Soul Taker (29 page)

This won her a whack to the head again from
Blondie. Her vision swam. Great, if she kept this up, she wouldn't
be able to remember her mother's incantation she'd memorized.

An awful cracking sound as if bone splintered
made her cringe. Her vampire escorts growled and hissed.

If they were scared, she most likely should
be, too. She craned her neck to see the new threat, but before she
could make out the cause of the commotion, her captor shoved her
away. She stumbled back, falling on her rump. Her bruises were
adding up.

A blur of gray caught her eyes as it hurtled
into the vampire, taking him down in a snarling struggle for
dominance. "Harrison." Her lips curved. Even in his wolf form, she
recognized his aura. "Thank you, Katie." She looked skyward with
her praise.

To the right of her Garran fought Blondie.
Isabella couldn't keep her eyes off him. His moves were like a
choreographed dance of lethal grace. His weapon of choice was a
broadsword. In that moment, she could well imagine him in a kilt on
a battlefield, swinging the weapon, strong and sure, as he took
down the enemy.

So caught up in the fight, she forgot what
her plans had been. Coming to her senses, she scrambled to her
feet.

After Harrison knocked the vamp with the
injured leg away from her, he let Katie take over as he went after
surfer vamp and the skinny dude that were both circling Garran
now.

Even in Katie's human form, it wasn't
difficult for Isabella to imagine she was also a cat. Her graceful
moves were fluid as she sent a kick to the vampire's injured leg.
The vampire howled in pain, but Katie didn't let up. Isabella
caught a flash of something long and sharp as Katie swiped her hand
across the vampire's face. Razor sharp claws, she believed. The
vampire's eyes glowed red as he charged Katie.

Isabella stood out of the way and was glad to
have been forgotten for the moment. She concentrated on the
vampires, who were attacking them and recited the incantation from
her mother's book. She understood most of the Latin words. It was
the first thing Uncle Sebastian had taught her when he hoped to
train her, but it wasn't until a few years ago, she had taken an
interest to refine what she learned from him. "…
libera nos a
malo
." Deliver us from evil. These vampires were evil. She
could see their auras, dark and muddied with deeds they had
done.

The air around her grew cold as she spoke,
her words frosted on the wind. "Send them back. I give thee their
souls."

The vampire who attacked Katie howled in pain
and it had nothing to do with his damaged leg or the beating he was
taking from Katie. Katie scrambled back, fear and confusion
lighting her features. The vampire clutched his chest as he fell to
his knees.

Isabella chanted louder.

"Stop!"
Mr. Limpy's
screams of agony
brought all the others to a halt. Their intent to rip each other
apart was apparently forgotten for the moment. Harrison shifted
back to his human form and stared, his brows furrowing over the
bridge of his nose.

Electricity flowed around Isabella and she
felt her ponytail lift off her neck. The ritual was working.

"What is she doing to him?" Blondie growled.
"Stop her!" he ordered Garran.

"I cannot stop her." She heard Garran tell
him. His gaze shifted to her and she caught a look of concern
before he hid the emotion.

Isabella wished she could have told Garran he
would be safe from the spell. The scroll guaranteeing his
protection rested in her bra, close to her heart. She could feel it
pulse against her.

Blondie growled and decided to take matters
into his own hands. He charged Isabella, but the incantation
latched onto him as well. He fell beside his fellow vampire thug,
clutching his chest. The lanky-looking vampire took a step toward
his comrades, but seeing his buddies were withering in pain, he
stayed rooted where he stood, but in the next moment it proved
distance wouldn't save him. The spell finally took hold of him, and
he joined the others on the road to perdition.

The vampire she had shot lay on the ground
now, his body convulsing. His eyes rolled back into his head.

Isabella witnessed the soul leaving his body.
The action was something similar to the way a vacuum removed
unwanted debris, sucking it up and holding it within its grasp,
only the soul was sucked into the veil. With one final scream, the
vampire's body stilled.

The other two vamps' souls went at the same
time. At that moment, she chanted the closing lines to the ritual.
She hadn't been sure what would happen. Loosely translated, the
ending of the spell called upon the sun to cleanse the earth.

In the next breath, it became clear. The
vampires' bodies burst into flames, sizzling and hissing as if a
ray of light shone on them.

As she closed the door to the veil, the last
of her energy left her. She collapsed to her knees.

"Izzie," Harrison called to her, but it was
Garran who flew to her side and took her in his arms. She blinked
and met his slanted Scottish eyes. "I did it."

"Aye." He looked worried, but he gave her a
whisper of a smile before she lost consciousness.

Chapter Forty-Five

"Hot damn!" Harrison shouted in disbelief,
making Garran shake his head. "I've seen a Necromancer bring forth
a shade, but never have I seen it done the other way around,"
Harrison continued. "I'm not sure if her mother could have done
better. And Louisa was good. She was
damn
good."

"Aye," Garran agreed. He brushed a lock of
hair from Isabella's face. He had known the moment she started the
chant what she was about to attempt. He believed he would suffer
the same fate, until he felt her inside his head. Not a voice, but
impressions. Fear, strength, and her courage flowed into him and
then safety. It was if she were trying to tell him he would be
safe. He didn't fully understand the reassurance from her until he
realized he wasn't suffering any of the symptoms the other vampires
experienced.

Katie looked uneasy as she stared at
Isabella. "Are you sure she'll be all right?"

Isabella's eyes sprung open again, large and
wide, and shadowed with raw emotion. The connection they shared
sizzled between them like a live wire. He could feel it and he
sensed she could too. He felt the same connection when he blood
bonded with her, but now the link between them strengthened as if
some invisible line had been pulled tighter.

She was a powerful Necromancer, more so than
he had given her credit.

She reached for him, her fingers caressing
his cheek. He could have lost her tonight. She could have been
killed. He didn't know if he wanted to throttle her for not staying
home or… kiss her. He reacted to the latter. He leaned down and she
met him halfway as he captured her lips in a searing kiss.

Sweet mother of God, she tasted better than
he had hoped and he exploited her mouth for all it was worth. He
might have stopped and managed control if she hadn't met his
assault with one of her own. The little minx tried to seduce him
with hot deep slides of her tongue… And it worked. He cradled her
closer, shutting out the world around him, not caring where they
were or who stood there witnessing their romantic interlude.

"Hmm… Garran?" Harrison cleared his
throat.

"Are they mated?" Katie asked.

Mated?
Garran ended the kiss and
breathed in a ragged breath, willing his thudding heart to be
still. Isabella stared at him in disbelief, as if she couldn't
believe they'd kissed. Her hand flew to her lips and her skin
flushed red, her cheeks taking most of the warmth.

Garran needed to hash out what happened
between him and Isabella, but not now, when his emotions were raw,
and not in front of an audience. He tried to ignore the awkward
situation and stood. He offered Isabella a hand up before he
focused his gaze on Harrison. "We should make a quick sweep of the
warehouse, but I have a hunch we won't find anyone. Those who
didn't suffer from Isabella's spell would have left by now and with
Frimrose in tow."

"Do you mean the lass they were holding
prisoner? A baby-faced vampire came for her at sundown. Took her
with him when he left," Katie offered the update.

"It must have been Frimrose," Garran
grumbled. "Alexander knew we were coming."

"Sanya." Harrison cursed beneath his
breath.

"Maybe," Garran said. "For now, we should
head out before Alexander realizes he's lost communication with his
crew and sends more of his minions to find out why." He glanced at
Isabella. "I'll drive ye home."

"I have my own car," Isabella told him.

Garran ignored her claim. She still looked
unsteady on her feet. He glanced at Katie. "Do ye have somewhere to
stay, lassie?"

"I do, thank you. I'm staying with a
friend."

He nodded. "If ye don't mind, let us exchange
phone numbers. If either of us have any news—"

"Aye," she broke in. "I would like to be kept
in the loop, too."

Once the numbers were exchanged, Garran took
hold of Isabella's arm and led her away.

She prickled with annoyance at his insistence
at wanting to hold onto her. "You can let go of me." Her voice
vibrated with a warning.

Maybe he had overstepped his grounds. He let
his hand fall away. "I only wished to keep ye steady."

"I'm fine."

He highly doubted it, but arguing with her
about it would lead them nowhere. He settled with keeping stride
beside her.

As they reached the car, her hand slipped
into the pocket of…a tool belt.
Tool belt?
His gaze shifted
over her choice of clothing – dark, tight-fitting clothes that left
nothing to the imagination as they clung to her lithe figure.

She beeped the car fob to open her vehicle.
"I'm sorry." She gave him a sidelong glance and he lifted a brow.
"I didn't mean to snap at you. I know you mean well."

"Will ye let me drive ye home, then?" he
asked.

She gave him a quick nod. He reached to take
the keys from her, but once his hand covered hers, electricity
sparked from the touch. Flashes of memories bombarded his
senses.

Her eyes widened as she stared at him. He had
no doubt she had experienced something similar. Her scorching gaze
only fueled the spark, making him want more than a mere touch of
hands. He wanted… no needed, to touch her. He acted before thinking
it through. He pinned her against the car as he took her lips. He
felt her hesitate for only a heartbeat before she gave into the
passion. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back.
His hand slid down her body, his fingers gripping the edge of her
shirt so tight he feared he would tear the fabric.

For a second, a lucid thought entered his
lust-filled mind. What was
he
doing? He broke the kiss and
stared down at her, but he still had not released her.

She pressed her hand to his chest, as if this
would stop him from kissing her again. "What just happened?" she
asked.

He shook his head. He was as flustered as she
was. "I don't know. Possibly the blood bond initiated all this." He
had other theories, but he wasn't sure if he should share them with
her—at least, not yet. "This attraction will fade." He hoped.

"You said taking the blood from my wrist was
less intimate. You told me it would link you to
my
dreams,
but tonight, I dreamt of your time with the Sidhe. I know I didn't
enter your dreams, since you weren't sleeping. I somehow linked
with one of your memories as if I had been there, too. And just
now… I saw flashes of your life, other moments." Her gaze held his.
"Is it the same for you?"

"Something of the sort." This time he did let
her go. "Come on, I'll drive ye home." He opened the door for
her.

"Why is this happening?"

"I don't have an answer for ye," he said
softly.

"What do you mean, you don't know? Haven't
you done this mind-link thingy before?"

"Aye, but it was never like this."

"No? So what went wrong with us?"

Wrong? She made it sound like it was the
worst thing ever to be bonded with him. "Get in the car,
Miss
Lucci
." Calling her Miss Lucci seemed too formal, now that he'd
kissed her in such a fashion. However, calling her by her given
name would snip the last thread of decency he still held onto,
stopping him from seducing her.

For a second he thought she would refuse, but
then she stepped forward, and with great exaggeration that included
huffing with irritation, she slid into the passenger's seat. He
shut the door and went around to the driver's side.

She remained quiet all the way home as she
huddled close to the door, crossing her arms over her chest.

When he parked the car in front of her place,
he turned toward her, but before he could speak she blurted out
what had obviously been brewing inside her pretty little head.

"Whatever this is…" She waved her hand in
front of her. "Whatever this passion between us is, it can't be
real." She met his gaze. "And I won't sleep with you. I saw what
you wanted…" Her cheeks turned as pink as a rose petal.

His brows rose in surprise. "Was that for my
benefit or for yers, because I saw yer desires, also?"

She sucked in a breath that resulted in a
quick yelp of embarrassed panic. "Sure, make fun of the human. It's
what you do best."

"I wasn't makin' fun of ye." He ran his hand
through his hair in frustration. "I don't understand what's
happenin' between us anymore than ye do. Let me assure ye, the
blood bond was no' a plot to get ye into bed. Besides, it was
whatever ye did tonight that amped the connection when I touched
ye. It was the catalyst that set us over the edge. Yer essence was
charged like a live wire, givin' me a direct link to who ye are. I
see ye, all of ye and I, as ye hinted, ye experienced the same
thing with me."