A Wicked Night (Creatures of Darkness 2): A Coraline Conwell Novel (6 page)

Saraphine nodded, hopefully in understanding.

Cora took Mace by the hand and led him toward the door where Knox waited. As she passed the light-haired fellow, a shiver attacked her shoulders. Mace glanced at her from the corner of his eye while keeping the other man well in his sights. It didn’t escape her notice that Mace had shifted her so that she was now on his opposite side, farther from the stranger. Was he sensing something malevolent as well?

For a heartbeat, she met the stranger’s gaze and something like recognition twisted in her gut. Had she met him before? Was he an old acquaintance of Winston’s, perhaps? If so, she couldn’t place him.

With the constant threat to her life, thanks to her recently deceased husband, she couldn’t be too careful. She hurried to the exit, but was suddenly apprehensive about leaving Saraphine alone with the man, even though Saraphine had addressed him as though she knew him. Maybe that’s why the stranger had glared at Knox as if he’d love nothing more than to rip his heart out with his bare hands. Maybe Saraphine had expressed her plight.

One thing was certain. If auras were real, his was flagged by danger.

At the door, she turned to Saraphine. “You’ll be okay?” The statement was vague enough that the stranger might think they were talking about something else. Her recent loss, maybe.

Saraphine crossed her arms. “Of course.”

Cora pursed her lips. Either Saraphine really did know this guy, or pride was making her obstinate. At any rate, Cora couldn’t delay any longer. Mace ushered her out the door and into the car. Knox reclaimed the driver seat, and the car jerked forward before she had even settled herself in the back seat. Mace curled his arm around her and pulled her to his side once more.

“Who was that guy?” she queried, not caring who the answer came from.

“A bloody idiot from what I could see,” Knox replied. “The prat actually thought he could take me.” He glanced at Mace in the rearview mirror. “I’d have let him try if I didn’t think you’d jump in and bugger me up.”

Ignoring the insult, Mace replied, “The last thing you need to do is beat down some kid that Saraphine has a crush on.”

“What?” Cora gasped. “How could you tell?”

“Her pheromones changed subtly when she saw him. Her eyes dilated as well. And her heart rate sped up.”

Cora smiled for the first time tonight. “Aw, how cute.”

“Not cute,” Knox snapped. “Moronic.”

Cora frowned. “You’re despicable.”

“Too right,
cher
, but the fact remains. She’s an idiot if she couldn’t tell he didn’t return her affections. There’s something about him that isn’t right.”

Cora glanced at Mace.

He nodded. “All his focus was on you, Cora. Even while he was staring down Knox, he was keenly aware of where you were in the room.”

“Another assassin, then?” She sighed. “Wait! We have to go back for Saraphine.”

Mace and Knox shared a look through the rearview mirror. Mace shook his head.

“I’m all for killing the prat.” Knox told him, but again Mace shook his head.

Cora sighed in irritation at the both of them. “If he’s a threat we can’t just leave her there.” She wasn’t about to advocate murdering a stranger based on a hunch, but she could at least try to keep Saraphine out of danger.

“We need to get you back to the cottage.” Mace gestured to the talisman still in her grip. “Put that on.” Then he paused and muttered. “Saraphine had better be right about what that thing can do.”

Cora slipped the chain over her neck. “But what about Saraphine? If something happens to her…”
Oh, god! It would be all my fault.

“Saraphine is a powerful witch,” Mace reminded her. “Any assassin that tangos with her is destined for a painful ending. With any luck, Saraphine will do us another favor and not even know it.”

Knox let out a self-satisfied chuckle, obviously concurring.

Cora was a bit surprised by Mace’s lackadaisical regard for Saraphine after everything she’d just done for them. But then, he was a vampire. They lived by different rules. Merciless rules. Cora might have strong feelings for him, but that didn’t change what he was. That didn’t make him human.

Using a firm tone, Cora tried to reach a compromise. “She must at least be made aware of the danger.”

Mace glanced down at her and noted her resolve with a sigh. “I’ll phone her with our concerns once we’re back at the cottage. Will that please you?”

Cora nodded. It was better than nothing.

“She didn’t answer?” Cora gasped when Mace ended the call. She leaned against the kitchen counter, needing to steady herself.

Underfoot, Meeka munched the bowl of cat food Cora had set out. She was in her kitten form, her gray tail flipping back and forth in blissful ignorance.

Mace stood in the doorway that connected the kitchen to the living room where Knox had stretched out on the sofa to watch another of those vampire kung fu flicks he seemed to like so much.

How quickly he’d eased back into a semblance of normality, like he couldn’t care less about the past week’s events.

“I’ll try again in a little bit,” Mace said.

Dread devoured her voice for a moment. Before, at Wicked Wares, she’d received a bad feeling about that light-haired stranger, and during the short drive home she’d only grown more and more discontent. Now she was positively frantic. She never should have allowed Mace and Knox to hasten her away.

“We must go back and find her, Mace. Please.”

Knox’s rumbling scoff filtered in from the other room. “You might as well tell him, ‘Hey Mace, I’d love to go back and get snatched up and murdered by some incompetent assassin and prove what a lout you are at protecting me’. For the record, I’m all for killing the slouch. I’m more than happy to accommodate
that
kind or order, Cora.”

She pursed her lips, liking nothing more than to order him off a cliff. Taking in a calming breath, she pressed, “Please, Mace. If anything happened to her…I already feel responsible for her grandmother.” Burgeoning tears emphasized her words.

Mace eyed her lips on the verge of quivering. His expression fell. “That wasn’t your fault. Whether it was Knox’s doing—which I doubt—or some random act of violence, it wasn’t your fault.”

“But this will be. If I suspect danger and don’t warn her and she gets hurt…or dies? That will definitely be my fault. It will devastate me.”

Mace hesitated so long, Cora thought she was about to lose this argument.

“Oh, go on, mate,” Knox called from his place on the couch. “I’ll watch the little witch. She and I have things to discuss anyway.”

Cora’s eyes widened, but she was quick to hide her fear from Mace. “Couldn’t I go with you?”

Mace grimaced. “I’ll not let you leave this cottage again with the present danger. And I don’t wish to leave you here alone.” Translation: he didn’t want to leave her here with Knox.

“I know you don’t. But Knox is right.”

At that Mace glanced down at her as though she’d gone nuts.

“He helped us. He could have taken off the minute he was free of his cell, but he stayed and made sure Sadira was contained.”

“He stayed to trick you into doing what he wanted.”

“Perhaps,” she replied. “But he could have just killed me. Yet he chose not to. I know this situation is unfair, but we’re going to have to find a way to deal with it. Unless you want to lock him up again.”

“Just try it,” Knox hollered from the couch.

Cora continued with a little stiffness in her jaw. “And anyway, according to Knox, your laws state that he be granted access to my blood. Trent would side with him on this. Right?” She hoped Mace would refute the statement.

At length, his head dipped in a single nod.

“Then there’s no way around it.” She bit her lip and glanced over at Meeka, encouraged by the thought that her familiar could tackle Knox to the ground if he got out of hand. Besides, there really was much they needed to
discuss
. And she got the impression Knox was not a patient man, or easily placated. She had unwittingly agreed to do what ever he wanted. Now was as good a time as any to find out what, exactly, that was.

In a honeysuckle voice, she asked of Mace, “Please will you go and warn Saraphine.”

Again he was silent. His brooding turmoil grazed her subconscious. Finally, with a bolted jaw, he nodded.

“Thank you. And please hurry back.” She went to her tip toes and planted a soft kiss on his lips.

Before she could pull away, Mace palmed the small of her back and drew her close to him. He deepened the kiss, his tongue plunging to meet hers. She breathed him in, his deliciously musky scent invading her head. His arms surrounded her, holding her even tighter than before, his lips brushing hers with more fervor, a physical declaration of his need for her.

Her body warmed as a tension she hadn’t known was there eased. She molded against him. There was no place safer than within Mason’s arms.

He pulled away with a smug and satisfied expression. “I’ll return shortly to continue this.”

She smiled. “Looking forward to it.”

Knox let out a caustic sound.

Cora ignored that and buried her head in the crook of Mace’s neck, giving him one last squeeze.

Something caught her eye then. She reared back and pulled Mace’s collar to the side. “What is that?”

——

Mace glanced down, but couldn’t see what Cora was pointing at. Her fingers grazed his neck, and an odd kind of warmth responded to her touch that had nothing to do with his current state of arousal.

“It’s that scar you showed to me and Saraphine that day. The one you said Ms. Windshaw had given to you.”

Ah, that damn old woman’s spell. He’d nearly forgotten about it.

A deep, yet endearing crease graced Cora’s forehead. “It looked as if it had glowed blue for a moment, but…” Her eyes scanned his neck meticulously. “It’s not doing it now.”

Mace moved to find his dim, monotone reflection in the microwave window. The discolored mark that circled his neck still resembled the necklace Saraphine’s grandmother had put on him weeks ago. Shortly afterward, it had burned its way under his skin, vanishing and leaving behind this raised scar. He hadn’t had a chance to find out what sort of spell it was before the woman had died.

“Well, it looks normal now,” he said. Perhaps Saraphine could be persuaded to remove it. Then again, she’d probably just demand Knox’s head again.

Cora appeared worried, the sweet scent of her previous desire muted. To reassure her, he kissed her again, but this time with less enthusiasm. Turning her on just as he was about to leave her with another vampire? One she was bonded to? Not a good idea.

Jealousy ground in his chest.

He had no doubt what Knox would be “discussing” with Cora: the terms of their arrangement. The one Cora had been tricked into.

Mace wanted so much to cry foul, but he’d already broken vampire law by keeping Knox locked up for a week without access to Cora’s blood. Not to mention, in doing so, he’d gone against a direct order from their sire and clan leader, Trent.

Any more resistance to this repugnant situation and it would be him cooling his jets in prison instead of Knox.

“I won’t be long.” He said it like a promise.

Her worried expression turned tremulous, as though she were anticipating the repercussions of being left alone with Knox.

Her eyes darted nervously, but before he could renege, she whispered, “I’ll be fine. Go make sure Saraphine is okay.”

His lips smashed together. Reluctantly, he turned away from her and then approached Knox in the other room.

Knox held his relaxed pose, one arm cradled behind his head while he leisurely watched two actors going at it with katanas. He was willfully avoiding Mace’s gaze.

“Oi, get outta the way,” He complained, dodging his head around Mace to see the television.

Mace snatched the remote, hit the off button, then tossed it across the room.

“Hey.” Knox spread his arms in a what-the-fuck gesture.

“With your colorful personality, Knox, I can imagine you’ve been subject to every threat imaginable, so I’m not going to bother threatening you. Instead, I’m going to make you a promise. Hurt her, and I won’t just murder you. I’ll knock you unconscious, drag you to some remote cave off the grid, and teach you a new meaning to the word agony. I’ll make deranged maniacs look like infantile children. Your anguish will last years. And when you finally beg me for death, you will not receive it.”

Knox studied his deadpan expression with one of hooded amusement. “Noted.”

They both glanced at Cora in the kitchen doorframe, who was incredulously staring at them, a thousand questions mingling behind her eyes.

Knox addressed her with a sarcastic tone. “You hear the filth spewing from this mook, Cora? Are you really okay with kissing that mouth at night? I can give you something sweeter to kiss.”

She set her jaw. “If you’re referring to yourself, I can’t think of anything more repugnant.”

When Knox stood as if to move toward her, Mace grabbed his upper arm in a silent warning. Knox stilled, eyeing Mace’s hand with a serious, somewhat aggressive expression.

“I’m not joking,” Mace growled.

Knox met his gaze. “Didn’t think you were, mate.” Then he glanced back at Cora, almost anticipatory—predatory.

She hiked her chin.

Knox turned back to Mace, lowering his voice so that only Mace could hear. “Look, you have nothing to worry about. For now, she’s safe with me.”

For now?
“Swear it in the name of our sire,” Mace challenged.

Indignation swam across Knox’s expression. His voice was living venom. “I’ll do you one better. I swear it in the name of
Elizabeth
.”

Mace yanked his hand from Knox’s arm as if he’d been burned. He tried to swallow the lump of pain that swelled like jagged rocks in his throat.

Knox acknowledged his discomfort with a ruthless glare. “You know me well enough to understand I don’t often lie. She’ll be safe with me for one night. Go and run her ridiculous errand.”

Mace nodded, too guilt-ridden to argue further. He gave Cora a final wave, hoping she didn’t sense his inner turmoil. She couldn’t have heard, but the way she eyed them both said she had gleaned something, if only through the bond.

Outside he mulled over Knox’s last statement. He was right, of course. He didn’t often lie—mostly because he was too damn blunt for his own good—but when he did lie, he lied big.

And he lied well.

——

Sara giggled as her hot mystery man presented her with a single red rose. She took it and inhaled its wonderfully sweet fragrance. So sweet, it was almost cloying, reminding her why she wasn’t really a red-rose kind of girl, but then she’d never received one from a drop-dead gorgeous stranger before. She might just have to rethink her preferences.

With the floral scent still dancing in her head, she asked. “What’s this for?” not even realizing she had swayed slightly.

Her mystery man gave a smile as sweet as his offering. “I heard somewhere that it’s customary to bring a flower for your date, but then I got stood up.” He turned on the stage-drama. “I scoured the land for another beautiful woman who might accept my rose. My journey was long and arduous and, sadly, headed no spoils, so I ended up back here.”

Sara laughed again. “Sorry about that. Pressing matters and all.” She sighed. “This town would fall apart without me.”

“That’s quite alright. You can make it up to me.”

Her heart fluttered. “How’s that?”

“Oh, I’ll think of something.” He glanced toward the front entrance. “Who were those vampires? Friends of yours?”

“Hardly. Wait, you could tell they were vampires?” She narrowed her gaze. “What are you?”

He gave her a confidential grin. “Who was that woman with them? She wasn’t a vampire.”

“Oh,”—Sara rolled her eyes—“that’s Cora. She’s new to town. I wish she would have kept her butt back in St. Stamsworth. But I shouldn’t blame her. It’s not her fault Knox is a murdering piece of crap.”

“A murderer?”

Sara frowned. She forced a steady voice. “He took from me someone I loved very much.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Has he been punished for the crime?”

She shook her head.

His expression went dark. “Let me guess. The vampires want to deal with it internally?”

She nodded. “I doubt anything will come of it.”

“You’re probably right. It sickens me. You have to wonder if their kind are void of human emotion entirely.”