She wiggled her butt away from his hand and frowned over her shoulder, her eyes still cloudy with sleep. “Where are we going?” she asked grumpily.

“South Dakota. I’m about to become an official vampire lord.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

South Dakota

SIDONIE FELT LIKE she was in a movie. One of those shadowy, film noir kind of movies, where all of the action takes place in the middle of the night, usually when it’s raining. So far, her night had all the hallmarks. They’d flown out of a dark, private airport outside Chicago, with no one around except for them and their flight crew. They’d landed in Rapid City and rolled away from the brightly-lit main concourse to a small, dark hangar on the side, where two SUVs had been waiting for them. The SUVs had drivers, but consistent with the night’s air of secrecy, they’d both gone in one of the vehicles with Kage and Freddy, while Travis took the wheel of the other and drove her and Aden, with Bastien riding shotgun.

There was no rain here in South Dakota, but there was snow. After a fairly mild early winter of nothing but snow showers, the real season was finally upon them. The snow was coming down heavy and hard, but the weather didn’t seem to bother anyone but her. Maybe because everyone else was an indestructible vampire who didn’t have to worry about car crashes. She leaned forward to peer between the front seats and out through the windshield of the SUV. Apparently, indestructible wasn’t the only thing vampires were. They could also see in the dark, because she didn’t see any gleam of headlights out there.

She sat back, her fingers finding Aden’s hand and squeezing—for her own reassurance rather than his. One would have thought becoming a vampire lord was a big enough deal to warrant some nerves, but Aden was completely relaxed. He leaned over and kissed the top of her head but didn’t say anything.

Sid didn’t know where they were going. Oh, Aden had told her they were going to visit Lucas Donlon, who was a vampire lord himself and currently ruling what was called the Plains Territory. It seemed Aden had worked for Lucas for, oh, about a century. A century! She felt like a toddler. Hell, her grandparents hadn’t even been born yet when the two vampires met. This was going to take some getting used to.

She stole a furtive glance at Aden, his profile clear in the glow of the dash lights. Yeah, that would take some getting used to, but he was worth it.

Anyway, Lucas had taken over all the vampires when Klemens, the bastard, was killed. In fact, she’d overheard a conversation between Kage and Travis that made her think Lucas had been the one to kill him. But whether that was true or not—and this part was difficult to understand—he held the lives of the Midwestern vamps as well as his own. Sid was still learning how vampire lords did their thing, but one thing she did know was that the connection between the lords and their vampires was very direct and very personal.

“Is it dangerous?” she whispered to Aden.

“What?”

“What Lucas is going to do to you tonight. Is it dangerous?”

He freed his hand from hers and put his arm around her instead, pulling her against his side. “Not at all. Tonight’s mostly a formality. You already saw the hard part.”

“You mean when you caused the earthquake,” she said confidently.

Aden huffed a laugh. “I told you, that wasn’t an earthquake. It was more of a concussive wave, like what happens with a pile driver.”

“Still made the earth move.”

“But, habibi,” he murmured in her ear, “I do that every night.”

Sid gave a surprised laugh, then covered her mouth with a guilty glance at the two vampires in the front seat. She didn’t argue the point, though. He certainly made her earth move.

The SUV made a wide, curving turn, and there was finally something other than darkness outside the windows. There were lights and . . . a barn? With horses?

Aden caught her puzzled frown and said, “Lucas likes horses. He breeds them.”

“Huh.”

“Here we are.”

The SUV slowed in front of a lovely and expansive house, all lit up with landscape lights that gave off a soft golden glow. Pretty. The front door of the house opened to reveal yet another incredibly handsome vampire.

Aden turned to Sid and hugged her close. “Remember, Sidonie, Lucas is a friend. No matter what you see tonight, no matter how bad it looks, I’m in no danger.”

Sid pulled back so she could look into his face, searching his eyes in the dim light. She had a thousand questions she needed to ask, but before she could ask even one, Bastien pulled open the truck door, and Aden was sliding across the seat and taking her with him. Almost immediately, they were surrounded by a whole bunch of vampires she didn’t know then hustled up the stairs and into the house.

“ADEN!” LUCAS’S greeting was predictably enthusiastic, though the Irish vamp had learned long ago not to try the hugging thing on Aden. They did a shoulder bump instead, gripping each other’s hands in a crushing hold, their shoulders slamming into each other hard enough to move a small house.

“Lucas,” Aden greeted him. “Let me introduce you—”

“And you must be Sidonie,” Lucas said before Aden could finish. He all but shoved Aden out of the way as he took Sidonie’s hand in his, holding it with studied care and bringing it to his lips for a gentle kiss. “I’m Lucas,” he purred, gazing at her over the pale curve of her fingers. “And I am thrilled to meet you.”

Sidonie gave Lucas a doubtful look, eyes narrowed and her chin tucked down. Her eyes cut to Aden with a look that said, What do I do now?

“Down, boy,” Aden growled and extricated Sidonie’s fingers from Lucas’s hold, before tucking her against his side.

Lucas’s eyes widened. “I never thought I’d see the day.”

“That goes for both of us. Where is Kathryn anyway?”

“My lovely mate is on the phone as always,” Lucas said, and Aden didn’t miss the emphasis on the word mate, which was a new development. “The FBI never rests,” Lucas continued. “But she’ll be joining us soon. Come on back to the office. We’ll get this business out of the way first.”

They started down the hall and were quickly joined by Lucas’s lieutenant, Nicholas.

“Congratulations, Lord Aden,” Nick said with a grin, offering the same kind of handshake as Lucas, albeit with less macho posturing.

As they strolled into the office, Aden leaned over and whispered in Sidonie’s ear, “Remember what I said.” He nodded to Bastien, who stepped up and slipped an arm around Sidonie’s shoulders, pulling her away to one side where they stopped in front of a wall of black and white photographs.

Aden gave her a final reassuring look, then mirrored Lucas’s move to the center of the room. There was a cluttered desk to his left, and a big leather couch to his right with a battered coffee table pushed off to one side.

Lucas stopped and turned to face Aden. “There’s no need to stand on ceremony,” he said in a rare moment of seriousness. “You know what to expect?”

“More or less,” Aden agreed. “I got a pretty good taste the other night.”

Lucas’s lips flattened into a wry smile. “It ain’t all roses and candy, but it’s a good gig.”

Aden shook his head, amused by his friend’s description. “Better than the alternative.”

“That’s true,” Lucas granted. “So, let’s do this.”

He offered his hand, just as he had earlier. Aden took it, gripping hard as they went into the usual alpha male contest, but then without any warning there was suddenly nothing usual about their meeting.

Aden’s gaze flashed up to meet Lucas’s as their hands seemed to fuse together, making it impossible to break their hold. Lucas’s eyes had taken on a golden gleam, getting brighter with every second, and Aden could feel his own power rising to meet him. The whole situation felt damn close to a challenge, and he fought to remind himself that Lucas was his friend, and that this was a willing transfer of power.

The air around them grew electric. Papers flew from Lucas’s desk, and pictures rattled on the walls. And still they clenched each other’s hands, their gleaming eyes meeting in a test of wills that neither of them was willing to concede. Lucas’s lips peeled back in a snarl as his fangs split his gums. Aden bared his teeth in a grinning response, his gums aching until his own fangs slid out with a growl.

Arm muscles bulging, their grip tightened, drawing them together until they were nearly chest to chest. Aden was a fraction taller than his former master, and far bulkier, but then, physical strength wasn’t what mattered here. This was about raw power, pure and simple, and the two of them had power to spare. The walls began to groan from the pressure, and Lucas hissed his displeasure.

His fingers squeezed Aden’s until they were both bleeding, until they crashed to the floor, kneeling together, hands still clasped before them.

“Aden, damn it,” Lucas finally growled. “Let. Me. In.”

Aden grinned, pleased to have made his friend ask, because hadn’t that been the entire point of this little display? Lucas was a friend, but he was also a rival vampire lord. Because when it came to vampire lords, there was no other kind. Lucas had clearly hoped to use his knowledge of Aden, and the loyalty between them, as a weak spot, a door to slip into Aden’s mind and force the transfer.

But he’d had to ask nicely instead.

With that thought, Aden opened his mind. The transfer started as a trickle, but soon became a flood, as the lives of thousands of vampires, every single bloodsucker living in the Midwest, roared into Aden’s soul. The onslaught was a far greater burden than he’d ever thought to bear, far greater even than he’d expected after seizing power the other night. But he took them willingly, soothing their fears as, for the second time in months, they found themselves with a new master. He welcomed them all, the ones who greeted his arrival with joy and the holdovers from Klemens, even the ones who would miss the dead lord’s depravity and utter lack of decency.