Authors: Delilah Devlin
Tags: #Fiction, #Erotica, #General, #Romance, #Paranormal
“I don’t expect your cooperation,” he said, grunting softly
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as he hoisted her onto his hip, carrying her as easily as a sack
of potatoes.
She reached up to claw at his face and managed to punch
his jaw, but the blow held no real force due to the awkward
angle.
“Quit fighting me,” he said, giving her a hard jounce on his hip.
“I promise to make this quick. I’ll find no joy in killing you.”
“Then why do it?”
Fernando brought her behind the bar and pushed open
the swinging door, which led into a small kitchen. Then he
dragged her through the kitchen down a narrow, low-ceiling hallway, until they were in a small back room with boxes
stacked in every corner and a door to the outside.
He flung her into one corner and loomed over her where
she lay crumpled on the floor. He bent and placed his hands
on his knees. “We’re all vampires,” he said drawing a deep
breath and leveling a cold, hard stare. “But those of us who
were born human first, are treated like minions by your kind.
We’re good enough to fuck. Good enough to fill your ranks of
workers and protectors, but we have no voice on the council.
We’re going to change that.”
Natalie scrambled to put her feet beneath her, crouching in
front of him. “I don’t know anything about the council. I’m
not your enemy.”
His gaze narrowed, and his upper lip lifted in a snarl.
“Every Born is our enemy.”
“H-how did you know that . . . I was Born,” she asked,
her breaths growing choppy with her rising panic. Her teeth
began to chatter, so she clamped shut her jaw.
“I suspected last night at the bar. Chessa watched over you
into the darkness
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like you were her chick and she the mother hen. But the rats
only confirmed it.”
“Figures they work for you.”
Fernando’s low laughter, so cold and laced with a dirty
edge, made her quiver. “As if we had that kind of power. Don’t
you know you have enemies all around you?”
“I don’t know anything,” she said, hating the tears welling
in her eyes. If she was going to die, she didn’t want to give
him the satisfaction.
“Let’s get this over with.” He straightened and unbuttoned his cuffs and the front of his shirt. “Don’t want blood
stains, do I?” When he let it slide off his shoulder, she bolted
up and past him, running for the outside door.
Her hand turned the knob, but he slammed into her back,
trapping her against the door. His hot, naked skin burned
her through her blouse as he anchored her there, pressing so
hard she couldn’t expand her lungs. His breath stirred her
hair next to her ear, and she squeezed her eyes shut.
The hard ridge of his cock dug into her buttocks. “See
what you do to me? You shouldn’t have fought me.”
“What? You’re going to fuck me, first?” she asked, gasping
for air.
“Would you like that? One last time to get lost in it? I could
kill you at your climax. You’d never know.”
Tears leaked from her eyes. For once her hormones weren’t
firing on all cylinders. His offer left her feeling only sick to
her stomach.
“Back away from her, Fred.”
Natalie sobbed her relief at the hard-edged and deadly
sound of Chessa’s voice.
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“Now, what would be the advantage for me,” Fernando
murmured.
“You’ll get a chance to fight.”
“I think I’d be better off with the girl. I don’t really think
you’d risk harming her.” He twisted around, bringing Natalie
in front of him and stepped deeper into the room. Toward
Chessa.
Chessa stood with a gun in one hand and a two-by-four that
had been split so one end was pointed. She hefted it above
her shoulder, her gaze narrowing on him, never straying to
Natalie, who strained against the arm he’d slung around her
throat.
He kept moving forward until Chessa was forced to move
aside. “You can’t go through the bar, Fred,” she said. “You
won’t make it out alive. We’ve got your guys contained. Even
as we speak, they’re dusting them off, one by one.”
Fernando’s arm tightened, choking Natalie, cutting off her
air. He halted in the center of the room.
Suddenly, the door slammed open and rain swept inside,
carried on a wind that almost lifted them off their feet.
It howled around them, slapping Fernando’s long hair into
her face. Natalie stared at Chessa whose gaze had lifted beyond them.
A cry like a wild animal’s howl rose above the wind and
something large and heavy barreled into Fernando’s back,
pitching them both forward. But when Natalie’s knees hit
the concrete, Fernando’s body didn’t follow. Instead, his blue
jeans flapped around her ankles, empty, sodden. She untangled them and lunged away, not understanding what was happening behind her but knowing she needed to flee.
into the darkness
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When arms closed around her back, she rolled and fought,
clawing with her hands at the face above hers, until she saw
that Rene held her.
She drew back her fingers and stared in horror at the rivulets of blood she’d scratched along his cheeks. “I’m sorry.”
He captured her hand and pressed a kiss into her palm.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve had worse.”
She let her head rest on the concrete and waited for her
heart to slow its frantic beating. “Where did Fred go?”
“You don’t wanna know.” He cupped her face with one
large hand, and she leaned into his warmth. “You all right?”
She nodded and blinked to clear the tears gathering in her
eyes. “It was close.”
Rene rose and helped her to her feet. “Let’s get you back to
our room. Simon’s there. It’s why I came lookin’ for you.”
“Simon?” Oh, yeah. He was going to help her leave. She
didn’t even have the rest of the night to spend with Rene.
Forcing back an inner wail, she let him take her hand and
lead her out of the room with the wind still howling from the
open doorway and water pooling on the floor.
Chessa preceded them, both weapons held at the ready, but
the black-uniformed security team from
Ardeal
had pretty
much cleaned the place out.
Clothing lay in little hillocks around the room as though
the bodies that had filled them simply melted away. Rene was
right—she didn’t want to know where they went.
Chessa lifted her chin to Nicolas, whose gaze swept Rene and
Natalie. As though satisfied they were unharmed, he turned
away and shouted. “I want two men to follow them. Post outside
their door while they pack until we can bring the van around.”
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The van? No! Natalie started to pull away, to make another
dash for freedom, but Chessa gave a sharp shake of her head.
Something in her eyes reassured her everything would be all
right.
The trip to their room was made in total silence. Chessa
stood aside as they entered, then closed the door, leaving the
guards posted outside.
As soon as they were alone, Chessa tossed her weapons to
the bed. “Simon, you can come out now.”
Simon strode out of the bathroom, his sodden T-shirt
clinging to his lean chest. He gave a half-hearted smile to
Natalie, and then turned to Chessa. “How much time do
we have?”
“About five minutes.”
When his gaze returned to Natalie, he reached out both
hands to grasp hers. “You have two choices, Nat. You can accept the protection you’ll find at
Ardeal
until you deliver, or
I can send you someplace they can’t ever touch you or your
child. The problem is, you won’t be able to return.”
Neither choice held any appeal. At
Ardeal,
she’d have to
give up her child, perhaps forever. If she took Simon’s offer,
she’d never see Rene again.
There really was no choice. She sighed. “How do you propose getting me past those guards?”
His smile held a hint of regret. “I’m going to miss you.”
Natalie forced a smile. “Thanks for everything. Thanks for
being my friend.”
His gaze searched hers then he nodded. “You’re going to be
okay, you know. Say your good-byes quickly.”
Natalie stepped toward Chessa whose expression was shut-into the darkness
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tered, her lips a grim line. Only her eyes betrayed what she
was thinking. They glittered with tears.
“Chessa, I’ll miss you.” She cupped her cheek and leaned
in to kiss her mouth. Chessa’s clung to hers for a moment before she backed away. Natalie cleared her throat. “I’m curious
though. That phone call—”
“That was Nic, telling me he was on his way. The birds,
those rats—he found some in a crypt his men patrol. The
creature that dwells inside—well, it sent the animals.”
“The rats left me alone this time—just as quickly as they
surrounded me. Why?”
“You don’t have to worry about creature attacks anymore.
You’re already pregnant.”
Natalie shook her head, knowing she didn’t have time for
her to fully explain what she meant. “Then I won’t worry
anymore.”
She drew in a slow breath, preparing herself for her final
farewell. Rene stood with his fists clenched at his sides, his
face all harsh angles, his jaw flexing. His dark gaze scanned
her face as though committing it to memory. Like she was
doing now.
“I’m going to be okay,” she said. “Trust Simon on that.”
He didn’t move. Didn’t respond to her words in any way.
Not wanting to make a scene or let him see how badly she
hurt, she reached up and kissed his cheek. “Good-bye,” she
whispered and turned back to Simon.
Only Simon didn’t stand behind her. In his place stood
a rugged, handsome, much older man with brown hair and
a beard. Only the crooked smile he wore told her it was
him.
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“I’m starting to think the whole world’s crazy,” she said.
“Is nothing what it seems?”
“Not in your life, my dear. Ready?”
“What do I do?”
“Nothing, yet. I’m going to open a portal. When I tell you,
you’ll step through it and you’ll be somewhere else. No turning back. There will be a trail in the forest. Follow it to a
church. Say my name to the priest who opens the door. You
won’t be able to communicate with him, but trust him. He’ll
lead you to sanctuary.”
“I’ll never see you—any of you, again—will I?”
“Perhaps. If you live long enough.”
Natalie stood still, feeling hot and cold at the same time,
light-headed, and near to tears. So much she didn’t understand, but she couldn’t really think and didn’t know what
other questions to ask.
“Take this,” he said and handed her a leather pouch that
she nearly dropped due to its surprising weight. “It’s gold.
You’ll need it to start your new life.”
Then Simon held out his hands and made a motion for all
of them to move back. He turned and reached for a bag on the
bed and emptied its contents onto the mattress. Round, colored stones, like polished crystal balls, rolled out. He picked
up a yellow and a pale blue stone and spread out his arms with
one crystal orb resting on each of his open palms.
Natalie gave Chessa a questioning glance. Chessa smiled
and lifted her chin. “Watch,” she mouthed.
For a long pregnant moment, nothing happened. Then
a flicker sparked inside the yellow stone—a small, wisp of
flame that brightened then nearly winked out. But it flared
into the darkness
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again, this time brighter, and it burst to cast a golden light
into every corner of the room. While they watched, the blue
stone erupted, its radiance more brilliant than the first and
seeming to draw the yellow rays into its aura.
Simon began an intonation, his deepening bass murmuring
words in a language she’d never heard that sounded soft and
liquid, like water burbling in a stream.
As he chanted, the stones brightened into the intensity of
two tiny suns, the rays they cast bending and curving, yellow
and blue, interweaving until they seemed to melt together
in a brilliant green braid, forming a circle. Looking through
the center of the circle, the bed seemed to stretch and curve
until it swirled into a vortex, leaving only a smooth, glinting
surface, like that of a pond in sunlight.
Simon’s incantation faded, but the shimmering, vertical
pool remained.
“Now, Natalie,” he said softly. “Step through the portal,
love.”
Natalie looked back one last time at each of them, her gaze
resting finally on Rene.
I love you.
She couldn’t say the words
aloud, didn’t want to leave him with a burden. Turning back
to the portal, she took a deep breath and straightened her
shoulders.
“Oh, hell no,” Rene muttered behind her.
Natalie glanced back to see him striding toward her, and
her heart stopped as she read the determination in his squared
jaw as he pinned her with a glare.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“I’m not letting you go alone to wherever the hell he’s sendin’ you.”
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