Amaranthine (Willow Shadows Book 1)

by Lanie Jacobs

  The group of people gathered around paid her no attention as she quietly stood up and walked out of the room. In the safe haven of her own room, her thoughts were pounding through her head urging her to let them come out. Consumed by fear, she knew she had only one chance to save her mother.

  The facts were that Carey had been part of the Ubil Coven. He had been the one to find her mother, and he played it off so easily that Khalida could assume he killed her and left her for dead. Braedon let his intentions be known and that he had her mother.

  Carey must of contacted the Ubil’s and informed them of my mother’s whereabouts.

  His help allowed Braedon the upper hand in capturing the woman Khalida held most dear to her heart. Any plan she could devise would help her only momentarily, but hopefully those few seconds would give her the opportunity to get them out of that house alive.

  Distracted by the steps shuffling through the hallway, Khalida cleared her mind and went to the door. As she neared the door, her heart pounded against her chest, sending a chilling mixture of blood into a rapid frenzy coursing through her body.

  Luke.

  Khalida opened the door to see Luke standing before her. One arm lifted above his head, resting it on the door entry way. He leaned towards her, his blue eyes sparkling, teasing her, pulling her body into his arms. Khalida’s body melted into his perfectly. His soft scent tickled her nose, arousing her other senses and causing need to seep through her hands as she gently grazed them over his perfectly formed chest that was hard to her touch. She couldn’t keep herself from running her finger tips over his muscled pecks; she placed her cheek along the lines that her fingers traced. Turning her head, she teasingly bit him.

  “Ouch,” he laughed, rubbing his hand over the place she just nipped.

  “Ummm, I won’t apologize for that either,” Khalida smiled slyly as he laughed.

  “You always seem to amaze me. I love you,” he whispered softly in her ear as he pulled her closer to him, wrapping his strong arms around her shoulders.

  “Vega told us what you did to protect her in the parking lot,” he cleared his throat, “you shouldn’t have put yourself in harm’s way like that,” he said. Just as Khalida went to protest, he cut her off, “However, if you will let me finish, Rude, I love that you put the people you love above yourself. You truly have a beautiful soul, Khally,” he sighed softly, placing his lips on her head and placing both of his arms around her body, holding her into him, causing a blazing fire to burn deep within her soul.

  His protective caress swept through her body with a fierce loyalty that was only for Khalida. She was his. He knew it and so did she.

  “Stop trying to get in mind, Luke! I can feel you trying to poke you’re nosey ass in,” Khalida snapped at him as he set of a look of surprise.

  Regaining his cocky self confidence, the surprise quickly melted away, “I would be in somewhere else if you would let me,” he smirked at his snazzy quick comeback.

  “Don’t be asking for things you can’t handle,” Khalida shot back just as smart as she could. With the laughter rolling from him, Khalida had succeeded in throwing him off track, again, though she knew it wouldn’t last forever. Luke was much too smart, and she needed to distract him for the next twenty four hours if her plan was going to stay a secret.

  She ran her hand through the messy faux hawk hair style he was sporting; as he was gawking, she pulled back her hand from his hard gelled hair. He had apparently used an entire bottle of gel. Khalida laughed as Luke warned her under his breath, advising her not to touch his hair. He nipped at her neck just below her ear, sending a wave of heat to her core. She was hoping that would distract him for a good while. Sadness swept over her. She never wanted to keep anything away from him, again. She knew that when he realized her betrayal he would be livid.

  “Keep this up and I just might have to take an advantage of you,” he tenderly ran his fingertips down her cheek, cupping her chin with his embrace, lingering only a breath away from Khalida’s mouth. Those blazing blue eyes searing through her were kindling a spark within her that hadn’t extinguished since the beginning. He took her breath away. Her composure was falling apart the closer he moved toward her.

  “Luke?” Josephine said loudly from downstairs in the kitchen.

  A sneer crossed his face as he let out a small sigh.

  “She has her ways of interrupting at the exact wrong time,” Luke grunted as he let go of Khalida and straightened his posture.

  “I love you,” Khalida spoke softly as he turned to go.

  Stopping in his place, he turned back around rushing towards her for one more kiss before he went downstairs. “You steal my heart every time I look at you. I have to warn you though, I will not always be able to behave when it comes to you, Toot,” he replied, cockiness flowing through his veins.

  “If it was anything like earlier, I’m already waiting for you,” Khalida said in the sexiest voice that she could speak before a snicker escaped her mouth.

  “Go get some sleep. I have a feeling that this is going to take awhile,” Luke sighed, turning around and disappearing down the stairs.

  Falling asleep would be a challenge with the heavy weight on her restless mind, but sometime after two in the morning, she found her eyelids heavy and her dreams calling her name.

  Before dawn, Khalida was awakened by the soft shuffles of her bed moving as Luke carefully placed his arm around her. She wiggled back, snuggling closer to him, inhaling his scent, letting everything around her just be him.

  “How are you holding up, Baby?” Luke whispered.

  “I’m okay, you holding up okay?” Khalida tiredly replied, yawning through her mumbled words.

  “I had a discussion with my mother about our conversation earlier.”

  “Really? What did she say?” Khalida was awake now. “Is she upset?”

  “What? No, Goofy, she’s happy about it. She agreed to keep everything on the down low until we decide the time is right. She also decided that since it’s not reasonable for us to move out and get our own place, she is going to have us one built down closer to the lake,” he kissed her just below her earlobe sending an instant and familiar stream of fluttering through her.

  “Why is this land safe compared to anywhere else?”

  “Old tales speak of witches that placed a spell on this land, planting magical willows on the four corners and through the land, protecting it from the evil of others. Whether that is true or not, I can’t say, but through the years it has proven to be our safe haven. They can’t step foot on this land without burning up in flames.”

  “Witches are real?” she asked in shock.

  “Umm, you’re a vampire, Cupcake. Are you really that surprised that witches exist?” he chuckled.

  “Don’t you dare make fun of me!” she snapped back.

  “Go back to sleep. We will discuss this later when it comes time.”

  Khalida didn’t argue. She closed her eyes and quietly fell asleep in the comfort of Luke’s arms wrapped around her.

  CHAPTER 15

  Khalida somberly walked her way down to the docks that encircled the lake behind Luke’s house. Dark clouds shadowed the sky with booming thunder rolling closer the further she walked. The rain poured all morning, leaving behind a mist that still wandered from the sky. The rumbling thunder sent a sense of calmness through her mind as she lavished the cool mist the fell across her skin. The mist veiled the surface of the lake, making it impossible to see more than twenty feet across the water.

  Khalida sensed eyes following her every move from the house and knew that Luke was watching her, cautiously giving her the space she needed. She knew the moment that she turned around their eyes would meet and the instant they did, he would be aware of everything that was wrong with her at that exact moment. Khalida didn’t dare turn to meet his gaze but instead stared straight ahead, mental
ly covering every detail of her disastrous plan that was already set in motion as of early this morning. Telling everyone she didn’t feel good would buy her some time to sneak out. Now her only challenges of getting out of the beautiful guarded mansion were the guards themselves and keeping the walls of her mind up so Luke would stay in the dark and remain unaware of her true intentions. The walls that she had learned to build denied access to anyone who dared tried to enter.

  The only time I can put my plan in place is during the shift change of the guards.

  The drizzle slithered across her face as the storm threatened to pound harder. She had no choice but to turn back to the house. Pushing thoughts out of her already over-loaded mind, everything went still when she met his eyes. Just as she expected, Luke was watching her, no longer in the house where Khalida had left him but now mere feet from where she stood. He said nothing as the mist turned to drops and started to pour down over them. Khalida stared at him while thoughts of how gorgeous he looked with the rain falling on him distracting her, dazzled by perfectly placed hair slightly covering his eyes. His white t-shirt was saturated and glued tightly to his skin with the look of his usual self-confident swagger reaping in his eyes. Weakness threatened to tell all as he stood there watching her with hunger in his eyes.

  “If you wanted to get wet you should have just said something. I am always willing to help,” he spoke, slyly, curving his mouth into sensual grin.

  “Are you just going to stand out here and get soaked?” The only response Khalida could muster as she swayed her weight uncomfortably to the right.

  God help me, he is so damn sexy.

  He laughed, apparently amused by the thoughts that were entering her mind, carelessly letting her guard down, a mistake she thought that could cost her. Luckily, the only thought that was coursing through her mind was the only way of getting him out of those wet clothes.

  “I thought it was my job to have those kinds of thoughts. I have to admit it though, you are awfully cute when you’re embarrassed,” he teased.

  “So, you think you’re the only one who gets to be a perv, huh?” she challenged playfully.

  “Get that ass over here where you belong. You shouldn’t be out in the rain when you already don’t feel good,” he said, changing the subject as disappointment entered his eyes.

  Khalida knew she had caught herself in time and stopped him from picking through her deeply hidden thoughts, but now he was alert and knew she was keeping something from him.

  Damn.

  As she neared where Luke stood, he protectively placed his arm out for her, pulling Khalida near as she got close enough. His touch sent a fire current through her, warming her blood instantly at his touch while sending a shutter that rippled across her skin.

  “I like that I make you feel that way,” he whispered in her ear as they approached the back porch to his house. Khalida looked at him nervously.

  Had I let my guard down?

  He took her chin in his hand, looked intently into her eyes and said, “I don’t know what you’re hiding from me, but I will find out what it is, Cupcake. I can hear your heart speed up when our eyes meet and see the shivers that fall across your skin. I know you better than you know yourself, Khalida,” he said suspiciously. “That look on your face tells me all I need to know. I know your keeping something from me, you little vixen.”

  “I’m not getting into it with you, sir. If you ask me, and I don’t tell you, then there’s a damn good reason. I wish that I could hear or feel all your thoughts on how I make you feel, but you seem to keep things from me as well. So, before you start picking away at my brain and I block you out, everyone is entitled to some privacy,” she said softly, burying her head in his chest as they walked, her mind begging her to come clean with him, her mouth betraying her intuition.

  “I could show you how you make me feel, but we would need a private room, supplies for at least two months, and a do not disturb sign to hang from the door,” Luke said, placing his arm around her tightly, sighing.

  Khalida knew to let it go; he may have played it off, but at the back of his mind she knew he was still trying to figure out what could be going on.

  “Maybe for my birthday we could go somewhere special?” she asked, hoping he would consider her question.

  “Why don’t you go take a warm shower and change your wet clothes? It will be dark soon, and we have another meeting at eight o’clock sharp,” he said, gently rubbing her back as he placed a kiss on the tip of her nose.

  “That’s a good idea. Maybe I’ll lay down for a few after I shower,” she said before turning her back on him, slowly making her move up the stairs.

  It seemed for the moment that she was in the clear, her motives remained unknown, as if she had drowned them in a sea of sorrow, sinking them deep inside herself, to be hidden from all.

  As soon as the door was closed, Khalida locked the door in hopes of keeping anyone from entering. Hurriedly, she changed her clothes into a black long sleeve shirt, black yoga pants, and black running shoes. Pulling her hair back into a messy bun, she hoped that her escape would be a breeze and she would go unnoticed. Khalida glanced out the bedroom window.

  No guards. It must be shift change; they would be inside their security bunk going over the details of the prior shifts. Now is my chance.

  Khalida cracked open the window, hoping the creaking of the rising glass wouldn’t alert anyone below of her intentions. She slowly climbed out onto the ledge, stopping for a minute to listen for any sign that Luke was aware of her escape. Her breathing slowed as she tried to control her heart rate, slowly making her way down the tree that was outside her window. Khalida was careful, sneaky, making sure she didn’t make any sounds that would alert the guards or the people inside. She planted her feet firmly on the ground, landing in a crouched position; her eyes darted across the yard. Running across the yard, Khalida was protected by the thick mist that carried up from the lake. Climbing over the fence, her getaway was made. Looking around, she realized her plan didn’t carry through to this point.

  Crap. I didn’t think about how I was going to get there. Damn.

  Khalida began running down the street, amazed at how easy it was to carry herself as she stretched forward with every step. Her legs were stronger and carried her at an inhuman speed. Khalida had slowed for the upcoming intersection when she heard a car pull up beside her. Dead shock and fear ran through her body. It was Luke, he knew she lied to him and snuck out. She was busted. Khalida stopped in her tracks, slowly turning, preparing herself to face the wrath that she was sure to endure.

  “Hey, girlie, where are you going? Do you like need a ride? I mean, it is about to start totally pouring right now,” Cherry said so cheerfully Khalida had to laugh as relief flooded her body and the shock of Cherry not being Luke rolled off her shoulders.

  “Um, yeah, sure if you don’t mind,” Khalida stuttered still in shock by the timing of an old classmate showing up, meaning her lover was still in the dark.

  Until he feels me gone that is.

  “Well, no, of course I don’t mind. Now get your butt in this car,” she said, blowing smoke out of her rolled down window.

  “I need a ride to my house. Do you remember where I live?” Khalida smiled, asking her nicely.

  “Oh, ofcourse I do, Chicka,” she chimed in as she smacked on the gum in her mouth, her dark and heavy eyeliner stretching itself out a good inch past her eyelid, her face caked with an alabaster foundation.

  Khalida stared at her, hardly believing she actually knew her. Khalida went to school with Cherry the first year that she lived here. She remembered how that year Cherry’s parents sent her away to some boarding school for behavior problems, or so the rumor went; Cherry liked to cut herself.

  “How have you been?” Khalida asked, trying to be nice but not really caring about her answer. She had other things that weighed deeply on
her mind. It bothered her that she was so careless about someone’s life, but she just didn’t have the energy for anyone else’s problems.

  Cherry’s hair was cut short, made to spike up at the top with her bangs hanging long, sweeping across her face. Through all the weirdness she was putting off in her appearance, Cherry was really a nice girl. A stab of guilt punched in Khalida’s gut for her first initial thoughts of the poor girl who obviously didn’t have the ideal life.

  My boyfriend’s a freaking vampire…I’m turning into a vampire, who in the hell am I to judge anyone?

  She tried to listen intently as Cherry carried on about the job she had at one of the local strip clubs, but Khalida found herself letting her mind wander to the events that would take place tonight.

  That’s it!

  “Hey, Cherry, you wouldn’t happen to have a lighter I could borrow would you?” she asked nicely.

  “Sure, darling,” Cherry motioned for her to catch the lighter she had cupped in her hand.

  “Thank you.”

  “I didn’t know you smoked, but nothing surprises me these days. I swear I need to get out of this city, but I just can’t leave my Billy Bob. You have seriously got to meet him one of these days. That man saved me,” she went on explaining her relationship until she pulled up to the curb of the house.

  Without hesitation, Khalida threw open the door, turning back only to say a quick thanks for the ride as she turned, jogging to the house. Darkness had fallen upon the sky with the heavy scent of rain in the air. She knew she only had a matter of minutes before her unwanted company would be arriving. Khalida ran through the house towards the kitchen, quickly setting the knobs on the stove to pilot before rushing back into the living room to await the arrival of her greatest threat...and her very possible downfall.