“I think you’ve made yourself pretty clear about Luca Morello. I’ll leave it alone for now, but know that protecting you has nothing to do with the way I feel about you.” He takes a deep breath and squares his shoulders. “You can yell at me, you can hate me but as hard as you may try you are not getting rid of me.” He leans in until our noses are almost touching and I can feel his breath tickling my cheek. “I am here for you for whatever you need, whenever you need it.” He says the words slowly and I close my eyes for a minute and let myself listen. We are standing this way when Nissa and Cai return with coffees.
“I hope that you two have figured out whatever it is you need to figure out because it’s a beautiful day and I’m not wasting it on drama.” Nissa smirks and thrusts a paper cup into my hands.
“Thanks for the coffee. We should probably get to the post office before it closes.” I ignore her jibe and Rowan just shakes his head, amused. He trails behind us as we continue on our walk and while part of me wants to turn around and tell him to take a hike another part of me is still trying to process everything he’s said. And I can’t deny that I do feel more secure in his presence. When I reach the post office Nissa and Cai choose to wait outside but Rowan follows me in.
“I think I can handle coming in here by myself.” I say a little too sharply. He shrugs, looking a little sheepish, but stays right behind me. At the counter I sign for my package which turns out to be a large, padded brown envelope. I rip it open and a cry escapes me when I look inside. My knees buckle but Rowan catches me before I hit the ground. “What is it?” He asks as I shove the contents of the envelope at him, unable to speak. When he holds up the picture to inspect it the full force of it hits me again. It’s a photo of Luca bound to a chair and covered from head to toe in blood. Rowan peers inside the envelope and pulls out the second item, which is a finely sharpened wooden stake with a note card attached.
* *
Lucinda was a fool and amateur.
You haven’t seen power like mine before.
I look forward to meeting you in Venice princess.
I’ll be waiting.
* *
I’m still feeling a little faint when Rowan grabs my arm and leads me back out to my friends. He passes Cai the photo and the stake and turns back to me.
“I’m coming with you.”
“Oh my God, they have Luca. What am I going to do?” I say as I struggle to breathe.
“Did you not hear me? Rowan says more forcefully, grasping my shoulders.
“I’m coming with you.”
“You are coming with me to Venice?” I say, dumbfounded and he nods his head.
“I promise that I’ll help you find him. You mean that much to me, Lily.” Before I can respond he pulls me against him and wraps his arms around me. “We will figure this out together.” I rest my head against his chest and let out a whimper. How did this happen? How is it that my best-friend, an immortal half-angel and natural-born enemy to our races is going to help me find my vampire ex-boyfriend whom he hates and who’s sister he may or may not have killed? Not to mention that there’s a demon-powered supernatural waiting for me in Venice who wants to see me dead by the time the next Council meeting rolls around. I pull away and stretch my neck back to look into his eyes.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen when we’re there, Rowan. You could get hurt - or worse.” He stares back at me, a slow grin spreading across his face, and I know in that instant that he’s made up his mind.
“I’ll take my chances with you any day, Lily Hughes.”
“Then I guess you’d better start packing.”
Acknowledgements
Thank you to Megan McDougall and Marianne Thicke (team M&M) for being such eager and enthusiastic readers. Your feedback and edits have been invaluable and your unwavering support helped get this e-publishing project off the ground.
Thank you to my loving family and to all of you who’ve ever read for me or rallied for me. Thank you to those of you I’ve had the pleasure of sharing workshops with and to the O.G.’s of Buchanan D who know in their heart of hearts that no offense was meant to Alice.
Thank you to the UBC Writing program and UBCO for stoking the creative fires and reminding me why one should never give up on one’s passion (even if it means doing it with a glass of wine after the kids go to bed).
Thank you to the Savage clan in Northern Ireland for the inspiration, to my spirited grandmother Jeannie (nee Savage) Johnston, and to my little brother Adam Johnston; may God hold you both in the palm of his hand.
Thank you to my husband Thorsten for supporting me in my endeavors even if the whole vampire-genre confounds you. Thank you for sitting through all five installments of the ‘Twilight Saga’ without a grunt of protest and for agreeing not to run the blender during episodes of ‘The Vampire Diaries’, even if it frustrates you to no end that they can’t seem to kill Klaus. You may have married a fourteen year-old girl trapped inside the body of an adult but I know you love her all the same. And most importantly thank you to my babies James and Andrew for being the loves of my life and the sole reason I do anything I do. Much love.
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