Page 36 of Resurrecting His Soul
There was something in the way her eyes kept darting past his gaze that made a lump form in his throat. He struggled to swallow it down so he could reply. With a nod, he said, “Of course,” then he changed direction towards the room where Allison was currently staying. She was already there. He could hear her mumbling profanities under her breath and occasionally slamming things around. When he opened the door and held it for Lisandra to enter, Allison spun around on her heels, hands up like she was ready for a fight. He expected Lisandra to laugh. To say something about her friend being ridiculously overprotective, and how she couldn’t fight vampires no matter how strong her ego made her feel. Instead, she just walked past her to the bed and laid down.
Allison crossed her arms and glared a hole through him. He cleared his throat and bowed like he used to in the old days, not sure how to act at the moment. Everything was off. “I’ll let you ladies get some rest. If you need me for anything, please just let me know.”
Just before he could step out the door, Lisandra sat up in the bed and called to him. “Ricardo,” she said. He turned to her, and their eyes locked. “I love you. I just. I just need you to know that. I might be unsure about some things, but I’m sure of that.”
It was funny. Hearing her say those words usually had the most euphoric impact on him. This time, there was something in her eyes, in her voice, in the way her declaration almost sounded like it was a finality. Instead of filling with hope and happiness, her words sent a cold fear straight to his heart. A fear he was worried he might never overcome. He wanted to turn around and walk back over to the bed, pull her into his arms, and swear to never let her go; never let her come to any harm. Instead, fear that she might push him away in that moment kept his feet rooted in place. All he managed to do was force a smile. “I love you, too,” he said. Then he turned around and walked out, leaving his soul behind with Lisandra who was locked in a room with the one person he was afraid she would be willing to leave him for — Allison. He didn’t want to push, so he went to his room. The last thing he remembered before exhaustion took him down was praying to whoever was out there listening that Allison wouldn’t talk her into leaving him. He barely survived his first heartbreak. Hell, his soul was a rotten corpse after years of self-deprecation. Lisandra brought it back to life. Resurrected his soul. If he were to lose her, there would be no coming back, and the darkness would pull him under for eternity.
ChapterTwenty-Three
Lisandra
The minute the door shut behind Ricardo, Lisandra buried her face in her pillow and let everything out. Melina had done this. She didn’t know how Melina had known bringing Jameson around would be the one thing that she might not be able to overcome, but clearly she had known exactly what she was doing. Worse, she had made him a vampire, too, which meant Lisandra didn’t have the advantage of being stronger than him. Part of her hated that she had stopped Ricardo from killing him, but she was so damn scared of giving into that side of herself and losing control. Ricardo’s past was proof that even someone with a good soul could get sucked into the evil side of being a vampire.
A few moments passed before she felt the bed dip, and Allison shuffled close and pulled her head in her lap, running her fingers through her hair. It was something she’d done countless times to calm Lisandra anytime she broke down about Jameson’s abuse. It always worked, but not this time. This time her pain wasn’t physical. Her feelings weren’t just bruised because the man who said he loved her had hit her again. No, this was a full break. Her heart shattered inside her chest, the shrapnel shooting throughout her body, causing insurmountable pain. Pain she was afraid she would never overcome, even if she would have to bury it to keep moving, if only for Allison’s sake. She had gotten Allison into this mess. Had she not allowed herself to get caught up with an abusive man they never would have left home, and therefore never would have found out vampires existed, let alone found themselves facing her wicked ex and his maker in all their evil, vampire glory.
When she had finally cried out all of her tears she sat up and tried to smile at Allison.
Allison shook her head. “You don’t have to smile for me. I know how hard it was for you to see him again.” Allison gritted her teeth. “Not going to lie, Lis. I wish you’d let Ricardo kill them. I know you don’t like the idea, but if anyone ever deserved it, it was those two. You know they won’t stop. They’re too stupid to listen to Ricardo’s warning.”
Lisandra looked down at her lap. “I know. I was just afraid if I let him kill them, it would turn me into a monster.”
Allison gripped her knee. “How would that make you a monster? He was defending both of us.”
She nodded. “I know, and I don’t blame him. I wouldn’t have even been mad at him if he’d ignored me and killed them anyway. I wanted them to die. That’s what scares me. I never would have thought that before.”
“You can’t live worrying about the what ifs, Lis. You have to live in the now, and now you’re a vampire, and you don’t have to be afraid or back down from anyone who wants to hurt you. You can fight back now. Don’t be ashamed that you wanted to get away from the person who spent years hurting you. Besides, I don’t have vampirism to blame, but I damn sure wanted to watch Ricardo rip them limb from limb.”
Allison was right. She knew she was, but she knew from Ricardo’s story how easy it was to turn off their humanity and give into the killer that lived inside them. She needed time to think. To figure out what she wanted to do. What she was willing to do. Because she knew that Melina and Jameson weren’t going to give up, and she had to find a way to keep Allison safe, even if they meant walking away from Ricardo for a few decades while Allison lived out her human life, safe and far away from any vampires who would try to kill her to hurt Lisandra.
She got up from the bed, needing to take some time alone, and pointed over her shoulder to the bathroom. “I’m going to take a shower.”
“Okay,” Allison said. “I’m going to give you some privacy.” Lisandra opened her mouth to object, but Allison cut her off. “I’m not going far. Just to the patio. I need some air. And I promise to shout if the wind so much as changes directions. I’m sure you and Ricardo can get to me plenty fast.”
She wanted to argue, but she just didn’t have the strength, so she nodded and watched while Allison left the room before she headed to the shower.
****
Shedidn’t mean to take such a long shower, but the hot water felt so good she wound up standing under the water until it ran cold. When she walked out of the bathroom she wasn’t surprised to see that Allison had not returned to the room because she knew her friend was trying to give her space to come to terms with what might have to happen to keep them both safe from Melina and Jameson. After getting dressed, she walked outside to the patio to find Allison, but she wasn’t there.Maybe she’d walked over to the guest house, she thought.
She was about to run over to check when the wind blew and she knew at once that Allison hadn’t gone anywhere; not on her own, at least. She smelled Melina and Jameson before she saw them. Unfortunately, it hadn’t been soon enough. They ran at her from separate sides, each one hitting her, and she went down, but not for long. When she jumped up she went for Melina, but Jameson’s voice behind her made her freeze.
“Oh, Lis, you never learn,” he said. “Maybe Allison will catch on faster than you ever did.”
Ice ran through her body, and she turned to face him. He stood about twenty feet away with Allison held in front of him, her back against his chest. He was gripping her hip with one hand, and the other was around her throat, holding her head to the side so that her throat was exposed. With his head bent, he darted his tongue out and ran it over the side of Allison’s neck.
“Get the hell…” Allison cried out, but he tightened his grip on her throat and she cried out and gasped for air.
Lisandra took a step forward before she felt a hand wrap around her arm and turned to see Melina, smiling like a Cheshire Cat, clearly thrilled with the turn of events. The French doors at the back of the house crashed open and Ricardo was there, ripping Melina away from Lisandra. He started towards Jameson, but Lisandra grabbed his arm and he stopped and turned to her.
“Please,” she said, her voice cracking. “He’ll kill her.”
Jameson laughed. “She’s right. I’ve wanted to take this bitch out for a long time, so I won’t hesitate to kill her if you take so much as one step in my direction.” He dipped his head and Lisandra nearly lost it when he bit Allison.
“Stop!” she screamed.
Melina walked around in front of Lisandra and Ricardo and smirked. “Oh, he’ll stop,” she said. “Just as soon as we get what we want.”
Ricardo put himself between her and Melina. “What do you want?” he barked.
