Aaron's Kiss Series Boxed Set (Books 1 - 7) (3 page)

Carlos was abusing his position as master. Not only was he taking more than sixty-five percent of their total income, but he was not setting up anything in return for them. There were no health benefits for the human servants, nor was there anything set up for the orphans of vampires who were killed in fights or by humans. Then there was the physical abuse as well.

Starving them was bad enough, but he was also killing them. Murder of one’s own kind was punishable by death. Only when challenged could a vampire kill another. But he was killing for pleasure, to show others what would happen if they crossed him or tried to leave his realm.

As soon as they were led into the large receiving room, Aaron knew he had to win. The smell of death was everywhere, and the three dead women and the one man…all humans…on the floor before them were sickening to say the least. Aaron gained strength in knowing that he would win for the people of the realm.

“Ah, Aaron MacManus. What brings you here tonight? Come to finally pledge to me, have you? It’s about time. I was about to send out my troops to bring you in and make you do it.” His laugh grated along Aaron’s skin. “Well, my boy, let’s get this over with.”

“No, I have not. I’ve come to challenge you. Challenge you to your death for rules and rites of passage.” Aaron drew his sword and slammed it deep within the carpeted floor, never taking his eyes from Carlos.

Carlos laughed again, but this time, Aaron could hear the forcefulness in it. “Surely you jest.”

“I assure you that I do not. I, Aaron Xavier MacManus, pledged to no master, hereby challenge you, Carlos April Sanchez, to rules and rites of passage of this realm. I challenge you to your death.”

Carlos looked at the men and women around him. Two of them stepped away and then flashed to the door and out of the room. One of the women made her way toward Aaron. He wasn’t sure what her intent was, but she was stopped by Duncan, who simply stood in front of her, blocking her way.

“The last three times someone challenged me, I was the victor. You think you—”

“They were not me,” Aaron said, cutting him off. He pulled his sword free and held it before him. “Are you afraid, Carlos? You should be, for I plan to make your death count for so much.”

“You’re going to regret this, MacManus. I haven’t lost a fight yet, and I don’t plan to do so to an insolent prick like you,” Carlos snarled as he stood.

Aaron grinned and knew that Carlos could see no humor or friendliness in it. “So be it.”

~CHAPTER ONE~

Sara paused only slightly when she felt it. Someone or some...thing had moved into her zone. As she continued to vacuum the carpet in the little Cessna, she reached out and touched the other people she knew to be inside the hangar.
Maybe,
she thought,
one of the others brought in a visitor.

The mechanics, Mark and Tully, were in the outer bay; Maria, the cleaning lady, was in the waiting area, and the Carlovettis, Demetrius and April, were in their separate offices in the back of the hangar. No, they…because now she knew there were six…had come in as a group and they were not with anyone that she already knew.

Sara Temple was an amazing telepath. Her ability to reach and search out those who were near was extremely strong and only one of the many and varied talents that she had. She knew the building like the back of her hand, so she was also able to tell where they were headed or where they already were.

At first she thought it was the High Council of Magick and that they had finally found her after four long years of hiding from them. Then she realized that had it been them, they would have simply materialized behind her, slit her throat, and then dematerialized again, all without leaving a trace of themselves behind to lead anyone back to them. That was the penalty for high treason and the presumed kidnapping of the Queen Melody, Mistress of Light, Keeper of Magic—instant death. But she could not think of them right now, or of Mel, her friend. She needed to focus on the here and now.

No, their signature, or tag, was different. These...beings were not anyone she had encountered before. She was able to track them moving from the front of the building toward the offices to the rear of the large hangar.

Vampire—all six of them are bloodsuckers,
she thought,
and by the signature that they are sending off, most are heavily armed.

As she turned off the vacuum, she reached further, gently, so as not to alert those to her mind search, and looked to see why they might be there. She scanned each person separately to see what their intentions toward the Carlovettis were. She realized in that moment that they were not only there to kill the oldest vampire in their group, but to blame Demetrius and April Carlovetti, her new bosses and the owners of the airliner where she worked, for his murder.

Sara was always armed, so she was well prepared to defend herself and others if need be. She was in constant danger from one source or another and lived in mortal terror because of it. She moved out of the plane easily enough and was on her way to the offices when she felt the presence of the new life. April was pregnant. Sara’s sole purpose changed in that second. Now the need to protect April and the innocent life that she carried became Sara’s number one priority.

All of the vampire newcomers were older than both the Carlovettis, especially April, who had converted just a few weeks after she started working for them eight months ago. Sara had known all along that she worked for vamps, just as she knew that Charlie Wolff, her former boss, was a werewolf. She just chose to ignore it. It didn’t matter to her what kind of being they were, as long as they did not snack on her.

As she moved along the outer walls of the building, she kept her focus on any movements inside and around the offices that would alert her to sudden danger. She knew that one of the men was moving toward April’s office where April was, so Sara picked up her pace. There were two more surrounding the oldest vampire. They were all with Demetrius, who was just inside the first set of rooms with the larger group, talking. She moved into the mind of Demetrius to see what was happening. It was easy; all she needed was a touch of bare skin and she could usually talk to or read a person’s mind. The conversation centered on the oldest vamp, the newest Master of the Realm, a man called Aaron MacManus, and what his plans were for his new realm.

Demetrius was wondering about the man’s intentions in coming to the hangar without notice, and seemed to have no idea that he was close to his own death.

The first vampire that Sara had encountered was still where she had felt him, standing outside the little reception area not ten feet from the others. He would have to be dealt with first and quickly. If she did not, then he would let the others know before she had a chance to try and save April and the babe.

As Sara moved toward him, she reached inside of her left boot and pulled out a long, silver blade. It would not be considered a knife by most as it was just a one inch strip of stainless steel with a fine coating of silver, and with a small handle that fit Sara’s hand perfectly. Another blade lay hidden in her other boot. Down the back of her neck, a blade wider and longer by several inches awaited her usage. Two more blades, attached to bands up each sleeve of her shirt, were ready to be ejected into her hands when she applied pressure to her wrist.

Sara was surprised at his size when she saw him; he was very big. Tall, but that wasn’t all; he was really fat. She had never seen a fat vamp before and it surprised her. His thinning dark hair was pulled into a tight stringy mess at the back of his head. His dark suit fit him well enough, but she was sure that he would have a lot of difficulty if he were required to button the jacket. His tie was dark and matched the equally dark shirt he wore. He had on well worn, brown cowboy boots. But it was the automatic weapon he had resting across his arms that really drew her attention…not the weapon itself, but the fact that it had a silencer on it. Whatever they were going to do to the old vamp, they had no intentions of letting anyone else hear.

She was nearly to him, but at the very last second, the vamp turned toward her. She knew she had made a small noise to alert him; his hearing, like all vamps, being very acute. Before he could react, she sliced his head from his body. Sara proved her blade and exceptional strength were better than any weapon he carried.

Sara crouched to catch his head as his body disintegrated before it hit the floor. His head followed his body seconds later, still receiving input as it had not yet realized that his body was gone. It took just a little longer.
Killing rogue vamps is not a messy job. Add a little silver, a little sunlight, and voila, nothing.
She nearly giggled out loud at this wayward thought.
It’s better if I stay on guard,
she thought with a grimace.

Sara knew that one or all of the other vamps would feel him missing soon, if they had not already, so she moved forward into the room immediately, killing the next one as she came into the door in much the same manner as the first. Severing the head from a vampire was the only true way to kill them, and it was also the quickest.

Scanning the room with her mind, Sara located and sent a telepathic message to Demetrius to get to his wife, as she was in mortal danger.

“
April is in danger. One of the rogues is headed toward her now. She is working in her office.
”

He did not even ask Sara how she knew or stop to think how she had communicated with him. He just flashed from the room toward his life mate.

When Sara looked back at the two remaining rogues, she saw that the fourth vampire had a gun pointed toward her, and that the last had the older vamp by the throat and a jeweled silver dagger to his neck—Mexican standoff.

Mentally, Sara reached out to the hostage, not holding out much hope that she could talk to him. “
Can you hear me
?”

“
Yes. Can you help me
?” he asked her. “
My name is Aaron MacManus. I’m the new Master Vampire in this realm
.”

Sara was pleasantly surprised to find he was open to her.

“
I only came in here to save the Carlovettis. That’s done, if Mr. Carlovetti can get to his mate in time
.” She focused on him for a second and said, “
He has her; she’s safe now. I have no interest in you, or saving you, Mr. MacManus
.”

She started to turn away when he stopped her. “
Wait, I’m asking for your help. What would it take to get you to save my life
?” he pleaded.

“
My death
.” She answered him quickly.
Death would be an end to so much,
she thought.

“
I can offer you eternal life, yes. You want to be an immortal. Done. But I must be alive to give you
—” She stopped him.

“
No. Death. Nothing more. I want my life to end. Today. If I save you, you’ll end this life as I know it.”
When he agreed with a short nod, she moved slightly closer to her target.

Long minutes passed as Sara tried to reason with the closest rogue. She was making no progress with him; he had an assignment and he wasn’t deviating from it.
Plus,
she thought,
he is stupid. He has to know the others are dead, yet here he stands like he has a chance to get out alive.

Sara knew that he was ready to strike against them seconds before he moved. She lunged forward, twisting around. She pulled the blade from between her shoulder blades and sliced the vamp with the gun in half at his midsection just as the gun went off. As the momentum of her twist brought her full circle, she dropped to a crouch, and jabbed forward between the hostage’s legs, severing the right leg of the vamp, and the last man dropped to the floor. This allowed the vampire who had already proclaimed himself as master to take out his captor by severing his head from his bleeding body with a quick morphing of his hand into a claw.

Sara, still on her knees, watched while he then proceeded to the vamp that she’d cut in half and dispatched him into nothingness as well.

As he moved toward her, she managed to stand again and bring her blade to the forefront, taking a stance that showed she still had a lot of fight left in her, even though, in reality, she was nearly done.

Blood was pouring out of the bullet wound at her side at an alarming rate. Adrenaline surging through her body, she hadn’t even realized that she had been hit until that second. She knew that it had not hit any major organs, but that didn’t mean it would not bleed for a while. Her body had an unnatural ability to heal itself very quickly up to the point where she was no longer in mortal danger. Major wounds would heal in a matter of hours rather than months, then she would heal like a normal human, weeks to heal deep bruises, and less if it was just cuts. As he moved within a foot of her, she brought the blade to his throat, stopping his progress. He showed her the jeweled dagger that he had taken from the dead vamp in his open palm to show he meant her no harm.

“Do you truly wish to die, little warrior?” Aaron asked her.

“Yes, yes I do. We had a deal, you and me. Mine for yours. Are you a man of your word, Mr. MacManus?”

Sara watched him bristle at that.
He is probably not used to having people refute him,
she thought with a grin.

The large vamp was very handsome, she realized. His hair was long and straight, hanging in a curtain of black halfway down his back. His face was beautiful, full lips, high cheekbones. His nose had a small bump in the middle, like it had been broken once. That should have detracted from his good looks, but it only seemed to enhance them. His eyes were a startling shade of blue, the color so deep that they looked almost black. He towered over her five-eleven frame by as much as eight inches and he weighed at least two-fifty. He looked fit; his dress shirt hung well across his broad shoulders and his pants hinted at muscled thighs and long legs.

Aaron stared at her too. He seemed to know she was assessing him. She flushed slightly when he grinned.

“Yes, I’m a man of my word. You still wish for me to kill you after you’ve just saved my life? You have no second thoughts?”

“It wasn’t my intention to save you at all. I told you that. All I ask is that you make it quick and clean.” She staggered slightly, dizzy for just a second.

“If we stand here long enough and debate the finer points of life and why you should live, you’ll die anyway, I think.”

Sara felt him try to touch her mentally and she tightened her shield. When he could not reach her, he continued.

“Why is it that I can see that you’re bleeding, yet I smell no blood on you? I can’t even pick up your human scent. Are you even human? I find that to be very curious.” He looked her up and down and she felt heat rush through her.

What right does he have to size me up?
she thought.
It didn’t matter about my size minutes ago when I was saving him. Arrogant bastard.
“Because I don’t want you to be able to smell me, all right? That isn’t what matters. What will it take, vamp, another attempt on your life? A stab to a vital area with a bit of silver? Tell me. We had a deal, yours for mine. Lop off my head and be done with it.”

Demetrius and April chose that moment to enter the room. She felt their shock as though it were her own. Demetrius tried to reach through her shield, but she was a little busy.

“Master, she saved our lives. I beg for her life, sire. Without her, none of us, you included, would be here.”

Sara chanced a glance over at him and frowned. She wanted to say, “Stay out of this. I helped you, now leave me alone.”

“You beg for something that she is very willing, and wanting, to forfeit, Demetrius.” Aaron nodded toward her. “Little Warrior here has asked me to take her from her subsistence. I haven’t yet decided what to do about this.”