The Nexus was busy—the moment I walked into the building, I could tell that the explosion had hit home and everybody was up in arms, probably trying to pinpoint exactly who had been destroyed. The receptionist motioned to me.
“Lord Roman’s waiting for you—he asked me to send you right in.”
I nodded, heading toward his office. As I entered the room, he was leaning against his desk, reading through some e-mail on his tablet. He glanced up, his eyes pale as moonlight. I didn’t wait for him to acknowledge me, I just slid in beside him and he wrapped one arm around my waist and gave me a light kiss on the forehead.
“What’s the damage?” There was no use going over what had happened—we both knew the story.
“We’re up to twenty-nine missing and presumed dead. We’re following up on the names now, but I think it safe to say that most of the vamps were in their beds. The entire complex is still off-limits due to the zone still being so hazardous, so we’re setting up emergency sleeping quarters in the basement here for the rest of the residents. I’ve called in extra security for the day from the Supe Militia to guard the Nexus during the light, when we cannot.” Roman seldom raised his voice, but at his most calm, he could be his most deadly. “We will find the culprits and they will be punished . . . our way.”
I nodded. The courts wouldn’t dole out justice on our behalf, and I wasn’t going to argue him on this point, or mention it to anybody else. “Where are my troops for the city?”
“In Training Room Two. But, before you go, a kiss. I’m leaving in an hour or so to visit Mother to discuss the situation—well, your situation, and this situation. I’m not sure what she’ll say, but I’ll bring home the point that Shadow Wing won’t stop at destroying humans, that he’s going after anyone who opposes him.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck and leaned up to kiss him. As he set the tablet down and pressed his lips to mine, the weight of the world seemed to settle around our shoulders. But his lips were cool and passionate, pulling me deep into the darkness that surrounded our lives. I let out a soft moan, wanting him—wanting to reaffirm the dark hunger that rose whenever we were together. He shifted slightly, and I could feel his erection pressing hard against my thigh.
“Do we have time?” My voice was barely a whisper, but he nodded.
“We will make the time. In this world, you have to take what you want and fight for what you have. And at times, you grasp hold of the joys when and where you have the chance, because the Hags of Fate like to fuck with us all. They’re all too willing to shovel us up on a sacrificial platter.” He swung me around, grabbing my wrist. We headed out the French doors to the gardens beyond. With a gesture to one of his security officers, he motioned for her to fall back. She gave him a curt nod in return and disappeared into the shadows.
We were in a secluded and gated area, heavily wooded. The moon was up, still round enough to shed silver beams down through the foliage. I pulled away from him and a slow smile filtered across my face. Time to hunt, to play, to tear through the forest and give in to the bloodlust. I tagged him on the arm—“You’re it!” And then I was off.
I scaled the tall fir next to me, swinging from branch to branch with ease, paying no attention to the limbs and needles sweeping across my face. As I reached twenty feet up, I leaped for the next tree. Roman—true to our rules—gave me a sixty-second head start. But then he was on the move, heading up the other trunk. We had developed an odd set of rules for our game of chase, but they worked for us. No shortcuts allowed—at least not for the first few minutes. No turning into bats or anything else. Simply, we took parkour to a level no breather ever could.
I flipped through the air to land on a branch, steadying myself as the soles of my boots found purchase. I was sixty feet up now, still scaling toward the sky as I went. Douglas fir trees—which were actually false hemlocks and not true firs—were common through the Pacific Northwest and easily soared up to several hundred feet.
I scurried up, using the branches as a ladder, until I found one sturdy enough to tightrope out on. The next tree was about fifteen feet over, and I crouched, coiling my muscles to spring. As I went flying through the air, I missed the branch I was aiming for and went freefalling down, but only about ten feet before I caught hold of another. I swung my feet up to catch the limb and within seconds was crouching in the new tree. Roman let out a laugh from a few feet lower down on the tree from which I had just jumped.
“Catch me if you can!” I taunted him, tossing him a kiss.