Rhine’s grip tightens on my shoulder. It comforts me.
I steady my gaze directly into that of Valerian Arcos. “Does your father know you’re here?” I ask. “Or your brother?”
An easy smile falls on Valerian’s full lips. “Of course not. Why would I tell them such?” His gaze drops to my breasts, then back up. “And have them ruin our time together?”
Fury seethes within me, and I briefly focus on one mind. Vic, your brother is here in Inverness. I can’t talk right now, but you need to know. And warn your father. I may very well kill the fucker. “We’ll have no time together,” I say calmly. “What do you want here, Valerian? You’re breaking serious codes, you know.”
“Codes my father and ridiculous little brother vowed to uphold,” he acknowledged. “Not me. Besides,” he says, his voice lowering, “I’ve come for a much different reason than you think.”
I cock my head and study him. “I’m not a helpless human you can push around,” I remind him. “So you’d better tell me what it is you want—”
“I could have fucked you in your sleep, love,” Valerian corrects, interrupts. His voice is low, almost crooning. And it’s all matter-of-fact. “You enjoyed every touch, every swipe of my tongue. You liked it. And you were powerless to fight me.” He smiles. “But you know that, don’t you?”
The tension building in Rhine’s body surges through him to his fingertips, where his grip tightens.
“I’ve always known that about you, Valerian,” I say. “I know something else, too.”
He smiles and strokes his chin. “And what’s that?”
I lean forward, my gaze locked with his, and run my fingertip over his knuckles. “That you’re such a pussy, the only way you can get inside girls’ panties is in a dream.”
Valerian’s face hardens, for the briefest of seconds. Then he smiles. “That’s what I adore most about you, Riley Poe. Crass American that you are, you’ve got that special, oh, I don’t know . . .” He in turn grasps my hand with his. “Fuck appeal. It’s terribly irresistible.”
I yank my hand away.
Rhine moves forward, and I reach up and grasp his hand with mine. It stops him. His heart is pounding a mile a minute. Fury rolls off him in waves. I know Valerian notices it. And of course, he doesn’t even acknowledge it. Arrogant bastard.
“But as I insisted before, that’s not why I’m here,” he says, and leans back in his chair. He’s dressed in head-to-toe black. His skin clashes seductively. “You see, I’m so enamored of you that I cannot sit back and watch you be killed mercilessly. ’Twould be . . . quite a loss.”
I narrow my gaze. “What are you talking about?”
His smile is cold. “Your fiancé, Riley. You do realize there’s no saving him now, hmm?” He leans forward again. “He’s partaken of too much human blood, love. He’s awash with it. He can no more control it than you can control me. His vampiric brain is crazed. He doesn’t know you anymore. Or his family. He knows only the female. And his next meal. And I can promise you, my love. No root doctor potion can fix him now.” His brown eyes soften as he looks at me. “You’ve got to put him out of his misery.”
Valerian’s words hit me hard. I fight not to gasp. “Where are you getting your meals from?” I ask. “And since when do you care enough about Eli’s misery to want it ended? And what do you know of the female?” Carrine’s words ring in my ear. “You see, I’m under intense orders myself. My savior freed me from my prison. ’Tis the verra reason I’m even walking the Earth again. I have no choice but to wait.”
Valerian gives a slight shrug. “I’m merely en route to my destination and thought to stop by and encourage you,” he says. “Like I mentioned before, I hate to see such fine fucking material as yourself wasted. And if you wait too long, trying to”—he waves his hand in the air—“save Dupré’s soul, you will get killed yourself.” His eyes turn molten. “And I truly do hate that thought.” He smiles. “And I’ve only fed once since my arrival. I’m not greedy, you know, but I must survive.”
I pin Arcos with a glare. “You freed Carrine, didn’t you? And you’ve given her orders to control Eli.” I cock my head, staring. “Why? Why go through all that? If you simply wanted me, why not just take me? And how did Victorian end up in Romania? How did he simply vanish from the forest?” I draw closer to him. “What are you, some fucking magical fairy bloodsucker?”
Valerian’s expression doesn’t change. His chocolate eyes lock on to mine and he stares. “That female he’s with? She’s a witch, no?” He shrugs. “Maybe she used her magic to send my brother back home. Perhaps you should ask her all of your questions. I don’t have the answers.”
Anger rages through me, and I grab his arm. His eyes light up with interest. “Leave here, Arcos,” I warn. “And don’t touch another human.” I rise and lean over the table. “I will kill you myself.”
Valerian’s brown gaze flashes at the challenge; then he chuckles softly. “Oh, Riley. How easily you forget.” He looks at me. Turn your lovely self around and kiss that paltry human boy you’ve brought along with you. Go on. Do it.
I turn where I stand, slip my hand around Rhine’s neck, and pull his mouth to mine. I kiss him, deeply.
Do you see the power I still possess? You may stop now. The sight sickens me. I simply wanted to prove myself to you. Now you must kill Dupré. He’ll only hurt you in the end. Kill you. Dead. Do what you wish to his lover.
I pull away from Rhine’s mouth. His eyes are glued to mine, green flashing curiosity. I turn and look at Valerian.
“I’m not an idiot, Arcos,” I say, and I move away. “I’ve known what has to be done since I arrived here. Now leave Inverness,” I warn. “Before I call the House of Arcos and tell Daddy what you’re up to.” I won’t tell him I’ve already sent word home to Vic. Better if they surprise him.
Valerian casts an unworried smile. “As I said, I’m just passing through. Heading to Ireland for a jaunt.”
“That’s too close,” I advise. “Go farther. And stay out of my head.”
Valerian chuckles. “Or what, pray tell?”
I edge closer to Valerian’s chair and straddle his lap. In my peripheral I notice several bypassers and other cafégoers turn their glances toward me.
I don’t care.
Valerian’s eyes widen as my hand pushes open his black woolen coat. His stomach is hard, lined with lean muscle. Not bulky strong. Just . . . well, aristocratic strong, if that makes sense. I let my hand move over his ribs, distracting him.
My other hand grasps the silver blade tucked into my boot and I lift it.
One hand on his crotch.
His eyes turn darker.
My other hand goes to his heart with the blade.
Just that fast, Valerian’s eyes flash the tiniest bit of fear. Just before they ice over.
I smile. “So you see,” I say, and press the blade just a little harder, beneath his coat. I grab his crotch harder, too. “I’m not the pushover you think I am.” I lean my mouth to his ear. “I could end you right now, Arcos. It’d be so easy.” I move my face in front of his, our eyes inches apart. “And all I did was use a little bit of pure, unadulterated human female skill.”
He stares at me. “That, my love, would be a mistake,” he advises. “One day, you may just seek my help.”
I slip my blade back into my boot and get up. “I highly doubt that. Now go. Tonight. Or I’ll make the call. Not just to your father. But to Eli’s.”
Again, a tinge of fear replaces the cocky spark of fire in Valerian’s brown eyes. He gives a slight nod. “Very well. You’ll see what I mean soon enough,” he warns. He spares Rhine a glance. “Perhaps your little human friends can keep you safe enough.” He smiles. “For a while.” He rises from the table and buttons his woolen coat up to the throat. He stands in front of me now, looks down at me, and I briefly wonder why vampires are so goddamn beautiful. What a waste.
His smile bares straight white teeth. “Very well, my dear Riley. I’m
on my way. But if you need me at all, please . . .” He lifts my hand and brushes his lukewarm lips over my skin. “Call me. I will hasten to be by your side.”
With one last lingering stare, he gives a slight bow, turns, and heads down High Street. I stare at him until the shadows swallow him up.
Then he’s gone.
And I mean gone. Just that fast, he’s out of Inverness. On foot, I sense his presence getting farther and farther away. I can’t believe he even dared approach me. Or maybe he really is stupid enough to pull all that shit and not think I would eventually recognize him?
“Riley?”
I turn and meet Rhine’s gaze. A sheepish expression crosses his face, and he smiles. “Do . . . you remember wha’ you just did?”
I smile and punch his arm. It’s funny to me that Rhine’s brogue is void of the letter t. “You mean that kiss? Yeah, I knew I was doing it.” I incline my head in the direction of Valerian. “But it’s better if we let him think he made me do it. I may never have gotten rid of him otherwise.”
His green eyes flash. “I’m no’ sure if I like the idea of you doing it unawares, or on purpose.”
I smile and we start back toward the bike. “I can’t let everyone know all of my secrets,” I say. “Had Valerian realized he wasn’t overpowering me, I may not have been able to slip inside his head like I did.” I knock shoulders with him. “I didn’t mean to use you, Rhine. For what it’s worth, you are a fab kisser.”
Rhine cuts his eyes at me and shrugs. “I’ve been told that a time or two,” he admits. “Never by an older lass, though.”
“Watch how you say that word older,” I warn. “I’m fast creepin’ toward thirty and not liking it much.”
When we get to Rhine’s bike, he throws his leg over it and sits for a moment, staring at me. The sun has dropped now, and a streetlight casts his face in half shadow. He watches me, studying me closely. I’m sorely tempted to slip back inside his brain, just to see what he’s thinking.
But I don’t.
Finally, he shakes his head. “Get on.”
We pull our helmets on, and I crawl onto the back of the bike and wrap my arms around Rhine’s middle. “We’ve got a vampire to awak- en,” I say. “And trust me when I say shit’s about to hit the fan.”
“I believe it,” he says, and pulls into traffic.
Oh yeah. Shit is definitely about to hit the fan.
What Arcos doesn’t know certainly won’t hurt him.
And I’ve got a wealth of information, just from our little café chat.
And I love that he doesn’t even know the secrets he gave to me.
That’s what he gets for fucking with a human with vampiric tendencies.
And a little fallen angel dust, thrown in to boot.
Part Seven
SOULLESS
This one, this one right here. This was my dream, my wish. And it didn’t come true. So I’m taking it back. I’m taking them all back.
—Mouth, The Goonies, 1985
Oh, dat girl of mine. She crazy in da head and gonna git herself kilt if she don’t look out. I’m worried about dat Eli, too. I think he might be too far gone for even me to help him, that’s right. He done slipped way into dat mess of bloodlust. My baby girl might have to make a choice she ain’t gonna like too much. If she does, well, den, we will have to go and get her. No tellin’ what she’ll do.
—Preacher
The second we walk into the Crachan, I can tell Noah is still asleep.
I don’t know what it is, or how I can sense it. It’s just one of those qualities I’ve acquired that have no rhyme or reason in my human brain. Which is really a joke, considering. As if anything in my world makes sense.
“I’m going to wake him,” I tell Rhine. “Be right down.”
“Aye,” Rhine answers, and disappears through the hall.
I hit the stairs and take them two at a time. One plus for long legs, I guess. I take the corridor at a jog and ease into Noah’s room.
I’m not prepared for what—or who—I see sitting in the chair against the wall, opposite Noah’s bed.
My little baby brother.
“Seth!” I choke out. I hurry to him, and at the same time he rises and launches at me, full weight. I catch him, and we embrace.
I’m shocked we’re no longer eye to eye. Rather, I have to look up at him. And I’m wearing spike-heeled boots.
“Ri!” he says into my neck. “I’ve missed you!”
For a moment, I forget all the craziness that’s become my world, forget vampires, blood, silver blades, and saving humans. I just inhale the familiar scent and feel of my little brother. I squeeze him tightly, and it takes me back to . . . before. That in-between time when I ran Inksomnia with my best friend, Nyx, and I tattooed for a living, and ordered Chinese food and had low-country boils with my Gullah family. I let it engulf me, for just a minute.
Then I pull back and scowl up at my brother.
My eyes widen. “Holy crap, Seth.” I finger his chin. “You’ve got freaking whiskers!”
Seth Poe grins, and the fact that he’s now almost seventeen blows me away. His dark hair is close-cut, like Eli’s brother Phin. Nicely arched dark eyebrows frame green eyes, just like mine, with long lashes most girls envy. But there’s a hardness about him now that wasn’t there before. In a way, I’m glad. He’s strong, and he’s grown.
And in another way, it saddens me. Innocence gone.
“I’ve been growing whiskers for a year now,” Seth says.
“Four single whiskers do not count, bro,” I remind him, and he grins. “What are you doing here anyway?” I stare at my brother, amazed at his physique. Although his are not nearly as severe as mine, he, too has tendencies. Strigoi tendencies. It’s what started all of this hell. Seth, on a dare by his pain-in-the-ass buddies, accidentally set free the entombed and deadly Arcos brothers. Seth was then drawn into Valerian’s Lost Boys’ cult in Savannah, and . . . Jesus Christ, I almost lost him.
Thanks to Eli and his family, he was saved.
And we realized Victorian Arcos wasn’t nearly as lethal as his brother, Valerian.
It’s been quite a hellish ride ever since.
“Your inspection of me, Ri, is kinda creepin’ me out,” Seth says with a grin. “Anyway . . .” He takes both my shoulders in his hands. “I kept having this bad feeling about you here,” he admits. “Preacher did, too. So he and Eli’s dad sent me.”
Eli. God Almighty, just hearing his name hurts. And saying what I have to say will hurt even more. “I have to tell you something.”
“Whoa, why are there so many Poes in my room?” Noah says, awakened. He’s sitting up now, still in bed. Dreads all over the place. He leaps from beneath the covers and, thank God, he’s wearing a pair of black workout pants. He’s barefoot, and in two steps he and Seth meet in the middle of the room. Noah pulls my brother into a fierce bear hug.
“What in Sam Hill are you doing here, boy?” Noah asks Seth. Noah’s Charleston drawl is appealing, and a little sensual. Especially when he’s serious. It gets, I don’t know . . . stronger. Almost like the old Noah, prevampirism, Revolutionary War Noah, is there, in his voice. Appealing.
Seth shrugs. “I got a bad feeling.” He looks at me. “About her.”
“She tends to stir that feeling in almost everyone she meets,” Noah says. He’s looking at me hard now, and I can tell he knows something’s up.
“How did you know to come here?” I finally ask.
Seth looks at me. “Jake Andorra told me you were in Inverness. Once I got here . . .” He shrugs. “I first went to the guesthouse you were supposed to be staying in. When you weren’t there, I just walked around until I . . . sensed you. I guess we look enough alike that the guys who were here let me in.” His eyes are questioning now. “What is it you have to tell me?”
“It’s Eli,” I say, and my throat constricts. I’m keeping focused, not dwelling on the fact that the very soul I love with all my might is the same one w
ho’s turned dark, killing innocents, and doing so has made it almost seem surreal. To explain it? Say it out loud?
Pain. Deep, throbbing pain that starts in my gut and twists up my spine, to my throat and grabs on so fiercely I find it hard to even breathe normally.
But I do.
“What about Eli?” Seth asks.
“He’s turned, Seth,” Noah answers for me. “For the very worst.”
I look at Noah first, and I know he sees the appreciation in my eyes. Seth sits down in the chair he’d been in when I first walked in, and I finish telling him everything about Inverness. About how I’d gone into the alternative realm, dragged both Victorian and Eli out, and saved them. How Victorian had ended up back in Romania. And how Eli had grown fond of human blood, and Carrine. The killings. The Ness boys, and Rhine. Everything. My little brother sits in stunned silence the whole time I speak.
Then I have to tell both Noah and Seth the latest.
About Valerian Arcos.
Now I have two pair of stormy eyes staring at me. One green. The other pure liquid silver.
Both mad as hell.
Noah speaks first. “What the hell, Riley?” he says. “You knew it was him and you went anyway?”
I shoot a glance at Seth. He’s waiting on an answer, too.
“I took Rhine with me,” I answer.
“No, Rhine insisted on going because I made him swear he would watch out for you while I slept,” Noah corrected.
“Nah, that’s no’ exactly right, either,” Rhine says from the doorway. “I’d have gone, no matter what.” He eyes Seth for a moment.
“Rhine MacLeod, my little brother, Seth Poe,” I introduce. Rhine walks over and shakes Seth’s hand.
The two look each other over, and Seth nods. “You’ve got tendencies.”
Rhine nods in return. “Some.” He glances at Noah. “She kissed me.”