Nathan’s Mate (The Vampire Coalition #3)(2)
Author: J.S. Scott

Chances were that he never would. At over six hundred years old, his time had passed. He hadn’t felt sexual desire for over five hundred years and probably wouldn’t know what to do anymore if he did. He wasn’t sure if the loneliness and yearning ever went away, but he tried to bury it.

Most of it was covered by hatred for the fallen. His main mission in his eternal life was to grind every fallen into dust that would blow harmlessly away in a strong breeze. They had killed his parents while Nathan had been made to stand by helplessly and wait for news of their demise.

But…no longer. He was an elder now and at the helm of The Vampire Coalition. He spent almost every waking moment burning with hostility and loathing for the creatures that had taken his parents away from him and his brothers. He wanted vengeance, no matter how long it took or how many fallen that he had slay to feel a sense of peace again.

Nathan slipped around the corner of an alley, entering the street. Two gang members that appeared to be looking for trouble eyed him with sleazy smiles. He scowled, daring them to approach, almost looking for a fight. He had already fed, but he’d enjoy thrashing the two punks just trolling for innocent victims to rob…or worse. Unfortunately, they averted their eyes and walked on. He was just cursing his bad luck that they had avoided him when he felt it.

Fallen.

They were close, and the evil sent an electric wave down his spine. He started moving quicker than the human eye could see, tracing the feeling of malice and mayhem. What were the bastards up to now?

He halted abruptly as he took in the scene before him. He had found the fallen…and they weren’t alone. His temper flared and his eyes were nearly black with rage as he saw that they were tearing at a young woman who struggled between them. The f**kers had shredded her shoulders from holding her with their razor sharp claws. She had slashes all over her body, leaking blood that left a ruby puddle at her feet, but the woman still was kicking and fighting, yelling obscenities that would make a nun blush.

Nathan yanked a short blade from his belt, unwilling to use anything longer that might hit the woman between the two monsters. The woman saw him appear behind the fallen that was torturing her, but he held a hand up in a silent signal. She quieted as he drove the knife into her tormenter’s heart. The fallen crumpled to the ground, squirming like a worm on a fisherman’s hook.

The creature that was holding the woman let go of her body and she too crumpled to the ground.

Nathan’s eyes flashed with enmity as he met the red-eyed stare of the fallen. He knew he had to dispatch the slime quickly and get help for the female…if there was still even a slim chance that she could be saved.

He dodged an aggressive attack of slashing claws as the two of them did the death dance. It was one he planned on winning. Fury and adrenaline fueled his attack on the hairless, sunken-featured monster, waiting for an opening.

Nathan stepped close and brought his arm under the fallen’s wrists, deflecting his claws as he simultaneously drove the knife into the freak’s chest, rupturing his heart. The fallen hit the ground. Nathan withdrew his knife as he fell. He’d be damned if he’d lose a perfectly good knife. He cleaned it with his magic as he re-sheathed the blade at his waist.

Both of the fallen disappeared, leaving only a pile of dust where they had once stood, tormenting a defenseless woman to death.

Crouching next to the unknown woman, he assessed her injuries.

"Fuck!," he uttered aloud as he surveyed the slashes and severe loss of blood. She was breathing shallow and her heart was still beating in a fast, thready rhythm.

Nathan scooped up her body in his arms.

Mage!

He could feel the magic zinging through her body. If she was mage, she was a little stronger than the average human, but she wasn’t immortal. He scowled, knowing she couldn’t go to a human hospital. The mage had their own healers and their physiology was somewhat different than a human’s.

Liam. I need you.

He sent the urgent call out for his healer brother before gathering the unconscious female close to him and dissolved into the night.

Chapter 2

Nathan transported himself to the master bedroom of his home and laid the injured woman on his bed. He knew without a shred of doubt that this was the female that had haunted his dreams. Her long, blonde hair fell in waves that reached nearly to her waist. Her eyes were closed but he already knew that they were an unusual violet color that wasn’t produced by artificial lenses.

Had he dreamt of her because she was in danger? The dreams had been anything but a warning. They had contained acts that were long forgotten and something that was only possible for him to experience in dreams. She had been his lover.

He stripped the clothes from her body with his magic and tried to stop as much of the bleeding as he could. He wasn’t a damned healer. He couldn’t heal the deep gashes in her shoulders and arms. She also had one on each side of her hips where they had grabbed her.

Where in holy hell is Liam?

He knelt next to her naked body, wishing that he knew more about the mage. Mage and vampire did not mix, so he knew only the bare minimum of information about the magical species.

They were not immortal. They lived a little longer than humans, but their existence was finite. Born with magic, they could cast spells and bend magic to do their bidding. Mage were stronger than humans, but not as strong as an immortal.

Oh hell…that was about all he knew. He had never even come in contact with a mage since they seemed to have an aversion to vampires.

Nathan jerked backwards, landing on his ass in shock as his fingers moved over her left hip to slow the bleeding on a deep slash in her skin.

My mark!

"Christ!," he whispered harshly as he levered himself back to his knees and lightly touched the dragon symbol on her hip with trembling fingers. He touched it gently, tracing the lines of the small marking.

Not possible.

He made his mark appear on his right arm to confirm that it really wasn’t his marking. Nathan hadn’t even looked at his mating mark for so long that he couldn’t remember the exact design.

They were identical matches.

The dreams.

The marks.

My mate.

"You don’t have to keep staring at it, brother. She’s definitely your mate." Nathan jerked his head around to see his brother Liam with an arm propped casually against the doorframe and a smile on his face.

He hid his marking as he asked hotly, "Where in the hell were you. This girl is bleeding to death."

Liam’s smile only grew broader as he nudged Nathan aside and assessed her injuries. "She’s hardly a girl. And I was busy. I got here as soon as I could." His hand moved quickly over her body, using his healing ability to completely stop her bleeding. "She’s mage and she needs a mage healer. There’s only so much I can do. She’ll end up scarred."