Passion Ignites (2 page)

His smile faded when his gaze snagged on a woman he had seen daily for the past week. She kept hidden, but it was obvious she was following the Dark.

She had a determined look on her face, one that had anger and revenge mixed together. Thorn knew that expression. It was the one that got mortals killed.

Her pale brown locks hung thick and straight to her shoulders. She tucked her hair behind her ear and peered around the corner of a store.

Thorn slid his gaze to the three Dark she was trailing. They were toying with her. They knew she was there.

“Damn,” Thorn mumbled.

He and the other Dragon Kings vowed to protect the humans millions of years ago. They fought wars and sent their own dragons away to do just that. He couldn't stand there and let the Dark kill her.

Nor could he let them know he was there.

He flattened his lips when she stepped from her hiding spot and followed the Dark down the street. They were leading her to a secluded section.

Thorn didn't waste any time climbing to the roof of the building. He kept to the shadows and jumped from roof to roof as he tracked them.

He let out a thankful sigh when she ducked into an alley. Thorn jumped over the street to the opposite building before landing behind her.

“Not this time,” he heard her say.

An American. Southern by her accent. He reached to tap her on the shoulder when his enhanced hearing picked up the Darks' conversation. They were coming for her.

Thorn wrapped a hand around her mouth and dragged her behind a Dumpster. “Be quiet and still if you doona want them to find you,” he whispered in her ear.

She was struggling against him, but his words caused her to pause. A second later, she renewed her efforts.

Thorn held her tightly, her thin form easy to detain. The more she struggled, the more he could feel every curve of her body.

It wasn't until the Dark reached the alley that she stilled. He couldn't even feel her breathing.

“There's no one here,” one of the Dark said in his Irish brogue.

“She was here.”

The third snorted. “Not anymore. Come on.”

A full minute passed before the three walked on. The woman's shoulders sagged as she blew out a breath. Thorn released her and held up his hands as she whirled around to face him.

Slate gray eyes glared at him with fury as her full lips pulled back in a scowl. Her cheekbones were high in her oval face.

She wasn't a great beauty, but there was something about her that wouldn't let Thorn look away.

“You're in way over your head,” he told her.

 

CHAPTER

TWO

Thorn wasn't sure if it was the subtle narrowing of her eyes or her arm shifting. Even though he knew she was about to strike, Thorn didn't move.

He felt the blade pierce his left side, sinking through skin and muscle. With a scowl down at her, he grabbed her wrist and pulled the dagger from his body.

“Don't touch me,” she said through clenched teeth.

She wasn't worth the trouble. At least that's what Thorn tried to tell himself. He'd saved her from the Dark—today. Tomorrow would be another story, but he couldn't follow her around and ensure she was safe when she was so bent on following them.

He had an entire city to rid of the Dark Fae.

“Then doona attack me,” he retorted.

Her gray eyes widened a fraction before a look of annoyance and skepticism contorted her face. “You're the one who grabbed me.”

“To save you.”

“Whatever,” she said with a roll of her pretty gray eyes. “Look, just leave me alone.”

Thorn cocked his head to the side. “This might be a tourist mecca, lass, but it isna a place for you to be alone. You hear an Irish accent, go the other way.”

She mumbled low, but he still heard, “I wasn't alone before.”

That's when he saw the sadness and grief she was desperately trying to hide with anger and fervor. At first glance, she was able to disguise her true feelings, but Thorn was looking deeper.

And he didn't like what he saw.

He didn't need to ask her to know that the Dark must have killed someone dear to her. That's the only reason a mortal would hunt them.

The fact she continued to get close to bastards and not throw herself at them begging them to ease the desire burning her was enough to make him wonder what made her different.

By the determined set of her jaw, Thorn didn't bother to try and dissuade her from following the Dark. She had been doing it for days, and she wouldn't stop until she found what she was looking for—or they found her.

But it wasn't in his nature to let her go like a lamb to slaughter.

“If you're going to follow someone, watch your back as well,” he warned before he walked out of the alley, leaving her and her soulful slate gray eyes behind.

Thorn had learned a very long time ago that he couldn't save everyone. He had tried. Once. If a mortal didn't want to be helped, there was nothing he could do about it. And he certainly wasn't going to stand around and watch her die.

He didn't stay on the sidewalk long. The Dark had spies everywhere, and the key to the Kings gaining an upper hand in this war was to be as invisible as they could.

Thorn ducked into a narrow side street and stopped. He sighed and slowly turned around. There he waited until he saw the female peer around the side of the building where he'd left her.

He smiled, nodding in approval as she waited for a group of people to pass her. She fell into step with them as if she were a part of them.

That, at least, proved she had brains.

“You just might make it after all, lass.”

*   *   *

Two hours later, Lexi stared down at her knife that rested on the kitchen table in her flat. She thought she had stabbed the stranger in the alley, but he hadn't so much as flinched.

Was her aim that bad? If so, she was going to have to practice more. In that close proximity, she should've hit her mark.

In truth, she had no desire to get close to the red-eyed men, but she didn't have a choice. A knife was easier to buy, hide, and use than a gun.

She was still shaken by her near run-in with Red Eyes. That's what she had started calling them. If the stranger hadn't gotten to her, the odds were that she would be as dead as Christina.

Lexi shuddered to think of it. She feared dying like anyone else, but it was the thought of failing her friend that was the real kicker.

She rose and poured herself a glass of wine. Lexi didn't bother turning on the TV or the radio. She sat on the couch and stared out the window.

When they first arrived, she had sat in that very spot looking out over the city. It was Christina who had found the flat. Christina had a knack for discovering such places that were always perfect.

If only Lexi had stopped her from leaving the pub the night she died. Lexi had stupidly thought it was her imagination or a trick of the lights when she saw the guy's eyes change from blue to red.

But a nagging feeling of something dreadful had Lexi running from the pub to find Christina. In the ten minutes it took Lexi to go after her, and another forty-five looking for her, Christina was murdered.

It was by happenstance that Lexi paused on the street, wondering which way to go to look for her friend, when she glanced over her shoulder.

That's when she saw him. The man Christina had left the pub with walked from an alley with three other men. In the streetlight, she saw that two had black hair while one had blond and another red.

Then, in the blink of an eye, all four had black hair liberally streaked with silver.

She gasped. Lexi remembered that clearly. The shock of it had surprised her so profoundly that she hadn't had time to realize she made any sound until it was too late.

The man who had lured Christina turned his gaze directly at her as he stood beneath a streetlamp. There was no mistaking his red eyes.

Lexi was thankful she had been in shadows and near a parked car so that she could duck behind it. She waited until the four men were gone, then she ran to the alley.

She squeezed her eyes closed as she recalled finding Christina. The memory was one she wished she could wipe away.

Lexi took a long drink of her wine and felt it burn down her throat to her stomach. For the first time in her life she understood why some people could become alcoholics.

She hadn't been able to sleep for more than twenty minutes at a time since finding Christina. Jessica and Crystal had checked in on her often, but Lexi was never asleep. She lay in the dark, the flash of red eyes haunting her.

With her wine finished, she rose and poured some more. Then opted to bring the bottle with her to the couch. She held the bottle in one hand and her glass in the other.

Her eyes felt as if the entire Mojave Desert had been poured into them. No matter how much she blinked, they stung. Yet every time she closed her eyes, she saw Christina.

Lexi finished off the bottle of wine. It wasn't until she was up and opening another that she realized what she was doing. She released the wine bottle as if it were acid and took two quick steps back.

“What am I doing?” she asked herself.

She pivoted and walked to the bedroom. There she stripped down to her panties before she tugged on her nightshirt and crawled into bed.

Maybe that night she would be able to sleep.

*   *   *

“We're being followed.”

Gorul slanted Vaurin a threatening look. The stupid Dark Fae could never keep his mouth shut. Gorul's smile was tight as he turned to put his back to the bar and wrapped an arm around Vaurin. He kept the smile in place as he lowered his voice and said, “Keep talking, and I'll kill you right where you stand.”

Vaurin was using glamour again. Tonight his eyes were green and his chin-length black and silver hair was brownish blond. He shrugged off Gorul's arm. “You make light of it after so many of our brethren have been slain?”

“If they're stupid enough to get caught, then that's their problem.”

It was a brave face Gorul put on. He, like every other Dark Fae in Edinburgh, had been searching for some clue as to how many Dragon Kings were in the city. It was unnerving not to know or see the Kings who had always been so ready to battle.

“Besides,” Gorul said. “It wasn't a King following us today. It was a human.”

Vaurin downed the last bit of his ale and set the glass on the bar. “Human or King, I don't like being followed.”

“The human is easily taken care of. If the female wants to know more about us, I'll be happy to show her.”

Vaurin frowned and turned to face the bar. “We were sent to infiltrate the mortals here just as we do in Ireland. Perhaps we should stop killing for a few nights.”

“Stop?” Gorul asked with a bark of laughter. “How can you ask that when the humans are so tempting? Just look at them,” he said as his gaze roamed the pub. “They sense our sensuality. They know the pleasure we can give them. Why should we deny them that?”

Vaurin looked over his shoulder at two of their comrades who were wooing four females. All it took was a mortal being near a Fae for them to forget who they were. All that mattered to the humans was finding pleasure.

His friends were working the table with ease. A simple touch from a Dark against a female's face, or leaning close to whisper in a female's ear had them literally panting and begging for release.

Their friends stood, the four women quickly following. A moment later, all six were walking out the door.

“That's our cue,” Gorul said with a smile.

Vaurin felt need stir deep within him. It was a curse of a Dark. No matter how much sex they had, it was never enough. The mortals were like a drug. After one taste, there was no turning back.

He tried to remain at the pub, but it was useless. Vaurin walked out to find Gorul waiting for him, a knowing smile on his face.

“There's no need to deny what we are, Vaurin. We're Dark. We chose this, and I, for one, don't regret it. This should've been our realm. The Dragon Kings made a serious mistake in not forcing us to leave. Let's show them the power of the Dark.”

Vaurin walked with Gorul across the street and down an alley to a door. They went inside where all four women stood naked amid boxes and crates.

They were oblivious to where they were as they ran their hands over their bodies, begging to be touched. Gorul patted him on the back and went to a blonde with short hair and large breasts.

Vaurin's cock was hard. He knew the pleasure that awaited. There was nothing so mind-blowing as having sex with mortals and feeding off their souls. The humans had no idea what was happening, which made it all the more pleasurable to a Dark.

Vaurin walked to the female who sat on a crate with her legs open fondling her clit as she watched the others. As soon as she saw him, the human smiled and slid her fingers deep inside her.

Vaurin took her mouth in a savage kiss while she hurried to unbuckle his pants. How stupid the humans were to so freely give their souls to the Dark. They were mindless cattle, the needs of their flesh outweighing the danger that surrounded them.

Oh, but the decadence of taking souls was one Vaurin couldn't deny himself.

 

CHAPTER

THREE

Thorn dumped three more Dark Fae bodies in the warehouse. He turned when he heard the door and saw Darius.

“They're like fucking roaches,” Darius grumbled. “The more you kill, the more you find.”

Thorn chuckled as he moved away for Darius to dump his two bodies. “It's a never-ending job, but someone has to do it.”

“So true,” Darius said, his dark brown eyes lighting on Thorn as he grinned. “It feels good to kill the evil buggers.”

“We're stretched too thin.” Thorn looked at the corpses. “Con has us all over the U.K., but it isna enough.”