Love Me to Death (Underveil) (32 page)

“Why is that a problem? We all have memories of the past.”

“Which is exactly why I think it would transfer. Elena, I don’t just see the past, I see it with absolute clarity and from everyone’s perspective. It makes events entirely different than originally perceived. It could drive the strongest person mad.”

This situation was crazy enough. She really didn’t need a dose of mad. “What’s with the paper in my vision?”

“That’s my other gift. I can teleport to a place I’ve seen, rather than only places I’ve been. It is extremely rare. I only know of one other who could do it.”

“My father.”

“Yes.”

She remembered how compassionate her father had been. How he seemed to know exactly what she was feeling without her having to tell him. He just seemed to know when she’d had a bad day, or when something made her happy. Putting that with what Lilian had said, she was getting a clearer picture of the man she thought she knew, but really didn’t. Not even a little bit. “My father was the empath vampire who used to run this place,”

“He was. His ability to feel others’ emotions made him a powerful leader.”

She stood. “I have to bite you, Vlad. I need to go to Nik as soon as possible, and I can’t do it without your ability to teleport to places based on pictures.”

“I know.”

Heart hammering, she approached his chair. “Do you need to be restrained like Ricardo?”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “No. I am much older and have far greater control than Ricardo Juarez.”

“So you do this a lot?”

“I have never let another take my immortal blood before, Elena.” He took her face in his hands. “I am not kidding when I tell you this is dangerous. I am hopeful the effect will be temporary, but seeing the past with absolute clarity is not a gift. You will not like it. Please be sure this is correct.”

She closed her eyes, and the image of her biting him came up again. He was in the chair where he sat now, hands wrapped around the seat under him. Eyes closed, face relaxed. “Yeah, I’m absolutely certain. Will I see your memories?”

“Possibly, but only while you are drinking. After the physical connection is broken, they should all be your own. I hope they are more pleasant than mine.”

She stood over him and studied the vein pulsing in his neck just below the skin, and her fangs elongated with a sharp twinge deep in her jaw. Vlad showed none of the anxiety or tension Ricardo had, only calm resignation.

“The comparative study does not help. Leave the research scientist behind, Miss Arcos. Bite me.”

And he smelled different than Ricardo, too. Like the outdoors after a rain. Natural and fresh.

“Hum, please,” he said, barely above a whisper.

She struck up with the “Hokey Pokey,” her father’s favorite when he’d danced in the living room with her, and Vlad laughed.

His blood was cool and thick. The power hit her like a body slam, and she pulled back with a gasp.

“And you were worried about
me
,” he said with a smirk. “That wasn’t enough. Go all in, Elena. You have to save the world.”

“Will it hurt the baby?”

He actually looked offended. “Absolutely not.”

Knowing what to expect this time, she braced herself for the power rush. What she wasn’t prepared for were Vlad’s memories. She saw him with her father laughing, then smiling as he willingly went with the Slayers to the dungeon. He’d allowed himself to be captured on purpose because Uza told him he would need to save her. Then she saw the horrible slaughter in the fortress as he fought his way from the dungeon preceding his arrival at the barn, and then the scene in the great hall after the vampires had gone wild. Blood was everywhere and so were broken bodies. She shuddered, and a tear slid down her cheek. She kept on, hoping to get another glimpse of her father, but none came, only Vlad’s voice telling her to stop. Strong, cool hands shook her shoulders, and reluctantly, she opened her jaw, releasing him.

He steadied her, and after a moment, she opened her eyes to find him staring into her own as if searching for something. “Now sit,” he said. “Then focus on the future. Do not think about what you saw.”

Dizzy and body buzzing, she collapsed into the chair next to him, but found it almost impossible to concentrate as the vampire’s memories jumbled together with hers.

He leaned closer and whispered in her ear. “You must only look to the future until you fulfill your destiny as the Uniter.”

Just as he’d predicted, his memories faded, and her own moved to the forefront.

“Leave the past behind,” he said. “We all need you to succeed. If not, we all die. Including Nikolai Itzov and your unborn child.”

And with that, images of the future flooded her head like a fast motion slide show. Her eyes flew open, and she grinned. “I need Claude. And then, I need someone to get a message to Fee the Alchemist. Oh, and please return the key I gave you in the dungeon. I believe it’s in your back right pants pocket.”

He leaned back with an amused smile. “Anything else?”

“Yeah, do you have a superhero cape around here anywhere, because I’m feeling badass.”

“Save the badass for Nikolai Itzov, please.”

Chapter Thirty-One

N
ikolai fought hard to remain optimistic. Elena
would
come for him. It had only been hours since Fydor was telling Commander Mihai to keep on the lookout for her. It was crucial to remain patient and positive. Some things were hard to brush aside, though, like what the hell was Aleksi up to swearing revenge against Elena? It had to be a ploy. Nikolai knew in his heart she’d never side with his uncle. Just like he knew Elena hadn’t betrayed him back at her house. She was just doing what she had to do. They all were.

The shifter was snoring like, well, a bear again. At least it kept Nikolai from falling asleep. He wanted to stay awake for when Elena came. How odd that the weak little human he spared in that store and took prisoner was the very person he now relied upon to free him from captivity. But she was different now. They both were. And he loved her. That was what had been his biggest incentive since his capture: a future with Elena Arcos. During the beatings, when the pain was at its worst, he had eased his mind by imagining what their children could have looked like had he and Elena been compatible species and able to reproduce. Strong, black-haired, gold eyed, sometimes. Other times, he’d see them with her coloration. Gold curls and purple eyes. Maybe even blue, like when she was a human. Yes. Blue. He’d like that.

His stomach rumbled. Being immortal, he couldn’t starve to death, but that didn’t keep him from suffering hunger and thirst. And he was weakened considerably. Hopefully, she’d come soon, before he could no longer walk on his own.

The first things he wanted to do when he got out of here were eat, shower, and sleep.
If
he got out of here. No. He could not let negativity cloud his reasoning. Slayers were trained to focus and have positive visualizations. When negativity was allowed in, resolve would be weakened, like his uncle’s.

The sorry bastard. At least he’d lost interest in using him as a living piñata since Borya left. Most of his wounds had healed, though some food and rest would speed the remaining injuries along. Willing his body to heal itself, he shut his eyes in attempt to relax, using the meditation techniques his mother had taught him as a boy.

A faint buzzing and a grunt roused him from his meditation. He opened his eyes to find Elena with her hands on either side of the guard’s face struggling to keep him in her grasp as she channeled power as effectively as a Time Folder. A couple of times, it looked like the big bear shifter would break away from her, but ultimately, she kept contact long enough to win the battle.

“Fancy meeting you here,” she said, abandoning the unconscious hulk of a guard and sauntering toward him in a skimpy leather halter and skintight leather pants like something out of a fantasy. “You come here often?”

“First time. You?”

She pulled a key out of her cleavage and inserted it into the cuff at his left wrist, pressing against him in the process, causing his body to roar to life. He may have been starved and in pain, but his body knew his fated mate. She pulled back slightly as the cuff fell away.

“First and last, I hope. Not a big fan of the ambiance.” His limp arm dropped below shoulder height for the first time in days, and painful tingles shot from shoulder to index finger. She unlocked the cuff on his right arm, then his ankles, and stepped back, checking him out from head to toe. “Mr. Itzov, if you don’t mind, I think it best we take this party elsewhere.”

Shouting erupted outside the chamber.

She shot a look at the door. “I suggest you hang on to me right now, because I’m about to give you the ride of your life. Pun intended.”

“Pun appreciated,” he said, wrapping his arms around her. “Get us the hell out of here.”

N
ikolai had never thought reconfiguring after teleporting felt good, but this time, he reveled in it because when he solidified, Elena was in his arms.

“Welcome to Castle Poenari, King Nikolai,” a familiar voice said from behind them, right as he was about to rip Elena’s clothes off—well, right as he was about to
try
to rip her clothes off as best he could with no feeling in his hands. Maybe the interruption was a good thing.

“Vladimir Dalca. To what do I owe the honor?” The vampire had been tight with his father and was Elena’s father’s right hand man. He’d been at the fortress many times. But this was the first time Nikolai had been inside Castle Poenari.

“To your lovely mate. She insisted on saving you, and being generous, I allowed it.”

A door across the room flew open. “A message came for you, Miss Elena.” The last person Nikolai expected to see in Vlad’s castle was Claude Ungur. But lo and behold, there he was in Slayer uniform, no less, looking better than he had in years.

She pulled away to retrieve the scrap of paper. After scanning it quickly, she grinned. “Excellent. Everything is working perfectly so far.”

“Yes, everything,” Nikolai said, realizing his bad innuendo had failed because his hands really weren’t working right. He shook them, and the tips of his fingers stung. Looking down, he realized what a horrible state he was in. He’d been beaten to the point of human death repeatedly and his body, and surely his head and face, were coated in layers of dried blood. He must have looked and smelled like death. “Is it possible to for me to get a shower and a change of clothes?”

“And food and rest so you can heal before we have to go back to the fortress? Yes,” Elena said. “Come with me.”

The room was sparse, the only feature being a bed with green curtains and yellow ties. Sleep. How long had it been? Days. He’d lost track of how many.

A steaming tub of water was waiting for him in the bathroom. As he brushed his teeth, he mused that he’d gone from hell to heaven in just a matter of minutes. And he was safe here. Fydor would never think to look for him here. No one hated vampires more than Nikolai; his uncle had seen to that. Even if he did think to find him here, he’d never penetrate this castle. Colonies of Vlad’s reformed empath vamps were scattered all over the mountain. No one had ever successfully reached the castle alive that he didn’t bring here himself. Which brought up a whole host of questions…

Elena unbuttoned his shirt.

Questions that could wait…

Then, she pulled down his pants, and he stepped out of them.

Yeah. Questions that could wait a long time…

And ran her hands down the outside of his thighs.

A really long time…

She trailed her hands back up to his waist again.

…What questions?

“Step in,” she said, picking up a bottle of soap.

The warm water lapping over his skin was heaven. So was having his hair shampooed by possibly the most beautiful woman in the world. With unguarded appreciation, she helped him soap his entire body, and then after he rinsed, she drained the tub and refilled it with fresh, clear water. “How are your hands?”

“What hands?”

Her gaze trailed down his body, pausing at his cock, which had been rock hard since she appeared in his cell. “Yeah, what hands?” she repeated.

They stared into each other’s eyes for a moment, and her brow furrowed.

“Nik, I didn’t abandon you to—”

“Stop. We’ll have centuries to talk about this. Right now, I need your hands on me. If you don’t touch me, I might go mad.”

Turning her back to him, she untied the halter, which slipped to her feet, exposing her pale skin. His cock pulsed and he groaned. There were moments in that cell, when weakness would prevail and he’d contemplate never seeing her again—never hearing her laugh or touching her smooth, soft skin. But, just before he would allow the negativity to pull him under, he’d remember just how strong and smart she was. Somehow, he always knew she’d find a way to free him, and together they’d defeat Fydor.

She slipped off her pants, and it took all he had not to touch himself to relieve the ache at the sight of her round, perfect ass—an ass he needed to get his hands on immediately, now that they had feeling again. Then she turned, and his breath caught. A fresh set of markings ran from under her breasts to her navel. Mesmerized, he couldn’t take his eyes off the new hieroglyphs. “What do they say?”

“They say, I need you inside me right now, Nik. That my body is on fire for you.” She pulled the drain on the tub and stepped in, with a slender foot on either side of his waist and crouched over him. “That I missed you.” She took him in hand and positioned him, and in one movement, pushed down, taking him fully inside her body. His entire world tilted. The overwhelming heat and tightness of her—the
rightness
of her—took his breath away.

Gripping the edge of the tub, he almost came on the spot. Simply being inside her made all the suffering of the last days worthwhile. Remaining absolutely silent, he took a shuddering breath through his nose and stared into her fascinating purple eyes.

“You are very, very quiet, Nik.” Her teasing grin made him even harder. “Bear got your tongue?”

“Empaths,” he whispered.

“All gone.” She put her hands on his shoulders and rocked forward, then back, taking him even deeper. Then did it again. “Vlad relocated them for a few days. Feel free to shout my name at any time now.” She increased her speed, and he placed his hands on her thighs, loving the feel of her muscles flexing as she rode him.

“My God.”

“Elena is sufficient.” Faster still, she moved, breasts bouncing as her body slapped against his in the wet tub. “Missed you,” she said in a strained voice.

Missing her didn’t begin to cover it. He loved her. Needed her like he needed air. She threw her head back and ground against him even harder until he was barely hanging on by a thread, his whole body humming with energy and pleasure. Nothing could be this right. “Need you to come,” she whispered.

No problem there. When he felt the waves of her climax begin, he grabbed her ass and pulled her down against him, driving up as hard as he could, joining her. And, yes, even shouting her name.

E
lena popped another grape in her mouth while Nik finished off his second steak. “Nothing like room service,” she said.

Obviously, if he had thought she’d betrayed him, he was well over it based on his reaction to her and his repeated promises to make love to her all day and night until they returned to the fortress to take on Fydor.

His color had returned, and the injuries were fading to white scars. As she lay on the bed next to him, it was hard to recall her life before he entered it. Her memories of it since were frighteningly clear, though. Vlad had been right: perfect recall was more of a curse than a gift. It was much easier to justify actions when bias was involved. When she recalled Nik taking her prisoner now, she no longer saw it with the self-righteous indignation of a human being ripped from her life; she saw his side, too. A confused, betrayed Slayer wanting revenge for the death of a man he loved. He had never hated her. He had hated vampires—a gift from his uncle.

Part of her hoped this ability would fade soon. Another knew that as Uniter, it would serve her well to see all sides. It was like mind reading, actually… just after the fact.

“Your thoughts are far away,” he said, standing to place the tray on the floor next to the bed.

“Right here with you.” He needed rest to heal completely. “You should sleep.”

The look that crossed his face made her toes curl. Obviously, sleeping was not on the agenda, which suited her just fine.

“Lose the towel before I lose my mind,” he said, completely naked, staring down at her from the other side of the bed. She pulled it off and pitched it on the floor, marveling at his beautiful, chiseled body. Even after extreme abuse in that cell, it had bounced back to its original, powerful, drool-worthy form. Wide shoulders, narrow hips. Mmm…

He scanned her body, stopping on the markings on her ribs and belly. “What do they say?”

She wanted tell him, but the timing was wrong. There were too many variables, and seeing backward had given her clear insight into his motives. She now knew that all those times he’d acted like an overbearing ass, he’d only been trying to protect her. Keeping her safe had been his top priority, and would continue to be. If he knew about the baby, he’d be so distracted by protecting her and his child that he’d be less effective. In order to defeat Fydor, he needed to be in top form. So did she. Telling him about the baby would have to wait. She needed his blood, so she needed him rested and strong.

“I’ll tell you only after you’re a good boy and get some sleep.”

Like a powerful predator, he climbed onto the bed and loomed over her. “I’ll show you good.” He grabbed her and pulled her to the center of the bed, pushing her to her back. She giggled. “I’ll show you
great
,” he said, pinning her arms over her head.

She didn’t fight him, but simply watched in amazement as he took total control. No snow, no cord, no fear—other than a tiny tinge of anxiety over his reception to her news. But that could wait. Right now, she needed this and so did he.

“In fact, I’ll show you stars, Elena Arcos.” Arms still pinned above her head, he shoved her legs apart with his knees and settled his body over hers. His weight felt amazing as it pushed her into the soft mattress. She was completely pinned and possessed, and she loved it. She loved
him
.

“Nik, I—”

He cut her off with a searing kiss that took her breath away. No gentle lead in. He angled his mouth over hers and was relentless, coaxing, stroking her tongue with his, nipping her bottom lip, all the while his body rocked in a rhythm letting her know exactly what he planned. But not yet.

“I’m going to kiss you all over your incredible body, and after you come at least twice, I’m going to fuck you so hard we both have to sleep in order to recuperate.”