Barbie- The Vampire Hunter Boxset

by Lucinda Dark

  I nodded, but instead of taking a seat across from her on the couch she’d shunned, I strode across the room—pacing from one side to the next. My father’s scimitar rested on the mantle above the fireplace. A memory of blood and bone flashed through my mind behind my eyes as I blinked. It disappeared just as quickly as it had come. I inhaled sharply and pivoted back to face the demon.

  “Do you remember when we first made our deal?” I asked. “When I first signed your contract?”

  She arched one delicately perfect brow. “I do.”

  “And do you remember the main reason we made the deal?”

  She sighed. “Of course,” she said with a wave of her hand. “That’s obvious.”

  I eyed her. “You wanted a portal to enjoy the mortal realm with,” I said. “And now I’m immortal, so technically you’ll always have a portal to the mortal realm now.”

  “Yes?” She crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her head.

  “Unless I die.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Get to the point, darling.”

  “What would you do to keep me alive?” I asked. “I am going after Arrius Priest and last time, I died. This time, that could happen again. But for real. Arrius Priest has done a lot—”

  “Much of it illegal in terms of magical interference,” she commented with a nod. “Which to be fair, as a demon, I admire in many ways. But at the same time, as a demon, I am bound by contracts and when a new being is brought into the supernatural realm—whether made or born—their soul signs a type of contract. They may not remember or understand, but every soul is bound by restrictions. If there were no limitations then there would be chaos and chaos without rules is simply madness.”

  I laced my fingers together, letting them hang down in front of me. “So, that means that he’s broken the rules of the supernatural realm, right?”

  She nodded. “Yes.”

  “Is there like … a supernatural force? A prison? An elite squad of demons to capture him? Take him down? Punish him?”

  Her laughter was like an array of wind chimes. “It’s more complicated than that,” she said as she shook her head, chuckling beneath her breath. “Demons—despite being quite adoring of chaos and madness—are a controlled group. We follow procedure.”

  “And what does procedure say to do about a vampire that has broken the rules?” I asked.

  “Well, when he dies—his soul will be taken to Lucifer—not because he’s damned for eternity, mind you. Even supernatural creatures can make it to heaven. It’s a common misconception. But for rule breakers, Lucifer gets them. He’d then look back on the soul’s life and undead life to determine the level of wrong he’s done. For your lover’s daddy, I’d say Arrius Priest has earned himself a spot of Kings in the lowest level of Hell.”

  “Satrina,” I snapped. “What does that mean? How can I get him there? I need to know how to kill Arrius Priest.”

  “He’s just like any other vampire,” she said, blinking at me. “You stake them or behead them.” I released a low, frustrated groan. “I don’t know what you expect me to do about this,” she huffed.

  “Kill him!” I said. “He created Torin—which as you’ve said before—he did using forbidden magic. He had a witch unravel Torin’s mother. Doesn’t he deserve some sort of punishment? At the very fucking least what about investigating him? Why would he create Torin and then just let Torin go?”

  Satrina was quiet for a moment as she seemed to consider the questions. “It is curious…” she admitted.

  “Then help me.” I went to my knees in front of her, grabbing her hands in her lap. “Please, Satrina. If you don’t help me—us—then he could kill us again. I’m over it. I don’t care if I have help—I’ll need all the help I can get to take him down. Arrius Priest needs to be stopped.”

  Satrina stared at me, her shoulders stiffened in surprise. Never before had I moved to touch her so casually. We weren’t friends. We were symbiont—two creatures living together in the same form. Co-habitants. Her lips pressed together, but I wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

  “Please,” I whispered. “Give me everything. Give me all of your abilities. I know I’ve only ever managed to get a percentage but I need everything to take him down. Give it to me and go to your boss, see if there’s any way we could get some—I don’t know—divine help.”

  “Divine?” Both of her brows shot up. “You do realize that you’re speaking to a demon, darling, not an angel.”

  “Demon, angel—I really don’t give a fuck. I just need to know one thing. Will. You. Help. Me?”

  “You’re already in pain, darling,” she said, her voice calm as she withdrew her hands from beneath mine. “Or have you forgotten?”

  “I haven’t—” I broke off when instead of pulling away completely, Satrina grabbed one palm and turned it over, pressing the tip of one her nails in the center. She pressed down, and I flinched as she drew blood. “If you are willing, though, I will try to do as you ask.”

  “When—” She put her other hand over my mouth and I winced as she dug the nail in my palm deeper. Satrina looked down as blood welled up from the small wound. I didn’t know how she determined it was enough, but she removed her hand from my mouth and then her nail from my palm. Using the extended nail, she made a similar cut into the center of her own palm and then held it over mine and blood the color of tar dripped from beneath her skin into my hand. Red and black mingled, merging into a glob on my skin. Unlike what would’ve happened in the real world—my wound didn’t close immediately. Instead, the blood circled it and slowly reentered. Except this time, it wasn’t just my own. I stared down at my hand as the wound sealed over and the skin knitted back together before I looked up and met Satrina’s gaze.

  “No more,” she said quietly. “No more separating yourself from them. If they offer it, you take. Do you understand?” I knew what she meant. I nodded. “I’m serious,” she explained. “Even if they don’t offer—ask. Take what you need or else this will not end happily for you, Barbie. I have given you the right to all of my powers—dangerous for a human, absolutely insane for a vampire. You are neither, and yet, you are both.”

  “If sex is what it takes to kill Arrius Priest, then don’t worry,” I said as I slowly got to my feet. “I don’t care what I have to do. If I have to walk naked through hell, then I’ll walk as if I own the fucking place.”

  Satrina’s lips stretched into a smile and she, too, stood. “Good,” she said with a nod. “Then as you prepare to track him down, I will seek an audience with His Eminence.”

  I frowned. “Who—”

  She rolled her eyes. “Do not insult me by asking me who I’m talking about,” she huffed. “I will be seeking an audience with Lucifer Morningstar, Satan himself. If I’m granted permission … I may be able to possess you fully. And if I can—”

  “You can kill him,” I finished for her. She nodded. It was a last resort, but one we sorely needed. If all else failed, this would be our back up. “Thank you,” I said.

  And in true Satrina fashion, she laughed, swiping a long strand of dark hair over her shoulder as she turned and walked out of the house, leaving me in the remains of my past. And just like I’d done all those months ago, I walked out the door behind her—snapping my fingers—and left the building to burn.

  There was no more time for looking back, after all.

  Chapter 38

  Barbie

  I opened my eyes and immediately turned over to face Maverick. “Hey,” he said. The stroking against my hair stopped the second I pressed my mouth to his. I didn’t wait for him to stop me or push me back or ask me what the hell I was doing. I grabbed the hem of my shirt and dragged it up over my head, tossing it away before reaching for the clasp of my bra.

  Maverick’s eyes were still open, on me as I swept my tongue into his mouth. It took more strength than I thought I had to pull my mouth away, but it was necessary. I needed his clothes off as well. I grabbed his shirt, and instead of lif
ting it, I rent it straight down the middle, tearing a path open to reveal the display of his chest.

  “Uhh … what the hell are you doing?” he asked, blinking at me as I attacked the button of his jeans. I backed up, dragging them down as well.

  “I need sex,” I said. “Right now.”

  “Okay…” Despite that, he didn’t seem all that keen to help me. I ended up ripping his pants and underwear in my effort to remove them and only when he realized that his clothes were either going to come off willingly or be torn from him did he finally decide to shed them on his own before helping me out of the rest of mine.

  Soon enough naked skin was against naked skin. I cupped him in my palm, stroking his cock, pumping it with my fist.

  “No offense,” Mav said, his voice strained as his hips arched into my hand. “Not that I don’t enjoy this, but two minutes ago, you were having a fucking breakdown, Princess. What’s with the change of pace?”

  “I used my demon’s powers when I killed that vampire,” I said, lifting a leg to straddle him. “It’s been hurting ever since.”

  “Fuck,” he barked out, hands gripping my waist as I held his cock up, positioned it at my entrance so that I could sink … slowly … down. He bared his teeth, neck arching back as I took him inside. All the way, until the base of him was against my clit. “Why didn’t you say anything?” he asked when he could speak.

  “I don’t know,” I said, lifting up as I pushed down with my knees. A hiss escaped his lips. “Because I wanted it to hurt. Because I didn’t feel like it. There’s a list of reasons. I bet a therapist would have a field day with me.”

  His chuckle turned into a groan as I descended back down. He blew out a breath. “You’d send a therapist screaming in the opposite direction, Princess.”

  I leaned down and nipped at his pec, sliding until my tongue touched one flat, masculine nipple. I gripped it between my teeth and tugged. Mav’s hand gripped the back of my head and suddenly we were flipping. My back landed on the floor of the bedroom. His medallion dangled between us as he anchored one of my legs up on his, gripped the other just under my knee and pushed. He pushed my leg until it was bent and pressed against my front and then he pushed it out until he’d opened a space for him to thrust into me with rigorous vigor.

  My mouth popped open as he powered into me. I could feel my back sliding across the floor as he pounded my pussy. My nails sank into his upper arms as if that would manage to keep me steady. I thrust my chest out, my breasts feeling heavy and needy. My nipples stood on end as pleasure rocketed through me. More. I needed more.

  “Mav…” I hissed when he leaned down and took what I was offering. His mouth closed around one of my nipples and in much the same fashion as I’d done to him, he gripped it with his teeth and tugged until whatever string bound my senses together sent electricity straight to my clit.

  Sex. Sensuality. Love. We were two people thrown together—strung through the wringer—and had come out on the other side completely changed. Maverick fucked me hard. Harder than I think he ever had before and I loved it. My fangs burned to come down, and instead of fighting it, I let them. I opened my mouth as they descended only thinking a moment later that it might make him uncomfortable.

  It didn’t. In fact, at the sight of my fangs, a growl ripped free from Mav’s throat and he released my leg to grab at the back of my head—pressing my face into his throat. “Do it,” he hissed. “Bite me. I want to feel your fangs in my skin.”

  My vampire didn’t need to be told twice. She didn’t even hesitate. I sank my fangs into the tender column of his neck and gulped down strong, heated blood. The blood of a dragon. It coated my tongue, ran towards the back of my throat. Like a fucking shock to my system, it ratcheted up my desire tenfold.

  The more I drank, the heavier my breasts felt. The more blood I consumed from him, the harder my clit pounded. Tingles and sparks raced through my system, lighting me up. Setting me on fire. Burning everything away. My thoughts. My logic. My rationality. None of it was necessary anymore. I just needed him. I just needed this.

  My orgasm built on a cliffside—dangerous and impending. It loomed over me, just out of reach, but there. I cried out, tried to make him go faster, even tried to find my clit with my own fingers and rub myself into oblivion, but he wouldn’t let me. Maverick snarled, snatching my hands and slamming my wrists onto the floor as he fucked me.

  “No,” he growled. “You come with me or not at all.”

  “Now,” I hissed back, tilting my pelvis up to meet his thrusts. He craned his neck back, his fingers tightening around my wrists as I felt that orgasm that had been sitting just out of my sight suddenly wash over me. It was a feeling of pleasure so intense, it was almost painful.

  “Barbie!” His shout echoed up to the ceiling and I felt the exact moment that he came too. His thrusts stuttered to a stop and he held himself deep within me, both of us panting. And then he collapsed. His chest coming down against mine and flattening my breasts as his arms closed around me. “Shit,” he hissed, panting for breath. “Can you at least give me some warning before you’re about to jump me?” he asked.

  “Nope.” I pushed against his shoulder. “I have to take a shower.”

  He grumbled as he rolled to the side, watching me with suspiciously raised brows as I got off the floor. “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “Shower first,” I said. “And then we’re going to Torin’s.”

  Chapter 39

  Torin

  I loosened my tie, tugging it straight down until the back tail slipped out of the knot and the whole thing came off in my fist. The main house was empty. Not empty as it had been before—with the shudders closed and the lights off. No. The place had been deserted. Katalin had returned and just as quickly she’d disappeared.

  Sheets covered what furniture remained behind. The electricity and water were still running, but likely only because here you had to pay for it through the end of the month. I sighed and leaned against the wall as I tucked my tie into my suit’s pant pocket.

  Olivia’s funeral had been, in a word, bleak. Not shocking for any funeral. This one just meant a little more. Barbie had been missing, as had Maverick, but neither was expected to attend anyway. Maverick hadn’t been close with Olivia, but that’s not why he hadn’t attended. Before I’d gotten to the public part of Olivia’s funeral—the burial—Mav had texted me to let me know that he’d be staying behind. That was a couple hours ago now.

  The sound of a car coming up the driveway a moment later reached my ears before it headed around towards the front. Stepping outside, I stopped, keeping both of my clenched fists in my pockets as Maverick parked the truck and got out. The passenger side door opened and Barbie got out as well, her hair still wet from a shower. She looked better than I’d seen her last—more animated than the night Olivia had died.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked, sweeping my gaze to Mav who stood just on the other side of the truck. He met my gaze and then nodded to Barbie and I moved my attention back to her.

  “We need to talk,” she said, nodding further off to the side—down the path that would lead to the guesthouses. “Meet you at the guesthouse?”

  I nodded and they got back in the truck, the engine starting up once more as they rolled on by.

  It’d been a few days, but the last time I’d seen her, she had been riddled with guilt and agony—far too upset for any consolation. I decided to take the back way. I turned around and headed back through the main house that I’d been cast out of only weeks before. I hit the back lawn and just kept going. By the time I was walking up the side garden path and around the front of the guesthouse, Barbie and Maverick were already there and inside.

  I walked in and shut the door behind me with a sigh. “So,” I said, “what’s this about?” I removed the tie from my pocket and dropped it on the coffee table as I bypassed the living room and headed for the kitchen.

  “We need to go after Arrius,” Barbie said, trailing af
ter me from where she’d been sitting in the living room. I headed for the fridge, opening it and pulling out a bag of blood. I snapped the bag to my teeth and turned, watching her and waiting. When she realized I wouldn’t be talking for a few minutes, she continued. “I think I have a plan, but I need you and Maverick to agree to it.”

  I removed the emptied bag and dumped it in the trash before retrieving a second full one from the fridge. “Do you need to feed?” I asked.

  “What?—no, actually…” I slapped the bag to my teeth as she bit her lip, shifting on her feet. Behind her, Mav entered the kitchen doorway and leaned against the frame, crossing his arms as he watched us. “Actually, Satrina and I have been talking,” she said. “And I—I drank from Maverick. That time we had sex together and earlier today.”

  I didn’t say anything, but I could feel my muscles tense. My eyes flicked to Mav, but as per his usual, there was nothing on his expression that might give me a glimpse inside his mind.

  “I think I can only drink supernatural blood,” Barbie continued. “That’s why I can drink from you and Mav, but not from humans and not from the bag.”

  I nodded slowly. “Well, that clears that up,” I said. “Does it have anything to do with this supposed plan?”

  She grimaced. “No, but I thought you should know. The plan is…” She paused and looked back at Mav, exchanging a glance that was far too fast for me to sense the intention, “Unconventional,” she finished.

  “I see.” I popped a new bag to my fangs and proceeded to think as I sucked up the blood. Unconventional would be good for getting to Arrius, but so much about us as a group was already unconventional—so much we’d tried was unconventional. Unconventional did not ensure success. I pulled the bag from my fangs and dropped it into the trash. “Barbie,” I started, pausing and letting my eyes glance over the wall as I prepared for her reaction to what I was about to say, “we need to think about this logically.” I turned, sliding my hands back into my suit’s pant pockets, already sensing her impending wrath from the way her brow puckered as she looked back at me. “After what’s happened, we need to have a solid plan. We can’t rush in, we can’t be—”