The elevator opened bringing Sherry Wright, the nurse he’d enlisted as his servant, into view. Her complexion was pale, the shadows of the hospital garage did nothing to hide the distress in her face. She worried for her best friend’s life. The friend he’d kidnapped as motivation for Sherry to do his bidding. He needed her clear-minded. So he hadn’t dared take her blood to submit her fully.
Sherry’s distress, her fear, warmed his blood. He’d enjoy taking her beneath him and demanding her surrender.
When the petite brunette stopped a few feet away, Adrian didn’t press her to move closer. But her fear raced through his blood and ignited his desire. Adrenaline coursed through his veins.
“You know what has to be done?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said hoarsely. “When the woman, Karen, arrives, I’ll make sure she goes to the doctor at Jaguar Ranch.”
“Excellent,” Adrian said, satisfaction filling him.
“But what if she doesn’t come?”
“She will,” he said. Adrian had made sure of it. Adrian had taken Eva’s blood and controlled her now. He ensured Eva’s husband had died instantly in that car crash, just as he’d ensured Eva would follow his orders. She’d lead Karen where he wanted her to go. “This is the only hospital in the city.”
“Then you’ll release my friend, right?”
A slow smile slid onto Adrian’s lips. “When I’m done with you.” Which wouldn’t be until she’d serve his pleasure. He was tempted to try her out now, but there were matters to attend. He needed to visit Eva one last time before her sister entered the picture. To ensure Eva was deep under his control, closer to death.
He pushed off the car, standing in front of her, his finger sliding down the woman’s cheek. She shivered in response, already falling prey to his seductive powers. Unable to stop herself from desiring him. “Don’t disappoint me,” he said. “I’ll be back for you.” His eyes narrowed, a smile hinting on his lips. “Soon. Very soon.”
And then he disappeared into the night, a flash of fire and smoke.
He was here again.
Eva Gibson uncurled her body from the fetal position she’d taken on the bed, thankful for the relief he would bring. She didn’t want to see anyone but him. Only he brought peace. Adrian, he called himself. She called him an angel. Her angel. The only hope she had in this world. Endowed with a magical way of stealing her pain, he burned inside her. She longed for his presence and barely endured his absence.
It hurt when he left her alone.
Adrian called himself her guardian. Her escape from the loss of her husband, Mike. A gift granted to her in a time of need. It scared her that she couldn’t remember why or how Mike had died. Yes. She was scared. Yet…Adrian said it was part of his role. To make her forget. To make her whole in a new and brilliant way.
He appeared in the doorway, broad enough to fill the entryway. Tall enough to almost reach the top. Eva sat up on the edge of the bed, her breath catching in her throat. Black leather hugged muscular thighs. A matching vest showed off defined biceps and powerful forearms. Long, blond hair swept his shoulders, so different from the dark-haired men of the Hispanic culture who had touched her world before him. She remembered how that hair smelled. How it felt to her hands. How it brushed her skin as he kissed her.
He was so different from Mike. Eva blinked, feeling a rush of panic. Mike. Why couldn’t she picture Mike? But then, suddenly, Adrian was there, holding her. Touching her. “Fear nothing, little one. I am your salvation. I will heal you.”
His mouth came down upon hers, his tongue sliding past her teeth in a long, sultry stroke. Everything sunk into a dim darkness, passion consuming her, blessing her with the oblivion of forgetting.
Eva was saved. From the past. From the pain. From the moment. Adrian, she whispered in her mind. Take me.
And he responded without words. I intend to, my love.
Karen walked up the porch to her sister’s house, the wood creaking beneath her feet. Her stomach was balled in a knot of discomfort that matched the sharpness of her nerves.
Eyeing the pitch-black thickness of the woods surrounding the tiny little house that had once belonged to their parents, she shivered. It felt like something was out there in the midst of the trees…Watching.
Swallowing against the sudden dryness in her throat, Karen hesitated. Never, ever had she been scared.
Straightening, Karen willed herself to march up the steps, refusing to let her eyes travel away from her destination. But as she got to the top of the porch, something made her turn and look into the woods. There, deep in the coverage of night, two red eyes stared at her.
Karen jerked around and raced for the house, adrenaline pumping through her blood in overdrive. Logic said it was nothing but a deer or some other harmless animal. Instinct said the opposite. To run. To get inside.
She didn’t bother knocking, twisting the doorknob and yanking open the door. Relief rushed through her as it turned. Thank God. In a flash, she was inside, scrambling to put the locks in place. Task complete, she turned and rested against the door, chest rising and falling as she drew air into her burning lungs and shoved it back out.
She laughed, a choked sound that filled the quiet room.
This was nuts. Absolutely nuts. She didn’t spook easily. But then this was an unusual day, she reminded herself.
Bringing the living room into view, the walls danced with the shadows of flickering candlelight, the light scent of Eva’s favorite flower, lavender, lacing the air. Even with the familiar fragrance offering promise of Eva’s presence, an odd feeling of uneasiness clung to Karen’s emotions.
Surveying the room, she found everything as she remembered, still decorated in the cozy furnishing their parents had adorned it with. Nothing seemed out of place. No turned over tables. No broken glass. Yet…Something didn’t feel right though.
“Eva?” she called. No answer. “Eva?”
Still nothing.
Her brows dipped as a realization came to her. The door had been unlocked. Okay, something really wasn’t right here. Eva always locked the door.
Karen eyed the room for a weapon. Her travels had taught her much about the world. Karen might be the more daring of the two sisters, but a fool she wasn’t. She’d learned to defend herself, and had a few occasions to be glad for it. Like now.
Finding an umbrella by the coatrack, she grabbed it. Despite her frazzled state, she couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Karen never had an umbrella when she needed it. Eva did, of course. She was always cautious and always prepared. The thought quickly sobered Karen again, as the cautious part reminded her of the unlocked door and eerie silence. A renewed determination to find her sister safe and well put her into action.
Cautiously Karen eased her way into the kitchen but found it empty. Next, she worked her way to the back bedroom. It was there that she found Eva sitting on the bed, staring toward the wall as if in a haze. At least ten candles flickered around the room, casting shadows on the walls.
Karen quelled the urge to rush toward her, not sure what she was dealing with. Eva seemed to be awake but not. Like she was in a daze, perhaps having some sort of reaction to the trauma over losing Mike. Karen leaned the umbrella against the wall and then flipped on the light. Eva didn’t move.
Walking toward Eva, Karen studied her, noting the paleness of her skin. Even her pupils seemed dilated, her normally gorgeous sea-green eyes nearly consumed by black. And oddly, she wasn’t blinking.
Karen stopped several steps from Eva, and her brows dipped as she observed her sister’s attire, an ultrasheer white gown that molded her overly slim body, so sheer that Karen could see the dark circles around her sister’s nipples. Not an outfit one would expect from a grieving, rather shy and conservative, widow. This was a gown a woman wore to meet her lover.
Karen kneeled at her sister’s feet. Feet, she realized, that were on the floor, fearless of what was under the bed. Eva was most definitely not herself. Not that Karen would k
now, these days.
A sick feeling of guilt gathered in Karen’s stomach. Karen hardly even knew Mike, her travels had kept her so distant. No. She’d kept herself distant, she corrected.
Karen had gone away to college the instant Eva graduated. She’d tried to get Eva to go with her, but she wanted to stay with Mike and get married. Eva had clung to stability to survive, while Karen hadn’t wanted any part of anything that might be taken away again. She’d done the happy family once. She had needed away from the loss she felt in this town.
But now she knew there was more to it than that. In the back of her mind, she’d always been looking for something she couldn’t quite put her finger on. Something elusive that she needed and wasn’t able to visualize, let alone find.
What if that thing she sought had always been here, right in front of her face, by her sister’s side? More than ever, Karen realized, she’d left her sister behind in her quest for the unknown. If she lost Eva, she’d crumble. Eva was all the family she had left.
Swallowing emotion, she tentatively touched her sister’s knee, pulling back after that tiny contact, afraid of scaring her. When there was no negative response—no response at all, actually—she settled her palm back in place, feeling comforted by the touch. “Eva?”
Nothing.
She moved her hand to Eva’s cheek. “Eva, sweetie? Come back to me.”
Suddenly Eva blinked and focused. “Karen?”
Relief. “Yes, sweetie. It’s me. I’m here. How are you?”
Eva grabbed Karen’s hand from her cheek and held it in her lap, lacing her fingers with her sister’s. “I’m…waiting. He will be back soon.”
“Who?” Karen’s heart tightened. This wasn’t good. Eva clearly was in shock. No wonder she hadn’t been answering the phone. They needed to go to the hospital. “Mike?”
“Mike?” Eva said, tilting her head to the side ever-so-slightly, puzzlement in her wide eyes. “Who is Mike?”
Oh, God. It was worse than she thought. “Mike is your husband.” Was, Karen thought, painfully. “Don’t you remember?”
With a childlike quality, Eva seemed to consider Karen’s words, and a flash of pain darted through her eyes and then took root. “Where is Adrian? I need Adrian.” She let go of Karen’s hand and slouched, hand on her stomach. Her breathing became heavy. “He. Makes. The pain. Go away.”
“What pain?” Karen asked, urgent. “Is your stomach sick?” She pressed her palms to Eva’s face. Her skin felt so damn cold. More so with each passing minute. “Talk to me, Eva. Where do you hurt?”
Eva shivered and hugged herself. “I’m so cold.” Her lips trembled. “Get Adrian. He will make me feel better.” Her voice started to rise, and her body was shaking. “He promised to take away all this pain. I need Adrian.”
Karen didn’t know what to do. She pushed to her feet and yanked the blanket off the bed, pulling it around her sister. Once it was in place, she brushed strands of hair from Eva’s eyes. “I’m going to get you some clothes, and we’re going to the hospital.”
Eva’s hand shackled Karen’s wrist. “No. Need…Adrian.”
Karen’s gaze caught on Eva’s neck, and her breath lodged in her throat. With a shaky hand, she brushed Eva’s hair aside. Surely she wasn’t seeing what she thought she saw. She blinked several times as she inspected the four marks on her sister’s neck. No. God. She was going insane because they looked like bite marks.
Stories from her youth, of monsters who preyed on women, biting them, taking sexual favors and then their souls, rushed at Karen.
“Eva.” She swallowed. “What is that on your neck?”
Eva touched the spots Karen inspected. “Adrian. He’s going to make me like him. Then he said I won’t have this pain.”
This couldn’t be happening. The monsters were myths. Nothing more. She’d heard the stories over and over, for years, but they were just that. Stories. She eased Eva’s hand from her neck so she could see the marks again. The visual clarified the need to act. They were going to the hospital.
Suddenly the candles flickered, as did the light above. Seconds later, what felt like a gust of hot air rushed over Karen. She stiffened, eyeing the bedroom door as the candles painted the hallway with a splattering of shadowy movement. Then darkness.
“Do you have a window open?” she asked Eva without looking at her, watching the doorway, not sure what she expected next.
“Window?” Eva whispered.
Karen shook her head. Of course Eva didn’t know. She didn’t know anything right now. “Stay here,” Karen said, not that her sister was in any shape to do anything but that.
She crept toward the hallway, grabbing the umbrella along the way. Once there, she reached for the switch on the wall, half surprised when it illuminated the hall. Which was nuts since the bedroom lights were out. Still, she felt better already. No one had cut the power lines.
Cautiously she inched down the hallway, finding her way to the living room again. She took it in, nothing appearing different than before. To be safe, Karen walked over to the windows, testing the locks, finding them all sealed. So why the rush of air she’d felt…The air conditioner? No. It had been hot air she’d felt. But, then, maybe it was broken. Somehow, though, she didn’t think that was the case. Right now, she just needed to get Eva to a hospital. Out of this house in general was a good idea, too.
She started back toward the bedroom, eager to get going, when a big empty space on the wall above a corner chair caught her attention. Karen froze, staring at that spot, knowing what belonged there. A picture of Eva and Mike had graced that wall. Her brows dipped. The memory must have been too great for Eva. Then the strangest thought came to Karen…had someone else removed the picture?
Where that idea came from Karen didn’t know. What she did know was that the home that had always delivered comfort suddenly felt ominous. She was tired. She was worried. And it was way past time to get her sister to the hospital.
Three hours after arriving at the hospital, Karen stood outside the sterile, cracker box-sized room where her sister rested and pulled the door shut. She turned to face the doctor, a fiftysomething man with salt-and-pepper hair, who had asked to speak with her in private.
Now that he had her alone, he seemed to hesitate.
“What is it, Doctor?” she asked, urging him to speak. Her patience was wearing thin, fear for her sister driving her to push. She wanted answers and her nerves were frazzled, her body tired and in need of rest. Even a hot bath would help. She still wore the black jeans and a matching T-shirt with a pink glittery heart on it she’d started the day in. Thankfully for her tired feet, she’d changed from boots to tennis shoes.
“This type of thing is never easy to deal with,” the doctor said.
Oh, God. “What is it?” Karen asked hoarsely, desperation evident in her voice, and she knew it. Her heart pounded in rapid pace, threatening to explode in her chest. “What is wrong with my sister?”
He cleared his throat. “We believe your sister is suffering from clinical depression. A loss of a spouse is a traumatic event. Intervention in these type of cases is quite critical. The best method to achieve this is a treatment center capable of nursing both body and mind back to a healthy place.”
“Depression.” Karen said the word in a flat tone. “What are you talking about? I’m here because of the injury to her neck.”
“Yes, and you were right to bring her here. Self-inflicted injuries can be quite dangerous. With marks on her shoulder and one on her arm, she is at risk of infection, not to mention potentially cutting an artery. This kind of thing—”
“You think my sister hurt herself?” Karen asked, disbelief melding with a growing sense of anger. She’d come here for help, not this. Certainly Eva hurting herself had crossed her mind, but she’d inspected those wounds. No way were they self-inflicted. They were too precise. Too oddly placed. No, she didn’t believe Eva made them herself.
The doctor laced his fingers together in fron
t of his body. “I am quite certain Eva created those injuries herself.”
Karen blinked and shook her head slightly, trying to get a grip on the situation. “Those marks on her neck…You can’t tell me you believe she could do that to herself.” It wasn’t a question.
“It is normal to feel a bit of denial, Ms. Gibson.”
The anger lurking beneath the surface pulsed to life, barely contained. Her lips thinned, eyes narrowing on the doctor’s face. “Those marks were not self-induced. I brought Eva here for medical attention, not accusations. What is her physical condition?”
The doctor gave her a frustrated look. “As expected with such injuries, she is weak. She is dehydrated and her blood count is low. I’d like to admit her for observation. Once she is stronger, I hope you will consider allowing a transfer to a treatment center that can deal with her other issues.”
Other issues. Karen could barely believe what she was hearing. Her sister did not hurt herself. “Those marks are not self-inflicted. They look like bite marks.”
Laughing, the doctor crossed his arms in front of his chest. “What do you suppose would bite her neck?” he asked, amusement in his voice. “One of the Matamoros monsters?” He waved a dismissive hand in the air before and turned serious. “Making excuses for your sister does nothing to help her.”
Damn arrogant bastard. She whispered the words in her mind to keep from saying them out loud. This was getting her nowhere fast. Karen had to act. She inhaled and then slowly let the air out, thinking. Debating. Lord help her, and Eva for that matter, but Karen knew deep down what had made those marks. It was a monster. The question was what did she do about it? How did she help Eva?
Karen thought of being back at Eva’s house, of the flickering lights and gust of hot air. Going there wasn’t an option. One thing for certain—this doctor, and this hospital, wouldn’t offer her the help she needed.
Decision made, Karen fixed the doctor in an even stare. “Is she able to leave the hospital?”