Good As Dead (Dying To Meet You Book 1) (19 page)

Lainey grabbed her coffee cup again and downed the now lukewarm contents. She didn’t want to disappoint him by telling him there was a fat chance of that happening, but miracles were the stuff of dreams. She’d tried for years to perform magic and each attempt, bar the one last night, had met with failure. No one went into a battle arena with those kinds of odds behind him, not if he intended on making it out alive. Placing her cup back on the bedside table, she stretched her hands above her head and yawned. Then she winced. Everything was sore…every damned thing.

Mercer grinned when he saw her discomfort, the smug bastard. The fire in his eyes said he understood exactly what he’d done to her last night.
Grrrr
.

“I have something for that.” With his fingernail, he scratched an inch-long line in the soft flesh of his wrist and when it began to bleed, he squeezed a few drops into the glass of water he’d brought.

“Ewww. I think I’m going to throw up. There’s no way you can make me drink that.” Lainey turned her head away in disgust as the liquid inside the glass began to turn a cloudy pink in colour.

“You should know better than to issue challenges because I guarantee that I can make you drink it, and in under a minute if you prove difficult.” Giving her a stern look, he growled. “Drink it up, Lainey. My blood will repair most of the damage that last night created in seconds. It’s going to be a long day and you need to be in fighting fit mode if we’re going to get through it.”

“Absolutely not…you drink it.” Lainey compressed her lips firmly together and gave him a mutinous look. Humans did not drink blood. It was not a difficult concept to understand.

“I don’t need to drink it. It’s my blood, idiot.” The stern look changed to a glower. “You have to the count of three, Miss Hargreaves and if that glass of water is not drained you are going to regret it. One…two...”

He didn’t make it to three. He simply dived under the covers, and spread her legs wide before attaching his mouth to her sex. His tongue attacked one very bruised clitoris with a lot more force than necessary and Lainey jumped so high, she could have done a couple of laps on a neighbouring space satellite before her body made it back down to the bed.

“Get off me! Get off me! I’ll drink the blasted thing. Goddamn, you do not play fair, Mercer. Get off me now!” Trying to scramble away from the onslaught of his mouth on her sex, she cracked her head against the wooden headboard whilst she thrust her duvet back down towards his head, and pushed with all her might. He did not move an inch and his mouth appeared to have the tenacity of superglue. As his tongue rolled along her hypersensitive clit, she began pummelling him with her hands and swearing that if he didn’t stop soon, she’d be the one biting him.

All of a sudden, he pulled away and raised his head up. Running his finger across his wet bottom lip, he then sucked it into his mouth and said, “I’d rather taste you than coffee any day of the week, Lainey, but a deal’s a deal. Drink up. Now.” He licked his lips as if to remind her of the consequences of disobedience.

Shooting upright, Lainey grabbed the glass and stared into it with a frown. The concoction was thankfully odourless, but the thought of drinking someone’s blood was not particularly appealing. Looking at him through lidded eyes as if pleading for mercy, she could not bring herself to take a sip.

“If you want to play it that way, it’s fine by me. I think after seven or eight orgasms though, you’ll probably think differently.” He picked up the ends of the duvet and made to dive back under it.

“I’m drinking it, I’m drinking it,” Lainey shrieked.

As Mercer paused to see if her actions matched her words, Lainey drained the glass in one foul swoop. She tried not to think about what she was doing or what was in the glass. Finishing the drink, she slammed it back down on the table and was relieved to find there was nothing more than a slight coppery aftertaste on her tongue.
Oh God, I’ve just drunk someone’s blood.
Clutching both hands to her stomach, she felt it begin to roil and heave dangerously. Throwing the duvet aside, she swung her legs to the floor and found that she was shaking. She needed to get to the bathroom, but her legs were unlikely to be able to carry her.

“Easy. Big breaths. Think about something else…anything else.” Mercer was in her head. His voice was soft and soothing, while his hands came up to stroke her back. It wasn’t enough. Bile bubbled up in her throat and her hands moved up to clutch her neck, not sure what to do next. “Breathe. Think of last night, my hands all over your body, my arms wrapped around you, my teeth on your neck. You were so wet for me, Lainey. I’ve never met anyone as responsive as you are. My touch seems to electrify your body. You’re the first human I’ve nearly forgotten myself with, and I’m sorry for that. I shouldn’t have pushed you so hard but once we’d started, there was no going back.”

Lainey was taking in oxygen once more, and the burning in her throat had started to subside. Alas, Mercer’s bare chest was swimming before her eyes and her whole body was once again in melt down mode. She pushed him away, a little bit more forcibly than she intended but he was a vamp, and he could take it.

“I’m okay, and you don’t need to apologise for last night. We both needed it. If I only have a couple of days left to live, it will certainly feature as the best night of my life but you need to do me a favour.”

“Anything.”

“Please go and cover up. Your damn chest has more definition than the Oxford dictionary and I can’t concentrate when it’s right there in front of me. Go put some clothes on. Please. My hormones are at dangerously high levels and I may shortly resort to mood swings, tears, screaming, yelling and shouting.”

The infuriating vampire grinned at her. “I’m not one of your weak, pathetic human males. I can deal with all of that without batting an eyelid. You might not like my tactics but as you’ve just seen, they achieve results.” His amber eyes glowed with amusement.

Lainey threw her remaining pillow at him and stomped off to the bathroom, ignoring his laughter.

* * *

“So what’s on the agenda for my last day in the land of the living?” Lainey was freshly showered and washed, and tucking into a fried breakfast of sausage, eggs, and bacon that could have happily fed three large men. Normally, she would have picked at the offering but today, she felt ravenous. She had no idea if it had to do with the bedroom antics of last night, or drinking his blood but whatever it was she now felt amazing.

“That’s a little overdramatic. You are not going to die.” Her grandmother gave her a stern look across the kitchen counter then she quickly changed the subject. “By the way, I hear you made your first spell last night. Congratulations.”

Lainey noted how she winked at Mercer.

“Ooh you traitor!” Lainey couldn’t give the sentence the right amount of bite through a mouthful of bacon, but her eyes boring down on Mercer spoke volumes.

He threw his hands up in the air. “She didn’t hear it from me. Gimme a break!”

Mercer, who was now thankfully fully dressed, was eyeing up the meat-feast that her grandmother had fried up with suspicion. Although she had prepared him a plate, he went nowhere near it.

“Not hungry?” Lainey grinned, wondering now if things were about to start going her way.

Mercer studied Lainey’s grandmother from the corner of one eye. “I have mentioned I’m a vampire, haven’t I?”

“You have but it’s rude not to offer your guests breakfast, and you should know that your steak is rare,” her grandmother stated with a raised chin as if daring him to reject her offer.

The vampire considered that, and then obviously decided it was worth a risk. Biting into the virtually raw steak, he sighed. “This is so good.”

Lainey’s grandmother turned towards her and winked. “Anyone who tells you that the way to a man’s or even a vampire’s heart is not through food is completely mistaken. Although in a vampire’s case, it’s mostly drink I suppose, but it’s the same thing really.”

Lainey did not really want to get into that conversation. “The agenda, Gran, what do you have planned?”

“Such impatience, young lady, but if you must know…we’re going back into the forest, to the stone circle, and we’re going to concentrate on releasing some of that energy of yours.”

Lainey snorted. “Good luck with that. I’ve managed one spell so far in my twenty-six years of being a witch. Gee, let’s go for double or nothing! Although the alternative is, we could consider relocating to Hawaii, or perhaps Buenos Aires. I hear they have great weather this time of year.”

Her grandmother raised her head and blinked once, as usual seeing far too much. “I think we both know you’re not going to let your vampire face Kalliope alone. Or am I wrong about this?”

Lainey shovelled baked beans into her mouth as if suddenly there was the possibility of a national baked bean shortage, and tried to ignore the question.

“Well, in that case…Mercer, I guess you’re on your own,” said her grandmother. “We wish you all the best of luck and we’ll send you a postcard from whichever hidey-hole we eventually end up at.”

With that remark, both parties turned to stare at Lainey. It didn’t take long for Lainey to wilt under the pair of them.

“Fine.” She set her fork down and held up her hands. “He’s not facing Kalliope alone. I’m going with him, even if I have to fight her with nothing more than my bare hands.”

Mercer took a moment from eating his steak to study Lainey’s delicate hands in detail. His lips quirked and then he snorted. “I think I’d pay attention to whatever Mrs. Hargreaves says if I were you.”

“Oh, call me Gran for goodness sake. Mrs Hargreaves is far too stuffy.”

Lainey rolled her eyes. She knew when she was outnumbered.

Chapter 15

This time when they ventured back into the forest, Lainey was ready for the elements. She had her thermals on, a pair of thick denim jeans, knee-high winter boots, and a heavy-duty fleece-lined parka. She had sheepskin mitts on her hands and a woolly scarf around her neck. Typically, the fickle English weather had decided it would be bright and mild today, so she was overheating before she’d barely walked ten paces. Things were not going well already, and it was barely nine in the morning.

“So where are we headed, Gran? By the looks of your granddaughter over there, I’m guessing we’re off to the North Pole.” Mercer was dressed in nothing more than a pair of jeans and a light sweater. He looked perfectly comfortable, which of course he would be as it wasn’t that cold and he had a tendency to run a little hotter than humans did.
Life was not fair.

“To my circle, because if my granddaughter managed to perform magic there last night, there’s a good chance she might be able to repeat the exercise today with the right encouragement.”

“Yep. Give me a pat on the back and rub my tummy and I’ll perform whenever you say, no problems.” Lainey’s voice sounded sour, but she was not a performing seal and so far, her track record wasn’t exactly amazing when it came to her magical ability.

“Lainey! You must be positive. A witch surrounds herself with positive mental energy. Focus and believe. Ah, here we are.” Her grandmother stepped neatly in between two of her stone cairns and held her arms out with her face pointing upwards as she took several deep breaths in and out. Wisps of grey hair blew gently around her face, her patterned floral skirt flapped in the wind, and her blue eyes shone with light.

“I can feel your strength, Lainey,” she said as her mouth lit up in a smile. “Even now, several hours after the spell, I can see why you have been chosen. Your magic is clean white light. All your years of healing has influenced it. You’re the exact opposite of Kalliope’s darkness. Her power will wane with each dark spell she creates while yours will magnify, but in order for that to happen you need to know how to release it.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Lainey mumbled under her breath. Kicking at the rusty brown leaves below her, watching as they disintegrated into dust, she eventually summoned the courage to look up at her grandmother, who was lighting four candles to represent the four points of the compass.

“It works better in the light of a full moon but as we’re only practising, we’ll use what we can.” Purifying the circle with salted water, she liberally cast it around the outer edges and when she was finally satisfied, handed the bowl to Lainey. Stepping out of the circle, her grandmother allowed Lainey to complete the ritual on her own.

Trying to smile and think positive thoughts, Lainey started to trace her circle with a fingertip, beginning with the tall north pillar candle and moving round from east to west. When she was happy with her efforts, she placed her arms at her side and imagined warm flowing water, washing over the floor, clearing away all of the negative energy of last night. Satisfied, and still somewhat nervous, she raised her hands signalling she was ready to begin.

“Try a simple storm, Lainey,” her grandmother said softly, pressing a sprig of broom into her hand. “Mercer tells me you’ve already managed that.”

A simple storm?
Since when had magic ever been simple? The storm at the chateau had been luck, and if Mercer thought elsewise that was his problem. Letting out a long pent-up breath, Lainey focused on the twig in her hand and stroked it softly with her fingers. She visualised the sky darkening and the clouds merging into an angry knot before the ground became awash with fat raindrops. In her mind’s eye, she saw livid streaks of lightning and heard the accompanying rumble of thunder. She began her incantation.

“Oh Goddess—Let forth the rain, the earth of which to sweep—Whilst the wind shall blow, let the heavens weep—Thunder and lightning, in your name—Bring me a storm, from whence you came…”

Lainey kept the storm clouds dark and black in her head while concentrating on a wet wintry deluge that would soak everyone to the bone. She took a moment to wonder whether she would be thankful of her sensible winter attire but that thought quickly faded when nothing happened. She gave it a couple more minutes and tried to do everything as she had been taught.
Visualise. Believe. Release
. Finally, she tried praying for good measure.

Still nothing…not a single raindrop or even a wispy cloud filled the sky. She felt her frustration begin to build and when she could bear it no more her hands slumped to her sides.

“This is not going to work,” she whispered.

“Lainey Hargreaves, I did not bring you up to be a quitter. We’ve got plenty more things to try so keep calm and relax while we find you something that works.”

In the end, they tried a
find what is lost
spell, a
protection
spell, a
repair
spell, and a
creating fire
spell. Then they tried a
disarm
spell and a
disguise
spell, but all of Lainey’s attempts had the same success rate. Not a single ribbon, whiff of light, or tiny thread could be seen anywhere. It was as if last night had never happened. Her brief success with magic had dissipated into thin air, along with her chances at a long and happy life. She was back to being a failure, and it felt like she was holding back a weight of tears that would give the Hoover dam a run for its money.

She couldn’t take any more. “Enough. I will have to face Kalliope with the skills I have, and that’s that.”

Marching off into the shallow forest not daring to look at the disappointed faces behind her, she made sure she had walked hard for a good ten minutes before she let her sobs free. When they came, they were of such a force that they brought her to a standstill and no matter how hard she tried to, she could not move her legs forward a single inch. Hugging the nearest tree for comfort, she cried until she could cry no more. At least she could create her own mini-storm, she thought miserably as she banged her head against the bark.

Mercer was the one who eventually found her. He picked her up, and although her hands flapped at him trying to ward him off, he paid no heed and cuddled her to his chest. He didn’t say anything until she’d cried herself out but just rocked her in his arms, and made tiny comforting noises.

When he began walking back to the house, still carrying her effortlessly as if she weighed nothing more than a bag of pretzels, she felt an overwhelming need to apologise. It took a few attempts to manage to get words past the hiccupping, coughing aftermath that her tears had created, but eventually she managed. “I’m sorry.”

He shook his head and pressed her face into his neck. He smelled so good she almost forgot where she was, and what she was saying. It was a zesty smell of lime and vetiver, and if she hadn’t been so upset, she’d have been tempted to try to lick it off him.

“For what? For being manipulated into a tight spot? We’re both in the same situation, and we’ll both do our best—end of story. I don’t expect that you’ll save the world, and I’d certainly be surprised if I managed to. It would be nice if we both managed to make it out of this alive and unscathed but realistically, that’s unlikely. So, what do you want to do, Lainey? You can run. I won’t chase you, or think any less of you. We can probably get you on a plane out of here and a couple of thousand miles away in less than an hour. Is that what you want?”

Lainey gave a very inelegant snuffle, and then hiccupped again while thinking she was a little tempted by his proposal, if she were honest.

“No.” She dashed her remaining tears away with the back of her hand and blinked several times. “We both know that would only be a temporary solution at best. They want me dead and eventually they’ll find me, no matter where I hide in the world. So…” She swallowed hard. “I’m with you, Mercer, but that doesn’t mean I’m not scared. I don’t want to die just yet. Especially, now that I’ve discovered great vampire-style sex, I want to spend a few decades seeing if there’s a chance I’ll ever be able to keep up with you.” That set her off again, and it was a strange mix of hysterical laughter and tears.

“There’s no chance of that ever happening,” he said with a wink, “but we could certainly try improving your stamina. Then we could have a go at the four or five hour sessions I’ve been talking about.” The tears turned to giggles once more and it was with surprise that she found herself back in her bedroom and being tenderly laid upon the bed.

Mercer began massaging her shoulders, trying to ease some of the tension that had built up from the morning’s activities, humming softly as he worked. His fingers were talented. Dipping beneath her jumper, they kneaded and rolled her flesh until she was purring in pleasure. He managed to get her so relaxed that when he eventually voiced a question, she almost didn’t hear it.

“I’m curious, Lainey. What’s your grandmother’s trigger? What does she do in order to release her magic?”

Lainey groaned. His wondrous fingers had stopped their soothing rhythm and though she felt refreshed, she didn’t want to face reality just yet.
Oh well
.

“A witch never tells anyone what their trigger is. To do so would mean giving another a great deal of power over them, power to prevent or even stop their magic permanently. When I find my trigger, I must never reveal it to anyone. Gran drilled that into me from a very early age. So far it hasn’t been an issue.” Lainey laughed bitterly.

“So what happened last night? What was different from all the other times you’ve tried to release your energy?” He sat there looking thoughtful, while running his fingers through the dark strands of his immaculately placed hair as he considered her newest snippet of information.

“If I knew, believe me I’d have stored it away for future use. I’m as clueless as you are. Each time I try exactly the same technique as Gran taught me. Yesterday was the first and only time, in which anything other than
nothing
has happened. I wasn’t aware I could even perform magic until last night. I now have a whole load of questions in my head that may never be answered.”

His hand reached for hers and their fingers entwined. When he lay down beside her though, his face looked far too serious. She guessed he was also feeling the weight of the world upon his shoulders, and she thought he bore much more than she did. For a moment, they did little more than embrace the silence of the room around them, comforting each other with an occasional squeeze of a hand. When Mercer rolled over onto his side and released his grip on her hand, he cupped her cheek and stroked it a couple of times smiling faintly at her sleepy form.

“I need to ask you something, Lainey. Think of it as a favour.” He frowned, as if what he was about to ask was distasteful to him. She did not have a good feeling about this, and her eyes stared into his trying to fathom what it was that he might need. “I’m not sure how to ask you this,’ he said gently pressing his lips to her forehead, and then there was a soft sigh before he spoke again. “I’ve bitten Kalliope twice. With a third bite, she can bind me to herself and that will give her the power to make my life worse than an eternity in hell. Much worse. I want to prevent that at all costs. I want to take your blood one last time, and hope you’ll consider my request to try performing your own binding spell upon me.”

Lainey covered her mouth with her hands and shook her head, mouthing her answer.

No!
She could only stare at him with what she imagined was a look of horror before anger replaced it.

“Did my grandmother put you up to this?” Her voice was good and mad. “I’m pretty sure the last thing in the world you want is to be forever beholden to a witch. That’s what this would be, Mercer—a lifetime with me!” Her finger pointed at him and then moved back into her chest. “Witches live longer than the average human, Mercer. That’s whole lot of years to be tied to me and more than that, you’d be servile. Whatever I asked of you, you would be compelled to do, and there are many laws regarding a witch and vampire relationship. Distance between us would be painful. You could never bed or bite another female. Your role would be one of worship. I know the thought of that is repellent to you, especially after what has happened to your brother. The answer is
no
, because there is no good that could ever come of this. The only way you could ever be free of a relationship like that would be to kill me. You can’t ask me to do this. I know you do not love me and entering into a binding spell without love will leave us with nothing but hate and loathing.”

“I’m prepared for the consequences. I’ve thought this through very carefully. What I cannot prepare myself for is a life of servitude to Kalliope. I would do anything—
anything
—to prevent that from happening. Name your conditions, for I will comply with them all but I don’t want to go into this battle with a chance of becoming her lapdog, if it can possibly be avoided.” He leant down towards her, and grabbed a fistful of her hair as his eyes consumed hers. “I stand a chance of happiness being bound to you, Lainey, however slim that chance might be. With Kalliope, there is no chance. There is only misery, regret, and endless pain. It would be a hideous life, especially for one who is un-dead.” He smiled ruefully and his eyes were now glassy with his plea. “If I promise I’ll do my best to keep you happy, will you do this for me?”