Less than a minute later, Zekia sat ramrod straight. What she thought had been a dream was confirmed to be reality at the sight of the shadow creature beside her. She snapped her neck to her other side to look at Javier with a wide-eyed stare.
“Vampires…or did I not understand you?”
He sighed. “Why don’t we pick this up later?” he suggested.
He jerked her to her feet.
“Return,” he ordered.
The shadow creature paused briefly as if he was considering something before it obeyed. Javier’s and Zekia’s shadows became 2D as it flattened and stretched itself back on the ground. She captured his face between her hands.
“Why? That is what you said, right?” she pressed.
He yanked her hands away.
“I want to fuck tonight, that’s why. I’ve been hypnotized by that ass of yours all damn day long,” he grumbled.
“We can do that later,” she waved.
Javier rolled his eyes doubtfully.
“You did say that. Slap my ass…oh, I gotta tell Mari!” she cried.
“I’m sure you will,” he hissed.
He reached over his head to remove his shirt. For the next two hours, he explained to her that there is an actual kingdom of vampires that walked among humans and the governments of the world are aware of their presence. No, he didn’t know any directly, but now he did due to his nephews and his sister’s connection. He explained to her that it had been his grandma’s plan to combine their power with those of the vampire’s race to make a hybrid of power that she intended on controlling.
“If that bitch thinks she’s going to rope my kids into her shit, it ain’t happening. You won’t have to kill her, I will,” she fumed.
Javier froze next to her in bed. He caught himself gawking at the sudden sparks of gold that entered her dark brown irises as if a lighter was trying to flick on. His chest slammed against his ribcage. He was overtaken with a notion that made him lightheaded. He hid his active mind behind his hooded lids. He didn’t need to know lineage to realize in that second, she could be a lot more than what he had considered. His decision to weave himself to her to provide her a defense had created a chain reaction. Her family was believers. Even if she didn’t know the training, the raw talent was there. His grandma wouldn’t have seen it. It was something that had been triggered because of him. If he had just stopped at the soul tie and not gifted her with the small orb of his own gift, it would never have awakened.
Shit! It was just a tiny bit, though…and look at her.
He stole a glimpse of her still going on. Her excitement and anger radiated out of her. Javier focused. He opened himself and reached out. What he felt was raw, unharnessed energy. He breathed it in like a drug to channel it through his body. It was like electricity flowing along his nerve endings. The muscles in his back flexed and popped. He hadn’t experienced such a feeling in years. His eyebrow went up as a coy smile tugged on his lips.
“I’ll let you plan the perfect murder,” he chuckled as he slipped from the bed.
Zekia got to her knees.
“Where are you going now?”
He kept his eyes that were completely golden flames from her sight.
“Have your bath by the time I get back. Body language is the only conversation I want to be having,” he tossed over his shoulder on his way out the door.
In the hall, he paused to balance himself on the wall. Even from this distance, he could still reach the unseen waves she radiated. His body trembled as he relished a sensation akin to an orgasm. Through their connection, Javier was able to tell Zekia was unaware and not harmed as he filled his lungs with more of her essence to mingle with his own. He rounded the corner, entered her vacant room, opened the French doors, and leaped over the third story balcony.
“You feel that?” growled Javier.
The cloaked being roared into the still night. It stepped from out of Javi’s shadow to reveal his true form. The ground under its claw feet smoked and cracked. In unison, their forms shifted then disappeared before the naked eye. The hunt was on. They covered hundreds of miles in split seconds. Trees that were rooted for centuries came crumbling down to the earth as they crushed a path through the forest. Javier leaned on a tree, bloodied from head to toe. The crackling sound of the mountain lion’s bones he had tracked and killed helped to create a sickening image as his beast ate.
Not caring to watch any longer, he dived into the nearby pond completely clothed. He couldn’t help his giddiness. His deep laughed rung out. The old bitch had signed her own death warrant without even knowing it. Her quest for her next step in power had come back to fuck her. It was all falling into place without anyone even trying. First, with his nephews, then Raquel with whoever the joker was who had his grandma worried, and now him with Zekia.
What had been hours, was actually only forty-five minutes a drenched Javier noticed when he stepped back into his room.
“I went for a swim in the lake.”
“In all your clothes?” she laughed.
He had ditched his shirt before he had entered the house. The dark material of his pants hid the animal’s blood. After he had showered, he laid down next to Zekia. He fucked her like a savage. He drew moans and pleas from her parted lips. He couldn’t get enough of her hot, wet pussy.
“Am I gonna have to keep an eye on you now that you’re starting to like the taste of pussy?” he teased.
He gasped as she took his dick in her mouth to suck the coating of her white cum off it. She loved him with her mouth with a fever she had never shown before. Actually, their entire fuck feast had been on a different level. He knew it was because of what was happening to the both of them, even though she didn’t understand it yet.
Javier bit his lip and arched his back off the mattress. Her mouth was Heaven on Earth. He opened his legs, placed them on the bed, and thrust into her wet cavity while holding her head in place. Zekia gave his tight balls a hard squeeze as a warning to not gag her to death.
“Be nice, sweetheart,” he grunted as he plunged deeper. “Shit, yes,” he growled.
In a heartbeat, he had her face down, ass up, and was straddling her. She whined blissfully when the hot saliva from his mouth oozed down her shaved pussy. He moistened the entryway with the mushroomed tip of his dick before he penetrated her cunt. Once he was completely seated, he began to hop like a frog as he fucked her hard.
“No running. I just found my favorite way of fucking you,” he hissed.
His strong fingers bit into her waist to keep her ass at the right level to receive his powerful thrusts. Zekia wondered if she was crazy when she felt her pussy getting wet from the hard ride he was giving her. Her ass cheeks rippled as their bodies collided.
“Cum, Javi… Shit, please…cum,” she cried out.
“One more time, Zekia. Let me feel this pussy jump,” he moaned as he rotated his hips.
He dropped down to his knees and pulled her back to lean against his sweaty chest. Javier leaned back, supporting his weight on his hands while he bucked wildly. Zekia’s legs were spread wide to straddle his strong thighs that flexed under her thighs. When she had thought she had reached her limits, she felt it building again. Javi reached in front of her to start rubbing her swollen clit.
“OH!” she howled.
The combination of his dick tapping on her special spot inside and his skilled fingers on her clit was her undoing. Zekia heaved forward as she gushed her nectar to bathed his cock and balls anew. Happy, he pumped her hard. The smacking sounds kept in tempo with his final assault of the night until he slowed to a rock while his orgasm vibrated through his entire body.
Javier realized he had never lived until now. He had never really fucked, made love, or had a full release until this moment with his woman. He was in love.
Miami, FL, three days later
The Day of Yio and Raquel’s Joining
“Put me down!” screamed Raquel.
Yio placed her feet on the ground. He turned to close the door to the room they shared. Raquel staggered across the floor. Remembering he was behind her, she swung around, ready to fight. He took a step forward, only for her to yell for him to stay put. She felt around the shelf until her hand connected with a bottle. Without checking its contents, she popped it open and took a long swig. She kept her eyes on him the entire time. The drink burned. Coughing and panting, she fought for control of her breathing.
“Tell me the truth,” she said in a gravelly tone.
“I’ve never lied to you.”
“No, you just conveniently didn’t tell me,” she accused.
“Then we have that in common, huh?”
She wagged her finger and shook her head to the point she was dizzy. She swallowed hard.
“Don’t try to switch things.”
“That’s right…one trial at a time,” he grumbled.
“What is she…that woman? She ain’t just a vampire. She’s more…sooooo much more. She’s…she’s dark and…and…,” she stuttered.
“It sounds to me you already know what she is,” Yio replied calmly.
“I saw it,” she admitted as she knocked on the side of her head. “She…she showed me. And she said she knew what me and the boys really were too.”
“You say that as if you didn’t know,” he remarked in disbelief.
“Well…I—we—never knew ‘cause my gra—” She stopped mid-sentence, catching herself. “We’re getting off topic,” she snapped. She pinned him with her hard gaze. “When you two were doing your thing to me, I touched you both. You and her,” she pointed, “are kinda the same.”
“Don’t lump me with the bitch,” he snarled, baring his fangs.
“Bullshit,” she yelled, not backing down. “I felt it,” she fumed. “And now, you put…what, shit, I don’t know in me.” She cried as she pulled up her shirt to stare at her tanned, red flesh with the marking it now possessed.
“It’s just as Jilaiya explained. Since you aren’t a vampire, we joined in a different way. You won’t feed as we do, but you are like us in—”
“But why, Yio?! Why did she want me? And her eyes glowed just like yours for a second too,” she added in a rush.
Yio cursed. He lifted his fist and punched a hole in the wall. He felt the bile in the back of his throat over the thought of having to talk about the fucking bitch. The smirk he had seen on Kerberos’ face made his stomach turn. Danjal knew what he was doing. The motherfucker had the nerve to talk about all the plotting going on when he, too, had joined in. If he had been able to not get involved with Raquel, he would have slipped the trap that had been trying to spring on him. He was sure that’s why Crissann had set him up to see Raquel before he retreated to his secluded life.
He glanced over his shoulder to find Raquel glaring at him with her arms crossed over her chest. He plastered his back to the wall, defeated.
“Once I tell you this, there is no going back,” he warned.
“Your rib is in my body,” she spoke slowly as if he had a problem understanding they were well past the warning stage.
“It’s a secret I’ve been hiding since the day I drew breath and only a few know. Jilaiya is my mother…and Gigi is my sister.”
His confession hung in the air.
“No,” she whispered.
“I can explain if you—”
“No!” she roared, rolling up onto the balls of her feet. Her eyes turned bloodshot red. “My sons are in love with her daughters,” she spat in anger and disgust.
Yio was taken aback for a second. A deep frown creased his brow.
“There is no blood shared between the boys and Gigi’s girls.”
“It’s just wrong. I can’t be with you. This has to end,” she stated firmly.
Yio flash stepped across the room to tower over her.
“You and I are joined. I won’t let you go,” he shouted, grabbing her.
Her brain sloshed around in her skull as he shook her like a doll to get his promise into her head. Raquel punched him hard in his chest. Yio wasn’t moved by her hit. It was the knowledge of the rage and fear of injuring her that caused him to drop his hands. She stumbled back to lean on the bookshelf.
“If you would let me explain things, I wouldn’t have to get rough with your wild ass. Now, shut up and sit the fuck down,” he thundered.
He stepped back to let her pass by. She staggered towards the couch and sat down. Yio took a seat on his favorite spot: the coffee table in front of her.
“They reason, why me,” he mocked in a high-pitched tone, “is the same reason your grandma was pimping your plump ass out: our kids. They will have both our abilities and the added bonus of my blood.”
Raquel opened her mouth to speak, then chose to snap it closed at the evil look Yio gave her. Instead, she waved her hand impatiently for him to go on.
“Jilaiya is my mother, which makes me a Crimson Blood…just like Gigi.”
“I’m sorry, but I just can’t. What is this blood thing? How can the two of you be related like brother and sister when you two don’t share the same parents? Isn’t Aiolos her father, kinda? But you say Jilaiya is your mom, but she’s Aiolos’ mom, too,” she finished in a rush. “And doesn’t that mean that Grayson is her cousin?” she asked in disgust.
“Raquel, you gotta follow the blood,” he sighed. “I’ll start at the top. Kerberos was created by Astraroth before Kerberos took his last breath as a baby. He did it to lure Jilaiya back to his side when he noticed she had fallen in love with a king on Earth.”
Raquel nodded.
“Aiolos was created by Jilaiya. That same king gave one of his sons as a gift to her so she could have a piece of him. Therefore, there is no blood shared between them. They are actually stepbrothers if you think about it.”
“OK, I get that. That’s why it’s cool for Grayson and Gigi to be getting it on. They don’t actually share any blood ‘cause they come from two different bloodlines,” she said to break it down in her own way.
“You got it. It’s also why you end up with Grayson having the Crused Blood and Gigi is Crimson Blood because of the source. Danjal is a version of that same Crused Blood because, once again, he is from Astraroth’s ancient lineage. His father, Azezel, and Astraroth are brothers,” he explained slowly.
“Got it. You fit in…”
“I wasn’t created like Kerberos and Aiolos. I was born. Jilaiya birthed me. She is my mother.”
His revelation caused her eyes to double in size. She sized him up. If that was the case, Yio was holding back, not only with the truth but with his power. She ran her open palm across her face. To her amazement, she was sweating. He, and this…her joining with him had created a problem. Or had it just given her the key to her shackles?
“Keep talking,” she demanded.
“Jilaiya is a scientist at heart. She wanted to experience motherhood. She had seen women carry children and give birth. She wondered if she could too. She wanted to see if she would develop an undying love for me like other mothers did for their offspring.” His eyes hardened. “She didn’t. After I was born, she cataloged and watched my growth with scientific interest, but not with love. I was a thing, not a child….and with all things, you lose interest after a while,” he grunted.
Any other time, Raquel would have extended her hand in compassion. However, right now, she was a woman on a mission of knowledge. For the first time, Yio’s tanned complexion and curly brownish-blond hair made sense.
“How did she do it? I mean, was it the normal way?” she asked.
“I don’t know all the mechanics. I’m thinking she took an egg, introduced her DNA, added sperm, then implanted it. It was very similar to how they created Gigi. Aiolos’ DNA was introduced to Gigi’s mother’s egg. He never fucked the woman,” he pointed out.
“And that makes you and her…siblings?” she asked, still confused.
“In the family’s eyes, yes. She and I are the only births through Jilaiya. The fact that she and I are both Crimson Bloods speaks of the truth. Jilaiya is our mother, the source that our branches spring from. No one, other than Grayson and of course his twins, have been born into the family, which Grayson springs from Astraroth’s side of it all,” he reminded her, again.
“Now, why the joining of you and me?” she inquired, moving on to the next unanswered question.
“For our children,” he remarked flatly.
Oh, not this shit again,” she growled.
“After they saw your boys…and now the little preview of what you can do, it was a done deal,” he finished harshly.
“They want to duplicate what I was able to do with my boys? I don’t even know how it was done. I just did as I was told. My grandma was…is the mastermind behind all this,” she admitted.
Yio shook his head. “You still don’t get it,” he smirked sadly. “Why the fuck are you worrying about an old ass woman and her hoodoo? None of them are, so why are you? She got you thinking she’s the shit…and she probably thinks she is, but she was removed from the equation the second you and I joined.”
As he spoke, his words hit Raquel in the head like a baseball bat. It started as a flicker of light, only to become a starburst of color as her mind grabbed hold of what he was saying. She forced herself to concentrate on what else Yio said.
“From what I figured, the grand plan is to pair our kids with the king’s future kids to create a stronger new generation, which is what has already been done with the pairing off of your boys to Grayson’s and Danjal’s Luna. But our kids will be badass since they will also share my Crimson Blood too.”
“Javier!” Raquel gasped with a start. She sat ramrod straight in her seat.
“Who?” snarled Yio.
“I’m not gonna kill myself poppin’ out babies. You all are out of your damn minds…but if Javi could…since…but…” She babbled on.
“Who the hell are you going on about?” Yio hissed.
Raquel stopped to look at Yio as if she was seeing him for the first time.
“Javier, my brother.”
“What about him?”
“He’s like me. He can—”
“Stop,” he ordered with his hand up. He narrowed his eyes in thought. “You…well, your grandmother managed to do the same thing to your brother too? He possesses the same power as you do?”
“I haven’t seen him in years…but yeah. To be honest, I think he might even be stronger than I am. Whatever she did to him to break the tradition made it so he was able to do more,” she admitted.
Yio spaced out for a second. He nodded his head in time while Raquel told him the story of her horrendous childhood. He couldn’t give two shits. She had survived. That was all the information he needed to know. The wheels in his head were grinding too hard to listen. If everyone around him were in the mind of plotting, then he was ready to join the game. He wasn’t going to sit back and be fucked over, or at least not make sure that he, Raquel, and his new family’s interest were put first. He trusted Grayson, Danjal, Mastama, and Pruflas, but it was the others he would be a fool to turn his back on. He wasn’t a named king, which was fine by him, but he sure knew they were going to force him to take part in his birthright. It had been something he had fought tooth and nail. However, he saw now that it was time.
“Your brother,” he replied, cutting her speech off, “he knows about our race?”
“Well, yes…but he has no desire of becoming one,” she added.
“That’s fine, but Grayson and Danjal are going to want to graft him into the kingdoms because he’s special like you. You do understand that, right? They all creamed themselves in that training room today. I don’t know if your grandma knew what she was doing, or she fucked up and got lucky, but you and your brother reflect an era long forgotten. The beasts that you and he…and the boys command come from a place that only Jilaiya has walked, and we have glimpsed a few times through her eyes. You offer her a door back.”
“I…I don’t know what his answer will be,” she whispered.
The wooden coffee table creaked under Yio’s weight as he leaned back a fraction.
“Then, let’s go see your Javier.”
Raquel didn’t know if it was the grin on his lips, or if it was the strangeness in his tone that produced the shiver down her spine, but whatever it was left her breathless.
Javi lowered his head. A smirk hung from his sensual lips. The glow from the light’s display made the sparks within his wine glass dazzle. He chuckled due to something Zekia had said to his grandmother. Here among the 300 guests that mingled and laughed while the Carnival performers danced to the festive themed sounds, Zekia was in rare form. One would have thought she was in awe with his grandma, when, in fact, she had been cursing the old bitch out under her breath with her brilliant smile intact. It wasn’t until his grandma was a step away did she flip the switch to become the mild-mannered woman who was currently engaging in conversation.
No speed bumps thus far other than the two that had already reared its ugly head. The first being when Mariposa chose to accuse his grandma of having something to do with her father’s disappearance. The mood within their circle changed immediately.
Ysabel licked her lips. She knew it was only a matter of time before Mari finally got whatever was poking out of her ass out. The stare she gave her was chilling. She never cared for the dirty whore. It didn’t matter the title she flaunted; she was a filthy piece of shit. The girl was lucky she decided to be Lucian’s slut and not Javier’s. There was no way Ysabel would have stood for such a thing.
“I don’t get what you’re implying,” smiled Ysabel.
“The potion you take doesn’t keep your mind sharp,” chuckled Mari.
Her merriment didn’t reach her eyes. Zekia tossed back her head. The look she cast Mari mirrored Lucian’s and Javier’s.
“That’s mean to say just ‘cause she’s Spanish,” Zekia chuckled as she played the fool. “It’s all that green living.”
“You’ll never believe the healing properties of herbs,” Ysabel agreed.
She wasn’t going to get down in the mud with pigs. Javier relaxed as the ladies went back to talking. His eyes scanned the crowd of people that had all gathered to party around the two tier deck of his home. He placed his hand on Zekia’s ass. He caressed it. Without urging, she stepped closer to his side. His light brown orbs moved across the soft mounds that her dress put on full display. His mouth went dry as the image of sandwiching his throbbing cock between them sprung up in his mind.
Not caring, he dipped his head to her ear.
“I’m going to fuck your breasts until I cum on your face,” he whispered.
“Yes,” she replied. “Another drink,” she added to hide the meaning for her response.
Javier strolled off to grab her another martini from the bar. Along the way, he paused to chat and be the host of the gala.
“This is some shit, chico.”
Javi stiffened and a visible ticking of his right eye began. He had to force himself to unclench his jaw out of fear of grinding his teeth to the gum. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the figure moving to stand before him. The world shifted to slow motion. Like the clicking of a camera, his brain processed the revealing of the man frame by frame until the entire picture of a weathered, tattooed individual of his past in a tailored suit sporting a toothy grin stood in front of him.
Javier followed his pierced tongue as he licked the silver caps on the top rack of teeth.
“Boy, I see you’ve been holding out on a few things. Like damn, this is some party. You don’t mind if I use a room and ride a pussy or three,” he joked.
The sound. The fucking sound of his Texas twang was going to make Javier’s ears bleed. He hated it when he was part of his biker gang, and he hated it now. That was the one blessing about going to jail. Jail had provided Javier the freedom of that slow drawl, achy-breaky speech.
“The only question I have to answer is do I start with the Asian pussy or that sweet black pussy you’ve been guarding over there,” he finished as he gestured his head in Zekia’s direction.
Javier wasn’t going to give the motherfucker the satisfaction of knowing he was enraged that he was there. He scooped up a drink from the bar.
“I suggest you stick to the lighter shades of pussy tonight,” he sighed.
Jeff scoffed. Placing his elbow on the shiny bar top, he surveyed the ground.
“How come you got so many slant eyes around here? You’re a wetback, right?”
“How you get in here?”
“Oh, I convinced a few guests that they preferred breathing instead of getting all fancied you. Oh, by the way,” he paused to open up his dinner jacket, “I clean up really good, huh?”
Javi cut his eyes at Jeff. “Can we stop with the games?”
Jeff shrugged. “That’s fine with me. I ain’t never like your fuckin’ ass anyway,” he grumbled. He leaned in to glare at Javi. “I thought paying for those beatings in jail would have taught you your place, spic,” he spat.
Javier made a show of blinking the spit out of his eye. “You should get your money back for that fake grill. You’re talking like you have a mouth full of shit.”
“I’m going to enjoy knocking your teeth in with the barrel of my gun. Aye, I got a few boys that are gonna love ripping that ass of yours. They ain’t like the pussies you fought off,” Jeff taunted.
Javier chuckled. He laid the glass softly on the bar and sucked the residue of the drink from his pearly whites.
“I get why you can’t understand why the smell of your piss in the sand isn’t scaring me. You’re used to barking and people bowing…but I ain’t a dog.” Javier’s street-laced Spanish accent came forth to the point that those close enough to the conversation had to do a double-take. “I was lost…broke when I hooked up with you. You think you know me, but my pieces…they were put back differently. Have you really looked around you? My balls have dropped, motherfucker,” he grinned wickedly.
“I heard your people were fans of Scarface,” Jeff replied dryly as if he was unfazed.
Javier shook his head with a pitiful expression on his handsome face. “You really want to do this?” he asked as he sized Jeff up.
For the first time, Jeff’s cool demeanor dropped to reveal the hate he held for Javier.
“I have multi-million reasons why…but I’ll be collecting on it real soon.”
Tired of the conversation, Javier nodded as he glanced off in another direction, dismissing Jeff. Jeff’s narrowed gaze bore into the side of Javi’s face.
Playing his final card, he stated as he pointed to three large vases, “I didn’t bring no donation, but I ain’t one to not come without bearing gifts.”
Javier eyed the shiny, colorful items.
“I figured they’ll look real nice here, but I wouldn’t take a look inside with all these people around.” Jeff laughed with a wink.
Javier gazed at the huge vases in deep thought. Without a word, he turned around to face the bartender. He spoke his drink order.
“Those three will make good fertilizer,” he shrugged.
Now, he knew why his contacts hadn’t been seen or heard of. He nodded to the bartender and turned to leave.
Pausing, he said, “Do me a favor. When you come, bring the whole gang. I don’t want to have to waste time tracking anyone down.” Javi turned his light brown eyes on Jeff. The fact that they were void of any emotion baffled him. There was no hatred or even light. They were dead eyes. “I want to be able to kill you all.”
“He’s crazy,” Jeff whispered under his breath while Javi disappeared into the crowd of people.