Vampire Mate: BBW Paranormal Romance (18 page)

You are my mate. Forever.

“
I love you, Glenn.
Forever,” she whispered, and kissed him very softly on the
lips.

His arms tightened around her
for an instant before relaxing. She eased herself out of his arms
and plucked her clothes and shoes off the floor. By the time his
eyes snapped open, and he jerked up calling her name, she was already
dressed and sitting stiffly at the edge of the bed.

“
Good afternoon, love,”
she smiled.

Glenn glanced at his watch on
the bedside table and leaped up. “Afternoon. Kron hasn't
Summoned you?” he asked.

“
Nope. I think he has
other demons to fry.”

In a jiffy, Glenn had pulled
on a black t-shirt, cargo pants and combat boots. He tapped a
message into his watch, grabbed the demon knife and stashed it in a
holster at his side.

Charlene look surprised.
“Shouldn't I have that? Since I'm the one who will be cutting
out Kron's heart?”

“
Do you think I'm
letting you walk into that demon's domain on your own?” Glenn
said, throwing on a jacket that held an arsenal of weapons in its
folds. “You'll be with me. All the way.”
To the
last.

“
But...”

“
No buts. This is not
just your fight. It is
our
fight, Charlene. You are not
going into this alone.”

She swallowed hard.
But
where I am going, you can't follow, Glenn.

Glenn faced her and said,
“Let's fight, Charlene. Fight for us.”

She took a deep breath and
nodded.

“
Could you do something
for me?” Glenn asked. “Could you peek out the window
and check the weather for me?”

She raised her brows at the
unusual request but complied. Pushing the blinds open a crack, she
looked out into the late afternoon sky and announced, “Fair,
with little cloud and no chance of rain.”

“
No cloud cover, eh?”
Glenn flexed his fingers. “Guess we'll have to do something
about that.”

Charlene started as he strode
towards the window and opened the blinds. “Be careful!”

Glenn merely gave her a
lopsided smile as he stood at the tinted windows and tapped the
glass. “I've got UV protection.” He winked. “A
little sunlight can't kill me. But—I'd rather avoid the noon
sun if I can help it.”

His expression changed from
playful to solemn as he turned to stare out the window, his eyes
suddenly becoming completely black. His fangs elongated as he raised
his arms with a guttural cry. Charlene gasped as she saw the sky
transform from clear to cloudy in the space of a few blinks. Glenn
beckoned the clouds forward, covering the entire sky with heavy, gray
clouds. The clouds descended and swirled, choking out the sunlight
as they brewed up a storm.

Lighting flashed through the
storm clouds and the first pitter-patter of rain against the
windowpanes could be heard.

The rain intensified, building
up to a full blown storm. Glenn lowered his arms and turned to her.
With one blink, his eyes returned to normal.

“
No chance of rain, you
said?”

Charlene gawked at him,
finally sputtering, “You can control the weather?”

“
To a degree.” He
shrugged. “As you know, the weather is largely unpredictable
and uncontrollable.”

“
What else can you do?”
she demanded as he took her hand.

“
Oh, there's lots more I
can do, but I want to show them to you slowly. There are lots of
things I want to do with you, to you,” he said with a
mischievous glint in his eye. “But we don't have time now.
The PAC is waiting.”

“
Okay,” she
smiled, appreciating Glenn's effort to put her at ease. He was
trying to joke around and make their last few hours together fun and
warm and happy. She would savor these last few moments of happiness
with Glenn instead of being sad and scared. She would put on a brave
front for him.

“
I'll mist you,”
he said, embracing her tenderly.

I'll miss you too
, she
thought.

As soon as she leaned into his
arms, the room faded from her and she closed her eyes. When she felt
solid ground beneath her feet, she blinked and saw that she was
standing in front of the tall gates of Kron's castle.

Lightning streaked overhead,
illuminating the large group of PAC members, Enforcers and vampires
that had gathered in front of the demon lord's residence.

Lucas stepped forward to speak
to Glenn. “Your vampires misted all of us here one second ago.
We're ready.”

Glenn turned to face the large
group of silent vampires. “I have Called you here, and
commanded you to mist all these Council members and Enforcers here,
as your Master. But now, I release you.”

Charlene stared at the
vampires and noticed that all their eyes were completely black. As
soon as Glenn uttered the last three words, the black receded from
their eyes, and the vampires jerked and blinked, as if they had just
awoken from a deep trance. There were soft murmurings as the vamps
stared at Glenn. He had Called them as their Master, and now he had
released them from his Call and they were free to go. But instead of
leaving, they stepped up to him and Charlene heard them speak softly
to Glenn. Their words differed, but their intent and meaning were
all the same.

His vampires weren't going
anywhere. They chose to stay and fight for him.

“
I owe you my life,
Glenn!” She heard more than one of them say.

Bryn was bouncing on the balls
of her feet and nudging a young vampire who had the looks and rakish
charm and confidence of a movie star. “Come on Caleb, let's
kick some demon butt!”

Caleb grinned, and saw
Charlene staring at him. He tipped his head at her and winked. “My
pleasure,” he drawled. Charlene managed a smile before turning
away. This was Caleb Thorn, that playboy billionaire vampire. And
he was here to fight for Glenn.

All these vampires, the
vampires that Glenn had turned over the ages had responded to their
Master's Call, and had chosen to stay even after he released them
from the Call. They were fighting for him, not because they were
Called and compelled to, but because they chose to. She saw clearly
the immense power that Glenn held over them, but he chose not to
abuse this power.

Her mate was a good man, a
good Master vampire.

She went to Glenn and touched
his arm lightly. “Would you let me have the knife now?”
she said, willing her voice not to break.

He nodded, and as she took it
from his holster, he bent down and crushed her to him with a burning,
bruising kiss. She gasped at the force of his kiss, and her eyes
flew open to see that Glenn's hand was raised. He seemed to be
drawing the lightning with his hand, even as his lips remained on
hers, her kiss seemingly empowering and strengthening him.

With a flick, he directed the
lightning towards the gates. The lighting hurtled towards the
towering, black gates, and in an explosion of blinding sparks, the
gates collapsed.

Glenn released her and she
stumbled back. Her mate could control vampires, and control storms
and lightning. He hadn't been bluffing or boasting.

There's lots more I can do,
but I want to show them to you slowly.

Glenn did have a lot of power,
and he was using and exhausting them all for her.

Glenn gave the signal and they
stormed the grounds, charging into the castle. There were cries and
screams, as hordes of blood demons appeared from the dark and
attacked.

“
Find Kron,” Glenn
said, running in after her. “Let them fight these demons.
Once you find Kron, these demons will be gone.”

So will I
.

“
I know where he is. I
can...feel it.”

“
You can feel...your
demon Maker?” Glenn froze.

“
Yeah,” Charlene
answered absently, dodging the blood and bullets.

Glenn raced after her, his
heart twisting in his chest. If she could feel Kron's presence, that
could only mean one thing. She was becoming fully demon. He grabbed
her and swung her round to face him. She stared up at him in shock,
but the look on his face made her jerk out of his grasp and back
away.

“
My eyes...” she
said. “They're red, aren't they?”

Glenn nodded, staring into her
blood red eyes. The swirls at the corner of her eyes were thicker
and longer, stretching up her temples into her hairline.

She made a small cut on her
finger with the knife, and smiled grimly. “Let's end this,
while my blood is still red. I don't want to die with black demon
blood in my body.”

With that, she turned and ran
past a flight of stairs that was crowded with battling demons and
vampires. Just as Glenn had Called his vampires, Kron had Summoned
his Made demons to battle. Charlene had not been affected by the
collective Summoning since she was not yet fully demon. She had to
be specifically and individually Summoned, and Kron didn't have the
time or energy for that. The demon lord had his claws full at the
moment.

Glenn followed Charlene
closely as she yanked open a set of double doors, and skidded into a
sprawling, ornately furnished study room.

A bloodied wolf was on the
desk, its body twitching and jerking under the fangs of a hulking,
horned demon. The demon released the wolf's neck and the werewolf
shrank back into his human form. The man groaned, his eyes rolling
back in his head as he began to convulse.

Glenn stared at Sideous Kron
in his demon form. The demon lord swallowed the shifter's blood,
gulping down his energy drink in preparation for a bloody battle.

“
Charlene.” Kron
leered at her. “You came. It's good that you're here, with
us, with your own kind. You have to protect me, your demon Maker.
If I go down, you go down with me, into the Abyss.”

She snorted. “Liar!
That's only true if I don't destroy you. The demon who destroys her
Maker by her own hand will be freed from her Maker and the Abyss.”

Kron gave a snide smile. “You
wouldn't do that. You're one of us.”

“
No. I'm not,”
she spat.

“
Look at your eyes. You
have demon eyes now. But what do you have in your hands? Something
to kill the vampire with? You'll need a stake, my dear. Not that.”
Kron spoke in his human voice, even though there was nothing human
in his form. His claws were long and serrated, like his fangs, and
his barbed tails swished and lashed behind him like whips. Boils
exploded all over his skin, dripping acid and his eyes glowed red and
eerie.

Kron laughed and straightened
up. At his full height, he was only an inch taller than Glenn.
Glenn greeted him with a smile. “You're looking well, Mr Kron.
I was wondering when you'd ditch the white suit. White is so last
year.”

Kron growled, but Glenn didn't
give him the time to pounce. He attacked first. Time was running
out for Charlene. If her blood turned demon black, all would be
lost. She needed to cut out Kron's heart now!

Glenn launched himself at the
demon lord, tackling him and driving him into the wall. Glenn was
strong and he had the advantage of speed. Kron roared and fought
back, but Glenn ducked out of the way of his claws. Furniture flew
and tiles cracked as demon and vampire went head to head. Glenn
didn't have the luxury of time to wear Kron down. It was now or
never.

Misting behind Kron, Glenn
caught the demon in a headlock and bellowed to Charlene, “Now!
Do it!”

Kron's tails whipped wildly at
Glenn, their barbed ends digging into his back and legs and ripping
out chunks of his flesh.

The demon reached back and
stabbed Glenn in his side with his serrated claws. He dragged his
claws viciously down the length of Glenn's body, opening up a deep,
crooked gash.

Glenn dropped to one knee,
holding his side and hoping his guts wouldn't fall out. Not now.
His internals organs could all spill out later, just not now.

Charlene was attacking Kron
with her knife, scoring a few cuts and stabs, but nothing deep.
Definitely nothing that would bring the demon lord down.

Kron was growing angrier and
stronger, as Glenn's blood flowed from his wound and seeped across
the floor to the demon. Kron would only grow stronger while Glenn
grew weaker. He had to get to his feet now, while his vision and
brain were still working. Already he could hear a buzzing in his
ears as he lost more and more blood.

Glenn lurched up and bit down
his pain. Using all his will and power as a Master vampire, he
misted over to Kron, coiling around him before materializing just
behind the demon lord.

He pinned the demon to him in
the exact same upright position as he had held the demon dummies for
Charlene in the training room.

His muscles bulged and
pulsated, straining to hold on to the thrashing demon just long
enough.