by CC MacKenzie
Her eyes devoured his marvellous face, those high cheekbones, that strong jaw with the wide mouth and lips she knew she’d never get tired of kissing. That was, if she ever got the chance.
His fierce eyes lasered into hers as again she shook her head.
"Not until you see this."
She turned towards a desert which held the fallen, and with a wave of her hand, her mind downloaded Ezekiel’s memory of an event unseen in the history of humankind.
In the vast ocean of a great desert, row upon row of the Legion stood at attention.
The rumble under their feet, the shaft of light was so bright it blinded for long seconds.
And then a portal opened.
Marcus drew Anais close.
Through Ezekiel’s eyes, Anais and Marcus watched, channelling Ezekiel's thoughts, his emotions, his fascinated horror, as he recognised the legend of an old tale, of an ancient terror, brought to life in front of his eyes.
A soul-eater.
The portal was wide and tall, at least the size of the doors of The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.
The soul-eater that stood before the portal was almost seven feet tall, with the heavily muscled body of a warrior, dressed in some sort of metal armour. The bald skin of its head was parchment white. The eyes black, relentless, as they scanned the Legion standing before it.
The being appeared to take a deep breath before its mouth went unspeakably wide in a silent scream. The energy blast was a physical punch of power that sent Ezekiel flying backwards through the air to land behind a crop of rocks.
And that’s what probably saved his life.
When Ezekiel struggled unsteadily to his feet, all his horrified gaze saw were the dead.
The being’s mouth was even wider if that was possible and he watched with utter shock as the tortured, frantically struggling souls of each soldier were sucked into that dark maw.
The portal began to dissipate, like a flickering television screen losing the signal, and the being moved fast as the gateway to this reality began to break-up.
The being returned through the portal, turned again to survey the scene and saw Ezekiel watching...
The soul-eater... smiled.
It was a smile ferocious and filled with an evil Ezekiel had never before seen.
It was a warning. An ‘I’ll see you again’ rictus grin, which poured ice into Anais and Marcus's veins.
The earth beneath their feet shuddered with a thundering roar as the portal closed.
Aftershocks continued for many minutes as, eyes huge, Anais turned to face Marcus.
"Tell me, Marcus, what am I seeing?"
"According to Ezekiel, a soul-eater. An imaginary creature come to life."
She turned her head to look up at him.
Her heart stood still.
He looked somehow more than.
A warrior.
His narrowed eyes were still riveted to the spot where the portal had been.
"No," she pressed. "What am I seeing? Is this merely trouble, or is it a disaster for our world? When the portal opened the earth shook. The earth shook a few days ago, too, on the night I was attacked by a woman, a vampyre, in the club. And I know who she is. I see her in Ezekiel's memories of her. Her name is Eleanor. Eleanor Pattullo. Tell me, Marcus, why would she want me dead?"
"I promise to answer all your questions, my wee darlin’. Once we are out of here."
She recognised that face, the determination, the ruthless expression in those deep blue eyes.
"Marcus, take me home."
Chapter Twenty
"Speak to me, Anais."
Back in the real world, Anais found herself lying flat on her back on something soft.
She took a deep breath, smelled beeswax, the scent of musty books, red wine, and the faintest trace of light human sweat. It came to her that this was the aroma of... religion.
She was in a church?
Her eyelids felt glued together, but Anais forced them open to find Saira’s bright eyes peering into hers.
Then the shivering began.
Her chin trembled, her teeth chattered as her body temperature plunged.
"Shit," hissed Saira. Her fangs sank into her wrist and she pressed the bloody wound to Anais’s lips. "Shock. She needs warmth and blood."
Marcus stripped off his coat and laid it on top of Anais before taking her in his arms and holding her tight as she fed hungrily from Saira. His scent on the leather soothed her, as did his hand stroking her hair. Saira’s blood tasted warm and sweet with a peppery kick.
And Anais felt her organs absorb the fluid, like a sponge soaking water.
"Not too much," Marcus muttered the warning.
Anais released Saira. The medic sealed the bite on her wrist with a gentle lick of her tongue.
"Well done," said Saira said and gave Anais a soft smile.
A man came into her line of vision.
He was tall, dark and incredibly handsome.
Anais knew who he was.
She’d seen through his eyes, knew the innermost secrets of his heart and had felt the unrelenting agony in his soul.
Ezekiel.
Their eyes met and held for a timeless moment.
She would not share the deepest secret held in his heart.
By his smile, she saw he'd heard her promise.
Aware that Marcus’s hold on her had tightened, Anais smiled and held out her hands to the man.
Ezekiel ignored Marcus’s low growl of warning.
He dropped to his knees next to the couch.
Then he took her hands in his.
He bowed low pressing her fingertips to his forehead.
Saira’s hiss and Marcus’s jolt told her the witch had done something monumental.
He lifted his head and stared deep into her eyes.
"If ever you have need of my services, Anais. You have only to ask. My life is yours."
"Thank you," she whispered.
His smile transformed his face from handsome to gorgeous.
"I have healed the cut on your hand. Can you tell Marcus and Saira how it came to be?"
Anais blinked.
"It happened just before the earthquake hit."
Ezekiel nodded his head, encouraging her to continue.
"You were cut, poisoned, by a vampyre. Who hurt you, Anais?"
Anais bit her lip.
She was aware that Marcus had gone absolutely still.
"There was a woman. In the restrooms at the Pepper club. She seemed very interested in the necklace Marcus gave me. When I turned to leave, she was at the door. I knew I was trapped. I knew she was going to harm me. But then the earthquake struck and I ran. I think she grabbed my wrist... Everything happened so fast."
Ezekiel's dark gaze stayed on the man who held her too tight in his strong arms.
"Someone tried to kill her, before you took her vein. Anais is in grave danger. Marcus, you need to take better care of her."
Without looking at Anais, Ezekiel handed her hand to Marcus, as if for safe-keeping.
And Anais found her eyes filling as a lump the size of a fist in her throat made it impossible to swallow never mind speak.
Ezekiel's eyes stayed on Marcus. "I must speak with your father."
The tension in Marcus’s body wound even tighter as he held Anais close to his heart while he absorbed the truth that his kind had been betrayed by someone they trusted implicitly.
"Aye. I will speak with him, and Cristophe. We might have a problem with Samuel."
The witch simply gave him a bland stare.
"Lord Samuel Hindmarch believes the sins of the father shall be visited upon the son."
Marcus nodded.
"Even you cannot blame him for that."
Ezekiel's dark brows rose.
"Perhaps not. We do not have time to waste. Portal events are becoming more frequent. When a portal opens in our reality, magic leaks into this world. Therefore my powers increase as do my vampyre's ab
ilities. You must understand that nature demands a balance in all things. And the portals are impacting the earth’s polarity. Earthquakes follow, as do volcanic eruptions. Birds fall from the sky. Mammals, thousands of fish, are washed upon the shores. Drought, floods, famine and pestilence now stalk humanity."
Anais shivered and Marcus held her as if he’d never let her go, while she sat upright and leaned against his chest. His strong heart was a heavy beat against hers. And for the first time she was thankful, even glad, she was vampyre and not human, because even with a short glimpse into Ezekiel's clever mind, she knew now what the future might hold. That knowledge terrified her enough to threaten to devour her sanity. But she refused to give in to it. She refused to live in fear.
If anything the past days and hours had shown her she needed to grab what happiness she had, when she could, and live in the now.
Marcus stood and pulled her to her feet.
When she swayed he lifted her in his strong arms and held her as if she was the most precious thing in his universe.
Marcus's voice was firm, resolute, as he spoke to Ezekiel,
"I will call you."
He nodded to Saira who opened the door to let him carry Anais into the Cathedral.
"Saira," Ezekiel's voice was soft as Saira moved to follow Marcus and Anais.
With her hand on the door handle, she turned her head and looked over her shoulder.
He waited until she looked directly into his eyes.
"Eleanor has betrayed us."
Ezekiel read nothing but a cold-blooded loathing in her eyes.
What the hell, he had nothing to lose, so he spoke from the heart,
"I miss you."
Saira didn’t say a word.
She didn't blink.
She simply stared right through him before she turned and left without once looking back.
Chapter Twenty One
"And that’s it? Everything is all right with my world? Once we get back to the United States, how are we going to explain what’s happened to me?" Anais asked Marcus.
They were cuddling in his big bed after talking long into the night.
"Easy, we just say love does funny things to a person."
"I don’t know how you can joke at a time like this."
He nibbled her bottom lip as if she hadn’t spoken.
"I'd never joke about our wedding. We’ll get you a designer dress. This is China. They’ll run one up in an hour. Maybe a sparkling ruby tiara. Rubies would suit you. We can get a priest if you like. Tons of flowers. After that, we’ll settle in New York or anywhere else you fancy, each pursuing our careers in Gillespie, Pattullo and Hindmarch. In a few years, maybe sooner if you want, we’ll have a baby. See? All sorted."
He nuzzled his mouth against the pulse fluttering in delicate skin of her neck.
Anais closed her eyes against the prickling sensation behind her lids.
How many times had she fantasized about that precise scenario?
Of course she hadn’t seen vampyrism in her future.
"This is crazy," she began.
"Anais, look at me." He took her chin and forced her to stare into his eyes. "I love you, darlin’. As a lawyer you’re supposed to be able to read people. For months we’ve worked closely together. You know when I’m serious."
"Marcus, I swear if you’re playing me, I’ll make it my mission in life to make yours a living hell."
"I never play games. I love you."
She supposed if he said it often enough, she might begin to believe it.
"Why do we need to marry?"
Anais was well aware she hadn’t said she didn’t love him and it seriously annoyed her how complacent and certain of her he looked.
"It’s too simple to live together and you are mine."
Anais was stunned she could actually laugh at a time like this.
"Simple? You think living with you is simple?"
"Uh huh."
He shifted until his hips were cradled between hers and a spectacular erection pressed into her belly. His mouth took hers and this time it wasn’t soft, wasn’t kind. Everything he wanted from her, needed from her, transmitted itself through that one point of contact.
Incredibly, it felt as if her bones were melting as she surrendered.
Her arms wound around his neck.
"I never thought I'd see the day when I'd admit to believing in magic. Magic. For the first time I am actually thankful to be vampyre. I never thought I would live to see the day I'd ever say that."
His eyes went dark now.
"You are not invincible," he said.
"Not yet," responded Anais. "If my world is about to change, so must I go along with it."
Marcus bent his head and kissed her nose.
"This is not the first time magic has sought to rule this world. Magic was defeated before, it will be defeated again."
"Ezekiel wishes to help us," she said.
"Ezekiel may draw us into a trap."
She shook her head.
"No. His thoughts are pure."
"Do you really believe he'd permit you to see all?"
"I saw enough before he shut me out, Marcus. Ezekiel did not have a choice." Now she burrowed into him and held him tight before lifting her head to study his face. "Tell me, what happened to earth the last time magic ruled?"
He sighed, as if not wanting to say anything that might break the moment. And then he pressed his cheek to her hair and inhaled deeply.
"The dark ages."
A time where art and the creation and science seemed to die for hundreds of years.
She wouldn't think of such an event happening again, so her mind went back to a point he'd made earlier. 'It's too simple to live together and you are mine.'
Perhaps it was just that simple?
"I do love you, Marcus. But I hate you as well."
His forehead met hers.
"I know it. I’m sorry I hurt you, Anais. I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you before I acted. I'm sorry I didn't prepare you better for what the future held. Marry me?"
She could hear the sincerity in his voice and see it in his eyes.
He was absolutely serious.
And yet before she gave him an answer, there was so much for her to sort out.
So much for her to learn.
So much for her to understand.
If she could turn back the clock, would she do anything different? In truth, in spite of everything Marcus had done to her, to them both, the answer was no. However, no didn't mean he was off the hook. She might love him, but, she resented him, too. He was too bossy, too male, too much. However, she didn't want to return to her solitary life. A life where she'd never been held in the arms of her vampyre lover. She'd just had to lose her humanity to do it.
Now she was a vampyre and an empath, a supernatural being. And, according to Saira, an oddity. Her brain was filled with too much information. Maybe she needed to take one day at a time? And by the way Marcus was looking at her, as if he wanted to spank her because she hadn't answered his very important question.
She sighed. "I'll think about it."
The kiss he gave her was almost erotic in its sweetness.
When he lifted his head his eyes were too dark and too intense. But she recognised the deep love in his heart for her.
"I’ll make life tough for us at times. I’m not the easiest man to live with. But I adore you, my wee darlin’. Do you believe me?"
Her smile blossomed.
And so did the love she had for him, only for him, in her heart.
"I do."
Marcus closed his eyes and thanked God for bringing this woman into his life.
His hands tunnelled in her soft, silky hair as he tipped her head back and plundered her vulnerable mouth.
The sting in his shaft made him groan into her mouth, "I need your hands on me."
Her big eyes stared into his and he read hunger and arousal.
"Where?"
He laughed as h
e undid the button on her jeans, slid down the zip.
"Anywhere you like, darlin’. Where would you like to start?"
The pink tip of her tongue ran across her top lip as she undid the button on his jeans, slid down the zip and eyed his throbbing erection.
"I want to taste you," she all but purred the words as she tilted her pelvis and rubbed herself against him in a way that had him hiss out a breath.
Her effect on him was becoming embarrassing.
In seconds they were naked.
But rather than touching him, Anais appeared to need to simply kiss him to death.
What a way to go.
Tentative fingers slid into his hair, massaged his scalp and the effect was... amazing.
Her tongue danced with his and when she took his bottom lip between her teeth and sucked it into his mouth, he almost exploded right there and then.
"You’re trying to destroy me."
"Straddle my mouth."
Shock held him still.
He stared down into those naughty eyes the color of dark chocolate and read sheer wickedness.
Since he lived to please her, he did as she asked and placed his knees either side of her shoulders, which brought his balls, his aching erection right above her mouth.
But the little vixen simply nuzzled the soft skin of his upper thigh with her nose, her lips, as her hands and fingers went on a voyage of discovery over his ass.
His hands slapped against the headboard as he tried manfully not to tremble.
Marcus Gillespie didn’t do trembling, but he was trembling now.
"Please..." he begged, for what he had no idea.
At last her hands found him.
His dick was so hard it could drill a hole in solid steel.
One small hand cupped and took the weight of his balls, while the other ran feather light fingertips up the length of his thick shaft.
A fingertip spread the fluid of precum over the mushroom head of his erection and he nearly wept from the pleasure of it.
Breathing hard, he looked down between his legs and his eyes met hers.
The pink tip of her tongue poked out between soft lips before she gently licked over the tip and all the while her eyes never left his. Her breath whispered as she blew gently and he almost exploded when the hand cradling his balls gave a light squeeze.