Secret of the Vampire

by L. E. Wilson

  MINE.

  I felt that truth with every fiber of my being, and it both energized and terrorized me. Keira was my witch. And it shamed me that, at times, when I was in a particularly dark place, my broken spirit demanded retribution for the years of complete and utter hell she had put me through. Luckily, I was a mated vampire, and those instincts would never allow me to harm her.

  Because she was also my angel. The one who had saved me from the hell of my own mind. Keira owned my heart, my body, and my soul, but perhaps not all of me. Not yet.

  Today, I was grateful she slept. She worried about me, with good fucking reason, and she didn’t get as much rest as she should.

  Turning on my heel, I left her naked in my bed and went to the closet to pull on a pair of flannel pants and a T-shirt. There was no need to wake her for this. I was barely holding it together as it was. If she were involved…

  Barefoot, I padded silently out of the bedroom, shutting the door quietly behind me.

  The warlock was waiting for me, sprawled casually in my favorite armchair. The fact that he was already inside the locked apartment caught me off guard, though it shouldn’t have.

  Jesse’s appearance was much changed without the hooded robe he liked to hide within. But even in black dress slacks and a dark short-sleeved pullover shirt, his aura oozed power. He, like myself just moments before, stared out at the lights of the city, his golden eyes burnished with memories of other places and times.

  I walked past without acknowledging the warlock’s presence, trying—and failing—to ignore the chills that raced across my skin when the male rose and followed me into my glass-walled office. I hadn’t been this close in proximity to the other male since the night we’d sent the demons back to hell. And there’d been too much activity that night for anyone except Keira to notice my weakness.

  When Jesse joined me inside, I closed the door, flinching when the latch clicked into place. The mechanism resounded in my eardrums loud as a bomb, and I had to remind himself of where I was. I left the lights off, not wanting to startle Keira if she happened to wake and came looking for me. Taking my seat behind the desk, I struggled to keep my hands from tightening into fists as I waited for the other male to speak. Not that it would matter if he saw. The warlock could sense my fear. And it was nothing I could help.

  But it was a matter of pride.

  Jesse pressed the tips of his fingers together under his chin and regarded me calmly. “So, we are doing this in secret?”

  “For now.” My voice sounded sure and even, and for that much I was grateful.

  A smile teased the corners of the warlock’s mouth. “There’s no need for such subterfuge, vampire.”

  Vampire. I repressed a shudder as shards of ice slid up and down my spine. Flashes of terror, too sharp and too horrifying to be called memories, crashed through my mind. My teeth began to hurt and I felt a sting as my fangs left punctures inside my lower lip. With great effort, I released the tension in my jaw. This was the first time I’d been truly alone with the warlock since Leeha’s dungeon.

  I wondered if I would always react this way when we were in the same room.

  Jesse cocked his head to the side, narrowing his eyes, peering straight into my deepest secrets. Or so it felt. Then he sighed with impatience. “There’s no need to fear me, Luukas.”

  There was no sense in trying to deny it. “Is there not?”

  “No.” Jesse’s tone was final. “Shea would never forgive me if I ever did anything to harm you or the others. And for her, I would do absolutely anything. Even give up my only chance at besting my father.” He paused, and my mind went back to that night we sent Jesse’s demons back to hell. “However, know that if any of you hurt her—physically or emotionally—I won’t hesitate to protect her.”

  The warlock’s condescending tone struck a chord and I found myself leaning forward in my chair, upper lip lifted to bare my fangs. Anger, rather than fear, drove my movements this time. “Shea was part of this family long before she met you, warlock. And she will be a part of this family long after you’re gone from her life. Don’t think to sit here and threaten me or my vampires in my own home.”

  Jesse leaned back in his chair and smiled. “And there’s the male I met all those years ago. Before Leeha broke you.”

  “Leeha did not break me.” I stared him right in the eye. “But you nearly did.” The words stuck in my throat, and I wondered why I would admit anything to this male, especially a weakness. But perhaps admitting it was the first step to recovery?

  One side of the warlock’s mouth lifted in something resembling a smile as he rubbed his forehead with the tips of his fingers, but there was no humor in his eyes. “This isn’t getting us anywhere,” he muttered. Taking another deep breath, he met my steady gaze. “The past is what it is, vampire. I did what I believed I needed to do at the time. And I won’t apologize for it. I’m sure there are similar things you’ve done in your past?” He paused, waiting expectantly. When no answer was forthcoming, he rolled his eyes and continued, “Can we not try to move forward? I am on Shea’s side, which means I am on your side. And, as you well know, I can be quite the ally to have.”

  “Yes. As long as you remain my ally.”

  “You have my word.”

  “As long as Shea is alive.”

  That twist of his lips was back. “That is correct.”

  I sheathed my fangs. The male was right. Having him on our side would only be a boon to us. However, I would never trust him as I did the others. Still…

  “I guess that will have to be good enough.”

  Jesse sat forward in his chair. “Now that we’ve talked about our feelings, can we get down to the business of killing my father?”

  I gave him a nod.

  Jesse stood and wandered over to the windows. The sun would be coming up any minute now, but its lethal rays posed no danger to me. The windows were treated to protect us from it, and nothing short of Godzilla could break them.

  He turned away from the cityscape and faced me. “Well, vampire? What’s the plan?” As I opened my mouth to speak, Jesse held up one hand, his head tilted slightly as though he were listening to something.

  He’d done this a lot when we’d spent time together in the dungeon. He was listening to the voices that whispered in his ear.

  “Wait, wait. Yes, I forgot. There’s something else you need to know before we start.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned back in my chair. “And what is that?”

  By the look he gave me, Jesse wasn’t fooled by my calm façade, and he also didn’t seem surprised. I knew he could hear my rushing pulse, my heart beating hard and fast within my chest. The rage that had driven me when I’d escaped the dungeon was gone, and the insanity that came with it was swiftly following in its footsteps, though it still had a tenuous hold on me.

  And that, more than anything else, was what still gave Jesse the power.

  But, for now, he needed me. Because without me, the others would not follow.

  Jesse waved his hand in the air and refocused on me, his golden eyes the same eyes that haunted my nightmares. “I need to tell you about Ryan.”

  I frowned. “Ryan? Christian’s mate?”

  Jesse gave me a nod.

  “What about her?” I narrowed my gaze on Jesse, allowing him to see the mistrust in my eyes though my expression remained controlled.

  “She is my sister.” With that piece of information out in the world, he turned back to the window as I processed what he’d just said.

  Ryan? That wasn’t possible.

  After a long moment, I said, “I’m sorry. Would you repeat what you just said?”

  “She is my sister,” Jesse told me again, as the first rays of the morning sun began to lighten the sky. It was truly beautiful after the night’s rain, the way it reflected off the buildings. “My twin, actually. Fraternal.”

  “That means she is—”

  “Half djinn and half witch. As am I.�
��

  I had no words. However, if I really thought about it, it did make some twisted sort of sense. Ryan heard voices, too, though she had little control over them. Not like the warlock, who seemed to treat them like a group of annoying younger siblings buzzing around him.

  “She isn’t aware of our relationship,” Jesse said. “We were separated shortly after we were born. She doesn’t know who I am.”

  “How do I know you’re telling the truth?”

  The question was not what he was expecting. “Why would I lie about something like this?”

  I leaned one elbow on the arm of my chair, studying Jesse as I rubbed my temple with my fingertips.

  “By the way,” Jesse said. “My last name is Moss.”

  I became unnaturally still, the way only a vampire—and perhaps a djinn—could. “What—” Before I could finish the sentence, the most delicious scent assaulted me. My nostrils flared as I breathed it in and my head snapped toward the door.

  Keira stood in the open doorway, wrapped in a thin white robe. “What did you say?” she asked. She took a step inside and her voice rose. “What did you just say?”

  I stood up so fast my chair flew back into the wall behind me, and from the corner of my eye I saw Jesse watching us with an amused expression as her horrified eyes flew to my face, silently begging me to tell her it wasn’t true.

  I tilted my chin in the direction of our bedroom. “Keira, go back to bed.”

  As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I realized my mistake.

  She straightened her spine, her stature something I knew well from the time we’d spent together. Dismissing me with a look, I growled low in my throat as she turned her attention back to Jesse. She ignored me completely. “Did I hear you say your last name is Moss?”

  Jesse sat back down in my chair with a sigh. “That’s what I said, yes.”

  A look of horrified understanding dawned across her face. “That makes you my cousin.”

  “–cousin,” he finished at the same time.

  Disgust twisted her lovely features. She shook her head in denial, thick, dark hair falling about her shoulders. “That’s not possible.”

  “Ryan is my sister,” he repeated for her. “Separated at birth.”

  She continued to shake her head. “You’re full of shit. You’re lying.”

  Jesse rolled his eyes. “As I told your vampire, why would I lie about something like this?”

  “I don’t know. Why do you do anything you do?”

  “I have reasons.”

  “Fucked up reasons.”

  I could tell the warlock was swiftly tiring of this conversation. “Enough,” he told her. Engaging the spirits hovering around him as I’d seen him do many times before, he had them push her back out of the room and shut the glass door. She ended up on the floor, her robe riding up her thighs.

  With a roar of rage, I sprang from my chair, and I heard a satisfying thump as Jesse’s head slammed against the wall behind him, my hand around his throat. The glass cracked behind him as I bared my fangs, my eyes burning with rage.

  “Do not touch the witch,” I hissed at him.

  Jesse allowed me my anger, which was surprising, until I heard his next words.

  “Because only you are allowed to torture her?”

  I began to tremble with rage as he twisted the dagger in my back just a little bit more. The urge to strike was overwhelming.

  “Jesse! What are you doing?”

  The warlock closed his eyes, and I felt him shiver at Shea’s voice. But it wasn’t from fear. The scent of his desire for her was strong in my nose.

  Moving only his eyes, he looked toward the door and smiled. I followed his gaze, and found her in the open door with her arm around Keira, now back on her feet. Both females were staring at us with similar horrified expressions, but for completely different reasons.

  With a wave of his hand, Jesse removed my fingers from his throat and sent me staggering backward.

  “Control him, witch,” he directed to Keira as I struggled against the power holding me back.

  She ran to me without pause, wrapping her arms around my waist and whispering in my ear as she used the physical touch of her body to calm me.

  The apartment door crashed open, broken from the hinges by the sounds of it, and Nikulas appeared behind Shea, Aiden on his heels. “What the fuck is going on?”

  “Shall we go ahead and call the others?” Jesse asked me.

  My attention, focused on the female in my arms, flew back to Jesse. My only response to the question was to hiss at the warlock in warning, but I didn’t act on it. Instead, I stayed with my mate, keeping my large body wrapped protectively around her much smaller form.

  “Is that a yes?” Jesse looked to Shea for clarification.

  She walked over to him, wearing only a long-sleeved cotton shirt and little else if her bare legs and feet were any indication. “Jesse, what’s going on? What are you doing?”

  He rubbed her cheek with the back of his knuckles. “I only came to speak with Luukas. But things are a little touchy between us, as you can well imagine.”

  “Talk to him about what?”

  “My sister.”

  Shea’s green eyes bore into him. “You don’t think you should’ve told her about it first?”

  “I didn’t want the vampire to think I was plotting behind his back.”

  “Are you not?” She gave him a steady stare.

  Jesse stared into the depths of her eyes for long moments. “No. Not deliberately.”

  “What are you both blethering on about?” Aiden asked.

  Shea took Jesse’s hand.

  “Yes?” he asked her.

  She nodded. “Yes. They all need to know.” Still holding his hand, she turned to me. “We should call Dante and Christian. And the rest of the girls. Especially Ryan. She needs to know where she came from. Jesse can help her harness her power.”

  “Because he does such a wonderful job of it himself?” Nikulas said.

  “Nik, please,” Shea told him.

  Nikulas looked to me, and I gave him a nod. “Okay, then,” Nik announced to the room in general. “Aid, will you go get Grace and Emma? I’ll round up everyone else.”

  “Thank you,” Jesse told him.

  Giving him an uneasy look, Nikulas left the apartment, calling back, “I’ll fix this door later, Luuk!”

  Aiden followed him out much the way he’d come in.

  “And here we go.” Shea gave the warlock an uneasy smile.

  “It will be all right, Shea. But my father must be stopped. And to do that, I’m going to need Ryan’s help.”

  “I know.” Her eyes searched his face. “I just wish we could have a little more time.”

  Leaning down, he touched his forehead to hers.

  I watched their exchange in silence, my witch in my arms, still disbelieving that one of my own could care about something as evil as the warlock. But I’d promised her I’d give him a chance.

  We settled in to wait for the others.

  Chapter 7

  Alex

  I felt him before I saw him.

  Walking to our coven’s gathering at my aunt’s house at twilight the following night, the air suddenly grew heavy and thick around me. Not an unusual phenomenon living so close to the water, but this wasn’t caused by a change in the atmosphere. It wasn’t a warning of an oncoming thunderstorm.

  No. This was something different.

  Something ominous.

  The hair all over my body rose as though I were standing in the midst of an electrical storm, but I kept walking, not showing any reaction. I didn’t change my pace. I didn’t look around. There was no need. I knew what this was. I’d felt it before, the night it came after Kenya.

  Only this time, it was coming for me.

  The large, waxy leaves of a magnolia tree rustled above me. I glanced at the house it adorned out of the corner of my eye. The two-story Victorian was still, its bay windows dark. I sens
ed no movement within.

  Taking a deep breath to steady myself, I kept my steps at my natural pace. Just like any animal that was being hunted, I knew that showing any hint of fear would only incite the sorcery that was, even now, winding around me. Taking my measure. Trying to get a sense of my power.

  Well…let it.

  Maybe it would find out I wasn’t anyone it wanted to fuck with.

  This dark magic followed me for two blocks, and in that time I only saw three other people walking down the street. One a college age kid who carried himself like someone who’d grown up here, and the other two a pair of middle-aged women who were obviously tourists, taking pictures of every other house while gesturing excitedly and sipping on coffees from Cafe Du Monde.

  I kept walking, drawing the sorcery away from them before I slipped down a narrow drive between houses, stopped, and waited. I didn’t have to wait long.

  The man that appeared at the other end was tall and lean with short, brown hair. He wasn’t classically good-looking, but there was something about him. Something sensual. Hungry. Powerful. It was a heady combination. And I wasn’t normally into guys.

  But something about it wasn’t right. It felt wrong. Almost incestuous.

  He came sauntering out from behind the houses and stared at me, waiting for me to say something. To question him. To throw a spell at him, maybe. But I wasn’t about to give this fucker the satisfaction. No. This bastard was going to come to me. I wanted answers, and I was going to get them tonight. Or I would die trying.

  After a few minutes, he shoved his hands into the front pockets of his dark slacks and strolled toward me, his head tilted to the side and a smile playing around his eyes. He wore no coat, only a long-sleeved pullover sweater that looked like it did little to protect him against the night air.

  Feet braced apart and arms hanging loose at my sides, I held my ground and watched him come, my body relaxed, my magic dancing along the surface, touching his with tentative fingers.