Kira curled into a ball, slipping over onto her side. She dreamt that his arms were around her, cradling her, rocking her back and forth to sooth the pain. She didn't think it would be this hard to say goodbye. But it was, it was hard remembering everything that Tristan had just forgotten.
The first time they met, she fell right then. Looking at him, meeting those crisp blue eyes seconds before class began, it had been enough. That afternoon in Charleston he had been a puzzle she couldn't wait to solve, a challenge that hooked her interest. Even when she realized what the secret was, that he was a vampire, she hadn't been able to stay away. The day in the marsh was still perfect, something no one could take away.
The memories played one by one, making her smile, laugh, cry some more, until finally her thoughts reached England. Her chin shook remembering the night they had shared, when Tristan was the happiest she had ever seen, when he believed the future was theirs for the taking, that the two of them could be together forever.
But Kira had always known differently—they were doomed from the start. But, she smiled, Kira wouldn't have changed a thing, not even today, not even the end. He was at peace. The haunt to his eyes, the walls Kira had always wanted to bring down, they were finally gone. His soul was healed, and if that meant he had to forget, Kira would remember their happiness enough for the both of them.
And that thought made her sit up, because this wasn't the girl Tristan had fallen in love with, it wasn't who he would want her to be. More than anything, Tristan wanted Kira to be happy, to be the fighter, the spark of life.
Kira rubbed the tears from her eyes, drying them, and stood, taking a deep breath to steady herself. The day wasn't over yet.
But one thing was. She had made her choice—it was Luke, it had to be Luke. Her parents would have wanted her to choose love, and even Tristan would have wanted her to choose happiness, to live her life. So she would try to let her Punisher powers go, to release them, to split herself to save herself.
To choose love.
To choose Luke.
But just in case, Kira had always known what the back up plan would be. She would rather die than fall, would rather have her friends mourn than fear her. If the price to keep the conduits alive was death, Kira would do it, because she was strong, and because she refused to be the killer Aldrich wanted her to be.
That was her vengeance.
Kira walked slowly over to the suitcase resting in the corner of the room and slipped open a zipper. A small pocketknife fell out, the one she knew Luke kept in his bedside table. It had been a gift from his father when he turned of age, when he went on his first mission.
And Kira had stolen it to do something Luke would never ever agree with.
She flipped open the blade, feeling along its edge. Razor sharp.
If she couldn’t split her powers, couldn't transform into a true conduit, couldn't stop herself from falling, there was another option. It wasn't just turning into a conduit or falling into an original vampire. There was death too—a third choice that only Kira and the Punisher Council had been willing to admit existed.
Kira flipped the pocketknife shut, stuffing it into her sneaker, wedging it somewhat painfully beside her foot.
Just in case, Kira told herself, she needed it just in case.
But then her heart lifted.
Luke was close, Kira could feel him, could feel the excitement bouncing off of him in waves. The Council meeting must have gone well, his thoughts were bubbling over the bond, but Kira let them come, let them flood her senses and overwhelm her—a river of champagne.
Instantly, her mood began to shift. Happiness tingled down her arms, her legs, up her spine into her very thoughts.
Kira began to laugh, because the closer he came, the closer he was to knowing that Kira had made her choice, and he was it.
Kira raced to the door, peering out the glass to wait and watch for his blond head to appear around the corner.
Luke, she said to herself, she was in love with him and finally, finally, Kira could tell him how she felt—how she might have felt all along.
Luke, she sighed, letting his name send a sense of calm around her body.
Luke, she repeated, forcing the slight pain of the knife in her shoe out of her mind.
He was here.
Chapter Fifteen
As soon as Luke opened the door, Kira jumped on him—arms thrown around his neck, lips landing tightly on his.
Instinctively, Luke caught her around the waist, securing her with his lean but strong arms. Without question, he returned her kiss, moving his mouth naturally against hers, as though the two belonged to each other.
He stepped farther inside, bringing Kira with him, but she didn’t notice. Her thoughts were completely consumed by Luke. Making her choice, finally knowing once and for all that Luke was her future, had awakened something within Kira. Her inhibitions were gone—any urge to stop, to hesitate, had vanished.
Instead, she ripped apart the wall she had built in her mind, letting Luke fill every part of her, mirroring every one of his emotions with her own.
I love you, she thought and hugged him tighter, forcing the thought with her actions because she didn’t want to break for words.
But Luke pushed against her hips, gripping them with his hands, and pulled her toward the far away floor. Kira lifted her feet. She didn't want to stop. But Luke pressed, leaning his head back to break their contact.
Kira dropped her hands, slipping slowly down his body until her feet landed silently on the floor. Their breath mingled in the small space between their lips, heavy and ragged. Kira looked up into Luke's quizzical eyes.
"Kira?"
She nodded. He continued breathing heavily, trying to regain some brainpower.
"Do you know why I stopped us?" He asked, brows furrowed together in true confusion.
Kira shook her head—she didn’t feel like talking. He shrugged.
"Me neither." He lifted her back up, pulling Kira into his chest to seal their lips together again. She smiled against his mouth, grinning wildly, as he walked both of them to the couch.
He half-sat, half-fell and Kira landed on top of him, straddling his hips, actually taller than him for once.
Luke pushed her back. "I remember," he panted.
Kira leaned forward, trapping his lips. She didn't care.
"It's," Kira kissed him, "about," she interrupted him again, "the Council."
Kira paused, but Luke's fingers were reaching under the hem of her shirt, skimming the bare skin above her shorts and she couldn't think of a response. There was a battle raging inside of his head. She blocked it out. Her resolve was very much fixed in one direction, and for once it wasn't business.
His palms landed on her shoulders, pushing her back. "Okay," he said, trying to be firm but his voice was airy. Kira met his eyes—his sparking, dancing eyes. She traced the line down his freckled nose, following the slight curve to the left side of his lips. Her fingers inched up, twirling a lock of blond hair between her fingers.
Her gaze traveled back to his eyes. His resistance was adorable.
"I love you," Kira said, her voice strong and steady, despite the lack of oxygen in her lungs.
Luke groaned, reaching for her again. He cupped her cheeks, bringing Kira close, and reached his fingers back around to the base of her neck, gripping her hair.
Then in one swift move, Luke pushed Kira onto the other sofa cushion and stood up, completely separating their bodies.
Panting and pacing, he started to speak, low at first and then louder. "No, there is an imminent battle outside. A whole town of conduits depending on us, not to mention a whole troop of children heading this way. We can't, I mean, that was awesome, amazing, not that I'm complaining, although I guess technically this is complaining, and now I'm mumbling…" He stopped, finally turning in Kira's direction, where she sat innocently with her hands crossed. "What in the world has gotten into you?"
Kira smirked. Where there had b
een pain associated with the words before, there was now only excitement. "Pavia erased Tristan's memories."
"How did she…" He shook his head, a grin slowly spreading, "Wait, he doesn’t remember anything?"
"No," Kira said, "I told her to erase all of the memories of his life as a vampire. All of them."
"Why?" He said cautiously. Hope glimmered in his fiery eyes.
There were a few reasons, she knew there were, but in that moment Kira could only think of one. "You."
Luke closed the gap, kissing her again, before quickly pulling away. He shook his head, clearing his glazed over eyes. "God, you are driving me crazy right now."
"Don’t I always drive you crazy?" She asked sweetly.
"In more ways than one," he said wryly.
Kira stood and Luke took a step back. She walked forward. He veered around the other side of the couch, using it as a barrier, and pointed at her. "You, stay back."
Kira rolled her eyes and shuffled her feet forward.
"Kira, I'm serious. We have a lot to figure out." He didn’t sound very serious. In fact, he sounded a little torn. She lifted her foot…
"Obi-Wan never had to deal with this," Luke mumbled and shifted backwards.
Kira sighed and crossed her arms. "Fine, go ahead."
"Okay," he nodded and looked around, grabbing a chair from the dining room. "You sit on the couch," he said, jerking his head in that direction. Once Kira obliged, he set the chair down a good five feet away and sat.
"So, what do you need to tell me?"
"Aldrich started his attack."
A cold pitcher of water landed on Kira's head, breaking the trance that had fallen over her body. The battle was here. "Why didn’t you say that earlier?" She demanded.
Luke's entire body slackened and he raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "I can't win with you," he whispered to himself after a minute.
"Nope," Kira teased. "What's going on out there?"
"It actually was pretty great timing," he leaned forwards, resting his tan forearms on his knees, "your grandfather was trying to convince the Punisher Council and the entire town that an attack was coming, but there was a bit of resistance. Even after last time, people think Sonnyville is impenetrable. And right as he was about to lose the crowd entirely, one of the Protector's he sent to guard the gate came running up, screaming about the hoard of vampire's outside. After that, everyone shut up and started paying attention."
Kira ran a hand through her hair, getting stuck in the tangled curls. "Have any vamps made it inside?"
Luke shook his head. "Not yet, but I suspect with so many they'll be able to figure something out eventually."
She nodded her agreement. "What's the plan? What did the Council decide?"
"A first line of defense has been deployed. Protectors armed with swords and half of the Punisher Council set up base at different intervals along the wall, to watch for any vampires breaking through and to start burning any vampires who get close. All of our security cameras have been turned on and we have a team monitoring them. The other conduits have been divided into squads, waiting for words about where they're needed."
"So, not like last time with that whole circle set up in the town square?" Kira asked, thinking back to the other time she had witnessed an attack on Sonnyville. Half of the conduits would have died if she hadn’t been there to put an end to the group of vampires that had managed to jump over the wall.
"No," Luke said, a glint in his eye, "this time we're ready. This time, the vamps won't have it so easy. The UV wall is fully amped up and it'll take them a while to figure out how to get through. And hopefully a Punisher will be there to burn them before they even touch Sonnyville soil."
"Good," Kira snorted. "What about you? What will you be doing?" A sense of concern tickled at her chest, but Kira tried to quiet it. Luke could handle himself. He would be fine.
"Well, first I was supposed to check in with you and Tristan…hey, were is Tristan? And actually, back to that, how did Pavia get inside?"
Kira bit her lip. "I might have told her to use the top secret tunnel connected to this basement."
"Kira," Luke gasped, "did anyone see her? Was she followed?"
"Relax," she wished she could reach out and comfort him, "do you see any vampires around? No one saw her. And I told her to take Tristan with her, to keep him safe since I…" She trailed off, looking at the ground. Since I can't, she finished the thought silently.
Luke misunderstood. "Don't tell me you're going to go hunting for Aldrich? Kira—"
"I'm not," she interjected, quickly cutting him off and smiling. "I love you, you idiot, I'm not going to throw that away. I won't give Aldrich the satisfaction."
"You know, you could have ended that like, I love you Luke—I would never make you worry like that. Or, I would never do that to you."
"Or you could just smile sweetly and say, thank you. I love you too, Kira." She raided an eyebrow, letting a little diva attitude flow into her face.
"Thank you. I love you too, Kira." He pursed his lips, holding in a Cheshire cat sized smirk.
"I would shove you if I could."
"Too bad your arms aren't long enough."
"Too bad you needed to sit five feet away to fend off my advances."
Luke opened his mouth, then shut it quickly.
"Ha!" Kira perked up, "gotcha."
"You know I really do love you, don't you?" He asked, tone turning just serious enough for Kira to sense his earnestness.
"I really do."
"Good, because I need to go lock you in a closet."
"What?" If she had been drinking water, it would be all over Luke's lap at the moment. "You don't trust me to stay put?"
"Trust is such a harsh word," he said slowly.
"Harsh and accurate."
"Do you even trust you right now?" He asked, wincing while he did. But Kira didn't want to hurt him, and more importantly, she couldn't deny it. The shadows were there, swirling, strengthening even just in his presence. Being locked up for the duration of the battle might not be such a bad idea.
"You're right," Kira sighed, "let's do it."
"Good, because—"
But Kira didn’t need to hear the end of Luke's sentence, couldn’t if she even wanted to. The banter had ended. The professions of love had ended. The moment for kissing was long gone, or maybe it had gone on too long.
Her gut punched inwards, hit by some invisible force, and Kira doubled over.
Luke had mentioned it earlier, but Kira hadn't been paying attention, she wasn't listening. She couldn’t ignore it now.
The children were coming.
Their innocence, their sweet, succulent innocence—it hit Kira like a wall, slamming through her senses, blocking out everything but smell.
Her canines began to ache. Saliva gathered, pooling beneath her tongue. The need to taste it was overpowering, was undeniable.
The darkness swirled into her vision, creating spots in her eyes, so all she could focus on was the desire slivering down her throat, encasing her heart. The shadows awakened, and Kira shivered from the cold traveling to her limbs. The vampire inside of her was coming out.
No.
No.
Kira dropped to the floor, slamming her fists into the ground as she landed. There was no way this was happening, not now, not when she had finally chosen a path, a dream, a life.
Fire warmed her fingers, traveling in from the outside, spreading warmth to her dying body.
Luke. It had to be.
Kira welcomed his pure, untainted flames, and pulled them into her, cracking the shadows around her heart so the Protector powers could flood her core, urging her hiding fire awake.
Kira squeezed the fingers wrapped around hers.
"Get me out of here," she gasped.
Arms scooped her up, lifting her high into the air. Kira let Luke carry her away, anywhere other than the floor, right next to the crack under the door where that scent was pouring through.
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They moved farther away. The thud of Luke's steps was all Kira could process. Her mind was easing just a little as his fire continued to charge in. Apprehension flooded her thoughts, spilling over the wall. Luke was scared—not for himself, but for her.
Kira's bottom touched a cushion, sinking into a seat somewhere else in the house.
"I'll be right back," Luke urged. His flames retreated, pulling away and Kira's body went on overdrive. Her own powers tried to push out, pressing against her skin as though a bomb was about to explode, but she held on. She couldn’t release it. She would burn the entire town down—because Kira knew deep down her powers were being pushed out, being forced out, and she refused to let them go.
Luke's burning fingers touched her skin again, sending peace and calm to her senses, spreading a golden warmth that had nothing to do with blood, just with fire, pure and untainted fire.
Something pushed against her nose, but Kira turned away. She couldn’t open those senses again, couldn't breath through anything but the slight opening of her lips, the barest hole to let air flow stiffly in and out.
"Kira, just smell it," Luke soothed, running one flaming hand up and down her arm.
Trusting him, she did what he said, reopening the path to her nose.
A putrid floral scent infiltrated, stinging its way down the back of her throat, itching her tonsils.
Kira shook her head, but Luke held it steady, not letting her escape. She breath the acid flowers in again, hating the fake sweetness, the faux-rose. She couldn't, she wanted the sugar, the real honey, the blood...
Kira coughed. Her entire body, doubled over, jerking with the force of the air expelled from her system.
She coughed again, a long series ending in a should-be-blinding sneeze.
But it wasn't blinding—the shadows had already stolen her sight. The sneeze jostled the darkness, shifting it every so slightly, but just enough that the hint of a spark poked through.
Kira blinked. Rapidly shifting her eyes, she forced away the black blocking her vision, willed away the spots until the sight of flames seeped through. A wall of orange and yellow rose up, swirling around her face, sinking into her skin. She turned a notch, finding the matching fire in Luke's eyes. It was his power, not hers. His fire was saving her.
Scorch (Midnight Fire Series) Page 17