“Interesting. Has your husband been in contact with the gentleman?” Sophie asked.
“Yes. Unfortunately, he has been out of the country on expeditions and hasn’t been able to meet with us. However, he is supposed to be returning at the end of the week.”
“Do you think you could share his name with us?” Sophie asked when Ric did not.
“Perhaps I could be…persuaded,” she said, her gaze practically Super Glued to Ric’s face.
Ric stood, ran his beautiful hands down his uncreased trousers, then offered one of them to the woman. “Thank you. We’ll be in touch.”
Be in touch? That sounded like a blowoff.
Caught by surprise by his somewhat rude and abrupt dismissal, even if Margaret did deserve it, Sophie stood and gave the woman a grateful smile. Why was he cutting her off? They were so close to getting the information they needed! Couldn’t he suck it up and flirt a little longer to get the information? Damn it! Dao was counting on her, on them. “It was a pleasure meeting you,” she lied as she offered the woman her hand. “Thank you very much for your time.”
Margaret accepted her hand and gave it a brief shake before releasing it. “You didn’t say, what is your interest in the spear and shield?”
“Personal,” Sophie answered, not wanting to disclose any more, despite the friendly smile the other woman was now bestowing on her. “I have a love for anything related to the Bible, specifically David and Joshua.”
“Oh yes, so do I. My favorite story of the Bible is the one where David sees Tamar bathing and falls instantly in love with her. He sends her husband into battle, knowing he will be killed. It’s such a stirring love story.”
“Yes, it is,” Sophie agreed, feeling a little out of her league when it came to biblical facts.
The woman’s eyes hooded, making Sophie wonder if she’d said something wrong. “I wish you luck with your research, both of you.” She sat, gave Ric one last glance and then visibly dismissed them by lowering her head to read something on her desk.
Good luck? Good luck! That was it? That was what she’d traveled hours to hear? What the hell! How was that going to help her find the relics? How was that going to help her kill that stupid snakewoman and save her friend? It wasn’t. And Ric’s clipped manner hadn’t helped. Why hadn’t he pushed harder, tried to charm the answers from the woman? He’d started in the right direction. Why’d he stop? Yergh!
Sophie didn’t ask Ric about his behavior until they were outside the multistory brick-and-glass building and safe and sound in Ric’s car. “What happened in there? Why did you cut her off like that? Why didn’t you push harder? She would’ve given you the man’s name in Chicago if you’d asked. I can’t believe we came all this way for nothing.”
“I don’t think it was a wasted trip.” Ric said calmly, although he was doing a lot of blinking as he drove. And a lot of sweating, which made her wonder how he was managing to be out in the sunlight without being burned to ash. Didn’t real vampires ignite in unholy blazes when exposed to sunlight? “But I do think she was lying. That’s why I didn’t push for the name. I figured it wouldn’t do us any good.”
“Why would she lie? Is she worried about her husband’s research?”
“No. I’m almost one hundred percent sure she’s a lamia. I wouldn’t be surprised if she has the spear and shield locked up somewhere—or knows where it’s locked up.”
“Damn. What do we do now? We’ve hit a roadblock. My friend’s back home having the life drained out of him and we’re getting nowhere. What if I don’t find the relics in time? What if it takes months and months?”
“Easy, baby.” He reached for her hand but she pulled hers away. He gave her a quick questioning glance, then continued, “We’re getting somewhere. Faster than you think.” He dabbed at his forehead with a paper napkin. “I need to go back to the hotel and get out of the sun. Any chance you could call off work for the rest of the week? I think we need to check out Dr. Margaret Mandel a little more closely, maybe take a trip to the outskirts of Chicago too.”
“She sure wanted to check you out more closely,” Sophie blurted before she thought better of it. Naturally, she regretted it the moment the words slipped through her lips.
Ric slid her a shocked glance, raised eyebrows and all. “You noticed, did you? I was beginning to think you didn’t care.”
“I…I don’t care.” You’re a liar. A killer. A monster. Why should I care?
Another surprised look.
“I mean, I don’t have any claims on you and you have none on me, right? We’re both free to do whatever, with whomever. Besides, I’m here to help my friend Dao. There’s no time to dillydally, as pleasant as a dilly or dally with you might be.” Her mind knew this, knew the last thing she needed was to get tangled up with this man, this vampire. Especially right now. Why wouldn’t her heart cooperate? Why did merely the thought of Ric touching another woman make her want to scream, even though she now knew the truth about him and his bloodthirsty, lying clansmen? Almost choking on her own words, she added, “I have to admit, I don’t see you as the type to sleep with a married woman.” Then again, what do I really know about him, about his heart? Maybe he is the type to sleep with another man’s wife. Lie to her. Then kill her. That’s what his people do best.
“I see.” Ric didn’t speak again. He drove the few miles back to the hotel in silence, which made Sophie nervous and miserable and almost sorry she’d gone on this goose chase. She resisted the urge to fill the big empty void with chatter and instead stared out the window.
Ric walked her up to her room, pushed open the door, then stepped inside behind her, hanging back to block the doorway. His thick arms—the ones she’d been trying to avoid salivating over all morning—crossed over his chest. “Now, want to tell me what’s really going on?”
“Going on?” God, I hope he wasn’t reading my thoughts earlier! But if he was, would he have to ask?
He took one, two, three steps toward her. She took three steps backward in a failing attempt to maintain some space between them. Her steps were about half as long as his. “You’re acting funny. Distant, almost scared of me.”
“No, I’m not acting scared. I’m acting…normal.” Her spine hit the wall behind her and she swallowed a panicked yelp. “I’m just frustrated and upset. I was hoping this woman would give us more than a good-luck wish and a sharky smile. My friend’s dying! Quickly. And I can’t do a damn thing to help him.” Her eyes burned. She blinked the collecting tears away.
He didn’t stop moving forward until his chest was mere inches from hers. He looked down into her eyes. He reached for her cheek but she flinched and turned her head. “See? Why won’t you let me touch you?” He caught her chin, turned her head. His gaze was dark, sharp, demanding. Still, her traitorous body reacted exactly like it had before. Her nipples reached forward, aching for his touch. Her girly parts burned. Her heart skipped beats at irregular intervals until she was almost dizzy. He caught her upper arms in his fists and squeezed. Hard. Even that didn’t ease the celebration going on inside her. “You say you’re acting normal? Normal for whom? Since we met at the library you’ve openly ogled me. You’ve flirted with me. You’ve slept with me. You’ve confided in me. Now you’re acting like I’m radioactive.”
“That’s an apropos term,” she murmured, trying to catch her breath, when he let her go and turned away in a huff.
“Huh? What did you say?” He spun on his heel and drilled her with that gaze again.
“Nothing, nothing.”
“Bullshit.”
“Okay, okay.” Still reeling from the effect he had on her body, Sophie scooted along the wall, walking the perimeter of the room until she was well out of reach, and well beyond the distance she was capable of throwing herself. The insane notion of lunging at him and kissing him until they were both senseless ran through her mind at regular intervals, like a jogger running laps. Only when she was way on the opposite side of the room did she consider it sa
fe to continue. “You’re right. I am acting funny. I’ve just had some time to think. And well, I think we’ve been going too fast.” Liar! I hate liars! I hate lies. “Way, way, way too fast.” No, too slow. Much too slow. “So, I decided to put on the brakes a bit.”
“A bit? You hardly looked at me all morning.”
“I’m sorry, have I wounded your vampire pride?” she teased before she thought better of it. She cringed the moment the words came out of her mouth, certain she’d pay for them.
And naturally, she was right.
His expression darkened even more, his eyes the shade of rich earth. He lunged forward, catching her upper arms in his fists before she could get out of reach. “What happened to you? Last night everything was good right up until you went to bed….” He let his sentence kind of hang there as he sniffed the air. “Did he come back for you? I don’t smell him.”
“Who he?” She squirmed, her body on fire, her brain in meltdown mode, her conscience ablaze.
“The one-who-bit-you he. That’s who he. Did he come back last night?” Ric lowered his head to her neck until his breath warmed her skin. Shivers of pleasure skittered down her spine even as shudders of fear quaked her insides.
“No.” She blinked twice as his gaze met hers again. She gave a silent groan of frustration. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop it. Whenever she lied, even as a kid, she’d blink. Twice. It was a dead giveaway, had gotten her into so much trouble as a kid. That was, until she’d learned to have her sister do all the lying for her. Unfortunately, her sister wasn’t here now. And that was because of a lie, too.
Ric tipped his head. He looked so adorable like that. Sweet, even a little vulnerable. Could he really be the deceiving, bloodthirsty vampire she’d read about?
“What’s wrong with your eyes? You’ve had problems with them since we came back.”
“Nothing.” Blink, blink. Darn it!
“You’re blinking an awful lot. Did you get something in them?”
“Uh, maybe. I’m not sure.” Blink. Blink. “If you’d kindly release me, I’ll go to the bathroom and check.”
He freed her immediately but he didn’t leave the room when she shut herself in the bathroom for twenty minutes pretending to take care of a troublesome speck of nonexistent dirt in her eye.
She hated what she saw in the mirror—a grown woman hiding in a bathroom because she was too chicken to tell someone the truth. A grown woman who hated lying, who’d learned to despise deception, telling lies left and right.
Lies always led to disaster. To grief and loss. Would her next loss be Dao? Her heart sank at the thought.
Shit!
Rather than spend the rest of the day wasting time, shut in the bathroom, she finally decided to step out of her sanctuary and face the music. If she was going to have any hope of keeping this guy on her side, she supposed she was going to have to be honest with him—or at least mostly honest.
Ric was sitting on the bed when Sophie forced herself from her ceramic-walled haven. His head lifted when she strode into the room.
She halted about three feet away from him, wishing she had at least six more feet between them. “I’m sorry. I’m acting like an ass because I read something today and quite honestly it freaked me out and well…I don’t want this anymore.” She motioned back and forth between them. “You and me. This. Not that I’m not grateful because I know you were doing it for me. But I don’t need you to save me from the Ancient One since he’s promised not to force me to do anything—”
“Ancient One?” One eyebrow hopped up.
“Yesss.”
“You never referred to him as that before,” Ric pointed out.
Oops. Stupid slip. “I…I…didn’t? Oh no, I’m pretty sure I have. Or you have. You just don’t remember.”
Ric jumped to his feet and walked a wide circle around her. “I was right! He was here last night. Damn it. I was…I couldn’t—”
“Yes, okay, you’re right,” she admitted on a sigh. “He came here last night but I’m not going to worry about it and neither should you,” she said, twisting her upper body to follow him. “He’s not going to hurt me, or make me hurt Dao.”
Ric stopped directly in front of her and her body went into instant lust mode again. Tingling, pitter-pattering, swooning, the whole nine yards. “He told you that?”
“Yes. Well, sorta.” She inhaled and caught a noseful of soap and Ric. Tremors of anticipation skipped up and down her limbs.
“And you believed him?” he challenged.
The sharp tone in his voice and in his gaze did nothing but inflame her body more. It was nearly impossible to keep her mind on the conversation. There were so many more pleasant things to think about, like the way the corners of his mouth curled up when he thought he had her bested. And the sparkle in his eye when he challenged her. She forced her chin up to face his challenge head-on. “Yes, I did. He hasn’t lied to me. Not since the first time. And everything I read on the Web site said Ancient Ones are known to keep their word.”
“Let me ask you this.” He caught her chin in his hand and tilted it up even more. She stared into his eyes. At the moment they were very dark, almost black. Once more pure, unadulterated lust charged through her body like a bolt of electricity. “Does every human being behave the same?”
“No. Of course not.” His mouth was so close. Would he kiss her? What would she do if he did? Kiss him back? Oh yes. That sounded nice. Darn it, why wasn’t he kissing her yet?
He lowered his head until his mouth was a fraction of an inch from hers, until his breath cyclically heated her lips. “Then what makes you so certain every Ancient One will?”
Her eyelids fell closed for a brief instant, giving her a moment’s ability to use rational thought. “I…good point. I hadn’t thought about it that way.”
His gaze softened slightly as he released her chin. His hand dropped to her shoulder. “What you might read on the Internet is not only likely to be inaccurate but also dangerously generalizing. Don’t let it give you false security—or false fear. You must learn to trust your instincts or you’ll end up trusting the wrong people, fearing the ones you should trust, and being hurt—or worse.”
So aware of his touch she wanted to crumple into a pile on the floor, she nodded and whispered, “But you lied to me. What was I supposed to think?”
“Lied?”
Gathering strength from somewhere deep inside, from hurt and confusion and anger, Sophie pushed back from Ric and crossed her arms over her chest. “You told me there was nothing wrong with my legs. That I’d be okay.”
“That was the truth. How was that a lie? You’re walking fine now, aren’t you?”
“Yes, but it was a lie by omission. You didn’t tell me you’d bitten me. That you’d injected me with your poison, that the poison was causing my paralysis.”
“I didn’t want you to be fearful. I knew you’d be okay. That it was a temporary effect. It was necessary to—”
“Necessary for what?” she interrupted, now really burning up with anger. “To keep me under your control? That’s why you paralyzed me, isn’t it?”
He looked shocked and confused, but she wasn’t fooled. “Is that what you read on the Net?”
“No, that’s what the Ancient One told me. So, you see, I’m not just believing vague generalizations on the Internet. I’ve talked to a genuine source on the subject.”
“Since you’re in the mood to listen to the genuine source, will you at least give me equal time?”
“I…suppose,” she acquiesced, knowing she’d believe him no matter what he said. Why? Because in her heart, she wanted to believe him.
Ric held his hands out to Sophie, adding a reassuring nod until she took his hands and let him lead her to the bed. “There is venom in every vampire’s bite,” he said, encouraging her to sit with a tip of his head. She sat. “It happens that the venom in my bite has two properties—one, it is an amnesiac that erases your memory of being bitten
, and two, it causes varying degrees of temporary paralysis, depending upon where you are bitten, but only the first time. I have no control over the release of the venom. It happens whenever I bite. However, I can control where I bite you, and thereby lessen the effects. I took mercy and bit you where I knew you’d suffer the least.”
“Oh.”
“The venom of the Ancient Ones is far more deadly and its effects are more insidious.”
“Effects? What kinds of effects?”
“An Ancient One’s venom acts as a hypnotic. Even days after a bite, the venom will allow the Ancient One to gain control over your mind and will.”
“That’s why…that’s scary. Really, really scary.”
“Which is why this is so important.” He took both her shoulders in his hands and searched her face with eyes that had gone all warm and brown, like hot cocoa. “You must tell me the truth. Did he bite you again last night?”
She shook her head. “No. Not that I remember.”
“That’s good. Repeated exposure to the venom amplifies the effects.”
“But what about the other part I read? The part about your people torturing humans, killing them for their gain? How do you explain that?”
He dropped his gaze. “Then you have heard what my clan is called and what we are known to do.”
She nodded again. “Wise…wise and something. They…torture people?” She hated the sound of the words, hated the way they felt in her mouth.
“Wissenschaft. We are the ones who seek a cure for our weaknesses through science. However, our research—which does not involve the torturing of innocent humans anymore—has led to rumors of cruelty, nightmarish experiments performed on unwilling victims. But that was a long time ago, hundreds of years. Even humans have been known to do the same, the Nazis, your own government. Just remember, you cannot believe everything you read. It’s as good as the reliability of its source. Also, I am an individual, with my own values, my own morals, my own will. What you read on the Internet are not laws but sweeping generalizations. You cannot accurately describe any individual—human or vampire—according to their race, blood, or creed.”
A Vampire Bundle Page 73
