by Kristie Cook
I leaned up on my tiptoes and arched myself into his strong body, moving my lips closer to his. His hand tangled in my hair and pulled my head back. Instead of planting his mouth on mine, though, he ducked his head and pressed his lips to my throat.
“It’s not midnight yet, my love,” he murmured against my skin. A web of electricity spread across my flesh.
I grinned, though, because I saw a spark in the distant sky. Midnight had to be here ... or at least very close. I didn’t hear the church bells in the distance yet. They’d carried over the water on Christmas, so I should be able to hear them tonight. But my eye had caught what would be the first of many fireworks.
Tristan’s lips slowly made their way up my neck, along my jawbone, to my ear. He nipped at my lobe before moving closer to my mouth. My body trembled with anticipation just for a kiss. You’d think after being together as long as we’d been, this would get old. Thankfully, it never did.
I heard a church bell in the distance.
I felt Tristan’s velvety lips on the corner of my mouth.
I sensed a swarm of Daemoni headed our way.
“Shit!” Tristan muttered as we both jumped to attention.
That hadn’t been a firework I’d seen out of the corner of my eye. It must have been a spell, because several evil mages suddenly circled the little island, the colorful lights of their magic zooming through the air.
Tristan and I both ducked and rolled, avoiding any hits. Daemoni witches and wizards surrounded us. Although they were the weakest of the mages—sorcerers being the most powerful and warlocks in between—we still had a difficult time fighting them. They didn’t charge in like tanks, engaging in hand-to-hand physical combat. No, they fought from a distance, shooting their magic at us. And we didn’t have a mage to back us up, to shield us from their spells. But we did have our own powers, and we had speed.
“Divide and conquer,” Tristan said.
I rushed for the closest witch while shooting electricity at a nearby wizard with my left hand and reaching for the dagger hidden at my hip—never leave home without it—with my right. I thumbed the amethyst on the hilt and the blade appeared just as I swiped it at the witch. Pink, yellow, blue, and green lights shot through the air, some coming a little too close for comfort, making my skin zing. The sand where I’d just been standing shot into the air like a geyser.
My dagger connected with the witch’s torso, and she screamed, then disappeared, flashing away to safety. One down, three to go. I didn’t have time to physically check on Tristan, but through my mind I knew he was fine taking down the six mages on his side. I twisted and turned, dodging spells while slashing my blade across flesh and shooting electricity at my enemies. Another one down and gone with a pop. Only two more now. The church bells continued ringing in the distance.
I kicked at the wizard who was closest to me and swung my dagger, pushing Amadis power through it before plunging it into his side. He screamed even louder than the witches before, but didn’t flash away like a coward. Instead, he magically dislodged my blade, spun in place, and then threw a blast of orange light at me. At the same time, I blasted an electric current, connecting it with his heart. His mouth formed a surprised O, and finally he disappeared.
I tried to turn toward the remaining witch, my final target, but my legs suddenly felt like overcooked noodles. Soft and limp and gummy. As I went down, I pushed a current at her, but my fall made it miss. She cackled a stereotypical witch sound, but she laughed too soon. My body may have been flopping around on the ground like a fish out of water, but she didn’t realize Tristan stood behind her. I returned her smile. Or tried to. I couldn’t really feel my face anymore, so I wasn’t sure what my expression really looked like. What kind of spell had that guy hit me with? Right as she lunged at me, Tristan blasted her away. She landed in the water with a splash, which was followed by a faint pop as she flashed away.
Tristan sprang to my side and fell to his knees. He gathered me in his arms, but I could only lay limply. I tried to speak, but my mouth didn’t move. My tongue felt like a snake was attached to it.
I got hit, I said silently, the only way I could communicate.
Tristan’s mouth twitched as though he fought a smile. “Yeah. You did.”
He shook his head, but he looked amused. Needing to know what he saw, I looked at myself through his eyes. If I could have, I would have gasped. My face looked like a basketball—same size, shape, and color. Parts of my body were swollen just as much, but others not at all. As I took this in, however, the scariest part of all began: my tongue really was the size of an anaconda and now my throat closed around it.
Tristan! Can’t. Breathe!
His eyes widened with alarm, then his mouth clamped over mine. A kiss? He was going to kiss me now? I was about to die! Although ... if I was going to go, this would be my chosen way, kissing Mr. Beautiful. We’d missed our midnight kiss—the bells had stopped ringing long ago—but he pushed his tongue into my mouth and made the most of it. I thought that’s what he was doing anyway. I could barely feel any of it, and that really sucked. My lungs burned with the need for air. My throat felt like a vice gripped it. My vision was beginning to tunnel. And I couldn’t even feel this last damn kiss I would ever get!
Goodbye, my sweet Tristan.
“No, ma lykita. You’re not going yet.” His tongue continued exploring my mouth, reaching deep within. And then I realized I could feel it. Just barely at first. A light tickle. The wetness against my dry tonsils. I gagged. I choked. I gasped for air.
Air! Oh, my god, air! He pulled away as he felt me gulping for glorious air. It burned through my throat and filled my lungs. My chest squeezed, and I coughed. My limbs began to twitch, and feeling slowly returned to my face. Tristan bent over and kissed me again, delivering his healing qualities. When he backed off, I was able to raise my hand to my face. I could feel my chin and cheekbones again.
“Damn wizard,” I muttered.
“Are you okay now?” His eyes swept over me from head to toe to check for himself.
“Well, I’m kind of pissed off. We missed our midnight kiss.”
His hazel eyes came back to me, and his lips turned up in a slight smile. “That wasn’t enough?”
“I couldn’t really feel most of it.” I frowned. “But it was the midnight part. I’ve always wanted a kiss right at midnight.”
Tristan tilted his head. “I have an idea.”
Chapter 3
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Tristan asked me before sharing his idea.
I ran a quick physical inventory of myself. All of the swelling seemed to be gone. I felt no other after-effects from the fight with the mages. Damn, I hated fighting mages. I’d take a nest of vampires over them any day ... at least, unless Owen was nearby. One of his shields around me could have prevented my body’s self-suffocation. Of course, there was a reason we were alone, and Tristan and I together had made it through fine.
“Yeah, I’m good,” I answered. “So what’s this idea of yours?”
He tightened his arms around me and held me close against his chest. I was liking this idea so far.
Then the air whooshed out of my lungs and my vision went blank for a fraction of a second. He’d flashed us away from the island, and now we were in someone’s field. He flashed us again, and now we were in a small village. Again and we were in a vineyard. Again and we were in a dark alley, the sounds of a crowd and traffic surrounding us. He took my hand and led me out to the street. And right in front of us stood the Eiffel Tower.
“Paris?” I squealed.
“It’s not midnight here yet,” Tristan said with a smile. “We can still have our kiss.”
A crowd filled what looked like a park or green space in front of us as music played, people whooped and hollered, and lights danced up and down the Eiffel Tower itself. Daemoni mind signatures dotted the crowd of Normans’, with clusters here and there in the area. I could only imagine what they thought of the prospects for new
recruits right now. Alcohol and parties led to poor decisions, such as, “I’ve never met you before, but you’re sexy as hell, so sure, you can bite me.” Paris didn’t seem quite as rowdy as I’d seen in New York City’s Times Square on TV, but people had definitely been celebrating with wine and champagne and midnight hadn’t even struck yet.
Tristan stood behind me and wrapped both arms across my shoulders. He leaned his head down and murmured in my ear, “Would you like to see the Eiffel Tower or would you like to be on the Eiffel Tower?”
I sucked in a breath. Who ever got an opportunity like this? When would we ever have it again? My answer was a no-brainer.
“On it!”
He held me tightly again, and we flashed to the top of the tower. Now the crowd was below us, and I was surprised they couldn’t see us because the tower was completely lit up. I leaned over our perch on one of the braces and watched the lights travel slowly down the side. The people below chanted in French, and I assumed they were counting down to midnight. I straightened up and turned to face Tristan, a smile breaking out on my face. He returned the grin and pulled me back into his arms.
Light suddenly flooded us. The crowd broke out in loud cheers and whistles. Fireworks began exploding right around us.
“It’s midnight,” Tristan said, and he grabbed my chin and pulled my face toward his.
And the next thing I knew, I was falling.
Something had plowed into me, knocking me off the beam. What the hell? What could have done that? Or, rather, who? I plummeted toward the earth, my stomach falling faster than the rest of me. After the initial shock disappeared, I regained my senses, just in time as I passed a crossbar close enough that it could have scraped the skin off my nose. I reached out for it instead, grabbed on and swung around. My feet hit a support beam, and I pushed off and up so I could land on a wider, horizontal bar. Just as I checked my balance, another figure joined me.
I recognized her short, blond hair and her perfect little body, though the one and only time I’d seen her was in northern Florida, encouraging Sonya to change her sister Heather into a vampire. I thought this vamp’s name was Lesley, and I was able to pick that out of her head to confirm it.
“What are you doing here? In Paris?” I asked, half as a distraction and half because I was seriously curious.
She had such a sweet and innocent face, like the proverbial girl next door—except for the red eyes. And the fangs she’d fully let out so they extended beyond her lip when she smirked at me.
“Florida bored me,” she said nonchalantly before she lunged for me.
I jumped up to dodge her and grabbed onto the beam above me, my hands barely grasping the edge. I swung my legs back and forth, building enough momentum to flip over the top of the beam. My feet planted on the bar, but once again, Lesley landed right in front of me.
Tristan? I called out. He was nearby but I sensed him fighting other vampires. Lesley seemed to be the only one focused on me.
“Be there in a minute, love,” Tristan deadpanned.
I pulled my dagger out and held it in front of me, jabbing it at the air as a threat to Lesley. She hissed, but took a half-step back. It was only a feign, though, because a second later, she blurred at me.
“What are you trying to prove?” I wondered aloud as I blasted her with my power, effectively pushing her away. Her back and head slammed into a vertical beam. She snarled and came on the attack again.
This time she tricked me. She flipped over me and charged from behind. I spun around, hands up, expecting her to fight me, to beat me down with her unnatural strength, like most vamps tried to do. But not this time. Not this girl. She went straight for the jugular, literally. She flipped once more, so fast her shape blurred, and I didn’t even know she came near me, but pain pierced my throat. And then she froze.
Everyone fighting up here at the top of the Eiffel Tower froze. Several pairs of glowing red eyes turned toward me, dotting the shadows in the tower below and above me. I pressed my fingers to the gash in my throat. The flesh was already healing, but blood still gushed. The smell—sweeter and more powerful than anyone else’s blood—stopped them all dead-cold.
Except Tristan.
He’d been below me, but now he jumped and pushed off beams and flipped in the air, making his way toward me. But now everyone else was blurring toward me, too, moving as fast as Tristan. And some were so much closer already. A snow-white hand clamped onto my arm and tugged at me, nearly pulling me off balance. More hands grasped my legs. I blasted them with electric current, but they fell back only momentarily. Bone-white hands were reaching over and under the beams all around me. I zapped them while frantically searching for Tristan.
I have to flash, I called out to him. We didn’t have a meeting place, though, and if he wasn’t close enough to follow my trail, we could be separated by hundreds of miles. I could only hope we’d both make it back to the Amadis Island safely.
“Let’s go then,” he said as his arm snaked around my waist, and he flashed us out of there.
Chapter 4
We appeared on the edge of a forest, the lights of a small village on the other side of the snow-covered field before us. I barely had time to draw in a breath before the Daemoni vampires popped in all around us, apparently having followed our flash trail. The wound in my throat had already sealed and the bleeding had stopped, but the blood on my neck and chest was still fresh and wet. Their eyes glowed brightly, their attention focused completely on me. Lesley’s tongue darted out and swiped over her lips.
I looked at Tristan, and he looked at me. His mouth lifted in a smirk, and I rolled my eyes. Then he gave me the signal I was looking for—a quick nod. A confirmation that we were both on the same page. At once, we lifted our hands and blasted the vamps with our powers. His paralyzed them, while mine electrocuted them. I lifted my right hand, too, and added a dose of Amadis power. The vamps snarled and snapped at us anyway, their lust for my blood overcoming any physical pain.
“Ready,” Tristan said in my head. I shot out a stronger blast of all of my powers, sending the vampires backwards twenty feet—too far for them to follow our trail now—while Tristan wrapped his arms around me and flashed us away again.
We appeared in another field, but this one wasn’t covered in snow. I had no idea where we were now, where he’d brought us. Hopefully closer to home.
“How close are we to the Amadis Island?” I asked.
“Far. We’re in England,” Tristan said.
“England?” I frowned. I just wanted to go home now.
“It’s not midnight here yet.”
I looked up at him with a raised brow.
“And I know the perfect place for our midnight kiss,” he added before pulling me into his arms again and flashing.
We appeared on the top of a tall building overlooking a river with a giant Ferris wheel lit up in blue on the far bank. On our near side, a tall clock tower stood on the other end of our building. I only knew it from pictures, but I recognized Big Ben. The hands showed it was 11:58. We had two minutes to spare.
And eight Daemoni mind signatures right below us.
“You’re fucking kidding me,” Tristan muttered as they came closer, climbing the side of the building. More vampires. At least the blood on my skin had dried. But they still weren’t going to relent.
“I’m freakin’ tired of this!” My fists rested on my hips as I stared down at the vamps crawling up the walls like spiders. “You are not ruining it again!” I shouted now.
We weren’t supposed to kill, not even our enemies unless absolutely necessary, and I didn’t think they’d die from the fall, but I was done being nice. Done running away. Done putting up with their shit tonight. I raised both hands, palms out, and directed a mix of all of my powers at the vamp closest to me. Electricity and Amadis power hit him hardest, sending him into convulsions. His hands released their grips from the wall, and I used my power to push him far from the side of the building. Then I let gravity do
its thing. In quick procession, I hit each of the others in the same way, sending them all to the ground far below. Some popped up immediately and jumped to hit the side of the building as far up as they could go in a single bound before trying to climb the remainder to us. I hit them again and again.
The first dong from Big Ben sounded.
“Midnight,” I said, distracted from the vamps that continued to pursue us. I looked at Tristan. He looked down at the vamps.
“Are you done playing?” he asked me as the second dong rang through the night. He jerked his head toward Big Ben. I grinned. And we both flashed to the clock tower, appearing on a ledge just below the VI on the side facing the river. No vampires followed us.
Big Ben rang a third time, the sound vibrating all the way through my bones. Bright lights shot up in the air in our direction, sending my heart into a gallop as I thought mages attacked now. But then the lights exploded into showers of lights. Fireworks!
I turned to my husband. He gripped my wrists in each of his hands, lifted my arms above my head, and used his body to press me against the clock. As his mouth clamped down on mine, the clock gonged again and more fireworks exploded. My lips parted with his, our tongues danced together, fireworks popped all around us, and Big Ben continued ringing in the New Year. Our kiss deepened and went on and on with only momentary breaks to suck in air. Tristan’s hands slid down my arms and grasped each side of my face and holding me as though he feared I’d pull away too soon. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer. I lifted my legs and encircled his waist, and he ground his pelvis against me. I moaned into his mouth as I soaked up every sensation of this glorious kiss that lasted long after the twelfth stroke.
When we finally broke apart, Tristan twisted away to stand beside me. We watched the rest of the fireworks show from our perch on Big Ben, our backs against the clock, our hands clasped together.
An insane giggle rose in my chest as I considered the reality of our night. We’d been in Greece, Paris, and London in a matter of two hours. We’d brought in midnight three times, in three different countries and three time zones. Unfortunately, we only had one midnight kiss. But damn if it hadn’t been worth every bit of it.