by Julie Wetzel
Darien’s eyes blinked open as reality slipped back into him. Shocked by the taste of blood in his mouth, he pulled his fangs from his assistant and released her wrist. Elliot took the chance to grab the limp woman away from Darien’s side and passed her back to the waiting hands of the fay.
Darien panted on the floor, staring up at the grave faces around him as he tried to work out what had happened. He moved to sit up, but Clara dropped to his side and placed a hand on his shoulder to hold him down.
“Be still,” she said softly. “You’re hurt.”
“Victoria,” Darien breathed. He had never consumed her blood, but he had tasted it enough to recognize the sweet flavor in his mouth.
“She’s just saved your life,” Clara informed him. “Lord Dakine is seeing to hers. Now be still for a few more minutes so you can mend.”
Darien’s breath was fast as he registered the injuries caused by the magic that had burnt through him. He closed his eyes and willed himself to recover faster. The feel of Vicky’s blood in him told him that he had taken more then he should have. He licked the blood from his lips and teeth before slowly sitting up. Rupert handed him a white handkerchief to clean the red from the corners of his mouth. The air behind Darien was thick the magic as Dakine healed the tears in Vicky’s skin and forced her body to produce enough blood to keep her alive. Darien looked down at the red marks on the white cloth, and a pang of regret tore through him. He had nearly killed the girl in his bloodlust.
Darien hung his head and thought about it as he recovered. He had only known her for a short time, but Vicky had grown important to him. He discovered this when Michael had accosted her, but it took nearly losing her in the fire to make him recognize his feelings. It had infuriated him to see the ifrit wrapped around Vicky, touching the smooth skin of her stomach. Darien hadn’t really thought about what he was doing when he flung that attack at them. Just that he needed to get that thing off his woman. It had been his last sane thought, telling himself to keep the power to a survivable level that had allowed him to cut the blast in two and release the smallest part first. The magic behind him stopped, and he turned to see how Vicky was doing.
The sight Darien found behind him made his heart hurt. Dakine had wrapped Vicky in his traveling cloak and held her in his lap. The silver medallion lay discarded next to him, and Vicky rested her head against his shoulder, relaxing as if she were sleeping.
All eyes in the silent room were trained on Darien as he crawled the few feet over to the pair resting on the floor.
“Victoria?” he said hesitantly. He reached out his hand and stopped just short of touching her. Would she be afraid of him now? Had he done something she could not forgive? He was having a hard time forgiving himself.
Vicky stirred in Dakine’s arms and turned her head towards Darien’s voice. She opened sky-blue eyes and smiled weakly when she recognized him. “You’re alive,” she breathed and slid her right hand out and took the hand he hadn’t quite touched her with. “I was worried there for a minute.”
Darien took her from Dakine’s arms and pulled her against him. “Oh, Victoria.” He slid his legs out in front of him and curled up around her. “I’m so sorry.” His voice was heavy with regret.
Lord Dakine stood up and away from the pair folded together on the floor.
Vicky smiled and raised her hand up to caress the soft ends of his rich brown hair. “It’s all right,” she soothed the upset vampire. “I’m okay. Just a little tired.”
Darien pressed his cheek into her palm, feeling her against him. He reached up to take her hand, and his eyes found the silver of fresh scars on her wrist. Two marks from where his fangs tore into her marred the once-clean skin. Dakine hadn’t removed the remnants of the bite when he healed her. Darien didn’t know if it was beyond his skill, or if it was to remind Darien of what he had done. Either way, there was nothing Darien could do to remove the scars now that the skin was fully healed.
Darien drew Vicky’s hand in against his chest. “I’m so sorry.” He rolled her up tighter and rocked her gently, savoring the life in her.
Vicky leaned into him and relaxed, just barely awake as she listened to his heart beat out a slow tempo.
***
Clara and Rupert stood next to each other and watched the wreck the incident had turned Darien into.
Dakine circled around and stood behind them. “We need to do something about this ifrit,” Clara said softly to the other leaders.
Rupert watched his friend on the floor. “I agree.” He had never seen Darien lose it like that. “Preferably, before it tries something else.”
Clara nodded her agreement with the alpha. She knew it was rare for Darien to get attached to anyone, but seeing him curled on the floor around Vicky stirred something inside her. The desire to protect what the great man held dear coursed through her and pushed away her disdain for the wolf next to her. “Do you have any suggestions?” she asked the alpha standing next to her.
“We hunt it down and kill it,” Rupert growled as anger boiled in him. Darien had always been a rock when faced with trouble. The alpha couldn’t stand that something had reduced his strong friend to such a mess. “The full moon is Thursday. If we go out on Tuesday or Wednesday, my wolves will be at their strongest without being out of control.”
Clara nodded her agreement. The night of the full moon drove the wolves to run in their animal forms. Their control would return when the moon started to wane, but their power would have been spent. “How do we find it?”
“We can help with that,” Dakine said as he looked down on Darien and Vicky. “The creature used the mark on cailín’s hand to get past Darien’s barrier.”
Rupert and Clara both looked at the tall elf.
“There are those among us that can follow it back to the source.”
Zak snarled his agreement from where he had been listening outside the circle.
“Maybe we should get Darien to release the circle before he tears this place apart,” Dakine suggested as the three leaders looked back at the upset creature. Zak had managed to carve several huge gouges into the concrete floor just outside the circle and was in the process of trying to dig his way in.
Clara cringed, and Elliot stepped forwards to where Darien and Vicky rested on the floor. He had been standing close to the leaders, listening to their conversation. “Darien.” Elliot placed his hand on his friend’s shoulder from behind.
Darien turned his head slightly to show that he was listening.
“Release the circle.”
Nodding, he spoke a word of command, and the shields holding Zak out melted away.
Everyone scrambled out of the way as the mass of tentacles wobbled over and swamped the pair on the floor.
Zak growled angrily at Darien and smacked him several times on the back with his tentacles. He touched Vicky, making sure she was okay, but didn’t pull the sleeping woman from the vampire’s arms. Picking up the medallion, he carefully reattached it around Vicky’s neck to protect her.
Darien thanked him and apologized to the mass of tentacles shrinking back to its normal size.
The three groups around the room came forward now that the magic had been released. They had seen and heard everything that had happened, and all agreed the ifrit had to be dealt with. Darien was the umbrella that kept the city safe by just being there. It scared them how close they had come to losing that protection tonight.
Seeing Darien wasn’t going to rise and break down the circle, Elliot stood up and looked at the people milling around. He called to the groups for help and sent them out to blow out and retrieve the candles. Taking salt and water from Darien’s bag, he cleaned away the symbols around the circle. Zak gurgled and wiggled angrily at anyone that got too close to where Darien and Vicky sat on the floor.
Elliot packed away the crystal and bowl before pulling the sword from his hip to look at it. Letting out a deep sigh, he dropped the weapon into the bag. He had failed Darien as a guard by not pro
tecting Vicky during the parlay. True, the ifrit had taken advantage of the bad blood between the groups, but hindsight told Elliot he should have stayed with the weakest one in the party and let Darien deal with everyone else. Elliot looked around for the two daggers and found Darien’s forgotten on the ground where Vicky had dropped it. He retrieved it and wiped the traces of Vicky’s blood on his pants. Returning it to its sheath, he stuffed it in the duffle bag.
“Bring me your dagger, Zak,” Elliot called to the little fay.
The creature wiggled over and dropped the weapon in Elliot’s hand before heading back to growl at someone who had stepped too close to Darien in the little fay’s absence. The offender stepped back lively as Zak’s tentacles snapped at them menacingly.
Elliot laughed as he zipped the bag shut and handed it up for Sue to carry out to Darien’s car. It was starting to get late, and Darien and Vicky needed to get home for some much-needed rest. Elliot stood up to make his way to them. Zak growled as he squatted down.
“Peace, little one.” He held out his empty hands to the fay. “I will not hurt them.”
Zak sniffed at him and gurgled a warning before backing up to let him reach Darien.
“It’s time to go,” he said to his friend. Darien looked up into hazel eyes that shone dark with concern. “You both need some real rest.”
Darien nodded and attempted to gather the sleeping woman in his arms to stand up.
“Give her to me.” Elliot reached out to take Vicky, but Darien clenched her protectively. Letting out another sigh, he tried to reason with the man not thinking straight. “If you try to stand with her, you’ll drop her.”
Darien met his eyes, again defiant for a second before relaxing and nodding his head. He could tell that he was too weak to carry her at the moment.
Elliot reached out to take her gently from him and stood up with the limp woman.
“Thank you.” Darien attempted to stand up. He teetered on his feet and grabbed Elliot’s shoulder for support.
Elliot staggered slightly under the unexpected weight, but he recovered quickly. He waited for Darien to stabilize before leading the weakened man out of the warehouse.
Rupert met them just outside the door next to a black van.
Darien didn’t look at the faces of the people in the vehicle as he climbed into the open side door.
“Give me your keys.” Elliot said, holding on to Vicky while Darien pulled the control unit for his DB9 out. Darien passed it over as his friend settled Vicky into his lap. “I’ll meet you at your house.” Darien nodded to Elliot as Rupert shut the door.
Elliot turned to Sue standing next to the van with the bag of equipment. Holding up his hand, he flashed the key to the little sports car. “Want a ride?” He grinned at the werewolf as she bounced her way to the car.
***
Ethan looked up from the counter of the Touraine to see a tall man with long, blond hair leading a group of people into the lobby. The concierge recognized Mr. Ritter leaning against the stranger as if he were drunk. The woman that had been staying with him was wrapped in a dark cloth in the man’s arms. She looked unconscious and pale. The little dog that had come down with them earlier rubbed against the long-haired man’s leg as they made their way across the floor to the elevators.
Ethan’s hand rested on the phone as he counted the eclectic group of people following Mr. Ritter into the elevators. He lost count at fourteen and readied himself to call security to let them know what was going on. Even though Mr. Ritter owned the top two floors of the building, policy said that Ethan was to notify his superiors whenever someone held a party in the building. He didn’t know what was going on, but over a dozen people constituted a party in his book. He watched as the group slowly disappeared into the hall leading to the elevators.
Another tall man with long, silver hair stepped up to the counter to look down at Ethan. His strange dress shocked Ethan as he looked up into the man’s lavender eyes.
“May I help you?” Ethan asked as he studied the tall man. He couldn’t help but think his costume was really cool. The man looked as if he had walked out of some medieval movie.
“You didn’t see anything,” the man said before turning to follow the last of Mr. Ritter’s party down the hall to the elevators.
Ethan blinked a few times and stared at the empty lobby for a second before rubbing his eyes. He shook his head and went to get some coffee to fend off the sleepiness that had suddenly come over him. It wouldn’t do any good for him to fall asleep at his station; he might miss something important.
Darien muttered a welcome to the people who had never entered his home before and leaned on Elliot as they stepped off the elevator. Zak led the procession into the living room.
Following the Shih Tzu, Elliot took Darien to the blue couches, where he leaned the weakened man on the back of one so he could place Vicky on the cushions. The lesser vampire made sure she was comfortable before stepping away. Zak shook off his fur and jumped up on the sofa near her feet.
Coming around to sit on the floor near her head, Darien leaned over and rested the side of his head on the couch next to her. Cautiously, the rest of the group filtered in and spread out.
Clara bent over to pull on Darien’s arm. “You need to feed.”
He shook his head and pushed her hand away.
“Come on, Master,” she coaxed him. “You’re not doing her any good in this condition. Get something to eat so that you can heal before you rest.”
He rolled his eyes up to look at the brunette standing over him.
“It’ll make you feel better,” Clara said softly, as if she were talking to a sick child. “If you want, I can get someone to come here.”
Darien shook his head and let out a sigh. He didn’t want to leave Vicky’s side, but Clara was right. A good dose of blood would do him good, but he didn’t want to take it here. Vicky was still new to this world, and he already felt bad about nearly killing her. Having her wake up to him feeding next to her might be too much for her to handle. Darien pushed up from the floor as Clara took his arm to stabilize him. “All right,” he agreed as he held on to her.
Clara guided him to the right wall and pushed it open. She helped him to the green couches in the family room and waved over her people. Jenny and Josie came to help. Darien was going to need more blood than usual to get over the injuries he had sustained.
Karl braved the wrath of the ball of tentacles lying on Vicky’s legs to make sure she was okay. Zak growled softly as the werewolf nurse approached the sleeping woman.
“Hey there,” Karl spoke softly to the fay as he moved a little closer to Vicky. “I just want to make sure she’s okay.” Zak waved a few of his ends at Karl but let the man kneel down next to the couch.
Reaching up to where the cloak was wrapped around her, Karl carefully pulled it back as Zak stretched out to wrap a tentacle around his wrist. “I’m not going to hurt her.” He twisted his hand under the touch, but the little fay didn’t let go. Zak held on softly as Karl pulled the cloak open and looked over Vicky.
Other than being a little pale, she looked to be okay. Karl checked over the skin on her stomach to make sure the ifrit hadn’t injured her. Zak gurgled at the wolf as he pulled the cloak back and checked out Vicky’s leg, showing through the split pants. There was just a hint of a red line running down her skin, but she was fine. Karl carefully folded the cloak back over her so she would stay warm. He pulled the pins from her hair so her head would rest more comfortably.
Zak purred his approval and released the werewolf’s wrist. Taking the wooden sticks from Karl’s hands, Zak waved them around, gurgling again.
“He thanks you for your concern,” Einin said from where he stood behind the couch, watching the wolf check over Vicky.
The werewolf looked up at the short, stocky fay. “You understand him?” Karl was surprised that the noise the little creature made had meaning.
“Sometimes.” Einin looked down at the little horror. �
�He can make his meaning known if he wants to.”
Zak sneezed and let out a bark at the man behind the couch.
Einin laughed and reached out to pet the fay. “He definitely has a mind of his own.”
Zak wiggled and hopped down from Vicky’s lap to wobble away up the steps with the silver sticks of wood.
Karl stood up and watched him go in wonder. He had seen many things, but a ball of tentacles with an opinion was new to him.
“How is she?” Dakine asked.
Karl turned to look at the fay. “Not bad, given the circumstances.” He looked down at the sleeping woman. “She’s lost a lot of blood, but some sleep and a good diet will see her right in a day or two. That creature left a fine burn down her leg, but it doesn’t look bad.”
Dakine’s brow furrowed as he listened to him. “Show me,” he ordered, and Karl pulled the cloak back to reveal Vicky’s leg and the mark. “That’ll go away soon,” Dakine said as he touched the skin around the line. “She just needs a little rest.”
Karl nodded his agreement. He then wrapped her back in the cloak and stood up to face the fay. “Do you think we should move her someplace more comfortable?” he asked as he looked first at the couch and then at all the people milling around the room quietly.
Rupert and Sue had found a seat on the other couch, while Phelan sat on the arm with his arms crossed, watching the vampires across the room. Clara, Daniel, and Rachael stood in the opening between the living room and family room, watching as Jenny and Josie tended to Darien. Brian and Roger stood against the wall with three more people from Elliot’s kiss. Elliot leaned against the angel stone of the fireplace and watched over the room, expecting trouble. Roisin had disappeared through the dining room and into the kitchen.
“I think it would be best to wait for Darien to recover before we move her,” the elf warned. He knew that the vampire was feeling a little overprotective of the woman at the moment. Dakine moved away from Vicky and headed towards the dining room to find where Roisin had gone.