Darkest Risings (2 page)

“Not
wise to call someone’s life mate a bitch, kidding or not. But I know you, bro.
I know you didn’t mean any disrespect by it. You’ve never dissed on women like
that, but you are kind of rough around the edges sometimes where what is and
isn’t appropriate is concerned.”

“Thanks
for the lesson, Mom.” Aldin growled.

“Don’t
get your panties all in a bunch.” Aiston stood. “Good God. You’re so touchy.
Lighten up, man.”

“Uh
huh. I don’t think I want to lighten up, especially if it means being like you,
Mr. Whoopee Cushion
.”

“Hey.
That was classic!” Aiston whined.

“Making
someone sound like they fart when they sit down in a room full of people is not
classic. It’s crude.”

“Whatever.
Catch ya later.” Aiston left the room muttering something about Aldin not
knowing the meaning of classic.

He
glanced at the clock. Time to meet Alaina at Drake’s. Drake’s was the favorite
vampire hangout. It had been demolished during a drifter invasion a few months
back, but had recently been rebuilt.

He
took a quick shower, donned his normal attire of black leather pants, black
silk shirt, and black boots. Then strapped his sword to his back before
covering it with his floor-length, black leather duster, and shimmered to the
entrance of Drake’s.

Alaina
drummed her red fingernails on the surface of the smooth, dark table she sat
behind in a dim corner of Drake’s as she waited for Aldin. He was her best
friend, the brother she never had. She could never repay him for giving her a
chance to prove herself, especially after what she’d put his family through.

She
and Ashe had been a thing many--too many to count--years ago. When they’d
split, she’d been bitter to put it nicely. She’d turned his first
viata amant
, Shara—the one that had
betrayed him and had almost gotten him killed, unbeknownst to her—into a
drudge. She grimaced. Changing the newly dead into slaves, hell, intelligent
zombies for want of a better definition, was something that turned even her
stomach now days.

Even
worse, when Ashe had gotten a second chance at love with Ebony, she’d kidnapped
the woman and tried to blackmail Ashe into coming back to her.

To
her amazement, Ashe hadn’t killed her and Ebony had forgiven her when she’d
apologized. More than thankful for a second chance at life, she’d vowed to get
her shit together.

Aldin
was one gorgeous, sexy-as-hell man. His tall, muscled frame, dark hair, golden
skin, and turquoise eyes were enough to make any girl squirm in her chair. But
she would not go there. She’d already fallen in love with one Aleksandrov, and
she’d never do it again. Not to mention, Aldin was a bit scary at times. His
quiet intensity kept her on the edge of her seat. He reminded her of a panther
in captivity waiting for the moment its cage was opened to claim retribution on
its captor.

Over
the past few weeks, she’d noticed changes in him. Like the way his once neutral
gaze slowly turned heated as he watched her from under half closed lids. She
prayed he’d never act on his attraction to her. .

Not
two seconds after that thought had flitted through her brain, Aldin walked
through the front door of Drake’s. Every woman craned her neck to get a better
look as he walked by. All of the Aleksandrov brothers had that affect on women.
Within moments, he slipped into the seat beside her.

“Hey.”
She smiled at him, but he didn’t smile back. Merely nodded, which was too bad
since he had a nice smile, even if she’d only seen it a couple of times.

“Anything
new on the drifter front?”

“Nope.”
Aldin nodded his head in thanks to the waitress when she set a bottle of beer
on the table in front of him.

“I
need to talk to you, Alaina.” He took a long swig then set the bottle back
down.

“What’s
up?” She frowned. He’d never been a talker.

“Let’s
go someplace private.”

After
a moment, she nodded and followed him from the bar. Once outside, he took her
hand and shimmered them to his bedroom.

Alaina
had been in his room a couple of times, but only to help him do research on the
computer. It was as breathtaking as the rest of the estate. Nothing but the
best. Dark hardwood floors, state of the art electronics, leather furniture,
big screen television with every gaming console available to man. He liked his
toys, that was a given.

“Well?”
She watched as he shrugged out of his duster, pulled the sword from his back,
and tossed them both onto the leather sofa.

He
approached her like a wolf might approach a bunny it was about to devour, and
she couldn’t help but give an inward shudder of appreciation for the fine
specimen of male in front of her. Then it hit her. She had been right. He was
going to make a move on her. She sighed, hoping that their friendship wouldn’t
be the price of her rejection.

* * * *

Aldin
watched Alaina’s lovely brown-green eyes as he approached her. She was
gorgeous. When he reached her, he lifted his hand so he could rub his fingers
gently over the smooth skin of her cheek and sighed.

“What
are you doing?” Alaina’s brows drew down in confusion.

“You
must know that I want you. I think I’m falling for you.” He didn’t miss the way
her perfectly pouty lips frowned.

“Oh,”
she whispered before taking a step back.

“Oh?
That’s all you can say is ‘oh’?” He took another step toward her and bent his
head toward her mouth. Finally, she’d be his.

Before
he could kiss her, her palms came up flat against his chest and gave a gentle
but firm shove.

“Aldin,
you know I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. I can never thank you for
training me and for giving me a chance to prove that I’ve changed for the
better. I will never forget that, but this can’t happen. You and I can’t
happen.”

She
was going to refuse him? Had he misjudged her so badly?

“No.
I’ve seen the way you look at me, Alaina.”

She
sighed. “The only way I’ve looked at you is in awe of your skill. And I would
be a liar if I said I hadn’t appreciated your physique on more than one
occasion. Hell, Aldin, you know you are gorgeous. I love you.”

He
sucked in a sharp breath. She loved him? His heart soared.

“I
love you like a brother.”

And
just like that, his soaring heart crashed to the ground in a fiery ball of
shrapnel.

“You
love me like a brother?”

“Damn
it. Why did this have to happen? Why with you?” Alaina’s frown grew as she
watched his face.

“With
me? Am I that terrible?” He turned around, fists clenched, anger and hurt
pouring through every cell.

Alaina
went to him and laid her hand on his shoulder.

“You
are not terrible at all. That’s not what I meant. You are fantastic.”

“Then
what’s the problem?” He spun around and she jumped back.

“Oh,
Aldin. I don’t want to hurt you. I do care for you. I do love you, but I’m not
in
love with you, nor will I ever be.
You have to understand that I once loved your brother.”

“That
was a long time ago.”

“Yes.
It was a very long time ago, but I loved him and part of me probably always
will even though I know we are through, even though I know there is absolutely
no chance for us. I get that, but I screwed up big time with him, with your
family…with you. I betrayed all of you. I have tried to make amends, but I know
I can never truly make up for what I did to Ebony. It was reprehensible and I’m
lucky that all of you could find it in your hearts to give me another chance.
But I’m done with Aleksandrov men.”

“It’s
not the same. I’m not attached, and I’m willing.”

“I’m
sorry. I don’t feel that way about you.”

He
reached out and jerked her to him by the arm before slamming his mouth down on
hers. This time, she shoved him a bit harder.

“Don’t
do this, Aldin.”

He
straightened. He’d made a huge mistake. Alaina was definitely not into him the
way he was into her, and when he’d kissed her, there were no sparks, no
electricity, nothing like he thought would be between them. How had he misread
things so badly? He was an idiot.

“I’m
sorry, Alaina. I thought you felt something for me.”

“Damn
it! I wish I could feel something more for you than brotherly love. Any woman
would be lucky to have you. One day, you will find the right woman, the woman
made just for you.”

He
laughed out loud, something he rarely did. “There is no woman out there for me.
There is no woman who can deal with a man like me. I thought maybe you could,
but if it isn’t going to happen, it isn’t going to happen. I get it.”

She
went to him, but when she put her hand on his shoulder, he shrugged it off. “I
think maybe we should spend some time apart.”

“Please
tell me I didn’t just lose my best friend.”

When
he turned to look at her, her bottom lip quivered. Son of a bitch. He’d
definitely fucked this one up royally. He took a deep breath. “You didn’t lose
me, Alaina. I simply need some time to wrap my head around what just happened.
I’ll come to terms with it and things will be fine between us.”

Alaina
nodded. “I’ll see you in a few days?”

“Yeah.”

He
watched her go before punching the wall. He’d honestly thought he was in love
with Alaina, but the emotionless kiss they’d just shared proved he’d been
mistaken. Yet the rawness of her rejection ate away at him.

“Fuck
it.” He put his sword and duster back on. He hadn’t been with a woman for
months thinking something was going to happen with Alaina. It was time to
remedy that.

* * * *

“You
know I hate you for this?” Marilena clenched her small fists at her sides.

Ragnor
gave a halfhearted attempt at a smile. He’d always love Marilena, but he wasn’t
sure if he’d be able to forgive her for what she’d done. She’d been too blind
to see that no matter how hard she tried to intervene, Fate would have her day.

He
was the King of Vampyre, yet his existence was a mere legend. He’d chosen to
stay hidden away for most of his extraordinarily long life. He had no wish to
rule them as a mortal king would rule his subjects. His father had done that,
and look where that had gotten all of them. Christos, a god, had been a
careless king, and eventually, his actions had resulted in Ragnor being cursed
along with his peoples’ revolt.

Not
long after a bloody war that had cost countless mortals their lives, Christos
had ruled with Riella, Ragnor’s mother. However, his kingdom was never the
same, nor did his people trust him again. Finally, Christos had grown bored and
returned to the god realm where he promptly forgot about all of humanity, as
did most of the other gods.

Ragnor
stayed and did what he could, which was little as he was not much more than a
boy when his father and mother--forced by his father--abandoned him. Ragnor
hated what his father had done, but refused to allow that hatred to rule what
kind of man he had become. Holding on to hate, salivating for vengeance was
Christos’ way, not Ragnor’s.

While
Ragnor was the most powerful immortal in existence, that power came from a
curse cast by a pissed off witch on any offspring born from Christos. A pissed
off witch his father had bed for his own amusement then cast aside.

Ragnor
was the first child born out of that curse making him the Vampyre King. All
Vampyre came directly from his family line.

Christos
had tried to reverse the curse, however, the only thing he’d been able to
reverse was the part where vampyres could only walk at night. The only good
thing that came out of the curse was that the line passed on various strengths
of the gods. Speed, the healing ability, compulsion, heightened senses, not to
mention the unique ability that each vampyre received.

It
hadn’t taken long for the vampyre population to increase due to Christos’ lust,
but Ragnor’s brothers and sisters had all been killed off over the years, one
by one, usually as a result of carelessness. Now, he was the only true blood
left other than Marilena—who could be referred to as a true blood since she was
his
viata amant
and shared his
blood—and his children.

 
He closed his eyes at the familiar tinge of
pain at the thought that only a few short months ago, he had a beautiful
daughter, Estril. But she was dead. An indirect result of Marilena’s actions,
albeit how noble they’d been.

Ragnor
had been careful and had instilled rules upon his line that would protect them
yet never rob them of their free will. Now the time had come for his return.
The time had come for him to fulfill his duty.