She let go completely, her hips riding him, her breast pressed into his face, her back arched in an oh-so-lovely way. Jadrian couldn’t look away and didn’t want to as he witnessed the magnificent woman completely lose it. He was going to sink right into her as soon as the spasms stopped, he was going to take her even higher, and he was poised for the moment, only a breath away from shifting into her, when a noise intruded. Jadrian had started to slide into her, even when the voice intruded but he knew he had to stop. He was going to murder someone.
“Alpha, you’re wanted in the hall.” A male voice intruded into their secret world, a world he had never wanted to leave, and Allana was gone. Jadrian felt the coldness left behind by her leaving, the emptiness she left in her wake, and looked up in confusion.
“What…” he started, but she had thrown on a robe and opened the door.
“What is it, Razor?”
Razor, Jadrian scoffed to himself, what a stupid name. He shifted on the bed, hoping she would come back.
“The Alexander Alpha can’t find one of his brothers, have you seen him?” The voice stayed outside in the hallway, Allana had only cracked the door enough to stick her face through.
“Which brother? Oh never mind, I’ll be out in a minute.” She quietly closed the door and came back into the bedroom. “Dress yourself, your brother needs you.”
Jadrian had jumped from the bed the moment his brother was mentioned and had his shirt in hand. “Do we continue this later, then?”
She paused as she threw another dress over her head, and looked at him as though he’d lost his mind. “Of course, now get out. I’ll see you later.”
Jadrian put his shoes and top back on and left the room, his thoughts turning to his brother but he turned before he left. “Until then, Allana.”
She gave him a promise with her eyes, a promise he planned to hold her to.
It was going to be a long ass day, a very long ass day.
Jadrian left her room, his body more than a little put out with him, and went in search of his eldest brother. Something must be up for him to go to others. Was Jacob still missing?
“What’s up, Cade, which one is missing this time?” Jadrian’s tone was exasperated, his frustration levels higher than he had ever felt them before. Maybe it was the vampire blood but Allana got under his skin in a way he wasn’t sure was normal.
“It is still Jacob and I do not sense him. I do not sense him anywhere.” Cade’s back had been turned to Jadrian as he typed something into his phone but now he turned haunted eyes to Jadrian.
Jadrian stepped back, the fear in Cade’s eyes making his stomach drop to somewhere subterranean. He had never seen Cade with such a pained expression, not even when Kane was in an accident and had barely clung to life.
“I looked everywhere here at the complex. Has he gone back to Kansas for some reason?” Jadrian’s mind was in a panic now, if Cade was that worried something was wrong. How did he calm his brother enough to keep him from falling into the same panic?
“Not that I know of, no, I would still sense him, even that far away.” Cade looked closely at Jadrian for a moment, his gaze a little confused, but that cleared and he shook his head. The haunted look came back and Jadrian felt his heart breaking. He didn’t like that look on his brother, any of his brothers. Especially when there was little he could do about it.
Going to his brother he grabbed his shoulder and pulled his gaze away from the phone. “We’ll find him, we’ll find him alive, and you will see this worry was for nothing.”
Jadrian gave Cade a searching glance, looking for proof his brother believed him but didn’t find any.
“I always know where you all are, always. I can’t feel him at all now.” Cade wiped a broad hand across his face, trying to wipe away the worry.
“I will do another search of the lower levels and outside. We’ll find him. I will find him, Cade.”
“Keep in contact then. I can’t lose two of you.” Cade already wore a defeated look and Jadrian felt like a failure for not giving his brother hope. But Cade knew things, had mad skills that only Alphas could have. Jadrian felt his stomach drop out again and his heart squeeze in panic. Where was Jacob?
Jadrian squeezed his brother’s shoulder again and left the room. He tripped over his sister-in-law Damesha’s dog Annie halfway down the hall, the dark passage barely lit by dim wall sconces.
“Annie, what are you doing here, girl?” Jadrian bent down to pet her. Annie was a special dog, they had all come to notice that over their time with her and Jadrian wondered.
“Have you seen Jacob, Annie? Do you know where he is?” Jadrian scratched her ears as he talked to her, and she ate the loving up.
When he stopped she looked at him with her own set of grim eyes and stood still, her body relaxed in a way that spoke of the same defeat Cade obviously felt.
“Not good then, huh?” Jadrian felt dread taking the place of the panic and pulled out his own phone, sending Jacob several texts when he didn’t answer his phone. The reddish brown and white dog, medium in size, stood by his side, her Beagle-like features just as worried as his.
* * *
Jacob
“I cannot ease your pain now, this part you will have to survive on your own.” Her voice, in his head, all around him, eased the worst of the pain only briefly.
Whatever was happening to him had reached his eyes, his brain. The pain stole his thoughts, spun him into a world of misery unlike anything he’d experienced before. Could he endure this? He wondered in a brief moment of lucidity before the pain ate into his brain and his eyes once more. He would have screamed an eternal scream if he had been capable, but he couldn’t even produce that in his state.
He heard her voice, no longer the soothing sound that eased his pain with her tale, but another annoyance. She had done this to him. If he survived, he was totally driving a stake through her heart, mistress or not. At least he assumed that is what the tale she’d told him meant. He’d be hers until she tired of him. He couldn’t believe his will could be so totally subverted. He was an Alexander, no matter what form he took.
She would die the moment he could hold a dagger, a knife, or even control his hands. He’d tear her heart out with nothing more than his fingernails if he had to. Sure, she had a sad story to tell, but didn’t they all? Alright, she’d been basically tortured, her brain probably snapped all those centuries ago, that would explain this completely abhorrent idea she had come up with. She’d told him she knew what it was to be taken without permission but she’d done it to him. No, Jacob decided, she had to die before she caused more chaos.
But the memory of the way she’d looked earlier; sweet, innocent, totally carnal, intruded in a moment of clarity. Her sweet beauty filled his mind and he wondered how a man, any kind of man, could have abused such loveliness. She must have been amazing as a human, full of kindness and care. The monster that he’d seen wasn’t her.
Then the pain was back but it wasn’t as soul-shattering. A plan was forming as the pain eased once more. He couldn’t kill her, she’d only wanted to do what was best for the world. She’d only wanted love in her life, her story had told him that, but she’d never quite found it. He still wanted revenge but her death wasn’t so high on his list of priorities as he finally, peacefully, came back to reality. He’d get his revenge on her in a way he knew he could truly hurt her.
Jacob opened his eyes and saw her standing over him. He stared into her eyes, his own cold with the pain he’d just endured. He would make her pay for what she’d done to him.
Chapter 5
Jacob
Jacob stirred on the vampire’s bed. He’d fallen into a deep sleep moments after he had regained true awareness, his first day as a vampire spent regaining his strength. He’d been vaguely aware of movement, of a soft pillow beneath his cheek, and of warmth that he’d not felt in the other place.
It had been cold there, damp, underground for sure. Almost impossible in Louisiana so perhaps s
he’d taken him far away? He didn’t know but as he blinked slowly his gaze focused on her now familiar room. When he tried to move he found he was bound by invisible bonds. He could move on the bed but not off it.
“You’ll be free to move around soon enough. You’ll be hungry, but you cannot leave until you understand what I’ve done.” Her voice came from a corner by the fire and his head swiveled in that direction.
“Oh, I believe I understand perfectly. You want to use me as a weapon of mass destruction and destroyed me to do it.” His words came out as a snarl, he’d meant to approach this differently, to stick to the plan, but his rage boiled.
“Ah, so you’re not completely pliant then. I suppose that’s the shifter nature coming through.” She stood, moving her hair to behind her shoulders, her long dress a sapphire blue. “No matter, you’ll still be bound to do as I command. The sacrifice of one for the good of many will make your hate worth it.”
Sabrina moved to him, standing just out of his reach. She knew he couldn’t hurt her but still stayed far enough away to be safe, he noted. Probably a wise move. Perhaps his shifter blood would do more than give him a small amount of his own will. Perhaps he’d be able to kill her after all.
He watched her as one watches a bug crawling up a wall, contemplating whether to kill it or to put it outdoors. He knew what she had planned but had no idea what exactly any of it meant. Or how he was supposed to accomplish it. He didn’t particularly feel different, just not alive as he had once been. He could feel his heart beating slowly, to move the vampire blood around in his veins, he could feel a hunger building in his stomach, but he didn’t feel his lungs moving as they should. Only a shallow breath was needed every few minutes.
He knew he’d been changed; the memory of the pain he had endured was too recent for him to think otherwise, the changes in his body were screaming to him that he was different, but it wasn’t as bad as he had expected. Then he realized what she had just said.
“The sacrifice of one? You would rather sacrifice one when Cade didn’t plan on sacrificing any? That makes your plan better?” He spoke with contempt, his eyes blasting her for a moment before he looked away, some unknown force making him bow his head.
“Not so resistant after all, I see.” She chuckled and went to the fire once more. “No, Cade didn’t plan on sacrificing anyone but his way leads to the sacrifice of us all. The Mungons want all of our heads on a poke, vampire, shifter, anyone else standing in their way. We have to totally destroy them. That is the only way. And this way you get some form of life, even if it’s not the one you had planned on living.” She sat back down in her chair, feet going beneath her. He realized he still longed for her, his desire for her hadn’t changed.
Rather it seemed to have become more powerful, he realized, as his lower regions reacted to a glimpse of her cleavage. That still worked, he thought with relief. Thank fuck for that! But to her? With a weary sigh he fell back onto the pillows. Remember the plan, Jacob, stick to the plan.
“I have to leave you, find some blood for you, but don’t worry, this isn’t like the movies either, we have willing donors, you just can’t drink until you drain them. I will return shortly.”
Sabrina stood and left the room, leaving Jacob to wonder if he’d be able to drink a human being. He didn’t think he was ready for that yet.
He felt something as the minutes passed, an awareness of Sabrina. Whenever he thought about her he got a sense of where she was. A simple flash of an image, like a picture, would come into his mind, and he could hear some of her thoughts. She was worried she’d made a mistake, that taking Jacob might have been a step too far. But overriding her fear was the certainty that the Mungons were dangerous and needed to be dealt with. She’d lived for a long time, perhaps she knew better than Cade?
He pondered these new thoughts as he waited, his stance to her changing as the minutes passed. She hadn’t done it because she thought she knew better. She hadn’t risked a war between the magicals on a whim at all. She’d seen these kinds of enemies before, had fought in battle. Only there hadn’t been a dragon shifter to save them last time, and they’d spent decades under the heel of brutal masters. All of the magicals, not just the vampires.
Jacob felt the hard edge of his rage melting as the day wore on. He knew her fears now, he knew why she has taken this chance, a chance that could bring more war to the magical world. He’s the best weapon they have.
By taking him she’d joined the shifter and the vampire clans better than any marriage could have. A war between the two would be pointless, one shifter wasn’t worth them all. And if what she said was true, he’d become the alpha of all of the vampires, not just of her clan. He’d be the most powerful being on earth, even above the pair sitting on the throne in the heart of the sanctuary. The enormity of it all sunk in and Jacob felt a slow panic begin. He’d been too angry to realize it before, too distraught at the change she’d forced upon him, but now he knew the fate of the world was in his rather unsteady hands.
No, he didn’t have time for revenge right now, justified or not. He had to actually listen to her, hear her out, and plan. To save his brothers, his clan, and the world, he’d have to forgive for now, to let it go, and work with Sabrina. Until this was all over at least and he stood as the one true king of them all. Every last one of them.
* * *
Jadrian
Jadrian wandered the halls, Annie by his side, wondering where to look next. He’d searched everywhere he’d been allowed and that was every room in the sanctuary. He was tired, worried, and dreading heading back to Cade without any news. No one had seen Jacob since the day before. He’d just vanished off the face of the earth somehow!
“Well, Annie, any suggestions girl?” Jadrian looked down at the intuitive dog and followed her when she gave one of her patented head-waves.
Jadrian wasn’t surprised to find she led him to the dining hall where Damesha and Kane were eating, their baby girl in a basket between them.
“There you are! I wondered where you’d been!” Damesha cried out as Annie went under the table to stand between Damesha’s knees. “You’ve been helping Jadrian, I see. Good girl, Annie, good girl!”
Damesha obviously loved her dog and the feeling was quite mutual, Jadrian could tell, as Annie’s tail started circling enough that he thought he saw her back paws come off the ground. It was the one thing that had made him smile today. Well, Allana had made him smile but that was different.
“No luck, huh?” Damesha looked guilty as she went back to eating.
“No, and don’t feel guilty just because you didn’t see this coming.” Jadrian wagged a finger at her and took a plate from a passing waiter. He picked at the food, his hunger disappearing as he thought of Jacob. “We all know your skill doesn’t work that way and none of us blame you.”
She looked relieved at his words but he could see a shadow in her eyes. He knew what she was thinking, what good was the skill of having a second sight if she couldn’t use it all the time? She’d been training with a professional but she’d only had a few lessons before they’d all had to come to Louisiana. It wasn’t her fault but he knew she’d carry around a guilt for all of her life if something happened to Jacob. They all would.
He pushed the plate away and looked over at the couple.
“Nothing on your end either? I think I’ve talked with everyone.” Jadrian looked over at Kane, who’d been studying him in a way that reminded him of the look he’d got from Cade earlier. “What’s up, why does everybody keep staring at me like that?”
Maybe it was the vampire blood, maybe they all knew? Maybe he was too, something, anything, that would give him away?
“Something’s just different about you but I can’t say what.” Kane, the younger version of Cade, scrunched down his right eyebrow and studied Jadrian further.
Damnit, Jadrian thought to himself. He had to stop using so much of it! “It’s probably just this weird light in here.”
Jadrian tr
ied to dismiss it but Kane kept staring at him. He didn’t know what could be so different, he’d been using the vampire blood for ages now. Nobody had noticed before, why now?
With more on his mind than his own appearance, Jadrian finally stood, dismissing it all. He would worry about that later, when he’d found Jacob.
“I’m going back to hunt for him, see if I can find Cade, perhaps he’s heard something.” He leaned over to peck Damesha on her dark cheek, then shook his brother’s hand, clasping it to his chest for a moment. “We’ll find him.”
They had to, they couldn’t give up. Jacob was a part of their unit, they couldn’t have lost him. Not now when they were all needed the most!
Chapter 6
James Elliot
“Mr. Elliot, dinner is ready.” The quiet voice of his servant, a man dressed in motorcycle boots, leather pants, and a leather jacket, seemed out of place in the cabin in the swamp they now inhabited. The Alexander brothers had done a number on his clan but they hadn’t discovered the large house sitting in the middle of a Cajun suburb deep down a bayou road.
They were hiding in plain sight and so far it had worked. His members were currently spread across Louisiana, Kansas, Texas, and Alabama but they could all be called back quickly enough. He kept only his most trusted men with him, and a few women, of course.
He winked at one named Sherry and waved his hand at the door to the dining room. What might seem like little more than a cabin to James Elliot would be a mansion to others. Made from cypress wood, the house was three stories tall and surrounded in glass. Decorated by a professional, the house wasn’t to the man’s style but appealed to the ladies with lots of magnolia flower motifs and fleur de lys patterns on almost everything.
Jacob (Alexander Shifter Brothers Book 3) Page 6