Ascend (The Vampire Destiny Series Book #4) (10 page)

Tapping my temple, I thought to Nikolaus instead of talking
.  "Anna is arranging for movers.  It's not safe here.  The walls may have ears."

His green eyes tightened and I caught him looking over the living room of our apartment.  I almost expected him to start lifting vases and looking behind the artwork on the walls for bugs, but he simply waited for me to explain.

Verbally, I spoke.  "Anna's settling things.  Human things.  She's never had the chance since her…change.”

His dark eyebrows rose until I thought they’d disappear into his hairline.  He rubbed his lips with his fingers.
"Safe for who?  You?  Or all of us?"

Shrugging, I flipped my long hair over my shoulder. 
"All of us.  I'm not willing to chance it, Nik."

Nikolaus began to walk around the room, lifting up sculptures and pulling books from the bookshelf, just as I thought he’d do.  He glanced over at me with a half-smile. "And what is Lukas up to?  He’s acting like he’s on a party line."

Oh boy.  This was going to be the part where things were going to become difficult for him.  "He's making travel plans for Stefan and myself."

He froze with a heavy book in his hand.  He didn’t make any effort to move.  He simply stood, his shoulders slumping. "You're leaving?"

Nodding, I stepped closer to my brother.  Once I was close enough, I placed a gentle hand on his tattooed arm.  "I have things to wrap up at Garrett's house.  There will be a day I won’t be able to return.  You know this."

He slammed the book on the shelf with a loud thump, causing me to jump from the impact.  "It’s settled.  I’m going with you.  You need to tell Lukas to add another person to your party."  

Stefan's finger tapping stopped abruptly, drawing our attention to him.  His voice was gravelly and deep when he spoke.  "The fewer involved is best."

Nikolaus ignored Stefan and spun so he could grip my shoulders.  "Garrett was my uncle too.  Please, Josie.  I need closure too."

His words cut like a knife and guilt crept in through the wounds his words inflicted, gripping my chest like a vice.  "I know he was your uncle.  But you need to stay here with Anna and help her.  Some of this won’t be easy for her to handle.”  Silently, I pled with him to understand
.  “If Kian finds her alone...who knows what could happen.  I need you here to handle things and support Anna.  She needs you now more than ever."

I wasn't playing fair.  I watched him flinch at the thought of our father and Anna together.  I just needed him to understand he couldn't come.  This was something Stefan and I had to do alone. We couldn't travel with a huge entourage.  That would draw attention to us and we needed to fit in, disappear in the crowd.  Four ethereal immortals and a half-human hybrid would not allow us to just ‘fit in’.  We’d be remembered, regardless how many memories we wiped with our influence.

His green eyes hardened as he stared into my eyes.  He nodded and squeezed my shoulders softly before releasing me and letting me go.
 
"You're making me feel guilty and it's not right. Anna needs me and I need to be there for her."

Some of the tension lifted from my shoulders.  This had gone easier than I anticipated.  I’d expected much more fight from my brother.

“Come and sit, Nikolaus.”  Stefan’s voice broke through the silence of my thoughts.  Nikolaus looked at me and I gestured for him to sit on the couch.  Without a word, I took my place on Stefan’s lap, curling up against the hardness of his chest.

Stefan reached around me to pick up a cell phone.  It was nothing fancy, a basic model with no bells or whistles.  He handed it to me and I looked up him, confused.  His voice floated through my mind. 
“Give this to your brother.  It is a disposable phone.  All of our numbers are loaded into the phonebook.  It cannot be traced to anyone.  It is only to be used to contact one of us.”

His fingers lingered over mine as he passed off the small phone.  I nodded and stretched over to Nikolaus, repeating Stefan’s orders. 
“This phone is untraceable.  Only use it to call me, Stefan, Anna or Lukas. All of our numbers are programmed in. We just don’t know who’s listening…this will keep us all safe.”

Nikolaus flipped the cell phone between both hands and shook his head in disbelief.  “It’s come to this.  Fuck.”  I could barely make out his mumbled words.  He was talking to himself more than he was to either of us.  Stefan’s chin pressed down against the top of my head, his chest rising and falling as he inhaled deeply.

Nikolaus rose and managed a weak smile.  He crouched down and took my hand in his.  His thumb traced over the top of my hand affectionately.  “I suppose this is goodbye then.”

Swallowing back the huge lump that had taken up residence in my throat, I held his hand tightly.  “It’s not goodbye.  It’s just a see you soon.  We’ll be back before you know it, Nik.  There are just a few things I need to take care of.”

Nikolaus stared off vacantly, his eyes unfocused.  His mind was closed, his thoughts heavily safeguarded from my attempts to peek into it.  He was still somewhere else when his words came out brokenly. “Stefan, take care of her.  With the exception of Anna, she’s all I have left in this world.  I just need your word.”

Stefan’s heavy hand came to rest on my brother’s shoulder.  He waited until Nikolaus’ shell-shocked eyes met his own.  “With my life.  Without her, there is nothing.  She will always come first.  You have my word.”

Nikolaus stood and tugged on my hair.  “Then I’ll see you soon.”

Rising from Stefan’s lap, I pulled my brother to me tightly.  I hugged him closely, my lips at his ear.  My voice was barely audible, coming out like in a raspy hiss.  “Keep them safe.  You know him better than anyone else.  Do whatever it takes.”   I felt his body twitch but it only made me grip him tighter.  “Whatever. It. Takes.  Ask questions later.  Do you understand?”

“Yeah…I understand.” Nikolaus’ words faded out.  I knew I’d overwhelmed him.  Like me, he’d have to internalize everything before he could fully accept it and move on.

Releasing him, I watched him as he walked to the door.  He looked back a final time, his striking face filled with resolve.  He’d been given a task, one I knew he’d take seriously.  With a final jut of his chin, he slipped out of the apartment, his steps burdened with a weight he hadn’t had when he’d entered.

Heaving a heavy sigh, my eyes closed.  I was second-guessing everything I’d said, everything we were doing…everything I’d requested.

Comfort flooded our bond and Stefan’s fingers danced over my shoulders.  His thumbs pressed against the tight muscles of my back, kneading the tension away.

“You can not be filled with regret.  What was said needed to be discussed.  You did what you needed to do,”
Stefan advised.  His magic fingers continued to glide over my spine, leaving a trail of goose bumps over my skin.  “It will be fine, yes?  We will be back from our trip soon.  No more worries.”

My teeth bit at my lower lip.  Leaning back against him, the solid wall of muscle was calming and I managed a soft nod.  “At least I don’t have to worry about worry lines anymore.”

“Yes, there is that I suppose.”  Stefan chuckled and his arms wrapped around me, one across my chest and the other went lower to rest around my stomach.  That strange magnetic pull between us leapt to life at our closeness, reassuring me in way his words couldn’t.

I swayed against him for a moment, my hands covering his.  “There’s no going back.”

His hold never faltered, nor did the comfort he sent through the bond.  “No.  There is not.”

Unwittingly, I’d drawn that invisible line in the sand; the line that you can’t come back from.  There were no words I could say to change the outcome, nothing I could do to change course.  I’d declared war on my father.

***

I’d spent the remainder of the afternoon packing suitcases.  We’d planned on staying a week in my hometown, hoping that I’d find the journals and we could be on our way home.  And in a perfect world with no complications, it might work.  However, nothing ever came easy for me.

The weather was growing warmer and the nights shorter as spring slowly faded into summer.  Temperature didn’t matter to me anymore.  I could walk around in a winter jacket in 100-degree temperatures and not be the least bit uncomfortable.  My life was now all about appearances and fitting in with the human world.  I’d have to learn how to fade into the background.  With Stefan at my side, I knew it would be impossible to do.  His six-foot-four inch height and supernatural Nordic beauty turned heads wherever he went.  It wasn’t everyday you saw a man that was more beautifully designed than Stefan, and you’d be hard pressed to forget him if you saw him.

Folding up a fourth pair of jeans, I heard light footfalls head down the hallway.  I’d just looked up as Lukas stuck his head in the doorway.

“Knock, knock,” he sang out loudly.  He joined me at the bed and surveyed my suitcase.  His mouth turned into a frown.  “Have I taught you nothing?  You can lead a horse to water…”

He flitted off to the closet and returned with his arms filled with clothes.  He began methodically folding blouses and shirts, artfully arranging them in the large suitcase.  I went to reach for a hanger and he playfully smacked at my hands.  “You’ll only wrinkle them.”

Releasing an unladylike snort, I sat on the edge of the bed and watched Lukas as his hands blurred through the motions of packing.  He caught me staring and flashed me a smile.  “It’s been awhile since we’ve talked.”

Losing myself in memories, I struggled through the murky recollections until I remembered a distraught Lukas sitting by my bedside.  “It was the night of the explosion.”

He never slowed as he continued to pack.  “You were right to trust he’d come back.  I gave up.  I gave into my fear.”

Lukas looked up and his face took on a faraway expression.  “I didn’t realize how much he meant to me.  I love him, Josie.  Not in a romantical sort of way of course, but I’ve been with him for over a hundred years.  He was my friend as a human and saved me from certain death.”  He shifted uncomfortably and I saw him swipe at his eyes.  “As I sat here that night, I realized that if I lost him, I’d lose you.  Granted, you have your faults and have questionable taste in clothing…”

I swallowed back a laugh and watched him fondly.  He tried so hard to keep up his bitchy façade.  “Sweet talker.  Lukas, if you’re not careful someone might overhear you and think you care about me.”

His head snapped up and our eyes met, icy blue to emerald green.  He jerked his head once and he smiled, exposing his even white teeth.  “Tell anyone and I’ll track you down and force you to wear H&M for the rest of eternity.”

“Oh, the torture.” I joked back, placing the back of my hand against my forehead in mock horror.  “Lukas…”

He shot me a sharp look and shook his head vehemently.  “No.  Don’t you dare do what I think you’re going to do.”

Ignoring his plea, I stood and hugged him.  It wasn’t the same sort of hug I gave my brother, but it served the purpose of what I needed to do.  Again, I used the opportunity to speak without being overheard.  “When we leave, you’re the eldest.  You have to take care of Anna and Nikolaus.  I already spoke with him.  I told him to do whatever he needed to do.  You know where everything is…the financials.  If for some reason we don’t make it back…”

“I said not to do this.”  He hissed back, the warning clear in his words.  “Don’t talk like this.  It’s like asking for bad luck.”

“Feel free to stock my closets with whatever atrocities you feel fit.  We need to all be on the same page.  One more thing, Lukas.  You can’t tell anyone what we’re doing.  No one.”  I released him and took my perch on the end of the bed.  His eyes were slits as he stared at me.  It was easy to see the unanswered questions that were forming in his mind.

Lukas stepped away from the bed and crossed the room to find a small notepad on Stefan’s dresser.  I watched as he scribbled away on the piece of paper.  With a sigh, he handed the pad to me.  I scanned the paper quickly. 
When you say no one, you mean Amir?  Do you know something I don’t?