Viktoria's Shadow: Jael

by Ysobella Black

  Jael prodded the door with one sword. When nothing happened, he sheathed it and reached for the latch. He lifted the hasp and slid the bolt free. The door opened, and he extended his sword over the threshold, searching for wards. Finding none, he stepped into the room. Waving smoke aside, he squinted, able to make out two shapes. “Come on, we have to go. This whole place is going to burn.”

  One woman helped the other to her feet. They wore scraps of clothing and bruises in shades from yellow to black. Stunned, he could only stare as they approached him, the smaller one hiding behind.

  Jael felt like his dead heart had stopped again. “Faba.”

  The woman standing in front of him was his wife. He blinked. No, this woman was too young to be his wife. His daughter had always been a small copy of her mother, though.

  “Maescia.” The world tilted and his legs felt weak. The fires had burned too hot to leave bodies behind, but he’d found parts of two skulls, one bigger than the other, and with the medallions left behind, he’d thought Faba and Maescia had perished in white mage fire.

  She squinted up at him. “Abu?”

  Shrugging out of his sheaths, Jael ripped his tunic and undershirt over his head and held them out to his daughter and her friend, his gaze averted.

  Maescia accepted the clothing and pulled one shirt over her head, then helped the other woman do the same.

  Jael pulled her close in an embrace. “I am so sorry I didn’t find you before. I thought you were dead. I... I would have looked for you if I had known.”His words, so inadequate, did nothing to assuage his guilt. His daughter, in the hands of Ubus all these years.

  “I know, Abu. Bantu told me.”

  “Your... is she here, too?”

  “No. She visits me in my dreams. She said you would bring what was needed to save us one day.”

  “Come with me.” Jael shifted his swords to one hand and extended his free one to Maescia. “The smoke is getting thicker.”

  Maescia accepted his hand and reached for her friend. “Come on, Iya. He’s not like the other men. He won’t hurt us.”

  She didn’t mean her words to cut, but they tore into his heart, anyway. Swallowing back his grief, he blinked to clear his eyes. “I don’t think there’s anyone left here, but stay behind me.” Jael led them out of the lower levels, through the main area and out the door.

  “Run,” Jael urged them. “Get to the woods.”

  Just before they got to the forest, the girls screamed and fell, their skin lighting up with runes and symbols so bright they showed through the clothing he’d given them.

  Jael fell to his knees beside them. “What’s wrong?”

  “Spells on us,” Maescia gasped. “They won’t allow us to cross the wards.”

  Jael dragged them backwards until the glowing symbols on their skin faded. “My swords were spelled by a witch with protections.” He helped Maescia to her feet and handed her one. “Do you think you can cross the boundary if you’re holding the sword?”

  Iya held out a hand for his other blade, and he handed it to her.

  “We’ll try.” Maescia held Iya’s free hand, and they took tentative steps, holding the swords out before them. But they’d only made it half the distance Jael had dragged them back when their skin lit up again, even brighter than before. Iya fell to the ground, but Maescia screamed and staggered, trying to push through.

  He sprinted forward, scooped them into his arms, and ran further back, until the symbols faded again.

  “It hurts, Abu.”

  “We can’t leave.” Iya’s voice rasped, as if she didn’t speak often. “The spell will push us back farther each time we try to move forward.”

  “And the pain —” Maescia went rigid, her body contorting in violent spasms, Iya seizing a few moments later.

  He did the best he could to cradle their bodies as they shook and thrashed. Maescia coughed, blood erupting from her mouth onto the grass. He turned her on her side, waiting for the fit to end.

  “Can you hide yourselves, like you did before?” Uselessness warred with fury within Jael. He hated leaving them in this place, but he couldn’t get them out. No one knew where to come looking for him, he’d stumbled on this place looking for a different mage. The only option was to go for help. “I’ll come back. I know some witches. They’re stry — strong. I’m sure they can take down these wards. Or I can search for Mordecai and kill him, but I think that will take longer.”

  “Too... weak...” Iya could barely get the words out. Her eyes met Maescia’s. “Only... one... left.”

  “Yes, I killed the other four. Only Ubus is left.”

  Maescia choked, blood pouring out of her nose and mouth.“Won’t go back. Kill me, Abu. You do it. Not a mage spell.”

  Jael’s world collapsed into ashes. He jumped to his feet and paced. “But I just found you. I’ll —”

  “No time. Kill us. So mages don’t win.”

  Jael recoiled, staggering back a step.

  “Won’t go back.” Maescia grit the words out.

  “Won’t go back,” Iya echoed her sentiment.

  Maescia and Iya each picked up a sword, and stabbed the other.

  “No!” Jael gasped in horror and fell to his knees. He was an assassin, not a healer. “What have you done?” He gathered both of them close as blood from their wounds poured out.

  “We... chose.” The girls had serene looks on their faces, as if they felt no more pain.

  “You wish... Maescia... stay?” Iya asked.

  Jael nodded.

  “Wish it,” she whispered. “Must... say... words.”

  Jael’s eyes widened. “You’re a djinn.”

  “Wish it,” the girl slumped.

  “I wish she could stay with me.” Jael said. It was a bad idea. Djinn usually gave a person exactly what they wished for, but not how they wanted it. But if he could save Maescia, he’d make it work.

  Iya lifted a hand from her bloody wound and laid her palm on Jael’s cheek.“Granted.” The girl’s eyes swirled with shades of gold and red, and she smiled as she laid her head on the ground. Her body turned to dust, leaving her gold collar behind.

  Maescia inclined her head. “Take that to her father. If she could have made her own wish, that would have been her last.” She touched the bloody handprint on Jael’s cheek with trembling fingers. “Habu, Abu.”

  “Habu, Hibu.”

  Maescia closed her eyes, her hand fell away, and she was gone.

  Jael sat, stunned, as a silver aura formed around Maescia. It separated from her body and floated up, swirling around his swords. Its mass parted in half, and each flowed into one of the medallions embedded in his sword hilts.

  Now Maescia would be with him forever, her soul and magic trapped in the blades she’d died on.

  Zax had said the medallions would hold his love.

  Jael roared, throwing his head back and filling the sky with fury and grief.

  A lone jackal replied in short, yipping barks.

  JAEL SURFACED FROM a black abyss, screaming.

  “Hold him down!” The red-haired woman was there again, a woman resembling his Dragă beside her. “Memory, take his memories.”

  “No!” Viktoria came into view. “He wouldn’t want to lose them, whatever they are. Just fix them.”

  “I can, but it will take longer. It will hurt him a lot more.”

  Viktoria’s eyes met his. “He’s not afraid of a fight. He wouldn’t want to lose himself. Don’t make him forget.”

  His eyes closed.

  VIKTORIA, WEARING HER dress made of strings, shook her head as she stood to one side of her bed, arms crossed. “You couldn’t even escape from flimsy shadows to claim your Dragă, could you, Jael? Too afraid of her. Not good enough for her. You were happy to let her slip through your fingers, weren’t you?”

  Bound by shadows on his neck and wrists, Viktoria astride him, moving up and down, he thrashed, but couldn’t escape the bindings, ethereal as they were. His Dragă threw
her head back, her inner muscles tightening around him as orgasm took her.

  Was she right? Had he let her make the choice so he didn’t have to choose to make her his? Not this time.

  His grief still fresh, Jael summoned strength he didn’t know he had and wrenched his arms free, wrapping them around Viktoria. The collar around his neck vanished, and he bore his Dragă down to the mattress on her back. He shoved his pants down and kicked them away, letting them tangle around one ankle.

  His vampire side took over. Fangs fully descended as he held her down with one big hand flattened between her breasts, the other hand seeking her nub between her legs. He gave her slow thrusts and stroked her in urgent circles, wanting her to come as he sank his fangs into her for the first time. When she clenched around him again, he lunged for her neck.

  This time he would have his Dragă, even if it turned into another bad memory.

  THURSDAY,

  DECEMBER 12

  CHAPTER SIXTY THREE

  JAEL

  JAEL’S EYES OPENED. He lay half atop someone soft, his fangs poised to break the skin on her throat. Rearing back, he took in a bedroom all in white. Wintry air blew in through an open window, cooling his naked body. The view showed him a world made of ice. He didn’t know this place. Was this a memory he’d forgotten? Another way to torture him?

  Arms wrapped around his neck, stopping him when he tried to lever himself up.

  “Don’t stop. You’re better now, but you need to take blood to heal the rest of the way.” Viktoria lay beneath him, a loose orange tank top pushed up to expose her breasts. One of his hands between them, pinning her in place, the other under her orange leggings, fingers on her sex, sliding through the wetness he found there.

  “You.” Jael narrowed his eyes at the woman under him.

  “You were asleep, but you’re awake now. It wasn’t me in your memories,” Viktoria whispered. “The mage altered them.”

  “How can I know this is real?”

  “In your false memories, what did I call you?”

  He blinked. “You called me my name. Jael.”

  She slid her arms from around his neck and framed his face in her palms, forcing him to catch her gaze. “And when have I ever used your name, Lurky?”

  Jael squeezed his eyes shut. It hadn’t been her. None of it had been her. She hadn’t mocked him and reveled in his failures. He wanted to believe it. But it had been so real. The memories still felt real. And how would she know what she called him in his memories unless she’d been in his memories?

  “We can be together now. I want to be your Dragă.”

  But his Dragă had been fighting him since they met. Why would she accept him now? He didn’t know this place. He didn’t recognize the red-haired woman who had been with her. His Viktoria would never wear clothes so shapeless and ill-fitting, or in the bright orange color. He could test her. His Dragă would never let him bite her.

  Fangs out, Jael lunged, waiting for her shadows to pull him away. He stopped just short of biting her and inhaled, the familiar scent of vanilla, shadows and arousal swamping his senses, making him ache. The other Viktorias hadn’t smelled this way. She hadn’t smelled like anything.

  “Viktoria?”

  “Yes, Lurky. It’s me. This is real. You’re awake now.”

  He drew his fangs down her throat. She shuddered against him and tilted her head, exposing more of her skin to his teeth. Was she the real one? Or had the mage just figured out a way to make him think she was this time?

  Even if this wasn’t really his Dragă, he could make this Viktoria his. He would do it fast — before his memories changed again. At least he’d have a memory of having his Dragă one time. His heart thumped in his chest. The powerful pulse sent blood surging straight to his cock and venom into his fangs.

  His heart hadn’t beat for the other Viktorias.

  Rearing back, he finished kicking off his pants, tangled around one ankle, and tore at the tank top and leggings Viktoria wore, ripping them apart at the seams.

  “Lurky! My clothes! You —”

  Jael cut off her words by taking her mouth, not wanting to hear any more of her cruel and tricky words. Whatever she was going to say turned into a moan, urging him on as he slid his tongue between her lips. She twined her arms around his neck and kissed him back. Slowly at first, their explorations quickened into bruising possession. He needed more, wanted to steal her breath. She dug her nails into his shoulders. This kiss was a passion. Shared. Giving. Demanding.

  Impatient to be inside her and bond her to him, body strung tight with need, he shifted to settle between her legs and cupped a breast, rubbing his thumb over her taut nipple. He’d never been this hard before, to the point of hurting. Wanting had never been a way he’d considered dying before, either.

  Sliding the head of his erection through her wetness, he groaned as he thrust into soft heat. A conflicting need to hurry so the memory was complete and the desire to stay in the single moment forever warred within him.

  This Viktoria felt right. The scent of her desire was as he remembered from the night in her bedroom. But he still couldn’t be sure this was real. Everything about her felt like his Dragă, but she wasn’t acting like his Dragă.

  He pulled back and thrust again, sinking fully into her, joining them into one. Her legs lifted to encircle his hips.

  Satisfied this felt real, but not sure how long he had before his memories changed again, Jael pistoned his hips against her, taking her in fast, deep strokes. She moved her legs higher, pulled him closer.

  Releasing her mouth, he nipped along her jaw. He slowed his thrusts and fisted his hand in her hair, yanking her head to one side.

  She arched her neck even more. “Do it, Lurky.”

  His fangs ached in his jaw and dripped with venom. He pulled back and let some fall on her breast, using his tongue to spread it over her skin. When he laved his coated tongue over her already erect nipple, the bud darkened from pink to red and tightened against his lips. She writhed under him, growing wetter and contracting around him inside her.

  Moving to her other breast, he bit, sinking his fangs into the plump, sweet flesh around her nipple. She cried out and arched her back as he lapped and sucked at the small punctures and her nipple. Her blood hit his system like a lightning bolt from the blue and he groaned, letting instinct take over.

  VIKTORIA

  JAEL KISSED HIS WAY down the column of her throat. At the dip where shoulder met neck, he nibbled, letting her feel his fangs. Each pinch sent a jolt of desire down her spine. As if he sensed it, he latched his mouth over the spot and bit until the pleasure bordered on pain before easing back.

  “Do it, Lurky.” Those teases of venom burning hot in her blood left her restless with want. These gentle touches weren’t what she needed.

  His slow strokes ignited different nerves, ones that grew with each intimate caress. In and out he thrust. She floated on the edge of bliss as the first ripples of orgasm traveled along her core. She reached for the ecstasy.

  Jael pulled away, braced himself above her, and stared into her face. Black eyes, the darker ebony they turned when his vampire side was in control, watched, searching for something.

  Surely he wouldn’t turn all lurky-like right now. She cupped his face in her hands, willing him to believe in her. In them.

  “Viktoria?” His hesitation and raspy voice nearly did her in.

  “I’m here.” Viktoria needed him to be hers. Needed him to move. He’d robbed her of her orgasm and she wanted it back. She scraped her nails down his back in retaliation. That got him moving.

  He growled and seized her wrists in one hand, pinning them above her head. His other hand caged her throat. Swelling inside her, he stretched her as he finally gave her the rough she wanted, changing his angle and pounding into her. This was her vampire, all raw strength and power.

  Sensation built inside her again. Their flesh slapped, and the sounds of sex filled her ears. His pants and groans ma
tched hers.She arched, bucked against him, dug her heels into his back, clenched her inner muscles around him as he moved in and out of her.

  Her body bowed off the bed as waves of pleasure consumed her. Still, he didn’t stop, keeping up the relentless onslaught.

  JAEL

  JAEL PICKED UP HIS pace, the urgency to bond her to him pushing him to finish. He flipped her on to her knees, pulled her hips back and filled her again. One hand on her neck, he shifted his knees to bracket hers and pressed her thighs closed. Groaning, he pushed into the tighter slickness of her body.

  Pulling her up so her back was against his front. He bit his wrist, and he pressed the wound to her lips, growling in satisfaction as her lips sealed around it and she drank from him. She sucked hard enough to take what was left of his soul.

  She was welcome to it.

  Her small hands pressed on his arm, her lips sucking hard, but the wound had sealed. He sliced his neck with a sharp fingernail and pressed her mouth to that instead, groaning as she obeyed his silent commands. As that cut healed, he forced her back down, and she braced herself on her elbows to take him as he rode her hard.

  When she was close, he bent over her and struck, sinking his fangs deep into her neck, finally letting the venom building up for days flow into her. She screamed and her orgasm rode them both as she squeezed so tight around him he could hardly move as he let himself go and emptied himself into her.

  Keeping her pinned against him and his fangs in her neck, he rolled onto his side, bringing her with him.

  Then he fed.

  He sucked, taking in mouthfuls of her blood. As he swallowed, his heartbeat, a strong, steady rhythm that sent his blood, now combined with his Dragă’s, blazing through his veins. He didn’t need his swords to feel the magic in her blood combining with his. A bond and a balm settled over his mind, easing the tortured feelings of past memories.