Becoming Forever (Waking Forever Series) (25 page)

Ash shook her head. “I have to talk to Rachel and Sara again.”

Emma nodded. “I understand.”

Ash looked at her. Her pulse racing as she struggled against the conflicting emotions of hurt and anger. “I don’t think you do
, Emma.”

“Ash, I know I’ve betrayed your trust, and you blame me for Cris’ death.” Emma’s voice caught. “Please believe me. I had no way of knowing how quickly and badly things would spin out of control.” She put her hand on Ash’s shoulder, and had it quickly pushed away.

“Emma, I can’t even think about us right now after what you’ve told me.” She ran her fingers through her hair.

“There’s something else.” Emma
took a deep breath.

“Christ, there’s more?” Ash sat back down on the stool, her morning rapidly reaching ridiculous.

“Lara.” Emma put her palms flat on the granite counter, refusing to make eye contact with Ash. “She’s a shifter, and if I’m right - in league with Ela.”

She’s going to
be livid
. The cryptic phrase Lara had uttered when they were breaking up came back to Ash. “She was sent after me?” Remembering Alan’s client Ana, Ash quickly pieced the horrific scenario together. “But why?”

Emma winced, chewing nervously at the inside of her cheek. “Ela is a sociopath, and I know it’s hard to hear, but she was doing it for her own amusement.” Emma rolled her neck back and forth as if it were stiff. “Eternity can be too long and too dull for some. Plus, from what Coleen has told me, Ela came over damaged.”

Ash’s brow furrowed. “Coleen is a vampire?” She held her hand up. “Of course she is. And Alan’s a vampire, and Amy is a shifter, and you’re a lycan, and the whole world has just spun off its axis.” Ash got up and grabbed a pad of paper and pen from the nook. “Write your address down.”

She
walked toward the hall. “I’m calling a cab, and then I’m leaving. I need to go talk to Rachel and Sara.” Ash stopped, and turned to face Emma. “Unless you know who killed Cris?”

Emma stood, her hands behind her back, her head lowered. “I don’t.”

Ash threw her hands up in the air, and let out a mock laugh. “Well, that’s something.”

***

After showering, Ash had found Rachel Collins’ address on the county property tax site. The vampire was a home owner. Leaving her apartment and walking quickly toward her Jeep, Ash was struggling to keep her thoughts focused on the task at hand. She continued to replay Emma and hers conversation over in her head, and besides the obvious reasons, there was something more that didn’t sit right with Ash.

She pulled up in front of Rachel’s single story brick house in the north central neighborhood of Stone Oak.
The neighborhood was newer, and catered to upper middle class families.

“Detective Haines. This is a surprise.” Ash was surprised Emma hadn’t called Rachel to
warn her she was on her way.

“Ms. Collins. May I come in
, please?” Ash looked closely at the woman. She was as beautiful and flawless as Ash remembered. Knowing now what Rachel was, Ash was even more surprised to see her standing in a doorway in the middle of the afternoon. Emma was right when she said it wasn’t like the books and movies.

“Please.” Rachel stepped back, allowing Ash to enter, then shut the door. “Your partner left me a message several days ago, and I’m sorry, but I was travelling for business and haven’t had a chance to get back to him.”

Ash walked into a living room adjacent to the entry way. It was decorated in dark, heavy furniture with a series of ornate tapestries hanging on the walls. “Detective Martinez was murdered, along with five other officers, yesterday.”

Rachel gasped. “I - I’m so sorry. What happened?”

Ash looked at the woman. Her reaction seemed sincere. “They were ambushed by a lycan.” Ash focused so she wouldn’t stumble over the word.

Rachel tilted her head back, the expression of concern replaced with an icy stare.
The warmth and charm she had exuded was gone. “A what?”

Ash exhaled. “Don’t bullshit me,
Ms. Collins. The jig is up.” It occurred to Ash that if what Emma said was true, she was inciting a vampire, behind closed doors, and could very easily become a mid-day snack.

“Rach, is something wrong?” Sara Glass came into the room. Ash noticed immediately the more melodic tones of her voice, and her appearance was altered significantly.

She had been a very attractive woman before, but now, like Rachel, her skin was flawless and her features perfectly symmetrical. Her blonde hair hung loose around her shoulders, and was the color of golden wheat. The green of her eyes was sharper and nearly iridescent. Looking at Sara, a tension began to build at the back of Ash’s brain. A realization she was struggling to wrap her head around, as if her mind was willfully disregarding it.

“Detective Haines’ partner was murdered yesterday, along with five other officers.” Rachel looked at Sara and then back at Ash. “She’s making inquiries.”

Sara frowned. “Why would you be here for that, detective?”

Before Ash could answer
, Rachel cleared her throat. “She believes a lycan committed the crimes.”

Sara’s eyebrow arched. “What?”

“Oh, would you both please give it a rest.” Ash practically shouted. “I mean, if I had any doubt about what Emma told me, looking at you sure as hell puts that to rest.” Ash gestured to Sara. “I mean look at you, Ms. Glass.”

Sara looked down,
and then quickly back at Rachel who, after a few seconds, nodded. “What can we do for you, detective?”

Ash sighed. “Thank you
, Ms. Glass, for not continuing to treat me like a complete idiot.”

“Have a seat.” Sara motioned to the sofa. “Rach, come sit with us.” Rachel didn’t speak, but took a seat next to Sara on the loveseat across from Ash. “You can imagine
, detective, your visit comes as a surprise.” Sara was calm as she crossed her legs.

“Today is full of surprises
, Ms. Glass.” Ash continued to be amazed at the woman’s transformation.

“Please call me Sara. I think we know enough about each other to dispense with the formalities.” Sara reached for Rachel’s hand.

“Very true, Sara.” Ash leaned back on the couch, Rachel’s stillness causing her to be cautious. “Ela Jacobs killed Paul Garrett to - and let me make sure I get this right - to in essence, fuck with you?” Ash looked at Rachel.

Rachel nodded. “Yes. We met in a Nazi labor camp during World War
II. We were lovers and escaped together. I was turned, and then I accidentally killed her. A vampire named Coleen, turned Ela, and has subsequently admitted it was the worst decision of her existence.”

A slight smile came and went from Rachel’s lips. “Ela blamed me and ha
s spent the better part of the past seventy years tracking me down. Wreaking havoc wherever she went would be an understatement.”

Ash shook her head. The realization that Coleen was involved from the beginning, and that Emma was in partnership with her, just further fueled Ash’s anger toward the woman. “Where is Ela now?”

“Dead.” Sara responded without hesitation.

Ash’s brow arched. “Dead? I thought your kind lived forever?”

“Nothing is forever if it isn’t taken care of properly.” Rachel said flatly. “And to be clear, detective, given Ela’s penchant for debauchery, may we assume any means by which she was ended would be above reproach - and the law?”

Ash looked back and forth between Rachel and Sara. Clearly one
, if not both, of the women had killed Ela in retaliation, or for self-preservation. The cop in Ash said it didn’t matter what the motive was, they needed to be accountable. The pragmatist in Ash knew the letter of the law didn’t apply to someone who was technically dead. “You may assume that.”

“She kidnapped my sister, and mean
t to use her to bring Rachel and I out into the open so she could kill us both. She hadn’t anticipated my being turned, and I ended her.” Sara’s squeezed Rachel’s hand.

“And what about Lara Ramirez?” Ash asked.

The two vampires looked at each other. “I’m not familiar with her.” Rachel finally answered. “Who is she?”

“According to Emma, she’s a
shifter in league with Ela.” Ash watched their reactions, and could see from Rachel’s sharp intake of breath she had caught them both off guard.

“What is it?” Sara asked Rachel.

Rachel looked at Sara and then back at Ash. “Shifters are descendants of the lycans. Cousins would be a good comparison. Most are born, some are turned, but the interdependency between the vampire and the shifter has – with more modern thinking – become taboo.”

Sara shook her head. “What does that mean?”

Ash was confused that Sara didn’t seem to be in the know. “You don’t know about this?”

Sara hesitated as she looked from Rachel to Ash. “I’ve been a vampire for less than a month. You don’t turn and
suddenly acquire centuries’ worth of knowledge. You and I are going to learn this one together.” She gave Ash a genuine smile, and the detective could see the woman she had met several weeks ago was still clearly there in spite of her newly acquired appetites.

Rachel put her arm around Sara, and smiled. “I’ve never actually met a
shifter, but what I know from Coleen – who forbids such couplings – the relationship with a vampire can be complicated. The shifter ages at a human rate. But if given vampire blood, a shifter’s aging stops, and they can live for as long as the blood doesn’t run out.” 

Rachel shook her head. “The
shifter’s blood is like a narcotic to vampires, but generally the shifter becomes more dependent on the vampire; so the relationship is very inequitable. And with the wrong vampire, very cruel.”

“Cruel how?” Ash was mesmerized as her world continued to grow larger by the second.

“Some vampires abuse the relationship, as I imagine Ela did, and will deny the shifter blood for periods of time so the shifter experiences the pain of accelerated aging.”

“God
, Rach. That’s horrible.” Sara cringed.

Rachel nodded. “
With Ela dead, Lara must be getting desperate.” Rachel took a deep breath. “Emma and Coleen both need to be careful. I’m sure her time with Ela provided Lara a tremendous amount of insight into our weaknesses.”

The tension
at the back of Ash’s brain grew rapidly into a fire that spread down her neck and out to the tips of her fingers and toes. She barely managed a whisper when she spoke. “Emma?”

Sara realized he
r lover’s mistake first. “Oh, God. Ashley, we thought…”

Rachel frowned. “I assumed when you arrived here, that Emma had told you she was vampire.”

Ash felt the room spin. Her body was awash with prickling static, and sweat formed on her brow before she fell to the floor.

“Ashley?” A cool cloth was being gently wiped along Ash’s forehead and cheeks. “Can you hear me?” Sara’s voice was calm and soothing.

Ash felt sick to her stomach. Her pride dictated she should get up off these practical strangers’ floor, but she thought throwing up on that floor was a worse option. “Give me a minute, please.”

“Of course. Take your time.” Rachel was patting Ash’s hand reassuringly. The coolness of her hand reminded her of Emma, and the comfort she had given Ash last night. Then Ash remembered what she had learned moments ago. Emma was a vampire.

Ash slowly sat up, and Sara effortlessly lifted her and put her on the sofa. “We’re sorry you found out this way, Ashley.”

Rachel shook her head. “Why wouldn’t she just tell you if she told you everything else?”

Ash shifted so she was sitting up more than reclining. Her equilibrium was returning. “She hedged her bets. Maybe you wouldn’t say anything, if you did, she would deal with it.”

“
Ashley, you have to know she faced an impossible choice.” Sara offered. “Try to focus on the feelings the two of you share, friendship or otherwise, when you consider your next steps.”

“I don’t know Emma very well, but what I do know is she prob
ably got a slide rule out before she talked to Ashley, and calculated the odds.” Rachel brushed a loose strand of hair off Ash’s damp forehead.

“I need to go. Thank you for your time and candor.” Ash slowly put her feet over the edge of the sofa.

“Should you drive?” Sara asked, with concern on her face.

If Ash didn’t feel so crappy, she would find the exchange comical. Two vampires worr
ied about the wellbeing of someone’s future dinner. She couldn’t stifle the chuckle. “Road kill.”

Rachel’s brow
furrowed. “Sorry?”

Ash managed to stand. “You
’re vampires. What do you care about whether I can drive?”

Sara gasped. “You’ve been misinformed
, Ashley. Rachel and I don’t feed on humans. In fact, many vampires opt for a non-human diet.”

Ash realized she hadn’t really been informed at all. She had assumed. “Sorry. My mistake.”

“In fact, from what Coleen has told me, Emma is the most restrained of the lot.” Rachel walked Ash toward the front door.