Empath (Book 1 of the Empath Trilogy) (36 page)

Stubbornly he shook his head.  “If I go there to feed I have to announce our arrival formally and I don’t want to do that.”

“But you need to eat.”  I didn’t understand his logic.  “Who cares if they know we’re here.  Don’t they anyway?”

Kissing my temple, he smiled.  “An alarm doesn’t go off when one of us sets foot in the city.”  My grouchy look warranted a smile.  “Seriously, believe it or not we enjoy the same anonymity as anyone else.”

“But, I thought you could smell each other.” 

James frowned and bobbed his head thoughtfully.  “If someone who knows me crosses my scent or comes looking for me then yes, they will smell me.”  Brightening, he winked.  “But why bring that upon ourselves prematurely?  I brought you here so that I could have you to myself, at least for a little while, and I’m not giving that up so easily.”  His hand rubbed my back reassuringly.  “I can make it one more day.”

I tried to believe him, looking past his pale features and the tired lines in his face, new since this morning, as we continued on our stroll through the ancient city’s newer quarter.  Eventually, the city and being together cast its spell and, walking and talking, we watched the day change to evening.  The architecture took on a different, more mysterious personality as it lit up for the night before us and our worries faded into the background. 

Dinner was a romantic candlelit affair at a restaurant called The Witchery at the Castle.  It was situated in the shadow of the castle as its name implied, granting it a cozy timelessness that enchanted me from the first glance of the faded stone walls and black painted wood trimwork on the outside.  James had me describe each course to him in detail while he took notes.  It made the tasting of each flavor more decadent, more sensual, to describe my reactions and sensations to every flavor and color.  Though I was not as hungry as I should have been after such an active day, I enjoyed the tastes and experience.

I snuggled against him on the taxi ride home.  My eyes barely stayed open as the effects of jet lag and a full day of walking caught up to me.  He supported most of my weight on our way to the room, helped me into one of his t-shirts, my now preferred sleep attire, and into bed.  I was sleeping before my head hit the pillow. 

Ch. 45

With just over five hours of sleep under my belt, I was awake and refreshed before dawn and watched the sun rise, only to be obstructed by heavy cloud cover.  That was probably preferable to James and I didn’t care either way.  It was always nice to see the sun, but unless I was in a bathing suit, I didn’t need it to be all that hot and sunny to enjoy myself.  Stretching, I felt his cool stomach against my back.  It never failed to make me smile, beginning the day remembering my good fortune anew. 

Reaching for his arm laying across my hip, I ran my fingers down his forearm and delighted in his contented sigh.  “What would you like to do today Claire?  Other than one quick errand, we don’t have to be anywhere until after tea.”

The realization that we had our meeting today slammed into me.  Predictably, my chest seized up and breathing became a labor.  I tried to calm myself with some deep breathing exercises to no avail.  I tried to downplay my anxiety.  “I had such a good time yesterday, I completely forgot about that.” 

“I must have been a good tour guide.”  He pulled me against his body and whispered in my ear, “You remember my promise.  You will come to no harm.”

He was trying to ease my mind despite both our nerves.  I could tell from the tension in his smile and in his walk as we got ready to go down to breakfast that he was feeling it too.  I wasn’t all that hungry lately and settled for a coffee and pastry again as we wandered the neighborhood.  It felt like we were locals strolling with the morning pedestrians on their way to work.

Leaning into his arm, I sighed, “I wish we could stay here.  It’s such a beautiful city.” 

“Yes,” he agreed, “it’s always been one of my favorites.  We’ll have to come back again when we have more time to spend, maybe when all this is over.  You should see the Highlands in summertime.”

“Hmm,” I mulled that one over.  I hadn’t thought that far ahead.  That we would still be together next summer, maybe taking a vacation together.  It sounded wonderful.  “You don’t think you’ll be tired of me by then?”

He squeezed me hard against him.  “We could live forever and I wouldn’t tire of you.  I’ve been waiting a long time for you; I just didn’t know it.”

I smiled up at him.  “Me too.” 

We found a café in a particularly well trafficked pedestrian area to watch the people go by.  I had a coffee and he had one sitting in front of him for effect, as usual.  Sitting across from him instead of walking beside him, I assessed his appearance.  His color had me worried again.  If he was human, I would have thought he was sick. 

“James, we have to get you something to eat before we go see them.”  He hadn’t eaten substantially for days and the small amount he took from me at the wedding was barely enough for the night.  He could no longer convince me he could keep me insulated at no cost to him.  He needed a full feeding soon or we would both be a mess for our meeting.

“You’re very observant.”  He was grim.  “Yes, it is getting more urgent.  Don’t worry, I will have access to what I need this afternoon.  I’ll make it until then if we take it easy.”

He must have been weak with thirst by now and although traveling with a walking blood source, I was relieved he didn’t want to exploit it unless in a dire emergency.  Closing my eyes, I inhaled deeply.  I pushed away the trepidation I felt and sat up straighter in my chair.  “What fun things will we do with our second day in Edinburgh?”

He pointed with his chin to our east.  “I thought with the time we have we could go down to the Ocean Terminal and see the yachts, maybe walk along the water.”

“That sounds great.  It feels like I’m really getting a feel for the romance of the city.  It must be all of this strolling,” I teased him.

He fidgeted absently with his coffee cup.  “That’s the spin I’m putting on the article, a romantic weekend.  I’m thinking we could turn it into a whole series, romantic old cities.”

“I’m not fishing for invitations or anything but I hope you aren’t going to try to bring anyone else along on those excursions.” 

James flicked his eyes up to mine and I felt them burn into me.  My stomach did cartwheels when he talked about love and me in the same sentence; combine that with the way he looked at me and I was ready to spend the rest of the day indoors.  I knew it wouldn’t fade for me, but wondered for the millionth time if it would for him along with my youth. 

I had finished my coffee and stood up to throw away my napkin when I looked across the street and saw them.  I froze and felt the blood drain from my face.

“What is it?”  He whispered, concern clouding his handsome features and standing up to draw tight to my side.

Without speaking, I wasn’t sure I could find my voice if I tried.  I nodded my chin toward the man and woman standing across the street.  They were not a romantic couple.  They were a couple of killers.  The last time I had seen them, they had left me to die in Lake Superior.  Their return sent a spasm of fear through me, only it wasn’t just for me this time.  A sideways glance reminded me how desperate James was for blood and I was scared to lose him if he had to fight now.  Two to one were not good odds, especially today.

His growl was low, I could feel it vibrating my body as he focused on them.  Sliding his arm down from my back and resting it over my hand, James surprised me by making a request as he stared at the couple.  “Claire, can you get a feel from them?”

“Yes, I did it at the lake.”  I felt him look down at me and I met his eyes, enjoying the pleased surprise I saw there.  “That’s how I knew they weren’t there to talk.”  I saw his eyes tighten and his growl rumbled again; he pulled me back into his side in a defensive gesture. 

From my safe position, I tried to appear nonchalant to any casual observers as I brought my focus to the woman.  James’ touch helped me to filter out the “buzz” of the humans around us while he kept himself closed off to avoid any “contamination.”  Bringing down my shields enough to feel her, I sucked in my breath through my teeth.  I knew we were in trouble.  Hearing my reaction, James flicked his eyes down to me.

“What did you get?”  He asked urgently.

I gulped.  “She got in trouble after they failed last time.  Their boss, the one they call their Master, punished them severely for it.”  Dropping my voice, I whispered.  “He used a knife and it hurt.  The blade was some sort of stone; why?”

Brow furrowed, James explained why.  “It takes a lot of damage, but we can go into something like human shock,” he mumbled under his breath.  “Wooden stakes can paralyze us, silver can kill if it enters our blood stream.  He probably used something else to maximize his results.”

James looked around us, assessing our options, and turned west toward the bridge and Old Town.  Looking back, I confirmed they were indeed following us.  We didn’t have to hurry, there were enough humans around and it was daylight; they had to be careful not to be visible.

We walked briskly, trying to appear unhurried as we gave wide berth to alleys and deserted areas.  James was clearly trying to avoid a conflict with the two trailing vampires.  I followed along, waiting for a chance to ask him what his plan was, but the streets had gotten crowded and we couldn’t stop.

My strength was flagging after several miles at a good clip.  My experience hiking gave me no advantage.  It had been at human pace, not vampire, and I was spent.  “James, can we slow down just for a minute?  I’m human, remember?”  He rumbled in his chest, cutting me a warning glare.  Virtually running these last few miles, I hadn’t seen his face before; now I could see how close the vampire was to the surface.  The effect of days of stress and hunger were reflected in his eyes.  “We have to figure something out soon or I’m worried the city’s going to see a vampire showdown in broad daylight.”  He made no indication that he heard me.  “And then we’re all dead.”  He blinked.

Distracted, James nodded.  “I don’t know what to do.  If I could hide you, I could handle them, but I am going to have limited control during a fight.”  He turned his tormented face to mine.  “I don’t want you anywhere near me if that happens.”

“If?”  I snorted.  “You mean when.  They aren’t backing off and you don’t have much left in your reserves.  You’ve used them up taking care of me.”  The flash in his eyes, before he carefully tucked it away, confirmed my suspicions.  “If you think you can take them, then let’s find the best place for it.  Have you ever had to fight in a city before?”  Gauging from the “duh” look he gave me, I was guessing he had.  “Well, then what’s your best bet?”

Back to thinking in terms of strategy he had answers for me right away.  “I need privacy, firm footing and open space.  An abandoned building is perfect.” 

Feeling like I finally had a purpose and means by which I could help, I began to walk again.  This time, I scanned the area and quickly saw a small black brick faced pub closed for renovation.  Better still, there was plastic sheeting over the inside of the windows providing a total blackout on the inside.  I spoke his name quietly and gestured with my chin and eyes.  He immediately understood and I saw his face set grimly as he readied himself for battle.

“Claire, I am going to need your help luring them into the pub.  They are after you, not me.  After we have them in there, you will need to find cover, preferably something that locks so that I can be free to move and not worry about leaving you open to an attack.  We’ll see what they’ve left in there during their construction.” 

Bravely, I agreed, carefully guarding my reservations about being front and center in a fight between three vampires.  The only one I could call an ally was so blood starved even he couldn’t guarantee my safety once he was in the heat of battle. 

Hand in hand, we walked past the front door of the pub and made an exaggerated right turn on the sidewalk.  Following the walk, we came upon a standard sized metal door painted red.  The lock on the door was probably a good idea unless your intruder was a determined vampire.  I heard metal squeal before the lock gave way and the door opened.  We left it cracked to make it obvious where we had gone, hoping they wouldn’t resist the chance to capture their prey even if they did sense the trap.