Deadly Desires (7 page)

“Hey!” Dominic jumped up and rushed into her room after her. Ambrose and Donavon were right behind him. “What happened? You’re upset.”

“It’s nothing. I’m just…” She paused and let reality hit her. She was hormonal. Impatient. Crampy. Jumping to conclusions…She smiled. “I’m great.” And she was. She hadn’t felt more human than at that moment. Damn, she’d missed it.

“Wait…” Dominic shook his head, confused. “There’s something off.”

“It’s her scent,” Ambrose piped in. “She’s on her monthly.”

The men’s eyes widened as they looked at her. “I thought that didn’t happen until after ten years or so. What changed?”

“I did.” Samael walked in with Jason. “I think you all know Marcella and I were together. Since she was created for me, she’s meant to go through this change the moment we’re intimate. The reason it takes so long if we’re not is because her body has to force the change on itself. But now…”

“We’re going to have to be careful,” Dom whispered. “I thought we’d have more time. This definitely changes things.”

Marcella pushed away the nervousness and knew she had to be straight with them. “Do you remember when I first changed into a collector? Samael said that in my past I believed me and Jason’s child was meant to save us all. Well, I think he heard me wrong. A child is meant to save us.” She looked at Samael. “But it has to be the one I was created for. Samael’s child.” She pressed her lips together. “His father won’t kill it. He might kill me, but never the child. It’s what he wants more than anything. It goes hand in hand with why I was created.”

Samael shook his head. “How do you know this?”

“I just do. When he created me, he told me things. I saw his desires. He wants an heir that’s more powerful than anything alive. Yeah, he had me. But I wasn’t blood, and he couldn’t control me like he wanted. I held too much good. But someone related, he could corrupt.” Marcella swallowed hard. “This is just the way it has to be.”

“No.” Samael came forward. “If that’s what he wants, then the last thing you need to do is get pregnant. He’ll filet you alive to get the baby. I can’t live through that again. I won’t.”

Dominic grabbed her hand. “He won’t be able to get to her if we all change into collectors. We won’t let him.” He turned to Samael. “You can defeat him with the change. I know you can.”

Samael laughed. “Are you kidding me? You can’t kill the Devil, Dom! Maybe lock him up and throw away the key, but he’s the Devil. It won’t work. Plus, I don’t want the job of running hell. I’m over it. Our best bet is to distance ourselves as much as possible, and try to keep away from him for as long as we can.”

Clarification dawned. Marcella felt her eyes grow big. “Samael.” She heard his name drag out as images filtered through her mind. Her blurry hand reached for his chest, and she pressed her palm against his heart. The truth sunk into her soul and she staggered back, feeling drained. “I need to see Nemmy.”

“What.” The word exploded out of Dom, Samael, and Jason’s mouths at the same time. She knew they couldn’t stand the angel who was on the verge of falling, but they didn’t have a choice. Nemmy had come to her with one purpose, and she was about to make his wildest dreams come true. But not yet. First, she needed them to go through the change, and she needed more souls.

“Not yet,” she whispered. “But soon. First, we do the change.” She took in the five men before her. “Tonight.”

* * * *

The adrenaline pumping through Dominic had his demon roaring through his body like a monster. He felt positively giddy at the up-and-coming change, and he couldn’t control his excitement. Nothing felt more right than what he was about to go through. He couldn’t get over the feeling that this was supposed to happen.

“You’re first, Dom.” Marcella stood in a pair of lace panties, surrounded by a ring of candles. Her breasts rose and fell as she whispered words into the darkness around them. The gold lettering inside of her skin seemed to know what was about to happen. It rippled throughout her body as if it were breathing. He watched, fascinated as he made his way to the center of the circle. The other four men stood just outside the barrier, spread out.

Marcella pointed to the ground and he took his place lying across the center. The cold, cement floor of their new room felt like ice against his naked skin. Lavender began to fill the air, so thick it made breathing almost impossible. Dominic looked up into her glowing eyes. Words flowed from her mouth that sounded altogether like another language. An old one.

Slowly, she lowered and crouched down beside him. The length of her hands looked tiny hovering above his chest. This change was so different than Jason’s. At first they’d both thought that she was changing him into a vampire, so she proceeded to bite his human form and feed him her blood. It hadn’t turned out that way at all. Jason had been tortured inside himself for hours while his collector took over. There were no chants involved with him at all. But now…this was the most hard-core ritual he’d seen her do yet. Usually when she took souls she used the candle and lavender, but never circles. It was a bit scary, if he wanted to be truthful with himself.

Words projected outwardly into the darkness and as Marcella began to read them, he felt the air around them pick up and begin to swirl. Her hair blew out wildly around her body, and the candles flickered, leaving her glowing eyes the source of most of the light.

“I denounce your evil. From hence forth you will become mine.” Her hands reached for the ceiling, and an illumination began to surface far above them. Dominic felt his eyes widen. “From dark to light to in between, I am your creator. Take my blood and become one with me. Feel my love. My pain.” Words continued to pour from her mouth, but Dominic became so fixated on the spinning glow above him that everything else faded.

Pain raced down his chest. Dominic looked down to see Marcella’s tongue slide against the cut. The diamonds from her dagger sparkled in the candlelight, and he watched as she sliced open her forearm. “Do you accept the proposal to become my collector forever, until I’m no longer living?”

“Yes.” The word poured from his mouth with all the commitment he felt.

“Good. Now, drink.” Marcella pushed her wound against his mouth, and he sucked her into his body like there was no tomorrow. Fire engulfed his insides, and it was pure power. The voice to pull back screamed into his mind, but Dominic wouldn’t. He couldn’t. He was trapped with greed to take in more of her strength.

Like fingers, pressure crawled its way throughout his chest and stomach. Dominic’s body thrashed, and flashes of Jason’s human form going through the same thing came to him. Marcella jumped to her feet and began screaming the foreign language into the air. The light brightened until it felt like it engulfed him completely. It was so beautiful. It reminded him of what heaven had to have looked like.

Pain exploded all over him. The light was ripped away as blindness took over. Marcella’s voice still penetrated his sense of hearing. It was the only thing that was keeping him somewhat calm. As twisting erupted in his heart, everything changed. Dominic gasped against the agony. He was dying for real. He had to be.

* * * *

Samael stared at the scene in utter shock. He’d never seen anything like it before. Rituals were the old way, but even as far as he could remember, he’d never actually seen anyone perform one. He stared up nervously at the light. Most ceremonies were usually acted out of darkness. Evil. Not this one. Marcella had just bypassed bringing in Nemmy. What she was doing was stripping Dominic of almost all of his darkness, repenting for him, and going straight to the source of all good. Did she know what she was messing with? If God wasn’t aware of her presence before, he sure as hell was now. He had to be.

The jerking of the demon began to increase. The light disappeared from above, and Marcella lowered herself to sit next to Dom’s side. “My knight. Let go. I’ll be there for you on the other side.” She stroked back his blond curls and he gasped for breath. The life inside of him was dying. Samael yearned to join her side to help this man go through the change, but he wasn’t stupid enough to break the circle. Marcella had already warned them against it.

Jason reached over and joined hands with Donavon and Ambrose. The men’s fear was quickly overpowering the scent of lavender. They all had grown so close. The bond between the four was unbreakable. Samael knew he wasn’t one of them. Not really, but as the master vampire reached out for him and the shifter held out his hand, he knew they wanted him to be. It was the most acceptance Samael had ever felt from her men. He looked toward where the light had been. A big change was going to happen here tonight, and he wasn’t just talking about their paranormal abilities. Someone from above wanted them all. Samael grabbed their hands and looked at Marcella. Maybe it was exactly what they needed.

As she rested her head against Dominic’s chest, Samael knew the moment the demon’s life source disappeared. Slowly, she sat up. The way her shoulders sagged and she kept her head down told him that she was having a hard time accepting what was happening. She quickly wiped a tear from her eye and leaned over him. “My gift to you, my love.” She locked her lips to Dominic’s, and he watched as she was jerked forward and light exploded from every inch of her body. It looked just like it did whenever she took a soul, yet this time she had given one.

Dominic’s body twitched at the connection and he gasped for air. The hands Samael held within his own broke, and the men began clapping and laughing. Samael couldn’t believe that it had worked. Holy shit. What did this mean for the world? Not only for his father but the people above? He looked at Marcella and watched as Dominic sat up. He knew one thing. If God had been against it, he would have struck them all down on the spot.

Golden eyes stared up at him, and he couldn’t believe they were coming from Dominic. The blue was gone completely. The man he observed no longer was under his control. The tie that linked the demon and Samael, as his master, together, was severed. And as they stared at each other, they both knew it.

Dark ink began to race across his arms, drawing Dom’s attention. The thick lines swirled around and edged off at odd angles, making symbols in the tanned area of his skin. Just like Jason, a large design covered his chest. His eyes shot up to Samael. As he stood, an unknown fear began to form in the pit of Samael’s stomach. If their new plan hadn’t seemed real before, it sure as hell did now.

“What is it?” Marcella lifted to her knees as she stared up at Dominic.

“A serpent.” Samael broke the circle and walked forward. “It’s one of my father’s symbols. He has a ring that looks identical that he wears on his right hand.”

“Your demon stuck with you. Except, now you’re a collector.” She rose to her feet. “I think that’s enough for tonight. Let’s see how Dominic fares, and if he’s okay in a few days we’ll try again.”

Ambrose shook his head. “I think we should finish. He’ll be fine. I can feel how his body is taking the change. It’s better than you could imagine. His place in the paranormal world is thriving from the transformation. This one happened a lot quicker than Jason’s, correct?”

“Yes, this was almost instantly. Jason’s took hours.”

“We’ll all be fine. No worries, my queen.”

Marcella looked to Samael. She wanted answers, and truthfully he didn’t have any. What did she expect him to say?

A break of light made all of them pause. Ben, one of Ambrose’s vampires, stepped through the door. “The perimeter’s been breached. The angels are back.” Samael watched them all look at each other. Shit. Things were about to get interesting, that was for sure.

“Fuck,” Samael groaned. This was not the time. “Dom, you stay in here. I’ll take care of them.”

“Wait.” Marcella rushed forward and made clothes appear over her body. “I want to go, too. I need to talk with Nemmy. He has to know where I stand.”

Samael knew it was pointless to argue. He may not have liked it, but he was more interested to know what brought the angels here than he wanted to have a yelling match with the woman he loved. “Okay, let’s go. The rest of you look after Dom. If something happens, get us instantly.”

They nodded, and he and Marcella rushed to the front door. Their hands connected as they reached for it at the same time. Pleasure erupted down his body and Marcella moaned. He pulled back his hand and let her open it.

“Nemmy, Caspius! I was just thinking of you two. Red silk flared out behind her, and Samael’s feet refused to move forward. That was his color for them. What they always wore in the past when they had appeared together in public. She paused and reached her arm out for him. The diamonds on her finger sparkled against the light from the fake porch lamp.

Samael cautiously wrapped his arm around hers. What was she up to? He hated being left in the dark, and when it came to Marcella, she had a mind of her own and hardly ever included anyone else unless she felt it necessary.

Nemmy’s eyes narrowed as he took them in. Marcella stood tall against his obvious disapproval. “You both know my husband. What brings you over tonight?”

Both of the men’s jaws dropped, almost along with Samael’s. She hadn’t just announced him as her husband, had she?

“I have to admit. I was planning on calling you both over, but you seemed to have beat me to the punch. So, what’s on your minds?” Her smile was positively glowing.