The Last Keeper (22 page)

He stopped me before I got any lower. “My turn.”

He was gentle as he began kissing me, touching me. He copied my movements, running his fingertips gently over my thighs, capturing every inch of them as he went. Such overwhelming sensations from such delicate touches. His hands were warm against my skin, making me tingle in anticipation. He brushed the backs of them against the underside of my breasts, causing me to moan and arch up against him. My mind was filled with the intimacy and tender warmth in his touch and the delicate strangeness of the experience. His measured caresses felt wonderful, but I was ready for more. So was Ray.
 

With only a little struggle, he was above me, gazing down.
 

“Tell me if you want me to stop,” he whispered.

I nodded, and he pushed forward, slowly. The feel of him inside me took my breath away, making me gasp. It was utterly unique.
 

“Are you all right?” He paused for a moment, allowing me to adjust to the delightfully new sensation.
 

I looked up into his eyes, which were filled with concern, and whispered, “Yes.”

I wrapped myself around him, holding him close as we moved together. It was like nothing I’d ever experienced, and Ray’s moaned breaths whispering across my skin made it all the more enticing. Never before had I felt something so intimate, so incredible. I wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of time like this, in his arms, joined with him.

With a few more deep, powerful thrusts, he moaned my name, tightening his arms around me.
 

I ran my hands gently down his back. We lay together for a while, relishing the feel of each other, before Ray pulled the blankets around us.
 

“I love you,” he whispered, holding me close.

“I love you, too.” Snuggling deeper into his arms, I smiled. “You were worth waiting for.”

For the second time since moving to the city, I awoke in Ray’s arms. The memories of his proposal and our evening together came flooding back, making me sigh and snuggle deeper into his embrace.
 

   
He obliged me by pulling me closer. “Helen came by to say that breakfast was ready. She seemed jubilant.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, as soon as she saw you sleeping, there was an undeniable smile on her face.”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to find the peace to fall asleep.” Being with Ray must be the key to a good night’s rest, as well as a few other things.

“Maybe I should share your bed more often then,” he suggested just as a loud gurgle announced his hunger.

“I think you may be hungry, especially after last night.”

“May I blame you for wearing me out?” His voice was teasing, but it sent a thrill through me. It was entirely my fault we’d ended up as we were. Not that I regretted it for a single moment.

“I suppose you may.” We smiled at the memory. “Perhaps I should get dressed before I’m tempted to do the same again.”

“Or we could skip breakfast and have an early lunch in say, an hour? Or two?”
 

His offer was very enticing. Too much so. Helen was expecting us for breakfast and Ray needed to eat. Before I was tempted any further by the naked man who was suggestively eyeing me, I sprang up and raced into my dressing room. Only a few moments later, I was clad in the same summer dress I’d been wearing when I was caught in his bed by Liz. He was leaning back on his elbows, staring after me in shock.

“You are too fast for your own good,” he grumbled.

“That may be so, but you do need to eat, and that’s not going to happen with you sprawled across my bed,” I told him, laughing at his sullen expression. “When we’re married, I plan on keeping you there all day, but in the meantime . . .” I trailed off as a sound outside caught my attention.

A horse had stopped in front of the house. It wasn’t unusual for us to get visitors, and Sam was busy fixing the gate so he would see to it. But as I turned back to Ray, the front door banged open and Helen’s panicked cry echoed through the house.

“Stay here, and do not leave the room unless I come for you,” I called over my shoulder.

Leaving Ray slightly startled, I raced downstairs. Something was gravely wrong. The echo of the sound rattling around in my head sent a chill down my spine and all traces of my good mood vanished.
 

At the bottom of the stairs, I was confronted with the sight of Sam struggling under the weight of an unconscious child.
 

In his arms lay David, William’s youngest son.

“What happened?” I demanded, taking him into my arms.

It was a five-day ride for a grown man to William’s house. Minimum. David was nine years old, barely. There was no way he should have been unaccompanied on my front doorstep. How had he crossed the channel? Or the war-torn landscape of France?

“Where is William?” I asked, panicked.

“He was alone, and he was holding this.” Helen handed me a piece of paper. The words on it made my blood run cold.

“Take the children up to my room. Don’t leave until I return,” I ordered.

Helen knew not to argue when I started giving out orders. Before they left, I pulled Sam to the side. “Do not let them out of your sight, and I want you armed.”

He nodded gravely, racing up the stairs after Helen and Jayne.
 

If he’d been followed, then we had to get out of the city before nightfall. I needed to check, to make sure David was alone.
 

There was a house up north we could use until it was safe to leave the country. The others could go ahead.

Almost an hour later, I ducked back into the eerily quiet house. There were no signs of more vampires in the city, but that didn’t mean everything was fine. Things were far, far from fine.
 

“Helen?” I asked as I gently knocked on my bedroom door. “It’s safe.”

Seconds later the door swung open to reveal a very worried Helen and Sam, a terrified Jayne, a still unconscious David, and Ray. His eyes held fear, but it wasn’t fear for himself.

“I’m sorry I scared you, sweetheart,” I said, addressing Jayne. “I thought there was something wrong, but everything is fine.”

“Serenity, what’s going on?” Helen whispered, glancing at the note that was clutched in my hands.

“Jayne, will you sit with David for a moment? I need to talk to your mother.” Regardless of the fact that I’d scared her more than ever before, she did as she was asked without question.

“The Seat isn’t in the city,” I said, as we gathered in the sitting room.
 

“How is that relevant to this?” Sam asked, putting a calming hand on Helen’s shoulder.

“Dearest Serenity,” I read aloud. “I do hope this note has reached you in time. If you truly value your last remaining brother, you will arrive at his home in a timely manner. If not, then your William will die, as will your partner, Ray. It is time you stopped trying to beat us. Yours, Elena.”

Helen gasped, leaning into Sam for support, her hand coming up to her throat. “They have William.”

“How do they know?” Ray whispered.

“Laura. It must have been,” I said. “Ray, I have a house up north. I’m sending you up there whilst I go and make sure William is safe. When your mother returns this evening, tell her everything. I don’t think it would be safe to leave her here.”

“Are you sure?”

“If they know who you are, she’s not safe.”

There was nothing more I could say. I couldn’t guarantee anyone’s safety as long as we were in London. Hell, it was likely that I couldn’t guarantee it no matter where we were. The best option was for us all to disappear. People could make whatever assumptions they wanted after we were gone.

Leaving Helen to explain to Ray what would happen, I returned to my room. David was awake, talking quietly with Jayne. I smiled sadly. There wasn’t time to stop and chat with them, not when William’s life was so precariously balanced.
 

“Stay here until your mother comes,” I told Jayne.

In mere seconds I was changed, wearing the same clothes I’d worn just a day before. My hair was plaited down my back, ready for running. Apart from crossing the channel, I planned on going on foot. I was quicker than any horse, and time was so very precious.
 

My next stop was my study. Reaching for the key I’d shown Ray so recently, I unlocked the steel cupboard. One knife went into each boot, another on my belt. One of the tiny arrowheads was tied to the bottom of my plait, and two more were placed in my gloves. They sat perfectly between my fingers, turning a normal punch into a deadly one.
 

“You’re going, then?” Helen asked, standing in the doorway.

“What choice do I have? I won’t stand by and let them slaughter him. His eldest son is still with him.
I have to go.
”

“Be careful, Serenity.”

“I always am, but this is William’s life. Please, be out of the city by nightfall.”

There was little time for a proper goodbye with Ray. He stood awkwardly by the sitting room door.

“Come back soon,” Ray whispered, wrapping his free arm around my waist.

“I will,” I promised. “I’m so sorry.”

“This isn’t your fault, Serenity. If we need to move, then we shall move.” It was now that his acceptance of the life I led would be tested to the fullest.
 

I kissed him one last time before racing out of the door once more. If Elena had William, then what she could do to him was irrelevant. What she could do to Alison . . .
 

Getting out of the city on foot, dressed as I was, proved to be far simpler than I’d expected. I headed straight for the Thames. My boat would be waiting for me, as it always was. The boat journey was the most tedious part; agonisingly slow. It gave my mind time to wander and let me dwell on the fears I’d been holding back.

Fear for William’s life.

Fear for the lives of his family.

Fear of being the last of my kind.

Fear for my own life.
 

But above all else, there was one fear that outweighed all of them combined: fear for Ray’s life.

They knew who he was. Although they’d only mentioned his first name, there was no telling how much they knew about him.
 

It was possible this whole thing had been orchestrated as a trap. The Seats could very well be moving against Ray. It was why I’d insisted on him being out of the city by nightfall. It didn’t matter if we lost everything in there. The entrance to the basement was hidden, so the books would be safe until I could get to them. Ray was what mattered most..
 

As soon as I was off the boat, I started running, fast as I was able. There would be bloodshed, and I could only hope the blood wasn’t from someone I loved.

It was almost dark by the time I approached the border between France and Switzerland. Though there was little time to waste, I checked the surrounding area. Ten miles in all directions. Living on the outskirts of the village, as William did, provided privacy, but it also provided the perfect setting for an attack.

There would be no witnesses.

Elena was waiting when I eased through the open front door of William’s home.
 

“
Serenity Cardea.
How nice of you to join us.” Elena’s voice caused a snarl to tear through me. “Now, now, there is no need for such hostility.”

I didn’t have time for games. Springing forward, I caught Elena by the throat and slammed her into the wall. In the same instant I went for one of the knives, pressing it into her skin.
 

“What have you done to them?”
 

“Who said
I
did anything to anyone?” She laughed, the action causing the blade to draw blood. Not enough to kill her. Shame.
 

I heard Alison’s laboured breathing and William’s grunts of pain. I didn’t need Elena to tell me what she’d done. That much was all too clear. But, I couldn’t hear William’s eldest son.
 

“Do not toy with me, Elena.”
 

“Oh, but I am not toying with you. Do you really think drawing my blood will alter the course of the things we have set in motion?” There was amusement in her eyes as she taunted me, forcing the blade deeper into her neck.
 

Letting her drop to the floor, I raced in the direction of the sporadic cries of pain. I knew this house as well as my own. It was one of the stipulations of knowing where each other was.

“Oh God,” I muttered when I found William and Alison. “William? How much did they give her?”
 

The laboured breathing. The tossing and turning. The inexplicable pain William was in. It all pointed to one thing. Alison was going through the change, and there was very little that could stop it.
 

“Too much,” William grunted between breaths.

“No. Please, no. William, I need you to fight for me,” I begged. “
Please.
”

“Not this time, Sere.” His breaths were coming quicker now, each a pained gasp counting down the seconds he had left to live.