Eternal Hearts

by Jennifer Turner

  This was going to sting.

  Without even being touched, Drake watched everything in his peripheral vision blur as he flew back away from Oktober and crashed into the cabinets on the other side of the room.

  “I don’t have to tell you anything!” Oktober’s roar cut into Drake’s ears and made them sting. “I’ve been doing this a hell of a lot longer than you, and you’re damn lucky I’m even answering your questions. Now, play nice and stop spilling my beer or you can leave.”

  Drake grimaced as he worked a piece of the now broken cabinet door out of his shoulder. This was why he needed to stay calm. As much as it pained him, Oktober was still more physically powerful, especially when Drake wasn’t whole.

  He dropped the jagged shard of wood on the counter and rubbed his throbbing shoulder. “Was it even an approved contract?”

  Tober nodded. “Of course it was. But remember my permission comes from the Chief, not your boss. What the hell’s the big deal anyway? I followed the details of the contract to a T. It was a standard kill for me.”

  Drake eyed his friend. “How standard was it, Tober?”

  He shrugged. “The parameters were to kill the mother, feed her heart to the boy before killing him, and then kill the girl.”

  Drake rubbed his forehead. For Oktober, that was fairly standard, so he couldn’t argue. “So let me get this straight. You did all that, on camera no less, and then sent a copy to Toni? Along with some kind of letter?”

  “The video was part of the contract, but there wasn’t any letter.” He looked almost appalled. “Why would I send a letter? I had a camera, anything I wanted to say I could have.”

  Drake pressed the heels of his palms against his eyes. Tober made a good point. Maybe Clint didn’t have all his facts straight. But at least he knew why Toni had nightmares now. He stared hard at Oktober. “I can’t believe you killed her family.”

  “You can knock off the look, Drake. I’m not human anymore, so I don’t pretend to be. You might try to hold on to some shining don’t-kill-the humans-ideal, but they’re my food.”

  “So what happened in the bathroom then? Why didn’t you finish the deed?”

  “Damn, Drake, I don’t hate the girl. She wanted to know what happened with her sister. Now she knows. As for why I didn’t take things any farther…for fuck’s sakes, if you must know – I stopped when I smelled you on her.”

  Drake could only blink for a second. “You stopped because of me?”

  Oktober lowered his head and kicked at a chunk of broken cabinet. “Why I stopped doesn’t really matter. What’s with all the questions about Toni all of a sudden?”

  “I’m in the process of fulfilling a protection order on her.”

  “Well shit.” A look of honest surprise washed over Oktober’s face. “I’ll stay away from her then. If I’d known you had a contract on her, I would’ve never followed her into the bathroom.”

  Drake crossed his arms. “I’d appreciate it if you kept your hands off her anyway.”

  Oktober smiled. “You like her, don’t you?”

  Drake threw his arms up in the air. “Why is that so fucking unbelievable?”

  “I don’t think it’s unbelievable. You’re not like me. You may’ve been born with the innate ability to kill supernaturals, but you can still feel. You just choose not to so you can do your job better. I’m actually not surprised you like her. She’s everything you never look for in a woman.”

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  “How do I put this?” He made a display of stroking his chin. “She’s not a knockout with a great body who only wants to fuck. She’s cute and bite-sized. She’s also fiery and moody, and she’ll fight for whatever she cares about even if the odds are completely against her. Plus, she’s got brains. And she’s also got a great ass. Not that you don’t look for that, but she comes already equipped.”

  Drake’s first reaction was to punch him for that comment, but he couldn’t. That was just the way Tober was, and nothing would ever change that fact. So instead, Drake smiled and took it as a compliment. “She does have a really, really great ass.”

  Oktober didn’t smile or laugh like Drake expected. The muscles in his jaw flexed a few times before he finally asked, “How much do you like her?”

  Drake shrugged. “I know I like her. I know I don’t like it when other people touch her. Especially you,” he said as he jammed a finger into Tober’s chest. “But not just you, I don’t like it when any man touches her.”

  Oktober feigned a loud gasp. “You broke the rules, didn’t you?”

  “Not really. I’ve kissed her, but it hasn’t gone much farther.”

  Tober’s face darkened with concern. “The only problem I see for you two is your job. She’s not old enough to deal with your enemies. She’ll be a sitting duck when you’re not around.”

  Drake shifted between his feet while he stared at the floor. He already knew that lovely piece of information, and no matter how he tried to spin it, there was no way he could have Toni without putting her in danger.

  The emotion on Oktober’s face when Drake looked back up at him was difficult to place. He motioned from Drake’s boots to his head and back. “What’s all this?”

  Drake leaned against the counter. “This is me knowing I shouldn’t pursue anything with her for that very reason. This is a little bit of sadness mixed with self pity. Are you really that clueless, man?”

  “I understand the concept of emotion, Drake. I just don’t feel it anymore. My instincts tell me you’re wounded, and I can see it’s not physically. I just don’t know the origin of the wound.” He went quiet for a moment. “Look, you can have Toni, but you have to be prepared for her to die.”

  And she will die. Drake growled and slammed his fists down on the black marble countertop, which made a snapping sound just before a crack spidered the entire length of the counter.

  “Hey! I don’t come to your house and break your shit. Stop breaking mine.”

  “I’m sorry,” Drake offered. “It’s just frustrating. I want to be with her, Tober. Maybe she could love me. I mean, actually love me. Hell, maybe I could even love her.”

  Oktober turned his back. “Don’t bet on it.”

  A tingle skittered up Drake’s spine in response to the icy venom behind his friend’s words. He shouldn’t have brought up the L-word. He didn’t know all the details of Tober’s story, but he knew that word had something to do with it.

  “Sorry, Tober. I—”

  “Don’t,” Oktober growled as he turned around and raised a hand. “Don’t go there.”

  Drake nodded. He wasn’t about to push the issue. “Well, I should probably get back to Toni. She’s only got half of me right now.”

  Oktober smiled. “Man, I still wish I could pull that splitting trick. But yeah, you should get back to your woman.” He cast an almost wistful glance toward the living room. “I broke mine. I should head out to get a new one anyway.”

  Drake leaned back into the doorway and peered into the living room before directing his full attention back to Oktober. “Tober, where the hell did the broken one go?”

  “Same place they always go.”

  “You ate her?”

  He nodded.

  “All of her? Bones, too?”

  He flashed a wicked grin as he turned towards the door. “Roughage, it’s good for the system. Besides, waste not, want not.”

  Completely unable to find anything appropriate to say, Drake just smiled and waved as Oktober walked out the door. He knew he had some of the most fucked up friends, but they were still exactly that – his friends. And Oktober had been there to save Drake’s ass in a few situations that could have put him down for months, if not a lot longer. He’d been there when no one else was, and not once had he ever asked for anything in return.

  He considered the floor again. Oktober had even tried to warn him before he’d made the biggest mistake of his life. And that one mistake, that single lapse in ju
dgment, had changed his entire outlook on life.

  Drake tried to push the memory away, but it refused to yield…

  ~~

  “I love you.” Klesa’s words echoed in Drake’s ears as he pulled into the driveway of his home just a few minutes before sunset. He’d been gone for almost two weeks on a particularly difficult contract. In the end he’d been successful, but it was the first time he’d ever been seriously injured in the process. And so seriously, two full days later he still wasn’t completely healed.

  Drake chuckled to himself. If it hadn’t been for Oktober’s timely intersession, he didn’t even want to think about what could’ve happened. Most likely, he’d still be lying in a bed in some foreign land trying to pull mystically poisoned darts out of his ass.

  He cringed when he stepped out of the car and the deep claw wounds on his back tightened, sending a shot of stinging agony down his spinal column. The pain surged down to his legs and was so intense he had to lean against the car for support.

  He coughed out a laugh. For the first time since he’d joined The Organization, he doubted the paycheck was worth the scars he’d have. Granted, three million dollars was an obscene amount of money, but he was beginning to wonder if it was really worth the headache.

  He was supposed to be detached, supposed to be able to kill without remorse. He’d gotten the no remorse part down, especially when the person he was trying to kill attacked first. But he was in love, and how could a man in love be detached?

  Drake pulled his duffle bag out of the trunk and slowly headed for the door. When he got inside, he threw his bag on the couch and smiled. If he hurried, he might be able to slip into bed next to her before she woke up.

  After carefully pulling the present he’d purchased from his bag, he limped down the hall as fast as he could. Stopping just outside the door, he stared down at the flower. He hadn’t thought about it when he’d bought it, but he’d never given a woman a red rose before. Then again, he’d never loved a woman before he met Klesa.

  He frowned at the thought. She was always so giving and understanding whenever he had to leave. She deserved more than just a few weeks of his love at a time.

  And at that moment, Drake knew what he had to do.

  First thing tomorrow evening, he’d tell his boss it was over. He’d hang up his guns and spend the rest of his life with the woman he loved, not killing people he didn’t even know. He’d finally be able to be there for her the way she’d been there for him.

  Drake felt the smile curve his lips as he pushed his bedroom door open. All he wanted, more than anything else, was to see her beautiful face. But as his eyes adjusted to the darkness, that wasn’t what he saw…

  The woman he loved more than life itself was sprawled naked across his bed with another man…another vampire.

  Drake stared at the scene, unable to move as disbelief wrapped cold tendrils around him. It couldn’t be real. He’d given her a home, protected her from her enemies, and he’d believed her every single time she’d said she loved him. No. This wasn’t real.

  Oktober warned you. He shook his head. Oktober had warned him at least thirty times that Klesa wasn’t being truthful, but Drake had refused to hear it. He saw it in her eyes every time he looked at her, he saw her love for him. There had to be some kind of simple explanation for what he was seeing now…

  Drake stood in the dark room and watched as Klesa and Vincent, the Lord of Seattle, awoke.

  She stretched then rolled over to straddle Vincent’s waist and nipped at his lips. “We’ve been in this bed for three days, Vincent. Why don’t we play somewhere else today?”

  Vincent grinned as he shifted his hips. He grazed his fingernails up her sides then flicked her stiffened nipples. “What did you have in mind?”

  She rolled her hips and moaned, “Never mind, we can stay right here for now.”

  “When do you expect your boy-toy?”

  She waved a hand. “I really don’t care. If he returns, it only means he’s killed the last of our enemies. If he doesn’t, my use for him is over anyway. Why, are you scared of my killer?”

  Vincent actually laughed. “If he was stupid enough to believe anything you told him, I hardly think I have anything to worry about.”

  Drake reached out and steadied himself against the doorway. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. She’d lied to him. She’d told him over and over that she loved him, only so he would kill for her?

  Was it all a lie? Everything? Every kiss? Every touch?

  He couldn’t watch them anymore.

  After willing the lights on, Drake walked over to the side of his bed and threw Klesa’s present on the mattress next to her. He stared down at the rose even though he didn’t really see it. “I bought that for you.” He frowned and drew a deep breath. “If you’d take it with you when you take the rest of your stuff, I’d really appreciate it. I’ll be back in two days.” He forced his eyes to meet hers. “I expect you not to be here.”

  She smiled as she continued to ride Vincent. “Is this the part where I cry and beg for your forgiveness?”

  Drake watched as the warm set of blue eyes he’d fallen in love with frosted over. How could he have been so blind? He felt as though someone had just torn his heart out, but somehow he managed to return her cold smile. “No, Klesa, it isn’t. This is the part where I wish you the best, and then I leave.”

  Klesa moaned as her body shuttered. She leaned down to kiss Vincent before she turned her unwanted attention back to Drake. “What, you’re not even going to try to kill us? I mean, after all, it really is the only thing you’ve ever been good at.”

  Drake struggled to keep his eyes on her. Her betrayal hurt, but that one remark cut him deeper than any knife or claw ever could. There was only one thing in the world he’d ever wanted, only one thing he’d wished for…

  He wanted to be more than a killer, he wanted to be loved…faults and all.

  Klesa blew out a gusty sigh. “I’d be disappointed, but I grew rather accustomed to that feeling while feigning my love for you. Believe it or not,” she drawled as she reached up and patted his groin, “I actually got used to faking a lot of things for you.”

  In that moment, Drake’s entire world went silent save for the mocking sounds of her and Vincent’s laughter. He gave a curt nod and smiled, even though happiness was nowhere near the emotion racing through his veins.

  He turned away. “Goodbye, Klesa,”

  And the last sound Drake heard before he walked out the door was her saying she loved him, in the same breathy way she had just before he’d left two weeks ago.

  Only this time – he heard the truth.

  ~~~

  Drake shook his head to clear away the memory he just couldn’t seem to forget. That was the day he’d resigned himself to a life of murder. The day he’d realized no woman who shared the curse of immortality would ever love him for anything more than what he could do for her.

  Looking back on it now, the worst part of the whole debacle was that Oktober had warned him, but Drake had been too stupid to listen. Had he at least taken a moment to consider his friend’s words, the whole situation might have never happened.

  Drake glanced around Oktober’s half broken kitchen. Never once had Oktober lied to him. Never once had Oktober asked anything of him. And most of all, he was always there when Drake needed him. And truth be told, he was the very reason Drake had ended up in Chicago in the first place. He’d stayed with Oktober until Klesa had left his home in Seattle. But to this day, he’d never gone back.

  A slow ache crept across Drake’s chest as he considered the conversation he and Oktober had just finished. Tober never said he should stay away from Toni. He never warned that she was only using him…never even said she didn’t care about him.

  What if that meant everything he felt from her…

  It’s all real. Drake could barely breathe as the thought gripped him. He couldn’t say that Toni loved him, but he knew she cared. It was obvio
us in the things she did when she thought he was sleeping, or when she believed he wasn’t looking. But he saw it in her eyes, and he felt it.

  For the first time in a long time, tears welled in Drake’s eyes. His feelings for her would eventually get her killed. And if he didn’t step back now, he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to.

  If she died because of him…he didn’t know what he’d do.

  Panic seized Drake’s heart when his other half told him Toni was waking up. He worked a few circles with his shoulders as he mentally prepared himself for what was to come. Toni would be devastated enough when she remembered what happened at The Underground, the last thing she needed was to sense that he was hurting, too.

  Chapter 12

  When Toni opened her eyes, she swore she was seeing double. She sat up, rubbed her eyes, and then looked hard at Drake…but this time there was only one of him.

  He reached out from the chair next to the bed and pulled her hand into his. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded. “My head’s a little fuzzy and I think I’m seeing double, but other than that I feel all right. What happ…” Her mind stalled her words as memories exploded behind her eyes. The images came as ghostly blurs flashing at blinding speed, each slamming into the one before it.

  The image of Mary and her friends warped into a sick feeling of Oktober’s hands on her body. Rage twisted with pleasure as she tried to fight against him. Then there were the whispers of words she would never say to him, droning into shrieks of anger when he’d walked away.

  But then there was Drake…

  She stared through tears into the piercing blue eyes of the man less than a foot away. What would he think of her now? It seemed like every time she turned around another man was touching her, leaving her with little choice but to react to them. And the only man she wanted to have that kind of reaction to…was the one who now had his arms wrapped around her.

  Toni rested her head against Drake’s shoulder as the tears spilled from her eyes. Through it all, he’d been the only one who’d pushed her away. The only man who hadn’t taken advantage of the state she was in when any other surely would have.