Eversong (Midnight Playground)

by Bradley, Eden

  There was a crash of splintered wood, and she bolted upright, her heart hammering. A dark flash, and then he was on her, hands gripping her waist as he lifted her from the bed. She struggled, but he was so much stronger than she. So much older. Ancient.

  Familiar.

  Gaius.

  She knew the tone of his anger, the scent of him like old earth and moss and the hardest granite, even before she saw his tall, dark form hovering over her.

  “Deo!” she screamed.

  He was there, his hands on her, and she wanted to cry with relief. But Gaius was so ancient, so powerful. Even with the two of them struggling against him, they would never win.

  “Do not fight me, Mercy.” Gaius’s gravelly voice echoed with what she now knew was the hollow tone of centuries untold, and that strange accent. “I made you. You belong to me.”

  “Never!” Deo roared, trying to keep one arm wrapped around her waist. But she was slipping from his grasp.

  “Gaius, you abandoned me,” she accused him, tears pouring down her cheeks, her hands clawing at his, trying to make him let go.

  He paused for one moment, and in his dark eyes she saw a sadness unmatched even by Ever’s. But they were devoid of that depth. They held instead the flat shadows of insanity. “You left me. You ran away. I’ve come to collect what is mine.”

  “I belong to whom I choose,” she argued, using all of her strength to try to push her way out of his arms. There was one moment when his grip on her lessened, and she yanked back. Deo held her, stepped back. But Gaius’s expression shifted instantly, filling with rage. He lunged for her.

  Deo pulled her away so quickly they nearly toppled over, but he wasn’t fast enough. A small table went over with a crash, a lamp shattering on the cool marble floor. And once more Gaius had her, so tightly this time his nails dug into the flesh at her waist, drawing blood. She could smell it—that sweet, metallic scent that was the blood of the vampires. She could smell her own fear, heavy in the air.

  “Deo, help me!”

  “Damn you, Gaius!” Deo gripped her shoulders, tried to pry her from the rogue’s grip.

  Gaius reached out, fast as lightning, and knocked Deo back, onto the floor. “We are all damned,” he said, with a small, strangled chuckle.

  She pounded on his shoulders, his broad chest with her fists. “Gaius, you will let me go!”

  “I will not,” he growled. “I will take you to the bottom of the ocean, if that is what it takes to keep you.”

  “Gaius!” Deo roared, lunged once more, and bit into the old vampire’s arm. Mercy did the same, tasted Gaius’s ancient blood on her tongue, and instantly she was transported back to the moment he’d Turned her, to those images of Gaius’s past that had flooded her brain then, and did so again now.

  The air was moist with summer heat in the Temple of Apollo Palatinus. Gaius stood before the altar. Even though the sun shone outside, the marble floors were cool—he could feel it seeping through the soles of his sandals. And Mercy could feel his heart heavy with despair as he called out in prayer.

  “Great Apollo. Do not abandon me, even though I am now a creature of Proserpine’s Underworld. A creature of evil. Send me some sign, that this is a test you have set before me. Tell me what I am to do to please you.” Agitated, he sighed, pushed his hair from his face, his jaw clenching. “Does it please you to have me drink blood? I, who have always been your devoted servant? My family has brought gifts to your altar, I have prayed to you every day, and still I remain…in this strange condition all these long months. They reject me now, my family, and I have no one but my gods. Unless you have you rejected me as well, great Apollo. Have you?” he demanded, sinking to his knees. “Have you?” He paused, breathless, his chest heaving. “I have nothing now,” he murmured, his hands fisting at his eyes. “Nothing…” he sobbed.

  “No!” Mercy cried, her heart breaking for him. Her maker. Her enemy.

  He was dragging her across the room, and Deo with them as he held on to her. Deo’s beautiful eyes blazed with blue-green fire—anger and fear and a helpless pleading it nearly broke her to see. Gaius let out a yell, tore her from Deo’s grasp and carried her out the door, into the hallway. Fear was like thunder in her veins.

  She called to Ever in her mind, felt his answer. Then he was with them, tearing her from Gaius’s hold. Deo took her in his arms, and they watched as Ever threw the rogue to the floor, his fist slamming into Gaius’s face. There was no blood, just the sound of stone hitting stone while she shivered with some strange loathing she couldn’t explain.

  Ever raised his fist once more and she felt the power of his anger, like molten heat. Like death.

  “I will kill you myself for what you’ve done to her.” Ever’s tone sent shivers down her spine—dangerous. Deadly. His lips had drawn back, baring his fangs.

  “Kill me, then, if you can. End this torture.” Gaius’s voice grew stronger, and he demanded, “Kill me!”

  Ever’s hands closed around Gaius’s throat, and she heard the sharp crack of bones snapping. She caught the old vampire’s dark, darting gaze. He was so clearly out of his mind. So clearly in some kind of hell.

  “Ever, no! Please, no.” A sob tore at her throat and she shook all over.

  Deo held her tighter. “He is too insane, Mercy. Too out of control. If they let him go…”

  “I can’t bear it. Please. Please, Ever. Don’t.”

  But Ever’s fingers only dug harder into the ancient vampire’s throat.

  “Ever.”

  It was Aleron’s calm French accent. He was in the hall, along with Ramsey. A group of vampires stood behind them, some she’d never seen before.

  She watched as Ever went tense all over. His hands were still at Gaius’s throat, but his grip lessened.

  “Ever, we must do this properly,” Aleron insisted. “Come now. Let us take him away.” He stepped forward, laid a hand on Ever’s shoulder.

  “It is unforgivable, what he has done,” Ever growled.

  “Which is why we’ve been hunting him,” Ramsey said. “I followed him here from Madrid. He was so damn fast. Faster than I am, or I would never have let him get this close to Mercy. But Aleron is right. You have to let the Council deal with him.”

  “Ever. Let us take him now,” Aleron pressed him.

  Mercy watched the exchange. Gaius lay still on the floor, as if the fight had gone out of him. It wrenched her heart to see him this way, despite what he’d done to her. What he had just tried to do moments earlier.

  “Please, Ever,” she begged. “Let them take him. I can’t bear to see this. I can’t. I know what has to be done, but don’t do it in front of me. Please.”

  “Do as she asks, Ever,” Deo said, his tone full of a power she’d never heard from him before. “Do it for her.”

  Ever sighed, eased back the slightest bit, and Ramsey and the other vampires moved in, lifting Gaius to his feet.

  “Ah, God, I can’t stand it.” Tears poured down her cheeks. She couldn’t stop crying. Couldn’t stop the sadness cutting into her like a razor, right through her flesh, into her heart.

  “Shh, love,” Deo murmured into her hair, kissing her cheek.

  She burrowed into Deo’s big body, watching as Ever stood, wiping his hands on his leather-clad thighs as he let the others carry Gaius away. He was shaking with rage. He wouldn’t look at her but kept his gaze on the floor.

  She turned her face into Deo’s strong shoulder.

  “He would have carried me off,” she sobbed.

  “No, love. We wouldn’t have let that happen.”

  “But he’s so strong. He almost…”

  “No,” Deo said again, power in his voice once more.

  “I was so scared. Afraid to be taken from you and Ever. Afraid of Gaius. And yet…I’m so torn. It hurts me to think of what will happen to him.”

  “It’s all right, Mercy love. It has to be this way. There is no other option. You understand that, don’t you? But don’t think of it
now. Think only of being safe.”

  Deo lifted her in his arms, carrying her back into their rooms, and she saw the broken door hanging on its hinges. He took her to the bed, but she didn’t want to lie down.

  “Deo, please.”

  He set her on her feet, brought her a robe, and she wrapped herself in the pale blue velvet. They sat together on the low sofa, Deo never letting go of her hand. She was aware of Ever, still out in the hallway. Sensed his tension like a knife blade against her skin as he slowly gained control of his temper.

  She leaned into Deo, realized that he was trembling, just a small shiver beneath the surface of his skin. She buried her face in his neck, let the familiar scent of his skin soothe her.

  Ever looked through the broken doorway, saw Mercy and Deo together and felt a stab of…what? Envy? But they were his, as much as they belonged to each other. Or he’d thought so, until he’d had to hear Mercy beg on behalf of that evil rogue.

  How could she have done it? How could she possibly care for him still, after what he’d done to her? Months ago. Today.

  He strode down the hall, away from them. Away from the sight of Deo soothing Mercy as he should be doing now himself. And yet he couldn’t. He couldn’t bear it.

  He stopped at the end of the long hall, ran a hand over his hair, smoothing it back into place.

  “Ever.” Aleron laid his hand over the back of his neck.

  Ever whirled around to face his old friend. “Would you turn against me now, Aleron?”

  Aleron shook his head. “I am with you as always, Ever. You must calm yourself.”

  “How can I? After what happened here today? He would have carried her off, held her prisoner. God knows what he might have done.”

  “But he didn’t. You stopped him.”

  “I would have done far more than stop him had Mercy not pleaded for him,” he spat out. “Had you yourself not argued on his behalf.”

  Aleron moved closer, placed his hands on Ever’s shoulders. He wanted to shake him off, but this was Aleron, one of his dearest friends.

  “Ever, my friend, why are you so angry?”

  “How can she care for him? And Deo is with her on this. Oh, not that he cares as she does, but still, he would have us be gentle with that fiend. How is it possible that she…loves him? She tells me she loves me, as she loves Deo. Where does this Gaius fit into the equation? You know what it is for one of us to give our heart.”

  “Perhaps it’s more the bond of Turning than real love, Ever. And even if it is some final shred of love, in some stunted form, then perhaps the part of them that is able to do so—that almost human empathy and freshness—is the very part of them you love so deeply,” Aleron said quietly.

  Ever glanced away. “Yes,” he said, his tone soft, his body loosening.

  That was it, wasn’t it? He loved Mercy. And Deo. He loved the very things about them Aleron had spoken of. The rest didn’t matter. Perhaps one of the things he’d forgotten about love was how boundless it was.

  It didn’t matter that Mercy felt some lingering emotion for the treacherous vampire who had made her. Or, rather, it did. It spoke only of how much love she had to give. How devoid of bitterness this lovely and loving woman was. Which, as Aleron had said, was one reason he and Mercy and Deo had made such a bond. A bond never to be broken.

  “I must go and speak with them. Thank you, Aleron.”

  “It wasn’t me, old friend. It’s love.”

  Ever smiled at him. “Yes. I must go to them, my loves.”

  Mercy looked up as Ever strode into the room then knelt on the floor before her, took her hands in his, kissing them.

  “Did he hurt you, my love?”

  There was a small bit of rage in his face, still. And love. So much love.

  “No. I don’t think so. He scared me.”

  “I would have killed him myself. Torn him to pieces with my hands if it weren’t for you, Mercy.”

  She reached out to stroke his stone-hard cheek. “Thank you, Ever. What will they do with him?”

  “They have him in a room in the basement. He’s strong, but they have him.”

  “They will kill him,” she said quietly.

  “Yes.”

  “Ever…please tell me you won’t do it yourself.”

  A shadow crossed his features, but it was gone in moments. “I know you care for him still, Mercy. I don’t understand it.”

  She shook her head. “I can’t help it. He made me. Saved me from death.”

  “He was the one who nearly caused it!” Ever’s face grew tight with the effort to control his anger.

  Deo gripped her hand in his, but he remained silent.

  “He is a monster,” Ever went on, his voice rough. “A rogue. He lives outside our rules. Rules made to protect our kind from the mortal race. If he were allowed to roam, to make more vampires as carelessly as he did you, the humans would revolt against us. We cannot allow it to happen.”

  “I know that,” she said quietly. “I knew it before, and Deo has reminded me.”

  “But more than that, Mercy, is what he did to you.” He stood, his hands fisting at his sides. “You. The first woman I’ve loved in centuries. I cannot stand it. I cannot stand to let him live, even in captivity.”

  “Ever, don’t be angry.”

  He turned from her, slammed his fist into a small table, crushing it as if it were made of paper. The sound echoed in her ears. Deo bolted to his feet.

  “Ever.” His voice was a low growl.

  Ever whipped his head around, glaring, his dark eyes like two piercing shards of midnight. But Deo did not back down.

  She felt the tension in the room like some palpable force. She stood.

  “Stop it! Stop it, both of you. This is crazy. Don’t let him do this to us. Don’t let him tear us apart. I can’t take it.” The tears were back. She brushed them away. “We love each other. Don’t we?”

  Deo was at her side in an instant, his arms around her. “Always and forever, my love. Of course.”

  She could feel him shivering beneath his calm tone as they both looked at Ever. His ancient face was full of shadows, his lips a tense line.

  “Ever,” Deo demanded, his grip on her body tightening.

  She watched as Ever’s shoulders dropped, as his face absolutely fell. His eyes glistened. Was it tears she saw pooled there? He came to them, went down on his knees once more, drawing them both with him onto the plush Persian rug. She went into his hard embrace willingly, her body, her heart, melting.

  “Forgive me, my loves. Both of you.” He kissed her mouth softly then Deo’s.

  “We understand,” Deo said, stroking Ever’s hair as he would Mercy’s. “You are only trying to protect Mercy. To protect us.”

  “I would die to see you both safe.”

  When Ever brought his lips back to hers, she could taste Deo on them. Her body lit with need, a sinuous heat surging through her veins.

  Need you both.

  They pressed in on either side. She could feel how hard they both were—their beautiful immortal bodies. Their hard immortal cocks.

  “Now,” she said quietly.

  Ever lifted her in his arms. “I need to wash the stench of that vile creature from us all. Come.”

  Deo led the way into the bathroom, turned on the hot water in the enormous shower. He stripped his clothes off in moments. Ever set her on her feet and gently undressed her then he was naked. Together, they moved into the shower.

  The white marble was cool beneath her feet for several moments. Then, as Deo and Ever surrounded her, as the hot water fell all around them, she warmed—her feet, her body, her immortal blood. Their hands were on her, their bodies pressing against hers—Ever in front of her and Deo behind her. She loved the hard planes of their bodies, one as hard as oak, the other like the marble that lined the shower. She smoothed her hands over Ever’s face as he bent to kiss her throat, let her head fall back to rest on Deo’s chest.

  “Love you, Mercy,�
� he whispered in her ear, making her smile.

  “Love you, Mercy,” Ever murmured against her throat, echoing Deo.

  He kissed her there, softly, let his eyeteeth scrape her skin. She shivered.

  “Drink from me, Ever. I can’t wait. Please.”

  He didn’t answer, just let his fangs sink into her flesh. She felt his silky tongue against her skin, felt the exquisite pleasure fill her as he pulled her blood into his mouth.

  “Ah…”

  From behind her, Deo’s hips were surging, pressing his hard cock against the small of her back. His hands came around her, cupped the weight of her breasts. He brushed the hardened tips of her nipples with his fingertips, sending pleasure coursing through her like lightning. Like fire.

  “Come on, Deo. Pinch me.”

  A small laugh from him as he did as she asked, squeezing her nipples between thumbs and forefingers.

  “Yes…”

  She sighed her pleasure as Ever drank from her, one small drop then another, while Deo teased her nipples, gently squeezed her breasts. It was like some lovely sort of torture that neither of her lovers had touched her aching cunt yet. That neither of them filled her as she needed to be filled.

  She squirmed, undulating between them. Then she reached down, taking Ever’s cock in her hand.

  “Ah yes, stroke him, my love,” Deo instructed.

  She ran her fingers down the length of Ever’s cock, smiled when he shuddered, his tongue flicking at her throat. Deo pressed closer, his cock sliding in between the cheeks of her ass, his hands still playing her nipples. Clever. Wicked. Lovely.

  “I’m going to fuck you, love,” he said quietly, some small threat in his low tone. She loved it.

  “Yes, Deo. Now. I need you. I need you both inside me.”

  Ever raised his head. There was one tiny crimson drop at the corner of his mouth. Mercy stood on her toes and leaned into him to lick it off.