A Destiny Revealed (5 page)

Dalia almost felt frumpy in the short jean skirt and tank
she wore.

“He is human fodder. Why do you pay him for something he
should give up willing?” Her voice had a slight accent that Dalia could not
place, but sounded vaguely familiar.

Dalia shrugged her shoulders. “You would pay for dinner at a
nice restaurant, right? It’s no different.” She tensed, keeping a wary eye on
the female as she moved closer.

“An interesting way of putting it,” the woman acquiesced. “I
did not imagine you would be such a soft touch.”

“You’re a whack job, and I’m leaving. Thanks for the dinner
conversation.” Dalia gave the woman a mock salute, walking backwards so her
back was not to this stranger. It was best not to let her guard down.

“You always did have a smart mouth, even as Maksim doled out
his little punishments to you.”

Dalia stopped in her tracks. “What do you know about
Maksim?”

“Maksim Pontis is dead.”

Dalia reeled from the news delivered in such a casual way.
She should feel some sort of relief but she felt… robbed.

She wanted Maksim dead, but by her hands. The last twenty
years of her life had been spent hunting to draw Maksim out. She told herself
each night she went out that she was helping people but inside she knew the
real reason she hunted. She'd dreamed and prepared for the day she would be
able to see Maksim again and exact the revenge she had plotted so
carefully.  

“How did he die?” She was unable to stop the question.

The female smiled and raised her eyebrows in challenge, not
bothering to answer. Dalia moved closer, the heels of her boots clicking,
giving away her impatience. “Prove that he is dead.” She stared the vampire
down.  Dalia gasped as a wave of power pushed her to her knees.  She
braced her hands on the concrete.

“I killed him myself. You’ve spent countless hours tortured
by Maksim, I’m sure you recognize the taste of his power.” The vampire stood
over Dalia, taunting her.

“Who are you?” Dalia shored up her mental barriers and tried
to fight through the female’s power.

“I am Nala, you may call me that, or master.
Doesn't matter to me.”
The vampire laughed and kicked Dalia
in the ribs.

The sharp pain allowed her to fight through Nala’s
compulsion. She exploded off the ground in furious motion catching Nala in the
face with her fist. She was caught by surprise and Dalia used that surprise to
land as many kicks to the vampire as she could.

Furious, Nala screeched and used her power to slam Dalia
against the wall. Dalia bounced hard and the impact dazed her. She briefly
wondered if anyone could hear the impact over the driving salsa beats inside of
the bar. She scrambled to her feet and went for Nala.

“Don’t think you’re going to come up in here and run this.” Dalia
extended her nails into claws. She swiped her hands across Nala’s torso tearing
through her shirt. Nala kicked out and Dalia barely dodged the wicked heel on
the end of her stilettos.

“You should learn your proper place.” Nala's teeth were
clenched in anger. She came at Dalia, feet and hands moving faster than Dalia
could follow. Dalia hissed as she took a heel to her shoulder.

She grabbed the next foot headed her way and used it to flip
Nala onto her back. “Bitch
please
, if Maksim could not
bring me to heel, what makes you think you will be any different?” Dalia raised
her feet to stomp Nala, but was once again slung into the wall by the vampire’s
power.

She slid to the ground and Nala was on top of her before
Dalia could get up. With a vicious look in her eye Nala swiped her nails across
Dalia’s throat. Panicked, Dalia stopped fighting and grabbed her throat.

Nala laughed and moved across the alley. Blood flowed from
Dalia's throat and the other various wounds Nala had been able to inflict. She
needed to get somewhere to heal, but first she had to escape.

“I didn’t cut you deep,” Nala scoffed, “I have no intention
of killing you yet. You should be grateful you're still useful to me or else
you would’ve been dead”

“Screw you lady, I’m not helping you with anything.” Dalia
voice was a whisper, her body weakening from the blood loss. She felt a small
degree of satisfaction that the other vampire no longer looked flawless. Her
clothes were dirty and ripped and bruises bloomed along Nala’s face.

“You act as if you have a choice.” Nala laughed and flounced
back over to where Dalia knelt on the ground. “I killed Maksim and absorbed his
powers. I’m your master now, silly girl.” 

Dalia grunted as Nala pushed her power through her again.
The fire sweeping through her body stole her vision and bowed her back.

“When the oracle contacts you we’ll talk further. One way or
the other you’ll learn respect, Dalia. I don’t have time to teach you now, but
trust me, I will make time.” Nala slapped Dalia one final time and teleported
from the alley.

Dalia closed her eyes and tried to gather the strength to
teleport from the alley.

Her eyes opened in panic.

She’d lost too much blood. Her powers would be drained until
she could replace what was lost. Dalia dragged herself to the side of the
building and leaned against the wall. Until her wounds healed she would wait in
the darkness of the alley. Hopefully the sun did not come up first.

BRON WANDERED THROUGH THE STREETS, hoping to catch a glimpse
of Dalia. He was a little lonely since he'd sent Little Lord to stay with
Zahra.

'Bron!
Get to Dalia now!'
Zahra called to him impatiently, the urgency in her voice spurred him.

He followed the directions she sent to him telepathically as
quickly as he could through the crowds. He rounded the corner of a cantina and
his beast roared to life.

 Dalia was slumped against the wall. Her long legs were
crossed under her, making her appear smaller, vulnerable. Her shoulders were
hunched forward, and her hair hung partially hiding her face.

Bron rushed to her side, fury momentarily blinded him. The
urge to kill whoever had touched her
rose
sharply, a
red haze descended over his mind. The feeling was so strong that he had to stop
and take a breath. 

Dalia’s head lifted at the flare of power his beast was
sending out and narrowed her eyes.

“Well now, this seems to be party central. Please tell me
you brought margaritas, no party’s complete without them.” Dalia’s voice was
small, but no less sarcastic.

Bron tamped down on his magic but could not stop his hands
from shaking as he reached to help her up. Her face was bruised and her shirt
tattered. Blood coated the fingers holding her neck, making it hard for him to
judge how badly she’d been hurt. The tight leash he had over his animal slipped
and he swallowed the roar that threatened. He closed his eyes as another woman,
another time floated through his mind, threatening to tear down his carefully
built control. When his eyes opened determination fired them, and the need to
help her, to save this woman beat at him.

 “How in the hell do you keep finding me?” Using the
wall as a crutch she struggled to stand.

Bron ignored her tone and took note of the panic in her
eyes.
“Polite as always.”
His hands skimmed her body searching
for any other wounds. He found cuts all over her body. “The wounds look like
they are healing.”

“I know they’re healing, I don’t need your help.” She pushed
against his chest.

Bron ignored her and pulled her closer to him. “They’ll heal
faster if you feed from me.” He saw interest flare in her eyes for one moment
before she squashed it.

“I don’t know you,” she scoffed.

“But you do know me, Dalia. We have been talking for months
now.”

She stiffened at the reminder.  “We haven’t been
talking. You and your girlfriend were doing all the talking, harassing me to no
end.” Dalia hissed as his fingers skimmed the wound on her shoulder.

“I suppose you knew the other guy you fed from this night?”
He ignored her jab. The scent of the male covered her and it brought out a
possessiveness Bron had never experienced. The thought of her touching another
male made Bron and his beast restless.

Dalia pushed against his chest again and this time he
allowed her to break free. She slumped down the minute his hands released her.

Bron grabbed her before she hit the ground. “Don’t be
stubborn Dalia. Take what you need. I freely offer it to you.”

“How do you know whom I fed from earlier?” Her eyes were
suspicious.

“It doesn’t matter, Dalia. Feed now and you can fuss at me
later.”

They watched each other for a long minute. Dalia's eyes
narrowed, mulling over his offer.

'Dalia, feed from Bron. I can feel your weakness. Don’t
be so stubborn'
, Zahra intruded on the impasse, her voice reaching out to
them both.

'Stay out of my head'
. Dalia pursed her lip, her
expression mulish. 

'Take care of yourself and take what Bron offers.'
Zahra ordered sharply.

Dalia huffed out an aggravated breath. Bron kept his face
blank,
she would have to make the choice herself. It was too
close to
dawn,
surely she wouldn’t be that stubborn.

 He saw the acceptance in her eyes and breathed a sigh
of relief. It turned to puzzlement when she grabbed his wrist. He snatched his
arm from her, offended. He tightened his grip on her and pushed her head into
his shoulder. He wanted her to feed from his neck and would accept nothing
less.

“I’m not feeding from your neck. It’s too intimate.”

He pushed her head back down. “I will not accept less than
you would give a stranger.” His voice brooked no argument. He thought of the
male she fed from earlier.

“I can easily control a stranger, besides I don’t trust
you." She pushed against his chest.

Damn, she cut to the quick. “I’m not budging on this,
Dalia.” He arched his neck. He felt her breath against his skin, and his heart
sped. He wondered if she could feel the power on the surface of his skin but he
couldn’t control it. His beast responded to her and he was having a hard time
fighting the impulse to push her against the wall and sink into her.

Dalia kissed his neck lightly, and he hardened.

She nuzzled his neck, a groan slipped out.

She licked his neck and Bron swore.

He wouldn't be able to take much more of her teasing. His
hands tightened on her waist as she bit him. The music, the conversation, everything
faded into the back as he felt her pull on his skin. Bron purred deep in his
throat, the intimacy of the act satisfied him deeply. It made him long for
things he had no right to ask for. Like being the only person Dalia fed from.
The feel of her mouth on his skin pushed those impossible dreams from his mind
and caused his body to harden more if that was possible. He closed his eyes,
reveling in the sensation of her body pressed against his.

Their power connected, melded and he felt Dalia brush through
his mind, searching, and sifting through his memories. One part of him was
ecstatic that she would voluntarily link with him. The other part of him
worried about what she would find. He quickly put a block over his thoughts.
Moments later she licked his skin.

“Tell your girlfriend that I don’t do threesomes,” she told
him saucily before disappearing.

Chapter 6

Exhaustion made it near impossible to stand as Dalia leaned
against her mother’s front door. She'd used the majority of the energy she
received from feeding to teleport. The sound of her mother shuffling on the
other side of the door gave her warning, but she couldn’t find the strength to
move as Isabelle pulled the door open. She collapsed on the floor at her
mother’s feet.

“Dalia,
mi hija
,” she gasped. “Can you make it to the
sofa?” Isabelle reached for Dalia’s hand blindly.
Literally.
Her mother was blind. Guilt kept Dalia upright, keeping as much of her weight
off Isabelle as they shuffled slowly to the sofa in the small living room.

“I’ll be fine, mama.”

“Rest for a bit.
We'll try to move
you before dawn.” Her mother placed a blanket across Dalia and moved to remove
her boots. 

Her heart was laboring. Remnants of Bron’s power flowed
through her body like little electrical currents. She was drunk with his taste
and she closed her eyes in remembrance. The little game she played of kissing
him back-fired big time. Her body tightened in arousal and her lips ached to feel
his skin.

She shifted on the sofa and poked at the wound on her neck.
The skin was knitting, healing, which was a relief. Her mother may be blind but
she would be able to tell that her daughter was bleeding. Isabelle shuffling
feet announced her movement in the kitchen and Dalia relaxed. She would listen
to her mom and sit there until dawn. Hopefully she’d be able to move by then,
the thin curtains covering her mother’s windows offered no protection from the
sun.

“Here Dalia, drink this.” Isabelle's voice jarred her. Her
mother brought a steaming mug to Dalia’s hands.

“What is this?”  It smelled soothing, the chamomile her
mother's favorite. There was a hint of something else in the tea. The heat from
the cup felt good against her hands.

“Something for your injuries, it will help them heal
faster.”

Dalia held the cup inches from her mouth and watched her
mother. Isabelle stared at a point across the room, her eyes seeing nothing.

“How do you know about my injuries?” Dalia's grip tightened
on the cup.

Isabelle turned to face her daughter and reached to touch
her face. “Just because I'm blind
hija
, does not mean I don't see what's
going on around me.”