Wild Hearts (Blood & Judgment #1) (13 page)

“So I’ve been told,” she says, with a smile. “So where exactly is it that we are going?” she inquires after a beat.

“Not sure,” I say, biting my lip. “I’ll know when we get there.”

“Huh? How does that work?” she asks.

“It’s complicated,” I reply. Actually it isn’t, I just don’t want to share all of my secrets. The vision is acting like a GPS and is sending me where it wants me to go. It is taking its toll on me and more blood is going to have to be consumed pretty quickly, but getting to our mysterious warlock is the only thing that matters right now.

We drive on in silence, now a more comfortable one, until we see the edge of a town.

Aria glances at me, but I am concentrating. I am supposed to turn left, but I really want to ditch this car and get something more used to bashing through the woods.

We’re going to need it.

“Hang on,” I say and pull up into a busy motel parking lot. It is filled with all types of appropriate vehicles and I pick the newest and most comfortable SUV I can find, a
Ford Explorer
.

“This’ll do nicely,” I say and pull up next to it. I grab my briefcase from behind the seat and get out, setting to work on jacking the
Ford
.

Aria also gets out and leans against the
Lambo
with her arms and ankles crossed. “You do this often?” she asks conversationally.

“Uh-huh,” I say with a smile as I am in and ready to disable the tracker. “Get the bags, would you? This shouldn’t take long.”

***

A few minutes later we are on the road in our new car.

“This is better,” Aria says and I nod in agreement. “What about the owners though? Don’t you care?” Her pursed lips make me mentally roll my eyes at her.

“That’s what insurance is for. Besides, I only borrow. They catch up with the discarded vehicles eventually.”

“Do you have a conscience?”

“Are you always this judgmental?” I ask her back, and she shuts her mouth.

I now follow the road that my vision wants me to take and soon we find ourselves in the middle of a forest, crashing through trees and shrubs and over boulders.

“Are you sure this is the right way?” Aria asks, jolting forward and holding onto the dashboard as we hit a ditch.

“Yep,” I say and concentrate on getting us to our destination in one piece. The
Explorer
? Well, that might be a different story.

Eventually, after an ungodly, spine-jarring ride, we finally come to some flat land and we both sit back in our seats.

“What
is
this place?” Aria asks looking around. “And why the fuck is it so difficult to get to?”

“Coven land,” I say, tapping my temple.

“Which Coven?” she asks and if I didn’t know better I’d say I heard awe in her voice.

Not that I blame her. This is pretty impressive.

“The Dark Raven’s,” I say and she opens her mouth in surprise. She has clearly heard of them. I haven’t, but then my association with warlocks and their ilk has been limited to a quick, yet, satisfying fuck with Jacob a few nights ago.

“Shit,” Aria says.

I just shrug. I don’t care about the Coven. All I need is the man from my vision.

As the trees clear we hit a paved driveway that takes us a short way to a pair of impressive electric gates. The strong ward is completely visible, shimmering over the gates and the twenty-foot-high walls and I gulp. Magic is really not my favorite thing in the world. Especially the kind that is covering the grounds of what, I can only assume, is the Coven headquarters, located in this highly remote forest on the edge of the mountains. I stop and let the window down. I reach out and push the intercom button and we wait.

“What?” a male voice snaps after a few minutes of silence, making us both jump.

I look at Aria and she looks at me and shrugs. Shit, I have no idea what I am supposed to say now. I hadn’t thought this far ahead. “Err,” I start. “I am looking for a warlock.”

I glance at Aria with my hands held up in a ‘fucked-if-I-know’ gesture. She rolls her eyes at me and I pull a face at her, flashing her my claws, letting her know my threat is still hanging there. I let her off though this time as I am seriously lame. Fort Knox, I did not expect. Dumbass.

“No shit,” the man on the other side says, heavy on the sarcasm. “Get out of here before I come out there and fry your asses for trespassing.”

“Wait!” I call, but it is no use, he has already hung up.

“What now?” Aria asks, peering up at the walls. “I don’t want to screw around with that ward, do you?”

“No,” I say, biting my lip. I push the button again and wait, this time better prepared.

“What?” the man snaps again. “I told you to get lost.”

“I need to see a warlock in your Coven,” I say in the poshest accent I can muster, which makes Aria stifle a snort of amusement, probably because it sounds exactly like my real voice. “I am a vampire and my colleague here is a wolf. We have a pressing issue to discuss regarding the Ambassadors.”

There is a long silence where only heavy breathing is heard through the intercom. “Look, bitch… I said get lost…”

“It’s
Ember
,” I bark at him, getting annoyed now.

I hear my name being repeated in the distance and a scuffle and then muffled talking like someone has placed their hand over the receiver.

“Come on in,” a different male voice says and Aria and I exchange a look that portrays both our surprise and sudden fear that we have been allowed entry just like that. The massive gates open and as Aria says, “Are you sure about this?” I drive us through and up to a gothic mansion so dark, huge and foreboding, I feel a delicious shiver go down my spine.

Chapter 13

~Ember~

“Ember?” Aria says. “Are you absolutely sure we are in the right place?”

“Completely,” I say and climb out of the SUV. She follows suit and we stride side-by-side up to the front door that is opening even as we approach it.

“Ember. What a lovely surprise,” the second man from the intercom greets me.

I groan in horror and stall for a moment. “Jacob?” I ask in surprise.

“You know him?” Aria asks.

“Oh, we are old friends,” Jacob says to me with a wink. He comes forward to peck me on the cheek, but I duck around him and smile as he stumbles and kisses fresh air.

“I wouldn’t say that,” I say to Aria who is looking at me for an explanation.

“Fuck buddy,” she says with a knowing nod of her head.

“Not even that,” I say.

“Hey,” Jacob says with a grin, coming up next to me and slinging his arm around my shoulder. I stiffen from the contact, but he doesn’t notice as he says, “It was more than that and you know it.” He gives me a meaningful look and I shrug his arm off me.

“Hardly,” I say dismissively.

“So why did you come to find me then? I knew you would, you know,” he says slyly.

“I am not here for you,” I snap at him as we come to a halt in the entrance hall of this old mansion. The place is like a dream come true for me. I could see myself living here all by myself in the middle of nowhere, feasting on lost hikers…

“Ember,” Aria says, interrupting my daydream. “What the fuck is this?”

“I wish I knew,” I mutter under my breath, and then I gasp as I see the man from my vision standing at the top of the sweeping staircase.

“Jacob,” he says in a voice so darkly delicious, I nearly cream myself. “What is the meaning of this intrusion?”

Aria and I gape up at him as he makes his majestic descent, dressed in a black, Hugo Boss suit that speaks to my own heart. He is tall, about six-two easy, and as wide as me and Aria put together, all pure muscle. I can see his pecs and abs straining against his shirt. His silky, dark hair brushes his shoulders and his bright blue eyes find mine with an inquisitive look etched with a darkness I have only ever seen in my own. Oh, he knows who he is, that’s for damn sure.

I know I must look like a fool practically drooling over him. He comes to a stop right in front of me and looks down at me, searching my eyes as I search his back, seeing a desire there that makes my heart flutter.

“Who are you?” he asks me, completely ignoring Aria altogether. Thank fuck. No way do I want this man’s eyes roving over that slutty wolf.

“This is Ember,” Jacob butts in before I can say anything. He stands close to me, way too close, and puts his hand on my ass. “We met a few days ago.”

I slap his hand away quickly, as the dreamboat’s eyes narrow into two tiny slits and his face falls into an ominous expression.

“You know Jacob,” he states flatly.

“Yeah, we kinda hooked up,” Jacob says, clearly staking his claim on me, but
no one
owns me. Least of all a quick fuck. It pisses me off like you won’t believe.

“Kind of?” the warlock asks with a frown.

“Yeah, well, you know,” Jacob says with a shrug.

“It was nothing,” I state coldly, crossing my arms. Oh, the humiliation. This man is now looking at me like I am some sort of wanton whore. “Your name?” I ask him, keeping up the chill factor so as to hide my thorough embarrassment and disappointment that this is going south in the worst way.

“Pardon my manners,” he says stiffly, bringing his own chill to the party. “I am Draven Stone. Head of the Dark Raven Coven.”

I gulp.

“Holy shit,” Aria mutters under her breath. “Is
this
the guy?”

“Uh-huh,” I mutter back. “Well, Draven, it seems that I am here for you then.” Yeah, my confidence is returning as I suddenly get a sense that everything is going to work out. The Head of the Coven! No wonder I felt his power in my vision. This warlock standing before me is probably the most powerful creature on Earth. I swallow loudly and feel my cheeks turn red again. It also means he is Jacob’s brother. I remember Simon’s words:
“His brother is the Head of the Coven that Sasha is a member of.”

“Me?” he scoffs derisively. “I don’t do sloppy seconds.” He stalks off, leaving me reeling at the insult he just casually threw my way. Aria is snickering behind her hand and Jacob is smiling at me with that too-friendly smile.

“Jackass,” I hiss at him and stalk off after Draven.

I find him in a very elegant drawing room, pouring expensive scotch into a cut crystal glass. I give him a frosty glare, all of my previous girly feelings completely shattered under his scorn for me. No one insults me and gets away with it.

“What makes you think I came here for
that
?” I ask him with my arms crossed.

“They all come here for
that
,” he says mildly and sits on a comfortable looking sofa and props his ankle on his knee.

“Such modesty,” I growl at him.

“I tell it like it is,” Draven says. “They use Jacob to get to me and, like I said, I don’t touch my brother’s whores.”

“You bastard,” I spit out at him. “You wouldn’t know class if it smacked you around your thick skull with an antique candlestick.”

“Class,” he repeats and gives me another raking once-over. “Mm, perhaps, once. Fucking my little brother to get yourself into my Coven HQ is something only a whore would do.”

“Call me a whore one more time and I will rip your tongue out,” I snarl.

“Oh, feisty,” he says, totally unconcerned that he has brought forth the beast. I can feel my fangs and claws pop out, but I pull back before I take a swipe at him and ruin any chance of making my life’s work a reality.

“Sexy too, in a common sort of way,” he drawls and takes a sip of his scotch.

“
Common
?” I repeat, utterly outraged. That’s a worse insult than ‘whore’. “Why you…” I launch myself at him, giving him a well-deserved, resounding slap across his face.

His look of surprise is almost comical as he gapes at me and then stands up, towering over my five-five frame.

“Do you have any idea who you are messing with,
vampire
?” he says, clearly trying not to roar at me.

“Do you?” I retort. “
Warlock
.” I put every ounce of disgust I can into my last word and it makes two red spots on his cheeks flare up.

For a split second I think how cute he looks, but push it aside. This idiot has gotten on my proper bad side and there is no coming back from that. Even if he is the one to pull this circle together.

“Good enough to fuck…” He leaves the sentence hanging.

“I wouldn’t touch you if you begged me to,” I say with my hands on my hips. “Ask your brother what
you
are missing out on.”

I hear Aria clear her throat behind me and Jacob lets out a strangled chuckle.

“Mmm, hmm,” he mutters lewdly.

“Get out!” Draven roars at the two of them, holding out his hand and letting off a current of magic that has them stumbling back and the double doors slamming shut. He crashes his glass down on the antique end table, making it rock unsteadily. I flinch when I think about how he nearly broke such a priceless item and that, coupled with his show of magic, makes me take a deep breath.