Dark Gold (15 page)

Perversely, Alexandria didn't want Marie to stand up for her. She didn't want to like the older woman. She wasn't going to like any of them. She absolutely would not. And why did she have to be so aware of Aidan's body against hers, the strength in his fingers? She didn't have to be afraid of him any longer. What more could he do to her? She was already the walking dead, wasn't she? She was going to defy him.

He brought her knuckles to his mouth, whispering, "No, you are not. And the silly things you think. 'The walking dead.' Where do you come up with this nonsense?" His mouth brushed her skin, sending darts of fire racing over her nerve endings. "Allow me to guess. Thomas Ivan."

"Maybe he does use that term. I don't remember."

"Is Mr. Ivan the gentleman who came to see Miss Houton?" Marie inquired cautiously.

"Call her Alexandria, Marie. This is not a formal household, and you are no servant. You are my family and friend."

"Please do," Alexandria seconded at the pressure on her fingers.

"I would like us to be friends," Marie said.

That made Alexandria feel small and petty. After all, this woman she was resenting was the one taking care of Joshua when she was unable to do so. Immediately on the heels of that thought came anguish, as a bit more of the truth slid into her brain. Her breath caught in her throat, and she fought for air, strangling, choking.

Aidan pushed her head down toward the floor. "Breathe,
cara
. It is not so difficult. In and out. Keep breathing. Marie, please take the boy into the other room."

"What's wrong with my sister?" Joshua demanded, clearly rebelling.

Alexandria fought the madness swirling in her brain. She would not allow Joshua to be affected by this whole insane nightmare. She sat up and smiled at him, a bit pale, her smile tentative but there all the same. "I'm just a bit weak, like Aidan said. Perhaps he's right, although I hate giving him the satisfaction, he's so bossy lately. You go on with Marie, and I'll just sit here until I feel well enough to get to bed myself."

Joshua's eyes lit up. "Maybe Aidan should carry you. He's very strong. He could do it, you know, like in the movies." He sounded eager.

"I could do that," Aidan agreed, winking at Joshua.

He looked very sexy, enough that he seemed to rob her breath again. "I don't think so." Alexandria sounded firm.

Aidan suddenly stood, inhaling sharply, his attention clearly on something other than those in the room. Alexandria felt it, too. A disturbance in the air, a dark, creeping evil moving slowly but surely toward them. It spread like a dark stain over the sky, the air thickening until it was difficult to breathe. A low murmur began in her mind, the words foreign, beckoning, impossible to understand, but she knew their significance. Something was tugging at her, attempting to draw her outside.

A sound escaped her lips, an inarticulate cry of terror, so muffled it was nearly nonexistent, but Aidan turned his golden eyes to her immediately. Horrified, Alexandria clutched his arm.
He's out there
, she thought in terror. She dragged Joshua to her protectively, inadvertently clutching him too tightly.

Do not alarm the child, cara
. The voice in her mind was calm and soothing, so gentle it reached into the chaos of fear and found strength.
He cannot enter this house. He does not know for certain you are here. He is seeking to draw you out
.

Alexandria kept her fingers curled around Aidan's wrist, needing the contact with him. She took a deep breath and smiled down at Joshua. He was looking up at her with curious blue eyes, wondering at her sudden gesture. Marie and Stefan were staring at her, alert.

Aidan gently pried Alexandria's arm from around the child. "Marie, you and Stefan should close down the house at once, then put Josh to bed."

There was command in his voice, and the couple reacted instantly. They had been through an attack before and knew the danger, even though they couldn't detect it as Aidan and Alexandria could. They hurried Joshua through his good-nights and began to usher him from the room.

"Keep Joshua with you tonight. I must go out," Aidan instructed them. Then he touched Alexandria's face with gentle fingers. "
Cara
, I have to go out and remove this threat. You will stay here. If anything happens to me, take the boy and go overseas to the Carpathian Mountains. Find a man named Mikhail Dubrinsky. Stefan and Marie will help you. Promise me you will do this."
It is the only way Joshua will be truly safe
. He did not inform her yet that their bond was already strong enough to endanger her if he were to die. Aidan did not even allow the possibility to enter his mind. He could not die. Would not allow it, now that he had reason to live.

There was something so compelling in his voice, in his eyes, in the push at her mind, that Alexandria reluctantly nodded. As divided as she was in her opinion of what Aidan Savage was, of who he was, and what his intentions toward her were, she did not want him to leave the house and face whatever was out there.

"I thought Paul Yohenstria was dead." She whispered the words, the fear in her a living, breathing entity.

He is dead, cara. This is another
. The words were in her mind only, and for the first time she recognized the bond between them. He could talk to her at will, enter her mind, and see her thoughts.
As you are able to do with mine. Reach for me, and you will find me at any time. I must go now
.

Alexandria tightened her hold on him, unwilling for him to go out into the thick cloud of evil surrounding the house. "If it is not Yohenstria, then what is out there?" She was trembling, not even attempting to hide it from him.

"You know, Alexandria. You already know there are others." Aidan bent his head and brushed the top of her silky hair with his mouth, lingering for just a moment to breathe in her scent. "Do not leave the safety of this house." It was a clear order.

Alexandria nodded. She had no intention of going out to face another evil creature. How many of them were there? How had she gotten into this endless nightmare? How far did she trust Aidan Savage?

She watched him stride away from her, complete confidence in every line of his powerful body. He never turned his head, never once looked back at her. He moved with the silent precision of a predator, already stalking his prey. Fear for his safety curled in her stomach. She should be rejoicing. She was free of him for the moment. She could take Joshua and run away, far from this place, far from this city, where none of his kind could ever follow them. Yet the thought of never seeing Aidan again was suddenly as terrifying as being in his possession.

Alexandria followed Aidan to the door. As he went out, she was left staring at the heavy oak door he closed behind him. It was quite beautiful, with intricate stained-glass panels unlike any she had ever seen before. But her mind could not focus on anything. Not the artistry of the glass, not even Joshua. It registered only the bleakness of her existence without Aidan.

She stood there, alone and frightened, trembling with fear for him. She could feel the heavy shadow moving away and knew that Aidan was drawing the danger away from the house, away from Joshua, away from Marie and Stefan—and away from her.

She closed her eyes and concentrated, seeking him, seeking the truth of Aidan's words. She found him in fierce battle, his mind a red haze of joy in the hunt. She felt his pain as claws raked his chest. She clutched her own chest, her heart pounding.

Aidan was so powerful, she had never really expected him to be injured. She tried to study her sensations, to look for the danger to Aidan. Whatever, whoever, was out there was creating illusions, multiplying, using his ability to confound Aidan and keep him off balance. The attacks were swift and brutal, then gone so quickly, Aidan couldn't retaliate. She could sense his confusion and growing consternation.

Alexandria probed farther into the darkness. Something was very wrong. Aidan, assaulted from all sides, could not discern the nature of his attacker the way she could from the sanctuary of the house. The illusion the creature out there was fabricating was too thick, too evil. Then she knew what to do. "Aidan." She whispered his name aloud, everything in her going completely still. She could not allow him to die. She didn't know why she felt that way, but she knew it in her deepest soul.

She reached again for his mind, waited until she could penetrate the red haze, until she could gather her strength and focus. As she did so, Aidan struck hard and fast at his opponent, and she got an impression of a stream of bright red blood and a howl of haunting fear.

Behind you, Aidan. The danger is behind you. There is another. Get out of there
! She screamed the warning to him in her mind but was sure it was too late. She felt the impact as he was struck, the blow meant to kill, raking his throat, his stomach, his thigh. But Aidan
had
turned at her frantic call, so that the second attacker could not deliver the mortal blow he expected.

Alexandria could feel the pain slicing through Aidan, but he remained calm and cool under the onslaught. His own speed was incredible, and he used it almost blindly, slashing at his assailant as he turned to face him. His blow was delivered with deadly precision. Even as the vampire fell away from him, flopping to the ground screaming, the first attacker took to the air, clutching his own wounds as he retreated.

"Stefan!" Alexandria called out with surprising authority. "Get the car—now! Bring it around to the front. I can find him."

"Aidan does not want you leaving the house," Stefan said as he approached her, but his hand was already going to the keys in his pocket.

"Well, that's just too bad. His majesty is hurt and unable to make his way home. He can yell at both of us later, but we can't leave him out there to bleed to death. Which, by the way, is what he's doing." Alexandria gave Aidan's man her coolest stare. "I'm going after him with or without you."

Stefan nodded. "Of course I will come with you. But he'll be very angry with us."

Alexandria flashed a smile of camaraderie. "I can take it if you can."

Hear me, cara. I cannot make it home this night. Go to the chamber, and I will attempt to come to you tomorrow night
. He was trying to hide his pain from her, to cover the fact that he was dragging himself to shelter, trying to find a piece of ground he could safely open to crawl into.

Just stay put, Aidan. I'm coming for you.

Do not! There is great danger to you. Stay in the house!

Give it up. I've never been very good at minding anyone. In case my little brother neglected to inform you, I've been the boss for years. Stefan is with me, and we're already on our way, so just stay put and wait for us.

She followed Stefan to the driveway, her eyes jumping to the gun in his hand. He was searching the sky, clearly half expecting an attack from that direction.

"I don't feel any of them close by, but the air is thickening around Aidan. We have to hurry. One of them is dead or dying, but the other is returning to finish the job."

"How weak is Aidan?" Stefan did not question her connection to his boss or how she was attaining her knowledge of Aidan's situation as he drove.

"He's trying to hide it from me, but I'm not certain he can sustain another attack. He acts confident, but he feels the approach of the other one." She laughed softly to herself, helping to suppress her own fear. "He's warning me of. In fact, he's actually angry. I've never heard him anything but cool and collected. That's so annoying, don't you think? Always being so in control? If I wasn't terrified, this would be comical. Go left here. I know this is the way."

Stefan slowed the car in hesitation. "Let me go by myself. The other doesn't want me. But if something were to happen to you, we would lose Aidan."

"You'll never find him on your own. We don't have time for this. Come on, Stefan. He's out there alone." She didn't stop to think why it was so important, but she would do anything to save Aidan Savage.

You do not understand, cara. You cannot come here. This one is stronger than Yohenstria, and I am weak. I do not know if I can protect you from him.

You will protect me where you would not protect yourself. He comes now. He is close to you.

You do not even trust me. You still do not know if 1 am vampire. Why are you placing yourself in danger
? He was frustrated with her disobedience; she could feel his impotent rage at not controlling her. But he could not expend the energy it would take and still protect himself and fight the rapidly approaching vampire.

Pay attention to what is happening there. I have a plan
. That was the biggest lie she had ever told anyone in her life. And she was becoming more terrified the closer they were to their destination. Why was she doing this stupid, crazy thing? She didn't like Aidan, didn't trust him, and she was terrified of him, of what he might be, of the control he had over her. All she knew for certain was that she couldn't allow him to die.

"We need a plan, Stefan. A really good plan. If you shoot that thing with the gun, will it kill it?"

"No, but if I hit something vital enough, I can slow it down, maybe keep it from going to ground. Then the sun would kill it," Stefan informed her grimly.

"Okay, here's the plan. I'll keep telling you where the creature is, and you keep shooting while I pull Aidan into the car. Then we drive away as fast as we can and hope we leave it behind."

That is the worst plan I have ever heard
. In spite of his dire situation, there was a hint of humor in Aidan's voice.

Stefan snorted aloud. "That is absolutely the worst plan I've ever heard. You aren't strong enough to get Aidan into the car. And we can't trade places, because you've probably never fired a gun in your life."

"Well, I don't hear anything brilliant from either one of you," she snapped indignantly. "Isn't it funny how men stick together even when they can't hear one another?"