Dark Stranger The Dream

by I. T. Lucas

  Damn! Amanda had been right. Syssi was perfect.

  And she was blushing!

  What girl blushed these days? None that he'd encountered lately, and for sure none so gorgeously delicious.

  That demure demeanor just floored him.

  Then, as he caught the slight whiff of her arousal intermingled with that of her anxiety, the potent elixir cranked the dial of his lust all the way up, turning it into a burning need. His venom-glands began pulsating, swelling and dripping venom droplets down his elongated fangs into his mouth. The damned razor-sharp things were threatening to punch out over his bottom lip.

  Kian pressed his lips tight. He could just imagine the sight of him flashing these beauties; a monster straight out of a horror flick. He'd bet Syssi's arousal would be gone in a flash. She would run screaming, and that hopeful infatuated look would be gone for good.

  But oh, man, how he wanted her.

  His imagination ran amok with the things he wanted to do to her, the erotic scenes flashing rapidly through his mind...

  First, he'd tighten his grip on her hand and yank her up to hold her sweet curves flush against his front, then grab her nape to tilt her head up and catch her lips, kissing the living daylight out of her. When he'd get her all breathless and panting, he would lower her to the desk and peel those tight jeans off her...

  Yeah…

  Kian shook himself. He had to stop that train wreck before it crashed and burned. Reining in his runaway libido, he shackled it with the steel cables of his tight self-control.

  Bloody immortal hormones.

  This whole thing was absurd. If that little chit had anything special about her, it was her ability to turn both his sister and him into blabbering, romantic dolts. He was too old and too experienced for these kinds of teenage fantasies.

  Recognizing her...

  Feeling like coming home to her...

  He couldn’t believe this kind of nonsense even crossed his mind.

  It must've been just plain, old, lust.

  For the past couple of nights, he had not gone prowling, and his sex-starved body was kicking his hormones into overdrive and making him stupid.

  Sensing the change in him, Syssi pulled her hand out of his grasp and lowered her eyes, blushing again.

  Oh, fuck, her timid response just threw more gasoline on the fire of his arousal, spurring on the predator in him.

  Taking a deep breath, Kian hissed as he pulled it through his clenched teeth.

  Oh, great, now he was hissing... charming.

  He had to get out of there.

  As he turned away from her to face his smirking sister, he felt the girl's hurt gaze burning holes in his back.

  "Now, who has his knickers in a twist? Dear brother of mine." Amanda mocked his agitation. "Don't pay any attention to his foul mood, Syssi. It has nothing to do with you. It's just the way he is: An. Old. Grouchy. Goat." Amanda walked over to Syssi and wrapped a supportive arm around the girl's shoulders.

  It was a ridiculous standoff, with Kian brooding on one side, and the two women forming a united front against him on the other.

  When did he become the villain here?

  He just wanted to get it over with, haul Amanda home and get that smoke and drink he was so desperately craving.

  CHAPTER 14: BRUNDAR

  Out in the hallway, Brundar leaned his shoulder against the wall. Twisting his dagger between his fingers, he observed the sparse foot traffic of mortals passing him by.

  There was a common pattern to the way they talked, walked, the stuff they wore and the things they carried.

  They fit a certain profile.

  Some were leaving, walking in chatty groups of twos and threes, heading to the cafeteria or some other joint for their evening meal and making plans for later on. Others, holding on to their coffee mugs and their laptop cases, were coming in to do some late work at the labs.

  Behind him, Anandur chuckled.

  His brother was passing the time by entertaining himself with stupid YouTube clips on his phone, oblivious to the fact that he was on guard duty and was supposed to be invisible.

  Idiot.

  Brundar rolled his eyes. Imagining the ghost stories Anandur's disembodied chuckles could start, he shifted his eyes to see if any of the students walking by overheard him.

  A girl clutching her laptop hurried by him without a glance, and another walked away too busy talking on her phone to notice anything. But something about the three guys coming his way made the hair on the back of his neck tingle in alarm.

  Snapping to attention, Brundar palmed the hilt of his dagger.

  The men didn't fit the mold he'd discerned.

  With no coffee or laptops, the bearded young men were built like linebackers and marched purposefully with the gait of trained warriors.

  They were heading straight for Anandur and him, staring right at them as if the fuckers weren't at all affected by his concealing illusion.

  They shouldn't have been able to penetrate his shroud... unless...

  Unsheathing his second dagger, Brundar assumed a fighting stance. Next to him Anandur did the same while speed-dialing Kian, proving he wasn't as distracted as he appeared to be.

  "Doomers in the hall... about to engage," was all he said before the shit hit the fan.

  CHAPTER 15: SYSSI

  Ending the call, Kian's face turned from brooding to grim to determined, and as he returned the phone to his pocket, his body seemed to swell with aggression.

  Something was up.

  "Is there another way out of here?” he barked, confirming Syssi's suspicion.

  "Through the kitchenette to the adjoining lab; its front exit door faces a parallel corridor." Amanda hurried to grab her purse and laptop. "Syssi, take your stuff, we are leaving!" She was already in the kitchen while Kian urged Syssi to follow.

  "What's going on?" Syssi asked while trying to walk as fast as Kian's hand on the small of her back was propelling her to.

  "Some unwanted company I'd rather avoid is coming this way," was his cryptic reply.

  Syssi was afraid to ask any more questions.

  Following that phone call, Kian looked like he was ready to kill, and what's worse, he seemed like someone who could and had.

  Come to think of it, he reminded her of Andrew. When her brother got like that, she knew to stay clear of him and keep quiet. In his line of work shit happened... a lot... and it didn't matter if he was on leave. Dealing with it, the last thing he needed was to be distracted by his little sister's curiosity.

  Trotting behind Amanda, she wondered what she had gotten herself into? Who were these people? Was she in real danger? Or was it her imagination?

  Except, Amanda looked scared, she didn't imagine that, and in addition to deducing it from her companions' urgency, her gut confirmed that something dangerous was coming their way.

  Rushing through the adjoining lab, they exited into a corridor on the other side of the basement. But instead of heading for the elevators further down the hallway, Amanda opted for the nearby emergency stairs. She threw the door open, and as they ran up, their heels playing a staccato beat on the metal stairs, Syssi noticed that Kian was somehow managing the climb soundlessly—his considerable weight not hindering his silent treads.

  Weird what one's mind picks up in an emergency.

  Once outside, they hurried toward an SUV that had been conveniently waiting for them in front of Amanda's building, and the three of them crammed themselves into its back seat.

  Had Kian summoned the car? When? She hadn't noticed him calling anyone. Had she been too preoccupied?

  Duh! Running scared from some unspecified danger would do that to a person.

  The driver turned his head to face them, smiling a weird, fake looking smile; the kind usually molded on the faces of store mannequins.

  "Where to, Master?"

  Master?

  The situation was becoming creepier by the minute, and Syssi was going into a full fight-or-flight mo
de, or rather a fright—and flight.

  "Drive for a few blocks then park. I need to check on the guys."

  Sitting squeezed between Kian and Amanda, Syssi clutched her purse with trembling hands, trying to hide how shaken she was—feeling like Alice in Wonderland right after she had fallen down the rabbit hole.

  "Don't worry, sweetie. We're going to Kian's place and will laugh this whole silly episode away over drinks." Amanda hugged her stiff shoulders and patted her cheek.

  Why the hell was Amanda treating her like a child?

  But instead of feeling offended or at least peeved, for some inexplicable reason, Amanda's words had a strangely calming effect. Syssi's tension eased, and she felt herself relax, becoming comfortable, even languid...

  How was it possible? Her rational mind refused to accept the unexplained change. Except, Amanda's hand kept stroking her hair and it felt so wonderful that her eyelids began drooping.

  She was so tired... How come? Syssi wondered again and tried to resist, but she couldn't fight the compulsion to sleep.

  CHAPTER 16: KIAN

  Amanda waited until Syssi's lids slid shut before turning to Kian. "She's out. So what's going on? And if this was all a trick to get me to come with you..."

  Not deigning to respond, Kian only cast her an incredulous glare, then dipped his head to look at Syssi.

  She was leaning against his bicep, her wild mane of hair covering half of her face and most of her upper body. Gently, he brushed it away from her cheek and tucked it behind her ear. Holding her carefully, he shifted so her cheek came to rest on his pec and wrapped his arm around her.

  Syssi sighed contently but didn't wake. Tucked under his arm, her soft, small body fit perfectly against his large frame. It felt so damn good.

  But Kian craved more.

  In her sleep, she'd relaxed the death-hold she had on her purse, and her delicate hands were resting gracefully in her lap. Taking one small palm, he placed it on his thigh, savoring the added sensation. For now it would do...

  Like hell...

  Dipping his head to her hair, he closed his eyes and inhaled her fresh, sweet scent, he then inched down to sniff at the pale skin in the hollow between her neck and shoulder.

  Divine... So inviting…

  Not surprisingly, his fangs distended and begun throbbing with venom. Struggling against an overwhelming urge to sink them into the smooth, creamy column of her neck, he leashed the monster inside and pulled back.

  With a wicked smirk, Amanda was eyeing him from Syssi's other side, no doubt debating between taking advantage of the opportunity to needle him some more and letting him enjoy the moment.

  She kept quiet, but knowing his sister, observing his reaction to Syssi being exactly what she had predicted, she was basking in the success of her brilliant matchmaking.

  Still, patience not being one of Amanda's virtues any more than it was his, a few moments later she asked again, ”Seriously now, what's going on?"

  "Anandur called from where I left Brundar and him to guard the hallway leading to your lab. Doomers showed up, and they were about to fight them off, giving us time to get away. That's all I know for now... It was right outside your door: Ms. 'I'm in no danger’,” Kian bit out, glaring at her, his fury rising as the implications of what had just happened sank in.

  "Because of your stubbornness, Anandur and Brundar are fighting for their lives." His tone turned into a snarl.

  Throwing the accusation at her was unfair, but Kian was livid. If he had arrived just a few moments later, she would have been taken. Imagining what horrific things those monsters would have done to her felt like acid sliding down his throat and into his gut, burning his insides.

  Amanda crossed her arms over her chest and shrugged, pretending she wasn't shaken. Except, she wasn't fooling Kian, not for a moment. He knew her too well. Amanda was just too proud to admit how distraught she really was.

  Taking a deep breath, he calmed his tone to something a little more human-sounding than a growl. “Was there anything important left in the lab? Something that might be useful to the Doomers?”

  She shrugged again. “All the data from my paranormal research is on my laptop, and the lab's computers have only the standard university stuff. So no, I don't think they will find anything useful there. What I wonder, though, is how did they know where to find me?" She was trying to sound unaffected and matter-of-fact, but the slight tremble in her voice betrayed how rattled she was.

  "It must have been something they found at Mark's place. Them showing up at your doorstep a day after his murder can't be a coincidence. Probably something about your work... unless they hit your home as well." Kian glanced down at his phone again, anxious for news from his men.

  "Onidu would've called if they did." Amanda had no reason to worry for her Odu; he was practically indestructible. But she pulled out her phone and called anyway.

  CHAPTER 17: BRUNDAR

  The fight in the hallway would've been epic—if anyone had been able to see it.

  Brundar shrouded the area in such thick illusion of dread that anyone passing by hurried away, avoiding the turn into the short side corridor as if it was the anteroom to the fiery pits of hell.

  The Doomers attacked with surprising skill, and the fuckers were strong and determined. But then, Brundar and Anandur had spent centuries honing their fighting techniques, and the younger immortals were no match for them.

  The skirmish was over almost before it began. Daggers stabbed and slashed, most of them parried, some penetrating tissue, some only tearing at clothes. Punches and kicks found their targets with meaty thuds, eliciting strained grunts.

  In the end, Anandur was choking the air out of one assailant while Brundar had his dagger buried in another's chest.

  The third managed to escape.

  Brundar dropped his gasping opponent, the guy's body hitting the concrete floor and jerking up from the force of it; the impact putting an end to the gurgling sounds of his desperate struggles for air.

  For a split second, Brundar contemplated giving chase, but instead he sent his other dagger flying after the running man, nailing him between the shoulder blades.

  The guy slowed only to yank the thing out and kept running.

  Brundar had to let him go.

  He couldn't maintain the shroud over the fight-scene and at the same time cast another around the pursuit.

  Unfortunately, Anandur's pitiful illusionist ability was limited to shrouding himself only, and even that was not done particularly well.

  Brundar checked himself for injuries, satisfied that his many cuts and bruises were already healing. In a few moments, the bloodstains drying on his shredded clothes would be the only evidence left of the pounding he'd taken. A glance at Anandur reassured him that his brother was just as banged up but no worse. The concrete floor where their downed opponents lay crumpled like ugly rag dolls was splattered with blood, and though some of it must've been his or Anandur's, most of it came from the Doomers.

  Looking down at the incapacitated immortals, Brundar figured it wouldn't be much longer before their bodies repaired the damage.

  It presented him with a dilemma.

  Clan law prohibited injecting a fallen enemy with a deadly dose of venom. It was akin to execution, which neither he nor Anandur were authorized to carry out. Of course, the rules were different in the heat of battle; all was fair when fighting for your life. But in this situation, the boss had to give them the green light.

  Anandur pulled out his phone. "Kian, we have two down and one escaped. What do you want us to do with the two we got? We don't have much time before they resurrect."

  "Bring them to the brink, but leave them in stasis. How are you guys doing? Everything okay?"

  "Nice of you to ask, but truly, it offends me that you do, boss." As usual, Anandur couldn't pass the opportunity to boast. And besides, he was right. He and Brundar were invincible; the Doomers hadn't stood a chance.

  "My offer from before sta
nds. You can kiss my ass. Stay where you are. I'm sending a clean-up crew." Kian hung up.

  Anandur pocketed his phone and grimaced as he turned to Brundar. "You heard the boss, we inject to the brink. Though I'll be damned if I can figure out why he wants the scum alive. Maybe he plans to make hood ornaments out of their ugly carcasses." He chuckled. "I wonder who he’s going to send to do the clean-up. Can you imagine Okidu scrubbing blood from the concrete on his knees, wearing his suit with a white apron over it?" Anandur chuckled again.

  But then, his face twisted with utter disgust as he glanced at the purple-faced, nearly dead male lying crumpled at his feet. "I don't believe I have to put my mouth on this filth."

  He glanced at the other Doomer. The guy's bleeding heart was already on the mend, slowly pushing out the knife embedded in it. "Not fair, yours is prettier!" he complained as he crouched down. "Whoa! Mine stinks."

  Brundar smiled, his fangs were already fully extended from the heat of the fight, dripping venom and ready to go. Grabbing the male by the hair and twisting the guy's head, he exposed the neck and hoisted it up to his mouth. With a loud hiss, he sank his needle-sharp fangs into the Doomer's flesh, keeping them embedded as the venom pulsated and invaded the man's bloodstream.

  Injecting to the brink was a precise art. Too little did diddly-squat, and too much meant a permanent address in a hole in the ground. Listening carefully to the immortal's heartbeat, Brundar waited until it slowed down to almost nothing, then pulled his fangs out and sealed the puncture wounds.

  The man could still die, but if he did, it was no sweat of Brundar's brow. He'd done what he'd been ordered to do. If he'd miscalculated, then oh, well; he'd done his best.

  Anandur was still at his prey's throat, the man's undamaged heart taking longer to slow down. When he was done, he licked the wound closed and spat out.

  "I need to rinse out my mouth after this shit!"

  Anandur kept spitting out and wiping his mouth on his sleeve in between fits of spitting.