A Crown of Blood and Ashes

by Elle Middaugh

  He nodded, staring straight ahead. “I’m gonna need something worse than bratty. What else?”

  My brows furrowed. “Um... I don’t know, Darren. Where is this even coming from?”

  He closed his eyes. “Damn it. This is going to be impossible. You’re too perfect, and the only deterrent you can claim is being a bratty witch.”

  “Deterrent? What the hell?”

  He lifted the bandage on his chest, and his wound was completely healed.

  I gasped, my eyes darting from his chest to his face. “Your healing power came back?”

  “It did, yeah.”

  I licked my lips. “So that’s... it. You’re good to go. Literally.”

  He scoffed and smiled at the same time. “See, that’s the dilemma. I’m having a hard time justifying my walking away from you tonight. I can’t find more than two good reasons to leave.”

  My heart was pounding sickeningly from the vicinity of my stomach. The thought of him leaving, of never seeing him again, practically gutted me. But one of those reasons—the fact that I was a witch and he was a vampire—was a damn good reason for both of us to walk away. That detail alone was an immediate death sentence. My brattiness was more of a gradual killer.

  He stood, I mirrored him, and I soon found myself backed into a cold, damp cave wall. His eyes bored into mine, and I stared longingly back, unable to look away.

  “Give me a reason to leave, Autumn,” he whispered. His hands found my hips and he pulled me closer to him.

  My fingers moved to his face, carefully tracing a thumb along the stubble of his jaw. My mind was racing a mile a minute, but it kept coming up numbingly empty.

  I shook my head. “I don’t want you to leave.”

  There was that brattiness in full swing. I wanted him, and I refused to give him up, even if it got us killed.

  Then his mouth was on mine, our tongues tangling in a rush of frantic desire. Desperate, yet thorough. Hard, yet passionate. Our bodies curled together, until there was nothing but a flimsy line of fabric between us.

  “I thought about this all damn day,” he groaned into my mouth. “What I wanted to do to you.”

  My body instantly melted as his dirty talk went straight between my legs. I let out a soft moan, and he tightened his grip on my hips.

  “Let me make one thing clear,” he said, kissing up and down my neck. “Last night was your first, last, and only free pass. Tonight, if you beg me to fuck you, I’m going to give you every last inch of me. And believe me, you will beg me....”

  Oh God, I was already getting wet. Just the thought of him over top of me, sliding in and out, every muscle in his corded body strung out tight, had me breathless.

  “Can I bite you again?” he asked, nuzzling my neck with his nose.

  I cocked my head, exposing the unbitten side. “Yes.”

  His eyes closed and he grinned before kissing down my neck once more.

  “Not there,” he said, stretching the fabric of my sweater dress over my breasts. “Here.”

  Then he kissed my nipples, taking each hardened nub into his mouth before sucking and rubbing them with his tongue. It made me crazy, sending waves of pleasure straight to my clit. He took his time, building the pressure between my legs with each pull of his lips on my breasts.

  When his teeth pierced the delicate skin there, it was almost too much.

  I gasped, and my mind spiraled out of control. “I already want you to fuck me.”

  He lifted his bloodied mouth from my nipple. “What was that?”

  I rolled my hips into his massive hard-on. “I want you to fuck me senseless.”

  He grinned, then wiped his mouth and shook his head. “Not yet, Princess.”

  “What?” I moaned breathlessly. “Please, I’m begging you.”

  He trailed his hand up my bare thigh before sliding a finger between my legs.

  “God, you’re so wet,” he groaned into my mouth, before slipping his tongue in and kissing me again.

  I was ravenous. Never in my life had I been so aroused. My body was practically on fire; sweat seemed to sizzle where it slid down my skin. And still his fingers worked their magic on my clit, bringing me so close to the edge I could hardly see straight.

  He pulled away, unbuttoned his jeans, and my heart rate skyrocketed.

  My anticipation was through the roof.

  Tugging off his shirt, he smirked as I took in every shadowed ripple of muscle on his body. He was so sexy it almost physically hurt.

  He withdrew his wallet and stepped out of his pants, slipping a condom from an interior leather pocket. Using his teeth, he tore the packet, and smoothed the latex down his shaft.

  God, just watching him touch himself was a turn-on.

  When he was ready, he leaned in and bit my lip, drawing blood. “Tell me you want me.”

  Pleasure rippled through my body as his bite brought me close to the edge again.

  “I want you,” I panted into his mouth.

  He grinned and sucked my bottom lip. “How bad?”

  I raked my nails down his back and wrapped my legs around his hips.

  “Worse than I’ve ever wanted anything,” I said, lining myself up just right. “I want you thrusting into me, over and over, until I come screaming your name.”

  He growled, and nipped at me. “You have a dirty mouth, Princess.”

  Then he pushed inside, filling me so deeply I couldn’t help but gasp. The painful pleasure was more intense than I’d imagined, and I found myself teetering on the edge of orgasm sooner than I ever had before.

  He slid out, rubbed two fingers in a circle around my clit, then sank in deeper.

  “Oh, God.” My whole body shook with barely contained ecstasy. I was close, so close I could taste it….

  He must’ve felt my muscles tightening around him.

  “Say my name,” he whispered in my ear as he pushed into me again. “I want to make your fantasy come true.”

  It was too much. Way too fucking much.

  “Darren!” I cried, again and again, as I finally tipped over the edge and the orgasm wracked my body.

  He watched me coming undone, taking in every detail with savage, hungry eyes. Then he came too, biting into my neck as he thrust deep inside and anchored himself there.

  After all was said and done, we were a sweaty, bloody, panting mess. I probably looked like I was on the verge of death, but I’d never felt so alive. There was something about this man that lit my soul on fire. Something I never wanted to lose.

  “I don’t want you to go,” I whispered again as I wrapped my arms around his neck.

  “Trust me, Princess,” he said, dropping his forehead to mine. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Oh yes you are,” a voice replied from somewhere behind us.

  My blood ran cold, freezing midstream as terror overtook me.

  Someone had found us.

  6

  Darren

  While Autumn rushed around trying to find her clothes, I stood deathly still, merely glancing over my shoulder to assess our intruder.

  It was a girl, scrawny and unarmed, with a deep-set scowl on her face. She was looking at me like some bug that needed squashing, so she was definitely a witch. But also not a threat.

  “Who are you?” I asked, reaching for my boxers and jeans.

  She crossed her arms to stop them from shaking.

  “I’m Lyra. I’m here for my lady, Princess Autumn.”

  I raised a brow and smirked. “The Lyra? The young servant who acts more like a mother? I can definitely see what Autumn meant now.”

  “Darren!” Autumn said, smacking my arm.

  She’d finally wriggled back into her dress and was now desperately trying to finger comb the knots from her hair.

  “Lyra, what are you doing here?” she groaned. “You need to leave before you get us all killed.”

  The girl’s eyes widened. “Before I get us killed? You’re the one sleeping with a vampire, of all thin
gs! Do you know how illegal that is?”

  “Not illegal at all,” I said, cutting off Autumn’s response, whatever it might have been. “What’s illegal is any physical altercation between supernaturals. Something your kind doesn’t seem to mind doing around every turn.”

  “‘Your kind,’ huh? Is this how he sweet-talked you into bed with him?”

  “Lyra,” Autumn warned.

  But I was already furious for some fucked-up reason. I yanked my shirt on and pointed to my chest. “I’m right here, little girl. You can talk to me, rather than about me.”

  She sneered. “I don’t associate with lowlife vampires. I might be a servant, but at least I have standards.”

  Ouch.

  I smiled acerbically. “You know what? I’m going to just go, before I do something I regret.”

  I started to leave, but Autumn surprised the hell out of me by grabbing my hand.

  “Please, Darren,” she whispered. “Don’t go.”

  It melted a small chunk of my currently frozen heart. I stared into her eyes, knowing beyond any shadow of a doubt that she was the most perfect woman in the world for me. But I also knew that there was literally no way we could make this work. One or both of us would end up dead. There were no other options.

  But fuck if I wasn’t going to fight for it anyway.

  I ran my fingers through her golden hair and drew her lips to mine. “Whisper your phone number.”

  “Darren, please,” she said, tears pooling in her gorgeous blue eyes.

  I blinked back any similar emotions I might’ve been feeling. “Just... say it. Please. I have to go, but I refuse to leave without knowing I can find you again.”

  Her lips quivered and a tear spilled down her cheek, but she mouthed the number, and I promptly committed it to memory. It killed me to leave her like that, but I had a bad feeling that if I stayed I’d slay that snarky bitch of a witch Lyra.

  I’d killed more important witches for less.

  “I have to go now,” I whispered, kissing her again and again. On her lips, her cheeks, her jaw, and her neck. I wanted to burn her tears away with the heat of my body, but they just kept spilling down. A lump formed in my throat. “Please don’t cry, Princess. I’ll see you again soon, okay?”

  “No you won’t,” Lyra said, butting in on our private conversation.

  I spun around and reached for her throat, just barely getting a hold of myself before I physically made contact.

  She swallowed hard. “I’ll keep quiet this one time, vampire, but if I see you around here again, or if I see Princess Autumn sneaking out to be with you, I’ll report you both to the king and queen.”

  Autumn gasped and covered her mouth. “You wouldn’t dare.”

  My jaw ticked. It took everything in me to fight back the urge to silence her for good, right then and there.

  “Are you threatening me, little girl?”

  She straightened her posture despite the fear in her eyes. “Yes, I am.”

  I glanced back at Autumn. I knew in my heart I would fight anyone for her, but only if she wanted me to. If me texting her later, or calling her, or meeting up with her somewhere, was going to put her life in danger, then maybe she’d prefer if I didn’t? I hated the thought, but I needed to know what she wanted.

  “Princess?” I asked, voice slightly raspy.

  She glared at her servant and shook her head. “I need some time to think this through.”

  It wasn’t a goodbye or a refusal. In fact, I had a feeling it was mostly just a show for her servant, but it still cut like a knife to the gut. Or like an arrow to the chest. That had hurt a fucking lot, too.

  I’d known her for all of three days, and she’d already rooted herself into my heart. She was like some pure white flower strong enough to choke out all the weeds growing around her.

  I was suddenly scared that I might be a weed.

  Bowing, I took her hand and kissed it. “I’ll give you as much time as I can manage.”

  As I left, I paused beside Lyra. “Allow me to offer a counterthreat. If Autumn decides she wants to talk to me, to see me, and be with me, and you turn either of us in... I will personally hunt you down and drain you dry. Understand?”

  Her nostrils flared. “You don’t scare me.”

  I chuckled. “We’ll see about that.”

  Then I kept walking, forcing myself to look straight ahead instead of glancing back at Autumn. Whatever she was thinking or feeling right now, I didn’t need to know.

  Outside, I had no clue where I was, but the scents of charcoal, ash, and blood suggested I was still near the campsite. If that were the case, the highway where I’d ditched my Rover was to the south.

  Pushing my legs into a reluctant jog, I ran until the motion felt right, then kicked it into vamp speed. Leaves swirled in a wake behind me. My feet barely even touched the ground. It felt good to burn some energy, to take the edge off the raw emotions clawing at my insides.

  It was difficult not to think about her. Especially during the hour-long drive to my side of town. But I managed.

  Oh, who am I kidding? I fucking thought about her the whole way, debating on calling her every other minute to see if she was okay. It was maddening to restrain myself. I honestly didn’t know how I did it.

  When I reached the mansion my coven resided in, I probably looked worse than if I’d shown up with the arrow still lodged in my chest. I scrubbed my hands across my face to erase the stress and worry lines, but I doubted it helped much.

  My brother Jared met me on the steps. He wasn’t technically my brother, just another vamp sired by the infamous Varek Wells, like me. But he was the only other one in the coven with an accent—mine was Welsh, his was British—so we’d sort of bonded faster than most.

  “Where the fuck have you been?” he asked coldly.

  “Nice to see you too,” I muttered through a chuckle.

  “I thought you were fucking dead.”

  “You wouldn’t be wrong. We are vampires, after all.”

  “Piss off.” Then he pulled me into a man-hug and patted my back. “What happened to you, anyway? I’ve been calling you for days.”

  “No service in a cave, I’m afraid.”

  His eyebrows furrowed. I swear, they were longer than the hair on his head, he’d buzzed it so short. “What the hell were you doing in a cave?”

  I patted his shoulder and jogged up the stairs. “I’ll fill you in once I’ve spoken to Varek.”

  Jared was quiet for a moment. “Jonas and Nikola never came home either. I take it they’re dead? Well, dead-dead?”

  I nodded.

  “So the mission failed?”

  “Not exactly,” I said, rubbing at my neck. “Dominic DiOrio was taken out.”

  “By whom?”

  “Me.”

  Jared’s mouth fell open. “No way.”

  He was right to be surprised. I never wanted any part in our maker’s plans. They were always violent and cruel and, quite frankly, pointless. Times were changing. Acceptance was thriving everywhere—except amongst supernaturals. I couldn’t understand it, and I couldn’t get behind it. Though I did put my head down and muscle through a few missions anyway, just to save face. I needed to stay in Varek’s good graces if I wanted to inherit leadership of the coven one day.

  “It was self-defense, mostly,” I said. “He shot me with a poisoned arrow, so I stabbed him with one I found wedged in the ground.”

  “You’re lucky that shit didn’t go through your heart.”

  “I know. I’m also lucky there was a beautiful witch nearby to take care of me.”

  His lips thinned and his eyes nearly bugged out of his skull.

  “Do not say shit like that in here,” he hissed.

  “Sorry, but it’s true. I’d be dead if it weren’t for her.”

  He cocked his head and stared at me, contemplating something I couldn’t begin to figure out. “I’d leave that tidbit out of the report, if I were you.”

  I nod
ded. “Yeah, of course.”

  Like always, I had to hide the truth or be punished for it.

  When we reached Varek’s office, Jared continued down the hall without me. Alone, I squared my shoulders, rolled my neck, and tried to empty my mind of any emotion whatsoever. I ran my hand through my hair, smoothed the stubble along my jaw, and willed my eyes to go cold.

  Then I knocked on the door.

  7

  Darren

  “Come in,” Varek said in an easy tone.

  I pushed inside, shut the door behind me, and then waited with crossed arms. It was all part of the illusion of power. Looking powerful was almost better than being powerful half the time. Of course, as Varek’s longest-living progeny, I actually had the muscle to back that look up.

  He sat at his luxurious desk, scribbling something down on a piece of paper. His signature, from the looks of it. After tossing down his pen, he leaned back and rested his hands on the back of his head. Jagged brown hair poked through his fingers.

  “What have you got for me, Darren?”

  “My mission report, sir.”

  His smiled widened. “Yeah? How’d it go?”

  I eyed him skeptically. He might’ve looked like a handsome young guy with no care in the world, but I’d been around long enough to see between the cracks. I’d glimpsed the real Varek through the floorboards a few times. And he was neither attractive nor tolerant.

  “It was largely a failure, I’m afraid,” I admitted smoothly. “We lost Jonas and Nikola. But I did manage to take down Dominic DiOrio.”

  “And Autumn Delarose?”

  The muscles in my arms flexed.

  “No, sir. She apparently fled once the fighting started.”

  “Good.”

  My brow quirked involuntarily as I readjusted my footing. “Good? She’s been on your hit list since she turned eighteen four years ago.”

  He picked up the paper he’d just signed and handed it to me. “They walked right into our hands with this one.”