The house was disappearing behind her, glowing from flames dancing through the windows, hopefully engulfing Aldrich whole.
That evil man.
He would pay, he was paying, even if it wasn't her revenge, the idea was still sweet on her lips. A sugary flavor making her hunger grow.
She needed to find a human. Now.
Refusing to stop running, she peered through the dark air, hoping for a lick of light to guide her way toward a house, but the landscape was quiet except for the flames still crackling in her ears.
But she wouldn't go back there. Not ever. Not for anyone.
The conduits had set her free and had let her go, a double escape, one she couldn't tempt. Not even for—
A scream pierced the night.
She stopped.
She recognized that scream.
Kira.
Kira screaming as though her life was being ripped from her body, which meant one thing—Aldrich was escaping.
Hesitating for a second, she spun on her heels. Aldrich had to pay.
The house was almost dark, smelling of burnt flesh and sunlight and a sweet delicious blood that teased her. She let her senses pull her onward, since the fire from before had died out. The fire she had been sure Aldrich would burn in.
As the house enlarged, she slowed down. She could smell them, the conduits all still in the house, waiting for instruction. But still, they were all still, so Kira couldn't be dying. But she was whimpering, her cries sounded softly through the night.
There was a window up ahead.
She moved quietly closer, hiding in the darkness she had missed, peering through the house toward the commotion.
There was Kira. She was kneeling on the ground, her hand stopped above a body of charred flesh, tears streaking down her face as her eyes grew wider and wider.
Aldrich. It had to be.
But what was Kira doing? Was she prolonging the kill? Do it. Faster. Just make sure he's gone.
And then flames appeared from Kira's palm, sinking slowly into the flaking burnt skin of the vampire at her knees.
Go, go, she thought, urging Kira on with her silent prayers. It would be a slow death, a painful one just like he deserved. His skin was darkening, melting off, sinking to the ground, but wait. What?
His hand.
She stared at his hand. Could it be?
The skin was flaking off. Burnt petals fell to the ground, landing in dust. But in their place was pink flesh, new, unscarred, unbroken, and thrumming with life.
Kill him, she wanted to scream. But the bright fresh skin spread farther, up his arm, from his toes to his thigh, revealing naked, baby-silk skin. Until finally his face appeared—chiseled cheekbones that led to inviting lips almost smirked in a smile. He was beautiful.
He was most definitely not Aldrich.
Hair grew from his scalp, black as night, framing eyes that remained closed.
Closed.
Until he sat up, opening new eyes, new brown eyes, or old maybe.
And then she fell back, back, back…
Kira jerked in her chair, almost expecting to land against the cold dirt of the English countryside. Pavia had come back that night? She wanted Aldrich dead so much that she returned to finish the job herself? And maybe, just maybe, part of her had come back to make sure Kira was still alive, that Aldrich hadn't won.
But she had called Tristan beautiful, and what was that feeling that came with her thoughts, something almost warm despite the cold nature of her body.
A fist twisted in Kira's stomach. What—
"So now you've seen it," Pavia said weakly as she slipped her hand from Kira's and coughed under her breath. "I saw him change with my own two eyes, and now you've all seen it too."
"That was…" Hawk-Nose licked his lips, turning toward Kira with a calculating grin. "Can you do it again?"
Nine other pale faces turned toward her, and even Luke couldn't seem to avert his gaze.
This is it, Kira thought, the moment of truth.
Well, not truth, the moment of amazing fib. The truth was, she had no idea. For all Kira knew, she was turning into a vampire, falling into a pit of darkness so deep that no amount of sunlight could save her. For all she knew, her flames could barely burn a vampire, let alone bring one back from the dead. For all she knew…
"Yes, I can definitely do it again," Kira said, oozing confidence, "but for a price."
Aldrich had to die.
End of story.
"Your war?" Hawk-Nose spoke up again. Kira nodded. Her war.
"And what exactly is it that you want?" A new vampire asked, one who exuded age and wisdom despite his young, brawny appearance.
"Aldrich has threatened not only me, but my friends and family, and he needs to be stopped. We have to kill him."
"And why do you need our help?"
"Because I don't think he's acting alone this time. He tried it before and almost got destroyed. This time he is coming with reinforcements—"
"Reinforcements who, I might add, we'll need to kill anyway," Pavia interjected. "It's not like the vampire community is really on board with us trying to go backward. We need to show that no one can stop us from becoming human again."
"So we need to find out his plan?" the woman next to Luke asked. He leaned closer to Kira with a slightly green tone to his face.
"Yes, one of you will need to act as a spy to find out what he's up to," Kira affirmed, looking around at the iron faces. "Once we know his plan, we can make our own."
"Any volunteers?" Luke asked, trying to smother his grin when no one jumped for the honor. Kira rolled her eyes and squeezed his knee under the table. That was not helping.
"I will do it," Hawk-Nose said. "But assuming I can infiltrate his group and learn his plan, what assurance do we have that you will follow through? Can you kill him?"
"Yes," Kira said, her voice like ice.
"You've let him go twice before."
"Third time's a charm, right?" No one looked convinced. So Kira swallowed her pride.
He was right, no matter how you looked at it, her track record was bad. The first time, Aldrich had slipped right out of a window at the Red Rose Ball, teasing her with the idea of her mother. But the second time, that was entirely Kira's fault. She let him go to save herself—not to save Tristan, who she hadn't even realized was burning, but to save herself from giving into the evil lurking inside of her.
Was will power enough to keep her sane long enough to kill him this time?
"I'll admit it, all right, Aldrich didn't mysteriously escape in England, I let him go." There was a sharp inhale around the room. "I let him go because I felt Tristan dying." Kira refused to look at Luke, at the confused judgment in his fiery irises. "I felt him burning within my flames and decided it wasn't worth sacrificing his life to end Aldrich's. And even so, I nearly lost him. But with you fighting with me, that won't happen. I can end him—easily."
"Then I will fight with you," Hawk-Nose said.
From the corner of her vision, Kira saw Pavia's lips twitch. Her eyes began to glow a soft royal blue, a satisfied hue.
"I'm in too," Pavia said while reaching for her glass. "Obviously I want a little payback."
The woman beside Luke was next, and then the man next to her joined them. The soft-spoken man across the table from Kira agreed, and within minutes, every vampire in the room had pledged their allegiance—verbally and truthfully. The funny thing about vampires was you could always call a lie, their eyes said it all. And right then, ten pairs of very bright, very icy blue eyes glowed with life all around the table.
In fact, the only set of eyes looking pissed off rather than excited were the flaming green ones next to Kira—the ones staring her down, reading every lying blush on her face. He knew something was up, that there was something she hadn't told him, something she was hiding from everyone around the table.
But Kira ignored him, because she had her army.
"Why?" Luke asked. Kira kicked hi
m under the table. What are you doing, she thought, be quiet.
He scooted his chair an inch away from her.
"Why are you all so eager to fight him, to be human?"
"You could never understand," the vampire next to Luke said softly, eyeing him wearily.
"You're right, I don't. I've spent my whole life trying to protect humans from you people, and now instead of killing them, you want to become one?"
"Perhaps I'm tired of all the killing," she said, a sad smile passed over her lips, "but then again, perhaps I'm tired of not caring that a killer is what I've become."
Luke opened his mouth, ready to push forward, his eyes narrowing with suspicion.
"All right then," Pavia said, jumping out of her seat to stop the conversation before it went any further. "Kira, Luke, why don’t you crazy conduits get home. I'll walk you out."
Pavia started for the door and Kira grabbed Luke, practically pulling him out of his seat. She didn't say a word until they were outside in the fresh air.
Kira shifted her shoulders back, ready to hold her ground, but before she even opened her mouth, Pavia charged Luke, poking her finger forcefully into his chest.
"All right, Luke. What was that?"
Kira crossed her arms, nodding in agreement and staring Luke down.
"I don't trust vampires," he stubbornly responded, but an apologetic look tugged at his eyes.
"Well we don't trust you either," Pavia said, as though she were talking to an imbecile, "but that doesn’t mean we can't do business. Do you want to keep your girlfriend alive or what?"
"Yes," Luke said, "but—"
"Well, if you want her alive then we have to kill Aldrich, and if you want to kill Aldrich you'll need us. In case you didn't realize, the conduits aren't exactly supporting you right now—runaways."
Pavia blew her bangs out of her face, gathering her strength before Luke could get a word in. "And if you're so doubtful, maybe you should just go. We can do this without you."
"Now, wait a minute—"
"No, you wait." Pavia leaned in closer and Luke backed up, his face the definition of shock as she snarled at him. "You want to know why a vampire might want to be human? Take a look at yourself. I know everything in your head. I sense your heart pound every time Kira steps into a room. I feel your blood warm when she meets your stare. I hear the pain tugging at your chest, staggering your breath, when you think about losing her. And did you ever think maybe that's why I want to be human? So I can feel those things for myself without living vicariously through a conduit like you? Vampires can't be in love, and I know Kira doesn't want to hear that but it's true. And what's eternity worth if you're forever alone? Nothing. Absolutely nothing."
Pavia turned to Kira, who flinched under her hard stare. "Kira, I'll see you tomorrow. I owe you some memories before all of the fighting goes down."
And with that, Pavia spun on her heel, whipping Luke in the face with her long, wavy black hair.
Luke, for his part, looked like he had been hit with something far worse—something more like a truck.
"She yelled at me," Luke said, awed.
"Yup, a really good yell too," Kira said, trying her best not to laugh. A little smile slipped out despite her best efforts.
"I mean, she really yelled at me." He was shell shocked.
"Yeah, well, you deserved it. She kind of stole my thunder actually, I was all prepared to yell at you too."
"But when you yell at me it's cute, when she yells at me…" A shiver traveled down his spine. "It's scary."
"I resent that."
"Hey, wait a second." Luke shifted his gaze to look Kira right in the eye. "I was going to yell at you."
She looked away and started walking down the brick path, back toward the sidewalk outside of the restaurant.
"What was that back there?" he asked, catching up to her quickly.
"What?"
"What? Ha! You know what. Saying you didn't kill Aldrich because of Tristan. I know the truth, you had no idea about Tristan. Why'd you lie? What are you hiding?" Luke took her hand in his, making her stop walking before she opened the door to his car.
Kira didn't meet his stare. She wasn't ready—not to tell him that she might be turning into the one thing he despised most in the world.
And that's when she remembered phase two of tonight's plan. Phase one was complete—she had her army and there was no way Aldrich would escape. But she hadn't even started the next phase, the one to make Luke know that she really loved him too, that she was ready to let Tristan go.
So Kira used the best diversionary tactic she could think of. She grabbed Luke's impatiently waiting face and kissed him.
Success.
Chapter Eight
"Stop!" Kira let go of the steering wheel to slap Luke's hand out of his face.
"Seriously, where are we going?" he said, reaching for his blindfold again.
Kira went in for another slap. "Have you never heard of a surprise before?"
"Maybe I just don't trust you with my car," he said. "It's a man's car."
"Please, I've driven your pickup truck before."
"Okay fine." He sighed. "The not knowing is just killing me. You grab my face, kiss me—not complaining about that at all by the way—and then force a blindfold over my eyes and shove me in the car. I'm not sure if I'm being kidnapped or taken on a date."
"Neither," Kira said, prompting another heavy sigh from Luke, who started tapping his foot against the floor of the car.
"Well if you won't tell me where we're going, will you at least tell me one thing?"
"What?" Kira asked, turning her attention back to the road, which was poorly lit and lined with oak trees. Not exactly ideal for distracted driving.
"Why did you say Tristan was the reason Aldrich escaped?"
Kira sighed. Not this again.
"Because I didn't want to tell them the truth."
"Which was?" Luke said, leaving the opening.
"That he got away—that he beat me. We need them on our side." Kira squeezed the steering wheel, and her sweaty palms rubbed harshly against the leather.
She held her breath, waiting for Luke's response.
"I don't buy it."
Kira exhaled angrily. How did he read her so easily? Tristan would have let it go, would have wanted to appease her, but not Luke.
Not wanting to go there, Kira reached out and slipped the knot behind Luke's head free while trying not to crash the car.
"Now I know you're hiding something," he pushed.
"For your information," Kira said, as her palms heated up on the steering wheel and her voice rose an octave, "I was trying to be romantic tonight. So will you just drop it for the time being?"
"For now." He shrugged and turned his gaze out the window. "Are we going to Folly Beach?"
Kira rolled her eyes. So much for the plan.
"Yes, if you must know."
He nodded, biting his bottom lip to keep from grinning.
"What?" Kira asked. He was about to pop, but he shook his head. "What?" she urged.
"It's just…" He started to laugh. "You were supposed to take a right turn about a mile ago."
Kira snarled under her breath, such a little jerk. "Do you want to drive too?"
"Are you offering?" He grinned, reaching for the wheel.
"No," Kira snapped, but made the mistake of looking at him. As soon as she spotted his grin, her own mask of anger cracked. "God, you're so annoying." She laughed. "I wanted to be angry at you."
"I know," he chimed, clearly proud with himself. Kira shook her head, trying to quell her smile, but it stayed wide.
Damn, why did he have to be right about that? She squinted, weighing her options, before sighing and making a U-turn in the middle of the empty street.
Luke burst, all intentions of placating her gone.
And, after a minute of trying to remain stoic, Kira did too.
"Okay, okay, I'll never play driver again, just bear with me f
or a few more minutes. We're almost there."
She turned back to the road, blaming Luke's incessant questions for the mistake. A sign up on the left side of the road indicated her next turn, and after a few minutes, Kira was pulling into a sandy parking spot next to the boardwalk. She turned off the engine and stepped out of the car.
Luke followed suit, waiting for her in front of the car since his longer legs carried him faster.
Kira took a deep breath—now or never.
Now, she decided and took Luke's hand, surprised by the sudden swarm of butterflies in her stomach. Beside her, Luke gulped, just loud enough for Kira to hear. He felt it to. The sense that something significant was about to happen, something that might change everything.
Kira led Luke down the boardwalk, each of them silent, listening to the wind ruffle the grassy dunes. The beach was a different place at night. Gone were the crowds, the screaming children, the bright umbrellas, the water wars. It was calm. The waves didn't splash, they rolled, shimmering with starlight. The moon was enough to light a path through soft sand, and Kira followed the trail until her nerves hardened enough to stop her feet from delaying her words any longer.
Luke sensed it before her feet paused. He knew Kira was ready before she herself did, but he was right.
Turning toward the water, Kira bent down until she landed softly in the sand. Luke sunk down next to her, holding onto her hand when she tried to pull away.
A shiver ran down Kira's spine, sending tingles to her limbs.
"You're probably wondering why I wanted to come here?"
Luke shrugged, forcing Kira to continue.
"Well, the thing is…" She paused, thinking. "I guess I just wanted…" She stopped again, rubbing her free hand down the length of her thigh. Why hadn't she planned her speech better?
Kira glanced at Luke, taking comfort in the fire sparkling in his eyes, and suddenly the words fell out.
"You're my best friend, my rock, you know? And that's what this place reminds me of—the day my entire world fell apart, leaving only you to catch me. Tristan was a vampire, my parents were not my parents, I wasn't human, my entire life had been a lie, and everything had changed, but not you. You were there, comforting me, holding me afloat just like always, and I guess that’s why I wanted to come here. That day, you became the best friend I've ever had, and I wanted you to know that."
The Complete Midnight Fire Series Page 67