Forever Magnolia

by Dyan Chick

  "They've come for their friend," he said. "They won't find her."

  "I think they came for you," I said. "That crazy woman told me she'd been tracking you for a year. Don't you think she would've told someone about you and about where she was?"

  Beau growled and dropped his hands to his side. "Damn hunters, don't know when to let it be."

  "You need to get out of here," I said. "As soon as it gets dark, just run."

  "I haven't finished my business here, I'm not running anywhere," he said.

  "You said yourself you don't even want this house," I said. "Maybe it's time to just let it go."

  "The house isn't my unfinished business," he said.

  He didn't mention me in that statement, but I knew I was his unfinished business. I opened my mouth, fully intending to tell him to let me go, that nothing was never going to happen between us, but I couldn't say the words. It made no sense. We hardly knew each other, I shouldn't feel this way about him, especially knowing how dangerous he was.

  The sound of shattering glass punctured the silence between us. My heart hammered in my chest and I turned toward the door, half expecting to see one of the hunters here already.

  Beau moved in front of me, extending his arms on either side as if ready to make his last stand to protect me.

  I pushed past him. "You know I can take care of myself, right?"

  "These are trained hunters, you have no idea what you're doing," he said.

  "There's still a half hour of sunlight," I said. "Between the two of us, who is the more likely to need protection?"

  More shattered glass as the hunters continued to break every window they could find. Clearly, they were trying to use sunlight as a weapon. And it was only a matter of time before they would find us and attempt the same thing in this room.

  "We're trapped."

  "I'm trapped, you can go, sneak past them," Beau urged.

  "Got any weapons around here?" I asked.

  "This coming from the girl who is furious at me for snapping that last hunter's neck?" he asked.

  "Hey, I know how to defend myself, and I'm not about to let these zealots take you down." I knew that Beau was worth saving. And as far as I could tell, the hunters were the bad guys. "I'm going to fight for you."

  Chapter Eleven

  Beau

  I was still trying to get over the fact that Millie was standing there in front of me at my house when the glass shattered downstairs. I knew the hunters were here and I knew she was in greater danger than she realized.

  Millie was tough, that much was clear. She withstood that brutal attack by the hunter who’d captured her better than most humans would have. But that didn't mean I wanted to put her through anything that would harm her ever again. I spent the last several days beating myself up, trying to find a way to either come to terms with her never being part of my life or convincing her that I was someone worth getting to know. It was a terrible situation to be in and something I wasn't used to.

  I couldn't remember ever meeting a woman in all my 300 years who got this far under my skin. All I knew was that I needed to protect her. With all the shattered windows below they were eliminating my advantage. I knew I was a perfect killing machine despite my attempts to quell my own nature. I could handle four hunters. Add in that sunlight and they just upped the ante, giving themselves the only advantage they had.

  I was sure they were also carrying all of the usual requisite hunter gear and currently lacing the air with enough garlic and holy water to make it mighty uncomfortable for me.

  Millie asked about weapons, but I didn't want her fighting. I moved over to the closet in the room and opened the door, hoping I could find something that could act as a barrier to the sunlight. A few old blankets and some women's winter coats that would never fit me hung in the back corner. I supposed I could try and wrap blankets around myself, but I wasn't going to be very good at fighting if I was bundled up like an abominable snowman.

  "Use me as a distraction," she said. "You're trying to find things to block out the sun, right?"

  Smart and beautiful, no wonder I couldn't get her out of my head. "I don't have very much to work with here, but I'm not sending you out there with them. You were there last time. Look at you, you're still healing."

  "They think you're a monster," she said.

  Hearing those words out of her mouth made my chest tighten. I was a monster. If I really cared about her, I would leave and never see her again. I just wasn't strong enough to break her hold on me.

  "Are you?" she asked.

  "I can be," I said. "But I would never hurt you."

  "Do you kill them? The people you drink from?" she asked, then bit her lower lip.

  Fresh longing surged through me as I stared at her beautiful face. I wanted to hold her, tell her it was all going to be okay. "I have, in the past. But I don't anymore." For some reason I had to be honest with her. I knew it wasn't exactly what she wanted to hear, but there was no way I could lie to her.

  "We all have dark parts of our past," she said. "There anything in there you can use to tie me up?"

  "Why would I tie you up?" I asked.

  More broken glass, followed by hoots and hollers from the hunters downstairs. Their enjoyment of the destruction was buying us extra time, but they were going to get hungry for the kill soon.

  "They're going to be up here any minute. Make them think you're the monster they think you are. Make them think I'm the victim, while they're delayed with me, you can get out."

  "Are you sure?" I asked. "I can't let them hurt you again."

  "Stop wasting time." She moved over by the bed and stood up against one of the tall posters. "Tie me up."

  My jaw tightened. I wanted to fight with her but she was right. Our time was limited. Quickly, I rummaged through the closet and pulled all the blankets I could find and quickly made every effort to tie her with knots that she could get out of. It needed to look good, but I wanted her to be able to run. The last thing I grabbed was a pocket knife out of the top drawer of the dresser. I set it in her palm and closed her fingers around it. "If they hurt you, fight back."

  "I will."

  "I won't be far," I said.

  "Yes you will," she said, steel behind her words. "You need to get the hell out of here. Go somewhere safe."

  Footsteps were coming up the stairs. There was no more time to argue with her. I darted out of the room and ducked into one of the rooms that was full of clutter. I felt like a coward as I hid behind a mountain of antique dolls, old board games, and cardboard boxes that looked like they hadn't been touched in decades. She just needed to distract them for ten minutes. If she could keep them there for ten minutes the sun would be low enough and I could go anywhere in the house. Broken windows or not, I was coming for them. And if they harmed one hair on her head, I would make sure they suffered.

  Millie

  I wished I had asked Beau to gag me before he left, I wasn't quite sure we had made it look real enough before we ran out of time.

  Not even five seconds after he vanished out the door, all four of the hunters came pouring into the room. I looked up at them, doing my best to look groggy and drugged. I wasn't sure how a vampire's captive should behave, but considering they had drugged me, it probably wasn't outside their realm of expectation to believe that the monster they were chasing had done the same to its victim.

  I looked up at them, letting my head roll from one side to the other, feigning difficulty at staying conscious. "Please don't hurt me."

  I forced myself to struggle with speaking, making my breath more exaggerated than they needed to be. "Please don't hurt me."

  The hunter’s body language shifted, going from tense and armed to unafraid. I was a tied up human girl, what kind of risk could I be? As they moved closer to me, I scooted away from them, making myself small. "Don't hurt me."

  "We're the good guys." One of the hunters walked into the room, his hand up in mock surrender. "We won't hurt you. Do you kn
ow where you are?"

  "I'm not sure," I said. I licked my lips as I recalled how dry my mouth felt last time I'd been drugged. "You have any water?"

  "Chris, go find her some water," the man called behind him.

  One of the hunters left the room.

  "Do you know what day it is?" the man asked.

  "Thursday, Friday? I'm not sure," I said.

  "Do you know where he went?" a woman's voice asked. "The person who took you?"

  "Someone comes in when it's dark," I said. "Please, get me out of here before it gets dark."

  The male hunter who had approached me first began working and at three of my restraints. "What's your name?"

  "Millie." He turned away from me and exchanged a glance with his colleagues. I think they had heard my name before.

  Chris returned with a glass of water. He knelt down next to me and lifted it to my lips. I sipped it slowly, dragging the process out.

  "You get her out of here, we'll check the rest of the house," the female hunter said.

  I stopped drinking and looked up at the woman, eyes wide. "Don't go. Don't leave me here."

  Chris set down the water glass and turned to the leader.

  "Don't worry," she said. "Axel will take care of you. The rest of you, you're with me."

  Axel, the hunter helping me, began to work on the knots of my restraints. "It's going to be okay."

  "Please don't go," I said, trying one more time to delay their departure. "What if he comes back?"

  "We'll take care of him," the female hunter said. "He won't be able to hurt you again."

  My heart raced in my chest as Axel worked quickly through the knots. I hoped I had given Beau enough time to get away. In the dark room, I had no idea where the sun was and if we were close enough to sunset for him to escape.

  As the hunter helped me up, I leaned into him, putting more of my weight on him than I needed to. I was really working the injured kidnap victim angle. I wasn't even this needy when I actually had been kidnapped.

  "Hold onto me," he said, throwing an arm around my waist. "You're safe now."

  Part of me felt bad for deceiving him, but I didn't want them to kill Beau and a little white lie here was worth saving someone's life.

  Something crashed down to the ground in the room next to us and I jumped. My would-be-rescuer looked toward the door. "You all okay?"

  A woman's scream, then more crashing.

  "Wait here." The hunter set me down on the ground.

  I nodded and scooted away from the door, curling myself into a ball. Partly for show, partly because I was worried about what was happening in that room.

  I'd give it a minute or two until I followed him. If Beau was still trying to make an escape, I needed them to let me go, not use me as bait again. And if he was currently killing them, well, I didn't really want to see that.

  Another yell came through the wall and all my senses fired at once. I recognized that voice. Beau was in trouble.

  Acting on instinct, I pushed myself to standing and raced toward the sound.

  I found them in the room next to mine, clutter and piles of things that had been stacked to the ceiling were now all over the floor. Three slayers were unmoving on the ground. One had Beau pinned on the ground, a stake raised in the air.

  Beau's hair was mussed and his clothes were torn up. This fight hadn't been as easy as the last one and for some reason, he wasn't throwing the remaining slayer off of him.

  I had to help him. Tightening my jaw, I braced for impact, as I charged into the room. I threw my shoulder into the slayer's back, knocking her down.

  I tumbled to the ground, leaping over Beau before I hit the floor.

  I felt someone grab me and pull me, dragging me through the piles of rubbish. I kicked, making contact with whoever had hold of me and they loosened their grip enough for me to turn and see the woman slayer.

  "You choose the wrong side," she hissed.

  "No, I didn't," I said, knowing deep down, that the words were true. I knew I had to save Beau. I knew I needed to be with him. It didn't make sense, but I didn't care.

  She charged me and I ducked, sweeping my foot out to trip her, and sending her down.

  Beau was standing next to me now. He seemed weak, shaky on his feet, but he had enough in him to move in front of me, a knife in hand. "Last warning, slayer."

  "You are an abomination, you know that," she said.

  "I know," he said. "But that doesn't mean I want to die."

  "You're already dead," she said.

  "What the hell is wrong with you, lady?" I asked. "He's giving you a chance to run. Take it."

  She glared at me, then shook her head. "Your life is forfeit if you continue to associate with them. Just so you know."

  "Noted," I said.

  She turned and ran out of the room.

  Chapter Twelve

  Millie

  Beau sank to his knees, then dragged himself over to a pile of boxes that was still standing. He leaned back against them, his shoulders sagging.

  I dropped down beside him. "Are you alright?"

  "I'll be okay." He reached his hand toward my face and brushed his fingers across my cheek. "Are you hurt?"

  I shook my head. "How did you do that?"

  He raised an eyebrow.

  I gestured to the fallen bodies all around us.

  "They didn't know what they were doing." He shook his head. "They recruit these people who have no idea what they're getting into."

  "You don't like doing it," I said. "Killing people."

  "Millie, I might be a monster, but I'm not without compassion." He slumped more, his brow furrowed as if talking was taking too much effort.

  "You're not okay," I said. "What can I do?"

  "It's nothing," he said. "I just need to feed. I've got blood in the fridge downstairs. That probably sounds awful."

  "It doesn't sound fresh." I didn't know anything about vampires, not really. But it seemed that in movies they always preferred the real thing. "What about me?"

  "You don't have to do that," he said.

  I extended my arm so my wrist was below his mouth. "You saved my life. It's the least I can do."

  "Are you sure?" he asked.

  I lifted my arm closer to his lips.

  He leaned down and a moment later I felt a quick sharp pain, like an insect bite as his fangs pierced my wrist. The pain eased so quickly I wasn't quite sure it had actually happened.

  He drank from me and with each passing second, I began to feel something strange rising inside. An overwhelming emotion rushed through me like a tidal wave.

  When Beau pulled away, I saw that his expression was exactly what mine probably was. Surprise, fear, passion.

  It was as if something clicked and I felt a connection to him that I'd never felt with anyone before. "Beau."

  "I feel it, too." He weaved his fingers into my hair and pulled my head closer to his.

  When our lips touched, I knew I was meant to be his. We were one soul in two bodies. We'd waited our entire lives to be together.

  “What does it mean?” I asked.

  “It means we’re the luckiest people on earth. Finding your one true mate isn’t easy. Not everyone gets to experience it. We’re meant to be together,” Beau said.

  My heart pounded in my chest and blood rushed in my ears. Just being around Beau was intoxicating. The logical part of me wanted to argue that there was no such thing as a mating bond. I didn’t believe in soul mates. But there was no denying what I was feeling. It couldn’t be explained by normal means.

  There was only one thing that clouded my euphoria. “Does this mean I have to become a vampire?”

  “Only if that’s what you want,” he said.

  I looked around the room. We were still surrounded by death. Did being a vampire mean I’d have to leave a trail of bodies behind? “I don’t know what I want.”

  Beau seemed to know what I was thinking. He stood, then offered his hand. “Let’s
get out of here.”

  “What about all of them?” I gestured to the dead hunters.

  “I’ll make a call. They’ll send someone to take care of it.”

  I shuddered. I wasn’t mourning the loss of the hunters who had tried to kill Beau for no reason other than him existing, but it was a lot to take in.

  Beau led me out of the room and we walked silently down the stairs. The damage from the attack was greater than I anticipated. In addition to smashing every window, the hunters had torn curtains, sliced through rugs, and tumbled every piece of furniture they could find.

  “I’m so sorry,” I said.

  “It’s no great loss,” Beau said.

  “It’s family history,” I said, surprised at how much I sounded like my grandmother.

  “I never cared to dwell on objects. It doesn’t change the fact that the people who made the place aren’t there.”

  I turned to glance at Beau. He looked sincere. How was it that I’d never met anyone who understood exactly how I felt about my own family estate until now?

  “What’s that look for?” he asked.

  “I’m just really glad I was in the cemetery that night.” It was crazy to believe that I had found my missing piece like this but there I was. We were standing in the middle of a mess after a battle but none of that mattered. For the first time in my life, I felt like I found where I belonged. It was never about fitting in, it was about finding the other half I was missing. Beau felt like home.

  I stood on my tiptoes and threw my arms over his shoulders. “Thank you for saving my life.”

  “Thank you for saving mine,” he said.

  He lowered his face and our lips met. Nothing else mattered as long as we were together.

  The Midnight Coven

  Thank you for reading Forever Magnolia, a Vampire Brides novella. There are eleven total novellas in this shared world, each of them a standalone paranormal romance. We, the Midnight Coven authors, hope you’ll check out all of them. They all share a world, but can be read in any order.