“Absolutely, sir. He still has the girl.”
“Then let’s go.” Dominic took off down the hall, and Tarian pulled back his magic as the guard turned to do the same thing.
West end, he told the guard. The traitor is hiding over there.
Tarian stifled a groan as his magic boomeranged back into his body. Melissa was there, her arms wrapped around him in support.
“Want to tell me what just happened?” she asked.
“Later,” he replied. By the time he got this vampire back to New York he’d have no secrets from her. The thought, however, wasn’t as alarming as it would have been days past. “We need to run.”
Catching her hand, he pulled her across the whitewashed floor toward the glass double doors.
Night had fallen by the time they burst from the hotel. A quick scan showed only two necromancers patrolling the parking lot. One more than he’d be able to control at once.
“Still want to show off your fancy vampire skills?” he asked.
Melissa glanced at him. “What were you thinking?”
“If you can incapacitate that one,” he said, pointing to the furthest guard, “I can control the other.”
“Deal.” She was gone without another word.
Tarian watched in surprise as the guard he’d indicated went down in a soundless attack. He hadn’t even seen her move. Vampires were deadly creatures, he’d seen that first hand, but Melissa’s bloodthirstiness had a certain elegance that brought a smile to his face.
A smile that disappeared when she took down the second guard instead of staying hidden.
“Melissa,” he hissed, racing across the parking lot.
He found her dragging the second guard next to the first.
“What?” she asked. “He didn’t see his friend go down, so as long as I stayed on his blind side there was no chance of him controlling me.”
The desire to shake her made his fingers twitch. “It was an unnecessary risk.”
“It was my call,” she snapped back. “And it went off without a hitch. The appropriate response is, ‘Thank you my lovely, brilliant vampire. I’d be lost without you.’”
Staring at her grinning like a loon while kneeling next to two unconscious necromancers caused a curious pang to snake through him. He just might be lost without her.
“Come on,” he said, unlocking the car. “Let’s get out of here before Dominic realizes we’re not in the west end of this place.”
Melissa made no protest, and within minutes they were jetting off onto the road.
“Think they’ll be able to follow us?” Melissa asked. She turned to look back at the hotel, as it grew smaller in his rearview mirror.
“I’m sure Dominic won’t be giving up, but we’ll just stick to the smaller rural roads.”
“How’d they find us this time?”
He shook his head, unable to answer her. Dominic had many talents but tracking wasn’t one of them. “I have no idea,” he said truthfully.
“Good thing you’ve got crazy, these-aren’t-the-droids-you’re-looking-for powers.” She flopped back into her seat and fastened her eyes on him. “Let’s talk about that, shall we?”
Tarian groaned. He’d never be able to convince her she hadn’t seen what she’d seen, but the answers Melissa was searching for were ones he’d only intended to share with his mate.
And that’s not her, he told himself. Fate wouldn’t have been cruel enough to pair him with a woman he could never have. Not permanently.
And he wouldn’t be stupid enough to fall for a vampire who was far too young and naive to ever be what he needed.
It’s just lust. We both just need a night to get each other out of our systems.
Even as he assured himself, the words felt hollow. Tarian wasn’t sure there was anything he could do to scrub Melissa from his mind.
Nor was he sure he even wanted to.
…
“Tarian?” she asked. The seriousness in his eyes was unnerving. What was running through his mind?
“Did it ever occur to you I wouldn’t want to share all my innermost secrets with a woman I—”
He stopped, but she could fill in the blanks. With a woman he might never see again after tomorrow night.
Melissa turned to the window, her excitement over their escape fading away at the reality of their situation. She’d read the articles. Relationships between people brought together by stress or extreme circumstances rarely lasted. Added to that, they were both looking for their intended mates.
The idea of Tarian finding his, of smiling at some other woman, loving her, made her fangs ache. But there was no use hiding from the truth. Tarian wasn’t hers. Their romance came with a time limit.
It didn’t stop her from wanting to know him.
She leaned her head back against the seat rest. Never before had she felt obliged to share intimate details about herself with a partner, nor had she pried into a lover’s past. She’d lived by the unspoken immortal rule that the past was off-limits for all but the most serious of connections.
Now, however, the idea of opening herself up to someone didn’t fill her with the usual dread. Tarian wasn’t a man she felt the need to keep at arm’s length anymore. In fact, he was the first to ever inspire this desire to share.
She wanted to learn about his powers, but more so, she wanted to know about his life before he came into her world. It was selfish to expect such closely guarded secrets without offering up a few of her own.
“Quid pro quo,” she whispered.
“What?”
She rolled her head in his direction. If she was going to go down this road it couldn’t be brought on by a thoughtless blunder or a slip of the tongue. It had to be a conscious decision, because once they parted ways, the information they shared might come back to haunt them.
“I want to know you,” she said, staring at his profile. “And I’ll pay your price.”
His hands tightened on the steering wheel. “I’ll ask about your transformation,” he warned.
“I know.”
There was a beat of silence. “Vampires don’t offer up that information to just anyone.”
“Yes.”
His eyes flicked to her. “This is a bad idea. Keeping our distance makes things easier.”
“Much,” she agreed. Not that she’d been very good at keeping her hands off him. Maintaining distance seemed to be a hopeless dream for them.
Tarian sighed before giving his head a rough shake. “Dammit. You’ve been a puzzle I’ve wanted to unravel since I bloody well met you.”
A small smile curved her lips. At least she wasn’t alone in this twisted dance they found themselves tangled in.
“Tell me,” he ordered.
Her eyes closed briefly as the memory of screaming horses thundered in her mind. She was about to speak of a time in her life she tried her best to forget. The most painful night of her existence.
“I should have died in a carriage accident,” she whispered. “The same accident that killed my mother.”
His breath hissed from him. “Melissa—”
“No,” she stopped him. “I think…I think I want to tell you.”
Though his gaze didn’t waver from the road, one hand reached out for hers.
“I never knew much about my biological father,” she continued. “We didn’t exactly live in a time period with alimony.”
“Redgrave is not…?”
“No. He met my mother in a busy tavern and had to have her. I was just a child when they started their relationship.”
Usually pain shot through her when she spoke of her past, but not this time. She thought of the accident without the usual shame she felt that she could barely remember her mother’s face, even though she hadn’t forgotten the warmth of her touch or the love in her voice.
As the silence stretched, Tarian offered her a respite.
“I was a strong necromancer from the time of my birth,” Tarian said, his voice rough. “But my
other powers developed over time. I can sense my kind, as you know, and sometimes I can command them as I would a vampire. It only works on the younger or weak willed of my kind, but I can do it.”
She glanced at him. “Not Dominic.”
“No. Not Dominic.”
Necromancers shouldn’t be able to control others of their kind. It was a talent she’d never even heard whispers about. That he’d trusted her with it gave her the courage to continue speaking of her transformation.
“My mother stayed with Lucian for the rest of her life,” she said. “She loved him as she’d never loved another, but she refused to be transformed. She never wanted this life.”
“Did she want it for you?”
Melissa closed her eyes, thinking back to the fateful day when her mortality had ended. “I don’t know. She wanted me to live, though as what, I can only guess.”
“What happened?”
“We were traveling to meet with Lucian. It was right at sunset and we were at the edge of a steep hill. Something spooked the horses, and the next thing I knew we were falling.”
She still saw the rotating hill flash by her window in her nightmares. As they’d fallen, she’d seen her mother’s terrified face. Both knew they weren’t getting out alive.
“I was thrown free,” she continued. “Hit my head and blacked out. Lucian tells me he raced to the scene as soon as the sun set but it was too late. I was unresponsive, and my mother was pinned under the carriage.”
Tarian’s hand tightened around hers. “The transformation can’t heal extreme injuries.”
“I know.” The odds of her mother surviving even if she’d agreed to become a vampire were slim. Vampire blood had the power to heal almost any wound, but it still needed veins to circulate through. “She died making Lucian promise to take care of me. He would have anyway, but I like thinking that her last words were about me.”
“So Lucian turned you.”
“He wasn’t going to risk losing us both. I didn’t even get a choice, just woke up with an aversion to sunlight.”
Tarian glanced at her. “Did you regret it?”
“No.” Sometimes it made her feel guilty that she reveled in something he mother had loathed, but she loved her new life. Being a vampire, being strong and fast, gave her a power she’d never had as a human. Her mortal life would have been short and hard, but as an immortal she could enjoy the rolling of the years. She had experienced music, art, and culture that a normal lifespan would never have been able to offer. Even if Lucian had waited for her to wake before turning her, she wouldn’t have made a different choice.
“Necromancers are born not turned,” Tarian said. “We never have a choice.”
“Did you want to be something else?”
A humorless smile twisted his lips. “For years. No necromancer child gives thanks for what we are. Not in a world that despises us.”
Melissa looked away, knowing she’d been part of the world that had perpetuated anti-necromancer sentiments.
“Things changed during the wars. I was young and revolutionary.”
“I doubt you were fighting for a world where necromancers and vampires were treated as equals.”
He tensed. “No. I fought for the extinction of your kind.”
She tried not to let the knowledge hurt. After all, Lucian had fought to eradicate necromancers, so fair was fair. Still, she couldn’t help wondering if any trace of those hate filled years existed in the man she knew today.
“What changed your mind?”
“My father died. Killed by a vampire on the field. Suddenly it wasn’t a game anymore.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
Tarian shrugged. “It was a long time ago. My mother and I did our best to survive. She was always more of a pacifist than anyone else in the family.”
“So you learned from her.”
“Yes.”
She smiled, cuddling up on her seat. “I’d like to meet her.”
“She’d have liked you,” Tarian replied. “But she died several decades ago.”
The pit of her stomach dropped. Losing one parent was bad enough, but if anything happened to Lucian she wouldn’t know how to exist.
“I’m sorry.”
“We were in hiding, and she was pregnant. Hard to get good medical care when you have to avoid all the places decent doctors are likely to hang out.”
Yet another reason to hate vampires.
“My sister survived,” Tarian said. “And I had a reason to keep going.”
“You had to protect her.”
“Yes.”
Melissa rested her head against the back of her seat. He’d lost his father in a war with her people. His mother had died because vampires used their influence to push his kind as far from the rest of the supernatural world as possible. Yet despite his past, he’d still faced off against what remained of his family in order to protect a kidnapped vampire.
“I don’t understand why you don’t hate me,” she whispered. Anyone in his position should.
Tarian slammed on the brakes, swerving the car onto the shoulder of the road.
“Jeez, give warning much?” she squeaked as he reached for her. “Dominic will be after us.”
“We lost him long ago, if he was ever following in the first place. Besides, this is more important.”
“What is?”
“You.” Sliding his seat back, he pulled her into his lap and wrapped his arms around her. “Not for a single moment have I hated you,” he told her. “You had nothing to do with my sorry past.”
“My people—”
“I don’t think all vampires are evil, even if you think all necromancers are monsters.”
She stiffened in his arms. “I don’t…” her voice trailed off as the defense fell flat.
“We’re your boogeymen,” he replied. “No use denying it.”
Twisting, she cupped his face between her hands. “That was before I met you.”
“And now?” he breathed, his lips an inch from hers.
She stared into his beautiful eyes. He was reordering her world, making her question beliefs she’d never doubted. Even worse, he filled her mind. Her waking hours were spent wondering about him, arguing with him, wanting him. Her daylight sleep spent dreaming of him. He was worming his way into every corner of her being, and the walls she’d built to keep him out were crumbling around their feet.
“Now?” she whispered, trailing her fingers along his strong jaw. “Now I’m finding I care less and less about what you are, so long as you’re by my side.”
As soon as the words were out she wanted to call them back. They were too revealing. Too pitiable. The last thing she wanted to be was the lonely vampire he’d once accused her of being. A few days and a couple heated embraces weren’t enough to warrant such a declaration. She knew it as well as he. However, it didn’t change the ever present need growing within her, not just to have him in her bed, but to have him in her life.
She focused on the curve of his collarbone. He was centuries older than her. Had lived experiences she could only dream of. No doubt her words sounded very young to him. And very naive.
“We should get going,” she murmured, wanting to dispel her embarrassment. They’d go back to the road and talk of something light. Something that didn’t reveal their pasts and further blur the line between ally and lover.
His fingers caught her chin as he gently forced her to raise her face. Knowing there was no help for it, she looked up and fell into his sapphire gaze. The world disappeared around them until she wasn’t thinking of Dominic, or the wrath of her father. She wasn’t thinking about saving lives or fighting prejudice.
The only thing on her mind was a burning desire to kiss him once more.
Their lips touched in a caress far more sweet than it was passionate. Tarian’s hands slid down her back, holding her closer as his mouth slanted over hers. In her many years, she’d been kissed by more men than she could remember, but never had an
yone touched her with such care. Her necromancer kissed her, and she felt treasured, precious.
He’s not mine, she told herself. Don’t get used to this. And she could. So easily. She could imagine herself fifty years from now, being calmed by his touch.
The universe had never been kind to her, but showing her such a perfect future only to snatch it away seemed particularly cruel.
His lips glided over hers before she felt the brush of teeth on her lower lip. A low moan caught in her throat. It seemed Tarian had adopted her penchant for love bites.
“Reckless,” she said, tilting her head back so he could trail his mouth down her neck. “We should be driving.”
“Tell me again,” he replied.
She leaned back. “What?” she teased. “That you’re slipping past all my best defenses?”
“Seems only fair. You’ve obliterated mine.”
Her smile slipped from her face. The words might be light, but the meaning behind them was anything but. The embarrassment over her words drained away. It wasn’t warranted. Not when he’d echoed the sentiment.
“What do we do?” she asked.
“What can we do?” he replied. “Other than drive fast and pull over early.”
Her heart clenched. Unless some miracle happened, one night in his bed was all she’d ever get.
Why am I surprised? Her bad luck had run strong since the night her mother had died, when a five-minute delay in their accident would have had Lucian at their side.
“Okay,” she agreed. “Let’s drive fast.” So she could enjoy her time with a man who had every cause to hate her, yet didn’t. A man who had gone above and beyond to protect two races, without a word of thanks. A man who made her burn brighter than she could imagine her true mate ever would.
A man she’d be walking away from all too soon.
He helped her back into her seat before pulling onto the road. Melissa allowed the conversation to lag, knowing there was nothing more that needed to be said. For the first time, in a life filled with diplomacy and double talk, words were simply unnecessary.
Chapter Twelve
Melissa stepped into the hotel room and flicked on the lights. This was the last night she’d have to sleep on sheets that smelled of astringent and shower with tiny bottles of formulaic body wash. Tomorrow she’d be back in her own bed.
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