Point of No Return (31 page)

“The curtains are a lot heavier than the
valances. The rods might give way. You’d better stay out of the
kitchen by day,” I warned, taking them down.

Danial nodded. “We’ll eat separately anyway
for this meal.”

What?
“How? Are you getting teleported
home to meet a donor?” I hoped one wasn’t coming here, or he wasn’t
going to disappear for a few hours later tonight. If he spent most
nights seducing other women to feed from, this wasn’t going to be
so romantic.

“I arranged for some long distance feeding,”
Danial said, giving me an offhand smile.

I nodded, knowing what he was referring to.
There was a spell known to vampires that could be used to send a
woman dreams that were shared, in some sense like the dream I’d
shared with Theo, but with one big difference. Through her dreaming
of him, Danial could feed off her life force. A small taste would
be enough to sustain him for the week we would be here. “That’s a
relief.”

“Go eat,” Danial said, kissing me. “I’ll do
the same. We’ll meet up a little later.”

“How does this work?” I asked, curious.

“The woman who’s going to dream of me works
the night shift. She’ll be asleep by now, at least, she told me she
would be. And she wants to dream of me, so I’m sure she’s waiting
for me by now.”

“Do you have to concentrate or drink
something?” I asked, as he was going up the stairs.

“No, I can feel her, if she’s sleeping, and
wearing what I asked her to wear,” Danial said from upstairs. “I
only have to sleep and I’ll enter her dreams. I can leave anytime,
which will break the connection and wake her. But I need you not to
come upstairs until you hear me get out of bed again.”

“I take it she likes to sleep with you in the
dream,” I said, stating it as calmly as I could.

“Yes,” Danial said from upstairs. “And I’ll
most likely make noise, in my sleep. It is not something I thought
you should witness.”

Uncomfortable, I nodded. “Sure. Just come
down when you’re done.”

Danial went upstairs. Uneasy, I opened both
baskets, and gorged on fruit, cinnamon toast, and cocoa. The food
was excellent, but even a second helping of everything didn’t quell
my upset. I finished that off and had some chocolate, but Danial
still had not come down.

I tried to rationalize what he was doing. The
woman was giving him her life force. It had only been an hour. He
should be making it worth her while. I had two other partners, and
he was faithful just to me. This was fair, and it made sense.

I was still jealous, anyway
. Ugh.

Angry with myself, I decided to look around
while I waited. Locating a stereo, I found a soft rock station. I
was just singing along to an old Aerosmith song when I realized I
had never called Theo like I’d promised.

I got my cell phone from my purse—which
luckily I’d left downstairs over a chair last night. Theo picked up
on the first ring.

“Sar, I’m glad you called. I was getting
worried.”

“We just got up a little while ago. We didn’t
get here until after midnight, and then it took us a while to
unpack, and make sure the house was as safe as we could make it
against sunlight.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Theo said, more
mellow now. “I just wanted to tell you things are fine. Elle says
to have a good time. She wanted to know why she didn’t get to go
with you.” He paused, then his words came out in a rush. “Danial
hadn’t told her you were probably pregnant, Sar. I let it
slip—”

Good job, Theo
. “It’s okay,” I said,
trying to keep irritation out of my response. “She was going to
have to know anyway if I was. If I’m not, I will be soon
enough.”

“What do you mean?” he demanded, jealous.

Irritation rose up in me. “I have to keep
trying with Dev. We have to document it, so—”

“Sar, you’re sounding like Devlin!” Theo
exclaimed. “I thought you didn’t want his child—”

“I don’t have a choice!” I replied, agitated
now. “I’d rather have his child than some other vampire’s. You
remember what Samuel said at the gathering.”

Theo went quiet.

“We’ve been over this,” I added harshly.
“This is how it’s going to be. We don’t need to rehash it every
other day, Theo.”

Theo sighed in defeat. “I hope it is his,
then. The sooner you have a child for him, the sooner he can stop
trying with you to make one, and get out of our lives.”

Theo was hoping that Devlin would forget me
once he had what he wanted from me. But I’d heard Dev say too many
times over the past weeks that he intended to be with me for a long
time. There wasn’t going to be any reprieve. And I wasn’t sure I
wanted one, anyway.

Theo took my silence for anger. “Sar, I just
meant I—”

“We’ll find out on Friday, Theo. We’ll find
out then and go from there.”

“Be safe, and don’t go out without Danial,
unless you’re armed.”

“Will do,” I said quickly. “Watch your back.
I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Theo said warmly.
“Goodbye.”

I hung up, grumpy. Danial had still not come
down.

Devlin hadn’t asked me to call, but I had
time.
Why not?
I dialed his cell phone.

He picked up on the third ring. “Sar?” he
said, curious. “Is everything all right there?”

“Yes,” I said, smiling at his innocent tone.
“I just wanted to check in.”

“Danial must be feeding,” Devlin said
knowingly, after a moment. “Or you wouldn’t be calling me.”

“Yes,” I admitted. “But I wanted to ask you
something anyway—”

“Are you still coming to me Wednesday?” he
asked quickly. “Serena is looking forward to it.”

He was worried I’d called to tell him I
wasn’t coming. The pressure I was feeling mounted. “I’ll be there
about eight. I would like you to send Lash here to guard Danial
while I’m with you on Wednesday. Is that possible?”

Devlin paused. I knew he was thinking that I
just wanted Lash to be absent from Hayden when I was there. He was
right.

“Dev, this is a normal wooden house. The lock
isn’t great. We sun-proofed the house, but Danial will be here by
himself. I’m worried about leaving him alone here during the day
with no guards. He could be burned.”

“I’ll send Titus,” Devlin said, after a
moment. “He can get Danial out of there no matter what. Lash has no
teleportation powers, which is what is most needed.”

I thought about protesting, but I knew it
wouldn’t do any good. “Thanks.”

“Wait, didn’t he get the stone house?” Devlin
said slowly. “Why are you in a wooden house?”

“Because of me,” I said dejectedly. “Because
we had to move the trip up by two weeks—”

“Stop,” Devlin said sternly. “Danial jumped
at the chance to be with you. Just enjoy yourselves, all
right?”

I didn’t reply, upset.

“I’ll send a man to watch the house during
the day, okay? Don’t worry.”

“Thank you,” I said softly.

“Take care, Sweet Sar,” Devlin said
seductively. “Don’t wear yourself out. Remember, that’s my job. In
fact, do you want me to teleport up for a quick—”

I told him good-bye and hung up, still
hearing him laughing.

Danial came down the stairs. He was radiant,
his skin shining, his eyes gleaming darkly. “How was breakfast?” he
said, hugging me close. “Was the food good?”

“Wonderful,” I said honestly. “Yours?”

“Just what I needed,” he said, smiling just a
little. “Ready to shower?”

“Over ready,” I said, as I let him lead me
into the bathroom.

We managed to get clean, though we were
spoiled from using Danial’s shower. I froze while waiting for him
out of the spray. By the time we were done, I was chilled, despite
the warm temperature of the bathroom.

Danial helped me dry off , then took me
upstairs. He laid me on the bed, and rubbed me down with body
lotion, kneading my muscles as he caressed my skin. I luxuriated in
his deft touch. By the time he was done, I was more than warm; I
was relaxed, sated, and logy with happiness.

Danial wrapped me up in my black velvet robe,
then cleared his throat. “I have to talk about this,” he said
gently. “Please don’t get upset.”

I tensed up again instantly, waiting
grimly.

“What you have may cause you pain when I
enter you. If it does, just tell me to stop, and I will.”

“Okay,” I said tonelessly.

“Sar, by Thursday you’ll probably be cured,”
Danial reassured. “We’ll have that night, even if we can’t make
love until then.”

That didn’t make it any better
.
“Okay.”

“Just lie here with me,” he said, lying down.
“Know I love you, and that I’m here for you. Come here.”

I snuggled against him. After a while, I fell
back asleep.

I awoke again about three p.m., ravenous. As
I disentangled myself from Danial, he woke up.

“I have to get up and eat,” I explained. “I’m
starving.”

“Don’t eat too much,” he said, slipping his
hands over my hips. “I want us to go out for dinner in a few
hours.”

“Should I make reservations?”

“Already done,” Danial answered. “We have
some for around seven for each night we’re here.”

“You always think of everything,” I said
gleefully.

“I try,” he said immodestly.

I cracked up laughing. “Do you want to come
downstairs with me?”

He shook his head. “I need to check in with
Theo, then check voice mail.”

Rolling my eyes, I headed downstairs. In the
space of a few minutes, I devoured fruit, soup, toast, and an
entire small box of chocolate. There were only six pieces in it,
but by the time I’d eaten it, I was shocked at my binging. I had to
be pregnant. There was no other excuse for how hungry I was.

I settled down on the couch for just a moment
to rest. Danial woke me up when he came down two hours later. “Sar,
are you okay?” he asked, concerned.

“I’ve got to be pregnant,” I said sleepily.
“I’m eating everything in sight.”

“Eat as much as you want,” Danial said
lovingly. “I’ll order in more food, if you go through what we have
here.”

“Thanks,” I said ruefully. “But I think we
should have enough. It’s Monday night, and we’ll only be here
until—”

Danial looked very guilty.

“What is it?” I said, folding my arms across
my chest.

“I need to have a conference call on
Wednesday,” Danial said delicately. “Just a short one in the
morning.”

As much as Danial’s devotion to his business
sometimes aggravated me, this time it just made things easier.
“That’s okay. I need to go and see Devlin that day, anyway.”

“What?” Danial said crossly. “Why? He said
nothing—”

“I said I would help him with paperwork for a
few hours. And I want to bake some bread with Serena. Devlin asked
me to try to be a friend to her.”

“Be careful, Sar,” Danial cautioned. “She’s
part coyote.”

“I never would have figured you for a
racist,” I said casually. “She also has fox blood.”

Danial blanched at the “r” word, then he
nodded once. “Point taken,” he said, letting out a breath. “Just
don’t advertise the fact to Cia, okay?”

I nodded. Cia was one of Danial’s werefoxes
who also happened to be a good friend of mine. Her parents had been
killed by a bounty hunter for their pelts. They had been given up
to the bounty hunter by a werecoyote. It seemed wrong to blame a
whole breed for one individual’s mistake, but if it’d been my
parents that had been killed, I might feel differently. At the
least, I couldn’t tell her it was wrong for her to be distrustful.
It was better not to advertise the fact Serena and I were
friends.

“Will you be back by dusk that day,” Danial
asked, “so we can have dinner?”

“Yes, of course. Titus is coming here to
guard you while I’m gone.”

“You arranged this with Devlin?”

“We were both worried about you being here
alone.”

“You’re right. I have to remember I’m not at
home. Terian is not here or Theo.” Danial’s smile became a grin.
“Let’s go out. I could use a walk.”

We dressed quickly in polar fleece and wool,
and put on heavy coats. Outside it was snowing, the kind of wet
snow that sticks to everything and makes it white. We were covered
in it by the time we had gone a few hundred feet. Everything was
beautiful though. The trees were huge and majestic. The night was
cloudy, with just a few distant stars sparkling in the sky.

“See Orion?” Danial said, pointing up.

I looked for Orion’s belt. Sure enough, there
were the three stars in a row. I nodded.

“There is Lyra.”

I saw the swayed rectangle and its one leg,
straight overhead. “Yes.”

“Cassiopeia,” Danial said, pointing
again.

I found the “W” over to the side. “There’s
the Big Dipper,” I said with a gesture.

“Ursa Major.” Danial nodded, then pointed out
several more constellations. We walked along the road, looking at
the bright stars, pointing out more gatherings of stars to each
other. Elle loved astronomy, and had often gone stargazing at night
with Danial, who in turn had fostered that love in her and in me.
Many evenings, Danial and I had lain in his bed and looked up at
the night sky painted in glow-in-the-dark-paint on his ceiling. He
had whispered the different constellations to me, as they glowed
above us. But it was magical to be here with him under the dark
sky, experiencing them in a new place alone together.

We walked for a long time along the road,
finally ending at one of the scenic spots along the gorge. Tired, I
sat down on one of the stone tables that dotted the landscape. “Who
made all these?” I said, running my gloved hand over the smooth
surface.

“The C.C.C.,” Danial said with authority.
“Civilian Conservation Corps. During the Great Depression, this was
one of Roosevelt’s projects. He employed a lot of people with the
C.C.C., especially here, laying stonework for bridges and walls,
and building all these tables and shelters.”