Wild Hearts (Blood & Judgment #1) (29 page)

That strange look I can’t place is back on his face again.

“What?” I press. “What aren’t you telling me? You know something?”

“Once the ritual is complete, this conversation will be of no consequence. Shortly thereafter, the Jurisdiction will fall at the hands of the three of you. We need to concern ourselves with the immediate situation, Aria. Your wish to use the
Lunar Barrier
.”

I blow out a frustrated breath. “I’m taking it, Cahl. It’s my decision. You’re not the one who has to deal with the wolf. You see what it does to me. I can’t control my own thoughts, my own body, my own…needs.”

He takes my hands in his. “Aria, I can sate your wolf. You do not need magic to do that.”

I pull back, breaking his grip on me. “I’m sorry,” I tell him, turning and walking away. “It’s not enough.”

As I make my way back to the mansion, he calls after me, “You can try as much as you like, but life cannot be controlled to the extent that you wish it, Aria. Sometimes it
has
to be enough.”

Argh. He has an answer for everything. I don’t stop or respond, because Draven is waiting for me and I’ve already been delayed long enough arguing with Cahl.

***

“Shit!” I cry as Draven places the amulet on my upturned hand and it burns my palm.

He steps forward and lifts it quickly. “It burned you?” he asks, frowning.

“Yeah. A warning would’ve been nice. Jesus.”

“I’m sorry. It’s not supposed to do that,” he says, holding it up by its gold chain in front of him as he studies it curiously.

His eyes dart behind me suddenly to the door to his magical lab. He shakes his head. “Really?”

I turn to see Cahl leaning against the doorframe. His arms are folded across his chest and he looks really pissed.

Draven grunts and tells him, “I know you’re not too happy about this, but that was a little extreme, don’t you think? You just burned the woman you love to make a point.”

“What?” I snap, eyeing Cahl with disbelief. “
You
did that?”

“Your hand is already healed.”

I look down and, sure enough, it is. Wow, my healing abilities are getting stronger every day.

As if he can read my mind, he tells me, “It is faster now, because you are in close proximity to the other two of the circle. You strengthen one another.”

Interesting. No…he’s distracting me from the real issue. “Why the hell would you do that to me?”

“My precise question,” Draven chimes in.

“You are young,” he says, eyeing Draven. “You cannot yet comprehend the full effects of your magic, nor of your magical items. Nothing is as simple as it initially appears. Magic always has unintended side effects and you are not yet in a position to be able to anticipate them.
I
am.”

“It won’t hurt her,” Draven counters. “And, for the record, I am an extremely accomplished warlock. The power for the spell will come from
me
!”

“I do not dispute that.
However
, as I said, you
are
still young. I have three hundred and seventy years on you. Trust me, you have much to learn, whether your ego allows you to see that, or not.”

Draven’s eyes narrow. He’s clearly not liking having his abilities called into question. Well, he’s definitely an egomaniac. That’s already been established several times over since I’ve known him. Uh oh. Shit is definitely about to hit the fan.

“Speaking of
seeing
things, have you told her yet?” Draven demands, eyeing Cahl fiercely.

“Told me what?” I ask, looking between the two of them. What the hell’s going on here?

“That is not your concern,” Cahl tells Draven, completely ignoring
my
question.

“Cahl!” I demand.

“Princess, we will discuss what he is referring to when the time is right.”

“You mean, when
you
feel like talking about whatever it is.”

“I
mean
, when it is a more appropriate time.”

Argh. I hate cryptic. I blow out a frustrated breath and tell him, “Fine. Now, let me take the amulet. Take that burning spell thing away.”

“Aria—” he starts.

“No!” I yell, cutting him off. “Just let me try it, okay? If something does happen…a side effect, or whatever…I’ll stop wearing it.”

When he hesitates, I tell him, “This is me compromising—a rarity for an Alpha wolf. I’d take it, if I were you.”

He takes my words in for a few moments. And then he sighs and waves his hand. “Take it.”

“Thank you.” I turn back to Draven and he hands it back to me. It doesn’t burn this time. I unhook the clasp and secure it around my neck, eyeing the shiny black pendant in the shape of a crescent moon.

“When you wear this, you will no longer be at the mercy of the wolf. The wolf will bend to your will. The human part of you will reign supreme,” Draven tells me.

I feel a wave of serenity wash over me all of a sudden. “I can feel it. Calm,” I tell him.

He smiles. “I am glad.”

“Thanks. This is amazing.” I turn around, hoping Cahl isn’t still pissed off. But he’s not there. So much for wishful thinking. Shit. Urgh. He’s being fucking ridiculous about this whole thing. Way too overprotective.

I spin back to Draven. “What did you mean when you asked him if he’d told me? Told me what?”

“It’s for him to tell you. It’s not my place.”

“It didn’t seem like that when you brought it up,” I challenge.

“I was…irritated. I shouldn’t have said anything at all.”

I roll my eyes. “You fucking guys and your secrets.” I shake my head and head for the door. Stopping for a moment, I look back and tell him, “I really appreciate this, though. Thanks, Draven.”

He smiles. “You are most welcome.”

Chapter 24

~Ember~

A couple of hours later, after I have ventured further than I would have liked, I am sated and on my way back to the Coven compound. As I reach the gates, I stop and cross my arms with a frown.

“Checking up on me?” I ask Cahl, who is standing like a sentry at the gates.

“You should not be alone,” he responds. “Your father is still out there.”

“I can take care of myself,” I say and stalk forward in annoyance. Then I stop again and turn to him. “This wasn’t your idea, was it?”

“No,” he replies honestly. “Draven was concerned.”

“Then why didn’t he track me himself?” I ask.

“He knew you would be angered when you inevitably caught his scent,” Cahl says.

“Humph,” I reply, and then give a big sniff. It’s odd. I don’t catch any scent from him at all. No wonder he had been able to follow me without me knowing. “Why can’t I smell you?” I ask rudely.

“It is one of our abilities,” Cahl answers. “I can mask my scent, should I wish to. That is why we can track your kind so inconspicuously.”

Well, that is just annoying so I push past him to get back onto the mansion grounds. He lets me go and then follows me as I cross over to the door.

Draven and Aria come out together and I ask immediately, “What have you been doing?”

“Aria and I have been conducting some business,” Draven replies, stopping to give me a kiss with the faintest tut as he knows where my overactive imagination went. “I’ve given her an amulet to help her to control her wolf.”

He runs his hand down my arm and I feel like I have been hit by a truck…or more like a vision. I gag, my breath going ragged as I see the images flash quickly through my mind. Fire, destruction, the usual, only now I see the three of us in a circle and Draven in trouble. The spell…it’s…it’s too much for him.

“Erm,” I say, shaking him off me as I struggle to stay on my feet. The pain in my head is causing my eyesight to go blurry, so I blink rapidly to see Draven peering at me curiously.

“What is it?” Aria asks sharply, giving me a curious look.

“N-nothing,” I say, taking Draven’s hand for support. My stomach feels like I have swallowed a lead weight, but I try to brush it aside. We were
meant
to do this; it is the whole point of this prophecy, or failsafe-whatever. Draven will be fine, just fine, once I have done what needs to be done and bitten him. I try to convince myself that it was a warning of what
might
happen if we don’t bond ourselves to each other as we were meant to. I have to bite him tonight, now this very minute to ensure that we are
all
at our strongest to cast this spell.

With Aria still giving me the stink-eye, as she knows something isn’t right, I let him lead me away with a smile, leaving Aria and Cahl to themselves.

“Everything okay?” he asks carefully as he leads me up the stairs.

“Peachy,” I say with a bright smile which does nothing to ease his concern. In fact, it probably made it worse.

“What did you see?” he asks astutely.

“What we have to do,” I reply shortly, looking around just so I don’t have to meet his gaze.

“Meaning?” he asks.

“You know? The biting thing?” I say, still avoiding his gaze. But while I am shooting glances around, I discover not a single other soul on the way to his bedroom. Which starts to make me wonder why. Since we have been here, the only other person, apart from the four of us, I have seen is Jacob. Does Draven not trust me around his Coven, so he keeps them stashed away during the night hours? Does he think I am going to kill them, or something? “Why is there never anyone around?” I ask, mostly as a distraction from my vision, but also out of curiosity.

“I have sent them away,” Draven replies brusquely, pushing open the door to his magnificent bedroom, which leaves me slightly agape. It has frescoes on the ceiling and a huge wooden bed with mountains of red pillows. A large marble fireplace has a small fire burning in it and the heavy drapes are pulled tight. My feet sink into the soft carpet as I kick off my shoes and luxuriate in the feel of it.

“Away?” I ask. “Why? Are you afraid I might do something?” I back away as I ask this in case the answer isn’t what I want to hear.

“What?” he asks. “No! No, Ember. Don’t be ridiculous. What we have to do here is complicated and secretive and messy. As much as it bothers me to say this, we can only trust ourselves.” The look of sorrow on his face makes my heart lurch.

“Why is Jacob still here then?” I ask, going to him and taking his hand.

“He is needed,” Draven replies with such finality, I blink a couple of times to let that sink in.

“For?” I ask, knowing I am pressing this issue and for no good reason.

“Stuff,” he says and then turns on the charm with a smile so glorious I forget what we were talking about. “Now,” he says, “I do believe we have some business to take care of.”

“Hm,” I murmur as my heart starts to pound. The thought of tasting his blood makes my palms sweat.

“How do you want to do this?” he asks, loosening his tie, suddenly so nervous it makes me burst out laughing.

“Well, I am not just going to pounce on you,” I say, trying to stop laughing as he is going a bright shade of pink. “How about we start with some wine?” I add, turning my back on him so he can compose himself.

“Good idea,” he chokes out and goes over to the sideboard. I can hear him pouring as I slowly unbutton my black silk blouse. I shrug it off my shoulders and then lose my skirt as well. I hear him gasp as I turn towards him to show off my black lacy bra and panties with the little pink bows in the front.

“Pink?” he asks with a smirk, handing me a glass and then flicking the bow with the tip of his finger.

I just shrug and take a gulp of wine. Draven has lost his nerves and somehow they seem to have transferred to me. I just want to show him my fangs and get this over with, but that will be a bit of an anticlimax for both of us. I know he wants this as much as I do, but with some marked differences, obviously.

Sucking it up, so to speak, I place my glass on the nightstand and take a step forward, unleashing the vampire within. I run my hand down his chest, enjoying his look of surprise as I allow my claws to pop the buttons all over the floor. Next, I kneel before him and undo his pants. They drop to the floor around his ankles and I don’t need to do much work to get him ready. He bounces in front of me, eager for my mouth to touch him. He groans as I retract my fangs and take his enormous cock in my mouth, sliding my tongue all the way down his length and then back up again.

“Oh, Ems,” he whispers to me, pushing his hand into my hair.

I hear a thud and feel the dropped wine splash onto my bare knees, but I don’t stop to clean up the mess from his expensive
Aubusson
rug and neither does he. I concentrate on his cock, giving him the best head he has ever had (his words, not mine) until he is ready to burst.

I wait for the explosion of cum in my mouth, but he withdraws instead. “I don’t want it that way,” he murmurs. “I want to be inside your tight pussy when I let go.”