Staked

by Sandra Edwards

Ava sucked in a big gulp of air. “Just do it. Okay?”

  Stone shrugged, reached up and gave the door a backhanded triple-tapping with his knuckles. “Pizza,” he said in a deep, strong voice.

  The door opened. “I didn’t order a pizza, but...” Cole’s brown eyes lit on Stone first and then jumped to Ava.

  He tried to close the door, but she already had her foot in the way and was shoving it open. Within seconds and just a couple of steps inside the room she had Cole’s wrists handcuffed behind his back.

  Cole mumbled curses that weren’t flattering to Ava. She ignored him, closed the door and turned to Stone. “Just wait here for me. I’ll be back within fifteen minutes.” That’s the most she could pinpoint her arrival to any destination.

  The task was simple enough. She’d take her fugitive back, turn him in, get another batch of jewels for Stone and bring them to him. Then she’d be free to end this acquaintance.

  Ava had better stay on course. Otherwise, she could become single-handedly responsible for making that old legend a reality.

  ~~~~

  Chapter Five

  Ava landed half a block east of the dimly lit intersection that was just south of the motel where she’d left Stone. Hurrying along the sidewalk, she thought about checking the pub for Mickey and Skeet. Her better judgment told her that was the thing to do, but her heart wanted to go to Stone.

  Reaching the intersection, she made a right and headed for the pub. The pull to cross the street was strong, but her legs carried her toward the tavern. She was better off not putting herself in the position of being alone with Stone. Nothing good could come from being alone with him. Nothing good at all.

  Ava opened the door and stepped inside, seeing Mickey and Skeet seated at the bar. Mickey looked over his shoulder. She gave him a slight nod and turned back toward the doorway, knowing it’d only be a matter of seconds before Mickey followed her out onto the sidewalk.

  “What’s up?” Mickey asked, coming outside. “Where have you been?”

  “It’s a long story.” She looked both ways and headed into the deserted street. “But Stone’s waiting at the motel over there.” She nodded toward the building across the street without looking to see if Mickey and Skeet were following her. They were.

  “Why are you here and Stone’s over there?” Skeet and his suspicion caught up to her.

  “Again, long story,” Ava said, more interested in making her way across the street. “That of which I’m sure Stone will fill you in once I give him these.” She pulled the new pouch of jewels she had for Stone out of her front pocket and held it up. “Then you two can be on your way.”

  Skeet laughed. “Did you two have a lover’s spat?”

  Reaching the other side of the street, Ava stepped up onto the sidewalk and cut her eyes toward Skeet. She sucked in a breath and shook her head. Responding would only encourage him. Best to leave it alone. Get through the motel’s courtyard, give Stone his pay and get the hell out of there. The farther away from him, the better.

  Stone. His name stormed through her thoughts like wildfire, burning every inch of her soul with unease. It was almost as if his soul was calling out to her. Ava studied the SOS and decided it was coming from Cole’s hideout. She couldn’t swear Stone was still in the room, but she had no reason to believe he wasn’t. She doubted he’d go anywhere before she reimbursed him. All she did know was that somehow, someway, she was being dragged along, as if there was some invisible thread attached to her and she was being reeled in.

  The pull stopped abruptly, leaving Ava swooning in front of room number eight. She knew it was unlocked. All she had to do was reach for the doorknob and open it. But somewhere along the way fear had filled her to the brim and it was now bubbling over. Ava was scared. Scared of what she’d find inside.

  She hadn’t a clue what was on the other side of the door, but she could guess it wasn’t good. Something internal urged her to open it and find out. She twisted the knob and the door swung open with ease.

  Stone lay lifelessly on the other side of the room with the gleaming silver of a metal stake piercing his chest. The sight clogged Ava’s throat with horror. Her heart died a little at that moment. That invisible thread that had, moments before, dragged her toward him, returned and sucked her across the room to his side. Ava fell to her knees.

  Staked! Was he dead? No. It couldn’t be. Fear thudded what was left of her heart against her chest.

  Who did this? Whoever it was, she swore they’d pay. She’d spend the rest of her life—and as a Karellian, that could be a long time—hunting down the offender and exacting revenge.

  And then, she thought she heard someone calling her name. It was faint but she swore she heard it. Ava. The voice was familiar and the nanosecond it took to recognize its identity felt like eons.

  She’d heard stories about the legend, but that’s all she thought it was. A legend. A vampire’s staked heart calling out to a Karellian for mercy. To save him.

  Was it possible? Hope ripped through her heart. She felt compelled to save him. To at least try.

  Ava pulled the pocket knife from her boot and slit her left wrist horizontally, knowing that wouldn’t kill her. She let a few drops fall to Stone’s lips. “Mickey...!” She called over her shoulder. “Get over here.” She watched, mesmerized as a few droplets of her blood trickled into Stone’s mouth.

  She moved her arm and hovered her wrist over Stone’s chest. “When I tell you,” she said to Mickey, as her blood dripped onto Stone’s chest where the stake was embedded. “I want you to pull out the stake.”

  “What?” Fright clawed its way out in Mickey’s voice, bringing with it the taste of sorrow and ruin. Mickey knew as well as Ava that saving Stone would lead to her downfall.

  Ava paid Mickey no mind. She had to focus. There was just one chance to save Stone. She wasn’t sure how she knew it, she just did. Her blood pooled around the spike and began to bubble. “Now, Mickey! Now!”

  “Ava...?” Mickey said weakly.

  “Pull out the goddamn stake, Mickey!”

  Mickey planted a knee against Stone’s chest and yanked on the spear. The force of pulling out the stake sent him tumbling backward.

  Ava didn’t move, she didn’t look at Mickey. She just let the blood drip from her wrist onto Stone’s wound.

  Please, please, please.... Ava’s tears fell to Stone’s chest and streamed toward her blood pooling around the stake. When it reached her blood bubbling around the gash in his chest, her tears and her blood swirled and mixed together building a web over the wound.

  Ava scrambled behind Stone, dragged his torso into her lap and wrapped one arm around him. With one hand, she ripped her Sun Stones’ pouch off her belt loop and tossed it at Mickey. It was the only way someone else could touch her Sun Stones—if she allowed it. “Mix mine with yours. Make a circle large enough to hold all of us.” She’d given her stones to Mickey because he was the one laying them out, but this way she could control Mickey’s pain, sending it all to her. When Mickey didn’t respond fast enough to suit Ava, she yelled, “Hurry up!” Anxiety had shoved out the inquiry, and almost instantly she felt bad about yelling at Mickey.

  She was about to apologize but thought better about distracting Mickey when he began erecting a circular shape around himself, Stone and Ava. Time was in short supply. She looked at Skeet. “You’ve got about half a second to step in here with us.” She shrugged. “Or get left behind.”

  She knew Skeet was a loyal friend who wouldn’t willingly leave Stone at a time like this. She was right. He leapt into the circle.

  Ava closed her eyes and secured her hold on Stone as the annoying sting started in her toes and worked its way up to the top of her head and then back down again.

  When the cosmic dust settled, Skeet let out a firm, “What the...?” His words trailed off and Ava looked up at him. He was standing there with his hands on his hips, looking around at Ava’s little oasis. It took a little time but when his gaze settled on Av
a, fiery anger blazed in his eyes. “Witch!” His tone was just as accusing as his glare.

  She didn’t have time for this but all things considered, she gave him a pass. “I’m not a witch.”

  “Then...” He looked around. “How do you explain this?”

  “Look, the only thing you need to know about this place is you’re safe here. No harm can come to you.” She shook her head. “I’ll explain later, but right now all my energy is devoted to healing him.”

  “Healing him?” Skeet huffed as if offended. A natural reaction since he couldn’t even begin to comprehend what was going on.

  “Help me get him to the bed.” She nodded over her shoulder and tried to stand with Stone still in her arms. She didn’t get far.

  Skeet and Mickey lifted the much-too-heavy man from Ava and, at her lead, carried him into her terrace bedroom. She fluffed the pillows but didn’t turn back the covers. “Put him there.” She pointed to the bed. Ava watched as they deposited Stone on top of the covers. When he was safely on the bed, she kicked off her shoes and reached for the top button on her blouse. “Both of you. Out.”

  Mickey moved first. “Come on,” he said, nudging Skeet. “There’s no use trying to reason with her when she gets like this.” He gave a quick laugh and moved through the gate separating the two outdoor rooms. Skeet followed him and after a few seconds Ava heard the slider open and close.

  She didn’t give their intentions more than a passing thought. Instead, she concentrated on helping Stone. She had no idea if undressing and crawling in to bed with him would help; she was just following her instincts. And they told her the blood she was feeding Stone needed to “communicate” with the blood still coursing through her veins. To do that, she needed to touch him, skin against skin, as much as possible. She stripped down to her panties and bra, then worked him out of his boots and clothes until he was wearing nothing but his briefs.

  Ava eased onto the bed beside Stone, draped her leg over his and snuggled up to him. The heat of his skin gave her a measure of peace. As long as he was hot, or even warm, then he wasn’t in danger of dying. Immediately.

  She draped a Junovian sheet—ten times softer than Egyptian cotton—over her backside, just in case one of the guys walked in. With Skeet around—one hundred percent uninformed—the likelihood was probable.

  The places on their near-bare bodies that were touching, skin against skin, sizzled and tingled as if her blood was actually communicating with his.

  Ava thought about covering the wound on Stone’s chest with gauze or something but decided against it after noticing the webbing and scabbing that was building as the seconds flew by. Carefully, she put her hand on his chest and domed her fingers over the injury, willing a bit of her life-force to travel to her fingertips and into Stone’s wound.

  Laying her head near the crook of his neck, Ava closed her eyes and let her thoughts wander into a world where Stone was alive and well and flirting with her mercilessly.

  Why she felt so compelled to “save” him, she didn’t understand. It must be the legend. There had to be some truth to it. How else did she explain the fact that she was lying in her own bed, here in a sanctuary where she’d never thought about bringing anyone until she met Stone. And now, she was cuddling up to the one person who could destroy her—and they were both half-naked to boot.

  But he could destroy her. So why was she trying to save him?

  The inquiry crawled up her back like a bitter chill. Why? Why do that? Trying to save Stone, knowing what he could do to her—now that was crazy.

  That silent prayer—please, God...don’t let him die—rambled around inside her a head a full two minutes before she realized it had reemerged.

  That was the thing, Ava couldn’t leave him for dead, not when he’d at least made a pretense—not once, but twice—of protecting her. First, when he’d stepped between Ava and Lucien seconds before Lucien doused them with Tiki dust. And again, when he’d insisted on entering the apartment before her when they’d arrived at the building where Lucien had stashed Cole.

  For as much as she knew it was a mistake, her conscience wouldn’t let her look the other way. How could saving a life be a bad idea?

  Ava raised her head just enough to look at Stone’s face. She half-expected his lips to curl into a mischievous grin and one eye open slightly before he broke into fun-loving laughter.

  But he didn’t. Stone didn’t move.

  Not a single twitch.

  Nothing.

  She lay her head back down and closed her eyes. She was so tired. And, as far as she could tell, this was the perfect time to get some sleep. The question was, would sleep come instead of the dream?

  It wasn’t just any dream. This one was more like a rerun, a replay of her thirteenth birthday. Her mother had taken her to the Altar of Rocks, a reportedly sacred spot where various spiritual ceremonies had been conducted for hundreds of years. Apparently, according to legend, The Immortal One had been purified on this very spot.

  As a child, Ava had known there was something peculiar about her mother. Nothing specific that she could pinpoint, just a feeling that came over Ava from time-to-time. Especially when the moon was full, her mother would get this crazed look in her eyes.

  Selinda Valentine, by all accounts, was a beautiful woman. She’d turned many heads during her short life, but there was only one man who’d caught her eye and didn’t let go. Richard, Ava’s father, had often told Ava that he’d become smitten with her mother the moment he’d laid eyes on her. The attraction was a powerful one, and it had consumed him. Nothing but pleasing Selinda had mattered; it became his sole purpose—even after he learned what she’d been hiding. Then his whole world became about protecting his wife and her secret.

  Then Ava was born.

  Her childhood, for the most part, had been a pleasant one with two loving parents and fond memories. But in the months leading up to Ava’s thirteenth birthday, something in her mother changed. Her mood darkened, she ignored Ava’s father and began keeping Ava up until all hours.

  Ava’s memories of the days leading up to her thirteenth birthday were hazy, at best. She’d never been able to remember how she ended up at the Altar of Rocks. All she did know was that when she opened her eyes her mother was towering over her. Fangs had elongated from her eye teeth and curved halfway down her chin. Her mother’s mouth opened slightly and she moved down toward Ava, but stopped short as a look of agony twisted on Selinda’s face. She sucked in a deep breath and stopped, looking down at herself an instant before the stake jutted through her chest and pointed at Ava.

  Someone—Daddy—had staked her mother.

  Selinda stared at the stake that had punctured her heart. Her cruel gaze rose to look at Ava. “The Immortal One will get you,” she said, and then fell at the base of the altar.

  * * *

  Ava’s eyes shot open. She felt a bit of relief when she realized she was in the bed in her sanctuary with Stone.

  Stone. Oh. My. God. She’d turned him into the Immortal One.

  ~~~~

  Chapter Six

  Ava knew in an instant that the strong, masculine hands stroking her arm and back belonged to Stone. She couldn’t be sure how much time had passed while she’d slept at his side. However long it was, it had been enough time to bring him back to consciousness. And based on the brazen action of his hands, he was on the mend.

  Ava cleared her throat and made a half-hearted attempt at pulling away from him.

  “Where I come from...” Stone drew her back to him and tightened his embrace. “Being in bed together, naked, means we’re married.”

  She knew he was a liar and thought about telling him so. But instead, she said, “Not that I’m an expert on your time period or anything, but where I come from marriage takes a wedding ceremony.”

  Stone let out a trail of broken laughter. When it died out, he said, “Well I don’t know about ceremonies but what I do know is that I was staked, left for dead, and now I’m here w
ith you.” He paused a moment, before his true intent finally surfaced. “You’ve got some explaining to do.”

  Various responses bounced off the sides of Ava’s head, all of them giving just enough information to appease Stone. The problem was, Stone was a smart guy and half-truths would only fuel his curiosity, not satisfy it.

  “Let’s just say that I have a rare blood type.” She paused, feeling pretty good about her declaration. “And luckily for you, I happened upon you before it was too late.” No way did Ava want to bring up that old legend. If she said it out loud right now, somehow that felt like validation for what she’d always considered a myth. Ava had previously thought it utter nonsense that a Karellian could save a vampire from being staked. Until today.

  She let another pressing thought storm the forefront of her mind. Propping herself up on one elbow, she looked at Stone. “Who staked you?” Ava prayed it had nothing to do with her. She hated to think Lucien was Stone’s attacker.

  “Just somebody that I’ve had a beef with for a really long time,” he said, with a measure of vagueness. She suspected, on purpose. Well, so long as it wasn’t Lucien. Ava didn’t need any more guilt laid upon her shoulders. The reality that her father had staked her mother—his soul-mate—for Ava’s benefit was plenty.

  “Same ones from the rest stop?” Ava needed clarification.

  Stone nodded. “But let’s talk more about your blood,” he said. “I had a stake through my heart, but now I’m lying here, in your bed, seemingly alive and well.” He looked at her with an accusatory eye. “Or am I dead?”

  “You’re not dead.” She stopped at that. No use giving him info he could use against her later.

  “And how did we go from you being afraid of me, to lying here beside me half-naked in this bed.”

  “Afraid of you?” It was her natural inclination to lay out a denial.

  “That’s a fact. Quit trying to change the subject.” He moved, like he was going to sit up, and winced, settling back into the bed. “How is it possible that you brought me back from being staked?” His midnight-dark eyes darted around like he had wheels spinning inside his head.