Isidro poured a cup of tea, and I waved away the sugar and milk. He handed me a teacup and saucer and for a minute, I glanced up at Patrick with a look that I knew screamed, What the hell do I do with this? The slight grin turning up the corner of his very kissable mouth just annoyed me more. I rolled my eyes. I did not crook my pinky finger as I sipped the tea. All right, maybe I did a little. The tea cup was too fucking delicate not to.
“We are so glad you agreed to meet with us. I know our last meeting didn’t end as either of us had intended,” he said as he smoothly seated himself next to me on the settee. I glanced over at him on my right where Patrick had been and set the teacup down.
“You have a delicate way of framing our last encounter,” I snorted.
Savannah groaned as she sat up, breathing heavily. Her body had closed the larger wound but I knew from experience that the internal reknitting of organs and muscles took longer. The scratch along her jaw was still open and bleeding. After crawling back to Raine, she leaned back against the edge of the settee, careful not to stain the fabric with her blood. The rug, well, that was already ruined.
“Savannah, you’re still bleeding,” Raine gasped as she tilted the woman’s chin up to see the cut still open just above her carotid.
“That will scar, I’m afraid,” Patrick said as he strode to the window to stand beside Dean.
“So many surprises,” Isidro whispered as he skimmed his index and middle fingers lightly across my thigh. I grasped Isidro’s fingers and snapped them back, breaking both. He didn’t flinch or even hesitate.
“Pat,” Dean warned, and I glanced over my shoulder to the window to see Dean with a firm grip on Patrick’s shoulder, holding him back.
A quick snap and then another had me turning back to Isidro as he reset the bones before they healed incorrectly. “I like a woman with a little venom,” he whispered but in a room full of preternatural beings, everyone heard it.
“What do you want Isidro?” I asked, annoyed.
“He wanted us to meet,” Raine scoffed as she eyed me from top to bottom. “I believe I’ve seen enough. Isidro, you were mistaken. She is uncouth and has little to recommend her to me.”
“You went to an awful lot of trouble to dismiss us,” I said, leaning back against the small couch.
“As you once said, we are either with you or against you. Raine and I have not yet made up our mind.” Isidro’s grin was both malicious and devious. All my hackles rose at that grin and I angled my back to the curve of the settee to face all parties.
“You made your decision in Columbus,” Patrick said but the edge of anger in his voice was clear. Usually so calm and cool, I hadn’t expected Patrick’s reaction to Isidro touching me. However, since the bonds had been solidified everything between us had been amplified. I felt him in my head, his rage and jealousy pulsing through me like fire. My rage had probably flowed through him too. We’d become almost symbiotic to the point of not being able to distinguish where my emotions ended and his began. We were still figuring it out. The completion of the Fertiri bond had made us powerful, but the mate bonds had made us much more dangerous. Jealousy was a vicious thing.
“I did no such thing. As far as I was concerned, that was a minor hurdle in our negotiations.”
“We don’t negotiate,” Dean growled.
“Everything is negotiable,” Isidro replied.
A soft knock at the door drew my attention away from the testosterone-filled volleys that Dean, Patrick, and Isidro were slinging back and forth.
“Entrer,” Raine called.
The double doors swung open and a man entered. As he crossed the room, I noticed he was several inches taller than Patrick and reeked of shifter. Not a wolf but the same as Savannah. His dirty-blond hair swung into his face at an angle and his soft hazel eyes seemed to reflect every light in the room. As he crossed the floor with large strides that were confident and heavy, Savannah got to her feet. Unsteady, but she did it. The man knelt before her and bowed his head.
“What is it, Gerome?” Savannah wiped more blood away as it ran down the length of her throat.
He raised his gaze to her and a soft cry vibrated through him. “You’re bleeding?”
“A scratch,” she insisted, meeting my gaze with the promise of a rematch. I nodded in invitation. Anytime, bitch. “What’s happened?”
“My Queen, one of Diego’s wolves was mutilated and left for dead. He was discovered on a roof in the quarter a few hours ago.”
“Why wasn’t I informed?” Savannah roared.
“We were only just passed the information. Diego did not want it to get out but our informants have ears in his hotel. The victim was his Alpha.”
“That is the third in a week,” Raine muttered, her eyes darting to Isidro.
“The third what in a week?” Patrick asked, sitting in the chair Isidro had vacated.
“There have been several deaths. It’s all very distasteful. Such a waste,” Raine replied in a light, flippant tone before taking another sip of her tea.
Savannah nodded, and Gerome turned quickly on his heels, leaving without another word or order. She spun on Raine with a hard line across her shoulders that I knew well. A soldier’s stance, a leader’s stance. “This could be bad for us,” she stated, the sultry drawl still in her tone.
“How so?” Raine pouted.
“Well, people are dying on your watch. This is your territory. You are responsible,” I said, letting just a tiny bit of anger seep into my tone.
Raine glared at me, venom making her irises darker. If she could have turned me to a toad with just that gaze, I would’ve been croaking out on the bayou. I met Savannah’s sharp scrutiny and she nodded her head in agreement. I didn’t like her but we certainly understood each other, on this matter at least.
“Would you like me to send our condolences to Diego?” Savannah asked, kneeling at Raine’s feet and something about that just rubbed me the wrong way.
“Oui, mon chaton,” she cooed.
“I’m tagging along. I’d like to know what’s going on before I step in something that . . . stinks,” I said, not hesitating to meet Raine’s suspicious glare. My tone was biting and there was more than just a little accusation there. If someone was killing wolves and/or vampires in this city, I wanted to be prepared. Maybe this trip would be fun after all.
“Be off with you then,” she said, waving us away with an aristocratic gesture that was archaic and condescending. I was not a child to be dismissed and neither were Patrick or Dean. Furthermore, I didn’t belong to her and she didn’t have the right to dictate shit. Of the power emanating in the room, Isidro and Raine were not the be-all-end-all and I think she knew it. I got to my feet anyway, eager to be gone from the pompous parade of frills and antiquated manners.
Patrick held out his hand to me. I took it, sliding my warm hand in his cooler one. He hadn’t fed yet, and there was a part of me that tingled all over at the thought of him sinking his long, sharp fangs deep into my body.
“Sweetheart,” Patrick hissed in my ear, chiding my sudden and very public arousal as he guided me to the door. Dean took up the rear, closing ranks as we left.
I peered up at him with a knowing smirk turning up the corner of my mouth. I knew exactly what that scent did to him. I clutched him closer as we left the room and whispered, “Chaton?”
“Kitten,” Dean answered behind us.
Ahhh, the Tiger Queen I’d heard so much about. Having met her, I was unimpressed.
We made our way to the foyer and I tugged Dean close to me too. “Listen, I’ll take Ev with me to Diego’s. There’s no need for either of you to waste your time.”
“I’m going,” Dean growled.
“Nope,” I snapped. “I’m not letting that bitch anywhere near you. You must have lost your damned mind i
f you think that’s happening.”
He pulled me against him, slamming my body against his hard muscled chest. Dipping his head for a deep, heated kiss, he took me in a way that curled my toes and left me panting. Surprised and delighted at the PDA, I fell into his body and his kiss, tangling my tongue with his. He tasted of beignets, sweet and sugary with a hint of chicory coffee that Miss Caroline kept hot all day long. His strong, massive hands reached down over the swell of my ass and tugged my pelvis tight against him until I could feel how much he wanted me, pressing against my belly.
“Mmmm,” I moaned in sheer pleasure as he broke away and stared down at me, his blue eyes shining bright.
“I love the scent of jealousy on you,” he growled low in the back of his throat. Only Patrick and I heard his deep rumbling declaration.
“I’m still taking Ev and not you.”
Patrick chuckled, a soft snort through his nose as he hauled me from Dean’s arms. His long elegant fingers skimmed my jawline and tipped my face up to meet his stare. “Be cautious with the Pup and the Tiger Queen. She is full of pheromones which will make her volatile. Take Booker with you. Diego knows him and will be more likely to talk to you with him there. It will make him feel more at ease.”
“All right,” I said, unable to keep the stupid grin from my face as his hand cupped my jaw and his fingers sank into my hair. What can I say? I loved my guys.
Dean opened the front door, waving the butler away. Seriously, who had a butler? He motioned for Ev and Booker to come in. “You’re with her,” he barked and neither one raised an eyebrow at his command.
“Don’t be too late. I have plans for us this evening,” Patrick whispered against my ear, sending heat straight to my middle and I knew, just knew I was wet already.
“Damn it!” I hissed, knowing he’d done it on purpose.
He snorted again and pecked a kiss on my cheek. “Until later.”
“Cheeky bastard,” I muttered, and he laughed then turned and strode out.
Dean walked over, kissed my other cheek, and gave me a quick pat on the ass before following his friend out the door. What the hell?
“They’re having too much fun,” Booker said, watching the two men I loved leave as the door closed behind them.
“Don’t I know it?” I grimaced as a quick click of heels echoed on the marble. I knew in the pit of my stomach those aggressive footfalls belonged to Savannah. “Gird your loins, boys, here comes trouble.”
Chapter 7
The smell of him drove Celeste mad. Over the last three decades, she’d dreamt of his scent filling her nostrils and his familiar weight pushing her down into a mattress, the ground, or any surface he wanted. And no matter how much she’d missed him or how much she’d relished these stolen moments, she knew it couldn’t last. “It’s getting too dangerous. We can’t keep meeting like this,” she groaned as his tongue licked up her center.
He picked his head up, his pale blond hair and sharp German features seemed harsh in the soft light of the ornate crystal chandelier hanging above them. His violet eyes shone with confusion. “But I haven’t bitten into that plump ass for decades. I want, no, I need to catch up on lost time,” he growled, his German accent a harsh rasp in his throat. Gazing up at her, his thin lips turned up, exposing fangs and making her thighs quiver in anticipation of his teeth sinking into her flesh.
Celeste couldn’t stop the smile of pure delight spreading across her face. Since the first night he’d taken her centuries ago and made her his, a fire had burned between them so hot it couldn’t be quenched. With a wicked grin, he dipped his head and set back in, licking, tasting, sucking, until a pinch at her clitoris soared up through her body. Drinking her down, he suckled her orgasm from her. She cried out as wave after wave of pleasure turned her into a quivering mess of bliss. Panting, she lay back and stretched like a cat full of cream, cradling his head between her thighs.
“Now, what is this nonsense?” he barked as he lay back on the bed. His long, hulking body cut with hard muscle. That first night, he’d been a God to her uneducated peasant mind. He’d seen her, taken her, and consumed her, mind, body, and soul. He’d shown her the world and so much more.
“There are too many people about. Too many to report back to Raine before we are ready,” she said. “I’m still trying to decipher the spell from the tome and Raine is being . . . cautious with the conclave so close.” The number of preternatural beings in the city was growing to the point she couldn’t throw a ghoul without hitting one. These little rendezvous, no matter how much she loved them, would have to end or he could risk everything.
“Have you found it?”
“No,” she sighed. “It’s not in her Provenance estate, the Moroccan house, or here. I’d hoped with this farce of a conclave; she’d be parading it about for all to see. Konyam wants her to present it. But other than Grimaldi’s concern about bringing it out with Cavanaugh’s whore about, she’s made no mention of it.” She turned, propping her head on her hand as she peered down into his shining violet eyes, a perfect match to hers. “Honestly, I’m a bit flummoxed as to where to search next. On top of that, the Book of the Dead is in hieroglyphs. If you’d given it to me a year ago, I could be sure the incantation was correct. With only a month’s time, I’m concerned.”
“The relic is the only reason that French bitch is on the Board in the first place! The only reason there is always a woman on the board,” he spat. “The book, however, I got that to you as soon as I could. Those damned pagan priestesses had it hidden and it took me years to track it down. But I coaxed its location out of them. They kept chanting about ‘bringing forth into day’ as I retrieved it. Didn’t understand a single word so I killed them. No one will know we have it.”
She smiled down at him, proud. She adored him, always had, but he was a chauvinist and didn’t care who knew it. His only soft spot was her. She relished that Varick didn’t put the same limitations on her that he put on most women. She wouldn’t let him down.
“All we need now, is the chalice. Raine wouldn’t dare risk her male vampires if the stories of that thing are true. So, it must be out of prying eyes. I know I wouldn’t risk one of them getting courageous and trying to usurp power,” he snorted.
“What would happen to them?”
His gaze met hers and all the mirth that had been there during their tryst fled. “They would be consumed with pure sunlight, burning from the inside out.”
A shiver ran up her spine as the almost forgotten stench of burning flesh filled her nose. She’d seen more than her fair share of witch burnings, having narrowly escaped an accusation in Trier more than four centuries before. Varick had found her before the villagers could descend upon her home for another farce of a trial. Before that fateful night, she’d watched friend and foe burn for something Celeste was.
“What is the Chalice supposed to do? Why do we need it? The Book of the Dead, from what I can gather, doesn’t say what it does, only how to activate it.”
She’d implanted herself in Raine’s colony three decades ago in the hopes of getting close enough to retrieve the Chalice of Isis and steal it. “Varick, we’re so close. I just want to know why we sacrificed so much to get it.” Her voice was soft and pleading and there was a part of her that hated herself for it.
“It will give the bearer the ability to walk in the sun.”
“What?” she gasped.
“Raine was supposed to keep it safe for Konyam. Unfortunately, she’s doing a very good job. The Chairman of the Board is pleased with that cunt,” he scoffed, running his big hand through his hair in frustration.
“I’ll find it,” she promised, feeling the unmistakable twinge of guilt fill her middle as the importance of the Chalice settled in the pit of her stomach. “I just need a little more time.”
“You’ve had decades!” he roared
.
“You knew this would be a lengthy endeavor,” she snapped back. “I had to earn my way into her confidence and there are still things she keeps from me. I said I would find that damned Chalice and I will.”
“Yes, but I don’t have to enjoy it. You have been at my side for centuries and these last decades have been lonely,” he whined.
A smiled tugged at the corner of her mouth at the sound of his distress. It was the little greedy snips he barked that made her gooey inside. He really did love her as she did him. She snorted, nonetheless, at his statement. He wouldn’t appreciate the sentimentality percolating within her.
“Your bed has not been cold, I’m sure.” She wasn’t jealous, not too much.
“True, but none of them had this perfectly round ass.” He smirked and swatted her backside with a resounding crack. “Plus, I can’t trust any of them. They all want something . . .”
“Power,” she offered, knowing he valued loyalty and trust above all things.
“Yes, that’s why I need you back and away from this den of vipers.” He leaned back against the headboard and stroked her hip, absently, his fingers grazing across her skin. His touch was so delicate for a man with such large, powerful hands. The care he took with her made something in her chest tighten.
“I’ll find it,” she swore, widening her eyes to keep the tears back.
“And the other?”
“Moving along nicely.” She beamed. “Soon, they’ll be at each other’s throats. Spreading the violence out, they won’t know who to blame. As alliances dismantle with distrust, you’ll be able to step into power without a fight.”
He turned to her, a pleased grin lit his violet eyes. She missed the deep satisfaction and pride she saw reflected in his gaze. “Good,” he purred. “Now, come here, there is still time before you have to go.”
Violet Abyss (A Blushing Death Novel Book 7) Page 5
