The much anticipated next Night 2 page

than most humans when his abilities,

temper, or desire flared to life.

“You look ravishing.”

His low growl let me know which

emotion heated him now, and once again I

shivered. My feelings for him might be

rife with doubt, but my body wasn’t

conflicted. I’d moved closer before I

realized it, my nipples puckering as soon

as his chest brushed mine. Then something

lower in me clenched as his mouth grazed

my neck, that thick stubble deliciously

chafing my skin.

He inhaled, air landing like the softest

of kisses on my pulse when he let it out.

Then his hands closed over my shoulders,

their heat wonderfully potent. A flick of

his fingers pushed my hair aside, exposing

my neck. I gasped as his mouth lowered

and two hard, sharp fangs pressed against

my skin. The dark rapture of his bite was

second only to making love to him, and I’d

missed partaking of both recently. Without

thought, I gripped his head closer, almost

shuddering in anticipation.

He muttered something unintelligible

and drew away, his gaze still lit up with

emerald.

“Not now. Our guests are waiting.”

I don’t care! was my first thought,

followed immediately by What is wrong

with me? Yes, people were waiting for

us, not to mention several guards lurked in

this hallway. Even if none of the above

were true, I had serious issues to work out

with Vlad. Assuaging my libido should be

the last thing on my to-do list.

“Right,” I said, dropping my hands and

stepping away. I didn’t look at him as I

brushed my hair back over my shoulder,

covering as much of the zigzagging scar as

I could. I wasn’t ashamed, but the

inevitable pitying glances from people

who saw it for the first time got old.

“Leila.”

The way he said my name made me jerk

my head up. Vlad’s eyes had changed back

to burnished mahogany, the only green in

them now the natural ring that encircled

his irises.

“Don’t hide for anyone,” he stated,

pushing my hair off my shoulder. “Only

fools pity survivors their scars and you

should never kowtow to fools.”

Then he held out his hand, his own

faded battle wounds crisscrossing his

flesh like tiny pale stripes. “Come.”

I took his hand, forcing back the

emotion that constricted my heart with

invisible bands. Then I began reciting

songs in my head, masking the most

dangerous thought before it reached him.

That’s one of the reasons I love you.

You bend for no one.

Unfortunately, that same trait might also

tear us apart.

Chapter 3

As it turned out, I recognized some of our

guests, though a lot of new faces were

also present. Maximus sat at the dining

table next to Shrapnel, Vlad’s bald, beefy

third-in-command. Next to him was

Mencheres, the long-haired Egyptian

vampire Vlad described as his honorary

sire, a title I still didn’t fully understand.

The slender blonde next to Mencheres

was his wife, Kira. Gretchen was there,

too, seated farthest from the head and

looking miffed about it. Everyone rose

when Vlad and I entered, which made the

whole scenario odder. I hadn’t been late,

so why was everybody at the table

already? Weren’t the host and hostess

supposed to greet guests before they took

their seats, not arrive last and have

everyone stand at attention before them?

Vampires, I decided for the umpteenth

time, had the weirdest way of doing

things.

Vlad led me to my usual spot at the

head of the table, which caused a few

slanted glances among the guests that I

didn’t recognize. Once there, I stood at the

empty chair to his right, uncertain. Did I

sit now, or wait for a signal?

“I am glad that you have come,” Vlad

stated, the size of the room not diminishing

the strong tenor of his voice. “I know

some of you traveled a great distance to

be here.”

I expected more, maybe a thank-you to

those faraway guests, but then he lowered

himself into his chair. Before Vlad, I’d

never guessed that the simple act of sitting

could look regal and intimidating, yet he

pulled it off every time.

Everybody else took their seats, so I

did, too, wishing I’d been given an

Undead Etiquette for Dummies manual.

From the too-fluid way they moved, none

of his guests were human. I was used to

being around vamps in a casual setting—

or a violent one—but this was my first

formal event. If I screw anything up, it’s

on you, I thought to Vlad while affixing a

pleasant smile on my face.

His mouth twitched, the only indication

that he heard me. Then he gestured to his

left.

“Leila, you already know Maximus,

Shrapnel, Mencheres, and Kira, but let me

introduce the rest of our guests.”

I kept that pleasant smile throughout a

list of names I hoped I wasn’t expected to

remember, because all twenty-eight seats

at the huge table were filled. When I’d

first seen the dining room with its wall of

fireplaces, three-story ceiling, and

gargantuan chandelier, I’d thought it was a

dazzling waste of space since only me and

Vlad ate here. Now its size and splendor

came in handy. We would’ve needed

another table if he’d invited more friends,

and judging from the women’s jewels and

the men’s resplendent tuxedos, those

present were used to luxury.

I wasn’t. Neither was Gretchen, who

looked as ill at ease as I felt. Our father

had been a career military man, so we’d

grown up in modest surroundings that

frequently varied depending on his change

of duty stations. When I struck out on my

own at eighteen, I’d scrounged for jobs

that didn’t involve technology or touching

people—and all decent-paying jobs

required one or the other. If I hadn’t met

Marty and joined his traveling carnival

act, I might have ended up on the streets.

I certainly wouldn’t have wound up at

Vlad’s, smiling at strangers through a sea

of crystal glasses that servants filled with

a dark red liquid too thick to be wine.

Those same servants then brought out

enough food to feed everyone twice over

despite Gretchen and I being the only

humans. Nerves had stolen my appetite but

I dug in with feigned gusto, wondering

when Vlad would reveal the true purpose

behind this occasion. He didn’t invite

over two dozen people to his house

merely to show off. Vlad was many things,

but pretentious wasn’t one of them.

The bombshell behind this event

dropped during dessert. I’d just helped

myself to a spoonful of bourbon

butterscotch crème brûlée when Vlad

stood and all chatter stopped.

“Thank you all for coming,” he said in

the sudden silence. “As you are either

friends or honored members of my line, I

wanted each of you to witness my actions

now.”

Then he moved behind my chair, resting

his hand on my shoulder. I resisted the

urge to twist around so I could see him.

What’s going on? I thought nervously.

He ignored the question. “Most of you

know that Leila has been my lover for the

past few months. In addition, she also

risked her life to save my people and

demonstrated unwavering loyalty even

during torture. Because of her great value

to me, I now offer her an eternal bond, if

she accepts.”

Then he leaned down, breath warm on

my neck as he whispered his next words.

“You’ve wondered if I felt differently

about you since your abilities diminished.

Let this serve as your answer.”

I caught a glimpse of his scarred hand

before he placed a small velvet box in

front of me. My heart started to pound

while my mind overloaded with shock and

joy. At the far end of the table, I heard

Gretchen gasp. Out of all possible reasons

behind the surprise fancy dinner, I hadn’t

expected this. Things had indeed changed

between us, in the best way possible.

“Vlad, I . . .”

Coherent thought and words might have

failed me, but my motor skills didn’t. With

hands trembling from joy, I slowly opened

the ebony box.

Gretchen rocketed out of her chair to

come toward me. At some point, happy

tears must’ve sprung to my eyes because

the box’s content was blurry. Still, I could

make out a ring. An avalanche of

happiness swept over me. It wasn’t until

now that I realized how much I loved Vlad

and how fervently I’d hoped that he loved

me, too. I blinked to see the ring more

clearly . . . and then my elation became

tempered with confusion.

Maximus caught Gretchen’s arm before

she reached me, but she was still close

enough to get a look inside the box.

“You cheapskate, that’s not a

diamond!” she announced with her usual

tactlessness. “What kind of engagement

ring is that?”

I’d wondered at his choice, too, since I

recognized the ring as a replica of the

heirloom that had been passed down from

Vlad’s father to him. No matter, I’d

cherish any engagement ring he gave me.

Besides, maybe proposing with a replica

was a Dracul family tradition—

“It’s not an engagement ring,” Vlad

replied crisply to Gretchen. “It’s the

symbol of membership in my line. All the

vampires I’ve made carry one.”

At those words, my ecstatic jumble of

thoughts crystallized into one heartrending

realization: He’s not proposing. He’s

only offering to make you a vampire!

Vlad straightened and his hand left my

shoulder. He’d heard that. With how it had

roared across my mind, he’d have to be

telepathically deaf to have missed it.

I knew I should sing something to keep

him from hearing anything else, but I

couldn’t think up a single verse. My pride

screamed at me to act as though I hadn’t

misunderstood, yet all I could do was

clutch that box while my previous joy

turned to ashes. Nothing had changed

except Vlad thought my humanity needed

an upgrade, and he’d decided to inform

me of that with a roomful of vampires as

witnesses.

I glanced up. Our guests’ gazes skipped

away with pitying quickness while their

uncomfortable shifting told me Vlad

wasn’t alone in figuring out my

misinterpretation. If I hadn’t felt as though

my heart had been ripped out and

flambéed in front of me, I would have

been mortified.

Gretchen’s voice broke the loaded

silence. “You want Leila to become a

vampire? That is so creepy!”

“Maximus,” Vlad bit out.

The brawny vampire had Gretchen

hoisted up with his hand over her mouth

before I could blink. Normally, such

handling of my sister would’ve incensed

me. At the moment, I was trying too hard

to pull myself together to respond.

“Leila,” Vlad began.

“Don’t.”

The word snapped out with all the force

of my shattered hopes. I got up, almost

overturning my chair, but it was either get

out of here now or burst into tears, and I

still had enough pride not to do that in

front of everyone.

“I need some air,” I muttered.

And some razors to finish the job you

started when you were sixteen, my hated

inner voice supplied.

I ignored that, blasting the first song that

came to mind to hide my thoughts. It turned

out to be “Taps.”

Figures.

Then I left as fast as my new high heels

could carry me.

Chapter 4

Iwent straight to the small, rubber-lined

room in the basement level that Vlad had

set up for me. Once inside, I yanked off

my right glove. As soon as I did,

electricity spat out of my hand in sizzling

strands as the emotions I tried to control

manifested in miniature energy bolts. I

gathered those currents into a single

pulsating rope and then whipped it toward

the stone statue in the room.

Its head came off, bouncing onto the

base it was welded to. Another snap of

currents and the statue lost an arm. Then

the other arm. Then everything above the

waist, yet my seething hurt,

disappointment, and humiliation didn’t

lessen. Instead, I felt like I could go

nuclear at any moment.

I didn’t stop lashing the statue until it

lay in dozens of ragged pieces. Before

Vlad, I’d only worked to suppress my

power, much as I’d done with the

loneliness that came from my inability to

touch anyone without harming them.

Vlad had changed all that. He taught me

to turn my abilities into an asset and

awakened feelings in me I’d never thought

to experience. He was more than my first

lover. He was also my first love, yet I’d

let myself fall too deeply. Despite all the

warnings, I’d dared to hope that one day,

he might feel the same way about me. This

is where that hope had led me: to a

basement, taking out my crushed dreams

on an inanimate object.

I looked at the remains of the statue and

felt a grim sort of kinship. Like me, it used

to be solid and whole. Now, also like me,

it was so shredded from destructive

emotions that neither of us would be the

same.

“Damn you,” I whispered, and didn’t

know if it was directed at me, or the

vampire I’d foolishly fallen in love with.

My gorgeous dress was now damp from

my exertions, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t

going back to dinner. Everyone had

figured out the reason why I left so they’d

understand my continued absence. If they

didn’t, screw ’em. I was done being the

evening’s entertainment.

Worn out, I climbed up the multiple

flights of stairs to my room, glad I didn’t

pass anyone along the way. With luck,

Vlad would be up late with his guests and

I wouldn’t see him until tomorrow. It

would give me some much-needed

solitude.

That’s why I groaned when I saw that

my bedroom wasn’t empty. Vlad stood by

the settee, hands clasped behind him, that

cursed jewelry box thankfully out of sight.

A rake of his gaze took in my sweaty,

disheveled appearance.

“Feeling better now?” he asked with his

usual bluntness.

Not even close. Just seeing him

shattered the fragile control my electrical

workout had given me.

“I’m glorious,” I said curtly. “In fact,

aside from intending to get blackout drunk,

I’ve never felt better.”

An emotion I couldn’t name flickered

across his face. Then his expression

became impassive again.

“I regret how tonight turned out. I

should have discussed my offer with you

in private, but I never expected you to

misinterpret it in such a way.”

I don’t know what I’d wanted to hear

after this fiasco, but whatever it was, he’d

missed it by a mile. His ironclad selfcontrol

was also salt on the wound. I was

barely holding myself together, and he’d

never looked more cool and collected.

Anger joined all my other roiling

emotions.

“The dress, the fancy dinner, all your

flattering words, then the jewelry box.” I

ticked the items off on my fingers.

“Really, what was I supposed to think?”

His snort cut me to the bone. “Anything

but that. You and I have been together

mere months. Do you know how

insignificant that is to someone my age?”

A fresh wave of hurt made my tone

scalding. “Yes, you’re almost six hundred

years old, but in today’s world, when you

say things like ‘eternal bond’ before

giving your girlfriend a ring-sized box,

there’s usually only one kind of ring in it!”

“For centuries, every vampire I’ve

made has been given a replica of my ring

because it’s proof of membership in my

line. That’s useful if my people are

captured by allies. Or enemies.”

I believed him, but it did nothing for the

acid continually being poured over my

emotions.

“You don’t get it,” I said sharply. “We

haven’t been together long by my

standards, either, but your scorn at the

thought of marriage shows how

differently we value this relationship.

That’s the real problem, and I can’t ignore

it anymore.”

His mouth tightened and flames erupted

in the fireplace as that shell cracked and

his temper flared. I didn’t care. I was the

one who’d been emotionally filleted in

public and now again in private.

“I do value our relationship. I’ve never

shared my private bedchamber with

anyone except you—”

“Yet you can’t be bothered to install a

toilet,” I interrupted. “It’s like you keep

showing me ‘This far, no farther’ every

chance you get.”

Now his gaze blazed pure emerald, all

traces of copper gone. “I offered a

different solution to that issue tonight.”

Turning me into a vampire would

indeed negate my need for a toilet. It

would also ensure that I spent the rest of

an unnaturally long life loving a man who

never wanted me any closer than arm’s

length. Vlad was known for his

mercilessness, but I didn’t think he

realized what a cruel fate he’d be

sentencing me to if I accepted his offer.

Part of that was my fault. I’d let the

emotional standoff between us go on too

long because I didn’t want to lose him.

Problem was, I never really had him, as

tonight had forced me to acknowledge.

Despite my heart feeling like it split apart

within me, I met his gaze without

flinching.

“It didn’t occur to you that I’d see the

ring as a proposal because you have no

intention of ever offering me a real

commitment. I was okay with that once.

I’m not anymore.”

“You don’t understand.”

His tone was flat even as the flames

nearby shot higher.

“Divorce doesn’t exist for vampires.

With how people can change over time,

few of my kind choose to marry. Feelings

may fade, but a vampire union never

will.”

Then his warm, strong hands cupped my

face.

“I am offering you a real commitment—

a place in my life forever. Even if our

relationship ended, our tie to each other

never would. Let me make you a vampire,

Leila, and watch decades slide by like

days while you’re by my side.”

I wanted to say yes. The word trembled

on my lips, but I forced it back with a

ragged, indrawn breath. He wasn’t

offering me anything different, only a

longer version of what I already had. The

fact that I’d be willing to shed my

humanity like an old suit was proof

enough that I’d do anything for Vlad, yet

he still kept his heart deliberately out of

reach.

I couldn’t live like that, as a human or a

vampire. If it hurt this much now, how

would it feel after decades of loving a

man who regarded me as little more than a

pleasant bedmate?

“I’ll say yes on one condition.”

He caressed my face. “And what is

that?”

I didn’t blink. “You can read my mind

so you should already know. I love you,

Vlad, so more than blood ties or the

chance to live forever, I want you to say

you love me, too.”

His hands dropped to clench into fists

at his side. “We talked about this—”

“I remember,” I cut him off. “The first

night we slept together, you told me you’d

give me passion, honesty, and monogamy,

but not love because you’re incapable of

it. I believed that then, but I call bullshit

now. You remember the last thing Szilagyi

said before he detonated that explosion?”

From the granite set of his jaw, he did,

but he wasn’t going to volunteer it. I

continued on.

“Szilagyi said he was going to kill me

along with him because that would hurt

you. Even your worst enemy could see I

was more than a mistress to you, but you

refuse to offer me anything else. Until you

do, I can’t—”

My voice broke, and despite my

resolve, two tears slipped past my lashes.

I dashed them away, forcing myself to

speak through a throat closed painfully

tight from emotion.

“I can’t be with you,” I summarized. “It

hurts too much to be close to you, but

continually pushed away.”

His expression changed to disbelief.

“You’re leaving me?”

From his tone, the idea was more

shocking than hurtful. Another

sledgehammer hit me in the chest, causing

more tears to leak out that I couldn’t

suppress.

“What choice do I have? I know how

this will end. With my abilities, I’ve

relived it through countless other couples.

I even watched my mother give everything

to a man who kept rating her as secondbest

and I refuse to make that same

mistake.”

Despite knowing every word was true,

I couldn’t stop the spate of thoughts that

ran across my mind.

Tell me you love me and I’ll stay. Hell,

tell me you’ll be open to the IDEA of

loving me and I’ll stay. Tell me anything

except to resign myself to always ranking

a distant second to the coldness you keep

wrapping around your heart.

He didn’t say any of that. Instead, he

said, “It’s not safe. We excavated much of

what’s left of his mountain lair, yet we

still didn’t find Szilagyi’s remains. If he

managed to survive, he’ll come after you.”

That was his biggest concern? Not our

relationship ending, but his enemy using

me against him again? For a moment, I

couldn’t breathe from how savagely that

tore at my heart. I thought I was braced to

handle a rejection. I was so, so wrong.

“Szilagyi’s dead,” I managed hoarsely.

“Even if he did survive, my abilities are

gone. No finding people in the present or

seeing into the future means he’d have no

use for me.”

Tell me that’s not the only reason you

want me to stay! burst across my thoughts

with all of the vehemence of my last hope.

Willpower alone kept me from saying it

aloud.

Vlad only stared at me, his gaze

changing from copper to emerald and back

again while the fire raged on in the hearth.

With every continued moment of silence,

the tears I couldn’t will away kept sliding

down my cheeks.

Then, each movement slicing like

razors across my emotions, he walked to

the door. When he reached it, he paused

for a moment, his hand hovering over the

knob.

Don’t do this! I wanted to scream. I

love you; can’t you even try to let

yourself love me, too?

The fire flared so high that it breached

the grate and licked up the wall, but still

he didn’t speak. When it reached the

ceiling, I started toward it with an

instinctive urge to douse the flames, but

then they vanished in a whoosh that left

nothing more than a trail of smoke.

By the time I turned around, Vlad was

gone.

Chapter 5

The car came to a stop inside the airplane

hangar. I opened the door immediately, not

wanting Maximus or Shrapnel to get it for

me. About ten yards away, a gleaming,

ivory-colored jet waited. Underneath my

misery, I thought that it was a good thing I

was traveling back to the States in Vlad’s

private plane. Even if my electricity

issues magically disappeared, if I tried to

fly commercial, my grim expression

would guarantee that I got “randomly

selected” for a pat-down.

A young, russet-haired man waited on

the rollaway staircase next to the jet, but

upon seeing me, he hurried down.

“Where are your bags, miss?” he asked

in accented English.

“I don’t have any.”

“Yes she does,” Maximus replied,

getting out of the driver’s seat. “They’re in

the trunk.”

Only Gretchen’s presence kept me from

losing my temper. “I told you I didn’t want

any of that stuff. I came with the clothes on

my back and that’s how I intend to leave.”

“You’re taking them, Vlad’s orders,”

Maximus said in a tone that made

Redheaded Man hurry to the back of the

limo. “What you do with them once you’re

home is up to you.”

Vlad must not want any reminders of me

cluttering up his house. He’d once told me

that if I ever wanted out of this

relationship, he’d let me go without

argument. Had to give it to the man for

keeping his word. Not only hadn’t he

argued, I hadn’t seen him since the night

he left my room. He didn’t even say goodbye

before Gretchen and I left for the

airport.

No matter how hard I tried to tell

myself that it was for the best, it hurt more

than anything I’d ever endured.

“Fine,” I said, forcing a smile for

Gretchen’s benefit.

My caustic sister had been

uncharacteristically protective of me the

past couple days. It reminded me of how

close we’d been before the accident that

claimed our mother’s life and gave me my

abilities. I kept telling her I was fine, so I

couldn’t ruin that by informing Maximus

I’d sooner go naked than torture myself

with memories by keeping the things Vlad

had bought me.

Besides, he was right. I could throw

them away later.

“Well . . . good-bye,” I said when

Maximus and the other man finished

transporting our bags from the trunk to the

aircraft.

He smiled slightly. “Not yet. I’m

traveling with you to ensure that you are

delivered safely to Marty.”

Delivered, like a package. Once again I

bit my tongue to keep from losing it in

front of my sister.

Gretchen snorted. “What about me? No

one cares if I make it back to my

apartment in one piece?”

Maximus nodded at the bald, mochaskinned

vampire who got out of the front

of the limo.

“Shrapnel’s taking care of you.”

He grinned, showing his flawless white

teeth. “We didn’t think Marty would want

to see me again.”

Since Shrapnel once tortured Marty,

probably not. Then again, Marty might not

be overjoyed to see me, either. My best

friend and carnival partner had warned me

not to get involved with Vlad. Looked like

I owed Marty an apology. I’d give it to

him, too, probably while falling into his

arms and sobbing. I hadn’t let myself cry

since the night Vlad walked out. With

Marty, however, I could finally quit

pretending that I wasn’t devastated by the

breakup. He’d always been there for me

and I needed him now more than ever.

I cast one final look around, hating that

part of me had hoped Vlad would show

up, saying everything he’d refused to say

before. Then I smiled at Gretchen,

wondering when I’d be able to do that

without it feeling like a lie.

“All right, little sister. Let’s get both of

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 331