Bled & Breakfast (22 page)

Flames began to lick at Malik’s ankles. He stared down at them as if in shock, then sent a dark glare toward her. “Stop this!”

“I can’t.”

“Damn you!” He yelled it this time, his voice a resonating boom through the entire inn, one that echoed off the walls. The flames rose to cover his entire body, and a moment later, he disappeared in a flash of fire and rage.

Raina staggered backward and fell to the ground, sobbing.

“See?” I whispered to Thierry, the tightness in my chest finally easing off. I would have hated like hell to have been wrong. But I knew it. I
knew
it! “She’d changed, but she finally realized Malik hadn’t. I saw it in her eyes . . . I felt it in my gut. And I believed it.”

“You are so much wiser than I give you credit for.”

There was something in his tone that made me turn away from the raven-haired witch to meet his eyes. But I could barely see him anymore, only a ghostly outline.

“Oh God, no . . . Thierry . . .” Panic gripped my heart with a clawed hand. “Raina! Do something! Malik fed on Thierry’s energy. He’s nearly gone!”

Thierry looked nowhere but into my eyes. There was no panic in his gaze, only regret. “I wanted more time with you.”

This was not happening. Not after we’d defeated the evil ghost and his witches. Not after I survived a fatal staking today. He wasn’t going to fade away. I wouldn’t let him. “No, Thierry! Don’t you even think about leaving me! You have to fight this!”

His jaw tensed. “I’m trying. I am. But he took it all, Sarah. He wanted to leave just enough so you’d witness me fade away completely.”

He flickered, disappearing for a horrible moment, before he reappeared.

“Somebody do something! Help him!” I was frantic by now. “Thierry! Focus on me. Just hold on a minute longer, okay?”

The slightest edge of a smile curled up the side of his mouth. “Never giving up, no matter how bad things get. You are incredible. I was so lucky—”

And then he was gone. Just gone—faded away into oblivion right before my eyes like a horrible switch had been flicked for the last time.

I trembled from head to foot, but I wasn’t crying or sobbing. Not yet. No, I was furious. This wasn’t how the story ended. Not for us. Not after everything we’d been through.

I whirled around and faced Raina, ready to destroy this town with my bare hands, alpha witches and all, if that’s what I needed to do to get him back. “I don’t care what you have to do—take my blood. Take as much of it as you need, but you have to get him back here. You have to heal him and make him whole, and then you need to put him back into his body.”

Tears still streaked down her face, but she moved closer to me and put her hand on my shoulder. “Sarah, calm down.”

I wrenched away from her and turned toward Heather. “There must still be some of Thierry’s blood left from before. You can do the time travel spell again. I can go back a little while, possess a body and stop Malik from draining him.”

Heather shook her head, her face pale. “I’m sorry, Sarah.”

I faced Raina again, but now the witch was blurry from my own tears. “I can’t lose him. Not like this. Please, you have to do something.”

“He was right about you. You don’t give up. Even when all is lost. You really love him, and he loves you.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I admire that. I envy that.”

“So do something!”

“I already did.”

I blinked. “What?”

She shrugged. “I might be having the worst day I’ve had in three centuries, but I’m not a total selfish bitch. Just so you know.”

It took me a moment to grasp what she was trying to tell me. “The spirit transference spell . . .”

“I know it by heart. So many times I nearly used it for Malik.” She exhaled shakily. “Thank God I never did. I feel it’s my one saving grace.”

My mouth was so dry I could barely speak. “Don’t even try messing with me, lady.”

“I’m not. However, whether it was successful”—Raina spread her hands—“that’s another matter. It’s possible I was too late to save him.”

My breath caught and held. “Now you’re
really
messing with me, aren’t you?”

“Yeah,” Owen said from his viewpoint at the edge of the room. “She’s
so
messing with you.”

Without another word, I staggered over to where Thierry’s body lay on the floor by the stairs. I collapsed to my knees beside him and grabbed hold of his hands. They were cold, too cold.

“Thierry . . .” I stroked the dark hair back from his forehead. “Are you in there? Did she do it?”

I checked his pulse—he had one. It was very slow, but that was nothing new. Vampires had slower heartbeats than humans, and master vampires had even slower ones. But even a pulse didn’t necessarily mean his spirit had been returned.

But then his dark eyelashes began to flicker and his eyes opened. Storm gray eyes met mine.

“So,” he said softly, “yet again, I suggest you leave when there’s danger and you flatly refuse. I don’t know why I bother anymore. You’re truly the most stubborn woman I’ve known in my entire existence.”

Relief exploded from me like a volcano of fireworks on July the Fourth. I fell into his arms and kissed him hard and deep.

“I thought that was it,” I murmured against his lips. “I thought you were gone forever.”

“And I thought
I
was the pessimist in this marriage.”

I couldn’t help but smile as I held his face between my hands and inspected him for injury. He looked fine, wonderful, fantastic—if very pale from the blood loss. After a moment, I helped him to his feet. “Are you all right?”

He nodded. “I’ll recover.”

“I won’t,” Owen said. “I mean, I’m thrilled that everything turned out okay, but look. I’m still dead.”

He didn’t seem furious or ready to wreak vengeance. He just looked depressed.

“I’m sorry, Owen,” I said, sadness for him darkening my sunbeam of joy.

“Well, there
is
Raina’s spell,” he said, his gaze thoughtful, “if we can find another suitable body . . .”

“No way.” Heather had just helped the recovering Todd to his feet. She kept her arm hooked through the shifter’s and leaned against him a little, as if they were both supporting each other now. “I’m sorry, Owen, but that can’t happen. You’d be doing exactly what my grandmother tried to do—steal a body, ruin a life. You have to see that that’s wrong, don’t you?”

Owen opened his mouth as if to argue and then closed it. “Yeah. You’re right, of course. It’s wrong. But this sucks.”

I felt horrible for him. Owen Harper might have been a womanizing opportunist, but he’d helped out when we’d needed him the most. And he hadn’t deserved getting killed in the first place.

“I’m sorry it had to end this way for you, Owen,” Thierry said.

Owen’s brows drew together. “Yeah, well, I’m sorry I tried to steal your body and have sex with your wife.”

Thierry’s jaw tensed. “Apology accepted.”

Owen regarded Thierry for a moment. “How do you deal with that bloodlust, anyway? It’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.”

I tensed as I waited for his answer. I wasn’t sure, either, but now I had confirmation that it was a constant battle for him.

“Practice,” Thierry said. He didn’t elaborate.

Suddenly Rose stirred on the ground and opened her eyes.

“My goodness,” she murmured as she sat up. “I must have taken a spill. What on earth happened?”

“You don’t remember?” Heather asked, her voice tense.

“I’m not sure.” Rose looked at each of us in turn. “Did I do something wrong?”

All I saw in her eyes was confusion. The memory-erasing spell she’d tried to use on her granddaughter had backfired and hit her instead.

She was damn lucky it hadn’t been a death spell.

“The darkness in her is gone,” Raina said. “Whether you forgive her or not is up to you, Heather.”

“What about her magic?” Heather whispered.

“It’s all gone. She’s no threat to anyone anymore.”

“You took her magic,” Thierry said. “As Casey took some of yours. Didn’t you?”

Raina raised an eyebrow at my husband’s quick deduction. “Consider it payment for services rendered, vampire.”

Rose looked at all of us, bewildered. “I don’t understand a word of what any of you are saying.”

Rose had no more magic; she had no memory of her desire to help Malik. It was as if all the bad had been erased from her like writing on a chalkboard. Was it really that easy?

According to the sad look on Heather’s face, it wasn’t. This couldn’t simply be forgiven, years of holding her back from her rightful magic. Years of lies and deception.

That Rose had wanted to spare her granddaughter was the only check in the “good” column, in my opinion. Having her memories erased did not forgive her for what she’d done.

And I wasn’t the only one to think so.

“Unbelievable. So she kills me and she gets away with it. Just great,” Owen said, shaking his head. “So where do I go now? Can anybody answer me that?”

There was silence among us for a moment. Thierry reached down and took my hand in his, his expression grim.

Then there was a popping sound as Lorenzo’s head appeared, floating in midair in the middle of the circle we’d created.

“Oh, hello,” he said. “Where’s Owen Harper? Owen? Are you here?”

Owen blinked. “Um, hi?”

Lorenzo swiveled to face the other ghost, his cheery face falling as he swept his gaze over him. “You insulted my meatballs without tasting them and slept with both of my daughters.”

Owen winced. “Sorry?”

Lorenzo pursed his lips. “I forgive you! About the daughters, that is. The meatballs—I need more time. Being dead puts a lot of things in perspective. Anyway, I’ve been instructed to be your guide.”

Owen regarded him, stunned. “My guide to . . .”

“Heaven, of course, my friend. So let’s not delay. Nice vampires are welcome there, too, I’m told. Your sordid past is not an issue, apparently.”

“I
am
a nice vampire,” Owen said, smiling. “Usually, anyway. But I don’t know if I’m ready . . .”

“There are many beautiful women who, I’m told, have asked to see you immediately upon your arrival.”

“Hmm.” Owen looked down at himself and brushed off the sleeve of his shirt. “Then what are we waiting for? Lead the way, disembodied head. Lead the way.”

“Follow me.” Lorenzo began to fade away until he was completely gone.

Owen also started to fade. “Good-bye, all. Sorry again for any problems I caused. I’ll send a postcard if I can . . .”

And then he was gone.

I found I was smiling. Heather wiped away her tears.

Owen was bound for a babe-filled Heaven. It was a fitting end for the vampire. He was no angel, but I hoped he’d be very happy up there.

Meanwhile, Rose had taken a seat on the couch. She reached for her knitting while I watched her warily. She seemed oblivious to anything that had happened.

Raina’s gaze moved to Thierry. “So now what?”

Her eyes were blue again; the magic that had charged the air was only a memory now. The house was a mess, there was a crack in the bay window and a dent in the wall, everything that could be broken in this room was broken, but the house still stood, and we were all alive.

“What do you mean?” Thierry asked.

“Will you inform the Ring that I’m living in Salem? That I bleed vampires twice a year so I can stay alive and well? Will you notify the handful of witch hunters who still take pleasure in eliminating threats like me?”

Her words were cold and unemotional again, and that worried me. Thierry’s reply might mean the difference between her being a good witch and her being a bad witch.

“The Ring would want to know,” Thierry replied. “You are incredibly powerful. And you are one who uses vampire blood to sustain her immortality.”

“And I plan to continue to do so for many years to come. So what of it, vampire? Will you share my dark and sordid past with those who would do me harm?”

I bit my tongue, letting him handle this without any input from me.

He glanced down at where I held his hand, his lips curving as he noticed how tightly I now gripped it. “I know you saved Sarah’s life today. That is worth more to me than you’ll ever know. It’s reason enough for me not to tell the Ring of your existence. Apart from that, we all have a past to reckon with, no matter how old we are. It’s how we govern ourselves now that makes a difference. I believe in change, even for the worst of us. I believe that the future is not wholly reliant on the past. Personally, I have great hope for that future.”

She swallowed hard. “Have you always believed this?”

He shook his head. “It’s a recent realization of mine.
Very
recent.”

“What convinced you?”

“The woman standing next to me.”

I tried very hard to ignore my swelling heart, but that was next to impossible. “Who? I don’t see anyone here but little ol’ me.”

His lips quirked. “I guess she left earlier.”

I couldn’t help but snort at that. “Always joking around.”

“Yes, I’m such a joker.” He directed his amused gaze back to Raina. “For what it’s worth, I don’t plan on telling the Ring or anyone else about
any
alpha witch currently living in Salem. However, I would appreciate it if you choose your future coven with a bit more care.”

Raina laughed out loud at this. “I may be powerful, but I’ve never been the best judge of character.” She glanced at Heather. “What about you?”

Heather regarded the alpha witch warily. “What do you mean?”

“The full strength of your magic has been hidden from you for years.”

“Oh yes,” Rose added absently as her knitting needles clicked together. “Heather’s mother was a very powerful witch. I’m sure Heather will take after her eventually. If only she believed in herself!”

Heather glanced toward her grandmother, pain sliding through her gaze. “I believe in myself now.”

“Good.” Rose nodded, her attention not leaving the colorful afghan. “I’m so happy to hear that.”

“If it helps, I believe in you, too.” Raina’s gaze traveled over both Heather and Todd, who hadn’t left her side. “And I want to help you learn, to grow, to make sure that you can handle the gift you’ve been given.”