Page 35

W hen Kadie opened her eyes the next day, it was after three o’clock in the afternoon.

She had stayed awake until after sunrise, too afraid to close her eyes after running away from Saintcrow the night before.

Finally, fully clothed except for her shoes, she had crawled into bed and fallen into a deep, troubled sleep.

An icy tremor ran down her spine as she recalled the incident in the cafe parking lot.

They had been accosted by three men. One man had held her while the other two turned on Saintcrow.

Terrified, she had watched them attack him.

She’d been certain they were going to kill him when, with frightening speed, Saintcrow had killed one man and buried his fangs in the other.

Even now, she could scarcely believe what she had seen.

Impossible as it seemed, Rylan Saintcrow was a vampire. Vampire. How was it even possible for such things to exist in this day and age? Why didn’t people know?

Grabbing a pillow, she clutched it to her chest. They had been lovers. That was the scariest thing of all. But surely he had forced himself on her! No way would she have agreed to sleep with a monster. Not even one as devastatingly handsome and desirable as Rylan Saintcrow.

She was very late for work, she thought, but that didn’t matter. She was leaving here just as soon as possible. She would be traveling light. Saintcrow had purchased everything she had, but she wasn’t taking any of it with her except a change of clothes. After all, she had to wear something.

Scooting off the bed, she changed out of the dress she had worn to the theater and into a pair of jeans and a sweater, stomped into a pair of boots, grabbed the car keys and her handbag, and left the house.

She paid little attention to the speed limit as she drove down Main Street.

She wondered briefly if Saintcrow would have her arrested for stealing his Corvette, but it couldn’t be helped.

She couldn’t walk to the airport. And she didn’t have the patience to wait for Uber.

She wanted to leave this place, and she wanted to leave now.

She drove straight through town toward the bridge while the word vampire played over and over in her mind. How could it be true? It couldn’t. And yet it was.

She was halfway across the bridge when the Corvette slowed to a dead stop. Frowning, she tried to restart the car but nothing happened. She checked the gas gauge, but it showed a full tank.

She let out a shriek when Saintcrow suddenly appeared on the bridge, standing between the car and the road to freedom beyond. A quick image of last night’s terror flashed through her mind.

Kadie’s heart skipped a beat when he approached her side of the car. She flinched as the window rolled down, seemingly of its own accord.

“Going somewhere?” he asked, his voice mildly amused.

Staring straight ahead, her knuckles white around the steering wheel, she bit down on her lower lip, hoping he would just go away. He didn’t, of course.

“We seem to be starting over,” he said, with a faint smile.

Still not meeting his eyes, she asked, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Saintcrow scrubbed his hand over his jaw.

He had been hoping that now that she knew what he was, she would remember the rest of it.

Damn . Should he tell her they had lived here together?

Married? That she had once been a vampire?

Or would the shock be too much after last night?

In the end, he decided against it. Better to give her a day or two to process what had happened the night before.

“It’s like I told you,” he said smoothly. “We met here, in Morgan Creek. We were friends. And lovers.”

Kadie stared at him, then shook her head. “I would never have been friends with a … a vampire. Or taken one to my bed.”

“But you were. And you did.” Not right away, but eventually, he thought, with an inward grin. True, it had taken some time and a lot of patience on his part, but in the end, he had won her affection and eventually, her heart.

“I want to go home,” Kadie said, only then recalling she had no home, at least none she remembered.

“This is your home.” His gaze captured hers.

Unbidden, came his voice, whispering in the back of her mind, saying, We were lovers, Kadie.

Lovers, lovers, lovers. Could it be true?

She shook her head, refusing to believe it.

Even if it was true, it didn’t matter. She didn’t want to stay here.

And then she frowned as a new thought chilled her to the bone.

How could he let her go, now that she knew what he was?

If there were vampires, maybe there were vampire hunters who would come after him if they learned of his existence.

“How long are you going to keep me here?” she asked, sullenly.

“You’re free to leave, if you wish. But I hope you’ll stay. I won’t bother you anymore. I give you my word.”

“The word of a vampire!” she scoffed. “What good is that?”

“There are few things I hold dear,” he said, his voice like velvet over steel.

“My word is one of them. If you stay, I’m offering you the hospitality of my house.

It’s bigger and more comfortable than where you’re living now.

Besides, you’ve got no place better to go, and even if you did, you don’t have the means to pay for it. ”

Kadie shook her head. She would sleep in the gutter if she had to.

All she wanted to do was get away from this place.

Get away from him . He was a vampire. He killed people.

She knew now what he had been hiding from her.

She would never forget how he had looked in the parking lot, his eyes as red as a fiery hell, his fangs stained with blood.

All she wanted to do was leave this place and forget she had ever met him, known him, loved him …

Had she really loved him once? It seemed impossible. She shook her head again.

Saintcrow held up a hand to stay the protest he saw rising in her eyes. “You lived in my house once before. Perhaps staying there again will jog your memory.”

What if he was right? Maybe familiar surroundings would remind her of all she’d forgotten. Was it worth the risk? How could she trust him when he’d been lying to her?

“Just stay a few days,” he urged. “I won’t force you to stay if you still want to leave. If it will make you feel better, I’ll leave town.”

Did she dare believe him?

“Please, Kadie.”

It was the please that did it. “I’ll stay for a couple of days if you promise to stay away from me.” She shook her head. What kind of fool was she, to trust the word of a vampire?

“I promise on my undying love for you.”

His words, the sincerity in his voice, touched a chord deep within her.

“When you get back to the house, I’ll be gone.”

“How do you know I’m going to stay?” she asked.

He tapped his forehead. “Vampire, remember?”

As if she could forget something as scary as that, she thought, as he vanished from her sight.

Saintcrow was sitting on the bench in the park when Kincaid strolled toward him. “Why so glum? You look like you lost your best friend, but since that’s me, it must be something else.”

“Very funny,” Saintcrow muttered. “It’s Kadie. She knows what I am.”

“So you finally told her.”

“Not exactly. We were attacked last night and …” Saintcrow made a vague gesture with his hand. “You can guess the rest.”

“Well, damn, that can’t be good.”

“I thought once she found out it would remind her of all the rest. But now she’s scared to death of me. Again.”

Kincaid chuckled. “Let the games begin.”

Saintcrow glared at him. “Fat lot of help you are. I considered telling her everything but I was afraid the shock might be too much so soon after that damn curse and then learning in a rather graphic way what I am.”

“Now that Kadie knows about vampires, do we still need to keep a low profile?”

“For the time being. I don’t want to freak her out any more than she already is.”

“Can I ask you something?”

Saintcrow snorted. “Would it stop you if I said no?”

“Probably not. Do you think it’s wise to keep Kadie here against her will?”

“I’m not. I told her she could leave, but I convinced her to stay at my place, at least for a couple of days.”

“How the hell did you get her to agree to that?”

“I told her she’d lived there before and that staying again might jog her memory.”

“You know, that just might work.”

“Believe me, I’m counting on it.”

“Well, since you don’t want us around, I’m taking Rosa to Milan for a week or so. Get in touch if you need me. Or if you hear anything about Luca.”

Saintcrow nodded. “Have a good time.” Watching Kincaid saunter off, Saintcrow couldn’t help wondering if he and Kadie would ever find their way back into each other’s arms.

Kadie drove back to the rental house and parked the car in the driveway.

She sat there for several minutes, wondering if she’d made the right decision.

Saintcrow had said she could leave. Had he meant it?

Or would he stop her if she tried to cross the bridge again?

What if she left and never recovered her memories?

How would she survive in a strange city with no money, no job, no identification and no memory of who she was?

Looking out the car’s side window, she stared at the big gray house just barely visible on the hill.

Had she really lived there before? she wondered, with a rueful shake of her head.

It looked like the perfect place to find a vampire.

What was it like inside? Dark and dreary, with dusty cobwebs and flickering candles?

Black walls? A coffin in a musty cellar overrun with mice and rats?

That’s where they always found the monsters in the horror movies.

Was she going to let her fear of the unknown steal what might be her only chance to remember her past?

What if Saintcrow was right? Maybe staying here was her one chance to remember who she was.

Taking a deep breath, she gathered what little courage she had. Recovering her memories was surely worth whatever the cost. At least that’s what she told herself as she got out of the car.

Hurrying into the rental house before she could change her mind, she threw her things into her suitcase, hopped back into the car, and drove up the long, narrow road to the vampire’s lair.