RYKER

 

Ryker could sense the moment Aliza died. There was an odd throb in his chest, like his soul was ripped from his body. That a part of him was gone.

Four women lost. Three hundred years was too long to live.

As he rushed from the cornfield, he flicked his wrist and threw his knife at Aliza’s mother with precision, only she disappeared before it hit her. The knife sunk into the tire of the SUV.

It took less than a moment for Ryker to reach Aliza, to cradle her lifeless body in his arms.

How could he have even thought of ending her?

All the fear of another woman dying had him missing what he’d had right in front of him—alive.

A tear fell, landing on her white cheek. He laid her in the gravel, placing his hand to her chest, feeling for a heartbeat, a breath, anything. With nothing but stillness, he closed her eyes with his thumbs and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

The static charge in the air intensified, and a growl emerged from deep in his chest. Sniffing the air, Ryker kept his vision on Aliza’s peaceful body. He could sense that her mother was there, and he would finish it.

Now, it was his fight.

Iron.

His eyes fanned his surroundings. An old, rusting metal dumpster lined the back of the bowling alley, way out of reach. A wrought iron fence divided the parking lot from the cornfield, but still too far away. There was no way he could trick a fairy to surround herself with iron.

He snuck a hand down into his pocket and fisted the coin from his father. His heart gave off a few sporadic beats.

When the air shimmered and Aliza’s mother returned, she held a splinter of wood, a perfect wooden stake. Her stance widened, and her eyebrows narrowed. She was ready for a fight.

Ryker tightened the grip on the coin, slipping his hand out of his pocket. He lifted his hands some, in a sign of surrender. “She’s all yours,” he said, taking a step away from Aliza.

Ryker focused on the mother’s lips. The curl of her smile. The twitch of her mouth. He waited for a word. Any word at all.

Her lips parted, and she snapped. “Give up—”

Ryker didn’t wait for another sound. With all his vampire speed, he flicked his wrist and sent the coin flying through the air, right into the woman’s mouth. Lunging forward with every ounce of power his old body held, he pounced and trapped the older woman beneath him. He grasped her jaw and held her mouth closed, keeping the coin tucked deep inside, preventing her from using her powers.

The woman flailed. Smoke rose from her nose and a little escaped her mouth. Ryker closed his eyes, unable to watch the necessary evil. Seconds ticked away slowly and, eventually, his muscles stung from exertion. It was a long, torturous death.

Aliza’s mother’s body jerked. A sizzling sound, like putting out a fire with a bucket of water, forced him to open his eyes. The handle of the long knife that had been in the back of the SUV now stuck out of the woman’s chest, the blade planted into her heart.

Glancing over his shoulder, Aliza stood, hugging her own body. Joy filled him, replacing that part of his soul that had died along with Aliza. He wanted to spring up, take her in his arms and never let her go, but his discipline had him dragging himself away from her mother disappeared into plumes of black smoke. He sat quietly and watched Aliza’s face.

 

ALIZA

 

She had done it, took control and ended her nightmare, but it didn’t feel right. It took an act of evil to end evil. Somehow, there had to have been another way.

She watched as her mother slipped from Ryker’s hands, her body eventually disappearing into the sky as nothing more than strands of dark smoke.

Aliza fell to the ground and buried her watering eyes in her hands. Evil. She was pure evil, killing her own mother.

Ryker crawled over and sat beside her. One of his long legs on either side of her, allowing him to pull her into his chest. She lay against him, defeated. Her tears soaked his shirt.

They stayed that way for way too long. Ryker rubbed her back or stroked her hair. A tiny movement letting her know she was not alone.

Not yet, but it was coming.

Brad was gone…dead.

Her father…and mother, too.

And soon, Ryker would return home, leaving her here to grieve.

And turn evil, lose control of herself.

Lose herself completely.

Another sob broke out, and Ryker spoke. His calm voice reassured her. “You had to do it. She was out of control. You need to think of the lives you saved and not the one you took.”

Everything she’d been keeping inside surfaced. “Will that be me? Am I evil? Will I kill like that…for what seems like no reason at all?” She lifted her hands and let her talons grow. She pulled them back. “They want to be free. Want to hunt.”

Ryker pulled her against his chest. “Evil. Good. It doesn’t matter. The lines are so blurry. I have killed more humans than I wish to remember. In fact, I don’t remember many of them.” He paused and tightened his hold around her. His cheek leaned against the top of her head. “I lost my wife purely because of my nature. I’ve had to kill a vampire I loved because she was out of control and made a child for me. I’ve brought more death and destruction than anyone should in more than one lifetime.”

Aliza shook her head into his chest. “But you don’t seem evil at all.”

“About a hundred years ago, I was out at a party, getting my share of blood. The human I loved, Mary Sue, was back at home, tucked safely into bed. That night, I left three dead bodies at the party. I had filled myself so full, I didn’t think I’d ever need to eat again. I didn’t care about anything except the thrill I got from feeding. I hate to admit it, but I forgot about Mary Sue waiting for me.” Ryker readjusted and pulled Aliza’s hair off her face, rubbing a finger gently down her cheek. “When I returned home, I found Mary Sue dead in our bed. The two slices from vampire teeth in her neck. I spent the rest of the year hunting down Mary Sue’s killer, only to find it was a member of the Blood Board.”

“Blood Board?”

“Oh, don’t worry about that now. You have time to learn. From what I’ve read in legends, fairies can live longer than vampires.” Ryker continued to smooth her hair back. “I hunted down that vampire and staked him to the ground, ready to remove his head, but the leader of the Blood Board found me and interrupted. Told me that the reason this vampire had killed my mate was because I had killed his.”

“You did what?”

“That night at the party. One of the humans I had drained and killed had been his wife. At that moment, I changed. I stood up and walked away. I vowed to never kill a human again, understanding that every action had a consequence. All you can do is make the best choices you can at the time. I committed to staying with the Blood Board. To oversee vampire politics. To ensure there was some type of ethics over how they treat humans.”

“I don’t understand how this applies to me.”

“See, I’m a vampire. I’m evil to the core. Humans are my food, and I’m the predator. But I choose to overcome that. I chose a different path, despite my nature.”

She nodded.

“It’s not easy. It took me two hundred years to walk a different way, but if you want to overcome your monster, like I overcame mine, I’ll be with you if you want. There to help you. You won’t have to do it alone.” He leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

Not alone? Aliza saw the sincerity in Ryker’s eyes. All his features were softer than she remembered.

He continued, “Like you, I’ve been alone for way too many years. Thought my life wasn’t meant to have someone in it. That anguish is another trait I’d like to overcome.” Ryker wiggled out from under Aliza. “So, what do you say? How’d you like to come home with me and meet the Blood Board? It’s a full-time job keeping them in line, and I wouldn’t mind a little companionship.”

Home with him? Aliza slipped her hand into his soft one, allowing him to pull her to her feet. “I don’t think there’s anything left keeping me in Dubuque.”

A magnificent smile grew on Ryker’s lips. “Great. I think you’ll really like Idaho. Mountains. Fresh air. Cold lakes.” He was clearly trying to make her feel better.

“And vampires, I imagine.” Aliza looked back to the soot in the gravel where her mother had been. She took a deep breath. It was time to let the past go.

“Yeah, a few of them, too. Maybe even an angel.”

“I’m sure they really love vampires.”

“Hey, they’re not all good, either. From what I understand, they struggle like the rest of us.”

Aliza solemnly wrapped her arm around Ryker. “Thanks for not leaving me.”

“I was being stupid. Another thing time does not necessarily cure. Everyone needs a second chance.”

“Or a third, or a fourth. My dad had a motto: Keep moving forward. One step at a time.” She leaned her head into him while they walked back to his SUV. “Um, how good are you at changing a tire?”

He laughed. “I’ve had many years to perfect it.”

She stopped. Grabbed his hand and pulled him close. “Thank you.” And with that, she placed a gentle peck on his cheek. “I’m going to enjoy our friendship.”

“Friendship? Can’t it be more?”

“You said we had many years ahead of us. No need to rush it.” She dug deep inside, finding that playful side of her she had missed, and forced a teasing wink.

“You’re right. There’s no need to rush.” Despite his words, he leaned down and placed a passionate kiss upon her lips.

She welcomed his touch and deepened the kiss, allowing everything around her to disappear and focus, for the moment, on just her and this man in front of her.

When he stopped and pulled away, a lopsided smirk grew upon his face. “Just a little taste of our future. Besides, I have another thing new in my life. I haven’t kissed a fairy before.”

He turned away, and she rubbed her lips, not knowing how long she could hold off before the next one.

 

The End

 

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For the first full-length novel in this series, check out Blood & Holy Water (Angels of Sojourn, Book One) Link:

A sample of the first chapter of Blood & Holy Water is at the end of this novella.