Embrace the Passion (The Blood Rose Series) (2 page)

Lorelei nodded as her heart thrummed with excitement. The few short weeks she’d been doing this had given her a love of the shifter-side of her genetics that she’d never really explored before, of embracing her wolf-side and running. Previously, she lived in her fae form, but, Sweet Goddess, how she loved to run.

In a swift blur of intention and movement, she became a wolf. Her clothes were absorbed as part of the incredible process so that later, when she shifted back to full fae form, she’d be dressed as before, in full winter gear, furry boots and all.

It was damn cold in the Shauck Mountains, so despite her shifter metabolism, she was grateful she’d be running most of the night.

She ran past him and by habit bounded up the incline toward the mastyr’s favorite launch-point at the top of the steep ridge behind his house.

* * * * * * * * *

Seth’s chest ached in the strangest way as he watched Lorelei’s strong white wolf form disappear up the trail. Her presence in his life disturbed him more than he would have ever believed possible.

She was a fairly delicate woman and wouldn’t be of much use in a hand-to-hand combat situation despite the fact that she carried a helluva lot of latent realm-power. However, she could sniff out the presence of Invictus wraith-pairs from several miles away, so her frequent warnings had been invaluable. He always gave credit where credit was due. But he still didn’t know what the queen had been thinking to send her to him.

Yet he knew that the real trouble lay deeper, because from the first moment she’d shown herself to him, a good month ago, he’d been way too attracted to her. She’d appeared at his front door at full-dark wearing a Russian fur hat, a short jacket, tight pants and furry boots, the kind she’d worn since. And from that moment until now, she’d pretty much overtaken his thoughts, though he worked hard to make sure she didn’t know it.

She was beautiful, which didn’t help, with large doe eyes, softly arched brows, and layered dark brown hair that floated around her shoulders and down her back. A vulnerability clung to this woman, making him want to drag her into his arms and hold her close, to protect her, to love her, to take her into his bed and keep her there.

More than once, his mating frequency had lit on fire when he’d opened the back door for her first thing at night. He was drawn to her in a way he hadn’t experienced in a long time.

A very long time.

Centuries, in fact.

But something more than just her appearance had snagged him, maybe her smile because she seemed to find a lot of pleasure in life, an anomaly given her horrendous background as the daughter of Margetta, the great evil of the Nine Realms.

He knew a number of critical things about Lorelei, having vetted her when she’d first shown up. Basically, she’d been kept a solitary prisoner during her growing up years without company of children her own age. A good-hearted troll, named Genevieve, had raised her and even helped her to escape.

Lorelei had spent her adult life running from Margetta until she’d come under the queen’s wing and Rosamunde had taught her some serious enthrallment skills. Now she was free from her mother’s ability to locate her so that she could live wherever she wanted.

And now she was here.

Closing the back door, he followed after the wolf, levitating and flying just a foot above the snow covered trail. He stuck close to the ground to avoid detection.

He found her at the uppermost peak of the ridge, well above the forest tree line, so that he had a spectacular view in all directions of the Shauck Mountains. The vast range extended across nearly the entire northern half of his realm.

The recent snowstorm had eased up but still clouded the night sky, blanking out the stars. His vampire night vision, however, warmed up the snow-laden scene. The mountains had been his home for centuries and he loved it here.

Lorelei waited a few yards away, looking lean and regal as she sat on her haunches, nose sniffing the air and never getting too close to him, something he preferred. Despite that he liked her and approved of her work ethic, for her own safety he wanted her removed from his service. He would defer to the queen, of course, but at this point, he feared Lorelei would become a hindrance in some future encounter and she’d get hurt, or worse, die.

Well, he couldn’t change that tonight.

He put a hand to his stomach, cramping already even though one of his vampire
doneuses
had come and gone.

All mastyr vampires suffered as he did. Something about the increase in power that came with reaching mastyr status created a corresponding chronic, and very painful blood starvation. He could have fed from a donor on the hour, every hour, but he’d still cramp up as he did now.

He felt Aaron tap his telepathic frequency.
Something so soon, Aaron? We’ve just gotten started.

The worst. An elven family slaughtered in the south, near Kavelith Gorge but the Invictus pair got away.

Shit.
He took a deep breath.
I’m at Shauck Gorge. Which direction was the wraith-pair heading?

North.

Okay. I’ll try to intercept. Heading south now. Keep me informed.

Yes mastyr.

He broke off communication and at the same time, from his peripheral, he saw Lorelei’s ears dart forward and her muzzle jerk toward the south.

He pathed to her.
What do you see?

Invictus.

He told her quickly about the elven family.

Lorelei didn’t shift her wolf eyes in his direction as she added,
I see a wraith-pair, maybe three miles away. They’ve just dipped down the east side of a ridge.

He’d give Lorelei that; she could see farther than any other realm person he’d ever known.
Has to be them.

When the echoing shriek of a wraith rolled through the mountains, Seth took to the air in pursuit. He descended swiftly, flying as fast as he could.

By the time he reached the opposite ridge, he could see the pair in the distance and that they’d headed down one of the most difficult trails in the Realm.

From experience, he knew that Lorelei tracked with him. The shifter part of her could run as fast as the most powerful alpha males of the four packs of his realm. Since the time she’d been here, she’d make her way through the mountains, using the numerous footbridges that crisscrossed the hundreds of gorges in this part of the realm.

He knew the paths well, having explored every square mile of his realm from the time he’d learned how to fly. A solitary process, but one he’d savored. Orphaned early in life, when he was eight, he’d built an inner world for himself that kept him satisfied and determined to do right by his mastyr calling.

The Invictus pair he followed involved a wraith and a vampire, the latter just shy of mastyr status, which was a level of power that Seth possessed. However, the bonding that only a wraith could perform with another realm person, created a tremendous surge of power, so that after fifteen miles of pursuit, they were still at least a mile ahead of him.

He picked up his pace, aware the Lorelei tracked with him, racing at full shifter speed.

Another turn in the bend and he saw the wraith-pair in the distance, racing across a shallow meadow and heading toward what he knew to be a box canyon, one called Loperz after a troll family of ancient lineage who ranched there.

He smiled and went faster still.

He had them now because if they dared rise into the air above the mountains, they’d be visible for miles and his Vampire Guard was in flight, hunting for them from every possible direction.

He flew through the meadow, the freezing temperature making him glad for his long Guardsman coat, battle leathers and boots.

From his periphery, he watched the white wolf racing over the snowy ground, leaping over deadfall, but always keeping pace.

He slowed slightly as he approached the narrowing entrance to the canyon, rising higher in the air at the same time. He didn’t want to be caught by a guerilla strike from the surrounding trees.

But the wraith-pair remained tight to the canyon floor, streaking through a scattering of firs, the wraith’s gown of red gauze strips flying behind her, a beacon in the night. Wraiths stayed warm no matter how cold the temperature dropped.

He gradually descended to his original position just above the ground, flying swiftly. The canyon floor spread a half-mile across.

The wraith-pair had also started to slow down and he thought he knew why. They’d probably just discovered that they’d chosen a box canyon. To escape him now, their only hope was to rise up and over the mountains, but they risked revealing their position to his Vampire Guard.

The wraith-pair had just lost the advantage and he smiled a little more.

Another mile and Loperz Canyon would end in a waterfall and a sheer rise to the ridge above.

He also hoped to the Goddess that the troll family had gone into town for supplies.

He listened hard, but he didn’t hear any sounds coming from the direction of their rambling log house.

He pathed to Aaron,
I’m at Loperz Canyon. Do you have anyone in the vicinity?

Everyone knew the Loperz place. Arlen Loperz had a fondness for the Walvashorr Guard as well as the Shifter Brigade and fed any at his table who came by during nightly patrols. He brewed a fresh pot of coffee every couple of hours.

I can have three Guardsmen there in ten minutes, but not sooner.

Send them in. The Invictus are here. I’m not seeing any of the family, though. I’m hoping they’re either in hiding or away from the house. Tell the nearest Guardsmen to get here quick but to be careful. This is a dangerous pair.

You got it.

He shut the communication down, slowing his pace at the same time.

The approach to the ranch had a broad wind-break of trees, at least a dozen deep that served as an all-purpose weather barricade. Right now the trees gave him cover until he could assess the situation.

Another shriek sounded over the canyon, louder this time, the wraith giving full expression to her battle-voice.

When he reached the inside edge of the line of trees, not even a small column of chimney smoke rose from the cabin, a good sign that the family was safe.

The wolf growled, maybe a warning, he couldn’t be sure.

But he felt it as well, that something wasn’t right.

The wraith-pair he’d been chasing hung in the air near the waterfall, talking quietly to each other, well beyond the cabin’s position.

The whole situation started to smell like a trap.

The door of the cabin opened, and a second wraith-bonded pair, the mate a powerful vampire, strode out onto the front deck. The vampire fixed his gaze in Seth’s direction.

Even at that distance, he knew he was looking at a mastyr vampire, like the ones Quinlan had encountered in Grochaire Realm just a little over two months ago. With no other sign of Invictus around, Seth made a calculated decision to do what he could to take out the vampire on the porch. Slaying one part of a pair, rendered the other half immobile and sometimes even death followed.

He flew at top speed toward the cabin. The vampire saw him coming, but didn’t move. Instead, as Seth flew closer, a slow smile curved the vampire’s lips.

Lorelei let out a sudden powerful howl, clearly a warning, but of what?

The next moment, a preternaturally charged fae net surrounded Seth as though coming out of nowhere.

He tumbled around then landed hard against several boulders not far from the Loperz’s yard. The air got knocked from his lungs and he’d broken an arm, a few ribs, and shattered his knee.

Holy fuck. He was completely immobilized. He slid off the rock, the jute netting clinging to him and burning his skin, as he landed in the snow.

He pathed to Aaron.
I’m trapped in a net. Bones broken. Can’t move.

Three Guardsmen are seven minutes out. Hang tough.

Seth couldn’t tell him the rest, that two wraith-pairs headed in his direction, taking their sweet time, knowing they had him, and that at least one of the bonded vampires was at mastyr status, the other not far behind.

He worked at his healing and by the time he saw the thick leather boots of the vampire, he’d brought his forearm bones into alignment and they were knitting together.

But the pain from his ribs kept him pinned in place, and his knee was a mess.

Despite all that, he gathered his battle energy into both hands, but at the last second he realized he couldn’t fire.

“Won’t do you a damn bit of good, Mastyr Seth. You’ll fry your own ass if you let loose with that charge.” His smile broadened. “The mistress told us you’d fall for the trap and that we should make quick work of you. But I’ve lost too many friends because of you and your Guard, not to savor this moment just a little.” He gathered saliva in his mouth and let it fly.

The spittle landed on Seth’s face. Rage moved in him, and he wanted to attack, but the nature of fae-charged nets meant that any battle energy he might send outward would be reflected by the netting. The vampire was right. He’d kill himself if he discharged a serious energy blast from his hands.

And right now, he had a whisper of time on his side as he stared up at the bonded vampire who had already made the decision not to kill him immediately. “We have someone who can sever the wraith-bond. You’d be free. Her name is Samantha. She’s bound to Mastyr Ethan. I can bring her to Walvashorr with one phone call.”

“What the hell makes you think I want to be free? A bunch of us mastyrs watched you and the others take over our realms, and I promised myself that if I ever had the chance, I’d off as many of you assholes as I could. Today just happens to be my lucky day. Margetta has big plans and I’ll one day rule in this realm, so no, I don’t want you to make a phone call, not today, not ever.”

If he could keep this egomaniac talking, his Guard might get to him in time. “And what exactly would you do with Walvashorr if you had the chance?”

“Trying to buy some time?” He chortled. “It’s okay. A few seconds more won’t matter and I’ll happily share exactly what we will do once we gain power. For starters, we’ll get rid of the lesser folk, weed out a few of the elven and troll lines, build up the wraith and vampire populations, limit the number of shifter packs to one per realm, maybe two. I can at least respect the shifter’s battle ethic.”