“It could be another do-gooder.” Martin warned after a moment. “Gina perhaps?”
“Perhaps.” Ewan agreed. “But Gina will know where I can find Lillian. Now, won’t she?” Ewan walked steadily to the opposite ledge, and without pausing he allowed himself to drop straight down. When his booted feet touched down on the hard asphalt below, he looked sharply to his left to watch as Martin cascaded down as if floating on air, and hovered two feet off the black asphalt. “Stop showing off! We’ve got work to do.” Ewan growled impatiently, and he walked away with thoughts and plans forming in his head. This was going to be one hell of an adventure, he thought lustfully, and he rubbed his hands together in anticipation.
Lillian ran inside her home as if the devil, himself, was on her tail after Jack had driven away earlier that night. In a blur she whirled through the parlor, the living room, and down the dark steps into her basement, where she proceeded to rip off her clothes, and search for a new set.
“Lillian?” Troy’s voice came from above, but she paid him no heed as she slipped into a sleek black top, blank pants that fit her like a second skin, and jerked on a pair of black boots that were good for running, good for climbing as well. The black slicker came on next as she was heading back up the stairs.
“Josh is still following Jack?” she asked urgently as she swept past Troy on the stairs. Troy had to grab a hold of the railing to keep from falling as a gush of wind nearly knocked him over.
“The last I heard. Why? What is going on? Lillian!” Troy shouted out after her as she ran back toward the living room.
“Call him. Call Josh. I want to know where Jack is at right now!” Lillian all but shouted at the young man. Troy looked at her as if she had lost it, but still he took the cell phone from his jeans pocket and dialed Josh’s number.
“He’s driving, just left here, Lillian.” he said, not hanging up just yet. “Is there something I should let Josh know?” a dark brow rose inquisitively. Lillian paced in long, frantic strides. Hearing a swiftly beating heart, she looked up, and saw Reginald entering the room.
“What is it, My Lady?” Reginald cried out after meeting her wide eyes.
“Ewan.” Lillian hissed vehemently.
“Ewan?” Reginald repeated, not understanding her plight.
“He’s back.”
“Back?” Troy was the one to ask. Lillian’s gaze swept from one man to the next.
“He’s the other.” she spit out as she continued her anxious pacing. “Has Jack stopped somewhere yet?” she inquired quickly over Jack. She waited while Troy asked that very question to Josh.
“Not yet.” Troy put his hand over the phone. “The other vampire?” he asked to make sure he had it right.
“Yes! Jesus! Last night, Ewan and his followers killed three people!” Lillian blurted out as she continued to pace so fast that Troy could actually see smoke starting to lift from the carpet. It wasn’t until Troy rushed forward, and pulled her to a stop that Lillian smelt the beginnings of a fire, and stomped out the threat.
“You know this particular vampire?” Troy’s gentle hand brushed her arm in dawning. Lillian nodded.
“He’s the same, the one who hurt me. The one who killed Jax.” Saying the words out loud nearly had her crumbling to the floor. “Jack had a picture of him tonight.” She said, nodding before either man could comment. “Some Dr. Harold, who according to Jack, has been shouting vampire all along; she brought the picture to Jack tonight. She’s been seeing Ewan, dating him!”
“Wait. Wait, Hun, how do you know all this? Were you there?” Troy’s hand continued to brush her arm in what was supposed to be a comforting manner. She didn’t feel comforted though. She needed to be out there, watching over Jack, protecting him. God, why had she let him drive away? She should have stayed right with him, at his side. She should have grabbed a hold of him, and made him listen to her as she told him absolutely everything!
“I was in the car, but I saw the photograph, and I read Jack’s troubled thoughts on the drive back here.” She explained. “Ewan saw him. He was there, outside of the coffee shop, bumping into Jack while I sat unaware in Jack’s car!”
“My God!” Reginald breathed out in a frightened tone. Lillian could hear the old man’s heart beating swiftly in his feeble chest, too fast.
“Where is he, Troy? Where is Jack?” Lillian could wait no longer. She had to get out there. She had to keep an eye on Jack, make sure that Ewan didn’t get to him before she could! God, please, please don’t allow that to happen. Not again!
“An apartment building over on Wilshire. The Wilshire Condominiums.” Troy repeated what Josh was telling him over the phone. Lillian didn’t wait. She left the room in a gush of wind, not hearing when Troy and Reginald called out in desperation from behind her. Her only thoughts were of Jack. I’m stronger now, Ewan! I won’t let you hurt him again, she vowed. I won’t let you!
Lillian did not stop until she once again had Jack within her sights. Only then did she feel a small sense of comfort. Crouching low on the rooftop across the street from the Wilshire condominiums, she had a clear view of Detective Bordello’s living room through the sliding glass, balcony doors of his apartment. She couldn‘t hear their conversation, but she could see them. Too bad she could not read lips, she thought in disappointment. Only minds, she thought as she stared at Jack’s handsome profile. He was upset. That was evident. He and the tall, Italian man, Bordello, were talking loudly back and forth, their hands in angered animation. At least he was inside, Lillian thought as she watched Jack pace behind a beige sofa. He said something to Bordello that made Bordello throw up his hands in obvious frustration. Then turning, Bordello came to the balcony doors and peered intently out. Lillian slid back into the shadows as not to be seen, but then Bordello pulled a cord, and a pair of long, thick, wooden blinds robbed her of her calming vision of Jack. Standing, she cursed her luck. He’s inside, right inside, she told her racing heart. He’s safe, she kept telling herself as she began to pace the rooftop in earnest. Her gaze stayed on the front door of the apartment building, moving from that door in expectation to Jack’s dark Mustang. Damn it! Where was he? Should she go down there? No. No, he would see her. She couldn’t get too close, but she couldn’t just stand there not knowing. Damn it!
Suddenly, a figure appeared just inside the door at the lobby at bottom of the building. Lurching forward, Lillian waited impatiently for the person to make their appearance. Waiting forever it seemed, only to have her hopes dashed out when Bordello stepped from the building alone, she crouched low once more, and kept her eyes on the street below. Bordello was yelling something back at the building. Was Jack on his way out too? Jack! Jack, where are you?
“All right, Lady! Whoever the hell you are, get your damn hands up.” Jack’s stern voice suddenly sounded from directly behind her. He was there! He was on the roof with her, and right behind her. She had wanted to see him, and he had come to her. No one had been able to creep up on her in the past, at least not that she could recall, but she had been so afraid for Jack’s safety, had been diligently searching the street below for him.
“Now! Stand slowly, and raise your hands above your head.” Jack ordered sharply from behind her. If she turned then he would know, she thought. Wasn’t that what she had come here for, she asked herself, but sudden panic filled her chest, and before she could think better of it, she turned in a gush of wind, keeping her face angled away from him, and ran in a blur toward the ledge of the building. She did not stop when she reached the edge of the building. She leapt, her legs running in mid-air as she leapt from the rooftop, and fell toward the rooftop of the next building which was a story lower than the one she had originally been on. Her feet had barely touched down on the second rooftop when she heard someone running behind her, and she knew in that terrifying instant what was about to happen. No! The denial ripped from her, and she turned to see that Jack was coming after her. He had actually leapt after her, but he wasn’t going to make it. God
, he wasn’t going to make it! Without a second’s pause, she turned, running faster than she had ever run before, and leapt out. Ducking her head, she dove right into Jack’s hard body, and sent them both flying backward, back up onto the original rooftop. Jack hit hard, and yelped in pain when he hit his shoulder, but Lillian did not pause, ripping her body upward, she rolled forward, and sprang back onto her feet. Running once again, she took another flying leap, and felt her body start to descend in rapid motion. Had he seen her face? Did he know? It had been so close! He could have fallen! He could have died! Jesus! No matter what she did, no matter how desperately she tried to protect him, to keep him safe, it seemed she was always putting his life in jeopardy. He was better off without her in his life, she thought fitfully as her booted feet at last touched the sidewalk below. But it was too late for that now. Ewan would come for Jack now that he had seen Jack’s face, and Lillian had to be there when he did!
Jack rolled to his side quickly, and yelled out when his now damaged shoulder throbbed in pain. Pulling himself up by one arm, he ran, limping to the edge of the building just in time to see the woman land like a cat, crouched on her feet in the alley below. In shock he stood there, panting, and out of breath as he watched her get up, and run into the darkness. He watched her until she disappeared. His heart slamming in his chest, he let the realization of what had just happened hit him full force. She had saved his life! He had gone after her, possibly to put an end to her existence, and she had come back for him, to save him! His chest throbbed from where she had plowed into him so hard. He knew it would bruise, but at the moment he didn’t care. He was alive for Christ’s sake! He should be thankful for that, but damn it, now he had a different problem! Now, he was going to have to find Dr. Harold and apologize because if he wasn’t mistaken he was pretty damn sure he had just come into contact with their female vampire.
Knowing that Lilly would be worried, Jack decided to stop by her home later that night after having tried unsuccessfully to reach Dr. Harold for the past hour. He knew that he should probably find Bordello and brief the guy on what had just happened, but he just couldn’t picture himself saying the word vampire out loud. How else could he explain away that jump though? The force of the blow when that woman had plowed into his chest and sent them both flying back and up twenty or so feet onto the same rooftop they had both originally begun on had been too substantial, too impossible for a mere mortal to accomplish. How else could he explain the five story drop to the ground where she had landed like a damn cat, unscathed! Any rational explanation would not justify! He had left messages with Dr. Harold, telling her that they needed to talk as soon as possible, and warning her to stay inside, stay safe, but not alerting her to why the sudden urgency. He had sent Bordello a damned text message saying that he was all right, and going home to bed, that he would catch him in the morning.
Bordello had replied back with a suspicious, “Is this really Stone?”
“Yes, Travolta. It’s Stone.” Jack had returned, to which Bordello had promptly texted back, “Fuck you, Stone.”
Now, he was at Lilly’s door, thinking that he was probably going to wake the entire household up, but not giving a good damn. After tonight, he had to see her. He had to know that she was all right, but it wasn’t Lilly who rushed to the door to meet him. It was the butler Reginald, and his grandson, Troy. They looked scared out of their minds, Jack thought in alarm.
What was up with them? “I need to speak with Lilly.” Jack announced when the two of them continued to stand there, staring at him as if he were the bearer of bad news.
“She isn’t here.” Reginald replied in an upset tone.
“Not here? I just dropped her off a few hours ago.” Jack protested, but the worry was already spreading to his chest. “Where did she go?”
“After you.” Reginald spit out, and he covered his trembling lips.
“Me? Why?” Jack gripped the old man by the collar of his shirt, and Troy had to pry Jack’s urgent hands away.
“She was worried about you.” Troy filled Jack in once they were all standing in the parlor.
“She knew I would be with my partner. Why would she come looking for me? Why would you let her, knowing what is out there?” Jack demanded hotly.
“There is quite a bit you don’t understand concerning My Lady.” Reginald’s nervous gaze kept glancing back at the door as if he expected Lillian to come crashing through it at any given moment.
“Shit!” Jack cursed fluently beneath his breath. “Where would she go? My place?” he asked the room just as Josh came barreling through the front door.
“What’s going on here?” Josh asked in concern, meeting each of their gazes. “Where’s Lillian?”
“That’s what we’re all wondering.” Reginald’s shaky voice returned.
“Call me if she comes back.” Jack pointed directly at Troy, and then he grabbed the man, Josh, by the arm, and began to drag the poor bastard from the room. He needed the guy‘s help, he rationalized. They could cover more ground separately.
“I’m sure she’ll be back any moment.” Josh was saying when Jack shoved the man toward the guy’s gray BMW.
“You got my cell number?” Jack inquired hurriedly.
“Yes, but Lillian is often out late. I’m sure if we just wait-” Josh tried, but Jack leaned forward, and started the BMW with the key Josh had already put into the ignition.
“I’m not waiting a moment longer.” he snapped. “Not after the scene I saw this morning. I don’t want her out there in that.” he pointed into the darkness. “Trust me, neither do you. Go West. I’ll go East and check out my place. You try the coffee shop, and anywhere else you can think of that she may have gone.” he took control. Josh sent him a good frown, but Jack just shut the man’s door for him. He jumped in his own car, and waited until Josh pulled out in front of him before he started his ignition and followed the man out the front gates.
Doubling back, Lillian moved within the shadows of the allies below the rising, multi-storied buildings to find her way back to Jack. She would not rest or feel safe until she had him within her sights once more, she thought near panic. Counting the seconds as they rushed past in frightening moments of not knowing, she turned, and slipped around a dark corner only to feel the brute force of something big and hard slam back into her chest, and send her flying twelve feet backward to slam into a hard, brick wall. Bricks crumbled all around her as dust flew upward in protest. Her chest, where she had received the blow felt as if it had caved inside of itself. The pain throbbed and intensified when she tried to move. Crying out, she held an arm across her injured chest, and clumsily climbed to her feet only to receive the next blow, this one a hard fist connecting soundly with her right jaw. Her head snapped back with the force of the blow. Her neck ached as the muscles stretched beyond their capacity, and her left temple took a chip of the brick wall with it as she went again to the ground. The cruel laughter that followed echoed in the night like a nightmare that had come home to visit her. She knew the sound of that laughter. She knew that voice! She didn’t have time to consider the fear that leapt into her before a booted foot kicked out with such force and speed that it caught her in the side, and sent her flying sideways to collide with the unyielding wall yet again. Before gravity could call her back to the ground, a fist slammed up into the air catching her in the belly, and sending her back up in the air two feet before gravity once again brought her smashing into the hard, unyielding ground. In severe pain, she laid there, her cool cheek pressed to the warm asphalt. Blood seeped from her busted lip. She could feel the ribs that had cracked, could count each throbbing, slicing one along her left side. Barely able to move, she lay there assessing her injuries, when suddenly, she felt hands grip her shoulders, and pull her up with a flick of a wrist. White eyes shined in the near distance, and Lillian watched in horror as those eyes grew closer and closer. She wanted to scream, but her body was in too much physical pain and disrepair. Then, from out of the shadows, a ni
ghtmare from the past walked back into her life. Ewan. He was as handsome as ever with his waves of dark chestnut hair, his pale, flawless skin, his aristocratic nose, and full fleshy lips. He was tall, broad of shoulders, and dressed now, in Armani. His white eyes locked with hers, and stayed locked until he had crouched down in front of her. It was then that Lillian realized that both of her arms were being held behind her. Glancing to her right, and then to her left, she realized that Ewan’s thugs had a hold of her.
“As I recall telling you once before, sweet Lillian.” Ewan’s sick voice penetrated the air, and Lillian shuddered inwardly. For so long, she had been free of him. For so long, she had escaped his madness, but the misery, the pain of what he had done to her, to Jax, that great loss, it had never left her. “You. Are. Mine.” He said each word separately, possessively, and then without warning, his large hand reared back, and delivered a stinging slap across her face.
“Take her home.” Ewan ordered, and he stood giving her his back.
“No!” Lillian screamed out in denial as the two vampires lifted her aching, throbbing, broken body upward in a heave that was obviously meant to cause her more pain. “No!” she screamed because it was all that she could do. She was in no condition to fight them now. They had seen to that by bringing her low before she had even known they were there. Jack, she thought. Jack! Not again! How can I save him if they lock me away? How can I save him?
“Please. Ewan, please!” she cried out in desperation, but the vampire was not going to listen to her. With a nod of his head, a hard fist slammed into her gut and doubled her over. It was followed by a resounding hit to the right temple, and her head lowered of its own accord, and then she could no longer scream, beg, or plead. All that she could do was allow the heated, tormented tears to slide down her cheeks in defeat. Oh Jack, I’ve failed you again, she thought as they dragged her away. It was her last coherent thought.
The Power Page 31
