Moon Child (34 page)
“I love you,” he said so suddenly that Ash flinched in surprise.
Still holding him, she leaned back enough to look up at him and found him smiling warmly at her. “You really do.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, I do.” He brushed back her hair with his fingertips, letting them glide slowly across her skin. “So, what now? Are we heading overseas? I thought the contractor wasn’t even close to done yet with our new place.”
Ash shook her head. The last time she talked to the project manager they were still at least two months out from finishing. Even the extra money she threw at them to move things along could only do so much with so many human factors involved. “No, it is not ready yet.”
“Building us a castle, huh?”
She chuckled and rested her face on his chest again, rubbing her cheek against him. “There was permit issues and such and then lead time on ordering all the supplies. We can find an apartment in the meantime, if you would like, somewhere close by.” She knew better than offering to stay in his parent’s home again. He reacted rather badly at the suggestion last time.
“Sure,” he said with a lilt to his voice that made her look up again. His eyes were full of mirth. “Or, maybe we can just, I don’t know, travel a bit? I’ve never been to England or Ireland. I think I’d like to see the sights. Maybe even Germany and Egypt. Hawaii would be nice too. Oh right, and Hong Kong.” The last was less for pleasure and more for important shit.
She raised a brow at him. “My, you are ambitious.”
He tightened his arms around her, practically pulling her off her feet. “Wha’do ya think?”
She smiled big and leaned in for a kiss, surprising and exciting him. “I think that sounds grand.” She lifted up on tip toe as he lowered his face towards hers. His hair was getting long and tickled her cheeks. “And when we are done, soaking up the sights and culture, we can go home and live.”
“I like the way that sounds,” he whispered before kissing her.
She flung her arms around his neck, tilting her head to the side for a deeper kiss. The moment her tongue tasted his lip, her hunger roared to life. She gasped and flung herself back, leaving Tristan standing a few feet away looking startled and sullen.
“Sorry. I guess I should feed…”
The thought of her feeding or whatever on strangers, just touching someone else no matter how “innocent” it was, bothered him. After seeing her power, her true power, he realized just how much she’d been hurting herself by not feeding. The blood replacement juice she got from her pythia only restored the tiniest fraction of seikonō to her, hardly enough to function on. In the end, it was her decision, her right to live the way she wanted.
Her jaw stiffened as she heard Tristan’s thoughts and she cleared her throat, looking to change the topic. “You decide where we go first.”
“Hmm,” Tristan hummed as he thought. “How about Egypt? That’s pretty close by, right?” He grinned and winked. “And I still want to ride a camel.”
She chuckled. “Of course.” Then sighed. “I just hope the remainder of our extended vacation is not so… harrying.”
He laughed, squeezing her hand. “Dunno, I think it was kind of exciting. Nearly dying, chasing insane vampires and lying pythia. Meeting an elf, a real elf…” His excitement lowered with his expression. “And Mamoru,” he said sadly.
“I truly am sorry for his passing. He was a great man.”
Tristan nodded, trying not to think too hard on their history together. He hated that he felt jealous of a man he respected so much. But more than that, he lamented the passing of his friend and would-be mentor.
He made a little noise of surprise and stopped. “What’s that?”
Ash frowned at the bit of paper stuck under the wiper on their rental car and stomped over to snatch it away. She read it and instantly her entire body stiffened, her nostrils flaring with anger. “That—”
“What is it?” Tristan came forward and took the note.
“Master has yur wee biblos.-D”
“Your mother’s spell book?” Tristan guessed and Ash nodded, looking furious. “Son of a bitch.”
“I should have guessed. There was no way it was lost, it is a pythia book.”
Tristan sighed, rubbing his forehead. He was sure he should have a headache. Guess he knew the real reason Desmond had showed up in Greece now. “I guess we have to go back now.”
The smile Ash gave him was dark and full of fury, and Tristan could only guess the things she had in mind for the old vampire and her devoted sidekick. “Oh yes. It would be an injustice if I did not return to give Mizu no Yukihime a piece of my mind… Perhaps a smack or two.”
Tristan grinned sloppily. “God, I love you.”
SOMETIMES
known as Stinna (pronounced Steena)
,
Christina Moore
just so happens to be her real name. Her writing career started under a pseudonym in the romance genre. But her true love has always been the paranormal. Vampires, werewolves, demons, faerie and everything in between, she loves them all—the allure of the unknown. The birth of the Uruwashi series started many years ago with a daydream sparked by a very special voice of a certain bad-ass vampire in her favorite anime. Little did she know then that the story of the Uruwashi would morph into what it is today.
When not writing or chasing her toddler, Christina loves to read, garden, cross-stitch, and play video games. A Maryland native, she lives just outside of beautiful historic downtown Annapolis with her husband, daughter (a.k.a. Tiny Boss) and two Australian Shepherds, Deunan and Aydin. Growing up riding horses to show in dressage and cross-country, later moving on to racing Volkswagens and then finding a career in the architecture industry as a graphic artist/mother hen, she’s never been a real expert in any one thing. Christina has a passion for diversity and enjoys many types of music, film and literature that sometimes clash with the norm. She's often said she's going to marry Spike Spiegel when she grows up—her husband understands.
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www.thebeautifuldeath.com
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