by Susan Hayes
Christoph grew desperate and his attacks more violent. The vampire shredded and slashed, but every time Aedan repelled him and sent him staggering backward into the darkness. Aedan knew that some of the blood splattered across the road was his, but the pain of his injuries was a distant thing. There’d be time to deal with the consequences of this battle after it was over.
The next assault was sloppy, and Aedan was able to score a vicious hit that flayed Christoph’s upper arm to the bone. The vampire howled in pain as the priest-blessed blade carved deep into his flesh, and as Christoph staggered back, Aedan could see the wounded arm hanging at the vampire’s side, limp and useless.
The battle continued, but now it was not a question of who would win, but when the final blow would fall. Crippled and weakening by the minute, Christoph fought with desperation. Aedan knew that even if the vampire wanted to shift to his bat form and fly away, he couldn’t. The injury to Christoph’s arm would translate to a shattered wing. He was trapped on the road, facing down Aedan’s sword.
When Aedan’s opening came, he took it without hesitation. As Christoph came at him for what felt like the thousandth time, the vampire’s foot slipped in a pool of congealing gore, and he stumbled. Defenseless and off-balance, he was an easy target for Aedan’s katana, and the blade swung down in a brutally powerful swipe that severed the vampire’s head from his body and sent the two pieces of undead flesh tumbling to the ground.
Aedan kicked Christoph’s torso with one booted foot, shoving it over onto its back. With a grim sense of triumph, he drove his katana point-first into the vampire’s chest. With a vicious twist, he shredded the creature’s unbeating heart, ensuring there would be no resurrection.
With the fight over, weariness and pain crept back into Aedan’s awareness, and it took all of his remaining strength to haul Christoph’s remains off of the road and into the ditch. Sunrise would see the evidence turned to ashes, but Aedan needed to be sure. He limped a few feet down the road and took shelter beneath the low-hanging branches of a cedar tree. It would be a long, cold night, but he wouldn’t leave until he saw the body destroyed. In the morning he’d call Jase and confirm that Val was recovering and free from Christoph’s poisoned blood. Then, and only then would he call the Brethren and let them know he was coming in, his mission accomplished.
Aedan drew his flask of holy water out of his jacket pocket and poured it over every injury he could reach. He healed quickly, but he knew that the next few hours were going to be damned uncomfortable. He settled in to wait, his back against the trunk of the tree as he waited for dawn to come. As he sat there, a hundred different pains registered in his brain, but there was only one he couldn’t ignore. The haunting sense of loss as he realized there was a piece missing from his heart, leaving a gaping hole. Even though he’d never see her again, that piece would stay with Val forever. She was only woman he’d ever said those three little words to, even if she’d been too far gone to hear him at the time.
Val hadn’t trust him to protect her, and that was why she’d given herself up to Christoph. She had been right to doubt him, too. He’d failed her. Val deserved to be happy, and she deserved a better man than a supernaturally screwed up half-breed who couldn’t even manage to keep the simplest of promises.
* * * *
It was the sound of bells ringing that finally dragged Val back out of the quiet bliss of unconsciousness. She tried to open her eyes and had to fight to pry them open against whatever was gumming her eyelashes shut.
Ew. She lifted a hand to scrub the gunk away, clearing them enough she could open her eyes and look around. It was immediately obvious that she was in the medical bay. Val wracked her brain, trying to remember what could have happened to put her in here, but her memory was still too fuzzy to recall anything.
“Valentina?” She turned her head and found herself staring into Geoff Remington’s gray eyes. Concern was etched into his features, and he looked like he hadn’t slept in days. And he’d called her Valentina. Shit, that’s never a good sign.
“Sir?” Her voice was nothing more than a rusty croak, and she realized her mouth was parched and she was incredibly thirsty.
“Thank the gods, she’s awake.” Anya’s red hair and kind eyes popped into Val’s view. “Thirsty? Dr. Stamp said you likely would be.”
Val nodded, and Anya vanished, only to reappear again with a glass in her hand. “Geoff, get her bed angled up will you, sweetie?”
Val had to choke back a snicker. She must be hearing things. There was no way Anya, Paladin’s resident psychic, just called Remington such an adorable nickname. She had to be asleep and dreaming. The soft chime of bells sounded again, and Val realized she’d been woken up by Anya’s favorite anklets, two sets of silver bells strung on delicate chains that chimed whenever she moved. Anya loved them, but they made Remington more than a little crazy. Likely because they drew attention to another of Anya’s quirks, the fact she never wore shoes.
Remington got the bed elevated, and Anya helped Val sit up before placing the glass in her hand. Val greedily sucked on the straw and started downing the cool water as quickly as she could.
“Easy does it.” Remington tapped the side of her glass and shook his head. “You need to sip it, Farro.”
“What happened to me?” she asked, pleased to note her voice was sounding better now.
Anya’s soft hands closed over Val’s, and she lifted the glass away. “That’s enough for now.”
The diminutive redhead glanced at Remington and then back at Val. “Why don’t you tell us what you remember?”
Val closed her eyes, trying to summon up the last clear memory she had amongst the jumbled images floating around her mind. “Jazz had just finished telling Jase she was having twins. We were all down in the cafeteria, and everyone was celebrating and congratulating the two of them.”
“I knew it!” Anya’s voice was full of satisfaction.
“You have a disturbing tendency to know damn near everything, woman.” Remington’s voice held a note of affection, and Val repressed a chuckle. Apparently there was something going on between Anya and Paladin’s benevolent overlord. She would never have guessed.
Anya’s hand returned to cover Val’s as she prompted Val to keep talking. “What else do you remember?”
“I got a voice mail message. I ducked out to listen to it because it was too noisy and then…” Her memories rushed back to her, and Val tightened her grasp on Anya’s hand.
“Christoph played me for a fool,” she confessed into the silence.
“Farro, look at me.” Remington’s voice held a ring of command, and Val’s eyes snapped open automatically. She turned her head to meet his gaze and saw none of the condemnation she was expecting. “You believed that by sacrificing yourself, you could save the others. That’s not foolish. That’s the definition of courage,” Remington informed her as lips quirked into one of his rare smiles. “Going without telling anyone might have been rather foolish, but I’m going to let it slide.”
“Thank you, sir. But as it turns out, I wasn’t saving anyone. I was never his target at all.”
“From what I understood from Doyle’s briefings, Christoph was never the kind to leave anyone alive when he was out for revenge. If you weren’t the target, I assume I was?”
“Yes, sir.” Val’s energy was starting to fade already, but there were answers she needed first. “I remember being forced to drink his blood, so how is it I’m still alive and fangless?”
“Doyle.” Remington spoke the single word with respect. “He and Waters went in after you without waiting for backup. By the time the rest of us got there, he had already gone after Christoph, alone. He told Waters the only chance you had was if he managed to kill the vampire before you died or fed. He must have succeeded because a few hours later you started responding to treatment.”
Anya patted her hand. “It was a near thing, Valentina. You’d lost so much blood, and the transformation was already starting. You’r
e going to be feeling the effects for quite a while.”
Remington nodded in agreement, his expression grim. “I had to order you not to die. I’m glad you didn’t disobey me. Doc had his hands full keeping you alive long enough for Doyle to get the job done.”
“Happy to follow your orders anytime, sir.” Val managed a salute, but the effort to lift her arm seemed monumental. Fatigue crept in, tempting her back to sleep. “How long was I out?”
There was a long, uncomfortable silence, and Val realized she wasn’t going to like the answer before Anya ever spoke. “You’ve been out for nearly three days.”
“Three days?” Val’s voice cracked. “If I’ve been out for that long, why hasn’t Aedan been in to tell you what happened in detail?”
Another long silence and Val braced herself for more bad news.
Anya’s voice was full of sympathy. “He never came in. He had Jase bring out his things to the airport. I’m sorry, Val. Aedan left right after he got confirmation you were going to be all right.” Anya gave her a gentle hug, but it didn’t help with the jagged pain that tore through Val’s chest.
“That son of a bitch.” Tears stung Val’s eyes, but she refused to let them fall. “He broke his promise to me.”
“I know.” Anya let go of her hand, and Val felt the woman’s gentle touch feathering back her hair. “But before you go planning revenge on him for bolting, you’re going to need to get your strength back. He’s not done running yet, Valentina.”
“He’s not worth the energy,” Val muttered.
“Nonsense, dear, you two are destined for each other. You get better, and then you can go track him down and explain to him how it’s going to be.” Anya’s voice fluted into soft laughter. “Trust me when I tell you that he’s just postponing the inevitable. Men are very talented at that.”
As Val faded back to sleep she could have sworn she heard Remington grumbling at Anya, but the words eluded her, and then she was too tired to even try to think anymore. Her last thoughts were of Aedan, and the beating she was going to give him when she found him again. This isn’t over, Aedan Doyle. Not by a long shot.
Chapter 14
Aedan was sprawled in the shade of an orange tree, wearing nothing but a pair of swim trunks and a smile. The wind was warm, and he was passing the time watching heat waves shimmer and dance over the white sand that stretched out for miles on either side of him. He’d finally made it to the Costa del Sol, on his first vacation in years. And I might as well be back at work for all the enjoyment I’m getting out of this.
He’d been here nearly three weeks and had yet to find the restorative tranquility that he’d found so easily the last time he’d visited. The sun was the same, as was the glittering Mediterranean that lapped at the shoreline. Good food, smiling locals, and yet none of it felt right. Nothing was working for him anymore, not since he’d left Seattle. And if he was being honest, some things had been coming unraveled long before he’d gone after Christoph. He’d spent the first half of his life just trying to survive and find a place for himself in the world, and then he’d spent the second half trying to prove his worth to the only people who had ever taken an interest in him, the Brethren.
He’d been on the run or on the hunt for most of his life, and he was just so damned tired. He was tired of being alone, and tired of traveling the world and never staying long enough to actually experience any one place. He wanted something more than just the hunt, though he knew he could never give it up completely. What he really wanted was what he could have had back in Seattle. People he liked, a sense of belonging, and Val. But he’d screwed that up, and now he was left trying to figure out what choices he had left.
When Jase had met him at the airport to bring him his few belongings, he’d try to convince Aedan to stay. The two had talked for almost an hour, but in the end Aedan hadn’t been willing to stick around. How could he stay when every time he looked at Val he’d be reminded of how he’d failed her? At the time, it had been easy to leave and put it all behind him. But now, with an uncertain future and no answers, he was starting to wonder if leaving had been the right thing to do after all. Not that it made any difference now. He’d left, and that was one more thing he knew Val would never forgive him for.
The arrival of one of his hotel’s waitstaff distracted him from his dark thoughts, and Aedan arched a brow as he noted the man was smiling more broadly than usual.
“A fresh drink for señor?” He removed Aedan’s empty glass and replaced it with a full one before Aedan could answer. The glass seemed far too full, and Aedan was about to point that out when he saw the reason. There were more than a half-dozen maraschino cherries sitting at the bottom of the glass.
“Cherries?” he asked the waiter, gesturing to the drink.
“Si. The señorita said we were to make it just like this.”
“Señorita? What señorita?” Aedan sat bolt upright and started looking around, hoping against hope that this wasn’t some idle dream he was going to wake up from any moment.
“She did not leave a name, señor. Is there a problem with the drink? I can fetch you a new one.”
Before Aedan could say anything more, a woman’s voice joined the conversation, one he never thought he’d hear again. “Well, Aedan? Do you have a problem with your drink or not?”
He was out of the lounge chair in an instant, hauling a laughing Val into his arms. She came without protest, her bare arms wrapping around his shoulders as she leaned up and kissed his cheek.
“I think he’s fine with the drink, thank you.” She glanced at the waiter, who grinned and retreated back toward the hotel. The moment they were alone, he leaned in to kiss her only to have her pull back and glower at him, her dark eyes suddenly stormy. “Not so fast! I’m still mad at you.”
“You’re here.” He held her tight, hardly able to believe she had found him. Even if she was here to kick his ass for leaving Seattle, he’d take the beating gratefully. Just so long as she gave him another chance.
“Of course I’m here. Did you think I was going to let you just save my damned life and then leave without so much as a good-bye?” Val unwrapped one arm from around his shoulders and waggled a finger at him. “What makes you think you’re allowed to just break your promises and go?” A flash of hurt flared in her eyes and then hid itself beneath the anger he could still see clearly.
“I promised to keep you safe, and I broke that one. I figured after that, the other promises didn’t matter so much.” He caught her finger in his hand and lifted it to his mouth, brushing a kiss to the tip. “Why are you here, luv?”
“Because you told me you loved me, and then you left.” Her gaze locked onto his, and his heart nearly stopped beating as he realized what she’d said.
“You heard me? I thought—hell, I was certain you were already too far gone to understand anything.”
“Well, I wasn’t.” Val went very still in his arms, and her next question came out in a quiet whisper. “If you didn’t think I could hear you, why did you say it?”
“Because I wanted to. Just once in my life, I wanted to say the words.”
Val’s beautiful brown eyes narrowed, and she snatched her hand out of his. “So you told me you loved me because it wouldn’t count? Because you thought I was out of it and it was safe? Did you even mean it, Aedan? Or did I come all this way for nothing?”
He felt her start to pull away, and his arms tightened around her of their own accord. There was no way he was letting her go. Not now, and not ever again. “I meant it.” His hands were splayed against her body, only the light cotton of her sundress acting as a barrier to her bare skin. He leaned his head in until there was less than an inch of space between his mouth and hers. “Did you?”
Her lips quirked up into a half smile. “Of course I didn’t mean it. The minute I was released from the medical bay, I started phoning your bosses and begged for your location, and then flew halfway around the world to find you, just because I wanted to get in the l
ast word.”
“Well, it’s not entirely outside the realm of possibility that you’d do that.” He grinned back at her. “Will you say it again?”
“I think you should say it first since you walked out on me.”
“All right,” he murmured and brushed a soft kiss to her lips before saying the words he never thought he’d say again. “I love you.”
“And I love you, even if you are a thick-headed ass.” She kissed him back, her eyes glowing with happiness instead of anger now.
“So how did you find me?” he asked when they finally stopped for breath.
“Pure determination mostly, those Brethren of yours are one tight-lipped bunch! I was on the phone with them for days, begging, wheedling, and uttering threats of bodily harm before they finally gave up your location. Once they told me you were on vacation at an undisclosed resort in an undisclosed part of the world, I remembered what you’d told me about this place. I told them to just tell me what hotel you were staying at in the Costa del Sol. That finally made them realize I knew at least a little bit about you.”
“Clever girl.” He drew her back to the lounge he’d been lying in and dragged her down into his lap as he sat down again.
“Clever and stubborn, and don’t you forget it. From now on, wherever you go, I’m following, so you might as well just stop trying to run.” She draped her long legs over his thighs, deliberately wiggling her ass against the rising ridge of his cock.
“I wasn’t running,” he protested, and she laughed in response.
“Is that so? If you’re not running, then why aren’t you back in Seattle, spending your vacation with me like you said you would?”
Words failed him for the first time in his life, and he stared at Val in mute confusion, not sure how to verbalize what had driven him to leave. It had all seemed clear at the time, but now, with her back in his arms and the citrusy scent of her perfume teasing his senses, Aedan couldn’t pin down just why the hell he’d left this amazing woman behind.