Vengeance of the Demons (34 page)

“I wish,” Evan replied.

“You have about two more weeks, Doc said,” said William. “The baby needs all the time in there he can get.”

Evan shook her head. “He’s become the biggest nag about everything.”

“I don’t think that’s possible.” Sinya walked down the stairs holding her baby. “You should have seen Lance when I was pregnant.”

“I only want what’s best,” said William. “Did you speak with Nicholas?”

Danika’s gaze flicked to Mason’s and he wrapped his arm around her protectively.

“Yes. I spoke to my father. He’s well.”

“Do you think he’ll come for a visit soon?” asked Evan.

Danika shook her head. “I think it will be a while before that happens. I have a lot of feelings to sort out first.”

“I know how that goes,” said Evan.

“This came for you.” Roth walked up to William and handed him a folded piece of paper.

Evan squeezed his hand. “What is it?”

William flicked open the paper and then closed it. “Later.” He kissed her head.

Neeman and Selene walked through the front door.

“How was the committee meeting?” he asked Neeman and Selene.

“Better,” Selene replied. “We’ve been able to convince your uncle and several of the other enclave leaders to meet with us finally.”

“That’s great news,” said Evan. “You need Lou on board for all this if it’s going to succeed.”

“Would you consider being there?”

Evan looked between them. “Me?”

“You know him better than anyone.”

The thought made an involuntary rumble escape William’s chest. Evan wrapped her arm around his waist and laid her head on his chest.

“I don’t want her anywhere near that man.” He tried to keep his voice as even as possible, but even he could tell it was a losing battle.

“Ask Tommy,” Evan said. “He’s better at diplomacy than I am. Besides, I think it would be good for him to see Lou. I know he’s missed his Pop a lot.”

William relaxed a fraction. “Come on, we have an appointment with Doc and then you need to walk around the property for twenty minutes—”

“And then I need to pee and eat.”

The group laughed and William’s cheeks heated.

“I stand corrected,” said Sinya. “I think William wins.”

He grumbled and Evan reached up on tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “Come on, dad, let’s go see Doc.”

William pulled her away from the group and headed toward the basement elevator.

Three human females walked by them, all ogling William. He swallowed hard as his arousal peaked, but he kept his eyes straight ahead.

Evan chuckled.

“What?” he asked innocently.

“You’re getting better at that.”

He pushed the button and feigned ignorance. “At what?”

She pulled him to her and cupped his erection. “Pretending that the attention from others doesn’t get you hot.”

He closed his eyes as she rubbed him through his pants.

“As long as you stay mine, I don’t care how your mind and body respond.”

The doors opened and she pulled him inside the elevator.

“You know,” he said. “I think maybe we can skip the walk today.”

“Really?” A devilish smile came over her face as she rubbed against him again.

His throat dried and he had to clear it before being able to talk. “Yeah. I’m thinking maybe you should rest.” He reached between her thighs and rubbed at her as well. “Maybe a massage would be better for you. A nice, relaxing massage.” He pressed against her, his lips meeting hers.

The baby squirmed and kicked William in the stomach.

Evan laughed and William did too.

“I think a massage is a wonderful idea.” She kissed him again.

William pushed the stop button on the elevator as it bumped to the basement floor.

“What’s up?” she asked.

“I wanted to show you this.” He licked his lips, unsure of how she would react. He handed her the paper that Roth had given him.

“What is this?” She laughed.

“Read it.”

She opened the paper and stared at it, her eyes scanning the lines. Her head whipped up and her gaze met his.

“How long?” she asked.

“How long what?”

“How long have you been looking?”

“About four months. It took a while for me to track them down but I found them in Turkey. They’ll be coming back right away. Danika will see to that.”

She shook her head. “William, I don’t want that. She won’t even know me.”

He laid his hand on her belly. “Our son will have a half sister. They deserve to know each other. And you deserve to know your daughter.”

“I...” Anxiety filled her face.

“You don’t have to decide now. Just think about it.” He stroked her cheek. “Either way they are coming back to the States and they aren’t leaving again.”

She smiled and kissed him. “Thank you, William.” She caressed his cheek and he turned his face and kissed her palm, his eyes landing on the large diamond ring on her hand.

“You should know by now my love, I’ll do anything to keep my wife happy.”

Rebekah R. Ganiere
has always been a creative soul and a prolific writer. Her debut novel, Dead Awakenings, was a bestseller, and she is also the author of the bestselling, award-winning Fairelle series.

Rebekah is the President Elect of the Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal Chapter of RWA as well as a member of several other chapters. When she isn't busy writing, you can find her moderating or teaching on SavvyAuthors.com and at Comic Cons, or Cosplaying around the west coast, with her husband and four children.

Readers can visit her website at www.RebekahGaniere.com, find her on Facebook, or follow her on Twitter: VampWereZombie.

Keep reading for an excerpt from the first Society novel by Rebekah R. Ganiere.

She wants security. He wants freedom. Together their love could destroy the world.

Ten years after the outbreak of the V2000 virus turns the majority of humans into a mutated Vampire sub-species, the last remaining true humans are the world’s hottest commodity. In this new world, it’s The Society that rules.

Being the only female Vampire Lord in America isn’t easy. Being thrust into the role of CEO is even harder. Danika Chekov refuses to let her father’s legacy die. She’s resolved to keep everything under her tight control. But after she’s almost killed, she’s forced to purchase a human guardian.

Mason is human, or so the Vampires think. He’s determined to protect his secret, but Lord Danika buys him before he can make his escape. Their passion for each other threatens everything they want most. And when Mason’s true nature is exposed, the results could be devastating.

A Lyrical e-book on sale now.

Learn more about Rebekah at
http://www.ekensingtonbooks.com/author.aspx/31634

Mason blinked against the sun’s harsh light bouncing off bright white picket fences. A typical Midwestern suburb. Only the world hadn’t been typical in almost a decade. The smell of lingering death filled his nostrils. Everything on this side of the small town was too quiet. Even with the virus-mutated vamps at work in the “real world,” there should be some in the area, but there weren’t any. His eye twitched.

Happy plastic animals stared at him from their manicured lawns. It looked so blissfully...human. Problem was, there weren’t any free humans in the cities anymore. Now it was just the Vampires, vampyr, and vamps. The humans in the van with him didn’t know how much worse it could be, but Mason did. He knew all too well what it’d been like when his kind had been around.

He wanted to turn the rusty brown Volkswagen van around, drive right out of the neighborhood and on to the next city. But they didn’t have time. They’d been gone for almost a week. Sheila and Nita were ready to get back to the encampment. They missed their men and children.

“Mason, we’re wasting time, man. We should hit as many as we can, and then head for home,” said Jax.

Mason didn’t speak. He gripped the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turned white. He sniffed the air again; it was heavy with pollution and death. Something about the neighborhood made his skin itch. “I don’t like this one,” he finally said. “It feels wrong.”

“It feels like all the others.” Jax sat forward between Whitey and Mason’s seats and peered out the front window. “It feels like vamps.”

“No...there’s something else. It’s too quiet. We should keep moving.”

“They’re all quiet. There isn’t anyone home,” Jax replied. “Kiddie vamps are pretending to still be human at school. Mommy vamps are working for the Vampires. We’re in the middle of the shift change. We only have a short amount of time before the first shift comes home and the sun goes down. We need to be way out of this city when that happens.”

Mason swore under his breath and gave in to the pressure of the group. He nodded and everyone grabbed their packs. The van was almost full. Anything they got now would go under seats, on laps and in every open nook and cranny. It was dangerous coming into the cities. Humans were a hot commodity now that they were all but wiped out. Vampire slavers hunted everywhere but in the mountains where the encampments hid.

The group piled out of the van. They’d be obvious to any vamp who spotted them. It was hard to suppress the humanness of people, their look, smell, movement. Luckily for him, he wasn’t human. Sighing, he opened his door and followed the group. For the most part he didn’t mind the members of the raid group. The human refugees had taken him in when he was close to starvation. They were almost like family. Almost.

For the next hour the group moved from house to house, breaking in, stealing the things they needed most, and slipping back out. When they regrouped at the end of the street, their bags were mostly full. A last house remained. It was older than the others, possibly the original house that the neighborhood had been built around. The large, two-story New England style home boasted a wrap-around porch, broken blue shutters, and a faded-blue front door. Mature willows and oak trees dotted the dying yard.

Mason’s skin prickled. “We skip this one.”

“Come on, Mason, it’s the last one.” Jax stretched his ample arms above his head.

“We go back now.” Mason headed to the van.

“Mason, we can’t,” Sheila said. “We barely found more than a pack of Band-Aids this time. We need aspirin, peroxide, sterile gauze at least.”

He stopped. Medical supplies of any kind were getting harder to come by. Vampires had almost done away with sickness since they’d taken over. The humans lived in squalor, making the smallest injuries devastating now. A bottle of hydrogen peroxide was almost sacred.

He held up his hands. “Okay. But if we don’t find any, we leave immediately, no questions. Agreed?”

“Agreed,” they said together.

Mason shook his head and took another look at the old house. Wild and overgrown, the bushes formed a barrier between it and the other houses. The gardener must have given up on holding them back years ago. They would give the group more cover.

He jogged around the side of the structure, walked onto the porch, and peered into a grimy, cobweb-covered window. He tried the door handle. It was locked. Walking quietly as possible on the squeaky wooden boards, he checked a second window, then a third. None of them budged.

He headed back to the door. The lock was old. Opening it was risky with everyone around. Something in his gut told him they should walk away. He glanced over his shoulder at his small band, waiting at the edge of the porch. It was just another house.

He grasped the knob, letting his hand rest there. Taking a deep breath, he concentrated on his inner beast. The monster stretched and yawned inside him. His temperature rose and heat flowed out of his fingertips and into the round, aged brass. The knob seared and turned red. He gave it a quick jerk and the lock inside gave way. The handle broke off in his palm and the door swung inward.

Silence emanated from the interior. Stepping into the kitchen, he waited another moment, then motioned for the group. He laid the knob on the chipped countertop. The house smelled of dust and mildew. The faded and tattered curtains were drawn.

The kitchen had once been white, but the cabinets had aged to a dingy cream. The wallpaper was a sad shade of overcooked egg yolk. And the black-and-white linoleum flooring looked like a professional hockey team had used it for skating practice. A table crumbled in the corner. The surrounding chairs had buckled legs from years of too much weight.

Walking through the kitchen, he scanned the room, moving toward the front of the house. Dusty and old furniture from the sixties or seventies crumbled on the frayed and neglected shag carpet. Sepia-toned photos of a human family long-since dead sat on the mantel, engulfed in cobwebs. He prowled into the front hall, through a cluttered den, down a smaller hallway, past a bathroom, and back into the old kitchen.

All eyes were on him. He rubbed his hand through his shaggy, dark hair. They should be gone already. Dusk was coming. He stopped and took a deep breath; then he smelled it. The smell of undead. Vampires.

He ran from the kitchen in an instant, pulling the women out with him. His muscular legs took the porch steps in a long stride. His huge, six-foot-six, two hundred and forty pound body hurtled down to where the rest of the group stood.

“Move.” He passed them at top speed.

The group didn’t wait to find out what happened. He pounded down the front lawn and onto the street. His pack jangled on his back as he ran. Behind him came the sounds of shoes hitting the ground, and heavy breathing. He glanced over his shoulder. Nita slowed, holding her side. Suddenly she fell to the ground with a small scream. Everyone stopped.

“Get ’em to the van, Jax.” Mason ran to the splayed Nita.

“Sorry, Mason. Cramp,” she gasped.

He didn’t reply, simply picked the female up as if she were no more than a child. Standing, he looked up at the house they’d run from. A window in the attic had a curtain pulled aside. The interior was dark and Mason couldn’t remember if the curtain had been open when they’d approached. Didn’t matter, he wasn’t going to stick around to find out. That was for damn sure. Turning, he sprinted to the waiting van.