I tilted my head at Kaniul in confusion. “But wouldn’t yours be reacting too?”
He shook his head. “It is different for everyone. Unless there was a direct threat or danger.” Kaniul rubbed at the back of his neck. “My Eye reacts differently because of my premonitions. Across history, those with the Eye that do not have the sight have different reactions. It is their warning system.”
Vincent tensed beside me, drawing an arm over my shoulders. “Why didn’t you tell me it was bothering you?” he asked me, eyebrows knitting together in concern as he looked down at me.
I gaped at him, rubbing my arm along my back, wishing that the damn burning sensation would stop. “No one really explained what it would do or what it even meant when it appeared to me. I didn’t think much of it.”
Damius scoffed and shot a bitter look toward Kaniul. “Of course, your uncle should have explained everything to you, but I see he decided to neglect that duty.”
Amber eyes flashed in anger as Kaniul ground his teeth so hard I was surprised he didn’t break a tooth. “Things have been a bit crazy. It’s not like I’ve had much time with her between her mating and Nicolae’s disappearance.”
“Enough,” I interrupted. “I don’t care at this point. I got it. Eye burning is bad. Means something is coming. Possibly I’m in danger. Although, what else is freaking new.” I exhaled deeply. “Can someone tell us what the hell is going on and why we had to come back here so quickly? I don’t know about you guys, but we haven’t slept more than a couple hours in weeks.”
I was so exhausted. Running on fumes at this point. I just wanted to sleep. Well, first I wanted to find Nicolae and bring him back home. Then I wanted to just stay in bed for weeks and do nothing but be with my mate.
Vincent stood beside me, letting me rant with his hand running up and down my arm, offering his comfort. I tilted my head up to regard him. His face was devoid of any emotion. He had erased his concern for me as his eyes drifted over the men in the room. Damius, Leo, and Kaniul all blinked down at me. Kaniul would expect my bluntness and outburst, but the other two men barely knew me. Other than our few brief encounters, they didn’t know much about my personality.
Although, I’m sure they were beginning to get me after what Vincent affectionately referred to as me ‘always riling them up’.
“Maybe they enjoy you riling them up. Stirring the pot a bit. Upsetting the status quo,” Vincent remarked, pressing a kiss into my hair.
“It is refreshing,” Damius smiled as he crossed his arms over his impressive chest. Just a hint of his gleaming white fangs peaked out from his perfect lips. “We have enjoyed seeing you come out of your shell and show that fire that lurks just beneath the surface of your beautiful exterior. Morgana had the same fire and the council has been sorely lacking it since her departure.”
His words left me speechless with my mouth gaping open like a fish. I blinked at him in confusion, then turned my gaze to Vincent. “Didn’t you keep telling me not to rile them up and to keep my mouth shut?” I asked him incredulously.
“I didn’t use those exact words,” he responded, rubbing his hand over his jaw. He turned his head away but couldn’t hide the grin that appeared on his lips.
Damius laughed. A deep booming bellow that echoed throughout the chamber and caused a smile to appear on my face. His crimson eyes twinkled with mirth as he clucked his tongue at Vincent. “Really, Vincent? Telling lies about us. We are the big bad council out to take away her freedom and all that nonsense? You know as well as I do how things have changed since Morgana’s death.”
A silence descended upon the room at the mention of my mother’s death. “What happened after my mother died?” I asked quietly, clutching tightly to Vincent’s hand. I hated bringing up the subject of her death. The memories that had returned to me over the past few weeks had plagued my nightmares, but it was something that I had to know more about.
Kaniul exchanged a look with Damius and Leo, their faces tight and eyes haunted with memories. “It was an awakening for us, little sparrow. We reevaluated our behaviors and actions. Moved forward instead of staying behind, stuck in the past.” Damius let out a heavy sigh. “We are immortal and sometimes we get so wrapped up in our memories that we do not evolve and look toward the future.”
He paused and pinned Kaniul with a knowing look. “Even with the power of foresight, we get lost.”
“Morgana made us realize that,” Vincent added softly, drawing me further into his arms. “Her visions of the way that you would be treated if you were raised by the council were shocking to say the least. We were all so hellbent on destroying The Syndicate that we did not realize that the way we were going about it was wrong. We were using people. Some of us still do.” He shot Leo with a withering glare.
The ancient Greek general narrowed his eyes and his face hardened. “I do what it takes to make sure that our kind survives,” he growled defensively.
“You use people as pawns in your game of strategy. We showed you the visions that Morgana had of what Lorelei would become if she was raised by the council. Who do you think would have been responsible for her training? For her assignments?” Vincent took a step away from me, his fury evident as red bled into the whites of his eyes and started to glow.
“My mate would have been a ruthless killing machine. Incapable of any emotions if you had gotten a hold of her and you—” he stabbed a pointed claw into Leo’s chest, “—would have been the one responsible for bringing about the end of the world. The fact that you still can’t see that makes it difficult to even tolerate being in your presence.”
The sharp claw pressed even further into his flesh as Leo took a step closer to Vincent, their noses a hairsbreadth from touching as they faced off with each other. The sharp tangy aroma of blood filled the air as crimson bloomed on the front of Leo’s pale shirt.
My eyes sought Damius’ from across the two men, pleading with him to intervene in this standoff show of power. He shook his head and held up a hand to stop me. I turned toward Kaniul and he gave me the same hardened look. Their eyes both telling me to stay out of the middle of the two very dangerous and deadly men.
But I didn’t want to let this get out of hand. “Vincent,” I whispered through our connection. “Please.” I pleaded with him. I didn’t care if I sounded pathetic. I didn’t want a fight to occur because of me or what I had said. Enough blood had been shed on my behalf already and I didn’t need any more to be spilled today.
Leo snarled, his lips curling back revealing his gleaming fangs. Hazel green eyes glowed with a red tinge and spit fire at Vincent.
Vincent hissed and his fury rolled over me through our bond. “I do this for you. But it is not over between him and I. Next time I will not allow you to step in between us.”
I flinched at the harsh tone of his words. “Thank you,” I said back to him, lowering my head. My eyes blinked rapidly to stop the tears from forming.
“Damn it,” Vincent exclaimed at me and shoved Leo away from him. “This is not over, Greek. You need to take a long, hard look at your behavior. Are the lives you are changing and sacrificing really worth it? Look at the big fucking picture.”
Leo’s mouth opened to reply, but Damius stood before him in a flash. “Enough. Now tell us what your news is so that we can all go our separate ways to cool off.” He ran a long-fingered hand through his thick black hair and grumbled, “Before someone gets hurt and I have to clean up blood off the council chamber floor again.”
“Like you would be the one cleaning it up,” Kaniul snorted.
“True.” Damius arched an elegant brow and put his hands on his hips. “Now talk, General,” he rasped at Leo.
The Greek just rolled his eyes, the previous confrontation obviously having had no impact on him.
Stubborn immortals. Scratch that. Stubborn male immortals.
“I take offence to that, Theera,” Vincent rasped telepathically and nipped at my ear.
“Good,” I retorted. “Most of the time it
is you I am referring to when I think that statement.” I couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled out of me. Just a little snicker. Yet, it had all of the tall immortals turning toward me.
“It seems they are having a conversation that does not include us,” Damius said with his lips quirked upward in a smirk. “It does make the mood a bit lighter, hm?”
Vincent rolled his eyes and pulled me back into his arms and placed his chin on top of my head.
“Can we get down to business, please?” Leo growled, his eyes still glowing with red fire. He may have backed off due to Damius’ intervention, but anger bled from every pore. His posture was stiff and his brow was furrowed as his hazel gaze swept over the room.
“By all means,” Vincent retorted and waved his hand in agreement.
“Why thank you, master demon prince,” Leo said, his voice dripping with syrupy sarcasm. He cleared his throat. “Naomi encountered several interesting supernatural creatures. People that we thought were missing for some time. Including a certain former guardian.” His eyes twinkled as his eyebrows rose in amusement as he pinned me with a knowing smile.
“Nathan?” Kaniul asked incredulously.
I gasped at the name. Surely, he couldn’t mean the same Nathan that had been killed the night that I was captured by The Syndicate. No. It couldn’t be.
Yet, my gut told me that it was no coincidence that he was there that night. The things that he had said, he knew about me. My abilities.
“You sent him to me?” I pushed off from Vincent and whirled to face him. Heat rose over my chest and flushed over my face. “I can’t believe this. Do you know he tried to take me home with him? Seduce me? Was that all part of your grand master plan too?” I spit the questions out, my fury bleeding into my tone.
The low, deep growl that vibrated out of Vincent’s throat did little to calm my anger. Damius and Kaniul took a wary step toward us, prepared to intervene if needed. “Never,” he grasped my chin between his thumb and forefinger, bringing my gaze up to meet his. Red eyes swirled at me, flashing with a fury I had barely seen from him before.
“Never—” he repeated. “—would I let anyone touch you. That Casanova,” he spit the word out, “was not my choice and it was the one time that I was overruled and I have regretted that day every single second since it occurred. And I am not a man with regrets, Theera.”
I swallowed, my anger simmering down with his words as I blinked up at him. His grip on my chin softened and slid back to grip my hair.
“So, who wanted him to go to me and seduce me?” I grumbled, my eyes never leaving his as I elevated my voice to ask the room.
“That would be me,” Damius interjected.
“Bastard vampire,” Vincent snarled and hissed at him. “Still pissed at you about that.”
“Ivan and Angelo?” I asked. Of course, Ivan had said Nathan was his nephew. That was probably bullshit. But that meant that they were supernatural as well, right? This whole thing was making my head spin. Every time I thought I had a handle on the secrets of my past, there was something else that popped up and surprised me.
“Vampires,” Kaniul answered for Damius.
“Damn it, was there any part of my life that you guys didn’t manipulate in some way?” My voice was low. Emotions swirled in my mind as I realized how out of my control my life really was. It was always in someone else’s hands. I may not have been raised specifically by the council, but they always had a hand in my decisions. Where I’ve lived. Who I’ve interacted with.
Every. Single. Thing.
I felt Kaniul approach my back and lay a hand on my shoulder. Vincent gave him a sharp look and snarled. Kaniul didn’t even flinch as he shot him a withering look in return. “Kishka, as we have said. Everything we have done has been to protect you. Nathan was supposed to be your guardian, just as Kyara was. He was to protect you.”
“We all know where that got us,” Vincent retorted while snorting.
“Enough Vincent,” Damius snapped, clearly at the end of his patience with Vincent’s snarky comments on the subject.
Vincent narrowed his eyes at the tall, dark haired vampire and took a step back from me. I immediately missed his possessive touch at the back of my neck. My body craved his contact, even with my emotions running rampant. Even though I was pissed off at all the men in this room for their control over me and my life.
“Lorelei,” Damius stepped in front of me. His arms were crossed over his chest and his face was carefully devoid of any emotion. The perfect, cool, emotionless vampire. “You need to come to terms with the fact that we have done things to protect you. The council. Vincent. Kaniul. Everyone has only had your ultimate safety in mind.”
I opened my mouth to insert a caustic retort, but he raised a hand to silence me.
“No. Enough, Lore. Time to let it go and move on. Fly on, as your mother would say.” He gave me a knowing look, an eyebrow raised in question. He was looking for me to speak so he could silence me again.
“What is with everyone wanting to give me nicknames?” I mused and crossed my arms over my torso to mirror Damius’ gesture. “Theera, Kishka, Iah. Now Lore.”
The elder vampire cocked his head at me, his lips turning down as he contemplated my statement. “You are a very strange girl,” he remarked.
My shoulders rose and fell in a dismissive gesture. “I’ve been called worse,” I smiled and winked at him. He was right. I did need to move on, but it was difficult to come to terms with the fact that my entire life had been planned out for me.
“You can’t think of it that way. Your actions, decisions, thoughts and feelings are still your own,” Vincent’s warm voice caressed me through my mind. The husky tone sent a tingle down my spine and my arms erupted in gooseflesh.
“Stop using your demon mojo on me.” I stuck my tongue out at him and blew him a raspberry.
He chuckled, putting his arm over my shoulders again and drawing me close.
“Can we get back to the business at hand? If you are done with your word games and mental conversations?” Leo’s lips twitched with barely restrained fury, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides.
“You are such an ass,” Kaniul muttered, running his hands through his thick black hair in agitation.
He cleared his throat. “Now then, as I was saying. We located Nathan.” He pinned me with a knowing glance before continuing. “and Naomi was able to locate Nicolae. The problem is that he is under heavy guard. She wasn’t able to get much more than the schematics of the building and some security protocols, but it was enough to formulate a good strategy for extracting both Nathan and Nicolae.”
“What of the other prisoners in the facility? Do we have any knowledge of their guilt or innocence?” Kaniul asked pensively. He paced the length of the room as his face twitched. I recognized the gesture now as one when he was looking toward his foresight.
“Are you wanting to set the whole facility free?” Vincent asked with his brow furrowed. At the silence that followed his question he growled. “You can’t seriously be considering that, Damius. It is way too difficult a task at this point. We need to get Nicolae out. That is our objective.”
“I think more can be done.” Leo crossed his arms over his chest and snarled again at Vincent. “Operation Jailbreak will be led by my teams. You don’t need to do anything. I’m the master strategist here anyway.”
“Not this again,” Kaniul sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Here we go.”
“Master strategist, huh? How did that work out for you in that pass in Greece? I seem to recall that you lost. Only reason that you are still around to talk about it is because Adreon took pity on you and turned you when he found your half dead ass lying on the sand.” Vincent’s tone was clipped as he berated the Greek vampire.
Color rose into Leo’s cheeks. Something that was difficult considering his deep bronze skin tone. “Now see here, demon prince,” he spat. “I defended that pass for days before I was betrayed by one of my ow
n men. It was the only reason that I lost that day. Otherwise I would have defeated those Persian bastards.”
I blinked rapidly in confusion as the pieces of his story started to form a picture. “Wait a goddamn second. Are you talking about Thermopylae? Like you are Leonidas of Sparta?” A deep belly rolling laugh caused me to double over as I fought to keep breathing. “You don’t look anything like Gerard Butler.”
“Fucking Hollywood bastards,” Leo bellowed and threw his glass of scotch across the room. It shattered into hundreds of pieces as the amber liquid trickled down the wall.
“Uh oh, now you’ve done it,” Damius chided. “He hates any mention of that movie. Not a good idea. Now he will be in an even more pissy mood for the rest of the evening.”
“Fuck you Damius,” Leo cursed as he stormed out of the room.
My eyes widened. “For real? He is the Leonidas. Like from 300?”
A collective sigh rose from the room. Vincent, Kaniul and Damius all pinned me with a sarcastic stare. “Yes, that Leonidas. And if you know what is good for you, you won’t ever address him by that name. He hates it with a passion. Hates any mention of Greece or Sparta or that battle. Sore subject,” Kaniul said matter of factly.
“Duly noted.”
Damius rolled his eyes and scoffed. “Fine, I will go get the drama general so we can finish going over our battle plans.” His large frame sulked off to follow Leo and slammed the door behind him.
“Well that was awkward.” I clapped my hands and rubbed them together to try and defuse the tension.
I failed miserably.
Chapter 16
Vincent
“Just a little awkward,” I smiled and pulled her body back toward mine. Her back lined up with my front and I placed my chin atop her head while I laughed.
“You could have told me who he was and then I might not have been so surprised,” Lorelei muttered.
“I told you he was an Ancient Greek general. With his name being Leo, I thought you may have connected the dots.”
“Ow!” I exclaimed as she slammed her heel down on the top of my foot. “What was that for?” I pulled away and hopped on one foot while waiting for the feeling to return to my other leg. Damn, her strength was getting out of control. She had broken a few bones.
Out of The Shadows (Shadows Ascending Trilogy Book 2) Page 12
