Raven's Desires (Night Hunters) (3 page)

Raven took several deep breaths, inhaling through her nose and exhaling from her mouth. Again, she inhaled, then exhaled. Raven frowned as the trees began to sway back and forth in the breeze. The clear skies turned dark in a matter of seconds. Her now clear and sunny day was turning into a storm. That was not right, she controlled her thoughts and today was not a rainy day thought.

Raven tried to open her eyes but she could not
—
she was stuck inside her mind where her dream getaway was turning into the horror from hell.

A loud boom sounding like lightning striking exploded in her mind. Raven jumped and her fingers dug into the cushion of the sofa. Her heart leaped and it beat at an unusual speed. Her breaths came in short pants. The lightning struck again, this time louder than before. Raven tried to force her eyes open again but couldn’t. She groaned when the lights flashed brightly behind her eyelids. One after another. Each one came faster and louder than the next. The sound of ocean waves roared in her mind. Raven reached out for anything to anchor herself to. She didn’t feel that she was in control of her body any longer.

What the hell was happening to her? Raven felt warmth spreading through her body. Starting from her head where it burned brightly before traveling down her neck to her heart, it beat triple time before the feeling moved down to her legs. By the time the feeling reached her feet she had no control of her body. She could not move at all.

Raven managed to pry open her eyes some time later after everything went quiet again. She looked around to see darkness. She no longer lay on her beach but floated in midair in nothing but darkness. The only light was the dim light surrounding her. A small eruption exploded making Raven close her eyes from fear. If she was going to die, she didn’t want to see what was going to happen.

When she reopened her eyes again she was floating in midair surrounded by stars. Raven looked down and concentrated on moving her fingers. She stretched her hands in front of her, glad that she could move again.

Her heart was still beating quickly. Her body still shook from the feeling. Her gaze traveled around where she floated. It was so beautiful. She reached out trying to touch a star. When her finger touched the star it shimmered like what would happen if you touched stilled water.

“Raven,” the voice that she had heard many nights called to her in the wind. “You have to remember. You have to remember.”

Raven turned to only see more stars. No one was there with her. Not a single soul.

“Remember the love that we had.”

“What love? Who are you?” Raven never answered the voice before, but tonight she felt impelled to.

No response. Nothing.

“Who are you?” she repeated.

“Your soul mate.”

“I don’t have a soul mate. Who are you?”

Raven screamed as her body jerked and she moved through the space faster than she had ever moved. She was being pulled through the stars by an invisible force.

They zoomed by faster and faster. Flashes of light shot through her body and when they touched her she could feel her body absorbing them. Memory after memory of her past life flooded her mind. She remembered now, herself as a child blowing out the candles. It was her tenth birthday. Her friends were all around her cheering her on as she tried to blow out the magic candles. She remembered her mother and father standing in front of her laughing as she tried her hardest to get those candles out. She also remembered the café and who sat in front of her. She knew the couple kissing in the booth behind her. That night at the café was the night that changed her life. She remembered everything.

She knew who and what she was. Oh god, she knew what Alec had done to her. Even worse, she knew what she had done to people along the way.

Raven remembered her soul mate Kristian. She remembered him. Tears flowed down her cheeks. She wrapped her arms around her body as she remembered him. She remembered how much she loved him.

More flashes of light came, this time followed by images of her and Kristian together. Images of them kissing. Laughing. Playing. Kristian
—
the voice that spoke to her was him. The love of her life.

Raven wanted to scream as one memory came back to her. Alec had tricked her from the moment he came into her life at the school. He wanted her. He wanted to control her. She remembered it all.

The injection.

The plot.

Kristian being in prison.

Everything.

Raven opened her eyes to see Kristian floating in front of her. She opened her mouth a few times trying to find the words but nothing came out.

Kristian lifted his hand and she followed his movements. Their hands touched, making her shiver.

“Kristian,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry. I…I…”

“Don’t say a word, my love. Just come and get me. Let them know what happened.”

More tears rolled down Raven’s face.

“I will. I promise you, I will.”

Raven’s head pounded until it felt like it would explode. She groaned and held her head.

“What’s wrong, Raven?” She heard Kristian’s voice, but the pain came ten folds.

“My head. Ahhhhh! It hurts.”

“No, you stay with me, Raven. Don’t go back.”

“Help me, Kristian. Please, make it stop.”

Raven felt his strong fingers laced with hers.

“I’m here with you. I will not let you go. Never. Stay with me, Raven.”

Raven could feel herself being pulled away from Kristian. Their fingers unlaced and she knew that she was waking up.

“Kristian!” she screamed and opened her eyes.

Tears flowed down her face as she looked around the room. She blinked a couple of times trying to remember what had happened. The last thing she remembered was sitting on the couch. How did she get on her bed? She moved her arms but couldn’t move them much. Her arms and legs were strapped to the bed.

“I almost didn’t get to you in time,” Alec said from the side of the bed.

Raven turned her head quickly to see Alec standing there, his black eyes staring down at her. He wore his usual clothing. Black shirt and pants, neat and clean. The bastard was a vampire! He pretended to be a close friend to her. He was no friend. He tricked her.

“Alec, you son of a bitch. Let me go!”

Alec chuckled at her.

“In a moment, dear. Just one moment and this will all be over with. I hope you had fun remembering Kristian. I don’t know how he got to you this time but I guess I will have to give you a double dose. I knew when you started to remember little things about vampires I should have injected you then. Last night after you started to talk about things I know you shouldn’t have remembered, I knew it was time to inject you again.” Alec growled. “If this happens again, next time I will not wait.”

“No,” Raven begged and struggled to get free.

“You can try to get out of that restraint, little slayer but it is no use.”

Alec unzipped a bag and took out a needle.

“Alec, please, no. I don’t want to forget. I need him.”

“You do not need him. You have been without him for ten years now.”

Raven screamed and struggled to get free from the straps.

“Help me!”

“No one can hear you scream.”

Alec flicked the needle with his finger.

“When you wake, my ebony beauty, you will be right back in your hometown. Meadville, Pennsylvania, here we come.”

“No!” Raven pulled at the strap but to no avail.

Alec pushed down with one hand on her arm.

“Say goodbye to him, Raven. Now and forever.”

“Alec, please don’t.”

Raven screamed as he injected the liquid into her arm.

Her veins quickly spread the solution through her body. Moments later her eyes felt heavy. She frowned as she looked at Alec as he stood there with a smile on his face.

“I will kill you,” she whispered before closing her eyes.

The sound of Alec’s voice spoke to her, calming her, reprogramming her.

Chapter 2

“No!” Kristian screamed, coming awake.

He sat up, his heart pounding furiously against his chest. He breathed in and out, trying to calm his overacting heart. He looked around the darkened room searching for his mate. At long last, after so many endless tries and failures to communicate with Raven, she finally remembered him. She remembered the love they shared. She wanted him again. Her promise brought tears to his eyes and strengthened his heart to know that he had gotten through to her.

Kristian knew that if he’d broken through whatever Alec had done to her, he would be able to do it again. He didn’t care if it took another ten years. He wanted his mate and he would fight each and every day of his life until she was in his arms again.

It took him several moments to realize that he sat on the couch in Jasmine’s office and not in Raven’s mind with her. He sighed. Once again, he was alone
—
alone in this prison, where he would probably rot for the next hundred and ninety years.

The sounds of approaching footsteps made Kristian tense and jump up from the couch.

“Careful.” Jasmine said softly as she walked into the room.

Kristian breathed out a sigh of relief before looking down at his hands. He had them balled tightly, ready to strike at any moment. Slowly he opened his hands, extending his fingers to see his nails were long. The nails had actually carved small half-moons into his palms from the pressure. He was sure that his eyes were red with anger and he’d probably even growled at Jasmine unintentionally. Instead of attacking him as any dreamwalker would have, she only spoke one softly uttered word.

Careful.

Kristian knew that
careful
from Jasmine wasn’t for him hurting her, but the other way around. He couldn’t do any harm to Jasmine in his current weakened condition.

After several long breaths he calmed himself and flopped down on the couch.

“My apologies,” Kristian said before leaning back on the couch.

“It is fine, Kristian.”

“How long was I sleeping?”

Jasmine looked up at the clock. “Around twenty hours. Why?”

“I had a dream about Raven. She remembered me and the love we shared. She promised me she would come get me. Then, she woke up and I felt her fear. She was afraid of something or someone. All of a sudden everything went dark again and I could not connect with her. I guess her memory got wiped again.”

“Could be.”

Jasmine handed him a mug. The scent of blood assaulted his senses and he gulped down the liquid in one swallow.

“Careful there, at least taste it first.”

Kristian’s body quickly absorbed the blood. His starving cells needed more. A lot more. One cup could have sustained him a while back but now it only quenched a little of his thirst.

“Thank you.”

He wanted to ask for more, needed more, but he would not overstep any boundaries with Jasmine. She helped him when no one else would, but Kristian knew he still stood alone in this world.

Jasmine leaned against her desk. “You know, Kristian, every time I bring you to my office I’m violating every rule in the book. Freeing you from the sun. Letting you sleep. Feeding you. I don’t know why I’m taking such a big risk with you.”

“You know I’m innocent—”

“Do I?” Jasmine cut in. “So many beings here claimed to be innocent. But you, you are different. For some reason I do not feel that you killed anyone.”

Jasmine pushed herself off the desk and grabbed the cup from his hand.

“I never killed a human. I was framed. Alec Sullivan is not who he seems. He is not a changed vampire. He has something up his sleeves and I know it involves my mate.”

“If what you say is true, Kristian, why doesn’t he just kill her like he has so many others? Why did he keep you alive when he had a chance to kill you? This all does not make sense to me, Kristian.”

“Why wouldn’t a vampire, hyped up on slayer’s blood, want a slayer as a pet? Free blood sounds like a good idea to me. Especially if the blood you are getting is much stronger and powerful than any that you have ever tasted. I do not know why he has not killed her, but I’m sure it’s something about Raven or even her blood. She’s different.”

Jasmine frowned at him. “What do you mean different?”

Kristian shrugged not really knowing how to explain it to Jasmine.

“I have had slayer’s blood before. Not fresh, but I know what it tastes like. Raven is not only human and slayer but something more powerful and stronger than I have ever tasted before. I never in my life tasted anything like it before.”

“Did you tell her or anyone about this?”

Kristian shook his head. “You are the first person I’m telling this to. I did not know if I wanted to tell her, since she was so new to learning the world, or just keep it to myself. I did not want other vampires trying to sink their teeth in my mate to see what she tastes like. I know that whatever she is, it’s very powerful, and I’m afraid that’s why Alec keeps her alive.” Kristian sighed at the thought of Alec actually taking Raven’s blood and finding out what was in her blood. “As far as him killing me, I don’t know why he didn’t kill me that night. Maybe he wants me to suffer knowing that my mate is alive and does not remember me. He knew that would torture me more than being locked up for a crime I didn’t commit.”