Saldivar became serious. “Maybe one day you will tell me what Zane has done to you to make you feel so bad about yourself, sister.” He smiled warmly.
Raven swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. “I would like that……brother.” They hugged each other firmly. Raven felt tears slip from her eyes. Finally, she had a family. Finally, she felt she was home. It felt good to be appreciated. It felt good to trust again.
*
Zane lingered in the dark back ground of the night. He knew to follow Raven this time. True, she had been keeping tabs on the two immortals and their mates. But he knew something else was going on. Raven was keeping something from him. That was one of the worst things about fathering her. She had abilities far beyond that of a normal vampire. Even for a half breed neophyte, she was powerful.
He watched in Invisibility. Raven had cut her hair! She was also talking to Saldivar, his immortal enemy.
I will teach her, he thought, his whole body feeling enraged. He wanted to finish them both off now, but knew it would be stupid to do so. Saldivar would alert the others. And he knew he could no longer count on Raven for help. What a sorry excuse for a daughter. He should have done away with her at birth. Drowned her in the lake, confident he wouldn’t be suspected. He could have saved himself the hassle.
Zane waited. When he saw the two come out of the cabin, he sunk back into the shadows even more. He knew Raven wouldn’t detect him, but Saldivar was a true vampire. Raven, only half. He saw them walk away into the night. They already began acting like brother and sister.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” he growled.
When they were completely out of sight and not within hearing distance, Zane roared like a lion about to make a kill.
Zane was so furious with Raven he should have turned her to dust a long time ago. No, using his mind was too easy. He wanted to feel his bare hands wrapped around her neck and then squeeze slowly the very life out of her and watch her fall, lifelessly, to a crumpled heap on the floor. Then he would flit off into the night and bury so deeply, it would take a thousand years to find her. He definitely had tortuous murder on his mind tonight, but it would not do any good. Even he had to admit, he needed Raven to spy on Saldivar, Van and their mates. Even he, as powerful as he was, could only be in one place at a time. Maybe one of these centuries, he could figure out how to materialize quickly from one place to another, giving the illusion he was in two places at once. Even the great Arathoseous said nothing of this kind of feat. He wished for just a moment he could find a way to get in touch with his second father. But if he wished not to be found, Zane knew Arathoseous would not be found. And there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. Even Zane knew better than to anger Arathoseous with anything he considered ‘trivial’. Perhaps, what Zane wanted would only be a small request to his second father.
But the days were closing in and soon Zane would take out his centuries’ old revenge on Saldivar. And it wouldn’t hurt to do away with Van as well as Indea, Simone and Raven. Just a little while longer. Then they will all meet their demise.
He vowed this to himself. This was one promise he intended to keep.
CHAPTER XIII
Simone was surprised to see a car outside the Skys’ home tonight. She didn’t recognize it. But when she answered the doorbell, Van presented himself along with a dozen tiger lilies. She now knew the car was Van’s.
Van noted the puzzling look she gave his sleek, black BMW. “I know when you usually see me, I’m on foot. I thought it would be nice to take a drive for a bit first,” he suggested as they walked down the steps to his car.
“Well, I am a little surprised. But I would love to take a drive with you.” She smelled the flowers. “Thank you for these.” She raised her head and boldly kissed him.
Van accepted the kiss gratefully. He treasured it more than all the gold in the world. When he lifted his head, his gray eyes were hazy with desire. Simone’s eyes mirrored his. She wanted him. And, by God, she would have him. His hormones have been screaming at him for release. Only Simone could give that to him. He wondered how much longer they could hold off on ravishing each other. His crotch told him that it couldn’t be too much longer.
“Shall we?” He opened the passenger side door and Simone got in. Van closed it gingerly and went to the driver’s side and got in. He started up the powerful motor. The soft purring sound made him think of sex. Hot, sweaty sex. With Simone. Naked and reaching for him. Oh, he was killing himself by inches here. He took a steadying breath and drove off into the night.
“Where are we going?” Simone wanted to know. She looked over at Van, looked dangerous and sexy in the dark shadows of the car’s interior.
Van glanced at her briefly before focusing his attention back on the road. “Where do you want to go?”
Simone traced her index finger along Van’s ear. “Anywhere as long as it’s with you.”
Van felt a delicious shiver go through him. He wanted her but he wanted her to hear his story first. He wanted her to get all of the information so she could make an informed decision. All the cards had to be on the table. He didn’t want her to regret making love with him.
“Would you like to see my home?”
“I would love to.”
After maneuvering through the city quite easily, Van parked his car in his large garage.
Simone got out and walked outside to peruse the exterior of Van’s home. It was gorgeous. It had an old world, Victorian charm to it. It looked to be made in the eighteen hundreds. It wasn’t bricked. As a matter of fact, it had no bricks anywhere on the premises. The white columns stood between the first and second story of the porch stood high and proud. There were stained glass windows, ivy growing sporadically, flowers in every color of the rainbow dotting the yard. She couldn’t wait to see what the interior boasted.
Van led her inside. It was all Simone could do not to gasp. Where the outside looked like something from the old days, the inside had just about everything modern including stainless steel appliances in the kitchen. A computer and tons of leather bound books in the library. Glossy, dark hardwood floors covered here and there with expensive designer rugs. She was half afraid to walk on them. The furniture, with its deep cherry finish, sat gleaming in the living room. Beautiful, rich gold, maroon and emerald green. It looked like the king or a sultan of a palace lived here instead of Van.
Luxurious and sensual was the word that came to Simone’s mind.
She wondered what his bedroom looked like. She asked him and he smiled seductively and pointed the way to his bedroom. He did not follow because he was truly afraid he would lay her on his bed and make ferocious love to her.
Simone sauntered up to Van’s bedroom and was taken away to another world. A large glass sphere sat on a wooden table in the corner. It was two hundred times larger than your average sized crystal ball. Red beads strung together with golden string hung in a doorway, separating the walk-in closet and bedroom. The high four poster bed looked fluffy and warm. On it was a blood red comforter that was edged in golden trim. The large pillows matched. The headboard was a dark, chocolate color and had sharp points etched into it. It looked almost like the fangs of a vampire bat. The windows were arched and looked like curious eyes watching you. They were not stained glass but the curtains were black and trimmed in the same gold as the bed. An armoire sat in another corner, made and colored just as the headboard. On the top sat various sculptures. They were breathtaking. She wondered who sculpted them and if he or she still made and sold them. She would like to buy a few for herself, though she guessed they were expensive.
The last thing she noted that confused her a little was that no where in Van’s home hung a single mirror.
After finishing her tour of Van’s vast home, she went back into the living room. She found him sitting on one of his comfy couches and sat closely beside him.
“Van? Why are there no mirrors in your house? Don’t tell me you can’t stand to look at yoursel
f. I think you’re gorgeous,” she finished huskily.
Van wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. “I’ll have to take your word for it. I don’t look at myself. Well, not in a very long time.”
Simone reached down to where Van had placed her purse. She rumbled around until she found a large compact. She opened it and quickly put it up to Van and looked. “See, look at your––-“she gasped in horror. She knew she had the mirror right in front of him. She looked again. She drew back as if burned. She studied her mirror, turning it over in her hand as if she had never seen such an invention. “What’s going on here, Van? Why are you not reflecting an image in my mirror?”
Van sighed deeply. “There is nothing wrong with your mirror. You will not see my reflection in any mirror, Simone,” he stated simply.
Simone’s brows etched into a deep V. “What are you? Dead or something?” She asked flippantly, almost as if it were a joke.
Van’s mouth curved upward slightly. “Well, undead, actually.”
Simone narrowed her eyes and shot off the couch. “Undead? Are you freakin’ kidding me? How are you undead? You are breathing. You’re talking to me. Care to explain?” She crossed her arms and gazed at him suspiciously.
Van took a deep breath and went into great detail about his former life in Paris, his birth in 1675, meeting Saldivar back in the 1700’s. Simone did not interrupt him even once. She was too stunned to do so. She heard about his life on the streets, hungry and begging for food. He told her about Saldivar and how he helped him. His transformation that saved him from certain death. His travels around the world. The nightclub. Meeting her and Indea. Waiting for what seemed like a lifetime to meet her. Falling in love with her.
Simone shook her head. It all sounded real to her. But how could that be? People die. There were no such things as vampires. No such thing as an immortal.
Van touched a finger to her cheek. “There are vampires out there, Simone. I am one of them.” He half expected her to bolt right out his door and never return after that last statement. But she didn’t. She boldly stood her ground. The look on her face was that of pure confusion.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“It matters not,” Van explained. “I can hear your thoughts as if you had spoken them aloud. Just as Saldivar explained to me centuries ago, we are connected. We share a special bond that is stronger than time itself. It will never be broken unless………..”
“Unless?” Simone urged.
Van clenched his jaw, hating what he was about to say next. “You remember when I told you I was the Eternal Entity? That I needed the transformation in order to live? If not, I would have died a miserable death before I entered into my thirties?”
Simone nodded then a realization dawned on her beautiful face. “Wait. You’re telling me all this because we are connected? Well, there’s more than that. I know you wouldn’t be telling me this if this somehow didn’t affect me in some drastic way.”
Van nodded slowly. “Yes. You are the Eternal Entity,” he stated.
“Indea?”
Van nodded again. “But Saldivar will have to be the one to tell her.”
Simone nodded her understanding. “And we won’t live past thirty, will we?” She was almost afraid to hear the answer. She had a feeling she already knew.
Van shook his head sadly. “I’m sorry, Simone. In order for you and Indea to live is to be transformed. If not, I will lose you forever.” Saying it made him feel like he was using a guilt trip on her but he didn’t want to lose her.
“You will have to transform me? And Saldivar will have to do the same for Indea?” She couldn’t believe she was even thinking of the possibility of immortality. She knew she always felt different. Set apart from other people. Except Indea. Now she wondered if maybe it was because they were connected by the same antigen that Van told her about.
“Yes. I can transform you, but it has to be your choice. You need to be more than certain. It is not an easy life for anyone.”
Simone was silent as she absorbed everything that Van had told her. If it was true, then she didn’t have long left to enjoy her life. Thirty? That was the cut off point but that didn’t mean she couldn’t go sooner. She studied Van. She still loved him. Nothing could change that. Not even after all he had explained to her.
Didn’t she once wish that she could live forever? She had remembered wishing that on her plane trip over here. Because Indea was a friend you couldn’t find anymore. Eternity? With Van? With Saldivar and Indea if she agreed and believed? Could she believe a story like this? Van has never lied to her. He seemed sincere.
God help her, she was beginning to believe. Maybe Mr. Hobbs wasn’t a freak of nature after all. Maybe he did know there was something to this whole vampire thing.
Simone grabbed Van’s hand and laced it with hers. “I love you, Van. I didn’t think I would have fallen so fast. I know time is running out but I need some time to absorb all of this. Do you understand? It’s a lot to take in.”
“Yes. I can understand your dilemma. I was there once.” He took on a more serious tone. “You must also know that there are people who want to kill us; destroy our very existence. People in the OVI. I don’t know who runs it but I found out last night when Saldivar came home after his date with Indea. Turns out there is a big shot reporter doing stories on vampires’ existence. He or she has been working with Mr. Hobbs. I wish I knew the filthy person willing to do such stories. Why destroy us? We do no harm and yet they want to do away with us because they do not understand. Kill the unknown. I do not understand it.” He shook his head but there was a fire in his gray eyes, hinting of what he thought of this unknown reporter.
Simone swallowed but couldn’t bring herself to say anything about it.
Van quickly recovered and smiled. “On a better note, however, Saldivar did find out he has a sister named Raven.” Van didn’t feel the need to go into further detail until Saldivar himself could explain and of course, introduce Raven to him and the girls.
Simone was quiet. OVI? They were out to destroy vampires? Then why did Mr. Brant want her to write a story on Van and Saldivar? No. No! He knew about it all along. He used her. She decided not to tell Van just yet that she was the one doing the stories. Had she known, she would’ve refused.
All those loving e-mails from Mr. Brant were a guise. Love, Mr. Brant. How could he do this to her? She unwittingly might have put Van and Saldivar in danger. She was going to have to give Mr. Brant a call when she got back home.
Simone put on a happy face. “So, Saldivar has found his sister?”
“More like she found him. She’s his half sister.”
“Is she a vampire, too?”
“No. She is only half. She was sired by Saldivar‘s second father, the one who transformed him.” Van didn’t say any more about Zane. He felt Saldivar should divulge that kind of information when he was ready.
“How old is she?” Simone asked, crinkling her brows. “Come to think of it, how old are you and Saldivar?”
Van laughed. “Raven was born in 1961, so she is fifty and considered a neophyte by the undead. I’m over three hundred years old and Saldivar is over eight hundred.”
“What about Saldivar’s transformer?”
Van blinked. “Over two thousand years old, I guess. It’s uncertain to find out his exact age. He was transformed by the Seer of All. His origin is unknown as well as his age.”
Simone’s mouth gaped open. “Wow. This is so hard to fathom.” She sat back down.
“I know you need time to let all of this information sink in. You still find it unbelievable. I know how you feel. I’m sure when you are home you might change your mind about me.”
Simone shook her head as she got up and walked over to him, “I couldn’t do that, Van.”
Van ran his fingers through her soft hair. “I sincerely hope not, my sweet Simone. Shall I take you home so you can roll it around in your mind what you need to do? Do not tell Indea i
f Saldivar hasn’t. It has to come from Saldivar’s lips only.”
Simone nodded. “I won’t say anything, Van. I promise.”
Van kissed Simone lightly on the lips. “Then, come, my sweet. I will take you home.”
Simone paced her room, in between biting her nails and mussing her hair.
What am I supposed to do? A vampire! I can’t believe Van’s a vampire. And Saldivar too.
Simone couldn’t find any falsehood in what Van had said. He had never lied to her. He even knew about the OVI! Which reminded her……
Simone grabbed the receiver beside her bed and called the states.
“Hello?” came Davis Brant’s voice.
Simone forced herself to act natural. “Hi, Mr. Brant. How’s everything in Alabama?”
“S-Simone.” It was clear he was nervous. He never stuttered unless he was. And that wasn’t often. “It’s great. How are you and Indea? How is your vacation going?”
Simone knew right away that her hunch was right. Something fishy was going on. “It’s going really well. I’m so glad you let me have an extra week.”
“You deserve it, Simone.” The guilt was heavy in his voice. He cleared his throat uncomfortably. “How is it going with Van and Saldivar?”
Simone had to be very careful what she told him. He was fishing for information on them and she wasn’t quite sure what kind of things to tell him or what could be used against them. “They’re great. We’re having a wonderful time together.”
There was a pause on Mr. Brant’s side of the call. “I’m glad to hear it.”
Simone was agitated that Mr. Brant was making small talk. He doesn’t do small talk. She decided she needed to push him a little. “Mr. Brant, I am curious as to why you wanted a detailed story on Van and Saldivar. I mean, there must be much bigger clubs in Paris that would also strike your fancy. Why couldn’t I just write about the club itself and just note the owners? It seemed like you needed a lot of stuff for a small club.”
Davis Brant sighed. He didn’t know how much to tell her. If he told her something, anything, and Mr. Hobbs found out, Simone and Indea, along with Van and Saldivar, would be in grave danger. And it would be completely his fault. He put them in this horrible situation without them knowing and now it might possibly get them killed. “Simone,” he started, his voice shaking. “Trust me when I say that everything will be fine. You’re like the daughter I never had. I can’t say anything to you. Do you understand, Simone? Please, I can’t tell you anything. It’s safer that way.”
NightFall: Book One: Bloodlust Is the Cure for the Immortal Soul Page 18