A Vampire's Bane

by Raven Steele

  The words were tender, and spoke of a timeless love.

  I remembered my mother, my human mother; she had loved me. A wave of warmth washed over me, tears streamed down my face as I thought of a time, so much simpler than now, when all it took was the love of my mother to calm me.

  I let him sing to me, his voice low and tactile, almost sensual in my ears. And now the words sung were of his love for me, that was everlasting, never ending. And it was the truth.

  After all these years, after my betrayal, he still loved me. Even though I was wretched and soulless, filled with a power so violent, so strong, that I could wipe the Earth of every living creature with it. And yet, he knew this, and he still loved me. He still risked his life, just to calm me.

  I did not deserve him.

  I did not deserve his love.

  I jerked out of his arms, stumbling forward. “Take me home, Mateo.”

  He blinked once, then twice.

  “Please,” I begged him now. “Take me home. You can’t be near me. I’m … I’m too dangerous.”

  He stood up, his face angry now. “I told you once before, and I am telling you now.” He gripped my shoulders, and the mere touch of him simultaneously kept me together and broke me apart. “I will never let you go. I did it once, and it was wrong. Even if I did it to protect you, I should’ve found a way for us to be together, and I will not give up on that now. I will smash through your walls until you come home to me. I know you’re afraid. I know you think you’re protecting me by keeping me away, but shoving everything you’re feeling so far down where no one can touch you will only hurt you in the end. You are my soulmate. We were meant to be together. And I know that only love and passion can contain the Kiss. Only the unconditional love of your soulmate can help you.”

  I shook my head, hearing the hissing in my mind again, knowing that releasing my feelings over to him would only kill him in the end. “Let me go, Mateo.”

  His fingers dug into my skin, clinging to me, but I had to make him let me go. I wasn’t strong enough to do it on my own. I looked him in the eyes, making certain to put as much feeling into my words as I could. “Let me go, Mateo. I do not love you anymore.”

  He gasped and took a step back, releasing me. Realizing what he’d done, he lunged for me again, but it was too late.

  “I’m sorry.” My desperate words were swallowed by the night as I leapt from the cliff into the darkness. Far enough to land in the murky, deep water, and I let it flow over me. The frigid blast of the water was a jolt to my system, a shock to my senses, and everything within me froze, including my feelings.

  I stayed in the water only long enough to let my emotions calm enough that I could contain them, then I swam to the land and ran from Mateo, his voice calling my name an echo in my ears.

  I ran from the only man I ever loved.

  And from the only man brave and stupid enough to love me back.

  Chapter 28

  I raced through the woods, using as much energy as possible to burn through the rage churning through my mind. By the time I arrived at Fire Ridge, my body was exhausted, my mind too tired to do anything but exist in the moment.

  Mateo’s revelation had been an explosion in my mind. My betrayal settled deep into my bones and into the heaving pieces of my heart. I made a silent vow to him, to myself, that I would find a way to make it up to him. That I would save him from Korin, even if it killed me in the process.

  But for now, I had to learn how to be around him and not lose myself in him. Mateo, Angel, and the Nocturnas were essential to getting rid of Korin. And so, I had to push back the feelings, the need to have him near me, to kiss his aches and pains away, to make up to him for my betrayal in body and soul. To keep it from surfacing and taking over my body. Just for now. Until Korin was dead and Faithe was free. Until the Kiss was settled again, deep in my bones, in my gut, silent and cold as before.

  I stood in the woods of Fire Ridge for some time until a cool indifference filled my body.

  Just as it should be.

  It was nearing eleven o’clock at night. By the number of motorcycles and cars out front, half the pack was here. Since Briar became Alpha, it seemed more and more of the pack liked to hang out at their mansion. Dominic used to call people in, but the shifters seemed to want to be here now.

  I opened the front door, taking in one last breath to ensure I was calm, and inhaled the smell of fresh meat and potatoes. I was ravenous. A few heads turned my direction at my arrival. They quickly glanced away. My presence may be tolerated now, but I wasn’t accepted, which was fine by me.

  Weaving my way through the living room and the few groups of people not outside, I searched for Briar. I came up behind her in the kitchen, sitting on the counter. Young Loxley sat next to her while Marge and Samantha, both wearing aprons, argued about which barbecue sauce to put on the ribs.

  “You want spicy,” Samantha was saying. “What kind of sick bitch puts sugar on their meat?”

  Marge removed a rack of ribs from the oven. “If you don’t watch that strawberry mouth of yours, I’m going to have to put my foot right through it. A real shame.”

  “The only hole you’ll be breaking through is your daddy’s.”

  Marge’s nostrils flared. She lifted the spatula in her hand as if it were an ax. “Take that back! My daddy is the sweetest—”

  “I smell vampire,” Briar interrupted. She spun around and jumped to her feet when she saw me. “Dammit Samira! I’ve been calling and texting you all day and night!”

  Forcing a casualness over my posture that was the opposite to how I felt, I pulled the phone out of my pocket, grateful I’d recently upgraded to a waterproof one. My clothes and my hair were already dry from the speedy run over.

  There were a dozen messages on my phone from Briar. Using her own words, I said, “Sure as shit.”

  “Hey! Don’t use my line! It only pisses me off more.” She paused. “And yet, hearing you curse, it makes me feel warm inside.”

  “Do you want some ribs?” Marge asked me. “I’ve got some bloody ones I haven’t cooked yet.”

  “Sure. And add some of that brown sugar sauce to it.”

  “Ha!” Marge said in Samantha’s face. “Even a vampire likes sugar on ribs.”

  Briar laughed. “Come on, Sammie. Let’s go talk in my office.”

  My gaze flickered to Loxley. She quickly lowered her gaze. Once again, I got the distinct impression of how different she was from the others.

  I followed Briar back through the living room. Through the glass on the patio, I locked eyes with Luke. He saluted me and returned to his conversation with Gerald.

  “Where have you been?” Briar asked over her shoulder. She turned down the hallway leading to a room she’d turned into her office. She’d torn down Dominic and Vincent’s old office and made it into a place for any hurt or sick supernaturals that needed a place to stay for a while. I thought it was a fitting way to retrofit the space.

  “Korin locked me up in the dungeon of Winter’s Cove.”

  She jerked to a stop and whirled around. “The fuck? Are you okay? Why didn’t you escape or call at least?”

  “It was a dungeon.”

  “Don’t deadpan me! And don’t bullshit me either. You could’ve escaped if you wanted to.”

  “Then I didn’t want to.” I walked past her into the office.

  She followed and closed the door behind her. Her office was painted a light gray with white trim. Posters of old eighties bands and TV shows hung on the wall. I recognized maybe half of them. A simple square table took up the back space of the room with a stack of cards scattered across its top.

  I wrinkled my nose. “This looks like a room at the back of a bar where people conduct shady business.”

  She dropped onto a worn love seat and propped her feet up on a folding chair. “Thank you. It took a lot of time to get it to look like this. Now tell me more about this dungeon and why Korin threw you in it.”

  I briefl
y recounted what happened, leaving out many of the parts that might reopen the rawest wounds.

  Briar lowered her legs and sat up. “So he wants you to go all beast mode? Why?”

  “That’s what I don’t know.”

  “Then you better lock that shit up tight, because if Korin wants it, it can’t be good.”

  “I am. How did it go with Folas?”

  She sighed and leaned back. “He has some good ideas, some of them risky, but I’m glad we’re working with them. Still can’t believe that Eddie is fae.”

  “Mateo and the other vampires can’t help. Not for a while.”

  “Angel alluded as much.”

  I tilted my head. “I’ve been meaning to ask you. Is something going on with you and Angel?”

  She lifted her feet again and rested them on the chair. “The million dollar question. I love Luke, more than anything.”

  “That’s not what I asked.”

  “But Angel. There’s a connection I can’t explain. A strong one.”

  “Those connections are hard to ignore.” I looked away, not wanting her to see the expression in my eyes. “Especially for vampires. Whatever you’re feeling, he’s feeling it a hundred times more.”

  She was silent, thinking about this, then her eyes moved to mine, catching the pain in them. I’d let my guard slip for a moment.

  She raised her eyebrow. “Like the one between you and Mateo?”

  I nodded, blinking away the pain.

  “So what do we do?” she asked, her voice sincere. I could tell she had thought about this a lot.

  “We place one foot in front of the other and hope that one day that connection pulls us together.” I took in a calming breath, aware of the Kiss that was just under the surface, careful to keep it down where it belonged. “Whether your connection is friendship or love, I do not know.”

  “And yours?” She leaned forward, eager to hear my answer.

  I looked into her eyes, dredging up the courage I needed to say the words. “I need him.”

  A simple confession but one that shook me to the core. And, the truth.

  Her eyes didn’t leave mine. “And I need Angel.”

  We both stared at each other, the confessions between us binding us closer. I finally blinked and she looked away. I followed her gaze to the wall opposite. A man on a poster with stringy long hair, a guitar hanging from his waist, stared back at me while licking a microphone. “I hate your office.”

  “Of course you do.” She patted my thigh and the mood lightened. “Let’s go talk to Lynx and see if she has the witches on board yet. We’re going to need their help. I’ll grab Loxley and Luke, maybe a few of the others.”

  I stopped her. “What is it with Loxley? Why her?”

  She thought about it. “There’s something about her I like. A kinship maybe. She’s an orphan like me. Plus, she’s super strong and fast. It comes naturally, and that’s real talent.”

  “What do you know about her?”

  “She found our pack the moment she moved to Rouen after graduating high school up in Wildemoor. Her mother died in childbirth and her father died a few years later, not sure how. Her aunt raised her.” She shrugged. “She has an asshole ex, but Luke put him in his place and now he doesn’t bother her much.”

  “Was she raised by her aunt as a wolf?”

  “I’m not sure. What’s your interest?”

  “I sense something different about her. I don’t think she’s a full shifter.”

  Her eyebrows lifted. “Do you think she could be the Phoenix?”

  “I don’t think so, but she is hiding something. Keep an eye on her.”

  Briar stared toward the door, nodding. “I will.”

  After borrowing one of the vehicles at Fire Ridge, I drove Briar and Luke over to our house. At the last minute, Briar decided against bringing Loxley or any of the others. Perhaps she was just starting to realize how dangerous it was to discuss plans with so many people.

  Three blocks away, I turned the corner, listening to Luke and Briar discuss Folas’s plans when I spotted a familiar face standing beneath a lamp post, light reflecting off his shiny bald head. I slammed on the breaks.

  “It’s him.” I jumped from the car, barely shifting it in park before I was out the door.

  “Who?” Briar called as she also exited the vehicle with Luke right behind her.

  “The Phoenix. I think.” I didn’t know for sure, but I felt it deep within my bones.

  Luke and Briar followed my gaze. The tall man stared after us and didn’t move as we slowly approached him.

  When we were five car lengths apart, Luke asked, “Who are you?”

  His all black eyes stared through me, and yet, I could feel them prying into my conscious. “Protect your mind,” I said quickly.

  The man’s mouth opened, revealing an endless black pit. A sound seeped out, dark and raspy. “Mind your own business or there will be consequences.”

  The harshness of his voice made my bones ache and my flesh freeze. Pure evil stood before me. I’d only felt it a couple of other times. I held a hand out to Briar and Luke. “Back up.”

  “Hell no,” Briar snapped. “This bastard thinks he can stand beneath a streetlight all creepy-like in the middle of the night and warn us? He should be on a registry, and I’m not talking about the wedding kind.”

  Briar leapt through the air, claws extended. The man smiled and stretched out his hand. A blast of powerful energy slammed into all three of us and tossed us back at least thirty feet. Luke slammed into the windshield of a parked car. Briar and I landed on our backs on pavement. Pain racked my body, and I moaned. Briar lay next to me, trying to inhale tiny sips of air.

  “I’m broken,” she grunted. “He’s so dead.”

  I lifted my head toward the lamp post. “He’s gone.”

  “Motherfucker.” She rolled to her stomach and looked up, wincing at the motion. “Where’s Luke?”

  “He flew that way.” I pointed to the left. My back felt like it had been hit by a sledgehammer.

  “Oh shit.” Briar grimaced and scrambled to her feet. “Luke!”

  She ran-limped over to him. I pulled myself into a sitting position. Luke lay sprawled across the front of the car, unconscious, his chest torn and bleeding. I sucked in a sharp breath and ran to him. Every bone in my body ached. Whatever the Phoenix had hit us with, it wasn’t just the force of the blow that had harmed us.

  “Luke!” Briar removed her t-shirt and pressed it to his chest. She stared at me with pleading eyes. “He’s not dead, right?”

  I was already checking his pulse. “He’s alive, but just barely. Let’s get him to the car.”

  “Angel can help.” Briar picked him up. I darted around my vehicle, opening the door for her. She said Angel’s name over and over, her voice full of anguish. Their connection must be really strong if he could sense her call.

  She carefully set Luke in the car and slid next to him, keeping pressure on the wound but blood still flowed freely. “Come on, baby. Hold on.”

  I could feel the anguish in her words; she really did love Luke, which made me move even faster. By the looks of that wound, he didn’t have much longer to live.

  Chapter 29

  I raced home and jumped from the car, reaching the front door in seconds. If Angel couldn’t help Luke, Lynx probably could.

  As if she had sensed what had happened, Lynx came running out of the house. “What happened?”

  “It’s Luke,” I said and hurried to the other side to help Briar. I helped Briar pick him up. His skin had paled a deathly white.

  “Shit, shit, shit,” Briar said as we carried him in the back door.

  Lynx held open the door. “I knew something happened! It was the strangest thing. It was like a blast of pure evil raced through the house. It knocked me to the ground!”

  Briar and I looked at each other. The Phoenix hadn’t just hurt us, but he’d managed to harm Lynx, too.

  “What the hell was it?
” Lynx cried, as we carried Luke into the living room and laid him on the couch.

  “The Phoenix.” I glanced up at her. “Get bandages and whatever magic you think could help this.”

  “But what is it? I need to know exactly what hurt him before I can help.”

  A chilly silence settled over us. Briar carefully lifted Luke’s shredded, blood-soaked shirt from his chest and pulled back the material. Deep and violent claw marks marred his chest.

  Lynx sucked in a breath.

  Briar growled. “What the actual fuck?”

  “Any of you know what exactly did this?” Lynx whispered. “I don’t know how to help without knowing.”

  The door flew open. Angel filled the doorway, his hair windswept, eyes alive. “What’s happened?”

  Briar stood, her bloody hands at her side. Tears stinging her eyes. “Help him. Please. I’m sorry I keep asking for your help. I just don’t know what—”

  He appeared in front of her and gripped her arms. “Shhh. You only have to ask.”

  Angel dropped to his knees by Luke and inspected the wound. “What did this?”

  “The Phoenix,” I said.

  Angel licked his finger and ran it along the deepest claw mark first. “In what form?”

  The question caught me off guard. Could the Phoenix have shifted into animal form so fast we hadn’t noticed?

  Briar answered first. “He was human when we saw him, and he hit us with this insane amount of energy. It even reached Lynx in the house over three blocks away. It knocked us to the ground, but it was more than wind. It’s like it went right through me. My bones still hurt.”

  Angel’s head snapped to her. “You’re injured?”

  She groaned and motioned to Luke. “Just heal the guy who’s about to find out if Death is a man or a woman. I want to be surprised.”

  Angel returned to the task. “Why did the Phoenix attack you?”

  “He warned us to stay out of his business,” I said.

  “Then he’s afraid of you.”

  “I don’t know why,” Briar said. “He kicked our asses in less than a second.”