Dark Flames (Blood Bound Book 6)

Chapter 11

“Keep that up and I will take us to a more private setting to finish what we’ve started.” Damon warned.

Alicia’s eyes lit up, “Please? The roof is always secluded.”

Damon smirked, “Minx,” he muttered before turning her around and ushering her toward the front door with an affectionate slap on the bottom.

He didn’t like leaving her alone with Micah but he’d be damned if he was taking her anywhere near those horny werewolves at Love Bites. He wanted to strike a deal with them and that wouldn’t happen if he was busy killing every wolf who looked sideways at her.

Alicia noticed that Micah had all the lights back on and was busy working when they walked in. Most of the shattered glass had been picked up off the floor and the heavy light fixture had been moved out of the way. A sawhorse was set up on the floor with a long piece of two-by-four propped across it. The loud noise of the electric saw echoed loudly in the acoustic room making Alicia and Damon wince.

Damon let his irritated gaze follow the long line of the power cord to the wall and nonchalantly walked over to the outlet. He couldn’t have brother dearest working when he was supposed to be babysitting his little sister. He pulled the plug and the saw went quiet making Micah look up with an annoyed expression.

When Micah saw Alicia standing inside the door, his face broke out into the kind of smile that made Damon’s eyes narrow.

“Hey sis,” Micah said and set the saw down. “What brings you here again so soon? Did you run away from your husband again?”

A clearing throat made him look over and smirk at Damon. “I guess that answers my question.”

Damon growled making Micah and Alicia laugh softly.

“Calm down big man,” Micah said. “Since you’re part of the family, it’s mandatory you get teased by everyone at least once a day.”

Alicia stepped out on the main floor, taking a good look around. “You’ve gotten a lot done since I was here last night.”

Micah shrugged, “Nothing better to do. Quinn and Warren are doing their thing over at Moon Dance and left this place to me.”

“What can I do to help out?” Alicia asked.

“You two are offering to help out?” Micah answered her with a question of his own.

“She is,” Damon corrected. “I’m leaving her here with you while I go take care of something that needs my immediate attention.”

Alicia raised an eyebrow having thought Damon was staying here with her. Her eyes narrowed realizing he’d had an alternate agenda all along. “I thought we were going to stop keeping secrets,” Alicia accused.

Damon smiled softly at her and tapped her lightly on the chin. “It’s a surprise,” he said. “I can’t very well surprise my new wife if I don’t have a secret or two… now can I?”

Alicia crossed her arms over her chest. “What are you up to?” she demanded and then gasped when Damon was suddenly behind her pulling her back against him in a tight embrace before dipping his lips to brush the shell of her ear.

“You’ll find out soon enough. Now, do you want to stay here… or go back to our bed?” the corners of Damon’s lips lifted in a satisfied smile when Alicia melted backwards against him and he caught the scent of her arousal spike.

Micah refrained from rolling his eyes and turning away from them. He knew they were mates but the instinct to rip Damon away from her was a slow learner.

“I’ll stay,” Alicia whispered and tried to pull away from him but Damon kept her caged in arms of steel for a moment longer. Liking the feel, she wrapped her arms around his as if to keep him there.

“I am leaving her in your care.” Damon stated looking directly at Micah… letting him see firsthand to whom it was she truly belonged. “Protect her until I get back.” Reaching for Alicia’s chin, he turned her face so he could place a scalding kiss there before exiting the club so fast that all they saw was the doors open and close.

Once Micah was sure Damon was gone he slammed his fist down on the bar. “Protect her until I get back,” he mimicked in a hostile voice. “You’d think I’ve never had to protect anyone before.”

“Speaking of which,” Alicia said, the blush Damon had caused now gone from her face. “I have a very big bone to pick with you dear brother. All those times you came to the boarding school to visit while I was growing up, you said you were teaching me how to fight.”

Micah froze and resisted the urge to take a step back.

“You were only pretending, weren’t you?” she demanded.

“Well,” Micah said with an expression of defeat. “I never thought you would need to learn that kind of thing. I only let you believe I was teaching you to fight but in truth it was just supposed to be fun.”

“You’re going to start teaching me to fight right now,” Alicia said with authority.

Micah’s eyebrows shot up into his bangs. “Say what?”

“You heard me.” Alicia growled wanting to be just as tough as the guys. “You’re going to teach me the right way or I’m turning around, walking right out this door, and explaining to Damon that you couldn’t keep a good enough eye on me.”

“You wouldn’t,” Micah whispered.

Alicia smirked knowing she’d just won her way, “Watch me!”

Micah sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Okay, okay, I’ll… teach you how to fight.”

Alicia hopped around in a circle, “Yay!”

Micah rubbed his hand over his eyes trying to erase the fact that she was being the little sister he’d never wanted to have a reason to get into a fight. She was so cute when she acted every bit of five years old. This was why he’d never really taught her to fight… how was he supposed to spar with something so cute?

“Okay, but drop the ballerina act or I’ll never be able to do this,” Micah instructed. “The first thing you have to realize is that if you’re going to fight someone, then you can’t be happy about it.”

“I must be angry at the target,” Alicia grumbled. “I got it.”

“And the second thing is always keep your eye on the enemy.”

Alicia blinked and he was gone… wonderful!

Chapter 6

Michael walked slowly through the big house that had suddenly become very empty since Kane went MIA. His only company now was Scrappy, who always came and went as he pleased. The little fur ball was currently following him around the house waiting for Michael to sit down somewhere.

When Michael finally took a seat on the sofa, Scrappy wasted no time in hopping up on his lap.

“So, what do you think, Dust Bunny?” Michael asked feeling more alone than he had in years.

Scrappy looked up at him with such an adorable expression that Michael couldn’t help but laugh. He was missing Damon as well… though he had to admit that he was missing Alicia just a little bit more than his brother.

Unable to take the silence of the house, Michael stood up and went to get his trench coat. Scrappy followed after him again, hopping up and down around Michael’s feet like a pogo stick. When Michael opened the door, Scrappy ran out ahead of him to the end of the walkway and waited by the street.

Michael locked the door and smiled when the Yorkie fell in step beside him. He could feel the malevolent energy in the air but ignored it for the time being. It was daylight and that alone was enough to make the most wicked of things hide and bide their time until the dark of night gave them back their freedom. Scrappy stopped occasionally to growl at something before trotting back after Michael.

It wasn’t long before Michael realized where he was going and was soon standing in front of Night Light. He could feel Micah’s energy inside the building along with another that he was very familiar with. A bright smile lit up his face as he strode up to the doors and pushed them open.

Once again Scrappy ran on ahead of him and right out onto the dance floor where Micah and Alicia were going through what looked like a knockdown, drag out brawl between the two of them.

“Is this a private sibling rivalry, or can anyone join in?” Michael asked.

Micah and Alicia stopped in mid-step and looked over at Michael. Alicia released a loud squeal and ran full tilt at Michael, hopping up on him to wrap her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, nearly toppling the vampire over.

“She conned me into teaching her how to fight,” Micah explained, though silently he knew Alicia could wipe the floor with him if she tried harder. He c****d an eyebrow at the way Alicia had wrapped herself around Michael. Someone was going to have to explain to his sister that she wasn’t five anymore and doing that to a grown man was hard on them in more ways than one.

Michael nearly groaned at the full body contact Alicia had granted him. She was Damon’s mate now and to stay in such close proximity for too long was sure to make Damon more than angry. He mentally smirked and wrapped his arms tightly around Alicia’s waist, making sure to press his face into her hair as he did so.

Micah strode over and reached out, grabbing Alicia by the waist. He gently lifted and pulled her away from Michael enough to set her feet on the floor and loosen her arms from around the vampire’s neck.

“That’s not the choke hold I taught you a few minutes ago.” He tried to make a joke out of it even though he could see the odd look in Michael’s eyes. It wasn’t a look of which Damon would have approved.

“On the contrary, that was a pretty good choke hold,” Michael laughed, suddenly in a much better mood. He lowered his lips to Alicia’s cheek and gave her a quick kiss making sure to linger for just a second too long, “It’s good to see you.”

Scrappy barked up at Micah then rose up on his hind legs next to the cougar. Micah grinned and kneeled down to rub the small dog behind the ears.

“You brought more company with you,” Micah said.

Alicia had perked up when she heard the bark and backed away from Michael. She couldn’t control the blush that rose up on her cheeks when she felt his hands slide away from her waist.

“You were teaching Alicia how to fight?” Michael asked ignoring Alicia’s reaction. That was the last thing he needed… but that didn’t mean he couldn’t flirt a little bit.

“Yes,” Micah growled. “I didn’t think the world would get to this point that I would have to teach my little sister to defend herself… much less fight back.”

Michael tilted his head just a little as he stared at Alicia, “with the right training, no one would ever be able to hurt her again. That sounds like a wonderful plan to me. Mind if I join in?”

Micah smiled and nodded, “Help yourself.”

*****

Boris sat at one of the tables in the main area of the club Love Bites with a deep frown on his face. Titus sat across from him with a matching expression with a mug of beer in front of him.

“All of them?” Titus asked.

Boris swallowed down his own beer before setting it on the table with a loud sounding thunk. “Because of the massive amount of demons that have been spotted on the streets, most of the clans have decided to make themselves scarce with the exception of Lucca and his werewolves. They’ve returned to the outer edges of the city and some of them are going as far as Mount Mitchell.”