Dominick looked at Arthas, then breathed out slowly.
“Yes.” Dominick nodded.
“You are such a liar!” Arthas yelled.
“I told you to shut up. Disrespect me again and you will find yourself hanging by your neck during the next sun rising.” Nikhil looked back at him. This man oozed of darkness and death. Just as much as the other shadow demon. “What did Solomon say once you brought this to his attention?”
“He didn’t have time, and Kristian would rot in jail.”
“You lying piece of shit! I will kill you.” Arthas leaped over his desk. Dominick stood ready to defend himself when Nikhil moved with a speed he didn’t know any being could. He caught Arthas just as he leaped over his desk and sliced his throat with his nails.
Arthas grabbed his throat and fell to the ground. Nikhil walked over the falling vampire and watched as Arthas tried to stop the blood flowing from his throat. He stood there watching until Arthas took his last breath.
“Dominick, you are dismissed. I will see you are rewarded for trying to help my son,” Nikhil told him.
Nikhil turned, “Donavan, come in here.”
Dominick turned to see a man with snow white hair walk into the room.
“Donavan will be your new Councilman. Make it known.”
“It will be an honor,” Donavan said as Dominick walked out of the office.
* * * *
Raven sat between Jessica and Joseph. They had watched a movie and now she needed to get into the magical part of them. Did kids still liked to play games? She hoped they did.
“So,” Raven said, then placed the book down on the table. “Let’s play truth or dare.”
“What?” Joseph said. “That’s a kid’s game.”
“Yes, but it’s going to be fun.”
“What’s that book?” Jessica asked.
“Nothing important. Let’s get started with the game and then I will explain the book.”
“Cool. Ask away.”
“Truth or dare?”
“Dare,” Jessica said.
“I dare you to kiss me,” Raven said. “Tongue and all.”
Jessica smiled them got on all fours, crawled over to Raven then pressed her lips to hers. Raven gasped as Jessica pushed her tongue into her mouth. They kissed for a few moments before sitting back.
“Your turn, Jessica.”
“Truth or dare, Joseph?”
“Truth,” he said.
“Is it true that you sleep with Veronica?”
Joseph looked around. “Well…”
“No lying. Did you or not?” Jessica teased.
“Yes, I did—but look at her, she’s hot.”
Jessica frowned.
“You are a whore,” she joked.
“So are you!”
“Okay. Let’s not fight,” Raven jumped in. “Joseph, your turn.”
“Okay, Raven, truth or dare?”
“Truth.”
“Would you have sex with both Jessica and me?”
“Fuck yeah, I would!”
They all laughed for a while. They drank into the night, and finally it was time to move deeper.
“Jessica, truth or dare.”
“Dare.”
“I dare you to use your mind to hold this pencil in the air.”
Jessica looked at Joseph and then back to her.
“I can’t do that.”
“Yes you can, Jessica. I know you can.”
“No,” Joseph snapped.
“Oh come on, Joseph, let her do it for me. Please?”
Raven knew that seduction wasn’t really needed, but she had to get them to trust her.
“I will do it,” Jessica said.
“Great.”
Raven held up the pencil. “Now concentrate.”
Jessica stared at the pencil, Raven didn’t let it go because she didn’t feel any power in the room.
“Concentrate, Jessica. Concentrate.”
Jessica took a deep breath then concentrated on the pencil. Raven felt the power surging through the room and she released the pencil. As it wobbled in the air, Raven turned to Joseph.
“Help her, Joseph, for me.”
Joseph blew out a deep breath then concentrated on the pencil. It steadied then. Ah, so their powers were somewhat connected. Nice.
“How’s things going?” Alec broke the silence.
The pencil dropped from the air. Raven’s hand shot out, catching it before it hit the floor.
The three of them started to laugh.
“What? I have something on my face?” Alec asked with a smile.
“No. Just an inside joke,” Jessica said.
“Ah I see. I came down to let you know I am going out for a while. I take it my house will be intact when I get back?” Alec raised an eyebrow at Raven.
“No promises,” Raven said.
Alec turned away and walked out the door.
“Raven, he’s so cute,” Jessica said.
“I know. He’s just so uptight sometimes. Like he has a big stick up his ass.”
They laughed again.
“So, Raven, how did you know about us being able to do that?”
“Let me show you, Jessica.”
Raven reached over and grabbed the book off the desk. “This book has a history so deep that it talks of different beings walking on this earth. You two have a feeling that there are, but you just haven’t been trained. In this book…” Raven flipped through half the book. “Here, isn’t Calvin Nolan your father? It claims he was very old and powerful warlock of this time.”
They stared at the book, reading the part about their father.
“Fuck, Joseph, I told you this wasn’t a curse.”
“It feels like it.”
Raven touched Joseph’s shoulder. “Don’t feel like it’s a curse. You have been given something that a lot of us want. Power to control. Power to open.”
“To open?”
“I will get to that later. I have something to tell you both. Please don’t think I am crazy. I came back home because of you two. This earth is being overtaken by these monsters that you can’t imagine, and I need your help.”
“Us? To do what?” Jessica asked.
Raven slid the book over to Joseph so he could read it.
“We, as in Alec and I, need you to do a powerful spell for us. A blessing of the earth type of spell.”
“A blessing of the earth?” Joseph repeated.
“Yes, it’s a very simple but powerful spell.”
Joseph frowned at her. “Are you telling me that you only came to us because of that? You have no interest in us at all, you just want our help.”
“Oh, God no,” Raven sat close to Joseph. “I want you to do this for us, but I really do like you guys. I don’t show interest just for nothing. I wouldn’t have invited you to my home if I didn’t want to get to know you both better.”
“We don’t share,” Jessica explained to her.
“It’s a new century now. That two man relationship is no more. I like open relationships where we can go out and explore but still have a strong bond between us. I don’t want you to think I like one more than the other. I adore you both but you need to open up to this new experience. Have fun with your life. You two are going to have a very long life. But if we don’t stop the evil in this world, it will destroy us all.”
Raven let them ponder the idea for a moment.
“So you want us both?” Jessica asked.
“Is that such a bad thing? If you like, I can bring Alec to play with you, Jessica, and, Joseph, I’m sure you would love to meet my friend from Paris. She’s such a sweet thing. We can travel and explore the world.”
“But we have school,” Jessica told her.
“You don’t need school. You will be powerful very soon, and school will be nothing to you. Help me and Alec, and I promise you that you’ll never want for anything.”
Joseph and Jessica stared at each other for a moment. Raven thought they would both disagree
until they nodded. She let out a sigh of relief. She hated lying about wanting them both. She had not told anyone, not even Alec that she had not found anyone sexually attractive since she was with Kristian ten years before—the last time she had sex.
“Okay, what do we have to do?” Jessica asked.
“You’re going to do it?” Raven asked, excitement in her voice.
“Why not?” Joseph jumped in. “You are offering us trips around the world, fun, sex and more sex. What teenager would turn that down?”
“You would have to be dumb to do that,” Jessica added.
“Great. We can even help you guys with your powers. Help you learn how to use them and when to use them.”
“It sounds too good to be true,” Jessica told her with concern in her voice.
“It will be okay, Jessie, trust me. We will set up tomorrow. The full moon is tomorrow night. We will bless those demons right out of here. Now come on, you two can use the guest rooms. The maid has them all cleaned up.”
Raven showed them to their rooms before going back to her room. Tonight she wanted to be alone. Alone with her memories.
After a quick shower she crashed on the bed. She closed her eyes and dreamed, but not just her usual dreams. She dreamed of Kristian Blackburn and him being her vampire lover.
* * * *
Jasmine groaned as the back of her head pounded. Fucking vampire hit her harder than she wanted to be hit. She tried to focus on the clock on her wall. She noticed she had been out for damn near an hour.
“Shit!” Jasmine rose from the floor and pressed the button on the side of her desk.
“This is a code red lock down. All beings return to your cells at once. I repeat, this is a code red lock down.”
The lights began to flash. Jasmine could hear the doors to cells slamming shut. Then there was silence. Complete silence.
“What the fuck happened.”
The door to her office opened and six men walked inside. She noticed Nikhil and went to her knees.
“Your majesty.”
“Rise, demon. Where’s my son?”
Jasmine felt the danger around this vampire. Darkness that she never experienced before.
“Kristian, he escaped about an hour ago.”
Nikhel frowned at her then raised his hand. The guards and everyone left the room, leaving only her and the dangerous vampire there. Would he kill her now? Yes, she was older by more than a thousand years but Nikhil had evolved into a vampire who had the strength of all beings and none of their weaknesses. His shoes made a sound as they walked over the concrete floor.
“Now tell me why did you let my son go?”
Jasmine shook her head.
“Don’t lie to me, demon.”
“I…I knew he was innocent and I let him escape.”
“You knew he was my son, why didn’t you inform me that my son was locked up?”
“I thought that you knew your son was here. Letting him live out his punishment.”
“Do you know where he’s going?”
“He should be on his way back to Meadville.”
“To this mate of his, correct?”
Jasmine nodded.
“Foolish. His mate is in Rasa Beach, waiting on his return. This is unacceptable. You will be rewarded for your help in my son’s escape.”
“Your majesty!” The guard ran into the room.
“What?”
“They attacked, Your Majesty. They blew up your home.”
“What!” Nikhil’s fangs emerged.
“It was an air attack. They can’t find your mate. She was in the house at that time.”
Nikhil turned to Jasmine and handed her a card from his pocket. “You contact me the moment you have a visual on my son. Here is my number.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Jasmine looked up when Etan walked into the room. Nikhil snarled and leapt towards Etan, implanting his claws deep in Etan’s chest. Nikhil lifted Etan off the ground and slammed him on his back.
“What the…?” Jasmine yelled but stopped herself from asking. She knew that Nikhil had a reason for doing what he was doing.
“You have a dirty mind, you teased him while he was here didn’t you? You created that fucking solution that started this. I would kill you now but that would be too easy for you. Leave this place, go to your new Councilman Dominick Levy and tell him of your disloyalty. If you don’t I will find you and kill you where you stand. Do you understand?”
Etan cried out when Nikhil twisted his hand.
“Stop crying and answer me!”
“Yes. God, yes I understand.”
Nikhil stood, his hand covered in Etan’s blood that washed away as if it was never there.
“Get me home to my wife,” Nikhil said and walked out of the room.
Jasmine looked at Etan lying on the floor, blood gushing around his hand.
“You asshole. You knew he was innocent, didn’t you? You helped with bringing down a prince. Oh man, you are going to rot in hell for this.”
“I had no choice,” Etan breathed out.
“Yes you did, and you chose the wrong path. If you didn’t know who Kristian really was, you should have learned your history. You fucked up big time, and you know you can’t hide anywhere because Blackburn will eventually find you. Good bye, Etan. I hope we never meet again.”
Jasmine walked over his body, not offering any help.
* * * *
Kristian passed Shane the last container of blood. He looked a lot better now than he had a couple of minutes ago.
“Thanks, man,” he said then gulped down the blood.
They were on the outstretch of the airport. It would be hard to get a ticket without any ID.
“No problem. Here, put this on.”
Kristian tossed him a pair of jeans, t-shirt and a pair of shoes from the bag. Jasmine had his size down. He was a little larger than Shane but now wasn’t the time to make a fashion statement.
“What’s the plan?” Shane asked as he took off the old jumpsuit and redressed quickly.
Kristian kept looking for signs of anyone coming after them but hadn’t seen anyone yet.
“Let’s go and get on a plane.”
“With a half of million in a bag and no IDs? Yeah that is prison time. Trust me, I don’t plan on spending any time back in jail.”
“I know. Just get back in and we will get on the plane somehow. Have you forgotten what we are?”
“No.”
“You wanted me to be a vampire, then let me show you the way.”
Kristian got back into the truck and drove off. He abandoned the car in the first terminal, and they walked inside the busy airport. Kristian looked for any flights going anywhere near Pennsylvania.
“There’s one. Let’s go.”
“Place your bags on the belt,” a dark skinned man spoke.
Kristian looked into his eyes, taking control of his mind.
“You’re clean,” the man said and let him through without checking his bag.
“Nice,” Shane said. “Thought you didn’t know how to do it.”
“I never said I didn’t know how. I said that I didn’t like doing it.”
They came up on a lady at the ticket booth.
“Tickets please.”
Again, Kristian looked into her mind, pushing deep in her thoughts. The woman reached up, grabbing the invisible ticket from their hands, tearing what should have been a stub and handing them back to them.
“Have a nice flight. Your flight leaves in ten minutes.”
“Thanks,” Kristian said.
Kristian stepped on board, relieved that the plane was half full. They went into first class and sat down.
“So, what’s the plan?” Shane asked.
“I have the solution to cure Raven. I will get my mate back.”
“I hope that shit works, because if not it’s going to be another two hundred years added to our time for escaping.”
“I know. I know.”
As the flight attendant started to talk Kristian concentrated on Raven.
* * * *
Raven wobbled a little, almost falling in the shower.
“What the hell was that?”
It felt like someone pushed inside her mind. She placed her hand on the wall when she felt a touch go down her spine. A soft touch was all it was. Comforting but extremely sexual. Raven grunted and went down to her knees when pictures flashed in her mind. Two naked bodies wrapped together. Her facing Kristian, lust surging through her, then words echoing in her mind. Kristian, I love you.
Raven shook her head, taking in a deep breath. “What the fuck is going on with me?”
Raven had seduced Kristian that night over and over but had never she said she loved him once that night. Kristian didn’t turn her on like that—or did he? The moisture between her thighs told her differently. She knew the difference between the water and her body.
Raven reached out in her mind but came up blank again. Suddenly, the feeling went away. Maybe Kristian really loved her. Not just some fake love like Alec showed her.
“No, Raven. It’s all lies, Alec would never lie to you. Stop thinking about that vampire.”
There had to be a reason for her thinking about Kristian, but it wasn’t because she wanted him. Nothing in history read that a slayer and a vampire were supposed to be together. Nowhere!
“Are you alright, kitten?” Alec’s voice brought her back to reality.
“Yeah, I’m okay.”
“You are taking a very long shower. You only do that when something is on your mind. Care to share?”
Raven looked at the shadow entering the bathroom.
“I’m okay. Just thinking that tonight will be the first time that a portal is opened from the outside. Anarisan will be grateful to finally be out of that hellhole.”
“Yes he will, my dear. I’m surprised you got them to agree so quickly. I thought it would take to the next full moon to have them eating out of the palm of your hand.”
Raven turned off the water and opened the curtain.
“Then after all these years you do not know me. You know my seduction is the most powerful thing I possess.”
“Yes, I know of it well.”
Alec watched her as she wrapped a towel around her body.
“Now, get dressed. We have to get the tomb ready for tonight.”
Raven's Desires (Night Hunters) Page 21