Trapped (9 page)

“Jessye!”

Rysen was already out of bed and moving toward the bathroom. Stopping at the doorway, he turned to her. “Come, let’s shower. There is something you need to see.”

She shuddered at the serious tone of his voice. She felt Jessye’s power flex again, calling to her. Despite the thinning connection between her and Jessye, as well as the rest of her clan, she still felt the call for help. She got out of bed and followed Rysen into the bathroom.

A few minutes later, she followed him downstairs. He led her to the dining room and pulled the curtain back from the window. She gasped as she saw Jessye on her knees, covered in bruises. She rushed forward, wanting to crash through the glass to get to her blood mother and the current leader of her clan.

“No, you can’t pass the barrier. I will go. I wanted you to see what was going on.”

Rysen launched into a brief explanation, and Kit patiently listened, resisting the urge scream and rush out of the inn, seal be damned. Anger roiled inside her, clashing with the sense of helplessness she felt at not being able to engage the enemy.

She also felt worried for Rysen. His brother was out there. Rysen now had to deal with Syrus having orchestrated this. She couldn’t imagine what he was going through at that very moment, but she could see in his face he didn’t want to discuss it. “You’ll talk to me after this. You will tell me everything.”

Rysen grabbed her hand and lifted it, brushing his lips against hers. “Of course. From you, I cannot hide.”

He looked so vulnerable. Her heart contracted, and her breath caught in her throat.

“I know it will take time,” he said, “but I hope one day you will trust me.”

She nodded, but she wasn’t sure if she could do that. “What are we going to do about Jessye?”

“I will negotiate an exchange. Jessye for myself.”

A shiver of fear raced up her back. She wanted Jessye safe, but she didn’t want Rysen in harm’s way. She couldn’t help but wonder if it was his blood in her veins that was making her feel this way. Her hand rose, rubbing against the tattoo. In response, the mark flared to life and the prickling of fire extended outward, warming her body.

He reached up and caressed the side of her face. She turned toward his touch as warmth turned into a blaze. Her arousal flared to life, reminding her that her heating time was far from over.

Reaching out, she dragged the tips of her nails down his chest and over his abdomen, past the waistband of his leather pants. She grasped his arousal, squeezing the hardened bulge. “You better return to me in one piece, or I’ll drag you back to life from the Maker myself.”

He sucked in a breath and groaned as she moved her hand up and down. His hips responded, rocking against her palm.

“And if you’re a good boy and you do return to me in one piece, I’ll suck you off, and I promise to swallow every last drop.”

“Fuck.” He dragged in a ragged breath as she increased her speed.

She savored the feel of having power over him. Her hand stopped rubbing, and she squeezed. “Promise me you’ll come back in one piece.”

“I promise,” he said in a rough voice. He let out a jagged breath.

“No, no. Say the whole thing. Say, ‘Kit, darling, I promise to come back to you in one piece.’”

“Kit, darling, I promise to come back to you one piece.” He gazed down into her eyes.

“And when I do, I will punish you for teasing me.”

Her cunt tightened. Cream dampened her pants. “Why? Have I been bad?” Her voice was a husky whisper. She wanted to undo the fly of her pants, slip her hand beneath the waistband, and touch herself as she stroked him until he burst.

“You’re teasing me when I can’t fuck you as I want to. We have to deal with Syrus.

Then we can play.”

She squeezed him and glanced over at the symbol on the wall. Half the blood was gone.

Sighing, she dropped her hand away from his groin. She was itching for a fight. She wanted to work off the frustration. “Fine. But I’ll watch what happens from here. Maybe practice with my new powers.”

“Thank you for not fighting with me on this.”

She shrugged and watched him adjust himself. That made her smile.

“I’ll be back.” He leaned down and brushed his lips against hers, and then he was gone.

Kit said a silent prayer that he would return to her safely -- and bring Jessye with him.

Syrus paced back and forth. His cock was fit to bursting as he looked down at his captive. Jessye had been stubborn, refusing to break. He had never been so aroused in his life.

As much as he savored his victory over her and claiming her under blood claim, he wished she had just given in to him. He was about to order his subordinates to take her back to his new base of operations when he felt a ripple of power extend outward, lashing out at him and causing him to stumble backward.

Looking up, he smiled. His brother had arrived, and he looked pissed.

“Rysen,” Syrus said, bowing his head.

“Brother.”

Syrus tried to control his joy at seeing his sibling. In a calm voice, he replied, “So you remember me. That’s good. I had thought after all these years I would have had to remind you.”

“How can I forget one of my own flesh and blood? How could I forget one of the people that meant more to me than life itself?” Rysen’s face became a mask of pain. He looked so vulnerable and exposed, it almost made Syrus walk over and embrace him. Almost.

Instead, Syrus stayed were he was, steeling himself with the memory of Sabella’s lifeless body surrounded by blood.

“Pretty words, but they mean nothing. You abandoned me to that fire. Now you will pay for your treachery.” Even as the words left his mouth, Syrus knew they were a lie. He knew that Rysen would have done anything in his power, moved heaven and earth, to save him. But he needed something, anything, that would make Rysen vulnerable.

“I didn’t know you survived. By the time I returned, the house and property were ablaze. There was no way to get in. I could only stand back and watch. If I had known…”

Rysen lifted his hands, palms facing upward, eyes pleading with him.

Syrus saw tears glisten in his brother’s eyes and was not moved. Yet, he wasn’t angry. “I don’t hate you. I should thank you. If you hadn’t left me to die, I would never have become a vampyre. Do you want to know what really sucks? What sucks is you have no clue what really happened. You believe it was a freak accident, don’t you?” Fresh anger rose up within him, so hot it almost burned.

Rysen stared at him, confused.

“You’re wrong!”

“Why are you doing this, Syrus? Why all this death and blood?”

Rysen looked so confused, Syrus actually felt sorry for him. “Lorrie. I’m doing it because of Lorrie. One of those bastard chieftains has her, and I have a score to settle with her,” Syrus spat out. Saying Lorrie’s name left a foul taste in his mouth.

“Lorrie is dead. She died in the fire.” Rysen looked down at the ground and then up again, face scrunched up in bewilderment.

“Wrong. She was the one who started the fire. To hide what she was. She was a vampyre, hiding in the real world. One of her clan found her. I saw their argument with my own eyes. He demanded she come home, and she refused. She killed him and hid his body.

Before she could dispose of it properly, she was found by a servant, who fetched me. There 7 was a struggle, and I lost. She knocked me out and started the fire to hide her secret. She is the reason Mother and Father are dead. And Sabella.”

Rysen shook his head again, and Syrus knew the questions floating around in his brother’s mind. How could he not have known? How had she hidden herself so well? Syrus knew the answers. “Lorrie hid her aura quite well. She ate food in front of us to convince us she was a mortal, and she was strong enough to feed on blood only once a month. She played the demure miss perfectly, acting sweet and naive, when in reality she was a monster, watching from the shadows.”

Bile rose in his throat. He was disgusted with himself, but he knew there was nothing he could have done. “She killed Sabella. One of the chieftains is hiding her, and I intend to shake the family tree until she falls out.” Syrus remembered his first love, sprawled out lifeless on the floor near him, her black hair mixed with blood in a deathly halo, her mocha skin already taking on a waxen hue.

Syrus looked down at Jessye, and his cock stirred. He was beginning to feel the same attraction for Jessye that he had for Sabella.

“You loved Sabella?” Rysen asked softly.

“Yes, brother, I loved Sabella and intended to take her with me when I moved out of the house into one of my own. But your Lorrie didn’t give me a chance.” Syrus looked up to see pain on Rysen’s face. His brother was in torment, trying to mesh the woman he knew with the portrait Syrus was painting of her.

“I am sorry, brother,” Syrus continued. “I didn’t figure it out until it was too late. I thought the argument she’d had was with her father. I had no clue until she had killed Sabella what she was. She even admitted it to me.” Syrus looked away, trying to shove away the memories. Sabella on the ground, dead, and Lorrie detailing step by step what she’d done to her.

“How could this be?” Rysen sank to the ground, his head hanging low, hair covering his face.

Syrus could see Rysen’s world was shifting around him, his worldview changing. If he could, Syrus would have spared Rysen this. But revealing the truth to his brother had to be done.

“And what will you do with Jessye?” Rysen’s head rose. He glanced at the inn and then back at Syrus.

Syrus knew his brother was thinking of Kit. “Jessye is mine now, by law, as is her clan.

I will use them to hunt down Lorrie.” Syrus pulled himself out of the mire of pain and loneliness and focused on the task at hand -- taking the last of Jessye’s clan as his own and maybe convincing his brother to join him in hunting the bitch that had taken so much from them.

“What of Ryu?” Rysen asked.

“Let him come and challenge me if he wishes. He shouldn’t have abandoned his clan to begin with.”

“Pull back your men and let me think.”

Rysen looked so sad, Syrus’s heart contracted, chest aching. “I will give you until sunset tomorrow to make a decision. But know this -- if you get in my way, I will fight you.” Syrus signaled his men to retreat. Then, lowering himself down, he picked Jessye up in his arms.

“Time to go, sweetheart.”

“Don’t call me sweetheart, you asshole. I want to see Kit.”

“Syrus,” Rysen called. “Let Jessye stay. I’ll go with you in her stead. I won’t stop you from your pursuit of Lorrie.”

Syrus looked back down at Jessye, and his body relaxed, as if the vampyre had cast a spell over him. He didn’t want to let go of his prize. He knew, though, that if he denied her this one small favor, she’d think him a greater bastard than she already did.

“Fine,” he said. “But there’s no need for you to become my hostage. I will keep watch, though.”

“As you wish, brother.” Rysen bowed his head.

Syrus lowered Jessye back to the ground, placing her on the grass as carefully as one would an injured bird.

Rysen walked forward and scooped her up, then disappeared from view. Syrus’s heart squeezed and then relaxed. He could feel her nearby, but the distance was still too far.

* * * * *

Rysen laid Jessye down in a guest room and called for Karella.

“Well, that was anticlimactic,” Kit said as she came into the room. “I was expecting a throw-down of epic proportions.”

Rysen didn’t respond. His head was filled with a haze of emotion. Sometimes flashes of thought would break apart the clouds, but then things would become diaphanous again. He brushed by Kit, muttering to her about taking care of Jessye, and left to wander the halls, ignoring those of his kin who called out to him.

He found a nice quiet library and shut the door. Leather-bound volumes lined the shelves. Absently, he wandered to one and pulled out a book. He flipped through the pages, seeing nothing. His world had been turned upside down. He was lost in a sea of facts and had no compass to guide him. Sighing, he sank down on a nearby chaise lounge and balanced the book on his lap.

Tilting his head back, he closed his eyes. Night turned into day, and he still didn’t have answers. His body stirred when he felt a hand slither up his abdomen, over his chest. His cock twitched as a slow fire began to stir. His stomach tightened, and his balls hardened, drawing closer to his body.

“Hey, lover, wake up.” Kit’s voice slipped into his drowsy mind, awakening him fully.

He felt her body weight on him and wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her against him.

“What a pleasant way to wake up, darling. Kiss me.”

“Um, no. You have I-just-woke-up breath. Brush your teeth, eat something that’s actual food and not my pussy, and then we’ll kiss. Besides, you have some explaining to do.

Like what the hell is going on. Jessye told me some crazy-ass story about your wife being alive and being a psycho.”

“Let’s go get something to eat, and we’ll talk.”

She wiggled off him, much to his annoyance, and stood up, holding her hand out to him. He took it and let her pull him up. He marveled at her strength. His blood was doing wonders for her. He could see it. Her aura was a beautiful burgundy color, fluctuating every so often. He was relieved it wasn’t a swirling mass of confusion. He couldn’t resist. Standing now, he tightened his grip on her hand and yanked her against him. He brought his head down and gave her a passionate kiss.

“I love you, and I am so thankful that you are with me.” He rested his forehead against hers, looking into her dark brown eyes, seeing the emotions churning in the depths. He knew she was struggling with this change of affection from him. “Do you feel I’m pressuring you to say something?”

“No. I know you don’t expect anything from me. It’s just disconcerting to hear you say those words. For so long, I’ve wanted you to love me…” She looked away as if trying to hide what she was thinking from him.

He rubbed her back. “I know I hurt you, and by hurting you, I hurt myself. I didn’t want to pass you over. I truly didn’t, but I hated the situation. I hated that you were offered to me on a platter, with seemingly no say in the matter. I did it because, as much as I wanted you, I knew you weren’t ready. If you had been my consort, you would have had to fight 7 constantly. You weren’t strong enough. And besides, I wanted you to have a say. That was very important to me.”