Blood Choice (Deathless Night Series Book 6) Read online

  But before she ran off again, she needed to get a few things. And she owed it to Luukas to check in with him and try to explain. Maybe he would understand, his history with Keira being similar.

  Keira opened the door before they had the chance to knock. Pushing the guys aside, she grabbed Shea in a bear hug. “I’m so glad you’re back!”

  Shea felt tears fill her eyes at the unexpected welcome. Wrapping her arms around the little witch, she hugged her back hard.

  “We’ve been trying to call you!” Keira gave her one last squeeze and took her hand to drag her into the apartment. “I finally called Aiden, and told him to go find you.” She prattled on as they walked, completely missing the look Shea gave Aiden.

  “Did I not mention that part?” he said.

  Shea turned back to Keira. “I lost my phone—”

  “In the plane crash, we know.” At Shea’s surprised look, she explained. “We saw it. All of us witches. We get visions sometimes. It started with me and Emma, when we saw Grace and Aiden running from the demons in China. We never know when it’s going to happen, but it seems to be when one of our family is in trouble.” She stared steadily at Shea when she said this.

  “So, you know.”

  Keira nodded.

  “Does Luukas know?”

  She nodded again. “I had to tell him.”

  “Of course,” Shea said. “How did he take it?”

  “About as well as you would expect.”

  Although she wasn’t surprised, a tiny part of her had foolishly hoped he would be more open to it, now that they knew who Jesse was. Taking a deep breath, she looked around. They were all there: Nikulas and Emma, Aiden and Grace, Christian and Ryan, and even Dante and Laney—standing near the door, of course.

  Being up here made Dante skittish. She met his eyes briefly before he looked away. His disapproval was easy to see. Her tentative smile fell. This, more than anything, hit Shea where it hurt.

  Emma approached the two women. “Did he tell you how he’s related to us?”

  Shea shook her head. “No. Only that his name is Moss, and he’s from your coven.” She didn’t mention what he’d told her about Ryan. She didn’t feel it was her place to break that news. That was Jesse’s story to tell.

  “That explains the whole ‘cousin’ thing the last time I saw him.” Even without the twist of her mouth and the fire in her eyes, Shea knew it hadn’t been a pleasant reunion.

  She looked at the two sisters who she had come to care so much about in the short time she’d known them. “I’m so sorry.” Looking up, she included Grace in that apology, who was standing back, wrapped in Aiden’s arms. “I don’t know why I went with him. I just…there’s no excuse for it. But please believe me when I say, I had no idea this would happen.” She shook her head. “No, if I’m going to be honest, I’ve always been attracted to him.” She frowned. “No, that’s not the word. Obsessed is more like it. But I had no idea what fate had in store for us. I had no idea he was my mate.”

  “And that’s why you didn’t tell Luukas that you were with Jesse the whole time you were held in Leeha’s fortress,” Keira said. “Nik told Em, and Em told me.”

  She nodded. “Yes. I felt the need to protect him. Even then.”

  Keira glanced at her sister before focusing on Shea again. “Well, who are we to argue with the gods? Whether we like it or not—and let’s be clear, we don’t—we need him to stay alive for you, so you can survive. And I very much want you to survive.” As she said these last words, she looked over at the bedroom door with an almost defiant expression.

  Shea swiped at the tears that had finally fallen. Luukas was standing in the doorway, leaning against the doorjamb, watching the exchange with a hard expression. He looked even worse than he had before she left.

  Keira continued, her voice sharp with resolve. “But, for whatever reasons Jesse did what he did, we need to get the demons out of the vampires Luukas created. If we don’t, I will lose him. And I’m sorry, Shea, as much as I love you, if it comes down to my mate or yours, I’m choosing mine.”

  Looking directly at her maker, Shea said, “It won’t come to that, Keira.”

  “It might. And I just want you to know where I stand. Where we all stand.” The other witches came to stand behind Keira in a show of solidarity.

  Shea looked at them all in turn. “Jesse is your blood—”

  “That warlock is a sadistic prick who doesn’t give a shit about you or any of us,” Luukas said from across the room. “Especially not his family.”

  He was right. Except for one thing. “But he does care about me,” Shea insisted. Walking over to Luukas, she lifted her chin. She wouldn’t try to defend Jesse, but she refused to be ashamed of him. “All I ask, Luukas, is that you give me the chance to find him and talk to him. He has his reasons for releasing the demons, and it’s a…an understandable one.”

  “What reason is that?” Ryan spoke up for the first time. She hadn’t stood with the other witches a few moments ago, but had stayed where she was. Rising from the chair near the window, she came to join the others now. “What possible reason does he have to release such a threat to us?” She seemed genuinely curious.

  Shea repositioned herself so she could include them all in her response. “From what he told me, and from what I figured out myself, your families all ran to escape the new High Priest of your coven when you were young, correct?”

  Those who knew their past nodded.

  “That High Priest is Jesse’s father, and he wants to take him out. He needs the demons to help him. He can’t do it himself. So, he made a deal with them to help them find what they needed to attain their original forms, and their original power. In exchange for his help, they’ve agreed to help him get rid of his father, and will spare him and those he cares about. That includes myself, and my family. Which includes all of you.”

  With a quick glance at Luukas’s set jaw, Keira spoke up. “Jesse is one of the most powerful witches I’ve ever seen. I don’t believe he needs the demons. I think he has another reason for releasing them. One he doesn’t want you to know about.”

  “And even if that’s all true,” Nik said. “Who the fuck wants to live in a world ruled by demons, Shea?”

  Ryan frowned, tilting her head as though she was listening. She was communing with her spirits—the voices that used to drive her so mad, she would pump herself full of drugs just to drown them out before she met Christian.

  It still creeped Shea out a little.

  Understanding dawned on Ryan’s face, and she gave her attention back to Shea. “Tell them what his father is,” she told her. “You need to tell them.”

  All eyes turned to Shea. She had hoped to leave this part out, because by telling them what his father was, it also revealed why Jesse was so dangerous. But it looked like she wouldn’t have a choice, and she didn’t want to spend the entire night deflecting questions when what she needed to be doing was finding Jesse. “His father is pure djinn.” The entire room went still, even the witches. “That’s how he took over the coven, and why your families ran. He siphons magic from the coven. He’s not a good leader.”

  “That’s putting it fucking mildly,” Keira burst out. “Sorry,” she added to Shea. “My parents never told me why they’d run, just that they didn’t agree with the new Priest’s ‘ways’.” She took on a thoughtful expression, and looked at Emma. “They must have kept that from us to protect us. If we didn’t know about him, we couldn’t think about him, and we wouldn’t attract his attention. It’s how the djinn work.”

  It’s how the djinn work. Was that why Jesse was so interested in her? Because she attracted him with her obsession of him? As much as she would try not to think about him, she was never very successful at it.

  Luukas strode out into the center of the room. “A djinn, Shea? We’re dealing with a fucking djinn?” It was obvious he wasn’t talking about the High Priest. “How the fuck do you expect me to welcome him into our group? How do you exp
ect me to look at him every day? How, Shea?” His deep voice boomed throughout the room, the temperature dropping swiftly with his anger.

  The tears threatened once more. “I’m so sorry, Luukas.”

  He appeared in front of her, his furious visage not three inches away. “Sorry?” he hissed. His fangs flashed when he spoke. “He fucked with my head. He made me believe I was being burned alive. He made me believe it was Keira doing it. He made me believe I had ripped her into pieces with my bare hands—the love of my life. I thought I had killed her! And you’re sorry?”

  Shea stood her ground, breathing hard. But kept her eyes averted, afraid that if she looked at him, she would be the one he tore apart. Keira had done many of those same things to him herself, and Shea wished she could point that out to him. But there was a major difference, and she knew it. Keira had done it against her will. Jesse had done it for amusement.

  Keira’s hand appeared on his arm. “It wasn’t her fault, Luukas. She didn’t set out to make him her mate. We both know fate doesn’t always give us a choice.”

  His mate’s touch calmed him, but not by much. He laid a gentle hand over Keira’s, but his eyes glinted like steel as they narrowed on Shea. “Get out of my sight.”

  Holding back a sob, she gave him a brisk nod and turned on her heel. She kept her head high, not looking at any of them while she strode from the apartment. She made it all the way to her apartment, barely getting the door shut before she lost it. Falling to her knees on the hard tile, she burst into tears.

  It occurred to her that she hadn’t even had the chance to tell him she had the demon’s blood. Or how she planned to stop Jesse.

  A quick knock came from behind her. Shea wiped at her eyes and stumbled to her feet. She could tell by the scent it was Laney. Holding the door open, Shea invited her inside.

  Dante’s mate offered a sympathetic smile. “I know we don’t know each other very well, yet. But from one girl to another who fell hard for the wrong guy, I get it. Luukas shouldn’t be treating you like this.”

  Shea shook her head. “No, he should. He absolutely should. You don’t know what he’s been through, Laney. All of that stuff he said, Jesse did all that to him, and worse.”

  “Well, be that as it may, we’re going to help you find him. Us girls.”

  She stilled. “Do you know where he is, Laney?”

  Laney’s brown eyes caught hers. “We do.”

  Shea swallowed hard. “I have to stop him.”

  Laney nodded. “We’ll help you.”

  “Just let me get a few things.”

  Lines of concern creased the witch’s brow. “I don’t know much about weapons.”

  Shea was already heading to her bedroom. “Not weapons. They won’t do us any good against demons. But I do have something that will. I’ll explain it all to you on the drive up there.”

  A bright smile lit up Laney’s face. “We’ll meet you at the cars in thirty minutes. All of us. If we have to drag those guys kicking and screaming.”

  Chapter 29

  Jesse left his hideout and continued through the woods on foot. He thought about the man who was partly responsible for his existence, and felt nothing at all, other than a keen urge to end his life.

  His father was not an honorable male. Nor was he particularly fond of his one and only son. Daughters were rare and not worth the time to raise them according to djinn culture. Which is how his sister, Ryan, was lucky enough to get away from the bastard.

  Jesse was not so fortuitous. But he carried only half of his genes. The other half had come from his mother, a Moss witch, whose beauty and magical allure had bewitched the djinn from the moment he’d seen her.

  Much how Jesse felt about his traitorous vampire.

  But all the things that had attracted his father to his mother had also made him grow to despise her, for she had been an extremely powerful witch. The most powerful the coven had ever known. And she had sent his father back to the djinn shortly after Jesse was born. Or so he’d been told. He didn’t know the exact reasons why, though he could well imagine. His mother had made it a point never to speak of the male who had sired him.

  When Jesse had matured into a young man, his father had returned, summoned by a young witch enthralled by the stories of him. His father killed his mother, taking over the position of High Priest of her coven and sucking the magic contained within it like an ominous leech. Over the years, it had made his father strong and the witches weak.

  Except for those who’d managed to escape.

  For many of the coven had run as soon as he’d arrived, rather than stay and fight, and Jesse had seen the wisdom in that. He had been nowhere near strong enough to take on his father at that time, and couldn’t help the ones who’d decided to stay. So, he ran like the others, and promised himself that one day, he would return and send his father back from whence he came. And he would destroy the book that tied him to this world.

  Over the years, Jesse had watched and waited as his own magical strength grew in leaps and bounds. He spent his time alone, with very little contact with others, for it took him awhile to learn to control the sorcery within him. It wasn’t until he came out of hiding and re-entered the world that he discovered, quite by accident, that he was stronger than any other creature in existence.

  When he felt he was ready, he began to ingratiate himself into the world of the supernatural, and eventually found himself working with Leeha. She was a foolish female, but his only focus was doing whatever he had to do to get what he needed to defeat his father. He had no sympathy for the creatures he hurt, or worse. He felt nothing at all.

  Everything changed for him the night he had met Shea.

  He’d found himself unable to concentrate, distracted by the seductive lure of his vampire. He couldn’t stay away from her from the moment he’d first sensed her aura, and more than once he’d caught himself just before making a fatal mistake.

  The fixation had only grown now that they shared a blood bond.

  He heard a raven call high above, and glanced up through the trees to see Cruthú circling above. She refused to leave him, much as he’d begged her to stay near their home. He was on his way to meet with the demons. Not at the altar, as he knew everyone would assume the ritual would need to take place, but at a place much more suited for what he needed to do.

  As he watched the raven’s graceful flight, a light rain began to fall. Jesse picked up his pace while wiping the moisture from his eyes. The spot where he needed to be was about twenty miles or so from the mountain where he had brought forth the demons, and he was able to make the trip in just under a quarter of an hour. Jesse slowed down as he approached a large rock formation, circling around until it was on his left and a steep drop-off was on his right. During the day, he knew the view would be beautiful. Miles and miles of unspoiled forest as far as the eye could see. He’d come here quite often when he’d needed a little time away from Leeha and her insanity.

  Cedar, cottonwood, and pine trees towered above him, blocking out the stars except for the circle of sky directly above the clearing where he now stood. It was necessary to be in that particular spot to do what he was about to do, for a series of the earth’s ley lines connected directly in the center. The perfect spot for a spell this intense to work.

  A deep croak sounded above him, and Cruthú disappeared, only to reappear a few moments later flying in what Jesse termed her “panic mode.” Someone was coming, and it wasn’t someone the raven considered a friend.

  Jesse breathed in the scent of rain and trees and crisp, chill air. However, it didn’t work as it always did, calming him and focusing his thoughts. A feeling of unease trickled down his spine.

  Something was wrong.

  A few seconds later, he heard them: twigs snapped and pine needles crackled as a large group made its way through the trees. From what Jesse could tell, it appeared to be at least thirty demon-possessed vampires heading his way. And from the stench that drifted toward him on the slight
breeze, it was none too soon. With a flick of his will, he lit the small fires interspersed throughout the clearing. The strong scent of burning firewood chased away the smell of rotting bodies and cleared the air.

  As he waited for them to arrive, Jesse walked the area, finding and marking the exact spot the ley lines connected by listening to the vibrations in the earth. There he kicked away the weeds and debris that had fallen from the trees, and drew a large circle in the dirt. He connected the ends, sealing himself within the protection of the circle with a few spoken words. He didn’t fear the demons; the chances of them being able to overtake him were practically non-existent.

  But he trusted his instincts, and he wasn’t taking any chances.

  The first row of the demons strode into the clearing—the leader, Mammot, front and center. He stopped when he saw Jesse standing within the circle and held up one rotting hand to halt the others behind him. Eyeing the warlock, he did a sweep of the area. Searching for what, Jesse couldn’t be sure. A trap, perhaps?

  Cruthú swooped in, loudly voicing her displeasure, and the demon leader gave her a scathing look. “What are you doing here?”

  Jesse raised one eyebrow. “As I am the only one who knows the ritual, I would think you would want me here. Where is the blood?”

  Mammot, or Steven, laughed without humor. “So, the son is more honorable than the father.”

  It took Jesse no time at all to figure out he had accused the wrong vampire of betraying him. Thinking it over, he wasn’t surprised. As a matter of fact, he’d been expecting some ruse or other. Demons could not be trusted.

  But Jesse could play this game, too. As a matter of fact, he excelled at this game. “And you’re surprised?”