Keepers of the Flame (Trilogy Bundle) - By Melissa F. Hart Page 0,30

swords go unnoticed?

“Allow me to say goodbye to my woman,” Dylan replied in a reasonable voice.

He turned back to me. “You need to open up to me. Now Luanne!”

I heard the urgency in his voice and fought against the rising panic. Katrina. Think about Katrina. With that chant in mind I closed my eyes and laid bare my mind. I'd never felt so naked in my life. It was almost as though a strange entity was moving into my mind, then I heard it.

Hi sweetheart.

I opened my eyes wide in wonder. I knew it was Dylan, I could feel him but it was different somehow. Almost like a gentle mist caressing me in the hidden corners of my mind.

You're in my mind.

You're in mine, too. Listen, I'm going to teleport us out of here.

What? But you can beat them, I know you can!

Maybe, but think of all the time we'd lose.

I knew he was right but I so wanted him to finish off those goons. But if we were to get to Katrina on time, we couldn't afford to waste any more time.

Of course I'm right. I'm always right.

I rolled my eyes and couldn't help the smile that peeped out.

Am I going to be able to turn this thing off?

Sure. Just shut if off when you're ready. We need to leave now. Give me your hand.

I placed my hand in his.

Ready?

I nodded. I'm ready.

Good. We've done this before...that night we got attacked outside your home. So you have an idea of how it works.

I remembered. Except that time, he hadn't needed to invade my mind.

This is a longer distance and your mind wasn't as fortified as it is now. All right, let's do this!

Suddenly everything began to shimmer and distort. I heard the goons shouting and rushing towards us but it was like from a very far distance. Before they got even close, they'd faded away and everything went dark. I felt like I was being sucked into a vortex, everywhere was completely dark. I knew I was still conscious, I could still feel my eyes blinking even though I couldn't see a thing. I felt Dylan's hand and squeezed. He squeezed back.

I'm here, babe. This will only take a few seconds.

He was barely done speaking when everything righted itself and became bright. There was a slight distortion, but when I blinked, it all became clear. I looked around me in wonder. We were standing in a huge hall and were surrounded by a group of people. I could tell they were all Born vampires, but I wasn't sure to which camp they belonged and they were all staring at me. I moved closer to Dylan, my gaze alert.

“Farley, you got here just in time.”

A tall man stepped forward and shook Dylan's hand. He had a grave looking face and even though he didn't look a day older than thirty, I could tell from his eyes that he'd been around for a century at least. He turned to me now and smiled.

“You must be Luanne Kylor. I'm Messina Taylor.” He shook the hand I offered him, his grip firm and his palms dry.

“Why are they all here?” Dylan gestured to the other vampires.

“They came to see Miss Kylor.”

“What?” An exclamation was startled out of me.

“Ah my dear, you are something of a legend around here,” he said with a shrug.

The others took that as a sign to move forward and they came smiling, and introduced themselves. I shook a lot of hands and even got some hugs.

“I knew your parents, you poor thing.”

“Katrina was the best agent we had.”

“Did you really turn Morrison into ashes?”

And so the questions and comments continued. They didn't really want an answer so I didn't bother with any; I just smiled and shook as many hands as were thrust to me. Before long, they'd all dispersed with instructions to call if I needed anything.

“Right. Now that's over with, you need to be on the plane to London,” Messina Taylor said, leading us away from the hall.

I wondered why we simply didn't teleport to London or whatever. Why a plane?

It's a really long distance. If we go that way, we'd be too tired to be any use to Katrina.

I thought you said I could turn this thing off?

Well, you didn't.

I didn't say anything else after that and I didn't try reading his thoughts, although he didn't beam anything my way. I missed the connection, but found it too intimate. I wasn't ready to be that exposed