Corrupt Cravings (2 page)

“Just give me a minute to collect my thoughts,” she whispered.

“Marcella, tell me what’s wrong. I can feel the difference in you.” Jason’s voice was hoarse as he tried to speak to her soothingly. The need to tell them about the vision brought her mouth open, but she closed it just as fast. They couldn’t know this kept happening. Ever. Somehow, she knew that.

“It’s the voices of my creatures. I can’t think on my own.”

Jason eased forward on the bed, making her turn in his direction. A yawn came from his mouth as he ran his fingers through his dark brown hair. The tribal tattoos of his collector trailed down the length of his arms. Marcella studied the ink covering his whole upper body. The dragon on the middle of his chest drew her attention. It was something she’d wondered about a lot lately.

“Babe, when was the last time you shifted into something besides a collector? You know this happens when you wait too long.”

“I’m fine, seriously. I was a bit overwhelmed, that’s all.”

“Marcy, you haven’t changed form since Gwendolyn, have you? I know you haven’t with me.”

Jerking her eyes to Ambrose’s dark green vampire depths, she looked down quickly. The hysterical laughter of her demon haunted her dreams. She could still remember it chanting excitedly as she exploded the fire from her skin, resulting in the murdering vampire’s death. But if she hadn’t done that, she had no doubt Gwen would have ripped her throat out without a second thought. No one holding that amount of anger wanted to willingly give over the souls of her servants, or herself. Not even if it was for her own good.

Dominic cleared his throat. “Answer him, Marcella. I know you haven’t shifted into anything with me. I just assumed you did it with one of the others.”

She glared over at her mate. “No, Dom, I haven’t. But it’s only been a few days.”

“A week,” Jason corrected her, collapsing back to the pillow. Ambrose stood and walked over closer to her, as did Dominic.

“A week is not a big deal. I’ve gone nine days without my succubus coming.”

Dominic’s blue eyes penetrated hers. “Yeah, and do you remember how much you drained me? I slept harder than the dead. No one could have awakened me if they tried.”

“Yes, I remember.” She sighed. “I’m sorry, but I have three of you now. When she comes, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Anyway, enough of this. I need details on my missing man. Let’s go over what Ben said about Donavon again. I want to hear every word that came out of his mouth.”

“Do not change the subject, love. I think we need to address your problem. It’s already getting out of hand if you’re overwhelmed, as you put it.” Dominic tilted his head as he looked at her. The all too familiar anger associated with her collector coursed through her blood. An arm wrapped around her waist and pulled back, keeping her from opening her mouth.

“Leave her alone, Dom. We have all day to address her changing into something else. Let’s just lie back down and relax. The freaking sun is barely up. I want to go back to sleep.”

Marcella curled into Jason’s body, burying her face into his chest. The agitated growl from her mate was quickly followed by a shift in the mattress. Ambrose remained quiet as he also climbed into bed on the other side of her boyfriend.

The image of Marcianna and her words burned into Marcy’s brain.
Only one holds the key.
Somehow, she didn’t have a clue what that meant, but she wanted to find out. All she needed was to bring Donavon back, and then she could try to tap into more memories. From what the boy, Ben, had said, her other man was part of a wolf pack on the outskirts of Victoria, Texas. With him not being more than an hour and a half away, the waiting wasn’t helping with her unstable mind.

“I have to leave. By myself.”

The statement came out of nowhere. Marcy heard the words but didn’t realize at first she was the one who had spoken them. As she began to comprehend, pieces started to fit together. It was as if her subconscious knew what she needed to do.

“Leave where?” Dominic sat up and turned her over to look at him.

“It’s a full moon tonight.” Hesitation only lasted for a second. “I’m going to Donavon.”

“The hell you are!
We’re
going to get him after we sort things out here. I thought we already discussed this.”

Jason quickly rushed in. “Yeah, I’m with Dom on this one, Marcy. There’s no way I’m letting you go into a large group of wolves without me by your side.”

She looked back and forth to both of the men at her sides. “I’m going to get Donavon on my own, and that’s an order. With only two of us able to shift, Jason, you have a human life to live.”

“Fuck the human life! You’re my queen. You
are
my life.”

“No. You need to be here with your mother. Ambrose needs to stay to look after the vampires, and Dom, you can’t get in without blowing our cover. I’m going alone.”

Dominic groaned, standing from the bed. The muscles in his arms flexed as he went back to pacing the large length of her room. Unexplained calmness settled throughout her. Slowly, she eased from Jason’s hold and walked to her mate. He stopped upon seeing her.

“Marcy, I can’t let you go.”

“Come to me, lover.” She held out her hands. A nod was quickly followed by Dom collapsing to his knees. The thickness of his arms crushed her body against him. Nestling his face against her stomach, he held her until she lifted his face.

“I’ll be fine. It has to be this way. Trust me when I tell you that. Do you trust me?”

A pained expression darkened his face. “Yes, of course. But I don’t want to you to leave unprotected.”

“You taught me everything I know.” She smiled at him as he nodded his head, agreeing. The tension in his shoulders told her he still didn’t like it. “I need you here to help Jason and Ambrose train the vampires. I’m sure their instincts on attacking are good, but I need them better. The best.”

“How long do you think this will take?”

Marcy shrugged. “I’m not sure. I’ll have to win him over and get him to leave with me.”

“That shouldn’t take long. Well, I’m up. There’s no way I can go back to bed now.” Jason stood up, materializing dark clothes to cover his tall frame. In just the last week, he managed to grow another inch. If he continued to increase in size, Marcy feared he would surpass Dominic’s six feet four inches, and that was downright scary. Especially with how wide he already was.

“Hours are too long, Jason.” Ambrose rose, and she covered him in black clothing with a wave of her hand. They all stared while they waited for her to say something.

“I’ll spend time with everyone today, but I leave mid-afternoon.”

Dominic’s grip grew tighter just before he stood and hugged her body into his. “Promise me you’ll be careful. I hate this more than you’ll ever know. It feels unnatural to let you go off alone. Will you call to me if anything happens?”

“Yes, of course. You all go down and get everyone to meet me in the great hall. I’m calling a meeting. The vampires should still be awake, so the timing shouldn’t be a problem.”

Silence grew thick in the room as her men loaded themselves with weapons and left. Imagining a black medieval gown trimmed in gold, Marcella willed it to cover her. Smiling, she closed her eyes. There was only one person she wanted to see.

“Samael, come to me.”

The connection to his soul stirred, fluttering around inside of her stomach. She felt for their link and pulled. A curse was followed by his body bouncing against the mattress as he fell from where he was residing.

“Good thing I couldn’t sleep, or else you would have been in for a surprise. A naked surprise. So, is there a reason you summoned me? I could already hear you.”

Marcella laughed, climbing onto the bed. “I know you could, but I couldn’t resist the urge to test our link.” Crawling a little bit closer, she could feel her smile growing in the excitement. “Guess who visited me this morning?”

“Who?” He narrowed his gaze as he looked at her. Something in his blue eyes triggered an unexplained emotion, but she pushed it away, too eager to share her news. Every time she was around him, something kept trying to break through. Marcella found out a long time ago not to try to force it. The memories just wouldn’t come. Once, she tried reading his soul for information like she did with all the others, but with him, everything was blocked. Bringing herself out of her thoughts, she focused on his question.

“Marcianna. She left me a message.”

The shock on his face made her smile bigger. “A message?” He laughed, sounding almost nervous. “That’s impossible. Memories, okay, but an actual message…no. But please, enlighten me. What did she say?”

Confused, Marcella felt her head draw back. There was no point in arguing with him, but she knew what she saw, and that was her old self. “She did say it was a memory, but it was a message. Let me see, she said you all are not as you appear, oh, and that one of you is the key. Tell me Samael, do you know what that means?”

His expression went flat. “Sounds like bullshit to me. But if I did know something, I wouldn’t tell you. You know those were the conditions. Telling you before you remember will only make you repeat the past, and we don’t need you dying again. So, is there another reason why you called me here, to your bed of all places?”

Marcella’s jaw parted as she realized how close their bodies had become. The mischievous look on Samael’s face had her pausing. Their past was still unclear. The love he carried for her was still uncertain. It was enough for her to have his soul, and he admitted to his love, but never in detail. As if offended by her hesitation, his face turned away abruptly. Sadness swamped her emotions, and she clutched to her chest, physically feeling it ache. With his profile showing, the annoying emptiness of her memory pulled.

“Samael, look at me.”

“I didn’t think you wanted that. How could you? Is there anything else you need of me, my queen?”

“Yes. Have you decided to stay with me? I feel like you should be here. Something is telling me” Marcy took a deep breath, searching for the right words, but he quickly cut her off as he faced her.

“I don’t think there’s enough room in your bed for me. Sorry. I think where I live is just fine.”

Marcella went to reach out for him but stopped herself before her hand did anything more than twitch. “Don’t be like that, please. Why do you feel the need to be mean? You’re so bitter sometimes, and I don’t understand it.”

“Forgive me.” Samael took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling. Whatever was bothering him, Marcella could feel it taking its toll on both of them. “I’m not myself this morning. I met with the masters, and let’s say it wasn’t too fun. But, all is well, so no worries. If there’s nothing else, I’ll be on my way. I really need some sleep.”

“Wait, there is something.”

She wasn’t sure what she was doing, but Marcy suddenly felt consumed with desire to see if they ever held a more intimate relationship than they detained now. Leaning in his direction, she slowly raised her hand to his face. Right before contact, he jerked back.

“What are you doing?”

“Let me try something. I need to see.”

“No, you don’t. Nothing will become of it.”

“How do you know? Have we”

“No, and you always made sure it stayed that way. Why the thought would even cross your mind now is beyond me. Here, see for yourself.”

Marcella’s hand was jerked to his cheek so quickly, her whole body flew forward. Her breasts crushed into his hard frame, and pleasure exploded over her body at the contact of their skin touching. The same thing happened when she first summoned him so long ago on the pier.

The sound of her cry echoed in the stone room, and she fought whether to climb more on his lap or pull away completely. The conflicting emotions left her overwhelmed.