Ellowyn Found: An MM Vampire Trilogy Omnibus Edition Books 1 - 3

by Kayleigh Sky

  “You’ll wait on me tomorrow,” Zev said. “At the dinner.”

  Asa pulled on his pants and nodded. “That’s my job.”

  Zev said nothing as Asa carried the rest of his clothes out the door and closed it behind him.

  30

  Arcane

  The trip back to the staff’s quarters passed in a gray haze. Asa found himself in a narrow hall without knowing how he’d gotten there. Verdigris, cone-shaped sconces emitted a dull green light. Barely enough to see by.

  Why was he such a stupid bastard? He was supposed to seduce Zev not piss him off. Pretend. Make believe. But the thought of doing that had turned his stomach, and that confused him. He’d acted with every other vampire. Moaned and groaned when he was supposed to. Pretended they didn’t make his skin crawl.

  Why not lie to Zev too? Why jab at him and piss him off?

  Because it wasn’t a lie. Nothing he’d felt with Zev was a lie.

  God. He was going to get himself killed.

  He swiped at the back of his neck as though a breath had touched it, but there was nobody there.

  The hall he was in connected with another that split one way toward his room and the other way toward an exterior door. A wispy mist clung to the door’s four windowpanes, beading the glass as though a soft drizzle fell. A current of cold air swirled around him, and he shivered. He hadn’t met the vampire royals yet. He dodged out of the way of any hint of them.

  Urging himself on, he turned away from the door and followed the hall into the shadows. Half their rooms fell below ground level, which was perfect if they also happened to be vampires. What would it be like to always live in the dark?

  There are all kinds of dark.

  He froze as the sound of the words floated out of his head. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and he turned, but the hall behind him remained empty. He hurried on, reached his bedroom, threw open the door and—

  Fog disappeared as though blown away by the force of the door opening. Fog? His skin crawled. It was like the fog that had saved him from Acalliona. Except he wasn’t sure he’d seen it, because how could he have? Yet, thin fibers of light glittered in the space, as gossamer as the most delicate fabric.

  Isaac lay in bed, eyes open and fixed on him. “Where were you?”

  Asa’s pulse boomed. Had that been real?

  Of course not. It was just his eyes adjusting. Rooms didn’t get foggy. Fields got foggy. He shook his head and pushed the thought away, though something in Isaac’s eyes made him wary.

  “I was with the king, going over some things he needs for tomorrow.”

  “I wish I could be at the diner,” Isaac murmured. “All the royal family in one place.”

  “You’re better off in the kitchen. You can’t trust them.”

  Or anyone.

  The fog had surrounded Isaac’s bed, but Isaac didn’t say anything about it.

  He had to get out of here.

  Go someplace normal—like a busy street in a human city where the sun burned away the fog and vampires didn’t haunt the dark places.

  Where Isaac didn’t stare at him over the top of his covers with hooded, secretive eyes.

  31

  Countermove

  Sun glinted off the snow and streamed through the windows.

  Asa pulled off his sweatshirt, hung it on a peg in the mudroom off the kitchen, and returned to his stool.

  Color surrounded him. Deep blue and orange tiles on the walls, beige slate on the floor, offset with smaller squares of the tiles on the walls. The surface of the table he was working on was a different tile—white with tiny blue and yellow flowers. The kitchen here was smaller than the one in the manor and lent itself to traffic jams around the center table.

  A bucket of mushrooms sat in front of Asa’s stool, Isaac beside him, chopping onions, celery, and carrots. The kid frowned as he worked, bottom lip clamped between his teeth.

  “You’re good at that,” Asa muttered, somewhat resentfully.

  It had been two months since they’d both arrived at Dinallah’s household, and Isaac had taken to his job like a vampire to everything mushroom.

  “I never pictured it,” Isaac said over the clatter of pans on the stove and the clickety-click of half a dozen other knives. “But I like it. It’s fun, and I like makin’ people happy.”

  The kid’s street-smart look made a hard background in his eyes. It was a part of him, but not front and center.

  Asa bent over his mushrooms. “What are these going in? There’s like fifty gallons here.”

  “Soup, salad, pastries, stuffing for some roasts, a couple sauces, and a special candy.”

  “Candy?”

  What the hell was wrong with these people? Who made candy out of mushrooms? Or ate ferns?

  He glowered and chopped, trying to keep up with Isaac as the sun peeled itself off the walls and the lights came on.

  Isaac grabbed his tub of mushrooms and stormed off.

  Asa had to forget the fog. It hadn’t really been there. Fog didn’t descend on people except in horror movies. Or in real life when getting drained by a vampire. But Asa had been scared shitless that night, not to mention weak from blood loss, and had probably been seeing things. The fog in the room was harder to explain. Unless it had never been there. It could have been an optical illusion. Isaac hadn’t seen it. Or at least he hadn’t admitted to seeing it. But how well did Asa know Isaac? The kid cavorted with vampires of his own free will.

  Still…

  Maybe Asa had no instincts at all, but he couldn’t wrap his head around Isaac being anything but a serious, hard-working kid.

  He swiped the sweat off his forehead and bounced a few more mushrooms on the table.

  “Emek.”

  His head jerked up. Justin stood in the door, staring at him. Shadows pooled under his blade-sharp cheekbones. Asa stood and approached him.

  A stiff smile moved Justin’s lips. “Please assist the king in his dress. I’ll relieve you in enough time to prepare yourself. Wear the outfit waiting in your room. You’ll be attending the king at dinner.”

  Asa’s stomach knotted. “I don’t know how to do that.”

  “You stand behind his chair, Emek, and ensure he has what he wants. The king is not demanding.” Justin’s arm jerked away from his side. He patted Asa’s shoulder. “You’ll do fine.”

  He stood to the side, ice sliding under his features again. Not unkind or unfair. Justin made an effort, but he didn’t burn like Zev. He mirrored the faceless vampire that still roamed Asa’s memories. The vampire that slipped him money with an icy curve to its lips and sank its fangs into his flesh the way Asa bit into his favorite green chile cheeseburger. He was food, whore, and slave.

  Except with Zev.

  But Zev…

  Was one of them.

  One of the ones who’d rampaged through his dad’s office building and chased him into the vampire-infested streets.

  Wasn’t he?

  But if he wasn’t, who?

  “Well, well… Come here, little one…” Asa stopped for a moment in the empty hall and let the voice play through his head. “You can’t get away…”

  It wasn’t Zev’s.

  He hurried on into the foyer. Will and Casey, arms piled high with linens and towels, climbed the stairs. A round burl table sat in the center of the space, on top a vase filled with berries and twigs and grasses. Asa skirted around it and went down the hall that led to Zev’s rooms. His footsteps fell soundlessly on the rug in Zev’s study. He stopped at his bedroom door. Zev stood inside, facing a window. The last light of the day streamed thin and gray around his dark figure, shining on the hair that fell with his bent head. A second after Asa stepped in, he jerked upright and turned.

  “Please prepare my bath.”

  So that’s how it was going to be. Asa clenched his jaw and remained silent. The vamp had grown strong again. He didn’t even limp.

  His bathroom was blue and white. Subway tile covered the f
loor and surrounded the tub. The chrome fixtures gleamed, and a bow-shaped window gave a view of the lake during the day.

  Asa let the water run until hot, then plugged the drain. The scent of roses filled the air with a sprinkle of salts over the water. It was a strange fragrance for a vampire. No flowers decorated his rooms, but none bloomed in the manor gardens either. Asa laid a towel on the corner of the tub, wet a cloth, and draped it over the tap. Afterward, he made to leave the room, but Zev said, “Stay with me,” and Asa gave a nod and leaned against the sink.

  Not stay. Stay with me.

  Maybe that explained why he swallowed his anger, though it still simmered inside him.

  He took the robe Zev handed him and hung it on the hook behind the door. When the water hit the halfway mark, Zev stepped into the tub then stood there, gazing at him under lowered lids. Could vampires be pale? Asa tamped down on any desire to worry about him. Zev had all the power no matter how often he gave up his hole.

  Still…

  Was he scared? Like Asa?

  Asa gave him the same glowering gaze back and said, “You don’t expect me to wash your dick, do you?”

  Zev snorted and sank under the suds. “I wouldn’t bother you, but Justin is seeing to the families.”

  “You make them sound like an old-time mob.”

  Zev chuckled and dipped the cloth under the water. He brought it to his nose and inhaled, eyes half closing.

  “Do you have any questions?”

  “Do you like roses?”

  Zev’s eyes flew wide, a startled expression on his face. “What?”

  “You smell like roses.”

  “I like the smell.”

  “But not the flower?”

  A bewildered smile appeared on Zev’s face. “I like woodland flowers best. Ferns.”

  “Like the moon lace fern?”

  “I guess. Moon lace is spindly and grows wild in dangerous places. It’s not beautiful, but I’m touched by the way it endures. A promise that even the harshest of things bring gifts.”

  “And then you eat it.”

  Zev’s smile broadened as he leaned back. “Any other questions?”

  “About what?”

  “About tonight. Your duties.”

  “I do what you want.”

  “I won’t ask for much. I want my food to come from you though. You’ll receive it from Justin. And don’t hide what you’re doing.”

  “You want them to know you don’t trust them?”

  “They already know that. I want them not to bother to try and poison me.” Zev cocked his head, strands of hair clinging to his flushed face. A frown drew his brows together, and he chewed his lip, his tension infecting Asa.

  Crossing his arms, Asa shifted his weight against the counter and said, “What are you thinking?”

  “Somebody already tried to poison me.”

  Asa dropped his arms. “When?”

  “On my birthday,” Zev said. He stretched out an arm, long and pale and muscular, and dragged the soapy cloth to his shoulder. “It came in a gift, a red goblet. The more I drink out of it, the more I’m poisoned.”

  “Have you drunk out of it?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Then how do you know it’s poisoned?”

  Zev switched the cloth to his other hand. Nothing odd about that, but Zev didn’t answer, not until he soaped his other arm. “A friend told me.”

  “How’d your friend know?”

  “It’s an old method.”

  “Doesn’t sound very reliable. What if you never drank out of it?”

  Zev laughed. “And yet I’m going to. I had one made just like it. Let them think they’re killing me and maybe they won’t try outright.”

  “You mean like pushing you off a cliff?”

  Zev stood, soapy water sliding down his body, his laughter fading into a rueful grin. “Sadly, I have more than one enemy. But Uriah, Otto’s associate, will watch for anyone who seems unduly interested in my cup.”

  Asa sighed. Fuck, Zev was beautiful. “How do you live like this?”

  He stepped over to the tub and took one of the showerheads from its handle. Depressing a button, he directed the warm stream toward Zev. This close, the heady scent of the roses bloomed. As Zev’s skin blushed the faintest of pinks, Asa’s cock swelled. He pointed the water at Zev’s belly, pattering the glossy skin, gaze following the frothy suds through Zev’s pubic hair and over the rosy arc of his fattening dick. A few inches above, Zev’s belly pulled tight over sinew, and Asa lifted his gaze.

  His mouth watered.

  His heart squeezed.

  He fought against the memories… the heat in his groin… the truth…

  He couldn’t trust this creature.

  He rinsed him, turned off the water, and got a towel out of the closet. “Come here.”

  A smile touched Zev’s lips but didn’t last. He stepped out of the tub and stepped over, his gaze leveling down to Asa’s. As though he knew Asa’s thoughts, his smile returned to his lips. “I’m ferocious, aren’t I?”

  “You kill humans.”

  A wince twisted his smile before a frown replaced it. “Only during the war.”

  “Aren’t there rules in war?”

  “In yours. We were fighting to live.”

  A rough laugh rose in Asa’s throat. His memories of that night at Gladstone Solutions did no good, but they kept rising no matter how many times he pushed them away. The one that haunted him more than the others was the image of his dad lying half out of his office, bent over the shards of glass that had once been a wall. Asa had stared through the empty space into the wrecked office, mesmerized by the vampire who’d stepped out, a dripping sword at his side.

  He’d run. Maybe his dad had still been alive. He hoped not.

  He hadn’t waited for the vampire who’d betrayed him. He’d taken Lady and gone. The war was over for him.

  “I fought for a promise,” he said.

  With another wince, Zev lifted his hand and rested it on Asa’s chest over his heart. “That’s a good reason.”

  Asa ground his teeth before saying, “I was stupid.”

  He took Zev’s wrist, squeezed it, and rubbed the towel up his arm to his shoulder, absorbing the water drops that beaded on his skin. He dried his chest and imagined the reverberations of the heart inside, his own body thrumming in time to its beat. How was that possible? The rise and fall of Zev’s chest matched his own.

  He stared at Zev’s parted lips. Breathed his breath, leaned in, and kissed him.

  Zev moaned, a murmur of sound that hummed like thunder in Asa’s ears. Of all the things the vamps who’d bought him had wanted, the kisses had sickened him, filled him with a poisonous despair.

  But Zev…

  Asa gripped the back of Zev’s neck and pulled him close. The weight of Zev’s arms came around him, and his wet hair fell against Asa’s burning face. Asa pushed it back with his other hand, relishing the cold slide through his hot fingers. He devoured Zev’s mouth, sucking on his tongue and dragging groans out of his throat. Kisses. So intimate. So enthralling. Zev fought against him, pushing to take over the kiss.

  He dug his fingers into Zev’s neck, bruising his own lips, rolling their tongues together, sinking into the heady scent of roses and hot musky skin. He swallowed their mingled spit. Vampire. As nutty and musky and sweet as any human. Asa drank him, consumed him.

  Bit him.

  Zev yelped.

  Asa drew back and licked the slight swell on Zev’s lip. “Okay?” he whispered.

  Zev nodded. “Yeah.”

  He leaned back in, and Asa pecked a row of soft kisses from corner to corner of Zev’s mouth. The warm lips smiled against his. Sliding a palm down the muscled back, Asa squeezed a warm ass cheek, and Zev’s hips bucked.

  He kissed the tip of Zev’s nose. “I like you naked.”

  Zev grinned. “It’s funner when you’re naked too.”

  “Unfortunately,” came a voice from outs
ide the door, “we don’t have time for that.”

  Asa jerked back and spun, keeping Zev behind him. A part of him chortled in amusement—Yeah, right. Protecting a vampire capable of breaking you in two—but the rest of him flared white hot. “What the fuck?”

  Justin took a step into the light and raised an eyebrow. “We have a timetable.”

  Zev’s hands came to rest on his shoulders and squeezed gently. “Thank you, Justin.”

  Justin dipped his chin. “Our guests arrive in the dining room in twenty minutes.”

  He turned, and Zev brushed the side of Asa’s neck with his lips. “You have to hurry now. I need you there with me.”

  Fear lit him up like live wires inside. He needed to take care of himself. “Won’t your detective be there?”

  “Yes, but he’s a guest tonight. His associate will be there, as I mentioned, and Moss too. Now go on.”

  Asa pushed the towel into Zev’s belly and hurried away.

  The dark had fallen now and sconces lit the hallways. He entered his empty room. Faint knocks and thumps and low muttering had followed him here. How many vampires would be congregating? He pictured the creatures hiding behind the walls, sinuous and pallid as things found under rocks.

  For God’s sake, they’re people. Like Zev.

  But he thought of the other ones, the groping ones who’d paid him and wanted to drain him, drop by drop. He swallowed something bitter. Smelled… licorice?

  And mushrooms and the burnt seared scent of garlic.

  His stomach lurched, and he bolted through the door of his room and heaved into the toilet. The stench of puke obliterated the lingering scent of roses. He spat, gagging again, then rested his forehead on the seat. What the fuck?

  His muscles urged him to run. But he’d never get away. Not now. He had to wait until nobody would miss him.

  Besides, maybe Zev had brought the necklaces with him. Looking for them was what Asa had to concentrate on. That, and keeping Zev close. Though not so close he forgot he was only an employee like Isaac.

  Why was the kid so fucking content and not a mess like Asa?