Volatile Breath of Darkness

by Candice Stauffer

  Demetri, he studied every inch of his property to make sure his safeguards were immovable. Once he had

  no doubt Brianna was safe, he jumped off the balcony and took his dragon form. He headed toward the

  ocean where he felt Demetri’s presence the strongest.

  ~Ten~

  DEMETRI STOOD ON the edge of a cliff looking out at the ocean. He had come so close to pinpointing

  Sara’s location through Brianna. He should have kept pushing on even though, thanks to Nikolas

  throwing a fit, doing so would’ve seriously hurt Brianna. He could not blame Nikolas for becoming

  enraged, but he also could not forget that Sara was suffering every second of every day.

  He needed find a way to get Brianna far enough away from Nikolas that he would not be able to

  intervene. Next time they would get to Sara. The day he met her played over and over again in his mind.

  Rather than leave the restaurant after he discovered that showing up had been a waste of time,

  Demetri lingered for about an hour as he considered his next move. He had tracked down and excluded a

  lead he had hoped would answer a few questions about the local Lycan pack that killed their leader. After

  their leader died they started to run wild. He had suspected the pack of secretly joining forces with

  corrupt vampires and hunting and killing humans for months. He started to hunt them down and do away

  with the guilty members of the pack and undead one at a time, but the number of their killings continued

  increasing. He realized the problem was much bigger than the local pack running amuck with vampires.

  He set out on a fact finding mission. He had learned that Mary Tate, the leader’s mate, had orchestrated

  it with the help of a group called the Evolved. He didn’t know anything about the group other than the

  fact that they were the driving force behind the human murders. He planned to investigate and destroy

  them. At first Mary presented herself to him as an innocent victim. She claimed the group killed her mate

  and forced her to cooperate with them. He believed her until he gained access to her mind. She sought the

  groups help to murder her mate. A Lycan turning against his or her mate was so rare that he didn’t fully

  believe the information he gathered from her mind until he uncovered rock-solid proof that Mary’s mate

  had viciously abused her.

  Deciding he didn’t know what to do next he stood up to leave, but the sensation of being watched

  stopped him. He turned to find a young woman approaching him. She stood out from everyone else in the

  upscale establishment. She was wearing a simple white cotton sundress and flip flops. Noticing her was

  natural. She was gorgeous. Staring at her, entranced by the way her body moved wasn’t natural. She

  didn’t simply capture his interest. She commanded his full undivided attention.

  “I need to ask you for a favor.” His first thought was that she was up to something mischievous, for

  she had a guilty look and feel about her.

  “What kind of favor?” he asked.

  “Would you dance with me?”

  He didn’t have time to dance with her, but for some reason he didn’t want to say no. Perhaps it was

  because he could not remember the last time a woman approached him and asked him to dance or to do

  anything for that matter. He did not always give off the most pleasant vibes.

  She looked him in the eyes. “That is the reason I asked you.”

  “What?” How the hell did she hear his thoughts?

  “I’m exploiting your unpleasant vibes in hopes of repelling a bad boy jerk.” She inclined her head to

  a group of men watching them from the bar. “The one in the middle refuses to take no for an answer.”

  Is he your boyfriend?

  Eew. Ick. Never.

  “Did he hurt you?” He was not sure why he asked, but he knew asking was not going to end well

  when he got the image of aggressive unwanted touching. He reacted without thought by using his mind to

  choke the man.

  “No. He is just a creep.” She smacked his chest. “Stop it. You cannot strangle a man to death for

  being a pig. It’s socially unacceptable.”

  He released the man at once. “If you say so.” Amused for reasons far beyond his understanding he

  could not stop smiling. “But if it is true, if you were able to detect my unpleasant vibes why risk

  approaching me. I could be a bad boy jerk.”

  She shook her head. “Nope. Not you. You are a sexy badass man. Bad boys can be fun to mess

  around with from time to time, but they are never even slightly as entertaining and satisfying as a sexy

  badass man who, from the looks of it, has what it takes to see things through to completion.”

  He had never been the sort to be easily intrigued, but he knew the smile on his face revealing his

  interest in her had broadened and there was not a damn thing he could do to hide. Ten thousand years

  had failed to prepare him for encountering her. He would have sold his soul to keep her there with him

  for even one more minute. “You think I am a badass man.”

  “A sexy badass man,” she corrected with a shrug. “Adding sexy makes it sounds better.”

  “What is your name?” He had to know.

  “Sara.”

  “You should be more careful about how you approach and talk to a man, Sara.”

  “Oh yeah, why’s that?”

  “He might be inclined to show you that he knows how to use what he has to see things through far

  beyond the point of completion.”

  “Is that an offer?”

  “Are you tempted?”

  “I would be but I need something from you to help me decide.”

  “Anything.”

  “When you take me beyond the point of completion what name will I be screaming?”

  His blood pressure had skyrocketed thanks to the erotic images playing out in his mind. “Demetri.”

  It was no small miracle that he was able to speak at all.

  “Demetri.” She paused. “I like it.”

  One thing was certain he had never heard his name as he heard it from her lips. “You have no idea

  what you have gotten yourself into you.”

  She laughed out loud. “Are you warning me off?”

  “It is too late for that.”

  Biting down on her lower lip, she grinned. “Until you learn the scandalous details of my unsavory

  reputation.”

  “I happen to like scandalous. And from what I see there is nothing unsavory about you.” Then, he

  thought, was she talking about wild liaisons with previous lovers? Dark jealousy rose up in him from out

  of nowhere. Convinced her confession would lead to him going on a bloody murderous rampage he

  waited for her to continue.

  “Promise you will not get scared?”

  “Of you?”

  She nodded. “Yeah.”

  “I promise.” It was lie. She already scared the shit out of him by doing what no other woman in ten

  thousand years had ever been able to do. She intrigued him. He wanted her. No. It wasn’t a matter of

  wanting her. He needed to experience her in every way possible.

  “I’m crazy.”

  That brought his brow up. “What?” Surely she was joking. It definitely wasn’t what he expected to

  hear.

  “I know. It’s a shocker, right? I don’t look insane. Not all the time anyways. But it’s true. I hear

  voices. Oh oops, so do you, don’t you? Some people wish they could hear other people’s thoughts. It’s a

  stupid wish. I would love to turn the ability off. Wouldn’t you?”


  “You haven’t learned to control it?”

  Suddenly, her eyes narrowing on his, she looked serious. “No. Can I?”

  “It takes practice. I can teach you to do it. Until then I can do it for you. I can shield you.”

  “What about the…never mind.”

  “The what?” he asked, his voice resembling a growl. As if that side of him knew something he didn’t,

  he felt the dragon’s fury awaken.

  She motioned for him to lean down. “The attacks,” she whispered in his ear.

  He leaned back enough to look her into her eyes to gage whether she was being serious or not.

  “What kind of attacks?”

  Shaking her head, she frowned. “Nothing. Forget it. It’s too hard to explain.”

  “You don’t have to explain it. Show me.”

  “It’s far from pretty.”

  “I can take it.”

  She held out her hand for him. “Dance with me and I’ll show you.”

  “I would love to dance with you, but why must I for you to show me.”

  “It will know when I reveal its identity to you. It will retaliate.”

  “I won’t allow it to touch you.”

  “I know. I don’t know why, but I do. That’s the reason I want to be in your arms when I show you.”

  She took a few small breaths. He realized she was fighting off a panic attack. “And then there’s the fact

  that you’re a totally sexy badass man. I can’t think of anything more interesting to do at the moment than

  to dance with you.”

  She used humor to deflect the panic that had started to rise in her. It was a clever tactic, but she

  worried that it wasn’t the best way to cope. He took her hand and for the first time ever, he allowed a

  woman to lead him out onto a dance floor. He would never forget the way it felt. It was as if she’d put him

  under an intoxicating spell. She possessed so much more than the power of simple seduction. The woman

  had ignited a flame in him.

  When she stopped and turned to face him he took her in his arms. When they began to dance he felt

  as if they were floating in the current of a gently flowing river. He actually looked to make sure his feet

  were still on the floor. He closed his eyes to savor the moment, the sensation of her body moving against

  and with his.

  It wasn’t long before he felt the most amazing thing. Rather than simply put the thoughts and images

  in his mind, she drew him into her mind. She took him so deep that if he didn’t know better he would’ve

  sworn they traveled to another time.

  He saw her sprawled out on a cement floor. It appeared to be a basement. He turned his head

  toward a mirror on a wall. The doctors were on the other side watching her, studying her as she writhed

  around fighting off what they viewed as a hallucination. He saw what she was fighting off. A vampire was

  attacking her. It was a sport to the damn thing. His first instinct was to tear it off of her. But it was a

  memory. He could only watch. He studied the vibes, the scent. He searched for and gathered anything

  that would lead him to it. He planned to hunt the damn thing down later and destroy it.

  When the vision was over, she asked. “Do you know what it is?”

  “A vampire.”

  A slow smile parted her lips. “Like you?”

  “I’m not a vampire.”

  “But you’re not human.”

  “There are beings other than humans and vampires.”

  “What are you?”

  “Promise you won’t get scared?”

  “I promise.”

  “A demon.”

  “Where’re your horns and pitchfork?”

  “I misplaced them several years ago.”

  “That’s tragic. I think you would’ve looked great with them while I screamed your name.”

  It dawned on him that she was using humor to deflect the seriousness of her ordeal because she saw

  no hope of ever escaping it. “It will never attack you again.”

  “You can’t be sure.”

  “I can.”

  She laughed. He knew she didn’t believe him. At the moment, it didn’t matter. All that mattered was

  that he knew and in time would prove it to her.

  For the time being there was nowhere else he wanted to be more than right there with her, holding

  her in his arms, dancing with her. He couldn’t remember a time before that he’d been so thoroughly

  caught up in a whirlwind of sensations and emotions as intense as this.

  “And I thought coming here was a waste of time. It appears the mighty Demetri has a weakness after

  all,” Mary said.

  “Go away.” It was a command she couldn’t fight. She turned and walked away. He didn’t see her as

  a threat. Why would he? She was nothing compared to him. He knew better now. Underestimating her

  was his greatest mistake ever. “Let’s go somewhere less crowded.”

  “Where?”

  “It doesn’t matter to me. You choose.”

  “It’s not a good idea.”

  “Are you afraid to be alone with me?”

  “Should I be?”

  “Not at all.”

  He took her hand and led her toward the entrance, but she stopped him. “Don’t you feel it?”

  “What?”

  “That woman. She’s…something terrible is going to happen.”

  “You don’t have any reason to fear her.” He led her outside.

  “How do you know her?”

  “She’s nothing.”

  “Was she your lover?”

  “No.”

  “Did you hurt her?”

  “I haven’t harmed her in any way.”

  “If that’s true why does she hate you so much?”

  “I have something she wants and she knows she will never be able to get it from me or anyone else.”

  “What is it?”

  Demetri had never been the type to submit to questioning for any reason. He realized that not only

  was he willing to answer her question, he wanted to make sure she understood the answer. Knowing that

  it was forbidden for him to explain the ritual that would one day give her his eternal breath he kept the

  response generic. “I have a form of immortality that is considered perfect among other immortals. She

  wants it.”

  “Aren’t all immortals immortal?”

  He shrugged. “Some are more easily destroyed than others.”

  “So you are at the top of the food chain?”

  “If you want to put it that way I guess you’re right.” Standing directly in front of her he took her

  hands. “I am going to take you somewhere. Close your eyes.” Smiling, drawing her bottom lip between

  her teeth, she nodded as she closed her eyes. He shifted with her to a place he recreated from an image he

  discovered in her mind. “Go ahead and open them now.”

  She took a step back and turned in a circle, taking it all in. A dark shadow of sadness crept into

  her eyes. “You took this from my memory.” He heard despair in her voice, he saw it in her eyes.

  He made a mistake. Being there was causing her a large measure of sorrow and anxiety. His mood

  darkened immediately. “This place doesn’t make you happy?” he asked with growing concern.

  “It’s just that now I know you aren’t real.”

  “Why would you say that?”

  “This is my hiding place. This is where I go when…when the pain of the attacks become too much.”

  “You will never have to run away from life again.”

  “I wouldn’t have shared this place with you. It’s buried so deep in my mind that no one could ever

 
; hope to find it.” Frowning, she shook her head and then turned her back to him. “I’ve made you up in my

  mind to be here with me. You don’t exist.”

  “You’re wrong. You can’t hide your memories from me. I made this place based on your memory of

  it.”

  She faced him. Something flickered in her eyes. Something wild and fascinating as she kicked her flip

  flops off. She reached out for his hand. “I want to show you something.” She didn’t believe that he was

  real, but she’d decided to embrace him as exhilarating new facet of her hiding place.

  He should’ve taken her away from there. He should’ve made sure she knew he was real. He didn’t

  have any right to allow her to believe what happened next wasn’t real. But when she looked into his eyes

  and smiled he was unable to resist her. He took her hand and allowed her to lead him to a patch of lush

  green grass beneath the shade of a huge willow tree near a sandy lake shore.

  “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

  “It’s amazing.”

  She turned back to him, grabbed her long hair and pulled it over the front of her shoulder and then

  turned her head to look at him. “Unzip me. I want to go for a swim.” Holding his breath he slowly

  unzipped her dress. “What about you? Are you in the mood for a swim?”

  “As a matter of fact I am.” He pushed the straps over her shoulders and watched it fall to her feet.

  She stepped out of it and faced him.

  “Your turn.” After she pushed his suit jacket over his shoulders and down his arms, she loosened his

  tie and pulled it off. She held his gaze as she tugged his shirt from his pants and slowly unbuttoned it from

  his neck and worked her way down. She lightly raked her nails across his chest as she opened his shirt

  and then along his shoulders and down his arms to remove it.

  Her fingers touched him. She spoke to his soul. He’d never experienced anything so powerful.

  When she reached for his pants he caught her hands to stop her. “This is real.”

  “Sure it is.” Heading for the water she left him there to watch her walk away.

  She went beneath the water. He panicked when she didn’t come back up. With a thought his pants

  were history. He dove into the water in a matter of seconds. When he surfaced he heard her laughing