by Janet Jones
"No. Just the gentleman's preliminary to deflowering the girl of his dreams. It seems only right to ask you.” His hot, red eyes glinted at her. “So I'm asking."
How many times had time found them in exactly this moment? She touched his cheek. “Please."
He slipped his fingers inside of her gently, and her world disintegrated into pleasure and pressure and rhythm. But even that wasn't enough.
She arched against his hand. “Ellory, now. Please."
"I want you ready for me, love.” He probed her a little harder, stretching her deliciously. “Very, very ready."
Words twisted in and out of her mind, slipping out of her mouth in little gasps. She felt his cool cheek against her stomach. It seemed as though he opened his soul, and all his feeling for her covered her like a blanket until she writhed in the hot, dry desire that consumed him.
His whispered words urged her on. “One more time."
Her climax went soul-deep and left her motionless. But still she wanted him. If anything, she wanted him more.
Ellory drew himself up her length and licked away her tears. Her breath left her when he drew her legs up around him and she felt him ease himself into her just a little.
Heat filled her. He was so hard and big and perfect. She managed to get out two words between crying and trying to breathe. “Don't stop...."
She felt a shudder pass through his powerful body. He framed her face with his hands and kissed her gently. “I know I promised nothing tricky. But I've caused you enough pain."
"W-what are you t-talking about?"
"I love you, Talisen."
He kissed her again. Mindless oblivion followed. When she came to, she woke in a world of equally mindless ecstasy. The universe exploded with it. She was sure it was because nothing was big enough to contain the love that sang between them. No pain. Ellory had seen to it that she would feel only pleasure.
His mahogany hair glinted in the firelight. His breath rushed out of him in soft sighs, while he moved inside of her with long, steady strokes. He shook against her, muscles cording as though he were trying to control himself.
"Ellory,” she whispered. “You're so beautiful."
A look of disbelief and gratitude washed over his soulful face, and he shook his head, blood-red tears welling up in his eyes. He turned his head away.
She caught his chin and made him look at her. “No, no. You are beautiful."
She wrapped her body around his and gave herself up to him, heart and soul, past, present, and future. She wanted to give him all of herself. Now.
She pressed her mouth against his ear. “Drink from me."
He groaned against her, nuzzled her throat hard, and lapped at it with his tongue until she pleaded. The pierce of his fangs and the rush of her life-giving blood pouring into him cast her over the edge into pure joy.
For sacred seconds, their souls danced like their bodies did. One forever. Inseparable for all time. She heard his soundless declaration of love in her mind, felt it in every move of his body.
You are my wide, warm ocean of mystery. My safe harbor. My copper-coin moon rising to light my way, brighter than a thousand suns. Your love is my sustenance, stronger than a river of blood, all that my light-deprived soul thirsts for. I haven't the words to tell you how much I treasure what you've given me tonight.
He lifted his mouth from her throat and washed the bite with long, hard strokes of his tongue. When he drew her legs wider apart and deepened his thrusts, Talisen clung to him in the hazy half-daze of utter completion. The world spun away into the distance, leaving them alone and dangling from a thread of light that bound them together.
Ellory rasped out her name and moved harder, shoving her deeper into the velvet crimson heat building around them. So hot. So deep. Impossibly hard. Her body reawakened to the feel of him, the sound and smell of him, the taste of his kiss in her mouth. The taste of her blood on his tongue.
A low, growling groan escaped him, and his shuddering body filled her with a rush of liquid heat that turned his movements so slick and wet that she sobbed and slid into the chasm again.
When next Talisen became aware of anything outside the oneness that hummed between them, she felt the warmth and quiet gather around their joined bodies like old flannel. For a moment she pretended that she and Ellory were just like any other couple, that they'd wake up to sunshine and breakfast and the children's voices echoing through the house, that they had the whole day together. And tomorrow. And the next day. And all the nights, too. Dawn couldn't cheat them again.
The sound of the security door opening and closing beyond the bedroom door broke the spell. She'd never dreaded the morning before now. There had to be someone who could help.
Only one person came to mind. If she could just make Ellory see....
She kissed his cheek. “Hey."
He looked at her with eyes that still held embers. “Are you all right?"
"I feel wonderful. Except ... there's something I want you to do for me. For all of us."
"Anything."
"Take the Alchemist up on his offer."
The embers in his eyes became sparks, and the relaxation left him, replaced by irritation that filled her with remorse. His hoarse voice snagged at the last of her contentment. “I think not. And I would as well you didn't mention it again."
Pigheaded eighteenth-century moron.
He snorted. “I heard that."
"I don't care.” She covered her eyes with the palms of her hands. “If we live through this, remind me to slap a knot on your head for being a stubborn jerk."
"My love, if we live through this, you can do whatever you please to me."
She couldn't help smiling at the purr in his voice. He drew her hands away from her eyes and set her heart to pounding with a long, deep kiss, while he oh-so-slowly eased himself out of her body. Talisen let her breath out on a hiss through her teeth, feeling swollen and warm and very ready to begin again. Catching him around the neck, she kissed him back, hoping.
But their time had gone.
He sat up on the side of the bed and looked over his shoulder at her with so much love and regret it broke her heart. “Believe me, Talisen, if this night were all our own, I'd still be making love to you right now."
The children. Of course. This might be their last night together, too. So horrible. So senseless.
She rolled into a ball and cried, little comforted by the feel of Ellory's big, warm hand on her head. She didn't realize what he was doing until oblivion melted the edge of her anguish and drove her into a haven of warmth, safety, and sleep.
* * * *
Talisen stared at the two pristine, double-barreled shotguns in the gun cabinet and felt her stomach boil. She'd never held a gun, much less fired one.
Sean unlocked and opened a drawer full of boxes of shells. He cast a glance over his shoulder at Shelby, who was sprawled in front of his portable TV, absorbed in cartoons.
Even so, he lowered his voice. “Guns won't stop a vampire, but ... well, Ellory wanted me to show you these anyway."
Talisen took in his unspoken meaning and promptly ignored it. How else could she get through this day? Ellory and the others would wake up by four o'clock. They wouldn't rise until nightfall, but they could still give them some protection once they were awake. Four o'clock. They could make it until then. Right now the sun was up, and nothing could hurt them.
She glanced around the cellar storage room and hugged her arms around herself. She hadn't noticed this little room before because Ellory had parked a couch in front of the door, and she'd overlooked it.
In one corner she spied a portable potty, the item Sean was looking for. The shelves and floor were littered with gardening tools and automotive supplies, broken terra cotta pots and overflowing boxes of baby toys in various shades of pink.
She nodded toward a huge sink and an oversized washbasin across from her. “This place hasn't always been a storage area."
"Used to be the la
undry room a long time ago. There's even a laundry chute that goes all the way to the attic.” He pointed behind him at the arcade game out in the living room area. “We put that thing in front of the door of the chute to keep Shelby from playing in there."
Talisen eyed the rifles again and sighed. “I've never used one of these before. Maybe you'd better show me how."
Sean spent the next twenty minutes talking her through the rudiments of loading and shooting. She didn't worry about her aim. At close range, she figured she'd hit what she was pointing at. When they finished, Sean replaced the guns, locked the cabinet, and put the key on a shelf under a can of motor oil, high enough to be out of Shelby's reach.
Rummaging through the closest pile of gardening supplies, Talisen picked up a green vinyl crocodile by his tail and ran a finger over his cheesy grin. “Bath toy?"
Sean smiled. “Shelby's watering can."
Tucking the croc under her arm, Talisen eyed the guns again. If she were all that stood between Shelby and danger, she would shoot to kill. In fact, she'd do the same for Sean, any of the fledglings, and certainly for Ellory. Just like she would've done for Grandma.
Sean retrieved the portable toilet in the corner and set it close to the door. He straightened, his gaze shifting aimlessly. “What's it feel like, Talisen, to be able to talk to all of them? To really belong in the family."
She met his awed gaze with a pang. “You and Shelby were here before I was."
"It's not the same thing, and you know it. They accept us because we're his. Since I met Jenny.... “He shrugged. “I've changed my mind about a lot of things. I feel like I'm on the outside of everything that's important to her."
Talisen shook her head. “You are what's important to her."
That made him smile and square his shoulders like a little boy trying to be grown up. It made her hurt inside. Even though she knew Ellory couldn't hear her, she said it anyway. I wish you were here. I need your strength.
The silence yawned in her mind, and a hot flash of panic rose. She shoved it down and went to sit beside Shelby. “Hey, look who we found in that room over there."
With a squeak of surprise, Shelby grabbed the croc and hugged it hard. “Mort!"
The day became a balancing act between trying to keep Shelby occupied without answering her constant questions. She wanted to go out and play, naturally. She wanted to go up to her room and bring down more toys. Talisen wondered if they'd have to level with her at some point, but Sean was so good at staying one step ahead of his little sister that she began to think it wouldn't be necessary. By three o'clock, Shelby was yawning, and Talisen intimated that Sean should switch tactics.
He dumped his sleepy sister in Talisen's lap and fetched her favorite book of fairy tales. Shelby was asleep before Sleeping Beauty pricked her finger on the spindle.
After moving Shelby to a couch bed and depositing Fiona and Missy next to her, Sean watched her with a thoughtful look on his face. “Funny. She never takes naps."
"Maybe it's all the playtime.” Talisen glanced at Ellory's door, and her heart pounded. “One hour to go until they're awake. Looks like we made it, huh?"
Sean's reply was preempted by the phone ringing on the counter across the room. They'd brought it down and plugged it in, just in case of emergency.
It rang a second time, sounding loud in the hushed room.
She and Sean looked at each other, then stared at it, waiting for the answering machine to pick up the call.
The voice on the other end wrung a half-squelched laugh from Talisen. Her relief almost brought tears to her eyes. “That's Mrs. Emerson."
"Hey, Tallie, the folks over at the Benedikt said I could find you here. If you're home, I'm standing on your front porch right now, and I'd love to see you. Got a box of supplies you'd like to have. Are you all right, honey?"
Talisen was halfway to the phone before Sean caught her by the hand. “She's lying. Ellory told the Gerards not to give our number to anyone. No exceptions."
The suspicion in Sean's eyes was the last straw. Mrs. Emerson offered familiarity Talisen could hold onto, and she wanted it. “For crying out loud, she's my friend."
"Then the very best thing you can do for her is not answer that phone. Let her get out of here."
Talisen jerked her hand out of Sean's, strode to the closest chair, and threw herself down on it. Mrs. Emerson reresented everything that was sane and normal to her. It would have been so good to talk to her, even for five minutes.
Her old friend sounded hesitant now. “Well, I'll leave this stuff here for you. Call me when you can."
She hung up.
"I know it's hard,” Sean murmured.
She shook her head. “Just let's be quiet, okay?"
She eyed the four walls she was sick of looking at, the trampoline/couch beds with their covers strewn all over the place, the dim lamp in the corner that Sean had dragged out of the storage, and....
She stared at the beds again. Empty. “Where's Shelby?"
The sound of the security door opening and closing at the end of the hall answered her question. She was on her feet and down the hall before Sean spoke. She didn't even feel her feet touch the stairs on the way up and into the house. The daylight blinded her. She lifted a hand to shield her face, squinting at the open front door.
Hearing Sean scramble up the stairs behind her, she rushed forward. He darted around her, grabbed Shelby and nudged the child away from the door.
Talisen took it all in in seconds. There was a vacant, staring look on Shelby's face, as though she were still asleep. There was Mrs. Emerson—no box of supplies in sight. She wore a big smile and looked better than she'd looked in years. No bags under hers eyes. No wrinkles on her face. No glasses slipping down her nose. No scruffy cardigan. When had Mrs. Emerson ever worn a turtleneck?
"What kept you, kiddo? Did you think I didn't know you were in there?"
Mrs. Emerson raised and aimed a revolver at Talisen's head.
Talisen caught Sean's movement on the periphery of her vision just before an explosion made her head ring and her body throb. Another followed. The wall slammed into her, and the impact robbed her of breath. Someone fell on her.
Ears ringing, Talisen clawed out from under the warm, wet torso on top of her and staggered to her feet. Blood everywhere. On the wall, the tile floor, her. But not her blood. She blinked and looked around her.
No sign of Shelby. Had she made it to the cellar? Where was Sean? Where was Mrs. Emerson?
She forced her eyes to focus. Mrs. Emerson was kneeling in the doorway with her back to Talisen. She dragged herself to her feet using the doorjamb to pull herself up. When she half-turned toward Talisen, Talisen gagged. One side of her face was gone.
She should be dead. Why wasn't she dead?
Mrs. Emerson hadn't seen her yet, didn't even seem to be looking for her, but she was still smiling with what was left of her mouth, and her one eye, bright with pain, was as alert as ever. She made a gurgling, raspy noise that sounded like she was laughing through a straw while she turned this way and that with her gaze fixed on the porch. She tottered away onto the porch, dragging her left leg along behind her. Her left arm dangled from her shoulder like an elephant's trunk.
"Now, where's my gun? Blast it all, where did it go? He's not going to like this at all."
Revenant. The realization burst through Talisen's confusion, clearing her head. Dylan had done this. To her friend.
Talisen staggered backward until the heels of her sneakers bumped into something. She turned to look. Sean lay face-down in a widening red puddle beside one of the shotguns. He must have shot Mrs. Emerson and thrown himself on top of Talisen to save her from a bullet.
The scream she had held back until now beat at her insides, at the back of her throat, but she clamped both hands over her mouth before it broke free. She thought her chest would cave in. Crouching over Sean, she touched his shoulder, unable to speak his name.
Mrs. Emerson's voice cra
cked. “There you are."
Talisen spun around to see the revenant stooping to retrieve her gun from the edge of the porch.
Shelby. Find Shelby.
Talisen lurched to her feet. Shelby could be hiding anywhere. Mrs. Emerson was coming, dragging herself closer to the doorway. She walked like a drunk. What kept her moving?
Talisen tripped over the shotgun, grabbed it as she rolled into the kitchen and dove out of sight beside the refrigerator. The kitchen phone on the wall, just a few feet away, was too tempting. Revenant or no revenant, she was calling for help. Leaping to her feet, she plucked up the receiver.
No dial tone, and then, “Hello. This is a recording. By the time I wake tonight, you will all be dead. Leave a message after the tone—probably your last."
Dylan laughed, then the recording ended and the phone went silent again. Talisen dropped the receiver. Damn him! She would survive this. She would. She'd do it just to spite that maniacal bloodsucker. And for Sean's sake.
At the sound of Mrs. Emerson's shuffling steps in the foyer, she cocked the shotgun and swiped her tears away. Shoot Mrs. Emerson. Find Shelby. Get to the cellar. Ellory had said the safeguards were strongest there.
She heard Mrs. Emerson pause beside the kitchen door and peeked around the fridge. But the old lady wasn't looking her way. Her gaze was fixed on something above her on the stairway.
"Come on down here, little thing. I won't hurt you."
Shelby.
"That's right. Just a few more steps. You still feel sleepy, don't you? Good. You can go back to sleep and have pretty dreams forever. You won't feel a thing."
When Mrs. Emerson raised her gun, Talisen fired hers.
The kickback of the gun knocked her against the wall, but she glimpsed Mrs. Emerson tumbling into the den and over the coffee table. Talisen lit out of the kitchen and bounded up the stairs. Shelby was still standing halfway up, eyes fixed on nothing, mouth hanging open.
Talisen shook her. “Wake up, baby. Come on, wake up."
The coffee table flew out of the den and crashed against the wall, splintering a foot away from where Sean lay.
