Dark Promises 2: Demonic Obsession Page 9

  “I’m not a lycanthrope of any kind, Ellie.”

  Her breath caught in her throat and dread settled in her stomach like a ball of ice, chilling her through. “Then I suggest you start explaining the truth to me. Right now.”

  He leaned on the counter, his arms crossed over his chest. He looked uncertain, distrustful, and a little angry. She had a feeling she was in for some sort of long and drawn-out explanation. She was wrong.

  “My kind is called Panthicenos. ‘Cat’ is a pretty apt description, though I have no idea how you reached that conclusion.” His eyes drifted to her panther totem and he shook his head. “I can shift, but not because of some form of lycanthropy. I’m not a were-animal of any sort. I’m not governed by the moons, or by temper. I can shift at will.”

  “Panthicenos?” That was a word she’d never heard before. It made her think of some kind of Greek god. Her mind refused to wrap around what he told her, rejecting his words as too bizarre to believe. She felt like she’d fallen down the rabbit hole. That dream she’d had about the panther…her hand flew to the totem and she gasped as it warmed in her hand. Were the animal in her dream and the man standing before her one in the same? “So you’re, um…” She let her voice trail off, not sure if she really wanted to know exactly what Panthicenos meant. Considering the fact that her mind was currently threatening to shut down, Eric’s next suggestion was more than welcome.

  “Okay, I think it’s time we change the subject.”

  “Great idea.” She attempted a smile, but only managed a grimace. Why couldn’t she just have a normal life?

  “Tell me, Ann Elizabeth, how many sexual partners have you had?”

  “What?” This was his idea of a safer subject? “Not something I want to talk about with you, thanks. Please pick something else.”

  “I don’t think so. You started this. Now I get to ask you a few questions,” he said. “I think I have a right to know.”

  “Fine. Enough that I know what I’m doing,” she answered. “But not enough to populate a small country, unlike some people.”

  “Don’t get huffy. You asked. I was just being truthful.”

  Of course he was. It was her own fault if she didn’t like the results of her curiosity. It shouldn’t matter to her, anyway. They lived very different lives. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t be. It was an honest question.”

  Yeah, she was just full of them that afternoon. She breathed in and out slowly, anchoring herself back into reality. “I have one more, if you don’t mind.”

  “What’s that?”

  “How come so many? Are you that bad of a lover that none of them want to stick around long?”

  He didn’t say anything for a minute, but then suddenly burst out laughing. “Maybe you’d like to find out before you go making wild accusations.”

  “I’m not the one who’s wild.” She tried to be angry, but he’d worked his way into her defenses and she couldn’t be upset with him for long. She just hoped her budding trust wouldn’t get her into serious trouble later on down the road.

  He smiled in a way that affected her right down to her toes. “I could make you wild, if you—” His phone rang before he could finish his sentence. “Hold on,” he said as he took the small cell phone out of his shirt pocket and answered.

  He glanced at her when he finished the conversation. “I hate to do this to you, but I have to leave.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “Unfortunately, I have to go to work. I’ll call as soon as I’m free.” His expression softened. “I don’t want to go. Believe me, if I could stay, I would.”

  “You’re trying to stop the killer, aren’t you?”

  He closed his eyes for a moment before he nodded. “Yeah, I suppose I am. But don’t concern yourself with that. I’ll call soon.”

  “Fine, but we are so not done with this conversation, Eric.”

  He kissed her hard and fast before he smiled down at her. “I had a feeling you were going to say that.”

  With that he was gone, and leaving her alone and confused.

  * * * * *

  It was just after sunset, and the streets were quiet. No one dared to venture out after dark anymore, not after the murder in their safe little town. These people had no idea what they were dealing with. The danger was real, and more terrifying than anyone could have guessed.

  Tony fisted his hands at his sides, fighting for control of his mind. In a way, he wished they’d succeeded in killing him. But she’d saved him, the woman who had systematically taken his life apart piece by piece since that terrible night. He hadn’t realized it at first. She’d told him she only wanted to help. He hadn’t recognized her manipulative, evil intentions until it was much too late.

  Eric had tried to warn him, but he’d been a fool—and so in love he hadn’t listened. If he had, she wouldn’t have gotten the chance to worm her way into his consciousness.

  He’d hidden for so long, sometimes it seemed to him that he wasn’t alive. Aiala had done a number on him, starting with that night, and he hadn’t been the same since. Part of her was still there, lurking in the depths of his psyche. He felt her sometimes, late at night when he was all alone with his thoughts and Becca was sleeping quietly beside him. Aiala had twisted an integral part of him. There was little left resembling the man he used to be. He was like a broken vase that had been put back together wrong—not all the pieces lined up correctly. They were all there; they just didn’t fit the way the used to.

  A seagull circled above him, its mournful cries filling the humid air. When he stepped back and took a look at himself, he saw that what he was doing was wrong. But he couldn’t help it. It’s what she did to him. Her vendetta against those who had wronged her had become his burden to carry. He’d become no more than an energy source for a wounded demon, no better than a farmer’s cow. She’d been sucking the life out of him for hundreds of years, and he was powerless to stop her.

  His mind flashed back to that night, still vivid even after all this time. She’d promised him the world, plied him with sex until he was mindless putty for her to mold. And molded him she had. She’d turned him against his friends, the men who had trusted him with their lives. They’d come after Aiala that night to destroy her. Royce had nearly killed him for helping her, but in the end the man had let him live. That had been a very big mistake. Now Aiala wanted revenge on those who’d tried to take her life, and she used Tony as the instrument to exact her punishment. Three were dead. Eric and Royce were the only two left of his former friends. What would happen when he’d done her bidding and killed them as well?

  She’d kill him. There’d be no reason to keep him around once he’d overstayed his welcome in her life. She’d get another source of energy.

  He wanted to find Eric and Royce to warn them, but he didn’t dare. Too many innocent lives were at stake. Aiala’s demonic presence called to him, pulling him in all directions until he felt torn apart at the seams. Sometimes he fooled himself into thinking he was in control. But it was a lie. As long as she lived, he belonged to Aiala.

  She wanted Eric Malcolm and Royce Cardoso dead, and she would make him do it. She’d given him powers he never dreamed of, and in return she wanted undying loyalty and service. The trade hadn’t seemed unfair until she’d taken control and forced him to kill his friends.

  He stepped into the shadows, able after years of practice to hide himself well. He was stronger than even Eric now. That thought frightened him more than he wanted to admit. He didn’t want to harm anyone, but he couldn’t find a way to stop it, either.

  “You’re late.”

  He closed his eyes and drew in a sharp breath at the sound of her voice. “I’m sorry, Aiala. I got held up.”

  “No excuses, Antonio. You serve me and only me. That little girlfriend of yours means nothing.” He heard the click of her heels against the pavement behind him. “Turn around, Antonio, and look at your Master.”

  He pivoted slowly until he faced
Aiala. Her beauty struck him as it always did, even though he now knew it to be tainted with evil. Her white-blond hair hung to her waist in soft waves. Her alabaster skin contrasted sharply with her midnight-blue eyes, and her full lips were designed to make men think illicit thoughts. Small and frail in appearance, no one would ever guess when they met her that they were in the presence of a very powerful demon. He saw the malevolence clearly in her now. How had he not seen it when they’d first met?

  She ran a long, sharp fingernail across his cheek, pressing hard enough that he knew he’d be left with a welt. “You have not done as I’ve asked.”

  He hung his head, knowing she’d hurt him if he disobeyed. Worse, she could force him to hurt Becca. He pictured her face in his mind, so young and innocent. She didn’t deserve him, but Aiala had insisted on the union. She’d said it would get him one step closer to Royce Cardoso, since the families were close.

  “I haven’t yet had the chance.”

  “Liar!” With a swoop of her hand, she sent a bolt of electricity through the air. It smacked him square in the chest and he stumbled back into an old brick building. “You need to remember your place. I’ve given you ultimate power, slave, and I expect your obedience in return.”

  His head began to pound and he fought to keep her out. Even as he did, she planted ideas in his mind. Hatred filled him, emotions that weren’t his own. He could only push her away for so long before she wormed her way inside, and that’s when the killings happened. There hadn’t been many here, not yet, but that was sure to change in the near future.

  “There is a new pawn on the board, slave,” Aiala continued. “Your girlfriend’s sister. She’s the key to getting Malcolm to come to you. Use her.”

  “Ellie? I can’t do that.” He expended a lot of effort staying away from her. That woman was very astute—surely she’d know almost immediately what he really was. If he wanted to make Aiala happy, he couldn’t let Ellie find out him out and run to Eric or Royce.

  “You must. If you don’t, Rebecca will suffer.”

  He let out a breath, defeated. He wouldn’t let Aiala hurt Becca, no matter what happened. “Fine. I will do as you’ve asked. But I need time.”

  “Your time is running out, slave.” Aiala smiled coldly, a deadly expression in her eyes. “Soon I won’t be able to wait. Do it quickly before I lose my temper again.”

  He shuddered at the thought. The last time she’d truly lost her temper with him, his body had taken sixty years to recover. “I will do it.”

  “See that you do. If you do as I ask, I might be inclined to reward you.” She laughed at that, apparently amused with herself. “Once this task is complete, I will welcome you back into my bed. I’m sure you would like that, after having your little human for so long.”

  Once, bedding Aiala had been the only thing on his mind. Now that he knew her true nature, it only made him sick.

  She approached and kissed him, hard and long, full on the lips. He felt none of the desire he used to feel. Now there was only repulsion.

  “Go. Feed,” she ordered when she broke the kiss. “I will be in touch.”

  With that, she disappeared into the night, leaving him alone and desolate. Soon the obsession built in him. He needed blood, and he needed human energy. It was her obsession, her drive forcing him to do these things. He bent to her will, fearing nothing would ever be the same again.

  He left to find his meal, knowing his feeding would sustain Aiala as well as himself. Not for the first time, he thought about ending it all. But if he did…Becca would suffer. He’d given his soul to a black sorceress, a demon with unspeakable powers, and she’d turned him into something he couldn’t even explain. Sometimes the hunger got to be too much. He had to feed or he’d die. If he died now, before Aiala’s goals were accomplished—he hated to think of what would happen to Becca then.

  He shook his head to clear his thoughts. He needed sustenance—his concentration should be only on that. Unfortunately, he had yet to find a suitable donor.

  He turned the corner off the main road onto a quiet side street and he saw the ideal woman. Young and healthy, she’d be perfect. Her skin glowed with a pinkish tint when she walked under the streetlight. Something inside him snapped, the mental gates he used to keep Aiala out most of the time collapsing under her psychic weight. His head pounded, and he stumbled a few steps before regaining his footing, the demon now in control. Tony heard everything she made his body do and say, but he had no power to stop what was about to happen. He followed the woman, staying silently a few steps behind to avoid detection.

  When she paused by a car on the side of the road, he knew he’d lose her if he didn’t act. “Excuse me?”

  She jumped and turned, her hand on her heart. “Do you need something?”

  He felt her nervousness, and it only fueled his hunger—Aiala’s hunger. “My car broke down a couple of blocks back. Do you have a cell phone so I can call a tow truck?”

  He planted the idea in her head that she was safe. She nodded and handed him a phone as she pulled it out of her pocket. “Sure. Here you go.”

  He snagged her wrist and pulled her up against him. In the past, he’d have been more careful, done something to make her forget what happened, but it no longer mattered. She wouldn’t be alive in the morning to tell her story. His demonic jailor wouldn’t allow it. He sank his fangs deep into the woman’s neck, trying to ignore her scream as it cut right through him.

  This was only the beginning.

  Chapter 8

  Eric sat in the dark on his hotel room balcony, listening to the sounds of the night. The waves breaking against the shore mingled with the crickets chirping and the wind rustling the leaves of the trees. A night like this should calm his frayed nerves, but too much had happened to allow him to relax.

  His mind drifted to Ellie. What was she doing right now? He thought about her at home, tucked safely into bed, and wished he could be there with her. The connection he felt between them wasn’t imagined—she’d felt it as much as he had. She accepted him so easily—too easily. But she still had no idea what he was. He’d skirted the truth, overwhelmed her with sensual distractions to avoid her uncomfortable questions—questions better left unanswered. If he hadn’t been called away to help Sam tie up the loose ends of another job, she would have pressed harder for the answers she’d been looking for.

  The ones he’d been unable to give.

  Would she want to see him again when she learned the truth? He doubted it. No human woman would willingly spend time with one of his kind. But he wished she’d be different. She responded to him in a way no woman had before. She’d been wild in his arms. He’d been shaken when she’d come so hard around his fingers. Hell, he was still shaking—which was a good part of the reason he’d been hesitate to call since he’d left her yesterday afternoon. He didn’t like feeling so out of control.

  The fact that she seemed to trust him, even with all her questions, made him think all would work itself out. He’d meant everything he said. He wouldn’t allow her to get hurt, and he’d do everything in his power to keep her safe and protected. But even as he vowed it, he understood that all he could do might not be enough.

  There had been another murder.

  A body had been found in an alley a block away from the first one early that morning, apparently the victim of an overnight attack. It bothered him to be so off his game. Any other case and the murderer would have already been destroyed. But this one was different. He wondered if they were dealing with an ordinary vampire—or something else entirely.

  He shivered at the thought. A few names came to mind when he thought about the kind of creature they were dealing with, and none of them would be easy to kill. But the name that brought a rush of fear and adrenaline, despite the many years of his life, was the one he suspected to be behind the killings.

  Aiala.

  The daughter of a powerful demon, the woman had a masochistic streak a mile wide. She kept slaves, human and non-
human alike, to do her dirty work. This kind of killing fit her pattern perfectly.

  If Aiala was behind this, she’d want to possess someone and make him do her bidding. But vamps weren’t easily possessed. Whoever he was, he would fight her. Eventually his control would slip enough to remove her shields, and that’s how Eric would find him. Aiala was too smart to leave any kind of a track. Seeking out the killer would be nearly impossible with her psychic defense mechanisms in place.

  A knock on the door brought him out of his thoughts. He went back into the room and opened the door, thinking he knew who would be there. He’d been waiting for this visit since the night he arrived in Stone Harbor, and frankly was a little surprised it had taken the man so long.

  “I was wondering when you’d find me,” he said to Royce Cardoso as he opened the door. “I have to admit, it took you a lot longer than I expected. I’m disappointed. You used to be so much better than that.”

  Royce answered with a humorless laugh. “Oh, yeah. You made it so easy for me. Why are you here? Is this some kind of torment you have planned?”

  “Don’t flatter yourself. You’re not that significant.”

  To think there was a time in his life he’d actually considered the man a friend. That was saying a lot, considering the natural disdain the Panthicenos had for vampires. Royce Cardoso had been a very young vampire when he’d come to work for Sam Kincaid. He’d been good at the job, too, until that night they had tried to destroy Aiala. They’d failed, and it had caused a rift between Royce and the others. In almost four hundred years, it had never been repaired. Now it was too late.

  “Leave Ellie alone.” Royce pushed past him and walked into the room, slamming the door behind him. “She doesn’t belong to you.”

  “Not yet.” He widened his smile, intent on making the man suffer a little longer. “But she will. I have no doubts of that.” His words had the desired effect. Royce’s eyes narrowed and he took a step toward Eric, his hands clenched into fists. Strangely, Eric didn’t enjoy the reaction as much as he’d thought he would. The urge to distress the man had faded with time and distance.