by L. E. Wilson
Speaking of which, she really needed some clothes, and shoes, and her own shampoo. Maybe she could talk him into a shopping trip tomorrow night.
Or, she thought, I could just order everything online, if I can get a hold of a credit card.
As she stood there making her mental list of everything that she'd need, Luukas strode into the room. Squeezing past her without acknowledging her, he grabbed some boots from the closet and sat on the bed to pull them on.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
He didn't answer her, so she followed him as he strode out of the room.
"Luukas? Where are you going?"
"Out."
Pulling the busted front door closed behind him, he left the apartment.
"Out," she repeated to herself, rolling her eyes.
Why had she ever thought that a vampire male would be any different than a human one?
Blowing her hair out of her eyes, she decided that two could play that game, and headed over to the office to search for that credit card.
Chapter 26
Leeha
Leeha hesitated briefly before opening the door, struggling with her feelings about this.
But no, it had to be done. He already knew too much.
Indicating for Aiden to follow her, she pushed open the door and led him inside.
The room that greeted them was reminiscent of a saloon straight out of an old western movie. Except it was filled with vampires instead of cowboys, and it served up blood straight from the vein rather than whiskey.
As she entered, every immortal in the place stopped what they were doing and dropped to one knee before her, heads respectfully lowered.
Pleasure and pride filled her at the sight. Soon, she'd have an entire continent, perhaps an entire world, of vampires bowing before her.
Her voice rang out strong and clear, "You may rise."
They did so, standing at attention before her.
Glancing over at Aiden, she noticed his smile of greeting faltering. Ah, yes. He was not stupid, this one. He sensed something was amiss.
And he was correct.
"What have you done, Leeha?" he asked quietly. "These are Luukas' vampires that followed you when you left, yet I feel that they're...not."
She looked over the room, seeing it through his eyes. An old wooden bar ran along the left wall. Tables and chairs were spread throughout the remainder of the space, and there was even an old piano over in the corner. It made her feel like she'd gone back in time to the gold rush days in America. One would almost expect to see a gunslinger come ambling in at any moment, cowboy hat low over his eyes and pistols slung low on his hips.
Male immortals were scattered throughout the room, still at attention and reverently attuned to her. Amongst them was an array of young, beautiful humans in various stages of undress and blood loss. They lounged where they'd been tossed aside, regarding her warily.
She'd found this old, abandoned town when she'd first arrived to the area, and had quickly set her vampires to renovating it for no other reason except that she had a thing for old ghost towns.
She'd had no idea at the time how very useful it would be to her.
Later, they'd dug large tunnels through the rocky underground from her mountain residence to the town, allowing her to go back and forth between the two any time of the day or night to check on her creations.
They seemed quite happy here.
Aiden walked towards his old friends cautiously, searching their faces, and not appearing to find what he was looking for.
His expression uncharacteristically solemn, he faced Leeha again.
"These are Luukas' vampires, or they were before you led them to the dark side. Quite literally, it seems. These are the bodies you gave to the demons. Is there anything left of them at all in there?"
"Not enough to matter," she answered gleefully. "They are completely and utterly my subjects now."
Clasping his hands behind his back, Aiden wandered back her way. "Weren't they already your subjects?"
"No," she told him, "Not really. They came with me, taken in by my beauty or what have you, but they were never completely mine. I didn't create them, Luukas did. No matter how much I would've wished otherwise, they would always have a bond with him."
She turned away, admiring her handiwork. "But not anymore. Now, they are truly my creations."
"How did you manage to muck up the others, but not these?" he wondered aloud.
"These were the earliest ones. As I told you in the altar room, the first one was quite by accident. But once it was done, I started bringing the rest in one at a time, all with the same results."
"And how, exactly, did you go about the possession?"
"Once they are bound to the altar, I drain the vampire until he's near death. The demon can then enter their body. I reanimate them with my blood, and a human sacrifice feeds them, completing the transition."
"That's it?" he still sounded skeptical.
She pouted a bit, and grudgingly admitted, "There is a spell that must be used also that enables the possession."
"A witch's spell?"
She nodded.
"And you actually found some twat who was willing to be a part of this evil mess?" he asked in disbelief.
"I found something better," she gloated.
Aiden scratched his head. "So, why did it work with these vampires, but not the others? The ugly, smelly, grey things?"
Curling her arms around herself, she refused to meet his eyes. "I didn't know at first, but I now believe it has to do with the age of the vampire," she cleared her throat, "And the identity of the one who created them to begin with."
She could practically hear the gears grinding in Aiden's sharp mind as he began to pace in front of her.
"So, the ones who failed the experiment, they were new vampires that you'd created recently from humans."
"Yes," she confirmed.
"Mmm-hmmm, mmm-hmmm."
His pacing got faster and faster as he figured it out. "That's why they don't work. They're too new, and your blood isn't strong enough for the bodies to handle the possession."
She said nothing, shame filling her as he pointed out her shortcomings.
"So their body begins to decay, and they appear more like the demon's physical form, if they had one, than their own. Interesting, interesting...How long do they last before they rot completely?"
"It depends. The first ones rotted within days, but the more I create, and the stronger I get, the longer they survive. It's still not long enough, however. It seems I am insufficient as a Master vampire in that way. I can only steal a more powerful vampire's creations and turn them into my own. It's quite disheartening."
Aiden came to a halt directly in front of her and lifted her face up with a gentle finger under her chin.
"Aww, poppet. Keep your chin up. The great ones always fail before they succeed, as they say. You will too. You'll see."
He flashed her a smile, and she couldn't help but return it: his handsome face and positive attitude, as always, a balm to her weary soul.
He gave her a lusty wink. "There she is."
He swung his arm in an arc, taking in the males behind him. "So you have your own creations now. How do you keep a hoard of demons entertained, I wonder?"
She eyed her creatures lovingly. "They love all things physical, of course. Feeding, fighting, sex. They've been incorporeal for thousands of years, their spirits unable to leave that altar."
"That's it? There's no other purpose for this, other than to prove that it's possible?"
"Oh, there's a purpose," she promised, "As Luukas insists on fighting me, rejecting the future that should be ours, I'm going to take that future for myself. Soon, he will have no vampires of his own, for they will all be turned to belong to me. I will rule this entire continent, and Luukas will have no choice but to come to me and beg for my forgiveness. For without his vampires, what purpose does a Master vampire serve?"
"Ther
e's just one small flaw in your plan, poppet. He'll weaken more and more with every loss of a child, until there's nothing left of him for you to claim."
"No, he won't, because I'm not killing them. They're still there, somewhere. It's just that the demons are stronger, their possession overwhelming to the former occupants of the bodies. They are suppressed."
Leeha glanced over his shoulder, and gave a slight nod, before catching Aiden's grey eyes with own turbulent red ones. "And now we must say goodbye, my beautiful Aiden."
Confusion crossed his features, then his grey eyes filled with understanding. He touched her porcelain cheek, cocking his head to the side.
"Ah. I see. I have to admit, I'm quite gutted, poppet. I had such plans for us."
"I'm so sorry, my Aiden."
A male voice began to chant softly from the back of the room as she pulled his head down and kissed him softly on the lips.
True regret overflowed within her as Aiden's eyes rolled back in his head and he fell heavily to the floor. She caught his head before it hit the hard wood, and gently lowered it the rest of the way.
"Take him to the altar room," she ordered the cloaked figure, her voice choked with tears.
Chapter 27
Luukas
Luukas finished pulling on his dark grey hoodie as he stepped out of the elevator into the underground parking garage, zipping it closed and pulling the hood up to conceal his face. He wasn't ready to be seen just yet.
Looking around for his brother, he spotted him over by his SUV.
"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Nik asked him as he approached.
"No," he answered honestly, "But I've got to do it sooner or later. Might as well get it over with. I can't believe you've succeeded in hiding my absence this long as it is."
"It was no easy task, my brother. But I felt it was necessary, and everyone else agreed. If the truth had gotten out, it wouldn't have done anything but create a panic. We would've had vampires banging on our door every night, wanting news, wanting to help...it was just easier this way. Of course, we assumed we'd have you back much sooner."
Getting into the drivers seat, Nik went on to tell him, "We announced that you were implementing heightened security measures on the home front to explain why visitors wouldn't be allowed to visit there anymore, but there was a lot of suspicion anyway."
Starting the car, he let it warm up a moment. "And we had our hands full. Master vamps from all over were poking around, trying to get somebody to slip up and say something. I even had Christian pretend to be you for more than one phone call. He does a dead-on imitation of you, by the way. And we'd drive around in the SUV with him dressed in your clothes. We never stopped the vehicle, and with the tinted windows, it seems we pulled it off. They may have suspected something wasn't quite right, but there was never any proof."
"You did well, Nikulas. Thank you."
"No problem, man."
They left the apartments and pulled into the downtown traffic. It wasn't very heavy this time of the night, but they still hadn't gone far when they stopped at a light, and Luukas felt his brother's blue eyes boring into him. "What?"
"I was just thinking," Nik gave the road his attention again as the light turned green. "Is Keira gonna be ok, leaving her at the apartment by herself? With a busted front door? I know there's security all over the place, but..."
Luukas smirked. "She's a powerful witch, as you constantly like to remind me. She can take care of herself."
"You're not worried she'll take off?"
"How? She has no clothes of her own. No money. No phone. I doubt she'd walk barefoot through the streets of Seattle in my pajamas."
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
He needed to get off of this subject. "So, where are we going first?"
"Well," Nik suggested, "I thought we'd head down to the waterfront, cruise by some of your businesses. Let you be seen by the vamp crews. If you feel ready at any point, maybe we could stop in a few places. Not too many though, that would look too suspicious. Having you all over the place when no one's really seen you for seven years. Plus, I think we should take this one step at a time."
Luukas felt his chest tightening up with anxiety. "Yeah, we'll see how it goes."
They drove in silence after that, each caught up in their own thoughts.
Luukas wondered what Keira was doing, then just as quickly pushed her out of his head.
Or at least he tried.
Pulling his hood off, he gazed out the car window, letting his vampires see him, occasionally giving a small wave. His mind, however, was far from his reinstatement into society. Instead, it was obsessed with a curvy, raven-haired, smart-mouthed witch.
His lips quirked as he finally gave up the fight and let her in.
She was a ballsy little thing, that was for sure, standing up to him in ways that would make grown males quake in their boots.
He remembered her back in their cell, bringing him blood and water to drink. She'd had to get so close to him, he could have easily bitten her. But she'd done it anyway.
And she hadn't tried to run when they'd gotten free, even when she'd felt certain he was going to kill her.
She still hadn't run away, even now.
Mine.
Luukas crossed his arms over his chest, fighting what everything inside of him was trying to tell him. He refused to believe it. All of this mated shit was just that, a bunch of bullshit. An old tale passed down through the years for amusement, or hope for pathetic souls that there was a chance to ease the loneliness, or whatever. It just wasn't possible.
And he would prove it.
"Pull the car over," he ordered.
"What? Here? There's nothing around here. Just a bunch of houses and the cruise ship terminals."
"I said, pull the fuck over."
"All right, all right." Nikulas pulled down a side street and stopped the car. "But where are you going?"
"I'll meet you back at the apartments." Slamming the door, he took off at vamp speed before his brother could ask any more questions.
According to the stories, once a vampire had found and drank the blood of his fated mate, he wouldn't be able to feed from anyone else.
Well, let's just see about that.
Covering his head with his hood again, he stalked the streets of Queen Anne. He'd prove that this bonded mate thing was nothing but a bunch of fucking bullshit, and then he'd end this game he'd been playing and send that little witch packing. He didn't need her.
He hadn't been walking long when he spotted an attractive, thirty-something female sitting on her porch steps, talking on her phone. She eyed him suspiciously as he approached.
"Hi," he said, trying to turn on the old charm that used to be so effortless.
She didn't answer him, tensing to flee as she interrupted the other speaker, "Hey, hey hon..."
Catching her eyes with his own, he commanded, "Tell your friend you have to go now."
"I have to go now," she said obediently.
"Now hang up the phone."
She did, laying it down on the step beside her.
"Do you live here alone?" he asked.
"No, I live here with my husband."
"Is he home?"
"No. He's working late."
"Good. Invite me in," he ordered in a low tone.
She hesitated just for a second. "Come in."
Following her inside, he locked the door behind him as she stood waiting, her heart pounding and her pulse racing, but unable to break free of his pull on her and run.
A lazy smile crossed his face, his fangs lengthening as he caught her scent. "What is your name?"
"Anna," she whispered.
"Come here, Anna."
She did as he told her, coming to stand directly in front of him. She was tall for a female, the top of her head reaching his nose, unlike his little witch, who barely came to his shoulder.
He snarled, fed up with her constant intrusion into his thoughts, and the human'
s eyes widened in fear.
"You will not run away, you will not scream, and once I'm done and I leave here, you will not remember me at all. Do you understand?"
"Yes," she said breathlessly.
Her dark hair was cut short, so nothing stood in the way of his feeding. Tilting her head to the side with one hand, he pulled her closer to him with the other. He took a moment to appreciate the sight of her pulsing artery, inhaling her pleasant scent again. She was tall enough that he barely had to bend forward.
His fangs scraped her warm skin, and she whimpered.
"Do not be afraid," he whispered.
Slowly, appreciatively, he sank his fangs into her throat, tasting her blood as it pooled to the surface.
He stiffened.
Her blood tasted nothing like it should. Was she ill? Was it his imagination?
Taking a small pull, he tasted her again.
Her blood tasted like it had been fermenting for years in a rotting corpse.
Quickly, he removed his fangs, spitting her blood onto the floor.
Licking his thumb, he rubbed it over her small wounds to heal them, unable to bring himself to lick them closed as he normally would.
"Are you ill? Do you have some human disease?" he asked the woman.
"No. I just had all my blood work done two weeks ago."
Luukas released her abruptly, turned, and fled from the house.
That fucking witch! She'd done something to him! Some spell...some curse!
No, he would try again. Maybe that woman was ill, and just didn't know it yet.
Two hours and six human females later, Luukas was back at his apartment building. He stood across the street and looked up at the top floor, watching the witch as she stood at the window as he so often did. She wouldn't be able to see him with her human eyes, but he could see her very clearly.
After a few moments, she sighed, and walked towards the kitchen until she was out of sight.
It could not be true.
She could not be his mate.
