by Shania Tyler
Kelly turned to Mason and said something in a language she didn’t understand, seeming to be asking Mason questions he didn’t know the answer to. Theo’s name was said.
She took a moment to study Mason as he spoke to Kelly.
The guy was Top Ten material. He had black hair and green eyes unlike any that Piper had ever seen before. He had a classic Prince Charming chiseled face with a fighter’s body and his clothes said bad boy in every way. He wore a black leather jacket, a black shirt, dark jeans, and boots that looked like they’d seen better days. Piper thought Kelly had done pretty well for herself in the looks department, but she planned to find out for herself if Mason made her happy.
According to what she’d heard from Ethan, Mason and Kelly had only known one another for a few days before they’d married, but they seemed happy.
Piper turned to Meg. “Do you know what they’re saying?”
Meg shrugged and bopped her strawberry head from side to said in a vague answer, but was smiling brightly at the pair. “Something about Theo.” She twisted hands together in front of her, causing her bangles to jingle. She’d been a flowerchild since Piper could remember, which was the second grade.
Ethan came over and kissed Meg on the cheek. He was another good looker, but Piper remembered a time when he was a gangly kid who was always taller than the rest of the class. In high school, he started to fill out his height, until he finally looked like the poster guy for the most prestigious fraternity on campus that he was. He wore his blond hair short, had stunning blue eyes, and wore a polo and khakis better than anyone else Piper knew.
“Want to see the house?” He carried a large box under one arm.
“Sure,” Meg said. She turned to Piper. “Are you coming?”
“If His Majesty doesn’t mind,” she said with heated sarcasm.
Ethan frowned. “I don’t know what’s up with Theo, but he’s usually a really nice vampire.” Ethan grinned. “Maybe he just… doesn’t like you.”
Piper punched him in the arm. Hard.
“Ow!”
Meg laughed and rubbed Ethan where Piper had hit him. “You asked for it,” she said to her man.
Ethan gasped dramatically and knocked on the door. “Hey, I’m your boyfriend now. You two can’t gang up on me anymore.”
Piper laughed.
Meg grabbed his arm and said, “Ah, the good old days.” But she was grinning up at him just as hard as he was grinning down at her.
A well-dressed servant opened the door to the mansion. Piper took in everything as she stepped inside. The marble floor made the thousands of lights that hung from the golden chandeliers flood the entryway with light. Walls the color of coffee with two milks made Piper immediately feel warm and welcomed.
The only thing that didn’t make her feel welcomed was remembering Theo’s face at their meeting.
She wanted to knock herself out for finding him attractive, but there was no way around just how gorgeous he was. The moment Kelly had pointed him out, Piper had thought Theo was by far the hottest, sexiest guy she’d ever seen in her life.
His dark hair was pushed back and cut short, but a slight wave kept it from making him look too serious. His face, however, had looked cut from stone by a skilled sculptor, and his eyes had been onyx, like black gems shining from the depths of his soul.
He’d worn a black suit over his tall frame with a black shirt underneath. A small gold chain peeked from underneath, but its end was hidden from sight.
If Piper hadn’t just left Earth to travel to another world, she would have said Theo was a mob boss, like a young Al Pacino in The Godfather if he’d been pale, sexier, and a vampire.
That would have been a twist for the movie.
But this wasn’t Earth and so she had no idea how the mob worked here, but one thing was clear. Theo was loaded. Very hot and very loaded. And very rude!
Piper’s eyes moved to the dark carpeted stairs that flowed out to the center of the room. The wooden banisters looked so polished they might as well be wet. She had no problem assuming they’d pass the ‘dust check.’
A few servants passed between one room to the other and her eyes were drawn to their pointed ears and the burn marks around their throats. They were freed slaves.
Kelly had told her about the vampire government called the Evaness that had put the elves into slavery, locking them into silver chains that blocked their power and scarred their flesh. It was why they’d gone to war, to free the elves, and though they’d won, the freedom part, she said, was taking time.
Kelly had told her that Theo funded the Rebel army, a group made of both vampires and elves who were fierce abolitionists, which was a point in Theo’s favor, but his score for personality was still in the negative.
Because she didn’t want to appear impolite, she turned her eyes away from the staff and looked at the house once more.
The doors to all the other rooms around her were open, making the house seem open concept, but a room could easily be closed off for privacy, which she liked. She could make out a dining room and a living from where she stood, but the urge to know the house inside out grew.
Ethan led them down one of the back hallways, which was lit with hanging lanterns. Kelly had warned her that there was no electricity here and being without her cell phone for two months seemed like suicide, but the more she explored, the more she had the feeling she wouldn’t miss the latest episode of Grey’s.
There was a massive library and a banquet hall.
“This is Theo’s office,” Ethan said as they passed the first pair of closed doors she’d seen since arriving. She wondered if Theo was hiding in there. He’d run off so quickly after meeting them. Her hand ached to grab onto the knob and see for herself, to see what he looked like while sitting behind his desk. She was sure he’d exude all that great power he gave off while standing at the front door.
Her eyes widened when she realized her hand was around the knob. She let it go and turned to find both Ethan and Meg were gone. She was at the end of the hall and wondered where they’d gone. Her eyes caught sight of a flicker of light outside the window and she looked out.
Then she stepped closer and stared at the men fighting one another. They stood around a large field surrounded by torch lights that went far into the distance. There were hundreds of fighters wielding swords. Her heart raced until she caught sight of the men on the sidelines of the large field. They were talking and looked to be laughing. One man from the fight seemed to come out and tag a sitting man. They switched places.
It was a mock fight, practice for something, but what?
She stepped away from the window, turned, and jumped. “Oh, I didn’t know you were there.”
Theo stood by the same door she’d thought to open. He was leaning against its jamb with his hands hidden inside the pockets of his dark slacks. One foot was cross over the other and though his body didn’t completely face her, his dark eyes were glued to her.
His Majesty, as she was calling him now, said nothing as he openly stared at her with a look that seemed to be both interest and disgust.
She reached up to touch her hair, but then stopped. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d allowed a man to make her feel self-conscious. Not a single moment came to her recollection in the last twenty-two years of her life. She would not let this... vampire, make her feel any less than the great woman she knew herself to be.
Kelly had told her that all the vampires in Morwen were really nice, but apparently, she’d forgotten to warn her about her host. If Piper could ignore him for the next two months, she would, but just as she’d never been self-conscious, she’d also never backed down from a challenge.
This was his home. The least she could do was be nice.
She put one foot in front of the other and closed the space between them.
His body stiffened, but he didn’t move. His eyes stayed with hers.
“Hello,” Piper said for the second time that day and smiled when hi
s cologne touched her nose. It was amazing and like nothing she’d ever smelled before with a natural undertone that was very… male. She blinked and jumped back when he pushed himself back into the door jamb even more. His eyes were wide.
She’d been leaning toward him, following that delicious fume coming from him and hadn’t even known it. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t even realize what I was doing.” But wasn’t she supposed to be afraid of him? He was the blood sucker.
His eyes looked pensive again.
She chuckled. “Oh, that’s right. You can’t understand me.”
He kept his body toward the door, but narrowed his eyes inquisitively at her as though he were trying to understand her, but couldn’t.
She grinned wider, seeing the advantage in their situation. “You’re know, you’re really hot.”
He didn’t react except for to look at her mouth. His eyes rested there and Piper got the urge to squirm underneath his heavy gaze once again.
She tilted her head and studied his face, liking the arch of his heavy brows and finding that his skin gave off a pale glow. His black eyes returned to hers. She lifted her hand. He flinched. She rested her hand on her chest. “I’m Piper.”
His mouth twitched, the barest of smiles, before he took a step back and retreated into his office.
Piper thought he’d invite her in, but for the second time that day, he closed the door in her face. “Jerk,” she murmured and walked away.
* * *
2
CHAPTER
TWO
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Theo took his blood from a servant in his office at middle night and was looking over his ledgers when Mason walked into his office.
“What was that?”
Theo looked up and wanted to act as though he had no idea what Mason meant, but he did and he’d rather they had the conversation as quickly as possible so that Mason would leave him be. “I find myself attracted to Piper’s blood.”
Mason dropped into the chair on the other side of the desk and placed his hands on the edge of the chair arms. He slouched and said, “So, that’s why you insulted her? Kelly invites her friends to have a safe and friendly visit to Asea and you slam the door in their faces because you’re drawn to someone’s blood?”
Theo placed his pen on the table, folded his hands, and leaned toward Mason. “Do you remember the Starburst incident?”
Mason shivered at the thought. “Yeah, who could forget that?” Ethan had brought back Starburst from Earth and given a few to the elf children in the village. What had been a simple act of kindness had quickly turned dark.
The children had attacked Ethan for the bag later and then bloodied each other in order to be the candy’s possessor. There had been biting and clawing and plots of murder from the youth. Ethan had said it reminding him of a scene from Lord of the Rings. Theo had no idea what that meant at the time, but Ethan had since given him the series to read and he had agreed. Candy was officially banned from entering Morwen again.
“That is what I want to do to Piper. I want to crack her open and drain every drop of blood from her body.”
Mason’s lifted a brow. “Like when Maurice smelled Kelly that first time?” When Kelly had first come to them, Maurice had smelled the power of Kelly’s blood. It was then that Kelly learned she was not human. It wouldn’t be until later that they found out Kelly’s mother was the supreme goddess Asea and her father an elf, but just the scent of her had driven people mad. Theo had smelled it, too, and had been drawn, but he’d also found it easy to keep his distance. Especially after learning that Kelly was Mason’s pava, his fated one. They’d been literally made from one another, crafted to help one another fulfil the other’s destiny and they were doing just that, together.
Theo looked at Mason. “This is worse than Maurice and Kelly. Maurice, if you remember, was willing to share.”
Mason sneered. “And if he’d touched my pava—”
“You mean the same pava you didn’t want at the time?” Theo asked.
Mason immediately calmed and looked away. “Oh, I always wanted Kelly; I was just fighting it.”
Which didn’t make sense to Theo. He’d give anything to find his pava, as would many men. Pavas not only gave their mates strength, but they made them feel complete. Songs and poems had been written in honor the love between a pava and her male pavo and though one half finding the other was rare, Theo had two friends who’d found theirs; Mason and Kelly and his cousin Ronan and his wife Amity.
“My plan to exchange Kelly for my gift from the gods was foolish.”
“Yes,” Theo said as he had from the beginning. “It was.” The gods lived on Talon Island and Mason had run with half a prophesy, thinking he needed to kidnap Kelly from Earth and give her to the gods for power.
Sadly, his plan had worked and Mason had become the Lord of Shadows, a gift that allowed him to control darkness and even become it, but he’d had to break Kelly’s heart in order to get it. That was how they’d won the war against the Evaness, but he wouldn’t have won if Kelly had not come to their aid in spite of her emotional pain, healing Mason and unlocking his full strength right before the end of the battle. That was what pavas did.
“I’m sure she’s forgiven you since then,” Theo said.
Mason grinned. “Yeah, she has.”
It was time to wrap up their friendly conversation. “Tell Kelly that if she wishes to return her friend to Earth in two months unharmed, she must keep Piper away from me.”
Mason nodded and then sighed. “I didn’t know. I mean, I hadn’t thought there was a possibility that Kelly was friends with more elves.”
“You think Piper is an elf?” Theo asked.
Mason shrugged. “You think she’s another goddess?”
Theo hoped not. He didn’t need her sticking around any longer than her break allowed. “Put Maurice in the same room with her and Meg. He’d know.” But then he added, “Don’t let him touch them though.”
Mason lifted a brow and stood. “You think you had to tell me that? Ethan would kill him if he touched Meg.”
They chuckled.
“Speaking of Maurice,” Theo said. “Any word on the Mum?” The Mum was a special warrior group located in the hills of Ucrary, and Theo wanted them to join the Rebels. Originally, the Mum had refused them, but now, after the revelation of Kelly’s goddess status and the defeat the Evaness had suffered earlier that year, Theo was hoping the Mum would change their minds. With their help, the Rebels could bypass much of the war and simply begin freeing the slaves covertly.
“We’re still waiting on the birds.” The birds were messenger birds. Already the Rebels had sent one to Ucrary. All they had to do was wait to hear back. They’d been told by a former Mum leader that if birds were sent at all, it meant good things.
Theo nodded and went back to his work.
“Oh.” Mason was halfway out the door. “You might want to come to the banquet hall tonight. Kelly has gotten it in her mind to try something. It could mean good things for the Rebels.”
Theo frowned, tempted by what Mason was offering, but not wishing to be in the same space as Piper.
“I’ll make sure you two stay apart.”
“Excellent. What does this project pertain to so that I have some sort of inside knowledge?”
Mason thought and then said, “It could mean another step toward the end of the war.”
That got Theo’s attention, but then he said, “We have yet to find the traitor.”
Months ago, they’d been told that a traitor lived among them and though Mason thought he had it narrowed down to two people, they’d yet to test that theory. So, anything of importance remained quiet. For now.
Mason nodded. “Only those we trust will be in the room. We’ve put everyone else on duty outside the house during that hour.”
“No,” Theo said. “I want the traitor found and
dealt with before the presentation. If there be more, I want them found as well. Until then, no presentations.” As colester, he had to make calls that were tough, but he would not put anyone else in danger.
“How do you suppose we find out who did it?” Mason asked.
“I don’t know, just get it done. What were the names of the men you believed it to be?”
Mason said, “Cayn and Roud.”
“Deal with it.”
“Done.”
Theo nodded and then returned to his ledger, but then he said, “Wait.”
Mason peeked his head in again.
“What does this mean?” he said and repeated as best as he could some of the words Piper had said in English.
Mason chuckled and said in Chebar. “It’s saying, ‘You know, you’re really hot.’ Hot is like, attractive.” Then he shook his head and said, “Where did you hear that?”
“Nowhere,” Theo quickly stated. Then he said, “I mean, I’ve heard Kelly say it to you, so I thought to ask.”
Mason narrowed his eyes as if he didn’t fully believe Theo, but then he shrugged and left.
Theo heard the door close, threw his pen back on the table, and ran his hands down his face. She thought him attractive? He knew she’d only been brave enough to say it because he couldn’t understand her, but now that he knew…
He could be on one end of a room from Piper and he didn’t think that distance enough. He could almost sense her in his home, moving around, touching the things that were his, and leaving her essence behind to torment him when she left.
He had to get a hold of himself.
Maybe he was overreacting. Maybe it was simply what Maurice had felt toward Kelly. He’d only wanted a little blood. Maybe Theo could persuade her into giving him a pint or so. Not much, just enough to calm his rattled nerves. Then he could breathe.
