The Quest (39 page)
Authors: Mary Abshire
I returned inside and stopped at the tall, thin table near the door. My purse lay sideways, next to a bowl containing several pairs of keys. As I collected a set, they jingled. I hadn’t paid attention as to what key went where, so I had no idea if I’d selected the proper one for the Lexus. With time to spare, I decided to find out.
Purse in my grasp, I took two steps and came to a quick halt. Anubis towered in front of me, t-shirt wrinkled and hanging out over his dark pants. One more step and I would’ve run into him.
“Going somewhere?”
“My friend Tabby, the shifter I told you about, is coming home today. We’re heading to the airport to get her.”
“I can go with you.” He brushed his hands over his shirt, as if it would iron out the wrinkles.
“No, that’s okay. I need to get out for a bit.”
He tilted his head. “Do you feel confined here?”
“Yeah, a little.” More like a lot.
“We could leave here, you and me.” He reached and grazed his fingers over my cheek. “I will take you anywhere you want to go. Just–”
“We can talk more later. We’ll be back in an hour or so.” I took a step back, toward the door. I wasn’t in the mood for a lengthy debate of what I could, or should, do. “You have my number to call me.”
Before he could stop me, I strode out of the house. Squeezing the straps of my purse in one hand and the keys in the other, I hoped I had the right key for the Lexus because I didn’t want to go back and face Anubis. His simple little touch roused my inner hunger. Too much touching and I feared I might jump his bones. I was that horny.
I reached the Lexus and tugged on the handle of the driver’s side door. The door opened without setting off the alarm. No surprise to me that Jonas left the doors unlocked since our nearest neighbor lived a mile up the road. I slid into the leather seat, then tossed my purse into the one next to me. Holding up the keys, I examined them, trying to find a clue that would lead me to find the one for the ignition.
“Those aren’t the right keys,” Jonas said, leaning into the open doorway. “I’ll get them. Stay here.” He ran off before I could give him the set in my hand. Oh well. At least I didn’t have to go back in the house.
While he retrieved the keys, I tugged up my skirt and crawled over the seat divider to get to the passenger side. Jonas returned as I fastened my seatbelt. He settled behind the wheel and gunned the engine.
“What about these?” I held up the keys. “Will Boss need them?”
“I doubt it.” He reached his arm back and gave the car a little gas. “Besides, we won’t be gone too long.”
I dropped the keys into the cup holder. “I told Anubis we were leaving to get Tabby.”
Once Jonas steered the car onto the street, he shifted the gear and accelerated. “Did he try to stop you?”
“Not really.”
“But?” He glanced at me with one brow arched.
“I think he wants me to leave with him.”
“And go where?”
“If I had to guess, back to Egypt.”
“That’s so far away.”
Too far. Yes, I wanted to get to know him better, maybe relive some of the pleasant memories, see if the sparks could fly like they had, but at the same time I was ready to take a step back from all vampires. The two in the house acted as if each knew what was best for me. Why?
I pondered the question for a while before I realized the answer. My angel blood. They’d had a taste and wanted more, wanted to claim me. I didn’t doubt their concern for me, but deep down they knew and I knew my angel blood was a huge factor in all of this. Sometimes I wished that part of me had died so it wouldn’t be an issue. Since the holy elixir continued to survive in my body, vampires would always yearn for it. The thought depressed me.
Sighing, I said, “I haven’t yet decided what I should do.”
He chuckled. “Don’t bother. They seem to have all the answers as to what you
should
do.”
Point awarded to Jonas for his humor. Without it, and his smiles, his words of encouragement, his subtle gestures, I would’ve taken off and run away. The thought had crossed my mind once. Twice actually.
“I’m glad for the short break. Maybe it will help.”
He scratched his chin. “Yeah, maybe.” He reached over and pushed the small knob for the radio. “Do you mind?”
“No, it’s fine.”
While Jonas drove along the interstate, I relaxed and gazed out the window. The music distracted my thoughts, cleared my mind the way the sunset had brought me peace. If only we could share more moments of bliss.
With my gaze on Jonas, I quietly admired him. He never suggested what to do. He always asked. I know he cared for me as much as Boss and Anubis did, but he seemed to understand me more. I couldn’t figure it out. Maybe the years of walking the Earth had warped their minds. They had seen plenty of evil, death, destruction and chaos. Logic led me to believe those things could sway a man’s reasoning for handling women. But I wasn’t an ordinary woman. Maybe that detail along with my tasty DNA was the problem.
After a speedy twenty-minute drive, Jonas parked the car in the garage. We left the Lexus and headed into the check-in area of the airport. Finding a monitor with the times, we stopped and scanned the screen.
“Shit.” I stomped my heel and created a loud clack. “Her plane is delayed.”
“You act as if that’s a bad thing. We came early to watch planes. Let’s go find some.” He took my hand into his and pulled me along.
We stopped a few feet from one of the exits and gazed out the windows as a plane taxied by. The large craft belonged to one of the bigger airlines and was twice the size of some of the ones parked at terminals. In the distance, a plane descended and landed on the runway.
“I always enjoy watching them land and take off. When I was in the army, I wondered what it would be like to fly one. I had a few buddies in the air force.” He slid his hand from mine and stepped closer to the exit.
While Jonas stared out the window, I couldn’t help but notice the smiles on travelers as they passed by, pulling their luggage. They looked happy, the old and young alike. Not a single person went by with a frown. I longed to feel such joy, such freedom.
A wild idea came to me. Maybe all I needed to do was get away, free myself and move on. I had money in my purse. Here was the perfect opportunity. Could I do it? Could I leave everything behind, leave all my friends? I would be safer if I walked away from Boss and Anubis. I wouldn’t have to worry about them draining me accidently or in the heat of the moment. As for another matter, it would make everyone’s life less stressful and in the end, better, if I simply disappeared. They could move on with their lives.
If God or some higher power were looking out for me, now was the perfect opportunity to do something. The chance might not come again.
“Hey,” Jonas said, grabbing my attention. “Are you all right?” He stared deep into my eyes, as if he saw some form of recognition.
Emotions flooded me, and I pressed my lips together, holding back the tears and sadness. I’d miss them all dearly, yet every part of me knew leaving was the right thing to do. I took a step back. “I need to go.”
“Wait.” He stepped toward me. “Please.”
“I need to go.”
He lifted his hands. “I’m not going to stop you.”
A tear escaped, and I quickly wiped it. “You’re not?”
“You’re not happy anymore. I can tell. The only time I see you happy is when the sun sets.”
I laughed softly. “I want peace. I want everyone to stop arguing. If I leave, they’ll have to move on without me.”
“It’s a good plan.”
I stared at him, thinking he accepted my idea too easily. Yet, Jonas wasn’t like the others. Neither was Tabby. I’d miss them the most.
As for Boss, I would miss him and his constant determination to see things his way. He had a good heart I’d miss dearly too. But we weren’t in love. After walking the Earth over fourteen hundred years, I felt confident his anger toward me for leaving would eventually dissolve and he’d go on working for the WWOPP.
From one vampire to the other, I thought about Anubis. He’d spared me, or rather my soul. I was deeply grateful and respected him. While I did sense a strong attraction between us, I couldn’t be sure if it was love or a basic carnal need. After all, I was still transforming. Anubis and I had shared a past, but the potion Daniel gave me had erased it from my mind. Could Anubis and I rekindle the love we’d once shared?
I pushed the question aside. The need for freedom powered my spirit. I could revisit the subject with Anubis later, if I ever ran into him again.
“You can make up a story. Tell them I went to the bathroom and never came out.”
He gave a single shake of his head. “I can’t do that.”
“Why?”
“No matter what I say, they will know it’s a lie. Anubis will kill me. If you leave, I have to leave to.”
I chewed on my tongue, working out the details of my great escape that wasn’t so great anymore. I couldn’t leave knowing Anubis would kill Jonas.
“Why can’t we both leave, together?” he asked.
“But…” I paused, considering what would happen if he ran away with me. Boss and Anubis would hate him. They’d want him dead. “You would be signing your death warrant if you came with me.”
“If I let you go, I’m dead. If we leave together, I take my chances. At least we would have each other to fall back on.”
His gray eyes were full of life, full of hope, full of love. Together, we could support each other. We could work together, build a new life, start over.
“I’ve been an investigator for the council for a long time. I know enough about the various races to keep us hidden. As for money, I can find a job. I can take care of us.” He took my face into his hands. “And don’t forget, I’m a willing donor who cares very much for you. I promise to make you smile every day, the same way you do when the sun sets.”
Tears blurred my eyes. His plan sounded workable. We had extra money with us. We had the keys to the cars.
“What about Tabby?” I asked. She’d hate us if we left her.
“She can come with us. She’s smart, a good housekeeper, and once in a while she is a decent cook. You can’t tell her I said that though.”
His words brought a smile to my face. They always competed with their cooking skills to see who was better. And I was the taste tester.
“Will she go along with our plan? How will she feel about leaving Boss?”
“Yeah, she’ll be fine. She’ll miss him, and I won’t deny I’ll miss him too. We’ve been friends a very long time, but…we’ll be fine.”
Six weeks ago, they jumped to abandon Boss’s ship when he threatened to throw me out of his house. Jonas and Tabby were going to leave with me because they cared deeply for me, and wanted to protect me. Although we weren’t under a threat in our present situation, it was clear to me Jonas’s heart guided his way, not a vampire. Based on the little bit I knew of Tabby, she was like Jonas.
Joy filled me and warmed my spirit. If I still had a beating heart, it would’ve been racing. The three of us living life to the fullest, away from vampires. We could live normal lives, as normal as supernatural creatures could. It seemed like a dream.
I wiped the streams from my face. “All right. Where to?”
A smile revealing his excitement spread across his face. “I have an idea where we can go, and I’m sure you’ll love it. As soon as Tabby arrives, we can take a flight to New York and fly out from there. We’ll be far enough away, they won’t be able to catch up to us.”
Seeing his cheerfulness fueled my own happiness. “Thank you for…everything.” I had difficulty formulating the words to fully explain my gratitude. From the day we met at the dump to now, Jonas had been nothing but kind, supportive, and willing to help me regardless of the cost. I owed him a lot.
He took my hand into his. “You’re one of a kind, Shelley. I refuse to let you go.”
Overwhelmed by his generosity, courage, and nobility, I embraced him in a hug. “I don’t know what I’d do without you, and Tabby.”
“Starve.”
Something between a cry and a chuckle leaked out of me. “Yeah, you’re right.”
Our arms slid away from each other, then he gripped my hand. “Come on.”
Together we headed for the ticket area. Bliss filled me in a way I couldn’t describe. I was on an emotional high, and I had a strong feeling Jonas felt the same. Once we met Tabby and informed her of our plan, she’d probably want to join our happy party. Then, after we reached our destination, we could resume a normal life, one filled with happiness, lots of laughs, and good food. Freedom and peace would be ours to share, at last.
About Mary Abshire
Outside of my government job, I write Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy. Dark and dangerous creatures are my friends. I create worlds with vampires, demons, werewolves, and other supernatural creatures. I even create new ones. Join me in my fantastical worlds and I’ll introduce you to my friends. If they bite…it's not my fault.
About the Project Eve Series
Book I:
The Awakening
Available in ebook from Lyrical Press, Inc.
Book II:
The Quest
Available in ebook from Lyrical Press, Inc.
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