Read Immortals And Melodies (Blood And Guitars #2) Online
Authors: Heather Jensen
“What are you saying?” I asked.
“I’m assigning an Emissary detail to you until this clears up.”
“A what?” I couldn’t believe my ears. “Damir you can’t be serious. I thought you weren’t into baby-sitting, and now you want-”
“What I want is to keep the Synod Elders happy,” he stated simply. “That is my decision.”
The thought of having a member of the Emissary follow me everywhere I went was maddening. Surely there were worse things in the world, but just then, I couldn’t think of any. “For how long?” I asked, knowing there was no use in arguing.
“Until I feel you’re no longer a threat to other vampires,” he said snidely.
I wanted to point out that he was just trying to make my life a living nightmare because I put a big fat shiner on his ego after I’d turned him down for the umpteenth time and chosen Trey. I wanted to say a lot of things that would have only made it worse, but instead, I bit my tongue. I really had been doing a lot of that lately. Besides, he wouldn’t be able to justify leaving an Emissary detail on me after Trey was changed at the next full moon. That was only four nights from now. I’d just have to deal with it until then.
“If that’s all you need from me, I’ll be going now,” I said, forcing my voice to stay level.
Damir gave me a sickeningly sweet smile that made me want to tear his lips off. “That is all.”
Chapter 17
Trey
THE PAIN IN MY shoulder ebbed slightly as Antonio laid his hand there and focused his energy on the area.
Breathe, Trey
.
It was Antonio speaking in my mind. I didn’t realize that I’d been holding my breath, but I exhaled slowly and focused on the intense, but not unpleasant, warmth that seemed to weave in and out of the muscles in my shoulder. It took a little longer than the time he’d healed the cut on my forehead, but not much.
“There,” Antonio said, pulling his hand back. “I’m afraid healing never was my forte, but that should help somewhat.”
“Thank you,” I said, looking him in the eye. I tested the weight of my arm, lifting at the shoulder and was glad to find that my range of motion was significantly improved, even if the pain refused to yield much. I could handle pain.
“Pretty cool, huh?” Beck asked from a chair near the fire place. The three of us were seated in Antonio’s living room awaiting Aurora’s return.
“Very cool,” I agreed, making a fist and releasing it. “It’ll be nice when I don’t have to rely on my girlfriend to fight my fights for me.” Antonio just smiled, but Beck was smirking. “What?” I asked him.
“Nothing,” Beck said, grinning. “It’s just that I don’t see Aurora backing down from a good fight either way. She doesn’t strike me as the type.”
“You’re right about that,” I conceded as I slid the sling from my arm. Antonio’s phone rang, and he politely excused himself from the room to answer it. I pulled my own phone from my pocket and checked the time. Aurora had been gone for almost forty minutes now. I sighed and Beck looked at me sympathetically.
“I’m sure everything is fine,” he said.
I nodded. “Yeah. I’m just not used to feeling so helpless. Like tonight, nothing against Antonio or anything, I just feel like he’s having to-”
“Baby-sit you?” Beck offered, forcing a smile. I met his gaze and realized that he probably understood how I felt better than anyone.
“Something like that,” I managed. Despite my feeling completely useless, the night hadn’t been a total waste. I’d taken the opportunity to get to know Antonio better and let him get to know me. I even mustered up the courage to ask him something I’d wanted to ask for a while.
“So, any specific reason you’re so anxious to get that sling off?” Beck asked me, pulling me from my thoughts.
“You mean aside from the fact that it puts a cramp in my lifestyle?” I teased. I looked down at the sling, now sitting in a little heap next to me. “We’re shooting a video in three days,” I said. “I don’t have time to be hurt.”
“That’s a good reason,” Beck said, grinning at news of the video. “Think you’re up to it?”
“Doesn’t really matter.”
“It must be hard sometimes, juggling the band with all this vampire stuff.”
“Some days more than others. After this weekend, I expect it might get even crazier.”
“You mean after Aurora changes you?”
I nodded. “We’re going to tour with the new record, and I just worry about how I’m going to keep everything from the guys. I don’t know. Maybe being like Aurora – like you – will help in that aspect. If I put on a good enough show, maybe no one will notice.”
“There are some definite advantages that come with the lifestyle,” Beck agreed. “But I’ve seen you on stage before, and you don’t need them.”
I was about to tell Beck that having him around was good for my ego when the front door opened and Aurora walked in. I sighed a breath of relief and got to my feet, noticing that she didn’t look too happy as she crossed the room.
“Hey,” I said.
She took one look at me and her expression turned to one of concern. “Your arm,” she said. “Where’s your sling?”
I pointed to the sling on the couch next to me and she raised an eyebrow in question. “Antonio healed me up a little,” I explained. “I’m not one hundred percent, but it’s an improvement for sure.”
“Good,” she said. “The bruises on your face are gone, too.”
I reached up instinctively to touch the skin under my eye. “They are?”
“Where is he anyway?”
“I’m here,” Antonio said as he walked back into the room. He gestured to the sofa and said, “Why don’t you tell us what happened at the meeting.” I sat back down, but Aurora ignored his invitation to sit and launched into an explanation of her conversation with Damir, pacing around the room as she spoke. “An Emissary detail is not so bad,” Antonio said when she’d finished, though I caught him glancing out the window in search of said detail.
Aurora sighed in frustration. “Damir is just doing this to get even with me for, well, everything. He’s just jealous. It’s a total abuse of power.”
“That may be true,” Antonio said. “Unfortunately there isn’t much any of us can do about it. He is the head of Emissary, childish or not.”
Aurora shook her head and went to the window, moving the blinds enough for her to glance out. “Look at them just sitting out there like they aren’t invading someone’s privacy. It’s ridiculous. It’s driving me crazy already, knowing that I’m being followed.”
I got to my feet and went to her, taking her hand in both of mine, successfully ignoring the pain that shot through my shoulder as I did so. “It’ll be okay,” I said as I stared into her worried green eyes. “A few more days, and this will all be over.” She didn’t say anything but responded by leaning into me, wrapping her arms around my middle. “Besides you get used to it. They can’t be worse than the paparazzi.” She couldn’t help the small laugh that escaped her lips at my comment, and I kissed the top of her head, smiling. “We’ll get through this,” I added. “Just like we get through everything.” I tried not to think about how much this was going to complicate things tomorrow. It was one complication I definitely hadn’t seen coming.
Aurora and I drove to my place and pulled her car into the garage. Neither of us got out of the car until the garage door had completely closed behind us. If the Emissary were going to follow us around, we were going to give them as little to watch as possible. We went inside, and Aurora turned on some lights and ordered me upstairs to change into my swimming trunks.
“Are we going for a swim?”
“You’re going to soak your shoulder in the hot tub,” she said. “I have to call Mark but don’t worry. I’ll be right behind you. I promised him I’d tell him how the meeting went, but after dealing with Damir, I could use a soak in the hot tub, myself.”
I changed and called O’Shea as I made my way out to the hot tub. He must have been bored out of his mind, because he insisted on coming over to check on me and drop Cowboy off. Maybe Cowboy had gotten a hold of his latest issue of Rolling Stones. The thought made me smile. I left my phone in the kitchen, flipped the switch that activated the jets, and sat down at the edge of the hot tub. I lowered myself into the water slowly, letting my body adjust to the heat as I went. I’d only been sitting there for a few minutes when Aurora walked in carrying two towels and wearing a black swim suit. I couldn’t help but smile at her. She looked amazing as she sank into the water next to me, closing her eyes as the water from the jets ran up and down the length of her back.
“I’m glad I let you talk me into this,” I said.
She smiled without opening her eyes. “Remind me again why we don’t do this every night.”
“For the life of me, I can’t imagine.” We sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, then she opened her eyes and slid closer to me. She turned her head and kissed my left shoulder before looking at me appraisingly.
“How does it feel?” she asked.
“I’m finally convinced it’s not going to fall off anytime soon,” I replied, smiling. “How’s that for an answer?”
“At least, you’re honest.” She bit her lip in thought, and I watched her, patiently waiting until she was ready to share what was on her mind. “If only I had known ...”
“Known what?”
“I chose to read minds the last full moon,” she explained. “I thought it was best since I was dancing along the fine line that separates our worlds. I thought it would help me keep you safe. If I had known what I know now, and with Mark out of town, I might have chosen the healing ability.”
I turned to face her and cupped her chin with my hand, forcing her to meet my gaze. “Don’t do this to yourself,” I said softly. “You couldn’t have known what would happen. And I’m sure your ability to read minds has done more to keep me safe than you realize. You can’t be everything all the time, and I’d never ask that of you.” She gazed at me through those 7-Up-bottle-green eyes, and I still saw questions there. “Look at me.” I pulled her hand tight to my chest so she could do more than just hear my heart beating. “Do you feel that? Every single beat is because of you. I have you to thank, and I will do whatever it takes to keep reminding you of that.” I lowered my head until our lips met. The kiss was salty-sweet, and Aurora responded to me immediately. I was thinking that it couldn’t get more healing than this when the doorbell sounded, and I moaned in complaint.
Aurora smiled against my lips and said, “O’Shea is here.”
“Are you sure?” I teased. “Maybe we’re just hearing things.”
“He’s worried about you,” she added.
I sighed. She was right, of course. Aurora climbed out of the water and grabbed each of us a towel. She wrapped hers around herself and went to answer the door as I dried off. I went back inside the house and heard the familiar sound of Cowboy's nails scraping on the stone floor as he ran around the corner to find me.
"Hey, boy," I said, bending down to pet him. I couldn't help the smile that stretched across my face. I had missed the little guy. "Have you been a good dog for O'Shea?" I said as he licked my hand a hundred miles an hour.
"He was fine," O'Shea said as he rounded the corner. "I think he missed you, though. He was a little nervous at my place."
"Thanks for taking him," I said.
"No problem. It was fun borrowing him for the night. But man, I think there's paparazzi parked on the street outside." He pointed over his shoulder toward the front of the house. "The dude in the car didn't seem interested enough in me to take a picture, but I guarantee he's got a big camera with him. Actually, I don't know whether or not to be offended by that or relieved that he's just after you."