Mara looked at me as I dropped my teeth."Did you want to?" Mara gestured to Paul and stepped away from me. "Paul, you haven't donated in a while. I think you need it more than …" Mara's eyes grew wide and she looked from me to Paul "Dear Lord, your creature. Kim, your creature is Paul's Werewolf!""Oh my God!" Tyler exclaimed. "That's exactly what it is!"Paul rubbed his hair back. "We talked about that yesterday." He shook his head. "But how could that be possible?""If they were bound," Monica said, "maybe Paul's being changed could somehow transfer to Kim if he didn't block it. But Paul is human. Humans don't bond. They just turn.""We need Julie for this," Kat said.I concentrated on her. Julie didn't wait for me to ask. She just appeared."Sorry to bother you, Julie," I said. "I know we're supposed to get together later tonight, but we have a situation."Julie eyed Paul. She wore black leather pants, combat boots, and an anime T-shirt. Her usually pixy cut hair was spiked
I found the girls in the kitchen."Are you okay?" Mara asked.I nodded. "I think I hurt his feelings.""I think … you'll have plenty of time to make it up to him," Julie said.I smiled, we all giggled, and I felt a bit better. Kat had some fashion books, and we went through them picking out our favorites for her to order. We giggled a lot when we got to the men's fashions, and I picked out some boxer briefs for Paul. I didn't want to make the same mistakes his ex-girlfriend Amanda had made by thinking for him, dressing him, and decorating his place. He had been gone for a while, and I figured he'd appreciate a new wardrobe until he could go shopping for himself. I couldn't help wondering whether he was paying a visit to Amanda. I felt sick at the thought so I put it out of my mind. Why would he be visiting another woman after finding out he was essentially married to me? I was only being stupid.I took a feeding from Mara then Kat and I told the ladies about the new house. "Wo
So that I wouldn't appear predatory, I pressed my body against him. He seemed hesitant, but he put his hand loosely on my waist. His body was so tightly wound, like he would snap."I'm just going to lick you, okay?" He nodded.I kissed his neck lightly and let the sticky blood paint my lips. I could feel Paul shudder from need, not an intent to leap on me again.I licked him long and slow, and Paul grew hard in seconds. His hands slipped up my side, and his thumbs favored my nipples until I squirmed against him. I pressed my tongue into the puncture and waited for him to push me away again. Instead he rotated his hips against me. His hand moved up to grip the back of my head and gently pulled it back. He licked and kissed and nipped at my neck until I couldn't contain the groans coming from my throat.He undid my pants, gripped me to him, and carried me to the bed. He pushed me back with kisses until he covered me. His hard penis pressed against my thigh, and as I reached down to
Carmine was charging Letrelle with trespassing. Trespassing was considered a serious infraction since territory is what supports a Master and his liege. A Master's flunkies would often be sent to steal resources like customers, business ideas, or human servants. That's why a Master had to request permission to enter another Master's territory, and many times it was granted but with stipulations.To bring the complaint to the territory meant that there was an impending battle. Battles were bad because they definitely brought human attention—which caused the rest of us to scramble to keep it clear of the media. Vampires have created some of the most interesting false stories in history including the Bloods and the Crips. In hindsight, that should have been obvious. The two rival Vampire families enlist their humans to do their dirty work. Other examples would be the Mob, the San Andreas Fault, fourteen hurricanes, the battle at the O.K. Corral, and the Salem Witch trials. All of these w
"Are we through here?" Letrelle said in a tight voice."Kim, let me kick his ass," Paul said in my head. "He's been nothing but disrespectful to you, and I'm not going to allow it in my presence." I had to stare at Paul. "But you haven't turned yet without the full moon.""Trust me, baby." More from a sense of curiosity than a need to put Letrelle in his place, I decided to see what Paul was about."Okay, take care of your business."Paul smiled and cracked his knuckles."One quick thing." Paul addressed Letrelle."What?" Letrelle said. Paul leaped over my desk as if he had springs in his feet. He moved almost as fast as I could. Letrelle came to his feet in time to catch Paul in his arms. They hit the floor with Paul on top. He growled, and it wasn't a human sound. The ladies and I leaped to our feet to watch. Carmine had moved out of his chair and was standing at some distance watching the interaction with the rest of us.Paul had our complete attention. He wasn't a Were
Paul said he thought that Vampire number two could pay rent to Vampire number one and allow a few of his people to make a profit.That made Vampire number one happy, and Vampire number two grudgingly agreed. Two more appointments settled their disputes in the living room and cancelled. The next appointment ended in violence. A Master accused me of unfairly stealing one of his donors. He claimed that I had allowed his donor to leave for a safe house without giving him an opportunity to tell his side.I told him that slavery of donors had ended when I came into power. A donor was free to go of his own will.He fucked up and referred to me as a mutt bitch. Paul leaped out of his chair. Since he looked like nothing more than a human to the Master, it caught him by surprise. Paul backhanded him and broke all the fine little bones in the man's jaw. His mouth hung uselessly.The Vampire couldn't drop teeth, but he bulked up and clawed at Paul. Paul punched him in the chest, and hi
"I could start by shaking you. But you know I wouldn't do anything to hurt you. I can try carrying you outside so that the sunshine touches you."I licked my lips. "Okay. But if I start burning …""I'll rush you back in if that happens."I trusted Paul. "Okay." I snuggled back into his arms, and he held me to him tightly. "What do you think about me eating meat?""Kim, I think our bond has transferred some of my ability to you just like it transferred some of your ability to me.""But I'm a Vampire. I can't digest food. Where is it going?""I think we'll find out tomorrow."I grimaced. "I hope it's not too gross." I yawned. "The sun is rising."I felt him look down at me. "Then if it works okay, I'll be seeing you in a few minutes."I smiled and snuggled up against him. Then I slept comfortably. ~*~My limbs felt heavy and I was confused when I awoke. I felt Paul's hands stroking my hair, so I focused on him."What time is it?" I asked."Night, but earlier than you
When I came out of the bedroom, Paul was talking on his cell phone. "I gotta go. Just have all the paperwork ready to go no later than midnight. Here is fine. Talk to you later."I slipped into his arms and kissed him. "What are you doing?""Mara is getting our marriage license. We'll need to sign that so that we're legal." He kissed me. "You look beautiful, baby. Are you ready to go? Do you need to feed first?""No. It's Kat's day and before we head to the Council meeting I'll flash to her place for a feeding." That's usually how we did it when no one was required to be here. "Oh, and don't forget that if you're coming to the Council meeting with me, we'll need an extra hour and a half. It's a fairly long drive.""Or, I'll take one of the cars, probably the Porsche, then while you're with Kat I can be driving to the Council house. Then you can flash yourself to the car.""That sounds like a plan, but I don't have a Porsche.""We have a Porsche. I had my Porsche taken out of stor
"Are you ready, my love?" Alexis asked."I'm not sure," I said. "She's still so little."Alexis kissed the dark curls at the top of our daughter's head. "Tiye is strong enough to travel back to our realm. We've been here a year. Don't you miss home?""Yeah, but a year here is only like five minutes in the Above," I said."More like a few weeks," Alexis said. "The Ladies are anxious to meet their new niece."He gently lifted his sleeping daughter, tucking her blanket carefully around her body. She had just turned three months old and was as round and plump as a melon. Her thick, curly hair was sure to be as wild as mine was when I wasn't wearing the plaits that Oni put them in. She looked like us—my brown skin with Alexis' nose and Mona Lisa smile.Alexis had named her after an ancient Egyptian Queen who was the deity of light. Leave it to him to name his daughter after an angel and a queen.He carried her outside and stood on the porch staring out at a vast sea made by his own h
Paul smiled and relaxed. I led him to the study where Alexis was waiting. Alexis nodded in greeting."Alexis, thanks for agreeing to this meeting," Paul said.Alexis gestured to a throne. "Please, have a seat."Paul looked at the throne and sat. "Mmm, comfy."Alexis moved the other two thrones to form a triangle, and we sat."We saw the gathering video," Paul said. "We didn't know we were being filmed," I said."I figured as much," Paul said. "But you made a good point when you said that one supernatural group cannot rule over another. My Werewolf Council has been meeting for the last few days. We don't want a war with the Neratomay.""And we do not want a war with the Werewolves," Alexis said.Paul nodded. "We have been in discussions with the Alliance of the Supernaturals, and I expressed King's beliefs that if we do not work together then we will all fall together.""That's right," I said."After a lot of negotiation, the Alliance would like to extend an offer for you to
Ran continued. "We asked the Wolves to coordinate their attacks with ours, and that is all they agreed to do.""But what about the carnage that occurred in Epic Cu?" The Councilmember asked."Are you for real?" I asked in irritation. "There were hundreds of Rectors at that gathering! All it would have taken was for one of those Rectors to snap Alexis' neck before he could summon King to close the portal to the Underworld. We had to take out the Rectors and luckily the Alpha aided us or—well we wouldn't be here and you'd still be kissing the ass of your demon master!"Alexis put his hand on mine but Ignacio smiled in amusement. Will you be quiet! Cyrene snapped silently in my head.When has that ever happened? I snapped back.Ladies, Alexis interrupted. Now is not the time. My love, try to be more…diplomatic.Fine, I replied."We won that war by any means necessary," Alexis said, his voice annoyed. "We don't appreciate your line of questioning. Do you want to go back to the way
The Neratomay flashed themselves away once they were outside of Epic Cut. The Supernaturals carried away their dead and injured, and what was left inside of Epic Cu was blood, gore, and ash. Paul left with his pack, and Ran, King, Alexis, and I flashed back to our villa where King fell in an exhausted asleep.Alexis and I watched him with pride. "It could have gone so much different," I whispered."No." Alexis continued to gaze at King's small sleeping form. "Not if we understand King's true potential—this is the way it was meant to be."It was time discover the fallout so we turned on the radio and television. Many countries were in a state of emergency based on what had happened over the last several hours. News outlets and radio stations made announcements that people should stay indoors because there were reports of wild, strange beast attacks. Videos of humans turning into Vampires and using impossible speed to attack the beasts clogged the Internet. Supposed experts in the s
I moved from zombie to Wraith, pushing them through the portal and trying not to think about those they had possessed.The Wraiths will take you…Oni had said.I saw Alexis keeping King in the light flowing from the portal, but the portal had grown smaller.It was working!King was closing the portal to the Collective!As I zapped zombies and Wraiths, I noticed with surprise that the Supernaturals were fighting with the Neratomay to kill the zombies! When they ganged up and killed a zombie and the wraith left the zombie's body, I was able to zap the Wraith and send it back where it belonged."Aleawdat 'iilaa alealam alsuflii!" I chanted loudly along with King. Although I didn't understand the words, I could repeat them exactly.Then Ran, who still stood sentry beside me, began repeating the words. Alexis joined our chant, and that portal began shrinking even more.The larger Wraiths became bottlenecked trying to squeeze up and out of the shrinking portal. They were so freaking g
I stared at the center of the pentagram where so much power was streaming through to seek out vessels, as if that power was a thinking, conniving being. It infused its targets with power so they could fight for it. And Alexis thought that my son should face that? My little boy?"Alexis, he's just a baby!""He is a demon!" he said sternly. "He only pretends to be a baby because that's what you need, Kim. You have to know that it has been many years since our son was a baby."The way King talked to the Wolf Council, the way he seemed to understood so much and so easily, the way he commanded attention whenever he spoke. I didn't want my child to fight this battle, but Alexis and King both knew this was what King was meant to do.Alexis released me and turned toward the pentagram. He raised his hand and began pulling power from the portal in the center, pulling so much that he glowed with the unnatural light that the energy emanated.Paul squinted and stepped in front of me, preventin
Alexis raised his hand. "We learned the truth, secrets that have enslaved us all!" Alexis' nose began to bleed. He stumbled and swiped at the blood angrily and then raised it to show everyone. "Secrets that prevent me from speaking these truths. But you see! You see!"Ran glared out at the group. "We know, even if we can't speak it. But if you can read it in our heads, you will know this secret, too!"The pain was so sudden that I could not have taken a step. I couldn't even see! Buzzing filled my brain as instead of a dozen bees, hundreds of them seemed to fill my head. I had expected it and thought I was prepared, but there is no way to be prepared when someone is inside of you filling your brain to bursting!"Kim!" Paul shook me.I tried to open my eyes then realized they were open. I couldn't see!"Build your wall!" Paul shouted. "Build it now!"I tried to imagine the bricks—white bricks. White…but I could only see black vapors!Then Alexis was inside my head cutting through
I smelled Alexis and Ran, but so had Paul. He was already heading toward them. When we finally met up, I dropped Paul's clothes on the ground before him. He changed quickly back to a man while I stared up at the castle where more Neratomay than ever attempted to enter Epic Cu."Once we're inside we cannot flash ourselves out," I said.Paul narrowed his eyes. "You'll be trapped inside?"Alexis frowned, but Ran and I nodded.Paul slipped his shirt over his head and peered at the castle. "We can blow this bitch up.""Blowing up Neratomay won't kill us," Alexis said. "Not unless our heads are severed or our hearts pierced.""Why does this castle remind me of Hogwarts?" Paul asked.I smiled. "That's what I thought!""How do we enter?" Paul asked. "That entrance is a hopeless bottleneck." "You could enter through the front door once we're inside," Alexis said, pointing at the opening four stories up. "That's how we exited."Paul licked his lips. "I can make that jump.""Not as a
"You're behind this, aren't you? Somehow—"His head exploded. I flinched at the spray of gore. When it turned to ash, I brushed it off me."Which one of you did that?" I asked."He searched my head," Alexis replied."Well, warn a sister next time," I said.Then I felt a loud buzz in my head, and across the room another Elder's head exploded.This created more bedlam and screaming from Council members who flashed themselves away or who sought the aid of another Elder."Do you feel that?" Ran asked."I don't feel anything because these people are screaming and hollering so loudly," I said.They were the most cowardly individuals I had ever seen. These powerful Vampires sat here crying like wusses! The very Council members and Elders who had tortured and murdered other lower level Neratomay could only hide and cry when they met a foe they couldn't overpower. They were the very definition of bullies!Ran turned to me. "It's Paul.""Paul? How…?""I can still hear him from my tim