Bodyguard of Love

by Lane, Terri

  “Sophia!” Damien shouted just as fire speared through my calf. I hit the ground hard, face first. The pain that clawed through my leg was sharp and relentless. Kai’s howl sounded distant in my ears. My vision hazed and tunneled until unconsciousness took me.

  THE END OF BOOK 1

  Book 2: Prevailing Love

  I woke with a slow and vague sense of urgency. But soon, I opened my eyes and the world came back into stark relief. Trees and the early morning sky sped over me. I realized I was in the bed of a truck.

  “She’s awake,” said Damien’s voice. Though, something was off about the way he sounded. I attempted to sit up, but he pressed my shoulder down to keep me still.

  “What’s wrong Damien?” I asked. He was clutching his side and attempting to wrap something around my leg with one hand. “Damien,” I said as sharply as I could. I felt weak. It was hard to move, as though I weighed a thousand pounds.

  “We got out,” he said through clenched teeth.

  “Who, we?” I asked.

  “Just us three; you, me, and Kai,” he said.

  “You were hit?” I said. I glanced at his side, and saw he was slowly bleeding out in front of me. It looked bad. I forced myself to sit up. My leg was in a tourniquet; otherwise I was fine. It was he who was dying. I found it hard to breathe as I tried to help staunch the blood flow. “You got this far Damien,” I murmured.

  “I have lived a good life Sophia. I’ve had more honor in serving you as coven leader than I have serving anyone else. Knowing that you’ll live…makes this easier,” he said. His voice was barely above a whisper.

  “Damien, we’re getting away. You can’t let go now. I can heal you,” I tell him.

  “No, I cannot drink from you,” said Damien. “You’re injured. Your life is more important,” he said.

  “It’s not, Damien. Besides, I need someone to come back with me. I can’t return to the coven alone,” I told him, desperation creeping into my voice.

  “Sophia, it’s done,” he said it with a soft smile. I held his hand and watched the light slowly fade from his eyes. I closed his lids and took off my jacket to cover his face.

  “Kai…Kai,” I called, my voice hoarse.

  “We’re almost through Willard. We can’t stop here. The Hunters know this was our goal,” he called through the window.

  “No one else made it?” I asked. The silence emanating through the window was my answer. I opened the back window as far as it could go.

  Kai saw what I was doing and said, “No Sophia, you’ll hurt yourself even more.”

  I ignored him and gingerly slid into the cab with him. Once I was on the seat, I took a moment and closed my eyes. I was still dizzy from my injuries, as well as the motion of the truck.

  “Sophia,” Kai said, gently shaking my shoulder. I opened my eyes and turned a weary gaze on him. He looked battle-ragged. His hair hung into his face, his shoulders were tense, and he had bloody scratches and dirt all over his arms.

  “I failed…” I mumbled.

  “We both did. We…we underestimated the Hunters’ organization and dedication. There’s no systematic taking back of the forest for us. An all-out war has to happen there. That, or our kind moves further north. I heard Canada isn’t that bad,” he said.

  “For wolves. Vampires will have to move back to Europe and the covens there are old and snobbish. Who knows how they’d handle American emigrants,” I said.

  “How about you and me just let go of the responsibilities of running a pack and coven. How about we go north together?” he asked. I looked at him with wide eyes. I couldn’t add much conviction to my incredulity. Because the thought of moving on towards peace, after everything we’d been through the past few days, was really enticing.

  Kai added, “Think about it Sophia…we could be together. We could play at normal lives, then when we get bored pick up and move. No one to worry about but ourselves.”

  “I can hardly imagine a life without…the responsibility of a coven,” I said. “Can you imagine a life without a pack?” I asked.

  “My pack…they’ll carry on. My father has other sons who will jump at the chance to become alpha—”

  “What?” I asked, not following.

  “Just as you guys have one big coven with smaller ones under it, we have one big pack in Seattle and smaller, more manageable groups within it. My father is Head Alpha. I’m supposed to take his place once he stops shifting for good,” he said.

  “And you’d leave that?” I asked.

  “If it meant peace,” he said, glancing at me.

  “Maybe we’re in shock,” I said quietly.

  “Maybe…” he mumbled. “How’s the leg?” he asked.

  “It stopped bleeding. But I’m not sure if I should be concerned about that at all,” I said.

  “We can pull off, you take from my vein,” he said.

  “No, no…just drive, get us to Portland,” I told him.

  “But Sophia, you look like snow,” he said. Oddly enough, his words caused a rising of hysteria in me. I chuckled, then the laughter simply kept bubbling out, I closed my eyes to surrender to it. Kai glanced at me in concern, until he started to laugh as well. It felt as if we laughed for ten minutes. By the time I opened my eyes, we were pulled off to the side of the road.

  “Kai, keep driving,” I told him. We weren’t out of the woods yet.

  “It’s fine. Sophia, I don’t want you dying on me,” he said. Kai stretched out his arm and held his wrist to my lips. As soon as his vein brushed against my lips, I bit into him. Instinct took over and I took a long draw of his blood. I realized just how close to unconsciousness I actually was. Energy surged through my veins from his blood. Through great force of will, I stopped drinking. With one swipe of my tongue, his blood coagulated and the flow stopped.

  “How do you feel?” I asked him. My voice was stronger, and I felt comforting warmth in my chest. But my limbs still felt too limp and heavy.

  “Good. You sound better,” he said. All I did was nod as I watched him put the truck in gear and continue towards Portland.

  “Where are we going first?” I asked.

  “To your coven,” he said. “You need help bringing Damien in.” I didn’t argue with him. Instead I tilted my head back against the headrest and closed my eyes.

  An hour later, Kai woke me. “Hey Sophia…I need directions,” he said. I glanced around and found that we were finally in the city. I guided him to our house in Portland, in Northwest District on the border of Forest Park.

  “I always thought this was maybe…some historic park building,” Kai said. He pulled around to the back of the red brick mansion. It was fashioned in the nineteenth century after the posh castles of Ireland.

  “Technically…it is,” I said. He pulled into the service lot well hidden within a yard of trees. I gave him the gate code to get into it. As soon as we were closed in the lot, three vampires emerged from the entrance.

  Alexis, descendant of an ancient elder and daughter of a council member, led the small group. Alexis was basically my heir to the Portland Coven. She was flanked by Wallace and Alpheus, they had their hands ready on hidden weapons.

  “Sophia, what happened?” said Alexis. “We hadn’t heard from your party for days.”

  “Help me out?” I asked them. Wallace opened the door and wrapped his arm around my waist. Kai’s growl was unmistakable.

  “What’s with the wolf?” Alpheus asked. He bared his fangs at Kai, and a low hiss escaped his throat.

  “It’s a long story…Damien is in the bed,” I told him. Alpheus’s expression sobered and he went around to lift Damien out.

  “What happened, Sophia?” Alexis asked again. I glanced back at Kai.

  “Thank you for getting her back to us wolf,” Wallace said. With a clenched jaw, Kai nodded. He met my gaze for a brief moment, then put the truck in reverse. I couldn’t watch him go. Wallace had turned around to follow Alpheus and Alexis into the house.

  “Strange
that a wolf helped you,” Alexis said.

  “Half our party ended up in the Pinchot safe house with a small portion of his pack. We bonded over survival…” I said.

  “But both of you were alone?” she asked.

  “When we were making our escape from the Hunter infested territory, everyone else died in an attack…everyone died,” I said.

  “We must go to your father with this,” said Alexis. “We were just about to tell him you might’ve perished in the forest.”

  Wallace guided me through the narrow service hallway. We took the private hallways to the infirmary room. It used to be one of the house’s three libraries, but was refitted as a clinic fifty years ago. Alpheus took Damien’s body back to the adjoined room that acted as a morgue.

  “Sophia! Oh, thank goodness you survived. Are there any others?” Healer Porter asked. He was possibly the least jaded vampire I’ve ever known, even after having witnessed so much death. The vampire of two hundred years still acted as if he were still in his growing years.

  “None…you wouldn’t believe how desperate the situation was. A wolf drove her in,” Wallace told him.

  “How many Hunters did you encounter?” Porter asked.

  “They were endless…but please, I need blood,” I said. A driving migraine had bloomed around my entire skull. Wallace helped me to a bed and Porter handed me a bag of blood.

  “We just made a run to the blood banks; the Hunters are trying to keep presences around there as well,” he said.

  “They need to be eradicated,” I mumbled.

  “We have an audience scheduled with your father at midnight. If you are not up for it, we can surely reschedule,” Alexis said.

  “No, I’ll be fine for midnight. Is he coming here?” I asked.

  “Yes,” she said. I took a deep breath. I’d gone out with an entire party and lost many good fighters. Wraith, my father, would have my head for my failure.

  “Don’t drink yet, I’ll see about this leg,” Porter said. He injected local anesthetic and went about making sure all parts of the bullet were removed from my leg before he sewed me up. Afterwards I was helped back to my room where I quickly showered and changed into comfortable clothes before the anesthetic wore off. I settled into my bed with the bag of blood and a copy of the Homer’s Iliad. If I gave into rest, my mind would have purchase to haunt and torture me. Really, I wanted to be curling up with Kai. He could talk me to sleep with his dreams of our living peacefully in Canada.

  A deep sigh left my chest. I didn’t even know where Kai lived. I only knew his pack was near Seattle. I didn’t even get his phone number…how could we possibly keep seeing each other? How could I have let him convince me that a relationship was possible between us? Of course it was impossible. We both had immense duties, starkly apparent now that we had returned to our respective worlds. I bit into the blood bag and took a long pull. The sadness pushed heavy on my chest as I realized the last time I saw Kai was the last time I’d see him ever. After I finished the blood, I shut my eyes and attempted to find sleep. Thankfully, my exhaustion was heavy enough to pull me under almost as soon as my eyes closed.

  * * *

  “Sophia,” my father’s cultured voice drew me away from sleep. I opened my eyes and saw him standing in front of my window. He was dressed in a black suit, as was customary for him. His hands were held loosely behind his back. Wraith was a tall and regal vampire. He was a handful of years past five hundred and his hair had only just begun to gray around his ears. The rest of his hair was still jet black.

  “Father…” I murmured.

  “I was beginning to think you’d perished in that forest,” he said.

  “And what would you have done if I had?” I asked.

  “Perhaps I would have made another daughter,” he said. I sat up while he turned around.

  “Mother hates you,” I said wryly.

  “She hates everyone. I would never lay with that viper ever again. All her goodness died after you were born,” he said sharply. I smirked and the ghost of a smile touched his lips.

  “Father, the Hunter situation is imperative…” I said.

  “They will not be underestimated anymore,” he agreed.

  “We have to hit them…full force,” I said.

  “I will call a conference” he said. “Then we will decide how to handle this affront. As for you...” His ice blue eyes seemed to cut through me. I recognized his look. He was concerned.

  “I’m fine, father,” I told him.

  “You lost a full fighting party. And Damien, I know how fond you were of each other,” he said. Damien and I were always close, but more in the manner of brother and sister than anything else.

  “They were soldiers. Their sacrifices will be honored father. But there is no use in pining after the dead,” I said. Immediately, Kai’s face flashed in my mind.

  “You are pining,” Wraith observed.

  “Father—”

  “Just because we are vampires, does not mean we do not feel,” he said. “You need time to recover from this tragedy. Take the time. I am sure Alexis can manage running this place a few more nights. Soon you will be moving to Prime Coven and she’ll be taking over here anyhow.” He glided to the door, but paused with his hand on the old carved mahogany. “I will send word when the conference is confirmed,” he said. With that, he was gone.

  I sighed, and it sounded as if it had culminated from centuries of repression. One of the few kindnesses of immortality was that memory always faded with time. I let myself remember Damien and cried, those tears mingling with my loss of Kai as well.

  * * *

  I woke at sunset feeling markedly better than I had the day before. My energy felt nearly replenished. Standing up, I shook off some dizziness and tested my leg. There was only slight pain, but not enough to deter me from a full day of training. After breakfast, I intended to stay in the sparring room and face anyone who arrived to exercise. The green marble tiled halls were still quiet as I made my way to the kitchens.

  “Oh, Sophia…” Alexis’ voice brought my attention to one of the high-stooled tables. It sat next to a wide view of the forest outside.

  “How are you Alexis?” I asked while checking out a half glass of blood. There was a line of industrial refrigerators on the far side of the kitchen that dispensed various amounts of blood per whatever vampire’s needs. But it did cap dispensations when blood supplies were low.

  “Fine, just having a boost,” said Alexis. “Your father told me you’d likely be resting for a few days.”

  I joined Alexis at the table. Her honey blonde hair was pulled up into a bun. She wore a loose dark gray blouse over black leather tights and dark gray combat boots. Her eyes were the same gray as her clothes.

  “Well I woke up feeling fine,” I said. “So, I figure, why not spend the day sparring?” I took a sip of the blood and set down my cup.

  “If you’re feeling up to it…” she said. There was a moment of comfortable quiet. “I was fond of Roland you know,” she said…to no one in particular. Her gaze was far away, in the trees.

  “I’m sorry. We lost…many great vampires,” I said in a low voice.

  “What am I going on about? I shouldn’t bring this up again for you,” she said, apologizing.

  “It’s fine Alexis, I’m alright,” I insisted.

  She studied me closely for the span of three breaths.

  “You don’t seem—”

  “I said I’m fine, does my word mean nothing?” I asked, cutting her off.

  “N-no Sophia, I meant no offense,” she said. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

  “If you need me, I’ll be in the gym,” I said. I took my glass with me and went towards the sparring room with purpose. I was first to enter the gym. As I finished my drink I went around, turning on lights and checking the weapon stores.

  “Sophia…” Porter’s voice called my attention to the entrance. “I assumed you’d be resting tonight. Your body needs it,” he said.


  “I’m fine Porter, I feel my usual self,” I lied. “Why are you here?” His night colored hair fell into his face as he glanced down.

  “I was going to wait for someone to spar with,” he said.

  “Very well, you’ll have me for a match,” I told him. His silver eyes widened as they quickly met mine.

  “Sophia, I strongly believe you should still be resting. All the blood you’ve taken in since returning is going towards your healing. You’ll have no energy in there,” he said. I glanced across the matte gray gym floor to the steel doors of the sparring room.

  “I have plenty energy, I’m standing here aren’t I?” I asked. Porter took a deep breath and sighed.

  “As you wish,” he said. Once I finished turning on all the stations in the gym, Porter followed me into the sparing room. It was designed as a ring. There was a raised mat in the center. For those who sparred, the rules were simple, step or fall out of the fighting area and you lose. Porter stepped onto the mat. He wore form-fitting pants and light weight boots. His shirt was loose and I could use that to my advantage. I’d dressed for close combat; my clothes clung to my shape and were made for ease of movement.

  I stepped onto the mat and slowly circled around Porter. He sprinted forward to grab me by the neck. But I moved my head back just in time. I caught him by the elbow and shoved him back. As soon as I did a wave of dizziness draped over me and I fell square on my bottom.

  “Sophia!” Porter exclaimed, he was at my side within the blink of an eye.

  “I’m fine…” I said, though suddenly. I was short of breath.

  “I told you, you should be resting,” he said.

  “I don’t need to rest Porter! I need to be in motion,” I said through miles of frustration. I shook him off and forced myself to stand.

  “I won’t fight you while you’re like this,” he said. He guided me off the mat and I realized I leaned on him heavily to move.