Chained by Night (The Moonbound Clan Vampires Book 2)

by Larissa Ione

  “Both chiefs are demanding an audience with you,” Riker said. “They’re waiting for an escort.”

  Hunter stood. “There will be no escort. I’m going to them.”

  “Sir,” Riker said, “I strongly advise against that. Bring them here, where we have the advantage of numbers and the comfort of our home.”

  “They’re already in our home,” Hunter pointed out, thinking of Rasha. “Now they’re on our property, and I won’t cower behind walls.”

  Riker’s vile curse rang out. “Then give me an hour to get teams of warriors posted around their camps. They won’t even know they’re there.”

  Hunter gestured to a framed Lakota quote on the wall and shook his head. “ ‘Force, no matter how concealed, begets resistance,’ ” he said. “No. I’ll go with no more than two warriors to accompany me. And don’t argue.” He crossed the room to the closet where he kept his battle gear and grabbed his weapons harness. Where’s Myne?” He might despise the male, but he was one of the best fighters in the clan.

  Riker’s pause sat heavily in the air, and Hunter knew he wasn’t going to like the answer. “He’s gone.”

  “What do you mean, gone?”

  “His chamber is empty.” The worry in Riker’s eyes said it all. Myne wasn’t off on one of his usual unannounced solitary disappearances.

  Hunter’s first reaction was to wish the fucker good riddance. But dammit, the clan needed him. “When this is done, find him.” He buckled his harness to his chest. “Now, let’s see why these bastards are here.”

  HUNTER MET WITH Tseeveyo first. Strategically, it made the most sense; NightShade was the lesser threat to MoonBound, and if Hunter played his cards right, he might gain vital information he could use against ShadowSpawn.

  But it still pissed Hunter off that the bastard was on MoonBound property.

  NightShade had erected several crude lean-to shelters around a central campfire, but Tseeveyo’s shelter was the largest and most private. When Hunter entered, he found several fur bedrolls on the floor, some containing sleeping females.

  In one corner of the tent, a young female, who appeared to be no more than eighteen, tended to a toddler with pink ribbons in her jet-black hair.

  Hunter had heard that Tseeveyo didn’t travel anywhere without at least five of his mates, and it looked like that rumor could be confirmed as true.

  Tseeveyo, a born vampire with muddy brown eyes and long black hair that was just starting to go silver at the temples, took a seat in one of two folding camp chairs. The table between them held a bowl of nuts and berries, a skin of what Hunter guessed was blood, and a plate of steaming corn cakes.

  “You can sit or not.” Tseeveyo squeezed the contents of the wineskin into a wooden cup. “I don’t give a fuck.”

  Pleasant guy. Hunter remained standing, angling his body to keep one eye on movement outside the tent. “Tell me why you’re camping on my land without permission.”

  Tseeveyo snorted and took a swig from his cup. “Didn’t think I needed it, since I’ve come to collect my promised bride.”

  Hunter’s hand drifted toward the dagger at his hip as he entertained fantasies of driving it through the bastard’s heart. “Did you alter your deal with Kars to take Aylin sooner?”

  “Fuck him.” Tseeveyo wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his buckskin tunic. “He promised me that virgin bitch, and I want her.”

  Hunter’s fingers curled around the hilt. “What if she’s no longer a virgin?” Not that Tseeveyo was going to get Aylin. But this shit would go down a lot easier if Tseeveyo gave up Aylin willingly.

  The other chief hissed as if Hunter had just thrown a poisonous snake in his face. “I still want her. I’ll beat her to within an inch of her life for fucking someone else, but I want her.”

  Hunter so wanted to knock Tseeveyo’s teeth out. And then stab him. “If we all got what we wanted, you’d have a blade through your heart.”

  “And your clan would be extinct,” Tseeveyo said, almost pleasantly. “But as you pointed out, we don’t all get what we want. Now, hand over Aylin. My clan is moving, and I want to move her with us.”

  “Your deal is with Kars. You need to talk to him.”

  Tseeveyo leaned back in his chair and stared down the bridge of his broad nose at Hunter. “That bastard will require an outrageous payment.”

  “Not my problem.”

  Tseeveyo’s oily smile made the hair on Hunter’s head stand up. “How about an incentive?” He curled his finger at the young female in the corner, and she came over, the toddler in tow. “I’ll offer my daughter to you.” He snatched up the child and held her out as the mother fell to her knees and sobbed. “I was saving her for myself, but the trade for Aylin will be worth the loss.”

  Raw fury scorched Hunter’s throat. The sick bastard was going to mate with his own daughter? And he was willing to hand over an innocent baby to a strange male who could do who knew what with her?

  Hunter had seen enough. Even if he hadn’t fallen for Aylin and the mating with Rasha was still on track, he’d never have handed Aylin over to this monster. And if Tseeveyo hadn’t been holding a baby, Hunter would have knocked his teeth out the way he’d wanted to a moment ago.

  “You,” Hunter growled, “are a twisted abomination. You have until nightfall to get off my land.”

  “Don’t threaten me, asshole. My dark shaman can more than defend our camp.”

  “Not if your dark shaman is dead.” Hunter spun on his heel and headed toward the exit. “Be here after the sun goes down, and you’ll see.” Every male and female at MoonBound would happily join in the battle to rid their territory of NightShade’s infestation.

  Tseeveyo’s roar of fury followed Hunter out of the tent and all the way to the edge of camp, where Riker and Aiden were waiting. When he heard the child whimper and one of the females cry, he wheeled around, dagger drawn, and both Aiden and Riker had to hold him back.

  “Easy, chief,” Riker said, eyeballing the wall of Tseeveyo’s armed warriors who had closed around the tent. “Going back would be suicide.”

  Aiden nodded. “His day will come.”

  Yes, it would. And Hunter would be front and center.

  HUNTER SAT CROSS-LEGGED on a plush bear pelt on the floor of Kars’s teepee. Modern clans, like MoonBound, had long since found that human-made camping equipment was superior to—or at least more portable than—Indian native equipment, but some clans, like ShadowSpawn, never caught up to modern times.

  Sitting across from Hunter, Kars offered him a wooden cup of hollywine. Careful to keep the imprint mark on his hand hidden, Hunter took the cup to be polite, but he didn’t drink. Kars was rumored to have poisoned rivals in the past, and Hunter wasn’t taking any chances.

  “This is a surprise, Kars.” Hunter searched the other chief’s expression for any hint of what he was thinking, but the male’s face was a blank. Like his personality.

  Kars shrugged. “I missed my daughters and wanted to make sure you’re treating them well.”

  Liar. “Is that so.”

  “Mmm.” Kars’s noncommittal response made Hunter grind his teeth. “How’s it going with Rasha?”

  “It’s not,” Hunter said, figuring that where he could, he might as well be straight.

  Kars smiled fondly. “She can be difficult.”

  Difficult? She was foul-mouthed, psychotic, callous, and abusive. “She’s more than difficult.”

  Another shrug. “You’ll grow to appreciate her.”

  Only if she was thousands of miles away. He’d appreciate that. “You didn’t come all this way to ensure that your daughters are happy. So why are you really here? And at the same time as NightShade?”

  The smile fell off Kars’s face. “Tseeveyo shouldn’t be here until after the new moon. After you and Rasha are mated. It was agreed.”

  Th
is was getting weird. What were the odds that both clans would show up for the same female at the same time if they hadn’t arranged it?

  Hunter put the cup to his lips, but he didn’t drink. “Why do you think he’s here?”

  “For Aylin, obviously.” Kars waved his hand in dismissal. “Doesn’t matter. I’m going to take her home.”

  Hunter’s hand jerked hard enough to spill blood-red wine on his hand. “Aylin is supposed to tend to Rasha until the mating ceremony.” Which obviously wasn’t going to happen, but he needed time to figure out how to avoid outright war.

  “I changed my mind. She belongs at ShadowSpawn.”

  Hunter took a deep, controlled breath. Stay calm. “Tseeveyo isn’t going to take that well.” No, the guy seemed to want Aylin in a bad way.

  “I’ll handle Tseeveyo.”

  “You should have done that a long time ago.”

  Kars went taut. “Meaning?”

  “Meaning Tseeveyo is a rabid dog.” Hunter leaned forward, wanting the other male to see every flicker of emotion that crossed Hunter’s face. “And you promised your daughter to him, which makes you even worse than he is.”

  Kars snarled, spitting wine and flashing stained fangs. Had he never heard of a toothbrush? “I promised her a life! Without Tseeveyo, she’d have nothing and no one. If I died, the other clan members would tear her apart.”

  Did he truly believe that what he’d done was done out of concern for Aylin? That handing her over to a fiend was for the best?

  If so, something wasn’t adding up. “If life is so bad at ShadowSpawn for Aylin, why do you want her back? And don’t give me some sob story about how you miss her. We both know that’s a bunch of elkshit.”

  Kars gazed at Hunter with shrewd eyes, as if he was trying to decide whether to tell the truth. Finally, he chugged the last of his wine and tossed the cup over his shoulder. “I’ve found another mate for her.”

  Kars’s blunt announcement was like an icicle through the chest. “Who?”

  “One of my warriors,” Kars said. “By mating her to Fane, I’m guaranteeing her safety and assuring that when I’m gone, my clan will be led by a worthy male.”

  “Fane?” Hunter shook his head in disbelief. “You want to mate her to that asshole?”

  “He’s strong. Brave. Aylin is deformed and weak. He’ll protect her, and with the Raven’s help, their children will inherit Fane’s strength of character instead of hers.”

  Hunter wanted to leap across the space between them and beat the ever-living fuck out of Kars. But something wasn’t sitting right, and until he knew what it was, he had to proceed carefully and with fewer homicidal thoughts.

  According to Riker, it was called diplomacy. Di-plo-ma-cy, he’d said. The smartass.

  “Come now, Kars. We both know there’s no damned mystical Raven.”

  Kars shifted uncomfortably and spoke in a hushed voice. “We don’t speak of these things.”

  “You don’t. I do.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I’ve been through the trials. I’ve passed the fucking tests.”

  Kars shot to his feet, fangs bared. “And you dishonored Rasha to do it! How dare you take her unworthy sister?”

  “Dishonored Rasha?” Hunter asked incredulously as he came to his own feet. “She dishonored herself by refusing.”

  “That was her choice.”

  “And it was a choice I couldn’t accept,” Hunter snarled. “I would never give up my child to a demon. Aylin was willing to fight for what Rasha wasn’t. And she was magnificent.”

  Kars jabbed his finger at him. “You took a foolish chance.”

  “I— Wait.” Hunter frowned. “How did you know I took Aylin instead of Rasha?”

  Kars’s eyes flared, but a heartbeat later, he waved dismissively. “You traveled outside your territory. You think I don’t have scouts everywhere?”

  Plausible, but Kars’s tiny eye flare stuck in Hunter’s craw. Something was very, very wrong about this entire situation, from two clans arriving at the same time and both demanding Aylin to the reasons they were giving for wanting her.

  Neither Kars nor Tseeveyo had any respect for Aylin, so the keen interest in her meant that something had happened to spur them to this.

  Oh . . . oh, fuck. There was only one logical answer.

  Somehow they knew about Aylin’s new ability. They knew she was now one of the most powerful vampires in existence.

  Which meant that neither clan was going to let her go.

  AYLIN HAD BEEN summoned to Hunter’s chamber. Apparently, he’d gone to the lab to find her, but she’d gone to the library. There was something so hugely calming about a room full of books, and right now she needed calm. She wasn’t ready to see Rasha again . . . didn’t know how she’d react when she did see her. And the news that her father and Tseeveyo were both camped out just a quarter-mile away had rattled her.

  Now, with Hunter asking her to his chambers, she couldn’t help but wonder if he’d decided to hand her over for the sake of his clan.

  She rapped tentatively on the door, and a heartbeat later, Hunter was there. Sweet Spirit, he was gorgeous, his hair pulled back with a leather thong to reveal the angled planes of his face, his black T-shirt stretched over layers of muscle, and black leather pants that fit him like a glove.

  Anxiety wracked her . . . until he tugged her into his arms. His mouth found hers in an almost desperate kiss that left no doubt how glad he was to see her.

  When he stepped back, she felt dazed, both from the arousal he so easily called from her and from relief that nothing had changed between them after his visit with the two enemy clans.

  “Join me,” he said. “I’m playing video games.”

  Baffled, she followed him inside, where he plopped down on the couch and picked up a controller. “Video games? Did my father and Tseeveyo leave?”

  His expression went dark, but oddly, he dived into the game with a vengeance. “Nope.”

  A knock at the door startled her before she could get him to elaborate.

  “Enter,” Hunter called out.

  The door opened, and Bastien swept in with a huge tray of something covered in cheese and red chunky stuff.

  “Thanks, kid,” Hunter said. “Just leave it on the coffee table.”

  Bastien gave a silent, shy nod, his face turning bright red when he noticed Aylin. He ran out of there like his feet were on fire.

  “Bastien is just discovering females,” Hunter said, amusement lacing his tone.

  “Just now? How old is he?”

  “He’s twenty, but until three months ago, he lived in a cage inside a Daedalus lab, so he’s a little behind the curve.” Hunter winked at her, and she would have been charmed if she wasn’t still hung up on what he’d just said. “He’s catching up fast, though. The females love him.”

  A cage? In a human laboratory? Aylin would never complain about her life again. “How did he get free?” She blinked. “Wait . . . isn’t he Riker’s son?”

  Hunter nodded. “Riker’s first mate, Terese, was pregnant when she was killed while in human captivity. Riker thought his son died with her until he and Nicole found Bastien in a Daedalus laboratory.”

  Great Spirit have mercy. “There really are no words for how awful that must have been for everyone involved.”

  “I know. That’s why we don’t talk about it much.” Hunter removed his feet from the table and patted the cushion next to him. “Take a load off, and have some totchos.”

  “Some what?”

  He gestured to the plate of stuff Bastien had brought. “Totchos. Tater tots with nacho toppings. Awesome.”

  Aylin had no idea what nacho toppings were, but the smell was making her mouth water. She sank down onto a cushion next to Hunter . . . but not too close, which made his mouth quirk with amusement. He reache
d out and lifted a tot off the plate and popped it into his mouth. She watched him chew for a moment, watched the way his throat muscles worked with every swallow. Damn, even when he was doing nothing but eating, he was the sexiest thing she’d ever laid eyes on.

  Stomach growling, she followed his lead and ate one of the little things. An explosion of flavor burst onto her tongue . . . creamy, tangy, sharp. Onions, tomatoes, cheese, and other flavors she couldn’t identify made her moan with delight.

  “Good, huh?” Hunter asked, and all Aylin could do was nod as she shoved another into her mouth.

  She ate a dozen more bites, chewing slowly, but all she was doing was delaying the inevitable. Finally, she wiped her hands on a napkin and turned to Hunter. “Okay, so what’s going on?”

  He did something on screen that caused an explosion. “Obviously, you know ShadowSpawn and NightShade are here.”

  “That’s all anyone is talking about.” The totchos suddenly weren’t sitting well. “Why are they here?” Please don’t say Tseeveyo is here for me.

  “They’re here for you.”

  She was going to throw up. “Why would my father be here for me, too?”

  Pausing his game, Hunter shifted on the sofa to face her, his expression alarmingly serious. “I think they might know about your ability. Who did you tell?”

  “No one.”

  “Not even Rasha?”

  “I don’t trust her,” she said, the ache of her admission eating at her like a betrayal. “Her loyalty is to ShadowSpawn, not me.”

  Hunter’s raw curse scorched her ears. “I was sure she’d gotten the word out.”

  Aylin couldn’t blame him for thinking that, but she doubted even Rasha would tip off Tseeveyo about Aylin’s newfound gift.

  “Where is she? I haven’t seen her.” She assumed Hunter would have tossed her into the pit or the dungeon; it was what her father would have done in a similar situation. But deep down, Aylin couldn’t help but hope for mercy. Rasha was hard-hearted, but given her upbringing, how could she have turned out any other way?