by Cynthia Eden
He snorted. “Yeah, that’s a plan.” He linked his hand with hers and pulled her close to him. “I need to get you some place safe, then I’ll hunt him and—”
“No!” She stared at him in disbelief. Surely he didn’t think she was just going to sit all comfy and cozy somewhere while he went out and faced Eric. “I’m not going to let you hunt him alone.”
But he just laughed. “Trust me, I can take him out.” Such total confidence.
Her eyes narrowed as she studied him. What had Ares said? Killing vamps should be child’s play for you, sunny boy. She swallowed, a really, really bad feeling rising in her stomach. “What did Ares mean, about you killing vampires?”
His eyelids lowered in a barely perceptible flinch. If she hadn’t been watching him so closely, she wouldn’t have seen the telling movement. “Apollo?”
His lips thinned. “I’ll tell you, but, first, I want to get you out of this alley.” His arms looped behind her, and he pulled her flush against him. “I want to jump back home.”
Jump. “You mean…space jump?” That was what he’d called it before.
A quick nod. “It’s the safest way. We’ll disappear and if that bastard’s watching, he won’t know where the hell we went.”
Her fingers dug into his waist. “How does this work exactly?” Jumping through space, that seemed dangerous. “I mean, is it like on Star Trek when the crew members look like they’re disintegrating?”
His lips quivered and she knew he fought a smile. “No, sweetheart. We’re not going to disintegrate. We’re just gonna move really, really fast.”
“Oh, okay.” Moving fast didn’t sound so bad.
“Now, hold on tight, and don’t let go, no matter what happens.”
No matter what happens. Um…back to sounding bad. “Apollo, I don’t understand, why—”
Too late.
A strange howling filled her ears, and the alley darkened as the cement walls faded away.
A blur of light whipped past her body. Hands yanked at her flesh.
Terese screamed and clung to Apollo, holding on to her god with all her strength.
Chapter Six
“Are you all right?”
Terese cracked open one eye and managed to glare at him. “Are we done jumping?”
With an effort, Apollo managed not to laugh. “Uh, yeah, we’re done.” They were back at his place, and Terese was currently curled in the fetal position on his bed.
Her other eye opened. “I don’t ever, ever want to do that again.”
“Sorry, I should have told you that jumping could be a little unsettling at first.”
“Yeah, a little.” She sat up, rubbing her arms. Then she bit her lip. “Do you think we’re safe now?”
He hoped so, but he really didn’t know how powerful Eric was.
There was someone who could tell him, someone who always seemed to know everything about mortal and immortal life—
Zeus. His all-knowing, arrogant sire.
He’d have to jump to Olympus and pay his old man a visit to see what the bastard knew.
Terese stretched out on the bed. “Dawn’s coming.”
Apollo blinked. The windows were completely covered. Not even a trace of light from the outside shone in. With each day that passed, Terese seemed to sense the dawn’s power more and more.
The mattress dipped when he crawled into the bed with her. “There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you.”
Her arms wrapped around him, and she cuddled close, resting her cheek on his shoulder. “What’s that?” she asked, her voice soft.
“What were you like…before?” Before Eric had found her, before he’d transformed her into a vampire. Before there’d been fear in her eyes.
Her head lifted and she gazed at him, a small line pulling down her brows. “What do you mean?”
“Well, what did you do for a living?” Such a simple, normal question. And it was so important to him.
He wanted to know Terese. To know the woman she’d been, to know the woman she’d become.
“I-I was an artist.” She lifted her right hand and gazed down at her nails. “I always had paint on me. On my clothes, in my hair.” She turned her hand toward him. “Under my nails.”
He caught her hand in his, brought it to his mouth, and kissed her fingers. “What did you paint?”
Her smile faded as sadness slipped across her face. “I liked to paint the outdoors. Landscapes. Sunsets. The morning light trickling over a pond…” She swallowed and for a moment, tears shimmered in her eyes. “I wasn’t an artistic genius or anything, but I-I enjoyed the painting. It made me happy.”
And she made him happy. He put her hand on his chest, right over his heart. “I’d like to see some of your work.”
She stilled.
“Terese?”
“My home burned. The paintings, everything. When I escaped from Eric, I went there first and it was…destroyed.”
He’d bet that ass Eric had done it. Oh, but he couldn’t wait to get his hands on that jerk.
Soon.
Terese turned her head and gazed at the shuttered window. “You know, I should be sleepy by now. Usually, I can barely keep my eyes open when the sun rises.” She glanced back at him. “But today, I don’t feel as tired.”
He cocked a brow. “Well, then maybe I can help you to expend some of that energy you have.”
A full smile slipped over her lips. “Just what did you have in mind?”
Apollo didn’t tell her, but he did show her, and soon her sweet moans filled his ears.
* * *
When she slept, Apollo space jumped to Olympus. Terese had stayed awake for half the day, and he knew that he would have to hurry so he’d be able to return before darkness fell.
He wasted little time in traveling to Olympus. Filled with sparkling gold streets, elaborate temples and glistening fountains, Olympus was truly a paradise for the gods.
He wondered if Terese would like it there.
“Hello, Apollo.”
At the deep, rumbling voice, he spun around to find Poseidon, the god of the sea, strolling slowly toward him.
He tensed at the sight of the other god. Second only to Zeus, Poseidon was known to be damn strong, and the guy was almost as unpredictable as Ares.
Apollo nodded cautiously. “Poseidon.” It took a lot to get Poseidon out of his watery realm.
A muscle jerked in Poseidon’s jaw. “Have you seen the Fates?”
Not lately, thank Zeus. Though he was sure they were off someplace laughing at hm. Apollo shook his head.
“Dammit!” The ground beneath them began to tremble. A sure sign that Poseidon was royally pissed. The guy had been known to start more than a few earthquakes.
“I’m tired of waiting,” he snarled. “They promised her to me, they promised! I should have found her by now.” His eyes reflected a stark hunger, and lines of pain were etched onto his face.
Apollo suddenly understood what, or who, had brought Poseidon to Olympus.
His mate. Apollo had heard the stories, of course. All the gods and goddesses had. One woman, a daughter of the land, was destined to be the sea god’s queen.
The Fates had foretold their bond centuries before.
Centuries…
No wonder the guy was pissed.
Poseidon’s hands clenched into fists. “I need her.”
Yeah, Apollo could understand that. But as bad as he felt for the other god, he didn’t have time for this drama. He had his own woman to worry about. “Look, I need to find Zeus. Do you know where he is?” The sooner he found his old man, the sooner he’d be able to permanently eliminate Eric from Terese’s life.
“No, I haven’t seen my brother. He’s probably off somewhere with Hera.” Then Poseidon muttered something, something that sounded like lucky bastard.
That wasn’t helpful—
“Apollo!”
He turned at the shout and found his twin sister Artemis running toward h
im and waving happily. She threw herself into his arms, and he grunted under the impact. “Uh, hi, sis.”
Artemis pushed back, and gazed at him with merry light blue eyes, eyes exactly like his. “I didn’t know you were coming home.”
A snarl broke the air behind them. They both glanced back to see Poseidon shimmer out of sight. He was off, no doubt, to continue hunting for the Fates. And his mate.
“Apollo?” Artemis stroked his cheek. “Why didn’t you let me know you were coming back to Olympus?”
“Because I’m not here to stay.”
Disappointment clouded her lovely features. “But I’ve missed you so.”
And he’d missed her, but Terese needed him. He didn’t want her to wake alone. “Someone’s waiting for me,” he told her softly. “I have to go back to her.”
“To her?” Her jaw dropped.
The last thing he wanted to do was sit through one of his sister’s grillings. “Look, I don’t have much time. Where’s Zeus?” The sooner he got his answers, the sooner he could get back to his vampiress.
Artemis shrugged. “I don’t know. He and that bitch Hera disappeared somewhere.” Artemis hated, hated Hera. Artemis had despised Hera since she’d just been a small girl and she’d learned the truth about what the goddess had done to their mother.
Apollo didn’t exactly feel all warm and tingly toward her. If Hera had gotten her way, he and Artemis never would have been born.
When Hera had learned that Zeus’s lover was pregnant, she’d used her power to prevent the mortal from giving birth anywhere within the world. She’d thought that if Leto couldn’t find a place to birth her children, then both Leto and the offspring she carried would all die. Talk about your wicked bitch.
Luckily for Apollo and his family, the island of Delos had disobeyed Hera. His mother had received refuge there. And he and Artemis had been given life.
Delos. His beautiful island. So gorgeous in the sunlight.
The sunlight Terese would never get to see again.
Artemis touched his cheek. “Why are you sad, brother?”
Trust Artemis to read him so easily. “I have someone I care about, back in New Olympus. She’s in danger.”
“Bring her here,” she said, nodding firmly. “She’ll be safe here—”
“It’s not that simple.” He sighed. “She’s a vampire.”
“A vampire?”
Apollo nodded.
Delighted laughter burst past her lips. “Oh, that’s too good. The sun god and a vampire, how insane is—”
He began walking away from her. “If Zeus isn’t here, then—”
“Wait!” She grabbed his arm. “Why—why do you have to talk to Zeus?”
“Because another vampire is after Terese, the vampire who transformed her, and I need to know how strong that asshole is.”
The laughter slipped away from her expression. “Did you say Terese?” For a moment, her face glowed with power. “Terese Lafitte, converted by Eric Montraine?”
How the hell did she know that? He gave a quick nod.
Artemis swallowed. “Eric’s strong. Very strong. He’s been running under my moon for nearly a millennium.”
Running under her moon? “What are you talking about?”
Her lips curved into a half-smile. “Apollo, you never really understood about us, did you? You are the sun, all that should be good and strong, but I—I am the moon, the guardian of the dark night, and of all those who dwell within that darkness.”
He grabbed her arms. “Tell me what you know of Eric.”
Her eyes changed, the blue fading. “He hunts her. Stalks her.”
Yeah, yeah, he already knew that. He fought the urge to shake Artemis.
“He took her blood, so he can track her and find her anywhere.”
His heart seemed to freeze. “Anywhere?”
Her gaze lightened as the bright blue returned to her eyes. “He knows where she is. He seeks her…now.”
Chapter Seven
Terese awoke with the setting of the sun. She sat up in the bed, pushed the covers back and stretched slowly.
Apollo wasn’t in the bed with her. But a small white note lay folded on his pillow. She picked up the note and unfolded it carefully.
Go into the den. I have a surprise for you.
Terese climbed from the bed and belted her robe. A surprise? Her lips curved as excitement filled her. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d gotten a surprise. Not anything that she wanted to be surprised with, anyway.
Being turned into a vamp hadn’t exactly been her idea of a “good” surprise.
She pushed open the bedroom door and hurried down the hallway. She rounded the corner, headed into the den, and froze.
Oh, my God. Her gaze locked on the canvases. On the easels. On the paints.
Terese ran across the room. She stroked the soft tips of the paint brushes. And there were dozens of brushes. All sizes. And the paint…so much paint. Every shade imaginable.
A bubble of laughter escaped her.
Apollo had given art back to her. He’d given her—
A floorboard squeaked behind her. Terese turned, her arms open, a smile on her lips. “Apollo, thank you—”
Apollo wasn’t standing behind her.
Terese’s smile disappeared as terror filled her.
No, it wasn’t Apollo. The man standing there, less than two feet away…was Eric.
“Hello, my dear,” he purred silkily. Then he lunged for her, claws outstretched, fangs bared.
She screamed.
* * *
The air shimmered, and Apollo appeared back in the cabin’s bedroom. “Terese!”
The bed was empty.
He ran into the den, screaming her name.
And he froze at the sight before him.
The art supplies, the supplies he’d painstakingly gathered for her before jumping to Olympus, were destroyed. The canvases were slashed. Brushes were thrown across the room. Paint stained the floor, a hideous splash of red and black.
In the middle of the chaos, lying abandoned in a puddle of paint…was Terese’s robe.
“No!” He grabbed the robe, clutching the soft fabric, his fingers staining red. “Artemis!” he screamed. “Artemis, I need you!”
His sister flashed into the room. Her face blanched when she saw the destruction surrounding Apollo.
“Where is he?” he snarled.
She shook her head. “I-I don’t know.”
Apollo stalked toward her with the robe still clenched in his fingers. “You knew he was after her. You knew who he was, knew how long he’d been a vampire.”
Artemis stared at him, her lips trembling.
“Now tell me where the dick is so that I can kill him!”
“I-I don’t know where he is. I can’t feel him right now.”
Fury blasted through him.
“But…I sense her.”
He stilled, desperate hope filling him. “Terese?”
She nodded.
“Then she’s still alive.” Thank Zeus. He’d go after her, bring her back, make certain she was safe and—
“For the moment,” his sister whispered sadly.
* * *
When Terese opened her eyes, every part of her body ached.
She’d fought with Eric. She’d clawed. She’d bit. She’d kicked.
But, in the end, she’d been no match for him.
Apollo. She hated to think of Apollo going back to the cabin and finding the destruction that had been left behind.
He’d tried so hard to protect her, but Eric had still taken her away.
And, now—now he was going to kill her.
“Hello, again,” Eric’s taunting voice floated from the darkness. “I see you’re back with me.”
Terese tried to rise, tried to jerk up and run—
But she couldn’t move. Her wrists were chained, stretched out high above her head. And her legs were manacled, spread-eagled on the ground and locked
to thick stone chains that had been driven deep into the earth.
Eric’s face appeared before her. His pale, handsome face. The face of an angel, cloaking the devil. “Terese, it seems I’ve finally got you where I want you.”
No, no—
His claws stroked her cheek. Slid down and scraped her throat. “Guess what’s going to happen to you, sweet Terese?”
Bile rose in her throat. She couldn’t stand for him to touch her. Could. Not. Stand. It.
And she was naked. He’d stripped the robe from her at the cabin and left it behind for Apollo. “So he’d know I have his whore.”
“After I first gifted you…”
Gifted her? “You mean when you cursed me,” she snarled, her wrists straining against the chains.
The tips of his claws bit into her skin. She felt blood trickle down her neck.
“After I gifted you, all you could talk about was seeing the sun again. How you wanted to walk in the daylight, wanted to feel the warmth on your skin.”
Yes, yes, she’d talked about the sun. She’d cried. Begged to see it again.
But Eric had told her the sun would be her death, and she’d soon learned that he was right. The touch of sunlight on her flesh was a burning agony. No longer the sweet, soothing glow she remembered as a human.
“I’ve decided to grant your wish, my Terese.” His breath, cold, rancid, blew across her cheek. “You want the sun, so I’m going to give it to you.”
Oh, no. Horror filled her. “You can’t—”
His teeth sank into her throat, ripping, tearing.
She screamed and struggled to get away from him. Twisting, squirming—
But she couldn’t get away. The chains held her prisoner. Held her trapped between his piercing fangs and the hard ground.
* * *
The night was ebbing. Apollo had been searching for Terese for hours, but he still hadn’t found her. Soon, very soon, dawn would arrive.
Artemis had told him that Eric had taken Terese back to Louisiana, but she couldn’t tell him exactly where in Louisiana the bastard was.
He turned on her, body tense with fury and fear. “I need more, Artemis.” He’d gone to Baton Rouge, thinking that maybe Eric had returned to Terese’s home. But he’d searched and searched, and he still couldn’t sense her.
