Chapter Six
Alexandra
“Most of us can hide our greatest hurts and longings. It’s how we survive each day. We pretend the pain isn’t there, that we are made of scars instead of wounds.”
- Leigh Bardugo
“Was the dinner not to your liking?” Diego asked cautiously.
“The food is fine. I’m just not good company tonight. Sorry to be such a spoilsport.” I tried to infuse a bit of lightness and cheer into my voice to try salvage the disaster that this date had turned out to be. I was still too shell-shocked by my encounter with Xander earlier tonight.
Hours ago, I had felt his presence at a blatantly visceral level. He had affected my senses so strongly that, although I didn’t see him at first, I knew he was there. Even though reading minds was one of the must intrusive abilities a person could ever experience, I was still woefully unprepared for the complete evisceration of my senses. I smelled his woodsy masculine scent despite our distance from each other, and even through the smells of car fumes from on-going traffic between us, the numerous people who shared the sidewalks on either side of the street, and the varying scents of the city around us, it felt as though something monumental had shifted in my world.
Even dreaming of him every night, I still hadn’t been prepared for his overwhelming presence. Whenever I had seen his face in the past, he appeared calm, serene even, and then, at other times, he appeared cool, chilled to the point of cold indifference. However, tonight, when I felt his presence, so masculine, virile, and absolutely potent, I…
Something amazing awakened and unfurled in me. It was as if the senses of my body, the senses that made me tingle, pop, and quiver, woke the fuck up. My vagina definitely took notice, if the pulsating and moisture gathered between my legs was any indication. Need, intense and molten hot, simmered through me. I’d never felt anything like it, and I hadn’t even touched him in the flesh yet.
I couldn’t even imagine what chaos touching him would cause.
I started this date thinking that, somehow, I would get over Xander by forcing some intimacy with Diego. Yeah, the indifference I felt before was ten times worse now.
“There is this trendy new dance club that opened a few blocks down from here about two months ago. A friend recommended it.” Diego smiled encouragingly.
“That’s nice,” I said without moving my lips.
Diego frowned.
I laughed shakily, trying to think of a way to get out of this date. I was sure he was thinking that I was some kind of nut case. And he wouldn’t be wrong. If he had any idea what kind of mental control and challenge just this outing in a semi-crowded space was forcing from me, he would be begging to end this date. Being at a nightclub would be an absolute nightmare. My mental shield was good, but that kind of environment would be torture.
“You would love it,” Diego said with an upbeat enthusiasm.
No, I really wouldn’t, I wanted to say, but I only smiled tightly.
“At least that’s what my friend thinks,” he swiftly amended. “It’s a nice night, and we could enjoy the two-block walk.” He stood, moved to pull my chair back, and assisted me from my seat.
I reluctantly walked beside him as we exited the restaurant and started the two-block trek. As we passed any dark corners or alcoves where a man as big as Xander might linger, I kept stretching my senses out, hoping that he was near.
In the past six months, now that I thought of it, Xander had been near whenever there was even a remote chance that I was in an unprotected place. Going to the parking lot at work, out shopping, or even when I went to mass late Saturday afternoons. Those were the times that I caught glimpses of him. Tonight had been the first time that I had seen him when I was out on a date with Deigo. Was that Alexi asking him to protect me? Would he think this two-block walk unsafe? Would he trust Diego to protect me, or would he come to protect me himself?
I was a little more than disappointed that we arrived at the nightclub without incident and with no glimpses of Xander.
Deigo was beaming with pride as the bouncers ushered us in ahead of the line that wrapped around the building. He had no idea that we had been given access ahead of the long line because the bouncer, Richie, recognized me.
I treated his two-year-old daughter a few weeks before when she was brought into the hospital’s emergency room after accidentally swallowing a small toy. Even so, I wished that Richie wasn’t so grateful.
As soon as we crossed the nightclub’s threshold, I knew that this was not the place for me. The semi-dark, the music loud enough to hurt one’s teeth, air thick with the musky scents of sweat, sex, cigarette smoke, and alcohol fumes, which assaulted my senses, were all bad enough. Yet the incessant bombardment of voices saying “yes, Master” over and over again immediately pierced through my mental shield and totally freaked me out. And was that a naked…
I sucked in a harsh breath as the muted rotating spotlight glided over several naked bodies on the dance floor engaged in graphic, no-holds-barred sex. Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy” blasted through the speakers in the background and seemed to amplify the ominous atmosphere of the club.
Despite Diego’s palm, which had gripped mine as he charged forward, I came to an abrupt stop when chilling thoughts overrode the others.
“A succulent human just walked in. She will make a perfect concubine for Master.”
“Bring her to me,” a dark voice demanded.
“More humans. We will have a good night.”
“Wait for the fumes to take effect.”
“Yes, the newcomers will soon be as mindless as the others.”
My grip tightened on Diego’s hand. “Let’s get out of here,” I whispered urgently, trying to stop Diego’s progress farther into the club.
Diego acted as though he didn’t hear me, even though I knew that I had spoken loud enough to be heard. He continued charging forward.
I used what little strength I dared to grip his hand and try stop him, but Diego was too determined. He pulled me along, seemingly undeterred by my lack of enthusiasm and agreement.
I pierced his mind, but there was only one thought in his head. “Take her to Master.”
I tried to alter his mind. He immediately stopped in his tracks and looked back, peering through the semi-darkness at me. “We have to go to Master,” Diego insisted.
It was as if his mind wasn’t there for me to alter!
His gaze was so oblique and his voice so disembodied that I didn’t even think twice. I stomped my heel into his foot. With a sharp grunt of pain, he instantly released by hand.
I immediately spun around with every intention of getting the hell out of there. However, there were two other men behind me with the same mantra chanting in their minds: “Take her to Master.”
Before I could even finish the thought, I felt an invisible force, so strong and compelling, calling to me. “Don’t be afraid. I would never hurt you.” The voice spoke so clearly into my mind.
I froze.
Diego stumbled into me and wrapped a muscled arm around my waist.
I turned to face him and was stunned by his vacant stare. Diego and I were the same height when I wore high heels, so I had no trouble noting his unusual blank expression. Whatever was being distributed into the air was affecting everyone around me. It was meant to incapacitate them. And they probably wouldn’t remember that they were food and entertainment to a group of immortals.
Yeah, I knew exactly what this club was. It was a blood club. A way for immortals to safely feed from live sources and their minds would be wiped clean upon leaving. I’d heard of these clubs from the minds of the stray immortals I encountered, but I’d never been to one. The stray immortals hadn’t sensed that I wasn’t quite human, and their thoughts had been unguarded.
I certainly didn’t understand why an immortal in here was singling me out. It made no sense.
“Diego, listen to me,” I yelled while gripping his arms and pulling them away from me with a little more force than a twenty-something female doctor should have.
Although he reacted by releasing me, he didn’t utter a sound or flinch in pain as he should have done. I was so stunned by that and afraid for him that I didn’t immediately react to the threat coming toward me. And then I turned to run.
“Stop her!” several voices shouted.
My gut churned, my skin chilled, and my limbs trembled with fear and adrenaline. Impeded by the density of the crowd that seemed to be closing in on me with their ominous, vapid mind chants, I felt dizzy, overwhelmed. Painful fingers gripped my forearms cruelly, trying to drag me back toward the raised darkened platform where I suspected their Master was waiting. These were not normal hands. The hands were too strong to be human.
I screamed!
Xander
I knew that I was invading her privacy, but I couldn’t make myself care. For the first time in almost a century, I wanted something. I wanted to hear my mate’s voice.
I listened as she reluctantly accepted her date’s request to go to a nightclub. I say reluctantly because, despite our distance, I heard the reluctance in her voice. I was also attuned to her mood. She was distracted, bored, and tired.
I pulled up my Google map to determine which nightclub her date was referring to. The only club in the area that fit her date’s description was called The Endless.
Shit! An emotion I had no trouble recognizing exploded from my chest.
Fear.
“Papa,” I called telepathically. “I need...”
Papa appeared before me even before I finished the thought. He stared dubiously at the sword I had quickly strapped diagonally at my back.
I provided no explanation because I knew that, although my family was curious about my carrying around the ancient sword more frequently in the past few years, they never commented on it or asked questions. I wasn’t sure what I would say even if they asked. How could I tell them that the ancient sword had appeared in my palm one night, as if I’d conjured it, when I was in desperate need of rescuing. This sword that could cut through anything, a concrete wall, a solid marble floor… Hell, it could cut through a reinforced steel vault. I knew because I’d used it to slice the reinforced steel vault that I had been sealed in.
Now the sword appeared in my palm whenever I needed it.
“What’s going on?” Papa asked calmly.
“We need to go to Alexandra. Her stupid date has taken her to a vampire hive.”
I knew how connected Papa was to my mate and knew he had a better chance of instantly finding her if we ran into any trouble. I was right because he teleported us to within inches of Alexandra.
Boggs and Papa’s wolf bodyguard, Aiden, followed us with their own ability to flash and track us.
Almost simultaneously, Tristan appeared beside Papa.
I wasn’t surprised. Ever since Papa turned Tristan from becoming one of Adam’s vampires, Tristan was often in Papa’s company. And just as Tristan thought of him as his Sire, Papa treated him as though he was another son. And Tristan was certainly arrogant enough to fully take that in stride, even calling him Papa like the rest of us.
“This seems like fun,” Tristan deadpanned as the four of us were instantly surrounded by a horde of vampires. They weren’t trying to attack us. Their intent seemed to be trying to keep us from advancing farther.
Just then, Alexandra’s scream pierced the air as two vampires attempted to drag her away.
The fear in that sound had me immediately swinging my sword and lopping the heads off the vampires in front of me. No one was going to separate me from my mate.
As expected, all hell broke loose around us, and I knew Tristan loved every minute of it. Nothing made him happier than fighting immortals, where he could use his immortal powers. And sure enough, the vampires in front of him were soon engulfed in flames. In addition to teleporting, he could send torches of flame from his palms. Also, one bite into any being would give Tristan every bit of their knowledge. Every thought they’d ever had and every memory in their mind would flow into him as their blood flowed on his tongue.
I reached Alexandra in two long strides, severing heads and hacking the fuck out of any vampire getting in my way, coldly, methodically, mercilessly. The two vampires holding Alexandra immediately released her and tried to run, but I was too fast for them. The arc of my sword was deliberate, precise, and pure savagery.
The vampires were in pieces within seconds, and Alexandra was held securely at my left side soon after. She clung to me as I wrapped my arm tighter around her waist.
Alexi and Tristan fought off the vampires, several dozens of them, swarming toward Alexandra and me. Any vampire breaking through their perimeter met the unforgiving brutality of my sword.
I could have easily frozen time and gotten us out of there or even have spoken their injuries, but I wanted a more hands-on input in exterminating these fuckers. They’d dared to try take what was mine!
And then her police friend came toward us. I knew from the compulsion fumes in the air that he had been reduced to a mindless minion. I raised my sword hand.
“No!” Alexandra yelled. “Don’t hurt him.”
Something jolted in my chest. I wasn’t sure what, but I knew that I didn’t like her defense of him. I ignored her and punched him, hard enough to knock his ass out cold.
Alexandra hissed and tried to bend to help him.
I held her fast against me, not allowing her to leave my side.
“Papa, time to get out of here,” I muttered telepathically. “Have Tristan bring the policeman.” Boggs and Aidan would follow us and guard our perimeter.
Within seconds, Papa and Tristan were beside us. Tristan picked up the policeman as Papa put his palm on my arm. They teleported us to Alexandra’s city apartment. I knew she also had a house on the outskirts of town, but I didn’t want the policeman anywhere near her sanctuary.
I made the mistake of not immediately releasing her once we arrived at her apartment. Instead, I looked down at her and was stunned rigid at her unapologetic scrutiny of me. She didn’t try to hide the fact that she was eating me up with her feverish gaze.
“Please tell me that she’s not a relative or belongs to anyone.” Tristan sounded a bit too interested in my mate for my liking.
“Not now, Tristan,” Papa said drily.
“I mean, come on! It’s like your sons have a monopoly on beautiful women,” Tristan grumbled.
“Don’t be facetious. You might be next,” Papa warned.
“If she looks like her, I wouldn’t complain.” Tristan laughed. “But then again, I’m already a freak of nature in more ways than one.” His lips twisted in self-derision. “I don’t need to fuck up some woman’s life too.”
Papa said something else to him, and then Tristan responded, but their voices faded into the background.
Every cell in my body was hijacked by the woman in my arms. I couldn’t look away from her, and she had yet to look away from me. It would take the jaws-of-life to pry my arm from around her waist.
I didn’t know what this was, but I felt as if someone had hit me upside the head with a sledgehammer. Everything around me remained dead noise. It was as if it was only Alexandra and me in the room. It was as if my breath was locked in my throat, troops of angry insects had invaded my stomach, and my heart couldn’t seem to beat fast enough to maintain the blood flow through my starved veins. My senses were suddenly desperately clamoring for my mate.
I was woefully unprepared for her impact. I never knew that I would immediately become intoxicated and obsessed by her—her feminine scent, her beautiful face, and gorgeous body. Desire unlike anything I’ve felt in my life seared through me.
My eyes devoured her exquisite body. I loved that she was so built, tall and more than a handful. I couldn’t help thinking of how perfectly she would fit against my over six-and-a-half-foot frame. Everything about her lured me. Saliva trickled in my mouth as my fangs descended in bated anticipation of tasting her succulent blood.
If a bomb exploded around us at that very moment, I wouldn’t have noticed. Her impact on me was everything I feared it would be and so much more. And then the emotion that I had worked a century to contain filled me.
Fear.
Fear, the flavor and toxicity of it, stunned me into a clammy paralysis. It wasn’t fear for me but fear for my mate. After what happened tonight, our coming to her rescue so publicly in the immortal world, Alexandra would be in imminent danger. Even now Adam and his little band of delusional fucks were being warned of her possible existence.
My and Papa’s appearance at an immortal nightclub would have garnered some scrutiny but not much. However, with Tristan making an appearance and us dusting so many and leaving with one woman… There wasn’t a chance in hell of Adam not finding out about her.
I wished with everything in me to have the ability to go back in time. I should have frozen time and gotten Alexandra out of there. Instead, I gave in to my selfish need to maim and destroy anyone and anything trying to harm my mate.
It was my stupidity that had put a target on her back.
So now, I couldn’t make myself leave her alone here as I knew I should. Maybe by some quirk of fate, our enemies would not become aware of what transpired tonight. Maybe, no one noticed us leaving with her.
And maybe the sun wouldn’t rise tomorrow.
Looking into her trusting, innocent eyes, completely oblivious to the shitstorm that was about to descend upon her, I wanted to kick my own ass for bringing this shit onto her doorstep. I had been determined that I wouldn’t destroy her life with our issues. The life she had worked so hard to acquire would be no more.
The Petrov legacy indeed.
Now Papa had more grandchildren than he knew what to do with. Luka already had two kids with another on the way, and Drako had one with another on the way. Both mates would be delivering within a few weeks. And so far, my niece and nephews were well on the road to being more powerful than we ever were.
Luka’s daughter, Zora, had her father’s ability to read and liquify minds and her grandfather’s ability to teleport, but she could also project a forcefield that could stretch about a mile around anyone or many others to protect them. A forcefield that would incinerate anyone or anything that touched it and could also repel any power launched at it back to its source.
Luka’s son, Apollo, had a forcefield that could cloak like Zora’s but not only was the shield deadly it also made a person or persons invisible within the cloak. He also has his father’s ability to read and liquify minds.
Meanwhile, Drako’s son, Drago, in addition to having his father’s abilities of telekinesis and teleportation, could also mimic any power that he witnessed, and he retained that power for at least twenty-four hours. At least for now, because it seemed that particular power continued to grow.
And with other offsprings of my brothers soon to be making an appearance, the Petrovs’ legacy was more than secure. It was assured.
I didn’t need to drag my mate into this mess. She could have had a normal life away from me, away from our life of violence. I wanted that for her. I wanted her to be free.
Perhaps she could still have that.
“Why have you been stalking me?” Alexandra asked suddenly, completely bringing me out of my stupor.