Lover Arisen (Black Dagger Brotherhood 20)

Voice mail was a strange concept to her, but then again so much was.

For her next destination, she would go back in time, to a simpler era. Verily, this one did not suit her at all.

When it was time for her to record her words, she cleared her throat and became nervous, as it was only the second such message she had ever left, the first being to her dear cousin, right before she had gone to retrieve the Book. “Ah… Nate. I am calling to let you know that… I am sorry I have to go. And to thank you for being such a good friend to me. I wish I could stay, I do. But I must be moving on. I left a voice mail with Sahvage, too. I told him to mentor you. He has lived in your state for centuries. He will guide you in ways I cannot.”

She was not sure how to end things.

“Goodbye, Nate.”

Ending the call, she placed the cell phone on the bedside table and picked up the Book. Then she went over to the window, cracked it, and closed her eyes.

When she was calm enough, she dematerialized out to the field. The flowers Lassiter had given her were still alive, the springy bounce of their petals and greenery providing a lift to both her steps and her spirits, one that stayed with her as she walked the Book into the forest, to the great wound in the earth that marked her arrival.

Dropping herself down into the hole, she held the Book to her chest.

She had said goodbye to the only two people who would miss her.

Well, and then there was her angel. But they had already parted after their one and only embrace. She had so wanted to ease his suffering, but he had been willing to share none of it with her. In the end, she had had to let him go because he had demanded it of her.

And because she had to for her own reasons.

They might have had a future, if they had been other souls. Their destinies could not intersect in any permanent way, however.

Star-crossed lovers, she thought as she called upon the energy of the universe.

The light that came for her was so brilliant it did not just blind Rahvyn, it blew her molecules apart, scattering her off the earth, to an infinite number of planes of existence.

And with her the ancient tome, which she would find a safe place for, far, far, far from the contact of mortals.

At least in this, she felt as though she was doing a service unto her species and humanity at large.

Like her, it was only safe for the Book to remain… untouchable forevermore.

CHAPTER FIFTY

You need to wake the fuck up and save him.”

The words were spoken to Erika in a flat tone. Like the mouth they came out of was a ticker tape sharing an update on stocks or something.

“If you want him to live,” the voice persisted, “then you need to get your ass up and go to him. Without you, he’s going to fucking die.”

Maybe this is a dream, she thought. Which would explain so much—

Erika’s eyes popped open. And she wrenched her head to the side.

It was the goateed fighter, the one who had stood next to her a lifetime ago by the mobile surgical unit—and somehow, she was not surprised. What shocked her… was that she was still alive.

With a full-body jerk, she looked down at herself. She was in a hospital bed, and as the covers over her lower body registered, she was terrified at what was underneath.

“You’re going to be fine,” the goateed vampire muttered. “He’s the one we’re worried about now—”

“You were there,” she said in a rough voice. “After Balthazar carried me back to bed… you were there—where am I?”

“We don’t have time for this—”

“What day is it?”

Her mind refused to move very fast, even as some instinct told her that she needed to hurry the hell up—

“You’re in the Brotherhood’s training facility. You were brought in last night. I’ve been treating you with this.” He held up a gloved hand. “And with the help of my roommate, we were able to get the infection out of you. It was touch and go—”

“Balthazar!” She sat up. Then threw out a hand for help as the world spun. “Where is he—”

“Annnnd now we’re really awake. Fucking finally.”

There were other males in the room, and she recognized some of them. They were injured, too, wraps on their hands, arms in slings, one of them had an eye patch. The instant she looked at them, they bowed to her, lowering their heads in respect.

She was surrounded by vampires. And she’d never felt safer.

“Where is Balthazar?” she demanded.

“In the next room—”

Erika threw the covers off herself and put her feet over the edge of the bed. The mattress seemed seven feet off the ground. She didn’t care. She launched herself right—