He decided the best place to begin the conversation with Simone was with the subject he knew best: himself.
“Since you already know about my second nature, we can probably bypass that subject for now.” When she didn’t object, he took a quick sip from his mug and waited for her to speak. But she remained silent, so he told her, “I’m here to help you in any way I can. Not only to answer any of your questions, but to give you whatever help you may need.”
Simone lowered her eyes and appeared to be thinking deeply about something. When she raised her eyes level with his, her first question wasn’t the one he expected, although he suddenly realized it should have been.
“How did Julian become . . . what he is?”
“Whatever I tell you presupposes that what previously comprised your knowledge about vampires is probably not true.”
“Boy, you can say that again,” Simone muttered, and Mike couldn’t stop his grin.
“Yes, well, Julian’s branch of the Whitcombe family goes back many centuries, and the original ancestry even further. But I think that my going back a couple of generations will probably answer your questions sufficiently. Unless, of course, you’d like me to go back further?”
He waited to see what she wanted. “Just begin wherever you think best,” she said.
He nodded. “Julian told me that you’re familiar with the legend of the Goddess Lilith.”
She nodded.
“What about the demons Asmodeus and Malmorte? Or the lesser god, Valtius? Do you know anything about them?”
He watched her eyes widen. With interest or fear? He could understand her feeling both emotions. It wasn’t every day a young woman sat across from a shapeshifter and listened to what he had to say about demons.
Chapter Eleven
WHEN MIKE MENTIONED Lilith, Simone’s heartbeat kicked up a notch and flashes of the dreams she’d recently had of the mythical goddess came rushing back.
She told Mike about her conversation with Dottie weeks ago when Dottie had mentioned talk of vampire sightings in New Orleans. She explained how, after that discussion, her curiosity had led her to do some research and she’d discovered that Lilith was purported to be Adam’s first wife. She’d also learned that Lilith had refused to be submissive to Adam, and had fled from him and took up with the demon Asmodeus, with whom she’d had several daughters.
“Do you know the story about Malmorte, the demon who kidnapped some of her daughters, took them to a dark cave in the depths of the earth and enslaved them?”
She shook her head, and Mike continued. “For some reason, that part of the story is not as well documented as other parts. According to the story, a lesser god by the name of Valtius, whom many claim was in love with Lilith, went to the cave and demanded release of her daughters. A terrible battle ensued between Valtius and Malmorte. Valtius was eventually victorious, but in the conflict he was bitten by Malmorte and contracted a virus. The virus turned Valtius into a vampire and from that day forward, the virus infected all of Valtius’ descendants.”
Simone listened to his story with breathless anticipation, waiting for each word that followed. When he paused, she wanted to ask what this had to do with Julian, but Mike was way ahead of her.
“The Whitcombes are descendants of Valtius,” Mike continued. “By the age of eighteen all Whitcombe males begin the transformation to vampires.”
Transformation? “You mean Julian was human until he reached the age of eighteen?”
“Yes. Actually, the process began at eighteen but wasn’t completed until his thirtieth birthday.”
She hesitated a second before asking, “Were you with Julian when that happened?”
“I’ve been with the Whitcombe family so long that I can’t remember when I wasn’t.”
What Mike was telling her was almost as unbelievable as Julian’s being a vampire. If what he was saying was true, and she was sure it was, Mike was even older than Julian. Her head started to reel and the fluttering in her chest accelerated. She wasn’t sure how many more shocks her psyche could take.
She wasn’t aware she was clutching the coffee mug with both hands until her fingers went numb. She unwound and flexed them until some feeling returned. “I still think I’m dreaming. That I’ll wake up back home in Mobile, my stepsister will be sitting behind her desk, and I’ll be waving to her as I’m heading out the door on my way to court.”
Mike regarded her sympathetically. “If there was some way I could make this easier for you, believe me, I would. As would Julian.”
Julian. Everything eventually came back to him. Suddenly, a thought struck her like a blow to the jaw. “My showing up here wasn’t an accident, was it?”
“If you mean were we expecting you, yes.”
After a few seconds, during which time he looked deeply contemplative, Mike told her, “Julian’s needs are no different than any other man’s. He longs for a woman of his own.” Mike paused for a second. “Since my success with the blood substitute,” he continued, “which Julian said he told you about, he’s been alone. All of his life he’s longed for a woman with whom he was compatible and could share, for even a short time, the part of his life that he’s been forced to keep hidden.”
She couldn’t stop her gasp, and her hand flew to her mouth. She stared at him wide-eyed. “You mean he’s hoping that I . . .” She couldn’t finish the thought much less put it into words.
True, she was sexually drawn to Julian, maybe even a little bit emotionally drawn to him as well, but that didn’t mean she even remotely envisioned any kind of relationship with him. He was a vampire, and she was a flesh and blood woman for pity’s sake!
Simone rested her elbows on the table and settled her pounding head between her hands. With every passing hour it seemed her world tilted more and more off its axis.
Across from her Mike was running his index finger up and down the handle of his mug and looking at her, as if waiting for her to say something. Well, damn it, if that’s what he was waiting for . . .
“I do not want to be Julian’s woman,” she blurted. “And as soon as I find out what happened to my stepsister, I’m out of here.”
Simone felt her cheeks heat at her candid confession. To hide her embarrassment, she stood and walked to the kitchen counter. She brought the coffeepot back to the table and looked at Mike. He nodded and she refilled his mug.
She placed the coffeepot in the middle of the table and sat down again, trying to figure out the best way to explain to Mike how she felt about Julian and Dottie and everything going on in her suddenly topsy-turvy life.
While she was still figuring out what to tell him, Mike cleared his throat. She looked up at him, and after a deep swallow from his mug, Mike flattened both hands on the table and lifted his huge frame off the chair. In the bar downstairs he was large, but in the postage stamp-size kitchen he was gargantuan. He would have to be, she reasoned, to accommodate the bulk of his animal form. And wouldn’t she have to be a little off-center to have made such a comparison so matter-of-factly?
“What goes on between you and Julian is your business,” he said. “I’m just here to answer your questions. Is there anything else you’d like to ask me?”
She shook her head, and Mike nodded and started toward the front door. After a couple of steps he stopped short, snapped his fingers and turned back to face her. “I almost forgot the second reason I came to see you.”
“What’s that?”
“Is there something of your sister’s that I could use to pick up her scent? Julian asked me to spend some time this afternoon trying to track her.”
Pick up her scent? Well, if she could accept that he had a separate animal nature, she should certainly be willing to accept that his sense of smell would be acute.
Her eyes went to Dottie’s possessions stacked in a corner of the liv
ing room. She mentally searched the contents of the boxes. Scarves. Dottie always wore a scarf. If one wasn’t hanging around her neck, it would be tied at her waist or otherwise attached to some part of her clothing. Even in summer Dottie found some way to work a scarf into her outfit. Simone went to the box in which she’d placed the scarves, found one and handed it to Mike.
The entry in Dottie’s logbook popped into Simone’s head. Remembering she had placed a picture of Dottie she’d taken on the steps of the St. Louis Cathedral a couple of days before the hurricane into the book, she found it and showed the picture to Mike. “Have you ever seen her in here?”
Mike looked closely at the picture and shook his head. “No. She isn’t familiar at all.”
She put the picture back in the box, her spirits lower than before. Evidently Dottie had never made it to Mike’s.
Mike folded the scarf and put it in the pocket of his trousers, but made no move to leave. “There’s one more thing,” he finally said.
She waited for the “one more thing” with the proverbial sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.
“Since I’ll be busy with other things this afternoon, I won’t be able to work on the inventory. I’d really appreciate it if you could take over for me after lunch and finish it.” He paused. “Overtime pay, of course.”
Caught off guard, she was speechless for a moment. But she would do anything she could to aid in the search for Dottie. And if anyone was qualified to search for her sister, it was Mike. But what about the note she’d received from Deke? If he wanted to meet her . . .
“I’m also expecting some deliveries that I won’t be here to accept,” Mike rushed on before she could come up with a response. “I’d like to leave a note on the door downstairs to call the business line. I’ll forward the number to your cell in case you aren’t near the landline. Then you can come up front and accept the delivery.
She wanted to tell him that she had plans of her own for the afternoon, but she retrieved her cell instead and gave the number to Mike. He didn’t bother to write it down, just mouthed the number to himself. She figured that, like Julian, he probably had some extraordinary abilities and could easily commit things like phone numbers to memory.
She smiled ruefully at all the things she was beginning to take for granted, things that just a few days ago she would have considered impossible.
Mike already had his hand on the doorknob. “I’ll be back as early as I can this afternoon so you can rest a bit before your regular shift tonight.” He gave her no opportunity to protest or even ask a question before he opened the door and closed it firmly behind him.
It was a full minute after Mike left before her mind started working again. She remembered the note from Deke Williams and took it from the back pocket of her slacks, where she’d put it earlier. There was no way she’d be able to meet with Deke Williams today, if that’s what he had in mind. Still, she should call him so he wouldn’t think she had changed her mind about needing his help.
She picked up the cell phone, but before she dialed Deke’s number she frowned at Mike’s craftiness. By directing the business line to her cell phone, he’d actually worked it so that there was no way she’d be able to go out on her own. And she had no doubt Mike had acted on Julian’s orders.
Simone stomped her foot on the wood floor. “Well,” she announced to the empty room, “Mr. Julian Whitcombe, vampire extraordinaire, you may have bested me today. But there’s always tomorrow.”
JULIAN WOKE SLOWLY, the life force flowing into his body in small, welcome increments. First a toe moved, then a foot, and at last, both legs. His heart gave a hard bump, picked up beats until it reached a strong, steady pace. Today was the day he’d waited for for weeks.
The drain on his power and strength caused by the near fatal injuries he’d sustained during the hurricane rescue were now fully restored. He was ready for a real battle, not just a skirmish like the one he’d helped put down in the courtyard yesterday.
He opened his eyes to his coffin’s darkness, his brain already as alert as his body. His internal clock told him it was just short of nightfall. Dusk was probably still blanketing the city. Another sign that his recuperative powers had served him well once again.
Over the years he’d begun to tolerate more and more of what he called “shadow light.” On very overcast days, or when the sun was weak, he was able to remain outside the crypt for longer periods of time. Briefly, he let his mind toy with the pleasure he would feel when he was once again able to bask in full sunlight as he had when he was a child.
Eager to leave his lonely chamber and see Simone, he dressed quickly. As he buttoned his shirt, the whisperings inside his mind that had been with him since he’d awakened grew louder.
First he heard Michael’s voice, and after a second, the more distant voice of Simone. Both voices, though separated by many rooms, came through strong enough to penetrate the barrier that usually shielded him from all but the most distressed thoughts of his closest friends and allies. While he couldn’t hear the words clearly, he knew something was amiss.
He opened the door of his chamber and hurried to the area where the storeroom and the laboratory were located. Michael was waiting for him in the lab.
“I don’t have anything to report on Simone’s stepsister,” Michael said, as soon as Julian closed the chamber door behind him.
Julian glanced anxiously overhead to where Simone’s apartment was located and opened up his mental conduit to her. He sensed her distress, but could pick up nothing more than a random thought. He remembered he hadn’t yet explained to her that when either of them was in a highly emotional or stressful state the other would pick up on it regardless of the distance that separated them. He would tell her at the next opportunity. For now, he needed to go to her as soon as possible.
He put a hand on Michael’s arm. “Keep trying. That’s all anyone can do.” He glanced up again. “Did you notice anything out of the ordinary with Simone today?”
“No. Is something wrong?”
Julian glanced upward again then turned back to Michael. “I’ll get back to you later. Simone needs me.”
SIMONE KNEW FROM the way her breathing accelerated and the skin on her arms felt as if they’d been touched by a velvet glove that Julian was on his way to her. She looked from the television screen to the door just as the knob turned and the lock clicked open.
As if she’d done it a thousand times, she flew into Julian’s arms the moment he stepped into the living room. It barely registered that he’d somehow unlocked the door, since she hadn’t heard a key in the lock. She didn’t question him about it. Being enclosed in his protective embrace felt too wonderful to worry about something so insignificant.
She nestled her body closer to his, and he took his arm from around her and placed his hand over her heart. “What’s wrong, Simone? Your heart is beating as fast as a bird thrashing against its cage.”
She placed her own hand over his, feeling as if their combined pressure could calm her racing heart. Looking over her shoulder at the television screen, she said, “The news broadcast just showed the bodies of three women . . . three young women with their throats . . .” She had to swallow hard to finish. “They’re like the women brought to the hospital weeks ago. Something terrible is happening to the young women out there. Something evil. Dottie . . .” She looked at Julian, “Did Mike find out anything about Dottie?”
She asked the question even though she was certain she already knew the answer. If Mike had found something, he’d have told her. Unless it was bad news.
As she stared up at Julian fearfully, he stroked her back and her shoulders. Then he ran his hands down the length of her arms while he gazed down at her, his fascinating blue and gray eyes turning dark within their depths.
Finally, he shook his head and drew her back close to him. “I wish I had so
me news for you, but I don’t. We’ll find her though, I promise.”
She had no choice but to believe him. If anyone could find Dottie it would be Julian and Mike.
Suddenly, she remembered Deke Williams and the short conversation she’d had with him that morning. He’d told her that he had some information for her. She’d suggested sending someone in her place to meet with him, but he’d grown agitated and insisted she was the only person he would speak with. Afraid he’d disappear and she’d never find out what news he had, she’d reluctantly agreed to his terms, hoping that Mike would find Dottie and she wouldn’t have to break her promise to Julian.
But for now she wanted to forget about Deke Williams. Julian was here with her and she wanted to savor every moment. Never in her wildest dreams would she have imagined feeling so comfortable, so safe in the arms of any man, much less those of a vampire. Aside from the security Julian gave her, she physically wanted him in a way she had never wanted another man.
Low in her belly the heavy weight of desire spread like the sweet heat she’d felt when Julian had come to her in what she’d thought was a dream. She was desperate to experience that intense desire again. She was hungry for more than Julian’s hands working their magic on her. She wanted him to stay with her. To make love to her.
As if reading her mind, Julian tipped her chin upward with the tip of his finger. He gazed deeply into her eyes for a few moments and then lowered his mouth to hers for a sensuous kiss. All too soon he ended the kiss and pulled away from her. His already deep voice thickened when he spoke. “I’d like to stay Simone, but Michael needs me for a couple of things before we open tonight.”
He kissed her again, forcing her mouth open and teasing her tongue with his. Then he pulled back again. “I’ll come to you tonight after we close. I promise.”
The Vampire Julian Page 10