Unwrapped

by Bonnie Vanak

  He bent down, caressed her fur. “You’re with me, sweet. We make the best team of all.”

  They raced through the house. Sarah immediately scented Morphs hiding in Adrian’s closet. When she flushed them out, they shifted into wolves to attack and Adrian killed them. One by one, the vampires and Draicon hunted the enemy.

  When the last Morph had been destroyed, and the other teams combed through each corner to ensure this, she and Adrian went downstairs. Sarah shifted back, clothed herself. “I think we got them all, but I need my father to sweep the downstairs,” she mused. “His sense of smell is the strongest.”

  “I’ll get him.”

  As Adrian raced upstairs, Sarah sank into a chair. Weariness overcame her. Still, she couldn’t erase the prickly feeling warning her it wasn’t over yet.

  Sarah saw a small brown cockroach crawling toward her. A familiar, unwelcome tingling raced down her spine.

  Pulse racing, Sarah waved her hands, summoning a steel dagger into her hands.

  The roach wriggled, and began to shift. It became someone she once knew so well. Until the day she killed her mother.

  “Sarah, I’ve missed you.” Large brown eyes, exactly like hers, gave her a pleading look. “Let’s forget all this. I’ll leave and you can go on your way. Truce, okay?”

  The knife wobbled in Sarah’s hand as she stared at her sister, Sandra. Her mirror image.

  “Remember all we shared, remember how we loved each other!” Sandra sobbed.

  The dagger fell from Sarah’s outstretched fingers, clattering onto the floor.

  “Sarah!”

  The roar of that beloved voice broke through her anguish. Adrian regarded them with a shocked look.

  “Hellfire. You’re identical twins. No wonder you couldn’t face her. It’s like facing yourself.” Adrian’s head whipped back and forth between them. “Sarah, which one are you?”

  Sandra’s expression shifted into terror. “Adrian, end this before she kills me!”

  But the vampire studied her twin. “Do you want me to prove my love by killing her?”

  “Yes,” Sandra replied eagerly.

  “Liar,” he said softly. “Sarah would never ask that of me.”

  Sarah cried out as Adrian lifted his hands to blast her twin. He looked at Sarah, hesitated. Sandra sprang forward, retrieved the dropped dagger and tossed it at him.

  “No,” Sarah screamed, flinging herself in front of Adrian.

  White-hot needles suddenly pierced her chest. Gasping, she looked down at the dagger protruding from her body.

  A cruel smile touched her twin’s face. Sandra shifted into her true Morph shape and opened her mouth. Finally, Sarah saw her twin for what she truly was. Sandra began to inhale, absorbing her dying energy.

  With all her strength, Sarah wrenched the dagger out and raised it in her right hand. Gasping for breath, she stared one last time at her twin, the sister she once loved.

  “You’re not Sandra. She died on that day.”

  The dagger went straight into Sandra’s heart. Air blurred as an outraged snarl filled the air. Adrian. Her world going gray, she watched him finish off her twin.

  As her sister screamed and died, Sarah collapsed.

  Chapter 11

  A drian’s blood ran cold as he ran to his lover. Blood gushed from the terrible wound in her chest. She must not slip away. He could make her live.

  Around him, both vampire and Draicon gathered. Ignoring them, he dropped to his knees. Gently he cradled Sarah in his arms. Feeling her anguish, the agony from the deep wound piercing her heart.

  He pressed his lips against her chilled forehead. “Take my blood. It will heal you.”

  “D-don’t,” she pleaded. “If…if you do this, your father will forever banish you.”

  Adrian removed his robe, unbuttoned his shirt. He forced his fingernail to lengthen and made an incision over his heart. His life’s blood.

  Pressing her mouth against the wound, he urged her to drink. His eyes closed as she finally did. Pleasure at this intimate connection between them warred with frantic desperation. Gently he rocked her as color gradually returned to her pale cheeks. He felt the reassuringly strong pulse beneath his thumb as he stroked her throat.

  Trembling, he allowed her to pull away, watching in relief as the wound closed over. The laceration in his own chest healed as he gazed tenderly at her. Nothing mattered at the moment but his beautiful Sarah.

  He would pay for this later, but didn’t give a damn.

  They found Marcus unconscious, gagged and tied with heavy silver chains to the cliffs. The gremlins were nearby, buried to their necks in the sand, gagged and tied with polyester.

  After freeing them, Sarah wondered aloud why her sister hadn’t merely killed them. Adrian’s jaw tightened. “Your sister must have ascertained what you knew, that if they died, I’d instantly sense it. So she left my father to burn in the sun and the gremlins to drown at high tide, while she set about killing me.”

  Minutes later, as her pack gathered on the patio, Sarah watched in stunned awe as Marcus walked outside, looking fully healed. The vampire clan chief thanked each Draicon. Respect filled his face as he shook her father’s hand.

  “Once I thought vampires and Draicon could never be friends. I was wrong,” Marcus said.

  James nodded. “It seems we were both wrong.”

  At Marcus’s request, her pack went into the mansion for refreshments the vampires had prepared for them.

  “I don’t understand how your twin knew what weakened the gremlins or what I meant to you,” Adrian remarked.

  Sarah sighed. “We were so close we were psychically bound together. That’s how she knew I loved you, Adrian. She felt my emotions and knew my thoughts.”

  “But how did you know Sandra was masquerading as my father?”

  “Your father’s ring. You told me he never removed it because it was a symbol of his power. Sandra never knew it because when I remembered it, I had put up a mental block to keep her out.”

  Marcus gave Adrian a long, thoughtful look. “You broke the rules, again. You gave a werewolf your blood. The consequences of this cannot be ignored.”

  Adrian hugged her to his side. “I love Sarah,” he said quietly. “I don’t care that she’s a werewolf and I’m a vampire. All I know is I’d rather face the dawn tomorrow than spend another day without her. Even at the expense of losing my clan.”

  She wrenched out of his grasp. “Adrian, you’re his heir.”

  “That’s not as important to me as you are. I will always love my family, but I can’t bear the pain of being separated from you again.” His fingers trailed over her cheek. “But I’ll understand, and let go, if you wish to return to your new pack. I only want you to be happy, Sarah.”

  Love for him filled her, so much she could see nothing but Adrian. She cupped his solemn face in her hands.

  “My father has a pack now, but I never wanted that for myself. All I ever really wanted was you.” She struggled to speak through her tears. “I’d be honored, and happy, to be with you. Even if it means abandonment by everyone else.”

  “Then I have no choice,” Marcus said gravely.

  Adrian tensed. But the elder vampire’s next words filled her with shocked awe.

  “In my foolish pride, I never wanted vampires and werewolves to be allies, for I saw our race as superior. Centuries ago I made rules to protect our people against involvement with the Draicon, desiring to keep us apart and separate from those I considered beneath us.”

  “You always did live in the eighteenth century, instead of getting with the times, Dad,” Adrian said drily.

  Marcus looked thoughtful as he threw back his cowl. “Indeed.” He glanced at Sarah. “It was a mistake. You saved my son, Sarah, and I am forever grateful. You taught us the value of trusting a Draicon and learning to work with others.”

  The elder vampire studied Adrian. “I cannot break my own rules, son. But those rules could be changed by a new leader
. It’s time for our clan to embrace this new century. If you will accept that leadership, Adrian.”

  Hope filled her heart.

  “If I do, you must know I will change the rules, even to the point of taking a Draicon as my mate. If she will have me.” Adrian’s gaze at her was tender. “If you will have me, Sarah.”

  Her answer was to slide her arms around his neck and kiss him. When they finally parted, Marcus gave a deep, rich laugh startlingly like his son’s.

  “I think a Draicon could teach our people much. We would welcome you, Sarah. And I look forward to getting together with your pack, to learn how we can benefit from working together.” Marcus clapped Adrian on the shoulder. “Now, if you will, I could use a glass of wine. You have a fine collection of vintages I’d like to sample.”

  “Open a few bottles, Father. But what about the ceremony of trust?” Adrian asked.

  Marcus looked emotional. “You have already proven your trust, my son. To the most important person of all. Her.”

  Adrian’s father went into the house as they stared out at the ocean. Now she understood. The sea crashed against rocky cliffs, but their individual strengths gave the meeting a raw, powerful beauty. Between both existed an unbreakable bond. She and Adrian were the same. Their individual powers made their love even stronger. Theirs would never be a serene, unruffled relationship. Yet she wished for nothing less. Stormy sea meets strong rock in raw power and passion.

  Sounds of merriment drifted through the smashed French doors. The gremlins were verbally butchering “Frosty the Snowman” into “Frosty the No Man.”

  Adrian’s hands tightened on her waist. “I know why the gremlins turned you into a doll. We were watching a movie about a man who fell in love with a beautiful mannequin that came to life. They asked if I could ever love an ugly doll.” He brushed away a strand of hair from her face. “I told them yes, if the doll were you. Because you would always be beautiful in my eyes, Sarah.”

  Joy filled her heart. She splayed her hands against his firm chest, feeling the reassuring, strong beat of his heart. “I always thought Christmas was a time of miracles. Now I know it’s true. Because I have you, Adrian. I know vampires and Draicon can be friends, and much more.”

  “Much more,” he said softly, and then kissed her.

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-4484-3

  HOLIDAY WITH A VAMPIRE III

  Copyright © 2009 by Harlequin Books S.A.

  The publisher acknowledges the copyright holders of the individual works as follows:

  UNWRAPPED

  Copyright © 2009 by Bonnie Vanak

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Silhouette Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

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