How dare he? I seethed. How fucking dare he steal my home from me?
Supes were a ‘kill first, ask questions later’ kind of society. My slightly unhinged, fang-dangled BFF had taught me that. So my current mood should fit right in. Now that I was over the first excruciating hurdle, an undeniable urge to put right the itching wrong beneath my skin fueled my flight. I could feel the influence, but my real memories were right there, too. Trapped beneath a false blanket of serenity, just begging to be set free.
The wild woods creaked forlornly as my boots pounded up the gloomy driveway and through the well-groomed rose garden leading to the grand circular entrance of Blood Manor. Unfortunately, Luna—my usually badass warrior wolf—had wanted to stop and rub herself up against every sexy smelling tree and brush we’d passed along our way. Honestly, that scent was like catnip to my silver beauty. She wanted to roll around in the fallen leaves and have puppies with it.
It definitely spelled trouble for the imminent smackdown I had planned. I didn’t want her rubbing herself up against L. H. Fucking. Higgins while I was pummeling him. It would send all sorts of mixed messages.
Sweaty and pissed as hell, I marched into the clearing with bracken caught up in my hair and Stanley’s stupid invitation clenched in my fist. Ignoring the wild roses lashing in the wind as they framed the awning, I grabbed ahold of the imposing bronze knocker and boomed authoritatively on the grand front door.
It whooshed open on the third knock as if the vampire in question had been politely waiting for me to make an entrance. Well, far be it from me to disappoint. I didn’t hesitate, I didn’t stop to make polite conversation. In a swinging arc, I rammed my fist into his stupidly perfect jaw. I didn’t need to remember to know—right down in the depths of my feral soul—who this smug fucker was.
The vampire’s eyes flew wide as the strike approached. Muscles tensed reflexively before relaxing into easy acceptance as he graciously allowed my clumsy anger to connect with his ebony cheek. It was like driving my hand into a brick wall.
Ow.
“Ah, Eliza,” L. H. Higgins murmured in a smoky growl while I fought back a grimace of pain. “What a pleasant surprise.”
I glared at the prick. No one—infamous coven leader or not—had the right to look like he’d been chiseled from earth-rich marble. With devilish lips, sparkling emerald eyes and a dark complexion enhanced by the opulent cherry-red wood paneling and over-stuffed furniture of his foyer, I had to admit there was nothing dilapidated about this chic man.
The debonair vampire was the very epitome of sophistication.
I didn’t want to give a shit what the guy looked like but my eyes decided to go on a roving odyssey of their own accord. In his hand swirled a tumbler filled with a deep red syrupy substance I was doing my best to pretend was wine. My painful greeting hadn’t done a thing to disrupt the liquid. He wore a fitted, baby-blue button-up shirt with sleeves rolled up to reveal dark and decidedly juicy corded forearms. Designer trousers hugged slender hips, ass and thighs to perfection. Dapper white and black shoes, immaculately polished, finished the look.
He also carried the authority of his position like armor. Aloof and untouchable, this was a man who’d fashioned himself into an iceberg floating through space with inexorable grace and power. However, his vicious essence was also grounded by a bond. It wove effortlessly through his shadowy being, tying him to the song of the land and setting my teeth on edge.
This creature of the night belonged here in the same way that I was supposed to. He knew it and I knew it. The bitter knowledge stung the air between us, ready to spear each bruised and battered heart.
From the bowels of Blood Manor, the undead audience who’d fallen silent upon my arrival with the intent of eavesdropping shifted restlessly. Someone broke the silence with an affected titter. The grating sound broke through my brooding ruminations.
A strange pulse, like a yank on my middle, urged me inside as a very special bookish room called to my soul in a soothing refrain which promised shelter from recent turmoil. The fire crackled in welcome and a comfortable leather armchair was waiting with my name on it.
My eyes narrowed.
I definitely knew this place and its arrogant owner.
“You.”
I was shaking with fury now. One hit wasn’t enough. Hearing my name spoken with such erotic playfulness from his lips almost undid me and sent my wolf batshit crazy. She snarled and whined, pawing at the ground then winding herself around my legs in confusion. Her reaction only increased my resolve. I wanted to do more than rearrange this vampire’s face, I wanted to rearrange his entire fucking existence.
In a voice ringing with authority, one I didn’t even know I had and certainly never used before, I gave my wolf a command. Luna, you will not change until I’m done with this bloodsucker. You hear me?
That’s just it, Izzy, she whimpered. I don’t think you’ll ever be done, even if you wanted to be. That scent. I think it means something. Something more than just—
Yeah, yeah. I waved her off impatiently. We’ll get to that. Right now, I’m busy scowling.
Luna sucked in another explorative breath and I bit back a groan. The vampire smelled decadent. Intoxicating notes of earthy rich oak, smokey cinnamon and a dusting of roses reached right down to strum at my happy center and curl my toes. My eyelids fluttered closed for a second before they sprang back open in a baleful glare.
“You’re invited to a fake party, fuckface.” I slammed the invitation at the vampire’s chest. “It was arranged by Stanley, my meddling BFF and Demon Hollow’s illustrious funeral director. I believe he’s one of yours.”
A delicate gasp rang out inside the mansion. “Did she just call our Levi a fuckface?”
Like claws on a chalkboard, the simpering voice caused my animal’s hackles to rise.
“Not just any one of his minions, furry babe,” Stanley called out to me in a gleeful tone, ignoring the mock outrage from his associate. “I’m his disreputable second. Though I’m sure he’s ready to relieve me of that position right about now.”
I rolled my eyes. Focusing on my friend was a welcome reprieve from the alarming gravity of the unearthly presence in front of me. Sadly, the lust-inducing fog was definitely emanating from the increasingly smug coven leader who’d taken advantage of my short distraction to run an appreciative eye down my ridiculous attire. Joke was on him because even after traipsing through the wild woods, I was still rocking this fine form.
What had my bestie advised earlier? I mused. Oh, yeah. Flaunt what the bastard can’t have.
I struck a not-so-subtle pose and let him have at it. I’m pretty sure it was the exposed flesh between my knee-high boots and figure-hugging booty shoots which unraveled the coven leader’s infamous vampire cool.
As though tugged by an invisible string, Levi stumbled forward with a soft curse before he caught himself and stilled. There was no guilty flush of apology, though. Far from it. The vampire didn’t bother to hide his immediate and rather impressive reaction. He reveled in it.
Taking his sweet ass time with a sweeping and deadly perusal, Levi savored my presence and the cells in my body stood to rigid attention under that sizzling gaze. Effortlessly, the elder pinned me in place as he trailed all the way back up my body, drinking in every detail until he met my challenging stare without even a smattering of remorse.
I gasped and swayed, his gravity sucking me in. I hadn’t been prepared for the naked longing revealed in the depths of those emerald peepers. His pupils had blown wide with lust and a reddish gleam flashed, boiling my feral blood.
My inner wolf snarled in defiance of his silent summons, then panted right alongside me as I was tumbled by that ravenous gaze into a maelstrom of need and want. My chest rumbled. In warning or invitation, I couldn’t tell, but the answering tilt of his lips spoke of a secret answer only our bodies would reveal. In time.
“And might I be so forward, Eliza, as to say that you look absolutely ravishing tonight?”
There was no mistaking the intimacy licking at my nerve endings as L. H. Fucking Higgins murmured the formal compliment so at odds with the raw emotion dancing in his eyes. The bastard was enjoying this and so was my animal.
I swallowed—hard—as prickles of awareness danced across my exposed flesh.
Blood pounded in my veins.
We were walking a very fine line this evening, the vampire and I. One small slip and either one of us—or both—would tip headfirst into a dark chasm from which there would be no return.
From the ironic lilt in his voice, I had a feeling the elder was just as aware of the impending calamity. His eyes glittered dangerously, daring me to voice my discoveries, even as his brief amusement was chased away by a gamut of heavier emotions. Need, want, remorse, despair and—worst of all—hope. All of them rocketed across his chiseled complexion before the graceful ballet was shuttered and replaced with polite indifference.
“Stanley informed me you might be joining us tonight.” He offered a slight bow as his granite mask slid back into place. My heart arched from the loss of that brief but thrilling honesty. “Welcome to the coven’s humble abode.”
Then the smooth bastard lifted my bruised fist up to his lips and kissed it, as though thanking the offending hand for connecting with his face.
“Nggg.”
It was all I managed to get out as my brain was shoved in a blender at the force of that flesh on flesh contact. Memories—brief and blindingly beautiful—wavered in my mind’s eye. Like a crossed television signal, they warred desperately, trying to carve out space in the ether before sinking back into mundanity. Meanwhile, the shock of that unexpected connection ravaged my body.
Electricity zapped all the way down to my toes, causing my heart to roll and my soul to soar. Rational thought imploded. Lungs squeezed in a silent scream. Lady bits sang glorious praises to the heavens while my wolf clawed imploringly at my insides.
MATE!
Say what now?! I whisper-screamed. I thought you didn’t want a mate. You basically tore a guy’s throat out for trying.
Not just any mate, Luna snapped back. Levi is our mate. Our fated mate.
No, I snarled, coming to my senses and wrestling my panic into submission. Don’t you dare change. I don’t care what he is, we need to be human for this. That vampire took everything from us. He stole our memories. Scared us away from our home. Forced us to avoid Blood Manor at all costs. Not even a fated mate gets a pass for that sort of mind-fuckery without a damned good explanation. Right?
Right, Luna whimpered in agreement. Much to my relief, her primal response to Levi’s initial touch was already beginning to wane. It was replaced with a natural wariness and something much worse. Heart-break. All this time, Izzy. All this time, he was right here, while we searched those woods alone. Why didn’t he come for us?
I don’t know, I growled, offering her what comfort I could. But I sure as hell intend to find out.
As if sensing the change in my internal landscape, Levi stepped back and motioned me into the house with an elegant hand and a devastating smile. It was tinged with regret, offering me the chance to harden my roiling heart. “Please, won’t you come in.”
“Oh no, Levi,” that stupid voice groaned with false humor. “Don’t invite the mutt in or she’ll never leave.”
Stanley cackled. “You have no idea who you’re toying with. Izzy will rip your throat out if you keep challenging her. That is one mutt I wouldn’t allow any child of mine to taunt. But by all means, Clarissa, keep running your mouth. You’ve bored us long enough with your vapid conversation. Before the night is done, my furry BFF will be showing your boney ass the door, and not a single one of us will lift a finger to stop her. You’ll see.” Then my friend’s voice shifted to a more intimate tone, addressing someone else in the room. “She’s nearly had me a time or two.”
The quiet hum of response was lost as Clarissa let off a grating trill. “Don’t be silly, Stanley. I simply cannot believe a feral pup would have given a seasoned elder like yourself a lick of trouble.”
While the inhabitants of Blood Manor traded jabs, Levi waited with hand outstretched for me to take him up on his invitation. Though a terrible rage had overtaken his lithe but muscular frame at the intended slight, it didn’t break through his impeccable manners. His self-control was formidable.
Delighted, I couldn’t help poking the beast.
“Stanley described the special bond between maker and child,” I teased in a low murmur, careful to keep the exchange between us as I sauntered closer. Levi didn’t bat an eyelid at the sugary sweet delivery though I did catch a glint of dark amusement as he nodded for me to continue. “So I take it the bloodsucker with the voice like violin strings being massacred is yours, then?”
He gave another, somewhat stiffer nod. Clearly, it pained the vampire to lay claim to offspring with such a lack of hospitality. I grinned and bopped him playfully on the nose. The bitch inside my skin panted happily, looking forward to a little mayhem. It would give us both a chance to get our rioting reactions to the sexy coven leader—aka, L. H. Fucking Higgins—under control.
“Well then, Levi.” I pitched my voice to carry in a mocking imitation of Clarissa’s simpering tone. “I think it’s high time I was formally introduced to the illusive coven of Blood Manor, don’t you?”
My ferocious grin was met with an equally mischievous twinkle from the coven leader who fell in behind as I stalked into the bowels of Blood Manor like I owned the place. I’d juggled a fair few troublemakers in my time at Wolfsbane and Sons, all of whom were ready to claw their way to the top of the power pyramid, and Clarissa would have fit right in. Only now, I had a rogue wolf in my middle backing me up. One who’d already proved she didn’t play well with others.
This next bit was going to be fun.