Blood Vengeance (An Adult Paranormal Romance) (Deathless Night Series #2) Read online

  He watched her make herself at home at the kitchen counter as she thought about it, her eyes lighting up as she told him, “I could totally go for a huge, greasy pizza. Thin crust. With mushrooms. And iced tea!”

  He gave a nod. “Done.”

  “Just one question,” she stopped him before he could walk away. “How are you going to order a pizza when you’ve destroyed all of the phones? Surely you’re not planning on leaving me here alone to go get it? As I’m not allowed to leave?”

  He narrowed his eyes at her smirking face. How indeed? Walking over to the front door, he opened it just enough to stick his head out.

  “NIKULAS!”

  Closing the door, he walked calmly back to the kitchen.

  A second later, his brother burst through the door, “Luukas! What’s wrong? What can I do?”

  He smiled as the smirk fell from her face. “The witch would like a large, greasy pizza. Thin crust, with mushrooms, and an ice tea.”

  Nik put his hands on his narrow hips, eyeing his brother with confusion. “You know you can just pick up the phone and order it from that place down the street, right? They deliver.”

  “I destroyed the phones.”

  Nikulas lifted an eyebrow. “You destroyed the phones? Why?”

  “Because he doesn’t want me calling Emma,” the witch informed him.

  “Because I don’t want her calling anyone,” Luukas clarified.

  Nik scratched his head. “Uh, ok. I’ll order the pizza.” He looked questioningly at Keira, and she gave him a reassuring smile.

  “Don’t forget the mushrooms, please.”

  He nodded, and with a strange look thrown his brother's way, left to go order the food.

  Luukas watched her toying with a pen that had been lying on the counter. She looked up, her eyes dancing with mischief.

  “Nikulas is kind of hot.”

  He clenched his jaw, refusing to rise to her bait.

  “He’s really nice too.”

  Luukas lifted an eyebrow.

  “And he does that same exact thing with his eyebrow.”

  Rolling his eyes, he got some water out of the fridge.

  “So,” she put her elbows on the counter and rested her chin in her hands. “What do you want to talk about?”

  “Why do we need to talk about anything?”

  “Well, what else are we going to do? Stare at each other all night? You don’t seem like the ‘Charades’ type.”

  “No.”

  “Tell me about your life growing up in Estonia.”

  She smiled encouragingly at him, and his breath caught at the sight. He couldn’t remember ever seeing her smile like that, so relaxed. Of course, there hadn’t been much reason to do so in the time they’d known each other.

  He cleared his throat. “What would you like to know?”

  “What was your family like? Where in Estonia did you grow up? What was it like there back then? Is Nikulas your only sibling?”

  He frowned at her barrage of questions.

  “My parents were peasants. We had a farm in Estonia. It was cold. Except in the summer, when it was warmer, but the sun never set. Or at least it seemed like it didn’t. And yes, Nik is my only sibling. We had a sister, but she died as a child.”

  “I’m sorry.” Her eyes softened, and he frowned. He didn’t need her pity.

  He shrugged. “It was long ago. I don’t really remember her.”

  “How old were you when you were turned?”

  “I was thirty years of age.”

  “How did it happen?”

  He heaved a sigh, but she just raised her eyebrows at him expectantly.

  Setting his water bottle on the counter, he leaned on his elbows across from her, linking his fingers together. “I went out to check on my wife before getting ready for bed, to see why she was taking so long checking the cattle, and I found her in the arms of a vampire. He was feeding from her. I...froze, unable to process what I was seeing, until he dropped her dead body to the cold ground.”

  “You were married?” she asked softly.

  “Yes.”

  “Did you have any children?”

  “No. Not yet.”

  “Then what happened?” Her hazel eyes were filled with horror for him.

  “I attacked him, planning to either kill him or be killed. I thought I had a chance, even though I had no weapon. I’d never seen a creature such as that before, and he was smaller than I, and would be weaker, or so I believed. He played with me for a bit, like a cat with a mouse, until I’d worn myself out. Finally, as I stood weaving before him, bleeding from the many wounds he’d inflicted, I gave up and demanded that he kill me. I didn't want to live without her.”

  She sat back in her stool, and regarded him seriously. “You loved her that much.” It wasn't a question.

  He nodded. "Yes."

  "Do you still miss her?"

  He straightened up and shrugged. "I don't really remember the feelings I had for her anymore. And my life is different now. She wouldn't fit into it anymore."

  She urged him to continue. “You still haven’t told me how you became a vampire.”

  Luukas looked down at his hands gripping the edge of the counter. “The vampire that killed her...I guess he was impressed by my tenacity. He laughed at my demand, and had me on the ground, drinking from me, before I could protest. Next thing I knew, I woke up in his home. And I was…different. The hunger was indescribable, and all consuming. I panicked, believing myself to be a monster, and tried to run off. But he stopped me, calmed me down. We went out and fed together, and he taught me everything he knew. We were together for a long time. He was lonely and was glad for the companionship.”

  “Where is he now?”

  “He’s dead.”

  She sat up straight, a hand over her mouth. “Oh no! What happened?”

  He looked her right in the eyes. “I killed him.”

  Her eyes widened, and when she finally spoke, her voice was disbelieving. “You killed your Master?”

  He nodded once.

  “Holy shit. I didn’t even know that was possible. I was always taught that you guys had some type of weird bond with the one who created you.”

  “We do.”

  “Then how, why did you…?”

  “He was an ass. He was reckless, irresponsible, and uncaring. He put us in danger needlessly, playing games with the humans. We always had to move around so the lynch mobs wouldn’t find us; we could never stay in one home for any amount of time. He killed without remorse when he fed. I grew tired of it. And, I needed revenge for the killing of my wife.”

  “So you’d planned to kill him all along.”

  “Yes.”

  “Are you still planning on killing me?”

  His expression became strained, and he clenched his jaw, but his eyes were direct and his voice didn’t falter. “Yes.”

  She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She didn’t look surprised, or even afraid. She looked resigned. She gave him a sad smile.

  A knock at the door broke the tension, and Nik walked in with a large pizza box in one hand and a large to-go cup in the other. “One X-tra large, greasy pizza with mushrooms, and a large iced tea." He set it on the counter near Keira, and went to grab her some paper towels.

  “Thank you, brother,” Luukas told him sincerely.

  “Sure. No problem.” He smiled at the witch. “If you make me a list, I’ll go down to that 24-hr market in a little bit and pick up some more stuff for you.”

  She nodded her agreement, her mouth full of pizza, and gave him a thumb’s up.

  Luukas watched as she closed her eyes, a blissful expression on her face as she chewed. A small smile played around the corners of his mouth at her obvious enjoyment. He found he...liked...seeing her happy.

  Clearing his throat, Nikulas asked, “So, how’re things going here? You’re looking better.”

  Was he? He wouldn't know. He refused to look at himself in the mirror. Actually, he
was considering smashing them all. “I’m fine.”

  Nik looked like he was about to say more, but then closed his mouth and gave him a nod. “Good. Ok. Well, if you don’t need anything else, I’m going to head back downstairs. I got a hold of our security guys here and they’re bringing me the video footage from the garage. See if we can see any of our missing Hunters leaving the building. I don’t know that it will give us any clues, but it won’t hurt to look.”

  Luukas nodded in agreement. “Let me know if you find anything.”

  He assured him that he would. Then, with a smile and a wave at Keira, he was gone.

  It seemed her line of questioning had been deterred by the arrival of the pizza, so Luukas left her to eat, wandering over to the windows. He loved looking out at the lights of the city. His city. Once.

  He rubbed the back of his neck as he remembered that he’d meant to ask Nikulas about his vampires, and what, if anything, they knew about him being gone. He would have to remember to do that.

  Shoving his hands in his pockets, he again fought down the ever-present feeling of panic that’d been welling up within him since coming home.

  Would they notice that he was different? He had to be different. Although he was feeling slightly more…sane, he was having a hard time recalling the vampire he used to be before he was taken.

  He only knew what he was now, and that he was a far cry from what he used to be.

  Chapter 21

  Keira

  Keira had never tasted anything better in her life than this greasy, cheesy pizza. Her eyes practically rolled back in her head as she tore off another huge bite, burning the top of her mouth, but she didn’t care. She didn't even care if she couldn't keep it down. It was the first real junk food she'd had in years.

  She kept an eye on Luukas as she ate, concern creasing her brow. He looked so lost, standing at the windows as he was. He nearly always looked that way, except when he was interacting with her.

  And that had been some serious "interacting" that had gone on just a bit ago. No wonder she was so hungry.

  Most girls would probably be all kinds of freaking out right about now. Finding out that a traumatized vampire wanted to either kill you or keep you “to have and to feed from” forever could do that to a girl. But Keira knew what the deal was. A vampire claiming his mate was not something to be taken lightly. And she could try fighting it, or she could accept the fact that she belonged with Luukas, and enjoy the hot vampire sex.

  It wasn’t like she didn’t know him. They’d spent the last seven years going through hell and back together. Hell that she was largely responsible for. If he could get over the urge to kill her, she might even get the chance to make it up to him.

  Besides, would she ever meet another male that she was this attracted to? From the moment he'd stepped from his vehicle that early summer night, she'd been drawn to him, and she still was, more so now than ever.

  Unable to squeeze any more food into her belly, she regretfully closed the box and put it in the fridge for later. Her vampire was still deep in thought by the window, so she went in and brushed her teeth again. Twice.

  Returning to the main room, she found he hadn't moved.

  “What’re you thinking about?”

  He glanced at her over his shoulder, his vacant eyes running over her face and body, and then went back to contemplating the city lights.

  Well, obviously he wasn’t going to be very talkative tonight, so she wandered over to the office. She thought she remembered seeing some books lined up on one of the shelves. Grabbing one without even looking at the title, she took it over to the couch and curled up to read. Flipping it over, she saw the title, “The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe.” Good choice.

  She read throughout the night, one eye on Poe and one on Luukas, taking occasional breaks to refill her teacup and make the grocery list.

  She didn’t know how he could stay so perfectly still for such a long time. It unnerved her. But every time she tried to engage him in a conversation, he would just give her that vacant look, if he bothered to acknowledge her at all.

  Until finally, as the first rays of the dawn were peeking over the horizon, he left the window and without a word, set her book aside, lifted her off the couch, and carried her into his room with him. Once there, he placed her gently on the bed and crawled in beside her. Pulling her towards him, he tucked her against the front of him and wrapped himself protectively around her.

  She didn’t complain, knowing it would get her nowhere, but snuggled down into the soft bed, and drifted off to ravens knocking on chamber doors.

  ***

  Keira groaned. It was so cold. She should get up and move around, but she was so tired. She just wanted to sleep. It was always so cold down here in the bowels of Leeha’s mountain.

  “Keira!”

  Her teeth rattled as someone shook her, hard.

  “Keira! Wake up!”

  Luukas? He was free from the chains? Oh, thank the gods! But how did he get free?

  “Fuck! What do I do? What do I do?”

  His voice came to her from everywhere at once. She wished he would hold still. It was making her head pound.

  She tried to ask him to get a blanket for her, but nothing came out but another pathetic sounding moan. What was wrong with her? Why was she so tired?

  It was that idiot guard. He’d taken too much blood.

  She heard a door open, then another, and then heard Luukas screaming for Nikulas again. She didn’t want another pizza; she still had some leftover in the fridge. She needed to tell him.

  And why was he calling Nikulas? Had Leeha captured him too?

  “Luuk…” she rasped.

  Her throat hurt. No wonder she couldn’t talk. She must be getting a sore throat. Not surprising considering the quality of the air down here.

  She tried again, “Luukas.”

  “Shhhh. Don’t talk. Nik is on his way, he’ll know what to do.”

  The door burst open and she heard the heavy tread of boots coming across the floor.

  “Oh, shit. What happened?”

  “I don’t know!” Luukas’ voice was strained. “I woke up and she was like this. I don’t know what’s wrong with her. She wouldn’t wake up. I don’t know what to do.”

  She felt a cool hand on her forehead, and heard a low growl as it rested there.

  “Don’t growl at me, dude. She has a fever.”

  “From what?” Luukas gritted out.

  “From this.” The cool hand on her forehead gently turned her head to the side. “This bite is infected. Look at it.”

  She winced as someone gently probed at the wound on her neck. Stupid thing, why wouldn’t it heal?

  Damn vampire.

  “What do I do?” Luukas asked.

  Why were they talking about her like she wasn’t even there? She struggled to open her eyes to tell them she was awake, only to find two handsome faces peering down at her anxiously.

  “Keira?” Nikulas leaned closer. “Can you hear me?”

  What kind of question was that? Of course she could hear him. She wasn’t deaf, just tired.

  “I’m cold,” she managed to say.

  Luukas immediately flew from the room, returning with an armful of blankets that he then proceeded to pile on top of her.

  Nikulas glanced sideways at him. “Luuk, we need to get this fever down, man. She’s burning up. I don’t know that more blankets are a good idea.”

  “She’s cold,” he stated in a tone that brooked no argument.

  “I know, but we need to get the fever down. Hey, come here a second.” Grabbing his brother’s arm, he dragged him over to the doorway, and asked in a low voice, “You’ve fed from her, right?”

  Luukas gave him a sharp nod.

  “You haven't offered your blood to her? Completed the bond?”

  The bond? Keira frowned as she huddled under her mound of blankets, shivering as she watched them from under heavy eyelids.

&
nbsp; Luukas tore his eyes from her to look askance at his brother. “The bond. The mating bond? That isn’t real.”

  Nikulas chewed the inside of his cheek, heaving a sigh. “Yeah, I didn’t think so.” Clapping his brother on the shoulder to get his attention again, he looked him directly in the eyes. “It is real, man. And you need to complete it, or I don’t know if she’s gonna make it, and then neither will you.”

  Luukas straightened to his full height. “No.”

  “No?” The shocked expression on Nikulas’ face was almost funny. Surely he’d faced his brother’s stubbornness before in all of their years together?

  “NO.”

  “But,” Nikulas glanced sideways at her, lowering his voice. “That bite is really infected. I could try to get her some antibiotics, but I don’t know that they’ll help much. She’s undernourished, and with you feeding from her, I don’t know that she’ll pull through without your blood.”

  Luukas said nothing.

  “Luukas!” Nikulas shouted, all caution that she would hear him aside. “She might die, man. Do you get that?”

  Luukas turned cold, black eyes to where she lay on the bed. “Then let her die.” He left the room then, leaving Nikulas staring after him, dumbfounded.

  Shaking his head with disbelief, he came back over to the bed, and adjusted the blankets over her. “I don't get him. One minute he's freaking out because you're cold, and the next he's sentencing you to death."

  "Not his fault," she told him, her voice raw. "He wants to kill me, but I'm too irresistible."

  Nik chuckled. "I’m going to go get you some antibiotics. I’ll be right back. Hang in there, ok?”

  She gave him a weak nod and attempted to smile.

  Luukas didn’t return after Nikulas left. Although she'd hoped their time together last night would've helped matters, it seemed he hadn’t overcome the urge to have her dead. And, actually, going this way would be ideal for his revenge plan. She would be dead and he wouldn’t have the guilty conscious of being responsible for it.

  Although, how much guilt would a vampire who’d killed his own Master actually have?

  This really wouldn’t be such a bad way to go, she mused again. Definitely better than Luukas snapping her neck and draining her dry. Well, the draining wouldn’t be so bad, she kind of liked that part, but the neck snapping wouldn’t be pleasant at all.