The Hunters Series
Page 37
You are up to absolutely no good, mate.
A smile crooked his mouth. “Hello, Eli,” he said into the darkness. “I didn’t know you knew I was here.”
This is my land, my home. I am Master here. Of course, I knew. The dry sarcasm in his friend’s voice made him want to laugh, but Malachi just smiled. “You have trouble brewing here, lad. Might be best if you came home.”
It cannot be that bad, Eli replied. There was the impression of a shrug and a dismissal. Nothing feels wrong. If things were wrong, I would know.
“I’ll say it again,” Malachi said slowly. “You have trouble. It would be best if you returned home. Something is after your wolf.”
There was a stillness from Eli as the younger vampire realized how serious Malachi was. Jonathan is no easy target. He may court trouble, but he doles it out just as well.
“Aye, I believe that, I do. But he can’t fight an army of evil. And there’s more...your little witch made the call, and I think she’s right. This might well be connected to the deaths of some of our Hunters. It’s bigger than we think, Eli. Come home.”
Eli’s rage started to surface and Malachi stood. “I’ll not be going anywhere soon. But you are Master here. This will be your fight.”
I am already leaving.
Lori lifted her eyes as a presence disturbed her.
There was no sound, no change in the air, no scent. Nothing. But she wasn’t alone in her chambers anymore.
Running her eyes over the room, she sighed and said softly, “Malachi, these rooms are spelled against everybody but Eli. I don’t know how you managed to slide under them, but show yourself.”
Her brows rose as the mist pooled in a slow spiral, forming so that he was settling at her feet, with his arm draped across her lap. A long, deep-red braid, shades darker than her own, even darker than Sarel’s, spilled over his shoulder as he stared up into her face. “Caught me, didn’t you?” he murmured.
His accent was so impossible to place. Earlier, he had sounded like he was from Scotland, but now…vaguely European, but nothing more. “What do you want?”
A rakish grin crooked his lips as his eyes trailed over her face, settling on her mouth. Lori felt blood rush to her cheeks and cursed herself as his nostrils flared.
“Hmmm, well. What do you have to offer?” he asked teasingly, sliding his midnight gaze to her neck, settling on her pulse. In response, it flared and beat faster.
“Coffee, tea or brandy,” she said tartly, pushing his arm off her lap and sliding away from him. His scent was stronger, had filled the room, and it was intoxicating, like something from the woods and fields of Ireland, the lochs of Scotland and Welsh moors. Lori had spent one long, wonderful summer there, and it had called to her, every bone in her body, just like his body was calling to her now.
Deep in her belly, heat pooled and she felt his call, banked and shielded, but it was still there.
Sliding him a narrow look, she slammed shields of her own in place. Not all witches would be able to do it, and have a chance in hell of it working, but since she was a Healer, empathy ran strong in her.
Blocking him out was something she was able to do. She saw the knowledge in his eyes as her shields clicked into place, firm and solid as a steel wall.
It wouldn’t keep his sexual call out if he decided he wanted her, but at least she wouldn’t have to feel that low level tug from him.
“Hmmm, well, a wise little witch we have here, don’t we?” he mused, settling down like a big mountain cat, watching her with patient, amused eyes. “In all my years, only a handful have figured out that little trick.”
With a smile, she replied, “I’ll send out a memo.”
“A memo?” he repeated, narrowing his eyes thoughtfully. “Ah, yes. A note. You’re going to take all the fun out of my life.”
Lori smiled a little sadly. “You have no fun in your life, Malachi. You’re one of the saddest creatures I’ve ever seen. When was the last time you ever felt true joy, your own true joy, not something you experienced through another?”
His eyes flashed. The rage she felt explode through him had her blood running cold as he slithered up from the floor, leaning closer as his eyes started to glow and gleam, his fangs dropping down. “Watch your words, witch. I’ll not be havin’ you analyzing me. Don’t be forgettin’ who I am…”
His hands closed around her waist and he pinned her against the chair, leaning up against her as he growled into her ear, “I smell fear, and woman. And witch…young hot witch…”
Lori’s pulse rabbited in her throat as the menace filling the room grew to mammoth proportions. Bad mistake. Do not allow the big, ancient vampire to know you could feel his torment. Never, never, never…her eyes widened as he bent low over her face, his hands bringing her hips into contact with his pelvis as he rocked his cock, hard and swollen, against her belly.
Jonathan felt the menace flood his brain as he patrolled the perimeters of town. There was a drug deal going down. He needed to stop that.
A gang fight…
But Lori…
His fangs dropped, ripping through his gums as he turned and raced through the streets. Anger, rage, possessiveness gave his feet wings as he raced to the edge of town and shifted in mid-lope, from man to wolf-man to wolf in three long strides, tearing through the woods in moves faster than the human eye could track.
He had scented Malachi’s presence even as he left home, just a few miles from town. Too far away. Springing into the trees, he shifted, and was half-wolven again as he caught the tree limb, climbing the trees that led up the cliff face.
Do not touch what is mine, Malachi.
Malachi’s mouth hovered over hers, his hands lifting up the edges of her shirt as his body forced her back along the overstuffed top of the chair. Lori turned her head aside and snarled, “Damn it, Malachi, get off of me.”
He laughed.”But I am lonely…needy. You are a Healer. Don’t you wish to end my pain?” he mocked lightly, his voice belying the half-mad light in his eyes.
She had gotten too close, hit a little too close to home, and he didn’t like being stripped bare, not at all, Lori realized. In all his years, it hadn’t happened. None had ever realized his torment, and now he was all but naked with it. And he didn’t like it.
“Loneliness is the curse of the vampire, Malachi. There is no shame in it,” she said quietly, lifting her eyes to his.
“No. No shame. But in more than two thousand years, I can’t find a heart mate. There is no love for me in this world. I am cursed to walk it alone,” he purred roughly, moving away from her gaze, kissing the pounding pulse in her neck, raking it with his teeth but not breaking the skin.”So many, many women…yet not one who is the one for me. My shame…my shame is in fucking as many and as often as I can to take some respite from this aching loneliness. And now, I wish to add you to that list.”
Lori’s incredulous response ended in a gasp as his mouth closed around the tip of one breast, taking it deep. He had her arms locked behind her back, wrists held easily in one hand. Forcing the hot surge of need to clear from her mind, her loins, she said, “Stop it, Malachi. This isn’t right. Not for me. And not for you.”
“I couldn’t care less,” he murmured, lifting his head and studying his work. Her nipple was red through the sheer white cotton of her camisole.”‘Tis right for me. For now…that is enough. And you are wanting, and needy. Isn’t that enough for you? Besides, if you truly didn’t want me touching you, why not scream for help?”
Lori’s head fell back as a sound caught between a laugh and sob fell from her lips. His cock settled between her thighs, thick, hard, perfect. As he cupped and massaged her breast, working the nipple with his fingers, she forced the words out of her mouth. “If I scream, Eli’s people—loyal people—will come rushing. Werewolves don’t always think. They act. And how do I know you will not kill first? Those are my friends. And Rafe, Sheila, the other vamps in this enclave, they can’t possibly fight you.”
“I love Jonathan. He is right for me,” she rasped, jerking against his hold.
Malachi lifted his head, meeting her eyes. “A noble thought, that.”
Jonathan eyed the edge of the cliff, his lips peeling back in a snarl. Hot waves of lust, confusion and fear were flowing from Lori. He could feel them. And Malachi’s hands, all over her. He lunged forward and raced over the grounds, covering the half mile that lay between him and Lori in a moment that flew by so fast he never noticed it, yet it dragged out forever.
He could hear them now…soft whispers of movement. Malachi’s voice, then Lori’s steady, certain words...”I love Jonathan.”
Jonathan leaped toward the windowsill and hauled himself up as Malachi replied, “A noble thought, that. Though the wolf doesn’t see himself as worthy. He doesn’t think himself worthy to serve the Council, so why would he see himself as worthy of your love?”
Jonathan gripped the windowsill and gathered himself, then lunged, flipping up and through her window, landing on his haunches, snarling at Malachi.
Mal’s eyes lifted from Lori’s, though he didn’t rise from his position, bent low over her firm, supple body where he held her over the back of a chair.
“Get the fuck away from her,” Jonathan growled. His hands flexed, the glistening ebony claws catching and reflecting the light as he fought the urge to attack.”What in the hell is wrong with you?”
“Wolf, you are truly a brave soul to involve yourself where you cannot possibly win,” Malachi mused, rising slowly, still keeping Lori hugged tightly against him.”She is a sweet thing, your mate. I can’t help but crave a taste.”
“I’ve no mate, vampire. But Lori doesn’t want you, I feel it. And I wouldn’t bet that I can’t win. Every man must fall. Even the very ancient.”
Malachi’s eyes slid to Lori’s face, suddenly so pale. His lips crooked gently. “He’s a young fool, love. Give him time.” Lowering his lips, he kissed her forehead gently. “I beg your forgiveness. My pride is bruised, such a young thing seeing so clearly through me. Those eyes can see much.”
Jonathan snarled as the vampire’s mouth touched that ivory skin, but Malachi turned glimmering midnight-blue eyes his way and said obliquely, “Young fools, old fools. We’re both fools here tonight.”
And then, he was gone.
Lori met Jonathan’s eyes, her soft green ones, troubled and bruised. Her mouth was swollen from Malachi’s, her nipples still erect, a damp spot on her shirt where he had been suckling on her.
“He touched you,” Jonathan rasped, as he banished the wolf. He was kneeling naked on the floor, a ragged gasp hissing through his teeth as the change receded.
Rising, he stalked over to her, his nostrils flaring. He could smell another man’s touch all over her, and rage twisted sharply through him. “His touch, his scent is all over you.”
Lori said quietly, “What do you care?”
His lips peeled back from his teeth and he reached out, catching her against him, one arm at her waist, his other hand buried in her hair. “Do you want him to come back and finish what he started?”
“No. But you obviously don’t want the scent on me to be yours, so why do you care whose scent is on me?” Lori asked, lifting her hands and pushing at his shoulders.
Jonathan stared down at her, breath heaving in and out of his lungs. Her hands, those slim, warm hands, so exquisitely soft, pushed against his shoulders, and her eyes glared angrily at him, and under the anger, was pain. Groaning, Jonathan leaned down, catching her face in his hands, pushing his tongue inside her mouth.
When she tried to turn her head aside, he stopped her. When she bit him, he bit her back, sinking his teeth into her lower lip and suckling at it until she whimpered and yielded to him. Her hands curled into his shoulders, her body softening against his in welcome. Pulling back, Jonathan rasped, “Take my hair, rub it against you,” before bending low over her, kissing her neck, rubbing his cheek against her shoulder as he reached for the hem of her shirt, stripping it away.
Eli wasn’t happy.
After settling down on the plane, he tapped his fingers on his thigh as Sarel told him what she had learned while he had slept. Her eyes, those golden green eyes, were weary, bruised, but snapping with the fiery light of battle.
The Scythe.
“They are the ones who attacked you seven years ago,” Sarel finished, running her hand over the smooth skin where the bullets had ripped through him. “They nearly took you from me. They kidnapped my sister, and tried to kill Jonathan. And they’ve been exterminating the Masters, brainwashing the younger packs. We’ve been out battling our own people and waging war on them, because of these people. I know it.”
“Indeed,” Eli murmured, taking her hand and lifting it to his lips. “We’ve a score to settle there, don’t we, love?”
Drawing one leg up, he stared into the distance, focusing on his land. There was a strain there. New ones, old ones. But a weakening in the links that bound it to him.
“They are hunting Jonathan with a vengeance now, Eli,” Sarel said quietly. “Agnes said something like it had happened once before. A young, powerful were with a dark past was converted. He led them on a bloodbath. They want him—his soul, his body.”
“They cannot possibly hope to have him,” Eli said smoothly, confidently. “Jonathan has his demons but he’s got a good heart. One of the best men I know. He won’t go the wrong, darling. He can’t. It’s not him.”
Sarel looked troubled. “He’s a warrior, yeah. But he’s shadows in him, baby. A lot of them. Shadows. Pain. Sometimes, I’m amazed it hasn’t overwhelmed him. I was surprised he was accepted into the Council.” Her mouth firmed and she shook her head. “If they are after him, it’s for a reason. Monsters can recognize monsters easily enough. We should watch him. If they get in close enough to break him, he could a problem.”
“Jonathan will die before he breaks,” Eli said flatly, rising. He moved away from Sarel. “I know him, love. His soul has darkness in it, but he was tormented in his youth, even more than you. It’s a war he wages daily. Of all in my enclave, I can see any of them breaking before Jonathan. He will not yield.”
Sarel’s eyes narrowed as Eli spoke. “Even me?”
Eli sighed, running a hand through his hair, impatient. “You do not know Jonathan. The…power of magick is more easily corrupted. The power of the wolf, once bonded to the person’s heart, it…it isn’t. Jonathan’s path is set.”
“Then explain why we have had to kill entire packs of weres,” she snapped.
“Because they were simply weres. They gave into their madness and went feral,” Eli replied. “Jonathan is just simply were. He’s been touched, and heavily, by the power of the wolf. If you bothered to speak with him, or look at him, you would see. The wolf only lays his touch where he sees fit, but once he lays his touch, he is bonded to that person. The wolf and Jonathan are bonded. Jonathan is as likely to be corrupted as your sister, or as any true empath.”
Sarel’s eyes went flat and she folded her arms across her chest. Eli met her eyes squarely.”I’m sorry, love. Touch the wolf, let it touch you. Or talk with your sister, though you still insist on seeing her as a child.”
Eli felt the ice settle in the cabin and he sighed, draping himself in a chair across from his wife, watching her with opaque gold eyes. But his trust in Jonathan was unshakeable.
And the were deserved to know that.
* * * * *
Leandra studied the pretty young child, her head bent low over her schoolwork as she flipped a page back and forth, lips pursed.
She had the wolf’s scent in her room.
Though she lived in the main house, it was strong here. A picture of him hugging her, pictures of them riding horses together. That was where Leandra had first seen the child. She was watched closely, escorted to
and from the private school she attended twenty miles away by guarded limo. Licking her lips, she decided this was it.
The way to draw him out.
The guarded limo would be a task. The weres who travelled with it weren’t fools, or weaklings by any means. Which was why the Scythe had made sure to convert weres of their own.
But this was a task for their inherent.
Erika glanced up, frowning. A cold feeling ran down her spine and she slid from her seat. Most would have gone to glance out the window. But she moved away. She resisted the urge though, to call out to Sheila.
There were monsters in the dark, she knew. In her twelve years of life, this was something she knew as fact. Monsters that ran on two legs as well as four, monsters that could grab you and pinch you and whisper terrible things, and then smile at your teachers the next day. Monsters that could be human or not, that could be a creature of magick or of human blood.
But the most revolting creatures were sometimes those standing right in front of her.
Like her own monster had been.
Jonathan had saved her from that, years ago. Uncle Jon, her best friend, her buddy.
This was her home now, and Jonathan was her adopted dad, though they had decided he was more like a brother, or an uncle. He was, simply put, her guardian angel, Erika thought. But she had stopped screaming out to him every time something spooked her years ago.
Squaring her shoulders, Erika settled down at her desk and went back to her calculus homework. She needed to finish this. She wanted to finish up early again this year. Jon and Eli had promised a surprise if she did well.
* * * * *
Lori gasped as Jonathan slid his hands down and cupped her ass, lifting her up against him, rocking his naked cock against her through the thin cotton of her pajama bottoms. She was wet, and felt him sliding against her, over and over her clit as heat pooled in her belly, tightening and tightening until she thought she’d go mad with it.