Dawn Forever

He sheltered from the brightest light of the day beneath a copse of tall oaks and breathed in the warm, summertime air to clear his mind. Danger was everywhere around him. Life was precarious. And the storm drew closer and closer on the horizon. Anything could be the catalyst for what was coming. Perhaps, his brother had seen in one of his prophetic visions what caused the clouds to darken and solidify over their heads in the brewing storm. The future, much as his brother had told him many, many times, was unavoidable. And there was nothing anyone could do about it, except wait for it to come.

Chapter 23

Bryce arrived at Janine's doorstep, huffing and blinking against the noontime sun. He burst through the door only to be greeted by narrowed, outraged glares of disdain. "I need to see Janine," he panted. Ignoring the stares and the dagger that Robbie aimed and planted inches from his head in the wall as a warning.

"Haven't you done enough?" Robbie spat. She missed on purpose and hoped like hell Bryce didn't make her regret her decision. Who in the hell did he think he was barging in on Janine like this? She didn't know exactly how Bryce fit into the disaster that had become her friend's love life. But, he did. Luckily, it was Bryce instead of Patrick. Or she wouldn't have been so inclined to miss.

Anna nodded in agreement with Robbie. He was the second to the last person Janine needed to speak with today or ever, in her opinion. Her hands heated and began to glow in a pale white light. He wouldn't give her any guff or hassle Janine. Robbie might have missed on purpose. But, she sure as hell wouldn't. If it were Patrick standing in the doorway instead of Bryce, they wouldn't be having this conversation at all. She would have fried his ass first and asked questions later. "Bryce, you can't see her."

"Why?" Bryce stiffened, catching the faint odor of old blood on the air. What did she do? He began to imagine his worst fears come to life. She was fine when he left yesterday. Well, not fine. But, he didn't think she'd deliberately do something to hurt herself.

Someone had washed the sheets and the lingering musk of sex was gone. There was another smell mingling with the aroma of Janine's blood. An aroma just as distinct and unmistakable, and just as recent, a scent that drowned out the pungent smell of fear and shed tears. Patrick. What did he do? If Janine hadn't hurt herself, then someone else had. The blood had been cleaned up, but Bryce could still see traces of the fat drops on the floor. "What happened?"

Janine heard Bryce's voice and peeked out of the bedroom. She was busily packing her meager belongings. Her luggage was at the compound and she had nothing to use to pack her things but trash bags. Yeah, she'd been here before, doing the very same thing, and for a very similar reason. Maybe, it was karma and she was supposed to leave. After all, karma got what karma wanted in the end. Patrick had talked her into staying last time. Wasn't happening this time. It wouldn't matter if he charged through the door and begged. Her mind was made up. Bryce was simply a loose end she had to tie up before she left.

"Its ok. I need to speak with him." She gave Robbie and Anna a pointed glare. The two had been hovering around her all morning. And she was so done with the whole 'I'm here for you' pitying, concerned, BFF girlfriend thing she could puke. Janine stepped back from the door, motioning for Bryce to enter and closed it tightly behind him.

Bryce took one look at Janine and knew what had happened. The bruises and the punctures on her neck were pretty hard to miss. For the moment, he reined in his anger. The most important thing right now was getting Janine to talk to him. He had to know where her head was before he could plan out how best to help her. "Going somewhere?" he asked, eying the bulging black trash bag and the stacks of clothes on the bed.

"I'm leaving," Janine answered. Bryce kept his cool and seemed unaffected by her bruises. He'd seen them. She'd felt him staring at her neck and arms. But, she appreciated the effort. He could go ape shit on Patrick after she was out of town. "I need to get away for a while. A long while, I think. I just need time to sort my life out."

She took Bryce's hand and turned it palm side up to form a cup. "I want you to know, I never intended for any of this to happen." The ring slid off her finger easily. And she dropped it gently into his upturned palm, closing his fingers around the band. "I'm very sorry things didn't work out for us. The timing wasn't right. I would have loved to ride off into the sunset with you. But, I can't. Not when I'm still in love with Patrick."

Tears flooded Janine's cheeks. Hurting Bryce was the hardest thing she'd ever done and she wished there was another way. He reached out with his free hand and gently wiped them away. Touched by his kindness, she rubbed her cheek across his fingers. "You deserve to find someone who can make you happy. I'm not that person." She scoffed bitterly, "In so many ways I wish that I was. But, I'm not. I can't lead you on like that and force you to wait for the day I don't love Patrick anymore. It might never happen and it isn't fair to you."

Bryce clutched the ring in his fist. He wanted to demand that she take it back. Force it on her finger. But, he slid it into his pocket and gently cupped her damp cheeks between his hands. Janine's honesty and tears of regret were killing him. "You don't think you could ever love me?"

Janine shook her head and tore her eyes away from the raw expression of pain on his face. "Not the way you deserve."

"Me? I don't deserve anything. If I hadn't interfered, you'd be happy now instead of crying. You'd be with Patrick. This is my fault." Janine's tears fell in a hot, wet, saline torrent over his fingers. For the first time in as long as he could remember, he cried along with her. Softly, silently, blinking the stinging moisture from his eyes. "I'm so sorry for what I've done. I never meant to hurt you."

"You didn't. You told me the truth. That's something Patrick wasn't willing to do. You saved me. Kept me from spending time that I don't have. Wishing for things that were never meant to be." She grasped Bryce's hand with her fingers. In this tender moment, seeing the tears he shed for her roll down his cheeks, she wanted more than anything for him to be the one.

"I promised Patrick that I'd take care of you," Bryce softly pleaded. He stroked Janine's closed lids with the pads of his thumbs, freeing the last of her crystalline tears from her lashes. He wanted nothing more than to erase all the pain he'd caused her. Be her hero and rescue her. He could do none of those things. In his selfishness he'd destroyed the only good thing that had ever came into his life. He wanted her to love him. But more than that, he wanted her to be happy.

"I don't need taking care of," Janine said, opening her eyes. Her lashes fluttered against the gentle brush of Bryce's thumbs. A part of her was so broken. Yet, she'd never felt as free. Bryce did love her. And he asked for nothing in return. His feelings were unconditional and as deep as the ocean. He was willing to let her go for no one's benefit, except for her own.

"I know." Bryce traced Janine's mouth with his fingertips, savoring the soft, suppleness of her full lips. Gently, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. "Are you sure you won't give us a try?"

Janine returned Bryce's kiss. This was not a lover's kiss. Instead, it was the kiss of two people who loved one another deeply. "I wish I could, Bryce. I truly do."

"I'll be waiting if you change your mind," Bryce whispered. He rested his forehead lightly against Janine's feeling the softness of her skin and the warmth of her breath on his flesh. Closing his eyes, he inhaled her scent and trapped the very essence of her deep in his lungs. Letting her go to find her happiness was the noblest thing he'd ever done and also the most painful. "I'll wait forever if I have to." He opened his hands and slid his fingers down her cheeks before releasing her from his hold.

Janine blinked away a tear before it fell. "Don't you dare! You go out there and you find her. Find your true love and don't you ever, ever let her go." She grabbed onto the collar of Bryce's t-shirt, fisting the soft material in her fists. "Promise me, Bryce. Please, promise me you won't wait."

"Ok." He eased his t-shirt out of her fists and gently opened her hands with coaxing strokes of his fingers. He cupped her palms, running his thumbs over the pulse points in her wrists. Feeling the reassurance of her heartbeat against the pads of his thumbs. All he had to do was open his fingers and release her hands. Let her go. He didn't know if he had the strength to do it. He kissed her again, lightly and softly, memorizing the feel of her lips against his. And hoped the memory would sustain him through the long, lonely nights ahead of him. "I promise."

Groaning, he grabbed her up and squeezed her in a tight embrace, lifting her feet off the floor. "Janine, will you be ok?"

"I will." She wrapped her arms around Bryce's shoulders and hugged him tightly. She smiled as Bryce lowered her to the floor. She sheltered in the warmth of him and in the steadiness of his strength. His scent was on her skin and his taste on her lips. Reluctantly, she opened her arms and slid free of his embrace.

"Janine, Don't give up on him yet." Bryce rested his fingers under her chin, guiding her face up to meet his. He gave her a smile, hoping to hide his sadness from her. "I hope you find your way home, soon." Pressing one last desperate kiss to her lips, he released her and walked out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him.

Bryce stole one last glance at the closed door between them and turned to Anna. "Take care of her for me, please."

"I will," Anna replied. Whatever ill feelings she harbored for Bryce dissolved in that moment he walked out of Janine's bedroom and closed the door behind him. Letting her go wasn't what he wanted to do. And the suffering he endured from choosing her needs over his own was far more painful than any punishment he would ever endure.

Janine sat on the edge of the bed to collect her thoughts. She should feel light as air. It was over. Patrick was gone. And she'd never have to cry another tear because of him. On so many levels, watching Bryce walk out of the bedroom hurt her more than anything Patrick had ever done to her. He was gone too. And she wouldn't say on the lonely nights to come, she wouldn't wonder and she wouldn't shed a tear over her decision to let him go.

She moved to the dresser to add her socks and underwear to the pile on the bed. Her eyes locked on the heart shaped pendant someone had carefully placed on the lace runner covering the dresser's sleek wooden top. She held the chain between her fingers, watching the afternoon sunlight reflect off the ruby colored stone, reflecting prisms of light from the depths of its faceted center.

Gently, she laid the necklace on the dresser and draped the chain in a coil around the pendant. Janine wasn't going to pack the pendant with her. She wasn't going to have the broken chain repaired. She was leaving Patrick's heart behind on the empty dresser, in a house she no longer lived in, and in a town she no longer considered her home. Eventually, someone would find the necklace and pack it away for safekeeping. Preserve the heart that never, ever, beat for her.

Chapter 24

Alex pounded her fist on Dane's desk out of sheer frustration. Out of anybody in the compound, she expected his support in this matter. He sat there stoically, unaffected by the shrill, panicked tone in her voice. "You can't let Janine leave!"

"Alex, I can't stop her. If Janine chooses to withdraw from the Sons, there's nothing I can do about it. I can't offer her protection if she doesn't want it. She'll have to take her chances, just like everybody else." Dane rubbed his temples with his fingertips. Damn, he wished science would come up with vampire strength Advil. So many problems... Patrick was missing. Keene was bringing the fury of the Rogue Master to his doorstep. And now a frantic redhead was pounding on his desk. Demanding that he step in on matters that he had absolutely not one iota of control over.

"She's not safe out there," Alex gritted. What was it that Dane didn't get about this situation? Janine couldn't leave. He just simply couldn't let her waltz out into the middle of Vampire Central alone and unprotected.

"Alex, I don't think you've stopped to consider that Janine may be safer in the city than here. You know the Rogue Master is going to come looking for Keene, eventually. There may be a war."

Alex sank, practically falling onto the chair. "War?" The Rogue Master would make what Kore and Kiros did look like a little scuffle in the playground. She remembered that night in perfect clarity. The charred, skeletal remains of the lodge smoldering in ruins, and the bodies, scattered and lifeless on the ground in heaps of flesh, and most of all Lucien, the pain she'd felt when he died and his life was suddenly ripped away from her.

She was supposed to be the goddess's mouthpiece. Alex was her prophetess. And she'd seen many, many things, horrifying images from the past and present. But, nothing about the future Dane predicted with such grim musings. "No. That can't be."

"It could be. I won't hand Keene over without a fight."

"You'll sacrifice us all to protect him. But, you won't do a thing to help Janine." Alex sagged in the chair and shook her head in disbelief. How could Dane be so cold and uncaring? Janine had to mean more to him than some rogue.

"Keene has asked for our help. Janine seems determined to run from it." Dane moved to sit on the edge of the desk. Alex sat in the wingback chair just a smidge to the left of the desk and wrung her hands on her lap, biting on her bottom lip in frustration and doubt. She was desperate to do something-anything to protect her best friend. And Dane agreed with her. The city was a dangerous place. But, he had no authority to demand Janine return to the compound under lock and key. He could no more guarantee her safety here than he could guarantee it in the city.

He'd done the best he could to keep everyone safe. But, there simply wasn't an absolutely certain safe harbor to be found. Roark could be anywhere. He could strike at anytime. And he was capable of doing almost anything to get what he wanted. Dane couldn't begin to fathom the depths of the twisted Rogue Master's mind or his level of determination to get Keene back. Dane would sequester Janine, if he had reasonable cause. Unfortunately, until Roark made his move, Dane didn't have any reason to force her to stay. "I wish there was more I could do. I truly do."

Short of kidnapping Janine herself, there was only one other person who might be able to get through to her. Alex couldn't stand the thought of talking to him after what he'd done to Janine. But, what choice did she have? Janine was still so desperately in love with the man, that it might work. Assuming, Alex could get him over himself long enough to actually go along with her. "Could you keep Janine here until I can find Patrick?" Alex looked up at Dane. His expression was guarded and tense. He was not as unaffected by her appeal as he pretended to be. And she wondered if in the end if all other options failed, he would step in. "If I could get them together, if only for a few minutes, and make them talk. Maybe, just maybe, Patrick could convince her to stay. Buy me some time Dane, please."

"I'll do what I can. Take Chance and John Mark with you." Patrick wouldn't be easily swayed to go along with Alex's last-ditch effort to keep Janine here. It might take a bit of strong-arming to get the man to see reason. Alex had a nasty temper. But, John Mark and Chance might have to drag him back by his hair to garner his cooperation. Unfortunately, Alex was right. Patrick was the only person Janine would listen to. "I have a feeling you're going to need the help."

"Thanks Dane." Alex jumped up from her chair and bolted for the door, like a kid dismissed for recess. Dane lived and breathed by his reputation for being a hard ass. She knew there was a heart inside of that cold exterior somewhere. Otherwise Chris wouldn't love him the way she did. Alex skidded to a stop before going for the doorknob. "Sorry about pounding on your desk."

Dane grunted and nodded at Alex. No harm done. At least he hadn't gotten shot at this time. A few bits of chipped veneer didn't make that much of a difference. It gave the highly polished finish a bit of character. He waved Alex off with a flick of his fingers to get her moving. She'd saved his life when an interloper meant to end it. And although the chair had been replaced, he kept the spent brass casing from the bullet to remind him of what was really important in life. And it sure as hell wasn't appearances.

Alex ran into the gym, oblivious to the training session she interrupted "John Mark! Chance! We have to find Patrick!" She bolted across the mat straight to her husband, tugging frantically on his arm. "Chance, come on!"

Chance groaned, scrambling to his feet. Sometimes, his wife wore him out. He was bleeding from several cuts on his jaw. Not that Alex seemed to notice. Keene had a wicked ass right uppercut and the man had given him a thorough ass whooping. Sure he'd heal and he was virtually indestructible. But, a little compassion and a few kisses to make his boo-boos all better would be nice. "Alex, what's going on?"

"Its Janine..."

"Janine? What'd she do get a run in her stocking? The Super Center sell out of her shade of blonde and it's some kind of national emergency or something? Coach go on strike? Or maybe, Jimmy Choo Shoe chewed one too many and kicked the bucket? " John Mark scoffed, butting in on Alex's frantic conversation. He actually liked Janine. But, the woman was just too fun to pick on sometimes. And Alex needed something to break the tension. She tugged on Chance's arm like a pull cord on a rusty lawnmower.

Chance snapped his head and glared at John Mark. Alex was obviously panicked about something. Janine was always thinking of ways to get herself into trouble and she usually involved the entire known universe in her most recent catastrophe. But, she was his wife's best friend. And that made whatever she was dragging Alex into the thick of his primary concern. "Shut the fuck up and let her finish," he barked.

"Listen!" Alex barked in frustration. She didn't have time to breakup a testosterone fueled pissing match between her husband and John Mark. Ordinarily, she'd sit back and enjoy the entertainment. But, this was serious.

"Janine is packing. She's got it in her head that she'd be better off in the city. She's even gone so far as to withdraw from the Sons. We can't let her go off on her own. I tried to talk her out of it. But, she won't change her mind on this. Dane can't do anything to stop her either. The only person who can stop her is Patrick. We have to find him. And get him to talk some sense into her." Alex dragged Chance off the mat toward the locker room. Tugging on his arm, she ignored his grunts of pain. "We can't let her leave. It's too dangerous."

Keene crossed his arms and nodded in agreement with the frantic woman's statement. He didn't know Janine. But, he felt a certain responsibility for not getting her killed. "Roark is nearby. I can sense him. If he stumbles across the female and senses that she is of some value to you, he will take her."

He remembered the suffering his former master inflicted upon Anna, all because of his morbid curiosity with the Sons. And Roark had met Janine before. Unfortunately, he never forgot a face or a scent. If he found her, he would not hesitate to take the woman and use her as leverage to get him back. And while she was in his possession, she would suffer greatly. Keene could not allow that to happen.