Darkest Risings (14 page)

“Yep.”

Ashe
and Aiston both hated using sources to replace their blood after injuries, but
neither Ebony nor Avril could provide them blood while injured. While one
vampire could feed from another under normal circumstances, if wounded, their
blood would fight for supremacy, thus making the injury worse.

Aldin
nodded to Dominic and Conrad. Within minutes, the two had shimmered then
reappeared with a man and a woman. They had both been compelled and would not
sustain any undue trauma from being dinner for two vampires. Both would think
they’d had an unpleasant dream and go on with life as usual.

“I’ll
take the woman,” Aldin said. He knew Ashe didn’t use other women as sources out
of respect for Ebony.

Aldin
walked to the woman. She was tall with black hair and green eyes. Even though
she wouldn’t remember him, he thanked her before biting into her wrist and
taking the blood that would save his life. He only took what he needed, but
he’d lost a lot, and the coppery taste hit him like heroine hit a drug addict’s
veins. It was dangerous for a vampire to feed after losing too much blood.
Although he may not want to hurt anyone he fed from, his body’s instinct and
need to survive was sometimes overpowering.

After
a few moments, he tapped into every ounce of willpower he possessed and
released the source’s wrist. He licked the small punctures to hurry the
healing, and waited until Ashe was done feeding. Dominic and Conrad disappeared
to return the sources, and he looked around at his brothers.

“We
have to find a way to stop this bullshit. The drifters will never be better
than us, but the bastards outnumber us four to one. We have to do whatever is
necessary to quell this uprising or there won’t be any of us left.” Aldin
scraped some of the black goo from the bottom of his boot. He couldn’t remember
the last time he felt this angry, this bitter, this…helpless.

“Are
you suggesting we embrace what Ragnor and Mother told us? Are you willing to
claim your life mate and welcome our true blood powers? Are you willing to
accept the prophecy?” Ashe asked Aldin.

Aiston
stared at him in resolve. Surprisingly, there was no underlying sarcasm
evident, as was usual for his brother the prankster. They both knew him well.
He was not the
settling
down type.
But would he embrace his
viata amant
when he found her if it meant the possibility of being one step closer to
extinguishing the uprising? He chose not to think about it at this particular
moment even though he knew the time was quickly approaching where he would be
forced to face it head on.

“I
don’t know. What about Uriah?” Aldin asked.

“No
matter the situation. No matter what has happened in the past. No matter what
feelings he may have for Mother over what she’s done to him. He is our brother,
and thus, part of this family. As far as I am concerned, unless he proves to be
a threat, he will be welcomed with open arms.”

Aldin
nodded along with Aiston. Family was always the most important thing. Which
left the last question. “And what about Mother? Are we to act as if she hasn’t
betrayed us? Are we to forget what she has done simply because she did it with
the
best
of intentions?” Aldin loved
his mother, but he couldn’t deny the anger he held for her over her betrayal.
And if he were Uriah? He wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to forgive her. His
heart ached for the brother he’d never met, for the years they’d missed out on
knowing one another, for the pure hell Uriah must have endured being a prisoner
all of his life.

If
the whole situation wasn’t a fucked up mess with his family smack in the
middle, he’d find it amusing to see Uriah’s reaction when in the same room as
his mother. Had he forgiven her? Did he hate her? Would he embrace him, Ashe,
and Aiston? But none of this was amusing. It was a damn freak show at the
circus. He wasn’t sure his family would ever fully recover from this mound of
shit that had been dumped onto them.

“I
don’t know. I cannot tell you how to feel toward Mother, or Ragnor for that
matter. We will all need to come to our own conclusions where that matter is
concerned. I will confess, though, that I will not be able to simply turn my
back and walk away from the woman who gave birth to me. She was a good mother
to all of us. I can’t forget that anymore than I can forgive what she’s done.”
Ashe sighed.

“I
think it would be best if we all take a little time for ourselves before Uriah
arrives. Try to wrap our heads around everything and get a grasp on our
emotions and focus on what needs to be done for everyone’s well-being. The
family always comes first.” Aldin couldn’t believe those sensible words had
just come from his mouth.

He’d
never been the sensible one. The hot-headed, scary-as-fuck, don’t-mess-with-me
one, sure. But the sensible one? Never. Other than when fighting, he had a bad
habit of letting his emotions rule him.

“I
agree. I have a beautiful wife and child I need to spend some time with. Not to
mention the arduous chore of filling Ebony in on the details.” Ashe frowned.

“Yeah.
Avril is not going to be happy,” Aiston admitted.

“Good
thing I don’t have that to worry about,” Aldin said.

Aiston
and Ashe smirked at one another before shimmering. What the hell had that been
about? Aldin shrugged and shimmered to his room. He needed to get cleaned up,
maybe even lay down for an hour or two. While his injury was already healing,
the blood loss was taking its toll on him. Shower. Nap. Kill a few more heavy
bags in the gym. Sounded like a plan.

Wilhemina
sat cross-legged on the bed with her laptop in front of her. She’d been trying
to concentrate on writing, but hadn’t had much luck. The journalist in her told
her something big was up in the Aleksandrov household, wanted her to snoop
around and find out exactly what. But her conscience scolded her. Ebony was her
friend, had invited her as a guest into her home, and she should leave it be.

The
other problem was she wanted to find Aldin. From the glimpse she’d caught of
him earlier, he hadn’t been any happier than any of his brothers. Then guilt
gnawed at her belly. What if something terrible had happened? Ashe had Ebony,
Aiston had Avril, and vice versa, but did Aldin have someone?

“Maybe
he has Alaina,” she muttered to herself.

There
was that spark of jealousy rearing its ugly head once again. Alaina hadn’t been
unkind to her, but that didn’t mean Wilhemina liked the thought of the leggy
blonde being anywhere near Aldin. And why exactly was that?
You know exactly why.
She sighed and
pushed the laptop away.

She
couldn’t deny that she was attracted to Aldin. His kisses set her on fire. His
hard frame pressed against her made her want things, things she knew nothing
about, things her body instinctively needed from him. He’d warned her off, had
said that she wouldn’t like his dominance in the bedroom, but she refused to
agree. Curiosity and pure horniness won hands down over caution where Aldin was
concerned.

She
glanced at the clock and realized it had been hours since the commotion in the
entryway earlier. It was late, and she doubted anyone would be up. After
convincing herself that she wouldn’t bother anyone if she was quiet, she
decided to have a walk around the mansion. She pushed her feet into her
slippers and cracked open the door. The hall was dark other than various low
lights here and there that were obvious night lights. She closed the door
quietly behind her and began her exploration.

An
hour later, she was amazed. She knew the place was big, but big hadn’t been the
proper term for it. Ginormous, humungous, and gargantuan were much better
descriptions of the size of this place. And every inch of it was beautiful with
rich colors, gorgeous paintings, and antique decorations with a flare of
modernity that brought all of the old world charm into the present.

If
she were honest with herself, the place reminded her of someplace someone much
more mature would live. She wondered if the family had come from money, if the
estate had been passed down through generations because this house and its
contents were worth a small fortune. She was about to try to find her way back
to her room when she heard the faint sound of music playing. She followed it to
another long hallway.

At
the end was a door, and behind it lay the source of the music. She smiled. It
had been a long time since she’d listened to Dream Theater. While her first
love in music wasn’t progressive metal, she hadn’t been able to resist the
talent of this band—especially the drummer. She leaned closer to listen,
promising herself she’d only do so for a minute as she didn’t want to intrude
upon anyone’s privacy. Although, she doubted anyone inside could hear her
intrusion.

Just
as she was preparing to leave, the door jerked open and she jumped. Her heart
thumped hard at the sight that greeted her. Aldin and those turquoise eyes
stared down at her. While he didn’t look all that happy to see her, she was too
sidetracked by the image of him in black jeans—top button undone—bare feet, and
black t-shirt tucked into the waist of the denim to care much. The shirt was
form-fitting and outlined his wide chest and broad shoulders to perfection.

He
was a god. Truly, she couldn’t ever remember seeing a man that came close to
comparison in the looks department with Aldin.

“What
do you want?” he asked in a somewhat surly manner.

She
suddenly snapped out of the trance his sexiness had cast upon her. “I—I
couldn’t sleep. I didn’t mean to bother you.”

“So
you thought you’d creep around in the middle of the night?” He raised a brow.

“I
wasn’t creeping.” She straightened her shoulders and huffed. “I was looking
around. And I wasn’t snooping either before you ask.”

What
an ass he was being, and why? What had she done to deserve his snide remarks?
Nothing.

“I’d
say listening at someone’s door in the middle of the night is snooping.” He
leaned against the door jamb in a pompous way that made her want to smack his
face.

Her
fingers curled. At this very moment, he was irritating her nearly as much as he
was turning her on. Did he have to be such a jerk? Really?

“I
said I wasn’t snooping. I was looking around, heard the music, and when I
realized it was one of my favorite artists, I listened for a minute.”

“Sure.
You look just like the metal type to me.” Skepticism burned in his eyes.

“Dream
Theater is one of my favorite bands, for your information. And I don’t
appreciate being called a liar.” Her temper was rising, something that rarely
happened.

“Hmm.
I have to admit, you have surprised me.”

He
did look genuinely surprised.
Put that in
your pipe and smoke it.

He
immediately raised his brow again after the words raced through her brain. How
did he always look as if he knew exactly what she was thinking? It pissed her
off even more that he seemed to read her so easily.

“Be
surprised all you want. I don’t care. I’m going back to bed before you wake up
the whole household with that music.”

“You
want to listen for awhile?”

His
invitation caught her completely off guard. One minute he was insulting, the
next he was asking her in to listen to music. Should she? She already knew the
answer to that was probably no, but in the end, her damned curiosity won out
yet again. She risked another glance at his stormy expression. Once she looked
a bit closer, she saw more than just irritation in his eyes. She saw turmoil
and wondered if he needed someone to talk to.

She
took a hesitant step toward him, and he moved to the side to allow her inside.
The walls in his room were dark blue, nearly black, and the music was bordering
on deafening. The walls in this place had to be amazing to filter out the sound
as efficiently as it had. But then again, everything in this place was amazing.
On one side of the room was a huge black desk with three laptops, several
monitors, and various other gadgets.

A
black leather couch and matching chair sat in the opposite corner of the desk.
There were no windows that she could locate, and the dim lighting made it hard
to see. As she twirled slowly, she saw the biggest bed sitting in the far
corner—opposite the desk—that she’d ever seen. It was a magnificent wooden
monster four-post of a bed draped in sheer, dark blue fabric. A door across
from the end of the bed, she assumed led to a bathroom.

On
the other wall, the same wall with the door she’d entered, hung a massive, flat
screen television. Underneath it was a shelf with what she thought was probably
every game system known to man. Beside the shelf was a red electric guitar and
amp.

“Do
you play?” she asked loudly.

The
music softened.

“I
pick around on it when I have time,” he said from directly behind her.

She
startled at his closeness. “Maybe you could play for me sometime?”

“Maybe.”

He
wasn’t exactly the most communicative guy she’d been around. He was decisive
and got right to the point without elaboration. But she found elaboration was
what she craved from him. She wanted to know him, wanted to find out what made
him tick. But why?
Because you think he’s
hot.
But she’d thought other men were hot in the past—not Aldin’s OMG hot,
but nonetheless, and that alone had never made her want to get to
know
a guy. No. It was much more with
him.