Rene took my hands and pushed them away, still licking and sucking me. I decided with a groan that she was old enough to know what she was doing and gave into my orgasm. It hit me like a freight train and I buried myself in her throat, shouting out my pleasure in her as she swallowed me down like water. I was panting hard as she gently suckled me, and then let me slip from her mouth.
She looked down at me, her eyes devouring me. “Long time?”
“More than two hundred years,” I said shakily. “So yes.”
“Do you want more?” she said huskily. “I’m not tired, Dev. And I enjoy this act.”
“Please,” I said, tears clouding my eyes. “But come here first and let me kiss you.”
Rene said nothing; she just came into my arms. We made love the rest of the day, there before her fire.
I woke up at dusk, feeling like I’d been staked. Then I remembered everything that had happened, and choked back a sob. I looked down to see Rene nestled close to me, her arms around me as mine were around her.
Was this fair to her? She apparently believed we were soul mates of some kind, while I’d bedded her solely to escape my overwhelming grief. I was not over Anna, just because Rene and I had spent the past day making love. If I lived another two hundred years, I likely still wouldn’t be.
But Rene wasn’t a girl; she was at least fifty, according to what Uther had said he knew of her. She clearly had known men before me also, maybe even been married to one and lost him, in that twenty years she had given up on finding me.
I looked down at her, and stroked her cheek. She sighed softly, nuzzling closer.
To Hell with it. She cared about me, and she had moved heaven and hell to help me. I’d enjoyed last night as much as she had, if not more. If being with me like this pleased her, then we’d be like this, until I went into the sun.
Chapter Twenty-One
An hour later, Rene let loose a deep sigh and opened her eyes.
“Do you regret being with me as we were?” she said hesitantly.
I tried to come up with any answer that didn’t sound insulting that was still true. “I enjoyed being with you very much.”
“That’s not what I asked,” she said gently. “I need to know if we are going to be lovers from now on, or if you want not to be.”
“I want to be, if you want that,” I said, moving my head in to kiss her neck gently.
“I do want that,” she said, relieved. Then she kissed me chastely and got up. “Come, we’ve much to do.”
“What must we do?” I said, as I watched her put her shift back on.
“Uther killed Cavedweller and his men, though he lost twenty of his own people. But Titus knows Anna is dead, and he will have no choice but to report that to Joshua in a few days time. Then Joshua will send his men here to take you back to him for punishment.”
I looked at her incredulously. “I’ve lost my only love, and you’re telling me I’m to be punished for it?”
Rene slipped her cloak over her head, and then nodded. “Joshua is a vindictive man, and evil one. He has only been ruling this country for a decade or so. He is close to your age, Devlin, and worried that older vampires are going to immigrate to this new world and overthrow him. His fear is a reason for his evil.”
I began pulling the remnants of on my clothes. “I still don’t understand why he would want to punish me.”
“There was something unusual about Anna, or about you,” Rene said seriously. “Though I am betting the former. Joshua will want to experiment with you, to see if you can get another woman pregnant. It won’t matter if you want to or not: you will be made to. And that is something like punishment.”
Anger built in me that was white hot, and almost overpowering. “You said you saw what would happen, Rene. What do I do now?”
She faced me, her blue-green eyes worried and anxious. “We must attack Joshua as soon as we can, before he comes here for you. We must kill him, and you must become Ruler of this country.”
“You mean Lord,” I corrected.
“You should not be a Lord,” she said crossly. “Vampires do not need an aristocrat above them, issuing orders from on high, or one fearful enough to kill any that bite a willing human. They need someone to manage them, to rule them with a firm hand that guides them to work with other non-human creatures, as you did in France. But should any step out of line—any supernatural creature that is—they should be made to pay dearly for it.” She sighed. “It is better to kill a few very brutally for good cause, than to have to kill many for very little reason.”
She had wisdom. “How do we accomplish this? Uther has men left, but only fifty, at most. I am strong from all I drank last night in France, but am I powerful enough to face Joshua and win? I’ve not had any goblin blood for some time.”
“We will not just be facing him,” Rene said wearily. “We will be facing Titus as well.”
I sat down heavily in a chair. “How can we win?”
“Ravel and I will go with you,” Rene said emotionlessly. “We will hit Titus together. I have a plan. If you act fast, you will be able to kill Joshua before Titus attacks you.”
“And his bearmen?”
“His bears can be dealt with,” Rene said. “I have a plan for that, too. But he has one of those ranked assassins himself. And Henry is not fifth, but third. He is the one we must be careful of.”
“We cannot win,” I said in an old voice. “No with so few fighters. Not against this amount of experience.”
“There will be deaths,” she said sadly. “I’m not saying there will not be. But this is what must be.”
I looked up at her. “Can we not change this future you saw? Is there somewhere we could go? I could pretend to be Quentin—”
“It is not in you to run,” Rene said, without looking up. “So don’t waste time talking about it, Dev.”
I shut up, as she was right. “Tell me what to do.”
“Gather your courage,” she said darkly. “And get all the money together that you can. For we need to summon a demon darker than any you have seen. You will need to not only bribe him, but also bind him to yourself as his master.”
* * * *
An hour later, Rene cast a circle, Uther, Ravel, and myself standing nervously by. She summoned a demon that was almost biblical in his appearance: horned, hooved, and wearing a loincloth of human skin.
He fought us coming out. Even when we had him out of hell, his skin sending up curls of smoke as he lay on his side before us, he looked up at us with hate.
“I will not serve you, witch!” he rumbled in a deep voice. “Set me free, or I will kill you!”
“You will serve us,” Rene spat at him. “Get to your feet, Shaker. Come forth and take the proffered blood from your master-to-be.”
Shaker got to his feet, and came toward me. But he would not take my blood.
“I know you want me to go against Titus,” he rumbled. “I will not, Rene. He is my brother. You cannot pay me enough to make me do it. As it is, Rip is back in Hell now. Titus could not keep him from you, and also keep him out of Hell, as his current master forbade him letting Rip go.” He bared his rows of teeth at her. “I do not like listening to him screaming in the hot blackness of the pit.”
“Do not tell me what I’ve already guessed,” Rene said sharply. “Let us make a pact. We do not want you to go after Titus. We want you to kill Henry, the werebear guarding Joshua.”
“And Joshua will be next, and then Titus will be back in Hell with Rip,” Shaker said angrily. “I will not do that to him.”
“Not even to get out of Hell?”
“No,” he replied to her. “I will not betray him.”
Would that Danial had been so loyal me as this demon was to his kin. I felt a pang.
“I will sweeten the deal,” Rene said softly. “You may take my soul, if you do this. That will buy you some time out of Hell.”
Shaker looked at her thoughtfully. “You know I’ll not take the blood bond. I
do not want to be down in Hell for backing the wrong vampire.”
“Agreed. But Lucifer and I will hear your agreement to the words I’ve spoken, before I free you. He will hold you to it, even if I don’t have the power to.”
Shaker studied her. “Agreed.”
“Come out of the circle,” Rene said with a gesture. “You are free, Shaker.”
I half expected him to try to kill her, as he threatened to. I wondered if I could fight him off if he did. To my surprise, he just nodded and came to stand beside us.
“What is the plan, Rene?”
“Teleport with us to Joshua’s domain. Kill everything that stands in our way, and help us break though Titus’s magical barriers.”
“I will not fight him.”
“You will not have to. Just do as we asked.”
“Okay,” Shaker said. “When are we leaving?”
“Tomorrow at dusk,” Rene said. “Be here then.”
Shaker nodded, and disappeared.
I relaxed, feeling all that demon evil dissipate in the room.
Ravel immediately turned on Rene. “Sister, do not do this! You will burn in Hell!”
“I must do this, Ravel,” she said in a voice of iron.
Ravel faced me, and narrowed his eyes. “This is your fault, vampire. She’s going to damn herself for you! I was wrong to think you were a nobleman, to let a woman burn in Hell in your stead!”
He strode to the door, and went out, slamming it behind him.
Uther turned to Rene and I. “I do not doubt your abilities, Rene,” he rasped. “But if we lose, my people will be in harm’s way. Before I commit to this, I want you to teleport all of my women and children to safety, along with some of the men.”
“We need your men,” Rene said wearily. “Please, Uther.”
“I have given enough blood of my people,” Uther rasped a little angrily. “I joined Devlin to stop the killing. More of my people have been killed in his service than were ever killed mistakenly as vampires!”
“That is true,” I said remorsefully. “Please do as he asks, Rene. Our battle tomorrow will not be won or lost because we had a few less men.”
Rene gritted her teeth, but she nodded. “It will be done.”
Uther nodded to me, and then he left.
I turned to Rene. “What am I to do?”
I expected her to tell me that we had to plan strategy, or to practice with guns, swords, or other edged weapons. But she was already taking her clothes back off.
“Be with me,” she said softly. “Please.”
I gave her an odd look, even as I was appreciating her form. “Should we not go over the plan, at least?”
“I am giving up my soul for you,” she said in a whisper. “It will mean my life, Dev. Don’t begrudge me a few last hours in your arms.”
I looked at her, and it all clicked into place. “We are not doing this,” I said abruptly. And then I headed for the door.
“Where are you going?” she shouted.
“Outside, where I should’ve gone a day ago,” I said, swallowing my fear, and my anguish. I put my hand on the door, and threw it open. And immediately, my skin began to smoke, as the sunlight washed over me.
I began to hiss in pain, and then gentle arms enfolded me.
“Come back inside,” Rene whispered. “Please, Dev.”
“I will not,” I said, hissing in more pain as agony built, feeling my skin flaking off and crisping.
“Please, Dev,” she whispered. “I love you.”
“I cannot!” I screamed. “I will not doom you because I lack the courage to take my own life!”
“Then I will burn with you,” she said tenderly. “For I’m not leaving you here to die alone. And the fire as you burn will consume me as well.”
I closed my eyes for a moment, the pain intensifying as the smoke coming from me increased. Then I let her lead me indoors.
Rene shut the door behind us, and bolted it. Then she led me before the fire and helped me take off my clothes. My skin was already healing, even as more of the burnt skin fell off in reddish flakes. She embraced me in her arms, cradling my head to her chest. I heard her heartbeat beneath her skin, and closed my eyes, wanting nothing more than to be held by her. For a long time we lay like that before the fire, our arms around each other.
* * * *
Hours later, she finally took me to her bed. We made love as we had the day before. As I held her after, I finally noticed that her room had been painted a blue-green color, matching her eyes. The room was cozy…too cozy…
“Why does your bedroom have no windows?” I demanded suddenly, turning to her. “The ones in your main room are covered also. Why? I have never come here before in the day.”
She looked at me a little guiltily.
“Speak, Rene,” I said, sick.
“I saw us together like this, not just hand in hand,” she said, her eyes downcast. “If the time ever came, I wanted my bed and home to be safe for you.”
“There is no shame in that,” I said gently, nestling myself again in her arms, inwardly relieved. “I appreciate—”
“You do not suspect me of orchestrating Anna’s death, to get you for myself?” she said bluntly, surprised.
I kissed her gently. “If that were so, you could’ve arranged for her die in that fire in France, or to be taken by Louis. Ravel guarded us because you asked him to. You could’ve told him to cut her from me. There are ways it could’ve been done, and many opportunities.”
“I’m glad you see that,” she whispered. “I was worried you might think otherwise.”
“You say you love me,” I said, kissing her again. “I’ve heard those words enough times in my life to tell whether a woman means them or not. I’d wager you mean them. But please do not speak of her again.”
I got up from the bed, and walked over to lean against the far wall. Rene watched me curiously.
“I loved her,” I said, trying hard to speak clearly in my grief. “What we’ve done or will do doesn’t change that, Rene—”
“I’m not asking for your heart,” Rene said, wrapping a shawl about her shoulders. “I know it’s already taken, Dev. But I want to be your lover. Take the comfort I offer. It doesn’t come with strings attached.”
I looked at her uneasily.
Rene got up and came closer, taking my hand. “I give myself to you, Devlin Dalcon. I give you my promise, here and now, I’ll be yours, the rest of my life.” She looked up at me. “Do you accept?”
“You are not dying tomorrow,” I said flatly, sitting with her back on the bed. “I spoke to Shaker this afternoon while you slept before the fire. He agreed to take the souls of Joshua and Henry, instead of yours.” I hugged her. “So there’s no need—”
She looked at me in shock, and then abruptly burst out laughing and lay backwards on the bed.
“What are you laughing at?” I asked, annoyed and intrigued at her mirth.
“You,” she gasped out. “You and your posturing.”
I began tickling her mercilessly, as she yelled out for me to stop. “Why are you laughing?” I said mischievously as she gasped for breath. “I expected you to be relieved!”
“Because I noticed you did not offer your own soul, gallant vampire that you are,” she said, grinning.
I grinned back. “What is the point of saving you, if we are still parted, my faerie princess?”
She snorted, and then laughed again. “Always with men it’s the same. One thing on your minds.”
“Women are not all that different,” I said grumpily. “Sex is on your mind, too.”
“You are so right,” she whispered throatily. “Make love to me again, Devlin. For we must leave in another hour, at most.”
I looked down at her. I didn’t love Rene as I had Anna, but maybe that was best. She was a good friend and she could be trusted. Better yet, not only could Rene protect herself and I from my enemies, being oathed again would mean I’d no longer have to fend off any adva
nces from women looking to be my lady. It was a small price to pay for a little lovemaking.
“On one condition,” I said, taking her in my arms. “Repeat your oath for me.”
Rene trembled, but she repeated it.
“I accept,” I whispered gently. “And I promise to be faithful to you, Rene.”
“For as long as I live, you’d better,” she said, kissing me, even as she wiped away a tear. “Or I’ll zap your ass with a little lightning.”
I gave her a look of shock, and she laughed, her eyes shining. Then I put her beneath me, and silenced her the best way I knew how.
* * * *
Dusk found us dressed, and waiting before the door. Ravel appeared in a few minutes, and then Uther came with his men at full dark, bearing guns and knives. Shaker showed up a few minutes later. Even though it made me feel a little inept, I and the rest all looked at Rene.
She was all business. “Shaker, teleport us in. You go first. Devlin, keep yourself with Ravel -- he will watch your back. You are to stay out of the fighting, as you will need all your strength to beat Joshua. Ravel, guard him. Uther, you and your men are to take care of whatever Shaker can’t handle. I will guard the rear.”
“Ready?” Shaker said.
We nodded, and a moment later, we were in a stone mansion. A half second later, we were discovered.
A group of bears charged us, yelling. Ravel blocked me with his body, and hit them with some lightning. That stopped two, but the rest came on, only to be ripped in half by Shaker, who mowed them down as if he was invincible. Their weapons did not seem to cause him pain, and his wounds healed faster than any of mine ever had.
“Lead on,” Rene said, when it was done.
I wondered how Shaker knew where to go. That was cleared up for me with his next words. “I remember the dungeon being through here,” he rumbled. “But it’s been many years since I was here last.”
Immortal Confessions Page 24
