The Return of Jonas (Pearl Vampire Chronicles #4) (19 page)

I turned to Matt and said, “Uh-oh
.” We sped up and burst through the front door.

“Oh, thank God,” Carlos said, “where the hell have you two been?  You had me worried sick.  And why are you still in your nightgown, Sarah?”
Then he spied the blanket across my arm and raised his eyebrow.

“What?” I said
. “It was too hot in our room last night, so we went down and slept on the beach.  We planned on being back before everyone was up, but Jonas delayed us.”

That got Carlos’ attention.
“Jonas! He was here?” he said. “What happened?”

I told him about Jonas showing up to ‘scope out the island,
’ leaving out the part about what he’d seen while he was here.

“How did we not hear his boat?” Carlos said.

“Because he didn’t bring one,” I said.

“Then how…?
No!” he gasped.  “Please tell me he didn’t fly here,” he whispered.

“I wish I could, Carlos,” Matt said.

Carlos sank down onto the couch.  “There’s no way,” he said. “We can’t beat him.”

“Not in the way we want to, but Sarah here has an idea.
Something she’d like to try,” Matt said.

“What?” Carlos said.

But I shook my head. “Later. First go do the linking ceremony. We’ll talk later, okay?”

Carlos looked a little nervous, but he stood and held out his hand to Maria.  Aduviri followed them into the den and closed the doors.  I looked at Matt and smiled
. “We should probably go get dressed,” I said.  He took my hand and we headed up the stairs.

Two hours later we were saying goodbye to Aduviri on the dock.  Carlos and Maria were still asleep on the floor in the den…
and I knew from experience that when they woke up from their trance… they’d be needing privacy.  Sex with the scars is mind-boggling, to say the least.  “What do you say I go grab us some breakfast and we feed in the guest house?” I said.

Matt grinned at me
. “He’s going to get really pissed when he finds out, Sarah.”

“Oh, please,” I said, “like he’s not going to be having sex in our house.  He’ll get over it.”

I quietly snuck into the house, down the stairs to the basement, grabbed eight pints of good blood and one bad one for Matt, then met him back on the porch… and we couldn’t seem to get to the guest house fast enough.  But as soon as the blood was warming in the microwave, my nerves kicked in… big time.  “Maybe I shouldn’t, Matt.  I’m scared.  I don’t want to become a monster.”

“You?
A monster?” Matt said. “I’m not seeing any chance of that, Sarah.  Look, if you start going crazy in the streets, you have my word that I will chain you up until you come back to your senses,” he smiled with a twinkle in his eye.

I smiled
. “Well, that sounds like it could be fun.”

I turned back to the microwave to grab the blood, when Matt wrapped his arms around my waist and began kissing the side of my neck.  I moaned and brought my hand up to his hair, then spun around and brought my mouth to his.  As I kissed him, he reached behind me and grabbed
two good pints and one bad from the microwave.  He pulled away and handed one to me.  I was terrified, but he locked his eyes on mine and helped calm me.  I nodded, closed my eyes, dropped my fangs… and sank them into the sweetest liquid I have ever tasted.  I groaned as every nerve in my body ignited.  I opened my eyes just as Matt finished his pint.  His mouth crushed down on mine and I suddenly had to feel his skin on mine, but I wasn’t letting his lips leave mine.  I grabbed hold of his t-shirt and tore it off his chest.  He groaned and did the same with mine, then he grabbed two more pints, and handed one to me.  As we fed again, I felt him pressing tighter to me.  A shiver rocked my body when we locked lips again.  His tongue danced around mine and I groaned as his hand slid between my belly and my pants…. and he tore them off.  He quickly grabbed two more pints.  We drained them and locked our mouths together again.  I undid the top button on his jeans, then tore them open the rest of the way, sending buttons flying everywhere as he groaned.  I jumped up, locked my legs around his waist and took him inside me as he handed me my last pint and he drained his.  I threw it onto the floor and crushed my mouth down on his just as my first body-shaking climax hit.  The waves of it rolled through both of us, until they crashed into his equally epic climax… and it was hours before we were able to stop.

We lay in the middle of the kitchen floor, little spasms still occasionally coursing through us, threatening to get us going again, when we heard footsteps approaching.  “Oh shit!” Matt said.  We jumped up.  He threw open the fridge door to hide himself, then pulled me behind him to hide me, just as Carlos and Maria came through the door.  They we
re laughing, until they saw us.

“Oh, there you guys are…
what the heck?” Carlos said as he realized we were naked. “Oh, come on.  Did you have to?  Here?  In my house?  Please put your clothes back on.”

“Ummm, we can’t Carlos…
they’re kind of torn up.  Could you go get us a couple of towels please?” I said.

Carlos just stared at us, his mouth hanging open.  Finally, he shook his head and went to the bathroom.  He handed Matt the towels, then he sat at the kitchen table. 

“Look, I’m sorry Carlos.  It’s just that we knew you and Maria would need… um… privacy when you woke up,” I said and Carlos grinned and winked at Maria, who blushed, “and Matt and I needed to feed, so we came over here.”

Carlos’ eyes snapped open and he was at Maria’s side in a flash.
“You fed, Sarah?  On the good stuff?  Why didn’t you tell me?  How are you feeling?  Are you tempted?” he said as he stood protectively in front of Maria.

I smiled and shook my head
. “Yes I fed on the good stuff.  I did just tell you.  I’m fine and no I’m not tempted at all.  But this was my first time.  I’ll let you know if anything changes, I promise.”

He relaxed…
a little.  But he was watching me like a hawk.  And he watched me that way for the next four days, and I was glad he did.  We fed three times a day, morning, noon and night, and every time we did, Maria’s scent became stronger and more desirable to me. I was jittery.  I kept bumping up meal times… by ten minutes, then twenty, then thirty.  And the guys noticed it.  I could feel both of their eyes on me at all times… and I could feel my eyes on Maria every time she was near.  The pull to drain her was so strong… and I was fighting it every second of every day. 

I woke on the morning of the fifth day tense and irritated.  I wanted to get through the morning, that’s all, just through the morning.  We were going to change Maria this afternoon.  As soon as we did that, she would be safe from me.  So until then…
tense and irritated it was.  The only time I relaxed was when we fed, which also meant more incredible sex, but once we were done with that… it was back to tense and irritated.

“I’m going for a walk on the beach,” I said.

“You want company?” Matt said distractedly, his nose was buried in his computer, trying to stay current with work.

“No, that’s okay.  I just want to think.  I’ll be back in a little bit, okay?”

“Okay, sweetie.  I love you.”

I couldn’t help but notice the worry in his eyes as he looked at me over his computer.  I tried to smile, “I love you too,” I said, then I headed out the door, having no clue that all hell was about to break loose.

Chapter Twelve

I made it about a half mile down the beach when I felt him behind me.  I didn’t turn around.  “Hello, Jonas,” I said.

“Hello darlin’. Miss me?” he said.

“Not really, Jonas,” I sighed.

“Oooh. You changed your diet, Sarah. You smell absolutely delicious,” he said.  “It’s time, now, Sarah.  I can’t stay away any longer.”

“Yes you can, Jonas
.”

“No, I’m tired of waiting and I’m tired of this game, Sarah,” he said, “and to prove it to you, I’ve got a present for you.”

Suddenly Carlos was shouting in my head,
‘SARAH! It’s Maria… she’s gone… I can’t find her.  Oh God, Sarah… where is she?’

I growled at Jonas, “What the hell did you do?”

Suddenly he flew and grabbed me.  We flew out over the water, toward the big rock with the cave in it.  Faster than I could blink, we landed at the edge of the water.  I looked inside the cave… and groaned.  Scared, shaking and cowering in the back corner was Maria.

I turned to Jonas
. “This is not funny Jonas.  What the hell do you hope to accomplish with this?”

He laughed
. “Accomplish? I’m going to prove to you that you’re just like me, Sarah.  Can’t you smell her?  She smells so good.  You know you want to drain her.”

Maria whimpered when he said this.  I squeezed my eyes shut
. “Jonas, I’m nothing like you.  Of course I can smell her, of course she smells good, but I do not want to drain her.  I would never want to do that.  Just because something smells good or tastes good or you really want it, doesn’t mean you should just take it.  If it’s wrong, then you should walk away, because that’s the right thing to do.”

He stared at
me. “I can see you’re going to need a little help,” he said, then he was behind Maria in a flash. Pinning her and turning her neck towards me.

“Don’t hurt her, Jonas.  Don’t you dare hurt her
.”

His evil smile sent a chill down my spine.
“I’m not going to hurt her, Sarah,” he said, “but you are.”  Then I screamed as his fingernail came across her neck, slicing it open at the jugular.  Maria’s eyes went wide.  Jonas dropped her into the sand and stepped back, watching me.  I was at her side in an instant, pressing my hand onto the wound, trying desperately to stop the flow of blood, while at the same time fighting the overwhelming urge to sink my fangs into her neck.  I was gasping, fighting to control myself. “You son of a bitch, Jonas,” I growled.  I closed my eyes and linked with Carlos,
‘Get the room ready, quick, Carlos.  We have to do the change right now.’

‘
What?  What do you mean, Sarah? Why?
’

‘
Damn it Carlos.  Don’t ask questions, just fucking MOVE.’

I turned my head and saw Jonas blocking my exit.  “Get out of my way, Jonas
.”

“No, Sarah. I can’t do that,” he said.

I looked in Maria’s terrified eyes and tried to smile.  I took one of her hands and pressed it against her throat, removing mine.  “Put pressure here, for a second, okay?” I whispered, and she nodded. Then I turned and flung myself at Jonas, knocking him backwards into the sand.  I started punching his face repeatedly as I yelled, “You can and you will, asshole.”  He was stunned at my ferocity.  “Stay the hell out of my way,” I said then I picked him up and threw him against the back wall, knocking a huge chunk of rock down on top of him.  I saw that as my only chance.  I scooped up Maria and flew out of the mouth of the cave.  Heading toward the house, I linked with Carlos,
‘I’m coming, she’s hurt bad. She’s bleeding a lot.  God, Carlos, there’s so much blood.  I don’t want to drop her when I land, please come help me.’

Two figures streaked out of the house.
Carlos took Maria from my arms, but I kept my hand firmly on her neck.  I felt Matt’s arm around my waist as the four of us landed on the porch, and we hit the ground running – into the house, up the stairs and into the room.

“Keep her conscious, Carlos.  She has to stay conscious,” I said as I frantically grabbed the powder
that we got from the Mexican priest – the powder that gets sprinkled into the scars to re-open them and then again inside the scars, so that when they are joined together, the vampire ‘virus’ can stay alive long enough to travel from the vampire’s body to the human’s. 

“Stay with me baby, okay?  Please stay with me,” Carlos whispered as Maria’s eyes tried to lock onto his.

“Hands.  I need hands,” I yelled.  Matt grabbed both their hands and held them palm side out for me.  I sprinkled the powder, waited the agonizing few seconds that it took for the scars to re-open, sprinkled more as Matt pressed their palms together.  Maria gasped and the energy from it seemed to revive her a bit.  I ripped the tops out of two of the bottles of formula from the voodoo priestess Musetta.  The formula – made from chicken blood, ground bones and other things that I didn’t want to know about, speeds up the human’s heart rate and gives the vampire the ability to slow down the speed that the drink the human’s blood, allowing them to stop before they kill them.  I used both my hands to pour them into both of their mouths at the same time. 

Matt positioned himself behind Carlos.  I watched Carlos’ face, waiting for his eyes to open.  The second they
did I said, “Okay, Carlos, now.” He plunged his fangs into the open wound.  “Stay awake, Maria.  You can do this, for Carlos.  Stay awake, please.”  Her eyes rolled back, but then came back and focused on me.  I saw her clenching her teeth.  “That’s good, honey.  Fight,” I said.  Matt pulled Carlos back and plunged the syringe into his neck, filling it with Carlos’ blood.  He handed it to me and I plunged it into Maria’s neck. Carlos’ blood revived her even more.  Back and forth we went.  I was a robot.  I had to be.  Because if I thought about what I was doing, I would lose my fight and plunge my teeth into her neck.  I was struggling so hard.  My eyes were changed, making it more difficult to see what I was doing.  My teeth were down, making it harder to speak.  And my need to feed was unbearable.  As we began the fifth, and final, transfer, I heard him chuckling in the doorway.  “Fuck off, Jonas,” I growled.  Matt and Carlos flinched.  “Don’t move, you two!” I shouted.  I plunged the last syringe of blood into Maria’s neck.