Tristan snickered even as the Scotsman kept raging.
“Yew cannae—”
“I swear to the Goddess if you do not shut your mouth, I will bury you here and leave you to dig yourself out. The hell with the consequences.”
The big vampire crossed his arms over his chest and pouted. But he shut his mouth—halle-fucking-lujah.
Ash gave him a pointed nod as if to say thanks. She took in a deep breath and shut her eyes. She hadn’t fed since taking Mamoru’s last blood and had only a small wellspring of seikonō left that she’d end up using all here. She jabbed her wrist with her fangs, piercing deep and let her blood drip down to coat her palm. The amount of blood startled Tristan, but he knew she would live.
She crouched and pressed her palm to the bare earth. With a surge of energy that made Tristan swallow back a moan, she parted the earth, making a deep hole. Silent, Tristan came forward and carefully lowered the bag into the hole as far as he could reach, letting it drop the five feet he couldn’t. He held his breath for a moment, hoping that nothing broke despite the towel they stuffed in there for insulation, and killed them.
When he was sure the danger was over, Tristan let out his breath and smiled faintly at Ash. She nodded at him and commanded the earth back to its place over the bag. In less than a minute the bag was buried more than seven feet down. Safe and out of reach.
“Desmond,” Ash said in a small voice as she stood, rubbing at the blood on her hand to encourage the dissipation process. “I appreciate all that you have done for me. Yukihime as well, but it is time for me to finally be the woman I am. I am not the killer Malik tried to create, the weak, mindless fool Genoveva tried to mold, the nymphomaniac that you thought I should be, or the gullible pawn Yukihime takes me as. All that I am is now tied to Tristan. Fate really does exist and mine is this.”
She went to Tristan and put an arm around his waist, standing at his side to face Desmond. “Tristan and I both deserve to start over. And no one, not you or Yukihime will stop us from doing so. Is that clear?” A gentle but clear warning. But then Desmond was dense and needed it in simple words at times.
Desmond was frowning at her, but it wasn’t anger at not getting his way, but depression. After a moment of staring, studying her, he nodded and dropped his arms to his side with a sigh. “Aye. We’ve no right tae make yur life. We can understand that, Master may no’…” He turned his back on them and Ash gave a start when she felt his regret and jealousy. He wanted that chance too, to start over and live differently, but wasn’t strong enough to leave his Master. He both hated and admired Ash for her ability to leave so easily, but then, he realized Tristan was a pillar of strength, a stronghold in her heart. His will was so strong, so steadfast that she took strength from that and let it become hers. Fate was right to put the two together, and Desmond was jealous of what they had.
“Desmond,” she said softly, remorse heavy in her tone.
The other vampire shook his head at her. “Go’n then. We won’t lie tae Master for yew, but we can give yew a head start.”
“You think she’ll come after us?” Tristan asked, a thread of worry unraveling.
Desmond stopped in the half arch of the doorway and shrugged. “Don’t rightly ken.” He stood there in silence for a moment, his mind now securely blocked against Ash after his regret of letting her see his emotions. “Sorry aboot Mamoru. He was a stand-up fellow, for an Uruwashi.”
Tristan frowned, his throat feeling tight. “Thanks.” Would the vampire say the same about him when he died? Probably not.
With a nod, Desmond left. The couple stood in silence for a minute before Ash slumped next to him as Desmond’s presence faded off. She gave a tiny sigh of relief and turned to Tristan. He smiled and opened his arms to her when she wiggled her way into them. She settled in against the front of him, her head on his chest to listen to the rhythm of his heart, her arms holding him tight. She felt good here, in his arms. He really was home for her. She just hoped he would think of her that way again. Taking his memories had proven to be a deeper strain on their relationship than she’d anticipated. She would do whatever it took to fix this, even if it meant telling him what he’d done that scared her so.
“I love you,” he said so suddenly that Ash flinched in surprise.
Still holding him, she leaned back enough to look up at him and found him smiling warmly at her. “You really do.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, I do.” He brushed back her hair with his fingertips, letting them glide slowly across her skin. “So, what now? Are we heading overseas? I thought the contractor wasn’t even close to done yet with our new place.”
Ash shook her head. The last time she talked to the project manager they were still at least two months out from finishing. Even the extra money she threw at them to move things along could only do so much with so many human factors involved. “No, it is not ready yet.”
“Building us a castle, huh?”
She chuckled and rested her face on his chest again, rubbing her cheek against him. “There was permit issues and such and then lead time on ordering all the supplies. We can find an apartment in the meantime, if you would like, somewhere close by.” She knew better than offering to stay in his parent’s home again. He reacted rather badly at the suggestion last time.
“Sure,” he said with a lilt to his voice that made her look up again. His eyes were full of mirth. “Or, maybe we can just, I don’t know, travel a bit? I’ve never been to England or Ireland. I think I’d like to see the sights. Maybe even Germany and Egypt. Hawaii would be nice too. Oh right, and Hong Kong.” The last was less for pleasure and more for important shit.
She raised a brow at him. “My, you are ambitious.”
He tightened his arms around her, practically pulling her off her feet. “Wha’do ya think?”
She smiled big and leaned in for a kiss, surprising and exciting him. “I think that sounds grand.” She lifted up on tip toe as he lowered his face towards hers. His hair was getting long and tickled her cheeks. “And when we are done, soaking up the sights and culture, we can go home and live.”
“I like the way that sounds,” he whispered before kissing her.
She flung her arms around his neck, tilting her head to the side for a deeper kiss. The moment her tongue tasted his lip, her hunger roared to life. She gasped and flung herself back, leaving Tristan standing a few feet away looking startled and sullen.
“Sorry. I guess I should feed…”
The thought of her feeding or whatever on strangers, just touching someone else no matter how “innocent” it was, bothered him. After seeing her power, her true power, he realized just how much she’d been hurting herself by not feeding. The blood replacement juice she got from her pythia only restored the tiniest fraction of seikonō to her, hardly enough to function on. In the end, it was her decision, her right to live the way she wanted.
Her jaw stiffened as she heard Tristan’s thoughts and she cleared her throat, looking to change the topic. “You decide where we go first.”
“Hmm,” Tristan hummed as he thought. “How about Egypt? That’s pretty close by, right?” He grinned and winked. “And I still want to ride a camel.”
She chuckled. “Of course.” Then sighed. “I just hope the remainder of our extended vacation is not so… harrying.”
He laughed, squeezing her hand. “Dunno, I think it was kind of exciting. Nearly dying, chasing insane vampires and lying pythia. Meeting an elf, a real elf…” His excitement lowered with his expression. “And Mamoru,” he said sadly.
“I truly am sorry for his passing. He was a great man.”
Tristan nodded, trying not to think too hard on their history together. He hated that he felt jealous of a man he respected so much. But more than that, he lamented the passing of his friend and would-be mentor.
He made a little noise of surprise and stopped. “What’s that?”
Ash frowned at the bit of paper stuck under the wiper on their rental car and stomp
ed over to snatch it away. She read it and instantly her entire body stiffened, her nostrils flaring with anger. “That—”
“What is it?” Tristan came forward and took the note.
“Master has yur wee biblos.-D”
“Your mother’s spell book?” Tristan guessed and Ash nodded, looking furious. “Son of a bitch.”
“I should have guessed. There was no way it was lost, it is a pythia book.”
Tristan sighed, rubbing his forehead. He was sure he should have a headache. Guess he knew the real reason Desmond had showed up in Greece now. “I guess we have to go back now.”
The smile Ash gave him was dark and full of fury, and Tristan could only guess the things she had in mind for the old vampire and her devoted sidekick. “Oh yes. It would be an injustice if I did not return to give Mizu no Yukihime a piece of my mind… Perhaps a smack or two.”
Tristan grinned sloppily. “God, I love you.”
The Uruwashi Series
Beautiful Death
Bete Noire
Moon Child
About the Author
SOMETIMES known as Stinna (pronounced Steena), Christina Moore just so happens to be her real name. Her writing career started under a pseudonym in the romance genre. But her true love has always been the paranormal. Vampires, werewolves, demons, faerie and everything in between, she loves them all—the allure of the unknown. The birth of the Uruwashi series started many years ago with a daydream sparked by a very special voice of a certain bad-ass vampire in her favorite anime. Little did she know then that the story of the Uruwashi would morph into what it is today.
When not writing or chasing her toddler, Christina loves to read, garden, cross-stitch, and play video games. A Maryland native, she lives just outside of beautiful historic downtown Annapolis with her husband, daughter (a.k.a. Tiny Boss) and two Australian Shepherds, Deunan and Aydin. Growing up riding horses to show in dressage and cross-country, later moving on to racing Volkswagens and then finding a career in the architecture industry as a graphic artist/mother hen, she’s never been a real expert in any one thing. Christina has a passion for diversity and enjoys many types of music, film and literature that sometimes clash with the norm. She's often said she's going to marry Spike Spiegel when she grows up—her husband understands.
For more Uruwashi series information, go to www.thebeautifuldeath.com
You can also follow at www.facebook.com/thebeautifuldeathseries
Moon Child Page 35
