Dark Flames (Blood Bound Book 6)

Chapter 21

She growled mentally. One thing was for sure… he wasn’t helping her. Her eyes roved over the surrounding area, seeing those that had not attacked. They too remained in the darkness, but unlike the Indian, they were under the complete power of the other necromancer.

The newly-awakened creatures that the shadow demons had touched in their race to reach her now rose, surrounded by an aura of evil. Tiara gritted her teeth at the darkness closing in and grew angry. Ignoring the shadow demons, she refocused her necromancy on the reawakened souls.

This time there was no dark aura around the wave of necromancy that she sent out toward them… only one silent request, ‘help me.’

Zachary looked outside the barrier in confusion when the new zombies and wraiths turned on the shadow demons. They were grabbing at the demons with bony fingers and hideously angry expressions. His eyes widened a fraction when he noticed several of the darkest shadows were being d**g back by things he couldn’t see.

“Holy hell, Batman,” Jason breathed, still touching Tiara and able to see what the others couldn’t, “The ghosts are fighting for us.”

“They’re what?” Zachary demanded.

Jason couldn’t take his eyes off of them. It was like a scene out of a really scary movie. “They’re grabbing the demons and dragging them off… can’t you see it?”

Zachary saw the shadow demons being pulled into the darkness. The only reason he knew for certain was the demons were clawing at the ground while moving backwards. Zachary couldn’t see the ghosts but he could see their handiwork.

Storm looked away from the demons and stared at Tiara with a deep frown. This was something new to him… Myra had never used her necromancy in such a manner before. It made him wonder what else Tiara could do that Myra had never practiced or shown to anyone. He would have to ask her later and see if she would give him any answers.

Feeding off Tiara’s necromancy, the residents of the graveyard had the power to keep hold of the demons even as the demons began ripping them apart. To the dead, this was their home… their resting place and it had been invaded by those that would harm the necromancer that offered them peace.

Finally, Tiara could take no more and stared at the Indian imploringly. She’d been wrong about him… Night Hawk could stop this if he wanted. “Can’t you feel their pain? Please… call them off,” she whispered with angry tears streaming from her eyes.

Night Hawk saw the tears and heard her plea. The very human part of him was touched by her show of emotion for the dead. She had been protecting the graveyard but he’d forced her to use the dead in a way to protect her and her warriors… almost the same way Craven was using the dead as protection. Her lesson had been learned.

Finally, Night Hawk raised his hand and the demons backed off, returning to the darkness. The remaining creatures slowly drifted away, once more returning to where they came from. The girl had proven that she was trying to rid the world of evil… evil similar to what had pulled him once more from his journey with the Great Spirit.

Craven had decided to let these people have the graveyard. If they could take it from his watchdogs, he would follow that ruling. Turning away from the group of people, Night Hawk stepped into the darkness and vanished from sight.

Now that everything seemed safe, Guy sighed in relief and dropped the magical barrier around them. He smiled thinking about the spell he’d used… honestly, he hadn't been sure it was going to work.

“Who was that?” Jason asked, still looking in the direction Night Hawk had been standing.

“Who was who?” Zachary asked noticing the way Tiara's cheeks had bloomed in color… and the way she was leaning heavily on Jason.

Tiara felt the rush of hunger claim her as she watched Zachary watch her. The fact that he was just standing there with an almost brooding expression made her remember he was only here because he’d been ordered to be. The thought was like a cold splash on her hunger and she wondered if maybe she could hold the hunger off for a while.

Jason pointed, “The Indian that was there a moment ago. Who was it?”

Storm frowned, “I saw no one.”

Tiara looked down at Jason’s arms still around her, “You saw him because you are touching me.”

“He was a ghost?” Jason asked skeptically.

Tiara shook her head as she turned within the circle of Jason’s arms to look up at him, “No, he wasn’t a ghost. However, I believe he has the power to be seen only when he wants to.”

“Or maybe no one else was paying attention,” Jason shocked himself by saying while glaring accusingly at the others in the group. He tightened his arms around Tiara, giving her the strength she needed in her weakened state. He was distracted from his rant when he felt her hands sliding up his arms in a caressing motion as she molded herself to his body.

Tiara could feel the ghosts calling to her from far away… it mimicked the way she had called them back to the grave. They wanted her to come with them, to join them in the afterlife. Their want was so strong that it was sucking the rest of her energy from her. She hadn’t thought the pull would be this strong and felt panic start to set in. She didn’t want to go… not yet.

Jerking her gaze back up to lock with Jason’s, she clutched at the front of his shirt. “I need you to help me stay.”

Jason let his gaze travel down her body and slowly back up. He could make out ghostly white hands reaching out of thin air, trying to latch on to her but so far the hands were going straight through her with no effect. Jason fisted his hand and the ring on his finger began to glow again. Somehow, he understood exactly what she needed and he felt himself harden.

His hand splayed over the bare skin of her back and he pressed her closer. “I’ll give you more than you need,” Jason promised.

Zach growled, “I’ll give you something,” and started toward Jason as fire leapt from his fingertips.

Storm was suddenly there gripping Zachary’s upper arm, “Don’t, it’s the ring making Jason want to help her. You might want to catch her.”

“What?” Zachary barely uttered before he caught on to Storm’s warning.

Storm reached out toward Jason just as the other man was lowering his lips dangerously close to Tiara’s. Storm then extended his other hand down to Guy, appearing to offer him help up off the ground.

Zachary’s eyes widened and he rushed forward as all three men abruptly vanished, leaving Tiara to fall on her own. He quickly took Tiara in the same hold Jason had less than a second before. The first thing he noticed was that her eyes were closed and her lips were parted… waiting.

Tiara felt the hunger as it laid claim to her body and couldn’t resist rubbing herself against Jason. She needed to be touched… wanted to feel every cell in her body come alive with the feeling. The hardness of him against her had her tilting her chin up and offering her lips to him. She closed her eyes and, for a moment, felt almost weightless before the arms once again tightened around her.

Her tiny hands gripped the biceps holding her so securely and she pushed herself closer to the face she could feel hovering over hers. That persistence was rewarded when hot lips descended on hers in a fiery kiss. Everything about him was so warm that her body ached to get closer… to become engulfed in it until she went up in flames.

Sliding her palms up his muscled arms to his shoulders, she twined her fingers around his neck before realizing that Jason’s long hair was missing somewhere in that equation.

Zachary groaned silently when her lips responded to his dominance and couldn’t help but slide one of his hands under her long hair to cradle the back of her head while she pulled at him, shifting to bring him closer. Though she may not have realized it, Tiara was making the most erotic mews in the back of her throat and the sound was hypnotic… making him want to hear more.

When her hands caressed the back of his neck, he felt her body stiffen slightly and knew she understood that it wasn’t Jason holding her. Releasing her from the kiss, Zachary pulled back just enough to watch Tiara open her passion-hazed eyes.

He wasn’t sure if he should feel an ego boost from the fact she had reacted that way to his kiss or angry that she thought it was Jason causing the reaction.

Tiara blinked in confusion and she felt her heart pounding hard inside her chest as fear attempted to seep in. She’d been kissing Jason… hadn't she? She made a soft sound knowing she hadn't really meant to pick Jason… the hunger had chosen for her.

Swinging her gaze around, she realized the rest of the team members were nowhere in sight and she was alone with Zachary. What she could see within the cemetery frightened her.

Some of the more powerful spirits had come back from the next world to show her the way home… the same way humans say a loved one appears before them when they are dying. Souls often become infatuated with a necromancer… they can’t help it. That’s why they try to take them.

She didn’t want to go with them and Jason had understood that… offered to help her… that’s why the hunger had chosen him. Seeing the souls come closer, she turned her gaze and refocused on Zachary. He might have thought he understood, but in reality he didn’t… he would never understand the fear she held at this moment.

“Where’s Jason?” she asked huskily and felt the cold air whisper across her lips, already missing the heat he’d offered. She watched, fascinated, when the flames began to gather in his eyes at her question and wanted the heat she could see inside him. If he wanted to… he could save her.

“Jason’s busy right now,” Zachary answered with a growl and tightened his arms around her once more. He felt jealousy rise in his chest before descending back down in a demanding kiss that took the breath from both of them.

Backing Tiara up against the tree behind her, Zachary once more cupped the back of her head in the palm of his hand to soften the contact with the smooth bark. Wanting… needing to feel her heat against him, he lifted her higher and pressed his knee between her thighs. Tiara’s responding whimper caused heat to pool in his groin and Zachary pulled her up to straddle his upper thigh.

She’d been looking at something still in the graveyard that he couldn’t see and it had frightened her. Zachary instinctively pulled her closer to his warmth wanting her to feel safe, even though at the moment… safe wasn’t what he was feeling toward her. If given a chance, he would devour every inch of her and leave nothing for the monsters to take.

Zachary raised his body temperature, sending out a spike of heat in an attempt to rid Tiara of all other thoughts except their entwined bodies. He deepened the kiss and promised himself that if anything came after her right now, whatever it was would burn in a fire hotter than the hell it crawled out of.

This time when he broke the kiss and pulled back to look at her, he was satisfied to see that she didn’t care where Jason was anymore. If he had his way, and in most cases he did, he’d be damned if Jason ever got that close to Tiara again… ring or no ring.