Sunfall Read online

  As we crossed into the living room, I had to suppress the urge to ask whether I should remove my shoes. Old habits die hard, and my mother had trained me well in social niceties. A fire had been kindled in the hearth, and between its light and several tall lamps, the room was bright despite the drawn curtains.

  A woman sat in an armchair before the fireplace, her back to the flames. Sharp cheekbones stood out from a heart-shaped face as smooth as a child’s. Whether she had been turned in her teens or early twenties was impossible to tell. The chair nearly swallowed her diminutive frame, but the aura of power radiating from her more than compensated for her petite stature. Two female guards flanked Tian. Like Jonah and their mistress, they were dressed casually—presumably to fit in with the suburban environment—but assault rifles were strapped to their backs and I was sure they carried more weapons in concealment.

  Jonah introduced each of us in turn. He saved me for last, and I wondered if he was trying to figure out the proper way to go about it. I held two separate titles—positions that had fallen to me by default. To my knowledge, no one had ever been both.

  “And finally, Valentine Darrow, the Missionary and Blood Prime.”

  I stepped forward as the others had done and greeted Tian with a short, crisp bow. But when I would have rejoined Alexa, Tian gestured for me to move closer. As I approached, I found myself strangely mesmerized by her eyes. A lustrous, sapphire blue, they seemed to see far beyond the appearance I presented to the world. Under the intensity of her gaze I felt split open, peeled back, dissected.

  “You are the object of extraordinary rumors, Valentine.” Her voice was soprano and melodic—pure, like the chime of a bell. “And now, it appears they are true.”

  “To which rumors do you refer, Lady?”

  She laughed. “There is no need to be so formal,” she said. “You and I are peers, after all. And you needn’t be coy, either.”

  I inclined my head but kept silent, remembering the old adage about the perils of making assumptions. After several seconds of silence, she smiled.

  “I see you are cautious. The rumors left that out.” She stood and paced around me in a tight circle. “You made your transition, became a full vampire. And yet, now you are able to walk under the sun.” She stopped in front of me, craning her neck to meet my eyes. “This is true?”

  Without breaking eye contact, I extended my arm backward. A moment later, Alexa’s fingers brushed against mine as she took the cue to join me.

  “It’s true, yes. All thanks to Alexa. She has saved my life many times—most recently, just hours ago. And she also saved my soul.”

  Tian looked between us, a half-smile curving her lips. “We will speak more of this. But not now.” She returned to the chair, her gaze taking in all of us at once. “Your vehicles must be moved, in case Brenner is scouting by air. Jonah will show you where they can be concealed. Two rooms upstairs have been prepared for you, if you wish to rest.” She focused in on Malcolm. “You and I should retire to the office, where we can discuss our plans for this evening. We will all reconvene at noon.”

  As Tian’s guards escorted them out of the room, Karma touched my shoulder to get my attention.

  “Constantine and I will move the cars. You two should get some rest.”

  Karma’s generosity was touching, and I smiled in gratitude. Now that we had reached relative safety, fatigue was creeping in around the edges of my brain like a fog. I needed to sleep for about four days, but in the meantime, I would gladly take the four hours Tian was offering.

  “Thank you. We owe you one.”

  I tugged at Alexa’s hand, drawing her down the hallway and up the L-shaped staircase. We claimed the first empty room we came to, which held two full-sized beds. I closed the door, shucked off my boots and vest, and collapsed on the one closer to the window. Turning to face Alexa, I opened my arms. She smiled—an open, wholehearted smile that had always been mine.

  “If only ‘Lady Tian’ could see you now,” she said, dropping her own outer layers to the floor.

  “Well, she can’t. This is only for you.”

  She slid into my embrace and I buried my face in the curve of her neck, breathing in deeply. Her scent never failed to inflame my thirst, but in this moment my need to hold her close trumped my urge to take her. I slid my hands beneath her shirt to massage the taut muscles of her back, and the sensation of her warm skin against my fingertips at once stirred my passion and soothed the anxiety that had lingered after her close call in the forest.

  “Speaking of Tian,” I said, “what did you think of her?”

  She pulled back just far enough to look into my eyes. “She’s surprisingly tiny.”

  I muffled my laughter against her shoulder. “So was Napoleon.”

  “Point taken.” She combed her fingers through my hair and I reveled in the perfect fit of our bodies, even through two layers of clothes. “You should drink, my love.”

  I shook my head. “Not right now. Maybe later, before we leave.”

  “But—”

  I cupped her cheek with my free hand. “You almost died today, Alexa. That was close. You know it was. For a second, it felt like…like when you had the virus.”

  She shivered lightly and her gaze turned inward. I would never be able to know what she had experienced in those terrifying seconds after her human body had failed but before her panther had emerged victorious over death. I only knew that in the aftermath of my own terror, I needed to nurture and strengthen her. There would be time for me to claim her blood after she had rested.

  “I love you,” I whispered against her temple. “I need you. Only you. You believe that, right?”

  Alexa blinked, snapping out of whatever dark memory had held her. “My faith in us is the cornerstone of every other belief.” She kissed me gently, then turned onto her side and drew my arm across her breasts. “Sleep well, sweetheart. See you in my dreams.”

  Chapter Twelve

  I woke three hours later, just shy of eleven o’clock. At first, I resisted alertness, hoping that Alexa’s rhythmic breathing would pull me back into slumber. But as the minutes passed, my brain kicked into hyperdrive. The nap had taken the edge off my exhaustion and now I needed to be in motion.

  Slipping out of bed without Alexa’s knowledge wouldn’t normally have been possible, but I suspected her energy had been much more depleted than either of us realized. I moved quietly around the other bed where Karma had decided to crash and stopped in the bathroom for a quick shower before heading downstairs.

  The last person I’d expected to see in the kitchen was Tian, but there she was, sitting at the wooden kitchen table, hands clasped around a ceramic mug. Dressed entirely in black, she was already prepared for the evening’s mission. Her ever-vigilant guards were leaning against the wall behind her, but they straightened as I entered.

  “Valentine.” Her once-over made me feel disheveled, as though I’d had a choice about wearing the same clothes she’d seen me in earlier. “Join me. Would you like some tea?”

  “Please.”

  She clapped her hands and Jonah immediately appeared in the kitchen doorway. “Tea for our guest please, Jonah.”

  The steam rising off the dark liquid was fragrant with the scent of chrysanthemum, and I inhaled it deeply. Tian’s scrutiny was palpable, but I refused to let her rattle me. We were, as she had said, peers. And I would act like one.

  “Will you answer a question for me?” said Tian.

  “Probably.”

  A smile flashed across her lips. “Your lack of pretense is refreshing, but rest assured, I am not asking you to reveal clan secrets. This question is one I have asked many times, of many individuals, over hundreds of years. I would like to know your experience of the sunlight. The details of how it feels to you.”

  I frowned in confusion. “But surely you’ve felt it recently?”

  “Not for centuries.”

  “So long? You could survive with impunity for several seconds, possibl
y even a full minute.”

  Tian sat back in her chair, tracing patterns through the ring of moisture her mug had left on the table. “When I was a child, my favorite haunt was a small pond on my family’s estate. In the spring and summer, lotus blossoms bloomed so abundantly that the water was no longer visible. I used to sit by the pond for hours, luxuriating in the warmth of the sun on my neck, my shoulders. Each freckle, my father told me, was a kiss from the light. My mother, who wanted my skin to remain porcelain white, tried to forbid me to go. But he was indulgent.

  “You are quite right, Valentine, that my body could endure the sun—however briefly. Any physical pain would be well worth the experience. But it is my mind and my heart that I do not trust. A recovered addict cannot sip their poison. So, I fear, it would be with me.”

  Her voice was thick with nostalgia that prompted both my sympathy and empathy. “Why do you want me to remind you of what you’ve lost?”

  She smiled sadly. “To remember the sun is to remember humanity.”

  The answer shocked me. I had never heard Helen speak this way. She had exhibited brief moments of nostalgia in my presence, but never the kind of soulful regret with which Tian spoke now. Helen embraced the chill she had found in the darkness—the distance between herself and mortality.

  “You seem surprised,” Tian said.

  “I am, a little. What is it about humanity that you find so important to remember?”

  Tian turned her gaze to the blacked out window, as though she could see the sun-drenched world beyond. “Unlike wereshifters, we cannot be born. We can only be made. Humans are our raw materials. We come from them, and to deny their influence on us is to deny an integral part of ourselves.”

  Her eyes met mine, and I was helpless to look away. “I reflect on the human experience because doing so makes me a stronger ruler. As powerful as we are, humans still control most of the world. To forget that, and to forget how life feels to them, would be myopic.”

  I sat back in my chair, uncertain of how to reply. Most of my peers regarded humans as weak and vulnerable. As prey. Tian’s perspective was remarkable, and hearing her insights made me want to share something in return. The least I could do was to answer her original question.

  “After Alexa…brought me back,” I began, “I was so confused. Disoriented. My psychology, my emotions, were out of sync with my memories. Every new feeling threatened to overwhelm me.

  “We were in my apartment, talking. I was struggling to process everything that had just happened. The day was overcast, and in my confusion I didn’t realize the curtains had been drawn back. Suddenly, the sun broke through the clouds and streamed into the room, illuminating everything. As though some deity had plunged the world into gold leaf.

  “I was terrified beyond all reason. I cowered in the light. But Alexa knelt beside me and reminded me that I was whole again. That I had nothing to fear. She coaxed me up and I stood at the window, letting the warmth play across my face. It felt like a benediction.”

  Tian looked down into her mug, as though the tea leaves held a revelation. “Thank you.”

  “When this madness is over,” I said, “I’m going to study my own case. If I can figure out how to synthesize the herb that Alexa found, you’ll be the first to know.”

  Before she could reply, several sets of footsteps became audible in the hall. A moment later, Malcolm emerged, Alexa and Constantine behind him. Tian’s professional façade immediately snapped back into place.

  “Good afternoon. Did you rest well, I hope?”

  “Very well,” Malcolm replied. “Thank you for the accommodations. The others will be here in a moment. They are finishing a call with Consortium Headquarters.”

  I rose from my chair, wanting a moment with Alexa. “How are you feeling?” I asked as I pulled her aside.

  She brushed a quick kiss across my lips. “Better. Sharper.” She cocked her head slightly. “What were you discussing?”

  “Sunlight.” I smoothed my thumb along her jaw, then stepped back as Summers and Foster rounded the corner. “I’ll tell you all about it later. Looks like it’s time to figure out the game plan.”

  *

  The house hummed with activity. It was nearly six o’clock, just shy of sunset. Soon we would be on the move again in four separate vehicles—one decoy, one scout, and two comprising the caravan that would head for the airfield where the Consortium jet would be waiting to take us all back to New York. Alexa, Karma, and I would scout ahead in the Jeep, while several of Tian’s entourage would use the Humvee as the decoy.

  I adjusted my gun belt, zipped up my vest, and turned to Alexa. “I’m ready.”

  She glanced at Karma, who was riffling through her duffle bag, and grabbed my hand. “I’m not,” she murmured and led me into the hall.

  The bathroom was unoccupied and she pulled me inside, then locked the door. Pressing her back to the wall, she twined her arms around my neck.

  “God only knows what we’ll find out there, or what will find us. You need to be strong. Drink, Valentine.”

  The food prepared earlier by Tian’s servants had satisfied my hunger but not my thirst. I stared into Alexa’s eyes, emerald pools shining with love and promising peace, and let myself surrender to my own need. Blazing a trail of kisses from her collarbone to her earlobe, I forced myself to claim her tenderly, telegraphing the magnitude of my emotion even as my teeth parted her skin. She gasped, clutching me harder as I drew from her vein. Her desire was headier than the finest perfume, and I cursed our imminent departure when her body called mine with such strength.

  As I eased my teeth from her, I licked the small wounds until they closed beneath my tongue. Her fingers played in the short hairs at the back of my neck as she worked to steady her breaths.

  I kissed her softly. “I promise we’ll do that properly next time.”

  “We’d better.” She caressed my face, then reached for the doorknob. “I need you.”

  Karma joined us in the hall, and as we made our way downstairs, I exulted in the clarity of the world around me, rendered bright and crisp by Alexa’s gift of blood. Every thought, every movement became more precise, and I embraced the strength and vitality flowing through me.

  Summers flagged me down on our way through the kitchen. “We have people doing flyovers of the area. They’ll be in touch about any suspicious activity.”

  “Sounds good.” I looped my Bluetooth headset over one ear as we exited into the garage. Almost everyone was gathered there already. When Constantine saw us, he approached.

  “We just got the green light. The Jeep is out front. Tian’s caravan will be ten minutes behind you.”

  Alexa embraced him quickly. “Be safe.”

  “And you.”

  We departed without fanfare. I settled in behind the wheel, Alexa beside me, while Karma took the backseat. The airfield was located to the north and west of our location, outside the city limits. The first fifteen miles passed uneventfully as we followed the route Malcolm and Tian had agreed upon. Occasionally, it doubled back on itself, allowing us to determine whether we were being followed. Traffic grew sparser as we distanced ourselves from the city, but as the scenery became more rural so did the chances of being beset upon by Brenner’s soldiers.

  Shortly after we merged onto the country road that would lead us directly to the airfield, my cell phone rang.

  “Missionary, this is Spotter One,” came a male voice. “A small force is lying in wait two miles ahead. We suspect an ambush. Detour as soon as possible.”

  I slowed the car. “Ambush ahead,” I reported to Karma and Alexa. “Any suggestions?”

  Alexa consulted the GPS. “This is the only road. You could turn around, skirt the city, and make an approach from the north, but they’d probably have that side covered, too.”

  “What about off-road? Is that an option?”

  “There’s a lake between us and the airfield,” she said. “But—”

  “It might be frozen,” I
finished. “Spotter One, tell me about the status of the lake to the…”

  “Northeast.”

  “Northeast. Think I could drive across it?”

  While the surveillance team checked into that idea, I pulled off the road and cut the engine, not wanting to betray our position in case Brenner also had people in the air.

  “I’ll call Malcolm,” Karma said.

  “Missionary, we’re seeing ice-fishing huts and a few ATVs along the edge of the lake,” the spotter reported a few minutes later. “Nothing out in the middle, but our best guess—taking into account depth charts and local temperature gradients available online—is that it should be frozen solid.”

  “Roger.” I glanced back at Karma, who gave me the thumbs-up. We had Malcolm’s approval. “That’s where we’re headed. Stay in touch.”

  I hung up, started the car, and flipped on the high beams. I leaned over and kissed Alexa, hard. And then I gunned the engine.

  The first few minutes were the worst, as we descended into the shallow basin where the lake lay. Pitched and jostled by the bumpy ride, I worked to maintain both the Jeep’s balance and its momentum. Finally, the ride smoothed out as we approached the shoreline. Small huts dotted the coast closer to the road, but the path before us was clear.

  “Our orders are to cross the lake, then wait in concealment on the far side in case we’re needed,” Karma reported from her ongoing conversation with Malcolm. “Now that the game’s up, our decoy vehicle is being rerouted to assist us if necessary.”

  “Take it slow,” Alexa said. “If you drive too quickly, you could create waves under the ice.”

  “I’m glad you grew up in Wisconsin,” I said as I nosed the Jeep onto the lake. I had expected a thick layer of snow to be coating the surface, but gusting winds must have worked to partially clear the ice. Breathing shallowly, I listened with all my might for the sound of a crack.