by Dee Carney
Please.
Chapter Twelve
One year later
He exhaled through the motion of swinging the axe down on the log of wood. It felt good to exercise muscles growing too used to complacence. The axe smashed through the center of the log, sending splinters of wood shooting in several directions as the piece of wood split into three pieces. The blade wedged itself into the stand and he left it there. He reached down and separated a piece of the broken log still attached by a sliver of wood.
As he stood, the distinct odor of vampire drifted to him.
He placed another log onto the stand. He dislodged the axe and hefted it over his shoulder. The axe whistled when he swung it. This time, the log split into two equal pieces. He managed to split three more pieces of wood before he heard the soft crunch of leaves being stepped on as well. The person walked toward him, stopping a few feet away. When the axe tip lodged into the stand again, this time he let it remain there.
He straightened, forcing a sense of calm to wash over him. He turned to the vampire, and almost managed to suppress surprise at who stood before him.
“I wondered how long it would take to find us,” he mused.
“You didn’t make it easy.”
He smiled to himself. No, they hadn’t wanted to be found and he put every skill he could think of to use in covering their tracks. Favors owed to him were cashed in exchange for silence. The plot to remain anonymous had been complicated, but doable. Almost infallible, really. At least, until now.
He was curious. “What finally led you here?”
It was the vampire’s turn to smile. “Just some rotten luck on your part. Happenstance, in fact.”
He nodded at the acknowledgement. No matter how well they planned, there would be some small detail he couldn’t foresee. Some well-meaning person who would say too much in the presence of the wrong person. Their peace couldn’t last forever.
“You knew you would be found, of course.”
“We did.”
“But you remained hidden anyway?”
“We decided to cross each bridge as we came to them.”
“I see.” He nodded as if he indeed understood their plight.
He heard her singing a tune as she tended their garden. Around a bend from the small house, he knew the vampire wouldn’t be able to see her. He probably couldn’t hear her either. If she decided to come find him though, the danger would multiply.
Keeping his empty hands in plain view, he pointed downwind with his chin. “Let’s walk a little further over here.”
The vampire’s hand rested on the curved blade at his side. He paused as if to mull over the request before he indicated they could move.
Jericho’s heart thudded within his chest as he led the vampire away. He’d hoped, really hoped this day would never arrive.
When the ceiling collapsed, by some miracle the most treacherous piece missed them by inches. Another explosion violent enough to demolish a wall followed afterwards. The doorway blocked by debris and large stones, he’d been frantic to find a way out of the room to get help for Lia. Light filtering into the room gave him a small glimmer of hope.
A year later, he could still taste the dust he choked on as he worked on widening the section until it was big enough to get her through. He didn’t know which he prayed for harder: for her to hang on until he could get help or for the explosions to stop long enough to get them both out.
It felt like a week passed before he squeezed through the opening. With as much care as he could muster, he pulled her through the opening behind him. By the time he stood erect, carrying her limp body, what he could see of the complex was in chaos.
To this day, he couldn’t say why he did it. Why he didn’t wait for help to arrive. Pure impulse drove him to run, to go and find help. Maybe deep down he knew with everyone running for shelter, it would take too long to get someone to stop and figure out where the Lugh might be. Where to find healers.
So he ran too. Ran until he collapsed from his own injuries, far away from the complex. Fortunately for them both, a kind couple found their bodies not far from their home. The elderly human went for a local healer as his plump wife tended to them.
Lia’s recovery took almost three months, but thank the gods, despite many times when all but Jericho dismissed her, she pulled through. For every moment he spent waiting by her side, he mulled over what to do when she was well enough to leave. They’d been given a chance—a small chance—to be together. To find peace and a future.
There would be risks, though.
Their lives might never be their own. They might have to leave everything behind at a moment’s notice if news of her survival ever reached her community. The decision would require her to give up her title. Her home. Her family.
He almost expected her to say no. To leave him a shell of a man when she left him behind to return to her duty. When she agreed, however, it was the third happiest day of his life.
They sold half of the stones of her diamond and ruby necklace one by one. Hoarding the income and spending only when necessary. It yielded them their current home and enough to live on for the rest of their lives. The remaining stones were kept hidden and safe in case they ever had to flee in a hurry.
The second happiest day occurred when they were married two weeks later in a small ceremony attended by the farmer and his wife. A handful of other peasants who wished the young couple well and some of his family were able to attend too.
“We were content to leave you alone, you know.”
Jericho stopped in his tracks. That didn’t make sense to him. “What happened? Her father?”
He laughed without mirth. “Her father thinks she’s dead. We haven’t tried to sway his thinking.”
The blood in his veins turned to ice. If the Lugh thought his daughter was dead, why was the vampire here?
“Don’t look so stricken, Jericho. I understood you knew vampires were out to assassinate the prima lux. Don’t tell me you didn’t suspect those close to her capable of planning the attempts on her life?”
Jericho stared into Ross’s pale eyes. He hadn’t suspected. Not the captain of the Lugh’s guard. Gods. Almost anyone else could have done it. But only someone close to her, like one of the guards, could have gotten away with it.
Suddenly, the last day at the complex made a little more sense. Ross knew Jericho wasn’t behind the assassination of Lucas Anders. Lia told him she suspected the captain knew of their affair.
“We would have let you live your mundane lives together. She no longer posed a threat to us.”
“A threat?” Jericho growled. “How the hell was she a threat to you?”
“Way too much power for one person. Imagine if she’d married Lucas, if you will. The two largest vampire communities on this world would have combined to form one giant superpower. She would be the Lugh for both his community and hers. Vampires would be ruled by her whim alone. Civil unrest would be inevitable, if not in her lifetime, in another. No, she couldn’t be allowed to marry Lucas.”
“But you killed him, right?”
“Yes, we took care of him. But that didn’t take care of the entire problem. Her father would have found her another powerful suitor and then we’d have to start all over again. When Lucas died, almost immediately there were rumors his cousin would be given the community. And so what that he was ten years Lia’s junior? Her father would have found a reason for them to wed.” He sounded bored now. “And on and on the cycle would have gone. No. We had to eliminate the source of the problem. We almost did too.”
Anger burned through him and Jericho tried to shove away the thoughts of Lia waiting for him in their little home. He had to focus on Ross.
“The bombings. That was you too?”
He nodded with an apologetic shrug. “It was supposed to be an insurance policy in case the poison didn’t work. Who knew the two of you have more lives than a cat?”
Through clenched teeth Jericho ground out, “But why now? We just want to
be left alone.”
“I’m sure you do and that’s fine. So, let’s assume she doesn’t want to ascend to her place. What about the half-breed she carries in her womb? What will he want to do?” Ross pulled the blade from its sheath. A gleam reflected in the bright sunlight. “If he tries to take his rightful place… well, we can’t allow that to happen for more reasons than one.”
The wind left Jericho’s lungs as sure as if Ross punched him in the gut.
His unborn child.
He could remember the exact moment she told him she was pregnant like it happened only yesterday. They’d been making love. With a few simple words, she propelled that day to the happiest of his life.
How the news of her pregnancy traveled back to the community he’d have to wrestle with later. Jericho reached under his shirt for the strap holding his curved blade in place. He pulled it out, relishing in the feel of the handle. Ross’s lip curled in mock admiration.
He would have been a fool to walk around casually without some sort of weapon against vampires. And Jericho was no fool.
The captain dropped into a crouch. Jericho circled with him, waiting for him to make the first move. Once upon a time, he might have been concerned at facing off with the older warrior. Today, that man threatened his wife and his child.
His inner wolf panted in excitement. Waited with growing impatience for the chance to spill his blood.
Ross lunged first. The thrust went wide and Jericho almost stepped in to plant his blade into the vamp’s side. At the last second, he recognized the feint for what it was and spun in the opposite direction of where Ross would expect him.
Ross lost his balance as he followed through, his eyes growing wide when he realized Jericho wasn’t where he should be. Jericho tossed the blade to his opposite hand and using a backwards swipe, sliced the razor edge from his clavicle clean up through midway into Ross’s throat. Blood sprayed from the wound, but Jericho stepped out of the line of fire.
He watched dispassionately as the life drained from Ross. The silver in his curved blade made certain the vamp couldn’t heal himself in time for the arterial rupture to mend itself. Instead, Ross dropped to his knees, his own blade falling from useless fingers to the ground.
Hate filled the dying man’s eyes as he stared at Jericho. Then the light filtered out of them. By the time he fell face forward onto the ground, a minute may have passed. In any event, Jericho was certain of his impending death, if he wasn’t dead already.
A flicker of fear jetted through him at the realization he could no longer hear Lia. No telling how many men had come with Ross, distracting him from protecting her. With a surge of adrenaline fueling him, Jericho took off at a dead run for home. His inner wolf howled, urging him to run harder, faster.
He almost didn’t see her at first. When she rounded the corner, a basket of vegetables in hand, relief flowed over him in rivers. Still wary, he slowed to a casual stroll as he approached. As he walked, he kept his attention on the woods surrounding the house. He could see nothing amiss. No scent of vampire. No movement from anywhere. The urge to be next to her right now consumed him, though.
A grin growing on his face, he picked up his pace until he was jogging. She turned just in time for him to knock the basket from her hands. When he pushed her against the side of the structure, he used the tender playfulness of a lover.
“What has gotten into you, Jericho?” She laughed with glee. Her smile poured joy into him at the very sight.
He captured her mouth with his, needing to taste her. To know she was real. Right there and his.
She answered his kiss by threading her fingers through his hair. Her body pressed tightly against him, her small belly sending a shiver of possessiveness through him. She kissed him back with a passion that made his heart thunder.
Pulling away from her took a reserve of strength. “You know I would do anything for you and our child, Lia, right?”
She smiled again. “I never had a doubt.” Her eyebrows knitted together. “Are you okay?”
He shrugged a shoulder, pulling her away from the wall. “Just a little hot and sweaty. Nothing getting you that way won’t cure.”
Lia seemed to realize that he was walking them toward the front door, the vegetables and chores of the day forgotten. “Wait a minute, Jer. I have things to do!”
He waggled his eyebrows.
Her laughter rang out like a bell.
“Jericho!”
“Lia?”
He pushed her gently inside. As he shut the door, his face hardened as he took one last look around the perimeter of their property. Maybe not today, but more vampires would be coming. As far as he was concerned, that was all well and good.
Let them come.
He would be waiting.
The End
About the Author:
Dee Carney began writing short stories in middle school, but did not attempt completion of a novel until almost ten years later—which, despite good intentions, she never finished. Almost ten additional years later, she challenged herself to begin writing again, and her love for storytelling was rekindled. Now, Dee is a best-selling, award-winning author who lives at home in Georgia with her husband, two dogs and a cat. When not writing, Dee is usually curled up on the couch with a good book!
To learn more about all of Dee’s books, please visit her at http://www.deecarney.com
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