by Emma Shade
“What are you going to do when you find her? What happens if they find her first?”
“Sam, I’m going to get her back. Damn anyone who stands in my way. Liliana is mine, and nobody’s going to tell me different. On the others finding her? We better make sure we find her before they do.”
Sam smirked. “Once you find out where she is, you know I’m going with you, right?”
“I know. You’d just follow me wherever I ended up anyway. Your tenaciousness is what makes you a great vampire. Despite the fact you want to pass out at the sight of blood.”
Sam took another sip of blood, squeezing his eyes closed. He shivered before saying, “Yeah, I’m a pussy. Needles, blood, and snakes. They all do me in.”
Gary, one of top security guards strolled into the home gym with determination, Blake right on his heels.
I eyed Blake with contempt. Not because he was good friends with Sam, but because the man wanted the woman I loved. He had chased after Liliana the moment he met her. Which, by the way, was after I’d already claimed her in my mind. But all’s fair in love and war. Unfortunately, to my disdain, his little dreaming talent would be very useful in communication with Liliana. If she opened up long enough to let him in, that is.
Blake’s gray eyes met mine. He smirked as if he knew something I hadn’t. Bastard.
My eyes pivoted to my security guard. “Gary, what’s going on?”
“We have two new sightings, sir.”
“And? Any proof she’s at any of these places?” I’d heard this all before. Eying the men in the room, I grunted, “I’m not sending people out to these locations without evidence. Carlotta and Jeffery are on their way back from San Diego now. Which by the way, was a waste of time.”
“No, sir, but one lead is pretty promising,” Gary replied, standing as still as a statue. I glanced between Blake and Gary with suspicion.
My phone beeped to let me know I’d gotten a new text. As I picked it up from the shelving along the wall, I faced the three men. With his hand holding his out his phone to show he’d sent the message, Blake’s eyes held something I knew all too well. Determination.
Blake smirked. “I think one of them are legit. Check for yourself.”
Unlocking my phone, I slid down to my text messages. Blake had sent an image. Of Liliana. Paige’s face barely visible beside her, Lily smiled into the camera. With her gorgeous dark locks dyed a dark cherry red, she cocked her head to the side almost as if posing. Liliana sat at some sort of table, but the background had been purposely blurred, providing no clues of her whereabouts.
My heart constricted when I saw her face for the first time. Unsure if it was because of the emotions I felt staring at the picture, or if the monster inside me threated to emerge, but my gums ached, fangs wanting to burst free. I swallowed back the aching pressure in my mouth and took a deep breath. Blake’s voice pulled my eyes away from the picture.
“That picture was transmitted to us this morning through the club’s email. We emailed back, but right away got an undeliverable response. Unfortunately, the email address is invalid. We are trying to trace it back, but highly doubt we’ll be able to. All the email said was, ‘Look who I found.’ It had a little wink face and signed by Jamison. No last name.”
Glancing at the picture again, it hit me who the sender was. The email reeked of something he’d do. Not only that, but he knew I owned Revive. Sneaky bastard. I let out a sarcastic laugh. Jamison Masters. Of all people to find Liliana, of course it was him.
Sam walked over to look at the picture, tilting my phone to the side to see the screen. “Honey, what did you do to your hair? Horrible dye job, girl. Gah. Wait until I see her. She’ll be hitting the salon ASAP.”
Blake huffed and crossed his arms. He glared at my smile like he could wilt it right off my face. “You think this is a game? It’s not a joke. She needs to be found.”
Jamison was going to hold this information out until the last possible minute. That’s what I deserved. Even though he would keep her safe, I knew what I’d done to Jamison so long ago wouldn’t be so easily forgiven. Because he was an older vampire and on the council of affairs, he’d opened her photo about my search. I’d have to ask around and find out if I was able to locate his current residence. Even though it would be easier to find a needle in a haystack. Vampires, because of the animosity between higher members, were not willing to disclose locations. Even to me. Now, it was a waiting game until the next clue came through. Shrugging at Blake’s scrutiny, I said, “She’s going to be fine. Jamison would never hurt her. Actually he’ll be sure she stays safe above all things, but we won’t know which city she’s in until he’s ready. This guy knows how to play games. Trust me.”
Blake rolled his eyes, throwing his hands up in the air. “Of course he does. Sneaky, conniving, and irrational. Let me guess. Jamison’s a vampire?”
Sam’s looked at the ground, most likely hurt by Blake’s words, and muttered under his breath, “What’s wrong with being a vampire?”
Blake’s anger blasted through the room like a thick fog and grated on my nerves. I growled, narrowing my eyes at Blake. “Yes, and so is Sam. I suggest before you start acting like an asshole, you close your mouth before you put your foot in it.”
“Sorry, Sam,” he said. “I didn’t mean any offense. It’s just that we don’t know anything about this Jamison guy. Apparently you know him, Ashton, so why don’t you fill us in?”
I shrugged at Blake, and said, “Yes, I know who Jamison is. We have a very long complicated history. It started when I tried to steal his fiancé.”
CHAPTER FIVE
LILY
Sunlight filtered through the crack of the curtains of the hotel room. The light warmed my skin, and I woke with a lazy stretch. Luckily Paige had instructed me how to block other beings from entering my mind during training, but as faulty as my abilities were, it hadn’t always work when needed. Still, I was able to keep Blake out of my dreams by some miracle.
Glancing over to the bed on my right, I quietly chuckled at the noise. With her dyed curls spread out on the pillow like a halo, Paige snored like a lumberjack. Though I had never thought I’d be able to sleep with her in the same room, I eventually drifted off to sleep. But only after several agonizing minutes with the temptation to use my pillow and smother her with it.
Gently picking up the room service menu, I debated on breakfast. Today I just wanted to chill in the hotel room for a while. So far our journey in Las Vegas started by hopping out of bed at dawn and collapsing exhausted in the wee hours of the morning.
After deciding on what to eat, I reached over to pick up the phone to place my order. Only it rang before I could. I cussed in surprise, dropped the menu, and Paige woke with a snort, ready to attack.
“What’s going on? Who could that be?” Paige asked with a yawn, and stared at the hotel phone like it would bite her.
“Don’t know. I’m picking it up though.” I shrugged.
Alistair’s voice greeted me on the other end of the line. “Are you two behaving?”
I snorted. “Us? Of course. Why would you think we’d do anything other than work?”
“Lily, I know better. Putting you and Paige together as a team in Vegas just screams disaster. That’s if you both can stay sober long enough to actually find the guy we’re after. Just keep Red’s shirt on and ass off the bar. Same goes for you. I don’t want to see either of you girls on a video of Girls Gone Wild.”
“Alistair, we’re fine. We’ve narrowed it down to a few casinos, and are biding our time between the two of them. Besides, I doubt she’d be on the bar without her top on anyway. She’d punch the first guy to look at either of us wrong.”
“True enough. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I already told you we’re...”
His voice interrupted me. “No. Are you okay? You’ve been through some traumatic events. I just want to make sure that you don’t regret this decision. We can always bring you back home.
Jeremy would just have to live with it.”
My heart stuttered at the mention of home. The people I left behind flashed through my mind one by one. Ashton, Blake, Carlotta, and finally Sam. Although Sam was gone forever. Actually, I’d likely never set eyes on any of them again. It’s a conversation Alistair’s tried to bring up occasionally. It hurt too much to hash it out. Yes, I missed them. Do I regret leaving? That’s something I wasn’t willing to dwell on. As I vanished in the night with Alistair and Paige, my mindset muddled with chaos, I knew it was the right thing to do. When Sam died, it damaged me inside, but most of all, I decided it was to keep everyone safe from harm. Who and what I was, well, threatened to put more than just my head on the chopping block.
“Lily? You there?” Alistair asked.
“Yeah, sorry. I’m fine.”
He grunted. “Fine. Paige’s fine. You’re fine. Everybody is always so fucking fine. But we aren’t. Sometimes, we’re hurt, bruised, and nearly completely shattered. And this, Lily, is not what one calls fine.”
I blinked in surprise at his outburst, swallowed down the pain his words awakened, and pretended everything really was fine. "Well, well. Aren't we just a little ray of sunshine today?”
“You’re starting to sound a lot like Paige. I see her snippety attitude is starting to rub off on you. It’s not an attractive trait, Lily.”
“You know what, Alistair? You can go fuck yourself. Call us back if you decide to talk to me without being an asshole.” I slammed the phone down on the receiver.
“Ah. I see that Alistair’s wonderful morning banter has put you in a fabulous mood,” Paige said.
The hotel phone started to ring again. I pointed at Paige, afraid she’d pick it up. “Don’t answer that.”
She held her hands up in front of her. “Didn’t plan on it. He’s not the happiest man in the morning. If he doesn’t have his morning blood fix, like you with coffee, he’s a jerk.”
“Speaking of that, I need to make some coffee,” I grunted. “Do you want to hang in the room for a bit? I’m feeling like watching TV while I finish coffee would be awesome.”
Paige shrugged. “I don’t care either way. I think relaxing for a bit is just what we need.”
She turned on the TV as I got up to start coffee in the miniscule machine on the counter of our room. Both of our cell phones rang one after another, flashing Alistair’s number. We ignored it for the time being, even if Alistair was going to be pissed. Right now, all I wanted to do was rest.
We called in room service breakfast. After eating a pile of hash browns and bacon, I watched the TV and tried to keep my eyes open. It was only ten a.m. in Vegas. The town didn’t pick up until the afternoon. Of course with a full belly, I just wanted to sleep. I fought sleep with everything in me, but eventually I drifted off.
*****
Seeing Ashton’s club, Revive, for the first time in over two months kick-started my heart into overdrive. A lump formed in the back of my throat, tears threatened to spill, and my breaths heaved in and out of my lungs. Pain routed deep in my chest at the site of a place I’d left behind.
For one thing, I couldn’t keep Blake out of this dream. He pulled me in without an ounce of effort. It irked me at how easy it was. My utter exhaustion played a roll, I’m sure. As I tried to keep him out of my dreams by drinking more than my body weight over the last month, it had been a futile attempt.
Glancing around at the club, I swallowed the lump in my throat. I even closed my eyes and blinked a few times in hopes that if I opened my eyes, I wouldn’t be here anymore. Of course, if Blake wanted me here, there was nothing stopping him. But I had some tricks up my sleeve.
“Lily,” Blake whispered from somewhere behind me.
His rumbling voice cascaded over my body like hot lava. I shivered and refused to turn around. My hands shook, heart pounded, and lungs pumped. Not from fear, but from anxiety and sadness.
“Please look at me,” he said. “I won’t hurt you.”
I shook my head in response. His footsteps resonated behind me as he came closer. Closing my eyes, I refused to look at him as he made his way in front of me.
“Lily, open your eyes damn it. Don’t think I don’t know how bad you’re hurting right now. But I had to see you. There’s much we need to discuss.”
Shoving the pain to the recess of my mind, I forced the anger through instead. Keeping my eyes closed, I groused, “I’m not hurt. I’m pissed. You shut down when I needed you and Ashton the most. My best friend was dying on a hospital bed, and you wouldn’t even look at me. Ashton bolted to supposedly give me space. You, Blake, stared out the window, dead to the world.”
He sighed. “I’m sorry. I don’t know how to process grief and I regret not being there to comfort you. But you ran. Don’t think I’m not angry about that. Instead of facing what’s in front of you, you fled at the first sign of heartache. How could you do that to us?”
I opened my eyes for the first time and locked my gaze on Blake. Bitterness penetrated my skin and my eyes reflected just how I felt inside most of the time. Dead.
He gasped at my expression. “What happened to the beautiful girl that showed every emotion in her eyes?”
“She died right along with Sam,” I replied, and stormed over to the bar.
Blake snatched my forearm, and stopped me in my tracks. “That’s the thing you don’t understand. Sam...”
“Blake! I’m done. I don’t want to hear excuses or the reasons why. I don’t want to feel the pain and depression of losing everyone I love. I’ve already inadvertently killed two people that meant the world to me. Don’t make me do that to the rest of you.”
He blinked in surprise at my words. “Lily, let me speak. If you’d just...”
“NO! I don’t want hear it. Blake, but I can’t hurt anyone else. Don’t you see that? Because of what I am, I’ve put everyone’s life in danger. Please know I do love you, and tell Ashton I love him too. With all my heart. But sometimes, loving somebody doesn’t necessarily save them. Goodbye, Blake.”
The dream started to fade on the edges as I used what Paige had taught me. I blocked out my mind, and shoved the visions from my head.
Blake instantly realized what I was doing and snatched both of my arms to shake me. “Don’t do this, Lily. You have to listen to me.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, and the dream faded to black.
In the last few seconds I pushed myself out of the dream, I kept my eyes locked with Blake’s. His steel-colored eyes reflected regret, longing, and desperation. Just as I had planned, the dream faded.
“Lily, wake up!” Paige slapped my check.
I swatted her hand away. “When are you going to stop doing that?”
“Never,” she answered. “You were talking in your sleep and said Blake’s name. Did he break through?”
“Yeah, he did. But I used your Jedi mind trick to get out of there as quickly as I could.” I rubbed my face with my hands. It ached seeing him in my dream. The site of Blake Moore brought back too many painful memories. His haunted eyes tormented me.
“I’m sorry. But you know my stance on this. I think you were freaking stupid for leaving it all behind.”
“What do you know about leaving people behind?”
“More than you know. One of these days, you’re going to have a meltdown, and it’s not going to be pretty.”
“I’m fine, Paige. Why do people keep thinking I’m not?”
“Because, the one thing that causes a deeper breakdown more than anything else is a denial of emotion,” Paige stated with a raised eyebrow.
I sighed and shook my head. Emotion hadn’t had a place in my life right now. I refused to let sadness, despair, and hopelessness break through. If I allowed those to take over, I’d be helpless. Granted, every day I fought those emotions from bursting free, my protective barrier weakened. It’s just a matter of time until I ended up on an episode of Snapped.
CHAPTER SIX
BLAKE
&n
bsp; Dammit. Lily’s dream hadn’t turned out as planned. I accomplished absolutely nothing. I expected she’d see me and lunge into my arms with elation. Boy, was I sadly mistaken. I finally delved into her subconscious after multiple attempts over the weeks, but my reward sucked balls. Big. Hairy. Balls.
My goal was to let her know that Sam lived. A vampire, yes, but lived nonetheless. Then warn her about the dangers of the letter. Hell, I hadn’t gotten a damn word in the entire time. She pushed me out of the dream quicker than a bolt of lightning. That was new. Lily apparently had a few tricks up her sleeve lately.
Face down in the pillow, I punched the wooden headboard of my bed out of frustration. I’d never felt this conflicted before. I knew Lily had feelings for me, sure, but I also walked on a thin line to begin with. What if I put my heart and soul out there to only be crushed in the long run? What if everything I’d left behind came back to bite me in the ass?
Before I pommelled a hole in the headboard, I rolled over and edged out of the covers in only my boxers. The only sound echoing through the penthouse were my bare feet slapping on the hardwood floors, I headed into the kitchen. After snatching up a beer out of the fridge, I edged out onto the balcony that faced a glorious view of downtown Indianapolis.
The cool night air felt good on my bare chest and I leaned into the railing with every intention of taking in the sights to clear my head. Lucas Oil Stadium and Conseco Fieldhouse to the left and Chase Tower in front of me with the skyline of downtown Indy. Traffic roared in the background from the interstate nearby and the lights glittered in the dark.