Longest Days (The Firsts) (16 page)

“Oh, yes, of course.  It’s just.  Well.  I’ve never lost to anyone.”

“Well, there’s always a first time.”

Tamesine mirrored Eillia’s tight smile.

It was on.   Battle lines were drawn.

Suddenly, Tamesine smiled, a big toothy grin.

“But let’s eat first.  Eillia, cook for us.  It seems like everyone likes your cooking.  Okay?”

Crazy bitch
.  Wow.  As bizarre as anything Eillia had ever experienced.  But it would give her a chance to observe Tamesine as an opponent, and perhaps strike up some relationship with her that might lessen her resolve to murder one of her own race.

“Okay.  Let me surprise you.  You guys, amuse yourselves.”

Tamesine grinned. 

“Alvie is pissed.  He isn’t going to be much amusement at all.  Maybe I’ll watch how you do this.  You know that first bloods don’t have to do such menial work.  So I think it will be much more amusing to watch you.”

She went into the kitchen to cook, followed by the crazy blonde.  

Koen had the jet ready to go.  His daughter Park was packed, her husband Bas finished throwing small travel packs in the car, and a phone call to Iceland engaged a third first blood vampire to meet them in Alaska.  They would need all the help they could get on this short notice. 

Eillia’s life force had disappeared shortly after they hung up from their call.  He knew it would.  Tamesine would have blocked it so no one else could come to her. 
He
could.  There was no doubt that his dear friend would need their help.  He just hoped they would arrive in time.  God help Tamesine if she took away Eillia just as he’d found her again.  He would never stop until he ripped her pretty head off her shoulders.  The idea of killing a first blood was so repugnant, he almost puked up his last blood meal.   But he would do it.

Last year, when Tamesine had resurfaced after missing for centuries, and admitted to torturing a first blood for three decades, a council of first blood vampires had determined she must be contained or permanently stopped if they ever found her again.   She was just too insane to be allowed to roam the world.  He was surprised, though, that of all the places, she would show up in Alaska after a missing first blood.  What was their plan?   Why did it involve Eillia?  If it included that mouse of a vampire that killed Hamid, it would be bloodshed.

They would need Park.  As a powerful first blood, Koen would be able to combine his power with Eillia and David to try to control Tamesine when none of them alone likely could.  But Park was more powerful than any of the three.  Alone, she could freeze Tamesine.  As long as things went better than the last time they battled in Iceland where Park was fatally stabbed by one of Tamesine’s blood- bonded humans.  Luckily, fatal wounds were survivable unless it was a beheading or extended direct ultraviolet exposure.

“Come on, guys.  Every second is another second closer to disaster.”

Park came around the corner, dressing vampire-fast.

“I know, father.  Let’s go.”

Bas followed on her heels and came up too quickly behind her, stopping just before hitting her in the rear, his hands coming up to cup her buttocks.  She grinned because he was copping a feel.

“You are such a tease.  Right as we’re leaving.”

“Long flight.”

“With my father on board.”

“Can’t he sit outside on the wing?”

“You are just going to have to wait until we avert this disaster and I get to hug Eillia again.”

Bas nodded and they were gone, aboard the plane and lifting off in within twenty minutes.

Daniel pulled the truck to a stop and killed the engine.  
Fuck me
, he thought.  There it is.  The little cabin 
did
exist after all.  Smoke curling from the chimney.  Someone was home.   And in spite of the fact that he kept seeing the sexy image of the beautiful Asian woman, he knew it was not possible.   So, who was waiting inside?   Why the hell had he been so inexplicably drawn here?

Only one way to find out.  He pocketed the keys, and got out of the truck.

“You’re awesome!  For a first blood that doesn’t have to cook, like,
ever
, you are really good.  Right, Alvin?”

Alvin sat there stiffly, still pissed.

“Why are we waiting?”  He said suddenly.  “You promised I could feed from her.  Can’t we get to that?”

“You need to learn the subtle pleasure of immersing yourself in the experience, Alv.”  Tamesine looked at Eillia.  “Am I right?”

Eillia nodded.  Sure, she’d agree since the subject was whether to let that rodent feed off her.

Alvin left the table in rage.

Tamesine giggled.  Eillia realized she did that a lot.  Like a six year old.  She looked at Tamesine scarfing down her French fried steak in utter abandon.

  What a shame.  She had no idea mental illness could affect a first blood.  They healed quickly from physical injuries.  She wondered what could have had happened to Tamesine that her mind wouldn’t process things in a normal mature manner. 

Eillia wanted to help her.  She knew, though, she might be forced to kill her before she had the chance.  If she could just regress her…

A loud sharp knock on the door of the cabin boomed into the silence.  What the hell?  Who could possibly be here, right now, at her door?  It wasn’t anyone supernatural, so it had to be human.  Oh, god.  Starla didn’t follow her here, did she?

“I’ll get it,” she called and tried to make it to the door first, but Tamesine had already shut her down.  She was locked in place in the small kitchen.

“Alvin, see who’s there,” Tamesine commanded, barely pausing her fork.

Alvin shot her a look.

“So I’m your errand boy, now?”

Tamesine shot him a look back that said, without words,
you bet you are
.

He slammed his feet down as he got off the couch and went to the door, yanking it open.

There was a pause, Eillia blinked.  Oh, god, no.   She already knew.  It was Daniel.  She could feel him.

“Well, look who the fuck it is!”  Alvin yelled.

Eillia was working through the freeze, could move her arms, her neck and upper body, but not her feet yet. 

Tamesine yelled, “Come in!” as if she were inviting in a well-known neighbor.

As the person came past the door and into the cabin hesitantly, Eillia saw him. 

He entered, with his eyes locked on Alvin.  “Do I know you?” he asked.

Alvin slammed the door.  “Do you know me?  No.  But I sure the fuck know
you
.  Daniel Gitzinger, mercenary that couldn’t fucking do my fucking job right!  Oh, this is sweet.  I wondered what happened to you.”

Daniel’s eyes shot around the room.   He saw Tamesine, who was getting up from the table, licking her fingers.  Then they landed on Eillia in shock.

“What’s going on here?”  He asked.  He looked at Alvin.  “You have to be the psycho asshole who hired me for that Vancouver job.”  Then his eyes shot back to Eillia.  “And you.  My god.  I held you in my arms. You were dead.  You
are
dead.  I buried you.  What the hell is this?”

Tamesine giggled.

“Oh, I love it when the shit hits the fan!”

Eillia was frozen.  Not by Tamesine.  Not anymore.  But because of Daniel.  The realization he had been there.  He had been the man who buried her.   The one who was there when Hamid was killed.  Oh, god. Of all the things in her world that had gone wrong this past year, this knowledge that Daniel had been the one who’d orchestrated Hamid’s death might be the one to truly break her.   She’d crawled back through hell and then some to a point where she was ready to live again.  And now this.  How much could a woman take?   Even one as strong as she had always been?

With a flourish of her hand again, Tamesine froze Daniel and Alvin.  Then she turned to Eillia.

“Did I see you move when he came in?   So I underestimated your power.  Well, this is going to be much more interesting than I thought.  Alvie, I don’t think you’re going to be able to drink from Eillia here.  If we’re going to kill her, we should get to it.  There’s a chance she might be

adequate competition for me.  It isn’t worth the risk.”

“Then why the fuck did you incapacitate me?”  Alvin said, tight lipped.  “I’m your partner, not a human dog!   And yet you treat me like one.”

“You are such a sensitive little shit, Alvie.   I don’t need you getting in the way.  And you seem to have a problem with this guy here.  I want to know what it is, but I’m afraid you’re going to kill him now.  Am I right?”

“I’m going to tear his throat out as soon as you release me.”

“Thought so.  But I’m not finished with him yet.  First off, he looks delicious.  Secondly, he’s here for some reason.  And I bet it’s because
she’s
been playing with him.   Shame on you, Eillia, telling me they’re not toys.   But this one is.”

Tamesine vampire-raced to him and pulled back his jacket to run her tongue along his throat.  Daniel looked angry and worried at the same time.

“Um-hmm.  I can taste you on him.  He’s yours alright.”

Daniel’s eyes shot to Eillia’s.  “What the hell does she mean?”

Eillia shook her head gently.  She was trying to decide the best time to make a break for it.  Her plan was to vampire-speed Daniel out of there and get him to safety before she came back to deal with them.   But with his weight and hers, if she wasn’t careful with timing, Tamesine would easily overtake them.   She watched him trying to stand there unaffected while Tamesine pawed at him.   Regardless of the truth, she still cared about him and wanted to protect him.   And there was nothing she could do about the fact that she was really pissed off to see Tamesine touch him intimately as she was right now.

His parka was gone, his shirt pulled apart, his chest exposed to the crazy blonde woman.   Daniel couldn’t begin to understand why he couldn’t move his legs.   He tried desperately to move his arms so he could push her away and get free to figure out what was happening here. 

And he couldn’t take his eyes off the woman who couldn’t possibly be the one he buried, because if she were, she couldn’t be standing there, stunningly gorgeous and alive.   This was probably one jacked-up, hyper-freaky dream.   Had to be.   Like dreams, physics were altered.  No one could move as quickly as the crazy blonde woman.

He just had to find a way to wake up.  Shooting a look at the beautiful Asian woman who’d moved closer over the past few minutes, he hesitated.  Maybe he’d see this dream through and see if he could stop the blonde woman who had her hands on his package, feeling him up, and move his dead angel there.  He admitted he’d never had this dream before, and it could turn erotic fast.

With her fingers moving against Daniel’s crotch, Tamesine looked up at Eillia with a grin.

“You don’t like that, do you?  I can tell, he’s yours and it pisses you off that I’m touching him.  Alvin, if you really want vengeance on a first blood, come over here and drink him with me.  But don’t you harm a hair on his head.  When we’re done, I plan to ride him till daylight.  See, your type doesn’t do it for me.  He does.  You have wonderful taste, Eillia.    This human is almost as hot as a vampire.    Hey, I might just bring him over.  I would love a personal companion.”

It was escalating quickly.  Eillia moved closer and captured Daniel’s gaze.

“Remember it all,” she said quietly. 

He fell on his knees, the compulsion overriding Tamesine’s command.   Grabbing his head, he slammed his eyelids shut as images and thoughts assaulted him.   The dead woman, the times they were together, their intense lovemaking, what she’d revealed to him, what he’d discovered the last time they were together.  All of it, memories that were buried, pooling in mind-splitting pain.  Eillia was sorry she couldn’t be there to soften the release with her touch, but she knew Tamesine would stop her.  It was harder for him this way, but he’d be alright.   And at least he wouldn’t be lost anymore as to what was going on.  At least he’d understand what they all were.   It gave him a fighting chance.

“Oh now, Eillia.   For him to have such a strong reaction, you must have wiped his memories more than once.  You naughty girl.  There’s really only one reason you might need to do that.  You kept going back for more, didn’t you?”

Watching Daniel recovering on the floor, Eillia ignored Tamesine’s taunting.    He knelt on the floor, becoming fully aware of everything that had happened since he’d met Eillia after his accident.  He looked up directly into Eillia’s eyes.  She almost faltered.  There was total unconditional love there.   Eillia could feel it coming from him.   He accepted her completely and he was in love with her.  She
couldn’t
let Tamesine hurt him.

Standing there gloating, Tamesine was distracted.  Alvin was heading to Daniel.   God knew what that little rat bastard would do. 

Eillia took the opening, and in hyper-speed, grabbed Daniel and flew across the landscape.   She didn’t stop until they reached the Wooly Bully.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Only a few customers were still present in the bar, trying to wait out the bartender who had already told them to go home.  

Eillia dropped a winded Daniel at a table near the bar, and called to everyone, who looked at the barely dressed woman.

“Please go now.  Go safely home and remember nothing about me and Daniel here tonight.  All of you, immediately.”

They did as she compelled them to do, and within minutes, she stood there alone watching Daniel trying to catch his breath.   He looked at her, shook his head, and reached for an abandoned bottle of Jack Daniels on the next table and upended it.  When he lowered it a few moments later, Eillia hadn’t moved.

Their eyes met, and they watched each other carefully.    A lot had happened since the last time they were together.   A lot would have to happen if they were to ever be together again.