by Alyssa Day
“Truce?”
Christophe nodded and raised his own mug. “Truce. Although it would have been a far different story if you’d hurt her.”
Evan shrugged. “No need for posturing now. The crisis is past. Our two alpha females worked out their own balance, I think.”
Christophe nodded, his gaze returning to Fiona, who was gesturing animatedly with her hands as she told of the warrior’s fearsome jealousy.
“It is not always easy to fall in love with the brightest star in the firmament. I know this.” Evan nodded to Lucinda, who sat with her daughter, both of them clearly enraptured with the story. “I had to kill three challengers for her hand before I won her.”
“Things are different outside the Pack,” Christophe said.
“Yes, and no. You feel you are not worthy of her, I think,” Evan said shrewdly. “Get over it, before she believes it, too.”
“You always talk to strangers about their love lives?” Christophe drew another long pull on his ale before putting it down. “Bit presumptuous, don’t you think?”
Evan smiled. “I am Spanish, my friend. Nothing in the world is as important as love.”
He walked off to join his mate at the table, leaving Christophe staring after him in astonishment. First the man tries to kill him, then he gives him advice on his love life. Christophe didn’t know whether to be amused or offended.
The roar of applause, accompanied by whistling, hooting, and stomping feet, snapped him out of his musings and he made his way through the noisy crowd to Fiona’s side. She was flushed, clearly enjoying the shifters’ reaction to her story.
She turned a shy smile up to him. “Did you like it?”
“It was a wonderful story, mi amara,” he said, pulling her into his arms, simply because he needed to feel her close. “Perhaps now we leave?”
The crowd quieted down, and he watched Lucinda cross the floor to the two of them.
“Thank you,” the alpha said, her eyes bright. “That was a lovely story. You are welcome here at The Melting Moon anytime, Lady Fiona Campbell. Your mate, too.”
Fiona smiled and held out her hand. “Thank you. I am very honored.”
The crowd cheered again, and Christophe marveled at Fiona’s instinctive ability to do and say the exactly right thing at the exactly right time.
“I promise you if we find news of the Siren, we will send word to you,” Christophe said quietly, for Lucinda’s ears alone. “I would not want a gem that could cause harm to my people in vampire hands, either.”
Lucinda nodded, and Evan, who’d walked up behind her, smiled.
“You would make a fine shifter, my friend,” Evan told him. “Fearless and honorable. It is an unbeatable combination. Remember what I told you.”
Christophe bowed to the two of them, one of his best court bows, and when he rose, Lucinda was grinning.
“Oh, he is too pretty, Fiona. You, too, are a lucky woman.” She put her arm in her mate’s.
“Yes, I am,” Fiona agreed. “We must be off now. Please tell Ginny I’ll call her soon to talk to her about writing.”
“She’ll be thrilled. Good luck, both of you, and be careful. If Telios is indeed behind this, he is a very, very dangerous enemy to make. He is deadly and completely insane. A terrible combination.” Lethal-looking claws suddenly ripped out of the ends of her still-human hands. “I will gladly tear his throat out and eat his heart if I find out he threatens my kind. We have feelers out, too, but vampires do not talk to shifters about this, as you may imagine. Perhaps you will fare better.”
Evan nodded solemnly. “If it comes to war, you of Atlantis will have to choose sides.”
“We are on the side of humanity,” Christophe said flatly. “Through oath and precedent of more than eleven thousands of years. But should it come to a battle between shifter and bloodsucker, we will never take the side of any who try to enthrall others, this I swear to you.”
Fiona nodded. “It’s wrong. We’ll do whatever we can.” She leaned in toward Lucinda and spoke in a quiet, confiding tone. “It might help with public relations if you stop threatening to eat humans, you know. Just a thought.”
The alpha’s laughter followed them all the way out of the bar.
Chapter 31
Once they hit the sidewalk, Christophe took a firm grip on Fiona’s arm and headed straight for the bikes. He was taking her back to her nice, safe home, where he didn’t have to worry about being ambushed while anybody threatened to eat her.
A ragged group of shifters was crowded around the Ducatis, admiring them. When Christophe approached, one of the bigger males put a hand on the seat.
“This bike used to be yours, human? Because I’m thinking it’s mine now. I’ll take your pretty little woman, too.”
The rest of the thugs laughed and nudged one another, egging the stupid one on.
Stupider one?
“I’m guessing you weren’t inside,” Christophe said.
Before the shifter could move, Christophe’s dagger shot through the air and buried itself in his throat. As the man gurgled, blood spurting out around the blade, he began to fall, and Christophe snatched his blade back, wiping it on the nearest shifter’s shirt.
“He’ll heal. Eventually. Anybody else?” He channeled power until it seared his skin and lit up the night sky with an eerie blue-green glow.
The rest of them uttered hasty denials and dragged their friend away. Christophe turned to find Fiona staring at him, her eyes huge.
“I’ve had enough of people threatening you,” he said flatly. “The next time it happens, I’m going to start killing them.” It wasn’t a threat, it was a simple fact. They’d threatened his woman. The next person to do it died. Anyone after that to do it, died.
Simple.
“You can’t keep treating me like I’m some fragile princess you have to protect,” Fiona said.
“It’s not only my sworn duty this time. It’s personal. Get used to it.”
“No. I won’t. Listen to me, Christophe, and listen closely. This can never work—our partnership, our relationship, whatever we have here—unless you treat me like an equal.”
He didn’t understand why she didn’t understand. “You’re not equal. Not as a warrior. You don’t have offensive magic, only defensive, and you don’t have centuries of battle training and experience. How can I possibly treat you like an equal?”
She sighed and took his hands in hers. “I’m not talking about that kind of equal. I don’t claim to have any of that. But I have a brain. I’m the one who got us out of that mess in the pub, didn’t I? You have to trust me, too.”
“Not everyone is going to be a fan of your books, Fiona. Sometimes it’s going to take fighting our way out, and I won’t allow you to be in situations like that.”
“When it does involve fighting, I’ll let you lead the way. I’m not an idiot. But you have to let me make the choice of what I do and where I go, and you have to let me stand by your side when we can do more together than apart.” She released her hands and took a deep breath. “Also, you need to forget the word allow. Or I’ll go my own way now. Trust me or lose me, that’s the choice. Now it’s up to you.”
With that, she swung one leg over her bike, put her helmet on, and took off. He stood watching her go for a few seconds before he climbed on his own bike and followed. Trust her or lose her. How could such a simple decision be so damn tough to make?
* * *
Fiona concentrated on the road, the traffic, and not crying. In that order. She was looking for the nearest coffee shop that was at least ten kilometers away from that damn pub. Nothing like fear of being an evening snack for a bunch of wolves to shake a girl up.
The truth wasn’t that simple, though. It wasn’t about fear. It was about finally finding a man who excited and challenged her on every level—physically, emotionally, mentally—and then learning he couldn’t put aside his need to protect her long enough to consider her a true partner.
A true
equal.
She’d seen what happened to women who allowed men to dominate them. Her grandfather had bullied her grandmother into an early grave. Even in the name of protecting her, Christophe couldn’t take over her life. If she let him begin now, he’d never stop. Slowly, gradually, he’d wrap her in a lovely, soft cocoon—with him in control. The Scarlet Ninja would be no more. Fiona herself would disappear, taken over by a useless version of herself who was very well-sated in bed but not in any other way.
No. He had to learn, or he had to go.
By the time she pulled the bike over to the side of the road underneath the welcoming coffee shop sign, she’d all but resigned herself to never seeing him again. So when the roar of the second Ducati sounded beside her, she half wondered if she were imagining it.
The bike shut off.
“I’m sorry. You were right,” Christophe said.
She smiled and scrubbed the tears off her cheeks before she looked up at him. “My new five favorite words.”
“I can’t pretend this will be easy for me, but I’ll do my best,” he said. “I can’t walk away from you. Not now, maybe not ever. I don’t pretend that’s easy for me, either. You’ve turned my world upside down, so the least I can do is trust you.”
She wanted to throw herself into his arms. She settled for taking his hand.
“Coffee? While we plan our next move?”
“Our next move is clear,” he said. “We’re going to Daybreak, the vampire club. Did you happen to write any vampire stories?”
Chapter 32
The Daybreak Inn, East End
The soulful sound of jazz piano and a sultry female voice singing about heartbreak and the man who done her wrong met them when they walked in the doors of the Daybreak club. Fiona had never been in a vampire nightclub, so she looked around her with some interest.
It was nothing at all like she’d expected.
Soft lighting turned the space a mellow, smoky gold. Deep chocolate walls and dark brown leather booths accented the rich golden tones of the wooden tables and the spectacularly polished bar. It looked like an old world, old money gentleman’s club from a novel.
The people who occupied the space were similarly golden. Too beautiful, too perfect to be real. Or at least too perfect to be human. These were all vampires, she’d bet, and every single one of them had turned to look at her.
“Nice the way you make instant friends wherever you go,” Christophe said next to her ear.
“It’s my natural magnetism,” she murmured.
“Actually, it’s the scent of his blood.” The man speaking stared at them with glowing red eyes across a dozen or so paces of open floor. “There’s something different about it. Not human, not shifter, not Fae. So what does that leave us?”
He was movie-star gorgeous. No, not even that. Movie stars would give everything they owned to look as good as this man. He wore a black silk shirt and black trousers as if they had been made for him. They probably had. That kind of casual arrogance only came with title, money, and position.
She glanced at Christophe and amended the thought. Or Atlantean warrior training and a great deal of magic.
At the moment, Christophe was busy staring down the vampire. Finally he replied. “Alien. I’m a little green man from outer space.”
“We’re not fans of aliens here.”
Fiona put on her best “lady of the manor” smile. Old money, indeed. She could carry her own on this. “We’re just here for a drink.”
“I don’t think so, Lady Fiona. How is Lucinda doing, by the way? Evidently you made quite an impression.”
“You’re very well informed,” she said.
“We simply want to live our lives in peace. The word is out about the two of you, and if I let you drink in my bar, I have trouble with Telios. Nobody wants trouble with Telios, especially me.”
Christophe stepped right up in the vampire’s face. “Does he have Vanquish?”
“Even if I knew, do you think I’d tell you? Whoever you are, whatever you want, get the hell out of my club and stay out. I’m not involved in any of that, and I plan to keep it that way.”
Christophe started to respond, but Fiona grabbed his arm and shook her head. They were slowly, stealthily being surrounded, and this time she didn’t think she could talk her way out of it.
“Let’s go. He has the right to be left in peace,” she said.
The vampire turned his dark gaze to her. “Yes. We do. We are content to live in a society without the fear of mobs with torches for the first time in our existence. Leave us be.”
“If Telios has his way and starts a war against humanity, you’ll be right there with those torches again,” Christophe said. “You’re going to have to choose sides soon.”
“Perhaps. But not tonight. Now leave.”
They left.
* * *
Fairsby Manor
“What do you mean, you can’t find him?” Gideon kicked the cringing vampire in the ribs again. “How difficult can it be to find a single insane vampire?”
“I don’t know where he is,” the vampire blubbered. “We lost several of our number when they attacked that human, except he’s not human—no way is he human—and those of us who are left can’t find Telios.”
“No, Christophe is definitely not human,” Gideon agreed. “But what?”
“I don’t know that, either,” the vamp whined.
Gideon kicked him again. “I wasn’t asking you, you pathetic waste of space. Get out. Try again. Follow any rumor or possibility, no matter how far-fetched.”
“Well, there was one thing, but it was ridiculous.”
“What?”
“I heard he was seen entering a shifter hangout, but that’s just stupid,” the vamp said, all but falling over itself in the hope to prove useful.
“Go!” Gideon screamed. “Go now. To that shifter place and find that vampire or I will chain you in a box with silver and crosses for the rest of eternity, you miserable leech.”
The vampire leapt out the window so fast it nearly flew. Or maybe it did fly. Gideon didn’t know and didn’t care. All he knew was that if Telios was suddenly going to shifter venues, then the vampire might very well have discovered the Siren’s secrets. Which could be bad for Gideon.
Very bad, indeed.
At least until he figured a way to fix it. So Gideon did what he had always done best: he started drawing up a strategy to make others suffer and bleed. He would call in another of his minions, this one Fae. They’d put part two of his plan into motion.
And that was very good. Very, very good.
* * *
Campbell Manor
“That was a useless night,” Christophe said as they walked up the stairs from the garage.
“No, it wasn’t. We learned what is not true, so we can start to deduce what is true. The shifters don’t have the sword, or they wouldn’t have reacted like that. Telios terrifies even the vampires he might recruit to be on his side. There are even rumors, although I think it’s ridiculous, that he might be the real Jack the Ripper.”
“Aha!” Christophe shouted.
Fiona shushed him. “Aha, what? Also, be quieter, please.”
“Nothing. Just a hunch I had. Anyway, Telios may have the sword. A powerful enough vampire could get past the security in the Jewel House easily enough,” Christophe mused. “He doesn’t seem to be the type who would share the news, either. So we can’t rule him out.”
“So tomorrow we go after Telios?”
Christophe shook his head. “Tomorrow I go after Telios. Alone. A very old, very powerful master vampire is my domain, not yours, won’t you agree, partner?”
She narrowed her eyes, and he tensed for another battle, but then she sighed and smiled. “Yes, I do agree. There’s not much I can do other than get in the way. But I’m going to be working on a plan for how to clear the Scarlet Ninja’s name.”
“Agreed.”
A sound in the hallway alerted them to Ho
pkins’s presence. “Glad to see you home safely, Lady Fiona. I’ll say good night.”
“You didn’t need to wait up for me, Hopkins,” she said, smiling at him.
“Of course not, my lady.” He bowed and retired to his quarters, leaving Fiona staring after him with a mixture of fondness and exasperation.
Christophe knew how she felt. “Annoying, isn’t it, when nobody does what you say?”
She stuck her tongue out at him and ran down the hall to her room. He gave her exactly three seconds’ head start, and then he gave chase.
He burst through her door and she was nowhere to be seen. Maybe she’d headed to the bathroom to freshen up. He slowed to a walk, trying not to look like a love-struck fool, and someone pushed him from behind, and then laughed.
Fiona’s laughter. She was shadowing.
He removed his daggers and then grinned and ripped his shirt off over his head, not bothering with the buttons. “I’m happy to play, Princess.”
She laughed again and smacked his ass. He jumped a little. Hadn’t been expecting that.
“You know turnabout is fair play, right? Just warning you that now I get to spank that luscious ass of yours,” he growled, unfastening his pants and sliding them down. He stepped out and, totally nude, turned around. He couldn’t find her at first, though. That unique pattern of swirling light and shadow he’d learned was Fiona didn’t appear.
“I’m learning to mask any trace of myself, even from you,” she said, from the opposite corner of the room. “Did you know you have a lovely body?”
Seemingly from thin air, her shirt flew through the air and hit him in the chest, followed shortly thereafter by the wisp of lace that was her bra. His breathing sped up, and his cock, already hard, swelled even more.
“You want to put your hands on my lovely body?” he asked, stalking toward her. Or where he’d thought she was. He realized he was wrong when another scrap of lace hit him in the back. He whirled around and caught her underwear before it fell.
“A trophy?” He held it up and grinned. “A keepsake?”
“If you like spanking,” she purred, this time from near the bathroom door, “that can be arranged.”