Page 21 of Incandescence

Alexander

B right sunlight hit my face when I woke, Charley’s soft warmth and womanly vanilla scent filling my senses. My dick stirred, but I resisted waking her. She’d been through hell and back these last few days and only sleep would truly soothe her soul.

But as I stepped through the bedroom door, I almost wished I’d stayed in bed.

Jasper lay on his belly on the hallway floor, blinking up at me and licking the last of the black blood off his muzzle. Jesus . I scanned the rest of the floor. There was no more of the black sludge to be found.

My gut clenched with unease. I had no way of knowing how this would affect the dog.

Would it kill Jasper? Or would it do quite the opposite and see the dog’s lifespan greatly increased?

The bathroom door opened and Doctor Newry stepped into the hallway in faded jeans and a navy flannelette shirt.

He was toweling his shaggy gray hair when he caught sight of me.

“You’re awake. Good. I’m about to get some breakfast together and then I was thinking we could discuss where we go from here. ”

“Good idea,” I murmured before I nodded toward the dog. “Any idea on how this dog lapping up all the vampire blood will affect him?”

The doctor frowned, a faint tinge of disgust in his stare. “We probably should’ve got rid of that before we went to bed.” He slung his towel over a shoulder. “Nothing to it now other than to keep an eye on the dog and hope he’ll be okay.”

I sighed and followed Newry into the kitchen, ignoring the stickiness left underfoot. Ten minutes later I sat at the dining table, tucking into a bowl of cornflakes with milk and honey.

When had normal human food ever tasted this damn good?

The doctor outlined a plan. “We should probably go to the nest today, read those books you saw in the vampire’s chambers, and see if we can find any of the information you’re looking for.

” The doctor pushed a hand over his lined face.

“And I’ll concentrate on finding any evidence of where my daughter might be. ..or even if she’s alive.”

I stopped chewing, the cornflakes suddenly sawdust in my mouth. I forcibly swallowed, my belly churning.

“Alexander.”

I turned at Charley’s voice. She stood in the hallway behind me, looking sleep-rumpled and sexy. It was only her sad eyes and troubled expression that confirmed what I knew even before she said, “You need to tell him the truth.”

“The truth?” Newry repeated, his voice shrill. “What do you mean? What’s going on?”

I turned back to the doctor, noting his tight shoulders and blinking eyes. My heart sank, but Charley was right. Newry needed to know his daughter was now at peace. He needed to know he could finally say goodbye. I cleared my throat. “Nancy was brought to the nest where I was taken.”

The doctor’s eyes brightened. I hated that I’d be the one who’d dull his stare. “She’s not there anymore...she’s...gone. She couldn’t live the way I had.”

“Live like what?” the doctor scraped out.

“Like a blood bank for the vampire.”

Newry dragged a hand over his face. “So you’re saying my daughter killed herself?”

I nodded and managed a raspy, “Yes.”

His stare looked haunted. “And what did you do to try and stop her? Were you a part of her death?” He banged his fist on the table. “ Tell me!”

I could do little else but stare wordlessly back at him, guilt gnawing at me inside.

In some ways, I had been a part of his daughter’s death.

I’d never once tried talking Nancy down from her high-pitched ramblings, where she’d told me she’d prefer spilling her lifeblood on the ground to giving it to the vampire.

How could I have talked her out of something I’d privately agreed myself countless times? In the end, I’d wondered if she’d been the strong one, not me, ending her life on her own terms.

Charley stepped forward and placed her hands on the doctor’s shoulders in a show of support. “I’m so sorry for your loss.” She looked up at me, her face understanding. “We’re both sorrier than you can imagine.”

Newry didn’t answer, but his anger seemed to abate into shock. He was white-faced, and his voice trembled as he said distantly, “When Nancy decides to do something, no one or nothing will get in her way.” He exhaled, when he added, “She must have known there was no other option.”

I shoved away my cereal bowl, my appetite now non-existent. But I felt compelled to reassure him. “Living in the nest makes a person constantly question their mortality. Death was an endless tugging of the subconscious, especially when survival guaranteed the vampire’s longevity.”

The tabby cat jumped onto the doctor’s lap and pushed against his chest, as though it too wanted to reassure the doctor. Newry ran an absent hand over the cat’s head, before the tabby purred like a motor.

Newry’s hand stilled. “Yesterday I visited Amy. I had an epiphany that it would be best that I cleared the air between us, said goodbye to her in the off-chance the vampire returned.”

I stared at the older man. At least now I understood why the doctor hadn’t been home, and had left his food congealing on the stove.

After our visit asking about the vampire, Newry had evidently had an attack of fatherly conscience, or maybe fatherly love and devotion, and gone to see his one remaining daughter.

“I’m so glad we’ve reconciled. But I have no idea now how I’ll tell Amy that her only sister won’t ever be coming back home.”

Charley squeezed his shoulders. “I’ll make a pot of tea.”

It was a somber atmosphere, with the doctor taking grateful sips of his sweetened, hot tea, and Charley and I unsure of what to do or say next.

“Perhaps it would be best if we left,” I ventured.

Newry jerked up his head. “And go where?” He put his cup down and it clattered on the table. “Please don’t go on my account. In fact...I’d prefer not to be alone right now.”

“Then of course, we’ll stay,” Charley hastened to reassure him.

The doctor’s shoulders slumped. “Thank you.”

Jasper chose that moment to trot into the dining room and head straight to the front door. When he sat and whined, Charley looked at me and said, “I think Jasper is hinting for a walk?”

I nodded. “I’ll come too.” It would be a relief to get outside and clear my head. Get away from the jarring feeling I was jailed all over again. I turned to Newry. “We won’t be long.”

He nodded, and I clipped on Jasper’s lead before he all but bounded outside, vibrating with energy.

“Wow, the dog’s fired up,” Charley said with a smile, clearly as relieved as me to get out and do something normal.

Of course, she had no idea the Rotty had consumed a good amount of black vampire blood. And I wasn’t about to spoil the mood and tell her. Not when our walk was meant to destress and relax us after breaking the terrible news to Newry. News that had involved me, whether I liked it or not.

I pushed away the ever-present guilt and sucked in the mid-morning air. Despite it being the coldest season of the year, the sun was warm on my head. A magpie warbled from the branches of an overgrown eucalyptus tree in someone’s front yard.

Despite Newry’s grief and my own role in it, my step had a spring to it. Despite not having any money in the foreseeable future, I’d never felt more secure. Charley and I had more than a fighting chance now to make a life together. And I for one couldn’t wait to leave my past behind me.

Brakes screeched and I looked up at an old, faded sedan that’d pulled to the curb ahead of us. A man climbed out of the driver’s side before the passenger door opened. I narrowed my eyes. It was the same lady from the house we’d taken Jasper.

“See, Freddy! I told you that was our dog!” the woman screeched, her thin frame quivering with rage.

I felt Jasper’s tension seconds before his hackles raised and his top lip pulled back. When he growled and lunged toward the couple approaching, the lead almost slipped from my grasp.

Freddy stilled and his partner in crime stopped beside him. Freddy was a big man, with big arms, a huge beer belly and a receding hairline. He curled his fists but he didn’t come any closer when he snarled, “What the fuck have you done to our dog?”

Charley pointed a finger at them. “Shouldn’t we ask what you did to your dog for him to hate you this much?”

“Give him to us before we call the police!” the woman shouted, jabbing her finger right back at us.

I moved toward them, holding the leash out for them even as Jasper’s vicious growls and snarls amplified to the next level. The Rotty looked ready to tear the couple from limb to limb.

I had no idea if the vampire blood had given him the extra courage, or if he’d decided he liked being with us a whole lot more. Possibly both. I hid a smirk. “Go right ahead. Take your dog.”

The woman stepped forward and Jasper leaped at her, his teeth glinting and his mouth drooling. “Bloody hell.” She stepped back. “Keep the mongrel away from me!”

I shrugged and stalked toward Freddy. “Hey, he’s your dog. Don’t try palming him off to us now.”

Freddy stumbled back, palms out. “He’s not our dog. Never seen him before.” He fled to his car.

When the sedan roared back into life and took off down the road, I turned to Charley with a grin. “Don’t suppose we’ll have to worry about them anymore.”

Her grin reached her sparkling eyes. “Great job scaring them away.”

“Hey, Jasper did all the work. I was just a humble bystander.”

She kissed me on the cheek anyway, a chaste touch that left me softer than a marshmallow inside.

Then she dropped to eye level with Jasper. “Hey, they’re gone now. You got rid of them. Good boy.” Jasper’s whole body relaxed, and he whined before pushing his big snout into her hand. Charley giggled. “Relax, buddy, we’re not going anywhere without you now.”

My heart swelled. It sounded as if we were already a family. My stomach dipped. All that was missing was a child. But I wasn’t foolish enough to imagine that might be a possibility.

The vampire blood might have changed our DNA forever.

We really needed to study those books.

As if reading my thoughts, Charley straightened and said, “We probably should take Jasper home. I think he’s had enough excitement for a while.”

I nodded. “I agree.”

It was only as we headed back that I told her what Jasper had consumed. She shook her head. “Imagine that, our dog living a long life with us.” She giggled. “I know I shouldn’t laugh, but right now I can’t help but see the funny side of it.”

I squeezed her hand, loving her so much it hurt. “I think it’s safe to say we can afford to laugh now. Just promise me you won’t ever stop laughing and smiling.”

She looked up at me. “That’s one promise I’d love to keep.”

After being on such a low, I returned to Newry’s house on a bit of a high. Though I knew the doctor was far from moving on from his grief. There was at least a determined glint in his eyes as he pulled on his socks and boots at the dining table.

Charley stilled just inside the doorway. “Doctor Newry, is everything all right?”

He shook his head. “Nothing will ever be right again, will it? But it don’t mean I’ll be sitting around crying in my hands. I need to find out all I can about the vampire. See that there are no more out there. Make sure no more ‘missing people’ are reported to the police and never found.”

I nodded. “You’re right. We should go.” I let Jasper off his leash and called him into the fenced back yard. I made sure he had plenty of water and returned inside.

Charley assessed me. “Are you sure you’re ready to face the nest again?”

A shiver of doubt for a moment took hold. Then I forced a smile and said, “The vampire is dead and gone. I can face my demons knowing that.”

Newry stalked into the kitchen and retrieved a set of keys. “Well then, no more faffing about. Let’s put this nightmare behind us.”

As I followed the doctor out to the tiny garage at the side of the house, which I’d never once suspected was there, and saw his bright red beast of a car that only just squeezed into the garage’s tight dimensions, I couldn’t stop a smile from spreading over my face.

“Could this get any weirder?” Charley whispered.

I shook my head. “Guess every man’s got one love in his life.”

As the car fired up, Charley leaned close and asked, “So what’s yours?”

I raised an eyebrow. “I’m looking at her.”