Stakes Have Sword Envy

by Holly Ryan

  I’d crossed the room and wrapped him up as close to my heart as I could get him. “Jacek,” I breathed into the cool skin of his neck. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.” He hugged me back equally tight. “I told Ronick everything. Everything about you and Paul. I think he understands why he is where he is, though that doesn’t make him any happier about it. He explained about his sword and how it could help you, but...he’s not going to transfer its magic to you.”

  “Can’t say I’m surprised,” I said with a sigh. “I don’t know that I would either in his shoes.” Which meant I was right back where I started. I had my slayer power, but no Night’s Fall to guide me to the Slayer Senate, the name of the people who’d chosen me, and the knowledge they could provide to help defeat Paul.

  And I was running out of time. I had a feeling that when Paul refueled from strolling through Podunk City’s residents, he’d try to open that trapdoor in the mausoleum, and then...? Well, I had no idea, but I was sure the result wouldn’t look good for me.

  “But don’t worry.” Jacek dropped a kiss onto my temple. “I’ll make him tell me. I’m sure he’ll cave if the alternative is staying in the woodshed for an eternity.”

  “Jacek,” I said into his ear. My eyes fell closed at the hitch in my voice, the tug at my heart. “You don’t have to hurt him. I would never ask you to do that since this is my problem.”

  He pulled back slightly to look me in the eyes. “It’s not just your problem. Not anymore. If he doesn’t—”

  “No. Let me be the monster.” I pressed my lips to his in a sweeping, gentle kiss. “You be you. I couldn’t bear to drag you down to a dark dungeon where you’ve already been, in any capacity. You’ve risen above all that, so let me keep you there.”

  He looked at me for a long moment, a smile touching his orange-yellow eyes. “That might be the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”

  “Well, good.” I shrugged. “You deserve it and much more.”

  He dipped his forehead to mine, his arms tightening around me, touching his smile to mine. “We still haven’t broken in your boxing gloves I got you for your birthday.”

  “We will.” I trailed my fingertips gently down his scarred back to his ass and squeezed, thrusting his hips forward into mine. My power boner had magically turned into a hot, throbbing lady boner for one of my three favorite vamps.

  A low rumble vibrated through his chest while he skimmed his hands up underneath my shirt. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

  “About a bacterial aphrodisiac that makes single-celled organisms horny?”

  He burst out laughing and pulled away slightly, his eyes alight with humor. “What?”

  “That was the extra credit question on my biology quiz, which I found out today I aced, by the way. One hundred five percent.”

  “Damn, Slayer.” He raised his hand for a high-five, and I slapped my palm against it with a wide grin.

  It felt so good to be acknowledged and celebrated for my minor accomplishments when I worked my ass off to achieve them. It made the major accomplishments I hadn’t yet conquered feel slightly more within reach.

  Jacek held to my palm and jerked me toward him for a long, searing kiss. He wrapped my arms around his waist and then began to peel off my clothes. When I stood naked before him, the way he looked at me, so worshipful, made my blood hum. He kissed and licked and sucked his way down my body and then dropped to his knees in front of me. With his hands settled on my hips, he squeezed so they rocked forward, thrusting into empty air, while he pressed kisses down my leg. I took in a deep, shuddering breath as he scraped his fangs up my inner thigh toward my soaked pussy. He squeezed harder when his head leveled with where I needed him the most, and I grabbed onto him, gazing down at him so I could watch him fuck me with that sinfully dirty mouth of his.

  With a grin that made me moan, he swept up my body, cradled me to him for the half second it took for him to lift me up, and then gently spread me flat on the floor.

  Well, that was unexpec—

  “Oooohh.” The first swipe of his tongue along my wet slit just about launched me into the air. I raked my fingers through his dark hair and held on tight to anchor me to him and his tongue for as long as possible.

  He groaned, loud and deep, and it vibrated up through me, sparking through the tight bundle of nerves he was sucking and up to my hard nipples. He spread my legs wider as he traced his hands up over my hips and stomach to my aching breasts. His heated gaze followed, drinking in my naked body writhing under his expert touch. When his eyes met mine, he grinned wickedly, his tongue still lapping, his fingers pinching and kneading. My hips rocked against his face uncontrollably, my breaths ragged in between my loud moans.

  But somehow through the haze of desire and building pressure fueled by Jacek’s lips and tongue, I sensed someone else in the room with us. With hooded eyes, I turned my head and found Eddie at the bottom of the stairs, one foot still planted on the first step as if he’d just come down and discovered us. Watching us with flame-red eyes and fangs extended. No, not just watching. Hesitantly touching the button of his black dress pants above the obvious swell of his hard cock. His gaze roved over my naked, writhing body, his lips parted. His tongue teased his fangs as if in a subconscious urge to taste me too.

  I made a low whine in the back of my throat like a plea. A plea for him to take out his cock and join us.

  Eddie met my eyes and growled like a wild animal, his hips thrusting forward while he stroked himself through his pants.

  Jacek hesitated between my legs, as if sensing where my attention had gone, but it was on both of them. Both of them at once.

  The idea thrummed my blood faster, spiraling heat to every cell in my body. They both groaned, likely smelling my spiked desire. I held out my hand for Eddie to join us but kept my eyes locked on Jacek to see if he was okay with this. He pressed a kiss to my inner thigh, the hunger in his red gaze lighting me on fire. Then he pulled me up into a sitting position and spun me around so my back was to his chest and lifted me so I hovered over his cock. His legs stretched out in front of me, and Eddie stepped between them in front of me, his hard length now free and his hand wrapped around it, stroking.

  With my gaze on Eddie, I sank down onto Jacek with a quavering moan. I could hardly believe this was happening, but the fact that it was turned me on all the way to eleven. I rode Jacek to the same rhythm Eddie stroked himself—slow but it wouldn’t last. Not with the nerves in my lower belly buzzing like livewires.

  Jacek took my wrists and bound them with his strong hands behind my back so I couldn’t reach out and touch Eddie. A sweet gesture that showed how much Jacek cared, but it wasn’t completely necessary. Eddie stepped closer, his cock just inches from my mouth. I licked my lips in anticipation while I grinded on top of Jacek. Eddie’s gaze stayed locked on my mouth as he pumped himself faster, harder.

  “Whatever you want, Eddie,” I breathed, meaning he could come wherever he wanted to. My brain was just too scrambled to say it. I’d never been so turned on in my life.

  Eddie’s gaze raked over my squirming body with an animalistic growl, catching on my jutting, bouncing breasts and the slick glide of Jacek’s cock up inside me. He surged forward and grabbed the back of my head, his tip just a lick away. Indecision warred inside his bright red eyes, so clear I could practically hear the battle. But in that moment, I wanted—no, needed—him to trust me so the three of us could find sweet release. Together.

  I flicked my tongue over his tip, almost not a touch at all. Then once again, drawing just his tip into my mouth. He threw his head back and groaned, and his hand fisted into my hair at the back of my head. I pulled him in deeper, swirling my tongue down his shaft and suctioning my cheeks.

  Electrical pulses stormed through my body. My skin heated to near combustible levels. Sharing my body with both of them seemed like it was on a whole new level of intimacy and trust, especially for Eddie, but for all of us, too. And being this c
lose to both of them at once made me feel empowered.

  I hummed around Eddie, who brought his other hand to the back of my head, his head still thrown back in bliss. His hips rolled forward again and again as he fucked my mouth. Jacek released my hands from behind my back and dug his fingers into my hips with a loud groan. He was close. We all were.

  Jacek rose up behind me and crushed his honed chest to my back, wrapping his muscled arms around me in a loving embrace. But his thrusts up into me were hungry, almost violent. I moaned again around Eddie, who cradled my face in his hands while his hips went wild. I met each of their thrusts with my own as roiling heat gathered between my legs.

  “Oh...fuck.” Eddie came inside my mouth, a river of sweet and salt.

  Then I burst in powerful waves. My orgasm ricocheted down every nerve ending, and Jacek prolonged it when he sank his hand where we were still joined and thumbed my still quivering clit. He came right after, squeezing me tight to him and sinking his fangs into the back of my neck.

  The room filled with the smell of sex and the sound of me trying to catch my breath.

  “Well, that was...” Eddie shook his head, his blond hair flopping, as he tucked himself back into his pants. A wide smile crossed his face when he caught me looking.

  “Different,” Jacek offered, wandering his hands over my chest while he pressed kisses to my shoulder.

  “I believe the word is amazing.” My gaze on Eddie, I wriggled on Jacek’s cock still inside me, growing hard once again.

  Jacek groaned and rolled his hips into mine. “Careful, Slayer. It’s all fun and games until you fuck my dick off.”

  I snorted.

  Eddie braced his tongue against his upper lip, his bedroom eyes shuttered behind his glasses. “It’s harder and harder to resist your scent, Sunshine. Even when I’m not invited to the party.”

  I grinned up at him. “You’re always invited to the party.”

  “Am I?” he asked.

  Jacek stopped nuzzling my neck. “He is?” But I could hear the teasing note in his voice.

  “I mean...I don’t mind.” I looked over my shoulder at Jacek, still wrapped around me. “Did you?”

  “Honestly?” He kissed my nose. “Not really. I was too focused on you. But if Eddie’s invited to the party, I probably should be too. Just in case anyone needs an emergency judo lesson during sex or something.”

  I chuckled. “Better safe than sorry. Because you never know. Hey, here’s a random question...” I reluctantly unjoined myself from Jacek and went in search of my clothes for my phone. “Can I have your cell numbers?”

  Jacek stood, his naked body a thing of beauty, and he seemed to give zero fucks who saw it. Eddie didn’t seem to mind, his gaze glued to me.

  “I never could get into that invention, but Eddie and Sawyer have phones,” Jacek said. “Eddie uses his for book emergencies.”

  “What else would I use a cell phone for?” Eddie cocked his head at me. “Why do you need phone numbers when you can contact us through our bites?”

  “Because I can’t send you pictures through my bites.” I sensed Jacek’s eyebrows shoot up his forehead while I searched my phone for the photo I’d taken at the police station. “Not those kinds of pictures.”

  “Damn.”

  I winked at him. “That could probably be arranged though.”

  He grinned, and the tip of his tongue slid over his bottom lip. “You send enough, I could wallpaper the whole house with them.”

  “Well, I snapped this one at the police station,” I said, showing them my screen. “His tattoos look an awful lot like Sawyer’s, and if they are alike, then maybe that means the Necron Brotherhood is here”—I took a breath, hating to voice it because I didn’t want it to be true—“helping Paul. Because someone is, according to Detective Appelt.”

  Eddie’s forehead creased. “You trust him after he took your power?”

  That was a loaded question. “Possibly?”

  “Shit,” Jacek muttered, peering closer at the pic on my phone. “Sawyer won’t be happy to hear this.”

  “The Necron Brotherhood, though,” Eddie said. “A vampire in the police station?”

  I shook my head and pointed to the background in the photo. “The ceiling had skylights. The hallway was flooded with sunlight.”

  Eddie adjusted his glasses and squinted at the pic. “Then maybe he’s not from the Brotherhood. It’s kind of hard to tell.”

  “What did this detective say?” Jacek asked. “Why does he think someone’s helping Paul, and how does he even know who Paul is?”

  I spotted my bra by my toe—not my Holy Bra today since I’d yet to refill it with holy water—and began to put it on. “The detective’s family history is tied to that trapdoor inside the mausoleum. Paul wants whatever’s inside that trapdoor, but there’s a spell preventing him from getting inside the mausoleum itself. Detective Appelt said that that spell is weakening because the door to the mausoleum no longer shuts. Plus, the coffin in there is almost always moved to show the trapdoor in plain sight. It’s basically a written invitation for Paul to come party with that trapdoor.”

  “Damn, I don’t like this.” Jacek rubbed the back of his neck. “That makes so much sense that the Necron Brotherhood would be helping him.”

  “They want the same thing,” Eddie said.

  I nodded, picking up my jeans and stepping into them. “Bad news for me, given their track record with killing slayers. Pair that with Paul’s track record, and I could be tits up in a ditch somewhere.”

  “Fuck...” Jacek growled. He flexed his hands as he walked the length of the living room like he was searching for something to crush.

  “My thoughts exactly,” I said, turning my shirt outside in. It wasn’t an Animaniacs or a Spongebob tee today, but one of my The Bean Dream shirts, brown, with white whipped cream-shaped lettering that looked like puffy clouds.

  Eddie handed my phone back to me, the angles in his face even fiercer when he was deep in thought. “I don’t like this, Sunshine.”

  “I’m right there with you.” I strapped myself into the Kevlar vest I’d stashed by the front door, buckled the seraph knife to my thigh, speared my stakes within easy reach, and then finally shrugged into my leather jacket. “We’ll talk more when I get back.”

  “Jacek has a lesson tonight, so I’ll be in the backyard watching Ronick, but I’ll also be watching you,” Eddie said, crossing toward me. He thumbed my chin. “If anything even smells wrong, I’ll be there.”

  Jacek came up next to me. “You know what to do if you need my help, too. Sawyer’s at the blood bank, but he won’t be much longer.”

  “Okay.” I looked to both of them as I backed out the door, my heart warming for the hundredth time that the three of them were on my side, even though technically I supposed we should hate each other. But without them, I would very likely crumble.

  As I turned away and Jacek shut the door, he said, “I’m glad it’s you who’s telling Sawyer and not me.”

  “What? Why me?” Eddie asked.

  True story, no matter who told Sawyer. If the Necron Brotherhood had re-banded, I couldn’t imagine what might go through his head when he found out. He obviously wanted nothing to do with them since he’d spent several hundred years trying to atone for their sins. Would he be in danger, too, if the Brotherhood found out he was here? Did anyone have a death wish that large to even think about going up against someone like Sawyer?

  I gasped, sucking in a realization colder than the wintry breeze.

  Paul would go up against Sawyer. He already had by taking a stroll through him that hellish night at the police station. Paul didn’t give a fuck about Sawyer’s size or his past or his warmhearted mission to do good. If needed, the Necron Brotherhood could use Paul against Sawyer just to get rid of him.

  A helpless noise choked its way out of my throat. My bones seemed to quiver closer to my organs, which tied themselves into even tighter knots, shrinking me in, compacting my body
into a smaller shell.

  The pressure of survival was starting to crush me.

  No, all of this was guesswork. My mind was doing nothing but torturing me with remote possibilities, so I shut it all down. I had to focus on getting through tonight’s patrol intact, one second, one footstep at a time.

  I paused in front of the cemetery gate, the blustery wind sweeping locks from my bun into my eyes. The lock was undone. Score a point for Detective Appelt for following through.

  On the other side of the street and farther down, a car I didn’t recognize sat parked, its engine off, but I had the distinct feeling there were eyes watching from within. Not Detective Appelt since I didn’t feel like my brain was being probed, but someone he’d sent here to watch the mausoleum and for Paul.

  I gave a slight nod to show my solidarity for the home team or whatever, and entered through the gate. The wind made the graveyard come alive with movement. Leaves skated across the ground and collected at the bases of headstones and statues, and the bushes and trees danced their limbs in the same rhythm, all of it lacing sound through the moonless night.

  But the mausoleum squatting at the back of the cemetery stood still and quiet. Like I could hear the silence rolling out of it, and it was almost as loud as the darkness inside. It made no sense. I must’ve fallen on my head on the tracks of the crazy train. Not even the open door moved with the lashing wind. A strange nothingness pulsed out of it, like a supermassive black hole that threatened to suck me in and stretch me into silly putty until I snapped.

  I wanted to go in there about as much as I wanted to give myself a lobotomy.

  Gritting my teeth, I started forward anyway on the gravel path, my steps sure and confident when the rest of me was anything but. So imagine the thrill, the heart-skipping joy I felt when I spotted a vampire slinking over the tops of the graves about twenty feet away.

  Mausoleum averted.

  For now.

  “Hey!” I shouted, freeing my stake from my bun. “Anyone ever tell you it’s rude to walk on the tops of the graves? Go around like a civilized vampire.”

  She snarled, her red eyes flashing hungrily, blood dripping down her fangs onto her chin. A bloody bite wound dripped down into her cleavage. She was a new vamp, like maybe five-minutes-ago new since the blood looked fresh. Her maker was likely somewhere close. She stalked toward me.