Authors: Leia Shaw
W
hen the car jolted to a stop, she gasped and shot up in the seat. The clock read three-thirty. She surveyed her dark surroundings. To her dismay, they were not at the Hilton.
It was so black she couldn’t see much past the car. But what she could see wasn’t promising. The car was parked on an obscure dirt road with thick woods surrounding it.
The only time she’d ever camped, she had ended up sleeping in the car after her not-so-waterproof tent had leaked during an entire night of heavy rain. At least she’d gotten the car – her foster brother had to sleep in three inches of water.
James turned off the car
and wasted no time ordering her around. “Out.”
She rolled her eyes
. So it was going to be like that?
The cool air was a bit of a shock when she stepped out of the car, tugging her backpack with her.
James took the gear out of the trunk and set it on the ground. She stared awkwardly.
“I don’t understand. Where’s the campground?”
“Up there.” He gestured to
the mountain in front of them.
A faint trail
separated the trees. She grimaced. This was Massachusetts, she assured herself, not Nepal. Still…
“There
’s a cave,” he said. “It will give us shelter. And it’s safe.”
“A ca
ve?” It felt like her eyes were bugging out of her head. “A fucking cave! You want me to hike to a cave in the pitch black at three in the morning? You must be out of your damn mind!”
He ignored
her tirade as he stuffed things into backpacks and organized equipment.
“Are you listening to me? I’m not goin
g. No way.” She crossed her arms over her chest.
He
tossed two backpacks towards her then put his hands on the front of his car and pushed. If Sage’s eyes could have gotten any wider, they would have. He pushed his car into the brush until it all but disappeared.
After wiping his hands on his pants, he
stalked toward her. “Let’s go.”
“No,” she said
, shaking her head. “I said no. Bring the car back. I’ll drive myself to a motel.”
“Sage, I don’t have
time for this,” he said impatiently. “You’re in danger, therefore your wishes do not matter. We’re going to that cave. Tonight. So pick up the backpack and get your arse moving.”
The thin veil she’d been holding over her temper rippe
d wide open. “What do I look like? The fucking Flintstones? I’m a city girl.
City. Girl
. I don’t care about the stupid Counsel. I’ll take care of myself. Go have fun in your cave but you better give me the goddamn keys to your car or I’m going to go all Harry Potter on your ass!” And she meant it. No way was she going to bunk in a bat-filled cave with a pissy sorcerer for god only knows how long.
James looked like he was going
to explode with anger. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. His head titled to the side and his nostrils flared.
He was…sniffi
ng? What the hell?
Then he froze. H
is muscles tensed, his eyes widened. She watched him curiously. This was different, even for James
.
Clouds parted and a full moon glowed, lighting up the area around them.
She only had a moment to consider it befor
e something grabbed her. The world turned upside down as she was thrown over a shoulder and locked into place by a steel grip on her legs. Her heart raced and panic swept through her.
But it was James’ voice that said, “Don’t you dare make a sound or I swear over all that’s holy
, I will beat you bloody.” He jostled her in warning.
Maybe it was the way he’d hefted her over his shoulder as if she were nothing more than a
sack of rice, but she decided not to test him this time.
T
hey took off. She was flying. Or maybe not flying. But they were moving fast. Way fast. And Sage was stuck hanging off James’ freakishly strong shoulder, blood rushing to her head, ass up in the air. Even if she were brave enough to scream, she couldn’t have because the air was moving around her too fast. All she could do was gulp it down.
What the hell was
going on? Then it hit her. James wasn’t just a sorcerer. And he certainly wasn’t human. After what felt like only a few minutes, though she knew it must have been longer, James dumped her on the ground. Her body was stiff but she managed to scramble away until a cold, hard wall stopped her.
The moonlight made it clear enough to see
James’ silhouette pacing across the opening of the cave. He muttered angrily but she couldn’t make out the words.
H
is attention snapped to her. “Because of your stubbornness,” he said. “I have to go back down and get our bags.” He threw a flashlight toward her and it bounced off her leg. “For once, Sage, do what you’re told and
stay here
!”
She stared at him
, dumbstruck.
“I
’ll be right back.” He left in a blur.
James isn’t human
.
She had to say it a few times before it sunk in. Then what did he truly want with her? She stood up and stumbled toward the mouth of the cave
.
The hell if she was going to stick around to find out.
Flashlight in hand, she lumbered
down the mountain, veering away from the direction James had left. She tripped twice, hard enough to make blood drip down her leg, but it didn’t stop her. She had only walked for five minutes before she was back over the solid shoulder and dropped on her ass in the cave.
James stood over her. “I told you to stay!”
She scrambled on the dirt floor then rose unsteadily as she contemplated fighting him. But instinct told her not to. His whole body – from his stiff stance, to his balled up fists, and even his frowning mouth – emanated danger.
He
spun in a circle scanning the environment around them. For what, she had no idea. Maybe he was looking for a stick to beat her over the head with.
Since escape seemed
implausible for the moment, she watched him instead. She looked for weaknesses but mostly tried to figure out what the hell he was.
Moving far too fast to be human,
James pulled a bunch of sticks together in the center of the cave. He lifted his hands and, in only a few seconds, the sticks caught fire.
He turned back around to face her. She could see his face clearly no
w, although the shadows on the walls were equally unnerving. But he didn’t look angry. He looked concerned. And just the slightest bit nervous.
She
walked backward, slowly, until she bumped against the stone wall of the cave.
“Do you know wha
t I am, Sage?” he asked while creeping toward her.
A Hunter
. And with the speed she’d witnessed tonight, a lethal one undoubtedly. She tried to recall a spell she could use against him, but he could block her too easily. And it might only provoke him. Not that she’d ever worried about that before, but, daring another glance at the menacing figure before her, this wasn’t the James she knew.
The sharp edges of rock dug into her back as she pressed her body up hard against the stone wall.
She looked left then right. There was no room to run.
James
stood only an arm’s length away. His pale skin shone in the darkness.
“I am
vampire,” he whispered.
The world seemed to halt. Her stomach dropped as she stared into his eyes – familiar eyes that seemed more dangerous now.
Fuck. She would have to use magic. When she gathered a Bolt in her palms, James spanned their distance in one long stride.
“Ah, ah, ah,” he scolded and grasped
her wrists. “We’re not going to have any of that.”
He
squeezed until it hurt enough for her to stop the Bolt. Then he pointed to a spot on the ground. “Sit.”
What choice did she have? She sat
, while plotting her next move.
He sat down beside her. “There are a few things you should know about me. First, like all vampires, I’m incredibly strong and fast. If you try to run from me, I will fin
d you.” That was obvious. “And I won’t be happy about having to chase you. Two –”
In a flash, he grabbed her glowing wrist
. “Damn it, Sage! Stop trying to kill me!”
The
Bolt flickered out again. He let out a long sigh and yanked her body closer to his. “I’m going to make you sit on your hands!” Now he was starting to sound like the James she knew. “And stop looking at me like I’m your enemy. I’m still me. I’m not going to hurt you.”
“Then stop acting like a creepy vampire!”
“Sorry.” He ran a hand across the back of his neck. “When I had to chase you it just…sort of happened. Instinct, I guess.”
James w
as still James. So he said. She stared down at the dirty cave ground, contemplating the absurdity. How did she not notice that the man she’d lived with for the last couple of weeks was a fucking vampire?
“How is thi
s possible?” she finally asked after a long awkward silence. “You seem normal. Well, normal for an up-tight, pompous sorcerer.”
“Yes, but if you were more observant you would have noticed I don’t eat.”
She thought back on the last few days of meals. There’d always been some reason he couldn’t eat with her. She’d thought the frequent take-out meals were just because he didn’t like to cook. But this explained the empty pantry. What about the coffee mug he always had in his hand? She shuddered. Maybe it was best not to ask too many questions.
“B
ut I thought you hated vampires,” she said. “And that they were evil.”
“I do hate them and they are evil. That’s why
Cadmael changed me. He knew it was a punishment worse than death.”
“
Cadmael did this?”
He hesitated then gave her a somber look.
“Remember when I said I came close to killing him? In the last battle? I got too close. Cadmael turned me. He thought it was a fitting retribution for spoiling his attempt at Caerwyn.”
“Wow. That sucks.”
How apropos. She’d never been any good with words.
James choked on a laugh.
“So, part of this whole mission thing is about revenge?”
He shrugged. “If you’re asking if I’d like to kill
Cadmael myself, the answer is yes. But I’d go after him even if he didn’t turn me. Just for all the trouble he’s caused my people for the last five hundred years.”
“So, do you, like, thirst for my blood?”
She cringed. Blood didn’t make her lightheaded like it did Erin, but the thought of someone drinking it made her stomach churn.
James cast her a dirt
y look. “Of course not. I wouldn’t let myself near you if I didn’t have enough self-control.”
He
gazed into the fire. Slumped shoulders and a distant look in his eyes made him look lonely. Then it hit her. His secret shame. James hated that he was a vampire.
“But you do drink blood?” she asked.
He nodded. “I have to. But never from a living person. I brown bag it.” His dark joke made him chuckle.
“And what about the sun
?”
“The coffee I drin
k is an elixir a sorceress created for me. Vampires are allergic to the sun. She made a sort of…magical antihistamine, I guess you would call it. The sun doesn’t affect me like it does others of my kind. That’s not to say that I can spend the day at the beach though. And I need to keep drinking the elixir for it to work.”
“How does someone
kill a vampire? Holy water? Stake to the heart? Silver? Any of it true?”
“Silver can be deadly
if there’s enough in our body. Otherwise our head would need to be severed.”
She
cringed.
“It’s
hard to do considering our strength and speed. You would need a very strong weapon. Or else poison us with silver first to weaken –” He stopped and studied her face. “I can’t believe I’m telling you this.”
She
rolled her eyes. “I’m not going to kill you, James. Well, not unless you throw me into a batting cage again. Maybe I
should
kill you for that. I think I promised to.”
“Now I’ll be on the look-out.”
A thought popped in her head. An evil one, but she couldn’t ignore it. She
had
promised payback after all. And wasn’t one of James’ precious sorcery lessons about the importance of keeping promises? “So you’re immortal?”
“Yes.”
“And you heal quickly?” Discreetly, she reached into her boot, eyeing his hand resting on the dirt floor.
“Very.”
“So…does this hurt?” She thrust her switchblade into the middle of his hand, pressing all the way through until she felt the hard floor underneath its tip.