Into Death's Arms (34 page)

  
That was not normal. He must be
powerful, really, really, powerful. My hands shook.  I was still leaking like a sieve and he was up and moving toward me again. I braced again. He lowered his head a growl rumbled through the room. He pounced again this time I was expecting it.
I turned so he went past
me.
I brought my blade in as he went
by
. Driving it hard into his right side, blood sprayed me.
He snatched at my arm again. God, his reach was long. I jerked back barely avoiding him. I didn’t want to be in that grip again. He swept out a leg and I was forced back once more. I was breathing hard the copper scent of blood filled my nose. I really hated
Shifters
, Laith aside.  The wound on his side wasn’t healing so good. Thank God the silver was working. The
Shifter
looked over my head at something he spat, turned, and leapt through the reinforced tinted window. Sunlight streamed into the room an
d I heard screaming behind me.
Kane and Dayton were pasted against the wall avoiding the suns deadly rays. Both men were covered in blood. The secretary was no were to be found.
Shifters
lay in puddles of their own cooling blood throughout the room. “Aren’t you glad I came to warn you?” I asked before my whole world got dark again. I really was spending too much time unconscious lately.

      I came to in that big satin bed
yet again. I heard Dayton’s voice not too far away. It was faint and I couldn’t make out what they were saying. I rolled out of bed and snuck towards the door.

     “Jesus, Tameron, what the hell is going on here. That female really is an AoD I thought you were playing some kind of kinky game but this is…” Kane’s voice paused, “How did you convince her to…”
Whoa,
did many
Vamp
ires
have kinky Ao fetishes? I’d have to ask Dayton later.

      “I will not discuss my relationship with the AoD with you.” Dayton’s tone was harsh as he cut off the other
Vamp
ire
.  I liked that he wasn’t going to discuss me with Kane

       “What are you going to do when she tires of fucking you and decides to kill you Tameron?” Kane’s voice was almost shrill very unbecoming of a
Vamp
ire
besides I didn’t like he assumed I was sleeping with Dayton.

       I strolled into the room. “
Who says I’m fucking him?” I asked as I
fell into one of the overstuffed chairs in Dayton’s living area. “Maybe he just likes my sparkling personality.” I suggested.

       Kane looked like his eyes might just pop out of his skull. He actually backed away from me. I snickered. Dayton crossed the room to me. He was limping slightly. “You get hurt baby?” I asked. Very real concern laced my tone. Great just great I was worried about one of the most powerful
Vamp
ires
in the world and it
wasn’t the,
hey is he going to eat me, kind of worry. 

      He
smiled at me. “No less than you,” h
e said softly.
That is the second time you have called me baby. I like it.
He growled mentally. He knelt before me, placing his hands on either thigh.

      “I hate that you gu
ys do that,
” I complained. “Did you like take a class on
how to not answer a question directly?” I reached out and petted his hair. I couldn’t help myself I loved that hair, the dark cool silky feel of it.
I took a strand and brought it to my lips.

     Kane shuffled a little in the place he had fled to. D
ayton looked up as if
he’d forgotten Kane was in the room. Maybe he had.
Was I that distracting to him?

 
I liked that.

  
I glanced
up at him. “Kane looks tore up,
” I stated.

    Day
ton looked back at Kane. “He
f
ought beside us. He fought well,
”
h
e sounded proud. Almost like a father. Kane bowed his head in acknowledgement.

     I crinkled my forehead at him.
  I was pretty much healed up, he was still limping, and Kane looked like he’d fought with a lion which he had.
Are you out of
juice or
are you not telling the
Vamp
s you can heal?

     He leaned in pressing his mouth to my inner thigh. I lost a great deal of blood during the fight then used all of my power to heal you. Onc
e
again,
you were badly damaged
,
He admitted. I need to feed again before I can heal anymore.
  Ahh, no wonder he was being all cuddly.

     I licked my lips. Are you asking or informing?

     His eyes lit up. Asking, but I want you to fully understand what I am asking. If I feed on you in the presence of Kane, other
Vamp
ires
will hear about it. It will make me look very powerful. I am afraid it will not help your reputation amongst the other Ao should any of them hear about it.  He watched my face intently. 

      I fisted his hair.
So you are using me to make a power play?
I asked feeling just a little hurt.
I shouldn’t have but I did.

     He shook his head
violently
.
Say no and I will respect your wi
shes because I care deeply for
you but it is a unique happenstance and I would be a fool not to take advantage of it. Huh, did he just say he’d be a fool if I told him to be? I played his words over and over in my head.

     You’re wrong. I dragged him to his knees by that lovely hair. The Ao are too conceited to ever believe that one of them would give herself willingly to a
Vamp
ire
.
It’s really not the sacrifice you seem to think it is.
I scooted forward in the chair until I was off the end of the chair and kneeling with him between my legs. I still had that grip on his
hair;
I dragged his head to my throat.  For the benefit of our
observer,
I said aloud in a voice that had gone
sultry thinking about the last time he’d taken from me
, “Take what you need.”
No grinding like last time though, I felt the need to stipulate.

      He groaned audibly.
You had to remind me about that didn’t
you?
He sank his fangs before I could formulate an answer. I heard Kane gasp but I really wasn’t in a position to care. Like
before,
my entire world narrowed to Dayton and his beautiful searing mouth. He made small greedy noises as he took in my blood. God they were sexy. I had told him he wasn’t allowed to make this sexual. I hadn’t said I wouldn’t. I ran my hand down between our two bodies where Kane couldn’t see and stroked his erection. He pressed me into the chair trapping my hand,
and then
tore his mouth reluctantly from my throat. 
I thought I was the one who was supposed to be evil?
He hissed in my mind. I laughed aloud.

      He scowled at me, moved back, and lifted me back into the chair. “You taste like ambrosia, AoD.” He said tenderly, he brushed my hair back from my eyes. Then he rose. His limp was gone. He faced Kane. “I
would like to
offer to heal you old friend.”

     Kane’s forehead crinkled. He didn’t know what Dayton meant. Dayton began to unbutton his shirt
at a leisurely pace just as he had done in my bedroom the day he’d shown me his mark. Kane’s eyes widened as Dayton’s tattoo came into view. He pointed, “That is not
possible,
” he denied
, shaking his head hard enough to rattled his teeth
.

    “Tell me about it.” I mumbled from my chair.

     “Allow me to prove to you it is possible Kane.” His voice was just a whisper. For a brief
moment,
I felt Dayton in my mind. There were no words but he was afraid Kane would reject him. He was always rejected in the end. I took his hand. He looked down at me surprised. I wanted to give him support. So help me I did.

    Kane pointed at the m
arkings on his belly. “How long,
” he asked shakily.

    Dayton sighed heavily.  “Since September 16, 1557.” He answered.
Holy shit,
I thought I knew he was old but somehow hearing the
year,
he
had
turned twenty-one made it more real.

     “Always,
” Kane asked his forehead scrunched up in confusion. Dayton nodded. “She didn’t somehow convince you to go through the cha
nge or whatever they call it,
” he
eyed me suspiciously.

    “As if,” I snorted. “Yeah, I woke up one day and said how can I make my life more difficult, Oh I know I’ll go find the world’s most powerful
Vamp
ire
and convince him boinking me was the thing to do. Then as like an added bonus I’ll get him to go through the ascension cause hey, it only burns like the fires of hell for a little while right?”

    Dayton looked down at me and mouthed the word boinking at me. I shrugged I wasn’t taking it back. He could disapprove of my verbiage all he wanted
,
I didn’t care.

    Kane sighed heavily
,
poor
Vamp
ire
he just wasn’t taking this well at all.
Finally,
he took a deep breath and nodded. “I trust you with my life Dayton. I will allow you to heal me.”
Whoa,
I thought he’d just called Dayton by his first name that was something
Vamp
ires
never did. It had some kind of significance but I wasn’t sure what it was. I was up on killing them not societal interaction.

     Dayton beamed. He glowed so perfect and white for a moment it was easy to believe he was all AoLi and not a
Vamp
ire
at all, but I was deluding myself. “Thank you my friend.” He laid his hands upon the wounds Kane was still sporting and the flesh beneath his hands closed almost instantly. Kane watched on in amazement. I could feel Dayton’s pleasure at his
friend’s
a
cceptance. How could anyone who needed acceptance this badly be evil? Evil didn’t need acceptance did it?

 
If
Vamp
ires
were all evil, why had Kane helped us? Why had Dayton saved my life more than once? 
As attractive, as I am I just did
n’t believe it was because he wanted to get laid. Damn that
Vamp
ire
anyway I had been perfectly happy with my belief system and he had just screwed it all up.

      With that comforting
thought,
I stood up. “This has been real fun guys but I got to get going.” I started for the door. Dayton caught my arm. Damn it why couldn’t he just be too busy healing to try and stop me?

      He pulled me against him. I sense your turmoil Macyn so I will let you go for now but expect me to visit tonight.  He whispered softly into my mind.

    I ran my hand through my short hair. A gesture of frustration I recognized it I
had
cause
d
my father to do it often. “Yeah, sure we’ll discuss it later. It was nice meeting you Kane and
,
umm, than
ks for not letting me get eaten,
” I nodded at Kane.

     “I
t
has been an interesting day and it has been odd
ly nice to meet you as well AoD,
” He answered. Yeah, what he said odd. I bolted for the door. Dayton
was
true to his word let me go.

    By the time I got
home,
I was so confused I didn’t know what to do with myself.  I knew a few things. A) Not all
Shadow-born
were the monsters I’d been taught they were. B) I was not the AoD I thought I’d be. C) My mother had understood what my father probably never would. D) I wanted Dayton Tameron. No, I needed Dayton Tameron he was my AoLi. I would not get another. Not if I lived to be a
thousand, which was
unlikely,
as
I didn’t want to hunt the
Shadow-born
anymore.
Fuck, my dad was going to be disappointed with me! I stumbled into my room tears filling my eyes. I didn’t know what I was going to do.
You are upset
I will come to you.
Dayton’s voice somehow made it worse.

     No, I need some time away from you. Time to think, I sighed aloud and then did something I never thought I would do. I asked for something from a
Vamp
ire
. Please just a little while? A week not much more, let me have some time to accept all the changes going on around me? I felt his disappointment.