Scent of Salvation (Chronicles of Eorthe #1) (32 page)

She nodded, a sharp jerk of her chin. Fearless, determined and delicate—if only she were vampire—or human. Increasing his pace, he reached her side. “Trouble? I thought that was the meaning of your name, Ahote.”

The dark shifter snorted.

A thin spray of snot flew in Benic’s direction. Forced to use his supernatural speed, he sidestepped the slime. Ahote played a dangerous game he didn’t know the rules to. Benic glared at him over Kele’s shoulder. The shifter would learn soon enough.

“Excuse me, vampire lord. I must be coming down with a cold.” Ahote never stopped scanning the Temple forests while giving him a mock bow. Ahote watched as if waiting for a hidden army. “We should have brought more hunters.”

“My father would have noticed. Benic brought his warriors.” She touched Benic’s arm, and her faith in him warmed his slow-beating heart.

Shaking his massive head, Ahote strode ahead of them on all fours. He set a hard pace for the bipedal in their group.

Benic glanced over his shoulders at his knights. They strode as if escorting a walk through the palace gardens—muscles relaxed and eyes unfocused.

The omega kept his gaze to the forest floor, his golden, feral form just as attractive as his civil one. His Payami guards paced next to him, on all fours, watching the forest as well.

Peder.

Benic kept a snarl off his face with some difficulty. He couldn’t really blame Kele’s interest. The slight male was pretty. Under different circumstances, he might have snatched the shifter for an evening or two of his own pleasures. Thank the fates he’d discovered his presence before Kele could overcome her awkwardness around him. She still smelled of virgin.

Benic had awakened desire in Kele. He should be the one to claim it. If he’d stayed after their kiss, his hunger would have forced him to take her harshly. One didn’t take a virgin to bed and eat her for dinner then expect a return visit.

“We exchange Peder for Susan then return straight home. No squabbles.” Kele called out to the thick-headed shifter leading them.

Ahote glanced back at her. “This would be an excellent trap. Not many guards and you as a hostage. I couldn’t think of a better scenario for Sorin.”

Kele gasped. “I hadn’t considered this. Why didn’t you say something before now?”

“What would you have done? Tell Daddy you were hiding an omega in his den and I knew of it?” The dark shifter shook his head slowly in disgust. “No, I’d rather fight an army of Apisi, thank you.”

Benic toyed with the throwing dagger on his belt. The Payami hunter was more astute than Benic had thought. He’d had similar thoughts, hence his knights.

Kele flicked a look his way. “Will you behave?”

“Of course, as long as Susan is returned.”

“What if she wants to remain with the Apisi?”

Benic laughed. “And live among the poor? Besides, could she truly refuse Ahote’s charms?”

Kele stared at the hunter’s back. “She’s not interested in him.”

“I can hear you.” Ahote tapped his ear.

Hiding a smile behind her hand, she winked at Benic.

Benic sighed. Things never went as he wanted. They’d probably have to do this the hard way. “I had hoped Ahote’s animalistic charms would be enough to lure Susan back to the Payami. We should formulate another plan just in case.” He rubbed the back of his left ear, signaling his warriors. His own plans were now going to take effect.

One of his warriors leaned forward. “Maybe this human would like some vampire charisma instead.”

Kele coughed, doing a poor job of hiding her amusement. “Benic terrified her with his.”

The Temple came into view. Tall and imposing, like the gods wanted them to cower. He didn’t frighten that easily. Shade darkened the entrance, making it difficult to see if anyone moved inside.

Sorin, in feral form, leaped from the building and bared his teeth. Shifter etiquette left much to be desired.

Ears flattening to his head, Ahote growled low, yet submitted to the alpha who stood on his hind legs, topping over seven feet tall, silver-furred like his grandfather.

Susan ran down the stairs and stopped close to Sorin. It was obvious even to him that they had coupled.

Sighing once more, Benic shook his head. He caught sight of his guard passing the shifters on each side. So the hard way it would be.

Ahote’s nose twitched. “You’ve mated her.”

Benic rolled his eyes. Great. Did he want to waste time watching the males thump their chests first?

Stepping past the males, Kele approached the human. “Have you been treated well?”

With a huge grin on her face, Susan nodded. “I’m going to remain with the Apisi.” She took Kele’s hand within hers, a very trusting and non-shifter thing to do. “Let Peder go. I wasn’t taken against my will.”

Flinching, Benic braced for Ahote’s attack. The male shifter had been nothing but ornery since Sorin stole Susan. Two Payami guards stood to witness this for the dark shifter. He’d regain his place among the hunters if he returned with a subdued human female in his arms wearing his mark once more. Benic released the breath he’d been holding. Nothing happened.

Ahote remained by Kele.

“Peder?” Sorin spoke.

Kele focused on the omega behind Benic. Her hard glare softened when it met the golden shifter’s.

“She treated me very well and met all my needs, Alpha.” Peder remained between his Payami guards.

A beautiful, rosy blush colored Kele’s cheeks.

Benic ground his teeth, almost chipping a fang. That mongrel had better stick to his lands after this because Benic’s bedroom could use a new fur rug.

Kele chewed on her bottom lip, her gaze never leaving Peder’s. “You were a considerate guest.”

Swallowing a groan of disgust, Benic signaled his warriors with a small gesture. Time to get this over with.

They both strolled from the group in separate directions—one examining the flora, the other the Temple walls. Their movements bored and slow so as not to draw attention.

There were five shifters, not counting Kele, and only three vampires. The odds didn’t favor them but he’d counted on this in his plans.

“Congratulations on your pairing.” Benic nodded to Susan and Sorin as he elbowed past Ahote. “Obtaining an unmated female is a blessing for your pack and a sign of your great prowess, Sorin.”

The alpha’s chest visibly expanded.

“A true feat of male skill to escape the clutches of the Payami hunters with a rare female.” Benic bowed in respect, listening to Ahote’s labored breathing.

“That’s overkill. You make it sound like I’m a prize turkey.” Susan rested her head against Sorin’s upper arm. “We’ve a lot in common and—”

Ahote leaped over Benic, landing dead center on Sorin’s chest. They reeled away in a ball of black and silver fur, claws and teeth seeking to tear flesh.

Knocked away in the process, Susan fell into Benic’s waiting arms. As planned, Kele and the other shifters went after the males. Not to interfere in the challenge, but to play as witnesses. If Ahote actually managed to defeat Sorin, his dominance would rise within his pack. Maybe even become lead hunter.

From a pouch hanging on his belt, Benic pulled out his blowgun and poisoned darts, as did his warriors. The drug would sedate the shifters, not kill. His incubus had shown him a few things over the years, and not all them in bed.

“What’s that?” Susan pointed to the darts, her voice rising.

He quirked an eyebrow. “Let me show you.” He pricked her with one and watched as her eyes rolled back in her head. After she fell to his feet, he armed his weapon and signaled the others to shoot.

He aimed for the fighting males then blew in quick succession. He reloaded and blew until both Ahote and Sorin bore two darts, enough to make them nap for the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon.

His warriors shot the others except Kele.

Covering her mouth with her hands, she stifled a scream then spun to face him. Unshed tears shone in her eyes.

Blowing out an exaggerated sigh, he stepped over the human toward his delicate shifter. “Don’t cry. They’re not dead.”

“Traitor.”

“To whom? I’ve pledged nothing to anyone here.” Shifters and their odd code of honor. He shook his head.

“I thought we were friends,” she shouted.

He chuckled. “We are, which is why you’re still awake and they’re not dead.” He’d never seen her so angry—it gave her more appeal.

The manipulating rat. Kele wanted to rip out his black heart and chew it. She knelt next to Peder and petted his soft fur. He still breathed. They all did.

Betrayal burned deeper than she thought possible. Dagger sharp, it buried in her heart. “Why?”

Benic captured her hands in his, drawing her away from Peder. “Return with me. Your father has terrible plans for you. Come, live at the castle. Let me save you.”

The rushing pulse of her blood filled her hearing. “Plans? What do you mean?” Her thoughts were scattered—she couldn’t concentrate.

“He wants to send you off to another pack to be mated.”

She couldn’t breathe. She blinked at Benic then glanced at her pack mates lying at her feet. “Liar.” However, she scented no such thing. The truth hurt too much.

“You’d smell it on me if I were.”

Tears burned a path along her cheeks. She just didn’t want to believe it. Her parents wanted to give her away to some stranger?

He squeezed her hands. “Come with me. I’ll take care of you.”

Taking a deep breath, she puffed her cheeks and let it out slowly. Kele then pried her hands from Benic’s hold. “I don’t trust you.”

“You can in this. Our fates are entwined. You sense this as well.”

Benic had always been part of her life, and she couldn’t imagine a future without him. Even when gray laced her hair, she pictured his young face laughing with her. She’d never lived anywhere but in her den. She never pictured herself leaving either. Could her parents betray her like this? Yes. They worried about her role in the pack once they’d passed into the dirt. Kele needed someone to protect her. Ahote couldn’t do it forever.

She squared her shoulders and faced him. He was right. “I will go with you only if you do no further harm to the others and let them return to their packs.”

Shaking his head, he retreated. “Susan comes with me.” He gestured to one of his warriors. “Carry the human. Be careful—she’s fragile.”

“Benic!” Kele clung to his sleeve. “Don’t do this.”

“She’s a new species. Her blood contains hope for my people. I need to study her.” He shoved Kele away. “Go home.”

She scrunched her fists and stumbled over Peder. Benic would leave her in the forest alone in civil form to defend her unconscious people?

Ahote had been right. Vampires didn’t think like shifters. Their loyalties didn’t run deep. None of them could be trusted. Not even her childhood friend.

With a heavy heart, Kele watched one of the warriors sling Susan over his shoulder. Susan’s arms hung down his back as he strode toward vampire lands.

They didn’t fear her. Why would they? Weak as a pup, she presented no threat to anyone.

Laughter reached her ears.

It burned with the intensity of the sun. Clenching her jaw, she punched her thighs. Hot tears poured freely now, and a sob erupted from her chest.

She failed in everything—her people, her Goddess, Susan. Scowling in their direction, the heat of her anger turned cold and froze her blood, clearing her thoughts. She wiped her futile tears. How dare he think she was insignificant? As a daughter of the Payami, the strongest pack in the tribe, a thousand generations had brought her to this moment.

Failure was not an option.

Standing at the base of the Temple surrounded by the bodies of her people, she appealed to the Goddess.
Please, please, don’t let them get away with this. Haven’t we suffered enough?

The wind blew some dead leaves over her feet, and the vampire laughter faded.

Nothing happened.

She glared through narrowed eyes. The vampires were farther along the path. The bastards. All of them. She ran. No plan. No weapons. Her soul raged for the human.

A creature more helpless than she, torn from her world, alone and frightened. Susan deserved better than being experimented on. No one recognized her species but she still had rights as a person. Sorin laid a claim on Susan and she had accepted it. Benic, vampire lord or not, couldn’t break that sacred promise by taking her away.

“Stop!” she shouted.

The warriors kept walking, ignoring her plea, but Benic turned, his gaze sad and hurt. “Go home, Kele.” He wheeled around.

“Stop.” The word rolled up from her stomach and roared out her throat. She panted with the effort and clutched her abdomen. “Give her back. Take me instead.”

A gentle smile graced Benic’s handsome face. The wind blew through his short curls, making them dance on his head. “You’re so beautiful, Kele.” Benic raised his blowgun to his lips.

Chapter Thirty-Five