“Put your seatbelt on!” Alaric yelled over the music.
Damon scowled. “How the fuck do you think we can get a seatbelt on?”
“Just do it. If we wreck, I don’t want her flying through the window and getting run over.”
Mumbling under his breath the entire time, Damon yanked at the seat belt and fastened it around the two of them.
When Al-Kenna looked at Alaric, she was more than a little surprised by the expression on his face. She expected anger, trepidation, even fear, but what she saw was something altogether different. His eyes were wide and he was grinning like a loon. His was a look of anticipation.
Alaric slammed his booted foot down on the clutch and put the car in first. They rocketed out of the driveway and onto the street.
He proceeded to steer the car directly into the path of the coming SUVs.
“Are you crazy?” she screamed.
He didn’t answer.
Bright lights blazed through their window as the trucks zoomed toward them. There was no way around the cars, they took up the entire street. Instead of slowing down, though, Alaric shifted up and gave the car more gas. Al-Kenna thought for sure this was it. His headlong run to the car hadn’t done them in, but his driving would.
“Hold on!” Alaric yelled as the distance between them and the SUVs decreased.
Damon wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her hard against his chest. She was more than happy to lean into him. Hand to hand fighting was one thing, speeding down a residential street into three huge trucks was quite another.
When Al-Kenna thought impact was inevitable, Alaric swung the car to the left and onto the sidewalk. She could imagine the piles of dirt and rock crunching under the tires and marveled that they didn’t lose traction.
As they rode past the SUVs, she saw a man in the passenger seat of the truck closest them shaking his fist in Alaric’s direction.
“Sucker ass!” Alaric called.
The trucks slowed, turned around, and started after them.
“This isn’t a good idea!” Damon yelled over the music as Alaric pulled onto another street. “We’re in the suburbs. Not a good place for a car chase.”
“I agree,” Al-Kenna added.
“Not up to me, baby doll.”
She glanced at him.
With one fist, he banged the steering wheel. She supposed he was keeping beat with the music. What made her really uncomfortable was the way he bopped his head around, like he was at a hard rock concert instead of running for his life.
He was truly having too much fun.
“They’re right on our ass, Alaric,” Damon advised.
She twisted to look out the rear window. As she watched, three passenger windows of the lead truck opened. Three males appeared…and they were holding the biggest guns she’d ever seen.
“They have guns!” she yelled.
“I can’t say I’m surprised,” Damon murmured close to her ear.
“You mean to tell me you don’t have a gun in that mini arsenal you’re carrying around in that duffle bag?” Alaric said.
She did have a gun. But she’d never used it to actually shoot a person. She’d shot ghouls, not human beings.
“Yeah, but I can’t shoot human beings.”
Alaric rolled his eyes. “These guys aren’t human. I told you already, they’re rogues. Immortal like Damon and me.”
“Why the guns, then? They have to know a bullet can’t kill you.”
“No, but it can slow me down and disable this car.”
No sooner had the words left him than bright orange sparks of light erupted from the trucks behind them. Gunfire split the night sky. Alaric jerked the car to the left, no doubt hoping he could dodge the bullets. She was amazed when none of their tires ruptured and the glass remained intact.
“If those bastards mess up this car, there’s gonna be hell to pay,” Alaric said.
Al-Kenna unclipped the seatbelt and reached into the back seat where Damon had tossed her bag.
“What are you doing?” Alaric demanded. “Get your seatbelt back on.”
She rummaged through her clothes, skimmed over the daggers, tossed her sword aside, until she found what she was looking for. She jerked the gun out of the bag and sat up. But she wasn’t about to lock herself back in the seatbelt.
“You know,” she said as she checked the bullets, “I really wish you’d stop acting like my father.” Saying that, she depressed the power window button and eased out the window.
“Hey!” Alaric protested. “What the hell are you doing? Grab her, Damon.”
“I’m returning fire. Least I would, if you’d keep this car steady.”
“Get back in here.”
She felt a hand on her shirt as someone, probably Damon, got ahold of her and gave her a hard tug.
It was difficult to aim with the swerving car and someone pulling on her, but she tried.
“You said Smenkhare was like a little princess,” Damon was saying. “You said she couldn’t hurt a fly. Well, look at her now.”
“Just drive, Alaric!” Al-Kenna yelled. “I can take the trucks out if you drive the damn car and stop swerving.”
“You’ll get hurt,” Alaric said.
Damon hooked his forearm around her middle and reeled her in. Once again finding herself belted into the seat beside Damon, she didn’t know whom to complain to first. So, she simply leveled Alaric with a glare.
“Come on, this is what I’ve been trained to do. Let me do it,” she said.
Alaric stared at her for a second, then shook his head. “No.”
She was about to unclasp the seatbelt and ease out the window anyway, but paused when she realized she hadn’t heard any shots in the last few seconds. When she looked out the back window, she saw the SUV’s had fallen far behind them.
“Who are they?” Al-Kenna yelled, competing with Sully who was singing about how he stands alone.
“Rogues. They’re the immortals who refuse to join the Alliance.”
“What do they want with us?”
He pulled onto a two-lane highway, jerking the wheel so hard to the left, she thought the car would flip.
Though the SUV’s didn’t make the turn as sharply as Alaric, they managed not to lose any more distance.
She repeated her question.
“What do you think?” he said. “I could hear their thoughts from a mile away. They’ve allied themselves with Azriel.”
“Where are we going?”
“To a coven house. We were going there tomorrow anyway, so it won’t be a big deal that we’re showing up tonight. The rogues won’t dare go anywhere near the coven house. They’ll be too many Alliance members there.”
“More so than usual, given the meeting is tomorrow,” Damon agreed.
“They’re still chasing us,” Al-Kenna said.
Alaric glanced in his rearview mirror and grinned. “This baby has a V8 in her. There’s no way a hulk of an SUV can keep up with me now that we’re on an open highway.”
As if to demonstrate, he shifted into fifth and slammed the gas…hard. The car shot forward and she thanked God for the time. This late at night, there were only a few cars on the road.
The trucks fell further behind them and after a few minutes, she couldn’t even see the glow of their headlights.
“They’re gone,” she said.
She felt Damon’s muscles relax as he reclined in his chair and glanced at the passenger side mirror.
“She’s right,” he agreed. “No sign of them. I still can’t believe they had the balls to come after you. You’re the Coven Lord.”
“There were a few old ones in there, but most of them were young. It was the young ones who couldn’t mask their thoughts,” Alaric said.
Al-Kenna looked at him. “What would have happened if you hadn’t been able to read their thoughts from so far away?”
Alaric shrugged. “Baby doll, I don’t want to think about that.”
Chapter Twenty-T
hree
Al-Kenna felt the car slow and heard the crunch of gravel beneath the wheels.
“We’re here,” Alaric said after he’d brought the car to a stop.
Damon popped off the seatbelt and shoved open the car door. “I’ll let Jules know we’re here.”
She stretched into the backseat and replaced her gun. She would have hooked the duffle over her shoulder and stepped out of the car behind Damon but Alaric leaned over her, wrapped an arm around her waist, and pulled her onto his lap. Before she realized what was happening, she was straddling him. He held her face in his hands and brought her mouth down to his.
Light exploded behind her eyes as his tongue delved into her mouth and filled her with his sweet taste. His embrace was so hot, she felt the heat of his body slowly engulf her, swallowing her until her whole world became Alaric. Desire reared within so powerfully that she had to pull away from him so she could draw a breath. But he drew her close again and closed his mouth over hers. Possessively, he plundered her and rendered her mindless with lust.
Alaric moved an arm away from her and used it to shove open the car door. In one movement he’d turned in the seat, set his feet on the ground, and stepped from the car. He’d lifted her with as little effort as he’d shown earlier.
When he stumbled into the car, she knew he was as excited as she was.
Releasing her lips, he bent over the car and pressed her against the hood. She arched her back in surprise when the metal came into contact with her skin.
“Alaric?”
“I want you so badly, Al-Kenna.”
He caged her in his arms and ground his hips against her so she could feel the press of his erection against her stomach. She opened her mouth to speak, but only gasped as he fell on her and claimed her mouth again.
Al-Kenna moaned at the intensity of his desire. She knew he would take her right there on the hood of his car if she let him. His kisses were so deep and so wet, a part of her entertained the thought of letting him.
“Alaric?” she breathed against his mouth.
She could feel the struggle in him, the fight to control his primal urge to defy her and do as he wished, but he pulled back.
“You must think I’m an animal,” he said between pants. His canines were sharp already, but they hadn’t lengthened. His eyes were still a safe color, but she felt a little wariness creep up her spine.
He moved away from her and she slid off the hood onto the ground. As she stared up into his face and took in the thin layer of sheen that covered it, his disheveled hair and his lips, he nearly looked more animal than man.
“Being on the beach with you,” he explained. “Then the chase. When I have you alone, Al-Kenna…” But he didn’t finish the sentence. Instead, he said, “Let’s go inside.”
He grabbed her hand and started up the driveway with her. She took the time to digest her surroundings. They seemed to be far from civilization. Save the house that stood before her, all else was trees. The driveway they had driven up was lined with trees, the area around the house was littered with trees, it was as though the builder plopped the house down in the middle of a forest. Ancient willows leaned over the flagstone path that led to the front door, blocking out the bright glow of the moonlight. The house itself looked like something out of a horror movie. It was a gothic-style stone monstrosity that seemed the perfect abode for a coven house. It had the look of something that had grown out of the ground. It loomed four stories above them and as they progressed up the walkway, she felt a tremor of fear run down her spine.
“This is the coven house?”
“Yes. And don’t worry. Nobody will harm you. You’re not only Ikari, you’re the Warlord’s daughter. And you’re with me.”
She swallowed hard, suddenly realizing what she was about to do. She was about to enter an Alliance coven house. This was madness. “It’s close to three in the morning. Won’t they mind us showing up on their door unannounced like this?”
“I’m the Coven Lord,” he said. “Nobody will dare touch you while you’re here. They won’t even think about touching you.”
She studied the grim set to his features and knew he meant it.
“If they try,” she said, “I’ll kill them.”
That brought a smile to his face. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. For now…” He offered her his hand.
She took it.
They stepped into the foyer and immediately the scent of frankincense assailed her. It was thick on the air, and so strong she practically choked on it. Trying not to grimace, she allowed Alaric to lead her inside.
The house itself was like something out of a gothic fantasy. Al-Kenna felt like she’d stumbled onto a Hollywood horror movie set and gotten trapped inside. From what she could see of the house so far, it had all the necessary touches. A multi-tiered chandelier spanned three of the four stories that made up the foyer. Dim sparks of light glimmered like tiny diamonds from this electrical atrocity, and she wondered how such a huge light source could emit so little light. A circular table was centered beneath the chandelier and it sported a mini wilderness of blooms, all of them blood red. Even the carpet fit the gothic décor. Clearly, it was expensive. With every step, she felt her feet sink deep into it. The walls were lined with the portraits of darkly handsome men and women. She didn’t doubt they were all immortals.
“Coven leaders who have ruled within this house,” Alaric explained when he saw where she was looking.
“Why so many?”
“No one rules to his or her death,” he said with a chuckle. “This is a democracy. Our leaders are elected.”
“Even you?” she asked quickly when she heard the clatter of feet coming toward them.
“Even me,” he agreed. “Sounds like Damon has rounded up the entire house. Stay close to me.”
As pale-faced men and women filed into the foyer, Al-Kenna welcomed the warmth of Alaric’s hand wrapped around her own. She had a sudden impulse to burrow close to him and hide her face in the hard plains of his chest. Instead, she gave his hand a squeeze and forced herself to stay calm. She refused to show these immortals the fear she felt. She was an Ikari warrior and she would behave accordingly.
Nobody made a move to approach Alaric, and she had a sense they were waiting for some move on her part to decide how to respond to her presence. They stared at her through heavy-lidded eyes, each of them so pale she could have easily mistaken them for manikins. They were all beautiful, though none of them came near to Alaric’s beauty. Still, she realized with some surprise that other than their pale skin, they each had very unique faces. Most of them had dark hair, but there were a few blondes and one man who had a mass of bright red hair falling over his shoulders. She wanted to ask Alaric how many of these fiends were vampyr and how many of them were beastmen, but she figured now was not the time to quiz him.
She fixed her gaze to the redhead and studied him. He seemed young enough, hadn’t been more than twenty when he was made, she supposed, but she didn’t think he was a very old immortal, either. Being around Alaric and Damon had taught her much in knowing the age of an immortal simply from being in their presence. Where power radiated off Alaric with such force that she felt the strength of him before he was within her sight, Damon had a gentle aura that gave off tiny sparks of energy. This red-haired vampire was like Damon, so she fixed her eyes on him and focused, listening until a glimmer of his thoughts came to her.
The Coven Lord has brought an outsider within the walls of the coven house. Jules says such is forbidden. Damon says she’s safe.
“Coven Lord,” someone said, drawing Al-Kenna’s attention away from the red-haired immortal.
A man strolled into the foyer with Damon close at his side. He was dressed simply enough in black slacks and a crimson button-up shirt, but his clothes weren’t what held Al-Kenna’s attention. There was strength in this creature, a force of will that made her take a surprised step backward.
Alaric’s hand remained firm, though,
and his grip kept her from retreating any further.
“Jules,” Alaric said with a nod.
This new immortal, this Jules, made his way forward and as if on cue, every immortal in the foyer stepped out of his path.
Head held high, black hair streaming out behind him as he moved, he advanced on them. When Jules got to them, he gave Alaric a respectful nod.
“Can I assume from your presence that the situation has escalated?” Jules asked.
“That would be a fair assessment. Before we get into that, though, is my room ready? I know I’m a day early, but I’d like to let my guest settle in. She’s had a long day and she’s tired.”
The mention of her made Jules refocus his attention on her.
His head seemed to glide in her direction. When she felt the full force of his gaze, she again was startled by the strength of this creature. He looked like a porcelain doll with his delicate bone structure, cupid’s mouth, and wide, questioning eyes. But, there was something in the way he held himself, something in the way he looked at her that told her this wasn’t a man to cross.
His eyes on her body, the leisurely way he let them run over her made her feel dirty. She had a sudden desire to stand under a hot shower and scrub her skin. His eyes were ice blue and nearly as pale as Alaric’s. But where Alaric’s eyes were kind, this Jules had the kind of eyes that made her think he was capable of committing any horror with the right justification. To be this fiend’s victim, to have those emotionless eyes be the last thing she saw before death would truly be horrible. A cold shudder ran up her spine as she thought of the people who had been unfortunate enough to cross his path in the days before the Alliance.
She gasped when she felt sudden pressure in her head. Before she could stop herself, she took another step back. She couldn’t help it, this creature’s boldness had caught her by surprise. In some shock, she realized the fiend was trying to read her thoughts. He was actually trying to burrow his way into her mind and glean what he could from her.
Nephilim War: Book 2 Page 21