Keepers of the Flame (Trilogy Bundle) (11 page)

He opened his door and turned to me. “Stay here, let me check things out.”

I watched him go up the steps. He looked around briefly before disappearing into the door. I undid my seat belt and rushed after him, there was no way I was going to sit there, waiting for him. If Katrina was in danger, I would never forgive myself.

I melted into the walls and appeared in the living room. Dylan was standing there holding a note in his hands.

“What is it?” I demanded. “Where is Katrina?”

He took my hand and silently led me to the sofa. When we were both seated, he handed me the note. It was addressed to me and was straight and to the point.

If you want to see your grandmother alive, bring the stone to the address below.

I gazed at the address below in shock. It was where we'd lived several years ago, in
London. My parents had run a nightclub right at that address and it was where I'd found them, brutally murdered along with my younger sister. I'd never been back since then and the mere thought of going back there made me so ill, I jumped up and ran to the nearest bathroom and was violently sick.

Katrina was all I had left. I had no other family, I'd lost them all. I lost my grandfather just last year, and I hadn't even known about him until it was too late. I didn't know what I would do if I lost her. I heaved again as the thought crossed my mind. What was I going to do?

I felt a wet towel over my forehead and firm, yet gentle hands holding my hair away from my face. I knew it was Dylan and I hated the thought of his seeing me like that.

When the heaving stopped, I stood straight and moved towards the sink. He turned on the faucet and filled a cup with water then handed it to me. I rinsed out my mouth with the cool water before taking a few sips. After washing my hands, I was ready to go out. He let me go and I followed behind him. I thought of going to the living room but I needed to lie down so I floated up past Katrina's floor to the attic floor where my room was. As soon as I was inside, I headed to my bed and curled up on it.

Dylan wasn't far behind me and he lay beside me and gathered me in his arms. I snuggled closer to him and tried to get rid of the fear permeating every part of my being.

“What are we going to do?” I asked.

“I'll alert the Protector headquarters and we'll wait for orders.” I could feel his voice rumbling in his chest.

“What do you mean we'll wait?” I tried to sit up but he held onto me and after a brief struggle, I gave in and snuggled against him once more.

“We don't know who's behind this or what's waiting for us out there. We need to wait for instructions from HQ.”

“You don't understand, Dylan. This is Katrina, she's all I have and she's out there somewhere. I have to get to her.” I could hear the desperation in my voice.

He was silent for a long time before he finally spoke. “I do understand, Lu. I know what it's like to lose someone you care about. I know how much you love Katrina and we'll go through this together. We're not going to let anything happen to her.”

His words were oddly reassuring and I wondered briefly who he'd lost. Was that the reason he refused to trust anyone? Was he scared of going through this gut-wrenching uncertainty and fear? I couldn't blame him for that. I stifled a yawn as sleep suddenly came over me. I knew it was a defense mechanism but was powerless to stop it.

“I'm so tired,” I muttered.

He stroked my hair softly and leaned down to kiss me. My lips clung to him and I didn't want to let him go. He held on to me too like he didn't want to let me go and it felt so good. He reluctantly broke the kiss and gave me a light peck on the nose.

“You need to rest, Lu. It's going to be a long journey ahead.”

I nodded as my eyes drifted close.

When I opened my eyes, he was lying next to me, his head resting on his palms as he watched me sleep.

“Hey,” he said with a smile.

“Hey. Were you watching me sleep the whole time?” I asked, my voice thick with sleep.

“Yeah. You're so cute when you sleep. You let out these tiny snores, they're adorable.”

“I don't snore!”

“Do too.”

I lifted an eyebrow. “Have you any idea how juvenile you just sounded?”

He shrugged with a smile. “We need to be on our way,” he said, swinging his feet off the bed.

“Where are we going?”
 

“First we'll head for HQ and from there, for
London.”

I felt dread well up in me.
Think about Katrina.
I told myself.
Katrina's what's important here.

I tried to smile at him but failed dismally. “I'll need a few minutes to get ready, then we can be on our way.”

He stretched out a hand, which I used to boost myself out of the bed. He pulled me up and as I stood, we were standing toe to toe. He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me closer till I was flush against him. I looked up just as he leaned down and kissed me. I lifted my arms and placed them on his shoulders, drawing comfort from his kisses and his touch.

He drew back slightly. “We're in this together, okay?” he said gazing deep into my eyes.

I nodded. “I know. Thanks.”

He kissed me again then stepped back. “All right then, five minutes and we need to report at HQ for briefing. Did you take those combat lessons I asked you to sign up for?”

During one of his monthly phone calls, he'd badgered me into signing up for vampire combat lessons with some pal of his. I'd been going religiously twice a week since then and told him as much.

He smiled at me and swatted my bum. “Good girl.”

“Hey, watch it!” I frowned at him as I walked to my ensuite to get ready. I had no idea what was waiting for us out there. If he thought I would need combat skills, it meant this was even more dangerous that I'd thought. I sprinkled a handful of water over my face and stared at the mirror above the sink. Was I ready for this? I was going to have to come face to face with my past. A past I'd resolutely refused to discuss or speak about in over four years. I fought down nausea. I didn't think I could do this. But for Katrina's sake, I had to. But dear heavens, I was so scared. I felt chilled to the bone and even the stone lying on my chest seemed to have taken in some of the chill.

“Lu, are you okay? We need to be on our way.”

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It didn't do anything about the tightness in the pit of my belly, but I figured until it was all over and Katrina was safely back home, I had to learn how to live with that tightness.

I walked out and almost bumped into Dylan leaning against the bathroom door. He looked at me with concern.

“Are you okay?”

I shook my head in a negative gesture. “I don't think I'll be okay until I know Katrina's fine.” I said, my voice hoarse even though I hadn't cried.

He gave me a quick hug. “Then let's go get her back home.”

The drama began as soon as we stepped out of the house. We were ambushed by a group of armed vampires, carrying various weapons from long swords to short scimitars. As soon as I saw them, something crazy happened. I got mad. I became so angry that I wanted to use my bare hands to tear each of them into a million different pieces. These were the monsters responsible for kidnapping Katrina and I wanted them to feel every kind of pain I'd felt since I lost my parents.

Dylan must have felt my anger because he moved close to me and wrapped an arm around my waist. I felt the pressure from his arm and knew it was a warning.

“Vampires, what's all this about?” he asked casually. “Can't a man enjoy an afternoon off with his girlfriend?”

They maintained a menacing silence, then one of them elected to speak up. His voice was guttural and harsh. “We're not here to talk to you. The girl comes with us or we kill you both.”

I tensed and Dylan's arm became a tighter band. He turned to look into my eyes. “Open your mind to me, Lu,” he commanded softly.

I knew what he was asking. He wanted to communicate through telepathy. I recoiled from that, the invasion of my mind.

“You're wasting time!” The self-appointed leader of the weapon carrying vampires spoke in his guttural voice. I wondered why when you needed them, humans were notoriously scarce. How could masked men carrying swords go unnoticed?

“Allow me
to say goodbye to my woman,” Dylan replied in a reasonable voice.

He turned back to me. “You need to open up to me. Now Luanne!”

I heard the urgency in his voice and fought against the rising panic.
Katrina. Think about Katrina.
With that chant in mind I closed my eyes and laid bare my mind. I'd never felt so naked in my life. It was almost as though a strange entity was moving into my mind, then I heard it.

Hi sweetheart.

I opened my eyes wide in wonder. I knew it was Dylan, I could feel him but it was different somehow. Almost like a gentle mist caressing me in the hidden corners of my mind.

You're in my mind.

You're in mine, too. Listen, I'm going to teleport us out of here.

What? But you can beat them, I know you can!

Maybe, but think of all the time we'd lose.

I knew he was right but I so wanted him to finish off those goons. But if we were to get to Katrina on time, we couldn't afford to waste any more time.

Of course I'm right. I'm always right.

I rolled my eyes and couldn't help the smile that peeped out.

Am I going to be able to turn this thing off?

Sure. Just shut if off when you're ready. We need to leave now. Give me your hand.

I placed my hand in his.

Ready?

I nodded.
I'm ready.

Good. We've done this before...that night we got attacked outside your home. So you have an idea of how it works.

I remembered. Except that time, he hadn't needed to invade my mind.

This is a longer distance and your mind wasn't as fortified as it is now. All right, let's do this!

Suddenly everything began to shimmer and distort. I heard the goons shouting and rushing towards us but it was like from a very far distance. Before they got even close, they'd faded away and everything went dark. I felt like I was being sucked into a vortex, everywhere was completely dark. I knew I was still conscious, I could still feel my eyes blinking even though I couldn't see a thing. I felt Dylan's hand and squeezed. He squeezed back.

I'm here, babe. This will only take a few seconds.

He was barely done speaking when everything righted itself and became bright. There was a slight distortion, but when I blinked, it all became clear. I looked around me in wonder. We were standing in a huge hall and were surrounded by a group of people. I could tell they were all Born vampires, but I wasn't sure to which camp they belonged and they were all staring at me. I moved closer to Dylan, my gaze alert.

“Farley, you got here just in time.”

A tall man stepped forward and shook Dylan's hand. He had a grave looking face and even though he didn't look a day older than thirty, I could tell from his eyes that he'd been around for a century at least. He turned to me now and smiled.