Night's Templar: A Vampire Queen Novel (Vampire Queen Series Book 13)

by Joey W. Hill

  Uthe paused. “Shahnaz was as beautiful as Haris was plain, but a male relative had cut up her face when she refused to marry whom he demanded. She escaped to France with enough funds to set herself up as a reclusive widow of noble birth. She told me the lack of spouse suited her just fine, since it freed her up to pursue the study of magic. When I visited her there, a tanned skin was stretched over one wall, a beautiful piece of artwork, painted with magical symbols and elements of nature intertwined. To those who can detect such magics, like yourself, it formed a protection shield upon her and her home that was never challenged. Though her visitors assumed it was an heirloom of animal skin, it was human. From the way she touched the scars on her face when she was contemplating it, I knew it belonged to the man who’d injured her.”

  “One of the first complicated magics I learned was how to skin a man alive with one incantation,” she’d mused. “Takes them a while to die that way. Horrible noise and quite messy. I wouldn’t recommend doing it more than once and only when absolutely necessary.”

  “Not a woman to cross, obviously,” Keldwyn said.

  “Most of them aren’t, my lord. At least the ones we know.”

  “So she was Fatima’s ancestor.”

  “She was. The magic was passed on to the next female relative born with the gift, and so on and so forth. They compiled quite a body of arcane knowledge. Lines of dark and light magic can cross until they become so confusing…” Uthe trailed off.

  When Keldwyn slid his hand over Uthe’s short hair, Uthe sighed. “You are unexpected at times, my lord. I didn’t expect you to be gentle.”

  “I am not.” Keldwyn brushed his knuckles along Uthe’s jaw. “Sleep. Think of things that bring pleasant dreams. Your Mariela’s sweet lips, the comfort of your prayers, the things worth remembering.”

  Silken black hair sliding along his bare skin, Kel’s serious profile as he contemplated one of Uthe’s chess moves, the taste of a firm, heated mouth. Uthe turned over onto his back and lifted his hand, trailing his fingertips over that mouth, the fair brow. Keldwyn’s arm circled him, bringing him up so their lips met. Uthe closed his eyes, muscles coiling like a snake writhing in the sun as Keldwyn found his way beneath the tunic, clasping Uthe’s cock through the thin cotton pants. It was a leisurely exploration of what the Fae had claimed as part of the binding. It banished any shadows and replaced them with tight longing for a variety of things, the least of which was sex. Though that alone was a throbbing, constant undercurrent around the male.

  With a vague embarrassment, Uthe realized Keldwyn had shifted him so Uthe’s ass was planted between Keldwyn’s spread thighs. The Fae was holding him in his lap. Uthe was of a similar length and breadth to Kel, so only by sitting on the ground like this would the position work, but there it was a secure embrace. Keldwyn’s hand curved over his hip and buttock, the other arm wrapped around Uthe’s back. His palm cupped Uthe’s skull to deepen the kiss. Uthe curled his fingers in the front of Keldwyn’s laced tunic, finding the lightly furred skin beneath. He savored the long columns of his thighs, one beneath Uthe’s bent knees and the other against his lower back.

  Keldwyn adjusted to a half reclined position against the rock, nudging Uthe into using the Fae’s body as a mattress. His head was partly on Kel’s shoulder, partly on his chest, his upper torso against the Fae’s stomach and pelvis, the rest of him draped and tangled with his legs. His hand curved high over Keldwyn’s thigh.

  “Just rest, Varick,” Kel said. “This is more comfortable.”

  It was. It was also the first time in his life that someone had held him while he slept. He’d held others, but he’d never been held. He should resist it, but his tiredness was not in the mood to play games he really didn’t want to play anyhow.

  He let sleep take him down, certain he was well-protected by the Fae Lord. Another first.

  Keldwyn listened to Uthe’s heartbeat even out. He stayed awake, watching over his vampire and the sleeping wolf. The creature’s rumbling snore and Uthe’s heartbeat filled the small, echoing space. He didn’t listen for his own, though he was sure it thudded, sure and steady, an echo of Uthe’s.

  Keldwyn had never seen the vampire falter in his duty. All of those who had known him far longer showed him the great respect such responsibility warranted. He protected, advised and took whatever leadership or support role was needed to guide Lyssa, the Council and vampire kind. Though he’d not yet seen him in physical combat beyond the sparring with Daegan, Keldwyn did not doubt he was a fierce warrior who would not hesitate to sacrifice himself if the need came.

  He recognized Uthe’s capitulation to him, allowing him to watch over him as he slept, as the honor it was. Even if that honor was offered by a species that most of his kind, including himself, considered inferior. Inferior in strength and magic, perhaps, but not in character. Not this vampire.

  His mixed feelings on that disturbed him. It had been some time since he’d felt such a strong need to bond with another. Having that feeling toward a vampire was problematic. Unprecedented, for him. Perhaps Uthe was not the only one losing his mind.

  Keldwyn resisted the urge to increase his hold on the vampire, as if that would change his fate. Instead, he massaged the vampire’s shoulder, resting his fingertips on the side of his throat, and half-smiled, a painful gesture, as Uthe murmured. His grip twitched on Keldwyn’s thigh.

  “You know my touch already, vampire,” Keldwyn whispered. “Enough not to let it disturb your sleep. Take it into your dreams with you. Let me touch you there. Then you will know what I desire from you when you wake.”

  And maybe between now and that moment, Kel himself would figure that out.

  * * *

  When Uthe woke, Mordecai was back. He was at the other side of the cave, near the entrance, giving Uthe and Keldwyn whatever semblance of privacy the space afforded. The wolf was with him, splayed across his legs in a position similar to Uthe’s with Keldwyn. Cai had left the steel collar on the wolf, but detached the chain. Moonlight filtering through the cave opening glinted off of the metal and the tips of Rand’s fur. The lingering scent of fresh blood and human flesh told him that Cai had had good hunting. Both he and his wolf had fed their hungers, at least for food.

  From beneath his shirt, Mordecai removed an amulet, the stone a swirl of deep turquoise. While Uthe watched, Cai attached it to the steel collar. A thrum of magical energy shuddered through it, and then rippled over the wolf’s thick ebony pelt. Rand shifted into an upright position, then jerked back down as the magic took effect, his body twisting. Cai held him, moved with him, a dance it was clear they’d done together before. Three blinks later, Uthe saw the remarkable metamorphosis complete, from wolf to man.

  Rand’s shoulders lifted and fell, chest expanding from the exertion. He was curled on his side facing the vampire, head resting on Cai’s knee. His taut buttocks were tucked under, his legs drawn up before him. Yet even naked and vulnerable, the human was as intimidating as the wolf. His broad shoulders and back, the bunched muscles, were a match for Niall. The big Scot had been servant to Evan, the vampire Uthe had sired, for nearly three hundred years, but now Niall was a vampire fledgling. Uthe expected Rand matched Niall in height, over six feet tall, his shoulder width at least half of that.

  As the shifter pushed himself up on an elbow, Cai gripped the steel collar. It was loose now, so he could get his whole hand around it, clasp it in a sure hold that captured Rand’s attention. Cai’s sardonic personality and smart ass wit were absent. The unrelenting gaze he pinned on Rand was pure vampire master, taking control of his servant and leaving no doubt who was in charge. Rand shifted against his hold, lip curling in a remarkable similarity to his wolf persona, a show of teeth. Cai locked eyes with him, forcing him finally to drop his gaze, though it was a stimulating battle of wills to watch.

  Cai leaned in, brushed his lips over his temple in reward for his servant’s compliance, then followed a leisurely path with his mouth to below his servant’s ear, nudging
aside a thick, curly mane of shoulder-length brown hair. In human form, Rand’s eyes weren’t bi-colored like his wolf’s. They were both blue, though Uthe thought he could see flecks of gold in them. Rand’s head dropped back as Cai nuzzled his throat, then moved over to his shoulder. As Rand’s hand curled into a fist on Cai’s leg, Cai bit, the erotic act making Uthe’s loins tighten in pleasurable reaction. Mordecai might feed on brigands, but like most vampires, he preferred the pure, sweet blood of his servant.

  Keldwyn’s hand slid along Uthe’s throat, inside the tunic neckline to rest on his shoulder and bare skin. What thoughts were going through the Fae’s mind? Despite his earlier reaction to Uthe trying to feed on him, Keldwyn didn’t seem to view what they were watching as an abomination. Not if his slow, sensual pace along Uthe’s skin was any indication.

  The needs of the body were one thing. Like food or water, they had to be sated. Whether with decadence or sparse rations, it didn’t matter. But the needs that rose in his heart and soul under Keldwyn’s attentions, those were things far more specific and complex, responding only to certain stimuli. They were needs that had been dormant until now, roused by the touch of one enigmatic Fae Lord.

  Though he knew he should get up and go seek blood, the rest had helped. His hunger would keep. He escaped the troubling thoughts by dozing off once more. When he next woke, it was a couple hours before dawn. Keldwyn had remained in the same position. Uthe pushed himself up off the cave floor. “You should have moved me,” he said. “You have to be stiff.”

  At Keldwyn’s grin, Uthe couldn’t help a chuckle. “It has been a while since I’ve been subjected to soldier’s humor, my lord. I am slow to protect myself from gutter wit.”

  “Well, you did just wake up. Otherwise, I expect you would have been more prepared.” Keldwyn rose with no obvious signs of having been in the same position for hours. Uthe wondered how long he could stay motionless. Vampires were good at it for limited periods, but the way Keldwyn could blend into his environment suggested he could be a statue for as long as he wished.

  “When did you last eat?” Uthe asked. Being in the company of vampires, and having a servant like Mariela who cared for her own needs within the ample provisions of Council headquarters, it had been a while since he’d traveled with a companion who might need regular meals. The last time he’d seen Keldwyn eat had been in Savannah.

  “A couple days ago. I do not need to eat that often, though I do enjoy it. I can draw nourishment from the elements.” Keldwyn placed a hand on the rock beside him. “There is an energy in everything of the earth, and I can draw in small samplings of those things to keep myself well-fortified. As well as use them for magic.”

  “Well that’s awfully handy,” Mordecai said, ducking into the cave. Back in wolf form, Rand trotted in to his left and stretched out on the far side of the cave, eying their guests. “I was going to ask if you wanted me to catch you a rat while I’m doing the same for Rand, my lord. They’re tasty. The bones can be seasoned like crunchy noodles. I miss Chinese takeout, though Rand doesn’t like the fortune cookies, not since he got one caught in the roof of his mouth.” Cai shot the wolf a fond look. “He and I had to have a bloody wrestling match to get it out. When he’s in this form, sometimes he can be more wolf than man.”

  “I appreciate you thinking of it,” Uthe said gravely. “But we need to be on our way.”

  “So you’re off to the sorceress’s cave then? It’s close to dawn. Not that that seems to bother you much, not from what Rand saw yesterday, you walking in the sunlight as you were like a human. Does Deathbringer here give you that ability? His lordship, I mean,” Cai added at Keldwyn’s narrow look, though his eyes sparked. The vampire enjoyed yanking chains. But he’d said death meant little to him.

  Uthe was surprised Cai hadn’t brought it up before now, since a vampire who could walk in sunlight would be a subject of great curiosity to most their kind. But it was clear the excess of solitude had made the vampire peculiar even beyond usual vampire eccentricities. “Something like that.”

  Cai shrugged. “I know the risk of death might be preferable to spending the daylight hours in my company, but if you wait until nightfall again, Rand and I can back you up.”

  “Our quest has some urgency to it. Once I’m inside the sorceress’s cave, it may take me time to discover what I’m seeking. But we appreciate what you’ve already done for us.”

  “All right, then.” Cai accepted his judgment without argument. “Once the sun goes down, we’ll come check on you, see if you need help.”

  “Why would you help two strangers?” Kel asked.

  Cai blinked. “Because you’re here to do good. Fatima said so. Rand also has a nose for these things. Even I could tell you were honest and right when you came into range. I’m no slouch at character assessment myself. Plus, if I get a chance to kill every one of those fuckers, I’ll be taking it. Whoever follows you to that cave had a hand in hurting Fatima. I enjoy my killing, but I like it to be righteous.”

  “‘Truly a fearless knight and secure on every side is he whose soul is protected by the armor of faith just as his body is protected by the armor of steel… He need fear neither demons nor men.’” Uthe quoted St. Bernard. “I do take your meaning. Though righteousness is in the eye of the beholder.”

  “‘Good… Bad… I’m the guy with the gun.’ Army of Darkness, Bruce Campbell.” Cai grinned. “And I’m officially designating myself beholden. She took care of my wolf, so I’ll be happy to wreak vengeance on her killers.”

  * * *

  Over the next hour, Uthe and Keldwyn moved swiftly toward the sorceress’s home with minimal conversation. The closer they drew to their destination, the more their unseen followers closed the distance between them. They were both on alert for possible attack.

  “I want to take out my sword,” Uthe muttered. “Which doesn’t make a lot of sense, since my strength and speed as a vampire are far more useful against the current weapons of men.”

  He knew why he was uneasy, however. The sibilant voice had been silent since they left Cai’s cave. Over the years, Uthe had learned to muffle it like a distant conversation when he didn’t want to hear its ruminations, but even then he always had a sense of it, like detecting the breath of someone else in a dark room.

  The other voice, the rough one, spoke far less, but he usually had a humming awareness of its presence also. Nothing today. If he hadn’t had the blood link with them, he would have thought they were entirely gone, but that at least was still there. He just didn’t feel any stirrings on the other end of that connection.

  The Fae Lord was studying their surroundings in a way Uthe recognized, a fellow soldier evaluating the terrain, the advantages and disadvantages. “What are you expecting here, my lord, so I shall be prepared for it?”

  “In an ideal world, there would have been a woman wizened in face like a raisin, possessed of a tongue that could compete with a razor blade. She would have insulted us, then offered us her hospitality. She made an excellent tea with secret ingredients she would never divulge. The first time I drank it, she told me halfway through the cup that it would make my man parts fall off.”

  “I understand why she had your affection. In this not-so-ideal world?”

  “We are about to find her body.” Uthe sighed. “Since she enacted a protection spell at her death to protect the contents of her home, I believe that means she left me what I came here seeking. Those following us know it. Once we have it, they will attack. While they may be humans, I suspect what sent them is not. We need to stay alert.”

  Keldwyn put out a hand. “You promised me the rest of it today.”

  “Once we’re in the cave.”

  “Understood. But I will know now what may have sent them. My magic can help you better if I know what I face.”

  That made logical sense. At this point, Uthe wasn’t certain why he was withholding information from the Fae Lord, except old habits died hard. Like the desire to hold a sword in the
face of an unknown threat.

  “A demon,” he said. “Powerful. Upper echelon.”

  Keldwyn’s gaze widened enough to show his surprise. “Your not-so-ideal world is truly grim.”

  Uthe lifted a shoulder. “I did offer you the option of waiting upon my return, my lord.”

  Keldwyn’s expression turned to one of mild offense. “I am merely annoyed that your sorceress isn’t here to offer us her emasculating refreshment. I’m parched.”

  “You would have made a decent Templar, my lord, at least in your courage. I’ve yet to see your fighting skills.”

  “I expect that will change shortly.”

  Uthe nodded. “Be on guard.”

  The two males maneuvered up another steep incline. As they did, the opening to the cave Uthe sought became visible. It disappeared, then reappeared again. Like the entrance to Cai’s chosen cave, it was narrow and, at most angles, difficult to see. It was a good spot for a sorceress to work unmolested.

  “You face a demon, and you were going to come here alone, with no magical abilities of your own?” Keldwyn grunted. “You are not usually foolish, my lord.”

  “I wasn’t this time. This demon and I have been connected for a very long time, my lord.” Uthe didn’t look for Kel’s reaction to that. He had all his senses straining for evidence of ambush. The loosening of rock under a shifting foot, the scrape of a body against a stone wall, the scent of man or any other life form, a flutter of movement. Nothing. Which only made him more suspicious. At least some of the men should have been lying in wait here, so once Uthe bridged the protection on the cave, they could rush in, try to overpower them.

  Keldwyn brought a hand up, pressing his knuckles to Uthe’s chest. The Fae’s gaze was intent. “There is not just one magic in use here. A second one. Very dark. Your demon, I expect?”

  “Or whatever she found to fight him.” Uthe met Keldwyn’s gaze, wondering if the Fae remembered his comment earlier, about the sorceress being a magic user who crossed the boundaries between dark and light magic. She’d always known her forays into dark magic to find their answer carried the risk of overwhelming her, bringing her over to the demon’s side. But Cai’s assessment of her had assured Uthe that hadn’t happened, as well as Uthe’s belief in the will of the woman in question.