Dark Alpha's Claim

by Donna Grant

  There had to be a way to kill a Fae, and it was something she was going to begin searching for immediately. Walking the streets of Edinburgh alone was becoming a hazard.

  * * *

  Baylon stifled a growl when he saw the three Dark Fae. Staying veiled, he crossed the street and grabbed the Dark talking to the couple and teleported him away. Baylon plunged his sword in the Dark’s gut, killing him instantly.

  Within seconds he returned to the female. The two Dark would be nothing to kill, but he wasn’t yet ready to show his true self to the human.

  He stayed close to her. She was alert, her body nearly vibrating with tension—and trepidation. At least she understood the Dark were dangerous. That was a plus. Sort of. If she didn’t calm down, the two Dark would notice her.

  Baylon eyed the two. Their cockiness and laughter at killing humans as if they were no more than cattle grated on his nerves. Not because he particularly cared about the mortals, but because of the unadulterated evil within the Dark.

  The Dark cared about nothing and no one but themselves.

  Baylon grimaced when the female walked as far from the Dark as she could. Her stiff back and the fact she kept her gaze straight ahead was like a light flashing over her. It did exactly what Baylon had been afraid of—it drew the Darks’ attention.

  “Well, hello there,” said one of the Dark.

  The woman ignored them and kept walking.

  The second dark laughed as he hurried to catch up with her. “That’s not very nice. We’re just a couple of Irishmen saying hello.”

  “It’s cold, and I’m in a hurry,” she murmured.

  Baylon tightened his grip on his sword. The Dark were beginning to notice that she wasn’t interested in them. One of them touched her, which should’ve been enough to stop her in her tracks and turn her full attention on them.

  But not the half-Fae. She shrugged off his hand and walked faster.

  “Shit,” Baylon mumbled to himself.

  The two Dark quickly moved to block her path. “We’re not done with you,” said the first.

  “It’s not natural that you ignore us,” said the second.

  The woman didn’t back up. She stood her ground, but the Dark took it as an invitation. To be fair, anything she did would’ve been taken as an offer to assault her.

  Baylon moved to stand behind the Dark and unveiled himself. “You just don’t know when to quit, do you?” he asked them.

  They spun around gapping at him in surprise—and a bit of fear. Baylon shoved his sword in the second Dark while the first attempted to throw a ball of magic at him.

  Baylon easily blocked it, pivoting as he lopped off the Dark’s head. With a few words, the two Dark bodies began to turn to dust and fly away in the breeze.

  It was the quiet behind him that altered Baylon. There was no hysterics, no demands of who he was and what was going on.

  He put away his sword, making it disappear until he needed it again. Then he slowly turned to face the woman. Her large eyes were open wide. Her chest heaved from fear—and he suspected excitement.

  “Thank you,” she said. She swallowed and licked her lips. “My God. You’re Fae.”

  Baylon studied her, wondering why he wanted to give her an answer instead of lying.

  “How did you kill them?” she asked, glancing at the ground where the dust of the bodies had been.

  Jordyn watched the Fae’s head cock to the side and his beautiful silver eyes observe her with a bit of wariness and a dash of interest.

  He was the same man who ran into her at the library. She had the same visceral reaction to him now as she did then. All the questions in her head evaporated with him being so near.

  She couldn’t seem to pull in a coherent thought as she imagined his body pressed against hers.

  Jordyn gave a shake of her head to try and clear it. He stood with his feet apart, his weight on both of them as if he were waiting to whip out his sword again.

  His sword! How could Jordyn have forgotten it? She had stood like an idiot with her mouth gaping as he swung the weapon quickly and effortlessly. There was a ruthless edge about him that made her heart flutter—and the desire grow.

  Jordyn lifted her gaze to his face to find one of his brows lifted. She shrugged and tried to make light of being caught gawking. “I’m not one to let such a striking man pass without looking my fill.”

  ‘Again’ was left unsaid, but it hung in the air between them.

  A slow smile pulled up one side of his lips. He didn’t say a word as his gaze slowly lowered to her mouth and then her chest.

  Jordyn found it difficult to breathe at his deliberate perusal of her body. Her knees grew weak and her palms began to sweat. The desire rushing and swelling through her was flagrant and commanding, shameless and controlling.

  By the time his gaze returned to her face, she was panting with need. His silver eyes darkened with unabashed passion. Jordyn grasped the building next to her to keep on her feet.

  The stone rasped her palm, but all she felt was her heart pounding in her chest and need clawing through her.

  In two steps, he was next to her. He gently cupped both sides of her face and gazed into her eyes. His head gradually lowered.

  Jordyn’s lids slid closed, her breath locked in her lungs as she waited to feel his mouth on hers. The first touch was a brush of his lips against hers. It left her both eager and aching for more.

  Then with a groan, he slanted his mouth over hers and kissed her.

  She sighed, dropping her book and purse to slide her arms around him. He kissed her slowly, thoroughly, sapping her of strength and filling her with a passion that burned hotter with every second.

  It was as if the world was suddenly righted around her. Everything that felt wrong and at odds was put right. She clung to him, wanting, needing more of what he was giving her.

  When he suddenly broke off the kiss, it took her a moment to get her bearings and open her eyes. She had to blink to focus and push past the longing for more.

  There was regret in his gaze when he caressed a cheek. “You’ve no idea what you are, do you?”

  She drank in more of his Irish accent. Belatedly, she realized he’d asked her a question. Jordyn shook her head. If he wanted her to find words, he was going to have to put some distance between them.

  “I didn’t think so.” He sighed heavily. “You’re not safe.”

  Jordyn was still trying to figure out his words when he released her and bent to pick up her purse and book. She was frowning when he stood.

  He glanced around him. “There are things you need to know, female.”

  “Jordyn,” she said, her voice a mere whisper.

  Now it was his turn to frown. “What?”

  “My name. It’s Jordyn Patterson.”

  The Fae shot her another crooked smile. “We need to talk, Jordyn Patterson.”

  She didn’t know how she found the strength to push away from the wall and take her items from him. Jordyn motioned him to follow as she walked on wobbly legs to the door of her building.

  They didn’t say a word in the lift up to her flat or while she unlocked her door. Once inside, Jordyn sat her purse on the dining table and laid the book beside it. It was the first time since she got the book that she wasn’t interested in opening it.

  Jordyn then faced the Fae. Her lips still throbbed from his kiss. His taste still upon her tongue. And she wanted more.

  “You have a lot of books,” he said as he looked around her flat.

  She cleared her throat and glanced at the kitchen. “Do you want a drink?”

  “I’m not interested in a drink.” His gaze was heated, his words obvious as he looked her way.

  Jordyn shrugged out of her coat as her blood heated even more. She had to grab a hold of the chair when her knees threatened to buckle at the hungry look he raked over her body.

  He finally pulled his gaze away and walked along the bookshelves lining every wall. “It appears your inter
est is in one subject.”

  “Yes,” she finally managed after two tries.

  He turned to face her. “Why do you have an interest in us?”

  Jordyn was happy he wasn’t trying to tell her he wasn’t a Fae. By that question, he confirmed what she blurted out on the street.

  She shrugged helplessly. “My family used to say we were part Fae. That along with stories my grandmother used to tell me. It was said as a joke, but it got me interested.”

  “Apparently,” he said and looked at all the books again.

  Jordyn couldn’t imagine how neurotic she looked in his eyes. She was a bit embarrassed. “Will you tell me your name?”

  He cut his gaze to her, a small smile about his seductive lips. Lord, the man could kiss!

  “Baylon.”

  “Baylon,” she repeated, letting it roll around her tongue.

  He briefly closed his eyes before he turned his back to her. Jordyn wasn’t sure if she had done something wrong. She tracked him for several quiet moments as he looked over more of her bookshelves.

  “What have you learned from all these books?” he asked.

  “That few have met a Fae, and even fewer know anything about you.”

  He turned around to face her. “Yet you knew the Dark. And me.”

  Chapter Four

  Baylon kept his distance from Jordyn. He was still reeling from their kiss and how deeply it touched him. He kept far away from humans, especially those that he was attracted to.

  But there was something fascinating and engaging about Jordyn. She was gorgeous to be sure, but there was a quality about her he couldn’t pinpoint that kept him completely and utterly charmed and enticed.

  He hungered for another kiss, craved to hold her against him. He longed to take her as his lover.

  That thought alone was like being dunked in ice.

  He was a Reaper. There were no entanglements.

  Ever.

  Death saw that they had females when the need arose, which with a Fae was often. But a human? Even a half-Fae? He could never cross the line and take her to his bed. It would be disastrous for them both.

  Why then did he want her so desperately?

  Baylon loved the way Jordyn’s forehead puckered in the middle when asked something she wasn’t sure how to answer. She was never hasty with a response. She thought over her words carefully.

  “It was the red eyes,” she answered. “I was working at the police station when an American came in trying to explain that it was a red-eyed man who killed her friend.”

  Was it coincidence that Jordyn worked at the very place Lexi Crawford had gone for help before the Dragon Kings entered her life? If there was one thing Baylon learned in his thousands of years of existence, it was that there was no such thing as coincidence.

  “And,” he prompted when Jordyn fell silent.

  She motioned to the bookshelves. “I remembered reading something about red eyes. I was running into men and women with red eyes everywhere, and the evil coming off them was gagging. I realized that the book had it right. The red-eyed people I’d been seeing were Dark Fae.”

  “How did you know I was Fae?” Was it vanity that prompted him to ask? Or did he truly want to know how much knowledge she had of the Fae?

  Jordyn pivoted and walked into the kitchen. She took down a wine glass from the cupboard and set it on the counter. She then grabbed the bottle of wine next to the toaster and uncorked it before pouring it in her glass.

  She lifted the bottle and glanced at him, silently asking if he wanted some. Baylon shook his head as he watched her lift the glass to her lips and take a drink of the red wine.

  “I think I was hoping you were Fae.” Jordyn leaned against the counter, her gaze colliding with his. “I never believed the Fae were tiny winged creatures as some of the books claim. I always pictured someone like you when I thought of the Fae.”

  He fought the invisible strings that kept tugging him closer to her.

  “The way you move, the way you talk. The way you fight,” she continued. “And your eyes. No one could ever mistake you for a human. Everything about you shouts unique, special, and … captivating.”

  Damn. She really needed to stop talking. If she didn’t, he would kiss her again. And if he kissed her again, he wouldn’t be able to stop. He hungered for her that much.

  Her gaze dropped as if she became embarrassed by her confession. Baylon found the action endearing and delightful.

  He was so screwed.

  “Why are the Dark here?” she asked, once more looking his way.

  A safe topic. Just what he needed. Baylon remained across the flat as he said, “Because they’ve begun a war.”

  “With you?”

  He scrunched up his face, wishing he hadn’t told her the truth. “With other beings.”

  “Others?” she asked worriedly. “What others?”

  Baylon could kick himself for not lying to her again. What was wrong with him? He was a proficient liar. Except with her, for some reason. “You’re not going to let this go are you?”

  She gave him a flat look. “You’ve seen my books. Do you think I’ll let it go if you don’t tell me?”

  He ran a hand down his face. “The Dragon Kings.”

  Jordyn’s face went slack. “Dragon Kings?”

  “Aye. They’ve been around since the beginning of time. They sent their dragons away, but they can shift between human and dragon form.”

  “Oh. Well if you make it sound as if it’s nothing, then it must be,” she said sarcastically.

  The more she talked, the more Baylon liked her. “You don’t need to worry about them. They vowed to protect humans, and they’ve won many wars against others who wanted this realm and humans.”

  “Wow,” she mumbled before taking a long drink. “I think I’m going to need another bottle of wine. Wait. You killed the Dark tonight.”

  “Because it’s what I do.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  He waved away her question. “That’s not a concern.”

  “Then what is?”

  “You.”

  She held the wine glass at her cheek and furrowed her brow. “That’s right. You said I didn’t know what I was. What am I?”

  It wasn’t that Baylon was afraid she couldn’t handle the news. He hesitated because once he told her, everything would change.

  He should walk away from now, disappear and forget her. Baylon snorted inwardly. Forget Jordyn? That wasn’t possible. He would never be able to stay far from her, worried that one of the other Reapers would find her and kill her.

  “Baylon?” she urged.

  “You’ve read all these books about the Fae, but you don’t know us.”

  She motioned to him with her wine glass. “I’ve got thousands of questions. If you want to tell me, then tell me.”

  “You saw the way humans react to the Dark.”

  Her head gave a slight nod.

  “Humans are drawn to us against their will. They don’t understand it, nor can they resist the temptation to be with us. The Dark will lure or kidnap mortals from this realm and take them away.”

  “Where?” Jordyn asked.

  “Sometimes to the Fae realm. Sometimes to Ireland where the Fae have taken over.”

  She swallowed and inhaled. “What do they do with them?”

  “They have sex with them. Each time drains the mortal of their soul, leaving nothing but a dead husk behind.”

  She sat there for a moment before tilting back the glass and draining it. Jordyn then turned and poured more wine. “Do you do that?”

  “The Light for the most part keep their distance from humans. When we do give in to the need, we sleep with the mortals only once.”

  “I wasn’t attracted to the Dark,” she said with her back to him.

  Baylon didn’t want to discuss the need tearing through him. He didn’t want to think about the passion piercing him. And he couldn’t allow himself to consider what it
might be like to sink between Jordyn’s thighs.

  He fisted his hands at his sides. “The Fae don’t feel the same overwhelming draw that humans do.”

  Jordyn spun around, her lips parted. She stared at him in silence for several moments. Then she asked, “Perhaps there are some Fae more appealing than others.”

  “You saw the Dark tonight. Can you tell me they weren’t handsome?”

  Her lips flattened briefly. “They were. I’ve also seen how they casually and happily kill humans. That’s why I don’t find them remotely attractive.”

  “Liar.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I’m not lying.”

  He liked how her brogue deepened when she became annoyed. “You might not want to have ripped off your clothes for them, but they were gorgeous.”

  “Yes,” she said grudgingly. “I didn’t want them because they’re evil.”

  “That could be one explanation.”

  “One?” she asked with brows raised.

  Baylon thought she was ready to hear the truth. All of her research and knowledge of Fae pointed to that fact. Now he wasn’t so sure. But he’d already come this far. It was better to just tell her instead of beating around the bush.

  “The Fae aren’t drawn to each other like humans are drawn to us.”

  She shrugged. “That makes sense I guess. What does that have to do with me not finding the Dark appealing?”

  “You’re half-Fae, Jordyn.”

  She laughed and gave a little shake of her head before taking a drink. Her gaze returned to him, and her smile slowly died. “My God. You’re not joking.”

  “No, I’m not.”

  “I don’t understand. How?”

  It was Baylon’s turn to smile. “It happens in the usual way.”

  She waved his words away. “I know that. I mean, how?”

  “Somewhere in your family line one of your ancestors had an affair with a Fae. The who may have gotten lost over time, but they never forgot there was Fae blood in your family.”

  “That would explain all the mentions of Fae throughout the years,” Jordyn said, shock lining her voice. Then her face cleared as if everything was beginning to make sense to her. She slid her gaze to him. “What does this mean for me?”