“The demon?” Alisha voice went up an octave.
“Uh, yeah. Greg will explain what’s going on and get you and...uh...Leto’s son...”
“Dexios.”
“Yeah, him, to a safe place. I’ll meet you there.”
“Where are you now?” Alisha asked, sounding wary.
The elevator doors opened, and the well-dressed couple entered while scrutinizing Vanora as she slid in behind them. “I just arrived at Armando’s apartment building.”
“Vanora, you can’t trust him. Dexios told me he’s Aeron’s son!”
“Yes, I know. Like I said, I will explain everything when I see you. A lot has happened.” Vanora gave the suspicious couple a wide smile while pressing the button that had a reddish halo about it that she was certain they couldn’t see. “I’ll talk to you later.”
She hung up on Alisha’s protest and muted the phone.
The elevator doors opened, and Vanora quickly stepped onto the floor. The hallway was rather boring with treated cement floors and red-brick walls. On either end of the hallway were huge windows that displayed a panoramic view of the Houston skyline. The fiery glow showed the spots that still burned. From the placement of the doors, it appeared there were two apartments on each floor at this level. One door shone a bright red. Vanora walked over and took a deep breath.
She knocked.
Tucking her hair into her makeshift bun, she pressed her lips together and wished she’d taken a moment to touch up her makeup. As ridiculous as that notion seemed, she yearned for Armando’s admiration. Maybe it was because in a terrible way, she’d betrayed him as he slept. Guilt burrowed into her heart like thorns. It had all been a dream, but for a moment, she’d forgotten Armando completely.
The door jerked open and Armando regarded her with shock. His curls in disarray and his clothes from the night before a wrinkled mess, he’d obviously just awakened. Placing her hand on his chest, she pushed him into the apartment, shut the door behind him and locked it.
“I dreamed of you, and you said...” He faltered, sliding one hand through his hair.
“I told you I was coming.” Vanora gave him a small smile while her hands dipped into his jean pockets searching for his phone. She found it in the back one and dragged it out.
Golden eyes unsure and curious, Armando watched her every move.
“You won’t be telling him I’m here,” she said, her magic flaring to life in her hand. Vanora closed her fingers and crushed the phone, the bits raining onto the tile floor.
Staggering back from her, Armando clutched his head with both his hands. “I’m dreaming.”
“No. I’m really here. And I have my powers now.”
“You’re scaring me,” Armando said. Sitting on the armrest of a leather sofa, he clutched his hands together on his lap. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. The words just slipped out.”
Grinding the remains of the phone into the floor with the heel of her boot, Vanora sighed. “I’m a little scared, too. But I did what I needed to do to find the truth and uncover my power.”
Reaching out, Armando grabbed her wrist and dragged her into his arms. There was no great sense of belonging or endless need, but there was the comfort and warmth of love. Vanora wrapped her arms around him and closed her eyes. On her drive over, she’d been terrified that things would be different between them. To her dismay, she realized she’d been right.
“Something’s wrong,” Armando murmured drawing back to gaze at her.
“You’re not going to like what I tell you,” Vanora replied, her heart breaking for him.
“I feel like you’re not really here. Like I’m still dreaming,” Armando said, his dark fringed eyes filled with worry.
Vanora kissed his cold lips tenderly. “I’m here.”
The barrier between them cracked.
Armando buried his hand in her hair, dragging her closer to him, and kissed her with the passion that had always left her breathless. Her white hair unspooled around them, like a shade separating them from the world. Matching the hunger of his kiss, she sank into the bliss of their love, and the barrier between them shattered.
“You’re here,” he whispered against her lips. “And different. Full of power.”
Shrugging off her coat, she dropped her bag on the floor before embracing him again. He was so cold, and she was so warm. Their kiss heated his lips and tongue until they were searing against hers.
“What is she doing here?”
Vanora looked up sharply to see Carlotta dramatically enter the living room from what appeared to be the doorway to a bedroom. A tall, teenaged boy stood behind her with floppy dark curls and amber eyes.
Armando swiftly stood, pressing Vanora behind him protectively.
“I asked,” Carlotta said in a dangerous tone, “what is she doing here? She will bring Aeron down on us!”
“No, she won’t,” Armando said defensively.
“Yes, she will. When you call him!” Carlotta hissed with frustration.
Vanora pointed at Armando’s phone. “Unless there is a landline...”
That elicited a sarcastic chuckle from the angry vampire. “As if that would stop him from fulfilling the edict. The longer he waits to summon Aeron to claim you, the more powerful the edict will become.”
Lacing her fingers with Armando’s, Vanora said, “He won’t do it.”
Armando was silent. She sensed his internal struggle, but he was stronger than the edict for the moment.
“She’s the reason my brother and sister are dead,” the teenage boy exclaimed.
“I thought I was the reason, Francisco,” Armando retorted.
“You had three kids?” Vanora asked Carlotta, feeling awkward and uncertain of how to deal with the angry female vampire.
“The last of my children, born of my body and my blood,” Carlotta responded with a sneer. Seizing the teenage boy with one hand, she dragged him to her side. “You cannot have him.”
“I don’t want him. And by body and blood, do you mean he’s...” Vanora stared at the boy with recognition, then looked at Armando. “He’s your son.” A sharp stab of disappointment hit Vanora, and she let go of Armando’s hand. It wasn’t as if they could ever have children, but somehow the thought of him being the father to Carlotta’s child hurt.
“My father’s son. My half-brother,” Armando answered, but he sounded uncertain.
“Possibly,” Carlotta answered, then shrugged. “But a DeLeon by blood.”
“It doesn’t matter. I am my mother’s son and protector. I don’t care about you-” Francisco pointed at Armando, then at Vanora “-and especially you.”
“They’re leaving Houston tonight,” Armando said to Vanora, his hand lightly brushing her cheek in an attempt to soothe her. Did he see her disappointment?
“They can’t. Aeron’s vampires, werewolves, and human minions are watching all ways out of the city. They have to hide.” Vanora let go of her heartache to step closer to him.
“How do you know this?”
“Leto told me. She came to me today, and we had a long talk.”
“She’s on Aeron’s side!” Carlotta gasped.
“No, she’s not. She wants him dead. And she knows I’m the only one who can do it.” Vanora sighed. “If you don’t want to be a part of the coming battle, I understand. But you need to hide until it’s over.”
Appearing uncertain, Carlotta crossed her arms over her ample breasts and paced about in a circle. “He’ll slaughter us all. No one can kill him.”
“I can kill him. If I have enough time before he locates me, I can find a way.”
Armando gave her a sharp look. “Can you?”
“I can. I’m the only one who can do it, too. Like I said, there’s a lot I still need to tell you and you’re not going to like any of it.”
“I can see that,” Armando responded, his golden gaze tormented and fearful.
“I’m not putting my son at risk,” Carlotta said, interrupting their moment. “W
e will hide.” She walked briskly to her son and grabbed his hand. “We’re going now. Before Armando cracks under the edict.”
“He won’t,” Vanora said confidently.
Armando wearily shook his head. “I will, Vanora. I’m struggling right now.”
“No, trust me. You won’t.” Vanora didn’t want to discuss her plans while Carlotta and her son were in the apartment. She didn’t trust her even though Carlotta had obviously garnered the love of Roman and Armando. Maybe they saw more in the woman than Vanora did, but she just couldn’t bring herself to trust her.
Dragging Francisco behind her, Carlotta approached Armando and extended her hand. “Tell me where to go. And give me money.”
Armando nodded once and fished his wallet out of his jeans. He handed Carlotta a wad of cash before digging a key in a leather sleeve out of another slot in his wallet. In Spanish, he gave her directions while the teenage boy openly glowered at Vanora. With a sigh, Vanora sat on the sofa and listened to the two vampires argue in Spanish. Carlotta’s hair, makeup and clothing were quite ragged. Vanora wondered how she’d escaped Lorelei. She had a feeling the protective teenager at her side had something to do with it. At last, Carlotta and Armando briefly embraced and kissed each other on the cheek before he guided the vampire to the door. Francisco remained glaring at Vanora until Carlotta jerked him after her.
Then they were gone, and Vanora was alone with Armando.
The vampire remained facing the doorway, his arms folded across his chest. Slowly, he swiveled toward her. Vanora leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees, and stared at him. She wasn’t even sure where to begin, but she opened her mouth to speak. Armando motioned for her to remain silent. It was then she realized his head was tilted just a tad to one side, and he appeared to be listening to something she couldn’t hear. After about a minute, he stepped away from the door and collected her coat and purse.
“Come on. We can’t stay here,” he said.
“Where are we going?” Vanora abandoned the couch and took his proffered hand.
“Another haven. Aeron knows about this apartment. It was only safe last night because I returned so close to sunrise. If he decides to visit me tonight, he cannot find you here.” Armando tightened his grip on her fingers and dragged her close. Resting his forehead against hers, he said, “I’m fighting the edict, Vanora, but I don’t know how much longer I can resist.”
“You can do this,” Vanora urged him. “You can resist.”
Another kiss, this one a bit fiercer than the one earlier. Maybe their love helped him fight Aeron’s power like it helped her.
Pulling away, Armando checked a monitor set in the wall near the door that revealed the view of the cameras in the hallway. “No one is here. Let’s go.”
Armando hurried her out the door and into the elevator. To her surprise, he shoved a card into a slot near the bottom of the panel and pushed the button for the top floor.
“In the building? Your other haven is here?”
“An old trick I developed long ago. No one ever looks in the same building for another haven.” Armando’s somber expression gave way to a small smile. “I know. I’m shifty.”
Vanora squeezed his hand, and gave him a loving smile. “Yes, you are.”
The elevator opened to a small foyer. Armando’s backup haven was the penthouse. He unlocked the doors, turned on the lights, and escorted her into a living room filled with antiques and fine art. It appeared more like a museum than an actual home. The furniture was restored, but Vanora didn’t doubt that at some point, it had inhabited a palace.
“I collect things.” Armando waved around the room. “Sometimes, I sell a piece to fund another lifetime. I sold a Monet for this one.”
“You don’t live off your writing?”
Armando chuckled at this comment, and shook his head. “No. Not at all.”
Vanora noticed a lot of Alisha’s artwork along one wall. The sun blazed in the beautiful settings, the hallmark of her artistic talent. “You collected Alisha’s work.”
“Who knows? If I survive this, maybe I’ll sell one of her pieces to finance another lifetime.” Armando walked across the vast living room to a hallway.
Vanora followed, scrutinizing all the paintings, sketches, and statues. “You own a Picasso?”
Armando gave her a look of disbelief. “Of course, I own one of his works.”
“Ah, because he was from Spain.” Vanora tried to keep her tone light despite all the knots in her stomach. “And here, Roman thought he was fancy with his Thomas Kincaid painting he bought in Fredericksburg, Texas.”
Armando opened a door further down the hall, and Vanora stepped inside as lamps sprang to life, casting a warm yellow glow over the room. It was an enormous bedroom the size of her old apartment. It had a sitting area with a massive flat screen television and a bed draped in dark blue velvet.
“We can talk here.” Armando tossed Vanora’s things onto the nearest chair and crossed his arms over his chest. His amber eyes glinted in the muted light cast from the lamps that emulated candlelight. After seeing both of Armando’s havens, it was clear the vampire still had a soft spot for things from his past while also embracing the modern world.
Vanora leaned her hip against the back of a heavy brocaded couch and struggled to find a way to start the conversation.
“Vanora, why did you come here when you know it puts you in danger?”
“Because I believe I can break the edict.” There. That wasn’t so hard.
“Oh?” Armando stood apart from her, just outside the pool of light cast by a Tiffany lamp. The gloom shadowed his features and reminded her of how he’d used to both scare and thrill her when she first met him.
“I saw the truth, Armando. About all of this. I know why Aeron is so obsessed with me. Even beyond what Greg told us.”
Armando shook his head, a bitter laugh emanating from his lips.
“What?” Vanora glared at him, already defensive.
“The way you say his name has changed.”
Averting her eyes, Vanora fought the hot tears flooding her eyes. “Don’t make this harder.”
“I’ve done nothing but sleep during the day. What did you do?” Armando stepped closer to her, and the sound of his heel on the floor drew her attention back to him. “Why are you so close to crying?”
“I cast a spell to reveal the truth. Instead, I was taken into the past by the Fates. I became a companion to Aeron’s human life. A ghostly spectator.”
Armando stilled. “Go on.”
“I saw all the important moments of his life. I saw the man he used to be. And he was a very good man, Armando. Kind. Gentle. So tormented.”
The vampire made a harsh noise close to a growl. “This is how he is trying to win you? By showing who he was as a human? Or has he won you?”
“Listen to me, Armando! Aeron just wanted the world to be a better place, and he bought into his mother’s lies. She made him believe he could save everyone from all the pain and death that surrounded him. And she did lie to him. She cheated the Fates by sending him away before the hour of his death. She set him on a fake quest to the Seven Sisters so he’d become a vampire. It was all one big ugly lie, and it corrupted Aeron’s desire to create a better world. Even before he became a vampire, on his journey, I saw him changing until he...” Vanora faltered, the image of the Oracle’s tongue on the temple floor making her queasy. “He became cruel because of the injustices he saw.”
“All men are cruel,” Armando snapped.
“Stop being a jerk!” Vanora glowered at the man she loved so much. “I’m trying to tell you that I saw how Aeron became the monster he is now. But I also saw more. His mother is dead, but she cast a spell so I would understand that I’m doomed to fulfill her desires. Arianrhod made me from Aeron’s very soul, Armando. When he became a vampire, his new destiny was shaped to include me. Aeron knows that I was made for him, and that is why nothing will stop him from bringing me to him now that
he believes the time is right.”
Armando hissed through his sharp teeth. “You couldn’t have just called me to tell me you’re in love with him.”
“I have no choice but to love him, you stupid asshole! Just seeing him is like...” Vanora clamped her hands at her sides. “It’s hell! He’s the destruction of everything I love, and I was created from his very soul to be his perfect consort.”
Armando’s golden gaze flashed red. “So you want me to take you to him, is that it?”
“No! God! You’re such a bastard sometimes. Armando, it’s you I love with all my heart. You’re the one I want to be with by choice. My choice. I don’t care if some cosmic conspiracy has selected me as Aeron’s fuckin’ broodmare. I don’t care if my soul weeps to be with him. I know what he is and what he will do not only to those I love, but to the world. I want you to help me kill him.”
“You love him now,” Armando said, clearly agonizing over the thought.
Taking a tentative step forward, Vanora expected him to pull back, but Armando remained still. As though approaching a wild beast, she cautiously neared the vampire, one hand slightly raised toward him. “Armando, I’m not going to lie to you. I do love Aeron because of the magic that created me. It gives me no choice. But what that magic never anticipated was that I would fall in love with you and that by the time the spell took full effect, my heart would be claimed by you.”
Tears started to blind her for she feared that she’d hurt him so much, he’d turn her away. The intimate moment she’d shared with Aeron beneath the waterfall when she’d stepped into his dream haunted her. The erotic interlude had been nothing more than a dream, but she’d tasted the undeniable magnetic attraction between them created by Arianrhod’s magic. She clung to the fact that the thought of Armando had broken her free of the spell. It was her love for the Spanish vampire that stoked the fires of rebellion against the destiny laid out for her. She needed Armando to understand that her heart was his and the strength of his love imbued her with the will to fight against Aeron.
Lifting his gaze from the floor to look at her, Armando remained eerily still. His amber eyes were emotionless, which made it even harder to not flee from the room. He was scaring her, but she wasn’t about to surrender to Arianrhod’s magic and lose him.
In Darkness We Must Abide: The Complete Third Season Page 14
