Secret of the Vampire

by L. E. Wilson

  Shea pulled away to return to her seat, and with a bit of reluctance, I let her go.

  “But, I don’t understand,” Emma said. “Why would the witches there fight for him? If we all showed up, children of the coven, wouldn’t they help us?”

  I shook my head. “No.”

  “Why not?” she asked.

  “Yeah, I don’t get it, either,” Grace added.

  “Because my father is a master of manipulation. He turned the loyalties of their parents by force and kept the loyalty of the children through fear. I’m sure by now he has them thoroughly convinced the world will end if they dare to worship another.”

  “And now that he is no longer on the mountain?” Dante asked.

  “Now I would like you to come as backup. My father is in New Orleans. I’m not sure why he felt the need to travel there alone, but I’m sure the spirits will let me know as soon as they figure it out. What I do know is there is a coven of witches who reside in the Garden District, the High Priestess one who fled from the mountain when Marcus returned.”

  “More of us?” Keira asked.

  I gave her a nod. “But there is also a coven of vampires. Apparently, they’ve come to some kind of agreement with the witches and live peacefully in The Quarter. I need you to help me make sure they don’t interfere with what I need to do.”

  “That would be Killian Rice,” Luukas said thoughtfully. “I’ll call him and explain what’s going on. I haven’t talked to him in a long time, but I’m sure he’ll allow us into his territory once I explain why we need to be there.”

  “Maybe he’ll even have more info on Marcus,” Keira added.

  “If they even know he’s there,” I told them. “All I need is one opportunity to confront my father with no outside interference.”

  Luukas looked around the group before bringing his attention back to me, feeling out their reactions. They were reluctant to help me but would follow where their master told them to go. With a nod, he gave me his agreement.

  “Looks like we’re going to New Orleans.” Nikulas grinned at Aiden and held up his hand for a high five.

  I watched Luukas closely, gauging his reaction. I didn’t know that he was ready for another battle just yet. “Perhaps you should stay here,” I told him. “Although I would need Keira to come with me to talk to the High Priestess.”

  His arms tightened protectively around his witch. “Keira does not go anywhere I don’t go.”

  “Guess it’s settled then,” Shea said from beside me.

  Yes. Yes, it was.

  Finally, after all these years, I was about to see my father again.

  Chapter 19

  Alex

  As I stood there in the kitchen of the house where Kenya had nearly lost her life just a few weeks before, I couldn’t help but have a certain sense of déjà vu. I’d saved her life here then, and come hell or high water, I would save her again.

  How the djinn knew about this place, I didn’t know. But I was going to find out. It was way too much of a coincidence that he just happened to “find” it. No. Someone here was helping him. I was sure of it.

  It didn’t escape me that I was taking a great risk with my own life while trying to help Kenya. Although just from what I’d learned about the djinn in this short amount of time, I seriously doubted it would come to that. The djinn was desperate to have someone on his side, to have some semblance of a family that consisted of others like him. And if what he’d told me was true, I was all he had. The odds were pretty low he’d come all this way and had done everything he had to convince me to give him a chance, only to take me out in a fit of temper.

  But still…I probably shouldn’t fuck this up.

  I schooled my thoughts before he decided to take a peek into my head, emptying my brain of everything except what he was telling Kenya. Getting a grip on my emotional reaction to what I was witnessing, however, wasn’t so easily done.

  Kenya was terrified, and that pissed me right the fuck off. I could see it in the tense way she held her body. In the way her eyes darted around the room. And even how she forgot to behave as though she were human. Her movements were too quick when she made them. And when she didn’t, she sat completely still, like a statue, for long periods of time. Her fangs were extended, bared to our view by her lifted upper lip, and every once in a while, a low growl would sound deep in her throat. Like a cornered animal.

  I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. And it took everything I had in me to stand there so casually and not grab her and run. But I didn’t, because I knew damn well we wouldn’t even make it out of the house.

  No. I needed to bide my time and wait for the right opportunity. Until then, I would be here to make sure nothing happened to her.

  Forcing myself to pay attention, I tried to grasp what the djinn was going on about. The story he was weaving was hard to believe. She’d never shown any signs of having any type of magic in her blood—whether it be voodoo or anything else. At least, not that I’d ever seen or felt.

  But according to my…uncle—gods, I could barely say the word, even to myself—Kenya was a descendent of the great Marie Laveau herself. “How the hell would you know this?” I asked him.

  He gave me a look, letting me know he wasn’t happy with the interruption. “This isn’t my first run-in with voodoo,” he said. “I can taste it in her blood.”

  Kenya eyes widened behind the lenses of her glasses. “When did you take my blood?”

  Marcus heaved a great sigh, like our questions were stretching the limits of his patience. “I didn’t take your blood. You left it for me. On the handle of the door to your club.”

  At first, she looked confused, but then her expression cleared. “My finger. I cut it on the metal plate of the lock that night.”

  “Yes. That.” He looked back and forth between the two of us. “May I continue?” Without waiting for us to answer, he went on. “As I was saying, you have voodoo in your blood, vampire. Not a lot, but enough to give me what I want. I have the bones. I have the spell. You just need to learn how to do it.” He looked over at me. “And this is where you come in, Alex.”

  Well, I wasn’t expecting that. “Me? I don’t know anything about voodoo.” The magic that I had in me, dark or not, was an entirely different thing than voodoo.

  “No, but you know about magic. You know about spells. How to feel it and how to make it do what you want it to. And you’ll only become more and more powerful once I start working with you. And,” he continued, “you’ve lived with voodoo your entire life. You’re probably more familiar with it than I am.” Leaning back in his chair, he crossed his legs at the knee and laced his fingers on his lap. “So that is how it will work. Once we get back to my mountain, I will teach you to harness the djinn magic in you, while you, Alex, will teach the vampire her voodoo.”

  “Why me and not you?” I snapped my mouth shut as soon as the words were out of my mouth, wishing I could take them back. Fuck me and my big fucking mouth. I was curious why he would give us so much time together, and it wasn’t like I wasn’t grateful for it, but I also didn’t want to give him any reason to spend any more time around her than he already was.

  “I will work with her when she is ready. If she is ready. Until then, it would only be a waste of my time and energy to try to get something out of her she may not be capable of giving. My own magic is quite different from yours. Also, I have no idea if her vampirism enhanced her abilities or burned them out. But she is all I have, so let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

  I didn’t miss the implied threat there.

  “Plus,” he smiled, “it will remind you what you are fighting for and give you the chance to become closer to her.”

  “I really wish you both would stop talking about me like I wasn’t sitting right here,” Kenya said.

  I looked at her, an apology on the tip of my tongue, but stopped myself before I could say it this time. Instead, I ignored her. I could feel the djinn in my head, pressing through
the shields I had up like they weren’t even there. I didn’t want to give him any reason to think I wasn’t playing along with his games. But I couldn’t help but force his hand on this one thing. “And if she doesn’t rise to the challenge?”

  He looked down at his lap for a moment. “Then I will have no need for her.”

  “And she will be mine, as you promised.” It came out as half question/half order.

  Marcus narrowed his eyes at me. I got the feeling he didn’t like me offering up the terms of our agreement in front of Kenya for some reason. “I gave you my word.”

  Why did I have a feeling his word meant absolute shit?

  “Yours?” Kenya asked me. “What the hell is that supposed to mean? I don’t want to be yours, or anyone’s.”

  I walked over to where she sat and leaned over her, pressing my palms on the table so we were eye to eye. “You have no say in it. I want you, Kenya. You’ve known this for a while now. My uncle here needs you to do this thing for him, but when he’s through with you, you will come live with me.”

  She looked up at me, her eyes hard. “No. I won’t.”

  The smile I gave her in return just before I straightened to my full height was an exact replica of the one that so often crossed the djinn’s face. I could feel it, and it disgusted me. But I had a part to play, and in order to get us both out of there alive, I had to play it well.

  The sooner I got Marcus to trust me, the sooner I would get the chance I was looking for.

  But as the djinn glanced at the clock ticking on the wall above us and got up from the table, I knew I was an idiot to hope that chance would come. “I have to leave you two for a little while. There is someone I need to go see.”

  “Who?” Fear for my sister and the rest of my coven made me forget for a moment who it was I was talking to, and the question shot out before I could stop it. But to my surprise, he answered me.

  “There’s a certain witch I need to pay a visit to.”

  My breath froze in my lungs. “What witch?”

  “Now, that is something you really don’t need to know, my nephew. But rest assured, no one will be harmed tonight.” He started to walk out of the room but stopped in the doorway. “I do believe this doesn’t even need to be said, but the both of you need to stay here. And in case you get any ideas to do otherwise, remember the place is warded. The vampire is bound to this house and the surrounding property.”

  He didn’t need to say anything else. He knew damn well I wouldn’t leave her here alone again, no matter how I tried to play it off otherwise. “Yeah. Got it.”

  “Good.”

  Once the djinn was gone, I exhaled, some—but not all—of the tension leaving my body. We were still being watched. I looked at Kenya, still sitting exactly where he’d left her. “Is there anything you need?”

  She startled at the sound of my voice, her eyes catching mine for a moment before they dropped to the pulse in my throat and quickly darted away. “No.”

  A rush of desire hit me hard as I imagined her sitting on my lap, her legs on either side of mine and her fangs deep in the side of my throat. I wasn’t afraid of a little pain because I had a feeling the pleasure that would come after would make it all completely worth it. “Kenya…” I stared at her, whatever I’d been about to say twisting on my tongue as she stood up and crossed the space between us faster than I could track, appearing in front of me with a challenge in her eyes. So close I could smell the sweet scent of her skin and the coconut in her hair.

  “Why are you doing this, Alex?”

  I steeled my spine. “Because he’s my family.”

  “You have a family. Here. In New Orleans.”

  “It’s not the same.”

  “No, it’s not,” she agreed. Crossing her arms over her chest, she said, “They actually care about you.”

  I wasn’t about to try to argue that point. “But they can’t teach me what I need to learn.”

  “And what is that, Alex? How to be a monster?”

  I recoiled as she threw my own words back in my face. Then I shook my head. “No. How to control the darkness inside of me I had to tap into the night I saved you.”

  She took a step back, looking at me over the rim of her glasses. “So, this is my fault? Is that what you’re trying to tell me?”

  “No. It’s just a fact.”

  She was silent a moment. And then she asked, “So, would you really stop me if I tried to run from this house right now?”

  “No.” Because I knew the djinn wouldn’t lie about something like that. “I won’t have to. You won’t get anywhere.”

  “Why are you being such a bastard?” she whispered.

  I wasn’t. I was protecting her. I was saving her life, the life of my sister, the lives of my coven. But I couldn’t tell her any of that. I didn’t know if the djinn was listening. Didn’t know if he’d truly left or if he was just testing me.

  The latter seemed like the more likely choice. So, I had to play my part.

  Turning away from her, I walked out of the room, saying over my shoulder, “Try to run if you’d like. I’ll be in here when you get back.” Then I went into the living room and sat on the couch, reaching into my pocket for my cell phone. A split second later, Kenya flew past me and bolted out the front door. I leaned back against the cushions and settled in to wait.

  She was back sooner than I thought. I’d just swiped open my screen and pulled up Judy’s number to let her know we were both okay and not to send anyone looking for us—something I’d debated doing but decided was worth the risk—when I was suddenly knocked off the couch and thrown across the room. I stopped on the other side when I hit the wall, my feet a foot off the floor and Kenya’s hand around my throat holding me there. “Let me go!” she screamed in my face.

  Anger surged within me and I pushed her away with a wave of my hands. She stumbled back, and I heard a crunch as she stepped on my phone. It had fallen from my fingers when she yanked me from the couch.

  I had no time to let that sink in when she was on me again, all fangs and claws and rage, knocking me to the floor. I ended up on my back with her on top of me, her hands holding my arms on either side of my head and her mouth dangerously close to my throat.

  “Let me go,” she growled. “Or I’ll rip out your throat right now.”

  “No, you won’t,” I told her quietly. “Because you want me, too.” These last words I whispered so quietly no one could possibly have heard me. No one except a vampire.

  Chapter 20

  Kenya

  Gradually, I eased my grip and released his wrists. The next second, I was off of him and standing across the room by the window, his words ringing in my ears and the scent of his blood too tempting, especially when I was in this agitated state.

  Alex got to his feet, his eyes flashing a warning when I bared my fangs at him.

  Suddenly, he cocked his head to the side as though he were listening to something. The lights went off and I frowned. Slowly, he raised one finger to his lips.

  I became still and waited, feeling the air around me and wondering if the djinn had returned already.

  There. Footsteps outside. It sounded like they were coming up along the side of the house, and they didn’t belong to the djinn.

  Before I could take a step or call out, Alex muttered something under his breath and threw his arms out in an arc, palms toward the front of the house and fingers spread wide. Then he grabbed me and dragged me down to the floor between the couch and the wall, settling me between his legs and slamming his hand over my mouth.

  “Not one sound,” he growled low in my ear. “Do you understand?”

  Oh, I understood all right.

  I sank my fangs into the meat of his palm between his thumb and his forefinger. Drops of blood teased my tongue, dark and sweet, and I moaned, my eyes rolling back into my head. Gods, he tasted better than anything I could have imagined.

  His answering moan in my ear was the hottest thing I’d ever heard. Masc
uline. Erotic.

  Everything left my mind except the taste of that blood. The footsteps. The reason we were here. I didn’t care about any of it. I only cared about tasting more of him.

  MINE.

  The word roared through my head and made me catch my breath, but only for a moment before I released his hand, only to grab a hold of his arm and pull his wrist over to my lips. I tasted his skin tentatively with the tip of my tongue, the scent of his blood teasing my nose.

  “Do it,” he ordered in my ear.

  I struck, sinking my fangs deep. Ah, gods. I’d never had anything like the blood of this male. He tasted like sin itself, and I wanted to rub his blood all over his naked body and lick it off of him.

  “Yes, Kenya.” His words were little more than a whisper. “Take me.” His other arm wrapped tighter around my waist and pulled me back between his legs until I felt his hard length against my ass.

  Through the fog of my bloodlust, I heard someone creeping across the front porch, just on the other side of the wall from where we sat. Fangs deep in his wrist, I stopped sucking, but didn’t remove them. Like a voice yelling through a storm, I heard someone call my name. A voice I recognized. But I couldn’t think through the bloodlust.

  “Please, Kenya. Don’t do it.”

  I only felt his breath on my ear, but I heard his words in my head.

  “Do you feel what you do to me?”

  Again, the words weren’t spoken aloud. Alex was in my head. Or I was in his.

  “I want to touch you.”

  I couldn’t stop the sound of need I made then. Pulling my fangs from his wrist, I ran my tongue over the wounds and then made a new bite, letting his dark essence flow freely into my mouth. With my free hand, I moved his other arm down, guiding Alex’s fingers to where I wanted them as I let my knees fall to the side, opening myself to his touch.