“Susie!”
She turned her head to the voice, closed her eyes, and sighed. “I thought she was going to kill you.” Tears burned behind her eyes. What if she hadn’t been able to stop Charlotte from reaching the gun?
“I thought she had killed you.” Terry smiled down at her. “I think you can get off her now. You’ve beaten her unconscious.”
“What about Beau?”
“Same.” He stepped around the women and grabbed his gun. “I think they’ll both sleep all the way to jail.”
She lifted the unconscious woman’s head. “Oh. I guess I got a bit carried away, but when I thought of what she tried to make me do…” She allowed Charlotte’s head to hit the ground. “I should have killed her.”
Strong hands gripped her shoulders and lifted her to her feet. He wrapped his arms around her and she fell apart, sobbing into his chest.
Warm lips kissed her forehead. “No. You’re not like them. You fought the compulsion to do harm.”
She shook her head. “Only after I convinced Christoff to take my blood. If he hadn’t helped me, I don’t know what I would have done.” She raised her head to stare into his emerald eyes. What if I’d killed the only man I’ve ever loved? “I was weak, Terry. I can’t stand the person I’ve become. Cowardly, pathetic, frightened of everything—”
“Frightened? Are you kidding me?” He held her at arm’s length, his face beaming with pride. “After all you’ve been through, you asked a vampire to take your blood and you didn’t do it for yourself, you did it to save me.”
“I’m not sure you’d call that brave.” She shrugged, but the realization of what she’d done suddenly hit home. I actually asked a vampire to control me?
His laughed reverberated through his hands, shaking her shoulders. “Not just any vampire either. Christoff even frightens me and I’ve heard the other vampires give him a wide berth because of his reputation. Not brave? You picked the biggest, meanest son of a bit—”
“If you finish that sentence,” the voice from the door told informed him, “you’ll discover how I came to earn that reputation.”
“Christoff. Did you get the antidote to David in time? Are they all okay?”
“Yes, little one. The situation is under control.” He looked down at the woman on the floor. “You seem to have taken care of the perpetrators. I found her lover in the hall and took him to the police station while you had your little chat. The officers expect a report from you, Palmer. Shall I escort this one too?”
“She may need a visit to the hospital first,” Susie told him before reaching up with her good hand to touch her own forehead. “I may join her.”
“I can take away your injuries.” Christoff’s expression softened. His voice reflected the concern on his face as he sent her a telepathic message. “I will not harm you.”
“I appreciate your offer, but, I’m sure it’s nothing.”
He opened his mouth to protest. She silenced him using their mental link. “I’d hate to shatter his faith in me. He thinks I’m brave, but I’m not sure I’m up to going through a blood exchange twice in one day.”
“Your wrist, little one. You do realize it’s broken?”
She nodded. “Yes, I know. Maybe tomorrow I’ll call on you to help me. Tonight … I’ll rely on an emergency doctor and painkillers.”
Terry squinted as his gaze shifted from Susie to Christoff. “What am I missing here?”
“You have a fine woman, Palmer,” Christoff told him as he scooped the unconscious doctor from the floor and threw her over his shoulder. “Take her to the hospital. I’ll inform the station that you’ll be in tomorrow.”
“Wait!” Susie called to him before rushing him with open arms. She reached up on tip-toes, cupped his face in her hands, and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”
His head dipped in a subtle nod, but she detected the hint of a smile on his lips before he disappeared.
Terry came up behind her, wrapped his arms around her, and whispered into her ear, “Should I be jealous?”
Heat radiated from his body and her own body relaxed against his chest. She closed her eyes. Almost lost this. “Stop talking and hold me,” she told him as tears streamed down her cheeks. “Just hold me.”
Chapter Sixteen
“This is so surreal,” Susie whispered into Terry’s ear as she sat, curled up in his lap on one of the large, leather sofas in the living room of the Corel residence. Despite an entire coven of vampires surrounding them, she felt completely at ease. Funnier still, she almost pitied the strangers who had been called to debrief the events of the last few weeks. Vampires who’d bravely rushed to answer the call to arms, yet cowered under the watchful eye of the man she now called friend. Christoff stood leaning against a doorframe, his impassive expression visibly disturbing the other guests. Susie stifled a grin, suspecting it was his intention to have that effect.
“Friends.” David raised his voice above the crowd. “Thank you all for coming to our assistance. I’m pleased to announce that Buford Moroux has been deported back to Haiti, along with his partner. The antidote has been distributed and all the victims are recovering nicely. We couldn’t have accomplished this without your help.” He lifted his wine glass in salute. “Here’s to the return of tranquility and to our continuing friendship.”
A chorus of cheers rang out, along with the clinking of glasses. All except one.
“Why aren’t you toasting, Christoff?” Susie asked, cradling the fresh cast on her wrist. I don’t like that look on his face. “What is it that you’re not telling us?”
He shifted away from the door, his actions stirring movement of half the room as they jumped in their seats. The other half reacted with gasps. But not Susie. She’d come to understand him and the wall he’d erected to discourage conversation. Big, tough, vampires, she scoffed. If only they knew how thoughtful he could be.
“Moroux and his lover were indeed a threat to this small town.” He hesitated and turned towards Susie. “Their complete lack of compassion for the doctor’s patients and the families of those patients proved how dangerous the situation could have become, had it not been for the bravery of our young friends.” He motioned toward the only humans in the room. Susie smiled as Terry’s arms hugged her closer.
He whispered in her ear, “See, even Lurch thinks you’re brave.”
“Shh.”
“But the bokor was only a taste of what’s to come. The danger that drew me to this country has not yet revealed itself.”
Terry lunged forward in his seat, almost toppling Susie from her perch on his lap. He caught her before she fell, whispering an apology before addressing Christoff’s revelation.
“You’re telling us that there’s something else out there? Something worse than a Voodoo priest dealing in black magic?”
“I am.”
“Care to elaborate?”
Susie felt a slight shove. Then Christoff’s voice came through clear in her mind. “You have overcome much in the last few weeks, little one. Are you sure you want to push your limits?”
She nodded her answer. He acknowledged the slight movement of her head, mirroring her action. He turned his attention to the group, specifically the brothers Corel.
“Years ago, I vanquished a powerful mage who, like Moroux, sought to control and wreak havoc. Unlike the bokor, this sorcerer was narcissistic and a high-functioning sociopath who did not depend on spells to convince people to do his bidding. Soon, his greed for power became insatiable and he turned to the dark arts, finally selling his soul to a demon before I expedited the transaction. Somehow, his spirit has resurfaced.”
Susie couldn’t help but notice Meaghan reach for David’s arm and raise her eyes to him. The realization hit home. Damn. If vampires feared demons, what hope do we humans have? Terry must have come to the same conclusion.
“Fuck me.”
All eyes turned to him but only Meaghan commented, “I think we all share Terry’s sentiments. We’ve recent
ly dealt with a demon and I’m not keen on repeating the experience. What can we expect from one who’s in cahoots with a mage?”
“Danger. Danger and mayhem.” He frowned before continuing. “I believe that this, not the events of the last few weeks, is the apocalypse Anna saw in her visions.”
“Don’t sugarcoat it.” Terry squeezed Susie tighter. She could feel his heart pounding against her back. Although he tried to retain an air of confidence with his nonchalant words, she knew how much this revelation had shaken him. He’d told her about his encounter with a demon. How he hadn’t believed in their existence until Meaghan had been offered up as a sacrifice. The experience almost killed Terry and forced David to turn Meaghan into a vampire in order to save her life. No wonder they both looked as pale as sheets, Meaghan more so than usual.
A barrage of questions shot at Christoff from all directions. Apparently, Meaghan and Terry weren’t the only ones troubled by the news. David stilled the anxious voices with a wave of his hands. “All right, Berg. Tell us the plan of action. What should we do?”
“Stay out of my way.” He turned and headed toward the foyer, David hot on his heels.
“Wait! You can’t do this alone.”
Without slowing his pace, Christoff called over his shoulder, “I can and I will.”
****
“Well, that was delightful.” Terry opened the door to his car but Susie shook her head.
“Let’s go for a walk in the garden before we go home.”
He tilted his head to one side, squinting as he said, “You do realize it’s two in the morning?” The last time he’d taken her out at night, she’d freaked out. Had she even realized the time?
“It’s a beautiful night … I mean, morning. Let’s enjoy the flowers. While we were inside, I noticed that the balcony fairy lights were on. I haven’t been in the garden at night before. Please, Terry. I’m sure they won’t mind.”
Wrapping his jacket around her shoulders, he led her around to the back of the Corel mansion. “Not that I’m complaining about spending time with my beautiful woman in a romantic setting, but, it’s pretty dark out and—”
“And the house is full of vampires?”
He nodded, expecting the realization to send her hightailing it back to the car. “Wouldn’t you prefer to go home?”
“I have news for you, Terry Palmer.”
She reached up and touched his face with the palm of her good hand. His heart fluttered in his chest at the warmth of her skin. The warmth of the gesture. So, this is what love feels like?
The patio fairy lights reflected in her beautiful eyes as she told him, “Home is wherever you are.”
As he closed his eyes for a moment, he prayed that when he reopened them, she’d still be there. In his life. In his arms. Don’t let this be only a beautiful dream.
“I don’t deserve you,” he told her as he cupped her hand to his face. He drew her hand to his lips and kissed each knuckle. “But if you’ll give me the chance, I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to be more worthy of you.”
“Are you kidding?” She shook her head and laughed. “When we first met, I could barely look you in the eye, do you remember?”
He responded with a shrug and a smile. Of course he remembered the timid little mouse in David’s office, hiding behind Derek. The most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. “You’d just been through an ordeal. It wasn’t your fault.”
“I know that … now. It took me a long time to understand that there were still good, gentle people in the world. People like you.”
“I don’t know many people who’d describe me as gentle.” He chuckled.
“Maybe not to your face.”
Her half-smile and wink sent a surge of blood to his crotch, leaving his head groggy from the blood loss. Is this real? Is it possible she loves me as much as I love her?
“If I’ve had anything to do with your recovery, I’m pleased to have contributed, but you’ve done all the hard yards yourself, Susie. Look how far you’ve come. You faced a Voodoo priest and wrestled a woman for a gun. You not only allowed, but you actually persuaded a vampire to take control of your mind. Even now, do you realize this is the first time you’ve purposely ventured out after dark since your abduction?”
“I have you to thank for that,” she told him. “I was only able to do all of those things because I couldn’t risk losing you. You’ve given me the strength to face my fears, to take back the night.”
Overcome with emotion, he pulled her against his chest, cradling her head in his palm as he hugged her. “Until I met you, I’ve never really known fear, never cared what happened to me. When you suddenly turned on me, I thought my life was over. I lost the strength to go on. You’re not the only one who feared the night. Without you, my nights seemed endless, dark and lonely. I don’t know how I would have survived another night without you in my arms.”
Dampness soaked his shirt. He felt the muffled sob reverberate through his chest, igniting every cell in his body, acknowledging her acceptance of his love. She lifted her chin. The green in her hazel eyes blazed against the mocha background, and he instantly recognized the significance. He’d seen that expression many times in the recent weeks. Come-to-bed eyes. His cock jumped in appreciation.
“Take me home,” she told him with a sly smile as she tilted her head toward the bulge in his jeans. “We have a lot of catching up to do.”
“Why wait until we get home?” Surely he could find a secluded part of the garden. He needed her. Now.
She shook her head and took off running. “Last one to the car is a rotten egg.”
He followed her. Not in the physical sense, but with his eyes. Followed the curve of her bottom in those snug jeans. Followed the bounce of her breasts as she sprinted down the path. Followed the glow of her golden locks as the wind lifted the curls.
He took his time walking back to the car, enjoying the view, planning their future in his mind. But he’d learned from previous mistakes. No rushing her. She’d been through so much in her short life. More than most could bear and she’d handled it with class. What a woman. He wanted her, body and soul, but more than that, he wanted marriage, kids, the whole shebang.
She reached the car and turned, frowning. “I thought you were in a hurry?”
“I am,” he told her as he threaded his fingers through her hair, cupping the back of her head as he drew her in for a kiss. He’d have those things he wanted so badly, in time. For now, all he wanted was Susie. In his bed, in his life, forever in his heart.
The End
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