Obscured Lover (A Paranormal Romance Book): Blackness Falls

by Shania Tyler

  She leaned away from him and nearly bumped into Maurice.

  “If he’s giving you the creeps, we can switch.”

  She turned to meet Maurice’s blue eyes and watched the diamond twinkle in his ear. He looked very handsome with his gold hair swept back and the dark jacket he wore. He really looked like Ethan tonight, but there was a darkness in his eyes that Ethan didn’t have. It made Piper wonder about the life he’d led up until this point.

  Maurice and Ethan were brothers, but they’d not met one another until a few months ago. Ethan had told him that according to their mother, Maurice, who was older by at least two hundred years, had been born in Asea and had been a little over seven when his parents moved to Earth, leaving Maurice behind. And then, twenty-one years ago, Ethan had been born. Their parents hadn’t revealed to Ethan why they’d left Maurice behind all those years ago, but whatever their reason, the result was Maurice and Ethan being two very different people.

  Maurice lifted a brow. “We moving or what?”

  “Yes, please,” Piper whispered.

  They stood and switched chairs, but Piper noticed the man was still watching her oddly. Why did everyone stare at her?

  She sat down and realized she was now sitting next to the empty head of the table and she knew who belonged there. The dark wood of the chair gleamed, and it was obvious that the servants had prepared it for their master.

  “I don’t think he’ll show,” Maurice told her. “Noel and I were supposed to guard him tonight, but if Theo does show, Davor is more than capable of keeping a watch on him, and I can still take anyone out from where I’m sitting.”

  Piper turned to meet Noel’s eyes.

  He was a very handsome guy with dark brown hair and dark eyes. He also had dimples that appeared whenever he moved his jaw muscles. She’d met him during her visits to the training session. He was a good fighter, which she’d witnessed during the practices, and she often saw him wearing the same lazy expression in battle that he did right now. She’d also caught him staring at her a few times, but his looks were always more covert than everyone else’s.

  “Any good with a sword?” Noel asked.

  Piper had no idea if he was teasing her but she ended up saying, “No, but I’m pretty handy with pepper spray.” And she wasn’t lying about that. She’d brought it tonight.

  Noel gave her a grin that pulled to one side.

  Piper looked down toward the other end of the room to find Mason holding Kelly’s hand firmly on top of the table. He spoke softly to her while pretty much turning his back on the woman who sat on his other side.

  Piper looked the woman over and decided she did not like her. The woman was very pretty; even from Piper’s great distance and in the dark, she could see that. She had one of those profiles that everyone in Hollywood wanted. High cheekbones, a small nose, and lush mouth, but it was the obvious sneer she was giving Kelly that didn’t sit well with Piper. She hadn’t gotten into a fight since middle school when a girl had called her a horrible name after finding out Piper was a ward of the state, but she would be more than willing to defend her friend if necessary.

  Maurice said, “I really like what I’m seeing in your eyes, but if you stab the bitch with that fork, then all bets are off for this being a peaceful dinner.”

  Piper looked down at her hand. Sure enough, a fork was in it. She put it down, angry at herself. “Sorry if I act like I have no manners.” Because she didn’t. She’d never had anyone to teach them to her.

  Maurice chuckled. “You’re talking to the wrong guy. I’m way over this ‘peaceful’ business. These are our enemies. We should kill them while they are on our turf.” His eyes were void of emotion.

  Piper whispered, “That’s not very diplomatic.”

  He shrugged and leaned back in his chair. “Probably why I’m not in charge around here.”

  When he leaned back, he exposed the man who’d been peeking at her since she arrived.

  Piper sucked her teeth and hissed, “What?”

  The man asked, “Ann Lureen?” His voice was deep.

  Piper lifted a brow. “What?”

  “Ann Lureen,” Noel said, drawing her eyes over to his. “She was a queen of Ucrary over three hundred years ago.”

  Piper asked, “What’s that got to do with me?”

  Noel leaned forward. “You look just like her.”

  Piper leaned away. “I look like her?”

  Noel shook his head and said, “No, Piper.” Then, very slowly, he said, “You look just like her, but only those of Orry’s bloodline would know, like myself. Most of us have her picture somewhere in our room. Haven’t you noticed the stares?”

  She had. “Why didn’t anyone say anything to me?”

  Noel shrugged. “There was nothing to say. She died three hundred years ago. You’re obviously not her.”

  No, she supposed that was true.

  “But,” Noel added. “I’d be surprised if you’re not a daughter of Orry and related to Ann Lureen in some way.”

  Piper didn’t know what to say, but Noel’s words put her closer to admitting herself to be an elf. He’d also given her another connection to her parents. Could she be related to some queen from hundreds of years ago? She laughed at the thought that she was related to royalty. That was just the sort of thing to make her life more epic.

  The conversation around the table came to a stop, and Piper lifted her head and her heart lurched.

  Theo stood at the entrance of the room. He was dressed in a black suit and shirt and would have looked decent if his eyes weren’t red and if he hadn’t stumbled to his chair.

  A servant quickly pulled it out and Theo fell into it. The servant pushed him in. “Do you require a blood servant?”

  “Wine.” The word was slurred. He was already drunk. He didn’t need anymore. He could barely keep himself straight in the chair, heavily leaning to one side. He shouldn’t have come down. He should be in bed.

  Piper placed a hand on her heart and tried to think of what to do or say, but what should she possibly do to make him feel better? He’d lost everyone. She understood emptiness and loneliness better than most, so she knew words would not make it better. Nothing really made it better.

  “Colester Theo,” a redhead who was sitting in the middle of the table called. “We are honored that you could join us. We would have waited for you another fifteen minutes before beginning, however, you didn’t need to come. We all feel the pain and loss of Berna—”

  “Do you?” Theo asked as he tried to straighten himself. He failed and gave up. He blinked hard at the woman like he was trying to clear his eyes. “You feel my pain, Isabella?” Then he looked around with a brooding look. “You all feel my pain?” His eyes finally landed on Piper and his scowl softened.

  Without thinking, Piper grabbed his hand that rested on the chair arm. Only she and Theo could see it, since it was nearly under the table and she was pleased when his hand flipped over and his fingers linked with hers.

  He blinked again as if coming up from a fog and great emotions seemed to pour from his hand and into her body. She couldn’t read them. Something stopped her from making out just what it was his body was trying to explain to her, but she did notice that the feeling unsettled her, making her heart beat erratically. Both heat and cold passed through her, but she didn’t let go of him, and she wasn’t sure he’d have let go of her. His fingers held hers just as firmly as his eyes did, like he was drowning in an ocean and someone had thrown him a life raft.

  And if he drowned, Piper was sure she’d drown with him. That was how intense the feeling was. She found it hard to breathe.

  A servant placed a cup of wine in front of Theo.

  She got to it before he did, using the hand she had left, and pushed it away. They didn’t need more wine. They, she thought, as though him drinking it affected her. Maybe it did.

  He glared at her. “My aunt is dead.”

  “Yes, but I would like it if you didn’t,” she whispere
d back.

  His glare remained, but he didn’t reach for the wine again. His hold on her was almost painful. He turned toward the table. “Let dinner begin.”

  The servants moved and a plate made its way in front of Piper.

  “Pizza?” she asked. Best. Dinner. Ever.

  Maurice winked at her. “Only those who have ever left Asea will know the difference.” The female servant behind him presented her arm to him, and Maurice wasted no time biting into the wrist, never once acknowledging where his blood was coming from.

  It was a cold way to drink, Piper thought. When the dinners weren’t formal, she’d watched some of the vampires converse with their blood servants, but not tonight. All the vampires sipped from their choice vein like there was not a soul on the other end.

  She turned to Theo and watched as he pushed the offered fist away.

  “You should eat,” Piper said.

  His looked at her. “Offering?”

  She wrangled her hand from his and presented her wrist to him. She’d do anything to make him feel better.

  He stared at her wrist and then grabbed her fingers in a light hold. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes,” she whispered. She kept her eyes with his, because she was afraid of the looks they were getting.

  Theo rubbed his thumb back and forth over her open palm, and she watched as a peacefulness settled over his features. The emotions his touch had caused earlier now felt more at peace. She could still feel it pulse where they were touching, but the pressure of it was light.

  He pulled her hand closer to him and placed his mouth against her wrist.

  Piper wrapped her free hand around the armchair as another, very inappropriate, feeling began to seep into her. She felt warm and aroused.

  He brushed his mouth over her blue vein and his movements became surer, like he was waking up from a long sleep.

  He was being too intimate with her, Piper realized. She’d only wanted to feed him, but he was making it all very romantic. He didn’t have to stroke his mouth over her and touch her so lightly. Anyone watching would think their relationship more than it was. She wanted to shout for him to hurry up and get it over with, but then he pulled back, exposed his teeth, and struck.

  A prickling of heat washed over her and she braced her hand on the armchair more, wondering if the servants also felt this level of arousal while feeding.

  Theo, who’d closed his eyes during the first few pulls, opened them. The red that had been around his dark irises began to recede. He was sobering. Healing. She could feel it. She could feel the blood as it touched his gut and worked its way through his own veins, cleaning out the tons of liquor he’d put into his system. He’d been killing himself, and she wondered if he’d been aware of it.

  “This is nice of you,” Maurice whispered.

  “Yeah,” she said, trying to sound unbothered, but her voice sounded strange to her own ears.

  “Though, you should give him what he really wants later tonight.”

  Piper turned to him with wide eyes. “What are you? His wingman?”

  He shrugged. “Just thought I’d tell you how you could be more polite.”

  “Polite? You’re gross.”

  He grinned softly. “I can smell your arousal.”

  Piper felt cold.

  “Leave her alone,” Theo said with his teeth still in her.

  She leaned into Theo and whispered, “Is he telling me the truth? Do I smell aroused?”

  Theo kept drinking, but his eyes told her what she wanted to know.

  Her heart began to race.

  “Calm down,” he told her as he came up, now completely sober. “You’ll only make it worse if you start to worry.”

  She tried calming herself.

  He began stroking her hand again.

  She snatched it again. “I can’t calm if you do that.”

  He grinned slowly.

  Her breath caught when she realized she’d given him that gorgeous smile. No, she hadn’t made everything better, but she’d given him a moment.

  “Thank you,” he whispered, as if reading her mind.

  She smiled.

  “Colester Theo,” Isabella said. “If you are up for it, I would like to discuss business while we are here.”

  He waved her on.

  Piper stared at her pizza and would have used two hands if Theo hadn’t reached under the table to wrestle one of hers away from her.

  Theo had a feeling that Isabella had not come simply to watch him bury his aunt. The woman’s body had yet to be prepared for burial and Isabella was already about her true mission.

  He looked around at the men and women who’d gathered. He recognized everyone’s face except for the woman at the end next to Mason. She kept taking glances at Mason, and Theo hoped she wouldn’t cause a problem.

  Isabella stood. “The Evaness has decided to end slavery and welcome the Rebels back into its fold.”

  The table had already been quiet, but somehow, after Isabella’s words, the muteness became severe.

  Theo glanced Mason’s way and saw his friend give him a disbelieving look. No, it was more than just disbelieving. It was a look of warning. Theo smiled at Isabella and said, “Good. When can we expect this exodus of the elves?”

  “Well,” she began. “Something of that kind will take time. As you can imagine, the people are very used to having someone else do everything for them.”

  As he’d suspected. “They could always pay them,” Theo said. “It isn’t as though the Evaness has no funds. I’m sure everyone knows of the outrageous amount you charge me in taxes.” He grinned.

  She grinned as well. “Well, no one has as much money as you, Theo, and your funds are used to feed the people of Asea for free. Because of you, no one goes hungry.” Then she paused and said, “People will have to budget for such an expense. It could take years for them to figure out what they can afford.”

  His stomach burned. “Years of continued slavery, you mean.” Theo rubbed the back of Piper’s hand and felt himself calming again. Admittedly, it was good to think of something else besides his aunt. He’d accept any form of distraction since someone was denying him liquor.

  Isabella folded her fingers in front of her and gave him a serious look. “Theo—”

  “Colester Theo,” he corrected her.

  She bent her head in a way that said she’d almost broken it to do so. “Colester Theo, there are large projects in Pria that require the workers.”

  “Slaves,” he said again.

  She pressed on, “The food crops need to be harvested—”

  “Food crops that you’ve been poisoning with silver for decades.”

  The room fell quiet again, and Theo watched at everyone on the council looked at him in surprise.

  He chuckled. “Oh, you thought we didn’t know?” The Rebels had found out about the silver lacing months ago when they’d visited Asea’s capital, Pria, for the Festival of Blessings. Kelly had been the one to discover the truth. Silver was deadly to both vampires and elves, yet the Evaness had found ways to hire humans to do their dirty world. Silver riddled all the food in the republic that didn’t directly affect the Evaness, keeping the wealthy strong, while the rest of the population had suffered for centuries.

  All the food that didn’t directly affect the most powerful families in the republic ate clean food like the rest, at least on the Western continents, had suffered for centuries. It had caused the Rebels’ army to be weak during any formal fight they’d had against the Asea army, but now they were stronger. The silver had left their bodies and they would fight until every slave walked as a free man or woman.

  Theo leaned forward. “All the ‘free’ food you send everyone in Asea? Here in Morwen, we’ve been throwing your free food away.”

  Isabella closed her mouth, but then she relaxed her shoulders. “We apologize for—”

  “Enough,” Theo said. “What is it that you want?”

  Isabella blinked. “We’ve already tol
d you. We want you back in our fold.”

  Mason asked, “And Malcolm? How does he feel about me being welcomed in?” Malcolm was Mason’s cousin who currently held the seat for Mason’s bloodline. The two had been at odds for years. Both had wanted the honor of Lord of Shadows.

  “Malcolm,” Isabella said, “has nothing to worry about. After all, he was left to be in charge while we are gone. We are not offering you a seat at the table. Only your presence at our functions and dinners.”

  “So, you wish to parade me around?” Mason asked. “Like some dog who learned a new trick.”

  Isabella pushed her lips at him. “It’s not as bad as all that.”

  Theo brought the subject back around. “Doesn’t matter. So long as there are still slaves, we will never be part of you. Is that all?”

  Isabella glared and then said, “Fine. We will free the slaves. All of them.”

  Theo narrowed his eyes. “At what cost?”

  Isabella turned to the other end of the table and said, “Aluna, please stand.”

  The woman who’d been watching Mason all night stood and smiled at everyone at the table. She was more beautiful than Theo had originally thought. Her eyes were like those of a cat, tilted at the corners. Her irises were blue and her body… she was in possession of curves in all the right places that promised pleasure. She wore a blue dress that brought out her eyes. Her hair was a soft brown that flirted with being blond.

  Theo felt something burn and turned to find Piper glaring at him, but she quickly changed her expression to nonchalant to hide her reaction, but he’d seen it. He’d felt her jealous bite. Didn’t she know she had nothing to worry about?

  Not only was she a hundred times more beautiful than Aluna, but it was her blood that ran through his veins, warming him from the inside out. She’d been kind to offer it and had made him smile. It only made him want her more and confirmed it for him. He wanted her forever.

  “We only ask,” Isabella had been talking, probably telling of Aluna’s finer qualities, but Theo had not heard a word, “that the Lord of Shadows must marry her.”

  “What?” Kelly shouted.

  “Not happening,” Mason said.