It’d be a cold day in hell before that happened.
3
“We brought Thai food!”
No.
Double no.
They were here again? Like, the afternoon after they were last here?
“Touch the green curry, and I will rip your eyes out.”
Francesca sounded bitchier than usual.
I was closer to the hidden garden this time. Grinning, I slipped between two low-hanging trees and crept to one of the swinging chairs positioned around the sunken fire pit area.
Gerome snarled. “Don’t touch my Khao Soi if you don’t want me to touch your green curry then!”
Dodged a bullet.
Victory!
Kyros’s deep voice rumbled. “What are you doing here? Again.” His resignation nearly drew a snort from my lips. I tempered by recalling his douchebaggery from yesterday.
“Brother,” Safina said, “do you really need to ask why?”
What did that mean?
The king’s voice stopped Gerome and Francesca’s bickering. “Heir.”
Everyone was here. Fucking great.
“Father.”
“Why is your mate hiding in the garden?”
I bit back my groan.
The king’s voice cut through the walls of the house toward me. “You are yet to apologise to her.”
Simultaneously, I appreciated and did not appreciate the king championing me. He was one of the few Vissimo in existence who could exercise control over Kyros. I objected to his humiliating methods when his son already felt so worthless.
“I was about to if you hadn’t all shown up,” Kyros growled back.
Shit. He was playing with the fire that was his father too often of late. Though powerful, Kyros was considered a growing Vissimo. He’d just turned the vampire equivalent of twenty-one.
Which meant his six-hundred-year-old father could give him a literal smackdown that would make the punch from yesterday look like a game of Pictionary.
“I suggest you do it, heir.”
Yep, I had front row seats to Kyros’s emotions. He in no way intended to apologise for throwing the keys on the ground. I tensed as the front door opened, wondering if I should hide better.
Bit hard when I had a figurative homing beacon inside me.
“Basilia,” Kyros called from the front door.
Maybe I’d just stay quiet and—
He growled and stalked from the house toward where I sat.
Today was not a day to push me around. I’d tossed and turned all night after the call with Tommy. Plus, a peaceful doze was impossible with Kyros beating himself up so freakin’ much after acting like an asshole.
And I wanted Thai food.
I sent Kyros a flash of warning through our bond—a lion’s roar of sorts.
“That’s about as strong as a growling puppy,” he spat, striding between the two trees and stopping at the edge of the sunken pit.
Turning my face away, I stared at the rolling expanse of his garden, spotting a few Indebted in the distance. My insides twisted.
“I have time for a driving lesson now,” he said, folding his arms.
I hummed. “That’s a shame. I’m busy for the next few months. I’ll let you know if there’s an opening.”
Kyros dropped into the pit and approached me at a slow stroll. “You want to learn.”
“Someone else can teach me at the estate.”
“Basilia, just—”
I burst to my feet. “No, you just.”
I gasped, swearing as he picked me up. Cradling me in his arm, he began striding back to the house.
When kicking proved futile, I thumped my fist on his chest. “Kyros Atagio, put me down right this minute.”
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re spoiled?” he murmured.
Who did he think he was fooling with his calm façade? Anger thrummed just beneath the surface of the massive vampire.
Sarcasm filled my voice. “Have you ever met a billionaire who wasn’t?”
We entered the garage, and I was transferred to the driver’s seat of his usual black car. I would have preferred the flashy orange number at the far end of the row of vehicles.
And he thought I was spoiled?
“Seat belt,” he snapped, sliding into the car.
Glaring, I did as bid. “Are you going to be a dick the entire time?”
Waiting patiently as he struggled to grip the tatters of his control, I pushed the doodacky that started the car.
He took a deep breath. “Check your side and rear-view mirrors as you reverse out. Swing to the left when the front of the car is clear. We’ll practice on the front grass.”
“There’s a reverse camera.”
“That you can’t always rely upon being there. Use the mirrors.”
Whatever.
Touching the accelerator gently, I jolted as the car jerked back. I slammed on the brakes and whacked the wheel. “Why is every car different like that?”
Kyros hesitated before answering, “Your altered senses may have something to do with it.”
True.
Focusing on my touch, I pulled the sense right in before easing on the accelerator.
The vehicle glided backward. Ha! I ripped the wheel down as we left the garage, spinning us to the left on the gravel.
“Woohoo,” I crowed.
“Easy,” he said between clenched teeth.
I quirked a brow. “Why? The result is the same.”
“Because reckless driving is against the law.”
Really? Who knew?
Not waiting for him to boss me around again, I directed the car onto the wide expanse of grass between the house and the ocean. “What next?”
“Drive around. Get used to the feel.”
Yes, sir.
I planted my foot.
“Basilia.”
“This thing really flies.”
“Do you have any self-preservation whatsoever?” he hissed as I eased up on the pedal.
We were going there then.
“As much as any human,” I answered, easing the car in a wide arc to go back the way I came. “Why? You got a problem with that?”
A long beat went by.
“Yes. Though I have no right to. Yes,” he said in a hollow voice.
It was the first time since I awoke that he’d pushed past anger.
What exactly did Kyros mean by the no right part though? Was it centred around his feeling of powerlessness? Or was this another Vissimo thing I didn’t understand? I didn’t dare hope that he’d gracefully accepted I didn’t need help.
Scrap that. There were times when I needed help, but there was no way, no way, that I needed him or anyone for everything. I didn’t even need Tommy for everything. Or Fred. I hadn’t needed Grandmother for everything.
“The triplets were very clear about what would happen to Tommy if I didn’t enter alone,” I said.
Silence.
“I’m trying to understand why you hold me to different standards than you hold yourself.” I continued. “You blame me for saving my friend?”
Fuck, he was so incredibly hard inside right now—an emotional barrier. I hated when he pulled that crap.
“No,” Kyros said, glancing out the window to the sea. “I blame myself because you deemed me inadequate of your confidence.”
That was just so… messed up.
Sorrow tinged my words. “I find it really hard to grasp Vissimo values. You know that I don’t see us as a team, Kyros. I’ve known you for a handful of months, and most of that, you weren’t my friend by any means.”
“Friend?” he said incredulously.
I didn’t take the bait, but my knuckles whitened where they throttled the wheel instead of his neck.
“I had minutes to come up with a plan, Kyros. Minutes. If I’d had longer, I likely would have thought of a way to involve you without risking Tommy’s life. I wanted to involve you because I was so afraid. But in hindsight, I
’m glad that never happened. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if harm came to your family. In my mind, that’s how the matter lies.”
“Your death would have been my end, Basilia,” he said, defeat hanging heavy around him.
I shot him a frown, swinging us back around again. “Like, killed you?”
Shit, I hadn’t known that.
Kyros shook his head. “Others. I would have lost control. Safina would have paid the debt of my crimes once my father managed to kill me. When a vampire goes berserk, there’s no coming back. Ever. The death of a true mate is a sure way to trigger it.”
… Oh.
I bit my lip. “I never knew that.”
He closed his eyes. “Because I didn’t wish you to carry the burden. When you entered Gingers, I nearly lost control. After I extracted your promise not to enter Fyrlia territory again, I thought it a non-issue.”
That there was a massive problem. “So you deemed that as your burden to carry, your issue, and made the choice not to include me?”
Green eyes cut to me. “It is not the same thing as walking to your death to save your friend.”
I disagreed. “Both proved life-threatening. You’re used to working by yourself. I’m used to working by myself. Double standards, Kyros. And I can tell you’re deflecting. Tell me what the real issue is.”
Were we going to do anything other than loop in circles? Not that I was going to mention that now Kyros was talking.
“You—” He started. “You killed that Fyrlia scum. As a human. Through sheer intelligence and bravery and loyalty to your friend, you defeated him. I’m inadequate to call you mate.”
There it is.
My heart squeezed tight as his emotions barraged my mind. “You’re treating me like shit to push me away. That behaviour, nothing else, is what makes me doubt the blood bond. Why are you acting this way?”
There was something more.
I could feel it. And hey, I could flatten this grass all day while he put his anguish into words.
Kyros growled, avoiding my gaze. “You know why.”
“I can’t read your mind, so no, I don’t know why.”
Glass poured into the car as he smashed the passenger window. “I’m your fucking mate—your true mate—and you don’t have faith in my strength or my power or my ability to keep you from harm. You don’t want to be in my company, on my property, or in my territory. You don’t believe in the blood bond or see us as a single entity. How the fuck am I meant to change your mind? How do I show you when killing more of my enemies means losing my family? What gives me the right to show you when you’re just so untouchable?”
Understanding trickled to me slowly.
Really, fundamentally, Kyros’s torment had the same roots as many of my childhood demons. He felt trapped and incapable of taking action.
I may not completely grasp his inherent Vissimo need to protect me as the male, but I could understand the emotion making him feel helpless. And I knew from clawing my way back to self-worth that I couldn’t make him feel better.
He had to do that himself.
But maybe he needed a kick-starter.
Guiding the vehicle around again, I said, “You think I don’t trust you to protect me? That’s the issue?”
That was just so… moronic. Who else was better equipped to do so and had more motive to save my butt?
“I can feel your uncertainty around me,” he answered after a beat.
I hit the steering wheel, pushing down on the accelerator. “I only feel that way because you’re acting like a caveman who didn’t spear a pig for dinner!”
“Slow down.”
In reply, I wrenched down on the wheel to circle us around, gauging the distance between us and the cliff edge. “What if I could give you proof that I trust you with my life?”
Kyros whipped his head to me. “You can’t.”
My heart spluttered uselessly in my chest. I gripped the wheel, firming my resolve on the fucking craziness I was about to unleash.
“I can. In the boot. There’s a bag.”
He stared at me. “No there’s not.”
I groaned. “Because you look there all the freakin’ time? Check the damned boot.”
Massive vampire in an itty-bitty space? He lowered his seat back and wrangled his way onto the back seat.
As soon as he pulled the seat down and stretched into the trunk, I planted my foot, wrenching the wheel to the right. His startled snarl was lost to the roar of the engine as we hurtled toward the cliff ledge.
Closer.
“Basilia!”
Closer.
His hand closed around my seat belt.
The engine whined as the ground disappeared and I gasped as we glided straight in thin air.
The nose tipped, and a scream lodged in my throat as we plummeted down to the ocean.
Kyros ripped my seat belt off. Moving me too quickly for me to fathom up and down.
Metal screamed. Light poured in. My new senses were overloaded. Shot.
I couldn’t take it anymore—though I’d created this.
Terror forced my scream. “Kyros!”
His arms were around me. Wind rushed past as we catapulted to who knew what, and yet still his soft words were audible in my ear.
“I have you.”
He did.
So why was I afraid?
The calm spreading through me wasn’t mine but worked all the same. My head cleared, and I was able to focus on the cobalt blue rushing up to meet us.
Kyros curled around me, covering my ears an instant before we crashed through the surface.
Water closed over us.
Forever passed as we forged a path through the depths. When our downward movement stopped, Kyros kicked upward with me in tow.
Just as my chest began to tighten, we broke the surface.
The vampire whirled me to face him.
“What the fuck were you thinking?” he hissed, water dripping from his toffee hair.
He hadn’t touched me in weeks, and as his words floated away, we both gasped at the electrical contact.
The current underneath my skin exploded.
I panted for air, wiping water from my eyes to better see him. Call it adrenaline, call it the blood bond, or call it something else entirely—throwing myself at Kyros, I looped my arms around his neck and pressed my lips to his.
His moan was immediate.
Saltwater seasoned our kiss as our tongues moved together, our union working both of us to a frenzy. I burned with the need to draw him closer, to tie him to me by whatever means possible.
To never exist as separate from him again.
I bobbed under the surface without warning. Surfacing, I coughed for air.
Kyros joined me above water a second later, glancing around in confusion.
“Did you just forget we were in the ocean and you had to swim?” I asked, breathing hard as I treaded water.
His lips twitched as the dreamy haze left his eyes. “You have that effect on me, vixen.”
Vixen.
My bottom lip must have trembled because as Kyros drew me against him once more, he stroked it with his thumb.
“I’m sorry, my beauty,” he said over the crashing of the waves.
A handful of words made me realise just how much his distance had hurt. “I missed you. Are you back for good?”
His reply was dry as he turned around. “You proved your point. Destroying my favourite car in the process.”
“That was collateral for your little move with the keys yesterday.”
“Fair enough. Hold onto my neck.”
As soon as I did, Kyros swam for the cliff face.
“But?” I asked him.
“But you are not Vissimo. And I am not human. I need to figure out how I fit as your mate, seeing as you won’t accept me acting like a caveman who didn’t spear a pig for dinner.”
His amusement embraced me and if it was a tangible thing, I would have hugged it an
d never let go. Kyros was happy, and I just felt so right. So centred and sure.
“No, I won’t,” I mumbled. “I promise to figure out the same. For y—” I grimaced as we reached the bottom of the cliffs.
“What?” He tried to glance back.
We were exchanging wedding vows. What the hell was wrong with me? I’d forgotten everything.
I shook my head. “Uhm, nothing. Just grossly unprepared for the emotional content of this conversation.”
That didn’t amuse him one bit.
“You drove a car off a cliff, and this conversation worries you?”
Make that a big fat yes with a side of fries. Not answering, I linked my legs around his waist and adjusted my grip.
Kyros started up the one-hundred-metre drop, and I didn’t give it more than a passing thought. I really did trust him to protect me. As it turned out, knowing that and proving it to myself were different things.
Why did I have the feeling I’d just crossed a line that I couldn’t erase?
“Kyros. Basilia. Your dinner is getting cold!”
I craned my head to see Queen Titania peering over the ledge. She waved, beaming.
How did this become my normal?
Because it did feel normal to me now. This absolute insanity where vampires were real and I drove cars off cliffs to prove a point.
I rested my head against Kyros’s back. “I’m hungry. Let’s go feed me.”
A growl filled his chest as his powerful arms and legs worked to move us to the top. “Kyros spear pig.”
Ugh.
I’d never hear the end of that.
4
It took another two days to return to the estate under the not-so-ideal negotiated conditions of my release.
I’d needed time after Kyros came around to decide my plan of attack for Tommy and the Indebted. Plus, things felt so right with him after the car thing, and I truly hadn’t wanted to leave his company.
In the end, the danger of that spurred me home more than anything.
My duty to my grandmother’s memory and her friends came first. Always. I’d known my feelings would get tangled as we continued to exchange blood, but I had to keep that from interfering with my strategy.
“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath as Fred pulled into the estate.
This was going to be a shit of a day.
Death Game: Supernatural Battle (Vampire Towers Book 3) Page 3