Oh shit! Khalid has agreed! The mating/marking is upon us!
I hadn’t intended to lie with him, at least not for as long as I did. Sure I could have gotten up at any time I wanted. He’s not strong enough to hold me in place against my will. The last time I tried to get out of bed was when we ended up in the spooning position. I rather liked that. There was so much skin-to-skin contact that I could not absorb some of Khalid’s warmth. I haven’t felt this warm in decades. Not since my blood turned cold. And I don’t mean when I was embraced as a vampire. My blood turned cold, and I couldn’t feel warmth after that monster killed my baby. But it wasn’t just his warmth that made lying here enjoyable. Even in his sleep, his body was responsive to mine, which was amusing. Men are so predictable. And he played right into my hands. I got what I wanted, sex. The mindless distraction from the reason I had even come into the bedroom. Of course, the pleasure faded, leaving me with having to face what Diana had told me. I couldn’t keep it from him. This isn’
What a pair we make. We are full of parental issues. At least Dani had one parent that wasn’t terrible. Until he put a bounty on my head, I would have said my dad was a good parent. Now I’m not so sure. I have a lot of questions. I don’t know if I should ask them. All this did was show how little I knew about Daniela. She seems set on this mating being of convenience and that we part ways when the necessity is over. If I get to know her better, I’m sure it will change our dynamic. I can understand that line of thinking. It makes sense from a logical perspective. I know the closer I get to Dani, that whisper in my heart that says this can, should, and will be something more gets louder. That part of me knows I won’t want to when the time comes to go. It’s a tiny part of me, but it will grow if I grow fond of her and develop more than sexual feelings. It’s already starting with her opening up about her mother’s death. A memory that was so intense it pulled her out of reality, maki
When I see my sister again, I’m hitting her. She should’ve warned me how draining marking can be. I don’t know if I managed to do it right. I mean, I bit him without the intent of drinking from him. I knew that when a vampire marks a mate, they have to bite with that intent fully in their mind. That they are leaving their mark upon their chosen mate, sharing strength and memories. Maybe I shared too much strength? That might explain why I felt so out of it after. I remember pulling back and looking down into his eyes. There were tears in his mocha eyes. It was strange to see tears in his eyes or any man. I don’t even remember seeing involuntary tears in his eyes while he was treated for the burns. Yet I’m confident the last thing I saw before feeling the overwhelming need to rest was tears. Why was Khalid crying? Had I hurt him? Did I mess up the marking? They had better not have been tears from anything he picked up in sharing memories. If I could have marked him and not shared such
I was surprised that Dani slept through everything. But of course, I just chalked it up to the marking. But when she came topside, I was very concerned. She was as unstable on her feet as a newborn foal. And throwing up overboard is never a good sign. I was relieved to find out the wobbling legs and throwing up were because my badass vampire mate got seasick. I shouldn’t find it as funny as I do. I tried to lighten the mood with humor. It was poorly timed as Dani was not having any of my shit. She can be mad all she likes that I dressed her and moved her to the boat. She was out cold, and it wasn’t safe for us to stay. And I did consider putting her in pants, but have you ever tried to dress an unconscious person? It’s not easy, even less so when trying to get skinny jeans over Dani’s thighs. She’s lucky I managed to get the dress over her head and didn’t leave her naked, wrapped in a blanket. At least she was understanding in regards to why it was essential to move quickly. And mayb
I won’t admit this aloud, and if anyone asks, I’ll deny it to my dying breath, but I’ve enjoyed spending these past weeks in this hotel with Khalid. It’s amusing to play house, so to speak when we are in public. I’m still going to get Diana back for doing this to us. Even more for the names she chose. I could deal with her registering us at the hotel under the last name López, but the first names are horrid. It took four days of hotel staff calling us Mr. or Mrs. López to find out what she gave as our first names. The hotel manager was calling out the name Ariel, and I didn’t realize he meant me until he tapped my shoulder. So, I’m Ariel López. Even though I have nothing in common with that mermaid. Seriously, she gave up everything for a dude she didn’t even know and then was tasked with getting him to fall for her in three days and didn’t follow the sea witch’s advice. Body language! Men are simple creatures. She could have had that prince eating out of the palm of her hand if she
As I dressed and started cleaning up our mess, I noticed he had plugged his phone in. He hadn’t charged it this whole time. I wonder why he bothered with it now. I only noticed it because it started to buzz. I frowned as I looked at the display. A picture of a pretty young Egyptian girl popped up with the caller ID of ‘Dania’ with a heart emoji. Wrinkling my nose, I decided to answer. I recognized the name from Khalid’s memories. She was his girlfriend, but they broke up recently. And now that he’s mine and wanted by the guild, they are not getting back together. “Hello.” I greeted, doing my best not to sound snarky. “Um..hello. I think I have the wrong number.” Dania’s high and feminine voice greeted me with confusion. It isn’t lost on me that her name is very close to mine. And I swear Khalid ever calls me by her name, I will cut his tongue out. “Well, you are right about that. Though not for the reasons you think. Your Dania, the ex. Right?” I rolled my eyes. “Let’s make this con
If I were to send the talisman to Isis, I would need to send her a note. But of course, it couldn’t be something simple. I don’t know Dani’s sister or the vampires in her clan. So, I can’t trust them not to read the message. Also, I don’t want the werewolves to read it easily. So I wrote a note in the guild code so only Isis and maybe Aunt Sarael could read it. I wanted to use this chance to warn her of the dangers that remain in Bloodmoon. I could feel Dani’s confusion as she read over my shoulder. Well tried to read. “What is this gibberish? Are you playing Pictionary?” Dani questioned as I put the last symbol on the letter. “No, I’m using hieroglyphs that are part of a code that my sister and possibly my aunt will be able to decipher. I prefer to be cautious.” I shrugged. “Well, what does it say, or am I not allowed to know either?” Dani folded her arms. “Remember, I’m sending this to my twin sister. I need to be sure you aren’t doing anything that would put her or her clan in da
I knew coming to Oregon would not be easy for either of us. A lot of baggage is here for both of us. I’m glad we are starting with his first. The longer I can put off dealing with the clan, specifically with Byron, the better. Bringing Khalid around the clan is going to cause a lot of issues. My sister or Caleb could easily let it slip that Toño is my father, and he killed my newborn son. And Bryon, I’m about ninety-nine percent sure he will cause an issue. I turned Bryon, and even then wouldn’t be his mate, yet I’m rolling back into town with a Hunter for a mate. I predict an explosive confrontation. Could I have stopped the werewolf from punching Khalid? Of course. Should I have? Nah. It’s a family drama. I’ll protect him from most, but he must deal with his family. Plus, I think Khalid earned it. This won’t be the last time he’s hit while we are in Bloodmoon. When his sister rushed out, I recognized her. That recurring nightmare of Khalid’s that keeps seeping into mine flashed b
You miss many things when you’re a nocturnal being like me. I love being a mom and raising Zory with Khalid. But I know I miss out on a lot during the day. It makes it hard knowing that I’ve missed her firsts because I was sleeping. Even if Khalid records things so I can watch them later, it’s not the same. After I missed her first steps at nine months, I decided I needed to modify my sleep schedule. After all, I can safely walk around the house during the day. I can’t go outside with her to play during the day. So instead of waking up just after sunset, I started getting up three hours before sunset to spend time with her. I can’t ever wholly flip my schedule. I am still a vampire, and night is the only time I can leave the house. Plus, my Delta duties are centered around being the one nocturnal member of the ranked leadership. I am the one the pack comes to first for any emergencies after dark. I am the one in charge of the overnight patrol units. So I will never spend an entire da
Things moved so fast after we came home with Zory. We looked around Mount Adams and found an existing house we could agree on. From there, it was a matter of waiting for all the windows to be replaced with specialized windows that would block the harmful UV rays of the sun so that no matter what time of day it was, Dani could walk past a window without worrying if blackout curtains were drawn. Then it was a matter of furnishing the four bedrooms, three and a half bath, just over four thousand one hundred square foot home. Did we need a house that big? Probably not. But it has a guest suite that Dani thought would be perfect for Agustín to crash in when he comes to visit. Then Zory gets a bedroom, and we plan to use the fourth bedroom as her playroom. This may sound like a lot, but the amount of crap we’ve been gifted from the pack is insane. These people barely survived, living as rogues when we took Noya down. Now they’ve all been given jobs working either for companies that are par
Once at Aunt Sarael’s house, everyone quickly made their way to the living room, waiting impatiently for us to explain what was happening. How I have a baby and who the guy Dani punched is. “Alright, so I guess I’ll start at the beginning. I know you have many questions, but if you wait till I’ve finished before asking, I may answer them with what I’m about to say.” I started. “So, when Dani and I left Mount Adams, it was to handle personal business. That personal business was on my half, addressing the issue of dad and his bounty on me with the guild. And for Dani, it was revenge against her father who killed her mother, and she believed he killed her son the day he was born and later turned her and her sister into vampires.” “He thought it would be easier to start with the guild,” Dani explained, shifting Zory in her arms as she fed her a bottle. “An American hunter with a horrid name of Blaine, that Khalid failed to ensure was dead was turned into a vampire and helped broker a d
I don’t know who handled the flight worse, Zory or the cats. I felt a little empathy for the cats, but what little sympathy I had seemed to go down every time Asim would reach out from his carrier to take a swing at Dani or when Jordan or Keith would leave the cockpit to get food or use the bathroom. I know he was trained to distrust and attack all supernatural beings from a young age, but he will need to learn to get along with certain ones. At least the kittens seemed better about it than him, but they are young, so we can train them to accept certain vampires and werewolves as allies. I know it can be done. As I know Asim can understand, not all supernatural beings are evil. He must have known Isis was a hybrid all this time but still loved and protected her. Especially after her cat passed away, he took on the guardian role for both of us. Sure she had her cat, but that didn’t stop me from finding Asim curled up in her lap or on her bed. So I have high hopes he can be retrai
I never understood the phrase ‘slept like a baby.’ And while babies do not sleep for long periods, they generally have a restful sleep, having no real fears or concerns to weigh on their minds. I prefer to sleep like a log or like the dead. That was not happening with Zory in the room. She’s a newborn and was up every couple of hours, needing to be fed and changed. But once her needs were met, she went back to sleep. During one of her feedings, I managed to stop Sameer, the real one this time, in the hall and ask if there have been any messages for Khalid or me. He seemed confused that I knew his name, which reminded me that all my interactions with him weren’t him. But he had a note from Agustín telling me that he would meet us in Portland as Auðr was playing a festival in New Orleans, and it was easier for him to get to Portland than back here to Egypt. We won’t see him for at least another day or longer. I kept reminding myself I’d waited sixty years so that I could wait a few day
It’s getting hard to differentiate my emotions from Dani’s. We were both getting angry the most Diana talked. This was all some elaborate setup orchestrated by her? She’s just admitted to being the puppet master. Each time she opens her mouth, she’s digging a deeper grave. And when I think she’s going to hammer in that last nail, she says the most unexpected and absurd thing yet. I shook my head. “That’s not possible. No supernatural being could survive a photokinesis attack from an angel. They call it the Holy White Light for a reason. It cleanses a room of any supernatural being the light touches. Dani only survived because I shielded her with my human body and that table.” Dani struggled to find words, but her face hardened as she gripped Diana tightly. She finally found words, and they were laced with rage. “Agustín couldn’t have survived that blast. He was part of the ash pile with Toño. So stop telling me lies to save your neck. You orchestrated all this and thought you got t
I had a sinking feeling as we followed Sameer away from the others. I don’t know if it’s a sign of danger ahead or just that I’m numb. Some may suggest that I’m still processing my father’s and son’s deaths. They are only half right. There is nothing to process about Toño’s death. I’ve yearned for his death for decades. The only regret I have, other than I lost my son a second time, is that I didn’t kill him myself. I have a lot to unpack and process regarding Agustín. Both that he was alive all this time and that he died again. I still plan to corner Diana soon and drill her about that tidbit. Because if she has known all along that my son was alive… I don’t know what I’ll do. I may beat her within an inch of her life or kill her straight up. All I know for sure is if she’s kept my son’s existence from me our whole friendship, she’s dead to me. There was a lot that I was dreading about entering the room Sameer had to unlock. For all I knew, this was a double cross, and we were about
I don’t know what’s harder to believe. That Diana is here simply because she was Toño’s prisoner or Sameer supporting me had created a domino effect within the others from the guild down here. I’m going to go with the latter. It isn’t that I find Sameer believing me a hard pill to swallow. He’s been my best friend since we were in diapers. He is to me what Silvercloud is to Kurt. The person will always have your back, even if you lead them down stupid paths. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for the support. But other than Sameer, I find it hard to believe that you believe my words. We’ve all worked together as hunters, and while your dislike of me was never as apparent as Blaine’s, I still knew most of you didn’t like me because I was the Adio heir. So why believe me? Or is it more than you believe Sameer?” I questioned. “Khalid, my dear friend, have some more faith in your brethren than that. No one ever disliked you.” Sameer sighed, stepping closer. I arched an eyebrow because we kno
This is my worst nightmare coming to life. Toño is holding Khalid by the throat, his hand ready and itching to rip his heart out. He takes pleasure in killing people I care about, especially in front of me. I can’t let this happen! I can’t lose Khalid. Of course, the damn asshole would choose NOW to tell me he loves me. I haven’t heard those words since I was human. My backstabbing piece of trash boyfriend whispered them along with promises of marrying me and starting a family in America. Cirilo may not have meant it, or at least not unconditionally, but Khalid does. I can feel it through our bond. I started to move, hoping to get there fast enough. I won’t let Khalid die. I will not let my nightmare become a reality. I can’t just wake up and reach for his half of the bed to be sure he’s safe. This is happening, and if I don’t stop Toño, I will lose the man I love. Now I, like most vampires, can move very fast. But I’m not as fast as Caleb or apparently as fast as my son. All the co