“Not in direct sunlight.” He looked past Daisy as Alex entered the room. “Are we ready?”
“I think so,” Daisy said. “Let’s go.”
“We’ll take my car,” Erik said.
“Hey, what about my Lexus?” Alex asked.
“Leave it,” Erik said. “You’re in no condition to drive.”
As they left the relative safety of Erik’s house, Daisy felt a rush of anxiety. What if Erik was wrong? What if Rhys was outside, waiting for them? If he attacked, could the three of them fight him off? Alex looked better, but she could tell by the fine lines around his mouth that he hadn’t yet regained his full strength. As for herself, she was out of holy water and the last time she had seen her hawthorn stake, it had been sticking out of Rhys Costain’s chest.
She glanced at Erik, who was helping Alex, none too gently, into the backseat of his car. Erik was their only hope.
She climbed into the front seat, thinking it was a bit ironic that she had spent her adult life hunting vampires, and now the oldest vampire in the city was hunting her.
“What?” She glanced at Erik, realizing he had asked her a question.
“I asked if there’s anywhere in particular you want to go?”
“Home,” she said. “I want to go home to Boston.”
“Do you think that’s a good idea?” Erik asked.
“I don’t know. I don’t care. I just want to go home.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Alex?”
“We should go home,” he agreed. “Safety in numbers and all that.”
Erik grunted softly, wondering if he had made a mistake in letting Daisy decide where she wanted to go. Under the circumstances, returning the brother and sister to their vampire-hunting parents didn’t seem like the wisest thing for him to do.
They drove in silence for the next hour or so.
Daisy sighed as she stared out the window at the passing scenery. Alex had fallen asleep. Erik appeared to be deep in thoughts he didn’t seem inclined to share. It was probably just as well. She had caused him nothing but trouble. He was probably regretting the fact that he had ever met her. Well, there was nothing she could do about that now. He would probably take her home and drop her off and she would never see him again. Sadly, she knew that was probably for the best.
As the miles slipped by, Daisy found herself constantly looking behind them, expecting to see Rhys right on their tail, his eyes glowing like twin coals from the pit of hell.
Daisy woke when the car came to a stop. She hadn’t meant to fall asleep. Sitting up, she saw that they were parked behind the Big Top Motel. The sky was growing light in the east.
“Stay here,” Erik said. “I’m going to get a couple of rooms.”
She nodded, her gaze following him as he got out of the car and walked around the building. Two rooms, she thought, and wondered who was sleeping with whom.
Erik returned a short time later. Opening her car door, he handed her a room key. “You and Alex are in twelve,” he said. “I’m right next door.”
After getting out of the car, Daisy shook her brother’s shoulder. “Alex?”
He muttered something unintelligible, but didn’t wake up.
“What’s wrong with him?” Daisy asked.
“Nothing. He’s still healing. I’ll carry him inside. He’ll be fine when he wakes up.”
With a nod, Daisy stepped out of the car and opened the back door. Erik lifted Alex as if he weighed no more than a child, carried him into the room, and settled him on one of the twin beds.
“I guess I don’t have to tell you to keep the window closed and the door locked,” Erik said, turning to face her.
“Will you be all right?” Daisy asked. “Wouldn’t it be better if we all stayed together?”
“Probably, but I think I’ll live longer if your brother goes on thinking I’m an artist.”
“Probably,” Daisy said, grinning. “Although he’s going to wonder why we’re spending the day here.”
“Just tell him I drove all night and I needed the rest.”
“All right.” She looked up at him, wishing he would take her in his arms. Right or wrong, she felt safe in his embrace.
Her stomach tingled with anticipation when his gaze moved over her face, lingering on her lips. He was going to kiss her.
Murmuring her name, he pulled her roughly into his arms. “What am I going to do with you, Daisy, darlin’?”
She looked up at him, drowning in the depths of his deep black eyes. He could do anything he wanted with her, she thought. Didn’t he know that?
Her eyelids fluttered down as his mouth covered hers. She pressed against him, wanting to be closer, wanting to feel his skin against hers, his hands on her flesh. In his arms, she could face anything, be anything. She wanted to be a part of him, to give him everything she was, everything she would ever be.
She moaned softly as his hand moved restlessly up and down her spine, his touch somehow erotic, even through her clothing. She wanted to touch him, needed to feel his skin beneath her hand. Tugging his shirt from his jeans, she pressed her palms to his back. His skin was smooth and cool.
“My turn,” he whispered.
She gasped his name when his hands slid under her sweater. He walked her backward until she was against the wall, and then he leaned into her, letting her feel his desire. She writhed against him, aching and needy, willing, at that moment, to do anything he wanted if he would satisfy the ache building deep inside.
She might have surrendered to him then and there if Alex hadn’t cleared his throat. “Do you guys think I could get some breakfast before you devour each other?”
Erik drew back, his eyes hot. He stared at Daisy a moment, then pressed his car keys and a handful of cash into her hand. “Get him something to eat,” he said, his voice ragged. “But have it delivered. I’ll see you tonight.”
Before Daisy could say ah, yes, or no, Erik was gone.
Daisy glared at her brother. Couldn’t he have stayed asleep for another hour or two?
“Maybe you two had better get a room of your own,” Alex said dryly.
“Oh, shut up!” Daisy said irritably.
Muttering under his breath, Erik darted from Daisy’s room to his own. The rising sun burned his eyes, but it was nothing to the fire burning in his loins. Damn her brother’s untimely interference!
Slamming the door, Erik stood with his back against it for a moment, cursing his bad luck. Another five minutes and he would have had Daisy in his arms, in his bed.
After locking the door, he drew the curtains over the windows, then surveyed the room that would be his tomb until sunset. It was remarkably unremarkable, with dark furniture and nondescript carpeting. He grunted softly as he glanced at the insipid painting on the wall over the dresser. A monkey could have done better.
Throwing back the covers on the bed, he stretched out on the mattress and closed his eyes. Daisy’s image quickly came to mind, her hair like a cloud of russet-colored silk, her skin smooth and clear and warm. And her eyes…they sparkled like green fire. He had often heard it said that the eyes were windows to the soul. If that was true, then Daisy O’Donnell had the soul of an angel.
He laughed softly. An angelic Blood Thief. That was something you didn’t run into every day.
Daisy. Her image lingered in his mind as his body relaxed, slowly succumbing to the lethargy that drained his strength and his consciousness.
Daisy paced the floor of the motel room. She and Alex had finished breakfast hours ago and now Alex’s soft snores told her he was asleep again. She sighed with frustration. Her brother could sleep anytime, anywhere.
She glanced at her watch, dismayed to see that it wasn’t even noon yet. She switched on the air conditioner to drown out the sound of her brother sleeping. If only she had a book to read.
Sitting on the foot of her bed, she switched on the TV and flipped through the stations. Game shows and soap operas, soap operas and game shows. In this so-called age of enlightenment, you’d th
ink programmers could come up with something more original and interesting.
Switching off the set, she pulled her phone from her handbag and called home.
Her mother answered on the second ring. “Daisy, is something wrong?”
“No, Mom, why would you think that?”
“Well, we haven’t heard from you much lately. Your dad’s been trying to get in touch with Alex, but he doesn’t answer his phone. Have you talked to him?”
“Alex is fine, Mom. He’s with me. We’re on our way home.”
“There is something wrong,” Irene O’Donnell said. “Are you hurt?”
“We’re both fine.”
“Your dad wants to know if Alex found Rhys.”
“We found him,” Daisy said, and quickly told her mother what had happened, omitting the part that Erik had played in saving Alex’s life.
“But you’re both all right?”
“Yes.” Daisy took a deep breath. “And so is Rhys.”
“I’ll let your father know. How soon will you be home?”
“A couple of days, I guess. I’m bringing a guest.”
“Oh?” There was a wealth of unasked questions in that simple word.
“Yes, Mom, a man. A very special man.”
“That’s wonderful, dear. You’re sure you’re all right?”
“Yes, Mom, stop worrying.”
“I can’t help it. That’s what mothers are for. Have you talked to Brandon lately?”
“No, why?”
“He’s in love.”
“Really?” Daisy asked, feigning surprise. “Who’s the girl?”
“Kevin’s sister, Paula, can you believe it? He just told us about it last night. It sounds serious.”
“How long have they been dating?”
“Only a few weeks, but he’s very much in love.”
“So soon?” Daisy asked, and then wondered why she was so surprised. There had been a time when she didn’t believe in love at first sight, but that was before she met Erik.
“I think he’s planning to propose. He told us he was out looking at engagement rings last night.”
“That’s wonderful, Mom, I’m happy for him. Listen, I’ve got to go, my battery’s almost out of juice. I’ll see you soon.”
“About that,” Irene said. “Your aunt Judy and I are leaving for New Zealand in the morning. We’ll be gone for two weeks.”
Aunt Judy had never married. She had been a schoolteacher for twenty years. She had taken a vacation every year since she retired, and she always dragged Daisy’s mother along with her. Daisy had mixed feelings about her mother being gone. On the one hand, she would miss seeing her, sure. But on the other hand, it meant her mother wouldn’t be bugging her about Kevin O’Reilly, although she probably wouldn’t say anything as long as Erik was there.
“That’s okay, Mom.”
“I wish I’d known sooner that you were coming, but it’s too late to cancel the trip now.”
“Don’t worry about it. Have a wonderful time. I’ll see you when you get home.”
“All right, dear. I love you.”
“Love you, too.”
Daisy ended the call, then sat there staring at the phone. So, her little brother was in love and thinking about getting married. It was always the quiet ones, she thought, grinning. Brandon had been shy and introverted for as long as she could remember, yet it sounded like he was going to beat both of his siblings to the altar.
Marriage. Did vampires marry? She had never heard of such a union. When people married, they could expect to spend fifty or sixty years together. But vampires, Lordy, they could be married for centuries. People always talked about being in love forever, but could any two people really expect to stay together that long? She grinned inwardly. Maybe, if one of them was Erik. What was he doing now? Was he sleeping the sleep of the Undead, or was he sitting next door, thinking about her the way she was thinking about him?
Would she have stopped him earlier, if Alex hadn’t interfered? What would it be like, to make love to Erik? Did vampires make love like normal people? Heat flooded her cheeks and pooled in her very center as she imagined the two of them locked in each other’s arms.
Shaking off the image, she fanned herself with her hand. Would this day never end?
Daisy had hoped her brother would sleep until sundown. After all, he had been badly hurt, and even though Erik’s blood had saved his life, Erik had told her Alex was still healing. And there was nothing like sleep to help a body recuperate.
She glanced at the wall that separated their room from Erik’s. Was he sleeping? Would he wake up if she knocked on the door? Would he invite her inside and take up where they had left off when Alex interrupted them? Lord, what was she thinking? She tried to banish the image of herself and Erik wrapped in an embrace, but it was no use. She wanted his arms around her waist, his mouth on hers, his tongue teasing her lips. She wanted to touch him and taste him, and even though the idea excited her, there was a little part of her mind that kept asking if she knew what she was doing.
Right or wrong, she was thinking of going next door when Alex sat up. Yawning, he stretched his arms over his head.
“I’m hungry,” he said, glancing at Daisy.
Daisy shook her head. No matter what time he woke up, he was always hungry.
“So,” he said, “how about you?”
She shrugged. “I could eat something.”
“Good, I hate to eat alone.” A search of the bedside table turned up a phone book. After finding the phone number for the nearest pizza place, Alex ordered a couple of pizzas and two sodas, then looked at Daisy. “Should I order something for your friend?”
“I don’t think so.”
Alex completed the call, then went into the bathroom to take a shower.
He emerged twenty minutes later, shirtless, his hair still wet. “I can’t believe they don’t have a blow-dryer in this place. I don’t suppose you’ve got one in that handbag of yours?”
“No, sorry.”
Muttering under his breath, he went back into the bathroom.
They were watching a pay-per-view movie when the pizza arrived. Alex tossed one of the boxes on Daisy’s bed. “Ham and pineapple for you.”
“Thanks.”
“What do you suppose your friend is doing?”
Daisy shrugged. “He’s probably still asleep. He drove all night, you know.”
Alex grunted softly.
They ate in silence for a few minutes. Daisy licked a bit of sauce from her fingers. She didn’t know if the pizza was really good or if she was just really hungry, but she couldn’t remember when anything had tasted so wonderful.
“So, what do you say we hit the road? I don’t know about you, but I’m going stir-crazy in here.”
“Erik might still be sleeping.”
“Wake him up,” Alex said, speaking around a mouthful of pepperoni.
“Later. I want to take a shower, too, you know.” She sipped her drink. It was three hours until sundown. She wondered what distraction she could come up with if Alex insisted on going next door to wake Erik.
She was still trying to think of something when Alex said, “There’s a mall across the street. Since you don’t want to disturb Sleeping Beauty, what do you say we do a little shopping after you get cleaned up? I could use a change of clothes.”
“Good idea,” Daisy said. Her brother loved to shop almost as much as she did. With any luck, they could spend an hour or two at the mall, she thought, and then sent a wary glance at the door. Maybe leaving the motel wasn’t such a great idea. What if Rhys had followed them last night? What if he was out there, waiting for them? It was said that vampires couldn’t enter a dwelling without an invitation, but what if that only applied to homes, not motels? What if it was just a myth? “Maybe we should just stay inside.”
“Why?”
“Rhys knows who we are. What if he followed us?”
“Bring him on!”
“Are you crazy
? He almost killed you.”
“Come on, Daisy Mae, you’re exaggerating. Do I look like someone who almost died?”
It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him that he would be dead now if it wasn’t for Erik, but of course, she couldn’t say that, couldn’t tell her brother that his savior was a vampire.
“It was a close call,” she said. “Too close.”
“I can handle myself.”
“Oh, sure. You proved that the other day.”
“Dammit, Daisy…”
“We’ve never hunted a vampire as old as he is,” she said, her trepidation growing with each passing minute. “We don’t know what he’s capable of, what powers he possesses.”
“Fine. Stay here if you’re afraid,” Alex said, a note of scorn in his voice. “I’m going out.”
Daisy drew in a deep breath and let it out in a long, slow sigh. “And I’m going with you.”
“Thought you were afraid of the great and powerful Rhys?”
“Maybe I am,” Daisy retorted. “Maybe that makes me smarter than you.”
Alex snorted. “You wish.”
Daisy couldn’t help it. She grinned because this argument sounded just like the hundreds of others she and Alex had had through the years. She finished her pizza, drank the last of her soda, and stood up. Her father had always said the only way to overcome your fears was to face them head-on.
Grabbing her handbag, she headed for the door. “Let’s go.”
“I thought you wanted to shower first?”
“I’ll take one when we get back. Put your shirt on, big brother. Maybe we can find some holy water along the way.”
Erik stirred with the setting of the sun. Like all vampires, he woke fully rested and aware of his surroundings.
Rising, he cocked his head to the side, muttered an oath when his preternatural senses told him that the room where Daisy and her brother should have been holed up was empty.
Damn fool kids. Where the hell had they gone?
Moving to the window, he drew back the curtain, squinting against the last rays of the setting sun. Where was she?
Stealing himself for the pain to come, he unlocked the motel door and stepped outside. His skin tingled as he navigated the short distance from his motel room to his car. Unlocking the trunk, he opened his suitcase, pulled out his cloak, and quickly wrapped it around him, flipping the hood in place with a flick of his wrist. The cloak’s heavy black cloth blocked the sun’s rays as he hurried toward Daisy’s room. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, then followed her scent into the single-story, L-shaped mall located across the street.
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