Fused in Fire (Page 14)

“She would rather I didn’t go at all.”

“Precisely, but you will go anyway.”

Yes, I would.

The need for my mom to know Darius surged again, drowning me. It wasn’t the reaction I’d expected to have when faced with this situation.

“Okay,” I said, turning my face away. I couldn’t believe I was agreeing to it, and knew absolutely it wasn’t because of the desire for someone to go with me. It was because of him. “Okay. Please don’t make me regret it.”

“I would never. You are the most precious thing in the world to me. I would never tarnish that. Not for anything.”

We would see, but the decision was made.

I was a fool.

“When?” I asked so quietly that the word barely left my mouth.

“Tonight. Now. We have little time to lose. I suspect only this sect’s commanders or leaders know the sensitive information about you, but as they develop plans to go to the surface and capture you, they will need to share the information. We need to get in there before that happens. You should know that I also spoke with Ja at length about the nature of the underworld. And while many things could have changed, the magic probably won’t have. I am as prepared as I can be.”

I nodded with my heart in my throat. That would be very comforting information later, I was sure, but right now, I couldn’t think about anything other than what I was about to do. It had happened so suddenly. Given how opposed I’d been to the very notion, I’d agreed so easily.

Are you sure, Reagan?

I wanted to say no to myself. To change my mind. But I knew the answer was yes. I wanted him every bit as much as he wanted me. I felt as deeply as he did.

He stood, extending his hand. “Come.”

“I’d be careful with the commands, if I were you. I’m not one of those docile bond-mates you’ve probably heard about.”

His laugh eased my nerves. “I am well aware. I would not be pleased if you were.”

“What about formal approval?” I asked as he led me to the door. “Don’t you have to get a green light from someone?”

“The paperwork has been submitted, but there is no time to wait for a decision. Besides, you will easily be approved. It is just a formality at this point.”

He opened the door and stepped out. “Mr. LaRay,” he called.

“Yes, sir,” came Moss’s voice.

“Is the country estate ready?”

“Of course, sir.”

“Good. We will head there now.”

“Which car would you like?”

“The Hennessey.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And Mr. LaRay?” Darius said.

“Yes, sir?”

“I do not want us disturbed. Post sentries. No one goes into that house while we are there.”

“You will remain in the Brink for this, sir?” Moss asked in a low tone.

“Yes. There is nowhere else. We cannot go to the lair and risk someone finding out.”

“That doesn’t sound like just a formality to me,” I mumbled.

“I will see it done. Good luck, sir,” Moss said, his voice moving away.

“Neither does that…” I frowned hard at Darius when he turned toward me. “It sounds an awful lot like you are going rogue, Darius.”

“It does, doesn’t it? Have no fear. This is all just a precaution.” He held out his hand to me. “Let’s get moving. We are running out of night.”

I found myself jogging toward him, the worry at what I was walking into overshadowed by his anxiety to get moving. He was acting like we were criminals with cops on our heels.

The car out front took my breath away. Sleek, gray, and squashed like a giant had stepped on a normal car, flattening it. The thing screamed fast.

“Wow,” I said, pausing on the sidewalk. “Can I drive?”

“Not on your life. Please hurry, my love.”

The urgency in Darius’s voice started me forward. Moss climbed out of the driver’s side and left the door open.

“Oh, but he gets to drive it, does he?” I couldn’t help sounding like a petulant child.

Moss must’ve sensed the extent of my pining, because he smirked at me, the jerk. Darius had already opened the passenger door for me.

“What about all my stuff? Will we pick that up later?” I asked, sitting on the passenger seat. He’d used his vampire speed to get situated on the driver’s side. “And I need to leave an apology note for Callie and Dizzy.”

Darius threw it in gear, and the tires chirped as we launched forward.

“I’ve made preparations. The supplies will be brought to us. We’ll have to travel light.” Of course he had. Stupid question. “As far as the note, you can write it at the estate and have Moss deliver it. I have also arranged for unicorn blood. You can only take it a certain number of times before it will negatively affect you…”

His words drifted away as a need to have unicorn blood right then rose in me, the effect of taking it only once. I pushed it down, realizing he’d stopped talking. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. I’ll grow dependent on it, won’t I?” It was the most potent of drugs, capable of boosting energy and magical ability. It was also incredibly addictive for everyone other than vampires. The vampires protected the unicorns, whose blood they used in the serum to make new vampires—it was a symbiotic relationship.

“Not after you bond me. My blood will prevent the physical craving. You will be responsible for the mental craving, however. That will be mind over matter, as they say. I will work to take your mind off it.”

My body and face lit up with heat. I breathed out slowly, not trusting my voice.

A thrilling hour of very fast driving later, we turned into a small driveway and crept toward a massive plantation house with a walkway leading through huge oak trees weeping moss. We drove around the side to a much newer structure that had been built some ways from the main house.

“Is that a five-car garage?” I asked. “Why do you need all these cars, anyway? You’re driven around by Moss eight or nine times out of ten.”

“When I purchase collectible cars, I need somewhere outside of the city to store them until I can arrange for shipment to a milder location, weather-wise.”

“You have a lot of collectible cars, then?”

“Yes. I have a lot of collectible everything. Every one item that holds its value far outweighs the three or four that don’t.”

“That’s where your fortune comes from, then?” I waited until he parked in the empty garage before climbing out. He must’ve recently sent out a shipment.

“One of the many places. I have my hands in many pots, which ensures I will monetarily survive things like stock market crashes and great depressions. I also take care to establish the brightest of my children, setting them up for long-term success.”

“How does that help you?”

Darius guided me out of the garage by the small of my back before closing the door. The trees swayed in the gentle breeze as we made our way to the gorgeous three-story house. Butterflies surged in my stomach. I was actually doing this. I was tying myself to a vampire—this vampire—forever.

Shouldn’t I be scared or horrified instead of nervous?

“I get a percentage of my children’s earnings,” he said, rubbing my back. He probably noticed my stiff walking and constant fidgeting.

“Like a mob boss?”

He frowned at me. “I couldn’t say. I have not looked at a mob boss’s books.”

“So you get a percentage of that nice hotel in Seattle?”

“Yes. The idea is that we will put greater care and attention into training our children and helping them flourish if there is a financial benefit. This helps our whole faction.”

“And those who aren’t bright?”

“Survival of the fittest doesn’t just apply to humans. Dimwitted vampires rarely make it out of adolescence.”

“Ah.” I stepped onto the wide wraparound porch that looked perfectly restored.

He waved his hand to unlock the door, a vampire’s most useful party trick, before pushing it open and stepping back so I could enter. I breathed deeply, trying to still the tremors of my body as desire unfurled within my middle.

“When did you purchase this?” I asked, needing sound. Needing trivial conversation. Suddenly Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” had a whole different vibe.

“Some five years ago now.” He led me to the right, into a decent-sized sitting room—well, decent compared to his French Quarter house, huge compared to anywhere else. “This was the women’s drawing room after they’d eaten.” Back across the entryway we landed into another sitting room of a similar size. “The men’s, where they smoked and drank. Would you like to sit for a moment? Have a glass of wine?”

His hand curled around my side before applying pressure, pulling me nearer. I leaned against his hard body, soaking in his heat.

“If you’d like,” I said in a breathy whisper.

“Which room would you prefer?” He bent to me, running his lips across mine.

Electricity ran between us, spicy and hot. I opened my mouth to him. He teased my tongue with his and his taste exploded in my senses. The smell and feel of him sent shock waves of pleasure through my body. I moaned, clutching tightly.