Charleston Past Midnight

by Christine Edwards

  “Calla.” My damaged voice comes out in a harsh rasp.

  She tries to tilt her head up but is too weak to accomplish the task. I shift my right arm slightly, which allows her to lean her shoulders back. Seeing her seared face I wince and stifle a sob. I’m sure that I don’t look much better, but I would lie out there until death came if it would spare her this pain.

  Her eyes are mere slits as they find mine. Her burned lips tilt up just a fraction of an inch before her mouth cracks open.

  “Even.” She struggles to push the single word out.

  I frown in confusion and wonder if she is delirious. Where the fuck is Ambrose and the rest? Damn it, we need them!

  I do my best to soothe her, trying to stay as still as possible to not cause further damage to her ravaged skin. “Shhh, it’s all right,” I offer quietly.

  I see the determination in her eyes as she tries again, struggling through the pain to tell me carefully and with fierce determination, “Now we’re even. Just saved your ass, my love.”

  I stare down at her, completely dumbfounded by her beautiful, tenacious spirit. At that moment I know we will make it. We’ve been through too much to let it all slip away now. No, we’re both fighters.

  I have to know. “Why, Calla?”

  Her eyes soften. “Couldn’t lose you.”

  I tense and resist the urge to crush her to me. The love I have for her is unfathomable and I plan on showing her the depths of it for the rest of our existence together.

  In a flash Ambrose and Alina arrive before us.

  She gasps, taking in our condition, and he immediately reacts, bending low in a blur of motion to gently lift Calla out of my arms. The moment he’s upright with her they’re gone. I know that he will feed her to aid in her body’s regenerative process. I’m about to keel over onto my side when Alina leans down to help lift me up.

  Once I’m half standing, mostly leaning into her, I whisper, “I got him.”

  Her eyes widen at the unbelievable news. Before she begins to walk me toward the hidden elevator she whispers, “I never doubted you would one day, Severin.”

  “I’d be a headless pile of ash if it wasn’t for my girl.”

  She smiles as we step carefully into the steel enclosure. “You’re quite lucky to have found her. She’s simply divine.”

  I lean against the cool wall, thankful for its support as I say, “That she is.”

  The doors open at the lower level and she assists me to the sofa, where I gladly collapse in an exhausted heap.

  “You need nourishment, Severin. Please drink from me to repair your wounds.”

  I nod, knowing she’s right. She slices her slim wrist with a fang and lets her blood flow between my dry, parted lips. She is careful not to touch her skin to my mouth. Feeding is a sensual act and the only reason I am taking blood from her for the very first time is that we both know there is no other option. Ambrose will likely have to give a hell of a lot of his to bring Calla back from the brink. I’ll have to tell him how grateful I am … for everything.

  Several minutes pass before she seals her wound with her tongue. Already I feel that my body is swiftly repairing itself. Staring down at the backs of my spread hands, I watch the blistered, raw skin become even and smooth once again, the hands of a twenty-five-year-old. Our repair rate is remarkable.

  “Wait, where’s Case?” Tell me he wasn’t taken out. Please, no ….

  “Easy, he’s fine. But his human may not be. They are together in his room right now. Valdon nearly drained her dry. Case tried to turn her on the spot, knowing that she was nearly dead and that was his only option, but there was too much chaos going on with Valdon’s guards for him to get her to drink properly. He traced her here, not knowing what else to do. We haven’t seen him yet because Ambrose and I traced directly to the villa in Spain, hoping to provide backup against Valdon. When it was clear that you were both gone, we came here.”

  “You should go check on them, see if Case is all right. I’ll be able to get up in a moment to see to Calla.”

  Her hand rests on the burned remnants of my shirt. “You need to take it easy, Severin. You’ve both been through the unthinkable and need to simply chill, got it?”

  She stands and lovingly places her palm against my cheek before adding, “Nice work today. It was a long time coming for that evil bastard.”

  As she disappears from the living room I whisper into the surrounding silence, “Agreed.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Only the Strong Survive

  I struggle to get my legs to work. It took several minutes just to sit up on the bed, but remarkably, I can already see my skin repairing itself. The healing rate of my new body is astounding but my main concern is Kiana. I was out of it when Ambrose was feeding me hours earlier, and now that I’m bouncing back, I’m determined to find out where she is.

  Finally I’m able to make it to my feet. I’m still shaky from the battle on the lawn and the flood of pain that is slowly ebbing away like a receding tide. My hand fumbles for the doorknob when it suddenly twists in my hand before opening.

  “Oh.”

  I stagger back a step to keep from being knocked in the face when strong arms reach in and catch hold of my waist.

  I watch his sensual lips as he says in a low rumble, “Easy there, my belle fleur. You’re in no condition to be up and about.” Fathomless eyes roam my face. “You’re healing well. I’m pleased. I’ve left you alone for the last couple of hours, wanting to make certain that you got adequate rest. Are you in pain?”

  I shake my head. “No, not anymore. I need to see Kiana. Take me to her, please, Severin.”

  I stare intently into those intimidating eyes, letting him know how serious I am. Just when I’m about to pull out of his hold and brush past him, he sighs and reaches one long arm back behind him to re-open the bedroom door.

  “Very well. Come.”

  We take a right turn down the main corridor and come to a stop in front of a dark-colored door. Instead of knocking, he leans in close and says, “Case, we’re coming in. Everyone decent?”

  “Yeah.” The single, deep word reverberates against the door before Severin twists the handle and leads me into the dimly lit space.

  “Kiana ….” I whisper and race to her side.

  My heart sinks at the sight of her. She’s curled up in Case’s lap, tears streaming down her stunning face. When I reach her I can’t help feeling a stab of guilt that her involvement in this mess is my fault. Her arms are twined around Case’s immense neck as she chokes out to Case, “Please, leave us. I want to talk with Calla alone.”

  Out of the corner of my eye I see Severin flick his hand up to Case, indicating that they should head out. He drops a kiss down onto her forehead and slowly untangles himself from her hold. After setting her on the mattress, he stands and walks out without a word, Severin following behind him.

  “Oh Kiana ….” My voice cracks as I struggle not to lose it completely. At least she is alive. Different, changed, but alive nonetheless.

  I sit beside her and tentatively take my best friend’s soft hand in mine. I’m just about to ask how she is feeling when she turns to me, those tawny, striking eyes imploring. “This isn’t happening, Calla,” she whispers. “It’s some bad nightmare or someone spiked our drinks or some shit, right? Tell me straight up, because I’m losing it here.”

  Damn, damn! I wish that I could lie to her but I can’t. Delaying the truth would only make it harder to swallow.

  Gently I stroke the back of her fingers and say, “It’s all real. We’re changed, Kiana, forever.”

  A choked sound lodges in her throat as a fresh flood of tears silently drips down her smooth cheeks.

  “Kiana, please understand how sorry I am. I never meant for you to become involved. You should have had a choice. I’m so, so very sorry that you did not. That wasn’t right. I’m sure that Case did whatever he had to do not to lose you. Did he explain anything to you yet?”

>   I lean down farther to see her face beneath the long hair that has fallen forward over her shoulder. She nods. “Yes, he did. I’ve known what he was since he came back the night after I met him at Mixture. He told me, and we had an agreement. I even let him drink from me ….” She trails off, trying to collect herself as she dashes the wetness away from her face. “He told me that you were in trouble but that Severin was handling everything. Oh God, Calla. I-I don’t think that I can deal with this shit. A fucking vampire? What the hell? And my family … oh Jesus ….”

  I wrap my arms around her and pull her in close. Several minutes pass with only her sorrowful cries filtering through the quiet space of Case’s bedroom.

  “Kiana, look at me.” I lift her chin with my finger as our eyes collide. “We are going to manage, like we always do … together. I’d much rather be having this conversation with you now than attending your damn funeral, which is precisely what would have happened if Valdon wasn’t stopped. Did Case tell you that Severin destroyed him?”

  “Yeah, he did. He’s good to me, Calla. I-I have really strong feelings for him, I really do. But, this … all this newness is seriously messing with my head. I gotta get my shit together because one minute I think I’m on board and the next I’m in freefall mode, you know?’

  All too well ….

  “I understand, Kiana. But you know that we’re survivors, always have been. It will take time but we will adjust. We’ll adapt and thrive. There is no other choice.”

  Her arms bind around me. “Oh Calla. Thank God we have each other to make it through all this.”

  “Always. And you also have the rest of the family, who you will become close to over time. We’re strong and because of that you are never going to be alone. We’ll make it work together, Kiana. I promise you.”

  She stares at me before saying knowingly, “I believe you.”

  * * *

  “Fuck me, brother. ’Bout took everything I had to hold my shit tight when she was fuckin’ dying in my arms earlier. Glad you took him down ’cause I’d be gunning for him right now for what he did to my woman.”

  Case is splayed out on the gray sectional beside me, his forearms propped behind his neck as he stares at the blank flatscreen hanging on the wall. Clearly he’s still shaken up from being forced to turn Kiana.

  He continues, “I hope to God she doesn’t hate me. Don’t think I could deal with that shit, man.”

  “She’ll come around. It will take some time, but it will happen.”

  His head turns and his dark eyes lock with mine. “Love her. Hasn’t been long, but I know it. It’s never happened to me before but when the time came I knew I was turning her ’cause if she went down I would’ve had a fucking front row date with that sunrise. No joke.”

  “Understood. Calla will help her get through everything. They’re close.”

  “Yeah, Kiana has been stressing the fuck out, worrying about her over the past week. It’s good that they have each other to ease into our lifestyle.”

  I nod in agreement.

  “My fault,” he says quietly, as if talking to himself.

  My brows draw together. “What is?”

  “I was terrified that he was draining her and the fucker knew it. Couldn’t blank my thoughts out. Knew you took Calla to our place in Spain. The slimy fuck read my thoughts. That’s how he got to Calla. He must’ve known where the villa was, otherwise he couldn’t have traced there, right?”

  “He has been around a very long time. It’s likely that he recognized it from your memories.”

  “Hey, I’m really sorry. My slip-up nearly cost you your head. Won’t ever happen again, believe me. Are we cool then?”

  I nod twice. “Yes, yes we are. What happened was inevitable and luckily fate smiled in our favor.”

  “Damn fucking straight.”

  Epilogue

  Christmas Eve, 11:20 p.m.

  Chamonix, France

  “Severin! I want to look! How much longer?”

  The anticipation is driving me insane. I’ve always been impatient when it comes to surprises and waiting for this one is no different. He’s had my eyes covered with his gloved hands since we left the romantic restaurant ten minutes earlier. And now he is leading me slowly through the town before pulling me carefully into some kind of heated, enclosed space.

  His warm breath teases softly against my right ear as he whispers seductively, “Not quite yet, my lovely. Almost ….”

  “Oh!”

  The swift, jerking movement catches me off guard as whatever we are standing on begins a smooth upward ascent. What in the world? I’m leaning back into his chest, my parka to his.

  I’m about to plead once again when he asks me in an excited whisper, “Ready?”

  I shiver at the enthusiasm in his voice, “Yes, come on!”

  “Look.”

  The black leather gloves are removed from my eyes and I gasp in wonder. We are being swept up the slope of the glorious Alps via cable car. The white cliffs arc and peak in a magnificent swooping juxtaposition above us and I’m torn between gazing down at the twinkling lights of the quaint French village below us or the breathtaking façade of the mountain named Aiguille Du Midi. My neck feels like it’s on a swivel as I cast about in all directions, mesmerized by the view.

  His sensual accent floats down behind me, “What do you think of your surprise, my love?”

  I shift, turning slowly in his arms. Staring up into his unforgettable face, I whisper, “It’s amazing, Severin. I love it. But how is it possible? I mean, it doesn’t run at night.”

  “No, you’re right. Normally it doesn’t.”

  My brows snap together, patiently waiting for him to continue.

  “But for my girl, it does.”

  I grin and shake my head in disbelief. “The powers of your irresistible charm, Mr. Beauvais?”

  He leans down to lightly kiss the tip of my nose before pulling back and adding in an amused voice, “Not at all. It simply had to do with the powers of cash leaving my wallet. The operator was most accommodating when he heard my offer. I’m certain he’ll have some explaining to do tomorrow, but none of that is our concern. Now tell me, ma belle fleur, how can we possibly make this ride even more memorable tonight?”

  The wicked gleam in his unique eyes leaves little room for misinterpretation.

  “Mmm,” I purr sexily, “we are all alone up here and these padded seats are quite wide.”

  He bursts into a hearty laugh. “I adore how you think, Calla, I really do.”

  I grab the edges of his black parka and walk him backward until his legs hit the bench style seats. After I push lightly against his shoulders, he takes the hint and falls casually down onto the seat. His long arms are splayed wide across the backrest. With the moonlight casting its soft glow across his features I think that he’s never looked more striking … or more enticing.

  He pins me with his ravenous stare and murmurs low, “You realize that very naughty things seem to happen every single time we are alone together, right?”

  I step in close between his splayed legs and run my fingers through his hair. “I wouldn’t have it any other way, my love.”

  He makes a deep, appreciative sound in the back of his throat and says, “The others will be jealous. They had no idea where I was whisking you off to after our meal together.”

  I lean in closer and tease him by running my lips softly against his left ear to whisper, “They’ll be just fine. Kiana mentioned earlier that she and Case were going to spend the evening chilling together in the hot tub on the back deck. And you know how Alina loves to dance all night long at the clubs with Ambrose. They can’t seem to get enough of the music the French DJs spin. I’m certain that we won’t even be missed.”

  “Shh … enough talking. Come closer. I want that luscious little mouth of yours.”

  His hands clasp around my neck as I shift to meet his mouth.

  “Oh!”

  Just before our lips meet he c
atches me off guard with his uncanny speed. Before I know it I’m sitting sideways across his lap, my arms latched around his corded neck.

  My heart hammers away in my chest as he rumbles, “Now where were we?”

  Before I can possibly offer up an answer, his mouth crushes down on mine with searing possession. Our eager tongues glide together and I can’t help but think that each and every time with him is remarkable. His wicked creativity knows no bounds.

  He controls the kiss while clutching the nape of my neck in his firm hold. His thumb gently stokes the soft skin of my throat. I moan into his mouth, so needy to have him inside, to take me like only he is capable of doing. His free hand glides up my legs, and I suddenly wish that my black tights weren’t there. He pulls back slightly as his hand snakes beneath my short velvet skirt. With a knowing look, he deftly grabs hold of both my panties and the top of my tights before pulling them straight down to my knees.

  I gasp at his aggression, which is swiftly compounding and becoming nearly fearsome and sexy as hell.

  “Kick those boots off and lose the tights. Now.”

  Trembling in anticipation, I lean forward and unzip my black suede Tecnica boots. After the second one falls with a thud to the hard floor of the cable car, I shimmy out of my panties and tights. I ease back and part my bare legs for him, thankful that I’m enveloped in his warm arms.

  His fingers are gentle as they play between my legs, quickly working me into a desperate frenzy for more. I moan in need and push my hips up, longing for him to relieve the mounting ache…

  I whimper in protest as his fingers are removed before he places them between his lips, sucking them clean. “Very nice. Now climb off me and unbuckle my belt.”

  Hell. Yes.

  I stand up, nibble on my lip and get to work on the leather. Once I have it unfastened I glance up into his eyes for further instruction. “Now the jeans. Pull me out.”

  Our breathing has become both shallow and ragged as I hurry to do as he commands. Once I have the jeans completely open he shifts up a bit and I shimmy them down to the top of his taut hips.