Kindling Flames: Smoke Rising (The Ancient Fire Series Book 3) (2 page)

“No.” Christian stopped her when she started into the public face Darien presented. “I want to know about Master Darien.”

The oily power washed over Vicky again. Turning the suggestion once more, she gave him some unknown trivia that wouldn’t hurt Darien. “He likes coffee and clementines. He has a Shih Tzu named Zak that chews on his pants.” Vicky struggled to keep the information as mundane as possible.

Christian smacked his fist on the table, causing Vicky to jump. “Tell me about the Master Vampire Darien Ritter, not the puppet running his company.” He forced his power out and into Vicky. “I want to know if he is as strong as they say he is.”

Vicky closed her eyes and tilted her head forwards as she breathed through her mouth. Darien had never pressed her this hard before, and it was making her head swim. She drew in a ragged breath to answer, unable to withstand the compulsion any more. “Darien… Ritter… is…” Vicky struggled as the power pulled the words from her.

Warmth radiated through her, easing the compulsion. Surprised, she looked up to see Darien’s green eyes looking down on her. His hand rested on her shoulder. The familiar touch of warm feathers swept the oily feel from inside her, and she relaxed.

Darien turned angry eyes towards Christian. “I would appreciate it if you didn’t accost my employees.”

The man sat up in surprise. He hadn’t felt Darien come into the club. “Master Darien.” Christian stood up, shocked that Darien had gotten there so fast.

Darien ignored him for a moment to make sure Vicky was okay.

She held her head in her hand, waiting for the room to stop spinning.

A small, dark Shih Tzu whined as he rubbed against Vicky’s leg.

“If you have questions about me, it would be best if you ask them to me.” Darien looked up to find someone to get Vicky some water.

“Forgive me.” Christian pulled Darien’s attention back before he could wave down a waiter. “I wanted to know more about whom I was dealing with before petitioning the Council for residency.”

Darien turned his full attention to the man standing next to the chair and raised an eyebrow as he considered his words. “Pumping one’s assistant is not the proper way to get information,” he reprimanded the new master. “Anyway, you are asking about the wrong person. Clara Mylan runs the Council here.” Darien picked Vicky’s bag up from the floor and dug in it. Pulling out a metal card case, he took a thick business card out before dropping the box back into the bag. “You’ll need to talk with her.” He held the card out for Christian to take.

Christian stared at Darien for a moment, surprised. “You mean, you don’t run the Council?” He reached out and took the card.

“Heavens no!” Darien shook his head. “I’m just a businessman. Clara handles the running of the city.” He turned back to find that the little dog had climbed into Vicky’s lap and was trying to lick her face. She had turned her head, attempting to get out of the reach of his little, pink tongue. “Stop it, Zak,” Darien chided the little dog. “If you’ll excuse me…” He looked at the visiting vampire, expecting the man to give him his name.

Christian answered the unspoken request. “Christian Bridges.” He offered Darien his hand in greeting.

Darien looked at him for a moment before taking the man’s hand for a quick shake. “If you’ll excuse me, Mr. Bridges, I need to take Miss Westernly home. She isn’t use to this kind of thing.” Darien pulled Vicky’s bag over his shoulder. He smoothed down the front of his black dress shirt under the strap. “Please make sure to give Clara a call.” He dismissed the man without another thought.

Zak glared up at Christian from Vicky’s lap and growled at him.

Christian took an involuntary step back from the angry little dog. He didn’t know exactly what that creature was, but he was certain it was not the Shih Tzu it was pretending to be.

“It’s time to go,” Darien said softly to Vicky.

She swallowed and nodded.

Zak jumped down and backed up to give them room.

Vicky let Darien help her from the chair and nearly fell over when the room swam around her.

“Careful there.” He supported her as he led her away from the table.

Christian watched Zak circle them as they left.

“I don’t understand.” The man that had escorted Vicky to Christian came back to watch them leave. “Was that really Darien Ritter? They said he was powerful, but I didn’t feel anything from him.”

Christian looked at his right-hand man. “It
had
to be him, Stanley,” he said, confused. “He matches the description we were given. Plus, he broke my compulsion. It takes power to do that.”

“Maybe he just startled you, and you dropped it,” Stanley said, earning him a glare from Christian. “I mean, he did show up out of nowhere.”

“True.” Christian turned his attention back to the dance floor, where Darien had taken Vicky to let her friends know they were leaving. “Either that man is powerful enough to hide his strength, or he doesn’t have any power at all.”

“They say he can walk in full sun,” Stanley said, slightly awed.

“No vampire can walk in full sun,” Christian scoffed at him. “He obviously has someone posing as him to run that company. The question is, was that the real Darien Ritter, or did we just meet his puppet?”

***

Vicky leaned heavily on Darien as he helped her through the club. Her head still spun from the power that Christian had forced into her.

Zak bumped against her leg, whining.

“It’s okay.” She tried to soothe the small fay.

Zak gurgled an upset sound at her.

“She’ll be all right,” Darien reassured Zak. “We just need to get her home.” He looked around at the crowd, searching for something.

The brunet vampire Vicky had been dancing with stepped up to them. “Can I help?”

“Yes, Allen,” Darien said as he held Vicky up. “We need a ride.”

“Sure thing,” Allen agreed and led the way out of the club.

Darien followed him with Vicky hanging on him heavily.

“Wait here,” Allen said as soon as they reached the curb. “I’ll go get the car.”

Vicky closed her eyes and leaned her head over to rest against Darien as they waited.

He smiled when a powder-blue Prius Hybrid pulled up to the curb.

Getting out of the car, Allen opened the back door for them. Darien got in, and the two vampires arranged the addled woman in the backseat so she leaned against him. Allen held the door open so Zak could jump up into her lap.

“Nice car,” Darien said as Allen got in and turned the hybrid towards Darien’s penthouse.

Allen shrugged as he wove the little car through traffic. “It gets good gas mileage.”

“Wait.” Vicky’s mind stuck on something that didn’t seem right to her. “Where’s your car?” she slurred slightly. Her brain was starting to work again as the magic drained from her system.

Darien petted her hair down. “It’s at home.”

She wrinkled her brow as her mind worked on that. “How did you get to the club?” Vicky’s voice was slightly pained with the effort of thinking.

“It doesn’t matter.” He kissed her on top of her head. “Just relax and we’ll have you home shortly.”

Vicky moaned lightly in response. Gurgling softly, Zak wiggled in her lap. She raised her hand up to rest on the fay.

Allen looked at the touching scene in his backseat before swallowing and turning his eyes back to the road in front of him. He had been shocked to see that the cute little dog had dropped its disguise to reveal the writhing mass of greenish-black tentacles it really was.

Working the steering wheel in his fingers, Allen tried to calm himself. Having been one of the vampires that had ridden in the Wild Hunt, he knew exactly what that wiggly ball was and what it could do. With a hellhound at his call, it was no wonder Darien had made it across town so fast.

“Thank you,” Darien said again as Allen helped him get Vicky out of the small car. He had insisted on giving the young vampire gas money for driving them across town. Allen had tried to refuse the bills on principle, but Darien wouldn’t have it. After all, a forty-minute drive ate up a lot of fuel, even in a hybrid car. Allen had taken the bills and pocketed them without actually looking at their size. The younger vampire held open the door to the building so Darien could carry Vicky inside. Zak followed Darien back in his dog form.

“Take care,” Allen called as he released the door to go back to his car. He had left several of his friends at the bar and needed to head back to pick them up.

“Good evening, Mr. Ritter,” Ethan said from his normal spot at the concierge counter of Darien’s building. The light from the gigantic chandelier glittered coolly on the white marble floor of the main lobby.

“Good evening, Ethan.” Darien carried Vicky past the curved, marble stair and down the short hall to the elevators.

Ethan nodded his head politely as he straightened his uniform. It was his job to make sure the building was secure and to help the residents with anything they needed. He wasn’t worried as he watched the little dog chasing after the pair. This wasn’t the first time he had seen Darien carry the young woman living with him home. The concierge turned his attention back to the vampire novel he had been reading before Darien had come in.

Darien shifted Vicky in his arms as he reached to press the call button for the elevator. Vicky had fallen asleep in the car, and he really didn’t want to wake her yet. She was extremely sensitive to magic, and it would often leave her feeling somewhat drunk. During the few months they had lived together, Darien had found that the best things for her were sleep and water. Stepping into the elevator, he punched the code that would take them to his penthouse on the fourteenth floor of the Touraine Building.

“Thanks for your help tonight,” he said as they rode up in the little, metal box.

Zak rubbed against his ankle and shook himself. The long fur of the Shih Tzu melted away into a ball of tentacles with black, beady eyes and sharp teeth. Zak gurgled an approving response and purred.

When the doors opened up on Darien’s foyer, the vampire stepped from the elevator and angled his course left, past the foot of the staircase. Zak wobbled behind him as he headed to the soft, blue sofas in the living room. Placing Vicky on one of the couches, he made sure she was comfortable. Darien dropped the black leather messenger bag on the matching loveseat before heading over to the fireplace. Finding the switch set into the angel stone wall, he turned on the gas.

The fire bloomed to life, pushing back the darkness. Darien always loved a good fire. Not only was the light softer than the overhead pods, it supplied just enough heat to kill the chill that was trying to take over the mid-October night. Darien looked back at Vicky resting on the couch. The warm firelight caught in her golden curls and caused the horizontal pleats of her form-fitting dress to shimmer. He thanked the powers that be that the temp agency had sent her to him. She was the best thing that had walked into his life in over a hundred years.

Now that Vicky was safe, Darien turned his mind to more pressing matters. He dug into her bag and came up with the cell phone he had given her on her first day of work. Punching in a number, he went to the back of the couch where Vicky was sleeping and looked down at the fay curling up on her stomach. The line rang several times as Darien reached down to ruffle the topmost tentacles of the creature. Zak was warm and soft under Darien’s hand. His thin feelers wrapped playfully around Darien’s fingers. Darien pulled softly on them as he waited for someone from the Vampire Council to pick up.

“Hello.” A warm, male voice rang over the line.

“Good evening, Hank,” Darien greeted the butler at Clara’s home. “I need to speak with Clara, please.” He wiggled his fingers into the horror a little deeper.

Zak pulled his hand down and licked it with his pink tongue.

Darien disentangled his fingers and pulled his hand back before the monster could get them into his mouth. He knew how sharp Zak’s teeth were and wasn’t about to let the fay chew on him. He liked his fingers right where they were.

“Let me get her for you, Master Darien,” Hank said into the line.

Darien listened to Hank set the phone on the table. Patting Zak one more time, he headed over to the right wall of the living room. Pushing the wooden pocket door back, he walked past the end of his oak dining room set and through the swinging door into the white marble, shotgun kitchen. Darien squeezed the cell phone between his ear and shoulder so he could free his hands. It had been a while since he had eaten, and the excitement and anger had stirred his hunger. Darien pulled two packs of blood from the crisper drawer of his refrigerator while he waited for Clara to come to the phone. With practiced movements, he snipped open the top of the packs and poured them into a cobalt tumbler from the cabinet.

“Hello, Darien.” The soft female’s voice rolled up the line.

“Hello, Clara.” Darien picked up his glass and turned to lean against the counter. “I thought I should call and warn you that there is a new master in town.” He paused to take a sip of his dinner.

“I know,” Clara said. “I’ve already received several calls about him tonight.”

Darien nodded as he swallowed. “Well, his name is Christian Bridges, and when I got there, he was trying to pump Victoria for information.” He took another sip as Clara responded.

“Is she okay?” Concern filled her voice.

“She did a very good job holding him off, but she’s probably going to have a massive headache tomorrow.”

“What did he want?”

“Apparently, he wanted information about me,” Darien explained. “Said he wanted to know who he was dealing with before applying to the Council for residency.”

Clara made a worried noise in her throat.

Darien took another drink of his blood.

“What did you tell him?”

“Just that it was frowned upon to use compulsion to get information from people.” Darien pushed back the anger rising in him. “I also told him that he was asking about the wrong person, and he would need to talk to you. I gave him your card.”

“Darien!” Clara said a little shocked. “Those cards are like fifty years old!”

He shrugged. “I made sure the phone number was correct before I gave it to him.”

“I’ll look into it.” She sighed as she listened to Darien take another drink from his cup. “You aren’t eating that bagged crap again?”

He could hear a touch of disgust in her voice. “It’s easier than chasing down my food, and better than starving.” Darien chuckled into the phone.

“It’s not good for you,” Clara complained.

Darien couldn’t argue that. The older blood was, the less life it had in it. Odette, Darien’s fay housekeeper, always made sure his supply was as fresh as she could get, but it was never as good as blood straight from the source.

“You should really find some people to keep,” Clara suggested.

“I don’t really have time for that.” Darien turned to rinse out his cup. “But don’t worry, I do have sources if I need them.” He had a few people willing to donate if he asked. Vicky had even offered a few times, but that usually led to more intimate matters. He was happy to have discovered they had really good chemistry there.

“All right.” Clara let the old argument go. “Let me know if you have any more problems with our visitor.”

“Sure thing.” Darien put his glass in the dishwasher. “And let me know when he wants to meet with the Council. I would like to sit in and watch.”

“Of course,” Clara answered. “Good night, Master Darien.”

“Good night, Clara.” Darien said, disconnecting the line. He looked around his dimly lit kitchen as he thought. There was a good possibility that he would hear from Rupert, the local pack alpha, sometime tomorrow—there had been several wolves in the club when Vicky had been pulled aside. Darien let out a deep sigh and took a clean cup from the cabinet to fill with water. He needed to wake Vicky up to get her to bed.

***

“Where’s the truck?” Vicky groaned as Darien woke her from sleep. She rolled over, dislodging Zak from her stomach.

“What truck?” Darien asked in concern.

She raised her hand to rub the pain away. “The one that ran over my head.”

Darien snickered at her. “It got away,” he teased as he helped Vicky sit up and pressed the glass of water into her hands. “Drink this, and then you can go to bed.”

She blinked at the glass several times before lifting it to her lips. After draining the water, she handed it back to him.

He set the cup on the glass coffee table. “Come on.” Sure Vicky would be unstable on her own, he scooped her up.

Zak scampered up the steps to find Vicky something to sleep in.

“You did very well tonight,” Darien said softly as he climbed the steps with Vicky in his arms.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she buried her face into the crook of his neck. “Mmmmmm,” she moaned lightly.

Darien grinned as they turned past the steps and towards the door to his room. He passed the Celtic cross just inside the doorway and turned down the short hall to his room. Darien’s bedroom was the most peaceful shade of sky blue with tuffs of white clouds painted on the wall. The sandy rug and weathered silver of the wooden furniture gave one the impression of stepping out onto a beach.

Darien set Vicky gently down on the blue bedspread so she lay across the bed with her feet almost touching the floor. He smiled at her as he reached down and pulled off her shoes. “Are you going to change, or do I have to do it?”

A hint of a smile slipped across her face as his hand slid up her thigh under her dress. His fingers stopped at the hooks holding her thigh-high stockings up. Popping the clasps, he slid the silk tube from her leg slowly.

“I think I should make you do it,” she said as he slipped the second stocking from her other leg.

Darien chuckled lightly. “I don’t think you’re up for that tonight.” He sat on the bed next to her so he could lean over and place a light kiss on her lips.

“Point,” Vicky said as soon as he relinquished her lips.

Unable to resist, he pressed another light kiss to her.

Zak bounced in and wiggled up to the bed. He gurgled menacingly at Darien.

The vampire sat up and laughed at the little fay. “And, I don’t think this one likes that idea right now.” He watched Zak take up a protective position over Vicky. “Peace, little one.” Darien ruffled the fay again. “You know I’m not going to hurt her.”

Zak barked in response. He didn’t like sharing Vicky with Darien.

Vicky scooted the little fay over so she could see him. “You know I love you, Zak.” She pulled on his feelers softly.

He purred in her hands.

Vicky chuckled and moved him over so she could sit up.

Darien couldn’t help the ping of jealousy that passed through him at her words. He didn’t like sharing Vicky with the hellhound, either, but they had come to a truce over the subject.

Vicky took the purple nightgown from Zak’s grasp and shook it out. Leaning against Darien, she nuzzled him lightly. “I love you, too.” She tilted her head back to look at him. He leaned down and met her lips again. Vicky kissed him softly, and he shifted on the bed so he could deepen the kiss.

Darien was now glad that he had taken a sip of Vicky’s water to rinse the blood from his mouth. They sat there, lost to each other for a few minutes, until Zak jumped from the bed and started tearing at Darien’s hem.

“All right.” Darien finally pulled back from Vicky and shook his leg to get Zak to turn lose.

Vicky giggled and reached for the grumpy fay. When he jumped up into her lap, she squeezed him reassuringly. He wrapped her up in his bits. Anyone else would have freaked out when the little monster’s tentacle reached around and squeezed them back. Vicky had gotten used to the writhing mass when she found she couldn’t keep him from her bed. She let him lick her for a moment before releasing him so she could change.

Darien had to help her with the zipper in her dress, but Vicky was soon changed and tucked in, with Zak snuggled next to her. “Go on to sleep,” he said as he patted the blankets over the pair. “There is something I still have to do.”