by Lily Harlem
But I was out of sight.
There was no one here but me.
I was alone.
Wasn’t I?
A glance around confirmed there was no one else with me. The wind picked up swirling litter near the box, a couple of crisp packets, and several dry leaves caught in an upward spiral.
I couldn’t hold in a groan, the pain was extreme. I flicked my wrist forward, sending the agony down my arm, over my palm, through my fingers and out of the ends. A shower of golden sparks splashed over the cobbled ground and crackled against a wall. I released more, then added my other hand. There were so many. Each was a release of the discomfort, each ripped a moan from my throat.
A sudden, huge clap of thunder mixed with my final cry of relief. It rolled overhead, seeming to land in the alley and vibrate through me.
I sent more sparks toward the wall. They skittered over the floor, brilliant and bright.
The whirling litter lifted higher. Added to it now was more trash, floating and spinning like ugly confetti. The flies from the household rubbish were swept up in its cyclone.
The bitter taste intensified. Another bellow of thunder shook my ribs, seeming to shake the breath from my body. The ground beneath me trembled.
I scanned my surroundings. The sensation of not being alone was increasing. The whirling litter was getting closer, like another being stalking me.
I dodged it, pressing against the opposite wall as it flittered past me. The swirling air was cold, ice cold, and smelled of damp earth and rotting foodstuff.
Above me, the sky was black, as if night had suddenly dropped over the alley. The whirling litter was increasing in diameter, a tornado that was nearly touching each wall. I pressed against the brickwork, both mesmerized and fearful of the turbulent air. There was something ethereal about the way it was spinning—an energy growing by the second and darkening too.
“Darius.”
I was gripped, tightly, on my right upper arm, then yanked to the side and away from the twister.
“What?” I tore my gaze from it. “Oscar?”
“We have to get out of here,” he said, continuing to tug me toward the end of the alley. “Now.”
“Why?”
“It’s not safe for you.” He threw a glare at the tube of spinning trash which was howling now, the way wind does in horror movies.
“It’s weird, look,” I said, falling into step with him, which was hard as his strides were long and fast and I was trying to look behind myself. “What is it?”
“Not something we want you around.” He was all but dragging me.
“We?”
Reaching the end of the alley, I found myself bathed in sunshine again. It warmed my chilled cheeks and shoulders. The hairs on my forearms were standing on end, as were the ones at the nape of my neck. I tried to look back but the large bin was in the way. I turned to Oscar who was swinging his leg over a huge black motorcycle. “What are you doing here, Oscar?”
“Get on.”
“But—”
“I don’t wanna have to make you, Darius, but I will.” He frowned and slammed on a helmet. “So do it now. On!”
I quickly reached for the helmet behind him and rammed it over my head. There was something in his tone, and the way he was looking at me, that gave me a thrill. It also told me he was deadly serious about us going for a ride…now.
I climbed aboard, the leather seat warm against my jeans, and slid my hands around his waist.
He revved the engine once, then tore away from the curbside. I gripped him tight, fearful of sliding off when the bike almost went onto its back wheel.
As he slalomed past several cars, I rested my cheek against his soft leather jacket and closed my eyes. The twister was all I could see, as if it had burned onto my retinas. The rancid scent lingered in my nostrils and I swallowed to get rid of the bitter taste.
Oscar took a left, then made a set of lights just before they switched to red. He zoomed past a bus then rocketed up the gears, plunging us into a tunnel and out the other side.
My heart was pounding. Being on the bike was thrilling. Thoughts of my shoot faded into the distance. Now all I could think of was Oscar, and being with him, and where he taking me.
‘Not something we want you around.’
What had he meant by that?
Eventually he began to slow, as if he’d finally decided the Hounds of Hell were no long snapping at the back wheel. He took a turn toward a park, then drew the bike to a halt in an empty lot.
Without the sound of the engine my ears rang. I released my tight grip on him, flexing and unflexing my fingers as I straightened.
“Where are we?” I asked, removing my helmet.
“Somewhere I used to come as a kid.” He kicked a stand into place.
“Oh, okay.” I slipped off the bike. My heart was thudding and my body buzzing from the fast ride through town.
Oscar stood next to me and removed his helmet. He then took mine and balanced both on the seat of the bike.
I allowed myself a moment of admiration. His black leathers hugged him in all the right places, and the guy was huge—a good couple of inches taller than me and considerably wider. He wore clumpy biker boots, and his dark hair was messy with a few strands stuck to his head.
I cleared my throat. “I’m supposed to be heading to work.”
“Yeah, sorry about that.” He didn’t seem it. “But that alley was no place for you to be.”
“How did you know I was there?” I frowned.
“Let’s just call it luck.”
“What does that mean?”
His eyes narrowed and his jaw tensed. He stepped closer, fast, then loomed over me with his shoulders hunched and his breaths coming quick.
I stared up into his eyes. My hands itched to touch him again, feel that leather jacket and explore the way it stretched over the damn fine muscles of his chest and biceps.
A tendon twitched in his jawline, beneath his thick stubble. He cupped my face, the material of his jacket bunching at the tops of his arms and creaking softly.
What’s going on?
He was all I could think of. He was so damn handsome in a rugged, dominant, don’t-mess-with-me way. My cock twitched, my breaths were becoming harder to catch.
Then his mouth was over mine. His cool lips exerting a firm pressure as his tongue delved between my teeth.
I groaned and clung to his thick forearms. I opened up and let him in. He tasted of everything I’d thought he would, man and danger, sex and lust.
His chin abraded mine, and our noses touched. I groaned into his mouth and closed my eyes, lost to the power of his kiss.
Eventually he pulled back but kept my face cradled in his hands. “Now that’s out of the way we can talk, babe.”
Babe!
I swallowed. “Yeah. Okay, we can talk.”
The right side of his mouth twitched and his eyes narrowed. “You taste good, Darius. You should know I’m gonna need more of that. More of you.”
“I can handle that.”
He twitched his eyebrows. “You reckon?”
I gulped. The thought of Oscar unleashing his passion, combined with those muscles and that strength was as nerve wracking as it was alluring.
Damn it.
I suddenly remembered Rhys and Lloyd. If I’d been feeling bad for two-timing before, now I was three-timing.
“Why the frown?” he asked.
I bit on my bottom lip, reluctant to confess there were two other men in my life.
“Darius?”
I glanced away.
He turned my face back to his so I was forced to look into his eyes. “I only want what’s best for you, you should know that. You can tell me anything. Absolutely anything.”
I cleared my throat and decided to change the subject. “What was that back there? Some freak weather occurrence?”
“No. That was evil, pure evil, and I didn’t want you anywhere near it. That cross around your neck, it wo
n’t protect you.”
“Protect me from what?”
He glanced up at the sky and released my face. “We should get going. The sun is getting high now, too high for my liking.”
“Get going to where?”
“To see the others…it’s time.”
“What others? And time for what?”
“Time for you to know the truth about who you really are.”
Chapter Ten
Lloyd
I spun the glass of cola on the beer mat. As usual it would go un-drunk, but it didn’t look right to sit in a pub with nothing. Besides, they’d probably kick us out if we didn’t spend.
“They should be here by now,” Rhys said, fidgeting on the seat next to me.
“Don’t concern yourself.” George pulled his pocket watch out, studied the face then slipped it back into the innards of his waistcoat. “It’s only a few minutes past Oscar’s estimated time of arrival.”
“There was a bad feeling in the air this morning, around the corner from his apartment.” I frowned. “As if his father is getting closer.”
“I think it’s safe to presume that is exactly what’s happening,” George said. “And it’s why we must be vigilant.”
“We are being, or at least I am.” Rhys glanced at the door.
“You certainly kept a close eye on him last night.” I raised my eyebrows at Rhys. He’d told me how he’d sucked Darius off while they’d watched porn. I couldn’t help a small tug of jealousy, but equally I was pleased they were getting closer and Darius was learning to trust us. Besides, I’d had my fun with him outside. True, we hadn’t got naked, or even undone our zippers, but our cambion was one heck of a kisser, and pretty damn reactive to some pump and grind of my groin against his.
I squirmed on the seat, my cock hardening at the erotic memory.
“You two are the lucky ones. Oscar too, probably.” George huffed. “I haven’t had a moment alone with him.”
“You will,” I said. “And then you’ll fall for him hook, line and sinker the way we all have.”
“He’s impossible to resist,” Rhys said. “It’s as if there’s magic between us and him. A magnet drawing us together.”
“Well he is our savior.” George touched his cap as if checking it was on correctly. “So there must be some kind of connection.”
“And we were drawn to his location,” I added, then looked at the door as it opened. Oscar’s wide frame was instantly recognizable, and next to him stood Darius. “They’re here.” I sat a little straighter.
“Good.” George ran his finger around the collar of his starched shirt. “Now play it cool, okay.”
“Of course.” I frowned at him, then tried to relax my brow. That wasn’t how I wanted Darius to see me.
The two figures moved into the pub. Oscar had his arm partially around Darius as if steering him to us.
Two guys at the bar threw the couple a wary glance; Oscar did that to people. Built like a mountain and looking ready to snarl at any moment, his good looks were definitely of the badass biker variety.
As they drew closer I studied Darius’s face. He appeared relaxed enough, until, that was, he saw the three of us seated in a darkened booth with a high window behind us.
He stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes widened and his mouth fell open. He closed it again, then moved his attention from me to Rhys, to George, and finally to Oscar at his side.
“What are they doing here?” he asked.
Oscar nodded at a space on the bench beside me. “Sit and we’ll explain.”
“Explain.” Darius made no move to sit. “I didn’t even know you knew Rhys and Lloyd.” He pointed at George. “And how come the guy from my shoot is—?”
“I told you, sit and we’ll explain, babe.”
Babe! Since when did Oscar ever call anyone babe?
“All will become clear.” George smiled; a devastating smile I’d seen him use to win over many men and, on occasion, women.
“But?”
“It’s okay,” I said, also smiling. “We’re here to help you, Darius.”
He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing low, then he sat.
I could feel his warmth diffusing onto my cool skin as he perched on the edge of the seat, his back rod-straight and his hands clasped in his lap.
I itched to touch him, comfort and reassure him, but I didn’t want to scare him away. “It really is okay,” I said in as gentle a voice as I could muster.
“Did you tell them?” He turned to me. Pain and confusion flashed in his eyes.
“Tell them what?”
“You know what.” He waggled his fingers beneath the table so only I could see.
“I didn’t need to.”
“What does that mean?” He scowled.
I could resist no longer and I pressed my hand over his. “Darius, we know you’re different, the way we are too. We’re all different.”
“You mean?” He stared at me for a moment then glanced around. “They can all do what I do?”
George leaned forward with his chin tilted. “If you’re talking about generating fire from the power of your emotions then no, we can’t do that, Darius.”
“Oh.” His shoulders slumped. “It’s just when Lloyd just said you were all different, I hoped…”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “This must be confusing.”
“Too right it is.”
He nibbled on his bottom lip and I ached to kiss him again, the way I had the night before.
He turned to me. “So you did tell them about the sparks.”
“I didn’t really have to.” I hated the in his eyes, and the thought of him believing I’d betrayed him. “We’ve been looking for you for a long time, Darius, and when I saw you in Paris, creating sparks, I knew you were the one.”
“The one?” He shifted his hand so it was no longer in mine. “I’m guessing you don’t mean ‘the one’ as in the love of your life, Lloyd.”
“Fuck, yes, actually I do mean that.” I grabbed his hand again. “You have to understand you’re special to us, very special.”
He froze, as if the intensity in my words had stunned him.
George tapped his fingers on the table, thumb to pinkie finger and back again, an annoying habit he had when concentrating. “Darius,” he said. “When Lloyd said we’d been looking for you for a long time, he meant it.”
“How long?”
“Me, personally?” George shrugged. “Over three centuries.”
“Three centuries!” Darius said loudly. “Are you mad?”
“No.” George smiled and shook his head. “Just patient and persistent.” He nodded at me. “And also grateful that Lloyd here made the connection.”
“And why were you looking for me for three bloody centuries?” Darius huffed as if the question he’d posed was preposterous to his ears. “I was only born twenty-five years ago.”
“I know that now,” George said with a smile.
“We hope you can help with something,” Rhys said. “Something very important to us.”
Darius stared at Rhys. I wondered if he was remembering having his cock sucked the night before. His first experience of a blow job had been with possibly the cutest damn vampire on the planet.
“And what’s that?” Darius asked quietly. “That you want help with?”
“You hold a key,” Oscar said gruffly. He’d sat on the same bench as me and Darius, as if blocking him in.
“A key? The only key I’ve got is to my apartment.” Darius tapped his jeans pocket.
“Ahh, that’s where you’re wrong,” George said, finally stopping the awful tapping. “You have something in here.” He touched his temple. “That will unlock our future and free us from an eternity in Hell.”
“An eternity in Hell.” Darius laughed but the sound didn’t hold humor. “I think you’re being a bit fucking dramatic.”
“We’re not,” Rhys said earnestly. “There’s an old fable, they talk about it at The Worshipful C
ompany, about a cambion who…ouch!” He glared at George. “What did you do that for?”
George didn’t reply.
“What’s a cambion?” Darius asked, swinging his gaze around us all.
George sighed. “Do you want a drink, Darius?”
“No, not really. I’d much prefer some sodding answers. Starting with what’s a cambion, then moving onto how do you all know each other? Have you been following me?” He turned to Oscar. “And what the heck was that bloody thing in the alley this morning?”
“There was something in the alley?” I directed at Oscar. “Like what?”
Oscar frowned. “He was there. The evil was palpable, the air thick with it.”
“Who was there?” Darius asked.
No one spoke.
“Who…was…there?” he asked again.
George folded his arms and sat back. “Your father most likely, Darius.”
“My father!” Darius mimicked George’s posture. “Now I know you’re off your head. Not only do I have no idea who my father is, I was also alone in that alley until Oscar turned up. God only knows how he found me there.”
“Think about it,” Oscar said. “In the alley, that whirlwind of energy, it was growing stronger by the second. It was pressing you against the damn wall. The sky had turned black and you couldn’t tear your attention from the swirling air.”
“It was a dirt devil, that’s all.”
“Devil is a good description,” Rhys said, shaking his head. “We should never have allowed him to get so near.”
“No, we shouldn’t.” I threw a glare at Oscar. The demon had had Darius pinned to a wall! That was way too close for comfort. Another few minutes and he could have possessed him.
“Hey,” Oscar said gruffly. “I got him out of there, didn’t I?”
“Thank goodness,” George said.
“I told you, I have no idea who my father is, and there was no one in the alley.” Darius tensed his jaw.
“What did your mother tell you about him?” I asked, squeezing his hand in the hope that would calm him.
“That…” he paused, and touched the cross at his neck. “She had a one-night stand. All I know is his name was Mammon, not sure if that’s a first or second name, and before you ask, no I haven’t ever found him.”