Immortal Craving (Dark Dynasties) (35 page)

“I’m… alive, right?” he asked, trying to figure out how that could be.

She nodded. “Pretty sure. Yes. A lot has happened in the last couple of days as you’ve been healing, but… I think everything is going to be okay.” She looked more closely at him. “How do you feel?”

He considered this, moving fingers and toes. He’d already had an accidental demonstration of how well his
arms worked. There was a soft rustle, and he looked down at his chest, finally noticing the large bandages covering his upper half. They looked clean, at least—no dried blood. But once he noticed them, he also noticed the faint ache coming from that area.

Tasmin pushed himself up into a sitting position. There was something intangibly different, a thing he could feel but not really explain. Then he realized what it was. He felt whole.

The demon was gone.

In an instant, he’d snatched Bay from where she sat on the bed and pulled her down with him, wrapping her tightly in his arms. Then he showered her with kisses, pressing them to her cheeks, her nose, her mouth, nuzzling her hair. When he pulled back, he realized she was crying.

“What is it?” he asked, terrified he’d somehow hurt her. But when she smiled through the tears, he finally understood.

“Do not
ever
try to kill yourself on my behalf again, okay? No more demon deals, no more heroic acts of sacrifice.
Ever
,” she said. Bay brought her hands up to cup his face, and the love he saw in her eyes filled up all the empty places inside himself.

“You saved me,” he said, remembering. “I was so worried about protecting you, and you’re the one who protected me.”

“Well, you returned the favor pretty quickly,” Bay said, stroking her thumb over the rough stubble on his cheek. “That’s what it’s about. I have your back, you have mine. Nobody dies by insane vampire attack or bloodthirsty demon, and everybody’s happy.”

He shook his head, confused. “I still don’t understand. I felt myself dying, Bay. How Arsinöe got Hunger from me… it should have killed me.”

She hesitated, then explained how the demon he’d carried for so long had, whether on a whim or out of some strange gratitude for killing Arsinöe, told Bay that blood would heal even the demon’s wounds. Whether that would always be true or was, just this once, an unexpected reprieve given by that dark thing, Bay had immediately known what Hunger had meant. And she’d been right. Tasmin’s blood had sired her, and hers had healed him. Not the circle he’d expected to make, but far from unwelcome.

She looked up at him, eyes searching his face. “So you feel… better?”

“I feel…” He couldn’t find the right word, so instead he showed her, lowering his head and claiming her mouth in a kiss that left him hot and shaking. He pressed his forehead to hers. “
Main tumse pyar karta hoon.
I love you. I was a fool. I thought it would be easier for both of us if I fought alone. Instead, all I did was wish I’d told you how I felt when I had the chance. You made everything better. You still do.”

“I love you,” he said softly. “I don’t ever want to be without you. I don’t care where we build a life. I just know I want to do it with you.”

“That can be arranged,” she said, and her smile was everything. “I love you, Tasmin Singh. I’m yours. You gave me eternity. All I want is to spend it with you.”

“You’re not mine yet,” he said. “But you will be.”

He made slow, sweet love to her, telling her she belonged with him in every way he knew how—with
his mouth, his hands, his tongue. And when he brought her to the brink, shaking with need, he bared his neck to her.

He felt it when they joined, the bond blazing through him like dark, wild fire. When they flew, they flew together, until they were left tangled on the bed, limbs languid and entwined.

Tasmin rose up on one elbow to look down at her, the woman he loved more than life itself. She watched him with her lioness’s eyes, as proud and fierce as any Rakshasa could hope to be.

But she was so much more.

She was his.

And as Tasmin leaned down for a kiss, he knew he would never be alone again.

One year later

H
E’S GOING TO
blow his arm off.”

“It’ll grow back. Probably.”

Bay stood in her big backyard, Lily at her side, watching the men light off firecrackers. Behind them, the house danced with the light of candles and diyas, little oil lamps Bay had scattered about inside. The scent of Jaden’s baking wafted out the screen door, and Bay’s mouth watered. She might need to drink blood, but thankfully, the pleasure of gorging herself on sweets hadn’t died. Especially not when she managed to con Jaden into playing housewife for her.

Lyra slipped out the back door and onto the deck, then sauntered across the yard to stand with the other women. She had a beer in one hand and a guilty look on her face.

“Do you guys know what jalebi are?”

Bay raised an eyebrow. “No.”

“Good. Because Jaden just threw me out for eating most of them.” She took a swig of her beer and watched Tasmin and Ty send another firecracker up, this time narrowly missing lighting one of the trees on fire.

“FYI, Bay? Diwali is cool, but we are never having it at my house. Ever.”

Bay laughed, enjoying the chilly night with the warmth of her friends. She and Tasmin had been in the new house in Silver Falls for five months, and it already felt like they’d always been here. After everything that had happened, she treasured the relative quiet, the slower pace—and the willingness of the town’s residents to allow a lion or two to run with the pack. And with Anna having bought her business back in Tipton, Bay had been able to lease space from the local vet and set up next door. So far, it had worked out great.

It was starting over in some ways. But in a lot of ways, it just felt like finally settling in to where she was supposed to be. She had never been so content. It was strange, that for all her fears about what being a vampire would mean, becoming one was what had finally pushed her to discover what she truly needed from her life. It would be a very long life, with both advantages and drawbacks, full of abilities and quirks she was still discovering. But she was living it the way she wanted to, and with the ultimate perk.

A man she loved more than she could ever have imagined.

She never got tired of watching Tasmin’s joy in the smallest of things. He was even starting to tease her about getting another Newfoundland to keep Grimm company, God help them all.

“I really do love the new place,” Lily said, tipping her head back to look at the stars. “Boston’s a great city,
and it’s working out much better as a seat for the dynasty… but I’m glad you’ve got a home like this I can come visit.”

“And you settled somewhere I can come shop,” Bay replied. “It’s a win-win.”

“This firecracker thing is starting to look like a lose for everyone,” Lyra said. “Can we eat yet? The Grimm has probably drooled himself an ocean upstairs in that crate.”

“He’s fine. I turned on Animal Planet to muffle the noise. And he’s not on fire, which is probably more than I could say if he were out here with the pyro brothers,” Bay said. “They’re having way too much fun with this.”

There was a bright flash, and then a rain of golden sparks as the two men finally got off a decent firecracker. Tasmin’s eyes caught Bay’s across the yard, and his grin was infectious. She couldn’t help but return it.

“So how
are
things up in vamp central, anyway?” Lyra asked. “If you said, I didn’t hear it. I get distracted by Jaden’s baking.”

Lily shrugged. “Smoothing out. Without Arsinöe to throw wrenches in everything left and right, it’s kind of weirdly smooth, actually. That’s not a complaint. And the Empusae are so scattered that their vote on the Council is more of a courtesy than anything right now. Diana was a good choice to lead since Mormo and her supporters went underground, but there weren’t that many of them to start with, and not everyone is happy she let Anura back into the fold.”

Bay nodded. It hadn’t been long after saving Tasmin that they’d learned the details behind the frantic phone message Jaden had received. Anura had been found in Chicago, bound in the basement of an abandoned warehouse, bled and poisoned by a Ptolemy with the help of an Empusa who
Anura had considered a friend. The friend had vanished, along with fully half of her dynasty, when news of Arsinöe’s death had gotten out. Since then, Anura had seemed interested in reengaging with the new Empusae leadership… though she was never going to give up running her club. Bay thought she understood. Anura had found her place. Her eyes drifted to Jaden, and she smiled. Some of them got lucky that way.

“Still no new ruler for the Ptolemy?” Bay asked with a small smile. The alliance of Lilim, Grigori, Dracul, and Empusae had decisively crushed the Ptolemy the night after Arsinöe’s death. It hadn’t been much of a fight—most of Arsinöe’s foreign allies had fled at the news of her death, and the Ptolemy who had wanted to fight, though numerous, were in disarray.

That didn’t seem to have changed.

Lily rounded her eyes and made a face. “No. It’s interesting to watch. And tough to deal with having a new representative from them every time we have a Council meeting.”

“They’re taking turns?” Lyra asked. “That’s new.”

“No,” Lily said. “They’re killing one another off. Different issue. They’ll figure it out, or… Well, they’ll figure it out. Eventually. At least they don’t have anything to get Chaos interested in them anymore.”

“Chaos and Hunger,” Bay said, looking away and frowning. Her little town seemed so far removed from all of those things, and that was the way she liked it. She’d had enough of demons to last her a lifetime. “Wonder if they found each other?”

“Let’s hope not,” Lily said, and then grinned. “Oh, awesome. They ran out of firecrackers.”

“Food time!” Lyra cried, pumping her fist. She high-tailed
it back inside, where Bay knew Jaden had put out a spread of sweets that would make a professional baker weep with joy. She was just glad the vampirism meant she no longer had to diet.

Tasmin and Ty crossed the yard, and Tasmin slipped his arm around Bay’s waist. “Having fun?” he asked.

Bay nodded and pressed a kiss to his lips, feeling the heat that still sparked between them. “Better now that you’re done playing with fire.”

He chuckled. “We have another box for later.”

Bay groaned, but leaned her head on his shoulder as they made their way inside, catching Lily’s eye roll and grin. Apparently she’d gotten the news as well.

Tasmin stopped, letting Lily and Ty go in first, then surprised Bay by pulling her into his arms under the stars. He nuzzled her, rubbing her nose against his, and in the dark his eyes glowed like those of the jungle cat that was part of his spirit.

“We should go for a run later,” he growled. “Alone.”

Her heart skipped a beat the way it always did when he looked at her that way.

“You got it.” She pressed her lips to his for a kiss, melting against him despite the cold. “Shall we go in?”

He nodded, but hesitated a moment. Bay tilted her head at him, curious.

“What’s wrong?”

Nothing,” he said. “I was just thinking… I’m finally home.”

She gave him another kiss, unable to help herself, and the love she felt for him could have lit up the night sky.

“We’re home,” she agreed.

And, hands entwined, they went inside.

So many thanks are due to the readers who have carried me this far. Your e-mails, funny Facebook conversations, and tireless enthusiasm for my stories push me through even the toughest writing days. Thank you for buying my books and loving my characters! Not a day goes by without at least some small thing reminding me of how lucky I am to have all of you. You are so incredibly appreciated.

Thanks also go, as they always do, to the amazing team at Grand Central. There are still days when I look at these beautiful books and have to pinch myself. This was my dream. Thanks for making it a reality.

Special thanks to Selina McLemore for her editorial superpowers and sense of humor about my guyliner fixation, and to Megha Parekh for (a) being a fun and welcome addition to my in-box, and (b) making sure Tasmin speaks Hindi far better than I do.

Finally, thanks to my own pair of big, furry, adorable Newfoundlands, Stella and Chewie, for their unlimited slobbery kisses and unconditional love. No matter how big they are, their hearts are bigger, and I’m eternally grateful to have them in my life.

Tipton, Massachusetts

Eight months later

T
YNAN
M
AC
G
ILLIVRAY
crouched in the shadows of the little garden, listening to the mortals rattling loudly around inside the stuffy old mansion. He tried to concentrate on the scents and sounds of the humans, hoping to pick up any subtle change in the air that might indicate a Seer was among these so-called ghost hunters, but so far all he’d gotten was a headache.