by Julie Wetzel
Darien opened his bedroom door and led Dakine in.
Zak let out a growl as soon as he cleared the doorway of the main room.
Dakine and Darien were shocked to see the ifrit sitting on the bed on the other side of Vicky.
The creature had his fingers of his right hand intertwined with Vicky’s left so their palms pressed together. He pulled back from the kiss he had just placed on the sleeping woman’s lips. Turning his head, he looked at the men standing in the doorway. The medallion Darien had placed back around Vicky’s neck had been pulled off and laid on top of the covers next to her.
Rage filled Darien as he tried to get to the ifrit to pull him off Vicky, but he was stopped by a barrier the ifrit had put up. “Get away from her!” Darien yelled as he banged on the shield.
Zak echoed his anger in a short, growling bark.
“Temper, temper.” The ifrit pulled his left hand from where it had been supporting Vicky’s neck during the kiss. “You really should take better care of your things,” he said, petting the golden curls back from her face.
Darien growled at him.
“Peace, vampire.” The ifrit turned his golden eyes to the men. “I haven’t come for a fight today.” He released Vicky’s hand and folded it on top of the covers over her. “I came to release your woman and to offer her two boons. I’m indebted to her for releasing my mate, and Saaleha did your lady a disservice, thinking she was with the men that captured her.”
Darien blinked in surprise.
“But, I never expected her to be this broken.” The ifrit looked back down to the woman next to him. “I thought you were better than this, vampire.”
Zak growled at the creature on the bed.
“It was the fight with your demons that damaged her mind,” Darien snarled at the man.
The ifrit shook his head. “They were not my demons,” he corrected. “They were slaves to the men that held my mate.” The ifrit petted Vicky’s curls again.
Darien’s blood boiled at his inability to stop the creature from touching her. “They were still the cause of the problem.” His words were filled with anger.
“True.” The ifrit stood up from the bed and walked over to face Darien, the shield held firmly between the two. Had it not been there, Darien and Zak would have attempted to tear the ifrit apart where he stood. “I have removed my mark from the woman and fixed her mind. I still owe her one boon,” he told Darien. “If she should choose to use it, all she needs to do is call me. My name is Ma’awiya, vampire.”
Darien’s anger cooled a little as he listened to Ma’awiya’s words, as knowing a creature’s name gave one power over it. The ifrit had just given him a huge advantage if they ever squared off again.
“Darien.” He gave his name back to the ifrit. “I’ll let her know when she wakes up.”
“If you plan to keep her, you may want to mark her before something else decides it wants her.” The ifrit turned to look at the sleeping woman. “She’s very beautiful.”
A ping of possessiveness shot through Darien. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he said, carefully trying to keep a hold on his temper now that they were talking civilly.
“Till the next time we meet, Darien.” Ma’awiya bowed to him before disappearing with a pop.
The barrier evaporated, and Darien went to check on Vicky.
Zak jumped up on the bed in his dog form to sniff her thoroughly.
Darien looked over the woman, but she seemed to be unharmed and sleeping more quietly then she had in the last three days.
Dakine sat on the edge of the bed where he could place a hand on her forehead. He closed his eyes to see if he could tell what the ifrit had done. The elf made a confused noise as his brow wrinkled. “I can find nothing wrong with her mind.” He pulled his hand back. “We’ll just have to wait for her to wake up to see how she is.”
Darien sat on her other side to lift her left hand up and look at the palm. There was a circular scar left in her skin, but it looked as if it had been long healed. Rubbing his thumb over it, he sighed. He believed the ifrit would leave Vicky alone as he promised, but the creature had been right. If he wanted to keep her safe, he needed to mark her. Darien looked at the small dog lying on her stomach, watching him. They were going to need to have a long talk about this.
“Thank you, Dakine.” Darien placed Vicky’s hand back down on her chest and looked over to the elf lord. “Did you want to wait?”
Dakine shook his head and stood up. “I have other things I need to attend to.”
Darien stood up to see him out.
“Let me know if there is anything else I can do for you, Kian.”
Darien nodded and let Dakine lead the way from the room. The vampire paused for a moment before looking back to Vicky sleeping on the bed with Zak. He let out a deep sigh and prayed to everything he once believed in that she would be all right.
***
Vicky opened her eyes and yawned. She tried to stretch, but found she was pinned between two warm bodies. Darien held her fast on one side, and Zak in dog form snuggled into her other side. Her brain worked through the fuzz as she tried to figure out how she came to be in this situation.
The last thing she clearly remembered was sitting with Darien on Zak’s back in the rain. Everything after that was a blur of images. She had an impression of horrible, dark shapes and the sense of running, but the memories wouldn’t solidify.
Vicky recalled Tim and Alex had been responsible for everything, and she knew both of them were dead. The more she tried to put the memories together, the more her head hurt. The feeling of warm blood on her skin made her shiver, and she wiped her hands on the covers.
“Hey,” Darien said softly from next to her.
Vicky rolled her head over and blinked at him. She could see the worry lines around his eyes.
“Hey,” Vicky said back to him. She didn’t understand the joy she saw flood his face.
“How are you feeling?” Darien asked.
She thought about that for a moment. Other than the headache from thinking too hard, she felt as if she had just slept through a long bout of the flu. “Okay,” Vicky said. “Hungry,” she added as her stomach gurgled its unhappiness.
Darien smiled as he sat up.
She felt suddenly cold as he moved away.
“I think we can fix that.” Darien stood up from the bed. The look of fear on Vicky’s face stopped him from going to get her something. “Would you like to wait here, or come with?”
“Come with,” she answered, swinging her feet out from under the covers. The long, silk nightgown Darien had changed her into, clung to her. Vicky shivered in the cooler air.
Darien wrapped his arm around her shoulder and drew her with him to the closet. He pulled out a heavy, man’s robe and wrapped her in it. She snuggled down in the woolen material as he tied it into place. It was a little large for her, but he thought she looked cute in it.
Vicky turned to look at the little dog left whining on the bed. “Come on, Zak,” she said, and he jumped down to run to her.
Darien scooped up the little dog and handed him to her.
She hugged the distressed fay. “What’s with this?” Vicky asked, ruffling Zak’s fur. He shook himself out to be his normal ball of tentacles. “That’s better.”
He purred his happiness.
Darien let her lead the way out of the room. “Thank you.” He touched the cross on the wall just inside his suite and jerked his hand back from the zap of energy that hit him. Laughing lightly, he followed Vicky out of the room. It had been a long time since that cross had reacted that strongly to him.
***
“Hey, Vicky,” Sue said as Vicky stepped up to the counter. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m doing better,” she answered. Darien had told her what had happened during the time that she couldn’t remember. “Still not feeling quite right, but getting there.”
It had been two weeks since Ma’awiya had set her mind right. Vicky w
as still waking up from strange dreams and wasn’t handling darkened rooms well, but she no longer insisted on someone being within touching distance at all times. Darien and Zak had been very understanding and supportive as she worked through her issues.
“The usual?” Sue asked, and Vicky nodded. “So what are you going to do now?” The wolf pulled out the stuff to make Vicky’s coffees.
“Go on.” Vicky sighed, shifting the familiar bag on her shoulder.
Sue grinned at her.
“Darien has offered to let me stay at his place for as long as I like, so I think I’ll take him up on it for a while.” Vicky shrugged. “Well, at least until I feel like myself again.” Vanessa had been ecstatic when Vicky had told her this. She thought Darien was just right for Vicky and had added him to the plan she had already made for her wedding. Vanessa wouldn’t even listen to Vicky as she denied it.
Sue nodded her agreement with Vicky’s plans. She had never seen Darien so worked up over anyone before. In fact, she wasn’t sure he would let her go even if Vicky wanted to. Sue knew Zak would follow Vicky to the ends of the earth.
Hellhounds were very loyal and protective over whomever they claimed. It didn’t take the ring of silver flowers around her leg to know the little fay wouldn’t let her go. Darien was just lucky Zak had used a charm to mark her, and not set those flowers into her skin permanently.
Sue set the two cups of coffee on the counter before adding a chocolate chip cookie to the top. “Here you go.” Vicky picked up two of the clementines Sue had started stocking.
“For Darien.” She dropped the little fruits into the bag. Sue nodded. “Thanks.” Vicky picked up the coffees and turned to go. “Tell Karl I said hi.”
Sue blushed at the mention of her new boyfriend. “I will.” She watched Vicky head back to her job and the boss she had grown to love. Vicky took a bite of the cookie Sue had set on top of her cup and smiled as she licked the sweetness from her lips. Nothing sets the world right like slightly melted chocolate from a fresh-baked cookie.
I never dreamed that writing a book would be as involved as this has been. Many people have helped me along the way, from Krys who let me go write when I should have been picking up sock, to the guys down at the race track that keep asking me to put them in my stories. One of these days you will make it in there, and if you’re lucky, I won’t let the vampires eat you!
I do have to thank the wonderful team at Crimson Tree Publishing for helping me out. You’ve been supportive as we worked through some issue in getting these book made. Marya, you’ve done a beautiful job with the covers, and I will be forever grateful that you didn’t take my original suggestion. Courtney, I don’t know where you get your skill with media, but I want to steal them. Dyan, you are the oil that keeps this team moving along smoothly. You’ve always been there to help whenever I had a question or needed encouragement. Beckie, thanks for recognizing the potential in a mess of a manuscript and getting it out there for people to see. You have all been wonderful to work with. Thanks for putting up with me.
Special thanks goes out to Cynthia Shepp for editing this mess. We had a few hiccups and scrapes along the way, but we made it through. Thanks for answering my questions and helping me to understand why grammar and proper punctuation are important. I promise to do better next time.
Since this is the second half of the original story, I would, again, like to thank my sister, Amanda, and the sailors from the maiden deployment of the USS George H. W. Bush (CVN 77). It always amazed me when I got random emails asking for missed chapters or asking where they could purchase the full book. Well guys, thanks, and here’s the full story… Finally.
And, to everyone else serving to protect our country. Thank you! May you have a nice quiet deployment with a wonderful homecoming. Be safe out there.
Originally from Ohio, Julie always dreamed of a job in science. Either shooting for the stars or delving into the mysteries of volcanoes. But, life never leads where you expect. In 2007, she moved to Mississippi to be with her significant other.
Now a mother of a hyperactive red headed boy, what time she’s not chasing down dirty socks and unsticking toys from the ceiling is spent crafting worlds readers can get lost it. Julie is a self-proclaimed bibliophile and lover of big words. She likes hiking, frogs, interesting earrings, and a plethora of other fun things.