Master of the Night

by Angela Knight

  "You're not going to do anything except die!" Reece dropped his sword to parry a wild blow toward his thighs.

  But the enemy's sword wasn't there. It's a feint!

  Too late. Something bit into his shoulder. Steel gave way, and a blade struck flesh.

  Reece looked down to see Parker's sword in his shoulder. Instinctively he spun free, biting back his cry of pain.

  Parker grinned at him and charged.

  Janieda deflected a sword blow aimed for her ribs, fear and frustration a sick knot in her stomach. Behind her, the Human had made it to her feet, but she was so weak and drained, it was all she could do to back away.

  I won't lose, the Sidhe chanted to herself. If I lose, he dies. I won't lose. I won't. Lose.

  She deflected a double attack with one sweep of her sword and kicked one of her opponents back with a snarl. She was about to drive her blade into the other when a savage blow snaked from nowhere, hitting so hard it tore the helm from her head. She thrust out blindly with all her strength and felt her sword sink home, driving through the enchanted steel of a chestplate. A death scream rang in her ears.

  Something jarred her side. Janieda parried another sword-stroke, but a sensation of spreading cold and weight made her look down.

  A blade was buried to the hilt in her side.

  Janieda blinked down at it stupidly. How did that get there?

  A blur, a howl, and she hit the ground on her back. A helmeted head loomed over hers. Instinctively she swung a fist, but the vampire didn't even seem to notice as he slapped up his visor and dived for her unprotected neck. She screamed.

  The last thing she heard before fangs sank in her neck was Erin's furious shout. "Get the fuck away from me, you bloodsucking leech!"

  I've lost, Janieda thought in dazed despair, catching her breath in a hiss of pain as she bucked in the vampire's vise-tight grip. I've lost, and Llyr's going to die with the Human.

  Erin dragged herself backward as the third vampire stalked her. Smirking, he pulled off his helmet and threw it aside, baring yellowed fangs. His bloodshot eyes scanned her naked body, lingering on her breasts before fastening on her pulse. He pulled off his gauntlets and flexed his hands.

  Panting, she backed away, knowing there was no way she could fight the son of a bitch off.

  "Erin!" Reece's mental voice rang in her mind. "I can lend you enough strength to fight him."

  She jolted in terror, knowing that if he diverted anything at all to her, Parker would rip out his throat. And he was in pain. Had he been hit? "No! Dammit, you need it to kill Parker!"

  "Erin!" A third voice rang in her mind.

  Janieda.

  Automatically Erin glanced toward the little Sidhe and stared in horror. Janieda writhed in the grip of the second vampire, who had her down and was feeding on her. "Open to me," the dying Sidhe demanded. "Let me save my Liege!"

  Beyond her, Reece was hacking savagely at Parker, ignoring his own wound as he tried to take him down before the vampire got his hands on Erin. Erin opened her mouth to tell the fairy yes.

  Before the word was out, her vampire stalker struck.

  It was like being hit by a train as three hundred pounds of armored monster hit her, smashing her to her back on the ground.

  Superhuman fingers closed around her bare breast in an agonizing grip. The vampire loomed over her, jerking her head back with the other hand. Rolling her eyes, Erin managed to meet Janieda's gaze and drop the last of her mental shields. A link snapped into place between them.

  "Save my king! " Janieda demanded, and poured her fading life force through it.

  Erin convulsed as the power surged through her, hot and strengthening, jolting her own magical abilities back to life. Her vampire captor tightened his grip, trying to hold on to her as she convulsed.

  Her gaze met his. She saw his eyes widen as he realized she was no longer helpless.

  With a snarl, she shot a wave of energy directly into his eyes, searing him to ash. His empty armor rolled away as she surged to her feet, her own armor shimmering into being around her, a sword in her hands.

  As she looked around at Reece, she saw him lift his great sword in both hands to hack down on Parker. Blood snaked from his armored shoulder.

  The turncoat lifted his weapon for another parry.

  With a thought Erin transformed Reece's sword into a massive battle-ax. The blade chopped right through Parker's lighter sword and buried itself into his chest, smashing the traitor to the floor.

  "That's better," Erin said as the sword fell from Parker's lax hand. Spotting the vampire rising from Janieda's body, she whirled to hack off the thing's head. As the vampire fell, she stalked toward Reece and Parker.

  Her lover grinned at her. "Nice," he said. "Very nice."

  "Don't gloat… yet," Parker hissed from the floor.

  Erin saw his eyes begin to glow through his visor. Instinctively she raised her sword, only to feel the power wave roll over the room before she could strike.

  Voices cursed, metal clanged and rattled. Erin looked around to see the Sidhe and Magekind staring at one another in bewilderment.

  Their vampire opponents were gone.

  A bubbling laugh drew Erin's attention down to Parker. "Good luck… finding them all," he choked out. "Wonder… how many they'll kill?"

  Reece took the sword from Erin's hand and beheaded him with one blow.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  « ^

  "A bloody plague of vampires," Arthur growled, pacing the High Council chamber. "God knows how long it's going to take us to find and kill them all. That bastard Parker shielded them somehow."

  Llyr sat at the Round Table, watching the other man pace off his anger. He himself felt blasted, empty. It was so hard to believe that Janieda was dead.

  Through some trick of the spell that had linked him to Erin, he'd woken with her last words ringing in his. "Save my king!"

  She could have escaped, even if it had meant shrinking even further and flying out some chink in the wall. Instead, she'd donned armor and gone to battle for him.

  Why in the name of all the old gods had she loved him, when he'd never done a damn thing but hurt her?

  Except now, he was the one in pain.

  "We discovered Geirolf had escaped long ago," Llyr said dully. "If I'd told you, perhaps all this could have been avoided. She'd still be—" He broke off, unwilling to expose such a naked wound to another monarch.

  Arthur flung himself into a chair with a weary sigh. "Perhaps. But we'd been slighting you for years. I'm not sure I would have done any differently if I'd been in your boots." He braced an elbow on the tabletop and rested his head on his fist. "I told the Majae's Council you don't treat a monarch like that, but I'm afraid our women have an arrogant streak. I'm only Liege of the Maji's Council now, not High King. They listen only when it suits them."

  A shaft of pain tore through Llyr. "I'd comment, but I'm afraid kings are not immune to stupid arrogance, either."

  The Old Gods knew he hadn't been.

  "No, but I think it's past time we get a little smarter." Arthur straightened, his gaze direct, honest, reminding Llyr why he'd always liked the Magus. "You were right. An alliance is in the best interest of both our peoples. You proved that today."

  Odd. Here was the offer Llyr had waited centuries to hear, yet now he felt nothing.

  But that didn't mean he had to be stupid about it. "I will agree to such an alliance if, and only if, it means not only that I'll help you in your vampire hunt, but that you'll help me bring my brother to heel."

  Arthur inclined his head. "Of course. In retrospect, it was stupid of us to attempt to remain neutral in that fight anyway. Geirolf has taught me just how much damage a sorcerer can do when he chooses. And judging by what I've heard of Ansgar Galatyn, your brother could well give the demon a run for his money when it comes to sheer destruction."

  Llyr rubbed a hand over his jaw, bitterly remembering the children and wives he'd lost to his brother's
assassins. "That's an understatement."

  "I will, of course, have to work out the details with my High Council," Arthur told him, rising to his feet. "Though I strongly suspect this time, they won't give me much of a fight. After that, you and I can arrive at a strategy on the best way to pluck the thorns from our mutual flesh."

  He extended his hand. Llyr looked at it a long moment, thinking bitterly of everything he'd lost in pursuit of that gesture.

  "A handshake is an old custom among my people in sealing a gentleman's agreement," Arthur explained.

  "I'm… familiar with the concept." He rose and took the other man's hand, careful to make his grip firm and sure. It wouldn't do to show weakness, even to an ally. He met Arthur's gaze. "Though you'll pardon me if I also want it in writing."

  The other man barked out a laugh and clapped him on the shoulder. "Any liege worth his crown would. In the meantime, perhaps you'll join us for dinner."

  "I believe I will." As the two men started for the door, Llyr said softly, "It's ironic, really. This was what I wanted all these years when I tried to persuade your Majae's Council to let me take a Maja to wife. And it's the one reason I never married Janieda." Compelled for reasons he didn't even understand, he met Arthur's dark, sympathetic gaze. "The last thing I said to her was that she wouldn't make a good queen." He squared his shoulders and willed away the sting in his eyes. "She was always proving me wrong."

  Erin took a sip of her wine and listened as Reece and Lance argued over the best way to track down the escaped vampires. She tilted her head toward Grace, who was cutting into her steak with a tolerant expression. "Do they ever quit?"

  Grace forked up a bite, chewed thoughtfully, swallowed, and said, "No."

  Erin laughed. "I didn't think so." She bit into some strange Mageverse vegetable and looked around the sprawling banquet room. Tables were packed with Majae, Magi, and Sidhe, all chatting companionably as they grabbed a little dinner before what would undoubtably be a grueling hunt. "Not that we can really afford to quit, with that lot out there doing God knows what to God knows whom."

  Grace grimaced. "Please, I don't even want to think about it. I feel like I'm still a quart low, even after Morgana broke the link spell between the three of us."

  "Me, too," Erin admitted. "By the way, thank you. If you and Llyr hadn't lent me your power…" She shook her head. "We'd have an even bigger problem than a bunch of psychotic vampires on the loose."

  "Yeah, but you're the one that actually went face to face with Geirolf. Nice work, by the way."

  Erin snorted. "Hardly. I damn near lost control of the power and got us all killed."

  "But you didn't," Grace reminded her. "You got it back together and you handled it."

  "Thanks to Reece." She looked around at him as he and Lance leaned back to argue. Concentrating, she felt the warmth of the link shimmering between them.

  Sensing her touch, he turned to her and smiled.

  "He's so damn strong," Erin said softly. "I never expected to feel like this about anyone."

  "Yeah," Grace gave her husband a fond smile. "There's a lot of bullshit to living in the Court. But… some people make it worthwhile."

  Feeling the need for some fresh air, Erin stepped out through towering double doors onto the castle balcony. She stopped dead in wordless admiration at the sight of Avalon spread out beneath her, all towering spires and elegant architecture glowing in the cool light of the Mageverse moon. An impossibly beautiful sky spread overhead, awash in shimmering nebula colors of pink and blue, more brilliant than she'd ever seen on Earth. Half-hypnotized, she stepped toward the railing.

  She didn't hear the doors open behind her, but she sensed the psychic warmth of Reece's presence. "It's gorgeous," she said as he stepped up behind her.

  "It's not the only thing," he said, and pressed a kiss on the shoulder her gown left bare.

  Smiling, Erin leaned back against his strength and warmth. The fine linen of his black tuxedo felt gently rough against her spine as his big hands slipped around her waist. "We made it, babe," she said softly. "We beat him. I didn't think we would."

  "I never doubted you for a minute," Reece told her, nuzzling her hair.

  "Liar. You thought we were screwed."

  "Like a Swiss Army knife into a champagne cork."

  Erin laughed, suddenly feeling giddy. "I got him for you, David," she called to the sky.

  "Now if only we can get all his little vampire friends." Reece caught the tender lobe of her ear between his fangs in a gentle nibble. "That's going to be a bitch. If dawn wasn't so close, we'd all be out there looking now."

  "We'll get 'em," Erin said, as a reckless confidence filled her. "We can do anything. Man, I feel like I could fly." She grinned wickedly as a sudden thought struck her. "And come to think of it"—her feet floated free of the ground—"I can."

  "Hey!" Reece caught her hips to keep her from rising further. "You're not going anywhere."

  "Oh, come on, vampire!" She spun weightlessly in his arms and wrapped her long legs around his waist. "Haven't you ever wanted to fly?"

  "Not without benefit of wings, rotors, and a good solid cockpit." Feeling his feet leave the ground, he grabbed for her. "Cut it out!"

  "What are you, chicken?" she demanded as they rose slowly higher.

  "Chicken?" He eyed the receding ground warily. "I just slew a demon, lady."

  "That would sound a lot more convincing if you didn't have a death grip on my waist. Don't you trust me?"

  "With my heart, my life, and my sacred honor. Dammit, don't drop me!"

  "You're immortal, you big pansy. It wouldn't kill you."

  "But it would hurt!" He tore his gaze from the Magekind's shrinking castle to gave her an evil glare. "And as for that last crack, just wait until I get you on the ground. We'll see who's a pansy."

  Erin heaved a put-upon sigh. "Would you feel better if you had a visible means of support?"

  Suddenly there was thick, knotted wool under his Gucci loafers. Reece looked down at it with a lifted brow. "An Aubusson flying carpet?"

  "You're the one who likes brand names, Gucci Boy."

  "That's Gucci Man to you, babe. And Aubusson is hardly a 'brand name.'"

  "Well, if you don't like it…" She lifted her hands.

  "Like it?" Reece toppled with her, landing in the center of the carpet to the sound of her startled yelp. He grinned evilly. "I plan to give you a serious case of rug burn."

  His hot mouth cut off her delighted giggle. She tore her mouth free to tease him. "You sure you want to distract me when we're three hundred feet in the air?"

  Reece lifted his head and gave her a wild look.

  Erin laughed. "I'm kidding. This thing will go right on flying without any further effort on my part. Except maybe when I want us to land."

  A slow grin spread over his face. "Well, in that case, it's time I work a little magic of my very own."

  She moaned as Reece kissed her hungrily, his big body pressing hers into the thick, soft wool of the carpet. One big hand tangled in her hair, turning her head this way and that as he angled it to his satisfaction for each nibble and lick.

  When he finally let her come up for air, she smiled at him dreamily. "You know the real reason I made the carpet?"

  Reece nuzzled her chin, breathed. "Why?"

  "To block the view from the ground when I do this." Their clothes melted away like mist.

  "Mmm," he purred, drawing back to study her pale, naked body with hot male approval. "That's what I love about you, sweetheart. You're so efficient."

  She smiled. "There's a long, long list of things I love about you." As Reece lowered his head to lick one of her hard nipples, she let her head loll on the carpet. "And that tongue is definitely near the top."

  "This tongue?" He flicked it over the tight peak, sending sweet little jolts along her nervous system.

  "That tongue."

  Reece paused to suckle until she moaned. "So where on the list is it?"

&nb
sp; She groaned as he bit delicately. She gasped, "Where's what?"

  "My tongue. On the list."

  "You expect me to count?"

  "Too much for you?" He gave the other peak a thoughtful flick of his tongue, then settled in for a long, drawing suck.

  "Definitely too much," Erin sighed. "More, please."

  Reece lifted his head and scanned her slim, naked body possessively. "Maybe you need more data."

  She wriggled on the carpet and hooked one bare heel over his butt. "Data?"

  "To determine where my tongue is on your Favorite Reece Body Parts list." He licked delicately down the length of her sternum.

  "Data. Oh, yeeaaaaah. I just love research…"

  He swirled his tongue around her belly button, then planted a string of tiny bites down her abdomen. Erin moaned, staring dizzily at the Mageverse sky sliding past overhead.

  His big hands parted her knees, and his hair brushed the inside of her thighs. And that wonderful tongue danced over the lips of her sex before dipping between them.

  The sensation had her arching with a drawn-out moan of pleasure.

  "Figured it out yet?" He circled her clit.

  "Need more samples." Erin cupped the back of his head, drawing him closer.

  As his tongue swirled over her most sensitive flesh, one finger found her core and slipped inside. He rumbled in pleasure against her sex. "Like butter."

  She moaned at the moon. "You have that effect on me."

  "Well, that's encouraging news." He rotated his wrist, pumping his hand slowly as he licked and swirled and strummed between the slick folds. Erin draped her calves over his broad shoulders, floating on sweet waves of delight.

  Her legs felt delightfully warm across his back as cool night air whispered along his spine. She tasted of salt and sex, richly intoxicating. Reece knew he'd never get enough of her.

  The Truebond shimmered between them, throwing him a delicious echo of her pleasure as he played with her. The sensation of female anatomy he didn't have responding to his own tongue made his head spin. Happily seduced, he experimented, trying to find the perfect combination to send her right out of her brilliant mind.