Illusion (25 page)

Lukas sped to my side and ripped the thick cords away with his fingers, freeing my hands and legs.  Rubbing my already healing wrists, I collapsed to the floor to cradle Anna in my arms, pulling the gag from her mouth.  She stirred weakly and coughed, her eyelids fluttering and blood leaking from the corner of her mouth.

I looked at Lukas anxiously.  “Lukas, she’s dying.”

Lukas was motionless as he stared down at Anna in horror.  He covered his mouth with his hand and looked at me with his frightened, arctic blue eyes.

“Lukas, you have to help me!”  I shrieked at him frantically.  “Look at her!”

He shuddered and shook his head.  “I’ll kill her, Josie.  I won’t be able to stop.  I can’t do it.”

Gasping back a sob, I held Anna closer to me.  I smoothed her hair back from her pale, clammy face as I spoke to her and put my hand against her neck, applying pressure to try to stop the flow of blood.  “Don’t you die on me, Anna.  Hold on, please hold on.”

Derek’s sudden scream of pain brought my attention back to the one-sided battle playing out in front of me.  Stefan was slowly and systematically torturing Derek, inflicting blow after brutal blow to Derek’s face and torso.  He was unrecognizable, his eyes almost swollen shut and his lips split and bloody.  Stefan stopped his punishing attack and gripped Derek’s right arm.  He leaned down so his face loomed in front of him, his expression deadly and calm.

“I had hoped that when I had my opportunity to kill you I would have more time to torture you.  However, we have a plane to catch.  This is for touching what is mine,” Stefan growled as he ripped the arm from the socket, the sound making a wet, snapping noise.  He let the limb fall from his hand to roll across the kitchen floor, the fingers of Derek’s hand still twitching.

Derek’s face contorted in pain, letting out an anguished scream as he dropped to his knees in front of Stefan.  “Please, no more.  I’ll give you anything you want.”

Stefan’s expression never changed but his voice dripped with contempt as he spoke.  “Look at you.  You beg and cry like a child.  You had no issue torturing my mate and her friend.  Neither begged as you do now.  The only thing you can offer me in return for their pain is your agony.  This is for hurting what is mine.”

Stefan slammed his fist repeatedly into Derek’s sternum in a series of powerful blows.  Derek fell backwards to the floor, making a futile attempt to pull himself away with his one remaining arm. 

“You cannot leave now, Derek.  We are just beginning to have fun.” Stefan took a step and placed his enormous boot against Derek’s chest, stopping his failed escape.  Stefan reached down to yank Derek’s other arm off with one swift pull, ignoring his tortured wail as he carelessly tossed it over his shoulder to join the other appendage.

There was a part of me that knew I should be disgusted and should look away.  Instead, I stared transfixed as Stefan grasped him by his torn and bloody shirt, jerking him to his feet.  He held Derek’s head in his large hands.  A menacing smile was on Stefan’s lips as he brought Derek’s face within inches of his.  Derek tried to instinctively recoil from him, making Stefan snicker with enjoyment as resignation flashed across Derek’s face.

“Here we are again, Derek.  How many centuries have we danced around your death? You have been lucky.  Each time your life was spared by the Board because of your
talent
.”  Stefan taunted coldly.  “This time there is no one to save you.  You attacked my mate and now your life is mine to dispose of.  The fate of your life…your depraved, vile existence is in my willing hands.”

Stefan’s voice lowered to a murmur.  “Må gudarna skicka dig direkt till helvetet.”  With a flick of his wrists, Derek’s head detached from his neck with a sickening crunch.  His body began disintegrating as it fell to the floor, slowly turning into a pile of ash.  Stefan didn’t give a second glance at the head in his hands.  He let it slip from his fingers and Derek’s head wobbled and twirled across the wood floor until it came to rest against the refrigerator.

Stefan turned to face me, approaching me cautiously.  He knelt beside of me, his eyes sweeping over me, visually examining me.  He was covered in Derek’s blood, matting his blond hair and staining his handsome face.  He glanced down at Anna in my arms, exhaling a deep breath.

“You have to save her, Stefan.  Anna…she doesn’t deserve to die like this.”  I blurted out.  I could hear the anguish in my voice.

“Josephine, please do not ask me to turn her,” Stefan reached to touch my cheek and I pulled away, refusing to let him lay a hand on me.  A rare look of hurt flashed across his face before he promptly buried it.  In its place, his handsome features arranged into a stony mask.

“Please.  I can’t let her die like this.  Please,”  I pleaded with him, rocking Anna gently.  “I’d do it if I could but I can’t.  Please, Stefan.  Please.”

“Vackra, you do not understand what you are asking me to do.  Is this a life she would want for herself?  She knows nothing of our existence,” Stefan reasoned.  “It may be much too late to save her.”

Still holding Anna, I reached out to grab his hand with mine.  His blue eyes were piercing as I met his stare.  “I don’t know if she would want this, Stefan.  This should be me here on this floor dying.  Not her.  Please, Stefan.  I’m begging you to save her.”

He squeezed my hand and his broad shoulders sagged.  “I can deny you nothing.”

Stefan sighed in defeat and took Anna from me.  He held her in his arms, his fangs sinking into her neck.  He drank from her, stopping to slice open his wrist with his teeth.  He placed his bloody wrist against her lips and watched as his blood trickled into her mouth.

His wound healed and he carried her into the living room, gently placing her limp body on the couch.  He stood over her, simply staring at her prone form.

“It is done.”

Scrambling to my feet, I rushed into the living room where I launched myself at his chest.  I didn’t care about the blood or the gore.  I just wanted to feel him against me, to know that he was here with me.

“Is she going to make it?  Did it work?” I mumbled against him.

“We will find out in two days.  She may have been too far gone for me to save her.” Stefan reminded me.  He wrapped his arms around me, his fingers stroking over my hair.

“Thank you, Stefan.  I was so scared.  I thought I’d never see you…”

“Never say those words,” Stefan interrupted me.  “You made me a promise.”

“I know.  I love you.”

Stefan placed his head against mine as I gave into my tears.  I cried for Anna, for my mother and for the happiness I felt to be at Stefan’s side and to be able to tell him I loved him.

Without moving, Stefan stared barking out commands to Lukas, his voice clipped and sharp.  “Lukas, go to Anna’s home.  Pack as much of her personal belongings as possible and grab her passport.  Got to her place of employment and force your will on all of her co-workers there.  Tell them Anna decided to return to the US.  Call Nigel.  Make sure to tell him that my favorite bird stopped singing today.  He will send someone to take care of this mess for me.”

For once, Lukas had no smart remark or witty response.  He inclined his head and dashed from the house, his phone already at his ear.

Stefan reluctantly released me from his arms as he blurred into action.  He also began making phone calls, pacing the floor.  His words and steps were too fast to follow.  My eyes moved from watching Stefan’s dizzying pace to drift over the pile of ash scattered across the floor, raising to take in the blood that was splattered against the ivory walls of the kitchen.  Not knowing what else to do, I sat down beside Anna, taking her cold, lifeless hand in mine.

I knew she couldn’t hear me, and I could only hope the magic of Stefan’s blood would save her now.  “I did what I thought was best, Anna.  I hope you don’t hate me for this.  I couldn’t let you die.  Not like that.”

Stefan stopped to rest his hand on my shoulder, rubbing my shoulder in comfort.  He was still on the phone but his voice had slowed to a normal pace.  “We need to delay our take off time by two hours.  Something unexpected happened and you need to make the necessary changes to the itinerary.”  He ended the call without saying a goodbye and closed his eyes, attempting to run his fingers through the dried blood in his hair.

“Stefan, I’m sorry.  I…”

He shook his head and held up his hand to stop my words.  “Vackra, I only wanted to turn one other person in my life.  You.”  He let out a resigned sigh.  “Plans change.  Anna will have to adjust to this life and she may not be happy if and when she awakes.  You must prepare yourself for that.”

Rubbing my forehead with my palm, I rested my pounding head against my hand.  “So she’ll hate me for begging you to change her.  And then she’ll hate you for doing it.”

He crouched down beside of me, his blue eyes softening.  “Do not be sorry and you cannot worry about the what if’s now.  You loved your friend and wanted to save her.  I understand.  We will deal with the consequences of this together.”

Stefan stood, offering me his outstretched hand.  “Come with me, vackra.  I started the shower for us,”

“Should I stay with her?”  I asked.  I wanted to go with him, but I was hesitant to leave her unattended.

 “Josephine, she is fine.  We still have a plane to catch.  We just have an extra passenger now.” Stefan uttered softly.  “Shower with me.”

Letting go of Anna’s hand, I reached for his.  I followed him into the bathroom and watched him as he tore his bloody, ruined clothing from his body.  When he was finished, he faced me and his blue eyes bored into mine.

“I want to see you,” Stefan murmured.  He stepped closer and took my arms in his hand, inspecting the angry, red marks that still encircled my wrists.  His eyes closed for a moment and he inhaled a shaky, unnecessary breath as his fingers gingerly traced the welts on my skin.

His beautiful blue eyes reopened and he swallowed unevenly.  As if he was convincing himself to continue, he licked his lips and nodded, his hand releasing my wrists.  He raised his hand to brush his thumb over the bruise that was forming on my cheekbone, his fingers trailing down the side of my face.

“Stefan, sweetheart.  It’s over.”  I cupped my hand against his stubbled cheek.  “You can’t kill him again.” 

He swallowed again and pressed his face against my hand.  He said nothing, his blue eyes unblinking.

“Stefan?  You have to talk to me,” I said softly.  His mind was still closed to me and his silence, both mental and verbal, was unnerving.

He shook his head and his jaw clenched.  He stood taller and simply stared down into my eyes, his expression one I’d never seen before.  He looked ancient and flinty, the lines of his face severe.

“If you won’t let me see what you’re thinking you have to tell me.”

The corner of his lip flinched.  When he finally spoke, his voice was deep and filled with bitterness.  “You saw what and who I am today.  I want him to meet a thousand deaths for what he did to you.  I longed to torture him for days, punishing him for touching you.  Is that what you wished to hear me say?

“What you did today isn’t you.  It’s only part of who you are,” I retorted softly.  “Will holding on to this change what he did, Stefan?”

“No.”  He chuckled and his eyes traced along my discolored cheekbone.  “However, it would satisfy the selfish part of me that wants vengeance.”

 My hand lowered from his face to rest against his silent chest, placing my hand over where his heart would be beating if he was still alive.  “You have to let this go, Stefan.  Let this go for you, for me.  For us.  He’s dead and you saved me.”

“You watched as I savagely killed a creature in front of you.  I tell you how I wanted him to suffer more and it is you that soothes me.  You have to see the absurdity in this,” Stefan marveled.  He gathered my shirt and ripped it up the middle, dropping the scraps of material to the bathroom floor.  He made short work of removing my jeans, tossing them to join the growing pile of destroyed clothing.

He lifted me into the shower with him and the spray of the hot water ran over us, the water dripping red trails down his chest as it ran over his tangled, bloody hair.

“Sit down.  Let me wash your hair.”  I pointed to the seat in the corner.  I could wash away the blood and the gore, yet I ached to have to power to wash away his all-consuming anger and need for revenge.

He obeyed and sat on the small bench, his large frame filling the entire corner of the shower.  He closed his eyes as I lathered his hair with shampoo, a purring sound grumbling in his chest as my nails scratched over his scalp.  Grabbing the handheld attachment, I rinsed his hair and watched as the pink suds disappeared, revealing his shiny blond hair.  Reaching for the bar of soap, I washed him, my slick, bubbly hands running over every curve and muscle of his body.  When I finished, I lowered my lips to his soft mouth.  My hand gripped the back of his neck, pulling him closer to me.  My tongue slipped between his lips, seeking out his.  When they met, he moaned into my mouth, his fingers running through my hair.

He pulled me onto his lap, our embrace never breaking.  I only raised my lips from his for a moment to catch my breath and he buried his head between my breasts, leaving me to wrap my arms around him and hold him as he breathed deeply against my wet skin.

“You saw me at my darkest moment, yet somehow you still manage to love me.”