A Vampire's Battle Read online

  A Vampire’s Battle

  A Gritty Urban Fantasy Novel

  Raven Steele

  Ava Mason

  A Vampire’s Battle

  Rouen Chronicles Book 9

  * * *

  A novel by

  Raven Steele

  &

  Ava Mason

  www.RavenSteele.net

  * * *

  This is a work of fiction. Names characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  * * *

  This book may not be reproduced in whole or part, by mimeograph or any other means, without the permission of the Publisher. Making or distributing electronic copies of this book constitutes copyright infringement and could subject the infringer to criminal and civil liability.

  * * *

  Cover design by Covers by Juan

  Printed in the United States of America

  * * *

  Copyright © 2019 by Raven Steele and Ava Mason

  All rights reserved

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Also by Raven Steele

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  Other books by Ava Mason:

  I feel like a part of my soul has loved you since the beginning of everything. Maybe we’re from the same star.

  – Emery Allen

  Chapter 1

  A torrent of pain jerked me out of unconsciousness, red hot agony in my belly, silvery zings of pain at every nerve ending, my back aching as if layered with angry purple and sickly yellow bruises. The bed beneath me was hard and cold. Maybe it wasn’t a bed at all. Maybe I was still lying on a concrete floor where I’d passed out after seeing Detrand.

  I struggled to open my eyes, the thought of my former mentor giving me the determination to survive. I had so many questions.

  The most important being — was Mateo alive?

  My heart pounded, making my chest ache. A wave of emotions rushed through me, suffocating me. I feared the truth. My sacrifice would mean nothing if Mateo was dead.

  Tears sprang to my eyes and a moan escaped my throat, then it became a sob. I clutched my hands to my chest, trying to contain the flood of emotions filling my mind, but everything bubbled out like a storm unleashed.

  A hand touched my side, and I jumped, forcing my eyes open and wiping the tears from my cheeks. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the faint light burning from a slightly swaying bulb above me.

  “You’re alive.” A familiar face leaned over me. Detrand’s intense, dark brown eyes stared into mine, his brows furrowed.

  “Detrand.” I choked on new sensations, relief and comfort. A warm glow washed over me and a grin stretched my dry lips, making me wince.

  “Here.” Detrand quickly pushed something to my lips, and I parted them, the smell of blood filling my nose. “Drink. It will help.”

  The first drop of blood coated my tongue, and I struggled to sit up to drink more. Detrand helped me sit more comfortably, and I tossed the straw to the bed, then drank greedily from the large thermos. The movement created a tugging at my flesh. I paused drinking to stare at thin tubing leading from the crook of my arm to a nearby pole.

  “Careful or you’ll rip out your IV.”

  “Whose?” I croaked, my throat still scratchy, pointing at the blood flowing through the IV.

  His eyes darkened. “Samira, you should know I would never allow anyone else’s blood to enter your system except my own.”

  “Thank you.” Tears began to stream down my face again, and I tipped the cup to hide them, embarrassed at my show of emotion. After finally gaining some semblance of control, I rested my head against the back of a wooden headboard. I stared at the man who’d saved me, literally and figuratively, on more than one occasion.

  True to form, he still wore a custom tailored suit, and it looked strangely elegant in the dingy basement. Olive skin and dark brown hair and eyes reflected his Italian ancestry. Men usually cowered when they looked into those dark orbs, but I knew they were the eyes of the strigoi vampire who would do anything in his power to protect those he loved.

  And the fact that he was here with me, even now, showed the true depth of his compassion, reserved only for those he deemed worthy. He took in my skinny frame, my eyes still rimmed with unspent tears, and my chest that struggled for every breath. His eyes simmered with determination and anger.

  As if he would kill the very men who’d tried to kill me.

  I tried to distract him. “How long have I been out?”

  “This time, a few days.”

  “And total?”

  “Two weeks.”

  I groaned. It was too long. “Is Mateo alive?”

  The room was silent for a moment, and then he spoke, his voice gruff. “Focus on healing first.” He raised a sharp eyebrow at me. “Your emotions seem to have broken.”

  I choked out a laugh, unable to stop the sound from bubbling out. He was right, they’d been repressed for so long, I didn’t know how to control them now that they had been freed. The small smile on his lips told me he’d gotten the desired response, which was also to distract me, making my stomach churn.

  Had something terrible happened to Mateo?

  The last time I saw him, he had been close to death. A sharp pain cracked my heart, and my lips began to tremble again. What if he hadn’t made it? Fatigue covered me like a weighted blanket, but I fought off the urge to close my eyes. It might be awhile before they opened again, and I needed to know the truth.

  Pressing my palms to the bed and bending my legs, I used all my strength to push upward. My arms trembled at the effort it took.

  “I need to know if Mateo lives. Tell me.”

  “Careful,” Detrand said and looped his arm behind me. With one quick tug, he slid me into a sitting position at the edge of the bed. “Take your time.”

  “Detrand,” I breathed. “I’ve never known you to delay the truth.”

  His eyes finally met mine, his expression full of sharp lines and angles. “Mateo might live.”

  “Might?” My heart beat so fast, I thought it would explode from my chest. “What does that mean?”

  “Calm down, Samira.” He touched my shoulder. I suddenly felt a warmth infuse my body, and my breath caught. It felt like the sun, sparking and shining down on me, heating my skin. I closed my eyes, enjoying his touch. Detrand was a strigoi, vampire royalty, and had abilities most vampires did not. He could reach into people’s minds, make them see and feel things that were not
there.

  When I opened my eyes, I smiled affectionately at him, feeling much calmer. “Thank you.”

  He only grunted, glancing toward the door, and his hard expression softened. There was only one person in the world who could make that happen.

  Adelade appeared in the open doorway wearing a long, flowing dress. She looked as radiant as the first day I’d met her all those years ago. Her dark, black hair fell down in soft waves, and the emerald green of the dress brought out the bright blue in her eyes. They took in my badly repaired body. “I sensed you had awoken,” she said, smiling kindly. “There’s someone here to see you.”

  She left but returned a second later, pushing a wheelchair. Mateo sat within it, barely sitting up. He leaned awkwardly to the side, as if his spine was bent. His face was swollen and purple, despite the time that had passed. He could only see out one eye, but the look of agony that filled it broke my heart.

  Adelade pushed him to the side of my bed. My hand trembled as I reached for him. His fingers lifted and curled around mine.

  “I feared you were dead,” I said.

  His lips parted open. Even that motion seemed to cause him pain, and he winced. I couldn’t imagine how hard it must’ve been to get him into the wheelchair.

  “Vivo per te.” I live for you. Each of his words were full of raw emotion.

  I nodded, tears stinging my eyes. I lived for him also.

  “Why is he not healing faster?” I asked Adelade, but I kept my eyes locked with Mateo’s.

  She lightly rested her hand on his shoulder. “It wasn’t just the cutting he received. I believe they injected him with something beforehand that made his body humanlike. His vampirism has been returning, but it’s taking time.”

  Mateo’s eyes widened suddenly, and his whole countenance twisted into one experiencing great pain.

  “My magic’s wearing off,” Adelade gasped. “I should get him back.”

  My eyebrows lifted. “He’s in that much pain he needed magic just to get him here?”

  She nodded grimly. “I’ll return him when I can.”

  “No.” I jumped up, nearly toppling over, but Detrand steadied me. “I want him with me.” There was plenty of room in the bed for both of us.

  Adelade glanced at Detrand, who nodded.

  “Yes.” Mateo’s voice was weak, but firm.

  Detrand guided me to sit in his chair, then he bent over, and in one swoop carefully pulled Mateo’s body into his arms. Mateo looked so weak compared to Detrand’s tall and muscular form. It made my heart ache at seeing all over again what Korin had done to Mateo.

  The ache turned to fire, and the rage spread throughout me as Detrand slowly lowered Mateo to my bed. Mateo cried out in agony, and his tortured sounds filled the basement, shattering my heart into a thousand pieces. My chest heaved with a sob as I imagined all the things I was going to do to Korin when I had regained my strength.

  When Adelade held her hand out to me, I forced myself to calm down and accepted her help to climb back into bed next to Mateo. I slid under the covers so softly that Mateo barely moved with it. I held his hand gently, honing all of my focus on him. No matter how long it took, I would help him return to his former strength. Then we could get our retribution.

  “I love you,” I whispered.

  A slight twitch of his fingers around mine was all the response he could manage.

  “We’ll let you rest,” Adelade said, and they quietly left the room, leaving me with my pain, anger, and the love of my life.

  A few hours passed. He slept on and off with me watching over him. I felt the sun rise deep inside my bones but fought against its pull. Eventually, it was too much, and I dozed off. It couldn’t have been for long because when I jerked awake the ache of full daylight still plagued my body.

  Mateo lay next to me, his eyes staring into mine, and my hand trembled as I reached forward to touch his face, to feel his skin under mine. I had to know for certain he was truly alive and that this wasn’t a dream.

  His skin was cool, and he blinked, his eyes heavy, as my fingers caressed his cheeks, nose, and lips, then down to his chest. I pressed my palm close, feeling his beating heart patter across my palm. He struggled to move his hand, ignoring my protests, as he placed it at the nape of my neck, tugging on me. I squirmed closer, until our breaths mixed, until I could see every ounce of pain etched into his gaze. Until we were so close, we were almost one.

  He caressed my cheek with his thumb and softly cleared his throat to find his voice. “I never want to stop looking at you, passerotto mio.” My little bird.

  I swallowed down the knot in my throat, not wanting to cry again. It would only upset him. “I thought I might not ever see your beautiful face again.”

  He nodded. “I fought to live, for you.”

  I closed my eyes, the knowledge that he endured through so much pain just to live with me again nearly broke my heart. Tears streamed down my face, the agony I felt inside spilling out.

  He caught them with his thumb. “No, no, don’t cry. Hai dato un senso alla mia vita.” You have given sense to my life. “I am here now, and we are together.”

  I clasped his hand. “But you suffered for me.”

  His eyes darkened. “Do not think for one second that it is not worth every bit of pain, every drop of blood in my body to live for you. Tesoro mio, you give me life. It is because of my love for you that I have strength to breathe. You are my life, mi anima gemella. I would rip the world apart for you, to be with you. And if I died, I would do all in my power to return to you. Do not doubt what my love would do for you, because, passerotto mio, you are worth it.”

  The tears came faster now, and his arm encircled me, pulling me with all his strength into the warmth of his embrace. I cried in his arms until I had no more tears left to spend. And then we lay in silence, listening to the other’s breaths, each other’s heartbeat, until we both slipped under and slept.

  It took another week before Mateo could get out of bed without help, and the whole time was spent in each other’s embrace, talking, sleeping, just being together again. It was like when we first met, and could never leave each other’s arms. We knew the time was coming when Cassandra would force us to leave. She may have saved us from death inside that church, but that didn’t mean she wanted us to stay. I didn’t know what Cassandra wanted.

  Mateo was laying on his back, his arms behind his head, a thoughtful look on his face. My eyes were only for him. I lay on my side, studying the way his skin didn’t look so pale, the way his muscles were forming again. He turned to his side, facing me. His hand reached out, cupping my face in his tender hands. “Before we leave, there is something we must do, something that should’ve been done the moment I saw you again.”

  The desperation in his eyes, and the way they bored into me, left me speechless. My lips parted.

  “Mio amore, ti amo. I love you, and cannot live without you by my side. Sei la mia vita.” You are my life. “Will you share your blood with me once more, as we have in the past?”

  The blood bond. It was something done only with those you trusted a hundred percent, as your feelings, thoughts, and even dreams mingled with the other’s. When one was in pain, the other could feel it. You could hone in on their locations, if necessary.

  “I never want to be so far from you again,” he whispered.

  I gripped his hand, nodding, eyes wide, feeling so treasured and loved that he wanted this bond with me again. “If we had let go of the past earlier, I could have come to you the minute you needed me.”

  He shook his head. “I do not want you to unnecessarily risk your life for mine.”

  I scowled. “You think my life is worth more than yours? I would fight hell itself to save you, Mateo. I am yours, just as you are mine. I will complete the bond to you, but only on one condition.”

  His troubled eyes searched mine. “Whatever it is, I agree.”

  “That if you are ever in trouble, you will call through the bond to me. No
matter if you believe it will threaten my life.”

  He was silent, considering my words. Then he nodded. “I swear it, if you will do the same.”

  “I will.” I sealed my promise with a kiss. His hands clasped my back, pulling me to him and the world around me muted as I reveled in his lips on mine, his hands touching me, his chest pressed against mine.

  His mouth lowered, and his hungry tongue caressed my flesh as he traveled to the delicate skin on the nape of my neck. His teeth bit into it, making me moan as he sucked my blood into his mouth. Reacting on instinct, I rolled over on top of him and bit into his neck.

  My world blurred as Mateo’s blood pooled into my mouth, then down my throat, until I was drowning in his emotions. I felt his considerable physical pain and how hard he tried to hide it from me. I felt his regrets of not going to me sooner, of not killing Korin when he’d had the chance so many years ago, and of not watching over Faithe better. And yet, there was something else deep inside him, something that pounded and beat like a deep drum. It filled my whole body with its rhythm, pulsing and throbbing. It was so deeply entwined with his whole being that there was no beginning and no end. It was a fundamental part of him.

  And that was his love for me.

  It was the most beautiful thing I’d ever felt, and it brought tears to my eyes. It was magical, the deep devotion and heartfelt longing he felt for me.