Forsaken Hunger

by Nikki McCoy

  Vincent remained uncharacteristically quiet the entire time. His only response was to affirm that the women from the facility were under careful watch in three of the townhouses farther down the row. When she was done, he stared into his glass for a time. “This is the same Drakon you met during your last job?” At her nod, he swilled his liquor and took a sip. “You make him sound like a decent guy.”

  “He is.”

  “Will you be seeing him again?”

  From his tone, she knew there was more to his question than he was saying. Slowly, she replied, “That won’t be possible. He’s gone back to the Drakonem realm.”

  “What of this Gabriel Aikins? Is he taken care of?”

  “He will be. For the next month, though, it’ll be safest if Kennie, Cherri and I remain on the compound.”

  Vincent gestured his agreement. On his feet again, he began to pace the length of the living room in front of her. “Of course. Meanwhile, I’ll take down the information you were able to gather and start forming parties to locate the facilities in each state. If necessary, I can contact the director of the closest DCM unit to us and ask his assistance. It will probably be best to organize enough teams to infiltrate the facilities all at once. That way the Vampyres will be taken by surprise and won’t have the chance to relocate the women or form an attack against us.”

  “You can’t do that. It’s too dangerous.” When he lifted his brows, she realized how out of character she sounded. The old Daneya would have jumped at the opportunity to be part of the rescue effort. She would’ve been on the front lines leading one of the teams herself. And while everything in her wanted to do just that, she knew now it would be a reckless endeavor that only a fool might attempt.

  As humans, they were vastly outmatched and she no longer had a protector watching out for her. Blade was going to have his hands full trying to pick up where Saden had left off.

  “These aren’t just Vampyres we’re going up against,” she continued. “The Djinn can walk in daylight and after breaking into the facility in Phoenix, there’s no telling what fortifications Gabriel has made since then. We could be fighting more than simple Djinn in human hosts. They have generations of Vampyre and human offspring at their disposal as hosts. We can’t compete with that combination. Our members are used to fighting the Djinn on our terms, not those with Vampyre capabilities.

  “Judging from their numbers, I would say each facility could be guarded by twenty, thirty men or more. The advantage would be theirs no matter how strong we went in.”

  “Well, I can’t just sit back and do nothing,” Vincent said, his temper rising. “And I can’t believe you’re suggesting it. What did that Drakon do to you to make you so cautious all of a sudden?”

  She slammed her tumbler down on the table hard enough for whiskey to slosh over its rim. “If caution means saving lives, than yes, he has changed me! I saw what we’re up against. If it weren’t for Saden and the Rakshasas, I’d have died at that facility. We have no choice but to let Blade take care of things his way first. One month. That’s all he asked for. If nothing’s been done by then, we can involve the DCM.”

  He stared at her for a long period, jaw ticking in irritation. Finally, he resumed his seat on the couch and rubbed his temples. “God, you’re right. I’m sorry. We’re not prepared for this kind of threat. For now, we’ll just keep an eye on the facilities.” After another pause, he asked, “You said this Drakon is a former Vampyre, right? Was he able to give you some pointers on how to manage Kennie’s power?”

  Daneya’s mouth dropped open in shock. How could he know about Mckenzie? She’d said nothing regarding the recent development of her daughter’s power.

  Vincent smiled sheepishly. “When you joined the DCM, I looked into your background a little further than I should have, perhaps. Found out that your sister was married to a Vampyre and that after her death, you were abducted from your foster home at age seventeen. For two years afterwards, you were off the grid. Then you showed up here with a baby and an almost fanatical drive to rid the world of demons who crossed the line. It wasn’t hard to piece together the missing information.”

  Before she could focus her anger into a response, he held up a hand in defense. “It was a violation of your privacy, I know. I hope in time, you can forgive me. I just want you to know that I don’t care about who fathered Kennie or what happened in your past. If anything, I admire you more for it. Not many people can recover from something like that the way you did.”

  “Who else knows about her?”

  “No one, I swear.”

  Daneya breathed a deep sigh, unable to hold onto her anger. “It’s all right, and kind of a relief to have someone else to talk to about her secret. But how did you know she’d come into her power.”

  He shrugged. “I didn’t. It was bound to happen sometime, though. What is it, particularly?”

  She smiled with a surge of pride. “She can manipulate chemicals in living things which allows her to heal. It’s really amazing.”

  “I’ll bet.” He slanted a glance at her then bowed his head. “Listen, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it will mean for Kennie to grow up in the DCM. It would be tempting fate to hope her secret wasn’t discovered later on, and likely by the wrong member. She should be raised in an area where she won’t be persecuted for it. I want to help you do that. My parents left me a horse ranch in Oregon just outside of the small town I grew up in. The people there are friendly. Community’s a little behind on the times, but it fares well. We could all live there. Even Cherri, if she wanted to.”

  Daneya stilled, her mind trying to register exactly what he was proposing. “Are you saying you’re willing to give up everything you have here for me and Mckenzie?”

  “I wouldn’t be losing much. More like starting a new life. We could go on reserve for the DCM and run the ranch full-time. My brother works it now with a few farmhands. He says he wouldn’t mind the company.” His gaze when he looked up was half nervous, half expectant. “I love you, Daneya. And I love Kennie like my own daughter. I could make you happy if you gave me a chance.”

  His voice held a vulnerable quality that stirred a well of emotions inside her. This had been the last thing she’d expected. Vincent was a man of strong integrity, and the sincerity in his eyes gave her no room to doubt his honesty. Still, it was an offer she was unprepared to deal with in that instant. “I-I don’t know what to say.”

  “Don’t say anything yet. Think about it for a while and give me your answer when you’re ready. I’d rather wait a week for the right one than get the wrong answer now.” He leaned forward and pressed a lingering kiss to her cheek. “I’ll check in on you tonight.”

  After he was gone, she nursed her drink quietly. Vincent’s words circled her thoughts, making more and more sense with each passing minute. Could this be her path to happiness? They were so much alike and Mckenzie deserved a father who accepted her completely. Maybe Cherri had been right all along.

  With Vincent, Daneya would never feel the pain of loss as keenly as she did with Saden. Never worry about the future or be haunted by the past. She didn’t love him as she should, but perhaps that would come in time. When all was said and done, she couldn’t deny that Vincent was probably the closest she might come to fulfilling her dreams.

  Still…

  She scrubbed her eyes then found a spare blanket and pillow in the linen closet and made a bed for herself on the couch. Gradually, her tension eased, and the strain of the morning faded to the background. Visions of Saden chased her thoughts until she eventually fell into a fitful slumber with Vincent’s request not far from her mind.

  * * * *

  Sounds of mellow blues drifted softly through the apartment. Cherri followed them downstairs to the kitchen where she found Daneya sitting at the small, round table. The guns Vincent had brought over for her to work on lay dismantled and spread across its surface. Untouched since dinner hours ago. There was a distance in her eyes that came all
too frequently of late.

  It frustrated Cherri increasingly to see her friend dwell on what, in her opinion, was nothing more than a horrible mistake. Saden had no place in their world, just as he’d had no right to take them from it. Because of his failure to do his job, they were stuck here in limbo. Trapped by the threat of Gabriel who should’ve been taken care of by now.

  Then there was Vincent.

  Daneya had told her of the offer he’d made almost a week ago. How he wanted to whisk her away to a better life for her and Mckenzie. It was like a fairy tale. Only in this story, the poor prince had barely a leg to stand on. He still awaited an answer, ever optimistic that it was the one he hoped for.

  Cherri wanted to slap her friend for being so tentative and cruel. Vincent deserved more than a position on the sidelines. Between him and Saden, there was no comparison. How could Daneya keep him dangled on the edge of a cliff with her indecision?

  Well, Cherri was tired of trying to make her friend see what was right in front of her. She had her own life to live and planned to get on with it as quickly as possible. She walked into the kitchen and cleared her throat loudly.

  Daneya jumped in startlement then scraped back her mess of burgundy locks, eyes bloodshot from too little rest. “Hey, I didn’t see you standing there. You look nice. Are you going somewhere?”

  Cherri looked down at her long skirt and sleek, cashmere sweater she’d forgotten to hide beneath a coat. It wouldn’t do to raise suspicions before she even got out of the apartment. “I’m going to meet some friends at the mess hall. I know I’m a little overdressed but I haven’t been out in so long, I thought I’d splurge a little. Will you be up late?”

  “Yes. No.” Daneya chuckled lightly and glanced down at the guns as if just noticing them. “I have no idea.”

  “Will Vincent be joining you later?”

  “He’s busy with work. Don’t worry about me. Go out, have fun! God knows one of us should.”

  Cherri squeezed Daneya’s arm then grabbed her jacket and hurried out, confident Daneya wouldn’t insist on staying up until she got back. Which, with any luck, would be quite a while. She got into her car, grateful that Vincent had returned it to her, and headed for the security gate.

  The anticipation she’d been reining in for the past few days bubbled over into excitement. It turned out that Rhys hadn’t forgotten her. In fact, it was much the opposite. In their recent chat with each other online, he’d admitted to being worried sick about her. Convinced that either the worst had befallen her or she’d had a change of heart.

  His eagerness to drive the two hours from his house just to visit and pick up where they’d left off had filled her with giddy relief. The stress of the past few weeks, the fear of having lost the only man who could make her wishes come true, had been sloughed like so much waste.

  This time, she wasn’t going to let anyone interfere with her desires. She had more right to them than most and damned if she would let them fall to the wayside.

  She pulled into a dog park fifteen miles out from the compound and parked beside a dark green suburban. The park was empty at this hour save for a lone figure who stood by the small lake at its center. Rhys’ face became clear in the dim light of the moon and stars above as she walked toward him. He was even more appealing than she remembered. His massive build might’ve been intimidating if not for the softness in his light brown eyes. They seemed to draw her into their depths and hold her in a sea of warmth.

  He cupped her jaw and leaned down to bring their lips together, tickling her with his mustache. “Mon cheri,” he whispered before guiding her tongue in a slow, erotic dance.

  She was breathless by the time they pulled apart. Heat scalded her cheeks, in part due to the play on her name—a habit of his whenever they chatted online or over the phone.

  “Thanks for meeting me out here,” Rhys said. “I thought it would give us some privacy to talk. Sit with me?” With a hand at her back, he steered her toward a nearby bench. “So you had quite an adventure after the last time we met.”

  “Not an adventure, really.” She smiled to hide her anxiety over the issue. While lying wasn’t in her nature, she’d grown accustomed to it with her job at the DCM. As far as Rhys knew, she’d been out of town for a work-related emergency. “More of an inconvenience. I’m sorry I didn’t contact you sooner.”

  “Don’t apologize. I’m just glad you’re back.”

  “Me, too.”

  His expression grew serious as he took her hand, his voice pensive. “There’s something I have to tell you, and I’m not sure you’ll like it. It has to do with the promise I made to you.”

  Cherri felt her heart plummet. She knew without asking just what promise he was referring to, and it made her skin grow cold. “You can’t fix me.”

  “I can,” he said quickly. “We could start a family together like you wanted. It’ll just be different from what you had in mind. I don’t know if you’ll accept me once you hear the truth.”

  The suspense was killing her. Rhys was normally so straight forward. It pained her to see his confidence shaken. “Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it. You won’t lose me.”

  “I hope you’re right.” He kissed her hand like a courtly gentleman then took a deep breath. “For us to be together, I had to do some research on you. I know that you’re a secretary for the DCM and that you’ve been with them for almost nine years. Your roommate is a vigilante and you’re currently living at the compound. I know all this because I’m a Vampyre.”

  She was on her feet in the next second, stumbling back in shock. Her palm flew to her mouth in horror. How could this be? She’d been so careful, and Rhys had seemed so ordinary. In all their conversations, not once had she gained the impression he was anything other than a normal guy who desired a committed relationship. Yet, what kind of Vampyre trolled human dating sites unless he had an ulterior motive?

  Rhys stood with his arm outstretched then let it drop to his side. “I won’t stop you if you want to leave. All I’m asking for is five minutes to let me explain. As a member of the DCM, you have to know that not all demons are evil. I’m one of the good guys, or I’ve wanted to be ever since I met you.” When she didn’t respond, he lowered his voice. “You said you trusted me once. Give me the chance to earn it back.”

  The honesty in his tone compelled her to stay. Even after his revelation, she had to admit that some part of her still wanted him. Craved the life he’d promised her with children of her own.

  At her slight nod, he sat down again, gaze never leaving hers. “I work for a Vampyre named Gabriel Aikins. He’s a revolutionary among my kind. We were dying out from our war with the Djinn. Gabriel found a way to increase our numbers and form a truce with the Djinn to end the fighting.”

  “I know exactly what he’s doing to increase your numbers,” she spat, body shaking with the fury of her memories. “It violates every law your kind has regarding the treatment of humans. And it’s why I can’t carry a child.” She clutched her belly and blinked back the tears threatening to spill over her lashes.

  “Then we’re on the same page. I won’t lie to you. At first, I thought it was the answer to our problems. The Djinn were getting bolder, sacrificing as many of their human hosts as was necessary to capture my kind and force them to become hosts. The combination of Djinn and Vampyres rising against us was devastating. I’ve had to kill my own comrades locked inside their bodies by the Djinn after gods know what torture they endured.

  “Gabriel told me—all of us—that the Djinn would cease their attacks if we supplied them with willing hosts, and he was right. It seemed a small price to pay for human females to bear our offspring for a while. One decade. Their memories would be erased afterwards and they would go on with their lives.”

  Bile crept into the back of her throat. “That’s what you meant when you said you’ve helped women overcome obstacles in childbirth. They weren’t healed by some special operation. You sired their offspring.”

&nb
sp; His expression became strained as he inclined his head. “I’m not proud of what I’ve done. The shame of my actions will haunt me for the rest of my existence. It wasn’t until recently that I found out Gabriel was having the women killed after their term. I didn’t want to have anything else to do with him or his operation, but by that time, I was already too involved to get out.

  “I wanted to start a new life that was free of the taint I had cast on my own. That’s why I began searching for a human mate. When I found you, I couldn’t let you go even though I knew you were part of the DCM. You were so kind and loving. I want to bond with you. Make our relationship permanent. It would change your body and allow you to carry children again. That is if you’re still willing.”

  Her head was spinning with the details of his story. All of it made sense, as terrible as it was. The remorse he claimed was reflected openly on his face. She should curse him. Run away and report his identity to Vincent. Yet, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. His proposal rang in her thoughts and caused her gut to flutter with a new kind of anticipation.

  To mate would bind them irrevocably with only death to part them. Nothing could prove the sincerity of his promises to her more than that single act.

  Was he really telling the truth?

  “If you want to bond with me, then you must want me.”

  He closed the distance between them to cradle her face in his hands. “I do. For you, I would give up everything.”

  Her mouth went dry as he poured the passion of his words into a kiss. Heat coursed over her skin and set fire to her blood. She could’ve drowned in his intensity if not for the nagging question that still remained. With no small effort, she pulled away to meet his gaze. “What will you do about Gabriel?”

  “I’ve already spoken to him. He says he will release me from his service on one condition.” There was trepidation in his eyes when he paused.