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Authors: Kaitlyn Davis

Tags: #Vampires, #love, #paranormal romance, #Fantasy, #Magic, #Young Adult, #heroine

Scorch (13 page)

BOOK: Scorch
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"Kira!"

Closer this time. He was taller, his legs
were longer, faster. Kira veered to the right, searching for a
boardwalk in the dunes. Her flight instincts had kicked in, pushing
her into overdrive and all she could think about was getting far
away. It didn't matter that he would never stop questioning her,
that the next time he saw her he wouldn't let her go. Right now she
didn't know what to say or what to tell him.

A hand wrapped around her wrist, jerking her
backwards. Kira twisted her arm, escaping Luke's hold, but an arm
wrapped around her waist, lifting her off the ground. She kicked
wildly, doing anything she could.

Luke cursed and dropped her, but almost
before her feet hit the ground, he spun her around and hugged her
close to his chest.

Kira pounded his muscles with her fists,
writhing her body to loosen his hold. Nothing. His arms were iron,
trapping her.

"Let me go," she said, still trying to punch
her way free.

"Kira, what is going on?"

"I can't," she continued pushing against him,
exhausting herself.

"Kira," he soothed, the steel gone from his
voice.

"No, Luke," her voice cracked, mirroring the
damn breaking inside of her. He was opening the floodgate, but it
would be so good to finally talk to someone. But would he ever look
at her the same…

Kira's body slumped. All of her energy
drained. Luke loosened his hold slightly, just enough to meet her
eyes.

"Kira, please talk to me." Concern filled his
eyes, dampening the yellow flames around his irises and brightening
the warm pine green hues.

"I want to."

"Then do it."

Kira shook her head. Frustration gathered on
his face.

"Why not?"

"I can't lose you again," she whispered,
clutching at his shirt, trying to make him understand. Her eyes
were wide, unblinking, feral.

"You'll never lose me," he said, running his
arms up and down her arms to quell the goose bumps gathering there,
"I love you, I promise nothing will change that."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

His words were steadfast, but Kira couldn't
squish the knot of doubt in the back of her mind. Their bond was
open, golden rays of love were pouring in through his mind, but
still, Kira knew this would change everything. She was turning, she
couldn't deny it or ignore it anymore.

Of all the people in the world, Luke was the
only one she could talk to about this but also the last one she
wanted to tell. He was her best friend, no he was more than that,
so much more. And that was why her mouth hung open, waiting for the
words to tumble out, because she didn’t want any secrets between
them. She had been down that road before and had almost lost
him.

So standing there under the stars, wrapped in
the warmth of his arms and the sunlight flowing through his veins,
she thought for a second that maybe it would all turn out okay…just
maybe.

Kira looked up into his steady gaze, and took
a deep breath. She trusted him more than anyone else in the world.
He wouldn't let her down—he never had before.

"I think I'm turning into a vampire…an
original vampire."

Luke fell.

His knees collapsed bending outward so he
landed Indian style on the ground. Kira dropped onto his lap,
probably crushing his legs, but he didn’t make a sound. His face
was frozen—his lips formed a small surprised circle and his
eyebrows bent inwards, wrinkling his forehead.

Unsure of what to do, Kira kept talking, not
able to stop because every word felt like a weight lifting off of
her shoulders. She wasn't alone anymore.

"The Punishers were right. I'm dangerous. I'm
falling, just like they said, and it gets worse every day it seems.
And it surprises me every time, creeping up on me when I least
expect it. And I don't know how to stop it or what to do. When I
use my power, I feel the darkness inside of me, trying to escape.
And I bit…I bit a vampire. And almost my own mother. And I would
have just bitten you if you hadn't stopped me." Kira clutched her
head, falling deeper into Luke's chest, "Oh God, what's happening
to me? I don't trust myself, and worse, I don't trust my power, my
fire, my soul…"

Kira stopped. An ache grew in her head,
pressing out from her temples and down her neck. No matter how hard
she clutched her hair, the pain wouldn't go away. And she could
still smell the sweetness of Luke's blood, could taste it on her
tongue.

"How is this possible?" He asked, his voice
like sandpaper.

"I don't know."

"I thought…I thought your fire was too
strong, that we only had to worry about you losing control, burning
too hot…I never imagined…I didn't—when did it start?"

"When Aldrich gave me his blood, something
changed inside of me, something dark clung to my heart and I can't
dislodge it," Kira paused, thinking back further, back before she
met Aldrich, and sighed, "but if I'm being honest with myself, it
started a while ago, when my eyes turned blue…when I killed Diana
with no remorse and no regret, just satisfaction—the darkness
started then, I just didn't feel it."

"And you feel it now?" Luke asked. His blonde
head lifted. His eyes squinted.

Kira nodded.

"Right now?"

"Always," Kira said softly. Even if it was
under control, Kira sensed the sticky black tar hiding in her
heart, waiting there for the next opportune moment. "It's one of
the reasons I had to leave Sonnyville, there were too many
conduits."

"What do you mean?"

She swallowed. Was this the point of no
return or had they already passed it?

"Conduit blood," Kira paused when Luke's hand
squeezed her arm, almost painfully, "it's the most unbelievable…the
most taunting…the sweetest—when I lose control, it's all I can
think about."

"And that's why you bit me?"

Kira nodded.

"Is it why you…" Luke took a deep, unsteady
breath, and closed his eyelids for a moment, thinking. "Is it why
you kissed me?"

Kira's eyes widened in shock. "Luke, of
course not," she cupped his cheeks with her hands, "I swear, I
wanted that, me, Kira."

"Really?"

"Really."

Kira kept hold of his face, urging Luke to
believe her. All she had wanted to do tonight was let Luke know
that she wanted to be with him, that Tristan wasn't in the picture
anymore, but instead she only made him doubt her further. What
could she do to make him believe her?

"Luke, I lo—"

He put his pointer finger to her lip,
quieting her.

"Not yet, not like this," he said, pain
etched in the roughness of his voice, "I've been waiting a long
time to hear you say that, and I don't want anything to taint
it."

She nodded slowly, fighting her
uncertainty.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Kira laughed under her breath. The situation
was anything but funny, but could he hear himself?

He raised his eyebrow, waiting.

"Luke, why do you think? You're freaking
out."

"I am not, I'm…digesting."

"Also known as freaking."

"Well, I'm sorry," he said sarcastically,
"this is a lot of information for a guy to get all at once. First
you kiss me, then you kidnap me, then you kiss me again, then you
try to kill me. The signals are getting a little crossed."

"I didn't try to kill you," Kira rolled her
eyes, "it was a little nip, some people would find it sexy."

"Some people don't hunt vampires for a
living…"

"Luke—"

He lifted her around the waist and set her
next to him on the sand before standing up. "I need to think," he
said and started walking around her in circles. Kira fell back on
the ground, not caring that the sand would be stuck in her hair.
Looking up at the stars, she began to count the number of times
Luke walked around and into her line of vision.

One.

Two.

Three.

She yawned. This was better than counting
sheep.

Four.

Five.

Kira waited for number six but it didn't
come. She couldn't hear footsteps either. Lifting her body up, Kira
scanned the horizon, finding Luke silhouetted against the crashing
waves, closer to the surf.

"No," he said suddenly, spinning around.

"No, what?" Kira asked, cocking her head to
the side as he speedily approached.

"No," he said again, shaking his head. His
hands were balled into fists as he passed her and made for the
boardwalk ten feet behind Kira.

She quickly stood and chased after him.

"Where are you going?"

"I refuse to let this happen," he said
firmly, shouting over his shoulder rather than pausing to turn
around.

"You can't stop it," Kira said sadly.

"I can," he urged, "because there is no way
in hell that I am finally going to get you, just to watch you turn
into a vampire and lose you—there is just no way that is happening.
I won't allow it."

"Luke," Kira sighed. Her insides felt all
mushy after his sweet words—totally macho and unrealistic words,
but sweet all the same.

"No, Kira, there has got to be something we
can do."

"Luke, there's nothing. I checked the papers
my grandfather gave me, the ripped out pages, they didn't say
anything about this. I can feel this thing growing inside of me all
the time. It won't stop."

He stopped walking, spinning around so fast
that Kira ran right into his chest.

"Who are you right now?" He was
incredulous.

"Huh?"

"Where is Kira? Where's my best friend? She
would never just give up and let this happen without a fight."

"I," Kira started but stopped. He was right.
What was she doing?

"Your parents!" His entire face lit up with
the idea. Luke clutched her shoulders, shaking her a little. "Your
parents, they have to know something."

"My dad doesn't even know I'm a conduit,"
Kira said slowly, trying to understand.

"No," Luke shook his head, widening his eyes
with exasperation, "your birth parents. Your dad was a Punisher.
The first time you used your powers, he must have suspected this
might happen, he must have known the legends."

"My birth parents…" Kira said slowly, her
brain going haywire with new ideas suddenly taking life. Maybe
there was a cure…some sort of solution. But Luke wasn't waiting for
her to catch up.

"The original conduits, the angels the
Punishers speak of all the time, they changed themselves, they
figured it out. There's got to be a way." Luke spun again, walking
briskly toward the car.

Kira raced to catch up, running toward the
car, but a thought stopped her in her tracks.

"Pavia," Kira said. Why hadn’t she thought of
it before?

"What?" Luke asked. He was next to his pick
up truck, holding the passenger side door open for her.

"Pavia has all of my mother's memories," Kira
said, slowly raising her gaze to meet Luke's excited and flaming
eyes, "if my parents knew anything—"

"Pavia will know," he said cutting her off.
"Give me the keys."

Kira tossed them toward him. He caught them
in one graceful move before hopping into the driver's seat.

"Call her," he said, turning on the
ignition.

Kira felt the engine rumble to life beneath
her—somehow it gave her hope.

"Tell her we need to talk immediately."

 

 

 

Chapter Nine

Kira raced through the front door of Luke's
house, not even pausing to say hello to a shocked Tristan before
yelling out, "Pavia?"

No answer. Shoot.

Luke strolled through a few seconds later,
much calmer.

"Is everything alright?" Tristan asked,
sitting up straighter on the couch. A history textbook was open on
his lap.

"Yeah," Kira said, taking off her shoes and
falling into the open spot next to him, "we just have a few
questions to ask Pavia."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Nope," Kira look at him forcing out a
strained smile, "but thanks for asking."

"Of course," he said, taking her hand. The
warmth felt strange to Kira, so she stood up, slipping out of his
grasp.

"Anyone want something while we wait? I'm
making some coffee."

"Make that two," Luke said, looking away from
the window he was staring at.

"Tristan?"

"If you have any tea…"

"Sure thing," Kira said and left the room.
She bit her lip while searching Luke's cabinets. Her excitement was
getting hard to contain. Why hadn't she thought of it before? Her
parents. Of course they had to know something. But no, Kira chided
and started the coffee pot, it was too early to get her hopes
up.

She put her hands palm down on the counter,
stilling them against the cold stone, willing the tremble in her
fingers to stop.

Her foot started tapping instead.

"So, what's the big emergency?"

"Pavia!" Kira jumped, clutching at her heart.
The vampire was standing in Luke's back door, waiting to be let
inside. Hastily, Kira pulled at the handle. "Thank God you're
here."

"That's not something I hear very often,"
Pavia grinned, flipping a stray lock back over her forehead.

The coffee pot dinged, making Kira jump
again.

"Did I hear," Luke popped his head around the
corner, smiling when he saw Pavia there. "Come on into the living
room," he urged, acting suddenly hospitable.

Kira gave him a cup of coffee and followed
the two of them into the other room, stopping to give Tristan his
tea before taking up the same spot on the couch. Pavia and Luke sat
opposite them on two chairs.

"So what happened in the past two hours
that's got you both so wired?" Pavia's eyes went to Luke's
twiddling thumbs and Kira's ticking foot.

"It's probably easier to show you," Kira said
and reached her arm out, "just take a look at my most recent
memory." Pavia raised her eyebrows, surprised, but brushed Kira's
fingers with her own.

BOOK: Scorch
9.19Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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