Blood Evolution (BookStrand Publishing Romance) Read online

  No Problem.

  He knew where the master bedroom was--he knew the layout of the dilapidated mansion in its entirety--but he still hesitated to lead her there. Amon had never made arrangements with the innkeeper for creature comforts at this place; his thoughts were always on the practicality of survival. Now that he was here with Alana, he deeply regretted it as he curled his free hand around the cold, brass knob on the mahogany door.

  “Before we go inside, let me apologize for the humble hospitality. I had envisioned something far grander for you, but I hope you will accept these meager accommodations for the time being.”

  He had expected a layer of dust over everything in the near empty room, but instead he found a magnificent four-poster bed with burgundy drapes and silk coverings that looked more comfortable than anything he had bothered to sleep in for centuries. There was a large fireplace at the far end of the room, and it was stocked with fresh logs. Softly glowing night-lights radiated from the outlets in all four corners and he could see a small wine rack with a service set nearby. He must remember to show his gratitude to the elderly woman who owned the old plantation house. It must have broken her heart to let the exterior of the house run down as per his instructions, but she obviously kept the master suite as a point of pride, and he was glad of it.

  At that moment, he felt like he had come home in a way he had never experienced before. Perhaps it was because he had Alana freely at his side for the first time in their existence. He allowed his mind to dare to dream of the two of them together, in that house, in a way that a man and wife should be.

  It was all a flight of fancy; he knew that. Even in his deepest fantasy, he knew he could never offer her a normal life now, not with tainted blood in his veins. Amon had never fully dared to believe they would be reunited, and now he faced the reality of their situation. It was driven home when Alana went to the nearest window to draw back the curtains for a view of the river and she was met by heavy lead shutters over the glass.

  “I instructed the owner of the manor to have them installed for protection against the hurricanes,” he explained almost apologetically. Without them, he would be in trouble, but he still regretted the fact that he had inadvertently denied her something she wished for.

  “They are in every room on the second floor, I’m afraid, but you are free to step outside as often as you like and watch the sun rise, though I will not be able to join you. If you will permit me, I will seek out my quarters elsewhere so that you can rest.”

  “I have watched the sun rise a dozen times or more,” she answered him with understanding. “But if it’s all the same to you, I’d love it if you stayed here with me for a while. I guess I just don’t want to be alone right now and I feel safe with you near.”

  He nodded, unable to find his voice as she slipped off her velvet blazer to reveal a satin camisole underneath. Her skin was flawless and just to see her glossy hair tumble over her bare shoulders again stopped his breath. He watched her rub a spot on the discarded item.

  “There’s blood on this jacket.” She laughed a little but shivered in the chill air of the darkened room without her coat. “I’m surprised there isn’t more, actually.”

  “I can start a fire if you like,” he offered, mesmerized by her graceful actions as she draped the garment over the edge of a nearby chair.

  “I’d love that. If you don’t mind, could I open a bottle of wine? I’ve had a pretty rough day and a glass of Merlot sounds good right now.”

  The fire came to life with ease but, as he knelt before it to fan the flames, his thoughts were dominated by one important question. Did Alana ultimately have some memory of him? There were so many indications that she felt something for him, signs that he could almost call unmistakable. But, he needed to know for sure.

  He was so distracted by his feelings and the restraint he had to employ every moment he was in her presence that she startled him when she came near the fire for warmth. She held out a crystal glass filled with dark red wine and the firelight sent a dazzling prism of color across his face before he stood to accept it.

  “Thank you for trusting me enough to accompany me here tonight. I know it could not have been an easy decision.” He held the cup of the glass in his palm so he could feel the brief warmth her skin had left on the smooth surface.

  Alana smiled, almost to herself, and she was excruciatingly beautiful to behold when that smile reached her eyes.

  “Surprisingly enough, it was an easy decision to make. You protected me back at the warehouse, probably even saved my life,” she explained, raising the goblet to her soft lips without releasing his gaze. But I have to confess, it’s something more than that, and I think you are aware of it too, but you’re not telling me. Remember what I said earlier about déjà vu? I came here tonight because I feel that I know you somehow. When I first saw your face at the warehouse, I wanted to run to you immediately, but I was frozen by the shock of emotion that washed over me when you appeared the way you did. It took me a minute to even realize where I was and what had happened. You seemed so familiar to me, and I thought that you must be my guardian angel.”

  “I don’t know if I’m an angel, maybe I’m the Devil. But, the one thing I am certain of is that I am here for you and always have been. I don’t know what to promise you, I don’t know what I can give you in your young and beautiful life; but if you say to me you require it, I would pull down the stars and lay them at your feet at the cost of the universe.”

  She blushed at his words and he was terrified that perhaps he had come on too strongly. Perhaps he should have striven to better temper his earnest emotions toward her. A lengthy silence followed his pledge. He did his best to ascertain her feelings, but it was difficult because she watched him through half-lidded eyes--her thick, dark lashes nearly touching her cheeks as she stroked the rim of her goblet with delicate fingertips.

  “You have blood on your shirt, too,” Alana observed with a half smile on her lips. She carefully sat the base of her glass on the fireplace mantle. “Let me help you take this off and we can soak it in cold water.”

  He was stunned as she reached out with both hands and began to pull the stained, white cotton shirt from his waistband. The friction from the soft material against his skin sent wild impulses through his body in his heightened state. He quickly put his glass next to hers, before he lost control and dropped it onto the polished hardwood floor.

  The back of her fingers lingered against his hard, smooth abdomen as she raised the shirt higher. His breathing became erratic and uncontrollable when she touched him like that. His arms lifted and she was forced to step in close and stand on her tiptoes to completely remove the damaged garment from his body.

  His lustrous black hair fell down his bare back and he stood in the firelight with his upper torso completely naked, inches away from her body. The flickering shadows outlined every well-defined muscle on his smooth, perfect chest and he ached to pull her against him. He looked down to catch a glimpse of her face in an effort to gauge her response to the situation but found her eyes were closed.

  Amon braced himself against the onslaught of lust that tore through his body, but he could not control his movements. His hands reached for her bare arms, palms open, and he slid his strong fingers across her silky skin. His heartbeat thundered painfully in his chest when he saw her nipples harden underneath her thin satin camisole, and he could smell the unexpected sweet scent of her desire.

  Her full, wine-stained lips parted to release a ragged breath as she ran her fingertips along the waistband of his dark, form-fitting slacks.

  “I still don’t understand everything we’ve been through tonight, all the things I’ve seen, but I know I want to be with you more than anything I have ever wanted in my life,” she whispered, suddenly looking him straight in the eye. “I’m not sure if you want the same thing I do, but my heart is about to burst because of it. I don’t even know for sure if you are willing to share that part of you….”

&n
bsp; Her eyes were honest and true; there was no sign of regret or hesitation there as he held her gaze with his own questioning look.

  His right hand left her shoulder and he wound his fingers into the glossy curls at the base of her skull, pulling her head back gently so that he could fully see her reaction to his advances. His free hand ran down her spine and, when he reached the small of her back, he crushed her against him with a need he could not have anticipated.

  She gasped when she felt his obvious state of arousal and understood the monumental desire she had sparked within him.

  “I will give you everything, Alana,” he answered, a moment before he covered her mouth with his own. The wine was sweet on her lips and he tasted her with his tongue. Her hips pressed against him with the primal motion of an ageless dance that time could never change.

  His questing fingers raised her skirt and he ran his hand up the back of her right thigh until he reached the lace panties underneath. He slowly slid his hand inside the soft material and cupped her firmly while his fingertips sought the tender source of her pleasure.

  She let out a small cry of urgency when he found the rhythm she needed to drive her passion and he found himself at the edge of the bed as she released him from his remaining clothing. Alana faced him as she sat on his lap, sliding herself along his length as she rocked higher and higher toward the top. The camisole fell around her waist and her swollen nipples brushed against his lips as she worked him fully inside.

  He was at the edge of reality, filled with memories from the past and overwhelmed by the present experience. Losing all control for the second time in his life, he released his soul, his passion and his seed into the woman he loved.

  She held him inside her for an indeterminable amount of time after. When she finally collapsed onto his chest with her damp hair falling all around them, she pressed against him and he savored the touch of her thigh against the length of him.

  “Amon,” she whispered, half asleep in his arms. “I am glad I had this time with you, my soul mate.”

  And there it was, the incontrovertible proof he had barely dared to hope for; she said his name from her own memory. Yet those words were like a slap from the past against his fragile, newfound hope. He reminded himself that he was given this second chance for a reason and that he would not fail his promise to her that he would come. This time, he wouldn’t have to promise.

  When the evening arrived, not even death could tear him from her side.

  Journal Entry

  I was alone in the temple. I had no way of knowing how long I slumbered, healed or became the monster that was made of me. The blood beneath my head was dry on the grey slate floor of my mother’s chambers and, though I discovered with no small amount of horror that it had dried in my hair, my shattered skull was completely whole.

  There was no lingering sign of Titum Sa’ hare and the room was cold. No candles had been lit for days and no incense had been burned in the meditation sconces; I do recall at the time, when that knowledge came to me, I wondered how I was able to discern such fine details.

  I wandered into the corridor of the lower sanctum and realized instantly that no guide would come to me, that one would not be necessary for me to traverse the inner passage of the priesthood ever again.

  I was foolish, so blind with hope, when I woke to my new life. I ran to the place where Aziza had been, to the courtyard where I had last felt the grace of her presence. It was empty, of course, and the ground was littered with debris and burned out torches.

  Others like me watched from the shadows, and I was suddenly able to feel them as they judged me and snickered behind their hands. The ceremony was long past; I had failed my one true love and been forever cast out of the light.

  In my grief, I sought out the burial pyramid of our ancestors and, in that one night, I devastated every monument, every sarcophagus and every sacred resting place of all the Chosen who had given their lives for the greater glory of the God.

  I found her coffin last, newly crafted and still in the open preparation chamber.

  She was as lovely as she had been the day she died--her perfect skin so pale and fine in the final moments of the infection that took her life. I kissed her face a thousand times, until my tears had washed away her funeral paint, and I found she was more beautiful still.

  I removed her from her coffin and held her tight against me.

  I could not live without her, and now I could not die.

  Chapter Seven

  “My brother is a medical student,” Alana explained to him in hushed tones and, though they were still far from the compound where Edward was being held, the sense of impending danger hung like a warning in the night air.

  The hair on the back of his neck stood on end and Amon felt a kind of edgy apprehension that told him the time of the ceremony was close at hand. If they did not free him tonight, he would be lost to them on the other side of eternity.

  “He often said the medical community considered a cure for cancer the ‘Holy Grail’ of their profession, but he believed otherwise. Edward felt that a cure for mortality was the ultimate goal and that there was a strong correlation between blood type and aging; though he said his research often crossed over into the realm of the fantastical and he should have become a witch doctor instead.”

  Amon knew that the answer did lie within the blood, but all of his own research stopped short of a cure because no one had ever been able to isolate and remove the foreign strain that entered the bloodstream via the bite of an infected specimen.

  When they reached their destination, he immediately recognized the compound from memory, though eerily not his own. They approached the impressive building where the age-old ritual would take place. Amon was surprised to discover a quiet, dark calm settled over the property when he should be detecting the fervent revelry of those gathered. The days of open celebration were over, apparently, and this generation of followers took great care to remain in the shadows of society.

  A thick stone wall encircled the yard around the mansion, broken only by one tall, locked iron gate at the head of the driveway. He listened carefully for any signs of a guard or patrol, but there was nothing. He knew everyone must be inside and they had just a few precious moments to find her brother before the ceremony began.

  There were security cameras along the walls, but he easily picked them out, avoiding detection as he found a place for them to safely climb the rock barrier. He could not shake the uneasy feeling that something was not quite right and, while no one stopped them as they carefully made their way to the back of the building, he began to sense a thin layer of confusion and discord coming from within the house.

  They entered through the kitchen where there were obvious signs a feast had been prepared, but the food remained untouched. He didn’t have time to speculate about the cause, because frantic footsteps pounded down a set of stairs in the adjacent hallway and a woman ran through the kitchen at breakneck speed. She was dressed in a black and silver evening gown and, though her face might have been elegantly painted at one time during the evening, her makeup ran in sloppy lines down her cheeks.

  This woman was definitely human, and she took no notice of Amon and Alana as she passed by, though she was close enough to collide with them both had they not moved aside.

  “This is not what I expected to find,” he said quietly to Alana. “The lack of security is highly unusual and, unless I’m mistaken, that well-dressed woman was most likely one of those involved with the ceremony tonight.”

  “Maybe it means it hasn’t started yet and we still have a chance to find my brother.”

  “They will have them quartered in one place where they can be watched, or, as they would tell them, where their protection can be assured.”

  Amon cautiously proceeded down the hall where the fleeing woman first appeared and located the set of stairs they heard her descend. When he was certain it was safe, he motioned for Alana to follow closely behind.

  There wer
e a series of tiny rooms on either side of the corridor at the top of the unguarded landing. Varied scenes of disorder greeted them as they searched each one for Edward. Some of the quarters were as neat as a pin, and others were filled with scattered items as if someone had hastily left with only the things they needed most.

  Amon was beginning to lose hope as they found each cell deserted when his ears picked up the frantic sound of pacing at the far end of the hallway.

  His heart ached at the look of worry which had spread over his beloved’s face as they left each room with nothing that might tell them Edward was alive. He knew the sound at the end of the corridor was their last chance. He laid his hand on her arm to still her fruitless search.

  She glanced up at him with such pain in her eyes that he could barely resist the urge to fly through the compound and, with no concern for his own safety, tear it apart to give her the evidence she required. He slid his fingers along her arm until he reached her shaking hand.

  “Whatever happens tonight, Alana, please know I want you to stay with me from this moment onward. I will abide by your wishes if you chose to follow your own path, but I must let you know that one night with you is worth an eternity of waiting. Being with you has filled my soul full of more love than I ever could have imagined.”

  She nodded her head as she bravely smiled through her tears and tightly wrapped her hands around his fingers

  “You know something, don’t you? I can tell. Show me, no matter what it is.”

  They came to the door slowly. It was slightly ajar, which allowed him a quick glimpse into the interior. A young male walked from one end to the other with short strides as he wrung his hands in frustration. His facial features resembled that of Alana’s and Amon pulled her to his side so that she could confirm his identity.

  She did not hesitate for one second once she saw his face, flying through the door so abruptly that it crashed against the far wall and startled the young man, who froze in his tracks.