The Trouble With Vampires

by Trina M. Lee

  My stomach twisted at the thought of seeing him. In the past few weeks Nova and I had kept our hands off each other with increasing difficulty. And yet, I craved that moment when I laid eyes on him and the resulting rush it gave me. The stolen kiss, or the several we’d succumbed to, might have played a role in the way my insides melted into lava every time Nova came around.

  The sound of the front door nabbed my attention. Curious, I left Tavi and Dalyn to throw barbs, venturing around the corner into the large entryway.

  “Where’s Rayne?” Nova barked when he saw me standing there.

  Not the nicest of greetings. Able to sense the high-strung energy wrapped tight around him, I bit back the sassy response on the tip of my tongue. “In the pool.”

  Nova shoved by me toward the large living room that took up most of the main floor’s south wing. Before he turned the corner to the hallway, he paused and pointed a finger at me. “Don’t go anywhere. I want to see you alone before I leave.”

  A shiver crept over me, causing my spine to stiffen. Alone? It wasn’t often that Nova let himself be alone with me now. Most of our quality time was spent with the rest of the team.

  While I waited, I paced around the foyer with growing unease. If anything Nova most likely wanted to touch base about the job tonight, get a play-by-play breakdown, so to speak. So why did I feel so jittery? Already my skin was on fire at the thought of being alone with him.

  All this tension and angst because of one encounter that went too far. Who would have thought that one orgasm could change everything? Since the night Nova got me off in the garage, the dynamic between us had been altered. Now I possessed an unnatural draw to him. The worst part was that I’d known the incubus touch was addictive, and I’d welcomed it anyway.

  Even now, when I let my mind go back to that night, I still wondered how much better it would feel to have all of him.

  Perhaps the most ridiculous part of it all was that Nova and I weren’t particularly fond of one another. We weren’t vicious enemies, but the animosity between us only seemed to fuel our attraction.

  Nova had a tendency to go harder on me than the others. He liked to push me until my temper flared, until I was ready to tear him apart. He wasn’t all bad though. Despite the whole demon thing, he had a sliver of goodness hidden inside that black heart. I saw it the night he offered me freedom, despite what it would cost him to help me run from The Circle of the Veil.

  Choosing to stay had just felt right. Running wouldn’t prove anything, just keep me firmly entrenched as a victim, like my sire had once made me. But that wasn’t me anymore. And I was here to prove it.

  “How did everything go tonight, cherry bomb?”

  Nova’s sensual voice startled me out of my thoughts. I turned from the painting I’d been absently staring at to find him leaning against the wall, arms crossed. He kept his distance yet made no effort to keep from drinking in the sight of me.

  Keenly aware of the way that crimson gaze ate up every inch of my body, I tried not to squirm under its weight. “We killed one of theirs. But really, it could have gone worse.”

  Listening attentively as I recapped the events of our outing, Nova nodded as I spoke. Jet-black hair fell past his shoulders with several braids tied into it including three rows tight to one side of his head. A tiny black feather hung from the end of one.

  Over the several weeks that I’d known him, I’d grown accustomed to Nova’s appearance, his true visage: the way his horns curled up off his head, the gentle swish as his snake-like tail drifted lazily about behind him.

  As I spoke, I took my chance to eat up the eye candy too. Dressed in black pants and a sleeveless hooded tunic, large wings hugging his back, Nova looked good enough to eat. Would that really be a problem?

  He snapped fingers in front of my face.

  I jerked back with a gasp. “What the hell are you doing?”

  “You’ve got that look in your eyes again,” Nova teased, wagging a scolding finger in my face. “Careful now, Blaze. One of these nights my will is going to fail me. Might want to work on yours.” Despite the teasing lilt to his words, he remained stiff.

  Unable to resist with him so close, I darted my tongue out to lick the tip of that finger. “What’s with you tonight, Nova?” I asked, gliding my thumb over the back of his hand. “You seem wound up. Did something happen?”

  “Not yet, and I’d like to keep it that way.” He glanced around the foyer before ushering me into the small sitting room off the entryway. He steered me over to the couch under the window, but neither of us sat down. “The Feds sent people after both of our teams. They’re keeping tabs on you all now.”

  “Well, yeah, of course they are. Wouldn’t you if you were them?” As the intensity of Nova’s closeness grew, I crossed my arms, hugging myself in an attempt to keep from touching him further.

  “Yeah, I would.” Rubbing the faint trace of stubble along his jaw, Nova gazed out the window at the dark driveway. “That’s what bothers me. I have to send some of you in, to get closer to them.”

  “And that’s a problem because?” Try as I might to stomp it down, Nova was making me nervous.

  When he paused, staring out into nothing, that feeling grew. Finally he swung his intense gaze my way. “Because I’m not sure you’re ready for what you’ll be asked to do. I don’t want your blood magic to make you a liability when it should make you the greatest asset here.”

  Nova had far more faith in my abilities than I did. My magic was wild, erratic. It refused to follow direction and rampaged like a rabid animal. But it wasn’t going anywhere. I’d lived this way for long enough to know that much at least.

  Weaving my fingers together, I clasped my hands tight, doing all I could not to reach for him. Goddamn that incubus pull. “Then help me prepare for whatever it is The Circle will want,” I said, trying not to call him out and failing. “You promised to help with my blood magic, but you can’t stand to be alone with me long enough to get anywhere.”

  “I’m alone with you right now, and all I can think about is peeling your clothes off with my teeth.” With a sexy half grin, Nova nodded to the couch. “Laying you on that couch. Fucking you until this constant craving is finally satisfied. For a while.”

  My breath came faster as the room warmed with his erotic charge. “Maybe if you did, we’d finally be able to get some work done on my magic without all of this tension getting in the way.”

  That gorgeous smile turned into a tangible laugh, one I could almost wrap around me like a velvet cloak. “You’re too daring for your own good, firecracker. Careful what you wish for; you just might get it. And I can’t be held responsible for what happens after. Not if you keep asking for it.”

  Nova wasn’t wrong. I had asked for it a few times now, literally. He hadn’t given in. When the rush of being around him wore off, I’d been glad for his resistance. I couldn’t imagine I’d make it long in this house if we gave in to our urges. If the yearning was this bad now, I probably didn’t want to discover how much worse it could get.

  “I know, but none of that will even be a problem once I’m dead. Bottom line.” There was no point pretending this situation wasn’t a death sentence. We survived on a nightly basis around here.

  The predatory glint in his eyes softened though the sex-charged hunger remained. He tipped his head in acknowledgement of defeat. “Fine. Let’s go to the basement.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  The air smelled of incense and burnt sulfur. As Nova led me into the magic wing of the basement for the first time, I rubbed the goosebumps that prickled on my skin. Magic hung heavy on the atmosphere.

  I wasn’t sure what I expected at the end of the long hall, but it wasn’t an elaborate old library complete with a spiral staircase that led up to a reading loft. Pausing just inside the threshold, I took it all in. Deep, rich wood tones made up the book-laden shelves as well as the desk in one corner. A fire burned in a hearth surrounded by fluffy easy chairs. Most of the large lib
rary was just that: walls lined with books and a place to study them.

  An arched doorway on the other side opened into a wide-open space lit by dozens of candles in sconces. A pentagram inside a circle painted in white shone against the black floor. That’s where the awful vibes drifted from. Magic came from many places, and the darker, the deadlier. The room felt stuffed with several energy types. I couldn’t pick the magic in the air apart the way some vampires and demons could.

  Nova didn’t seem bothered by it, like he barely noticed. “This room is safe for magic, especially if performed inside the circle. If your magic goes wild in here, it can only harm who and what is in this room with you.”

  “All right.” Cracking my knuckles, I sucked in a deep breath. “Are you going to teach me symbol magic?”

  “Not yet. First, there’s something you really need to work on.” Steepling his fingers, Nova turned his usual bossy expression on me, the one that meant he was about to push me out of my comfort zone.

  “And what might that be?” A hard edge crept into my tone. Nova’s tendency to go hard on me, especially when he was in a mood, worked my nerves like nothing else.

  “Magical control comes second. First you need to learn to control your mind.” Tapping a fingertip against his temple, Nova ambled to the fire. With a poker from the stand next to the hearth, he prodded the logs.

  The firelight glinted off his face, highlighting the sharp angles of his jaw. Every detail appeared to be perfectly planned and executed. He was a work of art. Each time I got a chance to really observe him, I found something new and wonderful about him. Not that I’d ever say so out loud.

  “Yeah, I have some issues. I’m aware.” Averting my gaze when he glanced up to find me staring, I touched a book on the nearest shelf at random. Nope, not gawking at the sexy incubus demon. Not at all.

  “At some point they will get their hands on you, Blaze. I want you to be ready when they do.” Replacing the poker, Nova extended a hand toward the circle through the archway. “We’ll take it slow. But we have to start somewhere.”

  Something about the way he said that made me want to go pretty much anywhere other than through that doorway. “Do we though? I think learning hands on during FPA encounters has been going well so far.”

  Nova’s mocking laughter rang throughout the vast library. “Your denial is adorable but ultimately useless. Not to mention, total bullshit.”

  Despite my feigned interest in the books on the shelves, Nova ushered me along toward the magical circle. Using a big black wing, he kept me moving, even when I resisted under the archway.

  “What are you so afraid of, cherry bomb? Me? Or yourself?”

  Those words ignited my pride, and I shoved away from him, striding into the middle of the pentagram. It felt as if the tendrils of residual magic stuck to me like the fragments of a broken spiderweb. Rubbing my arms briskly did nothing to remove the sensation.

  “You’d love that, wouldn’t you? If I said you scared me.” Standing in the middle of the large pentagram, I shot him a smirk. “Does my fear mean that much to your ego?”

  “Of course not. I’m an incubus.” Sauntering toward me with extra swagger in his step, Nova held up a palm. A small ice shard hovered in the center. “I’d much rather you desire me than fear me. Although I can work with either.”

  “Right. So what do you plan to do with that?” Wary, I eyed the sharp sliver of ice.

  Nova’s blood-red eyes gleamed with wicked amusement. “We can’t very well work on your blood magic unless you bleed.”

  My defensive instincts rose up, ready to fight. The closer each step brought him, the more I bristled. No part of me wanted to do this, but this practice was no longer optional. If The Circle ever discovered how easily my blood magic could blow an operation, they’d wipe me out as a risk.

  “Fair enough,” I muttered, my mouth suddenly dry.

  The walls surrounding the circle were bare and beige: No breakables to fall and smash. Nothing in here but the circle on the floor and the candles in their sconces, which appeared to be securely affixed to the wall. And no way out other than through the archway from the library, which Nova conveniently blocked.

  As soon as he stepped into the ritual circle with me, the atmosphere responded by warming with sensual energy. The lust might have caused me to let my guard down if he hadn’t whipped that ice shard. It whistled as it flew past my ear, shattering against the wall behind me. A second and third followed fast, forcing me to move quick to avoid being slashed.

  “Is this really the best way to test my magic?” I snapped, irritated by his come-at-me approach. “Is the attack aspect really necessary? Why not just cut me?”

  “The Feds won’t just walk up and give you a little paper cut. They’ll throw what they have at you, and you will bleed. Just like you did before.” For good measure, Nova followed up with one more shard, three times larger than the others. Now he was just being a dick.

  Temper flaring, I flung out both hands and hit him with a shot of telekinetic power. It plowed into his chest, shoving him back with a stumble. The demon just laughed and raised both hands to invite more. Gritting my teeth, I flung a second shot, annoyed when he blocked it. I didn’t have the power he did. The only way I stood a chance against him was using my blood magic, and we both knew it.

  I faltered, dropping my hands. “Come on, Nova. Do we really have to do this whole song and dance?”

  Before I could continue my protests, Nova darted forward, more a blur than actual motion. He caught hold of me and spun me around in his arms, pressing my back to his chest. Grabbing both of my wrists in one of his, he pinned me tight.

  Brushing a lock of hair off my cheek, Nova’s breath tickled my ear. “You know we do. How else will you know how to react when someone has you trapped?”

  Trapped. That word alone made my insides quiver with discomfort. Though I wanted to believe Nova had my best interests in mind, the feeling of being unable to break free from him triggered the panic that Remington had cultivated in me.

  “Stop.” Breathy, my voice was barely there. Nova was nothing like Rem. Still I froze in the grip of memories that threatened to overtake me. Just being held like this triggered my response to fight like hell.

  “Let yourself feel it.” Nova’s gentle murmur soothed while his vice-like hold provoked. “The anger. The fear. All of it. Do you feel how powerful it is?”

  Frantically I shook my head, tossing red tendrils in my face. “I don’t want to do this.”

  Nova tightened his grip until my wrists ached, crushed together in his grasp. He jerked me hard against him, making my teeth clack together. “You don’t have a choice. The FPA won’t give you a choice either. You can’t allow your emotions to run away with you. Control them and you control the magic.”

  Chest heaving, I struggled against him, testing his solid hold. I couldn’t overpower a demon. Certainly not this demon.

  He made it sound so easy. Nothing about my magic had ever been easy. “Don’t you think I’ve tried that?” I snapped, straining against him. “It’s not that simple.”

  “Nothing worth doing well is ever easy.” Another ice shard appeared in Nova’s free hand. He held it ready, letting me get a good look at the sharp edges. “You don’t belong to him anymore, Blaze. You never really did.”

  I heard the powerful truth in his words. It resonated like an echo within me. So fucking badly I wanted to embrace it, to let it fuel my reaction. But when Nova brought that icy blade down, dragging it across my forearm, I lost control.

  The cut wasn’t that deep. Just enough to let the blood spill, and with it, the power rose. Like an expanding bubble it filled me, seeking and finding the outlet it needed. It burst out, limited by the tiny amount of blood that flowed. Still, it gave me enough strength to break free of Nova.

  Throwing my hands wide, I flung him off like an old garment. When the first drop of blood splashed against the floor, the pentagram glowed the soft red of my aura.

&
nbsp; I whirled on Nova who stood his ground in the face of my volcanic magic. He opened his mouth to speak, and the next moment he’d been pasted against the wall, wings splayed on either side of him, his feet well above the floor. I didn’t mean for it to nail him like that.

  A cough racked him, and he sucked in a harsh breath, which turned into a bark of laughter. “You really have to work on holding back for the right moment. It’s impossible to instruct you when you won’t wait for instruction.”

  Fists clenched tight at my sides, I fumed that the demon had enough audacity to laugh. Didn’t he see that I was scared shitless here? “It’s impossible to learn from someone who won’t listen when I tell them that I can’t fucking control this shit.” My shout drove a second shot of wild magic, weaker than the first as my wound’s flow slowed.

  Ready for it, Nova raised a hand to deflect the blast down into the center of the pentagram behind me. The light surrounding it glowed brighter as the core of the circle absorbed the power. Then the light dimmed and went out.

  “The magic absorbed by the circle feeds the wards that protect the house and property,” he explained even though I hadn’t asked.

  When I stood there staring at him with teeth and fists clenched, his wings lifted and resettled against him. Those wings often revealed his true thoughts, even when no other part of him did. He had to school himself to remain neutral at this distance from me, though I couldn’t discern more from that single shift.

  When several moments passed and neither of us spoke, I decided that I’d had enough. I stormed from the circle, aware Nova wouldn’t let me walk out on him. Not when I had to pass right by him to reach the exit.

  As anticipated, he stepped into my path, but he made no other effort to trap me. “I’m trying to help you, dammit. I’ve never seen any vampire do what you can do. Only the panic cripples your control. If you can master your emotions, you’ll master your magic.”