After unsaddling the mare, Abbey walked Freckles around the corral until the mare had cooled off, then led her into the barn. She forked hay to the horses, topped off the water barrels.
Humming softly, Abbey fed the rest of the stock, then sat in the shade, her thoughts turning to Nick.
Was he really a vampire?
Had they met by chance?
Would she ever see him again?
Nick, Nick, Nick. He had probably forgotten all about her. With a huff of annoyance, she went up to the main house. In the kitchen, she sorted through the groceries she had bought the day before. She packed half to take to the cottage and left the rest behind so she’d have something to snack on when she was here.
It was a short walk to the cottage, tucked within a small copse of trees. She loved her parents, but she’d grown accustomed to her independence in New York and liked the idea of having a place of her own.
The cottage was just as she remembered it. Three steps led up to a railed porch. There was a two-person swing in one corner. The house, white with yellow trim, had a red tile roof, a red brick chimney, and a bright green front door. The interior rooms were all painted white, something Abbey intended to change as soon as possible.
She wasn’t surprised to find the front door unlocked. The living room furniture was a hodgepodge of colors and styles that somehow managed to blend together. A satellite screen was mounted on the wall across from a small fireplace.
In the kitchen, she opened the window over the sink, then quickly put the groceries away. There were dishes and pots and pans in the cupboards, silverware and dishtowels in the drawers. A toaster, a coffeemaker, and a blender occupied a corner on the marble countertop.
She found her suitcases in the larger of the two bedrooms. The furniture—chest of drawers, nightstand, and small desk—was cherrywood. Pink curtains draped the windows, a matching quilt covered the double bed.
A flush climbed up her neck when she imagined Nick sharing that bed with her. Abbey pressed her hands to her burning cheeks. Where had that thought come from? In spite of the few kisses they had shared, she really didn’t know the man.
But she had to admit that, since the night they’d met, he had never been far from her thoughts.
Hurrying out of the bedroom, she went into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of cold water, then stood at the sink, staring out the window, her wayward thoughts returning to Nick. Always Nick.
She had to stop thinking about him. Until she decided when—or if—she wanted to become a vampire, she didn’t want anything to do with the Undead community, save for those who were already a part of her family.
She wanted a normal life—a husband, children, grandchildren someday. Of course, first she had to find a man.
Nick was a man. . . .
She slammed her hand against the edge of the sink. “But he can’t give you children! Or a normal life.”
So what? asked a rebellious little voice in the back of her mind. What’s so great about a normal life? As for children, Mara has a son, the voice reminded her. Your mother had you. Cara had twins. Anything is possible.
With a sigh of exasperation, Abbey left the cottage. A path lined with white rocks led to a small pond surrounded by wildflowers and shaded by the overhanging branches of a massive oak. It had always been her favorite place, a miniature Eden without the serpent.
Sitting on one of the wrought-iron benches, she closed her eyes and listened to the hum of insects. It was quiet here. Peaceful. As a young girl, she had often come here to read or to daydream; as a teenager, it had been her favorite place to be alone with her thoughts.
Back then, she had worried about grades and homework and how to persuade her father to let her stay out after ten. It was here that she had first been kissed, here that she had come to shed copious tears when the boy she had a crush on asked her best friend to the sixth grade dance.
Abbey smiled at the memory, remembering how brokenhearted she had been. And now she couldn’t even remember the boy’s name.
She was about to go up to the house to see if her parents were awake when she was overcome with the same sense of unease she had felt earlier.
Someone was out there, just beyond the trees, watching her.
She was sure of it.
Rane leaned forward in his chair, his gaze intent on his daughter’s face. “You didn’t see anyone?”
Abbey shook her head. “But I know someone was there.”
“All right. You stay here with your mother. I’m going out to have a look around.”
Savanah laid a hand on her husband’s arm. “Be careful.”
“That’s my middle name,” Rane said, patting her hand. “I won’t be long.”
Rane took his time getting to his destination, all his senses on high alert. It had been a while since any hunters had been spotted in the area, but you could never be too careful. He didn’t see or sense anything out of place until he reached the pond.
The vampire’s scent was strong, impossible to miss. Jaw clenched, hands balled into fists, Rane followed it to the tree line.
Oh, yeah, he recognized that scent. It was the same one he had detected on Abbey back in New York City.
Chapter Eight
Mara’s gaze swept the area. Rane had called her earlier, requesting her help. She and Logan had arrived at the ranch shortly after dusk. Now, the three of them were gathered outside.
It wasn’t possible, she thought as she paced from the pond to the tree line and back again. He couldn’t be here. “What did you say this vampire’s name was?”
Rane shrugged. “Abbey said he introduced himself as Nick.”
“Nick?” Mara shook her head. Could it be?
Logan looked at her sharply, his eyes narrowing when her voice spoke to his mind. Not now.
“Does the name mean anything to you?” Rane asked.
“I knew a Niccola Desanto a long time ago,” Mara replied, her voice carefully neutral.
“Who’s Desanto?” Rane glanced from Mara to Logan and back again. “How come I’ve never heard of him?”
“He’s old,” Mara said. “Ancient.”
“How old?”
“Older than Logan,” she said, careful not to look at her husband. “Not quite as old as I am.”
Rane swore under his breath. “He must have followed Abbey from New York. Dammit, I don’t like this at all.”
“She’s a lovely young woman,” Mara said. “You can hardly blame him for being interested.”
“I can understand that. What I don’t understand is why he’s skulking around out here in the woods.”
“It’s not the why that bothers me,” Mara said. “It’s the how.”
Rane’s head snapped up, his brow furrowing as he met Mara’s gaze.
She nodded. “Unless Abbey told him about this place, there’s only one way Desanto could have tracked her here over such a long distance.”
“He took her blood.” Rane clenched his hands until his knuckles went white. What else had Desanto taken from his daughter?
“Maybe she offered.”
Rane glared at Logan. “She wouldn’t do that! She just met the man.” But what if he was wrong? How well did he really know his daughter? She had been living away from home for the last five years. Times changed. People changed.
“We need to talk to Abbey,” Mara said. “Find out what happened between her and Nick before we make any rash decisions.”
Logan looked at Mara, his expression carefully blank. “Maybe it’s another man with the same name.”
“Who just happens to be a vampire?” Rane asked.
A faint breeze stirred the leaves on the trees. Mara sighed as Nick’s familiar, never-forgotten scent filled her nostrils and opened the floodgates of her memory. He had been here not long ago. Nicky, with his beautifully expressive dark eyes, and that whiskey-rough voice that no woman over the age of puberty could resist.
“It’s Desanto,” she confirmed, meeting her husband’s
eyes.
And that ended the discussion.
Abbey looked up when the front door opened, her eyes widening when she saw the Blackwoods. What were Mara and Logan doing here?
Savanah sent a questioning look at her husband before welcoming Logan and Mara.
Abbey put her iPod aside, a shiver of alarm skittering down her spine as she glanced from Mara to Logan to her father. All three wore the same serious expression.
“What’s going on?” Savanah asked.
Rane dropped onto the sofa beside his wife. “Abbey met a man in New York.”
Savanah lifted one brow. “I’m sure she met a lot of them.”
“This one is a vampire,” Rane said. “A very old vampire. Mara thinks he followed Abbey here.”
“Followed me?” Abbey exclaimed, unable to contain a rush of excitement at the thought of seeing Nick again.
Rane nodded. “You thought you were being watched. You were right. It’s Nick.”
“How could he have followed me here?” Even if he had checked her driver’s license while she was asleep, it listed her home address in New York City. She didn’t carry anything with her parents’ address on it.
“There’s no point in dancing around the issue.” Mara’s gaze settled on Abbey. “The only way he could have followed you is if he’s tasted your blood. Has he?”
“No! I mean, I don’t think so. . . .” But it was possible. He could have drunk from her while she slept. She shuddered at the thought. Such a thing shouldn’t have bothered her so much. She had grown up in a family of vampires, after all. She knew what they did to survive, though they had always been careful not to talk about it in detail in her presence. Of course, knowing wasn’t the same as seeing. Or doing.
“So, it is possible,” Mara said.
Abbey nodded, her stomach churning. “I guess so. We were in a car accident. I hit my head and he insisted I stay the night at his place so he could make sure I was okay.”
Nick had taken her blood while she slept. How could he have done such a despicable thing? He had seemed so nice, so charming . . . and now he was here! Why had he followed her?
A dozen reasons sprang to mind, none of them good.
Choosing his words carefully, Rane asked, “Did anything else happen that night?”
Abbey stared at her father. “What do you mean?” Her cheeks flamed when she realized what he was asking. “I didn’t sleep with him! I told you, I just met him.” She glared at her father. “And even if I slept with him, which I didn’t, it’s none of your business!”
“All right, all right, I’m sorry.” Clearing his throat, Rane turned to Mara. “So, since this guy is ancient, I’m guessing he’s a day-walker.”
Mara nodded.
“That means we’ll have to be on guard day and night,” Savanah remarked.
Abbey fidgeted with a lock of her hair, uncomfortable and embarrassed at being the center of attention. All she’d done was have a drink with a handsome man. How could she have known that something so innocent, so ordinary, would cause such a tempest in a teapot?
She was only vaguely aware of Logan and Mara taking their leave. A short time later, Rane said he needed some air.
Looking up, Abbey met her mother’s gaze. Of all the people in the family, surely Savanah would understand her attraction to a vampire. “Mom? Do you ever miss being human?”
“Sometimes,” her mother admitted quietly, and then she sighed. “Most of the time.”
She should have been surprised by this revelation, Abbey thought. Why wasn’t she? Had she known, on some unconscious level, that her mother had regrets about her decision? “Does Dad know how you feel?”
“I’m not sure. We’ve never discussed it, and I try not to have any negative thoughts when we’re together. It would hurt him to know how I feel.”
“Would you do it over again?”
Savanah smoothed a nonexistent wrinkle from her skirt. “I . . . I honestly don’t know.”
“If you weren’t sure it was what you wanted, why did you ask Dad to bring you across?”
“Because I love him, of course.” Savanah shook her head. “We were married for eighteen years before he turned me. I knew what he was. I knew his family.” She shook her head again. “I thought I knew everything there was to know about being a vampire, but of course, I didn’t. It’s like jumping out of an airplane. No matter what people tell you about it, you can’t really know what it’s like until you’ve experienced it for yourself.”
“What do you miss the most?”
“Little things. Seemingly unimportant things I once took for granted. Like being able to enjoy a latte. Or eating a bowl of popcorn while watching a movie. Or seeing my reflection when I pass a mirror. It was frightening the first time I looked in a mirror and saw the room behind me and nothing else. I felt like . . . like I didn’t exist anymore.” She smiled wistfully. “Not being able to see how you look in a new dress takes all the fun out of shopping.”
Abbey rose from her chair and went to sit beside her mother. Wondering how she could have been so blind all these years, she took her mother’s hand in hers. “I’m sorry you’re unhappy, Mom.”
“I’m not unhappy,” Savanah said, patting Abbey’s hand. “I have a good life, a loving husband, a wonderful daughter.”
“But?”
“I don’t want you to see Nick again.”
“Why not?”
“This isn’t a life I would choose for you. I know how exciting dating a vampire can be. They have an innate glamour, an allure, that’s hard for mortals to resist. And then there’s his age. Your father said he’s ancient, which means he must be over five hundred years old. That’s quite an age difference, don’t you think?”
Abbey licked her lips. Was it possible he was that old? She thought of Mara, who looked like she was twenty but was, in reality, over two thousand years old. What if Nick was that old? Did he even remember what it was like to be human?
“It’s better to end it now,” Savanah said. “Before you get in so deep you can’t get out.”
Abbey nodded, but she was afraid it was already too late.
Logan confronted Mara in the Cordovas’ guestroom later that night. “It’s him, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” There was no point in lying. Mara had kept secrets from Logan in the past, but her acquaintance with Nick wasn’t one of them. However, she had never discussed her relationship with the other vampire with Logan. He knew only that she had turned Nick and left him, as she had left so many others.
“Dammit. I thought he was dead.”
“Aren’t you overreacting just a little? I haven’t been with Nick since I met you.”
“Do you think it’s just coincidence that he met Abbey? How do you know he isn’t stalking her to find you?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“It’s not beyond the realm of possibility,” Logan insisted. “Most of the vampire community knows about your close relationship with the Cordova family. If he couldn’t find you, all he had to do was find one of them.”
“To what purpose?”
“How the hell should I know?”
Suddenly thoughtful, Mara stroked a finger across her lips. What if Logan was right? What if Nick was looking for her?
She had a sudden flashback to the nights she and Desanto had spent together. When they’d parted centuries ago, she had banished him from her mind, refusing to think of him. She had driven him so completely from her thoughts that it hadn’t occurred to her to mention him in the story she had written about her life. Save for Logan, she had never told anyone about Nick. Only Logan knew that she and Desanto had once been lovers, but that was all he knew.
What quirk of Fate had brought Nick into her life again?
And what was she going to do about it?
It was a question that lingered in Mara’s mind long after Logan had fallen asleep beside her. She had never loved anyone the way she loved Logan Blackwood. He was the other half of her soul. The bet
ter half. He was an honorable man, and far too good for her. It never failed to amaze her that, in spite of all he knew about her, in spite of the callous way she had treated him in the past, he still wanted her. Still loved her.
And she loved him. So why did the thought of seeing Nick again fill her with such excitement? Such trepidation?
Niccola. He was the first man she had seduced after being turned by Dendar. She had taken Nick while she was still a young vampire, still confused over what had been done to her. Filled with anger and a burning need for vengeance, she had taken Nick for her lover, kept him against his will, venting her anger on him one moment and seducing him the next. And when she started to care for him, she had left him without a word or a backward glance, just as she had left so many others after him.
And now he was here. Was it truly coincidence that her old lover had met her goddaughter? Or was Logan right? Had Nick somehow discovered her ties to the Cordovas and followed Abbey here, hoping Abbey would lead him back to her?
Which led to the nagging question—why?
And why now, after all these years?
Chapter Nine
Abbey woke late after a mostly sleepless night. She had met a man she liked, but both her father and Mara were convinced that Nick had some ulterior motive for asking her out. What if they were right? More importantly, what if they were wrong? What if Nick was exactly as he seemed—a nice, sweet, sexy guy.
Who just happened to be a stalker? A vampire who had stolen her blood while she slept?
Try as she might, she couldn’t ignore the little voice in the back of her mind that said if he was on the up-and-up, he would have knocked on the front door instead of lurking in the bushes, spying on her.
After showering, she ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for breakfast, washed it down with a cup of coffee heavily laced with cream and sugar, and went out the back door, heading for the barn.
She quickly fed the stock, then spent a few minutes scratching her mare’s ears before going to the cottage. It was time she settled in. She needed to unpack her clothes, do a little dusting, vacuum the rugs, change the linens on the bed.