Odyssey (The Vampire Destiny Series Companion Book 1) (39 page)

My eyes sparkled as I stared down at her.  “You are my match in every way.  How I lived centuries without you mystifies me.”

“So let’s keep each other safe, okay?”

I nodded and grinned.  My hand started roaming down her back to squeeze her ass playfully.  “Did you actually call Kian a megalomaniac?”

“I took psychology courses in college,” she retorted haughtily.  “If the shoe fits…”

“Dr. Anderson, can you diagnose me?”  My voice was teasing as I kissed her nose and pressed a light kiss on her mouth.  She pecked at my lip with her teeth and I growled lightly as she bit hard enough to draw blood.  She traced the outline of my lips with the tip of her tongue and licked it away, moaning softly at the taste of it in her mouth.

“You are a sexy beast with control issues.  You can be overbearing, dominating and scheming,” she murmured softly.  I must have looked offended for a moment.  I started to speak and she pressed the tip of her index finger against my lips.  “You also happen to be the most generous, wonderful, loving, over-protective vampire I know.  I love you, Stefan.  Until the stars stop shining.”

“You say things such as this and have the nerve to call me a sweet talker,” I admonished and hugged her tightly.  “Promise me that if you go out you will take someone with you, either myself or Lukas.”

“I promise.”

***

“Stefan.”

I groaned and buried my head further into the pillow.  Impatient hands shook me again.

“Stefan, you need to wake up.”

I slowly opened my eyes, staring at her with unfocused eyes.  “Josephine?”

Her voice was breathless and she was shaking with panic. “You’re warm!”

“What are you talking about, vackra?” Rubbing my face with my hand, I was struggling to catch up.

“Something has happened.  When I woke up I felt like I was on fire.  You’re warm,” she blurted out.  She was not making sense.  “Feel me.”

I was fully awake when she made that particular offering.  My look of confusion changed to a sultry smirk, my eyebrows wiggling suggestively at her words.

“I don’t mean what you’re thinking, Romeo.”  She smacked my arm in exasperation.

I sat up and massaged my arm where she had hit me.  My eyes widened as I moved my hand from my arm to touch the side of her face.  Her face was tepid against my fingers.  The blazing heat of her body was gone.

“I am not warmer.  You are the same temperature as me,” I replied, my voice barely perceptible.  “You are changing.”

“Changing?”

I exhaled a heavy breath.  “When we were at the Carriage House and you were resting, Kian told me that you would change to become more like a vampire.  My influence and blood has only accelerated the process.”

She ran her fingers through her wavy copper hair.  “Oh.”

“You are stronger.”  I rubbed my arm again.  “You are not so fragile and breakable.  I will not have to be as gentle with you now.”

“What else is going to change?” She bit her lip and her green eyes grew worried.

“That I cannot answer for you.  It will be fine, Josephine.  You need to relax,” I said soothingly.  I had no experience with a hybrid vampire.  She could awake tomorrow with fangs and a desire for blood.  Or her changes could be minute and take years to manifest.

My cell phone rang, shrill and loud.  I glanced at the screen and frowned.  “This will just take a minute.”  I left the room, muttering softly into the phone.  It was Nigel with an update on his research into the library at the Carriage House.

“Stefan, you would be amazed at some of the journals I have found.  Many need to be translated, but I can say I from what I have found so far, this situation is worse than we previously thought.”

“How so?”  I guarded my words carefully.  The last thing I needed at this juncture was for Josephine to overhear this conversation and overreact.  Kian had made it clear he had her in his sights, likely to use for his advantage.  He would kill me to keep her at his side in her grief.

Nigel’s voice deepened. “Stefan, there were more hybrids.”

I quickly noticed his use of past tense.  This could not be good.  “There
were
more?”

“Yes.  I still know very little.  You are heading back to Bali soon?” 

I leaned back in the desk chair and pinched the bridge of my nose.  If it were possible for a vampire to have a headache, my head would be thumping.  “Yes.”

“Good.  Kian has the ability to block any other vampire’s talent.  Surely you cannot see his future, am I correct?” Nigel questioned.

I thought back to our arrival in New York.  I had not seen his arrival at the Carriage House, nor his declaration to be Josephine’s father.

“No, I cannot see his plans. It is a minor inconvenience, Nigel.  Surely there is another reason for your call.”

There was a silence on the line.  I heard his intake of breath.  “I spoke with Josephine’s brother.  He wants to meet with her.  He can answer many of her questions…questions I cannot answer.”

I tapped my fingers on the desk and worried about the impact of his visit.  Were his intentions good, or was he consorting with the enemy.  “When?”

“Tomorrow.”

My eyes squeezed shut and I gripped the phone tighter.  “Fine.  Give him the information he needs.  Good night, Nigel.”

Stretching my legs out in front of me, I rubbed the back of my neck.  This never-ending vampire bullshit constantly kept fucking up every plan I put into place.  I was given no reprieve and every time I had a glimmer of happiness, there was something or someone there to muddy the waters.

Now I needed to choose how much to tell Josephine.  If I shared too much too soon, it would be overwhelming.  Tell her too little and she would be mistrustful of my intentions.

Swiveling in the chair, the leather squeaked under my weight.  It was then that I noticed the silence of the apartment. I had been so preoccupied with my phone call, I did not realize her absence in the bond until I hung up the phone and noticed the emptiness in the silent apartment.  To add insult to injury, she had closed off her side of the bond to me purposely. It left me unable to locate her, and my chest throbbed at the loss of her presence.

Again, she had run from me.  She had chosen to disappear when she could no longer handle reality.

If I was not so worried about her safety, I would be furious.

If I did not love her so deeply, I would simply push her and the silly notion of love away. It was easier not to care.  My life had been in complete disarray since I found her in Bali.

She knew the risks of foolishly running off into the night, yet still chose to run…even though she had promised me otherwise.

I wanted to rip the apartment to shreds, to simply destroy anything that made the mistake of standing in my path in my ire.

Storming down the hallway, I grabbed my phone and dialed her number. It rang and rang before switching to voice mail. My fingers tightened around the metal of the phone. If I was not careful, I would turn it to dust in my palm.

I had given her my love, my assurances, my protection...yet it still was not enough for her. She still chose to flee when things became difficult.

Undecided as to what to do, I simply sat in the darkness of the apartment. I stared off into the New York skyline and tried to settle my tumultuous thoughts.

It was useless. Without her…nothing mattered.

***

I heard her as she approached the apartment door.  I had not moved from the chair, leaving the apartment in complete darkness.  My impulsive anger had evolved to deep introspection.  For 200 years, my mind had been focused solely on finding my mate.  I had not stopped to think of the ramifications she would suffer.  She was still only human, if only partially.  They did not handle change like immortals.  We simply adapted and moved forward.  We had no other option.

Humans never accepted change well.  They were prone to fits of temper, and in Josephine’s case, running scared when things overwhelmed her.

The doorknob rattled and the door creaked open.  I could see her perfectly, making out the gloss of her hair and the opalescent glow of her skin. She navigated easily through the darkness, finding the counter to place her purse and keys on.

“Stefan?” she called out.  Her smoky voice wavered slightly as she anxiously pushed her long hair behind her ear.  She stood quietly, listening for any sounds.  “Stefan?  Are you here?”

Switching on the lamp next to me, I glared at her through narrowed eyes; my large frame slouched over in the chair and my fingers strummed restlessly against my thighs.  My lips were pressed into a thin line, and my hair was a mess from all the times my hands passed through it.

“Do you have any idea how worried I have been, Josephine?  I leave the room for a moment and you run from me.  I call you dozens of times and you ignore me.  Explain what the fuck you think you were doing?”  I asked coldly.  When I was angry, the accent in my voice normally became more pronounced, but I was so infuriated that I had no inflection in my voice at all.