by Fawn Lowery
He considered her words. The jewel would serve him? But what of his servitude to the Master? “It didn’t serve its previous owner so well.”
“The witch was merely a vessel with which the Master toyed. She held no great importance.”
“And what about me? And Selena? Why was she saved from death?”
“You shall serve the Master and reap great rewards for doing so.” She fluttered about the room, transforming into a sleek black cat, arching her back and stretching in feline beauty then transformed back to her pixie self. She flew to within inches of Jarharis’s face. “Selena will soon realize her worth in the Master’s plan.”
Anger rose up inside Jarharis. He reached out one long arm and attempted to grab the pixie. Only to end up grasping thin air when the imp darted out of his reach. “And what if I refuse to serve the Master?” He gritted his teeth. He clenched his fist.
Mi laughed softly. “You can not refuse. You wear the amulet around your neck. You belong to the Master.”
A shard of disbelief stabbed at Jarharis’s heart. He grabbed his chest, feeling the realization as though it were a sharp wooden stake driven through his flesh by the hand of a hunter.
It can’t be true. He combed his fingers through his hair. Wasn’t it enough that he was destined to drink blood from strangers and lie in an undead state for eternity? Did he have to serve a Master of the dark as well?
He released an angry bellow and strode to the door of the sanctuary. Flinging it open, he bolted out into the dark night. He needed nourishment for his body. He needed a victim. He looked up and down the street, deciding which way to go when he suddenly caught sight of a figure standing across the street.
Aston! He crossed the avenue as quickly as he could summon the thought, a foggy blur that mocked time. He stood in front of the vampire. He was loath to believe that the villainous murderer had discovered his sanctuary. Woe unto the vulture if he thought to invade his haven.
I should have destroyed him last night. Jarharis felt the tremor of regret gather in his belly. Had it not been for the peril that Selena had fallen into, he would have ended the vampire’s life once and for all. He inched closer to the vile creature, prepared to battle to the death.
“You are alone.” Aston shifted his stance and smiled at Jarharis. “Where are the hunters you have offered to aide?”
Jarharis cocked an eyebrow in speculation. Aston could only know that bit of information if Tanya had related it to him. “Where are your legion of savage vampires you threaten me with, Aston? Have they discovered your vile nature and deserted you?”
Aston threw back his head and roared with laughter.
Jarharis watched the vampire closely. He wasn’t above using trickery to put him off guard. He heightened his senses, though not taking his eyes off the predator for fear he would lunge at him without further notice.
“Pray tell, Jarharis, where is your lady friend?” He raised one hand and rubbed his chin with one fingertip, contemplating.
“I haven’t time to stand here and listen to your goading, Aston. If you have business with me, get on with it.”
Aston laughed again, breaking the still night with his loud guffaw. “I’m merely inquiring as to the health of your fair Selena.”
“She is well.”
Aston looked surprised.
Jarharis cocked an eyebrow. Although he suspected Aston had something to do with the murder of Selena’s friends, the look on his face suddenly solidified the fact for him. And Jarharis had just made up his mind that he had enough of the vampire’s surly ways, when he suddenly disappeared, transforming so quickly that Jarharis gasped at his speed.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Jarharis tossed the limp body to the ground. He raised one hand and swiped it across his lips, wiping away the traces of fresh blood. He breathed in deeply, feeling strength return to his body. He stepped over his victim and headed to the opening of the alley. A low moan sounded behind him as he took to the air, but he refused to be swayed by the noise. He had needed the blood he took from the man and he hadn’t drunk more than necessary. He pushed the thought from his head. He was unable to change anything about his vampire state whether he desired to or not.
He sought to find Aston and his legion. But first he had to find Selena. He had to know that she was all right. He flew to her apartment building and, finding her windows dark, surmised she was out with the remaining hunters. The thought unsettled his nerves. After last night’s untimely attack on the club members, he feared that further hunting would only result in more deaths. He tried to remember what Selena had said about her dead cohorts. Surely there would be funerals and a mourning period to follow.
He was surprised at the knowledge he had of the present time. It was almost as though he had lived during the time instead of having been transported there only days earlier. He suddenly remembered the discussion with Mi and her insistence that he would serve the Master whether he wanted to or not. He felt his temples throb. He wasn’t a man to obey others, or a man who took orders from a Master. He drew in a long breath. But then, his vampire state left him at the mercy of most every deity in the universe.
He grasped the amulet and thought about Selena. Immediately the gem began to light, a vision coming clear to his eyes. He swallowed down the burning desire to rip it from his neck and stared at the jewel as Selena’s whereabouts was revealed to him.
He found her at a funeral parlor, a place where the dead were displayed for the living to cry over. A bevy of people filled the wide room, sat in the wooden pews and stood in small clusters near the casket. Jarharis paused at the opening leading from the street and took note of the gathering. Sadness reigned like a dark cloud over the group. At the front of the room a bronze colored casket sat surrounded by clusters of roses and lilies. He glimpsed the corpse lying within the satin shrouded coffin and recognized the male known as Kaleb. He saw Selena then, standing to one side, her face blotchy from crying.
“You shouldn’t be here.” Her voice was low and filled with concern. She touched his arm and glanced about the room.
“I wanted to see what a real corpse looked like just before interment.”
“Not funny.”
“Sorry.” He took her hand and urged her to the side of the room. “Have you seen Tanya tonight?”
“No. But I’ve discussed her with some of the other hunters—those that didn’t take her advice and follow the other road into the woods.”
Her voice was venomous. Jarharis cocked an eyebrow. “You know then that Tanya set the club up.”
She nodded her head and continued to glance over her shoulder. “You should leave. It isn’t safe for you here.”
“But I thought you wanted me to help the club.”
“I do. But you said yourself that you would have to remain in the shadows.”
“Under the circumstances, I think you need guarded.”
She smiled at him. “I can take care of myself.”
“I don’t want to leave you.”
“Then change into a bat of something and keep out of sight.”
He chuckled. “Your concern is appreciated.”
She squeezed his hand. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“I can take care of myself.” And the Master is watching out for me as well. The thought burned into his brain. Just how far would the Master go to protect him?
He felt the intense gaze one of the hunters was aiming his way and suddenly he understood the significance his presence had regarding Selena and the club members. Against his better judgment, he nodded his head at her and separated himself from her. The last thing he wanted to do was to call undue attention to his self or to cause the other hunters to begin questioning Selena about him. “Just think of me and I’ll come to you.”
She smiled and turned away.
She had felt his mental messages to her once, he was certain of it, though she pretended not to. She was too independent for her own good. He left the funeral chapel
, slipping quietly through a side door into the alleyway. He took to the air and resigned himself to finding Tanya Sills. She had some explaining to do about last night’s murder of the three hunters, and the attempt on Selena’s life.
He tried to imagine where Tanya might be at such an early hour—since he had already encountered Aston he surmised she might be avoiding him as well. He decided to go to the nightclub where he had first seen her. Perhaps she was looking for a victim so she could feed before she entered into any other misdeeds for the night.
“You risk your life, Jarharis.” Tanya sat on the bar stool and stared at him.
Jarharis felt her confidence. There were too many people in the club for him to dare harm her. She preened while she goaded him. “You failed in your attempt to do away with all the hunters last night, Tanya.”
Her brows lifted. “You jump to conclusions.”
Jarharis clenched his fists at his sides. He would kill the she-vampire—rip her body to shreds and leave her remains where they fell. “Survivors talk.”
Her eyes widened. She glanced around the club as though anxious to see if anyone overheard Jarharis’s words.
He watched her. She was unaware that Selena had survived the attack and visibly worried that there would be retribution from him for her deadly deed. She inched off the stool. Jarharis grabbed her arm, pinning her against the edge of the bar. He glared down into her frightened face.
“Let me go. You’re hurting my arm.” She glanced up and down the bar, her eyes imploring. “I’ll scream.”
“Go ahead. Everyone will think that we’re lovers having a little spat. Then I’ll drag you out of here while the crowd screams sexual innuendoes at us. Nobody will be any wiser—until morning comes and they start picking up pieces of your body strewn about the block.”
She tried to smile. She raised her hands and pressed her palms against his chest. “Maybe we can make a deal.” She brushed her hands across his shirt then slid her arms around his waist. “I can be very persuasive.”
He wrenched her hands away, pressed her back against the unyielding bar. “I want to know where Aston’s legion is hiding. Tell me or I’ll drag you out of here right now.”
She stared at him. “They are too plentiful for you to take on alone.” She licked her lips, running her tongue across her fangs. “I could help you.”
“Just tell me where they are.”
“At Aston’s sanctuary.”
“You lie.”
She licked her lips. She shrugged one shoulder. “Perhaps Aston will send them to you and then you will not have to search.”
He caught the renewed confidence in her tone suddenly and knew Aston had come into the club. He gritted his teeth. Glancing to his side, he spied the vampire closing in on them at the bar. Did he dare risk a showdown in the crowded nightclub? History repeats itself.
The thought entered his mind just as Aston drew up beside him. In the next instant, the vampire placed one hand on his shoulder as though they were old friends.
“I know it’s rude to interrupt, but—”
Jarharis wrenched Aston’s hand from his shoulder. Turning quickly, he landed an open hand against the vampire’s chest, sending him reeling backward into the floor.
The patrons gasped and looked to Aston as he sought to gain his balance without benefit of his vampire powers. Jarharis transformed suddenly and vanished from the club.
“I’m tired of meeting Aston and having the same result come about!” Jarharis railed aloud as he paced back and forth beneath the cover of darkness. He had returned to Selena’s apartment building and sought refuge on the roof. Berating himself for not having rid the world of Aston upon their first meeting, he was in an uproar, stamping angrily across the roof and pulling his hair. Finally, he dropped into a metal chair and closed his eyes.
I’ve got as many problems as mortal man. He considered all that had happened last night. He had found Aston’s sanctuary and witnessed his treatment of Tanya—Tanya had arranged for Selena and her club members to be ambushed and murdered—though her plan hadn’t been completely successful. And he had missed another opportunity to destroy Aston.
Jarharis?
He jumped to his feet as Selena’s voice came to his mind.
Jarharis?
He leapt from the roof and within seconds he was standing before Selena as she stood on the sidewalk in front of the funeral home.
“Oh! You scared the shit out of me!” She clutched her heart as though suddenly having a heart attack. “Couldn’t you have given me a little warning? Gees!”
He smiled a wide grin down at her, pleased that she had summoned him. “Maybe next time.”
She smiled up at him.
“You’ll be listening—won’t you?”
She slid her arms around his waist and pressed her breasts against his chest. “Yes. I will be listening.”
He lowered his head and kissed her, quickly brushing his lips across her mouth before he pulled her arms from his waist and took her hand. He led her down the sidewalk, out of the light streaming from the funeral home exterior.
“The hunters are resigning from the club after what happened last night. They’re scared.”
A wave of elation wafted through his body. “How many are left?”
“Just me.”
“Then consider yourself out of business because I absolutely refuse to let you—”
“Whoa! Stop! You don’t tell me what to do!” She halted suddenly, yanking her hand out of his. “I’m an adult. I can make my own decisions.”
He grasped her upper arms, giving her a little shake. “You’re not a one woman army, Selena.” He hesitated to tell her how she had almost died last night to get his point across. “You and your little silver dagger would hardly be any threat to a pack of blood thirsty vampires.”
“Pack?” she raised her hands to her hips. “You mean like a six pack?”
He chuckled. “No. I mean a whole fucking lot of vampires each one more vicious than the other because they kill on a daily basis and life means nothing to any of them. They exist only because of a curse as old as the human race and have no thoughts of anything other than sinking their fangs into nourishing veins.”
She pulled back, staring at him through the darkness. “You’re trying to scare me, Jarharis.”
He combed one hand through his hair. “You almost died last night. Do you really want to risk your life again?” He felt her surprise.
She bit her bottom lip. “What do you mean?”
He heaved a long sigh. “I found you and your friends on the road. You were very near death. Your three friends were already dead.”
She gasped and covered her mouth with one hand. “But I don’t have a scratch on me, Jarharis. How can that be?”
Should I play ignorant or tell her the truth? “Never mind. You’re alive and I won’t let you risk your life again.”
She flung her body into his arms. “You saved me, didn’t you? I don’t know how or why—but you saved me. Tell me it’s so, Jarharis. Say that you saved me.”
Her voice was muffled as she pressed her face against his shoulder. He wound his arms around her and held her, wishing he could somehow transport her to another universe where there would never be any risk of danger to her again.
“Tell me, Jarharis. Tell me the truth.”
Should I tell her that I had traded an eternity of servitude to the dark Master in exchange for her life? Would she believe the truth? Hell no! This woman is too realistic for her own good! “I love you.” He felt her body stiffen at his admission then relax against his. Her arms tightened around his neck.
“I love you too, Jarharis.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
A ripple of untold happiness surged through Jarharis’s insides. He squeezed Selena in his arms. He had never heard a declaration of love from a woman—even when he was mortal. And to hear the words spoken after having been turned into a vampire and lived for a multitude of centuries—
“I’ve never been happier!” He whispered the words in her ear then kissed the pink shell before working his way across her cheek and finding her mouth. He pressed his lips to hers and allowed the wonder of her words to fill his insides with bliss.
He tore his mouth from hers suddenly, pushing her to arms length. “I will never let anyone hurt you.”
As he spoke the words, a fear rose inside him. He couldn’t be with her day and night. Nor did he have a life to give for her. He drew her back into his embrace, remorse settling inside his body. “I’m not mortal, Selena. There are many things I can not promise you.”
“Shhhh.” She squeezed her arms around his waist. “I’m intrigued by what you can do, Jarharis. You can fly and hear my thoughts. You can materialize out of thin air—or at least I think you can. You live in a house that I couldn’t find again if I had a million years to look for it.”
He gazed down at her. His mind raced. Had he made a mistake by taking her to his sanctuary? He thought of the amulet and the way the safe haven had come about. He heard the voice—the dark Master’s voice—speak to him and he merely requested a safe place to lie in his undead state. The next he knew, he was walking about the lavishly furnished rooms and marveling at their beauty.
“Where is your house, Jarharis? When I left this morning, I turned around to view it in the daylight, and it was gone. It was as though it never existed—though I know I spent the night there with you.”
“It’s concealed for my safety.” Can it be a sanctuary for her as well?
She threw both hands into the air. “I’m fascinated by you. And I do love you. Now, let’s find those vampires and kill every last fucking one of them!”
His brows rose. “I’ll do the hunting, Selena. I just want you to be safe.”
She started to argue, but he silenced her with a kiss. “You could bite me again and make me a vampire. We could hunt the others together.”
Her request jarred his senses. He released her and paced back and forth in the dark alley. Had his ears deceived him? Had Selena really requested that he make her a vampire? “I won’t do that to you. You don’t know what you ask.”
