The Dark Ones

  "Too easy."

  "Do it!" She laughed than took off ridiculously fast.

  Laughing, Ethan chased her into the forest.

  It was impossible not to laugh with them, not to experience the love firsthand. It was so beautiful I wanted to weep, but I couldn't feel my face or any part of my body. Maybe I was dead. But at least I'd seen true love once. It was something I'd never forget — the way he held her, the way their hearts beat the same rhythm.

  The scene changed.

  She was in a large bed. The curtains were pulled back from the window, letting in the moonlight.

  "A daughter." She held the baby up in her arms and grinned. "Ethan, we have a daughter!"

  Ethan's face was pure awe as he took the small bundle in his hands and whispered against the baby's head. "So perfect."

  "She is."

  "We did it," Ethan said with tears in his eyes. "I cannot believe after all these years—"

  The temperature in the room dropped.

  "Quickly…" Her eyes were fearful. "Take her away from here."

  "He would never harm a child." Ethan shook his head. "We can trust him."

  "We can't!" she cried. "You've seen what they are capable of."

  "Leave it!" he roared. "I will protect us."

  The door to the room burst open as Cassius casually walked in, his eyes scanning the room with a cold detachment that caused me to shiver.

  "So…" Cassius tilted his head; it looked animalistic. "You defy me?"

  "She's half human," Ethan said. "You know the rules."

  "The rules…" Cassius grinned. "…and you've broken them."

  "No." Ethan shook his head. "That's impossible."

  The woman in the bed started to cry softly in her hands.

  "Maybe you should ask your wife where her loyalty lies."

  "Ethan…" she sobbed. "I'm so sorry! It was the only way! It was the only way!"

  Realization dawned in Ethan's eyes as he fell to his knees. "Tell me you didn't do this, my love… tell me!"

  No more words were spoken.

  I felt like my heart was breaking right along with his.

  Cold green eyes met mine as if he truly knew I was there, in that heaven or hell, in the dream.

  "Awake!" he screamed.

  I jolted up from the bed in a cold sweat and confused, who carried me there? Ethan hovered over me, Stephanie rocked in the corner, and Alex paced the floor.

  "It worked." Alex paused his walking, still not looking at me. "Thank God, it worked."

  "Of course it did," Stephanie agreed; her eyes held such a deep sadness, my heart clenched in my chest. "Ethan…"

  He shoved away from the bedside and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

  "He won't hurt you." Alex gave me a sympathetic smile. "Just… give him time."

  "Time?"

  Stephanie nodded. "To get used to the idea."

  "The idea of what?"

  "You're his new mate." Stephanie stood, just as the sound of a man screaming in agony pierced my ears. "We'll leave you now."

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Genesis

  THE DOOR CLICKED SHUT, LEAVING ME completely and utterly alone. I pulled the blanket up to my chin and gave another jolt when another guttural roar came from somewhere in the house.

  Ethan.

  The minute I thought his name, I reached to my neck to see if he'd bitten me like Mason. Nothing but smooth skin met my fingertips, though my entire body still felt frozen — as if Cassius had marked me with a frigid temperature or something. But that was crazy.

  In fact, the whole scenario was crazy.

  I'd left every belonging I'd had with my mother, thinking I'd probably see her after I met with the immortals — she hadn't given me reason to believe otherwise.

  I had no cell phone.

  No money.

  Absolutely no identification.

  And, up until this point, I'd thought I'd been chosen to work for some secret society that hated me — but needed me desperately.

  Instead, I'd been scared within an inch of my life.

  And bitten twice — or at least I assumed twice.

  My fingers grazed my neck again.

  Nothing.

  Another yell, this one hoarser than the ones before, as if Ethan was losing his voice.

  I shivered and watched the flames flicker in the fireplace. The room they'd put me in was extravagant. I was lying in a king-sized bed with sheets that felt like silk against my fingers. A flat screen TV was positioned next to the fireplace, and pieces of artfully chosen furniture in tans and brown were scattered around, making everything look like I'd just stepped into Pottery Barn.

  You know, if Pottery Barn included screaming as their background music.

  Was I just supposed to wait until Ethan was done having a nervous breakdown? I mean, what was the protocol? My stomach growled on cue, reminding me that I hadn't eaten anything all morning.

  Well, maybe if I starved to death, they wouldn't have to worry about me anymore. It seemed I was causing more trouble than anything.

  My teeth chattered.

  Why couldn't I get warm?

  With a huff, I moved away from the bed and went to stand in front of the fireplace just as the door to my bedroom jerked open, nearly coming off the hinges.

  Ethan stood in the doorway, blanketed in the warmth of the fire's glow. My breath hitched in my chest, even though I tried to stop my physical response. It was impossible — and embarrassing — knowing he probably heard my racing heart.

  His hair was loose from the ponytail, falling around his sharp cheekbones and jaw.

  His nostrils were flared as if he smelled something horrific.

  And when I opened my mouth to speak, he held up his hand and hissed at me.

  Freaking hissed.

  Like a cat.

  I held my tongue and stared at the fire, thinking that was probably the best option for me at that point.

  Get warm.

  Funny, my entire life had been about rules, memorization, planning, and now I had one goal in life — to get warm and stay that way.

  It was all I could allow myself to focus on. I was pretty sure if I let myself fully think about what had just happened to me, I'd have a nervous breakdown. After all, I was only human, something that was impossible to ignore with someone like Ethan standing next to me.

  His fluid movement from the door to the fireplace was quick. I blinked, and he was standing next to me, holding his hands out.

  I knew he could feel the heat, so I wasn't going to insult him by asking, even though it seemed like some of my studies had been clearly lacking. After all, I'd always thought vampires bit, but I had no bite marks, no recollection, nothing except blackness and the idea that his touch had been so painful I'd wanted to die.

  "You are safe," he whispered in a hoarse voice. "Cassius won't be coming for you. He'd have to track you first."

  "Am I untraceable now?" Now that I was his. Now that I didn't belong to myself anymore.

  Ethan pulled his hand back from the air, clenching his fingertips into a tight fist. "To everyone but your mate."

  "You." I closed my eyes and willed the tears to stay in. What was happening?

  "Me," he confirmed.

  My heart continued to race. I tried to glance at him out of the corner of my eye, but when I did, those eyes — once green — were black and still trained on me. I didn't know vampires had black eyes, didn't know any part of their physiology — outside of their fangs — changed.

  "The cold will pass," he said, still staring at me.

  Finally, I turned to give him my full attention, hoping it wouldn't be the last thing I did. "Why am I so cold?" My teeth chattered as if to prove a point. I hugged my arms closer to my body and got closer to the fire.

  "You'll be cold until he leaves you completely," Ethan said slowly. "I marked over him… took away what I could." His hand reached out cupping my face. "Soon you'll be warm again."

&n
bsp; "B-because you're warm?"

  He dropped his hand and smirked. "Scorching."

  I was swaying toward him, not even realizing it, but his hands came out and steadied me then stayed. When he touched me, I could feel his heartbeat through his fingertips; it was addicting, fascinating. I moved closer. He didn't release me. His black eyes changed to more of a gray and then finally changed back to a flashing green as I moved into his arms. It was like I had no control over my body — I just wanted to be close.

  And he was so warm.

  And alive.

  Very much alive.

  His eyes hooded.

  Inches apart — our lips were almost touching. My mind screamed at me to back away, but my body told me it was exactly where I needed to be.

  "You're hungry." He twirled a piece of my hair with his fingertip then sniffed it. "I'll bring you food. Under no circumstances are you to leave this room until the marking is complete."

  He released my hair. His other hand fell from my arm.

  And the loss was heartbreaking.

  "How will I know when it's complete?" I croaked out, like any terrified prisoner would.

  His face cracked into a seductive smile before he looked away and his jaw clenched. "You'll know… because you'll be so on fire for me, you'll think of nothing else. Not food, water, safety — not anything. Your only need will be me."

  I gulped. "Then what happens?"

  He turned and walked to the door at a normal pace, pausing only to call over his shoulder, "I give you exactly what you need."

  That's what I was afraid of.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Genesis

  IT WAS AN HOUR LATER BEFORE any food was brought to me. I'd foolishly assumed it would be Ethan bringing food; instead, it was Alex.

  I breathed a sigh of relief when he came into the room, tray of food in hand, and offered a shy smile — without the noticeable waves of seduction. Apparently, he could turn it off and on.

  "Actually…" He sat the tray down on the bed and took a seat in the nearby chair. "…now that you're his mate, I could try my damnedest to seduce you, and you wouldn't feel a thing."

  "Great," I croaked, reaching for a piece of toast.

  "Mason cooked." Alex offered an apologetic yet radiant smile. "Word of warning, the man's been surviving on tree branches for the past twenty years, so if he's a little rusty in the kitchen, I apologize."

  "Tree branches?" The toast was a bit dry, but it satisfied the hunger. I kept chewing, waiting for Alex to elaborate. Maybe he'd give me the answers I needed.

  Alex propped his feet up on the bed. "His way of punishing himself, I suppose — ridiculous if you ask me. Then again, he's a werewolf, more beast than man. Who am I to judge?" His blue eyes twinkled briefly before he reached for the teakettle on my tray and poured some into one of the mugs. "Ethan didn't specify what to make for you. Sorry if we made a terrible mess out of things, but we mostly eat out every day, so there wasn't much food in the house — not to mention a vampire lives here so…"

  I leaned forward, my eyes narrowing. "So he doesn't eat?"

  Alex burst out laughing. "Just adorable. I may love you."

  I scowled.

  "Humans are funny," he said to himself more than to me. "I'd keep you if you weren't already being fought over and owned."

  "I'm not a pet."

  "Believe me when I say I treat my pets very well," he said in a low voice. "No complaints. Ever."

  "Good for you." Arrogant much?

  "Feeling the effects yet?" he asked, once I finished the toast and had moved on to the small slices of cheese and fruit. Crackers were on one side of the plate. Alex leaned forward, folding his massive hands in front of him. "A vampire's mark isn't something to be taken lightly."

  "Well," I sighed, "I don't even know what the mark is, let alone what it should feel like. Apparently, I've been wrong about what I've been studying my entire life so, really, I don't know what to expect." I snorted. "You know, other than certain death if I disrespect any of you."

  "That's still true," he said quickly. "With us four? Not so much. With the rest of them… keep your head down and try to say please and thank you."

  "Noted."

  "Fast learner."

  "Survivor," I fired back.

  He sighed, his smile slowly fading as did the light behind his blue eyes. "It's fifty-fifty."

  "What?" I was just popping a piece of cheese into my mouth. Why did the food taste so bland? I was hungry — ravenous — so I didn't care, but it was like eating sandpaper.

  "The survival rate, of course." Alex examined his fingernails then clicked his tongue. "Most humans are able to survive it, the strong ones."

  "Survive what?" I clenched my teeth together as another chill wracked my body.

  "The marking." His eyes narrowed. "It's made easier when your mate actually holds your damn hand through the process." I could have sworn he said ass under his breath, but it was too low to hear.

  "He didn't…" I licked my lips and reached for a cracker. "He didn't want to do it though."

  "Tough shit," Alex said in a louder voice, repositioning himself on the chair, dangling his legs off the side. "We've all had to make sacrifices for the greater good — this is his."

  "Okay…" Feeling full and a bit sick, I put the cracker back on the plate. "And when this marking is all over… when I survive it — and believe me I will—"

  Alex grinned, making me all the more irritated that he'd doubted my strength — that any of them would.

  "What happens then? I'm Ethan's mate? I live to serve him, then I die? Only if Cassius doesn't ever find me?"

  Alex went deathly still. "It's sad… tragic, actually… how little they tell you these days. About us. About the world and about your place in it."

  "So tell me!" I pounded my fist into the pillow next to me, scaring the crap out of myself. I'd always been controlled — it had been bred into me from birth. And I'd just yelled at an immortal like he was a petulant child.

  Alex grinned. "I think you'll do just fine, Genesis. Just fine." He chuckled warmly. "Try not to be too hard on us. We've been waiting for a chance to change things for a very long time… and you just may be exactly what we've been waiting for."

  "I can't do anything if you don't tell me what I'm supposed to be doing!" Tears threatened, the confusion and fear back full force. "I don't know what to do. Just tell me what I'm supposed to do."

  "And that's the problem right there." Alex leaned forward, sadness etched in his every feature. "Your whole life, choices have been taken from you, rather than given to you." He hung his head. "I'll do this once and only once… I'll throw you a bone, isn't that what it's called? Do you a solid? A favor? And give you one goal this evening, one thing to set your small misinformed mind toward."

  I waited in anticipation.

  "Survive," he said softly. "Just survive. And when the flames threaten to take you higher and higher, give in. When the heat scorches you from the inside out, when tears no longer come, when the need is all you can contemplate… you survive."

  He stood and shrugged, as if he hadn't just scared the crap out of me.

  "Oh, and also? It would probably be good to call for your mate…" He offered a haphazard shrug. "When it's time."

  "When I'm dying?"

  "Only when your need is so great for him that you've forgotten yourself completely. That's when you whisper his name. Pray to God he answers — because he still has a choice in this, and if he doesn't choose you, survival will be pointless. You. Will. Die."

  A lone tear fell down my cheek before I could wipe it away

  Alex reached out and captured it with his thumb. "It's been years since I've seen real tears. I hope you keep yours. I hope the gift of feeling such strong emotions remains — then again — for your sake, at the same time, I hope they don't."

  He left me.

  Just like that.

  With shaky hands, I put the tray on the nearby table and went back to lie on
the bed, freaking out, wondering when the heat was going to come, when the pain would arrive, and when I would be out of my mind for a mate who clearly didn't want me.

  A mate.

  Like a husband.

  Rejection washed over me.

  I would never get normal.

  Never have a family.

  And most likely never have the type of love I'd always secretly wanted — it had all been stripped away from me the day I'd walked into that room. And a part of me hated my family for not telling me the truth about what I was about to do.

  My mom had smiled.

  And she'd probably known it was a death sentence.

  I tried not to dwell on it — tried to stay positive — so I focused on what Alex said.

  Survival.

  I counted the seconds, the minutes as they turned into hours, and when the clock struck midnight out in the hall, I thought that maybe I would be different, maybe whatever was happening to me wasn't going to be as bad as both Alex and Ethan had warned.

  Then the heat started in my toes.

  I welcomed it because I'd been so cold all day.

  It spread from my toes up my legs, warming me up like a blanket; by the time it reached my thighs, it was uncomfortable. I started throwing covers off me, but it didn't help.

  Fire reached my chest, making it hard to breathe.

  And when it touched my lips, it was like someone had placed coal in my mouth.

  I cried out.

  But no sound came.

  I pounded my chest; the motion made the heat worse. I didn't think it could get more painful.

  But it did. I glanced at the clock again.

  It was two minutes past midnight.

  And I already wanted to die.

  The pain skyrocketed; I reared back, hitting my head on the headboard. Another surge of scorching heat flared.

  The door opened, but my vision was blurred. It was hard to see who had come in.

  It wasn't until he lay down on the bed next to me and grabbed my hand that I could focus on the form.

  Mason.

  As a werewolf.

  Or a very large dog.

  His eyes were sad.

  And when I cried out again, he pulled me into his arms and squeezed while my body convulsed.