The Complete Midnight Fire Series

by Kaitlyn Davis

  Kira looked at Luke, at the blond hair that still seemed to glow from the sun, at the slightly crooked nose almost completely covered in freckles, at the smile permanently glued to his lips.

  "And for what's been almost a year, that's what you've been to me. A best friend. Until I realized something, why wasn't my best friend my boyfriend? When I was in England, it wasn't Tristan that got me through, it was you, just thinking about you made me feel better. And that's weird, right? And I still do it. Whenever I need to feel better, I sort of peek into your head, and I know I promised I wouldn't read your thoughts anymore, but I do it all the time because it's like taking a little happy pill, and…"

  Kira took a deep breath. She was reaching the point of no return.

  "And I thought about what you said, at the ball. You said you realized you were in love with me after you thought you'd almost lost me, and I think that's what happened to me too. When I left you in the airport, I thought I'd lost you, that you'd never forgive me, and I didn’t know what to do with myself."

  God, get to the point, Kira screamed at herself, but she couldn't stop rambling. Why did she feel so exposed? It was Luke, she was never nervous in front of him, but all of a sudden all forms of finesse had escaped her.

  "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't care that Tristan is human, and I don't care that he doesn't remember me, because I still have you, and I think that's all I ever needed in the first place, and—"

  "Kira?"

  She swallowed.

  "Shut up," Luke said, reaching behind her head to pull her face toward his.

  The minute their lips touched, Kira's brain stopped working. Her mind, already vulnerable, completely let go and Luke's emotions tumbled into her head in a dizzying whirl of lights, a firework show saved just for her.

  And Kira wished Luke could feel her thoughts too, the way her excitement bubbled right next to his, sprinkling down her arms, following his every touch. And even though flames weren't sprouting from his hands, they felt on fire as they gripped the back of her neck and traveled down her spine, around to her stomach.

  Hungry for more, Kira pushed Luke down, falling with him onto the sand, liking how their bodies molded together. His long lean chest held her weight easily, and his arm wrapped around her back, bringing her closer, slipping under the hem of her shirt to lightly tease her skin.

  And the closer they fused, the more Kira felt the sun travel through her body, spreading a warm glow, a sense of peace down her limbs.

  Unable to control it, her flames seeped out, circling both of them in her fire. But no longer trapped, the shadows silently followed.

  Her blood turned to honey—or was that Luke's blood. His skin felt sweet on her lips, sugary almost.

  Kira shifted her lips to his cheek, letting his sigh tremble in her ear. She kissed the line of his jaw, the smooth skin, freshly shaved.

  She followed the trail down his throat, the syrupy sweetness teasing her senses, until something began to sing to her, a thrumming pulse, a soft percussion under her tongue...

  "Kira?" Luke pushed against her.

  She sat up, confused. What was that smell?

  "Did you just bite me?"

  "What?" she asked, her eyes focusing like lasers on his neck. There was no blood. She let go of her breath, until she saw teeth marks digging into his skin.

  "Did you just bite my neck?"

  "Um, maybe…" She shifted, leaning away from him. The honey on his skin was still teasing her.

  "Why did you just bite me?" he asked, as though speaking to a child.

  "I got lost in the moment?" she said, not even convincing herself. Luke's eyebrows furrowed. The excitement in his pupils quickly drained, turning hard and demanding.

  "Kira." His voice was a rock, unmoving.

  She stood. She had to escape. This was not supposed to happen, not to Luke and her.

  Before Kira realized what was happening, she was running. Her feet pounded against solid sand, thumping along with her heartbeat.

  Luke yelled after her, but she couldn't stop. It wasn't time. She wasn't prepared to lose Luke right when she had finally found out what he really meant to her.

  "Kira!"

  Closer this time. He was taller. His legs were longer, faster. Kira veered to the right, searching for a boardwalk in the dunes. Her flight instincts had kicked in, pushing her into overdrive, and all she could think about was getting far away. It didn't matter that he would never stop questioning her, that the next time he saw her he wouldn't let her go. Right now she didn't know what to say or what to tell him.

  A hand wrapped around her wrist, jerking her backward. Kira twisted her arm, escaping Luke's hold, but an arm wrapped around her waist, lifting her off the ground. She kicked wildly, doing anything she could.

  Luke cursed and dropped her, but almost before her feet hit the ground, he spun her around and hugged her close to his chest.

  Kira pounded his muscles with her fists, writhing her body to loosen his hold. Nothing. His arms were iron, trapping her.

  "Let me go," she said, still trying to punch her way free.

  "Kira, what is going on?"

  "I can't." She continued pushing against him, exhausting herself.

  "Kira," he soothed, the steel gone from his voice.

  "No, Luke," her voice cracked, mirroring the dam breaking inside of her. He was opening the floodgate, but it would be so good to finally talk to someone. But would he ever look at her the same?

  Kira's body slumped. All of her energy drained. Luke loosened his hold slightly, just enough to meet her eyes.

  "Kira, please talk to me." Concern filled his eyes, dampening the yellow flames around his irises and brightening the warm pine green hues.

  "I want to."

  "Then do it."

  Kira shook her head. Frustration gathered on his face.

  "Why not?"

  "I can't lose you again," she whispered, clutching at his shirt, trying to make him understand. Her eyes were wide, unblinking, feral.

  "You'll never lose me," he said, running his hands up and down her arms to quell the goose bumps gathering there. "I love you, I promise nothing will change that."

  "You promise?"

  "I promise."

  His words were steadfast, but Kira couldn't squish the knot of doubt in the back of her mind. Their bond was open, golden rays of love were pouring in through his mind, but still, Kira knew this would change everything. She was turning. She couldn't deny it or ignore it anymore.

  Of all the people in the world, Luke was the only one she could talk to about this but also the last one she wanted to tell. He was her best friend—no he was more than that, so much more. And that was why her mouth hung open, waiting for the words to tumble out, because she didn’t want any secrets between them. She had been down that road before and had almost lost him.

  So standing there under the stars, wrapped in the warmth of his arms and the sunlight flowing through his veins, she thought for a second that maybe it would all turn out okay…just maybe.

  Kira looked up into his steady gaze and took a deep breath. She trusted him more than anyone else in the world. He wouldn't let her down—he never had before.

  "I think I'm turning into a vampire…an original vampire."

  Luke fell.

  His knees collapsed bending outward so he landed Indian style on the ground. Kira dropped onto his lap, probably crushing his legs, but he didn’t make a sound. His face was frozen—his lips formed a small surprised circle and his eyebrows bent inward, wrinkling his forehead.

  Unsure of what to do, Kira kept talking, not able to stop because every word felt like a weight lifting off of her shoulders. She wasn't alone anymore.

  "The Punishers were right. I'm dangerous. I'm falling, just like they said, and it gets worse every day it seems. And it surprises me every time, creeping up on me when I least expect it. And I don't know how to stop it or what to do. When I use my power, I feel the darkness inside of me, tr
ying to escape. And I bit…I bit a vampire. And almost my own mother. And I would have just bitten you if you hadn't stopped me." Kira clutched her head, falling deeper into Luke's chest. "Oh god, what's happening to me? I don't trust myself, and worse, I don't trust my power, my fire, my soul…"

  Kira stopped. An ache grew in her head, pressing out from her temples and down her neck. No matter how hard she clutched her hair, the pain wouldn't go away. And she could still smell the sweetness of Luke's blood, could taste it on her tongue.

  "How is this possible?" he asked, his voice like sandpaper.

  "I don't know."

  "I thought…I thought your fire was too strong, that we only had to worry about you losing control, burning too hot…I never imagined…I didn't—when did it start?"

  "When Aldrich gave me his blood, something changed inside of me, something dark clung to my heart, and I can't dislodge it." Kira paused, thinking back further, back before she met Aldrich and sighed. "But if I'm being honest with myself, it started a while ago, when my eyes turned blue…when I killed Diana with no remorse and no regret, just satisfaction—the darkness started then, I just didn't feel it."

  "And you feel it now?" Luke asked. His blond head lifted. His eyes squinted.

  Kira nodded.

  "Right now?"

  "Always," Kira said softly. Even if it was under control, Kira sensed the sticky black tar hiding in her heart, waiting there for the next opportune moment. "It's one of the reasons I had to leave Sonnyville, there were too many conduits."

  "What do you mean?"

  She swallowed. Was this the point of no return or had they already passed it?

  "Conduit blood." Kira paused when Luke's hand squeezed her arm, almost painfully. "It's the most unbelievable…the most taunting…the sweetest—when I lose control, it's all I can think about."

  "And that's why you bit me?"

  Kira nodded.

  "Is it why you…" Luke took a deep, unsteady breath and closed his eyelids for a moment, thinking. "Is it why you kissed me?"

  Kira's eyes widened in shock. "Luke, of course not." She cupped his cheeks with her hands. "I swear, I wanted that, me, Kira."

  "Really?"

  "Really."

  Kira kept hold of his face, urging Luke to believe her. All she had wanted to do tonight was let Luke know that she wanted to be with him, that Tristan wasn't in the picture anymore, but instead she only made him doubt her further. What could she do to make him believe her?

  "Luke, I lo—"

  He put his pointer finger to her lips, quieting her.

  "Not yet, not like this," he said, pain etched in the roughness of his voice. "I've been waiting a long time to hear you say that, and I don't want anything to taint it."

  She nodded slowly, fighting her uncertainty.

  "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

  Kira laughed under her breath. The situation was anything but funny, but could he hear himself?

  He raised his eyebrow, waiting.

  "Luke, why do you think? You're freaking out."

  "I am not, I'm…digesting."

  "Also known as freaking."

  "Well, I'm sorry," he said sarcastically, "this is a lot of information for a guy to get all at once. First you kiss me, then you kidnap me, then you kiss me again, then you try to kill me. The signals are getting a little crossed."

  "I didn't try to kill you." Kira rolled her eyes. "It was a little nip, some people would find it sexy."

  "Some people don't hunt vampires for a living."

  "Luke—"

  He lifted her around the waist and set her next to him on the sand before standing up. "I need to think," he said and started walking around her in circles. Kira fell back on the ground, not caring that the sand would be stuck in her hair. Looking up at the stars, she began to count the number of times Luke walked around and into her line of vision.

  One.

  Two.

  Three.

  She yawned. This was better than counting sheep.

  Four.

  Five.

  Kira waited for number six but it didn't come. She couldn't hear footsteps either. Lifting her body up, Kira scanned the horizon, finding Luke silhouetted against the crashing waves, closer to the surf.

  "No," he said suddenly spinning around.

  "No, what?" Kira asked, cocking her head to the side as he speedily approached.

  "No," he said again, shaking his head. His hands were balled into fists as he passed her and made for the boardwalk ten feet behind Kira.

  She quickly stood and chased after him.

  "Where are you going?"

  "I refuse to let this happen," he said firmly, shouting over his shoulder rather than pausing to turn around.

  "You can't stop it," Kira said sadly.

  "I can," he urged, "because there is no way in hell that I am finally going to get you, just to watch you turn into a vampire and lose you—there is just no way that is happening. I won't allow it."

  "Luke." Kira sighed. Her insides felt all mushy after his sweet words—totally macho and unrealistic words, but sweet all the same.

  "No, Kira, there has got to be something we can do."

  "Luke, there's nothing. I checked the papers my grandfather gave me, the ripped out pages, they didn't say anything about this. I can feel this thing growing inside of me all the time. It won't stop."

  He stopped walking, spinning around so fast that Kira ran right into his chest.

  "Who are you right now?" He was incredulous.

  "Huh?"

  "Where is Kira? Where's my best friend? She would never just give up and let this happen without a fight."

  "I," Kira started but stopped. He was right. What was she doing?

  "Your parents!" His entire face lit up with the idea. Luke clutched her shoulders, shaking her a little. "Your parents, they have to know something."

  "My dad doesn't even know I'm a conduit," Kira said slowly, trying to understand.

  "No." Luke shook his head, widening his eyes with exasperation. "Your birth parents. Your dad was a Punisher. The first time you used your powers, he must have suspected this might happen, he must have known the legends."

  "My birth parents…" Kira said slowly, her brain going haywire with new ideas suddenly taking life. Maybe there was a cure, some sort of solution. But Luke wasn't waiting for her to catch up.

  "The original conduits, the angels the Punishers speak of all the time, they changed themselves, they figured it out. There's got to be a way." Luke spun again, walking briskly toward the car.

  Kira raced to catch up, running toward the car, but a thought stopped her in her tracks.

  "Pavia," Kira said. Why hadn’t she thought of it before?

  "What?" Luke asked. He was next to his pickup truck, holding the passenger side door open for her.

  "Pavia has all of my mother's memories," Kira said, slowly raising her gaze to meet Luke's excited and flaming eyes. "If my parents knew anything—"

  "Pavia will know," he said, cutting her off. "Give me the keys."

  Kira tossed them toward him. He caught them in one graceful move before hopping into the driver's seat.

  "Call her," he said, turning on the ignition.

  The engine rumbled to life beneath her—somehow it gave her hope.

  "Tell her we need to talk immediately."

  Chapter Nine

  Kira raced through the front door of Luke's house, not even pausing to say hello to a shocked Tristan before yelling out, "Pavia?"

  No answer. Shoot.

  Luke strolled through a few seconds later, much calmer.

  "Is everything all right?" Tristan asked, sitting up straighter on the couch. A history textbook was open on his lap.

  "Yeah," Kira said, taking off her shoes and falling into the open spot next to him, "we just have a few questions to ask Pavia."

  "Is there anything I can do?"

  "Nope." Kira looked at him, forcing out a strained smile. "But thanks for ask
ing."

  "Of course," he said, taking her hand. The warmth felt strange to Kira, so she stood up, slipping out of his grasp.

  "Anyone want something while we wait? I'm making some coffee."

  "Make that two," Luke said, looking away from the window he was staring at.

  "Tristan?"

  "If you have any tea…"

  "Sure thing," Kira said and left the room. She bit her lip while searching Luke's cabinets. Her excitement was getting hard to contain. Why hadn't she thought of it before? Her parents. Of course they had to know something. But no, Kira chided and started the coffee pot, it was too early to get her hopes up.

  She put her hands palm down on the counter, stilling them against the cold stone, willing the tremble in her fingers to stop.

  Her foot started tapping instead.

  "So, what's the big emergency?"

  "Pavia!" Kira jumped, clutching at her heart. The vampire was standing in Luke's back door, waiting to be let inside. Hastily, Kira pulled at the handle. "Thank god you're here."

  "That's not something I hear very often." Pavia grinned, flipping a stray lock back over her forehead.

  The coffee pot dinged, making Kira jump again.

  "Did I hear…" Luke popped his head around the corner, smiling when he saw Pavia there. "Come on into the living room," he urged, acting suddenly hospitable.

  Kira gave him a cup of coffee and followed the two of them into the other room, stopping to give Tristan his tea before taking up the same spot on the couch. Pavia and Luke sat opposite them on two chairs.

  "So what happened in the past two hours that's got you both so wired?" Pavia's eyes went to Luke's twiddling thumbs and Kira's ticking foot.

  "It's probably easier to show you," Kira said and reached her arm out. "Just take a look at my most recent memory." Pavia raised her eyebrows, surprised, but brushed Kira's fingers with her own.

  Instead of a rushing vortex, there was a numbness that settled over Kira's body, a feeling like she wasn't in control of her own mind anymore. Something crawled over her skin, fuzzing up her thoughts and sending a shiver down her spine.