STORMWaiting is a damn hard job. Sitting around, doing nothing but waiting was damn hard. I didn't know that until today. To make it worse, my heartbeat hadn't even slowed down a bit, if anything it kept increasing, my mind was reeling around a lot of thoughts which consisted mostly of scenarios on what could happen to Justin and Lucy going out for my sake. What if the townspeople who would by now have turned to bounty hunters remember that they are my friends? They would capture them and torture them to tell of my location. Wouldn’t that be so? I wondered, my mind going to the many gruesome scenes I have seen in the movies. I wouldn’t want that for my friends or their families. But I needed Kaden’s help. I would have texted him, but Justin had advised that I turn off the phone, so that computer geniuses like him wouldn’t find my location by tracing the phone signals. I had obeyed without hesitation but now I'm wondering if that had been necessary, if it had been a good choice. May
At Tensel’s place:“I am going to summon him now.” Damonq stated. He had taken her advice to rest for a while and was sure that this was the time to get rid of the darkness inside her. But Elina shook her head but didn’t look away from those brilliant eyes. Holding her breath. Fighting not to cry. Trusting him, not just with her life, but the life of her unborn daughter, a baby no one was going to want. But me, she murmured to the baby. No, us. We want you. We’ll take care of you and love you. She kept looking into Damonq’s eyes as she nodded slowly.His expression changed subtly. His lips softened. So did his eyes. “My woman is extremely courageous. I appreciate that trait in you. Thank you for giving me your trust. It will not be misplaced.”“Maybe you should ask him to bring Claire. If anyone would help us, it would be her. She can give blood again.” Elina mentioned“There is uncertainty in your mind, Elina. I can hear it in your voice. I would kill a woman if necessary, but I pref
“You’re pregnant? With Darkness’ child?” There was horror in Claire’s voice. “Elina, you should have told me. You shouldn’t have tried to do this alone.”“You were able to make certain the child is female?” Gary asked. His first question. He watched Elina closely, his strange eyes burning over her face.She nodded. “I didn’t think he would want a female as much as a male, and if we got away, he would lose interest. I don’t know.” She pushed back the few tendrils of hair falling around her face, showing them her exhaustion. “I honestly don’t know what I was thinking, I just acted instinctively. Something told me to do it and I did. I could at least control that.”“An extraordinary feat, especially considering Darkness would be using compulsion on you as well as forcing his will physically. Later, when you feel up to it, we will need to know exactly what his delivery system was like. Perhaps you can give us the image in your head. Or at least,” he added when she looked horrified, “give
The vile little parasites sickened Damonq. He found himself pushing emotion away. He hadn’t remembered how feeling could be both a blessing and a curse. The longer he worked, the more he felt for the child and the more he didn’t want to leave her alone. He had no idea how much time had passed but he was only a third of the way through her heart when light edged along the outside of it.He wanted to protest as Gary moved through the tiny child. She was barely there, just developing, but the healer had no emotion, no sympathy. He was what Damonq needed to be. Still, even knowing that, even knowing the child had to be vetted to discover whether she was a potential weapon Darkness could use, Damonq wanted to stop the healer from examining the baby. It took a tremendous amount of discipline to stay still and let the man do what he needed to protect the others.We must return to our bodies and be replenished.The healer’s light was dim, his voice the same, but there was a single weary note
“You think they might have done something like this to her? Impregnated her?” Claire asked incredulously. She was clearly shocked. “She’s fourteen.”“Age wouldn’t matter to a beast like Darkness,” Gary said. “They are incapable of feeling emotion. More than likely, she was terrified. Her terror would have given them the rush they needed. They feed on the fears of others. That’s why they torture before they kill. If she was very, very scared, they would have tried just to increase her fear.”Claire looked at her lifemate. He touched her cheek gently. “Go, find her,see to her. The moment the others come, I will aid you.”Claire nodded once, leaned down to brush the top of Elina’s head with a kiss and hurried out. Tensel looked after her and then sighed. You realize, Damonq, that many of the ancient supernatural may reject the idea of a child with any DNA from Darkness.I am very aware. Damonq knew he sounded grim. He felt grim. He was preparing to go to war with his kind, should they tr
Damonq and Gary burned several of the parasites and then moved over a few inches. The creatures had tried to embed themselves in her ribs to keep from being seen or removed.Darkness is a master devil, Gary pointed out. Not just a master devil, but one that is ancient and has schemed and battled his way to the top of the food chain. In other words, he is extremely powerful. For your woman to resist his compulsions and continue to fight him, she must be very strong. Once ancient blood flows in her veins and she is full like us, she will be even more so.Damonq waited to hear what Gary meant. Of course Elina would grow in power. Her gifts would be stronger. She would be stronger. Where was the ancient healer going with his observations?She will be turned when we take her blood and give her ancient blood. So much of it. You must do the initial exchanges. It will not be easy on the child, but as your lifemate grows in power, so will her daughter, Gary said.There is a child here, Liv, a
“You were gone so long. I was worried about you.” Elina muttered wearily. Damonq noted that she didn’t ask if they had been successful, only said that she was worried for him. He couldn’t remember a time someone had worried for him. He tucked her hand over his heart and took the wrist Ferro practically forced against his lips.It was difficult not to gulp the ancient blood. The moment he took it in, it began to work its magic, spreading through him quickly, infusing his cells and organs with rich, life-giving energy. He felt power rushing through him, filling him again when he’d been so spent.The moment Gary had taken his fill from Sandu, he rose. “I will return at sunset. We should be ready for a fight, Damonq.”“A fight?” Elina echoed. “What does that mean?”Damonq didn’t like that she sounded frightened. He closed the laceration on Ferro’s wrist and put his arm around Elina. “Thank you, healer. We will be ready.”Gary gave an old-world, slight bow and was gone, shimmering one mome
It was a beautiful, perfect moment, one Damonq would never forget and would treasure for all the rest of his time. Elina in his arms, holding her against him while she melted into him, making them one.He kissed his way down her throat, his lips tasting her soft skin, finding her pulse beating, beckoning. His own pulse quickened in response. Matching hers. Finding that exact rhythm.It was so beautiful. Moment by moment. Each brush of his mouth. His teeth reacted, lengthening while his body hardened more, becoming a savage ache. Now his blood thundered in his ears and pounded in his cock. Deliberately, he scraped his teeth back and forth against her skin right over that sweet sound of her heart so it beat into his mouth.She gasped. Moaned softly. Music he’d never heard but found he loved. He needed more. He scraped his teeth a second time. She moaned again and moved restlessly against him, pressing her lower body into him. Her hips rocked subtly so that her belly rubbed enticingly o