Purpose (13 page)

I blinked with surprise as I considered this
possibility. Based on the conversation of the other night, the most
obvious answer had been the Amadis council. The timing was too
perfect. But…

Ian’s mocking laugh when he told me about the
arranged marriage resurfaced in my memory. He certainly enjoyed
watching my pain, so it was easy to believe the rest of the Daemoni
would, too. They probably wished they could have watched me as I
viewed the video. They obviously didn’t know anything about me. Or
the connection I had with Tristan.

The Amadis council, on the other hand, did.
They should have known the video wouldn’t have forced me into
acceptance. They would know that, if anything, the video would have
pushed me into the abyss. And, from the little I did know, the
council—Rina’s advisors—should be the most loyal to her of all.

The Daemoni must have sent it.

“Why now?” I finally asked. “There’s been
nothing from them in so long. Why would they do this now?”

Owen’s arms jerked against me in what I
assumed was a shrug. “I don’t know. They don’t tell me everything.
But…”

He hesitated.

“But what?”

“But the Daemoni might be sending a message…”
He paused again, drawing in a deep breath. Before I could press him
again, though, he finished. “…that if they hadn’t actually done it
before…they have now.”

I froze. I didn’t even breathe as I let this
sink in, let its meaning reach into my soul. My heart thumped
several times as I tried to determine what I felt. But I already
knew. The feeling that he was still alive
strengthened
when
I arrived at the beach house…
after
they sent the video.

“I still don’t believe it,” I said.

“I didn’t think you would,” he murmured.

We stood in silence for a long moment.

“Do you think I’m foolish for hanging on?” I
whispered.

He didn’t answer at first and I tried to
ignore the interpretation I made of his silence. I told myself it
didn’t matter what he thought. Only my own beliefs mattered and I
knew what I had felt all these years. Especially these last few
days.

“I admire your loyalty,” he finally said.
“You do what you need to do for you. That’s what he would
want.”

I nodded, the back of my head rubbing against
his chest. I knew the truth in his statement. Tristan had once told
me the same thing, a long time ago.

Owen kissed the top of my head and then he
was gone.

I continued standing at the rail, thinking
about Owen and what he put up with as my protector. He said he
enjoyed his job, but was there more to it? I remembered how Mom had
thought about setting us up, thinking he’d be a good match for me.
The thought of being more than just friends had only flitted
through my mind a couple times. If the Amadis was right about the
video…if my true love really was gone…for good… Well, with Owen,
life could possibly be a little more normal—as normal as it could
be for an Amadis daughter, who, apparently, was enemies with
creatures like vampires and werewolves. There probably wouldn’t be
such a strong desire to keep us separated…or brought over to their
side. I knew Mom would approve and Dorian loved him. The council
would probably be ecstatic, seeing me move on. The
possibilities…

But it was impossible to think of Owen as
anything different than a friend or a brother.

I sighed.
It doesn’t matter
anyway
.

Any future with Owen, or with the Amadis at
all, would never happen. I knew what I needed to do—for the Amadis
and for my family. And, if I was lucky, for myself.

I sat at my computer and started writing.

Now that I knew what came next—that I
wouldn’t need another world to escape to—the words came easily. I
wrote until two in the morning. I was wide awake again at five, ran
around the property a few times, then went back to the book. Just
before three in the afternoon, I finished. The book. The series.
Six years of writing the story. Done.
Finito
.

I stared at the last line for several moments
and finally typed The End. My chest tightened with grief. Besides
Mom, my characters had been my best friends, pulling me through my
darkest hours, and now we had to say good-bye, never to visit each
other again. Their adventure was over and so was that whole part of
my life…or it would be shortly.

I emailed the entire book to Mom. I didn’t
know whether the vampire had been telling the truth about having
Daemoni planted at my publisher, so I didn’t send anything to my
editor. Mom could do whatever the Amadis council dictated when the
time came.

I then wrote two letters—one to Mom and one
to Dorian—explaining how I did this for them, to keep them safe. I
wanted to call Dorian, to hear his voice one more time, but I
feared what he and Mom would hear in my own voice. Mom would know
something was up. So I wrote my good-byes, tears streaming. I knew
I couldn’t email them—she would get them too soon—and I had no way
to print them at the beach house. So my fingers trembled with my
sobs as I saved the two letter files on the computer’s desktop,
where Mom would easily find them.

I took a deep breath and focused on the rest
of the plan. I hadn’t figured out yet how to do it. Owen had
regularly checked on me, reminding me he stayed close by. I’d
tested him once, pretending I needed to go to the store. He
appeared suddenly and stopped me as I sat in the car, asked what I
needed and was back with a box of tampons in four minutes. I felt
bad for putting him through that and since he made the trip without
so much as a complaint, he clearly wouldn’t let me go anywhere.
However it happened, I needed to be ready to act on a moment’s
notice.

I showered and studied myself in the mirror,
trying to see what I could do to make myself as attractive as
possible. It was surprisingly difficult to do any more than what my
body had already done on its own. My skin looked and felt smooth—no
wrinkles or lines of any kind, no dark and puffy circles under my
eyes, the light-olive tone tanned. My hair, now full and vibrant,
waved down to the middle of my back and my body was small but
strong. I actually looked like my age.

I eyed the sundresses Tristan had bought me
on our honeymoon and I’d forgotten to pack in our hurried
departure. The property management company apparently had the
dresses cleaned—they hung in plastic bags in the closet. I’d seen
them my first day at the beach house. Mom must have had the wedding
dress shipped because it wasn’t there and I knew I hadn’t packed it
when we left in such a rush. I was glad it was gone. Seeing it
would have been too much for my fragile self of a couple days
ago.

I chose a black dress with purple flowers,
spaghetti straps that crossed over my back and a full skirt that
ended about three inches above my knees. It was probably out of
style, but I didn’t care. Almost all the clothes I’d brought were
dirty and the dress was better than baggy shorts and a holey
t-shirt anyway. I checked myself in the mirror—the dress did the
job.

“
Wow
, you look…” Owen was caught off
guard when I called for him. I flashed him my best smile. He
narrowed his eyes and said flatly, “You’re not going anywhere.”

I tried to act casual. “Of course not. I was
just tired of looking like a frump. I feel
good
. I finished
the book.”

He smiled. “Great! Now we wait for it to be
published and let it do its thing.”

“But we can celebrate now,” I said
suggestively.

He looked surprised, the sapphire eyes wide,
eyebrows raised. “You and me?”

“That’s all we have right now, right? Why
not? If you get some steaks and the trimmings, I’ll cook. And we
need some wine, of course.”

His brows pushed together, creating those
three vertical lines between them. “I don’t think that’s a good
idea. We need to be completely alert.”

I fluttered my eyelashes and stuck out my
lower lip in a pretend pout. “Just a glass. Just for a toast to the
Amadis and whatever it is they have planned.”

He studied my face. I really wasn’t trying to
seduce him. Honestly. I just needed him to disappear for a
while…just long enough. I smiled warmly at him.

“Okay,” he finally agreed. “You stay here.
I’ll be back in ten or fifteen minutes.”

I followed him out the door and watched him
walk down the driveway, into the brush and disappear. As soon as he
was gone, I jumped into the Ferrari and took off, my heart pounding
with anxiety and fear. I’d left the keys in there earlier, knowing
I needed every second I could get when the opportunity arose. I
sped down the highway, clearing as much distance as possible before
Owen returned and found me gone.

Guilt pierced my conscience when I thought of
him searching for me. But I had to do this. At least he wouldn’t be
left heartbroken and helpless like I’d been when I was left behind.
I just hoped he wouldn’t immediately guess where I headed, but
would think I went after my family. Because once he knew, he would
be there in a flash.

I made the fifty-mile drive to Key West in
twenty minutes. I barely remembered any of it—just the gray
pavement passing under the car—my mind first on Owen and then on
Dorian. My son’s face swam in my vision, so much like his father’s.
I ached to hold him one last time.
I’m so sorry, little man.
Please forgive me. I love you so much
. As the tears pooled in
my eyes again, making it difficult to focus on the road, I reminded
myself, though now with no parents, he had Mom and the Amadis. He
would be well taken care of. And he would be safe.

Then I forced myself to think about what lay
ahead, rather than what I left behind.

My heart picked up speed the closer I came.
My chest squeezed with panic, making proper breathing difficult,
and my stomach rolled with anxiety.
What the hell am I
doing?
This was probably the stupidest thing I’d ever
done—second only to letting Tristan leave me at the safe house. But
I had to do this, if it was the last thing I did for the
Amadis.

My hand banged on the steering wheel
restlessly and my left leg bounced with nerves as I made my way to
the west side of Key West, to the old part where the tourists
partied and the Daemoni…hunted.
Come on, come on, come on!
If this didn’t happen quickly, Owen would eventually figure out
where I headed. And, even if he didn’t, I was afraid I would lose
my nerve.

I didn’t know what to expect. I thought maybe
they would be on top of me as soon as they sensed me. Then I
remembered they couldn’t read my thoughts, so they probably didn’t
know I’d entered their hunting grounds. It wasn’t like they
expected me to walk right into their hands. Not like the last time
they got what they wanted. But this was the only way I knew how to
solve the problem. I didn’t have the ability to recognize the best
solution. Tristan did, but not me. I worked with all I knew—my
heart and my soul telling me what was best for everyone.

I’d promised him I would come for him.
Although he never knew that promise, I would do my best to keep it.
I hadn’t quite changed over—my body was still preparing for the
Ang’dora
—but I’d run out of time. My family needed the
protection. They needed to be left alone. I hoped to give that to
them.

The funny thing was, I realized, I did this
as me. Real Alexis. At least…the closest I would know of Real
Alexis, since I’d probably never make it all the way through the
Ang’dora
. But this wasn’t Psycho acting out in anger or
Swirly confusing me with a mix of fact and fiction. Foggy
disappeared a couple days ago. I embraced this new-found purpose as
me
, clear minded, though a little frightened. Okay, more
than a little. But definitely all me. Definitely Real Alexis.

As the sun began to set and darkness came
from the east, I drove up and down the side streets of Old Key
West, lined with ivy-covered hotels and inns and stately trees hung
with moss. Avoiding the overcrowded Duval Street, I tried to decide
the best way to attract the Daemoni. I hoped to find one or two on
their own, separated from the crowds. And I hoped to set the scene
up so I could pull them even farther away. I saw no need to involve
innocent people. It took nearly an hour to find what I searched
for.

I glanced down an alley as I slowly passed it
and saw two men, a woman and a college-aged girl walking my way. I
slowed the car. My sharp eyes recognized the dangerous situation
immediately. The girl wasn’t exactly walking. The others pushed and
pulled her along. The Daemoni alarms sounded in my head. The group
stopped about fifty yards from me, from the end of the alley, and
the men started harassing the girl. I assumed they planned to rape
her…or worse. I took a deep breath.
Here we go.

I kicked off my flip-flops and left the keys
in the ignition and the car door open behind me. I walked down the
dark alley. Several Dumpsters and backdoors lined the brick walls
on each side. Security lights over the doors provided pools of
light between pits of darkness. The Daemoni surrounded the girl in
a dark area between two Dumpsters. They pushed her around and tore
at her thin, red blouse and white, satiny shorts, laughing
wretchedly. Even the woman. The girl hunched over, trying in vain
to protect herself. She looked taller than average and thin, but
her arm and leg muscles were quite defined for a female. She looked
as though she could hold her own against most normal humans. But
these weren’t normal humans. In fact, they weren’t even human.

“Leave her alone,” I said when I came close
enough for them to hear me without having to yell.

“You ought to mind your own business, missy,”
the tall white-blond said without looking at me. He held the girl
by her long, dark hair. She trembled so fiercely, the edges of her
shape seemed to blur.