Soul Mates: Sacrifice Read online

  "Peter?"

  I stopped and turned to face Logan. "You'd better not be coming to plead Caleb's case."

  "I wanted to make sure my position was clear where he was concerned."

  "Right. It was pretty clear to me that you don't think he was fully aware or responsible. But you know what? That's not something the rest of the coven is going to understand."

  Logan sighed. "My words and my meaning are not matching up."

  "Then by all means, please tell me exactly what you mean and stop beating about the fucking bush already."

  "Was he fully aware? No. Was he still responsible? Yes."

  There was more he wanted to say; I could practically see the thoughts whirling about in his head. "But?"

  "At any time, Caleb could have gone to Lucien – to Xander – and asked for help. To say, 'hey, I've fucked up and I need some help'. But he didn't."

  "And that makes him responsible." I rubbed at the back of my neck. This shit was giving me the worst kind of headache. "Did you see that in his head? Moments where he knew he was fucking up?"

  Logan nodded. "Several of them."

  That knowledge hurt more than I thought it would at this point. "I thought you needed to touch him to get these visions of yours."

  "That was before I knew you had a blood-bond with him in the past. There's not much left of it, but there was enough for me to find a way in."

  "Did he do it, Logan? Did he take Lucien from his bed? Did Caleb put him in that box?"

  "Do you really want to know?"

  "No, I don't really want to know that someone I loved and trusted and called a friend could do anything to hurt the most important person in my life. But I won't be able to think about anything else until I do know."

  He seemed to consider that for a moment. "He was there."

  "Logan…"

  "He never physically touched Lucien, but he did help take him from the room. And seal the box. And reset the grave stone."

  "And then came back here like everything was fucking fine."

  "But I can tell you that he was in pain—"

  "I don't want to hear about his goddamned pain." I shook my head and stared back down the empty hall behind us. "You were there, Logan. You saw Lucien when we pulled that box out of the ground. You saw what they did to him."

  "I know."

  "So don't tell me about Caleb's pain. I honestly think he hasn't had enough."

  Logan looked down and away, shaking his head. "I don't mean to say that what he did was acceptable, in any way, but I can tell you that his pain was real to him."

  "His pain isn't an issue. All that matters is that he fucked up and he has to pay for it." And in that moment, my decision was made. I wanted him punished and I wanted him to have to live with what he'd done. "If he's given an ounce of special treatment—"

  "You and Lucien will lose any and all respect from the coven," he said, looking up at me sympathetically.

  "And if Caleb gets off easy, then others might be tempted to…" I couldn't finish that thought.

  "I know it's hard to think of punishing someone you once loved – and still do, deep inside – for committing a crime so severe. But when you accepted your place at Lucien's side, it was no longer just about you and Lucien, but the coven as a whole."

  "Shit. I need to get upstairs. I've kept Lucien waiting long enough."

  "I understand. If you need me for anything, just call."

  "I'll keep that in mind."

  He caught my wrist as I turned to leave. "I like it here, Peter. Thank you for giving me a chance."

  "You've been very helpful since you've arrived. Some people don't believe that your showing up here when you did was a coincidence. They think it was wrong of me to trust in you so quickly." I patted his hand and pulled away. "Don't prove them right, Logan. Don't make a fool of me."

  Before Logan could say another word, I opened the door and walked out. The trip back upstairs seemed to take forever, but most of that was probably because other people were waking and starting to roam about the mansion. I nearly bumped into Silver as I rounded the corner leading to the private wing.

  He stepped aside with a small smile. "Hello, Peter."

  "Hey, Silver. How's it going?"

  "I'm not quite sure yet."

  "Because?"

  "I'm headed down to keep an eye on Caleb for a while. My night's going to depend on how well he behaves." He eyed me a little closer. "But that's where you just came from, isn't it?"

  I nodded.

  "So? What should I expect?"

  "Not much, I hope. I gave the order to have him bled."

  "I see..." He seemed to think about that for a moment. "It's for the best, I'm sure. Get as much of Cyril's blood out of him as possible."

  "And then see how he reacts," I added. "I'm not comfortable making any decisions until that happens. I know it's against coven rules, but—"

  "It's not if you believe he's been tainted. I may not think too highly of his ability to lead, but I have known him long enough to know when he's not Caleb." He patted my shoulder. "Have faith in yourself, Peter—in your ability to lead. You're doing a damned good job."

  "Someone once told me that humans were never meant to lead a coven of vampires. I think I've just now realized how true that statement was."

  "But you're not human. You haven't been human for quite some time. And you know what? Even if you were? I'd still think you were doing a kick-ass job."

  "Thanks, Silver."

  He nodded and stepped aside. "Give Lucien my regards."

  "I will," I said as I started past him. I paused, though, when I realized Silver had just come from that direction. "You weren't down here to see him?"

  "Uh…no. I was coming to see you."

  "Something else you wanted to talk about?"

  "No, no. It's all good."

  "You sure?"

  "It can wait until this is all over with." Silver inclined his head respectfully. "My lord."

  Silver had asked about some things in passing, curious about Lucien's thoughts. I knew he was excited about some of the changes we'd discussed. And more, I think he was anxious about the possibility of becoming the coven's team leader. He'd been leading by default, but I knew he wanted to feel more secure in what his place and duties were.

  Problem was, I'd yet to fill Lucien in on everything Silver and I had discussed.

  He waited until I nodded to walk away. Well, if moving that damned fast could be considered walking. My lord. That was something that was going to take some getting used to. It made me feel like some medieval fucking tyrant, commanding a host of servants.

  I continued on down the hallway and when I got to the bedroom door, I stood there for just a few minutes, trying to relax as much as possible. If I went in all worked up, Lucien would want to know details. At this point, I figured details were a bad thing to be giving out.

  A muffled cry sounded from the other side of the door, prompting me to get on with it and scan my hand to get inside. The light flashed green on the first pass and I opened the door, only to hear two of the most beautiful sounds in the world. Lucien and Xander both grunted and groaned, but I was sure there were two very different reasons for it.

  I couldn't see them from the doorway because of the curtains around the bed. Xander had apparently pulled them shut after I'd left. It was a habit of his; always wanting to sleep closed off from the rest of the world. About midway to the bed, I started stripping off my clothes. It wasn't until I got to my jeans that I realized I was still wearing Nikolas' boots.

  He'd come looking for them after he got a little rest. I was sure of that. The boots were his favorite and I couldn't see him leaving them with me for long out of fear that I'd take them over. I kicked them off and to the side, then stripped off my jeans. I made my way to the bed, but before I got there, I felt an odd prickling down my spine.

  The sensation was one I'd only felt once before. The night Nikolas had attacked me I'd gotten my first glimpse at
Xander's power. It was something I'd never forget.

  There was no reason, however, that I should be feeling it now. Xander kept a tighter lid on his powers than anyone else I knew. Lucien had never seen even a glimpse, as far as I knew. I quietly continued to the bed and drew part of the curtain aside. The soft light of the room filtered into the darkness around the bed.

  At first glance, nothing seemed unusual. But to someone who knew Xander, who'd felt Xander's power before – and knew how he felt about showing any of it – this was so totally wrong.

  Lucien was above Xander, feeding. With each pull, I could hear a groan of satisfaction. Xander was beneath him, legs spread, hips rocking up against Lucien's belly. His breathing was slow and deep, a grunt preceding each exhale. It was grunting that drew my attention—or rather the pulse of power that came with each one.

  Or maybe it was the way Xander was planting his feet on the bed and grabbing on to Lucien's shoulders as if he was about to push Lucien off and away. In the next second, Xander rolled Lucien to the bed and pinned him to it. Lucien struggled, arms flailing as he tried to push Xander off.

  "Xander!"

  I crawled across the bed, but when I touched him, he turned that power on me and shoved me back. The impact with the headboard knocked the breath out of me and I could only watch, struggling for breath, as Xander planted his palms on Lucien's chest and dropped all of his shields.

  Power exploded all around me. The sensation was nothing and everything like the night I'd been attacked. The power Xander had let slip there outside the hunting area – the power he'd shown me – was a slow, gradual reveal. This was all of that power magnified a dozen times and concentrated into one place. The air around the bed was alive, and the sensation of hot, sticky fur rubbed along my body, trying to find a way in.

  And I just wanted it to stop.

  I tried to get to Lucien, but it was as if the power created a physical barrier between him and Xander and me. Lucien bucked and gasped, body bowing, eyes rolling back in his head, his hair growing longer and longer. After a few moments, Lucien grabbed Xander by the shoulders and flung him away. Xander hit the curtain on the other side of the bed and fell to the floor.

  The silence was almost deafening. Or would have been if not for Xander cursing and Lucien lying there panting as if he'd just run for miles. I crawled to him, turning his head so I could see his face.

  "Lucien? You okay?"

  He opened his eyes and looked at me, licking a spot of blood from the corner of his mouth. Nodding slightly, he closed his eyes again. "If he does that again… I will kill him."

  I touched at his hair, confused, but wary about mentioning it. "You'll have to stand in line."

  Xander drew back part of the curtain and sat on the edge of the bed, but didn't make a move to come any closer. "I see how it is. Try to help out and I'm the bad guy?"

  I glared at him.

  "Trust me," Xander said. "You'll both thank me later. Nikolas will need to feed you tomorrow night, Lucien. After that, you should be back to normal strength."

  "Nikolas has fed me this way before." Lucien glared at Xander as well. "He's much better at it than you are."'

  "Maybe." Xander got to his feet. "I'm going to eat. Call if you need me."

  The door to the bedroom closed a few seconds later as Xander left and I looked down at Lucien. "You really okay?"

  "Fucking bastard."

  "I'm sorry."

  "He had no right."

  "Guess he thought he was helping."

  Lucien sighed and shook his head, clearly irritated as hell. "Helping me? Or helping himself?"

  That, was something I couldn't answer. For all Xander's pleading about me not pulling away from him, it seemed he was doing exactly that. Maybe I was reading too much into things; seeing things that weren't really there. Or maybe there were things going on with him that I needed to explore a little further.

  After all, Caleb was someone I had loved and trusted, too.

  Chapter Three

  After a while, Lucien nudged me with his elbow. "Talk to him when you get a chance. Find out what's up with his sudden…" He looked over at me, shaking his head. "I'm not even sure what to call it. Change of attitude? I do feel there's something going on."

  "For my sanity, I hope we're both wrong."

  He turned onto his side and kissed my forehead. "How are you feeling?"

  "Tired, but otherwise okay." I chuckled. "Wouldn't the better question here be: how are you feeling?"

  "Actually? I feel pretty damned good." He sat up a little, rubbing at the back of his thigh. "Leg doesn't even hurt."

  "Really?"

  Lucien nodded. "But if you tell him how much it helped me, I'll kick your ass."

  "Will you?" I leaned up and kissed him, shifting to straddle him as he lay back. "There are much more pleasant things I can think of that involve you and my ass."

  He groaned and caught my face between his hands, pushing me back just enough to look me in the eyes. "I need, lover."

  It hit me then, that when he'd said he needed as we connected in the dungeon, just exactly what he meant. Sometimes it wasn't all just about blood and feeding. I felt like an ass for taking so long.

  I worked a hand between us, fingers rubbing at the soft, smooth skin just behind his balls. "What do you need, baby?"

  His legs spread wide, hips surging up to try to get my touch a little lower. When I refused to budge, he nearly whimpered in frustration. "Need to feel you inside me."

  "That all?"

  I brought my hand up and spit on my fingers before sliding it between us again. I pushed two slick fingers into him and he gasped.

  "Oh, God." He clutched at my arms. "No. Need you to…"

  "Need me to what? Make you come?"

  He nodded, but there was so much emotion behind it that it just seemed wrong. He turned his head and rubbed his face against the inside of my forearm. "Need to forget."

  That stilled me.

  "What's wrong, Lucien? What happened?"

  "Dreams… Memories… I don't know which," he whispered. "Please don't stop."

  "Oh, baby."

  "It kills me to admit that I was…" He clenched his teeth, face contorted as if in pain. "I was scared. So scared that I didn't know what was real and what wasn't. Whether I was home or in that box just wishing I was here. When I woke—"

  "Xander was giving you a power feed."

  "It hurt so much, Peter. All I felt was pain and I panicked."

  I bent and pressed my lips to his. "I'm sorry I didn't get up here sooner."

  "You're here now."

  "I am."

  I pulled my fingers from him and rolled him to his belly. He resisted a little at first, but once I managed to get him over, he stretched out and settled. I kissed a long line from the back of his neck, down the length of his spine, enjoying the groans and moans of pleasure and the way he squirmed with the touch of my lips against his skin.

  "Peter, please, stop teasing."

  "Shut up, you know you love it."

  He growled and spread his legs a little wider. "You know what I mean."

  "Mmm…" I slid down and flicked my tongue along the crack of his ass, working my way down even further. He groaned and spread his legs even more, arching his ass up toward me. "Like that, do you?"

  "More!"

  I spread him open, pushing my tongue against his hole. He gasped and bucked, body shuddering hard. I fucked him with my tongue, enjoying the way he just opened himself up and begged for more. I moved over him and straddled his ass, rubbing my cock along his crease.

  "Inside me."

  "Are you sure, lover?" I teased him just as he liked to tease me.

  He reached back and pulled at my hip, growling in frustration when I swatted the hand away. I pushed into him then. The tight heat of him was almost overwhelming and I dropped my head to his shoulder, letting my teeth scrape his skin.

  He turned his head and I stretched for a kiss. The movement sent me
deeper inside him and he nearly bucked me off as he shoved back for more. I thrust into him over and over again, just fucking him slow and deep.

  I licked and sucked at the skin at the back of his neck, between his shoulders, wherever I could reach. He let out a long, low, rumbling growl.

  "Just like that. Just…"