Darkest Risings

Darkest Risings

Copyright © February 2013, S. K.
Yule

Cover art by Mina Carter © February
2013

This is a work of fiction. All characters and
events portrayed in this novel are fictitious or used fictitiously. All rights
reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in
any form.

ISBN: 978-1-937394-82-0

Amira Press, LLC

Charlotte, NC 28227

www.amirapress.com

Dedication

As always, to my husband
who has believed in me from the start
—
even
during those times when I didn’t believe in myself. To my mom for being brave
and reading my books even though some might be a bit too
spicy
for her taste. To all the rest of my family for their
support.

To my publisher for
believing in me, and to all of the wonderful, talented people behind the scenes
—
editors, artists, formatters
—
who
lend their expertise. Thank you. You are much appreciated and never forgotten.

No
matter that he’d give his life for any one of his close-knit family members who
meant more to him than anything. No matter that they’d do the same for him.
He’d gotten shafted on the social gene. He’d always be an outsider.

While
he was happy that his brothers Ashe and Aiston had both found their
viata amants—
hell Ashe even had a
baby—Aldin couldn’t quite squash the tinge of jealousy that had sunk its ugly
teeth into his heart.

His
dominant, overbearing, sometimes rude nature didn’t exactly make him the
settling down type. He was confident without being egotistical about his looks,
had no trouble attracting potential bedmates. It was what he wanted to do
behind closed doors where things got complicated. Not all women enjoyed his
need for dominance, at least not the take-home-to-mom kind.

Though
he was quiet by nature, he had no qualms about expressing whatever came to
mind, no matter how crude, when he had a beautiful woman naked and underneath
him—or pinned against the wall, or face down on the floor, or…

He
was big, and was aware that he intimidated the hell out of most of his bed
partners, yet he’d never physically hurt any of them. He liked to let his
darker side rule him during sex, but he’d never hurt a woman. Women were to be
protected, not brutalized. As twisted as it may seem given his sexual
preferences, he respected women.

For
years, he’d thought something was wrong with him. But after countless hours of
contemplation, he’d come to the conclusion that sex was an outlet for the calm,
cool exterior he maintained around others. When hunting, fighting, or
protecting humans from shadowdrifters, emotions were always kept on a tight
leash. The bedroom had become the one place he could let go and release those
pent up emotions, which resulted in mind-blowing ecstasy.

Thus
the reason he’d never find his life mate. He served his own selfish needs where
sex was involved. No woman would love someone who wasn’t willing to love them
back. However, he now found himself in love for the first time in his long
existence with the georgous Alaina Czernik. Ashe’s ex-girlfriend. The woman who
had betrayed his family. Ebony had forgiven Alaina when she’d apologized for
what she’d done--convinced Ashe to forgive her as well. That didn’t change the
fact that she had hurt his family.

Alaina
had secretly come to him and asked him to train her to fight the drifters.
Vowed that she’d changed. He’d been skeptical, and was worried that by helping
her he’d be being disloyal to his family. Unfortunately, one look at her
slender body and shiny, platinum hair had turned his insides to putty. He’d
been reluctant to tell his brothers what he was doing—especially Ashe. When the
time had finally arose to come clean, things had gone smoother than he’d ever
thought possible.

Ashe
had been pissed, but had trusted his judgment without question. Aldin had been
humbled by his brother’s unwavering faith in him, and had vowed that he’d never
let his alliance with Alaina harm anyone in the family. Now he wasn’t sure he’d
be able to keep that promise. The funny thing was, it was he who was going to
be hurt because he’d been slowly falling in love with the beautiful creature
for quite some time now.

Since
she was a vampire, too, he wouldn’t have to worry about hurting her during sex.
He wouldn’t have to hold back, be wary of his superior strength. He could be as
dominant
as he wished. He’d never had
the balls to make a move on Alaina, but he would rectify that tonight. He
wanted her, and he meant to have her.

For
the time being, he needed to focus on his research. The drifter problem had
continued to intensify over the past several months. Their once expected
cowardly behavior had turned aggressive, even to initiating fights and setting
ambushes for the hunters. The increase in activity had been mostly centered on
his family in the St. Louis area. The drifters had claimed to have a new king,
more powerful than the legendary Vampyre King—V-a-m-p-y-r-e deriving from
ancient times—Ragnor, who was readying them for a war against the hunters.

As
far as he was concerned, Ragnor was nothing but a myth. Aldin was nearing seven
hundred years in existence, and to his knowledge no one had ever come
face-to-face with the legendary king. Nonetheless, he and his brothers had been
running themselves ragged fighting the drifters and trying to figure out what
the hell was going on.

The
only break they’d gotten came a few months back when Malachi, a back-up hunter
they’d brought in, had been kidnapped by this new leader of the drifters.

Although
that run-in only provided them with minimal information. One, the new leader’s
name was Trinidad; Two, he was rumored to be an ancient true blood; Three, he
was adept at witchcraft and had succeeded in making a tranq that could take a
vamp down which was particularly disturbing since nothing that existed was
known to subdue a vamp; and Finally, he was unbelievably powerful having
survived being torched by his brother Aiston. Something no vampire should have
walked away from.

Shortly
after the stand-off, his baby sister’s head had been delivered to their
doorstep, courtesy of Trinidad. Pain tore through his chest. Estril had been
the epitome of kindness, had never hurt anyone. The anger that boiled in him at
the thought of her suffering at that bastard’s hands nearly drove him insane.

His
fingers flew over the keyboard looking for a pattern in the area that could
point them in the direction of Trinidad’s new hideout. Unfortunately, most of
the articles about any crime sprees proved too random to pinpoint any specific
area to start a search. His hacking into the police data system came back with
the same useless results.

He
grunted when a tap sounded at his door. Even the vastness of the Aleksandrov
estate, the private wings he and each of his family members had, was no
guarantee against interruptions.

“Come
in.” Aldin leaned back in the leather chair, stretched his legs in front of
him, and linked his hands behind his head while Aiston entered the room and
closed the door behind him.

“You
find anything?”

“Nope.”
Aiston sat in the chair next to Aldin’s desk. “You?”

Aiston
shook his blond head. He had the trademark Aleksandrov turquoise eyes, but he
and his brother were as different as night and day. Aiston was the prankster,
pain-in-the ass brother. Over the countless years, Aldin had been on the
receiving end of one too many of those pranks.

Hell,
Aiston had even suckered Avril, his wife, in on one of his pranks when he’d
given Marcus a mohawk. Ebony, Ashe’s wife and Marcus’ mother, hadn’t been the
least pleased, but had let go of the grudge after Ashe had laughed it off.
Aldin was pretty sure that had been due to the reason that the baby’s hair
would grow back within a couple of days.

While
vampires didn’t come into their full powers until the age of eighteen, they
still healed quickly. For some reason, the body perceived a shaved head as an
injury that needed to be healed. If a vampire got a buzz cut, the hair grew
back at a normal speed. Shave it bald? The shit grew back with a vengeance.

“It’s
getting thick, bro.” Aiston stared at the floor.

Aldin
could almost hear the thoughts churning in his head without reading his mind.

“That’s
saying it mildly. I can’t find any solid leads, not even a hint of where
Trinidad might be hiding. It’s as if he’s disappeared off the face of the
fucking earth. He’s still close. I can feel it in my bones.” Aldin ground his
teeth together.

“I
agree. He’s keeping a real low profile, though. I should have listened to
Malachi in that warehouse and cut his damned head off. But son of a bitch, no
vampire should have survived a torching by me.”

Aldin
nodded. Every vampire had a special ability, fire was Aiston’s. And he was
right. Trinidad should not have survived an ass burning from Aiston.

“How
did Malachi take it when he found out Trinidad was still alive?” For some
reason, Trinidad had been enamored with Malachi.

While
Ashe and Malachi had assured them all that Trinidad would be more than willing
to take the bait—the bait being Malachi—neither had explained why. Aldin hadn’t
pressed the issue at the time, knowing his brother would never agree if there
hadn’t been a good reason.

Aldin
wasn’t blind to the fact that he’d always been perceived as the
scary
brother—and didn’t really mind one
bit since everyone left him alone because of it—Malachi wasn’t lacking in the
scary-as-shit façade himself. At six-foot-six, the biggest Aleksandrov brother,
Aldin was no slouch. Yet, Malachi had him by a couple inches, a good thirty
pounds, and a few hundred years.

He
snorted inside. Hell, that fucked up son-of-a-bitch had even found his life
mate. Aldin doubted he could be any more intimidating than Malachi so was it
out of the question that he’d have a chance at happiness with that one woman
destined for him?
Get over it, dumbass.
Ain’t gonna happen.
Besides, if he had anything to say about it, he’d soon
be spending some quality time with Alaina.

Aiston
shook his head and sighed. “Ashe said Malachi was…less than pleased. He and
Geri are coming back out in a week or so. They just got settled into their new
place and are planning on getting married soon.”

“Seriously?
I never thought they’d get married.”

“Why
not?” Aiston cocked one brow up. “She’s his
viata
amant
and was human. He’ll do it if only to make her happy. That’s the way
it is, bro.”

“Still.
He doesn’t strike me as the traditional type in any sense of the word.” Aldin
rubbed at his stubbled jaw line.

“He
is an intense dude. Not to mention that underlying psychosis that seems to
bleed through his pores.” Aiston chuckled.

“He’s
a hell of a fighter. Thought he was going to pop my head off that day in the
training room when Geri thought we were really fighting. She came in and I
almost called her a bitch. Of course, I was only referring to her as such in a
casual way, not actually
calling
her
it because Geri’s far from it. Still, he didn’t take it lightly.” Aldin
smirked.