by Dannika Dark
“I promise,” she said.
Niko’s next words were concise and right to the point. “I’m a virgin.”
“Alas, I don’t have time for being the butt of a joke.”
Despite being fifty, Gem was naive and didn’t always pick up on social cues. Her housemates enjoyed teasing her with fabricated stories. She’d grown up living a sheltered life, both with her original owner and her Creator.
A ghostly smile haunted his lips. “I was ridiculed for it by Cyrus and his men. They took me to brothels in larger cities so I could hear couples moaning in pleasure. Cyrus carried the coins and always reminded me that I wasn’t his equal. Some women laughed, while others pitied the predicament of a blind man. Eventually, the blush left my cheeks around women.”
Unable to formulate words, Gem blinked in surprise. When she did, they weren’t the most compassionate. “Are you trying to tell me that you’re a fifteen-hundred-year-old virgin? How is that even possible?” She adamantly shook her head. “I’m not that gullible. Why are you teasing me?”
Niko bent his arm and rested his temple against his fist. “I spent centuries feeling like less than a man. But after my sister’s rape and the violence I witnessed since, I wanted no part of sex. Having never seen or touched a woman, I had nothing to covet.”
Gem couldn’t comprehend how a man could have gone that long without ever having had sex. “But fifteen hundred years? How is it even possible to control those urges? They’re natural, and the longer you do without…”
“Even if I’d chosen to pursue a sexual relationship, it wouldn’t have yielded results. The only women who would have considered it were prostitutes. I traveled with thieves, and after my escape, I was a vagabond. Courting a good woman wasn’t possible. I had no family, no prospects, and no home. Cyrus mocked me for years, but the warrior who took me in taught me about spiritual purity.”
She snorted. “So if we had sex, I would defile you?”
His eyebrows drew together. “Is that something you want? With me?”
Gem fidgeted for a moment before answering in a way that wouldn’t insult him. “It was a hypothetical.”
“As for urges, I have absolute control. I’ve had centuries of practice, and it becomes a way of life. You learn to channel that energy into something else.”
“Like what?”
His beautiful eyes looked past her. “Fighting. Inner peace. Friendship.”
“Love?”
His eyes closed. “I grew up as a burden. My blindness prevented me from protecting my sister or fleeing the attack. I couldn’t even escape my Creator without Cyrus’s help. My sensei taught me that when the fates choose to limit your abilities or make you suffer, it’s to test what kind of man or woman you are. It’s taken me a very long time to see the truth in his words. Blindness wasn’t something I chose, but it’s made me who I am. Guarding my purity is something I chose, and it’s given me clarity in ways I never imagined.”
She faced forward and pulled her knees up to her chest. He made it sound so easy. Gem loved affection, touching, and all the adorations that went with a relationship, but she had never been a sexual creature. While she had desires like anyone else, sex always seemed like a regretful deed that sullied an otherwise perfect evening. A man once told her that sex was like test-driving a car, and sometimes you just had to walk away and try another dealership. She loved the intimacy that led up to it, but it never felt natural. After all, she’d almost electrocuted Hooper while fooling around. Dating a non-Mage came with too many risks.
Gem stared at the dark windows and the low shelves in front of them filled with rocks of all sizes. “What about binding? Technically, it’s not sex. It’s just a sexual energy exchange.”
“No.”
“Would you consider it? And before you ask, I’m not propositioning you. It’s just—”
“Hypothetical.” He smiled. “I understand your curiosity. Humans are often beside themselves at the idea of a thirty-year-old virgin. Can you only imagine the stir I’d cause in high society by coming out?”
They both chuckled softly.
“I don’t know that I’ve ever given binding much consideration,” he admitted. “Have you ever done it?”
She put her feet on the floor and played with a loose thread on her sleeve. “I always took a rain check on those. Sometimes that’s all a Mage is after, so it’s hard to trust anyone. I’d probably blow them up anyway.”
Niko sputtered with laughter and leaned forward. “Apologies.”
“You don’t have to apologize. It’s hilarious that I could give a guy a mind-blowing energy exchange. Literally.”
He sat back, his laughter contained. “Are you that afraid of your power?”
Gem looked at her hands and thought about how much energy she had channeled into that book. “I don’t want to find out what I can do. Not if it means killing someone I care about.”
“People put so much emphasis on intimacy, but I’ve seen it become a man’s weakness. I’ve seen it destroy people. That doesn’t mean I believe sex to be a negative force, but it’s not the only source of happiness and self-fulfillment. You can experience joy in other ways. You can have lasting friendships that give your spirit strength. I believe there are soul mates destined for each other, but love has a different meaning among immortals, and one should be cautious. Everyone has a higher self, but few people ever connect with the world on a spiritual level. I don’t mean that in a religious way. You have more to offer a person than the physical. Your heart, your love, your laughter, your memories, your friendship, even your anger.”
“But what if someone wants more from you? More than you’re willing to give?”
“There is no wrong path in life as long as you choose the one that is yours. When you walk another man’s path, you get lost.”
They sat in silence for a little while, Niko staring at the stones on the floor while Gem counted the dim lights tangled around the bedposts.
He rubbed his arm when a draft blew in. “Are you not cold?”
“There’s a fireplace behind us, but I’ve never used it.”
“Why not?”
“I have too many fabrics and rugs in my room. They’d go up in flames.”
“As long as you move everything away from the hearth, you have nothing to fear.” He stood up and faced her, his fingers kneading his lower back. “Bring me some kindling and logs. Do you have a screen? All you need is a proper screen.”
“There’s one in the corner. Be careful. I’ve got rugs overlapping all over the floor, and my bed is a few feet back on your right.”
“Any other obstacles I should be concerned with?”
“My shelves are by the window to your left. Everything else is against the wall. Except for the stones. Please don’t trip over those. I’d feel terrible if you hurt yourself in my room.” She peered over her shoulder at the firebox. “Are you sure this is a good idea? One rogue cinder could destroy everything.”
Niko tossed back his head and laughed. “You have my word that I won’t let this place burn to the ground.”
She sprang to her feet and decided that this sleepover needed additional provisions. “Do you want anything from downstairs? We could roast marshmallows!”
Niko reached out until he found her face. He lightly brushed his finger down her cheek, his core light flickering in the depths of his crystalline irises. “Will you do me one favor?”
“I suppose.”
“Never lose your childlike innocence, Gem. It’s your greatest quality.”
Chapter 15
Christian always considered sonic hearing to be both a blessing and a curse. It wasn’t easy to track someone on city streets or busy places, not when there were so many sounds overlapping. An unfamiliar heartbeat might be from a stray dog, a man smoking on the corner, or a couple fighting in an overhead apartment. But when Wyatt spotted Plato’s ghost, Christian cocked his head to the side and quickly filtered out the sounds of his team, the traffic,
the gate sliding shut, and the street chatter.
A rustling on the rooftops caught his attention, and he turned a sharp eye upward. A shadow moved like a streak of lightning as Kallisto nocked an arrow and drew his bow. An arrow whistled downward and struck Raven in the shoulder. Her step faltered. She had no cover. No dumpsters to hide behind, no doors to break down, no windows to crash through, and no fire escapes. The bars on the gate were all vertical and impossible to scale. Like fish in a barrel, they frantically scuttled behind the parked cars.
Another arrow pierced a car window, shattering the glass and narrowly missing Wyatt’s skull.
“Son of a ghost!” He ducked behind the Lamborghini to the right and took off his hat, poking his finger through a rip in the fabric. “Two lives down, seven to go.”
The T-shaped area added an extra thirty feet both ways, hiding two of the three cars from street view. The alley was long, and the light didn’t penetrate far, so it wouldn’t be easy for someone to see them from the street. An enormous wall stretched along the rear and stopped at the buildings on either side, which were constructed to create this odd space at the back.
Kallisto reached into his quiver for another arrow. Before the man could pull the string taut, Christian sprang into action. He sprinted toward Raven, who had fallen to her knees after pulling out the arrow. The second he reached her, he threw her over his shoulder and ran back toward the cars. An arrow snapped against the concrete behind them.
“Put me down!”
When he looked up, he saw Kallisto aiming his bow. Just before they reached the cars, Christian fell on top of Raven, shielding her body with his. An arrow pierced his back and went right through his lung.
Impalement wood.
Christian went limp.
“Are you kidding me?” she mumbled against his neck.
Raven crawled out from beneath him, and all he wanted to do was tell her to stay fecking still before an arrow split her liver in two. But she stood up, grabbed his hands, and dragged him between the Aston Martin and the Lamborghini. The cars were parked facing the street.
An arrow sliced her good arm and snapped against the concrete.
She scowled and looked up at Kallisto. “I hope your aim is better in the bathroom!”
Christian inwardly chuckled.
Once behind the Aston Martin, she rolled him onto his side. Her deliciously dark hair spilled in front of his face as she peered down at him. “This is gonna hurt.”
With a hard yank, she pulled the arrow out of his back. The tip was sharp, to be sure, but a bullet-point arrow hurt less than a broadhead.
Christian coughed up the blood that filled his lung and held a hand to his chest. “Jaysus. Why didn’t you just lie beneath me and play dead?”
“Someone had to do something before you turned into a voodoo doll. You didn’t need to come after me.” She tapped the metal tip. “I’m immune to stunners and impalement wood, remember?”
He sat up and leaned against the bumper. “Feck off. Can’t I be the hero for once? Will you give me that much?”
“You’re always stealing the glory. Now it’s my turn.”
“Next time, I’ll watch my true love bleed out.”
“Fine. But if there’s ever a fanghole of the year award, I’m nominating you.” She peered toward the Porsche. “Viktor, you okay?”
A couple of gunshots rang out.
“We’re still here,” Viktor called back.
They wouldn’t be for long. Kallisto was on that side, and once he reached the back, he’d have a better shot.
Raven looked around. “Where’s Claude?”
Christian peered around the car. “There’s your pussy.”
Claude was scaling the gate. The bars were vertical with nothing else to grip, but Claude spent hours in the gym, climbing the rope without use of his feet.
“We need to distract him.” Christian stood up and jumped onto the roof of the car.
“Are you crazy?” Raven crawled to the side and yanked at his pant leg.
Christian locked eyes with Kallisto, who had walked to the corner. “Hey, you fecking gobshite. Is that the best you’ve got? Are your wee little arms getting tired?”
Christian pivoted just as an arrow whistled by him and snapped against the back wall.
“Keep him busy,” Shepherd said before firing his gun again. “How many arrows can the bastard have? He’s gonna run out, even with an extra bag.”
Kallisto dipped out of view.
The lamps affixed near the gate cast too much light for Christian to shadow walk. While he was taunting Kallisto with a jaunty dance so Shepherd could get a clean shot, Viktor and Blue crawled over to Raven and sought cover on the driver’s side of the Aston Martin since Kallisto was on the move.
Christian bent over, showing Kallisto his backside. “Can you hit my arse? One in the bull’s-eye.”
When Christian saw him draw back the string, he dove to the ground. He wasn’t quite fast enough, and the arrow ripped through his thigh. He hit the ground with a thud, his face pressed against the gritty asphalt.
Raven yanked the arrow out and flung it over her shoulder. “Admit it. You’re just doing this to get a sip of my blood, aren’t you?”
He pushed himself to a sitting position and leaned against the tire. “Can I offer you a whetstone to sharpen that tongue of yours?”
“You should rethink that offer if you want my tongue on you later tonight.” She winked slowly, and he could feel it all the way down to his toes.
Christian grunted and turned toward Viktor. He would never let Raven know just how much he loved her wickedly divine comebacks.
They both noticed Claude was nearing the top of the gate. Though still bleeding, Raven got up and flashed around the open space to draw Kallisto’s attention.
“Where the hell did that gate come from?” Blue asked.
Viktor rested an arm over his bent knee. “Wealthy shopkeepers in this area live above their shops. With limited parking, they get creative with the extra space behind the buildings. They can watch their cars in the day or hire security, but after hours, the bars go up to keep people out. Car theft is not a huge concern around here, but a disgruntled customer might enjoy vandalizing a store owner’s vehicle.”
Blue unbuttoned the first few buttons of her plaid shirt. “Thanks to rich assholes, we’re gonna die.”
Christian noticed her tank top barely covered one of the gruesome scars.
“Let me shift,” she said. “I can get him.”
Viktor shook his head. “You will not have a weapon.”
“I’ll toss the axe up to her,” Christian volunteered.
On the far side of the Lamborghini, Wyatt howled with laughter.
“Nyet. You are not shifting.” Viktor gripped her arm. “Kallisto’s a skilled archer. You will be nothing but a moving target, and if you fall, he will use you to bait us.”
“How long do you think we have before he jumps down here? He’s only going for Raven and Christian right now because he knows they’re stronger. But once he puts enough holes in them, he’ll come for us.”
Christian took a quick glance around, but he didn’t see any escape route. They had to keep a constant eye on Kallisto, because all he needed to do was move to the right position to get a decent shot. It was dark, but not dark enough. Claude had cleared the fence, but how long would it take him to climb to the roof and get to Kallisto’s position?
Raven crawled in front of Christian and patted his cheek. “Hey. You okay?”
He leaned over and coughed out another lungful of blood. “Why do you ask?”
“No reason. But you’re bleeding like a stuck pig.”
Everyone turned around to look over the car when they heard a primal roar. Claude had scaled the building and was closing in on Kallisto.
Wyatt stood up and cheered. “Get him!”
Kallisto lifted a bag and vanished. The man didn’t just fall back into the shadows. He jumped. Christian scanned the
rooftop on the opposite building and spotted their enemy pulling an arrow from his quiver.
“Move it!” Viktor hauled Blue off the ground and dove against the Lamborghini.
Kallisto ducked when Shepherd fired his gun to cover them. Raven did a fancy roll while Christian crawled over like a feeble mutt on his last legs.
“Blasted car!” Wyatt clambered toward them from the rear of the Lamborghini. “Can’t even crawl under it. They don’t make ’em like they used to.”
Christian coughed out more blood and wiped his mouth. “Look who’s talking, the man who drives a tinker toy.”
“We’ve gotta get outta here,” Wyatt said. “Can’t we call someone to open the gates?”
Viktor peered over the car. “Nyet. The locks are on a timer.”
Shepherd fired another shot. “Got him. I think.”
Christian swayed. His chest wounds had already closed, but the second arrow had severed an artery in his leg, dumping out several pints. He could feel the artery sealing up, but it wasn’t happening fast enough.
Raven crawled onto his lap and shoved her wrist against his mouth.
Christian pressed his lips shut and turned his head. “Fecking not.”
But then she sensually nuzzled against him and licked his neck. He hardened beneath her, unable to control the pulse of Vampiric eroticism. Her blood called to him like a siren song, and when his lips touched her sweet neck, he heard the rhythmic sound of her heart as the blood whooshed through her veins.
“Drink,” she whispered into his ear.
Raven’s skin was tantalizing against his lips, so deliciously warm. He muted Blue’s heavy breaths, Shepherd’s gun firing, Viktor shouting at Kallisto in Russian, and Wyatt’s incessant bickering with a ghost that no one could see.
The only sound he heard was Raven’s heartbeat. Her scent filled his nose, and the taste of her salty skin tempted his lips. His fangs descended slowly and sank deep before retracting. Raven’s blood was like no other, and he grew dizzy with desire as he drank. He gripped her waist as the beast within him drank her life and learned her sins. The leather pants turned him on, and he imagined stripping them off while she lay topless on his bed. When Raven rocked her hips to rub her pelvis against his cock, he tasted her desire on his tongue.
