But she was bait.
While he had been fine with it before, the thought of using her like that now left him feeling uneasy. He shouldn’t allow a human to affect him in such a way, but he couldn’t help it. He didn’t want her to get hurt and he didn’t want that man touching her. He wanted to protect her.
The kiss had changed things.
It had changed him.
Now that she knew what he was, he had no reason to wear a mask around her, and his heart wanted to open to her, even when he feared the consequences. A human had no place in his world.
The alternative didn’t bear thinking about.
He wouldn’t allow her to become like him.
Amber ascended the stairs to the next floor. Kearn followed in silence and focused on his surroundings. It was difficult to sense the vampires. It felt as though there was only one besides him. That couldn’t be right.
She stopped at the top of the dark stairs. Could she see where she was going? Only the streetlamps outside lighted the floor and they barely cut through the darkness near the windows. The rest of it was pitch-black.
Kearn’s eyes bled into red and his vision sharpened. The darkness lifted enough for him to see that the entire floor was as empty as it had been last night.
Amber started moving again, heading into the gloom. Kearn kept his distance and listened to the building. The vampire was still here somewhere.
Bright lights burst on, blinding him. His eyes switched back straight away but it wasn’t soon enough. Spots danced across them, dulling his vision. It quickly cleared and Kearn didn’t like what he saw.
Amber stood in the middle of the expansive grey room facing him.
A man dressed in a sharp black suit stood behind her.
The man was older than he was, his long black hair tied back in a ponytail. Kearn didn’t recognise him but he was the same height and build as the man who had attacked Amber. The man grinned, revealing long canines.
Kearn’s arm activated, the power rolling up it quickly this time. It glowed blue at his side and whispered to him, urging him into dispensing justice and feeding it the vampire’s soul. It was hungry.
The man’s red eyes fixed on the nape of Amber’s neck.
Amber raised her hand, sensually running it over her chest and into her long chestnut hair, pushing it up and exposing her throat. She smiled at Kearn, tilting her head to one side. The sight of her pulse beating below her jaw was torture. He took a step towards them.
“What are you waiting for?” Her smile turned seductive and she lowered her hand, grazing her fingertips down her throat and over her cleavage. “I thought you wanted this, Venator?”
It wasn’t her speaking. The vampire was controlling her. It didn’t stop Kearn from wanting her. Her blood in his veins commanded him to come to her and fulfil her need for him. He took another step towards them, trying to figure out how to get to the man without hurting Amber in the process. The man was too close to her. If he attacked, he would hit Amber too. He needed to separate them.
“Come on, Lover,” she husked and dragged her nails over her throat, scoring red marks on her pale skin. “I know you want this.”
“Let her go.” Kearn raised his right hand.
The vampire smirked.
“Let me go? I don’t want him to let me go. I want both of you. I want you both in me.” Amber caressed her hips.
Kearn growled. “Let her go!”
Amber laughed.
The vampire moved closer to her. He placed his hands on Amber’s arms and she ran her fingers over her breasts and the black leather corset, heading downwards. She brushed them over her stomach and then dipped them in, touching her groin and raising her skirt. A flash of black knickers made Kearn ache for her.
That ache faded a moment later, replaced by a sense of fear.
Amber.
He shoved aside his desire and focused on her, communicating with her blood. He needed her to remain calm and fight the vampire’s hold on her. Even though the vampire was a Noble and still able to control her, his blood would be growing weak in her system. If she fought hard enough, she could free herself. He would help her.
She blinked and dropped her skirt. The vampire frowned.
Kearn used the blood he had taken from her to break the vampire’s hold on her. The moment it shattered, Amber ran forwards and fell on her knees at Kearn’s feet. He was past her in an instant. The vampire didn’t run. Kearn tackled him to the ground, landing on top, and wrestled with him, trying to pin his arms so he could use his right hand to kill him. The man sneered and threw him, and Kearn shot onto his feet, coming around and looking for another opening. The vampire picked himself up and glared at Kearn, red eyes narrowed and dark. He was strong but it didn’t match Kearn’s strength, not when he had a trace of Amber’s blood in his veins and the desire to protect her fuelling him.
Kearn shot across the room, caught the man around the throat and hurled him, sending him slamming into the wall at the far end. Bricks exploded outwards and a wave of dust swept through the room. Amber screamed, curling up into a ball at the top of the stairs with her hands over her head. Kearn ran to the vampire and dragged him off the floor by his neck. The blue glow of his arm brightened and a command from the Sovereignty flowed through him. The vampire had tasted forbidden blood. He had no choice but to do as his duty dictated.
Before he could sentence the vampire, he kicked Kearn in the stomach, knocking the wind from him. Kearn dropped him and the vampire grabbed his arm, turned and launched him across the room. He spun in the air, hit the floor hard and skidded along it, ending up near Amber.
“Kearn?” she whispered, still curled up with her hands over her head and looking at him through her lashes. Her frightened heartbeat whispered a command to his blood that was stronger than the one the Sovereignty had sent to him. Protect her.
He pushed himself up off the dusty floor and focused, bringing his jumbled senses back into order and shutting down the deep throbbing ache in his bones. It wasn’t just pain from the fight that pulsed through him. It was the effect of keeping his right arm activated too. Each second that ticked past stole a little more of his strength. He needed to end this before he didn’t have the power left to sentence the man. He wouldn’t let him have Amber.
“Go downstairs,” he said and Amber nodded and ran for the stairs.
The vampire went after her. Kearn growled and intercepted him, grabbing the vampire and running past her, back the way the man had come. He slammed the man into the wall with his body, using the speed of the impact to weaken him. Without his gun to slow the man down, he had to use every method at his disposal to end this quickly, no matter how unrefined it was. He struggled with the vampire, pinning him with his body, and elbowed him in the face. The vampire snarled and tried to bite him. Kearn growled, drew back, and punched him hard on the jaw. His reward was a right fist in the stomach. Pain spread outwards from the spot in a hot wave. He snarled this time and threw another punch at the man. The vampire dodged it, grabbed his wrist, and twisted it, forcing him to bend over backwards. A deep throbbing wave washed through him and his right arm burned. He was getting weaker but he wouldn’t give up. He would keep Amber safe and keep his promise.
The vampire threw him aside and ran for the stairs.
Kearn didn’t give him a chance to go after Amber.
He focused all of his remaining energy on his arm. It was difficult to use it from a distance but he couldn’t let the man have her. He unleashed the power and blue ribbons of light shot towards the man. They snaked around his body, wrapping themselves around his arms and legs and holding him. Kearn felt the shift in the power, the moment it went from merely containing the vampire to draining the life from him. The light from his arm and the threads holding the vampire turned red at first and then darkened to black. The vampire thrashed around, desperately trying to break free of the bonds that held him, snarling and growling like a rabid animal. A chill settled inside Kearn, growing in his
heart and numbing him. He turned away when the black tendrils of his power crawled up the man towards his throat. He didn’t need to watch in order to know what was happening. The black threads split, some covering the vampire’s chest and the rest forcing their way into his mouth, slithering down inside him. The icy feeling inside Kearn grew worse and terrible darkness opened within him.
He severed the connection between his power and the vampire, and fell to the floor, his knees hitting it hard at the exact moment the vampire collapsed. He pressed a hand to his chest and then took it away when he realised it was his marked one. He hated it. He hated what he was and where he sent the vampires that he sentenced with the power given to him by the Sovereignty. He hated himself.
What the vampires did was deplorable, but sending them to the eternal darkness, a place where they existed without a physical being and endured endless pain, was even more unforgivable.
But he had to carry out his duty.
If he didn’t, the Sovereignty would kill him instead.
His head felt light and his hunger was fiercer than ever, an inferno inside him that burned with such intensity that it threatened to control him. He slowly got to his feet, not daring to rush in case it made him pass out. He had killed enough vampires with his power to know his limits in the aftermath. He also knew the things he needed in order to recover. Blood and sleep.
Blood he had in the cooler in the bonnet of his Audi.
Sleep?
He hadn’t slept well since this had started three years ago.
But now it was over.
The vampire disintegrated into ashes, leaving nothing more than a dusty mark on the floor. It was the fate of all those who were killed by the Sovereignty’s power. Death by any other method would leave a body behind, but the Sovereignty believed that every trace of a sinner should be removed from the world, leaving nothing but a memory.
No body for their family to bury.
He closed his eyes against the memories that remained with him. He wished the Sovereignty would take those too.
Kearn looked at the stairs. He could feel Amber waiting below. What did he tell her? She was free. She could go home.
He didn’t want to say those words.
He didn’t want her to leave.
He went down the stairs and found her standing in the middle of the open low-lit room. She turned to face him as he approached and he stopped dead.
She smiled, her hazel eyes dull and doll-like.
Kearn’s fingers twitched and he grabbed his right arm, trying to stop it from activating. Bastard.
He looked at the ceiling, towards the dead vampire, and then back at Amber.
“You did not think it was over?” She laughed. “Honestly… Venator… I would not allow it to end so easily. Our game has finally begun.”
“Let her go.” Kearn’s senses reached out, sweeping through the building. There was no vampire in the vicinity except himself and the pile of ash upstairs. He glanced up at the ceiling again.
The vampire.
He had been a pawn, another under the vampire’s control. The one in the street that night had been his real target, the mastermind behind everything, and he was the one who Kearn was going to track down and kill.
He would pay for using Amber like this.
Amber ran her hands over her breasts. “She really is a divine creature, isn’t she? Does her blood taste as sweet as she looks?”
Kearn growled and his hand glowed blue.
He shook away the power and focused on Amber instead. He had to use his blood to protect her and shield her from the vampire’s control. It was difficult when he was so weak from the fight and using his power, but he wouldn’t fail her.
“The way you cope with it makes me suspect you are no stranger to blood from a Source.”
Kearn hated to hear those words issuing from Amber’s lips. She would remember everything that had happened. If the vampire revealed things to her about Kearn’s past, how would she look at him then? He focused harder, determined to free her.
“Now, now. I will leave her since you are so persistent, and will offer you another chance to find me. Shall we make our game interesting? I may or may not make an appearance at Duke Montagu’s ball tomorrow night. Are you brave enough to take the bait and face your demons, Venator?” Amber grinned and then collapsed in a heap on the floor.
Bastard.
Kearn ran to her and gathered her into his arms. They trembled and threatened to give out when he lifted her, cradling her close to him. He was as weak as a human right now but he had to get Amber to safety. He carried her out of the old factory building and back to his car. She didn’t stir, not even when he placed her down on the passenger seat and secured the safety belt across her chest.
“Amber?”
She murmured.
Her heart was steady and her blood showed no sign of struggle. He went to the bonnet of his car and opened it. A white cooler filled the small space. He removed the lid, picked up one of the clear plastic packs and bit into it. It wasn’t pleasant but it was blood. He swallowed it down, chucked the empty into the box and grabbed another. When he had finished that one too, he closed the cooler and shut the bonnet.
Amber looked at him from the passenger seat.
Kearn wiped the back of his hand across his mouth, walked around the car and got in, settling himself behind the steering wheel.
“How are you feeling?”
Amber looked herself over and her eyebrows furrowed. Tears lined her eyes. “A little strange… and a bit dirty.”
He swallowed at the memory of her flashing her underwear.
“It was not you who did those things. Even if he is a Noble, his hold over you will fade soon. It was weak tonight. You fought it well.” He smiled for her but she didn’t blush this time.
She hesitated and then leaned across the car and rested her cheek against his shoulder. Kearn wasn’t sure how to respond. Her hand pressed into his chest, her warmth burning through his black shirt and into his skin, filling him with an intense yearning to feel her fingers against his bare flesh. She shuffled closer, her cheek rubbing his left shoulder, warming that spot too, and he surrendered to temptation. He eased his arm out from between them, placed it around her shoulders, and curled his fingers around her bare upper arm. Her skin was cold beneath his fingers but smooth like satin. He stroked it, as much out of a need to feel her as out of a need to comfort her, and leaned towards her. Her dark hair tickled his cheek and he turned his head and breathed in her scent. The smell of her fragrance mixed with the divine aroma of her blood sent need spiralling through him and he opened himself to her, reforming the connection between their blood so she would feel him and would feel safe. He was weak right now but he still wouldn’t allow anything to happen to her.
“We have to go to that ball,” she whispered.
The soft waves of her hair obscured her face so he couldn’t read her feelings in it. Her blood felt calm.
“It would not be wise,” he said.
She looked up at him. He cleared the hair from her face with his right hand so he could see her hazel eyes. They were brighter now and shone with resolve again. He could see she wasn’t going to give up. Perhaps she would if he told her why he didn’t think it would be wise to attend.
“The ball is a masquerade. We will be at a disadvantage. It would be too dangerous,” he said.
“I want to go. He might be there. We have to take this chance to catch our man.”
Kearn held her shoulder, keeping her against him, and stared at the dashboard. When had the vampire become their man and not only his? Had the kiss changed her too?
Her forehead touched his neck. The feel of her against him was more than nice. He liked how she felt in his arms, and how warm she was against his side, and the way he could smell her scent and feel her heart beating.
More than that, he liked how it told him that she hadn’t been lying. She wasn’t afraid of him. He couldn’t deny it now. Her heart wa
s steady, her blood was calm, and she showed no sign of fear at being so close to him. Both he and Kyran had been wrong. He had thrown off his mask, revealing his true self, and she hadn’t run away. She had only grown closer to him.
And she had only grown more determined to help him catch the vampire.
But was she really brave enough to attend the ball?
The vampire had chosen a brilliant stage for their next meeting. Kearn didn’t want to face his demons and the vampire knew that, and all about him. He hadn’t realised just how well his adversary knew him but now he was sure that the man was a Noble, he wasn’t surprised. The noble houses knew Kearn’s tale in all its sordid glory.
It was the reason he had avoided social gatherings since shortly after his family had cast him out. Everyone at the ball would recognise him and would know his history, especially the family hosting it. It would be difficult to focus on his mission when he would be in danger, having to watch everyone, on constant alert in case they attacked him. His presence at Amber’s side would increase the threat to her. She would make an easy target for anyone wanting to hurt him.
Amber was right though. He couldn’t pass up this chance. They had to take the risk and attend. He would do his best to keep his focus and keep her safe. If the ball became dangerous, or anyone threatened her, they would leave.
He wouldn’t risk her to catch this man.
She was more important to him than his duty.
CHAPTER 9
She must be crazy.
Amber sat in the passenger seat of Kearn’s Audi, heading to a ball full of vampires, with a chance of one of them attempting to capture her and bleed her.
The words had sounded good at the time, the right thing to say to make her appear strong to Kearn, even when she had been on the verge of breaking inside. The things the man had done to her with only his mind, the dark thoughts he had placed inside her, terrified her, and now they were heading into dangerous territory just for the chance of meeting him again.
Forbidden Blood (Vampire Venators Romance Series) Page 11