Warrior Fae Trapped: A DDVN Book

by Breene, K. F.

  The words died on her lips as she turned around.

  In the living room, it was like someone had pushed the pause button. All the guys stood motionless, staring at the newcomer like a pirate would a treasure map. Macy’s mouth dropped open slowly, fear washing over her features.

  The newcomer had arrived. And holy crap, she was freaking gorgeous.

  Charity had seen pretty girls in her day. Hell, she went to school with a bunch of them. But few of them had achieved this caliber of perfection. Long blonde hair streamed down the girl’s back, curling at the ends. Light brown, shapely eyebrows arched glamorously, setting off smooth but defined cheekbones and pale blue eyes surrounded by long, thick black lashes. Her full, pouty lips smiled as she surveyed the men. She was clearly used to being the object of attention.

  “Hello,” she said in a sultry voice, matching her smile. “I’m Yasmine.”

  Devon rose from the couch slowly, his spine rigid, his eyes riveted. “I’m Devon, the alpha of this pack. Welcome.”

  Yasmine’s eyes sparkled as she looked him over. A coy grin pulled at her lips and she slinked down into a pose that blasted sex!

  Silence settled onto the room. No one moved.

  What was everyone waiting for, the theme of The Bachelorette to start playing?

  “Right,” Charity said, “Shall I do the introductions? Otherwise, this is getting awkward.”

  Yasmine’s lovely eyes turned Charity’s way. A shapely hip jutted out. Another sexy pose ensued.

  “I’m Charity.” She touched her fingers to her chest. “I’m new here, too, although we still aren’t sure what I’m good for. You’ve met Devon…”

  Devon started, coming out of his trance. He probably should’ve worn boxer briefs, because he was creating an embarrassing moment for himself.

  “Yes. Hello.” His tough façade settled over him. Yasmine smiled appreciatively. “Let’s take a seat in the sitting room, and we’ll go over details.”

  All the male eyes followed Yasmine as she followed Devon out of the front room.

  “Really?” Macy elbowed Dillon. “With the staring?”

  Dillon started. His face flared red. Macy huffed and walked out of the room without him.

  “You got a little wine reduction drool there, bro.” Andy used his pointer to flick Rod’s chin. “I don’t think girls dig blank stares, by the way. You look like a caveman.”

  “Yeah, like you weren’t looking,” Rod said, shouldering in front of Andy.

  “Already over it, bro. Girls like that take too much work. I prefer the mute ones.”

  “Yikes.” Charity rolled her eyes. “Jokes like that are why you’re still single.”

  “Probably,” Andy conceded with a grin.

  After everyone was settled in the sitting room, where the furniture was decidedly less comfortable but arranged in a sort of circle, Devon leaned forward and braced his forearms on his knees. Thankfully, his lustful haze seemed to have dissipated a little.

  “Okay,” he said, and snatched a notepad off the table at the center of the group. “Ten recruit vampires were originally at the party. Three were taken down and one is on my love seat. That leaves six active newbie vamps.” He glanced at Yasmine. “We need to start taking them out ASAP. There’ve already been two deaths, which have the police baffled, of course. It won’t be long before the MLE office steps in. I would like to avoid that. This was my mission, and I want to complete it. Based on the information Dillon and Rod have collected, we already have one accessible target. We can take that one out after this meeting. I know of a home base for another, so we’ll need to plan out how to approach that one.”

  Charity shifted as something heavy and ugly settled in her stomach. She knew whom he was talking about. They were plotting how to kill people Charity knew. She wasn’t sure she was up for this.

  “I need suggestions on finding the rest.” Devon looked around with a quirked eyebrow.

  “Isn’t that Donnie guy in a couple of your classes?” Andy asked Charity.

  She clasped her shaking hands. “Yes.”

  “Day or night classes?” Rod asked as he leaned forward.

  “One class, two evenings a week.” Charity yanked on her ponytail for movement of some kind.

  “What time?” Dillon asked.

  “Eight thirty to ten, Tuesday and Thursday.”

  “Tuesday and Thursday?” Devon wrote a note. “Who is free at that time?”

  Rod and Macy raised their hands.

  “I guess I am, too.” Yasmine laughed, a surprisingly high-pitched sound.

  “All right, Charity, you’ll go to the Tuesday class like normal.” Devon pointed at Macy with the end of his pen. “You’ll hang around outside. Call if anything strange comes up. We obviously can’t take it out in a public place, so we need to follow it. Find its home base.”

  “Why would it go to class?” Charity asked.

  Devon finished writing something and then settled back. “When a person first changes, they’re in chaos. A lot of their human traits still remain, but now they have these other needs and wants. The urge to bite necks and take blood can really shock a person. The creators usually shepherd the young vampires through this phase, but because of how this turning party ended”—Devon glanced at Charity—“these newbies will be in chaos. We are trying to get to them before any older vampires step in to guide them. If we get lucky, some of the newbies might fall back into their old routines to bring order to the chaos.”

  Charity sank deeper into her chair. She noticed Devon’s look of sympathy. It helped a little.

  “What’s my task?” Yasmine said in a loud, clear voice.

  Devon shifted his attention. “You’ll shadow me. I have a class around the same time as one of the other newbies. You’ll post up nearby to keep watch. I’ll meet you afterward, and we’ll tail that one. Rod, you’ll head to…”

  “My house,” Charity said quietly. “Samantha was there after the party. She was hungry—famished, actually. She plans to track me down. She sees me as easy prey, and if what you say is true, she doesn’t have to try to quell the hunger. No one’ll miss me.”

  “We’ll miss you,” Andy said. She expected a grin or a sarcastic smile. Instead, his expression was serious, almost imploring.

  She bit her lip and picked at her nail. It wasn’t much, but it helped.

  Devon stood abruptly. “How did you know that? Any of that?”

  Charity started and blinked to clear away the sudden heat prickling her eyes. “I felt it,” she blurted, remembering the strange, crawling feeling that had settled over her skin. She’d almost been able to pick out the path Sam had chosen through the house. In the moment, it hadn’t occurred to her that that was strange. “I could tell a vampire had been there. I also noticed that your body language went from savage to pitying as soon as you got outside my bedroom and had a big sniff. As for tracking me down…” Charity shrugged, dropping her hands to her lap. “That’s just logic, right? I’ve got nobody.”

  “Had nobody,” Devon said firmly.

  “I’m sorry, what is it you do? I haven’t smelled magic like yours before,” Yasmine said in a light voice.

  Macy gave Yasmine a look of death. Andy noticed, and his seriousness melted away, replaced by a huge grin. Charity had no idea why.

  She shrugged again. “You can talk to Devon about that. I’m still not sure I wholly believe it.”

  “All right, well…we’ll table that for now,” Devon said, still staring at Charity. “We need to plan for tonight. We’ve got a novice and a new wolf. Anything could go wrong.”

  “And probably will,” Charity mumbled. Something told her she’d made a huge mistake.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The tires on Devon’s Range Rover crunched to a stop at the corner of a long, wide driveway. Up ahead, light spilled from every window in the large house, illuminating the porch and rooftop. College kids lingered in clusters, holding beers or cups, jeering and laughing. Occasional screams o
f mirth pierced the night.

  By the look of it, this party had been in full swing for a while, most of the attendees half lit and pushing harder for oblivion. The sweet smell of weed mixed with the sting of tobacco, masking other, more important, scents. Devon would take it; drunk and high was better than suspicious and nosey. These kids wouldn’t care what happened in their midst, as long as their indiscretions didn’t go public.

  They’d taken three cars, and once they’d all parked, he gathered the crew near the trees in a loose circle. The distance they were from the house should ensure none of the partygoers could see them, but if someone drove up or left, at least the crew could quickly find cover. They each held a red plastic cup in case someone wandered past. The interior lights from the cars showered everyone’s faces, all confident and ready, except one.

  Charity stared off at the house with a fearful expression, picking at her sweater. If Devon wasn’t mistaken, she regretted coming along. Her fear would hinder her decision-making, possibly getting her—and everyone else—into more danger.

  He kept from blowing out a breath in annoyance. Roger usually had unassailable judgment, but in this, Devon couldn’t help but wonder if the alpha had missed the mark.

  The other new member of their team, Yasmine, stood poised and ready—eager, almost. Her eyes shone with the excitement of the hunt, her posture firm and fearless. She met his gaze, and he felt the mutual fire of arousal. His insides sparked and his groin tightened in anticipation, both for her and the hunt.

  “All right,” he said, taking a step closer to her. “This should be a simple extraction. For the new people, our plan of attack is usually to use someone as bait. He or she will lure the subject into a dark corner somewhere in the yard, and then we’ll attack. Our subject was a straight male—vamps usually hang on to their human sexual orientation for a few decades, so we’ll send in a woman. Yasmine, think you can handle it?”

  Yasmine gave him a smile that singed his boxers. “Yes, alpha.”

  “Good. The rest of us will be in wolf form, waiting in the shadows,” Devon went on. “Lure him out to us, Yasmine. Keep up the act until you see us running.”

  “Easy,” Yasmine answered with a smug smile. She wasn’t a novice, he could see that. Better and better.

  “What do I do?” Charity asked with a tremble in her voice.

  “Hang out for now,” he said as he met her velvet-brown eyes. “There’s only one, and Yasmine should lure him out easily. I think we’ll be good. You’ll be safer out here. If something happens and you get in trouble, use the gun.”

  She sagged against the car, clearly relieved. “Cool.”

  Rod changed first, a flux of bone and blur of skin, a quick but painful process. A burst of magic flowered, bright green, until his body sank down into his wolf form. The rest of them followed suit, fur and teeth ripping out of human skin.

  Smells and colors whirled around Devon as he completed the change, the thrill of the night singing in his blood. He gave a few excited huffs, calling to the others. Even Yasmine, in human form, smiled in elation, sensing the thrill of her new pack.

  He gave a soft growl, taking a step toward his intended destination. Picking up on the subtle nuances of his body language and sounds, the rest of the pack filed in quickly, ready to follow. Yasmine started off toward the house, sultry and sensual, rocking her body erotically. Devon watched her for a moment, half wishing she was in wolf form so they could run and hunt together, but that had to wait for later. It was time for business.

  A glance back at Charity had him hesitating for a moment. The light glow he’d noticed the other night when she’d run from the mansion had intensified to a soft golden halo. It fell off her in lazy waves, shimmering and moving as if it were alive. Its radiance matched the pulse of power he could feel pumping in her middle.

  Too bad that power couldn’t translate to something useful in this hunt.

  He gave a low, deep growl, yanking the others’ attention away from the nervous girl and back to him. Ready for battle.

  “All right, then. Good luck. Or whatever,” Charity said with tremors in her voice.

  Devon took off at a lope. Charity would be fine out here, tucked away from the action. If any humans meandered her way, she could take care of them herself. It was just vampires she had to worry about, and the pack would handle the newbie without a problem.

  Chapter Twenty

  An hour later, Charity had nearly picked her nail down to the nub waiting for the others. Nothing at all had happened. No cars had come or left. No one had stumbled down the driveway, lost and needing to pee. Still, Charity couldn’t shake the feeling that danger was coming, drifting ever closer, like a black cloud on a sunny day.

  She glanced at the discarded clothes that she’d folded and stacked in neat piles on the hood of Devon’s SUV. Atop each was a weapon—a bunch of knives and one nine-millimeter.

  Heat pulsed through her chest suddenly, surging up like a fountain of lava. She gasped, sucking in the sweet night air. Electricity filled her limbs and tingled her fingertips.

  Movement caught her eye. Halfway up the long driveway, leaves fluttered in a sudden breeze. They calmed for a moment, and then came the distinct sound of a footstep crunching down on them.

  Charity held her breath as a man stepped into sight. Someone who was drunk or high, she told herself—not a threat. Still, if it came down to it, she had weapons. The guy took one step, then another, walking with an effortless grace that screamed sobriety. In the middle of the driveway, he stopped, facing the house. An inhuman stillness settled over him.

  Shivers settled over Charity.

  Breath barely getting past the huge lump in her throat, she stared at the man as he watched the screeching and jeering drunks littering the front of the house. She had no idea what he was pondering, but she knew what she was—

  Please go toward the house. Please go toward the house. Please go toward the house!

  He turned slowly, as though he wasn’t sure why he was moving at all. He stopped halfway around, facing the trees. His head kept turning until…he stared directly at her.

  She didn’t fool herself into thinking this was some wayward traveler. Or a partier strangely in tune with his surroundings. She didn’t fool herself at all, just accepted the situation for what it was.

  One of those creatures from the other night was standing in the middle of the driveway, and Devon and the other shifters weren’t hot on its trail.

  A thrill shot through her body. Her limbs started to tingle and her fingers itched to grab the gun. She had excellent aim and hours of practice, but it was dark and he was way too far away. Besides, she’d seen how fast those things could move. He would see her reach for the weapon and immediately go on the defensive.

  Shit.

  She stayed frozen. So did he.

  What the hell was he waiting for? Was he like a T-Rex; he could only see movement? Because if so, things were looking good for her—except for the sweat tracking down her forehead.

  The breeze stirred her hair and somewhat cooled her cheeks. Her stomach flip-flopped as she realized what direction the breeze was coming from.

  She was upwind, and she bet those things smelled really well.

  Double shit!

  The rest of the guy’s body swung around.

  Charity started to pant with fear. Her instincts went haywire, insisting she do several things at once: run, fight, shoot, scream. She didn’t know which command to follow. So she stayed frozen, watching it, hoping Devon—or anyone!—would burst through the trees and save her.

  He took a step toward her. And then another. He’d chosen his direction.

  Shiiiit!

  “Hello,” he called from ten yards away in a distinctly familiar, musical voice.

  No way. It couldn’t be.

  “I thought I recognized the smell. And look, so beautiful. Yes, I remember you perfectly. Exquisite.”

  This wasn’t happening.

  As he got closer,
the moonlight draped over his flawless, perfect face. It was the most handsome man she’d ever seen in her life, for the second time in her life. She couldn’t make out his deep, dark eyes from this distance, but she could feel them, entrancing her. Unfurling unspeakable desires.

  Her skin crawled as if fire ants were breeding on her body. His perfect smile flashed those even white teeth she remembered from the party. She had no idea how she could see them through the darkness, but the impression registered perfectly, almost a feeling more than a visual.

  But underneath that incredibly handsome exterior was an unbelievably dangerous, not to mention ugly, fanged monster.

  “What happened to you the other night? I had so looked forward to making your acquaintance,” he said as he moved toward her like a poltergeist.

  “How do you do that sashaying thing? Are you hovering?” she asked, her voice firm despite her terror. She needed a plan. Any plan.

  She really wanted to run.

  “Oh no, my exquisite lady. I am graceful, like a dancer. I am gentle, too, like a lover should be. Let me show you.”

  “No, I’m good.”

  He stopped five yards from her, softening his predatory gaze (a gaze she could still feel more than see). “You are frightened. You know what I am. So rare, for a human to meet the eyes of one my age and not succumb. I am intrigued. And delighted. But please, let us chat amicably.” He gave her a small smile and clasped his hands in front of his body, the model of patience.

  Silence stretched between them. Apparently, she was supposed to start their amicable chat…

  “What are you doing here?” she asked.

  “I have a child here. He is learning control, under my guidance. I have great plans for him. I am paying a visit to check on his progress.”

  “Uh-huh. Well, don’t let me keep you.”

  “But how can I pass up such a treat as you? Impossible.” He scoffed lightly. “You must realize that I do not wish to harm you. On the contrary, I’m glad you did not change. The smell of you is…divine. Too delicious to go to waste. You remind me of something…” His musical voice turned wispy. “I cannot place it, but I have the impression of a pleasant memory. A savory memory.” Stews were savory. Not good. His attention returned to her. “My lovely, I can give you everything you could possibly desire—riches, power, cars, servants.” He put out his manicured hand. “Come to me.”