What Happens in Vegas...After Dark (27 page)

The woman’s surprise indicated she had underestimated Devi. “You aren’t a human,”

she said, sounding accusing, as she backed away a step.

Without bothering to respond, Devi punched the woman. Her fist landed solidly against the woman’s face, and she dropped to the ground in a pool of her own red robes.

A slight sting from the impact dissipated when Devi shook her hand as she turned back to where Mal had fought with the other two.

Except there was no battle. The other two were at Mal’s feet, one unconscious and the other groaning. Bands of scarlet encased them. Devi walked toward Mal. “Not bad.”

He shrugged. “I’m not as inept as Eli thinks I am.”

His tone revealed more than he’d probably intended. There were traces of bitterness and uncertainty. She slipped an arm around his waist. The gesture was meant to be supportive, but passion flooded her, making her thoughts hazy. Before she could control the impulse, she fully embraced him, stretching her neck to find his mouth. Her lips curved to his, and every nerve in her body sang from the light contact.

Mal lifted his head, pushing her away a step. “I can’t do this. There’s no time.”

“Of course.” Devi nodded. “I’m sorry.” Inside, she was a ball of misery. What a fool she’d been to forget that the attraction between them had been all one-sided. Mal never would have entered her life if he hadn’t needed her for his father’s sake. How could she sacrifice her pride by throwing herself at him, knowing he didn’t want her?

There was no one else blocking their path into the house, and they crept in together.

Devi stayed just behind Mal, senses alert. The new level of acuity amazed her. She could hear a cacophony of sounds, al underscored with the lub-DUB of beating hearts in the house. Unfortunately, she couldn’t distinguish each one in order to determine how many individuals were in the building.

The mansion that served as the Nixa family home and seat of power for the Nixa Coven overwhelmed Devi with its luxury. The hardwood floors shone with the patina of wel -maintained age. Priceless Persian rugs added warmth to the rooms they passed through. Elegant décor and furnishings bespoke a limitless budget and a taste for nothing but the best.

Mal led her to a set of curving stairs, and she matched his rapid pace. Her physical state was amazing, and she couldn’t wait to have time to test her new limits properly, once she had converted Saul to a vampire. After that, she would walk away without seeing Mal again. Devi tried to convince herself that was a good thing, after the way he had tricked her, made her care for him, and had seduced her to get what he needed. His actions should repulse and anger her. She was angry about the circumstances behind his feigned interest, but couldn’t regret the sexual bliss she’d found with him. Nor could she regret that he had helped her discover the missing half of her identity and caused her transformation into a vampire. Her life would never be the same, thanks to Mal Nixa.

Trying to determine if the changes were worth the heartache of having and losing Mal, Devi stumbled into him as they emerged onto the second-floor landing. He had halted, and she peeked around his shoulder to find out why.

Eli stood before them, looking quite different than he had from her memory of the encounter in the parking garage. His street clothes were gone, replaced by a resplendent velvet robe of sparkling sapphire. A celestial symbol on the chest made her shudder with awe and a tinge of fear, though she had no idea what it represented. The reaction was purely instinctual. Around his neck, he wore a silver pendant as large as his fist, fashioned in the same symbol.

Mal shook his head, disgust dripping from his tone. “I see you’ve already promoted yourself to Magister. Is Father dead then?”

Eli assessed Devi with cool interest. “He’s as alive as your latent whore.” His nose wrinkled. “The stubborn old bastard won’t die. She seems to suffer from the same streak of obstinacy, but I can fix that problem for both of them.”

Mal had sagged visibly at the news his father still lived, but now his spine stiffened. “I can’t let you do this, Eli.”

Eli laughed. “You think you can stop me? You’re an inept warlock. Go back to your little apartment in Hollywood, playing your mediocre music and fucking a different human woman every night. Walk away from coven business, just as you have all your life, and I’ll let you live. You’re no threat to me, but I wil destroy you if you force me to.”

Devi winced at the words, torn between sadness that Eli’s words affected Mal, though he was good at hiding it, and anger from imagining him in bed with a different woman each night. It was far too easy to visualize that being the case, as desirable as Mal was.

“Can’t you give this up, Eli? Is whatever you think you’re gaining with this coup worth losing Father? He loves you.”

“Wrong!” Eli’s cool facade slipped, showing a trace of the rage he must have bottled up for years. “He needs me. One of his offspring has to carry on for him. I have been forced into this path, shaped and molded al my life. Saul loves you, and he loves Sabine. He gave you the freedom to choose.”

Mal took a step toward his brother. “Father loves you, too, Eli. You know that. He’s pushed you, sometimes too hard, but only because he wants you to be ready to become the Magister. Can you imagine yourself doing anything else? You were the one who chose this path. I remember how you used to sneak into his library to read the forbidden magic books. You begged Father to teach you everything. He saw the interest in you and nurtured it. He no more forced you to become his heir than he forced me to love music.”

Devi eased closer to Eli when she saw him hesitate. He seemed on the verge of an epiphany, but she didn’t trust that it would lead him to ending his attempted takeover.

After a moment, the spark faded from his dul eyes, and he was again the cold, calculating man he’d been before. “Think what you like, brother. If it allows you to avoid feeling guilt for leaving me to carry this burden alone, keep those thoughts in your heart. I know the truth. So does Saul. As he dies, he’ll be thinking of how he orchestrated the events that led to his demise.”

“Don’t you dare blame Father for what you’re doing here,” Mal snapped. “He never nurtured this psychotic streak you’re embracing.”

Without warning, Eli attacked, beaming a band of energy at Mal. He narrowly sidestepped the surprise assault. The sneakiness of Eli’s actions made Devi act without thinking. She lunged at him, tackling Eli. He grunted at the impact, stumbling. She clawed his neck and face with her new talons. With a scream, he tried to throw her off. The movement upset his precarious balance, and he fell to the floor. Devi lost her grip and slid several feet along the marble floor.

She gained her feet quickly, turning in time to see Mal and Eli lock bands of energy.

The opposing powers made a sizzling sound, and the air pressure dropped. The hairs on her neck stood up, and she had to quell the urge to vomit.

Cords in Mal’s neck bulged with his exertion, and a primal cry issued from him as he managed to break the band, grazing Eli in the process.

“I’m impressed,” said Eli, sounding out of breath. He dabbed at the incision on his cheek. It was deep, but instantly cauterized. Mal’s power had scored a clear-cut groove in his brother’s flesh, one as precise as if he’d used a laser.

The sight turned Devi’s stomach because it was sickening, but also because she couldn’t stave off mental images of Eli using his powers in a similar fashion against the man with whom she was falling in love.

“There’s more to you than I expected, Mal. I guess I am going to have to destroy you.”

He didn’t sound broken up by the possibility.

“If you can.” A flash of energy arced from his hands, engulfing Eli.

Devi had seen the same type of energy field almost instantly subdue several of the people they had faced. Expecting the same result, it was a nasty surprise to see Eli practically shrug it off and return a similar burst. It hit Mal in the chest, and he folded to his knees. She shook her head, wanting to deny what she witnessed. As Mal crumpled to the ground, the light still encompassed him, making his entire body glow with faint silver energy. He lay without moving, eyes wide-open. It was impossible to determine if he was alive or dead.

Devi didn’t know what to do. She wanted to run to Mal, but knew Eli wasn’t finished with her yet. Instinct had served her well thus far, so she surrendered to it, allowing it to lead her. She reached Eli about the time he became aware she was behind him. Once again, her heightened senses had exceeded her expectations, allowing her to move lightning-fast and silently.

As she grabbed Eli around the waist, he directed a burst of energy toward her. The beam hit her arm, and she cried out, but didn’t release him. Adrenaline fueled the strength she expended in spinning him to face her, making him turn so fast he almost fel . Devi punched him, riding high on the rush of battle. She was invincible, with more strength than she could have ever imagined.

He grabbed her wrist, and his hand scorched her flesh. The sizzling sound, coupled with the agony, cut through her delusions of superpowers. Yes, she had increased strength and agility, but she was no more experienced at fighting than she had been before the transformation. Not to mention, the man she faced was probably a lot more powerful than she was with his magic figured into the equation.

“Why are you here? You have nothing to do with any of this.” Eli squeezed her wrist harder as he cupped her chin with his other hand. Devi barely suppressed the urge to whimper as his fingers seared her skin. “What do you hope to gain?” When she didn’t answer, he shook her like a rag doll, lifting her off her feet by her chin. “Speak, latent.”

“I’m a vampire now, asshole.” Devi raked his cheek with her nails, making him howl as she gouged the furrow Mal’s magic had left.

Apparently, the pain wasn’t devastating enough to force him to release her. Eli held her suspended, legs kicking. The muscles in her neck were aflame from the strain of her position, and she teetered on the edge of blacking out.

“What can you do for him as a vampire? You were only useful as a latent.” Eli shook his head, his eyes mirroring his contempt. “Once again, Mal screwed up. If he thought you could be of any use, he was wrong.”

Devi bit her tongue, refusing to divulge the details of their plan in case maybe they could still defeat Eli and reach Saul before it was too late. If that happened, she hoped fervently that she could save his father, or Mal would be shattered. She knew him well enough to know he would internalize the failure, blame it on his lack of magical education, and carry the scar on his soul for the rest of his life.

“That still doesn’t explain why you’re here.” Slowly, Eli brought her closer, lifting her higher until their faces were level. “I assume Mal asked you to come, so you’re here for Mal.” An icy laugh escaped him. “How sweet. Have you fallen in love with my brother?

Surely, you must have, or you wouldn’t be here.”

She squirmed, trying to pull away when he kissed her nose. “Don’t touch me.”

Eli smiled, but no emotion registered in his eyes. “Don’t worry, my dear. I’m not interested in your lovely body. That was simply a gesture of pity, I suppose. You must realize by now that Mal had no interest in you personally? He chose you because of the power you had inside you. Any body would have done for his needs. Yet, here you are, standing by your man.” He laughed again, his gaze raking her from head to toe as he put distance between them. “Or should I say, swinging for your man. Soon, you’ll be lying beside him, but not in the way you’d hoped.”

His obvious delight in her heartache stoked Devi’s anger, which in turn fueled her confidence. Determinedly, she blocked out the pain his hands inflicted. The sense of helplessness that had frozen her fled, and she swung a leg forward. Her foot connected with Eli’s crotch, and it was her turn to enjoy his pain. He dropped her as the air hissed from his lungs. Unsteady, he swayed before falling to his knees.

He had instinctively cupped his testicles, and she took advantage of the moment to kick him again, this time in the chest. Eli muttered something as he fell backward, and coldness swept over Devi. She blinked to clear the gray fog settling over her eyes. His whispered sounds penetrated the haze, and she realized he was casting a spell on her.

“No!” The denial, issued in a shout, helped dissipate the effects, and she leaped forward before the magic could renew its hold on her. Eli’s lips stil moved, and she clapped her hand over his mouth. “Shut up. I’ve had enough of your damned magic. If I never hear another word about magic again, I’ll be thrilled.”

His eyes widened, warming with a spark of fear as she raised her fist over his head. A feral part of Devi encouraged her to slam it through his chest, rip out his heart, and bring it to her mouth in order to drain the organ. The ferocity of the idea startled her. Maybe the conversion to a vampire wasn’t completely a wonderful thing after al .

Shaken by the urge to commit such violence, Devi deliberately repelled the idea.

Instead, she hit Eli in the temple with the meat of her palm. His eyes shifted out of focus, and he went limp. She hovered beside him, not certain if she could safely turn her back on the man to check Mal.

Devi looked up as a hand settled on her shoulder. Her eyes widened with her surprise at seeing Mal up and looking only mildly disheveled. “Are you okay?” The inane question led to a torrent of words she couldn’t hold in. “Of course you aren’t okay. I saw him freeze you…or whatever. You couldn’t move. Now you’re up? What’s going on?”

“I couldn’t move, but I could hear and see. As soon as Eli lost consciousness, any active spells he’d cast degenerated. As soon as the energy field faded, I was able to get up.” He rubbed absently at his chest. “Not easily, but I’m up.”