Brianna had just slipped into her paint smock, when the phone rang. Her date with Mastyr Keynes wasn’t until later, so she planned on getting in a couple of hours of work beforehand.
She wished Yolen hadn’t called, but she wasn’t surprised. The vampire wouldn’t give up all that easily. Right now, she’d just have to work at convincing him that it was over.
If only her heart didn’t reach for him, like a starved woman after a feast.
She opened her mouth to begin her speech about how he needed to forget about her, when she caught movement in the backyard. Turning toward the windows, she couldn’t believe what she was looking at.
“Yolen?”
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
“I have a wraith-pair in my backyard. But it might be all right. Keynes just arrived. He’s early for our date, though. Way early.”
“Brianna, listen to me. You’re not safe. Keynes isn’t who you think he is. Find a place to hide. I’ll be there in thirty seconds.”
“Yolen?” But he’d already hung up.
* * * * * * * * *
The moment had come and much to his surprise, Yolen was ready. The hell he’d let Keynes get his woman, dragging her into the pit of his life.
What he didn’t know was why Keynes had chosen this moment to make his move, though the why of it hardly mattered.
He closed his eyes and as though he’d been doing it forever, he opened up his mastyr vibration and let it flow, let it consume him. He was holding back no longer.
For a long moment, he felt as though the energy that burned bright at the very core of the Nine Realms flowed up through his feet, firing every cell of his body with power.
A tremendous vibration rumbled through him as he chose, in this moment, to embrace his mastyr calling.
Power rocketed through his legs and arms, physical power like he’d never known before. Yet, despite all previous resistance, the mantle felt oddly comfortable, like clothes he’d worn for years.
Opening the front door of his house, he launched into the night sky, racing across the river. He held both hands out in front of him, his internal guidance fixed on Brianna’s home.
* * * * * * * * *
Brianna set her phone on the table and watched as Keynes bounded up the brick steps and, without knocking, opened the back door, his eyes wild. She couldn’t make sense of what was happening, why the wraith-pair hadn’t attacked her, or why Keynes looked like a madman. “What’s going on and why are they here?” She gestured to the Invictus hovering in the air a foot above her lawn.
“The real question is why I’m here.” He held out his hand to her. “Come to me, Brianna. I know now exactly what you are. I didn’t at first, but I do now. We belong together, you and I.”
She shook her head, but at the same time, her feet moved of their own volition in his direction. “Yolen is coming.”
“He doesn’t matter. Your future from this moment forward is linked to mine. And you’ll know great power once you embrace all that you are. You’ll see.”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t you know? You’re a blood rose, destined to take care of me for the rest of our long-lived lives. There will be nothing to stop us. I have many friends in high places and great plans to rule this city. And one day, Bergisson as well.”
Her mind didn’t seem to be functioning right at all and she felt horribly confused as she crossed the wood floor of her studio. Part of her knew she was in danger because a wraith-pair floated in her backyard. The wraith even shrieked as her bonded vampire mate flipped an axe in his hand. And yet, the pair didn’t attack Mastyr Keynes. Why?
She glanced out the window, but he called to her. “Brianna, look at me. Pay no attention to them. They won’t hurt you. You’re to come with me. Now. You belong only to me. That’s what you want, isn’t?”
She nodded, then squeezed her eyes shut. “No, I want Yolen.”
“He doesn’t deserve you. Come, Brianna. You’re to serve me.” His voice held a commanding resonance that drew her close. “I’m a mastyr, something Yolen will never be.”
When she was within four feet, he closed the distance, slid an arm around her waist and pulled her tight against his side.
He smelled wonderful, like a fresh field of wheat and she relaxed against him.