Chaos and Moonlight (Order of the Nines Book 1)

by Marrow, A. D.

  “Can a person even do that?” he asked, not even trying to fight the grin.

  “I’d like to see you try it,” Sarah giggled back.

  “Yeah right,” he laughed even harder. “I’d dislocate my back or break a hip or something.”

  Sarah’s face instantly sobered, and she stared him dead in the eyes. “I can see why breaking your hip would be a concern. I mean, you are really old.” The smartass comment sent them both into another chorus of laughter. It dawned on her that it was the first time she’d actually seen him smile. It was the first time she’d heard him laugh, too, and the echo of it was beautiful. It put her completely at ease. It didn’t negate the warm tingle she’d had when she saw him in the doorway, wearing nothing but old jeans and a smile, but it did serve as a bit of a sobering device.

  Taris chuckled again and cleared his throat, watching the smile fade from her face. He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Almost out of habit, he ran his tongue over the sharp fang under his lip.

  “I don’t know where to start,” he spit out suddenly. It caught them both off guard and he struggled to recover. “I mean, I don’t know what you want me to say first. It’s a very long story with so many twists that I don’t know in what order I should tell them to you.”

  Sarah licked her lips and leaned forward, placing a soft hand on his. “Just start from the beginning, I guess. And you don’t have to tell me everything, Taris. Just tell me what I need to know.”

  “Well, you need to know everything.” He paused. “I want you to know everything.”

  Taris sucked in another deep breath. He’d spent the better part of half an hour underneath a blazing-hot shower trying to come up with just the right words. There was so much to tell her, and it wasn’t like she had an eternity to sit there and listen to him. How on earth was he going to get her up to speed with the last two hundred plus years in just a matter of minutes? Both she and Nick had been exceptionally gracious about accepting the existence of vampires—although he had a slightly underhanded approach to forcing her belief—so maybe she would take it all in stride. She already knew the ending to this story. She was the ending.

  But Taris couldn’t help but worry about how she’d react when he got to the middle of it.

  “Here goes nothing,” he muttered. He took her hands in his and looked down at them before he started to speak.

  “It was about three hundred fifty years ago that we first noticed the problems. There had been a lot of mixing over the centuries and…”

  “Wait, mixing?”

  “Yeah, um, human and vampire. Mixing. It got to the point where there were so few of us left who were pure-blooded. They were either killed or chose to die.”

  “Okay, hold the phone,” Sarah squeezed his hand and leaned forward. “Chose to die?”

  Taris’ lip lifted in a half smile. “Who’s telling the story?” Sarah nodded and leaned back and he continued.

  “Our genetic makeup is so similar to yours and yet so different. Our cells don’t really die unless they are forced to do so. So, like I said, either we are killed or we can choose not to feed, which will lead to our deaths.

  “My father was considered an elder. He was kind of like a makeshift king or a president, I guess. Our people went to him for wisdom and guidance and did that whole sage-in-the-woods thing. But when my mother was killed about three hundred years ago, my father lost the will to live. He felt it was his time to go, and he was confident that he was leaving a legacy to be proud of. He had Kalin, Bane, and me.”

  “But Bane went bad,” Sarah whispered.

  Taris squeezed her hand and laced his fingers with hers. “I’m getting to that. You see, since the beginning of time, we have existed. The “why” of it is still as much of a mystery as man’s existence. We don’t know. But we’ve shared this planet with every other creature created by God, and we’ve been relatively peaceful about it. Most of us feed without harm, and we try to contribute as much as we can. But there have always been people who knew we existed and who thought us to be evil, even though we aren’t, and they made it their mission to destroy us. Sad thing is that there are humans and vampires alike who have this mindset. It wasn’t until about four hundred years or so ago that we really saw the desperate need for a kind of military force. The internal struggles with what you would call good and bad vampires were getting ridiculous, not to mention the whole slayer BS. So, naturally, a protective group was formed to keep the vampire race safe from those who would kill us. You with me so far?”

  Sarah nodded quickly, her eyes wide with anticipation. She pulled one hand away and rested her elbow on the knee that was peeking out from under the blanket.

  “Okay,” Taris continued. “So this group was called The Nines for many reasons, but mainly because when we formed it, there were only nine of us.”

  “Us?” Sarah narrowed her eyes.

  “Yeah. Us.” Taris let go of her remaining free hand and shifted his body so she could see his back. He pointed to the star between his shoulder blades, and she took a good look at it. It had nine points. “I wasn’t always stuck in the house, you know,” he muttered as he turned back around to face her. “There was a time when I was their leader. And I was good at what I did. My mom always hated it, but my father could not have been more proud. He was the one who did my tattoos.” Taris pointed to his upper arm. “We’re marked with our family lineage so we can be identified should something happen. The star is how we find one another. See the color?” Taris shifted just enough to show her. “The tattoos are done with the other family members’ blood. We can tell when we are close because we are bonded until death. We can hone in on someone up to five miles away if the bond is strong enough.”

  Sarah thought about the tattoos on Judah and Rhiannon and remembered that Taris had been able to detect Bane and Morrigan in the house.

  Taris nodded. “Although if you ask the few vampires who are left, they will tell you we don’t exist. Sorry, that they don’t exist. It was thought that The Nines were disbanded about two hundred years ago, and up until now, it was safer that way. And as you can tell, there aren’t nine of us now. Hell, I’m not even active anymore.”

  “Why not? With the way you fight!” Sarah didn’t realize her cheeks were beginning to flush. “I saw you in that house, when you saved Nick. That was like something out of a movie.”

  “I still practice with Achan to stay in shape, but I’m normally not permitted to fight. I’ve been put out to pasture, as you say.”

  “Why on earth?” Sarah shifted her body again, unknowingly drawing closer to him.

  He shook his head, “Here’s where it gets…complicated.” He cleared his throat and took in a deep breath. “At the time, The Nines were a full group. You had me, of course. Then there was Judah, Achan, Zillah, and Rhiannon. There was also Fraser, who was Rhiannon’s husband. He was killed.”

  “Oh, is that why she has the, uh…” Sarah motioned toward the ring finger on her left hand, referring to Rhiannon’s tattooed finger.

  “It’s the Widow’s Mark. When one of us loses a mate, we wear it as a permanent mourning badge.”

  Sarah’s eyes sank, and he could feel her emotion dipping. Her sadness hit him like a tidal wave.

  “You sure you are okay? We can finish this tomorrow.”

  She shook her head. “No. Go on, please.”

  After another deep breath, he continued, but he took her hand from under her chin and held it in his.

  “There were three more in our group, and they are the reason why I no longer fight. Roman, who took Fraser from Rhiannon, is a cold bastard, and I hope right now he’s being ass-raped with a red-hot poker in hell. He sort of acted as the ringleader for the other two. He encouraged them to rise up and join an underground movement to take over and enslave the human race. I know it sounds completely sci-fi, but it’s the truth. The other two—” Taris sucked in a deep breath. “The other two were my brother, Bane. And, Morrigan, that harpy bitch you met tonigh
t. She, uh…she was…”

  “She was what?”

  Taris struggled with himself to find the right words. The phrase hadn’t left his lips since the fight between The Nines two hundred years ago, and were he not desperate to tell her, he would keep the bastard words in his mouth and never let them out until his body was nothing but ash.

  “Morrigan was my wife.”

  Chapter 19

  Sarah’s jaw hit the floor.

  Taris could see the shock play across her face like a lit-up sign. It was equally as jarring to hear himself say it. Remembering his former relationship with Morrigan was something he’d tried desperately over the years not to do. It had been much easier when he still thought she was dead and long gone. Even Bane’s admission that she was alive didn’t have quite the same impact that actually seeing her had.

  “I know that is quite unexpected to hear, trust me,” he said as he rose from the bed. He began pacing again. He ran his fingers through his hair. He was attempting to smooth out the half-dried mane, but nerves caused him to pull at it.

  “So you’re married?” Sarah’s voice was still a shocked whisper.

  “Hell no!” Taris spat the words out so fast and forcefully that she jumped a little. “Our marriage dissolved rather quickly after the shit hit the fan.” A heavy silence surrounded them in the space of the room, and for several moments, she just watched him pace back and forth across the floor. Watching him pace was becoming second nature almost. When he was stressed, that’s what he did.

  “Taris.”

  His name on her lips went unnoticed. She said it again with no response. He was working himself into a frenzy, locking himself in his memories, whatever they were. After saying his name a third time a little louder and receiving no response, she threw back the comforter and slipped off the enormous bed. He didn’t seem to notice she was standing directly in front of him, and it wasn’t until she planted her body right in his path that he finally stopped.

  “Taris, it’s okay. Just finish the story.” She lifted her hands and placed them on the warm skin of his bare chest. She felt him suck his breath in and hold it there, just beneath her palms. He dropped his arms, and they grazed her hips ever so slightly as he let them come to rest at his side.

  “I haven’t talked about this since it happened,” he whispered down to her.

  “You’ll feel better when you let it all out. Trust me. Just let it go.”

  He nodded and turned toward the bed, removing one of her hands from his chest and keeping it tucked firmly into his own. Sarah started to hop back up onto the mattress, but he quickly swung her into his arms and placed her back in her already-warmed-up spot. Instead of covering her up he left the blanket pulled back, walked around to the other side of the bed, and crawled in next to her. “Lean forward a bit,” he said, and as she did, he slid his arm behind her and pulled her in tight to him.

  “I know this sounds silly, but I need some support when I tell you this next part. Is this okay?”

  It was more than okay. Sarah couldn’t imagine a more relaxing and blissful place to be. Sure, it was a little strange at first, this extremely intimate contact between the two of them, but when she broke it down to brass tacks, it seemed perfectly normal, almost natural. She nodded her head as he pulled her in closer to him. Once she was tucked in and enveloped in his arms, he brought the cover back over them with his free hand.

  “You must think I’m a big pussy for needing to do this,” Taris chuckled. “Either that or you may think I am trying to put the moves on you. Really, I just needed to be close to you. So take that how you will.” Before she could respond, he cleared his throat a few times and took in a deep breath.

  “So, um, Morrigan. Where to begin with that one? We were an arranged marriage, the two of us. Her family was old, mine was old, and that’s pretty much how they did things back then. We weren’t married long before I was inducted into The Nines, and after that, everything changed. Her whole demeanor toward me and what I did was just, I don’t know, different. She—” He stopped and sighed. “When she wanted to be inducted into The Nines, it was almost too much. Bane and that other asshole were the ones who talked us into letting her in, and like idiots, we went along with it.”

  “Tell me about Zillah,” Sarah whispered. Her breath was hot on his skin, and she felt the muscles tense beneath her cheek.

  “What about her?”

  “She said something about not remembering three hundred years of her life because of Bane and that woman,” Sarah said the last two words with a disgusted hiss. “What are those scars? Why weren’t they healed?”

  Taris shifted, bringing her body over so much that she was now almost resting on top of him. With a quick move, he lowered them both down farther underneath the comforter so that they were only a slight degree away from being completely horizontal.

  “After I was forced to step down from The Nines and fill the void that my father had left as a leader, Morrigan grew more and more irritated. She wanted to be with the leader of The Nines. It made her feel powerful. So she preyed on the one person who was gullible enough to fall for her pretty words and nice body.”

  “Bane.” Sarah let the word fall from her lips. It sounded more like a statement than a question.

  “Bane wasn’t always heartless. You couldn’t have asked for a kinder little brother. But she managed to get into his head, fill it up with all of these notions of rejection and self-deprecation.” He stopped and sighed again, only this time Sarah could swear she heard despair mixed in with the ragged breath he let out. “I missed him for the longest time. Even after all the things he did to us, I missed him.” He shifted underneath her again, and this time, he pulled her completely over him. Her head rested on his chest and an involuntary move of her leg left it resting on his thigh.

  “When we finally realized what was going on, it was too late. They had already begun their slash and burn. It killed all of us, but Judah and Rhiannon and Zillah caught the brunt of it. By the time Achan and I realized what was going on, Fraser had already been murdered. They had Judah locked up in a holding cell. Zillah, they had already started to torture.”

  “Her scars.” Sarah’s lips brushed against his chest as she whispered the realization.

  “Bane hid her for a week. He’d…he’d whip her and then heal the cuts. Then he’d do it again. By the time we found her, she was broken. Completely broken.”

  “Taris, I’m so sorry.” Her voice was ragged. “I’m sorry that you lost so much.”

  “We all lost that day, Sarah. Zillah was a shell after that. She’d lived so much life before, and when she finally woke up from a month-long coma, she remembered none of it. Nothing. To this day, she doesn’t even remember the beating. All she knows is that something bad happened to her. I don’t need to tell you that Rhiannon still carries the open wound of Fraser’s loss with her. Achan is eternally on guard and hopelessly cynical, despite whatever front he may put up. And then there’s Judah.”

  Sarah lifted her head and stared at his face, meeting his eyes. “What about Judah?”

  Taris was biting at his lower lip, trying hard not to break under the intense questioning. Judah’s was a story he hated to think about, let alone tell.

  “Judah was married.” He ignored the wide-eyed shock on Sarah’s face and continued. “Quite happily, in fact. She was such a great woman, too, warm and funny. She was always telling bad jokes, and she couldn’t cook to save her life, but she was genuine and strong. But the pressure of what was done was entirely too much for her to take, and so she left him. She was here one minute and completely gone the next. But he still bears his bond and wears his ring around his neck. Judah just won’t give up on the hope that someday she will come back.”

  Sarah’s heart broke with every word Taris spoke. Every moment he recounted, every agonizing detail he gave her, wore her down until she felt like a pile of rubble on the inside. She could hear it in his voice—the struggle with his loyalty for his race and the
love of his family—and it killed her. She lifted her head again and wiped a tear on her shoulder.

  “See why I needed something to cling to when I told you?” He gave her a faint smile.

  She nodded. “It all makes sense. Why Judah is wound so tight, why Zillah and Rhiannon are so fierce, why Achan is so protective, it all makes perfect sense.”

  Taris nudged her head up farther so he could look into her face. “Until that night in the stairwell, we thought they were all dead. We tracked them down and lit their safe house up like the Fourth of July. But I sensed him when he was coming for you. We knew that we could never let anything like what happened to us happen to anyone, which is why you and Nick are so important. Not only could you keep us from extinction, but you could help us protect mankind from living under the same torture that Zillah endured. There are others out there who want to see you under their feet. With you, they would have the power to do it.

  “You are everything, Sarah.” He lifted his hands from around her shoulders and cradled her head, his fingers threading into her long brown curls. “I’m sorry we got off on the wrong foot, but please believe me when I tell you that I would die before letting anything happen to you. You mean too much.”

  Sarah’s stomach tightened. She could feel her heart threatening to pound clear out of her chest.

  “I won’t let you down,” she whispered. “I promise.”

  Chapter 20

  Taris stared down into her face again, studying every inch of her skin, taking in every moment of that glorious flower and vanilla smell. He felt the heat beginning to well up in his abdomen, that same heat that flooded his system when he had fed from her. That excruciatingly blissful burn that coursed through him for so long that he had a perpetual erection just by tasting her. It was dangerous. The fact that she was sprawled out on top of him, soft and warm, left him teetering on the edge of madness. He vowed to himself that he wasn’t going to fight her anymore, that he wasn’t going to deny that he wanted her, but this was like playing with fire. It wasn’t just a physical need that he carried anymore. There was something deeper, flaming, within him.