“Well?” he asked.
“I’ll take you tomorrow night.”
In the morning, Sheree wondered if she had dreamed the whole thing—Derek’s unexpected revelation of the night before, sleeping in his arms.
Vampire.
Her hand flew to her neck. Had he bitten her again while she’d slept?
Jumping out of bed, she ran into the bathroom. Staring into the mirror, she turned her head back and forth, relieved when there were no telltale marks. But then, there hadn’t been any marks the last time, either.
Gazing at her reflection, she wondered why his news hadn’t frightened her last night, because she was plenty frightened now. What to do? As if in answer to her question, she heard his voice in the back of her mind, warning her not to invite vampires into her house. Good advice, she thought dryly. Only it had come too late!
Slipping on her robe, she went downstairs, then paused at the bottom. What if he was still in the house? She wasn’t ready to face him again, not until she’d had time to think, something she couldn’t seem to do clearly when he was around. But there was no sign of him anywhere.
“The least he could have done was say good-bye,” she muttered, even as she told herself she didn’t care. Attractive or not, he was a vampire and that was the end of it. So why was she missing him?
Feeling foolish, she went to the front door and said firmly, “Derek Blackwood, you are no longer welcome in my home.”
As soon as she spoke the words, she felt an odd tremor in the air around her and knew, in some ancient primal way, that it had worked.
Relieved, she went into the kitchen. She had just put the coffee on when the doorbell rang. She felt a rush of excitement, then chided herself for expecting to find Derek on her doorstep. Everyone knew vampires weren’t out and about during the day.
Opening the door, she was surprised to find Mara standing on the porch. Clad in a bright red sweater and white jeans, with her black hair falling like a cloud of silk over her shoulder, Derek’s sister was as beautiful as she remembered.
“I’m sorry to be here so early,” Mara said. “But I had a fight with Logan and I didn’t have anywhere else to go.”
“No, it’s fine. Please come in.”
“Thank you.” Mara felt a tremor as she crossed the threshold. Even after all these centuries, it still amazed her that something as mundane as a threshold had the power to repel her. Fortunately, humans couldn’t feel it unless they were revoking an invitation.
“I was just about to make breakfast,” Sheree said. “Can I fix you something?”
“No, thank you, I’ve eaten,” Mara said, following her into the kitchen.
“Please, sit down,” Sheree invited, gesturing at a chair. “Would you like a cup of coffee?”
“Not now, thanks.”
With a nod, Sheree scrambled a couple of eggs and slid them onto a plate, then carried it and her coffee cup to the table and took the seat across from Mara’s.
“I’m sorry you had a fight,” she said. “I hope it was nothing serious.”
“Not really.” Mara hesitated a moment, then said, “You must have questions.”
“Questions?” Sheree asked, frowning.
“About Derek. He told me he’d talked to you.”
“Oh. Yes.” So it hadn’t been a dream.
“You’re worried about the vampire thing.”
Sheree nodded.
“How do you feel about him now?”
“I’m not sure. I’m a little bit . . .” She paused, then sighed. “I’m afraid of him. Not him, exactly, but what he is. I’ve seen how strong he is, and . . .” She lifted one shoulder and let it fall.
“You’re wondering if it’s dangerous to be with him? And you’re worried about the blood thing, afraid he might bite you.”
“He said he’s already tasted me, but I’m afraid he might . . . you know. I mean, I don’t want to be a vampire.”
“I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about,” Mara said, covering Sheree’s hand with her own. “Derek would never hurt you, or turn you against your will. What else did he tell you?”
“Oh, about hunters and how to protect myself and . . .” She shook her head. “I can’t believe we’re having this conversation. Anyone else would think I was crazy. Has he ever . . . ever . . .”
“Taken my blood? No.”
“It must have been awful for him, being turned so young.” She frowned. “If vampires can’t go out during the day, what did he do about school?”
“We were home-schooled.”
“Oh.”
“I think you might be good for each other. He’s such a sweet boy.”
“A sweet boy?” Sheree shook her head. Sweet was hardly the word she would use to describe Derek. Handsome, yes. Sexy, yes. But sweet?
“I’ve always mothered him,” Mara said. “You know, he’s very fond of you.”
“I like him, too, but . . . Last night, his being a vampire didn’t bother me, but this morning . . .” She shook her head. “I just don’t know.”
“I understand. But enough about vampires,” Mara said. “How would you like to go shopping with me? Whenever Logan and I have a fight, I always go buy something new.” She laughed softly. “It’s a good thing we don’t fight very often. What do you say?”
“I’d love to,” Sheree said. “Just let me go get dressed.”
“You did what?” Derek stared at his mother, who was curled up on the sofa beside Logan.
“I spent the day with Sheree. We agreed to keep an eye on her, didn’t we?”
“You were just supposed to keep an eye on her, not become her new best friend. What did you talk about?”
“You, mostly. She’s a little . . . hmm, I guess you could say, conflicted at the moment.”
Derek groaned. Just what he needed. His mother playing matchmaker.
“I’m sorry you’re so upset, but I killed two birds with one stone, so to speak. I kept her safe, and I bought a new Donna Karan gown to wear to Justin’s party tonight.” Turning to Logan, she added, “Wait until you see it. It’s black and slinky. You’re gonna love it.”
“You know I love you in anything. Or nothing,” Logan said with a wicked grin. “So, what excuse did you give for being at her house so early?”
“I told her we had a fight.”
Logan laughed softly, amused by her clever ruse. “Well, since we’re fighting, I think we’d better go to bed and make up. How about it?”
“I’d love to,” Mara said, caressing his cheek, “but it will have to wait. I promised to take Derek to see his father’s grave. You don’t mind, do you?”
“No.” Rising, Logan headed for the door. “I’ll just go grab a bite while you’re gone.”
Derek stared after his stepfather. “He’s upset, isn’t he?”
“No, but he was always jealous of Kyle.”
“What was my father like?”
“He was a good man. Far too good for me.”
“Am I like him?”
“No. You’re more like me. Are you ready to go?”
“Yeah.”
Rising, Mara linked her arm with his.
Moments later, they were standing in the small cemetery located behind Mara’s house in the mountains of Northern California.
It was an old cemetery, surrounded by a white wrought-iron fence with an arched gate. A wooden sign, carved with the words Rest Ye in Peace, hung from the top of the gate. A black marble headstone marked Kyle Bowden’s final resting place. The words Taken From Us Too Soon But Never Forgotten were engraved beneath his name along with the dates of his birth and passing.
Derek stood beside his father’s marker, his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans. Overhead, wispy clouds covered the moon, while a lazy breeze whispered through the leaves of the trees. In the distance, a deer grazed on a patch of moon-silvered grass.
He glanced at his mother. Standing beside him, clad in a long white hooded cloak, she looked like a fallen angel. Dropp
ing to one knee, she placed a dozen long-stemmed pink roses on the grave.
Not red, Derek noted bitterly. Everyone knew red roses meant love.
“Did you ever love him?” he asked.
“I thought I did, but the truth is, there was never anyone for me but Logan, only I was too stubborn to admit it. Your father would still be alive if I hadn’t been such a fool. But I’ll always love Kyle because he gave me you, someone who means more to me than anything else in this world.”
“I wish I could have known him.” How could he ever know who he truly was without knowing the man who had sired him? He had known early on that Logan wasn’t his real father. As a child, it hadn’t seemed important. Why was it bothering him so much now?
“When I was kidnapped, were you sorry you had to give up your humanity to find me?”
“No. I had always planned to ask Logan to turn me when you were grown.”
“Why?”
“I was mortal only twenty years.” She gazed into the distance, and he had the feeling she was looking into the past. “I was a vampire for centuries.”
“So, you don’t miss anything about being human?”
“Only the taste of chocolate.”
Derek shook his head. What was it about women and chocolate?
“Anything else you’d like to know?” Mara asked.
“No. Let’s go home.”
Logan was waiting for them when they returned home. “Everything okay?” he asked, glancing from mother to son.
“Fine,” Derek said. “I need to hunt. How about coming along?”
Logan looked at Mara. With a careless wave of her hand, she said, “Take your time. I’m going up to bed.”
Grunting softly, Logan followed Derek outside. Not trusting his son to drive in his current state of mind, he said, “Let’s take my car.”
Moments later, they were headed down the hill. “Are we really going hunting?” Logan asked, “or is this just an excuse to get out of the house?”
“Both. Tell me about my mother.”
“She’s a remarkable woman.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
“She’s spoiled. Stubborn. Powerful. But you know all that, too. What’s bothering you?”
Derek blew out a sigh that seemed to come from the very depths of his soul. “I’m feeling lost and I don’t know why. Something’s happening to me. . . .”
“You mean your craving for steak? Your mother told me.”
“I know it worries her.”
“Of course it does.” Logan pulled onto a deserted side street and shut off the engine. “She loves you.”
“Yeah. Why did she leave you all those years ago?”
“Because she loved me and it scared her. None of the men in her life ever treated her worth a damn. She didn’t trust any of us.” A muscle twitched in his jaw. “Not even me.”
“That must have hurt.”
“You have no idea. I’ve loved her my whole life. It wasn’t easy letting her go, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to beg her to stay.”
Taking a deep breath, Derek asked the question that troubled him most. “Do you think I could be reverting?”
“No. I’ll tell you what I told your mother. I think your human half is coming through. Who knows, you might be able to walk in the sun and eat human food one of these days. The best of both worlds, if you ask me.”
“Would my mother have stayed human if it wasn’t for me?”
“No. She talked about being turned when she was pregnant. The doctor told her that he didn’t think it was possible and that trying to be turned a second time might kill her. Even if you’d never been in danger, sooner or later, she would have found someone to bring her over. If not me, then someone else. She was that determined.”
“Was my father a good man?”
“I’d say so. I didn’t know him very well, but he loved your mother. And you. So, what now?”
“You can go home,” Derek said, opening the car door. “I need some time to think.”
He stood on the curb, watching the lights of Logan’s car fade into the distance. He had a great deal of respect for his stepfather. The man had always been there for him, always told him the truth, no matter how unpalatable it might have been. He was the only man Derek trusted.
Jogging down the sidewalk, he pondered what Mara and Logan had told him while he searched for prey. He fed quickly, then hurried to Sheree’s house.
He stood in the shadows for several minutes, staring at the lights shining through the living room window. Her home looked warm and friendly, inviting. He had fed only a short time ago, but Sheree’s scent stirred his hunger anew. He had tasted her once and had craved a second taste ever since. And knew even that wouldn’t be enough.
He should leave now, before he did something stupid—something that, once done, could never be undone, like breaking down the door, sweeping Sheree into his arms, and making love to her until the sun chased the moon from the sky.
The thought of holding her, tasting her, making love to her drove all rational thought from his mind. After crossing the street, he waved his hand in front of the door. It opened at his command, but when he tried to enter, the threshold’s power repelled him.
Frowning, he took a step back. What the hell had just happened, he wondered.
And then he knew. Sheree had taken his warning about inviting vampires into her house to heart and revoked his invitation.
Sheree frowned as a cool breeze wafted into the living room. How was that possible? All the doors and windows were closed. Weren’t they? A sudden chill ran down her spine. Had someone broken into the house again?
Rising, she grabbed the fireplace poker, tiptoed toward the entry, and peered around the corner. “Derek!”
He arched one brow when he saw the poker in her hand. “A wooden stake works better,” he said, a touch of bitterness in his voice.
“What? Oh.” She lowered her makeshift weapon. “I thought someone was trying to break in.”
“Someone was. Sorry I bothered you.”
“Wait! Where are you going?”
“It’s pretty obvious I’m not wanted here.”
“Don’t go.”
“Just don’t come in?”
Sheree blew out a sigh, her longing to see him, to touch him, warring with her innate fear of what he was. The word vampire whispered down the corridor of her mind, and with it the memory of what had happened outside the Den, and what had happened here, in her own home. “Can I ask you something?”
“Why not?”
“You won’t get mad?”
“No.”
“It’s common knowledge that vampires need blood to live. . . .”
“Yeah?”
“Where do you get yours?” She lifted a hand to her neck, then jerked it away when she realized what she was doing.
He didn’t miss the gesture, or the morbid curiosity in her eyes. “Just where you think I do.”
“So, you kill people?”
“Only when they’re trying to kill me.” Hands clenched, he took a deep breath. “I knew coming here was a bad idea. I won’t bother you again.”
Sheree took a step forward when he started to turn away. Everything that had passed between them—every word, every touch, every kiss—flashed before her eyes.
“Wait!” She ran toward the door, across the threshold, and down the porch steps. “Derek, wait!”
He stopped at the edge of the walkway but didn’t turn around. “Let me go, Sheree. No good can come from this.”
“I don’t believe that.” Coming up behind him, she placed her hand on his back, heard him suck in a breath at her touch. “We met for a reason, I’m sure of it. It’s almost like I was drawn here, to this place. It can’t be just coincidence that I was looking for a vampire and I found you.”
“You’re afraid of me. You can’t build any kind of a relationship on fear.”
“You’re afraid, too.”
He nodded. “I’m a
fraid I’ll hurt you. Or worse.”
“Can’t we go inside and talk it over?”
Slowly, he turned to face her. He let his hunger rise up within him, felt the sharp tips of his fangs brush his tongue, knew his eyes had gone red with the need to feed.
“This is what I am,” he said flatly. “Do you still want me to come in?”
Sheree stared at him for a moment. His countenance was frightening, there was no denying it. Had it been anyone but Derek, she would have run screaming into the house and slammed the door. But this was Derek, and even though she was still afraid of what he was, and even though she might be making the biggest mistake of her life, she simply couldn’t let him go.
Folding her arms, she said, “Your sister thinks we’d be good for each other, and I . . . I think so, too.”
“She’s not my sister,” Derek said. “She’s my mother.”
“Your mother!” Sheree stared at him. “Mara is your mother? The same Mara those men in the Den were talking about? The Mara who knew Cleopatra? That Mara?”
Derek nodded. “The very same.” With an effort, he forced his hunger into submission, felt his fangs retract, the red fade from his eyes.
“I don’t believe it.”
He shrugged. “Well, it’s true just the same.”
Sheree backed up and sat down, hard, on one of the porch steps, her mind reeling. Derek’s mother had lived in the time of the pharaohs. She might look twenty but she was ancient. Sheree shook her head. She had invited the most dangerous vampire in the world into her house.
“You’re not gonna faint on me, are you?” Derek asked. “You look a little pale.”
Sheree looked up at him, surprised to find him so close. But then, vampires were supposed to be able to move faster than the human eye could follow. What other supernatural powers did he possess? Did he sleep in a coffin? Could he change into a bat? Did he cast a reflection in a mirror?
“I don’t sleep in a coffin. I can’t change into a bat. I don’t cast a reflection in a mirror.” He grinned faintly when she realized he was reading her mind. “You’ve seen me dissolve into mist. I can climb tall buildings in a single bound.”
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