Promise (37 page)

"
FUCK!
" He yelled, slamming his fists
against his thighs and making me jump. My heart hammered against my
chest as I continued to stare at him wide-eyed. "The fucking
bastards!"

He was serious.
His house is gone.
Everything…gone
.

"What happened?" I asked, my voice small,
frightened. I knew the answer, but didn't want to say it.

"I'm not exactly sure, but I have a pretty
damn good guess," he seethed. He also didn't want to say it.

After he calmed down about an hour later, he
called the authorities. He held his head in his hands as he
listened to them, barely saying anything on his end. He snapped the
phone shut and jerked his hand as if to throw it against the wall,
but he held onto it.

His voice was frighteningly calm when he
explained. "Their initial assessment is something ignited fumes
from the generator. They said it wasn't properly shut off after the
storm."

I stared at him in disbelief and terror.
"Tristan…we didn't use the generator."

"I
know
." He paced the room again.

The vision of his sleek house on the
beach…the motorcycles and other toys…all he owned…everything
exploding in flames filled my head.

"I can't believe…your
house
…
everything
?"

He stopped pacing in front of me and lifted
me in a hug. "It's just stuff, my love. At least we weren't
there."

"Do you think they knew we weren't
there?"

He held me tighter and said grimly, "Yes. I
think it was a message."

My stomach clenched. I thought I would be
sick if I had anything in it.
They know.
We held each other
in silence for several minutes. A pounding on the front door made
us both jump.

"Stefan," Tristan said, letting me go.

"Tristan, you have to get out of here.
Immediately," Stefan said, bursting through the door as soon as
Tristan unlocked it.

"But, we can't—," Tristan started, but Stefan
interrupted.

"I know what happened, but you cannot stay
here. They know you are around here somewhere."

"Son of a bitch!" Tristan pounded the
counter, cracking the granite countertop. "
How?
"

"From what I have gathered, a local was drunk
in Key West, complaining loudly about how a couple tried to rob him
and broke his arm. He described you two perfectly, down to the mark
on Alexis's chest." Stefan glanced at me grimly. "They do not know
exactly where you are, but they know you are in the Keys and they
are looking."

"Alexis, get ready to go.
Now
,"
Tristan ordered.

I hurried into the bedroom and threw whatever
clothes I could get my hands on into our bags as quickly as my
shaking hands allowed. Tristan closed all the shutters and locked
up the house. We were on the road in five minutes and in Mom's
driveway in two hours.

"I need to see if there's anything left at
all," Tristan said, not getting out of the car.

"But I want to—"

"No, it's not safe. You stay here with
Sophia." He leaned over and kissed me. "I won't be long."

I sighed with resignation. "I love you."

"I love you, too," he said. "Now go. I'll be
right back."

He nudged me and I grabbed our bags and
hurried inside. Mom rushed to greet me with open arms. She squeezed
me tightly and then pushed me back. Her face looked sick with
worry.

"You need to pack just the bare necessities,"
she said, the words coming in a rush. "We have to get out of here.
Just the basics. And be sure to back up your book and wipe out your
hard drive."

I gave her a confused look.

"You heard me. We need to go. It's not safe
here anymore."

I obeyed. I knew what "bare necessities"
meant from previous departures—enough clothes for a couple days and
important documents. That was all. I saved two copies of the book
on CDs and erased the hard drive. I gave one CD to Mom and put the
other in my own purse. We were ready to go by the time Tristan
walked in the door. I flew into his arms. I hated being separated
from him and he, apparently, hated it, too, because he held me
tightly.

"Anything?" I asked.

"No, didn't look like it. I didn't get too
close, though. I'm sure it's being watched."

"We need to go now," Mom said. "The Daemoni
know about the marriage and your vows to the Amadis and claim it's
Provocation. They've given free rein on all
Amadis…
especially
on royalty."

Owen and Stefan burst through the door.

"Tristan, get her out of here!" Stefan
barked.

Tristan pulled me out to the car and threw
our bags into the tiny trunk space. My heart hammered for the first
hundred miles we drove, headed north, as I stared out the window in
fear. I imagined demons surrounding us, flying over us, waiting for
an opportunity to swoop down and attack. I wondered where we could
go for safety.
Can we ever get away?

Then deep sadness eclipsed the fear as I
closed my eyes and visions of the past year played against my
eyelids. It all seemed so innocent and safe.
Will we ever have
peace again?
The tears fell silently as I absently played with
the pendant on the chain. Tristan gently squeezed my hand.

"I rushed us right into this mess, didn't I?"
I said quietly.

He looked at me. "Don't
ever
blame
yourself for this, Alexis. This started before you were even
born."

"I insisted we get married, though."

"It would've happened anyway, whether we
married now or ten years from now. The marriage was
inevitable…unless they killed us first. So, at least we
are
married." He squeezed my hand again. "I wouldn't have it any other
way. I'd rather fight for us forever than not have an
us
to
fight for."

I kissed his hand and held it against my
face.

"I love you more than anything,
ma
lykita
."

"Together forever, right?"

"Absolutely." He smiled and winked at me. I
didn't fog over. And that made me sadder.

We drove for hours, stopping only for gas.
Finally, a little after midnight and somewhere near the South
Carolina-North Carolina line, Tristan turned off the main highway,
crisscrossed several country roads and found a small town with a
motel. When he pulled in front of the motel office, Mom, Stefan and
Owen stepped out of a dark corner. Mom and Stefan stood by the car
while Tristan paid for the adjoining rooms and Owen disappeared to
place a shield over the entire motel. I still didn't know how he
did it—I just took it for granted it was there.

"Anything new?" Tristan asked the others once
we were locked inside the rooms. I sat on a bed and pulled my knees
to my chest.

"Nothing from Rina," Mom answered.

"There have been a couple of attacks on my
people, just because they can," Stefan said. "But the Daemoni are
really focused on you two. Fortunately, they do not know where you
are. We have been able to sidetrack them, at least for the time
being."

"There's still a safe house in Washington?"
Tristan asked.

"It's being cleared for us," Mom said.

"We will need to divert them, though," Stefan
said. "Go on north, past the safe house, and double-back the long
way."

They discussed a watch schedule so everyone
could sleep, then Mom, Stefan and Owen went into the other room.
Tristan sat on the bed next to me and rummaged through a sack of
snack food Mom brought us.
How can he eat?
He opened a bag
of chips and tossed a package of cheese crackers at me. The thought
made my stomach lurch. I made a face.

"You need to eat," he said.

"I don't think I can."

"You haven't eaten for over twenty-four
hours." He opened the package. I took a couple crackers to make him
happy and after eating one, I realized how hungry I actually felt.
I devoured the entire package and then started on a candy bar. Just
as I swallowed the second bite, my stomach lurched again and I had
to run for the bathroom.

"You okay?" Tristan asked when I came back
out.

"Just really scared," I admitted.

He held me close in the bed and I trembled in
his arms. I woke up once after a nightmare and the room was dark. I
was alone in the bed.

"Tristan?" I whispered.

"I'm here, my love. It's okay," he answered
from somewhere else in the room. It must have been his turn to keep
watch.

I felt Mom climb into the bed next to me. She
put her arms around me. I fell back to sleep.

***

"Lexi,
ma lykita
," Tristan murmured,
nuzzling my neck. "You need to wake up."

He picked me up and carried me into the
bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind us. He kissed me
fully awake.

"What are you doing?" I asked between
kisses.

"We only have thirty minutes and it's been
nearly twenty-four hours since I made love to my wife," he said,
starting to undress me.

"Now? Here?" Despite the verbal protests, I
automatically responded to his touch.

"Just be very careful so we don't break
anything. I've already paid in cash."

He turned the water on and we stepped into
the shower together. The bathtub was tiny and we had to be careful,
so it wasn't nearly as wonderful as it usually was in the shower.
But it was
real
. And it was
for
us, when everything
else was against us. I gave myself to Tristan, not knowing when the
next time would be that we could just enjoy each other.

Thirty minutes later, we left the motel. Mom,
Stefan and Owen disappeared while Tristan and I drove for hours. I
stared out the window, barely noticing the changing landscapes as
we sped north, past the Washington, D.C., area, up through northern
Maryland and even briefly crossed into Pennsylvania. Every time we
stopped for gas, Mom, Stefan and Owen waited for us, as if they'd
somehow been following. Mom accompanied me to the bathroom and she
didn't say anything, but gave me a knowing look when I vomited
every time. My stomach stayed knotted with fear.

In the afternoon, we looped back, dropping
down into Northern Virginia. As we had several times already, we
exited off the highway to take the back roads, sometimes crossing
and retracing our path.

"We're getting close," Tristan finally said
at about five in the afternoon.

We were somewhere in Fairfax County,
Virginia. Though it was only twenty miles from where we lived in
Arlington, I didn't know the area. The busy suburbia tapered into a
more rural area, with large colonial-style mini-mansions in
estate-type subdivisions. Then the subdivisions disappeared and
houses were scattered on large acreage lots, thick woods separating
them. We turned down a narrow street, sunlight filtering through
the trees encroaching both sides.

"Shit," Tristan swore under his breath. The
street dead-ended about two hundred yards away.

"Are we lost?" I asked, my voice small with
fear. This was the worst time to be lost.

"No." His jaw clenched. "We're
surrounded."

My stomach rolled. Vomit shot up my throat
and I clamped my hand over my mouth, but it couldn't make it past
the huge lump stuck in the passageway. I trembled all over.

"Hang on,
ma lykita
. Things could get
ugly." He slammed on the accelerator.

We tore down the narrow street. I wanted to
squeeze my eyes closed before we flew into the wooded dead-end, but
my eyelids peeled back, refusing to shut. Just before we reached
the end, the trees surrounding us opened into a large meadow. A
grand mansion stood toward the back of it. Tristan sped for the
structure.

A man suddenly appeared in the meadow, to our
left. He turned toward us. Someone else flew out of nowhere,
knocking him to the ground. More people started appearing with
faint pops. Voices yelled over the Ferrari's engine. They started
fighting with each other. The car slid and fish-tailed as Tristan
swerved to avoid them. I turned in my seat to watch as we
passed.

Some shot unseen powers at their opponents,
sending them backwards several yards. They were instantly on their
feet, shooting power back at their assailants. Others traded
violent blows in hand-to-hand combat. A long object sailed across
the window. My head whipped to where it came from. One of the
people fighting just lost an arm. But he kept fighting,
unfazed.

Holy hell! Who
are
these
people?!
I didn't even know who was Amadis and who was the
enemy. They all fought viciously, like animals.
Is this what it
means to be Amadis? Is this what I'm in for the rest of my
life?
Rina said Amadis were good, full of love, ruled by
Heaven. Not this…this repulsive brutality.

The Ferrari abruptly stopped. My hands flew
to the dash to brace myself before I sailed head-first through the
windshield. The car door flew open. My body left the car seat and
air rushed by. Then I was suddenly set on my feet inside the
mansion. Owen stood next to me and Tristan appeared right behind
us. My stomach heaved.

"Bathroom!" I bellowed. Another rush of air
and I stood in front of a porcelain toilet. I leaned over and
puked. Then my knees buckled as I fell to the floor, my body
shaking violently.

"It's okay, honey. You're safe now," Mom
said, pressing a cool, wet washcloth against my forehead. I had no
response.

Eventually the trembling stopped and I
tentatively stood. Mom led me down the hall to a dark living room
filled with antique furniture. The curtains were drawn tightly
shut, but I could still hear fighting outside. Rina rose from a
wing-backed chair to my right and opened her arms wide.

"Alexis, my poor dear," she said. Her power
washed over me as she embraced me. "Ah, a baby…or two?"