by Lisa Kessler
Calisto’s expression darkened. He wished he could spare her the details surrounding Tala’s death, but he saw no other way. She wanted to know, and she had every right to know.
But would she ever forgive him?
“I knew about the baby. Knowing you carried my child made me happier than I had ever been. But I was also an innocent fool. I trusted Father Jayme, my superior. I believed he was my friend. I wanted to marry you and raise our family together, so I confessed my sins and told Father Jayme of my plans to give up the priesthood.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “I never dreamed he would pass judgment on you for my decision.”
“She… I was killed by a priest?”
“Not physically, but he ordered it.”
She shook her head slowly. “How did you find out?”
“I searched for you, to share my news and ask your father to let us marry. One of the guards from the mission rode past me.” He choked back the lump of emotion tightening in his throat.
Kate glanced at the portrait. Her hair, usually so vibrant, was dull and lank. Yet she was still so beautiful.
He forced out his next words quietly. “He had my signet ring, the one you used to wear around your neck. It dangled from his wrist while he rode away. Then I knew. Father Jayme had betrayed me. He had no intention of allowing me to give up the cloth or marry a native woman. Something terrible had happened, and I ran, searching everywhere for you.”
He had never shared this memory with another soul, and even with the passing of lifetimes, the pain still felt fresh. “I found you lying motionless, your dress shredded, your body covered in blood. I was too late.”
A tear rolled down Kate’s cheek. She moved forward and wrapped her arms around him, weeping softly as they held one another on the floor. “I don’t know how any of this is possible, but I love you, Calisto.”
He tightened his arms around her and stroked her hair. “My beloved Kate. You should not have come back here.”
Kate pulled back from his arms and stared at him. “How can you say that?”
“Because you are in danger here.”
“I don’t understand.”
Calisto shook his head and rose from the floor. She watched him as he paced, trying to find a way to convince her to leave. “There is no time to explain. Please remember I will always love you, and go. Leave me and this place, and never look back.”
She stared at him for a moment, her mouth parted and disbelief clouding her expression. She stood slowly and shook her head. “You know me better than that. I love you, and until you tell me what is going on, I’m not moving from this spot.” He opened his mouth to speak, but she raised her hand. “I’m not finished yet.”
Kate walked toward him and took his hand. Her brow pinched as she glanced down at their joined hands. He realized his flesh was still cold, since he had not yet fed.
She looked into his eyes, her gaze questioning him before she uttered the words. “How can you be the same man who helped build the Mission de Alcala, who loved Tala, and still be standing here holding my hand?”
“I cannot answer that” He pulled away.
Her touch felt like fire against his cool flesh. His thirst clawed its way through his strong will, aching to be quenched. He couldn’t tell her the truth. Even if she believed him, he couldn’t bear to see the disgust that would surely follow.
“I would rather have you hate me as a man, than fear me as a monster.”
Kate sighed with exasperation. “Enough with the noble riddles you call answers. Talk to me. You tell me you love me, and then you send me away? That’s not love. Trust me with the truth. I can’t accept anything less.”
He shook his head and turned away. “Save yourself and your baby and go.”
“There is no baby. I… The baby…” Her voice trembled. “I lost the baby when I got back to Reno.”
Without a word he turned and drew her into his arms. He should have realized what had happened when he caught the scent of blood around her and found no wounds. It would also explain why he’d never heard the sound of another heartbeat. Maybe the baby never had one.
Again she had needed him, and again he wasn’t there for her.
Calisto closed his eyes, kissing her dark hair. He was through pushing her away. For better or worse, he would embrace her into his secret life.
He needed her.
“I am so sorry, Kate. I thought you would be safe, and have the life and the family you have always wanted.”
“All I want is you.”
He held her tightly, whispering into her hair. “Holding you in my arms again has made every lonely night of my existence worthwhile. I gave up my humanity to hold you again.”
She frowned, shaking her head, and he pulled away to look her in the eyes. “I don’t understand.”
“I am a Night Walker, Kate. I live only after the sun has died.”
Confusion clouded her eyes when she gazed up at him, and finally he forced himself to go on. “After I lost you, I could not face another day. I abandoned the God I served, and His church. Your tribe took me in and brought me to the Old One in the cliffs over the ocean. He was a wise healer, but even he could not mend my ailing heart. What he offered instead was a chance to stay alive until you lived again.”
“But how is that possible?” Kate asked. “No one lives forever.”
“I will, until the day I decide to watch the sunrise.”
“Impossible. Are you telling me he cast some sort of spell on you? A hex or something?”
“No. He gave me his blood and it changed me. I was no longer a man. I became a Night Walker.”
“Gave you his blood?”
“I drank it, Kate. Blood is what keeps me alive now.”
“Like a vampire?” Doubt filled her eyes. “You expect me to believe vampires are real, and I’m in love with one? That’s insane. All of this is crazy. It can’t be true.”
He took her hand in his and brought it to his cold cheek. “My flesh is cold because I have not yet fed. I was not on business trips or out of the country during the daylight hours. I slept far below this room, deep inside a cave along the cliff, safely hidden from the sun. My kitchen sat empty when you came to my home because I do not eat. Not food, anyway.”
He paused, gauging her reaction before he went on. “I am an immortal, Kate, a Night Walker, but I am not a vampire. I do not kill for pleasure or sport. I do not make minions of blood-drinkers to keep for my companions. I have no fear of garlic or crucifixes.” A hint of a smile sparkled in his eyes. “And I certainly do not turn myself into a bat.”
She stared up at him for a moment. A soft smile warmed her lips, followed by a chuckle until it finally bloomed into laughter. She didn’t believe him. He didn’t blame her.
Calisto lowered her hand with a tentative smile while he waited for his words to settle in her mind. He loved the sound of her laughter. Seeing her smile and hearing her laugh was the most precious gift he would ever receive.
Sadly, it was short lived.
She lifted his hand, examining it closely. He wondered what she searched for. But he didn’t ask, and he made no move to draw back from her inspection. He asked her to believe the unbelievable. The least he could do was give her time to accept it.
Her gaze moved back up to his face without making eye contact. He watched her eyes move slowly over his features until she finally met his stare. “I’m trying to understand, but it can’t be true. There must be some other explanation.”
“I wish there was.”
Tears came to her eyes. She lifted her hand to caress his cool cheek. None of this could be real, just part of a twisted nightmare. But deep inside she knew she wasn’t sleeping. Her thumb brushed over his skin and a tear rolled down her cheek.
“I can’t accept this, Calisto.”
“How else can you explain that I still live?”
“Maybe you aren’t as old as you think you are. You’ve probably been having dreams about your past life too. You just
caught onto yours sooner than I did, and you remembered me.”
He shook his head, taking her hand to walk her closer to the painting on his wall. “I painted this picture of you, Kate. The G.S. in the corner is for Gregorio Salvador.”
She didn’t want to believe it. Believing his story would mean accepting the world around her held much more than she ever realized. Beings she only dreamed of might be real, lurking in the shadows. She looked up at him, searching for some other explanation.
Calisto cupped her cheek in his hand. “I am telling you the truth. I helped build the Mission in 1769, and I led the attack and burned it down in 1775. I fell in love with you when I was a man on this beach, and I have loved you as an immortal ever since.”
“Stop it,” Kate stammered. “Just stop it. I don’t want to hear anymore. I don’t want to believe this. It can’t be true.”
She looked up at the painting again, warring with herself. He knew too many details, and when he told her about his time with Tala, the memories played out in his eyes. He had been there. But if she accepted that much to be true, then she had to accept his entire story.
Calisto wasn’t a man at all.
Not anymore.
Her heart raced, and her fingertips tingled. It felt like her lungs couldn’t find any air in the room. She swallowed the lump in her throat and started for the door. “I can’t handle this right now. I need some time to think.”
“Wait, there is more you should know.” He reached for her, but Kate kept walking.
“I’ve heard more than I can believe already, Calisto. Just give me some time to think, okay? I won’t tell anyone if that’s what you’re worried about. Everyone would think I’m insane anyway. Maybe I am.”
Before he said another word, she walked out the door. He went after her, catching her arm as she reached the steps to the main house.
“You are in danger, Kate.”
“Don’t.” She pulled away. “You can’t scare me into staying with you. This is my life. I’d like to have some control over it. Just let me think all of this through. I’ll be back tomorrow night. If you’ve really loved me for over two centuries, then what’s one more night?” She bit back her tears and turned away. “Now leave me alone.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Jose had searched Kate’s house as well as Calisto’s home, and still hadn’t found any sign of her. After spending another day searching for her, his frustration level peaked. He had no choice but to return to Betty’s condo and wait until tomorrow. The risk of being without her once the sun went down and the Night Walker awoke was far too great. His life insurance rested on Betty’s shoulders for now.
However, if she called him baby or asked him to rub her back one more time, he thought he might entertain canceling his insurance policy by ripping her throat out. He daydreamed about kissing her cold, dead lips good-bye and never looking back.
He wanted to make that dream a reality.
Instead, he sat at her glass dining table, choking down her pathetic attempt at Spanish Gazpacho soup. He had grown up on gazpacho as a boy in Spain. The last thing he wanted to eat while in America was food he could get back home.
To make the soup even worse, she heated it.
“How is it?” Betty asked.
Jose looked up from his steaming spoon. “It’s hot.”
“It’s soup.”
He raised a brow. “It’s gazpacho.”
“I know that.” Betty made a face. “Eating cold soup is disgusting. I improved it by serving it heated.”
Jose dropped his spoon back into the bowl and shoved his chair away from the table.
“Where are you going?”
“Out.” He grabbed his jacket.
He felt her glare burning into the back of his head and smiled. He couldn’t kill her, but it brought him some solace to know he pissed her off.
“I tried to do something nice for you,” she said.
Jose reached for the door and turned around with a sarcastic smirk. “Then I guess you failed. I’m going out to get something I can actually eat. I’ll be back before sunset.”
The hurt in her eyes satisfied him and eased the growing rage inside of him. She wouldn’t cry. He knew her well enough to know she’d never give him the satisfaction of tears, but he had wounded her. It would suffice for now.
Jose closed the door and looked up at the sky. Twilight. Shit.
Calisto might already be alert.
Rubbing his hands down his face in frustration, he cursed himself inwardly for his carelessness. He should’ve checked the time before insulting Betty and storming out. He couldn’t wander back in now and keep his pride intact.
But if he ran into the Night Walker without Betty, he would have much more to worry about than his pride.
He took a deep breath and turned back, forcing himself to open the door and step inside. He pasted a look of contrition on his face. “I couldn’t leave knowing I hurt you. Forgive me?”
“You were an asshole.”
God, he hated her. He’d been a jerk intentionally. Did she think he didn’t notice his own behavior? Of course she did, because Betty knew everything. She thought she did, anyway.
“I am very particular about food from my homeland,” he said.
“At least I tried.” She sipped her mineral water. “You didn’t even say thank you.”
His fists balled up at his sides while he fought to hold back the fury lurking far too close to the surface. He refused to play her game and thank her for anything, least of all the slop she called gazpacho.
Closing the door behind him, Jose walked through the sterile interior of her condominium and around the glass dining table. He brought his hands up to her shoulders and kneaded them firmly, imagining his fingers gripped her throat instead of her shoulders.
Betty hummed, dropping her head forward. “Mmm, feels good.”
He nodded, closing his eyes and working his hands in closer and closer to the base of her neck, his fingers pressing harder, gripping tighter. As the fantasy grew in his mind, he saw her eyes light with terror when she realized she had made a fatal error in judgment. It was a sweet victory, even if it was only in his imagination. Soon it would be real. Soon he would choose who lived or died.
He would have the ultimate power, even over death itself.
Betty’s hands reached up to cover his own, moving them farther out on her shoulders, but in his mind, he strangled her, slowly watching the life drain from her icy blue eyes. He pressed his hips against the back of her chair, his member aching for satisfaction.
Jose’s fingers slid down from her shoulders until his hands cupped her breasts, kneading them forcefully. Her back arched, responding to his aggressive touch.
He opened his eyes, looking down at her, watching his hands corrupt her body, his fingers sliding in between the buttons of her blouse to tease her hungry flesh. Gripping either side, he suddenly ripped it open. Buttons clattered around them, and his hands invaded her black lace bra, pinching her nipples until she gasped.
Dominating her was a sinful pleasure that he enjoyed immensely.
And he intended to enjoy her, right here, right now.
With a sweep of his arm, he cleared the table of the soup, as well as everything else. Plates and bowls shattered against the marble floor, glasses spilled, and what remained of their dinner smeared red across the glass dining table. He yanked Betty into his arms, his lips claiming hers in a demanding kiss that would accept nothing less than complete surrender. He unclasped her bra, yanking it fiercely from her body.
Her fingers searched for the buttons on his shirt, but Jose caught her hands, bringing them down and behind her waist. He held her wrists behind her back with one hand, and suddenly broke the kiss, turned her away from him, and shoved her facedown onto the glass table. Yanking up her skirt, he tore her thong underwear and kicked her feet further apart. Her hips tilted slightly, hungering for his entry as he opened his pants.
He stroked himself for a mo
ment with his free hand. Watching her lie there in front of him, pressed facedown, topless on the dirty table, her skirt lifted to expose her most private areas, and the remnants of her torn underwear still clinging to her upper thigh, made his erection rock hard.
He was in control. He had the power.
Jose thrust himself inside of her, violating her over and over, imagining she resisted instead of working her hips into his. He envisioned her moans of pleasure were cries of mercy, and her nails were digging into his wrists out of fear instead of pleasure. When he finally spent himself inside of her, he wished he could just walk away.
Jose stepped back as Betty stood up with a blissful, sexy smile. “You’re forgiven. God, that was incredible.”
It would have been even better if she could no longer speak. He tucked himself back inside his pants and zipped them up.
“Come on, I need a shower now. If you wash my back, I’ll wash yours,” she said with a purposefully seductive tone, re-igniting Jose’s urge to choke her to death.
He forced a smile and nodded, following her back to the master bedroom. He watched her take off what remained of her clothes and undressed while she started the water in the shower.
Betty stepped inside with a smile. “Oh I almost forgot, Kate called today while you were out. She was looking for Calisto. I guess she’s back in town.”
Jose froze. “She is here, in San Diego?”
“Yes. She’s probably with Calisto right now.”
His heart pounded in his chest, making his pulse throb in his ears. He lost himself in his thoughts as Betty washed his hair. Her constant petting usually annoyed him to no end, but right now he hardly noticed.
He needed a plan.
He squeezed shampoo into the palm of his hand, working it through Betty’s long blonde hair, and weighed his options. If Kate was calling Betty to find out Calisto’s whereabouts, then she obviously had no idea of her lover’s daylight sleeping habits. Jose felt fairly certain Kate had no idea about Calisto’s true nature.