Becoming D'Vaire (D'Vaire, Book 11)

by Jessamyn Kingley

  “I’ve had it for a few days, and it’s already the ‘old one.’ ”

  The first thing Grigori pulled out was the athame they’d used to bind their souls. Delaney held out a hand and Grigori made two small cuts on their fingertips. They smeared the blood across the D and V engraved on his collar, and it dropped open. Grigori slid it off and set it inside the box. “I hope you like this,” he commented as he pulled out the most remarkable thing Delaney had ever seen.

  “This is incredible. How does it do that? Look like both velvet and dragonskin?”

  “No clue, but it’s awesome, right? You like it?”

  “I love it, it’s perfect. So are you,” Delaney offered as he leaned forward to kiss him.

  Grigori carefully put it around his neck. “Your blood is my gift. I cherish the immortal life I shall have at your side. I vow my eternal love and devotion to you. I give my oath that I shall allow no harm to befall you,” he whispered as he pressed his cut finger to the lock.

  “Willingly I offer my blood to nourish you. I cherish the immortal life I shall have at your side. I vow my eternal love and devotion to you. I also give my oath that I shall allow no harm to befall you,” Delaney said in the same reverent tone as he too applied his blood. Grigori closed it, and Delaney immediately loved the weight of the heavy piece of jewelry around his throat. He couldn’t wait to show this masterpiece off to everyone, which he told Grigori.

  “Ready now?” Grigori asked as he leaned their foreheads together.

  “Let’s do this.” They got back into their former position after Grigori reset the alarm clock.

  “It feels better like this,” Grigori said as he held Delaney close. Delaney relaxed against him and tapped his phone as well as Grigori’s as soon as he felt the swipe of his tongue on his skin. He unconsciously arched his back a little as Grigori’s fangs entered him. His lashes slid down as he luxuriated in the pleasure of the hormones Grigori was filling him with. This was the bonus of being mated to a vampire, and Delaney was rather smug at how good Fate was to him.

  His dick throbbed, his hole twitched, and it took all his willpower not to stroke himself as he started to sweat. Four minutes is apparently equivalent to an eternity when a vampire is drinking blood, Delaney thought as he trembled in Grigori’s arms, so ready to finish what they’d started. He nearly lost the battle not to grab his cock when two phones beeped loudly in tandem. Without any hesitation, Grigori stopped and pulled his teeth away.

  Anxious to stop the shrieking phones, Delaney focused on that, then slid the mechanism on the alarm clock before it too could start ringing. Grigori’s hold relaxed, and Delaney worried over what would come next for him. He gently extricated himself and turned to face him. Grigori had his head back against the velvet headboard. His eyes were closed, and he had a small smile on his face. Delaney relaxed just as Grigori slid down onto his side and started laughing. Only it was not the sound Grigori normally made when he was amused; it was closer to a giggle.

  “Are you okay?” Delaney asked, trying to ignore the clamoring need of his body to focus on whatever Grigori might need.

  Grigori shook his head while he continued to chortle. A moment later, he opened his eyes. In the depths of his pale blue irises was a mixture of lust and amusement. “You taste good,” he offered. “Want to fuck?”

  Yes, Delaney’s brain screamed but he needed to stay rational. At least for a few more minutes to make sure there were no other side effects beyond Grigori’s mirth. “How are you feeling?”

  Grigori moved fast for a man still grinning maniacally. Seconds later, Delaney somehow found himself under the vampire. It’d happened so fast, Delaney couldn’t begin to explain how they’d gone from sitting across from one another to lying in the middle of the mattress. It was the first time he’d been exposed to the speed vampires were capable of, and Delaney had to admit he was impressed. “Horny.”

  “Anything besides that?” Delaney asked as he tried to ignore the hard cock grinding against his own.

  His mate dropped kisses down his chest and over his stomach. “Everything’s funny.”

  “Funny, how?” Delaney managed as long fingers encircled his sex.

  Grigori swiped his tongue over Delaney’s cockhead, then started laughing again. He maneuvered himself so he was on his knees next to Delaney’s prone body. He was crooning about plastic tubes and bits and pieces.

  “Grigori Alexei Volkov-D’Vaire, are you singing ‘Weird Science’ to my dick?”

  “Doesn’t it look like a microphone? That’s what’s funny. Dicks look like microphones,” he responded as he released Delaney and fell over on his side while cackling loudly.

  “Conclusion—drinking a powerful wizard’s blood leads to horniness and a goofy vampire,” Delaney muttered. With a roll of his eyes, he fished around for the lube. Once he found the bottle, he dumped some into his palm and fisted himself.

  “No!” Grigori exclaimed. He sat up and grabbed Delaney’s arm.

  “Yeah, you need to calm down. You’re fine and you aren’t the only one who’s horny. I’m going to come. So, you just lie back down and sing your Oingo Boingo while I empty my balls,” Delaney told him with a cross look.

  Grigori pouted, which looked both cute and weird on his handsome face. “That’s not how we planned it.”

  “Help me out here.”

  Once again, his vampire moved like lightning. He lay alongside Delaney and patted his hip—or Delaney supposed it was supposed to be a pat. It felt more like a smack. “Come sit on my dick.”

  That was an invitation Delaney had no hope of refusing. He found the lube again and slicked his hole up inside and out. It was difficult to pull his fingers away, but he reminded himself of the prize awaiting him. With that thought in mind, he grabbed a hold of Grigori’s dick to get it nice and wet.

  “I like the way that feels,” he whispered. Then the snickering started again. “I wish I’d met you when I first learned to masturbate so you could do it for me. Is that weird?”

  “Yes,” Delaney replied as he climbed over Grigori and lined himself up. “You’re four years older than me.”

  “Oh yeah, let me fill you up,” Grigori murmured as the head of his cock entered Delaney.

  “I love you inside me,” Delaney told him as he lowered himself down over Grigori’s length.

  “You’re so perfect, Delsaurus Sex. It’s as if Fate looked inside me and knew exactly what kind of mate would make me ridiculously happy. And she made you even better than that,” Grigori said in a near-whisper. His words were slightly slurred, as if he were drunk, but all Delaney heard was the love and the beauty in them.

  When he had Grigori’s length nestled in his ass, he gave himself a few seconds to adjust to the fullness of his invasion, then he rode him. He set up a brutal pace, and Grigori’s hands rose up to grasp his thighs tightly. Delaney seized his forearms and focused on nothing but the craving inside of him.

  The tension in Grigori’s muscles spoke of how close he was despite his blood intoxication. It fueled his desire for more, and he sped up but only after he angled himself so Grigori’s dick was gliding right over his prostate. It drove him insane with need and he gave up the thinking part of his brain, allowing his raw instincts to take over.

  Grigori bucked underneath him for a few seconds; then his warm come filled him. It pushed him into a free fall right over the edge. Delaney’s seed splashed onto Grigori’s damp stomach as he reached his blistering climax.

  The first thing he heard when he coasted back to reality was Grigori singing almost incoherently between chuckles. “I guess we survived our first blood drinking,” Delaney muttered aloud.

  “Yummish. That a word? You taste yummish. Evvvvvverywhere,” his vampire responded as he tried to play with Delaney’s overly sensitive cock.

  Easing off Grigori and using magic to clean them up, Delaney shook his head. If this was the worst of the aftereffects, he figured they were both going to be fine. It was a relief to him, and it w
ould be to Grigori’s parents as well. As for the vampire who tasted wizard plasma for the first time, he appeared to be curling up to go to sleep while still intermittently laughing.

  Delaney decided it was adorable but also kind of annoying. “No chuckling in your sleep,” he warned him.

  “Can’t sleep without you,” Grigori complained, then his eyes popped open. He grinned. “I like your collar. Get Greggory.”

  With a roll of his eyes, Delaney did as he was told, and their little family of three settled down for the night. As Delaney drifted off, he was happy to say he only got jerked awake twice by his giggling vampire. He supposed it was not much of a price to pay for an eternity with the man you loved.

  Chapter 33

  Several nights later, Delaney was lying in bed asleep when something woke him up. He opened his eyes to full darkness. Grigori was still in his dream state and his arm was casually thrown over Delaney. Some noise so faint it was impossible to identify hit his ears, and he strained to see if he could hear it again.

  Greggory stirred—he’d slumbered next to Delaney, but now he was flapping his wings. With a single word, Delaney created a dark ball that offered a small amount of illumination. His familiar jumped up onto his hip, and they stared at one another as a peculiar sadness flowed over Delaney. It was at that moment he swore a pall was slowly falling over D’Vaire.

  Turning in his mate’s embrace, he was thinking about which the best way would be to wake him when Grigori lifted his lashes. “What’s wrong?” he asked, his voice scratchy from sleep.

  “I don’t know. I think it might be T’Eirick and Saura.”

  Grigori threw back the covers. “Let’s get dressed.”

  After giving Grigori a nod, Delaney rose and got out of bed. He wandered over to his dresser and yanked out a pair of pajamas. It only took him a few seconds to tug them on. Grigori grabbed his hand after Greggory landed on the vampire’s shoulder, and they headed for the door. Delaney opened it to reveal Aleksander standing there with his hand raised to knock.

  The D’Vaire king’s expression was grim. “It’s time,” was all he said.

  Delaney’s head bobbed in response, and they stepped out into the hallway. Aleksander moved on to the next room to alert their family, and they walked past him toward the room T’Eirick and Saura had used since their arrival. When they got there, the entrance was wide open.

  Saura noticed them first. “Come on in,” she invited with a smile. She was wearing the silk tunic and pants Larissa had sewn for their funeral, and her eyes had a gray cast to them. Delaney’s throat closed with emotion; it was suddenly all too real that she was going to cross over to the other side. The former Grand Summoner noticed and tugged him into her arms.

  “I’m sorry,” Delaney said as he held on tight.

  “Don’t be sad, Del,” she whispered. “I’ll be back tomorrow. Okay?”

  Delaney pulled away and she kissed his cheek, then embraced Grigori. Before he could do anything, it was T’Eirick who hugged him.

  “I can’t wait to be darkfallen,” he said. “Thanks for working so hard on our spell.”

  Without any words left, Delaney nodded. He was incapable of anything more.

  “Did you call your mother, Grigori?” Saura asked as Delaney spied the twins the former Grand Summoner gave birth to standing across the room. Dra’Kaedan’s eyes were damp as he studied his parents. His hand was in Brogan’s large paw, and the sadness radiated from them in waves.

  Dre’Kariston was not doing much better. He had Somerly in his arms with his chin resting on his shoulder, and the emotions in his gaze were tumultuous. Their familiars were close by, and the expressions on their faces were just as grim.

  “I don’t have my phone,” Grigori responded.

  “Scher, do you have yours? Grigori’s going to want his family. You can teleport and go get them, right?” Saura asked her nephew.

  Delaney turned toward Grigori as Scheredin handed over his device. “Absolutely.”

  Over the next few minutes, the room filled with D’Vaires. Everyone—besides the two who were at the center of all the grief—was wearing the crazy pajamas Larissa worked so hard to provide. When the Arch Lich and his entire family arrived, they were dressed in similar attire. The Volkovs shimmered in with Scheredin, and Saura and T’Eirick greeted them warmly. After Delaney said his hellos and was hugged by them all, he hauled Grigori over to where the twins were standing.

  Dra’Kaedan gave him a smile filled with sorrow, then pulled him into his arms. The warlock held on tight and Delaney rubbed his back in some small effort to comfort him. “It’s harder to say good-bye than I thought it would be,” Dra’Kaedan whispered, his words cracking.

  “I’m so sorry,” Delaney offered lamely.

  Letting him go, Dra’Kaedan’s gaze met his. “Don’t apologize. Without you, they wouldn’t be coming back tomorrow. Thank you for that gift.”

  Delaney didn’t know what to say. He’d only helped with the spell; it didn’t seem like much. Before he could piece together any words, Dre’Kariston pushed his brother aside and embraced Delaney.

  When he let him go and shared a hug with Grigori, Dre’Kariston let out a humorless laugh. “We’re all over here wondering how the hell we’re going to make it through the next twenty-four hours, and our parents are wandering around treating this like a cocktail party.”

  “They won’t be up and about much longer—you can see how tired they are. Mom and Dad are just fighting it for all their worth,” Dra’Kaedan said.

  “I think they might invite the entire Council of Sorcery and Shifters before they do,” Dre’Kariston replied.

  “No one seems to care that it’s one in the morning,” Brogan threw in.

  A tear slipped down Dra’Kaedan’s cheek and his chest heaved. “We’ll light the pyres as the sun comes up. Okay?”

  “Whatever you want, baby,” Brogan promised.

  Saura and T’Eirick finally finished greeting everyone, even embracing all of the Skeleton Seven, who usually refrained from touching anyone other than their mates. Then they strode over to where their sons were standing.

  Saura cupped Dra’Kaedan’s cheek in one hand and Dre’Kariston’s in the other. “My dear boys, what I wouldn’t give to take away your pain. Please remember, after tomorrow we’ll have forever.”

  “All I can think of is lying in that cabin with my body torn apart and realizing you were gone,” Dre’Kariston told her.

  “I didn’t even know who I was when you were robbed of life,” Dra’Kaedan sobbed out.

  “Carvallius took so much from us. We won’t fail at paying him back,” T’Eirick stated.

  “Give us a hug, we have to lie down now,” Saura directed. The twins embraced their parents, and Delaney’s tears fell unbidden at the raw pain on their faces.

  With one last smile for her sons, Saura took T’Eirick’s hand and together they strode over to the bed. They climbed up onto the mattress and lay down.

  “Chand, we can’t touch, can we?”

  “No, I’m sorry,” he responded softly. “Your souls need to remain apart so we can attach the stones.”

  Saura leaned over and laid a kiss on T’Eirick’s lips. “I’ll see you shortly, mate.”

  “Let’s do this,” T’Eirick responded. The pair settled against the pillows as a silence fell over the room. All along the walls, there were people with somber expressions, and Delaney experienced a sense of surrealism. They were all standing there knowing that in minutes or hours T’Eirick and Saura would be gone fully from this side of the veil. Time was irrelevant, and the sounds of grief reached Delaney’s ears. He had no idea if it was his own or those of his family.

  “T’Eirick’s soul is beginning to lift,” Chander announced after a while.

  “Let’s get ready,” Aleksander directed. “Dra’Kaedan. Dre’Kariston. Maybe you should step out into the hall.”

  “No. No, I couldn’t be there to save them. I won’t leave,” Dra’Kaedan countere
d. “Besides, I know they can’t feel pain, but they’ll need healing. You’re shoving a stone in them.”

  Scheredin walked over and placed a hand over Dra’Kaedan’s chest. “Stay here with your mate and brother. I’ll take care of the healing.”

  Dra’Kaedan nodded and grabbed Dre’Kariston’s hand with his free one.

  “Cadlyr, you have the stones?” Chander asked.

  The Cwylld chieftain walked over and handed Aleksander a small copper box. The metal negated the pull of the stones but with such small slivers, Delaney doubted it was necessary. It was just like Cadlyr to be considerate of the magickind in the room and protect them as long as possible.

  Greenish-gold magic surrounded T’Eirick’s body as Scheredin did more than heal them, he was also using the color to shield the act of driving the stone into both former warlocks. After lifting the lid of Cadlyr’s container, Aleksander grasped one of the slivers in his hand.

  “Tell me when, Chand.”

  “His soul’s rising rapidly, and Saura’s has already begun to lift. Go for it. It sounds awful, but you just need to drive it downward into his midsection,” Chander directed.

  The D’Vaire king’s face was resolute, and he raised his hand high. “Close your eyes,” he ordered the twins. When Dra’Kaedan opened his mouth to argue, Aleksander’s jaw locked. “I won’t do it if you refuse.”

  The Grand Warlock lowered his lashes and his brother did the same. Satisfied, Aleksander moved his arm down swiftly and thanks to Scheredin, it was impossible to see the object get buried into T’Eirick’s torso.

  After taking a step back, Aleksander gave Chander his attention. “Did it work?” he gritted out.

  “Yeah. Yeah, I think you embedded it in his soul,” Chander replied. “Saura’s not taking her time. Get ready.”

  “Keep your eyes shut,” Aleksander demanded as he walked around the bed to Saura’s side. In his hand, he had the other sliver.

  “Go,” Chander ordered and Aleksander obeyed. Seconds later, it was Saura with the Cwylld stone lodged inside her.