you those children, beautiful, and whatever else you wanted from me if I could.” She was stiff beneath his touch. He paused, thinking of what else to say and how to say it. “I love you.”

  “If she hadn’t chosen Lothar, you’d be with her right now, and her twins would be yours.”

  He couldn’t deny that. There’d been a time when Danielle could’ve had him in a heartbeat. It wasn’t the first time a woman could’ve had him heart and soul.

  “I’m sorry,” he said.

  “I do not care.”

  Vesper was so stubborn, no surprise. He wouldn’t have had her any other way. “You have a right to care,” he said. “And maybe men are easy, but we shouldn’t be proud of it. I’m not proud of it. Mostly I got used, anyway. Wasn’t really worth it.”

  She turned to face him, eyes softer now. “It’s your instinct. You’re a Carrier. You were born to be a mate and father. You latch on and give until it hurts.”

  She had that summed up, all right.

  “I do not want to fight with you. I am not used to being away from my children, and we have only been mated for a month.”

  “It’s a lot to adjust to, I know. I’m with you and that’s not going to change. There’s no place else I’d rather be.”

  She nodded, the rest of her body softening like her face. “I do not like you being used. They were wrong to take advantage. I am glad though it led you to me.”

  “So am I.” He smiled. All was right with the world again. Almost.

  He drew her back down with him, her cheek on his chest, went back to the original topic. It was safer. “Then male vampires like a weak mate?”

  “I do not think is that.” She followed the change easily and without question. “Bloodletting is pleasurable for both. Some pairs stay that way for ye
ars.”

  “Until he either takes too much blood, or kills her in bed.”

  “Taip. He can always turn her before she dies.”

  “Not a pleasant thought.”

  “I know. They look same age now. I am not sure he will want to keep her mortal for long. My thought is, sometime after honeymoon has worn off.”

  “So, she has months, maybe a year to live?”

  “As a mortal, yes.”

  “And then we get to kill her. I grew up with Kendra. She was married to my brother.”

  “I know, handsome. Once she is one of them, she will go on Database as Active. Means she is killer. The werewolves will hunt her down. Alessandro is fast. I had no idea how much until last night. He can mask his scent too. Tracking will be hard. If he takes her away, hides somewhere, we will have nothing but a body count to show for it.”

  “Kendra, a killer? I never would have seen this coming.”

  “Is what they do. There is chance with his self-control he can influence her to steal blood as he does.”

  “But the Council will see her as guilty until proven innocent.”

  “As they did my brother, because he’s too close to Danielle. There is no escape from the law.”

  “Kendra’s the most innocent person I know.”

  “She is not same person anymore. Is part of him, but there is hope, through him.”

  “Lothar sent Alessandro to her in the first place.”

  “I do not have all facts, but I know no one sends a Master to do their bidding, not even my brother can do that. It must have been Alessandro’s idea.”

  “And Lothar went along with it.”

  She nodded.

  “Is there any way to change her mind? Or is it beyond her control.”

  “He has fed off her. Now they are joined.”

  “So much for his epic self-control.”

  “She is not doing his bidding as a Slave, but is his mate, handsome.” She smiled compassionately. “Separating them will be difficult. What would you do if someone tried to turn me against you?”

  “I’d get mad, but then I’d realize that if they could turn you against me, I wasn’t worth having in the first place.”

  The look she gave him was priceless. Her soft side was showing. “Then we do not have to worry about that. I can hear your stomach growling.”

  He made a face. “Yeah, me too.”

  She sat up, coming sleekly to her feet. Sometimes, she seemed more cat than wolf, especially there in all her glory, black hair feathered around her hips. Nick decided to stay put for a minute before getting up. Watching her dress was a pleasure in itself.

  He was lost, he knew, had been since he’d turned thirteen. All right, more like twelve. He’d just been waiting for the right woman to come claim his sorry hide. He ran his hand over the scar from Vesper on his arm. Kendra did have a point, about werewolves and vampires not being entirely different.

  That didn’t mean he was going to throw the guy a belated bachelor party though.

  He and Vesper ate downstairs in the restaurant, then slept off the rest of the day, leaving after sundown. Their Land Rover was brought up just behind the Audi, already out and waiting.

  “Get in,” Vesper warned.

  “I can’t. I have to try.”

  “Nick, do not.”

  He smelled Alessandro and Kendra even as Vesper did, and they both turned.

  ***

  Kendra had hoped to avoid Nick altogether, but the slight lift of Alessandro’s chin, followed by a low hiss from him as they walked into the lobby cued her in on the impossibility.

  “Maybe we should leave at different times from now on,” she said.

  His hand was on the small of her back. He prodded her on. “It’ll be okay. He’d have to be stupid to cross me, especially with mortals watching.”

  “Don’t count on him for that. He’s been known to swim first, check for sharks later.”

  Nick was standing just outside the inn with his mate, the snow falling lightly on them, sticking to her straight hair and black velvet tailored coat. It was the first time Kendra had seen Vesper in human form. She had no problem identifying her. She was definitely Lothar’s sister. They had the same build, eyes, and pronounced cheekbones. Vesper was the female version of her brother. Kendra would have been seriously jealous if Alessandro hadn’t already been hers. And a vampire. So, not jealous. No reason to be.

  Seems the joke was on Nick though. He and Lothar were as close to mortal enemies as any two people could be, and here he was in love with Lothar’s twin.

  “Go on,” Alessandro told Kendra.

  She hesitated a moment, but his warning look moved her forward. She started for the car.

  “That’s right,” Nick said from behind her. “Just do whatever he says. Leave everything. Family, what’s that?”

  She winced, because she knew he was right, at least in part. She’d allowed herself to be bossed around by Alessandro more than any sane woman should.

  Kendra turned back slowly to look at Nick. She hardly recognized him with that scowl on his face. He used to be so lighthearted. He’d been the big brother she could count on for anything, including cheering her up when she needed it.

  She missed that. She missed her little brother back home, her parents, and her diner she’d worked so hard for. Nick had done a great job of making her suddenly very homesick.

  “This doesn’t have to be so hard,” she said, feeling lost and lonely now.

  “You’re right.” Nick glanced at Alessandro.

  Vesper was staying back, watching intently but otherwise remaining calm. It would take a second for all that to change. Kendra could only hope that their mutual desire for the villagers not to come after them with garlic and silver bullets would win out.

  “Come with us,” Nick said.

  Alessandro remained silent through all this, and that bothered her. Was he actually considering letting her walk out on him? She remembered what he’d said before they’d married. That it had to be her choice. She had the feeling that even if she were to walk out on him, he would still be there, somewhere in the night guarding her in secret. He’d spend the rest of her life that way if he had to.

  Beautiful, stubborn man.

  “I can’t,” Kendra said. She looked at Vesper. “It’s nice to finally meet you. I just wish it could be under better circumstances.”

  The hotel security was hovering because of the tension. Both Vesper and Alessandro fell easily into their practiced roles as the independently wealthy.

  With a polite smile, Alessandro walked past Nick, then ushered Kendra to a door that the valet opened for her. It closed and she looked through the mirror at Vesper smiling beautifully while tipping the parking attendant. Alessandro got in. Nick was last.

  Thus began another chapter in the bizarre story of her life.

  “He’s mated to a shapeshifter but he won’t even try to accept me now,” she said as they pulled out.

  “It’s not you, it’s me. Not that it helps any.”

  “I’m not leaving you. I don’t care what he says.”

  He smiled, but it seemed strained. “I know.”

  They wound through curvy dark roads, the white Land Rover always one step behind them. Kendra settled back against the seat, staring at a cold sky filled with stars.

  Just as she had begun to relax, she heard a thump. Something had hit the hood, rolling off. She looked back and saw the passenger door to the Land Rover open, Nick pulling over even as Vesper leaped, shifting into a wolf, her front paws gracefully landing her in the snow. Back paws launched her over a drift.

  Kendra heard Alessandro say something in Arabic, saw a body graze the windshield. Another hit the grill head on, and then everything blurred as they skidded into a snow bank, stopping with a puff of white. The airbag deployed. Two seconds later it punctured as something broke through the windshield. A hand, white and pocked with red patches of muscle and sinew reached for her throat.

  K
endra screamed.

  A second hand, this one hard, too fast for her equilibrium, reached for her, pulling her out of the car through the driver’s side. She was swept up, and then behind Alessandro’s larger body, shielded between him and the car. She smelled—roadkill? There were dragging and moaning noises all around them, then a low howl. Looking over the roof of the car, she saw Vesper lift her big black head to the sky, calling to the local werewolves.

  Nick was fighting one of the creatures. The trunk on the Rover was open like he’d been going for his gun. Vesper came bounding protectively toward him. She took it down while Nick pulled out his rifle, screwing the silencer into place.

  Monsters everywhere, and they still had to worry about things like silencers, so the mortals wouldn’t know.

  Stupid mortals, Kendra thought, feeling surreal in the midst of it all, as if she wasn’t really there, just watching it like a movie.

  Alessandro was deflecting bodies. Kendra’s stomach lurched as an arm landed at her feet. An arm? Her instinct was to press closer to him but she knew she’d only slow him down.

  “What are they?” she said hoarsely, her voice not carrying, her back against the car.

  Alessandro had heard her. “Zombies,” he said. “We have those here.”

  That simple? Sure. Switzerland equals zombies. Everyone knew that. Just a fact of life.

  They were slow movers, that was for sure, but when they came in all directions it was terrifying. One clambered over the car roof, another punched through what was left of the windshield.

  She had every intention of calmly reminding her husband that they were surrounded by rotting bodies looking for brains and that maybe they should get a move on.

  She screamed instead.

  It was effective nonetheless. He scooped her up and turned, head butting one. “Close your eyes,” he advised.

  “What?”

  He slung her over one side of him, reached for another body, and hissing, sank fangs into its neck. He pulled back, ripping its head clean off.

  She should have closed her eyes.