by Crymsyn Hart
“My needs can wait a moment. Stop trying to change the subject. It doesn’t matter which of us can turn to mist. Tell me what’s on your mind. I’m your mate, remember? You’re supposed to share everything with me. It’s about your friends, isn’t it?”
He nodded, seeing the concern in her amber eyes. How can I tell her all of my fears? I don’t want to worry her. “For the past couple of days, I’ve had this feeling that I, I mean we, have to get going. Something is pulling me toward it. I don’t want to be part of any demonic plan, but if I can stop it, then I have to try. I’ve been holding off departing. The rage boils my blood every time I think about the others. Marsha keeps leaving me messages asking me when I’m leaving. You’re the one thing keeping me sane. I don’t want to think of what will happen if I give in to the rage. It feeds the monster inside of me. I—”
“Shh.” She placed a finger on his mouth. “You’d better mean us. I’d kick your ass if you didn’t. And you don’t have to worry. I won’t let the big bad vampire inside of you take over.” Josephine kissed him and ran her tongue over his lips. She pulled his bottom lip in between her fangs and nibbled on it.
Nathan’s cock stirred. The coolness of her body against his made him desire her. He had to have her right there, no questions asked. He lifted her up onto the tomb, scooted back so they could both fit, and wrapped his legs around her waist, enclosing her in his clutches. She tried to wiggle away, but he wasn’t letting go. Being older, he was stronger than she was, but he would never trap her intentionally. He trailed the back of his knuckles along the V-neck of her shirt and unbuttoned the top button. Jo lifted his chin, stared into his blue eyes, and kissed him lightly. He nuzzled her neck and then undid the second button. She giggled.
“I want you, Jo.”
“Mmm…you always say that. Prove it.” She pulled away from him and gave him a wicked grin.
“Playing hard to get. I love it.”
He kissed a straight line from the dip in her throat to just above her heart. He tugged on the third button and pressed his face to the hollow between her breasts. Josephine’s skin was soft. If he didn’t know any better, he would say she was still human. He dragged his tongue over the swell of her captured breast in its lace prison. She drew in a ragged breath and pushed closer. Nathan smiled and opened his mouth wide. His teeth slipped from his gums. When he plunged his fangs into her breast, she cried out. She held his head to her breast. Jo’s fingers fumbled with the zipper of his jeans. Her free hand tugged. He heard the material rip, and then she was holding his cock. He groaned. Her blood was slow to come into his mouth, but the mouthfuls he swallowed were the sweetest thing he’d ever tasted. Even some vintages of human blood couldn’t compare. The bond between them exploded. She was shivering from the beginnings of an orgasm. Josephine pulled Nathan away from her breast and brought his lips to hers. Her kiss was hungry. She plunged her tongue into his mouth. He undid her pants in a frenzy. His sharp nails shredded the delicate fabric of her panties. He slid his hands under her ass and impaled her on his rock-hard cock.
Josephine broke their kiss and screamed at the sudden entrance. Her cry echoed in the night and was answered by a screech owl. His mouth worked down her neck along a familiar path to her jugular. He thrust into her quickly, not able to hold back. Nathan’s release was coming. Licking along her skin, he felt twin fires ignite his nerves when his beloved plunged her fangs into his throat. He groaned and did the same. The ecstasy of the bite etched into his nerves until he couldn’t stop. They were locked together, body and soul. Her memories and concerns washed over him. Their minds blended together until they were one being. They were so deeply wound that when they both came it was like being blasted by the sun. It lit up his world with joy. Her blood was the strongest aphrodisiac he could ever want.
Finally, she withdrew and licked his wound. He did the same, coming back to himself slowly. Their minds were once again their own. Nathan missed the kinship, but knew he could have it anytime he wanted. Feeling her warm pussy locked around his cock made him firm again. Dawn would be coming soon, and he wasn’t about to be caught without shelter. Josephine smiled at him. The aftermath of her orgasm still shone in her eyes.
“I love you, Nathan.”
“I love you too, Jo.” He searched her gaze. “You know I wouldn’t leave you behind. We’re together now. Forever. We’re almost one person, and if anything ever happened to you I would die too. I can’t exist without the other half of my soul.”
Tears lined her eyes. “I know. That was the same way I felt when you flew off after you refused to turn me. I was so scared the cancer would kill me. I wasn’t thinking straight. I had time to think what would happen if I never saw you again. I couldn’t bear it. Then you came to my rescue with Harold. You don’t know how grateful I am for that.”
He unwound his legs from her and jumped down from the crypt. Nathan tucked his dick back into his pants, glad to find that at least his button was still serviceable. She had torn out half of the zipper, but it would do until they got home. “You feel bad for him even after he tried to kill me?”
“Not bad. Just sad. He had no life. He was obsessed with me for no reason. Then he ended up at the crypt at the wrong time. It’s like your friends who were killed. They were in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s depressing. And after the encounter with the demon, I felt your need for revenge. That’s where we’re going, right? To the place they were killed?”
“Yes. I have to face the thing that did this. I have to send it back to hell.”
“What about the warning Marsha’s niece gave her?”
“What warning?” Nathan gazed around the cemetery, recalling where he had placed his ghost-hunting equipment. He assumed his digital recorders and motion-detector cameras would come up with zilch.
“Marsha said her niece had been getting visions of angels. They were warning her not to go to the tavern. What if we shouldn’t go either?”
He was stunned she had remembered the conversation. “Angels. I don’t believe in angels. You know how I feel about the afterlife.”
“Nathan, this has nothing to do with your belief system. Shelly’s dead, along with your friends, because she didn’t heed the warning. I don’t want you to end up the same way. I can’t lose you.”
He caressed her cheek. “You’re not going to lose me. Besides, if you did, then I’d really find out if there is an afterlife. Because I’d come back to haunt you. Come on, I think we’ve got everything we came here for. We’ve burned enough moonlight for tonight. I want to go home and pack, and we’ll see if we can get to the tavern tomorrow night if you’re up for it.”
Josephine nodded. They went around the boneyard and collected the digital recorders, video cameras, and other equipment so Nathan could see if they had gotten any paranormal activity. While they did, he was glad his beloved had inherited his unusual abilities to walk on hallowed ground and not have any effect from holy objects the way most others of his kind did. She can tell me whatever it is she wants, but I know it’s because I don’t believe in God that I can come into graveyards and churches. Knowing she has those same abilities is a godsend. I wonder what other powers she will have. They will grow with age. On the walk back to the gate, he saw a wispy form hovering by one of the graves. They stopped. The figure took the shape of a child. It wasn’t clear, so he couldn’t hone in on her features. Laughter rang out in the night. They both looked at one another and then back at the spirit. Nathan dropped his cases and fumbled for a camera, but the ghost evaporated before he could.
“You really had better start believing in things.” Josephine poked him in the ribs.
Nathan scowled. “When I have more evidence, then maybe.”
She rolled her eyes. They got back in the car. The ride home was silent. At the house, while Nathan started packing, Josephine was out prowling for some homeless person to eat. She didn’t favor the bottles of blood he kept on hand but drank them if needed. He wasn’t too keen on her feeding hab
its, but he wasn’t about to tell her to stop. Being a newborn, she needed more blood than he did.
He gripped the rim of his trunk and surveyed the contents one more time. Blood. Clothes. Batteries, cameras, recorders. What else do I need? Directions. The directions were still on his computer desk. He walked back into the house. The computer, which the demon had fried, still sat on his desk. He had tried to fix it, but it was toast. Hopefully he could reuse the hard drive on it, but he doubted it. Nathan studied the route. It would only take about four hours to get to the tavern. It was out in the middle of the desert near some old ghost town. Don’t want to get caught in the sun and run out of gas. I’ll stop and get extra just in case. He folded the directions and placed them in his pocket.
A cold shudder went through him. It was almost time. It seemed the tavern was waiting for him. He could see it in the back of his mind. Even though he was going to find a way to kill the thing that had slaughtered his friends, he wanted to collect evidence proving the demon existed. If he could get its voice on tape or pictures of it, then he would know there was something outside of this world.
His cell phone vibrated. He fished it out of his pocket but didn’t recognize the number. “Hello?”
There was static on the other end. “..llo.” A male voice came through.
“Hello. You’re breaking up. I can’t hear you.” He struggled to hear through the interference, but even with his enhanced senses, the conversation wasn’t very clear.
“Stay. Wh..re.. u…are.”
Fuck. What the hell is going on with this piece-of-shit phone? Normally I have great reception. He gritted his teeth. “I’m sorry. I can’t hear you. My signal sucks. Can you call me back?”
Several clicks sounded over the phone. More words were spoken but he couldn’t make them out, just white noise that was giving him a headache. He shut the phone. After a moment, the phone went off again; it was the same unknown number. “Hello?”
“Hello. Is this better?”
The voice on the other end was crystal clear. “Yes. I can hear you fine now. Who is this?”
“I have a message for you.”
“What message?” Nathan poked a key on his laptop to bring up his e-mail.
“Don’t g…….the tav..n”
Nathan sighed and looked at the phone. The man was breaking up again. “Look. I didn’t get that. Call me back when you have a better signal.” He clicked the phone shut. What the hell was that about? The phone rang again. Nathan didn’t bother to answer it this time. He scanned the night, wondering how Josephine was faring. It was time they got going. His phone vibrated again. This time he flipped it open, irritated.
“What?”
“What crawled into your coffin and died?”
He recognized the voice. “Sorry, Marsha. I thought you were someone else. I keep getting this prank call. What’s going on?”
“Not much. I just had an odd phone message. I couldn’t understand most of it. All I got was tavern. I have a suspicion the caller was trying to warn me about the Devil’s Tavern. You heading out that way?”
“Yeah. I’m heading to the place where Geri died. Where that thing is waiting. I don’t have a choice. Nathan, you shouldn’t go. Something bad will happen. And you always have a choice. Stay home with Josephine and do whatever it is a happy vampire couple does. It would be bad news if you go.”
“Don’t you start too. I don’t need you to mother me. I think I’m a little too old for that.”
“Nathan, would you shut up and listen for once? This isn’t a typical ghost investigation or an exorcism. This is something different. I’ve been reading the stars, and a powerful planetary alignment is happening. If all the tumblers fall into place, then something ghastly will occur. And you’re never too old to be mothered. Someone has to look after your undead butt so it doesn’t become a crispy critter.”
Marsha was a scarily accurate psychic who called when she needed help with the strong paranormal element in her ghost hunts. He had known her for years. They had discovered one another by accident. She had honed in on him right away. He had bared his fangs at her. She laughed and offered him a martini, saying they were going to be great friends.
“What are the tumblers? Did your great psychic powers reveal something to you?”
“Don’t be an ass. I don’t know. My guides can’t see them. All I know is that there are others who have been called too. Please be careful. I’ll be praying for you.”
He chuckled. “Thanks, Marsha, but keep your prayers. They don’t work.” He closed the phone, cutting off her answer. He glanced out of the window and saw Josephine leaning against the car. She sensed him looking and smiled. He did a quick once-over of his house before he locked up.
Josephine wrapped her arms around his neck to kiss him lightly in greeting. It was much easier since she had moved in with him. At first she wasn’t too keen on moving out of her house, but he had convinced her that it only made sense. She wouldn’t want the neighbors to catch on that she was a bloodthirsty creature of the night and all.
“Whoever you ate tastes good.”
She giggled and pressed herself against him so he could feel her pert nipples through his T-shirt. “Thanks. I settled on this guy who did very bad things to his family. I slipped into his cell, surprised him, and then made him beg me to live.”
“You are so evil. As long as you didn’t leave any obvious traces behind.”
She hit him on the shoulder. “Give me some credit. I did learn from the best.”
Nathan chuckled. He wound his fingers through her hair and yanked her head back. With years of practice, he expertly sunk his fangs into her throat, sampling her nightly meal from her veins. His mate clutched his shoulders and moaned. Her pleasure exploded in her mind. He took a few swallows and then backed away.
“You picked a good one. So, you ready to go?”
“Yeah.”
They climbed into the car. Nathan kept his eyes forward and noticed in the rearview mirror the three people walking up to his house. A sense of unease went over him. He brushed it off. Wonder what they want? Oh well. I got places to go and demons to kill. Anyone outside a vampire’s house this close to dawn is only looking for bad news. Devil’s Tavern, here we come.
Chapter Three
Bruno & Serena
The thunder of the bike echoed along the isolated highway. The sun had been up for a few hours. The dark highway was already reflecting the heat of the coming day. Serena’s arms tightened around his waist while Bruno drove. Feeling her so close to him was a godsend. Knowing they were mates now soothed his mind. Bruno had given her his helmet, and he kept his bandana over his nose and mouth to keep the dust out. His dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail so the force of the wind wouldn’t whip it into his face. Normally, his journey across the country would not have been so hurried. He would have taken his time and enjoyed the scenery. Today his mind was set on a singular goal, the new mission God had bestowed upon him: find and destroy the demon who had annihilated their pack. Drive the evil spawn back to hell because it had tormented his mate. Once the task was complete, he could settle down with Serena to begin their new life together.
Bruno gripped the handlebars of the bike harder when his thoughts wandered back to Neb, the ancient holy man who had been his mentor until he was possessed by the unholy spirit. His inner wolf stirred by the awakening of anger at his death. His fingers slipped into the handlebar grooves. The metal began to twist under his strength. Serena’s arms squeezed harder around his waist. She knows I’m pissed. He took a deep breath and released the anger, hoping to find the calm he needed to control the beast. Neb had learned some of the demon’s plans and shared them with Bruno. The demon is gathering others to raise Lucifer from the bowels of hell. The fiend wanted me because I’m a crucial part of his ceremony. Fuck that. I’m not going to help the lowlife do anything. My only care now is stopping the infernal beast. That and protecting Serena. She’s the only thing that matters to me now
. I’ll stop at nothing to keep her safe.
Cars whizzed by them. Some honked their horns for him to go faster. He ignored all of them. Only one train of thought urged him onward. The image of their destination burned in his mind. He didn’t need a road map to know that he was headed in the right direction. Something pulled him toward the tavern. Faith was his compass, and he followed it. His conviction in the Divine gave him the strength to defy the evil of the demon. It had given him the ability to bless water and use it against the unholy. They had a small amount of the holy water left. He kept it close, in a flask, inside his jacket pocket. Serena clutched his waist again. This time her nails dug into his flesh. He glanced back. She pointed toward a turnoff where signs listed food and gas. Bruno checked the gauge and saw that he was low anyway. He nodded and put his blinker on.
They drove off the highway and pulled into a gas station with a small diner attached to it. He parked his bike and swung his leg over the engine. It felt good to stretch his legs. They had been riding for a while. For the past couple of months, they had been looking for suitable places to set up a home in. He wanted to be near a holy site, and she wanted to be near a national park so they had room to run. They hadn’t found an appropriate place yet. He was thinking their best bet was to head back to Neb’s and settle in the cabin there. It was still considered pack land. They were next to a holy site. And there was plenty of room to run. I’ll have to run it by Serena after all this is over.
Serena got off the bike. While he filled up the tank, he watched her saunter toward the station. The morning sun glistened off her ebony skin, making her appear to be some ancient pagan goddess. The need to bed her stirred his loins. Her dark tresses cascaded down her back now that they were free of the helmet. He loved her heady smell. A low growl rumbled from his chest as she slipped inside of the diner. Her dark eyes peered at him while she waited for him in the entryway. His wolf was close to the surface. It always was when she was involved. Serena was his mate. She was the only one who could temper his anger or bring the beast under control. It didn’t matter that she was unable to transform into a wolf. The beast was alive inside of her. She was courageous and survived while the demon tried to drive her mad. It had hammered away at her sanity, trying to get her to tell it where he was. But she never budged. She was true to him to the bitter end. She nearly even stabbed him with a silver dagger, thinking the demon was impersonating him. It was another one of his mate’s idiosyncrasies. She was immune to silver. The gas handle recoiled in his hand, signaling that his tank was full. He took his receipt from the little slot in the gas tank and rolled his bike over to a parking spot near the door. He secured the helmet and his saddlebags before heading inside.