Crimson Dawn (32 page)

"Oh sweet Jesus," Irulan cried and dropped down to her knees beside me, only to be jerked upright by FaeVar.

"Explain this to me now!" he cried, angrily shaking his fist at her. If I were able to focus my vision, I would have seen the crest clenched in his hand.

Irulan shoved him away from her, dropped back to her knees, and gathered me close to her. "She's your granddaughter, you foolish old man. Her line was sired by Mikilos through a Pureblood Vampire, three generations ago.” She softly ran her hands down the side of my face and looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "She fed from me and awakened the Sidhe blood within her. Her body isn't adjusting to the change, and without your blood, she's going to die. I swear to you if you let her die I will rain death and destruction on every inch of Dark Lands in Faerie."

"Brave words, little Princess. I see she means a lot to you. Does Kent know about your love of my child, I wonder?" said FaeVar as he reached down to scoop me up in his arms. "Come with me, we need privacy. We'll go to my chambers.” FaeVar raced up the stairs and through the front doors. Instead of the foyer I was expecting, we were inside of a richly furnished bedroom.

He sat me down in a chair, and my head flopped forward on my neck as if my bones were made of jello. A scream ripped from my mouth as another pain slammed into me. "Irulan, I can't take anymore.” Blood tears rolled down my face as I struggled to focus on Irulan through the pain. She stood behind FaeVar looking anxious as he waved a chair to him and sat down.

FaeVar leaned toward me and studied my face for a few moments before smiling. "I can see my son in you, young one. I can feel our power running strong within your veins, just waiting for release.. Vampire and Fomori make an interesting combination, who would have thought it?" He pulled his waist length, snow white hair, to the side and bared his neck to me. "Come my child, drink, and be made whole."

CHAPTER TWENTY

He pulled me forward and urged my head to his neck in an effort to feed me. As hungry as I was moments ago, now I couldn't even get my fangs to drop. I shook my head and mumbled, "Can't...no fangs...can't drop.” He looked back at Irulan for an explanation.

"She's too weak. Her body has been rebelling against the changes for days now, weeks even. Maybe if you forced to feral. She seems to have more power in that form.”

"And how exactly am I supposed to do that?" He asked. I gasped as I felt my body fade again on a wave of pain. FaeVar's head jerked around and his eyes widened in horror as he took in my current state. "Goddess preserve me! She fades, as you said, even here in Faerie where all is renewed.” He turned to Irulan with a look of fear in his eyes that looked thoroughly unnatural on his majestic face.

Irulan pulled my grandfather to his feet and spun him around to face her. "Attack me," she demanded, and braced herself for a blow.

It was enough to motivate me into raising my head. "You'd do best to ignore her," I said with as much force as I could put into my failing voice.

FaeVar looked at her as if she had two heads. "Excuse me?! I'm not sure I heard you right."

"Put your hands on her and you'll regret it," I hissed, as I struggled to get up.

Irulan looked down at me with a desperate look in her eyes then growled at FaeVar. "You asked us what happened to your Chimera's, well it was Valeria. She took them out all by herself with one strike because they attacked ME.” In a last-ditch effort, Irulan dropped her glamour and blasted my grandfather across the room, sending him skidding across the floor on his ass. "Do it, old man! Give her a reason to fight!"

“
Don't do it fella
,” I thought, as I forced myself to my feet, in a final burst. "I don't care if she brings the whole damn house down on your head. You'd better not..."

With that, he up and did just what he shouldn't have done. A blinding blot of energy hit Irulan head-on and sent her careening into a wall. I was on him like flies on shit.

FaeVar never tried to block my blows. He let me land each one until I had him down on the ground. When he stilled, I shifted back, heavily breathing and barely able to hold myself up. FaeVar jerked himself upright and pulled me to his neck before my teeth had a chance to retract. My teeth slid home and sank deep into his neck.

The head rush that came along with the spray of blood was undeniably the quickest high I had ever experienced in my life. Strong hands held me firm as I fed, so the rush wouldn’t sweep me away. Each mouthful of blood was the tonic that my ailing body desperately needed. Power didn’t just lace through FaeVar's blood, it was liquid power in itself. It ran through me like lava, igniting parts of my body, incinerating them and reforming them into something new. Something infinitely powerful and more dangerous than any Vampire had ever been.

He let me feed until I fell away from him on my own, fully sated and tingling with power. Vampires aren't a weak race by any means, but compared to the Sidhe, we were lightweights. I pulled away from my grandfather and was on my feet in a move so utterly fast, it made my former flashes look like turtle speed.

I scanned the room searching for Irulan and found her standing in a corner sporting a fat lip and a bloody nose. I was by her side before I finished the thought to move. "You...never again do you hear me.” I grabbed her by the shoulders and gave her a firm shake. "Don't you ever put yourself in danger like that again, do you hear me?"

Tears pooled in her eyes as she slowly shook her head yes and brought her hands up to draw my face to hers. "I promise baby, as long as you never almost die on me again.” She closed the space between us and slowly ran her lips across mine before claiming them.

The kiss was slow and tender. It conveyed so many emotions, so many words
. I'm sorry. I’m glad to see you...grateful you're alive. I love you.
I broke the kiss and trailed my lips down her chin. My destination - her neck, my goal - marking her as mine. I trailed small kisses along her neck until I dropped my fangs and drew back my lips to strike.

Irulan caught my train of thought and pulled back at the last moment to put some space between us. "What in the hell are you thinking, Valeria?"

I hissed and flashed forward to pin her against the wall. "I'm thinking you're mine and I want to make it known.” I grabbed her by the chin and forced her head to the side. "I'm not sure if it will work on you, but it's worth a try."

Irulan tried to shove me away from her, but I refused to move, instead I slipped into her mind.
”I can see what you're thinking. You want this as much as I do. Why are you pushing me away?”

"Because," she replied aloud. "I've loved you for years, but this is still new for you, Val. I don't want you to have any regrets. Mating is permanent, it's not like marriage, and it can't be undone.”

“
Duh, no shit. Tell me something I don't know, Obi-Wan," I said sarcastically. "Since you know so much, then you also know it's out of my control. My body has chosen you. It was the rest of me that took a while to catch up. I'm just grateful my heart finally agrees with my biology."

Irulan squashed her doubts and pulled her hair away from her neck. I bit into her neck and deliberately released a minute amount of toxins into her blood. Once I was done, I bared my neck to her. "Complete the circle, Irulan. Drink from me."

Small fangs dropped from Irulan’s gums and her hand flew to her mouth in shock. "Told you it would work," I said proudly.

"You never told me I would sprout fangs," she shrieked, her voice off, as she drew back her lips and felt the new additions to her mouth.

I shrugged my shoulders and laughed. "I didn't know you would. Mated couples aren't that common anymore. Nowadays everyone is content with marriage. And the few mated couples I do know had fangs to begin with.” I tweaked her on the nose. "Besides, you look cute with your little baby fangs."

She stuck her tongue out and leaned into my neck. I was prepared for her teeth, but I wasn't prepared for the slow strokes of her tongue up and down my neck. She pulled and sucked at my neck, teasing me, knowing full well I couldn't do anything about it in our current situation. I was ready to wring her neck when she finally bit into my neck.

She may not have been a Vampire, but she inherently knew how to make the bite pleasurable. When she pulled away, I was inches from climax. "
Baby
," she said, firmly inside my mind. "
Pull it together. I think your grandfather is getting impatient over there
."

I winced and stood up straight. Of all the things I'd envisioned myself doing when I finally came face to face with my grandfather, making out with my mate in his bedroom wasn't one of the first things that came to mind. I straightened my torn cloak and turned around finally laying clear eyes on my great-great grandfather.

If he weren’t my grandfather, I’d say the man was straight up gorgeous. FaeVar didn't look a day over thirty and the first thing that I noticed was his eyes. They were ice blue with silver pupils just like mine. Tears sprang to my eyes and a sob threatened to escape my lips.

He took a step in my direction but I held up a hand and asked him to stop. "Please, just give me a minute.” He stood patiently while I took in the rest of him. His hair was as white as new fallen snow, and he had Constantine's nose. FaeVar wasn't a built like a powerhouse. He had the long lean lines of a runner or a swimmer but everything about his six-foot plus frame screamed strength.

You would have thought the High King of the Dark Court would be partial to black or maybe navy blue or something. FaeVar was dressed in a rich purple long coat with deep golden accents. In a show that mirrored mind reading, he smiled deeply. "What can I say, youngling, I like the Lakers."

I burst out laughing and he took the moment to cross the room and engulf me in his arms. "I'll tell you what, girl," he said against the top of my head. "I can tell that you’re of my ilk. You certainly know how to make an entrance."

He lifted his head to look at Irulan, "I'm quite certain Kent won’t look upon this union with favor," he said. "But as the mate of my own, you are now a member of my court. Welcome, protected, and entitled to all befitting the station of a princess."

Irulan curtsied. She Curtsied - like medieval, Arthur and Guinevere, Camelot, curtsied! Then, thinking about all the things that I was going to have to get accustomed to, I thought, “
Jeez, hope they never expect me to curtsy to anyone – it’ll never happen.

My grandfather grabbed my hand and led me to the door. "Come, we have much to talk about. And there many arrangements to be made, this occasion calls for a celebration."

We followed him through the grand halls of his palace and for the first time I noticed the absence of Kether. I looked to my side at Irulan. "Where's Kether, he didn't..."

"No, it's nothing like that," she said, cutting me off. "I sent him into the forest and away from the action when I saw we were in for a fight.” She brought her lips together and whistled. A few moments later, he flew in through a window.

"FaeVar," he said as he bowed. "It's been awhile, Majesty."

My grandfather held his palm up for the Pixie to light on. "A long time indeed, Kether. How is your Monarch?"

"Queen Danzie eagerly awaits the return of your granddaughter. I've been tasked with returning the Abomination’s eyes after she dispatches him."

FaeVar came to a stop and turned around. "What's he talking about, child?"

"I'm here in a working capacity, sort of. I'm hunting a fugitive from the CMS."

He looked from me to Irulan. "She's here for the Abomination that your court harbors?"

Irulan nodded. "She is."

"And you support her, knowing full well the consequences if you move against him?"

"She doesn't have to worry about that," I said before she could answer. "I'm going to take care of Tristan on my own. Irulan isn't in any danger of banishment."

FaeVar laughed and continued down the hall, talking as he went. "You are going to be an exciting addition to the family, child. Just the thought of a Fomori Princess bringing battle to the heart of Tir Na Nog is enough to keep me in good spirits for weeks to come."

I looked at Irulan and shrugged my shoulders. How was I supposed to respond to that? "Glad I could help," I said, not knowing what else to say.

We followed FaeVar through the palace until we reached his throne room. The room was huge, larger than the lobby of the CMS. Tapestries hung from the high walls and thousands of candles floated in the air, bathing the room below in a soft glow. Objects made from every precious metal, stone and jewel imaginable decorated the impressive room. Bronze shields bearing FaeVar's crest and gleaming swords were strategically spaced in easy reach should someone need them.