by Katie Reus
Connor looked thoughtful for a moment before he focused on Larissa. Then he held out his arm and shoved his long sleeve back. “Take what you need.”
Shock rolled off Larissa as she stared at Connor. She looked at Aiden and it took all his strength to nod that he was okay with this. This wasn’t sexual, he reminded himself. If anything, it was an honor that his Alpha was doing this so freely.
“Thank you,” she murmured to Connor before barely touching his wrist and gently striking his vein.
Everyone took turns standing guard while she fed. Ten minutes later she’d drunk from everyone—except Jayce, who’d flat-out refused, much to Kat’s annoyance, though it didn’t surprise Aiden—and was already glowing.
“Give us a couple of minutes,” Aiden murmured to Connor, who nodded before stalking off with Liam.
“I feel like I could fly,” Larissa said, awe in her voice. “I’ve never had so much supernatural blood at once. So much strong blood. Your pack is incredible.”
“You are incredible.” She hadn’t balked at wanting to stop the evil nearby. Had just told everyone what needed to be done and was willing to jump into the fray, no questions asked. That bravery was one of the reasons he loved her.
She blinked, her indigo eyes turning that electric blue. Before she could respond, he bared his neck to her. I know you don’t want to feed from me and I understand—though I feel fine. Just take a little. I want my blood to be the last you drink right now. It’s making me insane that you touched other males. I want my taste to be on your tongue when we go in there.
Instead of telling him that she’d just been feeding and none of it had been sexual or making a half dozen other statements to attempt to soothe him, she clutched his shoulders, bared her fangs and struck. Not with the gentle politeness she’d used with the others, but with a rawness she reserved only for him.
He shuddered and groaned at the feel of her teeth sinking into his neck, at the erotic sensation each time she sucked on him. Pushing her back up against a tree, he pinned her there with his hips, rolling them against her and hating that they had clothes in the way.
Much too soon, she pulled her head back and licked his small wounds. When she met his gaze, her eyes were glowing as she licked the blood from her lips and teeth.
“As soon as we’re done here, I’m fucking you for days,” he snarled, the harsh words ripping from him. He knew everyone could hear them through the earpieces and the most primal part of him needed every single male to know his intent. It didn’t matter that most were happily mated. His wolf was not rational right now.
“Good.” Her voice was just as harsh as his. I like it when you lose that charming veneer, she added as he took a small step away from her.
He took a steadying breath, exhaled. “Ready?” he asked.
She looked down and held her palms up. A bright blue flame shot from both of them, more brilliant than he’d ever seen it. Her eyes were still electric as she met his gaze again. “Oh yeah.”
“Erin, Noah, Jayce, and I are converging on the cabin first,” Connor said via their earpieces. “Once we’ve secured it, everyone else move in.”
After the rest of them answered in the affirmative, they all went silent. Aiden and Larissa crouched in the shadows of two tall trees, their boots making small indentations in the snow. Around them everything was silent as they watched the house. And waited.
If he hadn’t been watching so intently he may not have seen the multiple blurs of movement from the woods to the cabin. Still in human form, Connor and Erin were the only ones visible from his and Larissa’s position. Moving lightning quick, they invaded the house, Erin using a window and Connor going in through the front door. He guessed the others were using windows on the other side of the quiet cabin.
“Everyone can come in,” Connor said fewer than thirty seconds later.
Using caution, Aiden and Larissa sprinted to the front porch, reaching it at the same time as Kat and Liam. Aiden entered first, using his body to block Larissa’s as he stepped inside. He could feel Larissa’s annoyance through their link at his protectiveness, but it didn’t bother him.
Once inside he saw Connor and the three others standing next to a kitchen table that they’d clearly moved to the side. A dingy rug had been pulled back to reveal a door cut into the floor. It lined up with the seams of the floor, but the hinges and small door were clearly visible. The rest of the cabin was definitely unlived in. There were a few pieces of dusty wooden furniture that looked as if they had never been sat on and the fireplace had a nest of something living in it. He nodded at the unopened trapdoor as Larissa, Liam, and Kat came to stand next to him. Aiden also scented the remaining three males entering. The growing putrid stench of the dead was stronger inside, wafting over them.
Connor let his claws out before he looked at Liam. Aiden guessed they were communicating telepathically. A moment later Liam crouched next to the door. Connor motioned that he was going to go first. As he did, Erin and Jayce pulled out blades. Both enforcers immediately handed a blade to their mates. Aiden let his claws free, as did the other males. Larissa’s fangs and claws released, but she didn’t let her flames loose yet.
Liam tugged back the door. It barely made a sound. From his position a few feet away Aiden could see a metal ladder, but the drop to whatever was down there, was dark. Connor started to move in, but Liam grabbed his upper arm in a tight grip. They had one of their telepathic conversations until Liam finally let go, but he looked pissed as his brother went first.
Aiden understood that as Connor’s second-in-command, and his only brother, Liam wanted to protect Connor. It was his right and duty, but as Alpha, Connor had to go first in situations like this. He had to show everyone what he was willing to do. Otherwise how could he expect them to? It was the shifter way and why Connor was a respected Alpha.
Erin and Noah went next, then everyone else followed with Ryan closing the trapdoor behind them. The descending tunnel was dark, but with his supernatural vision Aiden could make out everything well enough. And there was definitely a light coming from somewhere below. No noise though. Which was surprising since they’d seen multiple individuals converging on the house from the satellite feeds. According to Ryan, no one had left since. That told Aiden that either everyone who’d entered was incredibly quiet, or whatever was below them was expansive enough that they simply couldn’t hear where the others had gone—or the vampires were lying in wait to attack. That was definitely a possibility.
As Aiden dropped out of the tunnel onto solid stone ground, he immediately scanned his surroundings, taking in everything in one visual sweep. There were a dozen burning torches hooked on the stone walls around the circular cavernous space. A torch for each carved archway leading down twelve different tunnels. That putrid stench was much stronger down here. Not so overwhelming that he wanted to hurl, but they were getting closer to whatever darkness lurked down here. He rolled his shoulders once, trying to shake off his tension. Having Larissa in any sort of danger, no matter how capable she was, was wreaking havoc on his senses.
Larissa looked at Aiden, her expression grim. There were twelve tunnels and ten of them. Since there was no way in hell he’d be leaving Larissa—and he knew neither Jayce nor Noah would leave their respective mates—it could take a while to search them all.
Connor motioned that they should all bunch together like a football team huddling. Once they were close, he looked at all of them. “We’ll split into twos and cover ground that way. Liam’s with me, the rest of you pick your partners,” he said, clearly out of courtesy because it was pretty damn certain who would pair off with whom. “That one,” he pointed to the archway nearest to the overhead tunnel drop, “I’m designating as tunnel number one. The next is number two,” he pointed in a clockwise motion. “And so on. We’ll take the first five tunnels at once. Keep your earpieces on, and if you get into trouble, call for backup. Use yo
ur tunnel number so we know which one you’re in. Fight if you have no choice, but wait for backup until we know more about what the hell is down here.” His voice was whisper soft and serious as he gave them orders.
Even so there was still a chance they’d been overheard if vampires were nearby. It was a chance they had to take.
When everyone nodded, they all split up, with Aiden and Larissa taking the third tunnel. He watched as everyone entered one of the tunnels before stepping inside with Larissa. They walked in silence, quick but conscious of possible traps or explosives. Right now he wasn’t about to underestimate any possibilities. He couldn’t measure for sure, but about one hundred yards in he heard a low chanting.
Next to him Larissa immediately slowed. Her heart rate didn’t increase and she didn’t put off any scents, but shot him a glance. I hear it.
What language is that? The chanting was almost nonsensical. He wondered if it was because he didn’t know the language.
Latin.
Pausing, he strained to listen and realized she was right. It was Latin and the chanting male was saying only four or five words over and over. They all blended together, sounding like gibberish.
As they neared the entrance, the hair on the back of Aiden’s neck stood straight up. Tingles raced down his spine and he had the most ominous feeling, as if he was walking straight into a mouth of hell. The sulfuric smell was incredibly strong now and the chanting sounded like something out of a bad horror movie.
Moving slowly they crept near the entrance. He had to force himself to continue and not grab Larissa and whisk her away to safety. His wolf clawed at his surface, ready to be unleashed and protect Larissa. Shadows moved and shifted against one of the high arching walls. From candles. Next to him Larissa was tense, her body rigid even as blue flames licked up from her hands, covering her arms like body armor.
Ready? he asked.
Larissa’s jaw tightened. Let’s do it.
They moved the last couple of feet toward the edge of the archway in silence. It took only seconds to take everything in. Shock punched through him as he saw a vampire wearing a dark hood kneeling in front of a blood-stained altar with three dead human females on it. Their blood spilled everywhere as the male’s hands plunged into the chests of two of them and pulled their hearts out.
That wasn’t what shocked Aiden. It was the dark aura almost hovering around the male like a thick cloud. He could see gaunt faces peering through the haze, their eyes an eerie red as they watched what the vampire was doing. As if they were hungry for . . . Oh, nasty. The vamp lifted one of the hearts and took a bite of it. Only the bottom half of his face was showing so it was impossible to see who it was.
Move back, he commanded Larissa. They needed backup and he wasn’t risking this male overhearing him calling Connor and everyone else. The male probably couldn’t scent them over all the stench of death.
Before they’d taken one step, the male’s head whipped up. He dropped the hearts and shoved the hood back with his blood-covered hands. His eyes glowed red and he smiled evilly, his fangs shiny with blood as he stared at Larissa, lust and rage in his eyes. Oh yeah, this fucker was going to die.
“Kill the male, the female is mine!” he shouted and before Aiden realized what the male meant, nearly a hundred vampires dropped from seemingly out of nowhere. There was a lip of stone above them in the high arched cavern.
He couldn’t believe he and Larissa hadn’t scented them, but it was possible they were being protected by a spell.
Larissa let out a growl of rage, her blue flames spreading out on the ground around her. His wolf took over. As he underwent the change from man to animal everything around him funneled out for a moment. This was his weakest moment, in between the change, but he had no choice. His wolf was taking over whether he wanted it or not.
His bones broke and realigned and as he landed on all fours, everything came into focus in a rush. The vampire closest to him let out a shriek as he hurled something at Aiden like a javelin thrower. A short sword glinted in the firelight.
Aiden jumped, attempting to move out of the way when Larissa’s body slammed into him. She cried out, her flames dying as they landed with a thud on the cold dirt floor of the cavern.
A wrenching agony like he’d ever experienced only once before sliced through him as he saw the blade embedded in her back, the tip coming out through her chest. Her eyes were a bright blue as she stared at him, her body covering his lupine form. It was as if time stood still.
“No!” the leader screamed as he jumped over the altar, sending the other vampires scrambling away from Aiden and Larissa.
Larissa stared up at him, that gaze so full of grief it felt as though his own heart had been pierced. She reached for him, put a shaking hand over his front paw.
On instinct he shifted back to his human form to hold her. He was aware of the vampire moving toward them but all he could focus on was Larissa, his mate, the only woman he would ever love. Don’t you dare fucking die on me.
“Pull it out,” she whispered, her brilliant eyes going glassy.
As they did, he felt the strangest tingle in his body and he knew exactly what she was doing. What she was gifting to him. No! he screamed to her, understanding her intent.
When her eyes closed and she didn’t respond he screamed, the sound ricocheting off the cavern so loudly the advancing vampire stumbled in his tracks.
Chapter 25
Sixty years ago, Christmas Day
Larissa stood shoulder to shoulder with Aiden, her back ramrod straight as they waited in the great room of Aiden’s parents’ castle. Her parents were at the front of the room with his, looking just as furious. Perhaps more so. She’d never seen her mother or father so irate.
History had gotten many things about her father wrong—mainly because he wanted it that way—and while it was true his first wife had committed suicide, his second wife, Oana Danesti, was the true love of his life. They’d been together for centuries and while Larissa had been spoiled and a favorite among her coven, she knew in that moment, things would never be the same. Her father might be the one with the dark reputation, but her mother basically ruled him. He did what his mate wanted because he loved her more than anything. Whatever Oana decided, Vlad would agree to it, even if it meant casting his own daughter out. Deep down it pierced her that her own parents could be so irate because she’d fallen in love with a shifter.
It wasn’t a choice. It had happened and she wasn’t sorry for it.
“You’re such a little fool,” her mother spat, her eyes brilliant blue. Her hands fisted into balls as she clearly restrained herself from attacking Aiden. “He’s just using you.”
Aiden growled softly next to her before he wrapped his arm around Larissa’s shoulders. “Watch how you speak to my mate.”
At that, her father stepped forward. Then Aiden’s moved toward Vlad. Both powerful males turned on each other, glaring as if they wanted to kill the other, but at least they weren’t making any other hostile gestures.
“We love each other and we’ve made our choice. Either live with it or don’t, but we’ve done nothing wrong. If anyone is being foolish, it’s you. You have a chance to unite a shifter and vampire line, bridging the divide between our races. Think about all the good we could do with our example.” Larissa stared her mother square in the eye, refusing to back down. Bridging the divide had nothing to do with why she and Aiden had bonded, but they had an opportunity to make a difference with their bonding. Supernaturals were always battling one another, but if two powerful lines accepted this mating, it could drastically change the way their races treated one another for all future generations. If her mother could take her stupid emotional reaction out of the equation she would see Larissa was right. But the second their parents had entered the great room, they’d flipped out, recognizing the bonding scent on both of them.
“Clea
rly we’ve sheltered you for too long if you think this animal loves you. He’s going to take your gift and discard you.” Her mother’s hands burst into blue flames and everyone in the room went still as they stared. Even her father seemed shocked at her mother’s display.
Larissa’s eyes widened at her mother’s lack of control. Their family secret was a closely guarded one; only a select few in their coven even knew of it. She’d showed Aiden what she could do only last night after they bonded. Even then she hadn’t told him everything because she hadn’t wanted to overwhelm him. Her mother’s words set something off inside her.
Do you trust me? she asked Aiden.
Disbelief shot along their newly formed link. You don’t even have to ask.
Even though she knew it, she’d needed to hear it. Brace yourself. Turning toward Aiden she grabbed both his hands and released her flames. The beautiful blue licked up his arms, over his chest and head until it covered his entire body. Ignoring her mother’s cry of outrage and his parents’ growls of anger, she focused on the man she loved and funneled all her energy into Aiden.
She’d never attempted this before, but her mother had explained how it worked. How she could give her gift of fire to anyone she chose, not just her mate. Larissa had never thought she’d want to, but she trusted Aiden to give it back. It was the ultimate act of trust. Once she released it fully, he could keep it or return it.
It’s yours until you decide to give it back to me, she projected to him as she stepped back and released his hands.
His dark eyes were wide as he looked at her, then everyone else in the room. I don’t have to give it back to you, do I? You just gave up your most powerful gift to prove to your parents that I can be trusted.
