“Catch it, Julian,” Harli said and levered one final time with his wickedly hooked tool, scraping the top of the heart stone as he gouged the brick free.
The rectangle of brick fell into Julian’s waiting hands. “Go,” he said to Viper and Harli. “We’re right behind you.”
Harli and Viper flew up and out a hollow window space.
Cars pulled up outside. Flashing lights bounced across the walls, red and blue. Car doors slammed. One…two…three…four.
Julian shucked out of his duster and ripped off his shirt. “Wrap the brick in this so you can hold it when we fly.”
Sky wrapped it quickly, cursing when she scraped her skin on a jagged edge of the heart stone. She tied the shirtsleeves in a knot, securing the brick.
Ignoring the sweet scent of Sky’s blood, Julian got his coat from the floor.
Running footsteps approached the building. Then came shouts of “What the fuck?” and “Who the hell blows up a museum?”
“We have to move fast,” Julian said and drew Sky to him, maddened by her scent.
Then they were soaring through an opening jagged with broken glass and out into the cool night air. Below them, lights flashed on two police cars pulled in at an angle in front of the museum’s blasted doors.
Concentrating on getting to Night Crypt, Julian flew hard and fast against the coming of the light, rigidly ignoring the scent of Sky’s blood, denying the driving desire to taste her, to take her.
He crashed onto Night Crypt’s roof, keeping Sky’s feet off the ground. Harli must have left the lock on the trap door undone. Holding tight to Sky and her burden, Julian kicked the door open and jumped into the shaft just as the sun’s edge touched the horizon. His burning skin cooled once he was beyond the sun’s rising rays.
It was change of shift for the guards. The day-shift guards were revenant warriors, who had more tolerance for staying awake in the day hours. Exchanging information quietly, they glanced over briefly to verify Julian’s identity. He let go of Sky and felt weakness overtake him.
Marek strode toward them through torchlight. “You were out far too late, brother. You risked injury. You’ve broken Sun World law. You were in Dominion territory. I trust you have not yet managed to engage us in war.”
“I would have,” Julian said, sagging against the wall. “But I ran out of time.”
His body didn’t make adrenaline, but post-battle fatigue was as vicious and exhausting for Julian as it would have been for a mortal. He was worn out. He had to feed. “Take her awhile, Marek.”
For once, Marek didn’t argue. He laid a hand on Sky’s shoulder. “Please,” he said, “I invite you to be my guest in my audience chamber for a short time.”
Sky shook him off and came to Julian. “You’re not sending me away like it’s bedtime for the mortal,” she said. “What’s wrong?”
Julian hadn’t counted on this part of having a mortal mate. Sky’s blood smelled unbelievably delicious. The thirst in him raged like a live thing, and it wanted to get at Sky. “Go with him.” Julian barely managed the words. “I’ll find you.”
“No,” Sky said. “You’re hungry, aren’t you?”
Julian ran a hand over his eyes. It was getting hard to see. “Food won’t help.”
“Just do it, Julian,” Sky said. “It’s not like I don’t know what your fangs feel like.”
The low chatter of the guards changing shifts broke off. No one looked at Sky or Julian. Into the crashing silence, Marek said, “We don’t speak of that in public in our world, SkyLynne.”
Sky looked from Julian to Marek. “You have sex under trees in a garden, but you don’t talk about doing what keeps you alive?”
“No,” Marek said. “And it’s best if we leave Julian to feed.”
“I’m not leaving him like this,” Sky said.
If he went too long without feeding, instinct would force Julian to bring down the nearest prey. It was always a brutally harsh feeding. “Just take her,” he said.
“I can’t, brother. It’s against her will.”
“You can’t make me go with you if I don’t want to?” Sky asked Marek.
If Julian had known which gods to ask, he would have prayed for one of Marek’s political lies.
“Those in the Creed honor a vow to do nothing against a mortal’s will,” Marek said.
So much for that.
“Good.” Sky faced Julian. “Which way to your room?”
It was getting hard for Julian to stay on his feet. He thought he was swaying, but he couldn’t be sure. He felt Marek take an arm and swing it over his broad shoulder. “You’ve waited too long, brother,” Marek said, sounding more worried than angry. “This is dangerous.”
“I had things to do,” Julian said, too tired for a fight.
Stumbling down the corridor with Marek’s help, it was all Julian could do to put one foot in front of the other. When they got to his room, he didn’t have the strength to open the door. Marek ignored protocol and opened it without asking.
Inside, Marek said to Sky, “Please reconsider my offer to be my guest, SkyLynne.”
“How will Julian—” Sky hesitated a bare instant. “How will he drink?”
“A giver—a mortal who agrees to give us blood—will be sent to him.”
When mortals were angry, they gave off a diluted mix of adrenaline and pheromones. Even nearly starved, Julian had to smile at the burst of Sky’s anger scent. “She’s probably tall, blonde, and beautiful. No. He drinks from me.”
“You don’t have what it takes to make her leave,” Julian half whispered. “Let her stay.”
No Shade interfered with another when it came to feeding. Especially if it was between mates, or those who might be mated. “As you wish, brother,” Marek said and left, closing the door behind him.
Then Julian was defenseless, alone with Sky.
“You have to do everything I tell you?” Sky asked, pushing Julian against the wall behind him.
“No,” Julian said. “But I can’t do anything you don’t want me to.”
“You’re not drinking from anyone else.”
“I can’t feed from you, Sky.” Julian’s throat was dry, the first sign that instinct was taking over. “Not like this. I’m too thirsty for it.”
“You don’t know, do you?”
Holding in his fangs, grimacing at the pain, Julian said, “What don’t I know?”
“You can’t hurt me, Julian,” Sky said. “You think you can. I see it in your eyes. But you can’t.” She pressed her neck to his lips. “Prove me right.”
Thirst tormented Julian. His beast made an uproar.
Mine!
The warmth of her body moving against him.
Take her.
The scent of her blood.
Feed.
He reached for Sky. His beast snarled.
Mine!
He sank his fangs into Sky’s rich vein. He grabbed her and spun her around so she was up against the wall. He pressed her arms out and up, holding her helpless as he fed on her. She struggled. Even though he knew he’d pay, Julian couldn’t stop. He wanted Sky too badly.
Chapter Thirty
Sky was in a tunnel, hiding. Julian was near. She was going back to the place they’d had their first date, the old amphitheater.
“When I find you”—Julian’s voice drifted to her—“you’ll be naked in two seconds.”
She stifled a laugh, trying to listen for Julian’s nearly silent footfalls. Hearing nothing, she moved stealthily toward the tunnel opening that led to the stage. Cautiously, she peered into the round space and saw only floating specks of dust caught in gold light rays filtering in from the setting sun. Just as she took a step into the small atrium, strong hands closed around her waist, and Julian whispered against her ear, “You lose.”
The game had been hide-and-seek. The bet had been if Julian found her, they’d make love where they first met. Standing behind her, he ran his rough hands over her breasts and down bet
ween her thighs. Sky parted her legs and moaned. With his other hand, Julian mercilessly ripped away her T-shirt, tore her bra off, and rolled her stiff nipples between his thumb and forefinger.
Sky arched her back, a gasp of pleasure escaping her as Julian fastened his mouth on her neck. The prick of his fangs was a second’s pain. Then desperate need flooded her body. A distant part of her knew this wasn’t real, couldn’t be real, because only seconds ago, she’d been in Night Crypt in Julian’s rooms. But the heat of his body so near was crystal clear, and she wanted him inside her. No, she needed him in her, filling her.
As he drank, Julian reached down and with incredible strength, tore Sky’s jeans off as if they were made of paper. Naked against him, Sky pushed back, rubbing her bare ass against the outline of his hard cock.
“Please,” she whispered as Julian drank from her. “Please.”
In answer to her plea, Julian slid a finger down into her soaking-wet heat and stroked the very center of her. Sky cried out and bucked in his grip. Then Julian was suddenly naked, his body hard with muscle against her, stoking her need. Sky reached back and guided his cock to her entrance. She moaned as he slid into her, and she pushed back hard, taking his whole length into her. His mouth still fastened on her neck, he thrust hard into her again and again, his finger rubbing, rubbing, making her cry out.
* * * *
Hours later, Julian pulled away from Sky. His eyes were closed. He couldn’t bear the thought of opening them and seeing terror on her face. His desire for her had gotten mixed up with his thirst, and he’d drunk too fast and—gods—what had he done? How could he—
“Oh my God.” Impossibly, it was Sky’s voice. And she wasn’t hurt. She sounded like a female in heat. “Julian…God.”
It took long seconds of staring at Sky to see that, not only had he left her unhurt, her face was flushed with desire. Her nipples were hard, and a sensual scent of desire came from her. “I’m sorry,” he said, puzzled at how good she looked. He was sure he’d come close to draining her.
“I saw things.” Sky put a hand to her neck where the twin marks of his fangs were already fading. “Felt things.”
This didn’t make sense. Sky should be weak with blood loss. “Like what?”
She blushed even deeper red. “You and me, the place where you took me in the tunnels on our first date…and I was—” She looked down at herself and seemed surprised to find herself clothed. “We were…” She trailed off. “You were making love to me. I felt you inside me. You were driving me crazy. It was the wildest sex I ever had.” She pushed hair from her face, shook her head a little, as if she were waking from a dream. “Then I opened my eyes, and you were holding me against the wall.”
Sky was describing a moon vision, something that only happened between mates. Now Julian knew why he’d stopped. His beast already sensed Sky as his mate. As soon as he’d fed enough, instinct had taken over, making him want to mate with her more than he wanted to feed. Now that he knew he hadn’t hurt her, Julian became aware of his cock, heavy and hard, between his legs. He wanted more than anything to carry Sky to his bed and take her.
Mine.
His beast drove at him to claim her, mark her. But he couldn’t. Not yet. Sky was the woman who would be his mate, the mother of his unborn children. His first duty was to protect her. He took her into his arms and held her, felt the weight of her warm soft body against him.
“How long?” he whispered, kissing the corners of her mouth.
“Seconds,” she said, grinding slowly against him. “I barely felt it. Do you give everyone X-rated dreams?”
“Just mortals who taste good,” Julian said, feeling a strange wobble in his legs.
Sky tried a mock slap, but Julian caught her wrist and pulled her even tighter against him. “Careful.” He rubbed his hard cock into Sky, looking down into her eyes, seeing the burning heat there. “Or you’ll force me to rip your clothes off and take you, and then you’d be marked, and I’d be in more trouble than I could buy with a mountain of gold.”
She gazed at Julian, suddenly serious. “Are you all right?” She ran a hand through his hair. “You were turning really white.”
“I went a long time without feeding,” Julian said and let her go before his beast could goad him into getting Sky naked and driving deep into her. He moved past her to his bed, where she’d left the brick with the heart stone embedded in it. “We have the rock,” he said. “Now what?”
“Don’t do it again, Julian.”
Stepping gingerly in the face of her anger he said, “I won’t.”
“I mean it. If you starve yourself like that again, I promise, I will kick your ass.” She paused then added, “In front of Viper.”
Julian winced, but inwardly, he smiled. Sky was fine, or she wouldn’t be threatening him. “Let’s look at the rock,” he said, his voice an utter surrender.
Giving him one last stern look,
Sky brought the shirt over to Julian’s desk where the light was better and untied it.
The stone lay there, red and black, revealing nothing but a smear of Sky’s blood.
“Oracle didn’t say what do with it,” Julian said.
“He kind of did.” Sky ran her fingers slowly over the rock, her thoughts far away. “Didn’t he say I had to taste the stone?”
Julian tried to remember exactly what Oracle had said, but the words were hazy, dim. It was hard to think. Strange thoughts lurked in the corners of his mind, thoughts of drinking more from Sky. He pushed back a thirst that was impossible. “Wasn’t it something about making a brew?”
Something kicked the pillows on Julian’s bed. A figure swung toward them. Julian leaped in front of Sky. Viper finished his swing from the canopy and landed hard on the velvet sheets.
“You know how Marek is about that,” Julian said. “What are you doing?”
More than a dozen times in the last eight decades, Julian had warned Viper not to enter Night Crypt through back ways. Security breaches pissed off Marek to a point that was deadly.
Viper jumped to the ground, dusted himself off, and said, “Did you drink from Sky?”
Only the sober look in Viper’s eyes held off Julian’s anger at his brother invading his privacy. This was business, not personal. “She wouldn’t let me feed from a giver.”
“I think you’re poisoned,” Viper said.
Chapter Thirty-One
“I am honored by your presence,” Vandar said, speaking the ancient words mechanically. “Welcome to my domain.”
A whispery, uneven sound came from Oracle’s direction. Vandar took it for laughter. “You are suspicious, not honored. And this, young one, is no domain. It is your hiding place from the Creed.”
Shadow Worlders had no true sense of the limits of Oracle’s power, and none, including Vandar, were eager to offend him. So even though he bridled at being called a coward, all Vandar said was, “Can I get you anything?”
Beyond the town house windows, the sun was just rising. Dawn was the most painful light. Oracle, seated in an armchair in the deepest shade Vandar’s study offered, pulled his hood closer about his face and said, “Less sun.”
Vandar nodded to Kraeyl, who went to the windows and pushed a button. Custom-made blackout shades pushed up from the bottom ledges and sealed seamlessly at the top. The morning withdrew into night.
Oracle’s second visit in over seven and a half decades was no coincidence, not with the contract mere hours from being signed. He was here for a reason. Buying time to think, Vandar moved to his desk and used long wooden matches to light a three-wick candle. A dim circle of flickering orange sprang into being.
“Thank you,” Oracle said. “It’s good to deal with young who are so accommodating.”
“You will show respect to Lord Vandar,” Kraeyl said. The restrained rage behind his words was incandescent.
“Of course,” Oracle said. “After all, he has betrayed his brothers and ill-advisedly brought mortals into the darkness of the S
hade life.”
“Lord Vandar is no traitor. He—”
“No more, counselor,” Vandar said, restraining the deadly fury behind Kraeyl’s words. He subsided, and Vandar sensed him move toward the door and take up a guard position.
Somehow, Oracle had found his way into Vandar’s stronghold and maneuvered past his guards without leaving a trail of dead. How? More to the point, why?
“What brings you among us, Oracle?”
“Darkness,” Oracle said. “I seek shelter.”
“You may take refuge in any room you choose,” Vandar said, nearly insulted at such an obvious lie.
“I choose Light Town,” Oracle said. “Freshly turned revenants are a delight. So impressionable. So easily led.” He paused a moment, then added, “Do you not find it to be so, my lord?”
From Oracle’s lips “my lord” came out as mockery. It infuriated Vandar. He considered heaving his desk through the shaded glass, fleeing, and locking Oracle inside to burn.
Anger.
A useless emotion that came part and parcel with his damnation.
“Your temper flares as easily now as it did in the Before Time,” Oracle said.
“When were you there in the Before?” Vandar demanded. “Tell me.”
A bead of silence passed before Oracle answered. “In times you have forgotten.”
In the fall, much of the past had been ripped away from the Furies. Only scattered parts of the Before Time remained known to them. A very few remembered all that had passed. But the price was that the fall ripped away their inbred desire to kill. Bloodshed became unconscionable to them. They took the robes of Seekers and jealously guarded the history of the Remnant in their scrolls. “I did not know you then,” Vandar said.
“Have I implied you did, youngling?” Oracle said. “It is I who knew you.”
Kraeyl remained obediently silent at Oracle’s insult.
Before Vandar formed the Dominion, Viper and Julian and Marek had accused him of being rash, too immature to understand the wisdom of forging a new life as guardians, not conquerors. He’d fought bitterly with them, but to no avail. Oracle’s insulting “youngling” brought back the bitterness of the fights in a searing rush that left Vandar seething, ready to tear Oracle limb from limb, stake him to a rooftop at dawn, and—
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