Paris After Dark Read online

  Eternity Embraced

  Larissa Ione

  Chapter 1

  Andrea Cole had been hunting demons and vampires since she was eighteen, almost since the day she’d dropped out of college and returned home to witness both parents being torn apart by demons before her eyes. That was nine years, a hundred kills and two dozen broken bones ago. Killing evil creatures had never bothered her. Not once. But tonight was different.

  Tonight she might have to kill the love of her life.

  She gripped her stake so hard that she was surprised it didn’t crack. Silently, she eased down the damp, narrow staircase that led to an underground chamber beneath the Oregon billionaire’s mansion. The human scumbag was in league with demons who the Aegis, a society of human warriors protecting the world from evil, had been watching for two years. Andrea’s division, a special vampire investigative unit, had concentrated all its efforts on bringing this guy down, starting with the vampires he harboured on his property. Beneath it, anyway.

  Recently, an Aegis Guardian had disappeared into the bowels of the mansion. Under the pretence of delivering a kitchen order from a local bakery, Kaden had snooped around and got lucky when he spotted the butler opening a secret panel in the pantry. He’d followed the butler down a staircase, speaking softly into his hidden microphone as he described everything he saw. At the bottom, he’d found himself in a giant chamber filled with torture devices, several cells, dozens of tunnels and, unfortunately, more vampires than he could combat.

  Andrea had listened in horror as Kaden was overwhelmed. When the sound had cut off, something inside her had died, and she’d done nothing but live and breathe revenge ever since. And now, revenge was within her grasp, because at this very moment there were twenty Guardians swarming the mansion grounds, armed to the teeth and working on three separate missions.

  One: Capture the billionaire scumbag, Blake Alden. Two: Kill as many vampires as possible. Three: Find Kaden.

  Find Kaden so Andrea could kill him.

  The thought rolled through her on a wave of nausea. Maybe he was OK. Maybe the vampires hadn’t turned him. And maybe she was freaking delusional, because she knew damned good and well they’d done it. Vamps got off on torturing Guardians – or worse, turning them. Nothing amused bloodsuckers more than dropping an enemy head first into their worst nightmare.

  Cautiously, she stepped out of the stairwell and into a huge, cavernous basement. From the stone walls hung wicked-looking implements of torture. The floor was dirt. It wasn’t exactly a basement, it was more of a cave, with cells carved into the walls. The doors were solid slabs of metal, with only a small, eye-level slotted window shot through with steel bars.

  Ahead were tunnels she’d be willing to bet led to living spaces, and dozens of exits that would come out all over Portland. Behind her, six Guardians filed out of the stairwell.

  “This is weird,” Zach, a newer recruit, whispered. “There’s no one here.”

  “They might have been tipped off and ran.” Andrea moved towards the cells. “Or it’s a trap and they’re hiding. Be careful.”

  Zach and the others disappeared into the tunnels, leaving Andrea to clear the immediate area. The first cell was empty, the shackles on the walls hanging dejectedly from their chains. Some sort of spindly, man-sized demon occupied the second cell, cowering in a corner and trembling. A colleague would dispatch the pathetic creature later.

  She moved on, slowing when the small hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she sidestepped a dark stain on the ground. Her gaze tracked automatically to the ceiling. Above her, meat hooks swayed, grotesque even in the dim light from the wall sconces. And there, in the corner, were Kaden’s weapons, boots and shirt.

  Andrea’s heart dropped into the pit of her stomach. Where was he? Forgetting caution, she checked the third cell. The fourth cell.

  The fifth cell . . . Dear God, the fifth cell.

  Inside, sitting with his back to the wall in nothing but jeans and a metal collar around his neck, was Kaden. Andrea’s breath lodged in her throat, her pulse went double-time, and though she knew better than to hope, she did exactly that.

  “Kaden?”

  His head swung around, his grey eyes bright and wide with surprise. His dark blond hair was alternately grooved and spiky, as though he’d been thrusting his fingers through it, and his tan skin was marred by fading bruises and cuts.

  If the vampires had had him for the full two weeks he’d been missing, she was surprised he hadn’t been hurt more. Then again, maybe they had put him through hell, but he’d healed already, thanks to a vampire’s rapid regeneration abilities.

  But so far, she saw no signs of him being turned. Maybe, just maybe, everything would be OK. God, please let it be OK.

  “Kaden, don’t move. I’m going to get you out of there.”

  “No!” He lurched forwards, only to be drawn short by the chain linking his collar to the wall. Panic put a chilling, grim light in his gaze. “You can’t.”

  Dread draped over her like a shroud, suffocating her last breath of hope. She knew what he was going to say. She didn’t want to ask, but the question fell from her lips before she could stop it. “Why not?”

  “Because,” he said, opening his mouth to reveal two extra-long canines, “I might kill you.”

  Kaden Quinn braced himself for Andrea’s reaction. The sight of the stake in her hand put ice cubes in his blood – but whether his reaction was an instinctive one brought about by his new vampire status, or whether it was because he was a Guardian who knew exactly what that pointed shard of wood would do to him, he didn’t know.

  What he did know was that he’d been here for two weeks, tortured for the first five days and then turned into a vampire on the sixth.

  Oh, and he was starving.

  Andrea’s gorgeous brown eyes glistened with tears. “No,” she rasped, shaking her head so hard her ebony hair slapped her pale cheeks. “No. Those bastards!”

  Her curses echoed through the chamber as she worked the slide-lock on the cell door. She was going to kill him. The knowledge should have comforted him. Upon becoming a Guardian, every Aegi swore that they would never allow themselves to be turned into any kind of monster – not vampire, were-beast, or demon. If you had to take your own life in order to uphold that vow, you did it.

  Kaden hadn’t been able to make good on his promise – he’d been knocked unconscious during the battle – and by the time he came to, it was too late. He’d awakened to find himself hanging from hooks outside this very cell. The physical torture hadn’t been nearly as bad as the mental torture. The alpha vamp, an ugly bastard named Cedric, kept taunting that he was going to turn him. When Cedric finally latched onto Kaden’s throat and began to drink, Kaden prayed for death. The alternative had been too horrible to imagine.

  Then his nightmarish imaginings had warped into reality when Cedric opened a vein in his own wrist and, while another vamp held Kaden’s mouth open, forced him to swallow his blood, activating the turn.

  Kaden had drifted into blackness. When he’d come to the next night, his heart no longer beat.

  He’d expected to feel different, as if getting dead and growing fangs would turn him into an insane, evil beast.

  But nothing had changed. He still . . . felt. He still thought Andrea was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. He still hated vampires. Oh, sure, his senses were more acute and the sound of Andrea’s blood rushing through her veins was making his mouth water, but he felt like he could handle being with her.

  He’d warned her anyway. What if he was wrong? What if she got close and he jumped on her, ripped into her neck, and let that sweet lifeblood pour down his throat? Anticipation spiked, and lust stirred his sluggish body
. While he drank, he’d take her and fist his hands in her thick black locks until she begged for mercy –

  “ . . . uh, Kaden?”

  He blinked, realizing he’d been caught up in his crazy fantasy. Shit. He was freaking starving. The vampires hadn’t fed him, and he’d had to watch when they brought unwilling humans to the basement to feed. He’d been horrified, yet overtaken by cravings and fascinated in a way that filled him with disgust.

  Andrea was inside the cell now, crouching, the stake at her side. He eyed it warily. “Sorry. I was just . . . ” Thinking about sinking my shiny new set of fangs into you. Cursing, he shoved his fingers through his hair. “Look, it’s not safe for you here. Get your team out.”

  “The place is empty. I think they knew we were coming.”

  Adrenaline screamed through him in a stinging, hot rush that couldn’t have jacked him up more if he’d shot it directly into his veins. “It’s a trap.” He leaped to his feet, startling Andrea to hers. “Get out.”

  “I can’t just . . . leave you.” Her voice broke, and his heart along with it. She’d faced an awful choice the day her parents died – stay, fight, and die . . . or flee, leaving them behind to perish. Her decision had been made when her father ordered her to save her sister, who had died anyway, leaving Andrea with a lifetime of regret.

  She shouldn’t have to make a similar choice now, but it was much too late for that.

  His eyes latched onto the stake. He should tell her to kill him. He was a monster. An abomination.

  But he didn’t want to die.

  “Andrea, you’re a Guardian. You’re tougher than this. You need to go.”

  She opened her mouth, but he didn’t get to hear what she would have said, because suddenly the cell door slammed shut, trapping them both. On the other side was Cedric, grinning like a rabid coyote as he peered between the bars. He must have tripped a switch somewhere because the clamp around Kaden’s neck snapped open with an ominous, metallic clang. He was free . . . in a manner of speaking.

  Cedric’s smile widened. “Now,” he said, “let’s party.”

  Chapter 2

  Disbelief and anger clawed at Andrea. How the hell had she let herself be trapped like this? “You are so dead!” she snarled at the bastard who’d shut the door.

  Through the barred slot, the ugly, scarred piece-of-shit vampire smiled at her idle threat, his pallid, fishy lips peeling back off yellowed teeth.

  “We’ve slaughtered most of your colleagues,” he said, his harsh words hitting her like a punch to the gut, “but I’m holding on to a few. I’ll have fun turning them, just like I did with your boy there.” He smiled again, then walked away, leaving her alone with Kaden . . .

  . . . who was now loose in the cell with her.

  Evil unchained.

  Except she couldn’t see her lover as anything but the man whose touch had lit her on fire, who had been a gentle or urgent lover, depending on his mood.

  Then again, on the job he was a ruthless warrior, capable of cutting down entire nests of viper ghouls by himself. Oh, yes, she’d stood by and admired the way he used his hands with lethal skill, the way he could gut a demon twice his size and shrug it off like it was nothing. Afterwards, the jacked-up burn of the fight had sent him into her arms, a male on a mission to claim her as his prize.

  She couldn’t count the number of times they’d won a battle and then attacked each other, unable to wait for a bedroom. They hadn’t needed anything but a wall or a tree to support her back and shield them from prying eyes. Their passion had heated up snowy nights, steamed up rainy days, and drawn lightning during storms.

  And now he was looking at Andrea with that same battle-lust in his eyes, the adrenaline high that gripped all Guardians when the victory, the kill, was close.

  Heartbreak and fear collided, making her clumsy as she settled into a defensive position, stake ready. “I don’t want to have to destroy you.”

  And she wasn’t sure she would be able to. They’d always been evenly matched in skill, but with his strength and size he’d had the advantage when they sparred. And now, as a vampire, he’d be even stronger, and faster as well.

  “The idea doesn’t thrill me, either.” He closed his eyes and clenched his hands into fists, the way he did when he was angry and trying to keep his temper contained – something he rarely had to do. Kaden had always been cool, calm and level, to the point where Andrea sometimes needled him just to get a reaction. Now, it appeared that no needling would be necessary. “Andrea . . . I don’t . . . I don’t know if I can control myself.”

  “You want to kill me?”

  His eyes flew open, the grey depths turning steely. “No. Never,” he swore. “But I’m . . . hungry.” His gaze dropped to her throat. His lush lips parted and he drew closer. For some reason, she couldn’t move, was anchored to the spot, mesmerized by the fierce hunger in his expression. Everything around her, from the damp, musty odour of the dungeon, to the skittering sounds of scavenging rodents, faded into the background. Everything but him.

  Swallowing nervously, she found her voice. “Kaden?”

  He uttered a rough noise of anguish and threw himself to the far side of the cell, shuddering so hard his teeth chattered.

  Something inside her broke, and she reached for him, only to jerk back when he hissed.

  This was bad. Very, very bad. She had to find a way out of the cell before Kaden lost control and she was forced into the fight of her life.

  Whirling, she attacked the door. She shoved at it, rattled it, trying to fight the panic that had wrapped around her chest like a clamp.

  She’d always believed she could take down any vampire without mercy, but Kaden didn’t seem like a vamp. He seemed like . . . Kaden. With fangs. And maybe an extra scoop of menace. But other than that, he was the man she loved, and she couldn’t stake him.

  Thing was, she couldn’t even be shocked by this knowledge. She’d failed at most everything she’d ever tried, from bowling, to cooking, to protecting her family. Never in her life had she stuck with anything when the going got rough or if she wasn’t immediately good at it. Not until she’d joined the Aegis, anyway. She’d stayed, because she was damned good at killing.

  At least, she was. Until now.

  “Let me try.” His voice was guttural, warped, as though every word was being funnelled through a shrinking pipe. She stepped aside as he hit the door with his entire body. His weight left a dent, but on his fourth try it became clear that the cells had been built to handle creatures much stronger than any man.

  Or any vampire.

  She shivered. God, the very idea that Kaden was undead . . . it horrified her. And yet, as she watched him pound on the door with eye-blurring speed, the thick muscles in his chest and arms bunching and rippling, some secret, shameful part of her was fascinated – and maybe a little turned on by the raw power behind his every punch.

  “Kaden?”

  Slowly, he turned, braced his back against the door, and slid to his ass. Exhaustion put hollows in his cheeks, but his eyes were sharp as daggers. “Yeah?”

  Maintaining a grip on the stake, she crouched and eased towards him. “What’s it like?”

  When he looked at the stake in her hand and growled, she set the stake on the floor and showed him her empty palms. She wasn’t stupid though; she made sure the weapon was within reach. She also had an Aegis-modified squirt gun filled with holy water in her jacket pocket, as well as several blades stashed on her body. But he’d know that. His roving hands had long since learned the location of every one of her weapon hiding places. The memories made her body tingle and her mouth go dry.

  “It’s weird,” he said gruffly. “I thought I’d feel like a beast. But I don’t feel any different.” He frowned. “No, that’s not true. I feel stronger. And more . . . feral.”

  “Feral?”

  He nodded. “It’s like I’m a mass of instincts. Everything is magnified, from my senses to my desires. I don’t know how to control t
hem.” He pegged her with a gaze so scorching she drew a harsh breath. “I’ve always tried to be gentle with you. But right now . . . ” He threw his head back against the wall, and his throat worked on a hard swallow. “Damn. The things I want to do to you.”

  She didn’t have to guess. His fangs had elongated into sharp, wicked daggers, and she could see his erection pressing against the fly of his jeans. Liquid heat flooded her body, a completely inappropriate response given what he was and where they were. But that dark part of her was enthralled with this new Kaden. Curious. Cautiously, she reached for him. The moment her fingers touched his knee, he went taut, his head snapped forwards, and once again she was in the cross hairs of his laser gaze.

  Startled, she drew her hand away, but – lightning fast – he caught her wrist. For a breathless heartbeat, terror turned the air in her lungs to cement.

  The stake was out of reach.

  “I warned you,” he growled. “I need . . . I hunger . . . ” His fingers tightened, digging into her skin.

  Common sense and self-preservation kicked in. He wasn’t the only one with powerful instincts. Andrea threw a punch, nailing him in the jaw with her free hand. He didn’t even flinch. She swung again, but this time he palmed her fist, stopping her throw as if she’d slammed her knuckles into a brick wall.

  “Wow,” she breathed. “You’re really fast now.”

  “I wasn’t exactly a slouch before.” His voice was a husky purr that rumbled through every part of her body.

  She snorted. “Becoming undead certainly hasn’t done anything for your ego.”

  A slow, cocky smile turned up the corners of his mouth. Good Lord – were they really bantering? In this incredibly fucked-up situation? He seemed to realize the incongruity of it all and he sobered, releasing her as if she were a burning coal.

  “Get away from me.” He shoved at her, knocking her off balance and sending her sprawling. Instantly, he was on his knees beside her. “Oh, shit. Andy, I’m sorry.”

  She allowed him to help her sit up, but he didn’t remove his hands from her shoulders. Neither of them moved a single muscle. Even the air went still with the uncertain tension hanging in the cell. Gradually, she became aware of the fact that Kaden’s entire body was trembling, and, once more, his gaze was fixed on her throat.