by Ainsley Cole
“Hey, what are you doing?”
Marley look up at Rhayden, seeing him standing at the door, his arms crossed over his chest, “Recovering from your brother.”
“Was he rough with you Mars?” he asked, not concerned, but amused and she rolled her eyes at him.
“Yes, because of you. I wish you guys wouldn’t talk behind my back about sex with me.”
“It’s not my fault if he wants more of what we have,” He chuckled, and she felt the bed depress, his lips coming to the side of her neck. “Plus, I like to know you’re being satisfied.”
“Oh, I am, believe me.” She said, looking back to the iPad.
“What are you looking at?”
“Absinthe told me earlier, he’d had the tomes in the library scanned and put onto file in the mansion’s archives. I am just doing some—what the fuck?” She sat forward, looking at the picture of Johann, moving to the next screen, the picture of Johnathan. “Rhayden, look at this.”
“What?” he asked, leaning forward, looking at the screen. “It’s Johnathan.”
“Yes. But look,” She swiped the screen back to Johann, pointing to the tattoo on his neck. “They have the same tattoo.”
“Shit,” Rhayden took the iPad out of her hand and looked down at it, his hand pushing through his hair. “Johann is one of Johnathan’s blood.”
“Which means this isn’t over.” She muttered, staring at the duvet cover.
“Are you okay?” Rhayden touched her cheek, his fingers icy against her flesh. “Mars.”
She blinked, looking at him, “Huh?”
“You just found out the Mated Killings, Vince, Norman and Kendrick all link back to Johnathan—who also links to Johann, the vampire who killed your sister—are you okay?”
She frowned, letting him pull her into his embrace, “I don’t know Rhayden, I really don’t know. And Absinthe hasn’t told me what I needed to know about Johann. It’s hard to process everything when you haven’t been told the whole story yet.”
“I understand.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she sagged against him.
“I have to do it.”
“Do what?” he asked, his voice rumbling in his chest.
“Confront Absinthe. Make him tell me what’s going on.”
“You might not like the outcome Mars.”
“I don’t care Rhayden, he has to tell me. He promised.” She looked up at him and he sighed, nodding.
“Okay. But please, try and be civil about it if you can. He almost lost you yesterday, his emotions are fragile, and I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“I will,” She replied. Marley moved, straddling him. Looking down into his bright blue eyes as they faded silver, his shaft hardening between her legs. “But first, I need you.”
****
Marley slipped from the room as Rhayden showered.
She moved along the mansion’s corridors, ignoring the vampires milling around. She opened the doors to the library, knowing it was where her dark-haired lover would be.
Absinthe sitting at the table, his head in his hands.
“Abe?”
He slowly lifted his eyes, looking at her, “I was wondering when you would get here.”
She closed the door, leaning against it, before she walked to the table and sat down next to him, “You knew about Johann and Johnathan.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want to cloud your judgment.”
“What judgment? That he is as crazy as his ancestor—”
“Father.”
“What?”
“Johnathan was Johann’s father and while we were young, one of my closest friends,” Abe said, his voice tortured. “He never forgave me for killing his father.”
“And what was Linda to him?”
“A means to get to me.”
“How? I don’t understand.” She said, her eyebrows furrowing.
“I had trouble with rogues, all of us do. Most of the other Covens have an internal system of dealing with them. I was the first one to think of hiring a human. Your name was mentioned to me by a now dead Mated pair. They saw you, thought you were feisty enough, and thought you might be able to help.”
“Feisty? Before I met you and Rhayden, I had never met another vampire in my life”
“And the bar fight two days earlier?” Abe asked, and Marley’s eyes snapped to his.
“How?”
“Marlon was the one who stopped you. You took on a vampire Marley.” He stated, and she rolled her eyes.
“I knew there was something shady about that fucker.”
“Well, anyway. I called you in, offered you the job. But you rejected it. Which, by the way, was a huge turn on,” She blinked, and he chuckled. “You’re pretty much the only one that had ever rejected me. Plus, you made quite the impression on Rhayden too.”
“Yeah, I know,” She smiled, leaning forward. “So, Johann?”
“I got a call from Johann later that night out of the blue, telling me I shouldn’t have let you onto the property. He made it so obvious of my need for your services, because now he had a way to get to me.”
“He killed Linda.”
“He was after you.”
“What?”
“He wanted to rip you apart. He had been watching the mansion for a while, trying to figure how to get to me. But my security is tight. Then he saw you leave, with me watching and he saw my eyes. My emotions had clouded their color,” His voice had become soft. “Even then, before you had started to work for us, you had gotten under my skin. Johann used that to his advantage.”
“So, he went to my apartment.”
“Yes, to wait for you. He is an ambush predator, likes to kill by surprise. But he didn’t count on Linda being there and he killed her, because he knew it would send you straight back to us—broken,” Absinthe stood, walking over to one of the cupboards and he pulled a small tape recorder from its confines, bringing it back to her. “I taped this.”
He pressed play and Johann’s voice slithered out of the recorder.
“Absinthe… Absinthe, I’ve done a nasty thing. I have killed the innocent little baby sister of your new Hunter.
She will come back to you, torn, broken inside and she will beg—plead with you for the job she rejected, and you will feel sorry for her, take her under your wing.
And I will destroy your Coven too. Bit by bit I will tear it to shreds, rip it apart like you did my father’s and you will suffer, knowing there is nothing to stop my revenge.
Then when you can handle no more torment, when you are as broken as your Coven and we have finished with our plans— I will take her from you.”
Marley’s hand went to her mouth, her gaze to Absinthe. Tears were on his lashes, and he closed his eyes, letting the drops slide down his cheeks, “Oh my God.”
“Now you know. You know why I didn’t want to tell you about Johann, or where he was. It’s not the fear of you leaving Marley, because if it was that simple, I would let you go,” He opened his eyes, irises almost white and the pain and anguish in his voice was evident. “It’s the fear of him taking the one thing which is worth more to me, than my own immortality.”
She stood, crossing to him and curled up on his lap, kissing him gently, “He won’t get me Absinthe. I promise you. But he has pay for what happened to Linda.”
“Yes, he will,” He whispered, just as the phone rang.
Absinthe grabbed it, holding it to his ear, his arm coming around her.
“Absinthe Ray—” He blinked and looked at her, holding the phone away from his ear and pressed the speaker button.
“Hello Marlene.”
Johann’s voice came through, the sound of it making her skin crawl. “Johann.”
“Oh, I did make an impression on you. Good.”
“I’ll make an impression in your heart, with a fucking knife.”
“I take it you told her Absinthe? Very good. Finally. Now we can stop pla
ying these stupid little games.”
Absinthe’s eyes were red with fury.
Sucking her tongue over her teeth, she looked at the phone, imagining the smugness to his features; features which she wanted to shred to ribbons with a knife.
Absinthe’s voice was taut, “What do you want Johann? To taunt her?”
“Of course not.” He sounded insulted. “I want to see Miss Brennan, let her have her chance at killing me. End this.”
“Why? Why now of all times?”
“Kendrick is dead, is he not?”
“Yes, I killed him and your sick nephews.” She spat, and she heard him chuckle.
“Good, then my father’s work is almost done. All he wanted was to wipe his bloodline off the face of the earth. I am the last link and I am ready.”
“Why don’t you just wait for sun-up?” She asked and he tsk’d over the phone.
“You truly haven’t learnt much, have you Marlene. It is a vampire’s natural reaction to flee the sun. I don’t know how some do it; sit in the sunlight to die. I can’t do it.”
“Then you’re a coward.”
“No, I am a warrior. I want to die in battle. You, killing me would be fun. Me killing you would be ecstasy. Then I could kill the fucker who murdered my father. Because I know Absinthe would come after your killer. Come to finish me off.”
“I won’t give into your fetishes Johan.” Marley said, her stomach roiling.
“But what if I have something of yours?”
She blinked and looked at Absinthe, seeing his gaze move to hers and he shook his head, his eyes paling, “No Marley, don’t bite.”
“What is it?” She whispered, and Abe closed his eyes, bottom lip quivering.
“Marley?”
A ghost spoke to her through the phone and she reached for it, holding it to her ear.
“Linda!? Linda!”
“If you want her Marlene, I am at your old apartment. Be here within the next 24 hours, or she dies for good this time.”
The phone clicked, and she jumped from Absinthe, running to the doors. She had to go and get her sister— But Absinthe grabbed her arm, stopping her, “Marley.”
“Let me go! He has my sister!” she screamed, pulling at her arm, trying to get out of his strong grip.
“Marley stop, you can’t go. She’s not what you think she is.”
She stopped pulling her arm, looking up at him, “You knew—”
Absinthe’s gaze lowered, his lip quivering. Marley stepped back as his grip slackened and he nodded.
“Yes,” His voice a bare whisper and she stared at him as he lifted his head. “Marley…”
Her hand whipped up, fist balled.
Smacking it into his jaw, his head snapped to the side. He turned back to her, eyes wide with shock, almost completely white and she glared at him, “You fucking lying asshole. I trusted you.”
Marley turned, running out of the library, her feet carrying her as fast as they could. She pressed the button for the elevator, hoping it would hurry. The doors pinged, and she scrambled into it, pressing the button for the garage, just as Rhayden stepped in front of it.
The doors slid closed, his pale eyes full of hurt and she sank against the wall, tears streaming down her face.
Her sister was alive—and Absinthe had kept it from her.
Running into the garage, she grabbed the keys for Rhayden’s alpha and climbed into the car, as he appeared at the stairs, his eyes wild, “Marley!”
She threw the car into reverse, spinning the wheel as she slammed it into gear and sped out of the garage. Down the driveway, she broke through the gates, leaving them hanging on their hinges and sped off into the night, her tears streaming.
“Hang on Linda—I’m coming.”
Immortality
Immortal Cravings
Book 4
Ainsley Cole
Copyright © 2019 Ainsley Cole
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written consent of the author, except brief quotes used in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Any references or similarities to actual events, real people, living or dead, or to real locals are intended to give the novel a sense of reality. Any similarity in other names, characters, places, and incidents are entirely coincidental.
One
“And you have no idea where she is?” Rhayden paced the massive library, arms folded over his chest. His brother was Absinthe slumped in the chair at the head of the table.
“For the hundredth time Rhayden, no, I don’t.”
“You checked the apartment?”
“How? It’s only an hour until sunrise jackass. I wouldn’t make it from here to Marley’s apartment in time and neither would you.”
Rhayden stopped and glared at him, eyes turning copper and he lifted his hand, flipping him off, “I told you, you shouldn’t have kept it from her. She had the right to know Linda was alive and Johann had her. And now he will get her, before you have a chance to explain why you kept it from her and we will lose her.”
“I was trying to protect her Rhayden.”
“No, you were coddling her Abe. She is a capable woman and she would have handled the truth more than you think she would have,” Rhayden stopped his pacing, looking to the man at the end of the table. “She almost killed me once, did you know that?”
Abe lifted his gaze, looking at his brother, “What? No, I didn’t.”
“Well she did. Remember when you sent me after her? She drove a knife into my stomach. Told me to leave her alone, never come after her again, or she would gut me like a fish.”
“I didn’t know.” His brother replied, but Rhayden continued.
“But I still chased her, still pushed my limits with her, because I was like you, smitten from the moment I set eyes on her.”
“Yes, it’s not hard to do.” Absinthe replied absentmindedly.
“We have to go and get her.”
“We can’t yet. You know that. We will both perish. We have to wait until tonight—”
“This is bullshit!” Rhayden yelled, scattering the papers on the table to the floor and Abe closed his eyes. “Johann is going to get her, and we just have to what? Sit here with our thumbs up our asses?”
Absinthe opened his eyes, smirking, “You always had a way with words, brother.”
“Shut up,” Rhayden spat, slumping into the chair, glaring at his older brother. “We can’t lose her Abe.”
“I know Rhayden and believe me, if it wasn’t so close to sun-up, I would be there protecting her. And so would you,” He stood, looking down at him. “But we can’t. We wouldn’t make it and you know it.”
Rhayden crossed his arms over his chest, frowning. His gaze shifted between copper and silver. His emotions in tatters and he ignored Absinthe’s hand on his shoulder, “Get some rest. We will go and get her tonight.”
“And hope to hell, it’s not too late?” Rhayden asked as his brother left the room. Scowling, looking to the window, the light just brightening the horizon sent his adrenaline into overdrive. “Fuck this shit.”
He left the library, walking to the armory and buzzed his way in. Grabbing a hand gun, he slipped from the mansion. His feet picked up speed as he ran towards Marley’s old apartment, knowing he probably wouldn’t make it—but he had to try anyway.
****
Bringing her gun up, Marley aimed it at the door. Grasping the handle, she tried it.
Unlocked.
Pushing the door open, she swept the weapon across the gap as she stepped inside the apartment, her heart hammering. The first rays of daylight flashed into the room, lighting it up and she sighed, dropping the gun and she kicked the door closed, “Shit.”
The apartment was empty. Looking just the same as when she had first locked it up and left it. The bills had still been paid, the repayments still made. She owned it now.
Johann and Linda weren’t here.
They would be hiding somewhere by now
.
Would have her locked up in some dark dungeon, while he hibernated for the day?
Now she would have to wait for night. For him to bring her sister and then Marley could kill him and get her family back. She would take her far away, someplace she would never ever see another damned vampire, ever again.
Marley sighed, crossing to the counter, dumping the gun on it. She pulled the car keys from her pocket, looking down at the key ring.
The Raynes’ family crest sat heavily on the key ring and she frowned, tossing them to the counter.
She couldn’t believe Absinthe had kept the fact Linda was alive from her. The one she had been trying to avenge for just over two years.
Her lover—had lied to her.
But how deep did the treachery go? Did Rhayden also know? Tony? Maddi? She didn’t think she would be able to handle it if Maddi knew and had kept it from her. They had become such close friends.
Sighing, she turned to the window, seeing the sun light up the sky over Jacksonville. She wanted more than anything to go back to the mansion and open every single window she could find—burn the lot of them to a crisp, “Fucking vampires.”
Turning, Marley picked up the keys to the Alpha and went to the door.
If Linda was still alive, she would need new clothes, food get back to normality and she had over 10-million to do it with.
****
Rhayden pushed open the door of the shipping container, straining against the weight of the doors. With his failing energy, he slowly closed them again, the sun just touching his fingers and he yelped in pain, “Fuck!”
He shook his hand, the sizzling of his skin stinging, and he pulled the door again, closing it tight. Slowly moving to the back of the container, his body was almost drained—he hadn’t fed, and he had no energy left.
Slumping into the corner, his legs came up and he wrapped his arms around his knees. Huddling in the dark, Rhayden shivered himself into hibernation—Marley in his dreams.
****
Nearly $5,000 later, arms full of clothes and shoes; Marley walked into the apartment, her feet aching. She had never been one for shopping, but she knew her little sister needed this. She would have to be able to get back into society after she had been rescued.
