by K. A. Jones
I dutifully followed Dario from the room, and up the stairs. Laid on his bed was a pair of soft leather trousers, a plain black long sleeved top and a leather and shiny metal tunic. Keera took one look at my dishevelled appearance and without a word or a look of embarrassment, grabbed some underwear for me. Dario’s found his protective clothing and stripped off his suit trousers and began dressing in the uniform.
I felt a little disconcerted that he had stripped so easily in front of Keera, I saw her cheeks blush and eyes flick in his direction several times. I heard Dario’s soft chuckle in my mind followed by, ‘remember, Keera believes me to be an exceptional lover.’ I shot back ‘only because you want her to think that!’ His chuckle turned into a full on laugh, when he’d regained his composure, his voice in my mind had taken on sexy-husky tones. ‘I intend to show only my Consort just how exceptional I can be, would you like a demonstration now?’ I felt power radiate from him. It was as if he had flicked a switch that was connected to my groin. His power excited me, made me want him. I saw the smug, satisfied smile on his face and his eyes shine with pure pleasure, yeah, he knew exactly what he was doing, but I was defenceless against him.
Desire swept through me like a tornado as Dario shared his barely controlled emotions with me. I found myself panting and my body needy. Keera looked concerned putting a hand on my arm and whispering, “My Princess, are you okay?” She took one look at my fangs and fear crept into her eyes as I shrugged her hand off me. I quickly blocked Dario from my mind, but not before I heard his soft laughter as I began blocking him.
“I’m fine Keera; I guess it’s the excitement of what’s to come that is making me react this way.” Dario shook his head and flashed his sexy smile at me. I sent him my best annoyed look back, I might be sired to him but I still wasn’t used to flirting with him, especially when it affected me so much.
I slid on my clothing as quickly as possible. Keera stepped forwards a couple of times to lend a hand but I ignored her. The leather and metal tunic had buckles that needed securing. Given that the tunic was made for a man, it swamped me. I could see Dario’s concern, if I wore it and we got into difficulty it would make moving in a hurry difficult. If I didn’t wear it, it was possible that someone could take a pot shot at me. Keera went to Dario and whispered in his ear, I saw him nod and watched Keera lift the pillow on my bed and hold out my standard issue dagger. “Princess Shyla, would you allow me to cut away some of the leather so it fits you better?” I’m not sure what shocked me the most, the fact that my dagger was in Dario’s room when I hadn’t brought it in here, or the fact that I was to trust a human who had the hots for the vampire that I was now screwing.
Sensing my wariness, Dario came to stand at my side. “Keera wouldn’t be here if I didn’t trust her Shyla.” I gave a small nod of my head and Keera gave a one shouldered shrug and began explaining which bits of leather needed to be cut away to give me maximum protection and movement. Keera got to work slicing off the width and length of the protective garb. I was left with something that fitted my small form and using a long length of leather, Keera tied it around my waist so my dagger sat snugly at my hip.
I was grateful to the little blood wench, but I wasn’t about to become her best buddy. Twirling in front of Dario to get his approval for going out with his men, he nodded and thanked Keera, but kept his eyes fixed on me. His hand lifted and Dario gently stroked the side of my face, his head lowered down to meet mine. Just before our lips met, Keera cleared her throat and said, “My Prince, if you require my services this evening, please find me.” Dario flicked his hand in her direction signalling for her to leave. Keera did a small curtsey and left the room, but not before I had seen her crestfallen face.
We met up with some of his men and set out towards the wooded area. I scanned about looking at different areas from different angles. I found a couple of perfect hiding places and pointed them out. Mackinley appointed a couple of armed guards and we moved on. After about an hour, and ten places that I’d marked as potential areas that the hunters would use to bide their time to make a hit from, we headed back to the castle. Dario instructed his men to return before sunrise. It meant that they would miss the King arriving, but it was agreed that there was a good chance that the hunters would return and there would be a risk to lives.
Just before we arrived back at the castle we heard the first sound of a single gunshot going off. Dario was at my side instantly. Mackinley and the remaining guards pressed closer, providing a protective circle around us. Instinct made me want to go to the guards that were being fired upon, but Dario caught hold of my arm. “One shot Shyla; if it was one of my men that were shot, the others would’ve fired their weapons.”
I nodded my head, Dario was right, all of the guards had weapons and if a hunter had taken a shot then the other guards would’ve gone after the hunter. “They will keep coming Dario, Carlos isn’t going to stop until he is King.”
Dario placed an arm across my shoulders and smiled down at me to reassure me that everything would be okay. “It is always the same when the King comes home Shyla. It’s as if Carlos knows that he will be arriving.” His comment did little to steady my churning stomach. If that was the case then why hadn’t they taken Carlos down? Why were they waiting for him to come? It didn’t make sense. The idea that the hunters were coming to destroy as many vampires as possible to get to us was unnerving to say the least.
“I feel your nervousness through our connection Shyla; do you doubt that my men or I can keep you safe?” A quick glance around at his men told me that they were all alert and had one thing on their minds, and that was protecting the Prince and I.
I did a little headshake, I knew if I tried to say anything it would come out as a little squeak. My throat was tight, and I had a feeling as though someone was watching us. I tried to locate every vampire that was close; I could detect each and every one of them in the area, like a little red beacon in my mind, vampires shone like a red light, but Dario’s was much brighter. I cast a glance at Dario and said through our connection, ‘I can feel someone watching us Dario, I can feel his eyes on me’. Dario simply nodded. I wanted to bat away the guards that were surrounding us and take out the threat.
We approached the steps leading back up to the castle, I knew that the guards were searching the wooded area, but my instinct kicked in and was screaming at me to act. On some deep level I knew that we were in someone’s sights and this would be their moment. If I was still a hunter, I would be patting myself on the back before I’d even taken the shot.
I grabbed Mackinley’s gun, pushed Dario to one side and shouted to the men to get down just as a bullet was fired. It hit the concrete steps where Dario had just been standing. I vaulted the wall at the side of the steps and sprinted across open ground. I could hear Dario in my mind telling me to get to cover. Another bullet whizzed through the air. I had pin pointed my target. I dropped to the ground and fired back. I could feel Dario’s men heading in the direction that I was firing. I shot off another couple of rounds hoping to give them cover.
‘I swear to god, that you are going to give me a heart attack!’ Relief flooded my senses. Dario was unharmed. ‘You have to have a heart to have a heart attack Dario!’
Movement caught my eye; I took aim knowing that it wasn’t one of Dario’s men, thanks to the freaky lights in my mind that displayed where the vampires were. I squeezed the trigger and saw my target fall. The vampires were on him in a split second. The adrenaline and blood loss would be too much to ignore. I had a pang of jealousy that I wouldn’t be the one to drain him. My fangs descended fast and bit in to my bottom lip. ‘Why do I want to feed from him? I want to fight your men for him Dario.’ I held back a growl of frustration as I fought with my emotions and instincts, instincts that until I’d killed – I hadn’t experienced before. Dario began to soothe me through our connection. He was moving closer to me, but this time with caution. I wasn’t sure if it was because of my confession of needing blood or becaus
e I’d said that I would fight his men. ‘A vampire’s instinct is to kill Shyla; you have killed and now you want your blood reward.’ That made sense. When I’d fed before, there were no anger issues.
Dario stood at my side, his eyes were focussed on me, yet he was listening to everything around him. “I think it would be wise for us to retreat back to the castle, the hunters are out in force tonight.” He wasn’t kidding, two hunters on the same night! I held the gun up to Dario; he plucked it from my fingers and handed it back to Mackinley before pulling me close. Gentle fingers swept hair from my face and his lips skimmed across my cheek and down my neck to my collar bone. I shuddered a little, as my vampy ‘I want to kill & feed from you’ senses eased a little. My fangs receded at his gentle touch. I felt calmer, not that I was forgetting that we were still out in the open, but I needed some time to get my head straight. I felt no guilt and no remorse at killing the hunter, and it troubled me more than the usual guilt that swamped me when I’d killed.
Now that I was I a vampire, was I losing my humanity?
Mackinley spoke, “My Prince, it would be prudent if the Princess and yourself retired to the castle and the guards continued with their search for more hunters.” Dario cast a glance around the area. I found myself looking to see if there were anymore hunters lurking in their hiding places. I didn’t feel anyone’s eyes on me and took it as a good sign.
We headed up to the computer room on Dario’s private level. After a quick check on the recordings, Mackinley relaxed a little. Dario switched the cameras to night vision. The screens displayed the vampires and day walkers patrolling the grounds as little more than red and yellow figures moving around. “Will the hunters look different if they make it onto the grounds?”
Dario tapped the screen touching one of his men. “Vampires display as red figures, my day walkers, yellow. Hunters will display as a muted green, humans display in shades of grey. If a hunter makes it onto the grounds then the system is set up to track the hunter.” He gestured with his hand to a computer. “Each camera is linked to the main system, once a hunter is on the grounds the cameras track his or her every movement.” His words weren’t lost on me. I felt my cheeks heating up and eyed him suspiciously. Mackinley grinned from ear to ear and when I pinned him with a look, he suddenly became very interested in one of the screens.
I turned my steely gaze to Dario. “This is the part where you tell me that you haven’t got a camera in your bedroom Dario, or god help you!”
Dario tilted his head to one side, a sexy grin spread across his face. “You were gone a long time Shyla, but you kept me company on many a lonely night.”
Shit!
My eyes shot to Mackinley and back to Dario, I was angered beyond belief. Dario leant across the table and captured my hands in his. “Relax my sweet thing, there is a camera but it only monitors my room whilst I sleep.” My eyes shifted between Mackinley and Dario, I wasn’t brave enough to ask him if he had really filmed us the first time I had come to the castle. It would keep until we were alone!
With my hand firmly in his, Dario stood, taking me with him. I followed him from the room as he led me to another room. I hadn’t been inside this room since coming to the castle. Dario pushed open the door, inside was what I can only describe as a painting studio. The smell of oil based paints drifted from the room as the door opened wider. “When I find perfection, I like to capture it, whether that is on film, on canvas or for real.” My heart did a little flutter in the hope that he was talking about me…. Did he think I was perfect? He gestured for me to enter the room. I drew in a breath and slowly made my way in front of an easel with a large canvas painting of me.
I was speechless for a few moments before finally asking, “Did you paint this?”
Dario nodded and stepped behind me, wrapping his arms around me. I lent back against his chest and took in every fine detail of the head and shoulder portrait that Dario had painted. I stood looking at it for a long time. “It’s beautiful Dario, I don’t think I have ever studied myself this closely.” I felt myself blush at my admission.
His teeth gently skimmed my neck as he planted several kisses along the length of it. “I studied you whilst you slept. It was then that I knew I needed you in my very long life. I have lived for a long time, I’ve come across people that have caught my eye, but none have ever made me want to keep them. That is, until I met you.” Dario’s fingers skimmed over my shoulders and down my arms until his fingers twined with mine. He folded our arms across my waist and began a slow seduction on my neck with his lips and teeth.
A lot had changed since that first visit to the castle. I was no longer a hunter. I was a trained assassin that was now using her vampire skills to bring down the hunters. I was also Dario’s Consort, a position that had bought bile to my throat at the thought of it and I had hid away rather than take my place at his side, but now – now I felt as though I belonged. How could seeing a picture that he had obviously taken his time to perfect, time to give each stroke of the brush the ability to bring me to life on a canvas make me feel as though I truly belonged to him? It was crazy to feel this way wasn’t it?
Dario spun me around so I faced him. The intensity of his eyes told me he had been picking up on my feelings, maybe even hearing my thoughts. “Our paths crossed and I’m eternally grateful that they did.” I was about to remind him that if I hadn’t had one to many glasses of whisky then our meeting and paths crossing would’ve been a bit one sided. He wouldn’t have known I was stalking him or that he had made it to the hunter’s shit list and that I was hired to kill him, but decided that it was probably better not to drag it up now.
Dario kissed my forehead and said, “In answer to your unasked question, no, I did not record you when I brought you to the castle, but if you are open to new experiences then I will set the camera up.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me and then his face became serious again. “I want us to announce our joining in the traditional way of our people Shyla – I wish for the King to witness our marriage and welcome you to the DeLuise family.”
My mouth became dry as I fought the sudden panic that was rising in me. We’d already done the blood binding bit, Dario had sired me and I was his Consort, I knew nothing of marriage or happy ever afters, and let’s face it, being a vampire meant that there would be a certain longevity in the whole being together part.
It was time to think fast. “Dario, I don’t think we should rush into anything too hasty, I mean, it’s one thing being sired to you but to actually marry you? That’s for humans not the likes of me.”
Dario frowned a little and held a finger up to my lips silencing me. “You are a vampire now Shyla, a Royal Vampire by decree. This is the reason for the Kings visit. It is his duty to honour and welcome you and bring forth your fertility.”
Bring forth my fertility? What the hell was he talking about?
Dario’s hands caressed my stomach as though I was already carrying his child. I wasn’t sure what bringing forth my fertility actually involved and I wasn’t particularly looking forward to having it explained to me. Dario held me close, his voice a deep whisper in my ear. “Fear not my sweet Consort, the King will recite an ancient fertility incantation and you shall hold the power to conceive our first child whenever you wish.”
“Is this how your Father was able to conceive so many children with different erm… wives?”
Dario was thoughtful for a moment and finally gave a small shrug of his shoulders, “If it was that simple then we would have more children. I have no doubt that the incantation was altered for my Father to produce three sons, but even witches have been unable to perform the same miracle.”
I could sense Dario’s sadness; it was always the same when he thought about his brothers or in particular Demetrio and his son Carlos. I wrapped my arm around him and looked up, “Maybe there was no witchy hocus pocus in the conception of three sons Dario, maybe it was as simple as your Father really loving three different women.” I’m not sure why I said it,
maybe it was because it sat better with me than the idea of some witchery magic letting me be a vessel for the birth of a royal vampire. As soon as the thought crashed through my brain I knew Dario had heard. I saw him cringe before his hands found their way into my hair. He gently tugged, tipping my face up so he could see me.
“I hope that you come to your senses soon and realise that you mean so much more to me then a walking incubator or just someone that I randomly picked to be my wife. Tell me what I have to do to convince you Shyla.”
I knew deep down that he thought a lot more of me than that. Perhaps the problem wasn’t with him; perhaps it was my problem to work out. “I’m not ready to think about our relationship in that way. I guess the idea of making it official is making me cranky.”
“I have been without you for too long. I’m trying to make you love me but with everything spinning out of control with the hunters, I fear I may lose you again before you have given me a chance to prove myself as worthy of your love.” Dario held me against his chest and I felt him stiffen. “Would you rather not have Marco perform the incantation? If the idea of us having a child is so abhorrent to you at the moment then it can wait until you are ready to fully commit yourself to me.”
It wasn’t like I had a choice in committing to him. “You said that I had the power to decide when I conceive. How is that possible?” My interest was piqued; this certainly wasn’t in my 101 hunter training manual.
“When the King recites the incantation, your body will respond and the final words used to complete the casting of the spell, and they will be imprinted in your mind, you are the only one who knows the words to complete the spell, that way no-one can influence you to complete the incantation before you are ready. When your heart desires a baby, the magical intent of the spell will be unleashed, you will complete the spell. I must warn you that once you utter the final part of the incantation, there is no going back on it. I will make love to you, claiming you, making you mine until my seed brings forth a new life inside of you.”
