Indulge (2 page)

“How could I have killed him?”

Arrick looked at me with a grimace.

“What’s that?” I pointed at the bottle Arrick carried, quickly changing the subject. Maybe I wasn’t ready to hear all the gruesome details of what I had done.

He offered it, and the sweet yet bitter scent of cheap red wine wafted at me. “Drink,” he instructed.

“No, thanks.” I raised my hand and licked my lips, wishing I hadn’t thrown the plastic bottle into the fire. I was almost desperate enough that I would probably lick it if I could.

“Listen, Claire. You need to heal, but in the current circumstances we can’t do that right now. I need the energy to drive us the rest of the way and then I will make sure you get the proper nourishment.” He waved the bottle in my face once more. Rolling my eyes, I took it.

“How is wine going to help me?”

“It just does, now drink it.”

An irritated growl rumbled in his chest, followed by a sense of disappointment. Not in me, but in himself, which only made me feel immediately guilty. I watched him pace and then stare intently into the fire, causing flickering shadows to dance across his muscular face.

I chose to obey and took girlish sips while I contemplated our situation. I had been attacked to near death, may or may not have killed my almost boyfriend’s brother, and now I was escaping to another region with my Blood Mate, who thought there was a very good chance the vampire who wanted me dead was biting at our heels. Yes, my situation was very dark I decided, so I stopped sipping the wine and drank greedily.

“Okay, okay, that’s enough. I need you relaxed, not drunk.” Arrick snatched the bottle and stowed it away, grinning.

“Ya know, I’ve never been camping before.” I hiccupped and giggled as the wine took effect. “I never even left the city. Pretty sad now that I think about it, don’t you think? It’s actually quite peaceful here.”

“That’s just the wine talking,” Arrick said.

I didn’t agree, but decided not to harass him. I really did like it in the woods and started to realize how much bigger the world really was. So much bigger than my small human dreams of living next door to my best friend and growing old with our husbands and kids. My world now was endlessly changing and I would live to see it all. Hopefully.

Arrick had pulled a phone from his back pocket, and was now pointing it hopefully at the sky, silently praying for a signal. “Who are you trying to call?” I asked Arrick while folding the wool blanket. I knew we wouldn’t be staying here much longer and would have to get on the road again soon.

For a moment he ignored me, cursing the phone and banging its display with his hand. “Your parents,” he said at last, “but I can’t get a signal.”

“Oh.”

The thought of meeting my real parents brought reality crashing in on me again. Not the human woman I had thought was my mother for eighteen years, or Nicolae and Evilyn who kidnapped me because they wanted to be my parents and called me daughter, but my real parents.

“We should tell them we are coming.”

He looked at me confused and slid the phone into his shirt pocket. “Would you carry that pack? Let’s head back to the car.”

I nodded and slung the bag over my shoulder. The half full wine bottle hit my back as it landed and I winced in pain when it connected with an only slightly healed wound.

“You sound like they won’t be happy when we show up,” I said, gritting my teeth as the pain dissipated. I followed Arrick easily back through the woods as our feet crunched against the dry forest floor.

“No, it’s not that at all, Claire,” he said calmly as he adjusted the duffle bag to rest on his shoulders. “They will be very happy to see you. It is just the wrath of Noire that they won’t be happy about.”

“The wrath of Noire? You mean Nicolae?” I still had a hard time imagining Nicolae was as evil as he was being made out to be, but maybe I just had a soft spot for the first man I had ever thought was my father.

“I know you still think he is good, Claire, and…” He hesitated, trying to find the words.

“And what?” My mind rebelled the action of defending Nicolae but my heart fought on. Or, more accurately, my blood did. Nicolae’s blood.

Arrick stopped at the clearing and dropped the duffel bag onto ground. He turned to me, his hands in the air and his handsome face contorted in frustration. “And maybe he is, Claire, but you need to understand. He will do anything… anything to accomplish what he sees as right. That is what makes him different. That is what makes him evil. He will commit a wicked act to prevent one.”

Arrick rested his hands on my shoulders and I looked into his eyes. Our connection immediately locked as our emotions intertwined. “I’ve watched over you all your life, Claire. I will not let him take you again. To live in his false world of peace that has an endless darkness building beneath it.”

His words struck a chord within me and I latched onto him with a bearlike hug that would rival any of Robin’s. I knew Arrick was right whether Nicolae’s blood inside me wanted to admit it or not. This was going to be a struggle I could not face alone and it strengthened me to know that I had Arrick by my side, as he always had been my entire life.

When I finally released him, he swung the duffel bag back over his shoulder. “Let’s go,” he said, smiling reassuringly, quickening his pace to reach the Mercedes.

I followed him at a steady trot until I felt the hairs on my neck prickle. Arrick sensed something too and looked over his shoulder at me. Something was watching us, just beyond the reach of our senses. I quickened my stride trying to ignore the pain as the wounds on my legs and torso tore with the movement, reaching the Mercedes in seconds. Arrick was already there; in the driver’s seat, key already in the ignition, he reached out a hand to pull me in. I jumped onto the smooth leather seat and he slammed on the gas before I even shut the door.

“Something was out there,” I said as I pressed my hand against a reopened wound on my thigh. I rolled down the window and stuck my head out to look behind us. “You felt that right? What was it?”

Arrick pressed a button rolling up the window after I sat back down. “Yeah I felt it.” He gripped the steering wheel turning his knuckles white.

“What was it?”

He glanced into the rear view mirror as we sped down the empty highway. “I don’t know.”

We drove on in silence until the electricity in our nerves died down. I didn’t want to say it out loud, but I had a sinking suspicious that Ana was watching us. Just like Arrick said, she would plot and plan, taking her time until the perfect moment to strike. She was going to watch me, haunting my every step until she was ready to strike. My stomach grew queasy at the thought, but I was determined to be prepared for that moment, whenever it may be.

“Are you excited?” Arrick asked. There was a lighter sound to his tone, but it seemed forced.

“About?” I couldn’t imagine what I could possibly be excited about considering the situation we were in.

“Going home.”

I got the feeling that he might be the excited one. I had never known my real home and Arrick had been assigned to guard over me. He had to leave his home and live in hiding for eighteen years in a different region.

“I don’t know really. I’m not sure I feel like I really have a home right now.” How could I be excited? With my current track record something was bound to rip me from this new home soon enough.

“Don’t let it get to you, Claire. You will love it in Naos.” He gripped the shifter, adjusting the gears on the Mercedes.

“Naos?”

“That’s the capital of the Zakarian region. The most beautiful city in the world. I can’t wait to show it to you.”

His happiness now seemed genuine, and I hoped it would be infectious. I envied his joyous and seemingly care-free mood.

I adjusted my body on the leather seats and directed my attention to Arrick and off the endless darkness of the night as I searched for what hunted us. “All the cities of the region are named after constellations and stars, right?”

“Yes, in honor of the goddess. In the ancient tongue it means, ‘dwelling of a God’. In a mythical tale, the goddess sailed down from the sky on the moonlight in a ship called Naos. That is how the city it got its name.”

“Tell me about Naos.” I rested my head on the back of the seat as Arrick spoke.

“It’s an ancient city built on a rocky coast with towering stone buildings and crashing waves against its shores. Some say the water is so clear that the moon reflects off it and lights the entire city.”

“Sounds pretty. You really miss it there don’t you?”

“More than I realized.”

Arrick had opened his mouth to say more but the sound of his phone buzzing in his shirt pocket broke his concentration.

I needed only one guess for who was calling him and it made my stomach ties in knots of nervousness. I knew there was no avoiding it, but meeting my real parents scared the hell out of me.

Focusing intently on Arrick, whose brow was furrowed, I tried to pick up on the conversation. Sadly Arrick only responded with ‘Mhm’ or ‘No sir’, making it super difficult to get any details. Yet, when he glanced toward me and gave another ‘Mhm’, I knew without a doubt who and what they were talking about. Me.

I ran my tongue absentmindedly against my fangs until Arrick clicked his phone shut and slid it back into his shirt pocket. “Well? What did they say?”

“They got my message.”

I hated that I had to pull every bit of information out of him. “Yeah, so… are we allowed to go there or not? Are they happy I am coming home?” A growl of annoyance tumbled from my throat, but Arrick only smiled.

“Yes and yes, Claire. That was Cathair.” He shot me a sidelong glance before clarifying, “Your father.”

“Wow, so that’s my dad’s name. Cathair,” I repeated the name again in hopes that it would somehow stir something inside me, but it didn’t. “What’s my mother’s name?”

“Her name is Ione. You look so much like her.”

“I do?” I flipped down the sun visor and opened the small compartment on the back that revealed a small mirror illuminated in a slight yellow glow. I stared at my reflection and wondered what about me, resembled my mother. Was it my round eyes, my long lashes or my auburn hair? Did her nose wrinkle like mine did when she laughed really hard?

I looked to Arrick, whose expression made my heart pound heavily in my chest. His feelings for me hit me head on, yet I did not feel the same. A small part of my heart longed for Dmitry and the other yearned to reciprocate Arrick’s feelings. My heart was in a battle with itself. But maybe I could be wrong about Arrick’s feelings. He had never verbally expressed them. Perhaps I was reading the signals wrong? Maybe I was mistaking his devotion to his duty of protecting me for eighteen years, for love.

“We will make it there by sunset tomorrow.”

“That long?” I was starting to hope it would be sooner. Not from excitement, but I was just sick of riding in the car. I was never very good at sitting still for very long.

“That long; we are still about a day away, and you can’t exactly stroll through town mid-day now, can you?”

“No.”

“Sunset tomorrow will be perfect, Claire. You will see Naos in its finest.”

“Can I call on Robin when we get there?” Arrick’s muscles tightened at that, and I continued quickly before he could shut me down. “She’s got to be worried sick and I trust her completely. She deserves to know I am alright.”

“We don’t know what kind of situation we are in, Claire. The attempt on your life and my taking you can have our regions at the brink of war.” His tone was rising in defiance.

There was no arguing; Arrick’s duty would always overshadow my needs. He had been watching over me for eighteen years. There was no way I could talk him into risking that so I could call my best friend.

I folded my arms in defeat and went back to staring out the window. I focused on the night sky, hoping that Nyx would connect with me and give me some peace. If even a little.

“If you’re going to keep sighing like that, I can promise only that I will ask the King.”

I swirled in my seat and beamed at Arrick. I could tell he wasn’t happy about giving in but he attempted a weak smile anyway.

“I only promised to ask, so don’t get too excited. I don’t remember him being very lenient, but maybe time has changed him.”

“Thank you, thank you.” I held myself back from giving him another bear hug. We had enough problems and causing a car accident didn’t need to another one of them.

The thought of getting to talk to Robin again filled my heart with renewed hope. I could only imagine what she thought when she saw the state my room was left in. Even worse when Dmitry told her what happened. That he and Arrick walked in on Ana drinking me nearly dry and Luka lying on the floor motionless. Poor Dmitry. He had left to get me help only to return to find me missing. Would he think that Arrick took me or that I ran away? I wondered if he would come looking for me, thinking he needed to save me from Arrick.

I smiled inwardly at the thought of Dmitry coming to my rescue, even though I didn’t need rescuing. I envisioned his devilish smile in my head and the way my body heated when we danced at my coronation ball. Wow, I really was in trouble. My feelings for Dmitry were stronger than I let myself believe. I missed him as much as I missed Robin, if not more. If I got to speak with her then I would have to give her some kind of message that she could pass onto Dmitry to let him know I was okay.

“What are you thinking about?” Arrick asked wryly, obviously sensing the passion in my emotions.

“My friends.” Technically I wasn’t lying. They were both my friends. I just had deeper feelings for one of them.

“Right…” Arrick sounded unconvinced.

“Whatever. Just get us to Naos, so you can ask permission to let me contact them, okay?” I huffed and flipped on the radio only to find static.

After a good half hour of silence, Arrick cleared his throat. “In about a hundred more miles," he said, “we should be able to pick up the radio signals of Naos. They will be a little fuzzy, but you might be able to get some stations.”