by Brenda Trim
Suvi’s mind was reeling. It was impossible to believe that Cele had found a way to determine their mates, but she obviously had. Caine wrapped his arm around her waist and changed the subject. “I don’t have much time, Killian. Do you know where he lives?”
Killian grabbed a napkin and pulled out a pen, writing down the address then handed it to Caine. “I’m sorry I didn’t report Cele’s suspicious behavior sooner. Honestly, it slipped my mind. Let me know what else I can do to help. Sunrise is upon us, I hope your car has tinted windows. Good luck.”
CHAPTER FIVE
The sun was cresting the horizon, turning the sky pink and orange. Caine had never before seen the sun and just the lightening of the grey sky was burning his retinas. “Here, put these on,” Suvi ordered as she handed him some dark sunglasses. “I can feel the pain in your eyes and these will help. I’m going to call in some reinforcements to meet us at the house.”
Caine wanted to laugh at his mate’s high-handed behavior, but he found a strong female enticing. Aside from his parents, no one had ever taken care of him, and it touched him to have his Fated Mate with him in his greatest time of need. He pulled on the leather jacket he had borrowed from Braeden and flipped up the collar. His heart began racing in his chest as the sun rose higher. He felt the pain through the layers of clothing and slunk down in the seat below the window. He shouldn’t be out here during the day, it was too much of a risk, but he had no choice. He was quickly running out of time.
Every vampire was taught from birth that the sun’s UV rays were lethal. He never forgot the lesson his mother taught him at three years old when he wanted to go out and play in the snow. Out of exasperation from his begging, his mother took his hand and held it in a thin shaft of sunlight. His skin turned red and bubbled up immediately. He screamed from the pain and she quickly jerked it back, placing a healing cream on the burn, all the while lecturing him.
Suvi’s melodic voice reached through the haze of pain and memories. The UV rays were relentless and he wondered how long he would last under these circumstances. “Santiago, its Suvi. I don’t know if you’ve spoken with Zander or been updated on the situation, but, in short, Caine is my mate, we discovered who set him up, and are headed to Marshall’s house right now to try and find him.” He closed his swelling eyes and focused on her melon scent which helped his discomfort.
“Yeah, I know its daytime, but we can’t wait. Are you and Orlando working today? We need you to meet us and create a storm with thick cloud cover.” He had no idea Santiago had the power to manipulate the weather.
A particularly bright stream of light shone through the window and Caine grimaced in silence. He wanted to shield as much as he could from Suvi, not wanting to worry her more. He shut his eyes tighter, but the burning was so intense that he couldn’t stop the tears that were now streaming from his eyes. He lifted his hand to shield his eyes and felt blisters forming. Soft fabric settled over his head and clenched hands, dimming some of the effect. He turned his face into the back of the seat, but it wasn’t enough. They needed to get to the house and get inside, now.
“Okay, great. We will meet you there in five minutes. And, thanks so much. I owe you one,” Suvi said, ending her call.
“Okay, babe, Santiago is going to meet us and create some cloud cover. He and Orlando aren’t far from us. In fact, he was going to try and send a storm ahead of them. Just hold on.” Suvi rubbed his arm trying to comfort him, but at that point, even that was not enough to alleviate the pain. As Suvi crooned to him softly about how they were going to find evidence and clear his name and then get mated, he felt the strength of the sun lessen and knew the Dark Warrior had delivered on his promise.
Before long, they were stopping and the sky was full of thick grey clouds. It didn’t take away all of the effects of the sun, but it was enough of a relief that Caine was able to crack his eyes open a slit. They were in the back of a large SUV and Suvi’s sisters and their mates were in the seats in front of them. Ronan turned from the driver’s seat and met his eyes. “You look like shit, buddy. Don’t worry about anything but bolting for the door once we stop.”
Pema interrupted her mate. “I hate to say this, but we aren’t going anywhere yet. I can feel the protections that are in place. They are weak and can easily be dismantled, but we can’t approach before they are taken care of.”
Just his fucking luck. He was close to shelter and one more roadblock was preventing him from reaching it. He would curse fate to hell and back if it weren’t for Suvi. Caine heard soft chanting and saw white light fill the car. The warm tingle of magic hurt his burned skin. The pain was overwhelming and he thought he may throw up or pass out, but wasn’t sure which would come first.
The next thing he knew, he was being dragged out of the car and up the front walk by Suvi and Ronan. He couldn’t remember a time when he had felt so weak or in so much pain. When the door slammed behind him, he heard yelling and screaming while his naturally rapid healing took over and began to repair damaged skin. At the same time, a horrid stench in the house slammed into him.
“I should have known we’d find you here given that you have nothing and nowhere else to go. You aren’t going to win this one, Cele. My mate isn’t going to die and you will never have our power,” Suvi promised.
An evil, raspy voice screeched. “That is where you are wrong. I will have your power. The only way to save your mate’s life is to give me what I want.” Caine felt the Dark compulsion reaching out to encompass him and knew it was pressing on the others as well. His strength had returned with the absence of the sun beating down on him and his eyes were healed enough to fully open.
He took in the scene around him, and if he hadn’t known his eyes were completely healed he’d have thought he was seeing things. The High Priestess stood next to the red-haired vampire, Marshall. Suvi had described Cele as a librarian type, but the female before him had on dirty and disheveled clothing, her hair was falling out of its bun and she had a wild look in her eyes. Marshall looked the same as he had in the vision.
What was shocking and captivated Caine’s attention was the dead female lying on the coffee table. Her skin was grey and rotting. His stomach lurched at the sight of the maggots wriggling in and out of her flesh. That certainly explained the foul odor. Given the way the High Priestess clung to the dead female, he assumed this must be her daughter, Claire.
“You are too weak to overpower us now, Cele. We have found our mates and the power of three is magnified. Bet you didn’t think we’d figure that out all on our own,” Pema taunted. “That’s right, we know why you have worked so hard to have Suvi’s mate eliminated. We are more powerful with them at our sides. Do you feel that guilty for killing your daughter that you went and dug her up? You really are sick.” Pema pointed to the dead female on the table, confirming Caine’s suspicions.
“I didn’t kill her! That was you three, with your magic! And, you will pay for that with your mates and your power!” Caine could easily see that Cele was driven by fanaticism. A person so blindly driven by obsessive enthusiasm was a frightening force, and with Cele, it was made worse by the dark power behind her zeal.
Isis stepped forward with her hands clenched at her sides, light crackling in them. The lights began to flicker and he recalled what Suvi had told him about Isis being a hot-head and absorbing the emotions of others. This had the potential to be explosive. Suvi and her sisters could be frightening and he was glad they were on his side. “It was not our magic. You have gone Dark and your attempt to have a demon possess Claire’s body killed her. You kidnapped and tortured an innocent stripling. You cut him and were going to kill him. You are the monster!” Isis lunged forward and Braeden grabbed her arms, holding her back.
Thunder and lightning roared outside the house. He looked out the window and saw bolts of light striking the ground around an imposing male. He recognized the bald, shifter from his visit to Zeum. Santiago raised his arms, calling the power of the storm to him.
“I merely had the courage to grasp a power that most fear. It is this power and its master that will bring my precious Claire back.” Cele flared her fingers and black light danced between them.
The three sisters were moving toward each other when the first blast hit the wall beside Caine’s head. Cele had thrown a ball toward his head while he was distracted. Obviously, this bitch really wanted him dead. He had no way of defending himself against a magical attack. He wanted to pull Suvi behind him when she stepped in the line of fire. She nodded to her sisters and they began lobbing white balls of magic at Cele.
“Stay behind me,” Suvi instructed. Having her defend him went against his every instinct. He was supposed to protect his mate, yet he knew he had no choice. He was awed at her courage and skill when she didn’t hesitate to join her sisters in the fight. He noticed that Ronan and Braeden stayed close to their mates, maintaining physical contact, but not interfering and he did the same.
Pema took a hit in the shoulder and her mate roared his anger, shaking the walls. Santiago answered the call with an increase in the storm. Wind whipped through the trees, thunder rolled and rain slammed into the house, covering the noise of the fight. Isis and Suvi worked in unison to counter the attack. They missed Cele and brick and mortar went flying from the fireplace as the spell hit it instead. Pema lifted her hand to Isis and she grabbed both Pema and Suvi at the same time.
“Marshall! Grab Claire,” Cele yelled. Caine watched as the vampire bent and picked up the dead female. The writhing, wriggling, mass of bugs left behind on the table was a disgusting sight. It must be a strong enchantment that the vampire was under given that he followed orders without question and held the rotting corpse close to his body. For a moment, Caine actually felt bad for Marshall and his lack of free will in this matter. There was no doubting that Cele was using him as her puppet.
“Oh, no, you don’t,” Suvi yelled and threw light at the pair. This time it hit an invisible wall and bounced back. Caine was even more awed as he watched Suvi step in front of the light as it rebounded and absorb it back into her body.
“I need all the power I can get right now and it was mine to begin with,” she answered his unspoken question. “Although, I can feel the taint from its brush against her shield. It’s like I have a film of oil in my veins,” she finished, grabbing his hand and tugging him with her as she stepped back to her sisters.
“That’s not going to work this time,” Cele spat as she lobbed black fire in their general direction. It wasn’t aimed anywhere in particular, but it forced them to separate. Suvi and her sisters threw spells at Cele and she retaliated each time. The pattern repeated over and over again until the room around them was destroyed. Shards of glass, pieces of wood and white stuffing littered the ground.
Caine noticed that Cele was unable to lower her shield long enough to actually hit one of them, but that wasn’t really her purpose, he realized. She was keeping them apart and had managed to drive them across the room from one another. He recalled how they had all joined hands at Sally’s house and knew that she was stopping them from accessing their combined power.
Caine may not be able to defend against the magic, but he could help his mate reach her sisters. He pulled Suvi into his side and dove for the other side of the room. He ignored the burning pain in his side that told him he had been hit and stood up, bringing Suvi with him. Somehow, Pema and Ronan had reached Isis and Braeden at the same time they did.
Suvi reached for Isis and the moment all six of them were connected, he felt the same surge of magic he’d felt when they cast the spell at Sally’s house. Erotic electricity raced through him and he had a moment to panic thinking that he’d have the same reaction as before. An erection was the last thing he wanted right now, but there it was, and in the end, didn’t matter one bit. It was, he realized, a side effect of connecting to his Fated Mate and he easily focused on the bigger issue at hand, which was Cele.
The panic was clear in the High Priestess’ eyes as she began chanting rapidly and waving her hands in the air. Thick, black smoke grew on the other side of the barrier. He felt Suvi and her sisters throw a spell at the High Priestess and he expected it to rebound back to them, but it didn’t. Black fire leapt in Cele’s eyes as she spat, “You peasants will not win this. I have power such as you cannot even begin to fathom behind me.”
The storm continued to rage outside. The High Priestess reached for Marshall and her dead daughter, but jerked her hand back. Caine noticed her palm was smoking and she had to pat out the flames. She uttered several more spells to no avail. She wasn’t able to reach Marshall and looked like she was ready to explode from frustration while the vampire stood motionless with his burden. Cele cast one last, longing look at her dead daughter then screeched before she finally gave up and disappeared in the black smoke.
Caine wondered what Suvi and her sisters had done to prevent Cele from reaching Marshall, but foremost in his mind at the moment was they had the vampire and the proof he needed. They had to get him and the body to Zander. Question was… where were they going to put the decayed female?
As if reading his mind, Suvi blurted, “I don’t care what we do, but Veggie-Tales isn’t going in the back seat with me. You can strap her to the fucking roof and we can cast an invisibility spell on her nasty ass.”
CHAPTER SIX
Caine jumped out of the car as soon as they were under the cover of the portico at Zeum. Angus was there to lower the UV shades to block out all sunlight. “Fuck, that is so damn disgusting,” he cursed, brushing maggots off the sleeves of the leather jacket and jeans and Suvi couldn’t help but laugh at the comical sight of a grown male hopping around. Her laughter died as she was mesmerized by the way his muscular arms rippled while he frantically rid himself of the bugs. He was the sexiest male she had ever laid eyes on and she thanked the Goddess for making him for her.
“Stop it, you big baby. I was back there with you, it wasn’t that bad,” she teased.
“You could have included me in that little repellant spell you cast. I will make you pay for that mate,” he growled as his swollen eyes began to glow with his arousal, obviously aware of her response to him.
She wound her arms around his neck and ran her hands up and down his back. “But then what excuse would I have to get this close to you? Besides, I did it to distract you from the pain of the sun. You were so worried about our extra-smelly cargo that you didn’t give the UV rays one more thought.” She stood on her tiptoes and brought her lips to his. They were cracked and peeling and what started as a gentle kiss quickly deepened and threatened to go completely out of control. With the sun having finally set, his natural healing abilities kicked in and she soon felt smooth, firm lips.
One of his fangs sliced her lower lip, and he sucked it into his mouth, feeding briefly. The sensation was like nothing she had ever experienced and she melted into his body. The world around them disappeared, and that fast, she was primed and aching to make love to her mate.
“Alright, you two, enough of that. This matter is not yet resolved, you know. Let’s go inside and get this over with. As soon as we clear Caine’s name, you can go at it all you want,” Isis called out over her shoulder as Braeden pulled a restrained and silent Marshall from the car. Suvi reluctantly broke away from Caine’s mouth and noted that Marshall fared much worse than Caine during the car ride. The skin on his face and hands had blistered and peeled away, leaving raw flesh exposed. His eyes had likely been swollen shut at one point, but his lids had burnt away and his eyeballs were a gooey mess. There were patches of his red hair missing and his ears hung nearly to his shoulders. It was a vile sight.
“What the hell are we doing with this one? Somehow I doubt that Zander will want us to cart that corpse through the house,” Caine observed.
“Nay, we doona want that in the house. I have procured a special freezer that is located in the garage until Zander decides what is to be done with her,” Angus said. “Zander and the others are waiting fo
r you inside. Nate will show you the way.”
“Why do I have to show them the way? Don’t they already know it? They were here just a few hours ago,” Nate protested.
Angus turned on him and glared at the other dragon. “As I’ve told you before, as majordomo, your job is to escort visitors into the house and see to their needs.”
“I can’t believe our King has been a servant all this time,” Nate replied and began walking into the house not bothering to invite them to follow him. Suvi smiled and grabbed Caine’s hand. Yep, Nate definitely had his work cut out for him. One thing was certain. Zeum wouldn’t be the same without Angus.
Zander and his mate, Elsie, were standing in the door to the war room waiting for them. Pema had called him and informed him that they had found Marshal and were heading back with him, as well as, Claire’s body.
“Kyran,” the Vampire King called out in his thick Scottish brogue. “Take the vampire doon to the dungeon and give him blood. He needs to heal before we question him. Everyone else, please come in.” He gestured to the room behind him.
She grabbed her mate’s hand and they found a seat at the same table they had sat at only hours before. Nerves suddenly attacked her like a million writhing snakes in her stomach. Her heart sped up and she told herself to breathe. They had the male responsible and her mate was not going to be put to death, but she wasn’t going to be able to relax until she heard the king declare that Caine was cleared. Even then, she wouldn’t stop worrying. She knew Cele and had no doubt that she was going to retaliate. Desperate people did desperate things and that female was beyond help.
“I see you found Marshall. I tried to access his mind when he was brought in but I wasna able to. I came up against a bluidy block. After he heals from the ravages of the sun, I will try again. I have to say, I’ve always been able to read one of my subjects, so whatever Cele did, it was verra potent. Shite, will someone please fill me in on what happened?” Zander asked with his fingers steepled under his chin. He sat back in his chair looking imperial.