Into Death's Arms (31 page)

    “Sleeping Macyn,” h
e snorted.
He ran his hand through his hair, clearing it from his eyes so he could focus on me better.

     “Yeah, so was I but I had a dream and thought you’d be interested.” I moved over to the bed and sat on the edge now that he was awake.
I didn’t know why I was here. What good could come of this?

    He rolled towar
d me. “Yeah, what kind of dream,
” he asked like someone who didn’t want to be awake but was making the effort just for you.
I felt guilty for not trusting him.
It
didn’t change the fact that I wasn’t one-hundred percent sure of him but I felt guilty
nonetheless
.

     “Do you know that once an
Ao has ascended he or she sometimes
has precognitive dreams?”  I said looking down at him.

    He ran his hand through his hair
again
. “No, I did
n’t know that. Mom never said anything
.” He sat up a little more alert now.

    “Yeah, it’s more common for AoD than AoLi but sometimes they get ‘em too. I have at least one a night. That’s pretty rare.” I guess I should have been kind of proud but honestly sometimes I just wanted to sleep you know deep dreamless no blood or gore sleep.

     “No wonder you alway
s look like hell in the morning,
” He laughed. I glared at him, smug bastard.

      “Tonight I dreamt of your father.” That wiped the grin off his face right quick. “He asked a
Dream-walker
if he thought you were gonna bring me in.” I
lifted my eyebrows at him. “So you gonna?” I asked. I needed to know for sure
not,
what some
Dream-walker
thought.

    “No,
” he answered abruptly
he looked irritated at me for even asking
. “I promised mom I would do everything in my power to protect you from my dad. I don’t do light promises Macyn.” His eyes begged me to believe him and for some reason I did.

   “That’s what Nikissos said,
” I sighed. “You know
I think
he killed our
mother
? Nikissos that is,” t
he words were hard to get out and still sounded slightly accusatory
, like I was somehow blaming Laith
.

   He frowned at me.
Then
very
slowly,
he nodded, “He killed Mom
. He didn’t have a choice.” His voice was laden with regret.
“The collar he wears, it’s a
Shifter
secret. We make them to control other
Shadow-born
.
” He hesitated, “it works on Ao too.” His hand slid across his throat as if he could feel the weight of such a collar just by describing it.
“
It’s rare that a
Shifter
is born with the ability to make one and even if he
can,
it’s only the one in an entire lifetime. My father was able to make one he put it on Iris. She broke the curse but it’s nearly impossible. Nikissos has been wearing that collar for a century and a half. He is forced to comply with ever order Kinsley gives him. No matter how much he doesn’t want to.”

    “So he’s cursed,
” I asked. I was not going to feel bad for the man who had taken my mother from me. I had to be the most screwed up AoD ever!

     Laith nodded,
“He’s really pathetic. You know when
our last King put
that damn thing on
him;
he had a pregnant mate at home.
Dream-walkers
mate with humans he’s been captive for like a century and a half so she died never knowing what happened to him. He doesn’t know if the baby survived if it was a
girl,
it would have been human so she would be dead by now as well. If it was a boy, he might have survived but can you imagine being human and trying to hide a
Dream-walker
son. No, the kid is probably dead. He really hated
my grandfather
,
now he really hates my father.
I have a pretty screwed up family,” he cursed softly.

     I didn’t want to feel bad for the bastard but I did kind of
did
. “Urgh, he kille
d our mother,
” I reiterated.

    “Nikissos and Iris were friends. Kinsley made him kill her to punish him
for gaining what he never could, Iris’ respect.
With that
collar,
he couldn’t stop himself. Mom could have killed him if she really wanted
to;
she had cared too much about him to do it. I wish I had been there. I like him but I would have killed him to protect mom.” I could hear the anguish in his voice.
A single tear slid from one of those black eyes and trailed down his cheek,
“I failed her. He came to me first. I wasn’
t
there;
I was out with my pack
. He even left a note telling me where he’d gone and what he’d been ordered to do. I was in your home when Caden found her body. He was so distressed he didn’t even sense me. I knew she loved him, until that day I didn’t rea
lize how much he loved her back,
”
He sighed
more of a broken sound leaving his chest
. “Sometimes I
miss her so much.
She was all I ever really had.”
He closed both eyes, his shoulders shook slightly, it was the
only indication of the true depth of his distress.

    I smiled at him
it was a sad smile
.
It was easier to know I wasn’t the only one who viewed themselves as a failure.
“Well n
ow you’ve
got me, right?” I took his big hand in mine. “
And
I’m not gonna let anyone just kill me, promise. I don’t care how much I like them.” I winked at him. He smiled back.

     “I really appreciate that.” He leaned forward, “You sure when your dad gets back you won’t change
your mind?” I shook my head no.

     I put his hand against my cheek. “I can’t unlearn all that I’ve learned in his absence and I’ve learned that not all
Shadow-born
are bad. I don’t know how I am going to be able to do my job. I’m gonna get
in trouble with the council
just like mom and dad. Hey maybe we
’ll start a tradition.” I laughed a little. Speaking of breaking with tradition, I had to warn Dayton. I didn’t really want to, but ah hell…
Dayton?
If he could reach me
maybe,
I could reach
him.
  “I’m gonna go down to the kitchen. Want anything?” I asked I was hungry again, surprise!

     “Sleep,
” He suggested slyly. I stuck my tongue out at him and left the room.

      I toasted a couple of eg
g
os and ate them.

     
Dayton?
I tried again. He still didn’t answer. Well crap, I guess it didn’t work both ways. I went back to my room and got dressed. Low riding blue jeans and a black corset. Yes, I dressed to distract Dayton if he could do it to me I could do it back. I put in the silver hoop earring Laurna had gotten me for Christmas. I actually put on makeup, and a really naughty shade of lipstick. I checked myself in the mirror about three times before I left. Then laughed at myself, I didn’t want to impress Dayton, really I didn’t. Okay may
be I did
,
a little, and was that such a bad thing? He impressed the hell out of me every time I laid eyes on him.

    I arrived at Tamcorp at about three o’clock in the afternoon. He would still be holed up in his room. I smiled. I’d teach him to ignore me.
I went inside. Rode the elevator to the top floor and marched up to the receptionist sitting outside his suite
, w
hich was both
office and
apartment.  I smiled at her. “I’m here to see Mr. Tameron.”

    The receptionist was a
Vamp
ire
. Poor thing looked like her eyes were going to pop right out of her head. She hit the intercom button. “Mr. Tam…Mr
. Tameron, there is a woman
out here wishing to see you.” Took her two tries to get his name out, well at least somebody was afraid of me. I smiled at her again.

     “Tell her I am not interested. Send her on her way.” He said plainly annoyed.

     “Sir it’s, it’s the AoD.” She said her voice almost panicky. I wanted to laugh. I wondered how she would be dealing if she knew I was just as scared of her as she was of me?

    
“Which AoD,
” he asked like he didn’t know it was me.

     She looked up at me. I took pity on her. I punched the intercom button myself, “Tameron get your ass out here. I’m not going to stand around all day. I have
Vamp
ires
to kill and stuff.” I winked at her.
Her mouth
fell open.

     He came through the door his face stiff unhappy but his eyes gave him away. Laughter shined through those eyes. “Ms.
Reece
,” he said formally. Behind
him,
several
Vamp
ires
stood on their toes
, peeking through the rapidly closing door like schoolboys,
trying to get a look at me.

    “Hi ya, handsome,” I answered.
“We need to talk.” I crinkled my nose at him. “Without the fang gang if you don’t mind.”
I waved a dismissive hand at the group behind him.
God for just a moment I knew what it was like to be Laurna.

   This time he couldn’t suppress the smile. “Gentlemen, I need a moment with the lady. I will return as soon as possible.” He said over his shoulder.  He shut the door behind him and led me across the hall to another door. This one had a retinal scanner on it. He leaned in
and
the lock click open.

     “Nice,
” I said.

      He grabbed my arm and practically dragged me through the doorway.
“What are you doing here Macyn,
” he asked as soon as the door clicked shut.
He looked angry.
He sounded yummy. His voice was low aggressive like the first night I’d met him.
I didn’t want him to be angry with me. When had I stopped being terrified of him and started worrying about the fact that he was angry with me?

    I shrugged,
“I told you we need to talk.”

     He eyed me suspiciously then said, “
And
you wore that because we need to talk?”
H
e slid a finger along the rim of the corset almost touching the tops of my breasts but not quiet.

     I shook my head no at him. “I wore this to make you nuts.” Now ask me why I was baiting the big bad
Vamp
ire
.
I don’t know it was fun.
M
aybe I
really
was suicidal, I really did
n’t know.

     He dragged me against him.
His eyes were glowing just a little.
“It’s working,” h
e breathed.

     I bit my lower lip and looked up at those amber eyes. “Is it?”

     He groaned, “I don’t want to do this again
,
Macyn. You get me worked up then bolt. What do you want?”

     I pouted
but answered, “I had a
precognitive dream
.” I said softly.

     He ran his hand down the back of my neck a
nd over my bare shoulders. Distracting me, why had I come here again? “And,
” he prompted.
For someone who didn’t want to do this he was awfully grabby.

      Why was I here
? T
his was
silly.
I was here to warn a
Vamp
ire
against treachery. I was insane.
I took a deep breath and just said it.
“A huge
Vamp
named
Sumner
hired the
Shifters
to kill you.” I put my hands up as far as they would go to show him just how big
Sumner
was.

     He smiled, his voice dropped to a husky tone,
“and you ran over to warn me?” H
e tilted his head so his lips were closer
to mine. “You dressed up for me,
” I realized I was breathing a little faster.
God
, I groaned aloud,
when he said it that way it sounded
bad, really bad
.