Staked (6 page)

Stone moved in front of her, shaking his
head. “No matter how long I live,” he said. “I’ll never understand
women.”

“Right back at you,” she said with a bite to
her tone.

Stone stopped at the door, cracked it open
about a foot and scanned the interior before entering. After a
second or two he pushed the door open and beckoned her to
follow.

“You’re safe, my lady.” He fanned a grand
gesture about the outer area of the ladies’ room. Clearly making
fun of her.

Ava didn’t know why, but that wounded her
ego. She headed straight for the sink and turned on the cold water.
Luckily, it was instantly cold. She cupped her hands, filled them
with the chilled water and splashed her face. Then she did it again
for good measure. As she suspected, it didn’t do that much
good.

She pivoted on her heel and moved toward the
nearest stall. Slamming her hand, palm out, against the door, it
thrust open. Once inside, she flipped the latch. It helped knowing
the bathroom stall served as a kind of barrier between Ava and what
tempted her. If she kept telling herself that, maybe she’d believe
it by the time she was done.

She dropped her pants to her knees,
well-aware of Stone’s presence and what she’d allow him to do
without much persuasion on his part. She went about her business,
hoping it’d distract her from the sexual attraction coursing
through her body where it all seemed to be gathering beneath her
belly.

This was so not good. Ava couldn’t afford to
give herself to some vampire. Especially not
this
vampire.
The one who could convince her to give up all her secrets with a
mere touch.

Finishing up, she stood and pulled her pants
back up around her waist.

“Ava...?” There was a certain sense of
wariness in Stone’s voice. “You about done?”

“Yeah,” she said, pushing the stall’s door
open. “Keep your shorts on.” She went to the sink to wash her
hands.

“Listen,” he said softly, moving closer to
her. “I don’t want to alarm you, but there’s trouble outside.”

“Trouble?” She turned off the water and shook
her hands a couple of times before wiping them on her pants. “What
kind of trouble?”

Their eyes met and for a second it looked
like he might actually say the word
vampire
. But he didn’t.
He kind of left that part out when he said, “Five or six of them. I
don’t know if I can fight them all off, but I’ll stand a better
chance in here...where we can’t be surrounded.” He wasn’t paying
much attention to her. Instead he was canvassing the room, taking
in every inch of it. Finally, when his gaze landed back on her, he
gave a half smile. “I’ll do my best to keep you safe and get you
out of this alive.”

She admitted the gesture was noble. Too bad
the solution wasn’t appealing. Not as appealing as hers. “How much
time do we have before they come in for us?” Ava pulled the Sun
Stones’ pouch from her pocket.

“Five minutes,” he said, and she knew he was
guessing. Hopefully he was close.

“I need you to trust me for now.” she said,
opening the pouch. “Please text your friend. Tell him he and Mickey
should meet us at the place Mickey and I talked about. We may need
backup.” She poured the Sun Stones into her palm. “I know you have
questions. I’ll answer them all after I get us out of here.”

Ava laid the stones out in a circle large
enough for both of them. Luckily, it wouldn’t take much
concentration to get to the TRS, which is where she was required to
take him since he wasn’t from her base year and had no knowledge of
time travel—as far as she knew. She’d never taken anyone to her
beachside paradise in the Time Relay Station. It was her sanctuary;
the place she went when she needed some peace and quiet and didn’t
have to worry about dangers of any sort.

Once the stones were laid out, she stepped
inside the circle and beckoned him to join her, saying, “Wrap your
arms around me and close your eyes.”

The moment his arms encased her she
reciprocated, closed her eyes and laid her head on his chest. Ava
imagined them in an embrace meant for a much more intimate
exchange. She pictured them on the seaside deck of the beach house
she’d created in the TRS. It was nighttime and a gentle summer’s
breeze blew in from the ocean.

Ava heard Stone gasp as the transmission
began. It started at her feet, sizzled up her body until it reached
the top of her head and then cycled back down again.

Traveling through time feels like an electric
shock to all Brokers but Ava, for her it was more like the tingling
sensation that happens when your extremities fall asleep. She knew
Stone felt none of the pain, but even so, it had to be one hell of
an eye opener. And, one he hadn’t been prepared for.

But that was nothing. Wait until he figured
out what was really going on.

~~~~

Chapter Four

Ava knew when the transmission had concluded.
The niggling feeling that was trying to masquerade as pain fizzled
out. She should let him go now. Hell, not even the embrace was
necessary. Travelers only needed to be inside the circle with the
Broker. Ava had no idea what had possessed her to use the process
as an excuse.

Who was she kidding? She knew exactly why
she’d done it. She wanted to touch him, and this was an easy out. A
justification to save face.

She couldn’t help herself. She had to savor
the embrace, if only for a few more seconds before the time came to
pull away to avoid awkwardness. His hold was enchanting; his arms
strong and capable and comforting. She could’ve stayed there
forever.

Forever!
The thought shuddered through
her. Ava had been taught what
forever
really meant. People
could romanticize it any way they wanted, but forever had no end.
Just an on and on and on existence where you basically hid from the
bustle of society, only venturing out at night when you could
easily slip into the shadows. An existence where you used another
human being for life-support. Their blood. You had to take their
blood from them. It rattled Ava to think of invading a person in
such a manner.

And yet, Ava had always
known
that one
day she’d end up this way. That she’d be turned. This was her
greatest fear.

Ava slipped out of Stone’s embrace and backed
away, avoiding looking into his eyes. “It’s okay now.” She stepped
out of the circle. “You can open your eyes.”

She knelt down and began collecting her
stones. He was bound to freak and she’d better collect her wits
before the shit hit the fan.

“What the hell...?” Stone’s disbelief
barreled out in his voice, reaching all the way down to the floor
where Ava was still kneeling, and cracked her wall of
composure.

She shuddered. Slowly, she raised her gaze to
look at him. “Look, I know there’s not much I can say that’ll give
you comfort right now, but just know...we’re safe here.” Ava stood
without much effort and faced him with as much poise as she could
manage.

“And where exactly is here?” At first he
sounded annoyed, but she sensed the relief he was trying so hard to
hide in his voice.

Ava funneled the Sun Stones into their pouch
and closed the drawstring. “Maybe you should have a drink and a
seat.” She nodded toward the corner of the patio and the small
table with cushioned chairs.

“I don’t want a drink,” he said, backing into
the closest chair. “I’d prefer answers.” Stone’s tone was serious,
but he seemed to be relaxing.

Good. That meant he trusted her word. A
little trust was always good. But even that wouldn’t diminish the
fact that he wanted answers. Her proof—he was looking at her with a
hard glare. Waiting.

“Well, you may not need a drink, but I sure
do.” She moved toward the slider. “It’s not every day that I nearly
get ambushed by a bunch of vamps.”

She stepped inside the house, knowing he was
following her.

“I thought you knew, but I wasn’t sure.”

“You really should rethink that drink.” She
glanced over her shoulder. “Reality as you know it is about to
change.”

“If that’s the key to getting some answers,”
he said, “then I’ll have a drink.”

Ava opened the refrigerator door, and looked
back at him. “Beer? Whiskey?”

“Beer’s fine.”

Ava one-handed two bottlenecks from the
fridge and shut the door. She passed one to Stone and headed back
toward the terrace. He sat with her on the patio with the wind
blowing a soft breeze in from the ocean and, after several beers
she’d told him at least enough to give him a good understanding of
where she’d come from and why she’d taken him here, as opposed to a
time period other than his own.

But, telling someone about the world in the
29th century wasn’t any easier than explaining how she managed to
travel through time. Stone buying that was a hard pill to swallow,
much less
how
she managed to do it. She’d answered all his
questions even though most of them, she suspected, were simply
meant to be facetious.

Ava didn’t engage him and his ribbing.
Instead, she gave him time for the facts she was relaying to sink
into his head—at least until he started considering that they both
hadn’t lost their minds.

“Okay. So let me see if I’ve got this
straight...” His words fell off into meddlesome laughter. “You’re
not an ordinary bounty hunter. You come here from the
future—wherever here is,” he said, looking around. “You’re a time
traveler—sorry, broker. You can carry people through time with
you.” His laughter rang scarily prophetic. She imagined this very
place they were in was exhibit A inside his head. “Not everybody
can
broker
time. Only Karellians, of which you are half.” He
pointed at her offhandedly. His tone was calm, but still, there was
something in his voice that suggested he was trying hard not to
believe a word of what he was saying. Even so, he continued, “But
not all Karellians will broker time because it hurts...except for
you. You’ve developed a tolerance to the pain.” He flashed her with
a skeptic’s smile. “I leave anything out?”

No, but she had. Plenty.

“Oh, yeah...” He interrupted her thoughts.
“And all this—” He waved his hand around. “—is just a figment of
our imaginations.”

Nodding her head, she almost said,
“
yes
,” but stopped short. A more appropriate answer was
sort of, but not really
. If she put it in terms that he
could easily identify and understand, it’d have to be a comparison
to Star Trek: The Next Generation’s
Holodeck
.

“Okay.” Stone folded his arms over his chest
and glared at her. “What kind of drugs did you give me?”

“When exactly did I have the opportunity to
drug you?” She pointed the neck of her beer bottle at Stone and
then took a healthy swig, still eyeing him.

Stone’s face relaxed for a split-second, as
if he couldn’t find an argument, but just as quickly he started
shaking his head.

“Why is it so hard for you to believe me?”
she asked. “How many people believe in you?”

His eyes darkened and she knew he understood
her underlying meaning. How many people out there believed in
vampires?

Stone sucked in a breath and blew it out
dramatically, giving her one of those looks that said he was going
to
play along
but he didn’t believe a word of the fish tale
she was trying to sell.

“What?” she asked.

“When am I gonna get my jewels?” He gave her
a warped smile and waited for her answer.

“Soon,” she said, feeling like he was toying
with her.

“Yeah, I know. The recovery period.” He
rolled his eyes and laughed. “You gotta replenish your...what was
it called again?”

“Chakra energy,” she said in an almost
whisper. Ava had no idea why his opinion of her mattered, but it
did. The idea that he thought she was trying to pull a fast one on
him—or worse yet, that she was nuts—hurt. Ava straightened in her
chair and sucked up the urge to feel wounded. The sooner she
finished her business with Dexter Stone, the better.

“One thing I don’t get though.” He looked at
her. “If those little stones that you claim brought us here are the
means by which you travel through time...” Stone said, shaking his
head and his words gave way to a little laugh. “Something that
valuable...why didn’t your friend take them?”

“Because he can’t.” Ava paused, considering
just how much she should tell him. Probably best to let him know
he
couldn’t steal her Sun Stones, and trying to was futile.
“Sun Stones are sanctioned to the
broker
. It’s physically
impossible to take them from their rightful owner.”

He scrutinized her with a hint of curiosity
and a load of skepticism showing on his face.

Ava snapped the drawstring off her belt loop
and pulled the pouch from her pocket. She laid it on the table and
pushed it toward him. “Go ahead. Try to touch it.” She nodded. “But
be careful.” She seized the opportunity to present him with her own
little devious laugh, and didn’t feel bad about it either.

Stone inched his hand across the table and
held his fingers over the pouch, leaving barely enough space to
stick a sheet of paper between his fingers and the pouch, and held
it there. By the look on his face, he felt the heat radiating
hotter than the hottest fire. Stone pulled away from the pouch and
scrutinized Ava through narrowed eyes.

“You don’t have to believe me. I don’t care
about that. But you can’t leave here without me. You can try, but
you’ll get nowhere.” She felt some perverse smugness from that. “So
until I can leave here, you’re stuck. Is there anything you’ll need
or require for the next several hours?”

Stone’s laughter snorted through his nose.
Ava could easily guess that his mind had dropped into the gutter.
Like with everything else, Stone quickly recovered, saying, “You’d
better hope not. If I’m in need, looks like you’re my benefactor.”
He tangled her in his glare—probably a diversion—but she still saw
the smirk curling the corners of his mouth.