Love's Challenge (Pearl Vampire Chronicles #5)

by Dara Nelson

Carlos moved up near my head, leaned down and gave me a kiss. “Sorry, had to do that,” he said as his lips finally parted from mine.

  I smiled. “Don’t be sorry. I’m glad you did. But I need to talk to you. He can’t be okay with this, Carlos. He seems like he’s okay, but he can’t be. He hasn’t really gotten angry, other than punching you once. Something’s gotta give. He’s gonna blow, soon. He can’t be that okay with this.”

  “I know. I’m not that okay with this, so I know that he can’t be. You’re right Sarah, and I’m trying to be ready.”

  “But what if we’re in the middle of a fight with those things when he freaks out about this? What if you need his help and he freezes?”

  Carlos shook his head. “Nope, never happen. I don’t care how mad he is at me for boinking you or anything else, Sarah. He will always be there for me in a fight. Always.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Positive. Now. Can you please shut up for a minute so I can sneak in one more kiss?”

  I did, and he did, until he had me breathing too heavy and I had to stop because it hurt my ribs.

  Chapter Eleven

  Matt squeezed my hand tighter as we settled into our plane seats. We were in the two seats in the front row. Carlos and Troy were behind us. Everyone else was spread out on the plane. We were at the beginning of thirty hours-worth of flights; first Lima to San Francisco; then San Francisco to Budapest, Hungary, with stops in Minneapolis and Amsterdam. From Budapest we would travel by train to Romania. Then we would activate the tracking device we had with us to try to find Bahiti.

  I shifted a little in my seat. It hurt a little and I tried not to wince, but Matt still noticed. He notices everything. “Are you sure you’re up for this trip, Sarah?” I smiled and patted the back of his hand.

  “Relax. I’m fine. I’m just getting comfortable. I’ll be much better once we’re in the air and I can put my seat back.”

  “Do you want me to get you a pillow, Sarah? A blanket?” Carlos said from behind me. I turned my head and smiled at him.

  “No, that’s okay. I’m fine, really.” I leaned my head on Matt’s shoulder and closed my eyes. It was the best way to make the boring flight go faster.

  “Sarah? Wake up sweetheart. We’re in San Fran. It’s time to change planes,” Matt whispered.

  “I slept that entire time? Shit, now I won’t be able to sleep for the rest of the flight. Did you sleep at all?”

  He shook his head. “No. I was working out strategy with Troy and Carlos. And studying the map for possible places they could be.”

  “Matt, why didn’t you wake me? I need to go over that stuff with you too, you know.”

  He kissed my forehead. “There’s plenty of time for that. We can do that on the train in Hungary. Right now, your body is healing and it needs more sleep. Now, we have two hours before our next flight. Kevin is waiting for us in a van to take us in groups on the loop around the airport so we can feed.”

  I raised my eyebrows at him. “Seriously? There’s a van full of blood? Right out front? And he’s going to just drive around the airport while we feed? That sounds so creepy. Awesome, cause I’m starving, but creepy.”

  He grinned at me, from his smile to his eyes, he really grinned at me. God, that felt good. “What’s so funny?” I asked.

  “Nothing. I just forget sometimes how young you are. Obviously you and I haven’t traveled much since you’ve been turned. This is what we have to do. We have to make feeding arrangements along the way. It’s either that or we have to hunt, and I didn’t think that was an option for you.”

  “It’s not. And thanks.”

  “For what?”

  I pulled him into my arms and hugged him tight. “For loving me still. Especially after what I’ve done. I love you so much, Matt.”

  “I wanted to hate you, Sarah. Things would be less complicated if I did. And I tried to. But that only lasted, what? About two hours in the limo? No one can do anything but love you, Sarah. It’s impossible, and I’m glad for that, because I really do love loving you, despite your complications, I really do.” He tilted my chin up and began giving me one of those kisses.

  Carlos cleared his throat behind us, “Sorry to interrupt, but we don’t have a lot of time here. We really need to get outside to the van.”

  I pressed my forehead to Matt’s, but held my hand out to Carlos. The three of us started walking through the airport, Matt and me with our arms tightly around each other and Carlos and me holding hands, and as I began noticing the looks we were invariably getting, I said, “I should just tattoo the word “complicated” across my forehead.”

  “I think “irresistible” is more appropriate,” Carlos muttered, which got all of us chuckling.

  “Dangerous?” Matt offered.

  I threw in, “Stubborn?”

  “Unavoidable?” replied Carlos.

  We didn’t stop laughing and throwing out adjectives until we walked out the doors into the bright sun. “Jeez, this is San Francisco. Where’s the damn fog?” I grumbled. I really hate the sun. We must have been a sight. A group of nineteen male and one female, extremely pale people walking into the sunlight waiting to climb into a van. We divided in half and the first half quickly climbed into the back of the cargo van and slid the door shut. It took almost five minutes for it to make the loop around the airport. The first half piled out and the rest of us piled in.

  “Thanks for doing this, Kevin.” Matt said.

  “No problem. But next time I hope you’ll come and actually visit. What’s it been? About sixty years? And I haven’t met your beautiful wife, yet.”

  “I’m sorry. Kevin, this is Sarah. Sarah, Kevin.” he said. I noticed Kevin glance at me in the rearview mirror and then smile as he glanced at Carlos. Shit, vampires are a gossipy bunch. What? Is it posted on a website somewhere?

  “Nice to meet you Kevin.”

  “You too. I’m really hoping the three of you will come for an extended visit soon. I’d love to show you my beautiful city. Carlos and I used to have some fun, wild times here, didn’t we Carlos?”

  “Oh boy, did we. Is Marlene still around?”

  “Nope. Last I heard she was in New Orleans.”

  “Oh, well, sorry about that.” Carlos said.

  “Don’t be. We had fun, but it was definitely time to move on. We both knew that. Eighty years is a long time.”

  I looked at Matt and wondered – where will we be in eighty years? This immortality thing takes some getting used to.

  We finished the loop and he pulled up to the curb. “Thanks again, Kevin. We’ll see you soon,” Matt said. We all said our goodbyes as we quickly climbed out. I felt much better now, not as achy in the ribs. That was good.

  “Okay now that was awkward,” I mumbled. “Guess that’s another tattoo for me: Queen awkward.”

  We made our way through security again and gathered in the boarding area for our next flight, which with the two layovers, would be about nineteen hours, gee, fun. As we boarded the plane, Matt turned to me and said, “Why don’t you and Troy switch places for a little while? Maybe until Minneapolis?”

  My face fell. “You, you don’t want me sitting next to you?”

  He smiled and gave me a kiss. “Of course I do. But I’m exhausted and want to sleep for a bit and I’m guessing you’re not tired at all. Besides, it’s his turn for a little while.”

  I pulled him tight into my arms, mumbled, “You’re way too good to me,” and gave him a kiss filled with so much love and passion that I thought we were going to set off the smoke alarms.

  When I finally stopped and looked into his eyes, Matt mumbled, “Jesus, Sarah. I love you, too.” I smiled and kissed his scar, then moved to the second row. Carlos smiled at me and kissed the back of my hand, drawing a look from the flight attendant. Yeah, I know. It’s complicated.

  I could tell Carlos was exhausted, he didn’t sleep on the first flight, but he tried so hard to stay awake and talk to me. It was so sweet. “Don’t d
o anything stupid when we get there, Sarah. I mean it. Don’t take stupid chances,” he said.

  “Me? Are you really telling me that? With you being the stupid chances King. Trying to get Jonas to kill you by telling him that you were the one who turned him in? You should be saying that to yourself, Carlos. Look, I’ll make you a deal. I won’t do anything anymore stupid, reckless or dangerous than you, deal?” I said.

  Carlos stared at me for a second, trying desperately to keep his droopy eyes from closing. “Kiss me,” he said.

  “What?” I said, as I turned and looked at Matt, who was sound asleep in the seat in front of Carlos.

  Carlos grinned. “Kiss me, to seal the deal. Please? Kiss me?” He brought both hands to either side of my face and brought his mouth to mine. Another kiss filled with so much love and so much sadness, because each one really could be, and probably should be, our last kiss. I loved them, and hated them, at the same time. I loved them for obvious reasons. I hated them because they hurt so much. I hated them because I shouldn’t be getting them. I hated them because he deserved more than this. I hated them because Matt deserved better. I hated them because I wanted more of them. “Last one, for now,” he whispered after he pulled away.

  I tried to smile. “Last one, for now.” He leaned his head on my shoulder; I reached my arm up and caressed my fingers in his hair.

  “Love you, kiddo,” he mumbled as he drifted off.

  I turned my head and kissed his forehead, “Love you, too, sleepyhead.”

  He slept with his head on my shoulder for a few hours, drooling onto my shirt. I decided to link with him and watch his dreams because they were probably much more interesting than the movie they were showing on the flight. All vampires could link minds and pass some words, thoughts and images back and forth, but Carlos and I had always had a unique connection that allowed us (whether we wanted to or not) to see each other’s thoughts, visions and dreams in real time. His first dream was of us in the hotel room. I smiled and closed my eyes. It faded to black after a while. Then his fingers started to twitch again as another dream started. This one was of Carlos and Maria, arguing in a hotel room. I didn’t want to intrude on this, so I pulled my mind back, but not before I heard him tell her, “I can’t help how I feel about her, Maria. I love her. I have since the day I met her and I always will.”

  I tried to watch the movie for a while, but I definitely wasn’t paying attention. Suddenly Carlos jerked his arm. I linked with him again. He was in a warehouse, and it was burning. He was leaning over a body. He looked up and had blood running down his chin. Suddenly a seraphim swooped down on him, screaming and clawing at him. I was in this dream too. I jumped onto the seraphim’s back, as Carlos yelled, “Sarah, no!” and I tried to sink my teeth into its neck. My fangs went in, but its skin was too thick. I couldn’t get a hold of its spinal cord. It threw me off its back and into the wall. I watched in horror as Carlos started fighting with it again. I didn’t want to see what happened next. I pulled my mind back and gently tried to wake Carlos. I had to stop this dream.

  “Carlos, sweetie, wake up,” I said. He jerked his head up and I gasped and clamped my hand over his mouth. His fangs were down. “Close your eyes, quick,” I whispered as I quickly glanced around to see if anybody was looking. “You were dreaming. You’re fine now. Try to calm down.” He nodded his head and grabbed my other hand. It took a minute or two, but he finally kissed my palm that was still clamped over his mouth and nodded at me. I looked at him and saw that his eyes were normal – not the changed eyes of a hunting vampire, with the large black pupil, able to see in complete darkness, and the blood red replacing the white - , so I pulled my hand away.

  “Jesus, Sarah. If you hadn’t been sitting next to me… This is why I hate flying commercial on long flights.”

  “What happened?” Matt whispered. Apparently he woke up and was watching us.

  “He had a nightmare,” I said. “Could have been an issue, but it wasn’t.”

  “I guess it’s a good thing I had you change seats then, huh?”

  “Yeah, thanks man,” Carlos said.

  “Well, as soon as Troy wakes up, can I have her back for a bit?”

  “Of course you can. I can switch seats with you right now if you want,” Carlos said

  “No, that’s okay. But if Troy doesn’t wake up when we land in Minneapolis then I will. Ummm, Sarah? Why is your shoulder all wet?” Matt said.

  I glanced down at it then pointed my chin at Carlos. “He drools in his sleep.”

  “Sorry,” Carlos mumbled, blushing. Matt just smiled and shook his head.

  We hit a little turbulence and Troy shot his head up. “What? Where are we? We landing?”

  “No, Troy. Just a little turbulence. But would you mind switching seats with my wife again?” Matt said. This brought another disapproving look from the nearby flight attendant as I stood up.

  “Yeah, I think complicated wins the tattoo contest,” I said as I sat in the seat next to Matt and smiled back at Carlos. They both nodded. Yep, it’s complicated.

  Chapter Twelve

  “I have to walk around for a few minutes, honey. My legs are killing me,” I said. We had been studying the map for a while now, in our compartment on the train. The four of us were in this compartment: me, Matt, Carlos and Troy.

  “I’ll join you,” Matt said. As we made our way down the aisle and from car to car, Matt kept getting closer and closer to me. He’d reach out and touch my hand, my back. He wrapped his arm around my stomach and pulled me tight to him then he kissed the back of my neck. My heart started pounding, I was breathing heavy and I could feel wetness between my legs. This was foreplay. But here? On the train? Where?

  “Jesus, Matt. Do you realize what you’re doing to me?” I whispered.

  “Yes. I have to Sarah. We don’t know what’s going to happen to us out there. I need this. I’ve got to in order to get my head straight,” he whispered. I saw a sign ahead for the restroom. I checked the door, it was unlocked. I looked both directions, the aisles were empty and the seats nearby were vacant. I opened the door and pulled him inside with me.

  Thirty minutes later. “Holy shit, Matt. Again? Are you kidding me? Do you realize how long we’ve been in here? Oh my God,” I groaned.

  “I don’t know what it is, Sarah,” he gasped, “but I can’t seem to stop. God, I love you so much.”

  Another forty minutes passed and I jumped at a knock on the door. “Shit,” I whispered – luckily I could see by the shadows under the door that the person quickly gave up and walked away.

  “Don’t make me stop, Sarah. I’m almost there, shit. They’ll find another bathroom. Oh fuck, this one’s huge. Now, now, give me your neck, now,” he groaned, then sank his teeth deep into my neck, again.

  Fifteen minutes after that, “Matt, your knees are giving out. Your legs won’t hold us up anymore.”

  “But I’m not done yet, damn it,” he growled. Clearly he was a man possessed.

  “Here,” I said. “Switch places with me. You can lean your butt against the counter. I can keep my feet on the ground if you come in from behind.”

  “Hurry,” he growled and we quickly switched.

  “Jesus, Matt,” I groaned, “give me your wrist. Oh my God, I need to bite with this one, quick.” I sunk my teeth into his wrist as he bit into the back of my neck and we both screamed.

  “Okay, okay,” he gasped into my neck as his fangs retracted. “I think I’m finally done. Well, my dick’s not – the damn thing still won’t go down – but the rest of my body is,” he smiled.

  “Wow, Matt. Actually, wow doesn’t even come close, but that’s all I’ve got. Wow. Just wow,” I said as I pulled my clothes back on. His smile danced in his eyes as he leaned in to kiss me once more.

  I poked my head out into the aisle. “Okay, it’s deserted,” I said and we quickly stepped out and began making our way back to our compartment – both of us with grins on our faces until… “Oh shit,” I said when I sa
w Carlos glaring at us. He was waiting outside our compartment and he looked pissed, and completely stressed and freaked out.

  “Look, I’m sorry,” he began as we walked up, “but can I please talk to Sarah alone for a minute? The train’s due in the station in less than an hour. I need to make sure she’s not going to do something stupid, Matt. I’m no good to you if I’m just worrying about her. Please?”

  Matt looked at both of us then sadly nodded. He kissed my cheek. “I love you, baby,” he said.

  “I love you, too,” I whispered.

  Just before he stepped into the compartment, he turned back and said, “There’s a restroom in car number four that’s fairly private.” Then he stepped in and closed the door. Carlos and I just stared at the door.

  “Are you, are you kidding me?” I whispered, “Did he just tell us to…?” I stopped as Matt popped into my head.

  ‘Sarah. Do whatever you have to do to get him right in the head. I mean it. He’s the best fighter I have. We don’t stand a chance without him. I’m telling you to do it, Sarah. Do whatever he needs you to do.’

  ‘But Matt, I can’t. I’m trying to be good here. Please.’

  ‘Sarah, right now, I don’t need good. Right now, you don’t need good. Right now we need smart. We need Carlos at his best. Only you can help him get there. Get him there, Sarah. Please?’

  “Sarah?” Carlos said. I felt Matt leave my head.

  “Do you realize what he just told us to do?” I said, feeling a little angry.

  “Yes, and I’m sorry. That wasn’t my intention. I really just wanted to talk to you, honestly,” he said.

  “So talk,” I snapped, mumbling. “What? Is he going to pass me around to every vampire here? Is it my job to fuck everyone now? Is that why I’m here?”

  Matt heard me through the door and popped back into my head, ‘No, Sarah. I have no intention of sharing you with anyone else. But look at him, Sarah. Look at his eyes. He’s a wreck. He’s completely useless. He needs this. He needs you, just like I need you. I’m asking you to do this for him, and for us, because he very well could be the only one who’s going to save our asses out there.’