Alliances (Guardians of White Light, #1)

by F. J. Gale

  “Exquisite,” he told her.

  He pulled back and stood up. Reaching for the belt of his pants, he drew her eyes to his, keeping her gaze with him as he shed his jeans. Her eyes were wide and he could feel a medley of excitement and trepidation from her.

  “You won’t enjoy it if you’re tense,” he warned her, kneeling in front of her again.

  “I’m not tense,” she lied.

  He smiled. “Close your eyes.”

  She hesitated.

  “Relax, my darling,” he purred in her ear.

  Before she could respond, his tongue tasted her neck. She trembled from the sudden sensation. He trailed his lips and tongue painstakingly slowly from her neck to her breasts. She writhed beneath him, completely ruled by his touch. She was so completely caught up in sensation that she barely noticed him removing her pants until his hand slipped inside her panties. That tipped her over the edge and she completely lost control for the first time in her life. Screaming his name, panting, she couldn’t keep still. She wanted him closer, wanted more of him, all of him.

  His hand left her and she let out a distressed cry.

  Fingers gently stroked her cheek and she opened her eyes to meet his. He entered her slowly. She threw her head back and cried out at the unfamiliar sensation. His eyes didn’t leave hers as he moved cautiously, all the while stroking her hair tenderly.

  “More,” she choked out.

  And more is exactly what he gave. She yelped as he thrust hard, breaching the barrier and taking her virginity. He pulled her onto his lap and held her against him tightly as he continued his powerful momentum.

  “Please,” she gasped between ragged breaths. She frantically brushed her hair away from her neck. Bite me.

  She saw his hesitation.

  His expression darkened with carnal desire as she licked her fingers and massaged the slick moisture over her neck in an erotic display. Mind-blowing.

  He pounded into her with a renewed vigor and turned his face away as he let the demon take him.

  “Let me see,” she breathed, reaching for him. He flinched as the back of her hand lightly grazed his cheek. “Mathias,” she urged him softly.

  He relaxed into her touch and turned back to her, allowing her to look upon his demon face. She studied his wrinkled features. And then she kissed him softly.

  She pulled back and offered him her neck again. “Do it.”

  “Jenna—” Does she know what she’s doing?

  “Bite me, Mathias,” she whispered breathlessly. “Bite me…please,” she begged.

  Fuck. She had him at her mercy. He snarled as his tongue flicked over the scar that was already there. He felt the blood throbbing just below the surface, begging for release. Begging him to taste her. Fangs penetrated flesh. As her sweet blood filled his mouth, he lost control. He jerked her against him roughly so he could suck deeper. His hand fisted in her hair, holding her steady and breathing in her scent as he devoured her, taking everything she had to give. Her breathy moans were music to his ears. Her frenzied screams fueled his passion. They were all sensation. She came before him, shuddering and screaming in a fit of ecstasy. It sent him over the edge and he collapsed beside her.

  It took him a moment to come down from the experience and return to reality. As soon as he did, he reached for her, suddenly anxious.

  “Are you okay?” he asked. Shit, it went too far. I lost control.

  “Yeah,” she breathed, rolling over to face him.

  He saw the trails of blood oozing from the two puncture wounds in her neck. He held his hand there, exerting pressure. “I’m sorry, Jenna. I—”

  She cocked an eyebrow in surprise. “Sorry?”

  “I took it too far. I lost control.”

  “I’m glad,” she said, smiling at him with a devilish glint in her eyes.

  “Are you…hurt?”

  She reached for his jacket and pulled it up to her chest as she propped herself up on her elbow to look at him. “No, of course not.” She saw the concern blanketing his face and something else. Shame? Why? She took his hand in hers and asked him gently, “Why are you so worried?”

  He ran his fingers through his disheveled hair and looked away to hide the anguish in his eyes as he said, “I completely lost control. I’ve never—I’ve always been able to keep the demon leashed. ” He stared hard at her as he admitted, “Until just now.”

  She took his words in, understanding the significance of what he was telling her. “I don’t need you to hold back with me. Ever. I’m stronger than human, remember?”

  He smiled at her with relief. “Come here,” he said, wrapping his arms tightly around her. “You really are something else, Hunter.”

  “Mathias, I—”

  He turned to her. Why had she suddenly stopped mid-sentence? He followed her line of sight.

  “What on earth?” he breathed.

  It was pitch black outside. How? It wasn’t raining. There was no storm to speak of. What they were seeing was impossible, yet it was happening.

  Suddenly a blinding blue light filled the entrance. It dissipated gradually and a figure stood in the doorway. Mathias hurriedly reached for one of the blankets nearby to shield their nakedness from the intruder. He squinted, trying to adjust his eyes back to the dark after having been blinded by the light.

  “Alna,” he stumbled, rattled by her unexpected presence.

  She studied the two of them with amusement and raised her eyebrows at Mathias.

  Before she could comment, Mathias said, “Don’t!”

  Alna hesitated, but chose to heed his warning.

  “I’ll be outside,” she said, and left the cave.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  General Clark gazed out of the boardroom windows at the clouded sky that had plunged the city into darkness for the last few hours. It had come on suddenly just before his meeting with his Chiefs. It was midday, but black as night. A storm without wind or rain. Just blackness.

  His meeting had ended a few moments ago and now he had a tough decision to make. He and his Chiefs had been strategizing their options for subduing Immortalia’s growing threat. Their enemy’s attacks were rampant, unyielding and brutal. There was no pattern so they were impossible to predict. His soldiers always showed up after the damage had already occurred. Silas was hitting anywhere and anyone. Immortalia was out of control. Some approaches offered up during the meeting had been more aggressive than others, but they all carried great risk. He had twenty-four hours to make his decision.

  His thoughts were interrupted by the door to the boardroom creaking open. He looked to see his secretary standing there.

  “I have three people insisting on seeing you, General.”

  “I have no more appointments scheduled for today. Tell them to make one and come back at that time.”

  She hesitated. “I tried. They won’t leave. The gentleman is insisting.”

  “Name?”

  “Mathias.”

  What? What the damn hell is he doing here? He let out an exasperated sigh. “Send him in.”

  Moments later, he watched Mathias enter the room with two women close behind. He hadn’t changed one bit. Hair as black as night. The leather jacket. Those piercing blue eyes that had seduced his daughter.

  “General,” Mathias greeted him amicably as he approached.

  He reached out his hand, but the General didn’t return the gesture. Instead, his fist came at his face. It smashed into his Mathias' cheek and he stumbled back.

  Jenna reacted, drawing a knife within a fraction of a second. Mathias threw out his arm to hold her back.

  “That’s for my daughter, you son of a bitch!” the General seethed.

  “It’s okay,” Mathias whispered to Jenna. “Stand down.”

  Alna looked at Mathias sadly. What had happened to Liana hadn’t been his fault, but the General needed someone to blame.

  “You know he’s a vampire?” Jenna asked.

  “Oh, I’m well aware,” the General
responded, eyeing Mathias heatedly.

  “A hit like that can force the demon to the surface instantly in most vampires,” she warned, stepping closer to him. “And it doesn’t matter what state-of-the-art weapons you’re packing, you won’t even get the chance to move them into position,” she assured the General. “Lucky for you, he has the self-control that most of them do not.”

  Mathias rolled his eyes at Jenna’s attempt to unnerve the General. It wasn’t necessary. He glanced at Alna and saw the amusement on her face.

  The General scoffed, agitated that he was being reprimanded on his own turf by the little woman before him.

  “And who are you, sweetheart?”

  Jenna’s blood boiled. She hated it when men in power threw degrading pet names at her like that, just because she didn’t have a penis.

  “I’m The Hunter.”

  For a few moments the General was speechless. She’s the one? The one the vampires fear? The legend? A smile crept across his face. “I’ve wanted to meet you for a very long time.”

  “I know. I’m on your most wanted list. Number two, I believe. I was number one, but Silas’ recent activities seem to have bumped me.”

  “That’s a smoke-screen.”

  “What?”

  “To bring you in. I wanted you as an ally. You’re stronger than even my most well-trained men.”

  “Well, maybe when this is over we can work something out.”

  Mathias watched her. She was convincing, but he, of course, knew she was lying. She was already resigned to her tragic fate. She didn’t believe she would live beyond the current war.

  “Let’s talk,” Mathias said, walking past him to the boardroom table. He perched on the edge.

  The General took a seat at the head of the table and glowered at him. Alna remained by the door and Jenna slumped into one of the leather chairs around the table.

  “I need your help,” Mathias announced.

  The General scoffed. “You have a hell of a nerve to come to me for help.”

  “This is business,” Mathias told him. He knew he was projecting a cool, calm facade. But simmering right at the surface was a potent rage that he was fighting to keep at bay. Any reminder of Liana’s murder did that to him. And the General was a hell of a reminder. The hatred and blame that emanated from him was like a rusty knife in the gut. It burned.

  The General knew exactly what Mathias was referring to by ‘business’. Immortalia. And that was the one thing that made it worth listening to him.

  “What are you doing about their recent attacks?” Mathias asked.

  “We’re working on a solution to the problem. We have several strategies that are being considered.”

  “Strategies?”

  “Yes, several options have been put to me by my Chiefs.”

  Mathias scoffed. “I know who they are. They don’t have the expertise to devise any strategies on this subject.”

  General Clark was a former army General turned Special Forces trainer. A few years ago, in response to his daughter’s murder at the hands of vampires, he’d formed the Supernatural Threat Response Unit (STR); a special branch of the Special Forces dedicated specifically to dealing with supernatural threats. The problem was that the unit was very new and it hadn’t yet worked out the kinks in its operations. The greatest of those being that none of its members were connected to the supernatural world. Thanks to his daughter’s research, General Clark understood more than most, but it still wasn’t enough.

  “Because they’re not your demon kind?”

  “Because, they live solely in the human world. They have no idea how the supernatural world works. How can you hope to fight an enemy that you don’t understand?”

  “They don’t need to be understood to be defeated. Heavy artillery will see to that. We’ll send them back to the hell that spawned them.”

  “They're always on the move. Their followers are spread all over the globe. To destroy them, you need to take out their leader. You can’t guarantee that with a bomb drop or an air strike.”

  “Launching a tactical assault against a vampire army is suicide. We have to strike from a distance.”

  “To stop Immortalia you have to take out Silas. There is no other strategy. And the faster he’s taken out, the faster they will fall.”

  “You think we’ve never tried to take him out?”

  “We will kill Silas,” Mathias said, gesturing between him and Jenna.

  The General narrowed his eyes. “What is it that you want in return?”

  Mathias withdrew a wad of papers from his inside jacket pocket and tossed them on the table in front of the General. They were the photos and blueprints that Legion had taken from the research facility.

  “I want this project terminated. Completely.”

  “Where did you get these?” the General demanded as he snatched up the papers. “This is highly classified information.”

  “I have my ways.”

  The General shifted his weight. “This is not my initiative.”

  “But you’re aware of it. You’re the head of the STR.”

  “Of course I know. But the government will never authorize the destruction of it.”

  “Then do it without their authorization. Accidents happen,” Jenna chimed in.

  “I can’t help you.”

  “Then Silas lives,” Mathias said, glaring hard at him. “The monster who killed Liana.”

  “If this Liquid Death is launched into the general population, vampires will rise up. All of them. The peaceful ones too. The ones who coexist with humans and respect your laws. They will annihilate your kind to survive. Armageddon will be on your doorstep. It is not the solution you think it is,” Alna interjected.

  “You don’t know that.”

  “I’ve seen it as clear as day.”

  “You’re a witch?”

  “Outside of the Sorceress, her power is second to none,” Mathias explained.

  The General craned his neck to look at the sky. “You did this?”

  She nodded.

  “You’ve broken a dozen laws.”

  Alna’s eyes flashed at him, a bright blue light that warned him that her power was within easy reach, right at the surface. “I don’t abide by human laws. Besides, we do what we must,” she said. “Isn’t that right, General?”

  The General was taken aback. It was as though her eyes were boring right through his, searching the depth of his soul. Was she reading him? Her pointed question seemed to indicate just that.

  “Alna, stand down. We are not enemies here,” Mathias said.

  She looked away and folded her arms, a reluctant compliance.

  The General turned his attention back to Mathias. “So, the Liquid Death for Silas?”

  “That’s right.”

  The General rubbed the stubble on his chin, deep in thought.

  “What is it?” Mathias asked, seeing doubt in his eyes.

  “One thing doesn’t add up.”

  “What?”

  “He murdered my daughter. Your wife. If you knew you could take him out, why didn’t you do it then? I can only deduce one thing; you couldn’t and you still can’t. He’s too strong, his army too vast. You come to me claiming that you can so that you get what you want from this and walk away.”

  “That’s not why I didn’t kill him before,” Mathias murmured.

  “You’re trying to play me.”

  “I went after him...right...after...when I found her. It was a mistake. My actions risked war at a time when the balance was stable. Back then it was a reckless decision going after him. But now, war is already on our doorstep and Silas is coming for humankind.”

  “He has an army.”

  “So do we.”

  The General looked at him.

  “Eternus,” Mathias responded.

  “Eternus is a myth.”

  Mathias grinned. “I happen to know different.”

  “What proof do you have that they’re nothing more than an o
ld wives’ tale?”

  “Oh, they’re real,” Jenna said, knowing that the General would take her word at face value, rather than Mathias’, just because of what she was—human. It was clear he was a speciest.

  “You’ve seen them?”

  “I’ve killed some of them.”

  Mathias glared at her. It bothered him that she sounded so proud of killing his men.

  “I was their leader for centuries,” Mathias added.

  The General was amused. “She killed your men and now you’re working together?”

  “Unlikely alliances are needed when going up against a mutual enemy like Silas. Personal grudges become less important.”

  They locked eyes for a few moments, each sizing the other up. And then the General leaned forward, clasping his hands together on the table. “The lab you know about is the only one in existence, I guarantee you that. There are two scientists and six lab technicians. All research and formulas concerning the manufacture of Liquid Death are on the premises. No one is permitted to take the research off-site. You want to destroy the drug; all you need to do is take down this one facility.”

  Mathias nodded.

  “The walls are impenetrable.”

  “That won’t be an issue,” Mathias said, gesturing to Alna.

  The General nodded. “All right. But you will also need the correct security codes to destroy the electronic records of the formula.”

  “I assume you have these?”

  “Yes, but I can’t give them to you.” Before Mathias could protest, he cut in. “I will physically need to be there. Fingerprint scanner,” he explained. He lowered his voice to barely above a whisper. “This operation will have to be covert. I could be court marshaled if anyone found out I'm involved.”