Enjoy this excerpt from Cassandra Chandler’s next Forbidden Knights novel,
Forbidden Pleasure
Coming Soon
June 15 — 11:02 PM
With a quick stab through the heart, the vampire Shade was fighting lurched to a stop. He didn’t bother to watch his opponent’s body blacken, turning to ash starting around the wound and spreading until nothing was left but a pile of gray soot. He’d seen it too many times to be impressed.
He turned to face his next opponent, swatting away the vampire’s arm with the flat of his blade before bringing his sword back in an arc that took his head.
Amateurs.
The group of vampires probably thought they had Shade and Niall trapped, stuck in a dead-end alley. Instead, the walls made sure that the vampires couldn’t attack in their full numbers.
From their clumsy attempts at engagement, none of them had bothered with any sort of martial training or combat strategy studies before they’d been turned or after. They were relying on their heightened speed and strength to win.
Big mistake.
“What do you call a group of vampires?” Shade said, engaging yet another foe.
“I don’t know.” Niall said. “What do you call them?”
From his tone, it sounded like Niall thought Shade was telling a joke. It happened often enough that Shade couldn’t mistake it.
“No, seriously,” Shade said. “Werewolves run in packs. Witches have covens. What about vampires?”
“I couldn’t care less.”
Niall’s Irish accent always thickened in battle. The words sounded more like ‘couldnae keer’. Shade wished his own English accent hadn’t faded over the centuries.
“How about we call it a murder,” Shade said.
He spun in a circle, his sword whistling through the air until it met the neck of another opponent. The razor-sharp edge and weight of the blade were enough that Shade barely had to add force to cleave the next vampire’s head from his body.
Okay, it hadn’t started out as a joke, but that was kind of funny. And dark. Really dark.
“Enough with the morbid humor,” Niall said. “And this isn’t murder. It’s an execution.”
Shade shrugged as he sidestepped another vampire’s attack. “I don’t understand why I have to be here. There are only a dozen or so of them. You could handle this yourself.”
Niall scoffed, wielding his much heavier sword as if it weighed as much as a toothpick. Dust was gathered around his feet from the vampires he’d already killed. There were dark flecks of ash in his coppery beard.
“Some partner you are,” Niall said. “We’re supposed to have each other’s backs.”
Shade stopped for a moment, his sword arm lowering. “I do have your back. Always.” With a grin, he added, “I just also have a date.”
Niall scowled, pointing with his blade to a vampire who was just about to launch himself at Shade.
He was aware.
With a pivot and dropping his weight a bit, he held his sword parallel to the ground, letting his attacker decapitate himself with his own inertia. Unfortunately, the same inertia caused the cloud of dust that had once been the vampire to hit Shade in the chest.
“Dammit,” he said. “Now I need a shower.”
“It’s not safe to be ‘dating’ anyone.” Niall was still scowling. “That’s why it’s forbidden.”
“Relax, it was just a joke.”
Mostly.
Shade kept that thought to himself.
Three vampires were circling Niall, but he paid them as much attention as he might a swarm of gnats. “You spend every spare moment with Eden.”
“I’m helping her with putting in the garden,” Shade said. “Which, I will remind you, is for both of us to enjoy. It’s a moon garden, after all.”
Niall let out a disgusted puff of air just as two vampires leapt at him. Moving almost too fast for Shade to see, Niall caught one on the tip of his sword and the other with his bare hand.
Shade grimaced as Niall pulled his sword up to the vampire’s heart, cutting a line through the middle of his torso. It was hard not to feel a twinge of sympathy, even though this batch of was particularly nasty and seemed almost mindless. Shade still had trouble watching Niall gut the guy.
Light from the nearby streetlamps filtered into the alley, illuminating the twisted features of the vampire Niall had by the throat. He held him off the ground effortlessly. The third ran forward and started clawing at Niall’s forearm, trying to free the one in his grip.
“That’s damned annoying.” Niall kicked the vampire off his sword—toward Shade—and said, “Be a dear, won’t you?”
Shade nodded, then swung his sword, giving the vampire a quick end.
Niall was right. This was an execution—one among hundreds. Thousands. Just like every other night they hunted.
The vampire clawing at Niall’s arm let out a frustrated grunt, then she bit down on Niall’s flesh. Her eyes widened briefly and she let him go, staggering back and spitting.
“Werewolf?” she said. “You traitor!”
“That’s rich, coming from someone who kills her own kind,” Niall said.
“I feed on humans.” She managed to straighten, and even looked indignant.
“What do you think you were before you changed?” Shade said.
She bared her fangs at him, the amber glow from the streetlights yellowing their sharp points. Shade just laughed. The ring of opponents around them had widened, as if the vampires were finally starting to realize they were in trouble.
“The new ones always posture,” he said.
Niall scoffed. “They’re like fucking mosquitos. Squish one, and a bunch of others pop up and take their place.”
He dropped his sword, then pulled the vampire he’d been holding up in the air closer, wrapping one arm around the vampire’s head and the other around his shoulder.
“Oh, come on,” Shade said. “Don’t—”
Shade flinched as Niall pulled the vampire’s head off. Dark ash fell around his feet, a streak of black running down his shirt.
“You’re doing the laundry tonight.” Shade hoped his humor would help to take the edge off for Niall. It usually did, morbid or not.
This close to the full moon, Niall was at nearly full strength. He was also at the limits of his self-control. Letting loose on the vampires would help him curb the violent tendencies that came along with the power. That was part of why Shade was hanging back.
The vampires had to be destroyed. If they weren’t, people would die. Niall was all too happy to take care of the matter. The fighting would help him vent and keep himself in check. Probably.
Hopefully.
Niall rolled his shoulders. “As we were saying, this garden of yours—and mine, I suppose—is almost finished. Are you going to be ready when Eden walks out of your life forever?”
Absolutely not. Shade was working on ideas to keep Eden around. An expansion on the current garden. A new project. Anything.
He wished that he could turn her, but that would be…complicated. Beyond complicated. He would have to tell her what he was. She would see him as a monster.
Still, it was hard not to think about—to dream about. The two of them fighting side by side. Protecting humanity from the monsters in the dark. Other…activities…they could do when the stars lit the night sky.
“Stop thinking like that,” Niall said.
“Like what?”
“Daydreaming about ‘recreational activities’ with your lady friend. You’re stinking up the alley with it.”
“Sorry. I forget your sense of smell is much better than mine.”
A vampire feinted, as if he was going to attack, and Niall turned and glared.
“We’re talking,” he said.
The vampire scrambled back.
By Shade’s count, they were down to six from the initial twenty that had chased them into the alley. The ones remaining weren’t attacking, but they weren’t running away, either. That was a good thing, because Niall and Shade would have to track down any who escaped, and Shade wanted to get home and cleaned up before he met Eden.
Niall picked up his sword, which was reassuring. He hadn’t quite fallen so far into bloodlust that he was just ripping people apart. Well, except for that one. He gestured toward the vampires to come at him, but none seemed eager.
“Maybe if you attack him all at once,” Shade said, stepping to the side to give them more room.
The nearest vampire looked at him strangely, as if he’d managed enough sanity to realize Shade was giving tips on attacking his partner. The others weren’t sane enough to recognize the trap. Shade engaged the sane-ish vampire while the rest rushed at Niall.
“Something most new vampires never live to realize is, these kinds of fights go much better if you bring a weapon,” Shade said.
The vampire pulled out a gun.
“Oh.” Shade felt his smile fall. “I wasn’t actually thinking about that kind of weapon.”
Unless it was loaded with silver. And even then, that would only work on Niall. The vampire didn’t realize that, of course.
He fired. Shade felt the bullet hit him in the stomach as he leapt forward, a sharp sting of pain that he pushed away from his thoughts. He focused on his form, on the arc of his blade coming down on the vampire’s arm, cutting off the hand that was holding the gun.
Ignoring the vampire’s pained scream, Shade dropped his sword and grabbed his target by the back of his head and twisted, baring his neck. Shade registered the look of shock and confusion on the vampire’s face as Shade’s fangs snapped down. Then it was just the pulse pulling him forward.
Shade bit down, siphoning the vampire’s blood into his body through the hollow channels in his fangs. It wasn’t as potent as the human blood Shade procured from the local hospital, but it would be enough to heal his wound—especially since he planned to drain the vampire dry.
The influx of blood helped his body work the bullet out. It hit the pavement with a ‘tink’. Shade released his hold just before the vampire exploded into dust.
“So much laundry,” Shade said.
The area had been cleared of threats. Niall wiped off his sword before sheathing it, then clapped his hands together. Clouds of dust fell from them.
The battle was over, but he seemed agitated. He was also still fixating on Eden.
“I understand that she’s an amazing woman,” Niall said, “but you need to let her go.”
Shade laughed. “How can I let her go when I haven’t even gotten my hands on her?”
Oh, that was a tempting thought, though.
“It’s not possible for our kind to have relationships with humans,” Niall said. “There’s a reason Antares has forbidden his Knights from falling in love—and it isn’t just because it opens us up to being ransomed and manipulated.”
“I never said anything about love.”
The conversation was irking Shade more than it should. There was no way that he was in love with Eden. His best friend of the last half-dozen centuries should know better.
Niall’s voice gentled a bit. “You can’t have a future with Eden.”
“I know,” Shade snapped. “Of course I know that.”
But there was a pain in Niall’s eyes that Shade couldn’t quite explain. As if he was keeping something back. As if…
Shit.
“I am an insensitive asshole,” Shade said.
Niall let out a snort and smiled. “I know.”
“I didn’t even think about…” Shade shook his head.
“You live in the moment. That’s part of your charm.” Niall’s voice became rougher. “And it happened a long time ago.”
Still, Shade couldn’t believe he’d forgotten Margaret, the woman that Niall had loved. The human woman.
The woman he had killed.
“Niall—” Shade began.
“I accept your apology. Let’s leave it at that.”
Shade tried desperately to lighten the moment. He shrugged, and said, “Eden’s probably not interested in me, anyway. I mean, the age difference alone would send any mortal running.”
Niall laughed. “You’re a fine catch, Shade. She’d be crazy not to see it. That’s why it’s on you to keep the pair of you apart.”
“I know.”
Niall shook his head again, a distant look in his eyes. “There’s not a day that passes where I don’t think of Margaret. It’s been tearing me up for over six hundred years. Just know that I would spare you that pain.”
A knot wedged itself in Shade’s throat. He couldn’t speak, so he nodded.
Niall cast a sad smile at him and started to turn away, but stopped suddenly. Shade felt the hairs rise on the back of his neck.
“A three count, on your six.” Niall kept his voice low and steady.
One. Two…
Shade lifted his sword as if he was about to wipe it clean.
Three.
He turned and stabbed upward in a fluid movement, his sword finding little resistance in the form that had suddenly appeared behind him. Blue blood gushed over the blade.
Niall was at his side in an instant, ready to help fight the new attacker. But there was no need. His sword was heavily laced with iron.
Shade lowered the dying fey being to the ground, taking in as many details as he could before the body disintegrated. Large green eyes, delicate features, pointed ears.
“Shit,” Shade said.
“Bloody hell,” Niall whispered.
“An elf. This guy’s an elf.” Shade turned to Niall, wanting to be sure his partner was seeing the same thing he was. “What is a member of the High Court doing in Olympus?”
“The same thing they always do. Preying on humans.” Niall let out a long breath through his nose. “Fucking fairies.”
It might be Shade’s imagination, but it seemed like the shadows under Niall’s cheekbones had deepened. There was a rumble to his voice that might not be part of his Gaelic burr. His hair had grown longer and darkened to more of a reddish brown.
“Niall, you still with me?”
Niall shook his head, but said, “Yeah. Just… If the High Court has come to town, things are about to get ugly.”
“We have the advantage of surprise. If he’d known the Knights of Antares were here, the elf would have been wearing full armor. He would have brought weapons and enchantments along on his hunt.”
Which might have resulted in Shade or Niall—or both of them—being killed.
Elves were teleporters. Engaging them in battle was always dangerous. Shade watched the blackening body turn to ash and slide from his sword, exploding into dust as it hit the ground.
The Knights were trained to fight all manner of fey. High Court like the elves or Low, like vampires and werewolves—the ‘made’ fey as opposed to those born of bloodlines. Niall and Shade, along with their comrades-in-arms, had centuries of experience on their side. That didn’t mean they could let down their guard.
“Why was he here at all?” Niall said.
“Antares always knows where fey activity is about to grow. He gets us there before it happens somehow.”
Niall shook his head. “I mean in this alley. There are no humans near. The vampires are—were—the only living beings I sensed within half a mile. Not even any homeless.”
“It’s been a long time since we’ve seen an elf,” Shade said. “And they’ve never worked with vampires before.”
Shade looked around at the piles of ash scattering in the night breeze. Why would a High born elf be hanging around vampires? The two courts didn’t interact. Hell, most members of the High Court couldn’t stand working together. It was a big part of what helped humanity survive.
If the fey ever united against humans and revealed themselves in open warfare…
That line of thinking would freak Shade out. They needed to process the information they had, and get it back to the others.
“Come on.” Shade bent down to pick up the vampire’s dropped gun. He tossed it to Niall, who bent the barrel, then chucked it into an open trash bin.
“We have a stop to make on the way home,” Shade said. “Antares needs to know about this.”