Moon Child (24 page)

Her gaze grew distant, eyes sparkling with fond remembrance. “The wind pulling my hair, the rush of scents, the possible danger of missing one’s footing and taking a branch to the face or worse, tumbling and being deemed unworthy of their pack. I never felt more alive than when I ran with those beautiful creatures.” She stopped short, eyes sharply back in focus and frowned, wrapping her arms around her middle. “It was a true shame when the truce was violated. I would have liked the chance to do that again.”

Feeling the other’s eyes on her, she stiffened to attention and then shrugged looking meek and tired—wholly human. “I had a hand in their extermination, only to give them the peaceful death they deserved and not the violence most of my kind lives by. It was the least I could do for them.”

Netty’s brows went high in amusement. “You are the woman I took you to be, a woman many of our kind dismiss and ridicule for being so… softhearted.”

Again that little shrug from Ash. “I’m tired of trying to be something other than what I am.”

“And what are you?” Netty asked with a big smile as if he already knew.

“A human in a vampire’s body.”

Innokentiy clapped his hands together with a high pitched laugh. “Yes, that’s exactly it. Splendid. And now that that’s been settled, how about we find a way to give you your body back, yes?”

Ash’s lips slowly spread into a dark smile. “I would appreciate it very much.”

Tristan wasn’t sure about this new development and was still standing by the car as the other’s started to move away at the sight of Mamoru waving from down the street.

Ash stopped and turned. “Tristan?”

“Hm? Oh, nothing,” he answered and came around to stop before her.

Her smile was warm and full of love. “You worry too much.”

“You can’t read my mind,” he snapped and then sighed, sorry for the outburst. He felt like an outsider more than ever and it was really starting to eat at him. Sure, it took over three hundred years, but Ash finally knew who she was. Tristan didn’t have that sort of time and it depressed him.

“Do you think I lasted this long, under that man’s rule, without learning a thing or two about people?”

He smiled, relaxing. “Come on,” he said, taking her arm.

Netty fell in beside them, instantly setting Tristan’s blood afire, albeit colder than the Antarctic. The look the vampire was giving them was enough to chill Tristan alone. “Tell me, Ash—it is okay to call you such, yes?”

“Please,” she answered softly as if in reverence.

“Ash, tell me, how old were you when Malik took you?”

Thankful for small niceties, Ash nodded. The man could have said killed, but he chose something gentler. Then again, he was very, very old and might have considered woman to be of weaker standing. But she knew without having to ask him that wasn’t true. The man was a Viking, the fact that their women were strong was a point of pride. “Twenty-two, only just.”

“And when you came into your seikonō?”

“Um…” She faltered, not because she didn’t want to answer, but she really couldn’t remember. “Perhaps near seventy? Yes, that is probably about right.”

“Seventy A.D.? Average then,” he muttered nodding with his head lowered as he rubbed his beard in thought. A gasp to his left made Ash and Tristan stiffen, realizing his appearance frightened a tourist, and without a single twitch, the vampire’s complexion suddenly bled into a darker shade. The shift of appearance brought out the man’s expressions and his brow creased deeply, making him look closer to forty. Such an easy shift, without even a thought, worried Tristan. Sure, they were all playing nice now, but it wouldn’t stay that way, not with a vampire. The thought that the man was likely to snap at any moment kept Tristan on edge.

Ash was tense for another reason. She knew where the questions were leading and didn’t like it. She was getting tired of defending herself to others of her kind. She was not a pythia, nor ever was. She was nothing more than a human when she died, but having a full pythia mother and twin always seemed to be the main point of argument on her uniqueness. Granted, she held onto some secrets of things she could do that maybe she shouldn’t have, but that didn’t make her any more special than the next vampire.

Next to her, Netty shifted his attention to her and she tensed. She was forcing a mental block into place, surprised at how difficult it was and made a promise to herself to go easier on Tristan about it. Even with her skill, she was sure that the Master was hearing her thoughts, at minimum, feeling her emotions. He was just too old to block out, even at full capacity.

“You are special, Ash,” he said in a low voice.

Tristan’s hand moved to the gun shoved in his waistband.

“But you’re no pythia, that’s absurd.” He smiled.

She chuckled, though it was forced.

“No, you’re special because you’re kind.”

The group stopped and Netty put on a big human smile and went into the small building behind Mamoru. Ash tried to follow but was stopped with a hand on her elbow.

“Is everything okay?” Tristan asked. He couldn’t hear what they were talking about, only that Ash seemed upset by it now.

Ash smiled and stepped into him, wrapping her arms around his waist to rest her head on his chest. “Perfect, just like this.”

He made a little noise at her show of affection but happily took his hand from his gun to hold her, lowering his head to rest his cheek on the top of her head.

“You’re cold,” Tristan said softly.

“Yes, I am, but not the way you mean.”

He chuckled. “In what way do you mean?”

“My heart is warm, it always has been, but the barrier to it… I am ready to take down the prison of ice I have allowed to take fix on my soul. I want you to trust me—”

“With my life—”

“I know,” she snapped, cutting him off in turn. “But that’s not good enough. You doubt me and that is my fault. I do not want any secrets between us. I have so much to say but not sure where to start.”

“How about we start with a room… and maybe something to eat, I’m fucking starving.”

She smiled and stood back to look him in the face again and poke him in the belly. “You are going to get fat eating the way you do.”

“Hey,” he said with fake hurt in his voice. “I’m still a growing boy. Give me a break.”

She chuckled and started to turn away but then seemed to think better of it and leaned into him. Her lips were warmer than the rest of her, but still cooler than they should have been. Tristan sucked in a quick breath of cold air off her lips before pressing his fully to hers again. His head started to tilt, Ash’s following suit to deepen their kiss. A slip of warm tongue brushed Tristan’s lower lip. He gave a little sigh and opened his mouth to return the favor when a masculine voice behind Ash cleared their throat. With another little sigh, wistful and sad, Tristan let Ash go.

As she turned away, Tristan looked over her and meet Mamoru’s grin with his own and shrugged. He was going to take every moment he had.

“I got us two rooms,” Mamoru said as they joined him. Netty was standing off to the far side of the lobby examining a painting on the wall. “I’ll stay with the Viking. You two can take the other room.”

“Are you sure?” Ash asked in a low voice, not because Netty wouldn’t hear, because he could, but out of a sense of politeness, such as it was.

“Yeah.” Mamoru straightened, looking confident and a little full of himself as he said, “I’m stronger than you two right now put together. I can handle him…” He glanced back and cricked his neck at the smile Innokentiy was giving him. “Sort of.”

“Fine,” Ash answered dryly, but with a concealed smirk.

He jabbed his thumb in the air towards Tristan. “I also ordered some food for Garfield over here.”

Ash snickered at the comparison, surprising Tristan that she even knew of the famous fat cat.

“I’ll give you time to settle in and then I’ll bring Netty over to discuss our next move.”

Ash’s expression sobered and she nodded.

“Thanks,” Tristan said and then flinched when he noticed the person behind the desk. She was older, plump and red-cheeked with the heat of the tiny lobby. Her eyes though were wide and full of worry as she watched Mamoru. Innokentiy looked calm and very much alive, but Tristan wondered if the two men said some things in front of the poor woman they shouldn’t have. With a smile and a nod that seemed to relax the woman a little, he took the key and headed up to the room. Instead of suffering the tiny little elevator with two vampire, Tristan opted for the stairs. If he couldn’t handle three measly flights of stairs, he should just give up all together. Being, well, whatever he was, he still had nearly human strength and needed to keep in top shape to keep up with his stronger counterparts.

Mamoru and Netty rounded the elevator onto the floor just as Ash and Tristan stopped at their door. The Japanese man looked ticked off and red around the ears, while the vampire behind him was wearing a mischievous grin. Realizing that they were being watched, Mamoru’s head snapped up and his cheeks flushed, before he bowed his head in an attempt to hide the blush. Netty gave them a little playful shrug and leaned in to whisper against the back of Mamoru’s neck, making the man stiffen and jerk up straight.

“
Baka
!” echoed down the hall and Tristan wondered if the two would be alright alone.

Ash, seeming to find delight in the little show, chuckled. “Innokentiy was well known as a jokester. He just plays. The gloomy man in the car was just a shadow of a happier person.”

Tristan grunted in answer, shoving the door open and motioning for Ash to go first. He wasn’t sure about Netty, but could see that the man had a mischievous side, behind all that emotional bullshit he was lugging around anyway. Tristan could relate.

Their room was nice, for what it was. They’d gotten a deluxe room that had a separate living room and bedroom. Instead of high traffic commercial carpets, the whole room was floored in big beige tiles. The furniture was cheap looking and old, but clean and good enough shape that he wasn’t worried about breaking it. The bedroom was nicer than the living room at least. Being on the corner, it had two French doors that opened onto balconies. If they intended on staying here all day, Ash would have to sleep in the bathroom to be safe from unexpected housekeeping intrusions and the general inability most hotels curtains had in blocking out any sun.

With a heavy sigh Tristan collapsed on the bed, stretching out to cover most of it. Ash leaned against the doorframe, gazing down at him lovingly. “How are you? Does anything hurt?”

“I’m just fucking exhausted. It’s tiring, almost dying twice in so many days.”

She chuckled only to keep from choking up and pushed off the frame to go stand over him. “I am sorry I left you to fend for yourself.”

He looked up hearing the sorrow in her voice. “Hey,” He sat up and took her hands, pulling her to stand between his knees. “That was totally not your fault. Besides, I can handle myself. I was just, I was terrified for you. But Mamoru was right, I had to trust that you’d be okay on your own. I’m not a knight or anything other than me and you’re a big girl and…” He sighed, realizing he was rambling and rested his head against her belly. “I was just worried for you.”

She leaned in a little, making him lift his head to look up at her around the mound of breast in his face. “It is nice to have someone worry for me. Tristan I… I am sorry you do not get what you want.”

“What I wan—what? No. It’s, I get it. I do. I know you have your reasons for not biting me and I’m not a big enough of a prick to push it. You’ll either come around or I’ll have to make a hard decision.” Not that he’d ever go to Yuki, or Desmond to bite him. But he’d find someone he trusted. Maybe Mamoru had a few suggestions.

“But I—” Ash blurted, looking desperate. “I do not want you to make that hard decision. I want to be the one who…”

“Ash?” Tristan straightened and moved back a little so that there was space between them. “Are you saying…?”

“Yes. I am. I, before Yukihime showed up in France, I had decided.”

Tristan nearly popped off the bed in excitement but managed to stay sitting. “You were going to bite me… for real?”

“Yes. But I am unsure again. Yukihime, she had been in my head too much and I need to sort some things out first. I promise, I will not take too long. I just, I have to understand a few things first. I must speak with Yukihime and Lilith.”

“What changed your mind—I mean, what made you finally decide in France to bite me, before Yuki showed up?”

She took in a deep lungful of air and let it out, shoulders rising and falling with the effort before taking a seat on the bed next to him, touching from hip to knee. He could smell her this close—even being trapped underground by earth and water for three days hadn’t washed away the scent that was uniquely hers, that soft vanilla orange scent—and he took in a deep breath of her.

“Our deaths. We both almost died in that place. If you hadn’t—There is so much at stake. More than just you and me.”

“Ash?”

She shook her head. “I’m sorry, I really am not ready just yet.”

So she
was
holding more back. Tristan made a frustrated noise and collapsed back on the bed, shutting his eyes. “I want to say I understand, but I really don’t.”