Foreshadowed (8 page)

CHAPTER 15

            When Lucien walked through the door, looking just as evil and sinister as I remembered, I felt not an ounce of fear. What I felt was a seething animosity and determination to make him pay, and pay dearly.

            He walked leisurely into the room, stopping momentarily to give a disdainful glance at Anna's pale, ravaged form. His jet black hair and equally depthless black eyes made my stomach turn and when he opened his mouth to speak, the sound made me cringe.

            "Well, if it isn't Brooke in a rather glamorous vampire version of her former self. I have to say, I'm quite impressed with your transformation. It's a shame I didn't get to change you myself, but I guess I can get past that knowing you and I will be spending a
long
eternity together."

            "I think I’d rather have my fingernails removed one by one.”

            Lucien raised an eyebrow, amused. “We can arrange that, I’m sure.”

            I walked toward him with a calmness that surprised me. "You know, Lucien. I just don't think this little thing between us is going to work out. Besides the fact that I'm married to an incredible man...well, quite frankly, I despise you. And we both know that's no way to start a life together."
As if I would even consider it.
I mentally measured the distance to the doorway out of the corner of my eye. My improvised plan was to get out that door with Lucien close at my heels, leaving Kathryn to hopefully carry Anna out of there. Meanwhile, I planned to barrel my way out of the house destroying anything and everything in my path. Out in the open I'd stand a much better chance of taking on Lucien.

            Lucien gave me a condescending look. "Brooke,
darling,
you seem to be under the mistaken assumption that you have a choice in the matter. You see, your
marriage
to Alex was not what you were instructed by the council to do. So you are in direct violation of an order. And that order was for you to be placed with me...
permanently."

           
What he said was true; but I didn't give any credence to orders given by the Regency.

            My lips pressed into a grim smile. He really was pushing my buttons right now. "It's a shame then, Lucien, that I've always been terrible at following orders."
And I certainly had no plans to start.

            It was obvious Lucien was savoring every minute of this; had probably been planning this very moment since he'd found out about my escape from the Regency and marriage to Alex. He gave me an intense once over that just about succeeded in causing me to react with the violence I was saving for later. "You know, you may just be my favorite challenge yet," he said. "Boredom is a side effect of existing for an eternity and I have the feeling breaking you will be an entertaining diversion."

            I kept my expression blank, not wanting to feed his disgusting fantasy, and instead channeled my energy into preparing for the moment I would take him down. I kept silent while he continued on. 

            "Something tells me you'll follow this order, because your friend over there," Lucien paused and I followed his gaze to where Anna was lying on the floor barely breathing, "will not make it much longer. If you take her place, then I'll let Kathryn take her to the rescue party that's making their way onto my property as we speak."

            Judging by the satisfied expression on his face, he knew he had me. I'd do whatever it would take to get Anna to safety. I met his eyes with a steely gaze of my own. He was trying to intimidate me, but he had no idea what I was capable of.
I don‘t think anyone did. But one thing was certain
, I would relish the opportunity to rid this world of him once and for all, and he'd just handed me that opportunity on a silver platter. 

            I looked at Kathryn and then nodded my head towards Anna. "Take her. I'm staying."

            A sinister smile spread across Lucien's face. "I knew you'd see reason."

            I watched Kathryn scoop Anna up easily and hurry through the door. I breathed a sigh of relief as they passed its threshold and I knew Anna would soon be getting the help she so desperately needed. I turned my eyes back to Lucien. "So what's the plan? You don’t really think you can keep me locked up in this room like you did Anna?"

            Lucien smiled. "Hardly. No, I thought I'd keep you in my room until you learn your not going anywhere for a very long time. But to ensure you don't give me any problems..." His hand moved so quickly I didn't have a chance to react before he pulled a titanium dagger from the pocket of his dress jacket and threw it with lightning speed straight for my chest. The sharp point dug deeply into my sternum causing a debilitating pain that crumpled me to the floor. Through the burning pain it occurred to me that he'd not meant to kill me, just stop me from being able to fight him. He lifted me off the ground and carried me out of the dank basement and up several flights of steps to what appeared to be his bedroom. The dagger was still wedged deeply in my chest and I decided that I'd much rather be dead than feel the pain the titanium was causing for very much longer. It was so bad, in fact, that I was unable to move, talk or barely pull a coherent thought together. I felt myself being thrown onto a bed with all of the care one would give to a sack of potatoes.

            “Don’t go anywhere Brooke.” He laughed at his own joke and I could hear his footsteps leaving and the click of the door closing behind him.

            Minutes or hours, I'm not sure, passed as I laid on my back with the dagger sticking out of my chest, securing me in a painful stupor. I was feeling myself slip into a black unconsciousness that I didn’t know was possible for a vampire, when I heard a familiar voice cursing. Unable to open my eyes, I could hear him talking, but it was as if I was in a faraway tunnel and I couldn't make out the words or respond. Seeming to exist only in this remote abyss, I gained strength and comfort by just hearing the familiar hum of the words.

            In the next instant, I felt the white hot pain of the dagger being removed and I was being ripped back into reality. My eyes flew open, unseeing, and I fought to sit up. Strong arms held me in place and I heard Alex's voice trying to reassure me. "Brooke, it's okay, it's me. The dagger's out. In a few minutes the pain will dim and you'll be able to function again." I felt him lifting me into his arms and holding me against his chest. "God, Brooke. You scared the hell out of me."

            The agony had dimmed to a discomfort and the pain was finally not blinding me with its intensity. When I was finally able to see clearly, Alex's handsome face with his stunning blue eyes that were filled with both torment and concern, were the first thing I saw.

            "Alex," I gasped out, meeting his eyes with mine. Something profound and deep passed between us as our eyes held. Something that had everything to do with reality that we'd been very close to losing each other. I was trembling with the knowledge that if Lucien had ended me, it would have been more than just devastating to Alex, but lethal as well.

            "It's not over yet, Brooke." He ran a hand through his dark hair. "There is one hell of a fight going on below. I have to go back down to help them. We’re outnumbered, but our power far outweighs theirs."

            Since the titanium dagger had been removed, my strength had been returning at full speed-- one of the many benefits of being a vampire. Climbing out of Alex's arms, I stood and told him with a determination I was sure he couldn't argue with, "I'm not sitting here while everyone I care about is outside fighting Lucien and a ton of other ruthless monsters. I'm coming with you."

            Alex sat motionless for a few seconds and I held my breath as conflicting emotions flitted across his face, and then, finally, he nodded his head in agreement. "If you say you're strength has returned enough to handle the fight, then I'm going to trust you." He carefully passed me the titanium dagger he'd just removed from my chest.

            A smile lit my face. "If it's possible for me to love you even more, then it just happened."

            He was not hiding the worry on his face very well. "Just don’t make me regret it Brooke. Don't take any fearless risks. If you get yourself killed, I'll never forgive you."

CHAPTER 16

            As we made our way out of the huge stone structure Lucien called a home, I noted the stormy gray skies and windy conditions. The house sat next to a harbor, its waters black, choppy and furious. I closed my eyes briefly, recalling the exact image from my visions. It seemed it was all coming into fruition-- every single vision I'd had. Without stopping to think, I flew into action when my eyes fell on an all out fight between Lucien's accomplices and the allies that had come to assist us. I gripped the dagger in my hand, feeling a cool sense of resolve. Springing on the very first vile cohort of Lucien's that I came to, I ruthlessly used the sharp titanium point of the dagger to drive it straight through his heart. I methodically continued this on every vicious attacker I came across. I was dimly aware of how natural and easy it seemed to gracefully deflect and fend off attacks. Another asset of my new vampire form.

            And then my eyes locked on something that sent a terrifying jolt of fear straight through me, bringing home that, while I was a vampire, I still had very human emotions.

            Far away from the heat of battle, Alex and Lucien were fighting near the bank of the harbor. At first, it didn't concern me, because I knew who the stronger of the two was, but my blood turned to ice when I saw a blur of someone shooting their way quickly from behind Alex, a stake of pure titanium gleamed in their hand.

            The anguishing helplessness I felt at that very moment went beyond anything I'd ever experienced. I was unaware of how the water in the harbor behind Alex and Lucien had suddenly gone from choppy to violent, or how the winds had viciously picked up, or how the violent crack of thunder caused the ground to quake. My hair whipped frantically around me, and I felt an awe inspiring wrath of rage from somewhere deep, deep inside of me. My eyes fastened on the figure zooming in on Alex at a death defying speed. And at that very instant a ferocious boom accompanied by a bolt of jagged lightning cut straight into the vampire that was closing in on Alex. His body jerked for a split second before bursting into flames and showering nothing but dust onto the ground below.

            Subconsciously, I was aware that I was somehow controlling the elements, but I didn't stop to think about it; I just focused on the churning water, letting the anger roll off of me. I watched detachedly as the body of black water behind Lucien and Alex rose up, splitting straight down the middle, and rising toward the sky forming a tsunami like wave. My vision tunneled and focused intently on Lucien. Alex shot backwards just before the giant wall of water crashed down on Lucien and sucked him into its depths.

            And then I stood there in shock at what I had just done.

            Alex materialized directly in front of me, a proud grin on his face as the weather settled all around us. The winds were now a gentle breeze, the gray water of the harbor simply churned without the angry waves of a few minutes ago, and the thunder and lightening were gone altogether.

            "Wow, baby." He paused as he searched for words to describe what I'd just done. Giving up, he pulled me to him, kissing me passionately and causing me to tingle from my head to my toes. A slow rumble of thunder accompanied this and Alex pulled away slightly, laughing against my lips. "We'd better stop before it starts storming again. Just imagine what the weather would do if we..." He let his words trail off and I shoved him away playfully.

            "Trust you to think about
that
seconds after we almost get ourselves killed."

            "We weren't even close to that, Brooke. You just freaked."

CHAPTER 17

            It wasn't long before we found ourselves climbing into the back of one of the waiting SUV's. I slid in next to Alex, and finally looked down at my appearance. The fitted white dress I was wearing had a huge, bright red blood stain where Lucien had stabbed me in the chest. Blood and dirt covered the rest of the delicate fabric and was splattered on my arms and legs as well. I shuddered to think what my hair and face looked like. Alex, of course, looked downright gorgeous in a way that made my knees weak. The only signs of fighting were the disheveled appearance of his unruly dark brown hair and bits of blood that had rubbed off on him when he'd held me earlier. And somehow the way his hair fell over his forehead succeeded in warming my endlessly cold blood. It truly seemed unfair for one person to be so damn appealing no matter what they did.

            His piercing blue eyes were making there way down my body, taking in every splatter of blood and smudge of dirt. His voice was like steel when he finally said, "I really hope you didn't kill Lucien. I want that pleasure for myself."

            I gulped. I didn't like it when he looked so dangerously lethal-- though it
had
come in handy today. Changing the subject, I said, "Please tell me Anna survived."

            He stared at me for a long moment, apparently trying to decide whether he was going to go along with the subject change. "She survived."

            "And Brad?" I was especially worried about him. He was the only human that I'd seen during the fighting. That couldn't have been very good for him.

            Alex shook his head. "I don't know. The last time I saw him was right before I went inside looking for you."

            I swallowed. Maybe no news was good news. Brad had been a pain lately, and despite his vampire slayer status, he'd helped us when we'd needed it. I was crossing my fingers he'd survived. At least I could hold on to the fact that Anna was alive. I needed to see for myself that she was okay. The horrible vision, and then the reality of that vision, just wouldn't get out of my head. "Where is Anna?" I asked.

            "She's at one of Ethan's houses here in France. We're on the way there now."

            "Ethan's house," I repeated, taking in the possible implications of this.

            Alex just nodded and leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes. He was avoiding this discussion for some reason, that much was certain. Too mentally drained to continue with the questioning, I took a cue from Alex and spent the rest of the ride to Ethan's with my eyes closed in an attempt to replenish my strength.

            We walked into Ethan's house to find him with a glass of liquor in his hand. I raised an eyebrow at him, to which he simply replied, "It's been a long day."

            I certainly couldn't argue that and followed suit by walking over to his bar and pouring Alex and I a drink. Handing Alex his, I turned to face Ethan. "Tell me Anna's okay."

            "She's fine. More than fine."

            A look that I couldn't even begin to read passed over his features. It was a mixture of relief, guilt, worry, and maybe, just maybe, a bit of happiness.
Why the hell is everyone being so secretive about this?

           
I was quickly tiring of the word games and elusiveness. "Alright, cut to the chase Ethan, I'm a big girl. I can handle whatever it is. Now, tell me, what the hell has happened to Anna?"

            Ethan pinned me with his stunningly green eyes for a full minute, as if trying to read me, and then finally said, "Kathryn brought her straight here under my direction. By the time I was able to leave the fighting at Lucien's and get to her; she was about two seconds from death. I had no choice-- I had to turn her."

            Silence.

            Both Ethan and Alex eyed me warily-- aware of just how stormy my vampire anger could be. I continued to hold Ethan's gaze, my face not giving anything away. After a tense minute I asked, "Do you think
you
should have been the one to change her?"

            "I didn't have a choice. It was a now or never type of situation."

             Hmm, that innocent act wasn’t fooling me at all. "Kathryn could have done it. And then Anna wouldn't be tied to you for eternity."

            He narrowed his eyes at me. "And what's so bad about being tied to me for eternity?" he asked.

            "Nothing-- if I didn't think you'd screw with her emotions until the end of time. What kind of life sentence is that?"

            Alex cleared his throat.
Careful, Brooke.

            I threw Alex a quick look. Yeah, my stubbornness was persevering.
No way. I really need to hear Ethan's answer to this.

           
Ethan tilted his head to the side, looking at me, considering. After a moment he broke eye contact and walked slowly to a nearby window, looking out. The silence seemed to stretch on endlessly while I waited for his response.

            Finally, when I was about to repeat the question, he answered. "When I found out that Lucien had Anna and then what he was doing to her, I experienced something I haven't felt since before I became a vampire-- fear. Fear of losing her. And I hated it. I hated the vulnerability of it. It's what I've been avoiding for hundreds of years now. So when I walked into the room upstairs where she was lying and saw her so close to the brink of death, I knew I had to do something. And, I admit, for a split second I considered telling Kathryn to turn her." Ethan stopped, running his hands over his face several times before continuing. "But then it hit me why I can't stand the thought of walking this earth without her on it." His emerald green eyes found mine again and they held sincerity I didn't think possible coming from him. "I think I may love her, Brooke. And whatever the reason, I don't want to imagine life without her."

            To say that I was stunned would be an understatement. I
never
thought I would hear an admission of love coming from Ethan about anyone. And judging by the struggle he seemed to be waging to get the words out, I was certain he didn't either.

            Ethan smiled the first genuine smile I think I'd ever seen from him. "I think that you forcing me to say that was the first time I’ve admitted it to myself. I guess I have a few things to work through."

            Alex walked over to me, reaching for my hand and leaning to whisper softly in my ear, "I think they could use some privacy, Brooke." He knew me well. I was entirely too excited to see Anna to have considered leaving, but that's exactly what Ethan and Anna needed to sort things out-- privacy.

            Ethan excused himself and headed upstairs. Alex and I started for the door, but were stopped when we heard Kathryn's melodic voice calling my name. I turned to see her slight form entering the foyer with, surprise of all surprises, Brad. He was a little banged up, but other than that, looked like the same old Brad-- well the updated edgy version. Not only had he come out of the whole thing alive and well, but still human. I guess I hadn't given him enough credit. Apparently, he was a decent vampire slayer after all. And yet, here he stood in a room full of vampires... by his own choice. I just couldn't figure him out.

            But I was still relieved to see him and my eyes lit up. "Brad. You're alive!"

            It's funny how you don't realize how much you miss someone until they’re gone-- or you think they’re gone.

            He raised an eyebrow at me. "Umm. Clearly."

            Kathryn elbowed him in reprimand, and I felt my eyes widen at the camaraderie that was apparent between them.
When did that happen?
I tilted my head to the side studying them. Surely the staunch vampire slayer hadn't befriended a vampire, and a cute female vampire, at that. Today was just full of surprises.

            I cleared my throat. I couldn't resist taunting him a bit. "Well, I see you've met Kathryn. Do you no longer hate vampires now?"

            Brad and Kathryn shared a look before Brad answered. "Yeah, you could say that. Or maybe I'm finding
some
vamps are okay." Evidently Kathryn took exception to the word
okay
because she gave him an exasperated glare.

            Alex and I glanced at each other sharing a completely different look. One that said
'What the hell?'

            Brad back tracked quickly. "So maybe my view on vampires has changed. Perhaps I
really
like certain ones. But I still plan on doing away with any vampire I find crossing the line."

            I narrowed my eyes at him and asked, "Like Macy was crossing the line?"

            His face ignited with anger. "Yeah, exactly like that. You obviously didn't see the human guy she took out in the parking lot minutes before you walked up. Or the one several days before that. She had it coming to her."

            I was shocked. Macy had seemed so sweet. I guess the old saying that you can’t judge a book by its cover was true.

            Alex shrugged at me, opening the front door to leave. Just before stepping out, he turned back to meet Brad's eyes with a hard look. "I'm warning you to watch yourself. Don't give me a reason to eradicate you from this earth-- because I will."