Hot Decadent Rising (Breath of Darkness)

by Candice Stauffer

  Cain already had his hands full keeping the larger or older local back. As a fully matured male with more experience, Samuel was also faster and stronger than Cain. It was a fact of nature. With Cain distracted by the local, Samuel could kill the younger wolf in seconds with one bone crushing bite.

  Eli extended his arms to his sides. “Want another go at me?” He laughed out loud. “Or would you prefer to wait until I’ve turned my back to you again?”

  Instantly enraged, Samuel charged. Eli braced himself and caught him midair, and then threw him into a massive tree trunk. The collision was brutal. He heard Samuel’s bones cracking. He waited as Samuel slowly got up onto all fours. “Again?”

  Foaming at the mouth, Samuel snarled. He took a step back as if he might attempt to flee, but suddenly lunged forward. In an instant Eli shifted into his wolf midair and took Samuel down onto his back. Realizing Cain was on his back struggling to break free from the other wolf’s death grip around his throat, Eli ended his own battle. He crushed Samuel’s throat in his jaws and then immediately knocked the local off Cain. In a matter of seconds, he killed the other wolf in the same manner he’d killed Samuel.

  Throwing his head back, he howled. It was a call to every member of his pack to rejoin him. It was a challenge to any local wanting to die. He was the one and only alpha, and he was able and willing to prove it again and again. No male would ever attempt to take what was his or harm those in his care and live to tell about it.

  In a matter of minutes he was surrounded by his pack. It would’ve been a perfect moment. Normally, being in their midst after being separated for so long would have felt like coming home. They were his family. It would never be the same. Being with them would never complete him until Kara was at his side where she belonged.

  He didn’t offer any explanations. He didn’t bother with making excuses. They didn’t except or want it either. He’d proven that he was their alpha and that was all that mattered. After making sure Cain’s status as second in command was understood, he divided the pack and sent them out to protect Kara and collect information concerning father. He decided to visit Tom.

  ~Eight~

  “THAT’S MY DRINK. What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Tom asked

  The man placed the empty shot glass on the bar. “Was it?”

  “What are you, a fucking moron? You knew it was mine.”

  “You’re right. I did.”

  “Who the fuck do you think you are?”

  “Eli Thomas.”

  “That name doesn’t mean a damn thing to me. I’ve never heard it before.” He looked at the bartender. “Have you?”

  “Nope.” The bartender put down another drink.

  “After today you’ll never forget it.”

  When Tom reached out to pick it up Eli grabbed onto his wrist. “If you don’t get the hell out of here right now you’ll leave in fucking body bag.”

  “Who’s going to put me in it? You?” Eli laughed out loud.

  “You’re damn right I will.” Tom reached behind his back with his other hand and pulled his 9mm Glock out from his waist band.

  Crushing the bones in his wrist with one hand and ripping the gun out of his hand with the other, Eli stood up. “It isn’t as easy to shoot someone unless you first cuff the person’s hands behind their back, is it?”

  When Eli released his wrist Tom cradled it against his chest with his other hand. The excruciating pain was positively unbearable. He knew his attacker was talking about Kara. But how would he or anyone else besides Leland know about it? “What do you want?” To say he was relieved to see the bar’s nearly seven foot tall bouncer approach Eli from behind with a baseball bat in hand was a serious understatement.

  Eli pressed the barrel of the Glock to Tom’s head. “To kill you.” He lowered the gun, crushed it in his fist just as easily as he’d crushed Tom’s wrist and then he tossed the weapon onto the floor. “But I can’t do it just yet. Soon though. Very, very soon.”

  The bouncer swung the bat. Eli shoved Tom off the barstool onto the floor and turned to catch the bat before it hit him. He yanked the bat out of the bouncer’s hands. “That would’ve given me one hell of a migraine.” He swung and broke the bat across the bouncer’s stomach. The bouncer went down on all fours. “Stay.” He started to get up. Eli planted a boot in his jaw hurling him backward about ten feet where he remained motionless sprawled out on his back.

  Tom started to get up. People were shouting and running for the exits. He planned to follow and get lost in the crowd, until Eli turned to face him and shook his head. “You’re not intending to leave, are you?”

  “I don’t have any quarrels with you. Just leave.” Scooting on his ass and cradling his broken wrist on his lap, Tom inched back away from Eli until he’d backed himself against a wall.

  “But I do have a problem with you.”

  “What?” Tom asked. “I don’t even know you.”

  “That you’re still breathing.”

  He watched the bouncer get to his feet and, stumbling and clutching his ribs, he glanced around as if looking for a weapon. Eli bent over and reached for Tom. The bouncer picked up a metal barstool and lifted it over his head. Eli grabbed onto Tom’s throat and lifted him. The bouncer whacked the back of Eli’s head with the stool.

  Rather than go down as he should’ve, Eli winced. Lifting his lip in a smile that looked more like a snarl he dropped Tom. “You’ll have to excuse me for a minute or two. It’s seems someone else is a bit more eager than you to play.”

  He turned around. “I told you to stay.”

  “I’m going to fuck you up.” The bouncer threw the barstool at him.

  Eli caught it. “Are you?”

  “I’m going to rip your motherfucking head off your shoulders and shove it up your ass.”

  “Wow. Such mean words. But sorry. I’m going to have to decline your offer. It doesn’t sound particularly pleasurable at all.” Eli threw the stool. The impact launched the bouncer all the way to the opposite side of the bar.

  Eli turned to Tom before the bouncer hit the floor. Tom knew he was as good as dead when Eli picked him up by the throat with one hand. Something was wrong with the man’s eyes. They weren’t natural. They were glowing like golden brown flames. His grip was like a vise. He couldn’t breathe. His feet dangling, he panicked. He was alone with a madman. Every single one of the patrons and workers had fled the building. Choking to death, arms and legs flailing, he pissed his pants.

  ***

  Distracting Eli, he heard a woman scream beneath him. It was so faint, that he wouldn’t have heard it without his supernatural hearing. “How do I get to the basement?” Realizing Tom couldn’t answer with his fist clenched around his throat, he released him. “Where’s the entrance to the basement?”

  Coughing and gagging, Tom pointed.

  Moving too fast for any human eye to follow, Eli headed down into the basement. Once down there he saw two men holding woman at gunpoint. He also sensed the presence of a vampire. He stood completely still as he used his mind to study the unseen, but couldn’t pinpoint the vampire’s exact location.

  He knew they were going to shoot her. He had to act. His image a blur, he moved to place himself in front of her just as they fired. When she fell down he dropped to his knees.

  “What the fuck are you doing?”

  He felt bullets rip through his body. Though it hurt like hell, no matter how many times he was shot the bullets wouldn’t kill him. He remained perfectly calm and able to handle the situation. He could’ve stood up, but the woman couldn’t. He remained on his knees to make sure his body shielded her from any more bullets as he penetrated the man’s mind.

  He saw the sudden, rising terror in the man’s eyes. And knew the man saw the beast, the wolf staring at him. For a second the man tried to resist, but he couldn’t. Under a powerful compulsion, he turned the gun and pressed it against his own head and then he pulled the trigger.

  Before the man’s li
feless body hit the ground, Eli turned to check on the woman. It was Emily. Kara’s friend. She was holding her shoulder and struggling to get up. Blood was seeping from her fingers. He held her down. She was losing too much blood. “Don’t move.”

  “I don’t know who the hell you are, but you have to get out of here,” she said. “They aren’t alone. They have a…”

  “I know. A vampire. You’re losing too much blood. We need to get you out of here.”

  She shook her head. “Just go. My friend is coming to help me. He will take care of the vampire. There’re afraid of him.”

  “Everyone left the building. No one is coming to help you. Keep your hand pressed over the wound to slow the bleeding.” Scooping her up, he started to stand up with her, but the sight of a vampire crouched in the corner stopped him dead in his tracks.

  “Where do you think you’re taking her?” The vampire stood up.

  “I have to put you down for a minute, Emily.” Keeping his focus on the vampire, he lowered her onto the ground. “It’ll be okay. Just stay put.”

  “That’s it.” The vampire took a step toward them. “Now be a good fucking mutt and get your ass away from her.”

  “You’re not touching her.”

  “She belongs to Jeremy Lang. I’m taking her to him.”

  ***

  Though it appeared Eli had the upper hand, Emily knew the vampire was going to kill him. She learned over the past few months that vampires were hundreds of times stronger than humans. Don’t fear for poor old Eli. He came here tonight looking for trouble. He’s much more capable than he looks.

  I have to do something to help him. But what? She’d shot the vampire earlier when the other vampire, Jeremy, left him to watch over her while the conversion took place. She’d thought it was dead. Obviously, it wasn’t.

  You only have to wait for me. I am close now.

  She closed her eyes. She felt Demetri's presence in her mind, but she also felt another presence with her. It was definitely a male presence. Who is it, Demetri?

  Focus. Call him to you. Tell him what the vampire has done to you. Let him know that you’ve been turned.

  When she focused she realized it was Zack. No. I won’t do it. He left me.

  She opened her eyes. The vampire and Eli were a blur. The two were locked in battle, a battle to the death.

  Open your mind to him. Show him what is happening. Allow him to feel your wounds. Call him. Tell him you are afraid, tell him you’re in pain and he will come to you. Nothing will stop him.

  For the first time ever, Emily sensed something very shady in Demetri. She tried to get up. I won’t do it. Her head was spinning.

  She felt waves of anger and frustration and knew it was Demetri. He didn’t want to leave you. He forced himself to leave you, to protect you. If you call him now, he will come.

  I don’t understand. Why would he want to hurt me?

  He doesn’t. Forget it. Stay calm. You’ve lost too much blood. Wait for me.

  You’re mad.

  Not mad. Disappointed. She felt warmth surrounding her. We will find him together.

  She wasn’t stupid. Demetri was mad at her. But she didn’t understand why. All this time she’d thought of him as a friend.

  She glanced around at her surroundings. She saw two dead men sprawled out in pools of blood.

  She started to feel even more lightheaded. Her vision seemed to be darkening. She tried to focus on Eli and the vampire, but her vision was even darker. She knew she was dying. No. There’s no chance of me allowing you to die. Close your eyes and rest for a while. I will be with you when you wake up.

  ***

  Eli was struggling to get up after receiving a particularly hard blow to the head. He heard sirens in the distance, but Demetri’s sudden presence is what brought him to his feet.

  Demetri knelt down and scooped the woman up in his arms. “Leave her alone. She has been turned. She has to be destroyed.” Ignoring Eli, Demetri whispered the words of an ancient spell Eli didn’t know. The image of her body faded in and out for a few seconds, and then she was gone. “What have you done with her?”

  “Fear not. She is out of harm’s way for the moment and resting comfortably.” Appearing amused by the gruesome scene, he glanced around. “I see you still haven’t learned to play nice with others.”

  “You have to end her suffering. You can’t leave her like that. Bring her back.” Eli demanded.

  “Little Emily isn’t your concern. You should be more concerned with the trouble Kara has managed to get herself into.” Lifting his hand toward the vampire, Demetri smiled. “You know better than to leave its remains for humans to discover.” The vampire’s body burst into flames. An instant later it was gone. Nothing remained. No smoke. No ash. No burn marks on the cement floor. He looked down at the dead humans. “You’ve made quite a mess here. I thought it was against your laws to kill innocent humans.”

  “Innocent humans? They were not innocent. They deserved to die.”

  “Eli the merciless judge and executioner of mankind. I like the sound of it. Shocking. I know.” Eli knew Demetri had turned against his kind. He knew all the rumors of the demon turning completely evil, but he couldn’t believe what Demetri did next. As he had with the vampire, he incinerated the humans.

  “You can’t do that.”

  “Wrong. I already did it. You really should stop worrying about me and check on your mate.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Revenge is a funny thing, is it not? It makes one act without thinking. A man kills his own daughter. It is ironic she should die where your mother was killed so many years ago.”

  “The old factory?”

  “Yes. She’ll be there soon. If you hurry you might just get there before she does.”

  Eli didn’t bother to question the demon, for he had a gut feeling it was true. He didn’t wait around to explain what he was doing or make sure his pack followed him. He knew they would. His image was nothing more than a blur he made it up the stairs and out of the bar in record time. The parking lot was full of confused and drunk patrons who were being questioned by the police, after they had fled the building during his encounter with Tom and the bouncer. He didn’t have time to screw around. He used a cloaking spell to keep any of them from even noticing him, as he made his way to his car.

  Within seconds of leaving the basement he was running all the red lights speeding toward Multnomah Falls. The weather turned violent without warning. Steady strong winds pushed hammering rain mixed with hail sideways as it fell from the sky. The windshield wipers didn’t stand a chance of keeping up with it. He couldn’t see much, but he didn’t slow down. Relying on instincts and hoping for the best he kept driving. Eventually, he had no control over his car. The rainfall was so heavy that within minutes, water began to pool several inches deep in the streets causing the car to hydroplane and the rear end to slide to the side each time he turned. He didn’t care if he wrecked the car. He would run the rest of the way if the car didn’t make it. All that mattered was getting to Kara before anything happened to her.

  ~Nine~

  SURROUNDED BY DARKNESS, Kara knew she was asleep. She felt horrible sadness, a deep all-consuming grief. The crushing weight of it was too much to carry, but she couldn’t remember what had caused it. She sensed that something or someone was preventing her from waking up. She had no idea how long she’d been asleep. All she knew was that she couldn’t open her eyes, no matter how hard she tried. Occasionally, she heard a man and woman murmuring. It frustrated her. She couldn’t make out what they were saying, but she knew they were talking to each other and at times to her. She didn’t recognize their voices. It should’ve worried her. They were strangers, but she sensed they were no threat to her. It didn’t give her any comfort, for she couldn’t decide if they were real or figments of her imagination. Until she began to hear thunder in the distance everything seemed so far away, as if she were alone in another realm, separated from eve
ryone else. She couldn’t be certain if anything was real.

  By the increasing volume of the thunder the storm was obviously getting closer. The more she focused on it, the more she became closer to a state of awareness. She hated storms. Actually, she feared them. It had stormed the night her mother was killed. Lightning, thunder, wind and rain were reminders of how powerless she felt that night. She wasn’t able to save her mom. Her killer was like a storm. He was huge. He was a deadly and unstoppable force.

  She smelled coffee. It was her favorite morning drink. Strong. Dark. Hot coffee. She never started the day without it. It wasn’t long before the tantalizing aroma gave her enough willpower to open her eyes. Waiting for her eyes to adjust to the light, she squinted up at the ceiling, trying to remember where she was and what had happened.

  “You’re awake.” Startled, she sat up. A woman walked over to her from across the room. “My name is Brianna. You’re safe. We brought you here to recover from your injuries.” What the hell was the woman talking about? What injuries? “How are you feeling?”

  “Confused. I can’t remember what happened.”

  “Give it a minute,” Brianna suggested. “You’ve been asleep for a long time. Are you thirsty?”

  “Yeah.” Looking forward to coffee, she nodded. “Very much so.”

  “Here you go. Give this a try.” Brianna held a glass just out of Kara’s reached. She looked up Brianna. That’s when she noticed Brianna was blind.

  Scooting over, Kara reached out and took the glass from her. “Thank you.”

  Brianna laughed. “Thank me after you’ve tasted it.”

  “That bad?” Kara lifted the glass to her nose. It smelled like dirty socks.