Dalakis Passion 3 - Stefan's Salvation (24 page)

as the other man stood frozen in place.
Stefan could feel Jeremiah's panic as the other man realized he couldn't move his
own body. It was no longer under his control. "No one harms my woman and lives."
With fury and vengeance firing his blood, Stefan sent a mental command toward the
other man, pushing past Jeremiah's resistance as if it were nothing. Power unlike
anything he'd ever experienced flowed through his veins and Stefan knew then that his
brothers were feeding their energy into him. The full force of the Dalakis power was
being brought to bear against this monster.
Jeremiah jerked back against the wall, his body slamming against the cold stone, his
eyes wide with fear. Sweat rolled down his face as the hand holding the long, silver
blade jerked up in front of him. Although he fought with all his might, his hand turned
against his will, the sharp blade coming to rest over his heart. "No," he whispered. "It's
not fair. The power is mine. It's mine," he moaned as he plunged the dagger into his
own heart.
Ever so slowly, Jeremiah slid down the wall. Disbelief shone in his eyes as the life
faded from them. None of the brothers gave him a second look as he slumped over onto
the floor.
Stefan ripped away the ropes wrapped around Laurel Rose's wrists. Blood. There
was so much blood. It spilled over the chalice and onto the floor. The smell was thick in
his nostrils as the sound of her heartbeat grew fainter. Carefully, he lowered her hands
back down to her sides. Cristofor had loosened the bonds around her feet and stepped
silently away from the stone table.
Grabbing her wrists, Stefan licked the deep wounds, closing them instantly. But
even as he did it, he knew it was too late. She had lost way too much blood and her
body was beginning to shut down. Her chest hardly moved as her lips parted on a low
wheeze. Laurel Rose's breath was almost gone.
Her eyelids fluttered open and her blue eyes were filled with love as they looked up
at him. She tried to speak, but gasped instead. Her eyes closed, but he heard her words
in his mind as clearly as if she'd spoken them aloud.
I knew you would come.
Her faith in him brought him to his knees beside her. He'd come, but was it too
late? They'd never talked about him attempting to convert her. She'd wanted to, but
he'd put her off, wanting her to have more time to become accustom to the idea.
Always assuming they'd have time to discuss it later. Now, he didn't know what she'd
choose. Did she want to join him for eternity? Or was she content to have shared what
time they'd had together? If he changed her, would she hate him forever?
Cristofor roughly shoved him aside and reached for Laurel Rose. Stefan growled,
launching himself at his older brother. "Don't touch her."
Cristofor barely eluded Stefan's lunge and they began to circle one another. With
their blazing red eyes and their deadly fangs, they were more beasts than men. "You are
strong, my brother. More powerful than I had imagined. Use that strength to save her."
Stefan swiped out at Cristofor with his arm, and his elongated nails missed his
brother by no more than a whisper.
"If you won't attempt to convert her, I will," Cristofor growled, his fangs long and
sharp. His red eyes flashed his anger, showing traces of brilliant green.
"No one touches her but me," Stefan snarled as he gathered Laurel Rose into his
protective embrace. He'd kill anyone who tried to take her from him. Anyone.
"Then change her. I will not lose you." Cristofor's anguish hit Stefan like a blow to
the gut, almost doubling him over with pain. "We will all help her."
Stefan felt Lucian's hand on his shoulder, lending him support. "You must change
her. It is your only chance. And quickly, before it is too late."
Stefan blocked out all his surroundings as he focused entirely on the woman in his
embrace. Her head lolled against his chest and her body was limp against him. Cradling
her in his arms on the cold stone altar, he knew that if she died, he would not see
another day in this world.
Bending down, he sank his elongated teeth into her neck. She had so little blood
left, but he ruthlessly drained it from her body. His composure was almost shattered
when he felt her tip her neck ever so slightly toward him, offering herself to him. Even
dying, she would give him whatever he needed.
When he felt the last beat of her heart, he used his teeth to tear a gash in his own
wrist. Placing it against her almost blue lips, he forced them apart. His blood poured
into her mouth and leaked out the corners. "Drink," he commanded her.
Lucian reached around him and rubbed her throat gently, silently encouraging her
to swallow.
Lifeless in his arms, Laurel Rose did nothing. Closing his eyes and concentrating,
Stefan sought the fading thread of her life force, clamping down on it with an iron grip.
He would not let her go. Mentally, he called out to her, commanding, ordering,
pleading and begging her to stay with him. They would live or die together.
Stefan felt her slipping away. "Laurel Rose," he called, his voice hoarse with
suppressed emotion. "Don't leave me." His cry echoed in his head even as it bounced
off the walls of the room. He opened his eyes and gazed at his brothers who were
flanking him on either side, their hands gripping him tight. "No!" Stefan howled with
grief as he shook the lifeless body of the woman in his arms.
Her face and mouth were smeared with his blood. A lone teardrop fell from his face
and landed on her lips.
Suddenly, her whole body jerked as she coughed and sputtered and began to
swallow. Stefan's hands shook with emotion as he forced his wrist back against her lips.
"Drink, Laurel Rose. Live for us both."
Her mouth clamped down hard on his flesh and she began to suck his life-giving
blood into her body. Stefan closed his eyes and offered a silent prayer of thanks.
Cristofor sat down next to him and calmly offered him the chalice. "Drink. This is
your mate's blood that she shed for you. You need it to replenish yourself."
Stefan nodded and Cristofor held the chalice to his lips, allowing him to drink. Her
blood was still warm as it flowed into his belly and he felt a surge of pleasure as he
licked his lips. "Thank you."
Carefully, he eased his wrist away from Laurel Rose and licked it to close the
wound. She whimpered once and then sank into a deep sleep. Using his shirtsleeve,
Stefan was wiping the blood from her face when he heard someone coming.
Instinctively knowing that it was a friend, he ignored the intruder and returned his
attention to the woman cradled tenderly in his arms.
The sound of boot heels rang on the stairs. "Oh, shit," Sam Cassidy muttered as he
stepped through the doorway and glanced at the remnants of the door. "Oh, shit," he
repeated as he stared at Stefan with Laurel Rose in his arms. His eyes took in the blood
on her face and body and the healing gash on Stefan's wrist. "Not this again." Stefan
knew that Cassidy was remembering a similar scene with Lucian and Delight that had
played itself out several months before.
Stefan finished wiping the blood from Laurel Rose's mouth and then stood,
clutching her gently in his arms. Lucian removed his long wool coat and tucked it
carefully around her naked body. "Take her home. We will clean up here and then we
will join you."
Taking Lucian at his word, he carried Laurel Rose out of the bowels of the church.
"How are we going to explain this?" Stefan heard Sam ask.
"We aren't," Cristofor replied. "Come morning this room will no longer exist.
Jeremiah Stoner and all his secrets will be buried here forever."
Satisfied that everything was under control, Stefan raced back toward the mountain
with his precious bundle cradled in his arms. He only hoped that when she awoke, the
love and acceptance that she'd always given him in the past wouldn't have turned to
hate.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Laurel Rose's head was pounding when she awoke. She cracked her eyes open just
a bit, but closed them quickly when the light hurt them. It was dark in the room, but
several candles flickered on the nightstand and the dresser. She lay atop her soft
mattress and breathed in the familiar smell of lavender that scented her sheets. Her
stomach churned and she felt too ill to move.
"How is she?" Laurel Rose heard a woman softly ask. She heard a deep male sigh
and knew that Stefan was in the room with her. Frowning slightly, she wondered who
this unknown woman was and why she was here with Stefan.
"I don't know." Stefan's voice was so low she had to strain to hear it.
"It will be all right, Stefan." Laurel Rose opened her eyelids a crack and saw a
pretty brown-haired woman with her fingers resting lightly on Stefan's arm. She had
the almost overwhelming urge to knock the woman's hand away from him. And she
would too, just as soon as she could summon the energy to move. Stefan belonged to
her.
"Will it, Delight? I'm not so sure." Relief hit her as she recognized the name. But
then confusion took its place. What was Stefan's sister-in-law doing here? She closed
her eyes again as pain wrapped around her skull. The voices beside her faded and
gradually stopped altogether. Footsteps faded in the distance as one of them left the
room.
She didn't know how long she drifted before the pounding headache began to
recede and memories gradually surfaced. Had she really been kidnapped and tied to a
stone altar? Had Jeremiah Stoner done all those things to her? Had he drained her
blood? Or had it all been just a dream? Stefan had been there too. And she had a vague
memory of unfamiliar voices, but she couldn't quite recall what they'd said. Frowning,
she tried desperately to make sense of the random images flickering in her mind.
The last thing she fully recalled was driving toward home and wanting to eat her
cookie dough ice cream. "Ice cream," she muttered as she licked her dry lips.
"You're home and you're safe, Laurel Rose." The mattress sank as Stefan sat down
beside her. She felt the covers being tucked more securely against her body.
"Accident. Ice cream," she muttered, trying to force her scrambled brain to make
sense of what had happened.
"Yes, there was an accident, but you're fine..." His voice trailed off. "Everything is
fine." She sensed his hesitation and she forced her eyes open again. He looked so
gorgeous sitting next to her. His long hair fell over his shoulder and chest as he leaned
forward. His hand was warm against her forehead as he gently pushed a lock of hair
out of her face. "Did you want ice cream?"
"No." She licked her lips again. "Had some."
"In the truck?"
Laurel Rose started to nod, but stopped when it made her head throb again. She felt
his hands cover the top of her head, felt them grow hotter the longer they rested there.
The pain in her skull dulled to a manageable level and she knew that she had Stefan to
thank for that.
"What else do you remember?"
"Jeremiah Stoner." Her memory was starting to return quickly now. "He shot out
my tire and kidnapped me." She remembered being naked, cold and bound, and she
shivered. Stefan tugged another quilt over her, his gaze never leaving her. "There was a
room and a large stone table. I was tied up. He was crazy." She was becoming more
agitated with every word.
"Shh." Stefan leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. "You don't have
to talk about it until you're ready. Just relax."
But the floodgates had opened and it all just kept spewing out. "He thought if he
drank my blood, whatever psychic powers I possess would become his. I kept him
talking. I knew you'd come if I could just distract him long enough for you to get there.
His name isn't even really Jeremiah Stoner. He killed the real pastor and took his place.
He also killed the man who built the room below the church for him. I don't know how
many people he's murdered by draining them of their blood." Laurel Rose shuddered.
"He was insane."
"You don't need to worry about Jeremiah Stoner. He can't hurt you or anyone else."
Stefan's eyes were like shards of green ice. No, Stefan would not have allowed the other
man to live. Laurel Rose closed her eyes and said a prayer for the man even though he
didn't deserve it. She also offered up a prayer for the other victims of Jeremiah's sick
obsession.
Stefan moved away from her and began to prowl around the room. "What else do
you remember?"
She could tell that something was definitely bothering Stefan, but she didn't know
what. She concentrated on her answer as she continued to watch him carefully. "I
remember that he cut me. I was bleeding, but the bonds on my hands were getting
looser. Then you were there. I heard other voices too." As hard as she tried, she couldn't
place the voices of the other men. She had no idea who they were.
"My brothers," he answered. He waved his hand as if they were of no importance.
"What else?"
"It got dark." She'd been very frightened and alone at first. "You were yelling at
me, calling to me to stay with you." She frowned as she remembered. "You were in my
mind urging me to fight, to drink."
"I was," he confirmed as he halted at the end of the bed and crossed his arms over
his massive chest. His face looked as if it were carved from stone, showing no emotion
whatsoever.
"I was dying," she began slowly. "But I'm not dead." She rubbed a hand across her
forehead. "You. You pulled me away from death and back to you."
Stefan nodded slowly but kept his distance. She felt so cold without him next to her.
"I took your blood and gave you mine. I did not allow you the choice of living or dying,
but made it for you." His lips thinned as he pursed them.
"What does that mean?" Laurel Rose could barely concentrate on the conversation.
Her stomach was churning and her head was throbbing again. She was very afraid she
was going to embarrass herself and get sick all over the bed. She swallowed hard and
took a deep breath.
"It means that you are now a vampire, like me. Your life is tied to mine. You need
blood to live. You will be able to eat or drink small amounts of food once your body
adjusts, but you no longer need it to live. You are immortal, but you can still be killed.
Prolonged exposure to sunlight, a stake through the heart or beheading will kill you.