Antares

by Yvonne Nicolas

  “Yes. And I didn’t have to fuck them to get it,” she scoffed. She slid the flat side of her blade over her tongue. Her eyes flashed red. “Noble blood.”

  Jonavas slid the chips into the com-slots, then leveled a finger toward the stylish armoire across the room. “There were three different DNA signatures in her blood.”

  Heading that way, Helena swept her hand out. The record player was lifted in the air by a phantom wind and thrown into the wall, bringing the music to an instant stop.

  “Aw c’mon, I was listening to that,” Jonavas grumbled.

  She whipped the armoire’s doors off the hinges and snatched everything out of the compartment. She discovered a case hidden in a secret nook, near the bottom.

  She popped it open and found sixteen vials.

  She tasted the scarlet contents from one. Then she sampled another one, and another. “Hanslee, Ethelina and Balil. The other councilman carried blood from several other Nobles as well.”

  “Never known a Noble to bleed that much for anyone they did want to keep as a Black Swan.”

  “We knew they were helping the humans secure Antares priestesses, but what were they getting out of the deal?”

  “Gotta be something good. We’ll get that info in due time, but before that…” The view on the projected screen changed and the path to the underground city popped up. “Boom, baby!”

  Helena moved to his side to examine the diagram. “So, our best way to get in is through the hangar.”

  “Or under it. This access point is only a theoretical design I came up with on the fly. I figure we’ll gain more info after Captain Asenna finishes interrogating the councilman’s daughter.”

  “Plot it out. We’ll use it if all else fails.”

  “Yes, madam.”

  For a long moment, Helena said nothing. She watched him work in silence. When she spoke again, a hint of sadness laced her tone. “Did you see how he looked at her? He’s never looked at me that way. It was like I didn’t even exist.”

  And here we go again. Jonavas slumped in the seat and let his head fall back. “C’mon, girl, we’ve talked about this,” he groaned on a sigh.

  “As much as we’ve been through…” She shuffled anxiously behind the chair. “It was so easy to cast me aside. She doesn’t even know him like I do, not the creature he has become.”

  “You gotta let them work that out.”

  “I will do no such thing!” A roar echoed in her voice. “He is MINE! My Tristan!”

  “Dammit, Hel.” Jonavas pushed to his feet and took her hands into his.

  She shook in anger. Her eyes were crimson, her fangs were extended.

  “If you try to come between them, he will kill you. And if he doesn’t, you bet your sweet ass that she will.”

  Helena gasped as if he’d said something foul. Blood tears welled in her eyes.

  “I’ve seen the footage of how she handles vampires when she’s in full out battle mode. And we’re not even counting the fact that she’s obtained her powers. Believe me, you don’t want that heat, and neither do I.”

  “Let me go,” she grumbled, looking away from him.

  “Do you remember what I said to you the night you took the mission to extract him?”

  Lip arched, she sneered at him and tried to yank her hands from his grip.

  He clung to her, refusing to release her. “Don’t fall in love, Helena. Remember me saying that? Every time you made love to him, who was in his thoughts? Whose name did he moan?”

  “You better let me go before I ram my knee into your nuts!”

  “Your problem is you have a bleeding heart for broken souls. You get way too invested. You were that way when you were human too, always whining and crying over some dude who was a lost cause. Not saying the General is a lost cause, but his heart is outta your reach. Let him go.”

  Helena snatched her hands from his grasp, stumbling back.

  “I get it. Emotions are intensified for vampires. But, you’re being fuckin’ ridiculous right now. Pull yourself together.”

  She bared her beautiful fangs and hissed at him. “I don’t need a lecture from a hybrid-elf who runs around slinging his cock everywhere!”

  “Whooooa!” He slapped his hand over his chest. “Did you just call me a hoe?”

  Her nose wrinkled and her lips twisted. “You got the nerve to ask me that while you’re standing here smelling like sex.” She shoved him in the chest. “Old lady sex at that.”

  He chuckled. “Old lady? You got like sixty years on her.”

  Flicking her hand at him, she marched over to the window. “I can’t…” She rubbed her hands up and down her arms, and shook her head repeatedly. “I can’t deal with your foolishness right now, Jojo.”

  Time ticked by as she stood there, gazing aimlessly out the window. She’d been doing that since she was a kid. It was how she dealt with pain. They were raised at the Purple Clover orphanage, a sanctuary for children with special needs. They nicknamed him Beast, for obvious reasons. And they called Helena, the Angel. At that time, she didn’t exhibit any magical properties, but they all knew she was the daughter of a priestess. When she turned seventeen, she sprouted fangs. And it couldn’t have happened at a worse time. Right in the middle of after-prom sex. Jonavas remembered the frantic call like it was yesterday. He rushed to her location to find her covered in blood and sobbing over the corpse of her prom date. It was then they learned that vampirism could be passed through the means of magic. That made the sad truth so obvious. Her mother had been turned.

  The city lights reflected off the scarlet tear sliding down Helena’s pale face. “I just wanted to be with him…” Her voice trailed off into a whimper. “I wanted to love him like he deserves to be loved.”

  “He loves Moonlight, Helena,” Jonavas stated softly. “He always has, and always will. You know as well I do that a vampire in love is a dark soul tethered to that person for all eternity. Ya gotta let him go.”

  She clucked her tongue and growled in frustration. “I’ll let him go when he releases my heart.” Turning from the window, she swept the curtains close. “I need sleep.” She moved over to the bed and scrunched her nose. “Did you fuck her on this side of the bed?”

  “I fucked her on all sides of the bed,” he confessed with a snicker. “You may wanna sleep on the floor, ‘cause we soaked that mattress in some good old lady love.”

  “Ugh, I hate you!” she shrieked. “You are so fucking nasty!”

  He burst out in laughter at the contorted grimace on her face. “C’mon, girl. You know I always look out for you. The room across the hall. I blacked out the windows, pulled the bedding back and even drew you a rose-filled bath. You’re welcome.”

  Without another word, she flicked her golden hair from over her shoulder and sashayed out of the room.

  “I’ll take care of the body then move onto phase three. Sleep tight, ma chère.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Into the Depths of My Darkness

  Alexis jerked up with a gasp caught in her throat.

  A warm hand slipped around her torso. She allowed herself to be drawn back down into his arms.

  Tristan. My lover, my vampire.

  “You dream so deeply.”

  The silky sound of his voice brought a soft sigh to her lips. A warmth consumed her. Her nipples budded and her clit quivered. They’d made love for what seemed like hours. He’d pierced her flesh and healed her repeatedly. Each time, her pleasure was taken to new heights. She screamed and begged for more. He had her delirious, locked in a feverish loop of rapture.

  She rolled onto her other side to face him. “Heeey,” she breathed out.

  Tristan’s skin was flush, his glazed eyes were at half-mast. “Hey. Nice nap?”

  “How long was I out?”

  “Not that long. A little more than half an hour.” He tangled his fingers in her hair. “I wonder when was the last time you slept so peacefully?”

  “Sleep isn’t a luxury I’m af
forded as a Cross Knight agent. Just like we can’t afford to be lounging around like this.” She snuggled up close and nuzzled his neck. His embrace tightened. “What’re we doing, Tris?”

  Baring his jugular to her, he hummed. “Things that lovers do.”

  “At a time like this? When our worlds are about to collide?”

  “Our worlds have already collided.”

  There were dark blood smudges along his neckline. It had dried, but still… “What happened here?”

  “A lot you probably don’t remember since the crimson haze is wearing off. We got a little wild.”

  “You’re telling me I made you bleed?”

  “Yep.” He smirked. “Plenty.”

  She looked at her hands then lifted her head to swiftly scan the room. “How? No weapons in my possession.”

  “Except you are a weapon, sweetheart.” The lust in his icy blue eyes deepened. “Don’t worry. You didn’t hurt me. Everything you did to me was out of pleasure.”

  “Out of pleasure?” she whispered.

  A shudder coursed through her body at the memories of the things he did to her. Whoo, Jesus! While they made love, she suffered flashes of their past when they were human. The wonderful times, their friendship, their forbidden love affair… She relived it all through an intoxicated haze of ecstasy. He overloaded her senses. She not only felt his hands, mouth and cock all over her body, she tasted his very soul.

  Tasted him… Her gaze lingered on his neck. Her teeth tingled. Why do I wanna bite him?

  How do I tell her? How do I confess to her that I gave her my blood?

  And as a result, she grew fangs while they made love. The memory alone funneled heat through his length.

  Her lips twisted as she ran her tongue over her teeth. Her eyes narrowed at him. Her extended eyeteeth had vanished, but the sensation of what she did with them probably lingered.

  If he told her now, it would only piss her off. Didn’t matter that it was a temporary shift. All she would focus on was that she was a vampire for a short moment in time and that it was his fault. Not like I could argue with that. He knew the second he gave her a blood kiss, the magical properties within her would absorb vampirism and manifest it through her.

  Good God, she looked magnificent as a vampire!

  The second her fangs dropped, her hunger rose. She didn’t attack him with it though. She eased in on him with the grace of a feline, nuzzling his neck so sweetly.

  Then, he felt them. Her incisors pierced his flesh. Climax after climax ripped through him in a rapid succession. He cried out, and released a series of embarrassing noises. He couldn’t help it. He didn’t care. He just never wanted her to stop.

  Awareness flashed in her gaze as her eyes stretched wide. “Uh-uhh! No you didn’t!”

  “Calm down. I can explain…”

  She punched him in the chest, harder than the last time, then shoved away from him.

  “Umphh,” he choked out.

  She lurched up on her knees, her glare blazed in fury. “Da fuck did you to me, Tristan?”

  “Soul link transfer is the term.”

  “What?”

  “You’re a member of Antares, so you have the ability to absorb my vampirism.” He helplessly smiled at her, anxious to see her drop fangs again. “It was only temporary.”

  Teeth clenched, she growled, “That’s not the point, you crazy asshole!”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Bullshit!”

  He leaped up, grabbed her and locked his lips over hers. As he swallowed her gasping shriek, he fell back on the bed and rolled her on top of him. Leveling her hip, he thrust upward and lost himself inside of her moist haven, yet again.

  Their bodies lit up like stars in the night.

  In that moment, the horrid memories of his dark past assailed him. But it didn’t come from his thoughts.

  She jerked her head up to look into his eyes. Sadness washed over her face. She brushed her fingertips over the branding on his chest. “What you did to me…that haze thing…HE did it to you.”

  While the crimson haze added an incredibly wonderful flare to their lovemaking, it was also his Noble’s way to force lust upon him when he wanted him to behave in bed. The fact she picked up on that memory hurt just as badly as when she said His name earlier.

  The sexual and mental torment he encountered stormed into his thoughts. A violent current rushed through him. His anger, fear, and anguish returned. Tears filled his eyes, coloring his world in blood. His past screams burned his senses. He remembered so vividly the pain he suffered without her, the agony he endured when he was certain he’d never see her again.

  Brows furrowed, she shook her head. “Tristan…”

  He caught her hand and brought her wrist to his mouth. Her accelerating pulse throbbed against his lips. His fangs quivered, his cock pulsated at the same pace of the blood rushing through her veins. “Jesus—Lexi, you’re doing it again.” He rolled her onto her back and tried to slide off of her.

  Alexis hooked her legs around him and locked her ankles, trapping him in place. “Baby, I’m sorry.” She palmed the sides of his face. “I shouldn’t have mentioned that.”

  Pressing his forehead to hers, he offered a somber smile. “You did nothing wrong. Just thinking about it fucks me up…” His voice teetered off as a sensation accosted him.

  He tensed up. He’d felt it before, when he was locked in that dungeon, waiting for death. When he was raped nightly, when his dignity was pounded to dust. That feeling… like a dozen tiny clawed-fingers were raking across the fragile flesh of his mind. Only now, those fingers wielded no claws. The touch was soft as a new set of eyes peered into his deepest, darkest memories.

  She blinked rapidly as her eyes whipped back and forth. “You kill for the Legion because you can’t kill him. Yeah?”

  “Goddammit, Lexi!” He stuck his arm under the back of her knee and unhooked her leg. “You just don’t know when to stop.” He extracted his lance from the heavenly feel of her body with a guttural groan. It was painful to separate from her.

  “Tristan…” She reached out to him with her gleaming eyes growing wide.

  Instead of bits and pieces, now she was getting the full-on viewing of every horrific night, of every horrific moment. But that’s not the worst of it. The children. He didn’t want her to see what he’d done to the children.

  She grimaced as her mental caress deepened. “This—this is too much…”

  He shot off the bed and stumbled backwards, distancing himself. It was a desperate, useless move. Now that she was rooted in his head, there was no pushing her out. “Stop!”

  “I’m trying,” she shot back, palming her temples.

  “Try harder!”

  “Don’t yell at me! I don’t know how this shit works, okay. I don’t know how to make it stop.”

  “I just can’t…” Arms hooked over his head, he fisted his hair and shuffled from left to right. “You weren’t supposed to see that much. Not yet. Not…yet. Lexi!”

  A veil of tears glazed her eyes. “Tristan, I’m…” She gasped and rattled her head again. “Oh my gawd, man. I’m so sorry.”

  “Baby, please…I’m not ready for you to see!”

  “Hol’up. Let’s breathe and calm down,” she pleaded on a shaky exhale. “C’mere.”

  “I didn’t submit to him, Lexi!” he cried out.

  “I know you didn’t. You fought like hell.”

  “Countless times. And I suffered for it.”

  “I know, Tristan.”

  Alexis stood up on her knees and continued to reach for him. “Listen, we don’t have to talk about this unless you want to. Or—or need to.”

  Lord knows I need to, but I damn sure don’t want to.

  “I—uhh…” He swept the hair back from his face and shook his head. Where to start? He hadn’t shared this part of himself with anyone, or even spoke about it aloud. “The day he abducted me, he cast me into this rat-infested dungeon. It was my punishment
for not coming to him when he called. For some reason, I was able to resist his compulsion, which of course, pissed him off. So, he beat me. Repeatedly. Days and nights went by. I lost track of time, lost track of my sanity. I stopped praying. Figured God couldn’t hear me anyway. I couldn’t eat, hardly slept, but I fought. Despite how weak I was, despite the fact I wanted to die, I wouldn’t stop fighting. I couldn’t. After a while, he moved me to a room with no windows and one door. Yet another prison cell, just a nicer one. He collared me, chained me to the bed, and branded me as his special pet. Still, I fought, even though I knew I would lose in the end. I always lost to him.”

  Tristan moved over to the stone hearth. The heat of her stare followed him. The crystal embers within the hearth pulsated with a gold and sapphire glow. He focused on that as he continued.

  “One night, he shoved some kid in the room with me. Blond hair, green eyes. The look of his typical prey. The kid’s name was Jaden. He was only thirteen. That was all of the info I could get out of him. He was quiet, didn’t fight, didn’t do anything. Took only a few moments to realize he was charmed, trapped under the Noble’s spell. Practically a zombie. The next night, that fucker tried to have his way with the boy in front of me. I fought for the kid, even though he was too mentally drugged to fight for himself. The Noble laughed at me and said, soon you’re gonna wish you had let me have him. I brushed it off as an empty threat. After all, he’d violated every inch of my body, and beat me until I couldn’t see straight. I thought, what more could he do to me that could make me wish for death? Absolutely nothing.” He leaned against the hearth and flicked his fingers toward the fire crystals. A roaring blaze erupted from the sparkling pit. “Well, I was wrong.” Restraining tears, he lowered his head. His hair fanned along the sides of his face as he kept his eyes on the flame.

  Alexis remained quiet.

  His mind urged him to look her way to find some comfort in her beautiful face, but his pride wouldn’t let him. No way. He couldn’t. Not when he was about to tell her something that would change everything between them.

  “After a day or two, I got this ache in my stomach, an unbearable churning, and my mouth and gums hurt badly. I figured it was due to my lack of substance. I didn’t eat, so I was basically falling away. At the time, I thought, this is it. Maybe God heard my prayers after all. Yes, finally. Again, I was so wrong. The pain got worse, so bad I was dry heaving violently. On top of that, I started hearing things—voices and screams. My ears rung with an overabundance of sounds. It tore my head apart. The scent of shit, dirty sex, and death attacked my senses. It was nauseating. It all became too much to bear. Soon, I passed out. When I regained consciousness…” He paused and swallowed a strained cry. “Blood. It was everywhere—all over the walls and bed. And the kid…he—he was on the floor…pale, with his throat ripped out…and his limbs mangled. So much blood, so much fucking blood…”