“It will not change anything.”
“I think it will.”
She lifted her upper body slightly, and regarded his face.
“It would mean so much to me.”
He cupped her head to pull her down to him again, buried his face in
her hair and inhaled its scent.
“If it is so important to you, I will do it. When you return to St
Claire at dawn, tell him I’ll come just after nightfall.”
She found his hands with hers, and laced her fingers through his.
“Thank you, Eric. It will make a difference.
You’ll see.
” She lifted her head and pressed her lips to his.
“But I’ll call him. I don’t want to leave at dawn.”
She felt his body stiffen and knew he’d argue the point.
“Eric, they’ll only keep Curtis overnight. What if he comes back here
while you rest?”
“No doubt you’d like to meet him at the door with claws extended, my
tigress. But I’ll not have you in harm’s way to protect me. What kind
of man do you take me for?”
“You’d be defenseless if he found you during the day.”
“Tamara, the workmen will be here at first light, and the repairs
completed by noon.
They will be under instructions to notify police of any intruders, and
to arm the new security system before they leave.
No one will disturb my rest.
” “I’ll leave when they do, then.”
His eyes flashed impatience.
“You will leave at dawn.”
She shook her head from side to side.
“I won’t go.”
“I won’t have a woman taking my place in battle.”
The harshness in his voice brought burning tears springing to her
eyes.
“I’m not just a woman. I am the woman who loves you, Eric. I’d sooner
peel every inch of flesh from Curt with my nails and teeth than to let
him near you during the day.”
A sob rose in her throat, but she fought it down.
“You don’t know how I felt when I realized he was in here today.. that
he might have already murdered you. My God, if I lost you now, I
couldn’t go on.”
The hands that came back to her shoulders and nape were gentle, not
angry.
“And you do not know, my love, how I felt when I woke to find you had
been beaten while I lay only a short distance away, helpless to defend
you.
How could I bear it if I woke to find you murdered in my own home?
” “But that would never happen. Curt couldn’t really hurt me. He only
acted so crazy because he cares so much.”
Eric’s long fingers caught her chin and turned her slightly, so his
eyes could scan the bruise.
“And I suppose this is a token of his undying esteem.”
“He was in a rage. He regretted it as soon as he realized what he’d
done.”
“No doubt he’d regret killing you the instant the deed was done, as
well.”
“But he wouldn’t” — “My love, you trust too freely, and too deeply.
As much as I hate being forced to do so, I can see I must give you an
ultimatum.
You will leave here at dawn, or I will not meet with St Claire.
And before you agree, with the intent of stealing back here as I rest,
you should be aware that I will sense your presence.
I know when you are near, my love.
” His voice softened, and he touched the skin of her cheek with his
fingertips.
She blinked away the stupid urge to cry.
One tear spilled over despite her efforts, and he leaned up to catch it
with his lips.
“Do you truly wish to spend what remains of this night bickering?
” She shook her head, unable to sustain her anger.
He only wanted to protect her, just as she wanted to protect him.
She understood his motivations all too well.
She lowered her head until her pliant lips had settled over his coaxing
ones, and she tasted the salt of her own tear.
Eric stood in the doorway long after she’d driven out of sight,
heedless of the growing light in the eastern sky.
“Stand gaping like that another five minutes and you will be there
permanently, my love struck friend.”
Roland came around Eric, shoved the heavy door closed and eyed the
broken lock.
“I suppose your men will arrive within the hour to repair that?”
Eric nodded mutely.
“For God’s sake, man, snap out of it!”
Eric started, glanced at Roland and grinned foolishly.
“Isn’t she something?”
Roland rolled his eyes ceiling ward, and shoved a glass into Eric’s
hand.
“You’re whiter than alabaster. You haven’t been feeding properly. The
few sips you allow yourself are no doubt sweet, Eric, but not enough to
sustain you.”
Eric scowled at Roland’s rather crude observation, but realized he was
right.
He felt weak and lightheaded.
He drained the glass, and moved to the bar to refill it.
“Tell me,” Roland said slowly.
“Has anything been decided?”
“Such as?”
Eric sipped and waited.
“You know precisely what I refer to, Eric. The decision to be made.
Has our lady voiced an opinion?” ” You cannot think I’m considering
passing my curse on to her.
” Roland sighed hard.
“When did you begin seeing immortality as a curse?”
“That is what it is.”
Eric slammed the glass down on the polished hardwood surface.
“It’s been unending hell for me.”
“And what kind of hell has it been these past days, Eric?”
Eric didn’t answer that, knowing Roland had a valid point.
“I thought to save your life two centuries ago in Paris, not curse
it.
Eric, I live in solitude because it is the only way for me. I had my
chance at happiness centuries ago, and lost it. I don’t expect
another. But you… you are throwing yours away.”
Eric bowed his head and pressed his fingertips to his eyes.
“I don’t know if I could do it to her.”
He heard Roland’s sigh and raised his head.
“I have made one decision, though. I’ve agreed to meet with St.
Claire.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“Quite serious. It means a great deal to Tamara that St Claire be
reassured of her safety.
She seems to think I can accomplish that by talking with the man.
I have my doubts, of course, but”— ” The only thing to be accomplished
by such a meeting is your destruction.
Think about it, Eric.
Wittingly or not, Tamara has lured you into the spider’s web, just as
St Claire planned from the start.
Once in, there will be no escape.
” Eric stood silent, contemplating Roland’s words.
The idea that the whole meeting scheme might be a trap had niggled at
him since Tamara had first broached the subject.
Of course, he knew she was no part of it.
And if it was a trap, what better way to show Tamara the true nature
of those she trusted?
Providing, of course, he was able to escape.
/>
Reading his thoughts, Roland bristled.
“And suppose you prove this valuable point to the girl, and lose you
own life in the process?”
“I won’t. I can’t, for Tamara’s sake. Without me she’d be as she was
before. At their mercy.”
Roland grimaced.
“At the moment, my friend, I fear it is you who are at hers.”
Eric smiled.
“I can think of no place I’d rather be.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN As the sky glowed with the rising sun, Tamara peered
into Daniel’s bedroom.
He lay atop the covers, fully dressed, snoring loudly.
A half-empty bottle was on its side, on the floor near the bed.
The cover wasn’t screwed on tightly.
Moisture dotted the neck and a few drops of whiskey dampened the worn
carpet.
A glass lay toppled in an amber puddle on the bedside stand.
She frowned as she moved silently into the room, picked up the bottle
and the glass, and retreated again.
What was driving him to drink himself in oblivion every night?
In all the years she’d known him she’d never seen Daniel drink more
than a glass or two at a time.
She’d never seen him drunk.
She returned with a handful of tissues and mopped up the spills, then
dropped a comforter over Daniel and tiptoed away.
Something seemed to be eating at Daniel-something more than just the
knowledge that she was spending her nights with his lifelong enemy.
She forced the troubling thought out of her mind, determined to
concentrate only on the good things to come.
Tonight Daniel and Eric would meet.
She had no doubt they’d become friends, in time.
And Curtis would see reason.
He may have lost his head for a time, but he was intelligent.
He’d recognize the truth when it was staring him in the face.
The future loomed up before her for a moment as she soaked in a steamy,
scented bath.
Like a giant black hole, with a question mark at its center, it hovered
in her mind.
She ignored it.
She had all she could deal with at the moment, just trying to keep the
present running on an even keel.
She’d worry about her future later, when things settled down.
Her plan was to bathe, put on fresh clothes and drive back to Eric’s to
see if the workers had arrived as he’d promised.
With the brilliant sun, glinting blindingly off the snow outside, came
physical and emotional exhaustion.
She fell asleep in the bath, quite against her will, and for once she
didn’t sleep soundly.
Her dreams were troubled and her sleep fitful.
She saw herself old, with white hair and a face deeply lined.
Then the dream shifted and she saw a cold stone marker with her name
engraved on its face.
She saw Eric, bent double with grief, standing beside it, surrounded by
bitter cold on a bleak wintry night.
She woke with a start, and realized the now-cold water around her body
might have aided in the seeming vividness of the dream.
Still, she couldn’t shake the lingering images.
“It doesn’t have to be that way,” she said aloud, and firmly.
And she knew she was right.
Eric had explained to her what it meant to be what he called Chosen.
She could be transformed.
She could be with him forever.
The thought rocked through her, leaving her shaken like a leaf in a
storm.
She could become what he was.
She pressed a palm to her forehead, and shook herself.
Later.
She’d consider all of this later.
It was more than she could process right now.
She toweled herself vigorously, to rub the cold water’s chill from her
goose-bumped flesh, and dressed quickly.
A glance at the clock near her bed chased every other thought from her
mind.
Noon!
By now Curt could have.
She took the stairs two at a time, shocked into immobility when she
reached the bottom and saw Curt, comfortable in an over staffed chair,
sipping coffee.
Daniel, now awake and sitting with Curt, rose, and she felt his
bloodshot gaze move over her still-damp hair and hastily donned
clothing.
His gaze stopped at her bruised face, and he spun around to glare at
Curtis.
“You did that to her?”
He looked at the floor.
“You don’t know how bad I feel, Tam my. I’m sorry—more sorry for
hurting you than I’ve ever been for anything in my life. I was out of
my head yesterday. I— Can you ever forgive me?”
She stepped down from the lowest stair and moved cautiously toward him,
scanning his face.
She saw nothing but sincere remorse there.
He met her gaze and his own seemed to beg for understanding.
“I’m still afraid for you,” he told her.
“I’m afraid for all of us, but” — “I know you’re afraid, Curtis, but
there’s no reason to be. If Eric had meant to hurt you, he’d have done
it by now. Don’t you see that? In all the months you two have
harassed him, he’s never lifted a hand against either of you.”
Daniel cleared his throat and came closer to the two of them, forming a
circle that seemed intimate.
She noticed he’d shaven and taken pains to dress well, in a spotless
white shirt and knife-edged trousers, brown leather belt and polished
shoes, a dark blue tie held down with a gold clip.
Did he want to keep his excessive drinking a secret, then?
How could he think she’d not know?
“I have to admit,” he began, “it’s damn tough for me to consider that I
might have been wrong all this time, after the lengths I’ve gone to.”
She saw him swallow convulsively and blink fast before he went on.
“As scientists, Curtis, we have to consider every possibility. Because
of that, and because I love Tamara, I’m going to give the man the
benefit of the doubt.”
“I can’t believe you’re going to meet with him, Daniel,” Curtis
blurted, shaking his head.
“But I suppose if you’ve made up your mind ” “Has he agreed. Tam?”
Daniel interjected.
She nodded, glancing apprehensively toward Curtis.
“Tonight? Here, and not long after dark? He agreed to all of it? I’m
not about to meet him anywhere else, even with all your assurances.”
“I didn’t have to tell him your preference to meet here.”
She spoke defensively, before she could stop herself.
“He suggested that himself.”
Daniel nodded, while Curtis let his head fall backward, and stared at
the ceiling.
Blowing a sigh, he brought his gaze level again.
“Okay, if this is unavoidable, then I want to be here.”
“No!”
Tamara barked the word so loudly both men jumped.
She forced her voice lower.
“After yesterday, Curt, I don’t want you anywhere near him.”
Curt blinked at her, his eyes going round with apparent pain.
“You don’t trust me?”
He searched her face for a long moment, then sighed again.
<
br /> “I don’t suppose I can blame you, but…”
He let his gaze move toward Daniel, but his words were addressed to
Tamara.
“I hope to God you’re right about Marquand.”
“I am,” she told him.
“I know I am.”
She glanced toward the door, recalling her hurry to leave.
She still wanted to check on the repairs at Eric’s even though it now
seemed Curt had come to his senses.
“I have to go out for a while.
” Curt caught her arm as she turned.
“You haven’t said you forgive me for being such an idiot yesterday.”
His gaze touched her bruise, then hopped back to her eyes.
“I feel sick to my stomach when I think of what I did.”
She closed her eyes slowly.
She wanted no more anger and hard feelings.
She wanted nothing bad to interfere with her happiness.
“It’s been a tense week. Curt. I knew you didn’t mean it. I forgave
you almost as soon as it was over.”
“You’re one in a million. Tam.”
She hurried away, glad to be alone behind the wheel of her Bug and
headed toward Eric’s house.
She found two pickup trucks and a van lining the roadside.
Young, muscular men worked in shirt sleeves, despite the snow on the
ground.
She pulled her car to a stop behind the van, and settled into the seat
more comfortably.
She wasn’t planning to leave here until she knew the place was
secure.
Despite Eric’s threat, she knew he wouldn’t stay angry with her.
Twice during her vigil she felt her eyelids drooping, and forced them
wider.
She got out and walked in the biting winter air to stay awake.
The crews didn’t pack up to leave until well after four-thirty.
In an hour the sun would begin to fade, and Eric would wake.
Still she waited until the last man had left, gratified to see him look
suspiciously at her car before he drove away.
She was certain he’d jotted the plate number.
Eric had said they were dependable.
He was right.
Then she pulled away, too.
She wanted to have time to change into something pretty and perhaps do
something new with her hair before Eric arrived for his talk with
Claniel.
She knew something was wrong with her first glimpse of Daniel’s
frowning face.
“What is it?”
She hurried toward him, not even shedding her jacket or stomping the
clinging snow from her boots.
“Tell me. What’s happened?”
“I’m sure it’s nothing. Tam. I don’t want you to get worried until
At Twilight Page 23
