Into The Light (Immortal Hearts Book 1)

by Katherine Hastings

  “I’m glad you think so.” She flashed me a quick smile, and the tension between us eased. I saw mirth flicker in her eyes just before she rolled over and disappeared beneath the water. When she popped up a few yards from me, she rose with a wide grin and slid her arm across the water as she twirled, causing a waterfall of spray to wash over my head.

  Her laughter echoed around me as I sputtered water out of my mouth and wiped it from my eyes. When I opened them, I matched her mischievous look and I used my strength to push a blast of water that enveloped her completely. With a squeal, she splashed me back.

  We choked out laughter through mouthfuls of water with every playful attack. I whooshed behind her and splashed her again. She turned to respond, but I was already on her other side. Again, I splashed her and continued the dance as she giggled and tried unsuccessfully to hit me.

  “No fair! You’re too fast!” she cried between splashes. Laughter rolled effortlessly from my body, a pure joy I had forgotten was possible. I flashed through the water and grabbed her by her waist, tossing her with ease high into the air. She screamed her surprise as she arced through the air, her arms bracing for impact as she came down. I appeared beneath her, catching her in my arms before she plunked back into the cool liquid.

  Her face glowed with delight and she ceased her struggle in my arms. Wet hair clung to her face, and she pushed it aside. Her gaze dropped to my lips before she looked up at me, and my smile faded as her eyes locked with mine. The weight of her look consumed me.

  No strength existed in the world that could stop the pull from her lips. Resistance proved futile, and I felt myself give in. My hand slipped behind her head as her arm slid behind my neck. I allowed my lips to close the distance to hers, a spark igniting between us when they touched. Her tongue slid past mine, hungry and curious as it tangled with my own. My stomach twisted as long-forgotten pleasure radiated through me while I devoured the lips I’d been so desperate to kiss. I grabbed her hair, pulling her in tighter as we clung to one another. All my agony, all my fear, it all melted away with the softness of her touch.

  As if frozen for centuries, my heart started up again. It rattled against my chest, racing faster with every brush of her lips against mine. Like a light breaking through my eternal darkness, Emilia reawakened me and enveloped me in her warmth. I inhaled her breath and felt her breathe me back to life.

  And once again I felt... alive.

  “I heard screaming. Is everyone all right?” Mark’s voice shocked us back to reality.

  She pulled from my arms and stood standing in front of me, shock worn plainly on her face.

  “There you are! Everyone okay? You didn’t eat her did you, Aiden? She’s my friend too, you know.”

  Our eyes remained locked as Mark appeared around the corner. Never had I wanted to snap a neck more than I did at this moment. I waited for Emilia to look away, but her eyes remained fixated on mine, her mind likely reeling as hard as my own.

  “We’re fine, Mark,” I said, barely containing a growl.

  “Good. I was on my way to the kitchen and heard Emilia screaming. What were you two doing?” he asked, his eyes moving between us, his face now registering his faux pas. “Oh. I’m sorry. I just... I’ll head in. Good night.”

  He spun on his heel and started back to the house.

  “No! Mark! Stay!” Emilia called after him, her gaze finally breaking from mine.

  I scowled. Why would she want Mark to stay?

  He looked to me for direction, fear widening his eyes. My own narrowed, but I nodded my head he should do as she asked. He walked tentatively to the side of the pool and slid his feet in the water. “So?” he asked, as he sucked his cheek and nodded his head staring up at the sky.

  Emilia glanced over to me. Confusion filled her eyes. “So...” she said, her voice fading off.

  “Emilia? Didn’t you say you had a birthday coming up soon?” he asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

  “Yes. It’s tomorrow. Or if it’s after midnight, I guess that means it’s today.”

  “What?” Mark and I said in unison.

  “Mmmhmm.” She slid to the edge of the pool.

  “It’s your birthday? Why didn’t you say so?” I asked, feeling guilty I hadn’t known and didn’t have a gift for her.

  “It’s not a big deal. I haven’t really ever celebrated my birthday. It just comes and goes each year.” She shrugged.

  “Not a big deal?” Mark slapped his leg. “The birth of Miss Emilia is a huge deal! How can no one have celebrated your birthday before?”

  “My parents didn’t have a lot of money for presents and they worked so much we didn’t get time for many parties. Then Jeff was always off touring or busy practicing, so I just kind of never really cared. It’s no big deal guys, really.”

  “Happy birthday, Emilia,” I said, my eyes searching hers. She said it was no big deal, but I heard her heart beat faster with the lie.

  She smiled back at me with pursed lips. “Thank you. I... I’m getting really tired. I think I’ll head off to bed if you don’t mind?”

  “Of course not.” I tried to contain the disappointment in my voice. I wanted her to stay, for us to pick up where we’d left off.

  “Happy birthday, Emilia,” Mark said while he watched her pull herself from the pool and grab a towel from the chair.

  “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

  Watching her leave filled my heart with pain. I didn’t want to be away from her. Something had happened here tonight and, while I couldn’t explain it, I knew she felt it too. After she was out of earshot, I turned my attention to Mark. “I’m going to need you to do something for me.”

  “It had better have something to do with celebrating the birth of that amazing creature.”

  “Of course, it does.”

  “Then I’m all in.”

  “Do you have your phone handy?”

  Mark pulled it from his pocket and nodded.

  “Start Googling.”

  He typed away as I told him my plan. Emilia would have a birthday she would never forget.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Emilia

  MY EYES POPPED OPEN one at a time. The world hadn’t even come into focus yet when last night’s events flashed through my head. I sat up with a gasp.

  He kissed me. No, I kissed him. We kissed each other. Holy shit. We kissed.

  Aiden and I had kissed. I couldn’t even tell you who’d started it. It might have been me. Not like I hadn’t thought about it a few, or dozens, of times. Maybe it was him? We were laughing. We were playing. We were...

  Kissing.

  A world-shattering, earth-moving, life-changing kiss. One that eradicated any man who’d come before him. A kiss that had flipped my world upside down and still left me struggling to figure out which way was up.

  I sat immobile, clutching my sheets to my chest, eyes wide as the moment replayed in my head on repeat. My stomach flip-flopped every time my memory reached the part where his lips first touched mine.

  Flip-Flop. There it goes again.

  What did it mean? Something happened when our lips touched. Something similar to the connection I felt when he drank my blood. Had the power of the kiss affected him like it had me? Did the kiss mean he liked me?

  I shook my head against the notion. No. Most likely he just wanted a quick screw. I may not know much about Aiden Mackay, but he didn’t seem like the kind of guy who did the whole girlfriend thing. He was a bad boy... the ultimate bad boy, if fact. And even if that kiss meant something to him, I reminded myself of my number one rule...

  No more bad boys.

  Falling for Aiden would be a big no-no. Sleeping with Aiden would be an even bigger no-no. Kissing Aiden would lead to sleeping with Aiden which would lead to falling for Aiden. All three... no-no. Luckily for me Mark had intervened, and I’d run for my life. It’s not that I didn’t want to keep kissing him. Sweet Jesus, did I ever. I’d wanted nothing more in this world than to feel those ar
ms wrapped around me again. Those eyes burning into my very soul. Those lips pressed against mine.

  No, Emilia! Get it together! No. More. Bad. Boys!

  My head collided with my pillow as I collapsed backward in bed, my teeth biting hard onto the comforter while I tried to force out the feelings still reverberating through me. This couldn’t be happening. And all of it on my...

  “Happy birthday!” Mark’s voice chimed on the other side of the door. “Rise and shine birthday girl!”

  Mark. Should I tell him about the kiss? No. Not yet. I needed some time to process this before involving anyone else. Forcing the confusion from my face, I replaced it with a smile. “I’m up!”

  My door burst open and Mark stepped inside with a flourish holding a cupcake with a pink candle flickering from the top. “Happy birthday, Emilia!”

  “Thank you, Mark. You didn’t need to do this.”

  “It’s not from me. It’s from Aiden.” He beamed at me while he put the cupcake in one hand and a note in the other.

  Aiden. The kiss. Oh, God.

  If all he wanted was sex, would he have sent up a birthday cupcake? Probably. I was over thinking this. He’d just got done telling me about the great love of his life that he’d lost. Making out with me was probably just some way to dull the pain, a way to pass the time since I was available. It was a kiss of convenience. Mystery solved.

  “Emilia? Are you all right?” Mark had noticed my attention drift away. Little did he know where it had gone and the steamy memory I was reliving.

  “I’m fine,” I said with a sigh. “Thank you for the cupcake. It looks delicious. And what’s this?” I looked at the note.

  Mark beamed and gave me a sly smile. “It’s from Aiden.”

  “He wrote me a note?”

  He nodded his head. “Now hurry up! Make a wish and blow out your candle before it burns down and you miss out!”

  I closed my eyes and made a wish. I wished that I could find true happiness. It wasn’t very specific, but it was all I could think of as my little candle got shorter and shorter. With a deep breath I blew.

  “I hope it comes true.” Mark plucked the smoldering candle from the frosting. “Now, eat your cupcake, put on a robe and come meet me in the living room. It’s time for my present.”

  “You got me a present? How? You only found out it was my birthday in the middle of the night?”

  “Oh, sweetie, have you not met me? There’s a reason Aiden keeps me around. I’m really good at getting shit done.” He winked and walked to my door. “You. Robe. Downstairs.”

  It only took a few oversized bites to consume my cupcake. My chocolate-covered fingers stained the white paper from the folded note when I picked it up from my lap.

  After looking at my name written on the outside of the thick, formal vellum, I flipped it open.

  Happiest of birthdays to you. Please, enjoy your day with Mark. I have a special surprise for you this evening. I look forward to seeing you tonight.

  -Aiden

  He had written me a birthday note. And a surprise tonight? This was too much to process before I had coffee. Hopping out of bed, I tossed on a white terrycloth robe and I headed downstairs. Mark stood in the living room wearing a giant grin and a lady on each arm.

  Furrowing my brow, I let my expression ask what the hell was going on and who were these strange women in the house.

  “Emilia, this is Rosie and Lucy. They will start off your birthday morning with a massage. It’s a couple’s massage.” He grinned and placed his hand beside his mouth, whispering, “Hint: I’m the other half of your couple. I’m getting one, too.”

  I had never had a massage before, at least not a professional one.

  “Well, are you coming or not?” he asked.

  A grin spread across my face as I nodded my head, then I skipped the rest of the way down the steps. I threw myself into his arms and wrapped by arms around his waist. “Thank you, Mark. This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me! A massage? I can’t believe it!”

  “Oh, sweetie.” He kissed the top of my head. “You’ve been so sheltered. We’re just getting started.”

  “What—”

  He didn’t let me finish. Instead he yanked my arm and led me to the garden where Rosie and Lucy had two tables set up, side by side. Lucy placed a mimosa in my hand and helped me down onto the table. I took a few swigs before handing it back to her and lying face down.

  “Just relax and enjoy,” she said while she took off my robe and covered me with the soft, white blanket. She worked magic on my body between sips of mimosas and coffee. Mark and I barely spoke as we spent an hour and a half having every ache and pain removed by very talented hands. I tried not to be sad when it ended, but Mark assured me more fun awaited us.

  With a thank you, we hopped up, and he pulled me to the poolside. There stood two men with reclining chairs and bubbling foot baths in front of them.

  Mark held up two fingers. “Two words, Emilia. Mani. Pedi.”

  “Really? I’ve never had one of these before either!” I squealed.

  He pulled a face. “Seriously? I thought you grew up in Milwaukee, not St. Olaf with Rose.”

  “Shut up, Mark.” I jabbed him in the shoulder.

  After we settled into the chairs side by side, the two men massaged our feet and hands. I moaned and sighed as they buffed, oiled, clipped and painted. When they finished, we sat back and stared at our perfectly manicured fingers and toes. Red decorated mine while Mark had opted out of polish.

  Mark’s signature saucy grin lifted his lips when he turned to me. “Ready for round three?”

  “There’s more?” My heart skipped a beat. Already overwhelmed by the pampering, I couldn’t fathom what else awaited me.

  With an eyeroll, he huffed. “Of course, there’s more. Yesterday you asked me to stop by Walmart the next time I was out and pick you up a box of your favorite hair color. Remember that?”

  I nodded my head.

  “I still can’t believe you asked me to go to Walmart. As if I would ever.” He scowled and shuddered. “Follow me.”

  Mark pulled my hands and hoisted me up to my feet. I didn’t resist as he tugged me back into the house. There in the kitchen stood a gentleman and what appeared to be a hairstylist’s chair.

  “Emilia, meet Rocko Delboa. He is the colorist to anyone who is anyone in Chicago. He’s also the genius behind keeping me looking like a natural sun-kissed blond year-round in the Midwest.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Emilia. I hear a happy birthday is in order?”

  “Wow, I can’t believe you came here just to do my hair. And yes, thank you. It’s my birthday. Thirty today.”

  “Dirty thirty,” Mark said with a smile.

  Rocko strode around me, flipping through my waves of dull-colored hair. “Tell me, what color would you like?”

  “Well, I normally go for a little deeper color than my natural mousey brown. But why don’t you just color my hair however you think it will look best. You’re the expert, right?”

  “Oh, be still my heart!” Rocko clutched his chest and glanced to Mark. “Free reign? I should only charge you half... but I won’t, of course.”

  “Of course,” Mark joked back. “Now, get to work on my girl.”

  It took a few hours for Rocko to complete the coloring. With no mirror and Mark refusing to give me a hint, I could only wonder what I would look like when I saw my reflection. Rocko finished with the large barrel iron and I saw a glimpse of the deep shades of auburn and a rich ebony brown twirled at the tips of my hair.

  “Now can I see?” I begged when they stepped back and admired me side by side.

  “You have one more treat. Delia!” Mark shouted.

  A leggy blonde strode into the room, a big duffle bag dangling from her arm.

  “Emilia, meet Delia. She’s here to do your makeup.”

  “She’s doing my makeup?” Another thing I’d never experienced. Though I appreciated the thoug
ht, I wondered for what purpose. Once they left only Mark and Aiden would see me.

  Aiden.

  The kiss.

  Oh, my God.

  It flashed through my head for the umpteenth time that day. After an entire day being pampered, darkness threatened to return, and with it my awkward reunion with Aiden. Seeing him again meant he’d latch those beautiful lips onto my neck and drink my blood. And I’d have to fight the euphoric feelings that would inflame my already burning desire to kiss him again. Nothing but pure torture awaited me after he awoke. Happy birthday to me.

  Delia made quick work of my face. Mark instructed her to keep my natural beauty but to just accentuate my eyes and lips. She put the last touches on my face, then stepped back to examine her work.

  “Perfect,” Mark said while he rubbed her back. “She looks perfect.”

  “Can I see now?” I asked, nerves and excitement bubbling inside my belly.

  “Almost.” Mark held up a finger. “Just one more thing. Thank you everyone! Please escort yourselves out. We appreciate you being here!”

  I thanked them as they left, then Mark led me up the stairs to my room where he’d laid out a beautiful dress on the bed. Black lace covered the bodice which blended into the white skirt blooming below it. A pair of black strappy pumps sat balanced beside it.

  “Mark,” I gasped and hurried to touch it. “It’s beautiful.” The soft fabric felt heavenly on my fingertips.

  “Go ahead. Put it on. When you’re all done, we’ll do the big reveal.”

  He turned his back and I slid my robe to the ground. It was a bit awkward standing naked in a room with Mark, but I knew he wouldn’t peek. I pulled the dress over my head and tugged it down past my hips.

  “Mark? Can you zip me up?”

  He turned around and tugged on the zipper. The black lace bodice hugged every curve like a second skin, and the fabric fell off my shoulders, leaving them bare. The white satin folded into large, soft pleats around my hips and fell to just below my knees.

  “The shoes. And then you’re nothing short of perfection.”

  He didn’t need to tell me twice. I pulled the black Louboutin’s onto my feet and secured the silver buckle at my ankle. I stuck my feet out to admire them. Black leather crisscrossed its way around my feet coming to a stop just above my ankle. My red nail polish popped from the open toe and matched the bottom of the shoes to perfection.