The First Secret

I knew we had only seconds before the hunters' keen eyes landed on us. I grasped the fingers that had been moving toward mine so seductively just a moment before, a primal urge to protect her surging up. She gave my hand a quick, tight squeeze. Her eyes wide as saucers. Somehow, she recognized the threat as clearly as I did. I didn't know how, and at the moment, it didn't matter. We'd both be dead if they caught us.

We crouched low behind the bar to stay out of view, meeting at the far end opposite the vampires now blocking the entrance. As I peered around the edge, a familiar gravelly voice rang out—Draven. Instantly, dread curled through my gut.

Draven and I had both served as guards in Queen Oralia's court, but we'd never been allies. Ruthless and sadistic, he took a savage glee in tormenting the enslaved mortals. I'd witnessed him drain blood slaves dry without pause, leaving a trail of broken husks in his wake. His methods of satisfying his twisted desires were even more depraved.

I knew firsthand just how monstrous Draven could be when unleashed. The things he delighted in doing, all under the guise of Queen Oralia's blessing. It sickened me even now to recall it.

He also held grudges eternally. As soon as Oralia turned her sights on me, he was only too happy to take up the hunt. If he found me again now, he would make sure my end was slow and agonizing. The ice in his stare left no doubt.

I felt Celeste's hand tighten on mine, sensed her tense readiness for action. My gut twisted with apprehension. I could feel her strength in her rip and her cunning was a given, but Draven was a force of brutality centuries in the making. If it came to a fight, either one or both of us could end up dead or worse. I had to get her far away from here, quickly and quietly. There was no time for questions or hesitation.

I met Celeste's gaze, suddenly more golden than green, trying to impart calm and caution. We would slip out the back and disappear into the night. Afterward, once we were safe, I could try to unravel the mystery that had landed us both in Draven's sights. But for now, escape was our only option. She gave me a subtle nod of understanding. Silently, we moved toward the rear exit, one step ahead of the monsters on our trail.

“Let's go!” I mouthed soundlessly as she met my gaze and nodded. I pulled her behind me as we hurried to the kitchen and a delivery door that led to the alley.

Bursting outside, the staccato beat of our footfalls echoed off cold brick as we plunged headlong into the fathomless dark. Seconds later, the pounding of the hunters' heavy boots and unearthly growls sounded behind us. We didn't bother to look back but took every turn and twist available on the maze of backstreets trying to disorient our pursuers. I knew we couldn't outrun them forever.

Spotting a recessed doorway, I pulled Celeste into the dark niche, pressing us both against the metal door.

The shadows were deep and black, the walls a gray-blue. The night was moonless with clouds covering the sky and blocking the stars, causing the shadows to be deep and black against the bricks. Sounds of traffic drifted into the space, helping to hide the sounds of our feet slapping on the pavement. Acting on pure instinct, I wrenched Celeste into a recessed doorway, pressing us both against the wall.

I tucked my face into her shoulder, my hands pressed into the brick over her head as I attempted to hide her fiery hair and pale skin with my larger frame, With our bodies pressed impossibly close, we held our breath. My entire body was alive, aware of every inch of hers. I was calling on my mind clouding abilities to try to hide us, not at all sure it would work on the hunters when I felt my power swell in a way I'd never experienced. A magic that I'd only felt once before enveloped us like a bubble of mist. This was Fae magic enhancing my own.

Seconds later, the hunters thundered past our hiding spot unaware. We waited until the last echoes of pursuit faded. Our chests heaved with the effort of our escape, and her breast seemed to swell against me. Every breath I took seemed to mingle with hers. I could feel every beat of her heart calling out to mine, encouraging it to join in. With the hunters gone, all that remained was a dazzling hum of escaped danger and my awareness of her pressed against me.

Relief warred with the simmering need inside me, the predator in my soul screaming to seize what Fate had placed within my grasp. Rational thought died a swift death. I couldn't resist the fire that burned through my veins. Our eyes locked, the magnetic force between us palpable. Our lips collided fiercely against each other, electric sparks leaping between us.

Celeste trembled with passion as our mouths moved together in unrivaled abandon. We clung desperately to one another, lost in an unbridled craving for one another, all questions forgotten. Our bodies fit together seamlessly, souls entwined by an unnamed force that transcended understanding. Danger still lurked around us, but reason had long since fled, replaced by an urge for one another that reached beyond understanding.

I claimed her mouth with fierce demand, savage desire overruling all else. I tasted the sweetness of her blood as my elongated fangs pricked her lip. My ferocity didn't seem to phase her and she answered my hunger with her own, fingers spearing ruthlessly into my hair. A growl of pure male possession escaped my throat. I wanted to brand her lips, her neck, the delicate line of her collarbone with my claiming mark.

We clung together desperately, forgetting everything else as time unwound. The rest of the world faded away. She clutched me closer, writhing, flame to my tinder. Our passion ignited into an inferno, searing through blood and bone. I was drowning, burning, shattering—and I wanted more. She was poison and antidote, destruction and salvation. I didn't know what this was she had unleashed within me, only that I would perish without it.

The sudden, discordant clash of metal against metal yanked us out of the fire of our desire, leaving us gasping. As we watched a skinny, tiger-striped cat leap from the top of a dumpster, reason slowly returned.

Taking in her face, I saw uncertainty flicker in her eyes. Her hands pushed against my chest, and as her body left mine, I'd never felt so cold.

I couldn't let her go like this. I had to learn more about her. She possessed some preternatural power to get past my vampire defenses, to make me forget all caution in her arms. And the hunters were still out there. If they had scented her, she wouldn't be safe.

Before she could flee, my hand shot out and grabbed her bare, upper arm. "Celeste," I whispered. "Wait…"

Her eyes narrowed, and she glared at me. "Let me go, Nick, before Draven comes back," she hissed.

Instead, my grip on her arm tightened. I could feel my eyes reddening, anger replacing the passion that had been there moments before. "And how do you know Draven?"

She wasn't going anywhere now. I needed answers.