by Lexi Blake
The world seemed to recede as he pulled me up against his body, and I would have sworn I could practically feel Dev here with us. This was his space, where Daniel and I would often come to find him if he was working too late, and we would all end in a tangle of arms and legs and mouths. I loved it when all three of us were together, the love and sharing complete. Daniel shifted, turning around and setting me on top of the desk. He pushed my legs apart and made a place for himself even as he started to work the fastener on the slacks I wore.
I let my head fall back, giving him full access to my neck, though if he’d wanted to get to his knees and drink from the vein that ran up my thigh, I would have let him.
But that was the moment I heard the elevator doors open with a quiet whoosh. Danny’s head came up and I could see that his fangs were out and he practically growled.
“Your Highness,” an unwelcome voice said, “I am sorry to interrupt, but we need you to help us prepare. Nimue has decided to use death magic as the base for her spell. There is no one even close to your power in this.” Myrddin. The wizard still wore his dark cloak, but he’d pushed back the hood. “I would ask another vampire to stand in, but this is Devinshea we’re talking about. I thought you would want the most powerful spell possible.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened and I watched him gain control again. He stepped back, then leaned over and kissed my forehead. “I’m sorry, Z.”
I was sorry, too. I buttoned the top of my slacks again. “I’ll have Albert send dinner down.”
He nodded shortly and joined Myrddin. “I’ll get him back for us.”
The doors closed and I was alone again. I had no doubt that Myrddin would perform some kind of miracle that would bring Dev back.
It was up to me to do the same for Daniel. I took a deep breath and got ready to do what I did best. Steal.
Chapter Seven
Summer
I had managed to haul myself up onto one of the large branches of an oak by the time the vampire stalked into the clearing. I hadn’t paid much attention to his appearance before except to note that he wasn’t wearing the protective gear that was typical of the vampires. He had nothing to protect his skin from the harsh sun on this plane, but it didn’t seem to bother him. He wasn’t burning at all. In fact, he turned his head up as though enjoying the warmth on his skin.
He was stunning, his face all harsh planes and predatory lines. There was no question in my mind that this vampire was a hunter. Often the vampires I’ve met seem civilized, and it’s easy to forget that they evolved from ancestors who preyed on living beings. Now they’re all about meal pills and pretending there isn’t a savage predator under all that civility. Though I understand that when a vampire takes a consort, they exchange blood in the old ways. Vampires try to distance themselves from their bloody past.
This vampire didn’t even try to hide his nature. The beast inside him was every bit on display as he breathed in the air around him, likely trying to catch my scent.
I will not harm you, bella. This I promise to you. Come out and let us talk. I know you can hear me.
I could. I could hear him in my mind, feel his voice brushing against my brain with an odd sensuality. Like he could stroke my very thoughts with silk.
You have nothing to fear from me.
I had everything to fear from this man. He could speak thoughts into my head. That wasn’t a vampire talent. Vampires are excellent fighters. Some of the royal vampires are stronger than the rest, but I’ve never once heard of a vamp with such powers. These were strange creatures coming after me.
Come out and let me prove myself to you.
The words were meant to coax me, to seduce me. I could feel his intentions. He wanted me. My light drew him in. It made me wonder if he could hear me when I wanted him to.
I know what you want, vampire.
I could feel his satisfaction like a wave against my skin.
You know nothing yet, bella, but I will show you.
I couldn’t give in to that voice. It was meant to trick me. This was not some friendly male who’d happened upon me in the forest and wanted to help. He’d been sent by someone. I should run, but I rather thought he would follow me, and forcibly. Perhaps I should show him what I was capable of.
I needed answers. I was fairly certain at some point Kelsey and the false Devinshea would show up and I would be hopelessly outnumbered. Again. I needed to get a few answers out of the vampire. Then I needed to shove my stake through his heart and make my escape.
The charm at my throat warmed against my skin, reminding me there was another way. If I had my magic, I wouldn’t need to end the vampire. If I had my magic, I could force the male to do my will with a mere thought.
Unfortunately, I could also erase whole planes of existence, so I had to get over my squeamishness when it came to defending myself. I didn’t like to kill. I’d had to do it far too often.
Of course most of the time I wasn’t trying to kill a person who could read thoughts. Erna had taught me how to shield my mind since there were absolutely psychics who moved across the planes. I knew how to shield. I had my mental walls firmly in place as I waited.
He was moving my way but didn’t seem to realize I wasn’t on the ground. He moved with grace, his feet not making a single sound.
Bella, please come out. There’s no need to hide from me. I have a million questions for you, but you should know there are no wrong answers. If you’re in trouble, I will help you. I don’t care what you’re in trouble for. I will help you.
Oh, he was good. He seemed to understand exactly how to talk to me, what words to use. I could feel his will. If I’d done something bad, he would find a way to fix things for me. He could be my protector. All I had to do was present myself to him and he would shelter me. He was strong. He could make the world right for me and only me.
If only I could have believed him.
He stopped beneath my hiding place, his hands on his hips as though he knew I should be there.
I needed him in the right position. Look up, vampire.
The minute he turned, I pounced, my stake coming up. I hit his body and he fell back to the forest floor with a hard thud. I lifted my stake, but I had questions first.
“Who the hell are you?” I asked the question out loud because I wasn’t going to let him into my head again.
The vampire’s lips curled up in the sexiest smile I’d ever seen. If he was scared, he didn’t show it. He seemed perfectly comfortable to have a female on top of him. “My name is Marcus Vorenus and I am entirely at your service. Would you like me to take off my shirt? It might be easier to stake me. I wouldn’t want you to miss my heart, and honestly, if I am about to die then I would like to feel your hands on my skin one time.”
Not the reaction I’d been going for. I straddled him, my knees on either side of his lean waist. He was even more devastating up close, and I did actually want to see him without his shirt on. It had been a long time since I’d had any kind of sexual pleasure, and this male did it for me. I’m reasonably attractive, but it can be hard to find a date when your nickname is the Destroyer. Males discover I’ve destroyed worlds and suddenly they aren’t so hot to take care of my physical needs.
“If I decide to kill you, I won’t need better aim. I assure you, I can do it right now.”
“I’m sure you can. You’re obviously a woman of great physical skills.” His fangs were out. White and dangerous, I found those fangs way too sexy for my own good.
I’ve heard a vampire bite can be immensely pleasurable. I stared at those fangs and couldn’t help but wonder how it would feel to have them locked onto my neck, the vampire’s hands moving over my body as he fed his own.
“Who sent you?” I needed to stop thinking about how gorgeous he was and start playing this smart. I didn’t know how much time I would have and how his partners would react to me turning him into a big old pile of ash. Because that’s what I was going to do.
I was. I really meant to
.
“I would love to know the answer to that question as well.” His hands came up and found my waist.
I could feel him pressing his will against me. He didn’t want to fight. He wanted to put his hands on me, get his mouth on me. There were much more pleasurable ways for me to question him. He would tell me everything. He would give me everything.
“Stop it.” I wasn’t about to give in to a horny vamp. A weird, horny, sexy-as-hell vamp. Males shouldn’t be so damn pretty. His shirt was open at the neck, giving me a glimpse of smooth, tan skin. Another thing vamps aren’t known for. “I’m in charge here.”
“Absolutely, bella. You can be in charge of everything. Tell me what you wish for me to do.”
I pressed the stake to his chest. “You should take your hands off me.”
“Is that truly what you wish from me, Summer?”
“How did you know my name?” I shook my head as I answered my own question. I’d foolishly introduced myself to Kelsey. “You talked to your friends.”
“I know exactly who you are, Summer Donovan.”
I stilled because no one knew that name. No one who was living and walking the outer planes. My foster mother had known it. Some of the tribe had heard the story, but not even Erna knew my secret name. My father’s name. “Who the hell are you?”
“I am the man who will bring you back to your true parents,” he vowed. “But I am more than that to you. Or rather you are more to me. You are everything I was ever promised. You are mine. Hear that now, companion. You are mine. So if you are going to kill me, do it now. Put me out of my misery.”
His? Yeah, I’d heard that before. I’d been chased across the planes because one man decided I belonged to him. I didn’t belong to anyone. I certainly wasn’t about to give up my hard-fought freedom to become some vampire’s plaything. I raised the stake and watched as the vampire’s eyes flared the minute he realized I was going to do it. I was going to kill him because the last thing I needed was another man who decided he owned me. I didn’t even care in that second that he seemed to know something he shouldn’t. All I could do was remember how small Turi made me feel when he promised to “control” me, when he said I belonged to him and that I would do his will.
No matter what I’ve done, I will do my own will. The only thing more dangerous than my magic is my magic in the hands of someone else.
I started to bring the stake down and he suddenly moved, flipping us so my back was on the ground and he loomed over me. I lost my grip on the stake and I suddenly had no weapon at all. His hands gripped my wrists and he pinned them over my head.
“No, bella. I’m sorry. I’m coming on far too strong. It’s not like that,” he said, all of the arrogance gone from his face. “Whatever he did, I will make it right. I will do anything to make things right for you. I am not him.”
I pushed against the vampire, but I was no match for his strength. “Get out of my head.”
I felt him retreat and realized he’d slipped past my defenses when I’d gotten emotional. I brought my walls down again and tried to control my feelings.
Dark eyes stared down at me but the predator behind them seemed still for the moment. “I didn’t say it right, Summer. I saw you and realized who you were, and suddenly the universe wasn’t so cruel. I was far too excited to find you. I should have gotten to my knees and told you something else entirely.”
I shouldn’t have cared about anything he could say to me, but I felt a need to understand him. “What is that?”
His voice was soft, and not in a sensual way, though everything about the man was sensual. The words, however, felt tender. “I should have told you that I am yours, bella. I have been yours since long before you were born. I’ve walked the Earth plane for almost two thousand years and only now do I know what I was born to do.”
Tears clouded my eyes because he wasn’t pushing lust at me. Wonder. He was feeling wonder and tenderness, and I didn’t understand it at all. I didn’t know who he was or why he was here, and I definitely didn’t understand why I wanted so badly to soften beneath him and believe what he was saying.
I did not know why I did what I did next.
I let him kiss me.
* * * *
Zoey
I stared at the door in front of me, but I wasn’t terribly close. If anyone walked by, I was simply standing in front of my friend’s apartment, talking like we would every day.
But we weren’t talking about how our kiddos were doing in school or exchanging recipes. We were wondering how quickly I would get killed if Myrddin had the apartment secured.
“There’s no ward on the doors. But then the whole place feels like a void to me. I don’t trust my own instincts.” Sarah had her arms crossed over her chest as we stood outside her door and stared at the one that led to Myrddin Emrys’s three-bedroom apartment.
We’d spent much of the early evening with Henri Jacobs and Hugo Wells, two of the three academics who lived in Council headquarters. They were making a study of Gray’s prophecies, and one of them had made me sit up and pay attention.
Summer is coming. That was what Gray had said. I’d never read that particular prophecy or I might have known what he meant. The academics had assumed he was talking about the season. But he wasn’t and I knew it in my bones. Summer was coming.
Summer. My daughter.
I had to pray that she’d forgiven me.
“I don’t smell anything different.” Neil had joined us when the academics had shown up. He’d kind of slept through the lecture portion of the evening, but he’d been determined to do whatever he could once he realized I was going to run a job. It had been a long time since I’d done it. Neil and Sarah and Daniel and I had once been a crew. Dev had helped us out at the end, but then we’d become something else. Kings and queens and courtiers.
Today I needed to be a thief.
I needed to get into that room without the owner knowing.
“Who is his housekeeper?” No one on this floor did their own cleaning. We all had housekeepers and cooks and bodyguards.
“It’s Nina.” Neil leaned against the wall. “She takes care of cleaning for all of the apartments on this floor. She’s got a key and doesn’t have to do anything special to get in, so I think Sarah’s right about the front doors. Nina says it’s really creepy in there, and that was before Myrddin actually moved in. But she’s a shifter. Some of them find the witchy stuff worrisome. It’s not that they don’t like witches. They don’t understand the whole magic thing. Nina’s brother dated a witch and he was an asshole who cheated and got his dick twisted into a pretzel. So she has her reasons.”
Sarah shrugged. “Felix knows better.” She turned to me. “Are you going to try to mask yourself as Nina?”
I shook my head. “No. I can’t do that to her. He might not have a ward to keep people out, but we don’t know what else he’s got security-wise. If he’s got a spell that can identify anyone coming or going into his apartment, I won’t risk sending his anger someone else’s way.”
I needed more time, but this was really the only chance I had. Myrddin didn’t leave the Council building much these days. He preferred to stay close to Daniel, and I worried if he carried out his plan to save Dev, Daniel would be even further in debt to the man. I knew exactly where Myrddin and Nimue were going to be for the next few hours. I might have to risk it.
“Let me do it.” Neil nodded, looking toward the door. “I’ll say I forgot which room I live in and I was drunk and oops… What’s he going to do to me?”
Sarah stared at him. “You have a penis, babe. You want to ask Nina’s brother? I know Myrddin’s a dude, but I bet he can twist a penis, too.”
Neil winced. “Damn it. I need my penis, Z. I don’t think they can do anything to a vagina.”
He wasn’t very creative. “Ever had a yeast infection?” I sighed. “If I do this, our war goes from under the covers to obvious. I’m not sure which side Daniel will come down on.”
I had
to wonder if this was what Gray had meant. I was running a big risk of getting caught, and Daniel would have to pick a side.
I feared that choice, but there was a part of me that craved it, too. There was a part of me that wanted this terrible anticipation to be over with.
“Or you could use the invisibility cloak,” a new voice said. “It makes everything, and I mean everything, invisible. Even to spells.”
I turned and there stood the sneakiest of my children. Lee Donovan-Quinn wore jeans that had seen better days, a T-shirt with some kind of Pokémon on it, and his favorite pair of sneakers.
“The boy is right in his assessment.” My father, Harry Wharton, stood behind Lee. He wore his typical uniform of khaki pants and a golf shirt. His hair had gone completely silver in the last few years and it looked good on him. He smiled more now, as though retirement had lifted something heavy from his shoulders.
He’d been a good dad. He was an even better grandfather.
“What are you two using to mask your scent?”
They shouldn’t have been able to sneak up on Neil. Lee snuck up on me all the time. He was absolutely the sneakiest kid I’ve ever met, and I’d met me. My father was incredibly proud of him and spent lots of time teaching him the tricks of his trade. I would bet it had been my father who’d taught him how to get around werewolf senses.
“It’s a charm.” My father put a hand on Lee’s shoulder. “It works better than the herbs he used to steal. Christine made it.”
My father had settled into a happy relationship with a witch who was way too young for him. Christine and I hadn’t gotten along in the beginning, but she’d grown on me and she was good to my kids. Though she didn’t like being called Grandma.
I frowned my father’s way. “We’re going to have to have a long talk.” Sometimes Dad took things too far. I looked to my son because Lee always took things too far. “You’re supposed to be upstairs.”
