A few minutes into the movie, I started to doze. I had planned to stay awake and figure out a way to get out of the room without James noticing, but that plan was quickly becoming difficult.
"You should go to bed, you're exhausted," James said softly, running his fingers through my hair.
"Mmmm, that feels good," I responded.
He stopped abruptly.
"What the hell James? Why are you acting so weird?" I asked, angry.
It was one thing to think you couldn’t be with someone, but it was entirely something else to behave like you didn’t care.
“I’m sorry.” He said but didn’t elaborate.
"Nothing has changed," I insisted. "Don't deny me affection because you think I'm off-limits.”
"I wasn't," He started saying, but I interrupted.
"Yes, you were. There is nothing wrong with caring for one another and showing it. If you pull back, I have nothing, and that will hurt too much." I admitted.
He pulled me into a hug and said, “I don’t ever want to hurt you.”
"Then stop overthinking this, whatever you think this is," I demanded.
He pulled back and nodded his agreement. He still looked a bit pained, but he seemed to be making a decision. I hoped he decided to pull his head out of his ass and be himself.
"Good. Now I really am tired. Are you going to decline if I ask you to lie down with me? Because we've slept in the same bed together enough times now that it would feel weird if you don't." I said.
His brow furrowed, and I grabbed his chin so he would look at me.
"Jesus, you really are upset about something. What is going on, James?" I asked.
He looked like a lost puppy, it was pitiful and made my heartache.
“We should have healthier boundaries.” He finally said.
I let out a breath in a sigh. Maybe James was right.
“How about you start your boundaries tomorrow?” I suggested with a smile.
He shook his head like I was acting silly, but he grabbed my hand and walked with me into the bedroom. He laid down fully clothed as usual and pulled down the covers for me. I smiled and grabbed something to sleep in.
I dressed in the bathroom, brushed my teeth, then laid down next to him. He pulled me into a spoon position like he usually did. I realized at that moment that I needed the physical connection with him not in a sexual way but in a way that allows one human to comfort another.
Chapter Seven
James was sound asleep when I crawled out of bed just after midnight. I dressed in the living room and took his keys. If I hurried, I might get to the warehouse in time to catch Marek before he went in. I didn't think he was going to just scout the perimeter, not after the way he was studying the plans for the building.
It took less than twenty minutes to make it to the warehouse. I found Marek’s rental car a few blocks away from the building but no sign of Marek. Luckily, I had the inside track on finding him, all I had to do was use the bond. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done.
While I sat in the car, I thought about Marek. I thought of his scent and his presence with his commanding personality. I thought of him standing before me with his leather jacket and the ever-present scowl on his face. His piercing blue eyes and dark hair staring back at me as if he needed me to be there.
I felt a tug coming from the warehouse, and I knew he was already inside. What I also knew was that he felt me too. There was so much anger coming from him that I was afraid of what he would do when I found him. It was worth the risk, though, because finding my sister was the only thing I could afford to care about.
As I approached the entrance, I looked for any sign that Marek had come through. The door was slightly ajar, and there was a light flashing in the lobby. I ran up to the doorway and peeked through to see if anyone was there. No one was in view, so I entered the lobby looking around.
The last time I had been in this room, two vampires were guarding the way into the rest of the building. Today there was nothing but a smear of blood on the floor. Blood was a bad sign, but I didn't hear or see anything else to stop me from going in further.
I entered the next door and walked down a hallway following the trail of blood. A foot was sticking out of a room just up ahead. I walked softly, trying not to make any noise at all as I approached it. When I got there, I was shocked by what I saw.
"Shit!" I said, then slammed my hand over my mouth, hoping no one heard me.
There was a body on the ground, and it was missing its head. I felt sick, just thinking about what must have happened. Looking at it and smelling it made my stomach roll. I fought back vomit as I stepped back out of the room into the hall. I would have felt vindicated regarding Marek doing more than just scouting if I didn't feel so sick by the evidence.
As I moved down the hall, I heard muffled voices. A surge of fear filled my body. It was one thing to think you could face hostile opponents and something else entirely to be presented with them.
The sound of something crashing through a wall came from up ahead, and I rushed forward. I felt Marek nearby and hoped it wasn't him being thrown through the wall. I didn't want to risk talking into his mind in case I startled him. It could be deadly for both of us if he was too distracted.
I turned a corner and saw what the noise was. Marek had a vampire by the neck and pushed up a wall. The vampire was familiar. In fact, he was one of the ones I had run into the other day when I was here last. It was yellow teeth, and he wasn't cooperating with Marek.
“Where is she?” Marek snarled.
“Not here.” The vampire choked out as best he could.
Marek turned his head as I approached.
"Damn it, Ember! Go back to the car." He said.
"I'm here, and I'm staying," I said, stepping closer.
I tried to project an air of confidence but wasn’t sure I pulled it off.
"Ah, chicky wit a skinned knee." The vampire smirked.
Marek stilled and asked, “Is this one of them?”
"Yes, he and his buddy were here the other day," I said, knowing what he meant.
Within seconds of my confirmation, Marek had ripped the vampire's throat out and thrown him to the ground. Blood sprayed in an ark across the room and splattered over Marek's already bloody clothing.
A squeak from the other corner of the room drew his focus, and I instantly felt sorry for that guy. After one look at me, Marek knew he was the other vampire who had compelled me.
“Your only hope of survival is to tell me where her sister is.” Marek spit out while looming over the other guy.
“She isn’t here. The boss moved her.” He said.
“What?” I yelled.
Marek looked at me, and I knew to let him handle it. I couldn’t help my surprise though. I knew Viktor expected me, but I thought that was part of his plan.
“Moved where?” Marek asked.
“Don’t know. Boss doesn’t tell us.” He said.
Marek pulled the vampire close by gripping his shirt. I could see him starting to tremble, but Marke didn't have any mercy.
"Try again," Marek said through gritted teeth.
“Can’t…tell you.” He said hesitantly.
Marek let out a snarl and hit the vampire across the face. I heard a crack, and I imagined the guy's cheek was cracked or his skull or both. The guy screamed in pain, and I shuddered at the sound. Marek threw him down and ran at me.
He backed me up against a wall and said. “I told you I would handle this. What did you do to James?”
“Nothing. I left after he fell asleep.” I said cringing.
Marek said something under his breath that I couldn't understand. I think he cursed, but he was once again speaking Russian. As he did that, the vampire got up from the floor and rushed us. I flung my kinetic power at him and threw him through the wall.
Marek looked at me, and I thought he was going smile before he disappeared after the vampire. I scrambled to keep up only to find the guy l
osing his head, literally. Marek pulled it right off. The amount of blood and guts that came after had me gagging and fighting to breathe air that didn't smell like blood.
"Suck it up. If you are not willing to finish it, you should not be here. We need to move." Marek said and walked past me down the hall.
We came to a staircase leading down, and I followed Marek as he descended. I tried to avoid the blood drops that were dripping from him as I took each step. I didn't want to slip or track the blood more than we already were. It was hard to keep the gross factor out of my mind as we moved, but as Marek said, I had to suck it up.
Using my power, I reached out to see if I could tell if anyone was coming just like I had trained for. Someone was up ahead, but I didn't have enough experience to know how many or if they were human. I tapped Marek on the shoulder and pointed. He seemed to understand because he nodded sharply and pushed me behind him.
We approached a turn in the hallway, and that was where I thought someone was waiting for us. I moved to tap Marek again, only to be startled by my phone buzzing in my pocket. Marek looked at me like I was an idiot, and he was probably right because right afterward, a group of thugs came around the corner. They were moving faster than I could track, and before I knew it, one of them had me pressed against the wall.
I was having a hard time breathing since the guy used my neck to hold me back. I could hear Marek snarling and fighting the others, but my vision was quickly going black. It happened faster than I expected, and almost too late, I remembered to use my powers.
I put my hands on the guy’s chest and funneled all the power I could muster into him. It flung him backward into the opposite wall taking a huge chuck out of it. Unfortunately, he had such a good grip on me that I went with him. Thankfully he took the majority of the blow for me, and I scrambled to my feet.
Just as I stood up, another guy grabbed me from behind. This time I was prepared and used what James had taught me to throw the guy over my shoulder. Putting some power behind it. He didn't just roll over but was thrown down hard enough to knock him out.
I turned to see how Marek was fairing just as he broke a guy's neck. He didn't rip the head off the guy this time, which was good except that he chose that moment to rush toward me. At first, I thought he was going to break my neck too, but instead, he grabbed me and stared into my eyes. The message was clear, I was an idiot, and he was distracted by my presence.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
"No, you are not." He said, shaking his head.
Satisfied that I wasn't severely hurt, he checked on the two guys I had fought. He made sure they wouldn't follow us and then led the way down the hall again. I tried not to dwell on how he broke everyone's neck. I understood they were vampires, but I couldn't help feeling sorry for them.
Marek held up a hand as we approached a door with a keypad on it. It must be the secured area he had pointed out on the map. From what I remembered, there was a way around this section that would take us down to what we assumed was the prison level. I looked around and found it.
“Over there,” I pointed.
Marek nodded and led the way. We passed through another hallway before finding a door that led to another set of stairs. He hesitated before going down.
“Check if anyone is there,” he told me.
I did but didn't sense anyone was near the steps. A few people were moving around further out, but we could make it through. I told him what I felt.
“Can you sense your sister?” He asked.
I tried but didn’t find any trace of her. “No.”
"Then she really has been moved." He said, shaking his head. "Stay vigilant, and do not hesitate if you see someone vampire or not."
I nodded my agreement and followed closely behind him. We came upon a gate of sorts that was sitting ajar as if someone had cleared out so fast, they didn’t have time to close it. It gave us a way to slip in, so we took it.
About halfway down the hall, I looked into a familiar room. It had been the room my sister was held in. It matched the visions I had where Viktor was tormenting her or taking advantage of her. The bed was rumpled, and the sheets dirty. I could see blood on the pillows and on the sheets, but not a lot of it.
Marek doubled back to me and saw the room.
“Is this it?” He asked.
I nodded as tears came to my eyes.
“Hold it together. We are not clear yet.” He said.
I gathered myself up and walked further into the room. There had to be a clue in here that I could read. I ran my hands over the bedding then picked up one of the pillows. Putting my fingers into the bloodstain, I thought of my sister. Instantly I felt her, but she wasn't close. In fact, she was on an airplane. She was sleeping, and I couldn't tell who was with her. I poked around in the vision as much as I could, but no clues were leading me to where she was going.
A crash behind me had me spinning around to see what was happening. Six guys were beating Marek to a pulp, and one had just noticed me. He came at me, but I pushed him off into the wall before he could get close. I grabbed two of the others with my mind and pulled them off Marek before sending them down the hall in a flying heap.
By then, the first guy I had thrown was up and coming at me again. He tackled me, grabbing my hands and immobilizing them above my head. He rammed his knee into my stomach, and it knocked the wind out of me. He smiled and leaned in like he was going to bite my neck, but I didn't let him get that far. I was angry, and with my anger rose my fire.
Within seconds the guy lit up like a log coated in lighter fluid. I pushed him back with my kinetic powers and held him still while he burned. At that point, the others I had pulled off Marek were back, but they were backing away from me. I guess they didn't want to be turned into a BBQ.
"Put the fire out, Ember," Marek said from the hall.
I dashed the flames, but the guy was still crackling, and the smell was horrible. I turned away, trying not to puke but ran right into Marek. He steadied me then pulled me into his arms.
“Good work,” he said then kissed me on the forehead.
I tried to shake away my shock and refocus on the task at hand.
"Where are the others?" I asked, trying to breathe shallowly to keep the stink out of my lungs.
“Dead,” He said. “I chased down the ones that ran away.”
“Right,” I said.
My phone chose that moment to buzz again. Marek nodded, letting me know it was okay to check it. It was James.
“Where are you? Why haven’t you been answering your phone!” He yelled.
“I’m at the warehouse with Marek,” I said and cringed at his response.
“I knew it. I’m almost there. Are you hurt?” He asked.
"No, I'm fine," I said.
"Tell Marek I'll be outside in five." He said, then hung up.
The hurt in his voice came through loud and clear. He probably wasn't going to trust me again. I knew the consequences of my actions before I took them but knowing them and feeling them was acutely different. My chest hurt, and it felt difficult to breathe.
Marek just looked at me while I pulled myself together. He had no sympathy for me. He hadn’t wanted me to come either.
“Come, we will go meet him. I can use his help in clearing the rest of the building." He said and walked away.
I followed behind him, keeping aware of my surroundings but not wanting to move too fast. Seeing James was going to suck. I took advantage of him. It was a low blow.
James walked through the door just as we got to the lobby. The raw hurt and pain were evident on his face. I dropped my eyes to the floor and internally kicked myself for being such an ass.
“Is she here?” James asked Marek, ignoring me.
"No, but she was. We need a crew sent over to clean this up." Marek said then turned to go back into the building.
James walked over and put his arms around me. I hugged him, but he felt stiff to me.
“You scared the crap ou
t of me.” He whispered.
"I know," I said lamely.
He released me and followed after Marek pulling his cell phone out as he went. I stayed behind him and watched as he moved through each area efficiently, making sure there was no one left alive. I hadn't seen him move like that before. He was like a Navy SEAL or Special Forces elite soldier moving through the building. I stayed out of his way as he made quick work of searching every room.
We caught up to Marek and found him leaning over a table in the room where Natalie had been held. As I got close, I saw what he was looking at. There was a necklace with a note addressed to me.
Chapter Eight
Marek warned me not to touch the note or the necklace. He would have someone check it out before he let me look at it. He sniffed the air, and the look on his face told me it was Natalie's.
“The scent is the same as the blood," Marek said.
“How did he know we were coming and that I would be here?” I asked no one in particular.
"He has taunted you in your visions. He must have understood that you would come for Natalie." James said.
Always the realist and so practical, James pointed out what I should have already known. Of course, Viktor expected me. He took my sister to lure me here, but why leave before I got here?
“If he expected me, why isn’t he here?” I asked.
"Something changed," Marek said, and he didn't look happy.
If something changed, it could greatly affect my sister. I hoped it wasn't related to her. I'm not sure what I would do if he harmed her. I've allowed the guys to distract me, and I've relied on them to know when to go get her. Not again. This is my fight.
Marek noticed the change in me. The hard look he was giving me chilled me a bit, but I didn’t let it chip away my resolve. Not even he could dissuade me from getting my sister back. I have never allowed someone to stop me when I put my mind to it.
Ember's Shadow - Into the Darkness (an Ember Summers novel Book 2) Page 7