Forbidden Blood (Vampire Venators Romance Series) (39 page)

She bumped into something and growled.

“Wait,” she whispered and he didn’t. He kept striding along the corridor.

The smell of Amber’s blood grew stronger near a set of stairs that led upwards. He peered up them and reached out to her with his senses and his blood. She was there. Somewhere on the first floor. He waited at the stairs for Venator Greystone to catch up with him and then followed them to the next floor. The wooden treads creaked under their feet. He scanned the darkness ahead to see if anyone would hear it but it was empty.

The first floor was more spacious but just as dark. He couldn’t risk lighting the way with any of his powers. It would give away their location to anyone in the vicinity. They had to keep moving forwards in the darkness until they were closer to Amber and his brother.

His senses sharpened enough for him to be able to see a ghost of his surroundings in his mind. A gallery. They were at the front of the house now. He moved to his right, towards where the windows were, and found a set of heavy velvet curtains. Pulling one aside a fraction, he peered out into the night. It was raining harder now, saturating the world. His car was bright in the grey night, parked a short distance from the Bentley.

He frowned when he didn’t see another car and then realised that he hadn’t heard one arrive when Venator Greystone had appeared. His senses fixed on her. How had she arrived at the estate only a short time after him? Even if the Sovereignty had seen him arrive at the house and transported her to them in order to give her the mission to assist him, she wouldn’t have arrived so close to him. Time moved fast in the Sovereignty’s dimension. Venator Greystone had arrived only minutes after him.

Or she had been here the whole time.

His grip on his gun increased. He tensed on the inside but didn’t let it show on the outside or in his feelings. A Noble vampire would be able to sense a change in his emotions.

She came forwards so the dim light from outside touched her face and looked at him in the way she had done when testing his blood—a blatant attempt to get into his good graces and his underwear. He wasn’t interested in her. The only reason he was even looking at her was because he was trying to figure out whether or not she was his brother.

He turned away and carried on down the gallery, following the scent of Amber’s blood, only part of his senses were now fixed on Venator Greystone, monitoring her closely in case his suspicions were correct and she was in fact his enemy.

She hadn’t done anything suspicious other than arriving at almost the same time as him, but his brother had never done anything suspicious around him either.

Kearn had never had the inkling that Kyran was his enemy. Kyran had played him well.

He sensed two people in a room ahead. He stopped and turned to Venator Greystone, only able to sense her form in the darkness and her feelings. She was nervous.

“We should prepare.” He continued walking, his fingers flexing around his gun and his heart picking up pace. If she was going to make a move, it would be now.

“I am already one step ahead of you, Lord Savernake.”

Before he could turn to face her, something heavy and blunt struck the back of his head. Dark waves threatened to pull him under but he fought them.

“Damn you.” Venator Greystone struck him again, hitting his right shoulder this time. “You should be out cold.”

He would have been if he hadn’t taken so much blood from Amber so recently and hadn’t been anticipating the attack.

“I knew it was you.” Kearn growled and tried to focus through the pain.

“You knew it was who? You don’t have a clue, Lord Savernake. You never have.”

He could only stare as her fingertips began to glow blue. It wasn’t an illusion. His power rose in response to hers and the connection their calling forged between them opened. She was a Venator.

Not an illusion.

Kearn brought his gun up and fired before Venator Greystone could move out of the way. She shrieked as the bullet tore through her right upper arm. The blue light faded from her fingertips. He had to injure her arm to stop her from using her power as a Venator against him and to slow her down further. His head was killing him.

He shot her again and his right arm ached, the power in it activating. Blue light punctured the darkness, chasing it back and revealing Venator Greystone. He dived to one side as she raised her own firearm and rolled out of the path of the bullet. She shifted aim and fired again. Kearn flipped backwards to dodge it and then brought his gun around and shot her right shoulder. She growled and shifted backwards, away from him. She wouldn’t be fast enough to escape him now.

The stench of her blood filled the air, swamping his senses and making it impossible for him to smell the sweeter scent of Amber’s blood. His head spun as the entirety of his arm became active, the symbols on it glowing brightly. It drained his strength and he couldn’t allow that, but no matter what he did, it wouldn’t deactivate.

And he knew why.

The Sovereignty had judged her.

Venator Greystone moved back, clutching her arm and scowling at him. “You were supposed to be out cold.”

There was a pout in her voice. He had followed their plan for him to the letter but he didn’t want to play anymore. They had threatened Amber and finally revealed themselves. Now that he knew who he was dealing with, he was going to finish it.

“I always have been a disappointment.” He brought his arm up. The blue glow dampened his vision but he could still see his target. He could see her trembling and see the fear surfacing in her eyes as she shook her head.

Her heart beat loud and fast in his ears. She had honestly thought he would be that easy to defeat or capture. Her lust for power had only brought her an early death.

She growled and her eyes bled into red. “You were supposed to be an easy mark! That human female wasn’t supposed to get in the way.”

Kearn realised that he had altered Kyran and Venator Greystone’s plan before tonight. The female Venator was supposed to have seduced him, to have lured him in with her flattery and acceptance of him. She had done her best but she wasn’t the one who had become his distraction.

Amber had been it instead. Only she had made him stronger and had given him reason to fight.

Kearn slipped his gun back into the holster at his hip and gripped his right wrist with his left hand, steadying his arm. It whispered hungry words to him, encouraging him to kill Venator Greystone. He would, but not yet.

“What does my brother plan to do?”

Venator Greystone smiled. “You will find out soon enough, my lord.”

He frowned and then his eyes widened when he sensed a presence behind him. Just as he turned, Venator Greystone came forwards. He didn’t have a chance to block her. She kicked him hard in the head and the world wavered in front of him, his brother twisting and distorting with it.

Kyran raised his right hand and, without any trace of emotion in his cold blue eyes, closed it into a fist. A tremendous heavy feeling settled in Kearn’s mind. Kyran was trying to knock him out but he wouldn’t go quietly. He fought it, clearing his head long enough to break free of his brother’s mental grasp, and lunged at Venator Greystone.

Her scream filled the silence in the gallery as his hand connected with her chest. Bright shining blue threads of power burrowed into her body and she thrashed around, lashing out at him in a desperate attempt to free herself. It was too late. The ribbons turned black and Kearn took his hand away and turned to face Kyran. He sensed her life force fade as she fell into the eternal darkness and then the connection to her severed.

Kyran raised his hand again, his red eyes boring into Kearn’s, and started to close his fingers. Another heavy dull throb pulsed through his mind but he wouldn’t let it stop him. He needed to get to Amber and make sure that she was alright. Kyran wouldn’t have bitten her because that would change her blood and make it less potent and less valuable, but Kearn needed to see it with his own two eyes. He needed to keep his promise and take away her fear.

He ran at his brother and was within striking distance when Kyran swept his hand to one side, using his power to throw Kearn against the wall. He slammed into it and dropped to the floor, plaster raining down on him. His head spun. His brother was too powerful to defeat right now. With so much of Amber’s blood fresh in his veins, Kyran was a god.

Kearn pushed himself up onto his hands and knees. Kyran laughed. The sound of it grated in his ears and drove him to stand. The power of the Sovereignty whispered insidious things to him and he obeyed them for once. He would give it everything he had. He wouldn’t let his brother defeat him here. He would save Amber.

Focusing on his arm, he gathered all of his power there, both that of the Sovereignty and his own. With an ungodly roar, he unleashed everything he had in one cataclysmic burst aimed straight at Kyran. The windows exploded outwards, plaster tore off the walls, turning to dust and filling the charged air around him, and Kearn breathed hard, choking and struggling to remain conscious. His arm trembled, weak and numb like the rest of him.

Had he done it?

Was Kyran dead?

CHAPTER 27

A
mber jumped when another huge explosion rocked the building, shaking fragments of plaster from the ceiling. She clutched the edge of the couch, listening hard and afraid that Kyran would defeat Kearn. She was sure it was him out there, battling his brother. She had felt his presence in her blood and a sliver of his feelings, and then Kyran’s dark emotions had clouded her mind and severed her connection to Kearn. Kyran had left after that and then the sound of fighting had grown louder and more violent.

Cold fingers threatened to squeeze the air from her lungs and grip her heart so tightly it would stop.

She leaned forwards as everything went still.

Was it over?

Amber tried to stand to go to the door but her head spun and she collapsed back onto the couch. If she couldn’t even make it to the door, she would never be able to fight Kyran and escape. She was relying on Kearn now.

Kearn.

Her heart ached at the thought of him having to fight his own brother. He loved Kyran and felt responsible for him losing his chance to become the Venator of their family. Discovering that Kyran was behind everything must have hurt him and now he had to fight him. Would he even be able to bring himself to kill Kyran? Couldn’t the Sovereignty give the task to someone else? It was cruel to expect Kearn to take Kyran’s life when he already felt as though he had, and had already hurt his family once.

The door burst open and she jumped. Kearn walked in, his silver hair stained with blood and a weary look on his face. Her heart leapt into her throat but she swallowed it again, her mind overruling her desire to go to him and telling her that it was Kyran only pretending to be Kearn.

A bright blue light shone out from Kearn’s side and she realised that it was his arm and that he was dragging someone behind him by their shirt collar. Black hair. Black shirt.

Kearn dropped him.

It was Kyran and he was unconscious.

Kearn had defeated Kyran. Her chest warmed and her heart raced, overruling the voice that told her not to believe what she was seeing. He had defeated his brother and come for her.

She went to go to Kearn but he held his hand up.

“Take it easy,” he said and she nodded.

She could feel his emotions flowing into her, all warmth and relief, and they matched her own, bringing them to the surface along with the fear that had been pressing down on her. Tears rose into her eyes, hot on her lashes, and spilled down her cheeks. There were so many things that she wanted to ask him but instead she drank in the sight of him. He was hurt, but he was here. He smiled, crossed the room to her, and pulled her into his arms, holding her close to his chest. His heart beat against her ear, familiar in its slow pace, and the connection between them deepened. She pushed away from the voice in her heart, not willing to believe that this was another trick. When Kyran had masqueraded as Kearn, it hadn’t felt like this. This felt real. This was the Kearn that she knew.

He pressed a kiss to her hair and sighed. “I thought I would be too late. It is over now.”

Relief filled her but it only lasted as long as it took for him to speak again.

“You seem weak.” He pulled back, holding her by her shoulders at arm’s length. There was darkness in his green eyes, anger that she felt deep in her blood. “How are you feeling?”

Amber touched her neck and more tears came when she recalled Kyran feeding from her, pretending that he was Kearn. She had promised herself to him and Kyran had made it clear that he intended to make her his, but now Kearn was here and she was safe at last.

The anger within her increased. It burned like rage through her veins, igniting her own feelings and rousing them. She was angry too. She wanted Kyran to pay for what he had done to her but she didn’t want Kearn to have to suffer sentencing him.

She cupped his cheek. His skin was cool beneath her fingers and he leaned into her touch. She sighed at the sight of all the cuts and the blood on him. He had already fought his brother for her, and she couldn’t thank him enough. She was sure that if he hadn’t come to her tonight that it would have been too late for her and too late for them. She would have belonged to Kyran.

“I’m tired,” she said and the anger in his eyes became concern, but the feeling inside her didn’t change. He took her hand from his face and held it tightly. “I feel so weak.”

Red tinted the edges of his green irises. His other hand shifted to her face and his eyes slowly changed. Her gaze fell to his lips as he spoke and she saw flashes of fangs.

“I cannot lose you,” he said in a strained voice and lowered the hand on her face to her neck.

She sensed his intent in her blood and fear seized her again.

“Is it that bad?” Her voice trembled and her eyebrows furrowed. Was becoming like Kearn her only option for survival? She didn’t think Kyran had taken that much of her blood. She just felt a little tired and she was sure that after a good day’s rest she would be fine again.