Rachel Lee: Claimed by the Immortal

“I know.”

“You still have enough. You can build it again but it will take time. But do not do this again, Alika. I don’t want to have to come back.”

“But the people,” she whispered. “My son, his family.”

Caro stepped forward. “If I may?”

Damien nodded and moved to the side a bit so Caro could squat beside him. “Alika, you tried to protect me. I know that. And while I don’t approve of what you did, I understand why you did it.”

The woman’s eyes, looking ancient now, stared glumly back at her.

“I’ll work with my friends on the force to find places for your son and all the other people to live. I can’t promise they’ll succeed, but I think everyone will want to help.”

Alika barely nodded.

Damien stood. “You’ll be all right, Alika. I just hope you didn’t pick up a lot of bad—what do you call it?”

“Juju,” Caro supplied. She, too, straightened and turned to Jerome, who looked as if he had aged a dozen years. “I’ll find a way to help you.”

He just nodded, but there was no hope in his face.

Outside on the street, Caro breathed the cold air, enjoying the freedom of no longer being stalked and watched. The city looked so damn normal that it was almost impossible to believe what she had just seen.

“Damien?”

“Yes, Schatz? ”

“I have questions.”

“Of course you do. But let’s get somewhere warm first. You’re merely human, after all.”

She laughed, feeling so good all of a sudden. It felt even better when he lifted her onto his back, and along with Jude they headed back, leaping from rooftop to rooftop. Someday she hoped to be able to actually see it, not just feel like she was riding a crazy elevator.

Then, in the midst of her relief and happiness, she realized something. Tomorrow, or the next day, she would have to return to her mundane life.

She loved being a cop, wanted to be a detective, but nothing in her life was ever going to be the same again. She wondered how she would mesh this new world into her old world. Surely there had to be a way to use her newfound skills and power in her job?

But as she clung to Damien, even that didn’t seem all that important. Not as important as how much longer she might have with Damien. Not as important as how soon she was going to lose him.

Her face pressed to his back, she fought down a sudden urge to weep.

So much had changed so fast, and one of the things that had changed was her heart.

Somehow she had to deal with that.

Back at Jude’s office, Chloe started pumping coffee into Caro to warm her up. Jude and Damien disappeared, probably to feed, then returned to join the women.

Chloe demanded immediate explanations, and Caro added her voice.

“What did I see? What happened in there? What did you mean when you warned her that you were both a vampire and a mage?”

“I was warning her that she had never seen my like.”

“I got that part,” Caro said a little sarcastically as she cradled the hot mug of coffee to warm her hands.

Damien sat beside her on the sofa and wound his arm around her shoulders. Liking the embrace, she leaned into him and let her head rest on his shoulder. She wished she didn’t fear this might be the last time she would be so close to him.

“A long time ago,” Damien said, “the Magi realized something. There were those who would do evil, and while they could be thwarted, they couldn’t always be prevented from trying again. Power is power, after all, and how it’s wielded is a personal decision.”

“Okay. I get that part.”

“It was told to me that one of our most powerful priests was changed, long before my time. It wasn’t by choice, but it proved to have an unexpected benefit.”

“And that was?”

“That a vampire priest, one who held true power himself, could drink the power from others. Take it away as surely as if it were blood.”

“Really?” At that Caro sat bolt upright.

“Really,” he said, still keeping his arm loosely around her. “The secret was closely guarded by the temple. Only a very few of us were selected after proving our trustworthiness for years, and then we became the guardians of the secret. It was important that no one else know.”

“I can see why. But you didn’t drain Alika completely.”

“I hope I never have to. I suspect that until this event she’s always tried to use her power for good. And she did give you that gris-gris to protect you. For that I am grateful to her.”

“She didn’t seem like a bad person,” Caro agreed. “Mostly she just seemed desperate.” She listened to herself, and realized that henceforth she was apt to be a very different sort of cop. Not that she would excuse murder, but she was probably going to be a lot more sympathetic to some of the reasons why people broke the law.

“You said you were going to help those people find homes,” Damien said. “How will you do that?”

“The force works with several charitable organizations. I’m sure I can get them working on it. It would be good for the community.”

“I agree.”

“What would have happened if you had continued to drain Alika?”

He gave a slight shrug. “I could have left her with no power at all. I could have burned it out of her. Or I could have killed her. I really had no desire to do the latter.”

“A predator who prefers not to kill,” she remarked.

At that, both Damien and Jude laughed.

Then, without warning, Damien swept her up in his arms. “Time to go home, Schatz. ”

Home. Where he’d probably say good-night and maybe goodbye now that the problem was solved.

With a very heavy heart, she let him take her.

Her apartment still smelled of incense and burned beeswax, and even the faint aroma of rose petals lingered in the air. After what she had been through tonight, she suddenly noticed how small the place was, how little she had really done to make it homey. Why that suddenly seemed important, she didn’t know.

Unless she was trying to avoid thinking about the things that might tear her heart apart.

“Well,” she said brightly, a brightness she definitely did not feel, “I’m home, I’m safe and you no longer need to be my watchdog.”

She thought his eyes narrowed a bit, and he didn’t answer immediately.

“I should vacuum up all the salt,” she prattled on. “Change the sheets, air out the incense...”

She jumped as she realized he was standing right in front of her. “Will you stop doing that?”

“What?”

“Moving so fast I can’t see you. I jump every time.”

“Not every time, Schatz, ” he said, reaching out to capture a lock of her hair between his fingers. “Are you giving me my walking papers?”

Was she? The thought made her chest tighten and her throat ache. “Well, I don’t need to be guarded anymore, and you have a life and were talking about going back to Cologne. I just assumed...”

“Are you assuming what I want?” he asked silkily. “Or assuming what you think must be?”

Her mouth turned dry as she saw his eyes grow as dark as night. “What are you asking?”

He hesitated. “I’m asking you if you’re telling me to leave.”

“No!” The word popped out of her instantly, without thought. Truth often did that.

“Then perhaps we should talk,” he said quietly. “Can you just talk with me and not buzz around cleaning?”

She bridled. “Of course I can.”

He motioned to the couch and they sat side by side but not touching.

“You’ve seen how I live,” he said after a moment. “Haunting the night, never seeing the sunlight. My friends are limited to a very few I trust. There is nothing normal about my life, as you would think of normal.”