Primal Cravings

by Susan Sizemore

  “—making off with an Easter Egg.”

  “Sounds like fun.” Laurent perched on the corner of his own desk. He peered at Piper’s computer screen. “And you are web surfing when you could be in bed with a beautiful red-head. You are doing Google Maps, why?”

  “I’ve been meaning to get to this for a while. But things happened.”

  “Including a rather nice party,” Laurent said. “Where you were rude to my daughter.”

  “I apologize. Although I have no memory of the—”

  Piper’s face went blank, his eyes glazed. Laurent passed a hand across the other Prime’s face. Then Laurent carefully probed the edges of Piper’s mind to try to find out what he was thinking.

  Turned out he was remembering.

  “How do you like the desert climate?” the blond asked him.

  “I haven’t paid much attention to it. Except to the earthquakes,” Jake said.

  “What we’ve been getting around here is nothing compared to where I was last week,” the dark one said.

  “How was the conference in Arizona?” the blond asked the dark one. “Was the spa as advertised?”

  “Beautiful. It’s at the bottom of a red rock canyon. The whole town is a lovely blend of mesas and canyons with an oak-lined creek running through the town.”

  “What about the energy vortexes that are supposed to be there?”

  “I didn’t notice anything, except for the micro-quakes. I have no idea if there’s something different about the energy in—”

  The office door opened and Jake’s attention immediately went to Dee. “Sedona,” he told her. “Sedona, Arizona.”

  “‘Brane universes,” she told him. “Our bad guy is trying to open a door to another universe.”

  * * *

  “How did you figure that out?” they asked each other.

  “I just recalled a conversation I overheard at the party,” Jake said.

  “I inspected the spot where a man and a dog accidently time traveled. Time travel only happens when reality is really thin. Then I remembered what I’d read of the Tower wizard’s research. It’s all about the possibility of manipulating the spaces between universes. You’d need someone really powerful—say a Cave witch who can draw on all the energy at the core of the planet—to even try something like that.”

  “Would something like that destroy the world?” Jake asked.

  “I’m betting it would,” Dee said.

  “Time travel?” Eden asked.

  Dee snatched up her computer. Jake took her clue and grabbed his own. It was time to go.

  “How much time do we have?” he asked as they headed for the door.

  “Not long,” she said. “Please, goddess, don’t let it be far from here to Sedona.”

  “Time travel?” Eden called after them as the office door closed.

  Dee hesitated, looking back. He grabbed her arm and hustled her toward their vehicle. “They’ll figure their crisis out,” Jake said. “We have to save the world.”

  * * *

  Leviathan relaxed. It was the oddest sensation he’d ever experienced. He stood in the entrance of the cave and the stars overhead suddenly shone brighter. The cool air was fresh and invigorating. Distant sounds were more musical than irritating. He hadn’t realized how tightly wound all of his senses were until this moment. He walked back inside their hiding place. Even though he was in a cave, the place was lighter.

  “My soul is singing,” he said.

  Leviathan’s ally looked up from the notes he was making. “That’s not something I’d ever thought I’d hear you say.” He smiled. “My spell has worked.”

  Leviathan nodded. He laughed. “My brother is coming. When he does, this world will pop like a soap bubble. Reality will belong to us.”

  “You might add me to this power structure of yours,” the Cave wizard said. “I’m creating it for you.”

  “You might want to rethink the whole plan,” the prisoner said. “Before we all disappear in that popped soap bubble analogy of yours.”

  Leviathan didn’t mind the old mortals’ words, not right now. Yakov was coming. Blood and death and a new beginning was on its way. That was all that mattered.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  “Does the term bat out of hell have meaning for you, Piper?”

  Jake noticed that Dee was white with fear and let up a bit on the accelerator. It was a wonder no cops had tried to pull them over in the last several hours. He’d been having a grand time using his vampire senses to weave in and out of traffic at insane speeds. Maybe his mortal passenger had good reason to be concerned.

  “I’m happy to be on the road, aren’t you? We have a clue of what’s happening. We know where to look. Life is good.”

  “We don’t have a plan,” Dee pointed out.

  “But we have a clue!”

  She grinned at him. “It’s kind of fun to see you happy.”

  This would be a good time to point out to her that she made him happy, but Jake refrained from this truth. He remembered too well the rest of his vision of her as a naked, bound sacrifice surrounded by fire. They could well be heading for that scenario and he had to think of something to do about it.

  When a long time went by without his answering her, Dee took our her phone. She concentrated on sending texts rather than trying to coax conversation from him. He could feel her wanting to, though. This was outwardly very like their relationship in the past, but everything was oh, so, different now.

  What the demons of the darkest hells was he going to do?

  * * *

  Dee woke from a doze as the SUV came to a stop. “Are we there yet?” she asked. She heard the growl of large engines and was nearly blinded by bright headlights when she opened her eyes. It took her a moment to recognize a huge trailer truck with a shiny bright green cab instead of thinking she was seeing a dragon.

  “I think I was dreaming about a dragon,” she said.

  Dee yawned, straightened in her seat, and looked around. She saw a wide expanse of concrete, gas pumps, and floodlights. There were trucks everywhere, some in line for fuel, some parked behind the long, low service station building. The station’s windows were full of neon signs advertising food, drink, showers, and other trucker conveniences. There were a few cars in parking spaces in front of the building. The smell of frying hamburger and french fries mixed with that of diesel fuel.

  “How quintessentially, comfortingly American,” she said. “Ladies’ room here I come,” she added as she got out of the SUV.

  “Take your time,” Jake called after her. “There’s a long line for gas.”

  She acknowledged him with a grunt and went on her way.

  Only to have his arms come around her a second later. He pulled her into the shadows on one side of the building. Where he kissed her so hungrily her bones melted and her insides caught fire. Her hands went up under his shirt, pulling him closer. She dug her nails into his shoulder blades. She wanted to mark him, draw blood. She’d never been this fierce with anyone before.

  But then, she’d never been with a vampire before.

  “Mine, mine, mine,” she whispered when his mouth drew away from hers. Her lips ached from the kiss, her mouth was ravaged. She wanted to do it again.

  But he held her away, gazed into her eyes for a few moments. Her head spun. No, she and Jake stayed steady within a whirling vortex of fire. Flames licked at them, but nothing could touch them as long as they were—

  “We better go,” Jake said.

  Dee stared in confusion.

  “You were going to the ladies’ room. I was going to fill the gas tank.”

  Oh, right. “I guess the bonding thing hasn’t calmed down as much as we thought.”

  He let her go.

  Dee forced herself to leave Jake. She forced herself not to look back. And laughed at her melodramatic reaction. She was only going to go to the bathroom and to pick up some snacks, for goddess’s sake!

  She ended up waiting in line, g
rowing more impatient and antsy by the moment. By the time she took her change from the cashier and headed out the door, her need to see Jake Piper was almost hysteria. She hurried outside, looked around wildly in the well-lit parking area.

  “Jake!”

  Jake!

  Dee rushed around frantically, dodged around trucks and cars and people. Horns sounded loudly, people stared and shouted at her to be careful.

  She searched for the black Mercedes SUV they’d come so far in. She called for Jake, out loud and telepathically the whole time.

  It didn’t take long before anger overcame panic. She knew where he was. Not here.

  The bastard had run out on her.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Delilah was pissed. So much so that Jake’s head throbbed with pain from her anger. Her fury burned him. Her sense of betrayal turned his blood to ice. He concentrated on the pain, using it to keep from turning around and going back to her. He needed to be with her.

  “Bond talking,” he told himself.

  What about their orders? Tobias had assigned them to work the op together.

  “A field operative needs to stay flexible,” he told himself. “Plans have changed.”

  She was the expert at magic, or physics, or whatever situation he was driving into.

  “But I’m a vampire. I’m good at killing things.”

  What he had to do was find the bad guys, drain their blood, rip out their hearts—whatever needed to be done. It would not only be fun, but would save the world.

  It would save Dee. that was what mattered.

  He wasn’t going to offer her up for sacrifice. That was what somebody wanted him to do, wasn’t it?

  “Not going to happen,” he told himself.

  It would solve all your problems.

  As familiar as the voice in his head was, Jake knew he wasn’t talking to himself now.

  It will save the world.

  Jake was tempted to pull over to the side of the road, pull his head off, and try to shake the craziness out. Just one more temptation filling him up to the breaking point.

  You will have everything you want. One sacrifice is all I ask from you.

  Yakov Piper did not believe in the devil. Oh, he believed in demons, he frequently played poker with a couple. But the Devil, the great tempter, he was a product of mortal mythology. Wasn’t he?

  His head filled with pressure. Images of everything, everyone he’d ever wanted filled his head. He tried to catch on to Dee’s anger, to make the pain from their parting his reality.

  She can’t help you. Hate what she’s done to you.

  Hate. It was what Tribe Primes did.

  Son of Tribe Leviathan.

  Son of….

  Jake was going blind from the bombarding images. He managed to pull the SUV off the road before he dropped his head into his hands.

  He didn’t know how much time passed. He didn’t hear the passenger door open. He only knew someone was seated beside him. And he knew it wasn’t Delilah. He didn’t want to look. He didn’t want to know. But he wasn’t a coward. He could and would look the impossible in the face. It just took him a few seconds to do it.

  Jake refused to be surprised. Because of the vision he’d thought the other Prime might be Melchor, but he’d recognized Levi’s voice inside his head. He also remembered his eldest brother’s powerful yet subtle telepathic touch.

  The other Prime wore a gray hoodie pulled up to shadow his face, and sunglasses despite it being the middle of the night.

  “You were always sensitive to light. Or perhaps you’re being careful to make sure no one else recognizes you. I saw you die,” Jake added.

  “You saw me get a very bad sunburn,” Levi said. “I very much wanted to die.”

  “Your head was taken off.”

  “Not quite.” Levi put a hand on Jake’s arm. “You cannot always believe what you see, little brother.”

  Jake eased away from Levi’s touch. There was only one touch he wanted. Besides, touch only increased Levi’s telepathic intrusion into his mind.

  “You are under death judgment, Levi. Any vampire who sees you is obligated to kill you. That includes me.”

  Levi laughed.

  And the earth shook a little.

  “You did that,” Jake said. “How? Why?”

  “When the Cave witch did the first spell to help me find you, he said that earth energy attached itself to me. I think he screwed something up.”

  “You could have called.”

  Jake now knew that Dee’s theory about the involvement of a Cave sorcerer was true. Cave, Tower, and Prime. Along with bubbles and ‘branes.

  Levi laughed again. At least no earthquake accompanied it this time.

  “As you pointed out, I am supposed to be dead. Using modern technology leaves traces. The old ways are the safest. Besides, touching your mind helped my loneliness. And yours. You were falling too much into modern ways. I helped you remember who you are, where you are from, what you must become.”

  Just how long had Levi been messing with his mind? Would things with Dee have gone better without interference?

  “What do you want with me?” Jake asked instead.

  “You’re thinking about the mortal female.” Levi shook his head. “One of the things I want is to keep you safe from such thoughts. Remember who you are, boy! Tribe Leviathan! The mortal has trapped you. You must break out of that trap while you can. I’ll help you. My witch will help you.” Levi’s tone became very persuasive. “Your witch’s death will save you. And Melchor.”

  A vision of Melchor rose in Jake’s mind. Strong. Brave. Deserving of loyalty. The brother who’d cared for him, protected him, taught him everything.

  He missed Melchor.

  “So do I. We can bring him back. We can save him. Save the Tribe. Leviathan will be the lords of the world. Any world we want. We can have everything. Everywhere.” Levi’s voice was hypnotic, seductive. His thoughts wove spiderwebs in Jake’s mind.

  “There’s a price for everything.”

  “Of course. There’s always a price.” Levi pulled back the hood and lifted his head. The jagged scar that crossed his throat from ear to ear was red and livid. “I’ve paid. It still hurts. It will always hurt. The reminder makes me stronger. You’ve paid with slavery to the Pipers. With service to a traitor to his own Tribe. You’ve been forced to let a mortal taste your blood. You have paid enough, my little brother.”

  “You want me to pay with Dee’s death.”

  “The female’s energy will open the door to bringing Melchor back. Her death brings us power beyond belief.”

  Power. Leviathan together. Freedom. The universes ours.

  Seductive words burst inside Jake’s mind, bright sparks of desires and dark fantasies beckoned.

  We are united. Leviathan, Melchor, Yakov. Brothers.

  Years of loneliness came out in a howl of pain. Levi’s hand rested on Jake’s shoulder.

  “Dee will die.”

  “In every universe there is a Delilah McCoy. You can have as many as you want.”

  As many Dees as he wanted.

  “Give her to me,” Levi said.

  * * *

  “Wait! Stop!” Dee shouted as the headlights lit up a black SUV on the side of the road.

  “We’re still a couple miles from town, honey,” Mrs. Bright said. Mr. and Mrs. Bright were the nice trucker couple who’d given her a ride after Jake deserted her only ten miles out of Sedona.

  She had a strong connection with the vampire. She knew she’d find him. But the last thing Dee expected was to come across their vehicle on the side of the road.

  She couldn’t feel him. She felt something, but—

  “Please stop,” she said to the truckers. “I’ll be fine,” she promised at Mrs. Bright’s worried look.

  Mr. Bright was already bringing the truck to a halt. He drove off instantly once she got out. Dee stood by the road for a few seconds, watching the outline of the dark vehicle in the
dark landscape. It was a cold late-December night, but the sharp wind wasn’t the cause of her shivers. Something, maybe everything, was so not right.

  Suddenly she knew with all her being, body, mind, and soul, that Jake Piper was in desperate danger.

  She ran to the SUV and flung open the driver-side door. Jake turned to her in shock. He grabbed her arm, his grasp steel hard and painful. His dark gaze bored into hers for a moment. She couldn’t get out a sound.

  She didn’t see the other person in the car until Jake turned to look at him.

  “You want this one,” Jake said. “You can have her.”

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  “Your family is quite worried about you,” Dee told the other prisoner in the cave. She and Leon Sacher sat side by side, both handcuffed to the metal frame of a cot. She’d never met Leon, and she hoped that he was naturally skinny instead of being mistreated while in captivity. He needed a shave, but otherwise he seemed fine.

  “I’m happy to hear that my family is aware of my absence.”

  “Very aware,” she assured him.

  “And my cat? How is Winston?”

  “Your cat is being taken care of. We found him at your house. Along with your research notes. We’ve been calling you the Wizard of Oxnard,” she said. “I hope you don’t mind.”

  He thought about this for a moment, then smiled. “I rather like that.”

  He looked toward the Cave witch, who was short, squat, bald as an egg, and looked more like a primitive stone carving of a human than he did an actual human. He was standing by an altar. Behind him was the cave wall—only it didn’t look solid. A fiery oblong of light glowed deep beneath the stone surface. It was very disconcerting. Dee couldn’t look at the wall without becoming dizzy and nauseated.

  “That ain’t right,” she said.

  “Never get on an eloop with a Cave witch,” Leon said. “They’re all crazy. Fortunately there’s no more than two left in the world.”

  “In a way that’s sad,” Dee said. The Cave witch—his name was Gary—lifted a long, sharp dagger as she spoke. He muttered some words she couldn’t make out but that made her ears hurt. A dark spell. “Then again….”

  She concentrated on her fellow prisoner. Anything to keep from thinking about that scumbag rat conniving Piper. “I read through your notes. They’re rather like some research on string theory—”