“How are you feeling, Imani?” Ava asked. “It looked like that psychic blow hurt.”
“It did for a few seconds.” Like a hammer hitting my head.
Ava’s sigh was dreamy. “It was so cute the way Butch cradled you against his chest and carried you away.” She slanted an annoyed glance at her mate. “Salem picked me up by the back of my top and dragged me out of there. And they say romance is dead.” Salem just grunted.
“Here comes your saviour now with Chico and Jude,” Cassie whispered, fiddling with her wheat-blonde braid.
I wouldn’t look at him. No. I’d keep my gaze firmly ahead, I’d—
I looked. It wasn’t strictly my fault. Not when he walked with that sexy, purposeful, confident stride that drew attention. And certainly not when he emanated an intense raw masculinity that could raise the hairs on my arms.
Seriously, how was I supposed to ignore that? I couldn’t. Particularly since he stopped at the seat beside mine and just stared at his squad mate. Denny heaved a sigh and stalked off. Butch took the now empty seat without even acknowledging me.
Lips flattening, Jude raised a questioning brow at me. I just shrugged. I liked the Sventé a lot. She was a relatively serene and friendly person…although she’d soon as cut your throat than look at you. Her mate, Chico, was freaked out by her love of knives and Michael Myers vibe, but the Hispanic Pagori adored her anyway.
At that moment, Sam and Jared entered the room. Really, there were no two people better to guard and discipline vampirekind. The British female vamp was a Feeder, which meant she could absorb and manipulate the surrounding energy and shape it into various things like bolts, beams, and balls. Her favourite weapon was her energy whip. Thanks to Antonio having once imparted her with additional power, she also had the ability to merge her body with others. It was a gift she rarely used.
As Antonio had twice imparted Jared with additional power, the Pagori had three gifts: teleportation, electrokinesis, and telepathy. He wasn’t able to read minds, but he could hear any thought that was directed at him. He was also absolutely freaking merciless when necessary.
Both were extremely powerful in their own right. Together, they were a force to be…avoided. Especially since Sam was somewhat different from other vampires. Originally, she’d been a Sventé. But since joining the legion, she’d become a hybrid—a combination of Sventé, Keja, and Pagori. I didn’t know the story of how that came about. Most didn’t.
Evan and two Kejas filed inside the room, closing the door behind them. The first Keja, Sebastian, was a Tracker who hunted felons and scouted for potential legion members; he had been the one to find Paige and I, and to teleport us to The Hollow. The second Keja, Luther, was their Advisor and pretty much Gandalf’s doppelganger. Part of what made him such a good Advisor was his gift of precognition. He could forewarn them of upcoming danger and the best ways to confront or avoid it.
Once everyone was seated, Sam said, “Evening, all. I have some news.”
Anticipation filled the air. Max leaned forward, his bright blue eyes wide as he said, excitement in every syllable, “Luther had a vision?”
Scratching her head, Sam replied, “No, he didn’t.”
Disappointed grumbles and whines rang throughout the room, which made Sebastian smile as he adjusted the collar of his Armani shirt; the guy sure knew how to dress.
Damien slouched in his chair. “Everything’s been so quiet and peaceful,” the African-American complained in his deep, rumbly voice.
Luther raised a single brow. “You used to complain each time I had a vision that sent you on an assignment. Is it not a good thing that vampirekind is currently on its best behaviour?”
“Sure,” said Chico, “but we’re bored out of our minds here.”
Sam looked at the Advisor, her expression pained. “You’ve had no visions at all, Luther? Really?” Apparently she was just as bored. It wasn’t surprising. She was pretty bloodthirsty and seemed to enjoy an adrenalin rush. So much so that she and Jared came on all assignments, just as they had when they were commanders.
The Advisor shook his head. “Sorry, Sam.”
Jared’s lips twitched at her long suffering sigh. “Tell everyone the news.”
“Fine, but before we get to that…” Sinking into her chair, Sam turned to me with an amused smile. “We should probably discuss what happened at the bar last night.”
Alora was speaking before I even had the chance to respond. “Marla was mouthing off at Imani. When she didn’t react, Marla threw her purse. That broke Imani’s Kindle—”
“Ah,” said Sam.
“—and stamped on Paige’s Berserk Button.”
Paige huffed at Alora. “I do not have a Berserk Button.”
“You totally do,” chuckled Maya.
“When Marla wouldn’t go away, Paige spouted a pretty creative insult,” Alora went on. “So Marla then slung her drink all over Paige. That was when Imani knocked the bitch clean out.”
“And she took a chunk of hair from one of Marla’s groupies,” Ava added. “That was why the heifer compelled Imani to sleep.”
“Her gift isn’t to induce sleep,” said Sam. “It’s to cause temporary exhaustion. Initially, it causes a person to pass out. They wake up, but the fatigue doesn’t pass for a few nights.”
Temporary exhaustion? Great.
“So I’m sure you’ll be pleased to hear that Marla and her friends are leaving The Hollow as we speak.”
I blinked. “Seriously? I’m not getting in shit for this?” I’d started a catfight, after all.
Sam snorted. “Those plonkers confronted my squad. That shows a total lack of respect and I won’t tolerate it. They’re lucky none of you killed them. Why did you boys break it up?” she complained.
“We weren’t going to,” said the typically cocky Harvey. “I mean, catfights are always fun to watch. But then someone lifted a glass to smash over Imani’s head. Butch jumped in, and we all sort of followed suit.”
See, Butch always had my back.
“Tried to smash a glass over her head?” repeated Jude. “I didn’t see that part.”
Chico snorted. “Of course you didn’t. You were too busy slashing one of the vamp’s clothes.”
Head cocked to the side, Sam asked me, “Why did Marla smash your Kindle?”
Alora was once again speaking before I could respond. “She blamed Imani for Butch rejecting her and—”
I burst out, “Hey, Chatty Cathy.” She had no sense of discretion. The redhead just rolled her eyes.
“You didn’t tell me that,” Butch said only loud enough for me to hear.
“Because it didn’t matter,” I said just as quietly.
“It matters to me.”
“It was my business.”
“Which makes it mine.”
“Honest to God, Butch, you’re like a thong—always up my ass.”
“Now that that’s over and done with,” began Jared, “maybe we should share our news with them.”
“Fine.” Sam turned to us. “I actually can’t believe I’m going to say this…A vampire is feeding info about our kind to humans.”
“You’re shitting me,” breathed Damien.
“The internet is regularly monitored for activity that might concern vampires,” said Jared. “If a human reports something they weren’t supposed to see or knows too much, we work to cover it up. There are a lot of websites and blogs set up by humans who are convinced we exist and have their own theories about us. These sites and blogs are checked to be certain that nothing too factual is out there—some are even hosted by humans claiming to be vampires. I don’t know whether they’re delusional or just doing it for fun.
“A new blog has started that raised some red flags for two reasons. One, this person claims to be a vampire and, going by the articles he’s posted, he’s telling the truth. He talks about the different breeds of vampires, our strengths and weaknesses, and—though he hasn’t mentioned any names—he even posted inf
ormation about the Grand High Pair.”
Ava gasped. “Oh, fuck, no!”
Sam’s smile was a little on the feral side. “The bloke even went as far as to reveal that I’m a hybrid.”
Well, hell. “Why would he do this?”
“He claims he was Turned without his consent and hates what he is,” said Sam.
As someone who had also been Turned against their will, I could understand why he might feel bitter or resentful. Still, in spite of my anger, I’d never once even considered exposing vampirekind.
“Tell me you’ve crashed the blog,” Reuben fairly growled.
“We’re working on it,” said Jared. “Personally, I don’t think we need to worry. The blog has had a lot of views, but the content isn’t being taken even the slightest bit seriously. Lots of disparaging comments were left by humans who think his claims are ‘too farfetched’ and ‘he’s living in a fantasy land.’”
“Once Mona and Cedric have the IP address, we’ll get him,” said Sam, referring to The Hollow’s very knowledgeable researchers. “At least it will give us something to do.” Many of the males inclined their head, seeming slightly cheered by the idea. “One last thing before we wrap up the meeting. Girls, I was going to wait until your squad was fully formed to do this, but it’s taking longer than I hoped it would.”
There had been several try-outs where vampires had been invited to partake in tests. But Sam hadn’t chosen any of the candidates for the squad. She needed three more.
She looked at the males as she said, “You can all leave if you want.” They didn’t. Sam snorted before turning back to me and the girls. “You know Luther has visions. Well, as part of his gift, he can help others have a vision. We offer for new squad members to get a glimpse of what’s ahead—it often helps prepare them for something. Only you would see the vision, not Luther. And you won’t be expected to share it with anyone. Be warned, there’s a possibility it won’t make much sense. Mine sure bloody didn’t. But the offer is open if you want to accept it.”
Paige twisted her lips. “I’d like a peek into my future.”
“Could be interesting,” said Maya.
I was about to say the same when Butch’s hand clamped around my wrist. I lifted a questioning brow at him.
“Don’t,” he said, voice low.
I frowned. “Why?’
“Sometimes it’s best not to know what’s coming.”
“Maybe. But I’m curious.” And I wasn’t good at letting things go if they intrigued me.
“Visions aren’t always pretty.”
“Yours was bad?”
“No, but I know someone who’s vision was bad and I’ve seen how it haunts him. Sometimes the future shows us something we’d rather not see.” His hold on my wrist loosened, and his thumb started to circle my pulse. “The vision could be something that’s tomorrow or centuries ahead of you. Do you want to spend all your time waiting for it to happen? It’ll influence every decision you make in the meantime. As time goes on, you’ll start wondering if it’s really going to happen; if maybe you changed the future somehow. Do you want to live like that?”
“What about you, Imani? Are you interested in a vision?”
I double-blinked at Sam. “Um…”
Her aquamarine gaze rested on Butch’s hold on my wrist. “All right, boys, time to go.” She waved a hand toward the door. Being nosy bastards, they didn’t leave happily. Evan, Salem, and Chico were rather put-out when their mates insisted they leave.
Butch lingered long enough to speak into my ear. “Say no.” Then he was gone.
As the door closed behind him, Luther gave me a pointed look. “Do not let anyone influence your decision. Many visions prove to be helpful. I think of them as warnings. They show us what will happen if we remain on our present course. Others are simply to prepare us for what’s ahead.”
Sebastian nodded. “He’s right, Imani. Butch probably means well, but this has to be your decision.”
Sam rubbed her hands together. “Right, who’s first?”
Ava raised a hand high. “Me!”
“All right, come on. All of you remember that your vision is for you and you alone. No one will ask you to share it.”
Intrigued, I watched as Ava took Luther’s hand. Her eyes closed, and then nothing. Her expression didn’t change, she didn’t tense or anything. Just stood there, very still.
Maybe twenty seconds later, Ava’s eyes flipped open and she took a long breath. “Whoa, that was freaking weird.” She smiled. “Salem is going to love this.”
Paige went next. Then Cassie, Maya, Jude, and—after a little hesitation—Alora. Paige and Maya were confused by their visions while the others seemed…not happy, but not worried. None shared exactly what they had seen.
Luther then turned to me, hand held out. Butch was gonna be disappointed, but I couldn’t miss out on this. Taking a deep breath, I stepped forward. No sooner had I took the offered hand than I was hit by the feeling of being sucked into something.
It was pure black for a few seconds. Then it was light, and I was surrounded by smoke. My eyes itched like hell and, fuck, I was hurting. My chest burned like a son of a bitch; something warm and wet was covering my top. I didn’t need to look to know that it was my blood. I could smell it. Just as I could scent fire, burning flesh, and the familiar scents of the rainforest that surrounded The Hollow.
Hearing a guttural growl among the shouting, roaring, and screaming, I squinted at the thing coming at me through the smoke. Then my eyes widened. Shit, that—
I was back in the conference room.
Feeling like I’d been shot out of a cannon or something, I blinked repeatedly as I took in large gulps of air. My eyes no longer stung, and I could see that I was surrounded by a group of very concerned faces.
Paige pulled me into her side. “Sweetie, you okay? You don’t look so good.”
I fought back panic, swallowing hard. “I’m okay.”
“No, you are not,” said Sebastian, frowning. “Sit down for a moment.”
I flopped into one of the seats and gratefully accepted the vanilla-flavoured NST that Paige pulled out of her purse.
Alora brushed my hair away from my face. “Wanna tell us what you saw, honey?”
Finishing the NST, I looked up at Sam. “Dragons. I saw dragons.”
CHAPTER FOUR
(Imani)
“Dragons?” repeated Jared, incredulous.
After my announcement, Sam, Luther, my squad, and I had walked out of the rear of the mansion, passed the beautiful gardens, the pool, the private beach, and to the enclosed training arena. The interior was much like a large horse paddock. Each wall was marked from A – D, which represented north, east, south, and west. It was surrounded by a large seating area which featured a VIP box on the middle tier.
Inside, Jared and the males had already begun the session. Now they were all circling me, their faces in different stages of confusion.
“That’s what I saw,” I told him.
“Tell him the rest,” urged Sam.
“We were in the rainforest. There was smoke all around us. I could hear growling, roaring, snarling, and the crackling of fire. People…people were screaming. I could smell blood and flesh burning. A dragon was coming toward me just as the vision ended.”
David, the youngest but most powerful of his squad, said, “You’re saying dragon shifters are coming to The Hollow to battle with us?”
“It would seem so,” said Luther, who was put-out that he hadn’t seen the event in a vision of his own. “I do not suppose you have any idea of when this will happen?”
I worried my lower lip. “Sort of. I can’t give you a timeline, but I can tell you that I had something with me that I don’t own yet.” I’d been wearing a Harley Davidson vest. It was pretty cool, despite being drenched in blood.
“So this isn’t going to happen until you actually have it,” said Sam. “Well that’s better than nothing, because it tells us that the dragon
s aren’t on their way here. As soon as you come into possession of whatever that item is, you call me.”
“Why would they come here?” Paige asked.
“Dragon shifters do not like our species very much,” said Luther. “It was once believed that dragon blood could cure vampirism. It is not true. Nothing can cure it. But for a long time, vampires captured dragons and drained them of blood in their attempts to create a cure.”
Max skimmed a hand over his military haircut. “No wonder they hate us.”
“Still, I do not believe they would senselessly attack. If they are planning to come here to fight us, they must have some motivation.” Luther sighed. “But, since each preternatural species is insular and private, I do not know enough about dragon shifters to be certain.”
I cleared my throat. “I know someone who does.”
Jared immediately asked, “Who?”
“The Master Vampire of my nest.”
Eyes narrowing, Sam stilled. “I think we should have this conversation in private.” Probably because she knew I’d never been open about my past, and she figured there was a very good reason why.
Jared nodded. “We’ll discuss this in my office.”
“Wait!” said Paige, but Jared teleported Sam and I out of the arena and to their office. The space was seriously cool. White walls, white floor tiles, a stylish oak desk, leather chairs, an ultramodern computer, and huge glass windows. Sam sat at her desk while Jared leaned against the filing cabinets that were built into the wall.
She gestured for me to take the seat across from her. “Tell us about your nest.”
“I’m guessing you did a background check before hiring me. How much do you know?”
Sam nodded. “Mona and Cedric tracked you to Lazarus Cray’s line.” He was a very old, powerful, and widely feared Master Vampire. “Your Sire is Marco, his best assassin. And you’re the first vampire Marco ever created.”
Just hearing Marco’s name made me grind my teeth. “Yes.”
“You fled from your Sire and severed your blood-bond using your gift,” added Jared. Sam was a seriously lucky girl, because he was honestly the personification of sex. Oddly enough, though, he didn’t hold the same appeal for me as Butch did. “What we don’t know is why you did that. Did he hurt you?” There was a promise of retribution in those words.