Revisited (Redemption Series) (24 page)

Ryan watched as Lily tossed and turned all night. Her restless sleep disturbed him and left him with more questions than answers.

    From the moment they were reunited, Ryan felt at a disadvantage. Lily knew all about angels, and what their tasks entailed. She knew his vocation as an angel of death had him carrying souls safely to where they would stand in judgment. He had not known vampires even existed until his conversation with Peter in the coffee shop. He thanked God for giving him time off to sort things out.

Before he and Lily reunited, Peter seemed to be in almost every aspect of Ryan’s existence. Peter was the one who met Ryan at the pearly gates just before Ryan’s own judgment. Peter suggested Ryan be made an angel of death and be returned to earth with a body of his own. Peter’s suggestion was approved and Ryan had been helping souls ever since.

 Ryan felt Lily stir once again beside him. He delicately swept a few strands of her hair away from her face. A thought came to mind. She was his wife, and though they had suffered through many trials, he didn’t think the trust they had built in their human lives had wavered. He had questions and he planned to get answers.

A jumbled mess of thoughts flowed through Lily’s dreams during her restless sleep. Though they had their cure and the means to deliver it, she was still at odds on the when and where that delivery should take place. Memories of every interaction she’d shared with Filipp flickered through her dreams like an old black and white film. As they all made their own appearance, not one made her suspect the horrible things he was accused of now.

He stroked his fingertips across Lily’s back as she began to wake.

“Ryan?”

“Come on. Get up, please.” Ryan solidified his request as he planted a kiss at the nape of her neck.

“Where are we going?” She turned over with a slight pout. The gorgeous smile Lily had fallen in love with lit up Ryan’s face, and she knew she would do anything for him.

“I want to surprise my wife. That is not the crime you make it out to be.”

“Sorry.” She rolled her shoulders before stretching her arms above her head. “I should warn you how grumpy I get if I don’t get my sleep.”

“Sleep?” He sat down next to her on the edge of the bed. “I thought you didn’t need much sleep.”

“I may not need it, but you can’t fault a girl for enjoying it.” She smiled as she sat up to give him a soft kiss. Lily got out of bed to dress, but stopped when she noticed Ryan hadn’t moved. She turned to see him looking away.  “What is it?”

“There is still so much I don’t know. Hell, I didn’t even know vampires existed until I found out about you.”

“Cheer up. Let me get dressed and we can go wherever you want to talk.”

“Watching you get dressed? That is a bit of a change.” Ryan snaked his hand into the waistband of her pajamas.

“Hands to yourself, mister.” Lily smacked his hand away and proceeded to get dressed without any help.

“When we saw this on our way in, I thought it would be the perfect place to sit back and relax with some good wine. As it happens, I have a very fine vintage right here.” Ryan handed the bottle of wine to Lily as they strolled over to the olive grove outside the castle.

“Good choice.” Lily saw a blanket spread out underneath one of the hundreds of trees lined up at the bottom of the hill.

Ryan led her over to the blanket. “Let’s get comfortable then.” He sat down first and spread his legs out wide enough for her to sit between them.

She joined him, crawling between his legs and snuggling with him—her back to his chest.

Ryan uncorked the bottle and offered it to her. She took a swig and was rewarded with the rich, luscious taste of one of the finest wines Italy had to offer. They sat and enjoyed the cool morning for a while, silently passing the bottle back and forth.

After about fifteen minutes, Lily broke the silence. “Ask me.”

Ryan scooted around to get more comfortable and wrapped his arms around her waist. With a deep breath, he began. “I know how you were turned, and I know about some of your life with Martin. What I don’t know is why there aren’t more vampires out there. Why was Filipp able to get rid of most of you at the same time?”

“Not pulling any punches, are you?” Lily laughed before she brought his knuckles up to her lips for a kiss.

“Not where you’re concerned.” He kissed her temple. “I feel so in the dark here.”

“I’ll tell you what I know, but I don’t know if it will explain everything you
want
to know.”

“Try me,” he said, giving her a squeeze.

Lily searched her mind for a place to start and settled on Lior. “You know that Martin was my sire.” 

Ryan hummed in her ear. 

“His sire was Lior. What many don’t know is that Lior was one of the four Romanian brothers who found the Ahbmonites.”

“Is it a secret? Is that why it’s not well known?”

“Not really, but he was . . . I guess you would call him the white sheep of the family. He didn’t advertise his identity.”

“As opposed to the black sheep?” Ryan chuckled.

“Lior’s intentions changed over the years. He started to hate what they were doing to the Ahbmonites and found he could survive on animal blood just as well as he could on human blood.”

“Ah. I suppose his brothers weren’t too keen on the idea?”

“Anton wasn’t opposed, per se, but he didn’t feel he had enough strength to stop drinking human blood for good. Lior said Anton was disgusted, but couldn’t change. That was why we assumed he either died, or went into hiding, because he couldn’t live with himself anymore.”

“Then what happened to Lior? Was he at The Blood Feast?”

“No, he wasn’t. I’m not sure what happened to him. He disappeared in the forties.”

“And Martin had no idea where he went off to?”

“Lior was always a warrior. He fought in numerous wars. He found Martin while they fought together during the Crusades. I assume he fought in World War II and something happened to him. Martin and I always assumed he died.”

“Then Lior’s beliefs, along with Anton’s, are the reason more vampires weren’t created?”

“Well . . . not exactly. Vampires don’t have many weaknesses, except for other vampires. The only being that can kill a vampire with its bare hands is another vampire.”

Ryan nodded as he got the gist of her words. “The fewer vampires, the fewer chances to be killed.”

Lily nodded as she toyed with his fingers where they lay on her stomach. “That was the belief.”

“What are the other weaknesses? What might we have to do to Filipp if the cure doesn’t work?”

Lily’s thoughts flashed back to The Blood Feast and of Ambrosia with her blade as it slashed through her flesh like tissue paper.

“Only carbon steel is strong enough to pierce our flesh. That’s what the blade was made out of in the chemical lock back at the manor.”

Ryan nodded, recalling her venom-filled blood unlocking Martin’s private library. “What about sunlight?”

“It doesn’t hurt us. It’s a little uncomfortable for me since I absorb heat, but no one has ever been turned to ash.” She shook her head with a smile, wondering who could have come up with such a notion.

“That’s it?”

“As far as I know.”

“Hypothetically, if you were to be run over by a steamroller . . .”

Lily laughed at the ridiculous suggestion. “It would have a large me-shaped dent in it, and I would walk away without a scratch.”

“Other than denting steamrollers and wielding a deadly carbon steel blade, what can you do?”

Lily knew that question would come at some time. What Ryan wanted to know was how deadly she could be. The strength she normally had inside of her had yet to reappear since she was brought back. A hope welled within her that if she attempted the feats she had accomplished so many times over the years, her strength would return.

Ryan moved his hands away from her hips as she stood. She walked several yards away before she jumped high enough to see the tops of the trees in the grove. Then she returned to the ground as if she were a feather floating down to the earth’s surface. To show her strength, she took several deep breaths and approached a nearby bolder, eyeing it up for its hardest point. A clenched fist and a swift punch later and there was nothing but rubble in its wake.

The final task she wanted to preform could have been considered her deadliest talent, yet she wanted to show him how she could use it to redeem herself. Lily held her hand out to Ryan so he could stand beside her. He took it with a loving smile and waited for her instructions.

The nearest tree branch hung low beside them. She cupped his cheek with one hand and grasped the branch with the other. Slowly, he felt a chill engulf the side of his face and creep down his spine. After she moved her hand and he had shaken off the eerie feeling, his eyes focused on the branch she held between her fingertips. The wilted leaves brimmed with life as they turned from a dull brown color into a brilliant green. One by one, several small buds transformed into firm, tantalizing olives.

“Beautiful.” Ryan pulled her into his arms and held her close, whispering in her ear, “You don’t just absorb heat, you absorb life. You give it back, Lil. Not just to this tree, but everything you touch, you fill with life.”

A sharp shiver shot through her as she held onto him with everything she had in her. He got it. He understood that even though many had vilified her kind over the centuries, she was not a monster. She never had been.

Renee stretched and let out a cat-like meow. Her entire body ebbed with a delicious soreness from the activities of the night before. It wasn’t a surprise to find the other side of the bed empty. She knew they had worked up quite an appetite and that Jefferson would be on the verge of creating another culinary delicacy for their breakfast.

    Renee’s jeans were thrown over the chair in the corner. She slipped into them and pulled on a royal blue sweater. She caught her reflection in the dresser mirror and could hardly contain her excitement as she gazed into her own glistening green eyes. 

The night before had struck Renee in a way no other had before. From the moment she met Jefferson, she knew there was something different about him. The attraction was instant for both of them, but after they had been left alone to lay in wait for Lily, wondering if she would return at all, things changed. They talked for hours to distract themselves and just moments before Ryan busted in with Lily’s limp body, Jefferson had kissed her for the first time.

Once things settled that night, Jefferson came to her room. The confession he laid at her feet was something she never dreamed would happen to her. Jefferson admitted that life was indeed too short and he didn’t want to waste a moment when he knew he could be happy with her. Renee nodded and told him she felt the same. Then, she attacked him. Clothes ripped, shoes flew through the air, and hands met flesh wherever they could reach. There was no denying that they were meant to be together.

Since then, they had cherished and worshiped each other in various encounters with slow, deep thrusts, soft caresses, and whispered words. Because of this, she was a bit surprised when he had come to their room the night before and took her without a word. Raw animal passion ripped through both of them as they moved about the room, and each position excited her more than the one before.