Darkness Awakened (2 page)

As Finn steered out of the alley, he glanced at his phone. Three missed calls from Spiro, one of the wolves he had running patrol at the compound tonight. Definitely not a good sign. He put in his hands-free earpiece and called him back.

Spiro picked up on the first ring. “Boss, we have a problem. There’s a vampire here who says she knows you and needs to speak to you. She’s injured two of our warriors and we’ve got her cornered by the edge of the house but…I get the feeling she’s
letting
us corral her. I’ve never seen a vampire move so
fast
. She said you two have a history together.”

Something tightened in his chest. Once he’d killed his uncle, Finn had searched for her for years; was
still
covertly searching for her. It seemed impossible, but… “What does she look like?”

“Long blonde hair, not very tall,
great
curves, grayish-purple vampire eyes—”

It hurt to breathe for a moment, but he made his throat work. “I’m on my way. Do not let her leave, but
no one
better injure her. They do, they die.” He ended the call and gunned the engine. He was only minutes away but suddenly it seemed like an eternity stretched before him.

Finn knew only one vampire that fit that description and he hadn’t seen the alluring woman in seventeen long years.

Lyra Marius.

The blonde-haired vampire with the unique grayish-violet eyes, sharp cheekbones and an adorable smattering of freckles over her nose had haunted his dreams for too long. She had an innocent quality about her that was refreshing. Having been raised to believe that all vampires were evil creatures it had surprised him when he’d first met her. Not a night went by that he didn’t think—fantasize—about her. His cock hardened as her familiar image flooded his vision and he inwardly cursed his lack of self-control. With her, he’d never had much of it. Then again, neither had she.

After they’d broken up he’d tried to keep tabs on her but she’d fallen off the face of the earth. The vampire and werewolf communities didn’t exactly communicate. Not openly anyway, and he hadn’t been able to find out where she’d gone. He’d hoped she’d been living safely among her own kind. With her royal family. Protected and treasured as she should be. But after killing his uncle he’d heard a rumor she’d left her coven. He hadn’t been able to validate it as truth or not. After that shred of gossip, there had been no word, not even a whisper of her, for the past seventeen years among
any
of his contacts. It was like she’d vanished.

It seemed too much to hope she was at his compound, but his heart rate increased just the same.

To see her again, to hold her again… His throat squeezed at the thought. Pushing her out of his life had been the hardest thing he’d ever done, but he’d had no choice.

Their affair had been short, intense, and completely forbidden. Vampires and werewolves were natural born enemies. They didn’t sleep together, much less fall in love. Until he and Lyra had. But eventually he’d had to face reality.

If his uncle had discovered his relationship with a vampire, he’d have killed Lyra out of sheer spite. Even if Finn had broken from the pack and run away with Lyra—which he’d wanted to do—his uncle would have hunted them down and
still
had her killed out of pettiness. Not because he hated vampires—though he
had
despised them—but purely because of his hatred for Finn. From the moment Finn had been born, his uncle had made his life a living hell… Finn shook his head sharply.

Now was no time to dwell on the past. Vampires didn’t just show up unannounced onto werewolf property. And vice versa. If Lyra was at his compound she was there for a reason and he needed to get to her before things escalated and someone got hurt.

Chapter Two

Lyra’s fangs lengthened as she stared at the four shifters in front of her. A couple of the animals pawed the ground as if they might lunge, but she wasn’t too worried.

As a member of one of the royal families—exiled or not—she had the gift of flight. She couldn’t soar for hundreds of miles or anything, but she could quickly move across city blocks when need be. If she had to flee, she would. But right now all she wanted was to talk to Finn. She hadn’t even breached his compound.

After buzzing the main gate, they’d
let
her in. And then a couple of these young pups thought they could try to attack her? She gritted her teeth and snarled at them again.

Two of them took a few tentative steps back, but two stood their ground. With her back facing the sprawling mansion, she didn’t have to worry about an attack from behind. She didn’t sense anyone other than the four snarling pups in front of her. Lyra relied heavily on her extrasensory abilities, one that she shared with the shifters, and could usually scent those around her long before they got too close.

In an exclusive part of the historic city, Finn’s compound was gated, expansive and very private. A huge iron fence and thick trees surrounded the acres of property and the Greek revival mansion directly behind her, but apparently no one inside was civilized. She supposed she could leave, but she didn’t have anywhere else to go. After trying to call Finn’s casino and being told he was unavailable, she’d decided to come directly to him. She only lived a few hours north of Biloxi so as soon as dusk had fallen, she’d driven straight there. Contacting him killed her inside, but she had no choice.

As she decided what move to make next, a shifter in human form raced across the lawn toward her and the growling shifters. “Back off!”

Immediately the other wolves fell back a few feet.

She tensed, waiting for another attempted attack.

“Finn is on his way. He doesn’t want you to leave,” the dark-haired man told her.

She glared at him. “If I’d
wanted
to leave, I could have at any time. In fact, I didn’t have to come here in the first place. You werewolves have a lot to learn about manners.”

“You’re a vampire,” the shifter said, as if that should explain everything.

“I buzzed your front gate.” Dumbass. “I
tried
to announce myself in a civilized manner. I explained I needed to speak to your pack Alpha and you are the ones who attacked
me
. Do you really think if I’d planned a one-woman attack I would have buzzed you?” She ground her teeth together at their idiocy.

The man had the decency to look apologetic, but she didn’t buy his sincerity. Nervously, he cleared his throat then motioned to the shifters to leave. Or at least she assumed that’s what his abrupt hand gesture meant since the four animals walked away and disappeared among the trees on the property. He started to say something else but paused and turned his head.

She heard the faint sound too. Like the main gate opening. Despite her desire to stay calm, her heart rate increased. The shifter in front of her might think her a monster considering the way these animals had sought to attack her unprovoked, but she was very much alive. Blood flowed in her veins as much as it did in theirs. She just had an aversion to sunlight and a thirst for blood. Whether it was a genetic anomaly or because all supernatural beings were cursed by the gods as some said, she’d stopped caring long ago that she was different from the majority of the population. She was a blood-born. A rare vampire who’d been born to this life, not turned, and she had every right to live just as anyone else.

Despite what a few angry wolves might think.

When the man in front of her started heading back across the expansive yard toward the winding driveway, she followed. Instead of using her gift, she walked.

Her four-inch heels sank into the grass with each step, but she was light on her feet and quickly surpassed the male shifter until she stood on the pavement waiting for the SUV barreling down the driveway. It jerked to a sudden halt, the vehicle shuddering. Even though she couldn’t see inside it because of the tinted windows, she knew who was in there. Felt his presence in a bone deep, almost unexplainable kind of way. A mixture of nerves, excitement and flat out fear battled inside her, each one fighting for dominance and making her a little sick.

Finn jumped from the front seat—all six foot three of him. He didn’t even bother to shut the door as he hurried toward her. His bright blue eyes seemed to bore right through her, as if he could see all her secrets. God help her if he actually could. “Lyra,” he rasped out.

His voice was so familiar. So right, it made something long-forgotten burn inside her chest. The tingling sensation shoved jaggedly out to all her nerve endings, making her almost numb as she stared at him.

Finn Stavros.
Former lover, one-time best friend, and the only man she’d ever given her heart to.

Why did he still have to be so damn sexy? So powerful? She swallowed hard, drinking in the sight of him like a blood-starved vamp. Her traitorous nipples tightened as her gaze tracked over his muscular body. It didn’t matter that he had clothes on, she’d seen every inch of his delicious form.

For a brief moment, it was as if the past seventeen years had been stripped away. She’d been so young and sheltered when they first met. Technically at ninety she was still young for her species but she wasn’t sheltered anymore and she definitely wasn’t naïve. She blinked once and tried to banish the memory of meeting him but it refused to go away. After temporarily escaping her coven, intent on having a fun night out among humans, she’d stumbled directly into a shifter bar. Almost immediately she’d known she’d made a mistake.

A big one.

But she’d been frozen in shock, gazing around the bar that had looked so normal on the outside, but had been filled with supernatural beings on the inside. Being so sheltered she hadn’t even known a place like that existed. Finn had taken one look at her and known
exactly
what she was. Lucky for her, he’d been the first to notice her and he’d quickly escorted her outside before any other shifters had scented her. He’d told her to get lost, but then he’d started talking to her and had made sure she’d gotten safely out of the area. He’d also given her a lecture on where she should go and where she shouldn’t. It had been so endearing coming from the big shifter.

Then he’d done the most unexpected thing. He’d kissed her as if he couldn’t stop himself. When he was through, he’d looked just as surprised as she’d felt. Swallowing hard at the memory, she touched her bottom lip, which was actually tingling. She still remembered his spicy taste. Even if she didn’t want to, it somehow lingered there, taunting her. Reminding her of all she’d lost.

The other shifter cleared his throat and she jerked her gaze to the left. She’d forgotten they weren’t alone.

He was staring at Finn. “Uh, boss?”

“Leave us,” Finn growled softly.

When she turned back to him, she realized he hadn’t taken his eyes off her. Even in her heels, the powerful man still towered over her. And he looked every bit as dominating as she remembered.

At one hundred and fifty years old he still looked the same physically. To a human he would appear about thirty. Tall, broad-shouldered, midnight black hair cropped close to his head, icy blue eyes and those arms… Her eyelids grew heavy as she watched his muscles flex lightly. The only difference was the darker edge to him now. He exuded a raw, primal quality that didn’t exactly make her nervous, but she was
very
aware of it. Something dormant and annoyingly needy inside her flared to life. It wasn’t something definitive she could put her finger on but he’d definitely changed since she’d last seen him and she liked what she saw.

“Why are you here, Lyra?” His deep, intoxicating voice jerked her back to reality.

A river of guilt and shame flooded her as his question registered. She shouldn’t be staring at him and practically drooling. Not when her daughter had been taken. Not when she needed his help more than she’d ever needed anything. Bile rose in her throat at her stupid reaction to him. “I know you’re Alpha of this region and… I need your help. My daughter has been kidnapped and I can’t trust anyone else to help me.”

Chapter Three

Surprise registered on Finn’s face but Lyra wasn’t sure if it was because she’d just announced that she had a daughter or because she’d come to him for help. “What can I do?”

The moment he asked the question, she knew she’d done the right thing by coming to him. She’d heard that he’d killed his uncle and taken over a lot of the Southern werewolf territory so she’d been hopeful Finn still held a special place in his heart for her. Nonetheless, it stunned her that he was offering help so easily. Without even asking for details first. “You’ll…help me? Just like that?”

His icy blue eyes flashed to a midnight color then reverted back so quickly she wondered if she’d imagined the change. Though she knew she hadn’t. “Yes.”

Lyra swallowed again. He’d probably hate her when he eventually learned the truth about what she’d been keeping from him, but for now, he didn’t need to know. She could bear the guilt if it brought her daughter back home safely. Looking around, she knew there would be other people listening. Even if she couldn’t see them, there were shifters around the yard and compound watching and listening. If his pack’s reception of her was any indication of how they regarded vampires, she had no doubt they’d be curious about her. “Can we go somewhere private?”

He nodded and without pause, covered the few feet between them and scooped her up in his arms.

She stiffened in his hold. “I can walk.” Or fly.

He just grunted so she didn’t fight him as he hurried toward the house. Finn might be a lot of things but if he said he’d help her, he would. Which meant he had no intention of throwing her to his pack for dinner. A part of her, one that she almost hated, actually enjoyed his embrace. The way he was holding her close to his chest brought up long buried emotions.

He rushed through the front door and up a winding staircase and she got a quick glimpse of the interior. Downstairs a parlor room was on the left and what had probably once been a ballroom was on the right, but had been turned into a game room. The house was definitely historical, but everything from the overhead lighting to the dark, polished wood floors had been updated.