Accidentally Married To...A Vampire? (7 page)

Three weeks later

The nocturnal salty breeze carried the sound of crashing waves into Helena’s second story window. Although the ocean was a full four blocks away, the soothing crests often sounded as if right beneath her window. It was normally her favorite thing about living in the lax beach town of Santa Cruz. But since her return from Mexico, nothing made her happy.

Being alone in the enormous yellow house didn’t help either. Her mother was staying at Aunt Rita’s in San Diego—her first vacation in a long time.

Helena nibbled her thumb, glared at her cell phone, and then flopped down on her white bedspread, arms sprawled to her sides. It was eight pm. When would he call? When would he send for her? What would she do when he did?

“You’re obsessed! Stop it!” It had been weeks since her return, yet her mind had never left that dark night in the jungle. The memories haunted her every moment of the day and every second of her dreams—when she managed to sleep. Tonight was not one of those nights. Tonight she’d dwell again on his final parting word: “forever.”

That night, after Niccolo surprisingly informed Helena he would let her go, they'd hiked through the jungle for an hour, and he'd asked all sorts of bizarre questions. How did people travel? What weapons were prevalent? Who was currently at war? What form of currency was best?

Helena explained all about cars, the Euro, planes, bombs, and guns. Then the Middle East. Niccolo listened with fascination to every word. When they finally reached a road, she wondered how he would react to seeing a car. Was he really thirteen hundred years old? How could that be physically possible? He’d also mentioned having waited three hundred years for her. Asleep. The absurdity of that statement swam endless laps inside her head. Not only from a scientific standpoint, but also because she had the worst luck with men. They always seemed intimidated by her independence. To imagine a male like Niccolo waiting around just for
her?
It made her insides liquefy.

Oddly enough, she wasn’t hung up on his vampirism. Maybe because her field of study, Evolutionary Biology, was grounded in the improbable becoming reality. Take the overly endowed Argentine lake duck, for example, with a member the length of its body. Or the Madagascar sucker-footed bat with real suction cup feet.

When it came to Nature’s will, wasn’t anything possible? Even nocturnal human-like creatures with super strength?
Who drink blood, and live for thousands of years, and look like they just walked off the cover of Hotty Magazine, and…
She shook her head.
Okay. Maybe not.

From another world, then?
She
had
witnessed Niccolo flag down a blue pickup that night by merely whispering, “Stop your mechanical carriage.”

After the driver pulled smoothly to the side of the two-lane highway, Niccolo instructed him to take Helena to her hotel and guard her with his life. The driver nodded with an obedient, empty gaze and waited for Helena to get in. As she was about to step inside the cab of the truck, Niccolo unexpectedly pushed her against the side of the vehicle and slanted his mouth over hers. His hands cradled the back of her head as he deepened the kiss. No one had ever kissed her so passionately, with such desperation.

Before she knew it, she was indulgently stroking his tongue with hers and within moments, he had her aching. She knew that only the feel of his skin, of their bodies merging, could possibly extinguish that little blaze—okay, forest fire—scorching her insides.

Niccolo broke the kiss, leaving her breathless. “If I don’t stop now, I will not be able to. And you must go before they catch up to me,” he’d said.

Helena had nodded, her mind a jumbled mess of hormonal overload and adrenaline.

“Helena, remember what I said. Do not think of hiding from me. I need you, and I’ve never needed anyone.”

“I—I don’t understand,” she'd replied.

He placed a soft kiss in the corner of her mouth. “You were born for me—to save me from this hell. I will not rest until we are together again and you are safe with me…forever.”

That powerful word haunted her every breath. Even now as she paced across the hardwood floor of her immaculate room. Why was his life a hell, and why did he believe Helena would rescue him? Did he intend to make her like him? “Forever” carried a lot more weight when it was said by a vampire. Regardless, she knew she wouldn’t be content until she saw him again.

I am certifiable.

“Dammit. Where the hell is he?” She glared at her pink cell on the nightstand.

As if magically complying with her wish, the phone suddenly rang, making her jump.

Caller unknown.
Helena’s heart nearly stopped. She plucked up the phone and listened for several moments before answering. “Hello?”

“Hey, Lena! What's going on?”

“Ann?” Helena asked, hiding her disappointment.

“Yup! Where are you, girly?”

Helena sighed.
Helplessly pining away at...
“Home. Is everything okay?”

She heard a gasp on the other end. “I'm calling from a payphone, sitting here all alone with bags of plates and cups. You forgot, didn't you?” Ann was irate.

Helena's mind raced. “Nooo. How could I forget? It’s so…important…Okay. I forgot. What are you talking about?”

“Yeah. Weird. Considering the surprise beach party thing was your brainchild...”

Oh hell!
“Jessica's birthday.” It was a girls-only bonfire party. She had to go pick up the drinks, logs, cake, everything. And the party started in an hour.

“Be right there.” Helena slammed down the phone and scrambled to her closet.
Crap. Okay. Jeans. Find jeans.
She turned and began digging through a pile of neatly folded clothes in a basket on the floor.
Dammit.
She tugged open her top dresser drawer. “There you are!” Helena had few pleasures in life, but she never skimped on comfortable well-fitting jeans: classic straight leg, ultra-low waist.

“
Helena, my love
,” she heard a deep voice whisper from behind.

Helena gasped and held on tight to that breath.

Jeans clutched to her chest, she turned slowly toward the voice.

There was no one there.

“It’s official. I’m obsessed.”

***

Helena arrived just as the dozen other guests showed up. She'd invited all of the girls from their surf club and a few close friends from the university—mostly Wino Wenches. After summer was over, they'd all be going off in separate directions to start their lives. Jess was taking a job in Seattle. Ann in Chicago. Some of their grad school classmates were going on to doctorate programs out of state.

Helena had planned to live with Aunt Rita and work for an ecological disaster response organization based in San Diego. Helena had loved her internship, cataloging mutating bacteria from the Gulf Coast last summer, and only wanted to get back into the field. She loved learning. She also had a mountain of school debts to pay and wanted to work for a few years before going for her PHD. If she went. For the first time ever, her future felt like a murky pond instead of a wide-open road paved with possibilities.

Helena looked up at Jess who'd just arrived and realized the event was in her honor. A satisfied grin swept across Helena’s face as Jess squealed with delight and hugged everyone while laughing hysterically about being duped.

Helena realized how much she would miss seeing her friends every day. They'd been her rock these last years and filled a void left by not having much family around.

Helena pasted on a smile.
The party must go on.

She passed out sodas for the drivers and beers to everyone else. She then popped in an old Beach Boys CD. Everyone sang and laughed, ate cake and talked about their plans for the future. Everyone except Helena. She just listened and soaked them in, knowing it would be the last time they’d all be together.

Life felt so short.

***

Just after midnight, the party died down and the guests said their goodnights. Helena plopped herself down in the sand between Jess and Ann. They stared at the dwindling flames, listening to the low crackle of the logs and the crashing waves in the background.

“Thanks Lena, that was the best birthday I've ever had,” Jess said and squeezed Helena's hand.

Helena put one arm around Ann and the other around Jess. “Love you guys.”

“Love you too, Lena,” Ann said.

Helena wished she could bottle this one moment in time and keep it safe forever.

Forever.
She sighed inwardly.
How silly. Nothing is forever
. Change was the one constant in the universe; this much she knew. Lately, the air was thick with it, like a sticky mist blanketing everything around her. Even her bones knew it was coming.

Seeking refuge from her dark thoughts, her mind gravitated toward those deep chocolate-brown eyes and thick mane of shiny black hair. She sighed. Was he her future? Her new steady rock in the endlessly evolving universe?

“Heeey. Got any for us?” a gruff voice spoke out from behind them.

Helena sprang up and turned to find a hulking man staggering toward the fire. He looked disheveled and was clearly inebriated.

“This is a private party.” Helena crossed her arms.

The large man stepped into the firelight, providing a better look. He wore only a leather vest and dirty jeans. His heavily inked biceps were the size of footballs, which he made a point to display by crossing his arms over his chest.

“Private? Don't be rude. I don't like rude people.” Another six men approached and stood behind him.

Crap! Not good.

The large man moved toward Helena. Sinister intentions flared in his bloodshot eyes.

She swallowed. They were three girls, including her, against seven nasty looking men. “We’re just leaving; take what you want.” Helena grabbed her purse and tossed it to the man’s feet. She only needed her keys to survive, and those babies were in her pocket.

Helena glanced at her friends. Jess had her cell casually gripped in one hand and was likely trying to hit the
emergency call
feature.

Not going to work
. Helena had checked her own cell multiple times throughout the evening, hoping Niccolo might have called, but there was no reception out here. Must have been why Ann called from a payphone earlier, now that she thought about it. How ironic. They'd come to this beach to avoid being hassled by police or party crashers. Now she’d give anything for the former.

Helena looked at her friends again. The glow of the firelight revealed the panicked looks on their faces. If they stuck together, they'd have a chance.

“Let's go,” Helena said to Ann and Jess.

One of the men moved to the path that cut through the sandbank and wooded area to the dirt parking lot. “You're not going anywhere, bitch,” the large man said. “We came for a party. You and your friends are going to give it to us.”

Like hell we are. I’ve survived jungles and vampires; you don’t know who you’re messing with.
Helena racked her brain. Jess, Ann, and Helena were in great shape. They ran on the beach every day—okay, three times a week—and surfed all the time. These guys were big, but clearly weren't athletes.
Or sober. Or felony free. We have to run for it.

At the far end of the beach was another trail that led back up to the dirt parking lot. If they ran fast enough, they'd get to their cars before the scumbags caught up.

Helena gave a knowing look at her friends.
“Run!”

As if they’d been thinking the exact same thing, the girls turned in unison and sprinted toward the far end of the beach.

Helena flashed a glance over her shoulder after several seconds.

No!
Helena’s pounding heart skipped a beat. Ann was missing.

Helena stopped in her tracks and turned. None of the men had followed, but one had Ann by the hair several yards from the bonfire. He was dragging her kicking and screaming.

“Shit!” Helena turned to Jess, panting. “Run, Jess! Get to your car, drive until you have a signal, and call the police!”

“Are you fucking insane, Lena? I'm not leaving you. Or her.”

Helena didn’t have time to argue or think through the consequences. She ran toward the sandbank, straining her eyes for anything she could use as a weapon. All they needed to do was free Ann. They could outrun these men again. She hoped.

Ann's scream soared through the air.

Helena and Jess both picked up grapefruit sized rocks and sprinted toward the fire. All but two of the men were riffling through the ice chests. One of the two held Ann by the hair; the other had thrown himself on top of her.