The bite in Devlin’s voice raised the hairs on the back of her neck, but she ignored him. They couldn’t afford to lose focus now.
“There are at least twenty others she would bring to a fight. They’re her best. I’ve never seen them in action, but, according to Charon, they’ve never lost.”
Devlin sneered. “She could have just been blowing smoke.”
“Do you really want to underestimate her?” It didn’t take Ariana long to decide she really didn’t care for Joaquin’s friend.
“She has a point,” Joaquin intervened. “Charon went home with her tail between her legs last time. She won’t want to take that risk this time around. She’ll be overly prepared.”
“And that might be her downfall.” Ariana jerked her head toward their left. “One of the vamps just left. He’s going to get the others. If we’re going to take out the ones here, we should do it now.”
“I’d rather you go.” Joaquin’s whisper carried just enough concern to take the edge off her irritation.
“And I’d rather stay and fight. You haven’t seen me in action, Joaquin. Trust me. I really can take care of myself.”
“I say three against dozens are a hell of a lot better odds than two, Joaquin.” Devlin took a fighting stance beside his friend. “And she has been going around picking off our kind. So I’d say she has some inside knowledge.”
“Not really.” Ariana shrugged. “I’m just quick on my feet.”
“Well, however fast you’ve been before, be faster,” Joaquin returned before jerking his chin toward the group who had now shuffled forward.
“Let’s get ready to party,” Devlin muttered.
* * * *
Party wasn’t exactly what Joaquin would call it. The first vampire leaped across the distance, removing all thought and rationality. Joaquin fought back just like he had all the other times before in his years of existence.
Coming round behind the skinny vampire, he wrapped a forearm across the vamp’s throat and locked his arm in the opposite hand. With just enough downward pressure, he had Charon’s minion squealing for mercy. Joaquin didn’t have the inclination to dole out any.
Another vampire came at him from behind, and he whirled with a roundhouse kick while still holding the one enemy at bay. Though he heard the sounds of scuffle, he could only pay attention to the three other vampires coming his way. As much as he wanted to make sure Ariana was okay, his survival depended upon all of his skills.
A loud groan preceded an even louder crack, and a vampire fell at his feet. Ariana leaped over top of the fallen and took aim with both feet at the solar plexus of one of the muscular ones. He went down briefly but shot back up, ready to fight.
Joaquin cursed and snapped the neck of the one he still held in a chokehold, kicked the returning vampire behind him, and jumped straight up into the air to allow the other three to crash headlong into one another.
Devlin shouted a warning as another came from behind and attempted to grapple Joaquin into a choke. A sharp elbow to the ribs loosened the hold, and Joaquin whirled with a flash of fangs. Snagging a hand full of stringy blond hair, he tipped the vampire’s neck to one side and bit deep. The pitiful squeal ended on a mournful note before the vampire collapsed.
“Charon’s making a run for it!” Ariana shouted over the din. “I’m going after her.”
“Don’t!” Joaquin’s shout was even louder, but Ariana didn’t listen. She took off after her mentor, her sire, her feet barely touching the ground.
“Damn it!” Joaquin couldn’t leave his best friend to fend for himself, not with reinforcements on the way. “Time to bail, partner.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Devlin zoomed after Joaquin, not keeping time, but staying far enough ahead of the others to make them push to continue the fight. “We lost a couple.”
“Guess they figured it wasn’t worth the hassle.” Joaquin caught sight of Ariana over five hundred feet ahead. She vaulted over the lake, her legs kicking in the air, before she landed easily on the other side.
“She’s good,” Devlin admitted grudgingly.
Joaquin didn’t want to see how good or if Charon was better. For all they knew, this could be Charon’s plan—to get them alone one at a time. That was the only way she had a chance.
He followed Ariana across the lake and easily overtook her. She cursed behind him, but he kept up the pace. Charon hadn’t made it much farther when he dove forward, catching her around her lithe waist.
She went down easily enough, but he struggled to keep her down. “Ariana, keep running!” Though he shouted the words, he didn’t expect her to obey. He locked his hands around Charon’s neck and began to squeeze.
Charon struggled to extricate herself, but Joaquin’s strength had been given a purpose, and her name was Ariana.
The vampire’s body contorted, her back arching in an impossible curve. She launched a counterassault with her nails, raking them down his face. The lethal weapons ripped through his skin, but the pain lasted only as long as it took him to heal.
“Joaquin, release her,” Ariana issued the demand in a voice as cold as it was lethal.
He looked over his shoulder. “I rather had killing her in mind.”
“I’ve earned that right.”
He closed his eyes. Her anger rolled off of her in waves. It radiated from within her, coated her soul, but he couldn’t allow her to kill in anger, especially the sorceress she’d known as her benefactress. Ariana would never forgive herself, though the death would be well deserved. For now, she was simply feeling the pain of betrayal, and the need to strike out was so intense, she didn’t recognize it for what it was.
But he did. Joaquin looked down at his captive and gave a slight shrug. “Sorry, but I can’t do that. The pleasure of this kill will mean nothing in the long run, Ariana.”
“That’s not your decision to make.” She didn’t give an inch. “Don’t make me move you.”
Joaquin grappled with Charon on the damp earth, rolling her over until his knees dug into the ground on either side of her hips. “Stay still.” He glowered into the vampire’s enraged face.
“I know it’s difficult to listen to reason right now, Ariana, but revenge isn’t as sweet as you’ve heard. Trust me. I’ve lived long enough to learn that the hard way.”
“Hate to break up the threesome, but we have company. Lots of it.” Devlin stood his ground facing the oncoming slew of vampires. They all wore matching scowls and looked ready for a battle.
“Call them off, Charon.” Joaquin moved his knee to her throat.
“Or what?” She gasped. “You’ll kill me?”
He bounced her head against the ground. “Yeah, something like that.”
“Isn’t that what you’re going to do anyway?”
She had him there, but he quickly rebounded. “But you have the option of dying quickly or slowly. Call off your fiends, and I won’t make you suffer.”
Uncertainty flickered in Charon’s eyes. Her instincts wouldn’t allow her to trust him. He couldn’t blame her for that.
“Joaquin, either kill her or find something else to do with her because your squeeze and I are going to need your help.”
“Don’t call me that,” Ariana snapped.
“Wrong time to get your panties in a wad, isn’t it?” Devlin’s lip curled.
“Tell the others to back down, Charon, and you and I will deal with one another alone.” Ariana’s offer had Joaquin’s head swinging her way.
“No, you will not,” he quickly rebuffed her idea.
She ignored him. “What do you say? One last time to see who the real woman is?” Ariana leaned forward and lowered her voice. “Come on. You and I both know that’s what you want. Just the two of us. Vampire against vampire.”
Joaquin noted she actually admitted her status without cringing.
“And what makes you think your boyfriend will allow you to keep your word?” Charon’s eyes sparkled, and Joaquin’s hand circled her throat.
/>
“He doesn’t control me, Charon.” Ariana placed her hand on Joaquin’s shoulder.
Every muscle in his body protested. His mind shouted at her, telling her he couldn’t let her walk away from him knowing she was in danger. The still heart inside his chest nearly crumbled at the thought.
But he looked over his shoulder and saw the army of vampires standing a few feet from where Devlin held his ground. And the knowledge sank in that any attempt to defeat them would come at a terrible price.
“I want him dead more than I do you, Ariana,” Charon’s painted lips curved into a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
Ariana smiled in return, a feral parting of her lips. “If you kill me, you can always come back for him. And if not today, there’s tomorrow. You won’t stop trying to kill him, but if you miss this opportunity with me, you know you’ll never get this chance again. At sun up, I’m either dead or gone. Either way, I’m out of your life forever.”
Joaquin swung his gaze back down to his captive’s face. Her eyes narrowed, but not before he caught the delight in the orbs. Ariana had played her cards well, and Charon would accept the bid.
“Very well.” Charon aimed a venomous look at Joaquin’s face. “Get off me so we can be done with this.”
He shifted one knee, keeping her pinned with the other. “Get rid of your goons first, and before you get any bright ideas about foreign commands, I speak over thirty languages. I’ll let you guess which ones.”
Charon clicked her tongue against her teeth. “So many trust issues, Joaquin, even with Ariana throwing herself on the sword for you.” She raised a hand in the air and snapped her fingers. As the vampires fell back, she gave Joaquin a smug smile he wanted to smack off her face. “See? If you control them right, you don’t need to say anything. Now, I believe your girlfriend and I have a meeting.”
Joaquin wrestled with the decision while his dark side, that part of him that made him more a creature than a man, commanded he kill Charon. The thought of allowing her to leave with Ariana made him physically ill.
Ariana called his name softly. “Let her go.”
“That’s not really what I want to do,” he whispered in return.
She touched him again, just the glide of her palm across his cheek, and his stomach twisted. “I’ll be fine.”
Charon snickered and rolled the moment he lifted his knee. She was back on her feet in a second, brushing her hands over her hair to dislodge any leaves or dirt. “Lead the way, Ariana.”
“As if I would turn my back on you, Charon.” Ariana curled her fingers around the vampire’s arm. “We’ll go together.”
She looked back at Joaquin, her lips forming the words “I love you”. Then she was gone, her speed taking her deep into the forest before Joaquin could respond.
Chapter Ten
Ariana thought her next kill would be Joaquin. She never imagined Charon would be anywhere near her radar. But her former mentor stood less than ten feet away, arms folded, a smirk on her face telling Ariana the sorceress fully expected to win.
In truth, Ariana wasn’t sure who would be the victor. Charon had the art of illusion on her side, and she expected it to be used liberally. But it had been a long time since Charon had gone into battle, and that, along with too much reliance on her followers, should have made her rusty.
“How long are we going to stand here staring at one another, my sweet?”
“However long it takes. I would have thought you would have made a move by now.”
“And draw first blood? How gracious of you, but I think I’ll decline.” Charon swept a hand wide like a queen waving to her subjects. “After everything I’ve done for you, everything I’ve given you, I’d like to see if you can really raise your hand to me.”
“You’re not really thinking that, Charon, because you made me a killer. What else would I do besides kill?” Ariana took the upper hand and zoomed forward, cutting off at least seven feet of distance. “I’ve never given any other vampire leniency. What makes you think I’d give you any?”
Charon’s eyes glowed, her hands curving into fists. “I saved your life.”
“Joaquin would never have killed me. I know that now, but at the time, I was too vulnerable, too overwhelmed by his betrayal. That’s what you expected me to be, wasn’t it? It’s why you chose me?”
“I chose you because you were the latest in a long line of lovers Joaquin had left behind. Don’t think you’re special, honey. He’d screw anything that moves.”
Ariana turned a deaf ear to the barbs, knowing them for what they were—useless attempts to drag her under, mire her down in the pity of the past.
The right hook surprised her, and she staggered backwards while Charon took control, raining punches with a ferocity borne of pure evil.
Fighting past the pain, Ariana grappled to regain her ground. She struck out with a kick to Charon’s shin, and the action brought the intended result. Charon cried out and leaped backwards.
Ariana took the opening with a right handed jab to Charon’s eye which she quickly followed up with a hard strike to the underside of her jaw. As Charon’s head snapped back, Ariana drove her elbow into her chest, jumped, snagged her around the neck and brought the vampire to the ground face first.
“I’d say we have a winner,” Joaquin drawled from the darkness.
Charon tried to mutter something, but Ariana leaped onto her back and shoved her face harder into the ground while glaring up at Joaquin. “You’re not supposed to be here.”
“Really? You didn’t really think I was going to let you come alone, did you? So much to learn.” He jerked his head toward Charon’s downed body. “You want me to finish this?”
Ariana followed his line of sight. Now, with Charon at her mercy, she wasn’t so sure she could follow through. This wasn’t a vampire she’d followed for a kill. This was a woman she’d spent six months with. A woman she’d trusted. Talked to. Confided in. And now she was supposed to kill her.
“I should,” Ariana responded, her voice cracking.
“There are no laws about who does the kill.”
Warm hands curled around her shoulders and lifted her off Charon’s back. Before Ariana could protest, a loud crack snapped her head back around to where Joaquin now stood behind Charon.
The sorceress still lay on her stomach on the ground, but her head was twisted at an odd angle, her eyes open and sightless. Seconds later, she disintegrated into dust.
Cold shivers ran through Ariana’s body. “I should have done that.”
“We can argue about that later.”
She turned away from him. For the first time in over six months, she was exhausted. Mentally. Physically. Just drained. And she needed something
“I have to go.”
He came around to face her. “Go where?”
“I need some time alone.”
A frown darkened his face. “Why?”
“Because I’ve just spent the last several months believing one lie and before that, three months believing another. My life has been turned upside down, and I have to process it.”
His hand lifted as though to reach out to her, but then it dropped back to his side. “Do you know how to take care of yourself?”
What was he talking about? She was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. “I’ll be fine.”
“No, Ariana, I meant now that Charon is gone. She won’t be providing the illusions anymore.” His voice had gone soft. “But you’ll still need to feed.”
The knowledge struck her like an iron fist, making her physically ill. How could she take an innocent life just to prolong her own? An ache settled in the pit of her stomach. “I’m not sure I can live like this.”
He came closer, his hands grasping her shoulders lightly. “Unfortunately, you don’t have a choice.”
She wanted to push him away, to deny what he was telling her, but she couldn’t hide from the truth. “Killing vampires is one thing,
but I can’t kill people. I won’t.”
Joaquin snagged a handful of her hair and gave it a slight tug. Her eyes widened and stared into deep pools of black. “I feed to live, but I don’t kill innocent people, Ariana. The ones I choose are always left alive, and they never even know I was there.”
She caught hold of his wrist. “So you just take what you want from them without their permission or knowledge. Kind of like a thief.”
“You might want to get used to it, sweetheart. Now that your benefactress is gone, you’re going to have to learn to survive.”
“I don’t know if I can do this, Joaquin.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. She hated admitting her fear, but it had settled deep inside her bones. And the thought of sinking her teeth into the neck of some unsuspecting person intensified it.
With a sigh, Joaquin pulled her into his embrace. “You can do it because you won’t be alone. I’ll help you, but you can’t push me away.”
She rested her head against his chest. “You lied to me.”
He kissed her hair. “I did, but as hard as it might be, you have to put that behind you. Your life is this now, and,” he threaded his fingers through hers, “it’s with me. Forever.”
She could only imagine her heart racing at his words. “I wanted to kill you. There was so much anger inside of me because of your betrayal.” Her gaze found his. “How do I know I can trust you?”
“What does your heart tell you?”
“Nothing. It’s not even beating anymore.” Tears stung her eyes, and she quickly blinked them away.
He stepped back and held out a hand. “So what do you have to lose by giving this, giving us, another shot? Come with me, Ariana. Let me show you a world you never even knew existed.”
Her mind raced with the possibilities. She could still walk away, feel sorry for herself for as long as it took for her to realize she needed help, or she could go where she was wanted. Accepted. With him.
Accepting the invitation, Ariana slipped her hand into his.
* * * *
Rome, Italy
Vampire Betrayed (Vampires Destined 3) Page 9
