Distress flared in his eyes. “I did not want to say goodbye to you, Jessica. I did not trust myself to simply walk away and was worried what would happen if I tried. That is why I asked Kiefer to put you to sleep. To remove any…temptations for me.”
“Oh,” she said. Well, that sounded a whole lot better.
“Despite how much I would like to be with you,” he continued, “I am afraid it is impossible. There are certain things I simply cannot give you.”
“Oh,” Jessica’s eyes widened. “Are you not able…I mean, can vampires even…” She rolled her hand in the air.
Nathan, catching on to her insinuation, seemed appalled. He drew himself up and said, a bit louder than necessary, “Yes, I guarantee you I can give you that.”
Jessica lowered her lashes. She smiled as she fiddled with the edge of her plate. “Oh. Cool. I assumed you could, but I didn’t know. That little detail wasn’t exactly covered when we went over Vampire Facts.”
“Hmph,” he grunted. “It is not such a ‘little’ detail, I assure you.” She broke into a giggle. He looked amused, too, but didn’t seem content to leave it at that. Leaning forward, he gazed at her with heat in his eyes. “I could satisfy you,” he promised with a growl in his voice. “Thoroughly. And I would take immense pleasure in doing so, believe me.”
Jessica felt an answering heat blossom below her waist. “Okay,” she said, aware she sounded like she was accepting an invitation.
“I only meant that I cannot give you a normal relationship,” he explained. “That much should be obvious, given what I am.”
She reached out and took his hand. It was cold, but not frighteningly, or even uncomfortably, so. She liked the way it felt in hers. “Oh, I don’t know about that,” she said. “I’ll bet we could make it work.”
His gaze cut to the A Prince at Midnight postcard propped up on the table, next to a bouquet of black silk roses. “Perhaps if we were in a book,” he said, “but this is real life.” To Jessica’s dismay, he withdrew his hand from hers.
“I know you’re worried about me,” she said, not ready to give up yet. “You think it isn’t safe for me to be around you. But nothing’s happened to your family, has it? All that ruckus that went on with Celia and Dorian, and yet there hasn’t been a peep from Marta, right?” She was sure she’d have heard from Lucy and Aaron, who’d been hanging around with Kiefer and Nathan the past few days, if something like that had happened.
Nathan’s brows gathered. He seemed discomfited to hear Jessica even say his master’s name. “No, but that does not mean she will not still strike. She could just be biding her time. And you mentioned Dorian. We still do not know who he is or what he wants, only that he was highly interested in me. I do not doubt he will be back to create more trouble for me in the future.”
Jessica clenched her jaw for a second, and then decided to change tactics. “Speaking of Dorian,” she said. “How’s it going, anyway, trying to round up the vampires he set loose in the city?”
She knew from talking to Lucy that Nathan and Kiefer had assembled a task force of sorts, including Lucy, Aaron, Jason, Dara, and even the security guard, Frankie, to try and tie up the potentially lethal loose ends Dorian had left hanging over the city after Celia had kicked the bucket. Lucy had said Kiefer was training both Aaron and Jason in fighting techniques, and teaching them how to control their lingering vampiric powers, while Lucy and Dara had been studying some of the sorcerer’s magic books. It might be a while before the team was ready to go up against another vampire, but they all knew it needed to be done. Jessica agreed wholeheartedly, and wished she could’ve been a part of the plans, but she’d been preoccupied with trying to rescue her own livelihood. For the time being, the bookstore required her undivided attention. And besides, she didn’t want to go wading into the vampire hunting business without Nathan’s approval or, better yet, his express invitation.
Nathan touched one of the roses in the centerpiece, absently stroking a petal. “Frankie has provided us with some leads, but so far only one has panned out. Kiefer and I tracked down and cornered one of the missing creatures and it…well, it was not reasonable.”
Jessica raised her eyebrows.
“It was uninterested in trying to turn back. In fact, it was uninterested in anything but trying to kill us. We had to put it down.”
Jessica gulped. Okay, maybe changing the subject to feral vampires hadn’t been the greatest idea after all.
Sure enough, Nathan’s expression turned stormy. He said, “You see, Jessica? My world is inherently violent. It is no proper place for a human being.”
“You’ve been spending time around Lucy and Aaron, and Dara and Jason,” she pointed out. “They’re human.”
“Aaron and Jason are still enhanced. They can protect themselves. And the women are their responsibilities. It is their choice whether or not to endanger them.”
“Oh, I see,” Jessica said, not a little bitterly. “I’m all alone, with no super-powered man to look out for me, so I just have to sit at home and eat worms, is that it?”
Nathan looked into her eyes. “I will always be there for you if you need me.”
Jessica’s heart twisted. “But we won’t be hanging out or anything. That’s what you’re saying.”
Pain and darkness flooded his eyes, a look of such misery and longing it made Jessica’s soul ache. “I am sorry,” he said, his voice all ragged edges. “You have no idea how sorry. But my conscience will not allow me to indulge in a relationship with you. I could not live with myself if any harm were to befall you as a result of it.”
Fresh tears pricked at Jessica’s eyes. “You said I was ideal,” she sniffled, knowing how pitiful she sounded now and not caring, “in more ways than one.”
“You are,” he said, still with that heartbreaking look on his face. “Which is all the more reason for me to stay away from you.” He pushed back his chair, preparing to stand. “Congratulations, Jessica. I am happy for your success here tonight—and very proud of you.” His voice transformed into a husky growl. “And may I add, you look extraordinarily beautiful tonight.” He stroked the back of his hand down her cheek, touching the tip of her chin for a moment. “Truly...the most gorgeous creature I have ever beheld.” And then, before she could fully register the feel of his fingers against her skin, he was gone.
Chapter Twenty-Four
I can live without him, Jessica told herself. Of course I can.
She had gotten along just fine for ages without a man. She could continue just fine without one. Even one as ideal as her vampire neighbor. She would not let his rejection destroy her. And she certainly wouldn’t go begging to Nathan, trying to get him to hang out with her anymore. She was not that pathetic. She wasn’t.
Her resolve lasted nearly a week. Then, almost before she realized what she was doing, she was tip-toeing to Nathan’s apartment one morning and slipping a note under his door. That evening, just after sunset, she made her way to the Dos Lunas Café, settled into a booth, and waited.
Maybe five minutes had passed before Nathan strode through the door and over to her. At the sight of him, her nervous system shifted into overdrive, making her pulse spike and her eyes widen, but she tried to play it cool.
“Hey, stranger,” she said, smiling up at him. “Can I order something for you?”
“No, I never drink…coffee.” But he sat down anyway, on the same side of the booth as her. He slid his arm along the back of her seat, resting it behind her shoulders. She took that as a good sign. “And I thought you were trying to cut back on caffeine?” he asked.
She looked at him quizzically.
“Lucy mentioned it one day in training.”
Her heart danced at the idea he would remember such a trivial fact, that he had been listening for news about her. “I am,” she admitted, “but I didn’t want to ask you out to dinner. I was worried you wouldn’t come. You know, because you can’t eat much. And because it would be too much like a date.”
> “I should not have come,” he said, but it didn’t sound all that convincing, especially with his arm practically draped around her, and that smile now hovering around his mouth.
She grinned, having even more difficulty controlling her excitement. She hadn’t said anything in her note to him other than the truth: that she missed him and wanted to see him again. She hadn’t pretended it was any sort of emergency. “And yet here you are.”
He rubbed the light shadow of stubble along his jaw, eyeing her with a mixture of aggravation and amusement. “What are you trying to do to me, Jessica?” he asked, his voice too low and sultry for him to really be mad at her.
She held up her hands. “Nothing bad. Just trying to be your friend. We don’t have to take it beyond that if you don’t want to, I promise.”
“My friend,” he grunted, the words soaked in uncertainty.
“Yeah, you kind of seem like you could use one. Other than just Kiefer, that is.”
Nathan closed his eyes, rubbing the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. He murmured, “I do not know that it is possible for you and I to only be friends.”
“Why? You don’t think I can keep my hands off you?”
He opened his eyes, fixing his gaze on her. “No. It is not you I am worried about.”
Blood rushed to Jessica’s face, but her grin grew even wider.
He opened his mouth, and she was sure he was about to scold her for luring him here—or at least pretend to—but then someone else walked up and interrupted him. Looking up, Jessica was annoyed to see some girl hovering over them. Annoyed because not only was the girl butting in, she was also one of the most beautiful people Jessica had ever seen in her life. She was almost too beautiful to be human.
Uh-oh.
“Nathan?” The girl stared at him with hard eyes. Her irises were almost as blue as his, but with a touch of gray to them. Her hair was long and honey-blonde and secured at her nape, with only a few curls left loose around her face. She looked about twenty years old, and was dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt, with a cute little bomber jacket on top. Motorcycle boots, coated with road dust, completed the ensemble. Despite her slim build and delicate bone structure, there was something about her that screamed Badass; mess with me at your own peril.
“Yes?” Nathan’s tone was cautious, and Jessica noticed he sat forward in his seat, all his muscles tensing like he was ready to spring up and protect her if this strange chick tried any sudden moves or anything.
“My name is Chloe.” The stranger gave Jessica a cursory once-over before returning her attention to Nathan. “Is there someplace private we can talk? There is something important I must discuss with you.”
Nathan hesitated, and Jessica took the opportunity to chime in. “My store. It’s right across the way from here. It’s closed for renovations, but we can go in and talk there if you want. No one will bother us.”
Chloe looked at Jessica again, her eyebrows arching at her impudence. “Who is this?” she asked Nathan, and Jessica guessed the girl had scarcely stopped herself from tacking the word “mortal” onto the end of the question. Because this girl was definitely not human. Jessica was becoming more convinced of that by the second. There was just something about the way she held herself, and the strange sparkle in her eyes, not to mention the odd cadence to her voice, so reminiscent of Nathan’s. It was also becoming obvious that whatever her own background, Chloe knew exactly what Nathan was.
Nathan must have guessed this, too, because he said, “Jessica is…a special friend. She knows about me. And I would trust her with my life.”
Chloe still seemed skeptical, but she agreed to go across the courtyard to the bookstore with them. Jessica grabbed a lid for her coffee, and soon they were all sitting in Book of Love’s reading nook together, on the new furniture Jessica had ordered after Celia’s rampage.
“You’re a vampire, aren’t you?” Jessica asked Chloe, marveling at the way the girl’s skin caught and reflected the light from overhead. From certain angles, she looked like she was carved out of mother-of-pearl.
“You should not be able to discern that,” Chloe said. “I am using mesmerism to disguise myself from you.”
“Oh, yeah?” Jessica smiled. “Well, it isn’t working.”
Chloe raised her eyebrows in surprise.
Nathan jumped in to explain, “For unknown reasons, Jessica is able to resist vampiric mesmerism.”
Chloe gave a tiny nod of acknowledgment. She turned back to Jessica and corrected her, “I am a quarter vampire, actually. That is what accounts for the strange cast to my complexion. Full vampires do not normally exhibit such a trait.”
“A quarter? How is that even possible?”
“My mother is half vampire, and my father was human.”
Jessica was blown away. Her mouth dropped open for a second before she said, “Whoa, that’s possible? Vampires can have babies?!”
Now Chloe’s eyes sparkled, and her mouth tugged up in a crooked smile. “It is extremely rare, particularly in more than one generation of the same family. But, yes, vampires can sometimes procreate. Only with humans, as far as I know. We hybrids are known as nosferim, and I would not be surprised to learn I am one of only a handful left alive in the world today.”
Jessica turned to Nathan, gaping. “Did you know that?”
“I did not,” he admitted, smiling too. Then, addressing Chloe, he asked, “How did you know where to find me?”
“Grant,” Chloe responded. “That is, Kiefer. He and I have been corresponding online for some time now. He said you and he had recently killed the master vampire, Celia, and that you had given him permission to tell me about you.”
“Ah,” Nathan nodded in understanding. “Yes, I remember him telling me of you now, and saying he had invited you to Houston. But he did not mention you were part vampire.”
“I did not tell him. I wanted to speak to you first. It is you in whom I am interested.”
Jessica sat up straighter, and Chloe seemed to notice. The vampire girl actually flashed a quick, reassuring smile at her. “I have something of a business proposal for you, Nathan,” she explained, turning back to him. “I would like to recruit you.”
“Recruit me? For what?”
“I come from a long line of vampire hunters, but there are very few of us left these days.” Sadness flickered in her eyes, but she quickly suppressed it. “I am on my own now, and I wondered if perhaps we might work together.”
“Hunting vampires?” Incredulity shaded Nathan’s voice.
“You will find I am quite adept at the endeavor. I have killed three masters myself over the years.”
Nathan squinted. “You look quite young to have waited at least a decade to dispatch so many masters. Did you begin tracking them as a toddler?” He held his hand a couple of feet above the floor, to indicate how small she must’ve been when she’d gotten started.
Chloe looked faintly amused. “I have gathered from Gra…from Kiefer that no one has ever told either of you, but there is no reason to bury masters and then wait for them to weaken for years before one slays them. Not when one has the appropriately enchanted implements and spells at one’s disposal.”
Nathan’s eyes sparkled with intrigue. “You have such things?”
“I do. And as I mentioned, I have already employed them to great success, eliminating three masters in as many years. Furthermore, I know where another is hiding. I have tracked him before, but he has eluded me. I thought perhaps…”
She trailed off, looking meaningfully at him, and Nathan finished for her, “You thought perhaps you would have a better chance at eliminating him if you had a partner.”
“If I had you as my partner,” she said.
“Why me? There are other hunters who have also killed masters. Kiefer, for example.”
“Those hunters are not also vampires. You are stronger and faster than any human. Even stronger and faster than myself, I would reckon. Also…Kiefer mentioned
that you, too, might be interested in seeking a certain master. Perhaps, after you help me, I can aid you in return-?”
Nathan sat forward, rubbing his hands together thoughtfully for a second. He looked up at Chloe and asked, “Is there some way I can contact you?”
◆◆◆
Jessica pushed open the door to her apartment and almost tripped over Wilhelmina, who was crouching just on the other side, grooming her paw.
“Oh, sorry, Wil,” she chuckled. “What’re you doing right by the door, though, you crazy girl?”
The cat froze and stared up at Jessica with astounded eyes. She yowled desperately and tried to zoom past her into the hallway. Jessica only narowly blocked the cat’s escape and shooed her back into the living room. “Wilhelmina Louise Ramos, what has gotten into you?” The cat never behaved this way. Usually, she seemed completely uninterested in the outside world.
The answer to the mystery became clear enough as soon as Jessica ushered Nathan over the threshold and closed the door behind him. Wilhelmina zipped toward him and started winding around his legs, crying pitifully until he picked her up.
“Wow, I guess she’s missed you,” Jessica laughed, amazed.
“Well, it is mutual,” he said, scratching under the cat’s chin. “Hello, Wilhelmina. How have you been, my beautiful girl?”
Jessica rolled her eyes as she dropped her purse onto the sofa. “Watch it, she’s already got a big head.”
Nathan made an aggrieved sound. “Her head is perfect,” he countered, and kissed the cat between the ears.
“Alright, that’s enough. I’m starting to get jealous over here.”
He settled Wilhelmina on the rug and stepped closer to Jessica. “There is no reason for jealousy. Your head is also perfect.”
Jessica shook with another soft laugh. “Ya know, I can honestly say no one’s ever said that to me before.”
He grinned, and the sight both warmed and shocked her. What had him in such a good mood, she wondered? But then it hit her. “Oh,” she said. “So, I guess you’re going to call that Chloe chick, aren’t you?” The nosferim had given Nathan her number before leaving the bookstore, and reiterated how very much she’d like to work with him. Jessica didn’t doubt she would.
The Sharpest Kiss Page 24