by Leia King
Michael burst from the room, startling them. His expression was full of confusion and disbelief as he cried, “She’s a baby vampire and she hasn’t fed yet. She should be weak!”
“Those are her screams?” Ryan asked, incredulous. “Those… snarls?”
“Yes,” Luca confirmed, pushing Michael aside and hurrying into the room.
Michael called after him, “This is dangerous, Luca. It must be the white magic still within her!”
“Calm down! I will see to her!”
Michael muttered something under his breath and took off the other way.
Luca turned to Ryan, blocking his view of the room. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be here. You won’t like what you see. Return in a couple of days.”
“Just step aside.”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
He heard Ryan choke out a gasp as his eyes fell on Cora. She was wearing a slinky, black chemise and Ryan growled, obviously not liking the skimpiness of it. Her hair was mussed up and greasy from having not showered for the last three weeks of her coma-like condition. She had her back to them as she slammed back and forth into the furniture in violent bursts of vampire speed, trashing everything in her path. She was snarling and screaming in fury.
And then she suddenly spun towards them.
Luca saw pain flash on Ryan’s face. He didn’t like what he was seeing. Luca knew why. She was fully vamped out, as Ryan called it. Her eyes were black, devoid of any shred of humanity. Her features were contorted and her ivory fangs glistened against the muted light in the room.
Her eyes found Ryan immediately and she snarled.
And then she ran at him, driving his back into the wall. Ryan hissed as her talons ripped through his leather jacket and dug into his arms. His sound of pain just seemed to spur her on. Luca could feel her fury.
“Stop, childe!” he thundered.
She froze at his words and turned to him.
“Release him!”
Instantly, she did as he commanded and stepped away.
“Come. You are hungry,” he said, holding his hands out to her.
Luca saw Ryan eyeing her as she sauntered over to her Sire. He summoned his fangs and ripped through his right wrist and held it out to her. Her fangs were buried there a moment later and little murmurs of pleasure escaped her lips. Luca cupped the back of her head, stroking her hair as he held her steady. A growl escaped Ryan, as he saw euphoria flashing in her eyes, as she drank. She was getting off on it.
“Stop,” Luca told her. “That is enough.”
But she just kept feeding.
Luca pushed gently on her forehead and she pulled away reluctantly, snarling. He glared hard at her and she shrank back and pulled back her fangs.
She turned away, looking ashamed that she had displeased her Sire. “You are still learning,” he said soothingly, reaching for her. She turned back to him and the demon was gone, buried back beneath the surface. Her deep-blue eyes looked upon him.
An absent expression played across her face for a while. And then recognition flashed in her eyes. “Luca?”
He smiled. “Yes, my childe.”
She collapsed against him and started to sob. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight, stroking her hair.
He looked up to explain to Ryan that, as a new vampire, her emotions would be heightened and wild for a few days.
But he was no longer standing there.
Luca sighed and turned his full attention back to Cora.
He led her to the bed and perched on the edge, pulling her onto his lap. She buried her face in his chest as she continued to cry.
After a long while, she stopped and looked up at him. He wiped away his blood on her lips. She leaned forward and drew his finger into her mouth, sucking off the blood, moaning in pleasure, causing his cock to harden. He pulled his finger away and gathered her in his arms, removing her from his lap before he acted on his desire for her.
He carried her to the ensuite bathroom at the far end of the room, kicked open the door, and placed her down gently. He leaned over her and turned on the shower.
“Let’s get you cleaned up,” he said, reaching for the hem of her nightgown.
She nodded and smiled sweetly at him.
He stripped her naked, his gaze sweeping over her and taking in every inch of her delectable body. When his eyes returned to hers, he found her smiling shyly back at him. He could feel her vulnerability, her confusion in her recently resurrected state. He cupped her face, drawing her close, so he could read her thoughts, something he could once again accomplish now that she was sired to him.
A rush of conflicting emotions ran through her head, incomplete images and memories. As he’d expected, her thought process was disjointed.
“Focus on me,” he told her. “The rest will come naturally.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Don’t call me that!”
She shrank back at his harsh bite, hugging herself defensively.
“I’m sorry.” He ran his thumb along her jawline and she trembled, her eyes heavy with lust. “It’s all okay.”
Hearing her refer to him as master, had ripped right through him. While he knew it was normal for her to do so, as he was her Sire, but that word just made everything seem forced and empty, implying control, rather than her being able to exercise her own free will, her true feelings and desires. And, he wanted it to be real, for her to feel for him beyond the vampiric bond between them.
He’d seen the shock on her face, her fear that she had displeased him. Right now, displeasing him in any way would shake her to her core. A childe’s need to please their Sire was the strongest in the first few days of their rebirth.
He pulled away from her and told her gently, “Step into the shower.”
He pushed the shower curtain aside and she stepped into the tub. She moved under the shower water and her wide eyes stared at him, seeming at a loss. He understood immediately. She needed him. Employing his vampire speed, he stripped down to his boxers and joined her in the shower. She reached for the waistband of his black boxers and he gently batted her hand away. “No, little one. Now we shower.”
“You don’t… want me?” she asked dejectedly.
She had no idea. “Now we shower,” he repeated. “That will please me. Okay?”
“Yes,” she said, smiling.
“Good girl,” he said, cupping her left cheek. She turned into his hand and moaned softly.
He pulled away quickly and forced himself to focus on the task at hand and nothing else. He pushed down the sexual thoughts running through his head. He wanted her so badly, but he couldn’t take her while she was so vulnerable. In time.
He washed her as quickly as he could, averting his eyes from her wet naked body as much as possible. The little murmurs of pleasure that she made as he washed her hair almost pushed him over the edge. His erection was bordering on painful.
Taking her hand, he helped her out of the shower. He snatched a black, cotton towel off the back of the door and patted her dry. He wrapped her up in it and then led her back into her bedroom.
“Sit down,” he told her, pointing to the foot of the bed.
She did as he asked and he crossed to the dresser and picked up a hairbrush. He returned to the bed and knelt behind her.
As he brushed her hair, she murmured, “I don’t remember.”
“You will, little one. Soon. Do not worry about it now. Just relax.”
He finished brushing her hair and walked to her closet. He pulled out a red, silk robe. When he turned around to hand it to her, he got one hell of a shock when he found her standing there naked, her eyes hooded with desire and the towel at her feet.
He looked away and handed her the robe.
She growled and stomped her foot. “I want to be naked.”
“No.”
“You don’t enjoy my body?”
He chuckled. “Little one, I enjoy it too much.”
�
��I don’t understand.”
He slid the robe onto her arms, as he explained, “Right now, I need to take care of your needs, not my own. Having you naked makes that very difficult. Do you understand?” He tied the belt around her waist and stepped back.
She nodded compliantly.
“Good, you have pleased me.”
She smiled happily.
“Michael!” Luca called out.
In a flash, Michael stood before him. He smiled kindly at Cora. “Princess.” And then he turned to Luca. “I see you’ve managed to calm her. Not bad for someone who has never sired before.”
“I need you to stay with her for a little while. I need to feed.” He gestured to his bloodied wrist that was slowly healing. “She took a lot.”
“I can do that,” Michael said. “I do owe her for saving my life in the White Realm during my battle with Vazra.”
“She is highly sexualized right now. It might just be the Sire bond, but I haven’t put it to the test, so make sure you deny her.”
“Of course,” Michael said with a smirk.
“I’m serious.”
“Believe me, I will deny her. I’d rather avoid the wrath of Nathanial and Ryan if I can help it.”
Satisfied, Luca told Cora gently, “He will stay with you. I won’t be long.”
“Where are you going?” she asked, running to him and throwing her arms around him.
“I need to feed. I will be back before you know it.”
She shook her head against his chest. “No. Don’t go.”
He pushed her back gently, breaking her hold on him. “You will please me by doing as you’re told.”
“I—”
“Sunrise is coming and we will need to sleep. Would you rather I leave you to sleep alone?”
She shook her head vigorously. “No.”
“Then do not challenge me now.”
“Okay,” she squeaked, looking away in shame. “I’m sorry.”
“It is okay. You are still learning,” he said, stroking her hair gently. He eyed Michael expectantly.
“She will be fine,” Michael confirmed.
With that, Luca teleported away.
5
The great white wolf bounded through the forest, howling with fury.
He ripped through everything that had the misfortune of being in his path. Trees, bushes, fences. It was broad daylight, but he didn’t care. He needed to run. He needed to clear his head.
His every thought was of her.
Cora. My love, my wife.
Ryan searched his memory, trying to recall the last time he’d actually held her in his arms, the last time her deep-blue eyes had looked at him with love in them. A love that had once seemed unbreakable.
All he could recall was that awful day where he’d held her lifeless body in his arms. The day she’d let her white fire take her. Every night he saw her that way in his nightmares. Her empty eyes. And every day he felt the loss of her, the agonizing pain of their broken bond. It was slowly driving him insane. It was broken on her end, because she’d died. But it was still intact on his end. It was a torture unlike any he’d ever endured. With the painful loss of his son, as well, it was too much to bear.
He’d had everything and he hadn’t realized it. Instead, he allowed himself to be pulled towards another. He should’ve fought harder. He should’ve fought for Cora, for what they’d had. He never should’ve lost faith the way he had. The burden of his new role as, king had clouded his judgment, the accompanying pressure, his jealousy of so many wanting his woman… all of it had driven him away from her.
And now the only two people he’d ever loved with all of his heart and soul, were gone.
It was all his fault.
If he hadn’t pushed Cora away, she never would’ve given herself over to the white fire that day. She would’ve fought. But he’d ripped away her strength, piece by piece, until she’d had nothing left. He’d driven her to her death. If she hadn’t perished, their son also wouldn’t be lost now in Spirittomb. She’d been so powerful that he just knew she would’ve been able to get him back. He wouldn’t be forced into a deal now with that despicable Kristoff to get Orion back. Ryan wasn’t a fool. He knew the chances of being able to pull Orion out were slim. And Kristoff hadn’t even revealed what would be needed yet. He just hoped it wasn’t something he didn’t have the means to provide.
He needed his son, he needed him back so badly, it was painful. The last few weeks apart from him had been pure agony.
As he leapt over a twenty-foot-tall brick wall that separated the forest from the city, images of recent events flashed in his mind. He howled as they cut him to his core.
Cora as a vampire? Fuck. It wasn’t her. It wasn’t the woman he’d loved. Nah, it was a monster, a monster that’d wanted to rip him to shreds. He couldn’t get the disgusting image of the demon wearing his wife’s face feeding from Luca. The way the two of them were getting off on it, they might as well have been fucking right in front of him.
He’d tried so hard to accept that she was dead, to grieve the loss of her. But all Luca’s talk earlier of a hope that she might not be dead had coerced him into believing in it too. Believing that there was a chance that he could have Cora back, the Cora that he remembered.
But that thing wasn’t her. Not at all.
Cora was gone.
Dead.
Josh braced himself as he opened the door to Ryan’s apartment.
As soon as he’d entered the bar downstairs he’d heard his irate roars, the thud of furniture being thrown around, things breaking, smashing.
He walked in and scanned the mess before him. “Shit.”
Most of the furniture was overturned. The flat-screen TV was cracked, courtesy of a fist having been smashed right through it. Papers littered the floor, mostly maps and surveillance photos. It was Ryan’s research into Orion’s disappearance. For the last few weeks, his apartment had been covered by his research and notes as he’d frantically searched for his son. Now, everything had been ripped from the walls. A couple of holes had been punched into the drywall.
He followed his Alpha’s scent and found him slumped against the wall in the corner, beside the overturned mattress on the floor. A half-empty bottle of scotch was pressed to his lips. His eyes were red raw, dried tears staining his skin.
“Hey,” he said gently, approaching cautiously, mindful of his Alpha’s fierce temper.
Ryan just nodded briefly, then brought a cigarette to his lips. Josh hadn’t noticed it before. He watched as Ryan dragged hard on it and then flicked the ash onto the carpet, before taking another swig of the scotch bottle clutched tightly in his other hand.
“You smoke now, Ry?”
“It’s not gonna kill me, is it? I’m not human.”
Good point. “Shaye’s downstairs.”
Ryan looked up at the sound of her name. Josh knew that Shaye had always been able to comfort him at the worst of times. Josh and Shaye had been fooling around at her place when he’d received news that Ryan was off the deep end.
“I don’t want to see either of you. Go away.”
“I can’t do that, Ry.”
Ryan took another drag of his smoke and eyed him as he said, “I’m fine.”
“Something’s happened. Tell me what it is.”
Ryan laughed, a disturbing, unhinged laugh. “What’s happened, J? My wife is a fucking vampire and my son is lost in the fucking Home of the Dead.”
“You found him? And Cora’s woken up?”
“Kristoff told me where he is. But, just like with every goddamn thing, there’s a catch. And, yeah, Cora woke up last night.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? You saw her? You finally went to Luca’s place?”
“Yeah, I fucking saw her. I watched her get off while she fed from my fucking brother!” he roared, struggling to get to his feet in his drunken state.
Josh took his words in. “Ry, it’s just the Sire connection. It’s at its strongest for the
first few days of a vampire’s life.”
“Life?” Ryan scoffed. “She’s dead, Josh! Dead! She wasn’t in there. Just the fucking demon.” He stubbed his cigarette out angrily on the carpet and brought his hand to his face in distress. “I never should’ve let him turn her. What the fuck did I think was gonna happen? That she’d just wake up and be the woman that she was, the woman that I loved? I was a fool! She’s gone!” He met Josh’s gaze, tears in his eyes as he choked out, “My wife is dead.”
“I think you’re wrong about that. You need to give it time. Shaye’s been saying that she can feel Cora’s white energy still. The other day we went to the White Realm. Marella was there helping that dragon shifter, Asha. They’re temporary rulers of the realm, as you know. Anyway, Marella said the same thing about Cora. She hadn’t felt anything when she’d initially died, but now she feels it again.”
“Josh, don’t,” Ryan all but pleaded. “I can’t hope anymore.”
“I know, Ry. I get it. For now, focus on finding your son. What do we need to do?”
Ryan wiped away the tears in his eyes with the back of his hand and murmured, “I… I need to talk to Nathanial. I just needed a little time to pull myself together. I can’t be like this when I enter the Dark Realm. Everyone’s looking to me as King.” He staggered past him to the kitchen and put the scotch bottle down on the counter. He turned to Josh, his eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Wait. How did you know to come here? You knew something was wrong. How?”
“I was at Shaye’s place when I got several calls reporting a sighting of the white wolf.”
Ryan looked away. “I see.”
“In broad daylight, Ry,” Josh said, shaking his head. “That was when I realized that you’d temporarily lost your fucking mind. Shifting in the city? Come on, Ry!”
“I’m sorry.”
“What?” Josh asked, taken aback that Ryan was apologizing.
“You heard me.”
“I’d like to hear it again. It’s not often that you apologize.”
Ryan managed a small smile. “Yeah, well. Look, I’ll do damage control.”
“No need. I already took care of it.”
