Burning Both Ends

  “I am sorry, Arianna,” he said in a normal voice. “Nothing that has happened is your fault. Gabriel should not have said those things to you.”

  She pulled back slightly and looked up at him. “Even if some of them are true?”

  “Especially if they are true.” His gaze met hers, and he lifted a hand to draw a finger down her cheek. “I am weary of all the talking.” He drew her close again. “I am glad to see you, little witch.”

  “Are you trying to change the subject?” she murmured into his chest.

  “Yes, is it working?”

  “Hmm, maybe. If we were a little more private…” This seemed as good a way as any to get them out of this room. An understandable excuse, and one a lot more pleasurable than most. “But we still need to talk,” she whispered.

  Andreas was nibbling at her ear and moving them toward the door. She found it hard to remain interested in any kind of spoken conversation.

  * * *

  By the time Andreas and Ari reached her bedroom door, she’d had time to start thinking again. Spotting the weretiger guarding the hallway hit her like a cold shower. Security hadn’t been that tight when she left for Riverdale. As soon as they were inside her room, safely behind closed doors, she turned to confront him.

  “Although I’m very happy to see you, explanations first. Where you’ve been the last twenty-four hours? I was going crazy.”

  “I am sorry.” His eyes held regret. “I never meant to worry you. I thought I would return before you knew I was gone. Apparently, I misjudged how quickly someone would call you.”

  “Several someones,” she corrected.

  He flipped a lock of hair off his forehead, sat on the edge of the queen bed, and patted the spot beside him. She looked around for alternate seating but didn’t find it. The bed, with its green comforter and white pillows, was the only furniture except a triple dresser. Even her apartment wasn’t this Spartan.

  He followed her gaze. “You room is not completed. We were starting to redecorate, but I had not expected you back this soon.”

  She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter, but I’m not coming near that bed until you tell me about the last few days.”

  He sighed, piled several pillows against the headboard and made himself comfortable. “You should join me. This will take a while.”

  Ari continued to stand, waiting for him to begin.

  “Suit yourself. So I do not repeat unnecessarily, perhaps it would be helpful for you to tell me what you know.”

  Putting one hand on her hip, she frowned at him. “I know you’ve been missing in action for umpteen hours. That you and Gabriel both called me during that time period—before I knew you were missing—and never mentioned you were out doing…whatever you were doing. Since then, you’ve refused to take my calls, but I’ve heard from Russell and Zoe and even Ryan, and I’ve been scared to death. That’s what I know. Not very damn much!”

  He met her outburst with an unreadable expression, except when she said she’d been scared. His eyes flickered with something dark. He held out a hand to her. “Cara mia, I have not refused your calls. My cell was turned off most of the time because we were looking for someone. By the time I turned it on, events were happening too swiftly to call. I did not know you were worrying.” He patted the bed again. “Please sit down. Standing there glaring at me will not hurry the telling.”

  “Fine,” she said, plunking herself on the far corner of the bed. “Happy?”

  “I would be happier if you were here beside me.”

  “Don’t push it.”

  He raised a dark brow. “I am not sure I deserve all this anger, little witch. I was busy; you were busy. Both of us were doing what we needed to do.” When she didn’t respond, he went on. “When I spoke with you the first night, the seven master vampires had not yet left the compound. To be precise, I did not discover their absence until Wednesday afternoon when I woke. Even then, I was not too concerned, thinking maybe their departure was a good thing. Get the dissenters out of the nest. When I heard of the intended challenges, I still wasn’t alarmed. The risk did not appear immediate. Only after Zoe called about the human deaths did I suspect some of the splinter group had gone rogue.”

  “But…” Ari started to interrupt. “Never mind. Go on.”

  “The challenges were something I had anticipated. The murders were not. They required an immediate and decisive response. I could not permit humans to become prey within the boundaries of my territory. Beyond the legal and moral issues, the rogues’ actions were a disrespect of my authority. Gabriel and I set out to take care of the problem, and during the course of the evening, we met and enlisted Raphael’s assistance. When we had not found the rogue nest by dawn, we spent the day under the protection of Raphael’s staff.”

  “Why there?” she demanded. “You should have called Russell or some of your own people.”

  He started shaking his head. “I could not. The compound phone lines are accessible by everyone. They are not secure. When the seven masters departed in such secrecy, it was clear they had help, and it was likely that sympathizers remained within the compound. We did not want the rogues forewarned we were searching for them, nor did we think it was a wise idea to reveal our location.”

  “I still don’t understand why you didn’t call me.”

  “I thought I explained.” His tone revealed a note of exasperation. “As far as I knew, you were unaware of my absence, and you were in the middle of rescuing Steffan. What could you have done, except be distracted?”

  “Just go on.” She was beginning to see his point, but he didn’t need to know that yet.

  “Very well.” His words were clipped. “While we slept, Raphael’s werepanthers located the rogues’ nest and kept an eye on it until we woke. Raphael, Gabriel and I joined them and kept watch until three of the group left the hideout together. We followed, and it didn’t take long to realize they were blood-hunting.” Andreas’s mouth creased with obvious distaste. “When they cornered a human couple, we intervened.” His expression clouded. “The fight was brief but decisive.”

  Ari stilled, focused on his face. “The fight was in a park. One of the rogues was a blond named Damion.” Her voice held no expression.

  He frowned, an odd expression on his face. “Yes, how do you know?”

  “The other two were Barnabas and…and…”

  “Norton.” Andreas moved quickly to sit by her side. He trapped both her hands in his and scanned her face. “You were there. I sensed your presence.”

  Ari was too stunned to move. Her voice was barely above a whisper. “I saw it all. Felt it. The hunt, the fight. Up to a point. What is happening to us?” She searched his face, hoping to find reassurance. Her stomach was queasy, like a bad spell had backfired. Her fears about the magical link with this man appeared to be coming true—but in a way she never imagined. A whole new level of scary.

  “I do not know, cara mia. I have heard of shared experiences between bonded couples, but even then, not to this extent. You seemed to be a part of me. Was it similar for you?”

  “Yes,” she said, a dawning sense of guilt making her grow even quieter.

  “Mio Dio! You should not have seen or experienced that.” Andreas stared at her, regret flooding across his face. He must have been reviewing the entire scene.

  Ari was more concerned with why she’d seen it. What had the pact between her ancestor and her goddess done to them?

  “I think it’s me,” she said in a small voice. “I did this to us.”

  He cocked his head. “Why would you say that?”

  “I haven’t told you everything about me, because…well, because I didn’t believe it. Or didn’t want to believe it. Or thought I could escape it. But now I’m not so sure.” Ari resisted looking at his face for fear of what she might see there. Disappointment, dawning accusation. She focused on their joined hands. Could she have changed their fate if she’d been honest from the beginning? What would he say when he heard t
he truth?

  “Tell me,” he insisted.

  “There’s a story in my family,” she began. “The Legend of Ramora. It’s about this curse—or favor—from the Goddess, depending on your viewpoint, I guess. As a consequence of the Goddess helping an ancestor, every Calin witch is subject to an enchantment. She is shown her one and only soul mate through a dream. The witch and her mate are supposed to have a strong and unusual bond…for eternity.” She swallowed, but finally looked at him. “Honestly, I’ve never heard of the bond working like this. I didn’t know it could. But no one’s ever bonded with a vampire before. I kept denying it would affect us. It seemed like such a silly story.” She stopped. A part of her had known the legend was real. It had been proven through multiple generations of her family. This really was her fault.

  “Arianna—”

  “I’m sorry. I should have warned you long ago, when it might have made a difference.” She tried to pull her hands away, but Andreas held on tightly.

  He was quiet for a moment. “I wish you had trusted me sooner, Arianna, but we are in this together. I do not believe your legend is entirely responsible, and even a powerful witch cannot stop fate. I grant you the ability to share in this fashion is unexpected and rather disturbing, but I believe it can also be a gift. Like any ability, it must be developed and controlled.”

  “It’s still partly my fault,” she said, stubbornly refusing to accept fate as an excuse.

  “Fault? I thought you were going to insist on taking credit.”

  Ari heard the lightness in his voice; her gaze rose to his face and found the beginning of a smile.

  “I like to think my charming ways had something to do with it.”

  “So maybe this is your fault after all,” she said, unable to resist his mood.

  Andreas kissed the top of her head. “There is no fault. Whatever brought us together, the bond has been there a long time. Perhaps from the first night we met. If tonight was any indication, it is growing stronger. Our magical defenses are no longer protecting us from one another. At least not under extreme emotions. We need to work on that. I am no more willing than you to have our magics sharing so freely.”

  Ari pulled away so she could see his face. “How do we stop it?”

  “We begin by strengthening our blocking. Eventually we will test the limits of this shared power, but not tonight or anytime soon. Not until we can control it. It would be wise to learn more about your legend, but my own history may be part of this puzzle.”

  “Your history? But we’re not formally joined by a vampire bond. How can we share your abilities?” Bonded vampire couples, who had entered a formal, documented bonding ceremony, were committed for life. Among other things, the human partner shared a vampire’s strength, an extended life, and some capacity to sense their mate’s emotions.

  “An excellent question which we shall explore, along with other possibilities. I believe we are in unchartered territory. Quite a new experience for me.” His voice was upbeat, exuding a lack of concern with the situation.

  She wasn’t convinced but loved him for trying. He had to be thinking about the changes this would make in both their lives. They’d have to struggle to maintain their independence from one another, to control the magic. It would be hard to work on control once she returned to Olde Town, but maybe it would be a good thing for them to be apart. She was suddenly very tired.

  “The legend is recorded in my family Book of Shadows. I’ll study it as soon as I get home, and I’ll talk with Rosalina, our family seer. I’ll find out everything I can.”

  And she would. She was through with the denial. She’d try to see it from his point of view, a new power to be controlled and used. Yeah, maybe. It was still pretty scary. She thought back to the scene she’d witnessed in her dream state and shivered. What would she have seen and felt if Lilith hadn’t woken her?

  “Are the three rogues dead?” She concentrated on the question, not the imagery.

  “Yes.”

  “Lilith woke me shortly after the fight started.”

  His face showed relief. “I am thankful for that, although it did not last long.”

  “The bodies, or maybe bones by now, are they lying around for someone’s dog to find?” Decomposition was rapid in vamps. A matter of minutes or hours, depending on their true age. She’d rather dwell on these details than talk about how the vamps died or how Andreas felt about it. She already had too much information on that score.

  “Give us more credit than that. The bodies were hidden. By now nature will have taken care of the problem.”

  “What happened after the fight?”

  “We came here to discuss the situation. Being cautious about what information we chose to share and with whom, we used the excuse of negotiating a treaty. In fact, Raphael has already pledged his loyalty. To verify our story, he called his two lieutenants to join us. Marta and Russell met us at the door, and it was only a few minutes later that you arrived.”

  “If the treaty negotiation wasn’t real, why was everyone so tense?”

  He tightened his arms around her, resting his chin on the top of her head. “The challenges, the spies. An air of suspicion hangs over everything and everybody. Every person in the room was dealing with his or her own dark thoughts. Marta and Russell, and perhaps his lieutenants, knew we had not told them everything. Marta was angry. I was trying to dispel everyone’s fears.” He chuckled and Ari looked up at him. Laughter danced in his eyes. “That hope was out the door the moment you and Lilith came busting in ready to shoot someone. On the positive side, I think we can count on Raphael’s lieutenants to spread the word that the witch is back.”

  “Oh, stop laughing. I wasn’t going to hurt anybody. Not unless I had to.” She straightened to look at him more directly. “But what about the other masters who left the court?”

  “We will hear from them soon, no doubt.”

  “That’s who Raphael meant when he said my return might delay them.” Ari was thinking out loud, trying to put the pieces together. “They’re afraid of the witch fire?”

  “They respect your ability, yes, but it is not that simple. Their ambitions have been stirred. They won’t abandon those plans easily.”

  “They're still going to try to kill you?"

  “Perhaps.”

  “Then why didn’t you hunt and kill them like the others? Isn’t that the vampire way?” Her voice had an edge. She hadn’t shaken the scene in the park. It had been so primal.

  Andreas drew back. “They had not committed murder. Surely you see the difference. Are you upset about the rogues’ deaths? What would you have us do—allow them to hunt humans?”

  “No, of course not. They were destined for execution as soon as they killed the first human, but you could have let the Magic Council handle it.”

  “And lose the respect of my court?”

  Ari gave him a long look while she thought about it. What would she have done? She dropped her gaze. “OK, I get it, but what are you going to do about them?”

  “Nothing, for now. They may be rebelling against me, but they haven’t killed anyone. A chance remains to negotiate.” His fingers gently began to rub the tense muscles at the back of her neck.

  Ari tilted her head just enough to see his face. “Do you really believe that?”

  “Let us say, I am hopeful. If I keep killing vampires who oppose me, how am I any different than Sebastian was?”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Early the next morning while Andreas and the rest of the vampires slept, Russell, Lilith and Ari left the compound and met Zoe for coffee. No one in the small coffee shop paid much attention to the group, and after a while, Ari shook off the feeling of being watched that followed her everywhere she went inside the compound.

  She’d asked her friends to join her, because…well, because she needed their help. She needed more information than Andreas had given her, and she wanted some non-vampire opinions. There had to be a way to head off the bloody confrontati
ons that seemed inevitable. She wanted a solution that might not occur to the vamps, who usually thought in terms of blood and death.

  She gave her companions the abbreviated version of what Andreas had told her. Nothing about the personal stuff, of course. With the killers now dead, Zoe said she would find a diplomatic way to close her case on the human deaths. The Magic Council was used to secrets, and they were free to read between the lines.

  “So what about the other challenges for the vampire crown?” Zoe asked. “Will Andreas have to defeat them all? If all four challenge him, will they work together or alone?”

  “We don’t know,” Ari admitted. “Andreas still hopes to negotiate a treaty, but I’m not counting on it.”

  “I thought challenges were a nice word for assassination attempts.” Zoe paused with the coffee cup halfway to her mouth. “No warning. No negotiations. Sneak attacks.”

  “That’s how Sebastian acted when he went after Prince Daron, hiding behind his would-be assassins,” Ari agreed. “But apparently it doesn’t always work that way.”

  “They sent a messenger to deliver the news this time,” Russell said. “Gabe said it was an old-world courtesy thing.”

  “What?” Ari gaped at him. “They already issued the formal challenges?” She fumed with temper. The arrogant bastards! And Andreas hadn’t told her.

  “They sent someone to tell Andreas they were going to kill him?” Zoe sounded incredulous.

  “Not in those exact words, but something like that. I saw it happen. A werefox came into the audience room, bowed, and read from a piece of paper. Something about being required to defend his crown against each of them at an appointed time and place. Then he handed Andreas a paper that had been signed by the seven rebels and left.” Russell’s mouth quirked. “I guess we can forget about three of them. But Gabe told me the wording is ambiguous enough that they might attack together or one after another, until they wear him down. There don’t seem to be any rules to follow.”

  “Then why can’t we prevent this? No rules for them, no rules for us,” Ari declared. “And just to be sure they don’t do something sneaky, we’ll see that he’s never alone.”