“Not physically.”
He nodded. “The animal’s spirit was clinging to life. It didn’t want to leave its mortal.” Tarian shrugged. “It cost me nothing to buy it more time.”
“You couldn’t heal it?”
He shook his head, reaching her at last. “My power is over the dead, not the living. I tied the spirit to the body for a brief window, but without human intervention the animal will die. If the vet is good, the damage will be repaired before my magic wears off. The cat will live, and hopefully, the child will think twice about running across a road.”
“You just saved a life, even if only a small one. This isn’t something to shrug away.”
A wry smile twisted his lips. “You see me as death,” he whispered. “But the act I just committed is one I’ve repeated a thousand times before. My powers can work both ways, Melissa. For good or for evil, just like any other person’s abilities.”
He walked away from her, back toward the car.
She should follow him, but she couldn’t shake the miraculous scene she’d just witnessed. A being who should be dead was alive because of Tarian’s intervention. An intervention he didn’t see as anything out of the ordinary.
We see them only as threats, she realized. But their powers opened the possibility of so much more. Tonight a necromancer had offered joy and comfort, not death and destruction.
After seven hundred years, Tarian still didn’t see his mercy as anything worthy of a second glance.
But she did.
Trailing after him, she studied his shadowed figure. Her life would be so much easier if Tarian would stop showing her unexpected facets of himself that she’d never hoped to find.
And stop filling her mind with thoughts no vampire should harbor about her enemy.
…
This hotel was by far the nicest they’d stayed in. Flicking on the lights, Melissa took in the double beds and white sheets. Everything was clean and crisp, definitely an improvement over the last couple places they’d stayed.
“I’m taking a shower,” Tarian said.
She arched a brow. “Not worried I’ll run?”
“Not anymore,” he replied, closing the bathroom door behind him.
Melissa let herself fall backward onto the closest bed. The last few hours of their drive had been silent. Not that she’d minded. Unlike the first night, it was not an uncomfortable quiet. Besides, she’d appreciated the extra time to sort through the revelations swimming in her mind.
She’d never really thought about the kind of life necromancers were forced to live. Never even imagined that they’d have a reason to protest their treatment. It shamed her that she’d held balls and fundraisers for every human rights charity in New York, and not once had she thought about the prejudices and disparities in her own community.
The sound of running water filled the air as she contemplated her next move. Tarian was keeping her close in order to help his cause when they reached the city, but maybe she could be more than merely a witness that not all necromancers were evil.
Crawling across the bed she reached for the phone on the nightstand. This time Tarian had been too preoccupied to strip their room of anything technological. With her companion occupied, this could be her only chance to contact her family. She wasn’t going to waste it.
Luckily she’d never gotten used to the modern cell phone world with programmed numbers instead of good old-fashioned address books. The numbers of those most important to her were branded in her mind.
Her fingers paused over the keys as she debated who to call. Lucian would be impossible to calm over the phone but luckily for her, he now came attached at the hip to a far more serene mate.
The line rang as she waited for Abbey to pick up. Leaving a voicemail would be less than ideal.
“Hello?” Abbey said as the call connected. She sounded tired, and Melissa winced at the time.
“Abbey,” she said. “Hi.”
The sounds of scrambling movements and rustling covers met her ears.
“Melissa?” Abbey demanded, her voice high-pitched. “Where are you? Are you all right? We’ll come get you.”
“No, listen. I’m fine. I’m on my way home right now. We should be there in two nights or so.”
There was a pause. “We?”
“That’s the other reason I’m calling,” she said. “When I get to town I need to introduce Lucian to someone, and I need you to prep him on the idea so father doesn’t rip him limb from limb.”
“Does this have anything to do with Tarian’s mysterious disappearance?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” she lied. The last thing she wanted was for Lucian to hunt down Tarian’s home and discover his sister living within the city limits. “But I need you to start promoting the idea that not all necromancers are evil.”
Abbey snorted. “I have an infinitely slim chance of accomplishing that.”
“I’ve seen the way Lucian looks at you,” she replied. “You can convince him of anything.”
“Why should I? You can’t tell me they aren’t behind the kidnapping.”
“Look, the people who took me don’t stand for the whole group. Someone else is helping me and it’s…challenging a lot of my previous beliefs.”
“That’s all well and good of you to have an open mind, but you have no idea the hell Lucian and I have gone through since you left.”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I would never have put you in that situation if I had a choice.”
“Be prepared for a whole army of bodyguards when you’re home,” Abbey said.
“Fine, but one problem at a time. Will you make sure Lucian is home two nights from now? We’ll probably be in early, so I doubt he’ll need to take the whole night off.”
“If you think he’s not going to yell at you and threaten to destroy the necromancers for ten hours straight, you really don’t have much concept of what’s been going on here.”
She groaned. “Fair enough. I’ll come up to the apartment as soon as we hit the city.”
“With your friend.”
“My rescuer,” she stressed. “Father is not allowed to remove his head the second he steps through the door.”
“I make no promises,” Abbey said, her voice growing serious. “This situation is not okay, Melissa, and I’m not going to try and convince Lucian it is.”
“I get that. Tell father I love him. I’ll be home soon.”
“Stay safe.”
Melissa hung up the phone as she battled a pang of homesickness. How she wished she could just take a plane and not have to worry about showing up on Dominic’s radar again.
“Finished?”
She turned to see Tarian stepping from the bathroom. Not only was he still fully clothed, his hair wasn’t the least bit damp.
“You were testing me,” she sighed. “Seriously?”
“I wanted a sense of how this would play out when we reached the city, yes.”
“Hope you got what you wanted.”
“Somewhat.” He glanced at his watch. “Get under the covers, Melissa. We cut it too close today.”
Dawn already called to her, reminding her of her limitations. She kicked off her shoes and slid into her bed. Tarian walked over to draw the curtains and ensure she was protected from the sun.
“What happens when we reach New York?” she asked.
He sat on the edge of her bed, placing a hand on either side of her body as he leaned closer. “What do you mean?”
“Say this plays out exactly the way you are hoping. Do we shake hands and go our separate ways?”
His blue eyes flashed in the dim light. “What’s the alternative?”
“I don’t know.”
He studied her for a long moment in silence. “Would you regret never seeing me again, Melissa?”
It was her turn to think. There was no denying the complications of a necromancer lover, but the man she’d learned about tonight was one she’d lament losing.
“Yes.” The word h
ung in the air between them. One that opened possibilities they’d both been trying their best to ignore.
There was no joy in his eyes at her confession, and she understood why. It didn’t really matter what they wanted in the grand scheme of things. Not when the safety of their people had to come first.
Reaching out a finger, he traced the curve of her cheek. “Walking away from you will be the hardest thing I’ve done in centuries.”
The edges of the curtain glowed with the rise of the sun, and Melissa fought to keep her eyes open, wanting to see more of the tenderness she read on his face. Had anyone ever looked at her with such longing? She couldn’t remember. Couldn’t think of any man she’d been with before Tarian. He eclipsed all challengers without even trying.
“Sleep,” he said, pulling up the cover. “We’ll talk more tomorrow.”
Tomorrow. Her last full night with him. Whatever decisions they might make about their fate, tomorrow was the time to make them.
Her eyes slipped closed as Tarian settled the covers over her head. One more night with her maddening man.
Perhaps the last one they’d ever share together.
Chapter Eleven
Every instinct in his body screamed at once. Tarian shot awake, scanning the room for threats. Nothing so far, but it wouldn’t stay that way.
He launched himself out of the bed as he checked his watch. Sunset would come soon, but not soon enough. Melissa was still dead to the world.
For a moment he debated waiting the few minutes it would take her to wake but knew they didn’t have that kind of time. Grabbing the covers, he ripped them off the bed and looked down at his companion.
She looked peaceful in sleep. Completely unaware that their enemies were creeping closer with every passing second.
“Forgive me,” he said as he pulled her up and slung her over his shoulder, fireman style. Abandoning the bag with their changes of clothes and toiletries, Tarian opened the door and glanced down the hallway. Empty. For now.
Some might accuse him of being paranoid, but he felt the familiar itch in his mind of a necromancer moving closer. He didn’t know how the hell Dominic had managed to track them, but he wasn’t waiting around to find out.
Pulling the door closed behind him, he jogged down the hall. Elevators were out. There was no telling who’d be waiting when the doors opened.
He paused to check one of the fire evacuation plaques stapled into the wall and located the nearest stairwell.
Melissa shifted on his shoulder, life infusing slowly into her body.
“Hold on, sweetheart,” he murmured as he set off for the stairs.
He rounded the corner just as his powers flared. Whoever was after them, they’d stepped onto their floor.
Tarian crashed into the stairwell and started running down the stairs. Just their luck that they’d stayed on the very top floor.
“Tarian?” He heard a sleepy voice say.
“I’m here,” he replied, smoothing a hand over the back of her legs as he jogged to the next landing.
“What the— Tarian Drake set me down this instant!”
He heard the indignation and smiled. “Just a sec.” Gripping her tightly, he allowed her to slip down his body and back to the ground.
Melissa blinked up at him, her eyes cloudy with sleep. “Want to tell me why I was over your shoulder and not in a nice soft bed?”
“Dominic found us,” Tarian replied. He looked up the twisting stairs to make sure no one had come after them. “I don’t know how he did it, but just before sunset I felt the presence of necromancers moving closer.”
“You can GPS your own people?”
“Yes.” He caught her hand and pulled her down the stairs.
“Seriously? Can all you guys do that?”
“No,” he replied. “I have skills others of my kind do not.”
“Because you’re a ridiculously old man?”
He shot her a glare. “With age comes power.” They took the stairs two at a time.
“Okay, so tell me you’ve got a master plan,” Melissa asked, not even panting as she ran to keep up with his pace.
“‘Don’t get seen’ is pretty much the extent of it so far.”
“Elegant,” she mocked. “But it beats the alternative. You realize if they use their necromancer mojo on me I won’t be immune.”
“Trust me, your liability had occurred to me.” If only he’d managed to get the damn rield away from Dominic back at the ranch. It didn’t escape him that he was fighting to protect a woman who would come at him with fangs and claws if any of his kin commanded her to.
“Anything in your bag of tricks to stop me from being influenced?” she asked as they rounded another corner.
“I already told you I can’t make another rield on short notice.”
“Then don’t let me walk back into Dominic’s clutches, okay?”
He wasn’t immune to the thin thread of doubt in her voice. Pausing, he twirled her into his arms and forced her face up to his. “Dominic is never getting near you again,” he vowed.
A soft smile lit her face. “Good to know,” she replied before baring her fangs. “Not that I’m without my own talents.”
“Try not to kill anyone,” he said. “I probably have a distant cousin or two in the crowd.”
Melissa pouted. “How about I promise not to not try to kill the bastards who kidnapped me?”
“Melissa,” he warned.
“Fine,” she capitulated with a sigh. “No mortal wounds if I can help it.”
“Thank you.” He kissed her quickly before twining his fingers through hers and pulling her once again down the stairs.
They practically flew down the flights as they raced for the ground. Finally the door to the lobby appeared before them.
Tarian gestured for her to stay back as he inched toward the door. She pressed her body against the wall as she waited to see if the exit was guarded.
With a last glance to ensure she was out of the way, Tarian eased the door open an inch.
The lobby came into view, as did the angry glare of the necromancer guarding the door.
He jumped back as the guard kicked the door open and burst into the stairwell.
Protect Melissa, he thought, his powers already flooding through his body. Tarian stepped forward, ready to take on the guard, when Melissa flashed out of the corner of his eye.
The slight vampire dealt a sharp blow to the back of the guard’s neck then proceeded to catch him when his eyes rolled back into his head.
Without a word she pulled the man behind the door before letting him drop, none too gently.
“Well, that was simple,” she said, dusting off her hands.
A slow smile curved Tarian’s lips. “I had it handled.”
She shrugged. “I had it handled more. Are you going to go all he-man on me and tell me I should have waited for yet another rescue?”
Satisfaction filled him. “No,” he replied. “I quite like that you don’t need me to play your knight in shining armor at all times.”
Her wide grin made him feel like he’d just said the exact right thing.
“Vampire males would have berated me for taking a risk.”
“I’m not a vampire,” he replied. How many times over the years had he protected someone who should have been able to do the job themselves? That would never be a worry with Melissa.
“So you don’t mind that I might not need you all the time?”
He shrugged. “What sort of idiot would take issue with your ability to defend yourself?”
Her lips parted in surprise before joy washed over her features. Gripping his jacket, she pulled herself up on her tiptoes and kissed him.
Tarian groaned, knowing he should push her away. This wasn’t the time or place. But Melissa had never made the first move before. His arms wrapped around her as he took one selfish minute to revel in her touch.
“We don’t have time for this,” he whispered against her lips.
It took his brain a moment to process what she’d just said. When he did, fire roared through his blood. “Yes?”
She nodded. “Provided we survive, of course.”
“Oh sweetheart, you’ve just given me quite a powerful reason to live.” With a last, quick kiss, he pushed her behind him and reached for the door.
The lobby spread out before them, empty of everyone except the boy on reception.
Perfect, he thought. They just needed to get out and find the car. Once they were on the road, Dominic wouldn’t catch them twice.
Melissa’s hands pressed against his back as she leaned forward to peer over his shoulder. Her scent wrapped around him, a mix of floral hotel shampoo and something uniquely her.
“Is it clear?” she whispered in his ear.
He bit back a growl. Escaping from his family with a damn hard-on had not been in the cards.
“Looks clear. We should—”
“Wait.” Melissa’s fingers curled into him. “There.”
He saw exactly what had caused her to stop him. Dominic strode into view, his salt-and-pepper hair unmistakable.
Tarian glanced around the simple lobby and knew there was no way to escape without his grandfather spotting them.
“Any ideas?” she breathed into his ear.
He was about to say no when a second shape emerged from the hallway.
“Yes,” he replied, power coursing through him. Usually he needed to be close to use his magic against his fellow necromancers, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
His eyes slid closed, tension knotting his shoulders, as he focused on the second guard. Magic flowed from him, caressing along Melissa’s skin as it asked if she was the one meant to be influenced.
Leave her alone, he whispered to himself. Trap the guard.
Power flowed into the lobby, pooling around the hapless soldier.
When Tarian opened his eyes, he was seeing Dominic from a different angle.
“They’ve been spotted at the west end,” he said, his voice rougher and deeper than it should have been.
Dominic turned to stare at him, or rather the guard. “Are you sure?” he demanded.
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