Touched by A Dragon: The Exalted Dragons (Book 2)

by K. T. Stryker

  Ashe fell into his embrace, not caring about the lack of heartbeat or the coldness of his arms around her. She felt loved, and protected, and that feeling warmed her more than anything physical could. There was still so much she didn’t know about Peter and his kind, but her heart was open and she was ready to learn. For the first time in perhaps ever, Ashe found herself looking forward to what the future held.

  The End of Book 1

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  The Vampire’s Embrace

  The Touch of Night:

  Book 2

  Lucy Lyons

  © 2017

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  © Copyright 2017 by Persia Publishing - All rights reserved.

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  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 1

  It was just after dawn on a day that Ashe had thought would never come. The sun had finished its struggle over the horizon and was now battling the thick blanket of clouds that settled in over the city every November and stayed until March. The house was filled with a pale light as anemic as Ashe felt. She knew she would have to ask her father for more blood, but wanted to put it off as long as possible. After coming home, she had changed into new clothes and washed the blood from her skin, but she still felt the traces of the night before permeating her body and making her feel unclean. Only Peter’s presence by her side reassured her that she would survive this as she had survived everything else.

  Ashe’s mother was downstairs crying. Her father was talking in soothing tones that drifted up to the second floor, landing where Ashe sat with her head in her hands and Peter’s arm around her. Her mother had been crying since Ashe, David, and Peter had come to the house bloodied and exhausted from their encounter with Landon’s clan. Ashe knew she would have to go downstairs and talk with her mother eventually, but she was waiting for her father to calm her down enough for the words to get through. It was going to take a lot of explaining to justify Ashe’s decision to let David continue working for the vampires. She decided to leave the talk about her and Peter’s relationship for another day.

  Peter cradled Ashe’s head to his chest and breathed in deeply, which helped to make up for his lack of a heartbeat. Ashe melted into him and slipped her arm around his back.

  “Maybe we should go back down there,” Peter whispered into her hair as the voices quieted downstairs.

  Ashe held him tighter. “Can’t we rest a little first?”

  “You know we can’t. But I promise you can sleep as long as you want when we’re done. I won’t even wake you to finish your homework for Sharp’s class on Monday.”

  School was the last thing on Ashe’s mind right now. It was almost silly that her biggest worry until all this happened had been failing to graduate.

  Peter helped her up from the step where they were sitting and walked with her downstairs. Her mother was at the kitchen table with a hot cup of tea cradled in her hands and her father was in the chair opposite, regarding his wife with concern. Ashe’s mother’s eyes were puffy from all the crying. Ashe wanted to give her a hug but felt like her mom would flinch away if she didn’t explain a few things first.

  “I told her what I could,” David said as he noticed Ashe standing there, wondering where to start. “She knows about Landon.”

  Stevie Linfield was not known for being a strong woman, though she had weathered being a single mother to Ashe far better than her daughter ever gave her credit for. One look at the bite wound on Ashe’s neck and she had nearly fainted from shock. Ashe knew her mother’s biggest worry would be infection; that Ashe was now a vampire and would no longer be able to live out a normal life. As if any of this was normal to begin with.

  “Mom,” Ashe said in a tentative voice. Stevie looked up at her with wide, fearful eyes. Peter’s put his arm around Ashe’s shoulders, giving her the confidence to continue. “It’s alright. I’m not hurt. I’m not... one of them.” She glanced apologetically at her father sitting at the table.

  Her mother took a quivering sip of her tea but did not look at Ashe.

  David reached across the table to grasp his wife’s hand. “Stevie, honey. Our daughter has something to say to you. I think you should listen to her.”

  Ashe spoke again, stronger. “I know you’re worried about me, worried that you’re going to lose me like you lost Dad. If it’s not graduating college or a vampire bite that takes me away from you, it’ll be something else. I have to grow up eventually.”

  “I know,” her mother replied quietly. “Your dad said the same thing. But he doesn't know you like I do. He didn’t watch you grow up. You’re still just a child, Ashe. I mean, look at what happened to you.” Stevie’s eyes filled with fresh tears.

  “Stevie,” David said warningly, but Ashe didn’t need her father’s help with this. She knew what needed to be said and she was no longer too embarrassed to say it face to face.

  “I’m sorry, okay?” Ashe said, her words coming out far harsher than she had meant them to. She forced herself to calm down before continuing. “I blamed you for Dad leaving, but it wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t mine either. I love you and I’m sorry for everything. But you have to start to trust me.”

  “She saved my life,” Peter said suddenly.

  Ashe’s mother looked at Peter as if she had just realized he was there.

  Peter explained. “When I was fighting with Landon, I slipped up and he almost got me, but Ashe saved me. Even frightened and injured, she found the strength to fight. I don’t think you have to worry about sending your daughter out into the world. She’s a fine young woman and she can take care of herself. Besides—” Peter squeezed Ashe’s shoulder— “I’ve already promised her I’ll protect her as long as she lives. That is, of course, if you’re both okay with that.”

  Ashe’s father’s face immediately broke into a smile, but her mother just stared as if she’d been struck in the face.

  “You’re one of t
hem, though,” her mother said.

  Ashe felt red in the cheeks.

  Peter didn’t try to contradict her. “Yes, and so is your husband. Think about what he’s done to protect your family. I will do nothing less for Ashe and you have my word that my clan has made the same promise. No harm will come to her as long as I’m by her side.”

  Stevie went back to staring at her tea. Ashe knew she had a lot to process and wanted to give her the time to do so.

  “Why don’t you go lie down for a bit? You’ve been up all night,” David told his wife. Ashe hoped her mother would take the suggestion, as she looked just as weary as the rest of them. She must have spent all night waiting up for them, not knowing where they were and worried sick.

  Stevie stood unsteadily and teetered past Ashe into the other room. When she was fully out of earshot, David said, “Peter, we need to discuss a few things. First of all, your family.”

  He motioned for the two of them to join him at the kitchen table. Peter took the chair across from her father where her mother had been sitting only moments ago. Ashe, however, declined to sit, instead deciding to busy herself with refilling the pot of tea on the counter.

  David cleared his throat. “I’ve been working for your family for a long time now and I like to think I know them well.” He paused, choosing his words carefully. “Which is why I worry about them. Your clan is fighting a losing battle as it is. How many years have you gone without a live feeding?”

  Ashe purposely clanged the metal teapot down hard on the stovetop to mask any answer Peter might have given. It wasn’t time for her to start digging into his past. He would tell her in his own time.

  “The point is,” David said, sighing. “You may be satisfying the immediate hunger with the blood I provide you, but you’re doing nothing to stop the underlying cravings. Refrigerated blood sucked out of a plastic bag is nothing compared to the warm vitality of the real thing. You have a reason to protect Ashe and the humans around you, but I don’t think your family feels the same way. They’re listening to you for now because they love you, but if they can’t find their own reasons for protecting human life, they’ll soon revert to the old ways.”

  Peter ran a hand through his hair. Ashe could see the long years of his existence in his solemn expression. “My sisters can be impulsive, but they’re not a threat.”

  “Even Penelope?” David asked.

  The teapot started to whistle and Ashe jumped. She quickly took it off the stove.

  Peter replied, “Landon manipulated her. He manipulated all of them. That’s what his clan does. I love your daughter and I barely made it out of there without making an irrevocable mistake. Penelope didn’t know what Ashe means to me, but she knows now. You have my word she won’t harm her.”

  “Then I’ll keep you to your word,” David warned.

  Ashe came over with the teapot and refilled her father’s mug before taking the empty seat by Peter’s side. David nodded at her in thanks. Without his usual hat, he looked almost small. His curly hair came up in wisps from the top of his head, giving him a halo under the kitchen light. Ashe thought about just how delicate they all were, the vampires, even if they were somewhat immortal. They needed Ashe just as she needed them. She would be their reminder of the importance of human life.

  “Landon’s still out there, too,” David said.

  Ashe had a flashback of Landon jumping out the window and running away from the house. He could be anywhere right now.

  Peter frowned. “He’s hurt. He won’t be showing his face any time soon. His clan doesn’t like confrontation. They’ll probably lie low until we leave town.”

  “I still don’t like the idea of them out there,” David said. “It’s too dangerous. We can’t stay in the city.”

  Ashe protested. “I’m not leaving. I want to graduate. You said you would help me pay for my last semesters here.” She was so close to getting her degree and if she moved schools now she’d lose half her credits and be stuck in school another year. Maybe it was okay for Peter to repeat classes over and over, but Ashe didn’t have eternity. She was getting older year by year and she couldn’t stay in school forever.

  David looked sympathetic but shook his head. “I made that promise before I had a chance to think it through. If Landon’s clan is still around, we simply can’t risk it. I won’t put you in danger again.”

  Ashe knew her mother must have said something, and that was why her dad was now second-guessing himself. It was her mother’s worry, not David’s.

  “Believe me, they’re gone,” Peter said. Ashe was relieved to know he was on her side, though she knew it would take more than Peter’s word to convince her parents.

  David sipped his tea. “We’ll see,” he said.

  Peter nodded at Ashe to leave David to his thoughts. Nothing more could be accomplished with all of them as exhausted as they were. He got up from his chair and Ashe followed.

  Once they were alone on the upper landing, Peter said, “Your mom cares about you a lot, even if she can’t say it right now. Your dad does too.”

  “I know,” Ashe replied, pushing open the door to her room. Though she understood why her parents were fighting her, it didn’t make her any more inclined to listen to them.

  Ashe was weary and her bones felt like lead. It seemed like forever since she had last slept. All she could think about was her nice, warm bed. She crawled under the covers, feeling her body sink into the mattress. It was like heaven.

  Peter lingered by the doorway looking unsure of what to do. Ashe pulled back the covers a bit. “I don’t know if your kind naps, but I’d really like you with me right now. I don't think I could sleep otherwise.”

  Peter smiled softly and went to the bed. “Lucky for you, we do sleep.” He scooted in beside Ashe and she curled up by his side. His strong arm wrapped around her waist and held her close to him. After everything that had happened, she was glad to have him by her side. The worst was past them and now they could focus on the future. Ashe tried to ignore the worrying thoughts in her head about where Landon had gone and what the rest of his clan was up to. She tried not to feel anger towards Peter’s sisters for something she knew wasn’t their fault: even Penelope who had bitten her. Such problems could wait until after she slept.

  The bite wound in her neck throbbed and her head felt like it was filled with shards of glass, but she let the muscles of her body relax and her mind let go of consciousness. It only took a few minutes of listening to Peter’s even, practiced breathing for Ashe to fall into her own state of relaxation. She didn’t even remember falling asleep.

  It was nearly dark when Peter opened his eyes. He looked at Ashe, who was curled up asleep, with her head nestled in the crook of his arm. She felt so warm against his skin, so alive. Peter was glad that he no longer felt the desire for her blood, not since David gave his clan all the blood that had been promised to Landon’s. Peter had no idea what had happened to Landon’s clan. He was under the impression that most of them had a place out of the city where they spent most of their time. Landon had mentioned such a place in passing before. They would have other sources of blood out there, ones that were not so kind. Peter didn’t want to think about what Landon might be doing, right about now, as the sun was sinking into darkness below the horizon.

  Ashe stirred and moaned. Peter placed a small kiss on her forehead as she woke. She smiled and sat up a bit in bed. “What time is it?” she asked.

  “Almost dark,” Peter replied. He glanced over to her bedside table. “A little after six.”

  Ashe rubbed the sleep from her eyes and sat up more fully. She yawned. All the little human habits she had, like yawning, were a wonder to him. He found them adorable. She also tossed and turned quite a bit in her sleep, Peter had found, and he wondered if her dreams had been troubled with visions of the things that had happened to them. He hoped not.

  “How are you feeling?” he asked her.

  “A little out of it,” Ashe said. “But not tired a
nymore.”

  Peter glanced toward the curtained windows. He could see a slit of pale bluish light where they hadn’t closed all the way. Apparently the sun had just set.

  “I kept dreaming about Landon,” Ashe said, hugging her arms around herself.

  “Me too,” Peter nodded. He hadn’t dreamed so much as worried. He doubted he had even slept a couple of hours in all that time.

  Ashe brushed down her hair, which had been mussed while she slept. “We need to go back to the house,” she said.

  “The clan will be long gone,” Peter replied. “If they were there at all to begin with.”

  “Maybe there’s something that could tell us where he went, to convince Dad that it’s safe for us to stay here.”

  Peter had to admit that she had a point. Landon would be on the run right now and not thinking straight. He would have fled to any place he knew to be even remotely safe. Maybe there was something at his house that could tell them where the clan spent their time in the country. If it was far enough away, this calmed David’s fears about them coming back any time soon.

  “Okay, but we can’t let your parents know. David wouldn’t want you getting involved in anything dangerous again.”

  Ashe got out of bed and pulled on a sweater before searching for her discarded shoes. The sweater was the black one Peter liked, with the holes in it. She went over to the window and, pulling the curtains aside, shimmied it open. A blast of cold air came in the room, making Ashe draw in a sharp breath.

  “You sure you want to do this?” Peter asked, coming up behind her.

  Ashe nodded. “I won’t be able to rest if we don’t,” she replied.

  There was a tree outside Ashe’s window, its thick branches bearing the last few brown leaves from fall. It wouldn’t be too long before a thin veil of snow replaced the leaves. Ashe climbed through the open window with confidence and lowered herself down until the soles of her shoes made firm contact with a tree branch below.