Surrendering: A Regent Vampire Lords Novel, Book #1 (19 page)

After the brutal murder of his entire village, his only family, he’d tried to figure out how a single vampire could have possibly killed everyone and escaped unscathed. Decades later he discovered Xavier had a very powerful gift that no one was aware of because they didn’t know his lineage.

Vampires had many skills superior to humans. All vampires could compel. All vampires had superior strength, speed and agility. And each vampire bloodline possessed a unique skill, passed down only within their bloodline, such as reading thoughts, emotions, flashing or telekinesis. His was the ability to make someone believe an illusion was real.

It couldn’t be possible, but he knew of only one bloodline that boasted the particular skill that Kate had demonstrated earlier.

C
hapter 31

Kate

Kate tried opening her eyes. They felt heavy, the inside of her eyelids like sandpaper against her tender eyeballs. Her head hurt like a mother and she reached up to feel a knot on the side of her skull. What happened to her?

She managed to crack one lid and look around. She was in Dev’s house.
Dev?
Oh crap. Everything came hurtling back so fast, she forgot about the wound and sat up without thinking.
Oh God.
Bad, bad idea. A thousand needles stabbed her skull and forced her back down, groaning in agony.

Dev came rushing out of the bathroom to her side. “You’re finally awake.”
Thank God. Thank God.
He cautiously sat on the edge of bed, like he wanted to touch her, but didn’t dare.

Oh no, it’s happening again.
She was hearing him in her head. He most undeniably had not said
Thank God
aloud. What the hell was happening? It all started when she came to this godforsaken house. Tears pricked her eyes.

“How are you feeling, love?” Dev crooned.

How am I feeling? Hmmm…let’s see. Scared, confused, completely weirded out. Ready to fucking lose it. Instead she settled for, “My head hurts a little, but I’ll be okay.”

Dev’s eyebrows creased, his forehead furrowing. “Okay, good. That’s good. Are you, uh, hungry, or thirsty maybe?”

“I could use a glass of water.”

He reached over to the nightstand to pluck up a glass of water, gently handing it to her. “Thanks,” she murmured.

After draining the water, he took the empty glass and set it down. He reached for her hands, but hesitated before actually grabbing them, as if asking for permission. She didn’t give it so he dropped them.

They spoke over each other.

“What’s going on, Dev?”

“What do you remember?”

They both chuckled. She winced.
Note to self. Don’t laugh.

“Why don’t you tell me what you remember first, Kate. I’ll try to fill in the holes.”

Kate started shaking her head, but the pain made her stop. She had a whopping headache. “Can you get me some aspirin, please?”

“Yes, sure. I’m sorry. I should have offered that.” He disappeared into the bathroom with the empty water glass, reappearing a minute later with the aspirin and a fresh glass of water.

“Thanks.”

After she’d taken the medicine, he asked, “Okay, let’s start with what you remember.”

“I’m not really sure I quite remember what I saw, or what I think I saw. It’s all a little fuzzy. I think maybe I have a concussion or something.” What she thought she remembered didn’t make a lick of sense.

“Just try me, okay?” He added with a small smile, “Please.”

“Okay. Well, I woke up and you weren’t in bed and I was a little thirsty so I went downstairs to get some water.” She left out the hurt feelings and the shots of tequila, as she didn’t want to sound like clingy stalker girl, even though she suspected she was leaning that way.

“Then I was kind of awake and all of the lights were on, which I thought was odd in the middle of the night, so I went to the game room to see if I could find Manny or Ren to play pool with.” Dev stiffened slightly, his lips drawing into a thin line at the mention of the two men.

“Go on.”

“And no one was there. But I…I…”

“You what?”

She looked down at the bed. In a small voice, she confessed, “I heard a noise.”

“Okay. What kind of noise?”

“A whooshing sound.”

“A whooshing sound. What exactly is a
whooshing
sound?”

“See. I told you I’m not even sure if all of this happened. Just…never mind,” she said in exasperation.

“No, I’m sorry. Go on…you heard a
whooshing
sound.”

“Yes, I heard a…sound. It sounded maybe like a flowing river or strangely enough like blood pounding in my ears, or something like that. I don’t know.” Dev jumped off the bed and stood, brows drawn together.

“And I just knew it was coming from below me. I felt, I don’t know…compelled somehow to seek out the source of this noise, so I searched the rest of the house for a staircase downstairs and didn’t find one. I ended up back in the game room, where the noise was the loudest. I searched until I, quite accidentally, found a hidden entrance behind the pool rack and I followed the noise downstairs. This is where things get really fuzzy.”

She paused, and he nodded for her to continue. “That’s when I found you, Ren, and others that I haven’t seen before. I thought maybe one of them was attacking me, so I turned and ran and then I remember you in front of me suddenly on the stairs. I don’t know how you got there so fast. I lost my balance and after that…I don’t remember anything.”

Dev started pacing at the foot of the bed. “How did you find the boardroom?”

“The what?”

“The boardroom. That’s where we were. It was pitch black down there. How did you find it?”

“I…I don’t know. I just followed the noise. It was pretty dark, but I could see well enough, I guess. It was kind of spooky how quickly my eyes seemed to adjust to the dark.”

Oh Christ.

“Why did you say that?”

Dev looked at her questioningly. “Say what?”

“Oh Christ. Why did you say that? What’s the matter?”

“You heard that?”

“Yeeesss? “ Her eyes narrowed. “Why?”

Looking a bit somber, Dev came back and sat on the foot of the bed. “Nothing.

It’s nothing. Explain the noise more.”

Kate threw her hands in the air, frustrated. “I don’t know, Dev. It sounded like whooshing. I don’t know how else to explain it. I’ve never heard anything like it before.”

“Can you hear it now?”

“No.”

“Are you sure? Listen. Close your eyes and concentrate. Can you hear it?” Kate stared at him with her head cocked, an
are-you-serious
look on her face.

“Kate, please. This is important.”

“Fine.” She closed her eyes and concentrated. “I…I can’t hear anything.”

“Let’s do an experiment.”

He stood and grabbed her hand, scooping her up in his arms. “Come.”

“Where are we going? I can walk, you know.”

He ignored her, carrying her down to the game room. “Do you hear it now?”

“No…I—
wait
. Put me down.” Reluctantly he complied. Then she barely whispered, “Yes. Yes, I hear it again. What the
hell
is that?”

C
hapter 32

Dev

“Ren, is everyone in the basement?”

“Yes. In their sleeping quarters.”

Dev shut his eyes and listened, letting everything else fall away. All he could hear was blood being pushed through the arteries and veins of his friends in the lower levels.
Holy shit.
Was that what she heard? If so, how was that possible? Only born vampires had hearing that keen. Bonded mates would not possess that ability, at least not for decades. He didn’t hear it anymore as he was so used to the sound after so many centuries.

This made no sense. Keen hearing and eyesight, hearing his thoughts before they were bonded, the super-ability of stasis? Those were all vampire traits…

“I don’t know, but I’ll check it out after we get you back upstairs, okay?”

“Ren, when will the blood test results be back on Kate?”

“Big D said it’d take a few hours, so it should be anytime now.”

“Kate has regained consciousness. Contact him and see if he can speed things along.”

“Of course.”

Dev put his hand on the small of Kate’s back, leading her back out of the room. “Why don’t we get you back upstairs? You took a nasty fall. Do you remember anything else about the men downstairs?”

“No. But why were they here?”

Uh oh. Time for some ’splainin’. “Why were who where?”

Kate laughed, wincing slightly as she grabbed her head. “Dev, for someone so articulate, that didn’t make a lick of sense. Why were all of those men in the basement? And for that matter, why is there a secret basement with creepy, medieval tunnels and a bunch of underground rooms anyway?”

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Are you hungry?”

“Are you evading?”

He chuckled. “No, I promise. I just thought maybe it would be a good idea to get something in your stomach first. You didn’t eat much yesterday and we have a lengthy discussion in front of us.”

“Okay. I guess I am a little hungry. But after that, you need to start talking.”

He nodded once and put his hand on the small of her back to usher her toward the kitchen.

___________

Kate

They sat at the kitchen island and ate fresh fruit medley and a chocolate muffin so good it could rival any orgasm. They ate in silence, and while Dev seemed distracted, it was a comfortable silence. Kate liked comfortable silence. Not every minute needed to be filled with meaningless words and it was rare to find someone with whom you could just…
be
.

She was still a little groggy, her head pounding a bit from the fall and the strange noise, but a memory was on the fringes of her brain. Something important about last night was trying to surface but wouldn’t quite come. It made her head hurt worse to think about it. She would remember eventually.

After they finished their meals, Dev cleaned up and put their dishes away.

“Let’s go back upstairs.” He held out his hand to her.

She nodded and took it. The electric charge that was always present between them ran up her arm and through her whole body. She couldn’t understand why she was so drawn to him, but it was clear something had changed in her since she’d met him. Things seemed crisper, sharper, clearer. It was odd and unnerving and she couldn’t understand it really, let alone explain it. Her senses seemed…supersized. That was the best way she could think to describe it.

They settled in the lounge area of her bedroom, Kate on a leather chair, Dev on the loveseat, and she waited for Dev to start the conversation. She was nervous, as if something was about to happen that would change the course of her life forever.

Dramatic much?

“So…” He looked nervous and was very fidgety. Not at all like the self-assured Dev she’d come to know over the last few days.

“So…just spill it, Dev.”

“Okay.” He stopped, staring at her with an intensity she hadn’t seen before. “I am vampire and you are my Moira, my fated mate.”

She frowned at him, her brows and forehead creasing. Then she started laughing. Bend over your arm, belly laughing, until tears leaked out of her eyes. Her head still hurt, but she couldn’t stop herself from laughing.

“I’m serious, Kate. This isn’t a joke.”

She laughed until she couldn’t catch her breath. “Oh… Okay. Yeah, right. Good one.”
What is he playing at?

“Kate, I’m happy to give you a demonstration.”

Still laughing, she tried catching her breath, gazing at him. “Woooo… Okay.”

“Okay, what? You believe me?”

She sat back in the chair, arms crossed over her chest. Still chuckling. “Okay, give me a demonstration.”

A slow grin spread across Dev’s face and he rose from the loveseat, stalking toward her slowly, like a lion does its prey. God, he moved with such elegance it was mesmerizing.

She stopped laughing, her heart beating fast. The look on his face was pure lust, total desire, and she immediately became wet between her legs. How did he do that to her?

He spoke in a low, gravelly voice. “I can hear your heart beating, Kate. Your pulse has skyrocketed. Your arousal has spiked.” Her breaths were coming fast and choppy as he slowly came closer. Of course her pulse had skyrocketed. He was near. He knew what he did to her, so that didn’t mean diddly.

“I can smell your arousal, love. I can
always
smell it. It drives me crazy with want.” His eyes…they started glowing and she could see that his incisors had lengthened as well.

Oh shit.
Last night’s missing piece came rushing back so fast it almost knocked her over. She shrank back in the chair, bringing her feet to her butt, curling her arms around her legs.