Dark Cravings (17 page)

“I would make an exception,” Castro finally said.

“I’m standing right here,” I snapped.

They ignored me.

“You’ve put your mark upon her,” Castro said.

The testosterone in the room notched up a level. Micah’s
chest actually puffed out a little. “She’s mine.”

Castro’s smile spread over his face and he looked less like
a demon and more like a proud father. He crossed the room and I found myself
bracing for an attack. I didn’t have any weapons but that didn’t mean I couldn’t
fight.

The demon lord took Micah’s hand and, to my horror, the two
embraced in an awkward man hug. Castro looked into my eyes over Micah’s
shoulder. The light bulb in my head began to blink. I got it, the strange
recognition I hadn’t been able to place. It was the eyes. Layered on top of a
deep blue, Castro had an invading green ring around his pupil. Mixed together,
the color was the beautiful shade of teal I’d gotten accustomed to over the
last several months. Micah’s eyes.

“How exactly do you two know each other?” I found myself
asking.

The question broke up the male-bonding moment.

“We’re old friends, aren’t we, pretty boy?” There was a
warmth in Castro’s voice that spoke of respect and, dear god, kinship.

I wondered who, or what, they’d killed together.

“Friends?” Micah chuckled, walked over to the fridge and
opened the cabinet above it. “He thinks we’re friends. He just hangs around
because he owes me a favor. One I need to cash in on.”

Micah took out a bottle of scotch and blew the dust off it.
With his other hand, he pinched two short tumblers between his fingers and slid
them from the shelf. He set the liquor and the glasses on the table before
turning around with a stupid smile on his face.

Had I just stepped into the twilight zone? Was I still
drunk? Had Micah literally screwed me stupid?

Micah took one look at my face, and god only knew what he
saw, because his smile faltered. He turned to Castro. “Why don’t you give us a
minute?”

“Take your time. I’ll just make myself at home. After all,
this place does remind me a bit of hell. Really, Micah, this place is truly
spectacular.”

I was still shaking my head when Micah pulled me to the
bathroom. He shoved me inside.

“Clothes,” he muttered and walked back out.

Seconds later, Micah thrust a bundle of fabric at me. “Get
dressed.”

“Screw you.”

“Come on, don’t get bitchy.”

“There is a demon lord in your living room slash bedroom.
What the fuck, Micah? You and he seem like old buddies. Who is he?”

I tried not to get distracted when Micah started to undress.
This sight still stole my breath. The wet plop of his shirt hit the floor and
reminded me of how wet my own clothes were.

“It’s complicated.” His pants came off.

I snapped my eyes shut, kicked off my heels. “Uncomplicate
it.”

“Fine. I was introduced to Castro when I was on the hunt for
the demon that tortured and killed my sister. Long story short, I helped him,
he helped me. We’ve remained in contact.”

“Who did you kill for him?” I asked.

In answer I got a blank stare.

“All right, don’t tell me. I don’t trust him, he is
too…charismatic. Aren’t demon lords all about world domination and faithful
minions?” I thought about that for a moment. “You aren’t a faithful minion, are
you?”

Micah shook his head. “God, no. Listen, we’re working on
that trust thing, right?”

“You make it difficult when you don’t answer my questions.
Tell me this. Is he dangerous?”

“We are all dangerous, Ella. It’s how we use our power that
makes us who we are. Castro stays to himself, protects his own. The Vault,
where we went tonight, is a safe haven for a lot of demons, the ones who don’t
want to get caught up in the interdimensional wars taking place between the
lesser lords. I’d trust him with my life and it’s why I’m going to ask him for
a favor. He knows things that could help us.”

What Micah was saying went against everything I had been
taught. Demon lords waged eternal wars with each other. They would stop at
nothing in order to find ways to expand their holdings into the outlying
dimensions. The underground club, with its roaming portal and devoted,
black-robed employees, was not just a club—it was a dimension in itself. On the
other hand, who was I to judge one demon from the next when the blood running
through my veins was far from human?

I pulled on the clothes Micah had grabbed for me—a tight-ribbed
tank top, a pair of bikini panties and cargo pants. All black, all clean and
all blessedly dry. With a couple of knives and a bra, I might even feel like
myself again.

Castro was sitting at the table when I followed Micah out of
the bathroom. The demon had one long leg crossed over his knee. He held a
tumbler of amber liquid. As he swirled the glass, the contents inside spun in a
fast, neat circle.

“A drink for the lady?” he asked and held out the still-spinning
liquid.

“God, no,” Micah and I answered at the same time.

The revolving slowed and Castro gave me a full smile, oozing
charm. I recognized the tilt of the lips. Just how much time had Micah spent
with Castro? How could I love Micah when I knew he had demon lords for drinking
buddies?

“How did you enjoy your Flaming Sunrise?” Castro asked.

My mouth watered at the mention. When my fangs gave a little
pulse, I concentrated on keeping them sheathed. “How do you know about that?”

“Ah, my dear, I know everything.” He looked to Micah and the
smile I’d been admiring turned a little wicked. “You two left in quite a hurry.”

With only one chair left at the table, I found a seat on the
narrow counter next to the kitchen sink. I hopped up, let my bare feet bang
against the hollow wooden panel beneath. The noise helped distract me from the
way Castro’s demonic presence leached under my skin.

“This favor you wish of me, what is it?” Castro asked.

Micah took the open chair, spun it around and dropped into
it with his chest resting against the slats. Casually, he opened the bottle of
scotch and poured a finger’s worth. He too, swirled the liquid and I was
beginning to wonder if the gesture was a requirement to drink it. What in the
hell was there to mix?

“There has been a new development. I need my mother’s
medical records as far back as you can get them.”

Castro took a delicate sip from his glass. “Given your
pedigree, I assume they are in the Agency Headquarters.”

“Is that a problem?” Micah asked.

“Of course not.” Castro took out a slender metal case and
flipped it open. He pulled out another black cigarette. Instead of using a
lighter, he pressed the tip against the top of his hand. I was both appalled
and impressed. The sweet scent of cloves filled the room.

After a moment, Micah spoke. “Why were you looking for me?”

“Ah, yes.” Castro took a drag off his cigarette. Smoke
streamed from his nostrils. “I’d heard some interesting information regarding
the lady friend you were always going on and on about.”

“That is interesting,” I said to Micah.

Castro went on as if I hadn’t spoken. “It appears the two of
you are in quite a bit of trouble.”

I stopped banging my feet and sat up straighter.

“Lizbeth, the vampire queen, has put a bounty out for Ella’s
death. I must say, the sum is quite extravagant.”

I jumped off the counter. My feet slapped the linoleum
floor. “What did I ever do to her? Hell, I’ve never even met her.”

Julian. This must have something to do with him. When I had
first met Julian he had mentioned the queen in passing, as someone he worked
for in his quest to rid the world of rogue vampires that would threaten her
majesty’s existence. It’s why he was working with the Agency. Or so he said at
least.

Castro looked at me, and it was remarkably similar to the
way Micah did when I said something stupid.

“What?” I asked.

“Lizbeth is Julian’s sire,” Castro explained.

My mouth fell open with my shock.

Micah blinked at me. “You didn’t know?”

“Julian never mentioned his sire by name. I only knew she
was female and that she was possessive and…”

The pieces sort of just fell together. Julian had cheated on
his sire, girlfriend, life partner—whatever—with me. He’d betrayed the queen. For
me
.

I felt ill.

With the new knowledge that I’d stolen Julian from the queen,
I could see the mess forming. Was Julian’s betrayal enough for her to want me
dead?

“All right. She’s pissed that I screwed her boy toy. That
was seven years ago, why lash out now?” I asked.

A muscle twitched in Micah’s jaw and I instantly regretted
my choice of words. In one fast tip, Micah swallowed his liquor. When he
slammed the empty glass on the table, the sound echoed in my head.

“Until last week, my dear, you weren’t truly a vampire. News
has traveled far and fast. Her boy toy, as you call it, has been her consort
for over four hundred years. And it wasn’t about the sex.” Castro eyed Micah’s
clenched fist on top of the table. “As a rule, vampires fuck whoever and
whatever they feel the urge for. Maybe you’re unaware, but vampires of the
court have all been sired by Lizbeth. Each one of her officers took an oath
never to sire another. The queen fears diluting the bloodlines and losing power
as her father did.”

“Her father, Vlad Tepes?” Micah asked.

“Precisely.” Castro looked pleased. “Lizbeth was born unto
him, not sired. She carried the genetic defect that made her vampire. For
centuries she was locked away, protected under heavy guard until her father’s
death. She became queen, protector of the race. Her blood is pure and there can’t
be more than a dozen or so that she has changed over. She has been quite strict
about it. None of her court has sired another…except for Julian.”

“So you’re saying the vampires Lizbeth sires are more
powerful because the blood is less diluted?”

“Your Agency does not educate their hunters very well on
what they are supposed to kill,” Castro remarked.

“We are taught how to kill. Indiscriminately,” Micah said
with a sneer I silently shared.

I brought us back to the conversation. “So Julian wasn’t
supposed to change me. Go after him. Not me.”

“When Lizbeth discovered what Julian had done, she was
furious. I hear he has spent most of the last seven years in a dungeon, chained
to a wall of silver. As the turning was not a success, she didn’t kill him. Out
of all of her vampires, she has an emotional attachment to Julian. He is her
favorite.”

“You said it wasn’t about the sex.”

“Do you know why vampires kill their own kind?” Castro
asked.

I realized that I knew almost nothing about vampires. I knew
the basics, the obvious mechanics, but this… Before I’d been turned, Julian was
secretive about their society. After I’d been bitten, he’d left.

I told him the part I knew. “Because like most demons, they
want their secret kept. They police their own kind, hence the Vampire Court.”

“Partly true,” Castro said. “Vampires differ from demons.”

Every time Castro said the word
vampire
he spit it
out. I wondered what his beef was with the undead.

“With the exception of Vlad and Lizbeth, they are not
capable of reproducing in the normal human fashion. Unlike the demon, they have
no beating heart. Vampires infect. The more they contaminate, the weaker the
infecting bloodline becomes. As Lizbeth feared, the bloodlines have become so
thin that most of the vampires you hunt are little more than mindless zombies,
crawling from their graves.”

Castro pointed to my eyes. “The eyes are the window to the
soul. The red sheen in the rogues’ eyes shows the only thing animating them is
the thirst for blood and death. Among the more powerful vampire lords, creating
another is forbidden, but it happens. And when it does, they multiply like
rats. The Vampire Court often intervenes.”

Rats. I remembered standing outside the red door earlier in
the evening, rats twining through my legs. I shuddered. “I think I understand
now. Now that I’ve…transitioned, she wants me dead because I’m weakening her?”

Castro shook his head and a gleam I didn’t like lit his
eyes. Succubus. Graveyard. I was having a nasty case of déjà vu. “Lizbeth’s
bloodline is pure, she has kept a tight leash on her court. You do not weaken
it, you challenge it. Your heart beats yet your eyes shine blue. You have fangs
yet you sustain yourself without blood. You’re heir to the throne. If others
discover there is an alternative…they might not be so inclined to follow the
old ways anymore.”

Surely I hadn’t heard him right. The sick knot slowly
tightening inside me moved to my throat. I swallowed it.

“Heir? I’m missing something. Because she is Julian’s sire
it makes me her grandsire or something?” I asked.

Castro pressed the palm of his hand between his eyes and
looked to the ceiling. “How you’ve made it this far in life is beyond me.
Child, who do you think formed the Shadow Agency? Why are hunters faster and
stronger than normal humans?”

I blinked at him and wondered if he wanted an answer or if
these were rhetorical questions.

Castro shook his head. “When Micah first started talking
about his little hunter I did some research. The information wasn’t really that
hard to find.”

Little hunter?
I looked to Micah with a raised
eyebrow. He shrugged and poured more liquor.

“The Agency was originally founded by Lizbeth’s uncle, Radu,
and her older brother, Jacob. Others joined as well, but you, my dear, are a
direct descendent of Jacob Tepes. The records were obscure and hard to dig up,
but I found the connection. I believe you inherited the gene that made Lizbeth
a living vampire. Julian activated it and now the current queen will make damn
sure you’re never in a position to take over her kingdom.”

In some roundabout way, Lizbeth was my…
aunt
? “Who
knows about this?”

“That’s for you to determine, not me.”

“Well, I don’t want to be queen. Can’t I just tell Lizbeth
that and things can go back to normal?” I glanced at Micah. “Well, close to
normal.”

Castro slid his arms over the table as he leaned closer. Excitement
shone in his eyes. In fact, they were glowing. Micah’s eyes got bright like
that too. I shook the thought away.

The demon waived his hand at my remark. “Moot point. Now, let
us move onto the next order of business. Since you know so little about
vampires and your lineage, tell me how much you have been able to find out
about demon mating.”

“We only know what my sister was able to translate from some
obscure texts,” I answered.

I didn’t just see Castro’s joy, I felt it. I’d heard of some
demons that were able to project and manipulate feelings. Was this Castro’s
power?

“The mating bond is complex, intense and immensely powerful.
I have no words to describe the beauty,” Castro said.

“I’d rather get back to Lizbeth,” I said.

“It is all connected, this trouble you’re in. Now, if you
keep interrupting I’m bound to get cross. You don’t want me to get cross, do
you?”

I shook my head. Castro grinned.

“Good. As I was saying, the bond between you and Micah
is…extraordinarily powerful. It is remarkable, really, breathtaking. The power,
the energy running between you intoxicates. I can see it sparking between you.
Every look. Every breath. You’re connected. Your sire has benefited from your
joining a great deal.”

“How exactly did Ella and I create this mating bond?” Micah
took a swig of liquor directly from the bottle.

I ignored Micah’s question and asked one of my own. “What
does this have to do with Julian?”

“The vampire has been gorging himself on the energy you two
create. I’ve never heard of it happening before, but Julian has grown so
powerful he has broken his bond with the queen. By all rights, he is master of
his own bloodline. He would have killed her if he could, but as you know—or
probably don’t—vampires cannot kill their sires. The bond does not allow it.
Anyway, Lizbeth is furious with Julian for his betrayal…and she blames you!”
Castro laughed with glee.

“That can’t be good,” Micah and I said at the same time.

“It is delightful!” Castro clapped. “Julian is a king coming
to collect his queen, only his queen has already been claimed by another. There
will need to be a duel! I haven’t seen a good duel in centuries.”

I had an awful thought.

“Did Julian know what would happen? I mean, is it possible
he hired the succubus to come after us?”

“She is not a succubus,” Castro said curtly.

Micah shook his head. “It was a succubus.”

Castro wiggled his finger back and forth. “No, she isn’t.
She is Guinevere.”

“How can you possibly know that?” I asked. This entire
conversation was making my head spin.

“Because,” Castro said simply, “she’s my sister.”

My mouth literally dropped open. Micah leapt up and sent his
chair skidding to the ground.

“If you had something to do with this…” Micah growled.

“Calm yourself, pretty boy. Of course I didn’t have anything
to do with this. If I had known it was even possible to do what was done, I
would have found a way to reap the benefits of your union myself. Please give
me some credit. I haven’t seen Guinevere in decades. She is a favorite consort
of Lucifer. She only comes to this dimension when she’s bored. One of her
specialties is soul walking. It is a very unique way to travel between the
dimensions without leaving the one you’re in. When you saw her, was she
corporeal?”

Micah clenched his jaw.

Castro gave a satisfied smile. “I see she is still doing the
same parlor tricks.”

“If she isn’t a succubus, how could she have…enchanted us
the way that she did?” I asked.

What I felt in the cemetery, in Micah’s hospital room, was
unlike anything that could have been natural. We spent four days having nonstop
sex. We could have killed ourselves. Not normal.

“My power is largely generated by emotion. I’m capable of
not only reading emotion, but I can influence it as well. Guinevere’s power is
similar, except she is only able to interpret lust. She can sense it,
manipulate it and gain strength from it.”

“Succubus,” Micah said.

“No. She does not drain or kill—she absorbs. There is a
difference.”

“Semantics.”

“Such hostility!” Castro frowned at Micah. “She removed your
bindings. Brought you to your mate. Most demons go their entire existence
without having the honor of bonding.”

“So you know, then?” Micah crossed his arms over his chest
and glared. Castro knew Micah was a demon and hadn’t said anything.
Interesting.

One of Castro’s shoulders lifted in a shrug. “I’ve known you
were part demon since the day we met.”

“You didn’t think to tell me?” Micah’s fists clenched.

“Some things are better left figured out for oneself. You
weren’t ready then.”

I looked back and forth between them.

“What makes you think I’m ready now?” Micah asked.

The uncertainty in his eyes didn’t sit well with me. We hadn’t
talked about the fact he had demon blood running through his veins. His father
probably wasn’t his father and Eli might not even be his brother.

“It’s simple.” Castro pointed to me. “You’ve found the other
half of your soul.”

Soul mates. Right. Gem had said something about that. Once I
started to laugh, I couldn’t seem to stop. Tears rolled out of my eyes and I
felt both Micah and Castro staring at me.

“I think she might still be drunk,” Micah muttered.

I sobered, but when I spoke it was between giggles. “Two
weeks ago we were about to kill each other and now we’re soul mates.” More laughter.
“I’m sitting in Micah’s crappy, cracker-box kitchen, barefoot, talking to a
demon lord.” The laughter faded. “Listen, your sister did something to us. I
don’t think Micah and I would have willingly bound ourselves together like
this. Hell, I can barely leave the room without my guts tangling. I have no
idea how I’m going to walk out that door and sleep in my own bed tonight. The
thought is giving me hives.”

“She hit you with a dose of lust, reaped the benefits, but
she didn’t force the bonding on you. Bonding is not a choice, it’s an instinct.
There is not a spell in the world that can influence that.”

“A dose of lust?” Micah said incredulously. “I fucked myself
into the hospital. If that wasn’t bad enough, the moment I saw Ella again, I
screwed her in the bathroom while her uncle and sister stood on the other side
of the door. That is more than a dose. I couldn’t control it, couldn’t stop it.”
His voice dropped to just above a whisper. “I hurt her.”

“The demon’s need to stake his claim on his mate is
powerful. A male in the midst of a mating is like a wild beast. Demons are
possessive, demanding and never quite sated. You, acting on demon instinct,
found a cave, dragged your mate to it and spent four days claiming and marking
her. I can smell you on her quite strongly.” Castro looked between us, daring
us to rebuke the facts. “When Ella’s uncle separated you, the newly awakened
demon inside you must have been furious. Everything that has happened in the
last week—fatigue, sleeplessness, lack of appetite—can be attributed to the
mating bond. Over time, the impact will lessen and you’ll find it easier to be
apart. For right now, I would advise Ella to move in with you. It is
unnecessary and dangerous for you to be apart right now.”

“What if we don’t want the bonding?” I asked.

Castro didn’t even blink. “Impossible.”

“So we’re stuck with each other?” Micah asked.

“Is it such a hardship?” Castro looked at me. “She is
beautiful and strong and complements you well. She is vampire, yes, but I’ll
forgive her that one sin.”

“You haven’t spent more than an hour with her.”

Just when I was starting to feel flattered. “Thanks, Micah.”

If Castro knew about the queen and Julian and the mating,
maybe… “Your sister called us the Vampire Queen and the Demon Son. What does it
mean?”

The demon lord’s eyes began to glow in excitement.
Apparently, I’d asked the right question.