Hunger Aroused (18 page)

“You don't understand, Titus. He left because he didn't want to get involved.”

“Involved?”

“They came hours after you'd left. Your friendship with Ezra has not gone unnoticed.”

“Fuck,” he muttered. He looked at Jasmine. “We can't stay here. If the Council's tracked me to Ezra, there's no telling if they might come back. I don't want him involved in this if at all possible.”

“We should go,” she agreed.

“Titus, you are a wanted man with no friends. You never stood a chance.”

Suddenly it didn't sit well with Jasmine that Ezra wasn't present. Gregory seemed to dance around a topic, not quite landing on the bull's eye.

“Someone notified them. Someone knew you were coming here,” Gregory continued. “Despite what you may think, if I had even the smallest inkling that you would return, I would have given you as much warning as I dared.”

“What's going on, Gregory?” Corin asked.

Jasmine removed her hand from his. Corin needed to be unencumbered when he pulled out his blades, which he did now. Her nerves went on screaming alert, a feeling of being watched creeping across her skin. Incisors she'd almost forgotten about lengthened as adrenaline surged in her bloodstream.

“They allowed Ezra to leave, but they themselves never did. It's why I'm still here.” Gregory turned to face the men coming out of the shadows, heading toward them. “I had to play host to these gentlemen.”

For some reason Jasmine couldn't explain, she recognized that vampires slowly formed a circle around them. They moved as a unit, some of them unleashing expandable batons. The almost silent whipping sounds chilled her blood. The group acted with pure calm, their faces set and emotionless.

Her stomach plummeted as she realized this was a different ballgame altogether. While Sijourn's men were human and easily dispatched, Corin's blades would prove as ineffective against fellow vampires as bullets had proved against him. Their sheer numbers guaranteed success in their mission. Corin was but one man.

One of them, a striking blond with shorn hair, stepped forward. “Executioner Corinius Gerulaitis.” His announcement was clear, unwavering. “You are wanted before the Council. You and your companion will come with us.”

Jasmine couldn't help contrast the difference between the vampires and the way Sijourn's men handled them. For starters, they kept them separated. She had to watch, one hand pressed against a window, as Corin was escorted into a second vehicle. Time stretched on as her late-model Benz drove through the streets, looking no more conspicuous than the trees they whizzed by, followed by a sleeker model a few yards behind. Eventually both cars slowed at the entrance to a fenced-in area.

“Everything ready?” Her driver spoke to the lone guard standing at post. Hair along the back of her neck tingled as she studied him. His regal features were beautiful, not a strand of brown hair out of place, his uniform starched and pressed. At first glance she'd dismissed him as no more than another attractive guy, but when the tingling refused to dissipate, she looked again.

He spoke in hushed tones to the driver, who said something to make the guard pull back his lips in a smile. Elongated teeth immediately gave him away. She must have made a noise or done something to draw his attention, for he then looked her way.

“Ma'am.” His fingers touched the brim of his uniform cap, his Southern accent almost enough to lull her frazzled nerves. Always had a soft spot for a man with a twang. Still, Jasmine sat back, her face hot.

“Where are we going, please?” The car pulled forward again, passing beneath an elevated security arm. She gripped the seatback once no longer beneath the assessing gaze of the guard. “Can you tell me what's going on?”

“Ms. George, if you'll give us a few minutes to get on the runway, we'll have you on the plane in no time.”

Plane? “Is Corin—Corinius coming too?”

“Yes, ma'am.” This one had a slight country thing going on too. Not nearly as pronounced as the guard, who'd managed to put three syllables into a monosyllabic word. “You just come along with no problem, and this will be over with before you know it. The flight's less than an hour.”

“What's going to happen when we land?” Once she was handed over to the Council, the group who'd originally ordered her execution.

The driver avoided the question.

She looked to the vampire seated next to her, who remained facing forward. It wouldn't do a bit of good, probably get her cold-cocked for her troubles, but the urge to strike out at either of them hit hard. Maybe if she could provide a distraction, give Corin time to attempt a rescue, or just get away, it would be worth it.

“Please don't.” The softly spoken words pulled her out of imagined heroics, startling her. Didn't think this one knew how to talk. He just sat there in her personal space until now. “You won't help him or yourself by attempting…anything.”

Jasmine curled her lip in disgust. “Better than just doing nothing.”

He gave her a low simmering smile. “True.”

Petulant, she folded her arms over her chest and burrowed into the leather seats. “How did you know what I was thinking?”

“Corinius Gerulaitis is…a legend. The woman capable of making him turn his back on the Council is formidable, indeed. I would expect nothing less.”

“What's going to happen to him for turning on them?”

He twisted his head so they were looking directly at each other. “Nothing he hasn't already decided he's willing to face.” He gave her a thoughtful survey before facing forward again, putting an end to the too-brief conversation.

What did that mean? What
was
Corin really willing to face for her sake?

She would have given good money to ask. Instead, the car lurched to another stop. All passengers, save her, opened the car's doors and stepped out. Her door was yanked open, and Jasmine took that as her cue. By the time she took a single step away from the Benz, two men flanked her sides. A quick glance at the car stopped beyond them proved Corin had been graced with the same treatment.

They exchanged a quick smile. An unspoken reassurance.

For the next two hours, the simple knowledge of him buoyed her through terror that would run rampant if given the chance. Without turning in her seat, she felt him rows behind her as they left the ground and went airborne. Knew that he watched over her, even though they couldn't be at each other's sides.

During another car ride after landing, she realized she didn't feel so alone. He was back there. Plotting. Scheming. Figuring out a way to escape. He'd already anticipated a life on the run. Once presented with a single ripe opportunity, they would flee. She knew it. Refused to believe anything else.

Her head snapped up as the car came to a stop. Most of the parking lot was devoid of cars, but the few parked there screamed luxury. It seemed being a vampire and being wealthy sort of went hand in hand. Jasmine scarcely had the opportunity to review the business park where they'd stopped. Instead, she and Corin were bustled from their respective cars up a small flight of stairs and through a side entrance marked Employees Only. Their entourage moved as two units, she at the center of one group and Corin in the other.

They didn't stop to admire the unimaginative paintings of sunsets and flower vases. Despite the office surroundings, complete with potted plots and carbon-copy cubicles, no one milled about. The scent of industrial cleaners and, oddly enough, traces of popcorn, lingered in the air as they moved, the multicolored carpeting cushioning their steps.

“Through here, please,” her driver said, his hand outstretched. With a sigh, Jasmine did as instructed.

She stepped through, noting the temperature seemed colder, so she wrapped her arms around herself. “This where you keep the polar bears?” she muttered, goose bumps rising in silent agreement.

A sharp gasp escaped when she surveyed the room to see what—who—preferred the cooler temperature. Two men in business suits and two women in more feminine cuts of suits sat near the head of an immense conference table. Light shone down on it, highlighting a gloss that must have taken someone hours of labor to achieve.

One of the men stood, no more than twenty years old or so, and walked toward them. “I'm afraid these old bones prefer a cooler climate, despite popular opinion leaning toward the opposite affectation.” While his mouth smiled, his eyes told a decidedly different story. His gaze raked over her, disapproval growing in direct proportion to each inch of her height he covered. He directed his blue eyes toward Corin. “Corinius, thank you for coming.”

Her heart kicked at the sight of Corin as he made his way toward the younger man. Corin was strength and masculinity, compared to the dapper youth. “Councilman Sage.” They shook. “Would that this were under better circumstances.”

The councilman's brow drew in. “I'm very surprised, Corinius, but I'm sure there's extenuating circumstances that would explain your untimely departure?”

Corin took a step back, his body resting a hair's breadth away from hers. She basked in the heat, warm and comforting, purely Corin, that radiated from his body. “I could dance around the truth,” he replied. Soon his fingers found hers, curled in them. “But I think you have an idea what happened.”

Sage blinked, took in the sight of their entwined hands, then looked at Corin again in one smooth movement. He turned to Jasmine, his features locked. Despite the stoicism on his face, she felt his rage almost as surely as she felt Corin's affection. “Who are you?”

She would not be intimidated. Lifting her chin, Jasmine replied, “No one.”

“No one?” His forehead wrinkled. “You've managed to convince one of our executioners to turn his back on his duty, and you're no one? And not just one of our executioners, but one of our kind's finest?”

“Sage,” Corin growled. A step placed his body in between hers and the Council member's.

“Back up!” Sage ordered, the sound a whip against the air. “
You
can still be saved. Don't go down with her.”

Corin jerked. For a long second, she waited for his reaction. Something within Jasmine tried to convince her that he would come to his previous senses and leave her standing alone. He would remember the reason he'd come after her in the first place, instinct would rise swift and furious, and Corin would finish the task he'd started days ago. Jasmine's stomach knotted, certainty trying to find purchase and claw its way into her consciousness.

He lifted her hand to his lips, brushed a small kiss across the knuckles instead. Uncertainty crumbled into dust. “I've paired with her, Councilman, so know this…whatever the consequences for my actions, I'm telling
you
to back up. I won't have Jasmine threatened in my presence.”

She could have kissed him.

Sage, on the other hand, stilled. When he spoke, the ice in his tone chilled her even further. “In deference to your years of service, I'm going to allow you the chance to tell me everything I need to know about this.”

“What about the rest of the Council?” Corin made a show of pointing with his chin to the others in the room.

“They're not Council. However, I have asked the others to join us. They'll be here within twenty-four hours.”

“In deference to your time then, I'd like to suggest you bring one more person to this little party.” Corin twirled around Jasmine, pulling her against his body, his front to her back. The movement was sensual and possessive. Despite the circumstances, a turn-on.

“Oh?”

“You wanted to make an example of her sire for breaking our laws?”

“I still do.”

“What kind of example?”

A half smile quirked Sage's lips. “You might still be saved, Executioner. Complete the tasks you were commissioned to do.”

“Are you suggesting a kill order will be enacted?”

“One is still active.”

Despite the close presence of her love, her protector, Jasmine stifled an involuntary shudder at Sage's declaration. They wouldn't be able to get out of this situation. Not with both of them alive.

Corin bent down, dragged his lips up the length of her neck. She felt his deep inhalation, heard the sound of her man taking in her scent. “I'm asking about the other.”

“The law is the law. If he broke it, a kill order will be enforced.”

He stood tall, his stony gaze boring into Sage's. “I want to be the one to mete that justice.”

Sage looked from him to Jasmine, then back again. He must have felt the unnatural interest Corin displayed. Hell, she had no idea where it came from either. Something rode Corin, his choice of words not clue enough for a glimpse into his mind. Where Corin was going with this talk of her sire, she couldn't be sure.

“Why should we allow a renegade—”

“I've done nothing against the Council.”

“There is an open kill order,
Executioner.
” His emphasis on the last word wasn't lost to Jasmine.

“The kill order is for the end of the third day of transition for an unauthorized turning. That third day is today. As yet, I have done nothing against the Council.”

Jasmine wasn't sure who was more stunned by that revelation. Sage's eyes narrowed, studying the way Corin draped over her. The way she curled into his embrace. She could feel him wanting to believe that Corin planned on completing his task, but his nonverbal actions contradicted his very words. If she had a view into the inner workings of his mind, she imagined she would see the pieces of a puzzle fitting and refitting the empty spaces, a quest for the correct places to lock into as he tried to solve the riddle of Corin. Obviously, the executioner had set some plan in motion, but the end result was unfathomable.

The younger man rubbed his chin absently. “That can be arranged, I believe.” His hand dropped to the table, where he tapped with two fingers against the wood grain. One of the women came forward, a cell phone next to her ear. She spoke with a voice soft and mellifluous tone. Jasmine realized she repeated the conversation going on in front of her to the person on the other end. Every time the men paused, so did she. The effect was disturbing.

“But really, you leave me in a quandary, Corinius. What would the others say if I allowed this?” Sage held up a hand to the woman before she started speaking. Perhaps another council member he didn't want updated on this little piece of indulgence listened on the other end.

“Name another executioner better than I.”

Sage chuckled, but began to pace. “Before a few days ago, I couldn't name one.” He looked at Corin from the corner of his eye. “You know that.”

“Allow this one last thing then, Councilman.”

A single tap of his fingers on the table. He turned to the woman. “Is there any objection?”

She echoed his question, listened for a minute and then spoke. “Corinius has served us well over the years. He is someone who has our respect and has always put the needs of the Council first. We will bring this person before the Council. If found guilty of crimes against the vampire nation, we agree to allow it.”

The use of “we” brought to mind old episodes of
Star Trek
when Picard served as captain.
Resistance is futile,
and hive minds.

Kill order withstanding, the Council terrified her.

The woman listened a moment longer, dipped her head as if the person on the other end saw the slight deference, and then disconnected. Sage paced the room, his hand touching chair tops as he walked by. More puzzles in his mind fitted and then refitted. Twisted and turned, trying to find the perfect solution. He wanted Corin disciplined, but Jasmine thought he wanted her sire even more.

“So, who dares to break Council law?”

Corin's arms tightened around Jasmine. “One who would see the Council fall and the reign of vampire return to what it once was. One who uses his wisdom and wealth to figure out how to create a new breed of vampire… A generation that no longer requires the aid of a true sire.”

Jasmine's heart raced with every passing second of dawning understanding. Corin wouldn't…