Adam (10 page)

She attempted to shake herself free of the peculiar spell he seemed to have cast on her hungry body. Honestly, she thought with amusement as she recalled his retreat, Demons were by far the most uptight, straightlaced bunch of Nightwalkers she had ever met. Even the annoying Shadowdwellers knew how to have fun as they caused impish mischief everywhere they could. But the Demons ... for all their varied powers of the elements, the Demons bogged themselves down in so many laws, morals, and self-recriminations, it was a wonder they even knew how to propagate their species at all!

Although, she considered slyly, this Adam seemed as though he’d give a girl a fair enough ride for her money. Jasmine sighed and stretched out her tingling body, the cold of the night warring with the heat of her thoughts. He was a brute, that one, she mused. Perhaps she was intrigued because most of her own race was made up of boyishly slim males, all long legs and lean elegance. When she lived with Damien’s entourage, as she was planning on doing again once she caught up to them, she often traded clothing with the males and hardly noticed any disparities of fit.

But that Demon ...

He’d had a good three inches and at least four stones of weight over Prince Damien, who himself was quite large for his breed. Adam’s shoulders had been broad enough to block her view of the moon completely. He had towered over her long height, and his dagger had obviously been special-made for the width and the size of his monstrous hands. She had never seen such enormous hands before, and although at ninety-three she was still considered quite young for a Vampire—for a Nightwalker, truth be told—she figured she had still seen enough.

Jasmine slowly knelt down in the brush at her feet, her hand reaching out to close around the dagger that lay forgotten on the forest floor. It was a thing of deadly beauty, heavy in the heft and bejeweled along the hilt in a delicate pattern of swirling aquamarines. Usually stones were bulky or coarsely cut, but these were each matched in size and had been faceted to catch any and every light.

How impractical, she thought. It would catch attention far too easily, making a stealth attack completely impossible. And yet she had never seen such a beautiful weapon. She held the length of it against her breastbone and thought about its owner. Again, Jasmine found herself contemplating raw sexual possibilities with a male not of her kind. She surprised herself. She didn’t consider herself quite as lascivious as others of her breed. And she wasn’t usually turned on by the idea of sex with anyone not a Vampire. Other Vampires might dally with humans, but the idea of having sex outside her species was not for her.

Usually.

Anyway, she much preferred a good book, delving into modern sciences or merely watching the folly of others. Adam had been an opportunity of amusement, and now the moment was passed. He would be easily forgotten ...

Now she was better off focusing herself on the need for a good long feed. Then she’d find Damien and have him amuse her with stories about this continuing war.

Chapter 4

Damien felt the vibration of a Vampire entering his territory as if it were an earthquake inside him. Of course, he was literally surrounded by Vampires, dozens of them at a time coming and going from his territory as they hunted at a respectful distance from where he lived. But he could always sense the ones who did not belong, the ones who had trouble on their minds, and the ones ... the ones who were special to him.

She was young yet, too young to have grown past the natural functions of the body like breathing and a heartbeat and circulation. She was close to shedding them, though. Her body would mature greatly in the next few years, completely changing in chemistry and makeup, and all those physical things would cease to be autonomic.

But even as young as she was, he had never seen her as infantile, as he often did with newborn Vampires. She had been wise beyond her years, thoughtful and intelligent, stimulating to his mind.

It had crushed him when, at only fifty-four years old, she had grown so devastatingly bored with the world that she had decided to go to ground. But he had understood. It had surprised him it had happened while she was so young yet, and that kind of sensitivity did not bode well for her future, but he had understood. He had once become that disenchanted.

Once.

Then he had found purpose in becoming the leader of his people. Managing an entire species of easily bored creatures made for constant challenges. Then there was the additional challenge of keeping his head on his neck. There were always Vampires somewhere that fancied themselves stronger than he was or didn’t like the rules he set into place. They would want to fight with him, hoping to defeat him and become ruler in his stead. Admittedly those challenges had grown fewer and farther between as it had become clear he was there to stay. Plus he had quite a loyal following, and his supporters were often able to take care of the smaller troubles before they even came to his attention.

“Stephan!” Damien sat up quickly, dumping a pair of twin Vampires off himself, not really caring where the women landed as he gained his feet and left the salon he’d been lazing around in.

Stephan, a young, eager Vampire with a taste for fighting, came into the hallway just as Damien was entering it himself. Stephan was a high-ranking soldier in the Vanguard and was well on his way to finding a position of charge. He was doggedly loyal, always there when Damien needed him, and a hell of a killer. Vampires and Demons were a bit of a mismatch when it came to fighting, the elemental Demons able to constantly change form and use the elements of the world around them as ammunition. But Vampires like Stephan had savagery and dedication on their side. Any Demon trick could be defeated with a little ingenuity and the powers the Vampires had been naturally imbued with.

“Yes, Prince Damien?” Stephan asked, quickly giving him a bow.

“Jasmine has returned. Bring her to me at once.”

“My lord.”

Stephan nodded in acceptance and turned to hurry for the nearest exit. He almost ran into Jasmine in the process. She stood with one hand on her hip, a smile quirking her lips and the ugliest, roughest cloth dress covering her body. Stephan smiled, took her by her arm, led her the four steps to Damien and bowed to his lord.

“Jasmine, as you requested, my lord,” he said with a cheeky grin.

Damien called him an unflattering word and playfully cuffed him, ruffling his blond hair. Then he quickly pushed him aside and reached to pull Jasmine into a warm embrace. She sighed as she accepted his affection. He petted her tangled black hair, pushing the windblown mess back so he could see her face.

“So only a decade, eh? Little liar. More like four.”

“I was sleepy,” she argued, smiling up at him.

“So, pleased with yourself to find I missed you?”

“More pleased to find you clean-shaven. Last I saw you, it was pointy beards and mustaches. A ridiculous fashion, if you ask me.”

“Hmm. And here I was considering growing it in again,” he said as he rubbed at his chin thoughtfully.

“Do what you want. You will anyway.”

“And speaking of fashion, what is this horrid thing you have on?”

“It was something clean left to dry on a line. I had no desire to freeze the whole way here. ’Tis still winter, you know. Perhaps I ought to have risen in summer,” Jasmine mused.

“No. I could never have borne missing you another three months,” Damien declared.

Jasmine scoffed at that. Certainly he had missed her, but she was just as certain he hadn’t been mooning about for loss of her every single moment of every single day for the past four decades while she slept. But Damien had a gift for the dramatic and for flattery, and he enjoyed making those he cared about feel special to him in whatever way he could.

“Let us find you a proper dress, love,” he said.

“A dress? Must I?” she whined.

“Well, I am certain we can find you some doublet and hose. Regardless of what you choose, our tailor is excellent, keeps well up on fashions, and uses the most exquisite materials he can find. Come with me and you can choose.”

Jasmine quickly began to follow him, eager for some nice silks to wear.

“So we are still at war with the Demons, I hear.”

Damien sighed. “Yes,” he admitted. “It is so tedious, I know. But now that we have been about it so long, I am rather at a loss as to how we should stop it.”

“Well, I am certain you will find a way. I would rather not have Demons trying to molest me everywhere I go.”

Although
, she thought,
some molestations are better than others.

Jasmine caught herself not only in the thought but also in a full-blown heated body memory of her encounter with the Water Demon.

Adam.

Noah was completely bemused.

He had known Adam all his life. Not only were they the best of friends, but Gideon, who was the Demon King’s
Siddah
, was also Adam’s, and Noah being only forty years younger than Adam, they had been raised almost like brothers when Noah had come to be fostered. Therefore, Adam had always been less like a cousin and more like an elder brother to Noah. And although he was well beyond the age of needing guidance, Noah was used to that dynamic. Adam was always the one to impart his version of wisdom, in control of all situations and certain of his morality, while Noah tended to be hotheaded and temperamental. When the King floundered, he often turned to the Enforcer for rescue and guidance.

But tonight ...

Noah watched with honest fascination as Adam paced a hard circuit across the open floor of his castle’s main room. The Water Demon kept both hands at the level of his weapons belt, alternately gripping at the empty dagger sheath on the right or the pommel of the blade on his left. His boots snapped furiously against the stone floor as he paced again and again, his breath coming in a loud fury that echoed through the otherwise silent room.

“
Fine-bred little
...” Adam exploded in a growl of frustrated outrage, whirling to face his perplexed companion. “Never believe it when someone tries to tell you women are the weaker sex!”

Ah. Clarity at last
, Noah thought with an inner chuckle. He would never have expected it to be a woman that would ruffle Adam’s flat calm. There were some who thought the Enforcer to be devoid of all emotion, but those few who were close to him knew Adam buried his feelings deep beneath morals, honor, and duty. Noah understood that Adam’s seemingly coldhearted approach to the business of his life was sometimes all that allowed him to commit acts of punishment against those he saw and socialized with every day. Those he secretly respected. To get emotionally close to someone meant he risked putting a sword through his own heart should he be forced into a battle with them in the name of his duties as Enforcer.

Noah had become one of only two exceptions outside of Adam’s immediate family. Elijah, the warrior, was the other. The King took this privilege very seriously, so despite his amusement, he realized Adam was genuinely troubled.

“I imagine you have a specific woman in mind?” he asked.

“Yes!
No!
” Adam countered himself quickly out of an instinct for self-preservation. “It does not matter. They strive to perplex us and drive us to base and ridiculous behaviors, be they mothers, sisters, or lovers. Even a total stranger! A woman can have the power to beguile and confuse a man until he knows not right from wrong! Beware, Noah,” he cautioned his friend, pointing an ominous finger at him, “for this is what leads many of our males astray.”

“I see.” Noah couldn’t resist. “So what is it that leads our females astray? Do you mean to say it is they themselves?”

“Yes!
No!
” Adam grunted explosively. “Damn me thrice and let Destiny laugh,
I do not know!
”

“Adam,” Noah said quietly, truly concerned now as he stood up to halt his disturbed friend’s furious motions. “Be easy, my friend,” he soothed carefully. “Remember, ’tis not the temptation that makes us wrong, but the giving in to it. Whatever has happened, you clearly resisted what was thrown in your path. You would not be here confessing to me otherwise.”

“Aye, that I did,” Adam agreed, finally taking a deep, centering breath. “But I’ve never come so close to crossing that line before, Noah. I have never fully understood how all-consuming ... how hard it is for us to pull back from our basest urges no matter how wrongly directed they may be.”

“I cannot say I understand entirely, although I have felt more than my share of those cravings for flesh and gratification. But I’ve never craved outside of my race and, Destiny willing, I never will. I should rather die a horrible death than find myself slaking my lust on a non-Demon woman.”

“Never fear,” Adam assured him. “So long as I am alive, I will never allow you to get that far gone.”

“In that I have complete faith,” Noah acknowledged. “However, I realize also that you are forced to be your own last line of defense. Who do you have to pull you back from the abyss of madness as you do for so many of us?”

“My father. Or perhaps Jacob. Maybe even you could sense my disturbance, if you were aware you must be on watch for it.” Adam took a deep breath as he further composed himself. “And now you are made aware, cousin. But be assured the threat has passed, and, luckily, is unlikely to return. My duties for the Hallowed holiday begin to press on me and I can already sense I will be quite busy the next few nights.” The Enforcer turned to his friend and they clasped arms strongly. “I must thank you. I had meant for this to be a very different sort of visit. But your support has been invaluable to me.”

“It is good to be able to lend you guidance for a change, my friend. Perhaps it means there is hope for my maturity yet.”

“I highly doubt it.” Adam chuckled. “I will see you at the festival. Mother will not hear of your absence.”

“I will be there.”

Jasmine walked Damien’s property with a slow and thoughtful gait. The Romanian stronghold where Vampire government was centered was made of painstakingly crafted stone and mortar, towering far above the barren shale of the mountainside surrounding it, and it loomed over anyone who might lay eyes on it. Though few but Vampires saw it, and they were not easily intimidated. It was deep in Damien’s territory, far away from any of the smelly human settlements in the area. Luckily, humans were a superstitious lot and were very easily frightened. They had no desire to explore in an area that gave them chills of dread.