Karizma
Chapter 17: Ryleigh

Ryleigh studied Kristopher as he processed her confession. His fangs were on display when she opened the door for him, but they only accented as his lips curled back into a snarl. A snarl of anger. Her magic readied itself defensively. She attempted to push past him, but his grip tightened on her hips to secure her in place between him and the wall. She cocked her eyebrow at him, and her magic flared slightly. The heat of her magic radiated through her clothes, enough to burn his fingers. He growled slightly and removed his hands from her hips. Before she could push past him, he had pressed his hands into the wall beside her head. He caged her between him and the wall, his breathing heavy as his auburn eyes brightened.

“Kristopher,” she said slowly. “You don’t want to do this.” She had betrayed him, hurt him; he was pissed. She trusted Kristopher enough to believe that he would never hurt her, but that was before her confession. That was before I told him who I really am, she reminded herself. “You have no idea what I want to do,” he growled darkly.

“I’m sure that I do. I’m the last Karizma. Any vampire would not hesitate to kill me where I stand based on that admission.”

“What if I don’t believe you?”

“Seriously?” Ryleigh snorted. “Come on, Kristopher. You’re significantly older than me, and I know that you’re full of shit. You’ve sensed my magic change, grow, especially during sex. How many other witches do you know of that have felt this powerful to you, truly?”

“This can’t be true,” Kristopher said. Ryleigh sighed and closed her eyes. She rested her head back against the wall. Her magic crackled harsher under her skin as she opened her eyes. He looked so lost, so hurt, so angry. She resisted the urge to touch his face in assurance. There is no assurance here, she thought. This isn’t a lie that I can take back later, this is the truth. “Fine,” she whispered. She tilted her head to the right, exposing the left side of her neck. Kristopher growled again and Ryleigh nodded lightly to him. “Don’t believe my words, believe my blood. You know damn well that, if what I say is true, you’ll taste it in seconds.”

Ryleigh watched Kristopher’s demeanor change as he hesitated her invitation. She forced her magic to calm for the moment, for the heat to recede so that he could taste her blood. She had been thankful that he did not feed on her after her birthday, because she knew that he would have learned the truth. She did not regret their night together whatsoever, but she knew that their night never would have happened if she had been honest with him. Kristopher slowly slid his hands down the wall and settled them on her hips once again. He lowered his mouth to her neck, and bit.

Ryleigh gasped as his fangs penetrated her neck desperately. She instinctively tangled her hands into his shirt while he fed. She felt his tongue caress the skin of her neck while he suckled on it. Her magic clawed within her to free itself, to protect itself against the intruder in her body. She fought against her magic to tame it for the moment. She was not sure what Kristopher would do after tasting her blood, so she could not completely restrict her magic. She needed to be prepared for his reaction. He bit harder into her, and she moaned softly.

Kristopher suddenly released Ryleigh from his mouth. One of his hands shot out and wrapped around her throat. He pinned her against the wall as he brought her to his eyelevel. Ryleigh’s skin scorched as her magic reacted to him. “Don’t do this,” she warned. The grip on her throat was loose, more to keep her imprisoned than to harm. “Don’t make me kill you.”

“No, that’s my job,” he seethed.

“I know that all vampires want to kill me, but I really don’t want to hurt you.”

“You don’t understand,” he growled as he brought his mouth inches from hers. His auburn eyes flared as he stared at her. “I’m your bounty hunter. Me, specifically. I was sent to kill you when you ascended, to end the Karizma bloodline once and for all. I’ve been cleaning the line for decades.”

“You’re the one responsible for the Karizma deaths,” Ryleigh whispered painfully. Of course, he was. The one vampire that she began to develop feelings for, was the one vampire who was responsible for killing her ancestors. He’s the vampire that was sent to kill me, she thought. Her magic flared as it began to boil Kristopher’s skin from his bones, but still his grip remained on her. “Let me go, please,” she whispered. “Kristopher, I don’t want to kill you, but I will. I’ve already killed two other vampires today.”

“And I’m just another vampire to you?”

“I’m just another Karizma to you. We both have our jobs to do. Let’s see who is faster at killing the other,” Ryleigh said. She felt her magic’s tendrils roll down her skin and enter Kristopher’s hand. The tendrils planted seeds throughout his body, from his fingers down to his toes. The seeds were magical bombs, that could be activated the second that she willed. “If you make one wrong move, you will explode within seconds,” she whispered sadly. The tendrils remained beneath his skin, tethered to the seeds at the ready of her command for detonation. She would loathe herself for killing him, but she had no other choice. If it was him or Bailey, she would choose her sister. He was the vampire responsible for the extinction of her kind; when Bailey ascends to her power, he will track her down and kill her instantly. Despite his confession of being her bounty hunter, she could not bring herself to kill him unless necessary. She still cared for him regardless, but jeopardizing her sister’s life was not worth the cost of allowing him to walk.

She felt Kristopher tense as her magic pulsated beneath his skin. She rested one of her hands on his hand that was wrapped around her throat. “Don’t make me do this, please,” she begged.

“Am I just another vampire to you?” Kristopher growled suddenly.

“If you were, I wouldn’t be telling you not to kill me,” she replied softly. “I would just kill you without a second thought.”

“And yet you’ve planted bombs in my body.”

“I had to,” Ryleigh sighed. “I can’t die, not yet anyway. I have things that I need to take care of, and I will strike any vampire that gets in my way. But, please, don’t make that you. Let me go, live the rest of your immortal life. We don’t have to see each other again.”

“You’re not just another Karizma to me, you’re not just another target,” Kristopher spoke. “If you were, I would have killed you before you could blink.”

“So, parting is in the best interest for both of us,” Ryleigh said slowly. “We can both walk out of here, separately, alive.”

Kristopher growled lightly as he studied her. The last thing that Ryleigh wanted was to lose this man, this vampire who showed her how to open herself to being the witch that she was always meant to be, even when he did not realize the witch that he was allowing her to be. But it’s necessary, she thought. I can’t be around him, for the sake of himself and for Bailey. Bailey cannot be tied back to me whatsoever, and Kristopher would have failed his mission if it is discovered that he had me and did not kill me. His grip remained on her throat, but the tension behind his grasp began to seep out of him. Ryleigh slowly pulled the tendrils out of his body, retracting the seeds as it retreated.

Ryleigh inhaled sharply as Kristopher’s lips crashed against hers. She instantly wrapped her legs around his waist for support as his hands wrapped in her hair. He gripped her hair tightly and pressed her further into the wall. She winced slightly as she heard the wall crack beneath her. She gently placed a hand on his face and pushed him back. He growled lightly as his eyes narrowed at her. “What is this?” she whispered.

“Embracing the truth,” he whispered back. “You’re not just another Karizma to me. I won’t kill you, I can’t.”

“You can’t stay here,” she pleaded to him. “You’ll be hunted down for not killing your bounty, just to start. If they found out that you had a soft spot for me—”

“It’s not a soft spot,” Kristopher interrupted. “What you said yesterday, love…it’s the only thing that makes sense. I can’t kill you, Ryleigh, because I love you too much.”

“I can’t say the same, I would have killed you,” Ryleigh whispered bitterly. She averted her eyes as a tear slid down her cheek. She would not have hesitated if she needed to kill him, and she could not even tell him why. Bailey. Her safety and survival are all that matter, not my own. Kristopher’s hand slid from her hand to her face, and he gently turned her face to him. “There is more to that. Like you said, pet, I’m older than you; I know when people are holding back. What is it?”

“Some secrets, I will take with me to my grave, Kristopher. But what isn’t a secret is how I feel for you. You’re not just another vampire to me, either,” Ryleigh whispered.

“Say it,” Kristopher breathed as his lips grazed hers. “I need you to say it for me.”

“I love you too, Kristopher,” she whispered.

Kristopher snarled and kissed her deeply. Ryleigh gasped in surprise at the intensity of his kiss, of the desperation behind his kiss. She kissed him back eagerly, his face cupped in her hands. His hands quickly slipped to her ass to grip her tightly to his body, rather than against the wall. Love is the only thing that makes sense, she thought as she replayed his words through her mind. It is the only thing that makes sense. We were both ready to kill each other, we were both meant to kill each other. Ryleigh’s magic was still defensive, still unsure if he would hurt her after all, but her emotions were consuming her brain. He won’t hurt me, she thought. I knew that there was a reason that I trusted him, and my magic trusted him, too. She remembered her magic forbidding the separation of the couple when they were intimate, and she moaned again. Her magic accepted him on some level, despite its caution now.

Ryleigh reluctantly withdrew her lips from Kristopher’s breathlessly. Kristopher grunted in protest and began peppering kisses down her neck. “Drop your magic for me, pet,” he whispered.

“What?” she asked in disbelief. “Kristopher, I can’t. There’s a reason that you couldn’t smell me before.”

“You tried to kill me, and I bore my heart to you. Prove to me that you can trust me, that you know that I won’t hurt you,” he whispered as his lips trailed along her jaw. “And any vampire that may come through that door will feel the wrath of me, I promise you that. Be vulnerable to me.”

Ryleigh sighed and leaned her head back. He was right, after all; her magic was on high alert even after his confession, because a part of her magic could not trust him. But I know that I can, she thought.

“I will not let anything happen to you,” he whispered as his lips found hers again. “Please.”

“Kristopher, even if I do, we wouldn’t have much time before I became hunted. I would need to cloak myself in my magic again.”

“So, drop it right when you’re about to spasm around my cock,” he growled darkly. “I want to feel you without your magic between us, and I need to know that you trust me. I’m willing to kill whatever fucking vampire comes in here for you during that moment.”

“Feed on me when I drop it, too,” Ryleigh whispered after a moment. "Feed on me when I’m defenseless, I don’t want you doubting my trust in you.” Kristopher growled darkly and began to ravage her lips. Ryleigh’s heart rate spiked as she kissed him back deeply. She had never completely dropped her magic before; it had always been active and on alert for as long as she could remember. I’ll be practically human, she thought. Her magic will still be in the room with her, but it will be out of her body. She felt her body begin to shake with fear, and Kristopher tightened his grasp on her. “I will kill for you, Ryleigh Karizma. I swear on my life,” Kristopher said.