Lure

Lure

Marko Delacroix #3

Alaska Angelini

Lure

Marko Delacroix #3

Alaska Angelini

Copyright © 2014 by Alaska Angelini

ISBN:

All Rights Reserved

All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is strictly coincidental. The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal, and is punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

Chapter 1

Hunter

Rumbling and what felt like a small earthquake left me sweating as I stood before Julius and Marie. The episodes happened every few minutes over a period of hours and even as Julius looked toward the hall where Marko had been taken for lockdown, I didn’t have to be told what or whom it was coming from.

What had I convinced Tessa to do? How had I thought her turning into a vampire was for the best? Yes, Marko had bonded to her, and with Sayer, the Black Prince, erasing the marks, she’d have been free from Marko’s spell…but how did I let this happen? We could have run. Tessa wouldn’t have gone willingly, but I could have convinced her. Or taken her against her will. Fuck, I had been blinded by her admission of love. Reading it in her diary had been one thing, but when she came and crawled in bed with me…I’d been swept away. For hours, we’d talked and made love. I’d had plenty of time to go over the prophecies Marie warned me about, and at the time, having Tessa turned seemed like the best choice. But now I was regretting my decision. She didn’t want this life and had tried to explain that she wouldn’t be herself anymore. Yet, I told her I would remind her of who she
really
was.

With the creatures before me, I was starting to think that might not be possible. They were so cold. So…unfeeling. Shouldn’t they have been even a little afraid of what was happening down the tunnel? The fucking ground was shaking because of Marko’s anger. Shit,
I
was terrified, and I wasn’t afraid to admit it.

“What exactly is he doing back there?”

I barely finished speaking before another rumble sent vibrations through my body. Surely someone above ground was detecting this shit? Would the government come? Or brush it under the rug like everything else concerning these monsters?

“Master Delacroix is just blowing off steam. He’ll tire out soon enough.”

“How soon? I’ve been waiting to see Tessa for…” I glanced down at my watch, “four hours, now. When can I go back? I promised her I’d be by her side through all of this.”

Julius chuckled under his breath and glanced over at Marie, who threw him what looked to be an amused smile.

“You don’t want to go in there. Tessa may be restrained, but I think it’s best you give her a few more hours to adjust. She’ll be in pain. You don’t want to see her like that.”

“If she’s in pain, I need to be there. She has to know I didn’t abandon her.” Abandon? Hell, she’d made me promise I wouldn’t come for her when I left her at the grate. She had insisted she’d come for me when she was ready. I couldn’t do that. I’d given her my word that I’d be by her side through it all. That’s exactly what I planned to do.

Julius shrugged and gestured toward the hall not far ahead. “If you’d like to go, then by all means, the decision is yours. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Marie’s head shook back and forth slowly. “Hunter, I wouldn’t do it. There’s no rush. She won’t even remember whether you’re there. She’ll try to kill you at the first opportunity and every one after that. You’d be safer if you stayed away from her for the next few months.”

“Months? Uh-uh. I’m going.”

A sigh came from Marie but I ignored it as I waited for Julius to lead the way. Instead, he continued to stare at me.

“You are aware Tessalyn Antoinette is spoken for, yes?”

“By Sayer. I know and I don’t care. Tessa’s mine. She’s going to make me her slave. That was the agreement.”

“Your agreement with her is null and void if the Black Prince doesn’t agree. I’ll leave the decision to him.”

The need to argue was there, but I would wait for the time to come before I reacted. Julius was already walking and I was too impatient to see Tessa. I grabbed my flashlight and followed him toward the dark tunnel. I clicked the button, illuminating the pitch black space before us. Julius immediately turned around, annoyed. I didn’t speak as he threw me a look and continued. There was no way I was going to be in a dark, confined space with a killer. Especially one as strong as him. I could feel his power. It left the tuning fork sensation in the pit of my stomach reverberating nonstop. Nausea was constant and I tried my best to fight it, turning my focus to the woman I loved. God, was Tessa okay? He’d mentioned pain. How much?

“Prepare yourself, human. Tessalyn won’t be herself right now. She’ll appear free, but I assure you, Sayer has her restrained. When we leave her alone, she’ll go into chains. Under no circumstances are you to get close to her,” he stressed. “You have no idea what she’s capable of in this stage.”

I swallowed hard as he reached out and turned the knob, pushing the door open. Light flooded into the tunnel and I quickly put up my flashlight. My breath caught as I followed him inside. The door shut, making me jump, but I couldn’t turn to look at the barrier. My gaze was trapped on Tessa. Or…someone slightly resembling her. I barely recognized her beauty through the amount of blood covering her body.

Two dead women were lying to the sides of her feet and I almost couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The knowledge of what she’d become was present in my mind, but seeing what she was capable of in person felt surreal.

Heavy pants left her mouth as she stood a few feet from the bottom of the bed, glaring in our direction. The darkness of her stare pinned me in place and I fought the need to run for safety. Julius said she was restrained, but it didn’t look that way to me. What I saw was a threat and my body screamed to flee.

A low growl began to fill the space and razor sharp claws extended from her nails as she took a step forward, moving in a slow, predatory sway. It was as if she was trying to decide whether to dart left or right.

“You must be Hunter.”

The hearty voice broke my focus. I glanced over quickly to observe a tall, blonde vampire, but went back to watching Tessa.

“That’s right,” I said lowly. “She can’t…?” I pulled at the collar of my shirt as she cocked her head and sidestepped to the left.

“Oh, you’re safe for now. She can’t get past the wall I’ve put up. I’m Sayer, by the way.” From my peripheral vision, I saw him extend his hand. I didn’t even turn to face him as I brought mine out to the side for the shake. The strength from the squeeze had my head spinning to face him and I watched a grin pull at his mouth. “Now that I have your attention, you must be the new slave.”

“I guess you could say that.” The dark clothing made his pale skin stand out even more and I didn’t dare look up to see the color of his eyes. From the quick glimpse, his features were perfect. Attractive to me, no doubt women also. Jealousy sparked, but I kept Marie’s words fresh in my mind. He didn’t want Tessa like that. He preferred men. Somehow, I should have feared him even more, but I couldn’t think about that now. I turned, unable to take my eyes off the scene before me for long. My hand drew up and I pointed to the women on the floor. “What happened to them?”

As if I had to ask.

“Food. She has to eat and I’m not letting her feed from me. Not yet.”

Julius laughed, moving in closer. “Wise decision. She’d try to rip your throat out.”

“Probably worse than that.” Sayer moved in closer to me and a shriek poured from Tessa’s mouth as she lunged toward us, crashing into an invisible force. The action had her swinging her arms in unbelievably quick, slashing movements. I braved the few steps closer, still in disbelief.

Pain pulled in Tessa’s features and a sob took over as she collapsed to her knees, screaming with incredible volume. Black hair fell forward while blood-stained fingers pushed through the long strands just past her temples. My chest ached at the heart wrenching cries that began to leave her.

“Tessa?” Two more steps and Sayer grabbed my arm, stopping me. I crouched, trying to peer into her black eyes. The whites were completely gone. The evil they cast nearly made it impossible to speak. “Tessa, baby. Look at me. I’m here for you, just like we talked about. I’m going to take care of you. I know you’re hurting, but this will pass. You’ll get better and then we can be together again.”

My words died off as her head lifted and the evil met me head on. I was nearly mesmerized by fear, but I tore my gaze away to look down toward the crimson staining her cheeks and full lips. God, what had I done to her? This was all my fault. How many hours had she argued with me against this? So many.

“We’ll get you through this. I promise.”

Small hands slammed into the invisible wall not inches away, keeping their position. I brought my palm up to fit on the other side of the hard space, palm to palm. For a few seconds, neither of us moved. I stole glances at her face, gauging her expressions, and was upset to find she didn’t have any. Cold. Empty. Yes, she was all of that.

“I’ll be waiting for you to come back. Every day. I’ll talk to you and remind you of who you are every chance I get.”

“And you’ll be wasting your time,” Sayer said, interrupting. “She will not remember these first few weeks for probably over a year. Tomorrow, she will not remember today. In a month from now, she won’t remember what she did the week before. This will go on until her fog clears. Right now, your best bet is to head to the surface and live your life to the fullest. Once Tessalyn claims you, that life will end. You will be dead to the outside world, Hunter. Best to go spend time with your family while you still can.”

I looked up, unable to understand. “Why can’t I go back to the top afterward? I thought vampires and humans were becoming one now?”

“Yes, but you are not just any slave. You are the slave of a future leader. Despite the fact that you’ll have no urge to go when the moment comes, Tessalyn will be in need of your assistance at all times. You are not to leave her side unless she commands it. That’s what slaves are, Hunter.” He turned toward Julius. “You explained this to him already. I know you did. I can see it.”

“He was too focused on Marko to listen.” Julius eased into a chair, yawning. I knew it was almost dark, but from the looks of it, he hadn’t gotten any sleep during the day. I would have guessed vampires could have gone without it, but apparently, I knew nothing.

“Marko.” Sayer bared his fangs, practically snarling the name. “I can’t stand him.”

Julius nodded. “He’s in line for the throne if Tessalyn doesn’t live up to what we believe. And he’ll get it. He’s already damn near there. It won’t be long now. He’s going to surpass me, Sayer. We’d be fools to deny it.”

“No,” Sayer said, shaking his head. “We can’t let that happen. Fuck, I don’t want to have to deal with him politically. You’ll just have to delay testing him. I thought after the last time, he’d already overpowered you. You damn near shredded his arm while battling his blood.”

Julius glanced at me, seeming to choose his words. “He’s strong. Too strong. Luckily his powers aren’t like ours or he’d know just how much.”

“What happens if he discovers it?” I looked between them, wishing I hadn’t opened my mouth. Anger flashed on both of their faces and I felt like I’d overstepped a status I didn’t even understand.

“Since I’m not worried about you running back to tell him, I’ll enlighten you.” Sayer grabbed my bicep, jerking me to my feet as if I weighed nothing. The instant loss of contact on the wall left me feeling hollow, as though I’d abandoned Tessa, even if she did look right through me. Before I could stop myself from meeting his eyes, it was too late. Images exploded into my mind. I couldn’t understand what the strangers were arguing about, but I did recognize blood—lots of it. And they were all vampires. God, he was going to massacre them…a lot of them. They were high ranking. They were…leaders.

“Marko will ruin what we’ve worked for hundreds of years planning if he continues to gain ground amongst the members. I won’t let that happen.”

The room came back into focus and I quickly put distance between us, nearly stumbling into the wall separating Tessa and me.

“Why don’t you just kill him?”

My question seemed simple enough. The looks the vampires gave me said it was anything but. There was more involved here than powers or simple murder.

“Tessalyn will be stronger. She will rule and Marko will
have
to obey whatever she commands. He may fight it, but mentally, he’ll have no choice. It’s better this way. Then, we’ll have his gifts, too. We need them if we’re going to pull this off. With him on our side, we can’t fail.”

I turned back to Tessa, noticing she was now rocking in position.

Was it true? Would she not remember her day-to-day life for a long time? If she was as strong as they believed, wasn’t there a chance she was somewhat aware of what was going on? Sayer and Julius’s certainty told me no, but the flicker of cognizance I kept catching in her black stare told me she was in more control than we thought her to be.