Dark Pleasures

  © Copyright by Aja James 2018

  Dear Reader:

  I hope you will enjoy the third installment of the Dark Ones saga on the following pages (Book #4 in Pure/ Dark Series). You will soon see that much more is yet to come.

  Every story has many points of view, many different interpretations and versions of the truth. So what about the perspective from the Pure Ones’ POV? If you’re curious, check out the story that started it all, Pure Healing.

  Email me at megami771@yahoo.com to find out more. And follow me on https://www.facebook.com/AjaJamesAuthor and https://aja-james.blog/. I will have free chapters and other goodies on Book #5 Pure Rapture.

  And also check out Book 2, Dark Longing, and Book 3, Dark Desires.

  I love hearing from you!

  Enjoy!

  Aja James

  Glossary of Terms

  Blood-Contract: Contract by which a human Consents to surrender his/her blood (and sometimes soul) to a vampire for a promise in return that the vampire must fulfill. The vampire has the choice to accept or reject the Contract. Upon acceptance, he/she must fulfill the bargain or risk retribution from the unfulfilled human soul in the form of a curse. See also Consent.

  Blooded Mate: the chosen partner for each Dark One. Once the Bond is formed between two Dark Ones, it cannot be broken unless a third party has prior claim of blood or flesh. The third party can elicit a Challenge to one of the Bonded Dark Ones to obtain rights to the other. The Challenge is fought to the death. Save in the case of a successful Challenge, the Bond cannot be broken except through death. Blooded Mates do not need to take the blood and souls of others to survive. However, they must take blood and sex from each other on a regular basis, else they will weaken and eventually go mad and/or die.

  The Chosen: six royal guards of the New York-based Vampire Queen, Jade Cicada.

  Consent: a human’s willing agreement to surrender his/her blood (and sometimes soul) to a vampire.

  Dark Goddess: supernatural being who is credited with the creation of the Dark Ones. She is a deity to which Dark Ones pray. It is unclear how or whether she is related to the Pure Ones’ Goddess. See also The Goddess.

  Dark Laws: One, thou shalt protect the Universal Balance to which all souls contribute. Two, thou shalt maintain the secrecy of the Race. Three, thou shalt not take an innocent’s blood, life, or soul without Consent.

  Dark One: supernatural being who prefers to live in the night and who gathers energy and prolongs his/her life by feeding off the blood, and sometimes souls, of others. Dark Ones are born, not made. Sometimes confused with the term vampire.

  Decline: condition in which or process of a Pure-Ones’ life force depleting after he/she Falls in love but does not receive equal love in return. The Pure One weakens and his/her body slowly, painfully breaks down over the course of thirty days, leading ultimately to death unless his/her love is returned in equal measure.

  The Elite: six royal personal guards of the Pure Queen.

  Eternal Mate: the destined partner to a given Pure soul. Each soul only has one mate across time, across various incarnations of life. Quotation from the Zodiac Scrolls describing the bond: “His body is the Nourishment of life. Her energy is the Sustenance of soul.”

  Gift: supernatural power bestowed upon Pure Ones by the Goddess. Usually an enhanced physical or mental ability such as telekinesis, superhuman strength and telepathy.

  The Goddess: supernatural being who is credited with the creation of the Pure Ones. She is a deity to which Pure Ones devote themselves. She protects the Universal Balance.

  The Great War: circa 2190 B.C., the Pure Ones who had been enslaved by the Dark Ones rebelled against their oppressors en masse. At the end of countless years of bloodshed, the Pure Ones ultimately regained their freedom, and the Dark Ones’ empire lay in ruins with the members of the Royal Hive scattered to the ends of the earth.

  Nourishment: the strength that Mated Dark Ones take from each other’s blood and body through sexual intercourse. Once Mated, they will no longer need others’ blood to survive, only that from each other. Sexual intercourse is required to make the Nourishment sustaining.

  Pure One: supernatural being who is eternally youthful, typically endowed with heightened senses or powers called the Gift. In possession of a pure soul and blessed with more than one chance at life by the Goddess, chosen as one of Her immortal race that defends the Universal Balance.

  Shield: referred to as the base of the Royal Zodiac, wherever it may be. Not necessarily a physical location.

  True Blood: a vampire born of Dark parents. See also Dark One.

  Vampire: supernatural being who prefers to live in the night and who gathers energy and prolongs his/her life by feeding off the blood, and sometimes souls, of others. Contrary to prevalent beliefs (see Book 1: Pure Healing), vampires are both made and born. Some vampires are Pure Ones who have chosen Darkness rather than death after they break the Cardinal Rule. Some are humans turned by other vampires. Some are True Bloods that are born of a vampire mother or father, more accurately called Dark Ones.

  Prologue

  Hi again. It’s me, Sophia.

  It’s been a while since you heard from me, I know, you’re probably wondering where I’ve been…

  Or not.

  I mean, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m the least interesting amongst all of the beautiful, fascinating, kick-ass Pure and Dark Ones (or as my pint-sized protégée Benji would say “Elves and Vampires”) in my immediate circle.

  And me being me, an ordinary human college student playing at being Queen of the Pure Ones, well, I’m not terribly interesting in the grand scheme of things.

  After all, I’ve only lived a measly nineteen years, not a whole lot of living when compared to the hundreds and thousands that my Pure and Dark friends have experienced.

  I just finished up my sophomore year at Harvard (still have no idea how I got in, but thankfully, no one has filed any petition to kick me out yet) and about to start my summer internship at the MET in NYC.

  I’ll be helping to curate their long-anticipated exhibit on ancient Persia. Unlike previous exhibits, this one will focus more on the daily life of Persian men, women and children rather than artifacts from war.

  I love getting inside peeks to how people in ancient history lived, the clothes they wore, the books they read, the food they ate, their daily rituals and nightly prayers.

  Sometimes I feel like I’ve lived these lives despite my measly nineteen human years. And when I look in the mirror, I don’t always recognize the person that looks back at me.

  One small interesting fact is that I have a Pure soul. The soul of a long-lost Pure Queen.

  Which is why I was sought out and put upon the figurative throne at the age of seven. And the Dozen expects me to have my Awakening sometime in the near future because of what the Pure Seer, Eveline Marceau, divined from the Zodiac Prophesies.

  So I guess that means I have lived a few (or many, as the case may be) past lives. Because humans with Pure souls are generally Pure Ones who have died and are reborn.

  Pretty dizzying stuff, right?

  I try not to dwell on it. I’m focusing on surviving the last of my teenage years. I’m only a stone’s throw away from my twenties. Feels like I ought to suck it up and embrace my womanhood, take on more responsibility, act more mature, and maybe stop playing hours at the latest fighting games and empire building stuff online.

  Maybe finally get a boyfriend or at least finagle a first kiss.

  Okay, okay, I know what you’re thinking. How lame is this girl, who’s never been kissed! Never mind the whole hymen-still-intact thing.

  It’s not totally my fault, let’s be clear.

  First, it’s kind of difficult to meet a
nyone and strike up an acquaintance when one always has a slew of bodyguards at one’s side.

  Matter of fact, I’m here in NYC “escorted” by three of the most powerful ancient warriors—Inanna the Light-Bringer, Gabriel her Blooded Mate (and one of the fiercest fighters in Akkad from his previous life), and Inanna’s father Tal, who’s the legendary General harkening back to the time of the Great War millennia ago when he led Pure Ones to victory against their Dark suppressors and changed the course of history.

  Side note, Tal is extremely attractive for a male of his vintage. I’m rather in awe of him.

  Second, I have to be really careful on the dating front, because Pure Ones who have sex with anyone other than their Eternal Mate will die a slow, excruciating death within thirty days.

  Or, if given the choice, become Dark Ones who must live off of others’ blood to survive. It’s wired into the DNA. Probably the cost for remaining eternally youthful.

  If it were up to me, I’d probably just take the sex and the average human lifespan, if the tales Aella, my best and only girlfriend who also happens to be an Elite warrior, tells me are true, and all the romance novels I read with the scorching sex scenes are to be believed.

  And yeah, I’m still human, so the Cardinal Rule might not apply to me, but you never know.

  What if I have my Awakening and don’t know it (highly unlikely but who’s to say)? What if my DNA already carries the code for self-destruction just waiting to be triggered by The One? Or rather, the 3.8 billion or so of Not-Ones?

  And thirdly, perhaps most pertinent, I just haven’t met anyone I’d take that risk for.

  Well, maybe I have, but since he’s been AWOL for over a year now, I’ve determined to put him from my conscious mind.

  My dreams, on the other hand… he features more often than I’d like to admit in those.

  But enough about me. I started this conversation to update you on what’s happening more broadly.

  You’ll recall we battled (and won) against a devious vampire foe a couple of years ago—still don’t know whether it was a he or a she, that strange, evil, yet hauntingly beautiful creature—at great cost to our own. We are still searching for replacements to complete the Dozen.

  Progress has been made on the baby front though, as a means of repopulation, what with Isolde, Ayelet and Tristan’s daughter, Benji, Inanna and Gabriel’s adopted son, and now Kane (pronounced Kah-nay), Ryu and Ava’s son.

  I’m sure continuing the line of eternal races wasn’t what prompted the making of these babies (queue the eye rolling), but nevertheless, perhaps one day, one or all of them will choose to take on critical roles for their Kind, just as their parents have before them.

  As you may have guessed, we forged a temporary alliance with the New England Vampire Queen, Jade Cicada, and her Chosen warriors. Together, we investigated and successfully shut down an insidious fight club network that spawned right here in New York and executed the vampire traitor who led its expansion.

  But in both cases, our ultimate nemesis—or nemeses—remain at large, and we continue our hunt for them.

  Meanwhile, just because we settled things down in NY doesn’t mean fight clubs have lost traction elsewhere in the world. Following that trail has led us to a mysterious entity called Medusa. We’re relatively certain it’s a female, and she’s probably the mastermind behind all of the recent chaos and destruction.

  Leading the hunt for Medusa as charged by the Dark Queen is the vampire Chosen warrior Devlin Sinclair.

  I don’t know much about him, to be honest with you. But I’ve heard he has pretty wicked, impressive skills. Not quite sure what Aella meant when she put the wink-wink-nudge-nudge emphasis on that word when she talked about the Hunter.

  But I guess we’ll soon find out.

  Chapter One

  How did a two-hundred-thirty-year-old vampire find himself on a blind date with a human female cyber genius?

  A remote part of Devlin Sinclair’s mind pondered this question with immense curiosity and astonishment while the rest of him focused on the task at hand.

  “That seat is taken.”

  The Hunter of the Dark Ones flashed his most engaging and disarming of grins, nearly blinding the occupants of the nearby tables at Raoul’s with its brilliance.

  At the very least mesmerizing guests of the female variety.

  “Mith, am I right?” he called the woman seated before him by her encrypted chat room handle, knowing full well that her name was actually Grace Elizabeth Darling. Twenty-nine years old, single, and wanted by several government agencies for her cyber hacking skills since the age of twelve.

  She tipped her head slightly to one side and gave him a slow, meticulous, dispassionate appraisal from head to toe.

  As if he were the restaurant’s special menu for the evening, and she found every item on the list less than appetizing.

  “You’re not Azor Ahai,” she stated with absolute certainty.

  Devlin mentally rolled his eyes and stifled a sigh.

  No, he was not the Prince Who Was Promised, according to George R.R. Martin’s magnum opus A Song of Ice and Fire.

  He wasn’t even the man who used the name as his online handle in the chat room where he occasionally traded conversational volleys with Grace.

  No, Devlin Sinclair, Marquess of Hartington in his human life, was the royal henchman to the New England vampire queen, Jade Cicada.

  Devlin had, in the past few months, painstakingly insinuated himself into the role of Grace Darling’s chat room flirtation so that he could track the elusive cyber genius down in the flesh.

  “I am,” Devlin said presently, blinking his eyes with innocence and injecting a slightly wounded look into his countenance at her immediate rejection of his identity.

  She stared unblinkingly back at him, her expression unsmiling and devoid of any emotion.

  “I expected you to be balding and pudgy, and maybe a foot shorter,” she said.

  “There are no pictures of me anywhere, I made sure of that,” Devlin pointed out, though he knew that the real man was in fact as she described.

  He’d chosen to get closer to her through this particular identity precisely because the man suffered from extreme paranoia and took care never to leave traces of himself. Who better to impersonate than a ghost on the Net and an invisible man in real life?

  That, and the fact that he engaged in far more conversations and commanded more minutes of Grace’s time than anyone else in cyber space, where she lived for fourteen out of her sixteen waking hours each day, ostensibly as the work-from-home Enterprise Architect at the hottest new tech startup Zenn.

  It was a stroke of pure luck that Grace herself initiated this face-to-face meeting just as Devlin almost gave up on tracing her, though his own digital abilities were substantial.

  But not as good as hers.

  “I hacked some satellite images and filtered the distortion. I got one of you walking through Central Park while eating a Big Mac a couple of weeks ago.”

  There was no accusation or apology in her voice. She simply stated a fact and waited for him to refute or confirm.

  Huh.

  Devlin had to admire her resourcefulness, but he was not surprised. He would have expected no less given her skills.

  “I must have had some sun glinting off my hair that day, which you mistook for the bald spot, and I was bundled in a heavy coat, which probably made me look a bit…fluffier,” he suggested smoothly.

  “It was nighttime.”

  “How forgetful of me,” he corrected with another flash of teeth, but she didn’t seem the least bit distracted by their brilliant whiteness.

  “It was the light from the street lamps, not the sun.”

  She made no reply.

  Instead, she unhurriedly took her napkin from her lap, put it back on the table, pushed her chair back, slung a small backpack onto one shoulder and got up to leave.

  Devlin thought fast.

  “How is Miu-Miu?”


  She paused and looked up at him, her expression still a neutral mask.

  “And Antony and Cleopatra?”

  Devlin quickly glanced at his watch, quickly because he didn’t trust her not to disappear in a puff of smoke if he took his eyes off her for even a millisecond.

  “You don’t need to go home to feed them for another few hours. Let’s sit down and have our dinner, shall we? I, for one, am famished.”

  She stood there regarding him with that fathomless dark stare, and Devlin would have given half his considerable fortune to know what she was thinking.

  He read people very easily; it was one of his many natural gifts. But this woman was a Sphinx as far as he was concerned.

  Perhaps because in order for a human book to be read, there had to be emotional signatures, but in Grace’s case, there was only cold logic. Encrypted cold logic.

  Seeing that she was hesitant enough to at least remain stationary rather than dash out the door and disappear without a trace, Devlin pushed his luck further by walking around her and pulling out her chair again.

  “Please do take a seat. This is your favorite restaurant, isn’t it? It took some doing to get a reservation. I would hate to waste it.”

  He held his position for several seconds, one hand on the arm of her chair, one hand ever so lightly settling on her shoulder to guide her into the chair, while she considered her options.

  But really, any choice she thought she had was an illusion.

  Now that Devlin had seen her in the flesh, she would only escape him if he allowed it.

  The Hunter never lost his prey.

  *** *** *** ***

  It was the barely-there touch on her shoulder that decided Grace.