by Tijan
Gregory’s eyes snapped to attention. “I can see you.” His hand came to rest on my shoulder. “You’re here. Thank God. I thought I was going nuts.”
I shook my head. I was glad I could be seen again, but still frustrated. Was that what it took? I had to scream it in my head? I bit down on my lip . . . wait . . . I thought, “LET ME SEE ROANE!”
Another burst of energy in the air, and Gregory was gone.
“Vampire!” I heard Saren’s scream in the air, and my heart lurched to the bottom of my throat. I twisted around. I thought Gregory had disappeared, but it was me. I wasn’t on a wooded path. I was high up. I could feel the cool draft of a breeze and closing my eyes, I sensed from where I was. There was a sudden drop in elevation ten yards from me. I was high up on a cliff somewhere.
Then I felt him.
I started to take a step out, to find Saren, but I felt Roane’s laugh. He hadn’t laughed aloud, but it was inside of him. It washed over me and for a moment, I soaked it in. It was like a warm blanket on a cold night. I wanted to grab him, pull him over me, and hold on forever.
“Lucas,” I whispered, starting forward. Getting over the shock, I felt Saren’s fury right after. It was overwhelming the rest. I was starting to lose my connection to Roane, but then a hand clamped on me, and I was jerked backwards.
I looked up to Gregory’s furrowed eyebrows. He asked, “Where’d you go?”
“What?”
No, no, no. Rising panic was threatening to choke me. I looked around. My head was whipping back and forth. Roane—he’d been close. Saren was angry with him—I had to find both of them. I started forward, but Gregory held me back.
He said, “Oh no. Were you practicing some invisibility spell or something? You were here, then you weren’t.”
“Oh my God,” I muttered. My knees started to tremble. I’d been so close.
“Try again.”
I stilled. That was The Immortal. She was still with me. Relief like I had never experienced coursed through me, and I did fall.
“Where were you?”
“I was here. You silenced me.”
“I did?”
“Davy.” Gregory broke through the conversation.
I shot a hand up. “Stop.” Then, I closed my eyes and concentrated on The Immortal. She was here, and she was talking to me. I was slowly gathering my strength and abilities. That was what this meant. Had to be.
“You always had them.”
“I did?” I cocked my head to the side, but the words never left my lips. I asked The Immortal this.
She answered, “You were angry with me. I was becoming too much for you, so you silenced me. It was just recently that you allowed me to talk again. I’m not happy with you.”
I laughed. “You’re not happy with me? You were trying to take over.”
I felt her shrug. “You weren’t doing anything. Something had to be done.”
“I wasn’t doing anything? Me?”
“Yes. You.”
My teeth were still grinding against each other. She was self-righteous, looking down on me for being a captive. I said back to her, I couldn’t do a thing. “The witches—”
“Could’ve been killed,” she interrupted me.
“What? How?”
“Next time they try, because they will try again. Let them have me. I will go to them, but I will infect them. One by one, I’ll move through all of them. I’ll soak up all their power, and I’ll return to you. Don’t fight it next time.”
“Fight it? But . . .” She was delusional. How was I supposed to know to do that?
“You should trust me.” A calming and reassuring wave passed from her to myself. “You are The Immortal, Davy. I am merely a part of you. I will never be taken from you, and I will always return to you. It’s as if you would be loaning me to them, but a darker and sinister feeling came from her next, remember that any that I go to, I will poison. All will fall beneath me. All will fall beneath you.”
I gulped. That sounded ominous.
I felt her withdrawing, but she whispered again, “Remember. All will fall.”
“All will fall?” I echoed her.
“Good.” Gregory clapped me on the shoulder. “Let’s use that, whatever it was, and go with it. Come on. Let’s return to the others. You can let them know you’re one with your Immortal self again.”
He started back, but I couldn’t move. I was rooted in place, gazing around. I’d been so close to Roane. I heard his laugh. He’d been amused by Saren. I wanted to go back there, and I realized now that I had been there. It was a brief instant, and I could go back. The Immortal powers were awakening in me again, but as soon as I thought that, I knew I couldn’t.
My original plan to leave on my own was here now.
“Davy?” Gregory called from farther down the path. “Are you coming?”
“Yes.” I coughed, clearing my throat. “Coming.” My legs moved on automatic pilot. My body was with them, as we went back to camp, and as I explained that I had accidentally cloaked myself, but my mind was ahead. I was planning my route back to the Mori village, and a few hours later, as the vampires fell asleep, it was time to go.
I packed a bag of food, pulled on a coat that Tracey gave me, and cast a sleeping spell. They were already asleep, but this ensured that they wouldn’t wake when I left. Even though my powers were coming back to me, I was learning I needed not to assert them. I would tire, and I wouldn’t have them when I needed them. Because of this, as the others snored, I walked out and left them behind.
Kates doubled over, coughing up blood. She gazed down at it. A good solid pool of it had formed beneath her hands. She wanted to disappear in it. She wanted the torture done and over with, so her body could fall in the blood and become one with it.
“Come now,” Lucan taunted her, coming to stand over her and gazing down. He lifted an eyebrow and shook his head, an ugly smirk appearing. “You wish to leave me? That’s not the Kates I know.” His eyes darkened, turning lustful, as he ran a hand down her arm. She recoiled, feeling even more disgust rising up as his laugh grew louder. He said, “We used to have such fun, Kates. Where’d that girl go? I miss that girl.”
Her teeth were clattering together, but she tried to seethe out, “That girl left when you compelled me to betray all my friends.”
“Oh yeah.” He withdrew his hand from her and shook his head, still laughing. “I figured that would be a wrench in our relationship.”
“You’re an asshole.”
Her insult came out with less heat than she wanted, but she couldn’t muster up the extra oomph. He had taken her life in his hands, ending it, having the witches give it back, then torturing it out of her again so many times that she was almost a shell. Any fire she still had in her had been reduced to one small coal. Even that, she didn’t know if she could light it up. She didn’t have the strength anymore.
“Okay. Come on.” He flipped her back up and slammed her onto a table so she was face first, lying on her stomach.
Her eyes almost bulged out. Renewed panic had her fighting against his hold, but it didn’t matter. Lucan was stronger than her. Always had been, and always would be. He swatted her hands away and restrained her again, pulling each one tight into leather binding that was almost cutting off her blood flow. It never mattered to Lucan. He didn’t need her alive or the blood flowing in her body. He pulled the restraints to the side of the table so her arms and legs had her spread eagle on it. Then he squatted down so he was at eye level with her.
He grinned at her, almost leering. “How’s that feel?” Without waiting for a response, he stood up and ran a hand up the back of her arm, across her shoulder, and down her back. It was left exposed to him. He had ripped the shirt from her so it hung over her in rags. He took a moment to enjoy the whipped marks on her back. He enjoyed having her in this position. She tried to fight him before. She hadn’t wanted to lead Davy and the rest into his trap, making them powerless to him. She even tried to break free from hi
m, running to jump off the cliff near his brother’s house. That had shaken him. Knowing that Kates tried to take her own life, rather than help deliver her best friend and new friends to his hands, but he would’ve rather known it then and not later. Because of it, that sealed her fate.
Since arriving back to the Mori, Kates had become his favorite toy to play with. When he wanted a drink, she was here for him. When he wanted something else, far more sinister, she was still there, and thinking about that now, his hand drew down to her naked waist. She wore her jeans. He had allowed that, but his hand caressed over her ass. He grew hard, remembering the times they had in the bedroom and when he would take her from behind.
He hadn’t done that again, not since she made her loyalties known, but he was tempted. Taking her against her will had been a game they had liked to play before. His nostrils flared, feeling his body’s blood pumping through him, remembering the feel of his dick inside of her. His hand curved around one of her ass cheeks, and she whimpered.
He chuckled. He smelled her fear in the air, but he chided softly, “Even now, even after all I’ve done to you, you still want me.” His hand squeezed the other cheek.
“No.” She tried to shake her head, but couldn’t because of the restraints.
“Yes.” His hand moved lower, falling to the curve of her ass, and he kept going. He was about to touch the core of her when the door opened. His head whipped up, then he jumped back as if burned. “Jiyama,” he rasped out.
The Mori vampiress stood there, showing no emotion, but her eyes darkened. He felt her instant anger, and she moved into the room. “You would touch her against her will?”
He didn’t respond.
“The human told me you were torturing this one.” Her eyes glanced down to Kates on the table.
Lucan narrowed his eyes. He didn’t like what he was seeing or what he was hearing. “You’re a vampire.”
“So?”
She was challenging him. Lucan frowned. Jiyama had never challenged him before. He scratched his forehead. “What are you doing here?”
“She told me you were doing this.” Jiyama pointed to Kates and the table. “She said you had a lover here, and you were torturing her.”
“She’s for me to play with. Why are you judging me for this?”
“Because it’s wrong.”
Lucan’s frown deepened. This wasn’t the Jiyama he knew. “You’re a vampire. You drink from humans. This,” he pointed to Kates, “is nothing out of the ordinary. I’ve seen you out there, Jiyama. You enjoy playing with your meals.”
“She’s not a meal for you.” Jiyama continued to gaze at him. “Anymore.”
His jaw clenched. “This is The Immortal’s power over you. You gave her your power, and she infected you because of it.”
“No.” Jiyama shook her head. “You have this human here because you still feel for her. You’re going to turn her.”
That last sentence came out like an accusation. Lucan tilted his head to the side. His hand came up to rest against his cheek. He needed a moment to realize what was happening here. Jiyama was jealous. He thought it was disapproval, but it wasn’t. She had loved him since finding him at an early age. It was assumed among her family and the rest of the Mori clan that he would wed her, but she never pushed him. Lucan had enjoyed his freedom. Going where he wanted. Being with who he wanted, and she was right. As she said the words, he realized that was the real reason he kept Kates around.
He was going to turn her, but not till he was done having fun with her.
His eyes closed to slits, watching Jiyama carefully. She was the predator to Kates in that moment. He could see the words forming in her mind. She was going to kill Kates. He saw the intention on her face, and he forced himself to speak casually. She couldn’t know the extent of his wishes, not for Kates. He said, “She is still of use to me.”
“Why?” Jiyama still looked down at Kates. “The Immortal is gone. She will not come back.”
He shook his head, softening his tone. “She will.” His hand lifted.
Jiyama’s eyes snapped to it.
He caught himself, but still lowered it to touch the back of Kates’s calf. He had been about to caress it, but instead he touched the tip of his finger to her skin. His nail cut into it, filling the air with fresh blood. Jiyama’s gaze was focused on that now, floating toward him and the blood. Her nostrils flared and he knew Kates’s blood had done exactly what he wanted. She wanted to feed now, not to kill his ex-girlfriend.
As Jiyama stood next to him, pressing into his side, he added, “The Immortal will return for her.”
“Why?” But the Mori vampiress wasn’t listening. She was too distracted by the blood. Lucan pressed harder into Kates’s leg and more blood spilled out. He knew the power it had over Jiyama. This was slayer blood. It was the best kind to a vampire. The slayers used to use their own blood to entrap vampires and in a way, maybe that was still happening. Lucan remembered being ensnared by Kates. Perhaps that was why he still wanted to keep her.
If he didn’t obtain The Immortal thread, he would become a vampire again. That was when he would turn Kates, but he wanted to be the one to do it. He wanted to be her sire, to have that connection with her for eternity. And part of that was keeping her alive—for now. If Jiyama killed her, she might take Kates’s body away. He needed her body to have the witches bring her back to life, and if Jiyama turned Kates herself, he didn’t know if she could be turned back to human without Davy’s assistance. Too many variables had entered the room when Jiyama found Kates. Lucan wanted to control everything, so he needed to distract Jiyama and then remove her as soon as possible.
He ran a hand up Jiyama’s arm, feeling the shudder that he created in her, and his hand cupped the back of her neck. Jiyama started to tremble against him, her small breasts rubbing against his chest. He lowered his head, his mouth right next to her ear, and he whispered, “Drink, Jiyama. Taste what vampires have thirsted over for centuries. Taste a slayer’s blood.”
He smelled her wanton desire in the air. He knew she was close. One taste and Jiyama would forget everything she saw in this room. The feeding would overpower her. He pressed her head down, pushing her close to Kates’s blood. His finger cut more into Kates’s skin. The slayer didn’t move, and he looked up—she had passed out.
Probably for the best, he thought as he grinned, his mouth still so close to Jiyama. He pressed a kiss to her ear and whispered to her, “Quench yourself, Jiyama. It’s like nothing you’ve tasted before.”
Her body kept trembling against his, but he felt the instant she gave in. Her fangs came out, and she drew in a deep breath, before lunging for Kates’s leg. He pulled his finger away just as her teeth sank in, and she drank. As she kept drinking, Lucan ran a hand down Jiyama’s back, enjoying this moment. His vampire lover was feasting on his human lover, and as she kept going, he moved to the back of Jiyama.
She groaned, moving against him. He knew what she wanted. It was what he wanted as well, and as she kept drinking, he lifted up her dress and lowered his pants. He slipped inside of her, thrusting deep as she arched her back from the pleasure.
Grabbing ahold of her slim hips, Lucan pulled out, only to thrust back in. He fucked her hard, and once Kates would be willing, he couldn’t wait to do the same to her again.
DAVY
I was hurrying.
The farther I could get away from the others, before they realized my disappearance, the better. The spell I cast should keep them asleep for an additional few hours. Long enough so they couldn’t catch up if they dared to try. Every hour, I gave myself some Immortal speed, zooming through the woods, but I stopped almost as soon as I started. I didn’t want to wear myself out. I was still hoping to keep regrouping The Immortal powers, but once I got to another mountain and came to a cliff’s edge, I knew I needed to use a bit more than I planned.
Mustering up an extra amount of energy, I felt the world falling away. I looked down. It wasn’t the world. It was me.
I was lifting myself in the air and over the deep ravine until I landed on the other side. Once landing on my feet, I let out the breath I’d been holding and tried to stop any powers that I might’ve still been using, any leftover. Once I was sure I had completely stopped, I looked up. I needed to head over this mountain, but I knew there was so many more to go. I felt the Mori and Kates. It was low in my gut, but it was like an anchor deep inside of me. It was pulling me toward them.
I was going for Kates, but I was going to kill Lucan. He couldn’t be allowed to remain alive. He’d keep coming. He’d keep trying to hurt me, hurt Lucas, hurt anyone else that I loved.
There was another battle coming. I felt Jacith’s presence. He was over my shoulder, watching me, studying me, and I knew that he would arrive soon. But first, head ducked down, I started up the embankment. I needed to kill Lucan first.
“She’s gone!”
Wren ripped down the tarp and raced outside. She repeated, “Davy’s gone.”
The rest of the vampires were awake and on their feet instantly. Gavin reached for his sword, but there were no enemies to fight. He forced his hand to release the weapon as he gazed around. “What are you talking about?”
“No.” Tracey shook her head. “Wren is right. Davy is gone. I can’t hear her heartbeat anywhere.”
Gavin stifled a curse. Lucas would be furious about this. Davy wasn’t helpless, but she still didn’t know the full force of her powers, and she had struggled. She used too much of her powers helping them escape. They shouldn’t have been able to get away from the Mori, but they had. They all knew it had been because of Davy, and she’d been exhausted since.
His anger started to mount. They had to find her. They had to stop her, or at least slow her down. She couldn’t go back unassisted.
Gregory began picking up his weapons and the rest of what little they had around the camp.
Gavin asked, “What are you doing?”
The giant vampire stopped and gave him a hard look. “What do you think? We have to go after her.”