The Heart's Ashes
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“I’m saving you.”
“No, you’re not? You’re kidnapping me.”
“No. It’s him they’re after. Not you. He’ll thank me later when you’re still alive.”
“But you let them take him, Jason. They’ll hurt him.”
“Yes.” Jason looked down.
“How could you? He’s your brother.”
“And you are the most precious thing in his world, Ara. If he had to choose, you know he’d approve of this.”
“But you didn’t let him choose—you just gave him up.”
“Believe it or not, girl, I didn’t. I had a choice to make. I chose you.”
“But—” My words came out in jagged splutters. “What will they do to him?”
“He’ll be taken to the Council—stand trial for evading duty.”
“Then what?”
“He’s bound for Loslilian manor.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s where the American Order of Lilithians reside.”
“No!” I gasped, resting my hand over my locket. “Not the Lilithians? They’ll torture him. I know what they do to vampires, Jason. Please.”
“I’m sorry, Ara. But he’ll be free one day. Until then, I have to keep you safe.”
“No. Let me out.” I tugged the door handle again. “Please, Jason—let me go.”
“Ara, trust me. Okay?” he said kindly. “Look at me—”
I snapped the handle off with my incessant yanking, then burst into tears.
“Ara, look at me!”
“Why?” Folding in on myself, I tucked my knees to my chest and threw the broken doorhandle on the floor.
“I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t have time to think. Just—please stop breaking my car. That handle’s rigged to only open once from the inside. You won’t get out.”
“I hate you!” I kicked the door with my ballet flat and tucked my fists under my arms.
“Ara, I just wanted to save you—that’s all I could think of. You can’t help him now. You have to let me help you.”
“How do I even know you’re telling the truth?” I asked in a wavering song, letting warm tears fall over my cheeks.
“You don’t.” He flicked his indicator on.
“Where’re we going?”
“Far away.”
“What are you gonna do with me?”
“Keep you,” Jason said, lifting his phone from his pocket. He checked the number and sighed. “I have to answer this.”
I dropped my head against the side of the door and watched the world go by.
“Jason Knight speaking.” A moment passed in silence. “Shit!” Jason shouted; the car swerved violently onto the verge before Jason dropped his phone, both hands taking the wheel; my fingers dug into the leather seat and my eyes fused tightly together until the wheels under us sung with the gentle hum of the freeway again. “Damn it!” He sat tall, rubbing his forearm. “Where’s the phone?”
“It’s here.” I inched forward, grabbed his phone off the floor of the backseat and handed it to him. “What was all that about, Jason? And why did you just turn off your indicator?”
“Change of plan,” he said, ditching his phone onto the passenger seat.
“What change?” My throat tightened as we whizzed past the airport sign.
“Just sit tight. We have a long drive.”
“Where are we going now?”
“Le Château de la Mort.”
“Where’s that?” I sniffed, wiping my nose with my wrist.
“No more questions.”
“Why?”
He shook his head and said nothing more.
Chapter 20
The soft thud of a car door woke my mind from restless, unending sleep, and a dewy chill spread over my legs where they rested across the backseat. “Shh.” Jason’s strong arms circled my body, lifting me from the car.
“Where are we?” I opened my eyes long enough to see a starless night behind tall towers of what looked like a medieval castle. I wrapped my arms gently around his neck and snuggled my brow under his chin. “Jase?”
“Shh, it’s okay,” he said into the top of my head. “I’ll take you to David’s old room—just sleep, pretty girl.”
I breathed his sweet cologne and closed my eyes; he squeezed me once, inhaling deeply through his nose—the sound of his breath and the warmth of his strong arms setting my heart at ease.
The night closed in around us, bringing a cold, stone feeling from all six sides, while the patter of his shoes echoed like plastic rocks on marble.
Time seemed to pass like the beat of a heart, taking me easily along the wistful realm of sleep until I felt the soft, cool caress of cotton sheets under the length of my body. “Jason—” I forced one eye open as he positioned my arms and legs comfortably under a blanket. “Are you doing that to me—are you making me sleepy?”
“Yes, sweet girl. I’m allowing you rest. You need it.”
I couldn’t fight it. I just wanted to sleep. “Am I going to be okay?”
Cool lips touched my brow, his breath brushing my forehead. “Just sleep.”
“Okay. Goodnight.” I rolled over, tucking my hand under my cheek. Gentle tingles trickled over my neck with the touch of Jason’s fingers; he stroked my hair from my shoulders and carefully unlatched my necklace at the back.
“I’ll keep this safe for you,” he whispered as it came free.
I reached out. “Jason, don’t lose th—”
“Shh. Sleep,” he said, and everything went black.
Sunlight never came. As my mind escaped the veil of exhaustion, I quietly took short breaths, unsure where I was, or if I was alone. I could feel my heart just below the hollow of my collarbones, beating like a hundred edgy little butterflies—making everything spin. The dark room held a deep kind of cool, like dirt at the base of a hole. All I could make out as my eyes scanned the floor, rising along the stone walls and to the ceiling, was a kind of wet, glazed moisture over every surface. Even the lungful of air I drew was laced with a murky kind of dryness, like old, damp clothes left in a basket too long.
I pushed up on my elbows and looked beside me to the sleeping vampire; his hand across his belly, his whole body shadowed in the dim light. Only his sweet, familiar scent distinguished him as Jason.