Tempted in the Night (22 page)

"You seem to know a lot about this. There must be a lot of changelings over in
England
."

She shook her head. "No, in fact, to my knowledge, there aren't any."

"None?"

"No. Most of what I know is from what Charles told my father about Mac and Dirk."

One thing didn't make sense still. "Isn't it a bit odd for half-vampires to hunt full vampires?"

She gave him a sharp look. "It makes perfect sense. Vampires aren't human; they're evil. They kill indiscriminately and without conscience. A changeling retains his human morality while sharing the vampire's physical agilities."

"You say vampires are evil, but Harris saved my life, didn't he?"

"Yes—but who knows why. As far as I'm concerned, he's a vampire—and therefore, he's evil."

"And I'm half-vampire. Am I half-evil?"

There was the briefest hesitation, as both of them no doubt remembered the incident on the floor. "No," she said. "That's different."

"Is it?"

"Yes. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to my room. You seem to be doing much better so I believe I'll try to get some sleep after all." She walked out and he let her go. He was tired of arguing.

Over the next two days, they fell into a routine. Jess would wake up each morning just as the sun was coming up. John would come in from standing guard outside the house all night. They would share a meal and exchange very polite, yet limited, conversation. Neither John nor Jess tried to discuss again what had happened on the floor, yet it hung between them like a live electrical wire, sending out sparks of electricity whenever they were together—which wasn't often.

While John slept during the day, Jess would go out and explore the surrounding area for the
chupacabra
colony. She wanted to ask John where it was, but then he'd want to know why she was interested. She could just imagine what he'd say if he found out she wanted to capture one of the younger creatures.

On the third day, John's diet changed to a preference for extremely rare beef. Jess, anticipating the change, had stocked up on steaks during her last trip into town. She was finding John's metamorphosis fascinating—or at least, that's what she told herself when she found herself staying up later in the evenings and sleeping until noon the next day, just to be with him.

On the fifth day, Jess's scouting of the surrounding area paid off and she found the cemetery where John had been attacked. The aboveground tombs made the gargoyle statues less noticeable, but she knew the minute she saw them that they were day-phase
chupacabras
. The sheer number of statues left her in awe.

She walked through the front entrance, feeling like she was entering another world. There were enough large oak trees growing that their limbs, heavily draped with Spanish moss, seemed to reach for one another, forming a canopy that allowed only patches of sunlight through to the ground below. At this time of year, when the nights were much cooler than the days, a layer of fog would cover the ground in the early predawn hours. Not one to be easily spooked, she knew that under the full moon this was not someplace she wanted to be alone.

She wondered if the
chupacabras
sensed the coming of dawn and purposely took up poses around the tombs, in a sense camouflaging
themselves
, or if they were caught unawares, one moment crossing the cemetery intent on reaching the other side, the next frozen in stone
midstep
, their journey delayed until dusk.

These thoughts
fueled
her curiosity and excitement. She wanted to know more about them.

With the sun shining brightly and still hours to go until dusk, there was no chance of them coming to life and attacking her as they had John. Feeling safe, she hurried forward, going from one statue to the next, noticing the various heights and shapes of each creature. She would take exhaustive notes later, but for now it was enough to just look and admire.

The first thing she noticed was that not all of the
chupacabras
looked alike. There were several consistent shapes, however. There were the ones like
Lanie's
Gem, with rounded heads,
alienlike
eyes, and fins running from the top of the head down the center of the back. Then there were others with a more feline-shaped head and muzzle, absent the fins, but with horns on either side of the head or on the tips of their wings.

The wings themselves were something she hadn't expected. Within each physical style of
chupacabra
, there were winged adults that were larger and heavier than their wingless counterparts. She suspected that these were the males of the species.

She walked up to one of the winged statues in the cemetery. Its dark
granitelike
surface was cool and slightly rough to the touch. She wondered what his hide would feel like in his "living" phase.

The eyes and fangs were a lighter shade of granite and Jess stepped close, peering into the creature's eyes, wondering if he was aware of her at that very moment. She was so intent on looking that when a shadow passed across the eye, she jumped back. Had the creature blinked?

A gentle breeze lifted her hair and she heard the quiet rustle of tree limbs above. She took a deep breath to quiet her racing heart and decided that she was imagining things. The creature hadn't moved. It was made of stone. What she'd seen had been nothing more than a shadow cast by the tree limbs moving above her.

Feeling calmer, she left the cemetery and returned to the manor, where she collected her camera and a notebook. She briefly considered leaving John a message, telling him where she was, but decided against it. She did not want his interference.

The first thing she did on her return was to study each statue up close and sketch it. There were actually a few statues that she believed to be real masonry, including the large black one. It was behind this one that she finally decided to hide when dusk approached.

The statue was located off to one side of the cemetery, where the iron fence surrounding the graveyard had collapsed. Standing between the statue and the fence, she would be well hidden, as well as have an escape route. If at any time she became nervous about being there with the creatures, she had only to slip over the fence and disappear into the wooded lot next door.

Jess took a few minutes to gather fallen tree limbs that still had enough leaves in order to provide cover.

Getting comfortable in the small space she'd chosen was nearly impossible, but she did the best she could. Kneeling in place, she set her camera down while she arranged the tree limbs so she could see out well enough to take pictures. Then it was just a matter of waiting for the sun to go down.

That seemed to take forever. Jessica started snapping pictures randomly, not wanting to miss a single moment. Then, because she didn't know how quickly the transformation would take, she selected one small creature to focus her attention on and watched him exclusively.

It happened in an instant: one second, she was staring at a statue and the next, a living creature. She was awestruck at the sight and almost forgot to take pictures.

Fascinated, she watched as the small winged
chupacabra
moved about. When her small subject started to meander out of camera range, Jess pushed herself forward, bracing herself against the leg of the statue to keep from falling forward. She was about to take her next picture when the leg moved!

Frightened, Jess fell back and looked up. Standing above her, skin black as night, was the largest, most terrifying creature she'd ever seen. It stared down at her with eyes that glowed with
a crimson
light. In a sudden move, his wings snapped open and he flapped them, pounding her with gusts of wind and dirt.

Her camera fell from fingers gone slack and she stared stupidly upward, her mind frozen with terror. Her gaze inevitably sought the two huge fangs protruding from his mouth and she remembered what those fangs had done to John.

She didn't want the same thing to happen to her.

She flinched when the
chupacabra
opened its mouth, emitting an ear-rending sound that vibrated through her, pulling a similar, primal scream from her own throat. Then its head dipped toward her and she knew the time for praying was over.

Jess braced for the attack, feeling the
chupacabra's
warm breath as he lowered his head.

"Jessica!"

John's voice filtered past the shrill static of fear that dominated her senses. A small spark of hope shot through her as she heard his footsteps running toward her.

"Jess, honey, it'll be okay. Nice and easy, walk toward me."

Was he crazy? The
chupacabra
was ready to strike. Any second now…

Another second passed and then another. Almost afraid to move, she dared to look up. The creature was watching her, but no longer seemed intent on ripping out her throat.

"Move slowly," John urged.

Encouraged, she took a step toward his voice. Her attention was so focused on the creature that when a hand grabbed her arm, she nearly jumped out of her skin.

Then John was there, pulling her a safe distance away and running his hands over her as if he were looking for injuries. "Are you all right? You're not hurt anywhere, are you?"

"No, no. I'm fine." Her voice was shaky, and his obvious concern for her was unexpected and touching.

"What the hell were you doing?" he growled, bringing the warm moment to a screeching halt.

She pulled herself from his hands, needing the space. "I was doing research, if you must know."

"You almost got yourself killed."

He was right, so rather than argue with him, she remained silent.

"I would think you, of all people, would be more cautious around
chupacabras
at night," he continued.

That rankled a bit. "What do you
mean,
me of all people?"

"I mean someone who hates vampires as much as you do," he said in a quieter, more reasonable tone of voice. "Are you trying to become one?"

"Well, he didn't attack," she pointed out lamely. "So, I'm fine."

He growled. "He didn't attack because I stopped him."

"You?" she scoffed.
"How?"