Immortals And Melodies (Blood And Guitars #2) (37 page)

Trey was silent for a moment and then he said, "You couldn’t have known. No one could. She even had Antonio fooled, and I think we both know that’s not easy to do.” He reached over and took my hand in his, entwining our fingers. “What do you think he’ll do about her?"

"I don't know," I admitted. Mark had gone to call Antonio, but I hadn't talked to him yet. "Whatever he does, it won't seem like enough."

"You can say that again."

"This must be hard for you," I said to him. "We finally know who orchestrated everything, including hiring the vamps from Miami who killed Wes. You must want to tear her throat out."

I felt his body tense as I spoke, and when he responded his words didn't surprise me. "I came real close to trying," he admitted. "At the beach house, when I wasn't sure if you were going to make it, I wanted to hunt her down and make her pay for everything she's done."

"What stopped you?"

"Beck." Trey chuckled and wrapped an arm around me as he spoke. "He talked some sense into me. I probably would have gotten myself killed otherwise."

"I'll have to thank him," I said, smiling. "What have you been telling the guys? They must be wondering where we've run off to."

"The truth. At least, as much of it as I could," he said. "I told them you were sick, and I was taking you to see a specialist."

“This whole thing must have thrown a wrench in your rehearsal schedule. I bet they're freaking out."

"Hey," he said softly, biting back a smile. "The only thing that matters is that you're going to be okay now. Everything else will work itself out."

“I should call
Kacie
,” I said.

“She knows you’ve been sick, too,” he added.

“Did you call her?”

“I didn’t have to. She and O’Shea have been spending a lot of time together lately.”

This made me smile. I had definitely seen it coming, but still the news of
Kacie
and O’Shea dating, even if it was pretty casual, made me happy for them both. They deserved to have love. If I deserved to be happy with Trey, they definitely deserved it, too.

Trey’s phone beeped, and he lifted it up to see that he had a text from O’Shea. “He’s probably worried about you,” Trey said. “I should give him a call.”

“Tell him hi for me,” I said.

Trey got to his feet, buttoning his shirt back up. “I won’t be gone long.” He bent down and kissed my cheek.

“I’ll be here.”

He smiled and let himself out of the room. I had no misgivings about the identity of the vampire who knocked on the bedroom door just moments later. The hum of his power was unmistakable.

"Come in," I called out.

Stanislav
Vidic
opened the door and let himself in. He smiled at me kindly, and I had to remind myself that I'd nearly died, and there was nothing I could do about the fact that the Synod Elder was seeing me lie around in bed like this.

"Dr.
Conry
informed me that you were awake a few hours ago. I thought I'd give you some time to get oriented before I checked in on you." He gestured to a chair nearby and said, "May I?"

"Of course," I answered, sitting up a little straighter in the bed.

"I'd ask if you're feeling better but the fact that you're awake and responsive must mean that's true."

"I am," I said. I thought about my choice of words carefully before I spoke again. "I want to thank you for what you did for me. I know it was not a small thing Trey asked of you when he brought me here."

"That's true,"
Stanislav
said, holding my gaze. "But when you've lived as long as I have, you learn things that the misguided agendas of youth cannot perceive." I held my tongue and waited for him to continue. "Our kind must stick together," he said at last. "If we do not, we are evolution's failure indeed."

I don't know why his generosity still surprised me. Maybe it was because the only two times we'd ever come in contact prior to my stay at the vineyard were times I hadn't been on my best behavior. The first was when he mentally interrogated me about my association with Trey, and the second was at the Lunar Eclipse Ritual when I very publicly blew off the only member of his family he has contact with.

"You and Trey are quite the pair,"
Stanislav
said, pulling me from my thoughts. I thought he meant the fact that Trey had been human until recently, but I realized that wasn't what he meant at all, as he continued. "A famous rock star and a beautiful, budding artist," he said wistfully. "You're the perfect example of young vampires taking advantage of your abilities to take the world by storm." I tried not to let it show on my face, but I found that a strange comment to make, especially considering Trey was so new at vamp-life that he hadn't used his abilities for much of anything yet. I wanted to ask what he actually meant by it, but
Stanislav
stood to excuse himself. "I trust you have everything you need to continue to recover," he said. I nodded. "Please feel free to stay as long as you need. There's no hurry."

"Thank you," I said. And just like that, he was gone from the room again. He was a strange man,
Stanslav
, and I just couldn't put my finger on exactly what it was about him that bothered me. If it weren't for him, I'd most likely be dead by now, but something about him just didn't settle well. Maybe I was just still tired from all the almost dying. Maybe I was just being paranoid, because a vampire from my own brood had betrayed me in the worst possible way. I didn't have much time to try and decipher the reasons behind it, because I felt Mark approaching.

“How are you doing?” he asked as he knocked on the open door.

“Better,” I said. “Thanks to you.”

He shook his head, and although he was smiling, he couldn’t hide the troubled expression beneath it. “I … I don’t deserve any credit for the fact that you’re still alive.” I frowned at him before he spoke again. “No,” he added, holding out his hands in a gesture that was all-encompassing. “This was all Trey.” Mark shrugged and walked toward my bed, sitting on the edge to look at me. “We were losing you,” he said slowly. It was clear from the look in his eyes that the words were painful to speak. “I had exhausted every idea , and nothing was working.” I reached over and took his hand in mine, squeezing it gently. “But Trey … Trey was convinced there had to be another way. I realized that if I didn’t think of something, I might lose you both because Trey could do something stupid like rip his own heart out to replace yours.” My soft laugh made Mark smile, and he squeezed my hand back.

“Thank you,” I said. “For keeping both of us alive.”

“It’s not a job I would wish on anyone,” he teased.

“Can I ask you something?” I said to him. He nodded at me, and I bit my lip, trying to find a way to express my thoughts. “Obviously, I haven’t been able to let Trey feed from me every night like I had planned. I never even got the chance to teach him how to feed from a human before everything went down with Malena. He said he drank from the stash at the beach house, and I know there’s no shortage of blood/wine here at the vineyard, but that’s not usually how things are done.”

“You’re wondering if he’s okay despite the lack of fresh blood in his system?” Mark said. “The situation hasn’t been ideal by any means, but he seems to be handling it pretty well. You’ll be feeling better soon,” he said, smiling at me and trying to lighten the mood. “You can give him your blood again then. For now, he’s making it work.”

I nodded, feeling a little relieved at his answer. The last thing I wanted was for Trey to grow weak due to lack of fresh blood. He was still a new vampire, and he was healing from a fight, to top it all off. I just had to get better so I could take care of him again like I’d intended.

My phone buzzed on the nightstand, and Mark reached over and handed it to me. It was Antonio’s name on the screen.

“I’ll leave you to talk,” Mark said, smiling. “Call for me if you need anything.”

Chapter 49

Trey

AURORA SMILED AT ME from across the large bathroom in the guest suite at Stanislav's. I was sitting on the tile floor a few feet away from the bathtub, lounging against the wall. The only part of Aurora I could see above the white froth of bubbles was her face, but at least she was smiling. One of Stanislav's vampire assistants, a woman this time, had brought her a new change of clothes this morning, and Aurora had insisted on having a bubble bath before she wore them. She'd been soaking in the bubbles for about twenty minutes now.

"Feel better?" I asked, admiring how peaceful she looked as she rested her head against the back of the deep, claw foot tub.

"You have no idea," she said slowly. "I feel like a new woman already."

I chuckled, and she flung some bubbles at me. A knock sounded on the bedroom door, and Aurora looked up in response. We both knew it was Mark knocking.

"Enjoy your bath," I said, giving her my best lazy grin as I closed the bathroom door behind me and went to answer the other one. "Hey," I said, greeting Mark.

"What's the plan?" he asked as he stepped into the room.

"She wants to go home," I answered. "Do you think she's ready?"

"I can hear you," Aurora called from inside the bathroom. "And the answer is a big, definitive yes."

Mark grinned and shook his head at her antics, shoving his hands in his jeans pockets. "Well, that depends," he said.

"On what?" she asked. I could hear the tub draining now. I was about to tell her that she didn't have to get out yet, but I could already hear a zipper being done up and the sound of a towel rubbing together at lighting speeds.

"On how you're feeling," Mark continued without missing a beat.

Aurora came out of the bathroom, hair towel-dried, and completely dressed, just to prove her point. "I'm fine." I couldn't help but smile. It was great to see her looking like herself again. She stepped forward, taking my hands in hers. "I just want to get out of here and go back to our lives." I nodded, knowing exactly how she felt.

An hour later one of Stanislav's servants was carrying Mark's medical equipment out to Mark's car for us.

"You're sure you won't stay another day?"
Stanislav
Vidic
said as one of his vampire servants opened the doors to the mansion, letting the sunlight trickle inside.

"You're very kind," Aurora said. "I can't thank you enough for your generosity, but we don't want to overstay our welcome, and Trey has teenage girls to make swoon."

"Well, if I can't convince you...."
Stanislav
looked at me and offered his hand.

I shook it firmly. "Thank you, again," I said. Mark and Beck were already waiting for us in the car. I led Aurora to the car, and Beck opened the door before I reached it. Aurora and I slid into the backseat, and Beck climbed up front with Mark who was driving.

"Ready?" Mark asked.

"Let's go home," Aurora said.

Aurora was amazed by the devastation we saw as we drove back to Clearwater. The closer we got to the coast, the more damage the storm had done. Mark, Beck and I weren't surprised. We'd witnessed the effects of the storm firsthand on our way to the vineyard just a few short days ago. The majority of it had been cleaned up. There were no large fallen trees blocking the roads, for instance, but not all the evidence of Mother Nature's wrath had gone yet. Gardens and landscaping had flooded and cars still had their tires half-buried in mud. Windshields and house windows alike were cracked and damaged.

"I can't believe you guys drove through this," Aurora said under her breath as she stared out the backseat window. "How do you manage to make it as far as the Vineyard?"