A Hunt Among Vampires (The Angel Series) (23 page)

I quietly enter the guess room and see Alex and the children are still sleeping. I cautiously wake her up. She is a little startled by my presence, but she stays quiet. I whisper to her what is going on, as she gets dressed. As she is about to pick up the children, I hear a sound outside the bedroom door. The door opens and I have a dagger at Kayle’s throat before Alex is able to blink. When I see Kayle, I lower the dagger and rush him inside the room.

“Did you see anyone?” I ask in a whisper.

“Not yet, but our vampires are still searching the grounds. The unfamiliar scent is all over the house so I want to take you all to the safe room downstairs so I can look more thoroughly for the intruder.” Kayle says as he gently picks up the little girl.

Alex grabs the baby as I lead the way out the door. Kayle points me in the right direction as we swiftly move through the house towards the basement. Alex and the children are ushered into the room and Kayle gives me a pleading look.

“You know it’s not going to happen. I promised to stay here, but I’m not going to sit in a room and hide when they are attacking us here when you can use my help.” I give him a defiant look. “I promise you I’ll be careful.” I give him a bright smile.

“The master will not be pleased if anything happens to you.” Kayle reminds me.

“Once we determine the threat, we can decide if I need to run and hide. Now stop wasting time and let’s find these intruders.” I let Alex know that we’ll be back after we check the house. Kayle offers Alex a gun with an additional clip before we shut and lock the door. Kayle and I agree that if we hear gunshots, we will come running.

Kayle and I move in tandem as we check every room in the house. We get to the family room and see a figure squatting in a dark corner. My weapons are at the ready when Kayle smoothly pulls his sword.

I sense two other vampires flanking us from both sides. I look at Kayle and he nods once in acknowledgement that he senses them too. Kayle gently eases in front of me, blocking me from the figure’s view.

“What are you doing here Hassan?” Kayle asks the vampire.

Hassan! How did he escape Christien’s attack?
I clamp my thoughts down and focus on the danger around us.

As Kayle moves on Hassan, the two vampires try to attack Kayle from behind and I intercept them in lightening speed. The vampires are not very old so I am able to dispatch one of them quickly. As I am working on the second vampire, I can hear the struggles between Hassan and Kayle, but I’m unable to see what’s going on.

The vampire fails to land a punch on me and I take the opportunity to land a deathblow to his exposed chest, piercing his heart with my dagger. I twist my wrist as I remove the dagger and notice Kayle lying on the ground bleeding with his throat bitten and torn. Hassan is standing next to him while he stares at me. I can finally see his face clearly and I reposition my stance for an attack.

“So, it really is you.
Mon ange
.” Hassan coos mockingly.

“I’m nothing of yours, you bastard!” I yell back at him.

“That is right,
sire
. She is mine.” Christien says as he enters the room.

Hassan’s face tenses as he watches Christien drink from my wrist. When Christien releases my arm, he makes a point to lick the blood on my wrist in a show for Hassan.

Hassan’s temper and power flares as he lunges for me.

Christien blocks Hassan’s attack on me, crashing into him in a frenzy of fists and fangs.

I rush over to Kayle and wave my wrist under his nose. He catches my wrist and bites down. As Kayle is feeding off me, Christien throws Hassan across the room. Hassan slams into the wall, falls onto the couch and rolls on to the floor. By the time Hassan reaches the floor, Christien is on top of him. Christien is moving so fast it looks as if he is disappearing and reappearing on top of him. Christien sinks his fangs in Hassan’s throat and rips it out.

He catches the dagger by the hilt and plunges it into Hassan’s heart. “By the way sire, my angel is pregnant with my child. Our child is going to be a beautiful, blood-sucking angel just like his or her mother. You will never hurt any of my children ever again.” Christien twists the dagger and Hassan gasps. Christien violently rips the dagger from Hassan’s chest before swiftly removing his head. Hassan’s body combusts as Christien jumps off him before crumbling into ashes.

“He can never hurt us again. I know I can’t replace the family that Hassan took away from you. If you could give us a try, we can be a second chance for you to have a family.” I put my hand on his chest and meet his eyes.

He touches my hand on his chest. “I look forward to the opportunity.” He kisses me on the lips while his hand slides over my stomach.

Kayle stands up, drawing our attention. “Was Roman successful?”

“Actually, yes I was.” Roman responds from the back of the room. His arms are full with Isabella and the baby. Alex is standing by his side.

Roman comes up beside me, sees Hassan’s ashes and smiles. “Guess you are the new
tête de ligne,
Christien.”

“Yeah.” Christien laughs. “Let us see how the Vampire Council feels about that.”

“They will be happy about finally being rid of him.” Roman replies.

Christien sighs. “Kayle, after you have recovered enough, please meet Phedora at Devan’s lair and round up all of the vampires. Find Devan’s second and bring that one to me. I want all of Devan’s assets and finances in my name immediately. Give all the vampires the decision to blood oath to me or die. You may take any vampires, servants or assets you wish with my personal thanks. When everything is secure, bring Phedora back here to me.”

“Thank you master.” Kayle bows then reluctantly asks, “What did Dora do now?”

Christien sighs.

Roman speaks up. “They were warned that we were coming and they were aware of our plans. Christien and I believe she is spying for Lenair or Devan.”

“Our plans came from Lenair. Maybe she told Devan and Hassan about the information we received from her.” I suggest, giving Phedora the benefit of the doubt.

“Lenair was not aware of our modified plans. Christien and I are positive that none of us spoke to Devan. The only one who knew the plans and was capable of contacting Devan or Lenair was Phedora. Unfortunately, she did not want us to be successful and she expected Hassan to kill you and Kayle. That is how Hassan knew where Christien lives and how he was able to cross the threshold without being invited by you or Kayle. Phedora let Hassan and his vampires inside.” Roman explains.

Kayle roars. “I will rip her limbs off and cut her to pieces very slowly so she will feel every ounce of her betrayal!”

Christien moves next to Kayle and puts a hand on his arm. “I understand your frustration Kayle, but it is my responsibility to deal with her loyalty.”

“But master…” Kayle interrupts.

“Do not worry. I will allow you your revenge. She betrayed you too. I understand your anger. We have a lot to do and not much time.” Christien reassures Kayle as he moves away from Hassan’s ashes. “Have a couple of vampires separate his ashes and sprinkle them into separate bodies of water. I do not want magic reconstituting his form in any way.”

Kayle bows as two vampires move into the room and start cleaning up.

We collectively decide to meet around the table in the dining room.

Christien’s speaks first. “Roman, you once again have proven your loyalty to me and mine. As
tête de ligne
, I am in your debt twice over.” Christien smiles at Roman. “It is unusual to owe a werewolf such gratitude that remains unpaid. Is there anything I can do to eliminate my debts?”

Roman smiles genuinely. “I have a feeling I may need that debt repaid soon enough but there is nothing immediately that requires me to cash in just yet. I will accept your friendship and your word to take care of Jessica. Otherwise, you may not feel so happy owing me a favor.”

Laughing a full throat laugh, Christien nods. “I offer my friendship and Jessica will be very well taken care of. That, I vow.” Christien extends his hand to Roman and he accepts it.

“Both of you keep talking about taking care of me as if I am not sitting right here. I don’t need either of you to take care of me. I can take care of myself and my child.” I blurt out angrily at the male chauvinistic bonding.

“You’re pregnant too?” Alex exclaims as her face brightens in excitement. She thinks for a moment about what she said. Her expression changes from excitement to confusion. “Wait! I thought vampires could not have children. Something to do with being undead I thought.” Her gaze moves over the men at the table and settles on me.

Christien gives me a hardened look. I ignore the look and respond. “We’ll have plenty of time for female bonding over the next few months and I’m sure we’ll get along fine. For now, I am going to have to leave your questions unanswered.”

Alex is extremely intelligent and gets my hint without additional questions. She smiles at me then says, “What are you guys going to do about Phedora?”

“First, we need to find her.” Roman says. “She took off before we left to come back here. My wolves and I might be able to track her in wolf form if you want us to try.” Roman looks at Christien.

“As
tête de ligne
and her master, I can find her, but I think I may already know where she is.” Christien announces.

“Where do you think she’s hiding?” I ask.

“We have a lot to do and not much time before the Vampire Council arrives. Phedora can wait. I need to quickly blood oath Devan’s vampires and find any vampires left from Hassan before I go before the Council. Kayle?” Christien calls out.

“I will work as fast as possible, Christien. Roman, I know this is not your responsibility, but I could use you and your wolves’ assistance, along with our vampires, to round up Devan’s vampires.” Kayle stands up and moves beside my chair. “We will gladly compensate you all for your assistance.”

Kayle lifts my arm where he bit me and gives me a concerned look at the healing tear his fangs made on my wrist. “May I speak with you for just one moment before I leave?”

Christien looks away from us and talks to Roman.

Rising up from my chair, Kayle escorts me from the dining room and into the kitchen. “Does it hurt?” He asks as he inspects my arm.

“I’ll be fine Kayle. You didn’t hurt me.” I pat his hand and pull my arm away from him. “Don’t dwell on this Kayle.” I shift into a poodle before his eyes then return to human form. Both shifts take less than 10 seconds and my arm has completely healed.

Kayle smiles back. “Thank you for that. Thank you for everything. I am beginning to understand why my master is so protective of you.”

“He’s protective because I am having his child. I am just as hard to kill as you both are. I am an immortal being too. You both can stop treating me as if I am made of glass.” Hands on my hips, my stare is confident and stubborn.

He laughs and agrees with me. “I look forward in working with you. I wanted to ask you if you would allow me one more drink before I leave. I still have more healing to do and your blood seems to heal me much faster than human blood. If not, that is okay also.”

“I really don’t mind you feeding off me Kayle, but now that I am pregnant, I do need to be more careful about it.” I say honestly.

“What I am trying to say is don’t get upset.” I chuckle. “I may not be able to feed you from my vein again tonight, but that doesn’t mean it won’t ever happen again. You tend to get hurt a lot around me. I am only saying that I have bags of my blood in the bedroom. You are welcome to help yourself to as much as you need. We’ll just save my veins for emergencies while I’m pregnant, okay?”