A shrill sound pulled his attention to the present. None of the humans with their dull senses appeared to notice. The sound seemed to be coming from the girl. She moved from a kneeling position to sit cross-legged, giving him a better view. What he saw horrified him.
The girl stared intently at the mouse as she pulled one of his legs, causing him to scream. The louder the screams, the more intent the girl became. Her tongue poked out from in between her lips and a blond ringlet fell into her eyes as she increased the pull on the little limb. More and more she pulled until the limb popped from the socket. Her face lit with a smile, and a tinkling giggle bubbled from her as she bounced in excitement. She stretched her arms in front of her, holding the mouse at a distance as if he suddenly disgusted her and gave a hard jerk, tearing off the limb and allowing his blood to drip onto the floor.
Michael turned away. How could a little girl do something so horrible? All the evidence pointed toward her being genuinely evil. By his own credo, he should kill her, but he had never considered that he’d be in this position. It was easy to kill evil adults, especially men. It came naturally to him. It felt as if he were doing a greater good. Could he make such a justification when the evil in question was a little girl?
A hand on his shoulder jerked him from his thoughts. “Are you ready to go?” Amaia asked.
All Michael could do was nod.
“How do you want to get her outside?”
“I don’t.”
“But—”
“I don’t care. I won’t kill a little girl.”
“All right, but what are you going to do for food?”
If he couldn’t justify killing the girl, he couldn’t justify killing anyone. As much as he loved the high, he knew he could content himself with just feeding. “I can feed from someone else. I don’t need to kill.”
“Do you want my help?”
Again, Michael nodded. Amaia took his hand and pulled him to his feet. He let himself be led to a table where some young women were seated. Amaia asked to join them. Of course the ladies said yes. They sat. Amaia talked. He couldn’t focus on any of it. His thoughts were with the little girl who looked almost angelic. No, she did look angelic. Only Michael’s knowledge of her aura caused him to think otherwise.
“You can drink now.”
Michael’s attention focused back on the task at hand. He didn’t care anymore. He leaned in to the young woman’s neck and dropped his fangs. They slid in with ease. Warm blood flowed into his mouth, sating his hunger. He’d take what he needed to get him by until they stopped again in one go. Amaia had already manipulated the energies of the girls at the table so much that he didn’t doubt he could get away with it.
The girl sighed, and he took that as his cue to stop. Her blood had satisfied his hunger, but not much else. He felt no ecstasy. If he had killed the little girl, right now he’d be floating high. But the crash wouldn’t have been worth it. He knew himself too well to think otherwise.
“It was nice meeting you all, but we really must go now.” Amaia rose, and Michael followed. Once they reached the door where Meg and Liam waited for them, Michael realized he hadn’t spoken a single word to the girl he’d just fed from. Amaia really did have a talent.
Chapter 26
“No.” The stout vampire shook his head, the light of the full moon glinting in the whites of his eyes. Amaia admired the man for his denial. He was the first. So far, everyone had succumbed to Liam’s persuasion. For most of them, it didn’t take much.
Liam gritted his teeth. Amaia could sense the frustration in his aura. He was usually much better at controlling his feelings. At least it didn’t color his tone when he spoke.
“But don’t you understand? This is our chance, Phillip. What happened to the man who used to rant against the clans?”
“I got older. This doesn’t affect me, Liam. I’ve learned that life is much easier if you accept the things you have no control over.”
Amaia liked Phillip. He was the first vampire they’d met with who didn’t appear awed by her reputation. It wasn’t an act either. A quick feel of his aura showed that he held nothing but indifference toward her. In her opinion, that made him the most logical of the bunch. The way people spoke about her, people who had never even met her, was thoroughly stupid. She had never understood the appeal of gossip. As a mortal, she had indulged in it only because it advanced her position at court. If there had been no financial incentive, she would have never considered speaking about other people. Perhaps it was narcissism on her part.
“We’re going to win, Phillip, with or without you. I don’t know how you’ll be able to show your face after we’re victorious and you weren’t there with us.”
“I imagine I’ll show it about the same as I do now.”
“I say you’re a coward.”
Meg tensed next to Liam. The air crackled with the insult.
“Get ready to help. You focus on him. Meg and I will take the mate.” The woman standing a few paces behind Phillip in the field they were meeting in didn’t seem like the fighting type, but if she perceived a threat to her mate, that would change.
“I’ve been ready this whole time.”
The silence stretched to the point of ridiculousness. Right before Amaia could act to break the tension, Phillip burst into a boisterous laugh.
“We both know you’re smarter than that. You almost had me fooled there for a minute.”
“I’m serious. Either you’re a coward or you’ve forgotten what we’ve seen.”
Liam’s aura abruptly changed. A dark, swirling sadness buried in regret overtook him. Phillip mirrored the same regret.
“I haven’t forgotten. I lost more than you did that day.”
“Then how can you stand by now, when we finally have an opportunity to set things right?”
“What is he talking about?” Michael’s brow furrowed with his mental question.
“I have no idea.” Amaia had never glimpsed the depths of Liam that she witnessed now in his aura.
“Because I remember what happened that day. I won’t be party to it happening again. I wish you luck, my friend. I won’t speak an ill word against you or your mission, but I can’t take part in it.”
Liam held Phillip’s gaze, measuring the man before him. Seeming to reach a satisfactory conclusion, he nodded. “Then I have to respect that. I hope you won’t hold my ill-tempered words against me.”
“Nonsense. I don’t blame you. We’re both licking the same old wounds. We’re just choosing to heal them differently.” Phillip held out his hand, and Liam shook it.
“Thank you. We’ll be on our way.”
When Liam moved to withdraw his hand and turn away, Phillip strengthened his grip and placed his other hand on Liam’s shoulder. “It was nice seeing you again. I think I could tolerate visits from you and your lovely mate more often.” He released Liam and turned to Amaia. “And it was a pleasure to finally meet you and your mate.”
Michael stepped forward and shook Phillip’s hand. “The pleasure’s ours.”
Amaia nodded her farewell, and they parted ways.
“I wonder what that was all about,” Michael said as they left.
“Liam will tell us if he wants us to know.”
“I think we have a right to know if there is something that is clouding his judgment, some motivation that we’re unaware of.”
“Fine. Ask him then.” Amaia didn’t really care. Liam had proved excellent at recruiting. He had a well-respected reputation among the nomads. She’d daresay his reputation did far more to advance their cause than hers. She was a mere curiosity.
The four of them traveled to the next town in silence. They wouldn’t stay in Phillip’s territory after he refused to join their cause. Outside the next town, Liam stopped underneath a giant beech tree and sat against the trunk. Once they had all joined him, he spoke.
“I suppose I owe you an explanation for that.”
“You don’t owe us anything.” Amaia
didn’t care to pressure Liam into revealing his secrets.
“I just want to make sure you don’t have a motivation here that is going to undermine our mission,” Michael said.
“I appreciate that. My sire was killed by a clan. Phillip was there when it happened. There was a massacre of vampires who had refused to pay tribute. Phillip lost his sire and many of his children.”
“Was it Zenas?” Michael asked. An edge had crept into his voice.
“No. The clan that did it was eventually destroyed by Zenas.”
“Is there anything else you’re hiding from us? What about your sire, Meg?” Michael pointedly turned his gaze to her.
“There’s no need to be nasty, Michael. This doesn’t really change anything.”
“It does if Liam is planning on endangering us in blind pursuit of revenge.”
“That’s not Liam’s way, and you know it.”
Michael softened his expression. “I’m sorry, Meg. I just thought we had all been upfront about our motivations.”
“No, that’s all right. I understand. As far as my sire, she’s part of a small clan, sort of married into it when she found her mate. I haven’t told her about our plans. I doubt she’d do anything to hurt me, but I don’t know her mate well, and with them being in a clan, I thought it best to refrain.”
“As for my situation, I assure you it won’t interfere. All it does is give you context for my dislike of the clans. I’ve seen firsthand the damage they can cause. Yes, they killed my sire, but I’ll not compound it by doing something foolish that would leave me or Meg vulnerable.”
Michael nodded. “Understood. How will not winning Phillip’s support affect us? You seemed overly invested in his response.”
“I just expected him to be an ardent supporter. It would have been nice to have him with us, but I trust his word that he won’t hinder us in any way. He’ll answer honestly when asked his opinion, but he won’t try to persuade anyone not to join us.”
“Phillip’s been a friend for a long time. We have to get used to the fact that not everyone is going to be receptive to us and with good reason. What we’re asking is dangerous, almost insanely so. We can’t judge him for not joining us. The best we can do is present our case to as many people as will listen,” Meg said.
“I agree. We can’t waste any time worrying about who’s joining us and who isn’t. Why don’t we separate for an hour or two to eat and then meet back here?” Amaia wanted time alone with Michael. They’d hardly had a chance to talk about what had happened at the Red Lion. It’d been two days since the incident, but they’d been recruiting ever since. They ran in silence from place to place, leaving each other to their thoughts. Michael had insisted everything was fine whenever Amaia had asked. While they were traveling, it was difficult to force the issue with him. The conversation they needed to have was not appropriate until they were alone and focused on one another. Her mate’s world had shifted considerably, and she needed to help him right it.
“What do we need two hours for?” Liam’s gruff voice made it clear he was anxious to be on his way. It was unusual for him to be so absorbed in something that he didn’t insist on alone time with Meg. Of course, they’d been together long enough that two days must seem like a mere blink of an eye.
Meg made eye contact with Amaia, as if to confirm what she already knew. She nodded. “That sounds like an excellent idea.” Meg stood, and Liam joined her with a disgruntled look. “We’ll see you in two hours.”
Michael moved to stand, but Amaia grabbed his hand, forcing him to remain seated. As soon as Meg and Liam were out of sight, she leaned over and kissed him with a fierceness that had been building for quite some time. She didn’t relent until Michael opened his mouth to the kiss.
Once he relaxed into it, her kiss became a sigh of relief. Something about kissing him soothed her in a way nothing else ever had. For those few moments, everything in the world seemed right. Michael cupped her head in his hand. The touch of his fingers on her scalp drawing them closer made her wish they were in a different time and place, after all this business with the clans was over or years ago before this fight had begun.
She pulled away reluctantly. It’d be too easy to spend this precious time doing nothing but making love.
Michael opened his eyes. “What was that for?”
“For not having a moment alone together since this whole thing started. Your first months as a vampire shouldn’t be spent this way. Here you are adjusting to a whole new life while dealing with a potential war. Then you had that shock at the Red Lion. It must be so overwhelming for you, and I haven’t been able to help.” Despite Michael’s protestations to the contrary, Amaia knew he had to be struggling with what had happened.
“Just having you with me is a help. After so many years of being apart, it’s all I can ask for.”
Amaia held both of his hands in hers. “You deserve more. I can’t imagine having to adjust to the transformation amidst all this.”
“Our situations are different. I’ve been preparing for this for a while. I knew better than you what to expect.”
“You didn’t expect to see that girl.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“That must have been difficult.”
“It’s fine.”
“No, it’s not.”
Michael withdrew his hands from hers. “There are more important things to worry about right now. I’m feeding like a normal vampire. I can figure out the rest later.”
“I can’t bear to see you struggling. You were so sure of your purpose, and now that’s changed for you. It can’t be easy.” Amaia could see that he wanted to talk, but he wouldn’t for some reason. Did he think she wouldn’t be able to understand since her feelings on the matter were so different from his? He wouldn’t think her so crass as to dismiss his worries, would he?
Michael’s forehead wrinkled in confusion, and his eyes took on a faraway look, as if the answers he sought were just out of sight. “I don’t understand how I can be expected to kill a child.”
Amaia sat in his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. He automatically wrapped his arms around her waist in response. She waited until she had eye contact with him before speaking. “No one expects you to.” She caressed his forehead, and he leaned into the sensation. She hated to see his face creased with tension. “Would you have been able to kill her if she had been an adult woman?”
“I don’t know.”
“You can still do what you think is right. There’s no reason you can’t kill evil men and feed from others as needed.”
Michael shook his head. “It’s not that, Amaia. What if this isn’t God’s will for me? I felt so sure of it before, but how could God ask me to kill a child? Now I’m wondering if the whole thing wasn’t just a justification to myself so I could lose myself to the high of killing.”
“And what if it was? Is that really so bad?”
“Killing is wrong, Amaia.” Michael’s eyes turned hard.
“You’re trying to hold on to the mortal parts of yourself, your mortal beliefs, but you’re no longer mortal. That is going to make life difficult.”
“I gave up my mortality, not my morality. I know you don’t believe, but I do. For most of my existence, my belief in God has kept me going, given me hope, and now I have everything I’ve ever wanted. I’m with you, finally, and nothing can separate us for eternity.”
“I want to see you happy.” Amaia had never thought of herself as one to feel empathy, but she meant every word she spoke to Michael. Seeing him hurting caused a very real pain inside her. Had it been like this before, or was it a byproduct of mating? It seemed odd that such fierce emotions could be the result of mortal feelings, but her memory proved that she had always felt this way about Michael, even before becoming a vampire.
“I know.” Michael nodded. His expression dropped in defeat. “I’m working on it. I can’t keep living in this uncertainty.”
“I wish I could help.”
“You do.” Michael tightened his grip around her waist. “Don’t you know that? Looking at you, I can’t help but think that there is nothing in this world that is too difficult to overcome. How can my life be bad when you’re in it?”
“Yes, but just because I’ve never held the same beliefs as you doesn’t mean you can’t talk to me about it.”
“Oh, my dear, I know that. You’ve been remarkably supportive. The only reason I’ve kept quiet is because there is enough stress in your life right now without me adding to it.”
“It is far more stressful for me to see you so conflicted and feel so helpless. I’m always here for you to talk to. Open up to me. It will lessen both of our burdens.”
“All right. I promise, I’ll try to think out loud more often.” The smile that graced Michael’s face sent a surge of emotion through Amaia. She’d do anything for this man.
“Thank you. But not right now. We have less than two hours left to feed, and I think I’ll die all over again if we don’t make love first.”
Michael chuckled. “But I have so many feelings for you to help me work through.”
“Later.” Amaia leaned forward and kissed him again, only this time, instead of pulling away, she pulled him down on top of her.
Chapter 27
The only way Michael knew when they crossed into a new country or region was the change in the language his meals spoke. He couldn’t believe he’d started referring to humans that way, but it made it easier. He didn’t know how many days they had traveled recruiting. Time passed in an odd fashion without the need for sleep. Instead of days, he counted recruits, and they had just acquired two more.
“You can count on us, Liam.”
“Glad to hear it.” Liam shook the hand of the nondescript vampire. Michael thought his name was Boris. He had given up paying special mind to each nomad they met. There didn’t seem much point in getting to know them when their encounters were so short.
Immortal Echoes (Haunting Echoes Book 2) Page 16