Forbidden Touch

by K. S. Haigwood

  Alino moved his gaze to Dane again. Dane's head shot up without a word being spoken aloud to him. "Did Lazarus compel you?"

  "No sir," Dane said, and Alino's brow went up a fraction.

  "Are you telling me that you committed treason of your own free will?" Alino asked, amused.

  "I had only one thought in my mind, Your Highness. I didn't think about what I was doing as treason."

  Alino laughed loudly. "Then what on earth did you think you were doing?"

  "He promised me that I could have Ciera," Dane responded.

  "How could he promise such a thing?" Alino asked.

  Dane shrugged. "He said that Mitch would be out of the picture because he would have control over him, and Ciera would turn to me then."

  "Mitch has not been in the picture for the last century, Dane. She has never turned to you before. Why would she do it now?" Dante said.

  Dane blinked a few times, then looked at Ciera. "I…I don't know why I thought that."

  Alino glanced at Dante. "You may want to further investigate your family members the next time you are thinking about turning them over to the Elders, Dante. Dane's brain has been manipulated. He has been trying for the last century to win her affections, and it hasn't happened. Now, all of a sudden, a vampire that is powerful enough to be an Elder tells him it will happen, and he simply believes it?" Alino shook his head at Dante. "Do not make me question your authority, Dante. I really don't think I'll like the answers I will get." Alino looked back to Ciera, then offered her his hand. She took it and he brushed her knuckles with his lips as he looked in her eyes. "My child, you have enough to worry about without me executing any of your loved ones. I do hope you find happiness in all of your trials." He briefly glanced at Dane, then back to her.

  Ciera looked at her King in puzzlement as his eyes filled with shimmering tears. "You are strong enough to make it through what is ahead. Please remember that," he said, then let go of her hand.

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  Chapter 63

  "What was that about?" Lenya asked as they filed out of the house with the forty plus vampires.

  When they got outside to load up in the vehicles, Ciera noticed that there appeared to be a lot more than forty. There had been more waiting outside for them.

  Ciera shook her head nervously as she opened the door to the Escalade. "I have no idea, but it didn't sound good, did it?"

  "Are you kidding me? The King touched you, Ciera. Kings touch no one voluntarily, and nobody's brave enough to touch them. Have you met him before?" Lenya asked.

  She shook her head again. "No." She glanced at Dane, and wondered if he had looked in the King's head with his skill of clairvoyance. She noted that he seemed uneasy and was obviously avoiding her stare.

  "Well, you would think that he would elaborate on what he said to you. I mean, it was clear that he was seeing a vision when he touched your hand. I haven't ever even heard of a King crying; I swear there were tears in his eyes for you, Ciera," Lenya said from the back seat.

  Ciera nodded again. "I saw them too, but really, I have never met him before, and I have no idea what was happening in the vision he was seeing." She sighed. "C'mon, we need to go get Mitch and kill Lazarus. Maybe I will get the chance to ask Alino about it before he goes back to Chicago."

  "Oh, so now you are on a first name basis with him?" Lenya said with a smile. "I haven't ever been on a first name basis with my King. But then again, I haven't ever met mine either."

  Ciera ignored Lenya's comment, and drove up behind the forth car that had pulled out onto the road. She wanted to be at the front of the line. She wanted to get to the club first to make sure that no one touched Mitch. It was possible that not everyone got the memo that he was a good guy. She would kill any vampire that laid a hand on him.

  Mitch leaned lazily against the bar, trying to act relaxed and unconcerned. A redheaded woman had been eyeing him for the last hour. But the only thing he could think about was when Ciera had worn the necklace that Nellie had made for them. The spell that had been cast on the jewelry had changed her appearances to ivory skin with freckles, and bright red hair.

  He had just sent the girl her third drink. He was watching as the server handed it to her, then turned to point at Mitch. He gave her seductive eyes, and she smiled and held her glass up to him. He didn't smile back, he only ordered him another four doubles of Crown, then downed them one after the other. It had been the fourth time he had done just that, and he wasn't feeling even the slightest buzz. The bartender was beginning to eye him suspiciously.

  Mitch looked over at the booth that Lazarus had ended up in with a brunette. The color of her hair reminded him of Ciera's real hair. He shook his head to clear his thought, then realized that the red head was no longer at the table with the three other girls. He glanced around the club at the hundred plus mortals, but didn't see her anywhere.

  "Are you looking for me?" a feminine voice said, and Mitch turned around to find the red head behind him. He smiled when she did. "I figured that any man who would buy me three drinks deserves to hear me thank them in person."

  Mitch turned his whole body toward her then, and actually stepped a little into her personal space. She didn't back up, so he didn't either. "Well I was wondering how many it would take to get you to do just that," Mitch said with a smile.

  She took a step into his personal space. "How would you prefer to be thanked?" she asked, then her green eyes looked up at him through her eyelashes. They were close to the same shade of Ciera's, but not quite.

  He ran the back of his index finger down the ivory skin of her arm. It was the same whiteness that Ciera's had been … the thought was cut off by his body tingling. Oh shit, he couldn't pull her to him now. He had a task to complete, and he was sure that she was busy right now. He kept his smile in place for the girl in front of him, but thought about his mother, of boxing matches in high school, of anything to keep his mind off Ciera. He took a deep breath, then let it out. It had worked, the tingling was gone, and by the look on the red head's face, she hadn't noticed him wigging out. "Did you come with anyone?" Mitch asked her.

  She smiled, then shook her head. "No … but if you are lucky, I will be leaving with someone."

  Mitch glanced at his watch, then over at Lazarus. The girl was all over him, and it was almost eleven thirty. Time to wrap this up, he thought. Mitch nodded to where Lazarus was seated in the booth, and the red head followed his stare. "My buddy and I were just about to cut out of here and find something a little more interesting to do. You are welcome to join us if you like."

  "It doesn't look like he is about to leave," she said.

  Mitch chuckled. "Oh, she will be coming with us."

  She narrowed her eyes at him. "The two of you aren't some sort of serial killers, are you?"

  If she only knew. Mitch smiled cunningly. "No, we actually hunt down and arrest serial killers. We are cops."

  Her face lit up. "Do you have hand cuffs?"

  He laughed and nodded. "Why, yes I do. Two pairs, in fact."

  "I am ready when you are." She said with her eyes gleaming.

  Mitch glanced at Lazarus. The guy was watching him, and he nodded to let him know it was go time. Lazarus smiled, stood up from the booth, then offered the girl his hand. She smiled, then took it.

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  Chapter 64

  They weren't hiding in the shadows as Ciera had originally thought they would. All seventy something vampires were standing in the parking, surrounding the entrance to the club. There were ten more vampires waiting at the back entrance. Two vehicles had pulled into the parking lot, and without stopping they turned around and pulled back out. It wasn't the large group of people that had driven them away in fear. One of the Elders had simply clouded their minds, making them have a change of plans. They wouldn't remember even coming here.

  "They are about to leave," Leona said. Leona was an extremely gifted clairvoyant. She could actually look through another perso
n's eyes and see what they were seeing. She had been following Mitch since they had arrived here. Ciera didn't like the way she was describing what the red head was doing and saying; jealousy consumed her. Mitch was only doing what she had told him to do, nothing more.

  The door opened. The brunette walked out holding hands with Lazarus. Lazarus was laughing at something she'd said, then froze in his tracks when he looked up. It was evident that he hadn't suspected Mitch would betray him. He left the girl standing there and turned to rush back into the club, but Mitch was standing in his way.

  Lazarus looked up at him only briefly in confusion, before Mitch kicked him in the chest hard enough to knock him back out the door. He walked out, then turned back to the door and used his telekinesis skill to lock it, leaving the red head inside the door with wide eyes. "What is this, Mitch? I am your father."

  "You may have sired me, but you have never been my father, Lazarus," Mitch said through a clenched jaw. "You murdered all of those innocent people so you could use me as a tool to take down the Elders. You tried to make me turn against the only woman I have ever loved. You knew that we would fall in love with each other, but what you didn't know is that we are soulmates. It is our destiny to be together, and you don't mess with fate."

  Lazarus grabbed the brunette and she screamed. Mitch froze.

  "One human will not stop us from destroying you, Louis," a voice from the crowd said, then the crowd began to part so the King could come forward preceded by six bodyguards.

  Lazarus smiled nervously. "It has been a long time, old friend."

  "You can stop pretending," Alino said. "We both know there was never any friendship between us. You did not have to leave the way you did, Louis. You could have joined a Family if you weren't happy being an Elder."

  Lazarus laughed madly. "You are trying to take away the only thing that makes me happy." Lazarus lost his smile. "You didn't have to kill my brother. None of this would have happened if you had stayed away from that human whore." He lowered his voice. "I won't let you take him alive, Alino." Lazarus threw the girl aside and turned on Mitch.

  Ciera had been invisible from the time Lazarus had stepped out of the club, and she had slowly been creeping toward Mitch to get him out of the way. She had been almost to him when Lazarus threw the girl from his arms and ran for Mitch.

  He collided with her invisible form, and when he realized it was Ciera he had ran into, he threw his arms around her, compressing her to him hard enough to break every rib in her body. Ciera screamed out in pain, and tried to fight free of his crushing hold. Lazarus shot a threatening look at Alino. "You take what is mine, and I will take what is yours."

  "No!" Dane screamed in panic and rage, and ran for her. He hit Lazarus in the face, knocking Ciera free of his hold.

  She immediately ran for Mitch, thinking Dane was quick enough to get away from Lazarus' deadly hands. She was wrong.

  Faster than even the vampires could see, Lazarus shoved his hand through Dane's chest and had his beating heart in his grasp.

  Dane stared at him in shock and fear, then looked to Ciera. "Be … happy." With the last word, a little blood trickled from his mouth.

  Lazarus looked at Ciera with fury in his eyes. "Is this what you wanted?" he shouted.

  She didn't look at Lazarus. Her eyes were fixed on Dane's, and her whole body was visibly shaking. This can't be happening, she thought. But she could see by the look in Dane's eyes that it was. He was already turning gray and fading fast. If she could get Lazarus away without him crushing Dane's heart, maybe he could still make it.

  It was hard to see through her tears what happened next, but she caught the quick movement of a metal object flying through the air. She blinked several times to clear her vision, then saw that the object was in Mitch's hand now. Faster than she could have done it, he'd hurled it through the air like a spear, piercing Lazarus through the heart.

  Lazarus grunted as he looked down at the three foot piece of scrap iron through the center of his chest. He looked up at Mitch with tears in his eyes. He gave a sad smile as he shook his head. "If you mean to kill me, son, you will have to try harder than this."

  Lazarus' eyes rolled back in his head and, letting go of Dane's heart, he fell to his knees, screaming out in pain. Nyual must have taken the only chance he thought he was going to get, and used his skill to shock Lazarus from a distance long enough for everybody present to destroy him.

  Ciera went quickly to Dane, who was lying on the ground now, fighting for his life. She pulled him out of the way of all of the vampires who were rushing past them to tear Lazarus to pieces.

  She arranged Dane's head in her lap. She rubbed his face, frantically trying to think of a way to fix this. His color was getting worse. His skin was drying up like a raisin, and he was turning a brownish-gray color. "Dane, don't leave me!" she cried out.

  Dane's eyes fluttered open, and he managed to smile at her. "I wouldn't…have had it…any other way…my love. I will be with you always," she felt his hand on her chest and she grasped it in hers, pressing them both against her heart, "in here." He closed his eyes, and released his last breath.

  Ciera let out a blood curdling scream, and the whole parking lot went still and silent around her.

  Lazarus was no more, and the brunette had been compelled and sent back into the bar. Everyone stared down at the female vampess, who was screaming and crying and rocking Dane's lifeless body in her arms.

  This can't be. You can't be gone from me, Dane. I can't live like this. It hurts too much.

  "Yes you can, Ciera," a voice said, and at first she thought it was Dane responding to her thoughts, but the voice was all wrong. She opened her eyes, and forced herself to look up.

  Alino was standing about three feet in front of her, and anger filled her mind and body. She growled softly at him, as her protective instincts took over her. He was standing way to close for comfort. Absolutely no one was going to touch Dane.

  "You are strong enough to withstand this agony, my child," Alino said as he looked down at her, sorrowfully.

  Something flickered in Ciera's eyes as she remembered something. "You said that to me once before. You knew this was going to happen, didn't you? Didn't you!" Ciera screamed it at him, and he nodded once. "Why didn't you say anything? I could have made Dane stay away from here."

  Alino shook his head slowly. "You know as well as I that Dane would not have let you come here without him. There was nothing even I could do to stop that."

  Ciera closed her eyes and cried. Alino was right. Dane would have fought every vampire in the world to keep her safe. She clutched him tighter to her body, and realized that he was crumbling in her tight hold. She loosened her grip and looked at his face again. He didn't even look like Dane any longer.

  "It was his destiny," Alino said, and her head shot up as her temper flared once more.

  "His destiny was to be here with me," she growled.

  Alino stared down at her. "I am sorry, Ciera, but his destiny was not to be with you, but to save you. He wanted only for you to live and be happy. He has fulfilled his task. I have known many centuries that this day would come. I thought that I would be better prepared for it." He sighed. "I was wrong."

  Everyone watched as the King spoke to Ciera. Many were confused. He had never spoken so many words to one individual before now. The wind blowing through the trees and a police siren far off in the distance were the only noises heard. Every vampire that stood there had stopped their breathing, thinking that they would miss hearing something important, with the quiet inhale and exhale being pulled in and pushed out of their bodies.

  Ciera stared up at him in confusion, but she didn't have to ask, Alino took another step forward, then bent to her level so she could see his face at a better angle.

  "You are my daughter," Alino said quietly, and many gasps and hushed talking came from the crowd around them.

  She blinked a few times. "You are not the vampire who turned me. I remember what he looke
d like."

  "I am not the Rogue vampire that turned you, no. I am your biological father."

  Her eyes got wide as fear consumed her. "No! I knew my father. You are not him, Alino."

  The crowd's hushed tones turned louder when Ciera called the King by his first name. He didn't care seem to care what they were saying, and he didn't seem to care that she had said it.

  "They were not your true parents. Your mother died during child birth, and I didn't want this life for you. I searched until I found a man and wife who I knew would love and protect you. They could not have children of their own, and they instantly fell in love with you. I thought that you would be safe, but even I have enemies. One of them found out about you, and instead of turning me into the Elders for falling in love with a human, he took you from that family and made you into what you are now, what I am. He knew that it would hurt me more. He had been in love with the same woman, and she had broken his heart by choosing me over him. He wanted revenge, and he got it. When I found out what he had done, I ripped him apart on my own. I have followed you all around the world trying to protect you. There were only a few people who knew that I am your father. Those few people were sworn to secrecy, and sworn to protect you. Dane was one of the few."

  Ciera looked up and watched as Asabel, Nia, and Dante stepped forward. They all had tears in their eyes for Dane. Their mission was finally complete, but they were sad that they had to lose Dane to complete it. Alino glanced at them and nodded. He dropped his head and sighed. "Louis was an excellent blocker, and I didn't see what he had planned. I found out, after he went Rogue, that his brother was the vampire I killed long ago. He was watching me, and trying to figure out why I killed his brother. I went to my chambers one night and found that someone had been in my room. The photos of you were scattered all over my bed. The note he left said that he knew my secret. We did a count of all the vampires in the palace. Louis was missing."