Chompers hunger blended with her own, familiar, yet utterly unwelcome because he would not allow her to do anything about it. He never did, not with Aden.
Victoria blinked open her eyes, gasped. She had never left the cave, but shed been busy. She was on her feet, her arms outstretched. A golden glow radiated from between her fingers, dimminggone. Aden lay in a crumpled heap against the far wall. He was unconscious, unmoving, maybe evenno. No!
Her bare feet dug into the rocks as she raced to him. The moment she reached him, she was crouching and feeling for a pulse. No, no, no. Please, please. There! Fast, too fast and too weak, but there. He was alive.
Relief flooded her, followed quickly by remorse. What had she done to him? Beaten him? Drained him? No, she couldnt have. Chompers wouldnt have allowed that, either. Right?
Oh, Aden. She smoothed the hair from his brow. There were no bruises on his face, no punctures in his neck. Whats wrong with you?
A sound wafted to her ears. Frowning, she leaned down. Was hehumming? She blinked, listened more intently. Yes, yes, he was. And if he was humming, he wasnt hurting. Right? He must be experiencing some sort of euphoria. Perhaps even the same euphoria shed basked in. Right?
Please, be right.
She studied him more intently. His expression was serene, his lips edged upward. He looked boyish, innocent, almost angelic. He was experiencing the euphoria, then.
Relaxing, she traced her fingertip along his hairline. He was so striking, with his hair dyed black and those two-inch blond roots. Perfectly arched eyebrows rose above perfectly uptilted eyes. His nose was perfectly sloped. His lips were soft, his chin stubborn. Again, perfectly. His was a face a girl would never tire of looking at. Maybe because every new glance revealed a previously undiscovered nuance. This time, she saw the thick, feathering fan of his lashes, a golden chocolate in the haze of the cave.
Wake up for me, Aden. Please.
Nothing, no response.
Perhaps, like her, he didnt want to leave. Well, too bad. They had some chatting to do.
Aden. Aden, wake up.
Again nothing. No, not nothing. He scowled, and the scowl soon became a grimace.
Her heart galloped against her ribs. All right. What if he wasnt floating and carefree? What if he was stuck? Or worse, agonized? That grimace
He panted out a breath once, twice, shallow and rasping. Crackling. Shed heard that crackle beforeeach time shed taken too much blood from a human.
He wont die. He cant. Theyd been here a week. Seven days, three hours and eighteen minutes. Theyd fought and kissed and drank from each other the entire time. Aden had survived all of that; surely he would survive this. Whatever this was.
Shame suddenly outweighed her ever-present guilt. And maybe that shame was what corralled her beast, stopping him from screaming for release the way he had every time before.
Wait. Chompers wasnt screaming. The realization caused her to blink with confusion. A quick glance at her chest, and she saw that all of her wards had faded. Even still, the beast was silent. That had never happened before.
What else was different? Her gaze fell to Adens neck, where his pulse drummed sporadically. Her mouth watered, but the urge, the electrifying need to bite him, wasnt there.
No, not true. It was there, it simply wasnt as strong. It was controllable. Even still, she was thirsty, desperate to drink from someone. And if she could now take from someone else, perhaps Aden could, as well. If so
He could be saved. Completely. She hoped. There was only one way to find out. Though she was still weak, she twined her fingers with Adens and closed her eyes, imagining her bedroom at the vampire stronghold near Crossroads, Oklahoma. White carpet, white walls, white bed covers.
Please work, she thought. Please.
A cold breeze kicked up, blowing her hair up and down, the strands winding together and knotting. It was working! Her grip tightened on Aden, and her lips curved into a grin. The floor fell away, leaving them suspended in the air. Any moment now and they would be
Her feet settled on a soft, plush foundation. Carpet.
Home. They were home.
THREE
Three days later
THE BEDROOM DOOR CRASHED against the wall as a harsh male voice snarled, I hear youve threatened to disembowel anyone who steps foot in your room. Well, here I am. But before you disembowel me, you better tell me what the hell is going on.
Victoria stopped pacing and whipped around to face the intruder. Riley. Her bodyguard. Her best friend. Tall, as muscled as Aden now was, with a face roughened by life and fist fights.
Her chest constricted. He wasnt handsome in a Prince of Your Dreams way like Aden, but in a sexy Ill Kick Your Ass No Matter What It Takes and Laugh way, and that was exactly what she needed at the moment. A willingness to do whatever was necessary.
He might be the one person able to help her.
And though he was obviously fuming, his eyes glittering with angry heat, he was the best thing shed seen in days. He had dark, shaggy hair, bright green eyes fringed by long lashes of the darkest jet, and a nose broken too many times to count, with a slight bump in the center. Certain injuries, when received repeatedly, simply couldnt heal properly.
He wore a green Lucky Charms T-shirt and jeansor what looked to be jeans, since she knew they werent really denim. He was the only slash of color in her white-as-the-clouds bedroom.
Nice shirt, she said. One, to distract him from his anger before she spilled her secrets, and two, to showcase the sense of humor she was desperately trying to develop. Once, his human girlfriend, Mary Ann Gray, had accused Victoria of being too somber.
Only thing I could find. Victoria. Talk. Now. Before I assume the worst and just start offing everyone in the house.
The pretend sense of humor vanished, and tears filled her eyes, those stupid human tears shed never shed before coming to the States. She raced to Riley, throwing herself into his strong, capable arms.
Im so glad youre here.
You might not be so glad if I have to force you to start talking. Despite the threat, he hugged her tight, exactly as hed done when they were younger and other vampires refused to play with her.
Because she was a daughter of Vlad the Impaler, every one had feared punishment if she were hurtor worseon their watch. But not Riley. Never Riley. He was like the brother she had always wanted, her comforter and her shield.
Oh, she had a blood brother. Sorin. Except, Vlad had forbidden her from looking at, talking to or even acknowledging him. Father Dearest hadnt wanted his only son tainted by his too soft daughters. In fact, when Aden had asked Victoria about her siblings back when theyd first met, shed named only her sisters. Last shed inadvertently heard, Sorin was leading half of the vampire army through Europe, keeping Bloody Mary, the leader of the Scottish faction, in line. Combine all of that, and Sorin didnt count.
Besides, Vlad had long ago given Riley charge of Victorias care, and the wolf shifter had taken the job seriously. Not just out of a sense of duty, or fear of torture and death if he failed, but also because he liked her. They were friends first and everything else second.
Why are you here, though? she asked, ignoring his demand. Again.
My brothers hunted me down and scared two centuries off my life when they told me youd ventured into Crazy Town. Now, enough about me. Riley pulled back and cupped her cheeks, forcing her to peer up at him. Have you fed properly? You look like crap.
His concernand insultoffered more comfort than anything else could have and was so wonderfully Riley she responded in a way she knew he would approve. Yes, Daddy. Ive fed properly. Truth. Five minutes after arriving home and settling Aden in her bed, shed had her fangs buried deep inside one of the blood-slaves who lived here at the stronghold.
So thirsty had she been, shed nearly drained the human dry. Her sister Lauren had managed to jerk her away just in time. Her other sister, Stephanie, had found her a second human, and a third and a fourth, and shed drunk until her stomach could hold no more.
Smart-ass. Rileys lips twitched with his amusement. When did you learn to wield sarcasm?
I cant remember exactly. All she knew was that shed had a choice. Find the humor in what happened to her or drown in her misery. Two weeks ago, maybe.
The mention of time wiped away his delighted expression, leaving him with a cold frown.
Only one person affected him that way. Mary Ann Gray. The girl had struck out on her own the same night Aden had been stabbed, and Riley the Besotted Wolf had charged after her, determined to protect her despite the hazard to himself.
Wheres your human? Wait. Mary Ann wasnt quite human anymore. The girl had become a drainersomething Victoria had not seen comingable to suck the magic from witches, the beasts from vampires, the power from fairies and the ability to shift forms from the wolves.
Victoria had begun to wonder if Mary Ann had ever been human. After all, fairies were drainers. The difference was, the fairies could control their hunger and feedings. Mary Ann could not. Still. That raised a startling question. Could Mary Ann be a human/fairy hybrid?
Victoria had never heard of such a pairing, but as she was learning, anything was possible. If Mary Ann was somehow a hybrid, every vampire and shifter in this strongholdbesides Riley, of coursewould want the girl dead. More than they already did. Fae were Enemy One. Dangerous in the extreme. A threat to otherworld existence.
Well? Victoria insisted when Riley offered no reply.
I lost her. A muscle underneath his eye jerked, a sure sign of his upset.
Wait. You, an expert tracker, lost a teenager who wouldnt know how to hide if she were invisible? Another sign that Mary Ann was more than she seemed.
The ticking migrated to Rileys jaw. Yes.
You should be ashamed.
I dont want to talk about it, he said. Im here to talk about you. How are you? Seriously?
Im fine.
All right. Ill pretend I believe that. Any word from your father?
No. Vlad had ordered Adens execution while remaining in the shadows. Shadows he had yet to vacate.
Shed never been so grateful for her fathers vanity. He wanted to be seen as invincible, always. So, no one here knew Vlad was still alive, and if she had her way, they never would. The vampires might rebel against Aden before he was officially crowned king, and if they rebelled while he was in this condition, he would lose. Everything hed already endured would have been for nothing.
Even healthy and whole, he needed every edge he could get. Not just to remain in charge, but to stay alive.
Right now, he had time. Victoria knew her father. Vlad would not return until he was at top strength. Thenwell, then there would be a war. Vlad would punish those whod submitted to Adens rule. Herself and Riley included. He would make an example of Aden. And his preferred method of exampling, as shed come to call it, was placing a severed head on a pike and displaying that pike at his front door.
Would Aden fight him? If so, could Aden hope to win?
Hows Aden? Riley asked. The wolf could read auras and had probably sensed the direction of her thoughts. Did hesurvive?
Yes and no. Her stomach twisted into thousands of little knots. She tugged from Rileys hold, turned and motioned to the bed with a wave of her hand. Behold. Our king.
Green eyes narrowed as they lanced to the lump atop the mattress. Five sure steps, and the shifter was at the side of the bed, peering down. Victoria joined him, trying to see Aden as Riley must.
He lay on his back, as motionless as a corpse. His normally bronzed skin was pallid, the blue tracery of his veins evident. His cheeks were hollowed out, his lips chapped and cracked. His hair was soaked with sweat and plastered to his scalp.
Whats wrong with him? Riley demanded in a quiet, yet all the harsher for it, tone.
I dont know.
You know something.
She gulped. Well, I think I told you that Tucker stabbed him.
Yes, and Tucker will die for that. A flat, cold statement of fact. Soon.
The homicidal confession didnt surprise her. Retaliation was Rileys way. Tit for tat, and never anything in between. That way, an enemy never tried to harm you twice. I wanted to save himsave Aden I meanso II tried to Just say it. Tried to turn him. I told you that, too.
And I thought youd change your mind, see reason.
Well, I didnt. I know I shouldnt have done it, but I couldnt I didnt want I did what I had to do to keep him alive!
Aden told you the consequences of messing with one of Elijahs predictions, Vic. The few times he did it, people suffered more than they would have if hed left them alone.
Her back went ramrod straight, her nose lifting in the air. Yes, he did, and no, that didnt stop me or change my mind. I fed him my blood, every drop I could, drank from him, and then he drank from me. We repeated the process, over and over again.
And?
Of course he knew there was more to the story. Her shoulders sagged. Andsomehow I absorbed his souls inside my head, and he absorbed my beast.
Rileys mouth dropped open. You have the souls?
Not anymore. We kept switching back and forth, and we kept drinking from each other, even though we barely had anything left. I thought we would kill each other. Wealmostdid. Her chin trembled, breaking the words apart.
Theres more. Tell me. Riley was merciless when he wanted something, and right now he wanted information. Hed warned her she wouldnt like him if he had to force her to talk, and she took the threat seriously.
Our last day in the cave, I did something to him. I dont know what, and its killing me! I blacked out, and when I came to, he was like this.
You just blacked out? For how long?
Yes, and I dont know.
Was he bleeding?
No. Truth. But that didnt mean she hadnt injured him internally.