Aden wrapped his arms around Sidonie’s trembling body as he fell back onto the bed. His heart was slamming against his ribs, or maybe the pounding heart was hers. She was plastered against him so tightly, their sweaty bodies so close that even he couldn’t tell where one began and the other ended. Her breath was hot on his skin, her fingers stroking his chest lightly where they were trapped between them.
She sighed as he rolled her slightly to the side, permitting her to stretch her legs out from where they’d been wrapped around his hips. Aden glided a calming hand over her neck and shoulder, then pulled the sheet up to cover her before she could get chilled.
Sidonie made a soft noise and burrowed closer. And Aden felt . . . content. It was such a foreign emotion that he stopped to examine it. Sidonie had done this. Aden had believed himself free of the bonds of slavery long ago, but he’d been wrong. One last chain had remained, dug in so deeply that he hadn’t known it was there, warping him, keeping him a slave to their twisted desires.
He hugged her close, touching his lips to her tousled hair. Sidonie’s mouth curved into a smile that he felt against the bare skin of his chest, her body limp as she drifted half asleep.
He was wishing she could stay that way when his cell phone rang, vibrating across the side table like some over-caffeinated alien.
He reached out a long arm and snagged it. “Bastien? Give us an hour.”
Sidonie stirred enough to mumble, “What’s in an hour?”
“Sorry, habibi. That’s how long we have to shower and join the others. Come on.” He put his arms around her and climbed out of bed, setting her in front of him and making sure she was steady on her feet, before propelling her toward the bathroom with a possessive hand on her ass.
She wiggled her butt away from his hand and frowned over her shoulder, her eyes still cloudy with sleep. “Where are we going?” she asked grumpily.
“South Dakota. I’m about to become an official vampire lord.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
South Dakota
SIDONIE FELT LIKE she was in a movie. One of those shadowy, film noir kind of movies, where all of the action takes place in the middle of the night, usually when it’s raining. So far, her night had all the hallmarks. They’d flown out of a dark, private airport outside Chicago, with no one around except for them and their flight crew. They’d landed in Rapid City and rolled away from the brightly-lit main concourse to a small, dark hangar on the side, where two SUVs had been waiting for them. The SUVs had drivers, but consistent with the night’s air of secrecy, they’d both gone in one of the vehicles with Kage and Freddy, while Travis took the wheel of the other and drove her and Aden, with Bastien riding shotgun.
There was no rain here in South Dakota, but there was snow. After a fairly mild early winter of nothing but snow showers, the real season was finally upon them. The snow was coming down heavy and hard, but the weather didn’t seem to bother anyone but her. Maybe because everyone else was an indestructible vampire who didn’t have to worry about car crashes. She leaned forward to peer between the front seats and out through the windshield of the SUV. Apparently, indestructible wasn’t the only thing vampires were. They could also see in the dark, because she didn’t see any gleam of headlights out there.
She sat back, her fingers finding Aden’s hand and squeezing—for her own reassurance rather than his. One would have thought becoming a vampire lord was a big enough deal to warrant some nerves, but Aden was completely relaxed. He leaned over and kissed the top of her head but didn’t say anything.
Sid didn’t know where they were going. Oh, Aden had told her they were going to visit Lucas Donlon, who was a vampire lord himself and currently ruling what was called the Plains Territory. It seemed Aden had worked for Lucas for, oh, about a century. A century! She felt like a toddler. Hell, her grandparents hadn’t even been born yet when the two vampires met. This was going to take some getting used to.
She stole a furtive glance at Aden, his profile clear in the glow of the dash lights. Yeah, that would take some getting used to, but he was worth it.
Anyway, Lucas had taken over all the vampires when Klemens, the bastard, was killed. In fact, she’d overheard a conversation between Kage and Travis that made her think Lucas had been the one to kill him. But whether that was true or not—and this part was difficult to understand—he held the lives of the Midwestern vamps as well as his own. Sid was still learning how vampire lords did their thing, but one thing she did know was that the connection between the lords and their vampires was very direct and very personal.
“Is it dangerous?” she whispered to Aden.
“What?”
“What Lucas is going to do to you tonight. Is it dangerous?”
He freed his hand from hers and put his arm around her instead, pulling her against his side. “Not at all. Tonight’s mostly a formality. You already saw the hard part.”
“You mean when you caused the earthquake,” she said confidently.
Aden huffed a laugh. “I told you, that wasn’t an earthquake. It was more of a concussive wave, like what happens with a pile driver.”
“Still made the earth move.”
“But, habibi,” he murmured in her ear, “I do that every night.”
Sid gave a surprised laugh, then covered her mouth with a guilty glance at the two vampires in the front seat. She didn’t argue the point, though. He certainly made her earth move.
The SUV made a wide, curving turn, and there was finally something other than darkness outside the windows. There were lights and . . . a barn? With horses?
Aden caught her puzzled frown and said, “Lucas likes horses. He breeds them.”
“Huh.”
“Here we are.”
The SUV slowed in front of a lovely and expansive house, all lit up with landscape lights that gave off a soft golden glow. Pretty. The front door of the house opened to reveal yet another incredibly handsome vampire.
Aden turned to Sid and hugged her close. “Remember, Sidonie, Lucas is a friend. No matter what you see tonight, no matter how bad it looks, I’m in no danger.”
Sid pulled back so she could look into his face, searching his eyes in the dim light. She had a thousand questions she needed to ask, but before she could ask even one, Bastien pulled open the truck door, and Aden was sliding across the seat and taking her with him. Almost immediately, they were surrounded by a whole bunch of vampires she didn’t know then hustled up the stairs and into the house.
“ADEN!” LUCAS’S greeting was predictably enthusiastic, though the Irish vamp had learned long ago not to try the hugging thing on Aden. They did a shoulder bump instead, gripping each other’s hands in a crushing hold, their shoulders slamming into each other hard enough to move a small house.
“Lucas,” Aden greeted him. “Let me introduce you—”
“And you must be Sidonie,” Lucas said before Aden could finish. He all but shoved Aden out of the way as he took Sidonie’s hand in his, holding it with studied care and bringing it to his lips for a gentle kiss. “I’m Lucas,” he purred, gazing at her over the pale curve of her fingers. “And I am thrilled to meet you.”
Sidonie gave Lucas a doubtful look, eyes narrowed and her chin tucked down. Her eyes cut to Aden with a look that said, What do I do now?
“Down, boy,” Aden growled and extricated Sidonie’s fingers from Lucas’s hold, before tucking her against his side.
Lucas’s eyes widened. “I never thought I’d see the day.”
“That goes for both of us. Where is Kathryn anyway?”
“My lovely mate is on the phone as always,” Lucas said, and Aden didn’t miss the emphasis on the word mate, which was a new development. “The FBI never rests,” Lucas continued. “But she’ll be joining us soon. Come on back to the office. We’ll get this business out of the way first.”
They started down the hall and were quickly joined by Lucas’s lieutenant, Nicholas.
“Congratulations, Lord Aden,” Nick said
with a grin, offering the same kind of handshake as Lucas, albeit with less macho posturing.
As they strolled into the office, Aden leaned over and whispered in Sidonie’s ear, “Remember what I said.” He nodded to Bastien, who stepped up and slipped an arm around Sidonie’s shoulders, pulling her away to one side where they stopped in front of a wall of black and white photographs.
Aden gave her a final reassuring look, then mirrored Lucas’s move to the center of the room. There was a cluttered desk to his left, and a big leather couch to his right with a battered coffee table pushed off to one side.
Lucas stopped and turned to face Aden. “There’s no need to stand on ceremony,” he said in a rare moment of seriousness. “You know what to expect?”
“More or less,” Aden agreed. “I got a pretty good taste the other night.”
Lucas’s lips flattened into a wry smile. “It ain’t all roses and candy, but it’s a good gig.”
Aden shook his head, amused by his friend’s description. “Better than the alternative.”
“That’s true,” Lucas granted. “So, let’s do this.”
He offered his hand, just as he had earlier. Aden took it, gripping hard as they went into the usual alpha male contest, but then without any warning there was suddenly nothing usual about their meeting.
Aden’s gaze flashed up to meet Lucas’s as their hands seemed to fuse together, making it impossible to break their hold. Lucas’s eyes had taken on a golden gleam, getting brighter with every second, and Aden could feel his own power rising to meet him. The whole situation felt damn close to a challenge, and he fought to remind himself that Lucas was his friend, and that this was a willing transfer of power.
The air around them grew electric. Papers flew from Lucas’s desk, and pictures rattled on the walls. And still they clenched each other’s hands, their gleaming eyes meeting in a test of wills that neither of them was willing to concede. Lucas’s lips peeled back in a snarl as his fangs split his gums. Aden bared his teeth in a grinning response, his gums aching until his own fangs slid out with a growl.
Arm muscles bulging, their grip tightened, drawing them together until they were nearly chest to chest. Aden was a fraction taller than his former master, and far bulkier, but then, physical strength wasn’t what mattered here. This was about raw power, pure and simple, and the two of them had power to spare. The walls began to groan from the pressure, and Lucas hissed his displeasure.
His fingers squeezed Aden’s until they were both bleeding, until they crashed to the floor, kneeling together, hands still clasped before them.
“Aden, damn it,” Lucas finally growled. “Let. Me. In.”
Aden grinned, pleased to have made his friend ask, because hadn’t that been the entire point of this little display? Lucas was a friend, but he was also a rival vampire lord. Because when it came to vampire lords, there was no other kind. Lucas had clearly hoped to use his knowledge of Aden, and the loyalty between them, as a weak spot, a door to slip into Aden’s mind and force the transfer.
But he’d had to ask nicely instead.
With that thought, Aden opened his mind. The transfer started as a trickle, but soon became a flood, as the lives of thousands of vampires, every single bloodsucker living in the Midwest, roared into Aden’s soul. The onslaught was a far greater burden than he’d ever thought to bear, far greater even than he’d expected after seizing power the other night. But he took them willingly, soothing their fears as, for the second time in months, they found themselves with a new master. He welcomed them all, the ones who greeted his arrival with joy and the holdovers from Klemens, even the ones who would miss the dead lord’s depravity and utter lack of decency.
Aden absorbed their lives, their histories, until he thought he’d burst, until he thought he could bear no more, and still they came. And then finally, with a long relieved breath, Lucas’s gaze broke, and his chin dropped to his chest. His grip loosened as his hand slipped away from Aden’s to fall limply to his side.
With matching groans of relief, they both sat back on their heels, chests heaving with effort. The level of vampiric power thundering around the room dropped abruptly. Papers and pictures settled, albeit not in precisely the same places, and the walls ceased their groaning with only a few cracks to show for it.
Aden remained kneeling on the floor as he struggled to make sense of all the new feelings and needs filling every corner of his self. It hurt his soul to have them there. There was a constant tug of war inside him, between the person who was Aden and the vampire who was now Lord of the Midwest. He sighed tiredly and felt a gentle hand on the back of his neck.
“Aden?” Sidonie knelt next to him, her arm around his back as if offering him her strength and support, her cheek resting on his shoulder. “Are you okay?”
His arm reached out automatically, circling her waist and pulling her against him. He raised his head and met her concerned gaze, and he wondered anew that this woman loved him.
He touched his lips to hers. “I’m fine,” he murmured against her lips. “Better now that you’re here.”
She blushed hotly, her gaze cutting sideways to where Lucas still knelt far too close.
“Don’t mind Lucas,” Aden assured her. “I’ve tuckered him all out.”
“Fuck that,” Lucas growled right on cue and surged to his feet, as if ready to do it all over again.
But Aden had anticipated his friend. He grabbed Sidonie and stood just as quickly, taking two steps back to put some distance between them.
Lucas stared at Aden for a long moment, then huffed a laugh. “This definitely calls for a drink.” He looked around the office, which was somewhat worse for the wear. “Maybe we should have done this outside.” He shrugged. “Too late now, but let’s go down the hall. The booze is better, and, if I’m not mistaken, my Katie is waiting for me.”
Sidonie closed her fingers over Aden’s arm when they stepped out of the office, holding him back as the others crossed the main entrance hall and continued into the opposite wing, turning into a room about halfway down.
Aden gave Sidonie a questioning look.
“Is that the last of it?” she asked softly, touching his bleeding fingers. She lifted her head, and there was a sheen of tears in her eyes. For him? “Does it hurt?”
He had to admit his hand ached like a son of a bitch, like every finger bone had been cracked to the edge of breaking. But he couldn’t tell her that.
“It hurts,” he admitted, “but not too bad. Lucas is probably feeling much worse.” He could only hope, he thought privately.
Sidonie shook her head, her lips flattened reprovingly. “You guys are like children in a schoolyard. Are you finished now? No more tests, no more earthquakes?”
They started walking down the hall to where the others could be heard talking.
“No more tests,” Aden agreed. “As for the other, time is short. I’ll need to consolidate the territory under my authority as quickly as possible.”
She frowned in concentration. “You mean some of Klemens’s people might try to take it back from you?”
“They might try, but they won’t succeed,” Aden said, shaking his head. “I can’t let them. There’s a far greater danger to all of us looming on the horizon, and I’ll tell you all about it . . . tomorrow,” he added quickly. “I just became Lord of the Midwest, and damn it, I’m taking one night and forgetting everything else. No worrying about the territory or a war that might not come. Tonight, you and I are going to celebrate. All of that other crap will still be waiting for us tomorrow.”
Epilogue
Chicago, IL
SIDONIE HURRIED into Aden’s office suite in the new house. They’d moved in two weeks ago, after the shortest escrow she’d ever heard of. Vampires really must be magical, she thought, if they could purchase a property this big and expensive with a thirty-day escrow. It helped that the house had been empty for a while. The sellers had been what their agent called “highly motivated” and what Ade
n’s agent called “desperate.” They’d been more than happy to let the vamps begin renovating the property for their specific needs even before the purchase went through. Renovating in this case mostly meant installing extensive security measures, including a new front gate and sensors all over the grounds that were worthy of the White House. In fact, she was pretty sure the White House didn’t have this level of sophistication, it being the peoples’ house and all.
The new house was huge, three levels in two wings, including a basement which had been completely retrofitted to provide secure accommodations for lots of vampires. There were new vamps joining Aden’s security detail every day, and Bastien had told her there would be many more. It was more than simple security. It was an army, and they were already training like one.
She and Aden had a private basement suite of their own, well removed from the others. Doors had been installed on all basement entrances that more closely resembled the kind on big bank vaults, and there were redundancies on redundancies.
Sidonie had gotten used to the security and to living mostly at night. Although being human, she still needed sunlight, and being female, she needed to have her hair and nails done and to indulge in the occasional shopping spree or lunch with friends.
Like today, when she’d discovered a whole new crop of friends who truly did get where she was coming from. Tonight was the official welcoming for Aden as Lord of the Midwest and member of the North American Vampire Council. All of the other vampire lords were in town, and Sid had been delighted to discover that most of them had mates and they’d brought them along.
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