His Dark Embrace (28 page)
Chapter 39
Shortly after sundown the next night, Thorne drove Sam and Skylynn out to the cemetery. He waited in the car for several minutes, giving the brother and sister time to be alone with their grief.
In spite of being Undead, graveyards weren’t one of Thorne’s favorite places. They were grim reminders of how brief mortal life was, how short his time with Skylynn would be. In a few years, she would begin to age. Her youth would fade, her energy and exuberance would diminish, weakened by the passage of years. Not that he would love her less. He would deem it a privilege to care for her for as long as she lived. His only concern—selfish though it might be—was how, having known her, having loved her, he could go on without her. In four centuries, he had never found another woman he needed so badly, or loved so desperately. With each passing day, the thought of facing a future without her grew more and more intolerable.
His only hope was that, as time passed and mortality stared her in the face, she would agree to accept the Dark Gift. He was hoping that the fact that her brother was now a vampire would tip the scales in his favor.
From time to time, when he thought of existing without her, a little voice in the back of his mind whispered that, as a last resort, he could turn her against her will and hope that, in a century or two, she would find it in her heart to forgive him.
Even as the thought crossed his mind, he knew he would never force his way of life on Skylynn. If she became a vampire, it would be of her own choosing.
With a shake of his head, he got out of the car and joined Sky and her brother at the grave site. Skylynn’s cheeks were damp with tears. Sam stood beside her, his arm around her shoulders, doing his best not to cry.
“He was a good man,” Thorne said quietly. “A good friend to me. One of the few mortals who knew what I was and didn’t try to drive a stake in my heart.”
“I still miss him,” Sky said, sniffling. “He was always there when I needed him, always there to comfort me when I woke up crying in the middle of the night, or when I had a fight with one of my friends.”
Sam nodded his agreement.
The boy was afraid to speak, Thorne thought, afraid that putting his feelings into words would unleash the pain within him and leave him crying like a baby.
Shoving his hands into his pockets, Thorne stared at the headstones. He couldn’t remember the last time he had shed a tear.
Skylynn dropped to her knees. Leaning forward, she stroked her hand over the grass that covered her grandfather’s grave. “I hope you’re with the rest of the family now.” She glanced to the left, where her grandmother was buried. “You can take care of each other again.”
After clearing his throat, Sam said, “I need to go, Sky.”
She glanced up at him. “So soon?”
Sam shifted from one foot to the other. “You can stay if you want. I need to go.”
“I’ll stay with her,” Thorne said. “You be careful. Desmarais is still out there somewhere.”
“Yeah, like I’d forget that.”
“You and Sky will be staying at my place during the day until he’s no longer a threat.”
Sam looked belligerent for a moment, and then, with a nod, he disappeared from the cemetery.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that,” Sky said, rising. “The way you can come and go so quickly.”
“It’s been my experience that you can get used to almost anything,” Thorne remarked as they picked their way between the headstones on their way back to the car.
“I suppose,” she replied dubiously. “He seems so different. He seems ... happy to be what he is.”
“And that’s a bad thing?” Thorne asked, opening the passenger door.
“No, it’s just hard for me to understand. I mean, I was afraid he’d hate me for it. Now, it’s almost like he wishes he’d done it sooner.”
Thorne closed her door and went around to the driver’s side. Sliding behind the wheel, he turned to face her, his arm draped over the back of her seat. “Being a vampire is what you make of it. You can brood over what you’ve lost, or you can appreciate what you’ve gained. It’s all a matter of attitude. Sam decided to look on the bright side.”
“Is that what you did?”
“Eventually. I guess you could say Sam’s become a well-adjusted vampire in a remarkably short time.”
“Well-adjusted,” Sky muttered. “Right.”
“Is it Sam’s easy acceptance of what he is that’s bothering you?” Thorne asked quietly. “Or are you having second thoughts about you and me?”
“Could you blame me if I was?”
“Not at all. I’d be surprised if you weren’t.”
“Were you kidding when you told Sam that that girl, Lisa, is a werewolf?”
“No. She turns fanged and furry when the moon is full.”
Feeling chilled, Sky wrapped her arms around her middle. “Can we go home now?” She was in love with a vampire. Sam was enamored of a werewolf. Absorbing that knowledge while parked in a cemetery was suddenly more than she could handle.
With a nod, Thorne started the car and drove toward the exit. He couldn’t blame Sky for being spooked. It was never easy for mortals to find out that the monsters were real.
“So, werewolves exist,” Sky mused. “Should I be on the lookout for flying monkeys, and giant ants and aliens from outer space?”
Thorne laughed, recalling that she had asked about the possibility of other paranormal creatures when he had told her about saving Desmarais from the succubus.
“I’m pretty sure you’re safe from flying monkeys and giant ants,” he drawled. “The jury’s still out on little green men from outer space.”
“What did you mean when you told Sam he wouldn’t like the taste of her blood?”
“Werewolf blood burns like acid when we swallow it.”
“Really? Why?”
“I don’t know, but it does.”
“Are you speaking from experience?”
He braked at a stoplight. “Yeah. It’s a mistake I never made again.” He stepped on the gas when the light turned green.
“Do the werewolves—are there more than one?”
“A few more.”
“Do they have to ask your permission to stay here, too?”
“Yep. Vampires are at the top of the food chain, so to speak, followed by demons and werewolves, then fairies and goblins and ogres, then ...”
“Fairies? Goblins? Ogres? I don’t believe you.”
He grinned at her. “Okay, I made up the goblins and the ogres.”
“And the fairies?”
“No, they exist, or so I’m told. I’ve never met one.”
Sky looked out the window, her mind filling with images of cartoon fairies—the three who looked after Sleeping Beauty, cute little Tinker Bell flitting around Neverland, and the lovely Blue Fairy who turned Pinocchio into a real boy. Did actual fairies look anything like their cartoon counterparts? That they could even be real was inconceivable but she couldn’t deny she had a burning desire to see one.
Minutes later, Thorne pulled up in front of her house and cut the engine. “Get whatever you need and then we’ll go to my place.”
“What? Oh, right. I forgot we’re staying with you.”
Thorne followed her into the house and up the stairs, stood in the bedroom doorway while she threw a nightgown and a change of clothes into a small bag, along with her hairbrush, toothbrush, and makeup. Going downstairs, she tossed in a magazine and a paperback book.
“I guess I’m ready,” she said.
“Are you sure you’ve got everything? I don’t want you coming back here alone tomorrow.”
She glanced around the room, her expression thoughtful, and then she went into the kitchen. She found a cardboard box and began filling it with foodstuffs. “I’ll need to go to the store tomorrow night. I’m almost out of milk.”
“Will you need anything else before then?”
“No, I don’t think so.” She added a box of hot chocolate and a bag of mini marshmallows. “I’ve got all the necessities.”
Thorne stared at the box of hot chocolate. He could just barely remember what it had tasted like—warm and rich and smooth. But it wasn’t cocoa he was thirsty for at the moment. He lifted his gaze to the woman who was rummaging through one of the cupboards. Her blood was also warm and rich and smooth.
She turned to face him, a loaf of bread in her hand. Whatever she had been about to say was forgotten when she saw the look in his eyes.
“Sorry,” he said with a shrug. “You have your favorite drink, and I have mine.”
“You haven’t fed yet, have you?”
“No. I’ll wait until Sam gets back.”
Sky dropped the bread into the box. “You don’t have to go out, Kaiden,” she said, and taking him by the hand, she led him into the living room. Sitting on the sofa, she pulled him down beside her, then tilted her head to the side.
“Sky, you don’t have to ...”
She pressed her fingertips to his lips, stilling his words. “Shh, I want to.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I am. It feels wonderful, you know.”
“So they say.” He stroked her nape. “It’s been a long time since Cassandra fed on me.”
“Don’t vampires drink from each other?”
“Rarely.” Leaning forward, he rained kisses along the length of her neck, ran his tongue over the pulse throbbing in the hollow of her throat before claiming her lips with his.
Her nearness flooded his senses—the floral shampoo she used to wash her hair, the musky scent of her desire, the taste of her toothpaste, the satiny smoothness of her skin beneath his hand, the warmth of her breasts pressed against his chest. And over all, the beating of her heart. His arms tightened around her as his hunger roared to life. His whole being ached for her, ached to possess her completely, to drink her life and her memories, to gorge himself on the crimson elixir that flowed through her veins, to drink and drink until he had taken it all.
With a hoarse cry, he lowered his head to her neck, his need at war with his self-control.
His need won. His fangs pierced the tender skin below her ear and he lost himself in the taste of her life’s blood as it flowed ever so sweetly over his tongue. But only for a moment. His concern for Sky was strong, stronger, even, than his thirst. Taking a firm hold on his self-control, he lifted his head and let her go.
She blinked up at him, a faint smile on her lips, her gaze slightly unfocused. “It feels so good. Why did you stop?”
“Because you don’t want to be what I am.” Standing, he put some distance between them.
Skylynn stared at him, no longer smiling. Had he been that close to taking too much? Could it happen that quickly? What if there came a time when he couldn’t stop?
Needing to put more distance between them, Thorne went to the far side of the room and turned his back toward her while his fangs retracted.
“Kaiden?”
“What?”
“Are you all right?”
He snorted softly. “That’s a good question, only I’m the one who should be asking it. Are you all right?”
“Yes.” She lifted a hand to her neck. The skin beneath her ear felt warm. She could feel the marks his bite had left, but they never lasted very long. By tomorrow morning, they would be completely gone. Odd, that. In the movies, the bites didn’t go away. Curious, she asked him about it.
“It’s just a movie myth,” he replied flatly. “Some vampires feed repeatedly on the same donors. Think how those people would look after a month or so if the bites didn’t disappear.”
Remembering what she had read on the Internet, she asked, “What about garlic?”
“What about it?”
“Does it repel you?”
He turned to face her, his expression impassive. “It stinks but it won’t protect you.”
“I’m not looking for protection, Kaiden. I’m just curious. I still have a lot to learn about what’s true and what’s Hollywood hype.”
“Fair enough.”
“What about crosses?”
He shrugged. “I like the old-fashioned ones.”
“What about holy water? And silver?”
“They burn.”
She nodded, her brow furrowing as she tried to recall the other things she had read. “Running water. One of the Web sites said you couldn’t cross it.”
“That’s another fable. I don’t have to sleep in a coffin, although it doesn’t bother me to do so. I don’t need to rest on my native soil. If someone throws a sack of wheat at me, I don’t have to stop and count every kernel. Anything else?”
She looked up at him, her eyes wide. “If you had taken too much tonight ... if I was dying ... would you have ... saved me?”
“Would you want me to?”
“I don’t know.” Life or Undeath? How could anyone be expected to make that choice? And yet, she had made it for Sam. And she would have done it again.
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