They went on like that for a few minutes, silent except for Aven’s hushed warnings about treacherous footing, moving as swiftly as Dakota pushed him to go.
She gripped his waist and whispered, “Shiloh and Ryder are catching up. She says Dallas' prosthetic is falling out of everweft. He’s staying human. No sign of Breath Coven yet.”
Aven gave a grunt of assent and kept moving. He’d gone into op-mode before they’d even parked at Thorn’s place, and it wasn’t safe to come out yet, to think about anything but the most relevant parts of what Dakota had said. Too many lives rode on him keeping his head right.
Within seconds he heard the soft padding of a shifter behind them and recognized Shiloh’s snow-dusted scent. Aven couldn’t hear Ryder, but he could smell rainforest, so he knew the other cat was back there, too.
They went a few more yards before Aven stopped, his hand going back to Dakota’s waist, urging her to keep quiet. She pushed against him, the bloodlust in her making her whole body tremble. Aven held firm.
He could smell pine and bitter herbs leaking out of the spaces ahead of them. Strong. At some point recently, a shit-ton of vampires had been in the cave they were moving toward. They could still be there.
Aven turned and pulled Dakota close, whispered urgently in her ear, “Absolute quiet. We’re almost there. I can smell them.” Dakota nodded to confirm. They went back to their positions, Dakota gripping his waist with an urgency he could feel pouring off her. Aven moved forward once again. A little further and Aven picked up the glow of light ahead. Dakota saw it a few steps later. She gripped his waist even tighter, pushed him faster.
The entrance to some sort of cavern was only yards away. Aven heard a voice, male and whiny, echo off stone. “Finally. I thought they’d never arrive.”
Ha! The vampires thought Dakota and her shifters were the human women! Aven felt a grim satisfaction. They’d turned the tables, gotten the drop on the bloodsuckers this time.
A raspy, pained voice replied. “I’ll lift the charm now, while they’re still in the tunnel. They’ll run right to us.”
Clapping and delighted laughter greeted his announcement. “Is everyone ready?” A smattering of other voices, three at least, made noises of assent.
Those pathetic bastards were going to be so disappointed.
They were close enough to the cavern that its light spilled into the tunnel. The entrance was only about four feet high, the floor of it a single rock slanting down into the space. Probably made it near impossible to get out when the stone was wet. Aven thought of what being trapped in there would feel like. He grimaced. Vampires were such diabolical fuckers.
Dakota’s hands dropped from Aven’s waist. He heard her break into a run behind him and stepped to one side, keeping pace as she pulled up next to him. Padded feet broke into long strides behind them.
Aven had intended to run through the entrance first, to draw fire, but Dakota scrapped his plans. She launched into a feet-first slide that took her zipping down the rock and into the cave before him.
What? She’d taken point!
It was too late for Aven to slide like Dakota. He ducked and ran down the entrance as fast as he could, ready to back her up.
Shiloh gave a yowl of unhappiness as she slid past him on the stone, rolling when she hit the bottom and coming into a run. Ryder was more sure-footed, staying to one side of the stone and leaping over most of it to land at the bottom.
Aven took in the surrounding space in an instant. Eight-foot stone ceilings, dank with moisture, riddled with so many hanging stalactites that there was no way Aven could risk flying.
But it was only like that for the first dozen feet or so. After this chamber the floor dropped away and the ceiling rose. The cavern beyond was so big, Aven couldn’t see anything but bare rock and the occasional camping lantern, bathing the darkness in pale yellow light.
Only one vampire stood in the first chamber, but not for long. Dakota’s turquoise glow spilled into his mouth, wide-open in surprise, as she slammed her short spear into his sunken belly. Red light shot out of him, mixed with her glow, turned the whole chamber purple.
Aven felt Dakota’s power surge with her third kill, the bloodlust in her vibe drowning out every other emotion. How many vampires could a lone switch Undo, with energy like that? And what would it take to bring her down afterward?
Shouts erupted in the chamber below them, the large one that Aven couldn’t see into. Ryder and Shiloh ran that way, cresting the edge of the first chamber before Dakota and Aven, running toward the vampires below them.
Aven swept the room, sensing four other bodies in the larger chamber besides his team. He only had eyes on two, though.
Ryder caught one vampire’s leg in his powerful jaws. The bloodsucker screamed. Dakota sprinted at him, whipping her short spear back to strike. The vampire went silent when Dakota stuck him. Red light spilled from his mouth instead.
Shiloh had another vampire pinned. Dakota ran for him.
Ryder released the first vampire’s corpse and made for the far end of the chamber, where Aven sensed the last two vampires waited. Aven turned to help the clouded leopard, trusting Shiloh and Dakota to do their thing.
Aven turned his focus to their remaining prey. An alarm went off in his head. Fatherborne vampires!
There were two of them, standing on a plateau of stone at the far end of the chamber, nearer to the ceiling than the floor. The Fatherborne looked down with identical expressions of rage on their eternally handsome faces.
Each had hair that was half-white, half-black, on opposite sides, and styled with a careless indifference that suggested anything but. And Aven didn’t know anything about fashion, but even he knew expensive suits when he saw them.
Even stranger than two men in swanky suits in a dank cave, was how they behaved. Neither looked at Ryder at all, rather their cold silver eyes were fixed on Aven. And while he was used to vampires vibing as pure, malevolent hatred, this was different. Personal. Like these vampires knew him.
But the only Fatherborne Aven had ever had any contact with, as far as he knew, was Vlade.
Unless these were the bloodsuckers who had taken over that house on the beach eighteen months ago. The ones who’d messed with Aven’s op, given Dallas a bloodwound, and killed one of the humans Aven had been charged with protecting. That counted as contact, for sure.
Aven’s eagle wanted to shred those pretty faces with his bare talons. It demanded to shred them. Aven held back as best he could.
While the Fatherborne were looking at Aven, Ryder had been finding footholds in the rock surrounding them, coming closer to the top of the plateau. Aven bent his legs, ready to push into his eagle. He’d create a distraction for the clouded leopard, keep the Fatherbornes’ eyes occupied or just peck them out altogether. The flap of wings at the entrance to the cave stopped him.
Maze?
The twin vampires’ jaws dropped in unison, identical expressions of shock on their faces. Aven didn’t know whether to shift or not, fly or not. He followed the vampire’s stare to the chamber’s entrance
Maze’s hawk stood there, head high, gaze indignant.
“You,” one of them spat, and Aven looked back at the vampires. Now he knew who the petulant whine belonged to. But before the whiny Fatherborne could say anything else, his raspy twin snarled to catch his attention. A chagrined look covered the whiny one’s face.
Aven snarled. There was some shady shit going down. Those vampires knew Maze, or thought they did.
The Fatherbornes’ faces contorted again, this time to confusion.
Aven didn’t want to take his eyes off the Fatherborne, but he needed to confirm his suspicions. Needed to know if what was throwing the vampires off was the same thing that had messed Aven up. He looked behind him.
Sure enough, Maze was in his human form. He stood at the edge of the upper chamber, glaring into the cavern with eyes full of hatred, hands fisted at his sides. His vibe said he recognized the Fat
herborne, and planned to treat them to a slow, torturous death.
Perfect. Now, was someone going to fill Aven in on why?
Chapter 43 - Sitting Ducks
Dakota yanked her Resonant free of the third cave-vampire’s belly and climbed off his collapsing body at the same time that Shiloh pulled back from his throat. The snow leopard spat and shook her head, vampire blood flying from her white muzzle. Nice hold. Dakota told her. Shiloh didn’t respond.
Dakota was up and after vampires. Her body buzzed like a live wire. Her power had grown stronger with every strike of her blade into a pathetic bloodsucker’s flesh, and now it amped up again. Dakota needed to kill.
When she turned, everyone in the cave was frozen in some kind of tableau, telling a story she didn’t understand. Closest to her and Shiloh was Maze, standing at the edge of the smaller chamber above them, but not even sparing Dakota a glance. His murderous glare was directed at the other end of the cavern, where Aven looked up at a plateau of stone twelve feet above the ground.
On the plateau stood Dakota’s prey.
And pretty prey they were, too. Their suits were dark, and they both had weird-ass dye jobs that turned half their hair white, on opposite sides. Vlade’s stripe at his temple was one thing, but this was over-the-top. These two looked like they’d escaped from the set of The Matrix.
Something moved in the shadows behind the vampires. Dakota recognized Ryder, creeping silently into their blind spot. She sent him a message: What’s your plan, Ryder? Knock one down here and I’ll stick them?
Ryder’s eyes flicked to hers, as if surprised to hear Dakota talk to him. He crept forward another foot, almost within striking distance of the vampires, closer now to them than to his exit path.
Both vampires reached into their breast pockets and pulled out identical black knives. Dakota cursed to herself. Whatever Ryder had planned, it had just gotten a lot more dangerous.
The weapons were each made out of a piece of stone, vaguely reminiscent of Dakota’s spear point, but with full handles and no wicked barbs on their back ends. They were shiny, almost oily in appearance, and the edges seemed to move as Dakota stared at them. She heard Shiloh’s voice in her head: Bloodblades.
Dakota edged closer to the plateau of rock with every thud of her heart. Ryder moved forward, too. Dakota locked her eyes on his, ready for anything.
One of the vampires turned neatly where he stood, his legs cutting off her eye contact with Ryder. The vampire put his back to his twin and snarled in Ryder’s direction.
Ryder was almost trapped.
Wings flapped beside her, startling her. Aven rose into the air as an eagle, skree-ing in rage. Maze did the same. The vampires held up their nasty black weapons.
Dakota broke into a run. No plan in mind, but she had to do something. An idea formed. Time to bring the motherfucking mountain down, and she knew just how to do it.
Dakota ran for the solid rock base of the plateau. She held her Resonant in one hand, stretched her other arm out in front. Reaching for the stone. Sprinting, blocking out anything that might slow her down. Only feet away now.
And in her head Dakota chanted: I am not a shifter. My power runs through stone. My belief is my power. I am a switch.
Her fingers brushed rock, making blue lightning erupt from everywhere, penetrating stone like it was water. The whole place shook, then seemed to explode.
The plateau began to crumble. Shrapnel flew around Dakota, not one pebble touching her. She raised her weapon and dropped one foot back, ready for the two Fatherborne surfing toward her on a wave of stone.
As they fell Dakota caught a glimpse of cold, silver eyes, snarling lips and hatred so thick she could almost feel it. Then those same snaking tendrils that had wrapped around Vlade started to swirl around the twins. Before Dakota could say a word, they were gone.
“No!” she screamed.
Footsteps thundered in the tunnels, beyond the small chamber above them. More vampires! They must have been hiding in the caves! Dakota pushed her aching thighs into a sprint, but loose rocks on the ground made it difficult to find purchase. Rage pooled inside her.
Air swirled over her and then Dakota’s path was blocked by Aven. In his eagle form, but bigger than he’d been before. Huge, majestic, beating his eight-foot wingspan against the air, blowing her hair into her eyes as he flew backward in front of her. His voice, tense but trying to soothe, spoke inside her head: Dakota, no. It’s Breath Coven.
Dakota feinted, tried to run around Aven, but he corralled her with his wings. She dodged to the other side and feathers brushed her arms, soft but insistent. Every way she tried to go, he stopped her.
She knew Aven’s words should have calmed her, but Dakota only felt more frantic. The power in her was electricity trying to break free, looking for a path to exit her body. And it was getting worse. She needed to sink her Resonant into soft, dead flesh. She needed…
Oh shit, she needed help. Now. Before she hurt someone.
The wings crowding her disappeared, replaced with the strength of Aven’s arms around her. He ripped her Resonant out of her hands. It clattered on the ground.
Dakota fought him. She punched and kicked at Aven, not wanting to, but unable to not to.
Aven took blow after blow before finally grabbing Dakota’s wrists, ducking, and throwing her onto his back. He climbed the incline to the smaller chamber with Dakota over his shoulder.
A quiet voice, Cora’s, whispered as they went by, “Ride ‘em, cowgirl.” Then, a few seconds later, louder and annoyed, “What? She didn’t leave us any?”
Dakota had her breath back. Unspent bloodlust pushed at her to take action. She punched Aven’s back. “Put me down!”
“Watch the kidneys.” He patted her ass, keeping his hand there as he bent over to walk up the short ramp of stone that led to the tunnels. Dakota stayed still so she wouldn’t hit her head.
As soon as he straightened up, this bird was going to get hurt.
“That right?” Aven challenged Dakota’s violent impulses, which he must be able to feel. His strong hand smoothed from Dakota’s ass to between her legs. He caressed the seam of her jeans in a way that made her shiver. “I got what you need, honey, just hold on.”
She moaned, thoughts turning to sex.
She relaxed. She let him take her to… wherever she could have him.
He put her down and she didn’t wait. She grappled with his belt buckle. “Where are we?” she managed to say.
Aven’s hands were at her blouse, ripping the placket open. Buttons bounced off stone as he went for her jeans. His response was low and urgent.
“Where nobody will bother us.”
Chapter 44 - Fate Spirals
Aven tore at Dakota’s jeans, pushing them and her underwear down, kissing and lightly biting her breasts and belly as he knelt to free one foot and leg from her inside-out clothing. He stood and shoved his own loose jeans over his hips. One hand lifted Dakota’s leg. The other took hold of his so-hard-it-hurt cock.
He pressed Dakota against the cave wall behind her, knowing she needed wild now, primal. She slid her hands up Aven’s arms to his shoulder, then to his neck, pulling him in for a hungry kiss. One hand left and landed on Aven’s backside, fingernails digging into his asscheeks to bring him closer. He hissed at that good pain and gave Dakota what she demanded.
Aven found the soft, hot give of Dakota’s body and sank inside, growling as she moaned and circled her hips to take him deeper. The power of the woman in his arms undid him. “Fuck, Dakota, you’re incredible.”
He lifted her leg higher, hooked her knee over his hip. He pushed so deep Dakota gasped and rose to her tiptoes. Her body welcomed him, stretching to take his full length, wrapping him in her velvet warmth. She sank her weight onto him and groaned.
Aven wanted to roar with the pleasure of it. Buried in Dakota’s tight heat, slick with her sweetness.
But far from being soothed, Dakota acted like a female determined to get awa
y.
“Too good,” she gasped, in a voice thin with fear. Aven could feel the part of her that was frightened of her own feelings, her own power. He wrapped his arm around her, braced himself on stone, and pushed deep. Again, and again. A flutter of muscle clenched inside, where he loved her. “That’s it, honey. Let it go,” he groaned into her neck.
Dakota clung and scratched at him, moaning and gasping. Her mouth was open wide, lips trembling like she was on the verge of tears. Aven didn’t slow, didn’t break rhythm. He slammed her against his arm behind her, cushioning her from the worst of the impact.
The flutters inside her became waves. Dakota froze on his thrusting cock, her fingernails digging into his shoulders. Her whole body shuddered as she screamed and came.
Sweat broke on Aven’s forehead as he pumped inside her. He wouldn’t stop, wouldn’t come, wouldn’t do anything that didn’t serve Dakota’s need. Her screams echoed off the stone around them.
When Dakota softened in his arms, Aven slowed down. Stroking her languidly, giving them both time to recover. Dakota’s sweet, tight core was so slippery, he could hear himself moving inside her.
He could stay here forever. He wanted to, more than anything. Aven leaned in and took Dakota’s lips in a kiss that he hoped she understood.
Aven broke their kiss but kept his lips close to hers. “I love you, Dakota,” he said. His cock pulsed, but waited.
She kissed him sweetly. “I love you, too,” she said, and he felt it, felt her love given freely, for the first time. He felt something more. She was ready for him to claim her. She was ready to be with him and him alone. It rocked him for a moment, but only a moment. He’d been ready since he’d first laid eyes on her, so it did not take him long to recover.
He held her tight against him, keeping them connected at lips and hips, reveling in it, until she pulled at him once more, her soft noises and clutching heat making it clear she wanted him again.
Aven growled into the velvet skin of her throat, licking the pulse there, sucking at it, ready to claim his mate, barely holding his animal back. He bit at her throat with his teeth, lightly, teasingly. Her vibe reacted strongly, urging him on.
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