Page 3 of Darius

“Miss?”

Mara whirled to see two burly men wearing Nightfall polos standing behind her. “What is happening? A man dragged me out of line to that van and tried to force me inside. Then someone rescued me.”

The two men exchanged a look. They must think she was crazy. “I’m not making this up!”

“No, miss. Surveillance noted a problem and sent us to check out the situation. Let us take you inside to make sure you’re not hurt,” one said quietly. “I’m Brandon and this is Troy.”

“Brandon? Could you walk me to my car? I’ll go home,” she asked as her body shook from a delayed reaction to the stress.

“It’s not safe for you to drive right now. Come with us. We’ll get you to your car and house safely,” Troy promised.

“I guess I could do that,” she agreed, understanding they were right. She wouldn’t be able to concentrate on the Friday-night bustle of traffic.

“Thank you. Can you tell us your name?” Troy asked.

“Mara. Mara Eliot. I work at the bank. I came here to talk to Darius Spanos. Why couldn’t he just take my call?” she asked as tears poured down her face.

“Let’s go see if we can find him,” Brandon suggested.

“I’m likely to punch him after this,” Mara warned, wiping her face dry as she gathered indignation around herself like a suit of armor.

The two security guards exchanged a look and laughed. Not a mean sound, but one of pure amusement. “Now, I really want the two of you to meet. I’d pay a weekend’s salary to witness that. Let’s go through the back entrance. I think you've dealt with that line enough today, don’t you?” Troy said.

“Amen,” Mara answered sarcastically. In the back of her mind, she wondered why that man had chosen her from all those in line. Was it random or was something darker happening? She wrapped her arms around herself in a reassuring hug as she allowed the men to guide her inside.

Chapter

Two

Marcus stepped in front of Darius, who reared back. He was ready to tear the vampire’s head off or die trying for interfering. He needed revenge. “Whoa! We need to get some information from this guy before you shred him to pieces. Don’t you want to know why he tried to abduct that woman?”

Had Marcus put his hands on Darius, the confrontation would have resulted in blows and injuries. Darius glared at him, struggling for control. He’d started wearing gloves after he’d listened to the first message from the woman who identified herself as a bank employee. His skin prickled, rejecting direct contact with anyone. The leather allowed him to function through the dampened discomfort.

After his encounter with that woman, he’d struggled to regulate the violence that bubbled from his soul. Darius shook his head, signaling to Marcus that standing down wasn’t likely to happen. “She felt right, Marcus.”

“Dude, you’ve got it bad. We’ve got to test Mara’s blood. You’re still wearing your gloves. Did you touch her directly?”

“She’s my mate,” Darius growled before spitting out. “No testing needed.”

Marcus swore a long string of curses in an ancient language. “And that stupid fuck tried to kidnap her. I was already going to kill him. Now, I’ll make his death long and painful.”

Marcus didn’t make promises lightly. The clan had captured the man who’d dared to threaten someone on vampire territory. He wouldn’t leave with a pulse. Darius wrestled with the bloodthirst that challenged his control.

“I get to rip off the arm that held her,” Darius stated flatly. He wouldn’t negotiate.

“I’ll give you that right. After, we’ve gotten some information from him. You’re after the name of the man who’s threatening her, right?” Marcus asked.

“Yes,” Darius said through his gritted teeth.

“Let’s grill him now,” Marcus suggested. Completely at ease with his fuming clan member, the head of Nightfall’s security force turned to lead Darius into the soundproofed room Marcus had insisted on adding to the building plans.

Darius’s blood boiled at the sight of the man seated in the middle of the pitch-black room. A hood covered their captive’s drooping head, but he lifted it as Darius and Marcus walked inside. Other clan members leaned against the walls, keeping their attention on the nude man bound to the wooden chair with duct tape. His hands drooped limply from pulverized wrists.

“You made an extremely poor decision to threaten one of our patrons with a knife. I see my staff has already ensured you’ll never hold a weapon again,” Marcus said. His completely emotionless tone seemed to affect the man more than harsh threats.

“You don’t understand, man. I came to pick that woman up. She’s no one. Not worth your time,” the jerk said through gritted teeth that revealed the pain he battled.

Marcus flung a hand up to grab Darius as his clan mate headed to correct the captive’s mistake. That woman was definitely someone. Important. Darius’s protective instincts blazed hotter at the insult. “Not yet.”