“No, you’re not! I’m not on the road.”
“What’s going on?”
“I skidded off. My car’s in a gully, filling with water as we speak. I’ve climbed almost to the top near the road.”
“Jesus! Are you hurt?” He downshifted, hit the brake, and swung the car in a tight turn that would have made James Bond proud. He headed back down the highway. “I just turned around. Where are you?”
“I’m not sure where I went off. Just slow down, and you should see me.”
“Sure.” Nic dropped the car into third.
•
Fiona crested the top of the small hill and staggered. Not even fighting vampires had made her so tired or irritated. She looked back down at her small car, its nose buried in the mud and water.
The sound of squealing brakes jerked her around.
Nic skidded the car to a stop next to her. He stared at her and then laughter exploded from him. “Oh my God! How hot is that?”
Fiona looked down. Her shirt was plastered to her breasts, her nipples like two bullets poking outward. “Great. Just great.”
“You look like the mud wrestling winner at the local bar.” He grinned.
“And like the winner, I can kick your ass.” She flicked him with her fingers, hitting him with drops of dirty water.
“Hey! Watch it.” Nic chuckled and then sobered as he got out of the car. “Darlin’! Are you all right?” was followed by so many kisses she lost count. Then, as if he didn’t care about getting wet and dirty, Nic crushed her to him. Just as suddenly, he pushed her away. “Sorry! Are you hurt? Did I hurt you just now?”
“I’m fine, Nic. Just a bump on my head, my shoulder hurts--” She pointed to a red lump “—and I’ve got a few scrapes on my hands and knees from trying to climb out of there.” She held up her palms, to show the damage.
“Thank God!” He took her hands in his and kissed the muddy scrapes. A splotch of dirt clung to his nose making him look so damn adorable. How did he do it? She looked like a drowned rat.
She wiped the dirt off with her finger. “I’m so sorry we fought! I shouldn’t have gone against your judgment. I like Annie, and I thought Ivan was very brave. I just can’t stand the thought of you killing someone you consider a friend and having it eat away at you and making you miserable. ” He placed his fingers over her mouth and she stopped.
“Let’s talk about it later. We need to deal with this right now.” Nic looked over the side of the road at her car. “We’re going to need a tow truck.”
Three hours later, the insurance company had been called, the police report filled out, and Fiona sat in the Jag and watched Nic finish with the tow truck driver. Her car hung from its rear end, water dripping from it. It would be taken to the shop Nic used. Her arm was sore, and the bump on her head ached. She had taken way too much damage lately.
Nic slid into the driver’s seat.
“Take me to my place, Nic.”
Nic looked at her for a long time. “I guess we need to talk.”
“Yeah.” She sighed. “I love you, and I don’t want to lose you. But I’m afraid if you do this, if you hunt them down and kill them, you’ll lose yourself.”
“I’m a warrior. I kill vampires. It’s who I am and what I do.” Nic leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes. “How can I be something I’m not?”
“Life is not black and white. If it were, it’d be easy. Clear cut. Right and wrong. But it’s not like that. There are grays, Nic. All shades.” She rubbed the bridge of her nose.
“I never liked gray.” Nic gave a short laugh.
“I’ll just bet. Some people need a clear line of sight. You know, no obstructions. Others thrive on going around, weaving their way through those obstacles. It’s hard for one type of person to see like another. Sometimes, you’re forced.”
“Because of the gray.” His eyes were still closed.
She nodded. “And because of the way it makes you feel inside. This just
feels
so wrong.”
“I suppose you’re good at seeing the gray?”
“Maybe it comes easier to me, that’s all. I can still see in black-and-white. There’s always black-and-white.”
“If I see the gray in this instance, where does it stop?” He turned to her, opened his eyes, and searched hers for answers.
Fiona looked out of the window at the trees. “Even in the military, they’re allowed to disobey orders they know are wrong.”
“I’m not in the military.” He rubbed his hand over his jeans and then picked at a piece of imagined dust on the steering wheel.
“No, but it’s the same. You receive orders. You obey them. The men in that room, they aren’t infallible, Nic. And you know for a fact they were being used. Maybe they still are.” She looked at him.
Nic was quiet for a long time.
“I’ll take you home. I need to think.” Nic started the car.
Fiona leaned back against the seat and closed her eyes. She didn’t want to be without him. They both needed to think. Some time apart. She hated the sound of those words; they made her stomach hurt.
He pulled up to her house, and she got out of the car. Would this be the last time she’d ever see Nic?
“I’ll call you.”
“Right.” She’d heard that line before.
He pulled away. Fiona watched until he turned the corner and disappeared. Then she trudged up the drive to her house, her shoes squishing with each step.
— • —
Nic swung the sword in slow, graceful moves. Tai Chi with the sword, each move smooth. Effortless. Deadly. As his mind ran through the well-practiced moves, it drifted, working through his problems. When he was sixteen and his parents had been killed, he’d done the same thing, only it was shooting baskets. He’d stand on the concrete driveway of his uncle’s home and shoot hoops for hours, making shot after shot.
What was Zeke was doing? He could sure use a good talk over a couple of beers. Maybe he should call him. The time they’d spent growing up without Mom and Dad had forced them into a closer brotherhood than before.
When Zeke had turned the Council down, Nic couldn’t understand it. As he went through his moves, he could still remember when Zeke left to go his own way. They’d argued all night about taking the Council’s offer.
“No way, Nic. I’m not going to let a bunch of people I don’t even know tell me what to do.” Zeke shook his head so hard his long black ponytail swung back and forth.
“I can’t believe you’re going to pass up this opportunity. The training. They’d pay for college, even.”
“They’re buying you, brother. Lock, stock, and barrel. No one gives you anything for free.”
“I’m not their slave, Zeke.”
“Maybe not now, but that day will come.”
Nic stopped his workout. A fine mist of sweat covered his body. Barely breathing hard, he sheathed the sword.
Zeke had always been the smarter brother.
— • —
Fiona lay on her bed.
Alone
. That word echoed in her head. She had never been aware of being alone until she met Nic. Now the aloneness was palatable. Heavy, sober. As if she could feel it weighing down on her. Smothering her.
She sat up, sucking in air. She needed to be doing something. She got off the bed and headed down the hall. Opening the door to her weapons room, she stood in the middle of the room surveying the weapons. Nothing looked good to her. She left, closing the door behind her.
Down the hall to the kitchen. Open the fridge. Stand there, stare into it, and then shut the door.
“This is nuts,” Fiona muttered. She pulled out bread and a jar of peanut butter. After making a sandwich, she sat at the counter to eat it.
Nic was Nic. If she loved him, did she have the right to ask him to change? Just for her?
“No, for himself.” She took a bite and chewed. Of course, it stuck to the roof of her mouth. She went to the fridge and got some milk. After she poured a glass, she took a big sip, chewed, and swallowed.
“I’m right, aren’t I?”
No one answered. That was the problem. No one was there to answer. How could someone get so far under your skin in only a few days? She felt as if a part of her was missing.
“If I never see him again, can I live through this? Will I feel like this forever?” she asked the walls of the kitchen. She listened for an answer, but only the sound of the fridge running answered.
She missed Cho and his smart-ass answers.
If she didn’t accept Nic’s decision now, the chances she could do it later were slim. If she wanted to be with him, did it have to be on his terms, not hers? Certainly there had to be a way to compromise.
She laughed. Gray trying to force black-and-white to be gray. When that was done, where did it leave Nic? Especially since he was a stubborn, hardheaded man, used to answering to no one except himself and a room full of old men.
He would no longer be Nic; he’d be changed into some lesser form of Nic. That couldn’t be better, could it? Was she asking too much? Nic was strong, determined, and independent; he had that damn male pride. She loved him the way he was. Why did she feel if she made him bend to her way of thinking, he’d break?
And if he broke, she wasn’t sure she could put the pieces back together. Couldn’t
she
be strong enough to bend without breaking?
After taking a last swallow of her milk, she washed out her glass. She needed to get a rental car. She opened the yellow pages and found the number of one that would deliver the car to her.
While she dialed the number, she made her decision.
— • —
Fiona pulled up outside of Nic’s house in her new rental car, a silver Impala. She’d buy a new car as soon as the insurance money came through. Of course, she couldn’t afford anything like Nic’s car.
Looking at the Jag, she guessed the old geezers paid well.
She could do this. She loved him enough to bend.
Then why do I still feel so bad?
She got out of the car, walked up to the door, and knocked.
Nic opened the door almost immediately.
“Hi.” She smiled up at him. That was a smooth opening.
He leaned on the open door in a white T-shirt and jeans that looked so sexy she felt her heat pool between her legs.
“Hi.” Stepping aside, Nic let her in.
They didn’t touch. She hated that, missed the warmth of his hands on her skin. Did he miss her?
“Can we talk?” She sat on the couch.
“Sure.” He sat down on the other end.
Neutral corners. Not side by side. Well, here goes.
“I was wrong. If this is what you think is right, I’ll back you up.” She looked into his eyes, trying to read his expression.
“Really?” Hope ignited in his eyes. “You’ll back me up?”
She nodded and reached to take his hand. When she touched him, a fire burned in her. She wanted him with her always, and she believed she was prepared to do anything to insure he stayed by her side.
“I don’t want to lose you, Nic.” So she’d sacrifice two people for it. No, they weren’t people. They were vampires, she mentally corrected herself. This was harder than she thought it would be.
If I bite my tongue much harder, it will fall out of my mouth.
Nic looked so relieved. He jumped up and went to his jacket. Pulling out the orb, he showed it to her.
“I used it, Fiona. I know the general area where they’re hiding. We have a few hours before sunset. If we move fast, we can locate them before they wake up.”
“To kill them.” She nodded. While they slept. That would be easy. Not to see the look of betrayal in their eyes. “Right. When do you want to leave?”
“You left your sword here. I’ll get mine, and we can go right now.” He headed down the hall and then stopped. “Cho, you’re coming, right? We’ll need you.”
Cho had been sitting on his branch listening to both of them. He sent his thoughts to Fiona alone to hear.
“Fiona, you don’t have to do this.”
“Yes, I do. If I want Nic, I do.”
A swish of his tail in irritation. “
I’m coming, Nic
.” He blinked his black eyes.
“Good. Let’s get this over with.” Even Nic sounded reluctant about it. “We’ll take both cars and cover more ground.”
— • —
Nic sat in the Jag and looked up and down the street. Fiona’s car was parked behind his, but she stood at his window.
“This is the neighborhood. You take Cho.”
Fiona leaned in and waited as Cho climbed on her shoulder.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, he’s mouthy, but good to have at your side.”
“Thanks, boss. I think. Let’s go, Fiona.”
“Sure. Just give me a minute.”
“Nic.”
She leaned farther into the car and kissed Nic’s lips. She’d wanted to taste him one more time. They separated. She pushed a curl of dark hair from his face.
“Be careful, Nic.”
“You too, darlin’.” He pulled away and drove down the block.
“Well, it’s you and me, Cho.”
“You know, you don’t have to do this. Let Nic do it.”
“No. I have to do this.”
“Trying to prove something? Don’t do it on my account.”
“Shut up, Cho.”
Fiona returned to the car and started in the opposite direction. They had several blocks to cover, and each minute she put this off crept closer to dusk. She felt Cho’s nails dig into her shoulder as she drove. It wasn’t nearly as uncomfortable as when he dug into her mind.
— • —
Beginning his search, Nic drove slowly past one house to the next. First, he looked for the van. No van was in sight. That didn’t rule out it being parked in one of the detached garages. That meant searching each one, and that would take too much time, so he’d narrowed it down. He looked for houses that looked vacant, or had basement windows painted or sealed shut.
He’d kill them and go home with Fiona. It would be just like all the other times he’d killed vampires. One swing, that’s all it would take. If he caught them before they woke, they’d be sitting ducks, and his job would be that much easier.
That’s what he’d sworn to do. Kill vampires.