Crimson Covenant Page 5

  “Apparently.” She pivoted, brushing her hair behind her ears and offering me a smile I would have fought wars to be given. Fuck, I’d give her a library every day if she looked at me like that. Lyric wasn’t striking and angular like the females of my kind, but softer, ethereally beautiful. She was a glimpse of pure sunlight in a world of night.

  Benedict stepped to my side and cleared his throat, and I remembered why he was here in the first place.

  “Listen, I need to ask you a couple of questions about the attack.” I folded my arms across my chest to keep from touching her.

  “The guy with horns?” Her smile fell away.

  “Do you remember what he looked like?”

  She nodded slowly. “Blue horns with a sort of tigery stripe. Weird eyes. Almost like a yellowish blue.” She rubbed her thumb over her wrist and looked away as though reliving the memory. “He was strong.”

  “So were you,” I told her.

  “She’s telling the truth,” Benedict decreed.

  “I don’t lie.” Lyric leveled a glare on him.

  He shrugged. “I don’t trust humans.” His tone was so smooth it almost didn’t sound like an insult.

  “I don’t even trust that this is really happening, so as far as I’m concerned, you don’t exist.” She grinned sweetly at him.

  I laughed, the sound rumbling my chest and shocking the hell out of Benedict.

  He glanced between us, then rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ll wait for you outside, Alek.”

  I nodded, and he departed, leaving me alone with Lyric.

  “Serge found you fresh clothes.” The jeans hugged her curves like a lover’s touch, and the blue blouse was cut modestly, but dipped low enough to hint at a mouthwatering pair of breasts. She was built like someone had plucked a vision of my wildest fantasy and brought her to life, all soft, warm hollows and contours. And that mouth…fuck, I wanted to lick my way inside to see if she tasted as good as she smelled.

  “He did.” She nodded. “So, I’m not a prisoner in your room?”

  I shook my head. “You have free roam of the estate. I’ll have Ransom pick up your laptop so you can access your work, but don’t expect internet. Small steps. If you find this library isn’t adequate, have Serge ask for Lachlan. He’ll escort you to the bigger one on the other side of the estate.”

  “You have a bigger library?” Her lips parted.

  I smiled long and slow, thinking that I had bigger everything. Then I remembered the nobles that had invaded the estate. “Do not leave this house without Lachlan at your side. We have nobles in residence to celebrate my sister Avianna’s return, and I can’t guarantee your safety. They might mistake you for a willing feeder.” My jaw locked. I’d kill the first vampire to touch her.

  “Willing…” She paled and swallowed. “I can feel you,” she whispered. “When you left your room earlier, I knew you weren’t far. Why is that?” She wrapped her arms around her waist.

  “You have my blood inside you.” My voice grated like sandpaper over the low words. “You’ll most likely feel it when I leave tonight, too.”

  “Your blood?” She lifted her fingers to her lips.

  “How did you think I healed you?” I could still see her lips attached to my wrist, hear the soft sounds of her throat working as she took my very life force into her.

  “Oh.” She blinked up at me, her gaze dropping to my lips as she muttered something that sounded like, “All in your head.”

  I had to get out of here. Now. Before I pressed her back against the shelves and kissed her like I wanted to. As it was, my self-control was thinner than a knife’s point and barely leashed. “I’ll be back later. Remember, don’t leave the house without Lachlan. Promise me.” I bored my gaze into hers, a step away from simply compelling her to do so, but it felt like too much of a violation.

  “I promise,” she whispered, stepping closer.

  I lowered my head and ran my nose along her jawline, breathing in her scent and burning my throat and lungs in the process. She still smelled like me. Good. It would make any vampire think twice about harming her…or feeding from her.

  She lifted her hands to my chest but didn’t push me away. Her breath caught, and my cock pulsed in time with my heartbeat, the lust nearly overwhelming me.

  “I’ll be back before sunrise,” I promised in her ear. Her body trembled, and her scent shifted, carrying the subtle sweetness of arousal. “Don’t miss me too much.”

  The Slatesmark Opera House had been the central meeting place of immortals since the Covenant was formed. It rested in the very center of Edgemont City, allowing each species the safety of entering through their own territory, which was why it had been selected in the first place. The wide, cavernous chamber beneath the opera house had doors and tunnels laid out like the spokes of a wheel, aligning with our borders.

  It was forbidden for any species to enter another’s territory. The only exception was me, or one of my assassins who stood in my stead to dispense the justice of the Covenant.

  I pushed open the heavy double doors from our path and strode into the Conclave Chamber with Benedict and Hawke at my sides. There was no table here, only five uncomfortable, high-backed chairs that formed a circle.

  Xavier was already in his, lounged indulgently with one leg hooked over the arm, and a brunette in his lap. His dark gaze settled on me and a lazy grin spread over his face. “So good to see you, Alek.” He didn’t bother removing his hand from the thigh of his guest.

  Xavier was the Demon King, and as the highest caste of demon, appeared entirely human. No one could ever mistake him for one, though. There was an element of darkness and night that clung to his skin, marking him as a dangerous predator.

  “Xavier.” I nodded, taking my own chair across from his. The other three were reserved for the Witch Queen, the Lycan Alpha, and the President of the Human Consortium, remained empty. This wasn’t a Conclave matter…yet.

  “This one isn’t your type,” he trailed another hand down the woman’s arm. “I know demon blood doesn’t settle in your stomach well, but Micah can send out for a human if you’d like to snack while we talk.” He motioned toward his second, a heavily muscled demon, who stood just behind and to the side of his chair, as Hawke stood at mine.

  “I’m good.” I leaned forward, bracing my elbows on my armrests. “Send her out.”

  Xavier sighed and sent his hand higher up her thigh. She gasped, her eyes flashing yellow for a second.

  “One of your demons tried to kill my sister two nights ago.” My lip curled, revealing my fangs and my intentions.

  He startled, his eyes flaring with surprise for the less than a heartbeat before he schooled his expression again. It was the most genuine emotion I’d seen on the guy in all four hundred years I’d known him. “Is that so? Sorry, gorgeous, we’ll have to finish this later.”

  The woman uncurled herself from his lap and walked out of the chamber, shutting the doors behind her.

  “That is a heavy accusation you lay at my feet, Alekxander.” He sat upright, poised for a fight.

  “It’s the truth.” I laid out the facts for him, from the appearance of his demons, to the attack on Avianna and her bodyguard, including the ones we’d disposed of.

  “Is that the present you so kindly sent my way?” He lifted a brow.

  “That was one of the attackers. He came back last night to finish the job and take out the only witness.”

  “Your sister?” Was that concern in his voice?

  “A human. Benedict questioned her earlier and found her truthful.” Benedict’s skills were widely known and feared in our world. It’s why he was always at my side in a Covenant meeting.

  Xavier’s attention flickered toward Benedict, then Hawke before returning to mine. “Your sister was in Demon territory?”

  “Is that your excuse?” My voice lowered.

  “I wouldn’t have your sister killed, Alek. From what I’ve heard, she’s the most beautiful of your species,
and you know how I enjoy a beautiful woman.” He smirked.

  Hawke moved at speed, his arm a blur of movement to the human eye as he threw a dagger at Xavier, lodging it in the wood, inches from his head.

  Xavier yawned. “Nice to see your aim is shitty as ever, Hawthorne.”

  “It’s exactly where I intended it to be,” Hawke snapped. “Threaten the royal family again, and the next one goes between your eyes.” The tension rose to breakable levels.

  I lifted my hand, and Hawke stepped back.

  “Whether or not you were responsible for the attack, it happened. It was purposeful. They knew who she was. Your house is dirty, Xavier, and as much as it pains me to admit, so is mine. There’s something bigger going on here.”

  His gaze narrowed in shrewd assessment. He might have been a hedonist ass, but there was no better tactician in the immortal world, even Lachlan. While vampires were the Assassins, the justice, demons were the soldiers. “I will question the lower castes, but I assure you, I have heard of no plot. Nor would I allow one to take place. I have no wish to overturn the Covenant.”

  I nodded, knowing that if he’d lied, Benedict would have signaled.

  “Excellent.” I stood.

  “The human described the demon in detail?” he asked.

  “She described him perfectly.” There was no doubting Lyric’s integrity.

  Something sparked in his eyes. “You’ve found yourself a Seer. I’ll accept her delivery at sunset.”

  I stiffened. Oh, shit. Why hadn’t I thought of that? “Impossible. They’re all wiped out.” Demons had slain every seer and their bloodlines even before the Revolution. Before the Covenant.

  “He’s not lying,” Benedict murmured.

  “By law, her life belongs to me.” Xavier crossed one leg over the other. “Or are you going to be the one who breaks Covenant?”

  He’d kill her. Fuck that.

  I wanted to bear my fangs and draw my weapon. Instead, I simply shook my head. “I’m the King of the ancients. I sit at the head of this Conclave. An attack on the royal family of any species is grave, but an attack on ours is the same as treason. I will decide whose life is forfeit, and hers is not.” I turned my back on him, knowing Hawke and Benedict would slaughter him if he moved against me. Then I walked out of the Conclave chamber and into the cool, stone-lined tunnel that served as our entrance.

  Hawke and Benedict followed after me, shutting and locking the heavy doors behind them.

  “He’s right,” Benedict muttered a curse. “The human belongs to him under the law.”

  “I don’t give a fuck. She lives. Period.”

  Hawke’s brow furrowed. “If you’re worried about them torturing her, I can take her out painlessly and just deliver the body. That keeps—”

  I slammed Hawke into the stone, my forearm against his collarbone and my knife at his inked throat. “She lives. If anyone touches her they answer to me, and that includes you. If so much as one hair gets cut, or she loses one drop of blood, I’ll fucking—”

  “Oh, fuck me,” Benedict interrupted, gripping my wrist to pull the knife back.

  Hawke stared at me with the same blank expression, his eyes as cold as ice. The threat of death never fazed him. Hell, I think he welcomed it, and he’d get it if he even looked in Lyric's direction.

  “Alek. He’s not going to touch her,” Benedict promised. “For fuck’s sake, man.” He pulled even harder at my wrist.

  Still, I couldn’t let go. Couldn’t let the threat to Lyric out from under my knife.

  “She’s safe with me,” Hawke whispered, not out of fear, but to move his throat the least amount possible.

  I stepped back, battling the murderous urge that crawled beneath my skin to protect Lyric. “Nothing happens to her.”

  “We get it. We really do,” Benedict moved between Hawke and me. “And we know it’s going to be complicated, but we have your back. We’ll protect her as one of our own. We get it, Alek.”

  “You get what?” I snapped.

  “You fed her. You cared for her. You’re a territorial piece of work at the moment in a full-blown rage at the mention of harm coming to her.” Benedict lifted his eyebrows.

  “And?”

  Hawke blew out a long, frustrated breath. “She’s your mate.”

  My heart stopped.

  4

  Lyric

  “So, some people…volunteer to be bitten?” The question tumbled past my lips before I could stop them. Avianna, Alek’s beyond stunning sister, had come to my room—Alek’s room—over an hour ago. Her bodyguard—as she’d explained—Oliva, stood just outside the door despite her rich brown eyes saying she would’ve preferred to come in and chat.

  Avianna’s long black hair was sleek and framed her elegant face, her eyes a ridiculously captivating blue. She glanced up at me from where she had sprawled across Alek’s bed. Her heeled feet were popped up, her chin propped on her delicate, gloved hands. Her lips were blood red, and she smirked.

  “Yes,” she said, shifting on the bed to sit up. “The humans who are aware of our world come from the families who were around when the Covenant was made.” She shrugged and crossed one leg over the other. “It’s called the Butcher’s Block,” she said, barely suppressing a smile. “A coexistence has resided between us and them for ages. They volunteer as feeders in exchange for protection and with the unspoken agreement that their offerings protect innocents from unprovoked attacks.”

  I swallowed hard, leaning a bit harder against the wardrobe across the room. I hadn’t been able to sit still since she arrived. My heart and mind constantly battled on a second-to-second basis—one side screamed at me that this wasn’t real while calculating how I could possibly escape the grand estate that doubled as a fortress, and the other, more logical side, told me to accept this new fate. Vampires were real. There was a whole other world I knew nothing about. Something deeper, stronger called to me on that side of the argument, the same buried instinct that had me welcoming Avianna inside my chambers without a second thought. The same whisper in the back of my mind that told me I could trust her—a vampire who could easily rip out my throat.

  A warm shiver danced over my skin at the thought of another vampire capable of rendering me useless. Alek. The way he’d towered over me in the library, my back nearly pressed against those elegant and ancient stacks. My toes curled in my shoes just thinking about it—about him. His scent, his body so close to mine, the power radiating from every single inch of him.

  With each passing second my terror and need to flee had waned and shifted to something more…anticipatory. Maybe it was because he’d fed me his blood which enabled me to feel him even now. He was farther away than my instincts seemed to care for, another battle I couldn’t stop—the undeniable need to know he was safe.

  A ridiculous notion, since he literally was the thing that went bump in the night.

  I pinched the bridge of my nose, wishing like hell my own mind was as easy to sort as my thesis on ancient secret societies. Alek’s offering of his library filled with rare texts had proved the ultimate distraction for my overcrowded mind as well as the cherry on top of my research. I’d spent hours in there yesterday, carefully pouring through books I’d never crossed in my own studies—journals, first-hand accounts, and more from people and creatures who’d actually survived attacks from or operated inside major secret societies.

  Avianna tipped her chin up from where she sat, sniffing the air before she laughed.

  “What?” I asked, tilting my head.

  “I just explained the Butcher’s Block to you, and you haven’t a trace of fear on your scent.”

  I parted my lips, then shut them and shrugged. “I’m all about consent,” I explained. “If these humans willingly agree to feed the vampire population, who am I to judge?”

  Avianna’s perfectly trimmed eyebrows rose on her smooth forehead. She pointed a finger at me, her hands draped in black silk gloves that reached her elbows. They matched the knee-le
ngth black dress she wore, making her look both otherworldly and drop-dead-gorgeous. “I’ve decided I like you, Lyric,” she said, and I blew out a breath.

  “That’s a relief?” I said, but it sounded like a question.

  Avianna nodded, pushing off the bed and heading toward me, her high heels clicking on the stone floor. “Of course, I decided I liked you the minute my brother told me you didn’t hesitate to help him the night I was attacked.”

  I tucked some stray hair behind my ear, my eyes falling to the floor. Flashes of the following night—when the demon came back for me—burst behind my eyes. The pain, the struggle, and then waking up here. “I wasn’t any help,” I said.

  “The King says otherwise,” she said, and then fished her phone from a hidden pocket in the skirts of her dress. Okay, now I was jealous of her wardrobe. She typed out a fast text, then slid it back in her silk pocket. “Alek said you immediately described the culprit and told him which direction to go despite the fact that you’d nearly been trampled by the demon in the first place. That seems like help to me.”

  “I guess…Wait, King?” I asked, my mind finally catching up.

  Those eyebrows rose again, then something like pity flashed in her blue eyes. “He didn’t tell you?”

  “Your brother?” I asked, she nodded. “He hasn’t told me much of anything really.” Besides him being an incredibly powerful vampire with the ability to control objects and minds at will. Oh, and the fact that I couldn’t leave—he’d told me that, too.

  “Interesting,” she said, and walked toward the giant steel doors of the room. “Yes, Alek is the King. Our family dates back among royalty, all the way before the revolution. He’s worn the burden of the crown for many centuries now.”

  The breath in my lungs tightened.

  King.

  My mind reeled, details of the past few days flickering behind my eyes. The massive, intimidating guards—Lachlan, the Scottish brute, with his intricate, colorful tattoos, the mess of hair he usually kept tied back, the hard cut of his eyes. And Benedict, the walking lie detector, his hair so blond it was like spun gold, his eyes a crystal green and sharp, the lines of his muscles hard as stone.