Templar Vampires 02 - The Daystar

by Lyons, Rene

  Isobel wrapped her thin arms around his neck and held on tight as Constantine rose to his full height. “Debt? You owe me nothing, Constantine. If anything, I failed you all those years ago. I should have never sent you away with Guy. I should have... ”

  “You did exactly as you should have, and for that I’m grateful.” He looked at Lex, who stood beside him. She was so full of life. Oh God, how he loved her. “Because of you I’ve finally found peace,”

  The tears of blood that spilled down Isobel’s face caused an uncomfortable sting in his own eyes as he carried her out of the henge. Lex walked next to him, practically glued to his side, Lenora following close behind.

  When they reached the castle Lenora rushed off to call in a donor. Constantine brought Isobel up to her chamber. He laid her on her bed, and stepped away. Lex pushed past him and threw her arms around Isobel, who grimaced from pain.

  “Thank you.”

  Isobel ran her hand through Lex’s hair, though her smile was for Constantine. “I did nothing.”

  Lex pulled back. She came away with Isobel’s blood on her. “Yes you did. You saved my life.”

  Isobel shook her head weakly. “No, Lexine. You saved your life. I wasn’t strong enough to hold you here. You made it through on your own.”

  Lex looked at Constantine, frowning in confusion. “It’s true, Lex. It was your own strength of will that got you through it.”

  “But I died. I know I did.”

  “Yes, and you came back.” Isobel looked at him intently. “She came back because of you.”

  So she did.

  His woman—his mate—was stronger even than him. Her love was a powerful force that wrapped around them both and held on when he thought to let it go. He’d been a bloody fool. Because of his past he’d almost allowed himself to push her away. That was something he’d never allow to happen again. The simple truth was, he needed Lex, and he wasn’t too proud to admit that fact.

  Lenora burst into Isobel’s room and raced to the bed. She grabbed Isobel’s hand. “A donor is on her way. She should be here soon. Can you hold on until then?”

  Isobel nodded. “If Lexine can come back from death, I can find the strength to hold it off a bit longer.” When Lex went to say something, Isobel held up her hand. “No. I know what you’re going to offer and I won’t take it. You’re his, Lexine. Only his. The gift you gave him of your body and soul is for no one else.”

  Seeming to accept this, Lex nodded solemnly, even though Constantine sensed her need to argue the point. “Come on, Lex. Let’s let her rest.”

  Constantine pulled Lex out of Isobel’s chamber. Only once they were alone in their room did he drag her against him and hold onto her as if his existence depended on it. And maybe it did. After all, there were times over the centuries when he’d come close to veering off his path to redemption. Only once Lex came into his world, did Constantine begin to believe salvation was possible. Moreover, she made him believe in love, which was something he’d never thought to ever know.

  He kissed her hard, letting all his love pour into her as he took in her energy. Her power no longer burned. Instead, it was a wonderful flow of heat that traveled through him and gave his body the momentary sense of life. What was left of his injuries healed under the loving touch of her hands.

  When Lex’s hands flattened on his back, Constantine sensed that she was something far greater than he realized. She was a part of the Druid magic dating back to a time before recorded history. But she was also his, and the Order had better understand that fact.

  They’d want her, to protect her and keep her close to them. He’d not let her go.

  Constantine broke the kiss, needing to just hold her. He placed his chin on the top of Lex’s head, marveling at the pounding of her heart against his own chest. He looked out the window, out into the dark. For once, when he stared into the night it didn’t stare back.

  “Thank God for you.”

  Lex pushed away from him. The love in her smile worked its way into his heart, cleansing it of the stain of his sins. “I guess that means you love me, huh?”

  “Guess?” His voice was thick with emotion. “No, elf. I know I love you. I’ve always loved you.”

  “It’s about damn time you told me.” Her hand settled on his scarred cheek. “I want to go home. Take me home to Seacrest, Constantine.”

  Home.

  After centuries of wandering lost in the dark, Constantine found home. It was there in Lex’s eyes and in her heart. But most of all, it was in the love she selflessly offered him.

  Constantine remembered the wounded boy who’d left this land vowing never to return to the place where he’d suffered unspeakable horrors. This last month he’d come full circle. Now, as he stood in the very spot where he once had, as a scared and damaged boy, he was finally the man he always should have been. After centuries of suffering, his past was put to rest.

  The Dragon slept.

  Epilogue

  Lex stood out on the balcony, marveling at all that had happened. Was it truly only a handful of nights ago that’d she’d died and fought her way back? Or had lifetimes passed? She couldn’t be certain anymore since so much had happened between that night and now.

  Isobel was healing fast, the severity of her wounds far greater than anyone had imagined. Lenora hadn’t left her side and others of the Order were on their way from all over England and Scotland. Lex was glad she and Constantine would be gone before they arrived. Not that she feared the women of the Order any longer. She knew none of them trusted Constantine, and after everything that happened over the last twenty-four hours, neither of them needed that tension.

  Lex still couldn’t believe that she’d died and had come back. Refusing to give up on her love for Constantine, she’d fought her way back to this life. Smiling into the sunset, she knew she’d never take even one moment of life for granted. She’d been given a gift and she’d live it to the fullest at Constantine’s side.

  How different she was from the person she’d been just a day ago. Immortal now, Lex carried the strength and glory of the sun within her. She’d share that power with Constantine, lending him life through her body and her blood. Through her, she’d make sure he knew what it was to live again and finally know peace and happiness.

  As much as Lex knew Constantine’s past was at rest, a part of him would always suffer for what he’d gone through in his life. All she could do was love him and be there when his memories crept up around him and threatened to pull him back down into that black pit of rage and pain.

  Looking out across the Salisbury plain, Lex could almost imagine what it must have been like for Constantine to have grown up near here. Greaves and Draegon Castles had stood a handful of miles away. Both were long gone now, having succumbed to the ravishes of time. The echo of those castles still reverberated across the land. The evil they had housed stained the ground. Lex felt it now, felt the foulness of those who’d hurt Constantine move through her. She’d be glad when they were away from this place.

  She couldn’t imagine how hard it must have been for him to return here. Which was why they were leaving tonight. They’d been here for a month and he wanted to be gone from this place with all due haste.

  Instead of flying to America, they were first going to Northumberland, to the original Seacrest Castle. Constantine had sensed—something. He wasn’t sure what it was. He told her he couldn’t get a fix on it, but all he knew was that he had to get to Seacrest before they returned to America. That was just fine by Lex. She was as eager to meet Edward Beaumont, Tristan’s eccentric descendant, as Constantine was to get back to a place he knew of as home.

  All in all, Lex had to admit that this whole Daystar thing had worked out far better than she could have ever hoped. But that was to be expected when one was facing the possibility of death and instead, came out of it not merely alive—but immortal.

  Now—if only she could find a way to get his soul back...

  But that was somethi
ng he had to do alone.

  Seeing the sun dip below the horizon, Lex smiled and waited...

  She didn’t have to wait long.

  “Fate showed this to me.”

  Constantine’s voice behind her had Lex smiling. She turned and laughed at the saying on his tee shirt. It read I even scare my own family.

  She stepped into his open arms, her white robes flowing when she moved. Before they left tonight she’d change into her own clothes and leave the Druid world here, where it belonged. “It did? When?”

  “The night you and Tristan saw me have that vision back at Seacrest.”

  She pulled back and frowned up at him. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  He shrugged. “I didn’t know what it meant and I didn’t want to scare you.”

  She raised a brow at him and gave him a look that clearly said she was not pleased he kept his vision from her. “I’ll let you get away with keeping a vision from me this time, but if you withhold information like that from me again... ”

  “Cease your tirade, elf.” He kissed her soundly, making her forget what it was he’d done to irritate her. God, how she got lost in his kiss. Lex had the feeling he’d be using kisses to do that a lot over the coming years.

  Lex wasn’t the only one to lose themself in the moment. If Constantine’s senses had been honed in on the world around him and not focused on Lex, he would have detected the faint sense of death that carried on the air. Ancient death. Medieval death.

  He would have sensed somewhere out there a Templar was lost in the dark. He would have felt the hunger and the pain that tore through Lucian of Penwick as he fought not to give in to the monster his brother was slowly turning him into.

  It was a battle he couldn’t fight forever and one he knew he was losing. It would only be a matter of time before the bloodlust overtook him and he was forced to do the one thing that could damn his soul to Hell with no hope of salvation.

  He would take the life of an innocent.

  About the Author

  To learn more about Rene Lyons, please visit www.renelyons.net. Send an email to Rene at rene@renelyons.net or join her Yahoo group to join in the fun with other readers as well as Rene! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/renelyonsauthor/