Conquer the Highland Beast: The Vampire Dylan Macgregor (Hearts of Darkness) (18 page)

Max’s Demoness

Dylan heard Caitlin’s laughter in his mind even two miles away. It was extraordinary. He’d wanted to stay. Wished he could. However, it was too soon and things were complicated.

The call was from Ramon. “You get the location?” He wanted the morgue information Dylan picked from Caitlin’s thoughts.

“Yes, but you better hurry. Within a few hours, the federal forensic team will be crawling all over the evidence.”

They had to get the body away from there before the authorities
gathered any more samples. Once they checked the victim’s blood, they would want more samples, run more tests—and he couldn’t allow that to happen.

“I’m on my way with a few old friends from the Quarter.”

So, Ramon still used his contacts. “Good, I have a laundry list of business to take care of before day break.”

“Does that include the lovely agent?

“Unfortunately, no. But I did want to thank you for sending her my way.”

“No thanks necessary. It’s good she’s not staying at the hotel with the others. She’ll be safer with Marie at the B & B.”

Dylan’s heart clenched in his chest. “You have a reason to think she’s in danger?”

“
Now? No. Marie gave her a protective amulet. The room key is protected, and so is Ms. Donovan as long as she wears it. The lovely agent is gifted. There are demons leaking through an open portal. Many who know about her abilities believe we should prevent her from helping the authorities.”

“Is there anything you don’t know, Ramon? Never mind. Keep an eye on her tonight. I’ve got to go. Garr is calling.”

He wasn’t ready to tell Ramon about having the demoness in custody or about Max’s reaction to her. There were still too many unanswered questions about the demoness and the child. Max couldn’t return to the estate until they had more answers. He was relieved that at least tonight, Caitlin was safe and under the voodoo queen’s protection.

He picked up the incoming call from Garr, just
as he pulled into the driveway.

“The
female demon and the little one are staying in the cottage on my property out near the witches’ compound. Símone has taken responsibility and will stay with them for now, and I’m certain they’ll be safe with her.”

“Good thinking. Símone is perfect. Maybe she can get some answers for us.”

Of all the beings around, for some reason unknown to Dylan, the succubus got along best with the witches. The coven kept to themselves and were the most secretive of his people. They’d stay quiet about the woman and the child, and if he decided it was necessary, they could create a protection spell.

When he shut the car door behind him and entered his house, the sun was beginning to highlight the horizon and the moon had long since set. He tossed his keys and his phone on the chair next to the bar and noticed the decanter of blood in the den had been recently filled.

For a moment, he wondered who was looking out for his needs. No sooner had the thought crossed his mind, when he heard Símone shout from the backdoor, “Dylan? Mind if I join you for a minute?”

“Who’s with the guest
s?” He waved her in and offered her a seat on the couch, but she shook her head and the idea off.

“Garr at the moment. They are all resting.”

Dylan felt the heaviness wash over him from the night’s activity and the rising sun. “I’m warning you, succubus…I’m ready to drop where I’m standing. Do not enter my dreams if I nod off on you.”

He circled the couch and dropped into the plush cushions with a sigh.

“Dylan,” Símone bristled. “I would never—”

“Joking.” He held up his hands to the woman who literally could be every man’s wet dream and the death of him at the same time. He didn’t know much about her past, but her French upbringing during the Revolution didn’t allow for wit. “You really must learn the fine art of humor,
darlin’. Do I have you to thank for the fresh blood?”

The exquisite dark fae nodded and sat on the arm of the sofa, her shadow image taking on her solid presence. “I sent my maid over earlier thinking you would be as drained as Garr was when he returned. I had fresh meat waiting for him. The maid would have been more appropriate for you, but since you weren’t
here I had her leave the bagged blood. Is it to your liking,
cher
?”

“Perfect. Thanks for thinking of me and for looking after Garr and the demons. We had an eventful night it seems. Now what else is on your mind?”

“I want you to know I will be staying with Genevieve and her sister, Juliette—the Halflings—as long as they need me.”

He had to think for a minute and
sort through his memories to figure out who she was talking about. Then it hit him. “Shit, the demoness is part fae?” He should have sensed it from the way Max had reacted.
Dark fae
? He wondered.

“Why? What is the problem,
cher
? I will control them and teach them control until we decide what is to be done with them.”

“Have you determined whether the Halflings are light or dark fae?”

Símone stood up abruptly, her solid image fading to a dull transparent shadow. Now he’d done it. Pissed off the one ally he had within the dark fae circle.

If a disembodied vision could stomp around the room, then that’s exactly what Símone managed, her anger becoming evident as the air in the room thickened.

“That is insulting.
I
am dark fae, yet I am not—”

“Símone, please sit! It’s not …look, I believe this woman is Max’s life mate.”

“Oh, psst.” She dismissed his concern with a frown and a wave of her see-through hand. “That is impossible. He and Kyle are Shelby’s mates.”

“Not since he sired Shelby. The sire bond apparently trumps the mate bond.”

“Oh. Oh!” She materialized and sat back down on the arm of the sofa. “How did we not know this?”

“Don’t ask me.
But I saw the reaction Max had to her…Genevieve? Is that the older sister’s name?”

“
Oui.
The child, Juliette is the equivalent of a seven-year-old human. The demoness and the child were severely traumatized by their experience. Max will have to develop patience if what you believe is in fact so. It will take time to teach them what they must know to survive here, and for Genevieve to learn how to trust again.”

She waved a fully visible hand this time and shrugged her shoulders in the classic French fashion. “Do not concern yourself. I will look after them—teach them what they must know. You may rest assured I will not allow them to harm anyone.” She pointed a finger at him. “Or to be harmed.”

“You have no idea how relieved I am to hear that.” He stretched, before asking the next favor. “Símone, I appreciate everything you’ve done, but there’s one more thing I must ask.”

“
Ce qu’est-ce?
”

“Find out all you can about them. Where they c
ome from. How they got here. Where the damn portal is. I want to know who opened it, and how it’s staying open even though Amyra was sent to ground.”

“I will find out what I can.”

“Tomorrow, I’ll be askin’ them the questions if you don’t get answers. So use your gentle ways before I have to use my own methods—”

“Dylan! You would never harm innocents.”

“Of course I wouldn’t, but I can appear intimidating to small women and children. I wouldn’t want to frighten either of them. And Símone? Find out what happened between Max and Genevieve…from her perspective. I don’t dare let them anywhere near one another under the circumstances.”

“
Oui.”
Símone turned to leave out the back, the same way she’d entered, through the wall—dematerializing as he said, “Thanks, again.”

The sun was draining him. He needed sleep and fresh blood from the vein. The bagged blood he finished off was enough to stave off the hunger but not enough to nourish. He left a message for someone on staff to send a donor over when he woke up. He always had plenty of female volunteers, but this time a funny twinge twisted his gut at the idea of bedding one of the volunteers.

Hours later, all he could think about was the image of Caitlin in her boots and nothing else.
Damn.
He was hard again when he slipped into bed. He was never going to survive this woman. Everything about her turned him on. He swore he would not claim her until he dated her. After all she was a modern woman and would expect him to be a modern man.

Oh hell,
what will she do when she discovers what I am?

~~~~

“I can’t come to you until sundown. Be ready.”

Sundown? Vampire. Yes.
But no. He’d been available during the early morning meeting and then again later in the afternoon.

Something else. More.

The sun would be late coming out today. Good because Caitlin was tired. When she finally did get to sleep, thoughts of Dylan kept her tossing and turning. She envisioned him with fangs, but instead of being afraid, her heart beat with anticipation. Of what? She didn’t want to imagine. She never considered herself to be one of those vapid women who longed for a dominant male to control her.

“I know what you are, Dylan. How could I not?”

She didn’t understand the nuances of the supernatural elements of the men she’d encountered since she’d been in New Orleans. They were different from the men she regularly encountered. Everyone except her brother Jack. His brain waves—before he’d gone mad and set the house on fire with their parents in it—and these men shared certain wave patterns.

Like Jack, they weren’t entirely human
—and neither was she. When he’d gone mad, he hadn’t been human at all. She’d accepted this assignment to gather more evidence. Where else would she find what she was looking for, if not within an investigation of unexplainable occurrences?

The mental patterns were a dead give-away, but so far, none of them had been the same, either. Perhaps that was what confused her most. Dr. Max Hamilton’s brain wave activity was similar to Jack’s and to Dylan’s, but not quite the same. Then there was Dylan’s strange, quiet friend, Garr…something or other. She couldn’t get any read on him at all. Being in his mind was like visiting the zoo.

Then there was Detective Ramon Delavega. No info there either. He was different, and although Dylan sensed it too, he didn’t know any more about the cop than she did. She’d picked up that much from what thoughts she’d been able to snatch when he let down his guard to probe her mind.

It was kind of satisfying to think Dylan’s mental powers and hers were such a good match.

“Caitlin, darlin’ please stop. I have to get a few hours rest, and I can’t while you’re worrying. I swear I’ll explain it all to you tomorrow.”

The old St. Bernard Cemetery

Dylan was determined to explain what he was when he picked up Caitlin the next afternoon. On the way out to his estate, they spent time talking. The explanation through mind talk made it easier. What he hadn’t anticipated were the questions she had about her brother. Apparently, he’d known more about what they were than Caitlin did.

“
He always believed there are other creatures, other planes of existence.”

“
He would be right.”

“
He shared the same mental gift. Then he went off to war and was seriously wounded. After he returned, he seemed different. The doctors diagnosed him with PTSD, but I always thought it was something else?”

“You’re probably right.” He understood how the killing may have hurt her brother—how it could destroy the humanity within him.

“What do you think happened to Jack?” she asked after she told him what happened. “There’s always the darkness, the evil trying to take over the light, and in certain cases, the killing spurs it on. Years of soldiering almost killed me…” Dylan’s laugh was derisive. “Actually, it did kill me. It didn’t take my soul—not completely—but almost. I was fortunate. Sounds as if Jack wasn’t. I’m sorry the darkness stole his light and the evil took your family.”

“Me too, but it’s good to be among people like me—well, maybe not like me—but people who are different, too. Does that make sense?”

“Aye.” Dylan took her hand and held it as he drove the back roads of the bayou country. No oncoming traffic to worry about. The contact made the information easier to disseminate.

“T
he supernatural elements within our genes call out to others like ourselves. We don’t understand how we recognize one another.” He shrugged. “We don’t know why we gravitate to others with supernatural gifts. Perhaps it’s a self-preservation sort of thing.”

“Or, maybe we’re just tired of being different.”

“Outcasts? Perhaps you’re right. Here none of us have to hide what we are.”

~~~~

After arriving at the estate, Dylan realized there was a great deal more to tell Caitlin. More than she’d be able to grasp in the short time she had to adjust to the concepts. He invited her into the den and offered her a drink. She sat down and shook off his offer.

“Look, I want you to understand about us, but we don’t have time for the learning curve. In a few minutes, we’re going out to locate an open portal from the Underworld. Demons are crossing over into our world making it dangerous for all of us.”

“How can I help?”

“I can take a few moments, and if you want we can merge our minds.”

“Ah, there goes my mystique.”

“Never. You are a wonder to me. But once we share our memories, there’s no going back…”

“As in…what?”

“I believe you
’re my life mate, soul mate—whatever you want to call that one great love or connection.”

“Oh.
How sweet. I understand—”

He
held up a hand and shook his head. “I thought I loved another, before. You’ll see all mistakes, become aware of all my shortcomings, and I’m afraid to expose all my weaknesses.”

“Really? You know,
Dylan, to me true love is when you know everything about another person, even the worst things, and love them anyway.”

He
clasped her to him, holding onto her like a lifeline. “I hope so, Caitlin. I hope you can love me once you know all there is to know.”

“Let’s do it. I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. I want the connection.” She brushed a kiss
over his lips. “Take me somewhere private and quiet.”

~~~~

Within seconds, he had traced her to his bedroom. When he stood her up, her knees buckled and he was forced to carry her to the bed. “Sorry, forgot to warn you. It’s easier than sifting but not as fast. You’ll get used to it.”

She was still a bit shaky, and her eyes opened wide when she admitted, “Or maybe not.”

He kissed her lightly and laid down beside her. “Get comfortable. This won’t take long, but the impact can be mind-boggling. I’ll soothe your emotions so it’s not too much of a problem to be bombarded with them all at once. Are you ready?”

“No. Kiss me.
Really kiss me this once. I’m in your bed, and so far all we’ve had is phone sex—scratch that—mind sex. If you really love me, show me.”

Dylan scooped her up against his body and wrapped her in his embrace. He stared deep into her eyes, hoping to touch her soul, and then he kissed her.

He kissed her as if she was everything. Because she was.

The universe
unwrapped before him. All the starlight exploded for him, and he shared it with her. He took the kiss deeper, and their minds touched. As soon as their thoughts blended, he recognized this was going to be different. She was like no other. Caitlin wasn’t going to allow him to control what they were to each other. Not the kiss or the joining of their minds. She was going to be right with him all the way—in the dark and in the light—through the good and the bad. And in his heart, he knew she was the one who would love him no matter what.

~~~~

When they returned to the present, he kissed the tears from her cheeks, and she wiped away his with her thumbs.

“I’m so lucky I found you.” Caitlin hiccupped. “I can’t imagine you’ve been through so much pain and loneliness waiting for me.”

“You’re here now,” he said quietly, and rubbed a hand across his heart. “My pain is gone. You healed my heart.”

“The scar from when you died is still there.” Caitlin pressed her palm to the ragged scar. “I have something I believe belongs to you.”

She began to unbutton her sweater, and when he stilled her hand, she laughed at him. “Let me do this. It’s been a long time coming but…” The protected key Marie St Claire gave her hung from a chain around her neck. But she pulled an old, worn leather thong from around her neck and showed him what she had been reaching for. “I believe this is yours, Macgregor.”

His father’s ring—his ring—the ring Niccolai gave to his son the day Dylan died. This woman was holding it out to him in the palm of her hand. “B-but how…?”

“Take it. It’s yours, isn’t it? Back where it belongs, finally? Right? I can’t tell you how many generations have passed it on, but how I ended up with it was a stretch. I suppose Niccolai foresaw me entering the picture.”

“Are you my descendant?” Suddenly his feelings for her made him eerily uncomfortable.

“Wipe that stricken look off your face, Macgregor. I’m not a direct descendant and if I was, I’d be too many times removed for you to be concerned. In any case, I’m afraid most of your old direct line died out long ago or were lost. I ended up with this because our cousin died childless and left this to my brother…and you know what happened there. The ring was in a safety deposit box in my name with instructions to wear it always until the rightful owner came to claim it. I’m embarrassed to say I haven’t taken the time to research it. I wasn’t even sure what family crest it represented until now.”

“You’re very gifted. You must be related in some way to the fae side. Perhaps Evie’s fae line.”

“That would please me.” She gladdened his heart with her response. “I’m not Evie, but it wouldn’t sadden me to have a part of her loving you within me.”

He clutched the woman of his dreams to his chest and choked on the lump in his throat. Finally, when he thought it might be safe to speak, he risked saying, “Make no mistake, woman. I love you with a love greater than anything conceivable, but it would please me
, too, in a sweet satisfying way to know a part of my Evie lives on in one such as you.”

“Enough maudlin thoughts.
Put on the ring, Macgregor and introduce me to your friends before you leave me here to fend for myself.”

He put the ring on. It still fit, but this time it felt right.

“There are only a few taking part today. The staff will be here for you while I’m gone. I’d be proud to introduce you before we go.”

Max called
to tell Dylan that Shelby and Kyle had returned from Guatemala the day before and would help search for the portal. Dylan was relieved. One because Kyle had more experience dealing with his demon than Max did. Two, it would be good to have people he could count on when he went up against the unknown.

“Come on. They’re going to love you.”

~~~~

Dylan and what he laughingly thought of as his merry band of supernatural misfits
formed a caravan leading out toward old St. Bernard Parrish.

“
I found my way through from the other side, but I think the portal is in the back.” Genevieve led the way. “When Hurricane Katrina went through here, the mausoleum that had been built over the portal to keep everyone from discovering the location was swept away when the levee broke.”

The coven remained behind, keeping watch over the little demoness, but Cassie, the coven leader, had volunteered to close the portal once they located it. As usual, Dylan figured she was looking for a position on the council, but maybe he’d be wrong.

Caitlin had insisted on joining him once she saw the way Cassie sidled up to him. He would have told her the truth about why Cassie flirted with him, but he enjoyed the sudden possessive way she stuck to him. Since Caitlin claimed she could read the witch’s mind like an open book if she wanted, perhaps he’d been mistaken about the witch’s motives in the past.

“
Men! Oh, my God. I’m a woman. I don’t need my gift to know when another woman is interested in ‘my’ man.”

He squeezed h
er fingers lightly. The emotion he sent her was filled with humor, but pleasure filled him at the idea of being “her man”. The message took on a whole new meaning when Caitlin stepped between him and Cassie on the way to the old path through the underbrush and said, “Everyone, follow us. I’m getting psychic vibrations.”

“Are you? I’m not getting anything.” Dylan frow
ned and gave her a skeptical sideways glance.

“No,” she whispered, “But I’m sure Genevieve will let me know if I’m heading in the wrong direction.”

The woman made him want to laugh. When was the last time his heart had felt so light?
“Gods, have I told you I love you?”

“You sure you’re not trying to get in my pants, again?”

“I haven’t actually been in your pants, and if I remember, ye said ye weren’t wearing any then, now were ye? But aye, trying again, I may be.”

He heard her laughter in his mind, and followed behind her watching her ass, wondering about those panties as they made their way.

Kyle came up beside him and whispered, “Better keep your eyes on the trail and your mind on the demons.”

“I am watching—”

“Right, I see what you’re watching,” Kyle glanced at Caitlin’s ass, and Dylan growled beneath his breath.

“Yes, Caitlin, I believe this is the way.” Genevieve
interrupted and saved Dylan from having to lie. “One of the hurricane rescue workers accidently entered the portal after the storm. When the demons on the other side discovered him wandering in the otherworld, apparently instead of killing him, they offered to return him…if he showed them where he’d entered.”

“How long ago did this happen?” Max asked, looking puzzled by her explanation.

“I don’t exactly know. The worker could have been wandering for years. Time isn’t the same on our plane. By the time the demons made their way here, I guess years had passed.”

“After they made their way through, they killed him, right?” Kyle speculated.

Max bristled next to the demoness. “Yes, but not before they killed Genevieve’s parents and stole Juliette.”

“Right,” Dylan agreed. “Unfortunately, Genevie
ve’s family lived near this spot on the parallel plane. To prevent them from interfering, the demons attacked her, killed her parents, and stole her sister.”

“My father was a gentle demon. My mother saw that
kindness in him. Not all of us are killers.” The Halfing quietly defended her father’s race, then paused looking sheepish. “Well, not unless driven by desperation.”

Max gently chucked Genevieve under the chin. “Isn’t that the truth,” he said and made her smile.

She glanced at Max knowing what he was and suspecting what Kyle was as well. It was clear both men had demon blood and diluted or not, even Shelby’s blood was a bit tainted.

“
Cher
, we here are vampires and werewolves and demons. I myself am a succubus, designed by my very nature to kill, but I don’t unless I am provoked beyond all means.” Símone wrapped her arm around the young woman. “We do what we must. Take what energy we need hopefully without harming our host.”

“We’ve learned to control our dark natures—or at least some of us are still working at it.”
When Max gave her one of his charismatic winks, Dylan saw where he was heading. He’d decided to win the little demoness over. Instead of applying the caveman tactics he would have preferred—thus cutting through the crap and getting directly where he wanted to be, between her legs and embedded in her soul—he was pouring on the “good old Southern boy” charm, and laying it on thick. Dylan figured Genevieve didn’t stand a chance. Based on her response and the blush, Max was winning her over one wink at a time.