Running From the Night (13 page)

Bringing every ounce of his will to bear, he sat up and gently lifted her and slid from under her. “Please don’t take this the wrong way,” he said, standing, “but I don’t think this would be a good idea.” He saw the hurt in her face that he knew would soon be replaced with embarrassment and anger, but he plowed on anyway.

“It’s not that I don’t want you,” he said, buttoning up his shirt to avoid eye contact. “I don’t know what I want right now and I don’t want to just …” she stood front of him, and her hand grabbed his and pulled it away from his shirt. She guided it around her back and slid it lower, and lower. Jelani’s mouth fell open, and if it was a poker game, he had just given away his hand.

“Okay,” she said calmly. “I guess I should just leave then.” She moved closer to him, kissed him on the cheek, and turned her back to him. Then she leaned back, grinding into his groin area. He squeezed his eyes shut and bit his lip, but a tiny groan escaped him. She leaned back into him again, grinding all of his resolve away.

“Well, just walk me out, then,” she said, leading him by the hand. They walked toward his bedroom instead of the front door. “Oops. Looks like I made a wrong turn.” She pulled him closer till his body was pressed against hers and guided his hands over her breasts. He reached back and closed the door. At the sound of the door clicking shut, she turned and stood on her toes, kissing him deeply. Her lips were soft, and her tongue was inviting, and before he knew it, they were on his bed, exploring each other, taking their time.

“I want you,” she said as he slid her sweater over her head and rubbed his hand across her flat, firm stomach. Her chest heaved with every touch. “Now!” She breathed. “Stop hesitating.” Her eyes snapped open and she reached up with both hands and grabbed the sides his face, pulling him closer. “We’re not consummating a marriage, Jelani. I want you and you want me, even if it’s just today. Let yourself enjoy it. Let me enjoy it.”

She unbuttoned her bra from the front and opened it. For a time, she lay there allowing his eyes and hands to roam her body. Then her hands roamed below his waist, then into his pants, and when she found him, all his reservations gave way to desire.

***

Chapter Sixteen

Jelani openly admired the last of Melinda’s exposed skin as she pulled her sweater down over her head. She smoothed it over her torso and straightened her hair, looking up at him. She looked down at her sweater, then her eyes flicked back up and her lips parted as she regarded him. “See something you like?”

“Yes.”

“Mmm,” she replied, opening the door. He followed behind, pulling on a T-shirt. When they were at the door, she stepped into her boots and laced them. When she stood she was closer to his height. He looked at the freckles dotting her cheeks and smiled.

“You’re looking at all my black dots,” she asked sadly.

“I like freckles,” he said, rubbing the back of his finger along one of her cheeks. She shrugged away playfully.

“Stop it, no you don’t. I hate them.”

“You shouldn’t. They’re pretty, they make you look even more youthful, and they make you unique. And I mean that in a good way.”

She lifted and dropped one of her shoulders. “Thanks.”

He retrieved her coat from the closet and helped her into it. She turned to face him again. “Jelani,” she said.

“Yeah.”

“Can you do something for me?”

“Sure.”

“Don’t think too much into this, okay? I like you a lot, and I’m not saying this meant nothing, but can you just take it as it is? Something we shared, nothing more?”

“I can do that. I don’t know how often I can do that, but I can do that now.”

She looked at him with soft, affectionate eyes. “You really are special, you know. Not many guys out there like you. Of course I want something more, but that might or might not happen. If it doesn’t, and either one of us ends up with someone else, I wanted this first.”

“I feel you on that.”

She smiled at him, patting the side of his face. “I hope we can spend more time together, love.” She turned to open the door, but the handle turned on its own. She yanked her hand back and Jelani looked over her shoulder as the door opened to admit a surprised Daniel Ng.

“Oh, I’m sorry!”

“Oh, it’s okay, I was just leaving.” She chuckled nervously. “We just reached for the door at the same time.” Daniel stepped back into the hall to make room. She turned and gave Jelani a kiss on the lips. “Bye, love. Talk to you soon?”

“Talk to you later,” he replied.

“Nice to see you, Daniel. It’s been forever.”

“Yeah, same here,” he said as she made her way down the hallway.

“Tell your very lucky girlfriend I said hello!” She waved and went around the corner. Daniel stared after her for a moment, then turned a wary gaze on Jelani, who shrank back into the apartment.

“Dude,” Daniel said, closing the door and stepping out of his shoes. “Was that what I think it was?”

Jelani took a deep breath. “Yes.”

Daniel shrugged out of his coat and gave Jelani a warning look. “Man you better be careful with this. Wen was just telling me how much Alisha likes you, but she wants to take it slow and not jump into things. She’s a big fan of patience, man.”

“I know,” Jelani said, sitting on the couch. “I didn’t plan this, homeboy, I promise. She just showed up here and asked to visit for a while.”

“And you didn’t know what that would mean?”

“Of course I knew what it would mean! What was I supposed to say? No, you can’t come up. No, you can’t come in? She was already here. I couldn’t think up an excuse fast enough.”

“You couldn’t think of an excuse, or you didn’t want to?”

“Maybe subconsciously I didn’t want to, I’ll give you that. But I didn’t plan for it, and I certainly didn’t expect it!”

“You know this complicates things, right?”

“It might, but it might not.”

“Oh?” Daniel’s eyebrows rose. “Do enlighten me.”

“Before I could say anything about where my head was in the situation, she beat me to it. She’s pretty adamant about not making too much about the situation and to take it day by day.”

Daniel was laughing before he finished. “Okay, I’m going to go ahead and ignore that, because I know you’re not that naïve. And I know that you know this was the equivalent of her marking her scent on you. Not literally, of course, because a shower will cure that problem, but believe me, you don’t want an encounter involving the three of you at the same time. Melinda might be competitive about the situation, but Alisha is a different person altogether. She’s not the type, nor in the mood, to compete for a guy.”

“Yeah, I know. Believe me, I do.”

“Well indulge me then, because I’ve known her longer than you. The girl can read people, and since she has a special interest in you I have no doubt she can read you like a book, already. You best be prepared if she senses something and asks questions, and if you choose to lie, you better be the king of all liars.”

Jelani slouched. “Alisha doesn’t strike me as a prude. We’re not together. We’re not even dating yet, and gettin’ it crackin’ with one girl doesn’t make me the prince of canines.”

“True,” Daniel nodded. “All I’m saying is be careful. She’s not flighty, but she’s very confident and just as happy single than in a relationship. You know she was the one to end her and Phillip’s long relationship?” Jelani nodded, holding his face in his hands.

“Well, what you don’t know is that he practically gave her an ultimatum to move things in a more decisive direction.” Daniel leaned back in his sofa chair and shook his head slowly. “That’s one tough girl, man. Wen told me the story. Alisha looked him in the eyes and saw that he wouldn’t bend on the subject. She broke up with him on the spot. And she loved him, man. Loved! If he had been patient, she would have married the guy. But he kept pressuring her for more and she let him go, and quick.”

“I get your point. I’m not planning on doing this often, and I told Melinda that.”

Daniel laughed as though he’d just heard the best joke of his life. “Oh, that’s good. You think what you said matters one bit? You let yourself get caught with one and the other shows up, watch what happens.”

“Oh, I have no illusions, Daniel. I already know, believe me.” Jelani ran his hands down his face and looked at the ceiling. Then he lowered his head and looked at his roommate. “Melinda would rub as much salt in my game as humanly possible. My chances with Alisha would be greatly diminished, to say the least, and that would not necessarily mean anything with Melinda. I would probably end up with neither of them.”

Daniel nodded approvingly. “Glad to hear you’re not completely clueless.”

“I’m not clueless at all, brotha,” Jelani replied. “But I’ll tell you this, if you were single and a girl found that weak spot in your armor, it’s happening.”

“Okay. Well it sounds like you know what you’re doing.”

“I’m feeling my way through it.”

Daniel raised his eyebrows at him. “Well, just keep the feeling to a minimum, my friend.”

Jelani laughed.

They looked out the window at the dimming light. “It’s been a couple days and nothing,” Daniel said, his voice growing serious.

Suddenly all Jelani’s girl issues felt insignificant. “I have a feeling it won’t be much longer before our stalker comes knocking.”

Daniel leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “What do you think has been going on?”

“My gut tells me it probably has something to do with Saaya, but I can’t say for sure.”

“That’s what I was thinking too. You think maybe they took care of him?”

Jelani wished that was the case. “No.”

“What should we do, then? The only thing we can guess with any confidence is that he doesn’t like sunlight, since he’s only come after us at night. And I don’t see us finding him and dragging him into the sun.”

“Which leaves us with silver, fire, and garlic, unlikely though the last one seems.”

“Maybe we should get some of each,” Daniel said. “Worst case scenario is he’ll kill us anyway. If we guess right, we could get lucky.”

“How do you plan on carrying fire around?”

“Haven’t gotten that figured out yet.” Daniel nodded at the window. “You haven’t heard from Saaya?”

“No. Not since she stalked us all the way to Whistler.”

His roommate pointed a finger at him, leaning back again. “That’s another one you’d better be careful about. Did you see the look on Alisha’s face when Saaya came gliding up to us?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Well, I’ll admit, it’s hard to look at anything else with that girl around. Alisha saw right away that there was more between you two than meets the eye, but the fact that Saaya knew me kind of deflected the situation a little. You’re lucky she didn’t play along with your trying to introduce us like it was the first time.”

“I have absolutely no idea what to do about her,” Jelani admitted.

“Oh, woe is me!” Daniel declared, pressing the back of his hand to his forehead. “I’ve got too many girls to deal with!”

“Yeah, right,” Jelani said. “It’s more than that. You remember what I told you about that kiss. That girl is half vampire, half human. I don’t know exactly what that means, but it explains her attitude to a degree.”

“I still don’t know how that can be possible. How can you be half dead, or half undead?”

“You don’t remember what she said? According to her, vampires aren’t dead. Their anatomy is just different.”

“Yeah, I remember. Guess I wasn’t sure I believed it.”

“Well, I can personally attest to the fact that she’s not cold like a dead person. She’s quite warm.”

Daniel twitched his mouth at him. “You almost make me wish I was single again.”

“You know that’s a damn lie just like I do,” Jelani laughed. Daniel and Wen had been together for so long it was hard to think of one without the other. They were married in every way except formally.

“Yeah, you’re right, that was a lie. Still, I can’t think of a guy who would consider your situation undesirable.”

Jelani thought of that small, delicate-looking hand, and that impossibly strong grip. That tiny hand that could crush him in an instant, he knew. He thought of how helpless he’d felt, wrapped in that powerful gaze. He looked back at his roommate.

“Yeah,” he said. “They can have it.”

***

Chapter Seventeen

Saaya stood on the roof of the Westin Bayshore Hotel, not far from the apartment where Jelani and Daniel sat talking on the couch. Less than a quarter mile away, she stood at the corner of the tower, reading their lips as they conversed about Jelani’s recent encounter with that woman who had left not long ago. Saaya glanced in the direction the girl had gone; the vulnerable little child confidently making her way home.

She watched the girl with an amused expression. Oh, she’d played her hand well with Jelani, but Saaya would have enjoyed toying with that one. Banishing the young woman from her mind, she returned her attention to the two men. She couldn’t hear them from this distance, but she could read their lips as they spoke. The conversation had started about that woman Jelani had coupled with earlier, then gone to the other woman whom Saaya had met when they’d fled to Whistler for a few days. Her lips curled upward in amusement when the conversation turned to include her.

Finally, they spoke of the Hunter, Yako. They were wise to consider silver, fire, and garlic, though they spoke of the latter more or less tongue-in-cheek. She couldn’t blame them. Garlic did seem an unlikely real world weakness for a vampire, but if they understood the nature of a vampire’s anatomy, and how thin their blood was, they would probably be wearing it as necklaces.

She looked across Georgia Street and spotted the statuesque form of her brother, standing on the roof of the Shangri-La Hotel, nearly a mile away. She knew what he was thinking. The Hunter would attempt to eliminate him before making another try at the two humans. He was correct, but Saaya suspected they may have more than one Hunter to deal with. Yako had felt the power that had overwhelmed him and had predictably figured the source to have been Kafeel. He knew that Saaya’s brother was beyond him, so she was fairly certain that more Hunters might become involved.

She looked back across the seawall to Jelani and Daniel, still talking. Interesting or not, were two humans worth the trouble that was coming? She focused on Jelani, leaning forward with his head in his hands, and for the span of a heartbeat, her face softened. She turned and stared directly at her brother, and after a moment, he felt her gaze and looked back at her. She nodded, and he abruptly turned away, moving toward the back of the tower. Without hesitating, he stepped off the roof, dropping the full six hundred fifty-nine feet and landed with little more than a bend of his legs.

She took one last look at the two roommates and made up her mind. They would be safe, this night. She knew Yako was out there, watching. It was not those two males he was watching, but her and Kafeel, Saaya was certain of it. She looked down the side of the hotel. The sun had finally set and the seawall was covered in darkness. She stepped over the edge and descended to the ground.

Yako would waste no time gathering a group of Hunters to eliminate Kafeel, which was no small thing. She silently berated herself. All this trouble for a human.

O O O

From his concealed position in the high branches of a redwood tree, Yako watched the two siblings. For a long time after the half-breed girl and her brother had disappeared from view, he remained crouched high above the ground.

He would have to tread very carefully. He didn’t give the girl much thought, as her brother was the Hunter’s more immediate concern. He had watched them for a couple days and had been unable to come up with any pattern to their movements, or where they slept. If he could have at least found out where the brother slept, he might have been able to find a way to dispatch him in his sleep through use of a human.

But he had failed even in that. Twice, he had tracked the tall one only to lose his trail. Given Yako’s skills as a Hunter, this suggested he was dealing with an old and powerful vampire. He had been fairly certain that skill would not be enough here, so knew what he would have to do. The trick would be in convincing the council to approve.

“Mariska,” he said, shifting his gaze to the apartment of his original targets.

“I am here, Eldest,” came the even reply from behind.

“You have taken the measure of the potential target?”

“I have.”

“Your assessment?”

There was a significant pause. After he had presented his case to the council, they had sent Mariska to evaluate the situation. He needed her compliance to move on this.

“He is … strong,” she said hesitantly. “It would take more than a few of us, and still some would be uncreated.”

“Your assessment?” he repeated as though she had not spoken. He had first-hand knowledge of how strong their quarry was. He didn’t need her to tell him what he knew already.

“Uncertain,” she finally answered.

Yako blew out a long, steady breath. Her reaction wasn’t unexpected, only unwanted. “Of?”

“The chances of success, and the wisdom of the attempt. His power suggests he is an Elder. We do not move against Elders, and if we do, it is at the command of the High Council.”

Yako listened with studied patience as the other Hunter spoke. “I am aware of the laws put forth by the Elders,” he replied. “The one we track has committed an offense punishable by uncreation, as dictated by the Elders themselves.”

“Were it a
shaquora
, or the
skiek
girl, I would agree more readily, Eldest. But we speak of an Elder, and one who is beyond us.”

“He is beyond us only because we number two. With the approval of the council, enough numbers would be brought to eliminate him.”

“Are two humans worth this effort?”

The question gave him pause. In the silence of the darkening night, the two Hunters crouched unmoving in the high branches of the redwood, two statues conversing quietly.

“The humans are witnesses of a feeding. As per law written by the High Council of Elders, they must be eliminated, lest they reveal our existence among the human population.”

“Would the testimony of two humans bring about that result, should they be so foolish as to attempt such a revelation?”

“Not directly. But the seed would be planted in the minds of the populace, and within the collective mind of human society, each person would consciously or subconsciously carry their own suspicions.” His eyes flicked to his right, as though she were sitting next to him. “No. They would not openly admit to their belief or even suspicion of our existence. But in the privacy of their own tiny minds, there would be the spark of possibility. That is dangerous.”

Another pause. “And you believe these humans would speak of this?”

“I do.”

“And there is no other motive for the necessity of not only their elimination, but the uncreation of that Elder?”

He knew what she meant. Was he obsessed with this mission because he had never failed before now and this Elder appears and complicates things? Did he desire to cast the Elder aside in order to stoke the flames of his own ego in completing his mission? He was not angry with Mariska for raising the question. She had been tasked with accompanying him to ensure it was in the best interests of their species, and the will of the council that was being served, not his ego. He understood this, but he did not like it.

“My motives are to see that the will of the council has been done. All else is irrelevant.”

“Your words are correct. Your actions are questionable.”

“Noted. Your assessment?”

“The death of an Elder is no small matter, and not one that can be decided by me.”

“And the reason for your presence, then?”

“Study the potential target and possibly make a decision. That possibility does not exist, so it must be brought before the council to decide.”

“Very well. When will you depart?”

“I travel to Romania tomorrow night.”

Romania? This was unexpected. “You will not be returning to the coven?”

“The death of an Elder must be brought before the High Council of Elders. You know this, Yako.” He did. In his motivation to see his mission completed, he had not considered the matter being brought before the seat of their power. He did not wish to kneel before the High Council to present his case, but he would if need be.

“Very well,” he replied.

“I ask again. Is this matter so crucial that you would bring it before the High Council?”

The question was asked out of respect and, to a degree, concern. Mariska stood to benefit well, should he fall from favor, or be uncreated as a result of this situation. That she was asking him to question his position on this matter indicated respect and loyalty.

“It is,” he finally answered. “He is an Elder, yes. But twice he interfered with a hunt, allowing a human witness, now two, to remain alive, potentially compromising our existence. There is every reason to believe he would interfere again. You have witnessed this. He and his half-breed sister watch over the two humans as guardians.”

“It interests me why that is,” Mariska said.

Yako couldn’t deny his own curiosity. Why were those two so interested in protecting two humans? “I would prefer for none of them to survive long enough for that question to be answered. I do not take chances, Mariska.”

“That is known.”

He didn’t reply, because he knew she was already gone. There was nothing left to be said on the issue. He watched the two males from his position, nearly a mile away, and his jaw tightened. They should have been eliminated days ago; this matter settled and forgotten. Twice that Elder had interfered in his business. He would know why that was. He would have his answer from the tall one’s lips just before his un-creation.

***