Staked (9 page)

“You’re not dead.” She stopped at that. No
use giving him info he could use against her later.

“And how did we go from you being afraid of
me, to lying here beside me half-naked in this bed.”

“Afraid of you?” It was her natural
inclination to lay out a denial.

“That’s a fact. Quit trying to change the
subject.” He moved, like he was going to sit up, and winced,
settling back into the bed. “How is it possible that you brought me
back from being staked?” His midnight-dark eyes darted around like
he had wheels spinning inside his head.

“I’m not entirely sure,” she admitted. “Where
I come from....” Damn it. She didn’t want to talk about the
legend.

“The future...?” he asked. Ava nodded,
powerless to stop it. His face grew pensive. “Just what year are
you from?”

“One that’s really far away.” She looked at
him to see if that was enough of an answer. The look on his
face—intensified curiosity—said it wasn’t. “About a thousand
years.”

“A thousand years?” He repeated, but not
nearly as compelling as Ava. Stone’s gaze fell upon her and stayed
there for the longest time. Two or three times she thought he might
be about to say something, but the words wouldn’t come.

The questions he needed to ask—the ones that
would bring out the truth, the reality of the situation were way
beyond what Stone could probably comprehend. Finally, after several
more seconds of silence, Stone managed to piece together one
thought. “Maybe you should just tell me what you know.”

“There is a legend...in my time...” Ava’s
words trailed off as she stalled to find the right words and decide
what to tell him and what to keep to herself.

“Lay it on me,” he said.

The words that comprised the gist of the
legend bounced around in her head but she failed to adequately
string them into comprehendible sentences. She surely didn’t want
to tell him about how for every Karellian there was a vampire
soul-mate, and vice versa.

“It’s just a legend.” She nodded and
shrugged. “How often do legends hold water?” This one couldn’t. If
it did, she was in trouble.

But there he was. Her proof. He grinned at
her and said, “How often does a vampire get staked and
survive?”

She was silent for a moment before saying,
“Altogether?” She began shaking her head erratically. “According to
the legend...” She sucked in a breath. “Someone like
me
can
save someone like
you
.”

“Well that’s a given.” He rolled his eyes at
her. “So anyone like you save someone like me?”

“Who knows...?” She snorted. No way was she
going to tell him about the soul-mate thing. Not happening.

“How many times can you save me?”

She felt the anxiety tighten her facial
muscles and hoped it came across as a
your-guess-is-good-as-mine
look. Somehow, she just didn’t
think it was a good idea to tell him that nobody but her could kill
him now—according to the legend. The fact that he was here, talking
to her gave credence to its validity. Considering that, if Stone
managed to get rid of her he was home-free.

She didn’t feel good about her odds of
living, considering she was the one and only thing standing between
him and his immortality. Damned if her mother hadn’t been
right—looks like the Immortal One was going to get her, after
all.

“What?” he asked as if he knew the turmoil
going on inside her.

“I’m realizing my greatest fear.” She hoped
she sounded as vague as she needed.

“Which is...?”

Damn him and his prying. “You were right,”
she said. “I am afraid of you, but not for the reason you think.”
She didn’t want to, but she forced her gaze up to meet his. Doing
that was dangerous. He held a power over her and could enforce it
with just a look.

“You think I’m gonna turn you?” He sounded
almost indignant.

“If anybody ever does—” She looked away.
“It’ll be you.”

“I’d never consider turning someone who
didn’t want to be turned.”

That was just it—she didn’t want to be
turned, but the more she was around him the more she wanted
him
. If she fell into the desire, being turned was a natural
progression.

“You ever feared something...but still wanted
it just the same?” Ava’s words held as much helplessness as she
felt.

His face softened as if he’d caught on.
“Yeah.” He looked at her, deep into her soul. He was pulling her
in, entrancing her. She couldn’t have that.

Ava’s mouth quivered and her heart’s ache was
so strong that it nearly brought her to tears.
Please stop
,
rambled through her thoughts. She didn’t want this, no matter how
much her heart said otherwise.

“Believe me, Ava.” His fingertips blessed her
cheek with gentle caresses. “Hurting you is not something I want to
do. In fact, it’s the last thing I want to do.”

Colors began emerging around him. They were
pale at first. Waves of pink, purple and blue swirled together and
enveloped Stone in a cloud. Elements of good, awareness and sorrow
made his feelings on the matter clear to Ava. He understood her
fears, and his strong ethics guaranteed he’d do right by her. Stone
had his own fears. He didn’t want to see the look on her face when
he turned her into something he thought she abhorred. To assure
that didn’t happen, he was going to leave her. And, his heart was
breaking.

That left Ava feeling sad. Stone was the one
thing that could complete her. But at what price?

Stone eased himself out of the bed. “Let’s go
for a walk.” He extended his hand out to her.

She looked at his chest. “You sure?” she
asked, her gaze rising to meet his. He was fine. She knew that. The
TRS, her blood, and the hours they’d spent resting were sufficient
to bring him back to at least ninety-five percent. But once he was
up and moving around, the sooner they’d need to part ways. For her
sake.

“Come on.” He offered his hand.

Ava ignored the gesture and left the bed via
her side. “We’d better get dressed first,” she said, picking up her
clothes. She stepped toward the bathroom and stopped, looking over
her shoulder. “You’ll find some vials in the mini-fridge.” She
pointed to the nightstand beside him and backed away. “It’s my
blood. A little goes a long way.”

She slipped into the bathroom and locked the
door. Not that that could keep him out if he wanted in. Ava was in
untried territory. There was nothing comforting about operating on
the faith that his determination to do the honorable thing—simply
because she’d saved him—would stick. But Ava was dealing with a
vampire who, by nature, put survival above all else.

Ava ran some cold water in the sink and
splashed it on her face. She gave herself a long, hard look in the
mirror.
Don’t be an idiot, girl
.
Get that guy out of your
bed and out of your life
.

She nodded, determined to do just that. Ava
hopped into the shower, making her mind up to wash away her malady
with hot water. After an extra ten minutes for good measure, she
turned the water off and grabbed a towel, wrapping it around her
body and tucking it in at her breasts.

I can do this
. But she knew if she had
a prayer’s chance of holding to her decision, the separation would
have to happen sooner than later. The longer she put it off, the
less likely she was to enforce the choice.

Ava swabbed herself dry and went to the
adjoining closet, opting for some standard 20th century clothing of
blue jeans and a tee shirt. Not that she planned on going back to
the 20th century, but she had 20th century guests and it was better
not to show them any aspects of the future. If Ava was lucky—which
she wasn’t feeling these days—from here on out she’d be able to
steer clear of Stone’s territory.

Who was she kidding? She’d turned the guy
into super-vamp, and now he was destined to live forever—unless he
forced her to kill him.

The thought clawed up her back like a spiked
chill. It didn’t feel any better once the notion took hold in her
head. He was probably fated to live forever because Ava doubted
she’d ever have the conviction to end his life.

Ava opened the bathroom door carefully and
peered out, hoping Stone had already departed for that walk. If he
saw her at this moment, she worried that he might know the thoughts
roaming around inside her mind. Nothing good could come from a
vampire finding out
you
were the only one who could kill
him.

Ava searched the outdoor rooms and peeked
through the slider before deciding Stone wasn’t in the house. Her
best bet was probably the beach. She followed the smooth-stoned
walkway down to the shore. When she reached the sand’s edge she
looked both ways, as if she were about the cross the street.

Nothing to the left, but off to the right she
saw a bonfire’s flames about a hundred yards down the beach. She
hadn’t felt cold until she saw the flames, but now she trembled
from the chill enveloping her. Ava shuddered, trying to shake the
feeling. Then again, maybe it was the notion creeping upon her that
she was going to have to part ways with Stone very soon, or suffer
the consequence.

He was sitting on a log-type bench with his
back to her, leaning forward toward the fire and stoking it with a
long stick.

She stilled a few feet behind him. The
climate in the TRS was set to a balmy 76 degrees with the slightest
breeze, just enough to blow in the soft scent of the salty sea air.
Ava didn’t understand the logic behind the fire. It wasn’t really
cold, even though she herself had been shivering moments ago.

She moved around the log and sat down beside
Stone, leaving a few inches between them. “You cold?” she asked.
“Maybe you should come back to bed.” The thought horrified her that
he might not be physically up to leaving just yet.

“No, I’m not cold.” He continued to stoke the
fire. “The flames are a diversion. ” On the last thought his head
turned toward her. “I thought I’d seen and heard it all.” He
laughed, mostly at himself.

“It wasn’t my plan for you to get this
involved.”

He shook his head and gave a quick shrug.
“You know what they say about spilt milk.”

Ava snorted. “I’ll try not to cry over it.”
She shrugged. “But somebody’s still gotta clean it up.”

He turned to her, and by the look in his eyes
he knew what she knew—that that someone was going to be her. He’d
leave and she’d be left behind, waiting for his fire to go out.

“How about if we agree this isn’t goodbye?”
she asked. “We’ll just call it,
until I see you again
.” But
she knew it was a lie. They wouldn’t see each other again. She’d
avoid it, like the plague.

Still, she plucked a batch of business-size
cards from her back pocket and dealt him one from the bottom.

“What’s this?” he asked, inspecting it. He
flashed her an odd look, which wasn’t surprising since there was
nothing on the card but a 15-digit number.

“That’s my card.” Suddenly, she said felt
silly for offering it—which didn’t make much sense, considering she
was trying to distance herself from him. Even so, she said, “If you
ever need to find me, dial the number. If I’m in your time period,
I’ll answer. If not, leave a message. As soon as I enter your era
it’ll show up in my voice mail.”

Ava couldn’t bear the thought of never seeing
him again. As long as he had her number, there was always the
possibility.

He gave her his number. She plugged it into
her phone, but that was a nice gesture at best. Unless Stone kept
the same number forever.

Forever was a long time.

His gaze mingled and lingered with hers. He
gave a sad smile that suggested he didn’t want to go but knew it
was best if he did. She could see it in his eyes, he dreaded the
day she’d look at him with disgust over having been turned by him
in the heat of the moment.

He sucked in a breath, as if summoning a bit
of courage. “Can you send me away from here without going with
me?”

“It’s been done, but the council doesn’t like
it. Travelers are oftentimes rather disoriented upon landing, so
they prefer we take them.”

“Can you make an exception?”

“If it’s in my best interest, and I’m
returning the traveler to their original time period.”

“Well I think it’s in your best interest if
you
send
me away rather than taking me back yourself.” He
bobbed a slow, heart-wrenching nod. Ava got the feeling he was
trying to convince himself as much as he was her.

Mickey and Skeet’s muffled voices flowed in
from behind. Ava peeked over her shoulder and saw that they’d just
stepped off the wooden steps onto the sand and were heading toward
her and Stone.

Stone nudged her upper arm with his shoulder.
“I told them, when she comes out, give us five minutes and then
come out.”

Getting up was hard. If she stood, that meant
he was leaving. If he stayed, that meant she would be turned.

Stone nudged her again. “Get up, Ava,” he
whispered softly against her ear. “I have to go.”

She looked at him. He nodded and flashed her
a piece of a smile.

Okay. If he wanted to go so badly, who was
she to stop him? But damn, did he have to be so effing noble?

Mixed emotions seeded Ava with the strength
to stand. She snapped the pouch off her belt loop and began laying
out her Sun Stones. Stepping inside, she looked at him and tried to
mask her sorrow with a smile. He rose and stepped inside the circle
with her.

Mickey slowed, remaining outside the circle,
but Skeet prepared to step inside.

Stone had already encased Ava inside his
embrace when he whispered, “In a perfect world...I could stay here
forever.”

“In a perfect world...” She laid her head on
Stone’s chest and locked her arms around him. She could only hold
onto him, everything else was beyond reach.