And he was somehow connected to the Taniss family?
No. He glanced at his brother, Aodhan, and Theo. None were lost to the implications of an Incubus near their females.
Aodhan’s female hugged the demon closely. The Incubus shot Aodhan a smirk that had Aodhan’s hands clenching into fists as the demon rocked her gently. The demon was gentle when he lifted the female away and gave her a nudge toward Aodhan.
Barlaam forced himself to breathe.
Before he turned to the female now watching them all.
Watching him.
He took his first close look at her.
She was far more beautiful up close. She didn’t look like a mere twenty-two-year-old babe. Far from it. She was a human in the prime of her sexuality. Full grown. Ripe for the taking.
His fangs erupted at the thought of how sweet her blood would taste, at how pale and slender her neck looked.
He was a predator, after all. And a Dardaptoan’s favorite prey was human.
The demon put his hand on the blonde’s shoulder.
Red rage covered Barlaam’s mind in that instant.
He did not want the demon touching her at all.
The demon bowed to Rydere. “I recognize you, of course.”
“And how is it that you know my brother?” Rydere asked, looking between Barlaam and the demon.
“We met in Kohoal…many…” The demon shot a look at the blond female. “Many years ago. It was a trying experience. I owe your brother my life.”
“As I owe you in return,” Barlaam admitted grudgingly.
“I see.” Rydere kept one hand on his own female, even as she hugged the demon. “And how are you connected to the Taniss family?”
“Rand and I are good friends. I have known his sisters and cousins for a long while. When Rand told me that there was a problem with four of them, I was more than willing to help him solve it.”
Demonic rage was clear for those who knew to look for it. Rathan Malickus, high king of the demon Kind, was not happy with the abductions of the four Taniss females. And he was letting them all know that. He could pose quite a problem if these matters were not handled delicately enough.
Kindara walked closer.
The demon’s attention immediately shifted; his expression changed to one of gentleness. And fascination.
He reached for her.
Kindara sidestepped him easily.
She hugged Barlaam closely. “We seriously need to talk.”
“We will.” They had secrets between them. Secrets that he hoped would one day bring their people the answers they sought.
“Be careful what you say in front of the girl. I am not certain she is fully human, but whatever she is…I can’t figure out.”
Hands pulled Kindara out of his arms.
His eyes met the black ones of the demon in challenge.
Possession blazed in the other male’s gaze. Oh, to the three everlasting hells. It was starting to make sense.
The demon hungered…for Kindara.
That did not bode well. Not at all. If the demon king wanted to claim her as his queen, there was no law in any of the worlds that could stop him.
Barlaam’s hand tightened on Kindara’s arm, fighting the urge to yank his friend away from the demon. To protect.
Then the young blonde spoke, and Barlaam’s entire world shifted. With just the power of her voice. He knew exactly what Kindara meant. There was something in the girl that wasn’t quite human.
And she was casting some sort of spell on him.
One he did not know if he could resist.
11
Jason saw the movement as he was driving down the long highway that lead to the family vacation home and he cursed.
It wasn’t a regular wolf pack he saw. Like instantly recognized like, after all.
They were Lupoiux.
He pulled his truck off the road, behind a fence that had been overgrown with weeds taller than he was. It wasn’t a great hiding place, but it would do for now.
This pack was far too close to his home for his liking.
Jason carefully slipped out of his suit and tie, putting them in the front driver’s seat quickly.
With barely a thought, he shifted, black fur rippling along his muscular frame.
Jason darted into the forest after the rogue pack of intruders.
They were far too damned close to the land that was his.
The Taniss pack ruled in this part of the state. Every smart wolf, every alpha, was damned well aware of that.
He wasn’t lost to the coincidence—no rogue pack should be anywhere near his family so soon after four of the girls had been abducted.
He crept closer. Until he was just behind two young wolves. They turned back to their human forms. Jason crouched low, taking advantage of the shadows.
He was twice these pups’ age, and far stronger. They were dirty, rude, and pathetic.
“I’m going to take my share of the money and buy a damned car. No more of this running on all fours shit.”
“This girl is going to be so much fun. I googled her. She’s damned hot. All that blond hair.”
The second youth dug through a backpack that had been hanging off a low tree branch. They’d apparently been using this clearing less than a quarter of a mile from his family’s property as a home base.
“I say we go after her tonight, then that redheaded one tomorrow.” The one who had spoken first pulled a cell phone free. “Jade Taniss. Totally hot.”
“She’s definitely worth the money, that’s for sure. And wait until we get her naked. I plan to have a lot of fun with her before we turn her over to that bastard.”
“You think he plans to kill her?”
“Who the hell cares? I just want my share of the cash.”
Jason snarled his lips.
They’d just signed their death warrants.
No one threatened his daughters.
No one.
Jason leaped, taking the larger one down quickly. They were pathetic examples of his Kind. Far too easy. Jason took care of the threat to his daughter, then went in search of the youths’ alpha.
The son of a bitch was far too close to his family.
To the vacation home where his younger daughter waited, almost completely alone.
12
Jade wasn’t entirely certain how it had happened. Emily and Mallory and the vampires they’d brought home had only been at the vacation home a few hours when her father had burst in.
He’d taken one look at her, frowned, then turned his attention to the vampires.
Especially the one named Cormac. That vampire had made a point of saying hello to her. He’d been charming as he’d bowed to her and called her sister, but the air of danger that lurked around him had had her on edge.
Until he’d mentioned her sister’s name to Kindara. He was Joselyn’s vampire. Even though no one had explicitly said that—or said they were vampires.
But Jade wasn’t stupid. She knew they were. The one named Cormac had broken into their home and taken her sister—against Joselyn’s will.
Hard to forgive that. She shot another glare his way.
Her father had attacked Cormac, and the two had wrestled together on the floor for several moments until Kindara had called a halt to it—and ordered Rathan to stop the fight.
Rathan had jumped to obey her.
Jade thought that was a bit humorous. Rathan probably had never obeyed anyone. He was the most dangerous man she had ever met. People obeyed him, not the other way around.
Rathan pulled her father off of Cormac, who was laughing like a lunatic, saying something about turning her father into a rug for Joselyn’s office.
Yep. He’d confirmed it.
Her father was a werewolf. She’d known that for a long while. Her father shook Rathan’s hands off of him and turned to her. “Damn it, Jade Elizabeth. You are not supposed to be here.”
“Damn it, Dad, that’s exactly what Rand and Rathan
said. Yet here I am. Where I am supposed to be. What’s up?” She shot him a guileless grin—the same grin she’d inherited from him. Just as her sister had. “Hi, Daddy.”
Her father turned to Rathan and Rand. “How many do we have on property now?”
“Just what you see. And the guards. Why?” Rand asked.
“We need to evacuate now.”
“What’s going on?” the vampire next to Emily asked.
Jade’s vampire was on his left. She shot him another look. He hadn’t yet said a word to anyone, except whatever he’d whispered to Kindara.
Jade tried not to be jealous at how pretty they looked next to each other. How close.
He hadn’t even looked at her since that first time their eyes had met two hours ago. Jade had slipped into the dining room where the vampires were talking with Rand and Rathan without anyone seeing her.
Another little talent she’d had since childhood. If she didn’t want to be seen, she wouldn’t be.
Emily and Mallory were upstairs, speaking with Kindara’s daughter. Jierra had refused to come too close to Rand since that morning.
Jade was still trying to figure out why. Or she had been, until he had arrived. Her vampire.
How was she supposed to learn about the man she was meant to be with if he wouldn’t even acknowledge her?
Her father just growled.
Sometimes, he could be kind of scary. “Daddy?”
He turned toward her.
Her father hugged her, lifting her off her feet for a moment. Then he put her back on the floor and turned to her cousin Rand. “A pack of Redd Gothan. About two dozen males. Headed this way.”
“After the Dahn?” one of the vampires asked. She thought it had been the one who had come with Mallory who’d spoken, but she couldn’t quite see that far down the table from her angle. “How did they know she was here?”
“They’re after my daughter.” Her father’s hand tightened on her arm. “I went to your apartment to get you and Becca. Your roommate, Loren, told me you’d come down here when I explicitly told you not to. She was very worried. Seemed to sense you were in trouble.”
“I’m fine. I came down here because I thought I’d find a way to get to Joselyn here.” And she had. She’d just go right through Cormac and his sister, Kindara, if she had to. “What’s a Redd Gothan? A werewolf, like you?”
Her father’s eyes widened. Rand growled.
Rathan just laughed. “I told you she was far more perceptive than you gave her credit for, Jason. I told you that when she was a mere girl of seventeen and spying on me to find out what I was. She’d almost caught me, too.”
“Come on. I’m not stupid. I’ve been telling everyone vampires exist for years.” Jade shot Rathan a look, conscious of her vampire watching. Then she shot him a wicked grin. “I wasn’t spying on you to figure out what you were; Becca, Cass, and I were following you to see if you’d kiss Mallory again. We were so curious, and we’d heard her tell Emily that you were really good at it.”
Her father shot Rathan a look.
Rathan just smiled and tightened his hands on the woman sitting in his lap. Jade hadn’t even noticed Kindara sitting there.
“How far out?” Rand asked her father.
“Two hours at the most. I was able to get close enough to hear their plans.” His hand tightened on her arm. “To hear them mention Jade by name. They are coming after her.”
“Then we have no choice. We have to get her out of here,” Rand said. “We’ll table these discussions, Em. Right now…we need to find out what the Redd Gothan is doing here. And why they want Jade so badly.”
“I’ll find that answer myself,” Rathan said. He lifted Kindara off his lap and placed her in a chair next to Cormac. He was very gentle with her. He patted her hands lightly. “I’ll return in a moment, pet. You have my word.”
He straightened, then looked at Jade. He winked. “Mallory wasn’t wrong. I am very good at it, by the way. I am very good at everything I do.”
With a loud pop, he just disappeared.
Jade looked at her father and smirked. “I knew he wasn’t human.”
“Jade…go upstairs. Get your things. We’ve got to get you out of here.”
“And then we will deal with the Redd Gothan ourselves,” Rand added.
13
The girl would have to be protected even more than she already was. Barlaam had figured it out; she’d driven the one hundred and forty miles between her university and this place completely alone.
With Lupoiux werewolves hunting her. She had not even known the danger she had been in. Her father was greatly at fault for not watching over her more closely.
The girl had disappeared up the stairs to grab her belongings. Her female cousins had been with her. They’d kept her between them, as if they would physically protect her, if necessary.
The little human was a troublemaker. He knew that just by the few moments he had watched her.
She had known vampires existed since she’d been a girl. That concerned him.
Just how had such a girl learned of the different Kinds? It wasn’t possible.
“She’s a dangerous creature,” Cormac said behind him. Barlaam turned to him.
“Who?”
“Joselyn’s sister. I tried to read her, and she slammed a wall down in front of me. And then smirked at me—much like her sister likes to do. I think she knew exactly what I was doing. No human ever has before.”
“No doubt she did.” There was something in those green eyes that told him that the girl had all the answers to the universe, just waiting to escape her sweet-looking lips. “She is very…unusual. Especially for a human so young.”
“Is she human? Kindara does not think she is.”
“I have not gotten close enough to her to see for myself.” And he did not want to get close to her. If he did, Barlaam was not certain he would not want to touch her.
She drew him.
And that concerned him.
He made certain to be in the helicopter across the way from her. She wasn’t an easy flyer; any more than her two female cousins were. Her father stayed at her side, hovering. Protective.
She looked so vulnerable.
And she was.
She might not be wholly human, but she was mostly human. If the helicopter crashed, she would be the one most likely killed. Even his people, if they could stop any blood loss, would survive just about anything.
He tried to take his eyes away from her, but couldn’t. She was just so damned vulnerable to anything that could happen.
And she did not even realize it.
Finally, the helicopter landed on the helipads on top of the resort. Barlaam was the closest to the door. He opened it and stepped down when the time was right.
He turned back as his sister-in-law stepped out. It took little effort to lift her down to the ground. Aodhan’s female came next. She was bigger than her cousin, but still a bit small for a Dardaptoan female. He helped her down gently; she was still quite timid of all males.
Then she stepped to the door.
His hands wrapped around the blonde’s waist as she looked at him and smiled. The instant he lifted her into his arms and down to the helipad, he knew.
She just blinked up at him, a half smile on her lips still. He pulled her closer as the knowledge that this human girl was the female he had been destined by his goddess to spend the rest of his life with slammed into him.
The word slipped from his lips before he could stop it. “Rajni.”
Green eyes blinked at him. She’d heard him, though she was human. She should not have been able to hear him.
He pulled her into his arms, for just the briefest of moments. She smelled like jasmine and heat. Perfection.
And then he stepped away from her before he did something he would regret.
14
Jade followed her cousins, not sure what else she was supposed to do. She needed to take a few hours and strategize just exactly w
hat she was going to do about him.
It wouldn’t do to let him get the upper hand. She suspected he was the type who wanted complete control of everything in his life, and she wasn’t about to let that happen.
Sometimes, she had to do things for everyone’s own good.
He’d just have to get used to that.
She followed the rest of the group, watching the movements of her father and cousin Rand. They were whispering, planning something. They kept shooting glances back at the rest of the crowd.
Jade sidled closer.
The only way she’d ever found to plan anything was by finding information. They were talking so low she couldn’t quite catch it.
And then movement caught her eye.
Jade squealed, calling her sister’s name. Joselyn couldn’t hear her. Her sister had been deaf since Jade was a few months old, but Jade couldn’t stop herself.
And then she ran.
Joselyn met her halfway.
Jade didn’t even bother trying to stop the tears. She’d almost felt the pain her sister had felt. There was no way Joselyn had just been ill. It was more than that.
And now her sister, her best friend in the entire world, was a vampire.
Jade just held her. Until her father pulled her back and scooped Joselyn up into his arms. He hooked his arm around Jade’s waist and pulled her close.
Then it was just the three of them again, like it had been for as long as Jade could remember.
She loved her cousins, aunts, uncles, all of them—but Joselyn and her dad were her world.
Now that world had changed.
Just how big those changes were overwhelmed her.
Then the tears doubled as she clung as tightly as she could.
Everything was about to change now. For once, Jade didn’t know how she was going to handle it.
15
He spent hours in his office, going over the research Kindara had been seeking in Denver before she had been abducted. He had warned her not to go. Or to at least wait a day or two until he could go with her.
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