Dark Temptation (Immortal Legacy Book 4)

by Kennedy,Lorraine

  Immortal Legacy 4

  Dark Temptation

  Lorraine Kennedy

  CopyrightÓ 2016 Lorraine Kennedy

  All Rights Reserved

  Lavine Press 2016

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Author

  Chapter One

  Nicole

  When I glanced at the time on my phone, I saw that it was 9:00 pm, which meant I was already late.

  Having a boss that was a vampire had some advantages, but having my nights free wasn’t one of them. I often worked long hours at night, helping Ethan with whatever project he was working on. Right now, that happened to be the disappearance of a little boy.

  Ethan’s contacts in the police department thought the boy’s disappearance might be connected to vampires, but I didn’t think so. This crime had predator written all over it - the human predator variety. That wasn’t to say that there weren’t plenty of deaths that could be attributed to vampires.

  Most of the members of the New Orleans Police Department were unaware of the vampires roaming their city, but there were a couple officers who knew, and they would seek Ethan’s help. Those in the police department, who knew the truth about the death that plagued their city, welcomed Ethan’s expertise.

  Ethan was a Light Seeker, which usually meant a vampire that fed on animals while searching for a way to end their curse. Ending the curse of the vampire, and finding a way to live in the light was one of Ethan’s ongoing projects, and the one I spent most my time on.

  With Ethan being busy right now with the boy’s disappearance, it was doubtful I that I’d be able to leave for Romania.

  When I reached the top of the stairs and found the door shut, I got a little worried. Ethan always kept it open when he was in. From behind the door, I could hear the soft murmur of voices. I brought my hand up to knock but hesitated. If the door was closed, Ethan obviously didn’t want to be disturbed.

  Finally, I knocked, knowing that I didn’t have a choice. I had to talk to Ethan about Romania.

  A moment later, the door opened and Ethan stood in the doorway. “Why didn’t you just come in?”

  “I thought you might be busy.”

  Ethan motioned for me to enter and then shut the door. I was startled to see Lex sitting in front of Ethan’s desk.

  “Well, hello again,” he smiled.

  “Hi,” I greeted him, unsure of what else to say.

  “Lex has some news for us,” Ethan informed me.

  “I have information that the Fabre witches relocated to the coast of Oregon, in a small town called Sutter Point,” Lex explained.

  “That’s fantastic,” I smiled. Finally, we had information that would help me find one of my sisters.

  “I thought we would leave right away,” Ethan started pacing the floor. “If we know where she’s at, Omar probably does too. We’ll have to get to her soon if it’s not already too late.”

  “What about the case you are working on?” I asked.

  “They found the boy. He was still alive, but barely. They’ve already booked someone for the crime, and it wasn’t a vampire.”

  “I suspected as much,” I told him. “But thank God they found him alive.”

  “Now we can focus on this business of going to Oregon,” Ethan was digging through some paperwork on his desk.

  I didn’t respond. I knew that my first obligation was to ensure my sister’s safety, but my fear for Alec had me on edge.

  “Is something wrong?” Ethan asked.

  “I haven’t heard from Alec since he left. I thought I should go to Romania,” I told him, my eyes downcast. “But it can wait. You’re right, we should go to Oregon.”

  Ethan shook his head. “I knew it was foolish for him to go there alone.”

  “I may have a solution,” Lex said as he stood up. “I will go to Sutter Point and see to the girl’s safety. Bringing her to New Orleans probably isn’t a good idea. She’d just be closer to Omar here. Let me convince her to go someplace where she can safely wait until the time that all three of you can be brought together.”

  “Where will she go?” I was hesitant. Lex seemed like an ally, but I couldn’t forget that he was a wolf and an enemy of my kind.

  “Don’t worry, I have a place in mind. In the meantime, you can go fetch your friend. Soon you will need all the friends you can get.” Lex’s voice held a cryptic note.

  “You’ll contact Ethan as soon as you’ve found her?” I asked, still unsure if I should leave the fate of my sister to a stranger.

  Lex seemed to guess what I was thinking. “Don’t worry. Her safety is as important to me, as it is you.”

  “Thanks.” I offered a smile.

  “You are not thinking of going to Romania alone, are you?” Ethan gave me a disapproving look.

  I shook my head. “Dash and his girlfriend are coming with me.”

  “Hmm, well that’s comforting.” Ethan frowned.

  “I know you think he’s odd, but Dash is a great friend. He’s someone I would like on my side,” I said, draping an arm over Ethan’s shoulder. “Besides, I told him we could help him market his recipe if he came with me.”

  “We!” Ethan’s mouth dropped open. “You won’t get anyone to try that stuff.”

  “Actually,” Lex interrupted. “As I told Nicole, that recipe is important to the future of your kind.”

  “You see,” I grinned. “I do actually know what I’m doing.”

  Chapter Two

  Sarah

  My screams sounded hollow in the glass enclosure. No one would hear me, no matter how loud I screamed.

  I tried to turn and run, but was shaking so badly that my legs didn’t want to move. Slipping my hand into the pocket of my robe, I felt around for my dagger, but it wasn’t there. Since receiving the dagger, I’d made a habit of taking it with me wherever I went, but this time, I’d forgotten.

  Searching my memory, I tried to come up with some type of spell that would ward the creature off, but I was drawing a blank. I just hadn’t paid enough attention to my aunt’s spells.

  The vampire stepped closer, but his movements were slow. He was in no hurry. The longer I had to feel fear before my death, the more enjoyable the experience would be for him.

  Funny I should be able to pick up on this information, but I hadn’t noticed these vibes while on my way up to the lantern room.

  There was no time to think about that now. I willed my legs to move and I sprinted down the stairs, taking them two at a time. By the time I reached the bottom, I was out of breath.

  Stealing a look over my shoulder, I let out a sigh of relief when I saw that he wasn’t there. My reprieve was short-lived. When I turned back to look in front of me, he was there, blocking my way to the door. His
movements were so fast that eyes hadn’t even registered the fact that he’d flown down the stairs ahead of me.

  A scream of utter terror ripped from my throat. This didn’t faze the vampire. He smiled ghoulishly, enjoying my fear - feeding off it.

  Out of pure desperation, I held out my hand and pulled at the energy around me. Gathering the earth’s energy into my fingers, I directed it at my attacker. Suddenly, the vampire was knocked off balance. It wasn’t much, but enough to give me enough time to slip by him and out the door.

  As I ran, my slippers caught on the weeds, tripping me. When I fell I caught myself with my hands. The skin on my hands was scraped and bleeding but there was no time to think about that, or to feel the pain. I jumped up and kicked the slippers from my feet.

  My efforts were in vain. The creature now blocked the path ahead of me. In the moonlight, I could make out a deformed forehead and the way his cheekbones protruded so far that it appeared as if they would tear the flesh on his face. His lips were drawn back, revealing deadly fangs. The glowing red color of his eyes reminded me of a demon, a true spawn of the prince of darkness.

  My screams shattering the peaceful silence of the night as he started moving in my direction. Looking around frantically, I searched for someplace to run, some way to escape, but I was trapped. The only place to run was over the cliffs and into the sea.

  There was a flash of movement so subtle that I might have thought it a trick of my eyes, if not for the fact that now the vampire lay on the ground, struggling with an assailant. My relief was so complete that I felt my knees grow weak. At that moment, I wanted nothing more than to sink to the ground and let the fear fade from my heart.

  Darrien tore at the vampire’s throat, but as quickly as the blood spurted from the wound, it began to heal. He would have to sever the head to kill the other vampire. I searched around for some type of weapon, a stick or branch that I could use to pierce the vampire’s heart.

  A large raven swooped down at me from the dark sky, dropping the crystal dagger at my feet. Grabbing it, I ran toward the vampire. As soon as I had a clear shot at the vampire’s chest, I buried the sharp end of the dagger into his heart. Instantly, the dagger began to glow with a black light that slowly turned red and then blue. The light was so bright that it cut through the darkness around us.

  Startled, Darrien backed away. The light from the dagger became so brilliant that I had to shield my eyes from the glare. Then it was gone. All that was left of the vampire was a pile of ash.

  “What is that thing?” he asked.

  Kneeling next to the white pile of ash that had once been a vampire, I retrieved my dagger and held it up so that Darrien could see it. “It was a gift from my aunt.”

  Darrien stared at the magical weapon that I held in my hand.

  “My familiar, Zaltar must have known I would need it, so he brought it to me,” I told him.

  “Well, I have to say it works much better than a wooden stake, which by the way, doesn’t work at all. Just so you know, in case this ever happens again.” Darrien encircled my waist with his arms.

  I gazed into his eyes, relishing the moment. “I thought you were going away?”

  A smile touched his lips. “Did you really think I would leave you to these ghouls?”

  Before I could answer, he leaned down and brushed my lips with a soft kiss. “We should get you home now. I need to talk with your aunt and see if she will convince you to go away from here.”

  I shook my head. “You will only worry her.”

  “Someone has to talk some sense into you.” Again he kissed me, but this time with more heat. His tongue licked my lips, parting them so that he could explore my mouth. His need surrounded me, burrowing into my pores until I felt the fire spread through my body and into my groin. The wet fire between my legs was agony.

  His arms tightened around me and he devoured my mouth with his. Then I felt the ground give way beneath my feet. We were ascending into the dark black clouds that were starting to gather over the sea. I held onto him tightly, not caring that I was hundreds of feet in the air or that I was in the arms of an Immortal.

  When I looked at Darrien, I didn’t see a creature of the night, but a being of pure beauty and divine wisdom. I saw my knight.

  Slowly, he brought me to the ground. I recognized the shrub maze in my aunt’s garden. We were in the grass, the tall shrubs shielding us from sight. He leaned over me, a silhouette against the moon. Though a cloud partially obscured the moon’s light, it was still bright enough to see everything around me. The silver beams were magical somehow, as if it was all meant to be, the enchantment, the danger, and my passion for this vampire.

  I was on fire. If he didn’t put out that fire I was sure I would disintegrate. Again he kissed me, his mouth sucking at my tongue, devouring my mouth as he devoured my soul. His lips were on my throat, his tongue licking at my flesh.

  I felt his hand slide up my leg, lifting the hem of my nightgown to expose my thighs. He removed my panties so gracefully that I barely felt them come off, but I could sense gazing on the glistening wetness between my legs.

  His mouth was on my thighs, licking and teasing me until I was trembling with the power of my need for him. Then there was the sensation of sharp pain when his fangs slit through my flesh. As warm blood dripped from my wounds, he gently licked it away. The act was so erotic, it nearly brought me to orgasm.

  “I can’t take this,’ I breathed.

  His dark laughter floated on the night air, enchanting me even more.

  His cool fingers rubbing the swollen lips between my legs and I arched my hips to him. Darrien obliged, slipping his fingers into my molten core.

  A moan ripped from deep inside of me. The sensation of his fingers moving inside me, as he licked and bit at my flesh, was total ecstasy.

  “I want you,” I gasped, moving my hips in rhythm to his probing fingers.

  The moistness between my legs turned to liquid fire as he brought me the release that I so desperately needed. The pleasure was so unbelievable that I couldn’t stop the screams that escaped my lips.

  He moved away from me, but for the moment, all I could do was close my eyes and try to bring my breathing under control. All around me, the night seemed to be alive with sound. In the distance, I could hear the roar of the sea. A gust of wind disturbed the shrubs that surrounded us. The sound of the blood rushing through his body was bewitching, it called to me, tempting me.

  Sitting up, I grabbed his arm. I could think of nothing else but the taste of his blood on my tongue. Baring my teeth, I prepared to sink them into his flesh, but he pulled away abruptly.

  Shocked, Darrien stared at me. The horror on his face would have been comical, if not for my insatiable hunger for his blood.

  “Sarah, stop!” he hissed.

  Blinking, I suddenly felt as I was coming out of a deep sleep. When I reached out for him, he backed away.

  Pain wrapped around my heart, squeezing until I felt as if I would die. “What have I done?”

  The expression on his face softened and he pulled me into his arms. “It isn’t what you’ve done, but what I’ve done.”

  Confused by his words, I shook my head.

  “You are turning Sarah.” His words were full of all the horror I’d seen on his face when he’d looked at me.

  “I’m becoming a vampire?” I asked.

  “Yes,” he answered, his voice laced with agony.

  “Because you fed on me?” I asked, my fear at battle with my desire to understand.

  He nodded. “But there’s something wrong. It shouldn’t have happened unless you fed on my blood.”

  I was speechless. Had I given up my life to be loved by him? Did I even care?

  “It seems to be happening slowly. Probably since the first time I pierced your skin.” Darrien was talking more to himself than to me as he tried to make sense out of what was happening.

  A million thoughts raced through my head. Foremost was the sun. Would I
ever see the sun again?

  “I have to take you some place safe, and I have to go away from you. Maybe it isn’t permanent, yet. You recovered from your hunger last time,” he suggested.

  I shook my head. “I would prefer to turn. I don’t want to be away from you.”

  “No, you wouldn’t.”

  “Why didn’t you make love to me?” I asked, realizing for the first time that he hadn’t taken me completely.

  A deep sadness entered his eyes. “I can’t do it to you again, Caroline … I mean Sarah,” he corrected himself quickly.

  I slipped into stunned silence. Although I knew I shouldn’t have been shocked, I was. Even as he’d brought me so much pleasure, in his mind I was Caroline. Jumping to my feet, I turned away from him. I was shaking with the effort it took to keep my anger and hurt from erupting into something ugly.

  “I’m sorry, Sarah. I know you don’t believe that you are Caroline, but I know you are. I can feel it whenever I am with you.” He said. I guessed it was his way of trying to reason with me.

  “You are delusional,” I told him, my voice hard and unyielding. “Go away, Darrien. Go dream about Caroline and leave me be.” I walked away without looking back.

  “Sarah, please! You are still in danger,” he called after me.

  I refused to turn around or listen to him pleading with me.

  “Don’t go into the light, Sarah,” he yelled. “It will make you sick and could kill you.”

  I left him in the shrub maze and ran to the comfort of home. With each step I took, another piece of my heart seemed to fall away.

  I knew there was every possibility that he was right and I was Caroline, reincarnated, but for some reason, it still hurt. Even if that were true, I was Sarah now. He didn’t want who I was now, but who I used to be.

  Chapter Three

  Sarah

  A shroud of darkness wrapped around me, squeezing at my chest until I felt as if I would smother. Though I couldn’t actually see the dark entity, to me it was real. The darkness was the heartache and despair of yearning for an Immortal, someone who could never come into the light. There was despair in knowing that I might also be forever destined to darkness.