by Raven Steele
“Explain.”
She downed the last of the liquid in one gulp. She placed the glass back on the table so hard it nearly broke. “Magic from my side of the family draws its powers from the moon. She must be kissed by it. This is one face.”
The blood in my veins chilled. That phrase. “What did you just say?”
“Don’t play dumb. You’ve lived dozens of lifetimes. You know of what I speak.”
“The prophecy.” I tried to keep my expression even, but I was truly stunned, something that didn’t happen often. How did she know?
She nodded her head. “It must be fulfilled. Lynx must be kissed by the moon and sun. The Principes Noctis can teach her to harness the power of the moon, but as for the sun … “ A distant look filled her eyes.
Realization dawned on me. “Her father. He’s wasn’t a Morgan, was he?” I knew there was something different about Lynx, something I hadn’t felt in any other Morgan witch or from her mother’s side of her family.
Her expression hardened. “That fact that her father isn’t a Morgan is not to be spoken of outside of this room. Otherwise, Lynx will lose everything, and it’s not time for that just yet. You must vow to never speak of it again.”
I wasn’t going to promise her anything. “Who’s her father?”
“It’s not important right now, but know that he is incredibly powerful. And if the truth were revealed, her life would be in danger. I think we can both admit to not wanting that, so keep your bloody mouth shut.”
I bristled and curled my fists. “I will do what’s best for Lynx.”
“And yet, you’re not going to stop her from being trained by the Principes Noctis, are you?” she asked, mildly amused.
I chose my next words carefully in case Cassandra could secretly be the Phoenix. I doubted it, but I truly had no idea. “There is a growing evil in Rouen. We need all the strength we can get.”
“But what about you? You’ve been gifted with the Kiss of Eternal Night. Very few can stand against it.” Her words lacked a note of sincerity. I didn’t like to be mocked.
I pushed against the anger swelling within me and forced my gaze away from the throbbing vein in her neck. She subconsciously rubbed at it. It wouldn’t do to hurt Lynx’s mother.
I inhaled a few steady breaths before I dared speak. “If you’ve read the prophecy, then surely you know what happens if we fulfill our roles.”
“It can’t be escaped.”
“It can, and it will!” I didn’t mean to raise my voice, but what she was suggesting was insane. We couldn’t walk right into the prophecy and allow the Phoenix to raise Trianus. “It will mean the end of the world otherwise.”
“Briar killed three Alphas. She did her job,” she began as if I hadn’t spoken. “Have you even told her about the role she played in ending the world?” When I didn’t answer, she added, “I didn’t think so.”
“It doesn’t matter what Briar did. I will never give up the Kiss, which means the prophecy can’t come to pass. Whatever ultimate plan you have for Lynx is futile.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” She leaned forward, elbows resting on desk and burrowed her steal gaze into mine. “Someday soon, you’re going to be faced with an impossible choice. An offer you won’t be able to refuse. Then you’ll know how very right I was.”
I stood up, scraping my chair as I moved. “I think we’re done here.”
She pressed her lips together firmly. “I only hope when that day comes, you will make the right choice.”
There was something left unsaid, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
Without saying goodbye, I took off my glasses and walked through the house towards the front door, seeking out the Kiss inside me. It responded to my call like a long-lost lover, and its gentle, dark tendrils caressed my insides in appreciation, making me smile.
I was right to embrace it. How could I ask Lynx to strengthen the darkness inside herself if I wasn’t willing to do the same? Not enough to harm my friends, but enough to gain the power I needed to take my revenge and kill the encroaching evil in Rouen.
Even if it meant becoming a part of it.
Chapter 5
I slipped in and out of the flashing lights and crowds as an extension of the darkness clinging to the corners of Nine Lives, a small club deep in the heart of Hell's Peak. Silent and graceful, no one paid me any attention. They were too busy drinking small shots of alcohol and grinding into each other. Or, the ones hovering near a back room, were too focused on getting their next hit of Scorpion’s Breath.
A large group had formed. Men and women seeking a brief respite from what they perceived to be a hard life. If only they could understand that just being able to live and breathe as a human was a gift worth dying for. Life was theirs for the taking, if only they could overcome the fear that so often plagued their fragile hearts.
Stalking toward them, I kept my head on a swivel and inhaled. Alcohol tinged with blood and chemicals filled my nostrils and excited all my senses. Since leaving Lynx and releasing a fraction of the Kiss’s power, I knew I’d need to feed it to keep it somewhat in control. And only warm blood from the vein would satisfy it.
Selecting my victims in Hell's Peak would be easy. The area, less than half a dozen city blocks, had long ago been forgotten by the Rouen Police Department. The corruption ran too deep, violence too brutal. As long as their crime stayed within those city blocks, the Mayor turned a blind eye. And so two rival humans had been playing tug-of-war for power over Hell's Peak for the last twenty years. Each had a handful of different supernaturals working with them. I knew them each by name, but only spoke to them when necessary. Like the Mayor, I didn’t care what happened in Hell's Peak as long as their activities didn’t spill into the rest of the city.
Most humans who lived in Hell's Peak knew about supernaturals, but no one talked openly about them. People who did weren’t talking for long. But it was a strange symbiotic relationship that seemed to work. Humans who desired an unbridled lifestyle in every way, received it. In return, supernaturals didn’t have to remain in hiding. To a degree. Both parties still had to be careful.
I spotted one of those supernaturals now, standing near a closed door to the back room of the club. A vampire who liked to be called Spike because of his love for Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He even bleached his hair blonde and wore the same long dark cloak as the TV star. I was one of the few who knew his real name: Billy Slanders, born to Irish parents in the 1800’s. He was a rare vampire who liked working with humans.
Pushing my way through several humans, I reached the door and pulled him aside. His green eyes widened when he saw me. “Samira?”
“Hey, Spike. I see you’re still messed up with the wrong crowd.”
He backed away from me. I didn’t blame him. The last time we’d seen each other in the mid-eighties, I was dangling him over a fifty-story building by his feet for trying to set fire to Blutel Estate, the place that housed many of the Ames de la Terra.
“I do what I got to do.” He reached up and tugged at his short white hair, glancing around as if looking for help. Then he gave me an interested look. “You don’t need glasses anymore?”
I ignored his question. “I need to talk to your boss.”
I’d retired the glasses. Permanently. My humanity would only get in the way of what I needed to do now.
“Rocky’s busy.”
I sucked up to him, forcing his back against the raw brick wall. “Get him, or I’ll dangle you over another building. Except this time, I’ll drop you.”
He huffed. “Why you got to be like that? I done nothing to you.”
I shoved Spike toward the door. “Go.”
His shoulders slumped, and he shuffled forward. Not only was I here to eat, but I needed to know two things. One, where Korin was keeping the humans and drugs, and two, if Rocky had noticed anything strange in Hell's Peak, specifically anything that had to do with magic. If Lynx was right, the Phoenix was hiding somewhere in t
his part of the city.
I glanced behind me, to the line of humans scratching at themselves and staring anxiously toward the closed door.
“How much longer?” a woman closest to me asked. She was dressed classy in a red business suit, not something I expected to see in Hell's Peak. It made me wonder how far the Scorpion’s Breath had blown.
Spike stopped at the door, hesitated briefly, but when he saw and probably felt the power behind my cold gaze, he knocked softly on the door. “Rocky? Someone’s here to see you.”
A muffled voice barely echoed back over the club’s loud music, “Tell them to wait their turn.”
“It’s not about that. It’s someone important.”
A second later, the door opened. I didn’t wait for Spike to introduce us. I pushed my way inside, shoved Spike back when he tried to follow me, and slammed the door. I whirled around.
A massive human who, by the size of his bulging veins and thick neck and arms, probably drank steroids instead of water stumbled back. His hazel eyes took me in, scowling. “Who the fuck are you?”
Three men behind him had jumped to their feet and each pointed a gun in my direction. Behind them, in the corner, two humans sat slumped in chairs, their heads back and mouths open. IV’s had been attached to their arms and blood flowed into bags. I returned my gaze to the human steroid, specifically noting the tattoo of a demon on his forearm just beneath his rolled up sleeve. Just who I was looking for.
I super sped around the room, knocking the first two men holding guns unconscious, but with the third one, I sunk my eyeteeth into his veins, while he struggled to get me off him. His punches at my side felt as weak as a child. I easily batted his arms away, then gripped them to his side.
Staring into Rocky’s widened eyes, I moaned as the warm blood slid down my throat. A euphoric rush washed over me, and I reveled in the power. Why had I given this up? I drank until I no longer felt the burning pains of hunger in my gut, then I let him go. He slumped to the floor unconscious, his heart barely beating.
I swiped the blood from my mouth with the back of my hand just as Rocky lifted a gun to my face. He pulled the trigger at the same time I clasped my hand over the end of the barrel. Pain raced through me as the bullet tore through my hand. I hissed and knocked the gun away.
He swung a huge fist toward my jaw, but I ducked, then popped up and slammed my open palm into his chest. His body crashed into the wall behind him, and he slumped to the floor.
I squatted next to him, keeping my injured hand at my side where it wouldn’t get blood on my clothes. It would heal soon enough. “I need some information.”
“Screw you.” He grimaced at the pain speaking must’ve caused.
“Unless you have a death wish, you will answer my questions.”
His steely gaze met mine, and he pursed his lips beneath his thick beard.
“Humans, including supernaturals, have been disappearing in Hell's Peak, correct?” When he didn’t seem surprised, I continued. “I need to know where they’re going.” I watched him closely, looking for any deviation to his expression.
“I’ve heard nothing.”
“What about a vampire named Korin?”
He hesitated before answering. “I know him. He hasn’t come in here. Only his men.”
“Where do they go after they leave here?”
Rocky looked away, and I grabbed his shirt, yanking him up high, then slammed him into a nearby chair that nearly shattered under his weight. “Live or die, it doesn’t matter to me.”
He grasped at my hands, but I was too strong for him. “Fine,” he managed to choke out.
Releasing him, I leaned over, gripping the edges of the chair to stare into his eyes. “Tell me what you know.”
“I don’t know much.” His voice was gravelly, and the darkness inside me purred at the tone. “But some of my guys have spotted a strange sort of supernatural hanging around.”
Cocking my eyebrow up, I leaned against his desk and folded my arms in front of me. “What’s strange about him?”
“He’s hooked up to an IV pole.” His eyes met mine. “But there’s no saline solution in those hanging bags of his. Only blood.”
A chill made its way over my spine. Naburus. “And where has this strange supernatural been seen? Specifically.”
“That’s the thing,” he hesitated. “You’re not going to believe me if I tell you.”
I glowered and stood. If Naburus, who rarely left Winter’s Cove, was seen multiple times, then it was for something big. “Tell me.”
He pressed his hand to the front of his neck, as if subconsciously protecting it. “He just… disappears. Into thin air. One second he’s there and the next—gone.”
“Where?”
“Near Raven Street.”
“Around Raven Street every time?”
Rocky nodded. “From what my men have reported.”
“You’ve done well.” I gave him a grin, showing my sharp teeth, and his face paled. I was about to leave, when he cleared his throat.
“What business do you have with Korin?”
I turned around. “None. I plan on destroying him.”
His gaze slid up to meet mine, and he studied me carefully. “Need any help?”
When I didn’t answer, he added, “The fucker’s kidnapping my customers.”
I nodded, realizing this would provide me with more opportunity. Rocky could be a good source of information. I walked over to one of the humans on the floor, the one who had ink stains on his thumb and forefinger, and reached into his pockets until I found a pen. I tore out the page of a nearby magazine and scribbled my number upon it. I dropped the paper in Rocky’s lap.
“If you see him again, text me.”
“Will you help me get the humans back?” His voice held a note of concern. And fear.
“I’m not sure you’re going to want them back after Korin’s done with them.” The old me probably would’ve been more sensitive and kept my mouth shut, but I didn’t care about sparing anyone’s feelings anymore. Especially this man’s.
Rocky slowly pulled himself to his feet, grimacing. “What’s he planning?”
“Short version? Raise a demon from hell, enslave humans, and destroy any supernaturals who fight against him. The humans he took? He’s doing the same to supernaturals. Turning them all into soldier monsters.”
“What do you plan on doing about it?”
“I’m going to destroy everything he’s touched, then carve his heart out with my teeth.”
“Sweet. I want in.”
I met his grin with my own, then I turned and opened the door. As soon as I passed through it, a hand reached out and grabbed me. I reacted immediately, twisting the hand knotted in my shirt and yanked it out. In one move, I had his arm twisted behind him, his back to me. He growled, then turned so fast it took me a moment to notice he’d maneuvered me against the wall, with his body pressed against me, his eyes staring into mine.
“Mateo.” I closed my eyes, taking in his earthy, rum-flavored smell as his mouth pressed to my neck, his fangs scraping up it slowly. His hands dug into my wrists, pressing them against the wall.
“Samira. What are you doing here?”
I exhaled a breath, trying to remember exactly why I was here, but the Kiss inside me was begging me to forget about anything but the existence of Mateo and me. His tongue darted out, and scorching heat ran from my neck to my chest, burrowing inside it. Being next to Mateo, with the Kiss so close to the surface, it made me forget why I was so concerned about Korin.
We could leave this damned place and spend an eternity in each other’s arms under the moonlight in my castle in Romania.
His tongue traced up to my ear, then his teeth hooked on my lobe, biting it softly, and I moaned.
“I asked you a question, tesoro mio.” My darling. “What brings you to this hell hole?”
I gasped out my answer, as fire raged through my veins, the need to touch him stronger than anything else.
“Korin’s prisoners.”
“What about them?” His voice was sharp as he pushed my hands up over my head, trapping them there with one of his. My chest pressed outwards, brushing against his firm pecs.
“I need to know. Where he’s keeping them.”
“And coming here could give you that information?”
I nodded, unable to speak anymore because Mateo lips were pressing against my jawline in a sensual kiss, edging closer to my lips. “And why didn’t you just ask me for that information?”
I scoffed. “Because I knew you could not give it. Korin’s compulsion prevents it.”
His lips brushed mine softly. “Have you already forgotten the SJ you fed me? You’re too distracted. Focus.” Then his lips were on mine, sucking my bottom lip into his mouth for a long moment. He broke away and added, “We take them to a holding cell a few blocks down. Then they are transported somewhere else only Naburus knows. He allows no one to leave with him.”
He searched my eyes with concern in his own. “Are you here for something else?” I hesitated, and he continued. “Do not lie to me. Remember, you are my anima gemella. I know you more than I know myself.”
“I…” The human’s blood I’d just consumed was still warm in my stomach. I lifted my head upwards. I would not be ashamed for embracing my darkness. And yet, I was completely under his control. Not because he had me pressed to the wall, my hands over my head. We both knew I could easily get away. But the very essence of Mateo called to me, and I had no power to deny him. I looked into his eyes, daring him to chastise me. “I drank from the vein.”
His lips curled up into a smile and the golden hue in his eyes lit up with desire. “And? How did it taste?”
I closed my eyes for a moment, remembering the euphoric taste. When I opened them, his eyes bore into mine. “Wonderful.”
“And would you like some more? There are many humans here who would be willing to let us partake. Together.”
My chest heaved at his words, forcing memories of a different time when we would often share a human. The Kiss hissed inside me, begged me to partake, even though my belly was full. I needed to think.
