The man led us to our room and bid us goodnight. As soon as the door clicked shut, Andre crossed the room and closed the blinds.
“Will that be enough to protect you from the sun?” I asked.
“It’ll have to do.” Andre turned from the window. “And I no longer believe I’m the only one that needs protection from the sun.” His eyes fell meaningfully on my pale skin.
He was probably right. I’d been sleeping through most of the day, so I hadn’t really had the chance to test his theory, but I wasn’t really clamoring to. Aside from the pain it was likely to cause, I think it would just be one more frightening reminder that time was running out.
“The Politia are likely already scouring the area around where we landed. I think we’ll be okay for the night, but we’ll have to leave tomorrow at sundown to stay one step ahead of them.”
Imbeciles. Didn’t the morally righteous supernaturals find it even slightly strange that evil beings also wanted me dead? Had it even crossed their minds that killing me might be a bad idea? The devil, after all, couldn’t truly lay any claim to me while I still breathed. But once I died, heaven knew what horrors awaited.
Andre’s brow furrowed. “Soulmate, are you feeling okay?”
I refocused my attention on the man in front of me. “What do you mean?”
“You smell … imbalanced.”
Now that he mentioned it, my body felt off. My stomach churned and a pressurized headache was forming behind one of my eyes.
I wrapped my arms around myself and sat down on the edge of the bed. “I think everything’s just catching up with me.” The entire supernatural world wanted my head. The entire world. No one had those shitty odds save for me.
Andre sat down and pulled me onto his lap. He pressed my body into his chest, his arms enveloping me. “I’ve got you, soulmate.”
He ran his hand over my hair. “What we need is—what’s that term … ?” He stared off into space for a moment. His face lit up as it came to him, and he snapped his fingers. “Ah. A game plan. We need one of those.”
Against my will, my lips quirked. He was endearing when he acted like this. Judging from the way laughter danced in his dark eyes, he knew it too.
“Agreed.”
He stood, picking me up with him, and I just sort of let him. It was so unlike me.
My head tucked into the crook of his neck as he led me over to a small table set to the side of the bed. I could almost feel his reluctance to let me go when he set me down in my own chair. I’d bet money he’d considered keeping me on his lap. Because that was where my thoughts were.
Business was definitely getting in the way of pleasure.
Andre slid into the seat across from me. “Let’s assess what we brought along and go from there.”
He reached into his pocket and set a wallet and a cellphone down on the table. I followed his lead and emptied my own pockets. Like him I carried my wallet and phone. I glanced at my device. “No reception.”
“Mine has no reception either. It’s for the best,” Andre said, flipping over the phone. “These things can be traced. We’ll have to dump them before we leave.”
Leaving my phone meant I’d lose my friends’ numbers. It felt like I was shedding the last of my former life.
I set the cell aside and checked the rest of my pockets. From one of them I pulled out a slip of paper. It was the note Cecilia had tucked away inside my birthday card. Originally it had a riddle scribed across it. Last time I checked, the riddle had changed subtly.
I laid it flat on the table.
Find me back where it all began.
C
For a moment I stared in wonder at the note. It had changed again. In place of the cryptic poem was a cryptic sentence.
I exhaled. Really, it’d be nice to receive straightforward message from Cecilia every once in a while.
“Andre, do you have any idea what this means?” I tapped on the slip of paper.
He slid the card over to him and read the message. Picking it up, he flipped the card over. “Is this from Nona?”
I nodded, though I knew the woman as Cecilia. She had raised me for the first several years of my life and saved me from an early death. Only later had I learned that she was a fate. Specifically, Nona, the fate that wove the thread of life.
I rubbed my temple. “Where did this all begin?”
“The Isle of Man.” Andre didn’t even hesitate before he spoke.
“How do you know?”
Andre flipped the note and presented the backside to me.
(Hint: It’s an island you’ve lived on.)
P.S. This is as straightforward as I get.
I sputtered out a laugh. “Ouch.” I just got burned by my godmother. “So we head back to the Isle of Man, just like we had been?” Wiser strategies should exist. We’d be walking right into the lion’s den. The Isle of Man was the epicenter of the supernatural world. I might as well waltz into the Politia’s headquarters while I was at it and turn myself in.
Andre ruminated on my words, staring at the note again. “If the fate that raised you thinks we should go to the Isle of Man, I’m willing to trust her instincts.”
“But … how?” There were hundreds of miles between here and there, and so far we had … one ally. Cecilia.
Andre ran a hand through his hair, tousling his dark locks. “We’ll want to be as unpredictable as possible. Right now the Politia likely knows we landed somewhere in Germany. They will have plotted out a region where we might be located, and they will have their people on the lookout for evidence of our presence.”
My eyes met his. “The parachutes.”
A muscle in Andre’s jaw jumped. “It couldn’t be helped, soulmate. We were being chased.”
“How long before the Politia finds them?”
Andre rubbed his jaw, a mannerism I always found incredibly sexy. His hand paused as his nostrils flared. He focused his attention on me, his eyes dilated. For all my changes, he could still smell my attraction to him. Figures I’d retain that embarrassing trait. At least the blushing had disappeared.
He looked halfway ready to toss me onto the bed and forget planning for the evening.
I cleared my throat. “I mean, do you think they’ll find us before sundown tomorrow?”
Andre’s fingers dropped from his jaw and tapped along the table, his eyes lingering on my neck. “If we are very unlucky, then perhaps.”
Well, that answered that.
Noticing my expression, Andre reached over and took my hand. “Soulmate, I’ve faced worse odds. So have you. You may be cursed, but in some ways you have the best luck I know.”
His thumb rubbed my knuckles. “The devil doesn’t get outmaneuvered. It’s not in his nature, nor is it in ours to beat him at his own game. That you have is proof that the impossible is now possible.”
He gave my hand a squeeze then released it. He leaned back in the chair, his body dwarfing the thing. It groaned as he crossed his ankle over his other leg. “Today is not the day we die. And so help the world if I’m wrong, because I will overturn both earth and hell to reunite with you.”
By the time the sun was about to rise, we had a loose game plan in place. An exceedingly stupid one, but at least it was something. Andre owned a couple properties here in Germany, and we were going to visit at least one of them.
That meant a chance confrontation with any vampires that happened to be there. Vampires that now knew I was fated to kill them. That was the second, more obscure prophecy that I starred in, the one that drove Andre’s right-hand man, Theodore, to try to kill me several months ago.
They know everything.
My head rested against Andre’s chest as he held me tightly to him in the room’s bed. His hand traced shapes into my back. Back when winter break had begun, I had imagined long days with Oliver and even longer nights with Andre. I’d been concerned with the Politia’s opinion of me and plotting how I was going to deepen my relationship with Andre.
&n
bsp; Never had I imagined jetting out to Romania to solve a string of murders, nor had I imagined that the devil would make another play for my soul, or that I’d be on the run.
And definitely not this—this intimacy borne from survival and struggle. It was deepening our relationship even now. How could it not? My soulmate gave up everything the instant he chose to jump out of a jet with me rather than handing me over.
Andre was right. In some ways I did have the best luck. I’d landed myself him as a mate. Even if he could be scary as shit at times.
I shifted, causing him to pull me tighter to his body. He pressed a kiss to my forehead and peered down at me, his lips curving up. “My little mate is in my arms. All is well in the world.”
Yep. I had the best luck.
Andre rearranged us so that I was as close to him as I would ever be, save for sex. He’d only just closed his eyes when his body stilled in the most unnatural way.
“Andre?”
Nothing. I reached out from where I laid next to him and touched his skin. It felt cold and lifeless. The last couple of times we’d slept together, I’d fallen asleep with him. I hadn’t noticed just how horrible it would be to see him like this. Lifeless. He’d wake up once the sun dipped below the horizon. But for the duration of the day, he was gone.
Even as sleep tugged at my eyes, my body felt jittery. It still didn’t demand sleep the same way Andre’s did. And right now my mind was too noisy to let me rest.
Pushing away from the bed, I wandered to the window. I fingered the edge of the curtain. Now would’ve been the time to test whether or not the sun could burn me. I glanced back at Andre’s still form, sleeping the sleep of the dead. I wouldn’t risk frying him to test a stupid theory.
Bzzzzz.
…
Bzzzzz.
I turned away from the window. On the table, my phone vibrated, the white of its screen lighting up the dark room. It shouldn’t be ringing. I’d seen for myself that the device had no reception.
I approached the cell, almost afraid to see who was calling me. Air rushed out of me when I read the caller ID.
Caleb.
I couldn’t answer it. Every crime show I’d ever seen recorded and traced calls this way, and chances were high that they’d put him up to this. But crap, it was Caleb.
What must he think of the articles written on me? What must he think of me? My hand twitched, eager to ask him. Instead I shoved my thumbnail between my teeth and paced, impatient for the buzzing to cease.
An eternity later it did. I sank into the chair in front of the phone and gingerly picked the device up.
No reception.
My scalp prickled. Caleb had placed a call that never should’ve gone through. Could magic have been used? If so, had the Politia arranged this, or was it possible that Caleb had gone around them?
I pinched the bridge of my nose. Of course he hadn’t gone around them. They were the Politia, and he was their star pupil. No amount of wishing could change that.
I jumped when the phone buzzed again.
1 new voicemail
My hands felt sticky with sweat and my heart seemed to have lodged itself in my throat when I saw the message. Did I want to hear whatever Caleb had to say?
No, I really didn’t.
I was, however, a glutton for punishment. So I picked up the phone, tapped on the screen, and pressed play.
I brought the phone to my ear just as the message began.
“Gabrielle.” Caleb’s voice was thick with emotion, and after saying my name, a long pause drew out. “I’ve seen the news.” Another pause. “They want your head.” I heard him swallow. “The Politia is looking for you, but shit, so is every other creature out there.”
My hand shook as I listened.
“And … I heard about you and Andre. That he’s your soulmate.” He said it like it was a bad word. “Four months we’ve been friends. Worked together. You knew that entire time, didn’t you?” I could hear the betrayal and the hurt in his words. Perhaps Leanne wasn’t the only one with foresight because I knew this was coming.
He let out a hollow laugh. “Can’t say you didn’t warn me. I just … I feel like a fucking idiot …”
He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry. That’s not why I’m calling. Just … I hope you’re far away from the Politia and those that can hurt you. Don’t trust anyone.” He hesitated, then sighed. “Not even me.”
Chapter 3
I woke up to the sensation of fingers running through my hair.
“Mmm.” I stretched out lazily.
Rumbling laughter vibrated beneath me, and I opened my eyes.
Andre smiled from where he lay beneath me, and it crinkled the skin around his eyes. The hand that wasn’t playing with my hair encircled my waist.
Sometime while I’d been asleep, one of my own legs had slipped between his, and one of my arms was splayed possessively over his stomach.
… And judging from the damp spot on his chest, I might’ve been drooling on him.
Oh God, if the devil weren’t after me, I’d have gladly died from embarrassment.
I wiped my mouth—yep, I’d definitely slobbered on him—and began to push myself up.
Andre’s arm tightened. “Mmm, not so fast, soulmate.” His eyes closed. “Let me enjoy this for just a few moments more.”
Warmth pooled low in my stomach at his tone, reminding me of all those times we’d come so very close to getting intimate.
I lay back down against him, aware of the way our bodies lined up. He was all hard muscle against me, the body of a man raised on physical exertion.
Resting my chin on one of his pecs, I gazed up at his face, struck by the masculine beauty of his face. His strong, square jaw, high cheekbones, and those soft, sensual lips …
Andre’s eyes opened, and they had a mischievous twinkle in them.
“Penny for your thoughts,” I said.
He chuckled. “My thoughts aren’t nearly so cheap.” His thumb brushed against my lower lip. “I will, however, give one up for a kiss.”
My eyes moved to his mouth. Before I’d fully registered what I was doing, I’d already slid up his torso. Easiest tithe I’d ever paid.
I leaned down until my lips brushed his. The earth could’ve quaked and I wouldn’t have felt it over the electricity that passed through me where our mouths met. Never would I get over this. How a simple kiss could awaken me completely. It made me crave more.
His arms came up, encircling my waist. At first, he smiled into the kiss, smug that he got exactly what he’d wanted with so little persuasion. The smile soon fell away, however, and he groaned as my tongue teased his mouth, then found its way in.
Andre and I had been hurtling towards something for months, and lying in this bed, pressed so closely together and tasting one another, it seemed like it would happen today. This very moment.
Which is why I wrenched myself away from him. His arms released me reluctantly. Both of our fangs were out, and we were breathing hard—laughable when you really thought about it. Andre didn’t need air.
Andre’s eyes hungered for more, and I could almost see him considering dragging me back down into bed and resuming where we left off.
I stood, noticing how my skin glowed lightly, and walked to the window just to avoid looking at him. Otherwise I might just throw all care to the wind and resume our former activities.
A second later, Andre joined me. “It’s a rare and humbling moment when a teenage siren exerts more self-restraint than me.”
I smiled at that, though a bigger part of me regretted fleeing that bed.
He pulled back the curtain back so that we could stare out into the evening. Rain came down in torrents. Despite the storm, townspeople milled about, going about their normal lives. Right then I resented them for it. While they wondered what they’d eat for dinner, I was wondering if today would be the day I died.
“They haven’t found us yet.” I stated the obvious.
Andre drop
ped the curtain. All the affection he’d shared with me was now reined in. In it’s place, his eyes glittered with purpose … and a little malice.
“Let’s get going before we push our luck any more.”
Packing consisted of me shoving Cecilia’s note back into my pants and disabling our phones. I tried not to think of Caleb’s message as I did so. He’d warned me not trust him. I’d replayed the message over and over again, hearing every broken note to his voice, every poignant pause. And I’d relived his embarrassment over finding out that Andre and I were soulmates.
That particular vampire now studied me as I brushed my hands off and headed to the door.
“Penny for your thoughts?” Andre asked, throwing my earlier words back at me. I knew for a fact that if he could, he’d barge into my mind and pillage all my thoughts until he’d obtained every single one.
The punk.
“They’d cost you more than a penny—and more than a kiss.”
He raised a sculpted eyebrow at that and looked as though he didn’t mind paying whatever tithe I had in mind.
I snapped my fingers and pointed at him. “By the way, you never paid up.”
“Hmm?” he said, holding the door open for me.
I walked out into the hall. “This morning when you stared at me, what were you thinking about?”
“I stare at you a lot, love. You’re going to have to be more specific than that.”
I rolled my eyes. “I kissed you in return for your thoughts. What were they?”
“Ah.” Andre smirked like he was remembering something amusing. “Just how badly I wanted your lips on mine.”
And he’d gotten exactly that. Scoundrel.
Before we left I had to glamour the innkeeper to forget about us. For once I deeply appreciated the siren in me; her inclinations might fall on the wrong side of the law, but damn if she wasn’t helpful for getting out of a bind. She made being lawless easy.
Icy rain drizzled down on us as we left the small town on foot. I was chilled to the bone, and by the time we’d crossed the town, I was pretty sure I looked like Samara from The Ring.