The Red Lily (Vampire Blood)

by Juliette Cross

  She nuzzled even closer and inhaled deeply of his skin, that divine scent that made her knees weak the first time he bit her, filling her with that dizzying concoction of euphoria, intimacy, and desire that only Nikolai had ever given her.

  He continued to caress her back and comb his fingers lightly through the long locks of her hair, soothing her into a dreamy state. When he kissed her crown and said, “Sleep, my love,” she finally did.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Sienna stood in her yard with Nikolai at her back and Allora in front, her mate and brothers in a semi-circle behind her. Snow had fallen overnight as Dane had predicted, covering the forest in a light dusting of white. The biting chill in the air promised more to come.

  Sienna thanked the stars they’d shown up at dusk fully clothed. Though Sienna was certain after a full day of lovemaking following a full night, Nikolai more than understood she was without a shadow of a doubt his woman. But she also knew her vampire tended to be jealous, even when unnecessary.

  Now that she took them in, they weren’t exactly fully clothed. Allora was. She wore rough-hewn brown leather pants and a white tunic that fit her trim bodice and hung loosely past her waist with a thin leather drawstring at her breasts. She wore two tight braids along each temple, the rest of her flaxen-white hair in loose waves down past her hips. Her mate and brothers wore similarly made pants but no shirts. Bron wore a black vest made of roughened leather.

  Sienna thought to ask if they were cold, then thought better not to mention their state of dress or the lack thereof. Their jagged and swirling tattoos inked over most of their exposed skin, giving their appearance a savagery that their rugged clothes only enhanced. At first glance, they looked little more than barbarians. But Sienna knew better.

  “This is rather awkward,” she finally said with a shy smile. “Would you like to come inside?”

  “No,” replied Allora, offering a smile in return. “We are not fond of confined spaces.”

  Willow whinnied from her corral, seemingly anxious. Sienna couldn’t blame her. The horse had finally accepted the presence of the hart wolves only to see these strangers standing here, still smelling like the hart wolves that had watched over her while Sienna was gone.

  “Over here then.” Sienna gestured toward a fallen pine log near the corral fence where she often sat and painted. Those days of leisure felt so far away.

  Sienna took a seat first and Allora next to her, angling her body toward her. Not surprising, none of the men sat or even spoke. Crossed arms and feet planted apart, they commenced to dark brooding and glaring.

  Allora took Sienna’s hand between both of hers. “How do you feel?”

  A flush of heat crawled up her neck into her cheeks as she glanced up at Nikolai where he leaned against the fence, arms crossed.

  How did she feel? She felt completely and utterly sated by her vampire lover. She could not say that.

  Nikolai’s blank expression didn’t waver but his mouth ticked on one side as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. His penetrating gaze intensified the flush in her cheeks. She cleared her throat.

  “I’m feeling well.”

  Allora gave a knowing smile and her hand a squeeze. “It’s not every day someone is brought back to life.”

  Curious, Sienna leaned forward. “What did the hartstone do to me? I mean, other than restore me to life. I feel as if something has changed.”

  “She is able to read minds,” interjected Nikolai. “Or at least memories.”

  “I see,” said Allora, not seeming surprised at all though her smooth brow pinched briefly. “We don’t know what the hartstone has changed inside of you. It does not bestow the same gifts on the creatures it touches. It is a stone of making.”

  “And it made you, didn’t it?” asked Sienna.

  “Not exactly. It made my ancestors, giving us the duty to guard over this forest and the hartstone.”

  “When did this happen to you?” asked Sienna. “I mean, your people.”

  “Not long after the queen became the first vampire, thousands of years ago.”

  Sienna frowned. “You always knew it was the queen and not the king who was the first of the immortals?”

  She answered with a slight nod of the head. The humans and vampires alike had believed all along that it was King Grindal who had been the first of their kind, the one who’d killed his brother and had wiped out over half the human race in a blood frenzy, the first to experience sanguine furorem. But it had always been the queen who was now guiding her loyalists back into the age of darkness.

  “And so”—Sienna cast a glance to Bron, Connell, and Dane—“you are all immortal, too.”

  “All creatures can be killed,” Allora continued. “But yes, any being the hartstone touches with her magic is given unnaturally long life. This means you too will have long life, Sienna. The stone also transforms or imbibes one with a magical gift or power, just as it transformed the queen into a vampire.”

  Allora’s gaze flicked to Nikolai. Sienna looked up to find his face still unreadable. The man’s expressions made her want to either shy away or pull him close, the mystery of what was going on behind those otherworldly eyes always drawing her closer.

  “You see,” said Allora, “my ancestors were tribesmen of this region long ago. The first generation of vampires had nearly killed them all till only four warriors were left standing. Those warriors sought solace in Silvane Forest, for it had already become a forbidden place for humans. But our forefathers, these warriors, had nothing left to fear with all of their clansmen and family dead. The stone only shows itself to those it chooses. And our forefathers were given that gift. Summoned by the stone, they were lured to its heartbeat and were transformed into beasts, into the first hart wolves. Each warrior became the leader of his own clan, his blood carrying the hart wolf gene which would pass on down the line to their clansmen. My mother had gone against her father in her choice of mate. She hid me and my brothers away from the pack with her mate, our father. But both our parents were killed by the queen’s guard out on a hunt. And your grandmother took us in. She cared for us, raised us, kept us warm and fed. In return, we kept her safe when we’d grown, deciding to keep our secret since we preferred our wolf forms more than our human ones anyway. And so, when you came along, we wanted to protect you as well.”

  Sienna stared down at their clasped hands, Allora’s delicate yet rough. Working hands. “I—I don’t know what to say. I feel strange…the way I saw you before.”

  She never thought of them as she did her goat or even Willow, Arabelle’s lovely mare, for she knew they were intelligent creatures with magic of the forest in them. Yet, she’d—

  “Good God,” exclaimed Sienna. “I’ve ridden on your back a hundred times.”

  Allora laughed that tinkling laugh of hers. This even cracked the grim expressions of the three men behind her. Sienna saw that they were devoted to Allora.

  “I’m very strong in my wolf form. I never minded at all.”

  Sienna squeezed her hand. “Thank you.” She stared up at the men behind her. “Thank you for all you’ve done for me. And especially—especially for taking me to the hartstone.”

  Dane cut in at that point, his voice a rolling growl. “That was not us, Sienna. The stone summoned us. We sensed you and your vampire drawing near.” His sun-gold eyes flicked to Nikolai behind her.

  “Still. ” She reached up and took Nikolai’s hand. “We both thank you.” Though she was still unsure what the stone had transformed or awakened inside of her, she could feel a stirring of energy singing along her veins.

  Nikolai said nothing but gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. Suddenly, he stood at attention, his chin up. Then the others. Allora dropped her hand and stood.

  “What is it?” asked Sienna.

  “Vampire,” said Connell next to his bigger brother.

  “On horseback,” added Bron, a frightening growl rumbling from his throat.

  “Wait,” said Niko
lai, nose on the wind, stepping forward. “It’s my cousin. Riker.”

  Sienna heard nothing for moments as they stood and watched the trail from the direction of the Glass Tower. Finally, she heard the steady pounding of hooves.

  “Only one horse,” said Connell. The others said nothing, watching like the predators they were toward the sound drawing closer.

  “No,” muttered Nikolai, voice quaking, as he walked forward into the clearing. He watched the trail as a horse trotted forward bearing a shirtless and bloodied Riker, hunched forward on his mount. “For fuck’s sake,” he swore, grabbing the horse’s reins.

  Dane leapt forward and steadied the horse while Nikolai leaned up to help him down.

  Riker bellowed in pain when Nikolai tried to pull him over the saddle. “My legs,” he rasped, his voice thick and hoarse as if he’d screamed till it was lost.

  Riker’s leather pants were soaked with blood. One of his legs twisted abnormally. A bone had torn through the tough fabric on the other side. His chest had been carved and sliced in cross-hatches.

  “Oh God,” gasped Sienna, her hands to her mouth as she realized what they had done. They’d carved the word “traitor” in his chest.

  They’d also cut one of his eyes out and slashed his face, several gashes bleeding and smearing dark crimson on one side.

  “I’m sorry, Nikolai. I tried not to tell them where you were,” whispered Riker, leaning down to him. “I fought it. But it’s true…King Dominik’s elixir…it’s true.”

  “Quiet now,” said Nikolai, gripping him by the nape and his shoulder. “Just quiet for now. It’s all right.”

  “They’re coming…for you.” He glanced up, his one blue eye piercing Sienna. “For her.”

  “Dane. Help me,” growled Nikolai.

  Together, they pulled him off, keeping his torso level. Bron and Connell jumped in and held his legs. Riker screamed, his pain echoing through the woods, then he fell unconscious. His right leg was broken nearly in half, held together by his pants.

  “Inside,” said Nikolai.

  Sienna rushed to the door and held it open. After they carried him through, she jostled around them. “Here. Put him in the bed.”

  Gingerly, they eased him down, but he felt no more pain at the moment. As soon as they had his head on the pillow, Nikolai sunk his canines into his own forearm then pressed the puncture to Riker’s lips. Riker’s throat worked slowly as he took in Nikolai’s lifeblood to try and heal the wounds.

  “Who is he?” asked Dane.

  “He’s my cousin,” said Nikolai, opening and closing his fist to work the veins and pump more blood into Riker’s mouth. When it started to dribble off the sides, he pulled back. “He planned to help us. To help the Black Lily.”

  “What did he mean?” asked Sienna softly. “About King Dominik.”

  “It is said his elixir has the power of persuasion. He must’ve bitten Riker.” Nikolai looked up at her with desperation and fury marking his face. “He wouldn’t have given up information about us unless he couldn’t resist.”

  Sienna rushed forward and clasped his shoulder. “I know that.” She stared down at the unconscious soldier, mutilated and broken. “They did their worst and he still survived.”

  “They let him live to torture me.” He trembled beneath Sienna’s hand. “To show me the pain they put him through.”

  Bron, who’d stepped back to the open cottage door, sniffed with his nose in the air. “More of them are coming.”

  “Good,” said Nikolai, his voice a blade of ice as he stood and walked for the door. “Let them come. Let them all come.”

  Allora was at Bron’s side. “I will call upon the clans.”

  “They may not come.” Bron placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “You know that.”

  “They will if they know there are vampires invading the forest for slaughter,” she replied. “They’ll have to set aside their differences for the good of the wood.”

  “Yes,” he whispered. “Go.”

  With a sudden crackle of energy and burst of sizzling power, Allora shifted into her wolf form, tearing off out of the cottage and into the woods, a white streak against the white snow, howling as she went.

  Nikolai turned to Sienna, gripping her by her upper arms, his face close to hers. “Stay inside, Sienna. Don’t come out. No matter what.”

  “Nikolai. I think I can help.” Even now, she felt the stirring of fire within her gut, a swirling tempest of flame urging her to stand beside him. Magic. It was magic that whispered the flames to life.

  The others filed out behind them into the yard.

  “Sienna.” His eyes narrowed to dangerous slits as he squeezed her arms. “Stay. Inside. Do not come out. Do you understand?”

  There was no arguing with him. She put a hand to his cheek and gave him a compliant nod.

  “Let the monster free, Nikolai.”

  His cold glare—which was not for her—remained in place as she stepped toward the door. Though dread shivered down her spine, knowing the queen would send many troops, her spirit buoyed up when she heard him say before she closed the door, “I plan to.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  The beast he’d kept caged for so long crept from the darkness, craving blood and violence and death. And Nikolai finally planned to feed the creature to its fill. His favorite dagger in hand, long blade sharp and ready, he marched forward in the direction they would come, sensing the three men flanking behind him. The smell of horses was on the wind, lots of them. The hart wolves would sense them, too.

  “They’ll leave their mounts outside Silvane and come by stealth,” offered Nikolai. “Look to the trees, not just the ground.”

  He sensed the change of energy in the air, knowing two of them had shifted. Nikolai glanced back to see Bron, now his fierce black hart wolf, trotting into the woods ahead of him. Connell was close behind him. Dane still followed behind in human form, a steady snow beginning to fall.

  “The queen will have sent an army infected by sanguine furorem. They’ll be savage. And thirsty.”

  “Good,” replied Dane, deep voice rough as rock. “Desperation makes men make mistakes.”

  Nikolai agreed with a tight nod, swiveling to face the quiet woodlands, sensing the presence of his own kind drawing nearer. “I appreciate that you and your brethren are here, even though this isn’t your fight.”

  Dane grunted. “Intruders in our woods, coming to harm one of our own. It is our fight.”

  Nikolai understood by the tenor in his rumbling voice that Sienna was to them one of their pack, a sister. He was suddenly grateful for them, for their protection of her all this time, long before he knew her. They’d kept her safe, a lovely woman living alone in the woods. So vulnerable. He could barely get words past his throat, thick with all the fear and dread of what could have been should she not have had her wolf guardians.

  “Thank you,” he said gruffly, meeting the gold-eyed gaze of Dane.

  “As I said. She is one of us.” In a blink, he shifted into the giant beast of a hart wolf, eyes narrowing on the woods as he trotted quickly on silent feet.

  Nikolai marched forward, smelling vampire on the wind. “Come, you fucking bastards.”

  He stopped on the path, standing in plain sight, and closed his eyes. He thought of Sienna—beautiful, loving Sienna—standing on a crate and pouring her heart out for the cause of the Black Lily, lying beneath him with trusting eyes and a more trusting soul, burning at the stake with pain marking every line of her face, dying in his arms and taking his heart with her. And coming back to life…

  No way in hell would he let that go without retribution. Vengeance seduced him with the promise of blood and death to his enemies. The beast inside smiled at finally being unleashed to wreak hell and deliver pain.

  Nikolai opened his eyes and watched the blur of vampires as they flashed through the woods, coming closer. He kept perfectly still, letting them come to him. Dead ahead, striding straight up the path was th
e one he wanted most of all. Gripping the hilt of his dagger and clenching his other hand into a fist until his knuckles cracked, Nikolai held steady. And waited.

  Volkov strode forward with astounding confidence, arrogance, the tails of his black coat whipping behind him. Hundreds of vampires fell in line within the naked trees, branching out in staggering waves. Many of their mouths were bloody from recent feeding. The queen was arming her soldiers in the most lethal of ways. Volkov came closer within a few yards and stopped, a grin widening his face with menace.

  “It seems we have good news.”

  Nikolai refused to answer, remaining frozen, as his beast crept forward, black claws pushing open the door, sharp teeth ready to rip throats.

  “I’m surprised she survived.” Volkov lifted his head, inhaled deeply with his eyes closed, then opened them, ice-cold gaze boring into his. “But she most certainly did. I can smell her. So sweet. I’ll be so pleased to see her again. I wasn’t quite finished with her yet.”

  “You will die before you step foot beyond me.”

  Volkov laughed, the chilling sound echoing into the boughs. “One vampire against an army.”

  “I am not alone.”

  Volkov’s gaze flicked over the perimeter, finding no one at Nikolai’s back. Though hesitant, he spewed more filth, his voice low and grating. “This time, when I have her in my bed, I’ll take more than her blood. I’ll sate my hunger till she begs in pain and agony for me to stop. But I won’t. You can die knowing I’ll keep your red witch alive a very, very long time.”

  And that was it. Nikolai’s monster broke through the cage. He charged. Volkov leapt forward on a snarl. In a swift maneuver, Nikolai bounded two steps up a tree, then dove on top of Volkov, embedding his dagger in his back with a satisfying crunch.

  Volkov, pumped high with human blood, cried out and threw him off. He blurred several yards away trying to reach the dagger but to no avail. Nikolai smiled and sauntered closer, slow and steady. The army of Legionnaires circling. One helped Volkov and removed the bloody dagger.