Kiss Of Twilight (27 page)

He approached cautiously. "I guess you better not die then, darlin'."

She shook her head. "That can't be helped now. Leave."

"I can't."
Not I won't
. He refused to give her any options.

Cocking her head to one side, she looked him over then scowled as she stood. "You aren't a telepath, not like me or Winter. How did you follow me here?"

"Don't you know, Kara?" he asked her softly, gently. "There's only one way to make this happen."

She blanched and stepped closer. Almost close enough to grab.
Just a little bit closer, baby.
He kept the thought buried under his shields. She would flee again if she knew his plan.

"Dupree, you didn't...do anything stupid, did you?"

He smiled. "Define stupid."

"You..." she sputtered and spun away on her heel. Several feet away she whirled back to face him, hands on her hips, eyes actually sparking in this mental world they inhabited. "You created a mate bond?"

He nodded, a little worried about the way her sudden fury made the walls of their prison pulse and shimmer. She flew at him, poking him in his chest as she screamed in his face. "You didn't ask that of me. You didn't have the right to make that choice for me." His arms banded around her waist and held her close when she tried to turn away.

"Would you have said no? Kara, you wouldn't have. You know it."

"You've killed yourself, Dupree," she sobbed. "I never wanted that."

"I'm not dead." He sighed. "The bond is strong. It's working as it should."

"And when I die? What then?"

"You aren't going to die," he said harshly. Ordered. She just gave him a sad look.

"I feel it, babe. I feel the life leaving my body. The pain is..." She shuddered and he held her tighter. He would not lose her. He couldn't. He had to convince her to fight.

"The healer is working on the damage. It won't be easy and it's not going to feel good." How could he not be anything but brutally honest with her? She trembled and he felt the agony racking her body. Could he ask that of her?
Pain heels. Pain fades,
he told himself.
I will love her forever.

"It hurts, Dupree. I just want to sleep."

Her eyes fluttered and despite the mental construct she'd created he saw the life ebbing away from her. He experienced a moment of absolute panic. Even if there was a way for him to survive her death, he didn't want to. He couldn't imagine his life without her in it. Irritating him, teasing him, playing with him. No one else would dare. No one else had the guts or nerve to breach his private walls. No one else could soothe the beast that lived inside him.

And he knew. The only way to hold onto her was to lay his heart bare. "Fight, Kara. Fight for me. For us." He didn't need the breath he paused for after all. "I love you. Maybe I could live without you but I don't want to."

She didn't say anything for a long time and he was afraid he hadn't said enough.

"I don't know how. I don't know if that's the best thing to do," she finally answered and he exhaled a huge sigh of relief.

Just reach for me,
he said to her mind.
Just hold on to me.

Her mind brushed against his before she pulled back, but then she tried to cut the connection between them. It was like a razor flaying his skin and he gasped, hanging on to her tighter.

"If you die so do I, darlin'. I never figured you for a woman who'd give up this easy." She wanted to fight dirty? So would he. "You think the region will survive without you, me and Gia? How many of your friends will die?"

"That's not fair," she whispered. "You can't abandon everyone because of me."

"The hell I can't," he shouted back and took a deep breath before going on. "For sixty years I have given everything I have to the Order. I've never complained and I've always obeyed. But I can't live without you, Kara. I
refuse
to live without you. We both die tonight or we live together. There's no other option. So what do you want, baby?"

"You're crazy. You know that, right?"

He shrugged. "Does it matter?"

"We'll probably both die anyway."

He held onto her tight. "I don't care as long as we're together."

It took several minutes but eventually she nodded, and slowly, she lowered her shields, her mind stopped fighting his. He felt their bond tighten, strengthen into something harder than titanium as her mind moved forward to his, as she stopped fighting the bond and decided to live.

Luke was glad for his friend and sorry for himself. Dupree took his woman away, back to the mansion where they'd continue healing her body and mind, but Luke was pretty sure she'd survive. He'd seen the relief and joy on Dupree's face. Part of him resented the other man's happiness and so he stayed to help dispose of the bodies. Maybe physical labor would help dull his envy. He helped drag demons to the pyre, watched until the very last one was burned to ashes, and was the last alliance member to leave the clearing.

He stayed because he did not know where else to go.

Not home. Not yet. He couldn't help with the healing and he couldn't handle all the happy energy in that place. He also couldn't give in to the urge to find someplace quiet and rage. It hadn't worked for him before. Why should it now? Besides, he was so damned tired. And hungry. It wouldn't be long before Marcus ordered him to feed. Luke smiled wanly. If he knew his brother--and what twin didn't?--Marcus would offer himself first. They'd argue back and forth. Luke would win. Sort of. Marcus would insist he find another. Winter would no doubt suggest a hybrid. Not a young pretty female either. Luke had to laugh. No, Winter wouldn't give him a woman who might supplant her friend, Gia, in his heart. There was a lot to like about his brother's mate.

A lot to like about her, but she wasn't his. She wasn't Gia. He would give anything, even his own life, to have her back and safe with their people. His and hers. Nightwalkers and hybrids. More than that, more than anything, he wanted to have her back in his arms again. He'd kill for her. He'd drench the world in blood. He stared glumly at what remained of the fire. Well, he'd done his share of killing, hadn't he? Killing demons was getting him no closer to finding the woman who owned his heart.

Maudlin. He was getting maudlin and morose in his old age. He titled his head back and screamed at the sky. Anger was better but fleeting. When it was spent he was still left with no particular destination in mind. It was hours to dawn. He couldn't go home. He didn't feel like hunting. His rage at the demons was temporarily appeased.

There was one place.
Their
place. A private place he'd spent years building, a very private retreat no one knew of. Until her. She was the only woman he'd ever taken there. The only woman he'd ever allow there.

It was hollowed out of a hill, with no way to enter but by teleportation, and not connected to any of the area's vast cave and tunnel network. He'd used a combination of his telekinetic powers and technology to build the room and bath, to put lights and water in it. There was no need of air conditioning or heat. Buried under tons of dirt it stayed an even moderate temperature year round.

Since Gia had gone missing he only went there when he feared he was losing his mind. When the pain of her loss was so great he couldn't control it and feared for those around him. He kept it stocked even if he wasn't using it and checked every now and then for signs of life. Maybe she'd return to her senses and wait for him there, right? Right. He was delusional.

But it was the place he felt closest to her even if it was also lonely as hell. And where else could he go? He pictured it in his mind, his haven, his hell, and pushed his molecules there.

As soon as he entered he knew it was changed and rage rose with the knowledge. This was
his
place. His refuge. The place he came to when the memory of her was too great to bear. The echo of the psychic presence of another was heavy in the air and his fury made the hill around him shake. He stormed through the room into the alcove hiding the bath area.

A pile of clothes, no more than rags, lay on top of the mat before the shower door. It was not until he knelt at their side, lifted a shirt to inspect, that the scent hit him. Filled with fury and terror and all Gia. He quaked. Stood slowly and this time, carefully looked around with
all
his senses. The relief nearly brought him to his knees. She'd been here. And very recently.

He let all his mental senses expand but it gave him very little to go on. She was hurt and afraid. She'd escaped. But there was also madness and confusion. So much confusion.

He didn't care. He was euphoric. Gia was alive. She'd come here, to their place. What did it mean? Did he even fucking care? She would not have come here if she didn't feel anything for him. But she was gone now. Where would she go from here?

Winter or Dupree.

He knew she wasn't at the mansion so he didn't look there. Marcus would have told him immediately. Where else? He searched her former compound then Ben's, physically and mentally, with extreme care. There was only a faint echo of her. She hadn't been in either place in weeks. He should have told the others what had happened, should have got them to help, but something held him back. The feeling of fear and confusion was still heavy in his mind from their place.

Wherever she'd been, whatever she'd been doing, she wouldn't want even her closest friends to see her how she was now. He couldn't say how he knew that, but he was sure. So he thought of the other places she might go and visited them all. He didn't find her at any of them. He could only think of one other place she might go and prepared himself in advance for the disappointment if she wasn't there.

Gia opened her eyes when her feet were once again on solid ground and swayed. The teleport was at the edge of her range. She set her palm on the wall, taking a deep breath as she opened her senses to search for the presence of others. She was in the corridor outside her cell and, for the moment at least, she was alone. Instead of retracing her steps, this time she went further into Ben's lair. Somewhere ahead was an area, probably a room, he kept for himself. He might be rogue but he wasn't stupid enough to trust his demons while he rested.

After a few yards the tunnel took a sharp turn to the left and opened into a small cavern. This was where the demons stayed. There were several fires scattered around, the embers still glowing bright enough to light the way even if they hadn't strung up lights around the space. She counted three exits and hurried to check them out. The closest was another tunnel, but the second was what she'd been looking for.

The room had a heavy steel door, currently propped open, a narrow cot pushed against one wall, and a stack of books on the desk. Curious at the odd find, she approached. There were seven of them, thick leather bound notebooks. They were familiar, but her memory failed her again and she snarled her frustration just as a tingle of awareness surged through her.

He was coming. With a shaking hand she pulled the pistol from its holster, backed up against the wall so he couldn't attempt to take her from behind and faced the room. The air changed, charged. She lifted the weapon ready to fire as soon as he solidified. Then he was there. Surprise flashed for a split second before it morphed into rage, but it was too late. She'd already fired. Blood bloomed across his chest and he sagged to his knees. It wasn't enough though. She had to be sure. She stepped nearer, saw his chest rise and fall as he struggled to breathe, and fired again. The second shot was right between his eyes. It was less than a minute before his gaze turned vacant.

She stared down at him, surprised at the regret and remorse that filled her. He was evil. He was a rogue, and there was no choice about putting them down, ever. But even though she didn't remember it she knew once he'd been a friend.

She heard sounds from the tunnels, coming closer. The demons were returning. She returned the gun to its holster, grabbed the books and teleported to the first place that popped into her mind. It was a residential street, closer and therefore an easier distance to travel than the hidden haven she'd found earlier. She wasn't sure where to go, but followed that instinct again. This time when she teleported she opened her eyes in an office she knew was hers. She set the pile of books on the desk and moved to stare out a bank of windows, trying to make sense of the mess in her mind and what to do next.

Luke teleported to Gia's office and froze, waiting, terrified she was an illusion that would dispel with the slightest breath of air. She stood in front of the bank of windows with her back to him. His heart thudded in his chest, the relief and joy and fear so extreme he thought he'd explode from the overload. Yet she didn't move. She didn't acknowledge him. She had to have felt him arrive. Any hybrid would have felt someone teleport into the room. But Gia didn't budge from her place. She kept her back to him, facing the windows overlooking the city.

"I knew you would come," she whispered, but it just didn't feel right. He moved forward cautiously, afraid to spook her into running again.

"Did you?"

She didn't look at him until he stood by her side. What he saw made him want to rage. She was pale and gaunt and battered looking. When he lifted a hand to stroke her cheek she flinched away from him and he let it fall to his side. Her eyes glowed red.

"What happened to you?"

"Who are you?"

They asked at the same time.

"Who
am
I?" That riled him as nothing else could have. "Luke? Your mate?"

Her brows drew together in a frown. "I have no mate. If I did, I wouldn't be fighting my demon so much."

Well, that threw him for a bit of a loop. She'd never before discussed the connection between her demon, her stability and mating's influence over it all.

"We didn't have time to complete the bond before you disappeared." It wasn't a lie exactly, right? Eventually she would see she was his as he was hers.

Her sweet answering smile wasn't reassuring though.

"Surely, I would remember if I was planning on bonding with someone?"

He barely dodged the knife in her hand. Fuck. Couldn't anything go right in his life? Accepting there was no help for it, he called to Marcus and Marcus, seeing through him what was going on, shared the situation with Winter and Dupree. All three shimmered into being in the next half second. Dupree looked almost as bad as Gia, but he was the one who stepped forward, knife lowered to his side.

"Gia? Hon, it's me and Winter. We've come to take you home."

Gia put the desk between herself and all the others, but she lowered the knife. Luke's heart ached for them both.

"I," Gia started but didn't go on. She looked lost. "I don't remember," she finally said.

"It's a side effect of what Ben did to you," Winter said and Luke looked over sharply. She ignored him. "He kept a lock on your mind. Prolonged exposure causes memory loss."

Sorry, Luke, we just confirmed that power causes memory loss,
she said to him by way of apology. He knew Winter had suspected Ben had a way of caging minds and she'd had Nadia researching the ability, but he was too worried about Gia to answer and Winter ignored him. She moved closer to the desk.

"Gia. Your memory will come back with time, but Ben is still out there. We can keep you safe."

"Ben is dead. I killed him," she whispered. Everyone was quiet a long time. "Ben used to be like us." Her voice broke at the end and it took all Luke's control not to rush to her.

Winter nodded. "Once. Before Nancy died. Before he went rogue."

Gia looked lost but then her expression hardened. Her voice was soft as a whisper as if reminding herself. "I am Gianna Drake. Daughter of Sean and Basney. First Lieutenant of the southeast region of the Order of Templar."

"Yes, you are," Winter responded just as softly.

The look on Gia's face stabbed at him. Heartsore and wild. "Then why don't I remember it?"

"Ben. What he did? I already said, Gia."

"Gia," he said, a command in his voice. A demand she look at him. See him. She ignored him instead and focused on Winter.

"I remember you," she said. "And Dupree."

But not Luke and his presence scared her. He sighed and turned away. He couldn't watch anymore.

I'd never hurt you. Ever.

But how do I know that? I don't remember you.

And that was twisting the knife in his back, wasn't it?

I'm sorry.
Her voice was so faint, so light, he wasn't sure he heard it.
I don't know what I'm doing.

I just want to take care of you, baby.

But that was just the beginning. He felt out of control. He wanted to kill any male that came anywhere near her. He wanted to take her far away. However if he did her mental condition would probably deteriorate. She needed to be around her friends to recover what she'd lost. The knowledge did little to alter his desires, but he didn't protest when Dupree took Gia's hand.

"I'll take her home," Dupree said.

He waited for Luke to nod agreement then teleported. Marcus and Winter left next, but Luke stayed back a few minutes. He needed time to compose himself. He wouldn't be any good for Gia freaking out and ferociously possessive. When he regained control, he followed the others to the house only to be banished until after the healer got a chance to look her over.

It was hours later before he found her in her bed, rolled up on her side in a fetal position facing away from him with tubes in both arms. One pumped clean blood into her body. The other looked to be the usual saline drip. She turned when he entered and gave him a weak halfhearted smile.

"Hey."

"Hey yourself," he approached slowly, cautiously. With hope. "You remember me now?"

He sat on the edge of the bed and she tucked her hands up under her chin like she was preparing herself for a blow. "I don't. I'm sorry. Winter said it will come."

He scooted onto the bed, sitting with his back to the headboard and stretched his legs out. He'd left his boots in his room and despite the circumstances it felt good to relax. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

"Um. Luke?"

"Hmm?"

"This isn't your room. Winter would have warned me."

Fuck it. He was through chasing her. She was caught. He looked down at her. So frail and fragile looking it made him ache for her. His words didn't come out resolute and firm as he'd intended. "You're not exactly in a position to make me leave."