by Julie Wetzel
Darien drew a shuddering breath and pulled himself to life as the sun went down. Looking around his empty bedroom, he stretched his tired muscles. He hadn’t noticed when Vicky and Zak had left his side. A laugh slipped from him as he shook his head. It had been nearly seven hundred years since he was last held by the power of the sun. It just went to show how weakened he had been by the rebounding magic. Darien pulled himself from his bed to go get cleaned up before heading down to see about food.
***
Darien looked at his living room in surprise. All the furniture had been moved around to face the windows. The lamps and the glass table had been relocated to the family room, and several of the chairs from the dining room had been dragged in. Someone had found an easel and whiteboard and had it set up in front of the windows.
Elliot scribbled on it furiously as the rest of the group yelled answers, trying to guess the movie-themed picture. Elliot cheered when Phelan yelled Hello Dolly, and he wiped the board clean for the next person.
Darien was glad to see that the wolves were mixed in with the vampires having a good time.
Zak gurgled as Vicky dislocated him and got up to take her turn at the board.
Darien leaned into the wall and sighed as he watched the woman stand up to draw a card from the box. Someone had pulled her hair back into a loose braid, and she flipped it behind her as she picked up the pen to draw on the board. He watched Vicky, unnoticed for a while, as she scribbled furiously to the calls of her teammates. Watching her smiling and laughing warmed his heart. He liked it when she was happy.
Pushing away from the wall, he retreated towards the kitchen to get something to eat. The soft sounds of skittering on the floor drew his attention, and Zak scampered up to him. Darien greeted the small fay and leaned over to ruffle his tentacles. Zak chattered at him and wiggled appreciatively as the vampire continued on his way.
The kitchen itself was empty when Darien pushed the door open, but he could hear voices talking from the breakfast nook at the other end of the room. He ignored the group and pulled his usual glass down, rummaging in the refrigerator for his blood packs. A disapproving sound came from the other room.
“What are you doing?” Clara asked as she watched Darien pull out the scissors to open his breakfast.
“Eating,” he said, emptying the first bag into the glass and dropping it in the sink.
She gave him a pointed look. “There is fresh blood in the other room.”
“It’s busy right now.” He dropped the empty packs in the trash and picked up his glass. “I didn’t want to disturb them.”
Clara rolled her eyes. “Disturb them,” she grumbled. “You need something with more life in it than that.”
Darien shrugged as he brought his glass over and leaned against the wall of the doorway. “This will do for now.” He took a long pull from the container. “I’ll get someone to donate when they aren’t having so much fun.” The action in the other room chose that moment to reach a peak, and the cheers could be heard clearly.
Clara grinned and shook her head at him. “All right,” she said, “but make sure you feed well later. You need to get your strength back.”
Darien nodded and took another pull from his cup.
“Maybe you could get one of the wolves to offer,” Dakine said from the far side of the table. “The magic in them would do you good.”
Rupert chuckled at this. “Ask Karl,” he said. “He was fascinated watching Clara feed earlier. I’m sure he’d be willing just for the experience.”
Clara laughed at the memory of the medic asking Brian a slew of questions after she had finished with him.
“If he’s willing,” Darien agreed and finished his glass. He set the empty container on the counter behind him and came to sit at the table with the leaders of the groups. “So, have you decided what we’re going to do?” Leaning back into the chair, he let Zak jump up in his lap, and smoothed down the fay’s top tentacles.
Dakine laughed at the picture the two presented. “Your lady has turned him into a lap dog.” He smiled down at Zak purring in Darien’s lap.
Darien shrugged and pulled on the feeler wrapped around his wrist.
“We were waiting for you to get up before we finalized the plans, but yes.” Rupert pulled the conversation back to where it needed to be.
Darien looked at the alpha. “So, what are we doing?”
“A Wild Hunt,” Dakine said.
Darien sat up, disturbing Zak. The fay gurgled his displeasure and wiggled around in Darien’s lap.
“I’m not saying that’s a bad idea.” Darien pulled his hand free of Zak’s grip. “But is that wise? I mean, the Wild Hunt will go after anything that flees from it.” He was truly concerned to call a power so great into the city. If it got out of control, things could get very bad.
“We’ll use the mark the jinni left on the lady to lead the hounds,” Dakine said. “Once they have prey, they won’t stop for anything else.”
Darien took a deep breath and let it go in a drawn-out sigh. He didn’t like exposing Vicky to another danger from the darker parts of the world. This was definitely the best way to solve the problem fast, but still, there were risks involved. “Very well,” he agreed. “But I’ll need a few days to recover. And we need to talk about who can go on this hunt.” He wanted this thing dead, but he wasn’t willing to risk others unnecessarily to do it.
“We’ve already done that,” Clara said. “The wolves and vampires will go, but the danger to anyone else is too high.”
Dakine and Rupert nodded their agreement.
“But, Miss Westernly will have to go to lead the hounds,” Rupert added.
Darien sighed again and closed his eyes to think. There was no getting around that. Now, he just had to find a way to keep the fay from running off with her. He felt soft touches on his chest and looked down at the creature in his lap.
Zak stared up at him with beady, little eyes and chirped reassuringly at him.
The vampire chuckled and rubbed the fay again. Of course Zak would be there to protect Vicky from the Wild Hunt.
“When?” he asked, looking back up at the group. This needed to be done as soon as possible.
“Einin and Roisin have already gone back to round up the hounds,” Dakine said.
Darien could hear the anticipation in his voice. It had been some time since the Wild Hunt had been called with a target in mind.
“We’ll be ready when you are.”
“Thursday night is the full moon,” Rupert added. “So, we’ll have to do it before then or wait a month till our power grows again.”
Darien nodded. “I would prefer to have this done as soon as possible.” Just the thought of the ifrit loose for another month pissed Darien off. He would go crazy trying to watch Vicky every second to make sure she was safe. Another thought passed through his mind, and he looked around at the people gathered with him.
“Let’s plan to go on Tuesday night,” Darien said as he considered their course of action. “That’ll give me a chance to recover and clear my schedule in case the ifrit decides to try running.”
The group nodded as he spoke.
Rupert leaned back in his chair, considering his pack members. “Then I’ll gather the wolves that would want to go.”
Clara started to make a list of her own. “And I’ll call the vampires.”
Darien leaned back in his own chair. “Good.” His hand fell to petting Zak as he drew in a breath to make his request. “Can I ask something from you?” He looked at the leaders of the two groups with resigned eyes. “I’m still not strong enough to make sure Victoria is safe. I need some help protecting her.”
Clara and Rupert both stared at him with wide eyes. Darien wasn’t the type to show weakness to anyone. For him to admit that he needed help was surprising, but not wholly unexpected.
“Of course.” Clara smiled at him. “We’ll be happy to stay.” It was a long way out to her home, anyway, and if they were going after th
e ifrit on Tuesday, it made sense to stay in Brenton. “I’ll get one of the guys to go back and get supplies tomorrow.”
“I’ll arrange for a few more of the wolves to come over, too,” Rupert added. “They can help with security, plus you could use the stronger blood.”
Darien smiled, closed his eyes, and nodded. It looked as if he was going to have to have words with security downstairs to let them know there were going to be a lot of people in and out of his penthouse in the next few days.
Another thought popped into his head. “Has anyone called from security?” Darien asked, concerned. Surely, Ethan had noticed all these people coming in. He would have called his boss, and security would have been notified about the unusual number of guests.
“No one will call,” Dakine said with a knowing smile.
Darien laughed at the fay’s sly remark.
Zak wiggled and jumped down to scamper off through the kitchen.
“There you are.”
Darien’s heart pulsated at the soft voice behind him as Vicky bent over to pick up the little fay. Zak climbed eagerly into her arms and wiggled happily.
Darien turned in his chair to see the woman walking towards him with the happy fay wrapping his ends around her. Phelan walked one step behind her almost protectively.
“Good evening, Victoria,” Darien said as she approached. “How are you doing?”
She cocked an eyebrow at him, not used to him calling her by her first name. “I was just about to ask you that same question,” Vicky answered. “I feel all right.” She twitched and pulled one of Zak’s tentacles from where it had raised her shirt and was rubbing a ticklish spot on her side. “How are you?” she asked.
The urge to hold her swelled inside Darien. He wanted to feel her alive, warm, and conscious under his hands. It took effort, but he pushed away the desire to stand and pull her against him, to tell her he was sorry, and to kiss her if she would let him. This was not the time or place for those things.
“I’m better,” Darien said, not about to admit his true condition to the woman. He didn’t want Vicky to worry about him. He still felt bad about nearly killing her.
“That’s good.” Vicky set the wiggly fay down. His ends wouldn’t stop tickling her. Zak sneezed his displeasure and wrapped a tentacle around her ankle.
Vicky ignored him as she moved around the kitchen, dragging him like some weird child’s plaything on a string. “We came in to get some snacks for the group.” She pulled out a platter and set it on the counter. Pointing Phelan to the pantry to get out the crackers, she went to the refrigerator. She paused, surprised to see more food in there than the last time she had opened it. Shaking her head, she fished around for the block of cheese and the summer sausage tucked away in the bottom.
Darien watched with soft eyes as she moved about his kitchen, pulling things out to prepare snacks.
She had only been there for two weeks, but she moved through the room with grace. Even though Odette had cooked all of her meals, Vicky had still taken the time to get familiar with the room in case she needed something. She quickly reduced the food to small chunks and passed them to Phelan to arrange on the platter.
The wolf took the platter out to the waiting group while Vicky cleaned up.
She even grabbed Darien’s empty glass from the counter and rinsed it out before putting it in the dishwasher. Once things were clean, she pulled another platter of fruit from the refrigerator and balanced it as she grabbed the roll of paper towels from under the cabinet. Vicky paused before heading back out and looked at the four faces watching her. “Did you guys need anything?” she asked politely.
Darien raised his hand in acknowledgement of the offer. “We’re fine.”
Vicky shrugged and took her load out through the swinging door with Zak scooting after her.
“That was very…” Clara looked for the right words to describe the mundane scene they had just witnessed. It was so normal in the light of everything else that had happened recently.
“Domestic,” Rupert supplied, and they all laughed. “Your lady has certainly taken the changes in her life well.”
“Well, when it’s swim or drown…” Darien shrugged and hung his arm on the back of his chair as he sat at a cockeyed angle. He could see the room behind him out of the corner of his eye. His mind replayed the sight of Vicky moving through it with the tip of her braid brushing across the floor as Zak batted at it playfully. The white stone seemed warmer than usual, and he sighed again. He could really get use to that.
***
Vicky sat on the floor and looked at the five black cards in her hand before looking at the face of her partner. They were one point away from winning this round of euchre. Everyone had laughed when Roger had declared they were ‘in the barn’, took their scorecards, and stuck them behind his ears. Vicky happily played along when he laced his fingers together with his thumbs down and mooed as she milked his makeshift utters. Now they just had to win that last point.
Sue scratched her cheek, thinking about the card showing in the kitty, before passing on the suit.
Vicky cursed to herself as Roger picked up the heart and made it trump.
Rachael led out, and the game was soon decided as Roger took four of the five tricks.
“That was a great game,” Sue said as she stretched and looked around at the people relaxing and hanging out in Darien’s home. Someone had found a really bad horror movie called Frogs, and several people were sitting on the sofa in the family room, laughing. Clara had left to pass information to the rest of the vampires, and several more werewolves had come upon Rupert’s request.
Vicky had lost track of everyone coming and going. Zak kept very close to her and was currently chewing on the end of her braid as it curled away from her on the rug.
“Up for another round?” Roger asked as he stood up and stretched. They had already been told that they were going to stay for a while, and Brian had started to make arrangements to go get supplies when Darien stepped in and stopped him. Offering up a credit card, Darien told him it would just be easier for them to hit the mall tomorrow and buy whatever they needed. Brian agreed and took the card with the promise not to get anything they didn’t need. Darien just shrugged and went to find Karl to see if he was still interested in the eating habits of vampires.
“Sure.” Vicky stood and picked up her glass. “Let me just get something to drink.” Pulling her braid out of Zak’s mouth, she headed into the kitchen to get some water. She stopped dead in her tracks as she pushed through the swinging door and her eyes landed on the couple leaning against the counter.
Daniel had a woman that had been introduced to Vicky as a wolf pressed to the counter, feeding from the vein in her neck.
Vicky’s eyes widened at the cooing noises coming from the woman. From the way she was rubbing up against him, he might have been doing something more rapturous then taking blood. Vicky’s breath caught as Daniel pulled away and licked the wound to stop bleeding.
Breathing heavily, he looked into the woman’s eyes before kissing her passionately.
Vicky carefully backed out of the kitchen before they noticed her intrusion. She retreated back through the living room.
“Is everything okay?” Roger asked as he noticed the shocked look on her face.
“Yes.” Vicky’s voice squeaked a little. “I just…” She pointed back to the kitchen but didn’t want to talk about the intimate scene she just witnessed. “It’s nothing.” She changed her statement. “I’ll be right back.”
Vicky headed out of the living room and practically ran up the steps to her bathroom. Shutting the door behind her, she stared at her reflection in the mirror. She had lived in the dorms at college and had walked in on people making out or having sex, but neither one had been as hot as the scene she just witnessed. The way the woman rubbed against Daniel, moaning, all tangled around him, the arch in her back as he fed from her, and the blood. Oh, God, the blood just made the whole thing hotter in some strange
, twisted way.
Vicky ran water in the sink to wash her face. Twice now she had given blood, and neither time had been anything like that. Had Daniel done something to her to make her react that way? Was it because she was a willing victim? Vicky shut the faucet off and pulled the hand towel over to dry the water from her face. She looked at the blue eyes she was still not use to seeing in her face and worked to calm her heart.
A light tap drew her away from her thoughts. She turned and saw the ends of Zak’s tentacles wiggling under the bottom. Vicky laughed as she went to open the door for him, but was surprised to find Darien standing outside with the little fay.
“Is everything all right?” His soft voice was filled with concern.
She blushed lightly. Of course, someone would have informed Darien of her flustered exit. “Yes.” Turning away from him, she went back to wipe up the water she had splashed on the sink. “I just…”
“Walked in on Daniel feeding on Mitzy in the kitchen,” he said as he walked into the room. Leaning his backside against the counter next to Vicky, he crossed his arms over his chest and looked at his assistant.
She was careful not to look at the man standing beside her as she fluffed the towel and folded it back onto the ring.
Zak curled around her ankles and started chewing on the end of her braid.
Darien unfolded his arms and rested the heels of his hands on the counter behind him as he thought of the proper thing to say to Vicky. “When done properly, the taking of blood can be very…” He paused and held out his hand looking for the right word.
“Erotic,” Vicky said as she shifted things around on the countertop, still avoiding looking at him.
“Pleasurable,” Darien finished and went on to explain it. “It’s the pairing that determines what kind of enjoyment is experienced. Some can be more potent than others.” He shrugged at the fact. “I guess you could consider it a reward for being willing to let someone feed off you.”
Vicky snorted as she thought about Elliot’s comment in the club on the night of the fire. “Just another perk.” She grinned a little sarcastically and looked at him sideways.