Blaze (23 page)

Kira nodded. Anything, she almost said, but
stopped when she realized how desperate it sounded.

“You get me out of here alive,” Pavia said,
“and I’ll find you and I’ll show you whatever memories you want to
see. You get me out of here alive and free, and I promise it won’t
be the last you see of me.”

Kira tried to focus on Pavia. She had made
the mistake of trusting the words of another female vampire, a
moment of weakness that had led her on a wild goose-chase that
nearly cost Kira her life, not to mention Luke and Tristan’s. Diana
had tricked Kira, giving her the words she most ached to hear, but
despite herself, Kira nodded to Pavia.

“Deal,” Kira said. Her tongue felt heavy in
her mouth, but saying it out loud gave her a quick sense of
freedom. She wasn’t turning her back on her parents, she was trying
to be the daughter they hoped she would be—the one who would fight,
who wouldn’t let ancient myths seal her fate. The one who wanted to
prove everyone wrong.

Kira took a deep breath, swallowing her
emotions back down, before she turned a cold stare to Pavia. She
could feel her eyes burning. “If you’re lying, I’ll hunt you down.
There’s nowhere you can go that I wouldn’t find you.”

“Now that is a threat I believe,” Pavia
said, leaning back with a grin. “I’m not in the habit of being
indebted to people. You get me out and I’ll keep my promise. After
all, I’m immortal. Time doesn’t matter a whole lot to me.”

Kira looked down at her watch. All of her
time had already run out and with one last glance at Pavia, she
took off at a run, zooming down empty corridors. Tristan and
Aldrich were still nowhere to be seen, but Kira didn’t come across
her fake-mother either. The absence put an extra ounce of energy
into her steps.

Kira had waited too long. Her carefully
thought out plan was unraveling before her eyes and it was all her
fault.

Self-directed anger pushed her on, until
Kira found herself skidding to a halt before the door. Her only way
out. But it would be a blind exit. Aldrich could be waiting—fangs
at the ready.

Kira clenched her fists and took a deep
breath to force the nerves out of her system. Raising her palm,
flames burst from her skin, sizzling against the black backdrop of
the secret corridor.

After one final pause, she twisted the
handle and opened the door.

Empty.

A river of tension flooded from her system
and Kira snapped her flames back, pulling them securely underneath
her skin.

Everything was fine.

“Kira?”

She jumped, slamming the door shut behind
her as her heart leapt into her throat.

Her fake-mother rounded the corner and her
eyes narrowed as she sensed Kira’s racing pulse.

“Is everything okay?” She asked, caught
between her normal fake-concern and suspicion. Her eyes shifted
around the room, looking for something that seemed out of
place.

“You scared me!” Kira laughed and put a hand
to her throat, swallowing loudly.

“I didn’t hear you…” She looked around
again.

Kira walked swiftly to the counter and
picked up her phone, shaking it in the vampire’s direction.

“Must have been my music,” Kira shrugged and
scooped some oatmeal into her mouth. “Just a dash of cinnamon and
it’ll finally be done!” In reality, it tasted like mush in her
mouth—totally overcooked. But, lucky for Kira, a three-hundred year
old vampire didn’t know what good oatmeal looked like.

“Come upstairs when you’re finished. We have
a lot to do before the ceremony.” She ran her gaze around the room
one final time, sniffing the air quietly, before turning around
with a satisfied nod.

As soon as she left, Kira collapsed against
the counter. Her hands were shaking. She swallowed, gulping the air
in to stop the panic spreading from nerve to nerve, zinging down
her arms.

There was nothing left for her to do now. No
fight, no mission, no truth to uncover. The plan was going
perfectly and all she had to do was play along.

But already, Kira could feel the ghost of a
prick along her neck. Aldrich’s fangs were there, haunting her,
poised to bite.

And against all her instincts, Kira would
have to do the hardest thing she had ever done: stay still—stay
still and let him.

Chapter Fourteen

Kira hardly recognized her reflection in the
mirror. Her hair was piled high in a bun on top of her head and a
few stray curls fell elegantly over her forehead. Her skin was
pale, lightened with fine powder. Her lips a deep red, slicked with
rouge. Her blue eyes looked like great lakes in the middle of her
face: they were so infinite and expansive. Her angular cheekbones
arched gracefully up, defined by a few swishes of pink blush.

Kira smiled, almost surprised to see the
girl in the mirror copy the movement exactly. But she kept the
smile plastered on those foreign features as thin hands continued
to coil her hair, continued to run lovingly through the curls.

Kira closed her eyes and pretended those
hands belonged to the real thing. That her mother was standing
behind her, lacing her fingers through Kira’s messy tangles to tame
them into something poised, something worthy of display—that the
hands tickling her scalp were the same ones that had soothed her to
sleep years ago.

“All done.” Those hands patted her shoulders
softly—a signal that Kira should open her eyes. But as soon as she
did, Kira would remember that the woman behind her was fake, a mere
chard of the memory playing in her mind.

Instead, she leaned her head against the
woman’s forearm and sighed contentedly. Kira wasn’t ready for her
fantasy to end.

Almost taken aback by the intimate contact,
the vampire behind her took a step away, reacting against Kira’s
touch.

“I’ll go get Tristan,” she said softly,
covering up her own mistake. When the door slipped open, Kira let
her eyes follow suit. They found their way past her reflection to
the red dress draped across the bed. The silk rippled over the
sides of the mattress, turning to different hues as the candlelight
bounced off of the fabric.

Her dying dress.

At least, that was how Kira thought of
it.

“Hi,” Tristan said quietly after closing the
door behind him. They were in the female vampire’s room, an
unexpected gift from Aldrich. Kira hadn’t dared hope for a few
minutes alone with Tristan before the ceremony and she was thankful
for it. The room was soundproof. For the first time in hours—hours
that felt more like weeks—Kira could speak plainly and honestly
with Tristan. And he with her.

“Hi,” she said, spinning in her chair,
unsure of herself.

“You look…” He trailed off as he walked
closer to her.

“Like a vampire?” Kira supplied. That had
been her first thought.

“Yeah.” The hint of sadness in his voice was
undeniable.

“It’s only makeup,” Kira said, resisting the
urge to wipe it off with her wrist.

“I’m not sure if that makes me happy or
sad.”

Kira turned towards the bed, searching for
an escape from his analytic gaze. “Will you help me with this?” She
asked and started to untie the knot holding her robe in place. She
had her underwear on, but Kira still kept her back to Tristan.
Maybe it was an unwritten rule of breaking up, but she suddenly
felt self-conscious in front of him, in a way she never had
before.

With her robe around her shoulders, Kira
pooled the dress on the floor and stepped into it. She brought the
smooth material all the way up around her waist before letting her
robe drop, leaving only the arc of her back exposed. Tristan’s cool
fingers brushed her skin gently as they fiddled with the zipper.
For a moment, Kira felt him stop moving. His thumb brushed down her
spine, sending a shiver to the tips of her fingers. His breath
kissed her neck, letting Kira know his lips were tantalizingly
close to her skin. She closed her eyes, ready to lean back, but
Kira felt the dress cinch tightly shut as Tristan sealed the
zipper. Kira waited for it, but his fingers didn’t touch her bare
flesh again.

Instead of missing caresses that didn’t
belong to her anymore, Kira looked into the mirror at the other
side of the room, wondering if Aldrich was watching them. Would
even these few minutes of peace need to be a show?

The dress was stunning, Kira thought as she
studied her reflection, but no matter how beautiful it didn’t match
her. She looked like some sort of Grecian temptress in the deep
ruby gown. Fabric bunched above her right shoulder, falling
gracefully in tight pleats to her waist before cascading loosely to
the ground. The skin on her left side was bare, open and waiting
for Aldrich’s bite. Even though the one-shoulder dress covered her
body, Kira felt exposed.

The only thing giving her comfort was the
chain hanging around her neck. Kira raised her hand, clasping her
father’s ring and Luke’s charm within her palm. Somehow, they would
keep her safe.

As if sensing her thoughts, Tristan stepped
in front of her, blocking the mirror from view.

“Do you think he’s watching?” Kira
asked.

“Probably,” Tristan shrugged. He circled her
waist with his hands, drawing her closer. Kira slipped her arms
over his shoulders, completing the embrace. Was this for them or
for Aldrich?

“Do you hate me?” Kira whispered. She
couldn’t meet his eyes.

“No,” he said.

“Do you love me?” She studied the opening of
his shirt. The fancy cream buttons almost blended with his skin.
His smooth chest rose in a deep breath, and his Adam’s apple rolled
out as he swallowed.

“Kira…” He sounded lost, like a little
boy.

“It’s okay,” she said, looking up into his
deep blue eyes, “I just asked because I want you to know that for
me, that answer will always be yes. Part of me will always love
you, and even if that’s the only forever we have, I think it was
worth it. All of it.”

He leaned down, resting his forehead against
hers, but he didn’t speak. His sigh thickened the air around them,
rolling down her body like a wave.

“Will I ever see you again?” She asked. He
shook his head, but Kira couldn’t accept the silent message he was
sending her. She pulled back, willing him to answer her with words,
no matter how hard they were to say out loud.

“I’m leaving,” he said, looking past her
face to the wall over her shoulder. “After all of this is over, I’m
going to walk away and try my best not to look back.”

Kira bit her lip to keep a murmur of protest
from bubbling out. Instead, she simply said, “I don’t want you to
just disappear.”

“You made your choice, please don’t take
away mine.” His lips brushed her ear while he spoke, making it hard
for her to concentrate.

“What do you mean?” Kira tried to lean back,
to look into his eyes, but Tristan held her firmly against his
chest.

“Don’t ask me to stay.”

“But—”

“Kira,” he interrupted, stopping her
protest. “You chose being a conduit. I can’t change being a
vampire. It’s better for both of us to end it here, now. But when
you tell me you love me, that you will always love me, I can’t even
breathe for the thought of losing you. Let me be strong for once.
Just let me walk away.”

And he loosened his hug, finally letting
Kira go just enough for her to look up into the somber features of
his beautiful face.

He was right.

Kira lifted her hand, letting her fingers
gently glide along his defined jaw line, moving around to the back
of his neck to play with the small, soft hairs there. She pressed
her other hand over his heart, feeling the steady thrum against her
palm. His eyes were shifting, oscillating between a deep,
melancholic navy and a contented, sparkling sapphire.

He brought both of his hands to her neck and
cupped her head firmly, lifting her slightly closer to his face in
a way that was possessive but caring at the same time. Kira knew
what it meant. Part of her would always belong to him, and for the
next couple of minutes she was still completely his.

It was Kira who moved first, raising onto
her toes to close the last inch between their lips. Tristan
welcomed her, easing her head to the side to deepen the kiss that
she had started. His lips pushed hers open slowly, steadily. His
movements were controlled, mirroring the deep desire they had
always had for each other, proving to Kira that they were more than
just a flash of lust. Her hand slid behind his back, pulling him
closer.

Tristan gently kissed along her jaw, burning
a path along her skin with his lips. As his mouth moved down to her
throat, warm tingles shot down her spine. He wasn’t marking her,
but he was claiming her. That spot would always belong to him, no
matter what Aldrich had in mind.

But thinking that just reminded Kira that
they didn’t have time, no matter what either of them wanted to
believe. And this time Kira cupped around his neck, dragging his
mouth back to hers. The end was too close.

And Tristan understood. Their movements
became frantic. Their kisses were no longer slow and purposeful,
but quick and jumbled. Kira kissed all of his skin, her hands
roamed his body, feeling the ripple of hard abs beneath her thumb
while trailing her other fingers down the curve of his spine.

Tristan pulled her close, using his strength
to lift her off the ground, kissing her lips, then her cheek, then
her neck, back to her lips. His arms crushed her into his chest for
fear that releasing Kira for even a second would make her
vanish.

The door behind them opened with a bang, and
like cloth being ripped down a seam, Kira and Tristan broke apart
in a flash. The distance felt painful, even if only to her
heart.

Tristan’s normally pale skin was flushed
pink and Kira knew if she touched it, his cheek would feel warm for
the first time. His breath was heavy, like an echo of the ragged
sounds coming from her own mouth.