“It’s no joke.”
“You’re a vampire?”
He nodded.
“Prove it.” She regretted the words as soon as they left her lips. Did she really want to know the truth, especially when the best way for him to prove it was to do what vampires did best?
Derek smiled faintly. “I’ve already tasted you.”
She lifted a shaking hand to her throat. “I don’t believe you.”
“It was just once, while you were sleeping.”
“No.” She shook her head. “It was only a dream!” But it had felt so real.
“Are you sure?”
Feeling suddenly chilled, she ran her hands up and down her arms. “Am I going to become a vampire?”
“So you believe me?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know.”
His gaze moved over her, a predatory gleam in his eye. “I can hear the beat of your heart, the sound of the blood flowing through your veins. I can sense your thoughts, taste the fear on your skin.”
“That’s impossible!”
She let out a shriek when, without warning, he dissolved into mist and surrounded her. Planting the words in her mind, he said, Now do you believe me?
A moment later, he resumed his own form, careful not to touch her.
“It’s true.” Face pale, body trembling, she stared at him as if she had never seen him before. And even as she acknowledged the truth, she told herself it couldn’t be real. He couldn’t be real. “Why are you telling me this now?”
“You need to know. We’ve been seen together. Any vampire who gets near you will know you’ve been with me. You asked me who those men at the Den were. They were hunters, and they were after me. I should have realized just being with you would put your life in danger. I’m sorry.”
Feeling suddenly faint, Sheree sank onto the sofa, hands clasped in her lap, as she tried to absorb what he was telling her. She wanted to yell at him, to blame him for involving her in his life, but how could she?
He was right.
She had wanted to find a vampire. And she had found one.
Chapter Sixteen
“I seem to be asking this a lot lately,” Sheree said, looking up at Derek, “but where do we go from here? What am I supposed to do now?” She was in over her head, she thought, treading in unfamiliar territory. Even though she had been certain vampires existed, she had never really expected to find one. Certainly not one she found as attractive and desirable as Derek. Just her luck, she mused glumly. She found a man who excited her and he wasn’t even a man, at least not in the usual sense of the word. “Does your sister know? I mean, what you are?”
“Yeah. It’s hard to keep a secret like that from your family.”
“How long have you been a vampire?”
“Since I was thirteen.”
“Thirteen! That must have been terrible. How did it happen?”
“I’ll tell you about it sometime. Right now, there are a few things you need to know.”
“Like what?”
“For starters, you can’t tell anyone about me.”
“Who would believe me?”
“It doesn’t matter. For your sake and mine, this has to be our secret.”
“All right. I promise. What else do I need to know?”
“Never invite a vampire into your house.”
“A little late for that bit of advice, don’t you think?” she muttered dryly.
“Invitations can be rescinded, so if you want me to leave, just say so and I’ll be gone.”
“Really? Just like that?”
“Just like that. Most popular vampire lore is true, which is why it’s been around so long. I know you have a wooden stake in your possession. You need to keep it sharp and carry it with you whenever you leave the house. It’s more effective if you dip it in holy water. Vampires are strong, but their flesh is easily penetrated with wooden stakes or silver-bladed knives. If you think your life is in danger, never hesitate to strike first.”
He paced away from her to look out the front window, debating whether to tell her that his mother and Logan were also vampires, and that Mara was his mother, not his sister, then decided such information was on a need-to-know basis, and right now, she didn’t need to know.
He turned to face her again. “Do you have any questions?”
She shook her head.
He didn’t have to read her mind to know she was still reeling from what he’d told her. “I’d advise you not to go wandering around alone after dark. And to stay out of Goth clubs. Oh, one more thing. Vampires are pros when it comes to hypnotizing people, so if you meet someone you think might be a vampire, don’t look into their eyes.”
“Have you hypnotized me?”
“Not exactly, but I’ve erased things from your memory. Things you remembered anyway. I guess I need more practice.”
“The two men who broke into my house? You killed them, didn’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“Were they hunters, too?”
Derek nodded.
“It all sounds like something out of a horror movie. Vampires and vampire hunters. I . . . thank you for looking out for me.”
“It’s the least I can do, since I’m the one who put you in danger in the first place.” He blew out a breath. “Like I said, I’m sorry I got you involved in this. Take care of yourself.”
“You’re leaving?” She should have been glad. He was a vampire, after all. But the thought of never seeing him again made her heart ache. It made no sense. She should be terrified of what he was, running for her life. But, strange as it seemed, she wasn’t afraid of anything but losing him.
“It’s for the best, don’t you think?”
“But . . . who’s going to protect me if you go?”
“You probably won’t need protecting as long as I’m not around.”
He was right, of course, but . . . Rising, she closed the distance between them. Resting her hands on his shoulders, she went up on her tiptoes and kissed him.
At first, he didn’t kiss her back; then his arms went around her and he pulled her body against his, his mouth devouring hers in a kiss that burned away every thought, every need save the flame that smoldered between them, growing hotter and more intense as his tongue dueled with hers.
“Sheree . . .” Holding her away from him, he took a deep breath. “Damn, girl, what are you doing?”
“I don’t want you to go. Please, Derek, I’ve never felt this way about anyone else. Maybe it won’t last, maybe it isn’t even real, but shouldn’t we find out?”
“Oh, it’s real enough, love. Don’t ever doubt it.”
“I hear a ‘but’ in there somewhere.”
“I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“I’m willing to take my chances.” Moving closer, Sheree ran her hands over his chest. “Are you?”
She was old enough to know her own mind, he thought as he took her into his arms again, and there was no denying that he wanted her more than his next breath.
Muttering, “I just hope you don’t regret it,” he lowered his head and branded her lips with his. Right or wrong, he intended to stay with her as long as she would have him.
Mara glared at her son in disbelief. “Have you completely lost your mind? How could you do such a stupid thing?”
“She had a right to know,” Derek said. “I put Sheree’s life in danger and she needed to be aware of it. Don’t worry, I didn’t tell her about you or Logan.”
Mara glanced at her husband, lounging on the sofa beside her, his long legs stretched out in front of him. “I don’t believe this,” she said. “Our people spent years and thousands of dollars obliterating every scrap of proof of our existence, so that, gradually, mortals went back to believing in the myth and not the reality.” She turned her angry gaze on her son. “Now, we have hunters being killed and stories about it in the newspaper. And to top it off, you decided to tell Sheree. Sheree, who knows where we live!”
“He did
the right thing,” Logan said. “The girl needed to know.”
“What?” Mara rounded on her husband, ready to do battle. “How can you say that?”
“Because it’s the truth. What was Derek supposed to do? Just walk away and leave her in the dark?”
“If necessary,” Mara retorted.
“He’s crazy about her,” Logan said, grinning at Derek. “That being the case, he had no choice but to tell her the truth.”
Derek dropped into the chair across from the sofa. He had always admired Logan, and never more so than when he stood up to his wife. Mara might be the most powerful vampire in the world, but Logan wasn’t the least bit afraid of her, even though she could easily destroy him.
“There’s always a choice,” Mara retorted, but there was no heat in her voice.
“You’re worrying for nothing,” Logan insisted. “She isn’t likely to go around telling everyone she’s dating a vampire. Who would believe her?”
“I hope you’re right. At the moment, we have more pressing problems, like finding out if it’s just coincidence that hunters are popping up all over the place, although you know I don’t believe in coincidence, or if someone’s hunting us specifically, and if so, who it is.”
“Okay, wife, where do we start?”
“At the Den, of course. And then we need to find out if any of our old enemies are looking for us.”
“The Den.” Derek sat forward, his brow furrowed. “There were a couple of vampires there a few days ago. I had the feeling I knew one of them, although I couldn’t place her.”
Mara’s eyes narrowed. “What did she look like?”
“She was old. . . .”
“Was she with another old lady?”
“Yeah, how did you know?”
Mara glanced at Logan. “Edna and Pearl.”
“You know them?” Derek asked.
“Oh, yes, I know them.” Mara’s eyes glittered with menace. “They kidnapped you when you were a baby. They were partly responsible for your father’s death.”
“How so?” It was a story she had never told him.
Mara looked at Logan, a question in her eyes.
“Maybe it’s time he knows. Past time, if you ask me.”
Mara’s gaze grew distant. “I met Kyle Bowden at the foot of the Sphinx. He was a brilliant artist and I was captivated by him and in awe of his talent.” She smiled at the memory. “He fell in love with me, and I suppose I loved him, too, in my way. We parted when he discovered I was a vampire. It was about that time I realized I was losing my powers. Not long after that, I ran into Logan,” she said, squeezing his hand. “I hadn’t seen him in centuries. I don’t know what I would have done without him, especially after I discovered I was pregnant. He took care of me, found a vampire doctor to look after me. A few months later, Kyle hired a hunter to find me and your father and I were reunited.”
She glanced at Derek. He was watching her intently, his fingers digging into the arm of the chair. She hesitated a moment before continuing, but there was no point in stopping now.
“Because I was human and pregnant with Kyle’s child, I decided to marry him. I had lost all my powers by then and I was learning to be human again. Unknown to me, the doctor I had been seeing during my pregnancy had designs on you. With the help of Edna and Pearl, he kidnapped you and your father. Everyone in our family tried to find the two of you, but it was useless. Edna and Pearl had some sort of spray that completely masked their scent and yours, making it impossible to follow their trail.
“I knew there was only one way to find you, and that was to have Logan turn me again. I was certain the blood bond between us would lead me to you, and it did. I killed Ramsden when I found him. He had been doing some sort of experiments on your father’s DNA, hoping to discover how Kyle had impregnated me while I was both vampire and human. Your father died in my arms.”
“You could have saved him,” Derek said, his voice filled with accusation. “Why didn’t you bring him across?”
Mara stared into the distance, seeing it all again in her mind’s eye—the cage where Ramsden had imprisoned Kyle, the love in Kyle’s eyes when she cradled him in her arms, Kyle’s voice as he declared he had always loved her, even when he hated her. She had carried the guilt of his death in her heart ever since.
“Why didn’t you save him?” Derek’s voice was sharp, filled with bitterness. “Why didn’t you bring him across?”
“I asked him to let me, but he didn’t want it.” She shook her head. “I couldn’t turn him against his will. He would have been miserable the rest of his life.”
Derek sat there a moment, trying to process everything she’d told him, and then he left the room.
Mara stared after him. “Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.”
Logan slipped his arm around her shoulders. “He needed to know.”
“Did I make the right decision when I let Kyle die?”
“It was the right thing to do, darlin’ . He never would have accepted what he’d become. I doubt if he would have endured it for more than a day or two before he would have taken his own life, or found someone to destroy him. He would have hated you for turning him against his will.”
“You didn’t.”
He laughed softly. “There are very few men like me. And none who love you the way I do.”
She nodded absently, thinking about the book she had written while she was pregnant with Derek. The story of her life, it contained everything she could remember from the time her mother had abandoned her. She had written of her years as a slave in Pharaoh’s house, of the night Dendar had changed her and how she had found him and destroyed him for it. She wrote of the men she had known, the enemies she had made, her horror at reverting, her despair when she lost her powers, her mixed emotions when she learned she was pregnant, her joy in holding her son in her arms. It was a story filled with violence and war and bloodshed, of mistakes she had made, of lives she had ruined.
She had intended to give the book to Derek when he was old enough to appreciate it, but the timing had never seemed right. Now, she wondered if that time would ever come.
Chapter Seventeen
Derek stood on the balcony, his hands clenched over the wrought-iron railing. It was his fault his father was dead. If he had never been born, his father wouldn’t have been kidnapped and subjected to Ramsden’s vile experiments.
Derek slammed a fist against the side of the building. How was he supposed to live with that? And what about his mother? Had she been happy to be mortal again? Had he robbed her of the chance to live a normal human life?
Vaulting over the rail, Derek landed lightly on his feet. Filled with nervous energy, he began to run, darting around the trees in his path, vaulting over fallen logs. When he reached the bottom of the hill, he slowed his pace. It wouldn’t do to be seen running faster than the traffic on the street.
But there was no outrunning the past.
He slowed when he realized he was approaching Sheree’s house, and stopped when he reached her driveway. All the lights were out save the one in her bedroom. She was in bed. Asleep.
A thought took him to her side. “Sheree?”
She stirred, a faint smile curving her lips. “Am I dreaming again?”
He swallowed hard. “Only if that’s what you want.”
“I want you here,” she murmured sleepily. “Beside me.”
It was what he wanted, too. What he needed. Sitting on the edge of the mattress, he removed his shoes, socks, and shirt, then slid under the covers.
Sheree turned onto her side, her eyes widening in alarm at the realization that he was really there and not a figment of her imagination. “What’s wrong? What are you doing here?”
“What makes you think there’s anything wrong?”
She lifted one brow. “Why else would you be here at this time of the night?”
He longed to tell her what he had learned about his father’s death, but there was no way to explain it without b
etraying the fact that his mother and Logan were also vampires, or that Mara was his mother. Stroking Sheree’s hair, he whispered, “I just needed someone to hold me.”
His words arrowed straight to her heart. “Well,” she murmured, wrapping her arms around him, “you came to the right place.”
“Okay if I stay for what’s left of the night?”
Nodding, she snuggled against him, deeply touched that he had come to her when he was so obviously hurting. What did vampires worry about, she wondered. They were, in a manner of speaking, at the top of the food chain. Other than vampire hunters, they had nothing to fear. They didn’t get sick. They didn’t get old. Most of the troubles and ills of the mortal world had little effect on them. So, what was bothering him? Maybe, in time, he would trust her enough to confide in her.
Holding Sheree close, Derek listened to her thoughts. It surprised him that she had accepted the truth of what he was so easily. Perhaps it was because she had been convinced vampires existed. Whatever the reason, being with her was just what he needed.
He held her all through the night, content to be at her side while she slept, to stroke her hair and her skin, to breathe in her scent. For once, her nearness didn’t spark his hunger. Instead, her presence soothed him.
He stayed until the first faint rays of the sun touched the sky.
Derek wasn’t surprised to find his mother waiting for him when he got home. “This is getting to be a habit,” he noted sourly. “Are you gonna tuck me in?”
“There’s no reason for you to feel guilty about what happened to your father,” she said. “None of it was your fault. You’re not responsible for what I did, or for what others have done in the past. But if you need to blame someone, then blame me.”
“I want to see his grave.”
Mara stared at her son. She hadn’t been surprised by much in her long life, but his request caught her completely off guard.
“Well?” he asked.
“I’ll take you tomorrow night.”
In the morning, Sheree wondered if she had dreamed the whole thing—Derek’s unexpected revelation of the night before, sleeping in his arms.