Consumed (8 page)

“I know you’re right.” Hiring someone who wasn’t tough enough could, in effect, sentence them to an early death.

Having done a slow prowl along the line, Jared stopped on reaching the Pagori with the ability to control minds, and gave her a congratulatory smile. “Welcome to the new squad.”

Excitement flashed in her eyes, but she took it totally in stride, giving him a simple nod of thanks.

Jared moved on until he came to the shape-shifting Pagori. She looked totally stunned when he pointed at her – possibly because she’d lost her duel.

“I can understand why they chose her,” said Salem. “The combat task isn’t about winning or losing. It’s an opportunity to demonstrate what you can do. Her gift is pretty substantial.”

While Sam talked a little with the unsuccessful applicants, I turned to Salem. “I want to go down there and meet my new squad members.”

“You’ll have to wait until later. First, they get a tour of The Hollow. Then they’ll be taken to their new apartments to get settled in. I heard that Sam’s planning to throw a beach party later…a sort of ‘welcome party’, since she hadn’t felt particularly welcome when she first got here. So you’ll have to wait until then.”

I sighed in disappointment, wrinkling my nose. “Okay.”

“But we won’t be at the party for long.”

“We won’t?”

“No. You and I have business. And it’s been a long time coming.”

(Salem)

It was when I’d followed Sam’s order to meet her outside the arena that I’d caught Ava’s scent. I’d known about the try-outs, known I should remain outdoors, but I hadn’t been able to resist the lure of that scent. Hadn’t been able to resist having some time with the person who had the singular ability to make me want to grunt, scowl, and laugh all at once. And now, I was glad I hadn’t resisted. Because she’d finally let down her defences, and we’d be celebrating that fact much later in bed.

For now, whilst Ava was off to meet with Alora and Jude for lunch, I’d find out why Sam had asked me to meet with her. Only when the arena was empty apart from her and Jared did I finally approach. “Everything all right?”

Sam folded her arms across her chest. “I spoke to your Sire.”

“What did he say?”

“He claims to know a few things that could help us. He wasn’t very specific, though.”

Sounded like Will. “What was his price?”

“He wants permanent residence here with his mate and guard.”

That did
not
sound like Will. “I was expecting him to ask for something outlandish, like using your personal squad to do his dirty work on occasion.” Which wouldn’t have happened. “I wouldn’t have expected him to be prepared to leave his business and nest behind.”

“He knows I’ll be closing down his fight club, since I refuse to support the running of anything that that bitch is involved in.”

“You’re taking away a lot of her income,” I noted.

Jared grinned crookedly. “Oh yes. She no longer has money from the brothel, and I doubt she’s succeeding in blackmailing her clients any longer, now that the evidence is gone.”

Very true. “She’ll be pissed.”

“Angry people make mistakes.” And that was obviously what Jared was hoping for.

“What did you tell Will?” I asked Sam.

“I told him I’d think on it. I wanted to speak to you first.” She sighed. “I despised my Sire, Salem. He was a conscienceless twat, which was why I happily ended his pitiful life. If Antonio had asked for Victor to live here – a place I consider a haven, as well as my home – I’d have found it extremely fucking difficult.”

“Will isn’t like Victor. He’s not what anyone would call a good guy, but he’s not all bad.”

“I don’t trust him. You remember when I was first made a commander and your entire squad was being arrogant, high and mighty, and got stuck in a ‘we don’t want or need your help, we’re perfect’ zone?”

Yeah, we’d all been ignorant bastards to her; certain we didn’t need coaching because we’d passed the try-outs and been picked for the legion. We’d gotten all wrapped up in the honour of being selected, and had pretty much forgotten who we were.

“I contacted vampires from your lines, got personal, painful information about your pasts and hit you all with them. I wanted to snap you back into reality and make you realise that being accepted into the legion didn’t mean you got to forget all the experiences that made you who you are and gave you your strengths.”

It had worked. It had hurt, but it had definitely snapped us out of our zone.

“It was Will I spoke to about you, Salem. He sang like a fucking canary. Told me all about what happened to your parents that horrible night a long time ago before you became a vampire. If someone had called me, asking for that kind of info about you, I’d have told them to fuck themselves with a plunger.”

My mouth twitched into a half-smile. Much like Ava, Sam never failed to amuse me. “Thanks, Coach.”

“For that reason, I don’t like him, and I don’t trust him. But this whole matter is a lot bigger than me. Still, if it will be too hard for you, I can turn him down.”

Having Will around could be awkward, given that he was controlling and believed that, as my Sire, he had influence over what I did or didn’t do. At one time, I hadn’t cared. Now, though, things were different. “I’ll be fine if you accept his offer. Just as long as he doesn’t think he has authority over me.”

“You answer to only me and Jared. If he doesn’t like it, he’ll just have to learn to bloody deal with it.”

Jared stuffed his hands in his pockets. “His mate and guard, what are they like?”

“Blythe is exactly what Will needs: someone he can control, someone who’ll follow him blindly. His guard, Todd, is a quiet guy. Deadly, though.”

Jared twisted his lips. “We’ll do background checks on all of them before we agree. I just wanted a brief idea.” He cocked his head. “You’re sure you can deal with your Sire living here?”

I’d dealt with worse. “Call him. Accept his offer.”

“Be absolutely positive, Salem, because we can’t go back on our word,” said Sam.

“Accept his offer,” I repeated. “I’m fine with it.”

It was when I was at the exit that Sam called out, “Oh, and Salem? About Ava…She’s been hurt a lot, made to feel like she’s not good enough exactly how she is.”

“Who the fuck made her think that?” I demanded, totally pissed – which weirdly seemed to please Sam.

“Only Ava can answer that. Just make sure you’re one hundred percent serious about her, that you’re willing to take her just the way she is, before you attempt to start something with her. I don’t want her hurt again.”

“Neither do I.” And I’d ensure it didn’t happen.

She nodded. “Good. Now sod off, I’m busy.”

My mouth twitched again. “Right, Coach.”

CHAPTER FIVE

(Ava)

I doubted that anyone had experienced the kind of beach parties that happened at The Hollow…purely because they didn’t have Fletcher and his boyfriend, Norm, to organise them.

Sam told me that the guys had thrown beach parties before, but she claimed they had outdone themselves this time. And they had certainly succeeded in making the new squad members, Maya and Cassie, feel welcome.

A lot of people were under the huge marque, which was decorated by colourful lanterns that lit up the evening. Under there was a DJ, a bar, a table of finger foods, pool tables, and a makeshift dance floor – a dance floor on which Antonio and his mate, Lucy, were swaying together while frowning at a very drunk Max, who was dancing with an inflatable palm tree.

Most of the girls, including me, were relaxing in the large luxury cabanas or on the cream rattan sun loungers that were surrounded by tiki torches and had a huge bonfire as a centrepiece. Most of the legion, however, was either swimming, surfing, or making use of the jet skis. Of course, the more immature members – sadly this included Harvey and Damien – were building obscene sand-snowmen.

“Where’s Salem?” asked Alora.

Lifting my head from the rattan lounger, I took a sip of my cocktail, careful not to spill it on my beach dress. “Reuben soaked him with a water gun that was loaded with curry-flavoured NSTs. So Salem chased him into the rainforest. Where’s Evan?”

“Swimming. Or, more accurately, taking turns with one of his squad at trying to drown Denny. Kind of impossible for them to do that, since Denny’s gift lets him mimic both sea cucumbers and hagfish.”

“Guys are such odd creatures,” muttered Jude.

“Where’s Chico?” I asked her.

She tipped her head toward a group of guys who were attacking each other with water balloons. “Being an idiot.”

“I really can’t believe the DJ’s playing
Club Tropicana
.” Paige, who was sprawled on the lounger next to mine with Imani, shook her head.

From her bed on the porch of a cabana, Sam laughed. “Fletcher’s playlists are always hilarious.”

“Does he dress up at every party?” asked Imani. Paige was very protective of her, and since Paige’s gift was to take an injury and give it to someone else, she was perfectly capable of doing so. Imani needed protecting, since her gift was to sever blood-links, making it possible for her to destroy a vampire’s connection to their Sire or even their mate. Such a gift could be misused, as we’d all learned the hard way…but that was a whole other story.

“Nope,” replied Sam. “Not sure what inspired Fletcher to dress up as Captain Jack Sparrow, and I’m not sure I want to know.”

“I have to say,” began Maya, our new resident shapeshifting vampire, “I wasn’t expecting this.”

Sam cocked her head. “What?”

“When you said there would be a party, I imagined some sort of ballroom with classical music and champagne.”

Cassie nodded. “Yeah, I was panicking about it, because I’m not good with formal gatherings. Hell, I’m not good at any gatherings.”

“I know what you mean,” chuckled Sam. “I’m the same, and I promised that any parties I threw would be fun, not pretentious. But Fletcher’s the mastermind behind it all.”

Hearing Evan laughing hysterically, we all turned to see that Salem was now pursuing Reuben at the far end of the beach – only this time, Salem was in possession of the water gun loaded with curry-flavoured NSTs. Both Reuben and Salem looked like they’d been dunked in a sewer.

I giggled. “I never thought I’d say this…but I think Salem is having fun.”

Studying him, Sam said, “It’s hard to tell from all the way down here.”

“It’s hard to tell even when he’s up close,” Alora quite rightly pointed out. “He always looks so serious.”

“So the tall, surly – and, I have to say, totally hot – blond is yours?” Maya asked me.

My smile was wide and proud. “He is.”

Cassie looked from me to Salem. “Considering the size of him to the size of you, I’m surprised he hasn’t broken you.” I laughed.

“They haven’t done the dirty deed yet.” Alora drained her cocktail.

“That’s for later,” I chuckled.

“He won’t hurt you,” Paige assured me. “I mean, I don’t know him well. I don’t think anyone knows him
well.
But I’ve seen the way he is with you. He’s like freakishly overprotective. He’ll be gentle.”

I shot her a horrified look. “Why in the holy mother of fuck would I want him to be gentle?”

“I don’t think you have to worry, Ava.” Sam shook her head. “There’s nothing gentle about Salem.”

She was right. Even his feather-light touches weren’t tender. They were teasing, seductive, and possessive – promises of what was to come.

At that moment, Jared approached with two snow cones. Having handed one to Sam, he laid on the lounger beside her.

“Where’d you get them?” I asked him.

“There’s a snow cone machine under the marque.”

“I have to get me one of those.” I rose to my feet, stretching. Then I frowned. “Who are they?” Three vampires were just removing their shoes to cross the beach.

Sam followed the direction of my gaze. “That must be Salem’s Sire. I agreed for him to move here permanently in exchange for information on the brothel’s owner. I didn’t think he’d arrive so soon.”

“He has information on the brothel’s owner?”

“Salem didn’t mention it?” When I shook my head, Sam quickly gave me a rundown.

“Wow.” I was a little put-out that Salem hadn’t told me, despite knowing he wasn’t a guy of many words. At the very least, it would have been nice to know that his Sire was coming with his mate, since it was much like ‘meeting the parents’. “Who’s the other female?” The very attractive female with long dark curls, an hourglass figure, and a very sensual walk. She fairly oozed sex, despite that she wasn’t dressed seductively. Her outfit was very ‘Lara Croft’.

Sam shook her head. “I have absolutely no idea. They asked to move here with their guard, but Salem said it was some bloke called ‘Todd’.”

Alora planted a hand on her hip. “I think it’s safe to say that isn’t Todd.”

“I see Salem’s disappeared again. Good.” Sam put a hand on Jared’s arm. “Don’t telepath him just yet. I want to talk with his Sire a bit first.”

That was when I sensed something. “You don’t like him.”

“I don’t trust him.”

Well if Sam didn’t trust him, I didn’t trust him. She’d always had good instincts. I would have asked for more details, but they were almost within hearing range. The rest of us took our cues from our Grand High Pair and stood, waiting.

Obviously recognising Sam and Jared, the three Pagoris headed straight for them – all wearing pleasant, gracious smiles. They bowed, which almost had Sam grinding her teeth. She really hated the bowing thing; it made her feel uncomfortable.

“It’s an honour to meet you both,” said the dark-haired male, smooth and confident. “As you may have guessed, I’m Will. This is my mate, Blythe. And this is my first-born, Gina.”

Jared raised a brow. “You requested to bring your mate and your guard.” It was a reproach. The Grand High Pair liked to pre-approve their visitors and residents.

Will gave a weak smile. “As I said, Gina’s my first-born, we’re very close. She didn’t want to be left behind, and I didn’t feel I could deny her, so I brought her in Todd’s place. I hope this won’t be a problem.”

Sam twisted her lips as she studied Gina. “A background search will be done on you.”

Gina nodded respectfully. “You have to be careful about who you allow on your island. I understand. To give you a brief summary…I’ve been a vampire for over one hundred years. Will is my Sire, and I’ve served him for the whole duration of my existence as a vampire. I worked with him to help Salem attain the level of control he now has. It will be good to see Salem again.”

Instantly, I stiffened. There was too much intimacy in the woman’s voice as she spoke of Salem for my liking. And when she said his name, it dripped with ownership. More annoyingly than all of that, though, was the scheming glint in her eyes that told me she didn’t just want to ‘see’ him.

And just like that, I had Alora, Jude, Paige, Imani, Maya, and Cassie gathered behind me…like I was facing an invading army and we were all going into battle. I would have laughed if images of Gina and
Salem weren’t flicking through my mind, pumping anger and resentment through my system.

Thousands of petty questions popped into my head: ‘Had Salem been serious about Gina?’, ‘Had he cared for her?’, ‘If yes, did he still care for her?’, ‘Will Salem be glad to see her?’, and ‘Can I kill her without pissing anyone off?’

My inner jealous harpy was urging me to introduce myself as Salem’s girlfriend and make it clear to Gina that he was off-limits. But instinct told me to wait. If I was going to learn more about her and her intentions toward him, I would need her to believe she could talk freely.

“These are members of the female squad,” Jared told the Pagoris when they looked at us expectantly. I didn’t greet them, since I didn’t trust myself to speak. The other girls didn’t greet them either, and I knew it was a show of support and loyalty toward me.

“You’re forming a female squad?” Blythe grinned, a little
too
animated. “That’s fantastic. It should have been done a long time ago. There are too many chauvinists out there.” Clearly she hadn’t watched Sam and Jared’s ascension on V-Tube or she would have heard Sam announcing her intention of forming this squad.

“There is,” agreed Gina. “I never understood it. Particularly the prejudice against Sventés.”

Oh, come on! It was obvious that they were sucking up to Sam by making a point that all of vampirekind knew was close to her heart. It seemed that Sam saw that instantly, because she regarded them with a sceptical gaze.

“There’s plenty of food under the marque, if you’re hungry,” Jared told them.

“Thank you.” Will smiled. “I was hoping to speak to Salem first. I’ve been looking forward to seeing him again. It’s been a long time. We have a lot to catch up on.”

“Where is he?” Gina glanced around. Her expression was cool, but anticipation swirled in her eyes. And I didn’t like it.

“Around,” Jared answered vaguely, taking Sam’s hand in his and squeezing lightly. The act was soothing, and it made me wonder if Sam’s mood was turning a little sour. After all, she knew exactly what it was like for her partner’s ex to show up. And she was no doubt protective of Salem, as he was a member of her personal squad.

Blythe’s smile faltered. “He does know we’re relocating here, doesn’t he?”

“Of course,” replied Jared. “But I don’t think he expected you to turn up so soon or he probably would have been on the lookout.”

“I’m sure he’ll be here in a few minutes,” said Sam. “He never leaves Ava alone for long.”

I quickly sent a thought to Jared:
Tell Sam not to formally introduce me yet
. He acknowledged that with an almost imperceptible nod.

Gina’s head whipped round to face Sam. “Ava?”

“His girlfriend,” Sam elaborated with total delight.

Gina ran her eyes along me and the group behind me, suspicious. But the suspiciousness quickly faded, and she looked to the marque, straining to see the people inside. Apparently she’d dismissed us as possible choices for Salem and was assuming his girlfriend was over there. Someone behind me snorted.

“Girlfriend?” Blythe rocked back on her heels. “Well that’s a surprise. Salem was never much interested in relationships. Other than with Gina.”

Hearing footsteps, I turned my head to see Chico, Butch, and Stuart – all of them looked fierce and watchful. “Hey,” greeted Chico carefully as he sidled up to me, “everything okay over here?”

Sam didn’t move her gaze from the newcomers. “We have some new residents. This is Salem’s Sire, Will, and his mate, Blythe. Oh, and that there is Will’s first-born, Gina.”

“She’s Salem’s ex,” I murmured only loud enough for the guys to hear. Instantly, they shifted behind me – more support. Will cast the slowly growing crowd an odd look but seemed to shrug off his confusion.

“These are members of our personal squad,” Jared told the visitors. He then suddenly added, “And so are the vampires on their way over.”

I saw then that Harvey, Damien, David, and Max were fast approaching; most likely in response to the gathering of our vampires. Max was looking much more alert now, possibly sobered by the prospect of trouble. Jared exchanged looks with the four of them, and I had the feeling that he was communicating with them telepathically. My suspicion proved correct when, appearing a little pissed, the guys joined the mass at my back.

Will spoke then. “Salem’s part of this squad, correct?” At Jared’s nod, Will’s smile seemed to shrivel. There was no happiness or pride there, despite that, in vampire terms, Salem was his ‘son’. Apparently he didn’t like Salem being a member of the legion. Well, well, well.

Blythe did her best to make eye contact with the male squad members who had planted themselves behind me. “I don’t suppose any of you know where Salem is?”