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.
Aden absorbed their lives, their histories, until he thought he’d burst, until he thought he could bear no more, and still they came. And then finally, with a long relieved breath, Lucas’s gaze broke, and his chin dropped to his chest. His grip loosened as his hand slipped away from Aden’s to fall limply to his side.
With matching groans of relief, they both sat back on their heels, chests heaving with effort. The level of vampiric power thundering around the room dropped abruptly. Papers and pictures settled, albeit not in precisely the same places, and the walls ceased their groaning with only a few cracks to show for it.
Aden remained kneeling on the floor as he struggled to make sense of all the new feelings and needs filling every corner of his self. It hurt his soul to have them there. There was a constant tug of war inside him, between the person who was Aden and the vampire who was now Lord of the Midwest. He sighed tiredly and felt a gentle hand on the back of his neck.
“Aden?” Sidonie knelt next to him, her arm around his back as if offering him her strength and support, her cheek resting on his shoulder. “Are you okay?”
His arm reached out automatically, circling her waist and pulling her against him. He raised his head and met her concerned gaze, and he wondered anew that this woman loved him.
He touched his lips to hers. “I’m fine,” he murmured against her lips. “Better now that you’re here.”
She blushed hotly, her gaze cutting sideways to where Lucas still knelt far too close.
“Don’t mind Lucas,” Aden assured her. “I’ve tuckered him all out.”
“Fuck that,” Lucas growled right on cue and surged to his feet, as if ready to do it all over again.
But Aden had anticipated his friend. He grabbed Sidonie and stood just as quickly, taking two steps back to put some distance between them.
Lucas stared at Aden for a long moment, then huffed a laugh. “This definitely calls for a drink.” He looked around the office, which was somewhat worse for the wear. “Maybe we should have done this outside.” He shrugged. “Too late now, but let’s go down the hall. The booze is better, and, if I’m not mistaken, my Katie is waiting for me.”