Dark War Chronicles Box Set One (58 page)

He pulled her shirt over her head and shoved her back against the wall, next to the TV. His lips captured her left nipple while his hand assaulted her right. She arched her back at his touch, moaning as she grew wet for him. His hands brushed down her sides and hooked into her pants, and she quickly undid her belt so he could slide the pants off her. In a swift movement she stood naked in front of him, still pressed against the wall.

She tried to catch her breath, but he slipped his hand between her legs and his finger teased her delicate bud between her wet folds. Moaning, she leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes, trying to lose herself in the feelings Orion was giving her. He slipped a finger into her and stroked her.

Desire overtook her and she wrapped her legs around him. Orion caught her wrist and pinned her arm above her head against the wall again, letting her know he was in control. With her pressed against the wall he thrust into her and she cried out, her back arching to meet him.

They found a rhythm and pleasure overtook her. Her body shook as he took her to the edge. Her orgasm exploded as he gave a final thrust and his seed shot deep into her. They slouched down against the wall and held each other. In this moment she was just happy he was alive. They could deal with everything else later, but right now they were mates. Content in each other's arms and safe.

Lucius paced the throne room waiting for another call from Kaden, but he knew Tegan hadn't woken yet. His human was sleeping to heal herself; he'd seen it before. He looked up when Mae walked in. "What?"

"I've closed the bar for the night and our guests should be here within the hour." She crossed her arms. "You sure you want to call in extra people at this point?"

He clenched his hands to keep from running his hands through his hair. "Yes, we'll be losing Orion soon and I need to start filling in some gaps. It's time that I stop hiding things from those who are a part of my territory."

"It keeps you strong." She stated. "Are you planning on telling them about how Kass is the killer?"

Kassity was still recovering from the queen's attack and that worried him. Jaxon was refusing to come out of the room except to fetch food for his mate. How did this happen? Lucius locked his jaw. "No, I will let them know about Tegan, the Circle, and the demons. They have a right to know about that, not my plans. Not yet."

"You push people away with how much you hide. What's to keep the Circle from going to them and convincing them you are actually trying to rise against them?"

He shook his head. "You don't know how politics work, Mae."

"Then teach me." She snapped. "I've only ever been on the other side. Not from your point of view. You brought me over to this side of things for a reason, now teach me."

He closed his eyes; she'd grown bolder since he'd changed her. Part of it was to get revenge on Josh, yes, but Lucius had his own plans for Mae. "Now is not the time. You’ll learn something tonight about what it's like for me to rule the territory. As for my reasoning, you'll learn eventually, but now is not the right time."

"So you say." She dropped her arms. "If you don't need me, I'll let you be."

He needed to be alone right now, but he knew that wasn't going to happen. "Thank you, Mae, I'll see you in thirty minutes." Lucius sat in his throne and looked at the door expectantly. He wanted it to be Tegan who walked through the door, but he knew it wasn't possible.

And he couldn't help the small amount of disappointment that climbed through him as Orion walked through with Danielle on his arm.

"You know the rules about mates and my territory." Lucius started, but he already knew what the deal would be. He'd wanted Orion to defeat the queen and take the throne.

Danielle raised a brow and looked at Orion. He shook his head. "I came tonight for the meeting, it'll be my last night in your territory. Liara is dead and I have to take the throne back."

"And you're going to take Danielle there." Lucius leaned back. "A human in a Fae world." Chuckling, he shook his head. "I appreciate you giving me a bit more of your time."

"I'm not doing it for you." Orion stepped away from Dani. "I'm doing it because I owe it to Tegan. If you don't take care of your territory she'll lose everything she fought for when she was with the demons."

Lucius gripped the chair. "I can refuse to let you leave my service." His eyes flickered to Danielle. "Or demand that you leave someone in your place." If Orion wasn't careful, Lucius would do it. The Fae seemed to like to push buttons. "Do not pretend you know what Tegan went through nor what the outcome was. We don't know what the demons wanted with her."

Orion bowed his head and held his hand out to Danielle. She took it and he wrapped an arm around her waist. Orion met Lucius' gaze. "You're a strong leader Lucius, and you've changed over the years. You will find an alliance with the Fae."

Lucius nearly choked, but he kept his face blank. He hadn't hoped for an alliance, but it worked in his favor. "It's been an honor to have you in my territory and among my people. Thank you for the alliance, the Fae will be a perfect ally."

Orion led Danielle over to his usual spot for meetings and they chatted idly while people started to fill the room. Though many of Lucius' people showed up, mostly the leaders of smaller groups of different supernatural creatures, the room felt empty. Without Tegan at his feet, Coran at his back, and Kassity and Jaxon at his side he was missing those who showed his power and held him up. It felt wrong.

His eyes scanned over the familiar faces. "I have called you all here to inform you of threats against the territory. Different factions and many of those I keep close have been cut down. The war is growing in intensity and the strongest powers in it seem intent on tearing down territories.”

"Who have you been attacked by?" One of the vampires stepped forward. Lucius remembered him; he'd rescued the man from the sun. Charles was just a young vampire then. Now he'd grown into one of the more powerful ones there.

"The Circle visited us two months ago by way of Markus. He attacked Coran's mate. The Queen of Blood and Darkness attacked here and nearly killed one of my cats. Orion has since terminated her. Then there are the demons...they took my human." He reminded himself that Tegan was in safe hands right now, but they didn't need to know that, not until he knew what the damage was.

Murmurs spread through the room and Lucius waited for the outrage. Derrik stepped up. "All of those are brave attacks. The wolves will stand with you, but until we figure out our pack issues I cannot loan you people."

"No, but I can." A woman stepped up, an immortal shifter. Her red hair tumbled down to her thin waist, a stark contrast to the black leather encasing her body. "I'm willing to be at your side. I have no commitments like packs, Kisses, or humans."

"Victoria." Lucius let the name slide off his lips. "Thank you." He could sense her beast below, something strange and ancient. He'd never pushed to find out what beast she held, nor had he ever pulled it out. Her strength and control rivaled his own power. 

A few others stepped up, mostly lowly vampires being volunteered by others they owed a debt to, but in the end Lucius had more than enough to fill the gaps in his security.

"We must be wary about the Circle. We have no idea what they are planning, except I have reasons to believe they want to raise the Father. As for the demons, I will deal with them in my own time and with caution." He bowed his head. "Thank you all for coming, I am glad to see such loyalty in my territory."

Whispers and returned thanks greeted him and the people filed out of the room. Victoria stayed behind and approached him. Her hips held a sway that was seductive and yet dangerous. "It's been a century since you've called a meeting such as this. You must be frightened."

"You make me sound like a weak kitten that needs to be soothed." He narrowed his eyes at her. "I don't need—"

"No, you don't, but what you do need, Lucius, is to worry about what is going on around you. Take a look at the weakness in your territory, the Circle will know it and act on it if they can." She crossed her arms. "What the hell happened?" Her eyes flickered to Orion behind him. "You used to have so much more than a Fae at your back and I expect you to be honest."

He would expect no less from someone he wanted to protect him and his. "Come, I will catch you up on recent events." He turned to Orion. "I wish you luck and thank you once more for the alliance you have offered."

Orion bowed his head. "We'll be seeing you around then." He took Danielle's hand and disappeared. Lucius led Victoria to one of the sitting rooms and began to fill her in on everything that had happened.

Chapter Twelve

Markus looked up from his list of names when the Father walked in. "Had a good visit with all the members?"

"I spoke to each one alone, I felt that they each had their own idea of how things are going to work. I was correct, and made sure to tell them that we have our own plans and they will follow me."

Markus expected as much, the meeting that had been arranged with everyone had been filled with arguing and disbelief about the Father being back. It wasn’t until he showed up that they settled. The oldest vampire was quick to set them straight. "I've devised a list of names, there are connections that need to be severed and I believe some of them might have links to the Originals, though none of them are Keepers as far as I can tell."

"We are looking for seven humans out of millions, how did you come up with this list?" The Father asked and sat in a chair across from the desk.

Markus leaned back and ran his hand over the paper. "I have my ways and contacts with vampires who came overseas around the same time as the rest of us. This list will allow us to start taking out the Hunting Society from behind the scenes without them suspecting vampires."

"What is it that you have planned?"

Markus folded his hands and grinned. "I have a couple Hunters that work for me, they will destroy things from the inside." He snapped his fingers. "Cody, come here."

The ex-Hunter walked into the room, crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "You snapped?"

"Watch your attitude boy, this here is the creature your people feared was real. Meet The Father." Markus motioned to the vampire that sat across from him. "He is the one who will be controlling our operations."

"You're going to have to include vampires one way or another, the Hunters are smarter than you think." Cody straightened up and Markus snarled. Cody held a hand up. "Let me explain. If something is going on inside those walls then the Elders know it. So unless you have an Elder on your payroll, your plan is going to fail. If you involve some lesser vampires to work outside the Society, ones you aren't afraid to sacrifice, you'll have a better chance. If you play your cards right, you can cause the collapse of the Hunting Society."

The Father turned to Markus. "What say you?"

"I say he's smarter than I thought. After the fiasco with Lucius a few months ago, I was starting to doubt him. The fact that he is talking about sacrificing lesser vampires makes me think he has more tactics in his head. We'll keep him around for a while. We need the Hunters to fall." Markus waved Cody away. "I trust you are still working on the research you acquired from your partner, go work on that."

Cody walked back to the other room and shut the dark wood door behind him. Markus stacked the papers and met the Father's gaze. "He's working on locating the graves of the Originals. Zaaren may be in the same state that Lucius rules." He'd been working with the Father to catch him up on everything, but locations and territories seemed to be a struggle for his mind.

"You plan on killing your maker yourself?" The Father raised a brow. "The ultimate revenge for him hiding things from you."

Markus snorted. He hated that vampire and would gladly slaughter him and any relatives the bastard managed to make. "I was not his favorite fledgling and he never trusted me. He didn't tell me about Tegan until Lucius managed to save her and even then he only told me the blood whore was his sister, not the key to calming your blood lust."

"I hid Tegan from you as well, but I hid her from everyone. Zaaren only knew about her because he was there the night the witch preformed the spell for me." The Father shrugged. "I couldn't risk losing her to the vampires that wanted to save humans. I should have bound her to me."

"But that would have also been a huge risk." Markus nodded. "That doesn't matter now. I want my revenge on Zaaren and I will take that by killing him before he rises. As we will the others, we cannot allow them to rise and put you back in your grave."

The Father chuckled. "I agree, we need to wipe them out and the vampires need to take their rightful place, being divided will hurt my power over them. We should be feared and hated, not trying to become part of the human world."

"We have fallen far since you've been locked away." Markus tried to imagine this new world under The Father's fist and Markus knew where he'd be, back in the seat of power.

Lucius paced his room. He’d felt Tegan's mind start to stir, but she was still refusing to wake up. He hated leaving her at the Hunter's headquarters, but Kaden had talked him into it. The moment she woke, Kaden would call him and bring Tegan home. The images he caught from her mind made no sense. They were old memories of the Circle and flickers of the Father. Nothing was making sense to him, and the only way he would get his answers would be if she woke and was able to tell him. He was hoping they were mere nightmares and nothing more, but he knew his human. Something was wrong. Something was off.

He looked up as the door opened and Coran walked in, something grasped in his hand. An old book.

"You are back sooner than I expected."

Coran nodded. "It's not safe for us to be out of the territory. Everyone is on edge, something about a power shift in the air."

Coran was right. Lucius had felt it not long ago, but he couldn't figure it out. He'd even visited Zaaren's resting place, hoping that it was the Originals waking up, but nothing. He had no way of contacting the other Keepers either to find out if anyone else was showing signs of waking. "Did anyone say what it was?"