Nightwalker

by Rhonda L. Print

  I saw Carolyn swallow hard enough to hurt. She quickly composed herself. “What would Elizabeth want with this?” She waved her arm toward me. “She is nothing.”

  “She is mine, Carolyn.” He turned to pin her with his angry gaze. “She is mine and you will respect that.”

  I saw the shock register on Carolyn’s face as Ian continued. “She is mine and I will not let Elizabeth have her.” He reiterated each word slowly. “If you are not willing to protect her then you will leave.”

  “Ian? Are you throwing me out?” Her voice was seductive again and slightly amused.

  “Bear,” Ian commanded.

  Without another word Bear stepped forward and wrapped his massive arms around Carolyn. She began to kick furiously at him. He didn’t seem to notice.

  “Falcon, would you mind?” Ian insisted, exasperated.

  The man whose voice I didn’t recognize appeared in front of Carolyn. He was almost as tall as Ian was with pale brown hair. His lips were tilted in a crooked smile. He looked almost sinister and that thought had my hand reaching back to the butt of my gun.

  “No,” Carolyn screeched.

  Falcon reached his hand toward Carolyn as she screamed and bucked against Bear viciously.

  I pulled my gun and sighted down the barrel with my good eye. “Step away from her,” I warned, my voice hoarse.

  Ian whipped his head toward me and stood in my line of sight. “He will not harm her, Leah. Put your weapon away,” he soothed gently.

  “Move, Ian, I don’t know what he’s planning to do to her but it doesn’t sound pleasant. I may not like her, but I don’t want her hurt just because she annoys the hell out of me.”

  “Lower your gun, my love,” Ian insisted softly with a touch of amusement. “You will see that Falcon does her no harm.”

  I dropped my hand but kept the gun firmly in my grasp. I didn’t have the strength to hold it much longer, even in a two-handed stance. My energy was about tapped for the day.

  Ian moved to the side slightly, still blocking a clear shot but giving me enough room to see.

  Carolyn lay restrained in Bears arms. Her jaw was slack and her eyes were wide with shock. Falcon stood before her, looking at me with a mixture of amusement and something else that I couldn’t quite decipher, but it felt like admiration. He slowly raised his hand to Carolyn’s cheek. She struggled against Bear’s grasp and let out a little yelp. Falcon touched her cheek and said simply, “Sleep.”

  She fell limp in Bear’s arms. He picked her up and carried her from the room.

  I tried to shift and watch them leave the room, but it hurt like hell to twist myself toward the door and I ended up collapsing back onto the cushions of the sofa.

  “Rest, my love. She will only sleep. Bear will escort her to her quarters and keep guard over her. Now please,” he glanced at the gun in my hands, “put your weapon away.”

  I slid the gun back into my holster. “How did you do that?” I looked at Falcon.

  He extended his hand out to me. I took it and he raised mine to his lips and kissed it. “I’m Falcon. It is lovely to finally meet you.”

  I looked from Falcon to Ian.

  “You must rest now, my love.” Ian picked me up against my protests and carried me upstairs. I lay against him and let my eyes close.

  I felt something soft beneath me, felt the sudden rush of cool air on my skin then the warmth of something heavy placed on top of me.

  Falcon came into the room. I reached for my holster to find it gone.

  “It is okay, my love. Your gun is under your pillow, safety on. Elizabeth will not harm you here. You are safe.” Ian smiled.

  Elizabeth? Something nagged at the back of my brain. That was the second time I’d heard that name tonight. “Should I know that name?”

  “Shh, my love. Sleep.”

  “Who is Elizabeth, Ian?”

  “We’ll talk tomorrow, my love.” He turned away. “Falcon?”

  Before I could argue, Falcon touched my face. “Sleep,” he said softly.

  I slept.

  Chapter Thirty

  I awoke twisted in the silk sheets. Ian was beginning to convince me that silk was indeed much nicer to sleep on, once you got the hang of it.

  A sliver of moonlight filtered in through the window, giving me enough light to know that I was alone and in Ian’s bedroom. The side of my face throbbed in time with my pulse. I rolled over, careful not to slide off the bed. I started to put the pieces of last night’s puzzle together when the bedroom door opened and Ian came to my side. “You are awake. I was getting worried about you.” He ran the back of his fingers along my arm.

  I cleared my throat. “What time is it?”

  “It is eight o’clock.”

  I looked up at him. “At night? How can that be? It was at least two in the morning when we got here.” Realization dawned on me. “I slept … eighteen hours?” I gasped incredulously.

  “You needed your rest to heal. You haven’t been getting much sleep lately.”

  “How do you know how much sleep I’ve been getting?”

  “I have been guarding you, discreetly.” He smiled sheepishly.

  “Guarding me?” Anger mixed with confusion.

  “I have had guards near you during the day and I have kept vigil at night. The guards only needed to be near. I would feel if you were in distress and would be able to intervene.”

  “You had no right…” I shook my head, “…you should have told me, hell, you should have asked me.” I sat up, then clutched the sheet. I had been stripped down to my shirt and underwear.

  “It was for your own safety. If I hadn’t been there last night…” He shook his head. “I cannot bear to think what would have happened.”

  I slid off the bed, keeping the sheet tucked around me. “Who undressed me?”

  Ian grinned. I narrowed my eyes at him and immediately regretted it as pain flooded my injured eye under the patch. “Are you well, my love?”

  “Do you have any ibuprofen around here?”

  “In the bathroom.” He guided me to the bathroom. I wanted to argue, but let’s face it; it’s damn hard to find your way around an unfamiliar house. I had to do it with one eye.

  I flipped on the light in the bathroom and winced. Ian handed me the bottle and I downed four pills. I used my hand to cup some water into my mouth to wash it down. I looked at my reflection in the mirror and began to remove the bandages.

  “You should leave those on.”

  “I can’t shower with them on.”

  “Let me help then.” He sighed, removed the tape from the bandage and began to unwind it. A deep purple bruise covered the entire side of my face with a jagged line of stitches from my eyebrow to mid-cheek. “Holy shit! My face looks like a crushed eggplant.”

  “The bruising will fade and Luke assured me that the scarring will be minimal.”

  “Ian,” I struggled for the words, “I know that Joaquín is strong. He did this with one hit? I don’t understand that.”

  “The demon only used Joaquín’s body, it was the strength of the demon that struck you. You are lucky he didn’t crush your skull.”

  “Damn.”

  “Oh yes, damn indeed.”

  I turned to him and smiled.

  “What?” He leaned back to look at me.

  “You said ‘damn’. I’ve never heard you curse before.” My grin widened.

  “Well, my love. I wouldn’t want to upset your … delicate sensibilities.” He smiled back.

  “How thoughtful,” I laughed. I reached up and pulled him down to me for a quick kiss. “We have a lot to talk about today, Ian.”

  “Yes, there is much to discuss. Take your shower, I’ll bring clothes in for you and then brew some coffee.”

  “Coffee and a shower. You just made my night.”

  I let the water run over me as hot as I could stand it for a full half-hour before I began to wash. I swear I heard my muscles cry with relief as the tension eased from the
m. The shampoo, conditioner and soap all smelled of lilacs, a rich, floral scent that filled the room. I stepped out of the shower, wrapped myself in an oversized towel that was softer than my bed sheets at home, and found a fresh toiletry set on the bathroom counter. I tamed my hair back with the brush and then covered myself in the rich moisturizer, again the scent of lilacs. I gratefully brushed my teeth, twice.

  Once in the bedroom, I pulled on jeans and a button down shirt. I tucked the long ends of the shirt into the jeans and followed the aroma of coffee down the stairs. I paused on the last step as I heard voices in the kitchen. One I recognized as Falcon, the other was Ian.

  “She must be protected.” Ian sounded pissed.

  “Of course she will be protected, we only question the best way to accomplish that,” Falcon replied.

  Silence descended upon the house.

  “Please, join us, my love.”

  “I feel your anger, Ian.” I started toward the kitchen. “How did you know I was there?”

  “I can hear your heartbeat.” He cocked his head to the side. “Vampires do have impeccable hearing.”

  I rounded the corner into the kitchen and embraced Ian. “Yeah right, I forgot.”

  Falcon gave me a questioning look. “How can you ‘forget’ that Ian is a vampire?”

  I looked up at Ian. “When I look at him, I see who he is, not what he is.”

  Ian smiled broadly, flashing full fang and dimples.

  “And it does not bother you that what he is is a vampire?” The man I hadn’t met yet gave me a doubtful look.

  “I’m sorry,” I turned to level a look at the new man in the room, “I don’t think we’ve met.”

  “My apologies, my love.” Ian stifled a laugh. “You have met Falcon.”

  “Yeah, I guess I have.” I reached my arm out to shake Falcon’s hand. He took my hand and placed a chaste kiss there.

  “This,” Ian indicated the other man, “is Cougar.”

  He too, kissed my hand.

  I got a cup and walked toward the coffeepot to fill it. I held the mug up to my face and breathed in the aroma appreciatively. I took a long sip as I looked around the room.

  Falcon sat in a chair with his long legs crossed at the ankles. His pale brown hair caught glimmers of gold from the dim ceiling light. He wore tan pants and a white button-down cotton shirt. He looked like a young urbanite on casual day. His muscular arms and shoulders strained against the fabric of the shirt. His face was angular and masculine, his expression was watchful. His eyes were ice blue, very pale and almost translucent.

  Cougar leaned against the wall casually. With his faded jeans and red T-shirt he could have looked like any twenty-something man. His unnaturally golden skin, wide full-fang smile and amber cat-like eyes let you know he was something different. Even his energy felt different, more alert and alive. Yeah, I knew vampires were technically dead, but his energy was alive, almost tangible.

  Ian was dressed in leather pants that accented his narrow waist. They were black and followed his lean muscular legs down to the soft, black leather boots that stopped just below the knee. His shirt was pale yellow, silk and unbuttoned to expose his chest. His black hair hung in loose waves. His eyes were deep blue today, like the sky at dusk.

  I felt a trickle of energy run down my spine. “Is there someone else you’d like to introduce me to, Ian?” I sipped my coffee.

  A shadow formed in the darkest corner of the kitchen. I kept my eyes focused on that spot as the shadow took the shape of a man.

  “That would be the source of my anger.” Ian’s smile was wickedly sinister as a man dressed entirely in black appeared. “This is Raven.”

  “You claimed that she was talented, Ian. I underestimated her.” Raven’s deep voice filled the room.

  “I am learning I should never underestimate her, Raven.” Ian reached his hand out to me. I walked to his side and he rested his arm around my shoulder.

  “That’s a pretty impressive talent you have yourself, Raven. It’s nice to meet you.” I extended my hand to shake his. He hesitated.

  “How did you know I was here?” he asked.

  I dropped my hand and shook my head. “You show me yours, I’ll show you mine.” I grinned.

  Ian laughed. “We are all vampires.”

  “What else is he?” I indicated Raven with a nod of my chin.

  “He’s a pain in the ass,” Cougar said sternly.

  “I’m sure he is.” I crossed my arms over my chest.

  “You have experienced Falcon’s gift,” Ian reminded me. Not that I needed reminding. I was still highly pissed that he took control of my mind. I needed the sleep, true, but I was somewhat of a control freak and preferred to do things my own way.

  “He made me sleep,” I shrugged, “is that it?”

  “No, it is much, much more useful than that,” Falcon replied. “I can control a human mind with one word. For example…”

  “Falcon,” Ian warned.

  Falcon touched my face. “Laugh.”

  The laughter bubbled out of me before I could stop it. Falcon never took his eyes off me. “There are many advantages to mind control, Leah.”

  “That’s enough,” Ian growled.

  Falcon turned his eyes away from me and instantly I stopped laughing. “No more demonstrations, Falcon.” I had to catch my breath.

  He smiled. Ian did not look pleased.

  Falcon placed his hand on my arm. I took that opportunity to brace my legs. I grabbed his arm, bent low and heaved him over my back. He hit the floor with a thump.

  I smiled the smile that I knew looked more evil than pleasant. “I mean it, Falcon. Don’t ever fucking do that to me again.” I interjected each word slowly amid the laughter of Cougar and Raven.

  Falcon stood in a blur and gave me a small bow, his own expression a mixture of amusement.

  I turned to Ian. “Is he more powerful than you?”

  He brushed his lips over my cheek. “No, my love. Of the vampires in this room I am the most powerful,” he said with heavy emphasis on “vampires”.

  I narrowed my eyes. “What exactly do you mean?”

  “We do not yet know how powerful you are, my love.”

  “I am not a vampire,” I protested.

  “But you are powerful,” he countered.

  I brushed off the thought. “Who is Elizabeth?”

  “Elizabeth is a Marquis,” Ian began. “She is one of the oldest and most powerful of our kind.”

  “What does she want with me?” My head was still aching and bruised, my stomach still raw from the demon claws.

  “Elizabeth was banished to her home after the other Marquis discovered that she had killed hundreds of young women,” Raven added.

  I felt my body go still. “Hundreds?”

  “Yes, my love. She is not the most attractive of our kind. She believed that if she took the blood of young women, she would gain their beauty.”

  “Does that work?”

  “No,” Cougar rolled his amber eyes, “we look now much like we looked in life. But she didn’t just drink their blood. She bathed in it.”

  My stomach turned. “Why wasn’t she destroyed?”

  “She is a Marquis. It is like royalty to our kind. She could not be killed, only guarded.” Raven shifted nervously. “Now she is out.”

  “And after me?” I asked as the tingle of fear rolled up my spine.

  Ian grabbed my hands as I nervously wrung them together. “I will not let her harm you, my love.”

  “What does she want with me?”

  “I fear she has been killing others—shapeshifters, lesser vampires and humans—to grow stronger. She can sense your power. She wishes to take it.”

  “By killing me.”

  “She would not only kill you, she would steal your soul, for that is where your true power lies.”

  I shuddered.

  “She fears that if the new laws pass, she will indeed be destroyed. Her crimes are unforgivable in the hum
an world.”

  “Then how do I protect myself if she can’t be killed.”

  “Oh, she can be killed.” This from Cougar as he paced the room. “She has an advantage at the moment, though. She knows where you live. We, however, do not know where she is.”

  “Tell me, Leah. How did you know I was in the room? I know you could not see me.” Raven disappeared to prove his point.

  “I could feel your energy, see your aura.”

  “Tell me, what does my energy feel like?” He reappeared.

  I shrugged. “It’s hard to explain. I just knew there was more in the room than I could see.”

  “Interesting.” Raven pursed his lips.

  “Have you always been able to,” he spread his hands wide, “feel energy?”

  I sighed. “Yeah, as long as I can remember.”

  “You feed off that power?” Falcon asked.

  “No. I don’t feed off anything or anyone.”

  Ian squeezed my shoulders. “Now may not be the best time, Falcon,” Ian warned.

  “If Elizabeth is after her then now may be the only time, Ian.”

  I looked at the face of each man in the room. “The time for what?”

  No one moved. Each was as still as stone. No one was breathing, no movement at all.

  “Ian?”

  “You will not like what I have to say, my love.”

  “Damn it, Ian! Just say it!”

  “We know you are human, however, you may have vampire powers. If you learn how to control your powers, to feed off them, you can wield them as a weapon to protect yourself.”

  “Are you insinuating that I am a human vampire?” I rebuffed.

  “No,” Falcon added, then grinned briefly before his face became very serious. “I am saying it right out, and the correct term would be ‘dhampir’, a child resulting from the mating of a vampire male and human female.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest. “It can’t be the other way around?”