Colel Read online

  “Colel,” a deep familiar voice filled her ice-cold ears.

  She looked up to see the silhouette of a man who strangely resembled Rys.

  She blinked her frosty eyelashes. “Is it really you?”

  “Who the fuck else would it be?”

  “Wha-what are you doing here?”

  He crouched in front of her, his menacing body leaving nowhere for her to go. “You think you could turn me into a fucking vampire and then run?” he growled.

  “No. I…I…”

  “What!” He slammed his fist past her head into the rock, sending fragments flying.

  She winced and held out her hands. “Fine. I’m a coward. So just kill me! It’s what I deserve.”

  “You think I’m going to make it that easy?” he yelled. “You think I’m here to spare you!”

  “No. No!” But how had he gotten here? How had Kinich let him go? Or any of the other soldiers? “Please tell me you didn’t hurt anyone, Rys.”

  “I hurt them all. I killed them all. And it is your fault. Your doing!”

  Colel felt her heart bottom out. “Tell me you’re joking,” she whispered in horror.

  “Do I look like I’m fucking joking?” He stood and threw his arms to his sides. “I just woke up as one of the evilest, sickest bastards on the planet. I’m a killer now.” He leaned down and shoved his finger in her face. “And now you’re going to pay, Colel.”

  “Whoa. Wait.” She got to her feet. “Why would you kill everyone at that house? You know what it feels like to lose family.”

  “Then I hope you miss them as much as I miss mine,” he growled and raised his hand. She knew he meant to tear out her throat. “For the next few minutes while I drink you to death.”

  Colel drew a breath, trying to gather her goddess self. It pained her to see Rys like this, exactly like she imagined he’d be: ruthless, bloodthirsty, an animal. But on the other hand, it was clear he needed help.

  My help. He had no idea what he was doing. The rage was fueled by hunger. The hunger fueled by rage.

  She held out her wrist. “Drink away. Be my guest.”

  Without hesitation, he brought his mouth to her wrist.

  She added, “But it’s going to hurt you more than it’s going to hurt me because I’m not human.”

  He paused and gave her a look.

  “Surprise, Rys.”

  He dropped her arm. “What do you mean you’re not human?”

  “I mean you can’t drink me. Not straight from the tap. Not without a little thing called black jade, which you must wear if you don’t want to be fried like a piece of buttermilk chicken.”

  He continued staring.

  “I’m a goddess, Rys. A deity. You can kill me a thousand times, and I’ll just keep on coming back.” She held out her wrist again. “Don’t believe me? Go ahead. Take a nibble.”

  Apparently, his hunger was stronger than his hearing because he went in for a big bite. She had only been bitten by one vampire in her life during a scuffle, so she couldn’t speak for them all, but she was told her human blood tasted like honey mixed with a thousand bee stings. To her knowledge, she was the only god with such a horrible flavor.

  “Ah!” Rys pushed her arm away and began gagging. “It burns.”

  “Yep. Now care to tell me, before I die of hypothermia, why you lied about killing everyone back at the house?”

  “I didn’t lie,” he grunted. “They are all dead.”

  “Rys, look.” She placed her hand on his back as he continued to hack. “You have no idea what’s happened, but the world you’re living in now…” She exhaled. “There are different rules. There are things you don’t know.”

  He didn’t turn to face her, and she knew it was because he struggled to grasp any of this. Him. Her. This new immortal clusterfuck.

  “Kinich—Nick—is your maker. He was once the Sun God, but had to give up his divinity to save pretty much everyone. But because he loved his mate more than anything and wanted to have a long life with her, he asked my other sister’s mate, Roberto, an ex-pharaoh and the king of vampires, to turn him.” She inhaled. “And if you think I don’t know how crazy this all sounds, you’d be mistaken, but it’s the truth. So is the fact that Kinich loves his family more than anything in this world. Which is why I know that while he would never admit this to your face, it probably hurt him as much as it hurt you to see your grandma die. He thought he was doing the right thing when he gave her his blood.”

  Rys whipped around to face her. “He turned her?”

  “You didn’t see her in the house while you were busy ‘murdering’ everyone?”

  “No, I-I woke up and knew what had happened to me. I remembered you asking your vampire brother to save me. Then I rushed for the door, but a bunch of men tried to stop me, so I went out the window. Somehow, I knew where you were. I could sense you or smell your scent in the wind.” He hung his head. “Why did you turn me into this monster?”

  Colel looked down at her frozen feet. “Because I…”

  “Answer me.” Rys grabbed her by the shoulders. “Why! Why fucking do that!”

  “Because I needed more time with you.”

  “With a dead man? Because that’s what I am now. A dead, ruthless murderer.”

  “No,” she said calmly. “You’re a wreck. But you are not a ruthless killer.”

  He released her. “I’m a vampire. I can’t live knowing that at any moment, if an innocent person were to cross my path, I will end their life. This isn’t who I am.”

  She tilted back her head and stared up at the starry night sky. She didn’t know what to say to that. A well-fed vampire could be calm and rational. They were like any other being in terms of their ability to control their actions. But a hungry vampire… They were animals.

  “The trick is to never get hungry,” she said. “Not ever. And if you must kill, you use your senses to see a person’s aura and only take the bad ones.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t want to kill. Not bad. Not good. I do not want to be a vampire.”

  She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his midriff, pressing her cheek to his broad chest. “You don’t have to be. I can help if you trust me.”

  He put his arms around her and buried his face in her hair. She could feel his pain and confusion, but underneath it all was the same Rys she’d first met. His power, his presence, and his will to fight—none of that had changed one little bit. Neither had her attraction.

  Whoa! Neither has my attraction? This was a huge shock. Huge!

  He abruptly pushed himself back. “You think I am going to trust you?”

  She sighed with remorse. “All this started because I thought you were my mate. I thought I felt a special connection between us, but there was no way to know for sure without risking your life. My bees clearly had it out for you—at least that is what I told myself. I also told myself that my only option was to gain your trust and then convince you to become a vampire so you would be safe around me. But really, I think in my heart, I was simply afraid that you would never want me. That you were not my mate.”

  “You were confident you could convince me to become a vampire, but not that I would want you? You’re not making any sense.”

  She whooshed out a breath. “I know. That’s because it never made sense to begin with. I wanted you from the first moment I saw you, but you couldn’t stand the sight of me. I thought it would be easier to be rejected by a nasty vampire than a real man.” She ran her hands through her hair. “It’s ridiculous, I know. I can’t even begin to explain why or how my head got so muddled. All I knew is that I wanted you, and it was going to hurt when you finally said you didn’t feel a mate bond between us.” She dropped her hands. “Anyway, I have to fix you. You and your grandmother.”

  “You can make us human again?”

  “No. I can’t do that. But I can make it so you’re not controlled by your hunger and you can eat normal food.” Or eat nothing at all, though where was the fun
in that? Humans dreamed of eating anything and not worrying about one’s weight.

  “How?” he asked.

  By breaking the law and suffering the consequences. She would be banished to the human realm, her powers removed, and she’d be imprisoned for a very, very long time.

  “I can take you to my home and give you the light of the gods. But you cannot tell anyone. Not a soul until it is done.”

  “And then what will happen?”

  I will never see you again. But this catastrophe had been her doing, and she needed to make things right. Or, at the very least, better.

  “You will be strong,” she replied. “No vampire will ever be able to hurt you or your grandmother. You will be part human, part god, but with the speed and abilities of a vampire.”

  “But I will not be a bloodthirsty savage.”

  “No. You’ll be what we call a demilord.”

  “Then I will be able to hunt down the monster that attacked my parents,” he stated.

  “Ah. Well, that is another pickle.” How could she even begin to explain it? “There’s this disease. No one knows how it’s spread, but it’s infecting the immortal community. It makes us crazy.”

  “Is there a cure?”

  “Yes. Anyone with a mate is immune—it’s the whole ‘haha, I’m so funny’ Universe karma bull crap. She has a wicked temper and an even more wicked sense of humor. Don’t worry, you’ll understand what I mean after a few centuries.”

  “So I might turn evil,” he concluded. “I could catch this disease.”

  “Yes.”

  “And this vampire who killed my parents is infected, running around in the world murdering innocent people because of it.”

  “Yes. But rest assured, now that we know vampires are flipping—I mean, getting sick—we’ll have to do something.”

  “You mean kill them?”

  “No. Gods no. At least, not unless it’s necessary.”

  “Then what? What will you do to stop them? Because they are out there right now, hunting and murdering innocent people.”

  “I-I’m not sure. The other gods and I will have to confer with the vampire king and figure something out until this plague passes.”

  He nodded. “And what about me? How do you know for certain I am not your mate?”

  She shrugged. “It would be pretty obvious to you if I were. For starters, you’d find me incredibly attractive.”

  “And?” he pushed.

  “And despite all odds, objections, and circumstances, you would want me. You’d feel like there was nothing in this world more important than me—me being happy, safe, and by your side.” She sighed. “It would feel like magic when we made love. Nothing in this world would make you feel as good as I do.”

  “Oh, I see.” He paused. “And is this how you feel about me?”

  She didn’t know, frankly. Yes, she had become obsessed with making him hers. She wanted him more than anything. And now, the pain she caused him pained her. She would do anything, risk anything to see him happy again. Even if he was a gross, but extremely hot, vampire.

  “I suppose yes,” she finally answered.

  He looked at her for a long moment, but underneath the pain in his eyes was need. Whether it was his vampire blood demanding to be fed or a need for her, she didn’t know.

  Suddenly his body slammed into her, and his mouth along with it.

  She gasped, the moment taking her by surprise, mostly because the first thing she felt was his sharp incisors against her lips. And instead of warm, hot male body, she felt something resembling hard, cool marble.

  She placed her hands on his chest, wanting to push him away, but instead found herself leaning into him, enjoying the strength of his immortal body against her soft curves.

  Is it just me, or do his lips feel incredible? She parted her lips and let him deepen the kiss. It was seductive and sinful.

  Rys pulled back, tracing his tongue over her bottom lip before tilting his head and going in for another round. He kissed the breath out of her while kissing the life into her.

  How is this possible? How could his cool hands on the back of her neck send a spike of heat down her spine? How could his lips turn her heart into a ball of fire? And his body… Oh, that sinfully strong body. It radiated a potent mixture of masculinity and power. Rys was like an immortal manly soup that nourished her down to the tips of her golden hair.

  His mouth and hers moved in a sensual rhythm, and before she knew it, their bodies were mimicking the sensual motions of sex. Rocking and grinding. She reached for the front of his pants. He reached for the front of her damp frozen coat. Then they both paused and stared into each other’s eyes. No words. But she knew he was thinking the same thing: Where is this going? What does this lust mean? Do we actually give a crap?

  “Are you certain you want to do this?” he asked, his voice somewhere between tender and demanding.

  She suspected that what he really meant to say was “Do you really want a vampire touching you?”

  Even if he did not reciprocate the depth of her feelings, she wanted him. It didn’t matter how icky vampires were. This man was a god in her eyes. But not in a gross incestual way. More like a metaphor for perfection.

  “Yes. I want this.”

  He drew a breath, his lips only an inch from hers. “There is something I must tell you first, Colel. I think you should know before anything happens between us, because you’re not just nothing to me.”

  “Yes?” she whispered.

  Rys began talking, but her vision started blacking out. She couldn’t hear or think straight. Her light was dimming.

  Oh, for fuck’s sake. Really? Why had she removed her coat?

  “Colel? Colel? Where did you go?” Rys stood on the ledge of the ice-cold mountain, kissing Colel one moment and alone the next, her sweet scent of honey completely gone. “Colel!”

  Where had she gone? The worst part was she’d disappeared before hearing the entire story. Dammit. He needed her to know that he had not been entirely honest about his situation, mostly because he hadn’t been able to completely face it or make sense of it. Now, some of what she’d told him finally helped him to understand—especially the part about vampires getting sick and turning violent.

  What did confuse him, however, was how he’d found Colel tonight all the way up here on a mountain in the snow. He’d merely been standing outside his home, after escaping those men, and felt her presence wafting in the atmosphere. She was like a magnet that created an invisible pull deep inside him.

  What did it mean?

  What did she mean to him?

  With so many emotions swimming inside him, he couldn’t make heads or tails of anything. Tonight, he felt more anger, more rage, more desire and love than he’d ever felt his entire life. And I feel fucking hungry.

  A burst of icy rain slammed against him, nearly toppling him from the edge of the mountain. I need to get out of here. I need to get warm. And I need to check on Grandma.

  Words could not describe how grateful he was, knowing she was still alive, but she would be devastated to learn what she’d become. She loathed vampires even more than he did. They’d taken her only daughter—his mother. They’d destroyed their family.

  Whatever this solution of Colel’s was, he would have to pursue it. As soon as I find out where Colel went.

  Wait. It struck him. She’s a deity? It explained so much about her—the eccentricity, her incredible beauty, and their really strange conversations. Suddenly, he no longer saw her as this crazy bee woman but as a sexy goddess.

  The hunger scorching in his veins turned to a raging wildfire, consuming him from the inside out. I need to eat. He lifted his nose and caught the scent of something in the wind. Oh. Squirrel. Don’t mind if I do.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Zac, God of Temptation, and the angriest motherfucker on the planet, had called everyone he knew in the immortal community, only to come up empty-handed in tracking down Roen. “He was in Australia
last I heard.” “No, he’s in the UK.” “He’s heading to Canada.”

  “What is this guy doing, a world tour?” Zac grumbled.

  “It’s okay, Mr. Zac. Don’t give up hope.” Tula sighed from the edge of his waterbed. They’d decided to come back to LA after their failed attempt at getting married. Turned out, the chapel only married people dressed as ghosts, not actual ghosts. It had been a huge disappointment, but now they had to focus on cutting a deal with the mermen. Getting Cimil back was Zac’s only shot at making Tula whole again. Not to mention saving Cimil’s unborn children from hell. In a barrel.

  “No. It’s not okay. If I can’t locate Roen, then I can’t make a deal. If I can’t make a deal, then we can’t free Cimil, and we’re running out of time.”

  He wanted to wreck something or kick Cimil repeatedly in the shins or do something to get his frustration out. After all, this was her fault. All of it.

  “I hate seeing you like this. Would it cheer you up if we did that thing again?” Tula asked.

  “No.” He blustered. “I’m not in the mood.”

  “I could get naked this time?” she offered.

  “Thank you, Tula. Coming from you, that is a very generous offer, but I cannot waste a moment. I must free Cimil.” He pounded his fist down onto the bed. “Okay, let me see you naked. It might help me concentrate.”

  She giggled. “Well, we are practically married.” She stood from the bed and began unzipping the back of her dress.

  Why does that thing even have a zipper? he wondered. The dress had absolutely no shape.

  Suddenly, Tula froze.

  “That’s right, woman, show me how shy and proper you are,” he said, his voice already undulating with excitement.

  Tula’s eyes remained fixed straight ahead, just to the side of the black leather headboard.

  Why wasn’t she moving? “I’m waiting.”

  “Don’t you see what I’m seeing?”

  Zac twisted his body, but there was nothing. “No.”

  She slowly lifted her finger and pointed. “Minky,” she whispered. “She’s right there.”