Seduced by the Night (28 page)

Bethany woke late the next day still feeling tired and emotionally drained. She and Dirk were no longer fighting, but their relationship was still at an awkward phase.

After the kiss, he'd let her get back to work. It had been hard to focus with him so close, but she had run a battery of experiments and finally concluded that the latest batch of synthetic plant extract was as close to the real thing as anyone was likely to get—but it wasn't close enough. In her professional opinion, if the pharmaceutical company wanted to use the plant extract in a new drug, they were going to have to get it from the plants themselves.

By the time Dirk had driven them home, the sun was already coming up over the horizon and as soon as they'd arrived at the mansion, they'd gone straight to bed—Dirk to his and she to hers.

Tired and depressed, she slept fitfully throughout the day. Every time she woke up, she merely rolled over and forced herself to go back to sleep. There wasn't much point in getting up, as far as she was concerned. She didn't have to go into the lab, and having tentatively made up with Dirk, she'd put her plans to leave town on hold.

Thinking of Dirk made her groan and she pulled the covers higher. The truth was that she didn't know where she stood with him, which meant their next encounter was bound to be uncomfortable. In anticipation of it, she rolled over and closed her eyes, determined to stay in bed as long as possible.

Finally, by late afternoon, she was starving and tired of hiding. She took a leisurely shower, dressed casually in jeans and a sweater, and went downstairs.

She hoped she might be able to enjoy a cup of coffee by herself, but those hopes vanished when she walked into the kitchen and found Dirk sitting at the table, a cup of coffee in front of him and a dour expression on his face.

"You're up early," she said, surprised to see him before nightfall. "Didn't you sleep well?"

"Well enough," he answered vaguely.

Bethany couldn't judge his mood and it worried her. Trying to act as if nothing was wrong, she poured herself a cup of coffee and joined him at the table.

"You had a phone call earlier," he informed her.

"Really? Who?"

"Miles." He made it sound like an accusation.

She couldn't help it if Miles called her and she refused to let Dirk make her feel guilty. "What did he want?"

"He didn't say, but I'm guessing it had something to do with this." He pushed the folded newspaper across the  table to her. It was opened to the society section and when she looked, she saw her own face staring back at her.

"Oh, no." She set down her cup and picked up the paper, needing to take a closer look.

"It's a good photo of you both, don't you think?" His tone was snide and Bethany wanted to scream.

Instead, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I don't know how many times I have to tell you that I broke up with him, but this is the last time I'm going to do it. So listen up. I. Broke. Up. With. Him." She tossed the paper back at him. "Despite all evidence to the contrary."

"Yeah? Maybe he didn't get the message."

She stared at Dirk in disbelief. "You're being absurd." She pushed away from the table, going for the phone. She punched in
Miles's
phone number and waited. After a few rings, he answered.

"Hello?"

"Miles, it's Bethany."

"Oh, I'm so glad you called. Listen, I wanted to warn you that our engagement announcement is in today's paper."

She heaved a sigh. "I saw it."

"I'm sorry, Bethany," he said, sounding sincere. "I tried to cancel it, but it was too late. I can ask them to print a retraction. I'm sure they won't mind. That kind of scandal is sure to boost their sales."

He was right. As a member of the prominent Van Home family, the papers would have a heyday with this latest twist over his engagement. The media wouldn't be satisfied until they discovered why Bethany and Miles had called off their plans. In pursuit of an explanation, there was a good chance that Dirk and the rest of the admiral's security team would be dragged into it. She didn't think they'd appreciate the exposure.

"No, don't do anything. The less publicity, the better."

"Really, Bethany. It's no problem."

Bethany glanced at Dirk's sour expression. "Just leave it."

"Okay, if you're sure. Listen, I'm glad you called," he continued. "I wanted to go over your lab notes."

"All right. I'll come in so we can go over them."

"That won't be necessary. I have your notebook here in front of me."

Bethany frowned. "You have
my
notebook?" She'd been tired and distracted last night, but was almost positive that she'd locked the notebook in her desk before leaving. She never left it lying about in the open.

"Yes, it was on the counter when I went into your lab hoping to find you." Now he sounded a little confused. "Is there a problem?"

She guessed she'd been more tired than she remembered. "No, no problem. Okay, if you'll turn to the last couple of pages, you'll see…"

For the next ten minutes, while Dirk sat at the table and drank his coffee, she rattled off her findings and answered his questions. She could tell that Miles didn't like her conclusion.

"Are you positive?" he asked when she was finished.

"I'm sorry, Miles. I know you were counting on selling the formula for a good price."

She heard his sigh. "I have to go. I'll talk to you later."

She hung up the phone and turned to find Dirk watching her. His expression hadn't changed much and she was getting tired of his constant distrust. "He tried to cancel."  she told him, glancing again at the article, "but it was too late."

"Bullshit."

She jerked her head up in surprise. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me." He shoved a slip of paper across the table toward her. She made no move to take it, but saw it had a phone number scrawled across it. "That's the phone number to the paper. When you decide you're ready to face the truth about Miles, call the paper and ask when their deadline for
canceling
an announcement is and if anyone called to cancel that particular one."

With that parting statement, he stood and walked out of the room, leaving her alone at the table, silently fuming. She counted to ten, then got up from the table, fixed herself a snack, and poured another cup of coffee. As she passed the kitchen table, her gaze fell on the slip of paper. With a disgusted sigh, she snatched it up and went back to her room.

That night, Julia, who had now learned all about the vampires, stayed for dinner. With a few hours to kill before they drove into town to patrol the streets, Mac and Dirk joined the others in the great room.

As they took their seats, Gem appeared. She'd just finished consuming a meal of pig's blood, which
Lanie
purchased from the local butcher shop. Now, she walked to Julia, sitting beside the admiral on the couch.

"I just can't believe that vampires and creatures such as this exist," she said, stroking Gem's head. "Where did she come from?"

"Gem was found in the Amazon jungle," the admiral replied. "At least, that's where we found her and the
adult,but
if you mean where the species originates, I don't really know."

"There are various theories on the
chupacabras
' true origin,"
Lanie
piped up. "One is that they are aliens stranded on Earth from some earlier visit. Along those same lines is a related theory that the
chupacabra
is the result of a NASA alien/animal experiment gone awry—although I think we can now discount that one since the admiral's family has been hunting vampires long before NASA existed. Of a less scientific nature is the theory that
chupacabras
are
transdimensional
spirits or dark angels, children of Lucifer, which manifest into physical form while in our dimension, turning to stone during the day to avoid detection."

Julia looked as confused as Bethany felt. "Which one is correct?"

"Maybe none of them,"
Lanie
said. She pinned the admiral with a look. "You knew
chupacabras
existed before you sent my father to study them last year, didn't you?"

"I knew there were creatures that had the ability to convert humans into vampires, but I didn't know, specifically, that it was the
chupacabra
, although your father and I discussed the possibility at great length over the years. It's one of the reasons I asked him to be the one to study them. However, I never expected we'd lose him like that." His expression grew sad. "Sending him was a mistake that I'll regret the rest of my life."

"No, you mustn't,"
Lanie
hurried to reassure him. "You gave him the opportunity of a lifetime. It's what he always wanted and I know that even with the way things turned out, he doesn't regret it. You mustn't either."

He nodded, but the troubled look remained on his face.

"Your family has known about vampires for generations," Mac said to the admiral. "They had to have learned something in all that time about vampires and where they come from. I mean, the person who forged the Death Rider sword wasn't an average blacksmith. How did your family get involved?"

The admiral smiled. "No,
Ewan
Winslow was no ordinary blacksmith and I don't know what went into making that blade—how much magic and how much science. That line of the family is charged with making the blade and they've passed down their secrets from father to son, just as my side has handed down the charge of finding the changelings.

"Much of the legend has been lost over time," he went on, "but the story goes like this. Centuries ago, four brothers were out doing some night hunting when they came across a creature in the woods. Not recognizing the beast, the eldest brother, Angus, advised his brothers that they should leave the creature alone and return home.
Ewan
and Sean, the middle twins, agreed, but the youngest and most foolhardy, Erik, thought it would be great sport to hunt the creature and he took up his sword and tried to slay it. The creature attacked and killed Erik before his brothers could react. By the time they'd drawn their weapons, the creature had run off.

"The three brothers bore Erik's body home and for two days the townspeople paid homage to it. On the second night, the eve of his burial, Erik came back to life as a vampire. He was crazed and hungry, yearning for blood. He'd killed several people before he realized what he was doing and then was horrified both at what he'd become and what he'd done.

"The townspeople wanted him slain, but Angus,
Ewan
, and Sean, who loved their youngest brother, couldn't do it. Instead, they took him home and allowed him to live in the basement of their castle where they fed him the blood of animals and kept him safe. Sean, who dabbled in the black arts, began looking for a spell that would reverse what had happened to his brother. He needed the blood of the creature, so Angus and
Ewan
armed themselves with weapons and went to find it.

"Many nights they went out and returned empty-handed. Then, one foggy night, they found it. Together, the brothers attacked. They fought fiercely, but the creature was stronger. In the ensuing battle,
Ewan
was knocked unconscious. Left alone, Angus continued the battle, but in the end, fell to the creature. He was near death when the sun rose and the creature turned to stone.

"
Ewan
awoke and took Angus home where the brothers prepared for another death in the family. It never came. Instead of dying, Angus healed almost overnight from his wounds."

"He became a changeling,"
Lanie
whispered.

The admiral smiled. "The first changeling, though at the time, the brothers didn't see much difference between Angus and Erik. They had the same eyes and teeth, superior strength, speed, and hearing—they thought they were the same, except for two differences. Angus had no interest in blood and he could go out during the day.

"By this time, Erik's victims had begun to rise, but instead of learning to control their bloodlust, as Erik seemed able to do, they killed indiscriminately. There were soon as many vampires as there were humans and at night it  was difficult to tell the difference between them until it was too late.

"The brothers decided it was their responsibility to rid the town of the vampires, but they knew they needed to be smart about how they did it. Angus, now as strong as Erik and the other vampires, was the logical choice to hunt them, but he needed a special blade—one that would strike true each time.
Ewan
undertook the task of forging it. Meanwhile, Sean used Erik's blood to make an amulet that would glow in the presence of a vampire so that Angus would not be fooled into thinking a vampire was human. There were so many vampires, however, that not even Angus could hunt them all. So a second sword was forged and Erik joined the fight."

"Did they ever find the
chupacabra
?" Julia asked.

"They found what they believed to be a
chupacabra
lair in the woods near the border of Scotland, but they never found the creature," the admiral said. "Over the years, however, there have been sightings and even a couple of run-ins with the creatures."