VampireMine (7 page)

Sadie tried to rise from Trey’s lap. “I can show him.”

“No,” Trey snapped, planting his arm over her midsection.
“You’re too weak. You need to rest.”

“It’s not as hard to communicate with one person.” She
leveled him with a determined look. “We need to clear the air. This is the
fastest way to do it.” When he opened his mouth to argue she shook her head.
“We’ve wasted enough time. We have to find Leigh.”

God, he hated it when he didn’t get his way. But she was
right.

“Fine,” he growled and stared at his brother. “But he comes
to us. You stay right where you are.”

“
Barbarian,
” Sadie reprimanded him privately.

“
You’re damn right,
” he replied immediately. Fuck
grabbing her by the hair and dragging her around. He was going to chain her ass
to his side. “
You ain’t seen nothing yet, baby.
”

Emory hesitated, his attention riveted to his mate. After
several seconds he gave Mary a nod and moved away, walking slowly toward the
couch. Mary seemed uncertain, gnawing at her lip, wrapping her arms around
herself.

“What’s she going to do?” Emory asked, cautious and jumpy.
“Bite me?”

“You’ll never be that lucky, fuckwad.” The simple notion of
Sadie feeding from Emory had Trey’s wolf clamoring for his brother’s blood.
“She’s going to touch you and share what she knows. Which is more than you
deserve after the shit you just spouted.”

Sadie lifted her hand when Emory stopped beside them. Emory
didn’t want to accept her touch—Trey could smell the detestation coming from
his brother—yet he did just the same. He wasn’t aware just how quickly Sadie
could send another person shared thoughts and images, thinking it took minutes
at the very least. He found himself surprised when she pulled away in seconds,
appearing pleased. Emory, on the other hand, looked like he was going to toss
his Cheerios.

“Fuck,” Emory exhaled, taking a step back, eyes saucered.
“Jesus.”

“Now you know why I couldn’t break it down to you like the
ABCs,” Diskant said, validated. “Not that easy to explain, is it?”

The double doors opened and Diskant, Emory and Trey growled
in unison. The sounds lessened when Nathan stepped inside. The poor bastard
looked like shit. He’d obviously been running his hands through his hair—the
strands darted in all directions—and he was as wired as a wild animal in a
cage. If they didn’t find Leigh soon he was bound to look even worse.

“Cade’s on his way,” he informed them as he walked to the
couch and rested Sadie’s sword against Trey’s leg. “Have you decided what we’re
going to do?”

“We’re going to get our shit in order.” Diskant’s power as
an Omega fell over the room as he spoke. “We need to find this girl who’s so
important and bring her here before we even think about addressing the pack.”

Nathan took a step back and took a deep breath. As a Beta he
was the most sensitive to strong emotions, especially when a shifter called on
his or her beast. With Diskant being able to change into every single animal
form, it pulled more energy from the man. Trey tried to compensate, calling on
his own beast, directing waves of fortitude to his second-in-command. His wolf
met Nathan’s and strengthened it, giving it a measure of comfort. Nathan
righted himself, his nod in Trey’s direction his expression of gratitude.

“I don’t know if she’ll come,” Sadie confessed, sounding
sad.

“Oh she’ll come,” Diskant’s voice lowered an octave. There
was an underlying threat in his words. “She’s placing every single person I’m
in charge of in danger.” He turned his gaze to Sadie. “I’ll fight your nest and
take her by force if I have to.”

“You’re not putting a fucking hand on her.” Nathan stormed
into the room, baring his teeth. “I don’t care who or what you are. She’s my
mate. As such she’s due protection from the pack. If you hurt her, you violate
everything we stand for. I’ll contact every single pack we’re connected to.
I’ll tell them what you’ve done. They’ll bring you down one by one.”

“He won’t hurt her, Nathan,” Ava chimed and shuffled from
her seat. Diskant moved to assist her immediately, his anger about Leigh
swiftly turning to concern for his mate. “She’s only a girl,” Ava whispered,
using the hand Diskant offered her for balance. “She didn’t ask for this.”

“If you promise to give her your protection, I can find
her,” Sadie said. “There are only so many places she could be.” Everything
inside Trey rebelled at his mate’s offer. She must have sensed his unease
because she pulled away so he could see her face. “I’m not running. I’m
presenting an option. None of you can cover as much ground as quickly as I can.
Besides,” her eyes lowered to his mouth and returned to meet his gaze, “you and
I have to talk. There’s a lot we need to discuss.”

“Are you sure she’ll come back?” Emory questioned, wary
despite what Sadie had shown him. “Are you sure we can trust her?”

If you want to earn her respect—if you want everyone to
believe in her—balls up.

“Yes,” Trey responded as he stood, lifting them from the
couch. “We can.”

As soon as he was upright he let his mate go—his wolf
howling in his head at the loss of contact—and took a step back. He retrieved
her weapon and handed it to her. She accepted the sword like the warrior she
was, gripping the sheath that covered the blade. He knew she was capable of
defending herself—she’d practically saved their asses when they faced Aldon—but
he couldn’t prevent the instincts that demanded he prevent her departure. It
was his duty to watch over her. Only a pussy would stand idly by as his mate
ventured off without his assistance, guidance or protection.

Fuck.
This was one of the hardest things he’d ever
had to do.

Letting her leave, left with only the hope she’d return.

What if I can’t trust her? What if I’m wrong?

“Come back to me.” Even in his own head he sounded like a
sappy, lovesick pup. “Don’t make me hunt you down. I will if I have to. When I
find you it won’t be pretty. I mean it, Sadie.”

His pride had been forgotten. He couldn’t care less what the
others thought.

If he lost face in front of those he trusted most, he’d get
over it.

If he lost his female, he’d never survive.

Her eyes lingered on him as though she heard the thought.
“I’ll be back. Promise.”

Gazing around the room, she slid her sword into the sheath
that protected her weapon. “Don’t wait up on me,” she instructed. “The clock is
ticking. Start making plans.”

Then, before anyone could stop her, she gazed at Trey and
disappeared.

“You can’t be serious.” Leigh strangled the pillow in her
arms, staring at Sadie as though she’d lost her mind. “I’m not going there.
With a bunch of werewolves! Haven’t you had enough of them already? Did you see
how they act? They’re like animals. You can’t talk to them. They don’t
understand reason. You’ve lost your mind!”

“Leigh…”

“Don’t ‘Leigh’ me,” Leigh snapped. “You’re crazy.
Certifiable even.”

Sadie clenched her fingers, trying to stay calm.

Finding the terrified vampire had been easier than Sadie had
thought. Just to be safe, Sadie had phased to the home she shared with her
coven, taking sanctuary inside her bedroom. Leigh had been there, seated on her
bed, clutching one of her pillows. The young vampire had made an intelligent
decision. Their sisters wouldn’t ask Leigh questions about being in Sadie’s
space, and Leigh probably figured it was the first place Sadie would go once
she escaped Aldon.

Speaking of which…

“I don’t have time to explain, you’re going to have to trust
me.”

The moment she’d landed and seen Leigh, she’d simply blurted
the truth—they had to return to Trey and Nathan. And they had to do it now.
She’d promised Trey she’d return and she was going to keep her word. She’d
glimpsed so much from him—things she hadn’t dared believe.

She had to know if his feelings were as true as he thought
they were.

“You’re not safe here.” Sadie kept going, trying to persuade
Leigh. “I have to show you something.”

“Like what?” Leigh fidgeted on the mattress, her knuckles
turning white as she fisted the corner of the pillow. “That I’m mated to a
freaking werewolf? Do you want me to join the family?”

“Would that be so bad? Is the idea so repulsive?” A stupid
question, if Sadie counted her own misgivings to Leigh in the past about having
a werewolf lover and partner. “Not all of them are like Trey. Nathan is
different. I’ve seen the way he reacts with people. He’s got a big heart. He’s
a Beta because he has a genuine concern for others. He’d take care of you. When
you disappeared he was worried sick. You should have seen him when I left. He’s
terrified for you, Leigh.”

“I don’t love him,” Leigh grated through clenched teeth,
lowering her head. “I can never love him. My heart belongs to someone else. It
always will.”

“What?” Sadie had known Leigh’s wounds ran deep but she
hadn’t known the young woman loved someone from her past so deeply. “Who?”

“It doesn’t matter.” Leigh went from enraged to somber.
“That time in my life is over.”

Certainly Leigh had mentioned understanding love. She’d even
said she’d been in love before her change from human to vampire. But she hadn’t
taken the matter further. Sadie should have asked questions about Leigh’s past,
tried to get answers. Instead she’d given the fledgling space, figuring they
had plenty of time to discuss Leigh’s issues.

Just another thing I didn’t think about until it was too
late.

She started reaching out to Leigh, wanting to share what she
knew with her friend, when a floorboard creaked in the hallway. Turning on her
heel, she came face-to-face with Geneva. The head of the coven stopped in the
doorway, cocking her head to the side. Her disapproval was evident, her
ever-present attitude kicked to full-blast.

“So you’ve finally decided to grace us with your presence,”
their coven mistress observed.

There was zero concern from the woman. None.

Geneva was a cold person. But this seemed…unnatural.

As usual, her thick brown hair had been pulled into a French
twist that allowed multiple corkscrew curls to fall over her head and surround
her face. Her strange, yellow-hued eyes always seemed to know more than they
should. Sadie’d never paid attention to it before but she should have. Geneva
had always been ahead of the curve, seeing things before anyone else. And she’d
been so interested in Aldon—almost obsessed.

There had to be a reason for it.

What has the sneaky bitch been up to?

“What can I say?” Sadie crossed her arms over her chest,
taking her usual back-to-business stance. “I’ve been busy tracking Aldon. That
takes time.”

Geneva arched one of her dark brows. “Have you had any
success?”

Talk about a dilemma.

If she indicated she had succeeded in her work, Geneva would
want more of Sadie’s time. The head of the coven would demand a private
audience with Sadie that could last for hours. As much as the opportunity
appealed to Sadie, since she wanted to grill Geneva for information, she had to
get Leigh to safety. A bit of clarity had certainly changed things. For the
first time in centuries she didn’t have faith in the people she’d once placed
her trust in—women who vowed to put each other’s well-being over any others.

She’d never have believed she couldn’t rely on her very own
coven.

“Nothing that would interest you,” she answered, trying to
seem bored.

Geneva’s eyes darted to Leigh then returned to Sadie.
“You’ve been gone a long time to return with nothing of interest.” Her nostrils
flared and her irises lightened near her pupils. She snorted to clear her nose.
“You’ve been around shifters again. I caught the stink of it in the hall. I’ve
let the question go unanswered long enough.”

Sadie braced herself, trying to think of an answer to the
inquiry she knew was coming.

“What have you been up to?” Geneva asked. “What have you
been keeping from us?”

I should ask her the same question.
“I’ve been
working, like I said.”

She kept the conversation all about business and directed
her thoughts to her job and numerous hunts. It was against the rules of the
coven to invade a housemate’s thoughts but she didn’t trust Geneva. Not now.
She wasn’t letting the vampire get a glimpse of her mind.

“I’ve been investigating,” she added, giving Geneva a
cursory glance. “That takes me to all kinds of places and puts me in contact
with all kinds of people.”

“Not people—a werewolf—and a male one at that. You’ve been
close to this one in particular, on more than one occasion.” Geneva inhaled
deeply and didn’t try to hide it. “His smell is so potent it’s practically
oozing from your skin. I detect his blood. I can smell his seed on you.”

The leader of her coven locked her in place with a wave of
her fingers. Sadie didn’t have a chance to arm herself. Geneva’s magic spread
through the bedroom. How had she not seen this before? How had it escaped her
attention? Geneva was bad fucking news.

“There’s only one way that could be possible.” Geneva
seethed, her face warped into an ass backward scowl. “It’s not bad enough you
took him into your body. No better than a common bitch in heat. You drank from
him, didn’t you?”

Sadie’s heart missed a beat and started to pound.
Oh
shit.

Geneva’s magic was potent stuff. Paralysis rushed over her.

Soon she’d be caught and unable to phase. Things had just
gotten serious.

“
Leigh, phase out. Right now. You have to trust me.
Please. Something’s very wrong here.
”

Thank Goddess, Leigh didn’t argue. “
Where?
”

“
Meet me outside the warehouse where we found Trey. I’ll
explain everything. Go.
”

Leigh phased, breaking Geneva’s attention just enough for
Sadie to visualize the parking lot outside the building Trey had been trapped
inside. Geneva’s face—one that generally gave away nothing—contorted in rage.
She tried to extend her magic, to keep Sadie caged in the bars of her magic.
Sadie fought back, calling on the magic that was all her own. The two energies
collided, bursting together.

“Bedding with wolves. You are a traitor to your blood. A
disgrace to our kind.”

“That may be,” she hissed between clenched teeth,
concentrating to phase. “But my intentions have always been honest. Everything
I’ve done has been for the good of the coven. Can you say the same?”

She didn’t give Geneva the opportunity to answer. Something
was definitely not right. The coven had been betrayed, but not by Sadie.
Whatever their leader had been up to, it wasn’t good. Geneva had her own
agenda. Perhaps she wanted Aldon removed but for reasons that benefited her and
not the coven.

After the dust had settled and Leigh was safe, Sadie
intended to return. Something of this magnitude couldn’t go unquestioned. She
had to protect the innocent women in her coven.

As the haughty and furious vampire reached for her—Geneva’s
yellow eyes glowing neon—Sadie called on the full power of her magic. Her
reserves were weak but she had just enough to teleport from the room. The
blinding white surrounded her, answering her summons. The world shifted and
fell away as she phased, allowing her to slide out of Geneva’s grasp,
obliterating the vampire’s hold on her.

But she saw Geneva’s eyes as the vampire’s mask fell away
and revealed her true face.

Son of a bitch.

Geneva was not the woman she claimed to be. She never had
been. Not only was Aldon a danger, so was the leader of a coven of vampires
with numerous powers.

Sadie’d thought things could possibly get worse.

She arrived outside the warehouse. Shivering in the cool
night air and facing Leigh who waited for her across the street, she realized
she’d been wrong.

* * * * *

“You’ve gotten us into some serious stuff here, man,”
Diskant told Trey. “We’ve got enough to deal with without worrying about the
end of the world.”

Trey agreed but there’d been no way around it. “What would
you have me do? Turn my back on my mate? Toss her aside like trash? You’re
mated. You know that’s never going to happen. She’s mine. I’m not letting her
go.”

“The pack isn’t going to take it well,” Emory said, glancing
at Mary. “Remember how they reacted when they learned about my mating? And that
was only a few months ago. If you throw something like this on them…” Emory
shook his head, sympathetic to Trey for the first time since he’d arrived. “I
don’t know what they’ll do.”

“Some of them will leave.” Diskant sighed and dry washed his
hand over his face. Tossing his hand to his side, he said, “Other males will
challenge Trey as Alpha. It’s something we can’t avoid. Unless we can convince
them they place themselves at greater risks if we’re divided.”

“That’ll take some serious convincing.” Emory tugged Mary
close, wrapping his arms around her. “We’ll have to approach this cautiously.”

“I’m afraid we might not have that kind of time,” Trey
snapped, thinking about the enemy they were facing. “You didn’t see Aldon at
full power. He was like a brick shithouse. He put me and Nathan on our asses
with a wave of his fucking hand. If it hadn’t been for Sadie he might have
killed us.”

“What do you suggest we do?” Diskant questioned. “Show them
what your female’s capable of? Even if you do that most of the werewolves will
balk at the notion of accepting a vampire as their Lupa. Those who understand
her kind will be afraid she’ll try to make your wolf a familiar. And if by some
miracle you can get them to give her a chance, your mate will have to fight for
her position if any females decide to challenge her for the spot.”

“They can’t say shit once I claim her.” Trey’s throaty growl
resonated through the room. “She’s already taken my blood. Once we’re mated no
one can deny it. And she hasn’t made me a familiar. I’d know if she had.”

“She’s not a human or shifter, Trey,” Emory reminded him.
“There’s a reason we don’t mate with vampires. Have you thought about that? The
pack might follow you but not if they think you’re under the influence of a
vampire. Even if she hasn’t made you a familiar, they might not believe it. You
can’t convince them if they don’t want to believe.”

There was that.

Being mated to Sadie meant she would be able to control his
wolf if necessary but any mate could do that. Males and females needed the
balance of their mates. It wasn’t unheard of for the balance to shift from one
to the other. Most shifters weren’t certain how it worked when they mated
vampires—as shifters avoided blood drinkers at all costs—but horror stories had
been passed along for years.

It was dangerous business, mating to blood drinkers.

He intended to learn what hold Sadie would have over him,
but he had to actually seal the deal in order to understand the eccentricities
of their union.

Add it to my long list of shit to consider.

“Maybe I should step down.” He glanced across the way to
Emory. “Maybe it’s time someone more capable filled my shoes.”

“Oh yeah, that’d go over well,” Emory laughed, years of
bitterness openly on display. “The pack might have accepted Mary but that’s
only because Ava made them. And I’ve never wanted to lead the pack. Besides,
you know how they feel about me. They still don’t trust me not to lose my shit.
They think I’m a basket case. Coo coo ca choo.”

“You need to contact Kinsley,” Ava said, looking to Diskant.
“The pack might throw a tantrum but they’ll listen if he can get the prides to
back our decision. They know we need the help right now. I don’t think they’ll
risk too much with everything that’s happened. Finding a new place to call home
will take time. They’ll be alone until they transition.”

The Omega’s face showed his pride—and appreciation—for his
female’s insight. “You’re right. I’ll call him. Once he knows what’s going on
he’ll be on board. He’s the clearest head of the bunch.”

Ava grinned. “Which is why they’ll listen to him.”

“There’s something else, baby,” Diskant said softly and
kneeled at Ava’s side. She’d returned to her seat as soon as Sadie had
vanished. Nestled in the chair she seemed smaller, her swelling belly more
pronounced. “This doesn’t end by bringing Sadie and Leigh here. We’re going to
have to locate your brother. We can’t have the amulet floating around. It’s too
dangerous.”