Born in the Shadows (In the Shadows Series Book 1) (30 page)

“I love you too.”

“You do?” she said, her voice filled with such amazement it made his heart ache. How could she ever have doubted he loved her?

He stood up and went to her, pulling her into his arms and kissing her deeply. He pulled back and pressed his forehead against hers, their lips almost touching as he whispered to her.

“I love you more than anything in this world, Cordelia. It’s why I acted like an ass. The thought of something bad happening to you sets me off and I didn’t know how to handle it. I’m sorry for pushing you like that.”

“It’s okay. I’m sorry for pushing back,” she said, smiling widely as she cupped his face and kissed him hard. His hands dropped to her ass, pulling her up against him and she lifted her legs, wrapping them around his waist. He carried her over to the bed, laying her down and hovering over her.

He grabbed the hem of her shirt and stripped it off her, dipping his head to press a kiss to the swell of her breast. He could see her nipple pucker under her bra and he took the nub between his lips, suckling her through the fabric. She groaned, arching her back and pushing herself further into his mouth.

He hooked his thumbs under the bra straps, easing them off her shoulders and down her arms. He tugged at the cups, pulling the whole thing down to hang uselessly around her waist. Her nipples were a bright pink, standing at attention, begging for his touch. He reached out and reverently traced the tip of one with his index finger. She inhaled sharply and her back arched off the mattress. He grinned devilishly before taking the tight flesh between his lips and suckling on her nipple.

He moved from one breast to the other, tormenting her until she was writhing beneath him, her fingernails scratching sharply along his back. He abandoned her breasts and headed south, his lips trailing down the centre of her stomach, his tongue taking a detour to circle her navel before continuing on its merry way to the waistband of her jeans.

He made quick work of the button and fly, yanking the denim swiftly down and off her legs. She lay there clad solely in her panties and he stared at her from his position at the bottom of the bed.

It was like a kick in the stomach as he stared up the length of her body. She looked absolutely breathtaking. Her hair was spread out on the pillow, haloing around her head as if she was an angel. Her eyes hooded with desire, her breasts swollen and pink from his mouth, her legs splayed out and he could smell the scent of her arousal on the air.

She trembled as his hands slid up her legs, coming to rest on the inside of her thighs where he nudged her to open them wider. He slithered up the bed until he was directly between her legs, eye level with her panty-clad mound.

He reached out, his warm palm cupping her centre and her hips jumped in response. He pressed against her with the base of his palm, rotating in small circles and she moaned deep in her throat. She spread her legs farther apart, giving him as much free access as possible, silently begging him to go further.

He grinned at her eagerness, relishing it in the way that any red blooded male would. He dipped his head and pressed his lips against her panty-clad sex.

“Tease,” she whined and he only wagged his eyebrows in response before pushing his tongue between her folds.

She cried out and dug her fingers into his hair, holding him in place as he explored her with his mouth, using the texture of the cotton panties to his advantage. He lapped and sucked on her, dampening the fabric with both his mouth and her desire as she thrashed and moaned beneath him. The taste of her made his head swim and he clamped his hands around her hips, as much to keep her steady as himself. He felt her body tense beneath him as he continued to delve into her centre and he looked up, his eyes meeting hers and holding them as he drove her over the edge.

When her cries had quieted and her body had ceased its trembling, he pulled her damp panties from her body, tearing them in his haste. Didn’t matter, he’d buy her some new ones later. Right now, all he cared about was getting inside her.

He stripped himself quickly, wanting nothing but skin-to-skin contact in this moment. He positioned himself at her entrance and stared down at her as he took his time filling her to the hilt. He loved watching her face when he pushed inside her, the way her mouth opened in that little O and her breath hitched in the back of her throat.

He reached out to brush her hair off her forehead and then pulled himself back, inching out of her slowly before sliding back in at the same languid pace. He wanted to make the feeling last. When he was inside her, it felt like he was right where he belonged.

The only problem was that Cordelia wasn’t in the mood for slow. She wrapped her legs around his waist, her hips lifting in rhythm with his, urging him to pick up the pace.

“Faster, Gabe, please,” she whimpered, her hands dropping to his ass, fingernails digging into the hard flesh, urging him on. Her plaintive tone was his undoing and he reared up, letting instinct take over as he began to thrust hard and fast inside her.

Her keening cry told him that he was doing everything right and with every thrust, he could feel her slick channel trembling around his length. She was close and so was he. He had wanted it to last longer but knowing that this was the woman who loved him was too much for his self-control.

As his hips pistoned, his head dropped to her neck and he rasped in her ear.

“Oh God Cordy, I love you so much.”

“I love you, Gabe,” she gasped back, the words turning into a long moan as her muscles throbbed around him, holding him tight inside her body as she reached her peak. The feel of her clenching around him was enough to drive him over the edge and he came inside her with one final powerful thrust.

It was beyond the scope of anything he had ever felt in his entire life. Wave after wave of pleasure crashed into him and just when he thought it would subside, it started up again. It could have gone on a few minutes or a few days, he didn’t know and he didn’t care. He didn’t want it to stop.

The two of them collapsed in a sweaty heap on the bed, gasping and panting as they came down from the high. Gabe pulled her tight against his chest, his fingers going to toy with her hair while she pressed her cheek against his chest, sighing with contentment.  

“You know,” he said, finally breaking the companionable silence between them, “That is the first time we’ve ever had sex without you feeding.”

“I know. I wanted to do it once without it.” There was a long pause, as if she was mustering up the courage for what she would say next. “Did you miss it?”

He thought about it. The feeding had been new and exciting and it had added another level of intimacy to sex. He had enjoyed it a lot but tonight he hadn’t missed it at all. The intimacy that came from loving each other topped any feeling that could come from feeding.

This time it had been only about them. They weren’t a Shadow Walker and a human. They were just Cordelia and Gabe.

“Not at all. I just want you,” he said, pressing a kiss to her temple. 

“Right answer,” she said with a bright smile. “Now about me going to Roxy, I am still going to go. What happened between us doesn’t change that.”

That protective urge flared up inside him again but he beat it back. He wasn’t going to screw this up again.

“I don’t like it,” he told her. He figured now was as good as a time for honesty as any other. “But I understand why you have to do it.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I don’t like it either,” she sighed, idly tracing a fingertip over his chest.

“I won’t fight you about it anymore but you have to do something for me.”

His serious tone had her rolling over in his arms to face him, the playful caresses between them halting. “You have to promise me that you’ll come back okay. I already lost you once, I’m sure as hell not going to lose you again. So you promise me you’ll be okay.”

“I promise,” she said. He looked into her eyes, trying to find any hint of a lie but she looked sincere.

But his mother had looked just as sincere when she promised him she was fine. A month later, she was dead and he discovered she had known that what she was promising in that moment was a lie. Since then he had never trusted himself to tell if someone was being honest.

Still he didn’t want to fight with Cordelia anymore. Truth or lie didn’t matter because he did not intend to sit at home, waiting to find out if she made it through safe. But she didn’t need to know that, not when it would have her throwing him out on the streets.

“Good. Now let’s get some sleep,” he told her, pulling the rumpled blankets over them. “You have a big night ahead of you.”

Truth was he needed the sleep more than she did. He had to be at his best because there was no way in hell she was going out without him. Even if he had to sneak behind her back to do it.

***

The front room of the cabin was dark, the only light in the room coming from beneath the skinning room door. Though for Matthew, that strip of light provided enough illumination for the room to be as bright as day.

The only sound in the cabin came from Armand’s even breathing as he slept on the cot and the movements of Matthew’s fingers as he twirled a USB drive between them. He had made the decision today to pass along the information he had gathered.

Just before his death, his sire had told him the story of a legendary prophecy that had been made by one of the Old Ones. It had been whispered about since the end of the Great War. There wasn’t much known about what it said, except that it had something to do with the prediction of a great upheaval in the race. Whatever it was, it had scared the Old Ones enough that they had hidden it, intending for no one to lay eyes on it ever again.

His sire’s story had sparked Matthew’s curiosity and he had started to investigate the legend. It had been hard going, there was little in the way of Shadow Walker libraries. He had ended up reaching out to all different classes of the Shadow Walker world in his search. The deeper he dug, the more he discovered that it was not merely a legend. The prophecy existed, there was no doubt in his mind.

There was also no doubt in his mind that Armand was setting into motion the events that were rumoured to be mentioned in the prophecy. If they could get their hands on the actual prophecy, it could serve their side as a map to follow.

And so it was time to reveal his secrets to his brother. He rose from his chair, intent on waking Armand but before he could reach him, a cell phone rang shrilly in the darkness. Armand stirred, reaching out to pick up the little silver piece of electronics.

“Gotta love the 21
st
century. You can get reception even out in the boonies.” He flipped open the phone and spoke to the caller, listening intently before laughing and then clapping the phone closed and jumping up from the cot.

“Armand, there is something I want to show you,” Matthew said but he was quickly interrupted.

“I don’t have time now. That was Philip, one of our new recruits. Word on the street is Cordelia will be showing up at Roxy tonight. Apparently that pretty boy from the Faelan clan is planning to show her off. We need to get word out to the other recruits and then head down there. I’m taking her out tonight.”

Matthew nodded and set the stick on top of the laptop. There would be no distracting Armand now that he had the scent of the fledgling. He had tasted his chance at revenge and nothing would stop him until he got it.

It would be fine. They had time. The prophecy had been buried for more than a thousand years, what would another few nights matter.

Chapter 18

Cordelia had walked into Roxy on Zeke’s arm, keeping her head high and her fake smile perfectly in place but inside she was shaking with nerves. She was grateful that Nicky’s psychic gift was still in place. It was safer with her mind closed tight. They did not know how talented Armand or his people were at reading minds and she didn’t have enough experience to ensure her thoughts stayed hidden.

The good thing was that Zeke turned out to be an expert at acting casual. He had directed them to one of the booths in the VIP area and now was lounging beside her, arms spread over the back of the booth as he exchanged pleasantries with the passers-by.

If it hadn’t been for the fact that every once in a while he would lean down and whisper in her ear the reports that the others were putting in his head, she would think he was just here for fun.

She was definitely not having fun. They had been here for two hours and nothing had happened. No sightings of Armand or anyone suspicious. She was beginning to feel like tonight was a complete bust. Maybe word hadn’t reached Armand about her coming here. Maybe Isaac had been wrong that she would be enough bait to draw him out.

A throbbing started up in her head followed by a ringing in her ears. Stray thoughts of those around her began to brush up against her psyche and she realized that Nicky’s gift had worn off. She had to readjust herself, putting her own walls back in place to drown out the white noise of the crowd around her.

Her headache disappeared but the ringing remained. Her stomach clenched and her veins tingled with a familiar sensation. It didn’t take long to realize the ringing wasn’t from the thoughts of the people around her. It was from the thoughts of one person in particular and anger burst to life inside her. 

She did her best to fake calmness as she leaned over, close to Zeke’s ear. “I have to go to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll go with you,” Zeke said, making a move to rise but she stopped him.

“I’ll be fine,” she assured him, dropping a hand to pat her side, where the knife Mary had insisted she carry tonight was strapped beneath her jacket. “Besides, they could be waiting for me to make a move away from you. If anything happens, I can call for the others now.”

She made her way to the back hallway, conscious of the eyes of her friends and family on her as she moved through the club. She could feel their minds brushing up against her own, trying to read her thoughts but she kept them at bay.

When she rounded the corner and knew she was out of eyesight, she quickened her step, walking past the bathroom to the back door that opened to the alley way.

It looked just as dirty as it had the night she had fought Armand. Thankfully, the blood that they had spilled had been washed away and the place looked like any other alley in the city. Except for the man lurking behind the dumpsters.

“I know you are here, you might as well show yourself,” she said, her voice echoing off the tall brick walls. There was a moment of silence before she heard scuffling from behind the dumpster and he emerged, stepping into the streetlight.

Gabe stood there, at least having the decency to look ashamed but it did nothing to quell her anger. How could he do this to her? He had not only broken a promise to her, he had put himself in danger coming here without anyone to watch out for him. 

She looked at him with disgust and disappointment. “What exactly were you planning on doing out here?”

“I was going to sneak in the back door,” he said, shrugging his shoulders casually, as if all of this was no big deal. “I figured I could watch over you without being seen.”

He had completely lost all good sense. That or he deluded himself into believing that he was untouchable.

“Do you have a hole in your head? Did you forget what happened the last time you were in this place?”

He threw his shoulders back and lifted his chin with bravado. “It would have been different this time. I know what I’m dealing with, I would have been fine.”

“You would have gotten yourself spotted in a second. Then one of us would have had to step in and our cover would have been blown. What we are doing here is important. We can’t afford to have it screwed up because you want to play the hero.”

“It’s not about playing the hero. God, stop treating me like I’m fucking useless,” he cried out, his voice filled with as much anger and frustration as her own. “I’m not useless. I laid out Sampson when he harassed you.”

“Yeah and that ended up getting me killed!”

His head snapped back as if she had slapped him and his eyes darkened. She knew it was a low blow and part of her wanted to take it back the second it came out but she was too damn mad to listen.

“Don’t you fucking dare,” he said, his voice vibrating with rage as he glared at her. “That wasn’t my fault. I don’t care how pissed off you are, I won’t let you blame me for what Sampson did.”

Her hands scrubbed over her face as she let out a hiss of frustration. He was right. Fighting dirty wasn’t going to help with anything. But he needed to understand that she was hurt he would lie to her.

He had said he understood why she had to come here and why she needed him to stay away. Instead, he thought he knew better than her and told her what she wanted to hear. It broke her heart to find out he thought so little of her. 

She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself so that she could be rational when she spoke to him.

“Gabe, you broke a promise to me.”

“No I didn’t. You never actually made me promise to stay away. You just assumed I would.”

“Really? You are going to argue semantics. Unbelievable,” she rolled her eyes in disgust, unable to stifle a bitter laugh. “The point is you lied to me. You said you understood why I didn’t want you here but you obviously don’t or you wouldn’t be here. This isn’t a game, this is real and it’s dangerous.”

“You keep saying that I don’t get how serious this is, Cordy, but trust me, I get it. It’s heavy shit, the kind of shit where people get hurt bad, even people like you. It’s times like these where you get to ignore what people want in favour of what will keep them safe. I lied to you because it was the only way I could come here and watch over you. It was the only way to be sure you would stay safe. It nearly killed me the first time you died and now, after everything that has happened, if anything happens to you it
will
kill me.”

“And you think it wouldn’t kill me to lose you?” she said, her voice cracking as a sob bubbled up in her throat.

“I know it would. I know that you feel the same as I do. That’s why I know that deep down you get why I came here tonight. If the situation was reversed, you’d do the same thing.”    

She shook her head in frustration because she knew he was right. If he were being sent out as bait, she’d move heaven and earth and screw over God to be there to protect him. But the difference was that she was near indestructible with the advantage of preternatural strength and speed.

She knew that pointing out that fact would just prolong the fight and she was done with fighting. Instead, she took a deep breath and tried to speak with as much calmness as she could muster.

“And if I did the same then you would have every right to be angry at me. What I would or wouldn’t do does not make it right for you to have come here tonight.”

“I love you. I belong wherever you are,” he said, his voice hard as steel.

“No, you belong where you are safe,” she replied, her voice just as hard. She wasn’t going to budge, not on this. “You need to leave right now. I’m going to call Mary and she’ll take you back to the manor.”

“I’m not a child you can just order around.”

“Compared to our kind, you are practically an infant.”

Cordelia recognized the icy voice immediately. A shiver ran up her spine as her stomach bottomed out when she turned to see Armand standing in the alley.

“It’s sad to see you already fighting with each other. If you two can’t make it, what hope is there for the rest of us?”

Before Cordelia could put herself between Armand and Gabe, two males were on either side of her, each one grabbing one of her arms and hoisting her off the ground. Despite her violent struggles, she couldn’t get herself loose from their grip.

She looked over to see that Gabe was in a similar position. A beefy Shadow Walker was holding him, one hand clamped over his mouth, the other holding Gabe tight to his chest. Gabe fought hard against the hold but his struggling left the male completely unfazed.

“Fitting, isn’t it?” Armand said, commanding her attention as he closed the distance between them. He walked over to stand in front of Gabe, eyeing him up and down while Gabe glared daggers at him.

“Here the two of us are, facing off in this alley, your boy’s life hanging in the balance once again.”

She felt panic take hold as Armand wrapped his hand around Gabe’s neck. They were at his mercy and she needed help.

…Armand is in the back alley, I need help NOW…

She could feel the charge of energy from the others as they went into action after hearing her call. Armand must have sensed it as well, his eyes flicking to her for a moment before smiling.

He moved with lightning speed, her eyes barely able to register the movement before his fangs tore Gabe’s throat wide open. Blood sprayed high into the air and coursed down his chest as it flowed faster than Armand could drink.

She howled in rage, a spitting mess as she fought to free herself from her captors. She had to save Gabe. He wasn’t going to die. She wouldn’t let that happen.

The door of the club banged open at the same moment that Demetri and Isaac appeared at the mouth of the alley. Armand pulled away from Gabe and the male holding him dropped him. As Gabe crumpled to the ground in a heap, the males holding her let go.

The sounds of fighting filled the alley but she barely registered it. She scrambled to Gabe’s side, terrified at the sight of so much blood. His eyes were wide with panic and his face was pale as a ghost. She pressed a hand against the large gash in his throat but blood spilled between her fingers and she knew it was useless. No amount of pressure was going to staunch the bleeding, the wound was too deep. Gabe sputtered as he choked on the blood, trying to say something.

“Shh, don’t speak, okay? It’ll just make things worse,” she whispered. They needed to get him to Anne. She could fix him. The woman worked miracles. Hell, she had almost cured cancer with Shadow Walker blood.

Anne’s work gave her an idea and she didn’t hesitate to bite open her wrist. She held it over his mouth and let her blood flow onto his tongue.

“Gabe, I need you to swallow this. It will help,” she whispered in his ear, pressing her wrist tight to his lips. It was a struggle for him to swallow but he did as she asked.

The smashing of glass echoed off the brick walls and the alley was plunged into darkness as the streetlights went out. She heard the shouts of the others and the wild winds rushing through the alley but she didn’t look back. She kept her eyes on Gabe’s, making sure there was still life there, terrified that if she looked away for even a moment, he would slip away.

Demetri dropped to her side, assessing Gabe’s injuries before turning back to bark orders at the others. “We’ve got to get him back to the manor. I’ll shadow walk him back. Mary you take Cordelia back.”

“No!” Cordelia yelled when Mary tried to pull her away from Gabe. “I can’t let him go, he needs my blood.”

“It’s okay, Cordy. You’ve given him enough for now. We need to get him back to Anne. It will only take a second, I promise he’ll be okay,” Mary said.

She grasped her arm and pulled it away from Gabe. The moment she lost contact with him, he and Demetri disappeared as the wind kicked up around them.

The wind continued to swirl around her as the world went black and then reappeared again in the form of the wooded area on the edge of the manor property. Demetri was already gone with Gabe and she and Mary set off at a dead run for the manor, reaching it in a few seconds. They were inside and down to the basement in a few more. 

Cordelia could hear Anne’s frantic voice barking out orders to Demetri from inside one of the examination rooms of the subterranean medical lab. She followed the sound and looked through the window in the door to see Gabe laid out on a gurney, his skin as white as the sheet he was on.

He looked like he was already dead but heart monitor over him beeped slowly but surely. As long as he had a pulse, she could save him.

She moved to stand next to the gurney, Demetri the only one pausing in his actions to register her arrival. Anne continued to hook Gabe up to another monitor, watching the results that were displayed on the digital screens. 

“I can change him.”

That got Anne’s attention and she shook her head.

“He doesn’t have enough blood left, Cordy. You have to take in his blood first for the change to happen.”

“I’ve been feeding from him for over a week. I must still have some of his blood in me,” she offered. There had to be some way for this to work. Losing him was not an option.

“I’m sorry Cordy but it’s not enough. It’s a delicate ritual and sometimes even under the perfect conditions it won’t work.”