Promise Me

by Tara Fox Hall

  * * * *

  Later, we watched a sci-fi movie with poor acting and terrible dialogue about a mutant fish that could come out of water and attack on land. We had a great time laughing and pointing at the bad special effects.

  “Did she really just say what I thought she said?”

  “That they’d be safer in the water.”

  As the credits rolled, Danial leaned back and sighed. “That was the worst movie I’ve ever seen. I think a few brain cells died in the watching.”

  I nuzzled him. “At least your cells will regenerate. Mine will stay dead.”

  I meant it as a joke, but the silence stretched between us.

  “I didn’t mean it the way it sounded.”

  “I know you didn’t,” he said softly.

  I tried to gloss over the awkwardness. “Let’s go to bed.”

  He helped me to my feet. “I’ll be downstairs. Join me when you’re ready.”

  I let out the dogs, stoked the fire, and turned off the lights. After slipping into a silky nightgown and brushing my hair, I ventured downstairs. Danial slipped his arm around me as I curled up next to him.

  “We need to get some blackout curtains for your bedroom. I’ll purchase some next week.”

  “Good idea.” It would be nice to wake up with him beside me in my own bed. Before I could think anything else, I was asleep.

  * * * *

  I woke up early the next morning, gave Danial a kiss while he slept, and went upstairs.

  After eating, I checked the weather channel. Heavy snow was the forecast for the middle of the week, which was normal weather for the first week of November. Another month and it would be Christmas. I would be spending it with a man I loved again. I remembered my last Christmas. My family had been there for me, but all their attention only made it harder when I returned to an empty house. I’d started to put up my tree, but had taken it down. I hadn’t been willing to go through the farce of trying to celebrate. I’d ended the night crying, thinking about Brennan.

  It was at that moment when I finally let the last of my grief go. I’d always cherish his memory, but I had another man who loved me now, someone I loved. And that was okay, because I’d been right when I’d told myself it was time to move on.

  I was able to rejoin Danial in bed by mid-afternoon. We slept until he woke at dark, saying that he’d heard tires. We both got dressed and went to the door.

  “Be safe, okay? Call me every night.”

  He kissed me goodbye before he walked to the waiting Expedition. He turned back when he reached it. As he waved, I committed his image to memory: his glossy hair with a slight curl, dark eyes now a little sad, and the line of his jaw strong and graceful, as if an artist had brought him to life with brushstrokes.

  Then he suddenly turned and ran back to me, looking sheepish. “I forgot to confirm that you were coming to stay again this week. Tuesday night?”

  “I’ll be there about seven,” I said with a smile.

  He gave me a quick kiss and jogged back. A few moments later, he was gone.

  The rest of Sunday passed uneventfully. I worked hard stacking wood and baking pies—banana cream this time—for Theo and Company. Right after dinner, I gave up on the chore list and went to bed early.

  After work on Monday, I stopped by Flora’s to check on her. As always, she was glad to see me. She brought me into her kitchen, telling me to sit down as she settled her twig-like frame into the opposite chair. “Tell me all about him.”

  I blushed. “How did you know?”

  She took my hand in her wrinkled, frail one. “Because you look happy the way you haven’t in a long time. Now tell me everything.”

  I told her about Danial, leaving out the paranormal aspects. “He makes me happy. But I’m worried about moving too fast.”

  “You said he proposed. Men don’t do that unless they’re sure they’re in love.”

  “I want to believe that.”

  “Then why don’t you? He’s not out to get your money.” She chuckled.

  I gritted my teeth a little. “I know that. I’m not ready to get married, or to live with him.”

  “Aren’t you? If you’re missing him after being apart only a day, I’d say you were. And it’s obvious you love him.”

  “What about my job? I can’t commute that far.”

  “That’s not a reason to refuse him.”

  “What about my house? I don’t want to give that up.” Even if Danial wanted to live with me, it was impractical. Where would the guards live? A dozen foxes roaming around the property would be noticed, to say nothing of a huge cougar. “It’s too soon.”

  “I’m going to tell you something,” she said sharply. “I’ve never told anyone this, so pay attention. I loved my husbands, both of them. But neither of them was the love of my life.”

  “Who was?”

  “A man I met when I was recently divorced. He showered me with presents and asked me to elope after knowing me a few months. I said no, because I felt it was too soon.”

  “Why didn’t you go?”

  “He was married. That wasn’t done in those days. He left her shortly after that. She remarried a year later.”

  I was hanging on every word, incredulous that I’d known Flora for ten years and had never heard any of this. “What happened? Did he write? Did you go to him?”

  “I never heard from him again,” she said sadly. “I don’t know what happened to him. But I always regretted not taking the opportunity.”

  “Maybe that was better. You got remarried, had a son, and lived a great life. You’ve done everything you set your mind to—”

  “Not everything. Maybe not the most important thing. That’s my point. Many people go into and out of your life, but only a handful stay. Make sure you have no regrets about the ones that disappear. Make damn sure.”

  I still pondered her words as I walked the dogs later that night. Maybe she was right. Times were tough, but I was a hard worker. I could probably get a job closer to Danial’s place. Or I could help him with his business. From the state of his office, he and Theo could use a little help.

  By the time I’d arrived home, I’d decided to throw caution to the wind and see Danial. I’d tell him how I felt and let him help me figure out what to do.

  * * * *

  Finding Danial’s house was harder than I’d expected. I could only remember that Alan was part of the name of the town nearest to Danial’s house, but not how it had been spelled. When I searched on MapQuest, that information wasn’t enough. I tried looking up Racklan, Allantown, and Alanville on the Internet, but got nothing. I almost called Danial and asked him to send a car and driver, then didn’t. I wanted to make it to Danial’s by myself. I tried cross-referencing various Chinese restaurants in the same town beginning with Alan in the name within an hour from my address and scored a hit almost immediately.

  “Alan’s Creek” I said triumphantly. It was forty minutes to an hour from my place, depending on the route. That sounded about right. I could backtrack it to Danial’s from the Chinese place.

  I printed out the map to the restaurant. The hardest part would be finding the unmarked dirt road leading to his house. I didn’t even know the name of the nearest street or road Danial’s place was located. It was rural, with no other houses for miles. But there should be tire tracks in the snow; I would look for them.

  I left the cats with food and water and turned up the heat, then climbed into the car with the dogs.

  My plan to find his place worked like a charm. I got to the restaurant easily and ordered shrimp fried rice and dumplings to take with me for dinner. I also got an order of chicken for Theo; then for the hard part. I closed my eyes and remembered the route Danial had driven when we’d left the restaurant.

  After one wrong turn and a quick correction, I determined that I was on the right track. But when I got to the road leading to Danial’s driveway, I couldn’t find the turnoff. The snow coating the ground made everything blend into whi
te, disguising any tracks. Making matters worse, there were no streetlights. I drove up and down four times before I saw a car brake hard and pull off the main road, entering the trees ahead of me. It had to be Danial’s driveway, although the car wasn’t familiar.

  I pulled over and turned off the lights, kicking myself. Danial had asked me to come Tuesday, not tonight, because he had company. Maybe even Devlin. I shivered, feeling stupid for showing up without calling first.

  Screw it. I’d gone through too much to get there not to go through with it. Danial had asked me to live with him. I had every right to drop in, announced or not.

  I turned into Danial’s driveway. A few minutes went by before I felt a bump as the wheels drove onto the blacktop. Soon, I drove into the clearing in front of Danial’s house.

  Someone had plowed and shoveled it. The porch light was the only one on and the car I’d followed was parked beneath it, unoccupied. I didn’t want to block it in so I drove around the side and parked near the garage. I got out and heard voices I didn’t recognize. Closing the door to keep the dogs in and the dome light off, I couched behind the car.

  The porch door opened and two men came out, Danial following. He wasn’t dressed casually, like usual. Instead, he had on a suit, and his shoulder length hair had been put back in a loose ponytail. The men were also dressed in expensive suits.

  “It was good doing business with you again,” said the taller and older of the two strangers.

  “Thanks, Tony,” Danial said.

  “We should have made it to your party,” the other said. “Sorry ’bout that. Hope to make it up to you with the present.” He laughed loudly.

  “I appreciate the thoughtfulness, gentlemen,” Danial said politely, but then flashed them a leer. “Call me if any other problems pop up.”

  “Donaldson’s dead,” Tony said. “That’ll take care of our problems.”

  “I apologize again for the delay,” Danial said. “I had difficulties the first time out.”

  “Not a problem. We know you always finish what you start.”

  Their voices were calm and businesslike, but I knew they were discussing a murder. Danial had killed someone for money.

  As I stood in shock, it got better. Tony yelled back to Danial as he and the other man backed away, “When you’re done with the girl, send her home, compliments of Thane. Take as long as you want.”

  Danial flashed him a ruthless smile, which abruptly vanished as the car drove off. Then he turned around and went inside. A moment later, a light went on in the great room.

  I let the dogs out and praised them for not having barked. I hadn’t wanted the two men to know I’d seen them. But, by God, someone else was going to know what I’d witnessed.

  I didn’t bother grabbing my things. Odds were I would be driving back home after I had this out with Danial.

  Theo was waiting on the porch, his arms folded over his chest. “What are you doing here?”

  I thought about trying to bribe him with the chicken No, he wasn’t going to go for it. “Get out of my way,” I growled.

  “You’re not going in there right now.”

  My fury boiled up past reasoning. I went to shove by him, but he grabbed me. The dogs immediately barked and growled at him.

  “Let me go!”

  His fingers locked on my arm. “You’re not going in there.”

  I was going in and he wasn’t going to stop me. “Get him!”

  My dogs weren’t trained to attack, but they took my command to heart. Ghost grabbed one of Theo’s arms and Darkness the other. Theo swore and struggled against them. Material ripped. Darkness spit out a piece of shirt and grabbed Theo’s arm again. I had only a few seconds before he realized they wouldn’t really hurt him.

  I raced inside. The kitchen was empty and so was the great room. I stood breathing hard, looking at Danial’s closed bedroom door. I didn’t want to open it to see what was going on inside. I wanted to let Theo stop me.

  But I’d come too far to see Danial. I was going to see him before I left.

  I reached for the handle and threw the door open. A beautiful woman lay on Danial’s bed, her dark hair falling over the pillow. Her eyes were unfocused, filled with desire. She was partially undressed; the top of her evening gown open to expose her breasts. She squinted up at me to see who’d interrupted and loosened her grip on Danial. He held her in his arms, one hand clutching her neck, lifting it, the other under her breast, his thumb over her heart. He was feeding, moaning pleasurably as he had when he’d fed off me, his eyes closed.

  I let out a gasp. He opened his eyes. “Sar?”

  I moved back quickly and shut the door, then headed toward the porch, cursing my own stupidity. Theo blocked my way, his sleeves in tatters though his arms were unmarked. The dogs sat in the spots their beds had been, wagging their tails.

  “Are you happy now you’ve seen he’s feeding?” Theo spat at me. “I hope it was everything you imagined it would be.”

  I had wanted to see, and I’d gotten an eyeful. “You could’ve told me, jackass.”

  The bedroom door opened and Danial emerged, disheveled. “What are you doing here?”

  “I came to see you.”

  “How did you get here?” he asked quickly.

  “I drove,” I muttered.

  Theo had to add his input. “How did you find the house?”

  “You think I can’t remember enough details to figure out how to find the way on my own?” I left out that I’d still be driving if I hadn’t seen Tony’s car.

  “Is there something wrong?” he asked as he came closer. “Are you okay?”

  “I needed to see you,” I said softly. I put my head in my hands, trying not to think of him with another woman in his bed. “I wanted to talk to you.”

  “Stay here with her, Theo. I’ll be right back.”

  After he closed the door, the only sounds were the dogs panting and Theo cursing under his breath. I decided to slip out with the dogs for a quick walk so I wouldn’t have to be there when Danial came out with that other woman.

  Theo stopped me as I was opening the front door. “Nice try. Go back in and sit down.”

  “I’m just going for a walk—”

  “Stay and face it now or get back in your car and leave,” he said cruelly. “I told you there were some things he couldn’t change for you. Get a grip.”

  I considered that a moment, and then walked back into the great room. Theo followed me in and leaned against the wall. I watched him with my eyes lowered. He’d taken off his shirt and had on only a tight T-shirt and his loose jeans, revealing the kind of muscles you only get from training hard with heavy weights. I wasn’t surprised he was fit, but my appreciation for his physique was new. Theo was handsome…

  “I can’t believe you sicced your dogs on me. Son of a bitch, Sar.”

  At least, aside from his temperament and all the swearing he did. “I’m sorry,” I said, making sure I didn’t sound sorry. “Are you hurt?”

  “You can see I’m not. But don’t do that again. Next time I won’t be so gentle with them. Or you.”

  Next time I wouldn’t be getting him chicken, either. I ignored him.

  The bedroom door opened and the dark-haired woman came out, her strapless sequined dress now covering her breasts. She held a gauze pad to her neck, her blue-eyed gaze unchallenging but very interested. Her wavy hair fell almost to her waist. She had to be younger than twenty-five. I gritted my teeth. “Hi.”

  “Hi,” she said awkwardly with an up and down look.

  Danial appeared behind her in the doorway. She turned and gave him a brief hug, which he returned, and then a kiss. He pulled away from her instantly. “Thank you, Angelica.”

  “Always my pleasure,” she said with a lascivious smile.

  Danial turned from her. His gaze rested on me briefly, then went to Theo. “Take Angelica home.”

  Theo pushed off the wall and followed Angelica to the front door, giving me a grumpy look as he
opened it for her. Then the door shut, and Danial and I were alone.

  I didn’t know whether to be relieved or upset, or what to say. He took the initiative. “You would have had to see something like that sooner or later. I do regret you walked in on us unknowing.”

  “I wasn’t prepared for how it made me feel.”

  “You couldn’t feed me…sustain me alone, I told you that. You’d die. If you lived here with me, I couldn’t send you away every time I needed to drink. This isn’t anything more than sustenance.” He paused. “You’ll need to come to terms with this if you Oath to me.”

  “Is it only women, or—”

  “Yes, unless it’s an emergency. Blood is blood. But it’s easiest to get from women. They’re content with what I’m comfortable giving them and don’t push to take it further.” He made a face. “The men who would find this act titillating wouldn’t be content with me just taking blood. And that’s as much as I’m going to speak of that, my dear.”

  Cold went through me. If I lived with Danial, this was how it was going to be, watching other women come to him. “How often?”

  “I feed from her on average once a month. She’s one of five women. One of them comes every few days, depending on my activity level.”

  I began to reply, but he talked over me. “Right now, she thinks it’s exciting and wonderful, and so do the others.” He became weary. “In another few years, she’ll marry, and I’ll have to find someone new to replace her. I don’t love her.”

  That was why other women had passed on being with Danial. Could I handle this? I wasn’t sure. I pushed that uncertainty away as I remembered the look on Angelica’s face while Danial fed. “Doesn’t what you do to her hurt?”

  “My saliva anesthetizes pain,” he reminded. “Most women don’t notice a shallow bite or cut, especially if I heal it after.” His voice dropped an octave. “When I bit you the first time, I wasn’t careful and bit too hard. That’s why you felt pain. This isn’t that.”

  No shit. Danial had never bitten me except in the dream we’d shared. I realized then that I wanted him to. I was jealous of Angelica for those sounds he made with her. “Angelica wants you. She isn’t just here for thrills.”