Quench(5)

The Kind possessed all her ancestors’ traits. What made her people dislike and fear them was their ability to walk in daylight in the guise of their beast—or as the undead. No one understood exactly why the mixture of both bloods caused this phenomenon.

Alek had arrived before them and remained seated in a dark corner of the office. His emerald eyes bored into her. Somehow he’d managed to slip past her normal blocks and Viv had felt him a few times but she hadn’t been able to get in his head again. This trip to find the prince and his woman was not going to be an easy one. Not if Alek kept digging in her mind and glaring at her as if she’d done something unthinkable. Fucking cats. She should have stayed in Europe.

Law flashed from the seat and his head jerked toward Dace. “Goddamn it.” Viv turned in his direction. The amount of energy emanating from him meant he’d been in mental contact with the prince. “Phoenix is pissed.”

Viv knew the name well. The Siberian tiger was legend even among vampyres.

“For Chrissakes.” Dace’s teeth ground together, trapping a low growl.

“Seems we need to join our little brother sooner than expected,” Law said.

“What are you not telling us?” Viv rubbed up and down her arms as her body shuddered. Her eyes peered into the dark room to see Alek’s reaction. His eyes glowed red.

A shaft of lightning ripped through the silence. Fire lit on a practice form at the far end of the arena. The flames cast shadows around the walls as hurricane-force gusts blasted through the courtyard and blew up into the room with vengeance. Dust swirled through the study, followed by the strong scent of anger.

Shit. Now Viv understood everyone’s anxiety.

Phoenix wasn’t the devil but he probably knew him well.

Alek glared out at the small group on the balcony. “What Law didn’t tell you is that Phoenix will be traveling with us.”

* * * * *

Alek knew the instant the cat materialized in human form that he was going to take the brunt of his anger.

“You’re all jackasses.” Phoenix’s silver-gray hair billowed around his shoulders. He glared at Alek.

Fuck. He didn’t need this bullshit now.

“What in hell, Alek, you’re the leader.”

Alek felt all eyes on him. “I was stripped of the Reign leader title.”

“I’ll kill your ass if anything happens to a hair on Karra’s head. Understand?”

Could it get any worse? He’d spent half the night glaring at a vampyre who had him and his crotch tied in knots, a woman he could never make understand all that was happening in his life. And now this shit.

“Her mother ran off for God knows what reason and the prince, your prince, sent Karra as a warrior to protect her. None of that’s my business.” Karra was the daughter of the prince. She was not only a Reign warrior, she was wild and willful. “What did you expect me to do, Phoenix?”

Alek turned to Viv. Her mind was wide open. Shit, please tell me she is not going to interrupt Phoenix. Her discomfort pierced him like a knife.

Viv shook her head and before he could stop her, she spoke. “You guys really need to lighten up and get your asses moving.”

“Who the hell is she?” Phoenix didn’t deign to make eye contact with her yet.

His eyes pierced Alek with a deadly look as he waved Viv away like a nuisance. Did he smile? A blue arc of light left Phoenix’s finger and shot her way. It ignited a flash of anger in Alek’s gut. His teeth gritted together, holding in the hiss.

Finally, Phoenix turned to face Viv. “I smelled you a mile away. Vampyres. You reek of death.”

His fists clenched into tight balls. He had to sidetrack Phoenix before Viv said more. Alek, a Siberian tiger himself, was no match for the bigger cat or the man. No cat or vampyre was. Hell, nothing in this realm could touch him. Alek didn’t want her to tangle with the creature. An odd sensation slipped over his body at the thought of any one touching her. He shuddered in an effort to shake the feeling off.

“Like it or not…”

Before Phoenix could reply Alek put his hand up to stop him. “Let me finish. She’s the daughter of our prince, she goes where she wants. Karra chose to traipse off after her mother.” His eyes narrowed to slits. “You act like she’s mated to you.”

The temperature elevated in the room until it reached an unbearable level.

Alek’s hair lifted as electric energy blossomed into a mushroom cloud of dust, sending out shock waves of particles. Law and Dace retreated to a corner. Viv trembled but held her ground.

He had known the princess since she was a bare-assed babe. He’d trained her from a cub and Alek knew firsthand Karra had refused to give in to the Siberian tiger because he wanted her to step down as a Reign warrior.