Gabrielle nodded and looked at Christian. “Yes, but he must be running out by now.”
“I can’t believe it. There has to be some kind of mistake here.”
“There is no mistake, Amanda.” Michel shrugged. “He’s a very powerful vampire, and he will kill you if we don’t get to him first.
He has been surviving on killing innocent homeless people in Central Park. Ross was investigating it.”
“He’s been there for me, helping me with my research, buying me cups of coffee, and hanging out with me late at night when I had deadlines to fulfill. Look, it’s just coincidental.”
“What is it you do?” Gabrielle asked hesitantly.
Despite her audience, she took the opportunity to talk about her love of art and her passion for history and museums. Gabrielle and Christian listened intently, especially when she spoke of her love of eighteenth-century France. Michel seemed utterly bored and stared off into the fireplace as if he were a million miles away.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
AMANDA LOOKED AT her watch. It was three o’clock in the morning. She was growing tired and hoped she could curl up in Christian’s bed. Michel arranged for a cab to take Gabrielle back down to the Grey Wolf; she would be staying in the bedroom behind their office. After saying their good-byes, Amanda found herself alone in front of the fireplace trying to digest the events of the evening.
She was tired, but she knew she would never fall asleep. Had Christian been spying on her? Is that how he had known her friend’s name? Maybe there had been a mistake. None of it made sense, and she suddenly felt so alone.
“Why don’t you come upstairs and get some sleep,” he whispered, massaging her shoulders.
She was having a hard time reconciling that Thomas was a murderous vampire. In fact, all of it seemed absolutely crazy. Maybe the thing to do was go home and crawl into her bed and try and get some sleep. She spotted her coat on the couch and went for it.
“Where are you going at this hour, Amanda?” Christian asked as she her put on her coat and picked up her purse.
“I need to make sense out of what you are telling me. It’s almost impossible to believe.”
“You saw what happened to Ryan, how could you be so … dismissive, Amanda?” Christian stood casually at the door to the library.
“Not only did I see what happened to him, but I will never forget it, Christian. It’s just too much to think about right now. How do I know that you aren’t just jealous of my friend and making this up? You seem to know everything about me … Maybe you’re just a crazy stalker who wants me dead … maybe …”
He tried to take her in his arms, but she pulled away.
“I want to go home to my familiar, boring apartment and my best friend. Please let me go.”
“Fine, don’t let me stop you,” he sneered and opened the French doors. “Let Tony call you a cab.”
“No, I need to walk,” Amanda snapped back, almost running into Tony in the foyer. He seemed confused and frightened by what was happening, and she could not blame him. She felt the same way.
Amanda opened the front door and the cold night air hit her. Tears streamed down her face, blurring her vision as she ran down the steps onto the sidewalk. There was no one on the dark quiet street as she headed toward Fifth Avenue and the museum. After walking half a block, she realized her stupidity.
What was I thinking? How can I get a cab up here at three in the morning?
Her only other alternative was to take the subway, which suddenly seemed appealing in its familiarity. I need normal right now. This is all too crazy, like a bad dream. She was almost at the corner when a figure emerged from the shadow of a high rise. Great, now I’ll get raped. That will just top off the evening. Not sure which way the stranger was walking, she stopped, thinking he might cross Fifth Avenue, heading uptown.
“Amanda?” He called out in the darkness. His voice sounded strangely familiar.
Then he stepped into the streetlight wearing a long black coat like Christian’s and high-heeled boots. His hair was tied back, but his face was unmistakable. He smiled and there was no doubt in her mind.
“Thomas, is that you?”
“The one and only.”
He approached her with a smile frozen on his handsome face, and a million thoughts ran through her head, the most important one being, what was he doing here? Was this pure coincidence, which she did not believe in, or was he following her? His footsteps made no sound on the frozen ice and snow, just like Christian’s.
“What are you doing here?” Amanda thought about dialing 911, but her cell phone was in her purse, zipped up and secured over her shoulder. There was no way she would reach it in time.
As he came closer his face changed and the smile was gone.
“I have a score to settle with an old friend, with whom it seems you have managed to fall hopelessly in love, which is unfortunate for you both.”
She could not believe what he was saying. “I haven’t heard from you in days. You could at least have had the decency to call me and quite frankly, who I’m seeing is none of your business.”
He glanced up at Christian’s townhouse. “Oh, but it is my business, Amanda. You’re my business, and now it’s time to come with me.”
She backed away from him. “Who the hell are you?”
“How rude of me not to introduce myself.” He smiled as he came closer. “My name is Gaétan.”
Gaétan fought not to listen to her ranting or to feel sorry for her. They had become close friends, despite his hatred of Christian. He had enjoyed their late night talks in her office. Whether it was work related or the latest movie she had seen over the weekend, they had fun together. She spoke of art and history with such passion and enthusiasm, her face so serious and her eyes so dark and intense. He had played at being a mortal man, and though he hated to admit it, he had enjoyed being with her. But it’s her blood I need to survive.
He barely remembered being mortal, but as he thought back over his endless existence, he found that Amanda was a bright spot, just as Josette had been centuries ago. He wished he could tell her about his life and about living through the Revolution. She would have appreciated his struggles, his loyalty to the throne of France. In quieter moments, he thought of abandoning his plan and returning to Paris and Solange and leaving Christian to his own life here in the new world.
In saner moments, he had thought he could remain Thomas, the night guard at the Met, and work with her. Then his rage consumed him; his revenge fed him like the blood he needed from her to walk in the sunlight. Ah, the sunlight. He had become addicted to the freedom and power it gave him, but he had run out of Ryan’s blood days ago. He had to strike now.
I cannot let Christian have her.
“Gaétan,” she said. “You don’t have to do this, please just let us be.”
He could hear her heart racing in his ears, and the musky smell of her fear aroused him.
“You have become very dear to someone I abhor. I will not allow him to have you, ever.” He found himself lost in her beautiful eyes.
“Then you have me,” she whispered. “Take me home again.”
“I’ll kill him and have you, my dear. No need to worry about that.”
Amanda stepped back and she caught her foot on the ice, almost losing her balance. He came toward her and as she turned to run she slammed into something solid as arms grabbed her. Before she could scream, Tony was there. Christian came out of the shadows, machete in hand. Gaétan hissed and pulled a sword out of his coat.
“So, we finally meet again, Christian.”
Christian snickered at his old enemy. “Give it up, Gaétan. Go home while you still have your head.”
“Do you know how long I have waited to face you in combat again?”
“It’s over, Gaétan. The alliance is dead.”
Gaétan dropped his guard for a moment, unsure of himself.
“That’s right. Gabrielle is here seeking asylum and those were
her exact words. Étienne is dead at the hands of your lover and Augustin. You are a dead man if you set foot in Paris, and you are most certainly are a dead man if you stay here.”
“You liar!” Gaétan hissed, and rushed Christian.
“Take her back to the townhouse now,” Christian commanded Tony, dodging his sword.
“No!” Amanda screamed as Tony dragged her away.
“If I don’t come back, get her out of here as fast as possible.”
“Let me go,” she screamed and broke free of Tonys’ embrace.
Amanda felt her jacket rip off as she tried to get to Christian.
“Amanda, come back here,” Tony yelled, racing after her as she ran back up the street.
“Where are they, god damn it?” She cried on the verge of hysteria. “I have to find him, Tony.”
He grabbed her again and stared into her wild eyes. “Listen to me, Amanda. He’s lived for centuries. Christian can take care of himself.”
“You don’t understand. The sun’s coming up. Thomas can stand it but Christian can’t survive. He’ll die out there.”
Her body went limp, and Tony led her back to the townhouse.
She sobbed into his sweatshirt and muttered how much Christian was the love of her life. Tony set her down on the couch and then reset the alarm on the front door. He stoked the fire while Amanda sat in a daze, trying to piece together the facts that Ross was dead and her friend Thomas really was a monster after all.
“How could I have been fooled by him, Tony?” She asked. She hadn’t felt this vulnerable since her brother had been murdered last summer. “I slept with him, Jesus Christ.” She ran her hand through her hair, exhausted yet unsure how she could ever sleep again.
Tony knelt in front of the fireplace and turned to face Amanda, his amber eyes aglow from the fireplace light.
“We’re all blinded by love, Amanda. It sucks, but that’s just the way it is.”
She sat transfixed by the fire while Tony fixed her a sandwich and some tea. He set the tray of food down on the coffee table and then sat beside her.
The peppermint tea felt good on her throat. She took a few bites of the sandwich and put it down. She felt sick to her stomach.
“It’s good, but I can’t eat right now. What do we do now?”
Amanda hated feeling inert, and being this powerless was driving her crazy. She turned away from Tony, embarrassed by her tears.
“We wait,” he said with a shrug. “There’s not much else we can do. He’s a very powerful vampire, Amanda. He’ll be fine.”
Amanda wondered how that could be true. The sun was coming up soon, and Christian could not survive it. She could not fathom that these beings from a world she never thought existed were hunting her, trying to kill her just for being alive, or that she was a descendant of a woman named Solange. Who was the vampire who had really fathered Solange?
Maybe if I can get to her, I can explain everything and she won’t want to kill my Christian.
Tony pushed the sandwich plate toward her. “Try to eat, Amanda.”
She took a bite and tried to swallow, but it just sat in her throat like lead. She washed it down with some tea.
“So, how did you end up with Christian and Michel, if I may ask?”
“I used to hang out at the Grey Wolf and … I was a donor, sometimes… I just accepted them for what they are.”
“What’s a donor?” Amanda asked, setting down her mug and remembering Ryan’s exact words. I give blood and I get paid.
He smiled as if remembering something prurient. “It’s real simple. A donor gives blood for sex or money, depending on the situation.”
“My brother was hanging out there, too. Maybe you knew him? Ryan Perretti?”
Tony shrugged. “There were always a lot of people hanging out there, Amanda.”
“He and I looked a lot alike … He had a drug problem. He told me he was giving blood for money.”
“There was this one kid, dark-haired like you. Christian took a real interest in him. I thought he was taking his blood, but Christian’s … he’s different. He has an interesting view of right and wrong, and he seemed to be protecting this kid. Then the kid left I guess. I didn’t see him around anymore. When he tried to convince me to leave the club, I told him I had no money and nowhere to go so he offered me this job.”
Amanda smiled. She wondered if Tony had been a junkie as well. “Sounds like it worked out for you, and you both really respect each other.”
“Yeah, well, they’re vampires, you know? I mean, you just don’t fuck with ’em.”
Amanda forced another bite of her sandwich while Tony stood by the fireplace smoking a cigarette. She knew he was nervous as well, despite his protests.
If only Christian had offered Ryan a job, maybe he would be alive today.
“Christian asked you to get me away from here if he doesn’t come back. What did he mean by that?”
Tony took a long drag from his cigarette.
“He wants you put on a plane to San Francisco.”
“Why San Francisco?” she asked, putting her mug of tea down on the coffee table.
“He lived there when he and Michel left London. He mentioned a woman’s name. He followed her there in the late eighteen-hundreds. Monique something. She’s long dead but there is a vampire living there that he trusts.”
Amanda felt her breath catch in her throat. “Monique Moulin?”
“Yeah, something like that. She lived in San Francisco and then got married and came to New York.”
Could Christian have known her great-great-great-great-grandmother? She had lived in California and moved to New York when she married Charles Devereaux. Is that when Christian had come here, too? It all made sense in such a crazy way. She took her shoes off and put her head back on the couch, mumbling to Tony that she just needed to rest for a moment. She made him promise to wake her when the sun rose.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
CHRISTIAN FOLLOWED HIS enemy farther into Central Park, knowing that each step led him closer to his possible demise. There wasn’t much time until sunrise, yet rage pushed him farther north into the more remote area of the park. Just when he thought he had lost him, he noticed Gaétan silhouetted against the lightening sky atop Block House No. 1. It took all his willpower not to charge him.
“So have you figured out who sired the child?” Gaétan called out in his familiar raspy voice.
Christian said nothing yet he clenched the hilt of his machete tighter.
“She cuckolded you right in front of your eyes,” he laughed, enraging Christian. “What kind of a man allows his best friend to share his woman?”
“What kind of a man seduces his daughter,” Christian snapped back while Gaétan laughed.
“You know I did not sire Solange.” He smiled, “even as a child you could not help but see the resemblance to Monsieur Baptiste. He seduced Josette right under your nose.”
Before he could think, he was on the roof with Gaétan, their weapons dancing in the predawn light. They cut each other, but their wounds healed instantly as they jumped and swirled around each other like a tornado. Despite his speed and strength, his enemy was older and stronger, having survived on Ryan’s blood for months.
“You were the laughing stock of the court, Christian. So devoted to that slut who—”
Christian tried to strike despite the slowly rising sun. There was no more time to fight. He had to seek shelter away from Gaétan before he burned to death. He jumped off the roof seeking shelter inside from the crisp winter sun. There was nowhere else to go; he was trapped and exhausted, and soon he would fall asleep, never to wake again.
He threw his long coat over his body and he curled up in a corner, waiting with his machete in hand. He knew he had only seconds until Gaétan stormed in to finish him off.
At least Amanda and I had one night together … Michel will be fine. Images, smells, and memories swirled inside of him, as the last few hundred years seemed to flas
h by in seconds.
It’s never enough time, no matter how long you live.
The first rays of muted sun hit the window pane and crept silently across the dirt floor toward him like an assassin. Christian tried to steady his breathing and stay calm as he huddled closer in the corner. He waited for the pull of the darkness to take him.
The sun felt brighter now; it lit up a wider swath on the dirt floor, giving him only inches in which to hide. He had failed her and himself.
How could I have been so blind not to strike sooner? I love you, Amanda.
He thought of her beautiful face, her laughter, and the way she had looked at him. It was bittersweet, and now it was over as he felt his enemy approach along with the sun.
Christian had garnered all his strength as Gaétan entered the room. He felt his enemy behind him and Christian hoped Gaétan assumed he was asleep. He felt the sun on his boots, anticipating flames, but there was nothing. It must be the blood.
Suddenly he felt the blade cut through the air as Gaétan struck and with every ounce of strength he had left, Christian turned over and lunged before Gaétan could bring his sword down. Christian braced his body against the wall as screams filled the room. Christian sliced through the vampire’s neck, severing his head in mid scream. As Gaétan’s limp body fell onto the dirt floor he ignited. Christian tried to creep back into the corner as his enemy burned. Tears of joy streaked his dirty cheeks as he rolled over into the shadows and pulled his coat over his head. The smell of burning flesh, dirt, and blood filled his senses as darkness finally claimed him.
It was early Saturday morning when Amanda arrived back at her apartment. The familiar smell of fresh coffee made her realize how much she missed Bethany and her simple life.
“Where the hell have you been?” Bethany stepped out of the kitchen in her bathrobe holding a mug of coffee. “Are you all right?”
“I need a cup of coffee.” She tossed her ripped coat onto the living room couch on her way to the kitchen. “I feel like absolute crap.”
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