Esperanza had been taken before Diego. Samantha could only assume Blake and Meghan had already met similar fates. Diego would too unless they could find him in time. And after…It would be her turn.
But regardless of that, she couldn’t ask Peter to continue with his investigation and risk his life as well.
She faced him as he stood stiffly beside her. “I’d understand if you left now. You don’t need to help anymore.”
Chapter 22
C omfort or condemnation. For Peter, the former was a scary proposition. He was fighting a losing battle to avoid his attraction to her. But the latter was just as scary. It grated against his nature to run away from his duty to protect and serve, even if it meant defending a bunch of vampires.
Who was being more inhumane now? he asked himself as he recalled the sight of Esperanza’s mummified remains. The vamps or the humans rounding them up?
His answer came almost subconsciously as he laid a hand on Samantha’s shoulder. “I’m not running from this until we’ve stopped whoever is doing it.”
Giving him a sidelong glance, she asked, “And after? Will you go after that?”
As he had feared, he couldn’t battle the need he saw in her tear-filled eyes or that spark challenging him to what? See her as a woman rather than a vampire?
When he failed to immediately respond, she worried her lower lip in that all too familiar, vulnerable gesture. He cupped her chin and swiped his thumb over her lip.
She turned to face him and he moved his hand to the small of her back. Gently he urged her closer, ignoring everything within him that said run. He wanted to console her, to feel her close to him once again, woman to man.
There was confusion in her gaze and a bit of resistance, but she took a step toward him, laid her head against his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist.
He was about to envelop her in his embrace when a loud grating sound from the intercom intruded. Melissa Danvers had arrived. Not just a doctor but also Ryder’s keeper.
Samantha shot him an apologetic look and went to the intercom panel by the front door. She buzzed in Melissa while Peter stood there, awkwardly, knowing the moment they had almost shared was gone.
Diana and Ryder emerged from Diego’s bedroom. They shared a compassionate look before Diana said, “We’re going to need your help back there to understand what happened.”
Samantha nodded. “As soon as Melissa gets here and sees to Simon, I’ll join you.”
Diana turned her attention to Peter. “Are you ready?”
Peter wanted to ask “Ready for what?” but curbed that impulse. He wasn’t sure he was ready for anything. He was confused about his feelings for Samantha. Totally unable to fathom that there really was a world of creatures of the night and he had somehow been sucked into it. And last but not least, he couldn’t comprehend that a woman he admired was sleeping with a vampire while the woman he desired was a vampire.
“Ready,” he said, but with little conviction and a lot of trepidation.
A knock signaled Melissa’s arrival.
Samantha opened the door. A petite wisp of a blonde stood beside a handsome young Latino who bore a striking resemblance to Diana. The young man had his arm draped over the beautiful woman’s shoulders.
Melissa held out her hand in introduction. “Dr. Melissa Danvers. This is my husband, and Diana’s brother, Sebastian Reyes.”
A husband? For a keeper? Samantha thought, but refrained from comment. Ryder clearly chose to do things his own way, including allowing his keeper to not only have a spouse, but to maintain her mortality. Vampires usually gifted their keepers with a bit of their strength to prolong their lives without making them vampires. Samantha noticed the lack of transferred vamp power in Melissa’s grasp as they shook hands.
Motioning for them to enter, she took them to Simon.
At the sofa, Melissa sat on the coffee table and placed her black doctor’s bag next to her. Removing a stethoscope, penlight and blood pressure apparatus, she prepped for examining Diego’s keeper. “How old is he?”
Samantha hesitated, not only because she had to recall when Simon had been born, but also because she wasn’t sure the young doctor was ready to hear the answer.
Melissa slipped the stethoscope over her neck and leaned toward Simon. She laid a gentle hand on his chest and Simon immediately roused and began his disoriented rambling once more. To Melissa’s credit, she quickly calmed the keeper.
Sebastian hovered nearby, within reach of his wife. It was then Samantha noticed his wedding ring with its new and gleaming shine. She noted the same freshly minted glow on Melissa’s wedding band. Guilt flooded her at the thought that she might be bringing the newlyweds into harm’s way, especially since Melissa was still mortal.
“Samantha?”
She roused from her musings when Melissa repeated a question she apparently hadn’t heard. “I’m sorry. What is it?”
“How old is he?”
There was no avoiding it, especially if Melissa wanted to give Simon any kind of medication. “Simon was born in 1876.”
Silence greeted her response until Melissa said, “But he barely looks like he’s sixty.”
Whether Ryder’s omission was intentional or because of his lack of knowledge, Melissa had the right to know. “There are many different kinds of things that vampires can do.”
“Meaning?” Sebastian asked. He put a protective hand on Melissa’s shoulder.
Samantha tried to explain as best she could. “A vampire can choose to feed or sire someone. Their lick can heal if they want it to.”
“And their keepers? What do they do to their keepers?” Melissa asked.
“A different kind of bite, administered as needed.” She watched as puzzled looks crossed the faces of both her companions.
“As needed?” Sebastian echoed at the same time that Melissa said, “Could you explain the ‘as needed’ part?”
With a shrug, she said, “The more frequent the bite, the less the keeper ages.”
Once again an awkward silence greeted her words, until Melissa made a little circular motion with one finger and said, “So, a bite a day—”
“Keeps the Reaper away,” Sebastian added.
Samantha couldn’t contain a chuckle. “I guess that’s about as simple an explanation as possible.”
Seemingly satisfied, Melissa turned her attention to examining Simon, checking his pulse and blood pressure. Asking him some simple questions to determine if he’d been injured.
Content that Simon was being well-attended, Samantha walked to Diego’s bedroom, but paused as she noticed Ryder and Peter carrying something cradled in a sheet. Something that barely made a dent in the center of the fabric.
Away from the closet and in the free floor space before Diego’s ornate four-poster bed, Peter and Ryder laid the sheet down. Esperanza’s pitifully shrunken body became visible.
A shiver tracked up Samantha’s spine. Kneeling, she was about to brush away a thick lock of Esperanza’s auburn hair when Diana stopped her.
“Peter and I should really process the body.”
“Process the body?”
Peter kneeled beside her and said, “There may be evidence on her. A bit of debris or something else that will let us track down where they might have taken her.”
She nodded and stepped away. Peter and Diana slowly and methodically collected evidence.
She looked across the room at Ryder
, his arms crossed before him. A tight set to his features. He was clearly troubled, but whether it was about Esperanza or something else—like involving his people in her problem—she didn’t know. Until he asked, “Who’s going to process all these materials you’re gathering?”
“I have a friend who has been running the prints for me,” Peter said. “But we’ve hit a dead end since they lead to classified files.”
Diana’s head snapped up. “When did you find that out?”
“Just before Samantha called about Diego. I was about to phone you since—”
“If I didn’t know Sloan was dead, I’d think this was his work,” Ryder interjected.
Diana laid a hand on Ryder’s chest. “Amor, Sloan isn’t alive.”
“Do we know that for sure? If we’re wrong, he may turn his attention to Melissa.”
Samantha followed his gaze. Sebastian eased an arm around Melissa’s waist and then downward to rest along the soft swell of Melissa’s abdomen.
It was like a kick to her gut. Melissa was pregnant. “What are you thinking, Ryder? A mortal keeper who’s married? Having children? Do you care nothing for her?”
A low and angry sound was the only warning of Ryder’s transformation. Diana blocked his way, much as she had so many days before. “All of my keepers have had families,” he said. “How could I presume to rob them of a normal life? It’s funny you should ask me this. You care so little—”
“Care so little?” she said as tears came to her eyes. “I have no keeper, Ryder. I don’t want to burden anyone in my life with such a charge. Nor would I claim to love someone and force them to live a life that would bring them nothing but sadness.”
Her words must have cut him deeply. His transformation quickly fled and his dark eyes swept down to his lover, filled with apology. Filled with so much love, it was painful to behold.
Samantha turned away and met Peter’s gaze. Pain, so strong it was almost a blow, hit her once more at what she saw in his eyes. The remnants of whatever Peter might have felt for her had been driven from him with her words. All warmth left his hazel-green eyes; they turned cold, hard and unyielding as he said, “This bickering will accomplish nothing, but Samantha is right. We need to keep Melissa’s involvement to a minimum and we need to keep a close eye on her.”
Diana, who had been facing Ryder, turned to the two of them. “I’ll make sure Sebastian stays close. Plus, I think she should take a few days off from the hospital until we can get more info.”
“How will we get more info?” Peter questioned. “I couldn’t access those classified files.”
“Sebastian could hack in, but I’d rather not have to resort to that. My partner, David, helped with that before. As for the physical evidence we have here…” She paused and shot an uneasy glance at Ryder. “Maggie Gonzalez can help with the forensics.”
It didn’t take a rocket scientist to realize what Ryder was thinking. Even more people involved in Samantha’s problem. Her problem. “I appreciate all that you’ve done, but I think it’s time I took care of this myself. Just by myself.”
With that, she walked out of the room.
Chapter 23
P eter chased after her, although he didn’t really have a clue what to say. Except maybe what he’d already said. “You can’t do this alone, Samantha.”
She shook her head. “Peter, I’ve been going it alone for almost one hundred and forty years.”
“That’s what you might want to tell yourself, but you haven’t. You had Ryder—”
“Who I sired.”
“And Diego—”
“Who’s now missing.”
“And all those women and children who need you,” he finished, even though there was one more thing niggling in his brain, waiting to be said. Although after what she said to Ryder, Peter doubted that she wanted to hear it. Plus, he doubted his own conviction. Despite his best efforts, he was still stuck on Con number one.
Samantha examined him carefully and as if sensing his indecision, she took advantage of it like the hunter she was. Uncaring of the two people who stood watching, she morphed. Her eyes glowing with that weird light and her fangs protruding far below the line of her upper lip, she stepped toward him and cupped his cheek. Leaning forward, she nuzzled his nose with hers and brushed his lips with hers. Her voice deeper, and with that odd animal tinge, she said, “And what about you? Do I have you now, Peter? The way I am?”
It took all of his strength not to pull away or flinch as she brought her lips to his. He reminded himself that this was Samantha, the woman he’d cared about. A woman he’d kissed with affection. Her skin was warm and smooth. More human. And he wanted to restore that human and drive away the vampire she was using to scare him off.
He moved his thumb along the edge of her mouth as she opened it against his. Her fang nipped his lip, drawing blood. She pulled away and met his gaze.
He didn’t waver in his determination to fight the beast she had set loose. With his thumb, he traced the edges of her lips and then boldly ran his finger down the long, bright white surface of one fang. “Do you think this will scare me away from doing what’s right?”
“What’s right? Tell me what’s right about this undead life, Peter?”
He grabbed her arm and pulled. A mistake.
“Don’t touch me,” she roared and with a swipe of her arm, sent him flying across the room.
He crashed into the far wall, his shoulder connecting forcefully as he broke through the Sheetrock. His other arm ached just as much from the shock of her blow.
Simon grew agitated again at Samantha’s display of violence. His pitiful wails filled the room and she quickly became human and rushed to his side, trying to calm the old keeper.
Melissa, Sebastian and Diana hurried to Peter’s aid.
“Are you okay, Peter?” Diana asked and laid a hand on his shoulder. The one that didn’t feel like it was broken, just bruised. He rubbed at the other shoulder and winced at the pain, not to mention the numbness, that ran down his arm.
“Let me look at that,” Melissa probed at his arm.
He grimaced at her touch and cursed beneath his breath.
“It’s dislocated, Peter. We’ll have to pop it back into place,” Melissa said.
Peter glanced across the length of the room to where Samantha sat by Simon. At Melissa’s words, she clapped a hand over her mouth, obviously distressed at what she had done. Funny thing was, he wanted to go and comfort her, tell her he understood why she had reacted as she had, but she didn’t give him the chance.
She raced out of the apartment.
“Great. Another vamp out there ready to be grabbed,” Peter said.
Diana shot a glance at Ryder and he gave her a shocked look. “You want me to go after her?”
“Por favor. Just keep an eye on her. She’s scared and unsure of what to do.” Diana laid a hand over Ryder’s heart as if to remind him he had one.
Ryder gritted his teeth. “Darlin’, you sure know how to make life difficult.”
“Por favor. For me.”
“A low, but effective blow,” he said and with a quick parting kiss, went after Samantha.
Once Ryder left, Diana gave Peter a pained look. “This is going to hurt.”
Peter shrugged, then cursed at the extreme discomfort in his injured shoulder. After a few deep breaths to tamp down the pain, he said, “Do you think it’ll hurt more than finding out she�
�s a vamp?”
Diana looked from Melissa to Sebastian. “Let’s get his arm fixed. After, I’d like you to take Simon and get him settled at Ryder’s. Lock up and don’t go anywhere.”
“And what do you plan on doing?” Sebastian asked his sister.
“I’ll drive Peter home and then meet you at Ryder’s apartment.”
Melissa probed at Peter’s arm again and told Sebastian, “Hold him steady while I pull his arm back into the socket.”
“Let me,” Diana said and wrapped her arms around Peter. “On three.”
“One,” Melissa said, but Peter chose to think about something other than the pain that would shortly follow.
“You know a year ago—” he began.
“Two.”
“I would have loved to have you hold me,” he said and met Diana’s concerned gaze.
“Three,” Melissa said. Beside him, Diana braced him tightly while Melissa yanked.
Pain reverberated along the length of his arm, weakening his knees until with an odd pop, his shoulder wrenched back into place. His breath rough, he said, “Thanks.”
Melissa nodded. “Let me get you a sling and something for the tenderness and inflammation.”
“You okay, dude?” Sebastian asked.
Although it seemed like every bone in his body was broken, he nodded and said, “I’ll be fine. Keep a close eye on Melissa.”
Sebastian peered across the room to where his wife rummaged through her medical bag. “I won’t let her out of my sight.”
Melissa helped Peter with the sling and handed Diana some medication. “Ice your shoulder when you get home.”
Peter nodded and with Diana’s assistance, walked to the sofa. He sat down on its arm while Melissa and Sebastian rounded up a few things and left with Simon.
Diana asked, “Are you ready to go?”
His legs were a little stronger and he nodded. “About as ready as I’ll ever be.”
He was only a bit wobbly as he rose, but he waved off Diana’s assistance. Together they went down to Diana’s car and drove to Peter’s apartment.
Temptation Calls Page 15