Immortal Promise (4 page)

Darion stood outside Red Oasis; the
vampire-owned club was busy with human and Fae patrons. He knew a few of the vampires inside were linked to the loss of his harem. They would pay, and perhaps he would find some replacements. Vampires couldn’t really replace his succubi, but they would certainly fill the void. Darion sighed as he thought of the beautiful, lavender-eyed woman who awaited his return. He would have Esperanza before this mess was over, and if he truly got his way, she would find his castle fitting for the rest of her days. She may not be his true mate, but she was just the right amount of beauty, ruthlessness, cunning, and cruelty. She would make the perfect queen of the Dark.

“Put the
humans to sleep,” Darion ordered the siren next to him. He had little patience to wait for the lesser creatures to disperse for the night, but he still had no plans of exposing the Dark to the idiotic species.

Luna smiled, her bright blue eyes sparkling as she moved towards the club entrance. This was going to be fun.

Turning to the three vampires that stood to his left, Darion glared at them. Their incompetence had led to the loss of his succubi. “Try not to kill too many and certainly none of the females. This is a take-what-I-want mission and not a kill mission. I realize the concept is hard for you, but fear and pain are easier to inspire if your prey is still alive.”

With that final directive
, the vampires headed into the club , closing the doors once inside.

****

The air sparked with magic around him, and something was pressing down on him. Sergio turned on his bar stool where he’d been watching Holly move around with a sultry grace.

A group of Fae entered, the last of whom closed the doors and flicked the lock. The white-haired siren who
led the group smirked as she chanted a quick spell that sent every human in the room to the ground. “You have your orders, boys—get the women. Do what you want with the men.”

The club was filled with mostly the coven, but they had a few patrons who were on vacation and just hit a major snag in their good time. Holly leapt over the counter to stand next to Sergio.

“Hols, get the hell out of here!” He pushed her back behind him, only to be met by a scoff of irritation as she moved from the shield of his body to stand tall next to him.

He had little time to argue as chaos reigned. The
vampires moved with barely traceable movements. Attacking anyone still standing, Sergio’s vampires held their own, but the few Fae who had graced their club were at a loss, most not the fighting variety.

A young
brownie went down and was hauled over the shoulder of one of the vampires, who attempted to carry her out of the club. Power blasted through the building, creating a shield that held back their attackers, pushing them from the coven and the patrons.

The
vampire who attempted to carry the brownie away went down, her unconscious body hitting the ground.

The blue-haired
siren screamed as she was thrown against the wall and pinned in place.

Sergio turned to the source of the power to see Holly’s eyes glowing as her lips chanted softly. The club fell into silence as those left standing turned to
her. Her eyes met Sergio’s just before she crumpled to the ground.

****

Lothar eyed Syna curiously. The succubus had closed her emotions off to him again. The necklace Evan had just re-clasped around her neck was the source of her shield. He gave Evan a critical look, wondering what piece of enchanted jewelry the Master Vampire was wearing. Evan smirked, but his eyes were narrowed as he met Lothar’s gaze. Whatever amount of intimidation Evan was going for, it wasn’t going to work on him. Lothar refocused on Syna.

“I am sorry for what you went through, but you are safe now and you have no reason to be embarrassed of what happened to you…
It wasn’t your fault.”

“Perhaps not, but that is beside the point. What will you do with the Fae we have helped?”

Lothar sighed. “That is up to Rowan; she has yet to send a single Fae back.”

“I will deal with Cree. Syna doesn’t need to be brought into this any further. If word got to Darion that she was alive, he would come for her.”

Lothar nodded. “Speak to Cree.”

With
that, Lothar stood, and then strode towards the door. The deep mahogany wood nearly knocked him over as it was forced open.

Sergio rushed into the room, the petite blonde Lothar had seen coming and going over the past few days cradled in his arms.

Evan shot to his feet. “What the hell happened?” he roared as he moved to the leather couch where Sergio deposited the diminutive, lifeless body.

“Darion and a few of his minions attacked the club, a fucking
siren strolled in singing her song, and all the humans fell around us. When a couple of vamps entered, Holly cast a spell. Some sort of protection that kept the club and all of us safe, but then she went down like a pile of fucking lifeless bones.”

Lothar moved towards the couch, his head tilted as he got closer,
and his eyes widening as Evan pushed a mass of honey tresses aside. Her plump lips were slightly parted, her skin a smooth, creamy porcelain with dark lashes covering what Lothar knew were some of the most beautiful lavender eyes. His gaze drifted to Evan, who was watching him closely.

Lothar shook his head, his mouth opening to say something, but words escaped him.

Evan looked away from Lothar to meet Syna’s gaze. “She’s weak.”

“I’m on it.” She nodded and moved quickly from the room.

Lothar finally found his voice. “How long has she been a vampire?” he demanded.

Evan didn’t spare Lothar a glance as he answered. “Ever since you thought she was killed by a rogue.”

“You bastard!” Lothar growled the words. “Her family mourned her; Bain became a real ass, a grudge-holding jackass in fact. He hates all vampires because he believed your species killed her and now here she lies, possibly near death, as the one creature her brother hates. How could you do this?”

Evan growled, his fangs pricked against his lip as he turned to look at Lothar
. His eyes glowed an eerie shade of white. “I helped her. There are things you don’t know or understand. But I gave her what she needed. If you want to blame me, fine, but either shut up and get out or help her.”

Lothar furrowed his brow. He wasn’t a healer
; she needed Bain for that. “I’ll call Bain. He can heal her.”

“That’s not what he meant, man,” Sergio said as he stood and watched Holly.

Lothar looked to the vampire and then to Evan, realization dawning on him. “She needs blood?”

Evan nodded. “And there is no blood better than an Immortal
’s blood.”

Lothar’s gaze drifted to Holly’s pale face. Thoughts and memories of her flooded his mind. She was a beautiful
child, even through the mistreatment and distance her mother placed between them. She never showed an ounce of love for the child. Tyr doted on her and even as she matured and never showed the signs of Tyr bloodline, he had still loved her. When she hit puberty, she received blood from the Immortal Four and was granted Immortality. She was devastated when her father fell, and she retreated into solitude. Lothar had missed seeing her beautiful smile and bright eyes. Once Evan came around, she came out of the darkness that held her and while she was still so young, she had fallen for the master vampire. At the time, Lothar wondered what would come of their relationship. Now, he wondered so many more things. Lothar settled on the couch and pulled Holly onto his lap. He brought his wrist to his mouth, biting at his own vein. Blood pooled and he pressed his wrist to her lips. Instinctually they parted, and he felt her begin to suckle at his vein, slow at first and then she seemed to find her strength as she took long, hard pulls from his wrist.

Lothar fought back a groan as Holly worked his vein
. It was completely inappropriate, but he couldn’t deny it felt good. The wound began to close, and her petite fangs reopened the vein. Her eyes fluttered open and met his, that stunning shade of purple flickering with recognition. Her long lashes nearly touched her eyebrows as her eyes widened, and she began to pull his arm away.

“No,” she whispered. “You weren’t supposed to see
me
.” She shook her head as she scrambled from his lap.

Lothar closed his eyes briefly against the hurt he felt
. He had hoped for a better reaction from her. It was true that he wasn’t her family, but he cared for her. They knew each other well and had been friends. Hell, he had even considered pursuing her at one point, but she had been young and overprotected by her brother. Lothar resisted the urge to pull her into a hug, deciding instead to stand from the couch and take a step back.

Holly’s eyes bore into Evan
’s, the panic on her face evident.

Evan shook his head. “He just helped save you,
love. Whatever magic you used, drained you to near death.”

Holly looked to Lothar but remained silent.

Lothar pulled out his phone. “I have to call Rowan.”

“No!” Holly bellowed, leaping from the couch. Lothar’s blood had given her an extra boost of power.

His head tilted as he examined her. “I have no choice. She needs to know about the attack, and she and Bain deserve to know that you are alive. Do you have any idea what they went through?”

Lothar didn’t wait for an answer. He wasn’t angry with Holly but he couldn’t read
her, and he couldn’t quite make sense of what was happening at the moment. Turning his back to the three in the room, he headed for the door, his fingers dialing Rowan.

“You can’t.”
Panic made Holly’s voice manic as she rushed at Lothar. She blew past him, blocking his exit.

Her palms slammed against Lothar’s chest. “Don’t do this. They don’t have to know. If you ever cared about me, if we were ever really friends, promise you won’t mention me.”

Lothar shook his head, his powers weren’t working… she had a ward just like Evan and Syna. “Holly, what is the matter with you? Of course we were friends, and you damn well know I care about you, but I can’t not tell them you’re alive. Especially not Bain. He searched for you, blamed himself for not protecting you, and eventually came to blame and hate every vampire in sight.”

“Like he’ll hate me
,” she said, much softer this time. “Please, Lothar, do this for me. Don’t tell them about me.”

Lothar held her pleading gaze briefly
. The loss of his ability to read her made his decision easier. He wasn’t flooded by the emotions and pleadings of the beautiful woman in front of him. Emotions he was sure would break his resolve to do what he knew deep down to be right. “I am sorry, but I can’t omit this truth.” Lothar stepped around her and hit the send button.

The room seemed to ripple around him, his breath caught as air swirled around him, and nails dug into his forearm. He could barely make out Holly’s face as the hallway of Evan’s Vegas home disappeared.

Lothar hit the water hard, like a cement block he sank into the warm, turquoise water. His legs kicked into action he pushed to surface, grabbing Holly’s arm on his way. Their heads broke the surface, and Lothar’s mahogany wings instantly wrapped around her as bright yellow rays of sun fell upon them. He created a cocoon of darkness. His head bowed to hers as they treaded the warm, salty water.

“Flash us back,” he ordered.

“I can’t,” she hissed as water lapped against her face, and she spit the offending liquid from her lips.

“This is not the time to fight against me. It is damn bright out there.
I don’t want you bursting into flames. Now flash us back!” he yelled.

Holly sighed and pushed against him
, trying to break free of the darkness he created around them. “I am not being difficult, Lothar. I can’t flash us back because I don’t know how. That was the first time I’ve ever done it. Now let me go,” she ordered.

“Did you really miss the sun shining over us? Vampires turn to ash in the sun. I am not about to let you die now.”

Holly closed her eyes. There was heat in his voice, and she recognized it as his leader voice. He was so much like Cree sometimes. It was no wonder he was second in command of the warriors.

“I won’t burn in the sun, Lothar
,” she assured him.

Lothar leveled his eyes on her, his brow raised in question. “Well, that is interesting, because my wrist certainly believed those were fangs sliding into my skin. And while I may not be a
vampire expert, I do know that they burn in the sun.”

Lothar suppressed a shiver, as he recalled the smooth way her
razor-sharp little fangs sliced through his flesh. Her lips had moved against his skin, a subconscious move, he knew, but they were delicate against the sensitive area. It felt like silk sliding over his heated skin as she pulled his blood into her mouth. He had given her what she needed to come back to him…
to him?

“You, with your fangs, know better than anyone that fangs don’t always equal
vampire.”

“The blood drinking gives you away.”

Holly nodded. “I didn’t say I wasn’t a vampire—I said I wouldn’t burn. Now can we get out of the water?”

Tentatively he pulled one wing back,
and a slice of lemon-colored light pierced the shadows around them. A ray of light fell upon Holly’s face, and she smiled up at him.

Convinced she wasn’t going to burst into
flames, Lothar pulled back his wings and studied her closely, waiting for a sign that she had tricked him in a permanent attempt to avoid coming clean with her family.

“I might get
sun burnt, but I won’t turn to ash.” She pointed behind him. “Can you fly us to that island?”

“Sorry, kid, we are swimming it. I can’t rocket out of the water in full daylight. There is no cover to hide our ascent
and no clouds to hide behind once we get up there.”

The mile or so long swim went quickly, both of them calling on their heightened speed and power. Once upon the white sand, Lothar scanned the deserted beach in both directions. Nothing appeared for miles either
way, and the forest that lay ahead of them was thick.
It was obvious his worry over someone spotting them was unnecessary. The island appeared to be uninhabited with nothing but water for miles around them.

“Where the hell are we?”

Lothar shook his head and arched his brows at her. “Where were you thinking of when you flashed us away from Evan’s?”

She gave him a sheepish smile. “I was just thinking I had to stop you. I guess I was wishing you were somewhere you couldn’t use your phone.”

Lothar scoffed. “I guess I should feel fortunate I am not buried underground somewhere.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his destroyed phone. “No worries, I won’t be calling anyone.”

A familiar and beautiful smile curved Holly’s lips as she looked up at him.

“Don’t you dare,” Lothar warned.

She laughed softly but continued to stare him down.

“No,” Lothar said sternly. “Don’t you dare try to charm me. I am mad at you.”

Holly tilted her head at his attempt to scold her. “Come now, Lothar, admit it, you are happier to see me than
you are pissed that I stranded us on some random island. Besides, I didn’t do it on purpose. You weren’t listening, and I panicked.”

“I was shocked. You’re a
vampire, and more importantly, you’re alive. This is the problem with some of our fucking gifts; they don’t show us what we need. Cree should have known you were still alive, just like he should have known about Kat.”

“Well, from what I heard, he was being blocked from Kat by a seer and with me... I blocked him,” she said simply.

“Are you blocking me?”

She shook her head “I’ve never been able to block you. You know that.”

Lothar narrowed his eyes on her. Yeah, he did know that. He had always been able to read Holly. He was probably the only person who really understood her back before she disappeared. Her mischievous purple eyes were sparkling as she stared at him. So many memories began to flood him that he felt his lips lifting as he recalled the connection they had once had. The easy friendship. A friendship his brothers, being the smart-ass troublemakers they were, used to harass him non-stop about. Ok, admittedly, Kale was the troublemaker, and Uriah was more of the subtle-rile-people-up commenter.

“I knew it,” Holly singsonged.

Lothar shook his head at her and with one finger, called her to him. She leapt into his arms, and he held her tight. His hand braced against the back of her head, and his other arm wrapped around her waist so he could pick her up and crush her against his chest.

Holly smiled into the crook of Lothar’s neck, her feet swaying a good foot and a half off the sandy shore.

“I like this reunion better,” he said in her ear.

She nodded. So did she. “I was scared when I saw you. Well, I was scared when you saw me. I’ve seen you a few times in the past couple of weeks.”

Lothar leaned back slightly so he could see her face, a brow lifted in question.

Drawing one hand back from around his neck, she tapped the side of her eye. “I saw you circling the compound. I knew it was you.”

He smirked. “And how is that?”

She patted his shoulder blades. “I’d know those wings anywhere.” She then moved her fingers into the ends of his damp
hair, where it curled at the nape of his neck. “No other warrior has your coloring. A girl doesn’t forget things like that, not when it comes to her best friend. I have missed you, and it has been torture hiding from you, especially with all the time you’ve spent at the compound.”

Lothar shook his head and squeezed her a little tighter before finally releasing her.

“We need to figure out where we are. So we can get out of here.”

Holly nodded but bit her bottom lip. “You’re still going to tell them as soon as we get off this island, aren’t you?”

Lothar grabbed her hand and moved towards the forest line. “Nope,” he said, giving her a knowing look.

She narrowed her gaze. “Nope? Because you are going to make me tell them
…”

“A call from the dead might freak them out but when they see
you, it will all be fine.”

“Tell that to Bain
—I heard about him freaking on Evan. Hey, that reminds me, tell me about Isabelle. I thought she was human, but Evan said she went all superwoman to protect Bain.”

Lothar smiled. What to say about Izzy? “Well, let’s see, she’s great and deeply in love with your brother.
They fit—she calms him. She is great with Kyra, too.”

Holly flinched
slightly, and Lothar turned to look at her. “You will be able to meet her and be a part of her life.”

“What’s she like?” Holly asked. She’d heard that Bain had a daughter. It broke her heart that she would never know the child.

“She’s a beautiful, free-spirited child. You will adore her, as we all do.”

Lothar found a thinning spot in the overgrown edge of the forest and stepped through. Something felt Fae about the aura around the forest.

“What’s wrong?” Holly asked.

“You don’t feel that? It feels like home.”

Holly’s brows furrowed. “I couldn’t have flashed us to the Middle World. It doesn’t work that way.”

Lothar shook his head. “No, but not all Fae places are in the Middle World. Plus, this is ancient Fae.”

“Maybe you can just fly us home,” Holly suggested.

“I can’t fly us out of here, but we can at least survey what lies on this island.”

Backing out of the thick overgrowth, Holly pressed her back to Lothar’s chest as he wrapped his arms around her and took to the sky.

****

Jelena jolted to life, the plush bed she’d fallen asleep on was no longer wrapping her in peace and comfort.

“No,” she whispered.

“Jelena?” The
deep, sleep-laden voice called her name as arms reached for her.

Jelena looked over to see Uriah stirring next to her. She palmed his face, a sad smile gracing her lips.

“I didn’t mean to wake you.”

Uriah pulled at her
. She allowed herself one more brief moment in his arms before whispering softly, “I have to go.” Leaning over, she pressed her lips to his cheek. “I am sorry, Uriah.”

Uriah sat up, his eyes studying her. The endless pools of melted steel
searched for understanding. “Why are you sorry?”

“For so many reasons, sweet Uriah.” She brushed her fingers over his cheeks. “Stay the strong, noble warrior I know you to be.”

“Jelena, stop. What is going on?”

“I have to go, and you don’t need me here. Let Bain help heal what is still broken. I must go.”

Jelena pressed a kiss to his lips. Lost in the feel of her soft mouth, Uriah was unaware of what she was doing until he felt nothing but air against his face. His eyes popped open to see Jelena had disappeared.

Despair infused him. They may have been asleep in the same
bed, and he may have held her many nights since his return to the Middle World, but this was their first kiss and somehow it felt like it was destined to be their last.

Stay the strong noble warrior I know you to be.

Her words echoed in his mind. He wasn’t sure he was still a warrior at all. Shucking the sheets, Uriah moved to the tall mirror that sat in the corner of his room, turning so his bare back reflected in the dim light. The skin was smooth. Healed to the naked eye. However, as he called forth his wings, burning pain blasted his body, nearly sending him to his knees. It was what happened every time he let his wings free. The scent of charred feathers and flesh settled into the room as he used his magic to call forth the things that proved him to be a warrior.

Smoke still rose from the singed feathers
, which had once created an impressive set of wings. No longer able to handle the pain, Uriah pulled his wings back into the safety of the magic that cocooned them under his skin. The searing pain subsided instantly, and Uriah fell back to his bed. Whatever was causing the constant fire on his wings was magic that even Jelena’s blood couldn’t heal. If an Immortal Sister couldn’t fix this, how could Bain?

It was some sort of block, some kind of magical resistance; somehow, his body was fighting the magic that should have healed him.