His cell phone rang, startling him. He unclipped it from his waistband. “Porter.”
“Hey, bro. What’s going on? I called my buddy down at the LMPD to try to get you the stuff you wanted, and I ended up getting questioned. He said someone stole copies of the reports. Tell me it wasn’t you.”
“It wasn’t me.”
“Jake . . .”
“Dude, I’m telling the truth. It wasn’t me. Nyla got them.”
“Nyla?”
“Yes, Nyla. Said she showed ‘em her boobs and walked out with copies of the police reports. Lucked out, too, because Hicksville had just faxed a copy of their report over.”
“Jake, listen to me carefully. No one handed that woman copies of those reports. One of the cops was attacked.”
Jake felt a ball of unease form in his stomach, and he dropped the police report onto the passenger side seat. His brother’s tone spooked him. “Attacked how?”
“I don’t know. They found him lying in the file room, dazed and confused. He swore he caught some gorgeous woman making copies of the reports, and when he confronted her, she jumped him, bit his neck and drank his blood until he blacked out. The guys thought he was making up a story because someone had gotten the jump on him and stole copies of those reports. Hell, I thought you’d knocked him out and stole them yourself.”
“He said a beautiful woman drank his blood?” The ball of unease churned in his gut, increasing in size.
“Yes. Given the fact they’re investigating a serial killer who leaves fang marks, it would be easy to believe he’d made up the vampire story to cover his ass, thinking the guys would believe him, but there were no fang marks on him.”
And there wouldn’t be, because real vampires didn’t leave marks. However, the police didn’t know that, so if the man had lied about a vampire attack, he would have done something to make it look as though he’d been bitten.
“Gotta go,” Jake told his brother and flipped his phone closed, tossing it on the seat. It immediately started to ring, but he ignored it.
His mind raced with the information Jonah had just given him. Nyla had gone to the police station to get the police reports with no fake identification or badge to bluff her way in. Yet she’d somehow gotten them. He thought back to the night he’d met her and the little things that had happened since, which he’d somehow overlooked. He’d met her at night, and she’d been insistent on getting to the motel before daybreak. She had never left the motel before nightfall, and now she was in the room sleeping and had specifically told him to wake her at sundown.
She wanted to avoid sunlight!
Jake ignored the still-ringing cell phone and got out of the car, rounding to the trunk. He opened it and grabbed a UV-blanket and a machete, cursing himself for leaving his gun and specially crafted UV bullets in the room—with Nyla.
His heart and brain battled inside him as he marched toward the motel room, wondering how he would kill Nyla if she turned out to be a vamp. And how he would deal with the fact that he’d fallen for one of those hideous monsters.
Chapter Eleven
IT WAS SO COLD. Nyla’s entire body shivered as she stood in a ray of pure blue moonlight, searching the blue-tinged trees around her. Somebody was out there. She could feel them watching her.
This was the Dream Teller’s world. She’d been in it many times before, starting the week before she was attacked by Demarcus. Back then the old woman had come to her nightly, and each night she’d given her a direct order: Save Jacob Porter.
The Dream Teller’s voice had led her to the alley that fateful night, where she’d crouched atop a Dumpster until the mysterious Jacob Porter arrived. Once Demarcus started for Jake, she knew she had to save him, so she’d leapt from the Dumpster, distracting the vampire by scratching him across the face.
Once Jake was out of immediate danger, she’d shifted to panther form and tore into Demarcus with all her might, using her rage to fight off the fear which had prevented her from doing anything to save Bobby, a regret she would carry until the day she died.
“Nyla, it is time.” The Dream Teller’s voice seemed to carry on the wind.
“Time for what?” Nyla searched for the old woman, but all she saw were hundreds of trees encircling the clearing in which she stood in the middle. She’d never seen the woman, not even a shadow, and part of her was afraid to see her. Yet, she was tired of being caught in this dream world, given orders by someone who wouldn’t show her face. “These cryptic messages are getting old. Just tell me what you want me to know so I can get out of here.”
The sound of laughter echoed through the air, followed by the sound of footsteps. Fear snaked its way up Nyla’s spine as she listened to the approaching footsteps, unable to determine from which direction they were coming.
“Relax, little cat.”
Nyla gave a startled yelp as the old woman’s icy cold breath blew against the back of her neck. The Dream Teller was right behind her, had crept up on her too easily.
“Turn around, little cat. I will not hurt you. You have too important a job.”
“What do you want?” Nyla asked as she closed her eyes, too scared to look at the mysterious Dream Teller. She didn’t know why, but the thought of coming face to face with the woman who’d haunted her dreams for sixteen years was terrifying.
“I am not your enemy, Nyla. You feel afraid because of the coldness, but it is the coldness of harsh truth. Truth you do not want to face. Yet you must face it to conquer it.”
Nyla shook her head, fighting to remain calm, trying to slow her heartbeat to its normal rate. She knew better than to attempt escape. She’d tried before. The only way to leave this dream realm was to be released by the Dream Teller. With no other options available, she took a deep breath, released it, and repeated the action twice. Then she turned around to face her fears.
The Dream Teller stood before her in a dark, hooded cloak, looking every bit as old and haggard as her voice. Her face was lined with thick grooves. It wasn’t a beautiful face, the nose being entirely too big and sharp, but Nyla couldn’t help being struck in awe by the woman whose eyes were two sightless, platinum orbs. There was no pupil, no iris. Just breathtaking platinum. Her skin was thick and tough like leather, and a long rope of thick, wavy white hair escaped from her hood, framing her tired face.
“You’re blind,” Nyla whispered.
“Only my eyes, yet I see more than most,” the old woman replied.
“Are you a witch?”
“Yes.”
“Why have you been haunting my dreams, giving me these cryptic messages and refusing to show yourself?”
She smiled, a slight upward tilt of her thin lips. “I did not refuse. You were not ready to see the truth, but now you must face it in order to protect yourself and Jake.”
“Protect us from what?”
“The dark ones.”
Nyla waited for the old woman to say more. When she didn’t, Nyla asked, “Do the dark ones have names?”
The witch’s smile widened. She seemed to enjoy teasing Nyla with her cryptic messages. “You must focus on gaining Jake’s trust. That is the only thing to concern yourself with now.”
Suddenly, Nyla felt warmth spread over her body, cloaking her from the shoulders down. She’d never been warm in this realm. She’d always been bitterly cold. She looked around, confused. The moon was still perched in the night sky, its cold rays lighting the clearing. “Why am I warm?”
“Your physical body is warm, and its warmth has reached you here.”
Nyla was even more confused when she thought back to the motel room where she slept on top of the sheets. “I’m not under the covers. I shouldn’t be so warm.”
“Jake has covered you with a UV blanket.”
“He’s what?” Nyla frantically looked at her arms, i
nspecting them for damage. “Let me out of here! He’s killing me. I’m going to die! I’m going to melt into a puddle! I’m—”
“Nyla, you are fine.”
“I may be fine here, but out there my body is being destroyed!” She grabbed the old woman by the shoulders. “Let me out of here, you old hag before I—”
“Nyla, the sun is not your enemy,” the old woman said.
“Of course it’s my enemy. I’m a vampire!”
“You’re a daywalker.”
Nyla released her grip on the woman’s frail shoulders and stared at her in disbelief. “A daywalker? What in hell is a daywalker?”
“Exactly what it sounds like. When Demarcus bit you, he infected you with his agelessness and his blood thirst, but not with his weakness to sunlight. UV rays will not harm you.”
Nyla took a few steps back, shocked to her core. “You’re telling me that I’ve avoided sunlight for sixteen years, and it wouldn’t have hurt me?”
“Yes.”
“Dammit, why didn’t you tell me?” Nyla didn’t bother trying to hide her anger. For sixteen years she’d hidden in darkness, only enjoying the sun’s warmth in her feline form and yearning to feel it on her human face.
“You are supposed to find your own way, little cat. I only step in when it is absolutely necessary.”
“That’s a stupid answer. What was I supposed to do? Risk becoming a crispy critter just to prove that, like all vampires, I couldn’t tolerate sunlight?”
When the old woman just smiled, Nyla ignored the desire to smack away her smile and asked, “Why are you telling me this now? What’s changed?” Before the Dream Teller could respond, Nyla knew the answer. “You’re telling me because Jake is covering me with a UV blanket. Why’s he doing that?”
“He thinks you’re a vampire.”
A new wave of fear crashed through Nyla as she realized this could only mean Jake had discovered something about her. But what? She knew he’d asked Jonah to find out who she was, but there wasn’t anything to find. She had no property in her name and had never been arrested. So what had Jake learned that made him think she was a vampire? On the heels of that thought came another one that filled her with such sadness she could barely breathe.
Nyla stared at the old woman, tears suddenly stinging her eyes. “I can’t believe he could kill me that easily. And to think I . . .”
“Love this man?” The Dream Teller finished for her when her voice trailed off. “He sees only black and white, Nyla. Good and evil. But he is starting to realize that there is a gray area.”
“Is that why he’s trying to kill me? Because he’s starting to see that there’s a gray area?” Nyla snapped, anger suddenly surging through her. “Release me from this damned dream. I have to get back before Jake does something like stake me through the heart.”
The old woman shook her head. “He won’t. As far as he knows, all vampires are destroyed by ultraviolet rays. He will still wonder, however, if you are something other than human, so you need to be very careful.”
“Ya think?” Nyla rolled her eyes, placing her hands on her hips.
“You need to gain his trust, Nyla, and capture his heart,” the Dream Teller said, ignoring Nyla’s sarcasm.
“And how am I supposed to do that? He just tried to kill me, remember?”
“As I said, he is discovering the gray area. He is beginning to understand that not all nonhumans are good or bad. It started with Christian.”
“You’re talking about the vampire who tied him up?”
The old woman nodded. “And drank from him.”
“Drank from him?” Nyla’s mouth dropped open in shock. She’d had no idea he’d been attacked by the seemingly nonthreatening vamp.
“Yes, dear. Yet, Christian still lives.”
“No way would Jake knowingly allow a vampire to drink from him and live.” Nyla ran her fingers through her hair as she tried to figure out how Christian had managed the feat. “Was he unconscious? No, Jake would sense Christian. He has that psychic thing he does where he knows when vampires are coming.”
“You’ve discovered that?” The Dream Teller asked, smiling. “It is a wondrous gift he carries. He was born with the ability to sense nonhumans. It was how he sensed evil in that alley all those years ago.”
Nyla’s breath hitched as she realized the implication of what the witch was saying. “Are you saying Jake’s a true slayer?”
“Yes.”
Wow, Nyla thought. Slayers were not just average hunters. They had more than skill. They had powers an average hunter could only dream of. They sensed vampires of all ages, could find them easily, effortlessly. They were the only mortals who could truly hold their own against a vampire in a hand to hand fight. And it was their life’s mission to destroy all evidence of the vampire race.
“You say I’m supposed to capture Jake’s heart, but how can I make Jake love me when it’s in his genetic makeup to destroy me?”
“Jake is a special slayer, and you are a special vampire. The two of you are destined to help protect a very important child. Because of this, Jake must fall in love with you, or all will be doomed.”
Nyla blinked and shook her head. “We’re supposed to protect a child?”
“Yes. A very special child.”
“Okay. Since I’m a vampire and can’t have kids, I assume that you’re talking about some other kid. Are you going to give me a hint as to who it is and why it’s our job to protect him—or her?”
The Dream Teller smiled. “Follow me.”
The old witch turned and walked toward the thick wall of trees encircling them. A little scared of what might lie inside the heavily wooded area, Nyla hesitated a moment before she did as she was told. What other option did she have? She couldn’t leave the dream realm until she was released.
They traveled deep into the forest, the crunching of leaves and the snapping of twigs beneath their feet serving as the only sound in the otherwise deadly silence. Although the warmth from the real world still cloaked her, Nyla could feel the whispers of arctic cold still lingering in the air. She did her best to ignore the cold as they continued their trek through the seemingly endless forest, eventually stopping before a large rock formation.
Nyla looked up in an effort to see the whole mountain of stone. It was tinged blue, as was everything else in this azure world. The rocks were piled atop each other in haphazard layers, reaching high into the heavens. No matter how far back she craned her neck, Nyla couldn’t see the top.
“When the time is right, I will bring both you and Jake here,” the old witch said, gesturing toward the mountain before them with a frail hand. “You will find the answers you need inside these walls, and the words you find will guide you and the others who have been chosen to guard the child.”
“Why can’t I see inside the walls now?”
“Because you need your partner with you.”
“And Jake is my partner?”
“Yes. He has always been your partner, even before either of you were born.”
At the witch’s last statement, Nyla recalled the instant feelings of protection that had sprung to life inside her when she first saw Jake enter the clearing that fateful night sixteen years ago.
“It is time for you to go back and face Jake now, little cat. You will awaken burning with the Heat, so be prepared.”
“I don’t think it’s going to be a problem,” Nyla said. Her anger had previously kept the Heat at bay, and she would have no trouble being angry with Jake now. The man had tried to kill her in her sleep without even giving her a chance to defend herself verbally or physically. She might love him, and they might be destined to be “partners” to protect some child, but there were just some things that you didn’t forgive and forget easily. Almost being murdered was one of them.
> “Take care, little cat, and remember to be patient with your partner. He must battle everything he has ever believed to become the hero he needs to be and the man you need at your side. I will call you both when it is time.”
Without warning, Nyla felt the warmth around her intensify and realized she was no longer in the dream realm. Pretending she was still deeply asleep, she used her excellent sense of smell to locate Jake’s position. Bad idea, she realized as the masculine scent of him steamrolled over her, igniting a fire deep inside her core. She dampened immediately, ready and willing to do anything he desired as long as she could stop the almost painful craving of the Heat engulfing her body.
She fought against the urge to squirm as wave after wave of desire flowed through her body, begging her to do something to end the torture. She grew hotter as the hunger inside intensified, but she realized not all of the heat was coming from inside her. She was still under the UV blanket Jake had draped over her in an effort to kill her.
A mixture of sorrow and rage crept back inside her mind, shoving against the desire currently trying to control her. The emotions waged a war inside her body, but it was two against one, and desire was sent packing as sorrow and rage only strengthened the more she thought about what he’d done. He’d tried to kill her. Not hurt or maim, but kill her. Without asking her any questions or giving her even the slightest of chances to defend herself. He’d just wanted her dead and destroyed. The bastard.
Nyla opened her mouth, letting out a soft sigh, knowing it would attract Jake’s attention. She heard the creak of a floorboard, followed by careful footsteps. He was being cautious. It almost made her laugh. All the caution in the world wouldn’t save his butt now.
She felt him lean over her, his breath softly blowing against her cheek, and after he’d seemed to have observed her for a moment the cover was gently lifted from her shoulders. Was he trying to hide the evidence of his attack? Not a chance, Nyla thought, reaching out to catch his neck in a death grip.
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