The Den of Shadows Quartet (43 page)

For a moment she paused to admire the beautiful form stretched out beside her: the black silky hair tousled on the ground, the smooth golden-tanned skin that was warm as any human’s.

The illusion did not last. Her cheek rested on his chest, and beneath it there was no heartbeat.

Jaguar woke at the sound of her sigh. She felt his chest rise and fall in a silent breath, and his arm around her waist tightened for a moment in a companionable hug. “Evening.”

Evening? Had she slept so long?

Yes. The sun had set, and in the darkness his voice was soft and a little too warm for her liking.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized by reflex, as she started to push herself to her feet.

“No need to be,” he responded. He did not release her instantly and she found herself hesitating, trying not to stare into black eyes that at the moment were frighteningly intense. “It’s not an unpleasant way to wake up.”

Maybe not to him
, her mind argued bitterly. He was the owner, not the slave. The choices were his.

He let her go and she stood hastily; Jaguar followed more slowly, but as she stepped out of the grove and into the open starlight he caught her arm.

Her mind kept flashing snippets of memory as she tried to deal with the present. Lord Daryl had mostly treated her as a disobedient pet. More than once she had fallen asleep — usually still bruised and aching from the last beating — with her head resting on his knee as he worked on some carving, and woken curled in his arms like a child’s favorite toy.

“Audra, there’s no need to be frightened.”

Only when he said it did she realize she
was
frightened, enough that she could feel her heartbeat in her temples and wrists, fast with nervousness. Jaguar and Lord Daryl were nothing alike; she repeated the words in her mind over and over.

The fact that he was a vampire did not scare her; she had hunted enough vampires over two years that they no longer forced terror into her mind.

The fact that she had let her guard down, forgotten even so briefly what Jaguar was, that frightened her. The fact that she actually found him likeable, with a sense of humor and compassion,
that
terrified her.

She might need to kill him; she did not want to start thinking about how human he seemed.

“What are you afraid of?” Jaguar asked, as she yanked her arm out of his grip. “You had no fear in you until this instant.”

She ignored him, picking her way carefully around stones in the darkness and trying to remember which wall the door was on.

“You’ve bared your throat to me, Audra. You aren’t afraid of what I am,” he stated. “What else is there?”

She turned back to face him, wishing she could simply sink into the wall she leaned against. “I can’t explain.”

“Why not?” he asked, and though his voice was gentle she could tell he was not going to let her worm her way out of this easily “Who is stopping you? I’m your only master here, and I’m not going to hurt you for anything you say.”

He stepped toward her, and Turquoise flinched as he planted one hand on the wall to each side of her shoulders. “What are you afraid of?” he asked softly. “Are you afraid I’ll recognize that you’re pretending to be a slave when you have as much free will as I do? Or are you afraid I’ll recognize these … ?” With fingertips that barely grazed her skin, he traced the scars on her right arm, finally settling on the ring around her wrist. “And that I’ll know whose weapon made this mark?”

Her throat was choked around the knot that must have been her heart, which jumped from her chest at the mere suggestion of Lord Daryl.

“Afraid I’ll remember stories I’ve heard, the ranting complaints of one of my associates? Pretty, but very
disobedient, he said. And strong — but of course he would call her strong, since he couldn’t seem to tame her. She had a natural resistance; he couldn’t get into her thoughts, and didn’t know any other way to break her. He called her Catherine.”

The silence after he finished speaking seemed to last forever.

She jumped when he reached for her again, but all he did was brush a lock of hair out of her face. Jaguar’s proximity was awakening more than her hunter’s instincts.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Jaguar repeated. He lowered his lips to her throat, and she relaxed in the familiar position. “What is it that terrifies you not of this …” She felt the sharpness of fangs against her throat, not pressing quite hard enough to pierce the skin. “… but of this?”

He kissed her.

He kissed slowly, unhurried, as if he could stay all day and not miss a beat. At the same time he was demanding, deepening the kiss before she knew what was going on. Gentle he was not, but the aggressive edge of his kisses was like the sweet rush of adrenaline so dear to a fighter.

Of course, he had a few hundred years of practice, and Turquoise had very little to compare him to — human boyfriends, mostly, and all of those a long time ago. And Lord Daryl.

The last thought made her jump. Jaguar’s kiss had none of the violence of Lord Daryl’s, but the undertone of possessive dominance was the same, and that made Turquoise recoil the instant she recognized it. She
pulled back, slamming her back against the stone wall as she pushed Jaguar away.

“Audra —”

“Jaguar, let go of me.”

He hesitated. “Audra —” he began again, and again she interrupted, “Let go of me.”

He released her so suddenly she had to bite back a gasp. “I’m sorry.”

Turquoise saw the newcomer enter the courtyard before Jaguar did. The vampiress glanced at Turquoise for a brief moment before turning her gaze to Jaguar. She caught him by the shoulders and whispered, “How touching, kitten. It seems you’ve made a new friend.”

Jaguar spun around in a movement too fast for Turquoise’s human eyes to follow, recoiling from the vampiress behind him. “Jeshickah.” The name fell off his lips as a mixture of greeting and fear.

“Are you enjoying your new pet, little cat?” Jeshickah purred, inclining her head toward Turquoise. Turquoise’s hand itched to reach for a knife — if only she had one — the instant those black eyes fell on her.

At the same time, Turquoise heard Jaguar’s silent voice.
Kneel
. She cringed at the invasive feel of his command in her head. Jaguar’s expression did not change, but his voice was desperate as he added quickly,
Don’t fight me now, Audra. Not unless you want her to hurt you
.

The sensation was like sandpaper scraping down her throat as she swallowed her pride and went down to one knee, lowering her gaze so “Mistress” Jeshickah would not see the blatant hatred there. She had been prepared for moments of subservience, but that didn’t make her enjoy them.

To Jeshickah’s question, Jaguar answered aloud, “Audra has been keeping me entertained.”

“She’s not very well trained,” Jeshickah observed.

Jaguar shrugged. “She’s adequate, and I don’t have time to work with her.”

“Adequate?” Jeshickah’s voice sounded amused.

“Do you need something?” Turquoise marveled at how perfectly cool his voice was, after he had been so obviously frightened by her sudden arrival. “You aren’t supposed to be here.”

“Do I need your permission to enter?” Jeshickah’s voice had picked up a dangerous tone, but it was light again when she added, “Besides, I would have hated to miss such a touching little scene with the girl.”

Turquoise wondered how much Jeshickah had seen. She also wanted to know when she could stand up; her neck was getting a crick in it.

“As for what I
need
,” Jeshickah continued, “we were supposed to have a meeting several hours ago that you neglected to attend.”

“I told you I had other obligations,” Jaguar answered. Of course, the fact that he was blatantly lying showed his disregard. He had done nothing all day, unless Turquoise had slept through it.

Jeshickah’s voice carried a threat. “And I told you to cancel them.” Turquoise could only see Jeshickah’s feet as she strode forward, until she and Jaguar were nearly touching. “I’ve been amused so far by your toy replication of my Midnight, and because of that I have allowed you to rule, but I am not amused by what I see now. I am most disappointed with what
you
seem to have become.”

“Then go away,” Jaguar suggested tiredly. “I’ve no desire to turn this place into what you made of the last one.”

He stumbled back as she shoved on his shoulders. “Don’t forget, cat, everything you own is mine. Even the blood that runs in your veins is what I have given you. If I say I want your slaves washing the floors with their tongues, you will make it so. And if I say I want her broken,” Jeshickah finished softly, “you will do it.”

“I will not,” Jaguar responded, his voice just as soft, just as poisoned by anger. “The humans in Midnight are exactly as I wish them to be. Audra is exactly what I wish her to be. Understand?”

The air grew taut with Jeshickah’s rage, and this time she slammed Jaguar up against the stone wall hard enough that Turquoise flinched, glad she had not refused to kneel.

“I understand that you think you aren’t a trainer any more,” Jeshickah spat. “I understand that you think yourself to be in charge here. And I understand that you are a pathetic beast who thinks no one remembers who he used to be.”

“Get out of my courtyard.”

Again Jeshickah bristled; pale fingers wrapped around Jaguar’s throat, holding him against the wall. “You can impress the others, but not me. You were a slave to me, Jaguar. I’ve seen you bleed. I’ve seen you cower. I’ve seen you beg.” She pulled him away from the wall just long enough to throw him against it again. “All the power you have now, all the power you use to rule this Midnight — I gave it to you. Displease me, and
I will take everything you have and break you over my knee. Do you understand?”

Jaguar stayed against the wall, his eyes lowered, for a moment of painful silence before he finally raised his gaze and, with a voice dangerous as black ice, answered, “Yes. Now get out of my courtyard.”

“For the moment.” Jeshickah disappeared, and Jaguar slumped back against the wall suddenly enough that Turquoise worried that he really was hurt. She started to move toward him, but the lingering reminders of the moments before Jeshickah had appeared — her still racing heart and the light ache in her head — made her hesitate.

The indecision was solved when Jaguar pushed himself back to his feet. He glanced at Turquoise, and then turned away. “Go get something to eat, Audra.”

“Jaguar —”

“Out, Audra.” His voice was hard with the order. Turquoise hesitated one heartbeat, worrying about the emotional exhaustion she could see in Jaguar’s gaze, before hastening to obey.

D
AMN YOU
, T
URQUOISE
, Ravyn growled when Turquoise slipped into the kitchen looking for her. “You disappeared all day, and then you weren’t at the sunset meal —”

“Calm down, Ravyn,” Turquoise interrupted. “You don’t need to worry about me. I can take care of myself. And keep your voice down, unless you want someone to run tell Jaguar two of his slaves are arguing in his kitchen.”

Ravyn looked appropriately chastised for perhaps a quarter of a second. Then Turquoise noticed the bruise blossoming on the left side of the burgundy hunter’s face, mostly hidden by her long hair. “What happened to you?”

Ravyn’s hand flew to the bruise on her cheek. “Our favorite queen leech thought I was a bit cheeky. If she hadn’t had another two vamps within arm’s length, she would be dead now.”

You armed?” Ravyn didn’t look like she was wearing
a knife, but Turquoise knew there were many ways to conceal a weapon.

Ravyn’s gaze flit briefly to the doorway to double check that they were alone, and then she responded, “The vampire you saw me with was Gabriel Donovan. He is one of the only people here who isn’t terrified of Jeshickah. He deduced our reasons for being here, and donated a pair of knives to our cause.”

“Out of the kindness of his undead heart, I’m sure.” From the pieces of conversation she had heard, Turquoise wasn’t surprised that Gabriel was willing to help kill Jeshickah. She was only wary of why he would help a pair of slaves do it. “What’s between you and this vamp?” Turquoise pressed, remembering Ravyn’s reaction every time Gabriel’s name had been mentioned.

“I’ve worked with him in the past,” Ravyn answered vaguely. “He knows I’m a hunter, but my profession has been beneficial to him before, so he won’t be a threat. He’s been helpful enough that I’ll forgive him for never informing me of his connection to this trade.” Returning to the subject at hand, she continued, “You’ll find your blade beneath the pillow in your room. Once you get it, I say we make this a race: whoever brings down the target first gets Ms. Red’s bonus. You game?”

Turquoise found herself answering Ravyn’s bluster in kind. Meeting Ravyn’s eye with a level gaze, she challenged, “How about the loser forfeits the title?” Turquoise wouldn’t be able to beat Ravyn with a whip, though Ravyn probably didn’t know that. She also knew where Jeshickah slept, and as a bleeder she could easily put herself in the vampiress’s path.

Ravyn hesitated; she did not want to admit uncertainty in her skills by declining the bet, but she did not want to risk her title by accepting.

The burgundy hunter’s intense expression suddenly disappeared, changing to one of modest boredom, as her gaze shifted past Turquoise. “Eric, hey,” she greeted. “The meal’s over, but if you’re hungry I can dig something out of the fridge.”

“I was looking for Audra, but thanks,” the boy responded, oblivious to the conversation he had just interrupted. “You have a chance to talk to Jaguar?” he asked Turquoise.

Her last conversation with Eric seemed a very long time ago now, but she dredged it up in her memory and answered, “I’m not allowed outside.”

Eric frowned in annoyance. “That’s a pain.” He turned, sensing the vampire behind him before anyone else did.

Turquoise looked up and recognized the vampire; her mind spun and stalled instantly.

Ravyn glanced at Turquoise and seemed to see the other hunter faltering. With a superb imitation of humility she asked, “Can I help you, milord?”