Shon (The Seeker Series Book 2)

by Ditter Kellen

  “Is it Gina?” Ember persisted, still holding his arm.

  Shon shook his head. “The elders.” He turned to look at Nita, standing in the doorway, eating a sandwich. “You’d do well to leave this place also.”

  Nita shrugged. “Not a problem. Now that the Seeker is dead and Gina is on her way back to Alaska, my presence is no longer needed here.” She met Ember’s gaze. “Tell Angelo to consider my debt paid.”

  Ember nodded. “Thank you for everything, Nita.”

  Shon scooped Laura up into his arms, picked up the bag, Ember had packed, and turned to go. He stopped at the door and faced his cousin. “Mind if I use your car?”

  Ember fished the keys out of her jeans pocket and tossed them to him. “Text me when you get to where you’re going.”

  “Will do. Thanks, Em.” With one last look at Ember, Shon blurred his way outside, down the stairs, and deposited Laura into the passenger seat of the car.

  Thoughts of his twin brother plagued Shon as he slid behind the wheel and inserted the key into the ignition. Once again, he’d lost John to the clutches of Gina. He only prayed she hadn’t retaliated and done something that would haunt Shon for the rest of his life.

  Chapter Thirty

  Laura kept quiet as Shon maneuvered the car through the late-night Lakeland traffic.

  He swerved off the Parkway, taking an on-ramp at a high rate of speed.

  “Are we being followed?” she finally asked, glancing in her side mirror for signs of a vehicle behind them.

  “I don’t think so, but I’m not slowing until I’ve put some miles behind us.”

  Laura leaned her head back against the seat. “Why would the elders want to hurt me?”

  “I’m assuming they think you’ve seen too much. They consider you a threat to them.”

  She rubbed at her weary eyes. “I would never say anything to anyone. Besides, who would believe me?”

  “Those assholes don’t give a shit, Laura. They only care about themselves.”

  “So I have to spend the rest of my life in hiding?”

  Shon took a side road that would lead to the interstate. “I’ll figure something out. Try not to worry.”

  Laura lifted her head to study her surroundings. “Where are you taking me?”

  “To my place.”

  Her mouth fell open. “Alabama?”

  “It’s the safest place for you right now.”

  “But my job…”

  Shon shook his head. “Your life is in danger, and you’re worried about a job?”

  “What am I supposed to do when this is all over? I can’t afford to lose my job, Shon.”

  Sorrow radiated from him. “I’m sorry, Laura.”

  “For what?”

  He kept his gaze on the road. “That you’re in this mess. If not for me, none of this would be happening to you.”

  Laura gaped at him. “I’m in this mess because I chose to be. Ember is my best friend, Shon. I would do anything for her.”

  “Even die for her?” he growled, shooting Laura a quick glance.

  “Yes,” Laura replied without hesitation. “Haven’t you ever cared for someone that much?”

  Something flickered in his eyes. “This isn’t about me. Try to get some sleep if you can. It’s going to be a long drive.”

  * * * *

  Shon pulled into a hotel about an hour before sunrise. “We’ll stay here until we’re able to travel again.”

  Laura followed him to the front desk to secure their room. “They won’t find us here, will they?”

  Shon paid for the room in cash. “We’ll be gone before they have a chance to locate us. You’ll be safe during the day.”

  Laura gave the desk clerk a small smile. “Do you have a vending machine?”

  The woman nodded. “We have one on every floor, ma’am. We also offer a complimentary breakfast from six a.m. to ten a.m.”

  Laura glanced at the clock on the wall. She had an hour to get to the room and shower before she could eat. “Thank you.”

  Shon picked up Laura’s bag and led her to the elevator. “The sun will be up by the time breakfast is ready. I’d prefer you order room service as opposed to coming back down without me.”

  Laura waited until the elevator door closed behind them before she spoke. “If vampires sleep during the day, what is there to fear?”

  “Seekers.”

  A shudder passed through Laura’s small frame. She’d almost died at the hands of a Seeker. “I understand.”

  Exiting the elevator, Laura strode behind Shon, unable to stop herself from glancing at his ass.

  A blush spread up her neck as memories of being taken by him exploded behind her eyes. The feel of his hands on her body, his mouth on her skin, his cock pumping inside her, bringing her to a powerful release played through her mind in heated detail.

  Shon unlocked the door and had her inside the room up against the wall before she could suck in a breath. “I can smell your desire,” he growled, pressing his big body close to hers. “You want me.”

  Laura’s heart began to pound. She did want him. She always had. “You can blame yourself for that. You made sure I’d want you by bonding me to you.”

  He tilted his head back to stare into her eyes. “Is that what you think?”

  “Nita said…”

  “Said what?” Shon prompted.

  Laura hesitated. “She-she said I’d be bound to you for as long as I live.”

  Pain shone in his beautiful brown eyes. “I’m sorry, Laura. I couldn’t allow you to die.”

  “I know, and I’m grateful to you for that. But…”

  He rested his forehead against hers. “But?”

  “How am I supposed to live the rest of my life bonded to a man that isn’t bonded to me?”

  Shon went completely still. “You want me to bond with you?”

  Laura tried to push him away, but he refused to move.

  He nudged her head to the side and ran his tongue along her throat. “Answer me.”

  “I—”

  “Be damn sure you know what you’re saying. Because once I do this, you’re mine. For life.”

  He swiped his tongue up her neck once again. “I would always know how to find you. Your feelings would resonate through me at all times. You would never be free of me, Laura Donovan. Never.”

  Laura’s eyes slid shut in disappointment. She’d wanted him to need her the way she needed him. To want her…to love her. Instead, she got an ultimatum. “Please let me go.”

  The feel of his breath warming her skin and the heat from his body made her knees weak.

  He lifted his head from her throat, disappointment clear in his eyes. “I’m sorry. I thought…”

  “What?”

  “Nothing,” he murmured, stepping aside to let her pass.

  Laura stumbled around him, picked up her bag, and practically ran to the bathroom.

  She shut the door and leaned heavily against it, dropping her bag to the floor.

  What was she doing? Shon had offered himself to her. Only, she wanted a bond formed from love and not out of some misguided chivalry.

  Tears of disappointment sprang to her eyes. She couldn’t blame him. Not really. Why would a gorgeous and powerful vampire want to be saddled with someone like her? After all, she was only a human.

  Laura stripped out of her clothes and turned on the water in the shower as hot as she could stand it before stepping under the spray.

  The reality of her situation hit her full force as she washed away the remnants of the Seeker that had been left on her skin. She couldn’t go back. Ever. She would always be in danger, as would her parents.

  A fresh round of tears slipped from her eyes to blend with the soapy water trickling down her body.

  Laura realized several things in that moment. She loved a vampire who didn’t love her back. She could never return home or to her job. Her parents would always be in danger as long as she remained near them, and Laura would forever
be a weakness to her dearest friend, Ember.

  I have to leave, she told herself, finishing up her shower and turning off the water.

  With a made-up mind, Laura stepped from the shower and quickly dried off.

  She rummaged through the bag Ember had packed her, pulling out a flimsy bra, tank top, and a pair of shorts.

  Laura brushed her teeth and hair, dressed, and laced up her running shoes before returning to the room to find Shon asleep on the king-size bed.

  She stared longingly at his nearly nude body. He lay on his stomach, wearing nothing but a pair of black boxer briefs.

  Laura had never seen anything as sexy as Shon Wells.

  Rushing over to the window, she made sure the curtains were pulled together tight enough that the sun had no cracks to seep through before turning back to the bed.

  She sat on the edge of the mattress and ran her fingers through his long, dark hair. “I love you, Shon. I’ve always loved you. And for that reason, I have to go. I’m a weakness that you can’t afford to have.”

  Laura snagged the car keys off the nightstand, grabbed her bag, and hurried toward the door before she changed her mind. She would leave Ember’s car somewhere safe and catch a plane. To where? She didn’t know. She supposed it didn’t matter. Life as she knew it had forever been changed.

  Hanging the Do Not Disturb sign on the knob, Laura took one last look at Shon’s sleeping form before softly pulling the door closed behind her.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Shon fought with everything inside him to open his eyes. The sun had risen, and with it, the comalike sleep every vampire experienced with its dreaded ascent.

  Laura was leaving. She’d told him she loved him before taking the keys and walking out the door.

  Desperation settled inside him, gnawing away at his insides like a cancer.

  Lauraaaa! he mentally screamed, clawing his way through the heavy darkness that surrounded him, only to find himself deeper in the abyss.

  I love you too, he silently cried, knowing she couldn’t hear him, yet praying she knew. But she didn’t know.

  He realized then what she’d been trying to tell him. It wasn’t resentment she’d felt over being bound to him. No, she’d wanted him to bind himself to her as well. Not out of some obligation, but out of love.

  Shon could kick himself for not seeing the truth sooner. He’d been so caught up in everything going on around them, that he’d neglected the most important thing in his life. Laura.

  There was nothing he could do but wait until the sun went down and go after her. Wherever she may be.

  * * * *

  Shon flew from the bed the second the sun disappeared over the horizon.

  He dressed in record time, bypassing the elevator to blur his way down the stairs to the front desk. “Where is the closest place to get a rental car around here?”

  The tall brunette behind the counter gazed back at him in appreciation. “Leaving us so soon?”

  “I need a rental car,” Shon reiterated, barely holding his fangs in check.

  “Yes, of course.” She nodded toward the front doors. “If you leave through there, take the street on your left. The airport is two blocks over. They have a twenty-four-hour rental place.”

  “Thank you,” Shon murmured, spinning toward the doors.

  He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed Angel.

  “What’s wrong?” Angel rushed out, answering on the first ring.

  “Laura gave me the slip.”

  “Damn it. How long ago?”

  Shon stepped outside and took a left toward the street the clerk had indicated. “She left this morning as soon as the sun came up. She took Ember’s car.”

  “I installed a GPS tracker on Ember’s car after everything that happened last year. Give me a few minutes, and I’ll tell you exactly where she is.”

  Relief was instant. “Thanks, Angel. I’ll be waiting.”

  Shon ended the call and ran with vampiric speed toward the airport, arriving seconds later. He hurried inside and approached the desk. “I need the fastest car you have.”

  A gray-haired man, looked up from the form he’d been filling out, and pushed his glasses up on his nose. “License and insurance? And will you be using a debit or credit card?”

  Shon retrieved the correct cards from his wallet and handed them to the man. “I’ll be using a credit card. And I’m in kind of a hurry.”

  The man dipped his head and stared at Shon over the top of his glasses. “I have a couple of reservations to finish up with before I can get to you. If you’d have a seat, I’ll be with you momentarily.”

  Shon snagged a couple of one hundred dollar bills from his wallet and held them out.

  “I’ll have you ready in a jiffy,” the man assured him, tucking the money into his pocket. “I have a nice sports car available, if that works for you?”

  Shon nodded, pacing along the front of the counter. “It does.”

  After answering several questions and signing the designated lines, Shon accepted the set of keys the man offered him. “Thank you.”

  “Here’s your license, insurance card, and credit card,” the clerk murmured, laying them on the counter top. “Have a nice trip, Mr. Wells.”

  “Much obliged,” Shon responded, striding toward the door, pulling his buzzing cell from his pocket.

  “What you got, Angel?”

  “The car is sitting at the airport in Tampa. I don’t know if she’s still there, or if she’s boarded a plane.”

  “If she’s in the air…” Shon growled, climbing into the rental car. “I’ll never find her.”

  “I’m already on my way there now. I’ll be there in about forty-five minutes.”

  Shon sped out of the parking lot and turned the car back toward Lakeland. He had a four-hour drive ahead of him if he kept to the speed limit. “I’ll be there in two hours.”

  “Vlad stayed to protect Ember and Lucius. I’ll see you back at the condo, with or without Laura.”

  “Find her, Angel.” Shon ended the call and pressed the gas pedal to the floor. If Laura got on a plane, the chances of him finding her again were slim to none. But he’d never stop looking. No matter how long it took.

  * * * *

  Ember laid a sleeping Lucius in his crib and returned to the kitchen to pour a glass of wine. “Would you like one?”

  Vlad shook his hooded head. “No, thank you.”

  “Would you mind removing the hood? It makes me nervous.”

  The elder lifted his hands and pushed the hood back to reveal the beginnings of a beard. “Is this better?”

  “Much,” Ember agreed, taking a drink of her wine. “I’ve never seen you with hair on your face.”

  “I don’t usually wear a beard,” he muttered, rubbing at his chin with his fingertips. “I’ve just been too busy these last few days to shave.”

  Ember sent him a soft smile. “It looks good on you. I’d keep it.”

  The corner of his mouth lifted. “Then perhaps I shall.”

  “What if Angel doesn’t get there in time?”

  Vlad shrugged. “Miss Donovan is a grown woman. I’m certain that she can take care of herself.”

  “How can she just run off without telling anyone? Especially me. I’m her best friend. I’ve never known her to be so uncaring and selfish.”

  Vlad penetrated Ember with a glittering stare. “Actually, what she has done is one of the most unselfish acts I’ve seen in centuries.”

  Ember gaped at him. “How can you say that?”

  “She left to protect you all. As long as she is human, she poses a danger to everyone she cares about.”

  Understanding dawned. “Had I known things would turn out this way, I would have walked away from her before she found out about us.”

  “To protect her,” Vlad offered.

  “Yes.”

  “That is exactly what she thinks she is doing now.”

  Ember rested her elbows on the kitchen co
unter. “What am I supposed to do now?”

  “You can always turn her.”

  The softly spoken suggestion caught Ember off guard. “What? No. That’s the worst thing I could do to her.”

  “And yet it’s the safest.”

  “For whom?”

  Vlad reached across the bar and rested his hand on top of Ember’s. “Everyone.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Laura jumped to her feet as the overhead speaker announced the boarding of her plane.

  Grabbing her bag, she strode toward the designated line forming in front of her.

  A gasp escaped as a hand gripped her arm, stopping her in midstride. “Laura.”

  Laura spun to face her best friend’s mate. “Angel? How did you find me?”

  “GPS on Ember’s car. We need to talk.”

  “Please just let me go,” she pleaded, glancing at the now moving line.

  Pity settled in Angel’s eyes. “I can’t. It would break Ember’s heart if I let you get on that plane. And I’d do anything to prevent that from happening.”

  “If you love her that much, then let me walk through that gate. You can tell her you were too late.”

  “I’m sorry, Laura. I can’t.”

  Attempting to pull free of his hold, Laura pleaded with him. “Don’t you see that I’m a danger to her? To you all? The longer I remain here, the more at risk you all are. From the elders as well as the Seekers. I see no other choice here, Angel.”

  “There’s always a choice,” he responded, a determined look in his eyes. “Can we talk?”

  Laura glanced behind her. “My plane is being boarded.”

  “If you still want to leave after hearing me out, I’ll buy your ticket myself.”

  Laura stared at him for long moments before nodding. “Fine. I’ll listen. But nothing you can say will change my mind.”

  Angel picked up her bag, took hold of her hand, and led her through the droves of people toward a set of automatic doors.

  Once outside, he nodded toward the parking garage. “My car is right over there.”

  Laura followed him to his vehicle, taking a seat in the passenger side as he circled around and slid behind the wheel.