A Kiss of Ashen Twilight (Ashen Twilight Series #1) (18 page)

“I won’t let anything happen to you, Ariya,” he said softly. “None of us will. I’ve alerted the Patriarchs to keep watch.”

“How can you kill a creature you can’t see coming?” Ariya’s voice strained with the hint of fear for the answer.

Jace placed his hand on hers and smiled. “Maybe not see but I can makes use of my other senses.”

Just as he said these words, he tenderly caressed her skin with his thumb. She looked up at him and saw a look she hadn’t seen before, until now. Softness covered his face and his eyes warmed in invitation. He leaned in and she waited with the anticipation of his lips upon hers. His mouth was warm, inviting and enticing her to open and allow him entrance deeper into her. Ariya’s body tingled with desire for him. The sensitive area between her legs warmed, she trembled with each caress of his tongue against hers. He slowly moved in closer, wrapping his arms around her and urging her to lie back on the bed. She welcomed his body, finding comfort in the weight crushing down on hers.

“Jace, I—” Her mind fought against her body, tempted to give into the warmth he spread across her.

“Perhaps we can willingly bring him here to fight me, man to man,” Jace said nonchalantly. “So to speak.”

Ariya wasn’t sure if the anger he arose in her was from the mood breaking or his deception into making her think she was wanted by him in those few sweet moments. Either way, she felt rage boiling to the top and before she could calm herself, it escaped her. “This isn’t a game, Jace!”

“I understand that. I also understand that you have to care about someone before you lose them.” He climbed off the bed. “Which should make me pretty safe after all.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?”

Standing, he then turned and gave a little bow before heading to the dresser to retrieve a large comforter.

“I’ll take the couch in the living room while you rest here.” Jace walked to the bedroom door and placed his hand on the doorknob. “If you need me, I’ll be on a hunt.”

The door closed behind him and she saw the image in his mind; an anticipation for another feed on a beautiful woman he picked up somewhere off the streets. She sat on the bed with the kiss still lingering on her lips and mind. Despite her early words to remain far removed from Jace and his world, she couldn’t help feeling an absence in her heart once he left the room. Consequently, and for a moment, she wondered what it’d be like to be his.

* * * *

Ariya was in deep sleep when the door slowly creaked opened. Her conscious mind didn’t notice the figure in the room though his presence was strong enough to awaken her subconscious. She hovered between the two existences, trying to control the rise of temperature in her body.

“Ariya, don’t be afraid.” Jace’s voice was smooth, deep and inviting. A soft cloud of comfort filled every inch of the room. She stirred in her sleep. “It’s just me.”

Her eyes remained closed but she could still sense him across the room within the darkness.

Jace slowly removed his jacket, tossing it onto the floor. He watched her while he unbuttoned his white, long sleeved shirt, exposing the strong hard lines of his torso underneath. He moved toward her in long sleek steps with the grace of a cunning cat closing in on its prey.

Ariya smiled at the feel of him maneuvering onto her body. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him down in a kiss. Their mouths mated in a heated passion as his lips moved to claim hers. Their heavy breaths broke the silence of the room. His body writhed against hers and she felt his hand slip down to her thighs, slowly moving closer to the innermost part of her. His body was like liquid fire to her, igniting a passion that had long lay dormant within her. His fingers seemed to hold electricity within him and each touch sent a wave of pleasure throughout her body. He moved toward her warm center, his fingers teasing the opening, driving her to insanity. He broke from her and leaned to kiss her cheek before his lips gently caressed her ear.

“Do you want me, Ariya?” Jace’s voice was like that of soft bell chimes. “Do you want to give yourself over to me?”

Ariya thought of herself in that Shelly girl’s position. Although she couldn’t partake of his blood, she would take of his body and give into the feeling that haunted her since she laid eyes on him.

“Oh, Jace,” she said softly. “I want you.”

Just like she had seen before, Ariya reached down to Jace’s jeans and unzipped them. With bated breath and anticipation, she reached down only to find emptiness inside. Alarm bells ran off in her head. She forced herself to wake up and her eyes shot open. With a high pitched scream that broke the nearest glass, she raised her arms and forced all of her strength into a ball of energy sending Jace across the room. Just as his body slammed against the chest next to the wall, he disappeared. Still, the creature swirled in an invisible force field around the darkened room.

“Elements of battle hear my cry,” Ariya said with strong force of her voice. “Let the night defend me with a simply sigh.”

The words hung in the air like the wind itself. Ariya lifted her hand and gently blew a breath of air across her open palm. A swirl of air, thick and tangible, appeared over her hand. She felt the weight of the weapon in her grip and then it appeared right before her eyes. A long bright sword of fire in her open palm, illuminating the room. The force growled as it rushed toward her. Ariya swung her sword, hitting it and eliciting more growls in response. She raised the sword ready to strike again when it whooshed past her and wrapped itself around her neck. It pulled tighter, slowly cutting off her breathing. Then, as if pulled upward by invisible marionette strings, the force hauled her up toward the ceiling. Ariya tried to fight it off despite not being able to see the creature. She tried to call out to Jace, hoping he was still in the apartment.

Then, suddenly the door burst open and the dried candlesticks around the room illuminated with tiny flickers of flames. Jace raced into the room with his eyes glaring black and red. His sharp teeth exposed and growling with warning. He held his hands out at his sides extending his nails into strong sharp, long claws.

“Jace,” Ariya choked. “Help me!”

Jace launched himself up to the ceiling and landed on it as if it were the ground itself. He wrapped his body around Ariya and the elemental, with a strong force he yelled as he leaped backward onto the floor. Ariya fell away, choking as she recovered at the foot of the bed.

Jace coached himself to stay focused. Ariya would be all right, he assured himself, but this thing needed to be eliminated before it got out of hand. Raising an energy ball of power within him, he used all of his might wrapping his hands around the creature. With one throw, he tossed it toward the opposite side of the room toward the wall.

Ariya reached for the fallen sword of flames and hauled the blade toward the elemental. With another watery growl, the elemental collided against the wall and absorbed itself into a ball before disappearing.

Jace finally took a deep breath as he rushed to Ariya’s side.

“You all right?” he asked as he grabbed her.

She nodded slowly. “Yes, I’m fine. I could actually see it for awhile.”

“Yeah, so could I. Well, I imagine that’s our elemental?”

Ariya nodded again, exhaling slowly before speaking. “The very one.”

Jace smiled with an air of pride about him. “Well, I guess my little plan worked then.”

“Plan?” she said with a raised eyebrow.

“I thought it would feed off your energy, well—our energy if I made an advance toward you. Sort of a telepathic come on.”

“You mean that was your idea?”

“To imagine I was in here? Yeah. And apparently it worked.”

Ariya scoffed. “Yeah, like a charm.”

“It’s a good thing I got back when I did.” He turned his head to the side in thought. “Strange how it worked off my incubus vibes.”

Ariya whipped around to face him, completely unfazed by his rambling. “So you’re telling me you staged this whole thing on purpose?”

“Everything that led up to the attack, yes,” he said shrugging. “Don’t worry, I don’t plan on trying anything like that again with you.”

Ariya’s heart sank at the confession. She forced a smile, careful not to allow her thoughts to betray her. “Well, either way I guess we have a way to detect him. Shouldn’t we tell your uncle?”

“Good idea. I’ll call him now and let him know what to expect. You can hang tight here if you like. I’ll put some tea on for you, if you want.”

Ariya nodded. “Thanks, I’d appreciate that.”

Jace made it to the door before doing a 180 on his heels. “On second thought,” he said with a wide smile. “Why don’t we head out? I’m sure you’d probably like to relax a little. Maybe see some places other than these walls and that old haunted house.” “Are you sure that’s safe?”

He shrugged. “We won’t be out long. Besides, I need some fresh air myself. Let me make this phone call to Julian first while you get ready.”

Jace took his leave and in seconds Ariya heard him on the phone. As she looked around the empty bedroom trying to digest what just happened that night, she couldn’t help thinking about how much she wished his promise to stay away from her wouldn’t come true.

* * * *

Jace ignored the thought he shared with Ariya. He couldn’t afford to waste moments putting any of them in danger anymore. Instead, he focused on the ringing over the dial.

“Jace,” his Uncle’s voice was crystal clear on the other end.
Who needs caller ID when you’re a vampire,
he mused. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Ariya and I just had a run in with the elemental just now.”

“What happened?”

Jace sighed. “He almost killed her. I got in just in time and was able to see it. I think I have an idea how we can stop it, but I’m going to need all of us together. Would that be possible?”

Julian was silent. The tension was thick and if he had a beating heart, Jace was sure it would beat right out of his chest.

“I find it strange, Jace, that you align yourself with the council at this late hour. You were absent before.”

“Well maybe I learned my lesson.”

“Why? Do you suddenly care for this girl?”

Jace’s jaw flexed in anger. “That’s beside the point, Uncle.”

“Is it? Because I am half tempted to say
let it consume her
so that we may all return back to our normal lives.”

Jace’s blood was boiling by the end of the sentence. His hand gripped the phone so tight, he felt the plastic buckling underneath his grip. “You know what, Uncle? I used to think you were such a brave man all those years I was growing up, a man of great honor who fought so hard for his family and his people. All that has changed after what I now know. How can I look up to a man who left his own woman and unborn child with another man? Not fighting to keep them where they belong?”

On instinct he turned and threw the phone against the wall, shattering it into tiny useless pieces.

Ariya rushed out from the bedroom. She had already changed into a short dark red dress, a black leather jacket and black lace up knee high boots. Jace took full notice as he allowed his gaze to linger for a bit before he grabbed his coat. He ignored the incredulous look she gave him and headed for the front door.

“Come on, let’s get out of here.” Opening the door he entered the hall, thankful for the cool night air to calm his heated temper.

* * * *

The Torch Club was located near the high class district of Northern Phoenix, tucked behind a bustling freeway still active at midnight. At the door of the club, Jace and Ariya bypassed a massive looking man who, even in his current form, shared the coarse trait like that of a wolf with small gold eyes. He recognized Jace and let them in right away.