Darkness Rises
Page 58

“We’ve talked for hours,” she said. “We’ve laughed and flirted and teased.” She nipped his chin. “Seduced.”
“You’re very good at that,” he said, voice deepening.
“Which one?”
He began to move from side to side, the two of them swaying to slow, nonexistent music. “All of them.”
She smiled. “You see? We’re even dancing.”
“Is that what this is? I was just enjoying the feel of you against me.”
She shrugged. “That’s what we called it at my high school prom.” And she was loving the feel of his hard body pressed to hers.
“Dancing was very different in my day.”
“Would you teach me?”
“I would love to.”
A throat cleared.
Cam and Sean stood in the doorway.
Cam raised his eyebrows. “Should I call and tell them you’ll be late for the meeting?”
Smiling, Etienne shook his head. “No. And you were wrong. It wasn’t a catastrophe.”
Krysta grinned. “We’re engaged.”
Sean’s face brightened. Striding forward, he hugged her and shook Etienne’s hand. “Congratulations.”
Cam did the opposite, hugging Etienne and shaking Krysta’s hand.
“Listen,” Sean said, “while we’re talking about the future . . .”
“I hope you’ll stay with us,” Etienne said, then looked to Krysta.
She nodded. “Absolutely.” Unlike many siblings she knew, they rarely fought. And, since Cam already lived with them, it wasn’t as if Sean would be intruding upon their privacy or anything.
Sean tucked his hands in his pockets, a nervous gesture she hadn’t seen him make in a long time. “Actually, I’ve come to a decision.”
She didn’t like the sound of that, nor the somber look on his face. Had he changed his mind about working for the network? He had seemed very happy working with Dr. Lipton these last few weeks.
“Etienne,” Sean said, “I would like you to transform me.”
Krysta’s jaw hit the floor. “What?”
Sean held up his hands. “Now, hear me out—”
“That would be awesome!” she practically shouted.
Sean blinked. “What?”
Jumping up and down, she tugged on Etienne’s arm. “You have to do it! That would be so cool! You have to do it! You have to do it!”
Etienne hesitated. He didn’t want to disappoint Krysta or squash her excitement, especially after she had just made his existence by agreeing to be his wife, but . . . “Are you sure?” he asked Sean.
“I’m sure. If you doubt me, read my mind.”
Etienne did and found, to his relief, absolute certainty.
“I’m as proficient with weapons as Krysta is,” Sean said, “so I wouldn’t require a lot of training.”
Krysta nodded. “He’s good. He really is.”
Etienne smiled. She was like a child trying to convince a parent to buy her that one special toy she wanted for Christmas. “What about medical school?”
Krysta sobered. “Oh. Crap. I forgot about that.”
“I didn’t,” Sean said. “Since I’ll be able to do everything faster, including read, I can finish my studies in record time under Dr. Lipton’s instruction. She has already agreed to oversee my education and I can serve my residency at network headquarters.”
Etienne was impressed. “Sounds like you’ve considered everything.”
“I have. When I’m not studying, I’ll be able to hunt instead of having to sit on the sidelines as I have for the last six years.” His thoughts revealed just how much that had bothered him. “I’ll be able to heal—Krysta or anyone else who needs it—without risking my life. And I could potentially live forever.”
With everything that had been happening in recent years, the enemies who had risen up against them, the Immortal Guardians could use another healer in the area. “As long as Seth grants his approval, I’ll do it.”
Squealing, Krysta threw her arms around Etienne and hugged him tight, then hugged her brother.
Cam clapped Sean on the back. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks.”
“So . . . you’re okay with what will happen when Etienne bites you?”
Sean nodded. “Dr. Lipton told me what to expect and I saw what Krysta went through with the illness, so yeah.”
Face solemn, Cam shook his head. “I wasn’t talking about the illness. I was talking about the other thing.”
What other thing? Etienne asked him silently. What are you doing?
Just having a little fun with him. Play along.
“What other thing?” Sean asked, smile fading.
Cam lowered his voice conspiratorially. “You know. The intense sexual bond it will forge between you two.”
Etienne was looking at Krysta when Cam made the absurd claim and nearly burst into laughter. Lightning fast, her eyes widened, she flashed all of her teeth in a grin, then sobered just as Sean turned a stricken gaze upon her.
She nodded solemnly. “It’s true.”
You are so bad, he told her.
Don’t make me laugh! This is hilarious! Look at his face!
“Dr. Lipton didn’t say anything about a sexual bond,” Sean said, the picture of unease.
Krysta shrugged. “She was probably too embarrassed. You’re about to become her student. I doubt she wanted you to know she was overcome with lust for Roland and tore his clothes off when he bit her. Especially since she and Bastien were already a couple then,” she lied with silent glee.
Cam nodded. “You’ve seen the movies. Being bitten is always . . . incredibly erotic.”
Krysta nodded. “Orgasmic.”
Sean swallowed. “Umm . . . Okay. Wait.” He actually began to sweat.
Krysta burst out laughing.
Unable to keep a straight face any longer, Etienne did, too. Then Cam.
Realizing he’d been punked, Sean swore and gave Cam a hard shove. “You asshole!”
Cam staggered. “You should have seen your face!”
“Uncool, man.” He turned to Krysta. “And you!” Locking an arm around her neck, he drew her down and ruffled the hell out of her hair.
She laughed all the while, letting him do it even though she was strong enough to toss Sean through the roof if she wanted to.
When he released her, Sean smiled wryly up at Etienne. “So you’ll transform me?”
“With Seth’s permission, yes.”
“And there won’t be anything sexual?”
“No.”
Krysta shook her head, still smiling. “The bite actually hurts like hell. You won’t be having any warm and fuzzy feelings for him. Trust me.”
“Good.” He narrowed his eyes and shook his head. “You guys are so wrong.”
“I wanna be a cowboy,” a man began to sing to an eighties beat. “And you can be my cowgirl.”
Scowling, Etienne glanced around, then realized it was his cell phone. Damn it. He really needed to figure out who kept changing his . . . ringtone. He looked at Cam, whose mirth was unmistakable. “You?” he demanded incredulously. Cam was as staid and stolid as they came.
Or he had been until five minutes ago.
Laughing, Cam shrugged.
“You’ve been my Second for seven years now and haven’t once cracked a joke until tonight.”
“Because you were always so somber,” Cam said. “I thought you were a stick in the mud like the last immortal I served. Damn, Petrus was boring. I practically begged Chris for a transfer, then you ended up being the same. But you started loosening up after you encountered Krysta.” He shrugged. “So I did, too.”
Etienne narrowed his eyes. “Remind me to kick your ass later.” He answered the call. “Yes?”
“It’s me,” Lisette said. “I just talked to Chris. We’re striking the mercenaries’ compound tonight. Come loaded for bear.”
Krysta sat at David’s dining room table, Etienne on one side of her, Sean on the other, and marveled over how dramatically her life had changed. Two months ago, she and Sean had been struggling to make ends meet and risking their lives every night as they tackled the vampire threat on their own. Exhausted. Lonely. Their futures uncertain.
Tonight she was immortal, even stronger and faster than the vampires she hunted. She fought alongside a powerful immortal warrior she loved and who had asked her to marry him earlier this evening with charming uncertainty. Her brother, still studying medicine, would soon be immortal himself and free of the threat of death if he had to heal her. And the three of them sat at a table, surrounded by more than a dozen other immortals and their Seconds, all of whom would fight to the death if necessary to defend each other and her like family.
Yes, the task before them—besieging the mercenary compound—was daunting and made her stomach flutter with nerves. But the future was bright. And, for the first time in years, Krysta was happy.
At least, that was, until she glanced down the table and found Roland staring at her. Again. He had been watching her and studying her ever since she had arrived and it was seriously starting to aggravate her.
Seth and Chris had not yet arrived. Everyone else chatted and joked and wondered aloud if this battle would be as volatile as the last big battle with mercenaries had been.
Krysta hoped not. Etienne had told her about it and about the attack that had inspired it. And it had sounded like something out of a freaking Michael Bay movie.
Beneath the table, Etienne took her hand and rested their entwined fingers on his thigh.
They had decided not to tell anyone they were engaged tonight, since—
Across the table, Lisette sucked in a breath. “You’re engaged?”
All conversation stopped as heads whipped around and gazes honed in on her and Etienne.
Krysta stared back, eyes wide.
Crap. She must have been reading my thoughts. “I—”