Taken by Darkness

  In either case, Juliet sensed that the Jinn was merely toying with Victor, and that when he wearied of the game, something very bad was going to occur.

  For both of them.

  On the edge of panic, Juliet absurdly found herself searching her pockets, as if she might discover a hidden weapon. It was hardly shocking that she found nothing more than a bit of lint and the small crystal from her father. She had come to the docks to rescue Levet, not to wage war against a mythical demon.

  Juliet cursed in frustration, gripping the crystal tightly in her palm.

  She needed—

  She gave a jump of surprise as the crystal abruptly flared with heat, almost as if it were feeding off her terrified emotions.

  With a frown she opened her hand, realizing that the soft glow that always surrounded the crystal when she held it was decidedly brighter, the pulsing center seeming to echo her heartbeat.

  For years she had attempted to call on the gifts of her imp blood with little more to show for her efforts than minor hexes and lingering headaches. Now she could actually feel the tingles of power darting through her body.

  She stilled in shock. Was it truly possible?

  Before she could consider whether it was all nothing more than a fluke, she heard a low rumbling from the Jinn.

  Good lord, was that . . . laughter?

  A sickening horror filled her as a familiar sensation of prickling electricity swirled through the air. She had suspected that bad things would happen when the bastard grew tired of playing. Now her fears were about to be confirmed beyond her wildest nightmare.

  Instinctively she charged forward, but it was already too late.

  With a massive shove, the Jinn freed himself from Victor’s grasp and tossed the vampire against the far wall. Stunned by the brutal impact, Victor crumpled to the ground, his pale face marred with blood and his arm hanging at an odd angle. Without giving Victor the opportunity to recover, the Jinn raised his hand and a sizzling bolt of lightning erupted from the tip of his finger.

  Juliet was blinded by the violent burst of light, her ears ringing as the solid rock wall shattered. She cried out as she dropped beside Victor’s unmoving form, leaning over to wrap her arms around him in a protective motion.

  “Victor . . .” she breathed, cruel pain wrenching her heart as she held him close, planting frantic kisses over his pale, beautiful face. “Please . . .”

  She tasted his blood on her lips and felt the dampness of her tears falling down her cheeks, but her thoughts were consumed by the sense of the Jinn moving ever closer.

  Did he intend to kill them both with his undoubted command of the elements?

  Or was he plotting something even more hideous?

  Squeezing shut her eyes, Juliet refused to accept failure. If she could not defeat the Jinn, then she must find the means to escape with Victor.

  An easy enough task had she been a full-blooded imp.

  Imps with any talent were capable of producing portals that could move them from place to place in the blink of an eye. Her father had been particularly skilled with such magic.

  But, of course, Juliet had never managed more than a weak gateway that collapsed the moment she attempted to enter it. And even that had left her exhausted for days.

  Tonight, however, she did not allow herself to recall her innumerable failures.

  Instead, she poured her thoughts and energy into the crystal still clutched in her hand, along with her mother’s amulet. If she’d ever needed her parents’ assistance, this was it.

  Burying her face in the rich satin of Victor’s hair, she willed the portal to form around them, sending up a silent prayer she did not kill them both.

  * * *

  Victor could feel Juliet wrap herself around him, obviously attempting to protect him from the advancing Jinn. With an ancient curse, he struggled to regain command of his battered body to push her aside.

  By the gods, he would not allow Juliet to be harmed.

  Not even if it meant—

  His uncharacteristic flare of heroism was rudely interrupted as Juliet tightened her arms around him and the entire world shifted beneath him.

  As a vampire, Victor was incapable of sensing magic, but he could not fail to notice the tunnel melting away to utter blackness before he landed with jarring force on a damp cobblestone street with the night breeze blowing in his face.

  Briefly disconcerted, he held himself perfectly still, absorbing the realization that he was lying flat on his back in the middle of London with Juliet sprawled on top of him.

  He rolled to one side, carefully cradling the tiny, unconscious woman in his arms as he scanned the area around them.

  Bloody hell.

  Juliet must have created a portal to rescue the both of them from certain death, but at what cost?

  The stench filling the air warned him that they were still dangerously near the docks, but thankfully there was no scent of the Jinn. Nor any other predators besides those who owed their loyalty to him.

  Sensing one of his servants hurrying in their direction, Victor grimly rose to his feet, holding Juliet against his chest. An unfamiliar torment twisted his dead heart as he noted her unnatural pallor and the pain that tightened her features even in her deep state of slumber.

  She had come perilously close to draining herself beyond the point of no return.

  Too damnably close.

  “Johan,” he called softly, knowing the young vampire would hear him despite being several blocks away. “Find a carriage.”

  “Yes, master.”

  There was a short delay, then the sound of horseshoes striking against cobblestones broke the thick silence. Victor watched the elegant black carriage turn the corner and come to a halt in front of him.

  Leaping from the driver’s bench, the massive vampire was forced to calm the nervous horse before moving to offer Victor a deep bow.

  “Master.” Although attired in rough wool clothing with his blond hair pulled into a simple braid, there was no masking the brewing danger that shrouded Johan. He was a warrior poised to kill. Straightening, the younger vampire narrowed his gaze as he took in Victor’s slowly healing wounds and the unconscious female draped across his arms. “You must feed, my lord. Shall I find a host?”

  “Later.” Victor easily dismissed his need for blood. At the moment his only thought was to get Juliet to the safety of his lair. “Return us to my estate.”

  “At once.”

  With a blur of motion, Johan pulled open the carriage door, waiting for Victor to settle on the leather cushion before slamming the door shut and returning to his seat atop the carriage. Then with a mental command he had the horse racing through the narrow streets with a reckless indifference to the occasional vehicles or even pedestrians that crossed their path.

  Within a half hour they were wheeling up the long drive to his isolated mansion. As they pulled up to the wide veranda, Victor did not wait for the carriage to come to a halt, simply opening the door and leaping onto the flagstone courtyard. With the same impatience, he charged up the stairs, fully prepared for a uniformed servant to tug open the wide double doors.

  “Uriel,” he called, crossing the marble foyer and heading toward the private rooms at the back of the mansion.

  With commendable speed the angelic vampire appeared at Victor’s side, his brows arching as he caught sight of Juliet in his arms.

  “Do you wish me to call for a human healer?”

  Pausing before the door at the end of the corridor, Victor released a trickle of power to open the heavy locks. No one, not even his servants, was allowed in his personal lair without his permission.

  “Not yet.”

  He glanced down at Juliet, a frustrated fury racing through him at the tumble of fiery curls that were in such contrast to her ashen face and the bruises already visible beneath her closed eyes. She looked like a crushed flower, he painfully acknowledged before viciously pushing the thought away.

  No. She was merely ex
hausted. He would accept nothing else.

  “You have food prepared?” he growled.

  “Yes, the”—Uriel stumbled over the unfamiliar word. It had been several centuries since the vampire had eaten solid food—“chef was most uncooperative, complaining at being taken from his bed and then insisting the markets were closed and he could not discover the necessary ingredients to prepare a meal.”

  “I assume you managed to convince him to comply with your request?”

  “Certainly. He promised a seven-course meal would be awaiting your approval.”

  “Ensure he keeps it warm until Juliet recovers.”

  Uriel gave a dip of the head. “The guests have been removed from the property and the upper chambers have been prepared for the female.”

  Victor’s arms tightened. “The female will remain with me.”

  A rare shock rippled over Uriel’s face. “But . . .”

  “You have something to say, Uriel?”

  “It will soon be dawn.”

  “I am well aware of the time.”

  Uriel’s gaze shifted to the woman in his arms. “Then you are taking the woman to your lair? Your private lair?”

  Victor’s lips twisted; he did not entirely blame his young servant. He had never, in all his countless years, allowed a female to enter his lair.

  “Your swift grasp of the situation is what I have always admired most about you, Uriel,” he said dryly, stepping into the small, conspicuously plain room. “Be certain we are not disturbed.”

  Expecting his command to be obeyed, Victor slammed shut the door and crossed the floor to pull the lever hidden behind a particularly ugly oil portrait. Silently the paneling slid aside to reveal stone steps that led to the deep chambers beneath.

  Passing through several more heavy doors, Victor at last reached his private resting place, crossing the barren room to lay Juliet on his bed.

  On the point of covering her with a thick fur blanket to ward off the chill of being so deeply underground, Victor slowly froze, dumbfounded by the sensations that were quietly settling in the center of his heart. Sensations that he had barely noticed in his frantic haste to get Juliet to safety.

  Now he couldn’t deny the shocking truth.

  He could actually feel Juliet.

  Not just as a vampire conscious of another creature in his lair. Or with the awareness of a man near a beautiful woman.

  But deep inside him.

  Barely aware he was moving, Victor leaned down and with a jerk he had ripped open the sleeve of her loose linen smock.

  “Bloody hell.”

  Victor allowed his gaze to study the intricate crimson tattoo that was forming beneath the inner skin of Juliet’s forearm. A tattoo that was unmistakably the mark of his bonding.

  He was mated.

  To Juliet.

  Irrevocably and eternally.

  Chapter Five

  Juliet opened her eyes. It was odd. One moment she had been deeply asleep, and the next she was wide awake, her heart pounding with fear.

  With a small gasp she abruptly sat upright, anxiously glancing about the unfamiliar surroundings. She was not reassured by the stone walls that were covered by ancient tapestries or the heavy wooden furnishings that spoke of a splendid but barbaric past. Only the vast fireplace that was blazing with cheerful flames offered a hint of welcome.

  “Victor?” she breathed.

  There was a cool rush of air, then Victor was at her side, his raven hair left loose to frame his pale, perfect face and his muscular body covered by a brocade robe.

  Juliet shivered, a strange yearning stirring in the pit of her stomach. Stripped of his elegant attire that added a layer of civilization, the vampire was savagely, irresistibly handsome.

  “I am here.” Settling next to her on the wide bed, Victor held out a crystal glass. “Mulled wine, little one?”

  “Thank you.” She was relieved to discover her hand did not shake as she reached to take the goblet and sipped the warm wine. It was perfect. Spiced just as she liked it, with only the faintest hint of cinnamon. She cleared her throat. “Where are we?”

  “My private lair.” A smile curved his lips, but his eyes were watchful, predatory. “Dinner will be served whenever you wish.”

  Juliet blinked in surprise. Not only at the notion that Victor would consider she would be hungry when she awoke, but that he would bring her to his lair.

  It was . . . inconceivable.

  And strangely exciting.

  She licked her dry lips, her heart leaping as his gaze dropped to watch the nervous gesture.

  “How long have I been asleep?”

  “Several hours.” His brows drew together in a sudden frown. “You risked far too much by creating a portal. You might have killed yourself by calling on so much power with no training.”

  She drank her wine, ruefully accepting she was a fool if she’d expected gratitude for saving this vampire’s life.

  “It was not as if there was a lot of choice,” she muttered.

  He looked as if he intended to continue his lecture on her foolishness, only to give a faint shake of his head. No doubt accepting that she was beyond his ability to train.

  “We will discuss this newfound desire to play with fire later.” He reached to gently tuck a stray curl behind her ear, his slender fingers lingering to brush her cheek, his cool touch sending sparks of heated awareness through her blood. “There are more important matters we must address.”

  Feeling as if her mouth were suddenly as dry as the Sahara, Juliet took a large gulp of the wine, indifferent to the dangers of drinking on an empty stomach. Perhaps if her head was a bit fuzzy then she would not be so acutely aware that she was completely alone with Victor . . . in his lair . . . on his bed....

  “Of course,” she managed to mutter. “We must consider what is to be done with the Jinn.”

  Easily sensing the rapid beat of her heart and the rush of her blood, Victor settled closer on the bed, his hand reaching to tug aside the heavy fur cover.

  “Later.”

  “But Levet . . .”

  “It is still daylight. The gargoyle will be in statue form for at least another three hours. There is no means to rescue him until he awakens.”

  Victor reached to pluck the empty glass from her fingers, leaning across her to set it on a low mahogany chest.

  “Are you not going to have any wine?” she inanely demanded, shivering as he deliberately brushed against her body.

  “Not tonight, I think. I prefer that my senses not be dulled when I am in your company. Your mere presence is quite intoxicating enough.” His voice was husky with a thickening accent; the scent of sandalwood filled the air. “Have you fully recovered?”

  “Yes, of course,” she said, even as she wondered if she were speaking the entire truth. It would be convenient to blame her giddy excitement on the events of the day, but she was not completely naive. “In fact, I should be returning home.”

  He laughed softly. Just a breath of sound but it flowed through her body, as potent as the mulled wine.

  “You are home, little one.”

  Home.

  With Victor.

  Her heart clenched with a dangerous longing.

  “Ridiculous,” she whispered.

  The smoldering silver gaze lowered to her unsteady lips. “It is perhaps lacking a feminine touch, but I assure you that it will be refurbished to suit your pleasure. Whatever you desire shall be yours.”

  It was a flamboyant promise but oddly she did not doubt him. “My lord . . .”

  “What is it?”

  Juliet spoke the confusion that had besieged her since the moment she had awoken.

  “I did not think a vampire would allow others to enter his private lair.”

  He stilled, as if considering how best to answer her. Juliet watched in fascination as the firelight danced over his perfect features, adding a hint of mystery. Suddenly she possessed the most desperate urge to shove her fingers into the r
ich curtain of his raven hair and tug him down so she could drown in his kisses.

  “A vampire will share his lair with one other,” he said, at last breaking the silence. “His mate.”

  She abruptly tensed. “Mate?”

  He moved to take her arm, laying it across his lap. Then, with a deliberate motion, he pushed aside the torn sleeve to reveal the crimson tattoo that shimmered beneath her skin.

  “Mate.”

  Juliet forgot how to breathe as she stared at the unmistakable marking.

  For two years she had struggled to keep Victor at a safe distance. She had sworn to herself that she would never become a mindless toy for the vampire.

  But over the past hours she had been forced to admit that she had been far from successful in keeping the beautiful demon out of her heart. Why else would she have preferred to die than to watch Victor harmed?

  But to become his mate. Good Lord.

  “How did . . .” She lifted her head to meet Victor’s unwavering gaze. “How is this possible? I thought that you must exchange blood to complete the bond.”

  He shrugged. “You must have taken some of my blood during our journey through the portal.”

  A heat stained her cheeks as Juliet belatedly recalled her frantic kisses over his bloody face.

  “And now we are mated?”

  “Not . . . precisely.”

  She frowned in confusion. “I do not understand.”

  “I am mated to you, but until you are prepared to accept the bond and offer your blood, it remains incomplete.”

  “So.” She took a moment to consider the implications, a rather wicked smile slowly curving her lips. “You are bound to me, but I am at liberty to find another?”

  “You are mine.” He leaned forward, the silver eyes shimmering with a dangerous purpose as she hastily pressed back against the pillows. He stretched his long length beside her, remaining raised on his elbow to study her pale face. “I was a fool not to have recognized the truth the moment I met you. There has never been another female who has fascinated me as you have. Even when you are at your most infuriating I still crave to be in your presence.”