Darkness Awakened (11 page)

When those ice blue eyes narrowed on her, she frowned and looked down at her clothes. She thought she’d missed getting any blood spatter on her, but maybe she needed to change too.

“When’s the last time you ate?” he demanded as he came to stand in front of her.

Okay, maybe he’d noticed. “At that club.”

His eyes went pure wolf for a moment. “What about before that?”

“Before I came here.”

He glanced at his men and gave fast orders, telling four of them to head to various areas, but to keep their phones on them. Then he looked at Gabriel and Spiro. “You two wait. We won’t be long.” Not giving her a chance to argue, he grasped her hand and tugged her toward the house.

With no choice but to follow, she hurried alongside him. “I could have just fed from you in the SUV.”

He grunted as they cleared the front door. “I’m not letting anyone see you feed from me.”

At his words her face flamed. She hadn’t even been thinking about how turned on her body naturally got when she fed from Finn. It never happened with anyone else. She wondered if her reaction would still be the same and was glad Finn was thinking clearly. If she’d climaxed in front of others while feeding it would have been embarrassing. And she wasn’t doing her daughter any good if she didn’t even have the strength to fight to free her.

They went down a long hallway and through the swinging door into a massive, professional grade kitchen. Made sense it was so big with all the wolves. Surprisingly the room was empty, but he kept going until they reached a pantry door. Inside was larger than her master bathroom back at home.

Without pause he turned to her and bared his neck. He could have offered his wrist. In fact, she should have just taken his wrist, but he was making himself vulnerable in a way Alphas almost never did. He was giving her the ultimate trust with this one act. His breathing was slightly erratic and the subtle spiciness of his arousal filled the enclosure.

She couldn’t reject this offer—even if she didn’t deserve him. Closing her eyes, she clutched on to his shoulders and sank her fangs into his neck. That spicy scent wrapped around her like a seductive embrace.

His big body jerked against hers, his arms coming around her waist as the sweet taste of his blood coated her tongue. He let out a groan and rolled his hips against her. More than once he’d told her how erotic it was when she fed from him. That definitely hadn’t changed.

Unlike what fictional movies portrayed, shifter blood wasn’t poison to vampires. It was like the nectar of the gods. Most supernatural blood was like that for vampires. His blood made her stronger and invigorated her faster than human blood ever could. Since he was an Alpha…She moaned against his neck as she sucked and swallowed the sweet liquid down.

Against her will, her nipples tightened and her body pulled taut as she fed from him. Something about his blood, about him, had always done this to her. After nearly two decades of drinking human blood, the taste of Finn was like a shot of adrenaline.

He was clearly affected too. It was slight, as if he was trying to contain his reaction, but each time she sucked, he let out a shudder and she felt it all the way to her core.

She tried to keep her body rigid, to retain control as she drank, but she couldn’t help the hunger growing inside her. A hunger that had nothing to do with her need for blood. Rubbing her breasts against him as she fed, she savored the way he shuddered. The scent of his arousal completely enveloped her, making her lightheaded. His erection pressed against her lower abdomen and it was all she could do not to wrap her legs around him and start dry humping him like a cat in heat.

But she had pride. Sort of.

Her most primal side was threatening to take over and the only thing stopping her was the knowledge that her daughter needed her. Sometimes she hated how primitive she was.
She
was in control, not her hunger. Something she hadn’t had to remind herself of since she was a young girl.

Though it felt like forever, she knew maybe sixty seconds had passed. When she pulled back she felt rejuvenated and a thousand times more powerful. The strength from his blood was pure energy. Quickly, she licked the wound to start the healing process, though it was already almost closed. Unlike a human, Finn healed with impressive speed. As she looked at him, she sucked in a deep breath.

His eyes had gone pure wolf as he watched her. She could see his beast right on the surface, his need and hunger a living thing. His gaze zeroed in on her mouth. Instinctively she licked her lips and tasted a little blood she’d missed.

“Meet you outside in a minute,” he said, his voice raspy and growly, more animal than man.

Not trusting her own voice, she nodded and before she’d blinked he was gone, leaving the door open in his wake. Shoving away all thoughts of the two of them naked together, she hurried from the pantry. Now that she had her strength back, everything around her came into focus with a clarity she hadn’t realized she’d been missing the past couple days.

She hadn’t exactly forgotten how potent his blood was, but the energy humming through her made her feel as if she could take on a hundred Akkadian demons by herself.

As Lyra strode across the tiled floor, the swinging door opened and three she-wolves walked in. They all regarded her with surprise. Immediately the tallest of them, a blonde, lean, beautiful wolf narrowed her gaze. She crossed her arms over her chest and remained standing in front of the door. The other two; a redhead and a brunette who could compete for Miss Universe and win, both stepped to the side as if they didn’t want to get in the middle of anything.

She didn’t have time for bullshit. Keeping her eyes pinned to the she-wolf—because averting her gaze would be a clear sign of submission to a female like this—she sidestepped the female.

The wolf moved lightning fast, remaining in front of her. “I don’t care if you’re fucking Finn, we’ll never accept a vampire for an Alpha female.”

Yeah, Lyra already knew that. She also knew that no amount of talking would get it through this female’s head that she wasn’t planning to make a move as head Alpha female. Once Finn knew the truth, the tiny dream of leading by his side that she’d buried impossibly deep, would completely disappear. It would never happen.

“Move,” she ordered.

“No.”

Moving with a vampiric speed borne of her blood line and the shot of power she’d just received from Finn, she punched right through the woman’s chest and grabbed her heart. The room went deathly silent and the blonde stared at her with wide eyes, her mouth open and gasping from the raw pain that had finally caught up to her nerve endings.

This wouldn’t kill her, but it would hurt like nothing else. “If you want to challenge me later, go for it. Right now I don’t have time for this crap.” She leaned in closer to the female, who was making gurgling, gasping sounds as she tried to remain still. Because if she pulled back, she’d lose her heart. “Next time I’ll rip your heart out and make you fucking eat it,” Lyra whispered before releasing her grip and pulling her hand from the woman’s body. She wasn’t actually as bloodthirsty as she sounded, but her most primitive side knew that if she was anything less than coldly dominant to this female, it would be like offering her head on a platter.

The she-wolf fell to the floor, moaning and crying as her body mended itself back together. Blood pooled on the floor from the healing wound so Lyra sidestepped it and grabbed a dry rag from one of the counters. Quickly wiping her hand, she stepped toward the door once again, keeping the other two females in her peripheral.

“She doesn’t speak for all of us. If you’re strong and fair and make Finn happy, I don’t give a shit if you’re a Martian,” the redhead said, no fear in her gaze.

Well that was interesting. Lyra just nodded at her and the brunette before striding from the kitchen. It was time to find her daughter.

* * *

When her phone buzzed, she fished it out of her pocket. Fear was growing inside her like out of control kudzu. That vampire bitch was impossibly fast and strong. What she’d done in the kitchen—that took incredible skill.

With shaking hands she answered the phone. “Yeah?” Glancing around, she hurried out one of the side doors. The pack was busy burning the demon bodies and cleaning up the property. No one would notice her.

“She’s escaped.”

Her entire body went frigid. “What?” He couldn’t mean what she thought.

“I don’t know how, but she’s gone. Her chains are broken. She must have ripped them free.”

Mind working overtime, she raced back into the house, hurrying toward her room on the first floor. “Did you give her the…medicine?” When they’d switched shifts it had been time to pump the girl full of drugs again. He’d promised he’d take care of it.

A short pause. “Yes.”

Her claws unsheathed as she opened her bedroom door. She’d known him long enough that she could tell when he was lying. Looked like she’d be killing this idiot after all. Instead of showing her anger and tipping her hand, she said, “Okay. We’ll find her. I’ll be there soon.”

Once they disconnected, she grabbed her escape bag. If the girl had gotten free, she needed to leave now. She wouldn’t be wasting time searching for the girl. No, she was going to kill her partner, burn down the house they’d been in, then split town with the money she’d made. It wasn’t as much as she could have made, but with the girl gone, the vampire who’d hired her would be raging pissed.

Not to mention it was only a matter of time before Finn found out what she’d done. It didn’t matter that she and her partner had worn masks, that little bitch might eventually recognize her through scent. She’d been careful to change up her smell, but nothing was foolproof. She had to leave while she had the chance. Even though Finn had put them all on lockdown, she’d be gone with no one the wiser.

With everyone so distracted with the recent activity, getting out unseen should be a piece of cake. And it was her only option.

Chapter Nine

In the back seat of the SUV next to Spiro, Lyra looked over at his small laptop screen. He was marking off the homes the other warriors and their group had already visited. They’d been working hard the past hour; parking, splitting up then searching homes with incredible speed. Now they were moving on to another area.

After the attack on Finn’s property, he was even more determined to find Vega. Lyra wasn’t sure why the demons had targeted his pack, but it hadn’t been a random choice. That much was clear.

“Did you see that?” Finn murmured from the front passenger seat.

“Yeah.” Gabriel slowed the vehicle.

Both she and Spiro looked up. Scanning the quiet neighborhood, she didn’t see anything except cars parked in driveways and a few streetlights. “What?”

“Four vampires,” Finn said. “Headed down that street. Moving with purpose. Gabriel, text the other team,” he ordered. Before any of them could respond, Finn opened his door and jumped from the moving vehicle. They were only going fifteen miles per hour, but his action still surprised her. Seconds later Finn jumped a nearby fence into someone’s backyard, disappearing from sight.

“What are we doing?” she asked Gabriel. She knew Finn was more than capable of taking care of himself, but she didn’t like him going off alone without backup.

“I’m going to park and we’re following after him.”

Immediately Gabriel parked next to a giant oak tree. After he sent off a brief text, presumably to the other group of warriors out searching for Vega, the three of them moved silently from the vehicle. Lyra didn’t need instructions from anyone to know what they were doing. Backing up Finn and figuring out why four vamps were in this neighborhood. It was in the zone Spiro had mapped out so for all she knew they were involved with Vega’s kidnapping.

Lyra used her gift of flight and took to the air. With Finn’s blood flowing through her, she barely felt the effect on her energy. It was harder to track Finn’s scent this way, but it was so faint anyway, she wondered if he was masking it. A gift some Alphas possessed.

When she flew over a house with an Olympic sized pool she spotted Finn facing off with four vampires. No one had weapons drawn so that was one positive point, but a familiar protectiveness rushed up inside her. She unsheathed her blade. Whisper quiet, she descended until her boots hit the grassy ground next to Finn. He didn’t even flinch so she guessed he’d been aware of her presence.

The others moved back a fraction, but almost instantly the tallest of the four held up a hand to the others, staying them.

She nodded once at the male, recognizing him immediately. Justus, one of her brother’s most valuable warriors.

His brown eyes widened incredulously and the tart scent that spiked off him was true surprise. “Lyra?”

The male was more like a mercenary and almost as old as Claudius. Not a blood-born, but he was over nine hundred years old. It was hard to feign the kind of surprise she sensed from him, but she wasn’t stupid enough to underestimate him. “Justus.”

“You know him?” Finn’s voice was deceptively quiet, as if he wasn’t concerned. But she knew him better than that. The quieter he got, the more focused and deadly he was.

“He’s part of Claudius’s coven.” She didn’t take her gaze off the four vamps. Behind her she heard a slight rustle of movement and tensed until she scented Finn’s packmates. The backup shifters Gabriel had texted had arrived.

“Darren, Bruno, this is Lyra Marius.” At that, all four of the vamps knelt briefly in a show of respect for her royal status. Though Justus hadn’t introduced the third vamp, she recognized him as Christian. He was about five hundred years old if she remembered correctly.

She was confused by their action. “Why are you all bowing? And why are you here?”

As they rose, he motioned for the others to move back, a clear sign of respect to Finn. Something she appreciated. Right now the situation could turn incendiary in a millisecond.

“You’re with the Alpha?” Justus asked, ignoring her questions.

“Yes. Now answer my question.”