Читать книгу Dark Dreams: HarperImpulse Paranormal Romance - Dawn Treadway - Страница 11

“Hey,” she protested in more of a whisper rather than the shout she had intended. “Hey.” The same whisper forming only slightly louder this time. Fighting her own seemingly unstoppable need, she unclasped herself from his warm, full lips. His eyes caught hers again and those amazing lips formed a quirk, shooting a flame of desire through her. Push though this Jade, she said to herself, you need to get some answers and find a way to get back home.

“Don’t try to distract me. I want answers and I intend on having them.” As much as it pained her, she finally did move away from him. Being the fiend he was he dropped his fingertips to the skin of her arm and ran his nails down her bicep, over the sensitive, easily aroused softness of her inner elbow, and scraped it off the end of her hand and fingers. Goose bumps exploded across her arms and legs which made her shiver and feel a bit dizzy.

Shaking her head, she pressed forward, trying to get her frustration to the forefront. “Kitten, huh? That is real cute; you gave me a pet name. One of an actual pet. Why is it I feel that is completely appropriate? You stroke me and I unconditionally respond. Do I even have free will here or is this some kind of sexual trance thing?”

“My siblings and I have a strong sexual force about us, this is true. But it is not who I am, it is what you want,” he grinned flashing perfect straight white teeth. “I’m not using any magic on you.”

Magic now? But then how else to explain what I’ve seen, unless I’m completely hallucinating. “I’m not sure what to make of that answer. I’m going to consider it, and get back to you with my opinion.”

“I’m quite sure you will,” he chuckled with amusement, in that infernal sardonic tone.

“For now, I would appreciate it if you took your sexual force to the opposite end of the couch. So I can concentrate. Yes, I said for now; let it go, Smiley.” Jade crossed her arms, letting out an exasperated huff.

He moved his hands to the couch and pushed his gorgeous body away from her, stretching his legs up on the coffee table in front of him.

“Next question?”

The intoxicating human sat up straighter, her breasts heaving forward during the movement, making him stifle a growl. Then she crossed her legs underneath her on the sofa. He was still staring when her hand went up into her mane of red curls and took a lock between her fingers, twirling the strand the same way he had seen her do it at the bookstore.

“Why are we at your brother’s house and not yours?” It was ridiculous, the woman had him staring and losing his concentration. I am a warrior, not an adolescent chasing my first little girl. He looked at her and answered her question.

“Phaeton is the current Sovereign; this place is more of a compound than anything. He is in charge of the Djinn Sentry. Many of them live on this property. Because of their presence, and some other magic surrounding it, we are safe here. We will also conduct your training here.” He was now fully intent on getting down to business, having pushed aside the stirring within him.

“Okay, what is the training and what would I be training for?” Her gaze followed him back and forth, taking in the change in his demeanor.

“Maybe you would like to eat before we continue, your food is cooling and this answer may be extensive. I wouldn’t want to burden you with it on an empty stomach.”

He removed his feet from the coffee table and walked across the room to bring a covered tray and water to her. She found a hearty beef soup and fresh bread.

“I had it made for you while you were in the shower.”

“That was really nice, actually.” He was pleased he had done something right. For some reason he cared what she thought. He placed a glass of water in front of her as well. “You don’t drink water? You don’t eat either, do you? I know you pretend when you’re with me, but you never really eat anything. Do you eat regular food?”

He gave her a droll, blank stare like he had no intention of answering, which made her even more curious.

“No, really, are you like a vampire? Do you drink blood but you don’t want to freak me out?” She needed to have this conversation. It was scary to her that she didn’t even know what the hell the man, whom she had just let cover her in blood, ate. “Do you eat flesh, bloody flesh? Your plate looks a little gooey.” She wanted to close her ears and not get this answer; this might be the perfect time for her “ignorance is bliss” theory. But she had already asked and it looked like he might answer.

“I eat uncooked food. I am a strict carnivore.” He lifted his hand to her before she could react. “No not human flesh, I protect humans. As for the other question you asked the answer is yes. I can get as much strength and far more pleasure from blood as from meats. And as for the next question you are going to ask, yes, I could and would love to drink from you; and I can be quite creative in where I choose to drink from.” He gave her a wicked smile that made her legs cross and squeeze together at the top, and her areolas tighten in response. He was male perfection, even in the middle of this nightmare. He continued in that delicious, melodic tone only he possessed, “You my sweet, dirty girl, would love it. I have an extremely potent sense of smell and your blood smells divine.” He ran his nails up the inside of her tightly squeezed and blessedly covered thigh. Jade inhaled deeply and thought about how demented she had become, because she considered how much she might enjoy it.

She got up in order to sit on the coffee table, keeping herself out of his reach. As she buried herself in her food, not trusting herself to even speak to him at the moment, he watched her in silence.

As she was eating, he tried to explain what he was to her. If he wanted to move forward with Jade’s help he felt she deserved a few answers. He could, at least, give her that. He suddenly thought about risking her life and he realized he no longer felt so eager to do it. This woman he had known for a day seemed a little more important to him than she should.

“I am a Daemon, one of two kinds; my kind is called the Djinn. The monsters that abducted and harmed you earlier are Shaitan. You were extremely lucky, because they enjoy inflicting pain. The fact it only scratched you means they were after something and needed you coherent to get it. I won’t go on. Hopefully you will never learn the full extent of their depravity.”

He could see goose bumps form on her flesh and then watched her shudder.

She changed direction on him with her next question. “Okay, I’ll focus on you for now, you’ve been blinking me around the country; your blood stops my pain. What other powers or abilities, or whatever, do you have?”

“We call ‘blinking’, as you say, transcending; we can move anywhere instantly, we only need to know where it is we want to go and we arrive, anywhere above ground. Also we can control fire and weather and have acute smell and hearing, which we used to find you earlier.” He purposely left out the part on how their emotions could sometimes affect both fire and weather without their conscious thought – there was no need to add that to her apprehension. “However, none of this works in Sheol, which is why we have to move in on foot.”

“Where is this Sheol? I heard you mention it to that woman, if that’s what she was. Your brother is being kept there, right? By the Shaitan? Are you sure he’s still alive? I’m so sorry to ask you, but from what you’re telling me they seem more than a little dangerous.”

He paused, his face darkening. She had asked something he didn’t want to consider at all. “No, I’m not absolutely positive he’s still alive.” He said it that way because he refused to believe anything different.

“But they took him for a reason. He isn’t directly connected with the Sentry. He is a free spirit. Joss lives his life separately from us, like I was trying to do before he was taken. Until they let us know their intentions we are confident they won’t end him. But they are sure to damage him physically and psychologically over time, so we need to train you and move in as quickly as possible. Iblis, the father and Lord of Sheol, is given the souls of the worst of human life. He punishes them in ways I do not wish to speak of. Your murderers, pedophiles, those who torture and cause pain to others during their time above ground, also those who decide to take their own lives; they all end up there.” He could feel the pain of this last answer and the memories it dredged up, and wanted to move away from it quickly.

“Centuries ago, Djinn and Shaitan inhabited Sheol together. But we saw how the Shaitan had begun to trick humans and lead them to slaughter, forcing them to the Unseen. So we left to try to protect them …”

Jade practically flew off the table, obviously stunned, and began to completely come undone.

“You mean Hell don’t you? Because you’re a Daemon and you come from freaking Hell, right? You are telling me you used to live in Hell and then you and some of the others, after hundreds of years, millennia, possibly; you and the other Djinn finally decided it wasn’t okay that the Shaitan, the monsters that abducted me, are minions of an even more evil thing, this Iblis. That they abduct innocent humans and torture them, in ways I can’t even fathom, for eternity. Call it what you will. But you want me to go with you into the pits of HELL and get your brother. Am I getting all this straight? This is your plan? And you really think it will work? With me? I am the one to help YOU get through Hell? I think I’ll just take my chances with the Shaitan above ground if that’s okay with you; well even if it isn’t, I’m fucking out.”

He was a little speechless. Nias could not remember another time in his life when he actually was at a loss for words. But here he sat. He watched her head for the door, which led to the hallway, tracking her as she stalked across the room. She was attempting to leave. He knew there was no way she could get out of the house, much less the compound, without him, so he let her go for now, to give her some time to cool off. Then he would go find her and start again. Eventually she would either begin to accept her circumstances or she wouldn’t. Either way he would get her to cooperate.

As Jade walked swiftly to the door of the bedroom she had expected Nias to grab her and stop her at any moment, but he hadn’t. She walked into the hallway and then broke into more of a run when she realized the possibility of getting free. Her mind was moving even faster than her body. I can’t believe I let myself get taken in by him! He wants to take me to Hell! Why in the world would he think I would ever even consider that? He was just using me! That’s it. Just another asshole who treats women like something they can own, possess, control.

As her mind railed and she searched for a way out, her breathing became heavy. The hallways seemed to go on forever! She passed door after door. Through the open ones she saw bedrooms, bathrooms, rooms that she had no idea what their use was. She tried a few of the closed ones. Some were locked, but those that weren’t simply revealed more of the same. No way out! She tried to regain her composure; she needed to calm down. Eventually she came to a stairway, which led both up and down. She headed down, hoping to find a door, any door, out of this gigantic house.

When she reached the bottom of the next flight she had to choose left or right. She could see some kind of light coming from the end of the hall to her left and so she went in that direction. As she approached she could hear multiple voices coming from the end of the hall. If she got close enough, she would be able to take a read of their emotions. Sometimes, when there weren’t too many people in a room, she could even tell before she entered how many there were in it by the emotions running through them.

She got a little closer, and she could feel four or five distinct personalities. She went further down toward the room and saw a large armoire with glass shelving. She crouched down behind it, and in doing so was able to see the whole room through the glass. Unless they knew to look for her, they wouldn’t see her sitting there. They weren’t shouting, but there was an atmosphere of seriousness in the room and voices were being raised; a heavy debate was taking place.

The room was very Goth socialite – a little bit rustic Rococo. It smacked of monsters with money. Furnished with heavy wooden antiques and expensive-looking paintings of fleshy pale nudes, the room had a color scheme of dark reds, deep blues, and gold. Rich burgundy tapestries hung around windows, which stretched upwards two full stories and were surrounded by intricately carved walls. Somehow the furniture managed to look oversized and cozy, a neat trick for the old French and Italian theme. Jade had an image in her mind, due to the expanse of the place and the interior furnishing, that at least a few flying buttresses held the whole building up and stone goblins stood guard outside.

There were actually five of them in the room – one woman and four men. Two of the males stood behind the couches. Most of the heaviness seemed to be coming from a huge, amazingly hot, dark-haired male. He looked similar enough to Nias that Jade knew this must be one of the siblings he had spoken of, but this guy looked more rugged, more muscular. While Nias was tall, with heavy arms and shoulders, he managed to be sleek; he always came off like the predatory cat she had first seen. This man was still tall and lean but more pure warrior. She could see him in the old country with a dirk or present-day muddy on a rugby field with torn clothing and a mass of injuries that didn’t bother him a bit. The second man, who seemed to be doing his best to negotiate between Big and Rugged and the girl, was about six feet tall and blond. Much softer-looking and softer-spoken, he seemed far more reasonable than the others. The two men standing were both between six two and six four, still gorgeous, but not so much as the others. They stood silent, almost to attention, and seemed to be waiting for orders.

The girl was dwarfed by the men. She seemed to be around five four. But even with her small stature, she was holding her own. She had long dark hair pulled back tight in a low ponytail. Jade could see the familial gold eyes shine out of her beautiful, almost perfect, features. She wore black combat boots, black jeans and a tight fitting black t-shirt. She wasn’t made up, but she carried herself like she knew she didn’t need it, and didn’t seem the kind of girl to care that much anyway.

“We need to figure out what is going on and we need to do it now before it gets worse!” the largest male boomed.

“I agree, Phaeton, but don’t go out there on a killing spree before we have a chance to find the source of the chaos,” the girl countered, and went on. “The Shaitan never do anything without being told to do it. We need to know what Iblis is planning. Why would Hamartia be above ground? I can hardly believe that sick bitch could walk away from her closest companions – bloodshed, pain, and misery – for even a day.”

“Ella is right. We should find out how we can stop the whole, not kill the few. Hamartia’s presence signifies something completely different is happening. We have to find out what.” The blond simply stated things matter-of-factly, without elevating his voice at all.

The girl, who obviously was named Ella, continued, “Don’t get me wrong, Phaeton, we will stop them from doing harm, with the same force we always use. I don’t want them to suspect anything is different in the way we are approaching this latest assault. I will lead the Sentry to the streets, as I always have. I wouldn’t want to let a day go by without our usual body count. But I will not simply injure the body of the beast and allow the head to grow again.”

“I will join you on the street. My abilities will speed the process of finding the Shaitan and learning about their plans; besides I haven’t had the opportunity to end nearly as many of the scaly low lives as I would like recently.” Phaeton smiled.

“We would be honored to have you with us. We could benefit from your tracking, they could be anywhere in the world by now. If you can get us to the right city, we can easily flush them out by scent and sound.” This was spoken by one of the standing men, one whom Jade assumed to be part of the Sentry they spoke of.

“If Nias is successful at bringing Joss out, or when we find this mission has failed, the Sentry will move in force into the Unseen. We will fight until we achieve our purpose or Iblis finally takes us down for good. We begin tomorrow scouring the streets for the information you believe is necessary, Ella. Start with all the major cities; if you smell and hear nothing in twenty-four hours move to your next location. You lead your Southern group through Europe; I will take the North Corps and start in Asia. Do not let the humans see you transcend, as always. Let one Sentry settle first, find an appropriate location and then the rest can settle safely. Locke, you are home base for now. I believe Nias has persuaded the girl into helping us and will begin training her soon.”

Jade was a little shocked at Phaeton’s assuredness. She had definitely decided not to help. Or had she? If so, why wasn’t she trying to escape? Instead of moving and trying to find a door, she was crouching here listening to them plan their assaults, and finding herself wondering if these beings could indeed help her find a key to reversing her curse.

Then she felt a familiar heat come up behind her.