Not Another Vampire Book (32 page)

“Uh
oh.”

“They
will not harm you.  In fact, they are very advantageous for your survival.”

“Uh
oh.”

Her
less than enthusiastic reception didn’t slow him down.  “You will have a much
longer life now.  Much longer.”

“How
much
‘much longer’?”

“Well,
theoretically, you could –I mean, barring the normal human dangers of guns, and
hurricanes, and zombie attacks-- you could…”  He cleared his throat.  “You
could be immortal.”

“Oh
shit.”  She tilted her head back to stare at the ceiling.  “Damn it, Damien!  You
promised
you weren’t turning me into any kind of supernatural whatzit.”

“I
didn’t!  Truly, you are still human.  You just have an extended life span… and
some powers.”  He tacked that last part like he hoped she might miss it; swift
and kind of mumbled.

Kara’s
eyes narrowed.  “Powers?”

“Well,
certain abilities occasionally manifest with human mates, but…”

“
Occasionally?
”

“Alright,
always.”  He talked faster, before she could start screaming at him.  “It is a
good thing, though, Kara Lynn.  You will be able to protect yourself better if
you have magicks.  The fact that most humans have none makes them vulnerable to
predators.  I will teach you how to use your powers and you’ll be so much safer
here without me.”

For
once Kara was left completely without a response.

“You
will have the powers of a Wizard Warlock.  Probably weaker, because of your
humanness, but still very helpful.”  Damien didn’t like her silence.  She could
tell by the wary way he was watching her, bracing himself for an explosion. 
“They will take time to develop, but…”

“How
much time?”

The
calm question seemed to catch him off guard.  “I don’t know.  It differs from
person to person.  Certainly, within a few days, you’ll feel some of them.”

Kara
pressed her lips together.  “And you’ll teach me how to use them, huh?”

“
Yes
. 
Of course, I will.”

“How?”

He
frowned.  “Well, we can start slowly, but…”

“No,
Damien. 
How? 
With you dead, how will I learn anything?  You don’t have
a few days.  I told you.  This is
it
.  That sunrise?”  She pointed to
the window.  “That’s your last fucking one.”

His
face grew tight as if he hadn’t really thought that part out.  “I will write
down what you need to know then, just in case.  But, we don’t know what will
happen today.  We will have more time.  I will make sure of it.”  Damien
reached out to touch her.

For
the first time in the entire course of their relationship, she backed away from
him.

Something
like agony passed over his face and he dropped his hand.

“You
don’t get it.”  Kara crossed her arms over her chest.  “You just don’t
get
it.  You die
today
.  I don’t want ‘how to’ notes, or money, or living
forever.  I want
you
.  Maybe, you don’t care whether you live or die,
but I do.  You’re breaking my heart.”  All the stuff about marriage and superpowers
and immortality took a backseat to her desperation to save Damien.

For
now.

If
he survived, he was gonna get his ass kicked, though.

Severely.

“
Cari
,
do not draw back from me.  Please.  I can’t bear it.  I will do whatever will
make you happy, if…”  He trailed off, like his thoughts and words were suddenly
not matching up.  He gave his head a quick shake.  “The vengeance is…”  He
stopped, again.  “I am… confused.”

“No
shit.”  She turned away from him, trying to think of another way to get through
to him.  He couldn’t do this.  He couldn’t just dot a few ‘I’s and cross a few
‘T’s and think she’d go along with this madness.  She loved him.  She wanted a
life with him.  Somehow.  With a normal, non-creepy house and two-point-three
kids and…

Kara’s
thoughts skidded to a halt.  “Damien?”  She swallowed hard, swiveling to face
him, again.  “Were you using any kind of magical protection tonight?”

“The
entire hotel is magically protected.”  He murmured, distractedly.  “Do not
worry.”

“
Protection
,
dumbass.  Could I be pregnant?”

He
froze.  It was kind of unnerving how utterly still he became.

Together,
their eyes traveled down to her stomach.

“Perfect.” 
Kara moved back to lean heavily against the bed.  “I could be stuck in the past
--pregnant, alone, and possibly-kinda-widowed-- with untapped magical powers… living
forever.”  She was turning into her own movie-of-the-week.  Or comic book.  Dropping
her head into her hands, she just started laughing wildly.  “Well, it would be
good news for you, I guess.  You wouldn’t be last of the Wizard Warlock, so the
species would go on after you self-destruct.  Circle of Life.  No need to label
you fellas extinct, just yet.”

“Kara
Lynn, I would know if you were with child.”  Damien sounded like he was trying
to convince himself.  “I would
know
.  I’m a doctor and a sorcerer and…” 
He slowly held out a palm like he was afraid she’d reject him, again.  “Just
let me feel and we will see.”

She
stood there as he rested a hand on her abdomen and did some movement with his
fingers.  For a timeless moment, they both just waited, not breathing.

“No.”
 He shook his head and stepped back.  “You are not pregnant.”

Kara
wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or disappointed.  “You sure?”

“Of
course I’m sure.”  He met her eyes.  “Do you really think I would leave you
alone here with a child to raise?”

“Yeah.” 
Absolutely she did.  “I think Slade’s death means more to you than your life or
anyone else’s.  You’ve told me so.  A lot.”

Damien
didn’t respond to that for a long moment.  He looked stunned.  “More than
anyone else’s?”  He repeated.  “You believe I would complete my vengeance, even
if it meant sacrificing
your
life, then?”

Did
she believe that?

Kara
didn’t know.

Her
silence must have answered for her, because Damien glanced away like she’d just
wounded him.  Deeply.  “That is
not
true.”  It was a snarl.  The most
animalistic voice she’d ever heard him use.  “Your life means more to me than
anything
. 
You
mean more to me than anything.  I care for
nothing
in the
universe as I care for…”  Ebony eyes suddenly cut back to her, looking
bemused.  “You.”

“Right.”

“It’s
the truth.”  His tone softened.  “I care for
you
.  More than anything
else.  Far more.  That’s why things are so confused.”  His face reflected the
dawning of a true revelation.  “I think… I love you.”

Kara’s
jaw dropped at that
Partridge Family
inspired declaration.  “What?”  It
came out a squeak.  “No, you don’t.  You can’t care about anything except your
vengeance.  The book repeats it like nine-hundred times…”

He
cut her off, looking more and more confident in the words.  “I
know
I
love you.  I know it.  That’s what this new emotion is.  It’s real.  I
feel
it,
hot and whole and genuine.”  He slowly shook his head.  “You are my mate.  I’ve
loved you from the first.  Of course, I did.  My Gods, the insane things I’ve
done to keep you with me and make you happy should have told me that.”  He gave
an amazed chuckle, like he was looking at one of those magic picture things
they used to sell at malls and he suddenly saw the hidden unicorn amid the
static dots.

“I
think you’re still confused, because…”

“I
love you, Kara Lynn.”

Kara
hesitated.  “Really?”  She asked, hope and skepticism warring inside of her.

“Yes.” 
One big hand came over to touch her cheek and this time she didn’t move away. 
“You are my best friend, too.  The only woman I want, in this world or any
other.  I love you.  Believe me.  Please.”

He
meant it.

She
could see it in his eyes.

He
really meant it.

“
Damien
.” 
Kara launched herself at his chest, clinging fast.  “I love you so much.”  She
kissed him, exuberantly.  “I knew that you could care, if only you pulled free
from Tanya’s brainwashing.  I knew it!”

“How
did I not know that I loved you sooner?”  Damien caught her close, sounding
dazed.  “Why could I not feel it from the beginning?”  He buried his face in
her hair and held tight.  “
Cari
, forgive me.  Please forgive me. 
Something was wrong with me.  My thoughts were wrong.  Why did I think only of…?” 
He stopped, his eyes siding over to the nightstand where the manuscript rested.

Kara
followed his gaze and nearly cursed, her mood deflating.  “Vlad…”

His
head tilted.  “I would
never
risk leaving you alone.”  He pulled away
from Kara, moving over to where the book lay.  “You would not survive a day
without me.  You are too reckless.  I would
never
abandon my helpless
mate in a foreign world to die.  And I would never give up our children.  Give
up having a family with you.  Not even for my vengeance.  My sister would not
want that.”

“No,
she wouldn’t.  I told you that.”

He
carefully picked up
Eternal Passion
at Sunset
like it might bite
him.  “If I had a choice, I would
always
choose you, Kara Lynn.  Always. 
So why would I even
think
of placing my revenge before you?  Even for a
moment?  Why would I be confused about something so fundamental?  It’s
impossible that such a thought came from within me.  Physiologically impossible.”

She
waited, seeing where his racing mind was taking him.  Wishing she could make it
easier.

“I
would always put your happiness first.  The Wizard Warlocks are creatures.  Our
mates are part of our biological instincts.  We would
never
give them
up.  Never risk them.  It goes against everything we are.”

“You’re
not a creature.”

“No,
in this I am.”  He shot her a quick glance.  “With you, I am little more than
an animal.  I would die before I lost you.  I would stay with you until the end
of the world.  I would sacrifice
anything
for you.  Something tried to
block me from doing that.  Block my instincts.  Block my thoughts and feelings. 
If I had a choice, I would always choose
you
.  All other impulses are...” 
He swallowed.  “Not real.  They’re part of the fog.  They do not come from me.”

“I
know.”  She let out a shaky breath and cut right to the heart of the matter.  “I
don’t think you
did
have a choice, though.  We’re inside a book.  Please
believe that.”

Damien
opened the manuscript, flipping through it.  He scanned page after page, his expression
growing stark as he read.  “We’re inside a book.”

The
words were a whisper.

Karalynn
closed her eyes.  “Yes.”  He finally saw.

“We’re
inside a book.”  He repeated it to himself as if testing the idea.  “When did
this begin?  Has it always been this way?  Why am I the villain?”

“I
don’t know.”  She wanted to cry for him.  He looked staggered.  Horrified. 
Furious.  “I’m sorry.”

“
Son-of-a-bitch
.” 
Damien threw the manuscript across the room.  He just hauled off and hurled it
at the wall.  “We’re inside a fucking book!”  He scraped both hands through his
hair and blinked like someone had poured cold water on his face; the violent,
wide-eyed head shake of a person coming painfully awake too fast.  “You were
right.  All this time, you were right.”

Now
was not the time for another “I told ya so.”  But it was tempting.  “You’re
real, Damien.”  Kara wanted to head off that line of thinking before he even
got there.  She grabbed hold of his arm. “This is a book, but you are
real
.”

He
snorted as if that wasn’t even in debate.  “Of
course
, I’m real.”  He
apparently didn’t doubt it for a second.  The man had a confident sense-of-self
that could rival anyone’s, in any reality.  “I
know
I am real and so are
you.  You are mine. 
That
is real.  But, something is trying to control
me.  Something is taking my choices from me.  And I will stop it.”

Good
to know he was dealing with this with his normal level of humility.  “Why is it
about
you?
  I’m the one who was dumped here.”

“You
are
me.  I am you.  We’re a pair.  Someone tried to prevent me from
feeling my love for you.  Someone is trying to kill me tomorrow.  Someone plans
to take you from me. 
And it will never happen.
”  His jaw tightened. 
“Perhaps, it is the Vampires.”  They were always his first round draft pick, go-to
antagonists.

“Damien,
it’s not the Vampires.  Do you really think they’re smart enough to come up
with this?”