A Fire in the Blood

  “No. What do you want?”

  “You’ve been with him. Your scent was on his clothing when I saw him last night.” Animosity poured off the woman, so intense it was almost palpable.

  Tessa swallowed hard, her heart pounding, her mind racing. Married! Andrei was married. Why hadn’t he told her? Why hadn’t it ever occurred to her to ask?

  The woman took a step forward. “Stay away from him.”

  “No problem,” Tessa said, forcing a note of calm into her voice.

  The woman smiled, displaying shiny white fangs. “Smart girl.”

  A vampire. Tessa shivered. Why was she not surprised?

  She stood there, feeling naked and vulnerable under the woman’s malevolent gaze, sagged against the car door when, with a wave of her hand, Andrei’s wife disappeared from sight.

  Feeling sick to her stomach, Tessa opened the car door and sank onto the seat. For a moment, she sat there, hands clenched on the steering wheel, shaking from head to foot.

  Wife.

  He had a wife.

  She blinked rapidly, refusing to cry.

  He was a cheat and a liar. He didn’t deserve her tears.

  But they came anyway.

  * * *

  Tessa saw Andrei waiting on the landing outside her apartment when she got home. Knowing she would have to face him sooner or later, she gathered her bags, then took a deep breath.

  He watched her, eyes narrowing, as she climbed the stairs toward him.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked as she unlocked the door. “Shouldn’t you be at home? With your wife?”

  For once, she had caught him totally off guard. “What are you talking about?”

  “I met her today. She warned me to stay away from you.”

  Andrei uttered several words Tessa didn’t understand, but cussing sounded pretty much the same in any language.

  She held up a staying hand when he started to follow her inside. “You’re not welcome here anymore.”

  “Tessa, listen . . .”

  “I’m through listening to you.”

  “Dammit, Tessa.” His hands curled into fists. “Just listen!”

  “You can say whatever you have to from out there.” After setting her bags on the floor, she folded her arms over her chest. “Well? I’m waiting.”

  “I should have told you about Katerina, but I never thought she’d come looking for me. Or for you. I haven’t seen her in centuries.”

  “Centuries?”

  He nodded.

  “But you are married?”

  “Technically, I guess so.”

  Was he being honest with her now? Maybe she was being a fool, but this was a story she had to hear.

  With a sigh, she stepped back. “Maybe you’d better come inside and explain. Just let me put these things away.”

  * * *

  When she returned to the living room, Tessa found Andrei standing in front of the window, staring out.

  He didn’t turn around. “I was engaged to another woman when I met Katerina. I didn’t know she was a vampire, only that she was the most beautiful, mysterious woman I had ever met. I broke my engagement and married her. Only then did I discover that Katerina had married me because she coveted my home and the title that went with it.”

  “Did you . . .” She hesitated a moment. “Did you have children?”

  “No. Vampires are unable to reproduce.”

  Tessa decided that was probably a good thing, considering what he’d told her so far.

  “Over the course of the next two years, she killed all the members of my family. No one ever suspected her, thanks in part to her deceit and in part to her ability to make people believe anything she told them. I didn’t learn of her treachery until all my elder brothers had been killed, leaving me the only surviving heir.”

  “Oh, Andrei, I’m so sorry.”

  “She mesmerized the servants so they wouldn’t ask questions when one of the maids turned up dead, drained of blood. She turned me against my will, compelled me to do things—despicable things that haunt me to this day. It took me a hundred years to gain enough strength to resist her compulsions, and another two centuries to escape her.”

  Tessa stared at his back, her heart aching for his pain.

  And still he didn’t face her.

  She hesitated a moment, then slid her arms around his waist.

  With a hoarse cry, he turned and gathered her into his arms. For several moments, he held her close.

  “Why is she here now? What does she want?”

  “She heard about you, about your blood, I mean.”

  “What? How is that possible?”

  “Some fledgling told her. It piqued her interest and she decided to come to the States and see if she could find the woman with the mysterious blood. I’m not sure what her interest is. Curiosity? Boredom? Who the hell knows why Katerina does what she does. Anyway, she decided as long as she was here, she might as well spend some time with me.”

  “She wants you to be her husband again, doesn’t she?”

  He was silent for several moments before saying, “I’m afraid so.”

  “And you agreed?”

  Again, he hesitated. “Not exactly.”

  Slipping out of his embrace, Tessa backed up a step. “What, exactly?”

  “I can’t beat her in a fight,” he said flatly. “She’s too powerful. My only hope—our only hope—is to humor her. If I resist, it will only make her more determined. But if I play along, she’ll soon get bored and go back home.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  He shook his head. “With Katerina, you can never be certain of anything. But I don’t know what else I can do.”

  “Where does that leave me? Leave us?”

  “I’m not sure.” Katerina was ancient, the most powerful vampire he knew. To make her angry was to invite not only her wrath, but Tessa’s destruction. And possibly his own. “But if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that her threats are rarely empty.”

  Remembering the icy tone of Katerina’s voice, the menace in her eyes, Tessa shivered.

  “As strong as she is, she can’t enter your house uninvited.”

  “Why not? Why does that even keep vampires out?”

  “Thresholds have power. They’re meant to protect mortals from supernatural creatures. But the protection only extends to homes and other places of residence. You’ll be safe at Jilly’s, but not at work.”

  Suddenly chilled, Tessa drew his arms around her again.

  “You need to learn to shield your mind. Even though Katerina can’t force her way into your apartment, she has the power to compel you to go to her. If you feel her inside your head, you have to block her.”

  “How do I do that?”

  “It’s like building a wall around your thoughts. You build it brick by brick until you master the technique. In time, it will become second nature.”

  “You said supernatural creatures. Plural.”

  “Vampires aren’t the only monsters out there. They’re just the ones making the headlines these days.”

  Tessa closed her eyes. “I don’t want to know about any others. I can’t handle that right now.”

  Andrei brushed a kiss across the top of her head. “Are you ready to build that wall?”

  * * *

  Tessa was amazed at how easy it was to erect an imaginary barrier in her mind. She had thought it might take days—perhaps weeks—to accomplish, but it was surprisingly simple.

  Even Andrei was impressed. “You’re a natural,” he remarked when she shut him out of her thoughts.

  Tessa smiled, pleased by his praise, and then frowned. Sometimes it was nice, having him know what she was thinking, like when she wanted him to hold her, kiss her . . . She gasped when he drew her into his arms. “I thought you couldn’t read my mind?”

  “You have to maintain control and not let yourself be distracted. Those sexy thoughts of yours brought the walls down,” he said with a wick
ed grin. “And I’m only too happy to hold you,” he murmured, lightly stroking her back. “And kiss you whenever you want.”

  Her eyelids fluttered down as his mouth moved seductively over hers.

  “And do whatever else might please you.”

  Tessa was about to ask for more when she felt the prick of his fangs at her throat. Startled, she tried to pull away, but he held her in a grip of iron. He drank quickly, then sealed the wounds in her neck.

  “Lock the door after me. I’ll call you when I can.”

  And with no other explanation, he vanished from her sight.

  * * *

  Katerina’s eyes were as cold as clouds in winter. “You’ve been with her.”

  It wasn’t a question.

  “I was hungry.”

  She lifted her head, nostrils flaring, searching for the scent of fresh blood. “Perhaps we should go back. She smells delicious.”

  “I don’t share prey in my own city. Not even for you.” Thwarting her was a risk, but letting her drink from Tessa was a bigger one. Thus far, Katerina hadn’t made the connection between Tessa and the female she was searching for, and he hoped to keep it that way.

  “You told me she wasn’t prey.”

  He shrugged. “I take a drink every now and then.”

  “But you won’t share,” Katerina said, pouting. “Selfish as always, I see. Some things never change. Shall we go?”

  Hunting with Katerina was a unique experience, by turns horrifying and amusing. Though she no longer needed to feed every day or even every week, she was a glutton with a playful streak who loved the hunt.

  As they stalked the streets of a distant city, she made a game of it—challenging him to see which of them could find the tallest prey, the fattest, the drunkest, the oldest, the youngest.

  He played the game because rejecting her was never wise. But he refused to kill his prey. In the old days, to his everlasting regret, she had compelled him to do so, but she no longer had that power over him.

  “Don’t you miss it?” she asked as they left the scene of their last hunt. “The thrill of drinking it all? Absorbing every memory, every hope? Every drop? Listening to their heartbeat slowing, slowing, until they take their last breath? The power of it?”

  “No.”

  “You’ve always been a disappointment,” she muttered. “Stubborn. Honorable to a fault. I should have known you wouldn’t change.” She sighed dramatically. “I should have turned your brother Danil instead. He would have made a much better vampire. But you were the more handsome. And a better lover.”

  “You seduced Danil?”

  “Of course.”

  “And Kolya? And Rolan?”

  She shrugged. “How else was I to decide?”

  Shocked by this revelation, Andrei stared at her. To his chagrin, a part of him couldn’t help being pleased that she had found him better in bed than his brothers. And then he sobered. Had she preferred one of the others, he would have died long ago.

  They walked another block before she came to an abrupt halt. Andrei took another step and then he too came to a stop as he caught the scent of vampire on the evening breeze.

  “Anyone you know?” Katerina asked.

  Andrei shook his head, all his senses on high alert as the other vampire stepped out of the shadows. Of medium height, he had lank, brown hair and glittering gray eyes under shaggy brows.

  “I am the master of this city.” The vampire’s malevolent gaze darted from Katerina to Andrei and back again. “You are not welcome here.”

  “That’s not very friendly,” Katerina remarked.

  “Neither is hunting in territory that isn’t yours.”

  Andrei moved to one side as Katerina and the stranger squared off. The air pulsed with supernatural power as they took stock of each other in what Andrei often thought of as a paranormal test of strength. Between men, it would have been humorously called a pissing contest, but that hardly seemed fitting in the current situation.

  He had no doubt that Katerina was the stronger of the two.

  A moment later, he was proven right when Katerina’s power drove the other vampire several steps backward and then to his knees.

  “I trust you won’t mind if we continue to hunt in your territory,” she drawled, her voice honey-sweet and threatening at the same time.

  The master of the city inclined his head. “Please. Be my guests.”

  Smirking, Katerina swept past him; then, as he lunged after her, she turned on her heel and ripped out his heart.

  She looked at Andrei as she tossed the bloody organ aside, then knelt to wipe her hands on the dead vampire’s coat.

  Face impassive, Andrei met her gaze.

  And then they resumed the hunt.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Jilly? It’s Tessa. I need someone to talk to.”

  “Is something wrong?”

  “You could say that.”

  “How about if we get together after church?” Jilly asked. “Or maybe you don’t want to wait that long?”

  “The sooner, the better.”

  “Well, why don’t you come over now? I’ll put the coffee on.”

  “Thanks, girlfriend. You’re the best.”

  “Right,” Jilly said, chuckling. “See you soon.”

  “I’ll be there as soon as I get dressed.”

  It was a bleary-eyed Jileen who opened the door twenty minutes later. “Let’s talk in the kitchen,” she said, stifling a yawn. “What’s this all about?”

  “Just when you think things can’t get worse,” Tessa muttered, taking a chair at the table by the window.

  “They do,” Jilly said, finishing her thought. “What happened?”

  “He has a wife.”

  Suddenly wide awake, Jilly blinked at her. “He’s married?” She shook her head. “A married vampire. Well, that takes the cake.”

  “He hasn’t seen her in centuries.”

  “Centuries? Good Lord. Don’t tell me, she’s a vampire too?”

  Tessa nodded.

  Jilly filled two cups with coffee, then dropped into the chair on the other side of the table. “So, why did she show up now?”

  “She’s looking for me. But she doesn’t know it’s me she’s looking for.”

  “For you? Why? Oh, the blood thing.” Jilly shook her head. “I can’t imagine why yours is different from anyone else’s.”

  “Me either. But that’s only part of it.”

  “There’s more?” Jilly sipped her coffee.

  “Andrei said that, since she’s here, she wants to take up where they left off.”

  “Oh, that’s not good, is it?” Jilly frowned. “Why doesn’t he just tell her to go to hell?”

  “Apparently that’s not an option. She’s very old, older even than he is, and very powerful.”

  “And?”

  “He’s worried about what she might do to me.”

  “Oh, crap.”

  “That’s not the only troubling thing he said.”

  “I don’t think I want to hear any more.” Jilly dropped two English muffins in the toaster. “Okay, tell me.”

  “He said vampires aren’t the only supernatural creatures that are more than myth.”

  “Oh, there’s good news,” Jilly said dryly. “Did he say what other scary creatures are running around?”

  “He didn’t elaborate.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t mind if one of them was Thor.” Rising, Jilly set butter, jelly, honey, and peanut butter on the table, along with a couple of knives and two plates. She spread peanut butter and jelly on her muffin.

  Tessa opted for butter and honey. “You know, a couple of months ago my life was ordinary. Dull, even.”

  “Did Andrei say how long his missus was staying?” Jilly asked, resuming her seat.

  “No. But apparently she bores easily and he’s hoping she’ll soon tire of small-town life and go home.”

  “Let’s hope.” Jilly refilled her coffee cup. “What are you going to
do now?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t talked to Andrei since last night.”

  “Well, I’m sure he’ll call you when he can.”

  “I guess. One thing for sure, staying with him now is out of the question.”

  “No kidding.”

  Tessa sipped her coffee, thinking how glad she was to have a friend like Jilly, someone she could talk to, confide in.

  Someone who could keep a secret.

  * * *

  Tessa was extraordinarily busy at work Monday morning, for which she was grateful, because it didn’t give her much time to think about Andrei or his centuries-old wife. Still, in those rare moments when she had a few minutes to spare, she found herself constantly wondering if she should stop seeing Andrei—at least until Katerina was no longer a threat.

  When she wasn’t worrying about that, Tessa’s mind filled with images of Andrei and Katerina wrapped in each other’s arms. Andrei was a passionate man. Katerina was beautiful and she was his wife. He professed to hate her for what she had done to his family—to him. But he was a man, and men had been known to make love to women for whom they had no affection.

  She was clearing her desk of the day’s work when her cell phone rang. “Hello?”

  “How was your day, dragostea mea?” His voice was like liquid honey, warm and sweet.

  “It was all right. I’m almost afraid to ask about yours.”

  “It would be better if I was with you.”

  “Are you and Katerina playing house?” She grimaced as soon as the words left her mouth. That was the last thing she wanted to know.

  “So far we’re just hunting companions. Listen, I can’t talk long. I asked Luke to drive you home. I’m not sure our seeing each other is a good idea as long as Katerina is here. But if she’s with me, she won’t be looking for you. And you shouldn’t be in any danger as long as you’re inside before dark. I’ll call you when I can.”

  Tessa glanced around to make sure no one was in earshot before whispering, “Did you find out why she wants my blood?”

  But he had already disconnected the call.

  * * *

  Tessa didn’t know who was more nervous on the drive home—Luke, Jilly, or herself. She found herself constantly looking out the windows, jumping every time the car hit a bump.

  She didn’t argue when Luke insisted on walking her upstairs to her apartment. Not wanting to be left alone, Jilly went with them.