Masquerade (Vampires Realm Romance Series Book 10) (32 page)

Sophis was again thankful that she couldn’t blush. She took Vivek from Hyperion as he manoeuvred him so his head was resting on her thighs and stroked his dark hair, smoothing the damp spots from his brow. He was burning up and the feel of his clammy skin brought more tears to her eyes. She sniffed them back, unwilling to allow her fears to make her weak. She needed to be strong for Vivek’s sake.

“Don’t die on me,” she whispered and focused entirely on him, blocking out the vampires watching her. She placed her hand on his cheek, leaned over, and pressed a kiss to his forehead. Tears ran down her cheek, falling onto his, and tumbled down to his jaw. “Please, Vivek. I love you so much.”

His eyes fluttered and her heart leapt.

“That is more like it,” Hyperion said and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Do not fear. I have more experience than all of your medical team combined and an ace up my sleeve, so to say. I owe you for your discretion about certain matters. Your love will be safe.”

The sound of tearing material caused her to look up and she raised both of her eyebrows. Hyperion had torn the sleeve off his dark shirt and was using it to bind Vivek’s wound. It would stop the bleeding, but it wouldn’t remove the poison or give him the strength to continue his fight against it. Hyperion smiled, revealing his long fangs, and she gasped when he sank them into his wrist without flinching. He pressed the wound to Vivek’s mouth and he instantly started drinking. Sophis’s head swam from the strong scent of Hyperion’s powerful blood pervading the air.

She thought she was hallucinating when black lightning leapt upwards from the ground behind Hyperion and two shapes formed within the mass of crackling bolts. Had the witch from the hunter’s side come to attack them?

She grabbed the dagger and Hyperion snatched hold of her wrist. He smiled at her.

Sophis looked up and blinked.

“I sensed your blood flowing.” It was the raven haired beauty from the ball and the man with the purple eyes. “Do not be angry that I returned.”

“I had rather counted on it,” Hyperion said.

The woman lifted the skirt of her black gown and knelt beside him, her expression docile and doll-like as she looked down at Vivek, her head tilting to one side as though she was curious, and then turned her attention to Hyperion.

“Will the man die, Brother?” she said, her voice gentle and delicate.

“I have made a promise to the lady who loves him that he will not, my beloved,” Hyperion said and the woman looked at her, her purple eyes large and inquisitive. “Perhaps you could do something to guarantee your brother does not break that promise?”

Ineru nodded. What did she intend to do? Hyperion took his wrist away from Vivek’s mouth and Vivek snarled again, writhing against her. Sophis felt a glimmer of his pain through where she touched his face and held him closer, wrapping her arms around his neck, clutching him to her and afraid that the woman might harm him.

“Sophis,” Vivek murmured and his eyelids fluttered again. He thrashed his head side to side and growled as he arched off the ground, his body going taut. “So warm... like fire... so hot around me... want to be one... be inside—”

Sophis clamped a hand down over his mouth, eyes wide and horrified when she realised that he wasn’t talking about the poison. Ineru looked equally as shocked. Hyperion grinned.

“I believe now would be a good time to help him,” he said and Ineru tore her purple gaze away from Vivek and looked up at the dark glowering man beside her.

He nodded, moved to the other side of Hyperion, and eased down to kneel beside Vivek. He held his hand above the wound on Vivek’s thigh and Sophis stared at it. Either the strong intoxicating scent of Hyperion’s blood was really affecting her mind or Vivek’s blood was flowing backwards, leaving the area around his wound and the strip of shirt that bound it dry. The man lowered his hand, placing it over the bandage, and Vivek lurched off the ground and roared.

He sank back and the man removed his hand.

“It is done,” the man said, his accent distinctly British, and stood. He dusted off the knees of his black trousers and held his hand out to Ineru. She stood with his assistance, tiptoed and pressed a kiss to his lips.

“Thank you,” she whispered against his mouth and he wrapped his arms around her. Black lightning rose from the ground, surrounding them, and Ineru looked down at Hyperion. “I would like to stay. It seems you are having fun... but I understand it is not yet time for me to return. The risk is too great and River wishes me away from battle until he has regained his strength.”

She reached down and brushed her slender fingers across Hyperion’s cheek, her eyes bright with affection. “Be careful, Brother.”

Hyperion nodded and the lovers disappeared.

Sophis’s gaze snapped down when Vivek murmured.

“I feel like hell.”

She smiled, tears flowing down her cheeks, and he opened his eyes and looked up at her. He slowly lifted his hand and wiped them away.

“Why am I lying on the ground with several important people around me?”

She let slip a laugh. “They saved your life for me.”

“Can you stand and fight?” Hyperion said and Vivek frowned, was still for a few seconds, and then nodded. “Good, there are many hunters left to kill and the one who shot you is still out there. I suggest that vengeance be your medicine of choice. I hear it tastes rather sweet.”

Hyperion stood, smiled at Sophis, and then signalled Winter. The man rose to his feet, picked up his spear, and both of them were gone, disappeared into the fray again. Lilith nodded and left with Lincoln.

Sophis felt Vivek’s eyes on her. She looked down at him and helped him to sit up and then stand. He looked himself over, flexing his fingers and rolling his shoulders, testing himself.

“How do you feel?” she said, half her attention on the fight, keeping an eye out for Aleksis and Izabella. She had no doubt that now Hyperion and the other powerful vampires had moved away that the two hunters would be closing in again.

His eyebrows slowly rose and he touched his bloodied lips. “Stronger than usual.”

“I feel a little dizzy from the scent of his blood. I can’t imagine how it feels to drink it.”

Vivek removed the makeshift bandage from his thigh and fingered the hole in his trousers, frowning at it. The wound was gone. Whoever River was, he could use magic.

Vivek looked up at her and smiled when she handed the dagger to him. “I could let you have a taste of it through my blood later when we’re alone in my room again and all this is over. Are you ready?”

Sophis picked up her sword and nodded.

“Let’s end this and have our vengeance,” she said and slipped her hand into his. “Together.”

V
ivek felt invincible.

Was this how Hyperion felt all the time?

If it was then it was little wonder that he wasn’t bothered by the Law Keepers and nothing threatened him, not even a battle like the one raging around them. Vivek caught sight of Hyperion through the fight. He was relentless, his black spear a blur of movement as he sliced his way through a group of nine hunters with ease, felling them all. Commander Winter remained close to him, killing as many hunters as his lord, and from time to time they called out numbers to each other. They were keeping tally. Was this nothing but a game to them?

Vivek defended himself with the dagger he grasped, swiftly bringing it up to cut across the wrist of a female hunter as she lunged at him with a stake. He turned, ducking beneath her arm, and came around behind her. She screamed as he plunged the blade deep into her back and then yanked it out again.

Sophis finished her off, her sword nothing more than a flash of silver in the low light as it swung past him and decapitated the hunter. She glanced at him, their eyes meeting briefly, and then moved on, attacking the next hunter. The male gave a low grunt of frustration when Sophis dodged his sword and managed to cut across his thigh with her own. She stepped back to avoid the thrust of his blade and then brought her own down, burying it deep into the man’s shoulder. He cried out and Vivek silenced him, running his dagger across the man’s throat from behind him. Vivek pushed him away and he slumped to the ground with the female hunter.

The dead and dying littered the mansion grounds now and they had finally stopped coming. The tide was turning in his side’s favour and it wouldn’t be long before all the hunters were either dead or had fled the battle. He hadn’t seen Aleksis and Izabella anywhere since Izabella had tried to shoot Sophis.

He glanced at her as she fought close beside him, moving in such perfect synchronisation that it felt as though they were going through the motions of a routine rather than reacting to the battle on instinct. She was looking for the twin hunters too, scouring the throng for a sign of them whenever she had the chance. Had they already fled, leaving their comrades to die while they lived to fight another day?

Vivek still couldn’t understand the purpose of this battle. What did the hunters expect to gain from it? Was it really so they could overwhelm the strong vampires using sheer numbers alone and kill them, weakening the bloodlines?

Was there really an insider amongst the vampires fighting around him?

He singled out Deshal amongst the fight. His bloodline’s Chosen Son was fighting hard against the hunters. Why would he do such a thing if he wanted the hunters to win?

Vivek blocked a sword as it cut through the dimness aimed directly for his neck. The clash of his dagger with the sword rang out over the din of battle. Before he could break free and kill the dark haired male hunter, Sophis was in front of him, her sword plunged deep into the man’s chest. She brought her foot up, pressed it into the man’s stomach, and kicked him off her blade, sending him tumbling across the ground.

Two men from Vivek’s team of guards leapt on the man, clawing and biting him. It wasn’t the first time Vivek had seen it happen during the fight. Many younger vampires were taking advantage of the battle, using it as an opportunity to feed to their heart’s content and restore any blood they had lost.

Deshal broke past Vivek and Sophis, and Vivek frowned when he saw Ella bringing up the rear, her blonde hair knotted at the back of her head and her sword a swift flashing arc as she protected their Chosen Son.

Vivek paused.

Deshal was more than just their Chosen Son to Ella.

He was her sire.

Vivek ran after them.

“Where are you going?” Sophis called out to him and he looked back at her across the bloodied open patch of grass. The battle raged on around them, a cacophony of metal clashing and screams of agony.

“Something isn’t right.” He motioned for her to follow him. When he started to run again, Ella and Deshal were gone. He scoured the fight in all directions and spotted them heading back towards the mansion.

Hunters and vampires fought between Vivek and them, blocking his view. They stuttered, disappearing and reappearing in gaps that opened as the two sides clashed. Vivek’s senses sounded an alarm and everything slowed down. Silver threads highlighted every hunter and vampire in the area, dancing around them, but they were brightest where his senses had now focused.

Aleksis.

The man came out of nowhere, ducking and dodging through the fray, cutting down weaker vampires as he passed, heading straight for Deshal and Ella.

Vivek sprang into action, sprinting towards them, but he wasn’t quick enough. He saw Deshal turn towards Aleksis, grab Ella’s arm and push her behind him to protect her, and then Aleksis’s sword was heading straight for Deshal’s chest.

A scream rose high above the noise of battle. Female not male.

Vivek shoved two guards aside and pushed past a werewolf to reach the scene. Deshal lay wounded on the ground, Ella’s hands clutching his, but it was Cara who was standing with Aleksis’s sword skewering her chest. She gasped and wheezed, trying to pull it out of her. Her bloodied fingers slipped off the blade and she fell to her knees. Sophis went to her and Vivek ran at Aleksis.

The dark hunter smiled at him and another scream pierced his ears. His head shot around, fear clutching his heart, digging sharp claws into it. Sophis.

She was safe, holding Cara close in her protective embrace. It was Ella who had screamed this time. She sat next to Deshal on the grass, tears streaming down her cheeks, eyes fixed on the slim shaft of wood protruding from his chest, directly over his heart.

Izabella.

Vivek snarled and turned in all directions, searching for her. Both hunters were gone again, disappeared into the battle. He looked back at Ella and then down at Deshal as he began to decay.

Their Chosen Son was dead.

If Aleksis and Izabella had killed him, then he couldn’t be a traitor.

Vivek paused next to Sophis, who looked up at him and shook her head. Cara wouldn’t survive. She was too young and had lost too much blood. The scent of it was thick in the air along with the smell of death. Ella looked up at him and he crouched beside her. She still clutched Deshal’s hand in hers even though it was already nothing but ash and bones.

Seth and two of his team ran into the clearing, paused only for a second to take in the sight of Cara dying in Sophis’s arms and Deshal rapidly decaying, and then broke apart to fight the hunters around them, keeping them at bay. For the first time in his life, Vivek was thankful for Seth’s presence. It would give him much needed time to question Ella and discover the truth about everything.

“Ella, do you know what happened the night of the first attack?” Vivek said and she stared at him, her eyes round and unblinking, tears falling in rapid succession down her cheeks. He sensed Sophis stand behind him and heard her enter the fight again, protecting both him and Ella as he searched for answers. “Ella, I need to know. Lorna said she saw Deshal at the gate, and that she thought he had opened it.”

Ella blinked at last. “Impossible.”

“Why?”

Her voice came out broken and hoarse, a bare whisper that he struggled to hear. “Deshal was with me when the attack started. We had walked to the woods... near the lake... and we were kissing there. By the time we reached the fight... it was over, Vivek.”