“Jake?” Nyla reached out to touch his face, searching his eyes. The guilt and anger she saw in their depths fueled her own anger, filled her with a feeling of vengeance. She would kill Chrissy’s murderer, just to take that look out of his eyes.
“I’m fine,” he said, shrugging her hand away. “I just wish I could have protected her. She was so young.” He let out a deep breath and continued. “After the fourth marking, I realized they were Egyptian hieroglyphics. I checked the ‘net when I came back tonight and found them. They’re part of the Egyptian alphabet. T-R-A-P.”
“Trap?”
“Yep.”
“You’re saying that someone put those markings on the bodies to spell the word trap?”
“Yes.”
“Assuming it is a trap, why would someone take the chance that we’d figure out what the markings are?”
“Damned if I know, but the bodies of women with fang markings left a trail to this town which just happens to be under some sort of vampire infestation. It’s all deliberate.”
“We were lured here.”
“I was lured here. You came along for the ride. Think about it. I’ve got more vampire kills under my belt than I can count, and a fact like that tends to get around in the vampire community. I think someone has set all this up so they can kill me.”
“Who would do that? And why would any vampire go to such lengths to get one man, regardless of the number of kills you have under your belt?”
“I don’t know why, but I do know that this is a trap. I also don’t know if what we faced tonight was the whole army or just a part of it. There was that small group of vamps watching over the victim’s grave in Louisville. There might be small groups scattered all along the trail.”
“And you’re saying that because it’s a trap we should just leave?” Nyla cocked her head, studying him. His expression and eyes were now as unreadable as white on white.
“How many more ambushes can we walk into and still be able to walk out of alive?” he asked.
She didn’t buy into his answer. “What’s going on, Porter? I know you. You won’t leave your cousin behind without a fight, regardless of whether or not you like the guy. You’ll either rescue him, or if he’s been turned into a vamp, you’ll . . .” As she spoke, it suddenly hit her what he was up to, and she pulled away and glared at him. “You want me out of here so I’ll be safe, and then you’re going to go find the brains behind all this and take him down. Well, Jake, you can forget your protect-the-little-woman proclivities. I’m staying by your side until this entire mess is over.”
“It’s not your fight, Nyla.”
“Bull.” It was more her fight than he realized, she thought as she recalled the images Seta had pulled from the vampire’s mind before the hellfire stopped her. There was a vampire behind the murders, a vampire with fur.
Suddenly, it all fell into place for her. Demarcus had bitten her sixteen years ago, and she’d walked away with immortality. What if she’d given him something in return? What if he’d taken on some of her feline traits? If Demarcus was behind this, then the trap wasn’t for Jake. It was for her.
And she’d just let the love of her life walk right into it with her.
“We’re going in together, Jake,” she stated firmly.
“No, Nyla. I can’t take the chance of losing you. When I reached that house tonight and found it ambushed there was a moment when I didn’t know if you were . . .”
“I was fine tonight, Jake, and I’ll be fine tomorrow, and the next day, and for as long as I need to get this job done,” she cut in, noticing how he was struggling to finish his sentence. “As touched as I am by your concern, I can’t let you do this alone. We’re stronger together, and you know that as well as I do.”
“Yeah,” he conceded, albeit reluctantly.
“So it’s settled.”
“I don’t like it.”
“I don’t either, but the alternatives are letting innocents die or get changed into vamps against their will. Those are not options I can accept.”
“Me neither.” He raked a hand through his hair, his eyes growing wearier by the minute. “I just wish we knew what we were up against. Curtis Dunn is involved somehow, but apparently there’s also a vampire in the mix.”
“You said Alfred Dunn was reincarnated in Curtis Dunn’s body but that Curtis has his own soul.”
“Yeah. He’s supposed to be two souls inside one body, and they’re battling each other.”
“Well, if that’s true and Alfred Dunn hated vampires so much, he wouldn’t willingly do anything to help them, would he?”
“I don’t know. When Carter Dunn captured Aria Michaels in Baltimore, he’d killed several women there while trying to invent an immortality serum. According to Aria, Curtis didn’t seem to want to have anything to do with his brother’s work, wouldn’t even help his twin torture a powerful vampire, but she also said he acted weird sometimes, weird enough to scare her.”
“Was that when Alfred was trying to take over?”
“I don’t know, but probably.”
“So if Alfred hates vampires, and Curtis doesn’t want to hurt people, but they’re still doing something to make vampires in this town and killing people in the process, they must be under a vampire’s control.”
Jake arched a brow. “They?”
“Whatever,” Nyla said, rolling her eyes. “I’m not up on the proper multiple personality terminology. He, they, Curtis, Alfred, or a combination of all that, must be doing someone’s bidding against his will. The vampire controlling him obviously wanted to make his newly formed vamps more powerful, and they were certainly that.”
“Yeah, the ones I went up against at the jail had more stamina than any newly-turned vamps I’ve ever had the displeasure of meeting, and the whole flying circus was a nice touch.”
“So it would be an old, powerfully strong vampire,” Nyla deduced, thinking how Demarcus fit that description perfectly. “Someone scary enough to make even old Alfred, the reincarnated, vampire-hating spirit, do his bidding.”
“And the hellfire tells us whoever the vamp is worships the devil,” Jake added.
“So we’re looking for an older, powerful, devil-worshiping vampire with a grudge against, um, one of us,” Nyla muttered, realizing why she’d seen a raging inferno and dancing demons on one of the unfortunate occasions she’d glimpsed inside Demarcus’s twisted mind before learning how to shield herself from him. “How in hell do you beat a vamp with the devil on his side?”
Jake shrugged. “Christian defeated Carter, and he was supposedly under Lucifer’s protection.”
“Are you thinking what I think you’re thinking?” she asked.
“Don’t rub it in,” he grumbled, shooting her an irritated look.
“I wouldn’t tease you about asking for Christian’s help. Heck, I’d commend you on the proper use of your common sense. Maybe the minister can get some of his other vamp friends to help,” she added, fearing the thought of Jake going up against the very vampire who’d birthed Jake’s hatred for the entire race. The vampire she’d vowed to protect him from.
“Maybe,” Jake said, seeming to contemplate the idea.
Nyla looked away, her mind a mass of indecision. She knew she should warn him about who she thought the vampire was that was orchestrating the trap. But how could she tell him without revealing how she knew—and what she was. He’d seemed so concerned for her safety, as though he truly cared for her, and she cringed inside at the idea of seeing repulsion in his eyes if he discovered she was his pet alley cat let alone a vampire to boot. But on the other hand, she couldn’t allow him to go up against Demarcus blindly. She glanced over at him, biting her lip. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t stand the thought of losing him. She’d just have to get him to sleep and go after Demarcus herself. Ta
ke out the psycho before Jake could get near him.
“You should get some sleep, Jake. We’ll be able to formulate a better plan if we’re rested, and it’s been over twenty-four hours since either of us slept.”
“Yeah, there’s one problem with that,” he said, an undercurrent in his tone heating up her blood.
“What’s that?”
“I’m wide awake.”
“Doesn’t look like it to me,” she said, looking pointedly at the darkened areas beneath his eyes.
“I’m talking about little Jakie.”
“Little Jakie?” she parroted, trying to keep the laughter from her voice, her suddenly raging hormones giving her the urge to giggle.
“Not that little,” he responded, a warning tone in his voice as he leaned over to press his mouth to hers.
Their lips fused together, igniting a fire inside Nyla’s body similar to the Heat, but gentler in its assault. Her heartbeat kicked up a notch as his hand slid over her thigh, stopping at her hip so he could dip his fingers into the waistband of her little black panties.
He wants me, she inwardly screamed with glee as he pulled the small scrap of black lace from her body. She was not a wild animal throwing herself at the closest male in response to a curse which possessed her body seasonally, and he wasn’t some guy just going along for the ride. He was seeing her as a woman, and he wanted her. He was coming to her purely by his own choice, and she poured herself into their kiss in order to keep from crying out in overwhelming happiness. It was the moment she’d been dreaming of since realizing her love for him so many years ago.
He freed her of her remaining clothing, taking a moment to gaze appreciatively at her naked body, a nimble finger following the path his eyes formed, causing goose bumps to form in its wake. “Is this all right? You’re not going to weird out on me again?”
“No weirding out,” she promised, pulling his head down for another taste of his talented mouth. Instinct kicking in, she reached down to stroke him intimately, but found her fingers quickly laced around his.
“Not that I didn’t thoroughly enjoy your dominance our first time,” he said, freeing his mouth long enough to speak, “but this time you’re going to lie back while I take care of you.”
She’d been with more men than she cared to remember, but Nyla had never experienced anything like what Jake did to her body. She struggled to control herself as his clever mouth explored her, breathing over, kissing or licking various points along her body which seemed to be directly linked to her core. Each intimate caress sent a shower of sparks rushing through her system, creating a torturous tingle which threatened to consume her.
Sex had always been a matter of fulfilling a need for her. Not in her wildest fantasies did she know it could be this wonderful. Jake continued to caress her body with mouth and hands, drawing out her pleasure until it became almost unbearable, continuing to put her needs before his own. It was an offering she’d never thought she would receive.
What seemed like hours after he’d first begun, and Nyla reached the point she was about to beg, Jake finally drove into her, filling her body with even more pleasure than she could have imagined. He continued to work her body with his hands and mouth as he rocked back and forth, pleasuring her from the inside and out until the sensations spiraling through her became too intense to contain. She dug her nails into his skin, biting down on his shoulder to keep from screaming as he thrust inside her one last time, his entire body shuddering as he let out a deep cry, sharing her orgasm.
Nyla felt some place deep inside, where she’d never felt anything before, come alive, and she choked back tears. She tried to understand what was happening, but couldn’t think clearly, her mind a mottled mess of pleasure and joy. Joy like she had never known could exist.
“I love you,” Jake whispered, his voice hoarse as he struggled to talk over his labored breathing.
Nyla’s heart felt as though it would burst as adrenaline filled her. Tears fell from her eyes as she replayed Jake’s words, words she would have given anything to hear and could hardly believe that she’d finally heard them. “I love you, Jake.”
Then she gasped as, suddenly and without warning, something dark and cold forced its way inside her body, turning the joy she’d so recently felt into chilling fear. The foreign, yet terrifyingly familiar, entity snaked its way through her body, holding her prisoner inside her own skin. She realized too late that while she’d been consumed with elation over Jake returning her love, she’d dropped her guards against Demarcus. It had only been for a moment, but it was long enough for him to push his way in. She tried desperately to re-erect the walls she’d had in place, but it was too late. He’d invaded more than her mind; he’d taken over her body.
She opened her mouth to scream, but the sound of Demarcus’s deep, rumbling laugh tumbled out instead.
Chapter Twenty-One
SOMETHING SHIFTED in the air, drawing Jake out of the sex-induced fog he’d been lost in. The fine hairs along the back of his neck stood on end as he realized something dark had entered the room. He slowly pulled away from Nyla’s body, ready to warn her of the danger, but deep, rumbling laughter of someone dark and achingly familiar fell from Nyla’s lips, killing his words before they could form.
“Your little friend tasted so sweet,” she whispered against his ear in a menacing, male voice. A voice he’d never forgotten.
He jerked away from her, wondering what kind of cruel game she was playing, but froze when he saw her eyes. The woman lying on the bed looked like Nyla, but someone else was staring at him from behind her eyes, eyes which should have been the color of lilacs, not onyx so deep and dark he felt as if he were gazing into a bottomless well. And there was a cruel set to her mouth that was disturbingly out of place.
“I’ve always loved tasting the blood of young ones,” she continued in that menacing voice as she rose from the bed. “They always taste so much better, so delicate, but Bobby . . . well, he was a real treat.”
“Nyla?”
“Yes, lover?”
Jake balled his hands into fists as he stood opposite her side of the bed, every muscle in his body tense. He stared at the face of the woman he loved, the woman he’d poured his heart and soul out to, and fought to keep from taking her life with his hands. “Get out of her, you sick son of a bitch.”
She tilted her head back and laughed, the sound growing deeper as she returned her dark gaze to him. “I don’t think I’ll do that, Mr. Porter. If you want to kill me, you’re going to have to kill her.”
Jake stared at Nyla, or the shell of Nyla, in horrified disbelief. The voice of the monster he’d spent every waking moment of the past sixteen years wanting to kill was coming out of her mouth, looking at him through her eyes. He knew it wasn’t her, that she was being manipulated by the sick bastard who’d taken his friend’s life, but he still struggled to control his homicidal craving. The beast was inside her body, within reach.
“Bobby’s cries were a symphony, so melodic and—”
“Shut up!”
“I never got the chance to thank you for leaving him there for us.”
“I said shut up!” Jake yelled, trying to think past his need for vengeance. He wanted to kill the thing, to destroy it mercilessly, but it was in Nyla’s body.
He looked in her eyes, and the rage intensified. Nyla’s eyes weren’t looking back at him. He was being leered at by the black eyes of a murderer, a demon. She’s still in there, he reminded himself, tearing his gaze away. He grabbed a pair of jeans and quickly pulled them on, figuring whatever was about to go down was best going down in clothes.
“So modest.”
“Screw you.” He straightened himself as she walked toward him, readying himself for a fight. “How did you get inside her?”
“She let me in.”
“Liar.” He backed
away as she continued to approach him, snagging a knife from the table at his back despite the fact he didn’t want to hurt Nyla. “You’re the psycho who’s taken over this town. We came here to kill you.”
“Go ahead.”
Jake smiled, shaking his head. “I’m not that stupid, bloodsucker. You’ve possessed her body, and you’re controlling it, but you wouldn’t die if she did. You’re not going to make me kill her.”
“Have it your way then,” she said, and lunged for him.
Jake sidestepped her, causing her to fall to the floor. He backed up, placing the bed between them again while he looked around the room for something he could use. He needed a way to detain her without inflicting bodily harm while he figured out a way to get the vampire out of her body. He eyed the tangled sheet spread across the bed just as she rose from the floor.
“I’ve wanted to do this for far too long,” she said, quickly walking around the bed.
Jake reached for the sheet, but halted as Nyla’s body jerked unnaturally. He watched as she grabbed one of the bedposts, seeming to pull and push it at the same time, making moaning sounds of pain while she struggled.
“Jake!”
“Nyla!” Her eyes were hers again, purple and filled with terror. He forgot about the sheet, rushing towards her.
“No! He’s going to make me kill—” Her warning died as her eyes bled to black, her mouth twisting back into a smile. “I’m sorry. Nyla had to leave.”
She lunged forward, grabbing at his collarbone, sinking her fingernails in when she met flesh. Jake let out a cry of pain, grabbing her by the waist as he fell onto the foot of the bed. As his back connected with the mattress, he pushed her upward, effectively tossing her over him, toward the head of the bed. As she catapulted past him, he jumped up, turning to prepare for another attack.
She was on her knees, facing him. Her forehead was red, the aftereffect of slamming headfirst into the wall. “Why don’t you just kill the bitch quick and clean instead of beating her first?” she asked with that evil laughter bubbling up her throat.
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