Paul came through the French doors into the bedroom drying his hair with a towel before climbing in bed with me.He wore nothing more than a smile. Paul loved to swim first thing in the morning and enjoyed walking around in the buff. Good thing the patio was private. We loved making love under the moon and stars, but now it was daylight.That's right—daylight. I could wake up whenever I wanted. Or if Paul wanted, he could wake me. The sun no longer offered me a barrier.The bedroom in our new home was the best place in the entire world. We never stayed another night in the old house. The memories were too horrible. While we waited for our new home to be ready for us, we stayed with Ran in his and Julie's house, and that was a soothing balm for us all. Paul and I disagreed over having a television set in our bedroom. He wanted one. I didn't.I won. But we had a sound system that played every type of music from R & B to Alternative and Oldies. The floor of the bedroom was a
I knelt beside both of them. "Hi, baby Julie. You gonna let Uncle Ran give you your bottle?"Ran chuckled. "Kim, I'll be B. J.'s protector, but I think I'll leave the feeding and diaper changing to you and Paul."I'm glad I had a "protector" in Athena. Her tip saved me from the Elder Council, which finally completed its investigation of me. I'm obviously still among the undead because the Elder Council did not carry out its wish to rid me from the Vampire Nation. When Malarias returned from Spain and I was able to give testimony to the Elder Council, it saw something intriguing within my memories. They saw I was privy to more than the secret of day walking Vampires. They knew that I knew the Elders willingly sacrificed Master Vampires to pointless deaths by initiating them to an Elder Council that only day-walkers could join. They also knew that I knew the ultimate reason for their exile of Alexis—to prevent us from joining forces and becoming a powerful duo. What saved my life wa
-The Return of Alexis-I rubbed my eyes and tried not to fall into another funk. Some thought that after a year my emotions should have improved. After all, we'd saved Tyler and Jason and we'd defeated the werewolf pack that had attacked and almost destroyed us--the beasts that killed my Tige, my vampire father, and Julie, my vampire sister, daughter, and friend. I had lost too many friends. Terrible things had happened in this past year. Monica with her California tan, piercing blue eyes, and model good looks. It still haunts me to think about what had been done to her beautiful body as well as Tyler's and Jason's.My eyes burned with tears I knew I should not shed. I brushed them away quickly, not because I was tired of giving in to them, but because the sight of my tears would be a dead giveaway to the changes I've been trying so hard to conceal.You see, what gives a vampire life is blood. It's what our sweat, our saliva, and our tears are made of. When we cry, we cry blood
I wasn't much into pain but the succubus in me loved it. Paul lapped gently at my injured nipple. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the feel of his tongue as he took the time to probe and tease. Then he moved on to the other nipple and showed it the same attention.I wrapped my legs around his waist, reached down between us, and undid his pants. He reached back to push his pants down over his wondrous ass. Paul's ass was like a statue of Adonis, perfect in every way. Using the heel of my bare feet I pressed him closer.Paul suddenly gripped my legs and slid my body forcibly down to the end of the chair.I hissed, sounding like a snake. Paul's responding growl rumbled loudly from his chest. Our creatures were coming forward. My teeth lowered and Paul's did, too. When his teeth lowered, his face morphed slightly. His jaw elongated and widened to accommodate the massive teeth there.He nipped the air inches from my face, and I hissed louder. I locked my legs around his back even tighte
"Kim …"A slow blush traveled up his neck to his cheeks. "I know that it sounds really kinky, but I liked it when it hurt.""Oh," I said quickly—maybe too quickly. "Um, do you want me to … hurt you more?"He glanced up to the ceiling after an uncomfortably long pause. "Julie's awake.""She's not crying," I said, not letting him off the hook so easily."I should put her back to sleep before she's fully awake." Paul kissed my nose. "We can … talk about this later." He seemed uncomfortable about this. I wasn't too comfortable myself.I've done plenty of outrageous and unconventional deeds as a vampire from hopping from one lover to another to questionable actions with my donors that might be considered borderline lesbian. So I'm not judgmental. His nervousness, however, gave me pause.I know he wasn't going to ask me to dominate him because his werewolf would never allow that even if the pain turned him on. My brow drew together. Was he going to ask if he could dominate me? Maybe P
My mouth fell open. "Does that mean …" I turned down the stereo a bit and sat beside her expectantly.Tyler's thin shoulders shrugged. "It just means that after eighteen months of dating they get to put a picture to the face."She didn't sound too happy. "Do they know …"She shook her head. "They don't know anything, not even about his sister being a donor for the last ten years. At some point they're going to start wondering why their fifty-year-old daughter and son still look like they're in their teens.""Sweetie, you know Jason is crazy about you. If he hasn't brought you around his parents before now it's only because he's trying to preserve his secret. He's entrusting you with that secret now."She laughed, and it sounded hollow to my ears. "And on the fourth of July? I'll be wearing long sleeves at the family picnic to hide tats and eating the hamburger before it hits the grill."I looked at her steadily. "At least you have a family picnic to go to."Her eyes flashed at m
Jason was tall and lanky and always stooped forward slightly so I could easily reach his neck without rubbing up against his body. The day he stopped doing that is the day I knew he had crossed the line from bloodlust to lust-lust. That was also the day I could never risk taking another feeding from him. My desires were held by little more than tape and string as it was.I had made a vow to my husband that I would never allow myself to fall in love with anyone, and definitely not Tyler's man.I could smell his blood through the skin of his neck and although I had already fed some earlier with Paul, Jason's blood was a different flavor, a different feast.Each of my donors tasted different, but my werewolf donors were my favorites. I'd never had real bloodlust for human blood, but werewolf blood was an altogether different matter. I wanted it even when my body wasn't hungry.Unfortunately with werewolves I had to practice more caution. Paul would never leave me alone to feed from Ty
I wanted to protest. She was still hungry, but I was afraid that if I stopped her she'd attack. But the feeding was beginning to affect me. I felt strangely light and heavy at the same time, as if I could float through the air despite limbs that felt like lead weights were tied to them."Make her stop," Tony insisted.I was alarmed at the feral look on Monica's face. "Monica!" Monica paused in her feeding."Enough," I said.She ignored me!A sense of self-preservation flared up in me. "Enough!" I growled.Slowly Monica released my wrist, and Tony moved off of her.I wanted to hold her in my arms and rock her and kiss her, but I was forced to command her as if she was some zombie ghoul!Tony stepped away from the bed. "You're her Master," he said, meaning that I needed to act like it.My heart was breaking. I had her sit up, which she did with much more grace than she had used when attacking me. I covered her nudity with the sheet. "Do you know what has happened to you?" I
"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