Simmer (12 page)

Here we go, Kira thought. If Vanessa was
anything like her brother, this could go on for a while. Settling
in for a fight, Kira shifted her head from Tristan's shoulder to
the seat behind her. She had already learned to stay out of the
crossfire, and hey, fighting got people's feelings out. Better out
than kept inside to fester, she always thought, well mostly
thought.

"You don't know anything about our
relationship, so stay out of it," Tristan threw back.

"I know it's completely asinine and destined
to fail. You know, that whole part where you guys are mortal
enemies and all. Or, I don't know, the fact that you're immortal.
Or maybe it's that whole blood drinking thing that freaks me out.
Take your pick." Vanessa leaned back in her seat. She might be even
more vocally opinionated about this than Luke, Kira thought with
surprise. What she wasn't at all surprised with was the gleam in
Luke's eyes. At least he was keeping a smirk off of his face.

"No one said being in love is easy." Tristan
grinned at Kira. They had talked about all of those things for
hours. The jabs were nothing new, and definitely nothing Luke
hadn't tried to convince Kira of before.

Vanessa turned her attention from Tristan and
aimed it at Kira instead. "This guy? Really? Over my brother? I
just don't get it."

"Fortunately, you don't have to." Kira coated
her words with sweetness.

"Actually, I kind of do. You see, I saw what
happened in the town square yesterday. Ten more seconds and this
would have been a completely different conversation." Crap, Kira
thought. Those words were as good a blackmail.

"I don't know what you're talking about."
Kira tried to play it cool, but she grabbed Tristan's hand again,
squeezing it. His eyes were questioning and full of confusion. This
wouldn't go away any time soon.

"I think you do," Vanessa threatened.

"Enough." Luke cut her off before she could
continue. "We have more important things to talk about, like what
we're going to do when we reach Orlando. We need to think of a
plan."

Out of the corner of her eye, so Tristan
wouldn't notice, Kira watched Luke. She didn't quite understand why
he stopped his sister. Wasn't Tristan finding out about the almost
kiss exactly what Luke would want? A way to break them up? She
couldn't decide if he was really just that focused on the mission
or if other doubts made him stop Vanessa. For her part, Vanessa sat
with arms crossed and a smug look on her face. Kira tried to ignore
her.

"The plan," Tristan said, "is that Kira and I
will scope out the head vampire's estate — it's right outside the
city — and you three will do whatever conduits normally do to look
into a vampire situation."

"Split up?" Luke asked Tristan. "I'm not sure
about that."

"I agree with Tristan," Kira chimed in, "why
not split up and cover more ground? We can all take care of
ourselves."

Luke sighed. He had had enough fighting for
one day. "Fine. Tristan, let me know where to drop you off when we
get closer."

With that, Luke reached out to turn the radio
on and the silence in the car was drowned out with music, country
of course. Tristan wrapped his arm around Kira's shoulder and she
leaned against him, letting her head rest on chest. Half of her
listened to the twang-filled voices and the other half listened to
the steady beat of his heart as it pumped foreign blood through his
veins. After a while Kira's eyelids began to shut and she let
herself fall in and out of sleep for the next hour or so, until she
felt Tristan's body tense up with anticipation.

Sitting up was difficult in her relaxed
state, but Kira peered with sleepy eyes out the window. She saw a
few houses. Clearly the group had finally reentered
civilization.

"How much longer?" She asked, still feeling a
little groggy.

"Maybe five minutes," Tristan said.

Kira nodded and stretched her hands high
above her head, attempting to bring her body fully out of sleep
mode. She looked around and saw Vanessa practically drooling and
Casey with eyes closed in the front seat. Luke was still driving,
but he glanced back when she woke up. He and Tristan had been the
only two people awake, Kira thought with sudden clarity. She didn't
want to even think about what they may have talked about. She was
stressed out enough as-is.

"Luke, you can pull up over by that bend on
the right side of the road," Tristan said and slid his arm free of
Kira's body. The car slowed down to a stop and Tristan quietly slid
out.

"Kira?" Luke said before she could get out of
the car. Kira turned back to her friend. "Be safe, okay?"

She nodded. "I'll call as soon as we find
something out."

Tristan reached a hand out to help lift her
from the car and she took it gladly. With a tug, he pulled her to
her feet and they shut the door together. After a moment's
hesitation, the black car slid off the curb and back onto the road,
disappearing from sight.

Still holding her hand, Tristan led the two
of them off the road and into the dense forest in front of them.
Why are we always in the woods? Kira asked herself and wished she
had worn boots instead of these sneakers, which already had a layer
of mud on them.

"Where are we going? I thought we were going
to some house?" Kira asked.

"We're stopping right here." Tristan halted
in the middle of a slight clearing. Kira looked around but couldn't
see any markers, or anything really, except for trees.

"Here? Why?"

"Oh nothing, just this," Tristan said and
Kira caught the mischievous glint in his eye. With no warning, his
hands were around her waist, pulling her close, and his lips were
on hers.

Kira knew they should probably be
concentrating on the mission, but she couldn't keep from tilting
her head back to deepen the kiss. Bringing one hand around his neck
while the other clutched at his arm, Kira let their bodies mold
together. A perfect fit.

Dizzy with excitement, Kira let Tristan lead
her back against a tree trunk. He put his arms on either side of
her head, trapping her within his body, but Kira never felt
anything but safe around him. Excited nerves danced around her
stomach, sending shivers from her fingertips to her toes, and she
started to smile against his lips. He felt it and widened his as
well, as if the two of their mouths were strung together. Breathing
heavy, Tristan pulled back. Their foreheads touched while the
teasing distance of an inch separated their lips.

"I thought you deserved a proper hello," he
said with a grin. Kira brushed her thumb over the dimple that
appeared on his cheek.

"It's okay, I know that you find me
completely irresistible," Kira joked.

"That I do," he said earnestly and searched
her eyes. Kira wasn't sure what he was looking for, but a moment
later he pulled back with a sigh and reached out his hand. "Come
with me, we need to find the estate house." Kira latched onto his
hand and let Tristan direct her through the forest.

He wasn't speaking. Kira knew by his slightly
scrunched eyebrows that something was on his mind. He was acting
distant. After that kiss, the last thing Kira wanted was distance,
so why was he pulling away?

After a few minutes, he finally broke. "What
was Vanessa talking about before?" Tristan asked, his voice soft
and hesitant, almost as though he feared what the answer might
be.

"Nothing, I promise," Kira replied, hoping it
didn't sound like as much of a brush off to him as it did to her.
You have nothing to hide, Kira reminded herself. Nothing happened.
But somehow, it felt like she had cheated on him. Not physically,
but for the first time, there was something she couldn't talk to
him about.

"It doesn't sound like nothing. I want to
believe you, but I know better. The strain in your muscles, the
slightly higher octave of your voice and the rapid jolt to your
pulse; it all tells me you're hiding something."

Stupid hypersensitive vampire senses, Kira
cursed silently. Tugging against his hold, Kira forced Tristan to
stop walking. Some things were more important than their mission.
Kissing in the woods? Maybe not. Making sure the person she loved
knew he could trust her? Definitely worth the time.

"Have I ever given you a reason not to trust
me?" Kira asked, not liking the cloud of hurt that shaded his
eyes.

"No."

"Then trust me when I tell you nothing
happened, nothing that matters to me anyway. I promise I'll explain
everything later, but right now we have bigger issues at hand."

"Alright." He nodded, accepting that
explanation for the time being. But lingering doubts were still
etched into his features.

Sometimes, Kira found it too easy to forget
that Tristan wasn't quite as strong as he pretended to be. Around
other people, like with Vanessa in the car, he put on a tough act,
one that was cocky and occasionally rude. But, Kira had seen those
walls come down. She had seen his insecurities, the self-loathing
and the sweet nature that was too sentimental to show in a
vampire's world. Even Tristan needed her reassurance sometimes, a
promise that she wouldn't run away.

Kira cupped his cheek. "I love you," she
said, placing extra emphasis on the 'you' and urging him to
understand she was in it for the long haul. He had never done
anything to make her change her mind or doubt her decision to be
with him. She wouldn't let anything, no mind reading and no best
friend, change that.

He smiled, a wide teeth-revealing smile.
"Let's go," he said, walking forward and reaching an empty hand
back behind him. Kira clasped it and moved with him towards the
estate.

A few lefts turns and a ton of snapped twigs
later, they stopped and looked through the leaves at a two-story
house complete with oversized pillars and a wrap-around porch that
seemed right out of the Civil War era. White-washed with black
shutters and a bright red door, the house seemed asleep. No
movement stirred in the windows, most of which were opaque from
curtains. No cars were parked in the driveway, no people could be
heard moving in the gardens and the place seemed completely
deserted.

"Are you sure we're in the right spot?" Kira
whispered. This seemed about as far from a head vampire's estate as
you could get. Where was the staff? If vampires were congregating
in Orlando, surely they would check with the city's leader
first?

"Definitely the right place. I've been here
before, just a few years ago, but things were far more active
then."

He stretched an arm out in front of her to
keep Kira from stepping any closer.

"Wait here. Something is wrong."

Tristan dashed through the open yard, a mere
blur to Kira's human eyes. He reappeared against the outer wall of
the house, crouching below a window. Slowly, he extended his body
so his eyes were at the level of the window. With a leap, he
latched his hands onto the second floor windowsill and pulled
himself up to look through that glass as well. Kira didn't mind the
view. Seeing her boyfriend as a human spider was a little strange
to say the least, but the muscles bulging under his shirt were a
lot more interesting than the creepy quiet of the grounds.

Dropping back down, Tristan disappeared
around the backside of the home to continue the search. What was
that saying, sad to watch him go but love to watch him leave? Kira
mused, letting her thoughts provide a distraction from the
waiting.

Eventually, she would need to tell Tristan
about the mind reading and the almost-kiss. The last thing she
wanted to do was hurt him. But, if Vanessa had seen, then Kira
needed to make sure Tristan heard the full story from her and not a
skewed version. Luke's thoughts had confused her and that was the
only reason anything came close to happening. It had to be—

A hand grabbed Kira by the mouth, catching
her scream and pulling her against a hard body. Another wrapped
around her waist, holding her arms at her sides in an iron grip. A
vampire. Kira knew it in an instant. That was the only thing that
could attack her so silently and swiftly.

"Not a good place to get lost," the vampire
whispered into her ear and then laughed in a shrill, hyena-like
way. The cool touch of his breath and screech of his voice sent
fearful shivers down her spine. Sharp teeth practically grazed her
neck, just one small movement from piercing her skin. But before
Kira let the fear take hold, she made fire explode from her hands
and encircle the both of them. The arms released her and recoiled
against her light, but she tried to hold on to the vampire's body
to keep him from fleeing. He could have information. She used her
Protector powers to trap him in place, surrounding him and holding
him still without killing him.

"Tristan!" Kira screamed when she knew she
was losing control. Boils sprouted all along the vampire's skin,
turning once milky arms into puss-filled craters and his brown hair
started to singe. He would burn soon, but if she stopped, he would
be gone before she could blink, just like when Diana had slipped
her grasp so many months ago.

"I've got him," Tristan said from behind her
and Kira winked the fire out. Tristan caught the injured vampire
before he had a chance to run and forced him to the ground.

"Where'd they all go?" Tristan asked. A wild
cackle was all he got in response. The vampire wasn't paying any
attention to his captor. Tristan may have hold of his hands and a
relentless grip on his throat, but the vampire's eyes stared only
at Kira. The blue of his irises, almost neon in their intensity,
bored into Kira.

"You're her," he said with wide eyes. He
laughed loudly and carelessly, like a mental patient finally
finding freedom. "You're her!"

"She's who?" Tristan said, trying to play
dumb to get more information. He clenched the vampire's throat
until he gurgled with choking, but nothing made any difference. Not
a punch to the gut or the slam of his face into the ground. The
vampire went on shrieking, giving Kira goose bumps. Vampires didn't
scare her anymore, but this thing was deranged. It had lost any
last semblance of humanity long ago.