An Unwanted Hunger (2 page)

Now the questions she’d wanted to ask that night when he came to her pressed at her, crying to be asked. Memories of that night tore at her. How she’d wanted him. How she’d tried to hide it and how she’d failed. How his kiss had branded her in a way she’d never imagined possible, destroying any hope that she could find solace in the arms or touch of another.

No, now it was all different. She had to know the truth. If Bram was not true to his word and her work was that of evil, then she had been betrayed in the worst possible way. But if he spoke true and hers was the hand that wielded the weapon of the Holy, then she had work yet to do.

The question was, how was she to discover the truth?

“Constantine,” Pandora said softly.

Another warm flush washed over Resa at the sound of his name. Fighting with a crossbow, sword or knife was far easier than battling the attraction she felt for him, the power he had to make her yearn for him. She’d not forgotten their encounters, his taunts and temptations, the erotic images he projected into her mind. It was part of her, something that tormented her every day.

Whether she ended up killing him or protecting him, Pandora was right about one thing. The answers she sought lay with Constantine Belenus.

“Fine,” she said, her mind made up. “Then count me in. I’ll be your hunter. I’ll find Belenus. But I’m not promising to save him from anything. Not even myself.”

“So be it,” Pandora agreed. “Be safe, my young hunter. And peace be with you.”

Resa opened her mouth to respond and in the same instant found herself back in the fog beside the old cathedral, with Constantine’s whisper in her ear.

“The truth awaits,” he whispered with a slight chuckle.

Resa whirled, knives flashing. But he was already gone. She checked the time on the belfry clock of the cathedral. It was close to dawn. How was that possible? She’d spent days on end with Pandora to be returned here only moments later?

It was all a bit much, and Resa felt the weight of what lay ahead like a tangible force on her soul. But she had to pursue the truth, no matter the cost. That, as Pandora had convinced her, was something she owed herself.

However, the night was drawing to an end and she was tired. So the quest for truth could wait a bit. Right now she wanted food, a shower and sleep, in that order. She’d tackle the mystery of Constantine Belenus and what answers he might hold for her when the sun rose.

Chapter Two

Journal Entry

As foretold, the beginning of the end came swift as a heartbeat, striking from a position and at a target no one thought to guard or protect.

It was the fifth rotation of the thirty-seventh orbit after the fall of the Goddess. From the deep it came, streaking through endless space, soaring majestically through the heavens. How many of my people stood and watched the wondrous sight in the star-filled night sky? How many expressions of delight and amazement turned to horror and grief at what followed?

The faint scratching of the old-fashioned pen on the fine linen paper of the journal ceased. Constantine blew gently on the page to dry the ink then closed the journal. There were those who found his predilection for the outdated quill and ink to be humorous or eccentric. He gave no care to their opinions. The act of putting pen to paper, letting his thoughts flow from mind to page, was salubrious, providing a pristine bailiwick where there was no need to couch his words in Delphic phrases. This was his one measure of true privacy. There was no fear in his words being discovered and used as weapons against him. When he closed the book the pages would become, to all appearances, void and empty. Only the touch of his hand would activate the special ink, a unique formula that responded only to his specific genetic code.

As was more often than not the case, when his thoughts turned to the history of his people, his mood darkened. So many centuries had passed since the great Darkness befell V’Kar. So many battles and still no victor to the quest for V’Kar.

How many centuries had he walked this foreign world, an expatriate, separated from all he loved and held dear? How many more centuries would he suffer exile here?

A growl of frustration rumbled in his throat. He pushed the questions and thoughts away like a bitter wine, seeking sweetness to ease the acerbity. An image of Resa appeared in his mind, bringing with it a wash of hunger stronger than any he’d known in his long life.

His lust for her was not merely unwise, it was dangerous. To him and all his kind. She was sworn to one of their oldest Terran enemies. The Alliance. A group of humans who’d discovered the true nature of his people centuries ago and had lusted after the powers of his kind. When they finally realized that the powers could not be taken or harnessed, that not even forced breeding with humans could re-create what Constantine’s people were, the war changed to one of annihilation. If the Alliance could not harness and use the powers of the V’Kar for their own means then they intended to destroy them.

Were it not for that lust, that craving for power and dominion, beings such as Resa Vânător would not exist, a hybrid brought about by the seduction of a male of his kind by a human female. Dhampir, the humans called them. Children bred for one purpose. To seek out and destroy the V’Kar or Vampyres as the Alliance had labeled them.

Constantine had overcome, destroyed and vanquished many Dhampir during his time, and had no doubt that he would do so again. But Resa Vânător struck a chord within him that he could not deny, a passion that burned so hot that it deterred him from a course of wise action and led him down a dangerous path.

Would she destroy him if given the chance? Perhaps it was his vanity but he thought not. He knew her longing for him, her lust for not just what pleasures of the flesh he could provide, but her hunger for truth. Answers only he could provide, truths only he could reveal.

It was a delicious, if at times vexing, game, and one he was loath to let come to an end. Wise or not, he would continue on his course. And in the end, she would bend to his will. Once that was accomplished, the matter of whether she lived or died would be decided. He could not procrastinate, however. The time to make a move had come. Forces were amassing against him and soon his focus would have to turn to the battle for V’Kar.

And in that battle, she could prove beneficial. But only if she fought by his side. With her at his side, he held an advantage over his opponents and the Alliance. For locked within her mind were the secrets of that damnable group. He had only to breach the barrier that prevented her from accessing those memories and he would have the key to their demise in his grasp.

With that thought in mind, he rose and hurried from the room. Twilight was upon the world, and soon she would go out to hunt. Tonight, he would make sure that she found him. And before dawn, fate would be decided.

* * * * *

Resa woke with a start, hearing his voice whisper in her mind.
Come to me, Dhampir. I await you.

She threw the covers off and climbed out of bed, “Oh I’ll come to you, you miserable life-sucker,” she groused as she headed for the shower. “And when I find you, you will give me answers.”

Getting answers was what fueled her now. She’d gone to see Bram and had posed the questions to him. He’d responded with a dressing-down that’d left her feeling emotionally abraded, racked with guilt at doubting the motives of the Alliance.

By the time she was back home, however, guilt had turned to ire. Once again Bram had played her, used her devotion and gratitude to him as a weapon to bend her to his will.

And that eroded her confidence in him and the Alliance in a way nothing else could. It was clear that she’d not get answers from Bram. His agenda was in strict adherence to the dictates of the Alliance. Like a zealot to his god, he would not deter from the path they prescribed, and he expected her to demonstrate the same unswerving and unquestioning loyalty.

She’d spent her life trying to do just that. But something had always gnawed at the edges of her mind, questions rising in the silence when she was alone. And now Pandora’s appearance in her life had added fuel to the fire that burned for truth.

Pandora had said that Constantine held the answers. Resa frowned as she remembered what else Pandora had said. That Constantine had to be protected. She groaned in frustration and confusion as she stepped under the spray of the shower. What was she to do? Forego all she’d been taught to believe, cut herself off from those who’d schooled and cared for her to follow the words of a woman who might be nothing more than a manifestation of a Vampyre, trying to trick her mind?

Resa didn’t know what to do. Except find Constantine and force the answers from him.

That thought brought a thrill of fear and excitement. Constantine was reputed to be the oldest and strongest of his kind. Were her skills and weapons strong enough to defeat someone of his strength and knowledge? More importantly, could she shield herself from the hunger he inspired, the fire his voice ignited in her belly? Was she strong enough to resist the temptation he offered?

She was about to find out. Hurriedly she finished her shower and dressed, choosing her customary tight, black leather pants and vest and a matching overcoat that hid the sword sheathed at her side and the dagger strapped to her thigh.

The crossbow was impossible to hide, but she had enough of the ability inherited from her mother, a witch, to cast a charm of concealment. Humans would not notice the weapon. It didn’t matter if Vampyres saw her weapon. She wanted them to know she was armed and ready for battle.

Grabbing a bottle of water from the refrigerator on her way, she stepped out into the fading light. Time to hunt.

Chapter Three

Constantine sensed her long before he smelled or saw her, felt her unique vibration in the air. He did not move or turn from his position, standing at the iron railing of the decorative fence that bordered the ornamental lake in the center of the city, bent forward casually with his forearms propped on the railing, hands hanging loose and relaxed.

He smiled at the knowledge of the image he projected, completely relaxed and at ease, not in the least concerned or intimidated by the approach of a Dhampir. That always unsettled them, that he was so unafraid. And an unsettled mind was far easier to manipulate. He needed her to be unsettled.

Her footsteps were light and sure, her stride long and confident as she approached from behind.

“You’re either the cockiest fucker on the planet or the most stupid. I could have easily killed you.” She stepped up beside him, her eyes on the water instead of him.

Her voice was pitched low, its natural husky tone full of false confidence. He turned his head to regard her. “You flatter yourself, Dhampir. I sensed you a block away.”

She shrugged and pivoted to lean back against the railing, regarding him with an unmistakable mixture of fear and fascination. He smiled up at her, a slow, sexy smile that had her pupils expanding even more than the fading light required, giving him visual proof of his effect on her.

“Odd meeting place,” she commented.

He shrugged, knowing the gesture, however common, would appear elegant. “It suits my needs.”

“Hmm, yes, I can see why.”

He’d chosen the location because of its close proximity to a number of trendy night spots for what popular culture had labeled the Goth crowd. People who pretended to be that which they were not, creatures of the night who shunned the light of day. Their pasty skin, overly darkened hair and black clothing were comical to him, but did provide excellent camouflage. A stylish man in dark clothing could go unnoticed in such surroundings if he so chose. But his interest was not on their surroundings.

“Word has it that the Alliance is displeased with you, Vânător.”

“Word is wrong,” she lied with remarkable ease, giving no hint at all to her deception.

Constantine chuckled. “You’re good. I’ll give you that. But lying is unnecessary. We both know that Bram was highly displeased with you and gave you implicit orders to eliminate me posthaste.”

“It’s hardly news that my job is to destroy you.”

Another chuckle brought a hard glint to her eyes, a slight creasing of the skin between her elegant brows. “You spar well, Vânător, but will not find it so easy to deflect my attention. Let us speak of the questions that have placed you in such disfavor with the unholy Alliance you are sworn to.”

“Unholy?” Her question was a scoff. “How completely unbelievable that the likes of you could label anything unholy.”

Constantine straightened so that she was forced to tilt her head back to look up at him. “The likes of me? How you flaunt your ignorance with such a statement. You know nothing of me, Resa Vânător.”

“Then correct me.” She straightened, the movement putting her closer, close enough that he could feel the heat from her body.

He pushed back the sudden stab of lust, the need to seize her, take her. Hear her cry his name as passion overcame her. “So now we come to it.”

“It?”

“The reason you’ve sought me. The reason our encounters have been so…anticlimactic. The reason we both live, facing one another now. You want something from me.”

Resa’s first reaction was to lie and deny it, but she suppressed it and met his eyes, locking with and holding his gaze despite the near staggering force that hit her, making her body burn, her heart race and her sex grow moist with desire.

“Yes, I do.”

Constantine’s smile was knowing. Knowing enough that heat rose to her face. She refused, however, to look away. What was the point? He knew as well as she that the chemistry between them was potent. Denying it would be pointless.

“Then ask, Dhampir. What it is you want from me?”

“Answers.”

“Words?” He chuckled. “We stand here, our bodies straining to contain the energy that arcs between us and our minds screaming for us to give in to the hunger we feel, and you want only words?”

“I need answers.” She grimaced at the need that crept into her voice, wanting to show no vulnerability to him.

“And what of my needs, Resa Vânător?” He reached up to place one finger beneath her chin and tilt her head a bit more.

“Don’t do this,” she whispered before she could stop herself, and then hated herself for the weakness.

“Don’t do this?” His finger traced down her throat slowly, sensually. “Or this?” His words registered in her brain a moment before he lowered his head and kissed her.

She would not have been able to summon anger or indignation at his bold move if the kiss had been brutal or demanding. That she could have accepted, relished and later dismissed as a momentary insanity. But such was not the case. His kiss was one of tenderness. His lips brushed hers, the touch as light as the wings of a dragonfly. Ever so slowly his lips caressed, the pressure never increasing as his tongue snaked out to trace her bottom lip.

It was the kiss of a lover. And that scared her enough to have her putting her palm on his chest to push away. But he did not budge. She turned her head to the side, denying him access to her lips and letting anger swell. It was her best defense against the pull of the forbidden feelings.

“Afraid, Vânător?” His whisper against the side of her face forced her into deception.

“Hardly,” she scoffed, and used both hand to push against him.

He barely budged, just a slight sway backward. His hands moved to cover hers at the same time he stepped closer, pressing her back against the rail, his hard lean form molding to her.

“You lie,” he said with a smile.

“You play dirty,” she replied, secretly exulting in the feel of him against her, all hard muscle. Including one that was pressing against her belly, making her acutely aware of his arousal.

“And you don’t?”

She looked up in surprise at the sincerity in his voice. “I came here for answers, not sex, Vampyre.”

“And what are you willing to pay for the answers you seek, Resa?”

Her name rolled off his lips, sounding exotic and sensual, evoking images of tangled sheets, damp skin, long breathy moans and flesh meeting flesh.

“How do I know I can trust you to tell me the truth?

His eyes glittered in the low light, sending a shiver skittering down her spine. “There is one way you can be sure.”

“What?”

“Take me home with you, submit to me, and you can know my thoughts.”

Resa’s insides turned to liquid when he said the words “submit to me”. A primitive, completely female need sparked to life and flared much hotter than was comfortable.

God, how she wanted to say yes. To feel his hands and mouth on her, to feel and taste every inch of him. To feel him inside her. To submit to him. It was her every fantasy rolled up into one tempting package. And it was forbidden. Which made it all the more appealing.

But taking him home with her was out of the question. She’d long been aware that the Alliance kept surveillance on her comings and goings. Bram always knew when she was home, and when she had a visitor. There was no way in the seventh level of hell she was taking Constantine home with her. She might as well slice her own throat because the end result would be the same.

“I can’t.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

She shook her head, as much to clear it as in argument. “You know they watch me. If I take you home with me, neither of us will live the night.”

He chuckled. “I have no doubt that our coupling will be memorable, but I doubt it will kill either of us.”

She snorted at his tease. “Joke if you want, but the minute you step foot inside my house they’ll know you’re there and they’ll dispatch a team.”

“I’m much harder to kill than you imagine.”

“Iridium kills all of your kind. And the Alliance has special weapons constructed with an iridium blend, as you well know.”

Constantine regarded her in silence for a long moment. “Are you then concerned for my safety, Resa?”

She literally jumped at the question. What was wrong with her? She was supposed to be making sure he didn’t draw another breath and here she was warning him of possible danger? Why?

The answer was already in her mind. Pandora had promised that the answers she sought lay with Constantine. Until she had those answers, she could not let him die.

What she didn’t want to acknowledge was that the thought of him dying filled her with a pain unlike any she’d known. She didn’t understand it. Didn’t want to. He was the last man she wanted to have feelings for. But as it went in the song Bram was fond of quoting, “you can’t always get what you want”.

She briefly wondered why he never finished the verse and if it could be applicable to her now. She would forsake want in favor of need. What she needed was answers and her best source was making an offer. She couldn’t take him home, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be alone with him.

“What about taking me home with you?”

He threw back his head and laughed, a rich deep sound that was about the sexiest thing she’d ever heard. “Ah yes,” he said at length. “I’m sure you’d receive a royal welcome.”

She shrugged in understanding. His kind hated her. More than a few had tried to kill her. Some had come close. She was as hated to them as they were to the Alliance.

“Then neutral ground,” she proposed. “There are plenty of hotels around.”

“I have a better idea,” he said. “A place that is private where we will be undisturbed.”

“Where?”

“Come with me and find out.” He offered her his hand.

She considered it for a moment. What she was about to do went against everything she’d been taught, everything she’d been trained to believe. Was she strong enough to go against a lifetime of training? And was all that she’d been made to believe nothing more than lies, invented in some sick power struggle?

“You are more than strong enough,” he whispered. “For this one night, let us agree to set aside all preconceived notions of one another. Forget all we’ve been told. Disregard all rumor and myth. For this one night, let us agree to share only the truth. And when the night has ended, then you can decide what to do with the knowledge you’ve gained. You have only to submit to me once and all you seek will be yours.”

“Okay,” she agreed and took his hand. It might be the most stupid thing she’d ever done but she had to do it. Win or lose, live or die, she wanted to know.

Constantine’s eyes narrowed dangerously a split second before she sensed them. Dhampirs. Three of them. And they were close.

Resa did not stop to consider her actions. She snatched her sword from its scabbard and offered it to Constantine. “I assume you know how to use this?”

“I’ll manage,” he replied as he took the sword from her. “They seek to box us in.”

“You think?” she countered, snapping her blades into her hands. With the lake to their backs, the hunters could close in on them from all three sides.

Resa opened her mind to their presence. “I know them,” she spoke low.

“There is yet time to escape,” Constantine replied.

She shook her head. She’d already read what was in the minds of the hunters. They were not just there to ensure that Constantine died. They’d been given orders to eliminate her as well.

She’d been betrayed.

She cut him a quick look. “They’re not just here for you.”

His eyes glittered like hard jewels at her words. “Then let them come.”

She saw the first one. A tall, muscular man she’d known all her life, Ethan. He approached from her left, his pace slow and measured. She knew the drill. Give the others time to move in, coordinate the attack.

“You don’t want to do this, Ethan,” she said as she felt Constantine shift slightly beside her, angling to the right.

She sensed another approaching from the direction in which Constantine watched. Amilee, a woman older than herself, hardened and bitter from years of killing, who had few friends and many enemies.

“You betrayed the Alliance,” Ethan answered.

“Worse than that, you betrayed Bram.” A new voice came from in front of them.

Resa’s eyes moved to see the man move toward them, shoving one side of his long coat aside to free him to draw his sword. Joseph was the most deadly of the three. Older than all of them, he’d fought at Bram’s side since she was a child. Had helped in her training.

“It appears that I am the one betrayed,” she commented.

All three stopped a few yards away. “I come bearing a reprieve, Resa Vânător,” Joseph announced. “Kill this abomination. Now. With we three standing witness to your loyalty and all will be forgiven.”

Resa heard the lie in his voice, knew that no matter what she did, she was marked and the Alliance would not let her live. Pandora was right. Nothing was as it seemed. Bram, the man who’d raised her, had been like a father to her, had betrayed her. Signed the order for her execution.

All because she wanted answers. That told her that the Alliance was not what it purported to be. They harbored secrets that, if revealed, would destroy them, have their followers turn away from them and their lies.

And the answers to discovering those secrets stood beside her, facing what were once her compatriots and friends.

She took one step forward. “Tell Bram,” she cut Constantine a quick smile before finishing, “fuck you.”

Constantine was surprised at the speed of her attack. Before the man she called Ethan could react, Resa had flown at him, knives flashing. Constantine saw him counter with his sword as the woman to his right attacked, her sword slashing at him.

Her speed was nothing compared to his and he dispatched her with one swift blow. Her body fell with a weighted thud as her head thumped against the metal railing and fell to the sidewalk.

Constantine heard a scream from across the street but had no time to focus on what attention they might be attracting. Joseph moved in with remarkable speed and skill considering his age. Constantine whirled on him to see Resa dive at him from behind. Her arms reached around his neck then withdrew in a slashing motion. Blood spurted from his throat, his head all but severed from his body. He managed to take one more step before he collapsed.