King of Darkness (21 page)

For a moment she compared him to Thad, who was much younger and certainly less mature… rougher, even. They were similar in a lot of ways, though. Thad had the same resolute square to his shoulders and kept his head held just as high. Both radiated power. Both were huge, muscular, and totally hot.

Thad had such a shiny innocence, though. Lee had the hard, impassive edge of a guy who’d seen too much and probably kept everyone at arm’s length. It was sad, really, and yet another good reason for concern. Isabel’s heart broke when she thought of what that poor girl had been through in her short life. Going after Lee would only get Alexia’s heart stepped on. Hopefully, she wouldn’t try.

When Isabel had first arrived at the mansion, she hadn’t looked closely at her surroundings. Her focus had been fairly narrow. Now, she was in awe. The walls were an elegant, creamy white, adorned with equally elegant art… Impressionist, maybe? Lexi would know. Fancy molding ran the perimeter of all the walls, and the mini-chandeliers hanging in the hallway were like what might be hung in a pricey hotel.

Near the main hall was an open set of double doors that she hadn’t seen before. The sounds of a sports game and voices came from within. Well, human sports were sort of like reality TV, weren’t they? And sometimes the players were quite nice to look at.

It took a great deal of self-control for Isabel not to stop dead in her tracks when she entered the room. She hadn’t counted on running into a dozen vampires, a few of whom looked rather angry. There wasn’t much room to sit, so she made her way to a bar area at the far end of the space.

A casual lean against the bar… that she could totally do. She kept her shoulders back and head held high—just like at the club—though she would have been far more comfortable in boots and party clothes than in the jeans and sweatshirt that Tyra had brought by. No one seemed to take much notice of her, at least.

Ivy, that beautiful raven-haired female, bustled in with a plate of fruit and cheese. Isabel caught her arm. “Ivy, is there some sort of… party or something going on in here?”

The female’s long hair shimmered when she shook her head. “This is the multipurpose room. We use it for parties and receptions sometimes. Mostly, though, it’s just where everybody waits.”

“Waits for what?”

“For Thad. When his father was alive, this was where he received visitors. Now that Thad’s returned, they’re waiting to see him. I was just bringing in some snacks for everyone. Please.” She gestured with the fruit tray at what appeared to be the only available seat. It was a somewhat ornately carved armchair, upholstered with burgundy velvet and conspicuous in that it didn’t really match the other furniture in the room. “Have a seat. Can I get you some coffee?”

The strange mood in the room nagged at Isabel, but she hadn’t slept much, and coffee sounded fantastic. Besides, she refused to act as if a bunch of strangers had run her off. “That would be great. Thanks, Ivy.”

No sooner had Isabel lowered herself into the chair, then a female who’d been stationed just inside the door came forward. She was… well, her skin was oddly pale. Not like Isabel’s, which was peachier and less golden than a lot of their kind, but
way
pale. Given the female’s platinum hair and her all-white clothing, Isabel might have mistaken her for some sort of ghostly apparition, except for the diamond choker and red-bottomed Louboutin stilettos. Isabel wasn’t sure ghosts existed, but if they did, they probably didn’t wear shoes that cost a grand per pair.

The inviting scent of gardenias enveloped Isabel when the female clasped her hand warmly, just like they were old friends. “Welcome. I’m Agnessa.”

Umm. “Thanks. Isabel. Hi.”

Agnessa smiled. She did, it seemed, have fangs. So she must be a vampire. Maybe there was more variety in the species than Isabel had realized. “Yes, and it’s wonderful to finally meet you.” The snowy female did a small, elegant curtsey. “I won’t keep you; I just wanted to introduce myself to the new queen and to offer my services as a spiritual advisor, should you need any assistance.”

Oh. Shit. As soon as Agnessa busted out the
Q
word, a flurry of murmurs and movement sounded among the other visitors. In the blink of an eye, a line had formed behind Agnessa, as if Isabel was a newly opened amusement-park ride and they were all waiting to get on it.

This was so,
so
not good…

“You’re juiced something awful, Brother.”

Thad paused in the middle of a lat pull-down to give Tyra a scathing look before he continued with his reps. “What the hell are you doing here?”

She raised her eyebrows. “Well, someone is testy this morning, eh?” She stepped from the doorway into the gym, closing the door behind her. “I was looking for you. Wanted to make sure you were all right.”

“Oh, hell yeah, I’m just dandy.” He gritted his teeth and yanked the pull-down bar a little harder.

“Your form is all wrong.”

“Do me a favor and shut it, will ya?”

“Whatever you say, but you’re not doing it correctly. You’re gonna be sorry.”

He ignored her. He had come here to work off his barely tenable aggression, and Tyra was here to push his buttons again.

Siblings were such a pain in the ass.

On the next rep Thad yanked the bar with enough force that his grip slipped, causing him to bash the bar painfully into his collarbone. “Shit!” The sharp curse bounced around the mirrored room.

“I toldja you were gonna be sorry.” The smugness in her tone made him shiver. Not the oh-goody kind of shiver, but the kind where he needed what little self-control he possessed not to succumb to the temptation of petty insults, hair pulling, and name-calling.

“Yeah, whatever.” He released the bar slowly, and then grabbed a towel to wipe his face. He’d been lifting rather furiously. His lats and pecs ached from it. Still, the balls of his feet bounced hummingbird-fast on the padded floor and his fists emanated heat that could only be quenched by making contact with something.

Maybe it was time to jump on the treadmill.

“Careful, baby brother.” He aimed another nasty glance her way.

Thad blasted himself in the face with a water bottle, grateful for the cool sensation it brought to his overheated skin. As soon as the night was over, he was rousing Lee’s ass out of bed so the older male could help Thad learn control of his power.

“I’m the fucking king now, Ty. Don’t ‘baby brother’ me. Seriously, did you come here just to piss me off?”

“Seriously bad mood,” she amended. “You wanna talk about what’s going on with you and your ‘lady friend’?”

He hopped on the treadmill, punched it up to ten miles per hour, and jacked the incline until his hamstrings screamed for mercy that he wouldn’t grant them. “Nothing to talk about,” he breathed. “She wants to go home; I’m not gonna let her.”

Tyra’s answering laugh was rich. Damn her. “That simple, huh?”

He sped the treadmill up a little more, somewhat mesmerized by the movement of the belt under his feet. “Why the hell not? She can’t go anywhere anyway. Eventually she’s going to have to admit that we’re good together.”

Strained by the combination of exercise and conversation, he exhaled in labored pants. It was hotter than hell inside his skin. “And you know… the whole prophecy thing… I’m convinced now more than ever. She’s meant to be with me. She just needs time to realize it.”

Tyra’s amusement faded. She cocked her head to the side and regarded him seriously. “I went to see her earlier, you know. She’s all kinds of confused. I’m not so sure that strong-arming her is the best way to go.”

“I’m not… strong-arming. She just has no other choice. Period… and stop… rolling… your eyes… at me.” He had no need to look. The eye roll was her signature move when she was annoyed, and she was definitely doing it.

“You know, Thad, this isn’t like you. I’m thinking you might be overdoing it there. Maybe you could slow down or, uh, take a break?”

“I’m fine.” He should be capable of working himself much harder without being so exhausted, but he dismissed the thought. Sure, he was a little queasy and his heart was beating like someone had set it on “random,” but that was no big deal, right?

The thing was that Isabel wasn’t the only one who was overwhelmed. Thad was freaking the hell out ten ways to Tuesday. But he was going to quit being a coward and just power through—as soon as he ran off some excess energy. He kept his head down, and Tyra’s boot steps got louder as she approached him.

“Are you sure you’re all right, Thad? I mean it. You really don’t look good. You’re all flushed, and uh… hey, sweetie? Thad?”

The room started to blur and spin around him, and Thad finally had to admit defeat. Bile rose in his throat at the same time that his body started to slow down. He reached for the treadmill’s “Stop” button with a clumsy swipe but missed by a mile. White-hot pain shot through every conceivable nerve ending. The last thing he saw was the back end of the treadmill heading in the opposite direction from him as a whole lot of nothingness came into view.

***

When Thad came to, Brayden was standing over him. And Tyra. And Lee. For pity’s sake, had the whole household come to hover over him for falling off the treadmill? Brayden leaned down and flashed a light in his eyes. “Hey, Thad. Glad to have you back.”

Thad groaned and tried to speak, but his tongue didn’t work and nothing came out except more groaning.

“Man, you are one stupid son of a bitch.” Tyra. He tried to turn his face toward her but winced at the ache of his brain trying to comprehend its own foolishness. “I tried to tell you to slow down.”

Thad blinked, breathing slowly as he searched inside for his voice. When he finally coaxed it out, the sounds from his throat were barely more than a strained croak. “In my defense… I didn’t agree with you.”

She gave him her “Lord help me” look and crossed her arms defensively. “As soon as you’re not flat on your ass any longer, we’re gonna have a real talk. Straight up, you’re being a dumb ass.” She jerked her head to the side. “Lee agrees with me.”

Lee appeared in Thad’s field of vision again, nodding curtly. “Dumb ass, son of a bitch. You bet.”

“What the hell are you doing here?”

Lee shrugged. “Ran into the doc and Tyra in the hall upstairs. Thought I’d come take a gander at you while you were flat on your back.” He cracked a smile.

“Fuck you. Help me up,” Thad grunted. Apparently, while he was out, someone had driven a pike through his skull and used it to pin him to the floor mats.

“Not so fast.” Brayden held Thad’s wrist to get a pulse. “You’ve got hyperthermia, your blood pressure is still too high for my comfort, and you’re damn lucky you didn’t have a seizure, so I’m gonna ask you to stay the hell put for a moment.”

Whoa. Either this was seriously serious, or Brayden had suddenly grown a pair.

While Thad balked at being told what to do, he could only argue so much when the ability to make an indignant and punctuated exit still eluded him. “Hyperthermia?”

“Heat stroke. Body’s temp-control mechanism goes wacky, can’t cool down.” He looked down the bridge of his nose at Thad while he placed a wet rag on Thad’s forehead. “If you were human, you coulda killed yourself. As it is, you could have induced a coma, you dumb bastard.”

“What the fuck? Yesterday everyone was kissing my ass, and now you’re calling me a dumb bastard? You guys are supposed to be kissing my ass even more now.”

“Sorry,” Brayden muttered. “Just… jumping on the bandwagon.”

Well, anyway, I’m not human so I don’t care.
That seemed too childish to say out loud, but he did allow his lower lip to jut out just a little.

“May I ask what the hell you were doing?” Lee had assumed a stance similar to Tyra’s: legs wide, arms folded, forehead creased, lips pressed sternly. Fucker.

“Just trying to work out my frustrations, man.”

“Dude, you’ve got heat running unchecked through your body, and you decide to hop on the treadmill for a jog? Are you fucking out of your mind?”

“Ugh.” Thad finally pushed himself up through the pain to a sitting position, resting an elbow on each knee. “You said it’s important to have a clear head, so I was trying to clear my fucking head. Shit.” He ran his hand through hair. “My head is fucking killing me, doc.”

Brayden nodded his agreement. “Yeah, that’ll happen. You need to get some rest, sir. And you need to get hydrated. Wouldn’t be a bad idea for you to feed, while you’re at it.”

“I, uh…” He coughed. He didn’t particularly want to say it out loud, here on his ass surrounded by his sister and close staff. That somehow made the whole thing with Isabel less sacred. “I just did… a few hours ago.”

“Fair enough. Let’s get you to bed then.” The doctor held out a hand to help him up.

Thad waved it off.

“Actually I’m feeling much better already. My head still hurts but I’m not hot all over anymore.” He’d managed to get himself off the floor, but making it all the way to standing was going to be an effort. This must be what others of his kind talked about. A power drain. Vampires who did not use their powers judiciously risked putting too great a strain on themselves.