The Progeny (The Progeny Series) (5 page)

Ducking
behind a row of bookshelves, he channeled her mind. The quiet of the library made it easy to hone in on her thoughts. He listened as she read poetry. He'd never heard this poem—a contemporary, no doubt. Her mind’s voice whispered the words swirling in her head as she jotted down notes then closed the book to sit quietly. Her mind spoke as if she were right in front of him.

Ascher, if you’d only say something to me. I’m so unsure about how you feel.
I know there's something there; I felt it in the bar and in the park during the fireworks. I’m not crazy, and now you walk by me as if I’m the plague. Why do you do that, Ascher?

To his astonishment, he
ascertained that she thought of him just as much as he thought of her. His legs propelling him over to where she sat, he paused, giving her a warm smile. “Mind if I sit here with you?” Every nerve in his body teemed with anxiety and excitement to see her again.

She cleared the place beside her, shoving the book of love poems in her backpack. “No
, not at all.”

“Thank you
.” Ascher sat, listening to her mind as it spoke more.

He has the most beautiful teeth—perfectly straight with no gaps or discolorations. He’s almost too perfect. Guys like him are usually serial killers. I wonder why he’s so pale
. You’re being rude. It’s impolite to stare, and you didn’t like it very much when he stared at you.

She turned away from him.

“Nice weather we’re having.” As the lame statement left his mouth, he froze. His attempt at making small talk failed utterly.
You idiot, you just commented on the weather. Have your eighty-seven years taught you nothing?
“I meant to say, are you enjoying the unseasonably warm days we’re having?”

“Not really
,” she spoke while still staring into space to avoid eye contact. “I’m behind in all of my classes. Plus, I’m working and trying to cram for exams.”

“I could help you.”

“I don’t want to take away from your free time. I’m sure your girlfriend wouldn’t appreciate it either.”

“
Girlfriend
, what makes you think I have one of
those
?”

Her
cheeks flushed with the pink color of embarrassment. “I just assumed that you did.”

“Well
, I don’t.” True, he didn’t have a
girlfriend
, but he did have a walking dead Romanian fiancée. “If you need to cram, I’d be more than happy to help you.”

“
If you’re offering, I’m accepting. I really could use the help. I’m going to lose my grant if I don’t pull my grades way up.”

“It’s settled. We can meet here every day.”
The thought of having a reason to see her every day gave him a thrill.

“This isn’t going to make things weird at the bar?”

“I told you I’m not your boss. Quinn is.”

“Is Gabe coming back?”

“I don't know. He had some personal issues to iron out. Could take him a little while.”

She glanced at her watch then
bolted upright. “Oh, my God, I’m so late!”

“Late?”

Shauna scrambled to gather her things, shoving them into her backpack. “I have to pick up my little sister today. Something happened with her car and she needs a ride home.”

Ascher
stood with her, grabbing her backpack and slinging it across his shoulder. “Let me, at least, walk you to your car.” Carrying her books was his way of staking a claim—even if she didn’t understand what his subtle gesture meant.

“Thank you.
I’d really like that.”

They walked past Stewart Hall and the Galleria until they reached the parking deck, stopping at a pink
VW Beetle.

“Well, this is me. Thank you for carrying my things.”

“Thank you for
allowing
me to carry them.”

She stared up at him with an indescribable look in her dark eyes. “
See you around, Ascher.”

“Take care, Shauna
.”

He walked away thinking how easy that was.
A connection was forming—the fireworks were a definite turning point in their friendship. Her mind needed binding, and he was sure Gabe was still channeling her.

Sitting
in his car and preparing to pull out of the parking garage, a figure in the shadows caught Ascher’s eye. A black blur darted across the reflection in his rearview, followed by another moving so quickly that it could only be a vampire.

Testing the air,
Ascher scented two like himself. The first scent was female and so sickeningly familiar that he gulped a breath of disgust. He paused, remembering Shauna on the next deck. Shutting his eyes to channel her, he saw her driving down the interstate, singing some obnoxious pop song.

At least she was saf
e and out of harm’s way.

Content that Shauna was well out of view, he honed in on the
shapes again. As one of the blurs flew by, he reached out attempting to grab it—he missed. His stomach twisted as the revolting scent gnawed at him. “You can come out now, Ursula.”

She stepped out of the shadows, her angry face shrouded in a
dark cape to protect her from the muted rays of sunlight. He couldn’t see much of her eyes, except a faint glimmer of red flashing beneath the hood. “I don’t suppose your sudden lack of interest in me lies in the heart of a dark-eyed
human
.”

Ascher stepped out of his car.
“What are you talking about? I have a better question. What are you doing here?”

“Don’t play coy with me, Ascher. I smell her on you
, but at least I know you’ve been faithful.”

“What?”

“A scent as sweet and alluring as hers can only be that of a virgin. She smelled delectable.” Worming her way into his rigid arms, she purred, “Has it been so long that my touch has grown cold to you?” She leaned in for a kiss, but he pushed away.

Her touch was always cold
and his demeanor turned equally frigid. “Why the hell are you here, Ursula?”

“After months of distance,
this
is the welcome I get?”

“I thought I made myself clear.”

“You’ve been ignoring me. If it’s nerves then I understand.”

Ascher
sampled the air again. There was another scent—the unfamiliar one. It was, without question, male. He shot Ursula an irritated glance. “Tell your friend
he
can come out, too.”

She rolled her eyes
and turned to the shadows. “Come on out, Ian.”

Ian cleared two enormous trucks with the deceptive grace of a vampire half his size. His vast layers of scarred skin
, massive muscle build and darkened complexion made his appearance that of a demonic god—typical characteristics of a darkling.

Though Ascher should
have been afraid of the darklings’ superior size, he only felt contempt when he saw them. Wrinkling his face, he muttered, “So, you brought a pet along.”

“Watch yourself, half-blood
,” Ian snarled while clenching his fists. “Clive might have to wait until next month, but nothing says that
I
have to.”

Ascher flashed his eyes and gnashed his teeth. “Anytime you’re ready to rumble, big boy.”

“Stop it, you two!” Ursula gave Ascher a sickeningly sweet smile that turned his stomach. “Aren’t you going to take me to the mansion? I had a long trip, and I couldn’t wait to see you.” She reached out to run her hand through his hair.

Avoiding her touch, he
stepped back. “Not until you tell me why you’re here.” Ascher struggled to hide his disgust, clamping his quivering jaw. Still channeling Shauna, he saw her driving with her sister in the passenger seat.

“Are you going to take me back to the mansion?” Ursula
repeated with impatience.

Re
vulsion took Ascher's voice, and he gave her what he knew was a cold stare.

“I only wanted to spend time with you
, dearest. Just think, this time next month we’ll be sealed.”

Ascher gasped
as he realized that Clive had neglected to tell her about his refusal letter. He decided to play along with her. What harm could it do? Ursula was sadly mistaken if she thought he’d lay one finger on her.

Five ~ Friendship

After a week of avoiding Ursula’s many sexual advances and missing Shauna, it was finally time for the charade to end. As a diversion,
Tristan and Kara travelled to Romania to finalize the plans for the sealing.

As soon as the plane took off, Ascher grabbed his phone to call Shauna. She was pissed, resorting to the use of one-word answers and sighing heavily over the line. He lied
; telling her that he’d had the flu and didn’t want to infect her. They agreed to meet at the library. He hated lying to her but knew he couldn’t tell her the truth without it hurting her, or exposing his secret. When he arrived at the library, she was reading at a window seat. He swept her mind, but she was blocking, but her expression was contemplative and peaceful.

She
glanced up and her cheeks flushed with sudden excitement, even though anger creased her narrowed eyes. “Good of you to make it,” she stated dryly, the disapproval heavy in her tone. “You’re here, so I assume that means you’re feeling better.”

“I am,” he whispered, his head hanging. She was mad
and with reason. He wondered if his vampire charm would even be enough to get him out of this one.

“You know there is an invention called a phone.” She whipped hers out of her backpack. “You
see here? You push these buttons and wait for someone to answer the other end. It’s an amazing concept. You should try using one the next time you go missing for an entire week!”

Ascher
couldn’t think of a clever line to say. Truthfully, he didn’t want to be cunning. Deciding to make a statement that wasn’t a line, he said, “I’m so sorry, Shauna. I won’t do that to you again.” And he wouldn’t; separating from her for a whole week had been its own brand of torture.

The coldness melted in her eyes, a smile turning up her lips. She
seemed to accept his apology. “It’s a beautiful day out. Let’s get out of here.”

They walked the outskirts of the campus towards the park. Though it was the middle of January, the air felt
much like early spring. Shauna tilted her head back, allowing the warm sun to bathe her lovely bronze face. Each gentle whirl of the wind blew her sweet essence towards him, bringing a thirst for her blood and a sexual hunger that twisted his insides.

She found a dry area, suffused with direct sunrays, and sat under an oak tree.

Ascher sat opposite her, opening all of the books. “So, what’s giving you the most trouble?”

“All of it. I still don’t see why I have to take a math to be a ghost chaser.”

He began with a simple equation for her to solve. “It’s a core class. They use them to torture you. So, tell me more about what you’d like to do with your degree.”

“I’m still not sure. I have a love for anything taboo or out of the ordinary. I’m not sure that ghost chasing is what I
really
want to do, but it is a possibility. Are you going to become a psychologist?”

Wouldn’t she be surprised to know that he’d already been one? He’d graduated medical school twice
and was quite a gifted cardiologist when they lived in France, forty years ago. He became a psychologist when they moved to Canada, fifteen years later. “I’d like to use my degree to preserve families. Maybe become a family therapist.”

“Family saver
...that’s really cool.”

He handed her the paper. “I’m the youngest in my family. I have older brothers. I dreamed of being a big brother
, but it never happened.”

“Trust me
, being the oldest isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be. Who knows, maybe you’ll be a father someday.”

“I doubt it.”

“Someone will take pity on you and take you off the market.”

“Pity is exactly what it will take. A woman would be crazy to spend the rest of her life with me.”

“Why would you say that? I happen to think that you’re…” She paused then went back to solving the equation.

Ascher
stared off into the distance, focusing on the placid waters of the river and wondering what the rest of that sentence might be.

Sh
auna solved the equation then handed the paper back to him.

To his surprise, the answer was right. She’d solved for “x” and checked her work.
“I think you just wanted to spend some time alone with me. This is the right answer.” He gave her a suspicious glance. “I’ll have to give you a harder one.” He wrote a new equation on a fresh sheet of paper and handed it to her. “Tell me about your family.”

“That’s a complicated subject.”

He glanced at her over the glasses he sometimes wore to appear normal. Optometry had no classification for the level of extreme accuracy in his vision. “I have time.”

“Do you want the full version or the edited one?”

“Whichever you’re more comfortable with.”

“My father is African-American. My Irish grandparents
fell in love with and adopted him when he was four. My grandma, Amy McCutchin, is the sweetest woman you’d ever want to meet. I really miss her.”

“What about your mother?”

“Mama is this gorgeous, blond, green-eyed bombshell. She and Daddy met at mass. He courted her proper and married her a year later. I came five years after they were married. Kat came on their ninth wedding anniversary.”

“Kat? Is that short for something?
”

“Katherine, but we mostly call her Katy.
” She produced a picture from her backpack. “Our parents raised us religiously, but I don’t practice now.”

Ascher gave her a wary glance
, because he’d heard her reluctance when she talked to Quinn about her beliefs. Though she didn’t seem as anxious with him, he’d proceed with caution. “I know that religion is complicated for some people. I don’t mean to pry. I’m just curious. Call it research for psych class. Are you undecided or devoid of belief?” He fumbled with the pencil in his hand, hoping his question wasn’t too personal. “People with obsessions towards the paranormal, usually are.”

“You aren’t prying. I believe in a God in the sense that it lives in nature
, but I don’t necessarily believe in organized religion. Does that make sense to you?”

“I think I understand.
They raised you strict and religious. Let me guess, your parents pushed until you broke.”

“That was pretty much how it was.
What about you...were you raised religious?”

Religion wasn’t something he readily discussed. The belief that he was a soulless
, doomed, demon incarnate was his universal truth. Ascher took a deep breath, needing a second to order his thoughts. Such a loaded question required the right answer. “I was taught to treat others with respect and to embrace their differences. I don’t identify with any one religion. My brothers and I were encouraged to learn about all religions and form our own views. My father is very traditional but progressive in that one way. I have an old friend, Ags, and her upbringing was similar to yours. I bet the two of you would hit it off.”

She shrugged
while handing him her math answer paper.

Ascher
looked it over with a bit of dismay. “Looks like you need me after all. This is
not
right.” He leaned over to help her.

* * * *

Shauna tried hard to concentrate, but it was impossible while smelling that incredible cologne. It overwhelmed her senses, while his close proximity spurred her heart into uneven thumps. She wiggled, finding that his closeness brought a tingling between her legs. A surge of warmth coursed her spine on a direct path to her core.

Her time seemed better spent staring into his
mesmerizing, clear blue eyes. Shauna couldn’t look away from his face. He had more color in his cheeks today. That was a good sign.
The flu put some color into that pale face.

He chuckled. “Are you listening to me?”

His voice snapped her back into reality. “Of course, I’m listening.”

“No
, you aren’t. With your wandering mind, it’s no wonder you’re failing.”

“I know
. I’m like the poster child for high functioning A.D.D.”

He
gave her a narrowed gaze before handing her a new piece of paper. “Try to concentrate and solve for ‘y’ please. I hope your boyfriend isn’t the jealous type. You did tell him that I was tutoring you, right? The last thing I need is some angry dude threatening to kill me.” He glared over his glasses like a schoolteacher. “I’d kinda like to live.”

Distracted, s
he continued solving the equation. “And what makes you think I have one of
those
?”

“I don’t know
. Just thought that you might.”

“Well
, I don’t. I work and go to college. That’s all I can handle.”

“Most students I know still live at home.
Things would be so much easier for you if you did, but I completely understand why you don’t.”  He paused, worried contemplation on his face. “But who am I to make such a statement? You don’t have to explain anything to me. We’re still getting to know one another.” He smiled down at her correct answer to a harder equation. “This is right, too. I think you’re pretending to need my help.” He gave her an impish grin. “You could’ve just asked me out.”

“Don’t flatter yourself.”

His grin turned into the most heartbreakingly beautiful smile. Ascher didn’t just smile with his mouth; his whole face seemed to light up. “Would you like to go to the movies with me tonight? I’d go alone, but it’d be a lot nicer to have company.”

Shauna couldn’t believe he was asking her out. This was so unexpected
. After the weeklong disappearing act, she’d assumed that he wasn’t interested anymore. Elated wasn’t the word. Overjoyed didn’t cover it. There were
no
words to describe how she felt. The thought of going on a
real
date with him was surreal. She attempted to suppress the smile tugging at her face, but it was no use. There was no way to stop it. “Okay, I’ll go, but only if you promise not to grab on to me. I hate the whole macho male clutching thing.”

“Only
, if you can watch it without clutching
me,
” he teased.

She put out her hand. “
It’s a deal.”

Ascher
shook her hand and chuckled. “You’re going to lose!”

“Let’s make it more interesting. The loser buys the
winner dinner tomorrow night.”

* * * *

Ascher grasped her hand and tensed, knowing that he couldn’t eat food without it making him ill. He agreed to dinner while knowing that he’d have to excuse himself to bring it back up before it digested. “I prefer pizza, but anything will do, so long as it’s edible.” He’d successfully delivered his line. Eighty-seven years of practice made him a believable, but reluctant liar.

Ascher
smoothed a careful hand across her face. Her pulse thrummed with excitement as a sudden blush spread across her cheek, causing his breath to hitch. He sensed her hammering heart as if it beat in his own chest, pulsing electricity through him like lustful lightning. Everything in him quickened, vibrated and acclimated to her body’s biorhythms. Shock waves flowed between them, causing
his
pulse to skyrocket. He felt exposed and raw, his body a jumbled mess of feelings, sensations and emotions. He couldn’t believe
she
had this sort of power over him.

C
uriosity consumed him, negating the thirst that her blushing cheeks and jumpy carotid should have caused. She made him feel more human than he'd ever felt. Almost a century with his vampire brothers made him fierce, but less human. She was good for him, and if he could control his thirst for her trinity blood, this could work.

A honking horn
broke the hypnotic spell that seemed to mesmerize the both of them.

“I really have to go now.” She half smiled at him before giving him another kiss on the cheek.

They talked about random things while they walked to the parking deck. When they reached her car, he leaned in, caging her inside his arms. Each time her eyes pierced him, he got the same nervous flip in his stomach.

That yearning to kiss her was there, again.

Her pulsing neck caused him to shiver. He captured her eyes while securing her hands. Nervous, her palms were damp and her mind was loud. Her thoughts and emotions merged, becoming a confusing mix of jargon.

Ascher
brought his lips to the threshold of hers, his fingertips resting against her neck, picking up the throbbing in her pulse. Her erratic breaths slowly synchronized to his calmer ones. The thudding of her heart drowned out the confusion flooding his head with her soft voice.

I wonder if he’ll kiss me. I want him to
, and I can’t make the first move. Why am I still a virgin? I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing. Please, please let him make the first move. Be quiet heart. Calm down.

“Something’s happening between us
,” he whispered against her lips, his eyes still blazing into hers.