by L. E. Wilson
He lifted one eyebrow, but said nothing about her reaction. “I’m not sure, exactly. This kind of thing is pretty rare. We’re just going by what the elders have told us. However,” He sighed. “I’ve already noticed a few things amiss with him. He’d never admit it, of course, but they’re there. He’s already starting to weaken, starting to reject that nasty bagged blood. Thank the gods.”
Nik was weakening? Emma’s heart clenched in her chest. “So, next question. Let’s be realistic here. What if he doesn’t want me?” She’d already made a fool of herself over this guy; she was not about to continue doing so. But there was also no way in hell she was going to let him die. Not if there was anything she could do about it.
Aiden grinned at her. “Oh, he wants you. Have no worries there, love. Why do you think he’s been such a bloody arse since you’ve come around?” He didn’t wait for her to answer. “Although, I guess you wouldn’t know, since that’s the only way you’ve ever seen him.” Then he added, “I’m also going to assume you’re not opposed to the idea of being with him? Even though he’s a vampire? You two are practically shagging every time I leave you alone.”
She surprised both of them by confessing honestly, “I’ve never been more attracted to anyone in my life, in spite of everything that’s happened to me. But what do we do now? He believes he’ll kill me if he’s with me.”
Speaking of which, this brought her back to her original inquiry. “Would he kill me, Aiden? Like he did Eliana?”
“I don’t think there’s much of a chance of that,” Aiden hedged. “Vampires are extremely territorial and protective over anything, or anyone, they consider theirs. I believe that protective trait will keep him from letting anyone harm you, including himself, although he may need some convincing. Eliana was unfortunate. However, though he cared a great deal for her, she wasn’t his mate.”
Lowering his voice, he confided, “Personally, between you and me, I think there was something a bit off with that female. That whole thing seemed a bit dodgy to me. I think there’s more to that story than any of us know, including Nik.”
The bedroom door suddenly flew open. It crashed into the opposite wall and was left hanging askew on its hinges.
Emma jumped up guiltily from the couch, coming face to face with over two hundred and forty pounds of thoroughly enraged vampire standing in the doorway, wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around his narrow waist.
Chapter 26
Too alarmed to appreciate the view of Nikulas’ naked torso, Emma anxiously racked her brain to come up with an excuse for her and Aiden to be in there with the door closed. “We’re not…this isn’t what it looks like!”
Aiden, on the other hand, did not appear to be intimidated. “Nikulas! Just the leech we wanted to see! We need to have a quick life and death chat with you, mate. It will just take a second. Why don’t you come sit with us?” He patted the cushion Emma had abandoned.
Fists clenched at his sides and fangs bared, Nik growled, “Get away from her, Aiden.”
Aiden smirked at Emma. “See what I mean? A complete arse. If it were anyone else but me, there’s no doubt I’d be learning I can’t fly by now.”
Nik stalked further into the room, his eyes never wavering from Emma. “Leave us,” he snarled in Aiden’s direction.
One side of Aiden’s mouth twisted as he contemplated the ceiling. “I think you owe me an apology first.” Crossing his legs, he swung one foot up and down. “And I won’t be leaving until I get it.”
As Nik’s fury reached the eye-glowing level, Aiden’s foot stilled. He yawned, then slowly stood up and stretched his back. With a wink and a, “I’ll see you in a few, poppet”, he casually sauntered through the busted doorway.
Emma watched him in disbelief. She couldn’t believe it. The loon was leaving her here alone with a growling, enraged vampire.
She scowled at Aiden’s retreating back. Or maybe she could. Ignoring her pounding pulse, she tried not to sound as nervous as she felt. “We were just talking, Nikulas.”
“Talking,” he sneered. Taking several deep breaths, he lowered his voice. “You are to stay away from him, do you understand?”
Now he was just being ridiculous. They’d only been talking. “He’s your best friend!”
“He’s also a notorious womanizer,” he gritted through his teeth. “And I don’t want you anywhere near him when I’m not around.”
“You’re being ridiculous, he—” Before she could finish what she was saying, he was around the couch and all up in her personal space.
“I said, STAY AWAY FROM HIM!” he bellowed inches from her face.
Nervousness forgotten, she shoved at his bare chest with both hands. “Back off, blood sucker! I’m dealing with enough here without having to deal with your irrational jealousy! In the last 48 hours, I’ve been told I’m a witch, told there are such things as vampires, kissed senseless, given my first orgasm, dragged from my home, and brought on a recon mission to rescue my sister from some deranged, immortal, sadistic bitch. I’m tired, I’m hungry, and I’ve had just about ENOUGH out of you!” She shoved him again. It was like hitting a stone wall, so she stomped around him. “I’m going to get something to eat, and then we’re leaving to go get my sister, because I want to GO HOME!” Abruptly coming to a halt, she turned to him again and shoved her finger in his face. “YOU are not to speak to me again until you can stop yelling.”
Leaving him standing there slack-jawed, she flounced out of the room to go make something to eat, only to find Aiden sitting at the bar, beaming at her.
As long as she was at it… “And you! There’s something seriously wrong with you, do you know that?” She waved her hands at him. “Other than the whole being a vampire thing.”
As she stomped angrily around the kitchen to make a peanut butter sandwich, Aiden looked down at his shirt front. “What ever do you mean? There’s nothing wrong with me.”
A few minutes later, Nik—dried off and fully dressed—wandered out of his bedroom to come and sit next to Aiden at the bar. With a sheepish look at Emma, he told them, “Sorry about all the yelling, and for being such an asshole lately. I’m not sure where all that’s coming from.”
Emma shot daggers his way, while Aiden sought to make amends. “No worries, mate. And I apologize for clocking you in the head earlier.” Giving each other a masculine, one-armed hug and pat on the back, all appeared to be forgiven. “Get yourself a bag, you’ll feel better.”
Nik got up from his stool and cautiously sidled around Emma, giving her a wide berth. She glared at him out of the corner of her eye and slapped her bread together.
Aiden frowned at her and pointed with his chin toward Nik, silently beseeching her to follow suit.
In response, she narrowed her eyes at him and savagely ripped off a bite of her sandwich with her teeth.
His eyes widened, but then he smiled at her warmly. Lord only knew what was going on in that crazy head of his.
She waited until Nik warmed up his blood and made his way back to the other side of the bar before she spoke. “So, what’s the plan for tonight guys?”
“The plan,” Nikulas grimaced as he took a sip from his bag. “Is to meet up with Dante and the rest of our crew, and then go kill things.”
Dante punched the elevator button that would take him down to the passageway leading to his living quarters. This elevator was the only accessible way to get there, other than a small tunnel he’d dug out himself.
No one else knew about that tunnel, not even Shea, and no one ever would. The private rooms it led to were not areas anyone else needed to see.
The Seattle Underground, the original city, wasn’t a place most vampires would think was suitable to live in during these modern times. They preferred the freedom of being able to live above ground amongst the humans. Gods among men. But Dante felt right at home there in the damp darkness. It suited him.
And he had no desire to interact with his food, other than to hunt them.
; Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Sometimes, he would play with his food. It satisfied something deep and dark within him, to hear them pleading for their life. He got off on it. Male or female, it didn’t matter. They’d beg him like the pathetic animals they were, the smell of fear and urine and blood dominating the room, until he tired of their screams and finally put them out of their misery.
Dragging what was left of the broken bodies through the underground, he’d emerge into the fresh air to toss them into the Sound for the sea creatures to eat. Otherwise, the stench became overwhelming, and others would begin to notice.
The elevator doors opened and Dante got in. As they closed behind him, he changed his mind at the last minute and hit the button that would take him to the underground parking garage instead of all the way down to his rooms.
He was uneasy about the mission they were about to embark on, more so than usual. Failure was not an option, or they would lose Luukas forever. He wasn’t sure how he knew this, but he did. The waiting to leave had him ready to jump out of his own skin.
He needed to feed. And he needed the release the pain would bring. Other’s pain, and his own.
The doors opened, and Dante stepped out into the garage. He turned his head as a black SUV came careening around the corner, swerving way too close to where he stood.
He smiled. Looked like his meal was coming to him.
Tires squealed as the driver noticed him standing there, and Dante saw him wrench the wheel to the side to try to avoid him. He didn’t so much as flinch as the side of the vehicle missed him by a mere few inches before it screeched to a halt just a few feet away. The back doors opened, and two males got out.
“Hey man, are you okay?” One of them asked Dante, coming up on his left.
The other snuck around to his right.
Dante lifted his upper lip in a sneer. The piece of shit thought he could sneak up on him? He turned his head to see what he was up to, felt the sting of a needle in the side of his neck…and then there was nothing but darkness.
Chapter 27
The matte black Hummer pushed deeper and deeper into the mountains, blending in perfectly with the darkness that surrounded it. It was slow going, the road they were on well hidden from the main freeway, and rarely used. Most people didn’t even know it existed, or where it led.
As they swerved around fallen branches and water-filled potholes the size of small ponds, Emma braced herself in the back seat and thanked God she wasn’t prone to motion sickness. Although she was probably going to be black and blue before this ride was over.
In spite of the rutted road and Nik’s reckless driving, Emma was nonetheless relieved to be back on the ground. Time being of the essence, they’d taken a private helicopter to Vancouver, lifting straight off of the roof of the apartment building.
Aiden let out a frustrated noise as he tried, again, to contact the rest of their team. After receiving the go ahead to head to their meeting point, Dante and the rest of the team had gone radio silent. “I’m not getting anything,” he repeated for the fourth time. “Where the bloody hell are they?”
“Have you tried the other channels?” Nik asked. “Or tried calling Christian directly?”
“Yes. Yes. I’ve tried everything.” Pulling out his cell phone, Aiden hit a button. The speakerphone came on, and they all listened to the rings on the other end of the line. After the fifth one, voicemail picked up, and one of the most sinister voices Emma had ever heard gritted out, simply, “Dante”, as if daring the person on the other end to leave a message. It actually made the hair stand up on the back of her neck, and she was very glad it was Nik and not this “Dante” vampire who’d come for her.
If the phone had been in her hands, she would’ve hung up immediately. And thrown it out the window for good measure.
But Aiden, true to form, was not intimidated. “Commander! Where the bloody hell are you?” Hanging up, he picked up the radio again and asked for anyone listening to respond. Still nothing.
Nik drove on as he chewed on the inside of his cheek, his expression thoughtful. “We’ll go on to the meeting point. Maybe something happened to their radio.”
“All of them?” Aiden scoffed in disbelief. “I’ve tried to reach all three of them via cell phone and radio.”
For the first time since Emma had met him, he sounded worried. “Where the hell are they, Nik? What if they were discovered?” He chucked his radio into the console. “What if we’re driving directly into a bloody trap?”
A look of concern passed between the two vampires.
“Wait a minute.” Emma had just grasped what Aiden had said. “We’re storming the sadistic bitch’s lair with only three others to help?” She’d been nothing but a mass of nerves since leaving the apartment, but she’d been consoling herself with the thought they would be meeting an army of vicious vampires who were going to storm in there and rescue Luukas and Keira—all cavalry style—while she stayed safely in the background until if/when the time came that she could go get her sister.
No one would get hurt except the bad guys, and she and Keira would hug and cry and go back to their normal boring lives. They’d forget all about the past seven years, and all this witch nonsense. And most especially, one particular vampire. Blood bond be damned.
Was that really so much to ask?
With a quiet sigh, she knew it was wishful thinking. She’d never condemn Nik to die. No, she would do all she could to figure out some kind of arrangement between them. One they could both live with. “Live” being the prominent word there.
“Five of us are normally more than enough to get the job done. Besides,” Nik suddenly turned off onto an even smaller road, more like a trail actually, right through a thick stand of trees. “A large party is more easily spotted. Easier to surprise the enemy this way.”
They drove another 20 minutes or so before Nik finally slowed and pulled off to the side. Turning off the engine, he looked back at Emma, a finger over his lips indicating for her to keep quiet.
Sitting very still, she listened with them. She didn’t know what she would hear or see before they did, but she tried anyway.
Suddenly, without a look or word between them, Nik and Aiden opened their doors and got out of the vehicle. Quietly telling Emma to “Stay here, and lock the doors” they melted into the night, leaving her alone in the dark. Crawling up to the front seat, she locked the doors as directed and tried to see where they’d gone, but there was nothing but blackness. They’d disappeared in the blink of an eye.
After ten of the longest minutes of her life, her breath caught on a scream as they suddenly appeared again in front of the Hummer, scaring the hell out of her. She didn’t know if she’d ever get used to the speed of vampires.
Nik came over to her side and indicated for her to unlock the doors while Aiden went to the back to get their packs out. Opening the driver’s side, he grabbed her by the waist and effortlessly plucked her out and set her one the ground. “Looks clear. Go with Aiden while I camouflage the vehicle.”
She started to ask him why it was okay for her to be alone with Aiden now, but not at the apartment, but changed her mind when she noticed the lines of strain around is blue eyes, still bright even in the dim light coming from the vehicle. Instead, she just nodded and decided to save her teasing for another time.
Emma tromped through the undergrowth after Aiden, branches and wet leaves whipping against her legs. She was glad she’d put on her heavy jeans, and not her more comfortable yoga pants.
She wanted to ask him if they’d heard or seen anything to indicate the others were in the area or on their way, but didn’t know if it was safe to make any unnecessary noise, so she held her tongue.
Aiden moved silently through the brush in front of her, like the predator he was. Following close behind him, she sounded like something more along the lines of a large elephant, or maybe even an entire herd of them.
“Through here, love.” Holding back a bundle of lush, green branch
es, Aiden ushered her through an opening in the side of a large rock face. It was so well hidden, she would’ve never noticed it there, which she guessed was the point. Once inside, she walked forward a few paces but couldn’t see enough of where she was going to continue, so she stopped and waited for Aiden. He re-covered the entrance, and the darkness became absolute.
She jumped as she felt him slide by her. “Hang on to my backpack and stay behind me. Watch your step. I dread the talking to I’ll receive if I return you to Nikulas with so much as a skinned knee.”
“You make me sound like his property.” Reaching out blindly in front of her, she found his pack and held on.
“You are his property now, love, no matter what he wants to believe. Don’t delude yourself into thinking otherwise.” They started walking slowly through the tunnel. “Until he dies, or you do.”
“Will he really die if he doesn’t feed from me?”
“Yes. Eventually.”
“And he knows this?”
“Yes.”
“Then why hasn’t he spoken to me about it?”
“Because he’s a bloody Estonian bastard, that’s why.”
She wasn’t sure what his heritage had to do with Nik’s reluctance to feed from a live person, but all conversation was put on hold as she concentrated on following Aiden without falling on her face.
After about 2 minutes of walking blindly through the tunnel, he stopped. “Let go of my pack Em, and stay here.”
“Where are you going?” she squeaked. Her voice echoed, and she could hear the constant “drip, drip, drip” of water somewhere off to her right. When he didn’t answer right away, she began to get anxious. Chewing on her bottom lip, she tried to see something, anything, around her that would give her an indication of where she was. But there was nothing but blackness, and her imagination went into overdrive. What if there were rats down here? Oh, God. She hated rats. Or spiders? Or worse, snakes??
