Embrace The Shadows (Shadows Ascending Trilogy Book 3)

by Jenn D. Young

  “What’s going on?” Nicolae murmured, cutting a harsh glance in Vincent’s direction.

  Vincent held up a hand to quiet him, putting his trust in me fully. I reveled in the power that coursed through me. Vincent felt it too. With our minds fully connected, he was with me as I took assertive steps toward Adrianna, his faith and love filling my heart with confidence.

  "Do you really think this is going to work again, little Nephilim? You tried this already. Your little lightning bolts don't effect me." She cackled manically before shoving her foot against Drya's limp form. "I have all the power here. I've killed your pathetic excuse for a succubus. You’re surrounded and will never make it out of here."

  A slow smile spread across my face. "That's where you're wrong, Adrianna." I cocked my head to the side, my footsteps never faltering as the distance between us shrank.

  Kristoff moved to take a step in front of her, but Adrianna held him back. "No, no, dear. I've got this one. She’s weakened, remember? I have part of her powers within me now. Her puny lightning will do nothing to me." Green eyes sparkling with amusement, more than anger, she held up her hand and snapped her fingers. A spark of electricity hummed in her fingers for a fraction of a second before it fizzled out. Her nose scrunched together before a growl burst forth from her chest.

  "Oh, mother," Layla’s weak voice echoed through the room. I flicked my eyes to see her standing upright, Nicolae supporting her body from behind. "Did I say I siphoned Lorelei's powers?" She tapped her lips with a single finger. "Guess I must have missed that order. You don't have any of the Astrapi. It’s only reserved for the descendants of Akakaios." Her chin rose in defiance, even as her bottom lip quivered.

  "You little—"

  Her words were cut off as I hurled a massive bolt of lightning across the room to pierce her through the heart. Her shrill scream of pain was music to my ears as Kristoff rushed to grab me. Vincent streaked across the room, only a blur of color as he slammed into Kristoff and they went flying back. Grunts reached my ears as they faced off. Vincent slammed Kristoff into the wall, his head cracking the concrete from the impact.

  Adrianna lay unmoving on the ground, a smoldering hole in the center of her chest from the impact of the lightning bolt. I wanted to celebrate the victory, but I knew it would take so much more than one bolt to kill her.

  Chaos erupted as the soldiers pulled the guns from their side holsters and opened fire, aiming their weapons directly at us. I dodged the oncoming bullets and rushed to Leo's side to face off against the wave of Syndicate flunkies. Vincent sent out a reassuring touch. He was engaged in a deep battle with Kristoff. Claws and fangs extended, blood poured from both men as they fought viciously.

  "Lorelei, head in the game. Vincent can handle himself. I need your help with these fuckers," Leo drew my attention back to the four men that were looming toward us. He held out a gleaming silver dagger and gestured for me to take it. Their guns still raised, they ceased fire after Leo held up a hand. "My command won't last long on such a large group, but it will be enough to take them out. Go!" His voice strained under the effort of holding the soldiers captive in his snare.

  I whirled into action, drawing on power and knowledge from Vincent to make quick work of three of the guards before us. Leo shot me a wink as he plunged his dagger into his target, making him turn to dust. He jerked his chin and I pivoted on my heels to catch the arm of my attacker just before he stabbed me in the back. I brought my own knife up with a flourish and plunged it straight into his heart.

  "Help Nicolae," Leo grunted as a man landed a slicing strike across the center of his chest. His clothes split open and blood poured from the wound. It was deep, but already knitting itself together, thanks to his vampiric nature. "Lorelei!" he bellowed, reminding me of my task.

  My eyes snapped to Nicolae. Layla was behind him as he protected her with his body. Hurt and anger etched across her pale and drawn face. She wanted to fight. To take revenge. But there was no way she could hold any of them off in her current state. She was severely drained and would need to feed extensively before she was back to full strength. Nicolae knew this. He would do anything to protect his mate. Just like Vincent would do anything to protect me.

  Right now, they needed my help. There were six soldiers surrounding Nicolae, closing in from all directions with their knives held before them in a fighting stance. Their guns had run out of bullets, so they abandoned them in favor of the knives. I drew up the Astrapi from deep within my soul, sending a powerful bolt out from my fingertips. My smile returned as I watched it arc through each of the soldier, piercing their hearts and sending them crumbling to the ground to disintegrate into ash. Rushing over, Nicolae and I made quick work turning the remaining Syndicate vampires into dust.

  "You two alright?" I asked, my gaze darting from him to Layla. They nodded and I took a quick survey of the room. Dust surrounded Leo as he stabbed his last target in the chest. The only two that remained were Kristoff and Adrianna.

  Vincent stood over Kristoff, herding him into a corner. "We end this now, Kristoff," Vincent growled as his chest heaved from the force of his anger.

  Kristoff scooted backward, scuttling on his hands until he bumped into the wall. "We all know this won't end until the dark god is released. He will finally be restored to his full powers and destroy you all." A dark smile spread over his lips before he burst into laughter. "We will have our vengeance. It doesn't matter if it is in my lifetime or not."

  Movement drew my attention and Kristoff drew a small device from his pocket before Vincent had a change to react.

  "Self-Destruct Activated," a monotone voice rang out over the loudspeakers. "Two minutes until explosion. Evacuate the facility immediately."

  "Shit," Leo bit out and ran across the room in a rush of movement to retrieve Drya's limp form. My breath caught in my lungs at the thought of her dying. She had to be okay. she just had to. Drya has sacrificed herself to warn us, give us some opportunity to get out.

  "Vincent, let's go. There is no time." Leo’s shout jerked me from my musings. He pulled Drya close to his chest and secured her in his arms.

  Vincent threw his head back and roared before our gazes collided. His demon was out in full force. Long black horns swept back from his forehead. Black tipped claws grew out from his fingernails and his skin swirled with red and black patterns. It was mesmerizing. My lips parted and my breaths came in short gasps, intoxicated with the power of his form. His claws sliced through the skin of Kristoff's neck, severing all his arteries and veins. Dark red blood pulsed out of the ravaged skin of his throat as he sagged back into the wall.

  Vincent laid his hands on either side of Kristoff’s face and snarled at him. With a powerful yank, he jerked his head from his limp body and tossed it across the room. The severed head rolled with a wet flop until it skidded against a cell door.

  "Vincent," I pleaded with him and held out my hand. He rushed over to me without a backward glance and we left the room with breakneck speed.

  Leaving Kristoff’s body and Adrianna behind.

  13

  Vincent

  Ripping Kristoff’s head from his body was one of the single greatest moments of my entire life. Clawing his throat out first was just an added bonus. Seeing the blood run down his body and that pitiful look on his face when he knew death was coming—it was priceless. Violence ran in my veins and this man deserved a much worse death than he had received.

  For killing my parents.

  For capturing and torturing my mate.

  But he was gone now. Dead. By my hands.

  Lorelei kept pace with me, just to my right as alarms echoed throughout the facility. “One minute until self-destruction. Please evacuate the area immediately.”

  “That’s so annoying,” Leo bit out and we pushed our pace harder. Drya hung limply in his arms. A flutter of hope settled within my heart when I sensed just a spark of her life force remaining in her fractured body. We skidded to a halt in front of the large
blast doors. The doors that lead to our freedom. “Shit. Someone grab the tablet from my inner jacket pocket. I don’t want to waste time shuffling around for it.”

  I stepped forward, reached into his coat, and tapped on the screen. The heavy doors opened with a booming noise and we rushed out into the cool night air.

  My breath caught in my lungs. We were free. I had Lorelei back. Kristoff was dead. But I couldn’t help but think about Adrianna. This wasn’t over. Far from it. We still had a long and bloody war before us. Only one thing in that war would be certain. Adrianna would be out for blood.

  “Keep moving, we don’t know how big the blast radius will be,” Leo gritted out as we hiked through the access tunnels. “These tunnels will probably collapse. We want to make sure we get far enough away before we take trips for shadow flight. Fuck, I wish I could teleport like Demons.”

  Why was Leo being so talkative? He never talked this much, especially on a mission. It was annoying as fuck and if we weren’t fighting for our lives, I would punch him in the jaw.

  We exited the tunnel and took to the path up the hill, trying to make it away from the facility as quickly as possible. A concussive blast knocked us to the ground as a mushroom cloud of flames burst into the sky. My breath left my lungs in a long woosh. Instinctively, I reached out to Lorelei, needed to reassure myself that she was safe.

  She groaned as I pulled her into my arms. “That hurt,” she grumbled and rubbed the back of her head.

  “Well now that the building is blown to smithereens, can we teleport out of here. Layla and Drya need Adreon now.” Nicolae helped Layla to her feet before swinging her up into his arms.

  “Agreed,” Leo replied and pressed his fingers to Drya’s neck. “Her wounds are healing, but the blood loss is severe.”

  Lorelei shuddered in my arms and I held her tighter to me. “Is Drya going to be alright?” She turned those baby blues up to me and a pang shot through my heart. The pure compassion she felt for the woman that was like my little sister just about broke me.

  “Drya is strong and a fighter. She will pull through. I have no doubts.” I brushed a strand of hair away from her face. I savored the feeling of her skin beneath my touch.

  She nodded, trusting my words and wrapped her arms around my middle. “Nicolae put your hand on one of Leo’s shoulders. I’ll take the other.” Nicolae nodded and moved into position.

  “Been a while since I’ve done a group shadow flight.” Leo shivered. For those that were not of demonic blood, shadow flight was like jumping into a freezing lake. We traveled through a different plane of existence, and it could be… jarring for those that jumped with us.

  “You’ll be fine. Hold tight to Drya,” Nicolae said and locked eyes with me. “Council chamber? Right beneath the archway?”

  I nodded and merged my mind with Nicolae’s. We needed to visualize the same location and time it perfectly to make sure that we didn’t end up appearing in the middle of a wall or landing on top of a statue. The latter had happened before, and it had been a prized Greek statue that Damius treasured. He wasn’t too happy when it had been destroyed.

  “Let’s try not to land on top of anything this time,” Leo muttered under his breath and secured Drya more firmly in his arms.

  I scoffed. “That was centuries ago. We’re more powerful and controlled now. Hold on tight, Theera.” Lorelei wrapped her arms around my waist then buried her face into my chest.

  “Ready?” I asked Nicolae. He nodded slightly. Initiating the flight, I let our bodies fade away into the shadow realm so we would reappear at the council chambers.

  “I don’t care how many times we do that. I still hate it.” Lorelei shuddered in my arms when we rematerialized before the large council chamber doors.

  Thankfully, without landing on any priceless Greek statuary.

  “I agree,” Leo echoed, shaking his head vigorously to clear it. “I don’t know how Kaniul does it all the time.”

  With the mention of her uncle’s name, Lorelei stiffened. Leo realized the error in his words and cleared his throat while shuffling Drya in his arms. “I’ll take Drya down to the infirmary. I’d guess that’s where Kaniul is.”

  “Correct,” Damius chimed in as he appeared before us. His hair and clothes were disheveled. My brow furrowed in concern as I took in his pale skin and sunken cheekbones. Had he given Kaniul his blood to aid in his healing?

  Damius inclined his head in acceptance, confirming my suspicion. My appreciation for the oldest of the vampires rose exponentially at his care and regard for his progeny. He was Kaniul’s sire. In many ways, he was like a child to him. But Damius didn’t share blood with anyone. His blood was the oldest and most powerful among all supernatural creatures outside of the Archangels. Kaniul must have been in a dire situation indeed for Damius to let him feed from his own vein.

  Leo shuffled past us with Drya still motionless in his arms. Nicolae had already teleported Layla away to his own rooms. He knew what his mate needed to recover, and it wasn’t anything that Adreon could provide them. What Layla needed was raw energy and blood from her bonded mate—Nicolae.

  “I want to see him,” Lorelei demanded, drawing my attention back to her. She crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes at Damius. “Take me down there.”

  Damius sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “He is asleep now and probably will be for a day or two.” His red gaze flicked up to me before settling back on Lorelei. “You also need to feed and recover from your ordeal. Trust me when I say that Kaniul, Drya, and Layla will all be in good hands. You should take care of yourself and your mate.”

  “But—”

  He held up a hand to cut her off. “No buts, Lorelei. Go home with Vincent. You two need to reconnect.” Damius let out a heavy breath before muttering. “And I fucking need to feed.”

  “Theera.” I slid my hand up her shoulder to cup the back of her neck. I bent down close to her ear. “Listen to Damius. Kaniul and the others will be fine in a matter of days.” I splayed my hand out over her flat stomach and brought her body close to mine. My cock grew hard against the round globes of her backside. Thoughts of replenishing her body with my blood while I fucked her flooded my brain, making it impossible to think beyond the haze of lust.

  “Vincent,” she breathed and relaxed into my embrace. “Take me home.”

  A smile spread across my face. Finally, she was back in my arms. The world may be going to shit all around us, but I knew everything was right with my world. Because of her.

  14

  Lorelei

  When Vincent wrapped his arms around me and nibbled on my neck with his elongated fangs, I wanted to weep with pleasure. Three days had been an eternity when I was separated from him. But now we were back together. I was finally in his arms and I was starving for him.

  “Vincent,” I breathed, repeating his name. My fingers entwined together with his as they splayed over my belly. I squeeze my eyes together tightly, the dark desire for his touch coiling deep within me. “I need you.”

  “You always have me,” he murmured before drawing the lobe of my ear into his mouth and raking his fangs across it. “Hold on tight, I’ll take us home.”

  I braced myself for the sensations of shadow flight. It didn’t matter how many trips through the shadow realm I took with Vincent, the sensations always surprised me. That visceral bone deep chill that echoed throughout your entire being. Vincent insisted the more time passed and the deeper our bond grew, that it would get easier. I had my doubts.

  “I’ll always hold on tight, Vincent,” I whispered against the skin of his neck. His pulse throbbed beneath my lips and my fangs exploded from my gums, lengthening in my mouth. I ached for him. For his blood. His cock. His ultimate possession of my body. I craved it more than anything else in the world right now. We desperately needed to reconnect after being separated.

  “I’ve got you.” His words floated through me, bringing a wave of peace and serenity. Then the world faded away
and the chill settled in my bones as we traveled through the Shadows.

  I landed on my back, nestled in the soft down comforter of our bed with Vincent hovering over me. His two-tone eyes blazed with an eternal fire, expressing his desire for me with just one smoldering glance. Those perfect lips lingered over mine. “Let me take care of you, my mate. I’ll bathe you.” His nose nuzzled along the soft skin of my throat. “Feed you.” The scrape of his fangs sent a bolt of desire straight to my core. “Then I’ll fuck you until you can’t see straight. Then I’ll fuck you again just to be sure that you are mine.”

  “Yes, Vincent.” My fingers ghosted along his back and tunneled into the soft strands of his blonde hair. I wanted him with an unyielding desperation. His words ignited a burning fire within me. One that only he could extinguish.

  “Never again will you be taken from me.” His voice was rough with emotions. His brow furrowed and a shimmer of wetness gathered in his eyes. He pressed his forehead into mine and cupped my cheeks in his large hands. “Never again, Lorelei. I don’t think my heart could handle it.”

  The confession made tears slide down my cheeks. I knew my mate. Knew how strong and powerful he was. Those words were wrenched from of the depths of his very soul. A sliver of pain sliced through my heart. I couldn’t lose him either. The loss of our connection almost broke me. It sent me spiraling into a deep pit of despair that I didn’t think I would escape. Only that small glimmer of hope that he would come for me kept me clinging to my sanity.

  I pressed my body tighter to his and made a fist in his hair. “Never again, Vincent.” It was a promise. We would never be parted again.

  The flicker of a smile spread across his lips. “You know you’ll need to listen to me then, right? No going off on your own. No impulsive decisions to save someone or go charging into a situation.” Amusement tinged in his words. The tips of his glistening white fangs visible as he pulled back to look me in the eyes.