Dark Promises (Dark #29) (34 page)

Denny is Denny Jashari, a local whose son was a serial killer along with his nephews. They tried to kill Andre's lifemate, Teagan. Andre took care of them, but Jashari is clearly the head of the local vampire-hunting society. They operate in secret, but mostly target people they do not like. They accuse them of being vampire and then they kill them. Andre told us they were hunting Teagan.
Aleksei gave Gabrielle the information.

He continued to stay in Izaak's mind, waiting to see what Denny and Vaugn would do next.

Vaugn slipped his arms around Izaak. “Get up, boy. Let's walk it off.”

Izaak cooperated, trying to find his feet when he was dizzy. Denny suddenly straightened and looked around warily. He actually looked right through Aleksei. “Drop him, Vaugn,” he ordered. “Drop him right now.”

Vaugn let go of Izaak and Izaak swayed and tried to reach for Vaugn so he wouldn't fall. Vaugn shoved him away, looking around, too, his face revealing anxiety. Aleksei smelled their fear. He pressed Gabrielle back. He knew what was coming.

The door to the pub opened. Music and laughter poured out into the night. The rain hissed as it fell on the man striding out. He was tall and confident-looking. Handsome to the extreme. He seemed ageless, and moved with ease. He turned his gaze on Denny and Vaugn and both men froze.

“Good evening.” He sent both a smile. The smile did nothing to light his eyes or illuminate his face. Instead, he actually appeared menacing. He stopped very close to them. “You did not inform me you were taking a prisoner.”

“He has been used,” Denny said, his voice higher pitched. Strangled. As if he couldn't get enough air.

“And you knew this how?”

“You taught me how to know, Master Aron. I touched him, and he was cold and his blood volume was low enough to make him dizzy.” Denny cleared his throat repeatedly and his hand crept up protectively as if he might pry strangling fingers away.

“And still, with me giving you that gift to aid your cause, you did not think to inform me of this man?” The vampire spoke quietly. Calmly. His tone was deadly.

Aleksei recognized him from his youth. He went by the name of Aron Mazur. Andre was on his trail, so he knew the Carpathian hunter most referred to as The Ghost could be close.

“I thought I wouldn't bother you unless he had important information,” Denny stammered. Wheezed. Tried to suck in air. “Vaugn has the drug on him and we thought we would use it, extract the information and then bring it to you.”

Aron's eyes, flat and cold, entirely without emotion, stared at his puppet. “Do you think I do not know what is in your mind, Denny? I could split open your head and see the rotten debris there. You know what I am. Vaugn is a pawn, nothing more. A pawn to both of us, but you wanted to show him your power. You wanted him to fear you. Your ego once again has gotten the better of you.” His eyes began to glow a dark red. “I thought we were past that. Do you need another lesson?”

Aleksei felt Gabrielle's forehead against his back. He reached behind him and found her free hand, threading his fingers through hers and bringing her hand to his thigh. The bracelet on her delicate wrist glowed with
fiery flames in protest of the evil in the air, but the links were cool to the touch.

He knew they couldn't be seen, but still, he was careful no air was displaced. He realized Gabrielle had never been in the presence of such evil. The vampire had chosen to give up his soul, deliberately torturing his prey before he killed it, so he could get the adrenaline high. He was wholly evil, and he had found a human counterpart in Denny Jashari.

Gabrielle had been stabbed multiple times by a man infected with fanaticism, poisoned by one such as Jashari. The Jashari family was clearly twisted, producing men who raped, tortured and killed women. It wasn't a huge step to see how Aron Mazur had found Denny and enlisted his help rather than killing him. Still, Mazur would want to keep him cowed and bowing before him.

He knew Gabrielle was frightened. He could feel her body trembling and her nightmares were very close, but when he took her hand and pressed it against his thigh, she quieted, her breathing following his. Her heart as steady as his. She gave him that gift. Trust. In the face of extreme danger, she gave him that.

He bent slowly, bringing her hand to his mouth, gently kissing her knuckles and rubbing the pad of his thumb over the links of her bracelet. It was a weapon, one he knew would come to her aid if she was in trouble. He liked seeing it on her wrist, especially when she was naked. He liked knowing it was there just in case. Knowing he had to show her he had absolute confidence no matter the odds against them, he returned their joined hands to his thigh.

Denny staggered back, away from the master vampire, clearly terrified, his hand still at his throat. His face was red and swollen-looking. It was difficult to listen to him gasping for air. Vaugn looked from one to the other, clearly uneasy and not knowing what to do. He didn't like being called a pawn, but he didn't want to challenge the man he knew as Aron Mazur. He didn't try to help Denny. He moved away from both men.

Aron smiled, revealing sharp, very white teeth. “I thought you would get my point, Denny.” He waved his hand and Denny's body sagged as he drew in a deep, gasping breath. With that, the vampire turned toward Izaak.

Aleksei squeezed Gabrielle's hand and then let go of it.
Step back slowly.
Give me room, and do not reveal yourself for any reason, even if you think I am in trouble.
He pushed the order into her mind.
Do not disobey me, Gabrielle.

She stepped back. He wasn't satisfied. She had shown courage on several occasions. She had thrown herself on him in order to protect Gary. She had come to him in the courtyard, although he had shown her both his darkness and his demons and she had known she was taking her life in her hands. He had no doubt, should she think he was losing the battle, she would try to enter in spite of her great fear.

I need you to give me your word you will remain hidden throughout, or I will have no choice but to bind you.

Aleksei. What if . . .
She trailed off when he lifted his hand toward her.

Now.
He nearly spat the word. They were running out of time. Any moment now, Mazur would give up his little show to take possession of Izaak's mind and all hell would break loose.

For you, but it's the most difficult thing you've asked me to do.

He knew that. He also wasn't positive she would be able to keep her word should she believe he was in trouble.

Andre is close by. I do not know how close. Should there be trouble, reach out on the common path and call to him. He will come for you.

He said no more. He let go of Gabrielle and reached for the darkness in him. The demons that drove him. They settled into him like old friends, familiar cloaks that covered every bit of humanity, leaving only the warrior, the predator.

He waited. Crouched. Calm. His heart rock steady. His breathing unchanged. Still, the monster was there, close to the surface, stretching, ready. Waiting with him.

He felt Mazur invade Izaak's mind. The vampire struck, a piercing spear of pain, deliberately cruel. Izaak cried out. Screamed in pain. Went to his knees clasping his head in his hands. Vaugn leapt back, looking scared as if he wanted to run. Denny smirked and moved closer, obviously enjoying the torture of Izaak, a man he had known since the man had been a boy.

Aleksei didn't wait. He struck at Mazur, a hard blow, meant to end the battle before it really began. He used the trap of Izaak's mind to gain control, pushing hard into the master vampire's rotten mind, breaking through every barrier so the rot was exposed. So that his every pawn and puppet were at
Aleksei's command. Mazur had no real choice; he turned to flee, desperate to save himself as his brain began to fragment.

There was no holding on to his ability to keep his human image. The rot and decay was so severe, he stood, his flesh sloughing from his bony skeletal frame. His teeth were all filed to points, stained black and red. His nose was no more than a hole in his face and his eyes were sunken and red. He screeched his fury and fear as his thick head of hair disappeared to be replaced by nothing but patches of long dull strands of gray that looked and smelled filthy.

Aleksei hit him hard in the chest, his fist driving deep, impaling Mazur, lifting him into the air so his body weight added to the blow, helping to embed Aleksei's fist and arm deep into the chest cavity. The blow was so strong his fist traveled through muscle and bone, straight to the shriveled, blackened heart.

Gabrielle gasped as black blood poured down over Aleksei's arm and his skin actually smoked and burned as if the substance was acid. Aleksei didn't so much as wince. Denny crawled away toward the darker shadows of the mountains. Vaugn whipped out a knife and rushed Aleksei.

It took every ounce of discipline she possessed to remain where she was.
Aleksei!
She tried to warn him, but she
felt
the blade sliding into his back. Ice-cold. Fiery hot. She could see Vaugn behind him, but she couldn't see what he was doing, not from where she was. She could only see Aleksei's arm being charred to the bone, the smell of burning flesh filling her lungs.

She pulled in a ragged, gasping breath, and gave up fighting her instincts. She couldn't help him with the master vampire, but she could with Vaugn. She tried to move and nothing happened. Nothing. Her feet were planted firmly, as if they'd taken root. She couldn't move at all. Her heart contracted with fear. Her stomach knotted. She might have to stand right there and watch Aleksei be slaughtered.

He whirled around, still holding the master vampire straight up in the air, his fist and forearm buried deep in the vampire's chest. Mazur shrieked horribly, the sound reverberating up and down the streets of the village, a hideous noise that hurt ears. He sounded like a wounded animal, and yet he raked and clawed at Aleksei's face. Somehow Aleksei avoided the wicked talons much of the time, although several times they scored deep furrows
not only in his face, but also his shoulder. Clearly the vampire was trying to gouge out Aleksei's eyes and rip open his neck.

Aleksei swung around to face Vaugn, who was still stabbing at his back, and as he did, he threw the master vampire into the man with the knife. The blade went into the vampire, straight into his back. The force of the throw buried the knife to the hilt and sent both vampire and Vaugn tumbling together several feet away from Aleksei.

Aleksei's arm emerged from the chest wall. In his fist was the blackened heart of the vampire. Immediately he dropped it and held his burned arm toward the sky. Lightning sizzled. Forked. Streaked down to slam into the heart, incinerating it. Even as he did so, Aron Mazur was up on his feet, rushing Aleksei, slamming into him, his monstrous teeth driving into Aleksei's shoulder, ripping and tearing.

The vampire suddenly stiffened, his mouth stretched wide in another scream, although this one was silent. He crumbled to the ground and the whip of lightning struck his body, turning it to ash. Aleksei casually bathed his body in the white-hot energy and then looked toward Vaugn.

Gabrielle went to her knees and was sick, over and over again. Dry heaving, gagging, her stomach protesting what her mind couldn't deal with. She still couldn't move her feet and she was fairly certain Aleksei would be furious with her, but at that moment she didn't care. Her world crumbled around her. She had thought she could do this, live with him in his world, be what he needed her to be, what she
wanted
and needed herself, but she knew she couldn't. She could never, ever be a true lifemate to an ancient warrior like Aleksei—and clearly he knew that.

Vaugn stared in horror at the ashes on the ground, at the whip of lightning and Aleksei, who hadn't even changed expression. He tried to push himself up off the ground to run, but he couldn't move, somehow frozen to the spot. He watched in absolute horror as the lightning burned bright. Thunder rolled. He couldn't stop looking as the whips of white-hot energy took on renewed life, forking out, reaching with burning greed right toward him. He didn't scream. He didn't have time. His hand had gone up in protest. He opened his mouth, but the whip had already reached him. He didn't even feel the burn. He was simply gone as if he'd never been.

Immediately, Aleksei turned to Gabrielle, his eyes still burning with a
kind of menacing fury. She knew the instant he released her, but she didn't move. She was still heaving. Still gagging. The smell of burnt flesh permeated the air. She watched as Aleksei went to Izaak and gently put his hands on the sides of the man's head. She saw him leave his own body, making himself completely vulnerable as he went into Izaak's mind to heal it and remove all memory of what had taken place.

Aleksei gently laid the man down on the bench and planted memories of a great night with friends at the pub in him. As soon as he was certain the man would be fine, he waved his hand to clear the air of all scent of battle as well as cleaning the ground of all evidence. Only then did he lift the barrier between the pub and the outside world he had hastily erected so no sounds of the battle could be heard inside.

He turned to Gabrielle. His lifemate. She was still down on her knees and now there were tears in her eyes and tracking down her face. He pushed down his temper, knowing his reaction came out of fear for her. Had she managed to move before he could stop her, she would have drawn the attention of the vampire and Vaugn. Denny was long since gone in the woods, hiding like the coward he was, but she could have been harmed. Still, he didn't have the heart to chastise her, not when she was looking like her heart was breaking.

“Come here to me,” he said softly.

She shook her head and his heart clenched in his chest. She shook her head hard. Adamantly. He knew immediately her head was in a space that didn't bode well. He didn't bother to argue. He went to her, gathered her up and streaked across the night sky, allowing the rain to hit both of them, drenching them, washing his own blood from his body.