Page 12 of Unholy Gambit: Checkmate in Blood (A Paranormal Halloween #5)

No sooner had Aury sat down, Axel leaned into the car, his face inches away, his lips touching hers, opening her mouth, claiming her. His cool hand cradled her cheek, coaxing, deepening, oh-so-gently holding her in place. Her heart raced, her pulse thundered in her ears, in her clit .

Sensory overload. His tongue in her mouth, and she tangled hers with his, determined not to be the fumbling virgin who’d never been properly kissed, though that was exactly the right definition for her.

Her hips squirmed. She squeezed her thighs together, wanting relief. Heat pooled low in her belly. She wanted friction. Pressure. Wanted his mouth on hers forever, and maybe other places, too.

Axel’s lips pressed hers farther open, delving deeper into her mouth, commanding. Consuming. Her lips tingled, her skin flushed, and her nipples ached under her bra. He wasn’t just kissing her. He was invading. Owning.

Possessing.

He finally drew back, giving her a half-dozen gentle kisses, sweet, dizzying contact that somehow made her even more breathless.

Her lungs pulled air in like she’d been forced to climb stairs. Her pulse raced. Her body thrummed.

He gazed at her from eight inches away, and her entire body pulsed with want.

Then, slowly, he kissed the tip of her nose.

She nearly melted on the spot despite the cool temperature.

His hand settled heavy and possessive on her thigh while the other reached for the seatbelt, his body angling over hers to click it into place.

The heat of him surrounded her, pressed in from every side and he completely filled her senses.

Every motion was slow, sure, leaving her stunned all over again, breath caught between the searing imprint of his kiss and the weight of his touch.

When she was secure, he closed her into the car, walked around, and slid into the driver’s seat like nothing had happened.

Without saying a word.

She stared ahead, stunned.

I think I’m speechless. She telepathed while he pulled out of the parking space.

He chuckled, and even that went straight to her clit. “Saying it, even telepathically, means you aren’t speechless.”

“You did it then , when I wasn’t expecting it, so I wouldn’t have a chance to get all worked up about it, didn’t you?”

“Once again, you so easily figure me out, when you aren’t even in my head. I’m going to have my hands full with you, my darling Aurélie.”

“You can drop me off at the front door to Ruby’s apartment complex. It’s a nightmare to find a spot if you don’t have an assigned space, and I’m already parked in her second one.”

“No, I need to come inside and talk to you and Ruby. I have someone holding one of the parallel spots out front.”

Sure enough, as they pulled up, someone drove out of a parallel parking spot, and Axel expertly angled into it.

“How did you manage that?”

“I hired someone local to do so for me. How I found this person is one of those things I can’t explain just yet.”

Aury had texted Ruby to let her know Axel was coming up with her, you never know how soon Ruby might strip her makeup off and put her pajamas on.

She unlocked the apartment door and stepped inside, Axel right behind her.

When they were both through, she flipped the lock automatically.

Ruby was already home, curled on the couch in sweatpants and a long-sleeved shirt, hair twisted into a messy bun, but her makeup still flawless. Casual, but not unprepared.

In an instant, her friend leapt to her feet, her Chinese takeout box left sitting precariously on the sofa, chopsticks still clutched in one hand.

Ruby didn’t speak. Didn’t blink. Her whole body froze, statue-still, spine straight, shoulders tight.

And then her eyes changed. A missile locking onto a target.

Aury had only seen Ruby give this particular glare a handful of times during their twelve-year friendship, and what came next was never pretty.

And yet, this was sharper.

Aury’s stomach dropped.

“I blocked you from scenting me and recognizing what I am earlier,” Axel said calmly. “Your friend has now been oathed. You’re free to share with her, when you couldn’t before.”

Aury blinked. Once. Twice.

His words started a chain reaction in her mind, conclusions firing off in rapid succession until they aligned like a chess strategy pulling into shape with a singular focus — Ruby wouldn’t know what he is unless she already knew about supernaturals, whatever she is had known he’s a vampire the second he walked in, and he’d fucked with her mind to keep her from recognizing the truth.

Aury focused in on the core truth: Her friend was some kind of supernatural who’d immediately recognized a vampire the second she saw him, when her mind wasn’t being fucked with.

Aury’s chest tightened and ached, betrayal spiking hot and sharp, too fast to brace against.

“I was trying to figure out how to tell you!” Aury blurted, turning fully to Ruby. “And you’ve had this huge secret all your life that you never told me!?”

Ruby scowled at the chopsticks in her hands like she didn’t know how they’d gotten there, tossed them on a side table, and crossed her arms. “I’m an eagle,” she snapped. “And your asshole vampire just forced me to admit that to you when I don’t have permission.”

Aury’s pulse thudded in her ears. A fucking eagle ?

Ruby glared at Axel again. “If you’re lying about her being oathed, I will find a way to end you.”

“No,” Aury said quickly, swallowing the swirl of emotion that wanted to turn her whole body inside out. “I did the blood thing with him, and then tried to write about it, and couldn’t.”

The memory of the oath clicked into place — the taste of wine, the strange pull in her gut when the magic took hold. Had Ruby been oathed? She said she didn’t have permission, though. Was it different, for her?

“Okay then,” Ruby said. “First off, I’m glad I can finally talk about it. But second…” Her eyes narrowed, brow creasing. “What are you doing with a fucking vampire?”

“He’s the one who rescued me, when I was five.” Aury’s voice softened. “It’s him. I recognized him right off the bat. I still just have the dream memories, and not the real one, but he’s going to show the entire event as soon as we can work out a time to do it with Dr. Woods present.”

Ruby’s mouth drew tight, her forehead lined with concentration. “What does it mean that he can do this in front of Dr. Woods, do you think?”

“That he’s some kind of mythical creature, too,” Aury said without missing a beat, because her brain was still screaming eagle . “Wait, do you really shift into an eagle? Can I see?”

Ruby gave her a weary look. “Yeah, but not now.” She turned to Axel. “What are your intentions?”

“I fell in love with Aurélie when she was five years old. Not romantic love back then, but between two souls. I fell in love with her as a person, as a living being — so smart, so brave. I’ve kept track of her as best I could from an ocean away, and I’m the one who put the suggestion into her father’s head that he needed to get his family away from Europe and into a small-to-mid-sized city in the United States.

I knew it would take her from me, but I needed her to be safe. ”

“What attacked her mother?”

“Celrau. Standard protocol was to kill all humans who witnessed it and burn the house, so there’d be no fang marks in soft tissue, no way to know how much blood was missing. I found a way to save them.”

“Why did he drink from her arm instead of her neck or torso?” Ruby asked.

“She. Female Celrau. She wanted the Fae blood, but there were some homophobic thoughts in there. I didn’t delve too deeply.”

“Wait, it was a woman?” Aury asked. “I remember it being a man.”

“I’m aware, and that wasn’t my doing. She had short hair and was dressed in all black. Children aren’t used to seeing women as the enemy.”

“Maman told the police it was a man, too.” It’d been a man in both her memories and dreams.

He nodded. “I didn’t want the two of you to have conflicting memories. I molded yours as closely as possible to what you thought you saw and then made hers line up with yours.”

Her logical mind kicked in. With special magical vampire strength, women were probably as strong as men.

He must’ve read her mind again, answering thoughts before she voiced them. “With supernatural strength, gender is functionally irrelevant. Of the half-dozen scariest vampires I’m aware of, not necessarily the most powerful, but the most brutal, four are female and only two male.”

“You’re one of the males?” Aury asked.

A tilt of his head. “Not in my mind, but when others put that list together, I’m often on it.”

“Gavin, Kendra, Etta, so I suppose of the three scary ones I know of, two are women,” Ruby looked at Aury.

“Two used to live here but have moved away. I’ve never met any of them, but the supernatural world is full of gossip.

There’s a non-vampire who’s just as scary, and she’s a woman, too.

Rumor has it she even tortured Gavin, once. ”

Ruby narrowed her eyes at him. “I haven’t heard of an Axel, but odds are, you go by a different name when in other countries.”

“I’ve most recently been known as Ankabut, often shortened to Anka. When Aury was five, I was Arané. Before that, Demos.”

Ruby's face reflected the kind of horror that lives in the pit of your gut and the darkest corners of your mind, the monster who does unthinkable things, so bad he can't possibly be real — like Freddy Krueger had just stepped into her living room, dragging a bloody blade down the wall as he walked, smiling like she was the next name on his list.

Aury’s heart dropped cold and hard, like it missed a step on the way to her stomach and landed in her feet.

She turned to Axel, throat tight. Not for answers, but because her instincts had flared, and her friend looked like prey cornered by something that shouldn’t exist.

She didn’t speak. Didn’t breathe.