“I see the state of all of us who live, nothing more than phantoms or a weightless shadow.”
~ Sophocles
Xen Lyson’s fingers moved to the pulse point of the woman lying at his feet. She did as he commanded. She came back for her partner. He’d have to leave her.
Take her. He jerked at the sudden possessiveness that demanded he acquire ownership. She’s yours.
His hand moved to her hair as he pushed the strands back from her face. The pads of his fingers deliberately caressed her cheek. His nostrils flared when the scent of her exotic blood hit his nose. He examined her without delay. A large bump and cut graced the back of her skull. He lifted his fingers to his mouth and tasted her blood. Ambrosia danced over his tongue and warmth spread through every cell in his body.
Dikia mou—she’s mine.
“Xen, we should move.” Kane Hart, his right-hand man, brought him out of his strange musings and sudden infatuation.
“Bring the truck. Get the clean team. Stack the demon bodies.”
His brow creased in contemplation of what would be the best course of action for the female and her partner. Taking her would risk exposing her to his world. He looked over her body again. Take her. He wanted to give in and do as his mind bid. “Leave these two untouched.”
As the leader of the Phi Athanatoi, an ancient specialist group of vampires and werewolves, he was sworn to protect humankind. Right now, leaving the woman and her wounded partner would be an act of protecting them from the Kakodaimones, the demons that walked amongst man. Bringing them into his world would only paint them as moving targets.
He stood and sheathed his double-edged xiphos. His acute senses picked up the potent smell of demons. Before he could turn, one descended upon him, blade in hand. He braced himself. The impact was inescapable. Slamming into his back, the demon knocked him forward.
“Vlaka,” Xen yelled.
He found his footing quickly, speed and skill on his side.
Reaching for his sword, he readied himself for combat. The demon changed tactics when he saw Xen’s weapon. He stopped on the spot, trying to avoid his opponent’s blade.
Xen sneered and bared his fangs at the demon. A threat—one that other creatures would acknowledge as an indication of who held the power. The demon stood expressionless.
“Well, come and get me,” Xen coaxed. The demon didn’t move.
Statues ... thicker than Greek marble. Xen didn’t need an invitation. His blade hissed through the air, cutting through the demon’s neck and spinal cord, severing his existence. Blood splattered on the already sticky floor. The head thudded on the ground while the body teetered for a second before it, too, slumped to the concrete.
Kane laid his boot on the beast. “Nice cut, Xen. The bastard didn’t have enough time to blink.”
The lykos let out a growl of satisfaction. His demeanor changed, his nostrils expanded at the scent of another demon headed in their direction. He turned in time and swung his double sword, severing the demon’s head, blood gushing over him.
“Damn.” He let out a frustrated breath. “I just bought this jacket.” He kicked the headless body to let out his frustration. It flew through the air and landed with a thud when it hit the wall on the right. “Dumbass. When will you demons get it?”
Xen smirked. His friend excelled at the combination of lethal and loyal.
“Let’s move. The human police will be here within minutes.” Time was running out. They needed to move fast. They shifted through the warehouse quickly, blurred images transferring demon bodies while another team assisted in cleaning the blood from the floor.
“Gives new meaning to speed cleaning.”
“Save the jokes for later, Kane.”
“Can’t a lykos have a bit of fun?”
Xen’s brow rose. “Are all the bodies taken care of?”
“We’re ready to roll.”
A siren sounded in the distance.
“Let’s move,” Xen ordered.
Kane jumped into Xen’s Porsche just as he threw it into gear, a smile tugging at his lips.
“Jacket, Kane.” Xen didn’t want his seats stained.
Kane tore off his ruined jacket and bunched it in his lap. “I’m hungry. How about a gyros?”
Xen raised an eyebrow. Kane could eat two lambs on the spit without coming up for air. That his lykos friend was hungry was no surprise to him. He too was hungry, but he controlled his urges with more finesse. The tires on the Porsche screeched as the car sped out from the rear of the property. Another siren sounded.
“That was cutting it fine,” Xen said, maneuvering the Porsche at breakneck speed.
Kane fiddled with the jacket in his lap, balling it up more. “Why on earth were those off-duty police officers there?”
“Off-duty?”
“I went through the man’s pocket … Lopez. They were in civilian clothing, so one and one ...”
“Doesn’t always make two,” Xen cut in.
“But in this case, badge plus street clothing equals off-duty,” Kane finished.
Xen turned his head in time to catch the smug look on Kane’s face. He probed his mind.
“Stop that.”
“Why? It would be faster.”
“Yes, but it’s invasive and a drain on me.”
Xen let out a sigh. “Converse.”
“You know, you could expand your sentence structure more, so that it sounds like conversation.”
“I do. When necessary.”
“Now would be ideal.”
“Now we collate data.” Xen caught Kane rolling his eyes and shifted in his seat. There was no point arguing about lengthy vocabulary. This was the after-skirmish info dump they often did.
“What were you able to glean from the girl?” Kane asked.
“First name and police officer. She slammed me out. Denied access to where I needed to lift information.” He narrowed his eyes in irritation.
Kane let out a whistle. “Well, that’s a first. Never thought I’d see the day. And a woman. Ha.”
“It pleases me that you find humor in my inability to penetrate a human mind.” He pressed his lips tightly against the sarcasm on his tongue. Abruptly, he changed the subject. “Someone is playing us.”
“I think you’re right, Xen. Whoever it is, they wanted the humans at a demon skirmish and intended that they’d get caught in the crossfire.”
“Makes no sense. Even if they had both died, it means nothing to us. They would not have tipped the balance in the demon horde’s favor.”
Kane turned towards Xen. “Something is definitely not right. They’ve amped up the skirmishes and are obviously after something or someone. The question is, who or what?”
“They are becoming more than a thorn in our side. Their reckless actions pose a larger problem. We can’t have humans exposed to our world.” I have to end these stupid games. “I have an idea.” He gave Kane a knowing grin. “But I will map it out a bit more before I share.”
As a vampire, Xen’s inclination had always been to keep delicate information to himself. “These fights are becoming more difficult and we could use more allies. Notice their numbers have increased?” He turned his head to gauge Kane’s response. “We need more recruits,” Xen said.
“More meat.” The corners of Kane’s mouth turned up.
Xen laughed. Kane loved nothing more than a good excuse to assemble recruits and kick ass. It was why Xen let him manage the newbies.
Gears shifted, and he accelerated. The car moved along the highway with engineered precision, swallowing up the worn road leading home. His face turned to steel as he crunched the statistical strategies to execute the best action.
Four hours after the Phi made their exit from Jostlers warehouse, Xen stood in the library of his house gazing out into the darkness. His eyes scanned the grounds. Even in pitch blackness, he could see what the human eye could not.
He’d placed a few men around the boundary of his estate. The Kakodaimones could not be trusted. How exactly they were being transported to the earthly plane from the depths of Hades was anyone’s guess, and Xen did not like to speculate. His prime objective was to investigate who was aiding them and sever their access. The Phi team needed to be alert. He could not guarantee that the demons would not pop in on his territory. A stupid move if they dared, but of late it had become a strong possibility.
A vein pulsed in his neck. His fury had not settled. He braced his hands behind his back and dug his nails into his flesh. Warm blood trickled out to wet his fingertips.
The fighting had almost exposed the Phi to the off-duty police. What were those two officers doing there in the first place? Now, one was fighting for his life, and wiping the mind of the other did not bode well for her. The repercussions often left a stigma on the brain, like taping over a VHS tape too many times. Over time, the ribbons of the recording got scratchy.
And that luscious female police officer … logically, he should have removed the memory of himself from her mind. His body had dictated otherwise. Her scent had stirred something familiar. A powerful urge to protect her had seized him when he saw her in the demon’s clutches from across the warehouse. Had he not been there to save her, she would’ve been eliminated.
Tonight’s battle further proved they were fighting against the idiocies of demons and their reckless presumptions that they could defeat the Phi. The rules of the game had just gotten dirty. These fun-filled clashes were escalating. It was only a matter of time before things got out of control and a horde of unearthly beings joined forces with the demons. He had to show the card he didn’t want to play. Something that could cost him and many Phi their lives. He understood exposure would mean a snowball of cataclysmic reactions.
Humankind was not ready to grasp the concept of their planet being shared with unearthly creatures. The Phi and the other unearthly ones had to remain invisible, as they had for many millennia.
Xen’s mind drifted to the more delectable topic ... the woman at the warehouse. He’d been quick in racing through the matrix of her mind to remove the information he wanted, but something ancient had slammed into him when he’d tried to probe into her memories.
A sharp slap had connected with his mind. She’d fought him. The defense she’d used to seal her mind from his access was powerful and not easily broken. Concrete. It bore the marks of a masked power. One he didn’t recall, and he’d come across a plethora of unearthly creatures. He had encountered nothing like her before. He’d have to explore it further. Who is she? I have to find out.
Certainly, her recollection of the demons and wolves would be nonexistent. On purpose he’d left her with one memory. One overshadowing most of the night—him. A grin spread across his face.
When their eyes met, his body had reacted. Intense burning, longing, and a desire to possess her in every way had seized him. A lustful and possessive sensation had coursed through him at that moment. Something unexpected. He didn’t know it was possible to be filled by a woman’s scent and be dizzy with the intoxication of it. It had taken all his willpower to keep focused on the task at hand.
What was she? When he’d placed his fingertips to her temples, his blood pulsed and rushed straight to his groin. He’d craved only to taste her, drink her, devour her. “I’d bet my money she’d be a delectable cocktail.” His fangs elongated, but he retracted them quickly.
The questions about his unexpected and fierce attraction towards her turned around in his head like a dysfunctional merry-go-round. There was only one way to stop it. He needed information on the beauty that caused this unorthodox desire to spin out of control.
He pressed the preset number on his cell phone and dialed his lykos contact at Charleston’s police force, Gelon Jones.
Jones’s role was crucial to their cause, an inside man for the Phi and lycanthrope. An ally in the war against the demons. Making the call was complicated but safe. He would use Jones to gain an address. He waited for Jones to answer.
“Jones, a favor.” His tone blunt, businesslike, and to the point.
“Been a while.”
“I’d rather it was longer, but I must speak to you about last night.”
“Nice to hear from you, too, Xen. Mind telling me why the Phi were there?”
“Lykos, the question is, why didn’t you notify us that off-duty police officers would be snooping around?”
Xen heard the heavy release of Jones’s breath down the phone.
“Because Carissa has a habit of digging around where she shouldn’t. I didn’t know, otherwise, you would have known. You didn’t do a good job of protecting her and her partner.”
Xen gritted his teeth. “I got her out of the way only to find she had raced back inside.”
“Yeah, that fits Carissa alright.”
“Enough. I need her address.”
“Why?”
“The why of it is not your business and not your place to question, lykos.” A growl rose from deep inside his belly.
“That’s where you are wrong, Xen. Carissa is my business. She’s family to me.”
“I will not harm the girl.”
“If you do, I’ll stake you with pleasure.”
“Your insolence will cost you.” He gritted his teeth.
“And your arrogance will one day cost you,” Jones bit back.
The young lykos was getting under his skin. Xen had more control than the wolf. He had to collect himself. He needed to obtain Carissa’s address because she had been responsible for plaguing his thoughts and unleashing chaos on his control.
He hadn’t considered a woman romantically in eons. A quarter of a century ago, a longing he couldn’t describe had bubbled within him. He’d tried several times to assuage the ache with extreme sports at night. Even sex in many manners and forms had become unsatisfying. Instead, he’d thrown himself head-on into his work. But tonight at the warehouse, one glance at the woman and that longing, that raging urge to possess her, had escalated and forced its way to the surface. The inexplicable pull towards her was strong, wrapping its talons around him instantly.
Years ago, Kane had explained the mating for the lycanthrope. They mated with only one female. When she entered the life of the lykos—or, more to the point, when the lykos scented his mate—they desired no other. Xen had mocked it all. It seemed unimaginable to him. The gods would never gift him with such a thing. One woman to love him. What he secretly most craved.
His body’s reaction baffled him. In his extensive years, he had never experienced anything of this magnitude. Sure, he had loved women, but this touched on something mystifying. He needed confirmation on whether it was blood lust or the result of an acute amount of adrenaline running its course through his body in action. Good or bad, he had to investigate, because that adrenaline had only mildly subsided.
Jones’s long silence told Xen he was stewing over whether he should give Carissa’s address to him. Xen would never harm a human female. He was sworn to protect all humans. Jones knew this.
“I’m still waiting,” he said after a long pause.
“You have the first name, surname is Alkippes. Lives at six-zero-one Magnolia Street.” A small breath escaped his lips. “And you won’t be laying a finger on her. I left her at the hospital hours ago and her memory is quite scrambled.”
“Jones, you mistake my intentions. I am merely following protocol. A further assessment is required. You understand, do you not?”
“I get it. As I said, she’s like family to me.”
“Your assistance, if somewhat unwilling, is appreciated.” He hung up, not giving Jones any room for further barbs. Then he logged on to his computer. Yes, he had her name, but he needed the police file records. Typing his passcode, he logged into the Police Department database and punched in Carissa’s full name to scan through the police officer’s files.
Staring at the screen, he let out a lively laugh as he read, marital status.
Single.
How suitable. He wanted to beat his chest because that one word carved a pleasant path to her door. Xen didn’t want to have to remove any boyfriend from the picture. He slammed the laptop closed and made a quick phone call to Kane.
Miss Alkippes had an interesting police file and quite an outstanding record and more than a bit of Greek fire in her blood. She’d be combustible in his arms. He knew it and felt it with every atom in his ancient body. He needed a fresh challenge. Women usually threw themselves at him. It would be a delightful change to be the predator that existed so close to his nature. It was time to hunt for his current addiction.
The digital clock in the car flicked to 4:00 a.m. as Xen pulled up outside Carissa’s house. Conscious of time, he quickly checked all the windows and the back door. Everything was locked. Good, I don’t want anyone near what is mine. He shook his head to dislodge his thoughts. What had gotten into him? His possessiveness had escalated. He didn’t have time for long entanglements. Maybe seeing her would shake the current madness which had taken hold of him and threatened to consume him.
This brief excursion was a routine check to get into her mind and see if he had removed the finer details of the skirmish.
He picked the lock on the back door and entered her home. That garbage about having to invite vampires in always entertained him. The bonus of living for so long allowed him time to consider many ideas over the centuries. His cat burglar skills were alive and in stellar form tonight, a handy ability he’d gained to collect old artifacts he believed belonged in museums—his. Xen’s collection was impressive. If any crazed collectors knew what his collection amounted to, they’d kill to obtain it. His face twisted at the thought. He’d eliminate any attempts before anyone had time to get close. If there was one thing he excelled at, it was killing.
He found Carissa by her scent and made his way up to her bedroom. Tuberose and jasmine assaulted his senses before he reached her door. Tantalizing and delectable.
A queen-sized bed sat in the center of the room, its headboard against the wall. The vision of her peaceful face as she lay asleep, with her hair mussed and curled around the white linen pillow, stirred a deep and dormant desire within him. His chest swelled as heat radiated throughout his body. His fingertips tingled with the need to touch her. Her scent all around him electrified his mind and body, something he’d never encountered before. Realization slammed into him like a forty-foot Freightliner on a collision course. She was his significant other.
His bride.
His mate.
The missing half of his psyche.
He ran a hand through his hair. His heart froze, then began a wild gallop as euphoria ran a rabid course through his body. Thinking back to the warehouse incident, she’d shown strength by preventing him further from access to her mind. His hypnosis failed to gain full admittance. He had suspected she had no inkling of what she was doing, or who or what she was. Quite frankly, neither did he. A small trickle of hope blossomed in his chest. All the more reason for him to claim her.
He leaned over and whispered, “Eisai dikia mou,” in her ear.
She stirred and mumbled, “I’m yours,” then rolled over onto her side.
He glimpsed her bountiful cleavage. Wicked and dangerous images danced around in his head. The image of her beneath him and his mouth on her breasts became vivid.
Leaning forward, his fangs elongated.