“As my sire did you pass this to me?” her excellent question was one he honestly feared.
“I do not know, only time will tell,” he replied, deciding the truth was the safest route.
Shade nodded and closed her eyes. Pain etched across her delicate face.
Damon was conflicted internally. He was angry he had allowed her to get hurt, ashamed he had not told her sooner, and feared she would hate him or no longer trust him anymore. He would do whatever it took to earn her forgiveness and trust back.
He stared at the darkened horizon as he passed one car after another. Somehow he had come to not only love someone but need them in his macabre life. He had to just keep her there now. Keep her with him and keep her safe as they ran from demons and vampires who were hell bent on their deaths.
He needed to get far enough away so he could stop and see the damage to his arm. Thankfully he was able to still shift gears even though it felt like his arm was on fire. He knew the bullet had gone straight through and there was not much he could do until they stopped. He drove fifty miles before taking an exit that looked unappealing to most. It was a small town and mostly country. Damon pulled off the first road he came to and then another dirt road before pulling over to the shoulder.
He got out and tugged his jacket off and set it over his open door. He was afraid the constant beeping of the door being opened would wake Shade but she was clearly out of it.
He went to the trunk and found the right bag with an ample amount of first aid supplies.
Damon shrugged out of his shirt and held his arm up to better see the damage. The sword had gone less than two inches above the gunshot wound into his shoulder. The blade was sharp and had passed cleanly in and back out without much tearing.
The gunshot wound though needed major cleaning in order to heal. There seemed to be a bit of the gunpowder in the wound. He poured alcohol over both rinsing them out. He growled into the night startling several animals. His piercing growl was a deeper version of a tiger or lion.
After the alcohol had cleansed it fairly well he padded each of the wounds and wrapped gauze around from shoulder to the upper part of his bicep and then tied it off. It would hold until both had healed. He needed blood desperately and decided he would have to just deal without it for a while longer. Another hour would have him completely healed anyways.
He laid his jacket, still faintly warm from his lukewarm body heat, over Shade before heading back to the main road and freeway.
Twenty minutes later he was on the main road and alone with only his thoughts to keep him company. They were dark, painful, and not fit for anyone but they were there nonetheless to poke his already bruised and tender ego and make him feel more worthless than he already did.
Damon managed to cross another border without any problems. Getting back was when they wanted to detain you. He was coming up on Panama City and thought this was a good time to hit the water while she was asleep.
Damon made his way to the docks and talked to the coast guard about travel arrangements. One boat was heading to Columbia and could take them and the car for a price. Damon obliged and called Mikhail back. They agreed to meet at the docks in Columbia. Shayla would have a boat waiting for them.
In about five or six hours they would be in Columbia and on their way to Shayla’s island. He didn’t know the name and didn’t want to know. He was depending on other people too much. He was hoping Gideon could drain his bank account without getting into too much trouble.
Once he had left training Damon had learned to depend on no one but himself and it worked for him. He could slip through the cracks and get by without any problems. Since Shade had come into his life he could not remember a moment when things were not complicating in the least for him. Somewhere inside though he knew he would not want it any other way.
His government gave him a job, the tools he needed to do that job, and money and he was sent out into the world. Damon was an assassin and he did it well. Protecting someone was not on his resume. He could only end life. He was not trained to run, to hide, and to take care of another person. Shade was his responsibility though and he would not fail her. He would take her to her brother, get his money and get back to her. It would take Gideon some time to set things up. When a Master or Sire’s ward died or was taken in and held for long periods of time they could control all the assets including money, though in his case Gideon was on the account. He trusted him impeccably with this. He had to wait until the heat died down first.
He had about a hundred thousand in his account saved from several hundred years of tracking others of his kind down and slaughtering them. He had bought very little for himself in all that time. It would get them by for many years. The Royals paid their Elite Trackers well. They had to because a Tracker had to go to other continents sometimes or purchase expensive items like a car in another country. He couldn’t take his Maserati to Europe with him. He had a Ferrari over there stored in one of the government’s facilities. It was for the cleaners mainly, experimentations and random global meetings.
Any Tracker could go to one for any reason or call in and ask for backup. Elites hardly ever needed back up but if they were chasing a particularly dangerous entity and they hopped countries they could call it in and have another on the case and be given another contract.
Damon had only called in once when he was extensively hurt. He could not catch the feral in time. There would be more casualties if he waited and healed first. That was fifty something years ago.
Now though he hardly ever called in. Either Gideon sent him his next contract or he listened to the news around him. Gideon didn’t even talk to him, he just dropped it off. He refused to buy a fax or computer, or whatever the machines were called, so Gideon did it for him.
A man from the boat waved him over. It was a massive carrier for cars to smaller boats. It was not really a passenger boat but would take a few from time to time for the right price. They had to watch out for people trying to ship drugs. Damon had nothing to worry about and his tag showed his was American Government. He would have to change that soon. He was traceable that way. He kept several visas and tags in one of his bags. Something he wasn’t supposed to have but it got him into places he could not be in otherwise.
After he drove onto the carrier he parked and changed his tags. Now was the best time to do it. He put the government tag back in his bag and went to give Shade some blood while they were out of sight. Down here in the hold no one would bother them.
“Shade, babe, you need to wake up.”
She rolled away from him but seemed to be stirring.
She sat straight up when she recognized the feel of the water rocking the boat and the car.
She looked at him and out the window.
“Where are we?”
“On a boat,” he replied.
“I figured that much duh,” She said.
Sarcasm again, she obviously was still very upset with him.
“Why are we on a boat? Where is the boat going? And how long will we be on this boat?”
“It is safer for us, faster, and easier to ride a boat versus driving. We are on the coast of Columbia where we meet your brother in a few hours.”
Shade felt the car lurch from a particularly strong wave.
They were moving at full speed it seemed.
Shade unbuckled and darted to his side of the car nearly in his lap. Damon almost laughed but she landed more or less on his shoulder so he stifled a grimace instead.
She quivered in his lap for a moment before he wrapped his arms around her.
“Would you like to get out and sit on the hood or something?” he asked her. She had to be uncomfortable straddling the shifter somehow. He could scarcely see how she was sitting because of how dark it was even with his vampire senses. The only lights they had were on the walls of the ship and not above them. They dimmed after the boat moved.
She shrugged and continued to cling to him as he tried to get out. She moved a
little so he could stand up but kept a firm grip on his right elbow. She climbed into his arms again as the ship pitched to one side. She yelped and leapt up wrapping her arms around his neck. Damon nearly yelped right along with her as she settled.
He did laugh that time but she was too freaked out to claim he was being condescending.
Damon swept her up into his arms and went around the back to the trunk and leaned against it holding her. She had her face buried in his neck again, thankfully on the left side. He twisted slightly so the right side was not as available for desperate cuddling. Her body quaked in fear which distracted him from his pain.
“Can I ask why you are so scared, little one?” his accent was more Cajun now that he was relaxing around her. When she had first seen him she had detected it some. It was sidetracking when he talked, taking her mind off the boat.
“Water!” she yelped, the word muffled because she was curled into his shoulder, lips against his neck, sending tingles throughout Damon’s body.
“I gathered that. Could you explain it with more words?”
She shook her head and gripped him tighter as the boat pitched to his left again. He set his legs a little farther apart so he would not stumble.
“Can you swim, babe?”
She shook her head in denial. That explained it. Damon stifled a smirk.
“So the bathtub and the pool are okay?”
She did not answer him. She thought he was making fun of her.
“Seriously babe, I got you. If the boat sinks I am a vampire, strong and fast. I could carry you to shore. You could swim now if you tried.”
“No!” Shade replied harshly.
“I am not laughing at you but of all the things to fear water is silly.”
Shade growled at him and he realized that he should not tell her she was being silly. She seemed the type to bite. She had fangs now.
“I swore I would protect you okay. That means not just demons but also against water, fire, earthquakes and hurricanes.”
“Hurricanes?” she squeaked.
Damon shook his head at that one and could not help but laugh. He could not remember laughing before she came along and into his life.
Shade knew she was being silly but oceans and lakes terrified her. She did not know why really. She never tried swimming so she didn’t know if she could.
“I could distract you?” Damon offered.
It was tempting.
“How?” she asked, lifting her head up to look at him.
He moved in lightning fast and placed a quick peck on her lips. She tasted like cherries, her lip gloss she had stashed in her pocket.
Shade leaned back further and looked into his eyes. He was smiling at her completely amused.
Apparently she could accept the fact that he was an animal.
Shade liked his kisses if she had to admit it. It scared her to think what would happen if she condoned them, or led him on. She tried not to think about the animal side of him. Everything else was too much. He had a good reason for not telling her and if she had been him she would not have told anyone at all. Her shock was the biggest issue she had and right now the water was more shocking and terrifying.
“Are you distracted yet?” he asked playfully, taking advantage of her discomfort.
The boat chose that moment to pitch again to the other side. Shade’s eyes widened and she gripped his shoulders.
Damon leaned his head forward until his forehead touched hers. Shade started hyperventilating again.
“Shh… it is okay. Breathe Shade, you will be fine. Oh hell, babe, you tear me up inside.” Damon was falling for her harder every moment.
Shade whimpered as a wave crashed into the side of the boat they were on.
Her eyes filled with tears, more from Damon’s exclamation.
“I am leaving my world behind for you, leaving everything I know too. You are not alone anymore. You did not lose your brother completely either. Remember you are not alone.”
Shade nodded. Another wave hit the ship and she tensed up again closing her eyes.
Damon tilted his head and found her lips. She tasted like heaven. He deepened the kiss. Shade did not stop him or tense up this time. She seemed to be getting into it until another wave hit. She gasped until Damon traced her lip with his tongue. She inhaled and relaxed against him. The next crash didn’t seem to faze her in the least.
When Damon found her tongue she finally pulled back and looked him in the eye. Tears had stopped falling but they still filled her eyes. She closed them and sighed.
He reached toward her and kissed each of her eyes. He had noticed that she had not put her makeup on in a day or so. She was just as serenely beautiful without it.
“I know at first I scared you. I have become bitter it seems at all the death I have delivered with these hands. Death comes to innocents along with rogues and feral’s, criminals, such a waste of my life. I am not a good man, just a man who followed orders.”
Damon shifted her weight a little so he could push her hair behind her ear.
“Some days it was more than I could bear. There were days I wished I would lose. Days I wished I would come upon someone better than me who could finally let me sleep. I cannot shed my skin and be someone else. I am a killer Shade. It is what I do. I am afraid I will kill some more. I have to stop my government from killing innocents and there is only one way to do that. I have to hunt each one down and take their lives.”
Shade looked saddened by this.
“Can’t you just let it go and stay with me?”
Damon shook his head no.
“This transcends us. I am a part of a world I hate. I cannot let this go on. Gideon agrees. He never wanted to be a Royal. He was content to train others to live in a new way. That is the way it should be.
“Damn, this world the Royals created… they made me a cold, dark monster. I am a soldier of death. I bring death to every one including you, love.”
“I do not blame you Damon, I realized you were only trying to save me,” Shade told him.
“I can’t rest until this is done. My life is incomplete until I right my wrongs. I do not want to give you a life of running and close calls. We will only bring this to your brother and his mate.”
Shade nodded and the tears finally fell.
“This has been killing me inside Shade. Ever since Shayla showed me that your brother was not a feral. So many lives I have taken, I wonder which ones were completely normal and innocent…”
Shade leaned into him and held him close. She could not make him feel better about any of it. She could not make any of it better at all. She had to tell him how she was feeling though before he left her.
Another wave crashed into the side of the ship and she jumped.
Damon kissed her jaw from her ear lobe down to her chin. Chills ripped through her. He made her feel so many different ways and none of it at this moment was pain or fear. Ecstasy was a better word for it.
“You’re not a soldier of death Damon… more like a dark angel.”
Damon disagreed. He had no wings. He was a dark being, true.
Shade tilted her head so her neck was more accessible.
Damon ran his nose up the length of her neck slowly inhaling her potent scent. He sighed and closed his eyes. When he opened it he found her so tempting his mouth watered, fangs dropped.
He growled. He would not hurt her. It was normal for mates to take one another’s blood even though it did little to satisfy them, although in Shade’s case it could sustain them but barely.
He licked her neck and groaned. It was everything he could do to not sink his fangs into her.
He began kissing her jaw again back to her mouth. She leaned back enough so their mouths met and gave him what he wanted.
Damon realized if he did not stop kissing her this would lead to more and she was not ready. He did not want her here like this on the trunk of his car. As long as his arms held her he could not maul her.
Damon turned
and sat her on the trunk and turned his back on her, leaning between her legs. He put both his hands on her thighs and took deep breaths.
Shade was confused at first by his actions and then slowly it dawned on her. He did not want to push her. She was becoming accustomed to the waves and he was trying to keep his promise of not touching her.
She wrapped herself around him and laid her head on his shoulder.
He could claim he was monster all he wanted but she saw him in a whole different light. If he was angel he was a dark one, a fallen angel out to steal her soul.
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