by Terry Spear
“Ohmigod! Dominic,” I called to him, tears choking my throat. I squeezed his other hand, but couldn’t find any pulse. “Are you sure, Kate? Are you sure it wasn’t just your imagination?”
“They can’t die in that manner, can they? It wasn’t one of the ways we discussed,” Kate said, her voice calm like I wished mine could be, but her eyes were misty, too.
Staring at his lifeless form, I probed Dominic’s thoughts, but there were none. His brain was as dead as his body. There was no wall to block out my probes, just nothing. I sobbed, unable to contain my grief any longer.
Kate reached over and patted my arm. “He’s immortal, Marissa. Maybe it takes longer to heal after being injured so badly.”
“Fatally!” I corrected her, not meaning to scream at her, but I couldn’t help it. I was supposed to protect Dominic. How could I have allowed this to happen? It was all my fault Joshua decided to make a play for me. I hadn’t handled anything right. Why did Dominic trust me? I was a failure at everything I did, and now…
More tears crowded down my cheeks. Now Lynetta would surely come after Kate and me, too.
Praying Kate was right, I ran my hand over his cold cheek, leaned over and listened for any sign he was breathing. Not a whisper of breath.
“I’ll kill him.”
“Marissa, you’ve got to control your emotions. Our teachers and parents drum this into us all the time—if we don’t manage our feelings, we could use our witch’s skills to harm someone.”
“I’ll kill him.” I looked up at her through blurry eyes. “I’ll kill Joshua for what he’s done.” My head throbbed with the blood rushing to it, and I was half out of my mind with a mixture of grief and anger.
“We have to let the council take care of him. But I think we need to wait before we report this to them. What if we told them he killed Dominic, then Dominic suddenly appeared just as healthy as before? We’d be in some pretty hot bat guano.”
I stood and left the room to concentrate better as Kate tagged along. I attempted the calming spell on myself, anything to get my anger under control.
Kate nodded, her face still tense, but she rubbed my arm, trying to console me. “That’s a girl. We’ll get through this somehow.”
What sounded like a nearly inaudible groan came from the living room.
“Dominic!” I ran to him and fell to my knees. “Dominic!” I held his hand and kissed his cheek, my tears wetting his face.
His eyelids fluttered, but then stilled. A faint heartbeat pulsed in his wrist.
I looked up at Kate and she managed a small smile.
“Oh, Kate, maybe you’re right. Let’s get him up to the guest bedroom.” I couldn’t tell Kate what I intended to do with him. She’d have to leave us alone and watch the pizza. Maybe my blood would help revive Dominic once he had come to. But I couldn’t have him feed on me in front of Kate.
Before she joined us, I lifted Dominic from the floor all on my own. She stared at me in disbelief. “Maybe he’s lighter from the injury,” I said, trying to explain the strange phenomenon.
“Let me take him then.” Kate was taller and stronger than me. Between the two of us, she would have been more capable of carrying him. But as soon as I handed Dominic’s lifeless body over to her, I could see she didn’t have my strength. Her knees bent as she attempted not to drop him from such a height. I immediately shoved my arms under him and lifted his weight from Kate.
“Another ability,” Kate said under her breath, impressed.
“If I’m physically stronger than you,” I said, my mind racing with the notion, “wouldn’t I be stronger than or as strong as a warlock now?” The implication scared the hell out of me.
“I don’t know. What are you thinking?”
Carrying Dominic, I started up the stairs. “Why couldn’t I break free from Joshua? He reminded me witches were physically weaker than warlocks, but if I have this vampiric ability, why wouldn’t I have been stronger against him?”
“Maybe your additional strength is still not strong enough to fight a warlock,” Kate reasoned, but I could see she wasn’t sure that was the explanation either.
“Maybe.” I didn’t believe it, but the other possibility I didn’t even want to consider. What if… I shook my head. No way had Joshua been turned, too. Wouldn’t he have exposed his canines?
When we reached the guest bedroom, Kate flipped on the light for me, though I didn’t have the heart to tell her I didn’t need it. She still did. Then I realized I’d forgotten to tell her about that new ability I had, too.
“Do you crave his blood?” Kate suddenly asked.
“No, thank God.” I laid Dominic on the bed, then covered him with a pieced quilt my mother had lovingly embroidered. Never in a million years would my mother have thought a nearly dead vampire would rest beneath it a year later.
Kate sighed deeply.
I sensed her relief, but until Dominic was speaking to me, I couldn’t think about anything else. “Listen, could you watch the pizza? I’m sure when it’s done, Dominic might need some nourishment. But only if it isn’t blackened.”
Kate attempted a smile. “All right. But I don’t always burn my cooking.”
I smiled at her. “Not always.” But nearly always.
When she left the room, I closed the door behind her and locked it.
I returned to the bed and sat on the mattress beside Dominic. Did he still want to kiss me like he had before Joshua struck him with the lightning bolt?
“Yes,” he responded telepathically, his word soft and loving.
“Dominic?” I kissed his forehead, his cheeks, his lips. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, but he didn’t kiss me back. “Dominic, can you open your eyes?”
“Only my mind to you, my love.”
“Will you live?”
“Long enough to kill Joshua.” Though his response sounded tired, it was still edged in poison.
“You can’t. Damn. You can’t even be seen by him again. He’ll know you’re not normal.”
Dominic’s brows lifted slightly, but he still didn’t open his eyes.
I kissed his lips again. “I didn’t mean that like it sounded.” I stroked his arm, then released his long hair from its leather strap and combed my fingers through the silky strands. “Would it help if I gave you some of my blood? Would it make you stronger?”
He didn’t respond. I laid my head on his chest and listened to the faint beat of his heart. “I would have killed Joshua myself,” I murmured against Dominic.
His hand swept over my back, but there was no strength in his touch. “Stay away from him, Marissa.”
“After what he did to you—”
“I didn’t react quickly enough to his spell. I’ve only just gained these warlock abilities myself, and I’m not used to calling on them to aid me. Besides, he’s an advanced class warlock.”
“But so are you!”
“Yes, but as I said, I’m not used to having the ability. It takes time to remember the spells, to cast them, to react to those being cast. You aren’t an advanced class witch, so stay away from him.”
My back stiffened, and he attempted to calm me down by rubbing it soothingly. But I wasn’t in the mood to be placated. “What were you planning to do to Lynetta tonight?”
His thoughts remained silent.
“You can’t do whatever you planned to, not the way you’ve been injured.” When he didn’t respond, I grumbled, “If you had done what I said and stayed in the kitchen, none of this would have happened.”
“Are you saying you enjoyed his kiss?”
My ire instantly stoked, I sat up on the bed. His dark brown eyes glared at me, but I scowled back just as furiously. The very idea!
I shook my head. “If you don’t get that jealousy under control, there will be nothing between us.” Before he could reach out and stop me, I stood. “Get your rest. The pizza should be done any minute now. When you have your strength back, come join us.”
“Mari
ssa.”
I couldn’t stand his pleading one moment and saying hateful things the next. Wasn’t I supposed to be happy he was alive again? I was. I just didn’t care for these jealous fits he had. And I really didn’t like his implication that I had enjoyed Joshua’s kiss. How could Dominic think something like that after Joshua had nearly killed him?
“I’ll…I’ll see you later.” I crossed the floor to the door, unlocked it and pulled it open. Kate held her hand up to the door, ready to strike at it, and I stifled a scream.
She smiled, her voice shaky. “Pizza’s done. How’s Dominic?”
Folding my arms, I simply said, “Ornery.”
She glanced in the room. “That’s good, isn’t it?”
No, I didn’t think so at all.
“If he’s feeling…well, cantankerous, that means he’s getting better,” Kate said. “Mom always says that about Dad. First, you’d think he was dying and he’s the biggest baby when he’s sick, and the next thing you know, he’s an ogre, demanding and all.”
“Right.” I closed the door, and we headed down the stairs. “So how long have you been eavesdropping?”
Kate’s eyes grew big and she feigned hurt that I would think such a thing of her.
I yanked on a blond curl drifting over her shoulder. “How long?” I wasn’t letting her get away with pretending she hadn’t been spying.
“It seemed to be a one-sided conversation.”
I smiled, glad that Kate hadn’t heard too much, then.
“You know, you might want to lighten up on Dominic a bit. He can’t help that he’s so in love with you that he doesn’t want other guys taking advantage of you. How would you have felt if Lynetta was kissing Dominic against his will?”
My hands fisted at my sides. “I would have wanted to kill her.”
“Yes, exactly. So now you see how Dominic feels about you?”
I nodded, my stomach churning with guilt.
“So he had no choice, really.”
“I just didn’t want him getting hurt, or revealing what he truly was. What if Joshua had learned Dominic was a…Prince of Darkness?” I paused at the end of the hallway. “I’ll tell him I’m sorry. Just serve the pizza, and I’ll be down in a minute.”
Kate wrapped her arm around me and hugged. “See you in a sec.”
Thank goodness Kate was always, well, almost always, a pillar of wisdom when my emotions got the best of me.
I strode back to the bedroom, hoping Dominic wouldn’t be too upset with my awful behavior. When I opened the door, my heart stopped dead.
The bed was empty.
Chapter 15
DOMINIC
“I love you, Marissa, with all my heart.”
Whether she could understand the strong feelings I had for her or not, I had to destroy the vamp who threatened to condemn me to a life of darkness. Then I’d destroy Joshua. But no matter what, I wanted to protect Marissa.
I had pretended weakness to throw her off, and I figured if I lived through my encounter with Lynetta, Marissa would kill me for being so deceitful. But how could I not? To stop me from harming myself this evening, I was certain she’d tie me to the bed if she could. Yet, I knew she’d be furious with me once she discovered me missing.
I had no choice. Lynetta waited for me somewhere. Even now, I sensed her evil presence nearby. We had to play the game and end it now before the spiteful vampire killed Marissa. As jealous as I was of Joshua kissing Marissa, I knew Lynetta would even be more so of Marissa sharing her blood with me. And I now truly believed that’s how my angel was my salvation—it was through her gift of her magic powers to me, not that she had to kill the vamp herself.
Instantly, I arrived at Lynetta’s two-story brick home. She had thirty more homes all over the world. But I felt she’d stick close to this one until she permanently had me under her control. There was no sign of her. Off feeding on the general populace, or coming for me, I assumed.
“Well,” a feminine voice said behind me, sultry and sexy, “you’ve come home to Lynetta.”
I turned to see the redheaded vamp, Karin, twisting a long curl around her slender finger. She was in her early twenties and had been a Baylor University student when Lynetta had caught hold of her. The newly-turned vamp still attended classes, only now they were night classes.
“You seem kind of pale. Need a bit of blood to perk you up?” She ran her long red nail down her neck, leaving a streak of fresh blood. “Lynetta said you wouldn’t feast on the general population like the rest of us have—which pleased her, since you were supposed to only feed off her to strengthen your union. But…” Karin cast a sinister smile, “feeding off that witch wasn’t in the plans. So, you wanna little of my blood since you’ve already broken the rules?”
Puzzled, I lifted a brow. Lynetta would be in a foul mood if she learned I’d taken blood from one of her minions. So why was Karin making the proposal? Unless she figured Lynetta was tired of my messing with Marissa and had put me on her terminal list. Still, the sight of Karin’s blood trickling down the cut she’d made stirred my bloodlust all over again. But I had to have Marissa’s. No other. Bonding with her would keep me strong. Drinking anyone else’s blood would dilute our connection, I was certain.
The vamp ran her hand through my hair. Her lips turned upward, and her green eyes smiled wickedly. “You seem tired. Not your venomous self.”
I had been pretty outspoken amongst those Lynetta had turned. Furious to be one of them. Fighting being turned further. But now, I realized too late, my strength hadn’t returned in full force. I was as weak as a newborn colt with barely the energy to stand on my own two feet. Apparently, I’d used the last of my reserves just getting here. I’d thought I was revived, but in truth, I had barely recovered from my injury.
I stepped back from her, intending to return to Marissa’s loving touch and the safety and comfort of her home, to beg her forgiveness. But when I tried to return, I couldn’t.
Dumbfounded, I just stood there. Then, panic-stricken, I wondered if I had really blown it this time.
“They’re trying to find a way into her house,” the vamp said. “So they can get you and bring you back here.” She smiled. “Imagine, they haven’t a clue that I have you all to myself.” She touched my sleeve. “You seem so passive. Are you all right?”
I yanked my arm away from her. She smiled. Every weak move I made seemed to amuse her. She took another step forward. If I erased her mind…
But if I did that, would I use any strength I had built up and become weaker than I was now? No matter the cost, I had to find my way back to Marissa’s house. As feeble as I was, I couldn’t stay here in the devil’s own home.
Maybe if I used a more conventional way I could do it. But before I could go, I’d have to clear the vamp’s mind. She obviously didn’t want the others knowing she had me under her thumb at the moment, so she didn’t convey my arrival telepathically to any others who might be close enough by to hear her.
I began to clear her mind, then stopped. “Does anyone who lives here have a vehicle?”
She snorted.
I guessed the answer was no and finished clearing her mind. Then I hurried out the front door into the dark where the other creatures of the night, such as I, lurked in the shadows. It already seemed like centuries ago that I had first seen Marissa and fallen in love.
I blew out my breath, deeply exasperated that I could barely stand. Just this once, I’d try to return to my own home on foot. Knowing the other bloodsuckers watched my house to see if I’d return there, I’d been avoiding it. But now they most likely focused their attention on Marissa’s house. However, I was afraid I couldn’t get close enough to attempt to shift into her place until I recovered somewhat. I’d have to chance returning to my own. Maybe by morning, I’d be recovered enough to return to Marissa’s, yet the thought of leaving her alone all night didn’t sit well with me.
Then I thought of my cell phone. I didn’t know Marissa’s number offhand, s
o I called home.
“Mom…mom…” I paused when my mother promptly burst into tears over the phone. I hated it when she cried, but especially when I needed their help so, and precious moments were ticking away.
“Hello?” James said, his voice forceful and worried.
Thank God my brother was there. “James, I need you to pick me up at Sanborn and Riverside. I’m on foot and I can’t do my usual transportation, so I’m awfully vulnerable.”
“I’m on my way.” The phone clicked dead and at once, I felt cut off from humanity, left to wander alone in the darkness, hiding from Lynetta and her blood bonds.
Both my mother and father had fallen apart over my change, but thankfully, James had dealt with it much better. Maybe because of his youth. Or maybe because he was used to my shenanigans and getting me out of trouble. In any event, I was extremely glad James would drop everything to come to my aid.
For what seemed like hours, I waited, hidden in the shrubs next to a house only three blocks away from Lynetta’s. Then I heard James’s pickup engine grumbling a block away, sounding like music to my ears. The beaten and rusted, but most reliable piece of junk on wheels I could ever have wished for, appeared like a blue metal monster, creeping along the street while James kept an eye out for me.
He slowed the pickup only a few feet away, and I dashed out of the brush. I yanked open the creaking door and jumped into his cab, stumbling and nearly falling headlong into James.
“What’s happening, Dominic?” James helped me back into the seat, then I managed to slam the door and he drove off.
He glanced at me, then kept his eyes focused on the road, his broad shoulders tense, his hazel eyes worried. I noticed then that he’d added more of that lightening gel. If he didn’t quit doing that, he’d no longer look like my brother, but some beach dude from Southern California.
“Go east, to Whispering Oaks Estates,” I ordered, concerned we still might get caught.
James turned the truck around and sped away from Lynetta’s neighborhood while I explained my latest troubles. “I tried to kill the vamp, but was struck by a warlock’s spell tonight. I hadn’t realized how weak it made me.”