Bane’s brow arched. “So, our new member has bite. Good.” He cocked his head. “Arrange a formal appointment with Dorian and take Harker with you when you go. We have a Sanguinata recruiting illegally and missing humans, we can’t discount the possibility that the cases may be linked, and we need to do everything by the book. If this does go to the district council, we can’t risk their legal representatives pulling the case apart. In fact, draw up a warrant and send it to the district council for approval first.”
I sat forward. “Shouldn’t we wait on the missing persons files before we act?”
Bane didn’t look at me. “Harker is right. Chase the files, then send the warrant.”
Drayton tensed. “A warrant will just get their backs up, and if they do know something then they’ll clam up.”
It was the same argument he’d given me, but from the frosty look on Bane’s face, he wasn’t buying it.
“They’re backs should be up,” Bane snapped. “This is a missing persons investigation tied in to an illegal recruitment campaign. You tell them that and, trust me, they’ll talk. House Vitae does not like scandal. It will be in their best interests to aid our investigation. Take a damned warrant. Do it right.”
Drayton clenched his jaw and for a brief moment I thought he’d argue further, but then he dropped his gaze. “Fine.”
An icy breeze tickled the back of my neck and the flames in the hearth dropped then rose hungrily. Bane’s chin jerked up, his head slightly to the side as if listening for something, and then the click of heels reverberated against stone.
Ryker cursed softly under his breath, but Orin sat up straighter and Rivers tucked in his chin, pressing himself into his seat.
Drayton’s body relaxed, as if every knot and clenched muscle had suddenly, spontaneously unwound. He melted back against the sofa just as a stunning raven-haired woman sashayed into the room. Her hair was long and poker straight with a blunt fringe that on someone less striking would have looked ridiculous, but with her cat’s eyes and her high cheekbones she was able to pull it off easily. Her lips were rouged deep crimson and her long fingernails were painted to match. She was dressed all in black, accentuating her pale complexion.
Bane, the man who could probably make a mountain cry, looked as if someone had reached into his chest and wrapped a hand around his beating heart. And then his expression smoothed out into impassivity.
“Lilith. You’re early,” Bane said.
“Merely a day,” She shrugged. “I thought we could enjoy each other for that little bit longer.”
Her choice of words was weird. Enjoy each other? Surely she meant enjoy each other’s company. I looked to Ryker who had his gaze fixed on the coffee table, then to Orin who was staring at Lilith as if he’d spent days crawling through a desert and she was a tall glass of water. Rivers had his head down, silent and tense, and Drayton sat with his arms out on the back of the sofa perfectly at ease.
Lilith strolled over, her gaze rippling over us all. Her attention snagged on me and her eyes narrowed a fraction.
“You have a new arrival.” She studied me for a moment longer.
My shields were up, but I felt her testing them, pushing and running her claws down them.
“Oh, my. How delightful,” she said. “Daughter of mine.” She stepped around the long sofa that Ryker, Rivers and Drayton occupied and came to stand before me. “Bane, you have a cambion.”
“I know,” Bane said.
How did she do that? How could she see through my shields when the Black Wings couldn’t?
She crouched so that we were eye to eye. “And what can you do, little cambion?” she purred.
“Leave her alone, Lilith. She’s nothing special,” Bane said.
Well, that stung. Lilith pouted, her dark eyes scanning my face. “Oh, but I beg to differ. Cambions are always special. We could add some flavor to our tryst. A little red haired spice?”
Wait? What was she suggesting?
“No,” Bane said.
She dropped me a wink and stood. “Maybe next time, love.”
She took her time walking back around the sofa, the same way she’d come, and stopped behind Drayton. He grew still, and closed his eyes. She slowly moved her hand to rest on his head. He let out a soft sigh and she smiled. A wicked kind of smile, and then she dug her nails into his scalp.
Bane moved so fast he was almost a blur, and then he’d scooped up Lilith and swept her out of the room.
I jumped out of my seat. “What the fuck just happened?”
Rivers got up and stormed out of the room.
Orin slumped back in his seat. “I fucking hate that woman.”
“Really?” Ryker said. “Because it looked like you wanted to fuck her.”
It was the first time I’d heard him use foul language, and it was like a slap on the face, even though it wasn’t directed at me.
Drayton sat up, blinking as if waking up from a dream. “Has she gone?”
Ryker made a chuffing noise through his nose. “Yeah, you can stop begging for a pat now.”
“Fuck you, Ryker.” Drayton followed Rivers in the whole storming out the room deal.
Orin sighed. “She’s a bitch no doubt.”
Okay, I was so lost. “Can someone please fill me in?”
“Hey.” Cassie stood in the archway to the foyer, her eyes wide with shock. “What the heck happened to the drive?”
Orin’s lips tightened. “You were with Killion, weren’t you?”
Cassie rolled her eyes. “Oh, for fuck’s sake, Orin. I asked about the damned driveway, if you’re gonna go all jealous boyfriend, then please go do it somewhere else.”
He snapped his mouth closed, stood slowly and walked right past her.
Her shoulders sagged and she closed her eyes for a long beat before turning on her heel and following him out of the room.
Ryker shook his head. “She needs to sort her shit out.”
“Who? Cassie?”
“Yes. Orin is a good guy, but good isn’t exciting enough for Cassie.”
“But Killion is?”
“Yeah, and he treats her like shit. Thing is, if Killion treated her right, Orin wouldn’t have an issue with the whole open relationship thing. He cares about her enough to want her to be happy.”
I’d seen it often enough, the whole bad boy syndrome. “She’ll figure it out. She’s smart.”
“Not when it comes to matters of the heart. When it comes to relationships and emotions, Cassie is like a tangled poisonous vine.”
“And this Lilith? Who is she?”
Ryker’s sat forward in his seat. “Lilith is Bane’s cross to bear. She’s a succubus, the first of her kind if legend has it right. The mother of all incubi and succubus. Legend has it that she was the first neph. She’s a pure blood if I’ve ever seen one, and if she has any emotions, they’re hidden from me.”
“You’ve tried to read her?”
He nodded slowly. “There’s nothing. Like just a void.”
“And what does she want with Bane?”
He dropped his gaze. “She feeds on him. Once every couple of months she just turns up and takes her fill.”
“But why? Why would he let her do that?”
Ryker shrugged. “Some kind of deal, a pact, I don’t know. None of us do. Sometimes I doubt even Bane does. His emotions are...complex, convoluted and confused. Almost as if he doesn’t know who he should be or what he should be feeling.”
“How long has this been going on?”
“For as long as I’ve been working for the Protectorate, which may as well be forever.”
“Forever? You can’t be more than twenty-five.”
Ryker’s eyes crinkled. “Try eighty-three.”
My mouth fell open. Of course neph didn’t age like humans.
He laughed. “The more Black Wing blood you have, the slower you age.”
Wow, well, that was good to know.
“Anyway,” he said. “Steer clear of her. She
seems to have a strange effect on many nephs, especially incubi and succubus, so who knows what she can do to a cambion.”
“Was that why Drayton went all buttery on the sofa?”
Ryker picked up his glass. It still had half a finger of whiskey at the bottom. He took a sip. “She affects him the worst. He usually makes sure he’s out when he knows she’s coming. She surprised us today.”
“A lot of things have surprised us today. Wait. Don’t tell me it’s not always like this?”
Ryker smiled. “Don’t worry. I won’t.”
Should I ask Ryker about Viola? It wasn’t any of my business, but curiosity was burning a slow hole in my stomach. “We went to the cemetery today.”
Ryker stilled. “You did?” he said without inflection.
“We picked up a ghost called Murray and we had to return him. We met Viola.”
He let out a low whistle. “This has truly been a day of surprises for Dray. I feel like an arsehole for being so harsh on him about Lilith now.”
“So, what’s the story there?”
His gaze sharpened. “Don’t. If Dray wants you to know, he’ll tell you.”
I winced. “I’m sorry. That was nosey.”
He closed his eyes and puffed out his cheeks. “It was, but I can’t honestly blame you. You’ve been thrown into the deep end amongst a group of nephs with their own dynamic and secrets, and you’re trying to find how you fit in. It will happen, Harker. Trust me.”
Behind my shield, the hunger stirred.
“Serenity, do you need to feed?” Ryker asked hesitantly.
I smiled. “I’m good.” This was just a pang. I could go days before I needed to recharge.
“In that case, get some sleep.” He stretched. “I certainly need it. The Protectorate have a big day tomorrow.”
Big day? “The warrant?”
He smiled thinly. “The warrant will take at least a day to be approved by the district office. We have the scourge to worry about. Tomorrow they run.”
“I need to come with you guys.”
Ryker frowned. “Bane hasn’t cleared you for patrol duty yet, there is no way he’ll let you go on the run. He is allowing you to work the warrant with Dray, so that’s a great sign.” He smiled to soften the news. “Just be patient and learn the ropes, and you’ll be on patrol in no time.”
I returned his smile, and nodded, but I was damned if I was sitting twiddling my thumbs tomorrow.
I was going on that run.
Chapter 21
Bed was a good idea, but my feet led me to Drayton’s part of the mansion and came to a halt outside his door. Was he all right? He’d been through a lot today, what with Viola and then Lilith taking him over like that. But maybe he needed to be left alone...
I knocked on the door before my subconscious talked me out of it. He didn’t answer. Maybe he wasn’t there, so why the heck was I turning the door handle, and yep, I was going in. This was the first time I’d been inside his room. It was pretty similar to Ryker’s except for the lack of books. Drayton obviously wasn’t a huge reader, which was okay. There was a chess board set up on a coffee table by the small hearth. Two wing backs faced each other on either side of the table. It was a game in progress with invisible players.
The ensuite bathroom door opened, and Drayton stepped into the room, toweling his damp hair. His chest was bare, bronze, taut and smooth, and he was wearing loose pajama bottoms. He stopped, startled, when he caught sight of me, and then the surprise was wiped away by his signature unperturbed expression. The one that could turn wicked and suggestive at any moment. Yep, there it was—the slight flick at the corners of his mouth, and the glint of impish intention in his eyes. He draped the towel around his neck and slowly padded toward me.
“Do you need to feed, Harker?” His tone dropped an octave, reminding me of thick, dark honey—the sweet sticky kind that clung to the inside of your throat on its way down. “Do you need me to feed you?”
He stopped inches away, and the heat from his body mingled with mine. His breath stirred the fine hairs at my crown, a caress that skimmed my hairline and wrapped around my ear. He licked his lips and it was impossible not to be drawn to them. They were perfectly formed lips. The kind of lips that a woman could spend hours exploring with her mouth and her tongue. The kind of lips that any woman would die to have explore her body and her most intimate place.
His chuckle was a low rumble in his chest. “Your face is so expressive. Your eyes tell a thousand secrets.” He cocked his head studying me intensely. “Did you know that when you’re aroused your lips grow fuller, your pupils dilate and you get these tiny patches of flushed skin on the tops of your cheekbones, and here—he reached out to run a finger across my chest just under my collar bones—you blush here. My breath hitched and caught. What was he doing?
His lids grew heavy. His mouth parted and he leaned in. He was a magnetic force drawing me in and tempting me with delights my body craved—a wanton craving that throbbed at the apex of my thighs. With the desire came a rolling anxiety, familiar and bitter. I took an instinctive step back.
“I’m not human, Serenity,” he said softly. “You can’t hurt me.”
Not human. Of course. I could lose myself with him, abandon the shields and allow myself to let go and just bathe in sensation. I could discard all propriety and let him touch me in all the ways my body longed to be touched. I could explore him in turn. With my hands and my lips, I could wipe away the darkness that hovered at the edges of his smile and chase away the shadows in his eyes. This was the beginning. This was more than a physical attraction. Cassie’s words came back to me. Incubi can’t fall in love and have long term relationships, Serenity. That kind of connection would drive both the female and the incubus insane...There is the incubus, hungry, intense and single minded in his pursuit of what he needs, and then there is playful Drayton, sated and chilled. Who was he now? His tone had been light-hearted at first but now his eyes blazed with resolute hunger. But I wasn’t running, in fact I was stepping closer, my fingers itching to touch his skin, to skim across the velvet expanse of his chest and feel his muscles jump beneath my fingertips. I wanted his body to dance to my tune, to hear him moan when I took him inside me. My breath was coming shallow, short and raspy as carnal images and thoughts tumbled through my mind. Was this me or him? Was he Drayton or the incubus?
Incubi can’t fall in love
That kind of connection would drive both the female and the incubus insane
Right now, in this moment I didn’t care, and that lack of self-preservation nudged my common sense. This wasn’t me. I was the level headed, keep the shields up and protect her younger sister Harker. I’d spent my life assessing risks, hiding what I was to protect those I loved. I was a survivor, and if I let him, then Drayton could be the death of me. But his allure, his pull was too strong, and his hands as they skimmed up my arms were like brands igniting a deep fire that my body ached to be consumed in.
This wasn’t Drayton, this was the incubus and the incubus cared only about feeding. I needed to step away. No, don’t tilt your chin up. Don’t let his lips touch yours.
“Viola.” Her name was a whisper, a plea, squeezing past my tight vocal cords.
Drayton’s hands stilled.
“She said she forgives you. That it wasn’t your fault.”
The fire in his eyes winked out and his hands slid from my body. “Get out,” he said levelly.
I didn’t need telling twice.
***
My body was aching and my veins burned with a strange fire. The mansion, even with its cold stone structure and high ceilings, was suddenly too hot. Its walls were too close and caged in. There were several exits out of the building, but the nearest was through the kitchen, so I took that one. Out on the chilly flagstones, breathing in the icy air, the buzz in my blood dulled to a hum. Yes, this was better. The clouds from earlier had dissipated, and the sky was an inky blanket of twinkling diamonds. The moon sat like a polished
silver disc high above—the jewel of Midnight. The gardens were a place I’d neglected to explore. Aside from popping over to meet the rest of the Protectorate at the guesthouse, I’d barely spent any time out here. The cracked flagstones lead away from the house, through the long grass and toward the tree line. The Protectorate used the forest for outdoor training, there were targets pinned to trees, ropes and pulleys suspended in the foliage, and all sorts. The guesthouse was to the east of the forest—two huge buildings linked by a covered walkway. It housed twenty primary nephs. It would be a while until I got to know them all. My heart rate had finally slowed down. Thank goodness Cassie had filled me in on Drayton and the whole incubus insanity thing. Thank goodness Viola’s words had been rattling inside my head. The canopy of trees closed in above me and a different kind of silence wrapped itself around me—thick and comforting. The muscles in my back unknotted, and my pace slowed to a leisurely stroll.
What was Jesse doing right now? How was she coping without me? Was Nolan keeping his promise to watch over her? She was strong, independent, but she needed company like a flower needed the sun. How would she cope with living alone?
The earth swallowed the sounds of my footsteps and then a muted thud, thud, thud, cracked the cocoon of silence. I froze. What the heck was that? Another golem, perhaps?
Thud, thud, thud.
Dammit. I continued toward the sound, wary now, lighter on my feet and ready to bolt if need be. I made a note of every tree root and stray branch in my path in case I needed to run back this way. The trees began to thin out and a clearing came into view. It was an area of land dominated by the ruins of some forgotten building—a pavilion. White gray stone glinted in the harsh moonlight—an arch here, a pillar there, crumbling steps and a stone bench covered in thick dark moss. Movement caught my eye as a figure emerged from around the structure. Half bathed in shadow, his mammoth form moved easily over the rumble. I shrank back into the cover of the trees. Bane came to a standstill several meters away. His bare back faced me and his breath plumed in the air. What was he doing out here all alone? Had Lilith finished her feeding? Was he simply trying to escape from her?
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