Raised in Fire (Fire and Ice Trilogy 2)

“No. I lay there, waiting for death to take me under. To stop the pain. That was when Vlad happened upon me.”

I sat forward. “Vlad made you?”

“Yes. He wasn’t even fully middle tier at the time, but he had a cunning insight, even then. He recognized what he saw, lying there in the mud. He carried me to his quarters below ground and kept me alive until he could turn me. I reclaimed my fortune.”

“And what about the girl?”

Darius’s face turned away. “I could not kill her. I could not. It wasn’t in me.”

“I’m sensing a pattern. Except the part where I sic a gang of people on you.”

Oh wait, I was thinking of doing that with Callie and Dizzy if he didn’t bugger off.

My gulp interrupted the silence.

Like a soft breeze, I barely heard his next words. “I didn’t feel a fraction for her what I feel for you. That should not be possible in my status of immortality.”

“It was a long time ago. I’m sure the memory has faded.”

“If there is one thing that hasn’t faded, it is the memory of that betraying witch.”

“Yikes. I stand corrected. Sore subject, clearly.”

“Yes. I haven’t spoken of it to anyone but Vlad, and that was directly after he’d changed me.”

“Dizzy said something about someone accusing you of being a vampire and trying to ram a stake through your heart.”

“Yes. What he spoke of was a misunderstanding. A friend of mine had drunk too much. Desmond has no idea of the true story. Of the depth of the pain that first betrayal has caused me.”

“Yeah, I don’t think Dizzy was talking about a girl.”

“It is always about a girl.” His sad smile made another appearance. “Our folly always has to do with a girl in one way or another.”

“That’s because men are dependent and can’t do anything on their own. You think you run the world, and then you get sick and everything stops while you mope and whine. Let this be your warning. Quit stalking me. Nothing good can possibly come of it.” I sobered for a moment. “I’m actually serious. Nothing good can come from hanging around me. I plan on killing every demon I see. If that’s going to piss off your daddy, you better walk away now.”

His expression darkened.

It was probably the daddy comment.

“Would you knowingly trap me to kill me, Reagan?” he asked, his eyes delving into mine.

I shook my head and shrugged at the same time, all the possible scenarios of how that might play out running through my head. “Maybe. I don’t know. If I need to get clear of you and can’t, sure. I might have to kill you. Like I said, you’ve been warned.”

Unbelievably, a smile graced his lips. “There, you see?”

I felt my eyebrows crawling up my forehead. “No…?”

“You are genuine. You are a fighter. A survivor. You would not play nice to my face and then stab me in the back. You are much too honest.”

“I really don’t think you should hang your hat on that conclusion.”

“There is something special about you, Reagan. Something…otherworldly.”

“Underworldly, you mean.”

“Yes.” He leaned his head on the back of the couch and looked up at the ceiling. His ankle crossed over his leg. “I did not elaborate on a vampire’s ability to kill demons.”

I yawned and glanced at the clock. Nearly six in the morning. The sun would be up by now, probably. Or if it wasn’t, it would be soon. We needed to get the show on the road.

“Only an elder can handle the fifth level, like I said,” he continued. “But a middle-level vampire can handle lesser-powered demons, like you might expect.”

“I can do that math, yes. Listen, do you need blood? We can chat about sabotage and fights to the death anytime.”

“You wouldn’t sabotage me,” he said toward the ceiling.

“That line of thinking nearly got you killed the last time. You need to learn your lesson. But seriously, let’s get those fangs in my neck, yes? I want to hit the hay.”

His head turned toward me slowly. Hunger flashed in his honeyed eyes. “Are you sure you’re ready?”

“Yep. Let’s do it.” I stood, because I didn’t want to be too comfortable. “Where, over here?” I backed toward the wall next to the door dividing our suites because it was available wall space and also a good exit plan.

Chapter Twenty-Three

“If you wish. Or would you rather lie down? Get more comfortable?”

“Nope. I would not, no.” I pulled my hair thing from around my wrist and lifted my hands to tie my hair back.

“Please, no.” Darius stood. “It is so rare I get to see your hair falling around your face. Leave it, if you would.”

I pulled the band back around my wrist. I didn’t care where my hair was; I cared where his fangs were.

He stalked toward me slowly, purposefully.

The expected tingles were overshadowed by an unexpected dump of adrenaline. My stomach fluttered, not because of possible sexual relations, but because a lethal predator was sizing me up. My fight-or-flight reflexes roared to life, and very rarely did I choose flight.

“This is probably the wrong way to go about this,” I said in a strong voice, hot with the anticipation of battle. “If you want to actually make it to my neck, that is. I’m not the normal girl you do this with.”

He smiled in a feral way, showing his elongating fangs. “Would you kill me, Reagan?”

“I’m pretty sure we covered that.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“It kind of does, though.” I watched as he slowly walked parallel to me. He was looking for an in. Most predators did this when they were sizing up a food source, and deep in my gut, I didn’t like knowing that someone was higher on the food chain than me. I didn’t like being a source for anything. It felt like a challenge, and everyone knew I went crazy for challenges. Considering the way my fire had lashed out randomly at that poor cat, this might be a very bad idea, both for him and the wellbeing of the hotel.

“I am invigorated like I’ve never been,” he said quietly, his eyes sparkling. I had to strain to hear. “Excited in a way I can’t remember. Anxious. Desperate. I must have you, Reagan.”

“What do you think I’m waiting here for?” I grudgingly angled my head to the right. “Get to it.”

He shook his head slowly and stopped, facing me. Analyzing me. “That wouldn’t be enjoyable for you. Would you rather fight and be overpowered?”

Suddenly he was right in front of me, his hands reaching.

I punched out, startled and unable to help it. My fist connected with his midsection. I grabbed his shirt and yanked, trying to throw him away, but didn’t manage to move him far. His hand nearly got a hold of my neck, and he leaned closer.

A shock of fear coursed through me. I peppered him with punches, pushing down the fire inside me that wanted to blast the whole room. In its place, that cold thing within me swelled, filling my body. Tingling my fingers. I shoved him, trying to get him away.

His body flew backward through the air. Shock smacked into his features. He crashed against the wall before falling to the floor.

I froze. I’d moved stuff before, but it had never felt like that. It had never been so easy, or so powerful.

“There is something you are not telling me,” he said, running a thumb across his lips as he straightened up slowly. He eyed me, still predatory.

I shivered and desperately tried to regain composure. “Yes. It’s about your personality. Trust me, you’re better off living in ignorance.”

He rolled his shoulders. “Could you do that again?”

“I honestly have no idea. I’ve moved rocks—”

“The rocks in your backyard?”

“Yes. I can usually only get the littlest as high as you just flew. But that takes a lot of concentration.”

“That mage yesterday picked you up with a similar power.” He stalked toward me.

“You noticed that, did you?”

“You’re practicing incorrectly.” He stopped a few feet from me. I flinched, ready to punch out again. The guy was making me antsy. “When it comes to fighting, you work best when under pressure.”