Dark Desire (25 page)

“Don’t leave me,
Leola. I love you so much. You can’t leave,” he pleaded, his voice hoarse and
broken.

Her finger
pressed softly to his lips, her words soft as they fell from her lips. “You
must live and do the right thing by these men you fight with. Remember me and
live. Can you promise me to do this, my love?”

“Yes, yes
anything. Just stay here with me. I swear I will do everything in my power to
make you happy.”

“Oh Temple, but
you have made me happy. You’re a good man in a bad situation. Stop worrying
about saving the
Lycans
and live a content life.
Everything else will take care of itself. You will see I am right.”

“I never told
you how much I love you, how much I need you here, now.” He begged, his heart
being torn into pieces as he watched the light dim in her eyes.

“I knew without
you … telling me. P…
promise
me. Help the Enforcers,
H-help heal.”

Her breath left
on a soft sigh, her body lax in his arms, and he knew she was gone. His head
rose as he howled to the heavens, the sound filled with rage, pain and grief.
Never would he be the same again. The stark realization that the life he’d
built was now in ruins mattered so little to him. Only the death of his woman
made any impact on him. Now lost, unable to see his way, unsure of what his
next move should be, he could only hold on to his lover and grieve what he
lost.

A hand on his
shoulder made him jump, and he snarled out a warning before recognizing Marcus.
His sworn enemy.
He’d spent so much energy hating both
him and
Tambra
. How ironic it would be this same man
who now offered him comfort. Temple’s gaze caressed Leola’s face, and the
hollowness inside his chest threatened to swallow him whole. How could he live
without her?

Help the Enforcers. Help heal.

Her last words
circled in his brain over and over, yet without her, his true north, would he
lose his way once again?

Hell no!

He would do as
Leola
wished,
change into the man she believed him to
be. His life would have a larger purpose than saving his race. He would strive
for redemption, to do the right thing and protect all breeds, not just his own.
He saw so many selfish actions he made in his life, but no more. Now he would
do everything in his power to pay for the pain he’d brought into others’ lives.

He tore his gaze
away from Leola and looked up at Marcus, determination tightening his jaw as he
made the first step on the road to being a better man. “I have something of
yours that I wish to return. I also wish to join with you in this fight. I will
understand if you decline. I understand if you can’t forgive all the pain I
have caused you in the past. But know
this,
I give you
all my resources, without strings attached. They are now yours to use as you
see fit,” he roughly ground out from his emotion clogged throat.

Tambra
joined Marcus,
her bright blue eyes shimmering with tears. “I didn’t get much time with Leola,
but I need you to know she was a very special woman. One I will always regret
not knowing better. I’m so very sorry for your loss, Temple.”

The regret
throbbed in her words, threatening to drown him in guilt. His crimes against
this woman were innumerable, and yet here she stood, offering him comfort?
Humility, an alien emotion for him, took root, making him deeply ashamed for so
many things. It should be him lying dead on the cold tile floor, not Leola.
Never her.

“I don’t deserve
your kindness, but I will work to set things to rights between us. I promise
you I will always be there with whatever is needed. My
Weres
,
my sword arm, and my people ally with you.”

Temple watched,
at first wary then with surprised shock when Gary Morgan moved to crouch at his
side. “I’ve learned a valuable lesson today and at a very high cost.
My deepest sympathy on your loss.
There is still much to
discuss between our races, but right now is not the time. We need to honor our
dead. When we meet again it will be to bridge the gaps between our races, to
unite our world in a peaceful union. Let us meet in two weeks and begin
discussions to bridge our worlds.”

“Oh
really, a peaceful union?”
The elf sneered as he stood in the
center of the room, hate glowing in his black eyes. “I promise you, there will
be no peace. You have slain one of ours.
Half-sister to the
queen of the
Unseelie
.
You will be better
served to prepare for war.” With that he turned and walked out the damaged door
disappearing in the shadows of the night.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Zeke rested his
chin on the top of
Laris’s
head and breathed in the
clean floral scent of orchids and woman, his arms wrapping her back tight to
his chest as they watched the desert sunset from their rocky perch. Vivid
swaths painted the sky in colors of red, indigo blue, and violet. A warm breeze
caressed their skin with the promise of an early summer.

“I wish we could
just stay like this.”
Laris
sighed, snuggling deeper
within his arms.

“After our trip
to Atlantis and Marcus is through with this summit we can go wherever you
wish.”

“Like a human
honeymoon? Hum, I do like the sound of that.”

“You just name
the place and we go. We could use some serious down time.” Zeke brushed a
feather light kiss to her hair. The last weeks had been grueling, and yet
Laris
never complained, just moved through each difficult
situation with grace and compassion. Through the burial for Leola, he
remembered
Laris
quietly soothing Temple as he lit
her pyre on fire, freeing her spirit to cross to the other side. Whatever she
said had seemed to give the grieving Pure Blood a modicum of solace.

Never in a
million years would he have thought Temple would ally with the Enforcers. The
bad blood between Marcus and Temple ran too deep.
Funny how
life played out.
The arrogant and condescending man he knew seemed to
have died when Leola passed, leaving a completely different man in his place.

He kind of liked
the new Temple. True there was still plenty of tension, especially between
Lucien and Tegan. Kyra, though, was amazing. Without batting an eye she took
Lucien’s and Temple’s formal apologies with such grace it left Tegan
sputtering. Zeke chuckled at the memory of Tegan at a loss for words, something
which didn’t happen very often.

“What’s so
funny?”
Laris
asked.

“Just
remembering Tegan’s reaction at how easily Kyra forgave the Pure Bloods. I
thought he would have an aneurism.”

“Yeah, she
declawed him pretty damn quick.”
Laris
laughed.
“Tegan isn’t the type to forgive easily, let alone forget. It’s going to take
him a while before he warms up to them. With Kyra’s influence maybe it will be
a bit quicker. It sure didn’t hurt him giving you Oman’s Seal.”

“Yeah,
which I turned around and gave to
Ja’mel
.
My father is
going to have a fit about that. He still thinks it would be safer in Atlantis.”

“And what do
you
think?”

“It shows
goodwill and a balance of power. We have Poseidon’s while you have Oman’s Seal.
It should keep everyone happy for a while anyway.” Zeke knew as soon as the
words left his mouth how true they were. It was time to show good faith in
their new allies.

“Spoken like a
true ruler. I don’t think the
Mers
will give you any
problem when leading them into battle.”

“Gods, I hope
not. I have a feeling we will need every fighter we can get.”

“You mean with
the
Unseelie
? You have
Ja’mel’s
complete support as you know. I do believe he has warmed up to you.” She tilted
her chin to grin up at him.

“He still looks
at me like I’m something he wants to wipe off the bottom of his shoe.”

“
Ja’mel
has never been good at showing his emotions. I think
losing our parents made him grow up quicker. And overhearing Amari bragging
about how she killed them made him harder, less trusting.” Sadness colored her
words.

“I get that.
It’s just …
well,
he’s so … so...” Zeke struggled for
the right word, not wanting to upset his wife.

“Stubborn,
proud, arrogant, and an all-around asshole?”
Laris
filled in for him with a small laugh.

“Yeah,
exactly.”

“Well that’s my
brother for you. Don’t take it personally. Rest assured he will be right at
your side in the upcoming battle. I hope we have a good long wait before it
begins.” She shuddered lightly in his arms.

“We will be
ready when they come,” he assured her, placing a soft kiss on the crown of her
head.

She still woke
up with nightmares of the bloody skirmish they’d fought the day of the summit,
and Zeke did everything he could to soothe away those horrible images, wishing
he held the power to erase those memories from her mind. She had gone through
so much by her aunt’s hand, and he knew it would take time for those types of
wounds to heal. At least he would never be far from her side to ease her fears
when they assailed her.

“Has Marcus made
his decision on leader when he steps down?”
Laris
asked the question that was on all the Enforcers’ minds.

“Not until the
summit is over, but my vote goes to Tegan taking up the reins. I think he would
be a good leader, and Kyra keeps him pretty level-headed these days.”

“Huh, I thought
Adrian would have been tagged for the job. He is always so calm and steady,”
she mused.

“He made it
clear to Marcus he wasn’t interested in being the leader. I think with the
Unseelie
threat, he feels he would be more of an asset
getting the
Sidhe
on our side.”

“Aren’t they
neutral? I mean they have closed themselves off from the rest of the world with
their damned veil for centuries. Even Adrian seems a smidge standoffish at
times.”

“That’s Adrian
for you.” He laughed. “I’ve never once seen that man lose his temper.”

“At least with
all the changes and new recruits, everyone seems to be meshing,”
Laris
observed. “I’m glad
Navar
came on fulltime we will need as many seasoned warriors we can get. Plus I
would like to get to know Mari and the other women here better. Perhaps even
become friends.”

“Speaking of
friends,
Cici
seems to have settled in quite nicely
here at HQ. She’s one hell of a cook. I don’t know how we survived without
her.”

Deep affection
colored
Laris’s
tone at the mention of her friend.
“Honestly, I’ve never seen her happier. She’s even taken some of the newly
turned
Weres
and put them to work in the kitchen with
her. From what I can see, everyone adores her. It’s nice she has a place where
she is so appreciated.”

“Good home
cooked food? What’s not to adore?” Zeke teased lightly.

Laris’s
laugh went
straight to his head, like
a fine
champagne. “When
will Marcus convene this summit? It seems to be going on forever.”

“I know, love,
but Marcus seems certain they will finish up today. So here we sit.
Watching the sunset.”

“Have the
Enforcers found any clue to the whereabouts of Edwin Poe yet?”

Zeke frowned,
frustrated by their failure to find the man.
“Nothing.
It seems he vanished into thin air. After Amari was killed no one knows what
happened to him. But at least the Preservation Society is now disbanded and
won’t be a threat to us anymore. When word got out about the experiments they
were conducting on dark breeds, the overall view of us turned in our favor.”

The price for
the change of public opinion had been too costly in his opinion. Not with Cody
still struggling against his addiction to dead blood. Witnessing his friend’s
agonizing fight, his struggle to keep healthy blood down, made Zeke’s chest
heavy. He’d wondered hundreds of times if it wouldn’t be more humane to just
kill him. To be honest no one thought Cody would make it through, and even if
he did what psychological damage would remain? The only thing he knew for sure
was Cody would never again be the same.

Christophe never
left his side, the depth of the bond they shared well beyond anything Zeke
would ever understand. If Cody didn’t make it through this, Christophe would
need to be watched very carefully. The loss may kill something vital inside the
vampire.

Laris
shifted in his
arms, her palms a warm caress as she held his face between her hands. He fell
into the soft grey mist of her eyes. “Hey, everything is going to be just fine.
I can tell you’re thinking about Cody. He kept down the blood this time and even
took a bite or two of food without getting sick. He’s tough. I know he will
pull through.”