“I didn’t say.” He polished off the cheese, eyeing Nick. “But it’s Jinn.”
“Jinn . . . ?” he prompted.
“Just Jinn. No last name.”
Inside him, Nick’s wolf shifted and rumbled in warning. Nick had recognized the name from his vision about Nix learning of Noah’s abduction. “And how is that?”
Moving closer, he got a whiff of Jinn’s scent and found he wasn’t a shifter, or a vampire. He wasn’t Fae, human, or anything from this world at all, it seemed.
The man—creature—laughed, showing off straight white teeth with very large incisors. “Did you know that in Arabian mythology, the Jinn are the third creation of God, after angels and humans? It’s said that we’re made of smoke and fire, can take human form, and travel between dimensions. And we can be either good or evil, as the mood strikes us.”
Shaking his head, Nick brought himself back to the present and watched the train wreck unfold. Graham had stumbled backward and was staring at the creature who definitely wasn’t a human named Scott Morgan.
“Wh-who are you?” Graham stammered.
“Don’t you mean what?” Jinn’s smile was terrifying, his eyes cold.
The vampire shook his head. “Never mind. I don’t care as long as I get my cut for doing my part.”
“Prince Tarron and Princess Calla dead, and control of his coven, correct?” His tone was cool.
“Yes, that was the deal.” Graham gained back a bit of nerve, standing straighter. “And I have done my part. I let you know that Calla was going for a walk to the waterfall so your men could move in and take her as bait. I let myself get stabbed, for fuck’s sake. All your hunters had to do was wait for Tarron and Westfall to come, and wipe them out, and your leader and his morons managed to fuck it up.”
That fucking traitor. Nick shot Tarron a glance, and the prince appeared ready to rip out Graham’s throat.
“You worthless piece of bloodsucking shit,” one of the hunters yelled, surging for him. He was stopped by a flick of Jinn’s wrist, frozen in place, blinking angrily.
“So far, your contribution has been abysmally small compared to your demand,” the creature observed. “What you do not understand is that Prince Ivan’s power and motivation is much greater than yours. What do you have that he can actually use?”
Ivan . . . Cardenas? Nick looked to Tarron again, who mouthed, “Cardenas is their mysterious leader?”
The light dawned. Cardenas had attended the planning meeting for the alliance of covens. “Maybe,” Nick whispered back. But what the hell was Cardenas’s motive for vengeance that Jinn referred to?
Graham tried to humble himself, backing off a bit. He seemed to be reminded of the slippery slope he was treading as he removed a small device from his jacket pocket. A mini tablet, it appeared. “I have something he’ll want. I assure you it will help achieve his aims.”
Tapping quickly on a couple of apps, Graham brought up something for his cohorts to see. Some sort of document, perhaps. Whatever it was couldn’t be seen from a distance, but the hunters began to chortle with glee.
“Fuckin’ A,” one hooted.
“No shit.”
“You’ve come through,” Jinn purred. “Send that to Prince Ivan’s e-mail right now, and copy me.”
Oh, Graham can’t be that stupid. But he was, and he completely missed the sly smirk Jinn exchanged with the hunters while his head was down, doing as Jinn ordered. When the e-mail was sent, the vampire raised his head.
“There. I’ve done as you asked. When will Ivan get this done so I can gain control of the coven? I have plans for the world alliance, as well.” Graham’s eyes gleamed at the prospect.
Jinn smiled. “Do you? That’s too bad, because unfortunately, your plans and my master’s are at complete odds.”
“What do you mean? We had a deal!”
“That’s what you believed.” Jinn laughed. “He was never going to give you control of the coven. He’s going to take it and destroy every man, woman, and child as revenge for the murder of his mate. You are no longer of use to him at all.”
Beside Nick, Tarron’s expression was thunderous.
“What?” Graham moved back, eyes widening. “I am of use! Haven’t I proven that?”
Without answering, Jinn held out a hand. A wisp of smoke floated from his upturned palm, thickening as it floated toward Graham.
“What are you doing?” the vampire choked out.
Those were his last words. The smoke coiled like rope around his throat and tightened. He clawed without effect as he fell to the ground, his fingers merely slipping through the horrible mist that was strangling the life out of him. His face turned red, then purple. His arms went limp at his sides and his eyes stared heavenward as his body shook violently. Then the shakes subsided to an occasional twitch.
And then nothing.
Jinn sauntered over and knelt by the body. Nick wondered what the bastard was doing as he grasped Graham’s shirt and ripped it open down the front. When Jinn held up a hand, claws lengthening to lethal razors, he was afraid he knew.
The creature plunged his talons into Graham’s chest, splitting his breastbone in two as though slicing butter. He then dug downward, and even from his position Nick could hear the awful slurping sounds the dead vampire’s flesh made as Jinn ripped Graham’s heart from his chest.
Eagerly, Jinn tore into the organ with his fangs and closed his eyes in ecstasy. The hunters had backed away all the way to their vehicle, revulsion on their faces, and as much as Nick hated them, he couldn’t blame them. Jinn ate every last bite of his snack, then wiped his mouth and hands on the tattered remains of the dead vampire’s shirt.
“Heart of the fallen,” he said in bliss. “Nothing on this plane or the next tastes better.”
Beside him, Micah made a soft gagging noise. His hand was over his mouth and he looked about two seconds from hurling all over the grass. Nick placed a hand on his shoulder to steady the wolf. The last thing they needed was to be discovered by a creature whose power quite possibly equaled Kalen’s.
Jinn scooped up Graham’s mini tablet and walked back to the vehicle. In seconds, they were driving away and had disappeared.
“What the fuck is that thing?” Tarron asked, his voice colored with horror.
“His name is Jinn,” Nick told the group, a cold chill of fear joining the anger. “At least, that’s what he told me when I met him at your party. He’s a demonic paranormal creature, not a Sorcerer. There’s not a drop of human blood in his body. He’s the equivalent of a trickster who wields powerful black magic, and for some reason he’s attached himself to Ivan.”
“Love is blind,” Micah muttered sarcastically. Under any other circumstances, that would’ve been funny.
“I don’t know another Ivan besides Ivan Cardenas, but I can’t understand why he’d be after me with such vengeance.” Tarron looked lost. “Revenge for the murder of his mate? In the entirety of my long existence, I’ve never to my knowledge killed a female.”
They all digested that for a few moments.
Then Micah said, “His mate could’ve been a man.”
And there it was. The flip of the light switch they needed. The missing motive. Tarron turned and locked eyes with Micah. “Mother of the gods. Carter Darrow.”
Ian cursed. “Maybe. It’s just a guess at this point.”
“How could I have missed the fact that Carter was mated?” Tarron wondered aloud. “Why did this not come to light before?”
Nick tried to soothe him because the guilt was already there, in his brother-in-law’s voice. “Listen, if that’s true, nobody knew it. Carter obviously kept Ivan in the background, maybe to protect him. Even as evil as he was, the need to protect one’s mate transcends everything else.”
“If Ivan was his mate,” Ian interjected. “I’ll get on that with Teague as soon as we get back to the stronghold, see what we can dig up.”
Tarron nodded, clearly shaken. “All right. If Carter was Ivan’s mate, I
van will stop at nothing to bury me. We need to find out what Graham passed along to him just now.”
“We’ll get into Graham’s account and find that out, too,” Ian promised.
“Should we take back his body?” Micah asked, still visibly disturbed by the grisly sight before them.
Tarron thought about that. “No. Should they come back, they’ll be suspicious if he’s gone too quickly. Let the traitor stay for now, and I’ll send some men out on a mission to ‘find’ my missing guard tomorrow. We’ll give him a proper burial, and keep this between those who need to know.”
Everyone in agreement, they loaded into the Rover again and headed for the stronghold. The mood was somber because Tarron was right. Revenge on behalf of a murdered mate was a fury nobody in his right mind wanted to face. It wouldn’t have changed Carter’s demise, but if they’d known Ivan existed, they would have taken him into custody right then to determine his threat to them.
Too late now. All they could do was gain more information.
Back in the conference room, they spread out as Teague tried to work his hacking magic. He found several accounts belonging to Ivan Cardenas of Barcelona, including two e-mail accounts and multiple bank accounts.
He also found a couple of bank accounts that had once been jointly owned by the couple before Darrow’s death. The joint accounts were linked to an address outside Chattanooga.
“Answers that question,” Teague said with a sigh. “Christ on a stick, we’re fucked.”
“Your confidence is overwhelming.” Tarron glared at the tech.
“Sorry.” Throwing his prince an apologetic glance, he went to work on getting into Graham’s e-mail. But as time ticked by, he sat back and stretched. “Damn. If Graham sent something important that Ivan wanted, he didn’t send it from his regular e-mail account. There are no attachments here at all. I’ll keep searching, but this could take a while. He must have another account under an assumed name.”
“Let’s get out of here and let Teague work,” Tarron said. “I’ll let you all know if he finds something.”
Teague grinned. “When I find it, you mean.”
Nick bid them good-bye and headed down the corridor. It took him a few seconds to realize he was instinctively heading toward Calla’s chambers. He wasn’t sure she would be there, but it seemed a good place to start. He had missed his mate.
He hoped she let him show her just how much.
* * *
Calla roamed the hallways, trying not to let herself worry. She’d learned secondhand that Nick had left the building with her brother, and the guard she asked didn’t know why. Nick hadn’t bothered to communicate with her to tell her that he was leaving, and that bothered her the most.
He was the commander, and a busy man. He was also used to being alone. She understood that, or her head did. Her heart ached a little.
As if to punctuate her melancholy, a cramp seized her stomach. She got up and made her way to the bathroom, planning to splash some water on her face, but a wave of dizziness nearly sent her to the floor.
“Damn my stupid pride,” she muttered. “Should’ve just told him I needed his blood instead of expecting him to figure it out.”
And there was no doubt he hadn’t learned yet that his was the only blood she could take. This wasn’t something he would let go unattended.
Bracing herself against the bathroom wall, she wobbled to the sink and turned on the warm water. Splashing it on her face felt good, but the reprieve was temporary. The room tilted at a crazy angle and she gripped the counter as she started to fall sideways.
Her strength deserted her and she fell. The counter slipped from her grasp and she hit the floor with a weak cry, bumping her head on the tile. Lying there, she tried to clear the fuzzy webs from her brain. Nothing doing. She couldn’t focus, or think.
Well, she couldn’t think of anything except the burning in her stomach that demanded sustenance. She needed her mate’s blood, fast.
Nick, she thought. Even though he couldn’t hear her, she called out.
And kept calling until the darkness took her.
Calla. Calla, wake up! Baby, come back to me!
Her head was grasped in strong hands. A pleasing male scent teased her nose, and she tried to open her eyes.
“That’s it, baby! Wake up. You can do it.”
Her body was lifted and she felt herself being carried in those wonderful arms and then placed on something soft. Her bed? Hands caressed her face, then checked her scalp and limbs for injuries as Nick continued to speak softly.
“You have a bump,” he said. “Here. Doesn’t seem too bad. Can you hear me?”
“Mmm.”
“Look at me, honey. Please.”
With a great effort, she opened her eyes and found herself staring into his beautiful blue ones. “Hungry,” she whispered.
Confusion and concern mingled with the panic on his handsome face. “Why haven’t you eaten, baby? I’ll get you something.”
“Need blood.”
“Okay. Do you use a donor?” His expression said he didn’t much like that idea. “Or bagged blood?”
“You.”
“I’m sorry?”
“You,” she said quietly. “Need yours.”
“Me?” A hint of fear darkened his face. “But you vampires can take any blood. Why haven’t you fed?”
“Not any blood. Not after we’ve mated,” she told him. “Can only have yours now.”
The truth settled over his features and she regretted the outright horror there. But if she’d thought the horror was for himself, she was wrong.
“You mean to tell me that you’ve been suffering since I claimed you?” he whispered, shame coloring his voice. “That you’ve been starving yourself? Why, for God’s sake?”
“I know you’re not comfortable with me biting you, Nick,” she whispered. “After what happened to you.”
“That doesn’t matter—not when it comes to this! Not when it endangers your health!” Sitting on the edge of the bed, he took her hand and swallowed hard. “What do you need? My neck? Jugular?”
He would do this for her. Push aside his fear, for her. She squeezed his hand.
“No, your wrist will be fine. It won’t be a claiming, but I can feed.”
“Here, let me help you.”
Sitting her up, he plumped the pillows behind her head. Then he helped her recline on them so she could get to him easily. Holding out his arm, he said, “Do it, baby. Take as much as you need.”
Taking his wrist, she spoke lovingly. “When I do, it will probably arouse you. Thought you’d want to know because of what Carter did to you. But it should be a very good experience, not a bad one.”
He nodded. “The arousal is normal. I know that.”
“Yes, between mates especially. There will be a tiny sting, but that won’t last. You’ll feel pleasure, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with riding it to its natural conclusion.”
He laughed, looking suddenly shy for a big, tough wolf commander. “Okay. I’m ready as I’ll ever be.”
No sense in drawing out his nervousness. Time to show him that allowing his mate to feed from him was the most natural and sensual experience in the world.
Gently, she slid her fangs into the tender part of his wrist. Droplets of blood welled on his flesh and she began to suck. Instantly, a shock of sheer lust went through her body. As she revived from the much-needed blood, she also thrived on the very sexual connection of taking a part of her mate into herself.
He was aroused as well, judging from his shortened breath. Her mate gazed down at her and shifted his position on the bed, sitting so he had access to the zipper of his jeans. As she’d guessed he might, he unfastened his jeans and lowered the zipper. In short order, his cock popped free, red and leaking.
“Yes, my love,” she murmured around his wrist. “Like that. Stroke yourself for me.”
“God.”
Any trepidation he had before we
nt out the window when she started sucking his wrist again. With a groan, he fisted his erection with his free hand and began to pump the rigid flesh. She enjoyed watching her mate pleasuring himself. There was no shame in any sensual act between a vampire and her mate. He was learning this and it was mind-blowing to see.
She took all she needed as he stroked himself faster and faster. Careful not to take too much, she removed her fangs as soon as she was sated and gave him a knowing smile. “I’m going to scoot down to lie on my back. Straddle my face.”
“Are you sure?” he croaked. His cock twitched in anticipation.
“Very. I’m more than fine now.” She winked. “And I’m hungry in an entirely different way.”
“Shit, baby.”
Scooting down, she waited as he placed both knees on either side of her head. She loved this position, her big strong mate crouched over her face. Reaching around him, she cupped and kneaded his ass, and began to mouth his balls. The tortured groan that escaped his lips made her smile before she went back to tonguing every part of him she could reach. Every single crease and bit of sweet flesh.
Arms and thighs trembling, he braced himself over her and let her eat and lave him. Finger and suck him. His balls, cock, and taint. Getting him nice and wet, riling him past endurance, right where she wanted him. Taking his cock deep into her throat, she sucked him without mercy, until he was trying desperately to pull back.
“I’m gonna come, honey! Let me fuck you.”
Tightening her grip on his fine ass, she released him just long enough to order, “Come all over my face. Mark me, wolf.”
His eyes flashed with sheer lust and possessiveness. She’d appealed to the basest part of a shifter and they both knew it. When she took him into her mouth again, he pumped with long strokes, sliding his flesh between her lips. She loved every second, making sure he knew that with the pleased sounds coming from her throat. That drove him higher, higher—
Then he stiffened, yanking himself out. And he came all over her face and throat, pearly streams bathing her with warmth. Marking her, just the way they both wanted.
After squeezing out the last bit of come, he climbed off her and laid his body over hers. Kissed her deeply, come and all, even tasting himself with a growl of pleasure.