Immortal's Eden (3 page)

Michael had received the note two days before the last full moon. By the time he tracked down its author, Orlando had vanished. Michael had been one step behind him ever since. Orlando's latest ploy to outrun Michael was frustrating, but not impossible to overcome. He pictured Ana, her soft curves beneath him, his shaft surrounded by her warmth; night after night for eternity he would claim her.

The tree provided her no protection against the elements, and perhaps she had been hidden from most of his kind – but to him – she was like a torch guiding his way.

“
Wonderful evening, is it not?” He asked from a perch just out of her reach. To startle her and cause her to lose her footing would be devastating to them both.

“
You again? You must have a death wish to keep visiting me as you do…” He loved the way Ana’s words rolled from her tongue; the sensuous way her lips moved as she formed each one; he wanted to taste that tongue.

“
I have a wish, though it has nothing to do with death…well, perhaps a little to do with death.” He watched her breasts press against the material of her tunic as she shifted her arms behind her head. It pleased him that she didn’t fear his presence. Ah and how he wished to please her as well - though at this point - he knew to please her it would mean the end of him.

“
Ah, and what part of your wish involves death? The pleasure of me causing yours?” her lithe body rolled easily until she was lying on her stomach, facing him with her head resting on a forearm. Something flashed in her eyes as she stared up at him. “You want to be the cause of my death.”

“
In a way…” he paused, considering the best way to explain his desire. “I wish to give you pleasure; give you the gift of eternity, with me.” She laughed at his words then pushed up straddling the branch.

“
I’d rather break my neck falling from this tree than ever give you my neck, blood, or life.” With a swift motion she threw her leg over the branch and leapt from the tree; she would never survive the fall. Perhaps she knew he would save her. Before her body reached the base of the tree he was there, waiting for her with outstretched arms, then caught her easily. It had been a mistake. The instant their bodies collided, the urge overtook him. His fangs ached and grew as he held her curves against him.

Ana had felt it too, of that he was sure. The way she pressed her breasts against him a fraction, the way her fingers splayed across his chest. She enjoyed the feel of him against her as much as he did. But his fangs longed to sink into her flesh, to make her his forever…

“
Don’t…” she whispered, breaking the spell she cast on him.

“
Until we meet again.” He said as he placed her feet on the ground then disappeared. If he had stayed, she wouldn’t have had the choice, he would have torn her decision from her as he pierced her skin, drinking the sweet nectar her body provided.

He traced all over the world, to places that he’d gone and enjoyed – places he’d lost himself in trying to forget her. But it was no use. She was his addiction and he couldn’t deny her.

Finding her again had been easy; the sight of her lifeless body, however, had destroyed him.

Michael laid his head back against the pillow remembering another encounter with Ana all too well; the feel of her in his arms, the scent that lingered on his clothes from her body being pressed to his, and then the dried blood running tracks down her body as she lay dead in the ravine, finding her alive again and again only to lose her again and again. This time would be the last; if she lived – he wouldn’t give her the choice – he would save her.

Screeching tires woke Danielle as the plane rumbled down the tarmac, waking her from another strange dream. They were coming more frequently now, but she chalked it up to her life's turmoil lately. With back-to-back bounties and her mother's illness, her mind had been spinning out of control. Never in her life had she had such vivid dreams and somehow she felt truly connected to them, not just her subconscious filling her head with a collage of memories from movies or what-not.

She kept tabs on the last living member of her family through a friend from college. They had both majored in criminal psychology and as far as Jamie knew, they had both moved on to careers in private investigation. She received a quarterly report detailing the mundane
and
life-changing events in her mother's world. The last had been short and to the point, just like Jamie.

Edna Hawken has been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer; prognosis, six to eight weeks life expectancy. No other changes.

The note had also included an unusual question that Danielle ignored.

How are you?

She wanted to keep Jamie at a distance. The fact that they had continued contact after college had always felt like a bad idea. He was almost a
friend
, and Danielle didn't keep friends. Best to keep these exchanges completely professional, besides, most people who ask that question don't expect the truth anyway; it was there way of being nice. Yet Jamie had known their situation; known the way she wanted to keep things very impersonal. So why did he have to go and ruin it? No matter, she ignored the question anyway.

As the plane rolled to a stop, she gathered the folder containing her next bounty and wiped the sleep from her eyes. The flight to Vanuatu from Sydney hadn't been unbearable and had let her catch up on paperwork until the last hour when her mind was too exhausted to stay coherent. Hopefully she'd find her mark and be headed back to the states before the night was out, not likely but being on such a tiny island it might be nice to take a breather.

"Thank you for flying with us." The flight attendant repeated herself to each customer crammed down the aisle, so Danielle decided to wait out the rush. With any luck, the attendant would lose her voice by the time it was Danielle's turn to leave the plane. A private jet was added to her list of answers to the -
what if a genie showed up –
question.

After the last passenger squeezed by, she stood stretching her legs and back; it did feel good to finally unfold from the tiny seats.

"Thank you for flying with us." The flight attendant smiled at her. Danielle cringed inwardly.

"Thanks for having me." Throwing her bag over her shoulder she ducked through the door and was greeted by a soft balmy breeze and warm sunshine. Out of all the locations she'd looked for scumbags, this could easily climb to number one on her favorites list. Having been around the world several times, that list was long.

"Welcome to the happiest country on Earth!" A young boy chimed at her from the bottom of the stairs – waiting with outstretched arms – a ring of fragrant flowers draped across his wrists.

"Thanks." Danielle bent to receive her floral gift, slightly uncomfortable with all the friendly-friend gestures. She popped a lemon drop to help her relax, rolled her shoulders and made her way toward a waiting taxi. A nice hot bath and some fresh clothes and she'd be good to start her hunt.

"Welcome! Where to?" Everyone seemed so happy here, very different from the states. For just a moment she pretended she was one of the happy people who belonged here; the friendly-friend people who smiled all the time and "entertained" at home. How long would it take to get used to this? She rattled off the address of the little cottage she had rented on the beach then laid her forehead against the window. Soon the rush of the hunt would be in full swing and she'd lose any kind of relaxation; it would be: find the bad guy, showers, food, and everything else would be forgotten. Whenever she went after a fugitive her entire body got into it; like this is what every cell in her body was created to do.

Danielle rolled the lemon drop across the back of her teeth. Click, click, click, she forced her mind to go blank during the drive; there would be time to dwell on the hunt soon enough.

The sun had just risen in his corner of the world signaling time to move on and investigate his latest lead; Orlando had been spotted on a remote island near Australia. There had to be a reason for Orlando to still be evading Michael. But he didn’t care; at this point he was ready to tear Orlando’s heart out if he blinked wrong.

Michael traced to the cabin he had secured over the phone to sit and wait until after dark to begin his search. There was something about this place that told him this was it; the last stop on his search for her. However, Orlando had obviously chosen this place due to the long hours of sunlight, but it didn’t matter; he’d walk into the sun if it meant saving her. What were a few burns in the face of eternal love?

Finally the sun dipped below the horizon allowing him to leave his room; and none too soon. He’d spent the last hour making tracks in the carpet in front of the window; back and forth like a caged animal waiting for the moment he could spring and tear something apart; his sights set on Orlando.

She checked in at the main office that rented the beach cottages and let them drive her down to hers in a little golf cart. Her driver's name was Nico, and he talked non-stop about the wonderful attractions the island held. His attitude was flirty and personal, reminding Danielle of how long it had been since she'd had any naked time with the opposite sex. She couldn't count last October when the junkie Tarzan'ed through her bathroom window while she was showering. 'Course at this point maybe she should. Too bad Nico was batting for his own team in the sexual department; his flirty-ness seemed to be nothing personal, just part of his charm.

Once showered, Danielle wandered down to the beach and let her toes sink into the warm sand, staring at the purple sunset glistening against the ocean. The sound of children's laughter carried up the beach. A family was playing in front of their own cottage, a mom, dad and 2.5 kids. They even had a golden retriever for crying out loud! Danielle took a quick look around for the cameras, knowing that she was basically performing for herself. Nobody else was there to share the joke of her inner monologue. An odd pain touched her heart and she rubbed it absently. The postcard family and dream beach setting were a vision of everything she would never have.

She rolled her shoulder and reached for her lemon drops, but she'd left the bag back in her room. The sweets were her only vice, for some reason the flavor had always comforted her. Strange since she wasn't allowed to have candy as a child. With a family full of dentists and medical professionals, a kid was sure to

She frowned and shook out her towel, trying to get comfortable, and then opened her file.

"Hello Mr. Danube. Tell me what makes you tick." Every case she took had grown more dangerous than the last with the criminal's rap sheets growing longer and more severe. The challenge had to be there, had to be somewhat difficult to accomplish or she felt cheated. Danielle had committed his image to memory the first time she browsed his file, so flipped instead to his stats. They were very impressive and unusual. 6'6", 287 pounds, black hair, hazel eyes, muscular build. Taking down this guy would definitely be the challenge she was looking for and would earn her a pretty penny; once she'd researched this offer, she'd packed for a war and began the game.

As the waves crashed against the beach, the breeze grew, fluttering her papers in the folder until she was forced to abandon the whole file under her towel. She paper clipped Mr. Danube's photo to the outside. A picture was worth a thousand words and for some reason, this guy's was rating closer to a million. There could be no mistakes when searching down one of these creeps, so the longer his image was in front of her the better.

Propping herself up on her elbows she scanned the horizon; the rhythmic waves like a lullaby coaxing her to forget her problems for the day and just relax. She needed the rest; her sleep hadn't been terribly restful of late. Slowly she gave in, laying back and letting her eyes flutter shut.

"
You!"
Ana growled as Michael sauntered from the shadows on the balcony.

"
Me
it is. Joy to see
me
isn't it?" he shrugged off his long coat and strolled to the twitching vampire draped across the bed; blood dripping from the sockets once containing his fangs. "You didn't wait for me. I'm disappointed."

Ana looked forward to twisting the fangs from
Michael's
jaw as well. Almost.

"Come to donate?" Swiping the blade against her thigh, she never took her eyes from Michael. Why did he have to be so beautiful? She wondered who his sire had been, was it a woman who wanted to preserve such a perfect specimen forever? Hatred of the one that turned him took her by surprise.

"I'll gladly give you my fangs sweetling."

His grin would melt any woman's bones to mush, but not Ana, she'd seen what his kind did to helpless people. She reminded herself for the thousandth time that he was a vampire; an evil creature of the night. Vampire. Vampire. Vampire…was that a dimple? VAMPIRE!

"You'll remove them for me then?" She smirked circling the beast. When their eyes met she faltered in her pursuit. They were the color of emeralds with flecks of gold rimming the pupil; if he had only been human. As if in a trance she lowered her weapon slightly and watched as his hand lifted to her neck, the tips of his fingers soothing her. The instant they touched her skin, Ana wanted more; wanted to feel his lean body and every inch of his bare flesh against her own. His body promised pleasure and passion, something which she had never known.