“You don’t have to watch,” Saintcrow said.
“Thank goodness,” she murmured.
Saintcrow took hold of Ethan’s forearm. “Ready?”
Ethan nodded, then flinched when the other vampire buried his fangs in one of the large arteries in his arm.
Sofia tried not to watch, but she couldn’t seem to look away. She was repelled yet oddly attracted at the same time. Power thrummed through the air and skittered over her skin. Ethan didn’t seem to be breathing; his face was deathly pale.
Just when she started to worry that Saintcrow was going to drain Ethan dry, the master vampire lifted his head and sealed the puncture wounds in his fledgling’s arm.
“Your turn,” Saintcrow said, and pressed his wrist to Ethan’s lips. When he didn’t respond, Saintcrow slapped him, hard. Twice. “You’ve got to drink! Now!”
And Ethan sank his fangs into Saintcrow’s forearm.
Sofia held her breath as she glanced from one vampire to the other and back again. Both had their eyes closed. Saintcrow groaned once, the sound seeming to come from the very depths of his soul. Pain or pleasure, she couldn’t tell.
She practically jumped out of her skin when Saintcrow growled, “Enough!” and jerked his arm out of Ethan’s grasp.
Ethan’s fangs carved a long bloody furrow in the master vampire’s arm.
To Sofia’s amazement, the wound healed almost instantly.
Ethan jerked upright, his eyes wild and blazing red, his fangs stained with crimson.
Pushing Sofia out of the way, Saintcrow stood in front of her.
Ethan didn’t seem to notice. His nostrils flared as he took a deep breath.
“Ethan, look at me.” Saintcrow’s voice was low and compelling. Staying between Ethan and Sofia, he asked, “How do you feel?”
“Strange.”
“Do you need to feed?”
“Didn’t I just do that?”
“Vampire blood isn’t always satisfying to another vampire.”
“I’m fine.” Hands clenched, Ethan’s gaze moved back and forth across the room before focusing on Sofia.
She scrambled to her feet and took an involuntary step backward, let out a huff of relief when the red faded from his eyes and his fangs retracted.
“I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said, his voice tight.
“I know. Are you sure you’re okay?”
Rising, Ethan flexed his hands and shoulders. “I feel great.” Better than great, he thought. All his senses seemed stronger, more intense, as if they were an inbred part of him and not a gift from his sire. As if he had been born a vampire. It was an amazing sensation. He tried to find words to describe it but failed. “I’m fine,” he said again, then glanced at Saintcrow. “How do you feel?”
“Still able to whip your butt,” Saintcrow said, grinning. “And don’t you forget it.”
Ethan nodded as the weight of his sire’s ancient power crawled over him. “So, your experiment seems to be a success, so far. Now what?”
“I’m going to go scout around to see if I can find a clue as to Kadie’s whereabouts.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Stay here and keep an eye on Sofia. If Browning shows up, do whatever you have to do to keep him here. Sofia, I’ll stop at the store and pick up enough groceries to last you a couple of days.”
“Thanks,” she said automatically.
With a wave of his hand, Saintcrow vanished from their sight.
Now that they were alone, Sofia tried not to stare at Ethan, but she couldn’t help it. He looked the same. And yet he didn’t. Even though he was just standing there, she could feel the power radiating from him like heat from a blast furnace.
But it was more than that. Tilting her head to the side, she tried to figure out what was different. And then she knew. Drinking Saintcrow’s blood hadn’t just changed him on the inside—it had also transformed him on the outside. The changes were subtle. Was she only imagining them? But no, his hair was a bit thicker, his eyes a deeper shade of brown. And yet the difference went deeper than that. There was an air of self-confidence, of total acceptance of who and what he was, that was palpable. She shivered with the realization that Ethan now exuded the same powerful, scary aura as his master.
Without realizing what she was doing, she took several steps away from him.
It was a move not lost on Ethan. He glanced around, as if seeking the cause of her sudden anxiety. “What’s wrong?”
Suddenly speechless, she shook her head.
“Sofie, talk to me.”
“You . . . you’re . . . different.” She took a deep breath, and for some inexplicable reason, her fear turned to desire. He was beautiful and sexy and she wanted him. Needed him. Now.
Ethan sucked in a breath as the scent of her sexual hunger filled the room. What the hell?
“Ethan . . .” Hips swaying provocatively, she closed the distance between them and slipped her arms around his neck. “Kiss me.”
“Sofie . . .”
Rising on her tiptoes, her body flush with his, she kissed him deeply, passionately.
His first response was to carry her to bed and bury himself in her sweetness. But something wasn’t right. Taking hold of her wrists, he gently drew her arms away from his neck. “Sofie?”
She blinked up at him, her lips slightly parted, her expression confused. “What’s wrong?”
“I think you’re reacting to . . .” Ethan frowned. To what?
“I thought you wanted me.”
“I do.” He squeezed her hands gently. “Believe me, I do. But this isn’t like you.”
Her gaze slid away from his and she took several deep breaths. Of course, she thought, Ethan’s vampire allure must have spiked as a result of his blood exchange with Saintcrow. Not only had he become stronger and more powerful physically, but his sexual appeal was off the charts. How was she supposed to resist something like that?
“Sofie? What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?”
“Your stud quotient just went up about a thousandfold.”
He stared at her, dumbfounded. “What the devil are you talking about?”
“I think Saintcrow’s blood has made you even more irresistible to females.”
Ethan frowned. She had mentioned something about some innate vampire allure before, but he hadn’t really believed her.
“Maybe you could turn it down a notch?” she said, grinning.
He snorted. “Just tell me how.”
“I just know you’ve got it,” she said with a shrug. “I don’t know how it works.”
“Yeah? Well, me either.” Taking her by the hand, he sat on the sofa and pulled her down on his lap. “I think we need to try out my new studly powers. How about you?”
“Just remember, I’ve got a sharp stake in my pocket and I know how to use it.”
“Do your worst, darlin’,” he murmured, and claimed her lips with his.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Saintcrow made a thorough sweep of the town. He checked every house, every building, every floor of the hotel, including the basement and the attic. He walked every street and path, tramped through the graveyard. The faint scent of the witch lingered in the air, but there was no physical trace of Mahlon’s kin, if that’s who it was. No sign of Browning. Or Kadie. Not that he expected whoever had kidnapped her from their place in New Orleans would have brought her here. Dammit! Where was she?
There was little in life that had scared him since he’d been turned, but not being able to connect with his mate made Saintcrow’s gut churn with fear. He didn’t know if they had drugged her or if the witch had put her under some kind of enchantment, but whatever they’d done, it effectively prevented him from finding her. But find her he would, sooner or later. And when he did, Browning and the witch would wish they had never been born.
He lingered in the graveyard. The ghosts had spoken to Kadie. They had warned Micah when Holly was in danger, whispered a simila
r warning to Ethan when Sofia was in trouble. But for him, they remained silent. He supposed he couldn’t blame them. If not for him, none of them would be here.
Hands shoved into his pockets, he strolled toward the bridge. Browning’s scent was fresher on the far side, which meant the vampire had been here recently. It also meant the new wards had kept Browning from returning to Morgan Creek, the first good news he’d had since Kadie had been abducted.
A thought took Saintcrow across the road. Lifting his head, he glanced right and left. Picking up the vampire’s scent, he followed it until it disappeared.
Brow furrowed in thought, Saintcrow willed himself to the next town, where he picked up enough food and drink to last Sofia a week or more.
A thought took him back to the office in Morgan Creek. He put half the groceries he had bought in the kitchen, then went up the hill to his place, intending to put the other half in his own kitchen. Good thing he’d bought that stove and refrigerator for Kadie after all.
Kadie. This was the first time since he’d made her his wife that they had been separated for more than a few hours. The loss of her presence, the complete absence of the blood bond between them, was more painful than he would have thought possible. He tamped down his rage, knowing if he let it get out of control, people would die, perhaps the only two people besides Kadie that he cared for.
He paused, his hand on the front door, when he realized Sofia and Ethan were entwined in each other’s arms on the floor in front of the fireplace.
Saintcrow grunted softly. Exchanging blood with Ethan had increased all the boy’s powers. He laughed softly, wondering how the young lovers were handling Ethan’s increased sexual appeal. From the sounds of it, neither Ethan nor Sofia seemed to be complaining.
He would have been amused if he hadn’t been so worried about his woman. Where was she?
* * *
Darkness surrounded her. Kadie knew night had fallen, but this darkness was like nothing she had ever known before. It weighed her down, left her unable to move. She couldn’t open her eyes, yet she knew she wasn’t alone. She tried to call Saintcrow’s name, tried to reach out to him through their bond, but she couldn’t speak, couldn’t concentrate enough to find the bond between them.
Was she dead? Had they buried her alive? Was she trapped deep in the earth? She told herself over and over again that Rylan would find her. But what if he didn’t?
She wanted to scream, to cry out for help, but all she could do was lie there, helpless, mute.
And more afraid than she had ever been in her life.
* * *
Saintcrow materialized inside the office. Booting up Sofia’s computer, he did an Internet search for Mahlon. With nothing but a name, which could have been the man’s first name or last, he didn’t really expect to find anything, but he needed to feel he was doing something to locate Kadie.
There were numerous links, all of them referring to Mahlon as one of two brothers mentioned in the Book of Ruth in the Bible.
Sitting back in the chair, he pinched the bridge of his nose, thinking it was a good thing vampires weren’t subject to headaches, because if they were, he was sure he’d have one by now.
Returning to the Internet, he searched the Deep Web. He was about to call it quits when he stumbled onto a blog written by a vampire hunter who called himself Thornwood—a very old hunter, one who had once crossed paths with Leticia Braga and Mahlon and had escaped with his life by the skin of his teeth. But, while being held prisoner, Thornwood had overheard Mahlon and Braga whispering about someone named Shiloh.
“Another Biblical name,” Saintcrow murmured.
The blog went on to say that the hunter had never discovered anything about Shiloh, other than overhearing something that made him believe Shiloh was related to Mahlon and that the two had been conceived by black magic.
“Conceived by witchcraft?” Saintcrow frowned. Did that mean Mahlon and his sibling were the progeny of witches? Or that they actually had been created by some sort of magical enchantment?
Saintcrow leaned back, elbows resting on the arms of the chair, his fingers steepled. He had always suspected Mahlon carried witch blood. What he had just read seemed to confirm that. But witch or mortal, ripping the man’s heart from his chest had killed him.
But his brother—or sister—still lived.
Saintcrow fisted his right hand. The one that had ripped Mahlon’s beating heart from his chest.
The same hand that would destroy whoever had dared lay hands on his woman.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Ethan stared up at the ceiling. One minute he had been trapped in the dark sleep of his kind, the next he was wide awake. He stared at the window. Even though blackout curtains shut out the light, he knew it was morning.
He glanced at Sofia, asleep at his side. He had carried her to her room last night, then stretched out on the bed. He had intended to stay only a little while, but he’d fallen into oblivion with the coming of dawn.
And now the sun was high in the sky and he was awake.
The blood exchange with Saintcrow had worked.
It took a moment for the enormity of that to sink in. It opened a whole new world of possibilities. If he could be out and about during the day, he might be able to talk his boss into giving him his old job back. He could renew acquaintance with his buddies, live a reasonably normal existence. He might even have a chance at a life with the woman he loved.
He ran his knuckles along her cheek. He didn’t know what he would have done these past weeks without her. She had grounded him somehow, given him hope, made him laugh when he’d thought he would never laugh again.
She stirred at his touch but didn’t wake.
Deciding to let her sleep, he slid out of bed. Eager to see if he could really endure the sun’s light, he ran downstairs. At the front door, he took a deep breath before he pulled it open and took a wary step outside.
A thrill of excitement ran through him as he blinked against the sunlight he hadn’t seen in what seemed like forever. Its heat warmed his skin, but there was no pain. He didn’t burst into flame.
Grinning like an idiot, he went back inside and came face-to-face with Saintcrow.
“So, it worked.”
Ethan nodded.
“How do you feel?”
“How do you think? I feel like I’ve got my life back!”
“Yeah, well, before you start making plans for your future, you might want to remember why we tried it in the first place.”
“Right. To find Kadie.”
Saintcrow pulled a crumpled envelope from his pants’ pocket and handed it to Ethan. “One of the construction workers found this nailed to the bridge this morning.”
“I figured with all this going on, you’d put a stop to the construction,” Ethan remarked.
“That’s got nothing to do with this.”
Opening the envelope, Ethan pulled out a single sheet of plain white paper.
Meet me at midnight tonight at Palmer’s.
Come alone.
It was signed NB.
Ethan tucked the note back into the envelope and returned it to Saintcrow. “What’s Palmer’s?”
“It’s a deserted fun zone located about fifty miles from here. It was a popular attraction some thirty or forty years ago. J & A Palmer Developing Company tried to breathe some life into it a few years back, but they went belly-up. The city condemned the place, but it’s still standing.”
“You think Browning and the witch will be there?”
“I don’t know.” Saintcrow folded the envelope in half and shoved it in his back pocket.
“So, what’s your next move?”
Saintcrow shook his head. “I went to Palmer’s earlier. I walked every inch of that damn place twice, searched every building and concession stand. I can smell the witch. I can smell Browning.” Impotent rage boiled like acid in his gut. “But I can’t locate Kadie. I can’t tell if she’s even been there.” He hated not knowing wh
ere she was, hated feeling helpless. “Dammit!” His hands clenched as he pictured them around the witch’s throat. “I don’t have any idea what Browning’s next move will be. All we can do is wait. Damn, I hate waiting.”
As his frustration grew, Saintcrow unleashed a torrent of profanity.
Ethan took a step back as the master vampire’s power washed over him, grateful that all that pent-up rage and frustration were directed at someone else.
Gradually, the tension seeped out of Saintcrow. “I can’t just wait around, doing nothing. There’s no point in going back to Palmer’s again. Browning can’t do anything while the sun’s up.” Saintcrow took a deep breath, and then another. “We’ve got some time to kill before midnight. I’m going down to check on the progress they’re making on the hotel. Wanna come along?”
“Sure.”
* * *
Deciding the exercise would do him good, Saintcrow decided to walk to town. “You still feeling all right?” he asked. “You’re not feeling weak? Or tired?”
“No.” Ethan fell into step beside Saintcrow. Lifting his face to the sun, he reveled in its warmth. “Why?”
“As far as I know, nothing like this has ever been tried before. Pays to be careful. Don’t overdo it.”
Walking past the residential area, Ethan noticed several of the houses had already been repainted; some had new windows and doors. A couple of men were carrying a roll of new carpet into the house next to the office.
When they neared the hotel, Ethan saw dozens of men hard at work, accompanied by the sound of raucous laughter and the deep-throated buzz of power tools.
Ethan was amazed by the progress that had been made in such a short time. The outside of the hotel had been completely refurbished. The tavern had been repainted inside and out, but, like the hotel, it retained its 1920s charm. The exterior of the grocery store looked like something out of an old movie. Glancing in the window, he saw the interior had been outfitted with new flooring, shelves, and checkout counters.
He followed Saintcrow into the hotel. The lobby boasted new wallpaper with a cabbage-rose motif that complemented the large sage-green rug in the center of the new oak floor. The old reception area had been redone; a crystal chandelier sparkled from the ceiling. Several sofas and chairs covered in a floral print were scattered throughout the lobby. The old walnut banister had been replaced with one made of oak to match the floor.
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