Twilight Dreams

  “You really heard me. That’s so . . . so . . . fantastic.”

  “Yeah, well, I wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t called,” he said, his voice flat. “Last time I was here, you made it pretty clear you wanted to be left alone.”

  “Can you blame me? All this supernatural stuff isn’t easy to process, you know. When you’ve spent your whole life believing vampires are myths, it takes some time to get used to the idea that they’re real.”

  He snorted. “Tell me about it.”

  “Then you know what I mean. And if vampires are real, what about werewolves and zombies and . . .” She waved her hand in the air. “Who knows what else?”

  “Well, I’ve never met any werewolves. I’m not sure what Mahlon is, but I’m pretty sure he’s not a zombie.”

  Holly folded her arms over her breasts.

  “Was there something you wanted?” Micah asked.

  “Just some company.”

  He nodded. “I know you don’t want me inside, so why don’t you come out here and sit on the swing?”

  She hesitated only a moment before crossing the threshold. The swing creaked when she sat down.

  Micah leaned against the porch rail across from her.

  “Tell me about your life,” Holly said. “What do you do for fun?”

  “Fun?” He shrugged. “The same things as most people, I guess. I like movies. Rock concerts. A good murder mystery. Going to the beach. Of course, a suntan is out of the question.”

  Holly laughed, and some of the tension drained out of her. “What did you do before . . . you know?”

  “I was pursuing a career as an actor. A well-known director saw me in a low-budget film and offered me a part in a big-budget movie shooting in Cody, Wyoming. It was supposed to be my big break. I wasn’t the star, but I was in several pivotal scenes with the main character. The director had high hopes for me, said I had the right ‘look’ for his next project.

  “And then one night I met Lilith in a bar. We had a few drinks and a few laughs. Later she took me to what I thought was her house.” He shook his head. “I was more than a little drunk, and she was very persuasive. One thing led to another.... Hell, I don’t even remember most of it. When I woke the next night, I was a vampire and she was gone. Being a new vampire pretty much put an end to my career in showbiz.”

  “That must have been terrible for you.” Holly couldn’t begin to imagine how he must have felt, how frightening it must have been, to realize that in one night his whole life had been turned upside down.

  “Terrible doesn’t begin to describe it. I think I went a little crazy in the beginning. The hunger will do that to you if you don’t keep it in check. Later, Saintcrow told me that when a vampire turns someone, they’re supposed to hang around awhile, at least long enough to explain what’s happened, you know? Long enough to teach their fledgling how to survive.”

  “What did Saintcrow teach you, exactly? I mean, once you became a vampire, didn’t you just instinctively know what to do?”

  “Not quite. The only thing I knew that first night was a searing, insatiable thirst unlike anything I’d ever experienced. I would have done anything to put an end to it. Saintcrow taught me how to hunt. How to satisfy my hunger without killing. He showed me how to make feeding pleasant for those I preyed on.” Micah regretted his choice of words when Holly grimaced with revulsion. “Sorry.”

  “How do you do that? Make it pleasant?”

  “I’d be happy to show you,” he said with a wicked grin.

  “No way!”

  “It’s a little like making love. You can do it slow and easy and give your partner pleasure, or you can just take what you want with no thought for anyone but yourself.”

  His voice, low and sexy, moved over her like invisible fingers. The sensation was so real, she would have sworn he was caressing her. But that was impossible.

  Feeling her cheeks grow warm, she said, “Go on.”

  “Slow and easy is always best.” Micah grinned at her. “He also taught me the importance of finding a safe place to spend the day. How to detect hunters. How to use all the preternatural powers that were now mine.”

  “Have you ever turned anyone?”

  “No. I don’t want the responsibility.”

  “I guess I can understand that.” She regarded him a moment, then said, “I asked you once before if you liked being a vampire. You never answered me.”

  Micah shrugged. “It has its perks. I like the strength and the speed. Never being sick. Not having to worry about getting old and helpless.” He’d been eight or nine when his maternal grandfather had gotten sick. The old man had hung on for over a year, growing weaker with every passing day. The thought of lingering like that, slowly wasting away, had given Micah nightmares for months.

  “But?”

  “I miss the sun. Food.” He paused. “My family.”

  “They don’t know what happened to you?”

  “It’s not an easy thing to talk about. What do I say? Hi, Mom and Dad. What’s new with you? Oh, by the way, I’m a vampire now.”

  “Maybe you should just tell them. I’m sure they’d understand.”

  “You mean the way you did?”

  “I’m not your mother, but if I was, it wouldn’t make any difference in my feelings. It’s not like you’re some kind of out-of-control monster.”

  “Believe me, I think about it all the time,” he admitted. “I don’t go home as often as I’d like, because it’s hard to hide what I am. Hard to make excuses for why I can’t stay for dinner, why I can’t play a round of golf with my dad, or play catch with my nephews, stuff like that. It’s easier to stay away. As far as they know, I’m still pursuing my acting career.” He blew out a sigh. “In a few years, I won’t be able to go home at all.”

  “Why not?”

  “Sooner or later, they’re bound to notice I’m not getting any older.”

  “Oh, right. I hadn’t thought about that. But that’s all the more reason to tell them the truth.”

  “You could be right. But I’ve got a big family. A secret like this is hard to keep. All it takes is one of my nieces or nephews letting it slip to one of their friends, or a teacher, that their uncle is a vampire.”

  “I doubt if anyone would believe it.”

  “At the moment, it’s not a risk I’m willing to take.”

  Holly looked pensive a moment, then asked, “What about the blood?”

  “What about it?”

  “How can you . . . ?” She shuddered.

  “I can’t survive without it,” he said flatly. “It’s as simple as that. I’ve tried, believe me, but not feeding . . . it’s not worth the pain.” He shifted from one foot to the other. “Why did you pick this house?”

  “What?”

  “This house. Why did you choose this one?”

  “I liked the colors inside, the furniture. It probably sounds silly, but it just felt right. Why? Is there something wrong with it?”

  He shook his head, wondering if he should he tell her this had been Shirley’s place.

  “Micah?”

  “You remember the woman I told you about? Shirley?”

  “Yes. Oh, no! This is her house, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I’ll look for another one tomorrow.”

  “No, it’s okay. You’re all settled in. Besides, it suits you.”

  Holly shook her head, then sighed. “Sometimes you seem so normal,” she murmured, then clapped her hand over her mouth. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Normal, huh?”

  “I just meant that if I didn’t know what you are . . .” She waved her hand in a vague gesture of dismissal. “Just forget what I said.”

  “Don’t worry about it, sunshine. Do you need anything?”

  “No.” She shivered as a gust of wind blew down out of the mountains.

  “You’re cold,” he said. “You should go inside.”

  “I
guess the cold doesn’t bother you.”

  “No. Hot or cold, it’s all the same to me.” Pushing away from the railing, he shoved his hands into his pants pockets. “Call me if there’s anything you need.”

  She nodded, then bit down on her lip as he started down the stairs. “Micah, wait.”

  Pausing, he glanced over his shoulder. “What is it?”

  “I don’t want to be alone.” She didn’t want to admit that Morgan Creek made her uneasy. She had never been afraid of the dark, but this town spooked her. It was so quiet, and kind of eerie tonight, with the moon peeking through the clouds, as if it were spying on her.

  “There’s nothing to be afraid of,” he said, reading her thoughts. “No one here will hurt you.” No one alive, anyway, he thought, recalling that Saintcrow had told him Kadie believed there were ghosts in the graveyard. He’d never seen one, but it wouldn’t surprise him if one showed up. Lots of people had died here, not all of them peacefully.

  “Please stay.”

  “I can’t spend the day here,” he said. “But I’ll stay until the sun comes up.”

  “Thank you.” Hoping she wasn’t making a huge mistake, Holly hurried into the house; then, remembering he couldn’t follow unless invited, she said, “Micah, please come in.”

  She felt the oddest sensation as he stepped over the threshold. It was a feeling she couldn’t explain, an odd vibration in the air that whispered over her skin and raised goose bumps on her arms.

  When she shivered this time, it had nothing to do with the cold.

  Chapter Eleven

  Holly slept late. When she woke, she lay there for a while, thinking about last night’s conversation with Micah. What would it be like, to be turned into a vampire against your will and left with no one to guide you, no one to tell you what to expect? She couldn’t imagine the horror a newly-turned vampire must feel as she slowly realized that the life she knew—the future she had planned—was gone, with no hope of ever getting it back.

  What would have happened to Micah if Saintcrow hadn’t come along to teach him what he needed to know? It must have been scary as hell, at least in the beginning, not knowing exactly what he had become or what to do. How awful, not to be able to tell his family the truth, to have to tell one lie after another to keep those he loved the most from learning what he had become.

  Like he’d said, sooner or later, there would come a time when he wouldn’t be able to go home at all, because his family would grow old and he would always look the way he did now.

  When she was eighty—should she live so long—he would still look the way he did today—handsome, virile. Young.

  Shaking off her dismal thoughts, she went into the kitchen for a cup of coffee.

  Three weeks wasn’t a terribly long time, but it suddenly seemed like an eternity.

  * * *

  Micah knocked on her door shortly after the sun went down. After a day spent alone with her own thoughts, Holly was delighted to see him.

  “You busy?” he asked.

  She arched one brow. “Busy dying slowly of boredom.”

  “Yeah, I figured that, so I came to spring you for a few hours.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It’s my mother’s birthday. If we leave now, we’ll get there right on time.”

  “What about Braga?”

  “She doesn’t know where my folks live, or where we are. We should be safe enough for an hour or two.”

  “What about Saintcrow?”

  “I already told him we were going. He’s going to meet us at the bridge to lower the wards. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to leave.”

  It took less than a heartbeat to make up her mind. “Just let me change my clothes.”

  * * *

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” Saintcrow glanced at Micah and Holly, who stood side by side near the end of the bridge.

  “We won’t be gone long,” Micah assured him. “An hour or two, three at the most.”

  “Be careful.”

  “Always.” Micah put his arm around Holly’s waist. “You ready?”

  Holly nodded. She had only a fuzzy memory of the journey from her house to Morgan Creek. As before, she felt a sudden dizziness, a sense of moving swiftly through a long, dark tunnel. When the world righted itself, they were standing in front of a florist shop. Micah bought two dozen long-stemmed red roses. He held the flowers in one hand, wrapped his arm around her waist, and the next thing she knew, they were standing on the sidewalk in front of a large, two-story house located between a ranch-style house that was for sale and a vacant lot.

  “Home sweet home,” Micah murmured, and Holly didn’t miss the wistful note in his voice. Light blazed from every window. Music and laughter spilled through the open front door.

  “Dammit,” he muttered, “they haven’t eaten yet.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  He shook his head ruefully. “Mass hypnosis,” he muttered. “Come on.”

  Mass hypnosis? On his own family? Was he kidding?

  Taking her by the hand, Micah led her up the stairs to the veranda. “If anyone asks how we got here, we flew. By plane,” he clarified. “And we have to leave by ten to catch a flight back because I’ve got an early call in the morning. Got it?”

  “Got it.”

  There was chaos the minute Micah stepped into the foyer. Everyone—men, women, and children—ran to greet him, all talking at once as they smothered him with hugs, kisses, and questions.

  Afraid of being trampled in the rush, Holly stayed out of the way.

  “Mikey!” A tiny woman with short, thick black hair hurried in from the kitchen, her face wreathed in smiles, her sparkling brown eyes shining with tears. “You came!”

  The crowd in front of Micah parted like the Red Sea.

  Micah passed the bouquet to Holly, then swept the woman into his arms. “I couldn’t miss your birthday, Ma.”

  She hugged him fiercely. “Can you stay?”

  “Just for a few hours. I have to be on the set early in the morning.”

  “You’re here now,” she said, wiping her eyes with the hem of her apron. “That’s all that matters. Come, we were just about to eat.” She paused when she saw Holly standing off in a corner. “Who’s this lovely lady?”

  “Ma, this is Holly Parrish. Holly, my mother, Lena.”

  “I’m pleased to meet you, Mrs. Ravenwood,” Holly said. “Happy birthday.”

  Lena shook her finger at her son. “You didn’t tell me you had a girl!”

  Murmurs and speculation ran through the crowd. A couple of men punched Micah on the arm. Others winked at him.

  Ignoring them, Micah said, “She’s just a friend, Ma. Here,” he said, taking the flowers from Holly. “Happy birthday.”

  Lena beamed at her son as she accepted the bouquet. “Come, you two. Dinner is ready. Let’s eat.”

  Holly was amazed by the size of the Ravenwoods’ kitchen and the adjoining dining room. Both were huge, but judging from the size of the crowd in the house, they needed the space to accommodate their nine children, and their assorted spouses and kids. In the dining room, two long trestle tables, covered with white damask cloths, were set with gleaming silverware and candles. Two large, round tables had been set up in the kitchen for the kids.

  Lena found a beautiful crystal vase for the flowers.

  When everyone was seated, Micah introduced Holly to his family, but she forgot most of their names as soon as she heard them. All except for his youngest sister, Sofia. Dressed in ubiquitous black, her dark eyes lined in kohl, she looked like a crow in a field of wildflowers, albeit a beautiful one.

  Following Holly’s gaze, Micah said, “She’s into the whole vampire-goth scene. My folks are hoping she’ll outgrow it.”

  Holly nodded, thinking she had never seen a more beautiful family in her life. They could have all been movie stars, from Micah’s father, Luciano, to his youngest niece, Maiya.

  Holly had expected to be b
ombarded with questions about herself and her relationship with Micah, and while there were numerous inquiries, none were too personal.

  Holly answered their questions, marveling at the amount of food it took to feed such a large crowd. There were three kinds of pasta, two kinds of sauce, loaves of homemade bread, salads, and several kinds of wine. She had never been surrounded by such a large, exuberant family, or felt such an abundance of love. No wonder Micah was homesick.

  After dinner, the children and grandchildren sang happy birthday to Lena, and then they all trooped into the living room to watch her open her presents.

  Of course, there was cake—the biggest birthday cake Holly had ever seen—along with four kinds of ice cream, including spumoni. Micah’s favorite, Lena told Holly with a wistful smile.

  Later, after Micah’s married siblings and their kids had said their good-byes and his two single sisters had gone off with their dates, Holly and Micah relaxed in the living room with his parents.

  “So, Holly, how long have you and Micah known each other?” Lena asked.

  “We just met a few days ago,” Holly replied.

  Lena glanced from Holly to Micah and back again. “You’re the first girl he’s ever brought home to meet us,” she remarked, smiling. “Can I hope . . . ?”

  “Ma, you’re embarrassing her,” Micah said.

  “Pshaw, no reason to be embarrassed. It’s past time you settled down. You can’t blame a mother for wanting to see all of her children happily married.”

  “Ma . . .”

  Holly grinned, amused by Micah’s discomfort. It was obvious this was a topic that had been discussed before—and often.

  “Will we be seeing you on the big screen soon?” his father asked.

  “I’m afraid not,” Micah replied. “They scrapped the film I was working on. I’m not sure why. So, it’s back to square one.”

  “You’ll make it,” his mother said, a note of pride in her voice.

  When Lena went into the kitchen to make a fresh pot of coffee, Micah’s father slipped him a hundred-dollar bill.

  Micah shook his head. “Dad, I don’t need this.”

  Luciano snorted. “Right. Don’t tell your mama.”

  Looking somewhat sheepish, Micah slipped the bill into his pocket.