Becoming Forever (Waking Forever Series) (44 page)

Where the hell is she?
Ash looked at her watch again. She was running late, that hadn’t been a ruse to get away from Alan’s prying questions. So going to Emma’s house was not an option. On top of that, she didn’t want to be that person who shows up at her girlfriend’s house demanding to know why she hasn’t called.

On the other hand, her and Emma’s relationship wasn’t e
xactly traditional. How may women wait at home for their partner to get back from hunting wild animals and killing them with their teeth and bare hands? Even in Texas, the odds weren’t good.

Ash
executed a U-turn and punched a number into her phone, and a few seconds later Alfred Lopez answered. “Hey, Lopez, I’m running about twenty minutes behind.”

The man was clearly eating something himself as he took several seconds to answer as chewing sounds filled the cabin of Ash’s Jeep. “That’s fine. Do you want to meet at the Medical Examiner’s building then? Say about forty-five minutes?”

Ash and Alfred were scheduled to meet with Dr. Rooney, who had examined the bones found in Government Canyon. She was interested to see the doctor’s findings considering, to the best of her knowledge, the man wasn’t part of any coverup. “Perfect. Thanks Alfred.”

Ash hung
up and in spite of her misgivings, drove to Emma’s house. Punching in the entry code, she pushed the large wooden door open. “Hello? Em?” She hesitated before entering. Even though Emma had insisted on giving her the code to the house, and that Ash could come and go as she pleased, the relationship was still new. Being in Emma’s house without her felt unsettling.

Walking down the hall toward the kitchen, Ash noted the absolute silence that permeated the house. Emma wasn’t there, and everything in the kitchen and study was exactly how they had left it the previous evening before parting company.

Hurrying out to her Jeep, Ash had less than twenty minutes to get downtown and meet Lopez. She called Emma’s phone again, and it went straight to voicemail. She hated herself for thinking it, but wondered if Emma had gone to Coleen’s to make amends. Though she seemed resigned to their parting last night, Ash knew the split was wearing on her lover, and she wouldn’t begrudge her trying to make it right after having some time to think through it.

Ash’s mind began to race.
But if she went to work things out with Coleen, then why not call and tell me that? Why is her phone going straight to voicemail? What if she realized how much Coleen meant to her, and now…

Ash stopped herself.
Maybe it is PMS.
She trusted Emma, and their feelings for one another. Ash exhaled loudly, and took a left out of Emma’s neighborhood instead of the right that would have taken her downtown.

Inspect what you expect.
The motto of one of her instructors at the police academy popped into her head. She hated that man, and immediately felt awful for essentially checking up on Emma. At the same time, she knew something wasn’t right, and whatever that might be, the cop in her wouldn’t let it lie. She dialed her partner again to tell him he was on his own with the M.E.

***

“Do you really think I’m going to let you in?” Rayven’s sultry voice crackled over the intercom at the gate to Coleen’s house.

“I had hoped Rayven, yes.” Ash rolled her eyes.

“Hope is a four letter word, shifter.” The woman’s tone was flat.

“Look, can you at least tell me if Emma is here?” She didn’t want to have this conversation. She resented that now Rayven knew she had no idea where her girlfriend was.

There was a long pause, and then a click. “I couldn’t say.”

Ash flung the door of her Jeep open, nearly hitting the intercom box. “Fuck this.” She walked to the ten foot tall gate, and scanned the top of the structure. The gate was iron, and the bars were spaced three inches apart in vertical rows. About a foot from the top of the gate was a thicker, more ornate horizontal bar that ran the length of the gate.

Remembering her days as an all-state high jumper, Ash paced six steps back from the gate.  Taking a running start, she planted her right foot on the stucco wall the hinges of the gate were mounted into, and grabbing a vertical bar, catapulted herself up and over the top of the gate, using the horizontal bar for the leverage she needed to clear the top of the gate.

Landing on her haunches on the other side of the gate, Ash stood up and looked up at the top of the gate.
Holy shit, that was cool.
Her elation was short lived as a pair of cold hands grabbed her by the shoulders and in mere seconds had drug her the four hundred feet toward the house, depositing her in a heap on the door step.

Ash rolled to her stomach, and using her arms, pushed herself straight up to her feet. Rayven stoo
d in front of her, teeth bared. Her usually black eyes had taken on a lighter, swirling gray color. “Thank you.” The woman hissed.

Ash cocked her head to the side. “And you’re thankful because?”

Rayven smiled, the veins in her neck standing out. “For giving me an excuse to kill you.”

Refusing to be intimidated, Ash squared her shoulders and clenched her fist
s. “Are you the type of woman who needs excuses for what she wants?” Ash winked at the seething vampire. “Tragic, Rayven.”

Rayven twisted her head to the right
, her neck popping. Unlike the slow motion movements of the assailant during the raid, the rapid speed of Rayven’s lunging toward Ash happened at only a slightly slower rate. This afforded Ash a second to side step the vampire’s charge, sending Rayven speeding past her. The woman quickly righted herself, and had Ash pinned to the side of the house a split second later, her teeth snapping at Ash’s throat while she clawed at the shifter’s arms and shoulders.

“Rayven! Enough!” Coleen’s
voice boomed from the doorway.

Rayven hesitated, the wild look in her eyes clearing for a moment, before she lunged at Ash’s throat again. Coleen c
losed the space between them instantly, and grabbing Rayven by her hair, threw her against the opposite wall of the entryway, where the vampire fell to the ground.

“Control yourself.” Coleen knelt over her companion, securing her to the ground with a hand on either shoulder. “I know she smells delicious, but we don’t feed on shifters.” The woman spoke as if she was soothing a child.

Rayven struggled, her eyes still fixed on Ash who stood against the wall rubbing her bruised throat, the scratches on her shoulders and arms already healing. The vampire stopped breathing, and closed her eyes. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes, and looked at Coleen, her expression softening. “I’m sorry. I only meant to expel her.”

Coleen smiled, and slowly removed her hands from Rayven’s shoulders. “It’s okay. You’ve never been around them, you wouldn’t know.” She stood and extended her hand to help the other woman up. She gently stroked the
anxious vampire’s cheek. “I’m not angry, but I think you should leave while she and I talk.”

Rayven nodded, and leaned in, placing a light kiss on Coleen’s lips. “Thank you.” A blink of an eye, and she was gone.

Coleen sighed, and turned to face Ash. “After all that, I suppose it would be rude to not invite you in.” The woman walked into the house without looking at Ash.

More determined than ever, Ash didn’t hesitate to follow Coleen into the house. The woman led them down a hall and into a large library. Looking around at the immense collection, Ash saw what she knew must be a near priceless first edition of Herman Melville’s
Moby Dick
open on a wooden podium. “Better to sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunk Christian.”

Coleen turned, the look on her face unreadable. “What did you say?”

Ash nodded toward the bookshelf. “Your copy of Moby Dick. That’s one of my favorite quotes.”

The corners of Coleen’s mouth turned up slightly as she suppressed a smile. “Sit.” Ash frowned, refusing to be ordered. “
Please
have a seat.”

Nodding, Ash sat in a leather C
hesterfield chair nearest the door should she need to make a quick exit. Leaning back and crossing her legs, she watched Coleen closely as the woman sat in the chair opposite her. “Let’s not draw this out. What do you want?”

“Ash.” The shifter stated.

Coleen’s brow arched. “Excuse me.”

“My name is Ash, and at some point you didn’t complete
ly despise me. In fact, if memory serves, you flirted with me a little at Blue Box.”

Coleen shifted in her chair and
sneered. “I don’t think-”

Ash executed the most charming smile she could manage. “I kinda think you were flirting
, Coleen.”

The woman considered Ash for several seconds. “Maybe.”

Ash suspected that in spite of Coleen’s crunchy exterior, she wasn’t a complete monster. Perhaps given the recent emotional outpouring with Emma, and their subsequent falling out, the vampire might soften a bit. It would be a win-win for Ash if she could find out what happened to Emma, and maybe start the reconciliation process between Emma and her dear friend.

Clearing her throat
, Ash uncrossed her legs and leaned forward. She had learned after many interviews with suspects that being hostile rarely got you anywhere. Opening her mind and her posture would make the likelihood of success with Coleen greater. “I’m worried about Emma. She went hunting last night, and hasn’t returned. She isn’t answering her phone either.”

Coleen’s eyes narrowed. “And you think she’s here?”

Ash nodded. She had to be a little vulnerable with Coleen if she expected the woman to return the favor. “I did.”

Coleen smirked. “Why would she have come here after the exchange we had yesterday?”

Ash knew Coleen was trying to gain the upper hand in the conversation, and she was willing to concede some control to move forward. “She loves you, and regardless of what was said and why, I know she missed you before we got down the driveway.”

The stoic expression on Coleen’s face faltered, and the muscles in her jaw clenched. “Then let her say that.”

Ash smiled. “I’m sure she will, but the fact I haven’t heard from her, and neither have you, leads me to believe something has gone wrong for her.” She swallowed the lump in her throat that formed whenever she thought of something bad happening to Emma.

Coleen got up, and walked over to the large mahogany desk that sat near the center of the room. Her back was to Ash as she placed her hands on the desk, and looked down. “I hate that you know this about me.”

It took a second for Ash to realize what the woman was talking about. “There’s no shame in loving someone, Coleen.” She didn’t know what to say except what she personally believed. “I don’t really know anything about your life, but the fact Emma loves you means that - no matter how many millennium have passed - you haven’t lost your humanity.”

Lifting her head, Coleen faced Ash. “You should know, we’re never going to be friends.” She leaned against the desk. “Besides my absolute disdain for your kind, I could never abide anyone who challenges me for Emma’s affections.”

Ash didn’t like the direction the conversation was going, and forced herself to let Coleen finish. “But I don’t want to be without Emma, so if that means you and I have to find some peace with one another, then so be it.”

Ash’s shoulders relaxed, and she exhaled. “Thank you
- I think.”

Coleen
smiled, and walked back to the chair. “Now, where do we think my dearest friend, and - and your partner - has wandered off to?”

***

“I’m worried you’re not driving fast enough, Coleen.” Ash clutched the leather handle above the passenger door of the vampire’s metallic gray Mercedes CI65. Glancing at the speedometer, Ash cringed to see they were speeding up IH-10 at over a hundred miles an hour.

“Is that sarcasm?” Coleen was remarkably relaxed considering she was maneuvering the car in and out of traffic.

“Ah - yes.” Ash tugged on her seatbelt for the third time to ensure it was secure.

“Do you want to get there or not?” Coleen smirked, her hands gripping the metal and leather steering wheel.

“Yes, with the caveat of
alive
. Getting there
alive
.” Ash took slow breaths in and out.

Coleen laughed
shortly as she veered off the highway and onto the bypass road. It was nearly midnight, and after stopping just north of San Antonio to search Emma’s usual hunting grounds, Coleen had caught the scent of lycans, and if there had been any doubt in her mind before, she was now completely convinced her friend was in danger.

“Do you know where you’re going?” Ash asked, as the lights of the city faded, and the terrain became increasingly rural
and rocky.

“Emma mentioned an abandon
ed factory or plant north of the city that Ela was doing what you might call business with the lycans out of.” Coleen cut the wheel to steer the car around a bend in the road, and then onto a dirt road. The tires of the car spun as gravel peppered the vehicle’s undercarriage. “I’ve hunted in this area, and remember an abandoned quarry about three miles further. We can start there.”