by Nina Bangs
Lia looked exasperated as she pushed her hair from her face. She glared at Utah before turning back to Seir. “Seven didn’t do this, Zero did.”
Seir stilled.
She pressed her advantage. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on between you and Fin, and I don’t really care. Call me selfish, but right now, all I want is this thing inside my head gone. I want my free will back. How would you feel if someone made you their puppet?”
Seir glanced away.
“Fin said he can’t take away Zero’s compulsions alone. He needs someone even more powerful than Kione to help him. You’re the only one we know who fits that description. Please, help me.”
Utah clenched his hands into fists. He sensed how hard it was for her to beg. He’d put his fist through Seir’s smirking face if he made fun of her plea.
Seir exhaled deeply. “I’ll probably regret this, but I’ll help. Get this straight, though. I’m doing this only for you.” He held up his hand to stop her words of thanks. “A few conditions. We do it out here. My brother isn’t getting me back into his condo. And we do it now.”
“Out here?” Lia glanced at Utah.
“Done. I’ll contact Fin.” Utah wasn’t giving Seir any time to reconsider. He opened his mind to his leader.
“You have to come outside.” Utah tried not to make it a demand, but Fin had to do this.
“What’s happening?” Fin sounded sleepy.
Funny that Utah never thought of Fin as needing sleep. “Seir has agreed to help get rid of Lia’s compulsions, but he wants to do it out here, and right now.”
Fin cursed quietly and then went silent. Just when Utah thought he couldn’t wait another second, Fin spoke.
“I’ll be down.”
Utah almost slumped with relief. “He’s coming down.”
Fifteen minutes later, Fin strode from the building. He took his good old time reaching them. Utah knew Fin could be wherever he chose in the blink of an eye; then why . . . ?
Seir’s lips smiled. The rest of his face? Not so much. “God, Fin, you’re turning into more of a human every day. Keeping me waiting because you’re pissed at my conditions is so human it’s scary.”
Fin’s smile looked almost real. “If it annoyed you, then it was worth it.” His smile faded. “Why did you agree to this?”
“You don’t believe I’m capable of sympathy?”
“I think you’re capable of self-interest. What do you want?”
“I want you to go to hell.” Seir started to turn away.
“Oh no, you don’t.” Utah wasn’t letting him leave. He grabbed Seir’s arm to stop him. It felt as though he’d grabbed a live wire. A flash of white-hot energy whipped through his body. Utah could only gasp as he yanked his hand away.
“Don’t go.” Lia had enough sense not to grab Seir too. “I need you.” Her last words were almost a whisper.
Utah turned on Fin. “And you stop being an ass.” He froze the moment the words left his mouth. No one spoke to Fin like that.
Fin’s eyes swirled purple. “You dare much, child.”
Huh? Child? That didn’t even sound like Fin. Utah backed away as Lia gripped his hand.
Seir laughed. “See, that put me in a good mood again. Get over yourself, brother. Utah called it. You’re acting like an ass. Own it.”
Shit. We’re all going to die. Utah frantically searched for a way to get Lia to safety.
Suddenly, the tension was gone. Fin’s eyes returned to silver. “It’s cold out here. Let’s get this done.”
Utah wasn’t deceived. They’d come close to something deadly. “Do you need anything for the ritual?”
“There is no ritual.” Seir was suddenly serious.
Lia leaned into Utah’s side. “So how do you do it?”
Fin moved close to his brother. “We join our powers and remove the compulsions.”
Seir clenched and unclenched his fists, a strangely nervous gesture for him. “We have to be touching.”
Utah suppressed a shudder at Seir’s words. What the hell was wrong with him? “And?”
“When we touch, things could get weird.” Seir glanced at his brother, no hostility in his eyes. “We haven’t touched in millions of years.”
“If this is dangerous, maybe you shouldn’t try it.” Lia looked worried.
Fin shook his head. “No, Lia, you deserve to be free. You were helping me, and I take care of my own.” His eyes never left Seir.
“Not always, brother, not always.” Seir’s voice was flat.
Utah needed to know what to expect. “What could happen?” A little ground shaking, a few broken windows, it wouldn’t be that bad.
“Half the earth destroyed, or nothing.” Fin’s expression said he didn’t expect nothing.
“Wait!”
Lia barely got the word out before Fin clasped Seir’s hand.
Chapter Fifteen
Scary was the unknown, that I-don’t-know-what-will-happen-next-but-I-know-it’ll-suck feeling. Battling vampires wasn’t scary because she’d done it before. This, on the other hand, was not only scary but bordered on oh-my-God territory.
She clamped her fingers around Utah’s hand as fog formed. It crept between trees, phantom fingers plucking at branches and leaves. It swirled around her, damp tendrils of misty terror sliding over her exposed flesh, looking for a way in. Small cracks crisscrossed the ground in a growing spiderweb pattern. Holy shit.
Fin’s and Seir’s clasped hands glowed.
She shivered. Cold. Ice crystals would form on her eyelashes at any moment. Utah started to wrap his arms around her, but she shook her head and moved away. Her compulsion was alive and well, urging her to forget about the scary stuff and just tear his freaking throat out. Wasn’t going to happen.
Lia wanted to shout at Fin and Seir. Stop, stop. Whatever the hell you’re doing, just stop. Too late.
She stared in unblinking horror as ghosts leaked from the cracks and drifted up and up until they merged with the mist, only to be replaced by more spirits. They came, filling the air—laughing, crying, screaming. Emotions beat at her—joy, sorrow, fear, anger—until she wanted to close her eyes and clap her hands over her ears.
And overriding everything was her fright. Yes, she admitted it, ghosts scared the hell out of her, had scared her since she was a kid. She’d even avoided Casper. Obviously, becoming one of the undead didn’t cure her human fears.
Wait. She’d never been a fearful child. Insecure, but not fearful. Yes, you were. Lia closed her eyes. She’d swept all that fright under her personal rug and tried to forget about it. But the bump was still there, waiting for the moment when she’d have the courage to lift the edge to see what was beneath it.
She hadn’t dared look under it until now because the daughter of Katherine wasn’t afraid. And her mother’s opinion had ruled her life.
Lia opened her eyes. Not anymore. Someone else’s opinion now mattered more. She lifted the rug, laying bare all her fears—of high places, of fire, of never loving, of dying alone, and so many more.
She looked up at Utah. “I’m afraid of lots of things.”
He didn’t make a big deal of it. “Me too.”
Lia smiled. He was lying, but he was doing it to make her feel better, so it was okay.
Suddenly, her smile died. Her head felt funny, as though something was being pulled from her mind, something ugly attached to a long string. Whatever it was exited with a popping in her ears. The compulsions? She moved close to Utah. No urge to kill. Lia thought about Seven. She wanted to start hunting the bitch right now. She sighed. They were gone along with the ghosts, mist, and cracks.
Fin and Seir dropped their hands and the glow faded.
For a moment, Lia stared at their hands. Their rings had the same design—three connected spirals. She already knew that. But there was something else, something important she should remember about the rings, something just out of reach. Then Fin spoke to her, and the thought was gone.
&nb
sp; “You’re free now. No more compulsions.” Fin stepped back from his brother.
Seir glanced from Utah to her. “Unless you really want one. I have a few you could take for a test drive. Just sensual enough without being too much.” He looked hopeful.
“Stop trivializing everything. You’d get more respect if you took things seriously.” Fin frowned. “Besides, Kione is their partner. They’ve seen the dark side of sexual compulsions.”
“Take things seriously? Like you?” Seir shrugged. “You’re wound too tight.” He smiled at Utah and Lia. “Forgive my brother’s eternal gloom. He has intimacy issues, and holding hands with me was tough for him. He covers his discomfort by going all judgmental.”
Fin shook his head. “See, that’s why we need millions of years separating us.”
But as Fin turned to walk away, Lia noticed a smile tugging at his lips. She sort of thought Fin needed Seir’s banter once in a while.
They were silent as Fin walked away. And if he’d taken the time to glance back, he would’ve seen how serious his brother could be.
Lia didn’t miss the sadness in Seir’s expression. She decided to take a chance. “If you love him so much, why do you always try to irritate him?”
Seir looked startled for a moment and then smiled. “It’s what he expects from me. He assumes I’m not capable of any kind of deep feelings, so I let him keep his illusion. It makes him happy.”
He started to turn away, then paused. “I noticed that the ghosts bothered you. Don’t let them. They were only residual images, a playback of past events. The earth holds the energy of all the people who lived and died on this spot since the beginning of mankind. Think of the ghosts as recorded memories. We disturbed the earth and those memories. What you saw wasn’t an intelligent haunting. It was simply like a movie image. Not real.”
Lia watched him disappear into the night before looking up at Utah. “I think there’s actually a kind person inside that gorgeous but sometimes annoying exterior.”
Utah raised one brow. “Gorgeous?”
She tried to keep from grinning. “Okay, so I’ve seen more gorgeous.”
“Let’s go inside.” He kept his arm around her waist all the way to her door.
Lia stood there, indecisive. She wanted to ask him in, but what if he turned her down? She was vampire and he still hated vampires. The killing compulsion might be gone, but he’d gotten a front-row view of her out-of-control bloodlust. What if he turned her down? What man would want to wear an iron collar every time he went near a woman? What if he turned her down? She sighed. Fine, so she didn’t handle rejection well.
“Going to ask me in?”
“Sure.” What the hell, she’d take her chances with rejection. He was worth it.
Once inside, he took off his coat before dropping onto her couch. “You take a shower first.” He turned on the light beside him.
She nodded. “I can’t stand the blood smell anymore.” Translation: I don’t want any hint of blood to trigger my hunger.
Lia left him reading a magazine. Her shower was short, hot, and fraught with worry. Once dry, she tried to choose between the clothes she’d brought in with her—a nightgown or fresh jeans and a top. The nightgown wasn’t sexy, but it still carried a different message than the jeans. She took a deep breath and pulled on the nightgown.
When she emerged, he didn’t stare. He simply put down the magazine and headed for the bathroom. Only after he shut the door behind him did she realize he didn’t have fresh clothes to change into. She hated that he’d have to put his dirty clothes back on.
He didn’t. A short while later he came out wearing only a large towel draped low on his hips. He sat down next to her on the couch.
God, did anything smell as good as a man fresh from a hot shower? The scent of soap and clean warm male triggered a lust that was a welcome change from what she’d felt in the tunnel. She controlled her need to slip her fingers beneath that towel and—
“Why did you ask me to make love to you?”
Well, that was a slap in the face with a cold washcloth.
“Does it matter?”
“I think it does.” He rubbed his hand across his still-damp chest.
She followed the motion until she realized he was watching. Then she looked away. He deserved the truth. “I’d agreed to become vampire. I knew you hated vampires.” The rest was obvious.
Evidently, he didn’t think so. “You’re not finished.”
Anger sharpened her voice. “Fine, so you want me to say it? I knew you wouldn’t want to make love with me once I was vampire.” This was going to be harder than she’d expected. “But I wanted to make love with you, so I decided to take my chance before the change.” She shrugged. “I should’ve told you the whole story, but I wanted you as my last gift to me as a human.” She waited for his anger.
“You were probably right. I wouldn’t have been able to overlook that you’d agreed to become vampire.”
His admission was a shot to her heart. There were times when being right wasn’t fun.
“But something happened between then and now.” He captured her gaze, held it.
She couldn’t blink, couldn’t look away. Funny, but she’d never stared into the eyes of his beast. Maybe that was because she was busy trying to stay alive when his beast was around.
Now, though, she knew exactly what was looking back at her. It was primal, dangerous, and touched the newly born predator in her.
“I want you, in every way possible.” And his eyes promised that she’d love every one of those ways.
“I . . .” She tried to summon all the logical reasons that he couldn’t want her. She could remember only one. “You saw what I became back in the tunnel. What if I lost control again?”
His laughter was soft and so sexy she wanted to wrap her naked body around it.
“I was in that tunnel too. Remember what I became.”
Lia found it hard to recall anything because her gaze had dropped to focus on the broad, muscular expanse of his bare chest.
He put his finger under her chin and tipped up her face until she was again caught in his mesmerizing stare. “Pay attention.” But he sounded pleased by how easily his body could distract her. “All of the Eleven except for Fin have to fight their beasts for supremacy every day . . . and every night. Sexual excitement is a perfect trigger. So don’t give me any of that I’m-a-deadly-vampire-so-be-afraid crap.” He leaned forward until his lips were barely touching hers. “Instead of denying who we are, let’s explore our predatory natures.”
She smiled as she cupped his cheek and brushed her lips across his. “Sounds exciting. But I don’t want to hear any whining when you’re sticking pieces of tissue all over your luscious body to stop the bleeding after I’m finished with you.”
“Luscious body, huh?” Without another word, he stood and then scooped her up in his arms. She had only a moment to savor the feeling of her body pressed against his chest before he deposited her beside the bed. He reached down, gripped the edge of her nightgown, and slid it over her head. Somewhere between the couch and the bed, he’d lost his towel.
“Climb into bed while I get the light.” He turned and strode to the lamp.
Those few strides widened her eyes and redefined the meaning of “fine” for her. His smooth, perfect back was a given, but his beautiful bare ass in motion went a long way in erasing the horror of the tunnel.
Sexual hunger licked its lips, and she had every intention of satisfying it tonight. What if the bloodlust— No, she wouldn’t ruin this time with Utah. She would control what needed controlling and let everything else fly free.
She’d barely settled down before he climbed in beside her. He propped himself up and leaned over her. His hair fell forward to shadow his face, and for a moment, she was reminded of how much she didn’t know about this man.
But then she dismissed the thought. She knew the important stuff. He cared enough for her to put aside his hatred of vampires, and she
. . . ? Was she willing to say the word yet? She didn’t know.
He smiled. God, he had a beautiful smile. She reached up to trace his lips with the tip of her finger. This would be a slow, wonderful lovemaking building up to—
He nipped the end of her finger. “I don’t know if you’ve looked at the clock, but we’ll have to race the dawn.”
Damn. Well, she’d simply modify her expectations. “I was planning on hours of foreplay, so now we’ll just compress things, make every move count.”
“Fast and ferocious?” His smile turned feral.
“Oh yes.” She grabbed his hair and yanked him down to her. Then she took his mouth with a savagery that surprised her. Did she want him that much? Definitely.
He buried his hands in her hair as her tongue tangled with his. God, she’d walk across hot coals for the taste of him, the scent of him, the drugging need for him.
It wasn’t until she felt his tongue trace the length of her fangs that she realized vampire Lia had come out to play. Did that mean she was losing control? She started to pull back.
He held her in place while he slid his tongue over each of them. And when he finally broke the kiss, he held his finger against her lips to keep her quiet. “Shush. Your fangs are a part of who you are now. What’s happening is natural. Hey, you’ve seen my beast. I know about teeth.”
“What do you know about vampires?” She smoothed her hand up and down his arm, feeling the bunched muscles, the tension.
“I asked Jude a lot of dumb questions when I knew you’d be coming back as a vampire.” Utah kissed a line along the bottom of her jaw and down the side of her neck. He paused at the base of her throat. “He told me that vampire orgasms included taking blood.”
She shuddered, desire and anticipation at even the thought fueling a delicious heaviness low in her belly. “I wouldn’t expect you to—”
“It isn’t about what you expect, it’s about what I want to do.” He rolled one nipple between his thumb and finger while he flicked the other with his tongue.
She couldn’t suppress a low moan. “Wow, I love a man in command.”