The others started to creep back in the kitchen to see who I was supposed to be looking at. I heard the collective breath but refused to acknowledge what they thought they saw.
"I mean it's not identical or anything but the resemblance is there," Amalie whispered. Realizing the fragility of my emotional state and our recent reconciliation, she quickly covered her mouth to prevent further outbursts.
More pictures flashed across the screen. A slide show of pictures he found online of the victims. All of them having some physical attribute in common with Mercy Brown. The slant of the eye, the curve of the mouth, bone structure but none of them had as many similarities in appearance as I did.
I knew where Aidan was going with this but I would not be deterred. He thought it put me in danger. I was convinced it would give me an edge. The fact they all looked a little like Mercy Brown was enough to have the Council charge him. I was going to make this vampire confess to murdering these girls and then watch him meet the sun.
"Maurin."
"Don't Maurin me. I'm going."
Amalie stepped up. "Take Graive with you." If the elbow to the ribs Oberon gave her was any indication, she was going to regret that suggestion.
"That's not a bad idea actually," Cash said.
"No, it's a fantastic idea. Why hadn't I thought of it?" Cash lost the smug expression as Aidan went on a rant. "I'm sure he'll take one look a Maurin - the spitting image of his dead lover - with a necro and the vampire who took him before the council and invite us all in for a drink. From the vein most likely. He has slain more necros than any other vampire. Bringing Graive will only incite his hatred for me and stir his passion for a long lost love. It would be a bloody disaster. Literally."
"Hey, fuck off, fanger. If you had killed him the first time five girls wouldn't be dead and Maurin wouldn't be at risk of being kidnapped by some sick fuck bloodsucker."
I moved between them before a fight broke out in my cramped kitchen. Nothing, not the cabinets, the fridge or my new gas stove would survive them. "You're assuming the worst will happen, Aidan. Maybe we can use the fact I look so much like her to get him to talk."
"No, I won't risk it. He's stronger now than he was the first time I met him. If he is on a killing spree, he will meet the sun but I won't give him the chance to use you as leverage."
"I can go without you." If he wouldn't listen to reason, I wasn't going to listen to anymore of his misogynistic bullshit. I backed away, pulling the veil around me.
Aidan felt the shift in my power and grabbed me before I disappeared. "Damn it, woman. I am only trying to keep you safe? Why won't you let me protect you?"
"Because you're idea of protecting me is locking me away in a tower."
"That's not a bad idea actually." Acutely aware of my blood pressure rising, he gave in before my head exploded. "You will wear my mark when we speak to him. This is not negotiable."
I heard of weres marking their mate but not vampires. Did fang marks really look that different? I guess if you can be identified by dental records in life, you could be in undeath. I wasn't exactly sure how I felt about being marked. Again.
I still bore a demon's mark branded into my neck. The fact I was having any reservations probably meant I shouldn't do it. Strings were definitely attached. Cash saw me warring with the decision and was about to object. I think he knew a little more about the commitment than I did and had reasons beyond my uncertainty for stopping it. I squared my shoulders and stepped forward before he could talk me out of it.
"Fine. I'll wear your mark."
8
"I would be a liar if I said I hadn't thought about giving you my mark. This wasn't what I had in mind." Aidan paced the floor at the foot of my bed.
"I've never been big on flowers but I think I have a bottle of wine if it makes you feel better."
We were alone for the first time in days. Everyone had gone home. There was nothing to do until the next sunset - except for Aidan to mark me. I was on the bed, leaning back on my elbows, watching him wear a path in the carpet.
"You didn't even question the mark or what it means. You just agreed. You only said yes because you want to challenge Caligula." Frustrated, he ran a hand through his hair.
"You want me to wear your mark, I want to question Caligula. Isn't this a win win?" My fingers were going numb so I sat up.
"Did it ever occur to you that I would want you to want to wear my mark?" He tugged at his hair again. "Christ, did that even make sense?"
"Okay, maybe you should explain this whole marking thing to me after all." I reached for him. "Aidan."
He stopped pacing and looked at me. "Now you want to know what it means? Second thoughts? Good, because I don't want you anywhere near Caligula."
"I am not having second thoughts. I would like to know why you are freaking out."
"I do not freak out. I am the Cleaner, a highly trained and deadly assassin. I. Do. Not. Freak. Out."
I waved a hand, gesturing to his pacing and waited for his behavior to sink in. He was so freaking out.
"It means you are mine."
"Wh, what?" I cleared my throat, my mouth suddenly dry. "Like your wife? Holy shit! Did I unwittingly agree to some kind of vampire marriage ritual? No wonder Cash wanted to stop me. Damn it, when am I going to learn?" I was too busy berating myself to hear the growl forming in Aidan's throat.
"Don't make him the hero when his reasons for stopping you were selfish."
"He's my..." I was about to say Cash was my friend and for that reason alone he wouldn’t want me making a decision without all the information but the look in Aidan's eyes stopped me cold.
"He's your what? What is he to you exactly?" He was trying and failing to reign in his jealousy.
I wasn't sure what answer would upset him the least so I remained silent. Big mistake.
His eyes burned with so many emotions- anger, confusion, hurt. "This is about us, not the wolf," he yelled.
I didn't bother to tell him that if he kept yelling it was probably going to be all about the wolf since Cash could no doubt hear him. I cringed at the thought of Cash rejoicing in the fact that he was suddenly the topic of conversation while Aidan and I were in my bedroom.
Aidan caught my movement and mistook it for something else. He dropped to his knees in front of me. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you." He raised a hand to cup my face. "I just, I don't know if my mark will even be enough. If something happens to you..." he rested his forehead on mine.
"You've lived through worse than the prospect of losing me." I brushed the barest of kisses across his lips.
He pulled back, slipping a finger under my chin and raising my head until our eyes met. "I would not survive it." I tried to look away, anywhere but his eyes, it was too intense- like he was examining my soul. "Before you say it, let me make something perfectly clear. If leaving you ensured you would not be involved, I would have done it because it meant you would live.
“I would be a miserable bastard without you. I’d leave a trail of blood and ash in my wake but I would have left because I could rest during the day knowing you were out there somewhere raising hell. But your death? I would not survive it. And I am afraid because for the first time in centuries I have something to lose. My god woman, what have you done to me?"
Before I answered his mouth crashed into mine. Aidan pushed us back onto the bed, his lips never leaving mine. His tongue demanded entrance and I opened to deepen the kiss. He was so close, holding his body mere inches from mine with an arm on both sides of my head.
My chest brushed against his. Wrapping a leg around him I closed the distance and pressed our bodies together. I let out a small moan and he growled before devouring my mouth again. I wanted this, wanted him. He released my swollen lips, trailing kisses down my neck, over my scar and then stopped.
"Aidan, if you stop now I am going to open every curtain, every blackout shade in this apartment and welcome the sun while you sleep."
"I would li
ke nothing more than to erase this, the memory of this, before marring your perfect body with another mark. So many have already tried to claim you. The coven, a demon, even your own magic is marking you and now I would force you to do the same."
"You're not forcing me to do anything. Tell me about the mark, Aidan," I said with a sigh knowing even my threat of turning him to ash would not sway him from this train of thought.
He rolled off me and collapsed on his back. "Servus non habet personam - a slave has no personality. In the beginning it was used simply to mark feeders. A brand, like ranchers marking cattle, we marked our property much the same way." He raised a hand to stop the flood of protests he knew was coming at the mention of property. "We haven't had blood slaves for centuries but there are some who still see the mark as a sign of ownership. Very few marks are given nowadays.
“With the awareness of vampires, blood banks and the endless lines of willing donors there isn't a threat of losing your food supply. In modern times it has come to mean something else. Yes, you still belong to me but I don't own you. You are under my protection, and the protection of my line. It is seen as a sign of value, with or without romantic attachments. If a vampire marks someone today it means they are important. It is given with respect. With love. It can elevate the bearer above all others in the vampire's line."
"How many people bear your mark?" Jealousy worming into my head warred with the calm I forced into my voice. Why was I afraid to hear the answer?
"None."
"None? Surely there was someone, in all your years there must have been at least one?"
"None. I have satisfied every need, every desire. Fed from them, bedded them but not once in my existence has someone stirred a passion in me so strong that I want to give them my mark."
"But you've thought about it with me?"
"I have thought of little else lately."
I was through talking, thinking. Pulling my hair back, I exposed my neck to him. His lips brushed the sensitive unmarked skin on my left side before his fangs pierced my neck.
Desire -spread through my body like wild fire, my back arched and he slipped an arm beneath me pressing our bodies together. With each pull on my vein Aidan brought me closer to the edge. Every nerve ending, every cell in my body was engulfed in the flames of our passion.
Before I begged for release he poured all his feelings for me into the connection. Emotions swirled with pleasure overwhelming my senses until he took us over the cliff. I wanted to scream his name and weep with joy at the same time. He withdrew his fangs as aftershocks racked my body. Instead of licking the small wounds to heal them, he busied himself with kissing my collar bone and lapping up the blood that pooled there.
Rolling onto his back he pulled me on top of him. Aidan took me to heights I had never known but I needed more. I wanted to make him feel the same things, make him writhe with desire until he screamed my name. The wounds barely seeping, I stood and did my best to ignore the dizziness. I didn't want him to stop me out of fear he'd taken too much blood.
After making a tantalizing show of removing the rest of my clothes, I slowly undressed my vampire, trailing kisses over newly exposed skin. Suddenly in touch with a seductress I never knew existed within me, I pushed him back onto the bed. I crawled slowly across him, every inch of our bodies touching.
His hands slid down my thighs, kneading, gripping. My own desire building again, pooling almost painfully inside, I wouldn't be able to tease him much longer. I gave myself to him completely for the first time, taking us both over the edge as he moaned my name.
9
I was well into my second cup of coffee when I called Masarelli. Something occurred to me while I was in the shower. Aidan said Masarelli wasn't getting the coroner's report. Why? Was he off the case already and if so, I needed to know more about who was in charge. We weren't going to see Caligula until after sundown. I had plenty of time to find out what was going on with SPTF.
He answered on the third ring. "It's about fucking time you checked in. I've had brass on my ass since your little blackout. You gonna tell me what happened?"
Shit. I pinched the bridge of my nose and braced myself for the words I was about to speak. "You're right." I cleared my throat, fighting the gag. It was physically painful to admit Masarelli was right about anything. "I should have checked in."
There was a thud, then silence. "Hello? Masarelli, you still there?" Maybe I gave him a heart attack.
"Sorry, dropped my phone. I thought I heard you say I was right."
"I'm not saying it again. Do you want to hear what I have to tell you or not?"
"And there's the Maurin we all know and loathe. Yeah, what have you got?"
"I got something off the necklace but not from Caroline Sousa. It was old, really old. It didn't make sense at first. I mean how did the girl get it and why wasn't there any residual memories from Caroline?"
It was weird to use her real name. I usually preferred to keep it as impersonal as possible. They were bodies, never people. I don't think I would have made it three years with SPTF, seeing the things I'd seen, if I let myself make a connection to each victim.
I knew it wasn't like that for Masarelli and he probably wouldn't appreciate me referring to her as the girl or the body. And if I wanted to get under Caligula's skin tonight I would need to say her name repeatedly. I needed to get comfortable with the words.
"Isn't that your area of expertise? Maybe she got it at a yard sale or something and hadn't worn it yet."
"Maybe or maybe it's misdirection."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean? Stop talking nonsense. I don't want to hear what you think you know. Tell me what you actually do know."
"If you're going to be a dick, maybe I should talk to the person in charge of the case. We both know that's not you anymore."
He cursed my name and just about everything else. "How'd you find out?"
"So it's true, you're off the case? Aidan said something about it but I didn't think they would have done it."
"I'm not off the case. I'm just not running it anymore or SPTF for that matter. Sent in some big shot fed to take over."
"So they know about your suspicions? That it's some sort of rogue?" I was hoping to use Masarelli to reign in the Norms. Stop the interference before it really got started. A massive search party involving every branch of police in the state for the two missing girls was bad enough. I didn't need them getting in the way of catching Caligula. We'd hand him over to the Council and figure out exactly what to do about the Norms afterward.
"Yeah, but it hasn't left the new chief's office. He's got a call into the Council already. Since we found those two girls and nobody else has turned up dead, things have settled down a little."
"You mean they're alive?"
"One of them anyway. She decided to take off with her Southie boyfriend without telling anyone and the other, well seems the reason she was able to work two jobs to pay her way through school and still make the grades were the daily doses of Adderall and Ritalin. Combine the weight loss and insomnia from the drugs with her previously undiagnosed heart condition and you get a dead college student. She was already DOA when she got to Mass Gen. She didn't have any ID on her so it took a while to figure out who she was and contact her next of kin."
"That's something to be thankful for."
"A person dying, no matter the circumstances, is nothing to be thankful for, Kincaide."
"I can think of a few circumstances where I might be more than thankful someone died but I was talking about the fact our rogue has stopped killing."
"There is something seriously fucking wrong with you."
"Probably. I'll see you and the new chief later."
"Don't threaten me." He laughed.
"You said he had a call into the Council. Who do you think is going to answer it? Like I said, I'll see you later." I hung up before he could come back with another comment.
So a former fed was running SPTF now. That could s
eriously complicate things. What if he didn't want the Council handling Caligula? The last thing we needed was a crazy serial killer vampire paraded in front of the media and the very public trial that would go along with it. Agrona better have a plan to contain this or we were all going to be in deep shit.
I slapped a pb and j together and settled in front of my laptop. I was glad I wolfed down the sandwich before I got too deep in Caligula's file, otherwise I would have lost my appetite.
Keeping the sandwich down was a challenge. His rule of the Roman Empire was one thousand four hundred days of torture, murder and sexual depravity - some of those happened at the same time. Bet the Senate regretted plotting and then executing his murder only to have him come back as a vampire. Not that I could understand who would actually want a guy who literally fed people to lions and slept with his sister to live forever.
Before I got to the section on his undeath, my father appeared, looking none too happy with me.
"Daughter."
Conry licked Arawn's hand before settling at his feet. "You have kept me waiting. Again."
I dropped my head. Damn it. I totally forgot about meeting with him. "Sorry. You obviously know why I wasn't able to make it."
"Obviously. I had expected you to contact me when you were released. I've felt you in the between twice since then and neither time did you reach out to me."
"I said sorry. I am, okay?" God, it felt like I was apologizing all the time lately. I wasn't any better at it though, practice was not making perfect in this case. "Do you know what's been going on? I mean why I haven't gotten back to you?"
"I am aware of the mortals' deaths. Among other things."
"Like the runes on my door?"
He raised a brow. "Show me."
He examined the door frame, scrutinizing every mark scrawled into the wood. "Looks like Fae handy work to me."
"What?" I shrieked. "You mean Kellen? He knows where I live? How does he know where I live?" Arawn gave me an incredulous look. "Did he followed me through the between?" I cursed myself for being so stupid. Aidan was going to flip when I told him.
Blood Bath, A Paranormal/Urban Fantasy (The Maurin Kincaide Series Book 4) Page 7
