Darkness Returns

by Alexandra Ivy

  “What about your master?” she demanded.

  “What about him?”

  “You’re here to find him, aren’t you?”

  Chiron flinched at her direct hit. She was right. He was allowing his primitive hungers to distract him from the reason he’d traveled to this hotel.

  “Yes,” he forced himself to agree. “It’s my duty.”

  She studied him with a steady gaze. “Because he’s your master?”

  “Because it’s my fault he’s missing.” The words slipped from his lips before he could halt them.

  He never discussed the past. Only Ulric knew the full truth of what had happened to Tarak.

  But somehow, the urge to share his sense of guilt was overwhelming. He needed to see her reaction to his confession. As if her opinion of him was of the utmost importance.

  She frowned in confusion. “I thought you said it was because of the previous Anasso?”

  “It’s a long story,” he warned.

  “I’d like to hear it.” Her hand slid up his chest to brush the side of his neck. The light caress sent a sharp tremor through his body. “Please.”

  Chiron smiled wryly. There was no way he could resist her soft plea. Hell, he would probably dance naked in the middle of the Vegas Strip if she begged him to.

  “I don’t even know where to start.”

  “At the beginning,” she suggested in that same, soft voice.

  Chapter 8

  The beginning?

  He stepped back, eyeing her with a wry smile. Did she have any idea he was over a thousand years old?

  Not wanting to remind her, he settled for the condensed version.

  “Like most vampires, I was abandoned by my sire after I was turned,” he said, his voice carefully devoid of emotion.

  Vampires were feared predators. And with good reason. They were savage warriors who sat firmly on top of the demon food chain. But they began life as vulnerable as any baby. Perhaps even more vulnerable. When they woke from being turned, they had no memory of their previous life. And because most sires didn’t bother to stay around and assist their creations, the new vampire didn’t even know what he or she was, or what might kill them.

  Most vampires perished during their first few hours by walking into the sunlight, or being killed during their initial hunt for blood.

  “Thankfully, I woke deep in a cave, so I didn’t stumble into the sunlight,” he continued. “But I spent years alone, never realizing there were others like me. It was Tarak who eventually found me, and taught me who and what I was.”

  “Tarak.” She tilted her head to the side. “That’s your master?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did he make you a member of his clan?”

  Chiron turned to pace toward the pool, the emotions he’d kept locked away for centuries churning through him.

  He could remember the precise moment Tarak had entered the cave. Chiron had been like a feral animal, attacking the intruder with every intention of destroying him. Tarak had easily overpowered him, but instead of striking the killing blow, he’d taken Chiron back to his own lair.

  Over the next decade, the older male had taught Chiron everything he knew. How to hunt. How to fight. How to lure his prey with minimal effort. And how to interact with other vampires.

  That last lesson had been the toughest for Chiron. After so many years alone, it had been next to impossible to learn to trust anyone beyond Tarak.

  “At that time, he was a devoted follower of the Anasso,” he told Lilah, pivoting back to meet her curious gaze. “Once I was moderately civilized, we began to travel with the king to help him maintain his hold on the throne.”

  She arched her brows. Obviously, she was fully aware of the irony of his words.

  “The one he was hiding from?”

  “At the time, the Anasso was striving to unite the vampires. Before then, we were so busy killing one another with our clan wars, we were blind to the dangers of evolving human technology.”

  “That sounds like a good thing.”

  “It was. In the beginning,” he agreed.

  Most vampires had been impervious to the threat of the humans who were starting to band together and build cities. They’d become complacent in their belief they were indestructible. The Anasso, however, understood the bows and arrows used by the humans were only the beginning.

  “Did he become power hungry?”

  Chiron rolled his eyes. The Anasso had been arrogant, bossy, ill-tempered, and consumed with his lust for power.

  A typical vampire.

  “He started that way,” he told his companion.

  Her gaze lowered to his hands, which had clenched into tight fists. “Then what happened?”

  Chiron didn’t try to ease his tension. Why bother? As long as he was digging through his ancient memories, he was going to be on edge.

  “Over the centuries, he started to become more aggressive,” he explained. “And unstable.”

  “Unstable?”

  “Violent mood swings.”

  She looked confused. “Is that unusual?”

  Chiron narrowed his eyes. “I think I was just insulted.”

  She blushed. “Sorry.”

  Chiron waved aside her apology. It wasn’t unusual for demons or fey who didn’t spend time with vampires to assume they were still the brutal savages they had been in the beginning.

  Now, vampires tended to be cold, cunning creatures who used their intellect rather than their brawn to maintain power.

  “At first, it was bursts of temper that might be expected from any leader who’s under constant pressure from challengers to his throne,” he continued. He wanted to be done with his story. “Not to mention being the arbitrator between an endless parade of squabbling vampires to prevent clan wars.”

  “That sounds awful.”

  Chiron grimaced. It’d been more than awful. They’d had to be on constant guard to prevent assassins from sneaking into their current lair, while the Anasso spent his days listening to one whining complaint after another. The grim discipline became grinding after a few centuries.

  The memory made him shudder.

  “Yeah, I can’t imagine why any vampires would want the job.”

  “I assume there was more than frustration with his job bothering the Anasso?”

  “I started to notice strange bouts of euphoria,” he said. He could still remember the occasion he’d walked into the private baths to discover the Anasso leaping across the floor and singing at the top of his lungs. And when the idiot had locked himself in the dungeon and it’d taken them three days to find him. “Like he was drunk.”

  She made a sound of surprise. “Vampires can get drunk?”

  “Only if they ingest the blood of a creature who’s been drinking or doing drugs.”

  “A lot of demons enjoy imbibing substances that aren’t always good for them,” she pointed out in dry tones. “At least half my yearly budget is used to repair the damage done by inebriated guests.”

  Chiron struggled not to be distracted by her words. Later, he would ponder his sudden aversion to Lilah dealing with dangerous demons in this isolated location. It didn’t matter if it was her birthright. Or if she had a half ogre to offer her protection.

  He didn’t want her here. Not without…

  Him.

  “Vampires can quickly become addicted,” he said, pretending the treacherous thought hadn’t just wiggled through his brain. “That’s when the true damage happens.”

  “What damage?”

  “The corrupted blood begins to rot their brain. Eventually, they go completely mad.”

  “And that’s what happened to your Anasso?”

  He gave a sharp nod, forcing himself to return to the past.

  “Yes, but it starts slowly. I began noticing a change in him, but everyone dismissed my fears.” He’d been furious when Tarak had refused to listen to his suspicions. More than once, the older vampire had threatened to have Chiron driven from the l
air. “To be honest, I don’t think anyone wanted to accept that anything was wrong. They’d all devoted their lives to the Anasso’s dream of a united vampire nation. I was relatively new to the clan, so I didn’t have much invested.”

  She nodded in understanding. “So you could see more clearly.”

  A humorless smile twisted his lips. “That’s what I told myself.”

  She allowed her expression to soften, as if able to sense his lingering bitterness. “But?”

  He glanced back toward the pool. The old emotions continued to churn to the surface. Raw regret and frustration. But there was also an unexpected sense of healing taking the sharp edges off his pain.

  Was it simply sharing the story with Lilah? Like lancing an infected wound? Or was it something to do with this place?

  Impossible to know for sure.

  “I think there was a part of me that resented the Anasso’s sway over my master,” he admitted.

  “You were jealous.”

  He gave a reluctant nod. It sounded so childish. But at the time, he’d been a relatively young vampire who’d begrudged Tarak’s fierce devotion to the older vampire. He wanted Tarak to leave the Anasso so they could create their own clan.

  “Looking back, I think I was,” he said.

  “What did you do?”

  “I started following the Anasso in secret.” Chiron had been embarrassed by his compulsion to sneak around. He was a warrior, not a dirty gremlin. But he had to know the truth. “Eventually, I discovered the secret stash of drug-addicted humans and demons he was holding like cattle in pens to feed on.”

  She lifted her fingers to her mouth, her eyes darkening with anger. “The bastard.”

  Chiron had been equally horrified. Vampires might be predators, but they used their skills to hunt their prey. They didn’t trap and torture them. Unfortunately, he hadn’t dared to release the prisoners.

  It wasn’t until after Tarak had disappeared that he’d gone on a rampage, smashing open the pens he could find to release the pathetic captives. Including Ulric.

  “That was my reaction, along with Tarak’s, when I told him what I found,” he told her.

  “Good.”

  His lips twitched at her fierce tone. She was genuinely upset by the thought of demons and humans being mistreated. The knowledge pleased him. It revealed her heart was as tender as he’d suspected.

  “Not entirely.” He made a sound deep in his throat. When Tarak disappeared, he’d realized he’d made a tactical error. “I assumed Tarak must have discovered something that proved I was telling the truth, and threatened to denounce the Anasso as his king, probably in front of the entire clan.”

  “That’s when he went into hiding?” she asked in sympathetic tones.

  Chiron hesitated. He didn’t want to lie. Then again, he wasn’t prepared to reveal the complete truth. Not until he’d found the key and released Tarak.

  “He disappeared,” he hedged.

  She hesitated, as if choosing her words with care. “How can you be sure he wasn’t killed?”

  Again, he fudged the truth. “I would sense if he’d been destroyed,” he said, not revealing he’d had a brief peek into the Anasso’s perverted mind. It’d been just enough to be assured Tarak was still alive, along with the vague sense he’d been taken captive.

  She thankfully jumped to the conclusion he had a connection to his master.

  “At least you know he has survived,” she murmured.

  “And now I have the chance to bring him home again,” he steered the conversation away from Tarak’s disappearance.

  She reached out to lightly stroke her fingers down his arm. “I get it.”

  The painful memories were abruptly shattered. Like a glass being struck by a hammer.

  Her touch was light, and if he was being honest with himself, given more out of pity than passion. But it still sent pleasure zigzagging through his body.

  He swallowed a self-derisive urge to laugh. He was a male who’d had the most beautiful females in the world try to capture his attention. They flirted, they followed him around the casino, they occasionally stripped off their clothes and threw their panties at him.

  This female had barely allowed the tip of her fingers to brush his sleeve and he was giddy with pleasure.

  Pathetic.

  “Do you get it?” he asked, his voice husky as he stepped toward her.

  She made a tiny sound in the back of her throat. Was she being distracted by the same awareness that sizzled through him?

  “You feel like it’s your fault he was forced to leave,” she murmured.

  “Yes,” he agreed, taking another step forward.

  Close enough to feel the heat of her body through his clothes. A growl rumbled deep in his chest.

  He wasn’t a Were, but tonight he felt as if there was an animal trapped deep inside him. It was wild and hungry for a taste of this female.

  “And the only way to make it right is to have him back where he belongs,” she continued, her own voice lowering with a breathless rasp.

  He studied her upturned face. Her words captured his feelings with a perfect simplicity. “You’re very perceptive.”

  “Not really.” A troubled frown tugged at her brows. “There are times when I feel…”

  He touched her cheek, sensing she was about to share one of her deepest secrets. “Tell me.”

  “Blind,” she at last confessed. “As if there’s something I should see that remains just out of sight.”

  Chiron felt a flicker of hope. There were witches who could create a revulsion spell to safeguard their objects of power. Perhaps they’d done the same thing to hide the key.

  “Magic?” he demanded. “An illusion?”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Never mind. It’s ridiculous.”

  “No, I don’t think it is.” He allowed his fingers to glide over her cheek. “I’ll help if you want me to. I have a gift that allows me to peek into the thoughts of others. It might help you to recall where—”

  With a jerky motion, she reached up to knock his hand away. “Don’t.”

  “Okay,” he said in soothing tones. “Easy.”

  The sharp tang of her fear filled the air. “I don’t want anyone poking around in my head.”

  Chiron was caught off guard by her intense reaction. It was one thing to be annoyed by having someone rummaging around in her brain. Most people were reluctant to open their minds to a foreign invasion. But she wasn’t annoyed. She was terrified.

  Why?

  Refusing to push the issue, he leaned down to lay his forehead against hers. “No poking. I promise.”

  As if realizing she’d overreacted, Lilah released an unsteady sigh and allowed her tense muscles to relax. Then, once again catching him by surprise, she offered him a tentative smile. “What about biting?”

  A better vampire would have ignored the subtle invitation. Not only was she obviously too young and innocent for him, but he was still hiding his true reason for being there.

  He was taking advantage of her vulnerability.

  But he wasn’t a better vampire. There was no way in hell he could resist his urgent need to touch her.

  Lifting his hand, he slid his fingers beneath her curls, cupping her nape in a possessive grip.

  “Only if you ask very, very nicely,” he assured her.

  He caught the scent of her excitement, laced with a lingering fear. This time, however, he was confident it wasn’t fear of him, but of the heat combusting between them.

  He didn’t blame her.

  The intensity of his need for this female was more than a little unnerving.

  She sucked in a deep breath, as if gathering her courage. Then she allowed her gaze to lower to his mouth. “What about kissing?”

  The earth shifted beneath Chiron’s feet. Three simple words, but there was nothing simple about the hunger that lengthened his fangs and twisted his gut into a painful knot.

  “You don’t even have to ask.”

&
nbsp; He leaned down, using the tip of one fang to scrape against her cheek. He wanted Lilah to know who he was. What he was.

  Her excitement spiked, making his nose flare, but her fear vanished. A tension he hadn’t even realized was clenching in his muscles eased.

  She obviously wasn’t bothered by the fact he was a vampire.

  He moved in closer, caging her with his big body. He ached for a taste, but he contented himself with a lick of her parted lips. Chiron groaned. She tasted of summer. Lush raspberries. Golden heat. Sensual enticement.

  Her hands reached out to tug at the buttons of his shirt, parting the silk material to lay her palms flat against the bare skin of his chest.

  “Are you messing with my mind?” she demanded, the words more a plea than an accusation.

  He chuckled. “I promised I wouldn’t,” he reminded her.

  “Then why can’t I stop touching you?” she demanded, her fingers tracing his flat nipples.

  He hissed an electric excitement tingling across his skin. As if he’d been plugged into a circuit.

  “Because I’m irresistible,” he suggested.

  “And so modest.”

  He kissed her. Or at least it was meant to be a kiss. Two mouths touching, clinging…deepening. But it was so much more. A primitive need to brand her as his own.

  Lifting his head, he studied her flushed face with a brooding gaze.

  “Whatever this is, it has nothing to do with mind control, or even the magic of this place.” The air snapped and sizzled between them, as if it were alive. “It’s us. The two of us.”

  Her fingers explored down his chest to the rigid muscles of his stomach. “I’m not sure that makes me feel better.”

  If Chiron had a heartbeat, he was certain it would have stopped. It was a struggle to concentrate on her words when his mind was clouded with the image of her wandering fingers reaching the hard length of his erection. Would they curl around his cock and stroke him with a soft caress? Or would she squeeze him with impatient desire?

  “Why?” he managed to choke out.

  “You’re a guest.”

  “And?”

  “Here today. Gone tomorrow.”

  He frowned. She was right. His time at the hotel was no more than a brief visit. A few nights, and then he would be on his way to free Tarak from his prison. From there, he would return to his lair in Vegas. Or Paris.