Darkness Burning Read online

  Inanna glanced over her shoulder, her eyes widening on what he held in his hand.

  “Will you cry out?” he said tonelessly. “Will you call for Pasqual to rescue you?”

  “Nico. No!” she pulled against the restraints, wriggling wildly as he approached.

  Her distress was a lie. She was strong enough to break free, to rip the silk to shreds if she truly feared him. Instead, her body trembled with anticipation.

  Nicolas’s lips pulled back from his teeth and he raised his arm, swinging downward to deliver the first stinging blow to her buttocks.

  Inanna froze in shock.

  Nicolas waited to see how she would react after she processed the fact that he’d actually struck her. Their centuries-long affair had taught him a lot about her desires. Only recently had he discovered her need to be dominated, her fascination with pain.

  “Shall I give you everything you deserve, Mistress?” he said, snarling as he gave her the formal address she’d demanded when they’d been in company.

  “Will you be ruthless?” she whispered.

  “If that is what it takes to teach you, I will not be ruled.”

  Inanna’s teeth bit into her lush, lower lip. “I have never taken instruction very well. As I am the one who should mold you.”

  Nicolas whipped out his arm, stinging her with another slap of leather.

  Her mouth gaped open, but her eyes slid shut. She paused as though savoring the lash.

  “Why do you test my resolve? You have only to surrender to me, Mistress.”

  Her gaze met his, her lips lifting in a strained smile. “If I am weak, you will not be impressed with my courage.”

  “And you think that if you allow me to stripe your sweet ass that I will be impressed?”

  “Won’t you?”

  Nicolas wanted to wrap his hands around her neck and shake her. She’d forced him to do this, but now he wished she’d release him. Rage made his body tremble. “Perhaps I will be destroyed.”

  “Because you have always been gentle?” she taunted.

  “I will hate myself because being with you, whatever I do, will sully the memory of our love.” He didn’t specify whose love, but she knew.

  “But you have no choices here, do you, Nico? If you do not love me, you risk my displeasure. And it is only my pleasure that keeps her alive.”

  Nicolas shuddered, fighting the urge to tell the witch that Chessa was no longer hers to play against him, but he needed to delay that revelation for as long as possible. Until he’d found the monster and could clear the estate of the sabat.

  If he was dutiful, duplicitous enough to fool her into believing he still loved her, there might be a chance that he and Chessa could remain together. Long enough that Alex could wrest leadership of the coven from Inanna.

  Nicolas knew now that Alex coming to power was their only chance at living in peace.

  He pulled the strap tighter around his fist. He’d give her what she wanted. What she craved from him. Later, he would beg forgiveness from God for relishing the task so much.

  A soft cloth swept between Miki’s legs, bringing her instantly awake.

  “Like that, do you?” Alex murmured next to her ear.

  The terry cloth gently abraded her flesh, a reminder of their sexy play. Embarrassed, Miki muttered and rolled to her stomach, burying her head in her pillow and pretending to sleep.

  A sharp pinch nipped her hip and she yelped, lifting her head to glare at a grinning Alex, who spun the cloth between his hands.

  “That hurt,” she complained, reaching back to rub the spot he’d flicked.

  Alex’s smile slipped. “Time to get up. We’re leaving.”

  She raised her arms to stretch, then let them drop immediately when his sharp, blue gaze dropped to her naked breasts. “Where are you taking me?” she asked, suddenly breathless. “I’m starved. Will you feed me?”

  “We’ll find something later. Get dressed.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “Somewhere safe.”

  Something in the way his features hardened—his jaw firming and his gaze growing more remote—made her nervous. “That implies we’re not safe here. What’s going on, Alex?”

  Drawing a deep breath, Alex sat on the mattress beside her and cupped her cheek. “There are some things about me that I should have mentioned before.”

  Trying to dispel some of the gloom entering the room, she gave him a small smile. “Are they more interesting than the fact that you’re insatiable?”

  His quick smile didn’t reach his eyes. “They have to do with my being a Born vampire. I’m the only one, by the way.”

  “You’re saying you’re special?”

  A smirk lifted one corner of his lips. “Did you ever doubt it?”

  “Not for a moment. But what does that have to do with us not being safe?”

  His gaze locked with hers, probing and intense. “I didn’t use a condom when we made love. Did you notice that fact?”

  Miki lifted her chin. “I thought you were done with the pretense of being an average kind of guy.”

  “I didn’t use the condom as a ploy. Miki, I’ve always used them to protect my partners.”

  Feeling the pleasurable bubble she’d inhabited since she’d woken fade away, Miki cupped her hand against the outside of his and brought it down to her lap. She threaded her fingers slowly through his, stalling while she gathered the fraying edges of her courage around her. “Protect us from what? I thought you were all sterile and disease-free.”

  “I’m not sterile.”

  Her eyes widened. “Well then, shouldn’t we have to wait until a little time has passed to see whether I’m in trouble? Besides, it’s not that time of the month for me.”

  Alex squeezed his fingers against hers. “Read my lips, sweetheart. I’m special. You don’t have to wait for ovulation. I induce it. It’s one of my gifts.” The way he stressed the word indicated that he considered it anything but a gift.

  “You’re saying I’m pregnant? You’re sure about that?”

  At his nod, her free hand smoothed over her tummy. “What will it be?”

  “You mean beyond a little girl? A Born vampire. Whatever else she is won’t be clear until she matures.”

  Feeling as though the room was tilting beneath her, she shook her head. “And I’m not safe because I’m pregnant? I’m not following your logic.”

  “There are people scouring the city for me while you’re lying in this bed. They’ll destroy me and any who have harbored me. They’ll seek out any child I’ve fathered and destroy it, too. Now do you understand? You’re not safe here anymore, Miki.”

  Miki pulled her fingers from his and wrapped both arms around herself. “But no one knows. If you keep away from me, no one will.”

  “There are metaphysical ways for our child to be discovered. I’m sorry I didn’t use better judgment when I loved you. I would have preferred to never involve you in my problems.”

  “Did you come here because of the child?” she asked, firming her lips against the trembling creeping through her body.

  Alex shut his eyes for a moment, then glanced away. “I would never have exposed you to further danger. But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t have wanted to come to you—if I’d been free to pursue you.”

  Tears slipped down her cheeks, and she ruthlessly scraped them away. “What am I supposed to believe? And who? The man who teased me and manipulated me into begging for release? Or the man who took me ruthlessly on the floor of that gazebo? I don’t know who you are.”

  “And we haven’t the luxury of time for you to find out. If you believe only this, I’ll be satisfied for now—you aren’t safe. Our child isn’t safe.” He held out his hand.

  Miki looked at his broad palm, his long fingers. So much strength resided in his hands. He could pull her from the bed, force her into her clothes, and make her come whether she wanted to or not.

  He preferred her acquiescence. Miki’s mind raced, turnin
g over the possibilities. Since she’d entered his world, she’d operated on instinct, followed her curiosity. At this point, her lost past didn’t seem nearly as intriguing as the future stretching before her—all resting in the palm of his hand.

  She slipped her hand inside his, closing her eyes briefly when he squeezed hers in approval.

  He didn’t love her. Maybe he couldn’t. But she belonged to him now. Connection was something she’d dreamed of finding. Instead, it had found her.

  She climbed off the mattress, catching her breath when she found herself standing pressed against his body.

  Glancing up, she caught a glimpse of some strong emotion darkening his gaze. He raised his hands to her face and tilted her chin upward with his fingers. His kiss was soft, a little tentative, and, after all the passionate ones they’d shared, somehow more meaningful. “I don’t know what the future holds for us,” he said softly, “but I want your happiness.”

  “You trapped me—whether you planned it or not,” she said as she met his gaze with a glare. “But Alex…I don’t really care. Promise me you mean to do right by me, and I’ll be patient and wait to see how this plays out.”

  Alex kissed her hard, then pushed her gently away. “Clothes. Now!”

  His impatience filled her with a restless, gnawing fear. His glances toward the sky outside her window had her wondering if the coming darkness was the reason for his concern.

  “You didn’t seem to be in a hurry today. Are you worried because it’s getting dark?”

  “The others need darkness to roam freely. It’s when they hunt.”

  “That’s all I needed to know,” she muttered. “Could have given me a clue.” She pulled on a pale blue T-shirt and blue jeans, then caught the running shoes he tossed. She got the message—be prepared for anything.

  When they were both dressed, he walked around the apartment, closing windows, pulling curtains closed. Miki grabbed her jacket with its deep pockets and shrugged into it, scraping the keys from the hook beside the door.

  As she locked the door behind them, she gave Alex a quick glance. “I have to tell my super I won’t be back for a while.”

  Old Man Mouton opened his apartment door after unlocking the series of dead bolts he must have just installed. He peeked around the door and blinked at her, then his gaze widened on Alex. “Didn’t I warn you ’bout closin’ those windows?”

  “I’m all right,” Miki said, wondering how he’d guessed. “Just wanted you to know I’ll be gone for a while.”

  “You find those monsters you been lookin’ for?” he said, eyeing Alex with a hard glare.

  Alex returned the look with a steady one of his own. “I’ll do my best to keep her safe.”

  As they climbed down the stairs, Alex flashed a smile over his shoulder. “Looks like you’re not so all alone after all.”

  Miki’s steps felt lighter as she realized it was true.

  The drive back to his apartment took longer than Alex would have liked. The few civilian vehicles rolling through the city were a target for every checkpoint. They pulled to a stop beside his building just after sunset.

  “This where you live?” she asked, glancing up at the whitewashed brick building with its wrought-iron balconies. “Nice.”

  “Glad you like it. You’ll be staying here a while.”

  “Shouldn’t I have packed some clothes?”

  “I have some things in the apartment you can use,” he murmured, not mentioning the fact that they were his mother’s clothes, abandoned and forgotten when she’d been on the run from rogue vampires seeking to destroy her before she became pregnant—with him.

  He passed his own doorway and headed straight for Simon’s. The door opened just as they reached it. Simon wore his Templar’s face, his beard neatly trimmed around his chin and mouth, his long hair brushing his shoulders. He wore olive jeans and a tee with a marijuana leaf on the front. Miki would probably think he looked like a member of a cult. Which he did. Just not any modern religious flavor of sects.

  “Simon,” Alex nodded and slipped quickly inside, pulling Miki behind him.

  “What took you so long?” Simon asked, a sly smile stretching his lips beneath his dark moustache.

  Alex ignored his jibe, knowing Simon already understood exactly what had kept him occupied all day. “I have something to show you.”

  “Come into my office. Bring Mikaela, too.” Simon turned and led the way down the hallway to his office.

  Miki gasped behind him. “How does he know my name?” she whispered.

  “It’s a long story. One I’m sure he’ll tell you. Later.”

  Simon seated himself in a low-backed upholstered chair. “We haven’t much time. Show me,” he commanded, his fingers gripping the padded arms.

  “I don’t know why we have to do this,” Alex muttered. “You’ve already lived this.”

  “You know well why we go through the motions. Something might have changed.”

  Alex lifted his chin toward another chair, beside Simon’s desk. “Miki, have a seat. Don’t be frightened by what you see.”

  He stepped behind Simon as the mage tilted his head to the side. Alex swept aside his long brown hair and bent close, closing his eyes to focus his thoughts on the dream he’d had, centering his mind on Inanna and the white palace in the midst of the sand dunes.

  Then he inhaled, seeking the heated, heavy throb of Simon’s heartbeat in the vein just beneath his skin at the side of his neck. He leaned closer, letting his fangs slide down from the roof of his mouth. Then he opened his jaws wide and sank into his mentor’s flesh, ignoring Miki’s loud gasp.

  CHAPTER 17

  I nanna paced the length of her bedchamber, wringing her hands while her father’s old wizard stood stone-faced, watching. “He’ll return any time now. You know what you must do?”

  Ninshubur pulled the object from a roughly woven bag, brushing away straw. He set the base of the relic on a low table and carefully extracted the black crystal, polishing it with his sleeve before setting it on the base.

  Inanna circled the table, staring at the dark orb clutched in the talons of a dragon’s claw. “You’re sure this will work?”

  “We have only the promise Irkalla made to you.”

  “My sister hates me,” Inanna muttered, her stomach knotting with tension. “Anything can happen.”

  “I told you that you were being reckless, foolish to bid a favor from the Underworld. Why could you not be satisfied with the child you have?”

  Inanna had asked herself the same thing a dozen times. The greed for power, to increase her stature among the Born, had driven her, forcing her to take extreme measures.

  “I must have a female child,” she said. Then, and only then, could she destroy the abomination she’d bred. Her daywalking son made her shudder. Born with memories that looked back on her every misdeed, he’d poisoned her husband against her, cutting at the foundation of their fragile relationship with cautionary tales of her manipulations.

  Dumuzi no longer looked at her with lust and love. He kept to his own chambers, openly cavorting with whores rather than bedding her.

  Not that she’d deprived herself of blood or sex. Still, his insult could not be ignored. He’d even refused her offer to turn him. They’d never shared the strongest of blood-bonds, because she’d left him human during her season, but he would have been tied to her just the same.

  Yet he’d refused, preferring to age and spend his days with their son.

  Their whispered conversations, halting when she’d approached, and the long hours—even days—they’d spent away from the palace, had only served to deepen her anger.

  They’d forced her to make this devil’s deal. With her sister.

  Irkalla had disappeared all those years ago after spying on them from the garden, only to reappear when the wizard had sent prayers to the demon’s world on Inanna’s behalf, asking that she might conceive another child to replace the creature she’d born with Dumuzi, opening a doo
rway between the realms for Inanna to enter and offer her plea.

  To say that Inanna had been dismayed to see her sister standing beyond the portal after all those years was an understatement. And to see her bedecked in priceless gemstones and rich silks had sent her into a silent fury. “Where have you come from?” she’d asked, as the whirling portal had pulsed behind her.

  “Where your plotting sent me,” Irkalla had said silkily, her sloe eyes glinting with dark humor. “I prayed for a means of revenge. I prayed for the return of my one true love. You have been long in giving me the means.”

  “I did not summon you.”

  “You thought The Master would attend you?” Irkalla’s head had canted, amusement curving her lush lips. “Did you think he would be the one to fill your womb?”

  Inanna had felt her spine stiffen. She had indeed hoped the most powerful of the demons would have been the one to grant her wish.

  Irkalla had tsked. “Sister, you still overreach your destiny. You will be given a second season, another chance to breed—with a human bond-mate.”

  Inanna’s teeth had ground tight. Not what she’d wanted, but she would accept the offer. Anything to rid herself of her spawn. “What will be the price?”

  Irkalla had smiled. “I think you know. One cannot enter the Underworld and hope to escape, unless she lures another soul to take her place.”

  Inanna had sucked in a deep breath. “After all this time, you still desire him? He has grown old.”

  “He will be given another form. Made demon.”

  Knowing she could not withdraw her plea and hope to escape this dimension, Inanna had stared at her sister, her twin, feeling as though the heat and suffocating air of this terrible place would consume her if she didn’t escape quickly. “What must I do?”

  Irkalla had given her the relic and the instructions for its use. Now, it sat upon a table in her bedchamber. Once she opened the door, one soul would have to pass through the portal. It would not be hers.