by Cynthia Eden
The plan had been to draw out Latham. To force him to face-off against Jamie. Only…Jamie had planned to be riding high off the rush that came from Iona’s powerful blood. Finally, a fair fight between the brothers. He’d planned to drink and drink from her.
Then use her to distract his brother so that he could go in for the kill.
I can’t. Because what if he was wrong? What if he wasn’t strong enough? And if Latham got to Iona…
Iona cut her gaze to Sean. She studied him a moment, then gave a curt nod. “We meet at midnight.”
No. Jamie hurried toward her. He leaned over the bed and had to fight to keep his hands off Iona. Don’t touch her when your claws are out. You can hurt her. “I’ll go after him myself. You don’t need—”
“I was supposed to be the instrument of your vengeance.” She pushed from the bed. Walked right by him. “And now you don’t want to use me?”
The blood memories. So she had gotten them all while she slept. No more hiding. His shoulders stiffened. “You know.”
Her burning gaze touched on him and said that she did.
“Good,” he told her and meant it. “Because I don’t want any more lies or secrets between us. I was an idiot then. I didn’t know you, and I thought—I thought who you were didn’t matter.” But she’d gotten under his skin. Into his very blood and soul. “You matter,” he said, the words too simple.
A furrow appeared between her eyes. “You expect me to believe—”
He hated that he had an avid audience listening to his every word. Jeez, could Sean not give them some privacy for an instant? “I expect you to believe that I was an idiot. I was bent only on getting my own justice, and I didn’t realize the cost to you.”
Her breath seemed to come faster. Her eyes blazed. “You tied us together. For me to live, I’ll have to keep taking your blood.”
Shame burned through him. “I’m sorry, I—”
She waved away his apology with an angry swipe of her hand. “And you think I’d just let you waltz out there and face Latham alone? If he kills you, I’m dead, too.”
He realized the enormity of just what he’d done to her. Like an apology was gonna cut it. “I don’t plan on dying. I’ll kill him, and when this is over…”
“What? We’ll stay together, because you’ve bound us?”
He shook his head. “I’ll give you as much blood as you need, anytime you want it. You don’t have to stay with me. You can…” He stopped and cleared his throat. I want her with me. But he wanted her happiness more. “You can go anywhere you want,” Jamie forced himself to say, “do anything you want, and I’ll make sure the blood is always sent to you.” He’d be her personal donor, for as long as she wanted.
Forever.
She closed in on him and put her hand on his chest. Right over the heart that just seemed to beat only for her now. “And what about you? If you don’t get my blood, you won’t be the all powerful werewolf that you so desperately want to be.”
“He also won’t live forever without your blood,” Sean pointed out as he crept closer to them. His voice was controlled now, but Jamie knew the control was an act. I’m sorry, Sean. He’d kept the secret about Sean’s parents for too long. But if he’d told Sean the truth back then, the guy would have gone after Latham.
And gotten killed.
Sean was just a foot away now. Shoulders up. Head back. Eyes too determined. “All my research showed—”
Iona’s head jerked toward him. “Research? What research?”
Sean’s face reddened. “There’s…ah…a few mated werewolf and vampire couples these days. When they share blood, they stop aging. We even found one couple that had been together for seventy years, and the werewolf doesn’t look a day over twenty-five.”
Iona’s gaze came back to Jamie. So much suspicion in that gaze. He hated that look. I want her trust.
She didn’t appear to be in the mood to give it to him.
“So as long as you have my blood, you get to live forever, huh? I’m betting your brother,” Iona said the word like the curse it was, “knew all this, too. That’s why he just wouldn’t take my hell, no for an answer when he asked me to mate with him.”
“I’m killing him…” Latham would never touch her again.
“No, I’ll do that. I can fight my own battles, and pick my own mate.”
A mate that isn’t you. He knew exactly what she meant. His fingers lifted. Curled around the hand that she still had pressed over his heart. “It isn’t just your battle. He took my family.”
“Mine fuckin’, too,” Sean snarled.
Jamie flinched.
Iona’s small, pink tongue slid over her bottom lip. “I-I know.” Her gaze darted to Sean. Jamie saw the sympathy in her stare, then her stare returned to him.
“I won’t let him keep hurting and torturing. I will stop him.” Then, he confessed his shame, “As I should have stopped him years ago.” Because if he had, then none of this would ever have happened. His parents’ deaths. The slaughter of the wolves in their pack. Her imprisonment. “I won’t walk away this time.”
He was alpha now. He’d been ten when Latham killed Sean’s family. Jamie’s father hadn’t believed his tale. He’d said it was a child’s wild imagination.
Latham had been furious with Jamie for trying to reveal his slaughter. His brother had found him, separated him from the others…As soon as I’m alpha, I’ll take your head, brother. Latham’s threat had whispered through his head so many nights when he’d been a child.
But now…I’m coming to take your head, Latham.
Jamie had fought to be strong. He had his wolf, a fierce, powerful beast that knew how to battle. How to survive. How to conquer.
And his blood had woken Iona. Only an alpha’s blood could have woken her. He was an alpha. The power was inside of him, as it had always been. Maybe that was why Latham had hated him so much. Maybe his brother had known that, one day, the life-or-death battle would come between them as they fought for dominance.
That day is now.
“I thought you were different.” Iona’s voice was so soft now. Not soft because of sadness, but because of the fury he saw blazing in her eyes. “Why couldn’t you have been different?”
“I am different.” He pressed her hand harder against his chest. “I’ll prove that to you.”
But she laughed and the sound cut into him. “There’s nothing to prove. I’m in your blood, wolf. I know you.”
He pressed his lips to hers. Kissed her hard and deep and wild. Kissed her with all of the consuming passion and lust that he felt for her. “And you’re in mine,” he gritted out against her lips. “I feel like you’re a part of me.”
Sean cursed and backed the hell away from them.
Jamie’s gaze searched hers. Her breath heaved but she didn’t speak.
He did. “You’re a part that I didn’t even know was missing…the best part of me.” His heart.
Then, because it was what he had to do, Jamie stepped away from her. He turned to face Sean. “I’m sorry about your parents. I didn’t tell you…because I knew you. Even at six, you would have challenged him. You would have died.” He hadn’t been powerful enough to save Sean. Not then.
And he’d kept the secret, kept it for so many years, because Latham’s power had just continued to grow. Jamie hadn’t wanted to risk his best friend’s life. He’d protected him the only way he knew how…by staying silent.
It wasn’t a time for silence any longer. It was a time for vengeance.
Jamie exhaled slowly. “If Latham said midnight, then we’re getting there as soon as night falls. We’re not going to give him a chance to set a trap.” They were only going to let Latham die.
“Of course, there’s going to be a trap,” Iona said, but her voice wasn’t quite steady. “With Latham, there’s always a trap. Werewolves in the shadows, vamps ready to betray their own kind, witches with their spells…”
“He doesn’t have a witch this time,”
Jamie pointed out with a fast glance her way. “So there’s no power for him there.”
“Isn’t there?” Iona asked as she swept past him. “Latham doesn’t make mistakes when it comes to battle. He killed Brian, yes, but I’m betting that was only because he’d already found another witch who was more powerful. A witch he’ll try to use against us in our midnight battle.”
The kick in his gut told Jamie that she was right.
“So we need to be ready to fight that witch with our own magic.” From the corner of his eye, Jamie saw the flames begin to dance over Iona’s hands. “And when it comes to magic, this time, I will be holding my own.” The flames flared higher. Jamie’s eyes met Iona’s. The gold in her gaze matched the flames.
Beautiful.
Death had never been so gorgeous. Latham was a fool. Against them, he’d have no chance.
Time for his brother to die.
Chapter Seven
“I want you to bite me.”
Iona blinked at the low, growling words. They were inside the heavy walls that had once surrounded her old home, and the scent of ash teased her nose, a reminder of the fire and death she’d dealt earlier.
Her head turned so that she faced Jamie. Sean was about fifty yards away, perched carefully at the top of the west side wall. A group of trees grew near the wall, partially concealing Sean as he watched…and held a rifle equipped with silver bullets.
“My blood can increase your power,” Jamie told her as his gaze searched hers. “You know it can. A werewolf’s blood can amp you up for the battle.”
So it could. The blood of paranormals always seemed to pulse with power. And she would love to have more power before she faced off against Latham but… “If I take more from you, then you’ll just grow weak before the fight.”
A muscle flexed along his jaw. “Not if you give me your blood, too.”
An exchange. To make them both stronger. Yes, they needed it, but for some reason, when he asked for her blood, it made her feel…used.
So she narrowed her eyes and told him, “The first time I fucked you, I did it because I wanted to make Latham angry. I wanted him to catch your scent on me. I wanted him to know that I was giving my body to someone else.” Anyone else. Not just—
Jamie shook his head. “When you lie, a faint line appears right…” He tapped his finger between her brows. “Here.”
Iona was so shocked she almost fell onto her ass. As it was, she barely managed to keep crouching next to him without lunging for the jerk. “I’m not lying!” She was the Blood Queen. Like she’d have some easy tell that gave away her lies.
He stroked the spot between her brows. “There it is again.”
Sonofabitch. She had a tell. All these centuries, and no one had mentioned it to her before? Wonderful.
“Don’t worry,” he said as if reading her mind, “I doubt anyone else noticed. I just know because I can never seem to take my eyes off you.” His hand fell away. “Just so we’re clear, I made love with you the first time because I wanted you more than I wanted breath. That’s the same reason I did the second time, too. And the reason I’ll do it every chance I get.”
Arrogant wolf. “I did want to piss off Latham.” But…more…Time for her truth. “I also just wanted you.”
His eyes seemed to darken.
“Is that what you needed to hear?” She demanded, angry. “That you could make the Blood Queen want—”
“I don’t really give a shit about the Blood Queen,” he said, the Irish thickening in his voice. “I care about Iona. She’s the one I want. Not some evil queen who is supposed to give little kids nightmares.”
Nightmares? Really?
“I want to give you my blood now because I want to make sure you’re as strong as you can be. And, no,” he muttered, “you don’t have to give me yours. Just take mine. Just…be strong. I don’t want Latham to ever hurt you again.”
The wolf was sure acting like he actually cared about what happened to her.
And she did need his blood.
Iona lifted his hand to her mouth. Her fangs sank into his wrist, and the image of them—in that horrible room, her on the bed, him leaning over her—flashed in her mind. Then his blood slipped over her tongue—warm, spicy, that delicious taste that was only Jamie—and her eyes locked with his.
She didn’t see calculation in his gaze. No secrets. Just desire.
His power fueled her, heating her body from the inside out. She drank, taking in that wonderful blood and power. Then her tongue licked over his skin as she tried to soothe the small marks that she’d left behind.
Her head lifted. His taste was still in her mouth.
“I’ve never wanted another woman the way I want you.” Gravel-rough, the words seemed torn from him. “And I’ve never met another woman who was so far out of my reach.”
She was less than a foot away from him.
“If I had to do it all over again, I’d find another way to break the spell. I wouldn’t force you to be bound to me.”
She couldn’t help it. Iona laughed at that. Clueless werewolf. “You really think I’m the one being forced?” Her hand lifted and curled under the hard square of his jaw. “I’m over sixteen hundred years old. I can stir fire with a thought. I’m about to turn your brother to ash…” She smiled at him and knew her fangs would flash. “You’re the one who’s going to be forced to stay with me, wolf. Do you actually believe I’d ever let my blood supply get away?”
He blinked.
Men. Always thinking it was all about them.
She shook her head and turned away.
He caught her hand. Held her tight. “Love, the only way I’d ever leave you…you’d have to tell me to leave. Cause otherwise, I’d count myself lucky to be at your side.”
She stilled. Then her heartbeat kicked up in a double-time rhythm. Jamie sounded as if he meant the words. She stared into his eyes and searched for the truth.
He did mean them.
“What do you want from me?” She asked him, barely recognizing the soft voice as her own.
“Everything.” Just as soft, but his words were darker. So deep. “But I’ll start with this…give me a chance. Give us a chance. Let me show you that I’m not just a beast.”
She already knew that.
“Let me show you the man I can be. Let me—” Jamie broke off, his nostrils flaring. Then he spun away from her. “He’s here.”
She hadn’t caught Latham’s scent yet, but she’d take Jamie’s word for it. Her gaze darted to the big wall surrounding the old compound. She saw the dark shadows scaling the stones, climbing over the wall. Coming for us. Iona counted at least a dozen forms.
“Vampires…werewolves…” Jamie’s claws were bursting from his hands as his shift started. “What we…expected…”
Yes, it was. Now it was time to give Latham what he didn’t expect. She bared her throat to Jamie. “Bite.”
His eyes were more beast than man. “You don’t…” He still tried to speak with a man’s voice.
“I want you to drink.”
His hand lifted. His claws seemed to tremble, then he sliced lightly over her skin. His dark head lowered. His tongue rasped over her wound.
She shuddered against him. Her eyes closed. His lips brushed over her. His claws were at her waist, but he was so careful not to hurt her.
Latham had never been careful with anyone or anything.
A shot echoed through the night. She knew the sound had to come from Sean as he took out prey with his silver bullets. Those werewolves fighting with Latham had picked the wrong side.
Their mistake.
Sean had chosen a position of his own on top of the west wall. A position that let him take out his prey as he wanted, picking them off with his silver bullets, one at a time.
“Get away from her!” Latham’s enraged roar. Showtime. “You bastard, that’s my queen!”
Jamie’s tongue licked over her flesh once more. A rough caress. Then he was pulling back
. Gazing at her with a gaze that burned with emotions she didn’t want to name. “No,” he said, voice thundering out just as powerfully as his brother’s. “She’s mine.”
Then he whirled toward Latham. The two brothers charged at one another. Shifting werewolves were on the ground, some in pain because silver bullets had ripped into them, some were just contorting from the force of their transformations.
And the vampires who’d sold their loyalty to Latham were there, standing back because they’d caught sight of her. She heard their whispers…
“Blood Queen…”
“She’s back…”
“Back and pissed,” Iona clarified, letting her voice ring out and not glancing over at Latham and Jamie even as the scent of blood deepened in the air. “So come closer, and try to take me down, if you think you’re strong enough.” Then she crooked her index finger at them, daring the fools to come and get her.
Because she needed them closer. They had to be close for her fire to reach them. Just a little closer…
A tall, red-headed vampire made the mistake of lunging for her.
When he was within range of her power, she tossed a ball of fire right at his chest. He hit the ground, screaming and rolling as he tried to put out a fire that just wouldn’t be stopped. Only she could stop those flames. Iona wasn’t in the mood to stop them.
The other vampires froze.
“Who’s next?” Iona challenged.
Bones crunched behind her. More shifting wolves. She turned and saw a big, gray wolf rushing toward her.
A shot thundered out.
The wolf fell, a silver bullet embedded in his spine. There was a shout then, and Iona saw Sean jump down from his position on the wall. He attacked, fighting the wolves that had come for him.
He was fighting—and winning his battle.
Iona’s gaze darted to the right. Jamie and Latham weren’t in human form any longer. Two big, fierce black wolves were fighting, tangled in claws and teeth and blood. The wolves—they looked just alike to her. She wasn’t sure which wolf was winning the battle…or which wolf was Jamie.