The Assassins of Light

by Britney Jackson

  Kara looked down at Rose, watching as Rose kissed her breasts, her light blue eyes so dark with desire that they looked as if they had become another shade of blue entirely—a dark, seductive blue. She slid her fingers into Rose’s long, red hair, holding Rose close to her breast. She tilted her head back and moaned lowly as Rose swirled her tongue around Kara’s nipple. “Are you sure you want me to get dressed? Because you seem to be enjoying my…current state of undress.”

  Rose looked up at Kara, a smile twitching at the corners of her lips. “I am,” she said, moving to kiss Kara’s neck, “That’s the problem. I can’t resist you.”

  Kara grabbed Rose’s face and pressed her lips against Rose’s. “Good.”

  Rose smiled against her lips, moaning softly as Kara unbuttoned Rose’s jeans and slid her fingers into them, beneath the band of Rose’s underwear, until her forefinger brushed against soft, wet skin. “How much time do we have left?”

  Kara peered over Rose’s shoulder, at the clock on the nightstand, but she continued to touch Rose intimately as she looked at it. “Negative seven minutes.”

  “Okay,” Rose said breathlessly, moaning. But then, her eyes widened as the gears in her mind clicked into some kind of disjointed motion. “Wait. What?”

  “We’re late, babe,” Kara laughed, bending her head to kiss Rose’s neck.

  “Oh my word. Then, stop kissing me and get dressed,” Rose said. She had intended to sound serious and assertive, but Kara chose that moment to suck at a very sensitive part of Rose’s neck, so the words came out as a moan, instead.

  Kara chuckled against her neck. “Are you sure? You don’t sound sure.”

  “I’m not sure. I mean, I am sure,” Rose stammered, too distracted by the pleasant sensation of Kara’s teeth on her neck. “I mean…you’re a bad influence.”

  “Oh, baby, I’m the worst influence,” Kara laughed, pulling back, so that she could flash a wicked smile at Rose. “Haven’t you been paying attention?”

  Rose rolled her eyes, unable to hide her smile. “You need to get dressed.”

  “Or we could just make them wait,” Kara suggested. “They can’t start without us, so hypothetically, we could make them wait all night, if we wanted.”

  Rose nudged Kara toward the black, leather duffel bag that lay, unzipped, on the dresser. “One: that would be rude. And two: I’m not walking in there with everyone knowing where we’ve been and what we’ve been doing,” she explained, her face reddening at the thought. She tried not to look at Kara’s gorgeous, naked backside as she pushed her toward the duffel bag. And…she failed. Terribly.

  Kara shot a knowing smirk over her shoulder as she pulled out a pair of underwear. “I saw that,” she teased. She laughed when she saw Rose’s face turn an even darker shade of red. She turned toward Rose as she stepped into her underwear. “Oh, and if you think that they don’t know what we’ve been doing, over and over, for the last several hours, then, you, my love, are adorably naïve.”

  “Don’t tell me that,” Rose complained. “I’ll never show my face again.”

  Kara raised an eyebrow as she pulled on her sports bra. “You mean you’d stay in this bedroom forever? Just you and me?” she asked. She trailed her gaze over Rose’s body with deliberate, sensual slowness. “Mmm. Don’t tempt me.”

  Rose stared at Kara, her skin burning under Kara’s heated gaze. “I’m just going to wait outside,” she muttered, “to prevent any more…accidental sex.”

  Kara laughed as she watched Rose head toward the door, “If you insist.”

  —

  Talulah stared at them for a long moment, her deep, black eyes narrowed, before finally saying, “Thank you for finally joining us. We have a lot to discuss.”

  Kara snorted in amusement. As soon as Talulah turned her attention to Aaron, Kara leaned toward Rose and whispered in her ear, “She definitely knows.”

  “No, she doesn’t,” Rose mumbled worriedly. “Surely, she doesn’t.”

  Elise squeezed in beside Rose, standing so close that her curly, blonde hair tickled Rose’s arm. “So, did you two have fun?” she asked with a bright smile. “When you disappeared. For three hours. In your room. With the door locked.”

  “I’ll be right back,” Rose muttered, turning to leave. She pointed at the door. “I’m just going to go crawl under something and die of embarrassment.”

  But Kara caught her by the arm before she could run away.

  The room they’d gathered in now made Talulah’s office look small. Rose realized that—while Talulah’s office might sometimes be used as a meeting place for her warriors or visitors—this room was the one that was designed for meetings.

  All of them fit comfortably in there—the vampires that Aaron and Kara had brought from the Tomb of Blood and every single member of the Village of the Undead. And although Talulah’s colony was half the size of Aaron’s, it still housed an unbelievable amount of vampires. Rose guessed around five hundred.

  The floor of the room ascended at an incline, much like a theater, which allowed the vampires in the back of the room to see what was happening at the front of the room. Talulah and Aaron stood at the lowest part of the room, facing the other vampires, as they spoke. Kara pulled Rose in that direction now, much to her dismay. Rose had been quite happy with staying out of the view of every vampire in the room. A small table separated Talulah and Aaron—a wooden table with gorgeous designs carved into it, much like the mural in the hall and the desk in Talulah’s office—and on that small table set a stone goblet that looked very old.

  “What’s with the creepy goblet?” Rose mumbled, as she followed Kara.

  “As I explained to my people earlier tonight,” Talulah continued to say, her voice carrying throughout the room, despite its size, “we’re joined tonight by representatives of the most powerful vampire colony in the world: the Tomb of Blood. And we are honored to have them, despite any ill feelings we might have toward them.” She smiled politely, as if that would completely negate the last thing she said. “We are also joined by another commander of power. A new one.”

  “Commander,” Aaron scoffed. He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

  Talulah turned toward him so suddenly that her braids flew over her shoulder. “Show me the minimal amount of respect in front of my people, please.”

  Aaron flashed her a dark, bitter smile. “Minimal,” he repeated. “Got it.”

  She stared at him, her jaw tight. “Ridicule me again, and you’ll leave.”

  “Guys, guys, guys,” Kara chided, as she and Rose reached the lowest part of the room, joining them at the front. “This is not how you start an alliance.”

  “I wasn’t ridiculing you,” Aaron explained to Talulah. “I was ridiculing your ridiculous assertion that Rose is a commander of power, and since it is, as I said, ridiculous, it deserves to be ridiculed.” He smiled. “Do you understand now?”

  Kara stepped between them before Talulah could get herself killed. “You don’t want to attack him,” she told her. “He’s looking for an excuse to kill you.”

  Talulah stepped back, despite the seething anger in her deep, black eyes.

  Rose watched them, her eyes wide, her heart fluttering with anxiety. “The frequency of vampires-almost-killing-each-other that takes place when vampires get together is enough to give me a heart attack,” she muttered under her breath.

  She heard a low chuckle beside her, and she turned to find a tall, muscular man leaning against the table, just a few feet away, chuckling at her snarky remark.

  He smiled, his teeth bright and sharp. “You’ll get used to it, eventually.”

  “Hello, James,” Kara said to him, as she returned to Rose’s side.

  “Hi, Kara,” he replied easily. “Betrayed any powerful vampires lately?”

  Kara tilted her head and smirked. “Depends on how you define lately.”

  “I have agreed to join the alliance with the Tomb of Blood,” Talulah told everyone in the room, her voice surp
risingly calm, “but only if Rose Foster does.”

  Rose grimaced, her face warm. “Everyone’s looking at me, aren’t they?”

  James looked up at the huge crowd of vampires and smiled at her. “Yep.”

  Talulah turned toward Rose, now. Her dark, curious gaze shifted toward Kara and then back toward Rose. “Well? Have you made your decision, Rose?”

  Rose nodded nervously. “I have to do what’s necessary to stop the war.”

  Talulah straightened, her eyebrows lifting in surprise. She glanced at Kara quizzically. Clearly, she’d expected Kara to stop the alliance, to warn Rose against it. But then, she turned to Rose and smiled. “Very well. I’ll trust your judgement.”

  Rose frowned curiously. “So, does that mean the alliance is happening?”

  “Of course,” Talulah assured her. “We’ll do the ritual here. Right now.”

  “Ritual?” Rose sputtered, as Talulah approached the small, wooden table.

  Talulah wrapped her hands around the ancient, stone goblet and lifted it from the table. She showed it to them. “We already have the cup. For the blood.”

  “I am so freaking confused right now,” Rose muttered under her breath.

  Kara tilted her head toward Rose’s, her breath warming Rose’s ear, as she explained, “It’s called a blood oath. It’s how vampire colonies forge alliances.”

  Rose glanced at her. “A blood oath?” she whispered. “How is it done?”

  “It’s kind of like blood sharing,” Kara said quietly, “but without the sex.”

  Rose raised an eyebrow. “I’ve done that plenty of times. You and I have even done that. It didn’t involve some kind of ancient goblet,” she said skeptically.

  Kara smiled at her snarky tone. “No, but any time vampires share blood directly, there is an emotional reaction and a blood bond. No leader of any vampire colony is going to let their guard down in that way with another powerful leader.”

  “So, they bleed into a goblet, instead?” Rose asked. “What does that do?”

  “It’s just symbolic,” Kara said with a shrug. “Each person offers a few drops of blood, and then, each person sips from the goblet. The blood represents the alliance. It’s similar to the contracts that humans sign. This is just our version.”

  “Except it’s a lot weirder,” Rose muttered. She glanced curiously at James and Talulah. “I barely know these people. I don’t want to share blood with them.”

  “It’s blood. It’ll taste great, regardless,” Kara said, “and you only have to take a sip of it. There’s no danger of a blood bond. Don’t worry. It’s only a ritual.”

  “Lots of horror novels start with ‘Don’t worry. It’s only a ritual,’” Rose said.

  Kara chuckled at that, and then, she straightened as Talulah approached.

  “You must name a second to take the oath with you,” Talulah told Rose.

  Rose blinked. “Uh…but I don’t have a… I don’t even have a colony.”

  “Which is why you shouldn’t be involved,” Aaron said under his breath.

  “It’s part of the ceremony,” Talulah told her patiently. “You must choose someone who will be responsible for carrying out your will. Someone you trust.”

  “And it can’t be me,” Kara added, “because I’m already Aaron’s second.”

  “I…” Rose sputtered, nervousness dancing in her chest. “I don’t know.”

  “I’ll do it,” Erik said suddenly. He navigated his way through the crowd until he reached her. His bright green eyes burned with sincerity. “You’re one of my best friends, Rose. I’d protect you with my life. And…you’re the wisest person I’ve ever met. As a warrior, if I were going to serve under anyone, it’d be you.”

  Rose stared up at him, stunned by his declaration. “Are you serious?”

  “For once, I am,” Erik said with a grin, “but don’t expect it to last long.”

  “Erik is a perfect choice,” Kara whispered to Rose. “He’s a warrior.”

  Talulah glanced back and forth between them. “Do you trust him?”

  Rose looked at her. “Uh…well…yeah, actually,” she realized, blinking, “I do.” She wasn’t sure when she’d come to trust Erik so much, but…she did.

  “As long as he’s skilled in combat, and you trust him,” Talulah said, “he’s qualified.” She looked back and forth between them. “But you have to say it.”

  Rose could barely keep up. It was so foreign to her. “What do I say?”

  “You just have to say that he’s your second-in-command,” Kara said.

  “But in command of what?” Rose sighed. “I don’t even have command.”

  “You do now,” Talulah informed her. “You represent your own power.”

  Rose spread out her hands in defeat. “Okay,” she sighed. She looked up at Erik, who smiled and nodded encouragingly. “Erik Olafsson is my…second.”

  Talulah glanced up at him. “And you’ll take the blood oath with her?”

  Erik waved his hand. “Yeah, yeah, I can handle a little goblet blood.”

  “Are you sure?” Rose whispered. “Haven’t you been starving yourself?”

  “I can handle it,” Erik told her. “I can control myself when I want to.”

  “And if he can’t,” Elise said suddenly, her soft, thickly-accented voice startling them, as she moved to stand behind them, “I’ll let him feed from me.”

  Kara turned, raising an eyebrow at her ex-girlfriend. “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah,” Elise said easily. “He’s already bound to me. It makes sense.”

  “Yeah, remember when I fed from her in Norway?” Erik reminded Rose, who had been drained of blood at the time. “I’m still bound to her. It’s been fun.”

  Rose lifted her eyebrows. “That explains…a lot, actually.”

  Elise winked at her.

  “All right,” Talulah said, walking back toward the center of the circle. “If everyone is ready, let’s begin the blood oath.” She cradled the stone goblet in her hands. “We’ll stand in a circle. Your seconds should be on the right side of you.”

  They adjusted, which really only required Talulah and Aaron moving into their places and everyone else shifting until they were in a tight circle. Talulah turned and carefully placed the goblet in Erik’s hands. He’d never done this either. Only Kara, Aaron, Talulah, and James had. So, he waited for Talulah to explain.

  “I’ll start the blood oath, but you must take my blood,” Talulah told him.

  “It’s to symbolize the complete connection,” Kara explained to Rose and Erik. “No one will take their own blood. It’ll be the person standing to their left.”

  “So that the second’s blood is always taken by their leader,” James added.

  Erik lifted his eyebrows. “By taking your blood, you mean…bite you?”

  “Yes,” Talulah said, “but don’t swallow the blood. Pour it into the cup.”

  “Vampires have some really weird rituals,” Rose said under her breath.

  “So do humans,” Kara whispered. “Rituals are supposed to be weird.”

  “Which is why I generally abstain from them,” Rose added dryly.

  Talulah offered her hand to Erik, and Erik stepped closer, wrapping his hand around her wrist. He lifted it to his mouth and sank his fangs into her wrist. His face twisted with pain, as his hunger reacted to the blood so close to his lips, and Kara straightened, her brows creasing with worry. But he pulled Talulah’s wrist away from his mouth, slowly, blood dripping from his fangs, and slowly, carefully, he turned her wrist over, allowing the blood to spill into the goblet. He waited, as her blood poured from her wrist, until Talulah nodded in approval.

  Talulah lifted her wrist to her mouth and licked the bite wound so that it would heal faster. Then, she took the goblet from Erik and turned toward James, her second-in-command. The ritual continued around the circle: from Talulah to James, from James to Aaron, and then, finally, Aaron turned to Kara. With each person, the scent of blood gre
w stronger, creeping ever closer to Rose, and her hunger burned more intensely with each minute. And now, it was Kara’s turn.

  Rose’s body reacted instantly to the scent of Kara’s blood. It took every ounce of strength in her body to restrain herself when all she wanted was to feed.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Kara’s gaze dart toward her.

  Rose wondered how the other vampires controlled themselves so easily. She wondered if they even remembered how it felt to be a young vampire, still at the mercy of the insatiable hunger. She cast a curious look at Erik, noticing the tightness of his jaw, the tightness of his shoulders. Even if none of the others understood, she knew he did. His hunger was as insatiable as hers, at the moment.

  If not more.

  After Kara added a few drops of her blood to the goblet, she turned to Rose. “It’s almost over,” she whispered. “Can you control it a little longer?”

  Rose nodded. “Yeah,” she sighed. She held out her hand, her palm up.

  Kara took Rose’s wrist, her fingers warm and soft against Rose’s skin. Somehow, Rose doubted that any of the others had performed their part of the ritual the way Kara did, but then, when had Kara ever done things the right way?

  Rose breathed out shakily as Kara bent her head and pressed a warm kiss against Rose’s wrist. Then, with a seductive smile, she sank her fangs into Rose’s wrist. Rose felt a sudden rush of desire flood her body as Kara reluctantly pulled away from her bleeding wrist. Kara tilted Rose’s wrist, allowing the blood to spill into the goblet, her icy blue eyes darkening with hunger, as she watched the blood.

  “Your turn,” Kara whispered. She licked Rose’s wrist slowly, healing the small bite wound, her lips tilting into a mischievous smile as Rose’s breath caught in her throat. She placed the stone goblet in Rose’s hand. “Take Erik’s blood.”

  Rose nodded, even as the desire swam around her head, disorienting her.

  Erik grinned at her. “I bet you never thought you’d be biting me.”

  Rose rolled her eyes. “This is weird enough. Don’t make it weirder.”