2 Vampires, Warlocks, And Exes (18 page)

“Care to go for a swim?” h
e asked. “The water’s perfect.”

“A swim?” I repeated. “We don’t have bathing suits.”

He gave me a mischievous grin as he pulled me into him. Kissing my neck he said, “No, we don’t. But we do have our birthday suits.”

I pulled back and playfully smacked his chest. “Vance, you are so bad! It’s daytime! Anyone could see us!”

He unbuttoned his shirt and threw it on the ground. “So?” he replied. Oh, there go his pants. Oh my, only his boxer briefs are left! “Who cares if they see us? Nobody with any manners would stick around to watch. They would see two people who are so in love with each other that they can’t keep their hands off one another. There’s nothing wrong with that.” With one last show of his pearly whites, his boxers were shed and he was jumping in the water.

I couldn’t g
et undressed fast enough. He had that effect on me. I needed to be in that water with him. Kissing him. Touching him. As the last piece of my clothing was discarded, I squealed in joy as I cannonballed into the water like a little kid. When I came up from under water, he was right there with me. Laughing with me. Smiling with me. Loving me. I could feel it radiating from every part of his being. This whole place was like that. Warm, like a cocoon. He framed my face with his hands and began kissing me with promises of what was to come. I was instantly on fire. I needed him inside of me. God, I could never get enough of this man.

“
Karli, you are my everything,” he managed in between kisses. We were braced against the edge of the pond, touching, kissing, and feeling one another. As he thrust inside of me he added, “This is how it was meant to be. You and I. Here. As one.”

“Oh yes
, Vance!” I shouted. “Yes!”

We started to glow
, making him smile. “Karli, marry me. Be my wife. Make babies with me.” He winked. “We can start right now.”

I
looked deep into his eyes, seeing that he was deadly serious. “What did you just say?”

He kissed me lightly on the lips as he slowly moved inside of me. “I said, marry me.”

I couldn’t imagine anything that I wanted more. As I was about to accept, he disappeared. The pond disappeared. Our forest. I started spinning in circles. Where was I? What was happening?

“
Karli?” a woman called. “Karli.”

No! No, that’s not Vance. Where did he go? I need to find Vance!

“Karli!” the woman insisted. “Wake up!”

Wake up? What is she talking about? Where’s Vance?

“Karli!!!”

I opened my eyes. Erica. She was calling me. It took me a second to figure out
I’d been dreaming. I tried getting up but I was trapped in steely arms. Vance’s arms. We must have fallen asleep while watching TV. Oh fuck, we were glowing again. Stupid auras! Why couldn’t you stay in Dreamland? Thank God, Erica couldn’t see it. Go away, you bastards! Wait a minute; I thought we could only see each other’s auras when we were making love? Dreams shouldn’t count. Should they? Vance was still asleep, but now he was stirring. I squirmed out of his arms abruptly, jolting him into awareness. He saw the golden light surrounding us and smiled at me as he stretched.

“What’s going on
, guys?” Erica asked.

I cleared my throat and looked at Vance out of the corner of my eye. “Nothing. I must have fallen asleep.”

Erica looked at Vance and then at me again. “Yeah, looks like you both did.” I started getting jealous vibes off of her. No, that couldn’t be right. “Ah!” she screamed, clutching her head as she fell to her knees.

Vance and I both went down to the floor to assist her onto the couch.

“Eri, what’s wrong?” I asked. “What just happened?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. I’ve never felt anything like it before.”

I went to put my arm around her and got shocked. There were massive electrical currents running beneath her skin. “Holy shit! What is going on with you?”

She lifted her hand and mini crackles of lightning
shot from her fingertips. “I don’t know. It doesn’t hurt anymore.” She looked over to Vance. “Could it be?”

“Could what be?” I asked.

Vance ignored my question as he knelt in front of her, taking both of her hands, extinguishing the volts. He closed his eyes for a moment before responding. “Yeah, I think so.”

“Could
what
be?” I repeated.

She looked at me and smiled. “I think Jake returned my powers.” She said something in Latin and a mini funnel of wind rose from her palm. “No, I know he did!”

We were struck silent in awe as we watched the mini tornado bouncing off her hand. I looked towards Vance who looked…doubtful? Sad, maybe? After a moment of awkwardness between us, my phone started ringing. I jumped from the couch and hurried towards the foyer to grab it before it went to voicemail. The number was blocked.
Weird
.

“Hello?” I said.

“Hello, Karli. Have you missed me?”

Maria.

*****

“What do you want?” I
said through clenched teeth.

“What do I want? Oh, well that is a loaded question
, my dear. I see that you got the present that I left for you in your apartment. Or should I say the prelude to the real fun?” She laughed a sinister laugh.

“
Wh-…What do you mean?” I somehow managed to ask.

Vance must have heard my tone because he and Erica both joined me.
It’s Maria
.  I said this to him telepathically.

Vance’s eyes widened and he grabbed the phone from me. “Maria, what the he
ll do you think you’re doing?” he asked. “You’re not going to get away with this.” His face blanched for a moment, and then he lowered the phone. “She hung up,” he explained.

“What?” I asked. “What did she say?”

He shook his head. “Never mind, it’s not important.”

My jaw dropped. “What do you mean, ‘It’s not important’? I have a right to know what she said about me.”

His jaw clenched. “She didn’t say anything about
you,
Karli.”

Erica looked as confused as I felt. “Huh? Well
, then what did she say?”

Vance cleared his throat and
walked down the hall. He opened the coat closet door and began searching for something towards the back. He pulled out a foot long suede necklace with an arrowhead-shaped charm attached to it. He put it over his neck and tucked it under his shirt.

“What’s that for?” I asked. “Vance, what did she say to you?”

He frowned. “It will repel any spells that someone would try to subject me to. She said she left an anniversary present for me at our favorite place. Today is…well, would have been, our wedding anniversary. I didn’t even think of it until she said something.”  He looked at Erica. “She told me to bring you there too.”

I felt like throwing up. After counting to ten I asked, “And where exactly
is
your little special spot with her? And why would she want you to bring Eri?”

He gulped. “Red Rock Canyon. We used to go there to look at the stars.
It’s where I proposed to her. I have no idea why she’d want Erica there. I don’t trust it though. You two are staying here.”

“What?” Erica shrieked. “No way! Jake could be there. I
need to talk to him. I need to...tell him about the baby. I think he should at least know.”

Vance and I both gave her
a look of pity. Damn, this sucked. “Erica, no,” Vance insisted. “This could be a trap.” 

She put her hand on her hip and jutted her chin. “I don’t care. If you don’t take me with you, I’ll just follow you. I need to do this
, Vance.”

He sighed. “Is there anything that I could say to change your mind?”

She shook her head. “Nope. Nothing.”

He opened the front door and gestured for us to pass. “C’mon, let’s get this over with.”

                                                                     
Twenty-five

I called Leo on the way to the canyon and asked him to meet us there. Vance was pissed, as predicted, but he did grudgingly admit that Leo’s vampire senses might come in handy. We pulled into the park to find him standing next to a white Audi R8. Geez, how many cars did this guy own? Next to Leo was a dark Suburban, which Tara exited as we parked.

Vance nodded to Tara. “Did you bring Kane?”

She walked towards the back of her SUV. “Of course.”

I gave them a confused look. “Who’s Kane?”

She opened the back door and out came a giant beast barreling towards me. “Holy shit!” I shouted.

“Kane, down. Return!”
Tara commanded. He heeded to her command and stood in attention next to her side. “Good boy.”

After my momentary panic subsided, I could see that
Kane was a giant dog—a mastiff of some kind if I wasn’t mistaken. “Why’d you bring a giant dog?” I asked.

Tara patted said dog’s massive head. “Kane isn’t just any dog. He’s an officer. He specializes in search and rescue. He’s never missed his mark.” She gave Vance a dirty look. “Besides, you ladies should be thankful for the extra protection since you have no idea what you’re getting yourself into. The vampire I get, but this is not a place for civilians.
My partner here clearly had a lapse in judgment.”

“Oh. Well, um…” I stammered, knowing damn well she was right.

Leo walked up to us and grabbed my hand. “My love, I’d have to agree with Detective Macku. You and Erica should not be here. Maria is dangerous.”

I jerked my head towards Erica. “Yeah, well
, I’m not leaving her alone and she insisted on coming.”

Erica huffed. “Ugh! I get it, we’re not welcome
, but we’re here, so can we get this over with?”

Vance
put his arm around her shoulders. “Let’s make the best of this, okay?” He looked at Tara. “Where should we start?”

“Kane, go!” She patted his back and he took off with his nose to the ground. We watched as he sniffed the dirt in circular patterns until he seem
ed to pick up on something and started barking. “It seems like we’re starting over there.”

The five of us followed the dog for about a mile into nothingness. The moon was full which helped a little, but I could barely see and kept tripping. After my last stumble I asked,
“Why didn’t we bring flashlights?”

Vance whisper
ed, “Because we don’t know who’s out here, Karli. We don’t need to draw any unnecessary attention to ourselves.”

Wolves howled in the not too far off
distance. “Oh great, she sent us here to become dog food,” I whined.

Kane growled. Guess he didn’t like my dog comment.
Leo froze, forcing me to bump into him.

“What is it?” Vance whispered.

“Over here. I smell something,” Leo said. He grabbed my hand and slowly walked about five feet away. Kane was already there…it looked like he was standing over someone, but I couldn’t make out who or what it was.

“Leo, can you tell what
it is?” I asked.

He bent over
and examined the figure. “Yes,” he replied. “It’s a man.” I heard some ruffling as Leo stood. He handed what appeared to be a piece of paper to Vance.

“Leo, do you know who it is?” Erica pressed.

He stepped towards her and grabbed her hand. I think. “My dear Erica. He’s dead. He’s been drained to death.”

“Who’s dead?”
she asked.
Oh no, Leo, do not say who I think you’re going to say.

“I’m sorry, but it’s your husband.”
Fuck.

                                                                      *****

“What?” she shouted. “No, you’re wrong!”

Vance
muttered something in Latin and all of a sudden I was shielding my eyes from a blinding light. We were surrounded by a bright yellow glow and could see everything within a ten foot range or so. We all looked down at the same time. Yep, it was definitely Jake. And he was definitely dead. Two perfect bite marks on his neck with blood crusted down the side of his tawny skin. His head was hanging limp, like maybe his neck was broken.

Erica d
ropped to her knees. “Oh God!” she cried.

Vance shoved the paper in his jeans pocket
, fell to his knees beside her, and pulled her into him, trying to turn her head away from the gore. She kept fighting him and wouldn’t stop looking at Jake’s body. She crawled over to him and took his face in her hands.

“No, baby
, no,” she cried. “You can’t be gone. We were going to work this out. You were going to tell me that Maria was threatening you to do something against your will! No-no-no-no-no!” she screamed.

I
don’t think any of us knew what to do. We just stood there watching her grieve. My heart was breaking all over again for her. Leo stepped behind me and put his hands on my shoulders. Vance finally managed to pull her away and picked her up in his arms.