“Oh, and Jess…”
“Yes?”
“Watch your back over there. This is a dangerous game we’re playing. People are dying, and the end is far from over.”
Jess was silent for a few seconds.
“Are you still there?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said quietly. “Don’t worry about me. I also have a few tricks up my sleeve.”
“I bet you do,” I smiled. “I don’t know how close or how far away you are from all of this, and I don’t want you to ever tell me where you are, but please do watch your back. Keep covering your tracks and contact me if you need anything. You’re a special person. I’m here if you ever need anything, and I mean that. Don’t hesitate if you think something is out of place.”
“OK, Aeron. You watch your back too. Don’t worry about the stone. I’m on it.”
“Thanks, Jess. Hope to hear from you soon.”
I hung up the satellite phone. The night breeze was blowing softly off the lake’s surface up to the bow of the yacht. I thought I’d be out if I closed my eyes.
I walked back along the deck to meet everyone else.
“Aeron,” Ember said as I walked in. “The boat that was trailing us has suddenly turned around and headed right back to port.”
“Coast guard?” I asked.
“We’re not sure,” Ember said. “The crew will be on double watch tonight. No need to worry.”
“That’s good news,” I said, feeling safer. “Where exactly are we?”
Ember looked out the wall of glass into the night sky. “We’re anchored approximately five miles south of the Canadian peninsula, Long Point. We can get to a number of ports in a hurry if need be.”
I repeated most of my conversation with Jess, leaving out the sentimental part at the end.
“Just keep this information as quiet as we can for now,” I warned. “We don’t want it falling into the wrong hands. We’ll give Jess a few hours.”
“We should get some rest while we wait for more information,” Kasiah suggested.
“Aeron,” said Rain. “I have a few questions. Maybe tomorrow we can talk about Shadow Vampires. I’d like to learn as much as I can. Anything that may help me remember who I am and where I came from.”
“Definitely,” I said, jumping at the chance to learn more about Rain’s unknown past. “Any information I have about vampires is yours. You’re a truly unique creature, even for your kind. I would be honored to help you.”
“Get some rest,” Rain suggested. “We can talk tomorrow. I’ll head up to the bridge and take the late watch so the crew can get some rest. It may be a long day tomorrow.”
Rain walked toward the door, stopping long enough just to whisper something in Ember’s ear. Then, he gave her the warmest embrace I had ever seen. I’ve been watching them, and I don’t think they’re a couple. I feel he loves her as a sister, and he would do anything for her.
Rain disappeared through the doorway.
Aerona and Morgan said their goodnights, then left to find their cabins for some much needed rest.
“Thank you so much for your hospitality,” I said to Ember.
“And thank you for coming to my rescue,” she replied. “Atmoro is a problem for all of us and our way of life. If he succeeds in releasing the Forgotten Shadows, it could destroy my world as well as yours. Fate has brought us together. We’re in this with you.”
“Please don’t hesitate to wake us if you need anything,” I said, grateful for her support, “especially if that other vessel returns.”
“Good night to the both of you,” Ember said. “It was a pleasure meeting you both.”
“The pleasure is ours,” Kasiah smiled.
Ember smiled and followed Rain out.
“Well,” said Kasiah. “I suppose we should get some rest, assuming I can relax enough to close my eyes.”
“I know what you mean,” I said, staring out into the darkness. “I have so many thoughts running through my head right now. I think the only way I’ll get some rest is if I can convince you to strike me over the head with a large, blunt object.”
Kasiah looked around the room. “I’m afraid everything in this room is far too expensive to be broken over your head,” she joked, her lips forming a beautiful smile. “We may have to resort to beating it against the wall.”
We both broke out in a laugh. Kasiah’s humor turned out to be just as attractive as the rest of her.
“I miss her,” Kasiah said, her smile changing into a frown.
I knew she was talking about Amy, but I didn’t know what to say. I don’t think I could handle losing Aerona the same way Kasiah had lost her sister. My sister has been my best friend for as long as I can remember. Just the thought of anything happening to her sends a chill down my spine. I can’t imagine what Kasiah was feeling knowing that she put Amy into the situation that took her life in such a horrible way.
I don’t think words were what Kasiah was looking for. I reached out and pulled her close, and she placed her head on my shirt to hide her newly formed tears.
“We’re going to stop him,” I assured her, holding her tight. “We found Rain and Ember for a reason. Together, we have a pretty good chance at stopping Atmoro.”
Kasiah drew in a breath. “I should have listened to you,” she wept. “I should have taken you more seriously. I overestimated my own ability as an agent. I failed Amy. She’s always thought so highly of me, as if I was some kind of a superhero. I failed her when it mattered most.”
I pulled her in even closer. “I know there’s nothing I can say that will bring her back or make you feel any better,” I said, fighting back my own tears. “Time is the only thing that will heal that wound, but I do know Amy would want you to take all your courage, all your strength, and every piece of your soul to stop this from happening to anyone else. Somewhere out there, an angel is being hunted by a vampire who intends to draw out and use its blood—a key to a door that shouldn’t even exist. We’re the only ones who can stop this from happening. I don’t think Amy has ever been more proud of her big sister than this very moment as she watches from the sky above.”
Kasiah raised her head; her eyes had gone red from the tears. “You’re one of a kind, Aeron. I wish I could have met you at a different time, a different place. Let’s go get some rest.”
I nodded in agreement.
We left the massive main room and followed a spiral staircase down to the lower level into the cabins. The lights were dimmed for the night, giving off just enough light to navigate the hallway.
“I think this is your room,” I said, approaching the room Kasiah was in when we boarded the yacht.
Kasiah stopped by the door, and without a word, she turned and pressed her lips to mine.
EIGHTEEN
My pulse reached warp speed as our lips parted. Kasiah’s beautiful, brown eyes met mine, and without even thinking about it, I kissed her back, passionately.
We were startled by a door slamming down the hall, causing us to separate again.
“Good night,” Kasiah said, smiling devilishly as she walked into her room.
The door swung slowly closed behind her, leaving me alone in the hallway.
“Good night,” I said, my voice barely a whisper.
I started toward my room, feeling more confused than I had ever been before. I didn’t have time to fall in love with an FBI agent; we were supposed to be saving the world. Yet, I couldn’t shake Kasiah’s kiss from my mind. It was the single most amazing kiss of my life, and I’ve been around for a long time. Her lips were unbelievably soft—softer than the smoothest silk. I could have stayed in that moment for eternity.
Several minutes later, I found myself back at Kasiah’s door, knocking quietly while secretly hoping she wouldn’t answer. “Aeron, you’re an idiot!” I said to myself.
The door cracked open.
“Took you long enough,” Kasiah said, opening the door wide enough for me to enter. “I actually thought I was going
to have to sleep alone tonight.”
The room was dimly lit by the moonlight shining through the port window. My heart was racing.
Kasiah opened the minibar and took out a bottle of wine. “I’m sorry I caught you off guard,” she said, handing me the bottle and a corkscrew.
My cheeks flushed. “Maybe I was a little surprised,” I admitted.
“I surprised myself a little too,” Kasiah replied, taking two glasses.
The bottle opened with a pop, startling us both. I poured two glasses of wine and handed one to Kasiah.
She took a sip from her glass. “Well,” she continued, turning her gaze out the window, “one of us had to make the first move, and I asked myself, ‘when is the next time I’ll be on a multimillion-dollar yacht with a cute warlock from another world?’”
I walked up behind her and placed my hands lightly on her shoulders, and as if it was scripted, she leaned back against me.
“It’s such a beautiful night,” she remarked, tilting her head back.
“As are you,” I said, letting my hands slide down to find her hips.
She turned and pressed her mouth to mine; her lips were soft and gentle.
“That’s true,” she said, kissing me again. “When you look at me, I feel… I feel you are seeing something no one else can see.”
Another kiss.
“I see you, Kasiah,” I said, running the back of my hand along her cheek. “I see your unique personality, and your contagious smile that cuts through the darkest sadness.”
She kissed me again, harder this time. I tasted the wine’s sweetness on her lips. I could feel the rapid beat of her heart against my chest, racing faster to keep pace with mine. She let out a slight sigh as our lips separated.
“You’re not a bad kisser,” she observed, running her hands through my already messy hair.
“Lucky for you,” I said, trying to be charming. “I usually charge an arm and a leg for these up-close-and-personal lessons.”
“Where do you get your charm, Aeron?”
I smiled. “That’s part of my mystery.”
“I like you,” she said, laughing with me.
We talked as we finished the bottle of wine. It was easy to be with Kasiah. I hadn’t felt those feelings in a long, long time. Forgetting about the mad world outside, we focused on each other instead.
Kasiah kicked off her shoes and set down her empty glass. Before I knew it, she was standing in nothing more than a light blue bra and intricate lacy panties. A bright white bandage covered the wound on her side. She kissed me again, more aggressively this time. My hands explored her back, eventually finding her bra clasp. I spun her around and cupped her firm, warm breasts from behind. Her breath increased with my touch as her hands loosened my belt.
“You have the gentlest touch,” she whispered, leaning back into me.
I told her how incredibly sexy and soft her body was as we moved backwards toward the bed, falling onto the covers, she landing on top of me.
Kasiah continued to kiss me with intense passion, squeezing her legs around me as I went inside her. We moved together to the center of the bed, kissing harder, faster. Her fingernails scratched down my chest; the pain releasing a dose of adrenaline into my blood.
She screamed out; so did I.
Afterward, with her naked legs wrapped around me, we lay under the silk sheets holding each other, wishing time could freeze.
“If this is a dream,” Kasiah said, rolling halfway over so her back was against me, “please don’t wake me, okay?”
I squeezed her gently.
We laid still, tangled in each other, lost in the moment. I felt Kasiah’s breathing slow down as she fell asleep. If vampires weren’t trying to kill us, it would have been a perfect evening.
I waited until Kasiah was long off in dreamland before slipping out from under the sheets. I paused at the bathroom door to look at Kasiah, naked and stretched out elegantly along the bed, her head nestled comfortably on a pillow. She looked so strong and beautiful. I walked silently back to the bed and covered her with the white silk sheet.
Our clothes were scattered throughout the floor and I didn’t bother trying to collect them. I had a quick shower and wrapped my waist with one of those fluffy towels. I was careful not to turn on the lights as I stepped back to the room. I didn’t want to risk waking Kasiah; she needed her rest. We both did.
NINETEEN
Jake slammed his fist against the desk, knocking over the lamp. "Dammit, kid!” he yelled into the phone. “I swear I’ll make an unscheduled stop in Boston and break your skinny, little neck if you don’t crack this encryption!”
Evan, a twenty-two year-old graduate student at MIT, was typing as fast as his fingers would allow him. He didn’t usually mind working for Atmoro, but this new guy had some serious anger issues. Normally, Evan would have been able to get through the code easily if there wasn’t a maniac screaming at him on the other end of the phone.
“If you will just listen!” Evan yelled back at Jake. “Whoever wrote this code is a damn genius. I don’t know what you want me to do. I’m working as fast as I can. And stop calling me kid. It’s Skywalker!”
“What I want you to do, kid,” Jake reiterated, “is figure out who’s been searching the web for blood of a stone. That is what you’re getting paid for, isn’t it? And for the record, I am not calling you Skywalker… KID!”
Evan was beyond irritated with this impatient simpleminded asshole. Less than a month back, Evan hacked into a bank server that had a Yakashi 6100 security system, supposedly the most advanced bank security software in the world. It took him less than three hours to do the job. As usual, he didn’t particularly care why his client wanted the job done, especially since his own bank account was now a hundred thousand dollars heavier as payment. Besides, he may or may not have spent an extra few minutes building in a backdoor to the Yakashi so he could go back in later.
And now, here he sat, arguing with this screaming idiot, attempting to hack this one little computer—without success.
Evan was on his last nerve. “What do you think I’m doing here, Jake?” he screamed, losing his temper. “I’m certainly not tuning my fucking piano! The signal keeps jumping around. First it was in Colorado, then Mexico, and now it’s bouncing around Japan. I’m chasing it as fast as my PC will let me. So back off!” Evan calmed down a bit “I thought Atmoro was tough. You have some serious anger issues. You’re lucky your boss pays me so well, because you’re a real dick to work with.”
In his hotel room in Erie, Jake kicked the desk chair to the wall. He was still fuming that his plan to eliminate the warlocks went so horribly wrong. He needed to find out who was helping them, and then take them out of the game—with or without Atmoro’s permission.
Jake was thirsty; he needed some blood to calm his nerves. He turned his attention back to the phone. “Listen here, you little hacker bastard…” he began.
Evan put the phone down next to his laptop. He could still hear Jake yelling into the phone. Evan was not easily impressed, but whoever set this security system up had ingenious skill. Evan’s been breaking through one firewall after the next, and he still kept getting shut down. Five minutes before, he was almost in; then he got completely booted out and had to start all again. He would like nothing more than to finish the job and get Jake off his phone.
Finally, he made some headway. The system he was hacking must have been a home system. He guessed there was wireless link from a smart TV to the network router. Most people don’t realize if their TV has a wireless internet connection for downloading movies, which is typically a connection that has minimal security and is vulnerable for cyber-attacks. Evan only needed to piggyback whatever show was streaming, and he was in!
He quickly cloned his second laptop as a decoy. He had looped that one to continue knocking on the firewall to keep the user’s attention as he slipped in through the TV’s wireless connection with his main machine.
Piece of cake, he
thought to himself.
It worked; Evan was in. He picked up the phone and said, “I got an IP address. Give me a few minutes to backtrack it, and I’ll get you the home address, you impatient prick!”
“You’re on my list kid!” Jake shouted, still thirsty. “Better lock your window tonight!”
“I’m terrified,” Evan joked. “Are you going to have your mommy drive you over here?”
Evan didn’t really care about pissing Jake off. Truthfully, he didn’t even really know who was on the other end of the phone. He didn’t care either. All Evan knew was that Jake worked for Atmoro, and Atmoro paid on time. Evan didn’t have anything to worry about. He wasn’t a student at MIT or even Boston—he’s never even been to Boston. Jake only knew him as Skywalker, the name he used when dealing with Atmoro. Evan’s not dumb enough to take the types of jobs he takes and give out his real name. Whenever a job was done, he destroyed his laptops, phones, and everything else. He literally vanished without a trace. After this job, he was close to being done with Atmoro. The whole thing was getting a bit weird, and it was time to get out before it’s too late.
Evan heard crashing sounds over the phone, and he thought he heard another phone ringing on Jake’s end. He knew he was getting on Jake’s nerves.
“I’ve got your info,” Evan explained. “I was only in for a few seconds before the user noticed and booted me, but it was long enough. I’m sending it to your email now.”
“Don’t forget to lock your window tonight,” Jake warned before ending the call abruptly.
Jake’s hotel room phone was ringing off the hook. All he needed now was for the hotel manager to come banging on the door. “Hello,” Jake answered.
“This is the hotel manager. We’ve had several noise complaints for your room. You need to keep it down in there, or we’ll be forced to call the police.”
“Great,” Jake responded in anger.
“Excuse me, sir?”
“I said wait, don’t get carried away. We’re in bed now, and there shouldn’t be any more issues.”
The Blood of a Stone Page 13
