She responded by kissing him back.
Her lips softened and her tongue came to life, twirling along his with soft, languid strokes.
Sighing into her mouth, Dante cradled Ariana against him. And swore he’d do everything in his power to both protect her and love her, no matter what it took. He wouldn’t drink the Nightshade and weaken himself again. And damn it, he should be able to love her without tainting the purity of her soul.
Hell or high water, he’d find a way to do both.
“You’re back,” he said as he led her dried, cracked lips to his bleeding wrist.
Her fangs slipped in deep and she sucked hard, whimpering like a newborn kitten. Her fingers curled around his wrist. He let her stay there awhile, drinking, gaining the strength he’d taken from her.
As her draws slowed and the air seemed to still around them, Ariana gazed into his eyes, batting thick fans of eyelashes. “I learned so much on the other side . . . there’s so much to tell you . . . but nothing matters more than my love for you. Have I told you that? That I love you?”
Not wasting any time, Dante kissed the corners of her lips, her chin, her cheek. “Tell me again . . .”
“I love you now.” She sighed, sinking into his arms. “I’ll love you forever.”
“I’ll ah—” Ruan said, backing toward the living room. “Catch you guys later.”
She rose to sitting, dragging the blankets to cover her chest. “Thank you, Ruan, for everything.”
“I’m the one who should be thanking you. I thought we lost Dante back there, but from the looks of things you healed him up good.”
Settling beside Ariana on the bed, Dante pulled her against him. He’d never felt more alive. More at peace. “With this woman at my side I’ll never be lost again.”
“Would you do something for me, Ruan?” Ariana asked. “Would you give Eve my thanks? And tell her I’m glad she was the one who enlightened me.”
His brows pinched together as he raised his gaze to the bedroom ceiling, though Dante was sure Ruan was thinking of the world beyond theirs. “She’s a busy one, that’s for sure. Consider it done.”
As Ruan left the room, Dante leaned into Ariana’s neck and smudged a kiss against her collarbone. Where his fangs had drained her within an inch of her life.
“I’m sorry for that, love,” he whispered, tracing a line down her neck. “But I’m so grateful you came back to me.”
Her skin shivered beneath his lips. “It’s your love that brought me back, your love that saved me.”
“I think you’ve got that backwards. If anyone needed to be saved, it was me.”
She looked over her shoulder at him then, her gaze shimmering with a level of awareness he couldn’t penetrate if he tried.
“What are you thinking?” he asked finally, when the lines of his face had been examined well enough.
She put her hand over his heart and closed her eyes as it thumped against her hand. “I’m thinking if I can dust upon the elders in Black Moon, brush my energy upon the haven itself, then I should be able to heal the hurt in your soul.”
Although he didn’t understand most of what she’d said, he understood her desire to save him. Covering her hand with his, he said, “Some filth can’t be cleaned.”
“I won’t believe that. I can’t.” Her eyes flipped open. “Wait. Did you feel that?”
He felt the bed solidly beneath him, the warmth of her skin as it grazed his.
He brushed the back of his hand down her cheek. “I feel you.”
“No, listen . . .” She focused far off, her gaze going soft as if she searched for something deep within herself. “We need to get dressed. Something’s wrong. The Seekers are gearing up for battle.”
ARIANA WAS RIGHT. Something was wrong. But Dante didn’t have to feel the tremors of Black Moon charging through his veins to know it.
When they hit the bottom floor and the elevator doors slid open, Ruan was waiting.
“Savage is coming,” he said, fists clenching at his side. “We got word from a Seeker that he just entered Darkly Meadow. He’ll be here as fast as those possessed suckers can run.”
The meadow wasn’t far. Dante had left the forest through that area the first night he’d met Ariana.
“We’ve got ten minutes tops.” Dante pushed past Ruan as lightning lit up the lobby. “Damn it, if Savage has any death shades floating around that haven’t possessed a body, I don’t know if this weather’s going to work for us or against us. We won’t be able to see those shadows in the dark.”
“It’ll work for us,” Ariana said, nodding to a group of elders standing near the double doors. “We’ve got elders who can harness energy in the lightning and use it as a weapon. Once the forest gets lit up, we’ll see what’s breathing down our necks.”
Dante nodded and sized Ariana up for the umpteenth time since she got dressed. Although she looked completely recovered from their mating ritual, with her hair tied at the base of her neck and a rosy tint to her cheeks, she should’ve been weak. Drained and recovering. Instead she looked stronger in her head-to-toe leather get-up, with a hard glare in her eyes topping the cake.
“You sure you’re up for this?”
“The offer still stands,” Ruan said to Ariana, adjusting the knife on his belt. “You can stay behind with Dylan. Slade’s not letting her out of this haven in her state.”
If Ariana was carrying his child, Dante wouldn’t let her out either. As his thoughts carried past protectiveness into the territory of having a family and children with Ariana, chills danced up his spine, clenching into a ball at the base of his neck. He wanted that with her more than anything else.
Ariana folded her arms. “I’m not staying. Not while everyone I love is out there fighting. Besides, if someone gets hurt, they’re going to need my help.”
“Don’t say I didn’t offer. Twice.” Ruan shrugged. “I’m going to check on the east wall, make sure the repairs are holding up.”
“They are—” she blurted, rubbing her hands over her arms as a wave of elders entered through the main doors. “The east wall is as strong as the others.”
“Have you seen the Primus?” Ruan did a quick search of the packed lobby. “He’s not in his chamber, and none of his guards seem to know where he went.”
“I have a pretty good idea,” Ariana hissed and averted her gaze. “I’m betting he’ll be back before long. He’s safer behind these walls than anywhere else.”
“Find him,” Dante growled, picking up on her tension. “Let us know the minute he comes back. We’ll need to know how he wants the khissmates mobilized.”
As Ruan took off, rounding the corner near the hearth, Ariana whispered, “The Primus won’t be much help.”
“You all right?” Dante asked.
“I’ll be fine, just don’t trust the Primus’s words as gold. What about you?” She snapped out of whatever daze she was in and kept her attention on the elders swarming the lobby. “Is your strength back?”
Which was code for Have your voices returned?
“Don’t worry about me.” He squeezed her shoulders. “I let Savage get away from me once before in an alley behind Mirage. He took me off guard with a trippy firework show. I won’t let him slip through my fingers again.”
“There’s so much at stake. All of this. The haven could fall and I—”
“Don’t even finish the thought. Nothing’s going to happen to you. Everything’s going to work itself out. If elders get hurt, you’ll heal them.”
“And if elders get dead?”
He kissed her forehead. “We’ll have to take that stride when it comes.”
Slade stormed into the lobby with all the grace of a bull. Dylan trailed behind him, her lips slanted into a worried line.
“Listen up, elders,” Slade boomed, jumping onto a lounge chair in front
of the floor-to-ceiling windows. “The vamps we brought from the city are gathering in the gym. Ruan is heading that group, taking them out the south gate, meeting Savage and his mob halfway between here and Darkly Meadow.”
Whispers spread through the haven. Curious eyes set upon Ariana. She nodded and smiled to each wondering gaze. She couldn’t possibly have the answers to how this was going to end. But it would end tonight, that much was certain. Blood would soak into Black Moon’s dirt before the sun rose over the eastern treetops. Whose blood was to be decided.
Thunder rumbled the glass behind Slade as the storm raged on.
“We have reason to believe Black Moon is the last standing haven in the state,” he said. “Which makes you all the last standing elders. We can’t allow Savage to steal part of your spirit. We won’t allow him to keep you from the Ever After!” Slade stomped on the armrest. “We will fight!”
“But they’re innocent,” an elder by the kitchen yelled above the others. “Savage possessed havenless vamps on the streets. That could’ve been any one of us if it wasn’t for Ariana bringing us here when she did. How can we be expected to fight against our brothers and sisters?”
“Because they’ll kill you,” Dante said, hushing the mob. “They’re not the vamps they were before. Not by a long shot. They won’t hesitate to strike, and if you want to survive this, you won’t either.”
Ariana squeezed Dante’s hand. He looked down and caught a glimpse of the hilt of a sword on her arm. This was more than her home, this was her life. She was bound to this land, if not by a brand on her arm, then by her heart.
And that meant he was bound here, too.
If he had to fight this battle all by himself, he would not let Black Moon fall.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“Under no circumstances will we intervene. This is not our war.”
WATCHER ARCHIVE, UPDATE
AFTER EMPTYING THE haven’s arsenal and stocking up on vamp-killing ammo, Glocks and silver daggers, crossbows and wood-chipped arrows, Dante and Ariana were the first to arrive at the edge of the forest. The others weren’t far behind.
As the first elder brushed past them, she smiled and took Ariana’s hand. Ariana smiled right back, wearing an expression of uncertainty. The second elder took her hand and kissed it. Ariana’s brows pinched in confusion, and she took her hand back. As the elders lined up, a mass of shadowed forms shielding their faces from the rain, Ariana grew still.
“I don’t know that they’re fighting for Black Moon as much as they’re fighting for you,” Dante whispered, leaning into her shoulder.
“Don’t be absurd.”
Another elder, another reverent gaze, another kissed hand.
“Look at their faces, Ariana. Look at them. They could’ve lived another hundred years on their own, hiding from a vamp who might want to steal their mawares from them. But they’re stepping into the light, risking their mawares tonight for a reason. That reason doesn’t have anything to do with four stone walls or a rose garden that blooms at the full moon.”
Her eyes sparkled like golden amber melting in the twilight.
“It’s you, Ariana. They’re here for you.”
Dante knew because he felt the same. He’d fight for her a thousand times over. Give up his maware if he had one. Stand up to Savage with possessed vampires, creatures from the Nether Realm . . . didn’t matter.
“And I’m here for them.” She traced the ridges of the crescent moon on her forearm. “I’ll never hide the mark again. Not when it represents the fighting spirit of so many.”
“The sword through the center,” Dante said, brushing his thumb over the hilt, “is the strength of your heart holding Black Moon together.”
“We’ll show that strength tonight. We’ll fight as one and be stronger than Savage has given us credit for.”
“Yes.” He kissed her wrist, pledging his loyalty, the same as the others. “We will.”
When the last of the elders had filed out of Black Moon and climbed the first ridge leading into the forest, Dante spotted Eve on a dirt mound to the far right, with Ruan standing in front of her. She clutched her amulet, her face lifted to the sky.
It had begun.
Dante heard the sound of vamps running through the dark before he saw them. Felt the pounding of their feet like drums in his heart. He smelled the metallic tang of their blood, dirtied with the malevolence of the spirit within them.
Never in his life had Dante wished for his voices to surface, but he wished for them now. His thirst for battle was so intense, so overpowering, his throat dried and cracked, making it difficult to take a solid breath. He stood beside Ariana and the rest of the warriors of Black Moon, lined up on the edge of the forest. Vamps without mawares threaded among them, standing tall and proud as if they could strike down Savage from this distance. Seekers arranged themselves in front of Black Moon, backed against the walls–the last line of defense.
Heavy breathing broke the stillness between zigzagged bolts of lightning and rolling thunder. If it wasn’t for Ariana standing beside him, Dante might’ve took off running straight into battle. Started this thing early, meeting Savage head on. But he couldn’t risk Ariana trailing behind him.
He had to wait with the rest. Fight with the khissmates of Black Moon. He’d never been more proud of a group of vamps in his life. They were laying down their lives, showing no fear, ready to kill or be killed. They were the closest thing to family and friends he’d ever had.
Anxiety wormed its way into his heart. He hoped they made it out of this for more reasons than keeping Black Moon safe. He hoped they made it out because he cared. For each and every one of them, up and down the line, vamp and elder alike.
“Hold the line!” Slade rushed in front of them on the back of a Seeker, a blur of black leather and heavy artillery. “Whatever happens, the haven cannot be compromised! We must hold!”
He was gone as quickly as he came and they were left to each other, their thoughts, and the silence of the forest.
“They’re close,” Dante said as his heart gave a slow thud. “They’ve reached your projection pits.”
“What do you feel?” Ariana cocked her Glock and crouched behind a wide-trunked tree for cover. “How do you know?”
“It’s like I can sense their energy. I can feel the dark pulling me. Sucking at my feet like the clay in these pits. They’re coming fast.”
“We’ve got hundreds out here fighting and more protecting the haven.”
“And he’ll have just the same. Hundreds of possessed vamps out here and death shades surrounding him, protecting him from the real battle. But someone’s gotta win.” Dante took her face in his hands. A rush of blood flashed through his veins, electrified with spikes of adrenaline. “Fight your heart out, Ariana. Fight for hope and light—”
“And love,” she said as her eyes fired with excitement.
“Yes.” He dragged her against him and kissed her wholly. Completely. For the first time he kissed her with every ounce of hope and love and respect he had in his soul. “Love above all.”
From his post, Ruan hollered commands to the vamps surrounding him. Slade pointed right and left, filling gaps in the line, shoving elders into place. And the rest . . . they waited with bated breath, scanning the dark for shadows.
“Elders ready!” Ariana screamed, taking aim into the night.
“Ready!” they answered as one.
In that instant, the energy of the forest jumpstarted to life, charged with new, fevered intensity. Though Dante didn’t see a single maware used, he could feel the power radiating across the muddy forest floor.
As a rod of lightning split the sky, Savage’s vamps swarmed through the trees ahead. There were too many of them. Far too many. They overtook the pits, falling and filling, coming from the shadows, the light, from all around them.
�
�Let’s do this,” Ariana said as the entire line of elders came to life.
Bolts of fire sizzled through the air. Orbs of light raced through the night sky, hitting trees, exploding into blinding fireballs. Bodies fell like fat raindrops, but they kept coming.
There were too many.
Holstering his guns, Dante burst through the line and forced the energy balling in his gut out his palms. He thrust his arms forward. And knocked the enemy back with hurricane force wind. They bounced off trees. Face-planted in the mud.
But they kept coming, crawling over their fallen comrades.
Screams and shouts echoed from all around. Dante couldn’t tell if the cries were from Black Moon’s crew or the enemy. Still, he fought.
He drew his guns and rapid fired. Dropped two to their knees and missed a third. Time to reload. But as the third zombie-eyed vamp raced over the final hill, time stood still. The vamp’s eyes went wide, as if he didn’t know what was happening to his body. Why it’d become prisoner to an unseen force. Though Dante wasn’t sure if the time-slowing maware was aimed to assist him or someone else, he took the opportunity and used it to his advantage. He pulled ammo from his pocket. Spun beneath his enemy’s slow-motion left cross. Loaded quickly. Dodged another punch aimed for his jaw. He cocked and fired, right into the vamp’s heart. The sucker fell as another mob of vamps took his place, charging over the nearest hill.
Things kicked back into fifth gear without warning.
Dante ducked as a shot of purple light streamed through the air. Like some sort of cosmic x-ray, the light bullet burst through the chest of one vamp, ripped through his back, and boomeranged into the heart of another.
Screams only got louder as elders unleashed the full power of their mawares. Fire and light meshed as one, exploding through the forest with deafening booms. Smoke slithered over the ground like fog. And rain hammered down as bullets fired in rapid succession. Never stopping. Never missing a beat.
Dante rocketed forward, down a projection pit and over the other side, shooting one vamp through the heart as another leaped onto his back and went for his throat. Dante grabbed the vamp’s arm. Crouched and tossed him over his shoulder, then shot him twice in the chest.
Last Vamp Standing Page 28