by Candy Crum
Kailah had spent too much time dealing with failed relationships and Rachel’s problems with Jeff to ever want to date again, but Sam was different. He had always been the one exception—until recently. With recent events, dating was off the table entirely. She wasn’t about to destroy his life because she was selfish.
After Wendy’s protests again on the porch, Kailah turned and smiled at her. “Sure! I’ll totally go. I can fight Khia and Jeff between courses. No problem at all!”
Wendy smiled. “You never see me. You wonder why?”
Kailah sighed as she crossed her arms over her chest. “Why?”
“Because I have a life. I have a PHD in microbiology. I have a job, research, and a dating life. I will not now, nor will I ever allow Khia to take that from me. I can never get married and have kids, or face the same fate Sayen did, but I can still date and have fun. If it hasn’t happened yet, it’ll happen soon… Your hormones are going to kick into overdrive, and you’re not going to be able to control it if you don’t have a little fun every once in a while.”
“Sayen does just fine. Khanae does just fine,” Kailah responded flatly.
Wendy smiled. “Do they? Have you seen their wardrobe?”
Kailah’s eyes widened. “Are you saying they’re…”
“Beautiful, sexy, hormonal, consenting adults in eternally youthful bodies? Yes. That’s exactly what I’m saying. Poor Khanae has it way worse. Vampires have an even higher sex drive than we do. You don’t have to marry the guy. Just take the steps to protect yourself and go have fun. There is nothing wrong with it. Live. Your. Life. Trust me.”
Wendy stepped forward and unlocked the door before disappearing inside. Kailah stayed out on the porch for a few moments to think things over. It was a big decision, and she wasn’t sure she was qualified to make it alone.
He’d invited her out to dinner at a restaurant in Clarksville. The town was just over the Ohio River in Indiana. It wasn’t like it was terribly far, and it was an innocent date. He’d always been so nice to her, helping her study for exams, standing up for her when she missed work for exhaustion, and he always complimented her.
Up until that day, she always thought that was just him being nice. Just because someone compliments another person doesn’t mean it’s flirting—like many people seem to think anymore. It seemed that assessment had been wrong. He’d been interested in her all along, and all she could do was tell him she’d think about it.
Whatever her real answer would be wasn’t going to be figured out right then, and Wendy had told her they needed to talk. Taking a deep breath, she paused her dilemma and walked inside.
Once Wendy began to speak, she felt grateful for the few moments of peace she’d had out on the porch.
After several daily attempts to find Jeff and Casi, Khanae continued to come up empty. Though she knew it would be difficult to find them and had stated as much, it was impossible for them to hide away from her for so long.
Unless of course Immortal magic was involved.
“Are… you… fucking… kidding me?” Kailah asked.
“What does that mean?” Amanda asked. “Khia’s working with Vampires now?”
Khanae shrugged. “She has an army of Forsaken Wolves. This doesn’t surprise me a bit. She will stop at nothing—including working with her most hated enemy—to find Kailah. We have this place so cloaked that it’s impossible to find it. Well, unless there’s a Vampire roaming around sniffing us out.”
“She more than likely knows we have a block on you now, too. That will have pissed her off. That’s probably why she’s using Vampires. So, they can sniff you out,” Sayen said.
“Perfect!” Kailah said. “Just what we needed. Jeff and Khia being besties. So, what else is new?”
“Working together, we were able to locate them today, but it was incredibly sketchy,” Khanae responded. “Sayen used my blood and found the fractions of a rotting soul they have left. The vision was so hazy, however, there was no location or any visual at all to the area they were in. It was a blur.”
“I’ll find the bastard,” Brett said. Rachel placed her hand on his arm, and he visibly calmed as he looked down at her.
Kailah had known there was something between them, but she hadn’t realized just how much it had grown in such a brief amount of time. They hadn’t even admitted it to each other, let alone everyone else, but it was impossible to ignore.
Arguments ensued of what should and shouldn’t be done. It was apparent Khia was working with Jeff and Casi, but no one had any idea to what extent. The Vampires could have been anywhere, even right outside, and none of them would have known. That did not sit well with Kailah—or anyone else.
But even with everything happening with the Vampires, Kailah felt very uncomfortable taking their advice.
“Kailah, you have to. If you don’t, you’ll be in danger.” Rachel looked as though she might cry from being so worried about Kailah. Ever since she’d been attacked by Jeff, she had either been extremely quiet or worried non-stop. “Please let them do this.”
Kailah shook my head. “No. I’m not uprooting everyone and disrupting lives, so I can live mine. No one is following me from work to school and everywhere else I need to go just to keep me out of Jeff’s way. I won’t have it.”
“We’ve been prepared for this for many years,” Khanae countered. “We’ve had many plans and contingency plans in place over the years, though we’ve had to abandon them because our current situation is nothing like we imagined it would be.”
“A plan? What was it? We’ll do that,” Kailah said.
The Vampire queen hesitated for a moment before answering. “Like I said, things have changed. We had no idea you would have even a fraction of the abilities that you do. Also, we didn’t plan on a few Rogue Vampires hunting you with the help of Khia.
“The original plan was to train you in physical combat since the boys are both very good with that. You’ve had some magical training, but you’re nowhere close to where you need to be to go hand-to-hand with a Vampire—even one as young as Jeff. Unfortunately, we don’t have the time. We need to focus on safety first. Once we can guarantee you won’t be killed, we can resume training and get you sparring with the boys.”
“And while you’re planning, I’m a sitting duck.” Kailah wasn’t happy about being treated like a child.
She knew training out in the open was dangerous. Using her powers risked Khia seeing them and tracking her. Fighting hand-to-hand held its own dangers since she’d never been the training type and was much weaker than the twins, but that didn’t matter to her. This was life or death, and she wasn’t about to die because everyone else was too scared. For once, she was the brave one.
“We would never allow anything to happen to you,” Aeric said.
She avoided looking at him. “If you really want to help me, if you really want to protect me, then teach me how to use my body and my mind to protect myself. You’re not always going to be there. There will come a day when that line of defense will fail—you’ll be somewhere else, and I’ll be left alone—food for the wolves. I don’t like being weak and defenseless. I don’t like depending on others. Teach me. I won’t fail. The only way I can is if you hold me back, and I die in the process.”
Sayen sighed. Rachel desperately looked from Kailah to everyone else in the room and then back to Kailah again. The tension in the room could be felt, and Kailah was worried. Anything they decided she would have to go with. She could argue all she wanted, but at the end of the day, she couldn’t stop them from doing it.
“You said it yourself, Khanae. You guys never expected me to have so much power. I’ve shown that I can use it. Trust me a little,” she pleaded.
Sayen turned to Kailah. “The problem is that you can only use it when you’re scared shitless. You can’t actively use it yet. Wendy said you didn’t even sense Sydney coming around the corner today. That means you might be able to protect yourself if you see the fight coming, but if some
one snuck up on you, which is highly likely given your low level of active sensory abilities, you’d be taken before your heart could pump the first bit of adrenaline through your body. That greatly slides things in their favor.”
“Just listen to them!” Rachel shouted. She was getting frustrated, which Kailah understood.
But that didn’t mean she was giving in. She shook her head. “No. Train me, or I go home. I’ve been weak and walked on my entire life. I won’t do it anymore.”
She talked hard, but she was shaking inside. This new life scared her, but she knew backing down and hiding in a corner while the enemy got closer was the wrong decision. What happened if her mental barrier shifted or disappeared? What happened if Khia broke through? They would come, and Kailah wouldn’t have a clue how to use her abilities.
Sayen made a good point. Kailah couldn’t actively use anything yet, but she could if they would teach her. They kept saying how fast she was progressing, and they hadn’t seen what she’d seen. They hadn’t seen warrior Kailah. Aeric had seen it, and it was possible he’d told the others about it, but Kailah experienced it firsthand.
She could do it, and she knew it.
Khanae looked at Sayen and sighed. At that moment, Kailah watched the fight leave them both. “As you wish,” Khanae said softly. “Aeric will teach you hand-to-hand combat.”
“Wait… What?” Kailah asked.
It hadn’t occurred to her that she’d be “assigned” an instructor. She thought she’d be able to pick one. Her first choice would have been Khanae, but Brett was obviously the better choice between the twins. He didn’t piss her off so badly. He also didn’t bring up confusing physical reactions.
The moment she remembered that vision, it was all she could think about. Being alone with him was a terrible idea. Maybe Wendy was right. Her hormones were going insane, but she could control it if she kept herself away from temptation.
As the thoughts worsened, she began chanting “la la la la la la” in her head as loudly as possible to will them away, although she could still see the flashes in the back.
“If you want to learn hand-to-hand combat, Aeric is your man. He will even be able to teach you much more than that,” Khanae said with a smirk.
Kailah wasn’t sure what it meant, but she tried to ignore that, too. “Why can’t I have Brett as my instructor?”
Brett laughed. “Because you actually like me.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Kailah demanded.
“It has everything to do with it,” Sayen replied, also smiling. “You and Aeric seem to have a rather… volatile relationship. He’ll get better results out of you than Brett ever could because of that alone.”
“You’re not afraid, are you?” Aeric playfully asked.
Kailah could tell he found her unwillingness to be around him amusing, and that annoyed her. “Of you?” She smiled sarcastically. “Hardly.”
“Then shall we?” he asked.
Kailah’s eyes widened. “Right now?”
He shrugged. “You want to train so badly? We’ll start right now.”
Me and my big mouth… It was exactly what she’d wanted, but she never thought they’d put her with Aeric just to spite her—literally. Defeated, she sighed and rolled her eyes before walking out to the Charger without saying a word.
Chapter Nine
Aeric and Kailah drove for quite a while until they were in the middle of nowhere. She had no idea where they were, but she had to admit it was stunning. The enormous trees towered high over everything, including the road, and their canopies were vibrant and thick. It reminded her of the forest she’d seen in the visions with Taima and Sayen, but somehow, she knew it was different.
Despite being hot, the air was cool. The road was windy, and every corner brought on more beauty. She was beginning to enjoy the drive—until Aeric opened his mouth and crushed her small window of comfort.
“What was the dream about?”
For fuck’s sake, she thought. There was no part of her that wanted to know what he meant by that, so she ignored him.
“Come on. Don’t be embarrassed. What was the dream about?”
She turned to look at him, her expression flat and neutral despite her irritation. Though he deserved some of it, she knew that could very quickly change if she let her emotions derail.
“What are you talking about?”
He shrugged. “Well, I did as you asked. I tried really hard to stay out of your head last night. Though, I’m sure you’re sad to see that it didn’t kill me as you so kindly suggested.” His smile turned into a light laugh when her expression turned mildly irritated. “But during the argument in the living room, I heard you think something about a dream of me. I was curious.”
“Obviously, you didn’t try to stay out of my head too hard, then did you?” Her tone was colder than she meant it to be, but he didn’t seem to register it.
“It was your fault,” he said with another smile. “The la-la-la thing kind of attracts more attention than it repels.”
“Damn it all.”
He laughed again, and she discovered it was a rich sound that was very comforting, even in an uncomfortable setting.
“So, what was it about?” he asked.
“Ha! As if I’d tell you. Besides, you haven’t even told me where we’re going yet, or what we’re going to do.”
There was a brief pause. “Well, plans just changed, I think.” A devious smile crossed his lips.
Her eyes narrowed as she contemplated what that might mean. “What does that mean?” Oh, this really isn’t my day.
“I had an idea about how I was going to train you, but now, I have an even better one that will get even better results. Really, it was your doing, so don’t blame me,” he said.
She groaned. “I don’t like the sound of that at all.”
“Oh, I bet you don’t. We’re almost there,” he said. “I picked this place because of its serenity, among other very good attributes useful to us today. It’s peaceful, and it’ll help you concentrate.”
They pulled off to the side of the road in a heavily wooded area. Aeric turned off the engine and sat back in his seat. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.
“Can you hear it? Can you smell it?” he asked.
Kailah closed her eyes and inhaled, the same as he had. Within seconds, she could hear and smell something in the distance. It was very quiet, but she had no doubt that would change where they were headed. A large lake was located down the bank on their right and out about fifty feet. She couldn’t see anything across the road and over the small bridge on the left side.
Aeric reached for the door handle, and she did the same before getting out and wandering over to his side. They made their way across the bridge and to the opposite side of the road. There was a large, steep bank on that side, too, but it was heavily wooded.
He stopped and turned toward her. “It’s very steep, and I don’t want you to fall, so I’m going to carry you down.”
She laughed loudly. “Oh, I don’t think so.”
He smiled before taking step forward. His arm wrapped around Kailah’s waist and pulled her tight against his chest. “Oh, I think yes.” He lifted her bridal style.
She wanted to fight him. She wanted to push, kick, and scream at him until he let her go—mostly because something in her blood boiled to do so. But somewhere, deep down, there was a part of her that said, “shut the hell up and quit whining so much.”
The lighter, less broody part won out as she silently relaxed against him. Though, that didn’t stop the darker side of her from angrily narrowing her eyes at him. He only laughed in response.
Aeric shook his head and made his way down the hill with a slightly annoyed Kailah in his arms. When they finally reached the bottom, she saw a beautiful stream that ran into a large waterfall. Aeric couldn’t have picked a better word to describe it. It truly was serene.
The trees were even larger down there, and the canopy seemed t
o envelop everything in sight. With every slight gust of wind that blew, the leaves parted to let the sun through. The rays reflected off the water and illuminated the colorful rocks that lined the bed.
Her eyes followed the direction of the water to see Aeric standing at the edge of the waterfall. He looked surreal standing in the little bit of sunlight peeking through the trees. It made his black hair shine.
But as she studied him further, she couldn’t help but notice how pale he looked in the sunlight. It made her wonder if he’d been taking care of himself since everything started.
Though she’d learned a lot, there was still an alarming number of things she hadn’t. She wondered if his pallor was because he hadn’t had any blood in a while. She knew she’d never seen him drink any, not even in bag form.
If that were the case, it didn’t seem to bother him nearly as much as it did her, but it did bother her—even through her ever-present pseudo hatred of him. She took a few steps closer to him and stopped just a few feet from the edge of the fall.
“What do you think?” he asked with a graceful smile.
“I love it here. It’s even more beautiful than you made it out to be. Thank you for bringing me here,” she replied, returning the small smile.
Aeric unbuttoned the five buttons located on the top half of his fitted black shirt, and although she tried not to, she couldn’t help but watch. He pulled it off and sat it on a nearby tree that had fallen over. He wore a black ribbed tank underneath, and she couldn’t deny how good he looked in it. His arms were full and well defined, and his chest and stomach were just as toned.
“Having issues?” he asked with an amused expression.
Her eyes narrowed only a second before she kicked water at him, although it didn’t take much for him to dodge it.
“Not even close. Why are you stripping anyway?” Kailah asked.
“I would hate for someone to burn that shirt in the process of trying to kill me. I already lost one good shirt that way,” he said with a laugh.
