As impossible as it seemed, Xavier’s other living daughter—
her sister
—had been right beneath their noses this entire time. And while she may be safe from Xavier, her life was still in danger, nonetheless.
C
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45
Damian
“How are you feeling?” he asked as they cuddled on the couch in the living room. They’d been listening to the soft sounds of good ol’ blue eyes while discussing the day’s events. Sarah was out of immediate danger, but still in the infirmary for the next couple of days. Analise had donated a couple pints of blood, but he’d replenished her with his. He still couldn’t believe that all this time, Xavier’s other daughter had been right here.
His blood was strong, but Damian could tell Analise was still tired and lethargic. “I’m fine, Damian. For the hundredth time,” she replied in annoyance. “I swear if you ask me that one more time it’s you that will get punished.”
He laughed but without humor. “Don’t make idle threats you can’t make good on. I assure you, the only one getting punished later will be you, kitten.”
“Me?” She pulled back from the warmth and comfort of his arms, scooting toward the corner of the worn leather sofa. He didn’t like it. “And what, pray tell, have I done to earn said punishment?”
That little devil on his shoulder, the one he should most definitely ignore in this situation, overrode the angel on his other who was whispering for him to just tell her. “I didn’t realize I owed you an explanation,” he stated flatly. Their eyes locked in a battle of wills, neither looking away, neither backing down.
“Okay, what’s really going on here, Damian?” she asked.
Damian was like Oz. Almighty and powerful, yet with Analise he felt powerless. Control was slipping through his fingers like grains of sand to which he couldn’t quite grasp onto and the only place left for complete and utter domination was the bedroom. No goddamned way would she take that away from him. Once again, that fucking annoying angel gave him very sound advice.
Talk to her, she’ll understand
.
“Nothing is
going on
here, Analise. I thought I made it very clear that I, and I alone, dominate the bedroom. Period. The only one doling out any punishment will be me. What I want, when I want and how I want.” Guess he gave that cherub bitch a one-way ticket south. Way south.
After several tense minutes, she rose from the couch and started walking out of the room. He called after her, “Where are you going?” Jesus, he was a bastard. He had no idea why he was acting like someone had stuck a hand up his ass, working his mouth like a ventriloquist. Every time he opened it, he had no control over what came out.
“I’m tired. I’m going to lie down for a while. I’ll see you when you get back from Dragonfly.” She took a few more steps before turning around to face him. The look of disappointment in her eyes made him feel about two inches tall, which was, quite frankly, more than he deserved. “However, if you’re still going to be a fucking prick when you get back, maybe I’ll just see you in the morning instead. If it’s all the same to you, I don’t really think I’m up for
punishment
tonight at the hands of a selfish asshole.” And with that dressing down, she left.
Fuck him! He
was
a selfish asshole! There was no excuse for the way he’d just treated the love of his life. He should go after her, he should have stopped her, he should have apologized. He should have done a lot of things…but he didn’t. He sat there instead and watched the empty space she’d just occupied, wishing he could go back in time and undo the last five minutes. His angel tutted her disappointment while his devil tried to high five him.
He flicked that motherfucking pitchforker off his shoulder, vowing to never let him return. At least not in the presence of Analise. He’d better prepare himself for days of endless groveling to make up for his latest round of insolence, which was the very least that he owed the woman who’d turned his life upside down in the most magical of ways. And yes, that irony wasn’t lost on him.
________
Damian walked into Dragonfly, senses on full alert. Since they’d learned that Sarah was the third daughter they’d been looking for, it was decided that Rom would stay back at the estate to provide additional security and Damian would scout Dragonfly alone this evening. He could handle anything Geoffrey threw his way. He scanned the upper level, and finding nothing out of the ordinary, headed downstairs.
Ronson met him upon entry. “My lord, so good to see you again.”
“Ronson.” He inclined his head in greeting. “Any unusual sightings?”
“No, my lord. No sign. I have every eye peeled and I’ve watched the security tapes myself from every evening. Nothing.”
“Stay diligent. Geoffrey’s slimy.”
Damian ordered a Patrón neat and leaned against the bar watching the action for many long minutes. Dragonfly was packed wall-to-wall tonight, pheromones dancing provocatively in the air. His mind drifted to the dance he’d shared with Analise back at Grina before he’d ravaged her in his office, his cock hardening painfully at the erotic memory.
He noticed several women blatantly checking him out, running their eyes over every inch of his honed body, including the two he’d spent the evening with just several short nights ago. The night before he’d met his mate. He remembered thinking that night that they were beautiful women who took very good care of themselves, but all he saw when he looked at them now was blandness. Analise had effectively rendered every other woman a dull matte gray, while she shone with such color, such brightness, it was blinding.
And like the goddamned idiot he was, he’d come here without apologizing, without making things right between them. He was wrong and he wanted nothing more than to return home, crawl into bed and worship her all night long. Turning to do just that, something in the corner of the room caught his eye, stopping him short. Not something…
someone
. Fucking Geoffrey. How the hell was he here when Ronson had everyone looking for him, guarding the entrance with an iron fist? His gut burned. Something was way off about this situation, but not looking a gift horse in the mouth, he flashed directly in front of Geoffrey, grabbed him by the neck and slammed him back into the wall, cracking the stone.
Damian shoved a knife to the hilt in Geoffrey’s chest, just millimeters away from piercing his black heart and he held his windpipe so tightly Geoffrey gasped for air. The smell of Geoffrey’s coppery, revolting blood only fueled the demon clamoring inside to be set free so he could decimate the vampire who dared to come after his love.
“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t end your pathetic, sorry existence right now, vampire,” Damian spat. He knew they needed Geoffrey alive, but the inferno blazing inside him was like a backdraft, waiting for that little bit of air to turn it into a living, breathing ball of fire so it could engulf the vampire in front of him. Geoffrey’s eyes widened, knowing Damian held his life precariously in his hands.
“Because we both want the same thing. To end Xavier.”
“Forgive me if I don’t believe a fucking word that comes out of your filthy mouth. You’re a disgrace to your species.” Damian needed a mirror to make sure he didn’t have the words
stupid fucker
tattooed across his forehead as that was the only way someone would fall for Geoffrey’s bullshit.
“Believe me or not, but it’s true. Xavier has my Moira. I want to rip the motherfucker limb from limb, but I’m not strong enough to do it alone. I need help from you. From the Lords.”
Damian sensed the truth in Geoffrey’s words. Why he gave a rat’s ass, he didn’t know, but having just found his own Moira, he knew the certain agony Geoffrey would be going through knowing that she was suffering and he could do nothing but sit by and watch or risk her being slaughtered right in front of him. Because that was what Xavier would do. Guess he really needed that mirror after all, for he was actually
considering
this asshole’s request.
Damian would never forgive himself if this were the break they’d waited for and he killed the rogue instead. This was possibly an inside lead to wipe Xavier from the face of this universe once and for all and if he chose instead to gut the traitor, spilling his entrails all over the dance floor, he’d never forgive himself if it put Analise in more danger.
Shit!
What a catch twenty-two.
“I swear to you by all that is holy, if you are lying to me you will have something much greater to fear than Xavier Illenciam. My wrath will know no bounds. And that includes
all
you hold dear.” Geoffrey’s face hardened at Damian’s subtle threat against his Moira and before Damian could change his mind and against his better judgment, he flashed them to Devon’s estate.
Once he had the rogue secured in the dungeon, he went in search of Rom, hoping he hadn’t made the biggest mistake of his life in bringing the enemy so close to the only thing he loved.
C
hapter
46
Analise
She lay in bed still fuming mad at the way Damian had treated her earlier this evening. She got him, more than he thought. She knew he felt a little helpless. She’d turned his perfectly organized, perfectly commanded world upside down and he was grappling to adjust. She felt the same way. But that didn’t give him the right to treat her like some submissive wife who was expected to follow every wish, every command, not allowed to think for herself. If that was what he expected, forever took on a whole new meaning…in a very bad way.
She felt the energy in the room change and, anticipating her mate, pretended to be asleep, turning her back to the door. Unless the first words out of his mouth were
I’m sorry
, he could just get the hell back out. If she could flash out of here so that he’d find an empty bed, she would.
Sadly, they hadn’t practiced that and she didn’t want to end up scattered to the wind, not able to retake a solid form. Damian told her they’d start practicing all those
vampire
things tomorrow. He’d told her of Xavier’s particular skill of stasis and while she’d tried hard, she couldn’t immobilize anyone.
She was beginning to wonder if she was really his daughter, as she couldn’t seem do a damn thing. It was frustrating. He also promised to find her another witch besides Maeve so she could learn sorcery in a real state, instead of just a dream one. She’d only had that one odd incident with the gossip magazine and she wasn’t sure if that was Damian’s firestarter ability or her own sorcery ability. She felt woefully inadequate as a vampire mate. And a witch.
She smelled blood seconds before Damian flashed in and immediately knew something was wrong. Her angry thoughts vanished in a puff of smoke and she jumped out of bed, moving quickly toward the door. Toward her injured mate. The second he appeared she knew something was wrong.
He
was wrong. It was Damian, yet it wasn’t. The man in front her had a bright orange aura, unlike her Damian, whose aura was deep, vibrant red. But too late she’d realized her mistake, for before she could warn Sebastian or Devlin, his beefy arms wrapped around her and the telltale dizziness that accompanied flashing washed through her.
The next thing she knew, she was locked alone in a small, nondescript room, the Damian doppelganger nowhere in sight.
What the hell just happened?
She yelled and screamed until her throat was raw, pounding on the door that was sans a handle. She tried starting the door on fire, she tried unlocking the door with her mind, she tried everything she could possibly think of and nothing worked. She was sweaty from her exertion and her hands hurt from pounding relentlessly on thick wood. Finally, she decided to preserve her energy instead.
A slow look around the room revealed it was very similar to the one Beth was held in, except this room didn’t even have a mattress. There were four cement walls, a concrete floor and a door that led to freedom, which she couldn’t access.
She’d been kidnapped, from what was supposed to be the safety of Devon’s estate, taken to an unknown place by an unknown captor for an unknown reason. A sharp, bitter pang of fear ran through her like ice water in her veins, chilling her from the inside out. Fear for herself, fear for her mate, fear for their future.
It didn’t take a genius to know who was behind the abduction, but who was the doppelganger that kidnapped her? It was a vampire, that much was clear, but while he could take on Damian’s physical appearance, he hadn’t been able to fool
her
one bit.
Fear churned her stomach, but not for her. For Damian.
Was Damian hurt?
Would she feel it if he actually
got
injured? How long would it take him to discover that she was missing? And the biggest question of all was how the hell was he going to find her?
As she paced the small, suffocating space, pieces of the puzzle rapidly fell into place. The sinking premonition, the riddled words of warning from her mother, the strange conversation she’d had with Maeve. This was what she’d felt.
Her mind raced back to her mother’s words.
“Not everyone is what they seem.”
Maeve’s words tumbled in the muddled mix. “
Mara, your mother, dated a lord shortly before she disappeared.” “…she described you, Lord Damian. To a ‘T’.”
Holy shit. This vampire had been impersonating Damian for years? But to what end? It didn’t make a lick of sense to her. And could he only impersonate Damian or was it anyone? So many questions, yet no damn answers.
After what seemed like an eternity, she sat on the cold floor in the corner of the room where she had the best vantage point to the door and waited. What Fate laid before her on the other side, however, was the million-dollar question.
She would soon find out, because the door finally began to open…
C
hapter
47