by Ashley Ladd
Hugging herself, she stared at the silver sliver of moonlight cascading through her blinds. “Oh, Luke. Why did you have to die? Why couldn’t you have stayed with me?” Angrily, she swiped at the rogue tear that fell from her eye.
“Stop that!” she commanded herself. The time for crying had come and gone years ago. She had loved Luke with all her heart, but he had moved on and she was still here. At thirty-four, her life wasn’t over. It had barely begun and if she wanted to grab all it had to offer, she had to leave him behind once and for all.
If only it was as easy as ordering herself to do it. Reflecting on his question, she despaired that she would have answered the same way even if she’d been awake.
* * * * *
Outraged, Anika’s blood simmered. How dare Lukas choose that imbecile mortal over her! She had bestowed upon him the precious gift of eternal life. She had brought him into her world, nurtured him, lavished him with affection. She had given him her complete and total heart. What more could a woman give him? And he had stomped on her heart over and over.
Every night when he visited that corporeal wench in her dreams, he flung the woman in her face. He ripped her heart to shreds every time he took that bitch into his arms and made sweet, passionate love to her. Even if it meant disposing of Luke, she would put a stop to this. If she couldn’t have him, no one would.
She didn’t give many mortals the gift, but he had stolen her heart the first moment she laid eyes on him, and she had yearned to spend eternity in his arms. “I’m warning you for the final time, Lukas, give her up, or else.”
“Or else what?” His nostrils flaring, his lips set stonily, Luke marched up to her without a trace of fear.
“She will know a most excruciating death.” Anika almost drooled at the prospect of maiming and torturing her sworn enemy. The lowest levels of hell would be too good for the usurper. Her body shook with excitement. The woman’s blood would be sweet with the terror she craved.
Luke’s hands twisted around her throat, choking her. “It all comes down to choices. You made me. You didn’t give me a choice, but you chose poorly. You knew I loved her that I would always love her, never you, but still you took me. But that doesn’t make me yours. I choose my mate and I chose long before you decided to sink your teeth into me. Nothing’s changed. I know the ways of killing, just as you do. Touch her and you will die, too, my sweet.”
Anika pouted prettily, easily pulling his hands from her neck. “She’ll still be dead, and it’ll be your fault.”
“My fault? How so?”
His muscles corded in his neck and rippled down through his arms with a barely restrained, exhilarating power that stole her breath. Luke’s voice was so low, so menacing, she had to strain to catch his words. How could she find him so magnificent even when he annoyed her so with his stubborn insistence on placing that mortal above her? She had asked herself that question a thousand times with no clear answer. It was inexplicable. She was far superior to that woman on every level. The woman was most certainly a necromancer for Luke was clearly bewitched. There could be no other explanation. It was far past time to break the spell and divest the witch of her powers, and she would be the one to break the enchantment and set Luke free to join with his true lover.
Luke’s deep growl brought her back to the present. Trailing her nail down his impressive chest, stopping where the vee of his shirt was buttoned, she drawled, “You’re such an exciting beast when you’re angry. Alas, it’s your own refusal to give her up that will be her death sentence. If you truly loved her as you proclaim, you would do what’s best for her.”
Luke batted away her hand fueling her wrath. “You’re twisted. I couldn’t love a degenerate like you had I never met Chloe, had I never loved another woman. I could sooner love a slithering snake than I could love you.”
Enraged by his ugly insults, Anika backhanded him with every ounce of power in her being, catapulting him against the far wall. How could she presume to love such a fool? “Insolent man! I offer you the universe on a silver platter and you are too blind to see what grand blessings you reject. You are not worthy of my largesse.”
Snarling, his eyes wild, Luke picked himself up from the floor and dusted himself off. “Then you have no further use for me, nor interest in Chloe?”
“On the contrary, revenge will be mine.” Sweet, delectable revenge. Her mouth watering, she chuckled, warming to delicious visions of torture and mayhem. Just how long could she prolong the woman’s suffering? How much agony could she inflict? She’d had a lot of practice in her millennium of life, but it never hurt to keep up her skills.
When Luke lunged at her again, she spread herself thin on the wind, laughing at him with mockery. Would he never learn that he was her inferior? That he should be groveling at her feet, worshipping her? “I will not be so easy to catch, Lukas.”
* * * * *
It wasn’t bad enough that he had been dragged violently from Chloe’s dream, yanked across the astral plane so that his head reeled, and his vision bounced out of focus, but Anika was swearing revenge. And now he was face-to-face with Genevieve. The vampire queen floated through the doors resplendently encased in heavy black Chantilly lace over red Georgette. The dress fit close, hugging her supple curves and arms as though she’d been born in the fabric and the dress grew around her. The deep vee plunged daringly, revealing porcelain skin and the creamy swell of her breasts. The lace was gathered low on her pelvis with a flounce then fell to the floor in a flare of soft pleats, opened down the front from her hips to the floor. It should have looked vulgar, but instead, it was delicate and feminine. One of the booted feet shoved him irreverently so that he fell back in his weakened state. “You were consorting with the female again against Anika’s wishes.”
Luke pulled himself to his feet, his fangs bared. “Since when am I obliged to acquiesce to Anika’s wishes? Are we not Alp vampires? Do we not feed on whichever mortals we desire?”
Genevieve circled him, her minions standing at alert, their eyes ever watchful. “Anika has made it clear that she does not wish you to visit this particular mortal, that she feels threatened.”
Luke swallowed a sigh. “I have no desire to take Anika as my lifemate whether this mortal existed or not. She leaves me cold.”
Foaming at the mouth, Anika erupted from the shadows. She jumped on his back, her fingernails raking his face. “Your bitch shall die for this! You were promised to me, and I will not share.”
He pulled her off him and slammed her to the floor so hard the sound of her bones cracking sounded like gunshots. “I will kill you if you harm her.”
“We will see who will kill whom. You are entirely too arrogant.” She stood and spat at his feet in disdain. Grabbing his hand in hers, she squeezed. “You who are but a fledgling.”
Pain racked through his body as he felt his fingers shatter, and still she squeezed. Blood dripped from his fingertips, pooling on the floor by his feet.
“You have much to learn…and to fear.”
Luke pulled his mangled hand from her grasp, refusing to pull it to his body. He held it out to her and concentrated hard. Ignoring the excruciating pain, he kept his eyes locked on her face and watched with satisfaction when the shock spread across her face as his fingers healed before her eyes.
“Do not underestimate me, Anika. If it takes the last breath in my body, I will not let you harm her.”
Anika recovered herself quickly, though her disquiet was evident in her voice as she spoke. “Your love for this human is your weakness. She is not worth it. Renounce your ways and join forces with me.”
Genevieve’s voice boomed through the room. “To do what, Anika? Pray tell not to overtake me, I presume?”
Instantly contrite, Anika bent on one knee and bowed to her sovereign. “Of course not, Genevieve. I’ve pledged my allegiance to you. I would not thwart your power. I meant join as in to mate.”
Genevieve narrowed her eyes at the woman before her. “Be sure you tell th
e truth. I do not take kindly to lies.”
“Yes, my queen.” Anika slid a hostile glance at Luke that even her long lashes couldn’t conceal.
“You may rise and depart to your chambers. I have no further need of your presence.” Genevieve waved her away with a flick of her hand. She beckoned Luke to remain and approach her.
When Luke stood before her, wondering how he had fallen so far from grace, he deferred to her. “My queen.”
Genevieve traced his jaw with her forefinger. “It is obvious that you are obsessed with this human female. I know that we must feed, that we must slake our desire, but it is unnatural to be so obsessed with one.”
“She was my fiancée before my awakening, Your Majesty. I have never stopped loving her.”
“Beware such obsessive love. You see what it does to Anika. What damned our kind in the eyes of God to start with.”
“We were soul mates.”
“Says one with no soul.” A somber smile played about the edges of Genevieve’s lips.
No soul. The words reverberated in Luke’s head. He feared he was truly damned, sentenced to walk the interminable nights preying on the unsuspecting, only able to be with his love on the astral plane. Not one to show defeat, he thrust his chin forward. “Have you never loved a human?”
“Aye. But not to the exclusion of our kind.” Genevieve lowered herself into her velvet throne, and smoothed her cape over her shapely legs. “Since you desire this human to the exclusion of all others, you should turn her so that she can be your lifemate.”
Abhorred at the thought of damning Chloe to eternal indignation, he winced. “I cannot sentence one I love to a half life such as ours. Besides, the term ‘gift’ is facetious at best. I’m walking proof that we grow to loathe our makers. I couldn’t stand for her to hate me.”
“Then you must give her up! If not now, soon enough she will become decrepit and turn to dust. Not a pretty sight. You will love a distant memory and become the most pathetic of all vampires. I do not wish to see you reduced to such an appalling state. ‘Tis better you take a vampire to mate, one who is immortal such as yourself, who can remain at your side, young and beautiful, through perpetuity.”
If she meant Anika, he’d sooner spend eternity in solitude. The vile temptress turned his stomach. He doubted she’d ever possessed a soul, even before her reawakening.
He must give up Chloe but every fiber of his being resisted letting her go. He must for her sake, but not until he had eliminated the threat against her, until Anika and her minions were no more. Chloe deserved to walk with her God and to have the family she’d always craved. His needs were secondary.
“Then you are far nobler than most of our kind.”
It didn’t surprise him anymore that she walked along his thoughts, but it still unnerved him.
“Perhaps Anika is right. You are still new to our ways, not completely indoctrinated.”
Luke bowed his head slightly, willing to admit the truth. It had never been his desire to become a vampire. He wished he could travel back in time to prevent his turning, but time travel though possible, was forbidden. If only he hadn’t pushed his case so hard, he would not find himself here now.
He was anxious to find Chloe and protect her. Unlike their brethren, Alp vampires could move about freely during the day. His love was not safe in the sunlight hours any more than she was in her dreams under the moonlight. Fortunately, he did not require rest as his mortal self had. Additionally, that meant Anika did not either and she could attack at any time.
“With your permission, Your Majesty, I would like to request permission to take my departure.”
“Consider my words. Take my advice. If you so desire this mortal woman, find a way to bring her across. Anika is not one to show mercy. I tire of having to step into your private battles and I can’t keep my eye on her every moment.”
Precisely why time was of the essence in finding Chloe. He prayed Anika hadn’t already taken advantage of his counsel with the queen. When it came to Anika, he would have to be just as unmerciful.
Chapter Three
“There you are, my friend.” Chloe was genuinely pleased to see the cat. She tugged at his hat, frowning. “I wish you could talk and tell me why you wear this silly thing. You can’t like it.” When she tried to remove it, the cat covered his head with both paws, barring her way.
“I suppose you must like it. Bizarre.” She stared at the cat for several long moments, feeling the oddest sense of déjà vu. She felt as if she was missing an obvious clue, but clue to what? What did this creature have to do with anything?
“Mrs. Rollins in room four is getting antsy, doc,” Shawanda called out the back door. “I don’t think she’ll want to hear that you’re ministering to a kitty cat. He shouldn’t even be in here.”
“Yes, Shawanda. I’ll be right with her. Tell her to keep her panties on.” Chloe tried not to roll her eyes. Mrs. Rollins’ impatience was legendary. She could be an hour early and demand to be seen the moment she walked in the door. Chloe feared that’s how all of Gerald’s upper-crust patients would behave, and was a primary reason she had declined to join his practice.
Shawanda harrumphed. “Now I can’t go telling her that. She’d eat me for dinner.”
“Okay, okay. I’m on my way. Finish feeding the cat for me, please.”
Shawanda shook her head. “You know if you feed one stray, he’ll tell all his friends and we’ll be swarming with the varmints.” She paused, and then exclaimed, “You know some fool put a hat on this cat?”
“I think he’s adorable.” She could swear the cat winked at her when she took one last look at it. No doubt about it. She was delusional.
“You thought that Gerald creep was adorable, too. Don’t mind me if I disagree. And don’t you be firing me again or that’ll make an even hundred times.”
“You’re fired,” Chloe said, chuckling. Although she’d rehire her in time to help her with Mrs. Rollins. That was a room no human should dare enter alone.
“Yeah, yeah. I hear ya.” Shawanda trudged behind her. “You know, that cat gives me the heebie-jeebies. I think he understood every word we said. And his eyes sort of glow.”
Now her delusions were catching. “I’ll finish with Mrs. Rollins, and then we can take a dinner break. Want to order Chinese or Mexican tonight?”
“How about deli sandwiches? My stomach can’t be taking nothing spicy tonight. All the local delis closed around three so how about a po’boy?”
Hours later, their hoagies were cold and Chloe was spent. Several walk-ins had interrupted their dinner and thrown off their schedule, so that they worked an hour past their normal time. “Let me walk you to your car,” Chloe said, not waiting for an answer.
“And who will walk you back to your office?”
“You can drive me back to the front door.”
“I don’t like you staying in this part of town alone at night. You want to come home with me?”
Chloe squeezed her friend’s arm. “You’re a doll, but I can’t impose. I’ll be just fine here. I don’t believe in the boogeyman.”
“Guess if I’d been sleeping with Gerald for the last three years, I wouldn’t either.” Shawanda snorted loudly and stared at the full moon. “’Course, if you grew up where I did, you would. Lock those doors the minute you get inside and don’t you be opening them to feed no cat. I won’t leave until I see the door close behind you. Call if you need anything.”
Although they were the same age, Shawanda smothered her with mothering. But she presumed that was part of a nurse’s instincts so she didn’t hold it against her. Sometimes she did wonder which one of them was the boss. “I have your number on speed dial.” And the FLPD. Thoughts of Luke as she remembered him made her blue again and she fought away the memories. It had been folly to fall in love with a cop, but they had their uses.
“I meant what I said. Take care of yourself.”
“You, too. Darryl will be waiting for you. Better get on h
ome before he gets worried.”
At least she didn’t have anyone who would be worried about her. If she screwed up her life, that was her own business once again. Maybe she was destined to be single. Although life with Luke would have been magical, life with Gerald would have been torture. What were the chances of finding another Luke? None had come her way in seven years.
Snippets of her erotic dream from the night before teased her as she drifted off to sleep, and she tried to recapture the feeling of being held in Luke’s strong arms. Her resolve to ban Luke from her thoughts wasn’t as strong in the twilight sleep as during her wakefulness.
* * * * *
Luke had been waiting what seemed hours for Chloe to slip into the nether world so he could slip into her dreams. Instead of exposing himself blatantly, he hid in the shadows at the edges of her dreams, waiting for Anika if she dared enter. He had no doubt that she would attack on the subliminal level, but he also had no idea of her timeline. Something told him the vampire’s patience wore thin.
Chloe called to him, holding out her arms for him to fill. He longed to answer her call, to wrap her in his embrace, but he dared not until Anika was safely disposed of. And even then not, as Genevieve’s painful words had held much wisdom. Unless he was prepared to turn Chloe into a creature like himself, he had to let her go. It wasn’t fair to hold onto her life. As long as he visited her dreams nightly, she wouldn’t be free to move onto another love and live her life. He couldn’t be selfish enough to keep her captive any longer. Her life was too precious, her time too short.
“Luke!” Chloe searched as if lost, and he had to turn away lest he succumb to her calls. He didn’t know if he could resist her, if he could stand to see her in such pain and not try to soothe it. But he stood firm, on guard.
He didn’t have long to wait.
Anika arrived as Chloe entered her second dream state. “Lukas is mine. I don’t know what he ever saw in a weak human such as you. You don’t deserve him.”