Blood Awakening (18 page)

He backed away then, stalked to the door, reached for
the handle, and turned around. “Oh, and Kristina...”

Her eyes opened wide.

“You will have your nanny, and the less you have
to do with our child, the better. But know this: Should you ever do anything to
compromise our son in any way,
I will put you in the ground myself! Feel me
?”

He didn’t wait for an answer. He simply walked out
the door and shut it behind him.

Marquis leaned forward on the back stoop and stared
out at the river. It was so peaceful, so unassuming.

So unconcerned.

How could there be so much turmoil going on all
around it? He sighed. But that was the way of nature, was it not.

He walked down the short set of stairs and
meandered toward the bank, wanting to draw closer to the water. Hell, with
Kristina living here, he might not ever go inside again. He shook his head,
trying not to think about it, wishing he could control the constant images of
Ciopori that flashed through his mind like an incessant stream, disrupting his
thoughts with its ceaseless interruption.

Ciopori
.

 The regal daughter of King Sakarias and Queen
Jade. The hauntingly beautiful sister of Jadon and Jaegar—one of the last
remaining females from a people thought to be extinct.

Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her lying
beneath him, her stunning golden eyes gazing up at him with such innocence and
love, her beautiful, pouty mouth slightly parted, swollen with pleasure, moist
with arousal.

The way she had opened her heart to him. Her mind.
Her body. So completely. So willingly. Marquis closed his eyes, reveling in the
memory, the scent of all that luscious black hair, the feel of her breasts in
his hands…

What the heck was he doing?

He had pushed her away—warned her to stay away—and
he needed to close his mind to her as well.

He looked back toward the house and frowned. Kristina
might not be his first choice—oh, hell, she wouldn’t even be his last choice—but
she was his only choice; and Marquis was a male of honor. Now that he had
claimed her and converted her, they were as good as mated. He would not cheat
on her, even if it meant a lifetime of celibacy.

Even if it meant staying away from the princess.

Against his better judgment, Marquis sought to
reach out to Ciopori one last time, to simply brush her mind with his,
unnoticed. He just wanted to know that she was all right. Having taken her
blood the night they made love, he would forever have access to her whereabouts,
to her state of mind.

Marquis closed his eyes and began to follow the
DNA backward, reaching out beyond the physical structure of the molecules now circulating
within his own blood stream in order to trace their deeper energetic footprint:
the quantum waves themselves. As he projected further and further out, allowing
the energy that was Ciopori to gather unto itself, an image began to form in
his mind. Ah, yes, she was lying down, her wavy, waist-length hair cascading all
around her, her arms stretched high above her head in—

Manacles
.

As if he had been stunned by a bolt of
electricity, Marquis jolted, instantly losing the image. Pushing down his
panic, he quickly quieted his mind and followed the waves once more to the vision.
And then his heart began to beat with a fierce urgency. There were, indeed, manacles
around her wrists.
And she was chained to a bed
. A large, four-poster monstrosity
in some sort of cold, dark room—no, a cavern—an underground chamber.

Marquis swallowed hard, his heart now racing in
his chest as he projected his own essence forward in an attempt to see through Ciopori’s
eyes. Damnit, nothing else was coming through!

Ciopori wasn’t telepathic, and the two of them had
not established a common bandwidth as life mates would do, so aligning to her exact
frequency in order to see through her eyes just wasn’t happening.

But he could feel her.

Their tactile connection was strong.

Marquis relaxed his muscles and tuned in to the
feel of Ciopori’s body beneath him, the softness of her skin, the contours and
curves of her form…

As the image became stronger, he was finally able
to pick up on the palpable signals being sent through her blood. As if they
were one, he was suddenly there: lying on a hard mattress, his arms stretched above
him in manacles, his legs chained as well. Dear gods, the thin silk covering
her body was shredded, leaving her practically naked.

Marquis swallowed his rage and held onto the
signal.

What else could he feel?

It was damp, cool, and his skin was chilled. There
was a peculiar throbbing just above his collarbone, in the center of his
stomach, and another over his right inner thigh.
Holy deities, it was
painful
. Like the sting of a scorpion or worse. There was definitely venom
surrounding the bites, yet there was something familiar occurring in his body
as well...

Regeneration
.

The wounds were healing themselves. Poison
attacking poison.

Vampire venom attacking…snake venom
.

Marquis startled. Where in the name of Lord Draco
was she? What in the hell had happened? And then all of a sudden he felt a clammy
hand—a rough, heavy male hand—brush against his stomach, and a jolt of
malevolence shot through him. Marquis broke the connection at once, his body
recoiling from the touch. The unmistakable energy of evil.

The sons of Jaegar
.

Marquis ran his palms down his face, then folded
them behind his back.
Nachari!
He almost came unglued when thirty-seconds
passed without a response.
Nachari! Answer me, now!

Brother, what is it?

Marquis fought to remain calm.
Are you still at
Napolean’s?

Yes, I am. Why, what’s going—

Where is Napolean?

Sleeping. He—

Why the hell is he sleeping!
Marquis’s
psychic voice rose to a thundering crescendo, and he felt Nachari blanch.

Our Sovereign fed last night, Marquis. It had
been almost eight-weeks, and with the women here, he knew he couldn’t risk getting
sick or weak. Brother, what is going on?

Marquis spat a string of curse words. Could this
get any worse? The sons of Jadon only fed every six to eight weeks, but when
they did, they slept—and they slept hard—for at least twelve hours, almost
impossible to wake up. Damnit, how could Napolean compromise himself like that
with the females there?

Picking up on Marquis’s powerful thoughts, even
though he had not purposely projected them, Nachari argued,
On the contrary,
Marquis; he was far too compromised
before
he fed. That’s why he couldn’t
put it off.

Check on Ciopori!
Marquis demanded without
explanation.

Ciopori?

Now!

Hold on...

Time seemed to stand still.
Nachari?

Hold on...

Where are you now?

Silence met him. Seconds felt like hours, minutes
like days.

Nachari!

I’m in her room. I just knocked on the door,
but there was no answer. She was supposed to be sleeping...hold on...

Marquis paced up and down the river-bank, waiting
for his brother to tell him what he already knew: Ciopori was gone.
Dear
gods!
His hands began to tremble.

When Nachari returned, his demeanor had changed
from curious to deathly serious.
She’s not in her room, Marquis. Vanya is searching
with me now. Are you going to tell me what happened?

Marquis cleared his throat and spat.
She’s
gone, Nachari! That’s what happened.

What do you mean ‘gone?’ 
Nathaniel
Silivasi entered the conversation, no doubt having sensed his brothers’
distress.
You guys are both sending out powerful waves of alarm. Marquis,
what’s happened to Ciopori?

Marquis shook his head.
Ciopori is still alive,
Nathaniel, but she’s with…
  He could hardly bring himself to speak the
words.
She’s with one of the Dark Ones, and whoever has her, he’s an
extremely powerful entity. In fact, based on the strength of his energy, I
would almost venture to say that she’s with Salvatore Nistor.

How can you possibly know this?
Kagen
Silivasi asked, joining his brothers on the shared family bandwidth.

Last night, at your clinic,
Marquis
explained,
I took her blood.

Silence filled the airwaves for a moment while the
brothers processed the full meaning of what Marquis had said. Finally,
Nathaniel asked:
What exactly did you see, Marquis?

She’s in a cave somewhere. Underground.
He
let out a slow sigh, trying to keep his temper from erupting.
Brothers, he
has her manacled to his bed.

If someone had dropped a pin, it would have
sounded like a boulder.

After a prolonged, uncomfortable silence, Nachari
swore in Romanian.
She went to bed late last night, right before Napolean left
to hunt. I stayed in the hall the entire night, Marquis, just outside her and
Vanya’s doors. So I know she never came out. Gods, she’s on the
third
floor, and there are no stairs leading down from her balcony.
He took a
deep breath.
I would have felt the energy immediately if a dark presence had
entered this house; in fact, I don’t think it’s even possible: There are too
many powerful wards surrounding this mansion.

Well, Salvatore had to have entered the room
somehow,
Kagen said.

No, I’m telling you,
Nachari insisted,
our
Lord’s orders were to stay in the hall; not to disturb the women; allow them to
sleep unless they requested assistance. But no dark entity entered this house
on my watch! And there’s no way out of this bedroom except—

She can project herself short distances,
Marquis
interrupted.

What do you mean?
Nathaniel asked.
How
is that possible
?
She’s not Vampyr; she’s human.

She’s
celestial,
and she doesn’t use
dematerialization; she uses some sort of magic. I’m not sure how she does it,
but she could definitely get down from a balcony.

Son of a bitch!
Nachari snarled.
Hold on…

All three of the males waited in tense silence for
what seemed like eternity.

When Nachari finally reconnected, an aura of rage
permeated his energy.
That’s exactly what she did, brothers. Her footprints
appear just below her balcony and lead into the forest. I tracked her about a
mile and a half into a clearing and—

And what?
Kagen demanded.

And Marquis is right
.
There was a second
energy in the clearing before her trail went cold, and it was definitely dark
.

Salvatore?
Nathaniel asked.

Nachari paused.
I’m not sure. He studies black
magic, right?

Yes…absolutely,
Marquis answered.
Why?

Because the energy here is beyond darkness, my
brother. There’s a demonic feel to it. The evil here isn’t just individual—it’s
collective. So, yeah, whoever it was, he’s heavily into the dark arts.

Marquis shut his eyes, and Nathaniel sighed before
speaking as the voice of reason.
Okay, so it’s most likely Salvatore who has
her; frankly, that’s probably a good thing.

How so?
Kagen asked, clearly as curious as
the others to see where his form of logic was taking him.

Valentine was both arrogant and impulsive,
Nathaniel
explained
. And Zarek is like a child, beholden to his every dark impulse, as
many of the Dark Ones are—completely instinctual—driven only by their base
nature and immediate desires. But Salvatore is a sorcerer, one who values
learning and thinking...one who employs strategy. He will not act in haste and must
have a dozen questions about the princess—just as we do: Is she immortal? Can
she bear children with the Vampyr race? Could she give birth to a female?

Nathaniel has a good point,
Kagen said.
Salvatore
will keep her alive until he discovers her…highest use. And because the others
fear his magic, he just might be able to keep her safe from them, for the time
being. At any rate, he won’t rape her right away because that would kill her within
forty-eight hours, and Salvatore is not that stupid.

Agreed,
Marquis grumbled, beginning to view
the situation as a tactician.
But you should each know that he’s already tortured
her. There is no time to waste.  

Nachari swore again beneath his breath.

The twins remained silent.

And then Marquis simply shifted gears and became
who and what he was—an Ancient Master Warrior.
Nachari, wake Napolean.
Nathaniel, bring Jocelyn and Storm to the mansion; I will bring Kristina. Kagen,
my brother, I am sorry, but I am going to have to ask you to sit this one out. We
must take Nachari because of his knowledge of magic, and we also have to take the
sentinels for tracking. Nathaniel’s mastery as a warrior is as essential as
mine; but the truth is, that leaves only one person I trust enough to guard Princess
Vanya, our mates, and Storm: my own blood.

Kagen was incensed.
There are plenty of males
to watch the women, Marquis!

Kagen—

You know damn well that I can fight every bit
as well as the sentinels, and I am far older and more experienced than Nachari.
You will be compromised with your attention on Ciopori—which is as it should be—but
someone needs to have Nachari’s back. He is a gallant fighter, but he
is
a
wizard first. And if he’s concentrating on divination…  I would like to be
there to see after our youngest brother.

Nachari grumbled.
I’m a wizard—not an invalid—Kagen.
How many battles have we fought together? I think I can hold my own!

Yes,
Nathaniel said,
but we’re talking
about entering the lairs of our enemy, fighting on their turf—while using you
for second sight. You are a
new
Master, Nachari.