Bitten by Darkness (16 page)

“What are
you doing? Are you insane?” Sienna's mom yelled from the back.

“Mom,
just get down, for God's sake. Can't you see that Jasper isn't the bad guy
here? What's wrong with you?”

“I think
she was mesmerized,” Jasper said, making another turn onto a thinner road. The
building where Sienna worked was set on the outskirts of the city and the rural
back roads could be confusing if you didn't know your way around.

“Mesmerized?
Are you kidding me? That sounds like something out of a cheesy sci-fi movie,”
Sienna said, voice incredulous.

“I told
you the monsters had power,” he hedged. He hoped she'd forgotten a few of the
details of what he'd said last night. He glanced in the mirror. The cars were
gone, thankfully. He eased off the speed and took the exit for the highway. He
was taking them all home, whether they liked it or not. It was the safest
place.

“You told
me they had power, but you didn't mention anything about hocus-pocus mind
voodoo.” Sienna shifted in her seat to look at him.

He didn't
glance over. He knew what he would see on her face.

“Also,
that creature didn't act insane. How does he have the power to mind-fuck my
mother?”

Jasper
sighed, checking the mirrors.
Nothing.
He almost hoped
their pursuers would find them so he could avoid her questions. “The older one
gets,
the more power one amasses.”

He could
feel the weight of her stare, even in the dark. “How old are you Jasper?”

He
flinched. He couldn't help it. Savagely, he checked the mirrors again,
wondering how to answer.

“Yeah,
I'm asking. You're a
helluva
lot more than a couple
hundred years old,” she said, voice quiet.

He didn't
know what Sara had done in the back to get Sienna's mother to calm down, but he
suspected it had something to do with a helpful pill or two. Sienna prodded him
with her finger.

He
sighed. “I'm about five-hundred years old. Give or take a few decades.” He
heard her gasp.

“Seriously?”

He
nodded, tension knotting his muscles. “I'm sorry.”

She
huffed. “You seem to be saying that a lot.” After a minute of silence, she
asked him the question he'd dreaded. “Were you lying? When you said you hadn't
influenced me last night?”

“No,” he
said, suddenly angry. “I wouldn't do that. I'm not a monster.” He glared at her
briefly before turning his eyes back to the road.

“But you
could.”

It wasn't
a question but he answered anyway.
“Yeah.”
He frowned.
“Actually, no.
I don't think I can, not anymore, not
to you.” He glanced at her, not really expecting much, but her face wasn't as
upset as he thought it would be. “Not after last night.”

She was
chewing her lip. Jasper had to force himself to pay attention to his driving.

“You
could do it to my mother, though, right?”

He
nodded.

“What
about Sara?”

“I don't
know.” He wished she would stop, but knew that was a cowardly way to think.

“No, you
couldn't,” Sara said from behind them. “Ambrose tried it, to see if I was
vulnerable that way after we were married. It didn't work. It would take blood
enslavement to influence me.” Her voice had gone soft.

Sienna
sighed and tipped her head back against the seat. “Maybe you should do it to my
mom. That would solve all my boyfriend problems.” She waved her hands in a
complicated looking gesture that he figured was supposed to signify
mind-whammy.

He
laughed, all the apprehension draining out of him at once. “Yeah, I could. But
I wouldn't do that.” He kept chuckling.

Sienna
hmpf'd
. “What good are you then?” she asked, wrinkling her
nose.

He
grinned. “I think you know the answer to that,” he said, trying to put all he
felt from last night into his voice. He must have succeeded because she flushed
and shifted in her seat again.

“Watch
out!” Sara yelled.

Jasper
cursed and swerved.

“Holy
shit, is that what I think it is?” Sienna said, grabbing onto the bar on the
dashboard.
“A freaking spaceship?
You've got to be
kidding me.”

Jasper
wanted to laugh at her outrage, but he was too busy trying to avoid the
projectiles the ship hurled at them. They hit the ground and sparked like
miniature fireworks. He swerved again then took the next exit. He hoped the
tree cover would help. Leaves shredded next to them as he hung onto the wheel,
taking the curve recklessly fast. He hoped they didn’t set the woods on fire.

“How can
he send a stupid spaceship after us? People are going to notice!” Sienna was
ranting and Jasper couldn't help it, he smiled. She was adorable.

“Are you
laughing at me? You'd better not be laughing at me, Jasper.” Sienna poked him
as he yanked on the wheel again. The tree cover thinned and the ship was
suddenly in front of them. In the back seat, Sienna’s mother was trying to
unlock the door, why he couldn’t imagine. Did she want to jump out?

“Shit,”
he said, spinning the car and stomping on the gas. He sped back the way they
came, eyeing it in the mirror. It hovered for a moment,
then
flew closer.

“Mom,
just settle down. It's going to be okay, I promise,” Sienna was twisted around,
trying to get her mother to sit back down.

Jasper
lost whatever humor he'd found in the situation. “Sienna, sit the hell down.”

“Just a minute.
I've
gotta
get my mom buckled
back up.” She climbed over the seat, ignoring his curses.

“Sara, I
know you gave her something, but clearly it's not working.”

Sienna
was sitting on her mother now and Jasper ground his teeth, hoping to God she
wouldn't get hurt. He swerved again, driving on the edge of the road to get
under a tree. The ship flew into the branches, the wood scraping at the metal.
He stomped on the gas again. This wasn't going to work.

“Okay,
give her another. If she falls asleep, that's fine.” Sienna was holding her
mom's hands while Sara fumbled a pill into the woman's mouth.

“Come on,
just swallow it. You'll feel better,” Sara coaxed.

Jasper
wanted to hit something.
Hard.
Preferably
the spaceship.

“Sienna,
strap yourself in.” He hoped she heard him because the ship was coming down in
front of them. He didn't swerve this time.

“Oh hell.”

Her voice
went thin. He forced himself to ignore it as he headed right for the ship.
Projectiles sprayed the front of the car, shattering the windshield. At the
last moment, it jerked up and he rammed the underside, sending it spinning into
the trees. He hung onto the wheel as the SUV careened out of control for a
moment, then he wrestled it back onto the road. He didn't look behind him. The
ship wasn't down, but he thought there was a chance they could hide and get
back to the house. He pressed the accelerator gently, as if to make up for the
insanity of the past ten minutes.

“Jesus.
How are we still alive?” Sienna climbed back over the front seat. She made a
face at the glass on the soft leather, then brushed it to the floor and buckled
herself in.

“Are you
okay?” he asked softly.

“Yeah,
I'm fine. Just a little bruised.”

He
grimaced, hating himself. “I'm sorry.”

She
laughed and the sound wasn't angry at all. “You keep saying that. You'll just
have to make it up to me,” she said lightly.

“I will,”
he promised, risking another look. Her hair was disheveled and she had a smudge
of something on her cheek, but her eyes sparkled. A pulse of heat, arousal, and
something more, shot through him and he realized that he loved her. A bolt of
fear shot through him and he snapped his head back toward the road. What had he
done? He tried to feel sorry about biting her, but it didn't work. His stomach
flipped over as she checked the mirrors again. Everything was different now. A
weird sort of contentment lodged against his ribs, somewhere near his heart.

“Jasper?
You okay?” she asked.

He
nodded.
“Fine.”
His gut rolled at the lie.

She ran a
hand over her face, taking him at his word. Obviously she had no idea he'd just
had the entire world upended inside his head and heart.

“So, they
sent a spaceship after us. Since when is my life a really bad B-movie?” she
asked.

He smiled
despite himself. Her sense of resilience was amazing. “I guess you're just
lucky that way.”

“I'd
rather not be that kind of lucky,” she sniffed.

“Me too,”
Sara said from the back. “I could've seriously gone another hundred years
without seeing
Alucard
again.”

Jasper
frowned and took the next right turn. They weren't far from the house,
thankfully. “You know of him?”

“You
think I wouldn't know the person who killed my husband?” Sara sounded angry.

“No, it's
not that,” he said, trying to explain. “I didn't know you'd ever met him. The
day he came for Ambrose and me, you were already gone.”

She was
silent for a long while. Sienna tossed him a questioning look, but he shook his
head at her, mind working furiously. Something had been off with Sara from the
moment he’d met her again. And he didn’t like being in the dark. It wasn't
until he'd pulled up on the side of the house that Sara responded.

“I met
him on
Dekcol
.”

Ten
minutes later they'd settled Sienna's mother in one of the guest rooms. He
hated to think of how she'd react when she woke up, but for now, she was
resting peacefully. He watched Sienna smooth a hand down her arm before
straightening her shoulders. She quietly walked out of the room and shrugged when
she saw him in the hall.

“I think
she'll be okay,” she said, voice low. “She was like this right after my
father—may he rot in hell forever—
took
off.”

“I'm
sorry,” Jasper said.

Sienna
flashed him a smile. “I know. You’ve said, multiple times.”

He had to
smile at the exasperation in her voice. “Sara's in the kitchen.” He let her
precede him down the stairs.

“So, you
didn't know she'd gone to your home planet?” Sienna asked.

He paused
on the stairs, fighting back the anger that welled up again. “No.”

“You're
pissed.” She ran a hand down the polished wood railing.

He wished
her hand was on him instead of the wood. Jasper remembered fucking her up
against that railing, on these very steps and felt his cock stir. He remembered
the sounds she'd made. Ruthlessly, he squashed the memory. Now was not the
time. “Yes, I'm angry. I didn't know Ambrose ever took her to
Dekcol
.” He glared at the railing and started down again.
“And
Dekcol
hasn't been my home planet in centuries,
even when I had to live there. Earth is my home.”

Sienna's
face twisted in what looked like sympathy overlaid with exasperation, but she
didn't say anything. Jasper was grateful. When they reached the kitchen, they
found Sara sipping some tea.

“You
bought tea?” Sienna asked him curiously. She walked over to the table.

“I
thought you would like it.”

She
smiled at him. “I do.”

“You
should have some then,” he said, watching her run a finger along the back of a
chair. He swallowed. Those fingers had been on his cock just a few hours ago.
He looked away, out the window. No moon tonight. When he looked back at Sienna,
she was ripping apart the paper holding a tea sachet. Sara handed her the
kettle and Sienna poured water into her mug. Jasper let the ordinary motions
soothe him a bit. He didn't drink tea, but he remembered Sara preparing it for
his brother. Ambrose couldn't drink a lot of it, and Jasper had always felt
uneasy with his brother's attempts to become more human for his mate. Abruptly
his mood darkened. He would never let Sienna turn him into something less than
he was. He hoped she didn't ask that of him.

“When did
you go to
Dekcol
?” he asked Sara. He wanted answers
and didn't really feel like dancing around the question.

Sara's
face went still,
then
she grimaced, putting her mug on
the table. “I assume you have some way of keeping us safe here?”

He
frowned. “Answer the question, Sara.”

Sienna
looked from him to Sara, but he didn't let her obvious worry distract him. When
she perched on a stool closer to him than Sara, he had to tamp down a fierce
surge of happiness. She chose him, again, and he wanted to grab her and kiss
her, damn the consequences.

Sara's
sigh brought his attention back to her. “Ambrose took me there to meet your
father. We didn't stay long.”