His Dark Embrace (11 page)
While taking Paddy’s potion, his preternatural powers had gradually diminished. His senses had still been sharper than those of an ordinary mortal, but far less keen than he was accustomed to. It had taken some getting used to but, in the long run, the weakening of his vampiric abilities had seemed a fair trade for the chance to walk in the sun again, to enjoy all the pleasures of mortality that had been stolen from him one rainy night.
Now, it was like being a fledgling again, learning how to tune out the constant barrage of voices and city chaos, to control the strength and power that had lain dormant, to subdue his hunger, to rein in the ever-present urge to kill.
He had hunted every evening, always fighting the innate instinct to take it all. He had hoped it would get easier to resist the blood-lust, and perhaps it would again, given enough time. But for now ...
He paused in the shadows as the scent of prey drifted on the wind.
Like a lion on the trail of fresh blood, he turned toward the scent, his fangs lengthening in response to the steady beat of a living heart, the irresistible smell of fresh, hot blood.
Chapter 8
Girard Desmarais paced the basement floor of the monastery, his long gray cloak billowing behind him like the shadow of death. He muttered under his breath, his frustration growing, as he read the blasted formula again and again. He had followed McNamara’s instructions to the letter. Every herb and spice had been picked at the peak of freshness and properly dried; each ingredient, both liquid and dry, had been painstakingly measured to make sure they were exact. And still the blasted concoction did not ferment as it should.
Even as he stood there, Girard could feel the aging process begin again, feel the vitality leaving his body, his eyesight growing dim, his muscles weakening, his thoughts harder to focus.
A row of wire cages, both large and small, ran on either side of a long wooden workbench. All the animals he had tested the potion on were either dead or dying. Those remaining stared at him through liquid, mournful eyes, as if they knew their own days were numbered.
Girard smacked his fist against the door frame. It was obvious that some vital active ingredient was missing from the formula, but what the hell was it? Now that McNamara had passed away, there was no way of knowing.
Muttering an oath, Girard swept his arm across the countertop, sending beakers and bottles flying in every direction.
“Damn you, Patrick McNamara! Could you not have survived until I got there?” He stared at the notebook pages scattered across the floor. What if the formula he had stolen wasn’t the correct one? What if this batch of the potion had failed, and the formula for the potion that worked was still in the old man’s lab?
Girard frowned as he considered his options, although there was really only one.
He would have to go back to McNamara’s and search the house again.
Chapter 9
Sky dumped a load of clean laundry on the sofa. Two weeks had passed since she had last seen Kaiden and she had finally come to terms with the fact that he had left town. Had he gone after the man who’d broken into Granda’s laboratory? Had he been called away on an emergency—a death in the family, perhaps, although he had never mentioned having brothers or sisters or any other relatives. He didn’t have a job, so a crisis at work was out of the question. If he had decided to take a vacation, he certainly could have found the time to tell her.
She paused in the act of folding a bath towel. Maybe he had just grown tired of her and didn’t want to hurt her feelings by saying so. She could understand that. After all, she wasn’t anybody special. Her looks were average. She hadn’t been blessed with a fantastic sense of humor. She couldn’t sing or play the piano.
Kaiden, on the other hand, was an amazingly handsome man who had been born with an astonishing amount of charisma, not to mention being blessed with a voice that could melt steel and a smile that should come with a warning label. Just being around him had made her feel good. And she missed him terribly.
Putting the towel aside, she sank down in the chair beside the fireplace, suddenly overcome with a keen sense of loss. Granda was gone. She’d had no word about Sam in months, making it harder and harder to cling to the hope that he was still alive. And now Kaiden was gone.
She glanced at the mantel, at the cute little stuffed blue dragon sitting there beside a photograph of her parents, and felt the sharp sting of tears behind her eyes. She wouldn’t cry. Crying never solved anything. It hadn’t brought her parents back. It hadn’t brought Granda back. Sam was still missing in action. And Kaiden ... Thinking of him only made her tears come harder and faster, until it was easier to just give in and have a good cry.
Sky woke curled up in the chair, her shoulders and back aching, her eyes feeling gritty and swollen.
She rose with a groan, surprised to see that it was almost dark outside. Unable to resist, she went to the front window and peered at the house across the street. Was that a light on downstairs? She rubbed her eyes and looked again. The light was still there.
He was back.
Ignoring the inner voice that warned her to stay home and let him come to her if he was of a mind to, she finger-combed her hair and hurried across the street.
The door opened before she had a chance to knock and Kaiden stood silhouetted in the doorway. She couldn’t see his face in the shadows, but he loomed before her, tall and broad. Had he been a stranger, she would have been intimidated by his size alone.
“Skylynn.” There was no emotion in his voice, no hint of welcome.
“I’ve been so worried. I didn’t know where you were ... I ... I ...” She bit down on her lower lip, the flood of words drying up. It was obvious that he wasn’t glad to see her. “I’m ... I’m sorry,” she stammered. “I was afraid ... that is ... I mean ...” She paused to take a breath. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have come.”
She was turning to go when his hand closed over her forearm. “Slow down, Sky, and tell me what’s wrong.”
“Nothing.” She was too embarrassed to meet his gaze. Why hadn’t she stayed home where she belonged?
He tugged lightly on her arm. “Come in.”
Still not meeting his eyes, she shook her head. “I don’t want to intrude.”
“Then why are you here?” he asked, a note of amusement in his voice.
She glared at him. “I was worried about you, you big jerk. Good-bye.”
“Get in here. You look like hell. Have you been sick?”
She tried to twist out of his grip, but it was like trying to break iron. Resigned, she let him pull her into the house.
He shut the door, then turned to face her, his arms folded across his chest. “Okay, Sky Blue, spit it out. What’s wrong?”
Her gaze slid away from his. “You left.”
Thorne frowned, waiting for her to go on, but she remained mute, her head bowed so he couldn’t see her expression. After a moment, he slipped inside her mind. And everything became perfectly clear.
Expelling a deep breath, he drew her gently into his arms. “I’m sorry, Skylynn,” he said quietly. “I shouldn’t have left without telling you.” Not that he had actually gone anywhere, but what else could he say?
Your grandfather’s potion wore off and, oh, yeah, I’m a full-fledged vampire again and it wasn’t safe for you to be around me.
Your grandfather’s potion wore off and, oh, yeah, I’m a full-fledged vampire again and it wasn’t safe for you to be around me.
She shuddered in his arms. A moment later, her tears dampened his shirtfront.
“Sky ...” Dammit, why did she smell so good? All he could think about was burying his fangs in the tender skin beneath her ear. He should have left town. That would have been the smart thing to do. So, why the hell hadn’t he taken off? Stupid question. The answer was currently sobbing in his arms as if her heart would break.
She sniffed, the sound muffled against his shoulder.
Cursing softly, he guided her to the sofa, sat down, and cradled her against his chest. She deserved a good cry. She had been through a lot in the last few years. A nasty divorce. Her brother missing in action. The loss of her grandfather.
Thorne cursed softly. And then he had come along. He had spent every day and night with her, and then he had left her just like everyone else.
He brushed a kiss across the top of her head. “I’m sorry, Sky. I won’t leave you like that again, I promise.”
“You don’t owe me anything,” she said, sniffling.
“We’re friends, and friends shouldn’t treat each other that way.”
Friends
, she thought dully.
Was that all they were?
It wasn’t enough, not for her. She wanted their relationship to be more. Much more. “Where were you?”
, she thought dully.
Was that all they were?
It wasn’t enough, not for her. She wanted their relationship to be more. Much more. “Where were you?”
“I had to go out of town,” he said, and hoped she would leave it at that. He should have known better.
“Oh?”
There were a wealth of unspoken questions in that single word. He decided to go with a version of the truth. “Paddy’s potion wore off. I told you it wasn’t a matter of life and death, but I needed to find something to replace it.”
“Another tonic?”
“You could call it that.”
She looked up at him, her gaze searching his face. “Did you find one? Are you all right now?”
“I’m doing better all the time.”
Her smile was brilliant, like the sun breaking through the clouds. “I’m glad, Kaiden.”
He murmured his thanks, wondering how he would explain his sudden aversion to sunlight and why he could no longer visit with her during the day.
“Well,” Sky said reluctantly, “I guess I should go ...”
It was for the best, Thorne mused, so why in hell was he tempted to ask her to stay?
He clenched his hands to keep from holding on to her as she slid off his lap and gained her feet.
“Well,” she murmured, straightening her sweater, “good night.”
She sounded as lonely and unhappy as he felt, and in spite of all his good intentions, he heard himself saying, “Don’t go.”
She looked up at him, her bright blue eyes alight with hope.
He lifted one shoulder and let it fall. “Stay and have a glass of wine. It’s going to rain.”
“It is?” She glanced at the window. “How do you know?”
“I can smell it. Will you stay?”
“All right.”
She wiped the last of her tears away with her fingertips, then sat on the sofa while he opened a bottle of burgundy and filled two delicate crystal glasses.
“What shall we drink to?” she asked as he handed her one of the goblets.
Thorne swirled the wine in his glass, absently observing the play of the firelight on the wine. The way the dark red liquid lingered on the inner wall reminded him of blood.
His gaze moved to Sky’s throat, to the pulse steadily beating there. The scent of her blood was far more intoxicating than any wine could ever be.
Her heart began to beat faster under his intense regard. With an effort, he drew his gaze from her throat. “To better days,” he murmured.
Sky nodded. “To better days,” she repeated.
Lifting his glass, Thorne sipped his wine, only it wasn’t the burgundy he tasted on his tongue, it was the warm, coppery flavor of Skylynn’s blood. He should leave town, he thought, now, tonight, before it was too late. Because if he stayed, he knew without a doubt that he would have to taste her again.
Sky was online late the next afternoon, looking for available jobs in Vista Verde, when the doorbell rang. Hoping it might be Kaiden, she ran a hand over her hair as she hurried to answer it.
But it wasn’t Kaiden. “Harry!”
“Hello, Skylynn.”
She stared at him, stunned. She had never known Harry Poteet to go anywhere, including visiting his parents, without first making an appointment.
Sky glanced past Harry to the house across the street. Was Kaiden home? Maybe looking out the window?
Harry cleared his throat. “May I come in?”
Sky gave herself a mental shake, wondering why she felt guilty for seeing another man. “Of course.”
She stepped back, her thoughts chaotic as Harry entered the house. What was he doing here? He looked fit and trim in a pair of brown slacks, a white button-down shirt, power tie, and brown loafers. His light brown hair had been cut recently, his cheeks were clean-shaven.
She led the way into the living room and gestured toward the sofa. “Please, sit down.” She took a seat on the chair across from him and folded her hands in her lap. “What brings you here?”
“You, of course. I know you’re upset about your grandfather’s death, but is that any reason to quit your job?”
“How’d you hear about that?”
“I saw Don Laskey at the club day before yesterday. He told me you had tendered your resignation.”
How could she have forgotten that her boss and Harry occasionally played golf together?
“I can’t believe you’ve decided to stay here,” he said, glancing around.
Sky followed his gaze, seeing the room the way he would. The furniture was well-worn and outdated, the carpet near the front window had faded. But a home wasn’t made up of material things, it was built on memories. And all of her best memories were tied to this house. “I like it here.”
He made a dismissive gesture with his hand. “How can you give up Chicago for this nothing town?”
“This is my home, Harry. I’ll thank you to remember that.”
“Skylynn, I thought we had a future together. We’ve always gotten along. We like the same things, the same people. I want you to come home with me.”
She stared at him, at his perfectly creased trousers, his carefully styled hair, and wondered why she had ever thought herself in love with him. “I’m sorry, Harry, I can’t.”
He sat up a little straighter. “Is there someone else?”
“Would that make it easier?”
His eyes narrowed. “Who is it?”
“There’s no one else. Coming back here made me realize I’ve never been happy in Chicago, never really happy with my job.”
The words
never really happy with you,
lingered unspoken in the air between them.
never really happy with you,
lingered unspoken in the air between them.
“I guess I wasted my time coming here.”
“I’m sorry, Harry.”
With a nod, he rose smoothly to his feet. “I won’t bother you again, Skylynn. I hope you don’t regret your decision.”
“I won’t.” Rising, she accompanied him to the front door. “Good-bye, Harry.”
With a curt “Good-bye, Skylynn,” he swept past her.
She watched him climb into the baby blue Cadillac convertible that was parked at the curb. Leave it to Harry to rent a high-end automobile.
She stared down the street long after he had driven away. Someone had gone out of her life again, but this time the decision had been hers, and she had no regrets.
Other books
Everything I Have Always Forgotten by Hughes, Owain
The Fool by Morgan Gallagher
The Substitute by Lindsay Delagair
Grundish & Askew by Carbuncle, Lance
Dark Water (Cooper M. Reid Book 1) by Barry Napier
Born in Twilight by Maggie Shayne
The Billionaire's Wife by Ava Claire
Elevated (Book 1): Elevated by Kaplan, Daniel Solomon
White by Aria Cole