Shadows Claim Read online

Page 24

 

  Now he imagined piercing Bettinas slim neck. Drawing her scorching essence into me as she writhed from her orgasm. Her sex would squeeze my cock with greedy tugs. As she gave her blood, her body would demand my seed-

  When he began to spend, he yelled her name; his back bowed violently.

  When he wiped himself clean and redressed, he shuddered, grieved to be parted from her.

  When he drifted to sleep, he knew hed dream of her.

  My memories? Or hers?

  He woke not even an hour later, straight from reverie. Though he hadnt experienced the memory hed sought, hed seen something he could scarcely describe.

  The world through Bettinas eyes.

  Her memories were . . . sublime. She noted details he would have missed, searching out beauty in everything from a spiders web to a weathered basket. When he compared her way of seeing to his, he felt as if he had a layer of film over his eyes.

  He was awakening. After living so long as staid, boring Trehan, he craved more.

  Hed also learned much about her personality, confirming all the facets hed already admired. Indeed, she was remarkably intelligent, she was sensitive, and zeii, she was lusty.

  That night in his tent, shed viewed him with an artists eye. And shed liked what she saw. Just as hed observed, shed been happy.

  Shed marveled at his erection, musing what it would be like to part her lips for it and touch the tip with her tongue. Shed wondered if he would shudder and groan.

  Yes, Bettina. Yes, I would.

  He groaned now, just from the thought of it.

  During that day hed spent with her, as shed slept, she had dreamed of Trehan. She was intrigued by him, reluctantly attracted to him. Shed absently thought of his eyes, Ive seen that color green before. In the deepest forests of Abaddon.

  If only Caspion didnt stand between them.

  Trehan also had some of her memories of that demon. Caspion had saved her from a lonely and friendless childhood, accepting her as others in her kingdom hadnt. He and Bettina had traveled all over the mortal realm, exploring together.

  Jealousy clawed at Trehan. I should be the one to show her the world.

  As he sifted through his dreams, other memories arose. Hed learned that she resided with a phantom warrior. One who spied on her bathing? The fuck that would continue!

  And Trehan had seen the dynamics of her relationship with her godparents. Shed once thought, "Why do I topple over whenever they push? Because Ive never found my footing?"

  Hed even experienced her using her power. A little over a year ago, two ghouls had gotten loose in Rune, cornering her in an alley. Instead of being frightened, shed blasted them with her power, stopping their hearts. Starved of blood, their organs had shut down. The creatures had thrashed on the ground, howling with agony.

  The memory had been so intense that Trehan now splayed his fingers, feeling his palms tingle as if he himself had wielded her power.

  That innate sorcery had been like her soul. Itd been so intrinsic that magic would emanate from her body whenever shed experienced strong emotions. Heated whirls of light had marked her happiness, her excitement.

  Now . . . nothing.

  Trehan had to get it back for her. Or, he thought darkly, help her steal another Sorceris. What wouldnt Trehan do for her?

  A fiery arrow to the temple? There was no recovery from it.

  But he still lacked the memory of her attack. I must see what happened to my Bride.

  To find her foes and make them pay-

  He sensed anothers presence inside the tent. Eyes flashing open, hand shooting for his weapon, he traced to his feet. "You wont catch me unawares, Viktor. Cease trying. "

  His cousin materialized in front of him. "Thats not my intention. Remember, Im in no rush to kill you now. "

  Trehan didnt even argue the impossibility of Viktor managing to do that. "We still have a blood vendetta between us. " An inherited one, but all the same.

  "Thats the thing about vendettas. Theres literally no expiration date. " He tsked at Trehans appearance. "You look like hell, old man. "

  Chapter 27

  Understandable. Hed had little sleep and less blood. When hed tried to drink a meal earlier, hed spat out the contents of his goblet. He feared all blood would be tasteless after Bettinas. "Are you here for a reason?"

  "Truce for the eve. Im here because I need your assistance. "

  Trehan glanced at him with surprise. Viktor simply didnt ask for help. This ought to be good.

  Another male voice sounded: "We all need your assistance. " Mirceo? Hed just appeared inside the tent, along with Stelian.

  All the royal male cousins in one place. At least, all the sane ones.

  "Truce?" Trehan raised his sword. "Im supposed to believe that the four of us are in one tent-and were all getting out alive?" Each of them was dark haired and tall, each bearing the Daciano stamp upon their faces. Yet they were no family. "I havent any patience for your jesting. Draw your weapons. "

  Viktor shrugged. "I vow to the Lore that we hold no ill intent toward you. "

  "Tonight, at least," Stelian added.

  A vow to the Lore couldnt be broken. "I dont know why youve come, and I dont care. Ive my own concerns now. A life of my own. "

  "It appears your suit goes well," Viktor said.

  "What do you know of it?" Trehan demanded, but he feared he knew. The Dacians were observers. . . .

  Viktor smiled widely. "Your Bride is lovely in mist. "

  "You watched us?" This shouldnt surprise him, but, gods, it enraged him.

  "I was mainly watching the fights. And we turned Mirceos head away," Viktor said. "Eventually. "

  Trehan didnt know whom to attack first. Their gazes had been on his Brides trembling body; theyd seen her skin kissed with Trehans mist. His fangs went sharp.

  "Such aggression," Stelian said disapprovingly. "Youre as bad as Viktor usually is. Your blooding has turned you savage. "

  "The better to bite your throat out with, Stelian. "

  "Youd attack when my sword remains sheathed?"

  Damn them! None had drawn.

  "Look at those fangs, Trey!" Viktor exclaimed. "Still maintaining that you havent bitten your Bride?"

  Never bitten her. But hed taken her blood. And Ill do it again.

  Stelian turned up his flask. "You can learn to control your fangs, Cousin. "

  Can I? Trehan shook his head hard. "Fight me, or leave! My break from you was clean. "

  "And it was your leaving that opened up a dialogue among the three of us," Mirceo said.

  "What are you talking about?"

  Though Mirceo was normally a male who took little seriously-a notorious hedonist-his gray eyes were grave. "Weve realized that weve all been fighting for something we dont want to win. You gave up your right to the throne. But heres the thing, Uncle. None of us want it either. "

  "I dont understand. "

  "Ill reach my immortality soon, might not even have a year left. " Mirceo was nearing the time when he would freeze forever, the time when hed stop breathing and his heart would cease beating. When he could no longer have sex. "The last thing I want is to be mired in this feud. "

  Though Trehan had vague memories of intercourse as an enjoyable pastime, Mirceos entire life revolved around bedding-females, males, anyone whod have him.

  "Why should I rule others when I cant even govern myself?"

  Good point.

  Stelian took a nip from his flask of blood and mead. "And I am the gatekeeper-"

  "A task that already cuts into your drinking?" Trehan interrupted. Whereas he had once been friends with Viktor and a fond "uncle" to Mirceo, hed never tolerated Stelian well.

  Stelians parents had been the most devious of all. Just two decades ago, his widowed father had murdered Mirceo and Kosminas parents, then disappeared. Trehan had hunted him down and slain him. To this day, they all must suspect me of it. . . .
r />   Stelian scowled at Trehans statement, but he didnt deny his love of drink. "We all know that in a secret realm, a gatekeeper possesses far more power than a king. I can be one or the other, but not both. I choose my current position. " As the guardian of the kingdom.

  Trehan could scarcely believe what he was hearing. The two of them had battled nearly to the death as many times as Trehan and Viktor had. "And your reasoning, Viktor?"

  He shrugged. "Im the last of the House of War, and frankly, thats all I want to do. Im given to understand this is a bad trait for a king to possess. "

  There had to be more to it than that, but Trehan wouldnt push for details in front of the others. "So what do you three plan?"

  "We install Cousin Lothaire as monarch," Mirceo said. "And then the discord will end. Just as predicted. "

  At the hour of her death, Lothaires mother, Ivana, the rightful heiress to the throne, was said to have cursed Dacia with unrelenting strife.

  Until Lothaire was made king.

  I wonder if Lothaire the Enemy of Old knows exactly how accurate his trailing name is. . . .

  Mirceo had seen enough strife in his short lifetime to believe in the curse. Trehan, however, had been alive long enough to know that the wily Ivana had likely just predicted more of the same underhanded maneuvering already in play. Dacias finite amount of political power and territory made for a situation rife with conflict.

  "How much damage can Lothaire do?" Viktor said. "We dont aggress other kingdoms, we dont have civil unrest-other than what we royals get up to-and were bloody hidden! Hell be a figurehead. And by rights, the throne is his. "

  Trehan shook his head. "The last time I saw him, he was half out of his mind, searching for Dacia in the dead of winter-naked. " The vampires white-blond hair had been saturated with blood, his pale skin covered with it, his eyes glowing red like coals. "Oh, and he was also bellowing in Russian for someone to fucking fight him. "

  Like the rest of them, Lothaire pursued a vendetta, and he coveted the crown of the Dacians to a blistering degree. Too bad he couldnt find his own kingdom. "He murders for sport, he feeds without restraint, and he sleep-traces uncontrollably. " Like sleep walking-only he could awaken in a different world. "The Enemy of Old is a madman. "

  Mirceo said, "Weve been watching him, Uncle. This idea is not as implausible as youd think. Hes found his Bride. "

  This was a new development.

  Viktor added, "I understand your hesitation, Trey. But Ive seen him with his female. Even in the grips of blood lust, he doesnt ravage her. And hes been setting off purposely, as if for some kind of mission. Which indicates at least a degree of sanity. "

  Trehan narrowed his gaze. "And you want to find out what this mission is. "

  "Exactly. Weve found his lair in a mortal city called York-"

  "Its New York," Stelian said with a roll of his eyes, as if hed explained this before. Then to Trehan he added, "Hes going farther afield, to locations we cant predict. We cant follow his movements-not without your crystal. "

  Trehan gave a laugh. "Which will never leave my sight. "

  "We figured as much," Viktor said. "You must lead the way, then!"

  Trehan had only to imagine Lothaires face, and it would direct him to the Enemy of Old. Then he could trace his cousins to the vampires location.

  Trehan turned to Stelian. "Youre actually in agreement with this?" His hulking cousin revered Dacia and loathed change.

  "Its rational to explore the possibility, to determine if Lothaires truly improving. " Stelian took another drink. "We require little of your time. Your days are free. "

  No, they really werent. Damn it. And still my duty to Dacia calls me.

  Though Trehans memories of Lothaire gave him pause, the idea of restoring a rightful king to his throne appealed to his sense of order. Trehan might be breaking other rules now, but the rules of succession for the Dacian crown should be inviolable.

  Yes, he was warming to this idea.

  Viktor said, "You should know, however, that there might be a catch with his Bride. "

  "Isnt there always?" Trehan said. "Cant wait to hear it-but first, Ive a catch of my own. . . . "

  For the last several days, Bettina had been particularly unmotivated to work.

  The first couple of nights after her close encounter with Daciano on the grandstand, shed wandered her rooms after the evenings battles, aimlessly pacing, her appetite gone. For endless hours, shed fretted over Cas in the ring-and replayed her three interludes with Daciano.

  But then, fearing Patronesss displeasure, the deadline looming, shed powered through and now had much to show for her efforts.

  Shed sketched diagrams of every moving part and cut each individual mold, getting closer to the fabrication stage. So what materials will I use?

  She thought of her great and powerful Patroness, with all her fiery red hair. Rose gold. Of course.

  Picking up a diamond file, she began to smooth the edges of the last mold. With a project this intricate and complex, the parts had to be exact, with machinelike precision.

  She could have requested an extension on this deadline, but it helped to keep her mind occupied as the tournament dragged on.

  Night after night, shed flinched with each hit Cas took and sagged with each bout he won; shed fretted as Gourlav handily advanced, without so much as a single injury.

  Night after night, shed wondered why the vampire had made no move to speak to her since hed pleasured her in the mist.

  He had appeared, killed quietly and efficiently, then vanished.

  In his bout against the remaining Ajatar, hed walked through flames, his outline illuminated-no panic, just pure will as hed made his kill, collecting one head, then the other.

  Against the Volar demon, hed demonstrated just as little emotion. With his face expressionless and his eyes that impassive green, Daciano had winged the creature, then taken its head effortlessly.

  Many of the Abaddonae were speculating that he was a turned human, a Forbearer. Some of them believed he must be the oldest Forbearer ever turned, considering his strength and his control with tracing.