The Last Vampyre Prophecy (13 page)

CHAPTER NINE

KHAI

The argument between a man and his wife two floors down has me amused. His cajoling words make no purchase with her defiant mood. She is pissed and she’s not backing down, not this time. Apparently he was the resplendent one in the tryst I caught yesterday on our arrival.

It’s not the first time and it certainly won’t be the last. Fortunately she has finally realized it and has given him his walking papers. Humans, they are annoyingly oblivious and like a mouse to the cheese decide each time to snap their own necks.

I feel a slight tremor of a distant earthquake, the tectonic plates shift infinitesimally and the slight quake causes the hairs to ripple down my arms.

Slowly, I rise and cross the room to stand at the giant window. I can feel the imminent storm forging in the air. The pressure is building and I smell the rain with the surge of electricity shooting between the clouds.

I decide to take her to Santa Maria dei Miracoli, a church made entirely of marble. I watched as it was built in 1481. It took eight years and nearly one thousand workers to complete it. Marble was shipped in from France to adorn the entire inside. Even for me it was impressive to watch it come to fruition.

Then I catch the delectable heartbeat of a woman in the café next door. Her skin radiates the healthy state her organs are in. She is prime; her liver is rich and clean and the blood pumps freely and unbidden through her taut veins. My mouth waters and my throat burns.

I turn to Adonia who is sleeping soundly and I drift into her mind and see she is deeply entranced and will likely be down for at least another hour. I walk over and slide on my jeans then grab a new sweater from the closet as I slip my feet into my shoes.

I take the stairs to avoid the eyes of the staff and guests. Once outside I turn the corner and follow the senses that drive me. I see her through the window, she is drinking a detoxing tea and reading a local paper. As w
ith any prey she detects my presence and I feel her heart pick up in pace and see the flush that colors her cheeks. Her breathing increases and I see her lips part as she gasps slightly before a small smile curves her lips.

She dips her head and regards me through her long lashes. I need to lure her from the inside. I take a seat at a side table beneath the portico. I pick up a discarded paper and pretend to skim the financials.

Minutes later her thoughts have turned erotic and determined. She thinks of how she is going to get me to her room and her fantasy has me taking her against the shower wall then moving to her bed.

I sigh. If she only knew how far apart our thoughts were. Mine were thrumming with the anticipation of draining her rich savory blood and feeling the tightening of my muscles when the liquid seeps in and strengthens every tendon.

I hear the shift of her chair as she pushes from the table and drops her money on the table. Her heels click over the tile of the café floor as she crosses the room and opens the door. The tiny bell affixed to the wood jingles as she passes through and lets it shift closed.

I look up and catch her eyes. She’s moving predatorily toward me and I suppress a laugh.

She appears to just drift by smiling and I lift my head tilting it slightly inviting her to join me.

She understands immediately and smiles wide. She stops just feet from my crossed legs and clutches her purse with both hands at the apex of her thighs.

I smile. “You are certainly a welcome sight on this dismal day. Though I’m sure you brighten many peoples day with your beauty.”

Her capillaries burst and bloom across her skin creating a bouquet of blush. I shift slightly because the burn just ripped up my throat causing my teeth to burst with ache.

I gesture for the chair across me and she shifts slightly before reaching for the metal back. I try and dismiss the thoughts filtering through her head. Lust and sex, two things that apart from Adonia have absolutely no appeal to me.

I try to distract her. “So, you can’t tell me that there is no lucky man sharing your company today.” I lean closer resting my hand on the table. “It’s just not possible.”

Her skin burst with a layer of rippled bumps causing her hairs to stand on end. Her heart is hammering in her chest and I can feel the strong flow of her femoral artery.

She smiles coyly. “There
was a very lucky someone but he made the mistake of trying to own me now he joins the rest in the graveyard.”

I grin because I know she is speaking figuratively but she has no idea how close she is to the reality. Her bold confidence is beginning to
irritate me.

I laugh mirthlessly. “Well, it sounds as though I should watch my step, perhaps backup and rethink my plan.”

She tilts her head. “And what would that be?”

I grin. “Oh, to make you fall helplessly in love with me, of course.”

She laughs but I hear the nervousness in her tone. She wants that too.

I shift into a more formal position signaling my intent to stand up. “What plans have you for the remainder of the afternoon?”

She pauses a beat then smiles. “Well, I was going to try and get some sun but,” she glances up at the ski and gestures with one hand, “it appears that will need to be stricken from the list.”

I nod. “Yes, well the sun can be very damaging,” I
pause and lift a probing eyebrow asking for her name.

Her grin exposes her perfect white teeth. “Alissa.”

“Ah, a beautiful name for a beautiful lady.” I extend my hand and cup hers bringing it to my lips and brushing a kiss. “Khai. And it is all my pleasure, Alissa.”

She shakes her long dark hair around her face in a gesture meant for seduction.
I stand and she shakily gets up on her feet.

“I was going to go back to my house and open a vintage bottle of Rose,” I thumb toward the alley adjacent to us. “It’s just around the corner. Would you like to join me?”

She smiles blindingly. “I’d love to, Khai. Thank you.”

I reach for her hand and lead her into the alley. Once we are out of eyeshot by passerby’s I pin her against the wall and crush my mouth to hers. She gasps surprised by my attack but elated. She kisses me with fervor and I suddenly feel the sting of shame erupt through my body.
Its such a foreign feeling that it causes me to stumble back and wipe my mouth with the back of my sleeve.

She glares at me as if I’ve just slapped her face, shocked. I realize that my reaction is because of my feelings for Adonia. She has woven her magic around me and the empty space where my heart once was now
overflows with…her.

She swings her hand toward my face but I easily grip her wrist and brace it against her chest trapping her against the wall. She gasps at my tight grip and inhales ready to scream.

I lean into her face. “I wouldn’t make a sound if I were you. It will only irritate me and trust me that is nothing you want to do.”

Her eyes shift from alarm to terror. She senses that there is something different about me, something sinister. I grip her other wrist and cross it against the other.

“It will be quick and you won’t have time to register the pain, just don’t fight me. If you do the sensation is a thousand times worse.”

She begins to strain against me trying to twist out of my grip. “What are you?” she whispers as tears streak her face.

“I’m someone that you shouldn’t have played with—fire if you will. I’m the danger that you buried beneath the lust when your senses told you to run.”

She gasps and before she can build the scream I clamp down on her neck humming as the blood radiates through my system. I can taste the healthy diet she follows rich in fish and fruits. It
’s evocative and serves as the panacea I need.

Suddenly I sense the presence of someone just around the corner I jet us around the corner to an abandoned shed. The threat passes and I realize I have drained her dry. I drop her to the ground and place my hand over her chest, moments later I watch her ashes scatter across the cobbled stone and whip into the air.
I stuff her clothes into a drainage grate and walk back toward the hotel.

I stop and pick up a croissant and coffee. As I step off the elevator I sense her thoughts and know she is awake. She’s worried and lonely wondering where I am and why I left.

I smile at the thought of her missing me then frown that I’ve caused her anxiety. I swipe my card and hear the electronic lock shift then slide from its metal groove back into the door. I pull the handle and open the door. When I walk in she’s sitting on the patio with a blanket draped around her shoulders. Her thoughts are melancholy and it makes me want to move heaven and earth to soothe her.

I stride across the room and announce my presence as not to scare her. “Good morning beautiful.” She jumps at my voice and turns to face me. Her eyes soften and a small smile forms on her lips.

“Hi.” She lilts and I feel my body sing with contentment at the sound of her voice.

I hold out the box of croissants and coffee. “I brought breakfast. Hungry?”

She nods and smiles. “Starved. I think you helped me work up an appetite last night.”

I grin and lick my lips. “That I did, and once you’ve eaten I’m going to prevail upon you again.”

Her mouth drops open in astonishment and I laugh, truly laugh for the first time in years. I offer the box again and this time she snatches it from my grip and gives me an admonishing look but fails to hide her amusement.

She opens the cardboard flap and inhales closing her eyes and enjoying the buttery scented crust. She looks back to me. “Will you join me?”

I look into her hopeful eyes and for the first time I hate what I am. I wish I were human and I could enjoy the things she does and live through her eyes.

I sigh. “No thank you, baby. I’ve been dealing with a bit of a stomach bug the last few days and my appetite is sparse. I’m sorry.”

I see the shift in her pupils and then the string of her thoughts. She’s worried for me. The thought is a bit overwhelming. I haven’t had anyone have any type of feeling for me other than lust in over eighteen hundred years.

I stare at her for several moments and watch as she shifts her frame closer to me and touches my arm gently. “Oh, I didn’t know. I’m so sorry for dragging you all over the city when you were unwell. I wish you
’d have said something. I feel terrible.”

I grip her hand. “No
, no. Please. It was my pleasure to take you around the city, love. Don’t think twice about it. I’m fine, really.”

She relaxes a bit and
gently squeezes my arm. A frisson of shame inches up my spine as I think about kissing the other woman and for deliberately keeping my existence from her. She deserves to know exactly what I am, what I do. She deserves so much more than me.

“I have a few calls to make, ok? I shouldn’t be long.” I lean down and kiss her forehead.

She sighs. “Ok. I’ll finish here then get dressed.” She looks up into my eyes and I swear she sees my soul. “Where are we going today?” She asks quietly, timid.

I smile wide. “I have a surprise for you. You’ll love it.”

The most breathtaking smile spreads across her face and she peers at me with emerald eyes sparkling bright. “I know I will.”

I tuck her hair behin
d her ear and turn for the door, feeling guilty for abandoning her yet again.

I take the elevator to the lobby and make my way to the complimentary office. Settling into the chair I
dial Brody, my 2
nd
chair and get ready for a status update on the Dubai engineering project.

The phone connection is slow and hampers our progress but forty-five minutes later we’ve hammered out the details and I end the video call to get back to Adonia.

Strolling through the lobby I pick up on the vitriolic thoughts of the brunette receptionist. She is dreaming of the ways she could lure me from Adonia. Her impression of Adonia when we checked in was one of petulant distaste. She feels intimidated by her beauty but thinks she can use her sexual prowess to seduce me. Her thoughts enrage me and I look over to catch her eye and level a death glare. She shrinks and begins to punish the keyboard in front of her.

I stroll to the elevator and press the penthouse. When I step off I
come face to face with the worst nightmare imaginable. Mehi.

She’s fucking here.

She leans casually against the wall beside our room. Her expression is blank but then a slow carnal smile inches across her face.

She fake pinches lint from her
shirt and regards me shrewdly, “Khai,” she lilts.

Every hair
pricks on my body. I’ve gone over a millennium since I’ve had to encounter her malicious face. Once she turned me I became an enemy. With only a handful of our kind roaming the planet our territorial nature lends itself to destructing the competition.

Her face tells me she is here to settle a score, to right a wrong. She is here to end me.

Since she is my maker she holds powers over me that I am useless against. I wipe my face clean of emotion and regard her amusedly.