A familiar voice. The Elder. “It is done. The trial by combat complete.”
Trial by combat?
Anger sparks when I realize what he’s saying. I raise my voice to the heavens. “You son of a bitch. You planned for this to happen?”
“A resolution had to be reached. Both you and Samual committed transgressions that could not go unpunished. Samual shirked his sworn duty and you violated sanctuary.”
“What if I had lost? You would have allowed this creature to walk the Earth unchecked?”
“He didn’t win. It is done.”
The body disappears into a turbulent bank of black clouds. The clouds disperse like smoke in the wind, leaving only wisps to mark their passing.
I watch the clouds dissipate, the bright moon once more claiming its spot in the sky.
A feeling of restlessness, of a task not yet completed, dims the satisfaction of whatever victory Stephen and I won here tonight. We sent one monster to his death. How many others have come back to Earth to wreak havoc from that place of “sanctuary”?
Stephen’s grip tightens, drawing me back. His eyes are on the sky, too. “Damn,” he says. “This is the best story I’ll never get to write.”
He doesn’t fully understand. No reason why he should. He hasn’t seen the things I have. He doesn’t carry the burden that I do.
I look into his face and a tremor passes through my body.
Why do I feel this is a story whose final act is yet to come?
EIGHTEEN
SUSAN IS WAITING FOR US AT THE FOUNTAIN. If she’s surprised to see her brother and me appear hand in hand, she doesn’t show it. She rushes up and only then does Stephen drop my hand to embrace his sister.
“Are you all right?” she asks.
Stephen nods. “Thanks to Anna.”
Susan touches a stain on his shirt. “You’re sure you’re not hurt?”
“It’s not my blood,” he answers. “Anna and I had quite an adventure.”
I drag my eyes off Stephen long enough to smile my thanks at Susan. “That was a nice piece of magic, that charm.”
“I wish I could have told you how it worked,” she says. “I intended to, but Samual showed up too soon.” She casts an uneasy glance around. “Is it over? Will he come back?”
“No. He’s gone.” Stephen’s tone is grim and final.
Samual is gone. But—
Susan releases a breath. “Thank you, Anna. For bringing my brother back. I—we—owe you.”
Do they? Stephen’s warmth as he stands close makes me think I may be the one who owes a debt.
That is if what we seem to be feeling—Stephen and I—is more than a simple reaction to having survived a harrowing experience. Or the result of Samual’s influence. I still can’t shake the idea that watching Stephen and I dance around each other, feeling the attraction, fighting it, would have been his idea of a joke.
Still, when Stephen reaches again for my hand, I let him take it.
It may be the last time. When the adrenaline rush subsides, things may change. My skin feels human now, the result of feeding, but soon it will not. It will become cold. Only feeding and sex warm a vampire’s blood. And then only temporarily.
Stephen doesn’t let go of my hand as we walk back into the park. He gives Susan a brief recap of what happened both with the tribunal and back on Earth. It’s a good summary, told in the style of a three-minute sound bite. A reporter to the core.
When we reach headquarters, Susan asks if we want to come inside. Ariela and Min are anxious to hear details.
Stephen shakes his head. “You fill them in. I’d like to go home.”
She opens her purse. “You can take my car. Ariela can give me a lift.”
“I can give him a ride,” I hear myself blurting. Then, holding my breath to await his reaction, I add, “My car is in the parking lot.”
My heart is thudding against my ribs. What if he says no?
And yet his grip on my hand remains firm and he’s smiling.
“I was hoping you’d offer,” he says.
He scoops Susan into a hug. “See you tomorrow?”
Susan says yes. She looks happy when she leaves us on the sidewalk to disappear from sight through the magical doorway.
“My car is just at the end of the Prado,” I say.
We’re both quiet as we make our way down the shadowstrewn walkway toward the parking lot. Once, I glance at Stephen and he is grinning.
“What’s that all about?” I ask.
“Susan says we make a nice-looking couple,” he says.
I smile, too. “This psychic thing. Is the connection always open between you two?”
“Most of the time. Why?”
I pull him to a stop. If I don’t do this now, the opportunity may never come again. “Can she tell when you’re, um,
He pulls me close. “You mean when I’m otherwise engaged?”
“Yes.”
I stand on tiptoe, the better to reach his lips with my own. “You know this is crazy, don’t you?”
His mouth is so close I feel the softness of his lips against mine. “Crazier than what just happened to us?”
“But you know what I am. You saw what I can do.”
“And I’m still here. And Samual isn’t, by the way. Doesn’t that tell you something?”
Yes. Maybe. Oh hell. I let my reservations slip away. This time when he kisses me, I kiss him back.
This time when he kisses me, I let my passion match his own.
And this time when he kisses me, there are no interruptions. I lose myself in the kiss, blood races, skin becomes hot. Every cell in my body wants to throw Stephen down right here in the parking lot and satisfy what the kiss stirs up. It’s been too long since I’ve had sex. Too long since I’ve experienced
A sound from behind us. Another couple approaching from the Prado. It snaps me back to reality. I give Stephen a gentle push. “Let’s go to my house. It’s not far from here.”
“It better not be.” His voice is hoarse. I feel his heart thudding against my palm.
I grab his hand. “Come on.”
NINETEEN
ONCE INSIDE, WE DON’T MAKE IT TO THE bedroom. As soon as the front door closes behind us, we’re in each other’s arms.
Stephen’s desire matches my own. He pushes me back onto the couch. His hands pull at my blouse, yank it free. I’m ripping at his shirt, too, tugging it over his head, hearing a rip of material as it comes free. Then I’m fumbling with his zipper as he fumbles with mine. After an interminable amount of time, we’re finally free of our clothes.
No foreplay. No whispered terms of endearment. We don’t need it. I’m so wet I want him inside me now.
