your house, and when you contact me, I’ll bring
it to you.”
“Are we being tracked?” I asked.
“Christian is not a Viewer,” he answered.
“Christian,” I muttered. “That’s the hunter
who found me?”
He nodded. “He’s a Zephyr.”
“Oh, right,” I agreed. “That’s how he caught
up to the van. But how did he find us if he isn’t a
Viewer?”
“I really don’t know,” Max admitted. “The
only reason I even knew where you were being
held is because someone called my father and
asked if he knew how to contact Glass.”
“Who’s Glass?” I asked.
“He’s known as the Magnifying Glass,
because he’s the best we have at figuring out
who is human and who is vampire,” Max
explained. “They call him Glass for short.”
“I see,” I nodded. “Is it really that hard to tell?
I thought it would be pretty easy.”
“It is generally,” he said. “But if we think
there might be humans involved we have to take
extra precautions. We have to leave no room for
doubt. Our biggest rule is that we never harm
humans, even if it means letting a vampire get
away.”
“Kind of like your Prime Directive,” I noted.
“Yeah,” he agreed.
“I wish you knew how he found us,” I
mumbled.
“So do I,” Max replied.
I was really worried. We knew now that
Christian was a Zephyr, which meant he couldn’t
track us. But Max had no idea how Christian was
able to find the van. Not only had he eluded
police, but he’d found us on the road. Maybe I
was reading too much into things. Maybe he
simply followed us and waited to the perfect
opportunity. Still, I was anxious.
Max dropped us off at the airport and told
Jamie to go purchase tickets for everyone. We
would have to make it a point not to look at
anything that might give a Viewer a way to track
us. As far as we knew, aside from Max’s father
meeting Kai, no Viewers had ever met any of us.
But we couldn’t take any chances.
As he was about to pull away, Max shot me a
look that spoke volumes. He nodded his head at
me and, without a sound, clearly mouthed, “I
love you.”
I made sure no one was looking, and I placed
two fingers to my lips and kissed them, then I
waved at him with those two fingers. I wanted to
hug him and thank him for his help, but there was
no time. His father would be suspicious if he
woke up and discovered Max was gone at the
exact moment we were breaking out of the
holding house.
We boarded an airplane a little over an hour
later, and we were on our way. Once we got to
our destination, we would have to wear
sunglasses and pretend to be blind so Jamie
could lead us through the airport with our eyes
closed. There was no way we could risk seeing
which airport we landed at, because that would
certainly give away our location.
Jamie rented a minivan when we landed, and
she led us out two at a time. Once we were safely
in the van, she rented three generic hotel rooms
where we would stay until Jamie could find a
house for us to rent.
I was so glad I had Kai there with me. The
hours dragged on in our little room, but he made
things so much easier. We played cards, talked,
laughed, and spent a lot of time just lying in bed
together. It was so natural and uncomplicated – a
nice change from our usual hostile discourse.
The only thing that had me really worried was
my lack of communication with Max. He was
our only link to the hunters, so we had no way to
find out what was happening. My phone and
laptop had been in the van, and Max said he was
going to get our stuff and take it back to our
house. I could call him from a pay phone, but the
hunters might find out, and then they’d know the
general area we were in. Or a Viewer might see
the location on the phone.
“I have an idea,” Kai said.
“About what?” I asked.
“How you can contact Max,” he replied. “To
find out what’s going on.”
“How?”
“Why don’t you get a new laptop and you can
use Skype to call him,” Kai suggested. “It won’t
use a local number for the caller ID if you
choose a phone number in another area code.”
“I’d have to use one of our credit cards,” I
reminded him.
“But it’s not like using it at an ATM,” he
explained. “It won’t show up as used at any
specific location.”
“Oh, yeah,” I said, feeling completely stupid.
“Duh.”
Without looking at the phone too much – in
order to keep any potential Viewers from seeing
our location – I called Jamie.
“Hey,” I said, when she answered. “Can you
go pick me up a laptop from somewhere?”
“And a headset,” Kai interjected.
“And a headset,” I added.
“Yeah, sure,” Jamie replied. “What kind do
you want?”
“I don’t know,” I answered, looking to Kai for
help. “What kind?”
“I’ll write down some specs for her,” Kai
offered.
“Kai said he’ll write down specs for you,” I
told Jamie.
“Okay, I’ll be over in a minute,” Jamie said.
Kai wrote down some general guidelines for
Jamie, and she headed out to shop for a
computer. She picked up a laptop, a laptop bag, a
USB mouse, and a headset so I could use Skype.
“Thank
God
I
have
Max’s
number
memorized,” I mumbled, as I connected.
Kai grimaced at the thought of me calling
Max often enough to remember his number.
“Hello?”
“Max?” I responded.
“Alice!” he said excitedly. “Where are you
calling from? Wait, don’t answer that. Are you
okay?”
“I’m fine,” I said. “We’re all fine. Have you
heard anything?”
“No,” he answered. “Not a thing. My father
got a call earlier that I think may have been about
your escape, but I didn’t want to ask him about
it.”
“You were right not to ask,” I said. “The last
thing we want is for people to get suspicious of
you.”
“Alice?”
“Yeah?”
“I really miss you.”
Apparently, Kai heard Max, because he started
grinding his teeth.
“I miss you, too,” I told him.
“I wish I could come see you – bring you
some of your stuff,” he said.
“He doesn’t know anything, so hang up,” Kai
growled through his t
eeth.
I shot Kai a warning glance.
“I should go,” I told Max. “I have a computer
now, so you can email me.”
“Check your email,” he said. “I sent you one
earlier.”
“Oh, okay,” I responded. “I’ll talk to you
later.”
Kai pressed the button to hang up
immediately, probably not wanting to give Max a
chance to say anything else.
“Kai, I’m really surprised at you,” I
admonished. “After all Max has done for us, you
should be a little nicer to him.”
“I should be, I suppose,” he agreed. “But I
have a little trouble being nice to the guy who
wants to take my girl away.”
I frowned. He was right. Max would definitely
take me away in an instant if he thought he had a
chance.
I checked my email.
Dearest Alice,
I miss you already. :(
I’ve been trying to find out anything I can
about you, but I’m not finished with training,
yet. I don’t have access to anything until I
finish.
I’ll keep trying. I won’t let you down. I hope
you get this.
All My Love,
Max
Kai read over my shoulder, his teeth grinding
loudly.
I had another one.
Alice,
I don’t care if Kai reads this. I love you. I’m
so afraid something’s going to happen to you
and I won’t have the chance to say it again. I
just wanted you to know.
Max
Kai picked up an empty soda can and
crumpled it into a ball, chucking it across the
room so hard it chipped the paint on the wall.
I stood up and walked over to him, wrapping
my arms around his waist, and pressing my cheek
against his chest. He stood there motionless for a
moment, and then he sighed and put his arms
around me.
“You know I love you,” I told Kai.
“I know,” he admitted. “But what about
Max?”
“What about him?”
“You love him,” he said.
“Let’s not get into this.”
“You don’t deny it.”
I sighed. “I can’t do this right now. I don’t
want to fight with you.”
“So you admit there’s something to fight
about.”
“Don’t put words into my mouth,” I snapped,
stepping away from him.
“I’m sorry,” he said quickly. “Don’t leave.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
He stepped forward and put his arms around
me again.
“I can’t handle this,” Kai whispered into my
hair.
“I’m so sorry this is hurting you. I love you so
much.”
“If you’re going to love him, just don’t leave
me,” he pleaded.
“I’m not going to leave you,” I promised.
“Can we lie down together?” he asked.
“I need a shower.”
He nodded reluctantly, and I headed for the
shower. The warm water was soothing, and it
helped me relax a little. A few minutes later, I
heard the bathroom door open.
“Alice?”
“Yes, Kai.”
“I…” he started to say, but paused.
“What is it?”
The shower curtain opened, and Kai stepped
into the shower with me. My eyes widened. I had
never seen him naked before, and he’d never seen
me. I started to object, but the fear and loneliness
in his eyes broke my heart. With great
trepidation, I slowly turned toward him.
I expected his eyes to wander over my body,
but he was focused intently on my face. He
pulled me close to him, and I felt his naked body
pressed against mine. Feeling his skin against me
was electrifying. As the water from the shower
poured over my face, I felt his wet lips press
against mine. The water enveloped us both in a
warm, wet sheet. It trickled over our bodies and
cascaded around us.
His gentle lips closed over mine, and I felt his
left hand at the nape of my neck – his right hand
still pressing against my back, pulling my body
against his. I parted my lips and he slipped his
warm, soft tongue into my mouth and kissed me
deeper. My whole body began to tingle with
excitement.
I moved my hands over his biceps, feeling his
rigid muscles hard and strong under his skin. I
moved them up over his shoulders and around to
his back, then back up to his neck. With my
hands, I pulled him further into the kiss.
Kai pushed me back against the wall of the
shower, and he his kissing grew more passionate,
more intense. I gasped aloud, beginning to lose
control. He pushed my arms above my head and
grasped each of my hands with his own, pushing
them against the wall as he kissed me.
He moved his mouth down to my neck, and I
moaned softly as his kisses touched every inch.
His breathing was ragged and heavy, and it
excited me intensely. I wanted him desperately.
Suddenly, he stepped back. He looked
horrified.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, barely able to speak.
“I can’t do this. I’m sorry.”
“Kai!” I exclaimed, as he stepped out of the
I turned off the water and wrapped myself in a
towel, following him out of the bathroom. He
was sitting on the bed, dripping wet, with his face
hidden in his hands.
I sat beside him, and I placed one hand on his
back. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
“I didn’t want to lose control that way,” he
mumbled through his hands. “I didn’t mean to do
that. I just wanted to be with you. I never meant
to take it that far.”
“But I wanted you to do it!”
He turned his head toward me and started deep
into my eyes. “I wanted our first time to be
special. I didn’t want it to be some fling in a
motel bathroom.”
My eyes darted around his beautiful face,
gathering in each and every detail. He was so
intensely beautiful I could hardly stand it. I
placed my hand on his cheek and stroked it
tenderly.
“Any time with you is special,” I whispered.
I leaned forward and kissed him softly on the
lips. He kissed me back for a moment, and then
backed away.
“Alice,” he argued. “Please just let me find the
right time.”
“Now is the right time,” I pleaded. “I promise
you, it’s the right time. With all we’ve been
through, any moment could be our last. A hunter
could find us any time, and we’d die never
having known each other that way.”
“But…”
“No buts,” I said firmly. “I want you. Now.”
I let the towel drop away from my body as I
got up on my knees beside him a
nd pressed my
naked body against his. I kissed him passionately,
and he wrapped his strong arms around me.
I could feel some resistance in his touch, so I
whispered in his ear, “Please, Kai. I love you. I
want this.”
He surrendered. He pushed me back onto the
bed and pressed his lean body on top of mine. His
kiss was intense and blinding hot. I struggled to
keep from rushing things, wanting to savor every
moment, but I burned with passion for him.
My fingernails dug into his back as his kisses
grew even more intense. I gasped aloud when his
hand found my breast for the first time. My
nipple stiffened against his palm, and I shivered
with pleasure.
I could feel him pressing against me, hard and
ready. I felt a fire raging inside of me, and I
thought I would go crazy if I couldn’t feel him
soon.
“Please, Kai,” I whispered. “I want you.
Please.”
Kai shifted his body and used one leg to
fiercely push my legs apart. He put both of his
arms behind me to brace himself, and he pushed
his manhood against me. I moved my hips,
helping him maneuver, and it pressed hard
against my maidenhood.
His lips closed over mine as he thrust deep
inside me. A searing pain burned through my
loins and made me gasp, but the pain soon
subsided and was replaced by intense passion.
His thrusting grew faster and harder, and I
struggled to thrust against him.
“Oh, Kai!” I gasped. “I love you!”
“I love you, Alice. I love you, always!”
I could hear his breath begin to quiver, and he
began to pant and grunt. This fueled my burning
passion, and I felt a strange sensation building
inside me. It started out like a tightening, but it
built and spread. Soon, my legs were quivering
and waves of pleasure rolled through my body
like a tidal wave. Moans of pure pleasure
escaped my lips, and I heard him begin to growl
as he thrust deeper inside me. I never knew
anything could feel so intensely magical.
We shuddered together, and then he collapsed
on top of me, exhausted. His lips found mine,
and with ragged breath, he kissed me. We both
struggled to calm our panting breath, and when I
could speak again, I said, “That was the most
incredible moment of my entire life.”
“Mine, too,” he agreed.
I looked over at the clock on the nightstand. It
was 12:47 AM on February 13th. It was my
eighteenth birthday.
I hugged him close to me, enjoying the weight