"I'm worried about you, Madeleine."
"I'll be fine." A tight throb began behind her eyes. "You should drop Danielle's death." The words crept from her lips, forced there by logic but restrained by the ache in her heart. Justice wouldn't be satisfied. She had to get Scott away from it. If he pursued Danielle's death, he would be putting himself in danger.
She knew that from experience.
"I'm a cop. I don't just drop homicides."
"You were right. It was a mugging. It's time to move on."
"Is he threatening you?"
Madeleine shook her head but couldn't resist a glance over her shoulder. Stephen wouldn't be pleased about Scott's presence. She couldn't forget the fire in Stephen's eyes when he realized she'd called Scott for help, almost as if he'd been jealous. Not likely. He'd made it clear he was above human emotions—including jealousy, guilt.
And love.
It didn't matter. Despite the fact that he didn't—couldn't—return her love, she'd thrown her lot in with him.
"Madeleine, I'm worried about you. Will you at least talk to me?" He stepped back, opening a space for her on the porch.
She had to get Scott to leave. If Stephen came upstairs and found him…
In his present state, she didn't know what would happen. She nodded and grabbed the work glove she needed to get into and out of the house. She lifted the panel of rose vines and stepped onto the porch. The wave of heat hit her as she left the cool air-conditioning of Stephen's home.
"Madeleine, I think you should come with me. I don't think you're safe here."
"I'll be fine." She cocked her head and stared at Scott. Something wasn't right.
The humidity drenched her skin, and sweat trickled down the back of her neck. Droplets of water lined Scott's forehead.
It was no wonder. He was wearing a sweater.
A turtleneck.
Her tired mind slowly caught on. She inched back toward the door. She'd recently worn turtlenecks on hot days. To hide a vampire bite.
Scott's hand shot out and grabbed her elbow.
"You need to come with me." His hand covered her mouth, and the world turned black.
Chapter Fourteen
Stephen sat on the floor, still hidden in the darkest shadows of the room. His body hummed with the need for blood, barely sated from the small amount Gayle had given him.
"Did I hurt her?"
Memories came in sharp spikes, slashes through waves of rage and red. Debilitating fear in Madeleine's eyes, his hand on her throat. He looked around. No body lay on the floor. He hadn't killed her. At least not downstairs. She'd only escaped him because of his weakened state—the strain of the silver and the burns of the rising sun had drained him.
"Bruised but alive." Gayle waited for a moment, then pushed himself away from the wall and planted his feet in front of Stephen. "What the hell were you thinking?"
Stephen raised his eyes at the sharp snap of Gayle's words. He wasn't really surprised by the dramatic change from the man who inhabited Death's Door. He'd always known Gayle had hidden sides.
"I don't know what came over me." He said it sarcastically, but it was the truth.
"Insanity? Stupidity?"
Stephen wanted to fight back, but damn, Gayle was right.
"All of the above," Stephen finally agreed. "She was lying there, and I thought she was dying, and I—" He stopped. The rambling explanation wasn't going to justify what he'd done.
"What?" Gayle interrupted. "What are you talking about?"
"Madeleine. Converting Madeleine."
"You converted her?" He answered his own question. "Of course. That's what's different about her. Well, good for you."
"Good for me?" Stephen pushed himself to his feet. "Don't you see what I've done?"
"You've created a mate for yourself. Madeleine will make a fine vampire."
"She'll never survive. She's not tough enough."
Gayle raised one mocking eyebrow. "Excuse me? You're talking about the woman who just saved your ass by dragging you to safety and threatening me with a silver dagger. Strength and courage are two things she's not lacking."
Stephen folded his arms across his chest. Gayle was right. Madeleine had strength and courage, but she didn't have the survival instinct. She was too concerned with others, and he didn't want to see that change.
"You overly noble son of a bitch." Gayle's voice was filled with wonder. "You tried to suicide. That's what this was about, wasn't it? You tried to kill yourself by confessing to the Council."
Gayle held his hand up. He didn't want explanations, and Stephen wasn't sure he had one to give. "Don't try to explain it to me. I understand your twisted thought processes. You'd sacrifice yourself? For a human?"
"For Madeleine."
"She'll make a great vampire, you know. Just like you. And it would give you something to think about besides hating the Council. Everyone would win."
The truth tightened its grip around Stephen's throat.
"I can't do that to her. The choice was taken away from me." He leaned against the wall, his body weak. The blood Gayle had given him was enough to keep him upright, but just barely. He hadn't fed properly in days. Now, he needed it desperately. "I can't do it to her, Gayle."
"You gave her the choice last night. She could have let you die. What would be more painless to her than that?"
The same thought had crossed his mind as well and plagued him in the few minutes since he'd returned to himself. Madeleine had saved him. Even knowing what she would become, she'd risked her own life, faced down Matthias, and rescued him.
He'd given her the choice. And she'd chosen to rescue him. The tight band that had settled around his heart began to loosen. She'd chosen him.
"She'll make a great vampire," Gayle repeated.
"Yes, once we get her to complete the conversion, convince the Community she's not a slayer, and she forgives me for killing her cousin."
Gayle hitched his hips backward and jumped onto the table that held Stephen's coffin. "You've got time. Lots of time." He pursed his lips together and looked up, thinking. "It's fate, you know. Destiny." The laughter returned to his eyes. Stephen couldn't help responding in kind.
"Think about it," Gayle added with a teasing chuckle. "You're obviously meant to be together. You were connected to her long before the conversion—you were getting her dreams, hearing her thoughts. Destiny."
Stephen was sure there was a logical explanation for the same thing, but he didn't mind Gayle's romantic view of it. It might help convince Madeleine to stay with him.
"I have to say, she's taking it all rather well for a human."
Stephen's lip curled up into a smile. "She threatened me with a silver dagger when she found out."
"Ha! Me, too." He jumped off the table and patted Stephen's shoulder. "I like her, Stephen."
"Me, too."
"But we'd better get upstairs. She's probably worn a hole in the floor and—"
"Getting crankier by the moment." He wasn't looking forward to facing Madeleine. There was still so much to talk about.
Gayle stopped him at the bottom of the steps. "No more noble attempts at suicide?"
"No, she's made her choice." And he'd made his. He was going to keep her.
Stephen led the way upstairs. God, he was tired. He hadn't been this tired since he'd been human. He needed to feed, and he needed a little less stress.
And a little more Madeleine. His body reacted instantly to the image. He rubbed his fingertips across his forehead, willing away the seductive thought. It obviously didn't matter how tired or weak he was—Madeleine was enough to inspire him.
They stepped into the hallway. Stephen listened, scanning the house for the distinctive sounds of Madeleine's heart. Only the muted pounding of Nicholas' reached him.
"Nicholas!" he called. The fledgling appeared at the kitchen door. "Where's Madeleine?"
"I haven't seen her. Not since morning."
The warm scent of sul
try heat filled his head. Stephen turned. The front door was open.
"She's gone." She'd left him. A hollow feeling entered his stomach. Had she panicked? He'd attacked her. Had he scared her so much that she'd run?
It didn't make sense. Madeleine had faced five vampires with a knife and some silver jewelry. She didn't panic easily. But why had she left?
"Well, we have a problem," Gayle announced.
"Yes," Stephen agreed. "The whole Community is going to be after her."
Gayle grimaced. "Okay, then we have two problems."
Stephen raised his eyebrows in question.
"Have you seen what she's done to your house?" Gayle asked.
Stephen looked at the door. Rose vines interspersed with white lines of silver dinnerware were woven across the opening, creating an impenetrable web.
"No one can get in…" Gayle's voice trailed away.
"And we can't get out," Stephen finished.
Madeleine had been busy. Resourceful. But then she always was.
And she was out there alone. What was she thinking? Stephen rubbed his fingers along the line of his neck.
"Can't you just vaporize and slide out?" Nicholas asked.
"We'd be sliced to ribbons," Stephen replied. "The thorns and silver still scratch in a vapor state. You'll have to let us out."
Damn, he needed to find her. The Council and every vampire in the Community would be looking for her. But there was one vampire in particular.
Stephen looked at Gayle.
"Matthias has been whispering to Madeleine in her head. He had her last night, but he let her go. He might decide to use her as bait to get to me directly. He could have lured her out." Stephen turned away from Gayle. "Nicholas, find some way of getting through that mess on the door. Tear it down if you have to." He leapt down the stairs to his vault.
He'd never approached the knives when another vampire was in the house, and he'd never considered leaving the house with one, but tonight was different. They could stake him later, but tonight, he was using every weapon he had. He knelt down and opened the floor panel. Special shielding masked the silver's vibration. For Stephen, it didn't matter. Where silver burned the others, it felt no different than wood in his hand. The change had begun a year ago—or that's when he'd noticed it. After spending months experimenting, he'd approached Joshua. Joshua had agreed to research it quietly. This kind of immunity would not be welcome among the Community—especially not with Stephen's history. Two weeks after Stephen had told his mentor, Joshua was dead. Death by silver dagger.
Stephen had done his own investigating in the months that followed, but he'd been blocked at every turn. There was no way to find out without revealing too much, without exposing another to Joshua's fate.
Stephen opened the black case. Five silver slashes lay in lines across the dark velvet. He was going to do it. He was going to hunt another vampire with the daggers his father had given him. The memory returned like a knife through his skin. His father's pain, the desperate hunger. He had no memory of it—just the pain and fury of the hunger, and the slow return to sanity, his father's broken body on the floor of the cell. They'd had their revenge.
He pushed the memory aside as he picked up the first knife. Tonight, he would have his.
Someone else knew about the knives and was able to use them. Was it a vampire working with a human? He looked at the daggers. Or was there another vampire out there who could touch silver? Over the past year, he'd analyzed the differences—how was he different from the others created about the same time? Or was it simply age? No one knew Matthias' real age, but could he have moved beyond the restrictions normal vampires faced?
There were too many possibilities. Stephen had to face them logically. He would direct his energies toward his enemies first—Matthias and the Council—and then start looking at his friends.
Alone in the vault, Stephen flipped the knife over in his hand. The weight of the metal, the shape of the hilt was familiar. The hours he'd trained with his father learning to fight with and throw the knives came back to him. Two hundred years had passed, but his body hadn't forgotten. He slipped two knives into his back pocket and a third up his sleeve.
That would be enough.
He came upstairs, feeling the heavy weight of silver in his palm. He stopped only inches away from Gayle. "How strong is your constitution?" Stephen asked.
"Strong."
Stephen raised his hand and revealed the silver dagger lying across his fingers.
Gayle blanched. "Not that strong." He held up one hand and took a step back. "And before you try it, Madeleine already slapped me with a knife blade to see if I can tolerate the touch. I can't." He shook his head. "How can you?"
"I have no idea, but it's obvious that if I can do it, so can someone else."
"So, they're all looking for a vampire and human working together, and it's just a vampire." Gayle folded his arms over his chest and continued to stare at the blade. Finally, he sighed. "I don't think we have time tonight, but we are definitely going to have to talk about this."
Stephen nodded. He'd instinctively liked Gayle when they'd met twelve years ago. It was only in the past few hours that he could determine why. Gayle was loyal, he didn't ask stupid questions, and he had great timing.
"Go to the Council," Stephen said. "Find out what they know. If they have Madeleine, don't let them hurt her. If they don't have her, keep them from doing something stupid."
"Like what?"
"Like tearing the city apart looking for her. Or me. I need a little time. If Matthias doesn't have her, it's a good bet the Council will soon."
"And if the Council doesn't have her?"
"Then it's a good bet someone with a silver dagger does." Stephen didn't want to consider it. He needed to be methodical. Go with the obvious enemies, and eliminate them first before he started looking at so-called friends.
Gayle's forehead crinkled with concern. "Maybe I should go to Matthias. You two have a way of getting distracted."
"If Matthias has her, he's using her as bait for me. He'll at least let me inside. The Council won't give me the chance to speak."
Nicholas called out that he'd cleared Madeleine's defenses. When they were outside, Stephen led the way down the steps. "Nicholas, go to Madeleine's apartment. If she's okay, that's where she'll go. I've got my phone. Let's stay in touch." The other two nodded and went their ways.
Moments later new blood sang through Stephen's veins. He'd hated to take the time, but he needed his strength. The young woman he'd found walking the night streets wouldn't remember the experience in the morning, and Stephen could at least function now. It hadn't been enough but he'd been cautious, not wanting to kill her. Days of starving himself followed by the silver spikes in his wrists and the heat of the previous day's sunrise had taken too much from his body. It would take time for him to recover. But at least he was strong enough to find Madeleine.
Stephen stopped in front of the house Matthias used as his lair. It was nondescript, plain, and set back from the street. Stephen had never been here before, but he knew about it—know thy enemy. Matthias was in for a surprise tonight. Stephen knocked on the front door and waited. Nervous energy fluttered in his stomach—fear for Madeleine and concern about facing Matthias. Matthias was old and strong.
It wasn't hard to imagine what it must have felt like for Madeleine standing on his doorstep. Of course, she hadn't known what was on the other side. Stephen shook his head. It wouldn't have stopped her. Madeleine was fiercely loyal to those she loved.
An intense longing hit him. She'd rescued him, but he wouldn't allow himself to believe he was one of the people Madeleine loved. He needed to find her, then he'd worry about where he fit in her life.
The door swung open without assistance. He stared down the empty hallway, waiting for the necessary invitation. After long seconds, it came from a disembodied voice that echoed through the house. Stephen stepped inside, immediately listening for the familiar beat o
f Madeleine's heart. Silence. If Matthias had her, she was hidden away. Matthias had a vault somewhere. She was probably there.
If he had her.
Stephen stalked down the hall and turned the corner at the first opening. The muted sounds of movement led him down another short hallway into a large living room, not visible from the road. The house looked plain from the outside, but opulence ruled on the inside.
Matthias sat casually at a grand piano, the fingers of one hand strumming the keys.
A pale light flashed at Stephen from Matthias' eyes—eyes that for two hundred years had glowed with hate now seemed to have lost their fire. He stood and walked toward Stephen.
"So, she was able to rescue you. Pity."
"Where is she?"
"You've lost your little fledgling? And you come to me? I'm honored."
Stephen didn't have the patience or strength to mess around. He let the silver dagger hidden up his sleeve drop down into his hand. A quick flick of his wrist flipped the point toward Matthias' heart.
"Where is she?"
Matthias stared down at the knife. Anger and shock hit Stephen as Matthias raised his eyes.
"This is the second time in three days I've had a silver dagger pointed at my chest. I don't like it." His fangs glittered in the light. "So, you've found a way to touch silver and now you're finally taking your revenge. Nice to know I'm in the top five of your enemies. Madeleine almost had me convinced it wasn't you. Worse yet, she believes it herself. You're being a bit obvious on who you kill. The Council knows your history. You should have killed a few friends instead of just your enemies."
"I don't want to hurt you. I just want Madeleine." He looked into the vampire's eyes and waited.
"I don't have her."
"Damn." Stephen lowered the knife and backed away. He didn't know why he believed Matthias, but he did. Maybe it was because Matthias had had the opportunity to kill Madeleine last night and let her go. "I was afraid you were going to say that."
"You didn't kill them, did you?" Matthias' question startled Stephen.
"No."
"Someone did."
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