Lure (Marko Delacroix #3)

by Alaska Angelini

  “Try and I’ll kill you.”

  “Stop it, both of you.” Tessa eased forward and I angled my head at her as a warning not to get closer. I still loved her, but I far from trusted her. When she stopped, she was next to Marko. “Hunter, please. We’re asking nicely. You have to comply.”

  “I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to.”

  “That’s it.” Marko started forward when Tessa grabbed his arm, but he didn’t stop. He jerked out of her grasp, keeping his eye on the dagger. I held it out, breathing through the fear caused by his vampire. Warnings were shooting through me at the rate of a freight train and my legs felt weak and shaky. As he approached, I thrust it forward, right for his chest. He easily dodged the strike, rearing back and catching me across the cheek with the back of his hand. My head shot to the side at the force, but it didn’t stop me from slicing lower, just at Marko’s stomach area. Fabric tore and he moved back even faster. The next blow he threw at me caught my lips and I felt my teeth tear into the skin on the inside. The blood washing over my tongue sent my rage to massive heights. Back and forth, I swung the knife, going faster with my lunges and thrusts. Marko remained just a step ahead of me, but I’d already forced him across half of the room and he was running out of space. As long as we stayed like this, I stood a chance. What I feared were his mental powers. Luckily, he wasn’t using them.

  “Where you gonna go?” I asked, swinging my arm at him again. An evil smile was etched on his face and just as my hand went to rise again, he blurred around me, disappearing so fast, I didn’t have the time to turn around. A growl sounded just behind my right ear and I felt the rosary ripped free and his fangs bite into my neck brutally. A spasm locked my body from the pain and I felt the dagger fall free. It all happened so fast. Before I could process it, he was gone, clear across to the other side of the room, back by Tessa. The satisfaction on her face tipped the scales on my sanity.

  “You fucking bastard.” I spun, advancing on him again. The invisible wall that came up easily held me at bay. I slammed my hand against it and turned, contemplating escape, when I ran right into another. Fuck, I was trapped. Completely fucking trapped. And not necessarily in the bubble he had me in. I was trapped in my mind…trapped here. Forever. Escaping would be impossible. I knew this in my heart and although it killed me, there was a certain numbness associated with it. This place would be the death of me. And even if I did luck out and make it above ground…I’d failed in my duty to Tessa. I killed her the same day she admitted her love for me. It was too much.

  Marko’s head lowered and he looked at the floor. Tessa hugged her arms over her stomach as she stared at him quietly. Minutes passed before he came back to look at me. Those minutes darkened with every second. I darkened.

  “The two of you aren’t tied. You hold Tessa’s blood, but no form of a bond is there. With me and Sayer inside her…I’m not sure there ever will be. I think our strength is preventing your ties from happening.”

  Tessa’s lips parted and pain washed over her face. Emotions collided within me and I wasn’t sure whether to be upset or relieved.

  “I don’t understand it,” Marko continued. “How you can hold her blood but there be no attachment to the fact…I don’t know. And it’s weaker than I imagined. You smell so strongly of her, but only because of how powerful she is. Her essence in you is fading. In time, maybe a few weeks, it might very well be gone completely. That is, if she doesn’t give you anymore.”

  “He can’t be my slave?” A sob had her lips remaining separated and the bottom one quivered as her eyes filled with tears. “But I feel for him. There has to be a tie. I…love him.”

  Marko brought up Tessa’s arm and made a small incision before moving it to his mouth. As he tasted her, I didn’t miss his grip tightening on her forearm. He licked over the wound and rose.

  “I’m sorry, ma minette. There’s nothing tying you to Hunter. What you feel is the vampire within you. It’s the reason you killed for him tonight. The evil is forcing you to prove yourself in ways humans wouldn’t do. The way they don’t understand,” he said, lower. “I’m sorry, Tessa.”

  “Sorry?” she spat. “You’re not sorry. You’re probably happy I’m only tied with you. You didn’t want Hunter and me together. And now I can’t have him as my slave! You…”

  Black was entirely taking over her eyes and the poisonous fog she harbored began spinning around her feet, rolling out across the floor as it slinked over the surfaces. I stepped back into the invisible wall, but Marko didn’t move. His arm lunged for her throat and he brought the other behind her head, keeping her immobile as his eyes locked with hers in a black death-glare. He looked ready to kill her, but somehow, I knew he wouldn’t.

  “You stand against your leader? You think you can step up to me?”

  The moment his stare broke from hers, Tessa came alive, letting her claws come out and slice toward him. Marko caught her wrist, spinning her around and pinning her against his legs as he sat down. Her dress was jerked up and I felt sick as his hand came down hard, right over her ass. Once. Twice.

  Whack!

  The third time had a scream coming from her mouth and she thrashed even more as the fourth and fifth connected. Sobs quickly replaced the high-pitched squeal and he spun her over to sit on his lap. Green shown vibrantly in her eyes and I shook my head at him bringing her back so fast. It hurt…it broke my heart. He was the one for her. It was so clear.

  “Look at me.” His fingers gripped her chin, turning her to face him. She dove into his chest, hugging him tightly before she tried to break free again. The action had him hesitating for seconds before he continued. “You pull that shit again, next time, it’ll be worse. Let’s get things straight right now. If I was so against Hunter being your slave, would I allow him to stay here in this room with you? Would I have even let him live? I was going to let you keep him and you be my concubine. No, I wouldn’t have let the two of you fuck, but that’s because you’re mine. I can’t willingly allow that, Tessa. I’m sorry, I just can’t. It’s not in me to share you that way. I wish it were. I wish I could give you everything you needed to be happy, but I…can’t. I love you. I won’t spend every day of my life ready to massacre some human because you need more than his heart.” He sat her on the bed and stood, throwing me a glance and dropping the invisible wall as he headed to the door.

  Small cries still came from Tessa and I saw her angst as her hand reached for him. She truly did love Marko, whether she wanted to admit it or not. I’d seen it the night I shot her with the stake and even now in her vampire form. Not to mention, the passion that had come when she’d fucked him. I saw everything first hand. Watched as they held to each other like nothing else mattered. It brought me more into my dark thoughts as he stalked out and slammed the door behind him.

  And he loved her. The grasp of what they could share left me sick. He could control her more than I ever could. I couldn’t feed her like Marko. I couldn’t even wrestle her down and stop her from killing me or someone else. Someone like my uncle. What was I here for aside from leading her on to something neither of us could ever have? I couldn’t love her like I wanted. That was gone. Over the months of seeing her murder and connive, I didn’t know who she was anymore. Even the small glimpses where I assumed it was my Tessa didn’t do it for me. Mine was gone. Dead for real. Yes, I was a killer just as much as they were. This was all my fault and now I had nothing. No one but this monster before me. And she was. One of my creation. God, I’d tried to convince myself it would all work out, but she was evil in every way. Murdering my uncle…and then telling the story of how she did it. Bragging, yet threating more death as she held up his head for them all to see. I hadn’t been proud that she’d tried to protect me that way. I’d been horrified that she felt nothing for humans—even someone who’d known her since she was a child. She had loved my uncle. And the devil in her killed him.

  Cries brought me back to the room and I walked forward, picking up the dagger f
rom the floor. I swallowed hard, knowing what I needed to do. God, it tore me to pieces, but there was no other way around it. I was done. Tessa made me give her my word and I wasn’t going to break it. She had to die, and I was going to be the one to do it. I’d kill us both and end this misery once and for all. There was no way I could go on living with the act I was about to commit. I’d killed enough people. Women. Children. My PTSD was bad enough. Between the rapes and dead bodies I’d witnessed on a daily basis from my nightmares, I was finished with the images that plagued my weary mind. I couldn’t face my parents or hers ever again if I did this, and it had to be done. She’d crossed too many lines. She was the one thing she didn’t want to become and it was up to me to put a stop to it.

  Chapter 19

  Tessa

  To say I didn’t have feelings for my leader was a lie. I hated him as much as I yearned for him. But nothing was right. Nothing made sense. I was a puzzle, more to myself than anyone else. There were times I heard Marko’s thoughts. I doubted he knew I was listening. Sometimes, I didn’t even know what I tapped into until time brought everything back. It always did with him. His voice was the only thing that could pull me from the perplexing abyss of my mind and center me. It unlocked secrets within myself, flooding my vision with images of fights and amazing lovemaking. What I saw as bad in the past, I clung to now, watching with fascination at our lives. Other than telling Marko tonight, no one knew I was regaining my memory. Or how much everything was coming back. And it was…with a vengeance. I was beginning to clear and the person I was becoming was one I was embracing more by the day. I wanted my Master back. I wanted…what I couldn’t have. I couldn’t have both men. I knew this and Hunter’s actions tonight showed me why. That’s what had upset me the most. I knew what I had to do.

  Pressure gripped tighter around my waist, so unlike how Hunter usually slept, which was as far away from me as he could. For days, I’d tried to get him to love me. I tried fucking hard. He couldn’t. Not with the passion I was capable of. Why he was showing me any form of affection now left me trying to figure him out even more.

  Thoughts weighed down his mind, I could feel it from his aura. It brought me back to the anger he harbored. I had to make things right with him, regardless of how a part of me didn’t seem to see the point of it. But he at least deserved that. Rape. Yes…I remembered now. The gruesome memories made my stomach turn and it wasn’t necessarily because of what happened to me. It was for him. He’d taken Sayer’s brutality to get him away from me and I wouldn’t forget it when I killed my maker.

  “I’m sorry about what I did to your uncle. I…didn’t know you’d be mad.” I still didn’t understand why he was. I’d killed for him. He should be proud. Honored. That’s what I’d thought when I severed the man’s head. But Marko’s words were coming back. He and I weren’t the same. And it was something I was learning the hard way. “I’m sorry about what happened to you with Sayer, too. I really am.”

  Hunter stiffened next to me, burying his face against the side of mine. “Just go to sleep, Tessa. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

  Sadness pulled at my chest. I hated him not being happy with me. That’s what kept me going for so long. I wanted to try to make things work, but they wouldn’t. All he ever did was look at me like I was a bad person. Hunter was never satisfied with anything I did. I kept trying to impress him. To show him as his Mistress, I’d do anything for him. Even if all he wanted was someone to talk to, like I knew he wanted most. But every conversation had him looking at me in disgust or disbelief over something I said. I couldn’t continue to witness it anymore. He was holding me back. From what, I wasn’t sure. Happiness? Peace of mind? I didn’t know. Regardless, I couldn’t stop the ache I felt for his state of mind. What did I do about him? How did I make him better while also going after what I wanted?

  My eyes darted toward the door. From the soft glow of the closet light, I could see the barrier keeping us closed off from everyone. It called to me. Told me to go through it and feel out the one person I wanted to be with. Marko was out there. Marko…

  I closed my eyes, feeling for our connection. My brow drew in as his words began to filter through.

  “Doesn’t she see? How can she not? I’m trying so fucking hard.” A sigh filled his mind and I waited quietly while he continued. “What am I doing? Walking around a room she’ll never fucking come to? She doesn’t love me.”

  “Yes I do.”

  Silence had me waiting.

  “Ma minette…”

  “Red silk sheets, a closet full of clothes you believe I’ll never wear. You bathe in my soap. Do you miss me so much?”

  A small groan echoed through my mind. “You have no idea. Tessa, I…you know I love you. The pain I feel for not having you with me is the worst torture I’ve ever gone through. Such sweet torture,” he said, trailing off.

  My eyes opened and I turned more toward Hunter. His lids were down but I knew he wasn’t asleep. The vibes he threw off were ones I didn’t necessarily like. They made me defensive. They made me…angry. No, I couldn’t do this anymore. All I was doing was wasting time. Time, I didn’t have. When would I lose my memory again? The episodes were coming less and less, but they still came, regardless.

  On instinct, I let my lips separate. I knew our problems were going to take a while to sort out, but I wasn’t going to contemplate over them anymore tonight. I had better things. Things I’d been secretly longing for more and more.

  Tingling covered my skin as I tapped into my gift. My adrenaline began to race, making my heart thump hard in my chest. Numbness coated my throat and I pushed down the strength of my poison until I felt it was right. Slowly, I let black fog ooze from my mouth. Hunter’s body jolted and his eyes flew open, but he didn’t move. Couldn’t move.

  “Sleep tight, my dear friend. I love you,” I whispered, leaning forward and pressing my lips to his. More crept free and I let it enter his mouth. The breaths that had come out panicked were already deepening, growing leisurely in his almost sleeping state.

  “We’re going to make you better, Hunter. I promise. Tomorrow,” I said, sliding from the bed. The long, red gown I wore was one I’d never thought to sleep in before. Why I’d chosen it tonight was a mystery. Maybe my mind knew, even before I did. Only now was I starting to see the light.

  I was Tessalyn Antoinette, the Black Princess. I was going to rule, right next to the man I was meant to. The one like me.

  Darkness swallowed me up as my bare feet padded through the tunnel. I’d never been to Marko’s room, but I didn’t have to know where to go. His heart called to me, even from as far away as we were. Our tie, our soon-to-be bond…it was all I wanted. What I knew I needed to move forward and grow stronger. And I’d do it with him. Together, we’d be one. Just like he wanted. Like I now wanted.

  Music played in the distance and it sparked an odd sense of happiness. This was right. My instincts told me that and I never went against them—ever.

  I broke into the heart of the city, only to turn into the next tunnel. Lyrics I had no idea I knew flowed quietly from my mouth, echoing against the cement enclosure. Each step sent my heart racing even faster and my singing somehow soothed that. I had no reason to fear, and I didn’t. I thrived in this decision. So much so, my whole body was shaking.

  Light flooded the space at the end and a tall, dark silhouette stepped into the tunnel. I didn’t wait. I couldn’t. I broke into a sprint, racing toward Marko. Toward what my clear mind said it wanted more than anything.

  “Oh, Jesus,” he moaned, sweeping me into his arms and crushing his lips to mine. My arms wrapped around his neck and I thrust my tongue into his mouth, moaning at all the pent up lust and passion I carried for him. Fingers gripped my back, pulling me as close as he could get me. “What are you doing, ma minette? What are you doing?” There was pain was in his voice as he spun me through the door, shutting it behind him. “You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you? You’ll go back to him. You’ll leave after we’r
e finished.”

  My head shook as I met his mouth again. I had to taste more of him. I was desperate and I couldn’t get enough. When I finally pulled back, I switched to our language. Ours, because we were right. We were each other’s pair. “I’ve chosen. Hunter and I…it’s not meant to be. We’re not the same. I see that now. I choose you. We are going to do this together. That’s what we agreed. It’s what I want. Together, we’ll rule.”

  His eyes held mine and a smile broke out on his face just before he kissed me again.

  “We’ll rule,” he said, pulling back and nodding. “But what about Hunter? What do you feel I should do with him? I can’t let him go, Tessa. He knows too much.”

  I blinked past the possibilities. I had no idea the workings of our world, but I knew what he spoke was true. Safety of our kind was ingrained in me. It ruled just as much as Marko and I would.

  “He has to be happy. That’s all I want.”

  “We’ll figure it out. I promise.” He fisted the red nightgown I wore, twisting it in his hand as he turned us toward the bed. He sucked my bottom lip into his mouth and I moaned, pushing into him even more. “I never thought I’d get to experience this, here. Not so soon.”

  I looked down at the bed. Although I’d heard him describe it in his mind before, I wasn’t prepared for the beauty and elegance of what was before me. I stared in awe, almost feeling like I was in a dream as he pulled back the comforter and laid me down.

  No matter what he wanted, I couldn’t remain lying down. I rose to my knees, grabbing the hand holding onto his tie. Our stares held and he let me pull it free. The jacket fell to the floor at his shrug and one by one, I slid the buttons free. His pale skin drew me in and I let my mouth travel between his pecs, licking and nibbling as I moved down to trail over his defined abs. A moan vibrated his body and I let my nails push into his sides while I sank my teeth in harder.