Max closed his eyes smiling as he took in what must’ve been for him the sounds and smells of home. “I felt the same way when I first visited Earth. I just wish we’d come here under better circumstances.”
“Yeah, let’s figure out who would dare send someone to cut Abby’s throat and introduce him to whatever afterlife you people believe in.”
“I don’t really think Abby was the target.”
“It doesn’t matter if they were aiming for her Julian they attacked her and that just can’t happen again. If you haven’t noticed us humans are pretty fragile. Abby can’t survive whatever this was. And I’m gonna make sure she doesn’t have to.” I looked around there was nothing but trees in every direction. “So where to?”
“We’re not far from my castle. Let’s go there grab a change of clothes before we travel to the palace.”
I gave him a look of disbelief. “You have a castle? Is it a really big cave that you just call a castle?”
He chuckled. “No it’s a real castle. It was a gift to my family from the Corvus House for centuries of service.”
He started heading east I follow behind him. “Corvus?” I asked.
“Yes, that’s the name of Julian’s house.”
We walked for hours making me wish instead of boots with a thick heel I’d worn gym shoes to rescue Abby. But I tried to keep the complaints to a minimum. After all, I’d ran for two days straight in those same boots when I was hiding from Max.
In order to distract myself I asked, “So, who do you think ordered the hit on Julian?”
Max shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s highly unusual for vampires to turn against their own. If the assassin had been a vampire from Earth then it’d obviously be about the mess we’ve made with you and Abby, but Sanguinese don’t care about The Veil so the attack must have been over something else.”
“Sanguinese?” The word seemed familiar. “Is that Latin for blood or something?”
“Something like that. Our realms have been in contact for a very long time.”
That made sense. “So you’re saying your people were influenced by Roman culture. I get it.”
He laughed. “No, I’m saying that Roman culture was shaped by ours. Didn’t they seem to have quite a few oddly advanced ideas given the time?”
I couldn’t even wrap my head around that. Everything I’d ever known about anything had been wrong. How does a person keep going knowing something like that? My life had been one success after another. After I’d shot the man that killed Abby’s parents, I was branded a hero. I graduated top of my class and got recruited into the bureau. I made it through my training with honors. I have top security clearance. But it turns out I didn’t know anything about squat. None of us did. A world full of humans just fumbling around in the darkness, completely oblivious to everything going on right under their noses.
I hated it. I hated feeling lost and helpless and out of control. My hand went to my gun. And that made me feel even worse, would bullets stop any of the things I might run into?
Max and Julian both worried that I would try to run back to my old life and end up contaminating everyone around me. But they didn’t get it. I didn’t want to go back, not knowing everything that I knew. How could I spend every day worried about things like the rising price of coffee or the dry cleaners failing to get the stain out of my favorite shirt when there were other realms and werewolves and magically cloaked islands. I wasn’t naive. I didn’t think I could go back. My only concern was protecting Abby. This world was too dangerous for her. She needed someone to look after her. Someone that wouldn’t use her as a sex toy.
“So from what you’ve told me, I gather that vampires as a whole are pretty awful. What about other species? Are you a typical werewolf?”
Max smiled wistfully as he considered how to answer that. “Yes and no. Every pack has it’s unique quirks shaped by circumstance. My ancestor was born the second alpha to a packleader. Usually in that case the siblings end up in a fight to the death over control of the pack, but Brody couldn’t bring himself to kill his own brother, so he left. He wandered alone until he was captured by fae and forced to fight for the entertainment of the fae court. After years in captivity, a young Sanguinese royal met the same fate. But the vampire wouldn’t surrender. Instead he plotted an escape. In the end, only Cario and Brody survived. My ancestor pledged his life in service to Cario Corvus and when he took a mate and had children, his progeny made the same pledge. The trust and friendship between my pack and House Corvus has shaped us for generations.”
Okay, even I had to admit, it was touching. I smiled at the image playing in my mind. “So does that mean every Corvus bloodsucker has a green-eyed pup prancing behind them?”
The light faded from Max’s eyes. “Not anymore. They are all gone now.”
All of them? He couldn’t possibly mean his entire pack, could he? Was Julian all he had? What would happen to him if I actually managed to kill his charge? I knew what it was like to sacrifice everything for someone else. Losing Julian would probably shatter him.
I put my hand on his arm, trying to convey with my touch how truly sorry I was for his loss. After that we kept our heads down and walked in silence. I knew he’d been moving slower than usual to keep pace with me, but now the weight of his pain was tangible. It slowed his every step making it easier to stand beside him.
We reached the edge of a clearing and I gasped at the sight before me. “You said it was a normal castle!”
He looked at me and shrugged. “It is.”
His definition of normal was an intricately carved mountain side with vegetation and waterfalls cascading down the stone walls. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen and so beautifully incorporated with it’s surroundings I stood in awe. “A castle is a stone box with a high wall and slits for windows. This is a piece of art.”
He pointed at the base of the mountain. “Well, I have a moat.”
The sparkling river that ran past the front of the structure only counted as a moat in function. Nothing about it hinted that it existed for utility purposes.
As I gawked in disbelief, Max became defensive. “It was built by vampires. They value aesthetics highly. I assure you, fully manned, the castle could hold back an invading army indefinitely. It’s more secure than the palace. As a matter of fact, that’s why it was built, as a place to protect the royal family if ever an invasion threatened to reach them.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. He thought my issue was with security. “I’ve never seen anything like this in my life. How can you have a home like this and yet choose to live in a cave?”
“I haven’t been here since I was a child. When I was twelve, I went to the palace so that my father could train me to replace him as Julian’s personal guard. The war wasn’t going well and my father felt his skills would be of better use as a general. Our pack was suffering too many losses and Father worried that it was the vampire generals being reckless with werewolf lives.”
“And were they?” I needed to know as much as possible about his world if I had any hopes of helping him.
“No. The real problem was that we were engaged in a war we had no hope of winning. The Deabru would have overwhelmed us no matter what we did.”
“I bet they couldn’t breach your castle.” I grabbed for anything in hopes of distracting him from his melancholy which draped over him like a cloak ever since our conversation began.
“The Deabru are flying demons with the speed of a vampire and the strength of a werewolf. They would take this castle in under an hour.”
Ouch. “So what stopped them?”
“We managed to capture the sister of their king. As long as we held her he wouldn’t press forward into our territory.”
“Wait, if you have this demon guy’s sister, maybe that’s who sent an assassin after Julian as payback.”
Max shook his head. “No, she died centuries ago.”
“If he had such a huge advantage, why didn’t he conquer you a
fter she died?”
“Claudia.”
“Who?”
“Julian’s sister. She married the Deabru king in order to secure a peace between our peoples.”
“So did Julian just throw her to the wolves or did he order her as her king?” I realized I’d used wolves to refer to the demons who’d wiped out Max’s entire pack. If this realm had any sort of political correctness, I just shat all over it.
But he didn’t seem to notice my little faux pas. “Julian was already on Earth when she left to meet with the Deabru king.”
Well, that didn’t make sense. “But you just said that you were on the brink of war. He really dipped out at a time like that? Maybe she’s the one who hired the assassin.”
“She wouldn’t do that,” There was an edge of irritation in his tone.
“Well, you said this happened hundreds of years ago, right? That’s centuries of being married to a demonic warlord, she’s probably changed a lot since the last time you’ve seen her, we should start—”
“It wasn’t her! Dammit!” Max roared.
I jumped back. He’d never spoken to me like that before. This was obviously a sore subject for him. But before I could respond, he stormed off leaving me to make my way to the castle alone.
What the hell was wrong with him? If his king didn’t make a habit of kidnapping and eating people maybe assassins wouldn’t be after him and I wouldn’t have to dig through a painful past. But why would he get so defensive over—
I used to be with a vampire.
His words from earlier hit me full force. His ex couldn’t be Julian’s sister. I mean if it was her, then she went off and married the man responsible for the annihilation of his pack. No one could be that heartless. But from what Max told me about vampires, being heartless was a point of pride for them. Wow… what a fucking bitch. If we ever came face to face, I’d shoot her, for Max. Nothing lethal, just one in the leg.
CHAPTER 8
When I reached the castle, the drawbridge was down and Max was inside the gate waiting for me along with a dozen other people who looked like they milked the cows at a Renaissance fair. When I stepped inside, I did a cutesy. And with a really bad Nordic accent I said, “Yah, yah. I’m Inga from Sweden.”
A portly man in his forties wearing a brown woolen vest over his tunic turned to Max and said, “I thought you said the Mistress’s name was Kiera.”
Max shut his eyes as if he’d rather be anywhere than dealing with this. “She’s making a joke that you couldn’t possibly get because you’ve never seen a movie let alone the one she’s referencing.”
The man nodded with understanding. “Very funny, Miss. I’m Gregor. I manage the castle in Lord Maxwell’s absence. Would you like to be shown to your room so you can change out of your travel clothes?”
I looked down at my outfit wondering what made him think I’d need to change out of it.
“Women usually wear dresses unless they are riding around here.” He held up a hand to Gregor. Probably so he’d back off before I introduced his servants to the concept of feminism. Smart man. “It’s okay. I’ll show her to her room.”
I followed him through the courtyard filled with shops and a stable into the main building. As we climbed an endless stairwell I couldn’t help but notice that the entire place permeated with the smell of flowers, and the sound of rushing water was an unending background feature. Max may not have visited his childhood home in a log time, but it seemed he found a way to recreate it in his cave. Even the walls were the same rocky amber hue.
Once we reached our destination, I was winded. On this floor there was a narrow hall with a set of doors on each side. Max escorted me to one of them. He pushed open the shining wooden doors and my breath caught. If Mother Nature took a shot at room design, the space before me would be the result. It barely counted as a room, so much of it was open to the outside it was more like a veranda than a room. And the place was so lush with vegetation I felt as though I had walked into the Garden of Eden. “Who’s room is this?” I asked in astonishment.
“No one’s. It’s meant for the Lady of the castle. Since I don’t have a wife…”
That reminded me. “I’m sorry about earlier. When you told me you’d been involved with a vampire, you were talking about Claudia, weren’t you?”
He couldn’t even bring himself to say the words. He just looked away and nodded. My poor puppy.
“How long after the break up did she—”
“We didn’t.”
“Didn’t what?”
“Break up. When she left she told me she was going to the Deabru to die. A few weeks later Lucius received news of her marriage to their king.”
Both legs. I’d shoot her in both legs. “Who is Lucius?”
“He’s Julian’s uncle. He’s been serving as regent since Julian’s disappearance.”
“Could he have anything to do—”
“No. It couldn’t have been anyone from House Corvus. They might seem cold and ruthless to an outsider, but they are honorable people and love one another without measure.”
I wasn’t fully convinced, but I’d deal with that once the investigation started. “So who do you suspect?”
“It’s hard to even guess. But if I had to, maybe someone on the council? I couldn’t fathom a reason they’d do something so stupid.”
“Well, who gets the throne in case of Julian’s death?”
“If Claudia has produced a son, then he’d be next in line. If not, then it would go to Lucius.
“So under no condition could Claudia inherit the throne?” I didn’t want him to think I still suspected her, but I needed clarification.
“The council would only accept a female ruler if they had no other options, especially one already married to a Deabru. House Corvus would have to be near extinction before they considered something like that.”
Mentally added ‘the council’ to my ever growing list of vampire douchebags. “How can you even stand to be around these people?”
Max shrugged. “They sound worse than they are.” He turned to leave.
I caught his sleeve. Then I realized how novel it was for him to be wearing enough clothing for me to have a sleeve to catch and smiled. “Where are you going?”
“To my room. I was about to have some food sent up and then get ready for bed.”
“You aren’t going to leave me in here alone are you?”
“Um… I planned on it.”
“Are you crazy? You can’t leave me alone in an alternate realm.”
“You’re perfectly safe. It may seem exposed, but nothing can reach you up here. Trust me.”
“That’s not the point. If we can share that tiny pallet in your cave, then we can share this huge bed.”
He grinned wickedly. “So you want me to sleep with you, huh?”
Ugh, of course he’d go making assumptions. “I just don’t want to be alone in a big scary place. That’s all.”
He caressed my cheek and I practically cooed. “How much would you hate it if I kissed you right now.”
“Twenty percent,” I said succinctly.
“Why twenty percent?”
“Because you’re so stupidly attractive, when you look at me my better judgment goes on vacation and that just pisses me off beyond belief.”
His smile grew. “I can live with that.”
He pressed his lips against mine making my heart race and my knees buckle. But of course, those strong arms caught me before I could fall. The mist in the air fell on my skin cooling each place he made unbearably hot with his mouth. I thought back to the cave. How his every touch flooded my senses until I was raw, exposed and weak. How many women did he go through to learn technique like that? Dozens? Hundreds? Thousands?
It had to be thousands and I was just his latest curiosity. A new toy to play with. Well two could play at that game. I knew a couple tricks myself. I broke from his kiss. “Put your back against the wall.”
He stared down at me confus
ed.
I pushed him towards the wall. If he gave me any resistance I wouldn’t be able to move him, but he allowed it, curious to see what I was up to.
Once I had him in place, I slid my hands under his t-shirt, running my fingers over his well-defined abs. He slipped his shirt over his head and tossed it aside, giving me access to his entire upper body and I delighted in every inch of it. Letting my tongue trace lines across his contours.
Then I unbuttoned his shorts, letting them fall to the ground. I knelt before him and pressed my face against his inner thigh, licking and nibbling his flesh. He watched me with stilled intensity as I kissed and sucked every inch of flesh except for his throbbing shaft that begged for my tongue.
Max understood the game and kept his hands flat against the stone wall. What a good boy. I decided to reward him.
I grabbed his cock at the base and ran my tongue along his length. He shivered in response, but still didn’t move. Smiling, I took the head between my lips. He watched me with half lidded eyes. This time it would be his knees that buckled.
My head bobbed up and down taking more of him in each time. When his mushroom head pushed past the back of my throat, his claws came out, scratching the stone behind him. He wasn’t the only one who’d learned a few things over the years. I might not have had numbers somewhere in the four digits like he probably did, but I wasn’t a nun.
Even as my jaw ached and my throat went raw, I continued with more determination than I’d ever had with anyone before. He awakened things in me that I didn’t know were there and I wanted that same power over him. I wanted him to explode so hard he saw stars when he came. Only then could I even begin to forgive him.
“I’m close,” he grunted through clenched teeth.
He probably assumed I’d stop, pull off and head to the bed. Spread my legs for him and beg to feel him inside me. He was wrong.
I redoubled my efforts, licking and sucking as if his cock held the cure for aging. Failing to keep his composure, he grabbed the sides of my head. And with one deep thrust, he began shooting down my throat. I had little option but to swallow. He released me as he started to sink down onto the floor. I licked clean his softening head before it slipped from my mouth.
Moonstruck (Warring Hearts Book 2) Page 4