Zauran (2 page)

It's usually a stress free route meandering along these arteries carved into Serbian territory, traveling out along
Višnjica to the open country in the direction of Slanci –
usually
.

Except all I can think about is Darise and
that
woman
.

What are the odds that because of the vampyres in my life, I've now seen not one, but
two,
women who are identical to me. We could be sisters, except I've never seen any of them before Darise introduced us.

Okay, he didn't introduce the woman tonight, but still, she was with him wasn't she? Definitely freaking
with
him.

How many of us are there, and why are they targeting us? Is Darise collecting us? Why? What for?

How is it even possible? His brother Seithe has Phoebe, who looks just like me, and he is
married
to my doppelganger. Darise is
in
a relationship with me. And now a third look-alike joins their brotherhood, so how come Darise gets two of us?

This is just too weird.

The ache in my arms makes me uncomfortably aware of how tightly I'm gripping the steering wheel. My
palms are clammy with cold and nerves. I relax them, and force myself to focus back on the asphalt.

Clenching my jaw, I'm wrestling back tears, desperate not to be that pathetic woman who falls to pieces when she finds her boyfriend cheating.

So he's a philandering prick, get him back or get the heck over it. Big girls don't cry, they get even!

Get even.... how? With who?

Zauran is the obvious choice.

I only went to Pravus to deposit the box of new aesthetic products in the shop; comprising creepy contact lenses in different
shades and rainbow hues, and the vampire teeth. Plus, I have that box of new summer shirts printed with the Pravus emblem. They've been selling pretty darn well. I'm still waiting on the keychains and fake tattoos. Those are going to be a blast.

Instead of dropping them off, I ran away because Darise is an asshole with way too much freedom. He needs a leash and a dungeon, but I'm never going to be that kind of girl. My man needs to love me
and
want
to be with me. It's pretty darn clear he doesn't fall into either category.

The mist is low tonight, sending vapor smoke across the road to bounce the funnels of the headlights back at me. Foreboding rides my intuition like a current spiking down a live wire.

It's hard to see where I'm driving in this low cloud, which smells strongly of river and dark intent. The rubber of the tires is loud, like running over rubble, the noise almost insular as I creep the Clio closer to the turnoff to Zauran's secluded home.

He lives deep in wooded territory, and for once I wish he was on duty tonight. It would have been easier to run to his office than drive out to his lair.

Rolling down the window, inviting the crisp claws of mist to lick their way over my skin and into the car's interior, a growl makes me pause as I press my foot to the brake. Listening with sharp focus, I look behind me. It's difficult to discern over the thrum of the engine, but there's a distinct growl carrying on the wind.

Sudden urgency propels my actions, forcing me to wrestle with the steering wheel as I squeal rubber over the slippery white line, down the wet earth drive to his home.

It's a long drive, and with every aching inch feeling like a mile, I know with the supra-sense embedded in a woman's soul, I'm being watched – I'm being followed.

Tracked like a runaway with a GPS chip embedded in an ankle monitor, terror grips my breath and begins to squeeze.

Satan's cloak rolls thick over the landscape, obscuring everything in a dense fog which mutes even the faint light coming from the upstairs window, rolling out dragon's breath between the trunks of the trees, crowding the car into seclusion.

It's spooky.

Oh god, Zauran please be home.

Leaving the merchandise in the car, not even bothering to lock it, I grip my phone with trembling fingers and sprint to his door, banging on the thick wood as if I'm about to be snared by the monster wheezing his nightmare from the depths of my worst dreams, chasing me for my soul.

The growl comes again, closer, and a silver beam wavers faintly from afar; one cyclops eye lancing the white cloying veil which threatens to choke my final breath.

The door opens, leaving me sagging with relief at the tall silhouette of the only neuri I can say I know.

“
Zaria?”

Quaking as if I'm having a seizure, I wobble inside, yanking the door from his relaxed grasp and banging it closed, slamming the thick bolt across in a final shlick.

“
Petal? What is it? What the hell happened?”

His warm fingers grasp my chin, training my face on his, while two opal black eyes fracture the light into flecks of petrol green and azure. He's solid, instant comfort, and an immediate haven. Tension exhales out of me as I stare into his magnificent neuri eyes.

He scowls, the frown darkening his features like a clap of thunder from an angry Valkyrie. Those gentle caring eyes burn with the aqua hue of the aurora borealis. It shrouds their depths in the mystery of a powerful supernatural man who is forced to violate my mind the way he once violated my body.

The aqua roils over his irises like a gathering storm ready to eclipse salvation.

“
Forgive me,” he grunts, his grip tightening and holding me fast.

He pushes into my mind, and the vortex of his charisma pours into me like a lover licking the last drop of chocolate from a nipple. It relaxes me. Finally feeling safe I cherish the strength of his personality fusing with my own when he penetrates my body with magic.

*

Zauran:

I have to know and I don't have the time to wait for explanations.

Gleaning it from her mind is the easiest route, because urgency is coming off her in violent waves. It alarms me.

Delving into her, raw sexuality hits my core; fear, wrath, her entire night unravels like a cloistered scroll written in hieroglyphs. Ryan is here, following her no doubt, and Darise just blew it. Thank you
Božena for being an angel in my hour of need.

I have to work fast.

Pulling out of her mind, I wrap her close, leaning shivering flesh against mine while I gather her in for comfort.

“
I'm sorry to do that petal, it's the fastest way to get to information in an emergency.”

Curving her neck, she stares up at me, radiating innocence and trust into my breath, mind, soul.

She's so rare, if she could only see what I can.

“
He's...! I can't believe how
stupid
I've been. I was discontent and didn't know why, but I think I just discovered the reason,” she whispers; angry, afraid, and everything in between.

Her scent is rushing into me and my inhalations gorge on the purest spirit I've met. It vibrates power to the tips of my eyelashes, tempting me to pull her under and kiss her so deep she faints.

Desire resonates a staccato tap up and down every vein, tensing my fingertips into her skin as I stare down at a woman who thinks she's helpless. She's so brutally powerful I feel like ripping Darise's heart out for him.

But we're out of time. The stand of a bike meeting the paving outside rings the gong of destiny.

“
Ryan's here,” I tell her.

Surprising me, slender arms tighten and she hides her face into my t-shirt, breathing heat all over my abdomen, making me harder.

“
No!” cries muffled, her trembling increasing to such a degree I am now fully aware of hard nipples pressing above the waistband of my jeans.

“
Zaria, do you want to hide in the serpentinite room? He won't sense you there. But he'll know you're here because your car is outside.”

Two glistening dark cobalt eyes stare up at me. Long black eyelashes glossed with fresh tears clump together, making her look like an elf freshly woken in morning dew.

“
Make him go away,” she pleads in a hoarse whisper.

I can hear the turmoil in her head loud and clear. I'm her safe place. In a world just turned upside down she's come to me, because of what I symbolize in her life.

I've never seen her this vulnerable. Her fight has gone into hiding and she's clinging to defiance. She
needs
me to make her safe and now Ryan's fucked up that opportunity.

Shoving fingers through my hair, I'm pissed off. She's needy right now. Ryan's timing couldn't be worse if he'd set his pocket-watch to the peal of Death's.

Dipping down, whispering over her lips, I say, “Disappear. Go hide in my bedroom. He doesn't know the nature of our relationship.”

“
He does, he was in my head. He went everywhere, I could feel it.”

That does it.

I wish I could imprint my random emotions;
I'll always be your haven. Never stop running to me, Zaria
... But my elder is advancing to the threshold.

When he knocks on the door, I press her firmly against the wall and out of the way, unwillingly torn from the heat she was melting against me when I bent to speak to her.

She still wraps her sensuality into my DNA, and she still wants to know what forbidden darkness a neuri offers. She's here in rebellion, and her agenda was clear to see in her thoughts. She came to see if I still wanted her. I've never wanted anyone more, and now this alpha decides to warp my world with his sword of bitter fortune.

Taking the step, I slide the bolt, swinging the door open to Ryan, smiling as I greet him with the savage kiss of four knuckles on a cheekbone.

Chapter 3

Božena:

Walking to the ladies powder room, giggling from the potency of my imbibing and the thrill of Darise's French kissing, I'm forced to halt by an imposing man blocking my path in the gloomy passage.

“
I remember you,” he says, smiling with sinister seduction.

Staring up into eyes like molten pearls I recognize him too. “Hello.”

He comes closer, staring down at me like an angel bathing a forlorn soul in rapture. “Božena?”

“
Yes,” I nod, aware of my heartbeat accelerating.

“
You will recall you require a sponsor inside Pravus. Darise can no longer sponsor a mortal,” he says.

“
I know,” I nod again, harnessing my attention away from those impossible eyes, tracing his build as I examine storm-gray fabric clinging to muscles. His shirt is left loose and bunches over black leather jeans.

He's tall, sexy, and oddly familiar.

“
I'm the only one left to sponsor you. Do you mind?” he drawls in a whisper so private and laced with lust, it weakens my resolve.

I remember this. It's for my own good. Mortals need a supernatural guard inside Pravus; what they like to call a sponsor.

Nodding again, my breath hitches when I look back up into his shining moonbeam eyes.

His fingers are like the sting of a tropical sun under my chin, the touch tender and loaded with barrels of promise.
My jaw is tilted with insistent pressure and his satin mouth presses mine open.

A savoring tongue delves in and swirls bliss across the inside of my bottom lip. Attraction bursts fireworks through my synapses, slicking satin underwear and urging me to step back.

I do, moving to the wall, but he shadows the movement, using the wall to push me firmly into its carpeted covering, licking deeper into my mouth with his hand solidifying its hold in pure possessiveness on my neck.

It makes me feel fragile, tunneling peril into my bloodstream.

He lifts his head to stare deep chocolate eyes at mine, “I'm Jowendrhan. Darise's brother.”

That's where I know you from!

“
I vaguely remember...” But my voice snuffs with the heat emanating off him and the hungry stare pinning me down.

This attraction is primal, subconscious; overpowering my logic when I reach hands to press over the taut stretched fabric on his chest. Closing my eyes I rest my head back against the wall, experimenting with the unnatural warmth chasing into my palms from his muscles. He's built like a god, hard and defined.

The hand moves from my neck into my hair, wrapping itself to knot in the strands, capturing and arching my pose to pull me in against his body. I open my eyes just in time to see muscles bulge when he braces our weight on his arm leaning against the wall.

His delicious mouth claims mine again and it's instinctive to moan; unfurling years of pent desire into the caress of a gentle tongue framed with long incisors, treating me to the ownership of the last good vampyre on earth.