Authors: Nadja Notariani
“
I fear, gentlemen, that this will rend the vampire realm irreparably. We must remain united. The Continent Council will not abide unrest on the Islands. They will appeal to the North American Council at once if they suspect division in our leadership or instability in our ranks.”
“
I concur,” Malcolm agreed. “Is there no way to avoid a rift among our Council?”
Conrad flashed a malevolent glare at the three other members on the Council of Great Britain.
“
You can hand Cael Maccinnis over to the dawn.”
The children sat down to tea in their brightly decorated nursery. Charity poured and Jael buttered the flaky biscuits, placing them on the tiny plates. Harry waited impatiently, licking his lips and holding his stomach. Looking over at her sister, Charity set the china pot down gently and stroked Jael’s soft, blond curls.
“
What makes you gloomy? Did you not have a good time today?”
“
No, I did,” Jael sniffed. “I…I just…I like Paige is all. I told you before, Charity. I don’t want to send her to the Netherworld!”
Her tears fell like rain upon the lacy tablecloth, and Charity gathered her sister to her lap.
“
Don’t cry, Jael. Everything will work out. You’ll see.”
“
Yeah, Jael!” Harry added, his hunger forgotten at seeing his sister’s tears. “Charity knows what she’s doing. Right?”
He looked anxiously at his older sister for reassurance. Tears were rarely seen among the Fates.
“
Listen to Harry,” Charity soothed her youngest sibling. “Now let’s have our tea before it gets cold.”
*
Paige paced the bedroom floor, the creaks now familiar to her ears as she retraced her path again and again. Hunger gnawed, urging her to the kitchen despite her oath to avoid Cael. His words played anew in her mind, but they made no sense. Had he sent her family away from the terminal before the accident? And if so, why didn’t he tell her? Questions plagued her, and she found no peace.
The house was too still, and Paige wished some, any, noise to break the silence that rang in her ears besides the eerie creak of floor boards beneath her feet. It was a lonely silence, not the comforting quiet of a late night snuggled with a cup of hot tea and book. Her body ached, washing her once again in fear. She panicked over every new sensation for fear it was her Awakening.
An hour, then another passed as she fitfully paced the master suite, finally concluding that Cael had gone out since she’d heard no movement in the house aside from her own. Stepping over the broken door, Paige crept toward the kitchen with the hope of finding something to eat and drink before he returned. Unease lurked around every corner, but apart from the fire burning in the oversized hearth all was still. Setting the kettle to brew she rummaged through the cabinets, finding crackers. She then checked the fridge, pulling out a hunk of provolone and an apple.
Thank goodness! I’m starving…
The find had her mouth watering, but when she bit into the apple her stomach roiled, rejecting the kitchen’s bounty. Thinking she’d waited too long to eat she tried a cracker with no better result. Paige sank into a chair at the kitchen table, rested her head on the wooden table-top and closed her heavy eyes. A soft whistle slowly grew in intensity, rousing her from her daydream, and with steaming cup in hand she wandered the house in her solitude.
Treasures beyond her wildest imagination, tucked into corners of shelves and resting atop mantelpieces, fascinated her. She wanted to examine them all, but nausea persisted, driving her back to the bedroom where she secreted the bag of food in the nightstand drawer before lying against the pillows, succumbing to sleep.
Barking woke her, the pounding head, aching limbs and awful pain in her mid-section immediately reminding her of her situation.
What is wrong with me?
The pitiful thought came unbidden even though she knew the answer. Pain seared every nerve, and her throat burned with a fire of frightening intensity, the sudden convulsion coming upon her without warning. Paige would have screamed for help, but no sound would escape her.
Help me…
No help arrived. Sweating profusely, teeth chattering with fevered heat, she writhed on the bed.
Call me to yerself, lass.
The Council had summoned him. He’d just finished with them.
Cael did not believe the Fates’ game was all that brewed among the powers behind the Vampire Council. Something else lurked behind the eyes of the Council members. He didn’t trust one of them. Even Paige’s father had a nervous look to him that made Cael uneasy. He flat out refused to uncloak her and bring her within the Council’s walls to wait out her transition. With every step away from them, Cael’s confidence grew in his decision to defy their order. Paige would remain hidden until fully turned. The Fates’ would not find her. The Druid magic would hold. It had better.
When her plea for help touched his mind Cael buckled beneath the flash of her pain. He begged her call him to herself but heard nothing more. Seemingly materializing in two different locations at once, a rare talent he possessed, Cael could confound any who may be watching. After twice doing such he appeared at Raven House. A few minutes later Alden materialized by his side.
“
Let’s make this fast, Alden,” Cael shook his head. “I believe the thirst is hitting Paige, and I want to get her settled.”
Alden grinned despite the severity of the situation.
“
The Raven may have other plans for me, Maccinnis. I’ll do my best.”
“
Wipe that look off yer face, Alden,” Cael joked dryly. “The Raven asks plenty of vampires to join in her fun. Doona be gettin’ a big head over it.”
“
True, true,” Alden admitted. “But does she bargain for them by name, Maccinnis? That’s what I ask you.”
Cael shook his head, eyes twinkling in his lean, angular face.
“
That she doesna, my friend. I doona know whether to congratulate ye or tell ye to run for yer life.”
The serious expression on Cael’s face gave Alden pause a minute until Cael could hold in his laughter no more. Relief was immediately evident on Alden’s face, multiplying Cael’s amusement with his longtime friend’s peculiar predicament. Any vampire would be glad to spend a night under the expert care of Raven, infamous for her gifted eroticism and hedonistic ways, but Raven rarely asked without wanting in return. Alden was right to be wary of the sultry vamp’s request for his presence.
Night had fallen, its ebony darkness lurking in the corners of Raven House’s dimly lit entertainment hall. Vibrantly colored tapestries hung on the golden hued walls along with burnished bronze sconces, which cast their golden glow just enough to tantalize observers. Young in appearance and beautiful beyond imagination, half naked females engaged any who arrived, quickly joining the bodies engaged in erotic play scattered about the rooms. Blood-red divans littered the area, most occupied, and a few more risque groups writhed behind sheer silk panels, their blatant acts of intimacy softened by translucent ornaments.
Cael’s thirst came alive, and he saw his friend shift uncomfortably, lust already rearing in the midst of such abandon.
“
Welcome to Raven House, gentlemen,” a soft voice announced behind them. “The Raven has requested you be shown to her private rooms. Follow me.”
Turning, the pair followed the naked female, the dainty golden chain around her waist all that covered her body aside from the shimmering gold body paint. Black and shiny, her mass of hair fell to just above her buttocks in the back, her dark, almond shaped eyes and Hindu third-eye announcing her Indian heritage.
The female did not speak again as she led them up the staircase before walking down a long hallway. Two guards stood at the wide entrance to the room staring straight ahead, taking no notice of the delicate creature leading them toward Raven’s rooms. Through a few rooms they passed women lounging about or prettying themselves at vanity tables, the soft conversations humming around the groups halting as the two males passed. All attention focused on their presence.
“
Pay them no heed,” the painted female spoke quietly. “You are not for them.”
Upon entering the next room Cael watched Raven enter from the opposite end, emerging from her most private chambers.
“
It is nice to see you again, Cael Maccinnis,” she said, tilting her head slightly in respectful greeting. “Ah,” she laughed in sultry play, “We’ve lost you to the bond, I see. And from what I hear, you’ve angered the world.”
“
I’ve come to ask a favor of ye, Raven,” Cael began at once.
“
A favor?” she cooed, cocking her head to the side coquettishly. “Of me? What is it you have need of, Maccinnis?”
“
I want a few of yer rooms; for how long, I doona know. I’ll need to enchant them with Druid magic.”
Raven smiled knowingly.
“
I assume this has to do with your changeling? No… don’t tell me. I don’t wish to know.”
“
Then ye give yer consent?” he asked skeptically.
Raven never gave something for nothing.
“
I did not say that, Cael Maccinnis,” she purred, walking slowly toward Alden. “I see you’ve brought your friend. Perfect.” Raven appraised Alden brazenly before continuing. “I’ll need a favor in return.”
“
Ask of me what ye will. If in my power to give, it will be done,” Cael replied.
The Raven curled her lips in anticipation. Cael Maccinnis was a man of his word, but even he would have trouble paying this time.
“
I want to represent…those of my particular persuasion…on the Council.”
“
That is not mine to give ye, Raven.”
“
You are a Maccinnis. And an ancient. It is your right to address the Council. You could secure me a delegate seat, Cael. It’s time for change. The world has changed, and we need to change with it, or we will be destroyed.”
Cael raked his hand through his hair, knowing Raven’s point valid, loathing the idea of addressing the Council.
“
After this they may not hear me, Raven. Ye take a risk associatin’ yerself with me.”
“
I have faith in you, ancient.”
She turned around, clapping her hands twice.
“
Jodhaa!” her call summoned. “Is this the man you dream of?”
The small, young woman did not raise her eyes but neared and picked up Alden’s hands, inspecting them carefully.
“
It is,” she answered, dropping his hands and stepping back from the large, muscled vampire.
Confused, Cael glanced over at his friend to find that Alden’s eyes had reddened with the hunger and thirst of…
“
Ye didna want him for yerself! Ye are a cunnin’ woman, Raven,” Cael shook his head in disbelief as he and the Raven moved to the room’s doorway. “Ye know ye will be losin’ this girl,” he chuckled, pointing toward Alden, who was completely captivated by the petite female. “He’s already devourin’ her with his eyes.”
The Raven laughed softly, dropping all pretense, simply being the woman she truly was.
“
That he is, Highlander. I found her half-changed and abandoned, taken from her home against her will. We nursed her to health and completed her change, but nightly, the girl wept for an unknown male she claimed came to her in her dreams. When I entered her mind, you can imagine my surprise to discover the mystery vampire’s identity to be Alden. She’s not one of my girls, Cael. She’s young and innocent. It is the reason for the body paint – my insurance that no one would attempt to touch the girl. Those who kidnapped her had not yet sold her, thank the Fates! I know you do not keep the company of one like Conrad, but I ask your assurance that the girl will be well cared for. That
thing
sits on the Council, Cael, lording authority and self-righteousness over one and all, yet it is under his
protection
that young females are taken from their homes and villages! Jodhaa is one of the few lucky that I – or others like me – find before they are sold into a life of slavery.”
“
Alden is a good man, Raven. Rest yer mind,” Cael asserted.
“
Bring your Awakener. Weave your magic,” Raven resumed her businesslike demeanor. “But do not forget your debt to me, Maccinnis.” Without looking back she added, “Your friend will most likely be occupied with his new mate for some days. I’ll bill him later.”
Cael knew the woman surely would.
*
Cael purposefully laid false trails, cloaking his movements carefully before returning to his home. Not trusting the powers that be since his unjust punishment and censure, his home had never been revealed to anyone he knew save Alden and Rowan. They were his only friends.
Worry steadily built since Paige’s pitiful plea earlier in the night, and Cael was desperate to find her safe in his bed.
Drink and fuck…
He materialized, at once aware of his grave error as her scent filled his home. He’d not fed before returning. Cursing himself, he started for the stairs. If she refused him again he was not certain he’d be able to deny his thirst. Hope of restraint was nearly lost as he stepped into the master suite.
Paige lay across the bed, her lacy bra and panties all that covered her flushed skin. Cheeks rosy from an inner heat, she whimpered as he neared, arching toward him under the pull of the bond – and her growing thirst. Her blond hair splayed around her on the bed. Her eyes, those pale green eyes, beckoned with carnal hunger.