Hot Decadent Rising (Breath of Darkness) (18 page)

“I’ll get the water going, and then I’ll
help you get across the room.”

“Wait. I need to tell you something, but
I’m pretty sure once I do you’ll think I’m certifiably insane.”

Brianna smiled. “I promise to keep an
open mind.”

“When I was a child I was placed in a mental
hospital after a werewolf killed my mother. I told my teacher about it. She
informed me that werewolves didn’t exist. I was stubborn. I refused to agree
with her. After a trip to the school nurse, I ended up in a psychiatrist’s
office and then placed in an institution. And don’t try to convince me that
werewolves don’t exist. It would be a waste of time. I know for a fact they
do.”

“Oh, trust me, I believe you.”

She wasn’t expecting that response from
Brianna, but it was a huge relief. “I was moved around from one hospital to the
next. I was badly behaved. I didn’t like the medication they were giving me and
I fought like hell every time they shoved it down my throat. Anyways, I can’t
remember which one she was in, but I met a teenage girl named Sara. You could
be her twin.”

“I’ve a sister named Sara. She was
hospitalized from time to time since she was a young child because she heard
voices, and she hurt herself.”

“The voices she heard were real. I heard
them. And she wasn’t hurting herself. I saw something attacking her one night.
No one else could see it. It was the most frightening looking thing I’ve ever
seen. It was a monster. I thought of it as being a demon.”

“You saw it? You heard it?” Brianna
asked.

“I swear it’s true.”

“I believe you.”

 “How is she doing now?”

“I don’t know. She disappeared a few
years ago after our family’s home caught fire and burned to the ground. Our
parents were killed in the fire.”

“I’m so sorry,” Kara said.

“The authorities believe Sara started
it. She didn’t do it. I know she didn’t. She couldn’t.”

“You’re right. She saved me. The
medications they were forcing me to take were killing me. It was horrible. She
taught me to stop fighting them. She made me realize that arguing with them
would only keep me there longer. She taught me how to trick them into thinking
that I was taking the medication. As soon as I turned eighteen they released
me.”

***

A
few hours later Nikolas and Brianna walked Kara to her son’s grave. “I can’t
believe I allowed him to be killed.” Wishing the ground would open and swallow
her up she fell to her knees on his tiny grave. She would never hold him in her
arms. She wouldn’t even meet him. She’d already decided to end her life just as
soon as she killed her father, but the pain and the guilt were too much. She
needed to end it. “I can’t do it.”

Nikolas knelt down and took her hands
and then forced her to stand up as he did. “It wasn’t your fault, but no one
will ever be able to make you believe it. No one can convince you to keep
going, to live. That’s up to you. It’s your choice.” He released her hands and
took a step back. “You decide.”

He was wrong, but he was also right. It
was her fault. She should’ve done more to protect her baby, but avenging her
baby’s death or not was her choice. She looked down at the grave. Giving up
would be the easiest and fastest way to end her suffering, but she couldn’t do
it. Not yet. First, she had to kill her father and Tom. Once they were dead,
she would be free to die. “You’re right. Thank you for taking me in and…oh,
God, I never picked a name for him.” She paused. “Thank you for giving my baby
such a beautiful resting place.”

Nikolas looked at Brianna and nodded. It
seemed as if they were secretly communicating. A moment later, he wrapped his
arm around Brianna’s shoulder and looked at Kara. “You’ve been through hell,
but you’re a strong woman. Perhaps, you’re even stronger than you know. Don’t
give up yet. You never know what might be waiting out there for you to
discover. It’s possible for you to find happiness and peace. And you will come
up with a name in time. My doors are always open to you. You’re welcome to come
back and visit him.” He handed her a backpack and a set of keys. “There’s
plenty of cash and other necessities, including a gun for protection, inside
the bag.” He pointed down a dirt road. “There’s a car at the end of the road
for you to take.”

She unzipped the bag and saw bundles of
cash and a gun. “I can’t take your money or your things.”

“Why not? I don’t need them and you do.”

“I’ll repay you when I’m able.”

“Nikolas nodded. “I know you will.”

***

From
beneath Nikolas’ arm Brianna watched Kara walk away. “Thank you, Nikolas. I
didn’t know the right words.”

 “That’s not true.” She felt the
brush of his lips and the warmth of his breath on top of her head. “I borrowed
the words from you.”

“She could be in serious danger. We
can’t just let her go off alone.”

Keeping her under his arm, he started to
lead her back toward the house. “She won’t be alone for long.”

She stopped. As always in perfect sync
with her he stopped. “What do you mean?”

“Do you remember Eli Thomas?” he asked.

“Of course.”

“He’s waiting for her.”

“No. He kidnapped Mia and nearly got her
killed. He blew up Mia’s boutique with Joseph in it. You have to stop her. It’s
too dangerous.”

“I would never send her into dangerous
situation. Eli believed Mia was his mate. He believed he was protecting her.
Joseph couldn’t have been injured in an explosion or a fire. He’s a demon. Eli
was only trying to slow him down a bit.”

“You’re sure Kara will be safe with
him?”

“Look at the lengths he went to for Mia.
He gave up his pack to save her life and returned her to Joseph when he
realized he’d made a mistake. Imagine the lengths he would go to for his true
mate. He is Kara’s future. He is her mate. She’s grieving the loss of her baby.
She doesn’t want to live. The need to avenge her son is the only reason she
agreed to give it time before giving up on life. Eli is the only one who will
ever cause her to want to embrace life again. She has a future if she chooses
to live. The only way she’ll ever know her fate is to move toward it. Sitting
still and doing nothing to take hold of it will get her nowhere.”

“Do you ever listen to yourself?”

Appearing frustrated, he looked down at
her and frowned. She knew he wasn’t used to being challenged. It was one of the
reasons she enjoyed doing it so much. “What does that mean?”

“Don’t play stupid.”

A muscle clenched in his jaw. They both
knew what she was getting at, but he was going to ignore it. “You can’t change
what is meant to be.”

“Really?”

“Joseph already messed with her fate by
preventing her death the night she was shot. If we continue, her destiny will
grow darker.”

“You know this for sure.”

He nodded. “I do.”

“Then why do you insist on attempting to
alter ours?”

“Don’t worry.” He smiled. “Nothing bad
will ever happen to you, little one. I will always protect you. I simply refuse
to allow your fate to grow dark by allowing you to alter mine.”

She knew it was meant as an endearment,
but she hated being called little one. It felt belittling. He refused to be
with her because he viewed her as being a weak. Little. She turned to face him.
They stared at each other for a long time. “Whose shall I alter then?”

“Stop.”

A clear sign she’d made him angry, she
felt the ground move ever so slightly beneath her feet. “You don’t have any
right to get mad me. You are the one who rejects the idea of us being
together.”

 He took her hand and held it to
his chest so that she could feel his heart beating. “I’m not mad at you. Not
even a little.”

“Liar.”

“I love you. You cannot make me mad
because you are perfect in my eyes. We are apart because I will protect you
from the darkness in me.”

Getting up on the very tips of her toes
she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to her level. She knew
once her body was pressed against his that he wouldn’t be able to resist her.
He kissed her. It was a slow, sensual, burning kiss that went on and on, until
he abruptly stopped and pressed his forehead against hers. 

Seeing the white wicker chair in her
bedroom, she realized he'd shifted them to her home while they were kissing.
She hadn’t been home since Mia had brought Kara to his home. “That’s nice. You
don’t need me now that you’re finished with Kara.”

“I kept you there because you wanted me
to help her. I never would have kept her there and focused any energy on
healing her if doing so put you in danger. If I allow myself to be distracted
you could be hurt. You’re my priority.”

Knowing she was about to be engulfed by
darkness, she sat down on the edge of her bed. After having sight for so many
hours of every day for nearly two months, returning to total blindness would
take some getting used to. He was about to do what always did. He would leave
her and take the ability to see with him in the next few seconds. He couldn’t
understand the way he was hurting her to keep from hurting her. “Why do you
refuse to see all that is good in you?”

“There’s not enough good in me to
protect you from the bad.”

~Ten~

KARA
HAD BEEN driving for only few hours, but she was dead tired. She could barely
keep her eyes open. Staying in one place for any length of time was risky. She
wanted to stay on the move, but continuing without any sleep wasn’t safe for
her or anyone else on the road.

She decided to hide the car Nikolas had
given her in the parking lot of an abandoned factory across the street from the
hotel and get a room for the night. She was prepared to get soaked, but by the
time she got out of the car the heavy rain had dwindled to a light drizzle. The
dark shadows surrounding the old abandoned brick factory seemed much more
ominous than when she was still in the car.

Tilting her head back to look up at the
sliver of moon peeking through the clouds, she took a deep breath as she
reached deep within herself to find and gather up the willpower and strength
she needed to proceed.

Awareness crashed into her from out of
nowhere. She wasn’t alone. A whisper of movement from directly behind her
instantly had her heart racing. Ready to fight she spun around. She blinked to
bring the image of a creature on four legs in to focus. It was dog. No. She saw
several more shadowy images of dogs. Hopefully they were friendly dogs. They
were huge. She hurried into the office.

After paying for
a room for the night, she handed an extra twenty dollar bill to the older
woman, wearing a timeworn housekeeper’s uniform, behind the counter. “If anyone
asks you haven’t seen me.”

“Well now, I’m
not sure that’s going to work out very well, girl,” the woman said. “I’m a
sociable woman. I’ve always been a bit of a talker. Then again, I suppose with
the right incentive, I could be persuaded to try a little harder to keep my
mouth shut as far as you being here is concerned.”

Greed was a
truly ugly human characteristic. Kara truly wished she didn’t know it as well
as she did. She handed the woman another twenty dollar bill. “Will this work?”

“I’m not sure.”
She took it and held both bills up to the light of the desktop lamp as if
checking to make sure they were real. “That all depends on the details of your
dilemma.” Apparently satisfied that they weren’t phony she reached into her
shirt and stuffed the cash down her bra. “Are you in trouble with the law or an
ex-lover?”

Kara knew the
woman was expecting to collect more money. Luckily, Nikolas had given her
plenty of it to deal with problems that might arise. She didn’t like the woman
at all, but she easily faked a smile while handing over a hundred dollar bill.
“Does it really matter?”

“No.” After
snatching the money away from Kara the woman held it up to the lamp. “I’ll be
damned. It’s the real deal.” Snorting, she laughed out loud as she shoved it
into her bra. “I suppose it doesn’t matter at all.”

“That’s what I
was hoping to hear.”

The woman opened
a drawer, pulled out a key and pushed it across the counter. “Here you go,
girl. You’ll be staying in room nineteen all the way down at the far end of the
building.”

Grabbing the key
Kara turned to leave. “Thanks.”

“Leave the key
on the bedside table. Don’t forget checkout is at noon. Unless…”

Regrettably,
Kara wasn’t shocked to see the reflection of the woman holding out her hand as
if expecting to receive more money in the window. Forcing her smile to broaden,
she shook her head as she started for the exit. “Sorry. You’ve drained me dry.”
Just before walking outside she faced the woman one last time. “But don’t
worry. I’ll be gone before noon.”

As she left the
office, she wondered what had happened to the woman in the past to cause her to
happily use extortion to take money from someone who was in trouble. It wasn’t
something she could do. Her conscience would drive her insane with guilt.