Ellowyn Found: An MM Vampire Trilogy Omnibus Edition Books 1 - 3

by Kayleigh Sky

  Emek’s nerves tainted the air, and Zev felt his emotions the way his inner ear felt the notes of the bi’lilo. You’re fated.

  How ironic that his fated hated him. If Emek was Asa. Zev guessed he could be wrong. Maybe he wasn’t, which was why they felt so far apart, but he didn’t think so. The tug that reached into his chest and dragged him out of bed to the chessboard was too strong. He spent hours trying to fool Asa with some strange move that came out of nowhere. Not to win, but to play with him. To remind them both that the world wasn’t always dark. That love was a flame.

  For years, everything rational in Zev had told him Asa was dead, but believing he was alive had kept him going. Because if he wasn’t… Well then, Zev had murdered his fated and was nothing but a killer. In the last days of the war bodies had lain out in the open, blood undrunk. He’d been terrified he’d find Asa’s face on every corpse.

  Tell him.

  Tell him what? That Zev wasn’t a murderer? That he hadn’t used Asa’s innocence and made a promise he hadn’t kept?

  What if he wasn’t who Zev thought he was?

  “Many years ago, I met a human boy I fell in love with.”

  Emek’s gaze rose slowly to meet his before he returned to polishing the silverware. “Were you a boy too?”

  “No.”

  “We have laws against that.”

  “I would never have touched or hurt him. He was precious to me.”

  “Was?”

  “I’m not sure he still exists.”

  Emek went still. Long seconds went by as Zev’s heart squeezed tighter and tighter.

  “That’s too bad.”

  “He was my fated.”

  Again, the stillness, the knife in his hand flashing in the light over his head. “I don’t believe in love anyway,” Emek said.

  “Never?”

  “I was tricked into believing in it once. But I was young. A boy.”

  “Maybe it wasn’t a trick.”

  Emek shrugged and met his gaze again. “I don’t care anymore.”

  Zev smiled. “That’s my problem, I guess. I can’t stop caring.”

  “You’re a king,” said Emek. “You rule us. You have what you want. I polish your silverware.”

  He gave a thin smile then bent his head, rubbing the blade of his knife to a brighter and brighter shine. Zev stood, walked the length of the table, sat across from Emek, smeared polish on a cloth, and picked up a spoon. He applied the polish and rubbed until the metal gleamed. When he put the spoon down and reached for another, he stared into Emek’s eyes, narrowed and… hurt?

  Emek dropped his gaze.

  My sweet.

  Had he meant it? Maybe he said it to everybody he fucked, a gushing sentimentality that came on the wave of orgasm.

  Why had he been outside Zev’s room?

  “I’m telling you,” Otto had said. “The guy’s up to no good. Unless he had business in your room,” he’d added pointedly.

  Zev had just shrugged. Whoever had attacked him had not been human, he was sure of it. It was vampires he had to face now.

  After they’d polished the silverware and scrubbed the glasses spotless, Emek collected the cleaning supplies and departed. Zev stayed, gazing at the mural over his head until Justin arrived.

  “It is time to prepare.”

  Zev nodded and got to his feet. “The boy you hired with Emek—the one who works in the kitchen—send him to me.”

  Justin’s eyebrows rose, face as bland as always. Could Zev do anything to surprise him?

  “Yes. That would be Isaac. Should he prepare for a task?”

  Zev paused before stepping past him, a frown on his face. “Tell him to bring me a bowl of soup.”

  “Of course,” said Justin. “He might even be in the middle of making the soup since that’s his job.”

  Zev glowered at him. “I haven’t met him yet. I like to know my employees.”

  “I shall send him.”

  He stalked off to his room to get ready. His enforcer Pan stood beside his door, straightening as he approached. “One of the kitchen staff will be here soon. Please let him in. Instruct him to wait in the study for me.”

  “Yes, sire.”

  Zev took a quick shower, scrubbing the scent of silver polish from his fingers. After drying off, he combed his damp hair and pulled it into a tight ponytail at the top of his head. The long tail he wove into thin braids. As he strode through the bedroom, he knotted the tie on his robe and stepped into the outer room.

  The boy stood by the door, stiff-legged, arms straight by his sides. He’d entered the room far enough to deposit a covered tray on the coffee table by the fire. Zev approached and lifted the lid. Steam rose from a bowl flecked with orange and green. The base was thick and oatmeal colored, fragrant with herbs and mushrooms.

  “What kind is it?”

  The boy cleared his throat, fingers clenching and releasing. “Barley.”

  “Smells good.”

  “I added lots of mushrooms.”

  Zev nodded and sat. “Come sit with me for a minute. I know you’re busy. I wasn’t planning on another elaborate dinner.”

  The boy made a wide circle to the chair opposite him and sat on the edge of the cushion. He met Zev’s eyes, and a muscle moved in his jaw. “Did I do something wrong?”

  Zev opened his mouth and let out a breath of air. “I don’t think so.” He smiled, hoping the boy’s face would soften, but it didn’t. “Unless you know something I don’t.”

  “I just concentrate on my job.” He squinted under pinched brows, his body stiff.

  Zev picked up the bowl of soup and his spoon. “Do you mind if I eat this now? It’s Isaac, isn’t it?”

  Excitement flittered across Isaac’s face for a moment. He nodded and gripped the arms of his chair. “Yeah. Of course. I hope you like it.”

  Zev swallowed a spoonful of the soup. It warmed his mouth and throat, rich and heavy, and he made a humming sound.

  A smile twitched on Isaac’s lips. “It’s Marcus’s recipe.”

  “You made it though?”

  Isaac nodded. “Marcus is teaching me. I want to do a good job.”

  “You do. I’m not mad at you.”

  Isaac bit his bottom lip and studied him. Zev ate a few more spoonfuls of the soup. “It might sound strange,” he said, “but I don’t want to eat too much at dinner.”

  A frown tugged Isaac’s brows together. “Why not?”

  “I want to focus on my job too.”

  Another smile lifted Isaac’s lips. “This is a job for you?”

  “Not one I wanted either.”

  The smile left Isaac’s face. “That’s too bad.”

  Zev finished his soup and set his bowl down. “Do you like your accommodations?”

  “Yeah, I do. I like having my own bathroom. Sharing it, I mean.”

  “Your roommate is Emek, isn’t it?”

  Isaac’s expression changed again. The slight friendliness that had found its way to the surface disappeared. “Yes sir.”

  “You can call me Zev in here.”

  “Okay.”

  Zev smiled. “What did you do before you came here?”

  The muscle in Isaac’s jaw bunched again. Nerves and balls. Zev liked him. He didn’t recognize him, though this had to have been the boy who’d fed Jessa. And his being here was too big a coincidence not to notice. But this wasn’t his attacker. Zev’s mind balked at imagining Isaac sneaking up on people in dark hallways. Though he most definitely had secrets.

  “I was a donor.”

  Donor. Not blood whore. “What center?”

  “Comity House.”

  “It has an excellent reputation. Jessamine Senera fed there, I believe.”

  Isaac’s blank expression gave way to a derisive twist of his lips. And why not? Zev didn’t know what he was fishing for either. “I fed Jessa.”

  Zev forced his eyebrows up in a look of surprise. “You were living with him, weren’t you?”

&
nbsp; “Jessa didn’t need me anymore.”

  “Time for a little adventure?”

  “I just want to do something I’m good at.”

  Zev smiled and gestured to the empty bowl. “You’re good at that. I’m glad you found us.”

  The smile on Isaac’s face lit his eyes. “Me too.”

  “Are you happy with your roommate?”

  The smile vanished. “I don’t want to move. I told Otto that already.”

  Oh? “I see.”

  “I know things are happening here, but Emek is a good person, and I trust him.”

  “Why?”

  A startled look crossed Isaac’s face, and he frowned. “He helped me.”

  “That’s not always enough, Isaac.”

  “I’ve seen a lot of things. I haven’t always done good things, but I can read people. I’m good at it.”

  “Can you read me?”

  “You want out. I felt that way too, but I needed something to go to.”

  “And you had that?” Zev asked, feeling his voice tighten. “I thought you left because Jessa didn’t need you anymore.”

  He shrugged. “That, and I felt like it was time.”

  That was Isaac’s first lie as far as Zev could tell. “Well, I have responsibilities.” And promises.

  “I’m sorry I can’t help you.”

  “Will you keep your eyes open?”

  “Emek is my friend.”

  Zev warmed inside. Like me and Rune. “I’m not asking you to spy.”

  “I wouldn’t let anybody get hurt.”

  “That’s all I’m asking.”

  Isaac nodded, his fingers digging into the arms of his chair. “Can I go now?”

  “Of course. I have to get ready too. Thank you for the soup.”

  Isaac smiled, cheeks growing red. “You’re welcome.”

  He dropped the lid over Zev’s empty bowl and carried the tray from the room.

  Zev turned his gaze into the fire. His heart beat in a chest that felt hollow to him. The heady certainty of doing the right thing that had carried him through the war and that had seen Qudim plummeting to his death had turned to ashes inside him.

  But it had shone as bright as flames in Isaac.

  He leaned forward and dropped his face into his hands, sitting that way until Justin appeared.

  “Majesty, you must prepare.”

  He took a breath and got to his feet.

  38

  Oaths Of Blood

  “You can talk to me about anything,” Isaac had whispered. “You know that, right?”

  The words had tugged a memory out of Asa’s past, and he’d heard his mom’s voice again. “I might not agree with everything you do, but I will always be there for you.”

  The circumstances that had surrounded that comment had blurred with time, but he’d probably been only ten or so when she’d said it. Had he skipped school? Stolen a few cookies? It didn’t really matter. He grabbed onto things like that now because he had so little that remained of her. He doubted he’d paid her words much attention at the time. He’d have blown them off as something she had to say. It came with the job. She was his mother.

  Isaac was…

  Not even a friend really. A stray he’d picked up. Ridiculous to think he’d go to Isaac for anything. He survived on his own for a reason.

  Dressed in the same clothes he’d worn for the first dinner, Asa returned to his position behind Zev’s throne. This time, though, the throne sat at the head of the table. Vampire eyes slanted in his direction before moving away again. A playful smile curved Camiel’s lips. He held Asa’s gaze until one of the twins nudged him, and he looked away.

  The rest of the vampires whispered among themselves, drank, and stared at the dozens of mushroom dishes under glass that formed a line down in the center of the table.

  Ten minutes went by when one of the twins sighed heavily and pouted at Camiel. “I’m hungry.”

  “Eat a mushroom,” he said.

  She leaned over the arm of her chair, her red lips curving over her fangs. “For blood,” she murmured.

  “You poor, starving girl,” said Princess Malia. “Would you like a Synelix?”

  The twin frowned and flopped back into her chair. “No, I wouldn’t.”

  After another ten minutes, Asa shifted his feet. Then the door flew open, and Zev strode in. Though Justin followed, Asa barely noticed him. Zev filled the room, a blaze of incandescent flame. He cut a searing path straight to Asa’s cock. Hair up, a spill of braids down his back, a flush of pink on his pale cheeks, burning eyes. Black leather encased his legs, gleaming in the light as he circled the room. His shirt, white and flowing, opened above his waist and exposed his broad chest.

  The eyes of everyone followed him. He reached his throne, his gaze on Asa, a small smile softening his mouth before he sat and faced the room. He picked up his glass, ruby red, the glow within like a golden sun, and raised it.

  “Eat.”

  An older vampire, his mouth thin and tight, forming barely a crack as he spoke, said, “Princess Esseline is not with us.”

  The pink in Zev’s cheeks deepened to rose, and a frown creased his forehead. He shot a look at Yair, who sat beside Essie’s empty chair with his gaze on his plate. “Esseline is ill. I gave permission for her to remain in her rooms this evening. Now, please, eat.”

  A glower replaced the tight look on the vampire’s face. “I have to assume this isn’t a social gathering.”

  “No. I have an announcement.”

  “Why wasn’t it on the itinerary? We have a right to prepare.”

  Zev cocked his head with a wide smile. “You didn’t ask after me, March. You realize someone attempted to kill me last night?”

  The vamp’s look turned sour. “You’re not dead.”

  “Clearly not. But that was not on the itinerary either. Plans change. Now eat.”

  Zev turned his face, his smile on Asa softening again. “Will you go to the kitchen? Isaac is preparing me something.”

  Startled, Asa nodded and turned away, hurrying down the steps and around the corner to the kitchen. Dennis, Will, and Casey buzzed with conversation as they wove around one another, plating dishes for the various courses. Isaac worked in the far corner of the kitchen, flushed and bright-eyed.

  He grinned at Asa. “Hey.”

  “What are you doing?”

  “The king asked me to prepare his whole meal for him.”

  The king. Isaac had swallowed the Kool-Aid, that was for sure. And after everything the vamps had done to him.

  “I’m supposed to bring it to him,” Asa said.

  “Really?”

  Asa frowned. “I wait on him. Why not?”

  Isaac shrugged. “No reason. That’s good. He trusts you.”

  Why did that turn his gut into a sulfurous swamp? He swallowed against the bilious bubbles rising into his throat. “What do you have?”

  “Well, I already gave him soup, so this is vegetable aspic with mushrooms and leeks.” An ochre rectangle lay on a crisp lettuce leaf. Isaac raised the plate in both hands with a look of bewilderment as though unsure how it had come to be. Then he set it on a tray. “Everyone else is getting mushroom bisque.”

  Asa picked up the tray. “Okay. Thanks.” Isaac stared at him. “It looks good,” he added.

  The kid beamed.

  Fuck, he’d sold out completely.

  Turning away with the tray held in front of him, Asa set out across the kitchen behind Casey, who pushed a trolley toward the dumbwaiter at the end of the hall. He glanced over his shoulder, and Asa jerked his chin in the other direction. “I’m taking the stairs.”

  “Okay. See you.”

  In the dining hall, he set the tray on a side table and brought Zev the plate. The vampire took a bite of the aspic and hummed with pleasure.

  He trusts you.

  But in the next moment, Asa doubted it. Layers of secrets had accreted over Zev like sedimentary rock. Things like how he’d found Asa
. How he’d set him up and corrupted Asa’s own dog. Had he paid the humans who’d attacked him the day he’d stepped out of the shadows and wrecked Asa’s life? How had he gotten the throne away from the rightful king? Why didn’t the Seneras hate him? What did he know about the necklaces? Had he already found the treasure? Was he a dozen steps ahead of Solomon already?

  Questions buried as deep as Zev’s long-lost city.

  Of course he didn’t trust Asa. He couldn’t trust anyone.

  After the aspic, Asa brought in salad, a mix of roasted vegetables, trout with green beans, pork chops with sautéed apples and celery, and a chocolate and orange torte. His feet ached with running up and down the stairs. Every time Isaac plated another course, his hands shook.

  “Relax,” Asa murmured.

  “I want him to like it.”

  “I wouldn’t worry. He knows you’re new at this. And besides, he’s cleaning his plate, so I think that’s a pretty good sign.”

  “He’s just being nice.”

  Asa rolled his eyes. “Isaac, you’re good. That’s why he’s giving you a chance. And I’m not just saying that. Personally, I wouldn’t make a big deal of it, but I know this matters to you.”

  Isaac’s face hardened. “I don’t wanna to go back to my old life.”

  “I thought you were happy?”

  “I was. It’s complicated, but I want to stand on my own, and I want to be able to actually do something.”

  “You’re a crazy kid.”

  “I’m not a kid, not anymore. Now go before the quenelle melts.”

  “The what?”

  “The ice cream.”

  “Oh.”

  Now the plates were empty and pushed aside.

  Asa stood gazing at Zev’s hand where it rested on the arm of his chair. His big ring had slid to the side and his thumb rubbed the edge of the arm. Back and forth. In a circle. Back and forth again. A flutter grew in Asa’s belly, pulsing with the pounding of his heart, twisting with his nerves.

  Zev lifted his head and swallowed, then twisted to look at Asa. The skin around his eyes looked tight and pale. A quick smile appeared on his face.

  Trust me.

  The words echoed in Zev’s voice, but Zev’s lips hadn’t moved. Asa’s heart quickened again, then Zev took a breath and stood. Silence fell.