by HK Savage
Ch. 45
With just over five hours of sleep under my belt, I was awake and refreshed before dawn and watched the sun rise, only to be obstructed by heavy cloud cover. That was probably preferable to James and I didn’t care either way. It was always nice to see the sun, but unless I was in a bathing suit, I didn’t need it to be all that hot and sunny to enjoy myself. Stretching, I felt his cool stomach against my back. It never failed to make me smile, beginning the day remembering my good fortune anew.
Reaching for his arm laying across my hip, I ran my fingers down his forearm and delighted in his contented sigh. “What would you like to do today Claire? Other than one quick errand, we don’t have to be anywhere until after tea.”
The realization that we had our meeting today slammed into me. Predictably, my chest seized up and breathing became a labor. I tried to calm myself with some deep breathing exercises to no avail. I tried to downplay my anxiety. “I had such a good time yesterday, I completely forgot about that.”
“I must have been a good tour guide.” He pulled me against his body and whispered in my ear, “You remember my promise. You will come to no harm.”
He was trying to ease my mind despite both our nerves. I could tell from the tension in his smile and in his walk as we got ready to go down to breakfast that he was feeling it too. I wasn’t all that hungry lately and settled for a coffee and pastry again as we wandered the neighborhood. It felt like we were locals strolling with the morning pedestrians on their way to work.
Leaning into his arm, I sighed, “I wish we could stay here. It’s such a beautiful city.”
“Yes,” he agreed, “it’s always been one of my favorites. We’ll have to come back again when we have more time to spend, maybe when all this is over. You should see the Highlands in summertime.”
“Hmm,” I mulled that one over. I hadn’t thought that far ahead. That we would still be together next summer, maybe taking a vacation together. It sounded wonderful. “You don’t think you’ll be tired of me by then?”
He squeezed me hard against him. “We could live forever and I wouldn’t tire of you. I’ve been waiting a long time for you; I just didn’t know it.”
I smiled up at him. “Me too.”
We found a café in a particularly well trafficked pedestrian area to watch the people go by. I had a coffee and he had one sitting in front of him for effect, as usual. Sitting across from him instead of walking beside him, I assessed his appearance. His color had me worried again. If he was human, I would have thought he was sick.
“James, we have to get you something to eat before we go see them.” He hadn’t eaten substantially for days and the small amount he took from me at the wedding was barely enough for the night. He could no longer convince me he could keep me insulated at no cost to him. He needed a full feeding soon or we would both be a mess for our meeting.
“You’re very observant.” He was grim. “Yes, it is getting more urgent. Don’t worry, I will have access to what I need this afternoon. I’ll make it until then if we take it easy.”
He must have been weak with thirst by now and although traveling with a walking blood source, I was relieved he didn’t want to exploit it unless in a dire emergency. Closing my eyes, I inhaled deeply. I pushed away the trepidation I felt and sat up straighter in my chair. “What fun things will we do with our second day in Edinburgh?”
He pointed with his chin to our east. “I thought with the time we have we could go down to the Ocean Terminal and see the yachts, maybe walk along the water.”
“That sounds great. It feels like I’m really getting a feel for the romance of the city. It must be all of this strolling,” I teased him.
He fidgeted absently with his coffee cup. “That’s the spin I’m putting on the article, a romantic weekend. I’m thinking we could turn it into a whole series, romantic old cities.”
“I’m not fishing for invitations or anything but I hope you aren’t going to try to bring anyone else along on those excursions.”
James flicked his eyes up to mine and I felt them burn into me. My stomach did cartwheels when he talked about love and me in the same sentence; combine that with the way he looked at me and I was ready to spend the rest of the day indoors. I knew it wouldn’t fade for me, but wondered for the millionth time if it would for him along with my youth.
I had finished my coffee and stood up to throw away my napkin when I looked across the street and saw them. I froze and felt the blood drain from my face.
“What is it?” He whispered, concern clouding his handsome features and standing up to draw tight to my side.
Without speaking, I wasn’t sure I could find my voice if I tried. I nodded my chin toward the man and woman standing across the street. They were not a romantic couple. They were a couple of killers. The last time I had seen them, they had left me to die in Lake Superior. Their return sent a spasm of fear through me, only it wasn’t just for me this time. A sideways glance reminded me how desperate James was for blood and I was scared to lose him if he had to fight now. Two to one were not good odds, especially today.
His growl was low, I could feel it vibrating my body as he focused on them. Sliding his arm down from my back and resting it over my hand, James surprised me by making a request as he stared at the couple. “Claire, can you get a feel from them?”
“Yes, I did it at the lake.” I felt him look down at me and I met his eyes, enjoying the pleased surprise I saw there. “That’s how I knew they weren’t there to talk.” I saw his eyes tighten and his growl rumbled again; he pulled me back into his side in a defensive gesture.
From my safe position, I tried to appear nonchalant to any casual observers as I brought my focus to the woman. James’ touch helped me to filter out the “buzz” of the humans around us while he kept himself closed off to avoid any “contamination.” Bringing down my shields enough to feel her, I sucked in my breath through my teeth. I knew we were in trouble. Hearing my reaction, James flicked his eyes down to me.
“What did you get?” He asked urgently.
I gulped. “She got in trouble after they failed last time. Their boss, the one they call their Master, punished them severely for it.” Dropping my voice, I whispered. “He used a knife and it hurt. The blade was some sort of stone; why?”
Brow furrowed, James explained why. “It takes a lot of damage, but we can go into something like human shock,” he mumbled under his breath. “Wooden stakes can paralyze us, silver can kill if it enters our blood stream. He probably used something else to maximize his results.”
James looked around us, assessing our options, and turned west toward the bridge and Old Town. Looking back, I confirmed they were indeed following us. We didn’t have to hurry, there were enough humans around and it was daylight; they had to be careful not to be visible.
We walked briskly, trying to appear unhurried as we gave wide berth to alleys and deserted areas. James was clearly trying to avoid a conflict with the two trailing vampires. I followed along, waiting for a chance to ask him what his plan was, but the streets had gotten crowded and we couldn’t stop.
My strength was flagging after several miles at a good clip. My experience hiking gave me no advantage. It had been at human pace, not vampire, and I was spent. “James, can we slow down just for a minute? I’m human, remember?” He rumbled in his chest, cutting me a warning glare. Virtually running these last few miles, I hadn’t seen his face before; now I could see how close the vampire was to the surface. The effect of days of stress and hunger were reflected in his eyes. “We have to figure something out soon or I’m worried the city’s going to see a vampire showdown in broad daylight.” He made no indication that he heard me. “And then we’re all dead.” He blinked.
Distracted, James nodded. “I don’t know what to do. If I could hide you, I could handle them, but I am going to have limited control during a fight.”
He turned his tormented face to mine. “I don’t want you anywhere near me if that happens.”
“If?” I snorted. “You mean when. They aren’t backing off and you don’t have much left in your reserves. You’ve used them up taking care of me.” The flash in his eyes, before he carefully tucked it away, confirmed my suspicions. “If you think you can take them, then let’s find the best place for it. Have you ever had to fight in a city before?” Gauging from the “duh” look he gave me, I was guessing he had. “Well, then what’s your best bet?”
Back to thinking in terms of strategy he had answers for me right away. “I need privacy, firm footing and open space. An abandoned building is perfect.”
Feeling like I finally had a purpose and means by which I could help, I began to walk again. This time, I scanned the area and quickly saw a small black brick faced pub closed for renovation. Better still, there was plastic sheeting over the inside of the windows providing a total blackout on the inside. I spoke his name quietly and gestured with my chin and eyes. He immediately understood and I saw his face set grimly as he readied himself for battle.
“Claire, I am going to need your help luring them into the pub. They are after you, not me. After we have them in there, you will need to find cover, preferably something that locks so that I can be free to move and not worry about leaving you open to an attack. We’ll see what they’ve left in there during their construction.”
Bravely, I agreed, carefully guarding my reservations about being front and center in a fight between three vampires. The only one I could call an ally was so blood starved even he couldn’t guarantee my safety once he was in the heat of battle.
Hand in hand, we walked past the front door of the pub and made an exaggerated right turn on the sidewalk. Following the walk, we came upon a standard sized metal door painted red. The lock on the door was probably a good idea unless your intruder was a determined vampire. I heard metal squeal before the lock gave way and the door opened. We left it cracked to make it obvious where we had gone, hoping they wouldn’t resist the chance to capture their prey even if they did sense the trap.
Once inside, James pulled me close enough to grab my shoulders and clamped down so tightly it hurt. He was always so careful with me I knew he was more scared than he was letting on, his tenuous hold on himself slipping in the building tension. The terrain the building provided was sparse. They had gutted it entirely. We were looking at concrete floors and glass windows with plastic sheeting hung to protect the glass, reducing the light inside to a hazy gray glow. The cherry wood bar and the big mirror behind it were the only things inside.
He looked at me, face tight with nerves and fear. “We have no other choices. You need to hide behind the bar. Don’t come out; don’t move, whatever you hear. Okay?” Nodding, I started to walk away to take my position behind the bar and his vice like hold on my arm yanked me back. I snapped into his chest with a force that would leave a bruise. His lips found mine, his kiss was hard and desperate. When I withdrew, I saw his fear and felt my stomach plummet. I told myself he would be okay, he was virtually indestructible, and I hurried behind the bar.
I hadn’t been hiding ten seconds when the side door creaked open and closed. They were inside and, by their stealth, we could assume they were there to kill. My fear for James was stifling and I was having a hard time breathing, trying by sheer force of will to keep my human heart and breath from giving away my position. They would only serve to make James’ job harder than it was already. I was left to do the only thing I could, be still and stay out of the way. As I settled into a nook behind the bar, I saw a small crack in the wood. It allowed me to see a narrow section of the dimly lit pub in front of me; at least I wouldn’t be completely blind to the action.
They were all so quiet I couldn’t hear any hints of movement at all. Then something broke the light when it passed in front of one of the windows. Within a moment, I saw a pair of legs directly in front of the bar. I held my breath as the legs paused and turned away from me. I recognized the long, thin legs as the pair belonging to the blond female. They had started to walk away from my position when she dropped into a crouch and I could make out the outline of her shoulders, relieved to see her back was to me. Then, I jumped and hurried to cover my mouth when I heard it a second later. James and the male were facing off. Their growls reached me from the front area of the pub, the area blocked from my sight by the blond. I felt my heart begin to pound as my fear rose to new heights.