Blood Hunger (An Adult Paranormal Romance) (Deathless Night Series #1) (31 page)

    
Traveling at human speed to accommodate Emma, the vampires were silent as they approached the area Nik had drawn out in the dirt.

     At Aiden’s insistence that “truly, she’s expecting me”, they didn’t sneak inside, but followed the creek, striding boldly up to the opening at the base of the snow-capped mountain. It loomed over them ominously.

     Nik glanced around surreptitiously as the tunnel closed in around them. The creek narrowed once inside, the sound of the water picking up speed as it rushed over the smooth bed it had cut out of the rock over time. Something didn’t feel right, but he didn’t see or hear anything unusual.

     Still, the hair rose on the back of his neck. They were being watched.

     Indicating for Aiden to lead the way, he kept Emma close at his side and slightly in front of him, peering back over his shoulder every few feet or so.

     Torches, similar to the ones in their own mountain hideout a few miles away, lit the tunnel as they descended deeper and deeper into the underground, but did nothing to warm the air, and he felt Emma shiver in the damp cold.

     Two hundred feet in, the tunnel split into two separate passages. Aiden left the creek and chose the smaller one to the left, Nik and Emma following close behind.

     “Do you actually know where you’re going, or are you just choosing at random and hoping for the best?” Nik asked him quietly. Although they normally kept an eye on Leeha’s comings and goings when she was here, he’d never actually been inside her lair.

     Pulling one of the torches off of the wall at the division, Aiden gave him a wry look. “Have some faith, mate. This isn’t my first rodeo here, as they say.”

   
 
“That’s what concerns me,” Nik muttered under his breath.

***

     Emma was equal parts nervous and excited as the tunnel narrowed even further, squeezing them in together until they had to walk single file. Excited that she might be seeing her sister again very soon, and nervous at the unknown prospect of what they’d have to face to get her and Luukas out of here.

     Even the vampires were unusually subdued. And that couldn’t be a good sign.

     Falling in between the two taller males to form a straight line, she couldn’t see very much, even with the torch Aiden had thought to grab, as there were no other sources of light along the walls down this way. To discourage anyone from entering? Because any nightmarish creatures that lived down here didn’t need any light to sniff out their prey?

    
Get a grip on yourself, Em.
Yeah. Did she mention she was not a huge fan of the dark?

     Nik stayed right behind her, one hand casually resting on her arm, his thumb occasionally rubbing small circles through her shirt. Her skin prickled where he touched her, and her breath came in shallow pants. From her claustrophobia or from his touch, she honestly couldn’t say. But either way, she couldn’t complain. She was the one who’d insisted on coming along, after all.

     As they walked deeper and deeper into the dark underground, Emma kept her eyes on Aiden’s back and continued to place one foot in front of the other, silently fighting the internal battle not to freak out in the dark, enclosed space, when she suddenly felt a rush of air and got the feeling of more space around them.

     Stepping from the passage, she heard a loud
whoosh
as a hundred torches lit simultaneously and without warning, temporarily blinding her. Shielding her eyes with her hands until she grew used to the sudden light, she squinted as she looked around.

     Another immense cavern loomed before them, similar to the vampire’s hideout, but that’s where the similarities ended. This one was not only larger, but the stone was chiseled away to look like the interior of a vast cathedral of old.

     A vast, gothic, spooky as all hell, cathedral.

     Illuminated by the fire that danced eerily along the dark stone walls, her eyes widened at the giant archways lining the wide, central aisle, with slender columns leading up to a soaring ceiling of pointed arches a hundred feet or more above their heads.

     When she could tear her eyes away from the majesty of the ceiling, she followed the columns back down to the floor, where mosaic tiles were laid out in a seemingly abstract order, but which overall created a pattern that directed the eyes forward to the other end of the room, and the main attraction.

     Dropping her hands away from her eyes, Emma blinked hard as she stared down the endless aisle to the other end of the cathedral. Stone steps led up to a raised stone platform that took up the entire far end of the room. And alone in the center of the platform was a throne. An actual, honest to God throne, reminiscent of medieval days long gone.

     Made of the same kind of smooth, dark stone that lined the walls, it was interspersed with threads of shiny gold that glittered in the flickering firelight. Other than that, the starkness of the inky color was only broken up by a blood red seat cushion along the seat and back. It contained no other ornamentation, the overall effect as sinister looking as the woman sitting upon it.

     Emma blinked again as she focused on one of the most stunning creatures she had ever seen, half wondering if she was just a figment of her imagination.

    
Lowering his arm from his eyes, Nik immediately spotted the woman on the throne, and impaled her with his angry gaze. Automatically reaching for Emma’s hand, he pulled her along behind him as he stormed forward.

     “Enough with the party tricks, Leeha. Where is my brother?” he demanded.

     But they weren’t party tricks, there was magic in the room. Emma could feel it. It pulsed throughout the room like a living entity. Did he not feel it? However, the magic did not come from the woman in the room. She wasn’t sure how she knew that, but Emma would bet her life on it.

     Ignoring his question, their host sat forward, eager to make the acquaintance of her new guest.

     Belatedly, Nik noticed Leeha zero in on Emma and stopped abruptly midway up the aisle, tucking her slightly behind him.

     “And who is
this
, Nikulas?” Her richly accented voice pronounced each syllable in his name distinctly.  “Have you
finally
found a new little human whore to warm your bed?
”
Undaunted by the warning growl aimed at her, she stood up from her majestic seat and came towards them.  

     Emma stared, unable to look away from her, jealousy an ugly wrenching in her gut.

     Leeha didn’t so much walk, as leisurely seduce her way across the floor. Head high and with arms confidently at her sides, she prowled over the stones with an erotic roll to her hips, designed to entice every male in the room into imagining it was
his
cock she wanted, and no one else’s.

     Her dark red hair was thick and soft and long, tumbling around her shoulders in artful disarray. Her deathly pale skin was unnaturally flawless and only made one startlingly aware of her full, red lips and hollowed cheekbones. A thin, sheer, white gown showed off her full, rounded breasts and each rose darkened areola, the large nipples constantly tight from rubbing against the fabric.

     As she walked, the gown slithered in and out around her legs, allowing only brief glimpses of her long, slender limbs and the shadowed area between them.

     Emma’s eyes widened, then narrowed as she realized the woman was completely bare underneath that gown. She was easily the most provocative creature Emma had ever seen.

     She hated her on sight.

     As she advanced on them, Emma’s gaze was unwillingly compelled to her blood red eyes. And she found she couldn’t tear her eyes away, hard as she tried. Locked into that hellish gaze, she saw nightmares beyond anything she’d ever experienced. The depths of despair…blood…horror…pain…they all swirled around in those depths. They drew her in, sucking her into the horridness she saw there, until she felt like her very soul would be forever lost if she couldn’t look away.

     Panic began to set in as she tried harder and harder to break the connection, but to no avail. She began to shake uncontrollably with the effort, sweat forming on her brow and trickling between her breasts.

     Nik stepped between them, cutting off Emma’s view and breaking the connection. “Back the fuck off, Leeha. Emma is
mine
,” he snarled, his husky voice low and threatening.

     She didn’t pause in her approach, or seem surprised by Nik’s announcement, but gave him a small, patronizing smile.

     She circled around them, getting a good look at her guest.

     Emma’s skin crawled everywhere her eyes touched her. She stood very still, and kept her eyes down so as not to look directly at her again, afraid to so much as breathe. Even with Nik standing so protectively in front of her, warily watching Leeha’s every move.

     Leeha stopped just behind her, her nostrils flaring delicately as she leaned in and inhaled Emma’s scent. The back of Emma’s neck tingled like spiders were crawling on her, and she had to resist the urge to smack at the nonexistent things. At least she hoped they were nonexistent.

     “I smell you on her Nikulas. I smell you
in
her
.
” Coming around to stand in front of him again, she tilted her head in a jerky motion, like a bird. “She’s had your blood. And even more intriguing, you’ve had he
rs
. And yet, she’s still alive.” 

   
 
An unpleasant smile spread across her face, and her attention returned to Emma with renewed interest, in spite of Nik’s attempts to block her. “Emma…What a pretty name. Would your last name be Moss, by chance?”

   
 
She continued without waiting for an answer, “Tell me, Nikulas, does she fawn all over you like Eliana did?” Her smile widened as Emma stiffened. “I don’t think she does. Does that disappoint you?”

   
 
Her eyes roamed over Emma’s face and form with appreciation. “She’s quite pretty. A bit thin, but fuckable, I suppose. If you like that sort of thing.”

   
 
Emma’s breath caught at the insult, but she refused to give her the reaction she was obviously hoping for.

     Pouting a bit when neither Emma nor Nik rose to the bait, she continued, “So do tell, Nikulas.
Does
she fuck as well as Eliana? More importantly,” she purred, “does she
taste
as good as Eliana?”

   
 
Lifting her hand, she caught a strand of Emma’s bright hair, rubbing it between her fingers as she wet her bottom lip with the tip of her tongue. “I’d love to find out.”

   
 
Nik shoved Emma back behind him so fast, she had to grab his arm to keep from stumbling, and strands of her hair were left behind in Leeha’s fingers. A menacing growl rumbled deep within his chest. Leaning forward, he bared his fangs and hissed in warning at the beautiful, evil creature in front of him, his eyes glowing with possession.

     “You touch her again, you evil bitch, I’ll rip your fucking head off,” he promised.

     She raised an amused eyebrow. “So protective, Nikulas. I don’t remember you being so protective over Eliana.”

   
 
“What the FUCK is it with you and Eliana!” he raged in her face.

     Leeha pursed her lips, narrowing her eyes in warning at his outburst. Seconds ticked by with no sound but Nik’s harsh breathing.

     When Aiden, who up until now had been hovering silently by the doorway, took her attention, Emma breathed a sigh of relief.

     As he casually sauntered into the room, edging closer to Nik and Emma, she eerily jerked her head to the side again, blatantly devouring him with her eyes.

     Puffing his chest out like a strutting cock, he winked at her and blew her a kiss, all the while continuing to ease imperceptibly closer to them.

     “Evenin’ luv.” He gave her a slow, sexy smile.

     Emma suddenly gasped out loud, interrupting their sick flirtation to blurt out, “It was you.
You
killed Eliana.” As Leeha’s haunting eyes skittered back her way, she sucked in a breath and immediately dropped her own again.

     Aiden forgotten just as quickly as he was noticed, Leeha's lips barely turned up a bit at the corners. “She’s smart, Nikulas. I would be careful with this one.”

   
 
Retracting his fangs slightly, Nik frowned at Leeha. “What are you talking about?”

   
 
“Why don’t you ask
your
mate
to explain it to you?” Aside to Emma, she murmured, “Isn’t it a shame that the pretty ones are always so slow?” Sharing a “just between us girls” wink that Emma didn’t see, Leeha ran her eyes boldly up and down Aiden’s lean frame once more, before turning her back to them and slithering her way back to her throne.