The Lost (3 page)

Genesis, he thought. If he made this call he could finally get the wheels rolling on his project. To do so, however, meant betraying Adam, but that act had been set in stone long ago. It had never been a question of
if
Salvatore would be disloyal, just of when.

As he took a long last look at the SolTerra building, he noted that the shades on his son’s fifth-floor office suite were closed tightly. He imagined what Adam might be doing
inside. Was he playing with those weird balls of energy or just reading a report from one of his engineers? Probably the energy, he thought, recalling the state Adam had been in when Salvatore had arrived—all charged up with power.

Power that could be deadly to someone, which was why Salvatore must act now, before anyone got hurt.

Using the speed dial, he phoned the man who had come to him barely a month ago, claiming to know about his son and the unique abilities he possessed. Salvatore had been dubious at first, until the man had given him a little demonstration, a private light show disturbingly similar to Adam’s, from the orbs of energy to the intense aura and glowing eyes. Then the man had teleported from one side of the room to the other. If Adam possessed that power, Salvatore had not yet witnessed it.

He had gone to meet the man—Alexander Sombrosa—in his New York office, or rather, office building, located on Sixth Avenue in the heart of the high-rent business area close to Central Park. Either the Sombrosa money was capable of buying a great deal of information or one of Sombrosa’s people had used his powers to break into the CIA building and obtain copies of a number of Salvatore’s CIA files, including a dummy file for Genesis. The real one was in Salvatore’s home and contained the details of how he had planned to use Adam to create another race of individuals with Adam’s incredible capabilities.

“Well?” was all that Alexander said as he answered the phone.

“I mentioned the possibility of meeting one of my agents to Adam.”

“And how was that received?” Alexander asked, the cultured tone of his voice droll.

Annoyed by Alexander’s seemingly cavalier attitude, Salvatore replied, “Neutral would be the best description.”

Silence followed and Salvatore could picture the fine Mr. Sombrosa in his office, pacing high above the crowds in a suit that likely cost more than Salvatore made in a month. Sombrosa’s plans were not so far removed from Salvatore’s. Bring Adam back into the fold of his people and have him mate with one of their more powerful females to secure the continuation of their race.

Salvatore suspected Alexander was pondering his next move, as if he and Adam were nothing more than pawns on a chessboard. Salvatore wasn’t a man who liked getting played. Deciding to take command, he said, “I’d rather not push right now. Adam can be stubborn.”

“Just remember that time, while not critical, is of importance. The growth of Adam’s power is logarithmic now as the Equinox approaches. He will need our help to master it and keep him from harming others,” Alexander replied, sounding as pedantic as a professor bored with his own lecture.

If I believe you, Salvatore thought, still uneasy about the alliance he had formed with virtual strangers. He had not done it lightly, but joining with them could open up a world of possibilities for Adam’s future and for his as well.

“I understand the urgency, Alexander, but I know my son—”

“Not your son, Salvatore. He belongs to us,” Alexander retorted sharply, finally displaying some emotion.

Anger rose quickly. He might have taken Adam, but his reasons had not been selfish. At least, not at first.

“When
my son
is ready, he will return home.”

Determined to have the last word, he hung up.

Rich and powerful men like Alexander Sombrosa always wanted to call the shots, but this time he would play by Salvatore’s rules. That meant waiting until Salvatore thought Adam was good and ready to meet the woman who would help Salvatore launch Genesis. Until then, Alexander and his crew would have to wait.

Alexander stared at the phone, rage building inside him until the emotion overwhelmed his control. A blast of power fried the cell phone in his hand and sent a shower of sparks flying into the air.

“I gather it didn’t go well,” Maya said with a smirk as she sashayed toward him and then leaned her delicious derriere on the edge of his desk.

His son’s fiancée was dressed all in black, from the skin-tight leather pants to the diaphanous see-through shirt thrown over a lace camisole that showed off her marvelous endowments. The outfit screamed “Touch me” and he wasn’t about to disappoint.

He tossed his melted cell phone onto his desk and swung around to stand in the Vee formed by her open-legged stance.

She glanced up at him, her eyes as black as her outfit and the long silky strands of her hair. A murky red-black aura surrounded her, powerfully large. From the moment he had slipped into the space of her aura, her life force had embraced him. Now as he butted his hips against her core, the energy grew ever more demanding as it awaited another kind of joining.

He cradled her gorgeous heart-shaped face in his hands and whispered, “The human could not convince his son to see you.”

“Maybe because I should be the one doing the
convincing,” she said and smiled again, a confident sexy smile that communicated awareness of her power over men in general and, of course, over him. Maya’s unique ability was manipulating sexual energy and she used it quite capably to bend most men to her will.

She released a little bit of that power now, wanting to control him by creating need in him—the clan’s Añaru. If she had been a Hunter man and shown such arrogance, he might have killed her for it. But he wasn’t about to miss this opportunity, since it was clear she had just fed and his own life force needed recharging.

“Really? You think you’re that irresistible?” he teased, playing with her the way a cat toyed with a mouse.

“Your son thinks so,” she said as she lowered her hand and cupped him through the fabric of his suit. He sucked in a breath as her skilled hands aroused him and she sent a wave of energy skittering through his body, nearly buckling his knees.

“Do not play with me, Maya,” he warned, only willing to let her push him so far.

Her gaze slipped for a second to where she was busy giving him a hand job, then back to meet his, that knowing smile in place again. “Forgive me, Añaru. I did not mean to displease. Maybe a little punishment is demanded?”

As if to prove her point, she slipped off the desk, turned and tilted up her backside, ready for a spanking.

Alexander nearly came right then and there. He was past the first two triads of his life and his control was no longer what it should be, especially with his life force needing a charge. But he wasn’t going to pass up a moment like this, even if she was his son’s fiancée and the bait for the stupid human’s Light Hunter son.

“I am your Añaru and you will obey me. Take off your pants,” he said and slapped her backside playfully.

Maya grinned again and with an enticing shimmy and wriggle, skimmed down her leather pants, but not before giving him a peek at the tiny thong beneath before it, too, came off. Leaning on the desk, she spread her legs, providing a view of her cleanly shaven sex, glistening with moisture. As she glanced over her shoulder at him, she dared another inviting little wiggle of her hips.

“My Añaru. I live to obey,” she almost purred.

He groaned and his erection jerked. He grabbed it to contain himself as he quickly freed himself from his pants and, with no further preliminaries, drove into her. As their bodies merged, the energy flowed around them and between them, insinuating itself into their lovemaking.

She gasped as he filled her, and the moan that followed was one of pure feminine pleasure. He pumped into her, her soft little cries driving him onward as he rode her. Pounding himself into her, he reached up and grabbed her breasts, squeezing painfully, but she urged him on.

“Añaru, more. Please more,” she said and he sought out the tight nubs of her nipples and pinched them hard.

“Añaru,” Maya cried out as a climax ripped through her and milked him to his own stunning release.

He dropped onto her, pinning her to the hard surface of the desk, his breathing heavy, as he said, “You are a bitch, Maya.”

She laughed, unfazed by his comment, probably because it was true. With a gentle push of energy, she lifted him from her body and skipped away to rearrange her clothes.

Alexander glanced at her and grew aroused once
again, but tamped down his desire. She had fucked the Añaru and not him, Alexander, but the Añaru would not be satisfied with a simple ride.

“Come here, Maya,” he said and her eyes widened in surprise at the harsh command in his voice.

“Have I displeased?” she said with a little-girl pout on her magnificent face.

“I am hungry,” he said, and nothing further was needed.

As a Shadow Hunter before their Añaru, she knew exactly what that meant. With a defiant tilt, she said, “I just fed—”

“I know.” She had clearly drained some human of life energy, judging by the strength of the power that sang through her, as tempting as her body. He laid his hand on the bare skin just above the swell of her breast and focused. Little tendrils of light sprang from his hand, forming a web over the smooth, creamy surface of her skin and then digging deep into her flesh. Like the spider for which the Añaru had been named, the web ensnared her life force, sucking it from her body along the fine strands of light, feeding him with its power.

She moaned then, but with pain, as he transferred her vitality to himself, restoring his energy and driving away the patches of pox-marked skin hidden beneath the fine wool of his very expensive suit.

As he watched, a pox mark erupted at a spot close to his life-sucking tendrils. Even though she had recently recharged, it was not enough to sustain him and keep her own illness at bay. The smallpox virus that had incorporated itself into the Shadow Hunters’ DNA when the conquistadores had landed in the New World needed constant
feeding to be kept under control. The only way to keep the illness away for any length of time was to feed from a Quinchu, one of the Light Hunters’ high priests and priestesses.

Maya realized the pox was emerging, too, as she glanced down and saw the first ugly red pustule form. Her eyes widened with dismay and she laid her hand on his chest and pleaded, “I beg you, Añaru.”

If it had been anyone else, the plea would have gone unheard. But it was Maya, and she was key for his plans for Salvatore’s stolen son. He pulled back the web of power, interrupting his feeding. He would find someone else later that night to fulfill what remained of his unsatisfied need. Maybe one of the unsuspecting humans down below on the city streets.

“Thank you, Añaru,” she said as she stepped away as if to make sure he would not resume his snacking.

“Alexander. My name is Alexander,” he said, almost weary of his role as the head of the local Shadow Hunter clan. Unlike his father before him, Alexander cared little for the job of governing. He only enjoyed the benefits that flowed from it. Over the centuries his Shadows had accumulated wealth with their assorted powers, providing him with a lavish lifestyle and sensual pleasures like his little tryst with Maya.

She narrowed her eyes and considered him, stepped close and cradled his jaw. Passing her thumb across his lips, she said, “Until later, Alexander.” She brushed a quick kiss on his lips and left in a hurry, clearly not wanting to risk that he would change his mind and start feeding from her once more.

Alexander watched her go and then sat back down at
his desk. The smell of fried electrical bits reminded him of the earlier phone call and he considered his options.

He could kidnap Salvatore’s Light Hunter son. If the rumors were true, he was the son of a powerful Quinchu couple, which meant that he likely possessed their great strength.

But Alexander wanted Adam to be cooperative. Getting him together with Maya at the right time was key to what both he and Salvatore wanted—a new generation of Hunters filled with amazing abilities. With Adam’s Equinox upon him as he neared the end of his first triad, Alexander hoped that a union with Maya would produce a child that could be used to eliminate the human pox that had contaminated his race millennia earlier and stolen so much from them.

But success in that mission meant partnering with Salvatore, who had a similar wish for Adam. If their plan didn’t work, Alexander could just suck the life from Adam and fuck Maya again himself, perhaps breeding that amazing power into whatever little brat came from such a union.

The latter would be the easier thing, and Alexander recognized that, sadly, easier was what he usually did. It was one of the reasons he and his son Christopher were so distant.

Christopher was more like his grandfather, industrious and overachieving. His son loathed Alexander’s easygoing and sometimes careless ways, believing that they were leading to the decline of their Shadow Hunter clan.

His conscience pricked by the likely condemnation that would result if he acted rashly, Alexander tabled the thought of draining Adam. If there was to be an end to the curse staining the Shadow Hunters, it would be through
him and through Salvatore’s Genesis project, so he cautioned himself to be patient.