Ambrosia (Nectar Trilogy, Book 2) (24 page)

Apparently, Taryn had flown back home so she wasn’t a threat at the moment.

The following day, the blood tapered to nearly nothing. But the day after that it was back with a vengeance and Kyla was ready to pull her hair out with withdrawals and worry. She was pretty much bedridden with them.

The next day, there wasn’t blood and she hoped that was the end. The day after that, there wasn’t blood, either. There also wasn’t much to Kyla. She was pale and sickly-looking. Adrian had hooked her up to an IV for hydration and a cocktail he’d said he’d whipped up to help numb the effects of the withdrawals, which she hated but was far too weak to argue about. And they did seem to help but made her sleep a whole lot, which was fine, too.

Nurse Ingrid had helped her in and out of the bathroom and the shower and got a bit of food into her each day as well.

At two days full blood-free, she got good news.

“Forty-eight hours with no bleeding. I think it might be safe for you two to be reunited. Interesting timing, too. Happy twenty fifth birthday,” Adrian was all smiles. She wanted to punch him in his stupid James Franco face.

“What day is it?”

Pretty bad that she had no idea when her actual birthday was.

“July 29th. I’ll be back shortly.”

“With Tristan?”

“With Tristan.”

Her heartrate picked up.

Ingrid got her to drink some orange juice and eat half a banana and half a piece of toast with peanut butter and then Kyla asked her to help her with her hair. The woman efficiently French braided it.

But then it was hours of being alone, waiting. Hours. What was happening?

Sam was there, in her doorway.

Sam?

“Hi, love. How are you keeping?”

She frowned, “What are you doing here?”

“Tristan sent me to get you.”

“He sent you?”

“He did. He’s at the main house, still laid up, until he feeds. He’s not strong enough to come down here without feeding first. We attempted bagged blood but that wouldn’t do. He probably would’ve been okay but he depleted the balance of his strength laying out Adrian the minute he was un-daggered. He beat the daylights out of him and then daggered him with Adrian’s own dagger.” Sam chuckled.

“What?”

“Adrian’ll live. He’s just in a world of hurt right now. Tristan needs you. Looks like you need him, too. Shall I carry you or can you walk?”

Kyla didn’t trust Sam. No way, no how. Even though she wasn’t bleeding.

“I’m not going anywhere with you!”

“Trust me, you’ll both feel a whole lot better when you’re in the same room. I’ll have you there in a jiffy.”

She heard Tristan’s voice loud and clear in her mind,
 

“Besides me a lone vampire will never be alone with you. Ever. Not even Sam. If you find yourself alone with any vampire for any reason, any reason whatsoever, it’s a problem, and against my wishes.”

“No, Sam.”

“Sorry, darling. You haven’t much choice. He needs you.”

He went to lean over and lift her but she screeched and tried to struggle.

He sighed and put her down and backed up. He put his hand over his forehead a second and then lifted his phone from his jeans pocket and tapped the screen, then put it to his ear, “Tristan. She’s resisting. Yeah. Alright. Okay.”

He glanced at her, “Word of advice. Not a good idea to struggle against a vampire who is already fighting his predatory urges. Okay? You’re teaching an old dog patience; you know that?” And then he left.

She was alone. She took a few slow calming breaths and another sip of the orange juice on the bedside table.

Not long later, she was still wondering what the heck was going on and wishing she had the strength to run, but then Sam was back.

She felt strong enough to stand. She put a hand up to block him,

“Stay back. I’m not going anywhere with you!”

“Sweetheart, save your strength. Here. Take this dagger. I ran to fetch it. If I get out of line, shove it in me and then carry it with you. Any vamp gets near you, poke him or her and they’ll be out like a light. Okay?” He passed it to her.

She held it up and inspected it. It felt heavy, old, and like power emanated from it, which was an odd sensation.

“For how long?”

“Stick it in, just a quick jab, yank it out and they’ll go down long enough for you to run away if you’re quick about it. A few minutes. Stick it in and keep it in and they’ll stay down until it’s removed. I’ll carry you. Faster that way and less exposure for you to others.”

She was hesitant, “Why don’t you carry Tristan here?”

“He’s a vampire but he’s still a guy. The only way a guy’d let another guy carry him is if he were unconscious.”

She chewed her lip. She didn’t have a good feeling about this.

“Alright, I hate to do this to myself but jab me quick and then wait so you can see it works and know you’ve got the upper hand. Just not the heart, please. That would be the end of me. And don’t think about going it alone without me. You need me. If you want, call Tristan to confirm---” before he finished she jerked forward and jabbed him with the dagger quick, poking him in the ribs with it. Barely any force at all and it jabbed him as if she’d plunged it with all her strength. He grunted and went to the floor and was out.

She leaned forward and got into his jeans pocket and pulled out his phone and went to the last number dialed and hit it.

“What now? Fuck, just grab her and hurry!” was how he answered but his voice sounded weak, exhausted.

“Tristan?” she gasped.

“Baby?” his voice was a song in her heart.

She let out a big breath.

“What’s happening? Why are you calling me?”

“I jabbed Sam with the dagger and he’s out.”

“Shit. Where?”

“In the bedroom at the cottage.”

“No, where on Sam?”

“His ribs.”

“Okay. You need him. Take the dagger out.”

“It’s already out. I just poked.”

“Okay, then you have to wait. Wait for him to wake up and he’ll bring you to me.”

“Tristan you said never ever trust any vamp alone, even Sam.”

“I know, princess, but I have no choice right now. I’m depleted. Sam’s medicated. Medicated to lethal levels to get you to me without hurting you. And he and I are good. Some things have come to light. We don’t have a whole lot of time before it wears off. When he comes to, get to me.”

“Should I come alone now? Try to…”

“Wait for Sam.”

“Okay.”

“Fuck, baby…”

He let that hang.

“Yeah,” she choked out, in agreement. 

They were both just holding the phone then.

And then Sam started to stir.

“He’s moving.”

“Watch him when he wakes in case the medication has worn off. It shouldn’t, but…”

“He’s awake. He isn’t trying to attack.”

Sam gave her a sour look and got to his feet slowly grunting, “Damn, that smarts.”

He lifted the hem of his t-shirt and rubbed the spot, which had a puncture that wasn’t bleeding, strangely, and then it faded before her eyes to a bruise, and then he dropped the hem of the shirt and held his palm out at her.

“Your chariot, mademoiselle…” Kyla held tight to the dagger and said to Tristan, “I’m on my way,”

“Okay,” he said softly and then she handed Sam back the phone and took his hand.

He jerked her forward and hefted her up into his arms and then zoomed out of the room, down the stairs, and out the wide open front door.  He wasn’t as fast a whoosher as Tristan but they were to the main house quickly.

He set her on her feet as he opened the door.

“Slip that dagger into your sleeve and be casual. No eye contact,” he said. “You’re strong enough to walk?”

She nodded.

They walked through the front foyer, which was empty and instead of walking down the hall toward Adrian’s office or that big lounge area that led to the staircase, they walked in the opposite direction down an identical hallway jutting out in the opposite way.

There were several doors along that hallway and thankfully they hadn’t seen anyone so far. They got to the end of the hall and Sam reached into his pocket and pulled out a key card and pressed it against the reader. It clicked and the light flashed green. He opened and held a glass door. She went ahead.

They were in a tiny alcove that had two more glass doors: one to the left and one to the right. He put the key card against the reader on the right and it clicked, turned green, and he opened it for Kyla. She stepped in.

She glanced back, feeling something prickle on the back of her neck and saw a man standing there behind the glass door that was on the left. He put his palm against the glass and leaned forward, his forehead against the glass and it hit her like a ton of bricks that he looked exactly like Jackson. EXACTLY like him. Blond curly hair, big brown eyes, big shoulders.

Jackson who had jumped off a bridge, been put on life support, and was to have the plug pulled causing her to flee Ottawa to Toronto, to head toward what would eventually lead her right here.

He sucked on his lower lip and looked at her longingly and her heart seized for a split second.

“Sam?” she looked ahead at the back of Sam’s head for a quick second.

“Hmm?” He was a good ten paces ahead of her in a long door-lined hallway that had a set of double doors at the end.

She looked back over her shoulder and whoever had been at the other door was now gone.

“Sam?”

He turned around and looked at her.

“What’s wrong?”

“Who was that?”

“That who? Who was who?”

“At that other door,” she pointed, “That door back there? It looked like…” She shook her head.

It couldn’t be. Could it? The lip sucking was even characteristic of Jax.

She said it out loud, starting to walk again, “No, it couldn’t have been.” It was like Jackson but cleaned up, healthier-looking. Not strung out. Not hooked up to tubes and machines and…

Sam blew out a long breath and Kyla’s heart skipped a beat.

“It was,” he said. “That conversation’ll have to wait for later.”

Oh…My …Fucking…

What?

She didn’t have time to process that thought, though, because he pressed his thumbprint and the key card against panels on the next door and opened it and a light flashed red on the panel so he grabbed her hand, put her thumb against the panel, and then it turned green and he motioned for her to go ahead. She gave him a quizzical look.

“It sensed two bodies. I have to identify the second body for the database or it’ll trip the alarm.”

She nodded and moved ahead into a big room that looked like a lab. There were was a long counter littered with microscopes, cabinets along one wall filled with bottles, and a long desk with several computer monitors. There was a glass wall with a glass door beyond the desk and Sam opened it and she walked in to an area that what was set up like a bedroom.

Adrian was on the floor, unconscious, his face beaten to a bloody pulp. Behind him was a double bed and Tristan was in it. Her heart seized at the sight of him.

He was sitting up against a red suede headboard, dark blankets around his waist. He was bare chested, unshaven, looked a little pale, and his eyes were bloodshot. But he looked, essentially, like himself. Sam leaned down and hefted Adrian up over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold.

“We’ll give you two some privacy,” Sam left the room with him, saying, “call when you’re ready and I’ll let you out.”

Kyla’s eyes met Tristan’s.  The world stood still as he stared at her.

“Get over here,” he said hoarsely, almost in a whisper. His voice sounded pained.

She moved in what felt like slow motion and then collapsed on top of him. His arms wound around her and he pulled her close.

She closed her eyes, let out a breath, and absorbed the feel of him, the smell of him, the strength of him. Weak or not, he still felt so solid, so real.

God, he felt so good.

She could feel him inside. His teeth weren’t even connected yet but she could FEEL him and what she felt made a sob tear out of her as her arms went around him.

The room started to spin. Her blood started to heat up. Her body started to tremble, and then his nose swept up the length of her throat, his teeth elongated into the curve of her throat, and as the skin was pierced, BAM! Fireworks.

An explosion and an overwhelming sense of peace at the exact same time flooded. Like this is where she needed to be. In his arms, nourishing him. Him nourishing her. She felt like she was getting healthier and healthier by the millisecond. So was he.

He drank just a bit and released her throat. He sighed loud. She looked at his face. The colour was returning.

But then emotions started to rise in her and they were hers and they were his, too and there was so much of it that she didn’t know if she could handle it all.  Her brain was a jumbled kaleidoscope of emotion. And then evidently she couldn’t handle it at all because everything faded to dark as she got dizzier and then passed out in his arms.