Relativity (A Sage Hannigan Time Warper Novel #2)

by Peggy Martinez

  I smiled at the bartender as I took a seat. He automatically handed me a bottle of water. I turned around as I took a swig and watched everyone around me having a good time. I had already become much more used to the pulsing lights and brain-damaging-loud music. I was enjoying the job a lot, and it actually surprised me. I jumped off my seat and took off to check out the far side of the club. I could see Jorge breaking up a small scuffle close to the dance floor. Someone grabbed my hand, and I very nearly swung a fist out of pure reaction. I swung around and found Matt grinning at me like a fool. On impulse, I reached over and hugged him quickly around the neck. He looked absolutely floored.

  “What was that for?” he hollered over the music.

  “I owe you for dragging my butt to the club last night, and I really like this job…so, thank you.” My smile felt genuine for the first time in a very long time, but in the back of my mind I felt uneasy. Anger and something else I couldn’t define boiled up inside me. I frowned and glanced down at the ground. What in the world was wrong with me? After the most bizarre afternoon ever, and now all these foreign emotions, I was thinking I needed to see a doctor—maybe have some tests run.

  “Hey, you okay? You look a little green.” Matt’s voice brought me back to myself.

  “Yeah, I’m fine, probably just a little hungry. I missed dinner.” I spoke with him a little longer before he left to find Trina to leave. There were only thirty minutes left until closing time. I glanced down the hall that led to the owner’s office and was just about to head back across the club when I noticed someone heading towards a mostly unused side exit. Someone bumped into me from behind and I turned my head away for only a second but not before I caught a glimpse of red-ringed eyes darting in my direction. All of the sounds of the club faded to the back of my mind like an unnecessary white noise. My body felt slightly weightless as I strode towards the door with my heart pounding so hard I could feel its every pulse at my temple.

  Finally, after three months of searching, three months of wondering if I’d even be able to sense a vampire again, I’d spotted one. I reached the door and swung it open without even the slightest hesitation. The door slammed shut behind me, the sound echoing loudly down the side street I found myself in. The vampire was about twenty feet away from me and had spun around when I’d barged into the alleyway. From where I stood, I could tell that he was young, and judging by his eye color, he wasn’t very old in vampire years either. He wore ripped designer black jeans with a chain hanging from his back pocket and an un-tucked white button-up shirt cuffed to the elbows.

  “May I help you?” the vampire asked. The absurdness of his question caught me off guard, and I laughed out loud. It isn’t often you run into a polite vampire, I thought as I, unsuccessfully, tried to staunch my giggles. The vampire must have thought I was losing my mind.

  “I finally find a vampire, and he has good manners?” I asked once I stopped laughing. It was too late when I realized my mistake. Usually, no normal person can tell vampires from humans because of their powers and witch-made charms. The vampire stood directly in front of me and had his hand around my neck before I could even blink.

  Crap.

  “What do you know about vampires, girl?” His words came out a hiss between his fangs.

  “I know more than I’d like to,” I said as I stared him directly in the eye. He studied my face, deep in concentration, and I realized he was trying to get me to glance away from his gaze. Good luck with that, I thought. “I would like to speak with you or maybe the vampire in charge of the Charleston area. I’m searching for Cerberus,” I said quietly and evenly. The vampire hissed loudly and tightened his grip around my neck.

  “You made a big mistake asking those kind of questions, little girl.”

  “Did I? Why would you say that? Is Cerberus still a big secret…still all hush-hush?” I was wracking my brain, trying to keep the vampire talking so I could come up with a plan. I needed him to take me to Cerberus or even his higher up…and I was desperate. The vampire stepped back away from me and slit his eyes as he looked me up and down. He began walking around me slowly, and the need to warp sprung up unbidden in my mind, a defense mechanism against the predator that circled me. I stood as still as possible, allowing the vampire to think he had nothing to fear from me and that he was in total control of the situation.

  “You’re the blood whore of a vampire.” He stated it matter-of-factly, coming to the only conclusion his mind could conjure. I kept my mouth closed, hoping he would open up if he thought I was already “in the know” concerning vampire business. “Hmmm, but where are your marks? They could be on your thigh….” He came up close behind me and yanked my head back to take a long, lingering sniff of the pulse at my neck. “But that doesn’t really add up either. No regular vampire would speak of Cerberus to his blood whore, and a more powerful vampire wouldn’t allow his blood whore to walk around asking about such things. So…many…unanswered questions.” His lips caressed my throat, and I had to stop myself from unsheathing my dagger. I felt his teeth graze my neck, and I still wasn’t sure what to do. Killing him wouldn’t accomplish anything, but I really didn’t want the blood sucking leach attached to my throat either. Decisions, decisions.

  I’m not sure what I would have eventually decided in that moment because a split second later, the decision was yanked out of my hands. Just as the vampire’s fangs grazed my neck, drawing a single drop of blood, another vampire blew into us so quickly I didn’t have time to register the danger. I landed on the ground with a grunt and then quickly jumped to my feet just as his was wrapping his fingers around the neck of the vampire I’d been talking to.

  “No…! I screamed out. In one swift movement the vampire twisted my would-be informant’s head off without a second thought. “Son of a…” I swallowed the curse when the angry, bloodied vampire glanced in my direction, and I found myself on the receiving end of an ancient gold-rimmed stare. I immediately pulled my power from within, feeling it crackle to life in my chest and tingle in the palm of my hand. No way I’d be able to take on this vamp without using my warper powers. The vampire took a step forward, and I immediately pulled the dagger warper-fast from my boot. I couldn’t make out the vampire’s features from where I stood; the alleyway didn’t boast many street lamps. I felt anger and sorrow build in my chest for no reason I could fathom. I let my power leak into more of my body as I lifted my dagger in an offensive pose. A low, sad laugh reverberated up and down the alley, bouncing off the walls, making the hairs on my arms stand on end and causing my head to grow slightly fuzzy. I was on an emotional roller coaster, and it wasn’t something I knew how to control. It was a weakness—one that could get me killed. I lunged forward just as the vampire uttered a single word, so softly and so full of anguish that I nearly hadn’t heard it.

  “Sage.” His voice caressed the word, a slightly accented sound that I remembered as if I’d heard it only the day before. I stopped mid-motion, not even a foot away, unable to comprehend what I was hearing, what I was seeing. The voice didn’t belong in my world, didn’t belong in my time. It belonged in my dreams, in my nightmares, in that place in time that I had tried so hard to forget and to put behind me. I crept forward as slowly as I could with my hand outstretched, afraid I’d shatter the illusion standing before me. My hand shook slightly as I reached out to touch the face of the ghost in front of me. My gasp mingled with his as I made contact with the smooth skin of his cheek. I gained enough courage to glance up into the beautiful golden eyes I remembered so well and yet had tried so hard to erase from my memory. His eyes were searching my face, cataloging all my features. We stood there soaking in the sight of each other for only a moment longer before my mind and body caught up with everything that had just happened. I swayed ever so slightly and thought, not so bad considering my whole world has just been rocked.

  “Soren?” The word was a whisper, a question, and the only thing I could manage before I quite embarrassingly lost consciousness.


  “Go ahead and finish closing the place up. I’ll be here a while longer tonight doing some paperwork.” I heard a muffled voice coming from somewhere close by. I cracked my eyes open and sat up entirely too quickly. I steadied myself on the brown leather sofa I’d been lying on. When the room stopped spinning, I was surprised to find myself back in the room I had seen earlier that night, the one that belonged to the owner of Club Strange. My entire body shivered and a prickly, foot-falling-asleep sensation crawled down the back of my neck. I tried to dislodge the feeling of sea sickness, the out of body experience feeling, but the longer I stared at the desk and bookcase…the quicker it hit me that Soren was right outside the door in modern Charleston, in my time. The door creaked open and in walked Sir Soren Blackwell of 1904 and also the mysterious Mr. Black, Club Strange owner of 2004.

  I stood up when the door shut behind him and walked over to stand toe-to-toe with him. He looked almost the exact same as I remembered. Well, minus the old-fashioned clothing. He wore his hair a little shorter, cut to his ears instead of to his shoulders like he had the last time I’d seen him. The faded blue jeans and designer t-shirt was something I’d have to get used to. I reached out and touched his lips just to be sure he was real. He hissed in a breath and narrowed his eyes at me.

  “Same brooding vampire,” I said softly. I reached up and pushed his hair back and looked into his beautiful eyes. He seemed harder than I remembered, more aloof, even more untouchable than before. All of a sudden, like a slap in the face, I realized something. I’d been searching for vampires, searching for Cerberus, or anyone that could help me for months, and this whole time Soren had been right there in Charleston. Right there in my area. He could have found me at any time he’d wished.

  The enormity of what I’d just realized robbed me of my breath. I gasped for air, and awe was immediately replaced by mind-numbing fury. All those months of anger, tears, despair, loneliness, and heartache could have been more bearable if Soren had only cared enough to contact me. My hand flew out so quickly I barely felt the movement. I’m pretty sure Soren never saw it coming. His head jerked back from the force of my warper-juiced blow and his eyes blazed an unholy light when his gaze met mine. And just like that, I was once again sprawled on the top of his desk with his hand on my throat and his face only an inch from mine.

  “You, Jackass!” I hissed. “Do you know what I’ve been through? What hell I’ve endured all alone for the past three months?” I spit out. I could feel static electricity pulsing around my body, my fingers buzzed with pent up powers, and my body shook with the need to unleash my fury on anyone or anything foolish enough to be near me. Soren threw back his head and laughed. It wasn’t a happy sound; it was a slightly crazed sound that sliced through my body and would have made any normal person cringe away in fear.

  “Three months, Sage? Is that what you call Hell? I would have loved to have had your version of Hell because mine lasted a hundred years. A hundred years of not knowing if you were alive, not knowing where or when you warped to.” His voice lowered and he grabbed me roughly by my braid, tilting my head back on the desk. “You have no idea what hell really is, warper!” I swung my hand again, but this time Soren was ready for it. He stopped it mid-slap and pinned it to my side with his free arm. His grip tightened on my hair and he leaned in and whispered roughly in my ear. “Have you ever been so close to someone you wanted to touch, so close and yet so far away? Have you ever wanted to reach out and wipe away all their tears, erase all their sorrows, and yet you couldn’t. You couldn’t, because there would have been too many fucking consequences if you did?” His finger dug into me as he gave one violent shake. “No? Well, I have. And that, Sage, is a hell I’d never like to repeat.” His body quaked with suppressed rage.

  My eyes widened. His voice was full of anguish, full of sorrow and unrequited longing. His fingers dug into my hair and massaged themselves into my scalp. He leaned in and buried his nose roughly into my hair, breathing in my scent. I closed my eyes as a tear tracked down my cheek, and then, like someone’s final breath, the fight leaked out of me and I went limp in his arms.

  “Soren…please,” I whispered. He loosed his grip on my arm, and I raised my hand to bury it into his thick chestnut hair. I tugged gently until he raised his head and his gaze reluctantly captured mine. Soren’s mouth crashed down and his body melted into mine, effectively erasing all thoughts from my mind. There was nothing gentle in the mutual game of raw and primal need we were playing—mouths met in an explosion of lips and tongues, of touch and exploration, two people starving for what they had been denied for far too long. My legs wrapped around Soren’s waist as I was lifted off the top of the desk, our hands eagerly sought out all the planes of each other’s bodies—eager to caress and be caressed. We landed on the sofa, an urgency driving us born out of a mutual longing, a mutual passion, and a mutual need to be ourselves in a world where it was virtually impossible. Time hadn’t changed some things—that unnatural spark, that sometimes unhealthy need to be held by someone who understands and appreciates you for who and what you are.

  Soren’s hands held me on his lap. His hand spanned my waist and traveled up my sides until his thumbs rested under my breasts. I nearly melted into a mass of quivering hormones. I jerked at his t-shirt, pulling it out of the waist band of his jeans and nearly moaned when my hands found the muscular planes of his chest. I scrapped my nail up his sides and he hissed out a warning. I ignored it entirely. Soren yanked me even closer, causing a most delicious friction between our bodies. His hand dug into my hair, loosening the braid completely. My head was gently pulled back, exposing my neck to Soren’s complete attention. His mouth began its assault immediately, and all I could do was hold on for the ride. Warm lips traveled along my jaw line, teeth nibbled my ear lobe, and Soren’s expert tongue flicked out along my collar bone. I gasped as his mouth continued to torture the sensitive skin exposed to his gaze. I grabbed a handful of his hair and jerked his head back. I looked into his eyes and lowered my mouth to his, telling him without saying a single word how much that moment meant to me, how much I longed to hold and be held. His mouth took over, slanting harshly over mine, accidentally nicking my lip with his fangs. I sucked in a breath as Soren lazily licked and sucked my lower lip. I grabbed the waist of his jeans and fumbled with the button there.

  Soren snatched my hands away and kissed me lightly on the lips once again before putting a little space between our bodies. I blinked several times, trying to snap out of the hormone induced haze I’d found myself in. Soren licked his lips, and I mirrored the action. I reached for his hair and leaned forward but Soren took my hand in his and kissed the back of it.

  “Sage, we must stop.” He was panting slightly as he spoke. Like hell we must, I thought. I scrapped my nails down his abs and heard a satisfying groan in reply. The satisfaction didn’t last long though. Soren jumped up so quickly, I was dumped, hormones ablaze, onto the floor. I sat there for a second, stunned and uncomprehending. Was he frickin’ denying me? I jumped off the floor, my cheeks hot with embarrassment and more than a little anger.

  “What the hell, Soren?” I nearly screeched.

  “Sage, I want this. I’ve wanted this for so long it hurts, but I don’t want to be the guy you are with simply because you didn’t have any other choices. I don’t want to be the guy you regret sleeping with.” He ran a hand roughly through his tousled hair. “Just not tonight.” He shook his head in frustration. I smiled. Good, that would make two of us feeling sexually frustrated. “If you still want this after tonight, after you hear everything I have to say, and after our emotions have calmed, then all you have to do is say the word.”

  “I wanted this tonight, Soren. I wanted this now—before we talk and before we think about it too much.” I felt like punching something really hard. Soren shook his head, his jaw clenched. Shit. I knew that look. Worse…I knew he was probably right. Double shit. I played the last bluff card I had. “I won’t want this after tonight. It’s now or nev
er, Soren.” I boasted with my chin raised. In a flash, my body was pressed against the wall, my hands raised above my head and held by Soren’s stronger one. His hand raised my chin so I could do nothing but gaze into his blazing golden eyes.

  “Oh, you’ll want this again, Sage. In fact, I guarantee it.” His blew a warm breath on the pulse point on my neck, and I nearly whimpered in want. He didn’t play fair, and his chuckle told me he didn’t intend to. “You see, you forget that I’m not good, Sage. I’m a vampire, a monster, and I enjoy being bad, especially if being bad guarantees me a place in your bed.” His tongue caressed the same spot, and I moaned. There was no helping it. He stepped back from me and I almost slapped the devilishly smug look right off his face. If he hadn’t retreated across the room, I would have.

  His face softened as he spoke. “I did you a favor tonight. I won’t take advantage of you.” His gaze slowly traveled from the bottom of my tight jeans all the way up to my heaving chest and still-swollen lips, and his mouth thinned into a line of determination. His eyes, slightly dilated, and glowing brightly, finally met mine. “I won’t be a gentleman the next time. So think long and hard, Sage. You will be mine next time.” I swallowed and nodded my head in acknowledgement.

  I sat down on the sofa in remorse and took my time re-braiding my hair, allowing myself to cool down and thinking through the events of the evening. “So, obviously there are some things we need to discuss,” I said finally. Soren nodded. “Okay…so let’s get started. First, can we get out of here? I’m starving and I’m ready to get out of these clothes. Soren raised a brow and I blushed and narrowed my eyes. Soren lifted his hands in surrender. “Anyway, let’s have our little talk at my place. Do you have a car?” Soren smiled a cheshire cat smile and I gulped. Lordy, the man, er vampire, was absolutely delectable and entirely too hot for his own good. I swallowed and walked quickly to the door behind Soren to hide any evidence of my drooling.