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I still held a stake in my hand. I reached my arm back to toss it in the same instant Carden opened his hands to catch. It was as though we were one being, having the same thought at the same time.
I threw. Carden caught. And he staked the vampire.
The creature released me, shrieking a cry so piercing, I had to clap my hands over my ears. I stumbled backward as he turned black, shriveling and sizzling before my eyes, howling and screaming.
And then he was dust.
My knees gave way, but Carden was there, and suddenly I was in his arms. He carried me to the water’s edge and gently put me down. I saw I was covered in gore and leaned over to splash my hands, my face. But I was shaking too badly.
Carden stilled me. “Hush,” he said, cupping water and sloughing the blood from my arms. He worked down to my hands, tenderly rubbing circles over them until I was clean.
When I stood, his eyes were on me, bleak and relieved both.
“I heard you,” he said. “I heard your screams as though they were in my own head. ”
I fell into him, crumpling into his arms. “Did they let you out? I don’t understand. ”
I looked up at him, and finally I registered his injuries, huge bands scored into his wrists, deep scrapes along his hands. I gently took one of those hands in mine. The wounds were healing quickly, but I saw how deep they’d been. How bloody. I gently rubbed away the flaking blood to reveal fresh skin, looking so angry and red beneath. “What did you do?”
“A man can do much when driven. ” He took my face in his hands. “There is no chain that can keep me from you. ”
He’d known I was in trouble. He’d come for me.
Carden had told me of his Druid ancestry, but it was then I saw firsthand how my Scottish vampire had abilities and powers that made him a threat to Alcántara.
“Come, sweet. We must go back. ”
“Will this”—I nodded to the pile of ash—“will he be enough to clear your name?”
“Aye, more than enough. ”
I gave him a weak smile. “Ding-dong, the witch is dead?”
He wrapped an easy arm around my shoulders. “As you say, you peculiar, wee thing. ”
I looked at the pile of blackened dust and grew serious. “How will we prove there even was a rogue vampire? How will they know we’re not lying?”
He bent and picked up the vampire’s sunglasses. “These. ”
“This is our proof?” I took them from him, studying them.
“This vampire was too old to go out in daylight. The Directorate will see these and know the meaning. Perhaps they’ll even recognize them. Either way, they’ll guess he was here, if they didn’t know already. ”
“They must’ve known,” I said. “Somebody did. That guy was way too clean to be completely rogue. ”
“My thoughts exactly. ” He took the glasses back and pocketed them.
As we walked back to campus, I mused, “Why don’t more vampires wear sunglasses? Seems like a clever way to get around light sensitivity. ”
“Simple. One cannot hypnotize one’s prey when one’s eyes are concealed. ”
“Oh. ” I gazed up at him, staring at his profile, trying to make sense of it all. My thoughts drifted to Ronan, who’d used his own hypnotic powers to get me onto this island. “Did you ever want to hypnotize me? Did you ever try?”
He stopped short, looking amused by the notion. “Now, where’s the pleasure in that?” He cupped my cheek, and his next words were spoken low and husky, bringing all sorts of sexy implications to mind. “Seems I’ve been able to convince you to do things without resorting to trickery. ”
I cleared my throat, feeling a blush rise to my face. “Seems so. ”
We returned to campus and blamed the deaths on the vampire. All the deaths, even Masha’s, and it was just as well. I was a lousy liar, and a half-truth would be easier to maintain than pretending I hadn’t seen her.
