Santiago muttered in sympathy as he cupped her face in his hands, gently urging her head back to meet his searching gaze. In that moment, Nefri’s earlier speculations of why she found this man so fascinating were instantly dismissed.
Yes, he was gorgeous and sexy and loyal. And yes, they both had suffered.
But it was his swift empathy that truly touched her heart.
What other vampire would so easily understand that far from taking pride in her battle prowess, she was horrified by what she’d done?
“You were forced to kill?”
Disjointed memories of bloody battles and mangled corpses flared through her mind, making her wince. “More times than I can count.”
His fingers skimmed down her throat, his touch offering a blessed comfort. “It’s no wonder you’re so desperate for peace.”
She knew she should push away his hand. His ability to offer her a sense of safety was as dangerously alluring as his potent sensuality.
Instead, she leaned into his lingering touch.
Foolish.
So very foolish.
“That wasn’t even the worst,” she said, the ancient pain a dull throb that never truly went away.
He scowled. “You don’t have to go on.”
“No, please.” She stiffened her spine. She knew herself all too well. If he allowed her to scurry behind her defensive walls, then she’d never crawl back out. “Let me finish.”
He gave a slow dip of his head. “Okay.”
“The fighting was something I learned to endure, simply because I had no choice.”
“Survival can be a bitch,” he said. He, of course, understood exactly what she meant.
“Yes.”
His thumb rubbed the sensitive hollow just below her ear. “What was your breaking point?”
“When my chief started hiring me out as a weapon for other clans.”
“He pimped you out?” He made a sound of disgust, although it hadn’t been unusual in the past for the chiefs to use their people for profit, whether it was as soldiers, whores, or just for sport.
“I was always available to the highest bidder,” she said. “No matter what they wanted me to do.”
He shook his head, his thumb stroking the line of her tightly clenched jaw. “It wasn’t your fault, cara,” he murmured. “You were at the mercy of a man consumed by greed and ambition.”
“It didn’t matter if it was my fault or not. The outcome was the same.”
Accepting he wasn’t going to be able to convince her that she was blameless, he studied her with a brooding gaze. “What did you do?”
“I bided my time and when I felt prepared I entered the battles of Durotriges to become a clan chief.” She didn’t have to say that she’d nearly died during her trials, or that she’d been forever altered by staring death in the face over and over. Only a small percentage of vampires went into the battles and came out the other side. It was accepted that they would gain a greater appreciation for life. Their own and others. Which made them particularly suited to becoming a clan chief. “I wasn’t ever going to be a weapon for anyone again.”
“And never out of control again, eh, querida?”
She nodded. Being stronger than every creature around her had taught her the danger of giving in to her emotions.
“When I become angry or frightened the people around me end up dead.” She shivered. “Sometimes a lot of people.”
The dark gaze swept over her upturned face. “And so you created a clan dedicated to peace?”
“Yes.” She smiled wryly. It had seemed so simple. She knew there had to be like-minded vampires who wanted to build an oasis of peace. The only rub was finding someplace where they could be safe from the demons who would take their desire for tranquility as a sign of weakness. They had to be protected. “And I went to the Commission to discover if there was a place where we could be separated from the violence of this world.”
“That’s when they sent you beyond the Veil?”
She lifted her hand, her fingers brushing over the golden medallion that remained warm to the touch no matter what the temperature. “With the assistance of this.”
Without warning Santiago’s low growl trickled through the hallway, his dark eyes flashing with fury.
“Dios, the bastards knowingly put you in danger.”
She shrugged. “They didn’t lie to me. I went beyond the Veil knowing the creature was there.”
“Only because you were so anxious to keep your people safe,” he snapped. “And they used that desperation to lure you into taking care of their problem.”
“The Commission rarely does anything out of the goodness of their hearts,” she reminded him. “Besides, the past no longer matters.”
Chapter 13
Santiago’s power trembled with the need to explode. He wasn’t entirely sure why he was so pissed off.
As Nefri said, the Commission wasn’t a collection of do-gooders. They were ruthless leaders who would readily sacrifice an entire clan of vampires if they thought it necessary to protect the world.
But the thought that Nefri had been forced to choose between keeping her people safe and living on top of a potential time bomb . . . yeah, it pissed him off.
“The hell it doesn’t matter,” he muttered, lowering his head to capture her lips in a kiss of seething frustration. “But we can finish this discussion later.” As he pulled back, he met her puzzled gaze. “What?”
“I thought you were angry with me.”
“I have a habit of being an ass when I don’t get my way,” he readily admitted. He was hot tempered, but he was always willing to confess when he was in the wrong. He’d known there was a reason why she struggled so hard to keep him at a distance, but his pride had been pricked by her cold dismissal. Now he offered a rueful grin. “You’ll get used to me.”
“Will I?”
He swooped back down to steal another kiss. “Mmmm.”
Her hands lifted to lie against his chest and for one tantalizing moment Nefri allowed her lips to part, conceding to the scorching heat that blazed between them.
Then all too soon her hands were pressing him away. “Santiago.”
He nipped at her chin in punishment. “Is this important?”
She shivered in pleasure. “You need to call Styx so we can continue our search for Gaius.”
His tongue traced the full line of her lower lip. “Soon.”
“Santiago.” She gave a tiny moan before shoving hard enough to break his clinging grip. “We don’t have time for this.”
He shut his eyes, shuddering at his swift arousal. Mierda. What was it about this female that made him behave like a damned Were in heat?
“Unfortunately, you’re right,” he conceded in thick tones, opening his eyes to meet her wary gaze. “But I still have a few questions.”
“Very well.”
“How did the spirit escape?”
“Siljar claimed that when the Dark Lord was destroyed it left a void in Gaius’s medallion that the spirit used to enter this world.”
He took a minute to consider her words, at the same time sending out his power to make sure that Melinda remained in her deep sleep. The last thing they needed was the girl waking up in a panic.
“As good an explanation as any, I suppose.”
“They sent me to discover if it was the right explanation.” Nefri shrugged. “Is that all?”
He snorted. All? Dios. He had a thousand questions. Unfortunately they would have to wait. Instead, he forced himself to concentrate on the most pressing problems.
“I would be a lot happier if I knew precisely what this creature is capable of,” he growled.
“You know as much as I do.”
“Which is what?” He gave a frustrated shake of his head. He’d fought more enemies than he could count over the years, but while many had been immortal, they’d at least been creatures he could make bleed. This . . . thing was something he didn’t know how to fight. It made him twitchy. “It’s obvious the spirit is capable of stirring emotions.”
Nefri slowly shook her head. “Actually, it seems more likely that Gaius is the cause of the overwhelming emotions,” she said. “Or at least his bite is.”
True.
Which only made the crazy situation . . . crazier.
“So this creature infects vampires?”
She lifted her hands in a gesture of genuine bafflement. “It’s impossible to say until we manage to find them.”
“Dammit.” He pulled out his phone. “You warn the gargoyle he’ll need to stay while I call Styx.”
“And you claim that I’m bossy?”
He frowned. “Do you have a better suggestion?”
“No,” she denied, her expression one of cool challenge. “I just wished to point out that people in glass houses shouldn’t—”
With a quick motion that caught her off guard, he wrapped an arm around her waist and yanked her against his body. “Shouldn’t do this?” He leaned down to press his lips to the tender curve of her neck. “Or this?” He nibbled down to the edge of her sweater, savoring the intoxicating scent of jasmine. “Or maybe this?” His tongue traced a throbbing vein back up her throat.
