Reign of the Vampires (33 page)

Danika’s resolve wavered as he licked her neck and purred in satisfaction. She saw a flash of teeth and then he cried out in pain.

Mason had a small hole above his collarbone. He howled in rage, and then his free hand caught fire. He was preparing to throw a fireball when she grabbed him by the horn and pulled his lips to hers. She kissed him with force. His body was hotter than ever. At first he stood there, but after a minute he responded to her. He wrapped one hand around her waist, and with the other he held the back of her head, pressing her into his chest. His hot, slick tongue plunged into her mouth with force. She kissed him with abandon, her hands running the length of his horns. Her mind willing him to remember her as her fangs burst forth in her mouth. His razor-sharp teeth cut into her lips and tongue. Her blood mixed in their mouths and a rumble escaped his chest.

A moment later, he pulled away and plunged his fangs into her neck. He drew blood from her in gulps. Pain shot through her, causing her to cry out. She clawed at his shoulders, his thorny wings cutting into her hands.

“Mason,” she gasped. “Mason, stop. Mason...please... Remember me.”

His teeth tore into her flesh. Blood bubbled into her mouth and dripped down between her breasts. It became hard to breathe.

Neeman fired again and again, but Mason kept drinking. Her vision dimmed until she heard nothing but a dull buzzing in her ears. A tear leaked out of her eye and she drew in a ragged breath.

“Maelstrom, I love you.”

* * * *

Maelstrom saw everything going on around him, and it all felt so good. Like he’d been reborn. The rage, the fire, the killing, all of it, he’d kept down inside him. It was what he was and he’d denied it too long. Killing the vamp rogues had been an act of cleansing to this world, and the foolish Xenock should have joined him instead of trying to kill him.

Maelstrom drew the rich cool blood in as he held the female Vampire close. She tasted so sweet, his perfect blend of richness. Blood that he deserved to feast upon. But there was something familiar about it, something that sparked the back of his mind. Her breathing slowed as a tiny bullet ripped through his shoulder; it was nothing compared to the pains he’d suffered in his life. Another bullet hit him in the leg and a third in his arm.

He roared at the group of Vampires and threw a fireball. The group ducked into the other room. The female Vampire lay limp in his arms. Her body splayed before him, her red hair cascading down the back of his hands. Her shirt had ripped open revealing the tops of her breasts. The chill of her skin seeped into his fingers; her porcelain complexion taking on a bluish color as her life ebbed away.

Pity. She would’ve been a delight to taste over and over. And the way she’d kissed him.
He imagined the pleasures her body could’ve held. His eyes traveled down her body, as another bullet struck him in the side. He tossed another round of fire. His gaze came to rest on a glowing scar above her left breast. He stared, confused. The scar matched his own rune.

Her words sank into his head, as her blood, like cool water, doused his flames.
“Mason, remember me.”
They rang through his head like a bell. And her last words,
“Maelstrom, I love you.”
He studied her face more closely, and it all rushed back to him.

“Danika,” he whispered. Mason clawed his way up for control, beating the beast into its cage. Setting her on the floor, he knelt beside her lifeless body. What had he done?

“Danika. Danika, wake up.” She moved like a rag doll at his touch, her skin frosty. Her head lolled to the right exposing the gash in her neck where he’d ripped into her. The beast whimpered at the sight. They’d done that to her. Together, they had killed her.

Lifting her head, he used a long claw to rake a cut into his own wrist. He held the wound over her mouth and let his blood flow into her. She didn’t move, she didn’t stir at all. Little by little, the rage left him as her blood cooled and soothed him inside. His wings folded and melted into his human skin. His claws retracted and his incisors disappeared. His bones shifted into their soft human form.

His blood trickled out of the corner of her mouth. He tried to close her lips, forcing her to swallow, but nothing happened. He scooped Danika up into his arms and held her close. Neeman and William stood nearby. His temper flared, flames rose from his hands and arms, and they took a step away.

The flames licked Danika’s face and hair. The rune on her chest glowed as bright as his. Its light flickered and faded until it became a normal scar.

“Danika! Danika!” Mason yelled. She didn’t respond. Looking up at Neeman and William, his eyes clouded with tears. They stared at him in shock. This was his fault. He’d done this to her. His
animus materia.
The one he’d been searching for his whole existence. His other half, the one made to help his human form control the beast within.

No!
He was not letting this happen.

Setting her down, he pulled down her shirt, exposing her scar. He placed his hand over it, closed his eyes, and hummed the ancient tune. Locating the magicks inside him again, Mason raised his head to the sky.

“Mother Earth and Mother Sky, I command thee to do my will. Take from me the payment due and give back what was ripped away. Let my blood flow and my magick spill. Let mine be hers, and my life I give for her.”

Mason’s hand glowed brighter until a pulsing cord bound his hand to her chest. His runes shone and tendrils of magick flowed down his arm. Her body heaved under his palm and he watched as his power flowed into her. Sparks of magick surrounded them. He felt a pull and the inner part of his soul burst from his ribcage and floated toward her. Even his inner beast seemed pleased to give a piece of himself for her. After a minute, his runes dimmed and the magick ceased. He searched her face for signs of life then pulled her close, breathing into her hair.

“Come back to me,” he whispered.

Mason’s body was wracked with sorrow the likes of which he had never felt before. She was gone and nothing else mattered. With her gone, he might as well decimate this whole plane of existence. Flames rose from his hands and arms until it covered his entire body. He pressed her closer and heard a quiet choking noise. She gulped down the blood in her mouth, and took a deep breath, trying to open her eyes. Relief washed over him as he pressed her into his hard chest.

“Danika, Danika, stay with me.”

Their eyes met, and she lifted her hand to touch his face. He kissed her soft fingers before she wound them into his hair and pulled him down to her, kissing him. He cocooned her against him, the fire rising over his whole body. It flowed over her skin, wrapping her in its warmth. They held each other, kissing and caressing.

Mason released her from his lips and stared into her eyes. The flames on his skin died down and then extinguished. Her eyes were completely orange now. The flames within them matched his own.

“You’re mine,” he said.

“Now and forever,” she smiled.

* * * *

Danika felt warm on the inside for the first time in her life. Mason’s face held gentleness as he stared at her.

She scanned the destruction Mason had caused. No. Not Mason. Xenock and Chase. This had been their doing.

“You did the right thing,” she said.

“Killing is never right,” Mason replied.

“You’re wrong. Murder is never right. What you did saved thousands of lives.” She smiled up at him, then looked at the small group that waited nearby. Mason helped her up and she went to Neeman and William.

She looked over William. “Are you hurt?”

“No.” He stared at her.

“Are you all right?” she asked.

His gaze traveled to Mason. “No.”

Danika nodded. The men eyed her.

“I’m going to want this building demolished as soon as possible.”

William looked to Neeman but said nothing.

“What?” she asked.

“There’s something you need to see,” said Mason from behind her.

“I’ll lead the way.” Neeman refused to meet her eye.

Danika and Mason followed. William and the rest of the trackers pulled up the rear. They stepped over the fallen bookcase and door into a narrow hallway. When they reached the end, Neeman stopped.

“This won’t be easy to see,” he said.

“What is it?” After what she’d just seen, she couldn’t imagine anything worse. Neeman turned the knob, pushed open the door, and the light poured in from the room beyond. She was wrong. There
was
worse.

Neeman stepped to the side. What she saw made her sick. Rows upon rows of bunk beds were stacked five high. On each bed lay a comatose human.

She wandered to the first bunk on the left. It was a woman in her mid- to late-twenties. The woman was pale and motionless against the white sheets and white blanket. Like sap dripping from a tree, blood trickled out of the tube in her arm into a collection bag. The bag then emptied into a large container that all the tubes on that set of bunk beds were connected to. On the side of the bed was a sign. Danika stepped closer to read it.

It had the age of each human, the date they were collected, and their blood type. Each bunk bed system had the same blood type. Danika looked down at the other tube. It fed a clear liquid into the human female. It was a human blood factory.

“How did I not know about this?” She turned to Neeman, her mind numb. She couldn’t process the scene.

“None of us knew.”

“But this is my city, my coven. I’m supposed to know everything that goes on here. How did I not see what Chase was doing?” She leaned against the wall with her head in her hands. “I was so blind. All the times he said he was checking on holdings, checking warehouses, leaving town to check on business assets, I never once questioned him.”

“You can’t blame yourself.” Mason stepped forward. “No one imagined he was doing this. He must have been doing this for years.”

Danika looked up at his words. “Years?” She tried to remember what Xenock had said. “That’s why he killed my father. My father must have found out what he was doing.” Anger and disgust coursed through her. “We have to stop this! We must wake them up.”

“We tried,” William said. “Once unplugged, they bleed out within minutes.”

“We don’t know what Chase did to them, but whatever system he is using, it’s very sophisticated,” said Neeman. “It may take years to figure out, or never.”

Danika hit her head against the wall. This was going to end badly for her. She couldn’t leave the humans in a coma for the rest of their natural lives. It was wrong.

“There’s nothing we can do about this at the moment.” Mason pulled her into him. “And we have another problem that requires our more immediate attention, I’m afraid.”

“No.” Danika pushed away from him. “I can’t take anymore.” She should have him wipe this awful building from the face of the earth.

“You can. You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for. And you have me now. Together we can get through this.” He kissed her. His kiss made her stomach quiver for more. He laughed in her ear. “Later my love, later.”

Danika took a deep breath and pushed away from him again. “All right, show me,” she said. Mason took her by the hand and led her to yet another door. Danika heard whispers and crying. She looked at Mason questioningly, and he pushed the door open.

“Ah, crap,” she said in exasperation.

Chapter
22

Danika rolled over to find Mason staring at her. She’d awoken to the same sight every evening for the last week. He ran a warm finger down her cheek, his eyes still glowing from their evenings loving and drinking from each other. Three nights ago, she’d taken him into the atrium under the moon, and in front of her entire coven, proclaimed him her mate. She’d told them of their particular situation, and then had given each of them till the three kings arrived to decide if they would stay in her coven, or if they would ally themselves with another. Very soon, she would know the fate of that decision.

“You worry,” he said.

“You know I do.”

“I’ll protect you from everyone. With me and William and the trackers, they can do nothing to you.”

“I’m not worried about what the kings will do to me. I’m worried what my coven members will do. Before you, they were all I had for family, and I’ve already been betrayed by Chase.”

“I will find him.” Mason pulled her into his chest and wrapped her in his arms.

It was if she were made to fit into him, like she was a piece of him. And she knew from the way they’d spent the last week that he felt the same.

She wondered if they’d last like this forever. In each other’s arms, letting the world pass away outside, as they stayed tucked in her room. He kissed her and she pressed her naked body closer to him.

“How many lovers have you been with?” She bit her lip. She’d put off asking the question for a week. But after a week of lovemaking, and his expert skill in all areas of pleasing her, she had to know. Probably hundreds.

He tilted her head up. “I’ve had no other lovers. I’ve been with others before, but I have never had a lover. There has been no one before you for whom I’ve ever had feelings.”

“None? In all of your years?”

“None but you.” He kissed her.

Danika’s head swam from the scent of him, the feel of his body next to hers, his warm hands on her skin as they kissed.

There was a soft knock. She didn’t want to answer it. “Come in.” She broke away from him long enough to sit up.

William opened the door, averting his eyes at her nakedness.

Danika laughed. “Oh please, William, you’re even more old-fashioned than I am old. What is it?”

“It’s time.” His eyes flickering back to her, and then away again.

“Do they know yet? About Mason?” She stepped off the bed with the sheet wrapped around her naked body.

“I don’t believe so. And none of the coven members have come down yet.”

“Good.” She wanted the element of surprise. “Tell the other members to assemble in the atrium.”