Caris Roane - Chains of Darkness

Zoey gasped. “The healer. Oh, my God. I’ve never felt anything like it.” She spread her free hand to the side, waving it back and forth. “I mean look at this. I’m sitting up, I’m on the computer, I’m talking. By the time Rumy brought me to this room I was about two breaths away from six-feet-under.”

Claire didn’t bother telling Zoey that she’d also experienced the care of a healer or about anything else that she and Lucian had been through. She might have survived a couple of difficult battles over the past few days, but by comparison Zoey had endured two years of a violent war. There would be time enough in the coming weeks and months to explore all that each had endured.

She shared about Amber and Tracy, which of course created a new wave of tears, though this time of gratitude that both young women had been spared Zoey’s fate. When the same dark, uneasy light once more entered Zoey’s eyes, Claire told her how Lucian had burned the Prickly Pear to the ground.

A smile curved Zoey’s lips and for just a moment she looked like the young, carefree woman Claire had grown up with. “I wish I could have seen it. You did the right thing.”

“Slavers owned that damn club so I didn’t have the smallest twinge of conscience in burning it down.”

Zoey shook her head slowly. “Can you believe this world even exists?”

“It’s astonishing.”

She glanced past Claire. “And you must be Lucian, Marius’s brother.” Rumy would have filled Zoey in on everything.

Claire made the introductions, bringing Lucian forward and taking his hand.

“It’s nice to meet you, Zoey.” Lucian’s deep voice filled the small room.

For a moment, Zoey’s eyes narrowed as she looked up at him. “I know what you went through. Daniel liked to talk about his sons. I’m sorry.”

“And I’m sorry as well.”

Claire glanced at Lucian. His gaze was centered on Zoey and it seemed to her that an understanding flowed between them, each having experienced the brutality of the same monster. Finally, Lucian said quietly, “We’ll get him, Zoey. My brothers and I are set on that.”

Zoey drew in a breath that sounded like a hiss. “I didn’t know such evil could exist. I really didn’t.”

For a long moment, Zoey shaded her face with her hand. Claire didn’t say anything. Neither did Lucian.

When she’d recovered herself, Zoey met Claire’s gaze, then glanced at the double chain she wore. “You’re bonded.”

Claire looked up and squeezed Lucian’s hand. “We are.”

Zoey glanced from one to the other. “Is it love?”

“It is.” Claire’s eyes grew wet again. She’d sworn she wasn’t a weeper, but events of the past few days had proved her wrong repeatedly. “I’m staying with Lucian, in his world. I never thought I’d say this, but I belong here.”

“You look really happy, Claire.”

Her heart full, Claire nodded. “I am.”

Zoey leaned back against her pillows and released a deep sigh. Claire saw her fatigue and rose from the bed. “I don’t know when I’ll be able to return. Rumy wants us to lay low for a while until all the plans are made for bringing Daniel down.”

Zoey squeezed her hand, then released it. “I’m so glad you came. Rumy had already warned me that you’d have to stay hidden, so I wasn’t expecting a visit, but I’m so glad I got to see you.”

“I’m only a phone call away, and I’ll come anytime you need me. Just let Rumy know.”

Zoey nodded, but her eyelids had begun to droop. The visit had no doubt worn her out.

She let go of Lucian’s hand and would have left. But Zoey looked pained suddenly as she held her arms out to Claire.

Giving a small cry, Claire embraced her one last time. “You’re safe now,” she whispered against Zoey’s ear.

“I’m safe.”

At last, Claire drew back and after turning at the doorway to wave, she left her friend. Lucian called Rumy to let them know they were leaving. As before, Claire wrapped them up in an intricate layered disguise and Lucian held her close as he flew her back to their hiding place.

After sleeping beside Claire all day, in a private suite in the Amazon hidden cavern system, Lucian awoke to his woman’s sprawled sleeping style, her arm over his face.

He took her hand gently in his and slid it lower, but only far enough to hold it cupped beneath his chin. She shifted slightly, turning on her side to face him, her eyes closed. She sighed softly but didn’t wake up.

His chest swelled. He couldn’t believe this had happened to him, this miracle in the form of a human female.

Claire.

His Claire.

His woman.

The double-chain at his neck vibrated softly, and it was all he could do to keep from touching her. Love had come to him, crashing through his life in the most incredible way, washing away the darkness of the past four hundred years.

Claire had done this not by offering him a simple path to freedom, but by binding him with chains.

He dipped his chin and kissed her fingers very gently. He didn’t want to wake her up. He was content to lie beside her, to let her sprawl, to watch her sleep.

The coming days would be difficult.

Adrien had contacted him just a few minutes earlier, mind-to-mind, letting him know that rumors had shot through the vampire world to the effect that Daniel had located what was now believed to be the last remaining extinction weapon. The Siberian lead wasn’t the only one Daniel had been pursuing.

A battle was heating up, maybe a decisive one that could end with Daniel’s subjugation of the entire vampire world—or if luck would fall just this once to Adrien, Marius, and himself, with Daniel’s destruction.

Claire’s eyes opened slowly. “I really liked the first part of whatever it was you were thinking, and yes, I’ve been awake since you took my hand, but this last part has tensed me up something bad. What’s going on?”

Lucian rolled onto his back, still holding her hand, which caused her to slide in his direction and press her naked body up against his, right where he wanted her. “Sorry, sweetheart. I went from savoring your presence in my life to thinking about you-know-who.”

“Ugh. Please don’t speak his name, at least not before I’ve had my morning, I mean evening, coffee.” She hugged him and sighed. “So what gives?”

“Adrien contacted me a little bit ago.” He tapped his forehead. “Woke me up, too, which was fine, just a little unsettling.” Their shared Ancestral status was allowing them to communicate more easily than ever before.

At that, Claire shifted to lean up on his chest and look him in the eye. “So why are you so distressed?”

“It’s just a feeling, Claire, but I think things are going to heat up. I think we’re in for it.”

“Oh, is that all?” Her brows rose.

He chuckled softly and ran a thumb down her cheek and over her lips. “Thank you for that.”

“For what?”

“For what you always do—making me laugh.”

She sighed, pushing herself up to reach his lips with hers. She kissed him soundly. “You’re welcome.”

“I’ve been thinking that once this business with Daniel is settled, you’ll want to reconnect with your family.”

He felt her sudden alarm through the chains and wasn’t surprised when she lifted up a little more and stared at him. “Lucian, I’m not going back. My life is here, with you. I can’t believe you would even think…”

“Hey, you’ve misunderstood.” He tugged on her to bring her back against his chest once more. “I want to go with you, at night of, course. To meet your family. We’d go together.”

“Oh.” She frowned. “Oh, I see. It’s possible, then? I mean, I thought I had to choose permanently against returning to Santa Fe.”