His lips curled up and I blushed at his smile. Heat seared my skin when his boyish smirk caused dimples in his cheeks. My knees weakened. Already, this man did things to me he didn’t even realise, and he only touched my face.
He drew back, a look of regret across his features as his brows dipped. “I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have—”
“It’s okay.” I squeezed out, and my heart sank a little.
I looked into his eyes. Kiss me, kiss me right now.
“Ahem.” Someone to the right of me cleared his throat with excessive exaggeration.
Peeling my gaze away from Deacon’s to stare at my new-found enemy, I choked on my words.
Wow, seriously? Were all these vampire guys hot? This one stood a hair taller than Deacon, but with a similar build. He sported an “Ivy league” blond haircut, and the same purple eyes. His face held a boyish charm, with a chiselled jaw and a dimple in his chin.
“Keeping her all to yourself, Deak?” the newcomer laughed when he glanced in Deacon’s direction. He looked back at me. “What’s your name, pretty lady?”
“Elora,” I murmured.
He looked to my bump with a smile as he walked toward me, and grabbed my small hand in his large one. “I’m Blake Bennett, and boy, does my bro work fast.”
“Behave yourself, Blake. This is B’s daughter.” Deacon growled.
“No kidding? Your pictures don’t do you justice.” Blake stared at me with a lopsided smile.
I blushed.
Returning his stare to Deacon, he told him, “Sorry to break up the party, but we’re needed in conference room one.”
Deacon nodded. “I’ll show Ellie to her room, and then I’ll be right in.”
Blake smirked. “Take your time, dude.” He turned to me and winked. “Nice to meet you… Ellie.” With one final grin at Deacon, he left.
“Sorry about him. He’s an insufferable ass.” Deacon rolled his eyes.
I giggled before he went about whipping me up a cheese sandwich and a glass of juice. “C’mon, I’ll show you where you’ll be staying.”
*
Deacon led me around a maze of corridors to a breathtaking room. It housed one large window at the back, a king-size bed positioned in front of it. The bed frame itself, crafted from a light oak, stood on a raised platform with two steps leading up. To either side of it, two bedside tables with lamps, the lamp bases made from a tarnished metal sculpted into amalgamations of lovers in different erotic embraces.
To one side of the room stood a double-sized wardrobe made from the same warm, wood as the bed frame and tables. A large, white, shag pile rug lay in front of the dais accommodating the bed—it contrasted well with the cream carpet present throughout. On the other side of the room, a good sized, cream-coloured sofa with large, luxurious, chocolate and burgundy cushions—in front of this a flat screen TV, also of ample size, and to the left of the TV, the door to the en-suite.
I strode to the window—at least two storeys high and facing the back of the property. Along with the calming ambience of my room, the high walls and electrified fences atop them put me at ease.
“You should find it comfortable enough… .” Deacon seemed to hesitate, “If it isn’t too late when I get done, can I come by and see you later?”
Oh my, long forgotten memories of butterflies flapped around my stomach, and I struggled to put together an intelligible answer for fear they’d escape through my mouth. I nodded and smiled.
Smiling back, Deacon moved to plant a soft, lasting kiss on my cheek.
I closed my eyes and savoured the sensations coursing through me, sparking fires in all the right places. Aches and throbs caused me to grip his bicep and I groaned against his touch. When I opened my eyes, Deacon disappeared, but I could still smell his sweet, honey scent lingering in the hallway.
Chapter 6
Bonded
An electrifying connection with another being so unbreakable, so potent it couldn’t be ignored. A magnetic pull from which one couldn’t explain nor hide.
A vampire could live a thousand years and never find that person with which life truly began. Never experience that crashing desire to offer them your very soul just for one touch, one kiss. To meet your eternal mate ignited you from the inside; an all-consuming need to be there, to protect, love, die for that person.
Elora is that person. I am hers, as she is mine.
Her decadent flavour coated Deacon’s lips. His very being ached to be near such an exquisite, pure creature. When their eyes first met, mere hours ago, Deacon knew his destiny meant belonging to her—mind, body and soul.
A dynamic strength erupted from within him, an ethereal connection poured from his body and entwined with hers; with her beauty, her strength, her spirit.
His senses heightened and the drumming of her heart against her chest etched an everlasting, feverish beat on the very substance of his existence.
Her taste lingered while he made his way to the conference room, and he walked in beaming from ear to ear.
“Got it bad, don’t ya, buddy?” Blake’s cocky grin met him from across the room.
“Shut it, Blake. Where’s Lucas?” He hid his smile, time to get my game-face back on.
“Ooh, touchy.” Blake’s smirk spread wider. “He’s gone to fetch those coppers that are meant to be working with us.”
Deacon wasn’t slow to miss the note of disparagement in Blake’s low, whiny voice.
“Of course. You haven’t worked with Amelia and her team yet, have you?”
“I don’t see why we have to involve the local plod in a supernatural case.”
“Because witches are human, Blake, you know this. Besides, Amelia is an asset where witches are involved. She knows her stuff.”
Blake shrugged his shoulders and crossed his arms. He averted his eyes and pouted like a child placed in the middle of a sweet shop and told not to touch anything.
Moments later, the door to the meeting room opened, and Lucas walked in, followed by Amelia.
Blake looked up. His eyes flashed wide and his mouth parted. “Wow,” he breathed.
Deacon smirked and turned to the dark-blonde haired DCI as she shifted from foot to foot, uncomfortable. Blake continued to stare, devouring her with unblinking eyes.
“Amelia, this is Blake,” Lucas introduced them.
In the past, the paranormal cases Amelia worked on didn’t amount to a murder so grave. The Compound deemed Deacon and Nate enough manpower to manage the small workloads. Clearly, having a stranger gawk at her like a prime piece of steak didn’t sit too comfortably with her.
She opened her mouth, “Wha—”
“Amelia and her guys were at the crime scene with Nate this morning, and came across something quite grim.” Lucas placed his hands on the hefty table before him.
Shifting his gaze to Lucas, Blake’s expression remained wide-eyed, but changed to something of wonderment as his brow arched. “What do you mean, General?”
“We’ll wait for Nate to arrive, then we’ll get started.”
Sitting his large frame at the grey stone table, Lucas ran a hand through thick, brown hair, before he motioned for Amelia to take a seat with the others. The DCI sat opposite Blake, eyeing him while she lowered herself, his stare, once again, fixed on her.
Nate bounded through the door, trying to balance several large, ancient-looking tomes in his arms.
“What the hell, man? I hope you ain’t expecting us to read all of that,” Blake wagged an accusatory finger at Nate as he stole his attention from Amelia for a brief second.
“You can read?” came Nate’s sarcastic response before he slammed the books onto the table. “Who knew?”
Blake scowled. “Your mum sa—”
“What are these for, Nate?” Lucas interjected.
“After uncovering some evidence at the crime scene, we did some research. We connected the stuff we found; baby taken, sacrificial knife fragments, owl’s claw. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but this
all points to an attempt to resurrect—”
“Lilith!” Lucas finished, his back straightening while his eyes bore into Nate’s.
“Yeah, we’re in no doubt about it. Look here… .” Amelia grabbed one of the books from Nate’s pile and opened it to a page they’d obviously marked earlier. They stared at the familiar cross and crescent moon symbol. “This was scrawled on the wall in the victim’s blood. It’s the symbol of Lilith.”
“What are all these books?” Blake directed his intense gaze at her.
Amelia took a deep breath. “Different versions of the Bible, depending on which religion you look at. Lilith is mentioned in most ancient texts, but descriptions of her differ, as do some of the less important myths. But there are things that remain the same.”
“Such as?” Lucas question forced her eyes away from Blake.
“Lilith was Adam’s first wife, before Eve. According to texts, she was the first female to be cast out of Heaven following the Great Heavenly War. She became Adam’s mate, but refused to submit to him as a lesser being. She wanted equality, Adam denied it to her, and so she sprouted black wings and fled the Garden of Eden.
“Being a demon of passion, instinct, and desire, she fornicated with numerous demons and produced evil offspring. Three angels were sent to take her back to Adam, but when she refused, they killed all of her children—”
Blake scoffed and Amelia glared at him. “Problem?”
“Intriguing as it all sounds, why are witches sacrificing babies to raise her, and why now?”
“I was getting to that,” she responded, releasing a breath. She averted her eyes and addressed the group once more. “As a result of the murder of her children, she vowed to slay any child that did not bear the name of these angels on an amulet around his or her neck. Our best guess is that they’re taking the lives of babies just as she did.
“I couldn’t tell you exactly why the witches feel the need to raise Lilith now, but I can tell you it will have something to do with a man. Lilith resented her position as Adam’s inferior, and so she continued to produce offspring known as Lilium, who would seduce men and often kill them. We think at least one of these witches has been wronged and are attempting to raise Lilith so that she can produce her Lilium to wipe—”
“One small problem with that, Dollface,” Blake began, “how’s Lilith gonna get knocked up without her demons at hand?”
Amelia let out a prolonged breath and tensed her jaw. Placing her hands on the table, she glared at Blake. “Listen, arsehole, if you interrupt me once more, I’m gonna ram this Bible so far up your arse you’ll be reciting scriptures for a month.”
Nate stifled a laugh and attempted to cover it up with an exaggerated cough. Blake shot him a dirty, squinted look.
Amelia smirked and carried on, “Keep quiet for a few minutes, and I can tell you that Lilith can impregnate herself through masturbation or erotic dreams. She can do the same for others.”
“Sexy,” Blake grinned.
Amelia raised her eyebrows, the shadow of a smile creeping through.
“So, they’re after revenge?” Deacon intervened, his lack of contribution a consequence of his thoughts filtering between the case, and the sweet look on Elora’s porcelain-smooth face before he left her in her room.
“It looks that way,” Amelia nodded, “but I don’t think they have any idea what they’re attempting to unleash.”
“So, why not just take revenge a different way? Kill, maim, cast some spell that gives these men genital herpes for the rest of their lives?” This time, Blake made a good point.
“Good question, but I don’t know. That’s what we need to figure out,” Slight resignation filtered through Amelia’s words and her shoulders dropped. “Nate, didn’t you say there’d be more?” she reminded.
Nate nodded. “It depends how many disciples the coven leader managed to convince to do her bidding. She won’t be acting alone.”
“So, the head witch will be the one wronged then?” Deacon’s gaze wandered around the room and rested back on Nate.
“Seems so, yeah,” Nate nodded again.
“Is there any way to figure out the next target?” The group met Amelia’s question with a deafening silence.
∾∾∾
Amelia remained at the Compound after sending Sam and Chloe home to study their gathered information.
The exhausted DCI needed to find any motives or clues to suggest who the next victim, or victims, might be. She opted to stay behind to use the vast archives in the hopes she could try and shed some light on their predicament.
The door opened as she stifled a yawn, and Blake walked in.
“You should get some rest,” he offered.
“I’m fine. I’ll sleep when the job’s complete,” she answered in a weary drone, flexing her neck before she massaged the ache settled there.
“Suit yourself. I’ve been in the labs analysing the residue you found on the victim’s ankles and wrists.
“And… ?”
“Results aren’t back yet.”
“Something else you wanted, then?”
“I’m sorry if I upset you earlier.”
His unexpected apology made her eyes shoot to his. “You are?”
“I got too far ahead of myself. I can be an arse like that, sometimes.”
“Sometimes?” Amelia’s lips hitched into a smirk.
Blake’s reciprocated smile looked sheepish. “Okay, I guess I deserved that.”
“Yes, you did.” Amelia looked back down at the book in front of her.
“Found anything else, yet?” Blake asked, his voice expectant.
She shook her head. “Not really, no. I’m trying to find any mention that anyone has ever attempted this before—”
“Of course witches have attempted to raise demons before.”
Amelia cocked her eyebrow at him.
Blake ran an imaginary zipper across his lips.
“I meant Lilith in particular, she’s not exactly a demon in the original sense,” she continued.
“What do you mean?” His brow hitched and he strode over to sit in one of leather chairs opposite her.
Amelia turned the book towards him. “Demons are angels that rebelled against God and followed Satan when he was cast out. They’re known as Fallen Angels. Lilith was the first human female on earth created by God, but not from man, as Eve was. When she was cast out, she wasn’t made into a Fallen Angel because she was human, not an angel to begin with. She goes above and beyond what would create the usual demons. Her actions led her down her own path, and she became something entirely different and, get this, apparently she could shift into the form of an owl.”
“Explains the claw. Is there anything in there about how she died, or how to kill her?”
“Nope. There’s not even anything that gives credibility to the stories of her existence. She isn’t acknowledged at all in some of these texts, so for all we know, this could all be just myth. One story does say that, once she left Adam, God created Eve from one of Adam’s ribs as Lilith became the first vampire, known as the Queen of the Demons.”
Blake scoffed. “I think we’d know about her if she were related to our kin in any way.”
“There are so many conflicting stories about who she actually was; demon, witch, vampire. It’s about as implausible as the existence of the Greek or Roman Gods. People believe what they want to believe for their own security and reasoning, but it doesn’t necessarily make it fact.”
“But the witches believe it?”
“Yes, they do. And they’re committing murder in the name of their beliefs.”
∾∾∾
Amelia and Blake studied texts until the early hours of the morning, but couldn’t find much more to help them figure out what the witches planned next.
Amelia yawned for the umpteenth time that night.
“You really do need to get some rest. You’re more than welcome to stay here in our guest quarters,” Blake’s stomach flutte
red in the hope she would accept his invitation.
Frenzied want soared when he gazed into her heavy-lidded, hazel eyes and he struggled against his desire to close his eyes and inhale the succulent scent emanating from her delectable body.
An impassioned fire danced deep in his core and his entire being pined for this woman. His woman.
Women, for the most part, threw themselves at him, he could have his pick. For Amelia to spurn his advances, resist his charms, only strengthened his want for her.
“I should get back home.”
Blake’s heart sank with her words, but they didn’t deter him. “You shouldn’t drive when you’re tired. You could have an accident and injure that pretty little face of yours.”
“I didn’t know you cared.” Amelia reddened, but held his stare.
“I don’t,” he shrugged, “but I don’t want your death on my conscience when you could’ve stayed here.”
She placed her hands on the table in front of her and leaned in. “You’d better show me to a room, then.” Raising a brow, she threw him a half-curved smile.
A jolt from his seat sent Blake’s chair crashing to the ground. With a wide grin, he held his hand out for the smirking DCI, and led her out the library, through a maze of corridors.
He paused outside a door, positioned his hand on the wall in front of her and leaned in close.
“Need me to help tuck you in?” He winked at her.
“What makes you think I can’t see to it myself?” She parted her mouth and dashed her tongue across her top lip in an effort to hide her discernible smile.
“Oh, I’m pretty certain you have no problems seeing to yourself, just thought I’d do the polite thing and offer.”
Amelia sucked her bottom lip between her teeth and flared her nostrils. Ducking under his arm, she opened the door a fraction, a wavering breath escaping her body.
She peered over her shoulder. “I’ll see you later, Ace, but for tonight I think I’ll take care of things on my own.” She turned around and looked into his eyes with a smirk, while she closed the door.
Ace? Where the hell did that come from? He liked it.
Blake’s erection pressed painfully against his trousers. Christ, she is hot. That body, those eyes. And Ace?
Invoking the Witch (The Faction Series Book 1) Page 6
