by Kym Grosso
“No, that can’t be. He would never be with someone else. When she told him to attack me, he was fighting it,” she protested.
“But it will kill him to continue to fight it…eventually he will give in. In another few days, he will be nothing more than a shell of a man,” he calmly explained.
“What are we supposed to do? We don’t even know where she is. Ilsbeth…we should call her to help us,” she suggested.
“No. That’s not going to happen. Any other witch may also be tempted to take it. The periapt is something the witches want in their possession. It must be destroyed.”
“So why bring me?” she challenged.
“Because you love him. And only a witch can destroy the Hematilly Periapt. He needs you. Hell, I need you,” he admitted.
For just a second, Samantha thought she saw a flicker of emotion in his eyes and then just as quickly it was gone.
Léopold continued speaking. “So here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to get yourself together and meet us downstairs. Étienne and Xavier are coming over to my flat and then we shall go to Rowan’s. She bought a home, which she cleverly deeded in a different name, but I am certain she’s there nonetheless. She’d never risk taking him to the coven, because if she did, she knows that Ilsbeth would immediately call Kade. To the best of our knowledge, Ilsbeth is not aware of what Rowan’s done, but we are not involving her, either. No, this will be done with the four of us. Kade should be here in the morning, should we need to dispose of the witch.”
“Dispose? What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“It means that she will die, Samantha. Kade’s the leader in this region and it’s fitting that he metes out justice should she survive the night.” Léopold walked across the room and opened the door to leave. “And Samantha, you should be aware that Rowan may have created others.”
“Others?” she asked wearily.
“Yes, others. Other slaves, vampires. Possibly shifters. We cannot be sure what she has done.”
“Who are you anyway? Why would Kade let you rescue Luca?” She couldn’t fathom why this stranger cared what happened to Luca.
“I am Kade’s maker,” he stated with resounding authority. “Now let’s not waste time. We have a vampire to save and an amulet to destroy. I need you ready, mentally prepared for what we are about to face. You must be focused. Draw on your power. Remember how it felt at the cabin. Bring whatever elements you need, but help us get Luca.” Léopold shut the door behind him, praying that Luca’s woman understood what they faced.
Samantha wasn’t happy to be in Léopold’s home. How could Kade leave her with him? She barely trusted Kade and now she was supposed to trust his maker? She put her face into her hands in grief. Luca was gone, and it was all her fault. If she could have resisted Rowan, she’d never have lost the amulet. If she’d listened to Ilsbeth and tried harder to learn her craft, she would’ve been able to fight back. Instead, she’d been nothing more than a marionette being played by a master puppeteer.
Wiping the tears away, she attempted to collect her emotions. She may’ve been useless to Luca in the courtyard, but she’d be damned if she’d give up on him. She couldn’t let Rowan wear him down to nothing. Resolving to fight until her last breath, she pushed off the bed. She wasn’t a quitter; she was a survivor.
Samantha knew in her heart that she loved Luca with every cell of her being. She wasn’t sure that she could trust Léopold, but he’d told her Xavier and Étienne were coming with them. Luca trusted those vampires who’d been at the club. If he could trust them, she would try as well. It was all she had to go on.
Pushing open the bathroom door, Samantha went about her business and then caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her long red mane frizzed out of the rubber band; her face was marred by dirt and a large thin scratch over her right eyebrow remained as evidence of her brawl with Rowan. “Shit,” she said to herself, deciding she looked like a hot mess.
She ran the water hot and wet a washcloth. After gently cleaning the wound, she rubbed the cloth up and down her arms, in an attempt to freshen herself up. Wetting her fingers with water, she finger combed her hair, braided a single braid down her back and secured it with the band. Satisfied that she was ready to face Léopold, she walked out of the bathroom and into her bedroom. Her delicate fingers closed around the brass doorknob. She took a deep cleansing breath; it was time to get Luca back.
Barely conscious, Luca writhed against the burning silver cuffs. Through blurry eyes, he took stock of the sparsely decorated environment. The spacious area held only a single tattered sofa and a dusty area rug, which partially covered the oak planked floor. Intricate antiqued crown moldings around the upper perimeter clued him that it might once have been used as a ballroom. However, not a window revealed his location, as they’d been boarded over.
Footsteps alerted him to the svelte figure watching him from the doorway. Her inky curly tresses spilled over nearly white skin. As his eyes came into focus, he could see she was wearing a scarlet satin corset and matching lace panties; a translucent full-length robe trimmed with feathers, deliberately showed off her assets. Her cherry-red lips began to move as she slithered toward him. A flash of metal in her hands caught his eyes; scissors.
“Luca, darling. So nice that you are finally awake.” She knelt beside him, running her long fingers up his chest. Pulling tightly on his shirt with one hand, she began to cut the material until his chest lay naked to her. She ripped the fabric aside until Luca felt the cool hardwood floor against his skin.
“Rowan,” Luca hissed. “You’ve gone mad. You can’t keep me here.”
“Ah, that’s where you’re wrong, my vampire.” She raked her fingernails down his chest until she felt the button on the top of his jeans. She unbuttoned his pants and unzipped him. “I can and will keep you here. You’re my shiny new toy. I do love unwrapping presents.”
She smiled wickedly and held the edge of the cold blades flat against his lips. “Keep quiet now, my pet. I’m going to enjoy every minute of this.”
Luca jerked his head away in disgust. Rowan laughed as she trailed the scissors down his chest and slid the blade under his jeans, letting it rest against his groin.
“Don’t worry, darling. I have no intention of damaging the goods. I have plans for you.” She cupped his balls roughly then began to cut his jeans away. Within minutes, she had removed all the denim. Luca lay splayed on the hardwood floor naked save only for his boxers.
“Rowan, don’t do this. Ilsbeth will find you. She’s the most powerful witch in New Orleans. You’re part of her sisterhood.”
“Ha! Ilsbeth,” she mocked. “All these years, you and Kade have been coming to the coven for her advice, her help. Using her like a whore. She makes me sick the way she panders to all you vampires. She’ll never find me anyway. Of course you don’t know since you’ve been out of it, but I’ll let you in on a little secret.” She straddled him, caging him with her arms placed to either side of his head. Seductively, she leaned over, rubbing her breasts against his chest. Lapping her tongue along the line of his neck, she whispered in his ear, “We’re not in New Orleans.”
“Are you mad? You know damn well that Ilsbeth can still find you.”
“So you think. But you need to accept that I have grown quite powerful too. Even if she managed to locate me by scrying, I’ve set up wards especially for Ilsbeth.”
“I am going to rip your fucking throat out and drain you dry, witch. Release me now and I’d consider showing you mercy,” Luca growled, baring his fangs.
“Now, now, Luca dear. You’ve got to come to terms with what’s happened to you. It will be much easier for us all if you simply submit to me. I am your mistress now. And I can do whatever I want with your mind and this fine body of yours.” Rowan dug her fingernails into his shoulders and began to grind her pelvis against Luca’s.
Luca thrashed against his bindings and tried to buck her off of him. “Bitch, it will be a cold day in
hell before you’ll ever be with me. You disgust me, you bloody cow. Get off me!”
“Come now, do be a good boy. You are forgetting that I have the periapt. I can make you do anything now, whether you want it or not.” She fingered a silver necklace and held up the amulet; a key dangled next to it. Moving her body upward, she pressed the apex of her legs against the cheek of his face as she unlocked the handcuffs above his head.
“You will lie still on this floor, Luca. You will not stand. If you do, you will feel blinding pain. You see, you have no choice but to obey me.” Rowan patted his face and got up to attend to his ankle cuffs.
Freed from his bonds, Luca stretched but was weakened from the silver. His arms felt like lead as he pulled them over his chest. Yet the burns from the silver were already beginning to heal. Luca could sense his power returning as the bindings on his feet were released. Remembering the pain in the courtyard, he decided to lie still and formulate an escape plan. If he could somehow get the amulet off her neck, he should be released from its will.
Rowan rubbed Luca’s ankles, amazed at how quickly he healed. She congratulated herself for choosing such a fine vampire as her slave. She’d have him in her bed and for her warrior, she decided. Admiring his lean, muscled body, she glided her hands up his legs.
“Ah, you are an exquisite specimen. I can’t wait to nuzzle my plaything.” Her finger tips slipped into his boxers.
Luca heard a commotion in the hallway. Rowan froze. Five scraggly wolves tramped into the room. An enormous, menacing, auburn wolf growled at the others. Whimpering, the four lesser wolves cowered and scampered out of the room. The gray-eyed wolf approached Luca, sniffing his hair and chest. A piercing howl emanated throughout the room as it transformed into a naked, crouching man.
Rowan jolted upward and scurried off of Luca. Coming up behind the man, she placed her bony fingers on his shoulders. “Sköll, please forgive me, I was just amusing myself with my lovely prize while you were out. He’s very pleasing, don’t you think?”
Sköll stretched upward and hoisted Rowan into his burly arms. His fully bearded lips crushed Rowan’s; a gruff hand fondled her breast. Wrenching away from her for a minute, he regarded Luca.
“You’ve done well, Rowan. He’ll help us greatly in our cause.”
“Your woman isn’t very faithful, wolf. She was about to touch my dangly bits; sometimes only a vampire can satisfy a woman,” Luca goaded. He was slowly gaining strength but continued to bide his time on the floor.
Sköll padded up to Luca and knelt beside him, grabbing his face with grubby strong fingers. “Brave you are, for a man whose balls are owned by a witch. You, my friend, will do as I say. The witch and I are business partners, nothing more. If she wants to fuck you when we’re done, she’s welcome to your sorry ass. Hell, I may join her.” Sköll roamed his hands over Luca’s chest, admiring the slave. “But first, you will go to war.”
Disgusted by the wolf’s touch, Luca batted his hand away. “War?”
“Marcel will pay for refusing my brother his bitch. Now, I’m gonna take his pack. And you will help me.”
“Kat? What in hell makes you think I’ll do that? Besides, you’ll never win. Marcel knows this land blind. There’s no way an outside pack could take over.”
“I have an insider who’s going to help me, vamp. As far as fighting for me, with this amulet,” he fingered her silver chain, “you’ll have no choice. Rowan here, is going to train you real good to obey her. By the time she’s done you’ll be as compliant as a little lamb. Not only will you fight for me, you’ll lick my balls if she tells you to.” Sköll clutched Luca’s cheeks in his hands and forced his closed lips against Luca’s. Laughing out loud, he walked across the room to Rowan.
Luca bared his fangs at the wolf, disgusted by the thought. “Fucking never, wolf. I will never help you or that bitch.”
He watched as Sköll took Rowan in a rough embrace. She writhed and purred against him like a cat in heat, then ripped off her clothes, decidedly aroused by the wolf. Falling to the floor, growling and mewling, they began to have sex. Luca watched in abhorrence and planned his attack.
Sufficiently engrossed in their coupling, Rowan and Sköll had inadvertently exposed their vulnerability. Luca patiently waited for the perfect moment. He needed to rip the amulet from Rowan’s neck. She needed it on her person to control him. If he could get the amulet away from Rowan, even for a second, he could escape.
Chapter Fourteen
When Samantha entered the foyer, she immediately recognized the extraordinarily good-looking vampire, Xavier. She felt relieved to see him, even though she’d only met him once in the dimly lit club. Sculpted, mocha-skinned muscles bulged from his black spandex tank top. Black jeans hugged every firm curve of his glutes; he looked like a Greek God.
He smiled at her as if he’d been expecting her. Extending his hand, he bowed. “Xavier Daigre, at your service, ma cher.” He took her hand in his, brushing his lips across it. “I understand mon ami, Luca, was taken earlier today.”
“I’m Samantha,” she replied, noting his old world charm. “I know we didn’t get a chance to talk at the club, but Luca mentioned you and Étienne. As for your question, yes, Rowan, from Ilsbeth’s coven, took both Luca and the Hematilly Periapt. It’s an amulet of sorts. It controls vampires but only someone of magic can use it and also only if they have the blood of the vampire they wish to control.” She lowered her head and shook it. “It’s my fault that she has him. I should’ve resisted her. She took it from me. Then she took Luca. You should have seen him.”
Xavier placed a firm hand on her shoulder. “We will find him, Samantha.”
Étienne walked in to see Xavier with his hands on the petite human woman who Luca cherished. Although he wouldn’t admit it to them, they’d both known Luca had been entranced by the witch as they’d watched him dance with her at Sangre Dulce.
“Hello Samantha,” Étienne nodded. “I’m Étienne. We met at the club but weren’t formally introduced. Léopold told us what happened. Xavier is correct. Luca is very old and strong.”
Samantha looked to Étienne who she sensed was a younger vampire. His dark-blonde hair was tied at his neck. Like Xavier, he was attractive and well-built. Wearing black jeans and a white polo shirt, he was casually cool and looked like he could have been in a GAP commercial. Samantha looked around to see if Léopold was nearby before whispering to them both. “What about him? Léopold. Can he be trusted?”
Xavier and Étienne passed a silent look between them. Xavier spoke first. “We are loyal to Kade. He sent us here because there is very serious trouble with Marcel’s pack that he must attend to. All I can tell you is that Kade would never have left Luca in such a predicament if he didn’t trust Léopold. Luca is his best friend and confidant. Kade explained Léopold’s role and said he’s more than capable of helping Luca. Being that Léopold is Kade’s maker, he is much more powerful and can help us retrieve our friend.”
Étienne nodded in agreement. “It’s true, Samantha. Léopold knows of the Hematilly Periapt. And he’ll be much stronger when we need the power of another vampire, but in the end, it’s you who is needed to destroy it.”
“But how?”
“When the time comes, I shall help you, Samantha.” Léopold strolled into the room. “Consider it on a ‘need to know’ basis.” A corner of his mouth lifted in a slight smile.
He was so smug, she thought. Dressed head to toe in black leather, he shook hands with Étienne and Xavier and began to discuss their plan on what vehicle and route they’d take to the location. Samantha tried to concentrate on his words but soon found herself lost in his aura. Léopold emanated authority and command; energy had reverberated throughout the room on his arrival. Samantha’s own magic started to hum in response, and she rubbed her arms up and down in an effort to ease the sensation. She was not only unsure of her magic, she was afraid. What if she accidently lit the place on fire?
Léopold stopped speaking to observe th
e small woman. She’d gone quiet, acutely aware of his vitality. He strode over to her and placed a calming hand on Samantha’s shoulder. “You’re okay, mon agneau. Breathe. Take deep breaths. You sense me, no?”
“I…I’m sorry. It’s just your power. My skin. I feel like I’m on fire. I’m new to my own abilities. For a minute there, I thought I might set something ablaze. It’s like I can’t contain it once the magic surfaces.”
“Save it for Rowan. You’re going to need every last bit of energy you’ve got. Okay, now?”
She nodded. Something about the vampire excited her nerves, but his hand calmed her. She hated being out of control and was anxious to get Luca back. She’d never been a violent person but knew in that moment, she could kill. Rowan was destroying her life. Luca was her future, and she was ready to unleash her fury to save them all.
They’d been riding in the car for an hour. Marshes, fields and bayou sprinkled the landscape along the way. At night, she couldn’t see much, but sensed they were in the country. “Léopold, how much further do we have to go? How do you know they’ll be there?” she asked.
“Rowan’s place is near Houma; we’re almost there. She’s got nowhere else to go. She inherited the antebellum several years ago, according to the records. What she plans to do with Luca is the big mystery, however. Ilsbeth and the other witches would have had the assistance of the vampires if they’d needed it. But then again, power is quite the aphrodisiac,” he surmised.
Aggravated and confused, Samantha rested her head against the window, staring out into the darkness. She didn’t care about why Rowan wanted the periapt; she only wanted Luca. Her stomach knotted as the SUV’s tires turned into a narrow driveway lined with Spanish moss-covered elm trees. An eerie feeling blanketed Samantha’s entire body. Quiet fog weighed onto the graveled road; the headlights pushed through the pale mist.
