RYKER

 

That evening, Ryker awoke to a tingling in his skin that only a vampire nearby could create.

Aliza!

Had he been too late? Had the rogue come back for her? Had she been fed enough blood to ensure the transformation? Had the Blood Board sent Frank?

He rushed from bed and hurried to Aliza’s room. Flinging the door open revealed only an empty bed. He growled and twisted around, heading to the living room.

Empty.

It wasn’t until then that he paid attention to the running water of the shower. He laid an ear to the closed bathroom door until the shower turned off.

Lub dub. Lub…dub… Her heart still beat, but slowly. She was changing, there was no doubt about that. Not only did her heart tell the tale, Ryker was beginning to feel the static sensation in his skin when he was near a supernatural being, and her scent was slowly changing as well. He should tell her everything. Prepare her for what was to come, but now, he just listened to the beat of her heart. The breaths she took before they would stop.

He needed to focus. He came to Dubuque to kill the rogue vampire, and that was what he was going to do. If he continued to be distracted, it would cost Aliza her life, or rather, her afterlife.

He took a deep breath.

Distance yourself.

The door opened, and he fell into her arms. A bathrobe hugged her body, and a towel held her wet hair. Her skin was hot, and the moisture enveloped him.

She laughed. “Whoa, boy. What were you doing?”

She seemed better. Her lips were pink and her skin had a glow like a vampire who’d just fed.

“You’re up?” were the only words he could get out as he watched a drop of water caress her cheek.

“Yeah, I’ve been up a few hours. I had the craziest dream last night, but I think I’m recovering from my anemia. When I woke up, I was terribly thirsty, but stronger. I went out and got myself something to drink.”

Something to drink?

“Nothing seemed to satisfy me except something warm.” Aliza tilted her head at what must be an expression of shock on Ryker’s face. “A latte. Nothing alcoholic, if that’s what you’re thinking. Then I took another hot shower since I’ve been so cold.”

“We need to finish what we started. I need to tell you something.” Ryker took an unnecessary breath. “What do you remember from last night?”

“I showed you the pile of rubble that used to be my family home.” She stopped a moment, and Ryker waited as she seemed to sift through memories of more than last night. “Then we went for a walk. I feel terrible that I unloaded all that on you. We just met—”

“It’s okay. Keep going, though. What happened after that?” Ryker took her hand and led her to the red sofa.

“We went bowling,” Aliza said as she sat down and put her feet up on the coffee table.

Ryker sat beside her, still holding her hand. “I think I went bowling, and you watched. But what happened when we were done?”

A huge smile formed on her face. “You didn’t kiss me again, did you? I’d hate to forget that.”

Ryker felt his cheeks heat. Why had he recently fed? He could have hidden his embarrassment.

“Oh, my,” Aliza said, leaning away from Ryker and examining him. Her robe split down the middle, showing her long, lean legs. “I made you blush.”

“You did not.”

“It’s right there. No denying it. I think you like me.” She leaned in and nudged his shoulder with her own.

Ryker sprang from the sofa. “I do not. I can’t like you.” He paced as thoughts of the three woman he’d loved in his life filled his head. Of having someone to trust lying beside him during the day while he slept. Of long midnight hikes through the forest. Of swimming under the moonlight. His thoughts morphed to violent images of their deaths. Throats ripped out of the humans and the vampire’s head, rolling to the floor.

No. He didn’t love anymore.

He didn’t even like.

He didn’t let anyone in.

Aliza stood up beside him, the playful smile gone and replaced with worry lines on her forehead. “What’s going on in your head? One moment you’re hot and the next, you’re cold.”

He might have to kill her…or he’d lose her to the vampire out there…or worse, Frank and the Blood Board would intervene. The most humane thing he could do was end her himself.

He couldn’t let anyone in…ever.

“Stop,” she said, gripping his hands to force his pacing to stop. She reached her free hand up and brushed the hair out of his eyes. “My dad used to say that you cross paths with many good people throughout a lifetime, but the key is finding the right person at the right time. Ryker, I don’t know what’s happened to you, but it’s time to move forward.”

He needed to tell her. It wasn’t about him. It was about her. She was changing, and it’d take years for her to think clearly again. For anything but blood to drive her. Then, if she survived and began to gain control of her urges, she might not be the same Aliza she was now.

Aliza reached her hand around the back of his neck and gently guided him down. Her lips met his. He could have pulled away, but he craved her taste one final time. Craved the attention. The love.

Do it. You coward! Leila screamed in his head. Do it. Kill me. I want to die.

Was Ryker not good enough for her? Was he not worth living and fighting for?

His lips stopped moving, and he pushed Aliza away. He was done being gentle. Done protecting her feelings. Done sheltering her.

A deep, visceral growl emerged from his lips before he hissed, “Your world is changing. You’re changing. Things that used to be important will no longer matter. Things you didn’t care about will guide you. Aliza, your body is dying.”

She stepped away. One step. Then two. She tilted her chin, putting the sofa between them. “Wh-what do you mean?”

“You’re dying. Can’t you feel it? You’re cold. You can’t eat. You have a thirst you can’t satisfy. Aliza, the person that attacked you wasn’t a normal person. They weren’t human.”

Aliza’s face turned red. “They weren’t human? That’s not possible.” She cocked her head and her eyebrows turned to a V. She sucked in her bottom lip, then pointed fiercely at the door. “Get out.”

“Get out?”

“Yeah. Get. Out.”

“Aliza, this is not a problem you avoid! You can’t push it out the door.”

“Get out of my house, now! Don’t come back. You’re not allowed in here.”

Ryker’s body tingled as her invitation was rescinded. Pain pierced his skin, put pressure on his brain, and he thought he’d explode. His head pounded, and he couldn’t hear anything over the throbbing. He turned and walked out the door until he received instant relief outside the threshold. “Aliza. You’re dying. You’re changing, and you need me.”

“Need you? What games are you playing? First, you come on to me, then you push me away, telling me I’m dying. I don’t need it. I’ve been through enough.”

And she slammed the door.

It was better this way, Ryker tried to assure himself. If he focused on hunting the rogue vampire, he could prevent the Blood Board from coming to kill Aliza as long as she wasn’t out of control. Once he took care of that rogue, he could return home to his normal life.

His normal life.

Ha. His boring life.

But that was what he deserved. It was his fault that the two humans he loved died. He should have learned the first time, but it took a second for him to push them away.

Now, he couldn’t love humans…and he wouldn’t love a vampire. It didn’t take two experiences, he’d learned his lesson the first time.

He needed to find the woman who attacked Aliza, stop the Dubuque murders, and get home.

That was what he’d do.

Alone.

Like always.

Like he was comfortable with.

 

ALIZA

 

She had thought he was one of those men who truly cared. One who went out of their way to put others first. When he wrapped an arm around her, she had felt safe and no longer lonely.

The right guy at the right time of life…

But she had been wrong.

Terribly wrong.

Saying her attacker wasn’t normal. Wasn’t human?

That wasn’t possible.

She didn’t need Ryker. She didn’t need anyone. It had been ten years now that she’d been alone, and it was her destiny in life.

But she was a fighter. She wouldn’t die. She wouldn’t leave this world when it got tough…not like her father, nor her mother. She wouldn’t run away.

Aliza went to her bedroom and threw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

She didn’t care about her attacker. All she could focus on was the last memory of her father. Her home had been destroyed because one influential man had a plan for a park with the sole purpose to pad someone’s wallet.

That man, Police Chief Mark Cooper, would pay. She would give him a piece of her mind now that she had her energy back. Now that she felt…good. Better than ever. How could he have given the order to tear it down without her there?

How could he have given the order at all?

How could someone be that self-centered?

She cautiously looked out her peephole and ensured Ryker was gone. When the coast was clear, she headed down to her old neighborhood. There was a man who needed to hear a piece of her mind.

Sure, he couldn’t bring the house back, but he could feel the guilt she had felt her whole life.

The guilt that if she’d been nicer…sweeter…more thoughtful than people would stay. Or if she’d done something differently, noticed something sooner, she wouldn’t be alone.

Instead, they left. One by one.

Like her mom.

Like her dad.

Like her fiancé.

Like Ryker.