Dark Guardian (35 page)

At once Lucian's entire attention centered on her. He bent his dark hair over her blond, one arm curving around her small waist. "You are my life, the only one who matters to me. I can live without the wolves. I can live without my people and outside my homeland, but I cannot live without you. This was our decision together. We are not leaving our home for all time, rather taking a small working vacation. The wolves would be uneasy outside their natural environment without me. If someone else should try to poison them and I was not here to advise them properly, some of the young ones might eat the tainted meat."

Her dark brown gaze moved over his face. "Those men fed the wolves poison?"

He tugged at her hand to get her walking beside him toward the long white limousine. "Actually, yes, they did."

Antonio handed her into the car. She smiled up at him rather absently, turning over the information in her mind. "And you let them go? That doesn't sound like you. Where are we going? We aren't taking this monstrosity wherever we're going, are we? I own a little car. It gets great mileage," she added hopefully.

Lucian leaned toward her and whispered softly in her ear. "We do not need a car when we leave, angel. We are simply drawing attention to ourselves for the moment."

A small smile found its way to her mouth. "This car definitely draws attention."

"Is that not the idea? Tyler Drake will know we are leaving. That is imperative. And the undead must be aware of our every move."

"But are we actually taking this limo all the way to our destination, which, by the way, I haven't been told? Do you even know it for certain?"

The car was moving with silent swiftness through the streets toward the police station. "I own property up on the border between Washington and Canada. We will be able to set up housekeeping there with no problem."

Jaxon shook her head but refrained from pointing out that she had misgivings about being in the wilderness with Tyler Drake hunting them. They had already discussed it. She knew Lucian believed Drake would be easily handled, but he didn't realize the extent of Drake's training. Tyler Drake was human, but he was an extraordinary human. And the only thing that now mattered to Drake was likely killing Lucian. It would be impossible in hand-to-hand combat, but not from a distance. She believed Drake capable of killing from a very long distance—much longer than Lucian might suppose. Drake was an excellent shot and equally adept at making remote-controlled bombs.

Jaxon turned her face away from Lucian to stare out the window at the passing streets. Even in the night the sidewalks were alive with people. She was familiar with the patterns of their lives. The ebb and flow of crime according to time, weather, and month had always been her focus, her life. Now she felt out of sync with that world she had known. She could hear things she had never heard before, a barrage of sounds from insect chirps to whispered conversations. Sometimes the assault on her ears was almost more than she could bear before she remembered how to turn down the volume. She was aware of things she had never noticed before. Textures. Colors. Little everyday things like the brush of hair against her cheek. Hearts beating. The rush of blood in veins. The bark on trees. The way the wind blew through foliage.

There was a growing restlessness in her that she had never experienced. A wild, untamed spirit that seemed to be spreading, demanding more from her, demanding things she had no knowledge of. She had known the night as a time when many crimes occurred under the cover of darkness, yet now it called to her seductively, whispered to her continually.
Embrace me. Embrace me
. She belonged in the night. It enfolded her within its darkness as in the softest of blankets. The stars overhead were like glittering diamonds, a kaleidoscope of amazing beauty.

The car pulled into the police station parking lot, and Antonio courteously opened the door for them. Feeling embarrassed and hoping none of her friends would see her, Jaxon hastily slid out of the limo.

Lucian caught her hand, preventing her from surging ahead of him. "Follow my lead, angel. This is where we spread rumors so that those we want to trail us will do so."

She nodded and walked with him into the station. As always, Lucian commanded immediate attention. She didn't think he was manipulating anyone; it was simply the way he carried himself. Tall and straight with complete confidence. Dark and dangerous. Mysterious. Old World. Gothic, even. A dark lord or prince. He automatically commanded respect. Even the captain came out of his office immediately, hand extended. To Lucian. Not to her. She shook her head and allowed the conversation to flow around her. She even spaced out a bit until she heard the word
marriage
. At once she blinked to bring the two men into focus.

To her horror, Lucian was telling Captain Smith that they had married quietly and he was now taking her away. He admitted they were hoping Drake would follow them and thus any copycats would be headed off before they could strike. The official version would be that they had gone off for a seclused honeymoon. The captain was to drop it around the station house that they had headed to Lucian's hideaway along the border. The captain actually hugged her while he murmured his congratulations and admonishments to be careful. Jaxon had the odd feeling she was living in a fantasy world, a Dorothy in Oz effect.

We aren't married
. She said it firmly because it was the one thing she knew absolutely to be true.

Of course we are. What do you think lifemates are
? He refuted her testimony with the causal finesse of a swordsman.

We aren't married
, she repeated stubbornly. This time she flashed him a warning with her dark eyes.

He grinned at her, a mischievous, little-boy, all-too-sexy grin that instantly melted her heart.
I recall the ritual ceremony in vivid detail. If you do not, I will be happy to repeat it. The ritual is binding in every way
.

She lifted her chin at him as they reentered the limousine. "For you, maybe, but I'm human, remember? I get married. That's the way
we
do things."

"You wish, maybe, but reality is an altogether different thing." He sounded very male, very smug.

Jaxon sat beside him in silence, smoldering. It wasn't that she was angling for a wedding ring. Or a wedding. It was the idea that he was always right that was so galling.
Thought
, she reminded herself. He
thought
he was always right. Officially, they were not married, so that made her technically right. She relaxed, feeling rather smug herself. Let him think she was wrong.

You are very much married to me, Jaxon. Make no mistake about it
. A little thread of iron ran through the soft velvet of his voice, as if he thought she was considering jumping ship and hotfooting it away from him.

Deliberately Jaxon shrugged carelessly. "Think whatever you like, Lucian. Obviously we aren't going to come to any agreement on this issue. What are we doing now?"

"We are ensuring we have made enough of a spectacle of ourselves that everyone in town has seen us or heard of our departure. And because you are so adamant, we will leave a paper trail as well."

"What does that mean?" She was suddenly suspicious of his soft, melting voice. He sounded too pure and beautiful. He just had to be up to no good.

"Carpathians leave as few paper trails behind as possible. Things like passports have a way of turning up as incriminating evidence a few hundred years later. Now, with computers, it is even easier to find oneself trapped in a maze of paperwork. We do not like to create documents unless they are for property or money or businesses we continually leave to ourselves upon our timely'deaths.' It is one of the reasons we travel often from continent to continent if we are not in our homeland. People find it impossible to identify us as other than our own sires, perhaps, fifty or sixty years later."

She laughed softly. "I guess I deserved that answer. I just had to ask. What are you doing now?"

"Marrying you in the way of your people. There is a man who can do so, a judge I know, and he will arrange the necessary paperwork. Money and influence work wonders even at this time of night. Of course he will be understanding, with so many crimes happening so quickly around us. The news can be leaked to the papers tomorrow, which will further our cause."

Her eyelashes swept down to conceal her expression. "I hope you're kidding."

The long white limousine was already parked at the curb as if Antonio had received his orders and was waiting. She sat back against the leather seat, her face hidden in the shadows. Lucian touched her cheek with gentle fingertips. "This ceremony means much to you." He made it a statement.

"Not really." Jaxon tried to be as casual as he had been. So what if, like nearly every girl in the world, she'd dreamed of a white wedding dress and a church filled with family and friends? Her family was dead, and most of her friends were going that way also. Any guests attending her wedding would be taking their lives in their hands, just as the man who performed the ceremony would be. She was already shaking her head. "I don't want to do this. Drake would retaliate before he followed us."

Lucian studied her averted profile for a moment before nodding his agreement. At once the car slid back into traffic and headed for their home. She was correct. Tyler Drake would indeed perceive anyone who helped with their marriage ceremony as a threat to his fantasy world. Lucian let his breath out slowly. There were many things in Jaxon's memories he didn't fully understand. A human ceremony to him did not have the same beauty and completeness about it that the Carpathian one held, yet he could not put her longing out of his mind. Someday, he vowed, she would have her ceremony in a church, surrounded by friends and family, just like the picture he had caught in her mind. For now, all he could do was pull her close to his warmth and hold her in his arms.

In their house he left behind a rough, partial map of his property deep within the Cascade Mountains, along with three black-and-white photographs of the old ornate hunting lodge he had purchased. Prominently displayed was a note written in his flourishing handwriting. An analyst would have said it was Old World, bold, and the writer a dominating male with complete confidence in himself. The note was allegedly to Antonio, detailing instructions on the care and management of the estate in Lucian's absence. Antonio was quite familiar with his instructions.

Lucian caught Jaxon's hand and led her to the privacy of the enclosed backyard. "Are you ready? We must leave soon if we intend to travel this night."

Her eyes were suddenly wary. She had been far too quiet during his preparations, not once asking him anything. Her silence worried him far more than her questions would have.

"I don't know why, Lucian, but I'm getting the distinct impression we aren't taking the limousine after all."

"No, we travel much faster and more safely on our own. Antonio will pull the car out of the driveway and head toward the airport while we take off."

"And we're going to…" She trailed off, looking at him expectantly.

"Fly." He said it softly.

Jaxon swallowed the lump that was suddenly blocking her throat. Somehow she had known. Somewhere along the line she had realized they wouldn't be boarding an airplane or driving through the state in the white limousine. She wasn't certain what had tipped her off; perhaps simply being able to read Lucian's mind. Maybe she was sharing his mind more often than she was aware.

She realized she was twisting her fingers together nervously and immediately put both hands behind her back. He thought she could do this. He
expected
her to do it. He was treating the idea of flying as an everyday occurrence. "Like superman?" Her attempt at a smile fell flat.

"Not exactly. Clouds are moving in—a perfect cover. I will help you dissolve into mist, and we'll use the drafts to move through the air."

Her heart slammed hard in her chest. Her teeth bit more deeply into her lower lip. "Mist sounds a bit difficult to start with. Why don't we try something easier?'

"Such as?" Lucian prompted gently.

"We can use our feet. You know, just start walking down the highway and stick our thumbs out." Again she attempted a smile. But the rapid beating of her heart betrayed her.

"Look at me, angel." He turned the full force of his black eyes on her. "You trust me. You know you do. I would never ask you to do anything you could not do. You are very capable of doing this."

She was nodding, aware he was right, but at the same time, the thought of her body dissolving into drops of mist was terrifying. "Couldn't I try something else first? Something easier?" Her fingers twisted together nervously, but she stood resolutely.

Lucian hesitated. Mist would be easy to move quickly through time and space, streamlined, fast, unseen by even the undead in the dark of night. "Mist takes the same amount of energy to create as shape-shifting into owls or birds of prey with tremendous wingspans. It is essentially the same."

"How can our bodies be squeezed into the tiny little body of a bird?" Her voice was trembling. She heard it but could do nothing about it. No matter how much she wanted to accept this, she was finding the idea terrifying.

Lucian swept his arms around her. "I can help you, Jaxon. Will you trust me to do that for you? I can make the acceptance easier."

Her first reaction was to shake her head firmly, her teeth grinding so hard on her lip that a small bead of blood appeared. The idea of someone else controlling her was not to her liking, but when she made herself take a breath, she felt differently. This was a part of her life now. Like it or not, she was no longer human. She was Carpathian. There was no going back, only going forward. She had to learn to do this somehow. And she was not going to be able to control every situation.

Lucian watched as she gnawed nervously at her lower lip. The sight was enough to tear at his heartstrings. His palm slid around the nape of her neck, his fingers sliding over her skin, her pulse. Of their own accord his fingertips stroked her blond hair soothingly. He bent his head to hers, his mouth finding hers with ease, his tongue swirling a healing agent over her full lower lip even as he took the essence of her blood into his body.