When Darkness Reigns Read online

  Targeting the unmarked side of my neck, opposite Falon’s feather, Briggs hesitated just long enough to prove he still had control. Or maybe he was just surprised that I didn’t stop his assault.

  The sharp sting of fangs caused me to break out in goosebumps. A jolt of adrenaline rushed through my veins. My wolf wanted to go into defensive mode and annihilate his ass. But the vampire queen within wanted his bite and so much more.

  Briggs sank fangs into my neck, and I moaned softly, both pain and pleasure. He still held my arms pinned to the door on either side of me.

  All I could do was stand there and watch the horror spread across my sister’s face. Hand covering her mouth, Juliet gasped his name.

  Briggs gave no sign of having heard her. He was lost in me. The heat of his mouth moving on my skin stirred my own lust to life. Dammit. This bastard was trying to roll me. Maybe he wanted to see how far he could push me.

  Not that damn far. I let myself enjoy the seductive tingle that started between my legs as he sucked on the wound, but that’s as far as I intended to ever go with this man.

  Taking my blood emboldened Briggs. So much so that he brazenly pressed his hard on against me. My darkness wanted to devour him. Yet everything in me that still possessed a shred of sanity couldn’t help but be hyperaware of my sister watching her lover grind all over me.

  Briggs’s behavior was so unexpected that I found it enticing. That’s when I knew I had to make him stop. Not only that, I needed to remind him where he stood with me.

  Calling on the power coiled inside me, I let it surge through me until it burst out in a blast that threw Briggs backward. He hit the edge of the bed, went down, and rolled back to his feet. That federal agent training coupled with vampire speed had him up in time for me to grab him by the throat and force him to his knees before me.

  “Alexa, what the hell?” Juliet’s voice was muffled by her hand. Frozen in place, she whimpered, “Please, don’t hurt him.”

  The power pumping through me was too much for Briggs to combat. With my blood smeared on his lips, he snarled up at me. Holding tight to his throat, I seized hold of his aura and bent it to my will.

  His heart lay heavy in my mind. So fragile in my grasp. “I could crush the life from you with a thought,” I hissed. In my mind I gave the slightest squeeze, satisfied when a trickle of blood dripped from Briggs’s nose. “Never forget that. I’m not sure if that little stunt was for Juliet’s benefit or mine, but I’d think twice before trying it again if I were you.”

  I had to end him. It was inevitable, wasn’t it? No, I couldn’t let that thought take me. I released him before the darkness could tempt me into killing him.

  Foolishly I’d believed that with the twin flame balance restored, the dark would no longer hold such sway over me. Quite the contrary in fact. Restoring the balance kept Arys and me from wanting to kill one another. It didn’t keep my sanity from being tested. Nobody was meant to possess the light and the dark the way I did. Light and dark would always be at war. A war that went on inside me all the time.

  Turning to Juliet, I flung a hand in Briggs’s direction. “If you genuinely believe that I want to screw your man then you never knew me at all. He’s all yours. You two clearly have some shit to talk about.”

  As I stormed to the door, Juliet called after me, “What are we supposed to do, Alexa?”

  Jerking the door open, I paused to glance back at her. “You know what? You decide and let me know. Want me to kill him? Done. Want me to fuck him? Make it worth my while. I have other shit to deal with.”

  Anger had me spewing dramatic rhetoric, but dammit I was fed up. I didn’t wait around for a response from either of them.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Having to leave the city and head to my small hometown down the highway left me distraught. Chased away by the dawn, I had to accept that Ebyn would spend another day in captivity. Shortly after arriving back home, Shaz suggested we head into the forest for a run to ease some of my turmoil.

  A run I needed for my own secret purpose.

  I darted through trees and brush, leaping over a fallen log. When Shaz started to fall behind, I slowed to let him catch up before taking off again. Gradually we wound our way through the forest toward a farmer’s field that came up behind the church where Shya’s stone was buried. On sacred ground.

  Stepping foot anywhere near the church would be stupid. Lilah could have people watching me during the day. So Shaz and I were taking a stress-relief run. Which meandered close enough to the church to ensure the ground hadn’t been disturbed.

  Nobody but Falon and I knew the exact location where the stone had been buried. I intended to keep it that way.

  As we raced through the trees behind my house, I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d been too harsh with Juliet. Why should it be on me to decide Briggs’s fate? No matter what I chose, she would hate me for it. This way, she could choose. It wasn’t my fault that she’d fallen in love with him. I had enough burdens of my own to bear without piling that one on top.

  A nip at my heel tore me from my thoughts. In the early morning sunlight I ran with my white wolf giving chase. Being able to walk under the sun as a wolf was a gift that I never took for granted. A gift that I shared with Willow. We were two of a kind in that way.

  A brief sprint past the small church property set my mind at ease. Somewhat. The ground appeared undisturbed. Shya was still there.

  I spun around in a random attack, playfully jumping on Shaz. Not expecting my leap, he went down beneath me with a grunt. We wrestled in the dusty field until he managed to pin me beneath him. Powerful jaws closed on the back of my neck. Shaz gave me a shake before bounding back toward the tree line.

  Shoving to my feet, I went after him, the dirt kicking up beneath my paws. Gradually I closed the distance between us. Shaz zigzagged through the trees. Try as he might, he couldn’t shake me. He did manage to stay a few strides ahead though.

  We burst from the forest into my backyard. Shaz whirled to face me and shifted seconds before I could throw myself at him. Cheater. He knew I couldn’t shift out there in the sun.

  I skidded to a stop and growled softly.

  Standing in the middle of the yard, stark naked, Shaz gave my head a pat. “Have I mentioned how much I love the black streak in your fur?”

  I followed him up the steps of the back deck to the patio door. Feeling vindictive I nuzzled the back of his knee with my cold, wet nose. In the glass door I caught sight of my reflection. The black patch in my hair streaked through my fur as well, completely covering my left ear and slashing down the side of my head toward the back.

  A constant reminder of how close I’d come to being consumed by Arys’s darkness.

  Shaz slid the door open, stepping back to allow me in first. I padded through the kitchen to the darkened living room to shift in the safety of the shadows.

  Arys lounged in the corner where his crappy old recliner sat, drawing in a sketchpad beneath the light of an overhead lamp. He glanced up at our entry, watching as Shaz readjusted the blinds over the patio door to keep the light out.

  Assessing our nakedness, a sly smile spread across Arys’s face. “It appears that I’m overdressed.” Clad in only a pair of gray sweatpants, the vampire wasn’t wrong.

  The sight of his bare chest and the lean lines that led down to the smattering of hair that disappeared beneath those pants drew my attention. But that would have to wait. “As much as I enjoy a naked argument, let’s do this one somewhat clothed.” I grabbed the red robe that I’d left on the arm of the couch and slipped it on before tossing Shaz the boxer shorts he’d abandoned there.

  “We’re arguing?” Amusement danced across Arys’s handsome face. He set the sketchpad aside and leaned forward, intrigued.

  “Pretty sure we will be in about thirty seconds.” I motioned to Shaz, including him in this. “Would one of you like to tell me what happened with Falon?”

  The two of them exchanged a look. Arys raised a
dark brow. When Shaz gestured for him to field the question, he shrugged. “Nothing happened. He came by Doghead and we had a little chat. I wanted to make sure he has your best interests in mind because I’m not sure he does.”

  My temper fluttered, threatening to rise. I clamped it back down. Tossing my hair back, I touched the feather on my neck. “Because of this? You think it endangers me more than my status as a Hound and your other half? We both know that’s bullshit.”

  “Do we now?” Arys’s voice had dropped to a deadly low pitch. “What I know is that Falon’s past has targeted you. He’s put you in danger. You let him get too close.”

  Yes, I certainly had. But that was between Falon and me. “You don’t get to make that claim, Arys. And you sure don’t get to go around behind my back talking shit to Falon. He’s mine, whether you like it or not.”

  Arys lowered the foot of the recliner and shoved to the edge of the seat, fingers tightly gripping the worn leather. “You’ve gotten attached. Mistake number one. He was supposed to be a plaything.”

  A full-blown fight was never what I wanted. So I tried to stay calm despite the flare of my temper. “This is about what Falon said on Envy’s altar, isn’t it? My immortal plaything has developed some kind of twisted affection for me, and you hate that. But why do you hate it? You and me are concrete, Arys. You know that. Nothing can touch us.” I held his gaze, a silent challenge.

  Why was he so threatened by Falon? The vampire was a paradox. On one hand he was fine with the harem I’d formed, so long as I never got attached. As if he didn’t have attachments outside the two of us. He lived a life of debauchery and mayhem long before I’d been born. But he’d been waiting for me all that time. Now that he had me, he didn’t know how to handle all that entailed.

  Shaz leaned back on the couch, listening to our discussion. Whatever he felt about it all never made it to his face.

  “Falon is in love with you, Alexa,” Arys said after a long moment of consideration. “His enemies are now yours. Can you really blame me for being pissed about that?”

  I almost choked on the protest that rose in my throat. “In love with me? No, that’s not a thing. Falon… he doesn’t love. Not anymore.”

  “Is that what he told you?” Arys countered, rising from the recliner. “Or is that what you tell yourself?”

  For the first time in an incredibly long time, I couldn’t rise to his challenge. My gaze dropped, and I gnawed the edge of my lip with a fang. Glancing at Shaz, I asked, “How do you feel about all this?”

  His head fell back against the couch, and he groaned. “Aw, don’t drag me into this, you guys.” When we both continued to stare at him, awaiting his input, he sighed and ran a hand through his platinum hair. “Fine. Lex, I think Falon is dangerous. We watched him carve you like a Thanksgiving turkey on Envy’s altar. Not to mention that confession. Whatever his feelings where you’re concerned, I think it’s messed up. But I also think it’s your choice to be with him, and I respect that.”

  Shaz walked a fine line, agreeing with both of us while doing his best to stay out of the brewing conflict. I couldn’t blame him for taking that path. I wouldn’t want to be forced to take sides either.

  “I don’t think it’s fair to blame Falon for what Envy made him do. We were all victims that night.” Grasping at straws felt like sand slipping through my fingers. Nothing I could say would change their minds.

  “Envy merely exposed Falon’s truth,” Arys said, more gently this time. “You know that.”

  I fumbled with my robe tie, untying and retying it. “Yeah, I guess I do. But it’s between him and me. You don’t have to like it, but you don’t get to interfere. That goes for both of you. Cornering him like that was shady, Arys. It reeks of manipulation. And jealousy.”

  The scowl that followed didn’t bring me nearly as much satisfaction as it usually would have. Arys laughed bitterly. “I’m a possessive asshole. I know that. But I’m not jealous. I’m worried because I don’t understand this thing you have with that angel.”

  That made two of us.

  “It’s not what you think it is.” My voice almost failed me. How could I convince Arys when I couldn’t even convince myself? I didn’t know what Falon and I were anymore. I never really did.

  Arys came to me. Tipping my chin up, he forced me to stare into those midnight eyes. “I saw it with my own eyes, my wolf. And I’m not talking about Envy’s altar. In the theatre, there was much more than mere lust between the two of you.”

  How could I argue his eyewitness account? I knew there might be repercussions from the group encounter we’d shared in Las Vegas, but this wasn’t one I’d anticipated.

  He searched me, seeking something I wasn’t ready to give up. When he couldn’t find it, he rubbed a thumb over my bottom lip and murmured, “Do you love him?”

  It was a question I had refused to ask myself, terrified of what answer I might find buried in my psyche. I didn’t want to find it now either. This was not something I was ready for. A soft tremor racked me. I couldn’t be sure if it had been visible to them or not.

  Ever the voice of reason, Shaz jumped in to save me. “We don’t need to do this right now. I can think of several better ways to pass the day.”

  Arys let me pull away and I took my chance to flee.

  The wolf knew how to get Arys’s attention. So Shaz left the couch and sauntered into the kitchen to pour himself a glass of scotch.

  Despite knowing that he was being played, Arys let Shaz distract him. Watching the barely covered werewolf toss back the stiff drink, Arys exuded blatant desire. “Do tell, pup.”

  Moving fast for the stairs, I mumbled something about a shower. I needed to clear my head. Shaz would have no trouble keeping Arys distracted for a while.

  I’d made it to the landing halfway up the stairs when I heard Shaz say, “Don’t push Alexa on this thing with Falon. You can’t force someone to come to terms with their feelings before they’re ready. Believe me, I know.”

  Pausing to catch Arys’s response, I wasn’t surprised when he said, “I don’t want her to have feelings for him. They make her vulnerable. And I don’t trust him.”

  “Neither do I,” came Shaz’s careful reply. “But I trust her.”

  That was all I needed to hear. A smile spread across my face. I wanted to run back down the stairs and nuzzle my white wolf. He had to be the strongest of us all to see beyond the bullshit to the heart of what really mattered.

  I didn’t miss how they both believed I harbored feelings for Falon. Of course I had many feelings for him. Repulsion. Disdain. Annoyance. It didn’t end there though, did it?

  Trying to banish all thoughts of the fallen angel from my mind, I stepped into the shower in the master bathroom and did my best to scald the remnants of him away beneath the hot spray. I scrubbed his scent from my body, but nothing removed the shard of desire that burrowed deep within me. I could cut myself open but I’d never bleed him out.

  I kept flashing back to Envy’s altar. To Falon shouting that he wished he could love me. Why couldn’t I stop going back to that place? To that moment.

  I turned the water as hot as it would go, until it reddened my skin and filled the room with so much steam I could barely see through it. Only when the hot water tank had run empty did I give up.

  As I toweled off in front of the steam-covered mirror, voices carried through the door. The guys had moved to the bedroom. Welcoming the distraction, I wrapped the towel around me and grabbed a second one to use on my hair. I opened the bathroom door to find my perfect fantasy waiting on the other side.

  In a nice twist Shaz had Arys pinned to the bed. On his knees hovering over the vampire, Shaz held him down with both hands firmly on each forearm. The vampire’s messy black hair lay splayed across the soft white pillowcase.

  Arys gazed up at Shaz with one dark brow raised. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but I like it.”

  Shaz didn’t miss a beat. “You’ve gotten into me. I can�
��t help but notice that you like to be the dominant to both Alexa and me. Sometimes you’ve got to submit a little, lover.”

  I froze in the doorway, wary of disturbing such a defining moment. Shaz’s words echoed something that Jenner had said to me not so long ago. Arys and me, we had control issues. We didn’t give it up without a fight. Submission didn’t come easily to either one of us, hence our constant conflict. Watching Shaz not only call Arys out but physically enforce that control turned me on like crazy.

  Muscles in Shaz’s arms twitched and tightened as he used enough force to show Arys that he was serious. Without waiting for a reply, the bold wolf leaned in and nipped at Arys’s bare chest. The vamp strained beneath Shaz, but the struggle was with himself as he tried to give up his precious control. I understood that inner battle.

  Entranced, I watched Shaz nip playfully at Arys’s throat before claiming his mouth in a passionate kiss. Slow at first, a gentle touch of lips, gradually growing more demanding, more possessive.

  He released one of Arys’s arms to run a hand down to the sweatpants the vampire wore. No way in hell was I missing this again. I bit my bottom lip in eager anticipation. With his one freed hand my dark vampire clasped a fistful of platinum hair while he devoured Shaz’s mouth. Without hesitation Shaz slid his hand inside the stretchy waistband and grasped the gorgeous hard-on I knew was waiting for him.

  Arys’s soft gasp caused the tingle between my legs to grow into a throb.

  Despite the clothing that torturously blocked my view, I had no problem making out the motion of Shaz’s hand, a gentle up and down slide. I didn’t know if I was vibing off Arys or if my own arousal swept me, but I ached to get my hands on the two of them.

  Their kiss ended, and Shaz tugged Arys’s pants down, springing his erection free. That’s when Arys spotted me standing in the bathroom doorway.

  “Care to join us, my queen?”

  The invitation drew Shaz’s gaze my way. Desire smoldered in the depths of his green eyes. “Please do. Come help me dominate this cocky vampire.”