The
cartridge took her in the chest. She staggered but held her ground, her face
falling in disbelief. There was a wisp of smoke, the smell of gunpowder, then
the flare ignited within her and she screamed.
Raymond
bellowed and yanked the knife from Jett’s shoulder. Black swung and aimed as he
made to lunge. “There’s one more in here, pal.”
The
threat worked. Raymond stopped. Clare had begun to burn. Stalled in the act of
dying, she stood fully conscious with her skin lit like a paper lantern. The
wound in her chest steamed and spat blood. She turned wide eyes to Black and
stretched a hand toward him. “Ariel …”
He
swallowed hard. Raymond stepped toward her. Black’s voice stopped him. “Don’t,
or you’ll go down with her.”
“You
would be wise to wish me that foolish,” Raymond snarled.
Clare
screamed again. The flare was eating her from the inside out, burning away at
muscle and internal organs. She folded to her knees and began to scream in
earnest; piercing, feral shriek after shriek as her body collapsed in upon
itself. Smoke rolled from her gaping mouth, leaked from her nose and ears. The
last thing Black saw before he grabbed Tess and bolted was the hideous,
squelching pop of her eyes. Red flame shot from the sockets and she fell
forward to the floor. Raymond let out a roar of anguished rage. Black pulled
Tess to her feet and pushed her ahead of him through the door.
“Go!”
She
ran for the stairs with Black on her heels. He hit the fire alarm as she
reached the door. The bell went off and the sprinklers kicked in; the ensuing
confusion made it impossible for Jett to follow them.
They
pounded down twelve flights of stairs, swinging off the rail at every landing.
Hotel guests in everything from evening clothes to bathrobes trickled into the
stairwell on each floor; Tess ran headlong into an old woman with a cane and
Black had to stop and right her before they could go on. The growing stream of
guests frustrated their escape and there was little comfort in knowing the
chase would be hampered as well. He tried not to think about Clare.
They
filtered onto the pavement with the rest of the crowd at the front of the
hotel. Black took hold of Tess’s hand to keep her from straying. Sirens wailed
in the distance. A police cruiser pulled into the alley to see what was going
on. There was no sign of Raymond or Jett. Tess jerked on Black’s hand. “Let’s
go.”
People
were coming from all directions to see what was happening at the Four Seasons.
No one took note of the couple in their thirties as they strolled hand in hand
to the end of the block and turned the corner.
* * *
Aurora
set them up with a buddy of hers on the strip, well away from the waterfront
where Raymond and his gang were sure to go looking. The room wasn’t any
higher-end than the room Black had called home, but it would do until they
could get out of town. And getting out of town was their only option. Black had
committed the unpardonable sin of killing one of his own. Not only would the
mortals be after him, now the vampires would be, too.
Tess
wanted to go home. “You can’t,” he told her. “It’s not safe.”
“What
about after sunrise?”
He
shook his head. “Raymond has mortal cronies like I do, but his are more
dangerous.”
Her
eyes filled with tears—and allowable offense since she had been so brave at the
hotel. “All my stuff is there.”
What
she meant was all her memories of Travis were there, but that wasn’t something
Black could help her with. “You’ll have to carry him in your heart, sugar. He’s
gone, and unless you want to join him, you can’t go back.”
She
wiped her eyes with her fingers before the tears fell. The amethyst on her left
hand sparkled darkly in the dim light. “I guess I’ve screwed up both our
lives.”
“Looks
that way.”
“You
think I should have let it alone, don’t you?”
He
gave her a look that she couldn’t miss, even through his sunglasses. It earned
a reluctant smile, and she ventured closer to the corner where he sat slumped
on the floor.
She
knelt before him. “I have to ask you something.”
“Shoot.”
“What
she said about Travis, about him wanting to be with her before he died. Did you
believe her?”
“Nope.”
His
answer surprised her. He saw hope leap in her eyes, then die back when it
occurred that he was trying to spare her feelings.
“I
believe that they had a relationship before he met you,” he said, sitting
forward, “but I think that she came back for him and he didn’t want to play.”
“Why
not?” she whispered.
“Because
he loved you, Tess. I saw it in every stroke of every drawing. You were the
girl for him, and not even Clare could make him break the commitment. I’m sorry
that he died for it, but that’s what I think happened.”
“That’s
no reason to kill someone. It’s so petty.”
“It’s
easy to kill over petty things when you’ve lived for centuries.”
“Then
I never want to live that long.”
He
smiled. “That’s too bad, sister. You’ve got potential.”
Her
eyes widened so much that an errant tear spilled. “How can you say such a
thing?”
“Because
you saved my ass at the hotel. You did everything right, just the way I told
you to. You were great, Tess. I’d have you at my back any day.”
She
blinked another tear from her lashes, but he could see that she was grateful
for the praise. “You saved my butt, too,” she pointed out. “If you hadn’t had
that knife in your boot—”
He
waved her off. “It doesn’t matter. It’s done now. It’s over. But it won’t help
with the matter of suicide. You still can’t prove anything to the police.”
“I
know.” She sounded sheepish. She glanced away, then back to his face. Her own
was earnest. “You understand, though, don’t you? I had to do it. I had to know
the truth. I loved him so much, I just—” She bowed her head and finally broke,
sobbing into her cupped hands. Black leaned over and pulled her between his
legs, cradling her in all fours while she vented her grief and anger in tears.
He laid his cheek against her fluffy blonde hair and closed his eyes to do a
little grieving of his own.
When
she had quieted, they sat together in silence. The sky brightened outside the
window, turning a crystalline shade of mauve that matched the reflection of
Tess’s pink shirt in her blue eyes. She sat curled against him with her head in
the hollow of his shoulder. She felt good, solid. Real. She smelled good, too.
“You
owe me a dossier,” he said.
Her
head moved but didn’t tip up to let him see her face. “I have a confession to
make,” she said slowly.
He
almost groaned. “Don’t say it. I’m already depressed at how gullible I am.”
“I’m
sorry.” She sounded sincere—but her life was wrecked as well.
“It’s
okay,” he sighed. “I’ve spent my whole life at the mercy of wily women.”
She
almost laughed; he felt it in her staggered breath. “But I owe you ten grand,”
she reminded him. “I can deliver that.”
He
thought for a minute, watching the mauve sky shift to azure. It was pleasant
here despite the shabby room and the knowledge that he was now officially on
the lam. He wasn’t as upset as he had imagined he would be over losing Clare.
It was actually a relief to be free of her. He had done more than avenge Travis
by shooting her. In a funny way, he had finally avenged the peasant boy she had
tormented for as long as he could remember.
“Don’t
worry about it, sweetheart,” he told Tess. “This one’s on me.”
THE END
July 15, 2001
