The Serpent's Kiss (The Hunter Chronicles Book 4)

by Claire Marta

Before she could comment, she found herself free. Whirling around, she found Asier padding back across the room.

  “Bene. Let’s see if you can try a little better than that.” He encouraged in a husky tone.

  An hour passed. Jasmine was exhausted. A sheen of sweat glistened over her skin and she was breathing heavily with exertion. The Italian was still cool and collected. He was not even perspiring. Time and time again, no matter how she tried, she could never get the better of him. Her muscles were sore and her back was hurting. She hit the padded mat so many times it was becoming an effort just to get back up.

  Asier never tried to touch her in a sexual way. Not once. He continued to praise her efforts though. Showing her different stances and techniques that would work more effectively for her size and build. Jasmine started to listen and learn. He was a patient teacher. She was starting to like his approval. It gave her a little burst of happy confidence which made her work harder.

  The vampire suddenly dropped low in a blur. With a movement faster than she could react to, he swept her legs out from under her. Jasmine gave an 'oomph' as her back hit the mat hard. Momentarily dazed, she lay there stunned. In one quick elegant movement, Asier landed on top of her. He sat straddling her hips. Grabbing her wrists he forced them up and pinned them above her head.

  “That wasn’t fair.” Jasmine whined as she remained limp beneath him. Her body was aching and lying down just felt so good.

  “Why would I fight fair? Do you think someone who wants to kill you will fight fair?” His long hair fell around them like an intimate curtain.

  “No.” She replied breathlessly, by now feeling more than a little aroused. He was dangerously enticing. Fighting with him had gotten her blood pounding through her veins, and part of her wanted to tussle with Asier some more.

  “Life is brutal. You need to learn to fight dirty Jasmine, if you want to survive in this world.” Asier lips hovered above hers. The warmth of his words caressed Jasmine’s mouth. “It will be my pleasure to show you how to get nice and filthy.”

  His gaze was intense, fierce. The lavender depths were mesmerising and Jasmine found herself falling into them as she always did.

  “I’ve never seen eyes like yours before.” She murmured, trying to resist the urge to bridge the tiny distance that separated them. God how she wanted to taste his kiss.

  Asier tensed his expression, sobering as he raised his head. “You will never see them anywhere else. I am the last of my bloodline.” Sitting up, he rolled away.

  Jasmine frowned, feeling suddenly cold. “The last?” Leaning up she braced herself on her elbows.

  “Si. My mother caught the eye of a powerful demon overlord when I was young.” In one fluid movement he rose gracefully to his feet. “My father defended her when she refused the male’s advances. They raped her and massacred my family...my clan… before my eyes. I was the only one to escape alive.”

  Jasmine shivered. She had never met a demon before. If they were strong enough to destroy powerful Vampiria she was not sure she ever wanted to.

  “I’m so sorry...I lost my parents too...in a car crash some years ago. I know it can be hard. If you ever want to talk about it...” She could see he was hurting. Their loss cut deep.

  Pain flashed in his gaze before his long eyelashes lowered to hide his emotions. “It was a very long time ago.” Asier’s words were clipped. “I think that is enough for this evening. I have business to deal with. You know the way out.”

  Stunned at his swift change, Jasmine watched as he swept from the room.

  Asier was not sure why he had shared so much with Jasmine. His past was a secret. A past pain. A burden only he knew and carried. Why it had been so easy to tell her he did not know. She had lost her parents too. A tragedy to have them both torn away in a matter of minutes because of a drunken driver. Maybe it was this that made him feel a small spark of kinship. Something that was growing.

  After his entire clan had been slaughtered, none of the pure bloodline Vampiria had wanted anything to do with him. As a young boy he’d been abandoned and left to fend for himself. Discarded like garbage. They thought he was weak. That his power and blood were imperfect. The truth was he was far from that. Asier’s powers rivalled any of their own. Seduction and fire were at his beckoned call. Honed through centuries of practice and focus. Unlike other Vampiria, he had perfected both talents which many neglected to do. His only flaw was that his fiery abilities had no effect on demons. They were hardened by hell-fire. This was the reason his clan, his family, had been murdered that day, because this knowledge had been unknown to them.

  Jasmine was having a strange effect on him. He was noticing it more and more. The girl stirred things inside him that he thought he was never capable of feeling. He no longer wanted her just for a long, hard dirty fuck. She was broken. Asier wanted to fix her. Make her stronger. Teach her how to be confident. Channel that anger and bitterness she had burning away inside into something productive. She reminded him of the angry lonely child he had once been.

  Her ability to see Vampiria’s auras also intrigued him. Asier had never heard or seen anything like it before. It made Jasmine as asset he wanted for himself. One he could use to his advantage. Eric was more than an idiot. His friend must have truly lost his mind to let her slip through his fingers, and he was not about to make the same mistake.

  Asier strode through the club feeling unsettled. He needed to get back to business. Jasmine was distracting him far too much. “Any progress with the drug?” He asked Kane as he found his second in command flirting with one of the human house slaves.

  The girl was new. Filling in for Sally while Claus still tended to her. Although the dark skinned vampire had healed her body, her mind was another matter. She was frightened. Shattered and damaged after her assault. He had seen this happen before.

  Asier was not sure she would ever work as an in-house slave again. But she was loyal, even for a human. He was more than willing to find her work behind the bar. They looked after their own. It was something he always made sure of. No one would be abandoned.

  “Whispers, but nothing solid yet.” Kane murmured as he watched the half-naked female scurry off with a look of awe and fear directed at the Master Vampire.

  Interrogating James, the human who had hurt Sally, had gotten them few answers. The description he had given of the man he had bought the drug from fit none of the members in Asier’s club. James had insisted between screams he had bought it from someone within the building. Asier knew he wasn’t lying. Not with the pain he had been suffering from at the hands of Claus. No. Something was off. What, he was not certain.

  “And the demon scum?” Tugging the band from his wrist Asier swept his flowing hair up into a messy bun on top of his head.

  The titan-like vamp ran a hand over his blonde goatee before adjusting his braids. “They aren’t hanging around in the city. They all seem to be heading to Brighton.”

  Asier knew they were not purebloods. These were demon spawn. Descendants of those summoned to the earthly plane. Their genes more human than hellion. Not many true creatures from the pits of hell walked the planet. Summoning them had died out in the middle ages. It made it far more difficult for them to manifest. Those that did remain at large gathered progeny to use for their own means.

  Falling into step, they headed across the marbled floor. The evening was in full swing. Tonight it was more informal. His club members were dressed as they pleased. But Asier was no longer in a mood to play. He was restless again. Moody. Memories had been stirred. His hatred was too close to the surface tonight.

  Leaving the pleasure palace behind, they passed through the secure door between the clubs. Like a great brooding bird of prey, Asier took his position on his throne in the VIP area above the dance floor. Below, humans and supernaturals alike were dancing to the beat of a song. Feeling his fangs descending with anger, his powers blazed through his blood, heating his skin.

  “Celion must be pleased he’s getting
a fresh intake of foot soldiers. That’s a problem we will need to eradicate in the future.” He growled, unable to keep his rage in check. Demons had taken his bloodline from him piece by piece. It was his mission in life to avenge that. “I won’t stop until every demon carcass on Earth lays at my feet.”

  Glancing at Kane, his expression froze as he discovered Lexi hovering at the top of the stairs. Her pink hair was brighter than usual. A lipstick in the same colour was on her lips. The little succubus’s dove grey eyes were round with shock at his words. Asier had never seen her look so terrified. Not of him.

  “I...I thought you might want a glass of b...blood or something, Master.” She stuttered her face suddenly so pale.

  Did she think he would hurt her? Asier felt something twist inside. This young demoness would never befall harm at his hands.

  “Lexi come here.” He called softly, holding out a hand. Anger cooling, his fangs slid seamlessly back up into his gums.

  Hesitating for only a moment, she trotted to where he sat. Asier closed his fingers around her smaller colder hand. Having her fear him was something he had never wanted. It left a bitter taste in his mouth.

  Asier regretted that Lexi had overheard him, but he could not take it back. Demons were his enemy. A scourge to be destroyed. He had worked over the centuries perfecting and honing his skills to kill them. Studied and learned from the best demon hunters around the world.

  “Have you stopped seeing the mage as I requested?” He asked, letting the pad of his thumb rub over her knuckles. Talking to her privately would have to wait. Kane was watching them closely. His sky blue stare never wavering from the pink-haired female.

  “Yes...I won’t be seeing him again.” Lexi told him bowing her head. “I ended it.” She seemed distracted as well as frightened from overhearing his conversation. Had something happened he was unaware of?

  Asier grasped her chin, forcing her to look at him. “Did you fuck him Lexi? Feed? Are you taking care of yourself?”

  She blushed. The succubus had never been shy of such things before. Asier watched her shrewdly. Something was different about her. She was vibrant. Her skin radiant with health, much more than usual. Kane growled. He was watching Lexi with hunger, and a glint of something Aiser did not like.

  “Do we have problem?” Asier asked as he released his hold on her and turned to his second in command.

  Kane’s gaze raked over Lexi’s body, hot and possessive one more time before he turned away. “No.” Without another word he rose from his seat and departed.

  Asier pursed his lips. His friend’s interest in Lexi was starting to concern him. Kane knew she was off-limits. He could slake his sexual lust on any other willing female who came through their doors.

  Asier felt the demonic face tattoo on his arm pulse. It mirrored Lexi’s heartbeat. Not ordinary ink, it bound them together. “Is there something we need to talk about Lexi? You know I am always here if you want to talk.”

  He could still sense her fear. Kane had always disturbed her. He had seen that clearly from the start. Now it seemed to be something more. Had something happened he did not know about? For a moment it looked as if she might say something. Then her dark eyelashes lowered to hide the expression in her eyes.

  “No, Master.” Backing up, she scurried back down the stairs.

  Asier sighed feeling drained. Lexi had once confided everything in him. When she had been small. Then, as she had grown, things had changed. Now everything were so different. Altered. He was suddenly not so sure that letting her distract Twitch had been such a good idea.

  The solid beam of white from Jasmine’s torch cut a path through the murky darkness. One of the only sources of light, she clutched it tight. Every so often the whole place would rattle and shake with the passing of a tube train nearby. Mark and Fergus were still delving into the drug case, but all their leads kept coming up empty. It was starting to get frustrating. Several more deaths had occurred from overdosing, and the pills were becoming far too popular.

  Their boss had Jasmine and Gemma checking out some of the deep abandoned subway tunnels throughout the city. He wanted to know what had all the subterranean supernatruals so rattled. It was not a job Jasmine enjoyed.

  After searching the abandoned passageways under Trafalgar Square and Charing Cross they had not come up with anything suspicious. They had found plenty of rats though. Some so large it gave Jasmine the heebie jeebies. Now they were checking out the deeper level below the British Museum.

  Although the tunnel was quite wide, it was still claustrophobic by the utter absence of light. They hadn’t turned on the emergency lighting as they didn’t want to give any warning to anything that might be there. It was also humid. The air was unusually heavy with moisture. Jasmine’s jeans and yellow long sleeved top was sticking uncomfortably to her skin. She had left her leather jacket in Gemma’s car.

  Twitch being AWOL made the day drag. No dirty jokes or chatter in their ears. The mage had disappeared for the last twenty-four hours without a word. Jasmine was worried about him. She had a feeling it had to do with Lexi. He seemed way too preoccupied lately but refused to talk about it. Wherever he was, she just hoped he was safe.

  Jasmine had not been back to the club for two days. She had needed the space. Asier words kept circling in her head. For all his confidence he was still carrying the pain of losing his family. How long had it been? Centuries? He was a little broken inside just like she was. This made him more human to her, even though he wasn’t. Jasmine also now understood why the Italian never took anything with them to the next level. The vamp had the power to seduce her body. Make her needy and wet in seconds, but he still wanted her to agree to have sex.

  Watching his mother’s rape must have affected him deeply. Jasmine gripped her torch tighter. She still lived with her own attack even though the memories were buried, and Eric had helped her overcome her fear of intimacy. It was the only thing she was grateful for from that bastard. If Asier had been a child he must have felt so helpless being unable to help his Mum. Jasmine hurt for him. Yet she was sure he would not want to talk about it again. He didn’t like to show weakness. It was a trait she had noticed in alpha males.

  The evening meals kept arriving, and the vamp kept texting to make sure she was eating. Jasmine was starting to expect them. In a way they were kind of sweet. He genuinely did seem to worry about her health.

  “Don’t you find it weird that this new drug is called ‘The Serpent’s Kiss’ and Asier’s nickname just happens to be The Bladed Snake?” Gemma commented, breaking into Jasmine’s thoughts.

  No platform had ever been erected so they were picking their way along slowly, following the metal tracks. A thick layer of dirt had built up and covered most of the tiled white walls. Someone had also been down to decorate them with graffiti, but that too looked like it had been done a few years ago.

  “You think he’s connected to this?” Jasmine whispered. For some reason it did not feel right to raise her voice any higher. It was an irrational fear. Most likely born from all the horror movies Twitch made her watch.

  “Don’t you?” Gemma asked, her louder voice echoing around with their footsteps making Jasmine wince. “He’s not exactly squeaky clean Jaz. What’s going on with you two anyway?”

  “Nothing…not really.” She muttered back.

  A pop filled the silence. Jasmine recognized it as one of Gemma’s bubbles popping. The smell of strawberry wafted faintly in the air. Using her torch she scanned ahead. Jasmine frowned at the garbage strewn floor. It looked like someone had been down there. But was it recent? She stopped to toe an empty pizza box. The smell of stale and rotting food permeated the musty air as she disturbed it.

  “Something’s going on though, isn’t it?” Her friend persisted. “You’ve been to his club a lot recently.”

  Raising her torch Jasmine shone it into Gemma’s eyes. The other woman blinked rapidly before raising a hand to protect them from the light. ‘Keep Calm and Howl’ glitte
red across her tight black top in shiny metallic words.

  “Why are you so interested?” Jasmine enquired, suspicion lacing her tone.

  Pushing it away Gemma sighed. “Mark asked me to keep an eye on you.”

  Jasmine could barely believe her ears. Their boss had been spying on her? They halted halfway along the passageway. Ground rattling beneath their feet, the muffled sounds of another tube train passing overhead echoed through the blackness.

  “Is that why you were at the club the other night? To check up on me?” She huffed, feeling the slice of what felt like betrayal.

  “Partly, yes.” Her friend’s voice was filled with regret. “He’s just worried about you Jaz…and I wanted to cheer you up. You’ve been so down lately.”

  Kicking at a piece of rubble, Jasmine scuffed it with her trainer, then kicked it aside. “I’m a big girl and can make my own decisions. I don’t need anyone holding my hand.”

  “I think the boss is fully aware of that.” Gemma told her as she began to journey onwards, her torch light bobbing in front of her as she moved. “We’re all like family, you know that. Mark is just like an overprotective dad with us all. After what happened in Prague, he’s just looking out for you...we all are.”

  Jasmine did not want to think about Prague or Eric. As far as she was concerned she wanted to forget the whole mission. It was a city that was always going to hold painful memories for her now. A place she would not visit again.

  “Twitch is seeing Lexi the bartender who works at Asier’s club.” Jasmine confided gruffly, trying to deflect the questions away from herself. She was tired of talking about it all.

  Gemma took the hint. “Seeing…or stalking?”

  “They’re sleeping together.” Something small and furry scurried further along the tracks. The rats beady black eyes glinted before it scurried away. Jasmine suppressed a shudder.

  “And how the hell do you know that?” Gemma asked as she adjusted the backpack hanging over her shoulder. The skilled huntress was never without a weapon when they were on a job. Jasmine could only guess at what she had in there. Something deadly.