his head. Rachel’s pain was a vice around his chest…Lindsay had lost her mother to Vashti’s viciousness…yet still he craved the vampress with a ferocity that shook him.
She squeezed his shoulders with a vampire’s strength, which just happened to be the exact pressure he most enjoyed. Her hands ran down either side of his spine, kneading, before reaching his ass and palming it. Her tongue peeped out and slid over her full lower lip.“You can’t have Lindsay, you know. She’s brain-dead over Adrian. Gave up her life for him.”
He fought the seductive lure she was trying to wrap him with. “What—exactly—did you do to her, Vashti?”
“You’ve been a Sentinel dog for years. Bet you’ve never seen Adrian look twice at a woman. Why her? What’s special about her?”
“Get to your point.”
“She’s—well, she
was
—Syre’s daughter.”
Elijah froze, his fingers going slack with shock. “Impossible.”
None of the vampires could procreate—soulless creatures couldn’t create a being with a soul. But…Lindsay had shown anomalous traits almost from the beginning.
“She was born with another soul inside her. The reincarnated soul of Syre’s naphil daughter, created before he fell.”
“What did you do, Vashti?” he repeated.
“What had to be done for one soul to overcome the other.”
Rage burned through his blood like fire, tightening his hands around her throat. In that moment, he was a breath away from separating her head from her neck.
“Did you Change her?” he snarled, fighting off the shift rippling just beneath his skin. “Did you kill her spirit? Is Lindsay gone?”
For the first time, fear shadowed her eyes and whitened her lips. As his claws extended and pierced through her pale skin, blood slid over the upper curve of her breasts in crimson tendrils. “She’s still Lindsay.Shadoe’s soul was lost when Syre finished the Change. And he wasn’t lying—Lindsay wanted it.”
“Bullshit. She hated vampires because of you. Because you killed her mother. She would never become one willingly.”
A frown marred the space between Vash’s brows. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Two decades back. A pretty little blond five-year-old and her mother, having a nice picnic in the park…until a pack of vamps decided to have a snack.”
“No.” The confusion cleared. Her gaze bored into his. “Not my style. And if you don’t believe me, you can ask her. She must’ve figured it out when she gnawed these holes in my neck and dug into my blood memories. She had me down and pinned with a sharp piece of wood nearby; she could’ve vanquished me, but she let me go.”
Needing definitive answers, he pushed away from her plush, pliant body. He derided himself for wanting to believe her. “I need to know she’s okay. Make it happen.”
“You’ve got bigger things to worry about.”
He staked her to the tree with a fierce glance. “
Now
, Vashti.”
Cursing under her breath, she retrieved her phone from the ground and riffled through her contacts. A moment later, ringing came over the phone, followed by the clipped greeting of a receptionist at Mitchell Aeronautics. “Adrian Mitchell, please. Tell him Vashti is calling.”
Elijah’s arms crossed as he waited, his mindspinning from the fact that the vampires had once had Lindsay in their clutches and had let her go back to Adrian, effectively forfeiting the Sentinel leader’s only weakness. Why?
“Vash.”
Adrian’s richly sonorous voice flowed through the phone’s speaker, sans video.
“How’s the new love of your life, Adrian?” Vash’s mouth curved bitterly. “Did she make it?”
“She’s exceptionally well. How’s your neck?”
“Still holding my head and body together.”
“You continue to have vicious rogues in your numbers, Vashti.” Despite the harshness of his words, the Sentinel leader’s tone remained as even and smooth as always. “We’ll be hunting them.”
All of the
She squeezed his shoulders with a vampire’s strength, which just happened to be the exact pressure he most enjoyed. Her hands ran down either side of his spine, kneading, before reaching his ass and palming it. Her tongue peeped out and slid over her full lower lip.“You can’t have Lindsay, you know. She’s brain-dead over Adrian. Gave up her life for him.”
He fought the seductive lure she was trying to wrap him with. “What—exactly—did you do to her, Vashti?”
“You’ve been a Sentinel dog for years. Bet you’ve never seen Adrian look twice at a woman. Why her? What’s special about her?”
“Get to your point.”
“She’s—well, she
was
—Syre’s daughter.”
Elijah froze, his fingers going slack with shock. “Impossible.”
None of the vampires could procreate—soulless creatures couldn’t create a being with a soul. But…Lindsay had shown anomalous traits almost from the beginning.
“She was born with another soul inside her. The reincarnated soul of Syre’s naphil daughter, created before he fell.”
“What did you do, Vashti?” he repeated.
“What had to be done for one soul to overcome the other.”
Rage burned through his blood like fire, tightening his hands around her throat. In that moment, he was a breath away from separating her head from her neck.
“Did you Change her?” he snarled, fighting off the shift rippling just beneath his skin. “Did you kill her spirit? Is Lindsay gone?”
For the first time, fear shadowed her eyes and whitened her lips. As his claws extended and pierced through her pale skin, blood slid over the upper curve of her breasts in crimson tendrils. “She’s still Lindsay.Shadoe’s soul was lost when Syre finished the Change. And he wasn’t lying—Lindsay wanted it.”
“Bullshit. She hated vampires because of you. Because you killed her mother. She would never become one willingly.”
A frown marred the space between Vash’s brows. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Two decades back. A pretty little blond five-year-old and her mother, having a nice picnic in the park…until a pack of vamps decided to have a snack.”
“No.” The confusion cleared. Her gaze bored into his. “Not my style. And if you don’t believe me, you can ask her. She must’ve figured it out when she gnawed these holes in my neck and dug into my blood memories. She had me down and pinned with a sharp piece of wood nearby; she could’ve vanquished me, but she let me go.”
Needing definitive answers, he pushed away from her plush, pliant body. He derided himself for wanting to believe her. “I need to know she’s okay. Make it happen.”
“You’ve got bigger things to worry about.”
He staked her to the tree with a fierce glance. “
Now
, Vashti.”
Cursing under her breath, she retrieved her phone from the ground and riffled through her contacts. A moment later, ringing came over the phone, followed by the clipped greeting of a receptionist at Mitchell Aeronautics. “Adrian Mitchell, please. Tell him Vashti is calling.”
Elijah’s arms crossed as he waited, his mindspinning from the fact that the vampires had once had Lindsay in their clutches and had let her go back to Adrian, effectively forfeiting the Sentinel leader’s only weakness. Why?
“Vash.”
Adrian’s richly sonorous voice flowed through the phone’s speaker, sans video.
“How’s the new love of your life, Adrian?” Vash’s mouth curved bitterly. “Did she make it?”
“She’s exceptionally well. How’s your neck?”
“Still holding my head and body together.”
“You continue to have vicious rogues in your numbers, Vashti.” Despite the harshness of his words, the Sentinel leader’s tone remained as even and smooth as always. “We’ll be hunting them.”
All of the
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