by Trisha Baker
Meghann pulled open one of the cedar drawers and withdrew some antique jade and gold combs. Then she picked up a hairbrush and confronted the mirror for the first time since she sat down. What she saw made her give out a long, petrified shriek that brought Simon running into the room, half dressed, with track marks from the comb still visible in his damp hair.
"What is it, Sweet? What's the matter?"
"Look!" Meghann pointed a trembling figure at her mirror image, or rather the lack of a reflection that greeted her. Vampires cast see-through reflections but there was always some element of visibility. Now Meghann could barely make herself out.
Simon moved behind her, putting his hands on her shoulders and Meghann saw his reflection was as flimsy as hers. It was like looking into black water and seeing only the most blurred, general details of an image.
"What's the matter?" Meghann cried, feeling as frightened and confused as she had the first time she laid eyes on her vampire self. "What's wrong with us?"
Simon patted her hair, and with a qualm Meghann noted she could hardly make out the motion of his hand stroking her in the mirror. "It might be a positive sign, little one."
"A positive sign?" Meghann repeated disbelievingly and swiveled around, relieved to turn away from her reflection. "A positive sign of what?"
Simon knelt beside the vanity seat, taking her clammy hands in his dry, calm ones. "Sweetheart, you filled my heart with Mikal's blood—the blood of the only vampire ever to walk in daylight."
"Simon!" Meghann gasped as his words and their meaning dawned on her. "You're right... I gave you Mikal's blood. Does that mean you're going to be able to withstand the sun now?" With all that had happened, Meghann had almost lost track of the original reason behind their children's birth ... so Simon Baldevar could walk in daylight for the first time in four hundred years.
"I think we will withstand the sun together, Meghann." Simon smiled at her puzzlement and twirled a long strand of damp red hair in his fingers "Did you not just drink of me?"
"And that's why I got so sick!" Simon's grin broadened at her comprehension but Meghann continued to look doubtful.
"I don't understand." Meghann pointed at the mirror, careful not to let her eyes fall on her reflection. "Mikal could see himself as clearly as a mortal in mirrors. If we're going to be able to withstand the sun like him, shouldn't our reflections have become stronger instead of weaker?"
Simon shook his head. "You forget, Meghann, that we were vampires before his blood entered us. I think his blood will enhance our vampiric attributes, make them stronger. Therefore, our images might fade but our other abilities—our magic—will grown a thousandfold stronger."
"If that's so, we could have less resistance to sunlight"
"No," Simon argued. 'The ability to resist sunlight is a survival trait, therefore more dominant than the disease that forces us to live in darkness. Our telekinesis, ability to fly the plane, mesmerizing ability—all of these are survival traits, necessary to prolong our existence. Therefore, they will become stronger... as will our resistance to sunlight."
Meghann considered that. "Maybe. The only sure evidence to support your theory will be whether we fall asleep at dawn and feel the pain of the sunrise as usual. But Mikal's blood was diluted the moment it encountered our own. You can't think we'll be as strong as him . .. able to walk around at high noon."
"How do you know we will not, doubting Thomas?" Simon said and nipped her ear. "As you say, we shall simply have to wait and see. But you are right to be cautious. Even if we encounter the dawn with no ill effects, we shall not travel from the safety of this house and its shutters for days. We must be careful in our experiment."
Simon grinned and picked up the hairbrush that had fallen to the floor, quickly styling Meghann's hair into the modified pompadour he'd always favored. "I do hope you take your own good advice about the sunrise, Meghann, and not fret between now and then. Didn't Elizabeth gracefully withdraw so we'd finally have a chance to enjoy ourselves?"
Meghann's lips whitened and Simon stared at her thoughtfully but again the gods were kind, and the front bell rang before Simon could interrogate her.
"Dinner's arrived," she said with relieved brightness and shooed Simon back into his dressing room. "Meet me in the atrium in about ten minutes."
When Simon came downstairs, Meghann presented him with a room that shimmered and glowed by the pinpoint light of a dozen candles. In mere minutes, she'd transformed the garden room into a place fit for a romantic evening, with scented candles and hothouse gold and red roses swimming in large glass vases perfuming the air. The wicker dining table was covered by an elegant white linen cloth and set for dinner for two, with celadon-colored cloth napkins in gold rings, Waterford crystal glasses, antique silver, and Wedgwood china. On the rosewood sideboard a sumptuous buffet featuring fresh lobster, London broil, coconut shrimp fritters, and other mouthwatering entrees beckoned.
"Surprise," Meghann smiled while the two caterers hurriedly arranged the rest of the dishes. I meant it when I said I didn't want to share your company with anyone tonight. . . not even a crowded restaurant of mortals. I want you all to myself.
And you shall have me, Simon smiled and Meghann felt her knees grow warm and loose, as if her bones had gently dissolved. But have you forgotten we must feed an something besides mere food?
Taken care of Meghann replied smugly and turned to the two caterers. Her green eyes, a perfect match for the napkins on the table, widened slighdy and both women went rigid, their own eyes becoming glazed and unfocused.
"How very efficient," Simon complimented her and started to walk over to the hypnotized pair but a look from Meghann stopped him, making him raise one eyebrow in a quizzical gesture.
"You can't kill them," Meghann said warningly. 'The Waterside Restaurant knows I called them over here."
Simon rolled his eyes and took hold of one of the girls, a plump but pretty brunette. The girl made no move to escape, so lulled by the pleasant daydream of a Hawaiian beach Meghann put in her head she didn't even notice Simon. "Mikal's sword didn't pierce my brain, Meghann," he said as he rolled up the crisp white sleeve of her catering uniform.
With no further words, Simon made the smallest wound to pierce the girl's skin and began to feed. Meghann did the same to her victim, knowing in these summer months a vampire's mark could easily be explained away as mosquito bites if the wounds were small enough.
Meghann brought the wrist to her mouth and wrinkled her nose in distaste at the cloying perfume her host used. She disliked feeding off members of her own sex, though she could see from the smoldering gold eyes fixed on her Simon quite enjoyed the tableau of her feeding off another woman.
Then the girl's youthful blood flooded her mouth and Meghann forgot everything but the hot, coppery substance pouring down her throat like the smoothest wine. How right Simon was to despise transfusion packs, cold, glutinous blood that was nothing compared with the fresh, vital liquid she reveled in now. Transfusion packs never made her feel like she could soar through the night. Only warm blood completely restored her power and took away the gnawing, vicious ache of blood hunger that nagged and nagged at her to drink all she could . . .
Banrion!
Meghann winced at the exhortation, not sure if Alcuin was actually reaching out to her or if his voice was the tone her conscience took on to urge her away from murder. Whatever, the effect was the same— Meghann let the woman's wrist fall away from her mouth and straightened up, using one of the napkins on the table to wipe her lips clean.
She saw Simon had finished feeding and started instructing his victim to forget the bloodletting. Meghann thought she saw a smug gleam in Simon's eyes as he compared her much paler host to the girl he'd fed from.
Meghann smarted under his look, thinking he was no doubt remembering the many times she lectured him on the virtue of leaving one's prey alive. Those amused amber eyes were sending an implicit message—Simon was far more capable of restraint towa
rd humans than her when he chose to be.
Have you no sense of humor, Simon said and gave her a half smile. I'm simply ruffling your feathers a bit, my little schoolmarm of a vampire.
Meghann felt her mouth twitch and gave up the effort to look annoyed, laughing aloud to the delight of the two caterers, healthy enough and having no memory of anything but dishing out the food and receiving the five-hundred dollar tip Simon gave to each of them as he bid them goodnight.
With the caterers gone, Meghann went to take a seat across from Simon but one long arm wrapped around her waist and deposited her in his lap.
"If we dine privately, there's no reason to put any distance between us, is there?"
"None at all," Meghann agreed, her voice not quite steady as Simon plucked a long-stemmed red rose from the table centerpiece and rubbed the soft petals under her chin before he placed the flower between her cleavage.
"How thoughtless of me," Simon said when a thorn pricked the skin above her breast and a bright red droplet of blood appeared. Inclining his head slightly, his warm tongue licked the wound clean.
Now her mind was finally clear, clear of everything but the sharp pull of lust she felt as Simon used the thorns to stab lightly at her neck and then gently suck the minuscule wounds clean.
"Simon," she breathed and moaned as though she were in pain when he moved his head away from her breast.
"Now we must eat."
Meghann leapt to her feet and made her way to the sideboard without protest, knowing the game Simon had chosen to play tonight. They'd tease each other all the long, lovely hours between now and sunrise, until their passions rose to such a fever pitch they could no longer deny themselves.
Simon smiled at her acquiescence and opened the wine she'd selected, a rare vintage of Hermitage Blanc Cuvee de l'Oree '96 that Charles and Lee had presented them with for their wedding eighteen years earlier.
"To Charles and Lee," Meghann said softly, clinking her delicate crystal glass against his.
Simon nodded and a pall fell over the table, the two of them eating the sumptuous buffet in silence.
"May I propose another toast, little one?" Simon finally said, and Meghann looked up from the plate she'd loaded with London broil, grilled salmon, and watercress risotto. Grieving for her friends or not, Meghann still had to satisfy the ferocious appetite of a vampire.
"To a long and happy future together... you and I reunited at long last, along with our wonderful daughter at our side."
Meghann lifted her glass in agreement, knowing she, Simon and Elizabeth could have a bright future but it would always be tinged by the sadness she felt for her departed friends ... particularly Charles, her mainstay for so long.
Determined to try and enjoy this celebration of Simon's recovery, Meghann clinked her glass against his, speaking with forced gaiety. "What's in this future of ours? Before everything happened, Ellie said something about you giving her the money to start her own firm."
"Establishing a talent like Elizabeth's is a pleasure I greatly look forward to. But first I think we deserve a bit of leisure, all of us. Don't you agree? Along with the business, I also promised Elizabeth a Grand Tour of Europe. Naturally I assumed you'd come along."
"Simon!" Meghann glowed, her good mood genuine now. "She . . . I'll love it! I haven't been to Europe since before she was born, except for that brief trip Charles and I made to Ballnamore . . . and that was hardly pleasure. But I hope you understand ..."
"Understand what, little one?"
Careful, Meghann told herself and imagined a thick brick wall shielding her thoughts. With blood in her, the exertion to block Simon no longer made her queasy and weak. "Well, Ellie's a young woman now You have to provide her with her own quarters and understand that she'll be, er ..."
"Wanting to see young men her own age instead of spending every minute with us?" Simon asked dryly. "Really, Meghann, I know our daughter is of an age and I've already selected suitable acquaintances for her."
"What kind of suitable acquaintances?" Meghann asked curiously, spooning up some of the delicious lobster bisque and feeding it to Simon.
He accepted the tribute with a smile before responding. "Men she can marry . . . young men of excellent families with great fortunes and bright prospects. A great many of my mortal acquaintances have sons in Elizabeth's class, attending or graduated from proper universities. Elizabeth may see any of them and when she chooses one to marry, it shall be my pleasure to transform him and make him a partner in my various business concerns ... what the devil is the matter with you?"
"Oh, Simon!" Meghann panted out, red faced and breathless from her laughter. "Oh, you .. . oh, God, that's so funny! You went and picked out some MBA, prep school clones for Ellie. You wonderful, misguided idiot—Ellie can't stand boys like that! She's going to show your 'suitable acquaintances' the door! Ha, ha, ha!"
"What on earth is wrong with a good education and a desire for wealth?" Simon demanded, tight lipped and scowling in the face of Meghann's continued laughter, looking for all the world like an insulted hawk. "Please tell me you have not encouraged Elizabeth to favor the kind of scruffy riffraff you gave yourself to during our separation. I won't have my daughter wasting herself on down- at-the-heels trash."
Knowing "scruffy riffraff" was a not-too-veiled reference to Jimmy Delacroix, Meghann backed away from the subject hastily. "Where do you want to start the tour? Italy will be miserably hot right now . . . what about York? Ellie's dying to see where you came from."
Simon reached for one of the shrimp, sauteed in a delicious garlic sauce, and moved it over her lips before he began feeding it to her. "It shall be my pleasure to show Elizabeth her heritage. Little one, you'll give yourself an aneurysm if you continue trying to deceive me."
She'd forgotten how Simon attacked—sudden and swift with as much forewarning as a lion diving out from cover. Caught off guard exactly as he'd wanted her to be, Meghann choked and tried to slide off Simon's lap, only to be kept still by an arm that was suddenly that of a prison warden instead of a lover.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she muttered, reaching for her wineglass to wash down the shellfish that was caught in her throat.
"Is that why you won't meet my eyes?" Simon inquired in the menacing cobra's whisper she hadn't heard in years. Meghann knew from past experience his next move would be to bleed her and then strike her as a reprimand.
"Don't you dare hit me!"
"What have you done, Meghann, that I would want to hit you?" Simon grasped her chin in a punishing grip with his thumb and forefinger, forcing her eyes to lock on his. Meghann straightened on his lap and stared back at him, refusing to give Simon the satisfaction of seeing her shut her eyes to avoid him.
"If you ever hit me again," she said in a voice that didn't quaver and betray her inner turmoil, "I'll leave you forever. Now let me go!"
"You've been hiding something all night and I demand to know what it is," Simon said, unmoved by her threat.
"I'll tell you if you stop manhandling me. Now put me down!"
"So you can escape me via the astral plane? I think not." Simon grinned nastily when she flinched ... escaping this argument by flying away was exactly what Meghann had in mind. "It is only because I love you so that I have not peered into your mind but I shall if you continue to try my patience."
"Simon, I... I can't stand it anymore. I don't want anyone else to die . . . please!"
"Die? Enough of this! I shall not waste another moment on senseless riddles and coy evasions."
"No!" Meghann could feel the invasive presence coursing through her thoughts, violating her mind with the same brutal force of a rapist.
"Stop it! Stop it!" Meghann did everything she could to block him but Simon, damn his soul, was right about what the effort to thwart him would cost her. Within seconds, her temples started to pound, her vision blurred, and a thin trickle of blood fell from one nostril. Knowing she'd have a seizure if she didn't relax and Simon would get
the information he wanted anyway, Meghann stopped fighting ... better to save her strength so she could help Ellie and Jimmy.
No sooner had she thought their names than Simon let out an inarticulate roar and dropped her from his lap like something diseased.
"You let that odious creature put his hands on my child?" Simon glared down at her, his face white as a sheet but for eyes the same flat, pale yellow of an attack dog ready to strike.
"It happened while we were in Chicago . . ." Meghann started to explain and Simon's hand lashed out to grab her by the hair and yank her off the floor.
"Why is he still alive, Meghann?" Simon demanded and Meghann, scalp smarting from the punishing grip on her hair, landed a solid blow at his unprotected genitals.
A crack across the face sent Meghann flying into the French doors. The force of her landing shattered the glass against her head and back.
Painfully, Meghann pulled herself away, feeling hundreds of small, bleeding cuts against her scalp and back. She knew they'd heal within minutes but for now they stung mightily and she had no idea what else Simon had in mind for her.
Simon stalked over to her, giving her a look of scorn before he addressed her with an icy contempt unlike anything she'd ever heard from him before.
"Woman, you are a poor excuse for a wife and a sorrier one of a mother. All I ever asked of you was that you keep my daughter safe and you have failed utterly, actually giving your blessing to her fornicating with that scum ..."
"He saved your life!"
Simon raised an eyebrow. "And you thought to repay him by prostituting Elizabeth's body?"
Meghann didn't have any impression of leaping up but she moved so fast even Simon couldn't stop her before she slapped him across the face with all her strength.
The shocking red imprint of her hand against his white cheek appeared and disappeared, but Simon made no move to hit her back. He only said coolly, "You have proven yourself an unfit mother but a ludicrously simple mind to read. I know you told my daughter and that cowardly lecher to hide from me. All I need to know now is where you sent them so I can attend to Elizabeth. After that, you shall never see her, or me, again."
