“Which makes me fearful for your sake.”
Robin laughed. “Then tell me, seer. Search my thoughts and interpret my plans.”
I indulged in a long drag of the cigarette and turned to face Robin. Regarding him in a careful manner, I paid little attention to the smoke that I exhaled and focused on my brother. On the surface of his mind, I found an intense loathing of Sabrina present a barrier clouding the rest of his plans and felt a pang of concern for his sake. I ignored it for the time being, though, and proceeded further.
That was when the images assailed me. I saw a council meeting, with several elders and coven masters gathered together. I recognized such meetings as commonplace when the area vampires felt an important issue needed to be discussed and from Robin’s thoughts, I gathered such a thing was soon to be announced. Sabrina would be the object of this meeting, without her knowledge. This would be when she would meet her end.
Just as quickly as I began to wonder how they would orchestrate their assassination, the still images came to life and formed a movie. Robin stood from his place beside Sabrina, but rather than speaking for her, he began to issue his complaints against her. My name was evoked, but defended and the council took a vote on how best to punish Sabrina. I saw the call for execution. I heard the masses cry for her ashes to be distributed amongst the covens as a reminder of the punishment for those who killed their own kind.
Shutting off the visuals, I looked into Robin’s eyes and perked an eyebrow. “And how does this punishment get exacted, dear brother? Do you see Sabrina lying down and accepting her sentence as a convicted criminal?”
“No, I know she will resist.” He sighed. “This is where I hoped you might be present to ensure the execution proceeds without incident. If you don’t want to be a part of it, then I will have to make other arrangements.” His gaze turned distant. He swallowed hard. “I might have to do it myself.”
I frowned at the reaction. “I apologize for being unable to participate.” As I drew from my cigarette, I glanced away. “I hope to be far from this debacle, figuring out what to do with the remainder of my existence.”
A hush settled between us. When I felt a pair of eyes fixed on me, I turned my head and looked at Robin again. He lifted an eyebrow at me. “I could use a bodyguard, Flynn. Not an assassin, but someone to help make the transition from Sabrina’s leadership to mine more seamless.”
I could not help but to blink. “You plan on taking the helm?”
Robin nodded. “I am her second.” His eyes turned soft, pleading. “Would you be my guardian as I have been yours these past few years?”
Staring at him, I regarded the seriousness of his words and the steady gaze he held. I used my abilities to search him for any hint of deception, but sensed none. Simply the request of a brother.
He continued speaking, as though sensing my hesitation. “No seducing. No manipulation. You wouldn’t be my servant, you would be my friend. I only seek your defense, Flynn, not for you to be a strong arm for my whims.” Robin paused, inserting another grin. “Unless your human destiny calls first to snatch you away.”
“Bah.” I flicked those words away with a flip of my hand. “Human destinies are for mortals and I am hardly mortal any longer.” Studying Robin, I allowed the notion to turn around in my mind. “Only a bodyguard and nothing more?”
“As surely as you named me Robin and I named you Flynn, I will never ask for you to be an assassin.”
I nodded and glanced away, flicking my cigarette into the distance while I considered his words. I had never dared fathom the prospect of using my sword as a protector rather than an executioner, because I never thought such neutrality possible. Even the notion of exploring this so-called destiny left me curious about what the future might have in store, but with my options laid out before me I was far more apt to take Robin’s proposal over surrendering an eternity to The Fates.
My eyes met his again. “I shall not stand in your way as the assassination is carried out. And, when you are finished, my sword will be used for your protection.”
Robin grinned. “You agree then, brother?”
Reflecting his smile, I nodded. “Yes, I agree, Robin.”
My answer pleased Robin to the point that he walked forward and met me in a quick embrace. Falling into it in an awkward manner, I winced at his enthusiasm while he patted my back and pushed away, his hands rising to settle on my shoulders. “Very good, Flynn.” He chuckled. “This is so much better than the thought of meeting you someday as your adversary.”
I laughed. “I should say so, for your sake.”
A short bout of hysterics punctuated Robin’s actions as he relinquished his hold on me. “I can’t argue with that.” The sigh escaping his lips was rife with relief. “This is the best I’ve felt in decades. Finally this can all be put behind us and the covens can be at peace.” Robin slapped my shoulder, provoking another grimace from me. “I won’t ask you to play the actor much longer. The elders are stirring. We plan to meet soon.”
I smoothed out my suit jacket to straighten the wrinkles brought about by his burst of brotherly affection. “The sooner, the better. I am walking a precarious line right now.” My hand settled to my side and my gaze found the night sky again, surveying the hour and noting in the back of my mind I was due to report to Sabrina regarding my latest assignment. “Shore up your plans,” I said, looking back at Robin. “Decide who your assassin will be. Sabrina, as you have noted before, is a crafty woman and shall sense your plans before you bring them to fruition if you are not careful. You might have to act swiftly, without the formality of charges.”
Robin nodded. “I will make certain we have a few contingencies in place.”
“Very well.” I nodded. “I need to take my leave before Sabrina becomes suspicious, then.”
“Good luck, brother.” Robin continued grinning at me as I turned and started to walk away. My departure was interrupted, though, as Robin called out, “Flynn?”
I glanced back at him, perking an eyebrow.
He grinned. “It won’t be much longer. I promise.”
“Thank heaven for small mercies.” I flashed a quick smile at Robin, then turned again to consummate my departure. It did not take long for me to stride back into the coven, past the sentries at the front doors, and well on my way to the stairs. I heard footsteps rushing toward me, though, once my hand touched the banister.
Rose appeared in my periphery, her eyes set on me. She smiled and waited until she joined me at the stairs to speak. “Flynn, you are just the devil I was looking for.”
I chuckled. “Seek the devil and you will find him easy enough, dear Rose.” My brow furrowed. “What did you wish of me?”
Her grin turned impish. “I have a message for you.”
A sigh escaped my lips, sounding playful enough in its exasperation and concealing how tired I was. Indeed, I did not even have the motivation to plumb her thoughts for their contents, not expecting that I would find much. “Rose, you disappear on me for several nights and expect me to wait around for your little messages?”
She laughed. One of her hands rested on my upper arm, sliding to my shoulder. “Now, Flynn, you know I have many pursuits.” As Rose tilted her head, the delicious sight of her porcelain skin directed my attention toward her neck. “My world does not revolve around you.”
“I never said it did,” I murmured. Knocking myself from a trance, I raised my eyes toward hers once more. “Tell me your message while I walk upstairs to meet with Sabrina. I am late enough as it is.”
“So I’ve noticed.” The curl of her lips produced a wicked, sensual grin. Rose continued holding onto my shoulder as she looped around me to the stairs. I shivered as her fingers slid across my back. “Actually, my message is from Sabrina. She wanted me to tell you she had other things to attend to and will call upon you tomorrow evening.”
“Ah, what a pity.” The scent of Rose’s perfume wafted toward me, her footsteps moving in tandem with mine as we beg
an ascending the stairs. My baser nature took hold as I glanced at Rose and saw the plunging neckline of her dress, beholding the delicious sight of her cleavage and instigating a war within. I had been avoiding any carnal entanglements, lest they have something to run back and report to Sabrina. My internal strife, though, had also prevented me from taking advantage of the women I fed from as anything but my next meal. Something deep inside wanted to rip Rose’s dress from her body.
I swallowed hard and found myself unable to fathom why I could not trust Rose. Not with the truth, no, but she never gave me any hint she knew what a seer was, let alone cared about anything other than what passed down her throat and slid between her legs. ‘Just this once,’ I conceded. “Well, all alone for the remainder of the evening,” I said. “Whatever shall I do with myself?”
Rose’s grin turned all the more sly. “My other pursuits are all occupied for the night. Besides . . . ” We reached the top of the stairs. As she leaned close, I shut my eyes and felt her cool breath hit my neck while she whispered. “I want to hear about yours. They’re always so much more exciting.”
My eyes slowly opened, my head turning to regard her while my fangs ran down. Rose flashed her pointed teeth at me and within moments we found ourselves in my room, hastily divesting one another of our clothing. I lost myself in fanged kisses and needy actions after throwing her onto my bed. She might have taken more blood than our typical exchanges and might have been wilder than I recalled her ever being, but the moment I relaxed against the mattress, sated and spent, the siren call of sleep took me under. I had no energy left with which to question anything further that evening.
This must have been why I did not feel her deft fingers unclasp the necklace and did not detect her slipping from the sheets. I could be called the biggest fool in the universe for falling for her tricks, but at the time, I sensed none of the trickery that should have been screaming at me with overt obviousness. A strange premonition haunted me in my dreams, though, of the cold grip of dark magic dragging me into the depths.
The fact remained, my talisman was gone. Another vixen laid in wait to stake the final purchase on my soul.
Chapter Nineteen
“Do you know what drew me to you when we met, Flynn? You had the most radiant blue eyes and I knew there had to be something more than just a contemplative, young mortal behind them.”
Her voice coaxed me from the chaotic embrace of unsettled dreams. My lids lifted without any thought and settled on the figure facing away from me, but seated on my bed. I regarded the long, flowing red hair and drew in a quick, sharp breath before I could stop myself. The action caused Sabrina to turn, her gaze settling on mine and the smile on her face broadening the moment our eyes met.
She reached for me tenderly, and I did not move when her fingers stroked the side of my face, but I had to suppress a shiver. Her actions were gentle enough to almost be soothing, despite being unsettling, until her nails settled against my skin and raked downward in a more tantalizing manner. I gasped despite myself, tempted to get lost in the erotic pain until a disquieting certainty rushed into the forefront of my mind.
Sabrina was working her wiles on me and I was falling for it.
Sitting abruptly, I fumbled for the pendant around my neck and panicked when I failed to locate anything but skin. Sabrina watched me pat the sheets around me and laughed in a fit of schadenfreude. As her other hand lifted, I beheld, to my horror, the gold chain dangling from her fingers. “Are you missing something, dear Flynn?” she asked. “My seer vampire, who couldn’t even discern the thoughts of a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
“Fuck,” I muttered, feeling as though I should hear my heart pounding in my ears. Sabrina unclasped the necklace and raised it to her neck, fastening it into place before slowly, deliberately crawling toward me on all fours. Her palm settled on my leg, running up it over the thin layer of sheets separating skin from skin. I watched its northward path, fixated on her hand as it crept toward my crotch.
Sabrina leaned forward. Her lips touched my ear and her voice formed a sultry whisper. “I’ll have you know, I find this absolutely delicious.” I tensed when her hand caressed my already-hardening length. She chuckled. “To think you’ve possessed the gift and kept it from me. That you’ve played such a good boy and done my bidding while pretending everything was as it should be. Tell me, Flynn . . . How long would you have kept it up? Until the mortal’s enchantment had you plunge a blade in my chest?”
She touched my chin and arched back my neck. Powerless to fight against her, I bared fangs in an expression of both defiance and arousal. My ambivalence clouded my judgment. The warring impulses shooting through me nearly left me shaking and once again, I felt ready to rend into two people. I indulged in a deep breath and shut my eyes. “Sabrina, your ways are wicked and your heart is black,” I said in a half-dazed manner. “You would use me for your gain and the suffering of all others would be great.”
“That is the point, my dear Flynn.” She kissed my throat and a shiver ran up my spine. “I spoke to you about the need to lay down the past and become a vampire when you became my assassin. You had Anthony find that adulterous bitch’s trinket and have worn it around your neck ever since. Does Peter dull your senses so much you’ve forgotten the way you were injured by that woman that contemptible mortal who could not even satisfy your desire to remain mortal in the first place? And yet, you would trust her magic?”
“Manipulation . . . ” I trailed off as I felt her fangs rake against my skin. The next words came with difficulty. “I was . . . made to be this by you for your own profit. You sought to make a puppet out of a seer.”
“I helped you find your potential in the form of something permanent. I freed you from the wretched stench of decay.”
“I wanted nothing of your gift.”
“Oh, you screamed for it.” Her fangs raked harder. The scent of blood wafted to my nostrils an instant before I felt her tongue slide across the wounds she inflicted, provoking me to moan. “You begged me for it. You wanted death to embrace you in its dark arms and wanted to scoff at the mortals beneath you. I saw your powers and the possibility. I knew this day would come and your blade strikes terror already. You have killed like a master. Now, your eyes will cause your foes to kneel down and worship you.”
My resolve began to crumble while I silently cursed myself for falling for Rose’s deception. I opened my eyes, only to have them roll back when she bit into my neck. ‘Damn, sweet Rose.’ I might have been guarded against Sabrina, but I was not against the blonde-haired vampiress and had willingly tumbled into her trap. Sensing the evil surrounding me forced me to acknowledge that part of me that wanted to bathe in it and drink of it to embody evil, yes to personify it. The opposing side of my psyche knew the taste in my mouth was bitter, though.
I slid my hand to the side, beginning a slow trek toward one of my pillows.
Sabrina lifted her fangs from my neck, licking the wound closed. “Come now, Flynn,” she said, whispering in my ear again. Her hand stroked up and down my length. “Don’t fight me. I will give you all you desire, you know this is true.”
“I desire peace,” I said, trying as steadfastly as possible to ignore the way her fingers wrapped around my cock through the barrier of sheets. My hand disappeared beneath the pillow, finding the knife I kept concealed there. “I desire to hunt in peace and as no man’s instrument of wrath, be they human or immortal.”
“And who could promise you such a thing?” She nibbled at my ear lobe. “Speak to me, dark killer. Tell me who our enemies are so that we might crush them.”
Drawing in a deep breath, I moved so quickly, Sabrina had no time to react. I produced the knife and flicked off its sheath, pressing the blade against her neck. She froze in place and I growled, drawing blood as I pushed the sharp edge deeper into her skin. “You shall never have the chance to meet these enemies, Sabrina. I shall be the last one your eyes ever meet.”
Her eyes shot to intersect mine. I
felt her grip on me relax and nearly sighed with relief. “Your enemies seek to destroy you,” I continued. “They petitioned my blade, but I refused until now. Hear me, woman, that I shall not be made into a slave. Not by anyone.”
“You fool yourself if you think you can have it any other way.” Sabrina swallowed hard, but remained still. “You know it now, where these gifts come from, and I suspect you also know what they were to be used for in your mortal life.”
“The mortals shall not have me either.”
“They would accept your neutrality as readily as I would. There isn’t any gray area in this, Flynn, there is only black and white. Either you are a god amongst vampires or the angel of wrath against them, but you are not afforded the ability to watch this war from the sidelines. The Fates wouldn’t have it and the sorceress I told you to dispose of would hound you for the rest of her natural days.”
“You lie.”
“I hardly lie, Flynn. It is their way. Once the witch dies, another will follow and another and yet, your sword would be used for violence. And your conscience would rob you of the pleasure you derive from killing the mortals. Fighting against your nature your strong, vampire instincts for living as half a human . . . This is your only alternative.”
“It is not.” I scowled angrily at her. “I shall be Robin’s guard when you are dust, Sabrina.”
“Robin?”
“That is correct. Robin. You have sought your enemies amongst the other covens and yet house a conspirator under your own roof, sired by your own blood. My brother has promised me this neutrality I desire and there is not a damn thing anyone will do to interfere with it, do you hear me? I would sooner do that which I promised myself I would not do and be the one to murder you at last.”
At first, Sabrina remained quiet. She smiled within a few moments, though, and once more, I felt her influence crawl into my brain. “You see there, Flynn. Did you hear what you said? ‘That which I promised myself I would not do.’” Reaching up, she took hold of my hand and pushed the knife away. I felt powerless to resist. She stole my weapon and commanded my attention with her eyes. “You still desire me, even after the witchcraft wrought against you. Where you could have already scattered my dust into the wind, you stepped aside and allowed your traitorous brother to find himself a killer. This is because Flynn knows where his loyalties lie. He knows his mistress’s call and listens to it. And he will surrender this pretense of peace right here and now, won’t he?”
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