Sekhmet's Curse (Pearl Vampire Chronicles) (11 page)

“What?  Where are you going
, Matt
?  Sarah?  What’s going on?” Carlos said.

I took his hand in mine, “Take a walk with me?” I whispered.

He started to protest, but then thought better of it.  Instead, I got a very leery, “Okay
,
”
from Carlos

as
we made our way out of the café.
  I struggled to stay slow as we moved through the crowded streets.  But the moment we reached the edge of the forest, my feet began moving faster and faster.  Suddenly Carlos
stubbornly planted his feet
.  He pulled hard on my arm to stop me, “Sarah?  What is this?  What’s going on?”

I placed my hand on his cheek and smiled sadly at him. My lips gently pressed onto his, “I love you so much,” I whispered.

“Sarah, tell me.  Please, tell me.”

“I will. 
At the cave.
  I promise.  Please?”

He finally nodded and we began racing up the hill again toward the cave, but I could feel his hand shaking in mine.

When we reached the mouth of the cave, he dropped my hand, hung his head, and walked halfway inside.  He didn’t know it but this was exactly where I wanted him to be.  There was no chance of escape, not unless he went through me first - which he just might try, because he was going to be pissed.  Angrier than I’ve ever seen him, I was sure.  He turned and faced me, “So.  It’s over?” he said
.
“What?  What’s over?” I was totally confused by his question. 

“Us.
 
You and me.”

“Fuck no,” I said and I saw him smile slightly, “Not unless you want it to be.”

“Oh, hell no,” he said as he visibly exhaled, “but, but I thought,”

“Oh honey.  Why would you think that?” I said.

“Because.
  This is too good to be true, Sarah.  I’m not used to being this happy.
  And with all of the
crap I’ve pulled in my life, culminating with sleeping with my best
friend’s wife, well let’s just say that I’ve been looking over my shoulder ever since.
”

“
Seriously?
  You’re living your life happy but expecting the worst?  Jesus, no wonder you’re so fucking paranoid
.
You need to stop it, Carlos, stop it, because us, this happiness, you and me and Matt, it’
s
all
here to stay,” I said as I walked toward him and wrapped my arms around him.  I didn’t want to ruin this moment, but I knew I had to tell him. 

“Carlos?” I whispered.

“It’s okay Sarah.  You can tell me why you brought me here.”

“I know who the snitch is, Carlos.”

“That’s great, Sarah.  Now we can capture them.  And punish them.  They know the rules.
We’re supposed to be
secret;
it’s safer for everyone
, both humans and vampires,
if we are.  If someone is blabbing to humans about us, they need to be stopped.
  Who is it?”

I turned my head and looked into his eyes.  I opened my mouth to tell him, but nothing came out.  I pressed my forehead into his chest.  Carlos’ hand
cupped my chin and brought my head up, “Sarah.  For God’s sake, who is it?”

I still couldn’t say her name, it hurt too much.  Instead, I
blurted out
, “She hates me because she thinks I stole you away from her.  That’s why she did it.  Oh shit, Carlos.  I’m so sorry.”

He stared for a moment, until I saw the answer flash in his surprised eyes. He gasped, “
Mmm
,
mmmmm
, Maria?  No!  It can’t be.
  She would never do this.
”

I nodded, “It’s her, Carlos. 
I‘m so sorry.”

I saw the anger begin building in him like a volcano.  Through gritted teeth he said, “Sarah. 
Unwrap
your arms.  Let me go. 
Now.”

“No, Carlos.  I can’t do that.”

Every muscle in his body was so tight it was shaking
,  “
Damn it, Sarah.  Please do not make me hurt you.  Let me fucking go right now!”

“Only if you promise to stay in here
,
w
ith me.”

“You don’t want to be around me right now.”

“Yes I do.”

“Goddamn it Sarah! Get out of my fucking way!” he screamed.

I took a step back, and smiled at him, “I’m not going
to do that Carlos.”

He stared me down, but I wouldn’t budge.  “AHHHHH!” he yelled as he threw his hands in the air and ran to the back of the cave.  He slammed his fist into the back wall, causing the whole cave to shake, and sending chunks of rock raining down on us.  He lowered his head and I watched his breath go in and out.  He seemed like he was done, but I knew he wasn’t.  Not by a long shot. I backed up a few steps and braced myself, waiting for his next move.  Suddenly, in a flash, he spun around and tried to make his escape.  I dove to my right and caught his ankle, sending him crashing face first into the ground.  He growled and tried to spin away, but my grip was too tight on his ankle.  I scrambled to my feet and moved to pounce on him.  But he was ready for me.  He shoved his other foot into my stomach and sent me flying, upside down, into the wall.  The sound of my head hitting the wall sent an echo that sounded like thunder rumbling through the hills. No time to lick my wounds, though.  Before I fell to the ground, I put my hands down, caught myself and did a few cartwheels over to Carlos, who had just managed to
get back onto his feet.  At the end of my last cartwheel, I wrapped my legs tight around his mid-section, then flipped him over and sent him flying to the back of the cave again.  I heard a loud crack as his arm broke when it caught the edge of a huge boulder as he flew past it.  I knew it had hurt.  But I also knew that it wasn’t enough to slow him down.  He nursed the arm for a few seconds then turned his fury back on me.  Putting his head down, he ran at me full speed.  The instant his head smashed into my middle, I reached down and laced my arms through his, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to stop his momentum, but making sure that he couldn’t get free. 
He pushed me and w
e continued backwards, out
of
the mouth of the cave, and
we
probably
would have gone
all the way down the mountain, if he hadn’t smashed us into a two-hundred foot
-tall
fir tree.  I gasped as the wind was knocked out of me, but
I
held firm.  He used his good arm to try to break free, to no avail.  But it was hard to keep my grip in this position.  Since his head was still down, I easily spun myself onto his back, wrapping my arms and legs around him in a vise grip.  He let
out another loud yell as he flung himself backwards toward the wall of the cave.  I braced myself for the impact.  At the last second, I sent my legs back into the wall
, absorbed the impact
and pushed off as hard as I could, sending us sliding, face-first, into the dirt.  Carlos was on his stomach and I was on top of
his back
.  He started coughing and spitting out dirt.  He fought for a moment, trying with one arm to get to his hands and knees and knock me off.  But then I felt the anger and tension leave him, like the air coming out of a balloon.  He collapsed onto his stomach, sobbing.  “God, Sarah.  How am I going to do this?  She has to be found.  She has to be stopped. She has to be punished.  But I don’t know if I can do it.  She did this because of me.”

I lifted myself up,
quickly
flipped him over then lay down on top of him so he had to look at me
. I wiped the rest of the dirt off of his face then looked deep into his eyes
, “No, Carlos.  She did this because of us.  Not you. 
Us.
  You don’t have to do this.  We do.  You aren’t a
‘
me
’
anymore, Carlos.  You are a
‘
we
’
.  You are always going to be a
‘
we
’
, no matter how many walls you throw me into.  Don’t you ever
forget
that.
”

  He stared at me for a second then his good arm reached up, grabbed the back of my head and brought my mouth down to his.  There was a hunger, an awakening, in this kiss that I had never felt from him.  Every wall that had been kept up out of habit and out of fear had come crashing down.  He whimpered lightly, afraid of the overwhelming vulnerability that was so new to him.  I pressed myself tighter to him, comforting him. Suddenly he stopped kissing and stared at me.  I saw the terror in his eyes.  Never had he opened himself up to someone so completely
,
 
n
ot
even me, I knew that and
I felt such gratitude that it was for me.  I smiled at h
im, “
It’s
okay, honey.  I’m not g
oing anywhere.”

“Sarah.  I don’t know how to do this.  I’m scared shitless right now.”

I stood up off of him and held my left hand out to him.  He looked from my face to my hand and back to my face again.  Finally he grabbed my hand with his.  His left arm hung useless by his side, and he tried not to wince when he stood up, but I saw it.  I reached up and tore his shirt down the middle.  “Jesus, Sarah,”
he whispered.  I smiled, “I making a sling for your arm because you’re not going to the clinic just yet.”   I tied the loose ends at the back of his neck and helped him slide his arm inside.  Then I wrapped my arm around his waist and kissed him.  When I finally pulled back, I looked up.  We both rose above the cave.  “Where are we going?” he said.  I pointed with my chin, “Just on the other side of those trees, on the backside of the cave.”  I brought us down at the edge of the hot springs.  “Sarah,” he whispered with a shaky voice, “Can’t we just go back home?”

“Why, Carlos?  Why do you want to go home?  Why don’t you want to be here with me?”

“Don’t do this.  Don’t make me do this.  Please?”

“What are you so afraid of, Carlos?”

He stared for a second, then I saw the anger flash in his face.  He knew I wasn’t going to back down.  “Getting hurt, okay?  I’m afraid of getting hurt.  I’ve always been afraid of getting hurt.  I know I put those walls up.  I like those walls.  They keep me safe.”

“Safe from what?
  All they’re keeping you from is real love.  You want to know what I’m afraid
of?
I’m afraid of getting in that water.  The last time I was in a hot spring
s
was when I gave birth to Jason.  But you know what?  I know that because you love me, you’ll help me with my fear.  And because I love you, I’ll help you with yours.  That’s what love without the walls is, Carlos. 
It’s knowing
that somebody is always there, watching out for me.
”

“But with you, I can’t tell.”

“Can’t tell what?”

He sighed, resigned to having to tell all now, “Look, I know that I’ve never opened my heart completely.  There’s a reason for that.  If I kept it sheltered, I could tell when things weren’t going great.  I could tell when the relationship started to go south.  So I acted first and broke up with whoever I was with.  I haven’t been dumped, ever.  I’ve never had a broken heart.  With you, I really want to give you everything, but I’m scared Sarah.  If you broke my heart, I’d never survive.”

I cupped my hand on his cheek, “I’m never going to break your heart, my love.  Open up and I promise that it will be the best thing that’s ever happened to you.
  Now,” I continued as I
smiled and
slowly
peeled off my t-shirt, “do you remember what it felt like the first time our skin touched in the limo?”

He grinned from ear to ear, “Oh, hell yeah, baby.  That was incredible.
  I had been fantasizing about that moment for years.  And when it finally happened, well, let’s just say that the best sex that I’d ever had up to that point is
n’t
adequate enough to describe it.
”

I shook my head and took a step toward him, he reached for me but I pushed his hand away, “Uh-uh, be patient.”  I moved behind him.  Close enough for him to feel my breath on the back of his neck, but not close enough to touch.  He shivered and I saw the hairs on the back of his neck go up.  I smiled and slowly moved back to face him, “That was not incredible, Carlos.  It seemed so at the time.  It was amazing.  It was hot.  It was great.  But it wasn’t incredible.  You can’t have incredible with the walls
around your heart
.
  So brace yourself sweetheart. 
Open your heart to me.  Let me in completely and it’s going to blow your mind, it’s going to knock your socks off, it’s going to rock your world, lover.
” 

I stepped up to him and pressed my chest
in
to his. 
As I brought my lips to his, he gasped and said, “Holy shit, Sarah. 
Too much.
  This is too much. Oh God, I want this, but it’s too much.”