Six
The Four Horsemen dined on the finest food and fed on three beautiful women they’d taken from the five-star restaurant where they’d ordered second meal.
Monsta and Peele crashed on their beds with two of the women, satiated in every way possible.
“Fuck, this has been a great night.”
Peele belched and wiped blood off his cheek.
“Yeah, Monsta’s right, it’s been swift. But when we gonna finish this with your hunters? Q, you’ve killed the element of surprise, so what are we waiting for?”
Lounging on a wide chair, the third woman between his legs, Quattro didn’t raise his head from where he laid back to enjoy his experience. “How many times must I tell you that this is legend against legend? We will meet on the battlefield when the right time arrives and not before. I still have to arrange meetings with my new obsession.”
“That pretty black girl?”
“Aw, sad little creature. You have not seen her close, nor felt her, nor touched her magic. She has earth magic, as I do. Pretty isn’t even a footnote in her beauty. She and I will merge our magics before this is done.”
Snorting, Monsta laughed. “Merging? You mean you want to fuck her.”
Quattro’s head shot up, his eyes still closed. “You both lack depth, imagination, and soul. Merging magic is so much greater than merging bodies.” He paused. “Although we will do that too. Miss Dani and I have a date to change history. We’re going to make some. She and I are going to create life.”
“Then just grab her and fill her up. Hell, let’s take her with us. If you plan to fuck a baby into her, you aren’t going to let her go anyway, right?”
“After I place our child inside her, yes, she will stay with me. Until then, we remain enemies on opposite sides of honor and grace. They kill vampires, and believe it is fair to do so. This battle will be ugly when it comes full circle.”
Close to orgasm, Quattro’s head fell back. “Ahhhh. I cannot…wait!”
Buried deep, he pumped into the waitress’s mouth as she shoved herself backward. When he finished, Quattro opened his eyes and leaned forward to grab her wrist.
“Great job, my dear. Go clean up and get some food. Felix, will you return our guests to the restaurant? And don’t hurt them, damn it!”
With Felix’s proclivities, it was never certain what he might do just for fun. The man was an unapologetic killer. With Quattro’s command, they should be safe. It was Quattro’s rule that humans who served them should not be killed for doing so. But Felix was at times excitable.
Long after Felix returned, with a sly smile that Quattro hoped meant the women were safely returned and purged, the horsemen turned in to sleep. In most cases, Quattro preferred to sleep in his own space, separate of his men, but tonight, he felt they needed to remain together.
This battle looming before them might become a dividing line because the others did not seem to be capable of grasping the relevance of first bloods against first bloods in a battle to the death. The chance was high that those not first blood would not survive, and it was foregone that all first bloods wouldn’t either. To hold their bonds near, he must remain close to the three horsemen who rode at his side.
Settling in, Quattro prepared to sleep. Night would come again soon, and then, he would see his dark-skinned beauty once more.
At Hunter HQ
Gathered around Eva’s work station, the hunters watched her enormous center monitor.
“I found something on security vids inside the hotel in Louisiana when we went back to find the vampire who tried to kill Jack. Look at this.”
Eva brought up the security camera facing away from the entrance where Quattro, Felix, and two other men moved with purpose through the lobby of the hotel. At one point she froze the screen when all four faces were clear, clicked through several keystrokes, and allowed the vid to continue.
“I just sent a copy of that to all your fones. Guys, these are our next threat. These are the four horsemen.”
“They were working with that asshole Buck?”
“No way to verify it, but I think they were. At least there must be some connection, there they are coming from what was likely his basement lair. Buck tried to kill Jack. I believe it is where they came into our orbit. Where they found out that we exist. Other than that, I haven’t found anything else on them, but they’re vampires, so, no surprise, you guys generally stay off the grid.”
Dani, just behind Eva, spoke up. “I have.”
She moved closer to the moving images on the screen, her eyes on Quattro. Sexy. Compelling without compulsion. Dangerous.
“I think they were here the night I joined the team. At the time, of course, I had no idea what it meant, but the sense was overwhelming, dread, of something coming, something bad, when I stepped out of the office and climbed to the top of the hill behind us. I believe they were near; that I felt their presence.”
“That was months ago.” Jack seemed skeptical.
“It was, yeah, but think about this. Saul has only just come back. What if they wanted to get all of us? I mean, I wasn’t there in Louisiana with you guys, but Saul was, and he just returned. It makes sense. If they were working with the vampire at that time, they might have waited to have all of you in the fight.”
“But he seems to have targeted you, Dani,” Saul weighed in.
“No, I said that I felt his presence. I think I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Quattro has some kind of fascination for me, sure, I guess, but it doesn’t stem from the same reason he’s declared battle on you guys. I’m just a ringer.”
“When it came time to reveal himself, not only did he do that to you, not one of us, but it seemed to be very personal.”
Saul was pissing her off. Dani shrugged. “Whatever you say. I’ve made my point.”
“Stop.” Sanquinetta took control again, aware that what was going on between Dani and Saul right now was personal too. She commanded her team’s attention.
“One way or the other, they’re coming for us, I think we all know that. The question is, how do we prepare our defense? Kwano, you have the most experience within the first blood world. What might we expect from Quattro and Felix? Those two are the real threats, right? The other made vampires, they should be easy, yeah?”
Kwano shook his head. “Not necessarily. One thing we discovered decades ago is that with large infusions of blood from a first blood vampire, made vampires can pick up talents, magics that they would normally never have. It is possible to create a more powerful made vampire with a great deal of dedication. They may have done so. If they have, we face four very formidable enemies. We might want to bring in reinforcements.”
“Fuck. I really don’t want this to blow up into war.”
Silent for a few seconds, she looked back at Kwano, his arms folded, calm, waiting for instructions. “Really?”
“Really, San. This could be the most dangerous situation we’ll ever face.” He turned to Dani. “You felt some of his power. Dani, what is your take?”
“He’s strong. I think he’s got a lot of talents. More than that, he has conviction and a terrible desire to pit himself against someone of equal skill. All of those things are dangerous. I agree, Kwano, we need help.”
“There, San, from the two who know first bloods most, and the one person here who has had any close contact with our enemy.”
“Huh,” Jack’s amused voice interrupted. “The classic. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”
“That animal isn’t getting close to Dani again.” Saul was standing now, his eyes glowing.
Placing a hand on his shoulder, Kwano sent impression to calm Saul down. “Whoa, tiger. We’ll protect Dani. It’s also a classic to divide and conquer, so let’s not let them do that. We work this problem together and we win together. That is the first blood way.”
“I’m sorry. My anger is misplaced.” Saul caught Dani’s gaze, aware she was pissed. “I apologize. We protect and fight together. It isn’t my place to tell any of you what you will do.”
“I’m fine. No, Saul, you’re not my father, so don’t act like it. But you’re right. I have no more idea what to expect from Quattro than you guys do. In fact, I doubt he’ll contact me like that again. He’s made his point and announced his intentions. Now, it’s on to the big battle. Whenever that will be.”
“So nowhere in his message to you did he indicate any timeframe at all?”
“No, I’m sorry, he didn’t. Maybe that’s when he’s going to use the ever-brilliant element of surprise that he gave up by introducing himself and his intention to kill us.”
Eva pulled Quattro’s image back up, fullscreen, and studied his face. “Do you suppose he’s psychotic? Do first bloods have mental problems?”
Dani shook her head. “No. He’s not insane. He truly thinks he’s an angel of justice. Seriously, he thinks we’re the bad guys!”
Saul watched Dani closely. Was she defending their enemy? What the hell? Was she? “Maybe. Or maybe he’s an arrogant asshole with an agenda to call us out because he likes to fight and likes to win.”
Eyes locked on each other, Dani and Saul were still and silent. The other hunters were too as they watched the battle of wills swelling in front of them.
Facing Saul, Dani held her temper, arms folded, legs set in a defensive stance. “You know nothing about this vampire, Saul. For you to assume to know his motivation isn’t helpful.”
“This creature calls himself after biblical legend. What makes you assess him as noble?”
“I didn’t say he was. Don’t put words in my mouth.”
“I wouldn’t if you…”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Sanquinetta snapped, stepping between the two battling hunters. “So we can’t fight our enemy if we’re fighting each other. Neutral corners, guys. Dani, why don’t you help Kwano in the armory? We received our new weapons and they need to be unpacked and checked.”
For moments, Dani didn’t move. The team watched her eyes move over Saul, top to bottom, before she nodded and followed Kwano from the room.
Sanquinetta slapped Saul on the forearm. “You weren’t going to win with her, you know. Jeez-us! You and Jack, do a perimeter sweep.”
Without questioning her orders, Jack pushed Saul from the building.
Eva glanced up from her keyboard. “So. What was that?”
“Give you a moment to guess.”
“Sexual tension out the ass between Saul and Dani. Think they’re setting the sheets on fire?”
“I’m trying not to guess. This will only complicate things with our new situation.”
“Mother may I. Even though we don’t, oh, but to be a fly on the wall.”
Sanquinetta tipped her chin as she tried not to imagine Saul confronting Dani tonight, an argument that would surely end up in her bed. Without realizing it, she sighed and said aloud, “I gotta get laid.”
When she looked up at Eva a second later, Eva kept her eyes on the monitor with six divided camera feeds until she glanced at her friend with a wide grin.
“Mind your business, young woman.”
Sanquinetta hurried back into the abandoned break room.
As Dani’s shift ended, although still dark, the evening was warmer than it had been in recent days. Late autumn offered variable temperatures and tonight was a bonus of light breezes and warm air. With clear skies above the sea, the surf easy tonight, she bounced down a trail of narrow stairs that led to a long stretch of private beach. Jack had rescued the shoreline from a planned development of beachfront apartments when he bought the house and acres of land on both sides.
A single wood bench with legs buried in the sand sat next to four solar-powered tiki lamps with soft rose glows that didn’t destroy the ambience of natural solitude. Dropping onto the sand in front of the bench, she leaned back to rest against the seat, her eyes moving over the sea that at this moment, looked like it rolled in slow motion.
She wore only a lightweight satin robe and slide-on sandals because, since it was warmer, even though the sea would still be cool, she planned to take a brief invigorating swim. Needed to, to help calm the heat burning in her mind and belly.
Her libido had been lit up like a tower city since Saul had come into her life. She’d wanted him with a desperation she didn’t understand, and when she decided to fuck him to “get him out of her system,” it had only made her want him more. Now, she sat alone on cool sand wondering how she’d lost control.
It didn’t help at all that when Quattro’s hands slid down her back, sparking arousal, both her mind and body had remained in sexual hyperdrive. Two spectacular vampires seemed to be interested in her, and God help her, she apparently wanted them too. Both of them! It was impossible to make sense of it. Dani was hardly a sexual animal like so many of the vampires she’d worked with. For them, sex was normal, casual, necessary, but she had always been particular about who she wanted to share such an intimate act with. Hell, before Saul, it had been nearly a year since she’d been with someone.
Even now, just thinking about Saul, picturing his handsome face, that hard body, how it felt as he moved inside her, she let memory replay the orgasm they’d shared, the gentle loving touches, his smile. It would happen again, they both had known that as soon as they dropped beside each other, satiated, spent, aware that they had started something.
“Oh, girl, you need that dip in frigid water.” Laughing, Dani stood, ready to loosen the belt on her robe and run nude into the water, when the overwhelming sense of a vampire lifeforce pushed at her from behind. She should have known he’d show up tonight.
Closing her eyes, Dani shook her head. “Saul.”
“Hardly.”
Whirling, Dani froze, still processing that Quattro stood on this beach with her, on Jack’s private beach that he shouldn’t even know about. Inches from her, casually leaning against the side of Jack’s bench, wearing low-riding jeans that looked like they could slide lower any second, and an unbuttoned cotton shirt, she admitted he couldn’t have looked more sexy and forbidden. When she could tear her eyes away from the fullness beneath the jeans zipper, his pleased, genuine smile, was an even greater turn on. Sexier yet, his waist length hair that had been contained in a braid when she met him now swung loose.
“How, how in the hell…”
No, that wasn’t the important question.
“Why are you here? What do you want from me?”
Lifting his right hand, Quattro tugged on loose strands of Dani’s hair. “To talk, that’s all. More, if you want. Less, if you don’t. Just to talk with you.”
“Why? You announced that we’re enemies and that we’ll meet in battle. Why the hell would you come here to talk?”
“Because I’m obsessed with you.”
“What? You don’t know me.”
“Ah, little huntress. I know you. And in spite of yourself, you are fascinated by me. You want to know all about me as well. From that first night you arrived at the hunter’s office, you felt me.”
Her eyes widened and Dani backed away, kept backing, needing to put some distance between them, until she felt water beneath her feet and stopped.
“I thought it was you. Something touched me that night, waves of sensations I did not understand.”
“It was me. My magic. You feel the earth magic that we share. It reached for you as yours reaches for me.”
“I don’t reach for you.”
“Liar. Feel this.”
Quattro’s boots gone, he stepped into the water with her, inches from her, a hand moved up to caress her cheek.”
“Like seeks like.”
His fingers moving along her throat fired up already heated skin. “You feel it.”
She did. His scent invaded her, erotic, and her body responded. “I don’t want to.”
Lifting her hand to his lips, Quattro kissed the palm, which she allowed, then nipped and licked the tiny drops of blood that welled, which made her try to pull away.
“Don’t…”
He lowered his hand, hers still trapped in it, his dark hair cascading over them like a curtain. “Don’t what?” he whispered.
“Don’t touch you? Taste you? Make you wet? We’re inevitable, my earth angel.”
He did make her wet, his raw sexuality overcoming her normally controlled libido, breath ragged as she tried to stop this bizarre train wreck. He was the enemy!
Her eyes moved over what had to be a man made for pure sex; he looked like an ancient Viking come to life. Handsome, sexy, brutal…
She wanted to feel those big hands on her body, and even…her eyes dropped to the zipper that started just above where his cock lay, hard and ready.
Dani did the only sensible thing she could do. She yanked her hand from him and at the same time, shoved Quattro away from her as hard as she could. He was vampire, giant, heavy, and didn’t move much, even with her superior strength. Her fingers curled into his furred chest, and she realized her mistake.
She should never have touched him.
His earth magic, much like hers, weaved around her, entered her, and the connection was complete. Sexual energy sparked off Quattro’s aura, and for a moment, time stopped.
Dani was afraid she was going to give in, well aware Quattro expected they would fuck right here, right now.
Instead of backing away, Dani moved closer yet, moaning as she let the magic flow between them.
“Perhaps I do want you to touch me, taste me. But that isn’t going to happen. Ever.”
“You want me,” he pushed.
“No.”
“Yes.”
Silence. Dani watched the sky before her eyes returned to Quattro, her fingers still sliding along his chest.
“Maybe. But I don’t understand why. I don’t want to.”
“We were destined to merge our magics. The universe designed us to be so.”
“No. We may carry earth magic, but it doesn’t bond us. No matter how much my body wants you, my mind has other plans.”
“That’s achingly cryptic.”
Dani laughed. “It is, isn’t it? It’s true, though, as much as I know we would be good together, my heart lies elsewhere.”
Proving that her instinct was right, that he was no uncontrolled beast, Quattro squeezed his big fingers into her hair. “Maybe I’ll take you into that bedroom up there and fuck you until you admit that no other cock would ever satisfy you.”
“I don’t believe you will. You may be impulsive and lived a life of unaccountable madness, but I’m getting a feel for who you are. I feel your magic too, and I’m going to say something that will piss you off.”
Dani hesitated, then finished. “You’re a good man, Quattro.”
A force she’d never experienced hit them suddenly, offset, so that the brunt of the force missed Dani and struck Quattro. He flew up and crashed into the water, followed by the dark shadow that came out of nowhere.
It took a second before Dani’s rattled senses calmed and she knew what had happened. “Saul!”
Now, the two powerful vampires stood, both in the shallow surf, facing each other, fists tight, ready to battle.
“Saul, no!”
She watched his head turn to her, and saw, felt, the pain in him. He’d worried that she might have been attacked, assaulted by Quattro, but realized now that he had interrupted something else. She read him well. In spite of understanding that she hadn’t been in danger, more than anything, he wanted to beat the life out of Quattro.
He thought she had accepted Quattro’s sexual advances. Saul’s pain broke her heart. Quattro’s fury and jealousy scared her.
“Stop! Saul! Quattro! Stop fighting. Come talk to me!”
Two massive first blood vampires flew into the water as they smashed into each other with great force, Saul’s fist striking Quattro in the jaw as Quattro’s found Saul’s gut.
“Motherfucker!”
“You’re dying here tonight!”
“Someone is!”
“Oh, I’m going to kill you. But I’m going to hurt you a whole lot first!”
Able to understand only parts of what they were screaming to each other, Dani tried to move in closer, hoping her presence would get their attention long enough to stop them, but before she had any clue what had happened, she was sitting on the bench a good hundred feet away.
“Damn you, Saul!”
He’d stopped trying to kill Quattro long enough to move her out of harm’s way.
She surged off the bench, so pissed that neither man would listen to her, and back to the water’s edge where Quattro now had Saul down, whaling away on him with vicious strikes.
“Quattro! Stop it now! Both of you assholes, step back or I will make you step back!”
Quattro didn’t stop, but Saul was finally able to get free long enough to grab Quattro by the throat and begin choking him out.
While Dani knew that what they were doing wouldn’t permanently kill either vampire, she wouldn’t let them continue this vicious attack.
Calming her spirit, Dani reached inward to her earth magic, fed it to the living planet, felt her own magic merge below the ground and touch what lay beneath. She was an earth warrior and Mother Earth gave freely of her magic to her child, so the magics swirled and rose, pulled from under the shore, from under the sea, drawing upward, power normally never wielded, certainly not by humans, but Dani was special.
Squatting, her hands to the sands, fingers splayed, they began to lift, air-charged, whirling around in growing vortexes, four columns on each side of Dani, who finally stood and faced the warring vampires.
Saul had Quattro on the ground now, kicking him so hard in the side, even Quattro’s arrogance couldn’t halt his low growls of pain.
“Stop!”
This time Saul looked at Dani and saw the wild shapes spinning on each side of her. Shaking his head, he stepped back, which allowed Quattro the time to drag his injured body up, and he too watched the manifestation of Dani’s magic.
She faced them, her hair wild, her arms still out to her side.
“No more! You’re done. I won’t have you fighting, certainly not over me. I belong to neither of you, so you are just two dogs pissing on each other. Are you finished?”
Saul nodded at once, his eyes shooting to Quattro to see if the fight was still on, because if Quattro didn’t agree, he’d have to continue to protect himself and Dani.
While he studied the columns that now rotated over twenty feet high, Quattro, holding his side, coughed out blood with a coarse laugh. “Yeah, it looks like we’re done.”
Several more minutes passed before Dani sighed and let her hands drop. Once she did, the impressive columns of sand slowly dissipated and fell in sparkles back to the beach.
At first, no one spoke. Then Quattro, still holding his side, limped towards Dani, noticing that Saul stayed, footfall to footfall, beside him. He surveyed Saul, whose face was bloodied and swollen, and then looked at Dani.
“I was right when I thought you might be my most formidable opponent. I’ve never tried to command the earth like that, but I’m not sure I could. You’re incredible, little earth warrior.”
“Don’t be charming. After that display, neither of you are welcome here. Quattro, go, but be aware that we need to speak soon, and not for the reason you think. I believe we can resolve this situation. We can talk about what it is you want from my friends and me. After tonight, surely you understand that we are not enemies.”
Now trying to move without deferring to his injuries, Quattro sidled up next to Dani, glanced back at Saul, then put his hands on her cheeks. Saul surged forward until he saw Dani’s expression and her outreached hand warning him to stop.
He stopped. He was pissed, but he stopped, eyes sharp on every movement, listening to every word.
“You and I, we are not enemies, although obviously, battle lines are yet to be drawn. The other hunters, we will meet at a destined time at an appointed place. That, I will let all of you know. Until then, remember.”
Saul nearly burst a blood vessel in his temple as he forced himself to watch Quattro lean in, his lips to Dani’s ear, whisper something he couldn’t hear, and then disappear on the air. Fuming, Saul looked from the front of Jack’s property back to the waiting Dani.
She was shaking her head. “What were you thinking? I was in consort with our enemy, and making progress. But no, my hero has to rush in and prove to him that we do indeed need to kill each other. Saul. I’m disappointed.”
“He was touching you. He can’t touch you.”
“He can if I allow it.”
“I noticed that.” Saul moved closer, his fury renewed when Quattro’s scent still lingered on Dani. “Why?”
“A means to an end.”
“It looked like more than that.”
Sighing, Dani dropped onto the sand, her legs crossed, and held her hand out, this time in welcome.
“Come here.”
Hesitating, when all he wanted was to rush to her, Saul finally took a place beside her, a knee touching hers, and slid a hand into the beckoning one she held out.
“Saul, things are complicated, but I’ll tell you what I know. I won’t apologize for my actions, they’re honest and true to myself. I didn’t ask him here, he just showed up, but I wouldn’t send him away.”
“He’s a threat, Dani. You should understand that after your abduction.”
“Thanks, I got it. This is different. I know this is going to piss you off, but I’m telling you the truth because if we ever have a chance to have a relationship, friendship or perhaps more, that’s how we must start. I’m attracted to you. Unbelievably so. You know that, since we connected deeply when you rescued me, and we just fucked ourselves into amazing orgasms. And we’ll likely do it again.”
Through the physical contact with Saul, Dani felt his heart race and his cock jump. “Not tonight, mister. Anyway, and this isn’t something I actively sought or even want, but, Saul, I feel a sexual pull toward Quattro too.”
Saul didn’t move. He’d felt that too, through his connection to her, and couldn’t accept it. “Why? He’s promised to kill us.”
“Tells you how desperate I am, doesn’t it? Saul, if we ever have a chance to work, you have to trust me, right? I need to be able to trust you. At this point, I do, with my life. All I ask is the same.”
“This isn’t about trust. Little earth warrior, I know you’re very familiar with vampires, so you know that a male vampire is incredibly possessive over a mate.”
Pretty sure her jaw had dropped open, Dani made a conscious effort to keep her teeth together.
“What? Um, what does that have to do with us?”
Saul pushed off the sand and walked toward the meandering surf. He didn’t face her again, didn’t speak, until he felt her behind him, her hand sliding along his hip.
“I don’t have the perfect answer other than to tell you that, almost from that first night, I keep thinking of you as mine. Somewhere in my scrambled mind, you belong to me. I know it isn’t true, you don’t have to force that down my throat, but you want honesty? That’s how I feel. When I look at you, all I want is to be inside you. To claim you.”
“Oh, Saul.”
There wasn’t anything else she wanted right now either. With earth magics still coursing through her body, Dani threw the robe onto the ground. A sharp breath from Saul let her know that he hadn’t expected that.
She ran into the shallow water, then turned to face a stunned vampire. “Come into the water and get me. I don’t know what to tell you other than at this very second, all I want is to feel your cock deep inside me, your teeth in me.”
Clothes gone at once, Saul followed Dani, sucking in air at the frigid temperature of a late autumn ocean, but he’d walk through sunlight to be with her. Especially after watching her walk naked through deepening water, fascinated when it lingered and lapped at her slit. Where my tongue will be soon, he thought.
Swimming now, the buoyancy of the saltwater helpful, Saul reached Dani now treading water wearing only a grin as bright as the slice of moonlight above.
“Fuck me, vampire,” she whispered.
He pulled her legs up around his waist and pushed into her, deep, searing her skin on the way in and on the way back out. Moving close, he started to kiss her, then intended to feed from her, but he barked in pain.
Dani giggled. “He tore your face up. That’s going to smart for a little while.”
With a groan, he nodded, continuing their easy cadence of lovemaking, his fingers tracing her breasts and nipples. So focused on his task, he hadn’t noticed at first that he must have adapted to the water.
“The water feels warm,” he whispered.
“Earth magic. I accessed it so we can stay as long as we like.”
Lying back into the water, all but her face immersed, Dani closed her eyes and gave in as Saul, his hands moving along her skin, upper thighs, buttocks, belly, created sensual fire when his cock combined with vampire speed drove her to ecstasy, and she screamed as her orgasm arrived. Dani pushed away and spun into the water, her legs around Saul’s neck as he nipped her along the inside of her upper thigh.
They rose back out to gulp air while Dani coughed and laughed. “My Gods, you’re good with that.”
“You think? Let’s compare.”
Saul pulled her up to him. “Let’s see whether it’s my tongue or cock that takes the prize tonight.”
“Your mouth is hurt.”
“It’s already healing.
Holding tight to her vampire, Dani quivering, not from cold, the water was tropical warm, she let go and fell backward to float as Saul’s hands lifted her from the water and she felt his tongue slide inside, over and over, vampire movement assisted power and speed, well placed so that a second orgasm brought another cry.
“Um, Dani, it’s getting hot.”
Collapsed against Saul’s neck, hands in his hair, she laughed. “Sorry. My emotions affect my talent, and with what we did, I’m surprised the water around us isn’t boiling.”
Saul lifted Dani away, turned her around, and pulled her back to him, his hands between her legs. “Then I didn’t try hard enough.”
A Five-Star Hotel in Seattle
He’d wandered outside for hours, his mind reeling, his heart pounding, confusion, anger, compassion, loss, hope, all assaulting him at once.
That damned woman. Human, for all that mattered to the Universe! And the fucking vampire he’d waited for months to return so they could begin their mission to destroy all the hunters in that group.
Saul. Asshole. Motherfucking cocksucker!
He might be first blood, but he was newly converted, so if Saul thought he could beat Quattro, he had a shocking beatdown coming.
Nothing, no one, would stand between Quattro and the earth warrior destined to bring a child to him. He’d been one of the most dangerous men on earth for two centuries, unbeaten, and would remain so.
His side still ached where Saul’s hard-soled boot had carved into him. A crooked grin admitted that Saul had held his own for the few minutes they’d fought. But the true defining moment of the night had been that incredible evidence of Dani’s power. He’d felt in her the ability, but didn’t know how far it went or how much access she had to it, and tonight, he’d discovered it was vast indeed.
Earth magic flamed in that beautiful woman. Together, they would be legend, but they were worlds apart from that possibility unless he forced her. It might come to that. For now, he had to get back to business. It was time to rest and see if the future revealed itself to him.
He needed to finish this and move forward. It had to be nearly time to finish it, didn’t it?
Returned to the suite of rooms he shared with the other horsemen, Quattro peeled off his shirt and reached for a bottle of beer.
“You’re back.” Felix came from one of the other rooms, wearing only jeans, the top button undone. Behind him, Quattro could see a human male, young, sitting on his bed, naked, scared, before Felix pulled the door closed.
Glancing at him casually, Quattro killed a long sip, and lowered the bottle to rest on his knee as he dropped onto the sofa. “Good night?”
Felix grinned and grabbed two of the beers. “Yeah, good night. I found a little gem.”
As he finished off the beer, Quattro glanced once again toward Felix’s room. “Looks young.”
“Like them young, you know that.”
Nodding, Quattro lifted his legs and laid back. They used humans, always had. Inferior to vampires, humans provided service and food, that’s what they existed for.
It was how they’d always lived. Why it seemed to bother him now that Felix had a very young male in his room, he didn’t know. Fuck, things could get screwed up.
“I’m going to sleep. Get him out of here and purged before you do.”
Felix snorted a laugh.
“Naw. Think I’ll keep him for a while. Doesn’t look like you’re planning to escalate our battle with the hunters anytime soon.”
Sitting up slowly, Quattro searched Felix’s face.
He lowered his feet to the floor. “You want to clarify that statement?”
“Yeah.”
Wearing only his jeans, still unzipped, Felix walked up to Quattro and stopped two feet away. Quattro noticed movement behind him and saw Peele and Monsta following.
Quattro stood. “You have something to say. Say it.”
Feet set, arms crossed, Felix faced his long-time friend. “They’re fucking vampire killers, and we came here to take them out. Now I don’t understand this poetry-filled song and dance you’re putting on, but I’m pretty sick of this place and don’t get what you’re doing. Q, we finish this, like we fucking came here to do. We do our thing; the Four Horsemen ride and burn until nothing is left.”
“Not this time, Fee.”
“What’s with this epic battle shit? We take them out, one by one, and leave skid marks as we ride into the fucking sunset. I mean, where the fuck are you going with this destiny garbage?”
Surging forward, Peele moved beside Felix, zoned in on Quattro. “Yeah, man, let’s fucking kill them and get out of here.”
Quattro wasn’t concerned about Monsta and Peele. Yes, they were loose cannons, but he knew how to handle them.
The problem was Felix. Quiet, cautious, gentleman Felix, who would walk past a man, smile, slit his throat, tuck a finger in the blood as it spilt, and lick it as he passed on by.
Felix and Quattro had been together most of their three hundred years, orphan first bloods together. Neither knew their vampire origins, both discovered their true vampire nature on their own. They’d connected on that incredible common ground.
Eventually they discovered that most first bloods lived in communities with their families and friends. Finding each other one dark night in London, they’d bonded and been together since. They’d run through the city, no rules, no brakes, ripping through life and leaving destruction behind. Two young men with god-like power who decided that, special, powerful, they practically owned the world.
Quattro confronted Felix, face to face. He was the one to watch out for. For now, he needed to defuse this situation.
“Stand down, brothers. We ride soon. Go seek food and entertainment, come back, rest, and we’ll discuss this further tonight when we rise.”
Eyes on Felix, Quattro placed a hand on his bare shoulder. “Relax, Fee. You know me, I’m there with you, but give me a little breadth in this. You should trust me.”
“I trust, brother, I trust, but just because we’ve trusted before, doesn’t mean it’s infinite.”
“You cut me deep. Go, enjoy your night. We’ll cover this better when we wake.”
Better to walk away from Felix when he was like this. Of recent, it seemed Felix’s temper flared too easily, and he had become critical of Quattro’s leadership. Any leader knew what that change in behavior meant. Felix was preparing to step over Quattro to rule.
Things just turned a great deal more dangerous for Quattro and the hunters.
Lying on the couch, he rolled over, making it clear he was done with them now. He heard Peele and Monsta leave the room, but waited another twenty minutes before a silent Felix left.
Quattro could hear the boy in his room whine but he knew better than to intercede.
Today, he would rest uneasily. Felix had become a much greater threat than the hunters.
His cluttered mind remained active anyway, so sleep was slow to come.
Felix did have a point, but Quattro could not agree openly in front of the other horsemen. He couldn’t share his strange feelings. Never before had they lingered on a mission. Learn your enemy, kill your enemy, go home. Simple. Easy. Routine.
The magic built up around these hunters had intrigued him from that first second and he had an inexorable need to discover what it meant. He’d been certain it was a need for worthy opponents, for someone not easily dispensed with. For challenge, for purpose.
Purpose. Quattro thought that might be it. Three centuries fighting, feeding and fucking. There had to be more to immortality than that. When he found earth magic buried in a human female, Quattro was certain she could bear a first blood child to him.
In Dani, he had found that. Ultimately, that is what he wanted. It had become an unrealized imperative.
So, after rising, to protect her, he would need a new force, a new army. And he knew where he would get it.
Thank the Gods that Felix did not have even one of the talents of intuition, precog, or empathy. After rest, just as the sun rose, he’d be off to prepare for a very different kind of battle than expected.
He couldn’t believe it himself.
Downtown Seattle
Fury burned. Felix would claim his place as leader of the horsemen. In some way, it would suck not to have him with them anymore. He would miss Quattro, but he’d noticed a change in him of recent that didn’t suit Felix at all.
Quattro was a wuss now, like the other vampires in the world of first bloods. Weak, malleable, emotional, like the humans they’d used without regard for centuries. To control the world the way they always had, three hundred years of history…and Quattro had destroyed it. Although it was true that his friend had never had quite the bloodlust he had, Felix would still miss their lives as they had built them.
But the Quattro he saw now had to go. Felix already knew that Peele and Monsta would follow him.
First, they would remove Quattro. The plan was simple. Although Quattro might suspect that Felix was no longer loyal, he would never expect him to remove the head of the Four Horsemen. The vampire did not possess the ferocity of nature to understand Felix’s anger and unforgiveness for Quattro’s betrayal.
“Ah, you won’t get your battle, my friend.”
Then, once Quattro was out of the way, Felix and his crew would, one by one, kill the hunters, finish the job, and get the hell out of this state. God, the loss of his old partner and friend pissed him off, fueling the rage that already consumed him.
Hurrying down the busy city street, Felix had his eye out. The young boy did not suit him tonight. What he wanted was someone with masculine size and strength to swallow him. He wanted brutality. There, that was the one, near one of the tower apartment buildings, leaning against a bricklike wall, smoking an old-fashioned cigarette, stocky, wide-shouldered, an easy six plus in height.
“You’ll do nicely.”
Felix caught his defiant gaze. “Come with me.”