Relativity (A Sage Hannigan Time Warper Novel #2) Page 8

  “Mommy? What’s the matter, Mommy?” Her voice and lip quivered, and our mother quickly wiped away her own tears, burying her anguish and sorrow to reassure her that everything was fine.

  “Everything is okay, honey. How about we find Daddy and go get an ice cream?” She smiled beautifully and little Sage and I both smiled in reply.

  “Just remember…you may be here to stop something. You may be here to witness something, but you are never here to change your own past. Promise me you’ll listen to what I’ve told you. She pleaded with her eyes, and I saw the strength, the love, and the determination there. I saw myself in my mother at that moment, and I felt proud. I nodded, hating that I knew she was right. Her shoulders relaxed, and she let little Sage pull her a few feet down the path. When she looked back, I smiled as best as I could and she mouthed, “I love you, Sage.” And then she was gone around the corner, and I was left alone and bereft once again.

  When Soren found me, I was sitting in the shade of a large tree on the edge of the pond watching ducks swim around in the cool water. He plopped down beside me, very un-Soren-like. His breathing seemed labored and his skin was pale and clammy. “Didn’t see anything at all. It was like I was chasing a fake trail around in circles for a while. Very annoying.” His breath came in shallow pants, and I actually felt alarmed for my invincible vampire. “How about you?” he asked. I twirled the bracelet on my wrist, and he raised his brow.

  “I saw my mother and myself,” I whispered. “My mother knew, Soren. She knew what was going to happen, but she made me promise not to interfere.” I looked back up into his shining gaze and waited for him to say something…to say…anything. He remained silent though. “She was, she is, a warper. I never once considered it a possibility.” Soren tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear and sighed. He definitely wasn’t acting like himself. “Let’s head back to the apartment, Soren. You need to rest and there are a few more hours before the fireworks begin. I have a feeling everything will be all right until then. Soren didn’t comment when I stood and waited for him to get up. He seemed to be in pain just to walk, but he didn’t say a word, and I knew better than to ask.

  When we entered the apartment, Soren stumbled and I reached out to grab him. He hissed at me and then cursed at himself. “Soren, stop being such an ass and let me help you.” He grumbled something unintelligible at me but didn’t jerk away when I wound my arm through his and led him to the bathroom. I ran the shower water lukewarm and helped him shrug out of his shirt and pants. He shooed me away until I turned around for him to get completely naked and pull the glass door closed. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. The night before he’d done the same for me and yet here he was acting like a prude.

  I got into the shower and found Soren leaning his forehead against the wall, standing as still as a statue. It was making me uneasy. I reached out slowly and touched his wet shoulder. “Soren?” I spoke softly, cautiously. When he swung around with wild eyes, I knew he had pushed himself too far during the day. He had his forearm pressed against my throat and my body pinned against the shower wall before I could blink, and all I could do was gasp out loud. Just as quickly as he had pinned me, he released me.

  “Sage?” His eyes were wide and as close to frightened as I’d ever seen them.

  “Soren…what do you need? How can I make this better for you?” He shook his head and reached a shaking hand towards the body soap. I stopped his hand with my own and lathered up a fluffy white washcloth while Soren’s gaze was locked on mine. I took my time washing his shoulders and neck. I ran the cloth over his muscular chest and stomach and watched as the suds ran down the length of his gorgeous body. I washed myself and noticed his eyes following my every move. I made sure every inch of our bodies were thoroughly clean and saw more and more of the Soren I knew leak back into his gaze. His body was more relaxed, his eyes less wild, and I found that I could breathe easier around him. I stepped out of the shower and wrapped myself in a towel. When Soren stepped out behind me, I wrapped a towel around him as well. I was tucking the towel in at his waist when he stiffened. I lifted my eyes slowly from his chest. He was breathing hard and his gaze was riveted on my neck. I reached out as slowly as possible to take his hand in mine, and much to my relief, he allowed me to lead him into the main living area.

  “I’m sorry. I’ve never been out of it this badly before. Maybe it has something to do with the time travel. I’m not sure.” Sitting on the edge of the bed in nothing but a towel, he looked like a lost little boy. His distress was obvious. He wasn’t used to being a burden or feeling so unsure of himself. I smiled at how absolutely adorable he was. Somehow he always accomplished that, making me smile, even when he wasn’t trying. I knelt down in front of him and wiggled myself between his knees before he could protest. I kissed his collar bone very lightly, and then kissed along his jaw in the same manner, until I reached his lips.

  “Soren…don’t worry about it. Everyone needs help some time, even a big, bad, scary ass vampire, like you.” I smirked up into his face and my breath caught in my throat when I saw the unfiltered, undiluted look of raw need on his face. I pulled his face down to mine and whispered against his lips the words he told me I’d have to utter before anything would ever go any further between us. “I want this, Soren.” A growl erupted from his throat before he pulled me into a toe curling kiss that left nothing between us unsaid.

  I pulled away only slightly to move my hair away from my neck and to expose the sensitive, wildly throbbing vein to Soren’s gaze. “You can have all of me, Soren. No holding back.” He held my gaze as he pulled the sheet on the bed back and then pulled me with him to sink into the mass of pillows. I landed on top of him chest to chest, with nothing but my towel between us, he had already discarded his. His hand came up to gently cup my cheek and his fingers sensuously caressed my lips. My entire body felt flushed.

  “My little warper,” he murmured gruffly into my neck. A second later he was on top of me and had my hair pulled back away from my neck. He paused to give me one last chance to change my mind. Not even close. My smile must have said as much because a split second later a sharp pain was followed by the euphoric sensation of Soren’s vampiric pulling at my neck. I closed my eyes and felt as if I were floating outside of my body until Soren’s warm, expert, hand trailing up my inner thigh brought me slamming back into reality and gasping out in pleasure. Every single touch, every single caress told me how much Soren cared for me. I let myself go and let all my hurt and longing and loneliness be swept away on a beautiful tidal wave of pleasure and happiness.

  I lay peacefully in my sleeping vampire’s arms for hours thinking about everything that happened the last few days. Soren coming back into my life, a threat I would have to deal with once I got back to my time, the ancient book tucked away in my nightstand with the three intertwined marks of Amerach on the cover—and then I had warped to this specific day in my past. It all had to mean something. I just wasn’t seeing the bigger picture. I glanced over at the clock on the wall. It was getting late. I exhaled slowly and took a final moment to enjoy the sight of Soren sprawled across the bed with his head on my chest, sleeping deeply. I hated to wake him. His episode earlier scared him more than it did me, but I’d been seriously concerned for a few moments.

  I ran my hand through Soren’s hair and lightly kissed his forehead. His eyes fluttered open, and he gazed up at me, seemingly surprised I was still there at first, and then his eyes darkened with passion. His heated gaze raised goose bumps all over my body, and I squirmed. He reached up to lay a scorching kiss that melted my bones and curled my toes on my still swollen lips. When he was finished, he smiled lazily up at me from beneath his thick lashes like he had been planning to do that for a very long time. I blushed, even though it was a completely ridiculous thing to do since I was naked as a jay bird and so was he.

  “How long did I sleep?” he asked as he rolled over to check the clock for himself.

  “It’s already five. We should proba
bly get ready and head back to the park for the fireworks. Something will happen tonight. I can feel it. Something besides my parents’ deaths, I mean.” I swallowed hard and took several deep breaths.

  “We’ll figure this out tonight. Now that the sun is going down, I’ll be at full strength as well. We’ll get through this together.” He squeezed my hand and kissed me softly one last time before jumping from the bed. He had no shame and made no move to cover his nakedness as he slid into a pair of blue jeans. I wasn’t going to complain though. The view was great from where I was lying.

  Dusk had begun to fall when we entered the busy park a little while later. Families were enjoying their evening meals on picnic tables and on blankets spread out on the ground; children ran around waving sparklers in circles, but the carefree atmosphere only made my heart clench tighter. My parents would be dead in an hour, and I’d be around to experience it all over again. Lucky me. My nails bit into my palms as my fists clenched unnaturally. Soren’s large hand came up to cup the back of my neck gently, and a little tension left my body.

  “Let’s see what we can get into.” I smiled up into his hypnotizing eyes and felt a tiny sliver of relief pierce through the pain and heartache that I was enduring. I was so glad that he was there to help see me through the worst twenty-four hours of my life. I didn’t have that luxury the first time around.

  “Yes, let’s.”

  We made our way around the park, avoiding the more crowded areas and looking for any signs of things being “off.” I couldn’t imagine what could’ve happened during that time, but I was only five when my parents died, and it wasn’t like I’d have remembered anything if it had been. Throw my mother being a warper into the mix, and I could only imagine the things that could’ve really happened that day. One thing I had hardwired into my brain since becoming a warper was that things were never ever what they seemed. The days that you think you know someone, the days you think you’ve got it all figured out? That’s when life sticks it to you the hardest. I gave up thinking I had it all figured out the day my only friend stuck a dagger through my chest.

  A loud boom, followed by the crackle of the first fireworks shooting out over the lake pulled me abruptly out of my grim thoughts. I straightened quickly and removed my hand from the dagger strapped to my leg. Me? Jumpy? Nah! The floral explosion of lights reflected in the surface of the lake while “oohs” and “ahhs” chorused throughout the park. I clenched my teeth so hard my jaw began to ache. The Fourth of July was my least favorite holiday for obvious reasons, but the sound of actual fireworks ranked right up there with someone’s nails raking across a chalk board for me. I’m pretty sure it was the first Fourth of July in over eight years that I could remember that I didn’t have earphones on and music blasting so loudly that my eardrums verged on bursting.

  Another round of fireworks crackled, lighting up the sky, much to the enjoyment of the enraptured spectators all around me, but my eyes were rooted to a red glow that had nothing to do with the red, white, and blue sparks above the tree tops. The glowing red eyes sent a chill up my spine—not because they were attached to vampires. No, I’d dealt with plenty vamps to have already gotten used to the sight of angry, blood red-rimmed eyes staring in my direction. The first thing I thought was it was some kind of optical illusion. Vampires didn’t come out in droves. Ever. But, that was exactly what I was staring back at—droves of red-rimmed eyes staring in my direction from all over the park.

  “Soren?” My whisper came out shaky even to my own ears. I glanced up to the vampire holding my hand and saw a look of absolute astonishment on his face. Yeah, I’d take a wild guess and bet he’d never seen anything like this before either. “What are we going to do?”

  “We have to lead them away from this crowd.” Soren’s quiet, clipped answer told me exactly how much trouble we were in. If I couldn’t get most of them close together, I’d be forced to time freeze the entire park…and then what? Go around and behead nearly a hundred vampires? Clean up the park afterward? It would be nearly impossible. My head spun trying to figure out why they were all there in the first place. How would they have known I was going to be there? Or did they know what I was at all?

  I stood frozen in place, my mind trying to decide how to react. Should we run? Even at warper speed, I’d never outrun so many vampires. Should we pretend we hadn’t noticed and casually walk away from the park? A voice nearby vanquished any hopes that the vampires hadn’t known I was there.

  “Ah, warper, it’s so nice to see you looking so well. It’s been far too long.” His voice hissed out and the hairs on the back of my neck prickled at the offending sound. The vampire stood in the shadow of a large tree. I couldn’t make out his features, but every bone in my body told me that this was the vampire Soren had spoken of in my apartment a couple of nights before. The questions were what was he doing here, and was he the reason I had warped back to this time? I was guessing so. The fireworks had been going off faster and faster. They must have been warming up for the finale…which meant I had only a matter of minutes before my parents would be getting in their car to drive home…only I knew that they never made it home.

  “So what’s with all the creepy red eyes?” I nodded in the direction of all the vampires glaring at Soren and me. “You guys feeling patriotic tonight?” The vampire’s laugh was anything but encouraging.

  “Same smart mouth too. You’d think Soren would have taught you some manners by now.” Soren stiffened beside me, and I realized he was trying to reign in his fury.

  “Quit with the charades already. What do you want?” Soren’s tone would have sent lesser, more sane men or vampires scurrying away with their tails between their legs. But the vampire obviously didn’t feel threatened. The vampire clucked his tongue.

  “Everyone’s always in a hurry. I miss the old days when a good conversation was always to be had.” I was beginning to understand that the vampire had lost his ever-lovin’ mind somewhere through the years. “But, if we must get right down to it…I want the warper to suffer.” His voice deepened and I heard pure, unadulterated hatred seething through his words. I looked up at Soren with wide eyes and shook my head. What had I ever done to this vampire? I went through all my dealings thus far with the creatures and couldn’t for the life of me place one that I’d done something so horrible as to gain this kind of hatred and malice.

  “Still don’t know who I am, do you, warper?” He spit the words out in contempt, daring me to say I knew who he was, daring me to say I remembered him. “How about I make it a little easier on you?” he crooned from his shadowed tree. The vampire then stepped forward just enough to become illuminated by the few surrounding park lamps and fireworks going off in the distance. He was a small build, only a little taller than me, with dirty blond hair hanging down to his shoulders. His eyes were not red like the ones shining all around us, but they weren’t gold like Soren’s either. This vampire’s eyes were more of a coppery color, like a shiny penny, which meant he was older than a baby vamp, but younger than Soren. It wasn’t until I noticed his ear that I had an inkling of who I was dealing with. The vampire had a chunk of his earlobe missing.

  The crescendo of the fireworks finale faded to a buzzing noise in the back of my mind, and the ground shifted beneath my feet. A terrible grin cut across the face of the vampire in front of me.

  “Ah, she finally remembers,” he hissed, baring fangs. Soren hissed in answer and shifted himself in front of me.” I placed a hand on his back to steady myself before speaking to the vamp.

  “You were with Elaine the night she kidnapped me and planned to kill me in front of a room full of vampires,” I said matter-of-factly. “That didn’t work out so well, huh?” I couldn’t help myself. The vampire seemed just as weak to me as he did back in 1904 when he slapped me across the face while I was tied up to a wall and unable to defend myself. I’m not sure, but I think I called him a piece of shit back then. The name still applied. The vampire smiled again, and this time his smile spoke
of long awaited vengeance. I shivered in response. Underestimating the situation or the vampire would have been a mistake.

  The vampire’s grin grew wider as he raised a hand and then snapped his fingers. All the vampires surrounding the park left so quickly in one large mass exodus that a small breeze flitted through the park in the wake of so many departing at vamp-speed. The night felt strangely bereft of the shining red eyes.

  “What the hell was that all about?” I gulped. Surely the large turnout of vampires hadn’t been just a show of strength and intimidation. But if it had been…well, it worked. Just then I realized how quiet the night was. I spun around and sucked in a breath. The fireworks were over. The park was starting to empty out, and my parents would be getting in their car. Oh, god. I grabbed Soren’s hand and began to walk quickly, leaving the park area behind. The whole park was already almost empty. I could hear people shutting their car doors to begin their drive home. My ears began to ring, and I had to fight off the grayness at the edge of my vision. No way in hell I was going to pass out or freak out. I owed it to my parents to figure out exactly what happened the day they died, and it was increasingly obvious that it wasn’t a complete “accident” that claimed their lives. I swallowed the bile that threatened the back of my throat and began to jog toward the line of parked cars with Soren holding tightly to my hand. I could hear everything around me. It was almost too much with Soren’s powers and mine working together, but I hoped it would help me pinpoint exactly where my parents were.

  Then, just like a lucky strike of lightening, I heard the sound of my mother’s laughter as she got into their waiting car, echoing from several streets over. I began to flat out run when I heard the car pull into the traffic that was slowly trickling away from the park. I rounded a street corner and vaguely recall a street sign that read “W. Oak Street” fly by in my peripheral vision. By the time we reached the busy intersection, I knew my parents were only moments away from turning down a winding, dark highway that we had always taken on our way home. I swallowed my fear and grasped Soren’s hand tightly in mine.