Fire and Ash (Immortal Touch) (32 page)

The band played a Breaking Benjamin song
to perfection, evoking screams from a number of frenzied female guests. Once Danielle delivered their drinks they moved away from the bar in search of a less congested area where they could watch the band without being jostled by dancing youths. Tonight’s crowd was the largest yet. The energy and excitement was palpable in the night air, and Sami soaked it in with pleasure. The next song, one of Nirvana’s, garnered equally as much enthusiasm.

She
had her head leaned in to Kayla’s, trying to hear something she was saying about a sale at a local boutique, when the vocalist suddenly announced, “Hey, we got a special surprise for you
wild thangs
out there tonight…yeah, that means you!” He pointed laughingly to one of the more enthusiastic girls nearby, and her friends whooped. “I’m gonna take a five minute break but while I do I’m gonna hand the mike over to my good buddy Rick Radcliffe of
Crash for Glory!
”

Stunned,
she faced Stuart who looked to be just as shocked as she was. “Stu, what the…what is
he
doing here? Did you know about this?” He shook his head in bewilderment. No, this particular act was unscheduled.

From the microphone came one line of introduction. “You know who you are, baby.”

“Oh, God,” Sami muttered, trying to shrink into invisibility. But that was nothing compared to the indignity of the Three Days Grace song he’d chosen to blast her with. Seriously, what the hell was he trying to prove with
Pain?
Did he honestly think that was funny? But his raspy rock voice nailed the vocals and the eager crowd ate it up. Sami wanted to kill him. And when she ventured a look at him - the stupid sonofabitch - he caught her eye and she saw the malicious twinkle there. And for a moment, just one brief moment, she could have sworn his brown eyes turned blue.

“Do
you suppose Reid know he’s here?” Stu yelled at her over the noise.

“I doubt it.” She glanced around self-consciously.
What was Rick trying to do, get himself beaten to a pulp? She thought she’d seen the last of him. What the devil was he trying to prove with this accusing performance?

“What’s wrong? Who
is he?” Logan wanted to know.

“Sami’s ex,” Stu explained. Kayla and Logan exchanged glances. Apparently they’d heard the rumors, too. Sam
ara Porter was off the market as far as Asher Reid was concerned.

“
Interesting song choice,” Kayla commented with a curious glance at Sami, who was putting every ounce of mental energy she could muster into willing Rick permanently mute.
Idiot, idiot, idiot…
And, as if he hadn’t humiliated her
enough,
once he left the stage he made a beeline straight in her direction while the crowd cheered and applauded wildly. Of course. Well, why not make it evident to everyone there who his intended target was?
Idiot!

Not wanting her coworkers to witness an altercation, she grabbed Rick’s arm and steered him away from the crowd until they reached the boardwalk and could talk without shouting.

“What the hell was that?” she demanded angrily. “Are you making fun of me?”

He raised his eyebrows with a snarky smirk. “I thought you’d like it.
Since it seems to be your thing now.”

“Who the hell do you think you are? You have no idea what
my thing
is! What do you think you’re accomplishing with this petty bullshit?”

“You don’t know? You really don’t know?”

“Rick…don’t even…”

“I love you
, Sami…I want you
back!
I screwed up and I know it - can’t we just go back to the way things were?”

“Oh…
dammit,
Rick…” Why was he doing this to her? Did he really think they could turn back time and pretend nothing had happened?

“Please,
honey. I miss you so much…” He made an attempt to secure his arms around her, but she pushed him away.

“What do you call yourself doing?”

“You used to like for me to hold you.”

“I
used
to like a lot of things. Not anymore.”

“No, I guess now you’d rather just let yourself be carved up like a piece of…”

“
Shut the fuck up!
You don’t know a goddamn thing!”

“I know I care about you! I know I don’t wan
na just sit back and do nothing while you slip away from me!”

“You have got to leave. I’m serious. You shouldn’t be here.”

“I’ll leave if you come with me.”

“No!” Her eyes flashed angrily.

“So you’re telling me you’d rather stay here and be manipulated by that psycho Ted Bundy boyfriend of yours?”

“You don’t know anything about him!”

“Do
you?
You’ve known him for what, a month? Two?”

“How is this
in any way
any of your business?”

“I’m worried about you! I care
what happens to you! Can’t you see what a nut case he is?”

“You really wan
na get into who’s a nut case around here?”

“You can’t possibly want to be with th
at guy! He’s…”

“Don’t tell me
what I want! You don’t have the slightest
idea
what I want. You never did and you never will!”

“Oh,
I think it’s pretty obvious what you want! Someone who can treat you like shit as long as he has a great big cock for you…”

“That’s it. I’m done.” She’d had enough. This was going nowhere and the whole conversation was
utterly pointless. His opinion meant nothing to her. Less than nothing. As she turned to walk away, he grabbed her arm. “Take your hands off me, Rick, or I swear to God you’ll regret it!”

“Wait. Please wait. I didn’t mean that. You know I didn’t mean it. I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry.” Her laugh was dry.

“
I am. I’m sorry.”

“That’s all you ever have for me, isn’t it? Your empty apologies. You know, after a while they become meaningless.
So you can stop crying
wolf
to me now, because I just don’t care anymore. It doesn’t matter.”

“Please don’t say that. Don’t tell me I don’t matter when I love you more than anything in th
is world…”

“Let go of my arm.”

Rick stared at her for a minute, then released her with a defeated sigh. His voice grew quieter, sadder. “Sam. Can you honestly stand there and tell me you feel nothing for me? Nothing at all? After everything we’ve shared?”

Sami leaned against the wooden railing
, crossing her arms and looking directly into his eyes. Maybe after everything he’d put her through he deserved what she was about to say, but it was hard to say nevertheless. Even if the brutal truth was the only thing that could set him free. “Listen to me carefully, because I’m only going to say this once and then I never want to see you again. I feel
nothing
for you. Everything we had is dead and gone. I hate to break it to you, but that is the cold hard truth. And there is nothing you can do or say that will ever change things. So I’m asking you nicely, Rick. Leave. Don’t ever contact me again. Please. It’s over.”

He searched her eyes for honesty
. Finding it there, he did the only logical thing he could do. He walked away.

~*~*~*~

Wherever there is a grain of loyalty there is a glimpse of freedom.

Who was it that said that…
? Ash cocked his head to one side as he watched her from a distance, trying in vain to recall the source. It was some English poet, wasn’t it? One of those Shakespeare types. Well, it didn’t matter. What mattered was that the loyalty was there.

She was alone on the beach now,
huddled on one of the wooden lounge chairs that belonged to the resort, hugging her knees to her chest as if the balmy weather were cold. Her sable hair blew loose and free in the maritime wind. For a moment he almost wished he were artistic so he could capture this portrait of loveliness. Somehow, though he couldn’t see her face from where he stood, he could feel her tangled emotions and a talented virtuoso would have been able to capture that on canvas.

How ironic that he’d started out wanting to destroy something so exquisite.
To tempt her into losing all dignity and self-assurance, to watch that cool, highbrow composure fall away and shatter like glass. Yes, he’d broken her easily enough. But what he hadn’t expected was her passionate willingness…her eager receptiveness to his hedonistic tastes. So much like a younger version of himself. Someone just beginning to open clouded eyes to the decadent pleasures that others could never comprehend. If he so desired, he could sculpt this human woman into the ideal mate, a faithful and subservient immortal who would follow him with blind devotion. A lover with a sexual prowess to match his own.

He
couldn’t let her go. Couldn’t destroy this one. Not when she was so close to perfection.

And tonight…ah, tonight. He’d been so proud of her.
She hadn’t lied to him after all. The faithless Rick truly no longer held any claim to her affections. With one simple test administered through a trick of illusion, his devoted Samara had proven herself trustworthy. Never before had he felt the urge to bring a female into the fold of his hidden world, to reveal the secrets bound by the covenant of the immortals. The penalty for such an indiscretion was death. But he was the enforcer of the laws and as such, was above them. As alpha, he was untouchable. The rules - be they for human or vampire - did not apply to him. And he would do as he damn well pleased.

And for now, what would please him most
was the assurance that Rick Radcliffe was drawing his last breath.

Personally, he had better things to do than waste his time with that pathetic warbling mortal.
Besides, it would probably be better if Sami had no reason to suspect that he had any involvement. Recruiting someone else to dispose of him would be the easiest solution.

Now…which of his subordinates might be game for
some entertainment? He tapped his iPhone against the corner of his mouth, considering. Kendall, being second-in-command and the most dependable of the group, would have been the obvious choice. But Ash knew he had an aversion to killing. Damn queer fanger would probably find it preferable to cornhole the young rocker rather than waste him. Well, to each his own. Not every vampire had a taste for murder.

Drake Sawyer? No, scratch him…that imbecile had no
finesse and this particular task required a more delicate touch.

Riley. Yeah, sure…Marco Riley was always up for the role of assassin. Inducted at nineteen, the kid had a blazing wild streak in him. He also had a natural talent for body art.
The angel wings on his back had been inked by young Marco, an impressive feat in itself considering their close proximity for the time that it took. The animal aggression was difficult to control, but the boy had done an outstanding job in spite of it. You couldn’t argue with results.

There was also one other
rare and useful skill the boy possessed. Every immortal since the beginning of time had been imbued with the gift of self-preservation, an innate ability to erase a victim’s recent memories and replace them with something more suitable. But this hypnotic capability could only go so far, and most vampires had difficulty imposing their will onto their prey. A human could not typically be coerced to commit an act that their subconscious mind strongly rebelled against.

Marco, however, was delightfully adept at persuading a mesmerized
pawn to perform any task that happened to strike his fancy.

“Yeah?” The voice on the other end
of the phone was surly.

Teenagers. Even the immortal ones were moody as hell. “Hey, Riley. How’s it goin
g?”

There was a short pause before the guarded reply. “
Um…can’t complain, I guess. Stayin’ busy at the shop. How you doin’? Everything cool?”

“Yeah man, everything’s cool.
No worries.” He cut straight to the chase. “How’d you like to make a few bucks?”

“Sure.” The wariness vanished. He had the kid’s undivided attention now.

“I need an attitude adjustment.”

Marco didn’t have to ask what he meant. They’d played this game before. “Okay. Where?”

“North Alabama. Standard deal. I’ll cover your plane fare and expenses, plus two grand on top of that.”

“Damn…southern cuisine.”
The boy chuckled. “That’s awesome. Any particular way you want this handled?”

“Self-inflicted.
Keep it clean. I want it obvious that this was a suicide.”

“Gotcha.”

“There’s no extreme hurry, but I’d prefer this was taken care of as soon as possible.”

“Not a problem.”

“Good. I’ll deposit the money in your bank account and email you the details. And stay out of the damn casinos. I’m not replacing the cash you piss away this time.”