I negotiated a day to recover before meeting Callista. Cade offered to find a hotel for that time, and I told him that was bollocks. His flinch of relief suggested he still felt bad about nearly draining me, but I was over it. It’d been my choice. I didn’t dwell on past choices. Nobody had died except the asshole who was supposed to, so I moved on.
While I recovered, Cade detailed my car and got anything else I might want to take with me packed and set out next to the door. His stuff was neatly lined up next to mine, as much in limbo as I was. I couldn’t take it to the bar in case Callista sent a Watcher out to be nosy, but I also wasn’t expecting any real kind of time to get the hell out of town if that was her judgment.
I’d lose the deposit on the flat unless I could buy another favor from Maria but whatever. I’d leave with my life.
Finally, it was time to face the Arbiter. I went alone and drove with the windows open to disperse the smell of Cade on me, seeing as it would kill my story for me to turn up with hints of the vampire I was supposed to have been busy hunting down clinging to me. The June heat was getting worse with every day that crept closer to July, and the humidity made it weigh even heavier as a thunderstorm brewed on the horizon. It echoed my mood as I made my way through downtown, wondering if this was the last time I’d see that bull statue.
The bar was exactly the same as before, even had a few of the same people. I approached the bar, and Callista immediately pointed to her back room. I followed her, stomach churning, and waited for her curt order to sit before taking the cracked leather chair in front of her worn desk.
She stared me down, green eyes sparking like flame-lit emerald. “The only reason I don’t kill you for interfering in my business is because I have no proof you knew there was a connection between Cade and Morris, and Maria is saying she wanted Morris removed. You expect me to believe you knew absolutely nothing about Cade before this?”
Did that mean she hadn’t had Watchers in Raleigh?
I said nothing. Didn’t move a muscle. Just met her glare as solidly as I could.
My silence seemed to piss her off further. “Nothing to say for yourself?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Nothing to say for Cade?”
I stared at her, wondering if it would be better or worse if I did.
“Well?”
I gambled and prayed it wouldn’t cost Cade his life after everything I’d done to preserve it. “No. Nothing.”
Fury sparked in every line of her form and features. “Fine. Get the fuck out of North Carolina. You have two hours before I eliminate the annoyance you represent and send your head to Farand to get him to shut the hell up about disrespect. I may not be able to prove anything about collusion between you and Cade, but I won’t have you in my territory making trouble.”
Startled, I blurted, “But the terms of my exile— The queens—”
“Don’t rule in the Triangle or the Carolinas. I do. I did Houses Monteague and Desmarais a favor letting you settle here. They owe me, not the other way around. And now, my darling one, so do you. Live out your exile anywhere else and count yourself lucky I let you keep that sorry life.”
I bit back an exclamation that it wasn’t fair. I’d done nothing to merit exile to begin with, but now that I was here, I was exactly as guilty as she thought I was.
I was lucky I could pay the debt with something other than my life.
“I’m so glad we understand each other.” Her smile was venom. “If you do know where Cade is, take him with you. Or don’t, I don’t care. But you’re both banished from the Carolinas until I call in my favor. And Lydia? You’d best come running when I do.”
“I understand.”
She stared at me hard, as though that’d make her point stick, then waved in a sharp dismissal. I wasn’t too proud to hustle out, not stopping in my headlong rush until I was home and barreling through my own front door.
“We have to go. Right now,” I said as soon as I was in. I didn’t even pause before grabbing a suitcase and hauling it back out to the car. I still needed recovery time, but for now, I was fueled by adrenaline and fear. I blew back into the house.
“Stop.” Cade caught me when I tried to ignore him. His pupils dilated as my fear hit him, but that was all. His grip tightened just enough to halt me when I tried to break away and eased when I focused on him. “Lya, sit down. What happened?”
“We keep our lives. But we have to get the fuck out of town. Today. Now.”
“Do you know where you want to go? Where you’ll be safe?”
My stomach plummeted as I shook my head. “I— No. I can’t go home, to Europe, even if I wanted to. This is all I have here. It’s all I know.”
I looked around the flat then at my few belongings clustered by the door. I’d never really settled in. Never even bought a TV or a microwave. It was as though I’d always expected I’d have to leave suddenly or like this was never meant to be a home away from home.
“Are you… Do you want to come with me?”
He smiled. “I’d like to, if you’ll have me, and if you will, I have an idea. For now, eat something. I’ll load the car. Okay?”
“Okay.” My heart skipped, and my stomach fluttered.
I wasn’t completely alone. Not completely lost.
While he took care of the bags, I focused on eating what was left in my fridge. Good thing I’d needed to go grocery shopping; I wouldn’t be out too much money in food. It all sat in my stomach like lead though, heavy and poisonous, even if it steadied me.
When everything that would fit in or atop the Escape was loaded, I made a last sweep and then headed out to the car.
Cade slid into the passenger seat. “Wait. Breathe, love,” he said when I hit the ignition button. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t know.” I squeezed the steering wheel, closing my eyes to say a quick prayer before getting us on the road. “She can’t prove anything. She’ll write off the favor she gave the Lyon Conclave, but I owe her one instead.”
“You’re sure you trust me to come with you?” He spoke so softly I almost asked him to repeat himself.
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“I just want you to be sure you’ll have me after I nearly drained you. That you’re not still protecting me out of guilt for coming after me.”
I sat with that a moment while waiting for the traffic light to change. I’d never had a companion like that. Someone who’d just…trust me. Someone I could fuck up with and we could work through it in our own way.
“I’m not,” I said. “I’d really like that. Us staying together, I mean.”
Cade grinned wide enough to flash fangs and shifted to stay out of a sunbeam as I took the curving onramp to I-40 East. “Good. Because I don’t have a car. But I do have some prime beach town property.”
“You do?”
“How do you feel about Florida?”
“Never been.” It was my turn to smile as some of the dread pooling in my middle drained away. I was a stranger in a strange land, with no idea where to go. If Cade knew and I could get us there, I’d be okay.
We’d be okay. I’d have to drive fast to get us out of North Carolina before the two hours were up, but it was better than the grave. Especially if I had him with me.
***
Cade’s little house was tucked away down a short dirt drive off a cobbled side street near downtown St. Augustine, hidden among live oaks draped with long, tangled streamers of Spanish moss. Between the moss, the palmettos, and the overgrown hibiscus bushes, there was an effective privacy screen behind a wooden fence. The distant sounds of live music and tourists enjoying themselves in bars reached us but not loud enough to be annoying. I could smell the salt tang of the distant ocean over the muddy scent of the nearer St. Johns River. Goddess only knew how long this little patch of paradise would be here with the increase in hurricanes, but for now, it was the perfect haven.
I was exhausted after the eight-hour drive, but the big steak dinner I’d gotten on his dime when we’d stopped in town for him to hunt was rejuvenating me. Between that and the fresh, clean air blowing in off the ocean, I was feeling better than I had in months. I set about checking the perimeter and getting a sense for security and defensibility while Cade hurried about inside, opening windows to air the slightly musty scent and putting fresh linens smelling of the cedar chest they’d been stored in on the bed.
If nothing else, at least we had a place to sleep…among other things.
Candles flickered when I made my way back in. Their light danced over Cade’s handsome features.
He looked nothing like the arrogant rich guy I’d first met in the Raleigh club. He was more real now. More himself, somehow, in jeans and a black V-neck tee that hugged his muscles. He also looked much more awake now that the sun was down—he’d spent most of the drive passed out in a vampiric stupor, only rousing at sundown to give me directions near the Florida border—and way more relaxed now that we were on turf he knew.
“We safe?” I asked.
He nodded, not taking his eyes off me.
“You have plans for tonight?”
Another nod as something primal slipped behind his gaze. I swallowed, and he stiffened as the scent of my anticipation hit him.
“I hope those plans involve that bed,” I said softly. “I mean, I need a shower first but—”
“No. I want you. Now.” He eyed me. “If you’re up to it.”
With a shiver of desire, I took a step toward him. Then another. Slid my arms around his shoulders.
I kissed along his jaw and down his neck. He buried his face in my hair and gripped my hips firmly, pulling me flush against him. The blood he’d drunk earlier worked fast, and he was more than ready.
His fingers tightened as he pulled me backward and led me into the small bedroom. “Do you know how hard it is to be in a car with you all day and not touch you?”
“You were asleep!”
“Asleep and dreaming of you.”
The growl of his voice sent a line of fire through me, and I thought back to my own scrambled fantasies as our scents blended in my car and adrenaline pushed me to speed south. “I might have been a little distracted while driving myself.”
“Then you’ll forgive me this.”
I gasped as he tugged then spun me, and I fell backward onto the bed. Cade pounced to follow me, pinning my body under his.
We’d been in this same position the night before last, but the desperation this time was to feel him inside me, moving against me in the easy rhythm of pleasure. I pulled him down to me. “I want you. Now.”
From there, it was just a wild scramble to get out of our clothes then the worship of his hands and mouth on my body. Every kiss, every caress and squeeze and moan, sent me higher.
With a snarl of frustration, I pushed up and rolled him.
He had a moment to look at me, the candlelight illuminating surprised delight, before I kissed him like I was trying to drain him, reached down between us, and guided him into me.
“Fuck, Lya,” he groaned against my lips.
And I did fuck him, leaning forward so I could keep kissing him while slowly swiveling my hips so he’d hit all the right spots. He helped, grasping my hips and pushing up as though he couldn’t possibly get deep enough inside me to satisfy either of us.
The air filled with the scents of ash and herbs as we chased completion with each other.
Finally it hit me, so hard and intense that I bowed over him and sank my teeth into the meat of his shoulder as I clenched around him. He threaded his fingers through my hair and held me there, even as I bit hard enough to taste blood. Then he came with a gasping growl as he buried his face against my neck but not his teeth.
We stayed like that, panting, until I was able to gather myself enough to slip free and topple to the side.
Cade gathered me close, pressed his forehead to mine in the dark, with one hand on my hip. “As much as this scares me…I’m yours, Lya. Even if you never let me drink from you again. I’m yours. For as long as you’ll have me.”
“That might be a while,” I whispered back. My heart pounded at what we were offering each other, however obliquely.
“Then it’s a good thing I have an eternity.”
I didn’t, but I’d happily stay with him for every moment I did have. After so long bitterly resenting the fact that nobody had loved me enough to speak up for or claim me, here I had someone who’d done more than that.
He’d fought beside me. Fought for me. Battled his sire and his instincts, gone into a second exile with me rather than take advantage of or dump me and continue on his way.
“I love you,” I whispered, glad the candlelight was low enough he couldn’t see me flush as the admission leaped from a tongue loosened by pleasure and exhaustion.
“Good. Because I love you too, and it’d take more than a stake to stop my heart beating for you.” He pulled me closer, and I burrowed into his chest to take in the granite smell of him under the smoky vampire scent, surrendering to the feeling of being safe and adored.
I had no idea what tomorrow would bring, but tonight it brought forever in the arms of someone who’d do anything for me. If there were any more assholes like Morris in Cade’s past, they’d get exactly what I dealt out to the first one.
Until then, I planned to enjoy the hell out of life in exile with the vampire who’d stolen my heart.