Dark Desire (24 page)

“Who are you?”
He frowned, peering down at her from his greater height.

 
She could actually feel Zeke bristling behind
her back at his intimidation tactic. “
We
are the only thing that stood between you and death to put it quite bluntly.”

“I asked a
question. I expect an answer. Who are you?”

“I’m
Laris
Raail-Altari
, High Princess
of
Lamuria
and Atlantis. And the man behind me is
Ze’Kerhia
Altari
, heir
apparent of Atlantis, and my husband. May I inquire as to who I am addressing?”

The man’s brown
eyes narrowed with a speculative gleam. “I’m Secretary of State Gary Morgan of
the United States of America, young woman,” he snapped out.
“Atlantis
and
Lamuria
, really?
Mythical lands with no
base in reality and I am to believe you both are some royalty from this fantasy
realm?” He leaned down only a breath from her face. “Do I look that gullible,
young lady?”

The man’s eyes
darted toward Zeke as a low growl of warning echoed in the silent room. “I
assure you the lands are quite real.”
Laris
brought
his attention back to her, with just a touch of steel underlining her words.
“You know of vampires,
Lycans
,
Weres
,
and elves, which I might add are just a few of the different breeds that
inhabit this world. Why would Atlantis and
Lamuria
be
any different?”

“Hum, I stand
corrected. Fine, I guess you do have a point.” He rose to his full height, a
spark of anger burning bright in his eyes. “That still hasn’t answered my
original question.”

“I will be more
than happy to answer your questions if you would please stop barking at me.”

He blinked,
surprise written clearly on his face. Obviously no one had spoken up to him in
a very long time. Well, too bad. If dark breeds and humans were to co-exist
there needed to be equality not superiority. Mutual respect not fear, and this,
here within this blood soaked room, was where they needed to bridge the gap.
Not the best situation to work with, but all she had.

“We heard of a
plot to discredit the dark breeds,” said
Laris
. “Unfortunately
we were not in time to prevent the bloodshed, but we did succeed in keeping as
many as we could safe. We took great effort to organize this meeting to keep
you protected. There are many who target us just for being different, and
because of this we took special care with your welfare. If not for the
dedication of these Enforcers and the warriors standing before you, you would
be dead and the plan would have succeeded.”

“But these …
breeds
are your kind. So the threat is
from within your kind, not ours. I fear too many of you are far too dangerous
to be left to roam freely.”

A murmur of
agreement rose from the cops in the room. Not a good sign. Anger burned like
hot coals in her gut. “Are you forgetting the Preservation Society, Mr. Morgan?
They are human and our greatest threat. Don’t be so closed minded. There is no
race, human or otherwise, who is perfect. And you don’t have murderers amongst
your kind? Are you forgetting the atrocities of Hitler? How about the Ted
Bundys
in the world or the fanatics which kill their own
followers with spiked Kool-Aid? There is evil in every race, be it human or
dark breed.”

He opened his
mouth to speak, but she held her hand out to stop him. Still holding his gaze
she continued. “We have policed our kind for thousands of years. We had our own
government, which set forth our laws. Not so much different from you. We are
for the first time without a government. No leader to guide our people through
this difficult transition. We reached out to you to learn how to co-exist, and
help us rebuild our world. We cannot go back to the way things were, but we can
move forward.”

Marcus hugged
Tambra
close, tucking her under his arm. “We
love,
we grieve, bleed and die. Have hopes and fears, just
as you do, strive to find peace and belonging, wish and work for a home,
family. We only ask for time to form our government anew. We still enforce our
laws to protect mankind and breeds. We have not swayed from our sacred oaths to
our duty. The Enforcers will continue to protect, to serve the greater good
whether you align with us to rebuild our world or not.”

Laris
swept her gaze
across the crowded room before turning her focus back to Gary Morgan. “I wish
you to reconsider any drastic actions which can’t be undone. Please resume your
talks and try to find some common ground with us. For like it or not, we are
here and not going to go away, not without a fight. I don’t know about you, but
I for one would do everything I could to see it won’t come to that between our
races.”

With the sound
of hands clapping Amari appeared between the Enforcers and Gary Morgan, a nasty
smile stretched over her full lips, dark eyes burning like embers. She was
clearly not pleased by the outcome of her attempted coup. With a low rumble of
disgust Zeke moved in front of
Laris
, muscles tense
in preparation to attack if need be.

“What poignant
words you spout,
Laris
. But that’s all they are,
dear, words.
Empty and meaningless.
There will only be
one leader to rule this world, and you’re looking at her.”

Laris
shook her head
sadly at her aunt’s delusional claim. She noticed Zeke tense along with the
Enforcers and remaining warriors as a surge of
ferals
poured out of the busted door to surround them. The leader of the Preservation
Society Edwin Poe came into the room behind his army, looking emaciated and
haggard in his baggy pressed slacks and starched white shirt. His glasses hung
low on his sharp nose, a look of surprise and consternation in his dull brown
eyes.

Laris
wondered how
the hell they would get out of this one.

Chapter Twenty-Six

“What’s
happening here, Elise?”
Edwin paled taking in the bodies and blood covering
the room. “I didn’t order this. What the hell happened?”

Amari sighed
deeply, taking in the scents of death into her lungs like an exotic perfume.
Her gaze caught and held the dark haired elf sitting on the floor, hands bound
tightly behind his back. Well, well, seeing Savion in the midst of captured
ferals
was quite a pleasant surprise. She gave him a warm
smile of welcome.
Looked like her dear half-sister held an
interest to this outcome after all.
As queen of the
Unseelie
court she had always been a valuable ally. And the only person on earth Amari
could trust.

“Free my
surviving men,” Amari ordered her secondary force,
who
immediately did as she bid. She nearly laughed out loud at the look of
suspicion on poor Edwin’s face. “Dear Edwin, you may as well know the truth
about me. I’m not human, not even close.”

A red flush
colored his cheeks at her words. “You used me. God, how stupid I was. I
followed you around wishing only to keep you safe from these animals, and all
along you were one of
them
.”

Her eyes
narrowed on the sanctimonious little twit. “What’s wrong, dear? I didn’t hear
any complaints while you were fucking me. Your short sighted, bigoted attitude
is wearisome.” She nodded at a massive feral
Were
. “I
think it’s time you see life from the other side, don’t you think? I can keep
you around as my pet.” She pursed her lips in thought. “Yes, I really like the
idea of that.”

She turned her
back, dismissing the man who looked on her with shock and horror. A large
Were
moved in, towering over the smaller man. His
high-pitched scream was music to her ears, and a smile lifted her lips. Her
enjoyment was short lived as she brought her focus on her infuriatingly resilient
adversaries. Marcus,
Laris
,
Ja’mel
,
and of course the double dealing Temple Fox. They all needed to go before her
final glory could be realized.

There was no
time like the present.

“Kill them all,
except for the humans.” She let her eyes skim over Gary Morgan, who stood by
Marcus, his lean body tense and ready for action. Now here was a human she may
want to warm her bed a time or two. The look of defiance snapped in his eyes
and made her wonder how hard it would be to break him. She mentally shrugged
the thought away. There would be time enough to indulge in her whims once she
eliminated her opposition. Once again she narrowed in on Temple. “I want these
humans to witness the beginning of my reign and prepare to swear their loyalty
to me. No one is to touch Temple Fox. I have a personal score to settle with
him.”

The menacing
sound of growls reverberated through the room, and around her the Enforcers
dropped into a fighting stance as her army closed in on them. She gave little
notice to the impending slaughter, all her attention riveted on Temple. “You
have been a real pain in my ass, I hope you know. Now, where is Oman’s Seal?”
she demanded over the din of battle.

“It’s somewhere
safe where you will never find it.” He taunted her.

Fury infused
every cell in her body at the temerity of the Pure Blood
Lycan
.
How dare he not do as instructed? Where was her respect? “You will give it to
me now.”

Dark whiskey
colored eyes mocked her as he raised his blade at the ready. “Come and get it,
if you can.”

His taunt drove
through her with the force of a stake to her chest, and her body shook as she
struggled to control her rage. She reached
out,
gripping one of her
feral’s
arms, nails sinking deep
into his flesh. “Give me a weapon,” she snarled and was rewarded with a sword,
the hilt pressing firmly in her palm as her fingers curled around it. Testing
its weight, she faced off with Temple. “I am going to enjoy tearing you apart
piece by piece.”

“Oh, I don’t
think so. This time your arrogance will be your downfall,” Temple promised
darkly.

She whipped in
for a quick jab, putting Temple on the defensive and left a bloody streak where
her blade nicked his arm. She gave him a smile, her heart filled to the brim
with pure malice, relishing each wound she inflicted no matter how
inconsequential. She darted in again, but this time he anticipated her move,
blocking the blade with a quick downward stroke. Her arm snapped up, twisting
her wrist, and the blade changed course cutting into his shoulder before she
danced out of harm’s way.

With a snarl
Temple engaged her, his sword meeting hers as she deflected his strikes time
and again. His strength would intimidate a lesser adversary, but she was no
mediocre fighter. Having spent the better part of her life mastering weapons, she
knew her power lay in her speed. She just needed to wear him out. He would get
sloppy and leave her an opening, and she’d be there with the fatal stroke.

She danced and
parried all the while taunting him to loosen his fury, for there lay the
victory she sought, and she found it soon enough as he overextended his reach,
lunging with his blade at her torso, leaving his chest exposed as he struggled
to find his balance once again. She moved in for the kill only to be thwarted
as a scream pierced her eardrums and a body hurtled in front of him. She felt
her blade sink deep into the muscle and bone to the heart.

With a
frustrated snarl she pulled her blade out of the woman’s body, Temple’s lover,
if she remembered correctly. Her informants were quite thorough as her name
came to mind. Leola, an inconsequential
Were
. She
grinned into the pained, glassy eyes of the dying woman.

“Have no fear,
Leola. Temple will be joining you shortly, and may you both rot in hell.”

She saw a flash
of metal out of the corner of her eye, felt the sharp bite of pain. Stunned
realization crept into her mind as her body weakened. A cold chill swept over
her limbs as she watched her blood flow down her neck and chest. Her gaze
focused on
Ja’mel’s
grim face and the sword in his
hand stained with her blood. The sword rose high over his head for a second
strike at her, a blur of steel aimed at her throat. A burst of blinding pain
rushed through her system as the world spun end over end around her. She opened
her mouth in a silent scream as a black void obscured her vision, and she knew
no more.

****

Temple had never
felt so helpless.

The world around
him narrowed, and sounds became muted as he cradling Leola close to his heart.
His legs gave out. Dropping hard to the floor, he was dimly aware of a sharp
stab of pain as his knees made contact with the unforgiving marble. His soul
cried out for the woman dying in his arms, unable to staunch the flow of blood
as her complexion turned a pasty grey, lips once lush and rosy now tinged blue.

She blinked up
at him with so much love his heart twisted in his chest, realizing far too late
how unworthy he truly was to have been given the precious gift of her love. His
vision blurred as something wet scalded his cheeks, not realizing it was his
tears until they dropped upon her ashen face.