Absolution: A Dominion Novel

by Lissa Kasey

  “You have a mean streak.” He took another sip of the coffee and frowned. He got up, threw it away and headed to the counter. The jeans he wore hugged his ass nicely. I admired it until he returned to the table with two new hot drinks. Mine was another mochaccino. I took off the top again and sucked in another burst of the wonderful smell. Luca sipped from his cup looking damn edible. Why did he have to be so damned hot?

  “Does it bother you that I’m not nice?” I asked him.

  He shook his head. “Nah. I sort of expected it. When we talked on the net you come across a little distant and cold. Not that it’s a bad thing. Life is not all bubble gum and puppies. And anyone who tells you it is, is trying to sell you something. Talking to you was actually refreshing. Lots of new vampire are just suck ups trying to keep their master happy. It’s so annoying.”

  “I’ve done my time as other people’s doormats. I don’t let anyone walk on me anymore. So if you’re just looking for someone to push around, I’m not your guy.”

  “Understood. Makes sense really. I’ve read your file. Gabe insisted. You’ve had shitty people around you most of your life, you can’t be expected to be perfect.”

  I snorted at the irony. “Have you met Seiran? He had shitty people too, but he’s pretty perfect.”

  Luca shook his head. “He’s not. I’d say he’s pretty troubled. And his OCD is only part of that. You shouldn’t be aiming for perfect anyway. You should just be you.”

  “Get that off a Hallmark card?”

  “It did sound kind of cheesy as I was saying it.”

  “Kinda?”

  He laughed. “This is better though, right?” He motioned to the two of us. “Talking, no bloodletting or anger. We talked all the time online.”

  “I don’t want to talk about you being my cibo right now.” I wrapped my hands around the cup and let the warmth filter through my fingers.

  “Okay.” We sat in silence for a minute or so before he asked, “You like to fight?”

  Had he seen me at the fight club earlier with Max? “Not like you do.” In a cage surrounded by cheering crazies and monsters.

  “It’s a hell of a stress reliever. I’ve been doing it for half a decade at least.”

  “I don’t do a lot of fighting. Unfair advantage with me being a vampire and all.”

  He shrugged. “I’m a half vampire. In the cage it doesn’t matter. They pit you against someone they think is a pretty even match. Sometimes pushing yourself to the limit is really the only way to know you’re real. Alive. The anger eats at me so much that I just need to break something. It’s better if it’s in an open fight. Medics can help if I fuck up, or maybe I really just need someone to beat the shit out of me to get my head back on straight.”

  This was a side of him I hadn’t seen before. Not even a glimpse of it online. “But you only fight monsters.”

  “Because I’m stronger than humans. I’m always looking for the next monster to break in half. In the ring I don’t have to hold back. It makes me feel powerful.”

  I sighed and got up, heading toward the door. “I really don’t want to be that monster.”

  “Hey, that’s not what I meant.” Luca followed me, throwing my cup away and holding the door. We walked in silence for a while. He wasn’t really dressed for this sort of cold, but maybe he was more vampire than human. Finally he said, “I didn’t mean to offend you.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Vampires aren’t monsters. They are people, more than most other paranormals. The genetics are really similar. A hybrid, I guess you could call them. I’ve met ordinary humans who are more monstrous than any other. It’s all about the mindset, I guess.” His expression was neutral. “I’ve studied a ton of the science on vampires since I’m half one. My mom dropped me off on my dad’s doorstep when I was five. I wasn’t human enough for her and he had no idea I existed until that moment. Apparently I’d gotten really mad and broke the kitchen table with a single hit. Scared the cleaning lady. She thought I was gonna kill her. Cops were called and everything. No one believed her, thought she was on something. I mean, I was five. But my mom knew.”

  “Shit.”

  “It’s okay. I’m grateful. I could have hurt someone. My father helped me control the rage, strength, and my hunger.”

  “You need blood?” The thought surprised me since everything about him said he was human, from the beat of his fast pulse to the warmth of his skin. He even smelled mostly human, under the luscious goodness of his heavenly blood.

  “Yeah. Not as often as any full vampire. And the QuickLife crap doesn’t work for me at all.” He got really quiet. “No vampire should be drinking that anymore.”

  “It’s awful.”

  “It’s more than awful. But that aside—I usually drink from my dad once a month. It’s a little more awkward now that I’m older.”

  “I can imagine how sucking on your dad would be awkward.”

  He punched me lightly in the shoulder. “Smartass.”

  “Better than the alternative. So seriously, is that why you’re here? To find a new vampire to feed on?”

  He held up his phone showing the time which was just after four A.M. then shoved it back in his pocket. “Not time for my answer yet. You’ll just have to wait in anticipation.”

  I sighed. “You’re pretty sure you’re staying, aren’t you?”

  “Not sure at all, but hopeful. You’re an interesting guy.” We walked in silence for a few more minutes. “It’s really cold here. Been in a lot of snowy places, but never someplace quite this cold.”

  “You should have a coat and gloves,” I pointed out. “It’s probably two or three above zero right now.”

  “I run warmer than most humans. Not as hot as shifters, but close. Part of being half vampire maybe.”

  So that was why he was without a heavy coat and normal winter gear. “Did you beat that werewolf?”

  “Yeah. They are pretty easy. A hit to the snout and they’re out cold. They fight dirty though, lots of nails and teeth. Ever fought a shifter?”

  I thought of my sparring with Seiran and of late Kelly. “No. Just a couple of witches, and a few vampires. A lot of street thugs too, though they’re no challenge.”

  “Witches, now that’s a tough fight. They are wicked scary in the ring and outlawed in most fights, especially the stronger elementals like earth and water. In California there was a network of male witches and a few females who would fight. None above level three allowed though as most often times they kill their opponent and that’s frowned upon in cage fighting. No witches up here allowed at all in the ring, but I think that’s because the Dominion presence is pretty strong here.”

  “I thought their presence was strong everywhere.”

  Luca shook his head. “The world is changing and not all because of Seiran Rou. He’s part of it. A step in the direction of equality, but no one thinks he’s treated fairly either. It’s all politics. Someone always disagrees, doesn’t matter on what end of the spectrum your views are. In the south there’s still a pretty big movement against the Dominion because all witches should burn. Religion starts a lot of wars that politics finish. The Dominion is really just another religion.”

  “Sadly true,” I agreed.

  “As for other opponents in the ring, vampires, the occasional siren or other random supe, it’s mostly a fight of who’s faster. Strong is not so much an issue if you can’t land a punch. And magic is banned from the ring.”

  “How did you get into all of this? You look so…”

  “Nerdy?” he supplied

  “Normal,” I amended. He was kind of nerdy. Nerdy-hot.

  He gifted me with a wry smile. “I mentioned I had anger issues. It’s sort of a vampire trait. The older ones learn how to bury the feeling or release it in other ways. For the young it’s harder to control and often comes out in bloodlust. Thus, the reason I was sent to you.”

  “You said thus. How old are you anyway?” I rolled my eyes at him.

  He smacked
me again playfully. “Older than I look. Anyway, my dad hired a vampire who was an ex-boxer to train me. He thought it would help me work through the aggression.”

  “It didn’t work?” Was it too much to hope the deep wells of rage that ate at my gut would go away?

  “Not enough. The fighting helps. But I’m not dead yet. So it could be worse in me because I’m still part human. Human emotions are intensified. It’s sort of their superpower. Also one of the reasons the newly undead struggle. They are used to feeling things so strongly that when it starts to fade, they panic. Around the one-year mark is when a vampire is either safe or put down because they’ve gone mad.” He jogged ahead and walked backward smiling. “But let’s not talk about that. We have less than two hours before sunrise. Wanna fight? I can show you some moves.”

  The promise of violence and Luca made me hard again. Dammit. I really was twisted now, wasn’t I? “Who’s your dad anyway? I don’t want some freaky ass vampire coming to kill me after I kick your ass.”

  He laughed. “I’m not that breakable, I promise. Besides, you came into the fight club with him. Max Hart.”

  Shit!

  “Don’t look so alarmed. I’m like his eightieth kid or something. He’s really not all that overprotective as you’d think a vampire might be. He’s kind of opposed to us becoming vampires. Since I was born half I will probably turn after death anyway. It’s already in my blood. Whatever it is that makes vampires, vampires.”

  “How do vampires have kids?”

  Luca snagged my hand in a tight grip and led me toward the main road where there were sure to be cabs. “Same way anyone has babies. Insert tab A into slot B. I’ve heard bullshit about vamps not being as fertile, and never heard of a girl vamp having a baby, but I know more than a handful of male vamps who are daddies. And not the leather kind.”

  “So do you have a lot of brothers and sisters then?” He said his dad had like eighty some kids. That was a lot. I couldn’t imagine and I came from a big family.

  “Alive? Just one older brother who’s a vampire, but we aren’t close. I have photo albums of ones who’ve passed. Not that they mean much. They’re really just pictures of strangers. I’m sure there are dozens of cousins and stuff but it’s too much to keep track of.”

  “Seiran says your dad is pretty powerful. Maybe that’s why he has a lot of kids.”

  Luca shrugged. “Maybe. There aren’t a lot of studies on vampires and fertility. Though Seiran being Father Earth might mean he can read my dad better since he’s pretty damn powerful himself.”

  Did Luca want Sei too? I couldn’t contain my sigh, and stopped, pulling my hand out of his. “I’m not competing with Seiran Rou. If you want him, do it on your own, and look out for the large Roman general who hangs around him. Gabe’s sort of possessive.”

  He appeared genuinely confused. “Not sure what you mean.”

  I stared at his face, searching for something that said he was messing with me. Men as beautiful as Luca didn’t look at guys like me. Not unless they saw a way to get to someone else. “I should go home.”

  “Ah, I get it,” he said.

  “What?”

  “You have someone special at home. That’s why you don’t want me. You know you need my blood and are attracted to me, but you want to be loyal. That’s nice. I can talk to your guy and help explain if you need. We don’t have to be anything more than blood partners.”

  “What? Where the hell would you get that idea?” Con and I were friends of the non-sexual kind. Not that he was unattractive. In fact he pushed a lot of my buttons, but he was deathly afraid of vampires, and I sort of hated humans and players. Both of which he was. We got along simply because we were both pretty fucked up. “I don’t do sex with anyone.”

  “Ever?”

  “I’m not a virgin if you’re asking. But I’ve had enough with people fucking me over.” We caught a cab back to the west side near the club. Neither of us spoke until the cab dropped us off.

  “So you like to be the fucker, not the fuckee. Okay. I’ll store that away for future use. I’m versatile.” His words invoked an image in my head of him riding me, that tight ass clenching my cock tight. I had to adjust myself just to alleviate some of the pressure. Of course, he noticed. “My offer from earlier still stands.”

  “I don’t do pity sex.”

  “Me neither.” He circled around me, stalking with a big smile on his face. “I’d rather fight you. Winner fucks the other.”

  “You must really get off on this fighting thing. You’ll probably kick my ass.”

  “Not necessarily. You’re faster than me, stronger. Odds are pretty fair. I don’t fight full vamps in the ring. Just critters.”

  I was tempted. Not only to get out some aggression but to maybe win against someone I couldn’t really hurt. The idea of fucking him was more than appealing. I’d probably be dreaming about it today when I finally went to bed. “How breakable are you?”

  His smile said he knew he won. “Hardly. I’m really flexible though. Can bend my legs over my head and everything.”

  “God, stop! I want to fuck you okay. That’s not a secret. Just ‘cause I’m not going to doesn’t mean I don’t want to. It’s called restraint.”

  He leaned in close, almost near enough to kiss. “You gotta win first.”

  Chapter 4

  He led me inside the building, past the room of cages and to a training area in the back. The place was empty and the room smelled like cleaner. At least it didn’t stink as bad as the main room. The floors and walls were heavily padded. A shelf near the wall was organized with a bunch of gear. Luca grabbed two sets of gloves and head gear, then threw me half and some extra padding before pulling on his own.

  “This stuff isn’t going to help much.”

  “Humor me,” Luca said. “It’s really not sexy if I punch you in the head and your ears bleed. The padding can stop a major injury. Shit still hurts though, I promise.”

  I tugged everything on and kicked off my shoes like he did before stepping into the taped red box. “So what are the rules?”

  “Stay in the box. A ten second pin is considered a win. In the ring a win would be a TKO, but I’d rather fuck you while you’re awake.”

  That was not going to be happening. “Whatever. Hope your ass is ready for me pretty boy.”

  He tapped his gloves together and the fight began. Luca moved like a dancer, darting around me, graceful, elegant, but fast—trying to get into my blind spot. I matched him and threw a quick jab which caught him in the shoulder. He didn’t flinch, though I knew I hit him pretty hard. His first punch landed square on my chin, sending me down to the mat. I even slid a few feet seeing stars. It hurt, but not in a bad way.

  He leapt on me, trying to get in a pin already, but I kicked him off and rolled away, spinning into a jump mid-move and landed back on my feet. Kelly’s little self-defense classes were helping. I wasn’t all swinging anger anymore. In fact, Sei and I sparred often enough to be evenly matched. Which was odd because he was mostly human. He could match my speed and flexibility though, and almost seem to predict my moves. Maybe it was because he was Father Earth and I was dead. Maybe it was because he was Gabe’s Focus. All that mattered was that the practice kept the fight against Luca going.

  Staying on the mat was the hard part. It was a smaller space than I was used to. Luca kept pushing in close, swinging hard enough to make me stagger and tried to get me to step outside the red box. Each time I rebounded with a harder punch or kick, sometimes missing him completely, but getting him to back off, and other times just grazing him. He was fast. Faster than any human I’d met. Neither of us connected more than two or three times.

  “Stop being afraid to hurt me and fight,” Luca shouted at me. But I didn’t want to hurt him. No matter what he wanted me to think, he was still human. I missed him probably more than I should have, matched my pace to his, even landed a punch or two more than I would to anyone else. Luca growled and his fist found the side o
f my head hard enough to make me see stars.

  I landed on my knees, shaking my head to clear the fuzzy edges from my sight and ringing from my ears. Fuck that hurt even with all the padding. He bounced away, waiting, when he could have taken me down completely with another hit. But he was sweating hard. I was making him work. His pulse raced, and the scent of his blood called to me like a fucking siren’s song. Red inched across my vision.

  “That’s more like it. Let me see those red eyes of yours. Let the rage free.”

  Did he want to die? I wouldn’t give him that, but I could scare him, show him it wasn’t all fun and games. My heart sped up to match his. A burst of energy flowed through me like a shot of caffeine and I jumped to my feet, ready. I let my other self out, telling him not to kill or maim. So far he heeded me, and I hoped this time was no different. Even if Max Hart wasn’t enamored of his kid, he’d probably come to settle the score if I killed Luca even by accident. If Gabe didn’t kill me first.

  I zipped around Luca landing the first punch to his ribs and moved out of his reach before he could even finish his gasping exhale from the hit. Luca couldn’t hope to keep up as I landed another dozen punches. But he took each one and kept coming back. Blood poured down his chin smelling like heaven. I wanted to lap it up, feed at his mouth, and fuck him until the world flipped over.

  He pivoted left and bounced back to avoid another hit, then swung and connected a hard right directly to my left eye. I landed hard on my back, sight swirling in a wash of red. This time he was on me, shoving me hard to the ground to pin me. I couldn’t see him. My head throbbed from his blow and the back of my skull where I’d hit the mat. I could feel him, smell him and the monster wanted out so badly I shook with need. But the glowing red took over, swallowing the world in the taste of his blood.

  When I woke I was lying on the mat, high as a kite and breathing like I’d just run a race. The room spun in wild circles, twisting and shaping the metal beams above as they danced. The white spray foam looked like snow. My body ached in a good way. I was still hard as a rock.