Forbidden Touch (36 page)

He ran his hand over her soft dark hair. "Worry not about this now. We have a more important task at hand. If we do not conquer Lazarus, there will be no decision to be made at all, for we will all perish." He kissed her head as he felt her shudder in his arms.

She really hadn't thought about not winning the fight against Lazarus. What if they lost? He would kill Mitch, Dane, her family including herself and all of the Elders. Surely with all the power they all possessed, Lazarus wouldn't even have a chance to blink, much less kill anyone. Had he sired Mitch long ago with this intent? To bring down the Illinois Vampire Aristocracy? What if he did manage to kill only a few of her people? What if one, or both of the men she loved, perished in the battle? She couldn't even think about that without her heart threatening to burst in her chest cavity. Dane was right, she needed to stay focused on how to surprise, capture, and subdue the Rogue vampire. It was her task, and right now, she had a job to complete.

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Chapter
57

Lenya had been upset with the fact that they had had to stow away in the cargo department of the plane. She couldn't understand that if Mitch pulled Ciera's spirit to him, they would all become exposed to the passengers on the plane and the sun. The good thing about Lenya being pissed was that she was silent. She hadn't spoken a word to either of them since she realized that she would not win the argument.

They had been deliberating their options, but nothing they had said in the last couple of hours would even come close to helping. "Malcolm has the skill to hinder Lazarus' eyesight, but something will need to happen quick after that; Lazarus is powerful enough to do anything he wants to do without the use of his eyes." Dane thought for a minute. "Miles can…" Dane shook his head. "No, his skill only works on humans."

"Asabel may be able to make …" Ciera began, but her thought was cut off by Lenya.

"Oh, for heaven's sake," Lenya rolled her eyes. "I am beginning to think I am working with a pair of amateurs. I thought the two of you were Finders?"

"We are Finders Lenya, not Destroyers," Dane raised his brow. "Would you happen to have any better suggestions on the matter, or are you only going to sulk some more?"

Lenya stood up from the suitcase she was perched on, and smiled. Ciera and Dane both gave her quizzical looks. She glanced over the pair in front of her, and their expressions changed to longing.

They both stood from their own seat, and walked quickly toward Lenya. Dane reached her first, and his hands took possession of her body in a mad race to have all of her. Ciera didn't stop when she got to Lenya, or acknowledge anything that Dane was doing to the woman in front of her. Her hands dove into Lenya's bright bombshell hair, and she kissed her passionately on the mouth.

Lenya pushed them both away from her, holding them at arms' length. They struggled to reach her and she laughed hysterically, then released the hold that she had on their minds.

Ciera and Dane froze, and only blinked a few times at her. Then Dane became angry. "Lenya, you promised that you wouldn't use your skill on us. You are catching the first flight back to Utah when this plane lands in a few minutes."

Ciera placed her hand on Dane's chest and had a far off look in her eyes. She smiled, then looked back to Lenya, who had a bright smile of her own. "No, wait, Dane."

"Ciera, she promised …" he said, but she cut him off.

"Don't you see why she did it?" Ciera said, and he blinked in confusion.

"No, I guess I am not following," he replied.

Ciera smiled. "Lenya can cloud Lazarus' mind with emotions of love and passion instead of hate. She can make him lose focus enough so the Destroyers can make their move."

It dawned on him what she was saying, but he still looked back at Lenya with a frown on his face. "You could have just told us. You didn't have to make us seduce you."

She glanced at her perfect manicure. "A girl has to have fun somehow being around the two of you. You guys are both so depressed right now, and your emotions are making me sick. You can't have her, she can't have you. OMG, get over it already. It seems like this Mitch guy is the only thing in the way of the two of you living happily ever after." She glanced at Ciera and smiled. "I can take him off your hands if it is that much of a problem for you. After I get finished messing with his mind, he won't even know who you are."

Ciera's blood began to race. "I will rip your fucking heart out of your chest if you touch him in any way, physically or mentally."

She shrugged nonchalantly. "What about Dane here? Would you allow me access to him?"

Ciera couldn't slow her heart rate, and she was feeling faint. She didn't want anyone touching Dane either. The thought of either of her men being with anyone but her was maddening. She would surely go insane before all of this was over. She could not pick only one to be with. Even if Dane chose to be with another woman on his own; she wasn't sure she could let it happen. Even if it meant he would be happy. She was not strong enough to let him go.

Ciera shook her head at Lenya as she sat down on a different piece of luggage. "No…Dane is mine."

Dane's head shot around to look at Ciera so fast, that if he had of been human he would have suffered whiplash. "What?"

Ciera looked up at him with tears threatening to fall. "I can't let you go. I am not strong enough to let you go. I know that I said that if you love someone enough, you can let them go so they can be happy, but …" She shook her head, then lowered it to look at her trembling hands in her lap. "...it was a lie. I cannot be happy without you being mine, and … I cannot be happy without Mitch being mine. I know I sound like a selfish bitch, and I may very well lose both of you over this, but I will never feel whole without you both in my life. "I know Alice said that Mitch and I are soulmates, but I have to believe that you and I are as well. There is no other explanation. I love you so much."

Dane sighed, then walked to her and took her in his arms, hugging her tight to him. He pulled her back so she could see the happiness pouring out of his eyes. "I promise that you will not lose me, Ciera." He kissed her softly as the plane began to descend.

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Chapter
58

They'd had to wait three hours for a flight out to Decatur, Illinois. And with a little over a two hour flight, sunset was only a few hours away. They were still well ahead of schedule, though. Driving would have only given them minutes to spare when they arrived.

They linked hands together and waited quietly for the cargo door to be opened. There were voices outside the door, and Ciera knew that it wouldn't be much longer. She used her skill and made herself and her two companions invisible. They heard the latches being freed from their locked positions, then the sunlight burst in on them.

Lenya sighed and whispered, "I would do just about anything to switch skills with you. It has been over five centuries since I have seen the sun in all its splendor. The tint on my vehicles sort of dulls the effect; makes it seem less real." She smiled. "This is glorious. I could go shopping during the day … of course I would have to steal …"

"Shut…up!" Dane growled under his breath as two guys began to hook up some type of conveyer to get the luggage out.

Lenya huffed. "Fine."

When the two guys got the conveyer in place, and had moved to do something else, Dane led the three of them out of the plane and down the belt. He spotted the parking lot, and went straight for it. He would try to find a vehicle with completely blacked-out windows. A human would freak out if they thought a car was driving itself.

The first vehicle that he came to, with the windows tinted dark enough to steal, was a black Escalade. He smiled as he studied the ride.

"No, Dane. We are not stealing this one," Ciera said.

Dane's grin split his face as he nodded. The Cadillac had twenty-four inch chrome spinners, and was lowered to the ground. Somebody would definitely be pissed if this ride came up stolen, he thought, then pulled the door open and quickly disengaged the alarm system, one handed, in a matter of seconds.

The way that they were holding hands, Lenya was going to do the honors of driving. They could have switched, and Dane drove, but either way, Ciera had to be in the middle or one of the vampires were going to burn up in the sun.

Dane crawled in, pulling Ciera behind him, with Lenya bringing up the end. She quickly hotwired the Escalade, and when the engine turned over, 2-Pac was thumping through the speakers. Lenya hit the power button on the radio with her left hand, because her right was in Ciera's hand. She put the ride in reverse, backed out of the parking slot, then put it in drive and drove away from the airport.

Dane gave her directions to his Parents' home. The Elders wouldn't be there. It had been after sunrise before he had talked with his Father, and until they got some of this nifty tint, that every state seemed to know about excluding Illinois, moving about during the day was impossible.

The drive had taken about twenty minutes to get from the airport, but the minutes seemed to fly by. Two of the three in the vehicle were nervous about this particular visit. Their Parents were going to demand answers. Answers that they weren't near prepared to give. Lying wasn't an option. Their mother could sense even the whitest of white lies. And their Father always seemed to know exactly what questions to ask, to keep a person from skirting around the truth.

Lenya parked the Cadillac in the front drive and shut of the engine. Dane could feel the soft trembling of Ciera's body through her hand that he was still holding. Lenya opened her door, and they all crawled out in single file.

"Your Family lives here?" Lenya asked in disbelief.

"It isn't as it appears," Ciera said, then took the first step to lead them in the house.

Once inside, Dane led them through the basement door. Lenya shut it, securing them safely inside, away from the sun. Ciera released their hands, and they all became visible.

Dane smiled nervously as he framed Ciera's face in his hands. "Try not to say anything unless they leave you no choice. I will try my best to keep us out of trouble." He inhaled deeply, then let the breath out slowly. "You will not be blamed for any of this. I am at fault here, not you." He kissed her briefly.

She shook her head as tears filled her eyes. "I will not let you take the blame for something that Lazarus manipulated you into doing."

"I wasn't being compelled, Ciera, I was being bribed," he said.

Lenya cleared her throat. "Can we just go already? You aren't going to be able to hide anything from your Parents. It doesn't matter anyway. The Mitch guy wasn't completely human to begin with. He just didn't know about what kind of blood was flowing through his veins." She walked past Ciera and Dane down the stairs, then stopped and looked back up at them when she reached the bottom. "Are you coming, or are you just going to wait until the sun sets and lose your chance to take this guy down?"

Dane took Ciera's hand in his and walked down the stairs. He took the lead once he got to the bottom, and didn't even pause when he got to his Parents' living quarters. He nodded to his Parents' doorman, then opened the door and they all walked in unannounced.

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Chapter
59

Dane's Father didn't move from his seated position in his chair when they walked in. The guy appeared to be in his early forties. Only very few gray hairs in his deep brown hair indicated that. He had been a small male as a human, and he didn't look any different now as a vampire. He would never look old. No mortal would suspect his real age. Vampires could only guess because of his wisdom. Dane knew his Father was over a thousand years old. It wasn't a secret, but age didn't really matter to a vampire much. When you never died, why count the years passing by? It seemed a little pointless to celebrate something as simple as birthdays. "Nia dear, our children have arrived," he said without lowering the newspaper that he was reading.