The woman charged, head down, and butted Amaia in the stomach, driving her right back into a tree. The woman’s fury would give her strength, but it wouldn’t lend her skill. Amaia still had the upper hand. Amaia circled her hands around the woman’s throat and wrestled her to the ground. She wouldn’t kill her. That would be too nice now that her mate was dead. All Amaia needed was to not be followed.
Amaia pressed her knee into the joint that joined leg and abdomen just above the groin. She kept her eyes locked with the woman’s, hoping for some satisfaction. As she applied pressure, pain and hatred intensified in the woman’s eyes. Deep in that hatred lurked a sorrow so bleak that it stilled Amaia. This was what awaited her if anything should ever happen to Michael. All of a sudden, this woman was no longer her enemy. She was kin. Amaia could end up in her position one day. Instantly, she knew what she would wish for if she were, and she saw that same wish reflected back to her in the woman’s eyes: desire for death. Amaia couldn’t deny her. Pushing the woman’s head to the side, she bit down as hard as she could on her throat and pulled with both hands, severing the woman’s head from her body as quickly as she could.
Looking at the two bodies and heads strewn on the ground, Amaia hoped they would be the last vampires she would have to kill, but she wasn’t na?ve enough to actually believe it. There would be more. None of them would back down. She momentarily considered leaving the heads of these two on stakes, as warnings to Zenas and his clan. But almost as quickly as the thought entered her head, it left. It would serve no purpose other than to enrage Zenas further. If she simply disposed of the bodies, he would probably lose track of them for a bit. It could buy her some time, but not much.
Amaia set to work building a funeral pyre. There would be no vampires nearby to smell them burning. They wouldn’t have been willing to share territories in their quest for the bounty. Zenas would want them all spread out as far as possible. There couldn’t be many humans around, but the fire would serve a dual purpose: it would dispose of the bodies and attract any humans in the area. She was in need of a meal, and as soon as she was done feeding, she could throw the humans on the fire as well.
Amaia watched the flames dance around the bodies. Who had these vampires been? How old were they? How long had they been together? What kind of life had they shared? They were pointless questions, but her mind needed something to ponder. Anything was better than her own miserable existence.
About a half hour after the fire started, a man came to investigate. Good, he would be dinner. Amaia had hoped only one would show up. Any more would be a waste. She made quick work of him, not even relishing the kill as she normally did, and threw his body on top of the bones of the others.
She stayed there until the ashes were cold. It was the longest she had stopped since the whole odyssey began. The respite was welcome, but she needed to get going again. She didn’t know how many more such bonfires she would have to build, but she had a feeling it would be too many.
Chapter 42
Uppsala, August 1819, 20 years, 6 months later
She sensed movement to her right, a change in wind current, the crack of a twig snapping. Amaia paused and concentrated her entire mind on the energies around her, while simultaneously obscuring her own energy. It hadn’t taken much practice to learn how to successfully manipulate her own aura to no longer feel like a vampire’s, but it wasn’t something she could do constantly. The trick allowed her the luxury of occasionally slowing down in the years since she had learned it. It had been two years, eight months, and twenty-three days since she had last encountered a vampire. Seventeen months and eight days since she’d last felt another’s energy. Still, she was always on alert. Especially now.
Satisfied that no vampires were nearby, Amaia continued her run. It was time. The waiting was finally over. Michael was old enough for her to approach. She would do it tonight. It was as safe a time as any.
Amaia’s speed increased as the nerves in her stomach intensified. What if he didn’t want her? It was a silly thought. He had made it abundantly clear he wanted her, but that was before. The way she had left him last time wouldn’t be easy to forgive. Would he be willing to live life on the run with her? And if not, how would she cope? She didn’t think she could stay away. Any time she tried to convince herself that she could if he wanted her to, it felt like a lie.