by L. E. Wilson
“I’ll be fine,” she said. “I want you to do it. I want to know what it feels like to have you at my throat.”
Who the hell was this woman? He’d fed from humans before, of course, but he never did it without a little convincing from his mind to theirs. And he would always erase that part from their memories, if not the entire encounter.
“Christian, I want you to feed from me, like this.”
Her artery pulsed under his gaze. With a moan of surrender, he leaned down over her and took her up on her offer.
She flinched just a bit as his fangs sliced into her. But when he started to drink, she moaned and began to move her hips beneath him as her fingers dug into his sides.
Her blood hit him like a freight train; his muscles tightening and straining as it shot down to his stomach and spread throughout his body. His cock instantly sprung to life again. Sliding one hand underneath her ass, he lifted her to meet him as he began to thrust against her.
He hoped this was a very long flight.
Chapter 30
China
The demon known as Mammot stood off to the side of the courtyard and impassively surveyed the slaughter happening within as his cohorts lost patience with interrogating the humans and decided to have an early dinner instead. That was the downside of possessing the bodies of these young vampires. The blood lust was almost impossible to resist as soon as skin was broken. The slightest scratch sent them into a feeding frenzy. But he didn’t stop them. They needed the nourishment after the beating they’d taken by those fucking werewolves.
A section of a limb landed with a thud at his feet, warm blood spraying from the severed artery to speckle his pant legs. Kicking it back into the pile of bodies, he took a step back and linked his hands behind his back.
He actually preferred to go by the name “Steven” now, the name given to this vampire he’d recently inhabited. It was much less likely to draw attention than “Mammot”.
Sweeping his gaze across the chaos, he searched for signs that any of the humans still had some life in them, but unsurprisingly, there was none. The monks had proven to be everything they’d always claimed to be — steadfast, loyal, and steeped in their ridiculous beliefs that there was somewhere better to move on to from this world. They’d “risen above”. Literally. Mind over matter and all that.
He hoped those beliefs had brought them some comfort as their bodies were torn asunder and the blood had been drained from the pieces by hungry mouths filled with razor sharp fangs.
But now they were dead and he was no closer to finding the rest of the clues that would lead them to the only blood that was worth lusting over. The blood that had been drained from their demon forms as their souls had been banished to that fucking altar a thousand years ago. The blood that they needed to find very soon if there was any hope at all of having it in time to reverse the spell completely, giving them back their original demonic forms and allowing them to rule this world as the supreme beings they were once again.
Sending out a mental ten-minute warning to the others, he decided on his next move. There were five clues contained in five separate handmade wooden boxes, and he’d already found two of them. There were two more that were still hidden.
The girl that was with Waano had the third one. Steven was sure Wanno knew that she had it, and was protecting her. Therefore, she wouldn’t be easy to get to, but it was a challenge that Steven was more than ready for. Waano had had his chance to rule. It was time for someone new to take over the demons of hell, someone who would let them be demons. Waano had been perfectly content to rot from existence chained to that altar, and he hadn’t cared that he was condemning the rest of them with him. But he would.
Steven was really looking forward to that particular confrontation, but first they had to find the other two boxes.
They didn’t have much time.
Chapter 31
Ryan had a death grip on his hand as they disembarked from the jet. On the runway, a black SUV with tinted windows sat waiting for them. The passenger side door opened and a tall male with dirty blonde hair climbed out. His blue eyes lighted on the female at his side and ran over her slender form from head to toe. Happy as he was to see Nikulas, Christian found himself pulling her behind him as they reached the bottom of the stairs.
Nik turned his megawatt smile to him. “I see we have similar taste.”
Christian frowned, not knowing what he was talking about, and Nikulas didn’t bother to explain. He just strode forward to meet them and grabbed Christian up in a bear hug. Christian pounded him on the back without letting go of the girl at his side. When his feet were again on the ground, he made introductions. “Nik, this is Ryan. She helped me escape. Ryan, this is Nikulas.”
“Hellooo…” The “o” ended on an expulsion of breath as Nik grabbed her up and hugged her also, though with a little less exuberance so as not to hurt her.
A low growl of displeasure rumbled through Christian’s chest, but before he could act on it, Nikulas set her down again. With a hand on each of her shoulders, he told her sincerely, “Thank you for what you did.”
“It was nothing. Really, I…” her explanation was cut short as two more males got out of the vehicle. One was just slightly smaller than Nikulas and was wearing running pants and a zip-up hoodie with the hood pulled up. The other walked around the vehicle with a quiet dominance he wore like a second skin. He was wearing all black, his dark hair was a little longer than it had been the last time he’d seen him, and his eyes were haunted with things that Christian couldn’t even begin to imagine.
He’d never been so happy to see anyone in his life. Giving Ryan’s hand a reassuring squeeze, he left her with Nik and approached the male that was now leaning casually against the SUV with his arms crossed over his broad chest, away from the group. He smacked Aiden on the shoulder in greeting as he passed. Pausing less than two feet away, he studied the male who had saved his life all of those years ago. Though he returned his scrutiny with a steady gaze, Christian could see horrific shadows of the past seven years swimming around in the grey depths.
“Luukas? Fuck, man. I thought I’d never see you again.” He wanted to hug him like he had the others, but something in the Master vampire’s stance told him it wouldn’t be well received.
Luukas ran his eyes over him and then dropped his arms. Gripping Christian’s shoulder in one large palm, he indicated his concern while making him keep his distance at the same time. “Are you all right?” he asked.
“I should be asking that of you,” Christian answered.
Luukas gave him a small smile. “Let’s get you both home and then we’ll talk.”
Christian nodded. As soon as Luukas walked away, he turned back to the others as they approached the SUV and caught Nik’s eye, a large question in his own.
“We’ll catch you up later,” Nik told him quietly, exchanging looks with Aiden. “But he’s better than he was.”
Clapping him on the back of the shoulder, Aiden said, “Come on, mate.”
Indicating for Ryan to walk in front of him, they waited for Aiden to get in the back. She hesitated when it was her turn to get in next to him.
“What is it, she’ashil?” he asked her.
Not taking her eyes from Aiden, she shook her head slightly. “I don’t know. There’s just something about him.”
“Aiden? He’s harmless, I promise. Want me to sit by him?”
But she shook her head again. “No. It’s okay.” She gave him a small smile. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Taking her elbow, he helped her inside. Nik raised his eyebrow in a silent question while Ryan was distracted with her seatbelt, but Christian indicated everything was fine so Nik turned back around and got busy with his own belt.
The drive through Seattle was quiet other than some minor small talk. Then Nik spoke up, “So, I should warn you. It’s not just us at home anymore.”
“What do you mean?” Christian asked. “Did Dante and Shea show up
too?”
“No, no…I wish. I meant there’re females there now. Our females.”
Christian wasn’t sure he’d heard that right. “Your females? As in, your females?”
That smile flashed back at him. “Yeah. My girl is Emma. She looks a little like your Ryan. Same nose. Same skin. Similar build. Smaller tits.” He instantly looked mortified. “No offense,” he told Ryan, then continued what he was saying. “Same bright hair, although yours is a bit more intense,” he spoke directly to Ryan again. “But not any prettier.”
“Um. Thank you?” she responded.
“Emma’s sister, Keira, is with Luukas,” Nik continued. “She looks nothing like her sister except for her eyes.”
Christian felt like he was in an episode of Punk’d. He was so sure they were messing with him that he turned around and checked the seat behind him for Ashton Kutcher. Facing forward again when he saw nothing but an empty seat, he looked around Ryan to Aiden. “What about you? You’re unusually quiet over there.”
Aiden cocked an eyebrow. “Me?”
“Yeah, you. Any life changing events happen to you while I was gone?”
“Mmm….Not really.”
“Aiden! Seriously?” This from Nik in the front seat.
“What? My life hasn’t changed. It’s exactly as it always has been.”
“It so isn’t!” Nik cranked his entire upper half around and told Christian, “He has a female too, a pet hedgehog that likes to hang out in his hood, and Leeha fucking possessed him with a fucking demon named Waano. And it’s still inside of him.”
Christian felt his jaw drop to the floor. He couldn’t help it. “You have a pet hedgehog that hangs out in your hood?” he asked Aiden. “Doesn’t it stick you?”
“He is a bit prickly, yes. I have to wear a heavy shirt underneath when we hang out.”
“Are you kidding me?” Nik yelled. “He HAS a fucking DEMON inside of him! Did you not hear that part?”
“I heard it,” Christian said.
“But…you…I…” Nik stuttered. “Oh, fuck it.” Turning around, he faced the road and left them to their hedgehog conversation.
Christian turned back to Aiden. “So, what is it about your hood that he likes so much do you think? Is he there now?”
“No, I leave him at home when we go out anywhere. If I lost him, Grace would never forgive me.”
“Oh for gods’ sake,” Nik mumbled.
Ryan looked back and forth between Christian and Aiden before settling on Aiden. “You’re really possessed by a demon?”
“Thank you!” Nik exclaimed. “Finally, someone with some sense.”
“All right, Nik?” Aiden asked. “You seem a bit more anxious than usual today.” Aside to Ryan and Christian, he said, “He really worries too much.”
“You. Have. A. Demon…”
“Everyone. Enough.” Luukas’ deep voice cut through the chaos inside the vehicle. His knuckles were white where they gripped the steering wheel, and his jaw was clenched. The three Hunters immediately shut their traps.
The rest of the trip to downtown Seattle was made in silence.
Chapter 32
Ryan was grateful to get out of the vehicle and put some distance between herself and the three large males. All of the emotions that were flying around the small space and not being talked about were too much for her at the moment.
There was something dark and almost crazed in Luukas. Something that felt like he was at the edge of a drop-off and may go over at any moment.
And Aiden was right about Nikulas; he worried about everyone too much. If he were human, his blood pressure would be through the roof.
And Christian was the worst of all. Now that they’d shared blood, she could feel everything he was feeling so intensely it was hard to tell his emotions from her own. And right now he was feeling happy, anxious, and furious all at the same time. The happy and anxious she got, but she had no idea who he was furious with, or why.
Aiden was the only one that was actually as chill as he appeared. She got nothing from him other than an occasional rumbling within him that he quickly suppressed. But it was enough that she could hear that thing in there. Although, she hadn’t known what it was until they’d told her. Otherwise he was like a toy boat floating on a calm pond. She could also sense that he possessed an unusually quick mind underneath all of the seeming nonchalance. But anyone would be able to see it if they bothered to look beneath the happy-go-lucky facade he put out there.
Christian took her hand again as they walked into the elevator. His fury was escalating, and his touching her only made it worse for her, but she didn’t want to give up the security of his hand. She watched him staring at Luukas, and could feel his emotions flickering between anger, guilt, and sorrow.
The master vampire appeared unaware of being under such intense scrutiny, however. He stood with his eyes front and center on the closed elevator doors. But then she saw his fists clench and unclench at his sides. Maybe he wasn’t as oblivious as he appeared.
As soon as the doors opened, Luukas strode out and headed straight to the only apartment door there. It opened before he reached it and a stunning woman with dark hair and a perfect hourglass figure ran out into the hall and jumped into his arms. His sense of relief was so profound, the calm stillness that surged through him was visible to all as he held her. “I missed you, witch,” he murmured in her hair.
“I missed you, too,” she answered right before he kissed her in the middle of the hall. Their love was tangible, Ryan didn’t think you needed to be sensitive to it like her to feel it.
“Em! Where are you, woman?” Nikulas bellowed as he walked around his brother and Keira and into the apartment. Aiden followed close behind.
“In the kitchen!” a female voice answered.
Ryan could hear pots banging around and noticed for the first time that there was a heavenly scent coming from the open doorway. Her stomach growled loudly in response and Christian looked down at her with a frown as he closed the door behind them, giving Luukas and Keira their privacy. She frowned back. “I’m fine. I’m just a little hungry.”
They followed the others through the modern apartment and into the kitchen. There they found two more women. One had thick, long, auburn hair and skin like peaches and cream. Moss green eyes smiled up at Aiden.
“Hallo, luv,” he greeted her. “Where’s Prickles?”
She hugged him and pointed with her chin. “In the bedroom snuggling with your shirt.”
“You’re letting him ruin another of my shirts?”
“He misses you too, you know,” she answered with a smile and turned back to the pot she was stirring.
Nikulas came towards them then, pulling — she presumed — Emma behind him. Ryan couldn’t help but stare as the woman came closer. He was right. They did look similar. Weirdly similar, as a matter of fact. Emma smiled brightly when she reached Ryan, who was standing a bit awkwardly just inside the kitchen with Christian at her side.
Nik made the introductions. “Emma, my love, this is Christian. And this is Ryan. She helped him escape…uh…” He wrinkled up his forehead, but then waved it off as unimportant. “Wherever he was in Mexico.”
Although Nikulas didn’t say as much, Ryan frowned at the silent implication he made that anyone who was paying attention would have noticed. And Emma was definitely paying attention.
Shaking Christian’s hand warmly, she expressed her happiness that he’d made it home safe. Then she turned to Ryan. “Welcome to our home. I think you’re going to fit right in here.”
“Thank you,” Ryan answered. “But I don’t know that I’ll be staying.”
“Mm hmm. Okay.” Emma gave her another bright smile. “What’s your last name, Ryan?”
“Um. It’s Moss.”
“What?” Keira and Luukas had finally joined them, and Keira came around to stand by Emma. “What did you just say?”
Ryan drew back, afraid she’d said something wrong, but she felt noth
ing threatening from any of the people in the large kitchen. “I said my last name is Moss.”
“No kidding,” Keira breathed. “Gracie, did you hear that?” she called over her shoulder without taking her eyes from Ryan. She looked between her and Emma and back again, a sudden comprehension on her face.
“Hear what?” Grace asked as she joined them while the guys hauled Christian away and took a seat at the counter to talk amongst themselves. She stuck her hand out at Ryan. “Hi! I’m Grace.”
Ryan took her hand in hers. “Ryan Moss.”
Grace’s green eyes widened in shock. “No shit?”
The front door opened. All four vampire males were off their chairs and lined up in front of the entrance to the kitchen before it had closed again. A feral hiss from one of them made goose bumps lift up on Ryan’s skin, and she was very glad that she wasn’t the one that had just walked through that door.
“It’s me,” a female voice said.
Christian was the first to come out of his defensive stance. “Shea?” he asked incredulously.
The women in the kitchen attempted to peer around the guys’ broad shoulders as footsteps came down the foyer. A stunning female with long, dark hair and cattish green eyes walked into the room. She was wearing dusty jeans, thick-soled boots, and a man’s tee shirt. Ryan saw the tips of her fangs when she spoke. She suddenly felt hot all over, and it took her a moment to recognize what she was feeling.
Jealousy. Jealousy that Christian was the one that knew who it was. What was this woman to him?
“Christian!” She ran up to him like she was going to hug him, but stopped just out of his reach. “I went looking for you and Dante! I was grabbed right off the street! Where the hell were you?”
“Same scenario,” he told her. “Shea, I’m so sorry. Are you all right? Where were you?”
“I’m okay. I got away. Luukas? Oh my gods…” Shea took a step towards him, but then seemed to rethink that decision and remained where she was. “And Aiden?” Her hand covered her mouth and she seemed to be fighting back tears. “Oh thank the gods you’re okay. I was told…no one knew if you’d survived.”