“Colin,” she screamed, as she scooted toward the wall and out of the line of fire.
He spun and in an instant seemed to size up the situation. Without so much as a pause, he swung his sword in a wide arch. A look of fury was etched forever on the vampire’s face as her severed head flew across the room.
One down, three to go.
Colin’s gaze connected with hers and he gave a brief nod. He got it. The surprise element was still on their side, but only for a moment. The second woman fighting in tandem with the now-unmoving corpse hissed and flew directly toward Ivy. The sight of her rage-contorted face coming at her made Ivy back up even farther. Luckily she had enough foresight to pull the second stake from the back of her jeans and hold it straight out in front of her with both hands. The angle was perfect. She braced her back against the wall, both hands on the stake. The vampire struck, the momentum forcing the stake into its heart, but victory lasted only a moment. Too late Ivy realized that not only had the stake penetrated the heart of the vampire but pierced her own body as well.
“No!” Colin’s scream echoed in her ears a second before everything went black.
*
Ivy went down, a spreading stain of bright red in the middle of her shirt. Colin didn’t pause as he swung his sword at the vampire impaled on the same stake piercing Ivy’s mid-section. With a whoosh, the vampire’s head tumbled to the floor. Blood flew in all directions, hitting him in the face and leaving streaks of crimson across the floors and the wall.
He knew Riah needed help with Destiny and another male. Yet he didn’t move toward her. Instead, he fell to his knees next to Ivy and slid in the blood on the floor.
She had her hands pressed against her stomach, and he covered them with his. A river of crimson flowed between her fingers and his broad palm, spilling to the floor as though it was an open faucet. Her face was white and panic rose in his chest.
“Help her,” Ivy whispered, her voice thin and reedy. “Stop the bitch.”
Colin didn’t let up on the pressure. He had to stop the bleeding. “I’ll get you to a hospital.”
“No time.” Her words were even softer now. “Stop them. Please.”
“You’re more important.” Didn’t she see? One human life was worth a dozen vampires, even a good one, like Riah.
Before now, he’d never have classified any vampire as good. They were unholy creatures that never should have been allowed to walk the earth. Ambassadors of evil and nothing more, they didn’t deserve to exist. All hunters had lived by that creed for hundreds, even thousands of years.
Until now. Had he not seen it with his own eyes, he’d never have believed it. Riah Preston—or should he call her Catherine Tudor—was a contradiction. She wasn’t unholy, she wasn’t evil, and she certainly didn’t seem to be an ambassador of evil. She didn’t walk a path allowing her to be involved with the travelers of darkness or the human race. She fell somewhere strangely in between.
Even given her noble intentions, in this crisis moment, he determined value by the simplest of terms: human or vampire. When the life of the human who captured his heart was at stake, the decision was beyond simple.
He wasn’t leaving Ivy’s side. If Riah died, so be it. He focused all his efforts on saving Ivy’s life. Riah would have to take care of herself.
“Stay with me, love,” he said gently.
Her dark eyes grew hooded. “My timing always did stink.” Ivy’s lips turned up in a tiny smile.
“No, baby, your timing is great. I’ll get you out of here and some good doc will have you fixed up in no time.” He kissed the top of her head.
“I’m glad…” Ivy didn’t finish.
*
It sounded as though an army had just arrived. A roar filled the room. At first Riah was confused. What just happened? Then she realized what it was—Colin. He rushed into the battle, his sword flying so fast it was no more than a blur of red and silver. He screamed, though Riah couldn’t make out the words. She could make out the emotion: fury. Meriel threatened the circles of hell earlier, but they hadn’t made an appearance until right now, and Colin brought them.
She didn’t have time to consider why. Keeping the two vampires at bay took every ounce of effort she had. Certainly she was powerful, always had been, but keeping two equally powerful vampires on the run was a problem. Actually, it was more like one equally powerful vampire and one getting up to speed pretty damn quick.
She welcomed the addition of Colin in her corner. He didn’t seem to need direction and went immediately to the youngster, which left Riah and Meriel face-to-face.
Meriel smiled as she shifted just out of the range of Riah’s sword. “Catch me if you can, beautiful,” she purred.
“Don’t worry, I plan to send you straight to hell,” Riah snapped.
“You mean back to hell.” The bitterness in Meriel’s words cut, all trace of gentleness or taunting gone. “You left me there a long time ago.”
“I didn’t know.” Riah jumped as Meriel tried to hit her with a roundhouse kick.
“Didn’t take the time to find out either, did you?”
“I was nineteen years old. What did you expect?”
“You said you loved me.” Meriel swung through another kick that just skimmed Riah’s cheek.
“I did.” Riah spun, holding her sword steady. She missed Meriel’s neck by mere inches.
Meriel laughed. “Do you think I’ve learned nothing in the last five centuries? You can’t destroy me. You’re too soft. You walked away from the life and now you’re no better than these humans.”
Was that true? Riah had spent the better part of the last two hundred years finding ways to save lives, not take them. Neither human nor vampires lives. Instead, she’d spent eons trying to find a way to end her existence as a vampire so she might become mortal again. Perhaps Meriel was right, perhaps she had become soft.
Maybe she should give it up and allow herself to find the peace Rodolphe stole from her. To leave behind the endless existence might be the better road. She dropped her hands, the tip of the sword making a loud ping against the tile floor.
Then she saw Adriana. Her beautiful Adriana, who filled her heart with joy and might very well have found a way back to the living for her. Now, she lay in a crumpled heap on the cold tile floor and Riah didn’t know if she was alive or dead.
“No,” she screamed, and brought her sword back up. Rage infused her with power and determination.
But in that moment of uncertainty, she lost her advantage. Meriel was quick and deadly. Riah heard the swish and felt the breeze as Meriel’s sword flew toward her neck.
Chapter Twenty-Two
It seemed to Colin, everything happened in a dreamlike sequence. One second he was holding onto Ivy, telling her it would be all right, and the next she was dead. Afterward, everything became a huge blur.
Without realizing he’d even moved away from Ivy, he was in the middle of the fight between Riah and the two vampires. He took on the man first. The young vampire was no match for him, when he was filled with righteous fury. It was bad enough this group of bloodsuckers had killed a good, kind woman, but throw in the fact that Colin loved this particular woman and fury didn’t even begin to describe how he felt.
He’d give the guy credit, he managed to put up a pretty fair fight. Not good enough though. Colin only had to take a couple of swings before he sent the guy’s head flying across the room.
He had just enough time to assess the situation before he had to act again. Riah lowered her sword, which surprised him. He’d sensed all along Riah was a warrior on a mission similar to his own. That she’d back down to Destiny, who was obviously evil, disturbed him. At least until the fire came back in to Riah’s eyes. However, the fire was a hair too late.
But not for him. With a powerful swing, he brought his sword around and connected with Destiny’s smooth white neck at the same moment her sword touched Riah’s.
The impact of flesh and bone against his weap
on vibrated all the way from his wrists to his shoulders. He powered through and heaved a sigh of relief when he heard, for the fourth time, the telltale thump. For a moment afterward nothing but silence existed. Then, it occurred to him, he’d heard only one thump. He managed to focus enough to see Riah still standing, one hand to her neck—the same neck that still had her head attached to it.
His sword clattered to the ground. “She’s dead,” he said to Riah, who looked as shell-shocked as he felt.
Riah stared at Ivy’s body, then back at him, and darkness filled her eyes. Her hand fell away from her neck and Colin noticed that the wound caused by Destiny’s weapon was superficial and already beginning to close.
Both of them turned when they heard a sound. Adriana, looking dazed and shaky, managed to push up to a sitting position. She looked around and shook her head. “This isn’t good,” she said at last.
Riah went to her side and gathered her in her arms. “Ivy’s dead,” she cried against Adriana’s hair.
Adriana’s eyes seemed to clear and she cocked her head. “Can you turn her?”
Colin and Riah said in unison, “What?”
“Turn her. Make her a vampire. Bring her back from the dead.” Adriana’s voice was strong and clear, as if being thrown against a wall and knocked unconscious was no big thing.
Colin started to say never and stopped himself. He went to where Ivy slumped against the wall and gathered her into his arms. She was still warm, as if she was just taking a little nap. Granted, she was wet and bloody, but he could almost believe she simply slept.
He brushed the hair from her face and wondered if he could still love her if she became the thing he hunted. It didn’t take very long to decide.
“Please.” He looked up to Riah. “Please.”
“I can’t.” Riah stepped away from Adriana and stood very straight, her hands clenched at her sides.
“You can,” Adriana said softly.
“I made a promise.” Riah stood stiffly.
“And it was a good promise.” Adriana moved to take both of Riah’s hands. “But now you have to help a friend.”
“I can’t,” she whispered.
“I helped you,” Colin said, as he stared her straight in the eye. “You owe me.”
“He’s right.” Adriana coaxed her. “He could have let you die and he didn’t.”
“You’re sure?” She sounded hesitant and her body had relaxed a touch.
Colin looked down into Ivy’s beautiful face. He’d never been more certain of anything in his life. “Yes.”
Epilogue
Riah stood in her elegant bedroom and smiled. Funny how things changed. For half a millennia, she’d grieved for a lover she believed was her one true love. But she was wrong. She didn’t feel love for Meriel, but guilt. Yes, she still harbored guilt for not checking on Meriel as she lay bloodied in the rain, for leaving her for dead alongside the road. However, the young made horrible mistakes then as they did today. It was just the way of life…and undeath.
Witnessing the utter lack of humanity in a once-tender woman such as Meriel was the wake-up call Riah needed. Oh, it was a few centuries late, but the old truism, better late than never, had some merit.
She turned and gazed at the painting over the fireplace, which made her smile more widely. The portrait she’d lugged from country to country, city to city, century after century, was gone. She didn’t have the heart to destroy it. Not because she still had feelings for Meriel, but because she’d chosen to honor the artist whose name deserved to be remembered. He’d done nothing more than paint what he’d been asked to.
No, rather than destroy the work of art, Riah donated it to the National Gallery in Washington, DC. She didn’t wish to gaze on Meriel’s face ever again, and by putting it in a gallery far from home, she’d probably never have to. The folks at the National Gallery were delighted with her bequest, even though she stipulated that they never disclose her name as donor.
The murmur of voices pulled her thoughts away from the banished painting. Her guests had arrived. She tossed her robe aside and hurried to dress casually in cotton pants and a long silk blouse. A quick brush through her hair, and she was ready.
Six months had passed without a word, and as she neared the living room, she wondered if Ivy could forgive her. She hadn’t wanted to do what Colin and Adriana asked of her. She’d wanted more than anything to hold to her convictions. She wasn’t Rodolphe. She wasn’t Meriel. She wasn’t a monster. And only a monster would turn a beautiful human like Ivy into a creature of the darkness.
Then she’d looked at Ivy’s still face and everything changed. As Colin held Ivy’s lifeless body in his arms, she sliced her own arm open with a razor-sharp scalpel and let her blood drain into Ivy’s mouth. At first, nothing happened, then, slowly, Ivy’s chest began to rise and fall. The ugly wound in the middle of her body began to mend.
That was the last time she’d seen her. Colin had picked Ivy up and carried her from the room.
She and Adriana took care of the vampires and cleaned up the autopsy suite, after Riah made sure Ralph, the security manager, was alive and breathing. To keep him safe and out of the line of fire, she’d drugged him and tucked him into a locked closet for safekeeping. He slept through the battle as well as the cleanup. It was a long night but the gods smiled on them.
Adriana’s house was a total loss, so it only made sense for her to move in with Riah. It was the practical thing to do, or so she rationalized—even though she knew better. She simply wanted Adriana with her, every day and every night. Not a day went by without marveling at her good fortune despite everything. Adriana was the real deal: heart-stopping, all-consuming love. Who would have guessed?
Also, Adriana had an amazing mind. Immediately after the excitement died down, she was back at work recreating the cure she’d come rushing to tell Riah about on the night of the attack. It might take some time, but, hey, time they had.
Now, Riah hesitated before stepping into the living room. Colin and Ivy stood close together, their backs to the door, while Adriana had one arm propped on the fireplace mantle. All three were sharing a laugh.
“Hey, you guys,” Adriana announced. “Look who finally decided to show her skinny little ass.” Her laugh filled the room.
Ivy turned. Riah’s heart stopped as everything seemed to slow. Then, Ivy flew across the room to envelope Riah in a big hug.
“Thank you,” she whispered with her lips against Riah’s ear.
Her heart flipped. Could it be true? “You’re not angry?” she asked hesitantly.
Ivy laughed and held her at arm’s length. “Take a look at beefcake over there and tell me you’d be angry if you were given a second chance to jump his bones? I mean, seriously, Riah, would you pass that up?”
Colin shook his head and smiled. Love had softened the lines in his face. “Never thought I’d be the guy who’d find a vampire hot.” He winked at Ivy.
Something dark and heavy fell away from Riah’s shoulders. A weight she’d been carrying for six months. She crossed the room and put an arm around Adriana’s shoulders, pulling her close and gazing into her amazing dark eyes. “I’m all about second chances.”
About the Author
Sheri Lewis Wohl grew up in northeast Washington State and though she always thought she’d move away, never has. Despite traveling throughout the United States, Sheri always finds her way back home. And so she lives, plays, and writes amidst mountains, evergreens, and abundant wildlife. When not working the day job in federal finance, she writes stories that typically include a bit of the strange and unusual and always a touch of romance. She works to carve out time to run, swim, and bike so she can participate in local triathlons, her latest addiction.
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