by Sharon Page
Raven’s blood ran cold. That vampire had not been him. One of his brethren was trying to attack his sister?
It had to be a minion of Queen Jade.
He still had time to do as the bitch of a vampire queen had asked and take Ophelia’s power. Jade had no right to frighten his sister.
Then he saw something that froze him on the spot. That stunned him to his gut. It would have slammed into his soul, if he’d had one.
His slender, young sister stood on tiptoe and locked her arms around the vampire slayer’s neck. Her lips softened, and she cocked her head like a woman accustomed to being kissed. The lad’s arms went around her.
Raven could have handled witnessing a sweet kiss, a small peck.
The boy gave Frederica a long, steamy, intimate French kiss. Raven had one glimpse of their tongues dueling before he staggered back and looked away. Frederica’s sigh of delight was like a spike through his heart.
How could his sister have fallen in love with a vampire slayer?
Raven waited in the dark, his heart thumping. He hated that he could not go near her.
He wanted to destroy the man who was now kissing Frederica and caressing her body with his hands. But did he have any right to destroy a man she loved?
The kiss ended on a fluttering feminine sigh and a lusty male groan.
Raven’s hands fisted.
“I should go in now,” she whispered. “In case I am missed.”
“Be careful, my love,” the slayer murmured. “Keep your windows locked. Lay the garlic flowers along them and wear them around your neck while you sleep. Do not open your doors or windows for anyone. I am going to hunt that vampire tonight.”
They shared a hasty kiss, then Frederica turned and slipped through the shadows toward the house. Raven watched her, to make sure she got inside safely. So did the slayer.
“Who’s there?” It was the boy, moving carefully through the dark, searching the stretches of blackness.
Raven knew he hadn’t made a sound. The boy was not as much of an idiot as he thought. The lad could sense him. He tried to send thoughts into the slayer’s head. Now he found resistance as he tried to break into the young man’s mind and plant thoughts. Apparently without Frederica there, the boy had much more control over his wits.
He did not want to battle with Frederica’s paramour. He would be too tempted to rip the slayer’s head off.
Then the boy’s face popped around a shrub and they stared face-to-face. Familiar blue eyes gaped at him, and Raven’s heart lurched as he recognized the boy’s features.
Ophelia. The young vampire slayer looked exactly like her, except his hair was a darker gold. The vampire hunter courting his sister must be Ophelia’s brother.
Shock made Raven slow, made him stand in place longer than he normally would. Suddenly, the boy’s arm arced and the stake plunged toward Raven’s heart. He twisted to escape and the wooden point struck his right side. It drove in, tearing his clothing, biting slightly into his chest. With a soundless roar, he jerked back.
Normally he would fight a vampire hunter. One less slayer meant he was safer, after all.
But he couldn’t break Frederica’s heart.
The slayer had let the stake drop and had pulled out another. “I’m going to destroy you, you blood-drinking plague. Your kind took everything from me. My parents. My oldest brother. My sister.”
“What in Hades are you talking about? Vampires killed your parents? She never told me that.” Raven paced around the lad as his gut clenched. He thought of Guidon’s words. To look back over the men he had assassinated for Jade.
“Who never told you what? Who are you talking about?” In anger and fear, the lad’s voice rose to a squeak.
Raven didn’t answer.
He’d preyed on mortals, but he had never assassinated one for Jade.
He could not be responsible for the deaths of Ophelia’s family. With a lunge forward at vampiric speed, Raven grabbed the lad’s wrist. He tried to see inside the boy’s thoughts, but what he saw wasn’t in the slayer’s head. It was a scene from his past, a scene buried deep inside his mind. Ophelia’s brother froze, the stake clutched in his hand, and Raven saw the truth flashing through his mind . . .
* * *
It felt real. As if he was reliving it.
Jade drew her fangs from his neck and sat up on top of him. She had forced him down using her strength. Her servants had chained him to her bed. Now she licked his blood from her lips. “I have work for you,” she said smoothly.
Her razor-sharp fingernails scratched his chest, adding more wounds to those that already crisscrossed his bare flesh. Jade slicked her pink tongue over the furrows of parted skin, slurping up the blood.
“There is a demon you must kill for me. He is a vampire and warlock crossbreed. Very lethal to our kind and very dangerous. He must be destroyed.”
Those had been the days when he had obeyed her every command, but he had needed to know more about his foe.
Jade licked her way down his body toward his cock. It was soft now, and the shaft and head were covered in healing wounds from her fangs and her nails.
“He was sired by a vampire who had studied the dark arts of magic,” she purred as she made harsh bites in his flesh. “He has studied witchcraft and is about to acquire an enormous power and could destroy both vampires and mortals. He could have power equivalent to a vampire queen, and we cannot let that happen. You are an assassin. You must do this for me; it is your duty to protect me. But I do want you—” She hesitated. “I want you to take care. I do not want to lose you.”
For a moment he’d thought she cared about him.
But she had smiled with cruel pleasure. “None of my other playmates can take as much punishment and pain as you.”
With that, she had released him so he could do his duty. As she’d said, he was an assassin. He carried out his task swiftly and efficiently.
To destroy a warlock was difficult. Raven was only a vampire and couldn’t combat spells. Jade had helped him by giving him spells to combat some of the magic the warlocks would use to destroy him. With her protective incantations, he could not be destroyed by anything they conjured, like fire, lightning, or vicious beasts. But he could be killed by any demons they summoned.
It had been a hell of a battle. He had destroyed six demons before the vampire-warlock, who had been young and inexperienced with spells, collapsed in exhaustion, unable to summon any more magic.
Raven had gone for his throat. The crossbreed’s gaze had fixed on him as he took the last drops of blood. Golden hair. Blue eyes, large blue eyes—
He looked like this man, who was Ophelia’s brother.
The man he’d killed must have been her eldest brother.
Raven released his grip on her younger brother, and it broke the spell that held the young man transfixed.
“Ophelia told you!” the slayer shouted. “That’s what you mean. You are the monster who killed my sister?”
“Your sister is alive.” Raven snapped it out before he had time to think. She was supposed to be hidden.
This time, the brother grabbed him. “Where is she? Take me to her. I’ll spare your existence, vampire, if you take me to her.”
At any other time he would have laughed. He was in control here.
But this knowledge of what he’d done left him stunned.
This was something she could never forgive him for. She could never love him. This would break her heart.
Without a love given and received, Ophelia would die when he took her power. He could not take her power, which meant he could not satisfy Jade.
He shifted with speed, so he grabbed her brother by the shoulders. Before the boy could stake him, he threw the lad across the lawn. With a howl, the slayer landed in a lilac bush. Unharmed, but it gave Raven time to turn and run.
He was running for his house, for his sister. He had to get to her to protect her. It would terrify her to discover what he was, but he had to k
eep her safe from Jade—
A woman’s scream split through his skull.
Raven ran toward his house, moving at preternatural speed. Gravel sprayed as he rushed up the drive like a hurricane’s wind. He could no longer see the bats in the sky. The damned things were gone.
His heart hammered with fear. “Frederica!” he shouted.
A jolt of pink lightning flew out from the doorway of the house, struck him in the chest, and sent him flying back down the stairs. Gravel bit into his back as he sprawled on the drive. He jumped to his feet.
Jade stood in the front of his former home. She floated a few inches above the foyer floor. Her long gown rippled with the night’s breeze, and her hair swayed and danced around her. A seductive smile played on her full lips, which were rouged to a deep scarlet.
“We have taken your sister,” she said softly.
Raven ran at her, ready to tear her apart, moving so fast a human would not see him. But it was no match for Jade’s speed. She easily danced away from his grasping hands. She laughed lightly. Then she lifted her hand, and a bolt of pink light flew from her hand. It compressed into a thin, powerful beam that shot right through his chest below his heart.
The pain drove him to his knees. The wound began to heal over as he forced his weakened body up from the ground. “Let her go, damn you.”
“I no longer trust you,” she said smoothly, her voice cold. “You have been stalling and I have waited long enough. I have taken your sister as a hostage. You must take Lady Ophelia’s power now, if you wish to free your sister.”
“I cannot, damn it,” he roared. “There is a chance it would kill Ophelia. I need more time to know for certain.”
He knew what he had done to hurt her—he had killed her brother. If she forgave him for that, she could survive . . . hell, how could she forgive him? It was impossible.
“You have until midnight tomorrow night to make your choice,” Jade commanded. “Either take her power and kill her, or watch your sister die.”
With that, Jade threw bolts of sizzling light and energy at him from both hands, knocking him onto his arse.
When Raven struggled back onto his feet, his chest smouldered where his clothes had burned away, and the vampire queen was gone.
15
Lost
Raven leapt to the side. A crossbow bolt narrowly missed his chest.
Damned Royal Society.
He stood in the shadowy, mucky mews that ran behind the yard of his town house. Fixated on returning to Ophelia, he had not noticed the two men positioned in the mews, until they’d jumped out and starting firing at him with crossbows.
“I don’t have time for this,” he roared. He shifted shape and flew at them, darting from side to side to avoid the hurtling arrows. Panic made the men clumsy. They messed up their loading, and he had his chance.
But instead of killing them, he transformed back into human form and threw one down the mews. The slayer landed on his arse, scrambled to his feet, and ran away. Raven knocked the other unconscious.
With that, he jumped up onto the tall fence that separated his small yard from the mews and dropped over the side.
Landing softly on the grass, he called in his thoughts to Guidon. Jade has my sister and will kill her unless I take Ophelia’s power. Is there a way I can fool Jade, make her believe I took Ophelia’s power when I didn’t? Make it look like I have the power to kill people with just my touch?
You could tell Lady Ophelia the truth, Guidon answered. About her brother.
So you know I remembered that. Damn it, are you reading my thoughts?
Of course not, my lord. It is in my records of the vampire world. I knew you would remember it.
I don’t want her to know the truth, Raven growled. She will hate me.
Her brother was an evil being. Jade only told you part of the truth. If Ophelia knew—
He was her brother, Raven snapped, his tone harsh, filled with anger. I don’t believe she will forgive me. Can’t you give me a spell that would make Jade think I took her power?
You can take her power, Ravenhunt. I have researched through many ancient books, and I believe Ophelia will not be hurt. Since you will have betrayed her love, you will pay the price. Ophelia will not be hurt, but you will die.
Do I have enough time to take the power to Jade, or do I die right away?
You will have enough time.
Ophelia met him in the foyer, wearing the thick robe he’d acquired for her. It hung open, giving a glimpse of her sweetly rounded breasts, her slim waist, the enticingly soft and beautiful golden curls between her legs.
“Where did you go?” she asked. “We only had four orgasms and it wasn’t enough. I am ready to try for the fifth.”
He grinned. The sweetness of her serious expression touched his heart. He could lie about where he had gone, but he had to prove he loved her by giving the truth. “I went to see my sister. I never let her see me, but I like to know she is safe.”
“Is she?”
Now he had to lie—lie by omission. “Yes, she is safe.” For now, she was. For now, Frederica would not be harmed, as long as Jade thought he would take Ophelia’s power.
Ophelia suddenly gave a soft cry and flung herself against his chest, hugging him tight.
She needed touch. He had to remember that. He had to give her all the touching he could before he was destroyed.
“Guidon spoke to me.” She tipped her face up and met his gaze.
“He did?” Why in Hades had Guidon done that?
“He told me that it was still too dangerous to take my power—that I would be safe, but you would be killed. I will not do it. I will not let that happen.”
He cupped her chin and lowered to her mouth. It had been years since he’d had love like this—
No, he had never had love like this. Not from his fiancée. Now, he knew what love was.
Ophelia was willing to sacrifice for him. That was love.
But he intended to sacrifice himself for her. Now that he knew she would be safe. He brushed his lips against hers. “I’ve changed,” he said softly. “You’ve changed me. I can never take another mortal life. But I’m a vampire, and I am one who is cursed to kill. I’m not one of the gentle ones who can drink his blood from crystal glasses and who can behave like a human. I’m a monster. Before, I didn’t care. Now I do. Let me take your power and be destroyed, Ophelia.”
“I can’t do it. I love you too much.”
He gripped her arms. “You are in danger if you do not. Let me have this. One chance to make amends for the things I have done as a vampire. Let me make love to you, and save you, then die having done one noble thing in my life. There is a secret in my past, and it is a terrible one. It would make you hate me, so your love cannot save me.”
He told her about the passage in Guidon’s book. That it meant their love had to be proven that it could withstand the harshest tests. He did not believe it would. But from what Guidon had told her, Raven alone would pay the price for that.
“I—I would be killing you, and I can’t bear to live with that.” Tears leapt into her eyes.
He hated himself for doing this to her . . .then he saw the answer. “You aren’t killing me, angel. This is something I’m going to do to myself.”
He pushed her back, forcing her to stumble backward until the foyer wall stopped them. Using the bulk of his body, he pressed against her, pinning her in place. Slanting his mouth over hers, he teased and suckled and played with her mouth, certain he could arouse her, even while he held her captive.
His tongue tangled with hers, and she breathed hard into his mouth.
Then her foot, in a slipper, slammed into his shin.
She was fighting him.
Instead of stopping, he kissed a line of teasing sensation down her neck. She gave a soft gasp of surrender. Down he kissed, pushing aside her robe with his jaw. He licked her nipples, making her sob.
He pushed open her robe completely, pressed his groin
heavily against her.
“No!” she gasped. “Stop, please stop. Don’t force me to do this.”
His cock throbbed, his heart ached, but inside, a voice demanded that he do this. He could save her and save his sister, and he would be saving her heartbreak.
She would hate him for this.
Angrily, he tore open the placket of his trousers. He stroked her quim, even as she tried to escape him. Dexterous caresses of his fingers made her wet, but he knew she didn’t want this.
“Let me free you,” he growled. He sank inside her, his cock sliding in.
Heat gripped him, making him cry out with pleasure.
“No,” she cried. “I can’t hurt you. I can’t.”
“This is all on me,” he muttered. He drove his cock into her, slid his finger down to stroke her clit with his every thrust, and he sucked her nipple.
The assault of sensation was too much. He knew she didn’t want to come, but she couldn’t help it.
“Oh!” she gasped. Her hips suddenly rocked against him wildly. The climax took her, and tears streamed down her face as her body moved with her orgasm.
Did he have to give her five in a row? Or was this one soon enough after the other four? He had to try now. The words to the incantation were hazy in his mind. He couldn’t forget them now, damn it. Fighting to bring them back, Raven whispered them softly. They were Latin, and translated to:
I pledge myself forever to you, my heart to your heart, my life with yours,
And as yours, I take from you the burden placed there, the dark power, the pain you have borne,
Give me your power; give it to me through love,
Let me take your black burden from you, let me give you this gift of my deepest love,
Freedom.
Felie lifted her head, and he moved back from her to let her breathe. Raven stared into her wide blue eyes, searching for change.
Her eyes rolled back in her head, and her body slumped back against the wall. Bonelessly she began to fall, and he caught her in his arms. He scooped her up as her body began to shake.
