Power (Soul Savers) (20 page)

The pain stopped me for a moment, and I closed my eyes,
bracing for the impact. She should have been on me instantly. We had to have
been moving in a blur before, and she had her chance now. I opened my eyes and
prepared to grab onto her thoughts to know her next move as electricity sparked
along my fingertips.

But the vamp wasn’t making a next move.

She couldn’t. Owen stood in front of her, blocking her out
of view, but I could tell he gripped her upper arms. Okay, she
wouldn’t
make a next move, because the
vampire was definitely stronger than the warlock and could have broken free
from his grasp if she really wanted to.

“You
promised
,” he
snarled at her.

“I was only defending myself,” she said, her voice dripping
with false innocence.

Defending herself? Yeah,
right.
But as I thought about it, I couldn’t deny that every one of her
moves had been in self-defense. Except …

“Choking and punching are
offensive
moves,” Owen said.

Vanessa’s glare cut over his shoulder at me, and I took a
step toward the two of them, my fists still balled at my sides. She shrugged as
she looked me in the eyes. “Yeah, well, I’ve been wanting to hurt that pretty
face of hers for years. I couldn’t help it. One last hurrah and all that.”

Tristan stepped forward with a growl of warning to the
vampire. I’d have to remember to thank him later for not interrupting our
fight. I just wished we could have finished it. Instead, after being absent for
so long, Owen suddenly decided he had to do his job. Only … I cocked my head.
Despite his accusation of her, he sure stood as though he protected
her
, not me.

Vanessa’s eyes flew to Tristan at the sound of his warning,
and I hoped she’d start calling him lover boy and proceed with her infatuation
with him. I needed the excuse to pick up where we left off. But she didn’t. She
was standing there naked with one of the hottest bodies on the planet, an ideal
opportunity to flaunt all of her perfection, and run at the mouth about what he
was missing out on. But she didn’t. Her eyes didn’t have that usual spark of
lust when she saw Tristan. And she actually looked as though she
hid
behind Owen.

“Can I get some clothes or at least a blanket?” she asked.
And she was modest?
Vanessa?
What was
going on here?

Without actually touching it, Owen lifted the blanket I’d
dropped earlier and wrapped it around her.

“What the hell?” I finally demanded.

Tristan crossed his arms over his chest. “I’d like to know
the same thing. What are you up to, Scarecrow?”

Owen turned to face us, but kept his body in front of
Vanessa’s and angled, as if prepared for an attack. By me. Tristan must have
noticed, too. He cocked an eyebrow.

“You know, the ‘so-called’ part of being my protector, I’d
only said that because you were gone,” I said. “Not because I thought you
actually abandoned me. You’re supposed to protect
me
, Owen. Not our enemy.”

“
You
don’t need
protecting,” he said. “Not right here or right now, anyway.”

“And she does?” Tristan scoffed, nodding in Vanessa’s
direction.

Owen’s sapphire eyes hardened as they looked at me. “As long
as Alexis can’t control herself, yeah, she does.”

I sucked in a sharp breath. Tristan took another step
forward and leaned in closer to the warlock who was supposedly his best friend.

“She
is
our enemy,
Owen. How did you expect Alexis to react? What in God’s name are you even
thinking, bringing Vanessa in here like this?”

“She was completely defenseless when she got here.”

A chill ran up my spine at the memory of the beautiful,
crazed vampire-bitch in white pieces only minutes ago.

“She’s weak now,” Owen continued. “She needs blood. And she
needs your help.”

I laughed. It sounded deranged, maniacal. “
What?
Have you lost your mind? Why on
earth would we help her? She wants to kill me!”

“I told you.” Vanessa’s musical voice came out from behind
Owen’s back. And something about her tone, about the implication that she knew
how I’d react better than Owen did, pissed me off.

Owen ignored Vanessa, though. “She has something you want.
You have something she wants.”

“We don’t negotiate with the enemy,” I said, crossing my
arms over my chest.

“She doesn’t have to be your enemy. You two have a lot in
common, you know.”

My eyes bugged. Red hatred seeped into my vision. My pulse
flooded in my ears as the anger built up. But I managed to bite back all the
profanities I wanted to slew at my so-called friend and protector.

“Chain her up until we figure out what to do with her,” I
said through clenched teeth.

“
What?
” Vanessa
shrieked. Her eyes went wide as they took in the silver cuffs at the ends of
the chains hanging on the wall. Tristan lifted his hand, and Vanessa’s body
rose several inches off the floor.

“Alexis,” Owen said, his voice harder than I’d ever heard
it, “this isn’t necessary. Will you just listen to me?”

I spun on him and narrowed my eyes. I practically spit my
words at him. “She has
nothing
I
want, and she will
always
be my
enemy. And I’m beginning to wonder if you are, too.”

I heard the cuffs clamp around Vanessa’s wrists and ankles
as I stomped out of the room. The sound of her wails—not so much of pain
but more of indignity—followed me down the hallway. So did Owen and
Tristan.

“You need to shut her up,” I snapped back at them.

As I rounded the corner to the left wing, a hand landed on
my shoulder and spun me around.

“She wouldn’t be screaming if you’d unchain her,” Owen said,
but at the same time, his hand flicked and her shrieks suddenly stopped. I
didn’t know if he actually silenced her or blocked the sound from leaving the
room. As long as Sheree and Sonya didn’t hear her—and I didn’t have to
listen to her—I didn’t care about the how.

“And why would you even think we’d do such a thing?” I said,
glaring at him. “Her ultimate goal has always been my death. Really, Owen,
whose side are you on?”

His eyes flicked to Tristan and back to me. He didn’t answer
my question, but denied everything about Vanessa instead.

“She won’t kill you. That’s not what she wants. Not now.” He
looked away from me and cleared his throat. He shoved his fists into his
pockets, then finally returned his gaze to me. “She doesn’t even want Tristan
anymore. She has a, uh, new … interest … obsession. Whatever you want to call
it.”

I stared at the warlock, trying to understand what he meant.
What could finally pull Vanessa’s attention away from Tristan and me? According
to Tristan, she’d been chasing him for over two centuries, desiring him to be
her boy-toy. She
hated
me and had
wanted me dead before I was even born. She pursued these goals with the kind of
single-minded determination that doesn’t simply disappear without good reason.

Owen’s gaze jumped about from the wall behind me to the
ceiling and to some point down the hall, as if he avoided looking at me. And
then I knew. Not
what
distracted her,
but
who.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said with a hollow laugh as
I rocked back on my heels. Owen finally looked at me and a pink tint crawled up
his neck and face. “
You?
She’s
obsessed with
you
now?”

His face reddened even more, confirming my statement.

“But you don’t feel—never mind, don’t answer that. Of
course you don’t.” I shook my head in disbelief. “Well, I guess that’s somewhat
of a relief.”

“Hardly,” Tristan said. “Just because she isn’t after me at
the moment doesn’t mean she won’t still try to kill Alexis. Or both of us. She
is
Daemoni. Tell me again what exactly
you were thinking by bringing her here, Owen.”

“Yeah, what could she possibly want from us?” I asked,
already knowing what we needed from her. Out of anger, I’d told Owen she didn’t
have anything we wanted, but that was a lie. She didn’t have it on her naked
body now, but she knew where the faerie stone was. Would she really exchange it
for something from us? What could she want in return? Owen? “You’re your own
man, as you’ve shown us for the last fifteen months. That’s up to you, not us.
Or … wait, if you made some kind of deal sacrificing yourself—”

Owen shook his head. “No. I’m not that self-sacrificing at
the moment.”

I tilted my head at his tone and meaning. We were definitely
dealing with a changed Owen. He didn’t elaborate but returned to the subject of
Vanessa.

“
She
wants to make
the sacrifice. She’s been talking about it for a while … months, actually … has
been
begging
for me to bring her to
you.”

“She wants us to kill her?” Tristan asked.

Oh, dear God
, I
thought. A suicidal vampire? Thing was, we
couldn’t
kill her. As much as I’d wanted to on the surface, I knew I couldn’t do it
unless she was trying to kill me or someone else. Which she hadn’t been
earlier—she really had been defending herself for the most part,
definitely not doing anything to jeopardize my life. There was still hope for
Vanessa’s soul. I could feel it; I’ve always felt it every time I was around
her.

“No, not that either,” Owen said. “She thinks … she really
wants …”

Why did he have such a hard time voicing what Vanessa
wanted? Before he could manage to say it, a squeal came from the other end of
the hallway.

“Owen!” Sheree sprinted down the corridor and threw herself
at the warlock. She wrapped her arms around his neck. “My savior! I was hoping
I’d get to see you soon.”

Owen’s mind tugged at mine. “
She can’t know about Vanessa.
”

Of course not
, I
agreed.

“Hey, Sheree.” Owen returned her embrace and spun her
around, acting as though everything was peachy-fine. He pulled back and seemed
to drink the Were in with his eyes. “Lookin’ good.”

She blushed and grinned. “Thank you. I owe it all to you!”

And I knew that tone, the same one she used when talking to
Tristan, but huskier with a heavier layer of flirt. She started chattering away
about how much her life had changed since he’d saved her from the Daemoni and
how appreciative of him she was, until I finally cleared my throat. Sheree
looked at me with chagrin and dropped her head, almost in a bow.

“Sorry, Alexis,” she said. “I just wanted to let you know
that Sonya’s begging for more blood, even though it’s not really time yet. What
do you think?”

“Sonya?” Owen probably recognized the name from when he
accompanied me on book tours. Sonya, Norman at the time, hadn’t been a real
threat, but my publicist had been told Owen was my bodyguard, so she’d notified
him of the “stalker.”

“Oh, Owen, you have to meet Sonya!” Sheree gushed. “She
remembers you and has been dying to meet you. Come on.” She tugged on his hand,
and Owen willingly followed her down the hall.

“
Owen
,” I said, tossing
my hands out in a what-the-hell gesture. He looked back at me and shrugged, as
though he were completely helpless against Sheree. “We’re not done here!”

“He’ll only be a minute,” Sheree said. “I promise.”

I sighed and waved my hand in the air with resignation as I
watched them saunter down the hall. As they turned the corner into the main
house, I caught Owen’s hand move out of hers so his arm could lie over her
shoulder instead.

Great. First Vanessa. Now Sheree. Owen was on a roll. But at
least I liked Sheree, and her interest in him made perfect sense. She probably
hero-worshipped him. After all, he’d saved her from being nearly beaten to
death. By the vampire in the room down the hall.

And Owen wanted us to
help
the vamp with something? He
was
out
of his mind.

Sheree will totally freak
if she finds out Vanessa’s here
, I silently told Tristan.

He agreed as he took my hand and led me into one of the
master suites, all the way into the bathroom, the room farthest from the hall,
shutting doors along the way. He tapped on his forehead, and I tuned into his
thoughts.

“
Too many vampires who
might be able to hear us,
” he explained, and I nodded. “
Do you have any ideas what Vanessa wants?
”

No, but I’m sure you
do. At the moment, though, I’m more worried about Owen. Do you think …
The
thought felt like a boulder in my throat, blocking my air.
Do you think he’s left us? The Amadis, I mean? I never would have
thought it possible but …

“
He
is
acting odd, isn’t he?
”

Definitely not our
usual Owen
, I agreed.

Tristan shook his head. “
I
honestly don’t know, Lex. I trust him for the moment, but this stunt he’s
pulled …
”

You can’t help but
wonder.
I nodded, completely understanding.

I
wanted
to trust
Owen. But I struggled to do so, especially when he’d brought Vanessa, of all
people, right here to the safe house, of all places. Of course, maybe he
thought he was doing us a favor so we could get the stone back. And he
had
taken precautions to make sure she
couldn’t really hurt me. Even during our fight, either he or Tristan could have
jumped in if I could no longer handle her myself.

But he’d also defended Vanessa. Protected
her
, not me.

“
You’ll have to listen
to his thoughts to know where his loyalties are
,” Tristan said.

Ugh
. I hated the
idea of breaching his privacy, especially when he knew I could and trusted me
not to. Of course …
He’d be sure to think
the right thoughts while he’s around me.