“Shut up and do what I taught you to do.”
“What’s that?”
“Fight.”
He straightened, glancing over his shoulder at the mountain. “I have someplace to be. It won’t be in your head though.” His smile was lopsided. “Think you can handle that?”
She blew a kiss into the salty air.
He turned and walked down the beach with his hands shoved in his pockets and his head down as if he were looking for shells. His whistling melted into the pain that had settled in her bones. Everything flowed together and mixed, sensations running like a delta of rivers into the sea. The darkness was a tide, pushing higher than before. The crescendo was coming.
The shadows grew longer. Behind her closed eyelids, they blocked out the sun. Lips brushed over hers. She recognized everything at once—his taste, his smell, and the coolness of his mouth on hers. She wasn’t going to meet Darren. She was going to see Tim.
She opened up to him eagerly, her pain a thumping that beat in tune with her heart. She’d give her life for this, to meet him in heaven or hell, if either existed, or nowhere. It didn’t matter as long as she could feel this.
His breath fanned over her face. He grazed her jaw and neck with his teeth. His name floated into her dream.
“I love you, Tim.”
“I know, baby girl.”
Sharp tips indented her skin. They pierced the surface, sinking into her vein. Just like before, pleasure rushed through her. She felt the relief to the very marrow of her bones. Her body was yanked from deep water to the surface, her heart buoyant. His teeth slid free. He laved the small wounds he’d inflicted with his tongue, and then he planted a kiss on his mark.
Bent over her, Tim watched as Maya slowly opened her eyes. Emotions he couldn’t name assaulted him.
“Am I dead?”
He cupped her face. “No, baby girl. You’re very much alive.”
She stared at him in wonder. “Then you’re alive too.”
“I am.”
She looked around, probably to check if he was lying. As if he’d lie about being dead. Yet how could he blame her doubt after all the lies they’d told each other?
She measured him with her beautiful, sea-green eyes. “Lann destroyed the island. There were no boats.”
“Lucky for me, I was hiding in Ilano’s bunker, where he used to sleep. He was always a paranoid bastard. It’s fireproof and blast resistant. Your infra-blue couldn’t penetrate the walls.”
“How did you get off the island? The boats, everything was gone.”
“Lee came for me.”
“I don’t understand.”
He held out his hand. “Walk with me. There are things we need to talk about.”
She accepted his hand and got to her feet. He didn’t let go. He hoped she understood he would never let go, ever again. He grasped her fingers tightly as they walked along the edge of the water.
“You killed Ilano,” she said.
“I did. I went for him the minute I got out. His men were dead, taken out by your team, but I knew what your team didn’t—the location of the bunker. Ilano had been hit by the blast. His body was recovering, but he was weak. While I fought off the guards who’d stayed with him, the assholes who assaulted you, Ilano escaped to the beach, thinking he could get away with the boat. I got there as he was starting the engine.
“I had to act quickly. I was injured while his body was recovering fast. He jumped onto the upper deck, but I managed to overpower him and throw him onto the masthead. I couldn’t risk restraining him. He would’ve gotten away once he’d managed to heal himself.”
She stopped walking and faced him. “Why? And why risk coming back here when you know my mission was—is—to kill you? How do you know I’m not going to kill you now?”
“Your mission was to kill your enemy. I’m not your enemy. Besides, if you wanted to, you would’ve killed me in Ilano’s basement.” He took her other hand. “Will you give me a chance to explain?”
“I’m listening.”
“I didn’t tell you everything about how my parents died.” He paused. “My mother was married to the man I call my father when a powerful vampire spotted her one night at the opera in Sydney. She was a soprano with the national orchestra. When she refused his advances, he took her blood and body by force. I was the result. My mother gave birth to a dhampir.
“They loved each other, my father and mother, and he raised me as his own. My biological father, the vampire, never knew. My parents moved away from everyone and everything, hiding in the outback, but eventually the vampire tracked them down. He wanted my mother to come with him, and when she refused, he turned her.
“The bond between her and my father was too strong. Not even the calling could tear her away from her husband. The vampire was furious that she wouldn’t leave with him, so he killed my adoptive father by draining him. Then he drove a stake through my mother’s heart. I was ten years old, hiding under the bed. I’ll never forget his face or voice.”