Caressed by Night (21 page)

“There is one other person,” Gabriel corrected him with a mischievous smile.

“Who?” Dorian demanded.

“Me.”

Dorian’s body went numb, his heart stopped mid-beat as the air exploded from his lungs. Shock twisted his gut as eerie chills pricked his flesh. The ancient, haunting voice could only belong to…

Dorian slowly turned in his seat.

Dimitri stood before the wall of windows, his hands clasped behind his back, his cold gaze focused on the brightly lit city below.

Dorian’s mind was a hurricane of thought. Dimitri, the last original vampire, was alive.

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Pushing himself to his feet, Dorian placed his right hand over his heart, sank to one knee, slammed his left fist on the floor, and bowed his head.

“Sire,” he whispered, his voice shaking.

Dimitri turned from the window and came to stand before his oldest friend. Leaning down, he gripped Dorian’s shoulders and drew him up to face him.

“You’re really here.”

Dorian could not resist the overwhelming urge to pull Dimitri into a bear-like hug.

“It’s good to see you, old friend,” Dimitri said with a chuckle, pulling away.

“How is this possible? You have been dead for four hundred years.”

“Correction. I have been out of circulation. Please. Resume your seat. I will explain everything and more.” Dorian stumbled back and sank into his chair.

“Don’t worry, the shock will wear off,” Gabriel assured Dorian.

“Comforting,” Dorian sighed. “I do not think I will recover any time soon.” He took in a deep breath, allowing the cool air to cycle through his body before he slowly exhaled. Closing his eyes, he tried to mentally prepare himself for what was to come next. Clearing his mind, he opened his eyes and said, “Dimitri, you are alive. How? Why?

Damn it, tell me how.”

“Always straight to the point.”

“You have no idea how glad I am to know you are alive and well, but I need to know why you would go to such great lengths to make everyone believe you were dead. I mean no disrespect, Dimitri, but at this point I cannot and I will not accept any mystical, sage-like talk.”

A smile lightened Dimitri’s face as he claimed the seat beside Dorian. “Do not fear, my friend, today I will tell you all there is to know.”

Dorian relaxed back in his chair, crossed his arms over his chest, and gave his complete, undivided attention to the ancient pureblooded vampire.

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Gabriel leaned forward, resting his arms on his desk. He too was craving to know more about the reasons behind Dimitri’s decision to fake his death and live in the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment to reveal himself.

“A couple hundred years before my staged death, I developed the ability to see the future. Like you, Dorian, I can also read minds. I knew how Ven felt about me. At the time, he had grown tired of waiting for the curse to claim me so that he could assume power,” Dimitri held up his hand, stopping Dorian, “please, save your comments.”

Dorian clenched his jaw and nodded.

“After receiving visions of Ven’s plan for me and reading his thoughts, I sought out the Shaman for advice.”

Dorian swallowed his surprise as Gabriel buried his face in his hands. Questions burned both their tongues, but they remained silent.

“I was given images, brief visions of future events. The Shaman shared two of his visions with me, one of how vampire society would be if I charged Ven with treason and sentenced him to death.

The other, how the world would change with my passing. He allowed me to make the decision. I chose to fake my death.

“Believe me, I made the correct choice. You see, my death allowed for so much to happen. It was a trigger for many momentous events. If I had not died, Kal never would have thought to join forces with the witches and attack you or your people, Dorian.”

“I hardly see that as something good. I lost hundreds of my Clan members to that traitorous psychopath.”

“Yes, that is rather unfortunate. However, it was Kal and his witch allies that drove you to London.”

“Holy shit,” Gabriel whispered as the weight of Dimitri’s words settled on his shoulders.

“London is where you found your mate, Victoria, is it not?” Dimitri asked.

“Are you saying I would never have met Victoria if you had lived?”

Dimitri shrugged. “Can you think of anything that would have drawn you to London at that time?”

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Dorian slowly shook his head. In the early 1800s, London held no interest for him. The only reason he had left his Clan’s territory was to draw the murderous Red Order witches away from his people.

“But you faked your death,” Gabriel said, “you didn’t actually die.”

“I only needed to make everyone believe I was dead. After my battle with the Red Order witch, I hid underground, literally. I went into a deep, rejuvenating sleep and awoke in the year 1896, to find the world was as my vision had shown.”

“You’ve been living in the shadows all this time?” Dorian asked.

“I’ve been watching and waiting for the right moment to reveal myself.”

“What makes now so perfect?” Dorian asked.

“I may claim my mate.”

Dorian’s sharp inhale burned his lungs. “You found your mate?”

“Being able to see the future, I knew she would be here.”

“You knew who she was?”

“Not exactly. I knew her features. She would be of average height, slender, with strawberry blonde hair, and endless, deep, sapphire eyes,” Dimitri explained. “I did not know exactly when or how we were to meet, that was for Fate to decide.”

“Fucking great,” Gabriel sighed.

“I had no idea Victoria was my mate until I accidentally bound her to me,” Dorian said with a light laugh. “So, the only reason you came to Las Vegas is because you knew your mate would be here?”

“She is the reason I came to this city, but coming to Las Vegas has other advantages. This is a secure territory belonging to Gabriel. I knew this place would be safe for me to reveal myself and begin my relationship with Kerstyn, my mate. Nevada also has a large, unpopulated desert area where I may challenge Ven, far away from humans and those who may interfere in our duel.”

“Should Ven be bringing his dueling pistols or a sword,” Dorian added, his eyes twinkling with laughter, his face alight with a wide smile.

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Dimitri shook his head. “I am afraid I have just aged myself.

Kerstyn says sometimes I speak as if I am from another world.”

“You’re slipping, Dimitri. After almost 14,000 years, you might be losing your touch,” Dorian teased.

“I think reintroducing myself into vampire society is a perfect way of getting it back.”

His sober, serious tone brought the laughter to an end.

“What is your plan?” Dorian asked.

“I originally thought I would expose myself to the public slowly. When it became clear that method would not work on Ven, I changed my plan.”

Dorian groaned and slumped back in his seat. A knot tightened in his gut and he knew he would not like what was to come next.

Dimitri was the most sensible and rational man he knew, while the demon within him was strong, ruthless, and frighteningly intelligent.

“I needed to send him a message, one he could not ignore.”

“You attacked his holdings,” Dorian accepted with a nod.

“It was a more direct approach.”

“Well, it worked,” Dorian huffed. “The vampire called me in a panic last night and I decided to move up my trip to investigate the charges he has laid against Gabriel.”

“The bastard has been irritating my poor receptionist all day,” Gabriel added.

“Why are you avoiding his calls?” Dimitri asked.

“I have nothing to say to him. He’ll demand to know if I was the one who launched the attack. You know how much I hate to lie. I would tell him the truth and, just like that, he will deliver a challenge and I will have to kill the prick, which is Dimitri’s right and duty.” Dorian inclined his head. “All valid reasons. Right after he received word that his home was burnt and his warehouse raided, he began calling me nonstop. He even managed to get Queen Sonya on his side.”

“Knowing Queen Sonya, she only called you to get Ven off her back. She would never truly side with filth like him,” Gabriel snorted.

“Since my wife and I landed, he’s been calling every fifteen minutes. Thank the power up above for caller I.D.,” Dorian chuckled
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before a mask of seriousness settled over his face again. “I understand why you would attack his home, it’s personal, but why would you blow up his warehouse in the heart of such a large city?”

“You know that Ven and Boras are in alliance,” Dimitri began.

“Boras plans to unify the outcast vampires, thereby, creating his own Clan. Together, they will divide the North American continent and rule.

However, their dealings with each other go deeper than that. This is a lawless country and they have no higher power to answer to, as such, they do as they please. Boras deals with human slavery and Ven has become his trade partner. The warehouse in Chicago was where he kept his slaves.”

“Gannon and I organized the attack and executed the raid. We rescued the slaves and took them to a safe house, where Silvie erased their memories and gave them new lives.”

Dorian’s stomach twisted. There was nothing more repulsive than slavery. It had been outlawed for hundreds of years, but since Dimitri’s supposed death, the horrific practice had been taken up again.

Though he had never experienced slavery directly, he had seen it in all its forms. From his father owning slaves who had been captured in war, to the African trade, and vampire-on-human slavery, which, in his opinion, was the most horrific. The last were known as bleeders. Used to sate a vampire’s every craving: hunger, sex, and anger. Humans never lasted long in their world.

His gaze shifted to Gabriel. The blond vampire appeared to be calm, in control, but Dorian could sense the raging emotions that lurked beneath the surface. It was well-known that Gabriel had been a blood slave.

Deciding to change the subject, Dorian cleared his throat and asked, “Silvie? The soon-to-be Shaw priestess?”

“Yes,” Dimitri answered, “she was sent here a few years back to protect my mate.”

“Why has she not gone back to her people?”

“She and Kerstyn have become friends and she wants to remain here to help me protect her.”

“If your plan has worked, Ven will be here shortly and you will need all the help you can get. I regret that I cannot stay and help. My wife and I are needed back home. We came to get away from stress, but we do have to return soon.”

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“Ven will be here at the end of the month,” Dimitri stated. “I could not expect and would not ask you to stay away from your Clan for so long.”

“I will need to boost security,” Gabriel said, making a mental note to discuss preparations and precautions with Gannon.

Dorian sighed and leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees and running his large hands through his dark hair. “This is an insane miracle. I still can’t believe you are really sitting here. And all of this information…mind-blowing.” Turning his face up, he added, “I would really like you to meet Victoria and I would be honored if you introduced us to your mate.”

Dimitri inclined his head in agreement. “Tomorrow night should do.”

“What is taking place tomorrow?”

Dimitri turned his gaze to Gabriel, whose eyes were wide with surprise.

“That is downright creepy,” Gabriel said, his voice low with awe.

“What?” Dorian asked.

“I was planning on hosting a party at my club, Dark, for you and your queen tomorrow. Thanks for spoiling the surprise, Dimitri.” The pureblood vampire chuckled, “I apologize.”

“Victoria and I will be leaving early Thursday, so tomorrow works perfectly. Wednesday will be our day of complete relaxation.”

“You came to the right place. My hotel has the best spa in the city,” Gabriel bragged.

“Good to know. I’m sure Victoria will love it.” Turning to Dimitri, Dorian asked, “May I tell my Clan you have returned?”

“Not yet. I will let you know when I think the time is right. As of now, I only want hushed whispers circling about me.”

“Building fear,” Dorian said with a nod.

Dimitri nodded. “Also, do not mention me to Queen Sonya or Falcon.”

“That will not be an easy feat.”

“When will you―”

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The shrill ring of his phone cut him off mid-sentence yet again and Gabriel growled as he answered the call.

“I’m really sorry, Mr. Erhard. I know you are in a very important meeting, but King Ven has called again and I…” Anger exploded and quickly filled the room. It burned in Gabriel’s eyes, simmered beneath the surface of Dorian’s cool exterior, and radiated from Dimitri’s solid frame.

“Will you give him a message from me?”

“Yes, sir,” the receptionist said.

“Repeat exactly what I say, then you may head home for the evening.” Gabriel cleared his throat. “Tell Ven, he can go and f―”

“Put the call through.”

Gabriel’s eyes snapped to Dimitri as Dorian turned in his chair.

The deep, rasping voice did not belong to their friend, but to his demon.

His eyes burned bright like the fires of hell as a thick, black aura settled about him. He was pure, unchallengeable power—radiating menace, death.

“What?” Gabriel asked.

“Have her put the call through now.”