Love's Challenge (Pearl Vampire Chronicles #5) (26 page)

“Can you please grab our bags, honey?  I’ve got this.”

He hesitated for a moment then turned back onto the boat.  Matt had
almost reached me when he realized that I wasn’t looking at him, I was looking
past him.  He slowed his step, but I held my hand out to him.  I grabbed his
hand and pulled him into my arms.  “Reporter, right behind you,” I muttered
into his lips as I kissed them.  I smiled when I saw the three large silver
crosses hanging from her neck. 

“Ms. Pearl? Ms. Pearl?” she said, surprising me.  How the hell did she
know my name?  “I was wondering if you would answer a few questions about life
as a vampire?”

I laughed and pulled Matt behind me, wrapping his arms around my
stomach.  “Oh, I get it.  I’m pale.  It’s close to Halloween, so I must be a
vampire, is that it?  Those are beautiful necklaces.  May I?” I said.  She
nodded and I reached my hand out, smiling at the surprised look on her face
when I rested the crosses on my hand.  “What?  You were expecting them to, let
me guess, burn my skin or something?  Sorry to disappoint you.” I said.  “That’s
quite an active imagination you have, though.  Maybe you should consider
fiction novels instead of journalism.”

“Well, how do you feel about this?” she said as she tossed a water
balloon at my chest, but it was filled, not with water, but with blood.  It
burst open and sprayed all over my chest, face and mouth. 

“What the fuck, lady?  Are you insane?” Matt said as he went to move
toward her, but I held tight to his arms. 

“Honey, relax,” I said as I wiped the blood from my eyes.  Truth be told,
I was calming myself and making sure that I didn’t go into hunting mode, which
I was struggling against right now.  I felt my teeth tingling as I smelled the
sweet scent all around me.  As soon as I knew it was safe, I opened my eyes and
looked at her.  “First of all, may I have a business card please?  I need to
know where to send the bill for replacing my dress.  Second, you might want to
get back to your van.  It’s double-parked and about to be towed.”

“Oh, shit,” her cameraman said then he turned and ran up the dock.

The reporter just stared at me, stunned and confused.  She reached into
her purse and handed me a card with a shaking hand.  “I’m not exactly sure what
you hoped to accomplish here.  But I think you’re lucky that I’m not someone
who vomits or passes out from the sight of blood.  And you’re also lucky that
I’m not going to sue your ass for this.  Leave and don’t bother me again,” I
said as I turned to step onto the boat.  My hands were shaking from the smell,
but Matt was holding tight to them.

“Are you going back to Peru?” the reporter said, stopping Matt and me in
our tracks. 

“Do not react,” I whispered.  “Do not react.”  We slowly turned around. 
“Why would I go to Peru?  Is there something there that I should go see?”

“Well, that is where you live, right?”

“Look at me.  Do I look like someone who lives in Peru, a country below
the equator that has tons of sunshine?”

“Well, whatever.  I’ll see you there,” she said.

“Look, what do you want from me?” I said

“The truth.”

“The truth about what?  Look, I’m nobody.  Go find somebody famous.”

“But you are somebody famous in the vampire world.  You’re it.  You’re
the reason everything is so good now for them.  I just want to find out how you
do it.  I just want your story.”

“No, you’re wrong.  You’ve got the wrong person.  I’m just a gal from
Washington State who lost her husband and son in a horrible car accident years
ago and who is just now learning how to be happy again.  That’s all I am.”

“Christ, Sarah, honey.  What the hell happened to you?” Carlos said as he
came up to the deck and saw me covered in blood.  I held my hand out to him.

“Wait.  You called him honey,” the reporter said, pointing to Matt, “and
now this guy calls you honey?  That’s interesting.”

“Okay.  You got me.  There’s your exclusive.  That’s your story.  These
two are both my lovers.  Print that and now leave me the fuck alone,” I said as
I dragged Matt and Carlos down below.

I gripped the edge of the sink, gasping for air, as Matt explained to
Carlos what happened.  “Blood.  I need blood.  I need to feed now,” I panted.

“Honey, we’re out.  We finished it up this morning,” Carlos whispered.

“Jesus,” I said as I tore my dress off, dropped it to the floor and began
washing my face in the tiny sink.  “When’s the last time you fed, Matt?”

“A few days ago, Sarah.  I’m sorry.”

“You mean we’ve got nothing until we get home?  I’ll never make it that
far.  Not now.  Fuck, she pissed me off.  I wanted to bite her friggin’ head
off.”

“Sarah, you need to try to calm down,” Matt said as he began to rub my
back.

“I’m trying to calm down, Matt.  But it was only a few months ago that I
was hooked on that shit.  I don’t know if I can calm down.”

Carlos pulled out his cell phone, “Let me make a few calls and see what I
can do.”

“How the hell does she know so much, Matt?  Where is she getting her
information?”

“I don’t know Sarah.  She might still be nearby.  I could try to listen
in to her conversations.  But my guess is she probably knows about our hearing
so she’s texting,” Matt said then he grabbed his cell phone which started
ringing on his hip.  He looked confused as he stared at the number.  “It’s
Bahiti.  Why would she be calling?  Link with me so you can hear too, Sarah. 
Yes, Bahiti?”

“There’s been a development that I wanted to make you aware of,” she
said.

“The website?  Yes, we know about it.”

“No, not the website.  This is something I haven’t told anyone yet.  It’s
Sekhmet, Matt.  She’s gone missing.”  Sekhmet was the oldest vampire in
existence.  She had voluntarily shut down – turned herself into a statue that
resided in an underground pyramid in Egypt – centuries before.  But when she
was alive and in power, she was brutal.

“Missing?  What do you mean she’s gone missing?  Someone’s stolen her
statue?”

“Well, hopefully that’s all it is, but it could be worse, Matthew.  Much
worse.”

“Worse?  How could it be worse?”

“She’s awake, isn’t she Bahiti?  She’s decided it’s time to wake up,” I
whispered.

“What does that mean, Bahiti?  What does she want?” Matt said

“We have to wait until she tells us what she wants.  But it probably
means we’re all in grave danger.  Her last rule lasted over one thousand years
and it was the most bloody and violent time in our history.  Our numbers
dwindled to almost nothing, not to mention the loss of human life was
catastrophic.”

“Okay, Bahiti.  Thanks for filling us in.  We’ll be home in a few days. 
Can you make sure everyone else is there too, please?  Thanks.  Bye.”  He hung
up his phone and tucked it back into his holster as Carlos walked back in
looking dejected.  “I’m sorry, Sarah.  There’s nobody around for hundreds of
miles.  And they’re all traveling right now.  Apparently Texas isn’t the
hotspot for vampires these days,” he said then he noticed the looks on our
faces.  “What?  I tried.  I’m sorry.”

“It’s not that, Carlos,” I said as I went to grab another dress from the
closet.  I had just realized that I was still standing there in just my
underwear.  “It’s Sekhmet.  She’s gone.”

“Gone as in somebody took her?  Or gone as in she’s awake?” he whispered
as he sank down onto the stairs behind him.

“We don’t know yet,” I said.

“Jesus,” he whispered.  “What now?”

“Now?” I said as I glanced outside.  “Now, it’s too late to change our
flights now.  But that’s good.  We’ll leave everything as is, but change the
flights to different destinations so that reporter can’t track us.  We’ll have
the limo drop us at a rental car place.  We’ll drive south into Mexico, hunt
there, then back north into New Mexico.  Then we’ll fly home from there.”

Both their heads whipped around and they stared at me with their mouths
open.  “Did you just say you’re going to hunt?” Matt whispered. 

“Look.  That blood got me all messed up.  We’re going to be on the road
for a few days.  And we all need to feed a lot to be ready for her.  We’ll go
find some nasty, cruel drug cartel types or something.”

Carlos was grinning from ear to ear.  “Sweet,” he mumbled then he
shivered.  I frowned at him, but didn’t have time to ask.

I gripped their hands tight as we walked up the dock and climbed into the
waiting limo.  The limo dropped us at the rental car agency.  We climbed into
the car, turned off the headlights, and lost the reporter within a few blocks
then I pointed the car south and headed for the border. 

Once again we were heading into the face of the unknown.  Once again we
could be facing danger.  Once again we had no idea what we were doing or how we
would get through it.  But, once again, I smiled.  Because I wasn’t afraid.  We
were all together, the three of us.  My triangle.  My loves.  And we were
exactly where we were supposed to be. 

The End

Sneak Peak of:

Sekhmet’s
Tomb

The
Pearl Vampire Chronicles, #6

Prologue

I looked at all the worried faces and tried to smile.   I walked over to
each one, beginning with Bahiti.  I hugged her, “Please be safe,” she whispered
into my ear.  

“Watch over him Bahiti.  Don’t let him give up.  Please,” I whispered as
I glanced at Matt. 

She nodded as I moved next to Aquila.  “Thank you for rescuing me, female,”
he said then he smiled sadly.  I took his hand in mine and stood on my
tiptoes.   He bent down so I could kiss his cheek.

“I will keep him safe.  I promise,” I whispered. 

A small tear escaped his eye as he nodded at me, “I know you will,
Sarah.” 

I smiled at the first time that he had actually said my name.  I moved
next to Stacy and hugged her tight.  “Thank you so much for everything,
Sarah.” 

I put my hands on her cheeks.  “Show him how to be happy again, Stacy,” I
said as I glanced at Carlos, who turned away and leaned his head against the
back wall.  “He’s going to do everything he can to die, but don’t let him
succeed.  Heal him, for me.”  She nodded and cried out as she pulled me tight
into her arms again. 

Suddenly Carlos cried out, making us all jump, “No!  No, goddamn it.  You
are not saying goodbye to us.  You aren’t going in there.  We can stop her.  We
can fight her.”  He started to move toward the door, but Aquila stepped in
front of it and blocked his way.  “Get out of my way, you son of a bitch, or
I’ll kick your ass.”  Aquila raised his eyebrow at him and gave him a ‘you
really think you can kick my ass?’ look. 

I smiled at Aquila and placed my hand on Carlos’ shoulder.  “Carlos, my
love,” I whispered.  He hung his head and I saw the sobs begin in his chest. 
He spun around and wrapped me tight in his arms, burying his face in my neck. 
He began frantically kissing my neck, my ear, my cheek then his hands cradled
my face as his lips crushed down on mine.  Time stood still as the love poured
out of him into me. 

He finally pulled away and whispered, “Don’t say goodbye to me, Sarah.” 

My hand rested on his bruised cheek as I stared into his eyes.  Finally I
nodded and whispered, “I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Sarah, forever,” he said then he quickly turned away and
punched the back wall before he sank to the floor next to it.  I wanted to go
to him.  I wanted to reach for him.  I wanted to comfort him.  But there wasn’t
time.  I turned to Matt and my heart nearly broke.  He was smiling at me.  He
was beaming.  Just like he did the first time he smiled at me.  I pulled him
into my arms and held him tight.  “I love you more than ever, Matt.  Thank you
for saving me,” I whispered. 

He cradled my face in his hands.  “I love you too, Sarah.  But I didn’t
save you.  You saved me.  You saved all of us.  And this isn’t goodbye.  We
will see each other again.  I promise.”  Then his lips came down as he gave me
one of those kisses.  When he finally pulled away, I felt stronger than I ever
had. 

“Carlos?” I whispered then I waited for him to finally look up.  He got
up and I wrapped my arms around both of them.  “I am so lucky to have both of
you.  Promise me you won’t do anything stupid.  Because if, no,
when
, I
make it out of this, if you both aren’t here waiting for me then I’m going to
be really, really pissed.  And you really don’t want to have to face that.  So,
promise me, okay?”

Matt smiled and nodded at me.  “Of course I promise, my love.”  I turned
and looked at Carlos, who hesitated.  I glared at him.

“Okay, okay, I promise.  How could I not?  Besides, how could I do
anything stupid when I’m just going to be waiting right here for you?  I’m not
going anywhere until I see you again, Sarah.  So don’t take too long, ‘cause
you wouldn’t like me when I’m starving.”