"Stop."
The voice was Nikki's and yet not. He stopped and turned. She stood near the waterfall, her skin glowing with heat, eyes afire. Two flame imps rotated above her head, their color a deep, dark red. The color of anger, he thought.
She looked ethereal, otherworldly. This wasn't his Nikki. The flame imps had taken over her body, using her now as they had used her once before. Quelling his fear, knowing there was little he could do anyway, he reached for the link. An inferno greeted him, but deeper than the flames he felt peace. Nikki wasn't afraid of the imps or their intentions.
He wasn't so certain of them. But they hadn't hurt her the first time, and he just had to hope they wouldn't hurt her now.
"Step away from him,” she continued, her gaze not wavering from Cordell. “Move to the table. Use it as cover.” Though her voice was flat, her amber eyes glowed with heat. Flames danced across her finger—real flames, not just the sparks of kinetic energy.
He stepped back to the cloth-covered table. Cordell made a strange sound in his throat and raised his hands. Lightning cut through the night, but its force was weak, fading long before it reached Nikki. She didn't react. “In memory of those of who will no longer dance under the orb of life, we sentence you to death. In memory of the two legs that you have used, we sentence you to death. You will burn in the heat you seek to empty us of, and we will scatter your ashes on the wind so that you will never know peace."
Cordell whimpered and pushed away from the rock, dragging his half-dead body across the ground in a useless attempt to escape.
Nikki raised her hands. Fire leapt between her palms, pulsing brightly as it found form and became an orb that flamed as bright as the sun.
Michael threw up a hand to protect his face from the glare, but the growing ball raced heat across his flesh. Her words hit him—the heat of the sun was one of two things that could kill a vampire, and that was what the imps were attempting to create here now.
He ducked under the table and hoped the tablecloth was thick enough to protect him. Heat burned through the air, and Cordell screamed, a high-pitched sound of agony that quickly died. Flames crackled, and the smell of burning flesh rent the air.
The heat died. Michael climbed out from under the table. Cordell was little more than a patch of black soot. Even as he watched, a wind stirred his remains, spiraling them toward the roof and out of sight. Nikki was still standing near the water, but her arms were by her sides, and the fire seemed to have left her flesh. Even the imps rotating above her head looked gray and lifeless. He hurried towards her. She looked at him. Fire crackled through her amber gaze, but its touch was distant. “We thank you both for your help. You have released those who were bound, and now we are free to continue our dance. For that we rejoice. Tell this one good-bye. Tell her our flames will forever be a part of her." The spark in her eyes died, and Nikki collapsed.
Chapter Twenty-three
Nikki woke slowly, but was aware almost instantly that things had changed—and changed for the better. She felt safe and warm, and the stink of evil no longer filled the air. In its place were the rich scents of coffee and cinnamon toast. Her stomach rumbled hungrily. She stirred and opened her eyes. Silk whispered against her skin, running down her arm.
Pajamas, she thought in surprise, then felt her legs. Pajama top, she amended with a grin. She flicked the sheet away from her face and looked around. What she expected was the luxurious surroundings of their room at the resort. What she discovered instead was the homey warmth of rough-hewn log walls and, to her right, French windows that opened out onto a balcony and a view filled with cottonwoods and pines. She raised her eyebrows in surprise. Where in the hell was she?
"In my home,” Michael said from the doorway. He walked towards her, awkwardly balancing a tray in his left hand. His right arm was splinted and supported in a sling.
"Is your arm okay?” She grabbed the tray from him and placed it on the small table near the bed. “Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Another day or so, and my arm will be fully healed and out of this damn cast.” He sat down on the bed, his gaze searching hers. His hair was dishevelled, and there were dark circles under his eyes. He looked as if he hadn't slept in a week. “How are you?"
"Actually, I'm feeling a whole lot better than I should, considering what happened.” Not that she was entirely sure what had happened once she'd tipped Cordell into the water, but she had a feeling both she and Michael had been lucky to escape with their lives. “How did I get here? What happened to Cordell?
And what happened to the flame imps?"
"Cordell is dead. Burned to hell and beyond by the imps’ flames." She raised her eyebrows. “How? I was under the impression they couldn't defend themselves."
"They can't unless they have someone to focus their energy through. You were that focus, Nikki."
"I can't remember it happening.” She frowned, glancing at her hand. Warmth tingled across her fingers, a fire similar to and yet different from the heat raised by her kinetic energy. Perhaps the energy of the flame imps still lingered in her body.
"You wouldn't remember. You were unconscious.” He caught her hand, entwining his fingers in hers. His touch was gentle, almost hesitant. If he felt the heat in her flesh, he made no mention of it. “You've been unconscious for nearly a week."
She stared at him in disbelief. “No. I couldn't have been."
"For a while, I was worried you might not wake at all." Lord, no wonder there were such deep shadows under his eyes. She touched his cheek, ran her fingers down to his lips. “I'm sorry."
He pressed a kiss across her fingertips, then leaned forward and repeated the process with her lips. Longing shivered through her. Eternity could come and go, and still she would yearn for this man's touch.
"What about Rodeman?” she asked, after a while. “And Ginger?"
"Rodeman was taken to the hospital and, as far as I know, is still under observation. Ginger's body was found down in the caverns.” He hesitated. “Her real name was Mary Gordon. She'd been dead for nearly eight months."
"Ginger basically told me as much.” The person she felt sorry for was Rodeman—how would he cope with the knowledge that he'd loved and married a dead woman?
"He won't know. The police are putting her advanced state of decay down to the humidity and dampness in the caverns."
It some ways, it made better sense than the fact that an energy creature had inhabited Mary's body for eight months, keeping it alive. “What about that charity Cordell set up? Have you tracked down the money?"
"No need.” He smiled. “Seline has had new directors installed, and they are currently going through the books and cleaning up Cordell's mess. The charity will be run properly from now on." Obviously, this Seline was one powerful woman. Nikki raised her eyebrows. “I thought Cordell had shifted all the money? Wasn't that the reason why he'd kidnapped Matthew?" "It looks like Elizabeth took Matthew's mind before he could help Cordell with the transfers." She remembered the feel of the teenager's mind, the emptiness of it, and shivered. She still had to face Matthew's mother and tell her he was dead. Still had to face MacEwan and tell him his niece was definitely a vampire. Neither was a task she particularly looked forward to. Michael gently squeezed her fingers. “Seline's still working with Rachel. Even with the imp gone from her body, she shows a remarkable degree of control over her fledgling instincts. Seline's beginning to think that you were right—that she can be helped."
At least that was something—some hope she could hold out to MacEwan and his sister. “What about the other abductees? What happened to them?"
"When Cordell died, it seems whatever spell he placed on them dissolved. From the reports filtering in, most have no memory of events from the time they were kidnapped."
"He was controlling them?"
Michael nodded. “Through magic. They were basically on auto-control, making the motions of life but not experiencing any of it."
"Weird.” She hesitated, looking down at their entwined fingers. “What now?"
"Now,” he said, reaching for a mug of coffee and placing it in her hands. “You eat breakfast and regain your strength."
That wasn't what she meant, and he knew it. She wrapped her fingers around the mug, pressing the heat into her suddenly sweaty palms. “I meant about us."
"I know."
He met her gaze, and she almost drowned in the depths of love and understanding she saw there.
"If I've learned one thing in the last few days, it's that I definitely need you—want you—in my life. Whatever the risks to us both.” He touched her face, his thumb trailing heat down her cheek then across her lips. “But I can't have you working with me, Nikki. That's one risk I won't take." She smiled. Not the exact words she'd wanted to hear, perhaps, but close enough. He'd warned her not long ago that he couldn't change a lifetime's habits in just six months. Yet in a matter of days, he had gone from being determined to hold her at arm's length to admitting that he needed—wanted—her in his life. For now, that was enough.
Besides, eternity was on her side. She had time enough to change his mind. She put her coffee cup back on the tray, then wrapped her arms around his neck. “Just how disabled are you with that arm?"
A grin twitched his lips. The link swirled to life, his thoughts caressing, filled with awakening fire. “Is that your way of saying you understand?"
"No. That's my way of saying I love you despite your pigheadedness." Though a smile still touched his lips, his eyes were serious. “You won't change my mind, Nikki."
"I've heard you say that before."
"I mean it this time."
She raised her eyebrows. “You meant it last time, didn't you?"
"Yes.” He stared at her for several seconds. “I just have one more question." The sudden twinkle in his eyes made her cautious. “What?" He ran a finger down her pajama top and slowly circled her nipple. “Who in the hell is Get Smart ?"
"Not who, but what. It's a very funny old TV show. Why?" He shrugged. His fingers were still circling, still teasing. “Nothing important. Just something Cordell said." Ripples of pleasure were running through her. “You don't get much TV up here, do you?” she said, more than a little breathlessly.
"I don't get any. I haven't a TV."
"Then what do you do to pass the time?"
"Oh, this and that. Read. Watch the sunsets. Tend to the garden, make wine—" It sounded idyllic. She grabbed his shirt and dragged him close. “Will you just shut up and kiss me?" He grinned and proceeded to do just that.
And proved just how very capable a one-armed man could be.
But as she lay in his embrace in the warm aftermath of their lovemaking, she knew with certainly that the contentment she felt now would not last for long.
Trouble waited just around the corner.
For them, and for Jake.