“Yes, that’s it. Time to surrender.” He leaned close and sniffed her neck. “I long for your blood and soon I’ll have my fill.” He drew her onto the back steps then suddenly she was flying with him up and out of her yard.
* * * * * * * * *
Yolen saw Keynes take Brianna straight up into the air. But as he watched, he saw that even his vision had altered, that he could focus and bring the images in closer than ever before. Brianna had her nose pressed against Keynes’s throat, a sight that almost undid him except that he knew she was under her blood rose spell, that she couldn’t help being with him.
Her calling required that she serve her blood to a mastyr vampire. But he also knew that the only mastyr she would ever donate to would be one she chose and he’d die protecting her right to make that choice.
He also knew she couldn’t fly, so she was dependent on Keynes right now to survive. If she fell to earth, she’d die.
Brianna, he pathed. He wasn’t sure he could reach her telepathically like this, while in flight and at such a distance.
But again, he was now a mastyr vampire so he wasn’t entirely surprised that she responded immediately. Yolen? Where are you?
In the skies. I have a visual and I want to get you away from Keynes. Tell me you want that as well.
With my whole heart.
Can you trust me?
A pause, then very softly, With my whole life.
If he hadn’t already made the decision to commit himself to Brianna, those words alone would have taken him the rest of the distance.
All right. I’m going to slam into Keynes from behind in order to separate you from him. Just let go and I’ll catch you. Do you understand?
But how? Do you even have that kind of speed?
She had a right to ask and his heart swelled at the answer he was able to give. Hell, yeah. I’m a mastyr now.
Yolen, that’s fantastic.
I’m almost there. On the count of three. One, two…
And the next moment, he plowed into Keynes’s back. Brianna released Keynes’s neck at the same time and just as Yolen had hoped, she fell away from him, though tumbling swiftly toward the ground.
Faster than ever, Yolen shifted away from Keynes and with his vision centered on Brianna he dove after her. She fell in the direction of some sycamores but before she reached the uppermost branches, he caught her in his arms.
She cried out, then threw her arms around his neck.
He had her. She was safe.
/> If he worried that Keynes would follow after him, he soon dismissed his concern. Yolen had never flown so fast in his life and ate up the twenty miles he needed to go in less than a minute. Keynes couldn’t have kept up with him if he’d tried.
He flew her to his police station at the eastern end of the city, settling her in his office with one of the troll dispatchers for company. He took a few minutes, however, to explain what he needed to do right now and that he had every reason to believe Keynes was behind the latest influx of drugs.
She nodded firmly. “Don’t worry about me. I’m fine right here. Go take care of business.”
He gathered up the small force of detectives who’d been working on all the drug-related cases for the past decade and told them what he knew. Once they were up to speed and on board, he led them to Keynes’s home. They caught him with a couple of heavy bags in hand, ready to take off for parts unknown. While reading him his Realm rights, his fellow officers bound him in hand-cuffs. With a court-order in hand, he found all the incriminating documents he needed to prosecute Keynes as the latest drug kingpin.
One of his fellow detectives tracked and captured the wraith-pair, taking them both to the rehabilitation center where they confessed to being in Keynes’s employ and to the murder, at Keynes’s command, of Alec and his wife.
So, it was Keynes after all, who’d been behind Alec’s death.
Later, after processing Keynes and charging him with conspiracy to commit murder and drug trafficking, he flew Brianna back to her house.
Everything had changed, at least for him, and now it was time to find out if Brianna could forgive him for his obstinacy over the past several months. But more importantly, could she build a life with him as his blood rose.
* * * * * * * * *