Zande felt the intense heat, not from the earth but from deep within her own body, from Jacob’s fingers radiating just under her bare breast, along her side, lingering, caressing, bringing her body to life.Jacob stopped abruptly, his palm cupping the back of her neck, bringing her to a halt as his mouth fastened on hers. Molten heat raged between them. The taste of them, the moist heat of their mouths mingled. His fingers twined themselves in the thick ebony hair she had so carelessly secured, holding her to him so that he could explore her mouth with languid, lazy seduction and fierce, burning hunger. It was like creating a firestorm. The more they shared, the hotter the flames.Jacob pulled away first, trailing kisses down her throat to the valley between her breasts. "There is something so beautiful about you, Zande," he whispered against her. "Something I could never resist even if I wanted to." His hand slipped across her stomach to her jeans. "Sometimes I think if I do not
Jacob was silent for a moment. "I, too, want to see her. She will give me a better explanation."Than the old woman. He added, shielding his mind from Zande.He wondered where the old woman could be, and if/when she would show herself to him. He needed to ask her some questions. He believed she would be their best shot in locating Olivera."Then we will go." Zande pretended there was no vampire waiting to destroy her family. "Tell me what the people are like in the Mountains."Jacob thought about that for a moment. A slow smile softened the faintly harsh edge to his mouth. "You always come up with great questions, piccola. To be honest, I never thought much about what they are like. Mostly they are hardworking people. They pull together in times of crisis. The Prince and his healer are very much like Dedari. Leaders, hunters, protectors, healers. It will be an experience meeting your older brother, for you and Dedari." His smile deepened, reaching his glittering eyes. "Raven is th
The disturbance that awakened Jacob was not one of aggression but of something within the soil itself. He felt the earth move around him, felt the properties of the soil enrich even as he lay within it.Above him, he could hear the soft chant, feel the vibrations spreading out in a ripple effect, one that moved on and outward, one that reached deep within the earth to find Dedari and the soil blanketing his body.Amia was already up and working her magic. The sun was beginning to make its way across the sky, slowly toward the sea. Jacob rose slowly, making certain Zande was aware of his intentions and would rise with him. He did not want to startle or frighten Amia, a male ancient appearing beside her just before sunset.Amia sank backward, allowing Jacob room as he burst through the topsoil. She was relieved to see Zande right beside him."Amia," Zande greeted, hugging the woman to her."You have risen early to ensure our brother is well cared for. I am grateful to you.""I felt hi
For one moment Amia’s beautiful eyes came alive with a flash of brilliance quite close to anger. "You are taking far too much on yourself, Prest. You have no claim to make on my behavior. Our leader can chastise me if he so desires - not that it would do any good if I did not choose to follow him. I tire of these tantrums. Whatever I did to cause Clent to turn on me, I have paid for, many times over. You can quit punishing me for my sins. I refuse to tolerate it any longer.”"Is that what you think, Amia? That I blame you for Clent’s behavior?" Prest rubbed his forehead thoughtfully. "What am I saying? Of course you think that. I have been in your mind and have read the guilt you feel. But do not reflect such thoughts back on me, Amia. I live to protect you, that is all. And I will do so despite your harsh judgments of my capabilities. It is my duty and my right."Amia stood up, her slender figure fragile and beautiful. Her chin was up, her eyes alive with pain and pride. "You wish
He attacks her.Prest used the mental path familiar to his family, hoping Jacob was aware of it.He is trying to draw her out. Can he do such a thing?Prest considered that. He had been in Amia’s mind. She was of the earth, as they all were, yet her gift was an affinity the rest of them could never experience. She would feel the earth crying out, the death of the living plants as they withered in pain.I am afraid it will be so. She will feel the earth's pain as we cannot. And she can do no other than attempt to heal it. Go then, stop her. I have instructed Zande to hold her there until you get there, and she has bound Amia with her voice, but she says the pain in Amia is torture to see. Go quickly, Prest, and know that I will destroy this monster while you keep her safe. Whatever promises you must make to her will be kept.Prest believed him. There was something of Dedari in Jacov. A quiet confidence that clung to him like a second skin. A second attack on the foliage below and Am
All Jacob had left was his honor. His stupid hunting society had known and had recognized his need to be of value to his people, but that was because this monster before him had altered the course of his life for all time."You gave me a living death, Bernad." Jacob moved then, with blurring speed, whipping toward the ancient monster as the creature suddenly surged forward. His fist was outstretched and plunged deep into the chest cavity, using the vampire's forward motion to aid his attack."I studied your methods, every kill." Jacob whispered the words, his golden eyes gleaming savagely."You taught me the importance of knowledge, of knowing your enemy, recognizing him, and I learned well." He wrenched the pulsating heart out of the chest and leapt away with the withered, blackened organ in his hand. It sickened him. There was no triumph as he thought there would be.The vampire screamed in rage, a high, unearthly sound that hurt the ears and sent wildlife scurrying for cover. "Y
Olivera looked out of the window, her eyes which were scanning the contours of the plains, were ladened with worry and skepticism. Did Raul travel to never return? Did he abandon his people? No, that can't be. Raul had never given off vibes like that. He always seemed sturdy and firm, aware and confident of what he was doing, where he was going to, and his company. So what could be wrong? He wasn’t back yet. Why wasn’t he back to the pack with his beta, Roland? It's been five weeks, four days and thirteen hours. Well, she wasn’t sure about the hours, since she had been too busy reeling from excitement when he had left for this particular journey with Roland, and so hadn't been able to calculate the exact hour he had left. But that wasn’t the point of contention. The pont was that he wasn’t back. He had told her that he would be here in three days. This was five weeks for goodness sake! A knock sounded on the door, dragging her attention to the source of noise. She didn’t want
Olivera balked at the sight of Seth's lust-raved eyes. She swallowed her spittle, aware that her hand which was holding her thin was beginning to shake. She cursed herself for being awake at this time of the night, and for opening the door too. Nick would say she was damn too naïve for her own good. What had she been thinking? That it could be a maid? Asking for what? Help? She couldn’t believe herself neither did she have any idea what she would do now. Seth was still staring at her. His eyes were now raking the entirety of her body. She was only wearing a nightgown, which she knew was exposing her skin and the fact that she wasn’t wearing anything underneath because of its thinness, thereby worsening the situation. She was toast.“Did you hear what I said? I need a blowjob. I am sure that Raul must have taught you on how to go about it. Get on with it, or else I will force you to choke on it. We don't have all the time to waste. And don’t you make a sound to alert anyone. No one
When they clambered to the surface of the ground, away from the lab, the girls breathed in relief, freed from the nightmares they had been subjected to for years. It was then that Olivera took a blood bag from the polythene in her arms, feeling better in the night hair, and took a sip, wary of how the blood would taste. She had heard Jacob talking about the heady feeling, worse if it came from an ancient. But it still hadn’t prepared her for the kick of pleasure. She found herself moaning as she greedily drank the blood, until she drained the bag. When she was done, she looked at the others. They were staring at her with unexplainable emotions on their faces. At least it wasn’t disgust. Olivera thought with a shrug, before handing the bag over to Miriam. When her friend hesitated in collecting it, she piqued an eyebrow. “You want to do the dismantling of the structure, without alerting the soldiers?” Miriam huffed, and took the bag. As much as she had great magic, she didn’t want
The first thing Olivera saw when she stepped into the hole where the passageway stopped was the largeness of the space, which could contain more than five thousand people. Then she saw the tubes, the boiling liquids and the lab rats. A modern lab.‘Where are you?’ She asked the girl, needing to get out of here; it was making her nauseous. Ten more minutes here, and she might be vomiting all over the place. And there was the fact that she didn’t know when the soldiers would be waking up. ‘At the far end of the cave…’Olivera nodded as if the girl was speaking to her physically. And gesturing with her head, for Miriam to follow her, she sauntered toward the end of the hall, making sure not to look at the tubes housing different organs and parts of an organism. What the hell! She screamed mentally when she saw a full brain at a table which looked like a butchering table. “Oh, my god…what are they doing here?” She heard Miriam ask beside her and sighed. Whose brain was that? A human
Miriam’s heart pounded erratically as she followed Olivera, who seemed very confident on what she was doing, and on where she was going. Three times she thought of grabbing Olivera and walking away from the region, but she also knew it would have been a futile attempt. Her friend’s mind was already made up. She watched as the latter walked past the last barrack, and stopped by a pole, the only pole in the backyard. Behind it were the gates towering them. They have come to a dead end. “Olivera, there is nothing here? Are you sure this girl is real?” Olivera gave Miriam no answer, instead she concentrated on looking around her, waiting for the signal. When she got nothing, she traced the vibration residue, touching the girl’s mind. A jerk in her mind path told her that the girl was surprised she had breached her mind guards. But should she be surprised? Or was something else at play here? ‘Where next should I go?’ She continued, because she knew she was at the right place, that t
“How are we getting past that?” Olivera asked Miriam as they came to stand before a huge gate that towered many feet over them. She could now see why Miriam had wanted the journey to be done in the privacy of the night. As much as she could see—as they had zapped to this point—this area wasn’t open to the city dwellers, only to the special few. She looked around her again. Barracks with soldiers sleeping within. None was even standing guard at the gates. She didn’t believe such a thing would exist at this time. City gates. Where did it lead? She piqued an eyebrow when Miriam smirked. What was the latter thinking? “As if you don’t already know…which other way, if not by mist…there is no way I am climbing that. I don’t think I am ready to fly with you above it…” Miriam spoke, covering the distance between them, and wrapping her arms around Olivera, her mouth fixed in a pout. Olivera shook her head, yet unable to stop the smile that cascaded her lips. It seemed that her friend was g
A knock woke Olivera up from her deep slumber. After bathing and eating off the snacks she had bought earlier in the day, from the shops in the new city, she had fallen like a log of wood to the bed, and hadn’t even stirred after that. Still groggy from the smooth sleep, she let her hand search for her phone which was the only thing that had gone to bed with her, should Miriam call for her. She peered at the screen. It was one in the morning. It was time then. She yawned like a hyena, causing Miriam to chuckle from behind the door. The chuckle dissipated the remaining fog fostering around her head. Taking a deep breath in, she stood up from the bed, flung a sheet around her naked body, and walked to the door. When she opened it, she saw that Miriam was alone, and carrying a tray of steaming food. “You are a lifesaver.” She muttered, opening the door wider for her friend to come in; the rumbling sounds that emitted from her stomach in agreement with her. Miriam chuckled again, an
“Where are we heading next?” Olivera asked Miriam immediately they stepped out of the borders of the town, into a city sprawling with people. After they had left the males who had tried to detain them because of her eating habits, they had walked to the largest building in the town, because if Clooney was a big name, it was probably because the man was rich. They hadn’t been right in their deduction, but they had at least gotten away from the unsettling males. Olivera had taken her friend behind the building, and had quickly switched to her mist form, turning Miriam into the same, and together they had zapped the remainder of the city without stopping, till they were out of it, till they were in a new one which looked more modernized than the previous. She looked at Miriam, who was staring at the city with artificial skylights, and wondered if her friend had ever been here before. “I never get over the culture shock, you know, seeing the drabness of the town we just left. The cont
What now? Olivera thought, looking at the six males that couldn’t be a year older than twenty five years old. What were they doing in front of her? “State your names, and what you are doing in this town…” The male, slightly in front of the others, spoke with a steel voice, causing Olivera and Miriam to exchange furtive glances. What was going on?There was a minute hesitation before Olivera spoke. “I am Darcy. My friend is Lilian. Who are you?” She patted herself mentally for names well cooked and delivered. Darcy and Lilian? How had she come up with those seemingly true names? She watched the male that had just spoken, looked to his comrades behind him, and judged that he was the leader of this small group. Were they the police? She looked at them again. They didn’t look like the police. Vigilantes? Maybe. But why were there vigilantes in the town? She kept a seal on her thoughts when the male returned her attention to her. “My name is Luke, and these are my associates. Our job is
“We will kill him right?” Miriam asked, as they stepped out of the camp, and turned around to look at it again, reliving what they had seen in there. “We need to. He is evil. Why will a sane man work with a vampire? Is he crazy?” Olivera just couldn’t understand the foolishness, no matter how much she tried. Why would one make a deal with an almost eternal wickedness? Had he no fear for his life, for his family? “I think he is crazy. Evil-y crazy. But that’s by the way. What are we going to do now?” Olivera looked around the camp, and spat in disgust. “We will burn it down. We will burn it until it’s nothing but dust. We will eradicate this curse from the face of the earth.” Miriam couldn’t agree less, but then she remembered that the ancients might have use for the materials in there. Olivera, having sensed the latter’s thoughts, shook her head. “They won’t be needing it. I’ve already transferred the necessary details to Raul, and Jacob. They can take it up from there. The mater
“Do you think anyone is in there?” Olivera asked Miriam, immediately she shifted to human self. Miriam looked at her clothed self and smiled. “Seems you have gotten the best hang of shifting, and still keeping your clothes on.” Olivera shrugged her shoulders. “There was no other choice. I can’t keep going up and down with my clothes in my hands or mouth. Since I’m part ancient, I have to improvise.” She took in a deep breath, inhaling the air tainted with magic and something else. “This place is tainted with magic. You smell it?” She shook off the imaginary dirt on her clothes, just in case, whilst waiting for Miriam’s reply. When she looked up, her friend was smiling. “What’s tickling your fancy? I don’t think my question has that much prowess…” Miriam cackled. “I never thought riding on a wolf would be so exhilarating. If I had known, I would have befriended a werewolf, and snagged rides every week at least. It’s quite freeing and therapeutic.” Olivera nodded. It was just as