by Jex Lane
“Mmm. I’m going to need to feed off someone else soon so you can recover a little.”
“But we can still fuck normally while I recover, right?”
He chuckled. “Of course.” The presence of a powerful incubus approaching grabbed his attention. “You might want to get dressed. We’re about to have company.”
She shot him a questioning glance then grabbed a wet wipe from the bedside table and quickly cleaned herself before shimmying back into her leggings. Darius, who wore nothing, pulled a blanket over his waist but it was for more her sake. Neither incubus would have cared.
The door opened, and the High Lord General strode in wearing his grey command uniform. Tight pants, tall polished boots, a button-up white shirt. He didn’t have the jacket on.
Kat’s eyes widened, and she pressed her fist into her shoulder and bowed.
“It’s good to see you’ve learned how to salute, cadet.”
“Yes, sir,” she said.
“Would you mind giving me a few moments with Darius? I won’t keep him long.”
She nodded and left the room, closing the door behind her.
Darius had seen the general command a battle before; he was focused, firm, gave commands that left no room for question. But outside of a battle, the general had a softer hand when it came to his hunters.
Dipping his head, Darius bowed as much as he could manage while lying on a bed. He waited for the general to speak first.
Tarrick stroked Darius’ cheek. “Rushing after a vampire lord is not only foolish, it breaks every rule I’ve ever set for you.”
“Yes, Lord Tarrick.” Darius wouldn’t argue with the general. He wondered what his punishment would be. It didn’t matter though. He’d do it again if he had to.
“Rushing after your mate who was in the hands of said vampire lord is just as foolish, but understandable.”
“My mate?” Tarrick’s face turned hard as if daring Darius to dispute the claim. Darius wouldn’t. Kat was his mate. His heart already knew it. “I think perhaps I’ll give her time to decide if she wants me that way.”
The general nodded. “Wise. Humans can be slower to realize such things. When you two are ready to make it official, Ashwood will throw an event the likes no one has ever seen. It’s not often a lord of my house finds a person they deem worthy enough to spend their life with.”
Darius beamed. And it wasn’t because of the party the general promised to throw—although he would be the talk of the season. Anyone of note would be in attendance. Ashwood only hosted parties when the general allowed it, and that wasn’t often. No. It was the idea of making it official with Kat. His wildfire.
Although, the recent battle did have him worried. “How is Ashwood?”
The general pressed his lips together. “We had heavy losses. The vampires have found some witches willing to work with them. It’s how our runes were disabled. We lost about a quarter of the Ashwood hunters. I’ll get you a list of the incubi who didn’t make it. Lady Rosaline and Lady Dennith are alive. As are Lords Vassu and Tane.” Good. Those were highest-ranking incubi currently at the estate, and if they had died, Ashwood and the general might not have recovered from the scrutiny their society would have put them under.
“At the start of the battle, dispatch said you couldn’t be located…”
The general sighed. “Cullip is under a compulsion to Ascelina. He caught me off-guard. We battled. It didn’t go well.” Tarrick didn’t look injured, but it could be a glamor.
“Is Cullip dead?” Darius hoped not, the commander was one of the few people Tarrick considered a friend.
“No, but we can’t break the compulsion. We’re keeping him in a coma until we can figure something out. I’ve promoted Silva to Commander. She’ll be taking over running the hunters both here and at the academy.” The general squeezed Darius’ shoulder. “There’s something else. A vampire I captured a little while ago…”
“Your new slave?”
“Of sorts. He’s going to be joining this house soon. I’ll tell you more later, but I wanted you to be aware. I’m going to need you to do some campaigning for me so that other incubi will accept him.”
Darius wasn’t sure what to say. A vampire joining House Tarrick? Impossible. Insane.
“You don’t have to like the situation, but I do need you to follow my orders,” the Lord General said.
“Of course. I’m sorry.”
“There’s no need to be, I understand that it’ll be an adjustment, but I think once you know more about him, you’ll agree with my decision.” The general checked the time on his phone. “My trip to Russia is still going forward. Tane will be in charge in my absence. I expect you two to behave.”
“We will. I’ll have everything ready for you, my lord.” Darius had no intention of spending much time around Tane.
Tarrick leaned down and kissed Darius on the forehead. “You remind me a lot of myself when I was younger.” Pride swelled in Darius’ chest. He couldn’t see the comparison—he and the general were nothing alike—but all the same, he savored the praise from the man who had raised him for most of his life. “Recover fast, Lord Darius.”
“I will, sir.”
The general left, and Kat teleported in a few moments later.
She had changed.
Instead of street clothes, she had on a leather uniform.
Darius propped himself up on his elbows to get a better look at her. Tight leather pants, big boots, form-fitting leather top, a belt of hunting tools, she looked every bit the role of a vampire hunter.
“Like it?” she asked.
“It suits you, but our deal—”
“Don’t worry. This is a loaner. I still have to train in the dumb cadet uniform. And…I’m not going after Mont until I’m ready. Then I’ll behead the bastard.”
“And your father?”
Her face fell. “I don’t know…I think there’s part of him left in there, but until Mont is dead, he’ll keep trying to kill me. And none of that changes the fact he murdered my mom. But I did put in a request that he be kept alive. I’m told the general will review it later, once Ashwood is secure and back to running normally.”
“You know,” he said, reaching out and pulling her in closer, “if you come to our family dinner, you’d have a better chance of impressing him, maybe curry some favor. Butter him up.”
“Food puns, really?”
He smiled.
She shook her head. “Fine…I guess your mate should join the family dinner.”
Darius went still. He wasn’t going to press anything until she was ready, until he was sure she wanted it.
She laughed. “You should see your face right now.”
“You aren’t supposed to eavesdrop on the general,” he grumbled.
“I was eavesdropping on you, not the general.”
“You shouldn’t do that either, cheating hunter.”
“Hey, I got these runes, I want to use them.”
Gods, she was beautiful, looking every bit the warrior she should. “Do you know what mating is for us?”
“Yeah. Chase of all people explained it to me. It’s like super for-life-intense marriage.”
“And?”
“And what?” she asked. “If you’re asking me to marry you, try again in a few years. I’m not ready for that yet. But,” she kissed him on the forehead, “the idea doesn’t scare me. I have to go.”
“Go?”
“Yeah, Ashwood is short staffed. We’re being put on guard duty. I’ll be back tonight with a feeder, and we’ll do the thing.”
Darius chuckled. “‘The thing’?”
“Yeah. The thing where you blow a dude, and I watch and find it hot.”
“I’m blowing ‘a dude’ tonight?”
“Only if you wanna eat.” She winked and teleported away.
Darius sunk into the mattress and wondered how long Doc Maryweather would keep him in here. At least he had something to look forward to.
Kat re
appeared. “One more thing—”
26
Kat
“—I’m falling for you.”
Kat stayed around long enough to see Darius’ face light up then teleported outside. Around her, the estate grounds were a mess. Ash from dead vampires made the morning air hazy, the gardens were trampled, statues smashed, weapons littered the area. From what she had seen earlier, the academy was in no better shape.
A dark mood lingered over everyone. Most of the hunters had lost friends last night. And yet…Kat felt more at peace than she had since her dad had killed her mom.
Her insides fluttered. She truly was falling for Darius and had a feeling that she’d be saying I love you to him soon—he fulfilled her in a way that no one ever had before…also he’d almost died saving her from Mont, that kind of did it for her—but I love you was a scary step. Just a few weeks ago, the only thing she cared about was killing vampires. And now she worked for incubi, and had a team, and a lover…and magic was real and tattooed on her…magic.
A few more weeks to be extra sure about her feelings wouldn’t hurt anyone. Well, Darius might grow impatient—she’d heard him say yes in the forest, plus the whole mate thing—but she didn’t mind making him wait. Maybe she’d tease him with it. Only a little.
“How’s Lord Darius?” Javi asked. The rest of the team was checking their armor and securing their weapons.
“He’ll be okay. Thank you guys…for…you know, saving me. And him.”
“You don’t have to thank us,” Chase said.
“I got tossed into a tree,” Necrus said as he reeled in a chain. “I don’t mind being thanked for it.”
“Chase is right,” Brick said. “It’s what’s expected.”
Dawn nodded in agreement.
Chase pointed to the forest. “Three hundred feet jumps. Click in every sixty. Necrus you’re with Javi, Brick with Dawn. Go.” The team teleported out leaving Kat alone with Chase. He looked as unimpressed as ever. “I expect you to keep up with me. I’ll run through basic team formations while we patrol.” Green light began to wrap around him as he started to teleport, but then it faded. His eyes met hers. They seemed a little less cold than usual. “You don’t have to thank us because we don’t keep score in our family. It doesn’t matter who saves who so long as we all walk out alive.”
He teleported into the forest.
A warm, comfortable feeling bubbled inside Kat.
Family.
She smiled and teleported after him.
27
Epilogue – Lock
California. Estate of House Reval.
Lock settled heavily in his office chair and leaned back.
He eyed his cell phone sitting on the desk. He was being a chicken. The recent Ashwood attack put a lot of vamps back into play, which meant long hours trying to find them. It also meant a lot of missed dinners.
And tonight, he’d be missing another one.
He thought of some bull excuse he’d be telling his wife and cringed. She didn’t know what he did for work. And he didn’t want her to know either.
Still, lying to her was somethin’ he never looked forward to.
He unlocked his phone, but before his thumb hit her picture, a green flash filled the area.
One extremely pissed off hunter stood on the other side of his desk.
“Cadet Chase. Can I help you?”
The cadet balled his fists and damn near growled.
Lock set his phone down. “I take it you found out I’m the one that sent Kat’s daddy up?”
“Yes. Why did you do that to her?”
“She deserved to know he was still alive.”
“In the cruelest way possible?”
Cruel? Maybe. But Lock knew her pain would only end once she faced it. He’d learned that the hard way 170 years earlier when his own daughter had been turned into a vampire. Kat and he were the same. It’s why he’d decided to sponsor her. She’d be an exceptional hunter one day…once she toughened up a little.
Chase’s dark eyes seemed to grow even darker. “If you hurt any of my teammates again I’ll—”
Lock stood. “Cadet, you forget your place.”
“I do not.”
Resting his hands on his belt, Lock smiled. “If ya want to chew me out, fine. Take your leathers off, but so long as you’re wearin’ em, you are Cadet Chase. Or did you want me to treat ya differently, my lord?”
He added a little bow for effect, and that shut the kid up. Lock hadn’t wanted to press on that nerve, but his temper was short tonight. “You’re dismissed, cadet.”
Chase didn’t leave right away. Anger stormed all over his face. The kid could probably intimidate a lot of people, but Lock wasn’t one of em.
The cadet clenched his jaw, holding back words he so clearly wanted to say, then teleported away without even a ‘yes, sir’. Lock would let that slide.
This time.
If Chase ever learned to accept who he was—what he was—he’d make a hell of a team leader one day. Someone worthy of having Kat’s back.
As it stood now, he had too much rage in him.
Kids.
They never knew a god damn thing. But don’t try to convince them of that.
Shaking his head, Lock dialed his wife.
* * *
A note from Jex:
If this is the first book of mine you’ve read: Welcome to the world of Beautiful Monsters (BeMo for short)! It’s a paranormal setting where the vampire/incubus war serves as a backdrop.
The entire Ashwood Red series can absolutely be read on its own without reading my other series. However, if you find yourself enjoying this world, I recommend checking out Captive: Beautiful Monster Vol. 1. In it, a vampire, Matthew, is captured by the domineering High Lord General Tarrick. The book is not a genre romance, rather an ongoing saga following Matthew’s story. Don’t worry though, between the epic battles, vampire masquerades, and incubus parties, it still has lots of heat.
Oh and both Kat and Darius have minor cameos in that series. Dawn also. Come to think of it, there’s kind of a spoiler about Dawn in BeMo Vol. 3…
Timeline-wise, Dark of Night runs simultaneously with Captive.
If you are already a fan: Heeeeeeey Beautiful Monsters! Did you know that Tarrick wasn’t really supposed to be in this book beyond a few brief mentions? In fact, when I set out to write this story, I had it firm in my mind that the entire focus would be all on the hunters. But at some point, Tarrick sat me down and said something to the effect of, ‘These are my hunters at my estate with my ward as one of the main characters, and you think I’m not going to show up? You are a fool.’ Well, he was right. And what’s worse? Hiroto had to sit me down the other day also. I swear, these characters, I have zero control over them.
As always, much love.
Xoxo,
Jex
* * *
Javi and Isa’s story is next in Fury of Life: Ashwood Red 2.
Even a werejaguar can have a broken heart.
Want more of the Beautiful Monsters world? Check out Captive: Beautiful Monsters Vol. 1.
If you enjoyed Dark of Night: Ashwood Red would you mind taking a moment to leave a review? I know, I know, us authors are always asking for reviews, but it really does help us out. Reviews are one of the ways we can show others that our series is performing well—and that opens doors for us to things like audiobook deals, foreign translations, hiring artists, etc. It also inspires me to work just that much harder to get more stories into your hands. <3
About the Author
I enjoy writing about hidden worlds full of vampire hunters, epic battles, steamy sex, and, of course, beautiful monsters. Connect with me on Facebook and say hi! I don’t bite…I let my vampires do that for me.
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