At last, they moved on and Serenity and Bridget both slammed against the counter. The pretty brunette manning the desk reared back at their sudden arrival.
“Please tell me you have two seats available on the next flight to JFK,” Serenity blurted. “I’m sorry, but it’s an emergency,” she added, not wanting to make the woman think they were some kind of danger.
The brunette gave them a nervous smile and tapped her keyboard. “You’re in luck. We do have seats.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” said Serenity, resisting the urge to lean over the counter and hug the woman.
Bridget handed her credit card over and Serenity’s heart sank. “Oh Bridget, I didn’t even think about how we’d pay!”
“Don’t be silly. Elizabeth’s like my daughter as well. I don’t care about the money.”
“How long’s the flight?” Serenity asked, directing her question to the brunette behind the counter.
“A little over five hours,” the woman said, almost apologetically.
Inwardly, Serenity groaned. What the hell would she do for five hours? It wasn’t like she’d just be able to lose herself in a book or magazine, and she certainly wouldn’t be able to sleep. This would be the longest five hours of her life.
“Okay, thanks. We’ll take two round-trip tickets,” she said, handing over her identification. She noted the damp marks her fingers had left on the card and self-consciously wiped her palms on her jeans. She needed to calm down. At this rate, she would get pulled aside by airport security and detained for her frantic behavior. What would she say? ‘Sorry, my daughter’s been kidnapped by a vampire.’ That would only land her a stint in a psychiatric ward. If she even mentioned her daughter being kidnapped, the police would get involved and that would be no good for anyone. If they busted Demitri’s lair, the cops would probably end up dead, and so would Elizabeth. Either that or Demitri would vanish with her forever.
The thought of police made her thoughts drift to James Bently and his family. She hoped he was doing well. She wondered if Amy had given birth to their second child yet. She was relieved they were both well away from this whole mess. James had done the right thing by moving them away. If only she and Sebastian had that option as a family. But they couldn’t run away from what they were.
With tickets in hand, they went through security and toward the departure gates. Everyone seemed relaxed and friendly, the total opposite of Serenity’s mood. She had to stop herself grabbing people and shoving them out of the way, yelling, ‘My daughter’s in danger, why isn’t anyone doing anything?’
Bridget placed a steady hand on her arm. “It’ll be all right. You need to calm down.”
“Sorry.”
Serenity paced around until their flight was called. They boarded the airplane and, once they were in the air, Bridget ordered them two large brandies.
“Here, drink this.”
Serenity stared at the plastic cup of amber liquid. “Are you serious?”
She pressed the flimsy cup into Serenity’s hand. “You need it. It’ll calm you down.”
Serenity nodded and knocked the drink back. It burned her throat and she coughed. She’d never been a big drinker and immediately the alcohol loosened her limbs.
“Better?” Bridget inquired.
“Yes, thank you.”
“Now try to relax. We can’t do anything until we get to New York. Giving yourself a heart attack before then isn’t going to help anyone.”
“I know. You’re right.”
Even so, the rest of the flight passed painfully slow. Serenity fidgeted and made multiple excuses to go to the bathroom, partly to break up the time, but also to be alone for a few minutes. She stared at herself in the tiny mirror, wondering why she didn’t look as bad as she felt. Then she remembered Sebastian’s blood. It seemed, even in a crisis, when the whole world seemed to be falling down around her, she still had perfect curls and skin.
A pang of longing almost doubled her over. She wished Sebastian was with her. Even though he’d been wrong about Demitri, she’d still feel better with his solid, indomitable strength beside her.
The plane touched down and, luggage free, they passed right through the terminal and out to where a line of people waited for cabs. The vehicles pulled up and whisked people away. The process was slow, but they moved forward until it was their turn.
“Where you headed?” the driver asked as they slid in the back.
“The Metropolitan Hotel,” Serenity said, thankful she’d remembered the name.
“You know what part of the city that’s in?” he asked, his New York accent strong.
“No. I…” Tears threatened once again. “I didn’t think to check.”
“No problem,” he said, pulling out a smart phone and keying in the name of the hotel. “Here you go. Midtown East.”
For the second time that day, she resisted the urge to hug a complete stranger.
The day was getting late. Now heading into late afternoon, the sky had taken on a gray shade of blue, the sun low in the sky. The air had a distinct bite and Serenity was thankful for her sweater. Would Elizabeth be cold? Was anyone taking care of her?
A lump formed in her throat.
Please let her be all right. Oh God, please let her be safe.
At least the vampires would also be asleep during the day. She hoped that meant they’d leave Elizabeth alone. Demitri may have humans he used to keep watch during the daytime hours, but he didn’t seem the type to trust the living.
Bridget’s warm, soft hand closed over her own and gave a reassuring squeeze. Serenity looked up and Bridget smiled.
“Not far now.”
Despite the reassurance, Serenity fidgeted through the thirty-minute drive. The vehicle crept through traffic—traffic that seemed to build up around them the deeper they got into the city and the closer they got to rush hour. Eventually, Serenity recognized the bagel shop she’d eaten at and the cab pulled over and deposited them on the sidewalk outside the hotel. The sun was finally dropping in the sky and Serenity watched its progress. Never had nightfall meant so much. It meant dangerous vampires would once again surround Elizabeth, and Sebastian would wake to discover his family gone.
Chapter Eighteen
Sebastian’s eyes shot open. He lay motionless on the bed, his arms folded across his chest, his ears straining.
The house was quiet—too quiet. He couldn’t hear a single heartbeat thudding within its walls, not a breath, no talking or laughter.
The house was empty.
Sebastian sat up. Where was everyone? Dusk had fallen and he felt sure Serenity and Bridget wouldn’t take Elizabeth out at night.
They’ve probably just gone to get some take-out for dinner…
Uncertainty buzzed at his nerve endings. Something wasn’t right. Serenity would have wanted to be with him when he woke. He didn’t think she’d want to miss even a minute of them being a family again.
Using his speed, he darted in and out of their bedrooms. In both Serenity and Elizabeth’s room, the dresser drawers hung open, clothes spilling from the insides. The closet doors stood ajar, another little jumble of clothes on the bottom, as though items had been torn from the hangers with no intent of picking them back up.
His sense of unease increased.
He left the first floor and raced around the house. On the kitchen counter, a sheet of paper had been weighted down with a saltshaker. Sebastian snatched up the note, the paper crisp in his fingers. His eyes scoured the lines, a combination of fear and rage creeping in as his brain processed the words:
Sebastian,
Demitri came in the night and took Elizabeth. We tried to wake you, but we couldn’t. Bridget and I have flown to New York. Please, come as soon as you can. I’ll be at the hotel, or if I’m not there, you’ll know I’ve already encountered Demitri.
I love you. Come as fast as you can.
Serenity.
Fury erupted from his core and he lifted his head and r
oared, the sound echoing around the big house. His fingers hooked beneath the kitchen countertop and he lifted, wrenching the huge piece of marble from the solid wood units beneath. The wood creaked and split in protest and tore apart. Enraged, Sebastian flung the huge slab to the floor. The marble hit with a resounding crack and shattered into several pieces, breaking the tiles that made up the kitchen flooring. But Sebastian wasn’t done. With anger controlling him, he yelled again and swung his arm, sending all of the kitchen appliances—kettle, coffee machine, microwave—hurtling across the room, smashing into the opposite wall with a clanging crash. He punched the wall behind where the counter had been, his fist crunching through plasterboard and finally brick.
Goddamn what he was! What good was so much strength when, once again, someone had hurt his family while he lay helpless? He hated to think of Serenity trying to wake him, begging for his help, while he lay motionless on the bed—to her eyes, for all purposes, dead.
She deserves better than me. They both do.
He hated himself, but didn’t have the time to wallow in self-pity or smash up any more of his house. He needed to make the journey back across the country again, and fast. He dreaded to think what sort of situation Serenity had already gotten herself into. The possibility of her waiting, sitting on her hands at the hotel, was remote. Knowing Demitri held Elizabeth only a couple of blocks away, Serenity wouldn’t just do nothing.
Elizabeth.
His heart contracted with pain. If Demitri had hurt her in any way, Sebastian would find a way to destroy him.
He knew the thoughts were hollow threats. The elder vampire had made it into the house without Sebastian even being aware of his presence. He’d been so caught up in Serenity, in losing himself in the pleasures of her body, he hadn’t noticed a thing outside of her arms.
He wished he could be wakened during the day, but only threatening his existence would break through his unnatural sleep. If Serenity tried to harm him—expose him to light, cut off his head, stake his heart—he would slaughter her without even realizing what he was doing. His body would simply react, even if they’d previously come to an agreement that she needed to take such actions to get through to him.
Damn it! He’d never thought Demitri would come already; he’d promised them time to be together again. Surely one night didn’t amount to ‘time’? Sebastian growled, a low rumble deep within his chest. He was always making mistakes—so many mistakes. Would a time ever come when he wouldn’t let his family down?
How could someone so strong also be so weak?
At least this journey across the country would be made alone. He wouldn’t have to worry if the person he carried was comfortable or needed to rest. He would be faster on his own and he wouldn’t tire.
Sebastian cast a glance at the mess he’d created. Serenity would go nuts at him for smashing up the house. Understandably, after living for so many years under Jackson’s violent hand, she would hate if he showed any kind of anger toward something not immediately threatening their lives. This kind of loss of control was what she feared most.
Still, he didn’t have time to start making repairs right now. He just hoped that a destroyed kitchen would be the worst of their worries by the time they got home.
Ignoring the mess, Sebastian stormed out of the house, shoving through the double fronted doors. They slammed open, hitting the walls behind. Mortar crumbled and a large crack appeared down the center of one of the panels. Sebastian kept going, running at breathtaking speed along the gravel, his feet touching the ground so lightly they barely made a sound. He lowered to a crouch, centering his strength, and sprung over the high walls.
He ran across the city, leaping over highways and the roofs of buildings when it was quicker to do so. He took more risks than he ever had when he traveled with Serenity or Elizabeth; bigger, longer jumps that made him feel like he was flying, soaring through the air until he hit the ground, light on his feet.
He left the city far behind, crossing through miles of forest. Gradually, the forests gave way to the drier, scrubbier land of the Mohave National Preserve. Huge sandstone mesas rose from the ground and he negotiated canyons to cut across the country.
Long distance vampire, he thought and would have smiled to himself if not for the gravity of the circumstances. As his legs ate away the hundreds of miles, his thoughts remained with Elizabeth. He hoped she wasn’t too frightened and Demitri hadn’t hurt her.
Sebastian crossed through the corner of Colorado and a pang of hunger hit him. Running back and forth across the country may not tire him out, but it sure as hell made him hungry. The previous night, the young woman’s blood had been racing through his veins. The night before, the blood of the hobo. He’d killed more in the past three days than in the last couple of months. But if he were to be any kind of force against Demitri, he needed to feed.
Sebastian paused for a moment, taking stock of his surroundings. Though only dense forest stretched in every direction, his keen hearing picked up the definitive high-pitched roar of a motorbike. A bike meant a road and people. He would take down whoever rode the bike if he needed to, leaping from the forest like a wildcat, colliding with it with enough speed and force to knock the rider to the ground while the bike spun away in the opposite direction.
He followed the roar. As he got closer, he picked up the sound of music playing, voices and laughter. Heat flooded through the trees, carrying with it the distinctive scent of blood. The engine of the bike cut out, but he no longer needed the constant drone as something to follow.
Sebastian broke through the trees and found himself standing on the side of an almost deserted highway. No vehicles passed, but he understood the reason for the silenced bike. On the other side of the road was a bar. Twenty or so bikes were parked up outside.
A biker stop.
One guy, a huge brick of a man complete with leather, long scraggly hair and an even longer beard, stood to one side of the building, sheltered in the bushes. The fizz and acrid stink of hot urine hitting the earth filled the air.
Moving quickly, Sebastian crossed the road. He passed the bikes and entrance of the bar, coming to rest only feet behind the big man. Though Sebastian was big, this guy stood at least two inches taller and was easily twice as wide. Sebastian stood, silent, at least offering the man the opportunity to zip his fly.
He didn’t, however, give him a chance to turn around. He launched onto the biker’s back, teeth snapping into the thick throat. Cigarette smoke, beer and fresh urine filled his nostrils. Stale sweat pressed against the flat of his tongue. The biker was strong, but nowhere near as strong as Sebastian. He yelled out and teetered backward, but Sebastian clung to him, his fingers digging into the man’s thick shoulders. He growled and sank his teeth deeper. The man’s neck crunched and he slumped to the floor.
Sebastian drank with speed and intensity. Urgency didn’t allow him to take pleasure in the act or dispose of the body as he normally would. This was one he’d have to take the risk of coming back. Sometimes, if the bodies weren’t trapped beneath the earth in some way, they reanimated, becoming almost zombie-like. Unlike in the movies, the need to eat human flesh didn’t compel them. Instead they simply wandered around. Eventually the body ran out of steam and dropped wherever it stood.
He didn’t have time to bury the body, but he didn’t intend to leave it in the parking lot. More bikers might be here any minute. Discovering the drained body, with obvious puncture wounds, would cause chaos.
Two men left the bar, the door swinging open in a blast of music and chatter. Sebastian lifted his head, blood smeared across his chin. Not wanting to be seen, he scooped up the body. From a crouch, he sprang to the roof of the bar, the body in his arms. Voices drifted up to him like smoke, and a low snort of laughter rumbled in the night.
Sebastian moved with silent steps to the back of the roof. The bar backed onto miles of forestry, the road it served being the only one in the area. Sebastian leaped from the roof, landing deep within t
he branches and tree trunks with no more than a rustle of foliage.
He dumped the body out in the middle of the forest as he ran. The corpse may reanimate, but wouldn’t get anywhere near other humans before it fell down forever.
With the man’s fresh blood rushing through his veins, Sebastian picked up speed. The world flew by in a blur of color, light and sound. He passed big cities, sirens and traffic blaring past his ears as he moved. His mind stayed focused, seeing only Elizabeth and Serenity’s faces, trying not to think of them hurt or possibly dead.
No, Demitri wouldn’t kill Elizabeth—she had too much value to him. But Serenity… If Serenity got in his way, the vampire may well envisage her as no more than a good meal.
The thought made Sebastian’s stomach tighten in rage and fear. He couldn’t lose her now; not after everything they’d been through together. They deserved their happy ending. He wouldn’t let one of his own kind be the one to put an end to that. If Serenity died, he’d always want to raise Elizabeth, but he’d never be whole again. A piece of his heart would die with her.
Sebastian remembered how Elizabeth had seen herself in Serenity’s place, seen where she was and what was around her. If only that talent could be reversed, so that she projected her own thoughts and the things she saw around her into his head. At least then he’d have more to go on. At the moment, however, he would be going in blind.
Don’t do anything stupid, Serenity, he thought to himself, remembering the time she’d taken on his maker, Madeline, single-handedly. Okay, that time her plan had worked, but she’d still come too close to getting herself killed.
At least Bridget was with her. Surely sensible, steadfast Bridget would rein her in if she tried to rush headfirst into Demitri’s lair.
He tried to push away the niggling uncertainty that Bridget might try to attempt something herself—that she really believed all her talk about magic potions and spells.
The Serenity Series: Box Set: Books 1-3 Page 59