Power of the Fae (13 page)

“He’s been receiving help from someone to be able to send his demons out of the Underworld. If he makes his way into the human realm and he succeeds in destroying it, Faery will be his next conquest!” Lina is silently crying now.

She leans into me, soaking my shirt with tears. A few minutes pass and she is able to calm down to speak. Vamir’s face looks as if someone has pulled his heart out of his chest. You could tell, it is killing him to relive the night his wife died and having to put Lina through such pain by telling her the truth. The room is silent as everyone thinks of how her mother made the ultimate sacrifice.

“So mom sacrificed herself for me?” Lina asks Vamir in between hiccuping. Keegan looks away with moisture in his eyes.

“She sacrificed herself for you. She blew the tower up when the majority of the demons made it inside. It gave us who were on the ground, the chance to defeat the ones left in hand-to-hand combat. I didn’t know you mother was going to blow the tower. I swear to the Goddess above, that I would have knocked her out and tied her up if I had to, to prevent her from sacrificing herself for you. We could have found another way.” A few tears escape Vamir’s eyes. I look over at Azura and her face is streaked with tears too. Lina stands with her father for a hug. She pulls back and wipes her face with her hands. Keegan walks over to her too and scoops her up in a big brotherly hug.

“Kee, did you know?” Lina looks hurt as she looks to her older brother.

“I knew we were to protect you at all costs. I wasn’t told that there was a different reason to protect you other than the fact that you’re my little sister. Since the day you were born, and I first held you, I knew my purpose in life would always be to protect you. We were hoping that the fight wouldn’t come to the main part of the house. Dad had put you in a light sleep, thinking that we could keep you asleep, but somehow, you still woke up. Tillie was supposed to keep an eye on you while you slept.” She nods and steps back from her brother and father.

“There’s more.” She pauses and looks at me.

“Melomouzor came to me in my dream.” She explains to them the version of the dream that she told me. I know there’s more to the dream but she refuses to tell me what really happened. It doesn’t explain the bite mark on her neck or why she was screaming. My heart almost jumped out of my chest remembering the sound of her screams. She was too shaken up when she woke up. I swear if he put his hands on her in anyway, I will kill him.

S
arah comes
to the door of my grandmother’s study, letting us know that she had cooked an early dinner. She suggests we all move to the kitchen where we can grab a bite to eat. Everyone gathers in the kitchen, eating and talking quietly. Vander and Tarron join us in the kitchen as well. Colin and I are sitting next to each other at the kitchen island when Calista waltzes into the kitchen.

“Oh, I didn’t know we were going to have company!” Her eyes roam over Colin and a slow grin spreads across her face. My eyes narrow at her, trying to warn her to get away from Colin, but she clearly ignores me.

“Hi, I’m Calista. I’m Lina’s cousin.” She reaches her hand out to Colin.

“Colin,” he says as he shakes her hand. Her touching him has me wanting to stab her eyes out with my fork.

“Oh, I know who you are,” she says seductively, not letting go of his hand. She leans in close, lowers her voice and says in his ear, “Let me know when you get tired of her.”

I jump down from the stool so quickly that Colin is barely able to grab me before I could get my hands on her. The room becomes quiet as everyone turns their attention to us. She laughs and winks at Colin as she backs away from us with a smug look on her face. She goes over to the refrigerator, grabbing a bottle of water and shuts the door.

“Calista!” My grandmother exclaims standing up from the table where she was sitting.

“What? I was just offering my assistance.” Her wide-eyed innocent act not fooling anyone, her eyes flicker to me for a second. I struggle to get free but Colin brings me flush against his chest.

“That is nice of you, Calista, but the kind of help I’m sure you just offered is not necessary.” Azura’s voice is stern as she looks to Calista, not falling for the act. “You’re welcome to join us for dinner, if you behave yourself.”

“No thanks. I’m on my way out to meet up with someone.” She turns with her strawberry blonde hair swinging and strolls out of the kitchen.

“I see nothing’s changed about her,” Keegan says in-between stuffing his face. Colin lets me go as I throw my napkin at Keegan. He ducks and laughs.

“Please excuse my dear cousin,” I say sarcastically to Colin, as he helps me hop back onto the stool. I know I’m vertically challenged but stools should be adjustable to accommodate those whose legs are not as long!

A cell phone rings and every one shifts to check their phones. Keegan answers his, then motions for something to write with. I grab a pen and a pad of paper off the counter and give it to him. He writes on the pad of paper and thanks the person on the other end of the phone call.

He hangs up and looks around the room. “Dorian will meet with us.”

V
ampires
own popular nightclubs around the country for humans and the supernaturals. The closest one is about thirty miles south of Langdale in a southern town named Lakeview. Lakeview is an up and coming tourist city. It’s built around Lake Takoda. Businesses, high rise condominiums, restaurants, hotels and nightclubs are all located in downtown Lakeview surrounding the Takoda.

According to Keegan’s contact, the nightclub, Thirst, is owned by one of Dorian’s local vampires named Lincoln Valencia. Thirst is a trendy nightclub that has a dress code. It caters to all, humans and non-humans. I’ve heard of the nightclub but have never gone. We’re going tonight to meet with Dorian. Colin and Alec went home to change clothes and will meet us there tonight. Keegan advised Colin to bring back-up to keep an eye on the club while we are meeting with Dorian since Melomouzor is making bolder moves, by attacking us in broad daylight. For once Colin didn’t try to argue with my brother. When it comes to my safety, they seem to see eye to eye.

The meeting is set for eleven tonight and I just got out of the shower. I better hurry up before Keegan comes banging on my door. Keegan already sent Vander down to scout out the area. My black halter-top dress is flawless. It dips low in the back just above my ass and stops mid-thigh. I pair it with a pair of black four inch above the ankle red bottom boots. I pin my hair to the right side of my head so that the curls will fall over my shoulder. I apply smoky-eyed make-up along with blood red lipstick to complete my look. I look into my floor-length mirror and smile.

Confident. Sexy. Deadly.

I grab my blades, strapping one high up on each thigh and I attach two of my mini blades to the insides of my boots. The amulet goes quite nicely with my dress. It is nestled in between my breasts and with this low cut dress, it looks as if it is planned. There is a bang on my door. I grab my clutch, and run out the door and down the stairs.

I can’t wait to see Colin’s reaction to my new dress. I grin even wider imagining him taking the dress off of me. I run out the door and walk up to the truck. Keegan takes one look at me and a scowl crosses his face as Tarron rolls his eyes.

“Where the fuck are your clothes?” He puts his hands on his hips.

“I’m fine, let’s go!” I walk up to the door waiting for him to move out the way so I can climb in.

“We’re supposed to be going to talk to Dorian, not breaking up fights because you want to cause a riot in that dress!” My smile widens and I bat my eyes as he just stands there and looks at me. He curses and opens the door for me. He helps me in and shuts the door.

V
ampires are
one of the oldest creatures around. Some say the first Vampire came to be in the pre-Christian period of history. It is rumored that the sun Goddess, Brigid, cursed a man named Aleister, who was known as the first vampire. Aleister was once human and promised to wed the daughter of Brigid, Sunna. It was said that Sunna went to the house of Aleister one night and found him in bed with another woman. She ran home crying to her mother, Brigid. Sunna told her mother everything that she saw. When Brigid confronted Aleister about what Sunna had witnessed, Aleister claimed that he was in love with the other woman and could not marry Sunna.

That day Brigid put a curse on Aleister. She cursed him so that he would never see the sun again, and should he step foot in the sun, it will burn the flesh off of his skin and kill him. His curse was to walk the Earth as an immortal and to never see the sun again. However, the curse came with a twist. In order for him to maintain his immortality, he would need to drink blood from living beings, thus the first vampire was created.

There are many rumors to how vampires are created. Vampires can be born, and they can be created. Vampires can make new vampires by biting a human and draining their blood until they are at the threshold of death, and then they must consume the blood of a vampire. It is risky trying to turn someone into a Vampire. There are few humans whose body can accept the change and not die. Amongst the Vampire race, the Borns are the superior vampires. They are stronger than the Turned Vampires.

Dorian Constantin is said to be a descendant of Aleister. Dorian is the Master Vampire. The Master Vampire is considered royalty amongst the Vampires. Dorian is said to be over six hundred years old, very powerful and very deadly.

T
arron pulls
the truck up to the curb in front of the club for the valet. Keegan gets out of the truck and opens my door. I step out of the truck and feel the eyes of every man in line for the club on me. I pay them no mind. There is only one set of eyes that I want on me. The line for the club is down the street. I walk towards the bouncer at the door with Keegan and Tarron flanking both sides of me. The hairs on the back of my neck are raised causing me to pause. Without turning around, I know that Colin is coming near me. Glancing over my shoulder, I learn that my instincts are right. Colin is walking towards us with Devyn, Alec and Reed.

Our eyes lock and everyone else melts away. My breath catches as I take him all in. The way he walks, one could tell that he is used to being in charge. He has on grey slacks with a black button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the top bottom undone. He stops in front of me causing me to tilt my head back to look up at him.

“Hey.” That’s the only thing I could think to say.

His eyes travel down my body and I can feel the moisture gather in my core. His nostrils flare, smelling my arousal I’m sure, as his eyes make their way back to mine.

He leans in and whispers in my ear, “Later.”

My legs tremble slightly as I turn. We walk over to my brother and Vander. I lead the way to the mountain of a bouncer. His beady eyes greedily roam up and down my body. Colin comes up behind me and pulls me back against him and lets out a low growl. He’s definitely possessive tonight. I find myself liking it. Keegan comes up to my side crossing his arms across his chest.

“We’re here to see Dorian,” Keegan says to the bouncer. The bouncer smirks.

“People in Hell want a glass of ice water, but that doesn’t mean they get it,” the bouncer says laughing and fist bumping the other thick neck bouncer who stepped out of the club.

We don’t have time for this. I step up to him. He smiles and licks his lips staring at my breasts.
Let’s play with Fae magic tonight, shall we?
I focus on his lungs imagining all the air leaving his lungs. He begins to choke, grabbing his throat with both hands. I smile at him as he frantically looks around. The people in line draw quiet as they watch.

“I like a joke like the next person but not tonight. We’re here to see Dorian. Are you going to let us in?” My voice is low as I move closer to him.

He looks at me with wide eyes and nods his head quickly. I grab his face and pull it down to my level and blow air into his gasping mouth, pushing the air back into his lungs. He gasps and motions to the other bouncer to let us in. The other bouncer opens the door quickly for us. I march through the door putting a little extra swing in my hips.

The club is lavishly decorated. The front of the nightclub has a luxurious sitting area with a bar. The dance floor in the middle is packed with people grinding against each other to the music pumping from the speakers. Scattered all around the room are tables and another bar in the back. Tonight is a busy night at the club and there is barely room to walk through without getting bumped by someone.

As I walk through the club, I see Vander sitting at a table by himself with his back to the wall observing the entire club. He nods his head lightly to Keegan. Slowly looking around, I notice a few of Colin’s wolves blending in with patrons of the club. We follow Keegan to the back. A vampire bouncer guards the stairwell that leads to the private party rooms beneath the main floor. He must have heard what happened at the entrance because he quickly nods to us and lets us go down the stairs.

Once we get to the bottom of the stairs, there is a red haired female vampire who has on a very tiny black leather mini shirt and a black tube top shirt that has
Thirst
written over her right breast. A spiked covered neck collar is wrapped around her neck and she’s wearing dangerously high six-inch high heel shoes.

“Good evening gentlemen, what’s your pleasure tonight?” she asks in a deep gritty voice, her fangs peeking out underneath her top lip. She steps up to Keegan and runs her hand down his chest. She looks at the group and her eyes land on me.

“
And lady
,” she adds with a wink.

“We’re here for Dorian,” Keegan says batting the vamps hand off of him.

“Yes, of course. He’s expecting you. Please, follow me.” She turns and sashays down the hallway.

She leads us past private rooms, some with doors with windows that show people performing sexual acts and some rooms are used for private feedings for the vampires with willing human participants. A few doors did not have windows and have signs with the word
private.
There is no telling what is behind those doors. She leads us down a couple winding hallways to where a tall handsome blond haired vampire is standing outside a set of large oak double doors. She nods to him.

“This is Lance and he will assist you.” She turns and winks at Keegan as she walks back the way we came.

Lance looks the group over and his eyes land on me. “Only the Princess, Prince and the Alpha may proceed in. The rest of you can wait in the sitting room behind you.”

Behind us is a room with a few couches, chairs and a mini bar. Keegan nods for Tarron to head over to the other room. Colin shares a look with Devyn, Alec and Reed, then they go over to the waiting room without a word.

Lance opens the door and nods for us to enter. I’m not quite sure what to expect once we walk through the doors. My amulet starts to warm slightly sending me a sign that I need to go in the room. Keegan enters first with me in between him and Colin. Colin grabs my hand and walks alongside me. The room is large and windowless. The walls are painted a light grey and there are large black and brown leather couches scattered around the room. The lighting in the room is dim, but I am still able to see clearly. The room has a large screen television mounted on one wall, and a full-fledged bar on one side with a vampire bartender behind the counter.

A large black haired vampire with dark eyes is sitting on one couch with a female with stringy blonde hair on her knees in front of him. Her head is bobbing up and down with slurping noises coming from them. The vampire flashes his fangs at me while he grabs the woman’s head pushing it down, causing her to gag and choke. Colin growls at the vampire.

Another couch is holding a dark brown haired vampire currently feeding from a moaning female on his lap. The female has her hands in the vampire’s pants. I’ve been told that a Vampire’s feeding can be sexual in nature. It is said that the bite of a vampire is painful at first but there are enzymes in the vampire’s saliva that turns the pain into pleasure.

There is a large vampire groupie following because of the pleasures that can be had from a vampire’s bite and feeding. There are very few humans who are aware of the supernaturals. Most humans are still ignorant of the fact that they are not alone on this planet.

Near the back of the room sits a tall muscular vampire with short black hair. The power radiating from him almost knocks me off my feet.

Dorian.

There’s no other way to describe him but beautiful with his ice blue eyes that have locked on me. He has two barely dressed females with him. One is kissing and licking his neck while the other one is currently on her knees unzipping his pants. He smiles at me with his fangs out and pushes the one on her knees away.

“Leave us,” he says with a deep rich voice. The women whine and shoot daggers in my direction. I ignore them. They hurry out of the room. We walk over to him and he doesn’t take his eyes off of me. Colin tightens his grip on my hand and growls. The other vampires must have sent their women away too because they have quietly walked up behind us. I don’t have to turn to see where they are; I can feel exactly where they stand on either side of Colin.

“Dorian,” Keegan says.

“Keegan, you didn’t tell me your sister grew up to be so exquisite,” Dorian says.

“The last time we spoke, she was a child, Dorian.”

“What’s up with the wolf bodyguard?” Dorian asks.

“She can speak for herself, why don’t you ask her yourself?” I say, totally annoyed that they would speak about me as if I am not standing there.

“A spitfire, I love it!” His smile displays his fangs.

“Looking at you, I can see why Melomouzor is obsessed with coming back to the realm. If you were the key to my banishment, I would kill anyone who stood in my way to get to you,” he says with his eyes roaming my body, undressing me. Colin growls again and I squeeze his hand. We cannot mess this up. We need the vampires help to defeat Melomouzor.

“You know why we are here,” I say to Dorian.

“I do, but do you know why you are really here?” He tilts his head. An employee has brought in a few chairs for everyone to sit.

“Please have a seat.” He motions to the chairs.

“I prefer to stand, thanks,” Colin growls out.

“Suit yourself.” He shrugs.

I look over at Colin and can tell he’s trying to control his wolf and not shift. If he shifts, all hell could break lose. The tension in the room is already thick. Keegan and I sit in the chairs. I cross my legs and Dorian’s eyes are drawn to them. Since they say I have all the powers of Fae; I try to reach out to Colin with my mind.

Calm down, we need them. Please.

I look over to Colin and I’m not sure he got the message until his eyes widen and he looks at me for a second and nods. He seems to relax a little
.

“Apparently you know what we are here for and more. Care to elaborate?” Keegan asks getting Dorian’s attention.

“Melomouzor has collected descendants of the ten Ancients and will come back to the human realm. He’s probably collected the blood he needs for the ritual to bring him back. From what I hear, back in the day, he loved to do experimentation. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s experimenting on the missing supers.” He points to me. “She’s the key to the prophecy, we just don’t know which one.” He shifts on the couch.

“How do you know about the prophecy since I only just learned about it myself?” I ask.

“There is not much I don’t know. You don’t get to be my age and not know what’s going on around you. I make it my business to know what’s going on around me. That’s how I’ve been able to survive all of these years and plan to continue to survive. Now, what you probably want to know is that your mother came to me a few months before she was killed.” I look to Keegan and his face is tight with his jaw muscle jumping.

“Why did my mother come to you?” I ask. What could she have possibly needed from him?

“Please come sit next to me.” He pats the couch next to him. Somehow I feel that he won’t hurt me. The amulet warms again, letting me know it will be okay. I stand from the chair and Colin growls.

“Don’t worry wolf, I won’t bite your lover.” He then smiles at me, glancing at my exposed neck.

“
Unless
, that is, she asks me to.”

I shoot Colin a look trying to tell him to calm down. I sit next to Dorian and he takes my hand and brings my wrist up this nose and takes a deep breath, inhaling with his eyes closed. My heart flutters at our closeness. His power is like an aphrodisiac, it washes over me and I want to bottle it up and take it with me. He opens his ice blue eyes and looks deep into mine. Colin and Keegan have not taken their eyes off of me and both of their bodies are tense, ready to jump if they need to help me.

“Loredana was right, you are
the
one. You don’t even realize how powerful you are, little one. Your blood is so sweet smelling, like apricots.” He releases my hand.

“Your mother came to me because she said that you were gaining all of the powers of the Fae and she needed help hiding those powers. What happened when you touched the amulet?” he asks.

“It was like I was being electrocuted. I felt like power was entering my body and spreading.” He nods.

“It unlocked everything that your mother suppressed,” he says reaching for the amulet. Colin growls again when Dorian’s hand brushes against my breast to pick up the amulet.

“You need to control your wolf, little one,” Dorian says softly knowing Colin can hear him. Keegan stands and whispers something in Colin’s ear, they share a look and he turns back to Dorian and me.

What was that?

“I don’t control him,” I say sharply.

“You should.”

“Why did our mother come to you?” Keegan cuts in while sitting back down.

“She needed Zelphire’s amulet and I happened to be the one to know where it was and was able to obtain it for her.”

“How would you know where a Fae artifact would be hidden?” Keegan asks.

Colin is quiet. I look over at him and he hasn’t taken his eyes off of Dorian or me. The vampires behind him keep a small distance, but their eyes are on him. I try to catch his eye to let him know I’m okay, but he’s staring at Dorian.

“And what price did my mother pay you for this favor?” Keegan spits out glaring at Dorian.

“Let’s just say,
I
owed your mother two favors and she collected on one of those favors.” Keegan and I look at each other in shock. What did our mother do for him that would give her two favors to call in for the Master Vampire?

“What did my mother do for you to be in debt to her?” I ask.

“That’s a conversation for another day.”

“Will you help us fight against Melomouzor and keep him from destroying this realm?” I ask quietly. Dorian turns his eyes back to me. His ice blue eye hold mine for a brief moment.

“Yes,” he answers without hesitating.

“Why?” Colin asks. “Why would you help us?”

“I’m not helping you, wolf. I’m helping the Vampire race. Vampires have been around for well over a millennium and I mean to see that we continue to exist. Whatever I have to do to make that happen, I will do it. And there is nothing that will stop me from protecting my own!” he says with his eyes narrowed at Colin and fangs lengthening again.

I can feel his anger radiating and his two vampires become tense as if ready to strike. I could take a knife and cut the air, the tension is so thick. Colin makes to move as Keegan stands up quickly.
That’s it!
I jump in between all of them; they are all going to kill each other!