The Assassins of Light

by Britney Jackson

  Her feet felt frozen in place as she waited for Kara to reach her, and for those few moments, her heart raced with paralyzing fear—fear of what she felt for Kara, fear that she would make the same mistakes all over again, fear of losing Kallias, even…fear of losing Kara. Rose was stunned by that realization—that as wrong as it might be, the thought of losing Kara brought her immense pain.

  Rose tried to ignore Kara’s approach. Or…she tried to pretend to ignore it, since it wasn’t actually possible to ignore someone like Kara. But when she felt the warmth of Kara’s body against hers, she couldn’t keep up the act. Rose turned, watching warily as Kara entered the room. She whispered, “I thought you said…”

  Kara’s icy blue eyes darkened. “Relax, sexy,” she whispered in Rose’s ear. “I’m not here for you.” Her voice sounded sharp with bitterness and pain and low with desire and seductiveness, all at once, and Rose shuddered at the sound.

  Kara stepped past Rose, her long, lean body brushing against Rose’s, as she entered the room. She pushed her way through everyone who crowded the room and stepped between Aaron and Kallias, as if she didn’t have a single reason to fear them. Her presence had a strange effect on the vampires in the room. If she wanted, she could enter and leave a room without anyone ever noticing, but at the same time, if she wanted to be noticed, her presence had the opposite effect on the room. Her dangerous, commanding aura had that effect on them now—silencing each vampire one by one. “If you two are done fighting,” she said with a sly, taunting smirk. “I have some information that you might be interested in.”

  Aaron narrowed his eyes at her, clearly not pleased with her attitude, but he swept his arms out anyway, shrugging. “Go ahead,” he grunted. “I’m all ears.”

  Kara crossed her arms, her thin, black tank top stretching tight over her muscles. “I just received word from my spies,” she said, a cocky smile on her lips. “The Assassins of Light do have a facility in New York City, but it’s not the place that they sent Erik and Kallias to tonight. That was just an abandoned building. Obviously.” Her smile widened. “Luckily, I know the location of the real facility.”

  Kallias rolled his eyes. “Are we supposed to be impressed?” he sneered.

  Kara turned toward him. “Well, I did find the location in a matter of minutes, which is less time than it took you to walk straight into a trap. But you’re right. It’s no big deal.” She laughed and performed a sweeping, sarcastic bow.

  “Thanks, Kara,” Aaron muttered tiredly, as she turned to leave.

  Kara twisted slightly as she squeezed past Rose, but her leather-clad thigh still brushed against Rose’s thigh, and that one touch sent a warm shiver of desire through Rose’s body. Because of the intensity of the blood bond, Rose couldn’t resist the urge to inhale Kara’s warm, intoxicating scent as she squeezed past her.

  Rose blushed as she noticed Kara’s light blue gaze shift toward her and darken with pure, undiluted desire. But then, Kara turned and continued into the foyer anyway, as if nothing had happened. When Rose noticed Kara start walking up the stairs, she couldn’t resist the strange, instinctual urge to chase after her.

  “Kara,” Rose called breathlessly, as she followed after her. “Wait.”

  Kara froze for a moment. Then, she spun around and stared at Rose with flashing, light blue eyes. “What do you want, Rose?” she murmured in that low, lilting voice of hers. She descended the stairs, closing the space between Rose and herself in just a couple of steps. Rose turned and stepped back as Kara closed in on her, swallowing uneasily as her back collided with the wall. Kara invaded her space, her scent swirling around Rose’s head, her long, lean body pressing against Rose’s. “Do you want me to stay away from you,” she whispered, “or not?”

  Rose felt Kara’s breath warming her lips, and she ached to lean in and close that tiny bit of space between their lips. “I…I don’t know,” she stammered.

  Kara leaned in close, her lips brushing Rose’s lips, and whispered, “Liar.”

  Rose shook her head slowly. “I don’t. I don’t know…what I want.”

  Kara raised her hands and cradled Rose’s face in her hands, her palms warm against Rose’s cheeks. “Yes, you do. You’re just afraid to admit it.”

  “I f-feel so,” Rose paused, barely able to voice the words, “so guilty.”

  “Just say it,” Kara murmured against her lips. “Just say the words.”

  With Kara’s body so close and Kara’s lips so close, Rose couldn’t even remember how to breathe, much less think, but somehow, the words formed on her lips anyway. “I w-want,” she stammered, her heart racing in fear. “I want…”

  Kara seemed to have forgotten how to breathe as well. “You want what?”

  “You,” Rose said finally, her words choked and breathless. “I want you.”

  Kara kissed her. Hard. So hard that it took Rose’s breath and filled her up with desire all at once. She sought out Rose’s lips with a desperation that Rose had never seen in anyone else. She felt sure of it in that moment—that no one had ever wanted her as desperately as Kara did. She didn’t know for sure what kind of want Kara felt, but she knew, without a doubt, that Kara wanted her.

  Kara’s hands slid down Rose’s body as they kissed, caressing her curves, first her breasts, then her hips. Rose moaned at the sensation, sinking her fingers into Kara’s silky hair, clutching Kara’s face as close to hers as possible, as if the smallest space between their lips would be too much. Kara closed her hands around Rose’s soft, curvy hips, holding Rose against her, as she moved her body against Rose’s, arching her back, creating a pleasant friction between their bodies.

  “Gross,” said a dry, male voice from the top of the staircase.

  Rose immediately pushed Kara away, easily recognizing that voice. She blushed as she glanced up toward the top of the staircase. “Zach! Um…we’re…”

  Zach just held up his hand and grimaced. “Spare me the details. Please.”

  Rose felt as if her face were on fire. “We weren’t kissing,” she sputtered.

  Zach gave her a puzzled look. “Rose, I’m thirty years old. I know what kissing is, and that thing—where you were shoving your tongue down her throat—that’s called kissing,” he said dryly. He rolled his eyes as he continued down the stairs, past the blue-haired vampire and his mortified sister. He turned back toward Rose, wrinkling his nose in disgust. “I’ve seen a lot of weird things in my lifetime, but my sister making out with someone is definitely the weirdest.”

  Kara just laughed, clearly amused by the situation that had thoroughly humiliated Rose. “Sorry,” she snorted. “We’ll try to make it to the bed next time.”

  Rose’s eyes widened, and she shot Kara an admonishing glare.

  But Zach just held up his hands. “That’s all I ask,” he muttered.

  Rose waited until Zach disappeared into the kitchen before she narrowed her eyes at Kara. “Next time? You just…assume there will be a next time?”

  Kara smiled at Rose’s snarky attitude. She stepped forward, once again closing the space between them. She tilted her head to the side, a lock of black hair falling messily over her forehead. “You can keep fighting it, if you want,” she murmured, her lips tilting into a flirty smirk, “but you can’t take back what you said. You just admitted to yourself that you want me. That changes things.”

  Rose’s eyes widened. “It does?” she sputtered. “What does it change?”

  Kara just winked at her. “I guess you’ll just have to wait and see.”

  Rose watched bewilderedly as Kara turned and walked up the stairs, her footsteps thudding softly against the hardwood, as she headed toward her room. Rose leaned back against the wall, covering her chest with her hand, feeling her rapid pulse beneath her palm. Her lips still tingled and burned from that mind-blowing kiss, and she could barely catch her breath. Her brows furrowed as she replayed Kara’s words in her head. “I don’t know what that means,” she whined.

  11

 
; Guilty

  “So, vampires are real?” Zach muttered as he picked up a slice of pizza.

  Audrey licked the pizza sauce from her fingers before grabbing another slice from the half-empty box of pepperoni pizza. “Yes. They are definitely real.”

  Zach nodded as he swallowed a bite of pizza. “And I’m not dreaming?”

  “Unfortunately, no,” Owen said. He was the only one not chowing down on the pizza. He focused, instead, on the breadsticks. “As much as I desperately wish we were dreaming, we’re not.” He sighed and took a bite of his breadstick.

  The sound of the door opening startled them, and all three of them spun around to see who it was, breathing a collective sigh of relief when they realized that it was just Rose, standing in the doorway of the kitchen, covered in blood.

  Zach took a huge gulp of his beer. “Are you sure I’m not dreaming?” he muttered as he set the bottle on the counter, staring blankly at his sister. “Because I just watched my sister get shot who-knows-how-many times, and now, she’s standing there, in the doorway, perfectly fine, with the blood still on her clothes.”

  Rose looked down at her T-shirt and jeans. She was pretty sure that her shirt used to be blue, along with her jeans, and both of them now looked blackish-red, just from the sheer amount of Kara’s blood and her own blood that covered them. “I should have changed clothes before I came downstairs,” she muttered.

  “Isn’t there some kind of meeting going on right now?” Owen asked.

  Rose closed the door and ambled over to the small, kitchen table, where her brother and two closest friends sat, devouring pizza and breadsticks. She sat down in the empty chair, between Owen and Audrey, and across from Zach. She shrugged. “Technically. But it’s mostly just Kallias and Aaron arguing, like usual.”

  “Which one is Aaron?” Audrey said. “The young one? Hot…but rude?”

  Rose lifted her eyebrows. “Well, he’s actually the most ancient vampire known to exist, but yeah, he does look young. I wouldn’t call him hot, though.”

  “You don’t call anyone hot,” Audrey said with a mouthful of pizza. “You just stare at them and stammer awkwardly until everyone is embarrassed for you.”

  “Thanks,” Rose muttered sarcastically. “That makes me feel great.”

  “These vampires are all attractive to us because they’re vampires,” Owen warned Audrey. “Their allure affects you when you look at them. Don’t let their appearances fool you. Every single one of them is dangerous, especially Aaron.”

  “Thank you for the lecture, Owen,” Audrey said as she leaned over the table to grab one of the breadsticks, “but I’m still going to enjoy the eye candy.”

  Rose watched her brother from across the table, studying his reaction as Owen talked about vampires, but surprisingly, he just continued drinking his beer.

  Audrey pushed one of the pizza boxes toward Rose. “Are you hungry?”

  Rose turned to stare incredulously at Audrey, both eyebrows raised.

  “Oh, yeah,” Audrey mumbled with a mouthful of breadstick. Her amber-colored eyes widened as she remembered what kind of food Rose ate now, and she pulled the pizza box back toward her, draping her arms over it protectively.

  Zach stood, suddenly. “Where are the bathrooms?” he asked.

  Rose looked up at him, her brows furrowing. “Second door on the right. In the hall,” she answered. “Do you need me to show you where it is? Or…”

  “No,” Zach said quickly. He left before she could question him further.

  Rose sighed, “He’s going to steal something.” She turned back toward her friends. “So,” she said, drawing out the word, “how are you guys doing?”

  “We were just attacked by the Assassins of Light. We watched you get shot like ten or fifteen times. And now, there are a bunch of dangerous vampires in the house with us,” Owen said, “and you go with: how are you guys doing?”

  Rose flashed a sassy smile at him. “That’s why I’m asking, smart-aleck.”

  Owen laughed. “You calling someone else a smart-aleck is as pot-calling-the-kettle-black as it gets,” he muttered as he picked up another breadstick.

  “Speaking of,” Audrey said, even though she hadn’t even been listening to them. She closed the pizza box, for the first time since it had arrived, and wiped her hands on her paint-splattered jeans. She made a dramatic show of propping her face in her hand, and then, she pinned Rose with a wicked, curious look. “The woman you were making out with in the living room—is that your girlfriend?”

  Rose blushed. “No. Kara isn’t my girlfriend. She’s just my…friend.”

  “Your friend?” Audrey said, pressing her lips tightly together, as she tried not to laugh. “That was a pretty hardcore make-out session for a couple of friends.”

  Her blush deepened. “Are there levels of making out now?” she muttered.

  “I think people usually call them bases, but…” Owen grinned at her.

  Rose frowned. “I thought that was like a high school thing. Or a middle school thing. I don’t even know. I didn’t make out with anyone back then.”

  “Well, apparently, you’ve come out of your shell,” Audrey said with a proud smile, “if what I saw through the door in the foyer was any indication.”

  Rose stared blankly at her. “You were watching from the foyer?”

  “Hey,” Audrey said, holding up her hands defensively, “you almost died. I was worried about you.” She settled back in her chair, grinning playfully. “I may have also been feeling a little nosy about your mysterious, leather-clad girlfriend.”

  “A little?” Rose repeated. She ran her fingers through her disheveled hair—the same hair that Kara had ran her fingers through less than an hour ago—and felt another wave of heat rush to her face. “Kara and I aren’t…together.”

  “So, is it just a physical thing, then?” Owen asked curiously.

  Rose winced a little. “I…try not to think about it,” she mumbled.

  “That’s a no,” Audrey said, pointing at Rose with a breadstick. Her gaze shifted toward Owen. “Rose overanalyzes everything. If she doesn’t want to think about her relationship with Scary-Biker-Girl, then she must have feelings for her.”

  “I don’t think Kara owns a motorcycle,” Rose muttered bewilderedly.

  Owen nodded, agreeing with Audrey. “She definitely has feelings for her.”

  “Wait, what?” Rose said, looking back and forth between them. “Why does everyone think I have feelings for Kara? I’m in a relationship with Kallias.”

  Owen looked at her. “Then, what’s going on between you and Kara?”

  “I don’t know,” Rose sighed, spreading her hands out in frustration. Her shoulders slumped. “I’m trying, okay? I’m trying to resist it. I just keep…failing.”

  “Whoa,” Audrey said, leaning forward. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  “You didn’t,” Rose assured her. “It’s just been a crazy night already.” She sighed wearily, “I love Kallias, and I don’t want to ruin things with him, any more than I already have, but for some reason, I can’t fight these feelings for Kara.”

  “Then, you do have feelings for her,” Owen said. He leaned back in his chair, considering her predicament. “You know she’s like a heartbreaker, right?”

  “I know what she’s like,” Rose said, looking away. “Believe me. I know.”

  Owen frowned sympathetically. “I don’t know what to tell you, Rose. I grew up reading about her. The Assassins of Light are terrified of her. She’s evil.”

  “After everything that just happened,” Rose said, scowling at him, “can’t you see that the Assassins of Light are wrong about what makes someone evil?”

  “Yeah,” Owen admitted. “I see that. You’re obviously not evil, and they think you are. But Rose, there are stories about Kara. She’s done terrible things.”

  “So have I,” Rose said softly. “You can’t judge someone based on half of the story. Especially when that half was written by the p
eople who hate her.”

  “I’m just saying,” Owen sighed, “Kallias is obviously the…good one.”

  “They’re vampires! They eat people!” Audrey said. “Neither of them are good.” Her gaze shifted toward Rose. “That being said, I think Owen’s wrong.”

  Owen leaned toward Rose. “Don’t take relationship advice from her,” he said, even as Audrey glared at him. “You’ve seen the kind of men she dates.”

  Audrey leaned across the table. “Yeah? Well, none of my boyfriends have ever shot a gun at me, so,” she paused to brandish her breadstick at Owen, “ha!”

  “I actually never asked for relationship advice at all,” Rose tried to say.

  But Audrey was already diving into her argument. “Look, Kallias is hot. Totally hot. But I’m sure, if I was into women, I’d think Ninja-Girl was hot, too.”

  “Ninja-Girl?” Rose said, her eyebrows lifting. “Where do you get ninja?”

  Audrey glared at her. “Anyway,” she said aggressively, “I think you need to explore this thing between you and Kara. You’ve already explored your feelings for Kallias. You know what’s between you. But you don’t know what’s between you and Kara. I think you need to figure that out…before you miss your chance.”

  “I can’t say I agree,” Owen said, “but that…surprisingly makes sense.”

  “I’m not completely batshit, Science-Boy!” Audrey said defensively, rolling her eyes, as she bit into her breadstick angrily. “I’m artist-crazy, not crazy-crazy.”

  “I’m Science-Boy,” Owen realized. “She’s given me a nickname now.”

  “You and everyone else on the planet,” Rose muttered under her breath.

  “And cheer up,” Audrey sang, leaning toward her. “I mean, gosh, Rose, there are worse things in this world than having two gorgeous vampires into you.”