The Assassins of Light

by Britney Jackson

  And then, she couldn’t hold back any longer. She began to move against Rose, rocking her hips, seeking some kind of soothing friction between their bodies, moaning into the blood-soaked fabric that covered Rose’s shoulder.

  Rose shifted so that she could grasp Kara’s face with her hands, and then, she turned Kara’s head and pressed her blood-soaked lips against Kara’s lips. Kara moaned and immediately deepened the kiss, seeking out Rose’s tongue with her own, tasting her own blood in the kiss. They kissed desperately, as if it had been years since they’d tasted each other last, rather than only a couple of nights.

  Until someone cleared their throat.

  Rose pulled back, just slightly, and shifted her dangerous, crimson-red gaze toward the person who interrupted them. She growled at the rude person.

  Kallias scowled at her. “Did you just growl at me?” he complained.

  “Well, you did interrupt her meal,” Aaron said with an amused look. Not much amused him, so that tilt of his lips and gleam in his dark eyes were very easy to spot. He leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms. “Most animals don’t like that, and from the looks of it, she’s still in quite the…animalistic state.”

  Kallias sighed. He looked a little disheveled, but unlike Rose and Kara, there was no blood on his skin. “I came as quickly as I could,” he told Rose.

  “Well, that wasn’t quick enough, Greek,” Aaron said, his low, thickly-accented voice carrying easily across the room. “She would have died, if we hadn’t gotten here when we did. What were you thinking? Leaving her unguarded…”

  Kallias turned and glared at Aaron. “I don’t answer to you, Aaron.”

  Aaron just raised an eyebrow and waved his hand toward Rose and Kara. “I think we should leave them alone. It doesn’t look like they’re finished.”

  Kallias glanced back at Rose, and his eyes narrowed as he realized that Rose had returned to what she’d been doing before he interrupted—making out with Kara. “Uh…Rose?” he said irritably. “Did you even hear what I said?”

  Kara leaned back, gently extracting herself from Rose’s grasp. “Don’t get me wrong. I am really enjoying this,” she murmured, her words slurring a little, “but I think you’re pissing off your boyfriend, and you might regret that when you’re less,” she paused, running her gaze over Rose’s blood-soaked body, “this.”

  Rose watched her with a puzzled frown. “But…I need you.”

  Kara swayed dangerously, even though she was still straddling Rose’s lap. She offered Rose a regretful smile. “That’s just the blood bond talking, my love.”

  Aaron straightened. “Kara, are you feeling all right?” he asked worriedly.

  Rose continued to study Kara with those frightening, inhuman eyes, the red haze shifting and dancing like fire. “I don’t think it’s just the blood bond.”

  Kallias crossed his arms and looked away. “Why is it taking her so long to come to?” he grumbled, directing his question at Aaron. “She still seems so…”

  “High?” Aaron said with a raised eyebrow. “She is. I think she took too much of Kara’s blood.” He crossed the living room in a few quick steps, and then, he grasped Kara’s shoulder and pulled her off of Rose. Just as he expected, Kara swayed, her eyes fluttering closed, as she tried to stand. He stepped out of the way before she fell on him, and she caught herself against the sofa, instead.

  “What are you guys even doing here?” Kallias growled at Aaron.

  “Saving your girlfriend’s life,” Aaron said coldly. “You’re welcome.”

  “I didn’t thank you,” Kallias sneered. “I would never thank you. Because I know why you did it. You don’t care about her. You just want to use her power.”

  “Which, lucky for you, still results in her being alive,” Aaron snarled.

  “Aaron?” Rose said suddenly, still seated on the sofa. She frowned at the dark, slender man standing in front of the sofa. “When did you get here?”

  Aaron rolled his eyes. “I’ve been standing here as long as Kallias has.”

  “Kallias,” Rose mumbled, her gaze—which was its normal blue again—shifting toward the tall, muscular vampire in the middle of the room. “Huh.”

  Kara let out a soft, sleepy giggle. “She drank so much of my blood.”

  “Yeah, I can tell,” Aaron growled in frustration. “You’re nearly drained.”

  “Relax, Aaron,” Kara said drowsily. She leaned heavily against the sofa. “The Assassins are dead. I think you can survive without me for a few minutes.”

  Meanwhile, Rose had now shifted her gaze toward Kara, and she stared intensely at Kara now, as if she couldn’t believe the dangerous, flirty vampire was actually standing there. Desire darkened her bright blue eyes as her blood bond reacted to Kara’s presence. She blinked slowly, attempting to regain control of her mind, and then, she stood, climbing unsteadily to her feet. “The Assassins,” she repeated. She looked up, her eyes widening. “Oh my word. Is everyone okay?”

  Kallias frowned at her. “You’re just now remembering what happened?”

  “Yes, your friends are fine,” Kara said. “I believe they’re in the kitchen.”

  Rose let out a soft sigh of relief. She smiled gratefully at Kara. “Thanks.”

  “Your friends? You mean the humans?” Aaron snarled at Rose, his voice sharp with disgust. “The people that you just tried to sacrifice your own life for?”

  Kallias glanced back and forth between them, as if he were looking for confirmation of Aaron’s accusation. He glared at Rose. “Seriously?” he growled.

  Rose shrugged tiredly. “I couldn’t let them die. What did you expect?”

  “I don’t know,” Kallias said bitterly. “I don’t know why it even surprises me anymore. You’re determined to die. No matter how many people love you.”

  “They would have killed my brother, Kallias,” Rose sighed. “My brother.”

  “That’s why you shouldn’t have left her alone, Kallias,” Aaron said in a grating—almost gloating—tone. His dark, condescending gaze shifted away from Kallias, to Rose, instead. “She has too many weaknesses. Friends. Family. You.”

  “Of course you would call them weaknesses,” Rose sighed. She narrowed her eyes at him. “You know…Alana was evil and insane, but at least she tried to care about someone other than herself. That’s more than I can say about you.”

  Aaron smiled darkly. “There’s a reason I’m still alive, and Alana isn’t.”

  “Yeah,” Rose said, crossing her arms, “but I’m not sure it’s a good one.”

  Still frustrated by Aaron’s accusation, Kallias grumbled, “It’s not like I left her here while I went out to see a movie or something. I thought my friends were in danger. I received a message from them. It said that they’d been captured by the Assassins of Light. I figured she’d be safer here than on a rescue mission.”

  “Clearly, you figured wrong,” Aaron said. “Besides, if you put everyone in danger for the sake of these other vampires, then you’re no better than she is.”

  “Because caring about people is such a horrible thing to do,” Rose said sarcastically. She sighed. “So, are Geoff and Emma all right?” she asked Kallias.

  No one missed the fact that Kallias’s gaze darted anxiously toward Aaron when she asked that. “They’re fine,” he said between clenched teeth. When Rose gave him a questioning look, he threw up his hands. “They were never in danger.”

  Her brows furrowed. “What do you mean?” she mumbled, confused.

  “He means…it was a diversion,” Kara said, her voice slurring drowsily. “The message was from the Assassins of Light, not from your friends.” Her eyes fluttered, as if she were going to pass out. “I did warn you about the phones.”

  “I thought telepaths were smart,” Aaron taunted, “and you fell for that?”

  Kallias let out a dangerous growl, full of frustration and anger. It took all of his self-control to ignore Aaron’s insult and focus on what Kara had said, instead. “You sai
d our phones were being tracked, not that they were being used.”

  “If they have enough access to your phones to track them, then it’s quite possible they can send messages from your numbers as well and maybe even make calls from them,” Kara sighed, shrugging one shoulder—or trying to, at least. Her shoulder barely even twitched. “They have so much technology at their disposal. Military technology. If I were you, I would’ve been wary, at least. But I was only saying how I would’ve reacted. I’m not ridiculing you. Or trying to start a fight.”

  “Well, I’m ridiculing you,” Aaron said, “because you’re all fucking idiots.”

  Kallias glared at him. “When do you go back to the Tomb of Blood?”

  Aaron just smiled at him. “I need to talk to you about that, actually.”

  “Is Rose all right?” Erik asked suddenly, as he joined them in the living room, bringing the humans—as Aaron called them—with him. He hooked his thumb over his shoulder, pointing at them. “Inquiring minds want to know.”

  Rose smiled, surprised by their concern. “I’m fine,” she assured them. Then, she glanced at Kara, and her lips curved up at the edges. “Thanks to Kara.”

  Kara looked up at her and smiled tiredly. “Just returning the favor.”

  Rose’s smile deepened. No one else recognized that sentence, but Rose did. It was the first thing that Kara had said to Rose when they met. She watched as Kara held tightly to the sofa, swaying dangerously. Then, her stomach twisted with concern, and she stepped forward, reaching out for Kara. “Are you okay?”

  “Mmmm-hmmm,” Kara murmured, but as she said it, she fell forward.

  Rose caught her easily, even though she was pretty sure she’d never done anything that gracefully in her life. She didn’t remember making the conscious decision to move toward Kara, much less to sweep her arm around Kara’s waist and catch her, but somehow, because of the blood bond and the quick reflexes that she didn’t know she had, she was able to catch Kara before she collapsed.

  Kara tilted her head back against Rose, unintentionally surrendering her weight into Rose’s arms. “Look at that,” she slurred. “You caught me this time.”

  Rose actually had to force herself not to inhale Kara’s appealing scent. The blood bond was that powerful. She glanced worriedly at Aaron. “Is this normal?”

  Aaron frowned. “At first, yes. But she should be healing by now.”

  Rose held Kara a little tighter. “Why isn’t she?” she asked nervously.

  “There’s only one reason that a vampire wouldn’t immediately begin to heal,” Kallias told them, watching Kara curiously. “She’s been starving herself.”

  “What?” Aaron snarled. “You have got to be fucking kidding me, Kara.”

  Kara didn’t even react. She just slumped languidly against Rose’s side.

  Rose glanced down at Kara, keeping her arm securely wrapped around Kara’s lean waist. “Is that true?” she asked. “Have you been starving yourself?”

  “I love the sound of your voice,” Kara murmured. “It’s so gentle.”

  Aaron rolled his eyes. “I don’t understand why she would do something like this,” he complained, as if it inconvenienced him personally. “She knows that we’re on the brink of war. We don’t have time to start worrying about…morals.” He shuddered as he said the word morals, as if it were this grimy, disgusting thing.

  Rose stared at Kara, her brows furrowing, as she considered what Aaron had said. She wondered if that really was the reason that Kara had starved herself.

  “She’ll have to feed,” Aaron said, “just so that she can heal from this.”

  Rose looked up at him and nodded. “I’ll let her feed from me,” she told him. Then, she shifted her gaze toward Kallias. She offered him an apologetic smile. “She saved my life, and I nearly drained her. So…I need to do this for her.”

  Kallias raised an eyebrow. “I just walked in on you making out with her,” he said, waving at the couch. “And you think this is what’s going to upset me?”

  Rose sighed. She hadn’t missed the implied part of that statement. She’d already upset him. This was nothing in comparison. “I was acting on…instincts.”

  “Yeah,” Kallias said, but he didn’t looked convinced. He shifted his dark, narrowed gaze toward Aaron. “You do realize that the sun is rising soon, right?”

  Aaron shrugged. “You have extra rooms, don’t you?”

  “Oh, hell, no,” Kallias growled. “You are not staying in my home. Ever.”

  The vehement refusal didn’t even seem to faze Aaron. “You and I should talk. Alone,” Aaron told Kallias, shooting a glare in the direction of the humans.

  Kallias sighed. “Erik, would you make sure the humans eat dinner?”

  Erik nodded. “Come on, guys,” he told them. “Let’s go to the kitchen.”

  “We’re not kids,” Audrey grumbled, “and our names aren’t the humans.”

  Erik glanced nervously at Aaron. “Just…follow me,” he told them.

  “Do you mind if I take Kara to one of the rooms?” Rose asked Kallias.

  Kallias rolled his eyes at her. “Now, you’re asking permission?”

  Rose narrowed her eyes at that. “It’s your house. A house is a possession,” she explained, a hint of sharp sarcasm in her voice. “Unlike me. I’m a person.”

  His irritation faltered a little. “I wasn’t implying that you…” he trailed off, his brows furrowing, as he replayed his words in his head. “Yeah. Go ahead.”

  Rose shifted her bright blue gaze toward Kara, her brows creasing with concern. It seemed as if Kara were still supporting some of her own weight. Even though Kara’s body was lean and lithe, she imagined that it would feel heavier, if she were holding Kara up by herself. “Kara? Are you still conscious?” she asked.

  “Yes,” Kara slurred. She opened her eyes. “I’m sprightly. Can’t you tell?”

  Rose smiled at her sarcasm. “Can you put your arm around me?”

  “Mmmm,” Kara murmured in her ear. Rose started to ask if the mmmm sound translated to yes or no, but before she could get out her snarky question, she felt Kara lift her left arm and drop it heavily around Rose’s neck. This allowed Rose to hold Kara more easily, but it also, apparently, brought Kara’s lips closer to her ear. Because she suddenly felt the warm caress of Kara’s breath in her ear. “You’re flirting with me,” she slurred, “asking me to put my arm around you.”

  Rose couldn’t help it. She shuddered. Blood bonds intensified the way that her body naturally reacted to things. She blushed as she heard Kara chuckle at her. “I was not flirting with you,” she muttered. “I’m trying to take you to bed.”

  “Mmmm. Even better,” Kara laughed. Apparently, even being mostly drained of blood couldn’t stop her relentless flirting. She held tightly to Rose as they headed toward the door, past Kallias and Aaron, who were already arguing.

  When they reached the foyer, Rose paused at the bottom of the stairs. She turned to look at Kara, swallowing uneasily as she realized how close Kara’s face was to hers, as she realized that Kara’s pale lips were close enough to kiss.

  “I think I’m going to lose consciousness soon,” Kara confessed.

  Rose nodded. “We should hurry, then,” she said, casting a nervous glance at the steep staircase. She looked at Kara again. “Do you mind if I carry you?”

  Kara tilted her head back against Rose’s shoulder, purposely pressing her lips to Rose’s ear. “Baby, you can do whatever you want to me,” she murmured.

  Rose shuddered. Again. “Uh…great. Then, I’ll…carry you upstairs.”

  Kara watched as Rose trailed her gaze over Kara’s body, clearly trying to figure out the best way to pick her up. “Kneel a little so that you can slide your left arm under my legs,” she explained. “Keep your right arm exactly where it is.”

  Rose blushed. “You’ve clearly done this before,” she muttered under her breath, and then, she did as Kara said, cradling Kara’s long, lithe body in her arms.


  Kara smiled. “Picking up women is a hobby of mine. Didn’t you notice?”

  Rose gave her an admonishing look. “Oh, I noticed,” she assured her.

  Kara tightened her hold around Rose’s shoulders as Rose began to carry her up the stairs. Rose’s body felt so soft around hers, so warm, so…safe. “You know,” she said drowsily, “I heard what you said to Kallias, and you should know: you don’t have to do this. You don’t owe me anything. I swore an oath to you.”

  Rose rolled her eyes. “Not the oath again,” she groaned. She glanced down at Kara, and a half-amused-half-frustrated smile curved at the edges of her lips. “I don’t care about that silly oath. I care that you saved me. And my friends.”

  “You saved your friends, Rose,” Kara said. “You did that by yourself.”

  Rose’s smile deepened. “Well, you saved my life. Then, you let me take way too much of your blood,” she paused. “By the way, why didn’t you stop me?”

  “You’re so sexy when you feed,” Kara said. Her voice came out as no more than a low, breathless growl, pouring sensually into Rose’s ear. “You’re so wild, so unrestrained, so sensual. Why would I ever stop something so beautiful?”

  Rose pressed her lips tightly together, desperately trying not to moan, as Kara’s words and closeness affected her. Still, she trembled a little as the barely-controlled desire burned throughout her body. “Why?” she said dryly, her voice embarrassingly breathless. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because I was draining you.”

  Kara chuckled. “Ah, I’ve missed your sarcasm,” she sighed pleasantly.

  Rose stopped in front of the door to the largest guest bedroom, the one that she’d stayed in when she first arrived. Luckily, she’d left the door slightly ajar. “You expect me to believe that no one else said anything sarcastic for three days?”

  “No one does it as well as you do, baby,” Kara whispered in her ear.