Rise of the Fae (13 page)

They stared at each other for a long time, with him trying to get his bearings enough to leave the room without crashing into a wall.

She finally got up and pulled a pair of panties, a bra, and a hairbrush out of the bags he had unloaded from his car.

A thought struck him. “Can you get pregnant?”

She swallowed and then smiled. “Don’t worry about it. Us fae know how to take care of those kinds of things.”

The statement was a punch to the gut. Take care of? What the hell did that mean?

She headed for the bathroom, closed the door and the lock clicked.

He stared at the door, playing and replaying the last hour in his head, the pleasure, the release, the pain, and now the weakness. Holding her and having her had felt so right. The connection between them had been deeper than any before. It couldn’t have all been a lie, could it?

The room stopped spinning but his limbs twitched with fatigue. He strode to the door and raised his hand. A small sound from the other side stopped him, beyond the sounds of the water from the shower. His gut clenched and he lowered his hand. She was sobbing.

* * * *

A few hours and several bottles of Savor later, Neeman’s phone rang as he lay on his bed trying to recover from what had transpired.

He contemplated not answering it, but his phone never rang for no reason.

“Neeman.”

“It’s William. I think you should grab a few trackers and come over.”

Neeman sat up too quick and his head spun. “What’s up?”

“Danika’s relatives are coming and we need a show of solidarity.”

“Absolutely. When do you need us?”

“As soon as you can get here.”

“Will do. William?”

“Yes?”

“Does she know we’re coming?”

The line was silent for a minute. “No. Does it matter?”

“Not at all.”

“I’ll see you soon.”

Neeman got to his feet and made for the shower. Whether or not he was at his best didn’t matter. Danika needed him and he was going to be there. The fate of Chicago could very well depend on it.

Selene lay in her bed till she could no longer stand it. Her mind, which was now conspicuously quiet, reeled with images of Neeman and how hurt he’d been by what she’d done. In the past, she’d fled the scene as soon as the males hit the toilet. She’d never stayed around long enough to find out how they turned out. Seeing him like that had been more painful than she’d like to admit.

For all of his standoffish, boorish ways, Selene liked Neeman. He was a good man and loyal. He’d not done anything but try to keep her safe, this entire time. Though she’d been...less than easy to get along with.

She blew out a heavy breath. She never used to be like this. Okay, she’d always kind of been like this, but that had been when she’d let her demon side rule her actions. Her other half craved chaos, pleasure, and pain. Unlike Mason’s other half, which craved destruction. She wondered why it was they’d turned out so different despite having the same father.

It had been that chaotic side of her the elders had tried to control. She looked down at her stomach and laid her palm across it.

“Manifesto,”
she whispered. The air around her stomach shimmered with light and then peeled back, revealing the skin underneath.

Scars crisscrossed her skin like a preschooler’s doodle board. Deep grooves coursed over her ribs and down her belly. White puckered scars from each piercing of the skin, each cut, each burn. She ran her trembling fingers over them, remembering each in turn and who had produced them. A face burned into her memory, the man who haunted her nightmares.

She took a deep breath, trying to calm her pounding heart. He didn’t matter now. He couldn’t reach her here. Not now that she was back with her brother.

Footsteps pulled her from her memories.

“Obscuro.”
She waved her hand over her stomach, not even looking at it.

She jumped from her bed and riffled through the bags. She pulled on a pair of black leggings, a blue couture t-shirt and a pair of flats. Then she pried her door open. Neeman, Riley, and another tracker marched down toward the elevator. Neeman looked over his shoulder and she closed her door.

A minute passed.

“Dispareo.”
She waited till her image faded and then opened the door again and stepped into the hall. Rushing to the elevator, she moved aside when the doors opened. Silly really, since she was already invisible.

She looked inside then hopped into the empty elevator and rode up to the warehouse floor.

The door opened and she tiptoed out and waited. Riley turned and looked at the elevator.

“What’s up?” asked Neeman.

“Nothing. Someone must have pushed the wrong button.” Riley got into the SUV. The engine started. She sprinted for the vehicle and jumped for it. She planted her foot on the rear bumper and landed on all fours on the bars of the roof rack. The door opened and a Vampire she didn’t recognize looked up. He shook his head and got back in.

Selene blew out a breath and settled herself on the roof as the SUV backed out of the warehouse.

By the time the SUV pulled into the drive of a large estate, Selene’s arms and legs burned from hanging on. At some point during the ride, a bug had hit her in the face. She wiped the splatter from her cheek and swallowed down her disgust. Cleaning toilets and bug guts. Her trip back to the Earth plane was not as glamorous as she had expected.

* * * *

Neeman, Riley, and Stephos pulled up to Coven House and were let in the gate by Siad, Coven House’s head of security. The driveway already held several cars in addition to those owned by coven members.

He still wasn’t up to his normal strength but that wasn’t going to stop him from doing his duty. His thoughts turned to Selene. He hadn’t told her he was leaving the compound but what did it matter? She wasn’t his mate.

“Are we waiting for something, boss?” asked Riley.

“No.” Neeman cut off the engine and stepped from the car. He walked to the entrance with the other trackers and met several of the house guards and William. “Are they here yet?”

“Not yet.” William stuck out his hand. “Within the hour. Thank you for coming.”

“Any time.” Neeman shook hands. “Chicago is our home and Danika is our Lord. We’ll always be here to protect those two first.”

“As will we all,” replied William. The young vampyr grew in strength and wisdom every day. “Come on. We better tell her I called you.”

Neeman nodded. Maybe William hadn’t grown in wisdom as much as he’d thought.

The group entered the front hall. All around the splendor of Coven House hit him once more. House slaves were busy at work. There were no other Vampires to be seen.

William turned. “We will be meeting in the atrium, but—”

“Neeman?”

Danika and Mason descended the stairs. Her almost-human coloring was still quite off-putting.

He bowed to her, as did the rest of the entourage.

“What are you doing here? We didn’t have a meeting, did we?” She plucked at her red silk blouse.

She looked from William to Mason and back. Her amber eyes made his gut clench. He much preferred her blue ones.

“No. I heard you might need some help, so I thought we’d make sure everyone played nice.”

“Played nice? That’s one I’ve never heard you say before,” she said. “I thank you for coming but this is a private meeting and—”

“I asked him to come,” said William.

Danika’s brows furrowed. “Why didn’t you consult me first?”

“Because you would’ve said no.”

“Damn right I would have said no. There is no reason—”

“We need them,” interjected Mason. “You’re being pressured from every side. I need to keep a level head while they’re here and I won’t be able to do that if I am trying to watch everything at all times.”

Danika ground her teeth together. She turned on her mate and stepped up to his enormous frame. “Who is the lord of this coven? You? William? No, me! It is just this kind of thing that makes the three kings think they can push me around and tell me what to do and who to let in my lands.”

“That’s not fair,” said Mason. “You know very well that William and I only ever have your back. We called Neeman because he is family. Coven family. And he has a right to know what’s going on in our area if he’s to do his job effectively.”

Neeman couldn’t see Danika’s expression, but he had a pretty good idea what it looked like.

Danika didn’t like being wrong, but she liked being seen as weak even less. And if having him there strengthened her, she’d allow it.

Mason set his hand on her waist and leaned in close. He whispered something in her ear so low that even Neeman’s vampyr hearing couldn’t pick it up. After a second, Mason chuckled and Danika’s posture relaxed.

“Fine. Neeman can be here.” She turned to him. “But you are here as coven family members, not trackers. Which means I don’t want Coven War Five breaking out tonight. Are we understood?”

Neeman nodded.

“Come on,” she said. “Let’s everyone have a drink before they get here.”

The group headed into the kitchen. Neeman caught William’s arm. They hung back until the rest of the group was out of earshot.

“Do you have anything besides Savor?” he asked.

“We have blood slaves if—”

“No.” Neeman waved his hand and licked his lips. His gut clenched. He’d never told anyone he didn’t drink directly from the vein. Not even Danika. “Do you have anything in stock?”

“We have some in the cellar storage.”

“Okay. I’ll be back in a few.”

William looked at him quizzically for a moment and then nodded. “Of course.”

Neeman walked to the back stairs. At least they’d won the first battle. Danika agreed to have them there. Now to make sure no one killed each other at the meeting.

Selene slid from the roof of the SUV and stretched. She shouldn’t have worn flats. Trying to hold on for the fifteen minute ride had given her calves a harder workout than if she’d been on the stair-stepper for an hour.

Guards milled about on the grounds and dogs ran the perimeter. She stepped into the bushes and peered through the window. Neeman and the others spoke to Mason and the vampyr William who’d met them at the door. She caught a glimpse of the back of a red-headed woman. The group moved to the rear of the house. Neeman stopped to talk to William and then he headed to the back of the staircase and disappeared.

Inside, the interior was beautiful enough to rival the penthouses her mother used to live in. Antique European furnishings gleamed from frequent polishing. A large red carpet ran to the door, covering beautiful marble floors.

She turned at the sounds of barking. The large guard dogs chased two sedans up the driveway. She crouched behind the bushes as the cars pulled in front of the house and stopped. The dogs barked until the guards reined them in. Several large Vampire guards walked to the cars and waited.

The doors opened and out of the first car stepped two men who were identical in appearance, followed by four other Vampires. The other car also emptied half a dozen Vampires onto the driveway. The group stared at the guards for a moment before being showed to the door.

One of the twins spoke to the other. She recognized their language as Russian immediately.

“We aren’t even greeted by Danika. I told you coming here would be futile.” The speaker nodded to the guard and smiled.

“But look how few guards there are.” The second looked around. “This place is wide open for an attack.”

The hairs on Selene’s neck stood on end. The guards made no move against the men, so she could only assume they didn’t speak Russian.

“That’s not why we’re here, Alexi. You know the job. We wait and see how things play out.”

The group disappeared into the house. One of the guard dogs started barking again, staring at her. The Vampire who held the dog looked at where she stood.

“Shut up,” he said.

Selene slid around the side of the house. The dog’s eyes tracked her the entire way. She rounded the corner and headed for the back of the property.

A large brick building stood behind the main house and on the side of it stood another recently added building. Inside, humans milled about. Some ate, some read, others watched television.

The front door of the barracks opened and three females dressed in all white walked toward the main house, carrying cleaning supplies.

As the slaves opened the door to go in, a male Vampire and a heavily pregnant blond female exited, followed closely by a human male in his early sixties, whose eyes darted back and forth.

“Ike, would you please get one of the blood slaves? I’m going to walk Sinya to the garden to sit for a few moments of fresh air,” said the male Vampire.

Ike nodded and headed to the barracks.

“Are you sure you feel up to working?” asked the male Vampire.

“Lance, honestly. I’m pregnant, not dying.” Sinya laughed.

“I worry is all, my love.” Lance kissed his wife’s hand.

“All I am doing tonight is talking to the humans to find out what they need and how the training is going. The baby isn’t due for another month. With Danika lessening my workload and giving it to William, I feel like I’m no use to anyone anymore.”

Lance stopped walking and held his wife’s face in his hands. “Not so, my dearest. You are more precious to us all than you know. Which is why Danika doesn’t want to overburden you.”

Ike returned from the barrack alongside a female human.

“Come,” Lance called. “Let’s dine in the gazebo under the stars.” He took Sinya’s arm and the two walked into the garden, followed by Ike and the slave.

It fascinated Selene that the humans obeyed so willingly, allowing the Vampires to take their blood with no thought for their own wellbeing. They were no better than pets.

Neeman’s words floated back to her. “You’re too pretty to clean toilets.” Her skin prickled and her stomach lurched. She couldn’t imagine being bitten and sucked on day in and day out. Unless it was for someone she cared about. Maybe she’d let someone she loved bite her.