Demetrius (10 page)

“He killed my father.” Callista was trying hard to hate him, he could feel it, but her confusion overwhelmed everything.

“Yeah,” Ophelia threw back, “and your father killed your mother. Do you hate him? Life is complicated, Calli. While you’ve been a sheltered little girl, the rest of us sacrificed to fight for our people, and we lost a lot.”

Callista glowed with indignation. “Give me my father’s things and I’ll get out of here so you can go back to your righteous crusade.”

“Ophelia, leave,” Demetrius commanded.

He left no room for argument and Ophelia knew better than to try. With a raised eyebrow at him, a subversive look to the fuming Callista, she exited his office.

“Callista, we need to talk.”

He expected more arguing, for her to be obstinate and demand the box so she could leave. Instead, she sighed and sank into the nearest chair.

“I know. What’s going on, Demetrius?”

About the demon issue? About what was going on between them? He’d stick to the safer topic of demons. He had no fucking clue why he felt the way did about her when he wasn’t getting the true mate call from her. He set the box down and sat in the chair next to her.

“We brought Sigma down because of their unfettered ambitions. They were attacking and experimenting on all species, but also engaging in the practice of dark arts. Many of us suspected and thought it ended with Madame G’s execution. Some of us knew it didn’t, but couldn’t prove anything. Until you walked in.” Demetrius rubbed his temples. “I feel so fucking blind. I should know way more than I do. My people count on me. Instead, I know next to nothing.”

“I feel like I should’ve known my mother was dead this whole time.” She dug her bare toes into the rug. “How does one even go about selling their
child
to a demon?”

He pulled the box between them. “Maybe that’s where we should start.”

She shoved her hair behind her ears and leaned down to riffle through the box. She crossed her legs at the ankles and curled them under the chair. She looked regal, and utterly enchanting.

He never did sweet. Overtly sexual, dressed in next to nothing...he’d done the shit out of that. He barely knew the names of the women he was with, mostly didn’t care. That was the one and only time they would be in his life. He looked for mates who wanted the same thing he did—to get off. Both parties left satisfied.

With Callista, he knew she’d be no quick hookup. He was learning her family’s history and her personality. She was stubborn, resilient, kind-hearted, and proud. The whole package that made up Callista Augustus should be a repellent to Demetrius, not an aphrodisiac.

“I don’t want to touch that thing.” She brought his attention off her and to the aged book.

“I’ll take that. You look through the rest.”

Chapter Ten

Calli was exhausted. Her mind felt like an al dente noodle, barely strong enough to process what she was going through.

Her mother was a merciless stranger. No longer the beautiful mother of Calli’s memories, but a ruthless female who’d sold her own flesh and blood for power.

She remembered her parents’ last fight. How her mother had been killed, she didn’t know, but her father must have dragged her body out into the sun to disintegrate into dust.

“According to my mother’s notes, she kept indicating she was to be number four. What does that mean?”

“There’s more vampires walking around playing house with demons.” Demetrius still sat in the office chair next to her, scowling into the huge book of demon knowledge.

“Does that thing have a name?”

“The scrawling on the front is the name, but I don’t speak demon, so I don’t dare try to pronounce it.” He slammed the book shut and tossed it onto a side table and rubbed his eyes. “Hellfire, this is so infuriating. For decades, I was concerned with saving our people from the misdeeds of the council, not realizing what they were really hiding.”

“Not everyone on it was guilty. From my father’s actions, he didn’t know what his own mate was up to until he learned what she’d done to me. We need to find out what that was. I keep seeing the name Draken. Is that the one I’ve been saving myself for my whole life?”

A low rumble echoed through the office.

“Demetrius, are you growling?”

The sound stopped short. The hours they’d spent researching in the office, she’d avoided looking at him. It was hard to remember she was supposed to hate him for killing her father, or that her father had nearly begged Demetrius to do it. Searching his face, she saw lines of fatigue, his hand moved and she noticed he was wiping his knuckles off on his pants.

“Ophelia was right, you need to feed.” She was immensely glad that not only hadn’t he fed from Ophelia, but he hadn’t wanted to.

“Yeah, I do. We need to find McFeely and learn why he was blackmailing your father.”

“I agree. First, you need to feed.”

He made a disgusted noise and stood up. “I’ll worry about myself, princess.”

She jumped out of her chair, facing him. “You can’t even heal a few scrapes. Why are you being so stubborn? You think of yourself as the savior of our race, but you’re not. You’re just a guy with some good ideas for leading us. Now go find a vein,” she ordered indignantly.

He stood, a predatory burn of maroon developing in his eyes. “Tell me what vein I can take, princess, when yours in the only one I want. I dream of sinking my fangs into every vein I can find in that ivory flesh of yours.” For every step closer he came, she took one back. “Those sounds you made last night? That’s all I want to hear from you when those sweet lips of yours aren’t at my neck suckling to the beat of my strokes on your hot little center.” Her back hit a wall of shelves, and her heartbeat went crazy. “When I think of you saving yourself for anybody, it makes me homicidal because
I
want it. I want you. I want it to be me your legs are wrapped around. I want to be the first, the only male to drive into you, take you to heights you’ve never experienced.”

Shallow breathing was making her dizzy, or it was the feral male with the glowing eyes towering over her. She saw the male that rose to the top of all the vampires: focused, determined, strong, capable.

She put her hands on his solid chest, a half-hearted attempt to shove him away, but no force was exerted. Every word, each declaration he made, she echoed wholeheartedly.

“You’re arrogant, cavalier, and you’ve gotten everything you’ve ever wanted.” His eyes narrowed on her and she very much felt like a cornered mouse. “I really should hate you.”

“I haven’t gotten everything I’ve wanted.” Large hands wrapped around hers. “I want you. But having you would kill you.”

Her gaze landed upon their hands, his powerful, large ones covering her pale, smaller ones. All those years, she thought she was honoring her father by remaining celibate, not preserving her own life.

He tore himself away. “Not having you is going to kill me,” he muttered. Pushing his hair out of his face, he blew out a gusty breath. “The sun sets within the hour. You’re welcome to stay at my place as long as you need. I can sleep on the couch,” he glanced at her bare legs, “or here in the office.”

Being alone sounded as fun as having a root canal on her fangs. “If you’re checking into my situation, I’m going with you.”

He was going to argue, instead he eyed her legs again. “Wearing that?”

She glanced down at his baggy Under Armor sweatshirt and basketball shorts that hung to her knees. “I should have shoes.”

When he didn’t reply, she saw he was staring at her bare feet, the maroon blazing fiercely from his eyes.

“We’ll go shopping. I want Rourke and Bishop to finish searching your place. I have a feeling once those involved find out Malachim was sent back to Hell, they’ll hunt for you.”

Totally fine. She didn’t want to go home. “I might have someone you can feed from.” Demetrius curled his lip like he might be sick, but she continued. “I know…how we feel...about each other,” his face tightened at her admission, “but if we’re not true mates, then you should be able to feed from another. One of the residents where I work—”

“I thought you wouldn’t disrespect them like that.”

“If you’d let me finish,” she gave him a pointed look, “you’d find out we’d be helping her. She has a condition, one where she stores too much iron and has to receive routine therapeutic phlebotomies. I can tell when she’s getting close to needing her blood taken, and she should be due soon.”

“Wouldn’t that hurt her if I drink from her, and then she goes to the doctor and gets more taken?”

Calli shook her head. “No, they measure her hemoglobin and only take out what’s needed. They’ll just take less, or none at all.”

His mouth was turned down. He didn’t seem thrilled at the news, but they both knew how much he needed to feed. “We can try it, after we get you some clothes.”

***

“Would it make you feel better if we went to Wal-Mart?” Demetrius’ patience was getting seriously tested.

“Yes, it would,” Callista snapped. “You insisted on buying me clothing, but I don’t need a whole wardrobe, and I don’t need the latest fashions. There’s no more socials to fake it at anymore.”

“Pick out a shirt and pants before too much more time slips away. And for fuck’s sake, quit scouring the clearance racks. It’s just a department store, I think I can cover it.”

She set her shoulders even more and kept digging through the rack of discount clothing.

“Callista,” he said tightly, “it’s going to be too late to go snack on one of your old people if you take any longer.”

Her lips flattened and that was the only sign he got that she agreed with him. She gave up her effort and wove through the stands of shirts and slacks. She stopped to snag a pair of jeans, then in ten more feet, yanked a shirt off the rack.

Since he was behind her, and she couldn’t see to argue, he grabbed two more of each. “Now find some shoes.”

She scowled over her shoulder; he hid his stash behind his back.

Instead of going through the attendant in the shoe department, she chose a pair of flats off a stand and headed for the checkout.

Stubborn female.

“Oh, Callista,” he taunted, barely preventing his grin from hiding his fangs. “What about…” He gave her the hottest, most suggestive look in his arsenal and it earned him a flush. “Grab a few things and I’ll meet you at that checkout.”

She huffed and stomped away, but it gave him time to grab more sensible shoes for her in her size. All the stuff he’d picked had been bought and bagged by the time she found her way back to the checkout. He caught her side eye at the bag of clothing.

“I’ll change in the bathroom before we leave the mall.”

Chapter Eleven

Waiting for her outside of the bathroom, he scanned the shoppers. Mostly human, but he sensed some vampires, probably hunting a meal for the night. Or hell, times were changing so maybe they were actually shopping.

A family of shifters passed by and it dawned on Demetrius that those were his people, too. They walked into a restaurant and he thought about the information he was keeping from the Synod.

After killing Callista’s father, it was impossible to deny vampires had a demon issue. Only, their issue affected everyone. Demons were greedy bastards. They were using the dark tendencies of his race to gain a foothold in this world, but they wouldn’t stop there.

Logically, shifters would pose a threat to the evil creatures. Unlike humans, they had extra abilities, their own spells, and generally weren’t fans of evil.

Yeah, he should bring this information to the Synod.

Or he could wait until he knew more. He didn’t relish going to the Synod.
Like, yeah, there was this demon called Malachim, now he’s gone. And this is Callista, and she’s bound to Draken, but we don’t know who he is. And there’s vampires helping the demons, but, yeah…don’t know who, either
.

So, no. Demetrius needed to learn more. He’d planned for decades, infiltrated Sigma for years before he took them and the former council down. He couldn’t go the Synod only knowing jack and shit.

He sensed Callista exit the bathroom on a cloud of wildflowers. She still wore his sweatshirt over the new shirt and jeans.

“You need a jacket.”

She held the bag with his shorts, the ones he’d probably never wash now that they were covered in her scent, and Zoey’s slippers she’d borrowed. “This’ll do. It’s not winter yet.”

“Has anyone ever told you you’re stubborn?”

“No.” She was serious, and he realized there’d hardly been anyone around her to tell her anything at all.

“Well, now they have. You’re hard-headed and obstinate. If I had a thesaurus, I’d call you every other word related to those.”

Her mouth twitched. “Noted.”

“Time to eat.”

As they walked out to his car, she gave him the rundown of her plan for getting him to feed.