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

  “Luukas? Hey, big brother. It’s just me, Nik.”

  Nik?

  The vampire eased down another step. Luukas’ heartbeat picked up again as he tried to keep an eye on both the vampire and the pacing wolves. Swinging his head back and forth between them, he finally settled on the vampire, as the beasts seemed to be keeping their distance.

  Nik. He thought again. Nikulas?

  He knew that name. Knew that face. From where? He tried to think back. Fractional pieces of his life before flashed through his mind.

  My brother. Trust him?

  He wasn’t sure, but he sheathed his fangs a bit. Still, to be safe, he yanked the witch behind him.

  “The witch is mine.”

  “Ok man, you can have her.” The human female made a sound of protest, but the vampire – Nik - ignored her, easing down a few more steps.

  “No one is going to take your witch. I just want to say hello to my brother.”

  Brother, yes. My brother. Nikulas.

  He took a halting step into the room, scanning the area. Where was Leeha? He needed to kill her.

  “Where is she?” he ground out.

  “She’s gone…She took Aiden with her.”

  Aiden?

  “We came to get you out," Nik continued, "When she heard the wolves, she freaked out, and unleashed her monsters upon us." He indicated the room full of decaying carcasses around him. “We killed them all except for a group that took off with Aiden through that door.” He pointed to the doorway where he and the human had been standing. “We can’t get it open now. I don’t know where she took him.”

  Luukas growled low in his throat as his lips twitched back off of his fangs. “I’m going to rip her apart. Slowly. Painfully.”

  “Luukas!” Keira cried as, in his anger, his grip tightened on her. “You’re hurting me!”

  Hurting her? No! He couldn’t hurt her! Luukas immediately loosened his hold, releasing her wrist, but his eyes pinned her to the spot.

  “Leave us,” he ordered the others in the room.

  The wolves kept a wary eye as they took advantage of his distraction with the witch. They slunk past him through the hole in the wall to go find the rest of their pack, but he paid them no mind. He was incapable of tearing his eyes away from the female in front of him.

  “Luuk, man. Let’s just get out of here,” his brother called from behind him.

  A cold rage filled Luukas, so intense, it dropped the temperature in the room. The witch shivered before him, and wrapped her arms around herself.

  She swallowed hard.

  Rip her open! Suck her dry! Ah, I’m so thirsty. Kill her! Burn her!

  “LEAVE! US!”

  A silent moment passed as he and the witch stood with gazes locked: His intense with anger. Hers frightened, yet resigned.

  Finally, he heard his brother urge the human female, “Come on. Let’s go.” Raising his voice, he called to Luukas, “We’ll be at the hideout.”

  “What? No. Nik! NO!! Dammit, that’s my SISTER over there!”

  Luukas’ upper lip twitched as the human argued with his brother.

  “Nikulas! Stop! I’m not leaving without her!” A pause, “I will not leave without my sister.”

  The air began to vibrate, and at first, he thought it was his witch, but no. It wasn’t her. This magic was similar, but different, and far weaker.

  He didn’t have long to wonder about it though. The whoosh of a large object soon came sailing through the air towards him. Without taking his gaze from his witch, he lifted his left hand and flicked the rock away from him with nothing but the will of his mind.

  “Nikulas. You really need to remove her,” he warned. “NOW. I’m not in the mood to play.”

  Keira gave him a hopeful look he didn’t understand, before tearing her gaze away to plead with her sister, “Emma, it’s ok. Luukas and I have some things we need to discuss.”

  “Sweetheart, that’s enough. We’re leaving.” Nikulas’ voice was firm.

  “He’s going to kill her, Nik!” she cried.

  Yes. But first, feed. Then kill.

  “No, he won’t,” Nikulas told her in a reassuring tone. “He’s very angry right now, but he won’t hurt her. You need to trust me here.”

  “You don’t know that,” the human insisted.

  “Actually, I kinda do.”

  Luukas was swiftly losing his patience.

  With an anxious glance at his face, Keira quickly interrupted them, “It’s ok, honey. Go with Nik. I’ll be out in a bit.”

  “Keira?” The human’s voice trembled with disbelief and uncertainty.

  With another quick glance at Luukas, Keira ordered, “Emma, just GO. I’ll be fine.”

  “Come on,” Nikulas insisted.

  Her sister looked as if she was about to argue more, but then turned and stalked from the room in a huff.

  Keira watched her go, relief and sorrow playing across her features. She turned back to Luukas, and drew herself up stiffly.

  A cruel smile spread across his face.

  “Luukas,” she began haltingly, but he didn’t give her any time to give him her excuses. There were no excuses he would accept for what she’d done to him.

  He moved before he realized he'd meant to do so. One second he was standing in front of her and the next he had her slammed up against the wall behind her, her feet dangling a foot off the floor. One of his large hands was around her bandaged throat, and the other had a death grip on her wrists, holding her arms above her head.

  He lowered his head until his icy visage was but an inch from her face. His glowing, green eyes burned into her with his rage. His lips were drawn back from his teeth in a snarl, exposing his massive fangs.

  “I’m going to kill you. Slowly. And painfully.”

  Keira looked at him defiantly through her tears. Choking from his hold, she managed to rasp, “I…deserve…it. Just…don’t…hurt…Emma.”

  Luuk tilted his head to the side as he stared at her with disbelief, his hatred of her sharpening his thoughts into something that sounded somewhat coherent.

  “You dare to demand something of me? For years, you helped that bitch hold me here. Fucking watched,” he yanked her towards him by the throat and slammed her back into the wall, feeling some satisfaction when she winced. “As I was tortured and starved, without a bone in your body feeling a bit of remorse, without one ounce of empathy for me.”

  “That’s not…true…!” she gasped.

  “SHUT UP! SHUT UP! You don’t get to fucking ask for anything!” he roared into her face. “You don’t get even a small feeling of pity from me. Nothing! YOU! BURNED! ME! ALIVE!”

  Luukas was struggling hard to keep the madness in check, but he was losing the fight. He could feel the delicate bones of her throat under his hand, and imagined how good it would feel to crush them in his grip. He began to squeeze, smiling cruelly as her face turned a dark, mottled red.

  Rip her open! Suck her dry! I’m so thirsty. Kill her! Burn her!

  A single tear escaped and rolled down her cheek: just one tear. And the sight of that single fucking tear gave him pause...made his chest tighten painfully.

  Hurting her? No! He couldn’t hurt her!

  Luukas squeezed his eyes shut.

  Rip her open! Suck her dry! I’m so thirsty. Kill her! Burn her!

  But that one brave tear undid him. “God damn you.”

  He loosened his grip on her throat and watched anxiously as she sucked in air, coughing, the color rushing from her face, the sudden paleness of her skin stark in contrast. Still effortlessly holding her up by the wrists, as he had been chained for so long, he placed his other hand on the side of her head and brushed the tear away gently with his thumb. Eyes wide with wonder, he cupped her cheek as he let his eyes rove over her exquisite face.

  Gradually, he became aware of her lush body pressed against him. Her heart pounded and her blood rushed through her veins. Her delicious, unique scent hovered in the air around hi
m, interlaced with…desire?

  He instantly ached to bury his fangs deep in her neck. Gods, he was so thirsty.

  Her full breasts pressed into his chest, and his cock throbbed painfully. It was strange, feeling his cock hardening again, feeling the almost painful pleasure of it.

  He wanted to kill her and fuck her at the same time. Maybe he’d fuck her first, and then kill her. Why not? She deserved nothing less.

  And she wanted him. He could smell her desire, stronger than her fear. How could that be possible?

  No, feed first.

  He snarled at her again as he thought about the past…what? Years? She owed him for what he’d been through. What she’d put him through. Moving faster than she could track, his mouth slammed down hard onto hers at the same time he ripped the bandage from her throat.

  She gasped at the assault, and he used the opportunity to invade her mouth with his tongue. He wasn’t gentle. He kissed her ferociously, thrusting his tongue in and out of her mouth, sucking, feasting; the taste of her easing the madness, centering all of his awareness on nothing but her.

  His fangs scraped her lips and a drop of her blood touched his tongue. He growled deep within his chest, holding her head firmly to his.

  It wasn’t enough. He wanted more. Needed more.

  Tearing his mouth from hers, he grabbed her by the hair, roughly pulling her head to the side to expose her neck to his hungry view. Her breathing was ragged in his ear, and the sharp scent of her fear grew thicker around him.

  Her plump veins pulsed rapidly just under her translucent skin. He put his nose to her neck, inhaling deeply, reveling in her scent for just a moment.

  Rearing back, he struck like a snake, sinking his fangs deep into her succulent flesh. She stiffened in his arms as he felt her vein pop and her warm blood began to gush down his throat. He swallowed greedily, his eyes rolling back in his head as an instant feeling of euphoria spreading throughout his emaciated body.

  MINE.

  With a groan, he let go of her wrists. Her hands immediately went to his shoulders, but rather than push him away, they clung to him. Putting his arm around her waist, he pulled her hips into his throbbing erection as he sucked hard at her neck.

  Her blood was like nothing he’d ever tasted before. It ran down his throat and burned sweetly through his body like a fine liqueur. Luukas’ body responded eagerly, her blood healing him, renewing him.

  He pulled her impossibly closer as he dropped to his knees and sat back on his heels, pulling her down with him and holding her on his lap, her knees to either side of his hips. Her hands gripped his strong shoulders and she moaned as he rocked his hips up, trying to push himself into her core through their ragged clothes. His cock felt like it was about to burst, but he couldn’t bring himself to let go of her long enough to remove their clothes.

  He rubbed himself against her, seeking relief, moving faster and faster. Lifting his head from her neck, he moved his mouth to her ear and ordered, “Come for me, Keira. Come for me…NOW.”

  Her body responded instantly to his words, and with an incoherent cry, she convulsed in his arms. He struck her neck again, groaning deep in his throat, and pulled her down onto him as he ground up into her, hard. With her sweet, sweet blood running down his throat and her cries in his ears, he yelled out against her neck as his cock swelled impossibly larger, before violently releasing as he came.

  She went limp in his arms as he continued to rock against her, more gently now. Taking one last tiny pull, he removed his fangs from her throat, and ran his tongue over the wounds to help heal them.

  He growled dangerously as he felt the previous wounds there from the other vampire who’d fed from her. Who’d fed from what was his.

  Pulling her limp body close to him, he rose to his feet, adjusting her in his arms.

  I’ll fucking kill him.

  But wait, he was already dead. Wasn’t he? Luukas tried to remember. Yes, Leeha took his heart. He remembered now. He wouldn’t get to kill the vampire who’d fed from his female.

  And that pissed him off. He bared his fangs at the empty tunnel, but no one was there to take out his anger on.

  He turned in a circle. Which way? He stepped back out of the tunnel into the main room. It was empty also. Everyone had gone. But where? What had Nik said?

  The hideout. Yes.

  He glanced down at his witch. She hadn’t opened her eyes.

  Can’t hurt her!

  He frowned, lifting her up closer. He could hear her heartbeat. It was still strong.

  Spotting the narrow tunnel Nik and the human had taken, Luukas headed that way, holding Keira close against his chest so as not to bang her limp form against the stone.

  He followed the human’s scent until he came to a larger opening. A creek ran by, flowing through the mountain. He followed it upstream until he came out of the mountain.

  It would be daylight soon. He would have to hurry.

  Chapter 10

  Aiden

  Three sets of steel doors, each one four feet thick, slid down from the ceiling behind them as Leeha led them down the passageway.

  Aiden glanced back at the slabs of metal in amusement. “If you wanted me to stay for tea, luv, all you had to do was ask.”

  He received a shove in the middle of his back from a yellow-clawed hand, as her monsters hissed at him to move faster.

  “Alright, alright. You don’t have to push.” Wrinkling his nose at their ripe odor, he caught up to Leeha.

  “So, where are we going?”

  “Shut up, Aiden!”

  He grinned at her.

  “Whatever happened to ‘I’m so happy to see you, Aiden. Let’s go wallow in other earthly pleasures, Aiden?’ It’s not my fault you’re frightened of wolves. I want to go wallow.”

  “SHUT UP!” Leeha screamed at him. She flinched as a howl came from the direction they'd just come from.

  He supposed he’d just have to be patient.

  “Just give me a hint," he told her five seconds later.

  Patience was obviously not his strong suit.

  Leeha spun around so fast he nearly collided into her small form. Smiling down into her lovely, furious visage, he kissed the tip of her finger when she stuck it in his face.

  Taking a deep breath, she lowered her hand, curling it into a fist as she visibly attempted to calm herself. “Much as I would love to go ‘wallow’ also, there are other things I need to take care of right now. You can stay out of my way, or not. But if you don’t, my love, I will be forced to remove you, Aiden.”

  She reached up and touched his cheek softly, her eyes hurt. “You’ve already betrayed me by bringing those Scottish hairballs to my door, ruining everything. Don’t push your luck.”

  “Actually, they sort of invited themselves along. Like I said earlier, luv, if you would just stop stealing people…”

  She narrowed her eyes at him, the blood-red irises gleaming dangerously.

  He held up both hands in a placating gesture. All right, he’d play along.

  For now.

  “I’m sorry, poppet. You’re right. I shouldn’t be distracting you when you are so obviously distraught. Tell me what I can do to help.”

  She smiled at him, sweet as sugar. “Stop talking.”

  He grinned back at her roguishly. “Done.”

  Gently, she wiped the blood from his mouth where she’d backhanded him on the stairs, turned, and continued on.

  Which reminded him. That backhand had been unusually powerful, even for a vampire. There was something more going on here, and Aiden was bound and determined to discover what it was.

  Chapter 11

  Luukas

  Luukas rushed through the cool night with the witch in his arms. He didn’t look back. Sword ferns whipped against his legs with their wet leaves, but luckily, it wasn’t raining at the moment. The tall pine trees hid him and his precious cargo from any watchful eyes, his footsteps silent upon their fallen needles that covered the ground.
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  He took a deep breath of the fresh night air. The first fresh air he’d breathed in years.

  The witch’s blood circulated through his deteriorated muscles, giving him a strength and energy that he hadn’t felt in a long time, if ever.

  Yet, he barely noticed. His focus was on one thing, and one thing only. He had to find the hideout…needed to get out of the open before the sun rose. After finally escaping from his hellish prison, he wasn’t about to let something as insignificant as sunshine finish him off.

  He ran with a desperation born from the need to escape the horrors of this place, not really aware of where he was, or how he knew which way to go. He just ran, following the mountain range.

  It didn’t take him long to reach the hidden entrance of the hideout. He eyed the brush at the foot of the snow-capped mountain. How to get in? Pacing back and forth, his pulse raced as he studied the foliage.

  There!

  Shifting Keira to one arm, he pulled back the branches and stepped into the long passageway, pausing a moment to let his eyes adjust. It was pitch black, but he didn’t need a light. His vampire vision allowed him to see just fine.

  He traversed the tunnel cautiously, and came to the open cavern he and his council had been using for years to keep an eye on Leeha and her brethren.

  No one was there.

  Carrying the witch over to the fire pit in the center, he gently laid her down in the shelter of the large stones surrounding it, and sat down near her to wait out the day.

  He knew he should be plotting, planning, but was unable to think ahead past the next few hours.

  He closed his eyes, quelling the panic that was trying to rise in him.

  Just get through the day. Worry about the rest later.

  ***

  They hadn’t been there long when he heard someone coming. Placing himself between the witch and the tunnel entrance, he held himself perfectly still and listened.

  Footsteps came down the tunnel, closer and closer.

  Luukas took up a defensive stance, fangs bared, hands fisted at his sides. As the steps neared the cavern, he hissed in warning.