Blood & Roses: Warriors of the Krieger (34 page)

I noticed that Lydia and Ashby spent most of
the night sitting at a table in the corner of the tent. I knew she
was flirting hard with him because she would toss her hair to the
side and laugh every so often at something he would say. She
enjoyed spending time with him whenever they had time to talk, but
she was so worried he didn’t like her. I rolled my eyes every time
she mentioned it.

Dragus noticed my assessment and laughed, “I
wonder when he is going to tell her.”

“Tell her what?” I asked confused.

“That she is his destiny,” he smiled.

“What?” I gasped. “Why didn’t you tell
me?”

“Oh no!” he bellowed. “It is not my place
or
yours, love.”

“I know, I know! I promise not to say
anything.” Man it would kill me to keep my mouth shut, but I know
better than to mess with fate.

With nothing more than a soft kiss, we
finished the dance. Our friends, who were more like family, hugged
us and sent us on our way to our honeymoon. I promised Lydia I
would call her when we returned. She was in charge at the club and
Adam was to continue working with Kai on the potions. I’m fairly
sure he would be busy over the next few months, learning his new
job as
Krieger
. Brock and William were given a well-deserved
week’s paid vacation while we were gone.

Dragus pulled me up into his arms and
whispered, “I love you,
mi amor
,”

“
Mi amor, mi vida
.” I whispered. We
joined hands and left for the darkened beaches in Maui to begin our
new life as one.

Epilogue

June 25
^th

It was eight o’clock when we left the
mansion. Tonight was going to be the second worst night of my
existence. I was on my way to give my testimony about the night I
died. Dragus had convinced the judge to allow me to be videotaped.
Thankfully, the other four women had also pressed the judge for the
same request. The last thing I wanted was to be in the same room as
my attacker.

The terror of his attack may never pass from
my mind. Richard Somers’ face was forever burned into my memories.
I found a little strength from the other women he had attacked. We
had met a few times over the past couple of months, to talk about
what had happened to us. Three of us had been found and converted
before we were pronounced dead. The other two were still human, and
by some miracle, survived his attack.

Sabin Lockhart had been attacked in 1899, in
Philadelphia. A male vampire had heard her screams and saved her
from being completely drained by Richard. The other vampire,
Christa Wolff, was attacked in 1949. She lived in Houston and was
saved by a female vampire. One human, Lucia La Croix, had been
attacked by him one night after Mardi Gras in New Orleans in 1999.
The other human, Lizzie Marquis, lived in Las Vegas when she was
attacked in 2003. Both of the humans had spent weeks in the
hospital recovering from their wounds. Poor Lizzie, she wore a
constant scarf around her neck to cover the scars from her
attack.

It surprised me that they would trust
vampires, after what had happened to them. Unfortunately, they were
now afraid of all men, in general.

My regular team of bodyguards, Brilliam and
Adam, escorted me to the courthouse this evening. Now that I was a
Lady of the
Krieger
, my protection was enforced. I was no
longer allowed to take off by myself. No more trips to the mall for
me and Lydia. It’s just too embarrassing to have three
Krieger
hover around me while I was shopping for skimpy
lingerie. I now used the internet to order most of what I
needed.

Dragus was to meet us at the courthouse in
about half an hour. I asked my guards and my mate not to go inside
the judge’s office with me. The humans wouldn’t react well to the
warriors. Dragus, of course, refused. God forbid the judge might
stake me when I was alone in the office. I had to roll my eyes at
his overbearingly obsessive behavior. Because I threw such a fit,
Brilliam and Adam were to remain in the hall, but Dragus demanded
(and I mean flat out insisted) that he be inside with me.

Even though Dragus had seen, through my
thoughts, what had happened, we had never talked about it openly.
He tried on many occasions to get me to talk to him about it, but I
refused. My inner feelings were to stay my inner feelings about the
whole incident. Tonight I was only here to give a statement of
fact. The judge had already given us instructions not to say how we
dealt mentally with his assault, but to only tell the timeline.

“How are you holding up, my lady?” Adam asked
about halfway into the drive into town.

I looked at him and whispered, “I’m
fine.”

I felt ridiculous sitting here in the middle
of the backseat of one of the
Krieger
Hummer’s. Brock on my
left and Adam on my right; William was driving. Oh, did I mention
that Dragus had this one decked out with bullet proof glass? Yeah,
can you say Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?

We arrived at the courthouse about five
minutes till eight. William pulled up along the curb so that Brock,
Adam, and I could get out in front of the building. Adam exited
first, pausing for a moment to check our surroundings. I followed,
flanked by Brock. William drove off to find a parking spot and was
to meet us inside shortly. After we made it through security (Adam
and Brock were allowed through with weapons, because they are
Krieger
), we headed for the elevator. Judge Mackenzie’s
office was on the second floor.

When the doors opened, Dragus was busy pacing
the floor. I could tell he was worried. As soon as he saw us, he
checked his watch and narrowed his eyes on Adam, “You’re almost
late,” he barked.

“We’re right on time
Krieger
,” I
laughed. “Quit worrying.”

Dragus pulled me in for a quick kiss. We
joined hands and walked over to the door labeled with the judge’s
name. Brock and Adam took the chairs in the hallway.

I took a second to calm myself. Dragus turned
toward me and frowned, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I snapped. “I just want to get
this over with.”

He started to say something, but I reached
around him and grabbed the handle for the door. It opened into a
lobby, somewhat like a doctor’s office. There were matching blue
padded chairs lined up on the walls, with an occasional end table
separating them, holding magazines. I approached the desk and gave
my name to the receptionist.

Dragus sat next to me, silently watching our
surroundings. It was ludicrous. We were the only ones in the room,
until the door opened and in walked Sabin. She was alone and looked
terrified. I smiled when our eyes made contact. She spoke to the
receptionist then took the seat next to me.

“How long have you been here?” she asked.

“Just a few minutes,” I whispered. Dragus was
still holding one of my hands; he gave me a gentle squeeze.

We sat in silence for a few more minutes
before the lady at the counter came around asking me to follow her
back to see the judge. Dragus followed behind, still silent as he
was in the waiting room.

Judge Mackenzie’s office was elegant. Dark
cherry wood furniture adorned most of the room. Bookcases filled
with all kinds of law books towered behind his desk. In the corner
was a single chair that matched those in the waiting room. In front
of it was a small video camera sitting on top of a tripod. My hands
became wet as panic sat in. I couldn’t put it off any longer. After
a heavy sigh, I took my seat in front of the camera. I had to
remind myself of the request…facts only, no feelings.

“Are you ready, my lady?” the judge asked. I
nodded and did my best to relive the night that has haunted me for
almost three centuries.

I walked out of his office knowing it was
over. I did everything I could to hopefully get this monster off of
the streets. Dragus still had not spoken. Because of our bond, I
knew that he was beyond angry. Hearing the words directly from my
mouth, instead of seeing it in my head, had Dragus even angrier
than the night he found out about my past.

Once we made it to the waiting room, Sabin,
Christa, Lizzie, and Lucia were waiting for their turn to go in.
Lucia wrapped her arms around her stomach the instant Dragus
stepped through the door. I sent him a mental message.
I want to
talk to them for a minute. Can you go outside? Lizzie is still
spooked by men.

Dragus nodded and excused himself to go out
into the hallway. I sat down in one of the chairs across from the
others.

“It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be,”
I admitted. They looked at me and smiled. I think it relieved some
of the anxiety they were having about giving their statements.

“Thank you, my lady,” Sabin whispered.

“Would you all like to meet one night this
week?” I asked. Our weekly meetings seemed to help each and every
one of us with the healing. Talking to others was not something I
would have done a year ago; now I look forward to our talks.

“Yes, that would be great,” Lucia sighed. “We
will call you tomorrow.”

“Very well,” I hugged each of them before
walking out into the hallway to meet Dragus and the others.
Brilliam and Adam did not say anything as we walked to the
elevators. I could still sense Dragus’ anger rolling off his
body.

I wrapped myself around his bulky arm and
leaned my head on his bicep. He reached over and stroked my hair. I
looked into his beautiful golden eyes and smiled, “It’s finally
over.”

About Theresa Hissong:

Theresa is a mother of two and the wife of a
retired Air Force Master Sergeant. After seventeen years traveling
the country, moving from base to base, the family has settle their
roots back in Theresa’s home town of Olive Branch, MS., where she
enjoys her time with old friends and family.

After almost three years of managing a
retail bookstore, Theresa has gone behind the scenes to write
romantic stories with flare. A romance lover through and through,
Theresa daydreams of the perfect love affair and takes those ideas
to paper.

Look for other exciting reads…coming very
soon!