It’s like a bubble with a pin pushed into it. One second, the air was breathable, and then, poof, it thinned out of the room.
“Your mate is correct. Laikyn. Please show us what happened so we may be of assistance.” Damien placed his hand on Lucas’s shoulder.
They may be fraternal twins who were more alike than not and had equal strengths, but their temperaments were very different—one light and one dark. I made note of my observations and brought Laikyn to stand in front of me. With my arms banding about her waist, I brought my lips close to her ear. “Let’s do this and get it over with.”
“I didn’t see his face, and his voice may not be real.” She tried to reassure us, making me want to kill the bastard even more for what he’d tried to do.
“We understand, and believe us, we will know who and what we are facing through your memories. Trust us.” Lucas’s eyes focused on me. The other man’s pupil expanded, swallowing up his entire eye.
Linking with Laikyn, we opened up, and instead of letting the Cordells into her memories, we flowed into a space in between. I stared around the void, wondering where the hell we were, until Damien’s form appeared.
“This is an in-between where we are all safe from each other’s invasion of privacy.”
“Meaning you don’t have a direct line to our minds?” I wanted to be clear.
Lucas rolled his eyes. “We will now, as you do, have a link to each of us. However, you can sever it the same way we can.Now, let’s get on with the showing and less talking. Your voice is getting on my last damn nerve.”
“How have you not killed him before now?” I asked Damien.
The other man shrugged his shoulders. In the space we’d come, I looked at each man, seeing they’d chosen different clothing than they’d had on in the real world. “This is what we are most comfortable in.” Damien indicated the loose-fitting shirt and pants that could have come from any era.
I glanced at my own jeans and T-shirt, then shrugged. “Show them, Mon Chaton.”
Laikyn let her breath out, then allowed her mind to open. The images, along with her fear, flowed into all three of us. I kept my beast at bay, barely. Damien and Lucas stood straight, their eyes doing that freaky thing with their pupils, their chests expanded once, twice, then I didn’t think either man breathed for a full two minutes.
When Laikyn finished showing them, minutes had passed. Neither Cordell made a move. Not a muscle or twitch of movement came from either of them. Almost as if they were no longer in their own bodies. I held Laikyn closer. Neither of us made a sound in case it would break into whatever trance-like state they were in.
Lucas was the first to take a deep breath, followed by Damien. His eyes speared straight into mine. “This was the work of a vampire, but not one as old as we’d first thought.”
“He’s the one from Kansas City. I’m afraid to say he’s much more dangerous than just an old one, Lake. For our entire lives, we’ve heard of those who…take what they shouldn’t, to gain more power. Lucas and I are old, and our ancestors’ blood flows through our veins. That makes us very powerful. If someone were lucky enough to kill us, they’d be able to siphon off some of our strengths. Of course, there are other beings we could take from and gather power from, but it has been outlawed forcenturies. Which is why we were hesitant to approach Laikyn, even though we thought she was our…anyway, that is in the past. Vampires have one shot at finding our Hearts Love. Many settle for something close, but with us, it is one woman for both of us. We know now that there is only one woman who will complete us.” He turned sad eyes away from me, but I’d seen the longing.
Pity, for the brothers had me understanding their plight. “What did you find out, other than he was the same being? Can you track him before he attacks again?”
Damien flicked an imaginary piece of lint from his white shirt. “Leave him to us. We will handle the problem.”
I growled. “Listen, while I appreciate you and your brother rushing here and your offer of assistance, the fact remains, this is now pack business. We need to know how to fight this new threat.”
Lucas’s eyes turned an eerie red, like the one Laikyn had shown us in her mind. “You are like him,” she whispered, hand flying to her mouth.
“We are nothing like him, yet we are similar, which is why you must leave him to us. You want to help, then stay out of our way. This is council business. We’ve already reported what you showed us to our father, who is the Vampire King.”
“Well, fuck me runnin’,” I swore.
“What? Now that you know you’re dealing with royalty, are you going to treat us with respect?” Laughter lit the man’s eyes.
If we’d met at a different time and under different circumstances, I might have liked the man. “I don’t think we’d have hung out in the same circles, but I would have hired you to pimp my ride or something,” Damien said.
I moved Laikyn beside me, freeing up my right hand. “Sit and spin, boys. We done here?” I raised my middle finger.
Lucas shook his head. “See, I told you I liked him.”
“That’s because he’s more like you.” Damien pushed at Lucas’s shoulder.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lucas asked.
While the two brothers went about a shoving match, I stared at my mate. “Let’s leave the two dickheads to fight it out. I need to be balls deep inside you.”
Two masculine groans met my words. “Inside voice,” they muttered, followed by heavy sighs. “TMI” was shouted by Damien and Lucas in unison.
