Fire and Ash (Immortal Touch) (46 page)

She looked into his
quicksilver eyes and saw only kindness there, a gentleness far removed from anything she’d ever seen in the eyes of the one whose hold on her was unbreakable. To leave was out of the question. He was ingrained in her heart, her mind, her very soul, and even if her existence with him was miserable, without him it would be unbearable. Quietly, she spoke the two words that she wondered if she would come to regret.

“I can’t.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

“Hello, beautiful.”

Sami’s arms reached around Ash even before her eyes opened, and she basked in the deliciously familiar scent of him. “Mm…you’re back,” she murmured sleepily.

“
That’s right,” he crooned softly against her neck. “I’m back, baby.” He reached underneath the covers and she felt him smile at the touch of her bare skin. “Oh…naked already…I like that.”

“I thought you would.”
He stood to strip off his clothes and she pulled the covers back so he could slide in next to her. “I’m glad you’re here. I missed you.”

“Did you?” He didn’t waste any time
guiding himself into her. “Did you miss this?”

“
Oh,
yes
…” He would never know how much she loved the feel of their bodies merging. She wanted to stay this way forever, locked together in an eternal embrace. Everything else was forgotten, nothing else mattered. Nothing but the name that fell from her lips like a benediction.

Their coupling didn’t take long. Apparently he
’d ached for her just as much as she had for him, and that knowledge was gratifying. But she wanted more, so much more, and already he was pulling away from her.

“No…where are you going?” she protested, tightening her grip on him.

“I’m taking you away now. It’s time.”

“What do you mean,
away? Where?”

“Don’t
argue with me. We need to get going. There isn’t a lot of time.”

“We have all the time
there is…make love to me again. Please?”

“Samara…” His tone was threatening.

“Bite me,” she enticed, detaining him with one leg around his waist. She could feel his hesitation and wondered what the damned hurry was.

He wavered
, torn by temptation. “You want me to bite you?”

“Yes. I like it.”

That apparently was all it took to change his mind. “Well…” he said with an accommodating smile. “…far be it from me to deny a lady her pleasure.”

His fangs
impaled the soft flesh of her shoulder, and she cried out from the delightful fusion of pain and rapture that set her writhing beneath him. Retracting the sharp teeth, he caressed the slow trickle with a hand, bringing his fingertips upward to brush against her lips and wet them with her own blood. With a low groan he entered her again, smothering her mouth with his as he hungrily tasted the sanguine nectar that stained her.

Any doubts she’d harbored were
gone in that moment. If death was what it took to hold on to this feeling then she welcomed it with open arms, whatever the method. The pain of dying would pale in comparison to the pain of losing him.

And twenty minutes later when he pulled away again, she didn’t try to stop him. Because
she knew he was right. It was time. She was ready.

Slipping into his clothes, he looked down at her with a combination of amusement and
irritation. “All right, you nymphomaniac, enough delays. You have five minutes to get dressed. I’ll wait for you in there.” Running his fingers through the dark hair to straighten it, he walked out of the bedroom, leaving her behind to hastily ready herself.

“
Why can’t we do it here?” was the first thing she asked upon rejoining him in the dusky living room. It was three in the morning, black as a dungeon outside, and the only illumination came from the soft glow of a small reading lamp. She hated this time of night. Even in a bustling environment like this, it was far too quiet. But maybe the eerie feeling only materialized from the anticipation of what was to occur this night.

“You have one more task to complete first.
Where are your shoes? Aren’t you ready to go yet? Let’s get a move on!” Clearly patience was not one of his virtues.

God, she could only imagine what his “task” would entail. She feared this more than the transformation itself. And then the words
spilled out of nowhere, the ones she hadn’t even realized she was holding back. “Did you kill Rick?”

His head jerked in her direction, fixing her with an icy stare.
“Does it matter?” he snapped.

It was as good as a confession. Remembering Tristan’s warning, she whispered, “No. Of course it doesn’t matter.”

The anger in his features relaxed and he took her face in his hands, caressing her cheekbones with the pads of his thumbs. “Don’t let sentimental emotions cloud your judgment. I have all the faith in the world that you’ll prove your loyalty to me tonight, once and for all. And when you do, I’ll take you somewhere unimaginably beautiful. I promise.” He gave her one last kiss. “Now cheer up - I’ve brought a present back for you. Why don’t we go see what it is?”

Slipping her feet into a pair of sneakers, Sami followed him to the door. And there he paused to turn to her and flash that
Cheshire grin.

“Trust me - it’s gonna be a wicked good time.”

~*~*~*~

In the darkest
hours of night, Tristan was wrenched out of the depths of a sound sleep by the suffocating pressure of a strong hand at his throat.

His eyes flew open to see two shining black orbs that radiated
savage fury as they glared down at him. And he knew instantly that once again, Reid had dragged him into the middle of a war.

“
Where is he?
” the voice hissed.

“I can’t…talk when you’re…choking me!”
He could have fought back but if there was any way to avoid physical confrontation, he wanted to find it. Fighting had never been his forte.

Releasing his hold, the intruder straightened and when the moonlight fell on
his features Tristan recognized him. It was the vampire from Oregon, the one who had recently asked for his help. Damn it all, Reid must have lied when he said he would pardon the girl.

“How did you get in here?” he
questioned while rubbing his neck. Even though it was a counterproductive question. What difference did it make now?

“
You have about five seconds to tell me where the fuck Reid is before I cut out your forked tongue. One…”

“I don’t know where he is!”

“Two…”

“
Why - what has he done?”

“Three…”

“Look, I’m telling you the truth! The last time I spoke to him he was about to board a plane headed home - as far as I know he hasn’t made it back yet. I haven’t seen him. I swear it.”

“But you can track him.”

“What the hell happened? He didn’t kill Miss Spencer, did he?”

“He took her.”

“
Took
her?” Why on earth would he have done that? Although it would explain why he’d taken the extra nightshade with him - but why go to all that trouble, just to drag her back to Florida with him? If his goal was to administer punishment he could have done it there just as well, the way he did with the Chandler boy. “Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m bloody sure
! He said as much!” Julian’s sharp eyes looked around as if he half expected his quarry to leap from the shadows. “What the hell are you doing in his room anyway? Shouldn’t you be in California?”

“He asked me to stay here while he…”

“How do I know
you’re
not him?”

“What?”

“How do I know you’re really Kendall and not him screwing with my mind again?”

“
He wouldn’t have been curled up in bed sleeping if he thought you were looking for him.” Tristan slowly began to edge his way out of bed. “Just let me get dressed and I’ll try to help you. I can find her for you.”

“Then do it. Now.”

“Okay…just calm down.” He fixed his gaze on a blank space on the wall and concentrated on Eva’s aura. It was surprisingly easy to reach her. Reid must have her drugged, otherwise it would have been more difficult than this. He could hear the inhalations of her breath but little else. There was nothing but darkness surrounding her, making it impossible to pinpoint her location.

“I can’t tell where she is - it’s
completely dark.”

“Is she safe?”

“She seems to be. Her breathing’s normal.”

“Then find Reid.”

“If he’s back, then I’m pretty sure I know where he is.”

M
inutes later they stood outside room 122, and Tristan used the duplicate keycard Reid had left with him to open the door. “Sami?” he called out tentatively. Flicking on the overhead light, he scanned the living room quickly before checking the bedroom. It was empty. “
Shit,
” he muttered under his breath.

Julian peered into the bathroom
, looking around suspiciously. “Why would he be here? Whose room is this?”

“His girlfriend’s.”

“Then where is
she?
”

“Probably wherever he is.”

“You’d better pray you’re not stalling. Because if I don’t find her in time, you die, you lying bastard!” The blond vampire’s threat practically dripped venom.

“I never lied to you!” Tristan took a step backwards. “I only told you what I was told. Now listen to me - you need to stop and think for a minute. I can locate Reid and you can take off after him, but I don’t know if you realize what you’re up against. He’s
strong.
He’s taken out vampires twice your size. You’re no match for him.”

“Oh,
I beg to differ.” Julian’s slender fingers wrapped around the handle of a knife that was housed in a sheath attached to his belt. His coal-black eyes narrowed.

The fanger must have gone stark raving mad to assume he could kill an immortal with a mere blade. “I’m sorry to tell you this, but
that
isn’t going to do you a damn bit of good. You’d do as well throwing dandelions at him as to try to hurt him with that.”

“It worked
quite well on the immortal who took Eva’s human life from her.”

“You
must be mistaken. It isn’t possible to…”

“It
is
possible! The bloody thing is a relic from the twelfth century. When used on a human, it infects them with vampirism as it did for me. But when used on one who is
already
immortal, it delivers instant and permanent death. I have witnessed it.”

“
Now wait, back up. Where did you say you got that thing?”

“We brought it back
with us from Scotland. It was supposedly used to cut out the heart of some corrupt priest who had become a vampire, and his polluted blood somehow eternally cursed it.”

“Not the Melrose Abbey priest?”

“The very one.”

Tristan inhaled sharply.
“
The Hundeprest dagger!
”

“You’ve heard of it?”

“Yes, most of us have heard of it - but it was said to have disappeared hundreds of years ago! I always assumed it was just a rumor spread from one immortal to another. How did you come into possession of it?”

“As I said, it
was the source of my immortality.”

“
No wonder I couldn’t sense you! My God…when it comes down to it, you’re a completely different species of vampire altogether! Incredible…”

“We’re wasting valuable time. Tell me where I can find Reid.” Julian’s grip on the handle tightened threateningly.

“All right - just give me a minute. I need to focus.” Tristan gave the dagger one more nervous glance before closing his eyes to concentrate. Instead of focusing on Reid, he homed in on Sami instead. As a human, it was much easier to track her. Wherever she was, he was sure to be nearby.

She was with him, all right.
He was beside her, and there was tall grass all around them. They were walking through a field in the direction of a dilapidated barn…and it was then that he recognized the spot. And knew that whatever was about to go down wasn’t good.

“I know where they are,” he
confirmed.

“Then let’s go!” Julian was already on his way out the door, and Tristan ran to catch up.

“Do you have a car?” The keys to the Maserati were still upstairs - at least, he thought they were. He couldn’t recall whether he’d seen them on the kitchen counter or not. Reid could easily have come in and taken them without waking him.

“I stole one from the airport.”

“Stole one…great,” he muttered.

“How far away are they?”