| |
––––––––
JARDINE KNEW SOMETHING strange had just happened, but she didn’t know what it was. Sebastian was gone and Malachi had moved to a different spot seemingly in the blink of an eye. “What happened?” she asked. She could smell three scents that she didn’t recognize.
“One of Sebastian’s allies cast a spell on you that froze you for a short while,” Malachi explained.
Her daggers were still in place and she didn’t feel any different. “Sebastian doesn’t trust me enough to let me know who his allies are,” Jardine said, feeling slightly hurt that she’d been excluded from the meeting.
“They don’t trust me either,” Malachi said ruefully. “I recognized one of them, but I don’t know who the magic user is.”
“You know one of Sebastian’s allies?” the master vampire asked in surprise.
“I’ve never met him before, but he’s pretty recognizable,” he replied.
“You’d better not tell me who he is,” Jardine decided before he could spill the beans. “I don’t want Lord Sebastian to think I would betray him.”
“Lord Sebastian?” Malachi said teasingly. “I didn’t know he was vampire royalty.”
“I have a lot to tell you,” she said. “There is history between Sebastian and Lord Kreaton.”
“I can’t return to my house now that the link between me and my former masters has been severed,” he said in a casual tone. “Do you know somewhere I could stay while we’re planning the rebellion?”
Jardine’s dark gray eyes perused him from head to toe. A tiny smile appeared on her gorgeous face. “I suppose I could allow you to stay with my kiss and me,” she offered in mock reluctance.
“Won’t your fledglings drain me to death?”
“No one may feed from you except for me,” she said, eyes flashing possessively. “Your blood will give me the energy I need to provide blood for my kiss.”
“Will you need to drink from me every night, lovely lady?” he asked as he slowly closed the distance between them.
“Not even fae creatures can survive frequent blood loss over a sustained period of time,” Jardine said. “It would be sufficient for me to feed from you twice a week.”
“Pity,” the incubus said. “I love the feeling of you drinking from me while I’m pleasuring you.” He bent to kiss her and her mouth met his hungrily.
Jardine reluctantly broke off their kiss. “Come,” she said and took his hand. “We should return to our mansion before anyone discovers us.”
Malachi was bemused by this turn of events. He finally had the freedom he’d longed for, but the cost had been high. Sorcha was going to be devastated when he didn’t return home. She would think Sebastian had killed him. He debated about sending her a letter, but decided against it. The Immortal Triumvirate had to think he was dead. They would search for him if Sorcha didn’t act heartbroken if they summoned her to them.
Jardine sped through the Vampire District with her unlikely lover. No one would dare attempt to feed from him while a master vampire had laid claim to him. He would be safe in their home. Her fledglings would accept Malachi without question because they trusted her implicitly. The incubus would be a temptation to them, but she was their master and they had no choice but to obey her orders.
Her mansion was in one of the wealthy areas, as befitted a five hundred year old master. Covetous eyes watched them from the surrounding stone houses as she drew Malachi into her house. He’d seen it from a distance, but it seemed he was now going to live there.
Malachi paused when a new image appeared on the front door as he entered the house. A dagger was now nestled among the bats. There were six bats in total, so there were five lesser leeches in the kiss. He was nervous as he followed Jardine down a long hallway to a spacious living room. They passed a small library, a sitting room, a kitchen and a dining room. The furniture was a bit old and stuffy for his liking.
The vampires smelled him long before he reached them. They all wore black and had gaunt faces. Jardine’s kiss was a mixture of races. Three were male and two were female.
“Have you brought us a meal, master?” one of the women asked with hope shining in her eyes.
“This is Malachi,” Jardine said. “He’s my consort. He has agreed to live with us and to allow me to feed from him. This arrangement will give me enough strength to supply blood for you all.”
Gasps of shock rang out, then the bloodsuckers were suddenly surrounding him. Arms wrapped around him as the starving vampires accepted him into their kiss.
“We’re so glad you’re here, Malachi,” one of the men said fervently. “You’ve saved us all.”
Jardine smiled at her kiss, but her eyes remained sad. Malachi knew she wasn’t a normal leech. She genuinely cared about others. Any misgivings he’d had about living with the vampires evaporated. Nox had decided he belonged here and the warm feeling in his chest confirmed it.
Introductions were made, then he was given a tour of the house. The lesser vamps trailed along behind them like a gaggle of excited children. They spoke a variety of languages that he didn’t understand, but vowed to learn.
“What’s behind that door?” he asked when they reached a staircase leading upwards. The door was behind the stairs.
“The basement,” Jardine said. “It’s mostly empty. We only use it when we wish to have private discussions that we don’t want our neighbors to overhear.”
It was a reminder that they needed to be careful not to mention Sebastian, or his allies. They couldn’t speak about the rebellion openly. “Can I take a look?” he asked curiously. Just because he was no longer an assassin didn’t mean he wanted to stop training. He enjoyed pushing his body to its limits and keeping in shape.
“After I show you the upstairs area,” Jardine replied.
The fledglings took turns showing him their bedrooms. Each one was styled to suit their tastes. Jardine’s bedroom stopped him in his tracks. It was almost a duplicate of his apartment, with light red wallpaper that had intricate patterns embedded in it. The bedcover and drapes were red as well. On a hunch, he crossed to the closet and opened it to see his clothes were tucked inside. “I knew it,” he said with a grin.
“It seems Nox has chosen our mansion to be your new home,” Jardine said with a pleased smile.
Malachi glanced into the ensuite to see it was luxurious. The bathtub was big enough for both of them and the shower was even larger.
Finished with the upstairs area, they trooped back down to the first floor. The incubus opened the door to the basement and descended a flight of stairs. “I thought you said it was mostly empty,” he said as Jardine and her kiss followed him.
“None of this was here before,” the master vampire said in surprise. A tan leather couch and several armchairs were clustered around a huge coffee table. The fireplace would make the cold room cozy in winter.
“My weapons!” Malachi said in happy surprise when he saw his knives, daggers, swords and other weapons on display on the walls over to the right. Two punching bags were strung from the ceiling and a pair of wooden dummies sat next to them.
“Are you a warrior?” one of the lesser vamps asked.
“Yeah,” he said when Jardine shook her head slightly. “I had a horrible little satyr for a trainer and he taught me how to use these weapons.” Clearly, his lover didn’t want her kiss to know the truth about him. It probably wasn’t a good idea to tell them he was a former assassin.
“What is the satyr’s name?” someone asked.
“Wort,” he replied and snickers broke out. “It’s spelled with an o rather than an a, but we called him Fungus behind his back,” he explained.
“There are other warriors like you?” another leech asked.
“A couple,” he said vaguely.
“Are you hungry?” Jardine asked to distract them and to end their line of questioning.
“Always,” one of the women said ruefully.
“I’ll feed from Malachi, then I’ll provide you with blood,” she said.
“Let’s take this to the bedroom,” Malachi suggested with a grin. “Unless you want your kiss to watch me make love to you on the couch.”
“I’d watch it,” one of the women said and fresh snickers sounded.
Jardine heaved a put-upon sigh, then took Malachi by the hand and whisked him upstairs so they could be alone. Everyone within a one mile radius was going to know exactly what they were up to, but there was nothing she could do about it. She didn’t bother to hide her smug smirk at her good fortune at finding a handsome and willing consort like Malachi.
