Kissed by a Dark Prince (Volume 1) (38 page)

And teleported just as she dodged the final spike.

He appeared before her, his right hand flattened to form a point with his vicious black claws and shoved it upwards before she had even noticed him.

His claws ripped through the metal corset and the black material of her dress and plunged into her flesh just below her ribcage. He grabbed her shoulder with his left hand and drove his other one hard into her, until his claws punctured her twisted black heart and she gasped, her vicious grin becoming a look of horror and disbelief.

Loren closed his claws around her heart and stared down into her eyes as the red faded from them, revealing pale icy blue, ensuring he was the last thing she saw as he tore the vital organ from her body, spraying her blood across the gravel.

She dropped to the ground.

A huge broadsword came out of nowhere and severed her head.

Loren raised an eyebrow at Thorne.

“Just to be sure,” the demon king said and nodded towards the heart still clutched in Loren’s hand. “My kind would eat that.”

Loren grimaced and dropped the black heart. “My kind would not.”

He turned away and bright red light flared across his eyes, searing them. He raised his hands to shield them from it and squinted in search of the source.

Vail arched off the ground, a collar of markings blazing around his throat, his agonized bellow ripping through the night. Birds fled their perches in the trees and nature herself trembled in response to the harrowing sound.

Loren pushed forwards, driven to soothe his brother and help him somehow.

The markings disappeared and Vail looked at him, his purple eyes verging on black and rapidly filling with a wild and crazed but sorrowful look that Loren had seen too often in the past forty-two centuries not to know what it meant.

“Bleu!” Loren shouted and rushed to grab Vail before he could escape.

Bleu managed to reach him before Loren could but Vail fought him, vicious and savage despite his injuries. He clawed at Bleu, snarling and growling like a beast, his visage that of an animal as he bared his fangs and gnashed them. Bleu blocked as many blows as he could but others struck, Vail’s serrated claws cutting easily through Bleu’s armour and into his flesh.

Loren used all of his remaining strength to cross the distance between them in a blur of speed but even that wasn’t fast enough.

Vail leaped backwards, pressed hard into the ground and propelled himself upwards, flipping heels over head to land on the remaining scaffolding.

“Vail... stay. I can help you get better.” Loren reached for his brother and Vail hesitated, giving him hope that he would do as Loren bid.

Vail paused only long enough to look down at Loren with regret and a dreadful sense of finality in his eyes, the emotions flooding the restored link between them both speaking of his pain and issuing a silent apology, and then swan dived off the scaffolding towards the collapsed section.

“No!” Loren rushed forwards, heart beating wildly in his throat as his brother plummeted towards the ground and the mess of steel pipes that rose at jagged angles from it.

Purple and pale blue light burst across Loren’s eyes and Vail disappeared.

Loren’s knees gave out and he hit the dirt, the impact robbing him of his breath. He stared at the air as it shimmered, still reaching for his brother, and then threw his head back and roared until his throat burned and he ran out of air.

He collapsed forwards and pressed his hands into the gravel, hanging his head between his arms.

Vail was gone. He couldn’t sense his brother at all, meaning he had closed the connection between them again, severing them once more.

Why?

Loren clawed at the gravel, refusing to believe it was because Vail intended to end his life. If he had wanted to kill himself, he wouldn’t have called the portal. The force of hitting the broken scaffolding from such a height would have caused some of the steel poles to impale his body. He would have bled out before Loren could save him.

Olivia’s warm hand came to rest gently on his back and he closed his eyes, the softness and tenderness of her touch soothing some of the pain from his aching heart. He had been determined to kill his brother and only she had stopped him from making a terrible mistake, but he had failed to save him in the end.

“Loren?” Olivia whispered and he lifted his head and looked at her. She crouched beside him, blood ringing her throat and dirt covering her pale skin, her gaze showing none of the pain he could sense in her. It showed only concern and affection, and something that worked to reassure him. “Archangel will help you find him. We have resources that can help you track Vail and then we can help him. We won’t give up on him.”

Loren nodded, heart buoyed by her words, grateful to his mate for her support and her confidence.

He sat up and looked over his shoulder at Bleu. Sable was tending to him and Thorne watched over them, his gaze tracking every move the huntress made. She glanced across at Loren and rose to her feet, grimacing as she clutched her injured arm.

“I’ll help any way I can,” Sable said, the offer unexpected and touching him deeply. Sable had no reason to get involved. Neither did Archangel, but the determination in Sable and Olivia’s eyes said that the organisation would be helping him whether they liked it or not.

Loren looked back at Kordula’s body.

“I will search for Vail and I will not stop until I have found him.” Loren pushed himself up and Olivia helped him stand, holding his arm and then wrapping it around her shoulders and bearing his weight. He breathed through his pain, every laceration on his body burning and stealing his strength, but it wouldn’t shake his resolve. “I vow I will never give up on Vail, even if he has given up on himself.”

Olivia smiled up at him.

“We will never give up on him,” she said and his heart warmed at her words. “We will find a way to save him.”

He nodded and gathered her close to him, and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips, forever grateful to have such a wonderful, understanding, caring and stubborn ki’ara.

Loren pulled away from her and brushed his knuckles across her cheek, and then grimaced when the side of his chest burned as though someone had poured poison from the river of the seventh demon kingdom on it.

Olivia’s brown eyes filled with concern and her eyebrows furrowed. “We need to get these wounds fixed up.”

Loren nodded and looked at Bleu, Sable and then Thorne. “Care to test the limits of your teleportation ability?”

The Third King grinned cockily, exposing bloodied fangs and reopening the vicious split on his swollen lower lip. “One more little female is hardly going to test it.”

Bleu caught Loren’s arm and Sable’s. Olivia looked wary about taking Thorne’s hand and Loren nodded to let her know that he wouldn’t see the male as a threat to him. She was his now and no one could take her from him, although he would kill any who tried.

She placed her hand on Thorne’s and he grabbed Sable’s, and then a black vortex swirled outwards from the centre of their rough circle.

Loren glanced back at the point where Vail had disappeared as he dropped into the portal and swore again that he would find Vail, no matter how long it took.

He would achieve the dream he had dared to give up on.

He would save his brother.

Thorne landed them in the cafeteria of the Archangel headquarters in London, causing a dozen hunters to leap to their feet and throwing the place into pandemonium again. Sable calmed the situation before the alarms blared and lights began flashing, and Loren almost thanked her for sparing him the pain of having to use his powers to silence them.

“You have one cycle of the moon, Prince Loren. I expect your assistance then.” Thorne released Olivia, his dark red gaze pinned on Loren, and Loren nodded.

“Thank you for everything... for helping me save my ki’ara. I am forever in your debt.” Loren held his hand out to Thorne and the demon clasped it and nodded. He released Loren’s hand.

And lingered.

Sable slowly raised her eyes from Thorne’s hand on her arm to his face, her eyebrows creeping up her forehead at the same time. The demon king stared down at her and, for a moment, Loren thought he would attempt to teleport with her, even though Bleu still held her other arm, and then he huffed, let go of her hand and stepped back. It looked as though it had taken Thorne considerable effort to place even that small distance between them.

The Third King frowned, opened his mouth to speak, and then growled and disappeared into a portal.

Sable stared at the shrinking black patch on the floor and then looked over at Olivia and blinked.

“Maybe we should get these wounds looked at now.” Olivia didn’t sound sure and Loren could see she had noticed the demon king’s desire for her friend and was struggling with how to deal with it, just as Sable was.

And Bleu.

He growled something about killing and suffering, released Sable and stalked over to Loren. “My prince, we should return to the kingdom and inform them of our success.”

Loren nodded and stopped to look at Olivia. They had never talked about where she would live and his heart told him that she would want to continue her work with Archangel. It meant a lot to her and he wouldn’t stand in the way of her achieving her dream of promoting a better understanding between demons, fae and mankind when she sought to help him with achieving his own dream of saving his brother.

Olivia smiled. “You don’t need to look so nervous. I’m going wherever you go. I have a whole new world to explore and hopefully document.”

She stepped up to him, tiptoed and pressed a kiss to his lips. Loren growled and gathered her into his arms, slanted his head and claimed her mouth, ignoring the fierce ache as his wounds protested.

Violet light outlined his body and then chased over Olivia, bringing her with him to his apartments in the castle. A moment later, Sable’s voice rang out from the courtyard below, scolding Bleu for kidnapping her again. There was going to be trouble ahead for Sable.

In one lunar month, Loren would lead his army with Bleu and Olivia to the Third Realm and Thorne’s aid, and something told him that when that happened, Sable would be leading her own team to the same location under the banner of Archangel.

All hell was going to break loose in the Third Realm.

Loren smiled against Olivia’s lips, his pain forgotten as he relished the feel of his female as she leaned into him, her mouth dancing with his, her sweet taste intoxicating him.

He focused on their connection, forging a stronger one and using it to seek out her injuries and steal them away before she could notice what he was doing. His back hurt and his throat blazed, but he didn’t care. He would heal these new wounds and his old ones soon enough.

Olivia sighed and broke away from his lips, her dark gaze serious as she looked up at him. “I thought I told you not to do that. I’m immortal now... I can heal my own wounds.”

Loren stared down at his beautiful ki’ara and shook his head, grazing his fingers across her soft dirty cheek at the same time. “I will never allow you to endure pain when I have the power to take it away.”

She pressed her cheek against his palm and smiled, her kiss-swollen lips taking on a wicked look. “And I will never allow you to endure pain when I have the power to take it away.”

Olivia brushed her wild chestnut hair away from her throat and drew the strap of her ruined purple halter-top aside, revealing the marks he had placed on her.

She tilted her head to one side and Loren half-groaned half-growled, gathered her against him and bent his head. His cheek brushed hers and he swept his lips across the healing marks on her skin, and she moaned and clutched his shoulders. Pleasure flowed through their link and he closed his eyes, opened his mouth and obeyed her silent command.

He eased his fangs into her and the first drop of her blood sent a shiver through him, bringing his tired body back to life and erasing his pain as he swallowed it down and pulled more of her sweet blood from her.

His ki’ara.

He had thought he would end this tumultuous journey alone, having sacrificed both of his dreams in the name of duty.

Now he had one of his elusive dreams nestled in his arms, her blood revitalising his body and speeding the healing of his injuries, and the pleasure she took from his bite flowing through him like ambrosia in his veins.

And the other he would chase until the end of time and he would never give up on it again because the delicate, beautiful female in his arms would never let him.

She would stand by him, supporting him, driving him onwards and giving him the strength to keep fighting to save his brother, even when he lost hope or his spirits were broken. She would always be there for him and he would always be there for her, and they would never be alone again.

His beautiful ki’ara.

His sweet Olivia.

His eternal mate.

The End

Felicity Heaton is a USA Today best-selling author who writes passionate paranormal romance books as Felicity Heaton and F E Heaton. In her books she creates detailed worlds, twisting plots, mind-blowing action, intense emotion and heart-stopping romances with leading men that vary from dark deadly vampires to sexy shape-shifters and wicked werewolves, to sinful angels and hot demons!

If you're a fan of paranormal romance authors Lara Adrian, J R Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Gena Showalter and Christine Feehan then you will enjoy her books too.

If you love your angels a little dark and wicked, Felicity Heaton’s best selling Her Angel series is for you. If you like strong, powerful, and dark vampires then try the Vampires Realm series she writes as F E Heaton or any of her stand alone vampire romance books she writes as Felicity Heaton. Or if you’re looking for vampire romances that are sinful, passionate and erotic then try Felicity Heaton’s new Vampire Erotic Theatre series.

In 2011, five of her six paranormal romance books received Top Pick awards from Night Owl Reviews and Forbidden Blood was nominated as Best PNR Vampire Romance 2011 at The Romance Reviews. In 2012, she was awarded the GraveTells Author of the Year Award, and Heart of Darkness was announced as a 2013 Epic Ebook Awards finalist in the Paranormal Romance category. Many of her books receive five star reviews from readers and review sites alike.