Moonlight and Diamonds & The Vampire's Fall (34 page)

“What about you? As part faery, don't you have them?”

“No, just the wings and a touch of ichor in my blood. Do they hurt? Or feel different?”

“They feel kind of good, actually. Makes my blood warm and my whole body sort of relaxes. But as well...” She turned and looked down the stairs. The club was miles away. Yet she could feel the beckon. “I wonder about that portal. It couldn't have been so bad. I was compelled toward it. I feel as if I should have at least peeked through it. Maybe someone inside needed me.”

“Needed you?” Blade tilted her chin up with an abrupt move. “That's demon magic luring you toward something you don't want to know about, Zen. Trust me. Nothing good comes from associating with demons.”

“Because of the last time they were in Tangle Lake?”

“What? What do you mean?”

“You said something in the truck about the last time demons were in town. When I asked you about it, you dismissed it.”

“There's nothing to say.” He stroked a thumb over her arm and the marks actually stopped glowing. “You see that? What's that about?”

“I'm not sure. My skin is cooling fast, too. Huh. Your touch stopped the good feeling. What's this?” She lifted the hem of her T-shirt. Black blood spattered the white fabric.

Blade tilted his head and his hair fell over one eye. And then Zen noticed the fang peeking between his lips. “What's wrong?”

He stepped back, putting up his hands.

“Your vampire,” she guessed, “likes demon blood?”

“I'm not talking about this anymore, Zen. You know where the bedroom is. You can use the shower. Pull a shirt out of my drawer to sleep in. I'm racked and need to get some sleep.”

“You shower first, then, before I take over the bedroom.”

“Fine.” He strode past her, whisking up a breeze in his haste that chilled her to the core.

Zen pulled the wet hem away from her skin. He had been eying the blood fiercely. He was closed about so much. It was as if the man wanted to hide things, or even forget things, about himself.

“About demons,” she whispered.

Whatever nightmare he fled, she had just led him back toward it.

* * *

While Zen was in the shower, Blade picked up the clothes from his bedroom floor and straightened up the room. In the kitchen he pulled out the full trash and he and Oogie went out into the night. He tossed the trash bag in the can outside the barn.

The night was dark for the clouds that shielded the moon. A scuffle in the grass that edged the Darkwood sent Oogie scrambling inside the barn. Smelled like a fox. Must have been chasing a mouse. That cat was skittish lately.

He turned to go back inside. But when his skin prickled from neck to wrist, he lifted his head and closed his eyes. Spreading his arms and opening his hands, he felt the presence on the air. Someone stood behind him. It was the absence of scent that informed him who that was. “Sim.”

“You in now, Saint-Pierre?”

The creature who had asked him to help slay the demons in Tangle Lake. He wasn't sure what Sim was, but that didn't matter. Blade didn't have to think more than a few seconds to give an answer. “Yeah. I'm in.”

“Excellent. I see you've already begun. Keep it up. I'll be watching.”

“I don't understand. I don't know how you expect that I can take out all—”

Blade turned but no one stood behind him. The crickets chirped. And the red fox ran across the grass with a mouse hanging from its maw.

* * *

Zen showered, and after she'd dried off, found a long soft T-shirt in one of the dresser drawers. Swimming in the shirt, she tugged at the hem and climbed into Blade's bed. The well-worn black sheets were cozy. They smelled like him, which was an indefinable woodsy scent with a hard edge of steel. She wanted nothing more than to lay her head on his pillow and inhale his essence. To dream about what the man might be like if only his rules didn't exist to push her away.

After lying there an hour, she realized she couldn't sleep alone in this dark room with the crickets chirping outside the window he'd left cracked open. She was still unnerved from the club disaster. A trip to the bathroom to splash water on her face, and she returned to pace before the bed. She thought of Blade lying out on the couch with the ugly naked cat sleeping on his chest.

If she sneaked out there and curled up in the chair, would the cat hiss and throw a fuss? She didn't want to be alone. She needed to feel another beating heart in the same room with her. To somehow anesthetize the still pulsing vibrations in her skin that induced images of the weird portal in her thoughts.

And to know Blade was close should a pair of wicked red eyes peek through the window in search of her.

Navigating the darkness proved easy for the lack of furniture in the loft. Zen sneaked through the living room, homing in on the soft snores that came from the couch. Moonlight spilled through the cathedral windows and glistened in Blade's blue hair. A dark blue that was black, but not. Like the folds in azure velvet, she decided. Rich and luxurious. She longed to run her fingers through it and just...fall into him.

The cat crept along the front of the couch like a demon's golem. But it didn't hiss at her. Instead, when she approached, it skedaddled toward the kitchen.

The man didn't have a blanket. The evening was warm. A big fan at the top of the high, curved ceiling rotated slowly. Torso bared, spare moonlight etched his muscles.

Daringly, she lay on the edge of the couch in front of him, using his arm as a pillow. He'd didn't stir, and so she thought she was safe from discovery.

And then he did. His arm moved over her torso and his hand clasped across her stomach, pulling her up against his chest.

Smiling, Zen closed her eyes and drifted to sleep.

Chapter 14

A
round two in the morning Blade stirred, his body tilting to turn over, but he sensed a warm presence lay close and under his arm. The wings between his shoulder blades tingled, seeking to unfurl, to feel her skin against the gossamer sheen of them. His entire body shivered, a sexual thrill that shimmied from ears to chest, to cock, to toes.

And then the vampire lifted its head. Her blood scent was exotic, yet dark and perhaps even dangerous. A marked change from when he'd originally scented her as merely human. To bite her would bring immense pleasure, perhaps even a moment of ecstasy. To taste an angel's blood...

Blade pushed down the desire. He wasn't stupid. No moment of pleasure was worth death.

Yawning, he curled his hand tighter, bringing Zen's back close against his bare chest. This felt right, and almost too good to be real. He didn't deserve to touch such innocence.

Yet was she innocent?

With that troubling thought stirring through his muggy brain, he drifted into reverie.

* * *

She slept like a log. Though Blade wasn't exactly sure how logs slept. It was a phrase his father had used often to describe his eldest brother Trouble's sleep habits when they had been kids.

Standing before the stove in comfy loose jeans that hung low on his hips, Blade stirred the scrambled eggs and turned the burner to simmer for the final finishing minutes. He wasn't much of an eater, but when he did consume food he stuck to plants and the occasional egg. Or, okay, burgers fed some weird craving for salt, or something like that.

Glancing to the couch he saw movement. Zen's arms stretched up and she twisted her spine to work out the kinks.

He'd been surprised to wake this morning and find her still snuggled up against him, and had to cautiously work himself out over the back of the couch without waking her. He'd quickly pulled on a shirt to hide his back, while she had continued to snore. So he had stared at her. The T-shirt she wore had ridden up high on her thighs but not high enough to satisfy his curiosity. And then he recalled the weird dream of wanting to have sex with her while his wings were out.

His vampire might be the more sexually voracious of his two halves, as well as wicked and demanding, but his faery was pure pleasure. When his wings were out while having sex every touch was magnified tenfold. And if Zen were faery? The sex could be incredible. Or so he guessed. He'd never been with a faery.

He'd only the pleasure of having sex with his wings out with a woman once. And that had been a brief yet deliriously blissful joining. And to think of her now brought no pleasure whatsoever.

Fuck, he hated demons.

“Hungry?” he asked over a shoulder, and to redirect his darkening thoughts.

Zen sat up, shrugging her fingers through her fluff of copper hair. “Very. That smells great.” She scampered across the room.

He dished up eggs and toast for her and then a small portion of fluffy eggs for himself and sat beside her at the kitchen counter. She tilted back a whole glass of orange juice before turning to him and smiling.

“I hope you don't mind me stealing the snuggle last night. Your room was so dark and lonely. Everything is black in there.”

“We vampires appreciate the darkness.”

“Yeah? But no coffin, eh?”

“A coffin? If you know so much about the world, how come you don't know that vamps and coffins are a fictional trope?”

“Really? Seems like it would be the perfect, snuggly, dark rest.”

He hadn't thought much about it. And okay, so he had heard about some vamps who did sleep in coffins. He didn't have claustrophobia, but wedging his wide shoulders into a narrow box and pulling the lid down? Nope.

“I've been sleeping in total darkness since I was a kid. I've known nothing else.”

“I wish I could know myself. And then.” She set down her fork and turned to really look at him. This morning her eyes were blue. “Maybe it's not so important I remember? Maybe I'm meant to move forward with the knowledge I have.”

“Sounds good. In theory. But there's that sticky situation with angels trying to kill you and demons trying to lure you into a vast glowing portal. What was with that?”

“I don't know. I do know I felt compelled to walk toward the glowy circle and the closer I got—let's just say, I'm glad you arrived when you did. You saved my ass once again.”

She kissed him then. A sweet kiss to the corner of his mouth that wasn't seductive or teasing, but instead, a simple thank-you. Yet Blade was compelled, as if to a glowing portal, to pull her closer and kiss her deeper. The tingle between his shoulder blades alerted him as it had last night, but he ignored it. And no way would he let his fangs down.

“Mmm, you're a great bit of muscle and blue to wake up to in the morning,” she said, and teased the ends of his hair that lay against his biceps. She turned and scooped in more eggs. “Did I dream that you pulled me closer last night?”

“Not sure. I think you were snoring so much there was no room for dreams,” he said.

“What? I do not snore.”

No, she didn't, but how else to dodge the “pulling her closer” question?

Ah, hell, what should he do about her? He wanted to deny the intimacy that seemed natural for the two of them to share, and at the same time he
had
just kissed her. And he'd liked it. And he wasn't going to regret it, either.

To kiss her or to push her away? Life would have been a whole lot easier had he never seen those demons in the house across from Mr. Larson's lot.

“What's your plan for today?” he asked. “Luring more demons to you?”

“If I knew how and why that happened, I'd avoid it, believe me. I shouldn't have gone into the club alone. That was stupid. I was just...”

Feeling rejected by him after their weird embrace and then his pushing her away to prevent his vampire from biting her. So sometimes he wanted to kiss her and other times he didn't.

Pull it together, man!

“I'm complicated,” he offered. “Sorry about last night. I should have been there to protect you, no matter what.”

“Don't be sorry. You couldn't have known I'd need protection. And you know, I think I like complicated.”

He smiled at that declaration. If the chick wanted complicated, he was the poster boy for that.

Zen crunched a piece of toast. “So let me get this straight, you can't bite me. That's cool. But when you're attracted to me it's your faery that reigns?”

“Not all the time. I can be normal. As normal as a guy like me is. I can kiss a woman, have sex with her, without wanting to bite her. It's when I'm in faery shape and am mating with a woman that my vampire wants to join in. Something about having my wings out heightens my vamp's craving for blood. That's never cool.”

“Yet you were in plain old human shape when making out with me last night.”

“I'm never plain or human.” He chuckled, thinking that had sounded narcissistic. “If you have to label me as something, I'm vampire. And the vamp likes to make out with a pretty woman as much as any other man would.”

“What about your faery?”

“Sex on steroids,” he muttered, then grinned. He wasn't bragging, that was just how it worked. “So I'm a case. I did tell you to stay away from me.”

“Everything I learn about you only makes me want to learn more. You're brave. Honorable. Handsome. Contradictory. We're alike in many ways. But while I strive to remember, I sense there is some part of you that wants to forget.”

“Forget what?”

“You tell me. It's to do with demons—I know that much.”

“Maybe you don't know that.”

“I'm pretty sure I do. But if you're not cool with talking about it then I'll have to be cool with ignoring you're trying to hide it.” She patted his arm. “So you wanted to know what I'm doing today? Nothing. At least not that I can think of.”

“I was planning on stopping by my father's place this afternoon,” Blade offered. “I want to show him the halo, see if he can modify it for me. He's a sword smith. Makes amazing swords and weapons.”

“Can I come along?”

He nodded. “I'd like that.”

* * *

Malakai Saint-Pierre wore his muscles like armor, and was gruffly handsome. Blade resembled him in pale skin tone, dark hair and height, but the father was a bit broader across the shoulders—if that was possible. Kai was a full werewolf, as Blade had explained to Zen on the drive over. Now she noticed him sniffing the air before her as Blade introduced them. Had to be a wolf thing.

He had a sure, almost painful grip, but when he saw her wince, he apologized and then slapped his son on the shoulder. “What do you have for me?”

“Something surprising.”

“Come out into the work shed, you two. Let's have a look.”

Zen clasped Blade's hand. She squeezed, more for her reassurance than his. Kai noted the clasp and grinned widely at his son.

“It's not fancy,” Kai said to her as they strolled along the back of the house and into the shed. The roughhewn log work shed was surprisingly bright thanks to exposure windows set into the vaulted ceiling. “But it's where I do all my work.”

Scents of charcoal and burned steel mixed with the earth floor and an acidic chemical scent Zen couldn't place. She wandered up to the log wall where half a dozen swords hung from leather straps. The polished steel blades gleamed. Some featured elaborately etched blades; others offered a sleek swash of deadly beauty. She almost touched, but decided she shouldn't without first asking.

“You made all these?” she asked. “You possess amazing skill.”

“My dad can make steel sing,” Blade said proudly. “So here's what I've got.”

Kai hissed at sight of the halo held in his son's hand. “Is that...?”

Blade nodded. “Slayed the bastard who owned it the other night. It was after Zen. Actually, she did the slaying.”

“But you distracted the angel,” Zen added with a wink to her man.

Kai delivered her a curious onceover. She shivered at the touch of his gaze. “Why are angels after you? My son told me you lost your memory. Are you an angel?”

“I don't know. I have a halo, too. Have had it with me since after the accident that boggled my memory. Does that make me an angel? Or maybe I found it somewhere and it's just a trinket?”

“Interesting. You talk to a witch?” Kai asked Blade.

“Dez hadn't any idea what she could be. Though she did think she was in the process of becoming.”

“What does that mean?” the werewolf asked.

“Haven't a clue.”

Both men glanced at Zen. She toyed with the rhinestones around her neck, suddenly aware of the overwhelming power a man's stare could deliver. Times two. It was...kind of nice. Made her stand a little straighter.

“Let's take a look.” Kai held out his hand and Blade gave him the halo.

The imposing werewolf inspected the circular weapon, tapped it against the wood-and-steel-block table where he must fashion his weapons and put it around his wrist as if a bangle, then popped it off with a flick of his hand and caught it expertly. “Mind if I pound on this a bit?”

“Go for it,” Blade said. “I was thinking you could modify it for me. Make it more blade like.”

“Halos are the toughest substance to show up in the mortal realm. I doubt any tools I have will even dent it. But I'll give it a go. Maybe a little of your mother's faery dust worked in might soften it up? This could be sweet!”

“Thanks, Dad. Mom isn't home?”

“Nope, but she made some killer red-velvet cake this morning. It's in the fridge. You two better go have some. Nice meeting you, Zen. And, Blade?”

“Yes?”

“Serve your woman some cake and then come back out, okay?”

The house was a gorgeous cabin-like structure. The open-floor design featured a vast living area and kitchen on the lower level. The second level consisted of an enclosed room with a king-size bed, and an open living area, one wall of which was entirely windows that stretched up to a peak at the pinnacle of the two-story ceiling. The view was lush and green, and a stream bubbled not far beyond the patio that hugged the house.

The cabin was a dream escape, Zen thought. Must have been an awesome place to grow up living in the middle of nature. Now, this was her kind of home.

Blade dished up some cake for her, but not himself—though he did lick the knife clean. “That will make you believe in heaven on earth. My mother makes the best sweet stuff. I almost miss moving away from home when I get a taste of her cookies and cakes.”

“Better than blood?” she asked.

“Sometimes.”

She sampled a forkful of the dense red cake capped with a cream-cheese frosting and decided not to talk because that would only hamper her from eating more, more and more.

“I'm heading out to see what Dad wants. Probably wants to give me his opinion on the new girl.”

“Am I your girl?” she muttered through a mouthful of cake. “We're not even friends.”

“That's right,” he said, and left out the side door.

“Mmm...” Heaven, indeed.

But what would be more heavenly? To actually be Blade's girl. And to convince the man that there were more interesting things to do than merely kissing her. She wouldn't ask for his bite again. But she really wanted to get back to where they had been the other night when they'd been making out on the couch, and he had licked her nipples. Just thinking about it made her toes curl.

Memory? Who cared about what she couldn't remember? She was making delicious new memories with a man who had begun to hold and kiss her in her dreams.

Now, how to convince him to take a chance on her in real life?

* * *

“She's trouble,” Kai said. He gave the halo a good whack with his ball peen hammer. Not even a dent. “Angel? That's not good for your vamp, son. Your faery might like to dally with her, but if you whip out the fangs...” His father shook his head.