Marked (Dark Ties Book 1)

by A. Vers

  Her breath is hot over my sternum.

  “Good girl. Again.”

  She inhales and exhales in a shaky push. But her heart begins to slow. I stroke my hand over her back, calluses catching in the silky fabric of her blouse. Even more of the tension leaves her frame. I step back into the corner of the closet, pressing her into the small space and boxing her in. Shielding her from whatever is outside.

  I strain my ears for any sound. There is only her breathing and the gentle thrum of her heart. My fingers flow up her shoulder and into the thick waves of her hair. She tilts her head back to look at me.

  “I want you to stay here.” Her pulse speeds again. The light from my eyes illuminates her features in a honey glow. “I’ll be fine. Vampire Captain, remember?”

  Her lips tremble. “If you don’t come back ... Seriously,” she says, “your gun.”

  I smile and stroke her cheek with my thumb. Her heart skips in my ears. My free hand slides down her full rear and she arches against me. It feels so fucking good to have those curves against me. Too good. “Stay,” I order. She bites her lip, but nods as those damn blue eyes seem to glitter.

  Pulling away before I can give in to the need to taste that lush mouth of hers again, I slip out into the dim hall and close the door to the closet behind me. The stairs wobble under my bulk, but hold my weight. I peer out of the stairwell, searching up and down the hall.

  It’s empty.

  Something bangs below.

  Running down the corridor through the dressing room and out into VIP, I grasp the banister and vault over. My legs wobble as I land with a thud. I pull my Glock as a dark shape flits out the open front door across the room.

  I streak after it.

  A burst of power flares like the sun, leaving me shielding my eyes. It pulses in shades of green and white. I try to gaze through the gap in my fingers. But there is nothing but the light. “Fuck.”

  Sage flows along the warm breeze, bringing with it another wash of magick and night. But no hellfire or flowers. A magick user.

  Son of a bitch.

  Some of the light dies and I peer up and down the sidewalk. There is not a soul in sight. Whoever was here isn’t anymore. “Fuck,” I swear again. Pulling my cell, I open the dialer to call Tanner. “T?”

  “Yeah, Cap?”

  “Get to Carnage,” I snap, eyes scanning the sidewalk again and again. “We got a new problem.”

  28

  Lilah

  RUIN HANDS ME A BOTTLE of water from the club kitchen. I palm it and cradle it to my chest. His men, Tanner, the delicious looking shifter, and Gage, the emerald-eyed fae warrior, pace near the bar. Both men are large. Ruin’s size. Though Gage is thicker. They offered me polite nods when they entered, and set to work trying to figure out who or what was here with us.

  “The radar isn’t pulling up anything,” Gage says, waving a wand to what looks like a multimeter around. The little device is jet black, and small in his grasp. He turns the screen this way and that as strange flashes of color dart across the top. “Could’ve been human.”

  “A squatter?” Tanner asks.

  The other man purses his lips. “Maybe.”

  Ruin folds his arms next to me. Where he has been since he came and got me from the closet. The closet where, within a blink, my fear went to a need that scorched every inch of my body. A need that is still arcing through me with him so near. “They moved too fast to be human,” Ruin says. “And I didn’t imagine the light. Whoever it was ... They were other. No doubt about it.”

  Gage tucks the meter back into his belt. “But they could have been slumming here, Cap. There are no guarantees they wanted anything else.”

  Ruin shakes his head, but doesn’t speak. I don’t need him to. He disagrees. Vehemently.

  I shift next to him.

  Tanner looks at me. “Yes?”

  I flush. “Um, well ...”

  Ruin glances down at me. “Lilah?” Still I hesitate. Something in his features softens, and he bumps my arm with his. “Go ahead.”

  “I think we should go to the house on Lock Lake.” He frowns. “I never knew Vic owned it. Or that I do, apparently.” They stare at me. “Anyway ... Maybe there is a clue there. Or at one of the other houses down there. It can’t hurt to check, right?” I peer between them.

  Tanner smiles. “She’s right, Cap. It’s the only lead we got.”

  Gage continues to stand in silence, thumbs looped into his belt.

  Ruin looks between them. “Okay. We drop Lilah at the manor and–”

  “Like hell you’ll drop me anywhere,” I cut in.

  He scowls at me. “This is too dangerous for you.”

  My laughter is harsh. “So was working here,” I quip. “Didn’t stop me though.”

  His muscular body crowds my front, scorching me with more than just his heat. “I wasn’t around then. But I am now. And I say no.”

  I press my palms to his chest and shove. He barely moves. My lips curve. I let my fingertips trail down until they lock into his belt line. He jumps back like I stuck him with a taser.

  His chest heaves as he stands across from me, hands in fists at his sides. I stalk closer. He doesn’t move back as I press my body against his.

  “I’m coming,” I say, leaning into him until the hard length between his legs digs into my stomach. My eyes flutter at the sensation, and my next words are breathy. “Whether you like it or not.”

  Those onyx irises glitter, hot and predatory, but I’ve won. And we both know it.

  “Fine,” he says, watching me. “But you stay at my side, do you understand?”

  I smirk. “Gladly.”

  THE PROPERTY ON LOCK Lake is little more than an open stretch of land, undeveloped and empty. Just shoreline property before an overgrown small forest.

  We all climb from one of the coven’s SUVs. And by all ...

  Horan appears surprisingly normal in jeans and a T-shirt. But the massive sword down his spine is not. Caine’s leather pants, silk shirt, and trench would be more common in a scene, but I have no idea how he hasn’t melted in the Louisiana heat.

  He smirks at me over the tops of very dark sunglasses despite the night outside, and his ruby eyes are lit with hellfire.

  Oh right ... Demon.

  My head shakes and I follow Ruin and the others out into the open field. They all move silently despite their heavier frames. Whereas every step I take seems to find a stick or patch of crunchy leaves.

  “It’s empty,” Tanner says. “I can’t see or smell anything in any direction.”

  Gage spins in a half circle. “Nor I.”

  “Then it seems the little bird is even more innocent than we thought,” Caine says with a lascivious grin in my direction.

  Ruin’s broad back appears in front of me. “Caine, so help me—”

  I press my fingers over Ruin’s spine, kneading and pressing into the muscle under the soft tee. Every inch of his body is tense, and I don’t need to touch him to know it. I just do. His head falls back and a low pant leaves him. But otherwise he falls silent.

  “He only does it to annoy you,” I whisper. “Something about how I’m already taken, even if I don’t know it.”

  Ruin’s dark head turns to peer down at me, and his lips tremor. “Really? He said that?”

  I nod. “That was around the time he offered to drink from me,” I say and then don’t know why I do. My eyes widen and I stare in horror.

  Fuck.

  Ruin’s crème skin reddens, and he whips around. “Caine, you son of a bitch! I’m going to fucking cut your–”

  Lunging, I press my face into Ruin’s back, nuzzling over the rigid swells. His voice chokes off.

  “He let it go, Ruin. Promise. He was a gentleman. Or as much of one as a demon can be.” I dip my hands down, under the hem of his shirt and stroke the velvet heat of his skin. My thighs clench.

  Feet away, several of the men make sounds. Caine among them.

  “He meant lust, thou
gh,” I say against Ruin’s back. “Right?”

  “Yeah.” His voice comes out breathy. I let my hands curve over the hard plains of his hips. Fingers stroking back and forth. My mouth pools at each defined ridge, and I can damn near taste the salty slickness of his skin.

  “He was right. About the lust. It just isn’t for him.”

  Silence follows my words. My fingers dip, toying with his waistband.

  Ruin spins. His hands grasp my wrists, and I tilt my head back. “You’re playing with fire,” he warns.

  I smile, palms pressed to the heaving plains of his abs. “Oh I know.” His dark eyes glint. “But it burns so good.”

  Tanner chokes. “Fuck, you two. Can we not do this now?”

  Caine shushes him. “Silence, beast. This is the most I have fed in days.”

  Ruin snarls and rounds on the demon. “How much of this is your doing?”

  Caine huffs. “None, my fearless Captain. The little bird sings all on her own.”

  I press back against Ruin. He’s warmer than normal, but not unbearably so. And his spicy scent fills my head in a cloud, making my center ache and swell. Tightening again and again.

  “Lilah ...” Ruin murmurs, his back vibrating with my name.

  I giggle and then stop. Some of the strange lust recedes, making it easier to think. “Ugh. I hate girls that do that,” I say under my breath, “and get all doe-eyed for some guy.”

  It takes everything in me to peel myself from his body, but when I do, every step gets easier. I take a few more until the distance between us leaves air cooling my feverish skin. But the ache remains.

  He peers at me. “Fuck.”

  I nod, eyes wide and breathing erratic. “I’m sor–”

  His head shakes. “Don’t.” My lips clamp closed. “Gage.”

  The Fae warrior stalks over, weird multimeter back in hand. It powers up with a soft beep and he skims first Ruin, then me.

  Something seems to pull at my skin from the little wand’s tip, filtering through every breath and beat of my heart. I shudder. He levels the wand on my pocket and the multimeter gives a shrill chime.

  He peers over his shoulder at Ruin. “Charm. Level three.”

  Ruin swears. His dark eyes lock on mine. “Lilah, walk around the car and take the jeans off.”

  My mouth drops. “What?”

  He scrubs a hand over his face and it raises the hem of his shirt. I catch a narrow expanse of delicious muscle before Caine moans.

  “Little bird, please.”

  My eyes dart away and land on the demon. His face is slack-jawed and his eyes glow like embers straight from Hell. Horan’s hand digs into his shoulder and his naked sword presses to the demon’s throat. As the demon swallows, the long blade bobs and blood trickles down his pale skin.

  “Caine ...”

  He shakes his head. “Tis not of my doing, but you are calling me, little bird. And to assuage what I feel, I would force them all to take you. And I would sate my need. Again and again.” There is no teasing in his voice, just truth. His eyes pulse.

  I tremble as a small ripple goes through my core. My eyes scan over the men assembled before locking on Ruin’s hardened jaw.

  “Jeans,” he says.

  I step back as the meter continues to shrill it’s warning. The SUV presses into my spine. I flow around it to the back hatch and try to see through the tinted glass. They stand close, gazes fixed on the side of the car.

  Sliding my boots off, I stand in the tall grass and shimmy out of my jeans. I hold them out to the side. “Now what?”

  A naked sword slides into the waistband and carries them away. I huddle at the back of the car, untying my shirt to try and hide my underwear.

  There’s a lot of masculine swearing. I glance around the vehicle.

  A small metal circle hovers in the air over Gage’s outstretched hand. The men pace him, gazing at it.

  “Human made,” Gage mumbles. “But well crafted. This, gents, is a simple but powerful amplicator charm.”

  Tanner nods. “There is no scent on it but hers. And something musty. Stale.”

  “Perhaps she acquired it in Carnage?” Horan asks, sword at his side.

  Ruin shakes his head. “We were ... pretty close in that closet and we didn’t–” He trails off with a string of vehement swearing. “She had it before that.”

  My face heats at the memory of his hand on my ass. At the fear that was seconds from choking me. Or the fast change of terror to lust.

  “Any other fast swings in emotion?” Gage asks, turning his palm this way and that.

  Ruin’s handsome face contorts and he motions them farther away. “Her fear–” His voice fades in and out. “She has every reason to worry–”

  “I know Vic is in jail– Maybe it amplified that–” Tanner mutters.

  Gage purses his lips and studies the little charm more.

  Caine growls. “Can you please destroy the bleeding thing?” he roars, pressing a dagger filled palm to his temple. “It’s like a raucous symphony in my fucking head.”

  Gage glances at Ruin and he nods.

  The Fae motions the others back as his body fills with light. The sun builds just under his skin and his platinum hair picks up on an invisible breeze, one that brings fresh mown grass to me on the draft. Emerald fire fills his palm. It roars upward, engulfing the charm until black smoke and ash is all that is left in its wake.

  Caine sags, and I can’t help the twinge of sympathy as my desire lessens marginally.

  Poor guy –

  Strong fingers close over my mouth as a long arm loops in a vise-like grasp around my waist. “Don’t make a sound.” The voice is hard and little more than a breath in my ear. I’m lifted and tugged backward.

  I rail, twisting and turning as muffled shouts leave me. The hold tightens, choking them off.

  “Lilah.” Ruin walks around the car, jeans in hand, as he tries and fails not to look for me. He stops dead.

  Frigid gold light fills his irises, and his fangs appear against his bottom lip. The dark barrel of his gun finds its way into his hand. “Don’t move!” he says coldly.

  The others race around the car, weapons at the ready. Tanner dissolves into shadowed mist and leaps out, his massive panther body like slick oil in the sun as he stalks through the grass. His dark lips peel back on glistening white teeth.

  Gage crouches, thick legs wreathed in more of those strange flames as Horan raises is sword in a two-handed grip. Even Caine has twin daggers in his agile hands. And gone is the teasing demon. His face is haggard, like he hasn’t slept in days, but there is nothing but cold malice in his gaze.

  “Release her,” Ruin snarls.

  The hand on my mouth turns bruising. “I can’t do that.” The voice, louder now, is just a scratchy whisper. Rasping and almost damaged.

  Ruin shifts.

  The man takes a pace back. “Come closer and I’ll snap her neck.”

  My eyes widen.

  What?

  My pulse skips and my lungs can’t seem to hold enough air as I suck it in through my nose.

  Ruin stops moving. “What do you want?”

  “For you to stop looking for Vlad.” Something presses into my shoulder and then my cheek. The man fits his face against mine, bringing an almost imperceptible fragrance of mildew and stone with him.

  My heart slams.

  A shield.

  He’s using me as a shield.

  “Vlad is responsible for too many supernatural deaths,” Horan calls, his eyes backlit by gold light. “We can’t just let him go.”

  The man moves his head and something sharp digs into my neck. I cry out.

  Ruin turns ashen across from me. “Don’t–”

  Twin pricks burn into the column of my throat and my stomach roils in pain. I twist and try to wrench away. To stop the ache.

  There’s a loud retort. I’m pulled back and to the side, falling.

  We crash to the ground, those sharp punctures seeming too la
rge. Warmth flows down my neck and shoulder, soaking my blouse in heat. I whimper. The sound pulls at the wound. And not in a good way.

  Nausea rolls through my insides as acid washes my mouth. I roll and vomit in the grass.

  Ruin is just there, naked gun in hand. Gage crowds my back, pulling at my hair and pressing one massive hand over my throat.

  I spit hard, shaking uncontrollably as the wrong feeling in my stomach grows.

  Everything seems to spin like a really bad rollercoaster.

  I hunch over and will the spinning to stop.

  It doesn’t.

  Bone crunches beside me and I start to turn. Ruin’s hands catch my face, the stock of his weapon surprisingly cool against my cheek. “Don’t.” He looks past me, eyes rimmed in gold, and nods.

  Heat engulfs the air, suffocating and almost too strong to breathe past. I gasp. My head swims as I try to pull in a lungful of air. But it’s hot. Too hot. Dizziness turns my brain to mush.

  My lips part to ask for help. The world flickers in and out of focus and a black ring builds all around my vision.

  Every blink is heavier than the last.

  “Uh... Cap–”

  I sway forward as the dizziness becomes too much.

  And I fall right into Ruin’s waiting arms as darkness swallows me whole.

  29

  Ruin

  LILAH IS SMALL IN MY big bed; dark hollows rim under her closed eyes and her tan skin is too pale. Markus peers down at her, his fingers carefully moving the new bandage over the tear in her slim neck. A tear caused by the dead vampire’s fangs. In the exact place that I bit the damn waitress from Underground.

  That damn moment seems to replay in my mind, repeating over and over until it superimposes over her unconscious face. The pain in her expression, the terror, the hunger in the vamp’s eyes...

  I scrub my hands over my jaw and grip my neck hard.

  This is exactly what I was trying to avoid.

  It was so fucking stupid letting her go with us. For thinking she was safe.

  A group of five men—some of the strongest I have ever seen—and we still weren’t fast enough to protect her.