Vampires' Consort: Magical Menages, Book 2 (25 page)

Akila held her breath, her chest tight with apprehension and her eyes fixed on the road behind them. Fire could kill vampires, and an explosion like that, if Valarian hadn’t gotten away quick enough… Images of the vampires she herself had set on fire tonight flashed through her mind. To lose Valarian would be…well, it was simply unthinkable and so she refused to consider it.

Suddenly the door of the Rover was pulled open. Both Amber and Akila shrieked in surprise. Valarian vaulted into the backseat beside them, smelling of smoke and scorched earth. Relief cut the cords of tension binding her heart and soared through her. Safe. He was safe and alive.

“Drive,” Valarian ordered.

Ali didn’t hesitate. He pressed the pedal to the floor and the Rover shot forward, lurching over the rutted road with bone-rattling speed.

“Careful,” Jacob warned. “They’re not after us now. Don’t risk an accident.”

For the brief time it took to reach the main road and Valarian and Jacob’s vehicle, everyone remained silent, recovering from the rollercoaster ride of the past hours.

Akila glanced at Brian. His eyes were closed and his head was wedged beneath Amber’s chin as the girl held him tight. Amber met Akila’s eyes. “No one’s going to believe us, are they? This isn’t something you can go to the police and explain.”

“They’ll believe,” Akila assured her. “Everything changed today—on national TV. People know now that vampires exist. The world has to accept it and learn to deal.”

“Fucking vampires,” Ali muttered. “Unbelievable.”

“They’re not all evil bloodsuckers,” Akila said, looking at Valarian, who was staring out the window. “Some are good. You can’t lump them all together. That’s like racial profiling—which I’m sure
you
don’t approve of.”

She met Ali’s gaze in the rearview mirror. The very Arabic-looking young man scowled back at her, then returned his gaze to the road.

“Pull over here,” Jacob said.

A couple of minutes later, Akila, Jacob and Valarian were in their own vehicle—Valarian driving and the other two in the back—leading the way through the pine woods, back to civilization. Silence reigned except for the hum of the engine and the tires rushing over pavement. There was so much to say, so much had happened, that it was as if none of them knew how to begin.

“How’s your arm?” Akila finally asked Jacob.

“Good. Healing.” He flexed it to show her and then reached out to put the amazingly improved arm around her and draw her close to his side. God, how good and solid and safe his arm felt wrapped around her. “How about you? Do you feel all right?”

She nodded. “Overwhelmed. Exhausted. Jittery as a cat in a roomful of Dobermans, but all right.”

“We should go to the emergency room anyway,” Valarian declared. “Have both of you checked out, and the others, too, before the police start questioning us all.”

Jacob rested his uninjured hand on Akila’s stomach. “Do you think the baby’s okay?”

“Baby?” It took her a moment to understand what he was saying. All thoughts of the prophecy and the
wunderkind
had been completely obliterated by the events of the evening. “No! There’s no baby. That was a lie. I had to fool Overton so he wouldn’t kill me. I faked the test.”

“Faked it?” Jacob removed his hand from her stomach.

She nodded, her head moving against his warm shoulder. “I marked a second line on the stick with ballpoint pen and smudged it so it would look natural. Two lines means you’re pregnant,” she explained to the frowning men. “Overton didn’t look too closely since it was wet with pee. He wanted it to be true, so he accepted what he saw.”

“You’re not pregnant,” Valarian reiterated, his tone suggesting disappointment.

“Not that I know of.” She paused then added, “I’ve been thinking about exactly how the prophecy was worded and I think the ‘result of our union’ didn’t mean a kid. What was important was the three of us joining together. You awoke that supernatural energy in me and together we had the power to beat Overton and his crew.”

The simple theory had dawned on her like a present with a neatly wrapped bow, and she was certain she was right. “And now the world will be different because Valarian came forward and admitted the truth.”

“Maybe,” Valarian said. “But they may yet find a way to cover this up or skew the facts. When people don’t want to face a big truth, they’ll cling to anything that allows them to avoid it.”

“A few might be that way. Hell, there are those who still deny the Holocaust ever happened,” Jacob said. “But I believe most people will accept the truth and move on from there. What that means for those like us, it’s hard to say.”

“For better or worse, the truth is out there.” Akila caught Valarian’s eye in the rearview mirror. He smiled at her
X-Files
reference, which was lost on Jacob.

She looked up at Jacob in the darkness and thought his shadowed face appeared wistful. She snuggled closer and whispered, “Are you disappointed?”

“About the baby? No.” He paused and then added, “Maybe a little. I guess I thought it would be nice to be a father and have a family. So, yes, I’m a little disappointed.”

“Yeah,” Valarian’s quiet voice floated back to them.

Only then did Akila realize that, despite her enormous relief at not having to bear the burden of the world on her shoulders, she was a tiny bit disappointed too. “Maybe someday we’ll make a baby, but not yet. I’m not ready now.”

Right now she wanted nothing more than to snuggle close to Jacob, stare out the window at the star-studded sky fixed with comforting permanence over their heads, and breathe. Despite all the horrors she’d experienced tonight, despite her aching head and the pain in her bite wound, she felt as light as air. She had her body back, her life back, and it was up to her to decide what to do with it.

Chapter Nineteen

“You’re a formidable opponent, Akila.” Jacob lowered his foil and pushed back his fencing mask. He smiled at her with a twinkle in his eyes and that darling slash of a dimple in his cheek that looked like someone had marked him with the tip of a sword.

Akila’s heart fluttered as it always did when some little detail of his appearance caught her unaware and made her see him anew. His square-jawed Teutonic features and icy blue eyes were gorgeous even if she didn’t know that the man behind the face was someone special.

“I’ve had a good teacher.” She removed her own gear and waved a hand in front of her flushed face. “Although I’m not sure exactly how fencing is going to come in handy in my life.”

“It’s exercise like any other. Keeps you fit.” He pulled the helmet off his head and hung it on the wall. His sweat-streaked hair clung to his forehead and stuck up like a little boy’s cowlick in back.

Akila couldn’t restrain herself from walking over to smooth it down. Her hand lingered at his nape, feeling the heat of his neck and the steadiness of his pulse beneath her palm.

Jacob bent his head and kissed her, a long, lingering exploration with his tongue that left her more breathless than their skirmishing had.

He drew away, his eyes heavy-lidded and his gaze penetrating. “My room or yours? Or should I take you right here on the mat?”

“Mine. Just give me fifteen minutes to shower. I think it’s a myth that sweaty is sexy.” She smiled and lowered her eyelids seductively, then squeezed the bulge in the front of his pants before walking from the workout room.

She padded through the house to her room. They were back on the island for a vacation after having spent several months on the mainland dealing with the aftermath of Valarian’s dramatic announcement.

The press, government officials and scientists had been like ravening wolves circling them and sniffing out more tidbits of their story. It had been touch-and-go for a while whether Valarian—even with his scads of money and prestige—would walk away a free man. The authorities wanted to incarcerate him, study him, take samples and learn every detail of his long, checkered life. But he could be convicted of no crime for which they might hold him. As he put it, the statute of limitations had long run out on the evil deeds he’d performed in the distant past.

Other than not allowing himself to be locked up, Valarian had cooperated fully, answering everything he knew about vampires, but without revealing names. It was up to the others to out themselves in their own time. He would not expose even those who probably should be locked up in order to keep people safe.

Akila had fought him on that point. “You were more than willing to reveal Overton. Why not work with the FBI and put down all those who you know are dangerous? You’d be doing people a service.”

“It took me decades to realize the error of my ways, and yes, many people suffered because of my actions during that time. But I wouldn’t deny any vampire the right to learn and grow,” he’d said. “Maybe with the shift in paradigm many of them will decide to change their lives starting now. I’d like to give them that chance.”

There was no arguing with Valarian once he’d made up his mind, and Akila had stopped trying. When the hoopla surrounding the introduction of vampires into society had died down a bit and the questions to Valarian had become repetitive, he’d announced it was time for a retreat. They’d returned to the island and a sweet time of reflection and bonding.

Akila walked into the cubicle of her shower and turned on the tap. Water beat down on her head and shoulders, washing away the sweat from her workout and the aches in her muscles. But even here in these pleasant surroundings, she couldn’t completely shed the memories of death and destruction that had lurked behind her closed eyelids ever since the Night of the Burning Vampires, as she thought of it. Although she’d done nothing she hadn’t needed to in order to keep herself and the others alive, it was hard to forget the sight and the horrible smell of incinerating human flesh. And the savage joy she’d felt in their destruction that night also freaked her out. What did that say about her as a person? Who was she really, and was she part of some primeval force—call it Ra or what have you?

Eyes closed, Akila turned her face up to the water and shed the memories and questions that haunted her. Instead, she concentrated on the good in her life—Valarian and Jacob. Two men who were very different in many ways, but both powerfully connected to her. She loved them both so much; Jacob for his sweetness and compassion and steadfastness, Valarian for his passion and determination and liveliness.

For quite a while, she’d admitted she cared for them, but never ever used the word love. Now she was willing to admit that her feelings had grown that deep, that intrinsically linked to each of them.

She heard the approach of footsteps, the soft tap of fingers on the shower door, and smiled. “Jacob.”

“Valarian,” a deep voice countered.

She turned toward him, blinking water from her eyes and focusing on the hazy image of the naked man on the other side of the glass. “Joining me?”

She opened the door and he invaded the cubicle, his tall, broad-shouldered body seeming to take up more than its share of space. Streams of water plastered his dark hair flat to his skull like a mink pelt, sleek and shiny. He didn’t reach for her, although his cock was already lifting and hardening, but instead grabbed a loofah, lathered it with bath gel and began to wash her clean.

“How are you feeling?” he asked as he soaped her back.

“Uh, fine, and you?” she answered sardonically.

He rested a hand on her shoulder. “No, really. You haven’t talked about it too much, but I know what happened with Overton and the others is not something you can easily forget. And the changes in you, your newfound power—you can’t shrug it off.”

“I’m not. I’m dealing.” Her shoulders tensed beneath his massaging hands. “We’ve covered this before and I don’t feel the need to discuss it in detail. It was horrible, the burning and killing, but I know I did what I had to do in order to get us out of there.”

“That’s right.” The sponge slid down her back and caressed her buttocks and upper thighs. “None of it was your fault. But saying it and feeling it can be two different things. I just want to make sure you’re really healing.”

Akila cast a glance over her shoulder at his handsome face, the jutting cheekbones, the long, wet lashes and the too-wise eyes. “Are we going to play out that scene from
Good
Will Hunting
now? Yes, I know it wasn’t my fault, Doctor. Overton kidnapped me, for God’s sake, and the rest of them would have devoured all those prisoners we saved. I did what I had to do.”

“That’s a lot of power to suddenly have under your control.” The loofah moved to her front, bathing her breasts, her stomach, her pussy. Despite her growing annoyance, her body betrayed her by starting to glow inside, her lust rising beneath his purely innocent touch.

“It was a one-time thing. I can’t imagine I’ll ever have to use it again.”

“But it’s awake inside you now. You can’t deny this new facet of yourself. You’re Akila with a little something extra, and you need to learn what that is and how you want to use whatever powers you may have.”

She turned to frown up at him “Why are you saying all this? Let it go.”

He dipped his head in acknowledgment. “All right. You’ll face it in your own time. I just wanted you to know you could talk to me or Jacob about the things you’re feeling. We both know what it’s like to be human and then become something more. It’s an adjustment.”

Akila didn’t answer. He was right, of course. He was so damn old and wise, sometimes it only served to remind her how young and clueless she was, and that annoyed her.

Ah, but a steamy shower with a hot, naked man beside her was no place to indulge in petty pissiness. She leaned in to him, sliding her hands up his chest and gripping his shoulders. “Thanks for being worried about me. That’s sweet.”

She rose on her toes and kissed his mouth, tasting the slight salt of the conditioned water and the warmth of the man.

“We’re here for you always.” His deep, dark eyes held her safe and secure. “Whatever you decide to do, whatever goals you pursue or whatever you choose to become, we will be with you—if you want us to be. But you’re young and changing. If you find yourself on a different path or wanting a different partner, neither of us would hold you back or expect you to remain committed to this strange relationship the three of us have.”