Keepers of the Flame (Trilogy Bundle)

by Melissa F. Hart

  “What are we going to do?” I asked.

  “I'll alert the Protector headquarters and we'll wait for orders.” I could feel his voice rumbling in his chest.

  “What do you mean we'll wait?” I tried to sit up but he held onto me and after a brief struggle, I gave in and snuggled against him once more.

  “We don't know who's behind this or what's waiting for us out there. We need to wait for instructions from HQ.”

  “You don't understand, Dylan. This is Katrina, she's all I have and she's out there somewhere. I have to get to her.” I could hear the desperation in my voice.

  He was silent for a long time before he finally spoke. “I do understand, Lu. I know what it's like to lose someone you care about. I know how much you love Katrina and we'll go through this together. We're not going to let anything happen to her.”

  His words were oddly reassuring and I wondered briefly who he'd lost. Was that the reason he refused to trust anyone? Was he scared of going through this gut-wrenching uncertainty and fear? I couldn't blame him for that. I stifled a yawn as sleep suddenly came over me. I knew it was a defense mechanism but was powerless to stop it.

  “I'm so tired,” I muttered.

  He stroked my hair softly and leaned down to kiss me. My lips clung to him and I didn't want to let him go. He held on to me too like he didn't want to let me go and it felt so good. He reluctantly broke the kiss and gave me a light peck on the nose.

  “You need to rest, Lu. It's going to be a long journey ahead.”

  I nodded as my eyes drifted close.

  When I opened my eyes, he was lying next to me, his head resting on his palms as he watched me sleep.

  “Hey,” he said with a smile.

  “Hey. Were you watching me sleep the whole time?” I asked, my voice thick with sleep.

  “Yeah. You're so cute when you sleep. You let out these tiny snores, they're adorable.”

  “I don't snore!”

  “Do too.”

  I lifted an eyebrow. “Have you any idea how juvenile you just sounded?”

  He shrugged with a smile. “We need to be on our way,” he said, swinging his feet off the bed.

  “Where are we going?”

  “First we'll head for HQ and from there, for London.”

  I felt dread well up in me. Think about Katrina. I told myself. Katrina's what's important here.

  I tried to smile at him but failed dismally. “I'll need a few minutes to get ready, then we can be on our way.”

  He stretched out a hand, which I used to boost myself out of the bed. He pulled me up and as I stood, we were standing toe to toe. He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me closer till I was flush against him. I looked up just as he leaned down and kissed me. I lifted my arms and placed them on his shoulders, drawing comfort from his kisses and his touch.

  He drew back slightly. “We're in this together, okay?” he said gazing deep into my eyes.

  I nodded. “I know. Thanks.”

  He kissed me again then stepped back. “All right then, five minutes and we need to report at HQ for briefing. Did you take those combat lessons I asked you to sign up for?”

  During one of his monthly phone calls, he'd badgered me into signing up for vampire combat lessons with some pal of his. I'd been going religiously twice a week since then and told him as much.

  He smiled at me and swatted my bum. “Good girl.”

  “Hey, watch it!” I frowned at him as I walked to my ensuite to get ready. I had no idea what was waiting for us out there. If he thought I would need combat skills, it meant this was even more dangerous that I'd thought. I sprinkled a handful of water over my face and stared at the mirror above the sink. Was I ready for this? I was going to have to come face to face with my past. A past I'd resolutely refused to discuss or speak about in over four years. I fought down nausea. I didn't think I could do this. But for Katrina's sake, I had to. But dear heavens, I was so scared. I felt chilled to the bone and even the stone lying on my chest seemed to have taken in some of the chill.

  “Lu, are you okay? We need to be on our way.”

  I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It didn't do anything about the tightness in the pit of my belly, but I figured until it was all over and Katrina was safely back home, I had to learn how to live with that tightness.

  I walked out and almost bumped into Dylan leaning against the bathroom door. He looked at me with concern.

  “Are you okay?”

  I shook my head in a negative gesture. “I don't think I'll be okay until I know Katrina's fine.” I said, my voice hoarse even though I hadn't cried.

  He gave me a quick hug. “Then let's go get her back home.”

  Chapter Seven

  The drama began as soon as we stepped out of the house. We were ambushed by a group of armed vampires, carrying various weapons from long swords to short scimitars. As soon as I saw them, something crazy happened. I got mad. I became so angry that I wanted to use my bare hands to tear each of them into a million different pieces. These were the monsters responsible for kidnapping Katrina and I wanted them to feel every kind of pain I'd felt since I lost my parents.

  Dylan must have felt my anger because he moved close to me and wrapped an arm around my waist. I felt the pressure from his arm and knew it was a warning.

  “Vampires, what's all this about?” he asked casually. “Can't a man enjoy an afternoon off with his girlfriend?”

  They maintained a menacing silence, then one of them elected to speak up. His voice was guttural and harsh. “We're not here to talk to you. The girl comes with us or we kill you both.”

  I tensed and Dylan's arm became a tighter band. He turned to look into my eyes. “Open your mind to me, Lu,” he commanded softly.

  I knew what he was asking. He wanted to communicate through telepathy. I recoiled from that, the invasion of my mind.

  “You're wasting time!” The self-appointed leader of the weapon carrying vampires spoke in his guttural voice. I wondered why when you needed them, humans were notoriously scarce. How could masked men carrying swords go unnoticed?

  “Allow me to say goodbye to my woman,” Dylan replied in a reasonable voice.

  He turned back to me. “You need to open up to me. Now Luanne!”

  I heard the urgency in his voice and fought against the rising panic. Katrina. Think about Katrina. With that chant in mind I closed my eyes and laid bare my mind. I'd never felt so naked in my life. It was almost as though a strange entity was moving into my mind, then I heard it.

  Hi sweetheart.

  I opened my eyes wide in wonder. I knew it was Dylan, I could feel him but it was different somehow. Almost like a gentle mist caressing me in the hidden corners of my mind.

  You're in my mind.

  You're in mine, too. Listen, I'm going to teleport us out of here.

  What? But you can beat them, I know you can!

  Maybe, but think of all the time we'd lose.

  I knew he was right but I so wanted him to finish off those goons. But if we were to get to Katrina on time, we couldn't afford to waste any more time.

  Of course I'm right. I'm always right.

  I rolled my eyes and couldn't help the smile that peeped out.

  Am I going to be able to turn this thing off?

  Sure. Just shut if off when you're ready. We need to leave now. Give me your hand.

  I placed my hand in his.

  Ready?

  I nodded. I'm ready.

  Good. We've done this before...that night we got attacked outside your home. So you have an idea of how it works.

  I remembered. Except that time, he hadn't needed to invade my mind.

  This is a longer distance and your mind wasn't as fortified as it is now. All right, let's do this!

  Suddenly everything began to shimmer and distort. I heard the goons shouting and rushing towards us but it was like from a very far distance. Before they got even close, they'd faded away and everything went dark. I
felt like I was being sucked into a vortex, everywhere was completely dark. I knew I was still conscious, I could still feel my eyes blinking even though I couldn't see a thing. I felt Dylan's hand and squeezed. He squeezed back.

  I'm here, babe. This will only take a few seconds.

  He was barely done speaking when everything righted itself and became bright. There was a slight distortion, but when I blinked, it all became clear. I looked around me in wonder. We were standing in a huge hall and were surrounded by a group of people. I could tell they were all Born vampires, but I wasn't sure to which camp they belonged and they were all staring at me. I moved closer to Dylan, my gaze alert.

  “Farley, you got here just in time.”

  A tall man stepped forward and shook Dylan's hand. He had a grave looking face and even though he didn't look a day older than thirty, I could tell from his eyes that he'd been around for a century at least. He turned to me now and smiled.

  “You must be Luanne Kylor. I'm Messina Taylor.” He shook the hand I offered him, his grip firm and his palms dry.

  “Why are they all here?” Dylan gestured to the other vampires.

  “They came to see Miss Kylor.”

  “What?” An exclamation was startled out of me.

  “Ah my dear, you are something of a legend around here,” he said with a shrug.

  The others took that as a sign to move forward and they came smiling, and introduced themselves. I shook a lot of hands and even got some hugs.

  “I knew your parents, you poor thing.”

  “Katrina was the best agent we had.”

  “Did you really turn Morrison into ashes?”

  And so the questions and comments continued. They didn't really want an answer so I didn't bother with any; I just smiled and shook as many hands as were thrust to me. Before long, they'd all dispersed with instructions to call if I needed anything.

  “Right. Now that's over with, you need to be on the plane to London,” Messina Taylor said, leading us away from the hall.

  I wondered why we simply didn't teleport to London or whatever. Why a plane?

  It's a really long distance. If we go that way, we'd be too tired to be any use to Katrina.

  I thought you said I could turn this thing off?

  Well, you didn't.

  I didn't say anything else after that and I didn't try reading his thoughts, although he didn't beam anything my way. I missed the connection, but found it too intimate. I wasn't ready to be that exposed to anyone. There were parts of me I wasn't willing to share. I guess Dylan wasn't the only one with trust issues.

  I retreated into silence as Dylan and Messina went over details and whatever else they needed to go over. I was consumed with thoughts of Katrina. I hoped with everything in me that my grandma was okay. I had no idea what I would do if anything happened to her. It meant I would be alone in the world, well and truly alone.

  I was so engrossed in my thoughts that it was when I bumped into Dylan's back that I realized we'd come to a halt.

  “The car will take you to the airport where a private jet is waiting on standby for you,” Messina was saying. “I've asked your men to report at the London HQ. Good luck.”

  The two men shook hands and the older man turned to me. “You're in very good hands, but Dylan is just one person. Make sure you take care of him.”

  I nodded and shook his hands. “Thank you so much, sir,” I said even as I was silently wondering how he supposed I was to take care of Dylan.

  We got into the limo that was waiting and sped off to the airport. Once there I was handed a passport and we passed through the checks without any trouble. Before long we were settled in a very luxurious and posh airplane. I'd never been on a private jet before and I was slightly overwhelmed.

  “Once we're airborne, you should get some sleep,” Dylan said as soon as we were buckled in.

  “You look tired. You should get some sleep, too.”

  “I'm fine,” he said shortly, resting his head on the seat.

  I stared at him for a few moments, wondering what his problem was. I couldn't figure him out and I was determined not to do the telepathy thing anymore. I strapped myself in and proceeded to ignore him.

  Once we were airborne he opened his eyes. “The guest suite is over there. You should get some sleep.” He gestured to the back of the jet.

  “I'm fine.”

  “Bloody hell, Luanne! What's wrong with you? Why can't you just for once, depend on someone else?”

  I gazed at him with shock and faint hurt. What was his problem? Why was he raising his voice to me? What did I do?

  I unstrapped myself and stood up. “Are you coming along?” I asked.

  He stared at me like he wanted to say no, then he muttered a few curses and got up.

  “No need to swear at me either,” I said as I walked off, head raised high.

  Chapter Eight

  We lay beside each other in silence; close enough to touch but not touching. I could feel the tension radiating from him and I bit my lip in dismay. Why was he doing this to us? I knew he was upset about something, but I had no idea what was eating him up.

  “You know, I don't know how I'm supposed to know what's up with you if you don't tell me. It's not as though I can read...” I trailed off as I realized what I'd been about to say.

  “Go on, don't stop. It's not as though you can read my mind, right?”

  I hated the sarcasm and bitterness. I wanted things to be okay between us but I felt as though there was a wide chasm between us even though we were lying down beside each other.

  “Why are you doing this, Dylan?” I finally turned to face him.

  When he didn't answer my question, I turned away from him and rolled to my side, giving him my back. I felt...empty. That was the word. Empty. Even when we were just friends, we never had this between us. As much as he exasperated me, I knew he was there for me. Right now I felt so alone. I wanted him to put his arms around me and tell me he loved me. I tensed and became still. Where had that thought come from? Why would I want him to love me? Love wasn't part of the equation, was it?

  I lay there and stared at the white walls of the plane. It was slowly dawning on me that I'd fallen in love with him. Heck I'd probably been in love with him for several months and never realized it. Why else would I have wanted him to love me so badly? With the realization came wonder, elation and deep sadness. What if he didn't love me back? As it was, he was barely speaking to me.

  “What do you think is going on between us, Luanne?”

  I tensed when I heard his voice. “We are dating, aren't we?” Did I read things wrong? No, I was pretty sure he'd signed the note he'd left for me, was it last night? I was sure he'd signed it, your boyfriend.

  “What are your feelings for me?”

  My feelings for him were too new for me to share so I hedged instead. “Why are you asking me all these questions?”

  “You don't know how I feel about you, do you?”

  “You never said,” I told him quietly.

  He was silent for a moment then I heard him sigh. “Look at me, Lu.”

  I turned to face him.

  “I'm crazy about you,” he stated simply, gazing into my eyes.

  I looked into his eyes and my heart skipped a beat. “Then why have you been acting funny?” My voice sounded breathless to my ears.

  He closed his eyes and exhaled, and then opened them again. “Because you drive me crazy, Lu. You opened up to me and I've never felt that level of connection with another person. For the first time in my life I felt like I wasn't alone. Then you slammed the door, it was like you'd rejected me. I'm so in love with you that something like that hits me hard.”

  He loved me? I couldn't believe it. I gazed into his eyes and I knew he spoke the truth, but it was still hard to take in. Everyone who'd ever loved me had left me in some way or the other. I knew it was through no fault of theirs, but the damage had been done. Now here he was, telling me he loved me and worse, even me
aning it. I was finding it difficult to take in.

  “Lu, did you hear me?”

  “I heard you.” I was still in a daze.

  “Do you love me even a little?”

  It was the vulnerability I heard in his voice which brought me out of the daze. I reached out and cupped his face in my palm. Gazing deep into his eyes, I deliberately lifted the invisible barrier I'd unknowingly created.