Darkness Taunts (6 page)

Lucas had put up a silencing spell not long into our conversation. For some reason, he’d made it go both ways so we couldn’t hear anything from the outside either. It didn’t stop me from sensing the man standing out in the hall for the last five minutes, but I’d chosen to ignore him in favor of hearing Aeson out..

The cambion sighed and got up to open the doors. A middle-aged werewolf came through. His eyes glazed over the moment he saw his boss and his hips jutted out. Aeson sure had trained him to be responsive. He could hardly keep his eyes off the cambion. I had to give the were credit for keeping the load he carried steady as he walked with an awkward gait across the room. There was no sexual magic, but the man’s body may not have needed it anymore.

Assorted finger foods topped the silver serving tray, along with a tea set. My stomach rumbled. Lucas had kidnapped me from my house before I’d had a chance to eat dinner. As soon as the servant set it down, I dove in. To hell with what they thought of me stuffing myself with expensive cheese and crackers.

I was swallowing my latest bite when I caught sight of an animal weaving its way through the furniture toward me—a gray Persian cat. One would think felines had some innate knowledge of my allergies since this always happened if one came close. I scrambled up the sofa squealing as if it was a mouse. Of course, cats can jump and this one could too.

“Get it away. Get it away,” I screamed and waved my arms.

Already my eyes watered and my nose began to run. A series of sneezes rocked me when the cat rubbed against my arm. I missed seeing Lucas grab the offending animal and take her away. It was all I could do to breathe. Aeson had a handkerchief dangling in front of my face when I eventually open my eyes. I took it from him and blew my nose.

“I am truly sorry,” he said. “As soon as you arrived all the cats were confined to another part of the house and this room cleansed to avoid this happening. It is one of the reasons it took as long as it did for Kristen to escort you inside.”

I looked up at Aeson through watery eyes. One thing I could say for my allergies—they killed all my lust. “How did you know?”

He nodded toward the closed door where Lucas had disappeared. “Your nephilim informed me. He had made it very clear no cats would be allowed near you or your services could not be called upon.”

“He told you?”

His expression softened. “I have a deep affection for the feline species, agapi mou. They are free to roam the house and grounds as much as they like. Lucas knew I’d be reluctant to confine them for any length of time. We negotiated over that one point more than any of the others, but I assure you I’d had every intention of keeping my end of the deal.”

My eyes narrowed. “What else is part of this deal? Why does he owe you, anyway?”

“That is not for me to say. You must ask him that.”

Yeah, like Lucas would ever tell me a damned thing.

The man in question came back in with a glass of water and what looked like a package of Benadryl. My face must have looked puffy, but I wasn’t going to feel embarrassed about it. He handed both over to me. I wasted no time ripping the package open and taking the pills.

“So what now?” I asked. “I still don’t know how to deal with the demon possessions.”

Lucas took the package and my empty glass and set them on a nearby table. Annoyance radiated from his direction. He couldn’t have been mad at me. I couldn’t help the fact my allergies made it impossible to be around cats.

“I’m taking you back to Fairbanks,” he said, grabbing my hand to pull me up. Today must have been some kind of record for him willingly touching me.

“You are?” Had he changed his mind about my helping him?

“Get some rest tonight and talk to Nik tomorrow. He came from a family of sensors and has some knowledge of what you’ll need to do. Speak to the shaman as well. I have a feeling he might be useful in all this. He refuses to speak with me on the matter, but he said he’d talk to you.”

I threw my hands up in the air. “Apparently everyone knew about this before I did. When will you be bringing me back?”

The muscles in Lucas’ jaw tightened. “I won’t. Get your affairs in order and plan to be gone for at least two weeks. A private plane with two of my strongest vampires will be waiting for you at the Fairbanks airport tomorrow night at eight o’clock. Do not keep it waiting.”

“What will you be doing in the meantime? I assume you guys want to get this taken care of as soon as possible.”

Aeson took my arm into his and walked me toward the door. “We have a few methods we can try until you return. They are unreliable and…less pleasant, but they may help us make some progress.”

Lucas followed behind until we reached the entrance. The moment Aeson let me go he took my arm for himself. With my nose still clogged up, the cambion’s presence hadn’t been a problem, but feeling Lucas close again sent shivers across my skin.

“I’m not an invalid, you know,” I groused. “Walking across a lawn isn’t exactly a feat of strength.”

His grip only tightened as we left Aeson behind. “I hadn’t meant for you to be exposed to the felines. When I made the promise to protect you, I meant it.”

We continued walking across the lawn. “Then I’m surprised you aren’t the one coming to get me from Fairbanks tomorrow.”

Lucas didn’t reply as we made our way toward the gate. Kristen stood next to it waiting. When she saw me she gave me an apologetic look. I could tell she wanted to say something, but the stormy expression on my companion’s face must have kept her silent. At least she already had the opening ready for us.

The moment we cleared all the protection spells Lucas pulled me closer to him and flashed us away. I braced myself for the swirling miasma. It lasted for several long seconds before we appeared back in my bedroom. I felt dizzy again and had to grip Lucas. This trip was a lot more like the first time, which made me think it had to do with the distance.

“Give me a sec,” I said. He let me lean into him while the nausea slowly passed.

My senses reached out to make sure Emily was home, but that wasn’t the only thing I discovered as my head cleared.

“Your power is almost gone,” I gasped, pulling away from him. “That’s why you don’t want to bring me back tomorrow night.”

He looked away and set his jaw. I grabbed his arm and yanked at it until he brought his gaze back to me. “Tell me.”

This was the closest I’d ever come to seeing Lucas tired. His eyes had dark circles under them and his face had paled.

“You drain me, sensor,” he eventually admitted. “Tell no one of this. Using magic on you prevents anyone from suspecting what you truly are. Only Aeson, and apparently your friend Kristen, know the truth but they don’t know the side effects. It’s a vulnerability we don’t need. I have to be at full strength when you return.”

It surprised me how low his powers had gotten over the course of the evening. How had I not noticed it until now? It would take him at least a day to recover—if not more.

“Are you sure you have enough to get back?” I asked.

His lips quirked. “Concerned for me? I’m touched, but there is no need. I have enough to return without you along.”

“Fine.” I stood back. “Go…before I say something else irrational.”

He let out a deep-throated chuckle before flashing away.

I took a snow machine—they didn’t call them snowmobiles here in Alaska—over to Nik’s house. I’d checked with Emily first to make sure she’d eaten and that Lucas hadn’t given her any trouble while he’d been over. She’d cooked up some hamburgers for herself in my absence and promised everything was fine. I supposed having a mother who hadn’t stayed home much had made her rather self-reliant.

It was already after ten o’clock, but I didn’t want to wait to speak with Nik. He had some serious talking to do for not warning me about my impending “job”. It only took a couple of minutes to drive over by cutting through the woods between our homes. Nothing but snow and trees separated us along the trail I’d used. New snow had fallen in recent days, but it didn’t slow me down. I left the machine at the front of the house and marched up to the entrance.

A vampire guard stood at his nighttime station inside. He would’ve seen me through a side window next to the door, and heard me coming before that, but it wasn’t until I entered the house that he grabbed me. I really wasn’t in the mood to deal with his crap. We’d had problems with each other ever since he’d taken the position a few months ago.

I glared at him. “Let me pass, Hagan. I have to talk to Nik.”

He tightened his fingers on my arm. “The master’s busy.”

“I’m sure he is,” I said through gritted teeth. “But this can’t wait.”

“Yes, it can.” He shoved me. I had to take a step back to keep from falling. “He shouldn’t tolerate you or any of your kind…
sensor
.”

Another shove and I went flying across the foyer. My head slammed into a set of medieval armor hanging on the wall. Pain exploded through my left cheek where it collided with the metal shoulder joints. It cut into my skin, not deep, but a trickle of blood came away when I pressed my hand to it. The vamp would pay for that. He’d been undead for over fifty years—too strong for me to fight hand to hand, but there were other ways.

He clucked his tongue. “Oh, did the little sensor get hurt?”

“Fuck you,” I said, stepping away from the fallen armor.

A couple of young werewolves came into the foyer to watch the show. Very few of the sups around here liked me. They knew exactly what I was, though they were compelled to keep it to themselves. Nik had imposed a policy forcing them to tolerate me, but they made their feelings known every time he wasn’t around.

I could sense the master vampire in his bedroom across the house. He’d had it soundproofed. Even with his enhanced hearing, he wouldn’t know what was going on. I’d have to resolve this problem without his help. It was about time these guys learned a lesson, anyway.

I grabbed an expensive vase Nik had bought on a recent trip overseas and threw it far right of Hagan’s head. He dove to grab it. Yeah, he’d be in big trouble if that thing broke. I whipped my gun out at the same time. A vamp will never stand still for you to shoot them, but provide a little distraction—Hagan caught the vase a full foot before it would have crashed onto the shiny wood floor.  

He turned over to find my .45 Sig pointed at him. I pulled the trigger. The hollow-point bullet went straight through his left eye and exploded, leaving bits and pieces of him all over the floor and walls. I tilted my head. Vamp brains looked basically the same as a human’s. Who’d have guessed? The vase fell from his limp hands, but it was sturdy enough not to break as it rolled away. At least I wouldn’t have to explain that later.

The werewolves across the foyer stood gaping at me. This was the first time I’d pulled a gun inside the house. I’d had more than enough of being bullied by these fools because of their stupid prejudices against my kind. They needed to learn there were consequences. I aimed the weapon at them next. They lifted their hands up and backed away a couple of steps.

“We don’t want trouble,” one of them said. The other guy nodded.

I glanced at the vamp on the floor. He was starting to heal, but he’d be out for at least an hour. If I shot the weres in the head they’d probably die and they knew it. Their healing abilities weren’t as good as a vamp’s while in human form.

“Then get out of my way.”

They took off without another word.

From the foyer, I had three options. The way the weres went would either take me to the bedrooms where most of the permanent residents stayed or a set of stairs that connected the basement to the first and second floors. Vamps preferred to sleep on the lowest level during the day to avoid exposure to the sun.

The main living room was straight ahead and the third way would take me toward the other half of the house where Nik’s bedroom was located. I passed the kitchen on the way. Stainless steel appliances, marble countertops, and a mahogany dinner table filled the space. I didn’t see anyone in there. A little farther down was the security room where all the camera feeds could be monitored.

A familiar figure leaned against the door that led into it. She was six hundred years old and would have passed for an Amazon with her stocky figure and thick blond hair. No one would call her a beauty, but her flawless skin had an enviable quality to it.

She always made me nervous. I couldn’t hope to take her in a real fight and she’d never fall for the vase trick I’d used on the younger vampire. Kariann was one kick-ass chick you didn’t want to upset.

“You could have helped me out back there, you know,” I said.

She shrugged. “You had it under control. If I’d stepped in, they’d have treated you even worse the next time.”

I’d been avoiding a real fight, hoping they’d give up, but tonight they’d gone too far. “Yeah, but now blood and brains are covering the floor. Nik’s not going to be happy.”

A sly smile crossed her face. “No, he’s not. Are you coming over to train tomorrow?”

She was helping me with my sword and hand to hand combat skills. The military had taught me a lot, but fighting sups meant taking it to another level if I wanted to have any kind of chance against them.

“I can probably come by for an hour in the morning.” She’d be out for the count while the sun was up, but with it being winter in Alaska there were plenty of hours of darkness. “I’m heading to Juneau tomorrow night.”

She nodded. “I heard about that. All the more reason to get one last training session in before you go. Don’t rely on that nephilim to save you. Actually, don’t ever rely on any man to save you.”

I had to agree with her there. “Don’t worry. I’ll watch my back.”

She clapped me on my sore shoulder. I tried not to wince. “See you at six in the morning sharp.”

Great, I wasn’t going to get much sleep tonight.

“Yeah, sure.”

Kariann went back in the security room and I continued on my way. The left side of my face was starting to hurt, but at least the bleeding had stopped. I made a quick detour to the hallway bathroom to clean up. The armor had cut me just past the cheek bone and the area around the gash had begun to swell. I hung my hair over that side to cover it up. I did not need Nik to notice and get angry about it. Tonight had been long enough already.