Dark Solace (6 page)

“Sure,” Lash hissed. He made to withdraw from
me, but I held onto him.

He stopped pulling away. “What is it?” he
hissed, shifting uncomfortably.

“Do you know what Annabelle looked like? I
was curious.”

Lash eased out of my embrace. “Come with me,”
he said, taking my hand. He led me back to Devlin’s study, past the
bookshelves to a small recessed alcove in the far wall. There hung
a large portrait done in oil, illuminated with a soft spotlight.
“That is Dev’s Anna,” he hissed. “The only portrait he keeps out.
The rest are hidden away in his vault. He goes there sometimes to
remember her, but he’s stopped doing that so much since he met
you.”

I’d imagined Anna a goddess. Instead, I was
surprised to see she had not been traditionally beautiful. Her hair
was mousy brown, and fell around her shoulders in corkscrew curls.
Her eyes were also brown, a tad small, though they shone with
happiness. Her face was round, more than a little plump, which made
her look friendly and comforting. Her lips were a dark pink, like
mine, and not generous. At her throat was a gold choker with a
small golden bear with red eyes.

“I can tell by your expression that you
expected her to be prettier,” Lash hissed. “Devlin speaks of her as
if she was the most beautiful woman he ever saw, save you. She
wasn’t pretty, not by traditional human standards, at least. But he
loved her, loved her more than all of the other prettier women that
he might have had. The way he loves you, Sar. Though you are
beautiful, without a doubt.”

I didn’t know what to say. Lash seemed to
sense that. “Let’s go,” he hissed. “Or there’ll be no time for
sushi.”

We didn’t talk much as we drove to the
restaurant. I was thinking a lot about Annabelle; about what her
life with Dev could have been like. But once we arrived, Lash
ordered us a large platter to share, accompanied by a serving for
each of us of alcohol. As we were sipping, he casually mentioned
that he had gotten the newest
South Park
DVD. Soon, we were
lost in conversation like old friends. Which, in a way, we
were.

* * * *

When we got back to Hayden, it was close to
eight. “Go up and wait for him,” Lash hissed at the stairs. “And
you should change your clothes.”

Good idea. I didn’t want to smell like Lash
for Dev, even if the hug had been innocent. “Goodnight.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Lash hissed, heading
into the kitchen.

Was he hungry for dessert, or for another
type of flesh? Don’t think about it...

“Sar,” Titus said in surprise, emerging from
the cellar. He hugged me.

“Hi.”

Titus wrinkled his nose, and drew back from
me. “You smell of Lash.”

“I know. I’m changing my clothes,” I said,
irritated.

“Come below with me first,” Titus rumbled,
his eyes red. “I have something to discuss with you.”

Sigh. I followed him downstairs to the
basement. “What’s up?”

Titus spoke some words. “No one can overhear
us now.”

“What is it?” I asked, concerned. “Is
something the matter with Terian?”

“You tell me,” Titus rumbled. “You asked me a
while back about him, and I told you I thought he was the same. But
now I’m beginning to wonder.”

“I think the work that he and Theo does is
affecting him,” I said, after a pause. “He’s more powerful, too.
And he’s in love. That together explains his new bold
behavior.”

“He’s been asking about some darker spells,”
Titus rumbled, his eyes holding mine. “Spells that he would have
shrank from when I first met him months ago.”

I was tempted to tell him it was his own
black influence on Terian that had done this, but I wasn’t 100%
sure of that. I didn’t want to make Titus feel bad unless it was
the truth.

“Sar, do you know why he would want to do
darker magic?”

“I can only guess to protect the children or
to protect Sundown. Terian was never about power for power’s sake,
Titus.”

Titus nodded. “I agree. I just wanted to ask.
You are close to him.”

I wasn’t really, not anymore, but I didn’t
say that.

“I needed to know if he was changing.
Sometimes in half breeds, the demon side can overwhelm—”

“Titus, why are you telling me this?” I said
suddenly. “What do you want from me?”

“I want you to watch him,” Titus said
sternly. “When you visit Danial, make it a point to see him. He
hasn’t been visiting me here much lately, and I want to know if he
needs help. I can help him keep the demon part of him under
control, if or when it comes to that. But it’s easier to help when
you catch it early.”

I couldn’t deal with this on top of
everything else. Plus the very idea of Terian turning evil seemed
like something out of a comic book. So I just nodded. “Okay.”

“Thank you.” Titus moved to get up. “I
appreciate it.”

“Titus, why do vampires smell like earth?” I
asked, following him up the stairs. “They don’t sleep in a coffin,
or need any native soil that I know of near them.”

“The legend of the earth likely came from the
smell,” Titus replied, his attempted chuckle more of a bass booming
sound. “Or from some fanged idiot who forgot what time it was and
tried to bury himself to escape the sun.” He shrugged. “That does
work, if the hole’s deep enough.”

“But why that particular smell?” I
persisted.

“Most likely, the scent isn’t earth at all,
just some chemical mixture the human brain recognizes as earthy. I
can’t comment, really; vampires always smell like blood to me. I
don’t smell anything earthy about them, although I’ve heard others
say that was true—

It hit me suddenly who had smelled of earth:
Lash. “It must be from Devlin’s blood in the potion,” I said
aloud.

“What?” Titus rumbled, turning to look at
me.

“Lash smells like a vampire. That earthy
smell is stronger on him than it is on Danial or Dev. The Lust
probably activated with him because it recognized him wrongly as a
vampire instead of a weresnake.”

Titus nodded thoughtfully. “You’re probably
right. He’s been on that potion for years.”

“He said it caused him pain.” I bit my lip,
pondering. “Why does my blood take away Lash’s pain?”

“I’m not sure,” Titus answered, gazing at me
unblinking. “I would guess that whatever gives you the power to
give a vampire child life resides in your blood. It always comes
back to the blood, Sarelle. And yours is a mixture of half-demon,
and powerful vampire, similar to the most important parts of the
potion. Add to that your own mysterious ‘summer blood’ and your
plasma is probably more powerful than the potion Lash takes now,
even with Devlin’s newfound power.”

“Would it help him live longer?” I asked
bluntly.

Titus pulled me into the garage, and again
murmured the incantation to conceal our words.

“Lash told me about your blood,” Titus
rumbled as he finished. “When I told him not to take any of it, he
told me you gave him permission—”

I nodded. “Yes.”

“—
then he told me to fuck
off.”

“Sounds like him,” I said, smirking. “I
offered him some, but he said no.”

“Sar, beware of Lash,” Titus cautioned. “His
only loyalty is to Devlin. He cares about no one else.”

My hackles went up. “You’re talking about a
friend.”

“He’s not your friend,” Titus rumbled, his
red eyes glowing. “And your blood might have enough power to curb
his decline—”

I took a sharp intake of breath. “Then I have
to tell him, make him agree to—”

“No,” Titus growled. “Lash drained Tasha the
night he killed her. He’d do it to you.”

I got up abruptly. “Did you tell him this?
You didn’t, did you?”

“Of course not!” Titus retorted. “I told him
he had lived as long as he was going to. And he accepted it. He has
time left, though not much, respectively.”

“Then I’m going to tell him.” I moved to go.
“Now.”

Titus blocked me, heat washing over me like a
bonfire. “Sar, don’t tell him.”

“Titus, Lash never asked for my blood. He
only took it when I made him—”

And that last time, which didn’t count, not
really.

“—
when I offered it to him to stop his
pain, he refused. He’s not going to hurt me.”

“You tell him you can save his life, Sar, and
he won’t refuse,” Titus rumbled. “You remember this: if you throw a
drowning man a rope, sometimes you get pulled down with him.”

I shot him an angry look, and then went
upstairs in search of Lash. But he didn’t answer his door when I
knocked. Stymied, I reluctantly entered Dev’s room.

The crib was missing. Worried, I checked the
nursery, but there was no one there either, though the crib there
was in its normal place, the covers turned down expectantly.

“Serena had said Dev and Venus were both gone
yesterday,” I muttered, turning off the light. “You’re an idiot for
panicking.”

After using Devlin’s shower, I got some of my
clothes from Devlin’s dresser, and put them on. Waiting in bed
naked or even in a nightgown was too awkward after all this
time.

I sat down on the bed edge and waited. Nine
minutes after nine, the door opened, and Devlin came in.

Chapter
Three

Devlin saw me there waiting for him and
froze. My eyes traveled to his hand, still resting on the door
handle. The multicolored gold band gleamed on his ring finger. We
said nothing for some moments.

“Tell me you’re really here,” he said
finally. “That I’m not dreaming this.”

“I’m here,” I said softly. “Was Venus with
you?”

Dev nodded. “Serena is feeding her.” He came
closer hesitantly.

I enfolded him in my arms. He let out a soft
sigh of contentment. I was immediately overcome; memories of shared
passion singing through my veins, the heady aroma of his sweet
scent stirring my heart.

“I’ve really missed you, Love,” he said
finally, rubbing his scratchy cheek against mine.

“I missed you, too,” I admitted. “Come, sit
down.”

He sat on the end of the bed, beside me, then
took my hand in his. “Have you come back to me?” he whispered
hopefully.

What could I say? Yes, but only under duress?
I’d better phrase my words carefully. “Dev, I’m here to give you a
second chance. But things need to be different between us, if I do
that.”

He was silent, waiting.

“I understand you haven’t been with anyone
else—”

“How do you know that?” Devlin asked
suddenly.

“Lash told me tonight, while I was waiting
for you,” I answered. “He said you had chemical help.”

“Yes,” he affirmed. “It was misery at first,
but I got used to it. The drugs Titus brews even out my moods and
desires, though it’s still not—”

“You didn’t have to do that. We were
over.”

“We weren’t over, Sar!” Devlin said
forcefully. “We were just taking a break from one another. It
mattered that I show you I’d changed, that I wouldn’t make the same
mistake twice.”

I didn’t reply, averting my eyes.

“You don’t believe me?” He took his hand off
mine. “If you don’t believe I’ve changed, then why are you here?”
he said, looking at me searchingly.

He was suspicious. Shit. Think fast, Sar.
“Because I missed you.”

“That’s not it,” he said, getting to his
feet. He turned to face me, golden eyes flashing. “Don’t lie to me,
Sarelle.”

Shit! Quick, say something, anything!
“Because we have a child together, even if just saying that is
still a shock to me,” I said, gaining surety with each word. “My
father died when I was very young. I never got to know him. Theo
missed out on some of Elle’s formative years, when he was gone
missing. I don’t want that to happen with me and our daughter.”

Devlin sat back down beside me, and took my
right hand in both of his, caressing delicately.

“I’m here because our child should be able to
have her mother and father spend time together, and not be
reticent, or fighting, or not speaking.” I squeezed his hand. “And
because regardless of everything that’s happened, I meant it when I
said I loved you.”

Devlin said two words, but they weren’t the
ones I expected to hear. “Not enough.”

I looked at him in confusion. “What?”

“I was jealous, Sar. I had hoped that once I
had Oathed you, and I’d gotten the other Rulers to back off, you
would want to come and live with me.”

Surprise showed on my face before I could
mask it.

“I see your surprise. That hurts me. You have
spent all this time with me, and you still act as though I only see
you as some piece of ass.”

Whoa. “Hey, I never said that—”

“But you thought it,” Devlin retorted. “That
first day with you, when I told you I loved you, you looked the
same. Then months later, when we were at your house, when I told
you I wanted a life with you, you looked the same again. Surprised,
but not delighted. More wary, and ready to distance yourself from
me the moment you could.”

“Dev, it wasn’t like that—”

“It is like that, Sar! It hurts me to say it
out loud, but I might as well. I’ve got nothing left to lose.” He
paused. “I hoped that when we came back from the Gathering, you and
I could start a new life. I understood you better then, from
spending that week with you. I knew that you didn’t want to leave
your pets and your children, and I understood why you felt you
couldn’t come to me in Rio, though you wanted to. Things were
falling into place almost like magic. Theo was leaving you. We were
Oathed. You’d agreed to have my child.”

My life had been falling apart back then. I’d
never thought about Dev’s perspective.

“Then suddenly, Theo loved you again. Worse,
you loved him back. I knew then that you loved him far more than
you loved me, that you weren’t going to come and live with me here.
That I’d been deluding myself thinking that you ever would.”