Chapter Fourteen
ELIZABETH STARED AT the hulking werewolves, her heart beginning to pound. As she watched, one of them began to slowly change shape. Moments later, where the wolf had been, now stood a large, very naked man. With his hair long and unkempt, his beard full and scraggly, she suspected he didn’t spend much time human.
“Give us the woman, and we’ll let you pass, vampire.”
Elizabeth’s heart stuttered.
“You come near us, and I’ll kill you, wolf,” Lukas countered. “I’ll kill you all.”
“You can try,” the werewolf said grimly. “But we’re hungry. And we will eat tonight.”
Elizabeth’s mind seized. “Eat? They eat people?”
“When they’re starving, they’ll eat anything that moves. Hold on to the reins, Lizzy.” He thrust them into her hands.
“Lukas, I don’t ride.”
“You don’t have to. I’m staying right here, but I need room to swing my swords. Just hold the reins, lean forward, and hug the horse tight. And whatever you do, keep your head down.”
As she walked her hands forward up the horse’s maned neck, Lukas gripped her waist until she was fully prone. She did as he said, clutched the reins and hugged the horse tight, its coarse mane scratching her cheek and tickling her nose. The horsey smell overpowered her senses.
Her stomach churned with fear.
Behind her, she heard the metallic swoosh of Lukas’s swords breaking free of their scabbards. Out of the corner of her eye she caught the gleam of a blade rising high, ready to cut down the nearest foe.
A moment later, one of the wolves leaped. As the horse shied, Elizabeth gasped and tightened her grip. “Easy, horse. Easy boy. Or girl. It’s okay. It’s okay.”
Another flash of gleaming silver, another whistle of steel as Lukas swung, catching the beast in the face, knocking it back. But while the wolf whined and growled, it only lunged again.
Over her head, Lukas’s blades sang, whipping back and forth faster than her eye could track. Vampire fast. She heard a beast’s howl of pain, another’s growl of fury. Yet still they attacked. And, somehow, Lukas managed to keep his horse from bolting.
Over and over, the blades whistled. Her muscles tensed, quivering, as she half expected, at any moment, to feel teeth sinking into her flesh. It was terrible being able to see only one direction, not knowing if she was about to be attacked from the other. But Lukas continued to fight them, and all she could do was hold on to the horse and trust Lukas to keep her safe.
“Here, Fido!” a male voice called from a short distance away.
A hand landed lightly on Elizabeth’s back, and she jumped.
“Stay on the animal,” Lukas said behind her. “But you can sit up. You’re safe now.”
She felt him dismount. Her pulse still racing, Elizabeth rose slowly, finally able to rub her nose and scratch the itch. As she gazed around warily, she saw one wolf lying dead on the ground nearby. The other two were still fighting, leaping at Lukas and another man, the one who’d made the Fido quip, she assumed. A male Lukas clearly trusted. Micah?
A wolf leaped at Lukas, jaws open wide as if it meant to bite off Lukas’s head. Her breath caught as she watched her vampire strike as if in slow motion, his blades swinging as one. In fascinated horror, she watched as that furred head flew up into the air, separated from its body.
Lukas turned toward the other vampire just as the third werewolf, too, lost its head.
A moment later, Lukas was at her side, his eyes full of concern. “You’re unhurt?”
“Yes. I’m fine.”
He reached for her and pulled her down, then pulled her purse out of his saddlebag and handed it to her. Once she’d slung it over her shoulder, he pulled her against his side and led her to the stranger.
“This is Micah,” he told her.
Micah was a big man, though not as big as Lukas. He was nice enough looking except for the scar on his cheek, but his eyes were kind, if a bit surprised.
“Elizabeth wandered in on a sunbeam,” Lukas told him. “Fortunately, I was nearby.”
“I’ll take her home.”
Lukas nodded. “I owe you, Micah. Show her the boundary, if you would, so she can steer clear of it until this is over. And transfer a healthy chunk of my funds into her account. If the sorceress is not found, transfer all of it.”
Micah didn’t seem the least bit surprised by the directive.
“Thank you, Lukas,” she said quietly. He certainly didn’t need to give her his money, but he clearly intended to do it anyway. And she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t grateful.
“I’ll give you two a few minutes to say good-bye, then we’ll leave.” Micah smiled at her, his eyes soft with sympathy.
This was it, the moment she’d been dreading. Turning to Lukas, she felt as if her heart were being ripped from her chest all over again. Their gazes collided, misery thick between them.
“I don’t want to go,” she whispered.
He cupped her face with one hand, his eyes wells of pain. “I don’t want you to go. But I want you safe.” Holding her face in both hands, he pressed his forehead to hers. “If I don’t come back, live for me, Lizzy. You are my heart, the only heart that has beat firmly and fully in my chest for more than a thousand years.”
Tears began to run down her cheeks. “I love you, Lukas Olsson.”
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her soundly, thoroughly, stroking her hair, her back, her head, as she drank of his cool winter taste and immersed herself in his strength, his scent, the feel of his arms around her.
When he finally pulled away, she stroked the hair at the nape of his neck. “I don’t want to live without you.”
“Nor I you, my love. Nor I you. I love you, Lizzy-mine.” He kissed her softly, sweetly.
“Come back to me, my Lukas.”
He nodded, but made no promises.
Finally, pulling her against his side, he led her to where Micah waited. Micah held out his hand to her, and Lukas let her go. Elizabeth shuddered with the need to cling to him. Instead, she slid free of his hold, turning to meet his gaze one last time.
“I love you,” she whispered.
“I love you,” he whispered back, a gleam of moisture in his eyes.
Turning away, she placed her hand in Micah’s. The vampire led her forward three steps, four, five. Her skin felt queer, trembly. And suddenly noise and light exploded all around her.
“Hey!” someone growled, and Micah pulled her out of the way of a couple of youths they’d nearly run into.
She looked around, the sounds of the normal world a shock. Welcome, and yet . . .
“Elizabeth.” Micah tugged on her hand, and she followed him to a black sedan parked nearby. He handed her into the passenger side before sliding into the driver’s seat.
“Do you think the sorceress will be found?” she asked, as he pulled into traffic.
“She’ll be found. I’m certain of it.”
“Good. I hope you’re right.”
He glanced at her, his expression rueful. “Unfortunately, the sorceress has very little magic. Her name is Quinn Lennox, she’s about your age, and she didn’t know she was a sorceress until a couple of weeks ago. Whether or not she’ll actually be able to save Vamp City is very much up in the air.” He glanced at her. “I’m sorry, Elizabeth. But I think it’s best that you know the truth. I have friends who are doing all they can to save V.C., but the only thing most of us can do is hope.”
With her heart so heavy, it was minutes before Elizabeth realized that Micah was heading straight for her apartment building. And he’d never asked her how to get there.
“How do you know where I live?”
He glanced at her with a small smile. “Lukas may not have been free to come to you, but that doesn’t mean he forgot about you these past two years.”
She looked at him askance. “He told you to watch me?”
His smile softened. “He asked me to keep an eye on you—to watch over you and let him know how you were doing.”
“You’re not trapped by the failing magic.”
“No. I wasn’t in Vamp City the night the magic began to fail. I can still come and go as I always could. Like Lukas and the other vamps used to be able to.” He gave her a wry look. “I wanted to run off your dates, but Lukas wouldn’t let me. He didn’t want you to be alone, especially if he could never return to you.” His expression tightened. “If there’d been a bad one, you wouldn’t have seen him again. But you have good taste in men, Elizabeth. They were all good guys. Just not the right ones for you.”
“You met them?”
“A few. Most I just kept an eye on.”
She sank back against the seat, raking a hand through her hair. “My very own vampire guardian angel.”
He grinned at her. “You could do worse.”
Shaking her head, she returned his smile, feeling a bit dazed. “Maybe instead of spying on me, you could come by for dinner sometime. Food dinner. Human-food dinner.”
He grinned. “I’d like that.”
And so would she. He could bring her news of Lukas and of the hunt for the sorceress.
A short while later, Micah double-parked in front of her apartment building, escorted her upstairs to satisfy himself that her apartment was secure, and to show her on a map precisely where the Boundary Circle lay. Then he said good-bye.
Alone, Elizabeth took a long shower, then pulled on her pajamas, marveling that she’d been gone less than twenty-four hours. Steph . . . Poor Steph. She was sure to think Elizabeth had joined the ranks of the missing. Her friend wouldn’t be sleeping tonight, she knew that.
Steph answered her call on the first ring. “Hello?”
“It’s me. I’m home.”
“Oh my God, Elizabeth. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. It’s been a long day.”
“You disappeared! You were there, then you disappeared. What in the hell happened?”
“It’s a long story, and I’ll tell you everything tomorrow. I saw Lukas,” she added softly. “He loves me, Steph.”
“Oh, sweetie.” She sighed deeply. “I’m just so glad you’re safe. You’re home? Are you going back to class tomorrow?”
“Yes, I’m at my apartment. No, I’m not going back to school for a little while. I can’t. Long story, like I said. Come over as soon as class is over tomorrow.”
“Like hell. I’m coming over now. I’ll be there in ten. You don’t have to tell me a thing tonight if you don’t feel like it, but I have to see you. I have to see for myself that you’re okay.”
Her heart full, yet heavy, Elizabeth set down her phone and reached into her nightstand drawer to pull out the picture of her and Lukas. The love that shone in his eyes as he smiled at her wrapped around her all over again, filling her with warmth and longing and warm certainty.
With her fingertip, she traced his beloved likeness.
“Come back to me, my warrior. My vampire.” The tears slipped down her cheeks. “My love.”
She gazed at Lukas’s face until the doorbell rang, then she slipped the picture back into the drawer and prayed that someday soon he found his way back to her arms.