Stephanie’s smile widened as she opened the first page.
“It’s yours,” I blurted.
She glanced up, her lips curving up into a dazzling smile. “Why, thank you, Beast.”
“Hardly the time to call me names,” I grumbled.
“Um…” She placed the book back down on the table. “It was a joke. You know, Beauty and the Beast? He gives her a library.”
Well damn, and here I just gave her one book.
Another fail.
“I don’t have a library.”
Stephanie pointed around the room. “ Kinda seems like you do.”
“I like to read.”
“I can see that.” Though clearly not romance.
Why was conversation so stilted? And why the hell was I tapping my foot like I was an impatient bastard? I’d never felt so uncomfortable in my life, confidence used to ooze from every cell in my body, I never worked for it, never had to, I knew what I was, and what I was capable of.
Now?
Uncertainty laced my every breath.
“So.” I coughed into my hand and turned around so she wouldn’t see the panic on my face. “I just wanted you to see.”
I felt her come up behind me; the chill caused goose bumps to rise across my flesh. Ice crystals formed along the edges of the windows. “You wanted me to see, what exactly?”
I bit my lip in frustration. “Me.” I hung my head. “I wanted you to see me. It may seem ridiculous, but when I’m not doing my actual job for the immortals or serving my sentence as I’d always put it mildly. I’m here. Reading. Relaxing.” I spread my arms wide, rejuvenating, pushing out the negative swirl of emotions that grate on a person like me—for doing what I did on a daily basis.
“I like it.” Stephanie finally said, her voice husky. “As far as lairs go yours is way better than Ethan’s. Much more gothic.”
I coughed out a laugh. “Yes well, we both know Vampires prefer light to dark.”
Stephanie touched my arm.
I flinched.
“Do I hurt you?”
“No.” I pulled away slowly. “I think it’s instinctual. Every time you touch me I shy away, not because it hurts, maybe it’s a deep rooted fear that all humans have, and now that I’m fully human…” I shrugged.
“Can I control you?” Stephanie’s eyes narrowed. “Technically, a Dark One can’t come into contact with an unmated human without them going insane with desire, lust— I mean, why aren’t you…?” She blinked and then looked down. “I can’t believe I just asked you that.”
“Why am I not overcome with insanity in your presence?” I chuckled. It was nice to see her uncomfortable for a change.
“Yeah.” Her chest rose and fell with even breaths, and I concentrated on her breathing; it made me calm, counting every inhale, every exhale.
“I imagine Sariel wouldn’t think it fair.”
“Fair?”
I clasped my hands behind my back. “But you’re welcome to try.”
Stephanie rolled her eyes. “How do you know I haven’t been trying?”
“Because I’m alive.”
Her eyes widened. “So if I try, I kill you?”
“Possibly, who really knows?”
“No thanks.”
“Take a chance.”
“No.” She stepped farther away from me, her back colliding with one of the book shelves.
I pursued, nearly slamming my body against hers, not because I wanted to force her but because I couldn’t help the aggression pounding through my veins. When she retreated I wanted to pursue. I couldn’t help myself any more than I could stop myself from breathing.
“Where’s your sense of danger and adventure?” I taunted, pressing my hands to her cold arms. “Try.”
“I could kill you.”
“I’ll try not to die.”
“Oh,” she muttered and cursed under her breath. “How reassuring.”
“Do it.”
“No!”
“Oh, so you’re afraid.” I nodded mockingly, “Don’t think I’ve ever met a Dark One who experienced fear.”
Her nostrils flared. “Don’t push me.” The room temperature plummeted.
I arched an eyebrow then very slowly leaned forward and whispered in her ear. “Chicken.”
It was immature.
I knew that.
She knew that.
But it didn’t stop her reaction.
With catlike reflexes she pushed me across the room, I landed perfectly in the chair, she jumped into the air and pounced, straddling me with both legs. One tilt of her head and our eyes locked.
Hers turned white.
It was eerie, watching someone else do what I’d done thousands of times, this time with me being on the receiving end.
I was completely riveted by the way she looked at me—as if I was the only being in existence.
My breath came out in a gasp as the room dropped below zero. Ice crackled across the surface of the wood floor, moisture once clinging in the air frosted the windows.
“That all you got?” I licked my nearly frozen lips.
Stephanie leaned forward, her nails digging into my arm. “I’m not exactly practiced in the art of Dark One seduction.”
“The next step…” Why was I teaching her this again? When I was so weak? Right, because if I died, it would all fall to her. If I failed she was the last.
“Yes?”
“The Marking.”
Her eyes swirled back to blue then went white again. “Yes, that sounds like a good idea. How do I… what do I…?” Her focus wavered. She was unsteady, too new, too unpracticed. I imagined she wouldn’t have the concentration to actually kill me.
“Two choices.” The human side of me was ready to bolt out of the chair and find a weapon. I stayed put, even when her nails dug deeper. Warm blood started trickling from my arms. “You mark with your mouth or your hand.”
Stephanie nodded, the room got colder. Damn, maybe I’d just freeze to death. Clearly, I hadn’t thought through all the horrible scenarios.
“You take your palm and press it against the neck, cupping the human flesh, you simply force your will upon them, whatever it is. Do you need a slave? What about a task completed? How about undying love and devotion? What you need, you think, you force it upon them so heavily that it becomes the very air they breathe. Without you, they would die, you must believe it, so they will believe it.”
Stephanie nodded and pressed her palm against my neck.
The stirring of ice flickered through my veins.
“Or…” It was freezing, yet I felt cold and clammy, like being hot and cold at the same time. “You mark with your mouth… more personal, no drawing of blood, think of it as a love bite. It’s more personal because Angel blood is in every cell of your body, including your saliva, therefore, your blood comes into contact with the human. Regardless of how strong you are—it will work because human blood yearns for it.”
“Why?” Her eyes darted back and forth, she was tiring. Good.
I slowly moved my arms, her nails released. “Because humans want power, they were born wanting more, and the minute they experience a fraction of what more feels like—they want it all.”
My gut clenched as memories of the last time humans got ahold of immortal blood assaulted me. I’d destroyed them all—well almost all of them.
Demons were allowed to live. But at what cost?
There was no warning, no hesitation on her part.
One minute I was talking.
The next, her mouth was on my neck, her tongue swirling a devastating design across my skin, her breath freezing my veins in the most delicious way.
Visions of us together flashed through my brain. Kissing, making love, holding hands, laughing, and then the vision altered and I was on my knees in front of her.
Her… shaking as blood ran down her hands.
I was still as a statue.
And then she pulled the knife from my chest and toss
ed it on the ground, her eyes wide with fear as Darkness swirled around her like a smoke, invading her nostrils.
Sariel watched with sadness as I clutched my chest, but I wasn’t recovering. I was not healing.
A tear slid down his cheek as Darkness consumed me.
I fought.
I lost.
And light flashed.
Stephanie jolted back from me, her eyes filled with horror. “What just happened?”
My heart splintered in two. Rage consumed me. “You will betray me.”
“What? NO! I was trying to show you—”
“You were trying to impose your will…” I stood on shaky legs. “Instead, you showed me my future.”
Stephanie covered her mouth with her hands.
“I think we’re done for the evening.” Numb, I walked over to the light switch and flicked it off. “After all, Ethan will be expecting us.”
“Cassius, I had no I idea. Futures can change, can’t they?”
“I’m tired.” I ignored her question. “And so are you.”
Cassius
Greece 79 AD
WHAT DO WE DO with them?” I stared at the children completely dumbfounded, I possibly hadn’t thought that through. They needed parents. They needed something.
“Well, we can’t eat them,” Mason grumbled crossing his arms. He’d been hungry for two days, but tough shit because we’d been at the docks for the past forty-eight hours to make sure nobody escaped. We couldn’t take the chance that any of the infected humans made their way over land or sea—to the general population.
The screams of the dead caused my head to ache. It couldn’t be avoided. Their souls were upset.
They had a reason to be upset.
It wasn’t their time.
But it couldn’t be avoided. I always dealt with a heavy hand. Not that I took it lightly. Humans needed to know there was a reason to fear the immortals.
To double cross us was to invite death.
“The princess.” Eva sighed. “The Demon came for her when you started burning the city.”
“And what did Timber have to say for himself?” I kept my eyes focused on the horizon as smoke filled the air.
“He screamed at me, though he was able to take her as far as the door, Mason took care of the rest.”
“You killed him?” My eyebrows shot up. He was a powerful Demon, just as old as us, he’d been alive since the fall of man.
“He ran.” Mason sighed. “I got two bites in before he disappeared.”
“Damn.” The horizon wasn’t changing. There were no boats. Only blackness.
“So…” Eva’s scent was altogether too intoxicating. I moved away from her so I could think. “What are we going to do with the children?”
“Sariel can never know.” I breathed out an irritated sigh and glanced at Eva out of the corner of my eye. “Understood?”
Blood must always be spilled. And once judgment was passed, mercy did not exist.
Because of my weakness for a woman I could never have—I allowed it.
Eva’s green eyes blazed as she gave me a firm nod. A Vampire’s word meant everything. I knew she would take it with her for eternity.
“And I imagine the children will do what children do…” One last look at the horizon, and I snapped my attention back to Mason and Eva. “It shouldn’t be too hard to find them homes, but Eva?”
She was already hugging one of the boys who’d started to cry for his mother. “Yes?”
“They aren’t your children.” I said it slowly. “The minute they have homes, you are never to see them again. Children notice more than adults do, it would take them mere days to figure out something was different about you. And I’m not sure how Sariel wants to proceed. I imagine we are going to need to be more careful regarding to whom we reveal our true selves.”
“All right.” Her eyes went back to their natural brown color as she started singing to the little boy.
My chest felt like someone had cracked it open, seeing a small boy in her arms, that’s what it would look like.
If she were mine.
But that existence wasn’t for me.
It would never be a part of my future.
Stephanie
THE FRONT DOOR SLAMMED so hard I was afraid it was going to crack right down the middle. Cassius rushed past Ethan like I was chasing him with a gun, and he actually pushed Mason out of the way to reach the upstairs bedrooms.
Another door slammed.
I winced.
“Trouble in paradise?” Alex joked as he waltzed lazily out of the kitchen. His smirk was undeniably irritating. If he wasn’t family I’d probably attack him or at least freeze his ass for being such a pain in mine.
“No,” I lied. “He’s human. They get grumpy when they don’t sleep.”
“Uh-huh.” Ethan nodded. “You sure that’s what you want to go with? He’s tired?”
Genesis walked into the hallway and stifled a yawn. “Who’s slamming doors?”
“Cassius,” Alex said helpfully. “I’m just going to come out and say it, he was uncontrollable when he was actually able to control his emotions and could choose not to feel. Now that he’s human? He’s a danger not only to himself, but the rest of us.”
“How cute.” Mason chuckled. “The Siren’s afraid.” He winked. “Don’t worry, the dog will protect you.”
Alex flipped him off. “When has a Siren ever needed protection?”
I held up my hands. “Guys, like I said, he’s fine, just tired. We were at his house and—”
“Whoa!” Mason froze in place, gaping at me. Then he shook his head as if coming to his senses. “Back up. He has a house?”
I swallowed. “Of course! Where else would he hang out?”
“Funerals, prisons, Antarctica.” Alex sighed and examined his fingernails, “Take your pick.”
“It was nice,” I said defensively.
All movement in the hallway stopped.
Ethan was the first to speak. “Did you… hurt him?”
“Oh, good grief.” I pressed my fingers against my temples. “No, I didn’t hurt him, everything’s fine. I’m fine, Cassius is fine, the whole world is fine.”
“Fine.” Alex grinned.
My temper surged as I thought of freezing one of his fingers off.
“Ouch!” Alex stumbled back against the wall then held up his hand. “What the hell was that? It felt like someone was sawing off my finger!”
I shrugged.
His eyes narrowed. “He’s been teaching you tricks, damn him.”
“Maybe.” I pushed past him. “Maybe not.”
“Stephanie,” Ethan called out. “Wait.”
I paused in the doorway. “What?”
There they went again with the shifty eyes and uncertain posture.
I growled. “Just tell me.”
“The numbers don’t match.”
“What numbers?”
“Demon.” Ethan shoved his hands in his pockets. “According to our reports from last month they’ve added another sixty to their ranks.”
“Sixty!” I blurted. “But that’s insane! They have to keep their numbers under three hundred! If they added sixty—”
Ethan held up his hand. “It makes no sense. I know. They’re claiming that they’ve been the victims of a Vampire attack leaving them with no choice but to… create.”
My blood chilled. “That’s illegal not to mention stupid, they can’t just create more of themselves. Not without the help of Angel blood.”
I hadn’t been alive back when Pompeii was destroyed but I knew the toll it took on all of them to this day. Ethan had said Cassius refused to talk to anyone for weeks. I knew there was more to the story. One of Cassius’s closest friends had been killed soon after the city was destroyed, but nobody talked about it.
Immortal blood should never be in the hands of the Demons. Because to create a Demon—you had to give up your soul. And most souls didn’t go willingly.
&nb
sp; “Right.” Ethan sighed. “But with this whole Cassius scenario we can’t really send him in there to settle things down.”
Guilt crept over Ethan’s face. Cassius truly was the only one who could control the Demons, and if they went against him, he simply destroyed them with a snap of his fingers.
“Crap,” I mumbled searching Ethan’s eyes. “You want to send me.”
“But you aren’t ready.” Genesis said softly.
At least she was on my side.
“We discussed this.” Mason crossed his arms. “I can take care of it.”
“Like hell,” Alex spat. “If any of us go we’re just putting ourselves in a situation that we may not be able to get out of without Cassius’s help.”
I licked my lips. “Maybe I can talk to him…”
“Oh?” Alex’s eyebrows shot up. “And how’s that been going for you?”
Another door slammed upstairs. What the heck was he doing? Just opening and slamming doors because he could?
“Stephanie,” Ethan reached for my hands. “We need you… and for some reason he still won’t explain, Cassius needs you too.”
I hung my head.
Shame filled me to the core.
I was going to kill him.
That was the future I had seen.
I just didn’t understand it, no way was I naïve enough to believe that it was the only future ahead of us. Futures changed, just like the wind. I refused to concentrate on one so fleeting and meaningless. I loved Cassius, I would never hurt him—ever.
It would take ultimate betrayal.
And even then, I wouldn’t be able to follow through with it.
Besides, love or not, he was my King.
“I’ll try harder.” I bit down on my lip, nearly drawing blood. “I’ll have him teach me, and I’ll try to be less argumentative.”
Alex snorted.
I glared in his direction, and he held up his hands.
“I can do it.” I took another deep breath. “This is my job, right? All of us have jobs on the council, mine’s just shifted a bit.”
“Right.” Ethan’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll send a few of my men with you, just in case.”
“And by men he means starving Vampire soldiers who would love—and I do mean love—to get a good meal in.” Mason gave Ethan a fist bump and walked out of the room. Alex and Genesis followed.