Wrenching Fate (22 page)

After the doctor departed and Akasha showered, Silas
was still whispering prayers of thanks that his love had survived her captivity.

As much as he wished to bask in the joy of their reunion, another threat loomed over them.

He
leaned back in his chair at the dining room table and watched Akasha pound her fifth beer as he finished telling her about the summons from the Elders.

She seemed to be taking it quite well.

“You have
got
to be fucking kidding,” she growled, crushing her can to a pulp before grabbing another.

Silas sighed and sipped his scotch. “I’m afraid not, lass.”

She lit a cigarette and continued pacing like an agitated lioness. “I always wanted to visit Amsterdam, but not to face a possible death sentence. We gotta be there the day after tomorrow you said? How’s that gonna work?”

“Razvan scheduled a private jet that will leave tomorrow evening,” Silas told her. “It’s Xochitl I’m worried about. I can handle her foster parents and I have a man ready to forge passports and identification for you both. I just don’t know what to tell her.”

Akasha chuckled and flicked her cigarette. “We’ll say, ‘wanna go to Amsterdam?’ She may be an alien or something, but she’s still just as nuts about taking a vacation as the rest of us. You and Razvan can bespell her when we get to the courtroom or whatever.”

Silas sighed and took another drink. “That’s probably the best we can do.”

He set down his glass and let his gaze rove over Akasha. Her skin was pink and her sable curls were still damp from her shower.
What a beauty she is
. He longed to nibble on the tiny pink toes peeking under her bathrobe.

“It is only two hours before dawn,” Silas said, trying to be discreet.

Akasha’s eyes darkened to purple and her rosebud lips parted. “This may be the last time we get to be alone together,” she whispered. “Could we… Will you…?” She blushed beautifully, making him hard.

“Come here.” His voice was thick with need. She rose and opened her robe, revealing her nakedness.

He sucked in a breath at the sight of her creamy skin, pert breasts and the delicate triangle of dark curls at the juncture of her exquisite thighs. A tiny stitched wound marred her perfection above her pubic bone, off to one side.

“What is that, lass?” He touched the wound; her skin was hot under his fingertips.

Akasha shrugged. “I don’t know. I just noticed it in the shower. The doctor missed it ‘cuz I wouldn’t let him see me naked.” She ran a hand through her hair and climbed up onto his lap. “I don’t want to think about it right now.” Her tongue flicked across his earlobe. “I’d much rather think about you,
all
of you.”

The heat of her chased all thoughts away. He captured those sweet lips with his and devoured her mouth as he felt the silk of her s
kin under his hands. She fumbled with the buttons of his shirt and he groaned when her hands caressed his chest.

Akasha moaned against his lips as she ground herself against the hardness straining against his pants.

“I want you now.” She tangled her hands in his hair.

“Hold on lass.” He gently lifted her onto the table.

Silas moved his glass out of the way and spread her robe beneath her.

He unzipped his trousers and his eyes drank in the sight of her body spread out on the table before him like a pagan offering. The thought almost undid him.

He slowly slid inside her, gasping at the feel of slick tight heat. She was paradise incarnate. It was all he could do not to ravage her like a thing possessed.

“Harder,” she moaned.

It was as if she’d read his mind. “Are you sure?” he asked, feeling sweat gather on his upper lip.

Her hips bucked up to meet his. “Fuck me Silas!
”

At her words, the chains of his control snapped. He grabbed her legs and pounded into her with such force the table rocked.

“Yes!” She thrashed beneath him as his thumb rubbed against her clit.

He took her like he wanted to take her the first time he laid eyes on her.
She’s finally mine. Mine! Mine!
He felt her clenching on his cock and exploded with a feral roar.

“That was amazing,” she panted when they finished.

Her skin flushed pink, strawberries and cream. Silas licked his lips as his cock jerked within her. She trembled, tightening deliciously around his shaft.

A glance at the window told him dawn was on its way. They’d have to move if he wanted to continue.

“I’m not finished with you yet, lass,” he whispered.

Akasha’s eyes widened. “There’s more?”

“Oh yes.”

He
punctuated his words with another thrust.

***

Akasha gasped in shocked pleasure as Silas lifted her off the table and carried her, still impaled, down the hall. This was a benefit to a vampire’s strength she had not imagined. His forearm muscles felt like iron around her waist as he used his other hand to open the secret passage to his lair.

She almost screamed in excitement as he slowly descended the stairs. She could feel him moving ins
ide her with every step. Already on the verge of orgasm when they reached the bottom floor, she came the second they reached the bed.

“Now I want to savor you.” Silas’s husky whisper promised further pleasure. His skin glistened deliciously in the candlelight.

He made love to her until she was limp with exhaustion. She came so many times she lost count. When they collapsed on the bed sated, he murmured, “Sleep with me awhile. But make sure you’re up in time to get Xochitl. The plane leaves at nine.”

Akasha nodded slowly and stretched like a contented cat. “If we get out of this alive, promise you’ll fuck me in every room of this house.”

His chest rumbled as he laughed low. “That is a promise I will gladly keep.”

As she snuggled against him, a chill prickled her flesh
as her own words haunted her soul.

If we get out of this alive

Getting Xochitl to agree to a trip to Amsterdam was easier than Akasha imagined. It was
the fact that they were only going to be there for two days that made her protest.

“But we won’t have time to see everything!” she cried for like the fifth time.

Razvan shook his head. “When you are famous, dear girl, you can travel as much and as long as you want. Now take your passport and buckle up. We are about to take off.”

“Did you hear that, Isis?” Xochitl said to the complaining cat. “You can get out of that awful carrier soon.”

The jet surged as it took off down the runway. Xochitl squealed. “Oh I’ve never been on a plane before…or off this continent. This is so awesome!”

Selfish as it was, Akasha was glad Xochitl was going to be there with her. Her childlike enthusiasm for life was just contagious enough to keep Akasha from having a nervous breakdown. She looked over at her friend, caught anew at her stunning beauty. Her pearlescent skin seemed to glow, her hair looked like spun obsidian. The purple streaks appeared simultaneously soft and metallic. If this glorious creature lost her life for being her friend, the guilt would kill her.

Xochitl spent the first couple hours of the flight bouncing around the cabin of the jet, exclaiming over the view and trying to persuade her cat to look out the window. Finally she settled in her seat and slipped her headphones on and relaxed. The tinny sound of
Iron Maiden
sang in the small compartment.

“Just how are we supposed to explain
her
to the United Nations of vampires?” Akasha muttered.

Silas frowned and ran a hand through his black hair. “I have no idea. What’s worse is I don’t know what will happen if we do not keep her mind under. If she knows what we are and what is going on…” He grabbed her hand and squeezed. “Do you believe in God, Akasha?”

She shook her head briskly, remembering Mrs. Steele’s psychotic religious zeal with a shudder.

“I wish you did,” he told her gravely. “We are going to need His help.”

***

A vampire flunky met them at the airport. He did some moderately embarrassing bowing and scraping as he promised to take them to their hotel and handle the exchange of their American dollars to Euros.

“They’re sure giving us star treatment,” Akasha whispered to Silas when they were ensconced in the limo. “Maybe this won’t be as bad as we thought.”

“It doesn’t mean anything, lass,” Silas said ruefully. “It’s merely old-world courtesy. We will truly be treated as innocents until proven guilty.”

Razvan added, “So you had better make the most of it while you can.”

Akasha looked at Xochitl’s legs dangling out of the open sunroof of the limo and tried to make light of the fact. “At least we’ll be able to have a good last meal. Crab
and
lobster, I think.”

Isis meowed loudly. Akasha grinned at the cat hiding under the seat. “Oh, you like the sound of that, do you, precious?”

Xochitl plopped down out of the sunroof. “Who said ‘crab?’”

Akasha wondered how they were going to get Xochitl to the trial without her suspecting anything. When they arrived at the hotel, Razvan told her.

Akasha shook her head. “Seriously? You want me to get her stoned?”

Razvan nodded. “Those that are ‘smokin’ the reefer,’ as they say, are ridiculously susceptible to our powers. The sixties were an amusing time for me. I could make those hippies do anything.” He chuckled, obviously reliving fond memories.

Silas returned to the sitting room of the suite. He had scratches all over his hands.

“What happened to you?” Akasha asked.

“I was helping Xochitl remove the harness from her wild beast.” He looked down at his bloody hands and smiled. “I think it will be your turn next, Razvan.”

Razvan shuddered. “I think not. Any way, it is nearly dawn. We had better go to our quarters.” He handed Akasha a briefcase. “Here is all I think you will need. Be back here at sunset. Do not get lost and do not get into trouble.”

“Right,” Akasha couldn’t keep the sarcasm from her voice.
All I have to do is get my friend baked so she can be hypnotized by a dozen ancient bloodsuckers. What’s the trouble in that?

***

A half-hour after sunset, Silas paced the hotel room, cursing under his breath as Isis wove in and out between his legs. “They got lost, I know it. Damn it, Razvan, we should have made them stay here.”

Razvan remained in his seat, calmly smoking his pipe. “With life and death on the line? I have more faith in Akasha than that.” He cocked his head toward the door as shuffling footsteps and hysterical girlish laughter approached. “There they are now.”

Silas opened the door and blinked at the sight of his petite beloved carrying her best friend and a bundle of shopping bags with ease. Her strength would never cease to amaze him.

“Dude, Razvan!” Xochitl exclaimed between giggles. “It was awesome! We bought clothes and souvenirs and sex toys and pipes and pot brownies and a hooker!”

Silas’s jaw dropped as Razvan choked back shocked laughter. “I take it you ladies had a good time?”

“We didn’t actually ‘buy’ a hooker,” Akasha countered
as she set her friend down. “We just had to pay her for an interview.”

Suddenly, she leapt into Silas’s arms. He reveled in the heat of her body against his, wanting nothing more than to tear her clothes off and be inside her again. She moaned and kissed his neck. Yet again, Silas cursed the Elders and Selena’s vindictive manipulation.

Razvan ruined the euphoria. “It is about time to go.”

“Damn it!” Akasha growled.

Silas reluctantly released her. “Xochitl, may I have a word?”

When the girl
trustingly approached him, Akasha stared at him with accusing eyes.
I’m sorry, but this is the only way,
he told her silently. But that didn’t stop guilt from roiling in his heart as he took control of her best friend’s mind.

Xochitl lapsed into unconsciousness at Silas’s slightest urging. That wouldn’t work with Akasha, so they’d have to blindfold her. She didn’t take kindly to the idea.

“I don’t fucking think so,” Akasha told him, speaking slower than usual.

Her eyes were rings of violet around huge pupils and she squinted at him. She must have gotten stoned along with Xochitl. Though, her friend’s condition indicated that it wasn’t affecting Akasha as much.

Silas sighed. “I am sorry lass, but the Elders strictly forbid mortals knowing where they reside. We must cooperate with them in everything if we have any hope of leaving alive.”

He didn’t tell her about his recent decision. If they were sentenced to death, he’d pull Xochitl out of her hypnosis and try to get her to use her powers to destroy the Elders. It was a dangerous plan, with too many opportunities for disaster, but it was all he could think of. He’d do anything to keep Akasha alive and unharmed and to do that he must survive, at any cost.

Heart aching, he pulled her into his arms and stroked her soft curls, inhaling her delicate scent and repeated his promise to her before they’d first made love. “I will not let anyone hurt you again.”

There was a knock at the door. Their escort had arrived.

Razvan opened the door to reveal a vampire Silas hadn’t seen for nearly four hundred years. He sneered at Silas, baring fangs. “McNaught.”

“Michael,” Silas replied calmly, refusing to display his annoyance. “You have moved up in the world, I see.”

Michael smirked. “Higher than you. You could have had such privileges if you hadn’t left my mistress. Perhaps we will petition the Elders for your property when you are deposed.”

He gestured to Xochitl’s sleeping form. “She would make a great tool for our Order.” His eyes raked over Akasha with an insolent leer. “And perhaps we may find a use for this morsel as well.”

Silas bared his fangs and lunged forward, but Akasha squeezed his hand so tight it hurt, holding him back. Instead, he growled, “I can, by law, demand satisfaction for your insulting behavior.”

Michael’s face immediately paled, “A duel?”

He nodded, a predatory smile playing across his lips. “It is my right as a Lord.”

The vampire swallowed. “We should depart.”

“Yes, that is exactly what I thought.”

They settled Xochitl in the limo and blindfolded Akasha. Razvan leaned back in his seat and chuckled. “So Selena
is
here. That makes it personal, not to mention very interesting. I wonder how she was able to press for a trial, the vindictive wench.”

“No, it is more than vindictiveness,” Silas struggled to conceal his dread.
She wants to stop the prophecy.

“Who’s Selena?” Akasha interrupted, voice laden with suspicion.

Silas stiffened, and Razvan snickered at his discomfort. “She was Silas’s lover, until he discovered how insane she was.”

He felt Akasha go rigid beside him and reassured her. “It was almost four hundred years ago, lass. She only wanted me for my psychic ability. She claimed to have powers of her own, but it turned out that she was a deranged leader of a strange cult. She was obsessed with my visions of the future, convinced I would bring them ‘salvation.’”

“And if Michael’s blathering was any indicator,” Razvan added, lighting his pipe. “It appears her cult is still in operation.”

The partition window rolled down and Michael snapped, “We are not a cult! Our Order knows more of the truth than the rest of you foolish lesser blood drinkers!”

He carried on a zealous monologue until they arrived at their destination.

Silas led Akasha carefully down the stone steps to the secret antechamber while Razvan carried Xochitl. Silas shuddered as he remembered the first time he’d been here, when he first gained the status of a Lord. The ancient faces of the Elders were cold and condescending then. He couldn’t begin to imagine what they’d be like now.