Eversong (Midnight Playground) (8 page)

Over and over he’d drunk from her, so often and so fully she was too weak to move. Finally, he tore the ropes from her wrists and let her lie on the floor, watching her.

“I have lost everything, over and over. They all left me. Or died when I took too much,” he muttered, his accent thick, his voice deep, guttural. He was pacing back and forth like a caged animal. “But they offered themselves to me, did they not? And this is how they repay me for my gift. My gift! Eternal life. My blood.” He stopped, towering over her. “I gave
you
my blood, Mercy. You are a part of me now.”

Was she?

“You dare to question me?” he roared, making her tremble. “Do you not think I can hear every thought in your head? Do not take me for a fool. Oh no. I may be less than sane, but I am no fool!”

He stomped his foot, the floorboards quaking.

“Please,” she whimpered, too frightened to know what she begged for.

Then he was on his knees beside her, pity on his lean, handsome face. “No, do not cry. Here, drink from me. Be a part of me. See what I offer you? Immortality. Yes…”

She drank his blood, latching on to his arm as it poured down her throat like some exquisite nectar she’d never even dreamed of. Pleasure simmered in her body. Her heart filled with love for him.

Gaius.

Pain and terror and a sadness so great, she couldn’t comprehend it.

A sharp jolt of pure pleasure brought her back into her body. Even as she came, felt the force of Deo’s orgasm, and Ever’s, tears poured down her cheeks. Tears for Gaius.

Her enemy.

Her maker.

She couldn’t escape the dream-state, the mental connection between her two lovers. Some part of her was aware of it, as if from a great distance. She saw Ever’s brothers being cast into a stormy sea, all of them tossed from their ship as if they were paper dolls in the wind. She felt the pain of his loss, his loss of faith in the gods who had failed him. She witnessed once more as though it were happening to her, Deo’s family being torn from him by the bomb that had killed them, felt the heat of the blast. His heart breaking.

No!

They were shaking her. She could feel it. But she was caught in the web of remembered emotions. Deo’s, Ever’s. Her own. Caught in pain, caught in dread.

Gaius’s handsome face—oh yes, he was handsome, stunning, as the vampires always were, with his sleek black hair, his luminescent eyes. He frightened her. And yet…and yet…

She knew the taste of his blood on her tongue, strong and pure and sweet. Knew how tortured his mind was, how lost in agony. Insanity. Her mind cried out for his pain as she saw once more, as if she were merely an observer of the incident, Gaius hunched over her in the abandoned building, drinking the life from her. She was already Turned, and still he would drink from her until she was nearly drained before giving her his own blood, reviving her. A seemingly endless cycle of fear and weakness, sadness and pain. Then the bizarre surges of incredible strength that still would never match Gaius’s own.

There was no escaping him. No more than he could escape the ravings of a lunatic mind that had lived and thought, analyzed and philosophized for far, far too long.

She knew that even now he was being hunted. Like a dog. That when the vampire Council caught him, they would kill him. Drown him in the ocean, that scent she couldn’t escape.

He
couldn’t escape.

A sob rose in her chest, and soon she was crying until she thought her heart would burst. She felt Ever and Deo holding her tight, cradling her as they would a child as they carried her through the double doors behind Ever’s ornate desk and into his bedroom, to the big bed. She felt the softness of the mattress beneath her, the hard muscles of her lovers’ arms. The images faded, went dark. She couldn’t open her eyes, couldn’t see.

“Mercy, my love,” Deo crooned to her.

Ever was quiet, but she felt the strength of his arms around her.

Finally her body, her mind, calmed. When she was able to focus again, they were both looking down at her, concern etched on their faces. Concern and a love so powerful she could feel it as though it were a palpable thing. As much from Ever as from Deo.

“I’m sorry,” she said finally.

“Shh, there’s no need to be,” Deo assured her, stroking her cheek. “Don’t be sorry, love. You can’t help it, any of it. We love you. Don’t worry about anything.”

She turned to Ever. “Do you love me, Ever?”

Why did it feel more crucial to her than it had before, with the strange thoughts in her head about Gaius?

His hand cupped her cheek, and she saw on his face an expression more fierce than any she’d seen before. There was power there, more power than she knew she could even conceive of. And love. So much love it made her heart swell.

“I love you, Mercy. I love you both, you and Deo. You are mine. And I am yours. I will not let anything happen to you. I swore it the day I met you. I mean it even more now. You are a part of me.”

“We are a part of each other,” Deo said, his tone nearly as fierce. “We will protect you, Ever and I.”

Her lovers exchanged a glance, and she knew it was a silent agreement.

She was a part of them. As Gaius had wanted her to be. Only this time, it was true. It was what she desired most.

Suddenly she was exhausted, in a way she hadn’t been since her Turning.

“What happened to me just now?” she asked.

Ever shook his head. “It’s something I can’t explain. It’s something about the connection. It makes us raw. Open.”

“Yes,” she agreed.

“Do not worry about it. We are with you. You’re safe here, in the Midnight Playground. With us.”

“I’m so tired. It’s strange.” She felt her voice going softer, as though speaking were a great effort. “I thought we don’t need to sleep, we immortals. But I feel as if I do.”

Ever was stroking her hair. It was a lovely sensation. She heard him talking—even her own voice—as if from some great distance.

“We do not sleep, but we do go through periods of rest. It’s rare. It can happen with a newer vampire, after times of great stress. The two of you have been through a terrible time. And now, perhaps, that you are truly safe, your body senses it
can
rest. Adjust to this existence. This is the most I can explain. Some things remain a mystery to us.”

“Is she all right?” Deo asked, his brows drawing together.

“Yes. She will lie here for a time.” Ever brushed his fingertips over her cheek. “Rest, our Mercy. Our love. We will watch over you.”

She tried to nod her head, but a strange numbness seemed to be taking over her body. Her limbs felt as if they were made of lead, impossibly heavy. She felt, again as if from some faraway place, as Ever and Deo settled in with her, one on either side, their bodies surrounding her with their warmth. Their strength. Their love.

Her eyes closed. And even though she did not sleep, her mind drifted into some warm, numb place. She let it happen while awareness remained—of her two lovers, of the room, the dark night outside the windows—as if reality were a dream. But Deo’s arms were around her, and Ever’s. She was safe.

Chapter Six

Mercy struggled against the fog that had filled her mind for…how long? She didn’t know. She’d felt Deo and Ever with her, sometimes one of them, sometimes both at once. She’d watched with the clear vampiric vision of her mind the two of them together, fucking on the hard marble floor. Watched as Deo had taken Ever’s long cock into his mouth. As they had kissed. Stroked each other’s bodies with clever, searching hands and tongues.

Even in her dream-state she felt desire for them. Love for them. Felt their desire for each other. Their love—for each other, for her. But it was time to wake now. To become a part of the world once more.

She forced her eyes to open and found Deo resting beside her. She blinked. He smiled.

“You are back, my love.” He kissed her lips, her cheek, lifted her hand and brushed his lips over her fingertips.

“How long was I…?”

“For three days. I was worried. I reached into your mind, but everything was so dim. Ever assured me you were fine, but still… I’m glad you’re back with us.”

“Yes. I’m better now.”

“I’m glad. Do you need to feed? I can have Calam send for one of the club members.”

“Not yet. I’ll feed later.”

Deo stroked her hair, running it through his fingers, as he often did. His eyes were that lovely blue-green of the summer sea. “What was it like, love? Did you dream?”

“No dreams. It was as if my mind was at rest. I felt you here with me. Both of you. I felt safe.”

“We were always with you, love, one or both of us. We always will be.”

She flexed her feet, her legs, feeling her strength returning. She lifted her hand to his smooth cheek, loving the hard silk of his immortal flesh beneath her palm.

“I love you, Deo.”

“As I love you. Always. Truly forever.”

“Yes.” She smiled. “Where is Ever?”

“Conducting some club business. He’ll be back soon. You can’t wait to have him.” Deo grinned. “I can feel your need.”

Mercy laughed. “Always. Both of you, my lovers. My loves. But I need a bath first. Draw one for me?”

“I’ll be right back.”

He kissed her hand once more and stood. Mercy stretched, raising her arms over her head. It felt good. A bath would feel wonderful. And being in her lovers’ arms, their bodies joined, even better.

It was nighttime, she realized, her gaze going to the high windows. There was no moon tonight. Or perhaps it was simply obscured by clouds. She could smell the rain outside, heard the distant rumble of thunder. And in the club below her, if she focused, she could hear the heavy pulse-beat of music, of human blood thundering in those delicate veins. She could hear—could sense—the desire. And something else… What was it?

There was a crash of splintered wood, and she bolted upright, her heart hammering. A dark flash, and then he was on her, hands gripping her waist as he lifted her from the bed. She struggled, but he was so much stronger than she. So much older. Ancient.

Familiar.

Gaius.

She knew the tone of his anger, the scent of him like old earth and moss and the hardest granite, even before she saw his tall, dark form hovering over her.

“Deo!” she screamed.

He was there, his hands on her, and she wanted to cry with relief. But Gaius was so ancient, so powerful. Even with the two of them struggling against him, they would never win.

“Do not fight me, Mercy.” Gaius’s gravelly voice echoed with what she now knew was the hollow tone of centuries untold, and that strange accent. “I made you. You belong to me.”

“Never!” Deo roared, trying to keep one arm wrapped around her waist. But she was slipping from his grasp.

“Gaius, you abandoned me,” she accused him, tears pouring down her cheeks, her hands clawing at his, trying to make him let go.

He paused for one moment, and in his dark eyes she saw a sadness unmatched even by Ever’s. But they were devoid of that depth. They held instead the flat shadows of insanity. “You left me. You ran away. I’ve come to collect what is mine.”

“I belong to whom I choose,” she argued, using all of her strength to try to push her way out of his arms. There was one moment when his grip on her lessened, and she yanked back. Deo held her, stepped back. But Gaius’s expression shifted instantly, filling with rage. He lunged for her.

Deo pulled her away so quickly they nearly toppled over, but he wasn’t fast enough. A small table went over with a crash, a lamp shattering on the cool marble floor. And once more Gaius had her, so tightly this time his nails dug into the flesh at her waist, drawing blood. She could smell it—that sweet, metallic scent that was the blood of the vampires. She could smell her own fear, heavy in the air.

“Deo, help me!”

“Damn you, Gaius!” Deo gripped her shoulders, tried to pry her from the rogue’s grip.

Gaius reached out, fast as lightning, and knocked Deo back, onto the floor. “We are all damned,” he said, with a small, strangled chuckle.

She pounded on his shoulders, his broad chest with her fists. “Gaius, you will let me go!”

“I will not,” he growled. “I will take you to the bottom of the ocean, if that is what it takes to keep you.”

“Gaius!” Deo roared, lunged once more, and bit into the old vampire’s arm. Mercy did the same, tasted Gaius’s ancient blood on her tongue, and instantly she was transported back to the moment he’d Turned her, to those images of Gaius’s past that had flooded her brain then, and did so again now.

The air was moist with summer heat in the Temple of Apollo Palatinus. Gaius stood before the altar. Even though the sun shone outside, the marble floors were cool—he could feel it seeping through the soles of his sandals. And Mercy could feel his heart heavy with despair as he called out in prayer.

“Great Apollo. Do not abandon me, even though I am now a creature of Proserpine’s Underworld. A creature of evil. Send me some sign, that this is a test you have set before me. Tell me what I am to do to please you.” Agitated, he sighed, pushed his hair from his face, his jaw clenching. “Does it please you to have me drink blood? I, who have always been your devoted servant? My family has brought gifts to your altar, I have prayed to you every day, and still I remain…in this strange condition all these long months. They reject me now, my family, and I have no one but my gods. Unless you have you rejected me as well, great Apollo. Have you?” he demanded, sinking to his knees. “Have you?” He paused, breathless, his chest heaving. “I have nothing now,” he murmured, his hands fisting at his eyes. “Nothing…” he sobbed.

“No!” Mercy cried, her heart breaking for him. Her maker. Her enemy.

He was dragging her across the room, and Deo with them as he held on to her. Deo’s beautiful eyes blazed with blue-green fire—anger and fear and a helpless pleading it nearly broke her to see. Gaius let out a yell, tore her from Deo’s grasp and carried her out the door, into the hallway. Fear was like thunder in her veins.

She called to Ever in her mind, felt his answer. Then he was with them, tearing her from Gaius’s hold. Deo took her in his arms, and they watched as Ever threw the rogue to the floor, his fist slamming into Gaius’s face. There was no blood, just the sound of stone hitting stone while she shivered with some strange loathing she couldn’t explain.