The Dark Vampire: Last True Vampire 3 (37 page)

Naya looked from Bria to Ronan. She cringed, as if only now realizing that she’d said too much. As far as Bria was concerned, she hadn’t said enough.

An uncomfortable silence settled on the group. Naya cleared her throat and turned to her mate. “We’re burning dark. I’ll get to work with the protection charms.”

Ronan cast a nervous glance Jenner’s way. “I’ll help you. Let’s start on the balcony.”

No doubt he figured it was the safest place to avoid
being caught in the impending cross fire. Bria let out a derisive snort. Jenner’s gaze finally met hers. She wasn’t a bit surprised to see the flash of angry silver swallow his usually dark irises.

“I thought we’d moved past this,” Bria said. Rather than cross the room to where Jenner stood rooted to the floor, she kept the wide living room between them. “You admitted yourself that I was a skilled fighter. So why make me stay here while the rest of you go out and hunt? Finding the necromancer is just as much my responsibility as it is yours.”

Chagrin showed in his expression for a split second before Jenner recovered. The male was all hardness and steel. Immovable. No one challenged him.

Until now.

Jenner’s jaw squared and a hint of fear skittered in Bria’s chest. There was a reason why no one dared to argue with him. “You’re not going.”

That’s it?
That was all he had to say to her? Indignation scalded a path up Bria’s throat. “Give me a reason why not.”

He simply stared at her.

Realization dawned and her temper flared white-hot. “So those things you said to me, that I was strong, fierce, capable . . . Those were lies?”

Jenner’s shoulders slumped and a deep groove cut into his brow. “Of course not. You know I spoke the truth.”

He hunted the thing that hunted her. Used one witch to find another. And while he put his life at risk—put Naya and Ronan at risk—he expected Bria to sit in his living room, the dutiful mate, and wait for them to return. They’d resolved nothing, it seemed. He still meant to control her. To keep her. And Bria refused to continue her existence as a kept thing.

“The thought of losing you—” The words stalled as
though lodged in Jenner’s throat. “I don’t know that I’d survive it,
viaton.
”

“And what if something happened to you?” Bria countered. “Don’t you think it would destroy me, too?”

“You’re mine to protect, Bria.” Jenner’s arms came down to his sides and he leaned forward with emphasis.
“Mine.”

“What does that have to do with
anything
?” Bria was sick and tired of hearing that same excuse over and again. “What about you, Jenner? Aren’t you mine as much as I’m yours? Doesn’t it fall on me to protect you, too? Our tether isn’t one-sided! You can’t keep me on a shelf until you’re ready to take me down and play with me!”

Heat rose to her cheeks and her chest heaved with anger. He opened his mouth to speak and took a step forward. If anything, his expression grew even more enraged, but Bria cut him off before he could launch his tirade against her. “Don’t do this to me. Don’t treat me as though I’m inconsequential. That our tether is inconsequential. Trust me to be capable, Jenner. Trust
us.
”

How could she not see that the thought of losing her scared the shit out of him? It choked the air from Jenner’s lungs, stilled his heart in his fucking chest. He loved her too damned much to risk her safety for something as ridiculous as her perceived captivity.

Hold up. Love?

Jenner took a stumbling step forward. The realization that he’d fallen in love with Bria felled him like a tree. As did her accusation that she was nothing more than his prisoner. Again, he was reminded that he was no better than her uncle, allowing his fear to master him. Bria had suffered her entire life because of someone’s fear. Bria wasn’t afraid. His mate was
fearless
. When she finally thought she’d found the freedom she longed for, Jenner
had tethered her soul and shackled her as surely as her uncle had.

Jenner had always known he was a lousy asshole. Further confirmation from his mate’s lips stabbed through him like a slayer’s stake to his chest.

“Jenner, we need to go!” Naya pulled the heavy glass patio doors aside and rushed into the living room. Her eyes lit with excitement and the sound of her heart beating madly in her chest carried to Jenner’s ears. “I heard her music, Jenner. She’s close.” Behind Naya, Ronan’s expression of concern held a new meaning that Jenner understood far too well. “I’ve only secured a couple of protection charms on the apartment, but if we don’t move now, we could lose her.” Naya headed for the door with Ronan close on her heels. She flung open the door and disappeared out into the hallway.

Ronan paused at the threshold. His expression plainly said,
It’s now or never.

Jenner might as well have been standing there with his dick in his hands, as much use he was to anyone. “I need to gear up.” No way was he going out unarmed. “Go with Naya. I’ll be right behind you.”

Ronan gave a sharp nod of his head and took off after his mate. His urgency had nothing to do with Jenner’s crisis and everything to do with protecting Naya.

Jenner’s gaze met Bria’s. If he didn’t get his ass in gear he might lose the one opportunity to free her from the evil that had stalked her for two centuries. She was safer within these walls. Even a couple of protection charms were better than nothing. Out there, the only thing standing between Bria and the thing that wanted her was Jenner. He couldn’t take the risk that he’d fail her.

“I won’t have the presence of mind to kill the necromancer if I’m preoccupied with worry for you.” Jenner
wanted her to hear in his tone the desperation of his request. He needed every ounce of focus he could muster. He got his ass in gear and rushed for the bedroom closet, Bria only a few steps behind. He grabbed his Ruger, a set of throwing knives, and two daggers that he quickly sheathed.

“What about me?” Bria’s voice was no longer angry. Fear dug with sharp talons into Jenner’s heart. It was resignation he heard in her words. The same resignation that had prompted her to tell him she was leaving two nights ago. Indecision warred within him. “What about my concern for you? We’re stronger together, Jenner. Why can’t you understand that?”

There were too many variables outside that door. He knew that forcing her to stay might be the thing that finally pushed her away, but if she died . . . Jenner shuddered. If the necromancer took her—killed her—it would open up a hole in him so deep and so dark that it would make his earlier soulless state a cakewalk in comparison.

Jenner crossed the room to where she stood, her bright amethyst eyes shining like jewels. He brought his mouth to hers and kissed her, hoping like hell that he could convey every single emotion, everything that had gone unspoken between them because he was too much of a fucking coward to say the words.

He pulled away to find her expression devoid of emotion and it chilled him to the bone. “Please,
viaton,
do this one thing for me. Let me know that you’re safe so I can go out there and do what I have to do.”

She averted her gaze and her lips thinned. Already Ronan and Naya had a significant head start, and there was no way Ronan would let Naya pursue the necromancer if there was any chance she’d put herself at risk. It felt as though Jenner left his own beating heart behind as he
turned his back on his mate yet again and left her confined to her cell while he ran headlong into the path of danger.

Jenner’s text alert went off and he pulled his phone out of his pocket to find a message from Ronan with their location. He took off in the direction of South Hill and Ninth, careful to keep out of the shadows and out of sight. The tether that bound his soul to Bria’s gave an uncomfortable tug. The tension between them stretched to the point of breaking. There had been very few things in Jenner’s life that he gave a shit about. And his existence up until he’d met Ronan had been nothing but endless toil and hardship. In the short time he’d known her Bria had become precious to him. Invaluable. He coveted her with a ferocity that bordered on obsession.

She wanted him to release his hold on her, to allow her to decide for herself what she could handle and what she couldn’t. How could he possibly do that? Let go when all he wanted was to hold her tighter.

An arm reached out and snagged Jenner by the collar of his T-shirt to haul him into an alley at his left. He drew his dagger, prepared to stab first and ask questions later when Ronan’s angry face came into view. “Jesus fucking Christ, Jenner. Do you know nothing about stealth?”

Clearly on edge, Ronan let his fingers relax from Jenner’s shirt, though it did little to soften the rigidity of his body. A deep groove marred his brow and he kept Naya tucked behind him as though he could single-handedly shield her from all of the evil in the world.

That’s all Jenner wanted to do for Bria. Protect her. Shield her from anything that might harm her.
But you left her confined to your apartment while Ronan keeps Naya by his side
. A pang of regret stabbed at Jenner’s
chest. He needed to keep his fucking head straight. Now wasn’t the time for deep reflection.

“Where’s the necromancer?”

Frustration built in him until Jenner thought he might burst. He itched for a fight, and the urge to commit violence was a palpable thing that stretched his muscles taut with unspent energy. Naya sidled out from behind Ronan and he gripped her wrist to keep her close.

“Relax, vampire,” Naya chided. Ronan let go of her wrist, but he angled his body so that his shoulder remained in front of her. “She gave me the slip,” Naya said with disgust. “I can barely hear her magic now. If I had to guess, I’d say that she’s put at least five miles or more between us.”

“Fuck!” Jenner’s jaw clamped down on the word. He flicked out with his tongue to seal the punctures he’d made in his lower lip and laid his fist into the alley wall. He stared at the deep indentation he’d made and then down at his bleeding knuckles. The splits in his skin slowly healed and he wiped the blood on his jeans.
“Gods fucking damn it!”

He’d been
so
close!

“Don’t get worked up, Jenner.” Naya’s words fell on deaf ears. His anger built to a near-unmanageable level. “If I heard her magic once, I can do it again.”

“You’re sure it was the necromancer you sensed?” Ronan turned to face his mate, his expression pinched.

Naya gave him a look at though to say,
You dare to doubt my power?
“I’m sure. There are a lot of magic users in the city. The music of that magic distracts the hell out of me, but each song shares a common trait if the magic is natural to the user. The necromancer’s song is unique because the magic she wields is dark. Taboo. I’d recognize it even with a million distractions.”

“Do you think she knows that Bria is close?” If the necromancer had managed to track her down where would she possibly be safe?

“Not exactly. There are millions of people in the city, Jenner. It’s harder than you’d think to find a single body. Chances are, she has a sense of where Bria is but can’t discern an exact location. The protection charms on your apartment will further help to mask her presence. I think she’s safe.”

“Could you put a charm on Bria?” Jenner had never considered the possibility. “Like camouflage?”

Bria pursed her lips. “I’ve never done that before, but I don’t think it’s impossible.”

If Naya could provide Bria with a portable bubble of protection that followed her wherever she went the freedom his mate wanted was a hopeful possibility. She’d be safer. He’d be more at ease. He could stalk the necromancer with patience instead of this damnable sense of urgency that opened the door for all sorts of mistakes to be made.

“Let’s head back to your place,” Naya suggested. “I can finish placing the wards on your apartment and then I’ll see what I can do for Bria.”

For the first time in more weeks than he could count, Jenner finally found a reason for cautious optimism.

“I
still think you should come home.”

Bria kept her gaze straight ahead. She and Lucas had been over this a million times. That part of her life was over. “No. Didn’t you just tell me that you wanted a life away from the coven? Why would you even suggest I go back?”

A stretch of silence spread between them and Lucas let out a sigh. “You can’t live out of a hotel forever, Bria.”

True, and she didn’t plan to. She’d asked Lucas to make the reservation for her when she’d called him to come pick her up. The moment Jenner walked out the door and left her behind he’d made the decision for her. She couldn’t stay there with him if he planned to treat her no better than her uncle did. If she’d stayed, her earlier ultimatum would have lost all credibility. Jenner would have known that her threats were idle and it would have made her needs inconsequential. If she was going to talk the talk she had to walk the walk. And that’s what she’d done. She’d walked right out of Jenner’s life.

A hollow ache opened up in her chest, the pain so deep
and sharp that she feared it would never subside. She’d left her heart behind in Jenner’s apartment. And she felt the absence even deeper than she had the loss of her own soul. She was sick and tired of being
dependent,
though. She didn’t even have money, her own damned credit card, to reserve a hotel room!
Pathetic.
Jenner might have been okay with continuing to keep Bria as a pet, but she wanted more. And she’d come to the realization that she’d only get what she wanted if she went out and seized it.

“What will you do, Bria?” Lucas’s concern broke her from her reverie. “You have to feed.”

Bria pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. The thought of drinking from anyone but Jenner further tore at her composure.
Dependence.
That need for him—his body, his blood—nearly prompted her to order Lucas to turn the car around. “You could feed me.” The suggestion soured on Bria’s tongue. She didn’t want to take anyone’s vein but Jenner’s.

A pregnant pause answered her. “I don’t think I can,” Lucas said with chagrin. “I’ve offered to feed Chelle, Ronan’s sister.”