Immortals After Dark 09 - Pleasure of a Dark Prince

years—to the day,
this
day. They said Garreth hadn’t moved on and accepted his responsibilities as king.
    They were right.
    “When will you believe he’s no’ coming back?” Uilleam asked. “Two hundred years from now? Five hundred?”
    “Never. No’ if I still
feel
he’s alive.” Though vampires had killed the rest of his immediate family, for some reason, Garreth still sensed Lachlain lived. “No’ if I feel it as I do now.”
    “You’re as bad off as Bowen,” Uilleam said, finishing his own bottle—and opening another.
    Bowen was Garreth’s first cousin, a shell of a man since he’d lost his mate. He spent every waking moment in agony, yet he wouldn’t accept the loss and end his life as most Lykae males would have in his situation. “No’ like Bowen,” Garreth said. “He saw his mate gored, saw her death. I dinna see such proof with Lachlain.”
No, I searched and searched and found… nothing.
    “Game on!” a demon called.
    Garreth shook himself from his memories, swigged whiskey, then mustered to the field with his kinsmen.
    Caliban bared his fangs at his opponents, a gesture Garreth returned as the teams huddled up.
    Quick snap. Ball in play. Passed to Caliban.
Garreth saw his chance, charging for him, pumping his arms for speed… faster… faster… He leapt for the demon, tackling him with all his strength.
    As they careened to the ground, a length of Caliban’s horn snapped off, and he bellowed with rage. “You’re going to pay for that, Lykae!”
    For miles, Lucia the Huntress had been stalking her night’s prey, growing increasingly perplexed when the tracks she followed led her closer to what sounded like a battle, echoing with roars and curses.
    Mayhem? Without inviting the Valkyrie?
And in our territory, too?
If beings were going to trespass in order to war, they should at least have the courtesy to invite the host faction to the conflict.
    When she came upon the battlefield, Lucia canted her head to the side.
Clash of the Loreans
, she thought as she beheld modern gladiators—not at war, but at play.
Immortal rugby.
    Winds whipped along the mile-long field, and lightning flashed above them, mirroring the intensity of the contest. It was like a ceremony celebrating… maleness.
    Lucia easily recognized the horned players as demons, and she suspected their shirtless opponents were Lykae. If so, then the rumors were true. The werewolves were in fact encroaching on Valkyrie territory. She was surprised. In the past, they’d kept to themselves, staying at their sprawling compound outside of the city.
    Congregating at the sidelines, Nymph spectatorstrembled with excitement, likely seeing this as no more than a mud-wrestling match between brawny heart-throbs.
    A ruthless hit on the field made Lucia raise a brow. Not at the violence—she was a shield maiden after all—but at the
unthinking
violence. Though these Loreans all trespassed, they were oblivious to an Archer in their midst, one who could inflict serious damage—very swiftly and from a great distance.
    Levelheaded Lucia, as she was now known, didn’t comprehend
unthinking
. But then she didn’t comprehend men. Never had.
    Luckily for them, the only violence she’d deliver this eve would be to her targets: two kobolds—vile gnome-like creatures—who’d been seen stalking human young to feed on.
    Her sister Nïx, the half-mad Valkyrie soothsayer, had dispatched her to these bayous to dispose of them. Lucia had asked Regin to join her, but she’d declined, preferring to play video games in the comfort of their coven over another “rain-drenched bug hunt.”
    Lucia had jumped at the chance. After donning a T-shirt and hiking shorts, she’d strapped on her leather thigh quiver, archer’s glove, and forearm guard. With her trusty bow in hand, she’d set out at once….
    Another brutal hit
. She nearly winced at the impact from that one—a piece of horn skipped down the field like a lost helmet—but she wasn’t surprised. Lykae and demons were two of the most brutal species on earth.
    Worse, one of those bare-chested males had caught Lucia’s attention. Completely. No matter how badly shewished otherwise, Lucia still noted attractive men, and as the teams skirmished, she couldn’t help but appreciate the power in his towering frame, his speed and agility. Though mud splattered his torso and a shadow of a beard swathed his lean face, she still found him handsome in a rough and tumble way.
    His eyes were a