by L. E. Wilson
Nik’s heart stopped, and he was suddenly on the step below her. Grabbing her up mid-air, he forcibly held her against his hard chest.
“Let me go!” She struggled hard against him, kicking his shins and pounding his shoulders with her small fists. Tears ran unchecked down her face.
But Nik held her tight, keeping his back to his brother, not wanting to entice him further by staring directly at him. He took the pounding she gave him, repeating softly in her ear, “Sweetheart, just wait. Something isn’t right with him. Emma, something isn’t right with him.”
Nik halfway turned with Emma still struggling in his arms and studied his older brother. His dark hair was long and lank, his T-shirt so riddled with blood and dirt, you couldn’t tell its original color. His jeans were also stiff with dirt. And he was barefoot. The girl he held onto wasn’t in much better shape.
But the thing that stood out the most to him were his eyes. Luukas’s grey eyes had gone completely black. They skittered about the room, not focusing on anyone or anything in particular. He bared his fangs at all of them.
Even Nikulas.
Nik set Emma down. “Emma, look at me. Look at me!” He gave her a little shake until she looked at him. “You can’t go down there. I honestly don’t know what he’ll do.” He shook his head when she started to protest. “Give me a minute to talk to him, Em.”
She wasn’t happy, but with a longing look at her sister, she finally agreed. Once he made sure she was going to stay put, he glanced over uneasily at the wolves before he slowly eased down another step. “Luukas? Hey, big brother. It’s just me. It’s Nik.”
He eased down another step.
A snarl ripped from Luukas’s throat as his eyes swung from the pacing wolves to his brother. Cocking his head, he watched Nik ease toward him, recognition finally flickering across his face. Sheathing his fangs a bit, he yanked Keira partly behind him with the death grip he maintained on her wrist.
Nikulas noticed she wasn’t fighting him. Interesting.
“The witch is mine.” His deep voice was raspy and broken. From lack of use? From screaming?
Nik tampered down his rising anger at the sound of it. Right now, he just needed to get his brother calm.
“Okay, man, you can have her.” Ignoring Emma’s sound of protest, he eased down a few more steps. “No one is going to take your witch. I just want to say hello to my brother.”
He’d reached the bottom of the steps, and was now less than twenty feet from the hole in the wall where his brother stood. Checking the urge to run over and grab him up in a bear hug, he left Luukas some space and waited to see what he would do.
Luukas took a halting step into the room, scanning the area in that twitchy way he now had.
“Where is she?” he ground out between gritted teeth.
Nik knew whom he was referring to without having to ask. “She’s gone. She took Aiden.” His voice broke slightly as he briefly filled Luukas in on what had happened after they’d arrived.
Luukas growled low in his throat as his lips twitched back off his fangs in anger. “I’m going to rip her apart. Slowly. Painfully.”
Keira’s mouth twisted in pain as her arm was twisted. “Luukas. You’re hurting me!”
He immediately loosened his hold, releasing her wrist but pinning her where she was with his eyes. He stared at her for a long moment as Nik watched the exchange with interest.
Never taking his gaze from Keira, Luukas told his brother, “Leave us.”
The wolves took full advantage of his distraction to slink past them, quickly disappearing through the edges of the hole to go find the rest of their pack.
Emma ran down the remaining steps to Nik. Grabbing his hand, she silently begged him to do something.
Nik looked from her to his brother. “Luuk, man. Let’s just get out of here.”
Emma shivered beside him, the cloud of her breath forming icicles as Luukas’s anger permeated the room.
“LEAVE! US!” he roared.
Nik chewed his bottom lip as he contemplated the back of his brother’s head for a minute, and then he turned and took Emma by the arm, knowing Luukas would brook no argument when he was like this. “Come on. Let’s go.” Over his shoulder, he told his brother, “We’ll be at the hideout.”
Emma struggled futilely against him as he dragged her across the room. “What? No. Nik! NO!! Dammit, that’s my SISTER over there!”
Ignoring her pleas, he pulled her with him toward the door.
“Nikulas! Stop! I’m not leaving without her!”
Her heart pounding, Emma looked back toward Keira, who was staring at Luukas in alarm.
Now they were just pissing her off. She abruptly dug in her heels and ripped her arm from Nik’s grasp, turning her focus to Luukas.
“I will not leave without my sister,” she ground out.
Gathering energy within herself, she focused all of her anger and hatred on the vampire holding her sister. The air hummed with magic as the stone he’d knocked loose from the wall began to hover off the floor.
Nik moved in front of her, his eyes swimming with alarm. “Emma, NO!” Softening his tone, he told her, “I don’t know what he will do if he sees you as a threat. He’s not the same as he was. Please,” He paused. “Please, don’t make me fight him to protect you now that I’ve finally found him.”
Emma felt for him, she did. But, this was her sister. Her only family. She wasn’t leaving her here with his crazy brother who was looking at her like he wanted to eat her.
She had a purpose for her magic for the first time. Though the feel of it was something she was only beginning to recognize, it flowed through her, gathering strength, and Emma concentrated on that feeling. She felt high, lightheaded but grounded at the same time. And if she weren’t so upset she would have laughed aloud from the power of it.
Lifting her right hand, she swung it through the air, aiming a particularly large boulder just to the left of Luukas. A direct hit would risk her sister. She hoped it would distract him and Keira would be able to get away.
Without moving his eyes away from Keira, Luukas flicked his left hand, easily deflecting her attack with nothing but the power of his will.
“Nikulas. You really need to remove her,” he warned. “NOW. I’m not in the mood to play.”
Emma gritted her teeth in response and prepared to send another large stone flying. This time at his head.
Keira found her sister across the room. “Emma, it’s okay. Luukas and I have some things we need to discuss.”
Nik stepped in front of her. “Sweetheart, that’s enough. We’re leaving.”
She looked up at him as her vision blurred with angry tears. “He’s going to kill her, Nik!”
“No, he won’t. He’s very angry right now, but he won’t hurt her. You need to trust me here.”
She stared defiantly up into his stubborn blue eyes. “You don’t know that.”
“Actually, I kinda do.”
“It’s okay, honey. Go with Nik. I’ll be out in a bit,” Keira told her.
Emma stepped around Nik and stared at her sister in disbelief.
“Keira?” She couldn’t believe her sister was telling her to leave her with that maniac.
“Emma, just GO. I’ll be fine,” her sister insisted.
“Come on.” Nik put his hand on the small of her back to lead her out of the room.
She flinched away from him. “Don’t touch me,” She hissed. With a last look at Keira to confirm she really wanted her to leave, she turned around and marched from the room, Nik close on her heals.
Emma stomped down the passageway until she had to stop and wait for Nik and the torch he’d snagged off of the wall. As soon as he’d caught up to her, she turned on him. “I’m only going as far as the end of the tunnel. And then I’m waiting for my sister.”
She began walking again, and didn’t give him a chance to reply.
What the hell was Keira doing? She couldn’t really want to stay there
with that…that…monster that was Nik’s brother. Could she?
Angry tears ran down her face. She should have fought harder to bring her sister with her. Nik should have fought harder. It was his brother, after all.
Her mind spinning and her heart breaking in too many tiny pieces, Emma shook with anger as she trekked through the passageway, swiping at the tears that wouldn’t stop.
She couldn’t decide if she was angrier with Nik, with Keira, with Luukas, or with herself.
Nik let her go, not blaming her in the slightest for the way she was feeling, but not knowing what to say to fix it. His own mind was spinning, worrying about Aiden, and worrying about his brother.
The one thing he wasn’t worried about was his brother hurting that female. He’d seen the possessive way he’d looked at her. The way he’d immediately let her go as soon as he’d realized he was hurting her.
No, he wasn’t worried about him harming her.
His brother’s mind, on the other hand—yeah, that was another story. He’d never seen him this disoriented before. Guilt wracked Nik until he could barely breathe. He should have searched every inch of the earth for him. Instead, he’d given up and waited for something to happen.
That wasn’t exactly true, but still, there was no excuse for it. Luukas had obviously suffered severely over the years—more than Nik could ever have guessed—to the point his mind may never be right again. He’d never be able to make it up to him.
And Nik wouldn’t blame him if his brother never forgave him.
They traversed the length of the tunnel, each lost in their own thoughts, until they hit the creek again. Emma picked up speed as the passageway widened and the moonlight lit up the night outside. Bursting out into the fresh air, she followed the shoreline until, with a loud sob, she broke into a run.
With a curse, Nik tossed the torch he carried into the flowing water and picked up his pace. His chest ached with her pain. And his own too.
But he was going to fix it. He was going to fix everything. He knew how to keep her safe, and how to take away her pain. And he would send her sister home to her as soon as he could get her away from Luukas.
He caught up to her just as she stumbled to a halt, but when he reached out to steady her, she slapped his hand away.
“Don’t touch me! Don’t you ever touch me again!”
Though he’d expected it, the force of her anger hit him full in the chest. “Emma…” he pleaded.
Whipping around, she raised her hands and threw all of her weight into shoving him away. “Don’t ‘Emma’ me! You son of a bitch!”
She covered her face with her hands, and Nik gave her a minute to collect herself. He was glad this was happening sooner rather than later. No matter his feelings for her, she would come to resent him for binding her life to his so selfishly. For making her give up her life to keep her captive in his. He knew this, and he couldn’t in good conscience allow her to throw away her life. Not for him. If he did, he would be no better than Leeha.
He was going to break his promise to her.
With a shuddering breath, she dropped her arms down to her sides and stared up at him, her hazel eyes bright with tears. “You left her there. Just left her there with him. What if he hurts her? He’s your brother! Why didn’t you do something! If not for her, then for me!” she accused.
Nik felt helpless. “No, Emma. No. How could you think—”
“YOU LEFT HER!!” she screamed her anger and frustration at him.
Nik bared his fangs at her, his own emotions getting the best of him. “I did leave her there! I didn’t know what he was going to do! And you wouldn’t STOP, Emma! You wouldn’t fucking STOP! He could have killed you with a fucking thought. You don’t know what he’s capable of! I probably saved your fucking LIFE!”
She reared back like he’d slapped her.
Stabbing his hands through his hair, he backed off. But when he looked at her again, he knew things would never be the same between them. She was never going to forgive him.
An icy-cold tranquility came over him. Let her hate him. He was good with that.
Nik stepped closer and took her chin in his hand, forcing her to look up at him. When her eyes met his, he caught and held them with his own. Ignoring the voice in his head raging against what he was about to do, he burrowed into her mind with his own.
Emma became complacent as all of the tension drained from her body. Her pupils dilated until there was no color left, only black.
Nik probed her mind, and found it open to him completely. “I’m going to give you directions and send you home in the SUV. Everything you need to get a flight home is in the center console. You’ll remember meeting me, will remember our time together, and you’ll remember coming here with me, but that’s all. We didn’t find your sister. No one was here when we arrived. It was a dead end.”
He took a deep breath. “You’re going to go home, and go back to your life. You’ll go on as you did before you met me. You won’t remember the intimacy between us. You won’t remember how I drank from you, or our bond. You won’t remember my feelings for you.” His voice broke, and he had to pause. “You’ll be happy, Emma.”
If he cared for her at all, he would make her forget him entirely. But he was too damn selfish. He wanted her to remember him. If only a little.
He broke the contact, and stepped back, wiping at the moisture in his eyes with the heel of his hand.
Emma came out of her daze, blinking up at him. She glanced around at the trees. “Well, I guess this was all for nothing.”
“Not for nothing.” He cleared his throat. “At least we know they’re not here. And we’ll keep looking.”
She glanced up at him. “Thank you for trying. And you’ll call me if you find anything? Anything at all?”
“I promise.” The words were sour on his tongue. Taking her by the elbow, he said, “Come on, let’s get back to the car. It’s time for you to go so you don’t miss your flight.”
She looked around and frowned, like she was trying to remember something. But in the end, she just sighed and allowed him to lead her away.
His heart chipped away more with every step she took until he didn’t think there was anything left by the time they reached the hideout.
But as she started the car and pulled away, he knew he was wrong as it shattered all over again.
Chapter 48
Emma pulled into her driveway in the deepening twilight. Grabbing her gym bag, she got out and locked her car. Two long weeks had passed since the long flight home from Seattle, and she’d heard nothing more from Nikulas. Not a phone call. Not an email. Nothing.
Apparently, the attraction she felt was one-sided. But what did she expect? He’s a vampire. A predator, made to be attractive to humans. It wasn’t his fault he’d crawled under her skin during the time they’d spent together.
Emma swallowed the pain of his rejection. She could’ve sworn he’d felt something for her, too. But, apparently, she’d been wrong. He was handsome, and charming, and masculine, and there were probably a few dozen women out there who felt the same way she did about him.
But it was more than disappointment he hadn’t pursued their relationship. For some reason, she worried about him, though she couldn’t quite put her finger on the reason why. Something was wrong, though. Her intuition never steered her wrong. She couldn’t sleep, couldn’t concentrate, and when she could bring herself to eat, she had to force the food past the anxiety in her stomach.
At work, her co-workers watched her with concern. They still didn’t know everything that had happened while she was gone. Emma had only told them she’d followed up a lead on her sister, but it had turned out to be nothing. She didn’t tell them about Nik and Aiden. And she most certainly didn’t tell anyone they were vampires.
Or that she and her sister were witches.
Exhausted, she climbed the front steps, trudged across the porch and pulled open her screen door, holding it with her foot while she unlocked he
r storm door.
Once inside, she flicked on the lights and went into the kitchen, dropping her purse and her gym bag on the counter. Her lunchtime runs on the treadmill were the only thing helping her to keep her sanity, although she had no idea where she was finding the energy to do it every day.
Grabbing a clean glass from the dishwasher, she filled it with water and gulped it down. She was so thirsty all the time, and the more water she drank, the worse the thirst became. It must be dehydration from the trip.
She was very careful not to look around too much. Whenever she did, she would end up standing in the middle of her kitchen, staring around the room with the feeling she’d come in there for something and now couldn’t remember what it was. Like she was forgetting something.
Or maybe someone.
Setting the empty glass on the counter, she left her stuff in the kitchen and went to shower. Upstairs, she stripped off her work attire and padded barefoot into the bathroom.
She paused as she passed the mirror. Slowly, she turned until she faced her reflection. Lifting her heavy eyelids, she gazed fully upon her nude form for the first time in seven years. Her fingertips traced the scars that marred her skin, following the path of her eyes. Her body was far from beautiful, covered as it was by the remnants of the attack, yet the repulsion she normally felt wasn’t there.
Something teased at the edge of her mind—Nik’s voice telling her…something. A memory, perhaps. But it was there and gone before she could grasp it.
With a sigh, she turned away and yanked on the shower, getting in before the water had a chance to heat up. Perhaps she was only imagining it.
I won’t think about him. I won’t. I’m fine. He doesn’t deserve my concern, and I don’t need him.
She’d been repeating that mantra to herself every day since she’d gotten home. But as the days passed, it became harder and harder to believe it.
She did need him. He just didn’t need her.
Viscously, she scrubbed her hair and body, trying to scour away thoughts of him. But instead of distracting herself, she only managed to sensitize her skin until every drop of water that hit her only fed her yearning to feel his hands on her.
