Night's Surrender (5 page)

“I just got a message from an informant of mine,” Mara said, closing her phone. “Were any of you aware that a coalition of hunters has posted a reward for the capture and/or heads of the persons or vampires who killed Lou McDonald and her sister?”

Logan grunted. “No shit. I guess Edna and Pearl better lay low for a while.”

“I don't think they're in any danger,” Rane remarked. “We're the only ones who know they killed the McDonalds.”

“Unless they let something slip,” Mara pointed out. “Edna never could keep a secret.”

“What's the third thing?” Savanah asked.

“Pearl and Edna are missing.”

“And that's a bad thing?” Logan muttered.

Rane looked at Mara. “There's more, isn't there?”

“It seems those meddling old fools are very popular this week. The coalition wants them dead, but there's a rumor that an unknown hunter is offering a thousand credits for information on their whereabouts.”

“I'd be happy to turn them in.”

“Forget it, Blackwood,” Rane said brusquely. “Edna and Pearl are like family.”

Logan shook his head. “Not to me.” He held up his hands in a gesture of surrender when Rane glared at him. “Okay, okay. You win.”

“Enough, you two,” Mara said. “We need to find out if Pearl and Edna are in hiding, or if they've been captured, and if so, who has them.”

“If the coalition found them, they're no longer a problem,” Logan stated. “They're already dead.”

“And if the other hunter has them?” Savanah asked. “What then?”

“I don't know, but I'd love to know why a hunter would want to take a vampire alive.”

“I can think of several reasons,” Mara said. “Maybe he wants to change sides. . . .”

Logan snorted. “Yeah, right.”

“Maybe he's looking for the cure,” Rane suggested. It wasn't well known, but Edna and Pearl had concocted some mysterious brew rumored to restore a vampire's mortality.

“The cure?” Savanah murmured. “Why?”

Mara lifted one shoulder in an elegant shrug. “Who knows why mortals do what they do.”

Logan slapped his hands on his knees. “So, do we look for them, or let 'em sink or swim on their own?”

“We ask around,” Rane said, “and see what we can find out. Right, Mara?”

She nodded, none too enthusiastically.

Sighing, Savanah murmured, “It never rains but it pours.”

 

 

Near dawn, when Logan and the rest of the family were occupied elsewhere, Mara went in search of Nick. His scent—so familiar, so easy to follow—led her to a deserted shack at the edge of Rane's property.

She should have known he would be outside, waiting for her.

“You look the same,” he remarked. “Just as beautiful as I remember.”

She smiled, pleased by the admiration in his eyes. “What are you up to, Nicky? Why are you here?”

“I came to see Abbey.”

“Is that the only reason?”

“Do you think I've got some ulterior motive?” His eyes narrowed. “Revenge, perhaps?”

“Why are you really here, Nicky?”

“I told you. I came to see Abbey. I met her in New York a few days ago, and I wanted to see her again.”

“You had no idea she's my goddaughter?”

“How would I know that?”

“You tell me.”

“If I hadn't met Abbey, I'd think it was a nice twist of fate that I found you.”

“Oh?”

“I'd heard you regained your humanity. I was weary of my life, and I wanted to know how you did it. And if you couldn't tell me, I was going to ask you to destroy me.”

She hadn't expected that. The very thought of destroying him made her gasp with surprise. “That's why you're here? You want me to end your life?”

“Not anymore.”

Mara regarded him for several moments. “I see. Abbey's given you a reason to go on.”

He nodded. “How did you do it? How did you regain your humanity?”

“I don't know. It just . . . just happened, but the more I think about it, the more certain I am that it had to do with conceiving a werewolf's child. I gradually lost my powers and one day I woke up and I was human again.” She frowned thoughtfully. “You were hoping I could tell you how it happened so you could be mortal again, weren't you? Because of Abbey.”

“I want her and I intend to have her, one way or the other.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that.”

In the blink of an eye, Mara's hand curled around his throat. “I don't think so.”

He didn't flinch, merely stared at her. “She was meant to be mine, and I will have her.”

“What if she doesn't want you?”

“She wants me, all right. Besides, you owe me,” he said, his voice little more than a growl. “You owe me more than you can ever repay.”

“Shut up!”

“You seduced me. You turned me against my will. And then you abandoned me. Do you know how many lives I took? How many people I killed because I didn't know I could control the lust for blood?”

“I will not use my goddaughter to repay my so-called sins against you.”

“I'm not going to hurt her. I care for her.”

Her hand tightened around his throat, her gaze probing his, her fingers digging deeper into his flesh before she released him. “If you hurt her . . .”

“I know,” he said with a wry grin. “You'll rip out my heart.”

“And feed it to you,” she added sweetly.

“I've missed you, Mara. We had some good times.” His hand cupped her cheek, his thumb caressing her lower lip. “Even after everything that happened, I missed you.”

“I'm sorry, Nick. I was young. Angry. I never meant to hurt you.”

“We've both come a long way,” he said. “It's all in the past.”

Mara nodded. Rising on her tiptoes, she kissed him lightly. “Remember what I said.”

“I will.”

She was gone before the words left his mouth.

 

 

Logan was lying in bed, hands clasped behind his head, a sheet pooled around his hips, when Mara entered their room. “Is there anything I need to worry about?” he asked quietly.

“Of course not. I needed his forgiveness, that's all.” She frowned. “You don't believe me?”

“Should I?”

“You've never doubted me before.”

“Nick was never here before.”

Mara cupped Logan's face in her palms, then opened her mind and her heart to his gaze. “There's no one for me but you, Hektor,” she whispered. A pair of tears, tinged with blood, slid down her cheeks. “There never has been. There never will be.”

He smiled faintly at her use of his ancient name.

And then he took her in his arms and kissed away her tears.

In the morning, after putting on her work clothes, Abbey poured herself a cup of coffee. Carrying it into the living room, she stared out the window. How had things gotten so complicated? She wasn't even sure what was going on. She was the youngest member of the family, the only mortal, and yet she had always known that everyone loved her, that they would always be there for her, and yet last night made it crystal clear that she didn't really know anything about them.

She had lived with vampires her whole life and she knew most of the basics. They were practically immortal. They healed rapidly when they were wounded. They drank blood to survive. They could move faster than the human eye could follow. They could turn into mist, change shape, scale tall buildings with a single bound. Holy water burned them. The old ones could only be killed if you drove a wooden stake into their heart, took their head, or burned them to ash. Younger ones could be destroyed by dragging them into sunlight.

Abbey had never asked her parents any but the most fundamental questions, had never wanted to know the intimate details. Not knowing made it easier to pretend the Cordovas were just like everyone else. She had clung to the belief that ignorance was bliss, at least where vampires were concerned.

Until she discovered Nick was a vampire.

Now she wanted—needed—to know everything because, as impossible as it seemed, what she had told her father was true.

She was falling in love.

The thought made her smile. After rinsing out her cup, she put it in the dishwasher, then went out the back door. She strolled toward the barn, pausing now and again to appreciate the beauty around her—the vast blue sky, the wildflowers, the rolling hills. She laughed as a squirrel darted across her path and scampered out of sight. Overhead, birds chirped merrily in the trees.

Using both hands, she opened the barn door. It was time to earn her keep, she thought. Time to get to work. Although getting paid to do something you loved really didn't seem like work.

She mucked the stalls. She fed the stock. She filled the water barrels. She exercised the horses. And all the while, her thoughts were on Nick. Everyone seemed opposed to her relationship with him, but she didn't care.

She wanted him.

It wasn't quite noon when her stomach growled, reminding her she hadn't had any breakfast. After cooling out the horse she had been exercising, she made her way to the cottage.

In the kitchen, she washed her hands and packed a lunch. Hurrying back to the barn, she saddled Freckles, stowed her lunch in one of the saddlebags, and rode to a secluded glen where she could relax and sort out her thoughts. It was her second favorite place on the ranch.

Dismounting, Abbey tethered the mare to a low-hanging branch, then loosened the cinch. The Appy immediately lowered her head to nibble on the thick grass.

Giving the mare a pat on the neck, Abbey moved a few feet away. After finding a shady spot, she sat on the grass to eat her lunch, her mind filling with the events of the previous night.

A coalition of hunters was offering a reward for whoever had killed Lou McDonald and her sister. It didn't mean anything to Abbey; she had never met the McDonalds. She didn't know who had killed them or why. But the thought of hunters in the area gave her cause for concern. If there was one thing she did know, it was that hunters were often more ruthless than the vampires they hunted.

Edna and Pearl were missing. Again, Abbey had no idea how or if that should worry her, since she had never met either one of them.

And then there was Nick. Always Nick. Was he somehow involved in all this? Was that why the family was so upset? She frowned as she pulled two apples from her bag. She tossed one to Freckles, then bit into the other. What possible reason would Nick have to kill the McDonalds, or offer a reward for their killer? By the same token, what would he want with Edna and Pearl? Surely he had no designs on them. Abbey knew little about them other than that they had both been in their seventies when her Uncle Rafe had turned them. They had recently concocted a potion they hoped would cure Derek of being a werewolf, but Sheree had refused to let him take it.

Abbey shook her head. Her father had mentioned a cure for vampires. Was Nick looking for it?

Too many questions without answers. Taking a last bite of her apple, she tossed the core to Freckles, who quickly gobbled it up.

With a sigh, Abbey gained her feet. She stowed the trash in her saddlebag, then tightened the cinch and swung onto the Appy's back.

She turned the mare toward home, only to abruptly change her mind. It would be hours until her parents were up. Might as well do a little exploring. If she remembered correctly, there used to be an old line shack not far from here. Was it still there, or had her father finally torn it down?

 

 

Nick stirred as a wayward breeze penetrated the chinks in the shack's walls, carrying Abbey's scent with it. He started to rise, thought better of it, and rolled onto his side, his gaze on the door. Abbey's scent grew stronger as the sound of hoofbeats drew closer. Nick propped himself on one elbow, listening. A horse whinnied softly. Tentative footsteps approached the door.

She was here. Why?

The rusty hinges creaked as Abbey nudged the door open and peered inside. The room was in shadow, the ragged curtains drawn across the cracked window. She glanced around, then opened the door wider, allowing more light inside.

A faint movement caught her eye. Startled, she took a step backward, her eyes widening when she saw Nick watching her from the cot. She pressed one hand to her breast. “What are you doing here?” she exclaimed.

“I could ask you the same thing.” He sat up, the sheet pooling in his lap.

Abbey stared at him, her mouth going dry. He had the upper body of a Greek god. Toned and well muscled. With six-pack abs any bodybuilder would envy.

He lifted one brow in wry amusement. “Wanna see the rest?”

“Of . . .” She swallowed hard. “Of course not.”

He slid one long, muscular leg out from under the sheet. “Are you sure?”

Abbey bit down on her lower lip as a flush spread up her neck and into her cheeks. She clenched her hands at her sides to keep from ripping the sheet from the bed and satisfying her curiosity. She had to get out of here, she thought desperately.

Before she did something totally out of character. Before her father found her . . .

That thought sent her backing out of the shack. Taking a deep breath, she closed the door.

She was trying to convince herself to jump on her horse and get the heck out of there when Nick stepped outside clad in nothing but a pair of jeans that rode dangerously low on his hips.

Oh, Lord, he was just as sexy and desirable partially clothed as naked.

Caught in the web of his gaze, she stared up at him, helpless to resist as two short strides closed the distance between them.

Murmuring, “Mornin', darlin',” he wrapped her in his arms.

With a sigh, she rested her head against his chest, no longer caring if her father or anyone else saw them. She was in Nick's arms, and that was all that mattered.

He held her close, his hand lightly caressing her back, his breath warm against her skin.

“How did you know I was here?” he asked after a while.

“I didn't. I was just out riding and I stopped by to see if this old place was still standing. I used to play here when I was younger.”

He grunted softly. “Another hope crushed.”

She smiled up at him. “What are
you
doing here?”

“I needed a place to spend the day.” He stroked her cheek. “Someplace close to you. Come on,” he said, shielding his eyes against the sun, “let's go inside.”

Ignoring the little voice warning her that being alone with Nick in a room with a bed was a bad idea, she followed him into the shack, her teeth worrying her lower lip as he closed the door, shutting out the rest of the world.

He lifted one brow. “I can hear your heart beating a mile a minute. What are you afraid of?”

“I'm not afraid.”

“No?”

When she shook her head, he crossed the short distance between them.

“Maybe you should be.” His gaze moved to the pulse beating rapidly in the hollow of her throat.

Abbey swallowed hard. What was she doing here, alone with a vampire she scarcely knew? His gaze was compelling and she glanced away, only to come face to face with the bed he had so recently occupied.

Nick laughed softly as her cheeks turned pink. The scent of her desire, mingled with her uncertainty, teased his nostrils. She wanted him, but she was afraid—afraid of him. Afraid of her own desire.

“Ah, Abbey,” he murmured, “you tempt me almost beyond reason.”

“Do I?”

“You are so incredibly lovely. And you smell so damn sweet.” Lifting a lock of her hair, he let it sift through his fingers. “Your hair is like silk.” His knuckles brushed her cheek. “Your skin is soft and smooth.” His gaze moved over her, lingering on her breasts, her narrow waist, the flare of her hips. “Do you have any idea how much I want you?”

Incapable of speech when he was looking at her like that, as if he were a starving man and she his next meal, she could only stand there, mute. Waiting.

“Tell me what you want, Abbey.”

She curled her hands into fists to keep from reaching for him. “I want you, but . . .”

“Go on.”

“How do I know what I'm feeling for you is real? My Mom told me vampires have an innate allure that's hard for mortals to resist. How do I know you're not manipulating me in some way? Making me feel something that doesn't really exist?”

Nick blew out a breath. Damn, how was he supposed to answer that?

“Nick?”

“It's true,” he admitted. “I have the power to compel you to do whatever I want. I also have the power to attract you. It's part of being a predator. But I've never compelled you or used any preternatural power to attract you. Whatever you feel for me is real.”

“I want to believe that, but we hardly know each other. It doesn't seem possible that I could care for you so quickly.”

“Haven't you ever heard of love at first sight?”

“Of course.” Hadn't she admitted as much to her father? “But I don't want to end up like my mother.”

Taking her by the hand, Nick led her to the small wooden table in the corner. He held out a chair for her and when she was seated, he took the other one. “Tell me about her.”

“Her father was fascinated with magic when she was growing up, and with one magician in particular. That magician happened to be my dad. She saw him several times through the years as she was growing up. And even though he used a lot of different names, she always recognized him. Eventually, she became a reporter, and being the curious type, she was determined to find out why he never aged. She started waiting for him outside his dressing room. One night, she finally met him and the rest, as they say, is history. When I turned eighteen, my dad turned my mom.”

Abbey paused. “I always thought my mom liked being a vampire, but we had a talk the other day and it seems she's not as happy about it as I thought.”

“Being a vampire isn't for everyone,” Nick remarked. “I take it you've given it a lot of thought.”

“What do you think? I grew up surrounded by them. My mom was always warning me that I couldn't tell anyone the truth, plus she was very protective of me. I had to come straight home from school. I wasn't allowed to spend the night at my friends' houses. I know she worried about me, always afraid that I'd say something I shouldn't, or that some hunter would find out who I was and use me to get at my dad.”

Abbey sat back in the chair, hands tightly folded on the table. “Sometimes I think I should ask my dad to turn me, but then I think of all I'd be giving up, and . . .” She blew out a sigh. “Once it's done, it's done.”

“I don't imagine it's an easy decision for anyone who's given the choice.”

“What made you decide to become a vampire?”

“I didn't.” A muscle ticked in his jaw. “Someone decided for me.”

“Would you undo it, if you could?”

He nodded. “In a heartbeat.”

“I always wished I could have all the preternatural perks—without actually becoming a vampire. I mean, it would be great, being able to read minds, move faster than the eye can follow, turn into mist, never grow old.”

“Yeah, that is nice,” he agreed.

“What do you miss most about being human?”

“A lot of things. The change in seasons. Summer or winter, hot or cold, it's all the same to me. I miss sleeping and dreaming. I miss the innocence that mortals have, the sense of wonder that I no longer possess.” He paused. “I would have liked the chance to be a father.”

“It's not impossible. Look at Mara. She has a son. And my uncle Vince and his wife had twins.”

“I guess miracles happen now and then,” Nick mused. He was silent a moment, and then asked, “So, where does that leave us?”

Where, indeed? Did she really want to pursue a relationship with a vampire? Even one as gorgeous as Nick Desanto? What if they got married . . . Married! Where had
that
thought come from? She had just met the man. She hardly knew him, and since she didn't believe in casual sex, there didn't seem to be any point in seeing him again if it wasn't going to lead to something permanent . . . And if it did, was she prepared to make the hard decisions sure to follow?

If she was going to call it quits, now was the time, before she started to care more than she already did.