“The other three bodies are in there,” she told Ethan and pointed toward the bedroom.
He strode forward, but instead of walking past her, he stopped beside her and rested his hand on her arm. “You’ll get through this.”
She forced a smile. “I know I will. I’m just…” her voice trailed off. She was just what right now? She didn’t know, she didn’t have time to figure it out and she wasn’t sure she ever would.
“It’s never easy to take a life,” he said quietly.
He released her arm when Aiden and Brian stepped into the doorway. Ethan jerked his head toward the bedroom and the others followed behind him. Turning back to her father, Paige ignored his open eyes as she grabbed hold of his arms. Bending at her knees, she dragged his upper body over her shoulders and hefted him onto her right shoulder. As a human she would have fallen over, but she had no problem with his weight as she rose back up.
“You don’t have to do that,” Brian told her when he reappeared in the doorway with one of the other dead vamps. “I can carry them both.”
Paige shook her head and adjusted her hold on her father’s body. “No. This is my burden.”
She turned away to find Ian standing in the doorway with two bodies thrown over his shoulders. She recognized one of the bodies as the man who had first attacked them in the elevator. Ian’s eyes burned into hers, a muscle in his jaw jumped, she could sense his displeasure over her carrying her father but he didn’t protest as she walked toward him.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“The roof.”
She looked past him to the room the man and woman had been in when she’d first entered. “Where’s Ronan?”
“Working with David and Emma to change the memories of the rest of the people. They’re also going to bide us some time.”
Paige didn’t ask how they were going to do that; she didn’t really want to know right now. She tried not to think about who she was carrying while she followed him down the hall toward the stairwell she’d used before. Emma stood in front of it with the door open to the hall beyond.
She took an abrupt step back when she spotted the numerous beds and couches thrown into the stairwell leading to the floor below. The stairs were stacked from floor to ceiling with furniture. She didn’t know how far down it all went, but no one would be getting up that stairwell any time soon.
“Ronan, David, and Emma threw them down there to slow the police,” Ian explained when he saw the questioning look on her face. “The elevator doors won’t be opening on this floor, and we’re going to block the other ways to get here before the police arrive.”
She glanced up and down the hallway. “What about all the blood?”
“There are some things we can’t take care of. The people have been told it was a robbery gone wrong, and the blood belongs to some of the burglars. None of them can remember what those thieves looked like or how they were injured.”
She’d known for years what vampires were capable of, but all of this was still overwhelming and astonishing. Her head spun from everything that had happened as she followed Ian up the next two flights of stairs. Her legs began to ache from the strain of the body draped over her shoulder, but she refused to relinquish her hold on him. She’d meant it when she’d said he was her burden; she would carry him for as long as it took and as far as she had to.
They’d climbed ten more floors and were almost to the top of the hotel when crashes and bangs sounded from behind her. The force of the crashes shook the stairwell and caused the stairs to vibrate beneath her feet. Stopping, she turned to look down the winding stairs to the floors below.
“It’s just Emma, David, and Ronan throwing more furniture into the stairwell to block access from the floor above where we were staying. Keep going,” Ian encouraged.
Finally making it to the top, Paige stopped outside of the metal door leading to the roof. “Won’t we set off the alarm?” she asked nervously.
In answer to her question she heard more furniture being tossed into the stairwell below them, blocking it. Ian slammed into the door, breaking the large, deadbolt lock. The alarm above the door blared, red lights flashed when the door burst open, but he moved swiftly out to the roof. Paige followed behind him; they ran across the roof to the brick wall running around the edge of it.
Standing at the wall, the wind kicked up around her blowing her hair back and bringing with it the scents of the bustling city beneath them. Immortal or not, the spectacle of the alley so far below made her stomach turn as dizziness assailed her. Heights had never been her thing; she’d never been one for roller coasters or climbing trees, not even as a child.
Taking a step back, she lifted her head to stare across the skyline of the city. Down below all of the lights blocked out the stars, but up here they were shining orbs twinkling in the velvet darkness. She looked over the tops of the buildings surrounding her, none of which were close. Flashes of red and blue from the police cruisers and fire trucks parked below reflected over the windows of the hotels and casinos nearby causing them to come alive with color. It would have been beautiful if she hadn’t felt so trapped.
Jumping, she spun around when the door crashed behind her. David and Ronan stepped away from the door to the hotel. An armoire the size of a small minivan had been placed before the door to block access to the roof. Ronan strode rapidly over to join them. “We have to go,” he said briskly.
“Where?” Paige asked.
He pointed across the open expanse to the roof beyond. Despite her intentions to remain composed, she felt the blood drain from her face as she gazed across the nearly thirty foot gap between the buildings. She was immortal. She could carry a two hundred pound body up fifteen flights of stairs without breaking a sweat, and with only a twinge in her lower back and legs. But seriously, was he kidding?
“You’re going to have to give your father’s body to Ronan,” Ian told her.
“What about you?” she demanded. “You can’t make that leap with those bodies.”
“Yes, I can, and I’ll only be taking one with me.” His tone was flat; his eyes burned into hers. His strength and determination radiated through their bond. “Now give Ronan the body.”
Ronan stepped forward and gestured for her to hand her father over. This time Paige didn’t argue about giving the body to the more powerful vampire. She wasn’t sure she could make the leap without a body, never mind with one. “A running start will make it easier,” Ian told her.
Ian handed one of the bodies he’d been carrying over to David and took hold of her hand. He walked back toward the door with her. Turning by the door, she stood and stared across the roof. “I’m not so sure about this.”
“You can do this,” Ian insisted.
“I can do this,” she repeated.
And then, before she could think twice about it, she raced across the roof and leapt over the wall with Ian at her side. Air rushed up around her, tore at her clothes and whipped her hair around her as empty space rushed up to meet her. Her legs kicked in mid-air in some half-ass attempt to keep her in the air longer. She prayed she would somehow make it to the other building, but she kept picturing herself free falling when she was halfway across the space.
It only took a second, but time slowed as she breathlessly waited for her downward plunge to begin. Images of her body bouncing off of the glass windows, breaking her bones, and shattering the glass filled her mind.
And then she was falling, but she refused to look down, refused to know if she was going to splat onto the ground and break every bone in her body. She could picture the police scurrying about her, trying to figure out how a human bug splat could still be alive while she lay broken on the ground.
Instead of a freefall of forty-five floors, her feet connected with solid ground. Her momentum carried her forward a few staggering steps before she regained her balance completely. Exhilaration filled her; she let out a whoop of joy as she stared at the solid roof beneath her feet.
Ian dragged her up against him and kissed her. “We have to keep going,” he whispered against her mouth when he pulled away.
Her celebration of the fact she’d almost flown was doused beneath the realization that they’d have to do it again. Ian tugged on her hand, pulling her forward. She raced with him across the rooftop and leapt across the next open space of only twenty feet. This time instead of being even, they plummeted a good fifteen feet down to the smaller building. They ran over three more buildings before finally coming across one a good ten stories higher than the roofs they’d been jumping. Unless they somehow became Spider-Man, there was no way any of them were going to be able to make that leap.
“There’s a set of fire stairs over here!” Emma called from the other side of the building.
Paige hurried to join her; she looked over the side of the building to the stairs below. “Aiden, Emma, you’re the only ones not covered in blood. We need you to get us a truck,” Ronan commanded.
“Emma stays,” Ethan growled.
“Ethan…” Emma started.
“No, Brian can go with Aiden. He’ll have to stay in the shadows. You’re not leaving my side when there’s so much going on down there, and possibly more vampires. Please, don’t argue with me on this.”
The look on her face said Emma had been gearing up for a fight, but his use of the word please knocked it out of her. She bowed her head in acquiescence. Aiden and Brian jumped onto the stairs; Paige watched as they rapidly made their way down and faded into the shadows of the alleyway beyond. She didn’t know where they were in the city, but judging by the dimmer lights and less noise, they had moved away from the main hustle and bustle of the strip.
Beside her, Ian dropped the body he’d been carrying. He wrapped his arms around her. She ignored the blood coating him as she buried herself in his embrace and waited for the others to come back.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Ian drove the box truck Aiden and Brian had stolen out to the middle of the desert. The sun shone brightly from its perch high in the sky when he pulled to the side of the road. Ronan and David already had the backdoor lifted up by the time he walked around to the back. Wordlessly, he helped the others drag the bodies from the truck and into the sunlight.
Smoke, rising from the dead bodies, drifted in curling tendrils toward the sky. The body on his shoulder heated; its skin sizzled and popped as the sun beat down upon flesh that had been hidden from its rays for some time. The burning flesh heated his skin, but he ignored the sensation as they continued across the desert.
They carried the bodies off the road and hid them behind an outcropping of rocks a mile away. Flesh curled and slipped off of the dead man’s back when Ian dumped him onto the sand. The man’s skin shriveled like a worm on the sidewalk in the August sun. Paige released her father’s body beside the one Ian had just discarded.
She folded her hands before her; her head bowed as she stared at the remains. The wounds on her face and her broken ribs had healed, but her skin was still paler than he liked, and shadows lingered under her eyes. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his side.
“The sun and animals will take care of the remains by tomorrow night,” Ronan said.
Paige’s hand rested on his stomach as he turned and walked with her back to the truck. “What about our stuff at the hotel? Are we going back to get it?” Emma inquired.
“It’s better we stay away from there,” Ronan answered. “My man will make sure no evidence of us remains there and will get us back anything we need. I’ve arranged a place for us to stay tonight; my plane will take us out of here tomorrow.”
Paige didn’t ask why they weren’t leaving today, the vampire had his own plane, she was sure there was a reason they had to stay. She climbed into the passenger seat of the truck beside Ian and rode in silence back toward the city. They didn’t return to the main strip but followed Ronan’s instructions to a large, stucco condo on the outskirts of the city.
Turning on the TV in the condo Ronan had somehow secured, Paige flipped through the channels until she found a news report. The first news story was about the robbery at the hotel. Drawn by the voice of the female reporter, and the headline, the others gathered around the TV. They listened as the reporter told the story, but at the end there was little the police knew, and no images had been captured on camera.
“That’s good,” Ian said.
“The authorities will run around in circles like they normally do in cases they can’t quite explain,” Ronan replied. “It will be buried and shoved aside by the end of next week.”
“Does it matter which room we take?” Ian inquired. He could feel Paige’s exhaustion in his mind, see it in the slump of her shoulders.
“The room at the end is mine,” Ronan replied. “It’s up to all of you after that. I’ll have some clothes delivered today and placed outside your door for you.”
“Thank you,” Paige whispered. “for everything.”
Ronan shrugged. “It’s my calling. Purebreds have to be kept safe or destroyed.”
“And turned vampires?” Ethan inquired.
“The race must be protected at all times,” Ronan replied. “No matter what the cost.”
Paige shuddered at his words, but all she really wanted was to go to sleep right now. Sensing this, Ian wrapped his hand around her elbow, said goodbye to everyone, and led her down the hall toward the first room on the right. The room was small, but the bed was one of the most inviting things she’d ever seen.
“I need out of these clothes,” she murmured.
Ian turned the shower on in the adjoining bathroom before returning to help her strip out of her clothes. Purple and black bruises marred her ivory complexion on her back and arms, but they were fading fast. He pressed a kiss against a bruise the color of a plum on the inside of her right wrist, before leading her into the bathroom. Joining her in the shower, he tenderly washed the blood from her skin and hair before scrubbing it off of himself.
He wrapped her in a plush towel before leading her over to the bed. Pulling back the covers for her, he waited until she climbed in before joining her. He slid his arms around her and pressed her back against his chest. “I love you,” she whispered.
“More than anything,” he told her and kissed her temple. “Fair warning, I plan to marry you.”
Despite her exhaustion, a bubble of excitement grew within her. “I’d like nothing more.”
“Good, because I know just the place.”
She laughed when the mental image in his mind drifted into hers.
* * *
Paige found she much preferred this part of Vegas, it was quieter on the outskirts of the main strip and a lot easier for her to focus. There were still casinos and people here, but the noise and crowd wasn’t anywhere near as overwhelming. They weren’t here for the casinos or the people right now though.
The men had all fed before leaving the condo on a few women Ronan had called to come over. Paige didn’t like the idea of Ian feeding from a woman; it made that little green eyed monster come back to life, but at least these women had been willing, well paid, and well taken care of to keep their secret.
She could also tell Ian took no pleasure, other than the quenching of his thirst, on feeding from them. His mind stayed with hers the entire time, reassuring her with love and with his wish that it was her instead. By the time he’d returned to her, she’d been exceptionally hungry and eager to do more than feed from him. She’d known hunger and desire as a human, as a vampire that hunger amplified ten-fold, but she was getting better at controlling it. The desire was due entirely to Ian; she doubted she’d ever get it under control, and she didn’t want to.
Well sated now, she looked curiously around the small chapel on the outskirts of town. Ian took hold of her hand and squeezed it. The music drifting through the speakers made her bounce on her toes. She swayed to the beat of the melody as they waited for the chapel to be prepared for them.
“Are you sure the rest of your family won’t mind missing the ceremony?” she inquired.
“They’ll understand,” he assured her. “Plus there’s so many of them they’ll probably be glad to miss one or two weddings.”
“I’d agree with that,” David said from where he was flipping through a brochure about ceremony packages. “Jack will be thrilled.”
“Of course he will,” Ethan snorted.
“Jack’s a bit of a grump sometimes,” Ian told her with a smile. “I’d consider him the Moe of The Stooges.”
David lowered the brochure to stare disapprovingly at Ian over the top of it. “You’d consider Jack the leader?”
“Of course not, but he is the grumpiest of you all,” Ian replied with a grin. “And so was Moe.”
“We’re not the dwarfs,” David retorted.
“You’d all be Dopey if you were.” Ian swung his arm around Paige’s shoulders as David glowered at him. “I do prefer The Stooges to the Dwarfs. It suits the four of you better.” He turned toward her. “There’s four of them but we call them The Stooges because…”
“Of Shemp,” she told him with a smile.
Ian poked the tip of her nose. “I knew there was a reason I was marrying you.”
“You know, I’ve done many things in my life, but this…” Ronan’s voice trailed off as he gazed around at all of the Elvis memorabilia lining the walls. “This is definitely a first.” She hadn’t expected the eldest vampire to join them here, but he looked mildly amused by it all as he continued to walk around with a smirk on his face and his hands clasped behind his back.
“And a last?” Aiden inquired.
“Most likely, but I’ve learned to never say never.”
The doors to the chapel opened, Emma handed her a bouquet of red roses and fluffed at her hair. The only one smiling more than her was Emma, as she practically danced around the simple yellow sundress Paige had purchased before coming here. Ian reluctantly released her as a woman in her sixties shooed him away. The woman ushered him down the aisle toward the front of the church. Aiden, Ethan and David joined him at the front of the small chapel.
The Vampire Awakenings Bundle: Books 1-5 Page 113