Awakening - Book of Fire (Blood Heritage #1) (27 page)

"
You are not allowed to fall for him
," he says to her with a smile. He is only half joking and she senses it in his voice, there is tension there weighing him down. She gives him a good long look, waiting to see if he will volunteer an explanation.

When he doesn't she simply says, "
History there, huh?"

"That obvious?"
is his reply.

"
Were you and Joanna involved?"
she asks. Truly she has already suspected the answer, but decided there was no real threat there. Whatever they had is no longer on the table.

"We were, he admits. Never really were actually completely an item, but we had kind of a summer romance a long time ago. She chose him and that was that." Amber begins putting the pieces together. He must have been pretty into her, that's why he hasn't dated much. That's why he was still single when she met him. Joanna broke his heart.

Amber feels a bit uncomfortable knowing she has been allowed into the deepest corners of his heart. He wants her to know, before there is anything to make her speculate on her own. He wants her to understand that he is no longer in love with Joanna, but will always love her. He doesn't want Amber to feel threatened or betrayed by anything...ever. He will never let anything hurt her if he can help it. He explains his feelings for her are true and strong and he is not going anywhere. He explains how Joanna has been one of his best friends since childhood and so has her husband, the three of them used to do everything together. They should have predicted it was inevitable one of them would end up with her, Joanna just had a hard time deciding which one. Neither one of them blamed her, there were a lot of messy emotions at the time and they decided together that space was the best way to handle things. Amber catches images and emotions coming off him as he speaks of how things used to be.

She tested the waters allowing James to release his feelings, his inhibitions and his years of pent up sexual tension. He wanted her so badly, all through high school and waited for her for years after. He had no intention of ever having another woman in his heart or in his bed. She had always seemed kind of oblivious to his feelings for her. She was the wild and popular girl that all the guys wanted to spend time with, and even now she is the dark and mysterious coroner that everyone on the force speaks about in the locker room. No one has ever gotten to make the acquisition, and it seems to them all that she is untouchable. She was never interested in romance, feeling more comfortable with James and Tanner most of the time. They fished, hiked and ran around like the neighborhood posse. They were inseparable.

Over the years Joanna got prettier and more feminine, but the relationships never seemed to change to her. She was just one of the guys, until the night of the storm. Until the night he kissed her and held her, and never wanted to let her go again. She had let him love her, had kissed him back, the passion between them had blossomed into a fire that neither could quench. He waited so long to feel her touch, he trembled in her arms.

She looked into his eyes and she knew how deeply he wanted her, but more importantly she saw that he loved her. Loved her in the overwhelming and permanent way that she was not willing to let him have. She gave in to his desires, and her own, and they made love. They made love for hours, the kind of passion that only exists in romance novels. Their bodies perfectly in tune with each other. He learned how to please a woman that night, how to give instead of take, how to read her body and her sounds. He had been in absolute heaven and had been oblivious to anything other than her. When he awoke alone he didn't know what had gone wrong. His heart had shattered in that moment and it had taken until he met Amber for him to realize the extent of the damage.

The details were a blur, he only knew he had spent so many lonely nights wondering what he had done wrong, why she couldn't love him the way he loved her. He couldn't understand how he had her in his arms and then in an instant, like water she had slipped away through his fingers. She had never given him the opportunity to have her alone like that again, had never given him an explanation and had distanced herself from him. Shortly after that weekend she had begun to see Tanner openly. James had not known they were even seeing each other at all. Tanner would be angry when he found out about their short-lived romance, more because he knew she had feelings for him than because of any perceived betrayal. The two men had always known it would come to something like this, and to be honest, Tanner had felt James would be the victor. He had seen her look at him and the spark that burned between them was undeniable.

Tanner decided to leave his job and to pull away from the relationship with James to make life more comfortable for Joanna. She had a hard time spending time with them both, whether guilt or desire neither would ever know. What could he do, he was in love with her too. Tanner married Joanna knowing that a little piece of her would never be his. Perhaps now, with Amber in the picture, they would all finally have the closure they needed.

Tanner had been watching and waiting, hoping that James would find someone, that he would find his opportunity to love again. His own guilt made him desire confirmation that he hadn't taken his best friend’s only chance for happiness. The men agreed when they were young that ultimately they would leave it up to her when the time came, neither of them would let a woman get in the way of their friendship. In some ways they had, but ultimately the bond had never been broken. Real friends are the ones you can call after years of distance and silence and nothing has changed. You can talk like you saw each other yesterday, and that is the kind of friendship Tanner and James have.

James and Amber arrive at the restaurant just a few minutes late, he has difficulty finding a parking space. This must be a really good place, he thinks as they walk the couple of blocks it takes to get a parking spot. The evening is beautiful so the walk does nothing but provide them an opportunity to hold hands and enjoy the beauty around them.

"
This place is famous for their Creole cooking and their catfish is the bomb"!
Tanner says as the couple sits down. Joanna shakes hands with Amber and smiles genuinely at her. Amber knows they will be great friends, she thought so before she knew about the past and doesn't see any reason to change her mind. James is an amazing guy, how could she not love him when they spent so much of their time together. She is just grateful Joanna chose Tanner.

Amber realizes she hasn't had any opportunities to enjoy the local fare yet, she hasn't gone out exploring that much. Everything sounds fantastic and she is having a hard time deciding so James tells he he's got it in hand. He orders a couple of steam pots, and she laughs at him. "
What is a pot
?" she asks as they all laugh.

"You will see," Joanna says. When the food comes, the waiter literally dumps the entire pot of food on the table. The rich fragrance of butter, spices and seafood wafts about. Her mouth waters at the sight of the feast. They share the meal and discuss the details of the case, filling in Amber and Tanner. Once they have all the details hashed out, James explains Amber's abilities and the history of her family. The couples spend over two hours discussing the strangeness all around them. Joanna and Tanner just stare in stunned disbelief as the story is spun for them. The fibers all connecting in a perfectly intricate and utterly evil web. The facts and the hypothesis wrapping themselves neatly where logical explanations are utterly failing. James shows Joanna the scar on Amber’s shoulder and explains the importance of the tears of blood, and some details regarding how some of the girls have had theirs removed by members of the Circle to keep them from ending up like the dead girls. Joanna is intrigued and is open to some supernatural answers since science is so annoyingly failing her. James is surprised how easily both Tanner and Joanna seem to be taking all of this strangeness in stride.

The four have been pushed together, perhaps the only hope there is of finding a solution to the problem at hand. Some things are just not within the scope of the legal system. They will need to reach out of their jurisdictions and into realms of evidence and speculation that will set the lieutenant on his ear if he finds out. James and Tanner will work on finding any other cases that might be related, while Amber and Joanna will spend their time reading and researching the information held within the pages of the mysterious book.

Everyone hugs, saying goodbyes after eating more than they can handle and enjoying a couple of drinks to settle their nerves.

"
One beer is all it takes
," Amber scolds James, and they laugh as they walk back to their car. To pass some time they take Allie for a walk and the night air is so inviting they spend over an hour walking around, letting the food settle. The couple is often surprised how easy it is for time to pass while they are together.

Suddenly Allie breaks the silence, pulling eagerly at her leash. She smells something she doesn't like, and is going to get it. James looks up and immediately recognizes the woman from outside the precinct. She is just ahead of them looking at him again with that flirtatious smile. Amber looks back at her, she doesn't look like she belongs on the streets of Louisiana. Her shoes are far too fancy and her clothes look extremely expensive. She is not carrying a purse, or anything else for that matter. Something about her feels completely off.

When Amber looks at James, she notices the puzzled look on his face and is even more sure something is wrong. Allie is not having anything to do with this lady, she wants to tear her up. Amber coaxes the puppy back to her side and the woman turns, slowly walking away. She does not turn back toward them and they feel deeply uneasy without understanding why. The awkwardness of the moment striking them both hard, there is something threatening about the interaction. He doesn't know who this woman is, and yet she looks at him as though she knows him, inside and out. She is goading him, leading him, his anger rushes to the surface. He knows her intention is to make him uncomfortable and unfortunately she is succeeding.

Amber doesn't know what to say as they return to their car. There is a piece of paper under the wiper and James pulls it out carefully. He doesn't even think to wear gloves or to process the paper as evidence. It is merely a piece of paper on his car. The moment he reads the words, he realizes his mistake. Allie jumps up onto the seat and anxiously awaits their departure, she wants to have her people home safe and sound.

James feels his heart in his throat and anger rising up inside him threatens to turn his world upside down.
She is His!
Simple and to the point, but those words are more terrifying than anything else could possibly be. He knows what threat is within those dark words. Amber looks at him expectantly, knowing immediately it is bad. He is angry, she can see it in the tension that takes control of his body. His cheeks are hot and his fists clenching. He feels the fight in him pushing for release. He wants to find this bastard and tear out his eyes. No one is going to threaten his girl. He will protect her no matter what the cost. The blonde woman has something to do with this, they both know it. The night has been ruined by this simple note and the implications it drives into their reality. They are not the only hunters in this game on the prowl. Amber is in danger, and they will need to be prepared when the attack comes.

Rissa is devastated when she gets the news of Dawn's death. The girl doesn't have any relatives so the information is not delivered in a personal way. She finds out about the house fire watching the local news while washing dishes. She is barely paying attention but she glances up and recognizes a photo of the house before the fire and then they show a photo of the flattened ruins of the aftermath. The news caster says that one person appears to have been trapped inside when the house went up in flames. Smoke inhalation is presumably the cause of death and the origin of the fire is still pending investigation.

Rissa feels anger and sadness well up inside her in a geyser of emotion beyond words. She throws the plate she is washing at the wall and it shatters into tiny glistening shards. The anger and pain within overwhelming her, she feels as if she might drown in it, to completely disappear beneath the consuming blackness. She puts her head in her pillow screaming until her voice gives out and she is faint from the effort. Her body convulses and her stomach purges all of it's contents. The retching leaves her dry heaving and hyperventilating, hopeless on the floor.

Rissa has found her breaking point. Of all the pain and loss in her life, this is the worst. Dawn has been her lover, her friend and her confidant for as long as she can remember. She was her first kiss, her first love and the woman she hoped to eventually settle down with. She knows Dawn was not yet ready for any kind of commitment, nor was she willing to allow her desire for women to come to light in any way. Dawn was already an outcast, she was unwilling to stand up for the affair and so it was kept completely secret. Rissa can't imagine her life without her. How will she be able to suffer this loss alone, no one will understand the magnitude of its impact on her. Her first instinct falls to self-destruction. She sees the scissors on the counter, sharp and inviting, calling to her. Rissa takes the wicked blades in her hand and chops her long hair off, she doesn't care anything for style, she merely needs a release. When this does not satiate her pain she begins to focus inside to deeper and darker places.