Jaret was right. There was still so much for Aaron to learn. Like how to hypnotize the damned things. He’d said, “You just have to push with your mind.” Aaron tried that on one animal so far and it had just run away. His partner had laughed so hard he fell over. Tonight, he would let the man at his side do it.
The scent of blood and fur hit him and he slowed down. Some of Jeffrey’s caffeine-fueled anxiety had calmed down and he stopped when Aaron did. “What now?” he asked, looking between them.
“Now,” Jaret explained, “I’ll get the dogs. Don’t be afraid. If you’re ready to change tonight, your instincts will take over. If they don’t, we can do it another night.” Jeffrey nodded, but Aaron knew his cousin would be disappointed if it didn’t happen. Placing a hand on the younger man’s shoulder, he kept him from going forward when Jaret darted in between the rocks of the cliff they’d reached. A growl came from between them, making Jeffrey startle. When several growls answered and then instantly shut off, he turned to look at Aaron.
“I don’t understand,” he said, even as he grimaced and reached up to gingerly touch his upper jaw.
“It’s okay,” Aaron said quietly. “My jaw ached before I changed. It’s your fangs getting ready to descend.”
At first, his cousin’s eyes widened and then he grinned. “Cool.”
A scrambling sound had them both turn back. Jaret held a wolf in each hand by the scruff of their necks. Since they were breathing, they were still alive. Aaron knew that meant he would leave them alive if Jeffrey didn’t go through the change. After all, the two of them had been drinking human blood—though Aaron had forced himself to supplement his own with cows’ blood. Ugh, that stuff was awful—so they didn’t need the blood tonight. This was all for Jeffrey, if he needed it.
A low growl left his younger cousin and he stepped back, giving him the room if he needed it. Jeffrey’s eyes latched onto the dogs in Jaret’s hands. Aaron’s man dropped one of them and offered a wolf up to Jeffrey just as he’d done the lion to Aaron weeks ago. The snap of the neck was almost instantly followed by a roar before several things happened. Fangs burst from Jeffrey’s gums and Aaron winced at the sound, remembering how painful it was. His cousin yanked the dog out of Jaret’s arms and he fed.
It was a strange thing to witness. Sure, he’d watched Jaret feed before, but that was always tinged with a whole helluva lot of desire. He didn’t feel the same watching Jeffrey. Instead, there was just the sense of relief that it had happened.
“Did I look like that?” he asked, watching the blood slide down his cousin’s neck as he drank greedily.
“No. You looked far better,” Jaret whispered in his ear, wrapping his arms around Aaron from behind. “So fucking sexy with blood covering you, your fangs sunk into the neck of your kill. I almost came right then.”
Growling low in his throat, Aaron had to adjust his rather uncomfortable erection. “Should we get more?” he asked as Jeffrey dropped the first wolf and went for the second.
“Two is all he really needs.”
“But I had a cat plus two coyotes.”
“Yes, but you had been underfed for thirteen years. You needed the extra influx of blood. He doesn’t.”
As if to put his mind on something else, one of Jaret’s hands slid down and cupped his jeans-covered cock. Moaning, he thrust back against him. “We can’t do this here,” he hissed.
“We won’t. But I want you hard and wanting by the time we get home.”
“I already am.”
The low chuckle in his ear made him grin.
When Jeffrey dropped his second kill, Jaret removed his hands and moved to his side. Aaron’s cousin stood up straight and stretched, making him grin. He still did that as he hadn’t been able to stretch fully for so long. Whipping around, Jeffrey looked at them and he was surprised to see panic on his cousin’s face.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, taking a step forward.
Jeffrey blinked at him and then the panic receded, quickly followed by a grin. “So I don’t look as hideous as I feel I look?”
“You look like a drakyl who has just fed,” Jaret said. “It looks good on you.”
Jeffrey did an expression that Aaron was pretty sure was beaming, but with his blood-covered fangs still hanging over his lower lip, it came across as, well, creepy. Conner would be thrilled.
“How do you get these things to go back?” With his fangs hanging out, he spoke with a bit of a lisp and Aaron wondered if he did the same. He’d have to listen the next time he fed.
“They’ll go back in before we get home,” Jaret assured him. “How do you feel?”
“Fucking fantastic! No aches, no pains, and I feel like I could climb a mountain if I wanted to. Plus, I can see really well.”
“Sounds about right,” Aaron said with a grin. “We still have a few hours. Want to check out our land in the dead of night?”
“Hell, yeah!”
Laughing, Jaret took Aaron’s left hand and they ran west. Jeffrey quickly caught up with them. Having Jaret at his side was fantastic, but there was definitely something added having his cousin beside him. Now, Jeffrey would be with them forever—baring vampyr interference—and he couldn’t be happier. He knew the odds against any of the others changing was low, but he hoped. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have Conner, Stephan, Adam, and Will forever, too?
A “whoop!” came from his right and he laughed. Things were definitely looking up. What was next at Drakyl Ranch? He had some ideas and some plans to get more human help. His cousins needed breaks to just have fun and to learn as much as they could about what they might become. If he had his way, the relatives who had relied on the ranch would help out in one way or another. It was about time for the human contingent to do more than just hand over their sons. After all, Aaron had every intention of raising each of his cousins and any new boys to be the best men they could be.
There were other plans as well, ones he hadn’t even spoken to Jaret about, but that he planned to put into effect as soon as he’d worked them out. No longer would the ranch be helpless. If there was one thing Aaron had learned through the attack that had harmed his love, it was that they needed to be prepared. Being a nice guy and a peacemaker as his uncle was, was one thing. But the phrase a good offense is the best defense was around for a reason.
Drakyl were natural predators and Aaron would make sure they were prepared, not just to take down the animals they needed for sustenance, but to take down any vampyr who dared to cross their land. While he didn’t plan on going after them, he no longer thought like the prey he used to be. There was power in his body. Hell, he’d ripped the head off Kimil with hardly any effort at all. It was time for him to accept the fact he was a predator and to act like one.
They would train to fight. First, he, Jaret, and Jeffrey. He would find a way for his human cousins to ward off the bastards, as well. Any that changed would learn to fight alongside the three of them. Maybe he could even convince Cor to come to the ranch fulltime. From the little Stephan had said, the man spent most of his time alone. Being around others of his kind and accepted would be good for him. The addition of a strong drakyl to their defenses was a further bonus.
If their enemy came again, they would be prepared. And next time, their predator would become prey.
COMING SOON
DUTY
DRAKYL RANCH, BOOK II
“You will tell me what I need to know.” Watching the ancient drakyl glare at him, Vinishad couldn’t help but smile, his smile widening as the creature in front of him appeared as though he would be ill. Drakyl were such weak creatures, unable to handle the intense odor that came from his kind. It was amazing they still existed. Of course, there were those who had gained strength. Aaron of the drakyl was a danger only he seemed to understand. And one he intended to completely obliterate. Once this fool gave him the information he sought.
“I will tell you nothing, vampyr!” The anger in the creature’s tone didn’t bother him. The deri
sion did.
Leaning forward, he let his stank breath settle over the older being, enjoying watching him squirm as he stopped breathing. While they had to breathe, he would be able to hold his breath for a while. Until he needed to speak. And Vinishad would make him speak. “You will. Even if it is upon your last dying breath, you will tell me everything you know about destroying your race.” Turning his head, he looked up at the sky. Still dark. Turning back, he smiled again. “You have approximately two hours until the sun comes up. If you do not tell me, I will find your joined.”
“No!”
“Yes. Your joined will become my next victim.”
A huge glob of saliva landed on his nose, burning slightly. Vinishad hissed, using his shirt sleeve to wipe it off.
“If I tell you how to destroy us, you will kill him, too. I’m not vampyr. I am drakyl. And we’re smart, you fucking pile of—”
Growling, he slammed his fist into the drakyl’s forehead, enjoying the sound as its head slammed against the cement wall of the small building they stood against. The silver-laced cuffs kept the dangerous creature contained, and would keep it confined long after the sun came up. His fellow vampyr had set up the cameras as he requested, but he hadn’t had them turned on. Yet. He would only have them record upon sunup. For he would enjoy watching the lowly being die for years to come. But before that happened, he needed information.
“I’ve been searching for weeks!” he spat back, the slimy black liquid of his saliva coating the drakyl’s face and neck. “We all know you are the weaker species and should never exist. I am only doing my job to make sure you all die. But,” Vinishad went on, not caring what he said as the creature would die soon, anyway, “first, I need information on how your species works. For I have found a set of drakyl who are stronger than the rest of you.”
“Stronger?” The surprise in the other’s tone made him smile again, nodding.
“Yes. One known as Aaron decapitated my commander without any trouble.” The widening eyes in front of him looked so hopeful. He couldn’t help but continue. “He also cured his joined who I stabbed with iron and silver. Aaron is mighty powerful, drakyl. Just imagine what could happen if your kind began to go to him for…help. Vampyr might actually be dealt a blow leading to our expiration.”
The hopeful look on the creature’s face made his stomach burn. Beast! How dare it glory in the demise of the vampyr race? Roaring, he hit him again, delighting in the sound of his head smashing into the cement again and again. The scent of lemon-laced blood, the horrible scent of drakyl, filled his senses and he leapt back, furious as he looked at his captive. Half the skin was torn off his face, his bones jutting out at odd angles.
“Tell me your secrets, old man,” he hissed, leaning in and letting the full extent of his odor overcome the spineless drakyl.
A cough of a laugh left his victim. The jaw, no longer covered with skin, looked odd as it worked up and down while the drakyl chuckled. “You cannot destroy us, vampyr. Not really. You may kill one or another of us, but you cannot get us all. And even if you did manage to kill us, there are hundreds of thousands of young men wandering around with our gene. Just ready to become full drakyl. You will never get rid of us,” he spat, “until you kill everything on earth. And with it, your food source. You fucking rotten piece of-”
Reaching out, he smacked the drakyl’s jaw, enjoying the sound of crunching bones. This was over. He would need to find another drakyl to torture. Growling, he turned to walk away. Sunup would come soon and he needed to be protected. A low gurgling moan from behind him was the only thing that made him feel good. “You’re a fool,” he barked over his shoulder. “If I have to, I will kill all young men, killing off…” His voice trailed off as a cry of pain came from the drakyl. Their young men. That had to be it. There was something about their young men.
Whipping around, he stomped back to the creature, grabbing its hair and yanking its head up so it had to look him in the eyes. “How can I tell your young men from others?”
Duty, Drakyl Ranch Book II, coming soon
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Thianna Durston is a writer by day and supernova by night. Or at least that’s what the faeries tell her. And who is she to deny those pesky *cough* lovely little creatures?
She lives in the Pacific Northwest, though her heart belongs elsewhere. In the meantime, until she can return to the place she calls home, she happily lives in a city that still thinks it’s a small town. Thankfully, it has given her muse lots of amusing places to start a story.
Find her online at http://mm.thiannad.com
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