The Vampire Destiny 3: Awakening

by Alexandra Anthony

  Feeling my surrender, his pace quickened further with excitement. "Morgonen är här. Kom med mig."

  His words caused me to fall helplessly with him into the abyss, vaguely hearing him shout as he emptied himself deep inside me for the countless time that night. Shuddering against him yet again, I helplessly melted against him.

  My eyes heavy, I felt the bed rush up to meet us. Had he placed us there or had we finally collapsed, simply falling over from sheer exhaustion? Honestly, I had no way of knowing. I simply crumpled along with him, unbelievably wanting more, yet physically unable to even lift my head.

  Shattered and drained, we fell asleep, tangled together in the covers and each others arms.

  Twisting to my side to face him, I pulled myself out of the memory and back into the present. He looked almost exactly the same as when we'd entered the bedroom last night. He was more rumpled, but nonetheless gorgeous. Unscathed. Lying on his back, he was lost in sleep, oblivious to the fact that we'd destroyed each other for hours in this very bed.

  Moving my arms to smooth his hair, the tattered sheet fell away and my eyes were drawn to my own naked skin. There were faint bruises on my hips and breasts where he'd held me, already fading as I brazenly admired them. I adored them and wished irrationally that there were more sprinkled over my skin. This is why he'd chosen not to share his blood with me. He had wanted me to wear his marks, if only for a little while. Taking his blood would cause my mostly immortal body to heal faster and he wanted me to see them, to remember how every one came to be.

  Gazing back at his sleeping form, even my silent observations of him made desire swirl angrily in the pit of my stomach. He had warned me that we would be like this: insatiable and all-consumed with one another.

  That had been the understatement of the century.

  Stretching, I padded into the adjoining bathroom and flicked on the light, instantly catching my reflection in the mirrored room. The woman staring back at me didn’t even look like me. I looked wild, feral. Turning from side to side, I memorized every pale purple finger tip, the pink outline of his hand across my ass, the fading bite marks that scattered a path from my neck to my stomach.

  The only thing missing were the marks from his fangs. They’d already healed. The tiny bruises and marks were already vanishing and would be gone by afternoon. Watching them disappear would be almost as frustrating as my numerous attempts to brand him.

  Once again, my mind flashed back to hours earlier as I relentlessly attempted to mark him. The scratches and bites I inflicted on him healed within seconds, leaving behind his flawless, perfect skin.

  He'd sensed my frustration. He'd kissed me tenderly, following the line of my cheekbones with his fingertips and lips. "I would gladly wear your marks if you could inflict them on me."

  And once again he caught me off guard under his sweet words.

  Snapping out if my reverie, I blinked at myself and shook my head in frustration. Turning on the faucet, I splashed water on my face and quickly brushed my teeth. I pulled my hair into a ponytail and headed to the closet, grabbing a pair of faded jeans and a black cashmere sweater. I was dressing for comfort. Anna was still in the other room and I knew we wouldn't be leaving the apartment until she rose.

  If she rose. I was becoming as hesitant as Stefan and Lukas, too afraid to assume she had survived her change.

  Glancing back at the bed, I noticed Stefan had rolled to his side, clutching my pillow to his chest. His handsome face looked young and innocent in his sleep, all of his smug smiles and sexy sneers missing. Only his unguarded beauty was left behind. His soft lips were parted slightly and sandy-colored stubble darkened his chiseled cheeks.

  Sitting down on the bed beside of him, I ran my fingers over his silky golden hair. Like a sleeping cat, he nudged into my hand, encouraging me to continue. Smiling softly, I obliged. It wasn't often anyone was able to see this side of Stefan. More than likely I was the only one he’d trusted enough to let this gentle side of him show. He was always on guard, always thinking 20 steps ahead of everyone. It had helped keep him alive for 1,000 years.

  My cell phone chimed with a text alert from the bedside table. I reached for it, opening the incoming message. It was from my editor. Let me edit that: a text from my extremely agitated editor.

  ‘Josie, you need to call me. You missed your deadline. Call me!’

  Before I could reply, another came through.

  ‘I mean it. CALL ME.’

  Damn it! Since meeting Stefan, my life had become a whirlwind of drama. My book had been the last thing on my mind. It was ready to submit, I just needed to sign off on the cover design and the interior jacket before returning it to him.

  In spite of myself, I giggled. The thought crossed my mind that I should change my biography, adding that I was currently mated to a sexy blond vampire with control issues...and that I was exploring my new found immortality. It was still amazing how different things were for me. My life had become a series of surreal moments and bizarre new realizations.

  Leaning to press a kiss against Stefan's forehead, I silently left the room. I stopped in the doorway and looked back, smiling at the beautiful Adonis sleeping in the bed. It may be a surreal situation, but I counted my lucky stars every day.

  Dialing my phone, I walked into the kitchen and started digging around for coffee. I was scooping it into the coffee maker when he picked up.

  "Finally! Jesus, Josie!" Aidan said. He sounded harried and over-caffeinated. In other words, it was business as usual. The conversations I had with Aidan always left me emotionally exhausted and mentally drained from constantly shielding.

  "Hey, Aidan. Nice to talk to you too." I turned on the machine, letting it do its magic and headed into the living room. I curled up into the chair, my eyes zeroing in on Anna's unmoving body.

  "Where have you been? Your deadline was three days ago and I've been stalling for you."

  Closing my eyes, I had a quick mental vision of myself telling Aidan about my adventures with murderous vampires and immortality. I chose the safer route. "I'm sorry, Aidan. I've been in the process of moving. I promise I'll have everything to you in the next hour."

  There was silence on the line. "You were moving? Where are you this time?"

  Snickering, I heard the coffee maker beep. Making my way back into the kitchen, I started opening cabinets until I found the mugs. "New York. Chelsea to be exact."

  "You’re back in New York?!? We gotta meet for lunch. Or maybe dinner." Aidan sounded excited. I could almost hear the pistons of his mind firing up, making plans that would never come to fruition.

  We'd attempted to date after I signed with Stimson & Schroeder. Aidan Peters was an attractive man with wavy, shoulder-length caramel hair and heavy, black rimmed glasses. I'd limited our contact to phone calls after a string of three horrible dates. When I moved to Bali, the 20 hour distance helped alleviate some of the awkwardness that came after a strained break-up. Now I was simply a cab ride away from him and his interest would more than likely have a renewed resurgence.

  "I'm not sure, Aidan. I need to get settled and I'll have to check with my boyfriend to see what his schedule looks like. I'm sure he'd like to meet you."

  More silence greeted me. His tone turned suspicious. "Boyfriend? I thought you didn't date. At least that was the story you gave me when you said you didn’t want to see me anymore."

  "A lot has happened since we last talked. I preferred not to date until I met Stefan," I replied, pouring coffee into a mug and sipping it.

  "Hmm. What makes this guy so special?"

  What didn’t make Stefan special? His devotion, his love, his total disregard for his own safety to think only of mine were only a few of the things that set him apart. Aidan would never understand. I needed to keep it simple and not complicate an already tense situation. "Aidan, it's very serious."

  "I should say I'm happy, but I'd be lying," he muttered sadly. "Send me the files and talk to your boyfriend. We'll all do lunch soo
n."

  Rolling my eyes to the ceiling, I sat back down in the chair. "Will do. Bye, Aidan."

  He barely mumbled a goodbye in his haste to get off the phone with me. Tossing my phone on the ottoman, I went into Stefan's office to grab my laptop that had been charging. When I went to reach for my computer, I bumped his, bringing it out of hibernation. He'd left his e-mail account open and it began automatically downloading. One message stood out by the subject line: Your immediate testimony is required regarding recent activity. My eyes traveled over to glance at the sender: noreply@pb&c.com.

  Temptation urged me to open the e-mail. My fingers hovered over the keyboard, trying to work up the nerve to press the button to open it.

  No. It wasn’t my e-mail to open.

  Biting my lip, I quickly closed the lid of the laptop before I changed my mind. I'd be furious if he went through my computer. Still mulling over the mysterious message, I snatched up my own computer and headed back into the living room. Sitting down at the counter, I powered it on and reached for my coffee cup. What did the message ‘your immediate testimony was required’ mean? Who and exactly what was PB&C?

  Shooting a hurried glance down the hallway, I opened up my browser and typed in PB&C in the search bar, hitting enter. One result appeared. Clicking on it, a plain black screen greeted me, asking for my credentials and not just one, but different four sets of pass codes.

  Nothing about the site gave me any clue what it was or better yet, what they did. The more I studied the web page, I came to the conclusion that this site was vampire related and my inquiry was now not only recognized, but more than likely would also be tracked by IP address. I wondered how long it would take for someone to appear at our door or better yet, contact Stefan.

  Clicking out of the screen, I opened my e-mail and began typing out a quick message to Aidan. I was attaching the approved documents when I heard Stefan's phone ring in the bedroom. His voice was muffled, but I felt his anger spike. The anger slowly changed into mild aggravation, finally settling into mild curiosity and resolve. His emotions in my mind were going to be like riding a roller coaster. I'd have to work on shielding them or I'd be an emotional wreck.

  Absorbing myself back in my e-mails, I barely noticed when Stefan entered the room. Peeking over the screen, I offered him a distracted smile. Still looking ruffled and sleepy, his eyes were fully alert as they roamed over me. They were bright blue, highly irritated and bored through me.

  "You were not in bed when I woke up." Stefan accused irritably. He walked around the counter and swiveled the stool I was sitting in around to face him. He moved my legs apart to slip between them and braced me in with his long, muscular arms. "I missed you. Come back with me. Unless you have more snooping on the internet to attend to or you feel the need to resume your conversation with Aidan."

  Several emotions detonated inside of me instantaneously. His closeness ignited my desire for him and an almost reptilian anger unfurled at his insinuations. I also had the answer to my earlier question. It took less than 10 minutes for the crypt keepers to trace my innocent exploration of their website.

  "Excuse me?" I stammered. "My snooping?

  "Yes, Josephine. Why were you attempting to enter the Board and Council website? Nigel was able to divert the information from being passed on," Stefan remarked sharply. His voice had taken on a similar tenor that he used with Lukas. He needed information and wasn't going to beat around the bush to get it.

  "I was getting my laptop when I bumped your computer. It powered on and your e-mail was open. I wasn't snooping. I just happened to notice one e-mail that said your testimony was required. I looked at the sender and I was curious. Do you want to explain what that means?" I folded my arms and raised an eyebrow in expectation.

  I listened to the rapid sound of his fingertips tapping on the wood. He pushed off the arms of the stool, crossing his arms as he stood in front of me.

  "Do not attempt to divert the conversation. And no, I do not wish to explain right now." His blue eyes hardened and his jaw tightened.

  "Tough. Start talking." I narrowed my eyes and sat back on the stool, waiting for him to continue.

  Stefan let out an unnecessary breath. His posture relaxed slightly and he resumed his earlier stance of caging me between his arms on the stool. "PB&C stands for the Premiere Board and Council. My testimony is merely a formality. I killed a vampire. They need my version of the events for their records." Stefan shrugged. His mind fractured off into a half a dozen different directions. He was annoyed at me for my inquisitiveness, he was scanning the future of the Council members to see their response to Derek’s death. He was also worrying about Kian, probing the tie to Anna and wondering how irritated I was with him for not sharing this information.

  "I'm not mad, Stefan. Just stop trying to protect me from everything. I'm capable of handling more than you give me credit for," I snapped, jutting my chin out defiantly.

  He gave me a wry smile. "This is interesting news. The last time you were given information you did not like you crept out of the apartment like a thief, fleeing to drown yourself in tiny cups of coffee while refusing to take any of my phone calls. Do you understand my concern in sharing potentially upsetting news with you?"

  His words deflated some of my anger. He was right. Stefan had a way about pointing out my flaws without making me feel guilty or angry. He only stated the facts.

  "I'm doing better with this now. The information about our bonding on the plane was the perfect example. Can you at least explain what testifying entails?" Trying another tactic, I gently stroked the skin of his arm from where his t-shirt ended to his wrist. I felt his quiet enjoyment of the touch of my fingers on his skin. Continuing to caress his arm, I kept my gaze fixed on his.

  "Vackra, we will discuss this at length later. Let us deal with Anna's situation and then we will contend with the Council. Can we agree to shelve the issue temporarily?"

  Reluctantly, I nodded in agreement. "Yes. But once Anna wakes up, we need to have a serious talk about this Council business."

  He grinned widely, his blue eyes gleaming. He kept me locked between his arms as his lips brushed against mine, softly pressing lazy kisses against my mouth. Groaning softly, I locked my arms around his neck to pull myself closer to him.

  "Agreed. Now tell me who this Aidan character is."

  Chapter 2

  Who’s Jealous Now?

  "You can't be serious, Stefan. You're jealous of my book editor?" I pulled away and looked at him with narrowed eyes. "You were listening in on my phone call to Aidan?"

  I wanted Stefan to at least pretend to appear a little guilty. Instead, a look of smug satisfaction spread over his handsome face. He was completely shameless.

  "I heard the end of your conversation. He wants to meet with you?"

  "Us," I corrected. "He wants to meet with us."

  Stefan pressed a kiss to the tip of my nose. "Ah, I think he would be happier if you met him alone. I cannot blame him. You are beautiful, Josephine. Any man would love to have your undivided attention for even a moment."

  "You’re way too smooth you know. And completely biased," I whispered, smacking at his chest with my hand.

  "Perhaps I am biased. I also see how other men look at you. I am also cautious. Set up a meeting. Perhaps having a drink would be best for Aidan to meet your ‘boyfriend’." Stefan accented his comment with air quotes.

  "What am I supposed to call you? My vampire mate?" I asked pointedly. I impishly pushed him away, concentrating on the the computer screen long enough to press ‘send’ on the e-mail to Aidan.

  "You can call me what you wish, vackra. I just wish to hear you call my name many times." His eyebrows waggled and smiled crookedly, sitting down on the chair facing the couch. His mood instantly sobered as he focused on Anna, his intense stare analyzing her lifeless state. I joined in his silent observation, looking for any difference. She looked slightly paler, her hair more vibrant, but those were the only real changes I could no
tice with my mostly human eyes.

  "Sit with me?" Stefan asked quietly. His question piqued my interest since Stefan rarely asked. His requests usually sounded more like statements, not requests.

  Moving from my perch on the stool, I crossed the room and fell into the expanse of his lap. He held me close, his chin resting on the top of my head. His thoughts were heavy, as was his mood. Stefan had been troubled since we’d returned to New York from Bali. He was much more experienced at shielding his thoughts from me, but his emotions were more difficult for him to disguise due to our newly formed bond.

  Letting my fingernails run over his muscular arms, I nuzzled my nose against his neck. “Please talk to me, Stefan. Tell me what’s been bothering you for two days.”

  He released yet another sigh. His voice sounded detached and soft when he finally began to talk. "Changing Anna had made me remember the day I awoke as a vampire. My human memories and attachments were muddled, yet I clearly remembered dying at Solveig's hands. The fear of feeling my life slip away was horrifying. It was the second time in my life I felt helpless."

  "I can't imagine you ever being helpless," I murmured. It was true. He was so strong and vital, imagining him weak and defenseless was difficult for me to fathom. It didn’t help hearing the mere mention of his maker’s name. Solveig been dead for more than 700 years, yet she was like an invisible wedge between us. Stefan had loved her once. More than likely, there was a part of him that always would.

  He barked out a soft laugh, his cynical smile making his face look harsh. "I was dying and was no match for Solveig. I was angry at her. I felt as if I was supposed to die a human death. My own miscalculations cost me my life. As a warrior, I had been defeated and I was willing to accept death. I fought and I lost. Dying was my punishment for my mistakes. When Solveig found me, she quickly recognized my ability and chose a different kind of death for me." Stefan paused, his deep voice becoming stronger. "Lukas lay dying when I offered this life to him. I was never able to offer Anna the choice, to give her the opportunity to decide if she wanted immortality. As a vampire, I made an oath to myself that I would never change a human without their consent. I vowed that I would never become like my maker. Yet here I sit with you, waiting for my unwilling child to rise. I am preparing for her anger, her confusion and pain once she realizes what she has lost because of our decisions. You must be ready for it as well, vackra. She may be angry and resentful. She will never have children. She will live a life in the shadows, pretending to fit in while watching the world pass by."