Battle With Fire by K.F. Breene

Twelve

“Ah crap, now what?”I asked, starting forward again as Ja looked up, her petite frame and pretty face proving the cliché “you can’t judge a book by its cover” accurate. “Come to ask for another favor? Would you like us to get you out of the shifter commune this time?”

She smiled, and I broke out in shivers. It wasn’t a pleasant sentiment coming from her.

Darius glanced up as I came around the loveseat.

“Good evening, mon coeur,” Darius said, standing up out of respect, and then sitting down again as I did. “How was your dinner?”

“Very rare.” I watched Ja closely. You just never knew when she’d rush you, I’d come to realize. “What’s this about? Trading pleasantries with friends?”

“Your wit never gets old,” Ja said, and though it wasn’t said sarcastically, she meant it that way.

“We were waiting for you, though I’m not sure why.” Darius entwined his fingers with mine and then thought, She is up to something. Be on your guard.

“She’s always up to something,” I said out loud, because that really wasn’t a secret, and Ja didn’t have any feelings to hurt.

Ja crossed one knee over the other, her pink satin gown very strange for a shifter compound, where the fashion of choice seemed to be a mountain-man style involving lots of plaid. Even Darius had dressed down to a less flashy look of jeans and a gray button-up. A little clutch sat on the ground next to her, and I wondered if she’d just come from a ball or dinner party or something. I didn’t mention that, though. I didn’t need another comment about my wit.

“Being that relations are somewhat…strained between you and Vlad, Darius,” Ja began, “I thought you might want the truth of the past.”

What my father had said about Vlad’s skeletons rattled through my brain.

“Of course,” Darius said after a brief pause, probably thinking along the same lines.

“The nature in which you were made was a lie,” she said with a voice as silky as her dress.

I thought back to the story Darius had told me in Seattle, before I gave him blood for the first time. The memory was fuzzy, since it had happened before the vampire bond upgrade, but I recalled that he’d been besotted with a very beautiful woman. He’d wanted to marry her even though it was a bad match for whatever reason. But she was a religious fanatic, and somehow she got it into her head that he was a vampire. Quite ironic, since she ended up playing a pivotal role in him becoming one.

She’d lured him with the promise of a secret rendezvous, only to have him killed when he showed up. The attackers didn’t do the job properly, however, and he lay there for hours, near death. It was then Vlad had found him, apparently, and changed him into a vampire.

We hadn’t talked about it since that night. I’d honestly forgotten about it. Probably a dick thing to do, but in all fairness, I’d had a lot on my mind.

“Go on,” Darius said.

“The woman you suspected did hire those men to kill you,” Ja said. “She did think you were a vampire.”

“I am well aware, yes,” Darius replied.

“She didn’t come to that conclusion by herself, however.” Ja smiled sweetly. “Did you never wonder why a woman of minimal education became convinced you were a vampire after finding a few artifacts in your home?”

“Thinking people were vampires was very in vogue at the time,” Darius replied.

“It was and it wasn’t. I remember that time well. I was accused a few times myself, but always by people who had pretty obvious clues to go by, such as always being out at night but never in the day, the deaths of my lovers, that sort of thing. You didn’t have those obvious signs, correct?”

Darius watched her, not saying anything.

“A dish with an image, a trinket, and the shape of your bushes?” She clucked her tongue. “Quite a leap.”

I wondered how she’d known all of that, because Darius’s lack of a reaction confirmed it was true. Her evidence was clearly giving weight to the big reveal that would happen sometime soon. My stomach twisted in anticipation. This wouldn’t be good news. I could see the painting on the wall.

“She was a religious fanatic, yes, but the signs she thought she’d found were not obvious. They were occult in nature. Only someone educated would’ve guessed at their meaning.”

“Debatable,” he said in a strong voice, but I could feel the turmoil roiling through him.

Her eyes sparkled. She was enjoying this.

“She was very beautiful,” Ja said.

“Yes, she was,” Darius replied, joining Ja’s little dance. The wait was killing me.

“You met her in the village, correct? She pulled the damsel-in-distress routine? What was it that happened, again?”

Darius tilted his head a little, anger starting to work through him. I couldn’t tell if it was because of Ja, or being bamboozled by someone he’d almost let himself love.

“Her bonnet flew off, and she rushed into the lane to get it. She was nearly trampled by a horse,” Darius responded. “I pulled her out of the way.”

“Yes, that’s right. That horse—it was pulling a carriage, correct?”

Darius inclined his head. Yes, it was.

“Do you remember the crest?”

So many feelings exploded through the bond that I couldn’t comprehend or even name them. “I do not.”

She reached down, picked up the clutch, opened it, and extracted a piece of paper. It was the only thing in there. She leaned forward and passed it to him.

He unfolded the paper and surveyed the design without comment.

The suspense was too much. “Do you recognize it?” I asked.

“It is Vlad’s family crest, when he needs one,” Darius answered as he folded the paper back up. “Ja is insinuating that Vlad orchestrated my misfortune and put me in a position where I would need saving. He kept me alive long enough to turn me into a vampire, his goal since before I’d even met Ernesta, apparently.”

Ja nodded.

I closed one eye and screwed up my face. “Except…that seems like a lot of work for a guy that now just invites people to parties under false pretenses, feeds them a drink, and voila, new vampire. Why would he go through so much trouble?”

“Things were different then,” Ja said. “We weren’t nearly as organized as we are now. We didn’t have the same resources. It was important to be a lot more secretive at that time.”

Cold anger bubbled within Darius. I should feel bad for him. All this time he’d believed one thing, and the truth was a different thing entirely. I knew I should feel bad, but…wasn’t that kind of what he did to people, too? He didn’t do it anymore because of me, but he’d turned a great many people into vampires over his long life, and I doubted he’d asked most of them for permission. He definitely had not said sorry. Obviously many had forgiven him, or he wouldn’t have been able to gather hundreds of vampires for this coming battle, but still. Being mad was like the pot calling the kettle black.

Ja sat quietly for a moment, watching Darius, who watched her back. It looked like they were silently communicating, but they couldn’t—not like I could. Still, they were probably communicating with looks and body language.

“That information changes nothing between us,” Darius finally said. “It does not help me in any way.”

“Doesn’t it?” she asked.

Did I detect a little annoyance in her tone?

“I assume you are referring to the agreement between Lucifer and Reagan, whereby Lucifer will hand Vlad over if she requests it?”

Ja didn’t comment, but her eyes had taken on a keen edge.

“What good would it do to kill Vlad?” Darius asked with an indifferent tone, though his anger hadn’t subsided. “It won’t disband his followers or quell their delusions of greater representation within the Realm.”

“Which they should have anyway, and we need to see that everyone is represented in the ruling tier,” I cut in, because I’d forgotten that bit, and it should be included in this great plan of balance that I did not, in any way, want to institute. What a stupid position I’d found myself in. This was so not my jam, why had no one realized that?

“Vlad and Lucifer have the unicorns now, with Reagan’s blessing,” Darius said, ignoring me. “They are building their forces as more and more creatures leave the Realm, searching for someone who will tear the elves from power. With Vlad or without him, Lucifer is setting himself up to sweep through that battlefield and take the prize.”

I lifted my eyebrows and studied him. I didn’t know what to say. No one had told me the scales had tilted that far in my father’s favor. Would we even be able to stop him?

Ja was silent for a long moment, the two back to staring at each other, a game of silent chess. Her eyes slid to me.

“You know, of course, that it will be easy to kill all the vampires fighting with Vlad?” she asked.

“Because the elves might fight during the day and pull down the illusion of the fake sun that protects them, right?”

A glimmer of rage flashed in her eyes.

She thinks you are intentionally being belligerent, Darius thought. She thinks you are mocking her.

Little did she know I wasn’t smart enough to read her subtlety. I was honestly asking if there was something I was missing.

“Well, then.” She uncrossed her legs, still holding her clutch. “I will leave you with a surprise gift, Darius. You will collect it in the next couple days.”

“If you wish,” he answered, noncommittally.

She stood, and Darius did the same, so I followed suit. I wasn’t polite often, but when I was, I was annoyed by it.

Her stare bored into me. “Lucifer has issued orders to remove you from the battlefield—or possibly before. He doesn’t want you harmed. Be on your guard if you hope to join the battle.” Her eyebrow arched. “You do still hope to join the battle?”

“Yes,” I replied. “And he won’t be taking me anywhere. Someone has to stand up to him.”

Her smile was slight. “Good. It wouldn’t be wise to grant the Realm’s throne to Lucifer. That kind of instability would lead to another war that might bring the worlds to their knees. The last thing we want is to be sequestered to the human lands forever. Their short life spans make them much too volatile as companions.”

I scowled at her as Darius showed her out, and then kept right on scowling at her through the door.

“What’s the matter?” Darius asked, returning. He lowered into the loveseat and took my hand again, gently pulling me down with him.

“I don’t like that she’s thinking along the same lines as I am in regard to the Realm. It makes me think I’m missing something.”

“Then you won’t be getting your revenge on the elves?”

He laid his arm along the back of the loveseat behind me and leaned closer, skimming his lips against my neck. Delicious shivers coated me, and I fluttered my eyes closed.

“I will, somehow. Either on the battlefield or some other time. I’ll definitely get revenge. But…I just think it would be selfish to potentially trash a whole world because of my issues. It isn’t fair to them. I’ve had a lifetime of thinking of nothing but myself, and it hasn’t gotten me very far. I need to think of others.”

He kissed my heated skin, sucking a little. His teeth scratched pleasantly, and his hand trailed up the inside of my thigh. “You are exactly right, and your determination to do right by them can only help your standing within the worlds when you step into your role as ruler.”

I widened my legs, breathing heavily. “What do you mean?” I asked, drunk on his proximity, burning from the inside out.

“Lucifer has issued you a compromise.” His tricky fingers reached my apex and rubbed. Waves of pleasure washed through me as his lips trailed a line of fire down to my throat. “He is opening the Underworld for you and allowing you the decision to rule or not, live there or not. It’s what you wanted, correct?”

“Yes,” I said, and it was both an answer and a reaction to his ministrations. The sensation built, tightening me up.

His lips closed over my nipple and he bit through the fabric lightly, enough to apply pressure but not hurt. I groaned, gyrating my hips against his clever fingers.

“I saw you force that powerful conspector into submission before we fled the Underworld. You were born to rule, Reagan Somerset, and I don’t think it’ll take long for you to realize that. You have sacrificed yourself for your friends, put the wellbeing of other creatures before yourself and your plans, and listened to those around you. You are planning to act in a way that benefits entire worlds.”

I cried out as I orgasmed, arching backward.

Darius lifted up and kissed my neck again, over my pulse, before shifting his attention to my mouth and running his tongue over my bottom lip. “In such an incredibly short time, you are growing to fill the seat Lucifer has offered you. You will be an amazing ruler, and I will be proud to call you mine.”

“Don’t be so confident,” I said as he yanked the fabric and unbuttoned my jeans. He pulled the zipper down slowly, now kissing along my jaw. “As soon as I get new digs, I’ll dump you and level up.”

I felt his lips curl into a smile. “There is no leveling up from me, and in just a moment you will scream out your agreement.”

Infallible confidence to the last. He was right, though, the bastard.

“I can ask for Vlad, if you want,” I said as he pulled my shirt off and tossed it behind him. He stripped my bra next, and his shirt with it. He kissed me, deep and sensual, and I ran my hands up his smooth, cut torso.

He paused for a moment, backing up to look into my eyes. “It would do no good, and I honestly don’t know if I could best him. He might kill me instead.”

“I’d never let that happen,” I whispered.

“I wouldn’t let you interfere. But what I said to Ja wasn’t to be taken at face value. She wants me to kill him. Or him to kill me. Both of us are powerful players in the vampire hierarchy, more so than any of the other elders. We have a delicate balance, even now, after choosing different sides. We have helped keep each other at this level for more than half of our lives. I was telling Ja that I would not take the bait and end him, thereby allowing her to move more freely in her pursuits. We will band together to stop her, if need be, and after this, that might be necessary.”

“You said all of that while using completely different words?”

His lush lips curled up into a smile. He grabbed the back of my neck and pulled me closer, claiming my lips and my desire. His tongue swept through my mouth, and I pulled open the fly of his jeans. Reaching within, I claimed his hard length and ran my palm along it before gripping firmly and stroking.

He groaned into my mouth, backing off a little, his eyes hooded. “Yes, mon ange. I said all of that. She is incredibly dangerous. More so than anyone I have ever met. I knew she’d been a powerful player back in the day, but I had no idea what it might mean. I should not have put her in a position to want to re-emerge into our world in a significant way. Now I will need to put my grievances with Vlad aside and monitor her closely.”

He grabbed the edges of my jeans and yanked them off before ripping away my lacy red panties. He pushed his pants down and then my knees apart, leaving me spread and bare while he lowered his knees to the carpeted floor.

“You’re really mad at Vlad, then?”

He ran his tongue up my slick center before enveloping my clit with his hot mouth and sucking, rolling his tongue around. My breath hitched, and pleasure consumed me before he quickly backed off and blew softly, the effect like a light tickle, driving my anticipation to incredible heights.

“I’m not mad about how he turned me. I’ve done worse, myself. To Moss, as a matter of fact. To many. I do not understand…” He sucked in the sensitive skin on the inside of my upper thigh before moving back to my core. Vampires were incredibly good at having conversations, deep or shallow, while in the throes of passion. It was madness, but did make his history lectures very enjoyable.

I arched, groaning, drinking in the pleasure, my desire pumping higher. My body wound up, right on the edge now.

He pulled back, leaving me teetering there. I whimpered, of all things, throbbing, desperate to spill over into orgasm.

“I do not understand why he kept it from me. He is my maker, regardless of how.” He pushed to standing, and I looked at him like he’d grown two heads. Where the hell did he think he was going?

He scooped me up, walked me to the bed, tore back the covers, and set me down gently.

“It is something I will ask him one day.” He bent between my legs again and flicked my clit with his tongue. Again. I climbed right back to the edge, pushing my hips up to his mouth, wanting deeper contact, more friction.

He blew again, then flicked.

“Damn it, Darius, fuck me, please,” I said.

“Your wish is my command,” he whispered, once again leaving me right on the agonizing edge and kissing up my stomach. He sucked in a nipple, right on the point of pain. I yelped then moaned, gripping his back, pushing up against his body.

He ran his lips up my chest, all the way to my neck, before pausing just over my mouth. His erection rubbed against me, and I angled myself, trying to capture it with my body. No such luck.

I whimpered again. This was what he did to me, time and again. I loved it as much as I hated it. He was so good in the sack it should be a crime.

“I never did love Ernesta, the woman who betrayed me,” he murmured.

“I know,” I replied softly, pulling my thighs up high on his hips. My core throbbed almost painfully. “Please, Darius.”

“But I held on to her memory all through this life,” he went on, pulling back a little to look me in the eyes. It felt like I was looking straight into his soul. “I held on to the image of her beauty, the memory of her voice, and of my desire to wed her and finally tip into love with her. And then I met you. Everything she was pales in comparison to you. I am nothing without you. Ja thought I would be enraged to find out Ernesta was playing me at Vlad’s behest. She thought I would hate Vlad for his role in that betrayal, but I haven’t thought about her once since the night I told you of her. Since the night we were first together. I let go of her, then, and held on to you. Loving you came so easily. So quickly. And I’ve fallen deeper and deeper in love every day since. I will protect you with my life until the day I fall into eternal rest. My love for you will never yield, and my desire to serve you will never waver. I am yours, for all eternity.”

I blinked my glassy eyes, my heart swelling with love. He kissed me then, with such feeling and passion that it swept my breath away. He lined up and thrust, filling me completely, body and soul. Almost immediately I exploded and then fractured into a billion little pieces, the sensation spreading through my body. He moved to my neck and bit. I groaned, and then I was building again, wild, ravenous for him. I moved with him, unable to speak but knowing my feelings were pouring through the bond to him.

The next explosion caught me by surprise, and I cried out. He kept going, though, reaching between us to manipulate my clit as he thrust, helping me climax again and again until it felt like we were bonding all over again. I shuddered but kept going, eyes squeezed shut, and held on for dear life.