“This is Luca.”
“Is he the one? Did he do this to you?” Tristan demanded.
“Tristan—”
“It looked more like you were the one doing something she didn’t want,” Luca retorted. She could feel Luca raging. She had never felt him so close to losing control, not even in the city. Afraid of what he might do she pressed her body into his. He wrapped an arm around her waist protectively, and she felt him relax a fraction. Tristan watched them closely.
In a flash, she knew what she had to do. It was going to hurt Tristan, but it was the only way. She pressed closer to Luca, sending him signals of what she wanted. His response was immediate. The electricity from his body flowed into hers. The depression and anxiety that had been setting in melted away and she let out a soft moan. Luca allowed his other arm to wrap around her waist. Leaning her head on his chest she felt the familiar fire blooming in her stomach as he lowered his lips and kissed her lightly on her cheek.
The look on Tristan’s face told her that it was working. She swallowed guiltily.
“As you can see I am very capable of taking care of Evaine, and unlike you, she seems to respond to me,” Luca taunted.
“Luca.” Her voice was low, warning. He was like an alpha marking his territory, but she was afraid to push Tristan too far. Luca ran his hands up and down her sides, then bent his head again and sniffed her neck before kissing it lightly. It send bolts of desire through her. Her need for him had grown exponentially over the last few days since he’d been away.
“Tristan, you should go,” she said.
Tristan didn’t say anything for a minute, but then finally nodded and slumped his shoulders. Rejection filled his face. Luca and Evaine moved away from the car as Tristan walked to the driver side. Stopping, he looked at her again.
“If you need me you know where I am. No matter what time it is, day or night. Always.”
She nodded.
Tristan got in the car and rolled out of the parking lot. As Tristan left, she let out a sigh of relief. She wrapped her arms around Luca tightly. She was so happy to see him she could hardly contain herself. Not just because she had missed him, but because there was something different about Tristan. A possessiveness that scared her.
Luca’s body felt hard and familiar. His hair was down and loose, she pulled away to look at him. His eyes were aglow. Their kiss started off soft, but not for long. He took off her hat and let her hair cascade down her back, lifting her off her feet to kiss her. They stood locked in an embrace, feeling all the emotions of each other. Then suddenly Luca stopped kissing her and got a funny smile on his face.
“What?” she asked.
“You’re taller,” he said.
“New shoes.” She lifted her heel. She glanced at the diner—the show was over, and the spectators had gone back to their coffee. “Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.” He pushed her hair from her face to kiss her neck.
“Did you miss me while you were gone?”
“Absolutely.” He pressed his lips to hers again.
“No, I mean. Did you…miss me, more than just miss me?”
“Well.” He grinned. “If by missing you, you mean did I feel an empty hole inside me that grew worse and worse every day until I bugged Victor to come back so much that he nearly threw me out of the car, then, yes.”
She laughed. “Then you felt the same thing I did.”
He kissed her again softly and then led her to the SUV, which she hadn’t noticed before. It sat in the middle of the parking lot, still running with the driver-side door wide open.
“How did you find me?”
“I was headed straight to see you when Nate stopped me to explain the situation. From there I came into town. I knew you wouldn’t go far. I picked up your thoughts and followed until I found you. And from the looks of it, it was a good thing I showed up.”
She could feel the air becoming tense again. She put her hand on top of his and smiled at him. “He wouldn’t have hurt me.”
“That’s not what it looked like to me.”
“Well, you showed up. So it’s a moot point.” She shrugged, trying to play it off. Inside she had a gnawing feeling that Luca might be right. The look in Tristan’s eyes had been one of a desperate man, and she knew from experience that desperate men would do about anything to get what they wanted.
* * *
Tristan pulled his car out of sight and stopped. He watched her kiss the man called Luca. Anger burned inside him. She’d always been so private with him, never wanting to show affection in public. He watched Luca let her long hair loose from her hat and then picked her off her feet. She seemed to cling to him with a need that was insatiable. She had never kissed him like that before.
Need. That was it. Luca had done something to her to make her forget her feelings for Tristan and need him instead. Tristan burned with thoughts of her touching and kissing Luca in a way that he had only dreamed she would do to him after they were married. It didn’t matter; he knew now what he needed to do. He knew how to break the hold this Luca had over her. He had to kill Luca the vampire. Picking up his phone Tristan dialed Jannie. The phone rang twice.
“Tristan.” She was clearly flustered at being called so late in the evening. “What’s wrong?”
“I need you to get the home phone number for John, our guy in the IT department.”
“Why? What’s going on?”
“This is none of your business. Just get me his number by morning.” Tristan snapped his phone shut. He was going to use all his pull to get Evaine back. It didn’t matter what it took.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Luca did exactly as he’d promised and got Evaine in on the next operation. He told Nate there was too much security at the pickup point for her not to go. Nate had no choice but to agree. They needed her strength.
She put up her hair and pulled on her black T-shirt, black cargo pants, and her boots. She felt like a commando going into battle. Finally, she would get the answers she’d been looking for as to who had done this to her, Luca, and everyone else.
Cami knocked and then walked in.
“Hey.” Evaine gave a wave.
“Hey.” Cami came into the room, a nervous energy surrounding her. “Are you about ready?”
“Yeah, just doing up my millionth lace on these Dr. Martens.” She smiled.
“You seem better today. You didn’t look so good when Luca was away. No offense, but you got a little irritable.”
“Sorry about that. Something happened when we were apart; like a piece of me was missing. I couldn’t even focus and use my ability right yesterday.”
“Is it true you can feel what he’s feeling and you can communicate with him telepathically?”
“Sort of.” Evaine sat down on the bed. “There are a few things like that, that we seem to be able to do. We can sometimes communicate if we push our thoughts on each other. I can feel his emotions. And sometimes we walk into each other’s dreams. At first it was by accident, but now I think I could do it on purpose if I wanted to. Not that I want to; once was enough. And for some reason when we’re apart for long periods of time it affects us physically.”
“I see.” Cami seemed lost in thought.
“Is something wrong?”
“No, it’s just that I have never heard of a connection like that before. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love Victor, but the connection you two have is so much…more. And you haven’t even known each other long.”
She thought about how she’d felt for Tristan. How she loved him, but how her love for Luca was so much hotter. They were so much more connected. Suddenly it occurred to her that she’d been happy with Tristan because she hadn’t known that something like what she had with Luca existed. But now that she did… She wondered for the second time in as many days how she would ever be able to find something else that compared. How every other relationship would be incomplete compared to this. Then she realized what Cami must be feeli
ng. To see that there was something more out there and not to have it with the one person you love.
“I’m sorry, Cami,” she finally said.
Cami smiled. “Aw, honey, that wasn’t what I meant. I didn’t mean to upset you. I know you can’t control it. And I love Victor. I’m happy with him whether or not we have what you and Luca have. I just think it would be great if we could have something that would commit us to each other on a deeper level. That’s all.”
There was a knock on the door, and Victor appeared. Cami hopped up, ran over, and jumped into his arms, kissing him. A smile spread across Victor’s face.
“Time to go,” he said to Evaine as he threw Cami over his shoulder and carried her out of the room.
* * *
Tristan sat on the bed at the inn, eating a roast beef sandwich and watching reruns. He had been working all day with his IT guy on hacking into the OnStar database. It hadn’t been hard to figure out that the dark SUVs were registered to an Abbey Lake, who resided at 1923 Whitehall Lane. From there John had gotten the VIN numbers and subsequently the frequencies for their OnStar systems. Tristan’s laptop sat open with a fictitious OnStar employee homepage waiting to get a hit.
He tried to concentrate on the television as he ate, but he couldn’t. His thoughts kept turning to Evaine and the vampire that had taken her from him.
Tristan had done all the research he was able to about vampires. He never would have believed in something as silly as vampires before he had seen Evaine and Luca. The thought that there were beings in the world that weren’t human seemed impossible to comprehend. But with all the accounts, and after what he had seen with his own eyes—the changes in her—there was just no other explanation. Tristan had never found anyone who had killed one, but Tristan assumed a bullet to the head would be sufficient. Once Luca was out of the way, Evaine would come back to him. The thrall that Luca had over her would be broken, that much Tristan knew.
He was flipping through channels again when he heard “OnStar Activated” from his computer. Two vehicles had come online. Their location was being transmitted to his laptop.
Tristan held his breath as a smile crept across his face. He walked to his window and shut off the lamp at the desk. As he peered out toward the gas station, two vehicles pulled in. His heart stopped when a back door opened and Luca stepped out. This was it. Shutting his laptop he threw it into his messenger bag, grabbed his jacket, and headed downstairs.
* * *
The drive to Boston took too long for Evaine, but the guys were obviously used to driving to faraway locations. The group had packed into two SUVs. Raze, Ronan, Evaine, Luca, and Kade in one vehicle. Victor, Aron, Trey, and Quinten in the second.
Everyone had eaten human before they had left, except for her. Evaine feared she wouldn’t be able to control her rage if she did, so she refused.
“Evaine, you need to do this,” Luca had said.
“Just being out among humans last night made me want to rip them all to shreds. I can’t. I don’t know what I’ll do if I start.”
Luca’s body tingled her skin as she sat lost in thought in the backseat of the SUV. He shifted his position and pulled her close, resting her cheek on his iron chest. He kissed her head and let his thoughts wander. She could feel his train of thought clear as day.
“Luca!” She would have blushed had her blood still been pumping. He pulled her even closer, running his hands up and down her arm, his thoughts getting hotter. His eyes shone brightly. “Maybe I should just sit on my side of the seat.”
“Absolutely not.” His voice was gruff, raspy. He pressed his mouth down on hers. She couldn’t help but respond. He kissed her harder, his hands roaming her back. She was nervous and tense, and he was making it all melt away. The rescue, what could happen to them, the previous evening with Tristan, everything disappeared. She had completely forgotten where they were when she heard a loud cough from the backseat. Then Ronan from the front seat cleared his throat. Finally it was Raze who spoke up.
“Hey, if you guys wanted to do that, you had time before we left.”
She tried to push herself off of Luca, but she couldn’t, he had her pinned to him tightly.
“You’re just jealous.” He smiled.
“Yeah, well, jealous or not, man, we don’t want to be a part of your relationship that bad. Let the girl up.”
With that Luca released Evaine, and she managed to sit up and scoot over a bit on the seat.
“Sorry,” she murmured.
Luca chuckled. For the first time Evaine could remember he was actually in a good mood.
The rest of the drive she dozed and listened to the men talk about sports and movies.
When they pulled off the exit into Boston it was close to two in the morning. They drove for several miles before turning off the main road and heading into a warehouse district. The buildings got more rundown the further they got. Soon they were in a deserted area surrounded by brush and empty lots. Kade steered the vehicle down an embankment and parked out of sight in a gulley on the side of the road.
Both vehicles sat for a minute before turning off their engines and their lights. Raze, Kade, and Luca got out of the car, telling Ronan and Evaine to wait.
“This could be the one.” Ronan broke the silence.
He no longer looked boyish with his orange cat eyes. He looked like a young cougar ready for the hunt.
“I hope so. The pain that these people are causing is immeasurable.”
“I saw that guy, Tristan. He must really care about you.”
“He’s a good person.” A sad look clouded Evaine’s eyes for a moment. “He doesn’t deserve this.”
“You don’t deserve this. They did this to you, Evaine. Not to him. He can go on with his life.”
She didn’t answer. Part of her thought he was wrong, but part of her knew he was right. Tristan could move on. It would be painful, but he could do it. Just as he had after his parents had died. But for her, this was how it would always be.
After five minutes Luca returned.
“We are going to head down and take a look around. We’ll make sure that everything’s still the same, and then we’ll come back for you. You guys get unloaded and get Ronan set up. Then we’ll head out.”
He looked at Evaine. She tried to put on a brave smile, but her insides were like Jell-O, and he could read every emotion. He brushed her hair from her face and kissed her.
“I’ll be back in a minute. Don’t leave the car. Stay with Ronan, Aron, and Raze.” She nodded her head; it was all she could manage to do. As she watched the rest of the group taking off down the road, the door across from Evaine opened and Aron was there.
“Let’s get the packs out,” Raze said.
Ronan stepped out of the front seat and onto the dirt path. Evaine helped unload three packs. One with the medical supplies, one with Ronan’s computer stuff, and the third with Aron’s scanning supplies. Her hands shook trying to unzip the medical pack to get a drink.
Aron placed his hand over hers. “Let me do that.” His orange eyes glowed like embers in the night. She hadn’t seen him like that since the night they had rescued her. The memory sent chills up her spine.
“Do me a favor, Evaine, if possible,” Aron said.
“What’s that?”
“Try to keep one of the doctors alive this time. Luca and Victor get so amped up in there that we rarely get anyone out alive but the newborns. The couple of times we have managed not to kill all the doctors, they haven’t made it to the house before succumbing to their injuries. If we could take one alive and relatively unharmed, it would be great.”
“I’ll do my best.”
Aron took out two yellow bottles of Isis and handed one to her. She gulped it down; she needed all the help she could get.
Luca and Victor came back for them ten minutes later. “It’s just like when we left yesterday,” Victor said. “The only difference is that the trucks are gone and so are the dogs. They’re packing up;
they must think that we aren’t coming this time.”
“Which is good. It means we have the element of surprise,” Luca said.
Ronan finished with his pack, and Raze and Kade picked up the other two packs. The group started off down the road. Luca, Evaine, and Victor followed behind. They had gone about a quarter of a mile when they reached a fenced lot. In the middle was a large abandoned building. It looked as if someone had started construction and then stopped. The bottom had been mostly completed up to the third floor. Everything above was open, covered only with ripped plastic.
They approached a corner of the lot on the closest side to the road, where the rest of the group waited for them. Evaine had difficulty being quiet while walking. The ground was littered with wooden two by fours, nails, small pieces of metal and other building materials she didn’t recognize. The group got into formation with Luca and Victor in the front. Luca was busy with getting everything ready. She could feel his intensity. His feeding had amped him up.
She decided to test her ability since her practice sessions hadn’t gone so well when he’d been away. She located a two by four and gave it a little shove. It flew five feet and landed with a loud thud. Everyone turned.
“Sorry,” she mouthed.
“Let’s go.” There was no smile on Luca’s face, no joking, only focus. Luca and Victor headed off to the hole they’d cut earlier in the fencing. Quietly, they shimmied through, trying not to snag on the loose wire. They crouched on the other side. Evaine could feel the breeze on her face, but heard nothing. It was as if the world was on pause, waiting to see what would happen. She made her way through the fence, and Luca tensed.
“Wait.” A silent communication passed between Luca and Victor. Victor nodded. Luca turned and communicated with Quinten, who nodded and communicated the plan to everyone else.
Evaine waited as Luca and Victor crept silently further into the yard. She could feel Luca as he got farther away from her. There was a muffled thud and a small cry, then silence. Her hearing and eyesight sharpened. Next to the building two figures stood at a side door, under a floodlight. Victor opened the door and looked inside as Luca continued to scan the surrounding area. Evaine could barely contain her anxiety, then she heard Luca.
Dead Awakenings Page 19