E.V.I.E.: 13 Slayers, 13 Missions

by Lexi C. Foss

  “Dimitri fed you,” I said, amused. He always did have a soft spot for animals.

  The hellhound gave me a lopsided smile, her tongue flopping sideways out of her mouth.

  Kseniya gave the hellhound a scratch behind the ear, then walked through the double doors to stand on the balcony just off my master suite.

  I joined her, the two of us silent as the waves lapped at the shores below. The beach was entirely ours, Sapphire’s magic extending to all angles of Dimitri’s estate. While this was technically my stand-alone property, it was all connected. Just as Sapphire’s small house sat within our perimeter.

  A few others had homes nearby, all loyalists who desired Dimitri to retake his throne.

  We were living proof that the size of the army didn’t really matter. The power among us placed us on top. But my cousin didn’t want to risk it yet. He didn’t fight a battle unless he knew with certainty that every outcome was in his favor. And he wouldn’t feel confident until he had Anastasia.

  “I need to call Rowan,” she said softly. “But I don’t even know where to start. If she finds out we left Anastasia in that place when we could have helped her…” She trailed off, swallowing.

  “There are a lot of things we could blame ourselves for, but that’ll just make us feel worse and do nothing to solve the situation,” I murmured. “The only antidote is to move forward, to take charge of the future and inspire change.”

  “Is that your way of telling me not to expect an apology from you?” she asked, rotating toward me.

  “I’ve already apologized, Kseniya. I won’t grovel.”

  “Maybe you should,” she challenged.

  “I could say the same to you,” I countered, taking a step toward her. “You haven’t even attempted to apologize, little killer.”

  Her jaw clenched. “I’m not the one who traveled the realms and threatened to destroy you.”

  “No, apparently, I’m slightly more dedicated to my vengeance than you are.” It was a taunt. A cruel twist of words. A way to push her out of the mental trap threatening to consume her.

  Wallowing in what-ifs would destroy her.

  Yes, she’d missed the opportunity to save Anastasia before. But now she had a new chance to right the wrong. She just needed to be in the appropriate frame of mind to be successful.

  Pitying herself and feeling bad about the past would weaken her, not strengthen her.

  So I would push her.

  Hurt her.

  Force her to rebuild.

  Because I knew that was what my slayer required.

  “I’m not apologizing again, Kseniya,” I reiterated. “You didn’t die. You were barely even hurt. And besides, it’s not my fault you’ve grown comfortable in your new little world. Yeah, I tormented you a bit. Then I made it all better with my cock.” I stepped closer to her, allowing her to feel the heat of my body. “You should be thanking me, sweetheart. Not asking for another apology.”

  Her fingers curled into fists at her sides. “Stop.”

  “Stop what?” I asked her. “Stop speaking the truth? Stop showing you what really happened here? Stop making you see how wrong we had it? Stop forcing you to realize that self-pity won’t do you a damn bit of good when your former best friend is being used as a weapon by a monster because you couldn’t figure out how to return and save her?”

  Kseniya whipped the stake out from inside her jacket so fast I was almost impressed. Except she aimed it right for my heart.

  I dodged, tsking her in a taunting manner. “The wolf certainly didn’t teach you any decent tricks while we were apart.”

  It felt good to insult the alpha male. Mostly because I didn’t like the notion of him having his paws all over my slayer. Kseniya had stated they hadn’t fucked, but that didn’t mean my mind hadn’t envisioned exactly what that would have entailed had they slept together.

  She charged me, her rage pouring off her in intoxicating ripples that caused my blood to thump wildly in my veins.

  This was what we needed.

  A match.

  A fight.

  A violent bout of foreplay before I took her and claimed her as mine in every way imaginable.

  She wanted an apology? Well, this was my version of it.

  She needed an outlet, someone to blame, and I’d be that someone for her. I’d allow her to fight me, to bleed me, to do whatever she needed to rid herself of the guilt and pain of realizing how wrong she’d been.

  When she swapped the stake in favor of the gun, I tackled her, grappling for control of the weapon that could seriously injure me. She growled, snarled, shrieked, and screamed.

  I hoped like hell Dimitri didn’t hear her. He wouldn’t agree with my manner of therapy, particularly as it put my life in serious jeopardy. Because if anyone could kill me, it was the vixen beneath me on the ground.

  Not only did she maintain the strength and skill, but I would consider allowing her to win. If I thought that was what she needed.

  In this case, she’d hate herself if she succeeded, so I fought her.

  I caught her wrist in my hand, squeezing tightly and forcing her to release the gun, then I rolled away from it and felt the point of a stake against my ribs.

  She dug in enough to bleed, my reflexes not fast enough to catch her entirely. I cursed, not enthused by the sharp wooden spike drawing blood from my side. With a growl of my own, I shoved her off of me, then yanked the partially embedded stake and tossed it unceremoniously onto the balcony.

  Kseniya was back up on her feet, resembling an outraged goddess with her purple hair wild and her irises swirling with stark ferocity. My dick reacted to the image, hardening in my slacks, eager to play.

  This was our version of seduction.

  As was evidenced by the faint aroma of her growing arousal.

  I stood and removed my ruined suit jacket, throwing it over her gun to make it harder for her to retrieve it. Then I began to roll the sleeves of my shirt, feigning boredom. “I didn’t realize you needed a breather between rounds, Kseniya. Out of shape?”

  She narrowed her eyes. “You’re an asshole.”

  “Yes,” I agreed. But I’m also yours, baby, I clarified in my mind, smiling. “Come get me, little killer. Use that last stake and show me what you can do.” She had a knife somewhere, too. Would she switch it up?

  Nope, I thought, grinning as she twirled the wooden stake between her fingers.

  She danced forward, light on her feet, and leapt to my left, then doubled back around to my right at the last second, her movements impressive and fast.

  I spun, trying to dislodge her, only to feel the sharp point of her weapon against my sternum all over again, this time shoving inside and causing the breath to leave me on a whoosh of air.

  Fuck!

  I went to my knees, using my momentum to take her down with me.

  She rolled, sending me to my back, her legs straddling my middle as she drove the stake in more.

  Darkness blinked in and out of my vision for half a beat, just long enough for her to gain complete control.

  A stake wouldn’t kill me.

  But the blade she pulled out to place at my throat could. Especially partnered with the gun that I suspected held some sort of fire-inducing bullet.

  “I think it’s time for you to apologize,” she said, her breath coming out in a pant, the dagger pressing hard enough to draw blood.

  Jesus Christ!

  My rib cage burned, my heart beating a chaotic rhythm underlined in fucked-up arousal and emphasized with true fear.

  She’d bested me.

  My little slayer had finally well and truly bested me. Perhaps because I’d been playing with her, but it didn’t matter. She had my proverbial dick in her hands, squeezing it sharply and threatening to rip it off.

  “Kseniya,” I breathed, her name coming out on a sharp exhale choked by the blood trickling into my lungs.

  Fuck, this was going to be a bitch to heal. But at least she didn’t look like a wounde
d puppy anymore. No, she resembled my stunning slayer—savage and dark and empowered by the kill.

  I coughed, the movement stirring a sharp sting at my throat where the blade cut deeper.

  Her violet irises were wild, her supremacy a thrill.

  Then she removed the knife to lick along the tip, tasting my blood. Her eyes closed, her thighs tightening around my torso.

  I didn’t move, too enthralled by the goddess straddling me.

  It’d be so easy to take advantage of the moment, to grab the stake and yank it out of me, then overpower her and take that knife to do my own slicing and dicing. But I wanted to lose. Now that her emotional upheaval had subsided—replaced by a dangerous hunger for my blood—I could admire her and indulge in the moment.

  She pressed the knife to my neck again, her opposite hand going to the stake. However, rather than driving it in deeper, she leaned down to kiss me. For a terrifying moment, I thought she was saying goodbye, her intention to destroy me coming true.

  Only, her tongue parted my lips to dip inside as she yanked the stake out of me. The knife left my neck as well, her body collapsing on mine as she indulged me in a kiss meant to ravage nations.

  All her fight morphed into intense need, her fingers clawing at my shirt, ripping the buttons off as she yanked the fabric apart to reveal my skin. She sat up, lost her jacket, and then pulled her long-sleeved shirt over her head before falling onto me once more.

  I wrapped my palm around her nape, devouring her mouth with mine, dominating her with my tongue. She groaned, her nails biting into my shoulder.

  It all fucking hurt.

  She’d shredded me.

  Beat me.

  Nearly slayed my heart.

  Yet I couldn’t say no to this woman, my blood loss doing nothing to stop my raging hard-on. I wanted her. I needed her. She must have felt the same, her touch moving south to yank down my zipper and unbutton my pants. Then she shifted to remove her own jeans, the holster for the bullets going with it.

  My vision blackened as I tried to move, my side refusing to let me help.

  By the time I came back to, she was completely naked and straddling me again, her soaking pussy against my throbbing shaft.

  “Fuck,” I bit out, hoarse and bruised and broken for her.

  She shifted, finding the right angle to lift and sink down on my aching cock. I growled low in my throat, my body in exquisite agony as my immortality began to heal me while her slick cunt forced pleasure to zip straight to my damn balls.

  It was a feral mating.

  A battle between two warriors destined to kill the other.

  And it was hot as fuck.

  So damn sinful, so severe, so us.

  Her tits met my chest as her mouth took mine, our hips pumping into each other, driving us toward the euphoric anguish we both craved.

  I wanted to roll her under me, pound her into the cement below, but my body refused to do anything other than accept her punishment. It hurt in the best way. I could hardly breathe, at points I couldn’t even see, yet I felt each excruciating second of blissful intoxication.

  I was addicted to her.

  Just as I’d always been.

  I loved her.

  Yearned for her.

  Would never be the same without her.

  She wanted an apology, but all I had to give her was my heart. Truly. As I’d demonstrated by allowing her to nearly pierce it with her stake.

  “I hate you,” she cried out, her mouth a prayer against mine. “I love you. I’m sorry. Fuck, Cassius. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t apologize.” I thrust up into her. “Fuck me, slayer. Live in the moment. Take me into the future.” It came out hoarse and wrong, but the flash in her gaze told me she understood every word.

  She pressed her palm to my chest, right above my heart, feeling the wound she’d created, and fucked me harder.

  Our relationship wasn’t normal.

  We embraced our inner animals. Because fuck normal. It bored us both. We needed this to thrive.

  Her sweet heat clamped around me as a heartfelt moan parted her lips, her orgasm an invitation to dance in another realm of existence. I allowed her to pull me with her, my dick throbbing and pulsating inside her, claiming my slayer in the most depraved of ways.

  She was filled with my seed.

  My pleasure.

  My very essence.

  I released my mouth from hers, going to her neck, and bit down on the vein I craved. She screamed, another climax taking her under as I fed on her life, replenishing my own.

  We were bonded in a manner no one else could ever understand. Vampires might not take mates, but I declared this female as mine. My soul married hers. My heart belonged to her. There would never be another, just as there had never been anyone else.

  She’d possessed me from that very first moment.

  My dark enchantment.

  My little killer.

  My Kseniya.

  Wherever she went, I would follow. Even if that meant returning to her former realm. We were in this together now. For eternity.

  “I love you,” I whispered, darkness threatening to take me as my body demanded time to heal.

  “I love you, too,” she replied, lying on top of me. “Thank you, Cassius.”

  My lips curled. “You’re welcome, Kseniya.” For everything. For always. For us.

  Epilogue

  Violet

  A Week Later

  Jude sat behind his desk, his dark eyes giving nothing away. “So you’re leaving E.V.I.E.”

  “I don’t really have a choice.” After everything Grigori had done, I needed to return to my home realm. “But I can wrap up the last case before I go.”

  He snorted. “You mean the hybrid? Alaric’s already taken care of it.”

  I blinked. “What?”

  “You were gone a week, Violet. What did you expect him to do? Wait for you to get back?”

  I pinched my lips to the side. It wasn’t like I’d meant to disappear for that long. Things had just gotten a little carried away in my home realm. “My priorities…”

  “Have shifted,” he finished for me. “Yes, I know. Have you spoken to Rowan about it?”

  “Not yet,” I admitted. “I tried to call her when I got back”—after I’d purchased a replacement phone since the vampires at the club had kept mine as a souvenir—“but she didn’t answer. She’s my next stop.”

  He nodded. “I imagine she has some things to tell you as well.”

  “Yeah? Like what?”

  He shrugged. “It’s her story to tell, not mine.”

  Always so vague while implying that he knew things he shouldn’t at the same time. “I’m going to miss your cryptic ways.”

  “No, you’re not. You’ll be too busy slaying.”

  I smiled. “True.” I had a stake with Grigori’s name on it. Of course, we needed to find Anastasia first. Sapphire kept saying we were close—that was what had kept me in my home realm for a week.

  After seven days of hearing the same thing from her mouth, Cassius had helped me pop back to the E.V.I.E. universe to check in with Rowan. Then I’d realized that Jude had to be wondering what the hell had happened to me. So I’d ventured here, which had turned into me giving my notice.

  I couldn’t juggle both. Not right now. Maybe I’d return again in the future after I sorted things out with the Vampire Dynasty, but I suspected that wouldn’t be anytime soon.

  “Any idea where Alaric is? I’d like to apologize to him.”

  “He’s already off on another mission,” Jude replied. “But I’ll let him know.” He started pulling open drawers, searching for something. “Before you go,” he started, bending to pull out a small box from his desk. “Take this.”

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “Open it.” He pushed it across the wood and gave me an expectant look.

  “Okay.” I lifted the lid and found a watch inside. My brow furrowed as I pulled it out to examine the frozen clock
face. “Uh, Jude?” I set the empty box back on his desk and held the watch up with an expression that said, What the hell am I supposed to do with this?

  “Do me a favor and keep that nearby. An alert will sound if I need you.”

  Uh, what? “An alert?”

  “Yep.” He didn’t elaborate, just smiled. “If it goes off, I expect you to get your ass back here because it means I really need you.”

  “Um, maybe my resignation wasn’t clear,” I said. “But—”

  “Once a slayer, always a slayer,” he cut in. “There’s no such thing as resigning, Violet. You know that.” He gave me an indulgent look, then pushed away from his desk to walk over to his prized companion. “Also, Hades will expect visits from his Luci. So be sure to send her back once you figure out the amulet thing.”

  “My amulet doesn’t work like that.”

  He merely smiled. “Talk to Rowan. I think she has a few things to tell you.”

  Yeah, now I was even more intrigued. “Okay. I’ll do that.”

  “Good. See you soon, V.” He winked at me, then went to his haunches to pet Hades. “And you’ll see Luci soon, too.”

  I left his office with the watch in one hand and my phone in the other, but my call to Rowan went straight to voicemail. I pocketed the mobile, then slid the watch over my wrist and found the fit oddly perfect.

  Cassius stood waiting outside in an all-black suit, his phone to his ear as he dealt with his own life in this realm. He had a few properties and a company to sell. Or give away. He hadn’t decided yet. Not to mention his ridiculous King Kaos reputation among the vampires. I suspected he intended to keep that moniker.

  When he hung up, I said, “I think we’re going to be trapped between two worlds for a bit.”

  “Yeah?” He wrapped his arm around me as we started walking. “Why do you say that?”

  “Because I have unfinished business with Rowan, and I really owe Alaric an apology.”

  Cassius snorted. “Rowan, yes. Alaric, no. He knew there was a hybrid problem and dragged you into it. If anyone owes someone an apology, it’s him.”

  I stopped walking to face him. “You mentioned a war before, too,” I hedged. “What all do you know?”