Dark Promises 4: Flesh & Blood

by Elisa Adams

  “Think about it, Faith. Really think. Even you aren’t believing Paul’s story anymore, are you?”

  She dropped her head back against the wall, defeat welling inside her. He’d lied to her. The one man who she’d thought hadn’t used her. He’d been the worst one of all. “No.”

  “Where is the formula?”

  She shook her head. “Explain this to me first. What is it, Sam? What have I almost gotten killed over?”

  He let out a breath, raked a hand through his hair. “Faith…”

  “Stop stalling, Kincaid. Spit it out. I’m a big girl. I can take it.”

  His gaze drifted around the room, everywhere but her. His throat worked as he swallowed. “The drug mimics the DNA mutation that causes vampirism.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “People have been trying to do this for years. Centuries. Thom Nicholas is one of those who had been trying and trying before he hired someone to do the work for him. Your late husband finally did it. He studied vampire blood and got his formula to match the virus that causes the mutation.”

  “It’s a virus?”

  “For the most part, yes. It’s complicated.” His dark gaze returned to hers. “Thom Nicholas is a terrible person. He wants to exploit the formula, use it to create his own personal army. A strong, nearly immortal army. Do you understand why I can’t let this happen?”

  “I understand what you’re telling me, but I’m seeing something below the surface. You have other reasons. What are they, Sam?”

  “Do you remember when you asked how long I’d been a vampire?”

  She nodded, licked her lips. “Yes.”

  “I was one of his early experiments, a guinea pig of sorts, when he was trying to create a formula on his own.” A short, humorless laugh escaped him. “He was using real vampire blood then, a strong, pure strain from natural-born vampires. Back then, I had thought I could trust him. He used me, tried to turn me into some kind of a monster.”

  “He’s an immortal too?”

  “You could say that.” He shook his head. “Where is the formula, Faith?”

  This had to be some kind of bad dream. Things like this didn’t happen in real life, at least not the life she’d known before she’d met Sam. Before she’d married Paul. “What are you going to do with it, if I give it to you?”

  “Destroy it.”

  “But then how will we get Thom Nicholas off our backs?” A tear slid down her cheek, landed on her lap with a soft plunk. “I don’t want to die, Sam.”

  He reached out, took her hand and gave it a squeeze. “You won’t. We have to destroy him too. That’s always been a given. It’s why we’re here.”

  She blinked, her breath stuck in her throat. “You knew all this time exactly where we were going, and you didn’t bother to mention it to me?”

  He paused, nodded. “I’ve known for a little while. This is important, Faith. More than important. Where is the formula?”

  “When you say you need to destroy him, you mean kill, don’t you?”

  “It isn’t quite as simple as that. He isn’t easy to get rid of.”

  “You sound like you know him.”

  “I do. Much better than I’d like to.” He let out a harsh laugh, snagged her gaze. “He’s my father.”

  His what?

  She jumped up off the bed, paced the length of the room a few times before slumping into the chair in the corner, as far away from him as she could get. All this time, he hadn’t said a word. Had he agreed to help her in order to seek revenge? Why had he dragged her along? Did he plan to use her as bait?

  “Why do you want to destroy your own father?”

  “I have my reasons.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “Explain, Sam.”

  “No.”

  “Yes. You forced me to talk about my past when I didn’t want anything to do with it.” She tried to smile, but the effort failed. “Now it’s your turn to bare your soul.”

  He flopped back on the mattress, draped his arm over his eyes. “It’s a long, boring story. You don’t want to hear it.”

  “Yes. I do.” She needed to. She wouldn’t be okay again until she did. Maybe then they could move past their trust issues and find a way to keep each other alive.

  He laughed, a self-deprecating sound. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Thom—Tomaz—has always been bent on destroying things that are good. Apparently, that included me. I didn’t turn out the way he expected, I took on my mother’s nature more than his.” He paused. His tone dropped to a whisper. “I had a son once. James. He was a great kid, grew into a great man. He got involved with the wrong woman, a woman who was in allegiance with Tomaz. It got him killed.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Yeah, me too.”

  “When did it happen?”

  “About four hundred years ago, give or take a few decades.”

  She gulped. This was all so strange, so surreal. “What happened to your son’s mother?”

  “Dead. A long time ago.”

  “Was she human?”

  “No. Only a few types of demons can impregnate a human. Panthicenos aren’t one of them.”

  “Thom Nicholas is a Panthicenos?”

  He sat up, shook his head. “No.”

  Never in her life had she imagined she’d be sitting in a room at a bed and breakfast, discussing different types of supernatural creatures with a demon. “Then what is he?”

  “He’s an incubus.”

  Her heart jumped into her throat, nearly gagging her. Holy hell. “A sex demon.”

  “Yes.”

  What did you get yourself involved in? “So you’re…”

  “A mutt. A one-of-a-kind mixed breed. Let’s leave it at that, okay?”

  She shook her head. “But an incubus—”

  He held up his hand to stop her. “I’m Panthicenos. Like my mother. As I said, I followed her nature instead of my father’s.”

  Why did she find that hard to believe? Was it really possible that he could ignore one half of himself, keep it locked in a cage and never let it free? No. One thing she had learned early in life was that it was impossible for a person to hide his true nature. “I’m not buying that, Sam. How can you ignore such a strong aspect of what makes you who you are?”

  “I never wanted to be like him. He’s so bent on destruction, on taking what he wants without thinking of the consequences. That isn’t me.” He let out a harsh breath. “At least it wasn’t, until I met you.”

  “Sam, don’t.”

  “Let me finish. When you made me that offer, it stirred something inside me. Something I’d tried to bury for far too long. But now that it’s out in the open, I don’t think I can lock it away again.”

  “Nobody’s asking you to.”

  He slammed his hands down on the mattress, scrubbed them down his face. “I need you, Faith. All the time. The burning never goes away. I’ve never felt like this before, and I’m not sure if I like it.”

  He walked over to the chair, sank to his knees in front of her. “There’s still so much you don’t understand. So much we need to discuss. But now there isn’t time for it all.”

  She cupped his chin in her palm, leaned down and kissed him. “Okay. It’ll keep for a little while. But once this is over, I expect nothing less than the truth.”

  He nodded.

  “Your father killed my husband, didn’t he?”

  Sam’s expression shifted, turned desolate. “No.”

  “Yes, he did, Sam. I know it. I’m sure it’s hard for you to admit, but it’s the only explanation I can come up with that makes any sense.”

  He pushed away, slumped against the side of the bed. “You’re wrong.”

  “Am I, now? Would you care to explain to me why you think so?”

  “Because I know who killed Paul, and I’m positive it wasn’t my father.”

  Her stomach twisted, her heart froze in her chest. Don’t ask. You don’t want the answer to this question. “Then who was it?
Who broke Paul’s neck and left him lying on his den floor?”

  His gaze met hers, cold and hard. “Me.”

  Chapter Ten

  Faith jumped out of the chair and bolted for the door. Sam lunged off the floor, caught her just as she swung it open and shoved it closed with his fist. He pulled her into his arms, her back against his chest. No matter how much she kicked, struggled, he wouldn’t release her. Not until he’d made her understand.

  “Faith, knock it off and listen for a second.”

  “No.” Her heel connected with his shin. He nearly doubled over, but held his ground.

  “Yes. You’re going to listen.”

  She opened her mouth. Afraid she’d cause an uproar, he clamped his hand over it “Promise you won’t scream or try to run.”

  Her teeth bit into his palm. With a surprised grunt, he dropped his hand.

  “I’m not promising anything. Let me go.” She twisted, her small body slipping from his grasp. Before she could get one foot away from him, he’d pulled her to him again.

  “If you don’t hold still and listen, I’m going to hogtie you and toss you on the bed. I bet that’ll get your attention.” He dropped her to her feet, but stood in front of the door, his arms crossed over his chest.

  She faced him, her shoulders hunched and her breaths coming in ragged gasps. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides and her face had gone deathly pale. “What are you going to use? The sheet?”

  “Sweetheart, you’re forgetting what I am. I don’t need rope, or any material objects to bind you.”

  His words stilled her. She froze, glaring up at him with a mixture of hate and fear. He could handle the fear. The hate chilled his blood. “Come here, Faith.”

  She moved back even further, bumped the bed with the backs of her legs. “You killed my husband.”

  “He was going to help a demon destroy humanity.”

  “Paul wouldn’t have done that.”

  “But he did.” He sighed. “Think about it, Faith. What was the most important thing in the world to Paul?”

  She blinked, confusion clouding her expression. “His money.”

  “And everything else came second.”

  “No. Not me.”

  He walked closer, stopped an inch in front of her. “Faith?”

  She nodded, averted her gaze. “Okay. Maybe he did put his money before me. But that was fine. I didn’t need anything but a place to stay.”

  He cupped her chin in his hand, tilted her face up. “I would never put you second, Faith. Not to anything.”

  A small, nervous laugh escaped her. “I’d never expect anything from you, Sam. Past this, I don’t have a place in your life.”

  “Because I killed your husband.”

  Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. “No. Because this is all a bargain we made. There is nothing else going on between us. Remember?”

  “No.”

  “Sam?”

  He shook his head, refused to answer. Refused to admit the bond between them, though they were both aware of its existence.

  A tear slipped down her cheek, followed by another. A broken sob racked her body. She swiped at tears with the back of her hand, ducked out of his hold and turned away. “This is too much. I can’t handle this right now. I need a break.”

  “Faith, wait a second.”

  She wet her lips with the tip of her tongue, open and closed her mouth a few times before she shook her head, rushed into the bathroom, and slammed the door.

  Sam sank down on the bed, raked a hand through his hair.

  The job. Remember the job. Get in, get it done, get out.

  But it wasn’t that way with Faith. He would have to find a way to make her understand. He needed her, more than she would ever know. He was bound to her, had been from the first night. He couldn’t let what happened to Paul change everything between them. He would have to find a way to make things right for her. No matter what it took.

  * * * * *

  Eric swung open his hotel room door to find his sister on the other side, her usual bright smile firmly in place. The vampire she passed off as her mate didn’t look nearly as happy to see him. The feeling was more than mutual.

  “Thanks for coming, Merida.” He smiled at his little sister, glared at Royce.

  “No problem. Sam has done a lot for me. For both of us. I couldn’t let him do this alone.” She walked past him into the room, flopped down on the end of the bed and crossed her legs. “The sun is almost up. We’re going to have to wait until it’s dark again before we move.”

  Because of the vampire. Eric sighed. “Couldn’t you have come alone?”

  Royce pushed his way into the room, came to stand beside Merida. “I asked her the same thing.”

  Merida laughed. “You two are going to have to try like hell to get along. If you’re going to act like a couple of kids with grudges, I’ll knock your heads together. Got it?”

  She glanced up at Royce, who rolled his eyes and nodded. Her gaze swung to Eric. “And you? Are you going to play nice, or do I need to give you a time-out?”

  He snorted. “I’ll be nice.” Even if it killed him. He nearly laughed. It just might.

  “Good. So fill us in on what’s going on.”

  Eric sat down next to her. “Tomaz had been working with a chemist to come up with a DNA mutation formula. The Council found out and ordered the chemist be put to death. Since he’s been assassinated, Tomaz has been trying to kill the chemist’s wife.”

  “I’m assuming Sam killed the chemist?”

  Eric nodded. “That was the plan. But it goes a lot deeper than that. If I’m right, it involves his mate.”

  “His what?” Both sets of eyes swung toward him. Merida laughed. “His mate? Are you for real?”

  “Apparently.” He smiled. “She’s human.”

  Merida snorted. “You’ve got to be kidding me. All this time he laughed at us.”

  “Yeah, and provided he gets through this, we’ll have plenty of opportunity to poke fun at him as well. But he’s putting himself in a lot of danger. Getting in too deep, too personally.”

  “And why is that?” Royce asked, his eyebrows raised.

  “I don’t know how this happened, but the late chemist’s wife is the woman he’s taken for his mate.”

  Merida’s brow knit together in a frown. “Are you sure about all this?”

  “Yes. I’m positive. And now he’s going to need all the help he can get, even if he refuses it.” He sighed. “Since your mate has an obvious handicap in the form of being weakened by sunlight, we will have to wait until tonight. Hopefully Sam will want to do what he has to do in the cover of darkness, and we won’t have to worry about him doing something stupid like storming the place and getting himself killed.”

  “Sam wouldn’t do that.”

  “I wouldn’t have thought so before, but in this case, I think he might. He’s too involved, on too many levels. He can’t distance himself from it like he usually does with this kind of job. He wants to end this once and for all, but I have a feeling it may not end in his favor. But we’re going to have to be careful we don’t end up dead, as well. I have strict orders from Ellie to return home in one piece.”

  Royce perked up at the mention of Ellie’s name. “Why didn’t she come?”

  Eric gritted his teeth. The vampire and Ellie had been close before Eric had even met her. He had learned, grudgingly, to accept her friendship with the man, but he didn’t like it.

  “It isn’t safe for her to be here. She can’t be putting herself in the middle of things, and you know Ellie. If she’d come, she would want to take care of everyone.” He paused. “She’s pregnant. I don’t want to see anything happen to her.”

  Royce’s eyes widened. Merida gasped. “No way. You, a dad? That ought to be interesting.”

  That had been his initial reaction as well. But when he’d seen the joy in Ellie’s eyes, he hadn’t wanted to confess his worry to her. If he had to admit the truth, the id
ea of a child had started to grow on him. “I’m excited. Really.”

  “Yeah. Sure you are.” Merida smacked his arm. “Good luck, buddy. You’re gonna need it.”

  He pushed her hand away. “We can talk about what I need and what I don’t later. Right now we have to work out a plan.”

  And, with any luck, keep Sam Kincaid and Faith Richardson from getting killed.

  * * * * *

  Faith lay in the huge copper bathtub, her head and bent knees sticking out of the hot water. Her tears had long since dried as Sam’s confession had washed over her and his words had started to make sense. Could she accept his reasons for what he had done to Paul?

  She had to. She couldn’t believe him a cold-hearted murderer. Ever. He’d come to mean too much to her in way too little time. And as much as he professed to only want her because of the bargain, her heart told her different. His eyes, every time he looked at her, mimicked what she felt in her heart.

  Paul hadn’t been the man she thought he was, the man he professed to be when she’d married him. All that time she’d trusted him, and he’d lied to her. Used her. Deep down, she’d seen things that weren’t right, things that made her wonder, but she’d chosen to ignore them. Sam’s word meant more to her than the word of her dead husband, now that she knew the truth. Paul’s reasons for asking her to take the formula to Sam chilled her to the bone, despite the warmth of the water. He’d thought Sam was on his side. He’d probably thought Sam would take it to Marganis Pharmaceuticals. But he wouldn’t. He wanted to destroy it instead.

  Though it surprised her, Sam’s confession of his involvement in Paul’s death strengthened her trust in him even more. The story was too farfetched to be anything but the truth, and he had more integrity than Paul had ever had. Sam would destroy the formula. And she would let him. Gladly.

  She climbed from the tub, dried off and let her hair down from the knot that had held it out of the water. Now that she’d come to her decision, she needed to talk to Sam. So much had happened. Her life would never be the same again. But the life she’d been living had been a lie. Paul had lied, and he’d done so without any guilt. Something inside her had warned her of his ruthlessness, of his manipulation, but she hadn’t listened.