Divine Savior (25 page)

“
I can understand that. I have never felt the need to care for anyone until I meet Sara. Tell me what you need and if it’s within my power, it’s yours.”

“
We want to...you see...it’s Dominic. Shade and I, we want... Maybe you should sit back down. Shade and I have an idea that I’d like to discuss with you.”

Several hours later, the two men walked back into the kitchen. Aaron was visibly shaken, but smiling. Colin looked over at Shade and nodded, then smiled at her. Aaron was sure Shade knew everything now and Aaron’s answering help. He was not thrilled with the plan that Colin had laid out; so many things could go wrong. But he trusted his friend and knew why Colin needed to do this. Aaron could do no more than to support his friend.

“
Now for some fun!” Rubbing his hands together, Aaron smiled to the room in general. “Dominic, let’s go petition for your admissions into my kiss. That is if it’s something you still want?”

“
Yes, sire, more than ever before.”

It seemed, Aaron thought, his kiss just got a few people bigger.

~
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO~

On the trip over to the master of Dominic’s, Sara worked hard at getting Aaron to tell her what had happened between him and Colin. Aaron would only say that all would be revealed, and she wasn’t allowed to pry.

She hated when he said things like that. And she was pretty sure he knew it too. She smiled to herself and thought of the pretty little two-piece lingerie set she had bought yesterday. She thought about what she’d looked like in it and sent the image to him. She laughed when he squirmed in his seat and glared at her. Men were so predictable.

The two of them had made a pact of sorts when they had bonded as mates. As they could read each other’s minds so thoroughly, they needed a place for their own counsel, a place where they could talk or go to be alone, or conduct business privately. It was not as though they were keeping secrets from each other. On the contrary, they were just trying to keep realm business just that, business of the realm. So they had said that if either of them was in the study and the doors were closed, they were to not intrude on those private matters, mentally or physically.

Sara, Aaron and Dominic got out of the car and were admitted to the home of the Master of the Realm, William, not Bill, Hamilton, as he’d said to call him, with much ceremony and aplomb. Actually, Sara thought it was too much and highly overrated.

William was not as old as Aaron’s fourteen hundred years, but he was old. About eight hundred years old, Sara had been told. Williams’s home was large, lavish and overdone. The deco was over the top Victorian era filled with reds and golds, heavy velvets and heavier furniture, all dark in hue. The walls were covered in an old, blood red brocade paper, dark and musty-smelling. The whole house had a smell of blood, both old and fresh, old man, and nasty-smelling cigars. Sara hated the place the moment she stepped inside.

Each area, or realm, had a different master. Aaron’s realm covered nine states and just over ten thousand vampires. Some had less, very few had more. As sovereign, it was their responsibility to govern the laws and regulations set forth at the beginning of their reign. William’s realm was much smaller, but because of his hard control over his subjects, there were no new vampires coming in to increase his number, and there were too many going out, being killed by the master. William had killed a great many of his peoples, decreasing the number exponentially every year.

The vampire seated in the large throne was adorned with several half naked women at his feet and one in his lap. Most of them were human and devoid of any kind of emotions that had once made them alive, especially since their humanity was gone. He had changed them into his donors, and from what Sara had learned from Dominic, they only donated to him and his closest personal friends, and subjects never fed from the master.

“
Ah, Aaron, so you bring back my subject. Thank you. I do hope that he served you as he should.”

Sara noticed the look William gave Dominic. It said that whether he had or not, he would be punished just the same. And the look also said he would enjoy it.

William, not Bill, was not a homosexual, but he did enjoy watching sex between multiple partners, whether they wanted it or not. Dominic told her that one of his favorite type of punishments was to watch heterosexuals have sex with same sex partners. He’d also make it a game of sorts, to see who could go the longest without coming. Sara was sickened by the tale and had wanted to hold Dominic and tell him that things would be all right. She hoped that Aaron knew what he was doing today. She’d hate to have to stake him for screwing up.

“
Now, let’s talk about your payment to me. His price will be high; you kept him for a lot longer than I think necessary. It’s a shame you have no one in your regime that could offer you such a service. Yes, a great same. And now you have to pay for that service. I know that you think I owed you a boon for that little issue I’d had centuries ago, but—”

William got no further in his demands, as the front door to the home exploded hard, slamming to the wall and shattering the glass in it. Colin, with Shade at his side, walked inside. Sara smiled at the sight before them.

Colin was dressed like the warrior of old that he had been. He was dressed in his tartan colors, green, yellow and blue, his wrap, and a very large claymore strapped to his back in a leather scabbard and buckled to his massive, naked chest. His hair was pulled back into a que, the braids at his face hanging down to the side, beaded with silver studs at the ends. He looked just like one would think a massive Scot would look, especially a pissed off Scot. Shade, dressed in his colors as well, wore a female version of his. Along her left leg she wore a bejeweled dagger and around her waist, a long, thinner blade in a scabbard. Both looked intensely at William and smiled.

“
What’s the meaning of this? You are not welcome here. Get out. I do not allow fairies in my keep. Get out!”

Colin stood his ground, feet braced, arms crossed over his tremendous chest. When neither of them moved to do as he bid, William screamed to his wayward subject, “Dominic, take care of this, now!”

Colin moved onward and forward. When he walked past Dominic toward the throne, Colin winked at him. Sara nearly laughed out loud at his cheeky behavior. Colin removed his blade from his back when he reached the dais, and slammed it into the floor at the master’s feet, the point of it sticking in a good three inches, the blade quivering from the force of his hand. Shade walked up beside him, her own blade now quivering alongside of her mate’s.

Colin turned to look at Aaron, asking something that Sara did not understand, but apparently, her mate did. Aaron bowed low before his friend, giving him full permission to proceed. Sara decided that staking Aaron was too easy. She was going to drain his ass for this.

Sara looked between the two men for a second before she reached out to Aaron.

“
What have you done? He can’t be challenging him; he will die. Aaron, please, you have to stop this. He’s our friend.”

“
Have faith love, all will be well. Colin is in love and he is doing this with not only mine, but with Shade’s blessings as well. He will do well, and he needs to do this, for them both. Trust them.”

Aaron pulled her close to his body and ran his hand down to her belly, sending love to their two children still nestled within her womb.

“
I am Colin Rachel Larimore, only child of Colin and Rachel Larimore of Blackmore, Scotland. I have been a servant and friend to Master of the Realm, Aaron Xavier MacManus, for nearly four hundred years. As my maker, he has given me permission and his blessing to challenge you for your position as master of this realm. I do so now. I challenge you to your death. What say you?” Colin’s voice bellowed throughout the room, echoing off the ceilings, bouncing from the walls.

Sara watched in awe as the people surrounding William rose as one, left the dais, and disappeared into the darkened room. The only people now within his throne room were the six of them. She glanced over at Dominic and saw that he, too, seemed surprised and confused by this sudden change in plans.

“
You have got to be kidding. You’ve come here to die? And you bring this...this bug to witness it? When I am finished with you, Colin Rachel Larimore, know that I will drain her life from her as I fuck her atop your dead body. So be it.” William lumbered to his feet, his bulk making him slow to move as he made ready to do battle.

Sara was amazed at his size. William must have topped the scales at at least three hundred and fifty pounds, and with his diminutive height, he looked nearly as wide as he was tall. He was not a bad-looking man, but his lifestyle had left him with a Satanic appearance. His beady eyes had turned red in his apparent anger. She could sense his masochistic ways and it turned her stomach.

Colin stood his ground, Shade at his side. When William had stood, neither Colin nor Shade made for their weapons, but had stepped back a few feet from them. William lunged toward Shade, making to grab her arm and pull her toward him. Sara started to leap forward, but was stalled by Aaron’s arm about her waist.

The law, vampire law, forbade Aaron or any others to step in and help either Colin or Shade. If Colin lost, then it would be well within William’s right to both rape and kill Shade as he had said he would do. There was no doubt that he would do so.

As Colin raised his hand to grab for his claymore, but before he could touch it, Shade was in William’s grasp. The room shimmered with magic. It wasn’t her, nor was it Aaron’s. She thought it was coming from Shade but realized it was Colin who was building his base.

“
You’d do well to release my mate, boy-o. I’ve only just gotten her back and we’ve made plans for our future. This is all the warning I plan to give you. Let her go and I will make your death a quick one.”

Sara looked at Colin then, really looked. He looked...bigger, stronger, and she could detect a strong magical aura around him. Glancing again at Shade, she saw her love for Colin shining brightly in her gaze; there was not a bit of fear in either of their eyes. Sara realized then that this was their plan. They knew exactly what they were doing. She relaxed against Aaron and waited for the outcome. She had no doubt that it was going to be a doozy.

“
Really?
You’ll
make my death quick? Why you insolent child! Perhaps you should have stayed at home and fucked her instead of coming here and messing up my evening. I’ve plans too, young man, and because of your stupidly, I’ll have fresh blood too.”

Colin shrugged and repeated William’s words, “So be it.”

They all watched in amazement as William licked down the side of Shade’s neck to her pulse. The look on his face might have been funny if it had not looked so stricken. He released her so quickly she nearly fell to the floor. William began spitting and scrubbing at his tongue.

“
You’ve poisoned me! You can’t poison me! That’s not playing fairly. I demand your forfeit,” William bellowed.

“
No, no poison. But you cannot taste a mated vampire, especially one who is as magical as Shade is. Her skin, while delicious to me, is tainted to all those who taste it who don’t have her permission, and she doesn’t give that to anyone such as you. Her blood will actually kill you had you tried to sip from her.” Colin’s smile was pure evil; there was no other way to describe it.

Sara laughed outright at that. She had actually forgotten about that. Mel had told her months ago that she must always obtain a trade of sorts when she offered her blood to someone else or her blood would cause more damage than good and more than likely, death.

William glared at the room. Each person there got a full taste of his menace. He drew his sword, pulling it up from behind his leg. His stance was wide and ready, even if he did occasionally lean and spit again—Sara laughed again. William looked ready to do battle.

Shade moved to stand beside Sara and Aaron. When Shade blew a kiss at William, he actually flinched away from it, nearly toppling over from the sudden move.

Laughter bubbled from Shade’s and Sara’s mouths and she felt Aaron’s body shake with his. This was proving to be quite entertaining.

Colin did not move, but stood with his claymore at the ready. He neither blinked nor laughed. He was impressive. And Sara knew in that moment that she loved Colin and was glad to call him friend.

“
You’ll die this day for your treatment of my mate and of those of our kind. Before I kill you, William James Anderson Hamilton, know that when you die, my mate and I will gut this monstrosity and turn it into a home for injured and helpless children. We will take the money in your coffers and supply this realm with the needed help you’ve neglected over the centuries. I will increase this realm to beyond its original size and become a great leader among men. You should also know that…” Colin raised his hand toward William, his claymore held at the hilt. Lightning arched from his fingertips toward the chair behind the master. “That I hate that stupid chair.” It exploded into small shards of wood. “And you are no longer needed.” His next arc of light sliced into William’s throat, killing him instantly, his body disintegrating in seconds.

No one moved. No one seemed to breathe either. Embers from the chair still burned and smoke eddied about the room. The dust that was once William, not Bill, James Anderson Hamilton blew off the dais and scattered about the room. Shade ran to Colin. They wrapped their arms around each other tightly before Colin pulled his love into his arms and sat down hard on the steps of the dais. He was slightly pale and Sara noticed he trembled slightly. He held Shade to him tightly as he kissed her.