by L. E. Wilson
The footsteps started up again, slower this time, easing cautiously towards him until Luuk could make out the blonde vampire from earlier.
Nikulas. My brother.
Relief flooded through him. His brother was here. He would help him. He wasn’t alone.
Nik raised his hands in a peaceful gesture. “It’s ok, man. It’s only me.”
Luukas rose up from his crouched position to his full height, retracting his fangs slightly.
“The witch is mine.” He growled at his brother.
Nikulas smiled sadly. “I know she is, man. It’s ok.”
He came closer, not making any sudden moves.
“You look better,” Nikulas observed.
“I fed.”
Nik nodded. Heading over to the wall, he took one of the torches off of the wall, dipped it in a barrel of some kind of liquid, and lit it.
Luukas’ heart took off, pounding in his chest as he growled, and skittered away from the dancing flames.
“She won’t be able to see when she wakes up.” Nikulas said in way of explanation, placing it slowly back into its holder with a frown.
Still moving slowly and deliberately, he walked over and sat down on one of the rocks, leaned forward, and put his elbows on his knees. He didn’t say anything else, just stared at the cold fire pit.
Keeping a close eye on the lit torch, Luukas eventually copied him, sitting down by his witch. “The human?”
Nik’s expression didn't alter as he told him, “She’s gone.”
“Why?”
“We sort of got into a fight.” Nik smiled wryly. “Of course, if she’d known you two were in here, she wouldn’t have left. But it's a good thing she didn’t,” he commented, eyeing Luukas uneasily. “You must’ve passed us somehow on the way here. I was so intent on following her, I didn’t even notice.”
Luukas frowned. “I don’t understand.”
“Keira is her sister. She’s worried about her.”
“Then why did she go?”
“I guess she didn’t feel that she had a choice. Keira told her to, and I wouldn’t help get her away from you.”
Luukas bared his fangs again. “The witch is MINE.”
“I know, man. It's cool. I’m not going to try to take her away. She’s yours.” Nik’s voice remained calm, non-threatening.
He looked over at the female in question. Cocking his head to the side, he frowned. “Dude, she’s too cold. Her lips are blue. Is she alright?”
“Her heart is strong.”
“You need to cover her.”
“With what?”
“Good question. We should probably start a fire, and then we can all get some rest.”
“No! No fire!” Luukas scooped Keira up off of the floor, reappearing over at the tunnel entrance with her before Nik had the chance to stand up.
Nik paused halfway up, and sat back down, a strange look on his face as he took in Luukas’ reaction. “No fire?”
“No!”
“OK. All right. No fire, then.”
When he deemed it was safe, Luukas came back and rejoined him, carefully laying the witch back down where she was.
Should’ve brought her blanket. He hadn’t thought about that. He put his head in his hands, squeezing it between his palms in frustration. Stupid, stupid. Why hadn't he thought of that?
“Hey man, it’s ok. Don’t stress yourself out about it. You can lay by her and keep her warm.”
“I just…can’t…think.” He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he flinched.
Nik pulled his hand back, a sad smile on his face. “Sorry. I just…never mind. Let’s try to get some sleep.”
With a nod, Luuk eased himself down next to the witch and pulled her in tight against him, wrapping himself protectively around her small form.
“We’ll leave right at sundown,” Nik said quietly. “We’ll have to walk until we can get to some kind of civilization again. From there, I can order a car or something to get us back to Seattle.”
Luukas nodded again. “All right.”
“We’ll need to get home as quick as we can.” Nik continued. “Your female needs food and water, and you both need a few hundred showers and some clean clothes.”
Nik looked at him questioningly for a second, and then with a small shrug, he made himself comfortable on the other side of the cold fire pit.
He felt the connection with his brother, and it comforted him somewhat, but he also sensed something wrong.
“What’s wrong with you?”
Nik looked over at him in surprise. “I’m all right. And, Luuk?”
“What?”
“I’m very glad to have you back, brother.”
Luukas couldn’t answer him, unable to get his thoughts past anything but getting the hell away from there.
Chapter 12
Nikulas
Nikulas woke with a start and immediately searched for his brother. He found him sitting up against one of the rocks with the witch in his lap, wide awake, his eyes jumping nervously around the room, fangs half exposed.
It fucking killed him to see his brother like this; the Master of their colony, the strongest vampire of his time, reduced to a fearful shell of a being.
And it was his fault.
Luukas hadn’t noticed that he was awake yet, and that worried him, but he took advantage of the opportunity to get a better look at the two of them.
Luukas was wearing the same clothes he’d worn the night he’d left, and he imagined Keira was also. They were both filthy, but apparently that hadn’t bothered them overmuch, for he smelled the distinct smell of sex on the two of them.
He also smelled her blood. It flowed within his brother, which would explain all of the “mine” stuff.
He never would’ve dreamed in a million years that Luukas would find his fated mate in the witch who’d been helping Leeha hold him captive all these years. But, apparently, he had. There was no denying it once he’d had her blood.
On the up side, he didn’t have to worry about him killing her for revenge now, and he was very glad he wouldn’t have to fight his own brother to save her. He may make her life miserable for a while, but he wouldn’t hurt her. Nik knew this for a fact.
On the down side, he would never let her go. She’d never be able to go home to be with her sister. This he also knew for a fact. He needed her blood for his very survival now, or he would die the true death. Once mated, a vampire would slowly wither away without the blood of his or her mate.
A story Nik used to think of as a fairy tale, until it had happened to him.
The witch was still out for the count, and Nik frowned with concern. Although he knew his brother would never be capable of purposely hurting her, he wasn’t so sure that his current state of mind would allow him to properly care for her. And he couldn’t let anything happen to that female. It would completely destroy not only his brother, but also his Emma. Keira was the only family she had left.
But he also knew he’d be lucky to be able to get anywhere near her, and he understood why. He had the same crazy possessiveness with Emma. She was his, and his alone, given to him by fate - that bitch. He’d known it the first time he’d tasted her blood.
Actually, whom was he kidding? He’d known it the first time he’d seen her through her kitchen window. But the blood…yeah, the blood had confirmed it in a major way.
Seeing Emma anywhere in the vicinity of another male drove him nearly as insane as his brother appeared to be, so yes, he understood.
He'd had to let her go though. It was good that they’d gotten into that fight outside Leeha’s lair. It was good that she hated him now for not helping her take her sister away from Luukas. She’d never asked for this strange vampire mating, and he refused to ask her to give up everything for him, just to be his feedbag. Because that’s basically what she would be. He needed her blood now to survive, and her blood alone. Without it, he was going to die the true death. Drinking his normal diet of bagged blood should slo
w it down a bit…maybe…but it was still going to happen.
And he was ok with that, because he didn’t want to live without her.
He just needed to hang on long enough to help his brother get back home and make sure he was going to be ok, and help him find their missing Hunters.
Luukas’ eyes locked onto him the moment he moved. He kept his movements casual, not moving too quickly, so as not to alarm him. Yawning, he sat up and stretched his arms over his head. “Did you get any sleep?”
Luukas shook his head.
“How is Keira doing?” He pointed at the girl with his chin.
With a confused look on his face, Luuk looked down at the female in his arms like he’d just realized she was there. “I don’t know. Her heart beats.”
“Good, that’s good.” Nik slowly scooted over closer to them and leaned over to get a closer look at her. His brother pulled her in closer to his chest.
“I’m not going to try to take her away. I would never do that, man. I just want to make sure she’s ok.”
After a pause, he got a quick nod.
“Cool. I’m just going to check her pulse, ok? Just gonna touch her wrist for a few seconds.” His brother kept a close eye on him as he carefully reached out and put two fingers on the pulse in her wrist. It could’ve been stronger, but it was nice and steady. Nik breathed a sigh of relief.
“Ok. Let’s get you guys home.”
“She’s ok?”
“She will be if we get her back to Seattle tonight.”
Luukas was up and heading out the tunnel entrance before Nik finished the sentence. Chuckling, he put out the torch, leaving it upside down as a sign for Aiden that they went home should he make it back here, and followed them out.
***
Luukas was eerily quiet the entire trip home, speaking only when absolutely necessary, and in as few words as possible. They made good time hiking through the wilderness. Luuk still held Keira, so they were able to move at vamp speed.
The night air was cold, but that was probably a good thing. He assumed his brother had probably taken quite a bit of blood. Honestly, he was surprised he’d managed to stop at all, starved as he’d looked when he’d first seen him. He only looked slightly better now.
Once out on the main road, he flagged down a passing car and “persuaded” the driver to let them drop him off at the nearest gas station, and to give them his vehicle, as a gift. They also had no trouble getting back across the border into Washington with no passports and an unconscious girl. The perks of being a vampire were pretty cool sometimes.
A few hours later, they were back in Seattle.
Nik parked the car in the garage under their downtown apartment building. He’d get rid of it later. Right now, he just wanted to get his brother upstairs and get them both clean and warm. He would worry about everything else after they were settled.
The private elevator whisked them up to the top floor, and Nik was glad to see his brother stride confidently to the door of his apartment. At least he remembered where he lived.
“I have a key.” Pulling it out of his pocket, Nikulas unlocked the door and ushered them inside.
“Do you want to put her down on the couch? Your arms must be feeling it by now, even for a vampire.”
Luukas was standing very still just inside the door, taking in the wall of windows, the modern kitchen and furniture, the limestone floor and high ceiling. “No.”
“Ok. How about we get you cleaned up then? Maybe it’ll wake her up, and we can get some food and water in her. If not, we may have to take her to the hospital.”
Nik strode off to the bedroom on the right. He stood in his brother’s bathroom a moment, thinking. Shower or bath? Bath, he decided, and turned on the water to fill the tub. She couldn’t very well stand if she was unconscious. Besides, they could use a good soak. He assumed the nudity thing wouldn't be an issue.
In the bedroom, he found some clean clothes for the two of them, and laid them on the bed. That done, he went out to get Luuk, who was exactly where he’d left him.
“I’m running a bath. Come on. Let’s get you guys cleaned up.” Once Luuk was following him, he went in and turned off the water. Not sure what his brother would be able to manage on his own, he hesitated to leave.
“Luukas? Do you need help in here?”
When he didn’t answer him, Nik hurried to reassure him. “It’s alright if you do. I know you’ve been through a lot.”
In the first show of real emotion since he’d found them at the hideout, his brother turned burning eyes on him. “You don’t know. Now leave.”
Guilt bore down on him, so heavy he was surprised he was able to remain upright. So he just nodded and closed the door behind him.
He’d just go scrounge up some food.
Chapter 13
Luukas
Luukas laid the witch down carefully on the rug in front of the tub. A bath. Yes. She needed to be cleaned. Hunkering down beside her, he took a handful of her shirt in each hand and ripped it right up the middle, then down both arms. Moving to her shorts, he yanked them open, sending the button flying, and pulled them down her legs, sliding off her slip-on shoes along with them, and throwing it all in the corner.
Sitting back on his heels, he let his eyes wander down her curvy body, clad in only what used to be a white bra and little cotton underwear with purple stripes. Reaching out, he cupped one of her full breasts, then ran his hand down her soft belly, over her hip, and down the outside of her shapely thigh.
Feelings he didn’t understand made him scowl down at her, and he pulled his hand back, leaving her in her bra and underwear.
Can’t hurt her.
He ripped his own shirt off, throwing it into the corner on top of hers. The tub was big. They would both fit. Rising up off of the floor, he took off his boots and peeled off his bloody, sticky jeans. They joined the “to be trashed” pile in the corner. He wasn’t wearing anything else.
No emotion was reflected as he caught sight of himself in the mirror. He looked nothing like the vampire he remembered anymore. He was thinner, and the recent gashes from what they’d done to him covered his torso and legs. Twisting around, he looked at his back, crisscrossed with lash marks and still half raw. He idly wondered how long it would take them to heal, and why there were no burns?
But what surprised him most were his eyes. They were no longer grey.
They were black.
He spun away from his reflection, unable to stomach the sight of those stranger’s eyes.
Sliding his arms under the witch, he lifted her limp form and lowered them both into the deliciously warm water, propping her up between his legs with her back against his front. She moaned softly as he settled them in the warm water, her eyelids fluttering.
His cock stirred at the feel of her lush ass against him, and he ground his teeth together, fighting the urge to roll his hips and increase the contact.
No. Can’t hurt her.
With his cupped hands, he scooped water over her front and onto her hair, letting it run down her face, washing away the dirt. He found the shampoo bottle and dumped some on her head. Using both hands, he gathered up her long hair, massaging the shampoo through it.
She moaned again as he rubbed her scalp, one small hand lifting out of the water to touch his bare knee.
“Luukas?”
He stilled at the sound of her voice.
Rip her open! Suck her dry! Kill her! Burn her!
Can’t hurt her!
The two instincts battled fiercely within him, making his head pound.
His hands tightened on either side of her head. How easy it would be to crush her skull, the darkness told him, until her eyes popped out and her brain matter oozed between his fingers.
“Luukas? You’re hurting me!”
Can’t hurt her!
He released her head instantly, dropping his hands into the water on either side of her, breathing hard.
“I want to hurt you.” His vo
ice was raw with the battle raging inside him.
“Luukas, I need you to help me,” she whispered.
Help her. Yes. He would help her.
She pushed her soapy hair back out of her eyes and struggled to sit up. He pushed against the backs of her shoulders to help her. She flinched at his touch, relaxing again when he only steadied her.
“Where are we?” she asked weakly.
“Home.”
“Your home?”
“Yes.”
“Where is my sister? Where’s Emma? And the other vampire?”
“Nikulas...my brother...is in the other room. Emma left.”
“Left to go where?”
“I don’t know.”
She peeked back at him over her shoulder, started to say something, but then turned back around without speaking, but not before he noticed a slight blush creeping over her skin.
She seemed to be thinking about something. “Luukas? Would you help me shower? Please? So we can rinse off?"
“Yes.”
Bending his knees, he sat up and reached down by her feet to lift the plug, then stood up and yanked the curtain closed. He turned the water on, and then pulled the knob up. As he straightened up, he grabbed her under the arms and brought her to her feet, holding her steady.
“Thank you,” she told him shakily. “I’m sorry, I would do this on my own if I could.”
He kept a grip on her arm as she stepped into the spray to rinse out her hair. “Gods, this feels so good.”
Turning around carefully, she kept her eyes closed and hung on to his forearms as she tilted her head back, letting the warm water wash away the years of grime. She lifted her head back up, blinking away the water, and her eyes flew open wide as she caught sight of his naked form. Quickly, she averted them to the side.
“Would you hand me that bottle please?” she asked him huskily, pointing to the body wash.
He stiffened, clenching his jaw. “What's wrong? You don’t like to look at me? At my wounds? The wounds you helped them inflict? Am I ugly to you?”
She shook her head. “No! No, you’re not ugly to me. Not at all.” She stared him right in the eye, not looking away, but not looking anywhere else.