Hunting My Vampire (Immortal Vampire #3)

Chapter 23

Kaya

After the incident at the side of the road, I felt nervous and on edge. I kept going over the incident, wondering how that vampire had been so fast and why I had struggled to fight him, even without weapons.This worried me. Either there was a new drug out there or I had become weaker and lost my edge. I didn’t like either of these scenarios. Then there was the way I had felt about seeing Jack again. I wanted to think about him even less but sooner or later I would have to deal with him too.

I drove past Tina’s house on the way home and saw a strange car outside. I decided to drop by for a quick visit, in case Pearl had come home. I knew she was due back any day now.

I parked in the street and walked up to the front door, which was open. I could hear voices laughing and chatting from inside. It sounded like a party. Pearl was obviously back home.

Tina’s tiny living room was full of people I didn’t know. Pearl was sitting on the sofa and Princess was on her lap, looking very happy. Pearl was telling stories, grinning from ear to ear, very much in her element. I couldn’t help looking around for bottles of beer, or whiskey but I couldn’t see any.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Tina said, suddenly next to me. “But they’re all sober, for now. They came by to drop Pearl off an hour ago.”

I knew that we were thinking the same thing, wondering how long this spell of sobriety would last.

“Hey!” Pearl called out to me. “Kaya, come meet Bobby and Rick from the center!” She pulled me into their group and told me how they were all going to work on a ranch in Texas somewhere. I wondered how long Pearl would be able to stay put in Hawston.

“What about you?” I asked. “Do you have any plans?”

She glanced at Tina. “My mom says they need waitresses over at the diner. I thought I’d go over later and ask about that.”

I wondered how long that would keep Pearl happy, serving eggs and coffee to the townspeople but I didn’t want to spoil the mood. I told her I was happy she was back and prepared to go home.

I was almost at the door when Tina called me back.

“I want to show you something,” she said, calling me over. I followed her into her bedroom. Her gait was slow and cumbersome, I could tell her back was hurting her even more today. She had picked up even more weight recently and I knew this made her arthritis worse.

“All that talk about your mother and Stephanie set me to thinking,” she told me, out of breath from the exertion of walking to her room. “When you came here, all those years ago? You had a bag of things with you. There are some things from your family in there, remember?”

I vaguely recalled taking a few things with me when the Sheriff took me away. He’d asked me if I wanted to take some things and I realized I might not be coming back. There was a book of my father’s and a toy of my brother’s. I’d gone to my parents’ room and taken things from there too, which I had put into a drawstring bag. That bag had gone with me everywhere I went the first few years but then I had left it at Tina’s and, at some point, I’d forgotten about it.

She held out the drawstring bag to me now.

“I think there is something in there that you may want,” Tina’s voice sounded strange. I didn’t know what she meant. I opened the bag and looked through its contents, feeling my heart tighten at the sight of some of these objects that held so much sentimental value for me.

I was about to close the bag and give it back to Tina, when I saw something among my parents’ things. I took it out.

It was a black stone.

Occillite.

I couldn’t believe it; my mother must have taken it with her when she left her tribe. I looked at Tina, “Did you know about this?”

She nodded. “I was looking for some shoes a while back. The bag fell out of the bottom of the cupboard. I’d forgotten what it was, so I looked inside. I realized it must be your things and put it aside to give to you.”

She looked carefully at me. “I figured you’d want that stone.”

I gave her a hug. “Thank you!”

I rushed out to the supermarket and found Tamara packing shelves.

“I want to show you something,” I said.“Tell me if it is what I think it is.”

I took the black stone out of the bag and looked over my shoulder, making sure we were alone.

I showed it to her. There was a sharp intake of breath as she covered my hand over it.

“Put it away,” she hissed, looking around to make sure no-one saw us. “People would kill for it,” she warned me.

“Even like this, unprocessed?”

“You can’t find it anywhere anymore, I asked around for you, nobody has it or knows of it. I don’t know how many are still in existence,” she hissed.

“But it’s raw,” I whispered to her. “It’s not cut or anything… does it still have power?"

She nodded quickly. “You will have to charge it but you can do that by wearing it against your skin. You charge it with your own energy. You will have to find a way to wear it.”

She told me how to wrap some wire around it and then showed me the sharp edge on one side.

“This will cut like a knife and for vampires, it will be fatal.”

I bought the thinnest wire I could find and went home to fashion a kind of necklace with the stone, hanging it around my neck. It felt heavy and uncomfortable. I wasn’t used to wearing jewelry in the first place. I tried to do some cleaning and laundry, ignoring the strange weight against my chest. After a while, I felt it becoming hot against my skin and realized it was me charging it. I found myself often touching it, folding my hand protectively around it. I couldn’t recall ever seeing my mother touch it but she must have. I felt closer to her somehow, wearing it.

Lying in bed, I was unable to sleep that night.

Perhaps it was the stone keeping me awake but the moment I closed my eyes, I thought of Jack and how he had come to my rescue at the car. I’d wanted to hold him, I remembered that too. It was like the weeks we’d been apart had simply faded into insignificance. None of what I’d said mattered, I realized. I still wanted to be with him no matter how much danger it put me in. I wanted to be with him even if it put me in mortal danger. It took all of my will power not to call him.

In the middle of the night, I felt hot and sweaty and got up, even though it was cold outside. The pendant was so warm it was almost burning my skin. I took it off and saw that it appeared to be glowing. I went into the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face and chest. I saw the old man’s face and heard his voice in my ear again, telling me how my work was not done.

What had he meant?

I stood by the window and looked out over the garden. I longed for Jack and closed my eyes, thinking about him.

When I opened my eyes, he stood in the garden, looking at my bedroom window. We just stood like that for a moment, looking at each other. Then I opened my window, and he was inside, right next to me, in an instant.

We didn’t speak.

Words were not necessary. I melted into him or he melted into me. I am not sure who moved first. His mouth was on mine, and I kissed him back, my arms holding him tightly, pulling him closer. We fell onto the bed and he held my face, tenderly, kissing my eyes, my cheeks, my ears. I felt desire coursing through my veins, an almost painful ache between my legs as my sexual want awakened. He was kissing my neck and my collarbone when suddenly, he jerked back.

“What… the…” he pulled away from me, his hands to his mouth, touching his lips. He jumped off the bed and stumbled back.

“Jack?” I sat up, uncertainly.

“What… Your skin… something burned me?”

I looked over at my dresser where the pendant was lying. Any proof I had wanted about its potency, I had just received.

I got up and walked over to him, touched his mouth with my fingers, where I could see a light red swelling on his lips. Even though I had washed my skin some residue must have remained.

“What is it?” he asked me.

“Have you heard of occillite?” I asked him.

There was a sharp intake of breath. “You have occillite? Where? Do you know how dangerous that is for me?”

“I’m sorry, I touched it,” I said, kissing his lips tenderly, as if to make it better. I could feel him softening to my touch, giving in.

“But… what..” he drew back, and I said, “Shh…let’s talk later…” I pulled my T-shirt back on and felt between his legs, the powerful erection throbbed in my hands. He was groaning as I caressed it with my hands, guiding it into my mouth. He forgot all about the occillite as I licked and sucked his cock. His erection growing even bigger as I teased and played with him. Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore and I actually giggled as he pushed me onto the bed, opening my legs and entering me, sliding into me with a shudder of delight.

I was deliciously wet and wanting him with every fiber of my being. His hand slid in under my top but I playfully took his hands and held them. I saw his eyes widen in surprise as I came up and turned him onto his back. I sat on top of him, taking more of him even deeper inside of me and I felt myself riding the waves of pleasure that were becoming bigger and stronger. I held his arms to keep him from touching me as I tightened my pelvic muscles, tensing and releasing my hold on his cock. Then I leaned back and felt the forces of our sexual energy take over my body as we rocked together riding the current that was coursing through us. I moved up and down, rocking back and forth, moaning loudly as each thrust took me closer to heaven and I could taste the joy that was coming.

I wanted to hold back, to tease him some more but I found myself unable to control my body at this point. Even if I’d wanted to, I was not able to pull away. I wanted him so much and when I rocked back his body came up with me so that we were almost in a seated position.

I had never had sex in this position before and it felt wonderful. We were face to face, kissing each other, our tongues probing deeper while our legs were intertwined and he thrust once more. We climaxed together in an incredible burst of ecstasy that elicited a cry from me that was piercingly loud, again, ripping through the night air.

We collapsed in each other’s arms and he held me tightly.

My skin was covered in sweat and I felt utterly exhausted and unbelievably happy.