Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night (43 page)

Offspring will follow. He'll kill their females as well.
Destroy them. Destroy myself
.

Endtime
. His brows draw together. A whisper of regret. The thing he regrets most. He tries to remember what he covets so dearly. Another's memories bombard him, exploding in his mind. His hand shoots up to clasp his forehead—

Nikolai enters the bar, Murdoch behind him. Their expressions are grave.

They've come to kill me
. As he expected. He thought he could draw them out by returning here again and again. He lowers his hand, and his lips ease back from his fangs. The bar empties in a rush.

Then . . . stillness. His brothers stare as if seeing a ghost. Insects clamor outside. Rain draws near and steeps the air. Just as lightning strikes in the distance, Sebastian enters, crossing to stand beside the other two. So he's allied with them? That he hadn't expected.

He removes his sunglasses, revealing his red eyes. The eldest, Nikolai, seems to stifle a wince at the sight, but
shakes it off and advances. The three seem surprised that he'll stay to fight them, that he hasn't traced away. They are strong and skilled, yet they don't recognize the power he wields, the thing he's become. He can slaughter them all without blinking, and he'll savor it.

They walk to their doom.
Can't keep them waiting
.

He lunges from his seat and clears the table, knocking Sebastian unconscious with a blow that cracks his skull and sends him flying into the back wall. Before the other two can raise a hand in defense, he snatches them by their throats—one in each hand as they grapple to free themselves. “Three hundred years of this,” he hisses. Their struggles do nothing; their stunned expressions satisfy. Squeezing . . . clenching—

Wood creaks behind him. He shoves back and hurtles his brothers at a new enemy. Too late; that Lykae's returned and slashes out with flared claws, ripping through his torso. Blood gushes.

He roars with fury and charges the werewolf, dodging claws and teeth with uncanny speed to barrel him to the ground. Just as his hands are about to meet around the Lykae's corded neck, the beast claps something to his right wrist.

A
manacle?
Clenching harder, he grates out a rasping laugh. “You don't think that will hold me?” Bones begin to pop beneath his palms. The kill is near, and he wants to yell with pleasure.

The werewolf cuffs his left wrist.

What is this?
The metal won't bend. Won't break.
They goddamned mean to take me alive?
He leaps to his feet, tensing to trace. Nothing. Sebastian on the floor, pouring blood from his temple, has him by the ankles.

He kicks Sebastian, connecting squarely with his brother's chest. Ribs crack. He whirls around—in time to catch the bar rail the Lykae swings at his face.

He staggers but remains on his feet.

“What the fuck
is
he?” the Lykae bellows, swinging the rail again with all his might.

The brutal hit takes him across his neck. A split second of faltering. Enough for his brothers to tackle him.

He thrashes and bites, snapping his fangs.
Can't break free
 . . .
can't
 . . . They attach the manacles at his wrist to another chain. He kicks viciously, choking with rage when they trap his legs as well. He strains against his bonds with all his strength. The metal cleaves his skin to the bone. Nothing.

Caught
. He roars, spitting blood at them, dimly hearing them speak.

“I hope you came up with a good place to put him,” Sebastian says between rasping breaths.

Nikolai grates, “A long abandoned manor—place called
Elancourt
.”

Chills seize him even through his fury. He can never go to this Elancourt. He doesn't understand why, just knows he can't—knows this with a savage certainty.

If they take him there, they won't take him alive. . . .

BOOKS BY KRESLEY COLE

The Immortals After Dark Series

The Warlord Wants Forever

A Hunger Like No Other

No Rest for the Wicked

Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night

Dark Needs at Night's Edge

Dark Desires After Dusk

Kiss of a Demon King

Deep Kiss of Winter

Pleasure of a Dark Prince

Demon from the Dark

Dreams of a Dark Warrior

Lothaire

The Sutherland Series

The Captain of All Pleasures

The Price of Pleasure

The MacCarrick Brothers Series

If You Dare

If You Desire

If You Deceive

The Arcana Chronicles

Poison Princess

Pocket Star Books

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New York, NY 10020
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2007 by Kresley Cole

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Pocket Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

First Pocket Books paperback edition November 2007

POCKET STAR BOOKS and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Cover illustration by Vince Natelie

ISBN-13: 978-1-4165-4703-7

ISBN-10:    1-4165-4703-7

ISBN-13: 978-1-4165-7150-6 (eBook)