Undying Desire (23 page)

Eve never saw it coming. White lights danced in front of her eyes, and the world went mute. Every muscle in her body contracted under the electrical overload to the point Eve thought her spine would crack. It went on forever, yet it was over in seconds.

On a long wheeze, Eve filled her starved lungs and the volume inside the room clicked on.

“Stop this shit, Daniela!” Guerin’s voice. His cage rattled, like a wild beast taunted to the point of blind fury. Oh God, Guerin was going to destroy himself if she didn’t get them out of this. “You want to hurt someone? Hurt me.” Guerin slapped his bare chest, the veins in his forearm distended. He paced in a tight circle, the fluorescent lights bouncing off the fluid-filled blisters littering his shoulders and back. “Come on, Daniela!” He faced forward. “You know you love to make me scream,” he roared, his voice rusty. Then in a move that shattered Eve’s heart, he dropped to his knees and bowed his head. “Please…Mistress,” he chewed out. “Hurt. Me.” His sides sawed in and out.

“Guerin,” Eve cried out.
Oh, God.
A sob burst free. “I’m okay.” She gasped. “Don’t…” This was her fault. Dear God, why did Guerin have to be in the middle of this? He shouldn’t have to pay for her problems—for her existence.

Daniela’s eyes lit with renewed fire. Eve swore the female had nearly orgasmed at the sight of Guerin’s submissive form. “Now, isn’t he incredible?” Daniela sauntered over to the cage. “It’s not every day a female Dominant finds such a gorgeous prime alpha specimen with a taste for sexual submission. Am I correct, Eve?”

Eve swallowed the curse she’d been about to spew. She wasn’t about to give the bitch more ammunition to hurt Guerin. What was she going to do? If it were just her life at stake, there weren’t enough cattle prods in hell to make her give Daniela one blip of information about her conception. Eve would rather die first.

But Guerin didn’t deserve this. Yes, he’d lied to her about his motives for seeking her out. But he was loyal to his friend and the Enclave. Guerin’s reason behind his search was to protect Kenric. That was evident. At his core, Lombardi was a decent man. More than likely why she’d been so drawn to him in the first place.

“So I take it you’re asking for my forgiveness, pet?”

“Yes, Mistress,” he whispered. “Forgive me and return your attention only to me.”

Helpless under the silver mesh, Eve watched as a grin spread across Daniela’s face. Right before she jabbed the end of the cattle prod between the bars and into Guerin’s flank. He bowed under the assault with a strangled yelp.

“I can keep this up all night, Eve. Though I’m not sure how long Guerino can.”

Guerin swayed on his knees. “Hurt me more, Mistress,” he begged, the words slurred.

Eve’s mind spiraled, going under, drowning beneath a dark wave of impossible choices.

“Tell me everything about how Marguerite did this!”

“Eve. Don’t give away that you can hear me.”

Oh shit!
It was Kenric.

“We’re here,”
her father said.
“We can discuss why you bailed on us later. Right now, I need to know what’s going on in there.”

She wanted to shout for joy, but Eve bit her tongue instead. They had hope.
Guerin
had hope.

“I don’t know what you think I would know,” Eve said, directed toward Daniela.

A loud grunt burst from Guerin’s lungs under the prod’s volts, and he tumbled onto his side, falling against the silver bars. The smell of singed flesh scented the air, but Guerin didn’t move.
Oh God, he’d passed out.
“Help him up!” Eve cried. “Please.”

Daniela
tsk
ed, then waved to one of the gloved minions to push Guerin over.

“I don’t understand how you found me. It’s not like we’ve ever shared blood.”

“That’s just it. In a way, we have. About three hundred years ago.”

“What?”

“After our encounter last night and your trip through my mind, you must have triggered something inside me—a recognition of sorts of your mental fingerprint. When we discovered you’d left without us, I tried reaching out for you to see if I could sense you. And I could feel you. Locating my daughter was like finding a piece of myself. I followed your trail here.”

“I’m glad you did…because I made a terrible mistake,”
Eve whispered inside her head.
“And Guerin is paying for it. You have to get him out of here.”

“Are you saying that if I were to ram this down his throat,” Daniela cried out, fisting her cattle prod like a branding iron at Guerin, “it wouldn’t jar your memories about your talks with mommy dearest?”

“I don’t know anything!” Eve screamed. “She never told me how she did it.”

“Open this thing up,” Daniela commanded one of her minions and banged the rod in her hand onto the bars. The vampire male pulled the key from around his neck and shoved it in the lock. “Put the collar on him, then drag him out of there and onto his knees in front of me.”

“Daniela, wait!” Eve cried out again. “I swear. There’s nothing I can tell you.” Sweat beaded across her body and ran cool trails down the sides of her face. Yet inside, she was on fire from the metal covering her torso, and she couldn’t do a damn thing about her situation or Guerin’s. She was as trapped under the cloth as Guerin was inside his cage.

A grunt registered from Guerin’s throat as two minions hauled him from behind the bars, secured a wide silver collar around his neck, and deposited him at Daniela’s feet.

“Eve? What’s going on? Don’t go silent on me.”

“Open his mouth,” Daniela barked at the two minions still at Guerin’s side. Eve’s gut twisted. Was Daniela really going to do this?

“Kenric! Focus on my location and get ready. I think Daniela is going to kill Guerin.”

“Daniela? Guerin’s sire is here? Fucking hell!”

One male grabbed Guerin’s head, holding it steady as the other gripped his jaw and began prying it open. Guerin squirmed under the attempt but he appeared drained, too weak from blood loss and his prolonged exposure to silver to fight them off.

“If you’re useless to me alive…” Daniela waved the wand in her hand, as if it were magic, in Eve’s general direction. “I guess I’ll just kill you, too, and we’ll decipher what we can from your remains.”

“You’re not going to kill her!” Seth cried out from behind Daniela and lunged with a knife for her throat. “I’m not done with her!”

It happened so fast, Eve never saw Seth move into position. In fact, she’d forgotten about him. Apparently, so had Daniela. Seth swung his arm around the female’s head, his blade glinting under the fluorescents. Daniela screeched as the edge buried in her flesh. She went for her attacker’s wrist with both hands, and spun out of his hold, blood spraying.

“Now!”
Eve cried out inside her head.
“Kenric, now!”

Before Eve was finished with her last thought, Kenric’s form coalesced a couple of feet from her side. Their gazes locked, and he charged for her.

“Eve,” he blurted out. Then Emily was behind him, followed immediately by Arran.

“Don’t worry about me.” Eve shook her head. “Take care of Guerin.”

“I’ll take care of her.” Emily rushed forward and brushed past Kenric. “Go!” she ordered him. Emily yanked her jacket from her shoulders and tossed it over the silver. Carefully, she pulled the mesh free from Eve’s body and tossed it to the floor.

And it was as if the air itself were cool water drenching her overheated flesh.

“Are you able to move?” Emily brushed the hair back from Eve’s eyes. “You’re sure?”

Eve pushed up onto her elbows, and the compassion in the other female’s gaze knocked her off balance.

“Yeah.” Eve nodded and continued until she was upright. “Let’s kick some ass.”

Emily grinned. “No doubt you’re related to my mate.”

Chapter Twenty

Guerin had to be hallucinating.

Daniela shrieked and clutched her throat as blood sprayed from between her fingers.
Seth had attacked her? What the hell?
She whirled, and like a towering midsummer storm, Daniela descended on her former submissive comrade.

Movement in his peripheral vision caught Guerin’s attention. His vision was blurry, but he could have sworn Kenric had appeared near Eve. His pulse surged, breaking through the cobwebs in his mind. He shook his head and blinked.

Holy shit!
The cavalry had arrived.

Kenric pounced on one of the vampires at Guerin’s side.
Yes!
With a one-two blow to the male’s face and midsection, the Enclave’s master toppled the lesser vampire to the floor. Guerin lunged from his knees and dove for the male’s throat. He needed to get into the action, and that meant he must restore his resources. The male only had a half second to flinch before Guerin sank his fangs into the minion’s artery. Guerin pulled hard, drinking in his prey’s life essence and soaking up the vampire’s strength.

More.
He gulped. Christ, he was starved.

Injury upon injury combined with the toxic metal had dwindled Guerin’s power down to fumes. The only thing that had kept him going for the last several hours was the need to save Eve. And he hadn’t given a fuck what that had required.

A hard slap to his back halted Guerin’s feeding.

“Hey, slow down, man,” Kenric said. “There’s more where that came from.”

He was right. Eve needed him, and there was some serious payback at hand. Guerin pushed away from the listless male and onto his feet.

The stairwell echoed with the loud pounding of feet. Reinforcements were on the way. A fierce growl erupted from the other side of the room, and Guerin turned in time to witness Daniela shoving Seth away. The flow from her neck wound appeared to have slowed to a trickle. Seth’s wound hadn’t severed an artery.
Good.
Because the bitch was Guerin’s to destroy.

Scarlet drops clung to the end of the blonde’s tresses and blended with her corset. Seth’s white shirt looked as though he’d been caught in the center of a bloody war. Her wound hadn’t been enough to put her out of commission, but Daniela had lost a significant volume of blood.

“Look what you’ve done, you fool!” Daniela screamed at Seth, her fingers raking through her hair. “You’ve ruined everything.”

The clash of metal against metal rang out behind Guerin. He glanced over his shoulder and found Arran surrounded by four vampires. “I’ve got Daniela,” Guerin rumbled, with a nod to Kenric, indicating the other male was free to jump in and help Arran.

Guerin returned his attention to his sire. She stilled, but her head cranked toward Guerin. Their gazes locked, and her eyelids narrowed over enlarged pupils. Daniela blurred, but Guerin intercepted, blocking her exit. Her chest heaved, cresting the top of the crimson leather cinched around her torso.

“You wouldn’t dare touch your sire,” she growled, fangs glinting from beneath her upper lip. “Kneel.” Daniela lifted her chin, giving him her best arrogant glare.

Perfect opening.

Guerin seized her neck and tightened his fist. Her eyes bulged. “You said it best, Daniela. Outside my Mistress’s bedroom, I’m an alpha male.” Curling his lip, he added, “And I’m done kneeling for you.” With preternatural speed, Guerin crossed the dungeon floor, his sire in tow. He came to a stop in front of the table where she’d been torturing Eve and thrust the female onto the stainless steel top. Daniela gasped under the impact. With his bare hands, Guerin nabbed the silver mesh near his feet and slung it over the vampiress. She cried out under its paralyzing and sizzling effect.

“Guerin!” It was Eve.

He spun and Eve darted toward him. But before Guerin could act, Seth stepped in behind her, lashed out with expert precision, and coiled a silver-laced whip around her throat. Eve stumbled back, clawing at the noose.

Hissing out a curse, Guerin lunged for the duo.

“Stop right there!” Seth yanked hard, wrenching Eve’s head. “Or I swear I’ll snap her neck.” Seth edged back, dragging Eve with him. Frantically, the male’s gaze darted back and forth between Guerin and the rest of the Enclave.

“Wrong move,” Kenric said, spinning a dagger in his gloved palm. Seth and Daniela’s former minions lay dead, their carcasses scattered at the Enclave’s feet. “You leave with my daughter, and I will hunt you down like the filthy dog you are. And when I find you, I swear I’ll bring the wrath of hell down on your head, until you die screaming for mercy.” Kenric inched forward. “You think you know pain—understand what it can do to a male’s mind?” The cruel edge to the curve of Kenric’s lips would’ve had a smart man shaking in his boots. But it didn’t look as if Seth’s IQ was going to measure up.

“Shut up!” the blond vampire barked.

“No,” Kenric stated and shook his head. “I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced.”

“I would listen to him, Keller,” Guerin joined in and moved closer. “He’s a mean motherfucker you don’t want to mess with.”

“Get back. Both of you!” Seth spat, heading toward the stairs. “I don’t give a shit! She’s mine! You have no idea how long I’ve waited—plotted for this night.” He huffed. “No one is going to take her from me.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Eve gritted out between her teeth. Arran circled in behind Seth while Emily, Kenric, and Guerin approached from the paranoid vamp’s front.

“Oh yes, you are,” Seth demanded. “There’s no way in hell I’m allowing you to slip through my fingers.” Seth jerked her against his chest, placing his lips at her ear. “You’re my ticket to once again feeling the sun on my skin, dear.”

“You want to see the sun?” Eve’s brows lifted.

Shit.
What did Eve have in mind?

She lowered her hands from the noose and with superhuman speed, reached up and grabbed Seth’s head. “I’ll show you the sun,” Eve growled.

Seth screamed, the agonized sound bouncing off the walls. He scrabbled at Eve’s fingers, his eyes wide, unseeing. “Stop!” he bellowed. “Get her off me!”

Eve spun, never letting go of his skull, taking the male down to his knees. “You wanted the sun?” She rolled back her upper lips, exposing her fangs. “How does it feel rising inside your brain?”