Stolen By The Warrior

by C. J. Brookes

  “Why do you have Joselyn’s dog? My cousin goes nowhere without her dog. She needs to be with Joselyn. She’s in training to be her service dog.” Joselyn took that dog with her everywhere. She had been trained to alert Joselyn to the sound of a phone ringing or an email message arriving or a smoke alarm or a knock at the door.

  Or a security threat of any kind. Freedom could be vicious in protecting Joselyn. Joselyn’s father had insisted on it, despite the dog’s young age.

  “She and Tajic were just getting better acquainted. They are quite taken with one another. I think he’s smitten.”

  “You mean even the dog was abducted? She’s not a vampire now, too, right?”

  “I guess you could say the dog was abducted. And no. She’s not a vampire dog.” He smiled, an arrogant masculine expression that made her want to slug him.

  If she had her way, she’d club him upside the head with that three-million-year-old lamp next to him and run.

  “Tell me why you took us.” Mallory crossed her arms and tried to ignore the wolf. It wasn’t quite tame, and she could easily see that. She’d had reoccurring nightmares about wolves since she was eight or nine years old. Dreamed of them almost taunting her, calling for her. Terrifying her. “I need to know.”

  7

  He never would have suspected that his fierce little cat would be so achingly afraid and vulnerable. He was the greatest warrior of his Kind. The goddess would have paired him with the strongest female. It just made the most sense. Yet Mallory was so…in need of him. Maybe that was what it was. He was so strong, to protect her where she was so vulnerable. “Sit down.”

  She did so gingerly, sinking into the chair next to the couch. She was ready to bolt toward the door; Aodhan had no doubt about that.

  The dog hopped into her lap, and she ran her fingers through the animal’s fur, obviously something she’d done multiple times.

  He’d get Mallory her own puppy first thing in the morning. Something for her to focus on while she was adjusting to life here in Dardanos. She could cuddle and nurture it as much as she liked.

  They could pick the puppy out together. Or wait until the little border collie had a litter with Tajic, which would no doubt happen eventually.

  “What do you know of this area, kitten?”

  “That this city was populated by a tribe of an obscure religion from Argentina. My brother told me to avoid it. Said it had a high crime rate and few resources.”

  “That is false. Perhaps your brother wanted you to avoid this city for a reason, but crime and poverty are not a huge part of our city. It’s no different than any other small town, really. Just that we—Dardaptoans—built it. My people and now your people, the Dardaptoans, have lived in the American West since the time shortly after Christopher Columbus claimed he’d discovered this land. It took very little effort for our people to make their way to this land. I was a young male of around eighty, and I remember the journey clearly. This area has changed, though my people have always lived at the foot of these mountains. Only our lodgings have changed with the times in which we lived.”

  “Yeah, right. You’re trying to tell me you’re six hundred years old. I think you need to be committed.”

  His Mallory was a skeptical one, apparently. Even after all that she had seen from him. Aodhan wanted to touch her, but he kept himself in check. He did not want to frighten her. It wasn’t like they were Lupoiux wolves who had to mate within thirty-six hours now that they’d found each other.

  Yes, most Rajni bondings ended up with the newly joined couple in the bed together—usually on the first night they met—but that didn’t mean they had to.

  Not until she was ready.

  He’d just have to make his body parts understand that.

  She looked so perfect, with the white vestis outlining soft feminine curves so beautifully. Mallory had more curves than her sisters and cousins. Perfect.

  “Five hundred and ninety-eight. I was born in the 1400s, sweetheart.”

  “Prove it.”

  “I can’t exactly be carbon-dated, now can I? But my version of a family tree is right over there. It lists all the members of the Adrastos family, going back to the year 3066 before the time of your Christ. My brothers, Pax, Clarion, Havrich, Haleos, Marcos, and Marous, all of them are listed. I think. There may be a few more of us now.” He stood, ignoring the way she flinched when he got close.

  The book was old, one he’d had originally on leather scrolls. Theo had painstakingly transcribed it into a book format centuries ago before he’d lost his eyesight. He’d done it as a gift for Aodhan after the loss of Aodhan’s great-great-grandparents. His great-great-grandfather had been the first one of their family to learn to write, an accomplishment of great note considering the first Aodhan was a warrior renowned for his fierceness in battle. Learned pursuits had not been something the first was known for.

  He flipped open to the page that recorded his birth, his multiple younger brothers, and his younger sister. “Here I am, right here. Aodhan Peol Ranam Adrastos.”

  She looked at it, then looked away. Aodhan smirked; one day, their babes’ births would be recorded right there under his name. And hers. He would have to have someone with a neater hand than his inscribe his Mallory’s name in the Adrastos Great Book. Perhaps his sister would enjoy that honor.

  Mallory would give him strong sons and beautiful, fierce daughters. If the goddess so blessed them. “I need to explain something to you.”

  Her eyes turned wary. “What?”

  “Your grandfather killed over eighteen hundred of our people. The ancient laws of our Kind demanded a price. A blood price. From his bloodline.” He would not sugarcoat it. She needed to know, and soon.

  “And Em, Joselyn, my sister, and I were that price? That’s why you were going to kill me.” Green eyes looked at him straight on. Judging. Accusing. “We didn’t matter at all. Just your vengeance. Against our grandfather. That’s…that’s…insane.”

  “The blood laws were written thousands of years ago. A great enemy of our people; he and his bloodline have to pay the cost. And that’s what the elders of our people demanded. Some didn’t. It was pretty evenly split, with only six votes more in favor. I voted against it, kitten. Some wanted only to make him pay. Others wanted to wipe your entire line out in one intense strike, females, servants, and children. Rydere ruled a compromise, only those of adult status to our people. Over twenty-one and of the youngest generation. Just some of you, for now. To send a message.”

  He winced as he said it. He had lived by those laws for so long they were ingrained, but to a young female unfamiliar with Dardaptoan ways, it was no wonder she was looking at him like he was the monster in her nightmares.

  That was exactly what he was.

  He’d come into her home in the middle of the night to kill her. That was going to be difficult for her to get over.

  “You think we have something to do with vampires disappearing? Maybe they went into the sun and fried!” She jumped to her feet, dislodging her cousin’s dog. “So you just choose to kill some of us? Just like that? What we do or need or what we haven’t done didn’t make a world of difference to your people. Eye for an eye? Blood for blood? Screw that. So why didn’t you kill me, big guy? Because you got horny when we were fighting?”

  “I got very horny when we were fighting. We don’t fry in the sun. In fact, we like the sun. We are highly susceptible to the cold. But we’ll get into that later. Come here.” He stopped her midpace with one hand. “Sit. I know you and your sister have had nothing to do with what your grandfather has done to my people—our people, now.”

  “You were still going to kill us. That was exactly what you planned. So why are we here? So you can execute us in front of your people? Going to pop popcorn for the little ones?” There was very real fear in her eyes. Just how far they had to go slammed into him.

  “Because your family is responsible. It’s been suggested that your father and uncles are involved—and mu
st be punished. It’s why you and your sister, your two female cousins were chosen. Females…of our Kind are highly protected. To strike at our females is the most grievous of wounds to us. We assumed the same would be true for your family.”

  “And the fact that you’re wrong? My dad and uncles have never hurt anyone like that. At all.”

  “We do have proof of your grandfather’s activities.”

  “His, maybe. But not the others. Not mine. Definitely not my sister Becca’s. She’s still in college and hasn’t ever worked for TI. Em’s sister, Cass, is twenty-one and never sets foot in TI. She’s a gardener who sells plants to local greenhouses. What if you had found them instead of me or Emily? You would have killed them? Cass cries when she pulls the weeds because the plants are hurting. She’s never hurt anything or anyone. Someone hurting her is just wrong. I want to see this so-called proof.”

  The images and videos they had of Leo Taniss’s involvement were horrific, full of torture and suffering. And death. He wasn’t certain he wanted those images in his Rajni’s head.

  “Well? Can I see it or not? Show me now. Prove it to me.”

  Her eyes were directly on him, determined. She might fear him, but Mallory would not back down from him when it mattered. “I would prefer you not see it.”

  “Why? Is it faked?”

  He shook his head. “No. The information came directly from his laboratory. I found it myself some thirty years ago.”

  “And I’m just supposed to believe the man who was going to kill me for simply existing? Yeah, I can see that happening. Then why can’t I see it?”

  “Because your grandfather is responsible for what amounts to genocide.”

  Her eyes widened. “I don’t believe you.”

  “He experimented on, and murdered, hundreds of my people, kitten. Probably thousands. Genocide is the cleanest term for it I can think of. And I don’t want you seeing the things he’s done. I don’t want those images in your head.”

  “If it’s true, I can handle it, vampire. It has to be easier than…this.” She ran a hand over the silk scarf tied around her waist, playing with the fabric absently. Her fingers were long and thin, so feminine and perfect. Her nails were broken and ragged from fighting him.

  His female had bruises. Guilt slammed him. Bruises he’d caused and had no difficulty seeing on her arm and wrist. If she had been Dardaptoan at the time he’d caused those bruises, he’d be spending a decade in prison.

  No Dardaptoan male liked it when his female was hurting. His female hurt to the bottom of her soul. Because of him. He covered the bruises on her skin with his hand. He lifted her arm to his mouth and brushed his lips over the marks. She shivered. “I am sorry. For these.”

  “You’re sorry? Then let me go home. Let me take my cousins and my sister and go back to our lives.”

  “I cannot do that. Not now. You must know that.” He could never let her go. He just couldn’t. Not this female who now held his heart.

  “I just want to get as far away from you as I possibly can.”

  Aodhan was a warrior first and foremost, like the Adrastos family had been known for over the past centuries, but this was his Rajni. His female.

  Her words hurt him deeper than any wound he had ever taken in battle.

  He pulled her closer, then down on to his lap. She fought for a moment, then settled passively against him. Giving up. She trembled against him but didn’t pull away.

  Playing along with him, no doubt.

  He wanted her feeling secure enough in her safety to protest what he did that she didn’t like. He slipped his arms behind her waist and just held her close for a moment.

  He ran his hand up her spine and then down, again and again. She was soft beneath his palm, though her clothing prevented them touching skin to skin. “I am sorry it happened in the way it did. Had it been ideal, we would have met, courted even.”

  “That’s ridiculous.” Her words were muffled in his neck, but he heard her. “People don’t court anymore.”

  “You cannot go home. You will be too dangerous of a creature, especially around your younger sister and those you love. You will stay with me. I will teach you, show you.” It was manipulative of him, but he knew those were the right cards to play with her. She had tried so valiantly to protect her sister. She would extend that same fight and protection to the rest of her family. It would buy him a little time with her. Time he needed. “I can teach you and ensure you are safe.”

  She pulled back to look at him straight on. “I would never hurt my family. Would never feed from them like an insect. The very thought is disgusting.”

  He lifted her off his lap and sat her on the coffee table in front of him. Aodhan cupped her soft cheeks in his hands. “Very well then. I will simply court you until you change your mind.”

  8

  The guy was caught up in some sick insane fantasy starring her. Mallory couldn’t think of any other way to put it.

  He kept her at his side for two hours, just trying to convince her that she wanted to stay with him. He’d offered her jewelry, antiques, all the clothes she could want, electronics—no internet, of course—and everything imaginable, including a puppy of her own. All she had to do was agree to say she’d give him a chance.

  To be her vampire mate for eternity.

  She’d just crossed her arms and tuned the vampire out.

  He’d given up and finally taken her to see her sister like she’d demanded. That had been the only thing she’d wanted he’d truly been willing to give her. Now she sat with her sister and cousins as they tried to figure out what to do next.

  “Mal, what do you think?”

  Think about what? The fact that they were being held captive by vampires? That was hard to miss. “I don’t have a clue.”

  They were stuck. Until Rand and his friend Rathan came to get them.

  But until they found a way out, she didn’t know what other option there was. “Oh. I think we have to play along. For now.”

  What other option did she have? She couldn’t physically fight him. At least, not for long. He was too big and too skilled for that. He’d almost broken her arm—with ease. Had he wanted to, he would have.

  Fighting him physically probably wasn’t a good idea.

  He was probably more skilled in martial arts than her brother. She couldn’t shoot him—she didn’t have a gun—and wasn’t sure she’d be able to, anyway. Despite what he’d done to her and her cousins, a part of her…believed him.

  About her grandfather and what he had done, anyway.

  What that meant to her wasn’t clear. They just couldn’t go on like this.

  Captives of vampires.

  They were smart enough to keep her and the others in different parts of the building. That seriously limited her ability to gather intel. Maybe.

  They could probably make it work.

  If they played their cards right and worked together, maybe they’d be able to at least stall long enough for help to find them.

  “Play nice. No matter how hard it is. At least until we find out what is truly going on.” She was the one who said it—because it was the only plan she could come up with that had even a slim chance of working. “Or until help comes or we find a way to escape. I don’t think they plan to kill us, at least.”

  “No. I don’t think they want to do that,” Emily said almost drily. “I think they have something else in mind. A quadruple vampire wedding seems to be their primary goal.”

  No kidding. She didn’t want to be the vampire’s bride.

  It left a sour taste in her mouth.

  The only choice they had was to play along, for now.

  9

  Aodhan didn’t trust her easy capitulation. It was just something a tricky female would try with her male. No doubt she was planning to do something—something very soon. Conniving little female. He wanted to kiss her just for the look she shot him.

  His female had a warrior’s heart, and she was just strategizing bef
ore making her next attack. He kissed her cheek before he thought the action out, and then forced himself to ignore the instinctive gasp and withdrawal she made.

  Of course, she would pull away from him. He had to be gentle. He had to remember that. He would not rush her. No matter what. “Are you ready to return to our suite, kitten? I have a present waiting for you.”

  “Cab fare back to Denver, perhaps?” Her words were low enough that only he heard.

  “Now why would I send you to Denver when I would miss you too much? No, a warrior’s female is best kept close to his side. Where she can’t get into trouble.”

  “I’m not your female. I’m your kidnappee. Abductee, maybe? Or hostage. Whatever you want to call it.” She hissed the words at him through her tiny feminine fangs.

  “You’ll adjust in time.” He led her from the sitting room, holding her warm hand in his. For such a strong female, she felt so delicate.

  He was a fighter, a warrior. His family had been such for centuries. No, he was not full of the tender of emotions. He wasn’t sure he was up to the task of caring for a female such as this. Fear of failure was something he had not felt since a sixteen-year-old sister had been dumped on his doorstep. Four hundred years ago. He was a bit out of practice of caring for the females who truly mattered. “Did you enjoy your time with your family? Reassure yourself they were safe and well?”

  “They aren’t safe and well. They are hostages. We all want to go home. Are you planning on keeping us here indefinitely? That may be hard to do. My family will be searching for us. We will be missed if we haven’t been already.”

  “We’ll deal with that issue when we come to it.” Aodhan was monitoring the Taniss family. His cousin Matthuin was handling that task on his orders.

  Matthuin had been sent to the Taniss vacation compound well over a week ago and had been reporting to Aodhan on the comings and goings of the Tanisses for that entire week. “Your family knows, yet why have they not reported you missing to the police? They have noticed you are missing. Don’t they care?”