Awakened (Vampire Awakenings) (26 page)

She sat silently for a moment as she tried to gather the courage for her next question. It was something that had been nagging at her all day. Finally deciding that the best way to ask was to just say it, she turned back to him. “Do you think he might stay with her?” she whispered.

Mike blinked in surprise; her deep fear finally seemed to penetrate through to him as he sat in the snow next to her. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah.”

“No Sera, he will not stay with her. He’s more than likely going to kill her if he finds her.”

“But she said that she was stronger than him.”

He sighed as he ran a hand through his tangled hair. “She knows more about her powers, and she’s more adept at using them than we are, but he will kill her.”

“He seemed so unhappy when he left this morning,” she whispered forlornly.

Mike titled her chin up with his finger. “Trust me, he will be back. I’ve known Liam my entire life, and I’ve never seen him as happy as he is with you, or as possessive. He would walk through hell to get back here for you, okay?”

She gnawed on her lower lip as she nodded. David burst out of the woods beside them. He was panting as he glowered at them. “Are you two trying to freeze to death!? Get out of the freaking snow!”

Mike laughed and laid back. “I don’t know, I think Sera’s got the right idea. That cabin was driving me crazy too. The angry estrogen level was getting a little too high.”

“Hey!” She punched him in the arm as he grinned up at her.

“You two have lost it,” David muttered. “This shit sucks! I should know I’ve been stuck in it for hours!”

“It’s worse in there,” Mike said. “Trust me.”

“Yeah,” Sera agreed. “I don’t want to go back.”

“You two are going to freeze to death out here, and then Liam is going to kill Doug and I.”

“Oh, stop bitching,” she said. “I’ll freeze to death, not you, you don’t die.”

David gaped at her as Mike burst out laughing. “She’s got you there!” Mike cried.

Sera laughed and picked up a handful of snow to throw at him. She caught him square in the face, stopping his laughter in mid tirade. He blinked in surprise for a moment then grabbed a handful of snow. She cried out in fear and tried to scramble away, but it was too late, he grabbed the back of her shirt, and shoved snow down her sweater. She squealed as a freezing tremor wracked through her. She jumped on him and wildly began tossing and throwing snow.

“Children!” David yelled.

Sera stopped attacking Mike, and lay for a moment as she panted heavily. “I say we get him,” she whispered.

Mike grinned at her, and they both hopped up. David blinked in surprise as they darted at him, but he didn’t have enough time to get out of the way before Mike knocked him into the snow. Sera grabbed handfuls of snow as she charged forward to help Mike. They rolled around, shoving snow at each other as they squealed and laughed away some of their tension.

“What the hell are you doing!?” Liam roared.

They all froze, snow fell from their hands as they stared guilty at one another, and then at him. Liam and Jack stood a few feet from them. Sera’s delight at seeing him vanished in the face of his obvious wrath. Jack looked extremely uncomfortable as he glanced at the three of them, and then at Liam. He took a small step away from Liam. Liam’s eyes blazed with fury as they landed on Mike’s hand upon her arm. Mike instantly released her.

“I told you to watch her!” he snapped at Mike.

Mike ran a hand through his wet hair. “I am watching her.”

“Hey, I do have a mind of my own! I’m not a child!” Sera yelled indignantly.

“You’re acting like one!”

Sera blinked in surprise as her mouth dropped open. She knew that he was angry, and she supposed he had a right to be, but he was the one that had left her alone all day. And now that she was finally having fun, she was not about to stop just because he was mad. “Really?” She climbed to her feet, and brushed the snow off of her. David and Mike shuffled nervously behind her.

“Yes, really.”

“That’s good to know.”

She gathered the snow from her clothes and threw it at him. “What are you doing?” he demanded.

“Being a child.”

She ran at him, and flung herself forward. The force of her small impact was enough to knock him into the snow. He cried out in surprise as she shoved snow into his face. Then, he started to laugh as he rolled her over, and pinned her down. She grinned up at him. His hair was now white, and wet, as it hung around his magnificent face. His eyes lit with desire and her body immediately arched into his. For a moment she forgot about everyone else as she gazed at him.

“Get him!” Mike yelled.

They were suddenly on top of them, throwing and tossing snow, screaming and yelling happily. Liam rolled off of her as he tried to fend them off. She was instantly on her feet and joining in the foray.

Ten minutes later they lay spent, and panting. Sera stared up at the stars, happy, tired, and freezing. Snow clung to her clothes and skin. Her feet and hands were numb, but she didn’t want to move. She didn’t want to go back into that cabin to face Danielle and Kathleen.

“Come on,” Liam said as he extended a hand to her.

“Do we have too?” she asked softly.

“You’ll freeze to death.”

“I’m thinking I might prefer it.”

He smiled down at her as he seized her outstretched hand. “I’ll give you a piggyback,” he offered.

She wrapped her numb, wet legs around him as she tightened her arms around his neck. He carried her through the woods, moving with a swiftness that startled, and enthralled her. She nuzzled her face against his neck as she sought his warmth and strength. His hands tightened upon her legs as he sent her a soft, loving smile. She kissed his cheek quickly and rested her head upon his shoulder. “I love you,” she whispered.

“I love you too.” Her smile was so soft and angelic that it melted his heart. He forced himself to look away from her before he was completely lost. “How you been?” he asked David.

“Cold and she seems to enjoy keeping me that way.”

Sera laughed softly as she nestled closer to Liam. “Did you find Beth?” Mike asked.

Liam’s hands tightened on her calves. “No, she wasn’t there. She was at one point in time though; she left enough signs of that. We looked for her, but she seems to be gone, for now anyway.”

“Wonderful.”

They moved out of the forest, and Sera lifted her head to look at the cabin. It looked so peaceful, but she knew how much looks could be deceiving. “Well guys,” Jack said. “Here goes all hell.”

“Yeah,” Liam muttered.

“It’ll be okay,” she said softly.

He squeezed her hand gently, and David opened the door. “Have you decided what we’re going to do?”

“No,” Mike answered. “We’ll decide that now.”

“Why don’t you go join them,” Liam suggested as he set Sera down. “We’ll be right there.” She stared at him for a moment before nodding and leaving the porch. “Sera!” she turned to him, a puzzled look on her face. “Stay here.”

“Liam,” David said quietly.

“She stays.”

She had been out of his sight all day, and it had eaten him up. He had done nothing but think of her. He knew that she probably shouldn’t be here now, but the minute that she had turned to leave he had realized that he didn’t want her out of his sight, not anymore. He didn’t know what was going on inside of him, but he did know that it was getting stronger, and it was getting worse. For a moment, when he had come across them in the snow, he had almost attacked David and Mike. It had only been the fact that she was present, and might get hurt, that had halted him. He had never even gotten into a fistfight with any of them, but for a moment he’d felt the insane urge to kill them both when he’d seen them with her.

“She is part of what we need to talk about.” David took a step back as Liam glared at him. “It’s not what you’re thinking,” he added quickly.

“If it concerns her, than she stays,” Liam insisted.

“She may not want to hear what I have to say. You may not want to hear it. I’m telling you Liam, let her go.”

He glanced at Sera standing just outside the doorway. He turned back to David and shook his head. “I can’t.”

David sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. “Fine, but just remember that I warned you. Can we talk in here?”

“I don’t want to be too far away from Kathleen and Danielle, just in case. But they shouldn’t be able to hear us.”

“I can go if you want me too,” Sera said softly.

“No,” Liam said sharply.

Her eyes widened, but she didn’t say anything as he walked over and pulled her into his arms. Leaning against the counter, he braced her between his legs and relished in the refreshing, sweet scent of her hair. His body quickened and hardened as he heard the blood rushing through her veins. He could smell himself inside of her. That realization caused his mouth to water and the beast to surge forth again. His hands clenched upon her as he closed his eyes in an attempt to keep the demon at bay.

“So what do we tell them?” Mike asked. “Do you think they could handle the truth?”

“I don’t know,” Sera answered softly. “I didn’t handle it too well and I love Liam.”

“We can’t tell them the truth,” Jack said.

“Do you have another idea? Because I know I’ve been wracking my brain for hours, and I can’t think of one,” Mike said.

“Can we force them to accept another truth?”

Sera inhaled sharply. Behind her Liam stiffened. “You can’t do that!” she cried.

“It may be the only way,” Doug said softly. “It will be harder since so much time has elapsed, and they’re not drunk, but with all of us we should be able to do it.”

“There has to be another way.”

“Sera, there may not be.”

Liam’s breath was warm against her neck. It sent shivers down her spine at the same time that tears sprang to her eyes. She turned quickly to him. “Liam please,” she pleaded. “I don’t want to see them hurt.”

He clasped her face in his hands and held her gently. “It won’t hurt them. They won’t even know what happened.”

“And if Beth comes back and tries to harm them?”

The tears in her eyes, and the quiver in her voice, tore at his heart. He didn’t want to see her hurt, didn’t want to hurt her, but telling Danielle and Kathleen the truth only placed all of them in more danger. This was for the best, and she had to realize that.

“We will keep them safe Sera,” he vowed.

Tears slid down her cheeks as she stared at him with melancholy eyes. He gently wiped the tears away with his thumbs. “Promise?” she breathed.

“Yes, I promise. We all promise, right?”

“Yes,” they answered quickly.

“It really won’t hurt them? Are you sure?”

“I am absolutely positive.”

Sera’s lip trembled as her head fell forward and tears spilled down her cheeks to wet his hands. He pulled her tightly against him as she cried silently into his shirt. He closed his eyes against the anguish that filled him. “Go do it,” he ordered in a hoarse voice.

Sera trembled fiercely. It took all he had to keep her standing. “We need to talk about something else first,” David said.

Liam’s eyes flared as he ground his teeth. “I think it can wait!” he hissed.

David’s gaze darted down to Sera and then back to him. “No Liam, it can’t.”

“David,” Mike warned softly.

“Mike, this cannot wait. You’re losing it aren’t you? Losing control of yourself? Losing control of your ability to keep the demon at bay?” His gaze was intent on Liam.

Liam stared fiercely back at him. “Yes.”

David nodded as he ran his hand through his wet hair. “I thought so.”

Sera pulled away and tilted her head back to stare at him. His jaw was set and hard, and his eyes were gleaming dangerously as his nostrils flared. “Liam?” she asked questioningly.

He glanced quickly down at her before looking away, but she had already seen the torment in his eyes. Her hands tightened upon his shirt. She had known that he was struggling with himself, that he was struggling with her, but she hadn’t realized how bad it was until this moment. She had pushed him yesterday; she had completely ignored his need to get away from her, in her own need to be close to him. She was doing this to him. She felt like the most horrible person in the world.

She took a step away from him, but he seized hold of her waist and pulled her back. “No,” he hissed so softly that she knew no one else had heard him.

“But...”

“I said no!” his eyes flamed with fire as his jaw clenched.

“But it’s because of me!” she protested as she squirmed to get out his embrace. His hands clenched upon her. She winced in response and he immediately eased his grip. “It is, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” It was David that answered her. Sera stopped struggling as she turned to look at him. David’s eyes were hard upon hers, before he looked at Liam. “You’ve tasted her?” Liam nodded sharply. “And she has tasted you?”