Amaranthine (Willow Shadows Book 1) (15 page)

CHAPTER 13

Luke

W
hat does that little vixen have going through her head
?

Luke wondered to himself as he held Khalida in her arms. The last few hours had been a surprising turn of events that even he didn’t see coming.

She is most certainly up to something
.

Gently rubbing his hand up her arm, he tried searching one more time to get into her head, trying to find a small crack in her mind that would let him in.

Nothing. Why is she trying so hard to keep me out
?

Frustration started to settle. The harder he tried, the more he was pushed out. Realizing she was asleep, he forgot his frustration and focused on the fact that she
could
keep him out. For someone of his power going up against his stubborn but not fully transcended girlfriend, she should not be able to keep him out. He laid in awe realizing her mind power was going to be one her greatest powers. He could tell by her ability to block all his attempts she would indeed be a force to be reckoned with.

Oh, I pity the poor soul that crosses her path when she is pissed off.

Laying his arm on her chest, he took in the sight of her. She looked almost at peace, so beautiful. He knew he would never love anyone like he did her, and he vowed then to protect her at all costs.

How can I protect you when you won’t let me in, Khalida? Do you even know how important this is? Do you think of the bigger picture?

With Khalida keeping him out, he knew that she was hiding something big. Texting Razi, he had to prepare in case things went down.

Razi… has Vega said anything to you about Khalida?

Like what?

She’s keeping something from me.

No. I’ll see what I can find out.

Did you ever look into that Lacey girl?

Yea… I couldn’t find anything out on her.

What do you think she is? A witch?

Idk. Followed her since the dance. Doesn’t seem to be a threat.

Alright

I’m keeping my eyes on her, though. No worries.

Flipping his phone shut, he replayed everything in his mind, trying to figure out what this beautiful, yet difficult girl was trying to pull. The more he tried the more his head hurt. It could be possible with everything happening so fast she is just stressed out and exhausted but he quickly dissolved those thoughts.

No, she is keeping something from me and for the life of me I can’t figure it out. Why won’t she tell me what is going on? I think I need to invest in a room with padded walls to lock her little ass up in until she comes clean.

Laughing at his passing thoughts his frustration subsided, deciding to just play it out and see what happens. Trying to cover all of his bases he began to plot out plans for each scenario he could think of, falling asleep in the midst of his over-thinking mind.

CHAPTER 14

J
osephine sat at the end of the table going over the course of action for returning Fatin back to safety. Everyone offered their opinions while working out a strategy, chiming in on what do to once she was located according to their talents and expertise. Luke focused on his mother’s careful words as she gave orders to kill the Ubil’s demonic leader Braedon. Sitting intently and listening to the plan, Khalida knew Josephine was desperate to get her mother away from the cruel intentions that were no doubt flooded by her captors.

Luke sat rigid and tense, listening to the details pouring forth, forgetting the run in from just hours before. Khalida contemplated telling him about the meeting that was set to take place tomorrow night, but however badly she wanted to tell him her secret, she knew she couldn’t. She may have just signed her death warrant, but there was no way she was taking him with her. She loved him too much. He spent all his time fighting, trying to protect her, and she knew without a doubt that if she told him, he would fight to his death trying to save her.

Figuring out a way to get her mother out alive was going to be hard enough, even if it meant she had to take her mother’s place. As long as she got out and Luke wasn’t in harm’s way, she would find a way to somehow defeat the Ubil’s. Her mind was a million miles away, and reality hit her like a hardened blow. She realized she was planning thoughts in her mind. Quickly sweeping any thought that lingered in her head, she glanced towards Luke. Khalida had gotten careless and was unsure if she had kept her thoughts from him, but thankfully he was still deep in conversation with the others, not paying attention to her demising thoughts. She knew she had to be more careful. Luke was still fully aware, already suspecting something was going on, and knew she wasn’t being completely honest with him. If he found out what was really going on, not only would Khalida lose her mother she could surely lose him in the process of it all. To hell with her; she no longer cared what happened to her. She was tired of everyone around her getting hurt.

The group of people gathered around paid her no attention as she quietly stood up and walked out of the room. In the safe haven of her own room, her thoughts were pounding through her head urging her to let them come out. Consumed by fear, she knew she had only one chance to save her mother.

The facts were that Carey had been part of the Ubil Coven. He had been the one to find her mother, and he played it off so easily that Khalida could assume he killed her and left her for dead. Braedon let his intentions be known and that he had her mother.

Carey must of contacted the Ubil’s and informed them of my mother’s
whereabouts.

His help allowed Braedon the upper hand in capturing the woman Khalida held most dear to her heart. Any plan she could devise would help her only momentarily, but hopefully those few seconds would give her the opportunity to get them out of that house alive.

Distracted by the steps shuffling through the hallway, Khalida cleared her mind and went to the door. As she neared the door, her heart pounded against her chest, sending a chilling mixture of blood into a rapid frenzy coursing through her body.

Luke
.

Khalida opened the door to see Luke standing before her. One arm lifted above his head, resting it on the door entry way. He leaned towards her, his blue eyes sparkling, teasing her, pulling her body into his arms. Khalida’s body melted into his perfectly. His soft scent tickled her nose, arousing her other senses and causing need to seep through her hands as she gently grazed them over his perfectly formed chest that was hard to her touch. She couldn’t keep herself from running her finger tips over his muscled pecks; she placed her cheek along the lines that her fingers traced. Turning her head, she teasingly bit him.

“Ouch,” he laughed, rubbing his hand over the place she just nipped.

“Ummm, I won’t apologize for that either,” Khalida smiled slyly as he laughed.

“You always seem to amaze me. I love you,” he whispered softly in her ear as he pulled her closer to him, wrapping his strong arms around her shoulders.

“Vega told us what you did to protect her in the parking lot,” he cleared his throat, “you shouldn’t have put yourself in harm’s way like that,” he said. Just as Khalida went to protest, he cut her off, “However, if you will let me finish, Rude, I love that you put the people you love above yourself. You truly have a beautiful soul, Khally,” he sighed softly, placing his lips on her head and placing both of his arms around her body, holding her into him, causing a blazing fire to burn deep within her soul.

His protective caress swept through her body with a fierce loyalty that was only for Khalida. She was his. He knew it and so did she.

“Stop trying to get in mind, Luke! I can feel you trying to poke you’re nosey ass in,” Khalida snapped at him as he set of a look of surprise.

Regaining his cocky self confidence, the surprise quickly melted away, “I would be in somewhere else if you would let me,” he smirked at his snazzy quick comeback.

“Don’t be asking for things you can’t handle,” Khalida shot back just as smart as she could. With the laughter rolling from him, Khalida had succeeded in throwing him off track, again, though she knew it wouldn’t last forever. Luke was much too smart, and she needed to distract him for the next twenty four hours if her plan was going to stay a secret.

She ran her hand through the messy faux hawk hair style he was sporting; as he was gawking, she pulled back her hand from his hard gelled hair. He had apparently used an entire bottle of gel. Khalida laughed as Luke warned her under his breath, advising her not to touch his hair. He nipped at her neck just below her ear, sending a wave of heat to her core. She was hoping that would distract him for a good while. Sadness swept over her. She never wanted to keep anything away from him, again. She knew that when he realized her betrayal he would be livid.

“Keep this up and I just might have to take an advantage of you,” he tenderly ran his fingertips down her cheek, cupping her chin with his embrace, lingering only a breath away from Khalida’s mouth. Those blazing blue eyes searing through her were kindling a spark within her that hadn’t extinguished since the beginning. He took her breath away. Her composure was falling apart the closer he moved toward her.

“Luke?” Josephine said loudly from downstairs in the kitchen.

A sneer crossed his face as he let out a small sigh.

“She has her ways of interrupting at the exact wrong time,” Luke grunted as he let go of Khalida and straightened his posture.

“I love you,” Khalida spoke softly as he turned to go.

Stopping in his place, he turned back around rushing towards her for one more kiss before he went downstairs. “You steal my heart every time I look at you. I have to warn you though, I will not always be able to behave when it comes to you, Toot,” he replied, cockiness flowing through his veins.

“If it was anything like earlier, I’m already waiting for you,” Khalida said in the sexiest voice that she could speak before a snicker escaped her mouth.

“Go get some sleep. I have a feeling that this is going to take awhile,” Luke sighed, turning around and disappearing down the stairs.

Falling asleep would be a challenge with the heavy weight on her restless mind, but sometime after two in the morning, she found her eyelids heavy and her dreams calling her name.

Before dawn, Khalida was awakened by the soft shuffles of her bed moving as Luke carefully placed his arm around her. She wiggled back, snuggling closer to him, inhaling his scent, letting everything around her just be him.

“How are you holding up, Baby?” Luke whispered.

“I’m okay, you holding up okay?” Khalida tiredly replied, yawning through her mumbled words.

“I had a discussion with my mother about our conversation earlier.”

“Really? What did she say?” Khalida was awake now. “Is she upset?”

“What? No, Goofy, she’s happy about it. She agreed to keep everything on the down low until we decide the time is right. She also decided that since it’s not reasonable for us to move out and get our own place, she is going to have us one built down closer to the lake,” he kissed her just below her earlobe sending an instant and familiar stream of fluttering through her.

“Why is this land safe compared to anywhere else?”

“Old tales speak of witches that placed a spell on this land, planting magical willows on the four corners and through the land, protecting it from the evil of others. Whether that is true or not, I can’t say, but through the years it has proven to be our safe haven. They can’t step foot on this land without burning up in flames.”

“Witches are real?” she asked in shock.

“Umm, you’re a vampire, Cupcake. Are you really that surprised that witches exist?” he chuckled.

“Don’t you dare make fun of me!” she snapped back.

“Go back to sleep. We will discuss this later when it comes time.”

Khalida didn’t argue. She closed her eyes and quietly fell asleep in the comfort of Luke’s arms wrapped around her.