“You watch how you speak about my family. The only pathetic one here is you.” It didn’t take long before his uncle fell down on the ground. Rick pointed his wand at him again and cast another spell. This time his body started to shrink and wrinkle like an old prune. His hair disappeared and within moments his body parts began to pull away from their sockets. His screams could be heard from miles around. Minutes slowly passed and then silence filled the room.
A gasp came from behind him and he turned to see his mom with her hand over her mouth. She walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You used magic to kill him. How?”
“I have no clue.” He wondered if he really had just used magic to kill someone. It made no sense; his magic had left the moment he was turned into a vampire. Rick rushed back to the bedroom. He had to make sure Serena and his sister were safe. His mother’s footsteps fell into step with his. She muttered something under her breath along the way.
He watched her move to her daughter, who seemed to be sleeping. “I’m going to look in the books and see what I can come up with.” And with that she left the room again.
***
Serena still felt guilty for not believing him. He’d been right about everything and now his sister might die. She closed her eyes and took the necklace from around her neck, then made her way to him as he stood vigil over the bed.
“Take this; you need it more than I do.” She took his hand and placed the pendant inside before closing his hand around it. Her reason for wanting the thing was stupid when it could save the young woman’s life. With one last look at him she turned to leave.
A hot palm clasped her elbow, turning her around. “Wait. Thank you. I want—”
His mom burst through the door again with a large blue book held close to her chest. She looked between them and just shook her head. “It can’t be.”
“Here’s the pendant.” He handed the necklace to his mom. A huge smile came across her face.
“Oh, we must save her now.” She hurried around the room, grabbing what she needed for the spell. When everything was laid out, she turned to the black pot and dropped in some ingredients. With a wave over her hand over the pot, the liquid started to boil. She tossed in a few more things as she chanted some spell that he’d never heard her say before. Wind blew in from the open door, the floor shook, and still she continued to chant the same phrase over and over. As quickly as it had started, things stopped and became still. Slowly, the color came back to his sister and she opened her eyes. Serena had never seen anything like it before, but she was glad she was able to help.
“Mom, what did you mean that it couldn’t be?”
“Oh, yes, well it seems that according to some history in our books a wizard can get his powers back if they are taken from him.”
“How?”
Serena was still coming to terms with the fact that he’d once been a wizard and had been turned into a vampire. It was hard for her to figure out how that could be possible, but really, why should she be worried? They weren’t going to be together; what they had was just a fling.
“If the person finds his or her true love, then the curse would be broken.”
No, it couldn’t be. He can’t be in love with me. He turned to her and their gazes connected as she heard him say, I love you more than you know.
Rick pulled her into his arms, tilting her chin up. The breath in her lungs caught with the look of love staring back at her. He cared for her; it wasn’t just one-sided. This whole time she’d been worried about getting more power for herself, and didn’t even know when Mr. Perfect was right under her nose until now.
“I don’t know what to say. I love you too.”
“You don’t need to say anything except that you’ll be bound to me for life.”
“Yes!”
Rick sealed the deal with a kiss that rocked her to her core. She’d secretly hoped for this to happen one day and when she least expected it she had found her soul mate. She had to tell the girls as soon as possible; no doubt she was going to need them to help plan the ceremony. Her cell vibrated against her side. Serena reached into her pocket and pulled it out. She looked at the display.
Where are you? Hurry back to the bar, asap. Ana.
Tugging on his arm, she pulled him outside. “We have to go. The girls are worried about where I’m at.”
“Sure, let’s go.” Rick wrapped an arm around her waist as he teleported them back to the bar.
The girls stood outside with men, and she couldn’t wait to hear what everyone had experienced. This month’s meeting would for sure be the best ever.
Unbound
by
Kiru Taye
Chapter One
It didn’t take this long to get into a night club.
“Some of us don’t have all night long,” M’na shouted from where he stood in line to get into the Blood Bar—an apt name for a night club in the middle of Scotland for supers. Sulphuric fumes clung to the air, not heavy enough to choke, more like the smoke from burnt barbeque steak on a summer afternoon.
Except, it was late on a chilly Friday and bright stars twinkled in the clear dark sky above. On any given night he shouldn’t be at a location filled with all sorts of supernatural creatures, from faeries to fallen angels. It wasn’t his scene.
The bouncer, an incubus who had his attention on a human female standing by the door, turned and glared at M’na, his eyes glowing red like neon signs, his lips stretched in a snarl, baring fangs, before turning his attention back to the woman.
The queue to get into the Blood Bar ran around the block. M’na always wondered at the fascination humans had with the underworld. In the past, supers were revered and elevated to the status of demi-gods. In the time he’d lived, he’d seen the godly veneration deteriorate as the super council had sought to maintain the balance of the realms and prevent supers from preying on humans.
The fascination with immortal beings was almost at a point of frenzy, although most humans still thought they were stuff of myths and fantasies. Vampires and werewolves were all the rage these days. He couldn’t help rolling his eyes at the thought. If humans truly understood the danger lurking beyond what their eyes could see, would they still have the same sensational captivation?
Not that he cared. Having watched the development of humans over the past two millennia, his outlook was jaded, to say the least. He had one purpose: to be a gatekeeper—more specifically, a guardian—and he was tasked with one assignment, a human who was currently inside this night club unaware of the dangers. He needed to be in there. Right now.
Urgency quickened the blood in his veins. He shoved a path through the crowd of supers and humans. Because of his aura, powerful and magnetic, the path was easy to cut as the crowd parted. Gatekeepers were the special ops of the supernatural realm. Other supers recognized his aura even before they saw him. It was like the siren or flashing blue of a police car, easily recognizable.
The group of women—girls, no more than twenty-five years old, dressed in skimpy clothing as if they didn’t feel the close-to-freezing temperature—walked into the bar as M’na came to a stop in front of the bouncer.
“You’re out of your jurisdiction, gatekeeper!” the incubus snarled at him in a low voice, blocking his way in, his arms crossed against his massive chest.
M’na didn’t have time for this but he chose to play it calm. The last thing he wanted was a battle when human lives were at risk. “I’m not here to make trouble. I simply want to retrieve a package and I’ll be out of here.”
“What if the package doesn’t want to be retrieved? This is a free zone. You can’t make arrests here. You have to wait for whoever it is to come out,” the bouncer retorted.
M’na’s eyes narrowed. He clenched and unclenched his fists as he contemplated his next actions. As much as he hated to admit it, the bouncer was correct. The Blood Bar was a free zone for supers and M’na was technically off-duty in here, which was the main reason he hadn’t tran
sported himself directly into the venue already.
As a gatekeeper he would usually have unrestricted access to venues like this. Not tonight. This visit was personal. Years of military training kept him here in the queue instead of bypassing this smug low-level demon.
Still, he was a law keeper, not a breaker of rules. As the sneer on the bouncer’s face widened, M’na tensed his shoulders. Perhaps tonight was the night to break some rules.
The tautness in his back muscles increased as he sensed the human he needed inside. Though she wasn’t in immediate danger, darkness approached. A low energy vibration undulated the air surrounding him. There was no time to waste. Professional instinct restrained him from sending the incubus back to hell. Yet the protective bond between him and his charge—something deeper, darker, stronger than years of training could instill—told him he had to get into the bar by any means necessary. Before he could flick his fingers and fire the immobilizing darts into the incubus, the door behind him opened.
The Enforcer. M’na’s already tense muscles stiffened when he sensed the being who’d opened the door, even before he uncloaked and revealed himself. The enforcer—Noah—the supernatural Judge Dredd. He had the power to deliver summary justice upon any super in the line of protecting humans.
“Is there a problem?” Noah spoke from behind the bouncer, causing the incubus to stiffen and cower instantly. He had a similar effect on most supers, especially the ones up to no good. Being stripped of your powers and sent straight to hell was no fun. Most avoided having anything to do with the enforcer if they could help it.
“No problem, Enforcer,” the bouncer managed to spit out and shifted out of the way.
“M’na, you’re a long way from home, aren’t you?” Noah said, eyeing him up.
“I could say the same thing for you. Then again I should expect you’d be anywhere there’s trouble brewing, and there’s plenty heading in this direction tonight.”
The dark energy surge converging in this location was drawing every super for miles. It made sense that it would attract the attention of the order enforcers too.
“You can sense it too.” Noah looked at him sharply and smiled. “Of course you can. It’s the reason you’re here. Your assignment?”
M’na nodded. He didn’t want to say any more. The presence of law enforcement would help prevent the shedding of innocent human lives, hopefully. “I just need to retrieve her and then I’m gone.”
Noah moved back, letting M’na walk past him and open the door. “Watch your back,” he said and then cloaked himself.
Though M’na could no longer see the enforcer, he could sense him. This was something no other super could do, except those in the higher echelons of the supernatural hierarchy.
He scanned the dimly lit bar. The red furniture contrasting with the dark walls gave it an eerie feel. It was somebody’s idea of cool and stylish. He lifted his eyebrow in disdain. Having lived as long as he had, he’d seen different versions of stylish. The bar was nearly filled with both humans and supers.
In a corner, colored disco lights turned the dance floor into a multicolored wonderland. The heaving bodies appeared trance-like as they moved to the beats of the thumping house music. At the quieter end of the bar, a group of women sat on low sofas.
The punch he felt to his stomach as soon as his eyes found his subject out from the crowd was immediate and familiar.
Tara Woji. The reason for his existence.
She stood at the crowded bar ordering a drink, dressed in a black halter-neck dress with a plunging neckline dipping past her breasts. He could see the soft fleshy swells and a bolt of lust hit his gut.
Dark brown hair cascaded down her back in waves, a sensual contrast to her caramel skin. He pictured himself threading his fingers through her hair as he pulled her head back to get better access to her delicate neck. When she spoke to the barman, his attention was drawn to her lips, plump and covered in oxblood lipstick, her oval face flawless.
A groan rumbled in his chest. He swallowed hard, stifling it before the sound left his lips.
It was always the same each time he saw her, the unshakeable need to claim Tara and end the torture to his mind and body. Gritting his teeth, he shook his head to snap himself out of the haze and refocused on Tara as his gaze swept over her body. The bottom seam of her dress stopped above her knees, showing off slender legs extended by sparkly black stilettos. She had always been sophisticated and classy. A wave of pride swept through him. Despite her bad start in life, she’d turned into a smart, beautiful woman.
Before he could take a step in her direction, she started chatting to another man sitting by the bar. M’na opened his mind to read the man. He came up with nothing. Though the being sitting next to Tara looked human, M’na didn’t read him as human. Neither did he read him as any other being. His aura was cloaked by an impermeable sheath.
The last time M’na had come across another immortal with such cloaking capability had been during the War of the Realms two millennia ago, when the spirit realm had been separated from the human realm. Then the malevolent god Okoni had granted some supers the ability to be undetectable by others.
Instinctively, M’na’s hackles rose. Only assassins from the gods or Okoni minions could disguise their aura in such a manner. Either way it was bad news. He moved closer and sat down on the bar stool on the other side of Tara, cloaking his thoughts. She paid him no attention as she laughed and joked with the guy next to her. The man reached across and covered her hand on the table with his.
“How about we find somewhere more private,” the guy said, flashing a set of white teeth.
M’na’s back stiffened as rage flooded his body. There was no way he was going to let her leave the bar with anyone else.
“I’m here with my friends. I can’t just leave them.” She glanced in the direction where a group of ladies were seated in comfy chairs.
“You will find that your friends are otherwise occupied too. How about we talk privately and get to know each other better? Hmm...”
The husky sound of her laughter stroked his skin, soft as silk. “We won’t be doing much talking if we leave here together and you know it. I don’t know what they add to the Scottish water, I’ve been so turned on since I walked into this bar tonight.”
M’na had heard enough. He should’ve known the merman’s siren call would affect Tara though it had no effect on him. And there was only one way of getting rid of its effect.
He uttered a silent expletive.
“You don’t want to go with him,” he said, his voice cool, belying the raging emotions flowing though him.
Tara shifted in her seat, turning to look at M’na for the first time. When her brown eyes met his stare, they widened with surprise. Her plump lips parted and her breath hitched. It was the first time she’d seen him in the flesh. An arc of energy connected them viscerally. The clamp in his gut tightened.
“I- I don’t?” her voice just above a whisper, soft and throaty, filled with astonishment and recognition. It was as if she knew about their connection. He’d always been a part of her as much as she’d always been a part of him.
“You don’t. He’s no good for you.”
Tara held his gaze. She didn’t flinch away despite what he suspected she saw in their depths.
“And you are?” Her eyes narrowed, their long black lashes fanning her cheeks briefly, as she studied him with curiosity. He lifted his shoulders in a nonchalant shrug. “Do I know you? I’ve seen you somewhere, right?”
The other guy put his hand on Tara’s shoulder, drawing her attention once more. A vicious irrepressible growl rumbled in M’na’s stomach. With a quick snap, Tara turned back to glance at him, her brows furrowed.
Mentally, he kicked himself for not controlling his temper better. The last thing he wanted was Tara asking awkward questions when danger was an earshot away. Later, he would explain all. For now, he maintained a blank expression.
Tara shook her head lightly
before beaming him a smile that left him breathless. “I’m Tara and this is Lami.”
M’na’s spine stiffened instantly. Lami looked up, his lips lifted in an arrogant smile. In the depths of his silver eyes, his true being couldn’t be hidden—a deadly efficient killing instrument.
M’na had to get Tara away before it was too late. “I promise you’ll thank me later for this,” he said when he pulled her off her stool and into his arms. He lowered his head and sealed their lips in a kiss before cloaking and transporting both of them out of the night club.
***
“So I’m supposed to believe you are some kind of supernatural being. What? An angel? Demon? Oh, don’t tell me, let me guess. You’re a werewolf, or better still a vampire.” Sarcasm dripped from her voice as Tara paced the hotel room and rolled her eyes in contempt.
She’d been having a perfectly good night out with the girls. Of course being chatted up by Lami, who was working the whole Blade thing much better than Wesley Snipes, had been the highlight of the night until she’d been practically zapped out of there by this—this man or whatever he claimed he was. He looked like a man alright.
She lowered her lashes and stole a glance at M’na. Her stomach flipped over as her pulse raced. Gosh. He was drop dead gorgeous in a rough, toned, SAS ready-to-kick-ass kind of way. The way his grey T-shirt molded on to his chest and his black trousers emphasized powerful thighs had her aching to feel all of him against all of her.
Remembering herself, she turned her back to him, inhaling deeply to clear her mind. She had to figure out what was going on. Was Paul playing a prank on her? It wouldn’t be the first time. Had he sent one of his mates to her? It had to be. How else had she been able to recognize M’na instantly? She must have seen him with Paul at one point. Maybe at one of his firm’s parties.
Her relationship with Paul Cruz had been casual for so long. It suited her just fine. While some of her friends were starting to make families, Tara was busy focusing on her career. She wanted to make partner in the law firm she worked in for a few years. Nothing else mattered.
The Enforcers (The Blood Bar Chronicles) Page 6
