Longing for You, стр. 41
“Don’t think you’re going to leave me behind while you deal withthis,” Katie warned.
“I can’t. As much as I’d like to, you wouldn’t be safe.”
“So what do we do?”
“Bhal has ordered any of our vampires left in the village to meetus here, and then we’ll go to Sybil’s cottage. Then you will just need to keepbehind me with no arguments.” Katie did open her mouth to argue, but Alexissaid firmly, “No, I don’t care what you say. You mean too much to me to riskyou getting hurt.”
That did shut Katie up.
* * *
Amelia sat on the couch gazing at her adoptive parents’ bodiescovered with a sheet. She wasn’t crying, she couldn’t. Amelia felt numb andcold.
Byron finished talking to Bhal and joined her on the couch. “Howare you feeling?”
“Numb. I want to cry, but I can’t. I know they were harsh to me,and I couldn’t wait to get away from them, but they were still my parents. Theygave me a roof over my head, and I never wanted for anything materially. Emotionally,yes, but—”
Byron put her arm around her. “I understand. They were a big partof your life, and they didn’t deserve this ending. You are right to grievethem.”
“I know. We’ll make sure they have a decent funeral?” Amelia said.
“Of course we will. The police will be here soon, and we’ll headback.”
“What about Sybil?”
“I’ve let Alexis know, and there are vampires on their way toher.”
“This is a mess, Byron. Not long ago I was opening my firstbusiness, enjoying the start of married life, and now—everything’sunravelling.”
Byron pulled Amelia to her. “All of those good things will bewaiting for us when we have sorted out this situation. We have an immortal lifeto look forward to, and I promise you will be safe to enjoy it. We will grieveyour parents and deal with whatever comes to us.”
Amelia grasped Byron’s lapels and hugged her tightly. “There’s noway I could cope with this without you.”
Byron kissed her head. “You’ll never have to.”
* * *
Alexis edged closer to the perimeter around Sybil’s house, withKatie close behind her. They heard bangs and shouts as they got closer, andwhen they could finally see what was going on, they saw Sybil at the door ofthe cottage trying to hold back a group of attackers.
“Who are they?” Katie whispered.
“Vampires and witches together, I sense,” Alexis said.
“Why are witches helping vampires?”
“I’ve no idea. Look.”
Alexis pointed to Sybil when they were close enough to thecottage. Sybil was pouring her power into a dome of protection around hercottage, which wasn’t allowing the vampires through. Some of the witcheshelping the vampires were casting spells to try to break through Sybil’s spell.
“You can’t hold us out forever, witch!” one of the vampiresshouted.
Alexis turned to Katie and put her hands on either side of herface, then stared directly into her eyes. She used her telepathy skills tospeak directly to Katie’s mind.
Can you hear me? Nod if you can.
Katie nodded.
Good. I don’t want the vampires to hear my voice. I’m going tohelp Sybil, but I want you to promise that you’ll stay hidden here, no matterwhat you see out there.
Katie started to protest but Alexis stopped her, out of the blue,with a kiss.
I can’t help Sybil if I’m worrying about the woman I deeplycare about being in danger.
Katie was taken aback at both the kiss and the admission thatAlexis cared about her. Instead of protesting and because she couldn’t speak,she placed her hand on her heart to show her feelings. Alexis smiled andreturned the gesture exactly as Katie had done and smiled.
Katie could hardly watch as Alexis headed out into the fray in aflash. Alexis dispatched the witches quickly, with them not even knowing shewas there. Alexis then began hand-to-hand combat with the other vampires. Katiewas mesmerized by Alexis. Watching her fight was something to behold. She wasso quick, a master of unarmed combat. She could picture her on the battlefieldin the days before she was a vampire, serving in the army.
When Alexis disabled all but two of the vampires, the Debrekvampires burst onto the scene. The two remaining vampires ran, leaving theinjured ones on the ground. Alexis was breathing heavily and shouted to herpeople, “Get these vampires out of here before they heal.”
Then Alexis turned her head to Katie and, with blood-red eyes,winked at her. There was such passion and heat in that look that if there hadbeen no one else about, Katie would have run out from the trees and leapt onAlexis. She wanted her.
It was the first time since being attacked that she had felt suchaching need, such hunger and passion for someone—okay, Alexis. It hadalways been Alexis.
* * *
“Why didn’t you tell me what I wanted to know? Instead of lettingme find my parents like that?” Amelia paced up and down inside Sybil’s cabin.
Byron and Amelia had come straight to Sybil on their return.
“I never expected them to be attacked, Amelia. I’m sorry you hadto see that.”
There was a short silence, and then Sybil said, “I’ll make sometea.”
Sybil stood up slowly with the aid of her walking stick and Ameliasaid, “Why always tea? I don’t want any bloody tea.”
Byron tried to comfort her, but she pushed her hand away.
Sybil didn’t bat an eyelid and walked over to her cooker to put onher kettle.
Amelia immediately felt guilty and covered her face with her hands.“I’m sorry—it’s just been too much. I don’t know what to think, to feel, tosay. I ran away from Mum and Dad at my first opportunity. Their religion andbeliefs were suffocating, but compared to the lives some people have, I wasprivileged. I never worried about money or where my next meal was coming from.Everything I needed, they gave me. They didn’t deserve their fate.”
“People seldom do, my dear. They might not have been the perfectparents emotionally, but they were the parents you needed. Religiously we mighthave differed violently, but when it came to you, we were in wholeheartedagreement.”
“Why do you say that?” Amelia asked.
Sybil