Lost Wanderer Awakened - Book One of the Airendell Chronicles (13 page)

“Why do you need to leave after I go to
sleep?” she asks in a sleep thickened voice.

“Simple, my love, I promised to drive a
client to the airport in OKC,” he lies evenly. But she can feel his
guilt and knows that isn’t the truth.

Her eyes close then flutter open weakly,
“Sure,” she says doubtfully. “I get it.” It’s none of my business.
“See you soon. I love you Luca,” she murmurs as her mouth nuzzles
into his chest.

Lucian watches her even breathing for a few
minutes before he speaks, “Morna, why do you call me Luca?”

“Because you are my Luca. You always have
been… mine.” Her voice trails off into deeper sleep.

Luca chuckles softly. “Morna, I have never
been more grateful than I am right now that you so freely talk in
your sleep.” He stays beside her for hours, relishing her warmth,
her scent, reliving other nights spent watching this woman sleep.
Wishing she would just magically open her eyes and remember
everything. Who she really is. Who he really is. What they are to
each other. All of it.

He sighs. “Patience, old man,” he chides
himself. “She’s coming around.” The urge to peel her out of that
robe and make love to her is so strong. He craves her body and
wants to get lost in her lush curves and sweet scent but the risk
is too great.

He finally decides he better slip out to
hunt, in case she wakes up early. She has a tendency to do just
that, and she went to sleep very early tonight. He hopes the
medication, the tea, and his spell and song will be enough to give
a long night‘s sleep. Lord knows she really needs it. “Sleep well,
my love, while your Luca seeks the sustenance that enables him to
control his darker nature. The scent of your life’s blood is
driving me to distraction!” He whispers as he nuzzles her exposed
neck, and inhales deeply to savor the precious scent, her precious
magical essence that has led him to her repeatedly for nearly six
hundred years. He rests his cheek on the spot where her pulse
throbs and thanks God that he has found her again. He plants three
silent kisses on her beloved face, and then slips out of bed
without disturbing her rest. While Deidra dreams of a perfect angel
stalking a cougar in a dance of death and life.

CHAPTER 6 - RED EYED FRIEND

Luca gives himself over to his natural
instincts to hunt. He’s only been stalking this range for eight
months, but soon he will have to start ranging farther away before
the balance of wildlife is disrupted. As he searches for scent of
his prey, his nostrils burn with the sweet and spicy scent of one
of his own kind. It’s a familiar scent, a female he remembers as
Vee. That’s probably not her real name but it’s the only one he has
ever known her by. She’s been leaving an obvious trail. Luca
surmises she wants him to seek her out. “Dammit! I didn’t want to
waste any time tonight,” he mutters to himself.

Luca finds a rocky ledge to sit on. Plops
down and then calls out quietly, “Vee! If you want to see me just
get on with it.” Five seconds later, she’s sitting beside him.

“What’s up ole blue eyes?” her little girl’s
voice rings out. “You sure are getting loud in your old age. I’ve
been listening to you thrash around for several minutes.”

“Not much ole red…” he chuckles, “I am in a
hurry tonight. How about you? Man, you are a mess kiddo.” He takes
a quick inventory of her appearance. She is as pretty and
feline-like as ever, but something is different. Her clothes are
torn and dirty, her wild red mane of riotous curls is tangled with
leaves and other forest debris. Her manner is agitated, her eyes
flicking from side to side. Her eyes look sorrowful and angry, and
her irises are a very dull and dark crimson, she has not been
feeding regularly. “Hey, you aren’t hunting your preferred quarry
in my territory are you?” he demands.

“No, no Lucian. I wouldn’t do that. I
promised you ages ago that I wouldn’t do that. Usually when we, I
mean I, pick up your scent I just find another spot. Being a nomad
keeps me flexible, you know. I am not pinned down to one territory
like you often are.”

“Good. Thanks for respecting my wishes,” he
grunts. “Why are you looking for me then? And where is that
sadistic bastard you chose for a mate?”

“My mate is ashes,” she hisses. “That’s why I
was looking for you.”

“Wait a minute, kiddo. Didn’t I make it clear
I am not available to that kind of friendship?

“Yes Lucian, of course you did. Take it easy.
I quit lusting after you ages ago.” She giggles with that little
girl giggle he recalls. “But I was wondering if you were having to
hunt down your little Spell Weaver again.”

“I’ve found her,” he beams happily.

“Has she remembered everything yet?” Vee
quips. “I’ve never understood the attraction for you. Don’t you get
tired of having to search her out over and over? And then you have
to go through all that nonsense just to get her to remember you? It
would be a tiresome game for me to play. Especially since after all
of that effort, she will just die on you again.”

Her words are like a fist in the gut, but he
ignores it and answers her questions. “Not yet, but she’s getting
there, the memories are just with in her reach. Besides, it’s not
tiresome. I get to watch the woman I love fall in love with me over
and over again. I might as well make the best out of things I can’t
control.” After a pause he asks, “What do you want from me? What
are you looking for?”

“Revenge! That’s what I am looking for,” she
hisses. “A northern coven of yellow eyes took my mate out just
cause he was sniffing after a little pet human of theirs. They
burned him over a little doe eyed girl, a walking bag of blood. One
of them seemed unnaturally attached to her, like he had taken her
on as mate. So I figure I will take her out, and then he will know
the pain he caused me. And a vamp who is also a Spell Weaver would
be mighty handy when trying to take on a coven of that size. You
interested?”

Lucian shakes his head slowly. “No, sorry. I
am pretty busy right now. But I think you know I wouldn’t help
anyway. Why did you ask me?”

“Cause I am running out of ideas,” she
seethes. “Damn Lucian, I can’t get at her on my own. There are too
many… complications in the way. I have even thought about creating
an army… but I am scared of pissin’ off the Italians.”

“You should be afraid of that. Don’t do it,
Vee. An army is the worst idea. It is far too dangerous. The UCI
will stop you if the Italians don’t. You know that. Get on with it,
find another mate. Maybe this time you can find one that actually
has feelings for you and doesn’t just use your special set of
skills in his little sadistic games.”

“Oh hell, Lucian, what do you know about it?”
she demands. “You got your little Spell Weaver, and everyone stays
clear of you cause of your freakish skill set. Dammit!” She
chuckles, “Well, almost everyone. I heard that coven around Dallas
gave you fits.” Her eyes sparkle with amusement. “I heard it took
you nearly fifteen years to shake Anton and his coven mates. Why
didn’t you just wipe them out? I know you are strong enough to do
it.”

“I am sorry Vee, but you know why I can‘t
help you. It’s the same reason I didn’t take Anton out. I just
won’t do it. I won’t ever kill if I can keep from it. It’s nothing
against you. You were a good friend to us back in the day. You know
that right?” When she nods, he asks another question that occurs to
him, “If you think vampires and humans are an unnatural mix, how
come you don’t object to my little Spell Weaver as you call
her?”

“She’s not supposed to be just a human.
Right? You and her both were immortals back in the day, just
minding your own business. Then that ancient vamp and his witch
poked their noses in. I figure it’s not your fault, it’s not even
her fault. You guys are just making the best out what you have,
just like you said earlier. I can respect that. Besides, I like
your woman. She’s strong and funny as hell.”

Luca chuckles as he remembers his mate and
Vee becoming fairly close at one time. “Thanks Vee. I appreciate
that. “I know that everyone doesn’t see it that way,” he admits,
thinking of Anton and others of their kind.

“Screw ‘em!” she hisses venomously.

“Hey, Vee, you know that I would help if
someone was after you and you weren’t on this vendetta, right?”

“Yeah, I know that ole blue eyes. Don’t beat
yourself up. I’ll be fine.” She plants a tiny kiss on his forehead
and vanishes into the night.

Luca knows in his heart he will never see his
friend again. Belatedly, it occurs to him that he should have asked
if she had come across the witch lately. But now he has to get on
with his hunt. He has already lost too much precious time.

CHAPTER 7 - A DAY IN BED, JUST WHAT THE
DOCTOR ORDERED

When Lucian enters his home at dawn he is
overwhelmed by the scent of his beloved’s blood. “Good thing I came
across a pair of does,” he grunts to himself. “My Morna is just so
sweet and spicy. Her smell has saturated everything in here.” If he
had a working heart it would be racing as his need for her rises to
a fever pitch. He is up the stairs in a second, he stops to remove
his hiking boots and stores them in the entryway closet. Another
second later, finds him standing beside his bed. He bends down and
kisses her forehead. “I’ve missed you so much my little tasty
morsel,” he whispers.

She turns her head slightly and opens one
eye. “You sound like you want to eat me for breakfast,” she
croaks.

Lucian feels like he’s been torn asunder by
her words. “Oh God please help me… part of me wants that very
thing!” he silently acknowledges and begs for strength. “Of course,
I do my little Morna, but only if you don’t go back to sleep. I
will join you in a minute,” he whispers in her ear before nuzzling
her neck.

She’s already drifted back to sleep, but
murmurs, “Hurry back.”

Lucian grabs a clean set of clothes out of
his dresser then heads for the bathroom. He peels off his socks and
tosses them in the hamper. Knowing he needs to wash the scent of
blood and the redheaded vamp from his body. Even though she is a
human, Morna has always been incredibly sensitive the scents of his
world. If she caught a whiff of any of this it would only confuse
and possibly scare the hell out of her before she can get her
memories back.

He strips quickly out of his jeans and tee
shirt, tosses them into the hamper, and then steps into the shower
stall. Turning the water to the hottest setting. He vigorously
scrubs from head to toe using the “scent-away” hunter’s wash
solution. He can’t help but chuckle to himself. A vamp must have
invented this stuff because it really works.

After turning the water off, he steps out and
vigorously towels his body and hair dry. Grabbing his clean clothes
he hastily dresses. He uses the towel to dry out the stall, and
floor before he picks up his discarded clothes, and tosses
everything in the hamper. He turns for his bedroom door but stops
dead in his tracks. The doorway to his bedroom appears to be
shimmering faintly, like a mirage in the desert. He smiles happily.
“Good Morning, Morna!”

The shimmering vibrates crazily for two
seconds then fades, revealing Deidra standing in the doorway with a
look of deep concentration on her face. Her demeanor changes to
mild confusion, and then deep embarrassment in a split second. “Uh…
sorry. I shouldn’t have been watching you,” she stammers, looking
very much like a child caught with an empty bag of forbidden
cookies immediately before dinnertime.

Lucian walks casually over to her, and plants
a chaste kiss on her lips. “Why not, love?” he asks huskily. “We
don’t have any secrets, do we? I saw you last night, and you saw me
this morning. Tit for tat, so to speak.” He grins happily at his
memories of last night and his lame pun.

“Maybe not secrets,” she breathes, “but the
least I could do is have a few manners, and not ogle at you like a
lecherous old perv. Sorry.” When she finishes speaking she turns to
walk back into the bedroom. Lucian catches her by the elbow,
stopping her retreat.

“Morna, if you feel guilty about it I can
always return the favor sometime,” he chuckles softly knowing he’s
already done it more times than he cares to admit.

Morna crosses her arms in front of her body.
She has a very confused look on her face. Lucian reaches out to
soothe the lines in her forehead with his fingertips. And then he
encircles her body in his arms, glad his body is still heated from
the very hot shower. “What’s bothering you about this, baby? It‘s
not a big deal. I like that you saw me without my clothes. And
honestly, I really enjoyed seeing you that way.”

“The way things have changed so quickly
between us. I mean… last week I only saw you as a nice guy, kind of
a kid even. Just a friend, you know? I mean yeah, I was really
attracted to you, but I don’t think there are many women who aren’t
attracted to you. And then all the sudden I am looking at you like
you are my lover! We have never even talked about any of this. I
just started taking liberties with you. Lucian, I feel like a
cradle robber or something,” she whispers uncertainly.

“Well, you certainly aren’t a cradle robber
because I am not a kid as you put it. I am a full grown man, it
just took you a while to see it, Morna. I’ve seen you as my lover
for ages. Don’t you realize that?” He tilts her head back slightly,
kisses her lips gently, and then gives her that lopsided grin she
loves.

“Uh, okay... but I can’t help feeling
confused when I do things like I have been doing the past
twenty-four hours. Can you understand what I am saying?” she
entreats.

“I guess, baby,” he soothes. “But it’s really
not a big deal. Don’t dwell on it. I was planning on joining you in
bed, but you are up now. So what’s the plan? Back to bed or do we
start our day? It’s only 6:30 you know.”