The Secrets in Shadow and Blood (Season of the Vampire, #1; Fae Guardians, #4)

by Lana Pecherczyk

His mouth watered for the flavor. Hungered for it. Every cell in his body was in a frenzy for it. He got hard just thinking about it.

Feeding, pinning her down, driving his cock in deep until he couldn’t tell where she started and he ended. Until he didn’t want to.

Apart from garlic making vampires vomit because it was actually food, it had no ill effects. Neither did a crucifix. These fae didn’t even know who God was. Violet’s Italian Nonna would be turning in her grave.

Good Lord, his thigh was thicker than Violet’s waist.

He imagined what it would be like to feed from her… to make love to her. It wouldn’t be gentle. It would be a battle every time. Surprising. Gratifying. Feeling those dainty but deadly fingers on his skin, wondering if she would bite or brush him. Stab or stroke him. Pleasure or pain. He tugged at his collar and cleared his throat.

Fuck it. This might be his last chance. He kissed her quickly, hotly, and passionately before flashing a grin and torpedoing through the branches, swords first.

There was a reason vampires rarely mated. Males became protective, possessive, and passionate. To a point that defied logic. Even wolf shifters could not compare against a vampire in the throes of his mating hormones, or a female vampire in heat. Some called them rabid. Some called them insatiable. All Indigo knew was that if he gave in to the feelings bubbling inside him, bloodlust would be the least of his worries. He’d never let her go.

He wanted to invade her in every possible way. Every vampire mating urge was blending with the craving for her blood. He wanted to sink his teeth, his cock, and his soul in. He wanted to roll around in her blood and take everything she had to give. To drown in it. In her.

But that was the thing about anxiety… it didn’t conform to logic. It itched and scampered beneath the surface, finding ways to break through until even the smallest possibility of her worst fears coming true was amplified.

He wanted her; he realized. The way a male wants a female. The way a lost soul wants to be found. From the moment he’d seen her glittering eyes peeking over the windowsill at his parents’ house, his blood sang with yearning. She needed to believe in him. To believe in the life Elphyne offered. And for that to happen, he had to prove to her that she was safe, that she was special, and that she was valued. Or he had to find a way to make her fight for it.

“Why isn’t this working?” he muttered, a slight frown marring his brow as his thumb pressed against her airway, teasing. “I thought you were afraid of me.” She pushed into him. “Maybe I want you to hurt me,” she rasped, shocked at her own words.

“Bite me,” she blurted. “Make it hurt.” More mumbling against her flesh, and then… he pulled away, disoriented.

She was a siren he would dash himself on the rocks for.

Jasper narrowed his golden eyed glare but then sat before glancing at Violet and grumbling, “You have my condolences.” “Why?” Violet asked. “Your mate is a cheeky twat.”

Puppies. Baby bats were called pups too. Violet smiled at that thought.

She shoved him away, panting with a wicked gleam. Come and get me, her eyes said. He hesitated… in case he was reading things wrong, but she kissed the air in his direction and then fled. He chased her, dragged her back down to the powdered floor where they rolled and left shapes. There was no sense anymore. He crawled on top of her. She tried to scramble backward, kicked him in the chest, but he kept tugging her back to him. No fear came down their bond. Only excitement. Anticipation. Churning desire.

To them, having a mate is like splitting their soul. It’s stronger than marriage.

“Enough,” Jasper grunted. She thought he meant the bow so straightened, but Jasper was staring into the room where Indigo sat on the bed. “Enough with the mating,” he snapped. “We can hear you throughout the palace.” Indigo snorted. “Good.” Violet’s cheeks burned so hot she thought flames would come out of them. “You can all hear?”

I am Legion. The words hit Violet’s mind so suddenly and smoothly that it was as if she’d thought them herself. And I am male. This time it was a whisper. A deep, masculine sigh iced with humor. Her eyes shot to the Sluagh’s face, to Legion’s face, and found him staring right at her. Into her.

High obsidian walls covered in blood red vines surrounded the courtyard. Pearlescent Hellenistic type statues stood intermittently throughout the rose garden, each holding a tray brimming with either food and wine, or manabee lamps. When a statue blinked, Violet had to hold her gasp. They weren’t sculptures, but people—humans. Slaves.

He shook his head and retched. The body parts—the severed limbs. She picked out half a scarred face and a vampire’s pointed ear on the floor. Indigo’s fingers were torn. He’d ripped Gastnor apart. This was the power he’d feared in himself, the part of him he needed her to be strong for.

Don’t let the bastards win, her mother had said. Violet ran her fingers over the bumpy scars on her arms. Her mother had it wrong. By fighting against them, she’d been as bad as they were. The best way to heal would have been to forgive and move on with her life.

She only patted him affectionately on the chest. He smoothed his hands up her arms and tried to let his anger go. That’s when he noticed something odd. He glanced down. “Your skin is smooth,” he noted. “Where’re the scars?” Violet bit her lip. “I asked Ada to heal them. I hope that’s not vain.” Indigo’s throat closed up with emotion. “Vi,” he rasped, grazing his knuckles against her jaw. “I only hated seeing them because I hated knowing you’d suffered.” “I know.” She smiled. “I did this because I wanted to give you something that meant I was yours. That you have something no one else has seen. Something new. I hope you—”

“I heard what you said in there and I need you to know something. You’re not just the other half of my heart, Violet. You’re the reason it beats. You’re my moon.” “Moon?” He grinned. “If I was ever lost, I would look into the sky and see the moon. I’d see our goddess shining down on us and know I would be fine. Maybe I was just waiting for you.” “Indigo,” she breathed, a tear in her eye. “If I’m the moon, then you give me a reason to shine.”

“It’s taken me a long time to realize this, but power isn’t what I thought it was. It’s not the ability to tear apart.” She glanced around the hallway, to the other rooms where the cadre members slept. “It’s this, Indi. It’s family, and I’m going to fight tooth and nail to protect all of them.”