Amy shot a concerned glance at the sky. Dawn was fast approaching and bringing the sun with it. What would it do to Aiden?
Aiden and Cerian broke apart and began circling each other.
With a roar that echoed through the trees, Cerian doubled over like a fullback and ran, ramming his shoulder into Aiden’s midsection. With a grunt, Aiden stumbled back and fell, Cerian on top of him.
Aiden flipped the rogue over until he straddled him, a knee on either side of the man’s hips. His hands around his throat, Aiden squeezed. Cerian struggled, bringing his knees up and into Aiden’s back. Aiden continued to apply pressure, his forearms bulging with the effort. The other man clawed at Aiden’s arms, his fingers reaching for his face.
Amy couldn’t pull her gaze away. She wasn’t sickened; she wasn’t disgusted with Aiden taking another’s life. Her gaze locked with Aiden’s feral one. He didn’t look like the man she’d fallen in love with. She saw the vampire that resided inside him.
“Leave,” he hissed. The voice didn’t sound like his and she suppressed a shiver of fear, tightening her hold on her son. “Get out of here, Amy. Now.”
She glanced at the sky again, now a lighter purple. The trees around her began to take shape as shadows lightened.
Cerian continued to struggle. Something inside Aiden’s eyes seemed to shift. A tremor ran through him and, as if he pulled himself back from the brink of something dark and dangerous, the man she’d come to love returned. He let go of Cerian and pinched a spot between the rogue’s neck and shoulder. Instantly he ceased struggling and his head slumped to the side. Aiden sat back. He seemed drained, the life ebbing out of him.
“Take Robby home,” he said without looking at her.
“But—”
“I’ll be right behind you. Go, Amy.”
Sensing that Aiden didn’t want her to see what he was going to do next, she stepped away, searched his gaze one last time, and turned, fleeing through the trees that had suddenly turned menacing again.
She stopped once she reached her deck and waited. It took an eternity for Aiden to emerge, and when he did, she let out the breath she’d been holding and the tears she’d been keeping back. He looked so good to her, even though his shirt was torn, he was limping and blood oozed from a cut above his eye. He grimaced and hurried across the back yard as the night slowly gave way to day.
When he stopped in front of her, he gazed down at Robby and brushed a hand across his brow.
“He’ll be okay.”
She nodded, taking whatever he said as truth. “And Cerian?”
A corner of his mouth twisted up into a smile. “Let’s just say he’ll see the light.”
She glanced up at the horizon where the purples of dawn were turning into the roses of morning and thought of the small clearing he and Aiden had fought in. She had a feeling that within the next ten minutes there would be nothing left of a rogue vampire named Cerian.
“I’m sorry,” he said, his face twisted into a grimace.
“For what?”
“For getting you involved in this.”
She wanted to hug him, to bring him close and nestle his head into her shoulder like she was doing with Robby, but her arms were full. She kissed the side of his face, knowing she could never thank him enough for what he’d given her.
“You’re a good man, Aiden Reed.”
His head snapped up, a startled expression on his face, and she guessed it’d been a long time since anyone told him he was good.
Robby opened sleepy eyes. “Aiden?”
Aiden touched her son’s face again, a gentle finger to the tip of his nose. “I’m here, son. Go back to sleep.”
Robby snuggled into her arms, his eyelids drooping. “Had the weirdest dream…”
“That’s all it was. Just a dream.”
Robby nodded and drifted back to sleep.
“He won’t remember much of what happened,” Aiden said.
“If I lost him—” Tears choked back her words.
Aiden leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “You didn’t. He’s all right, Amy.” Sweat beaded his brow and he was breathing deep. Suddenly, a muted ray of sunlight touched his shoulder and he winced. “I have to go,” he said, his voice strained.
“Go. Hurry.”
He bounded down the steps and when he reached the bottom, Amy whispered after him. “I love you.” But he didn’t turn around, just hurried away from the creeping arms of the sunlight.
Chapter Eleven
“You scared the shit out of me, man,” Ben said from Aiden’s couch.
Aiden’s lips curled into a smile, his back to Ben as he watched Amy get her kids in the van. Robby, none the worse for wear, squabbled with Claire, poking and hitting her until Amy pulled them apart, pointing to the inside of the vehicle. The morning after his ordeal with Cerian, Robby awoke with nothing but a vague recollection of a bad dream. Aiden and Amy watched him for several more days, but so far he wasn’t adversely affected.
He caught a glimpse of Lydia strapped into her car seat, calmly playing with her Polly Pockets, her mouth moving a mile a minute before Amy shut the van door. He wished he could hear them, wished he could go out there and join them, but the sun was high in the sky and he was trapped in his muted home.
The night after his fight with Cerian, Aiden had gone back to the clearing where he’d left the rogue and found nothing but a pile of ash.
“You’re not listening to me.”
The van pulled away in a cloud of exhaust fumes. Aiden frowned. He was buying her a new van and he didn’t care what she had to say about it. That piece of crap just wasn’t safe.
“Yo, Aiden.”
He sipped his coffee, staring at the spot where Amy’s van had been, a feeling of loneliness creeping through him. He’d have to leave soon, on to the next assignment, but damn he didn’t want to go. Yet he couldn’t stay here and watch Amy and the kids through a tinted window for the rest of their lives either. Always watching, never participating.
She’d told him her fear that she could be pregnant and his gut tightened at the thought. Vampires and humans had mated in the past but the women always miscarried. So if Amy were pregnant, she probably wouldn’t be for long, but that didn’t stop him from wanting to see her round and off-balance with his baby growing inside her.
“Aiden.” He turned to his best friend who sat on his couch scowling. “Hell, man, I’ve been talking to you, but you’re in your own little world.”
Aiden walked away from the window and into the deep shadows of his home. He couldn’t even grow plants in here, it was so dark. Suddenly he wanted plants and sunlight.
“So, who’s Amy? The cute little brunette with all the kids?”
He settled himself in the chair opposite Ben. “Yeah.” The cute little brunette with all the kids.
Ben eyed him for a moment. “So that’s the way it is, huh?”
“So where am I going next?” he asked to get his mind, and the conversation, off Amy and the kids.
“Who says you’re going anywhere?”
Startled, he glanced up. “Because I always go somewhere.”
“Stay here. Figure this thing out with Amy. You deserve a break.”
The pain in his gut almost made him double over. “There’s nothing to figure out. She’s a mother, for Christ’s sake. I’m a vampire.” No. It would never work. Better that he leave now than stick around and wish for things that could never be.
His friend stared at him for several long minutes. “You love her that much?”
“Yeah. I love her that much.” Aiden stared into his empty coffee cup.
“I know someone,” Ben said after a short pause. “Someone who can turn vampires into humans.”
Aiden’s head snapped up and he glared at Ben. “What do you mean? I thought vampires were born vampires and humans were born humans and there was no ‘turning’.”
“Vampires and humans are different species, but a few decades ago we discovered that the
close genetic make-up allows us to ‘turn’ one into another. Remember Ryan Harrison?”
Aiden remembered Ryan. He’d been one of the best Rogue Hunters and had died a few years ago when his truck had run off the road and no one found it until that next afternoon. The sun had killed him. Or so Aiden had thought. “He didn’t die in that crash, did he?”
Ben shook his head. “Became human. Carissa Foley was one. You know her, don’t you?”
Aiden jerked so hard his coffee sloshed over the rim. “Carissa was human?”
“Turned when her brother was killed by Rolf, the rogue we’d hunted for years.”
“No kidding. Why am I just now hearing about this?”
“Because it’s not something that’s done often and it’s not condoned by Council. Like Ryan and Carissa, you’ll be expected to give up everything. In essence, you’ll turn your back on the vampire community. And it’s an incredibly painful process,” Ben added. “Some don’t survive.”
Trepidation and something close to fear tingled up Aiden’s spine. To turn his back on everything he’d known for the past three hundred years… Could he do it? Could he afford not to? If he didn’t, he’d lose Amy forever. “What exactly happens?” he asked.
“You’re drained of your vampire blood and infused with human blood.”
One of the myths about vampires was that they existed off human blood. That was partly right. Their nourishment came from human blood but the blood that flowed through their veins was pure vampire. To be drained of his blood meant they’d bring him to the brink of death, then back to life. Not a comforting concept.
Ben’s gaze slid away. “And you can’t feed for ten days before.”
Aiden slumped into the couch and closed his eyes. There was no way he could not feed for ten days. The most he’d ever gone was four days and it’d been damn scary, the violent urges he’d had to fight.
“Think hard about it,” Ben said.
Aiden opened his eyes. If it meant being with Amy, if it meant spending time with Robby, Claire and Lydia, he’d do it. “If I survive, then I’d be human? No more hiding from the sun?”
“Wholly human.”
“I’ll do it.”
“You sure?” Ben asked.
“Absolutely.”
“When do you want to start?”
“Now.”
Ben’s eyes darkened. “I need to take you to this man. He’s the only one who’s been successful at turning vampires human and it will take a few days after the ten day fasting.”
Aiden nodded in understanding.
“It’ll get bad, Aiden.”
“But I’ll be human afterwards and I can come back to Amy.”
The doubt shone in Ben’s gaze. He didn’t think Aiden would survive, but Aiden knew he could. If he kept Amy in his mind, if he thought of her and what they could have together. He stood and handed Ben his car keys. “Give these to Amy. Tell her to drive it until I get back and can buy her a new one.”
Ben took the keys and nodded.
“I need one more favor.”
His friend stood. “Okay.”
“I need you to find a man named Robert Carmichael. He owes Amy some money. Make him pay up.”
Ben smiled. “Will do.”
“And tell Robby I’ll be here to take him to that camp out.”
“Aiden—”
“Just tell him, Ben.”
The sound of the doorbell pealed through the silent house. Well, half the sound anyway. It was broken and Amy didn’t have the money to fix it so it just dinged but didn’t dong. She pushed a stray hair out of her face with the back of a floured hand and made her way through the junk on the living room floor. All three kids were spending the night at friends’ houses and Amy was enjoying her alone time by baking the last batch of bread for the season.
She pulled the door open with a combination of trepidation and excitement. It’d been two weeks since Aiden had left with the promise to be back. Ben popped in periodically to check up on them, but whenever she asked about Aiden he just shook his head and looked sad.
She knew he was going through something horrible, but Ben wouldn’t say what and it drove her to distraction not being able to talk to Aiden. She didn’t care that he was a vampire. She’d take him however she could get him, just please God, whole and happy, that’s all she asked for.
“Ben?”
His smile was sad, as it always was. “I came to give you something.”
She stepped back to let him in, unable to tear her gaze away. “How’s Aiden?”
He hesitated and wouldn’t meet her gaze. Her stomach plummeted. Oh, God.
“He’s holding his own.”
“That’s what you always say. Tell me the truth. Am I going to get Aiden back?”
Finally he looked at her and she saw the truth in his eyes and it tore a small cry from her.
“I don’t know, Amy. I just don’t know.”
“What’s he doing? Is he doing this for me? Tell him to stop. Please.” She almost got down on her knees to beg. Her pain was too great, her loneliness too all encompassing. “I just want him back.”
Ben clenched his jaw and Amy scraped her hair back from her face, not caring if she got flour in it. He handed her an envelope. She opened it with shaking hands and pulled out a check for a hell of a lot of money and signed by Robert. Her gaze collided with Ben’s. “What’s this?”
“Back child support.”
“How’d you get this?” He smiled, revealing his fangs. At one time she would have flinched, but not anymore. Nothing fazed her anymore.
“Aiden made you do this, didn’t he?”
“He wanted to see you get what you deserve.”
She laughed, the sound high-pitched and close to hysterical. “Did Robert get what he deserves?”
“Oh, yes.” He smiled again and Amy shivered at the lethal look. “But don’t worry, I left him in one piece and alive. More’s the pity.”
“Thank you, Ben. For everything.”
“No problem. Aiden’s a good guy and deserves to be happy.”
She didn’t voice her fears. Fears that haunted her deep in the night that he would never be happy. That he would never return to her no matter what he promised Robby.
“Quit fidgeting, Robby. You’re driving me nuts.”
“I can’t help it. When’s he gonna get here?”
“I don’t know.” Amy peered out the window, crowding her son. It was the day of the big weekend camp out and Aiden was already an hour late. With each tick of the clock, Amy’s hopes plummeted. Two days ago, Ben had finally revealed what Aiden was doing. And why. When she got a hold of him, she was going to give him a piece of her mind. After she hugged him. And kissed him silly.
If she ever got the chance.
The last time Ben had stopped by, he’d been more optimistic than she’d ever seen him, saying Aiden was doing better. But if the process was even half what Ben claimed, then Amy had her doubts. He’d put himself through hell just for her and it turned her heart.
Robby jumped back and ran to the door. “He’s here!” He flung the door opened and barreled out of it, Amy hot on his heels, Claire clutching Lydia’s hand and trailing behind.
A brand new Ford Explorer pulled into the driveway. Amy stood on the porch, arms crossed around her middle, fully expecting Ben to step out and tell her Aiden hadn’t made it. But it wasn’t Ben’s tall, dark form that emerged. First she noted the long, blond hair, pulled back and secured at the nape of his neck. His long legs ate up the distance between them. Robby bounced along beside him and they both stopped in front of her, Aiden’s hand resting protectively on top of Robby’s head.
Her hungry gaze raked him. He’d lost weight, his jeans hanging low on too-slim hips. His face, once hard angles and planes, was gaunt and shadowed with a day’s growth of beard. His dark chocolate eyes were haunted. But his smile was the same.
She couldn’t believe he was here. Standing in front of her. In the daylight. With a
cry she launched herself at him and he caught her, his strong arms wrapping around her and holding her tight. Underneath her cheek his heart beat a healthy rhythm and for the first time in three weeks she let her tears go.
He pulled back. “Hey, what’s this? I thought you’d be happy.”
Oh, God, there was that warm butter voice she’d grown to love. She cried harder. “You idiot.” She batted his arm and sniffled. “You didn’t have to do this. I would have loved you no matter what.”
He put her down and stepped back, his gaze serious as it took in she and the kids. “Yes, I did. I couldn’t be a decent father if I couldn’t do the things expected of me.”
“Father?”
He smiled. A full-blown, show-all-your-teeth, honest-to-God smile. With no fangs. “That is, if you all want one.”
Robby pumped his fist in the air while Lydia screeched and launched herself at his legs. Claire hung back until Aiden opened one arm and motioned her forward, then she clung to him and buried her head in his side, a huge smile on her face.
Amy stood back, tears blinding her and rolling down her cheeks. “I think that’s a yes,” she said.
Aiden’s intense gaze bored into her. “And the mother? Does she still want me? Will you…” He swallowed and suddenly looked unsure of himself, the first time she’d ever seen such an emotion in this man. “Will you marry me, Amy?”
She would have launched herself at him like her kids had, but there was no more room in his arms. Instead she smiled and nodded. “Oh, yes.”
The kids yelled, whooped for joy, and hugged Aiden tighter, until Robby pulled away and tugged on Aiden’s shirt. “Come on, Dad, we have a camp out to go to.”
About the Author
To learn more about Sharon Cullen, please visit www.sharoncullen.net. Send an email to Sharon at [email protected] or join her newsletter to get all the up to date information on new releases, contests and more at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sharon_Cullen/?yguid=224399987
The best way to catch a wolf? Use your heart as bait.
Night Song Page 7
