“Does the world need another vampire?”
Their gazes held for a moment and, surprisingly, it was Zoe who won the battle of wills. Hester sighed, and her shoulders sagged. “He can be restored.”
The admission brought Zoe no comfort. “How?”
“I do have a potion. But understand…once he’s turned back, nothing will make him human again. Nothing.”
Zoe nodded. “It will be his decision. We just have to hope he survives his meeting with Lambert.”
Hester glanced at the clock above the sink. It was just past two A.M. “When was the meeting? There might still be time.”
Zoe squinted. “How? He took your car and my keys, and it’s a three-hour drive.”
A wicked smile curved Hester’s lovely lips. “Honey, I’m a witch. Tell me where Julian is, and I can be there in a few minutes.”
Zoe’s skepticism died unmourned when she remembered only moments ago, Hester had merely popped into existence in the kitchen. She told Hester about Lambert’s note.
“I can find him. You need to go somewhere safe. It’s time to disappear.”
“Not until I know he’s all right.”
Sympathy clouded Hester’s gaze for a moment, and she patted Zoe’s shoulder in a sisterly gesture. “He shouldn’t be able to find you once he’s turned. Go away, for your own good. It’s over.”
Of course Hester would want it that way. She’d be glad to see Zoe gone for good. Her protest caught in her throat when Hester turned away and rummaged in the pantry. A moment later, she pressed a bundle of sweet-smelling herbs into Zoe’s hands. “If he should find you, this will repel him. Stay somewhere where you’ll be surrounded by people for a little while. I’ll do what I can to steer him clear of you.”
“You’ll make him forget me?” Her heart ached.
“If he finds you, you’ll wish I had. He promised me anything in exchange for the cure. And since I can’t make him love me…I’ll make that my price. That he leave you alone.”
Please. Could Hester be that altruistic? Zoe blinked at her and clutched the herbs tighter.
“It’s not selfless, Zoe. If he’s going to toy with anyone’s affections, I’d rather they be mine.”
Chapter Fifteen
Trusting Hester was the hardest thing Zoe had ever done, but what choice did she have?
After the witch produced a vial of dark liquid that she identified as the revamping potion, she whispered a lilting incantation in a sing-song voice and pointed the crystalline tip of a magic wand at Zoe. One dizzying, whirlwind moment later, the walls of Zoe’s living room materialized around her even as Hester’s cozy cottage faded from view.
The world spun wickedly for a second, and she stumbled back, landing on her butt next to the sofa. A sudden, sick headache skewed her vision, and she clutched her stomach, willing the nausea to pass.
When her head cleared, she drew herself up unsteadily. Back in Baltimore with no car and no keys, she was helpless. She should call her parents. She could hide at their house until Hester gave her the all-clear, then she could begin to undo the damage Julian had already unwittingly done to her life.
It took her all of two seconds to throw that plan out the window. Picking up the phone, she speed-dialed Bryan’s cell phone. When he answered, she dismissed his concerned questions with steely determination. “I need a ride. How fast can you get over to my apartment? It’s an emergency.”
To his credit, he didn’t argue. “Five minutes,” he said and hung up. She wondered if he’d be as agreeable when she told him where she wanted to go.
Julian fingered the sharp tip of the wooden stake he carried. He wished for a properly fitting jacket where he could hide the weapon, but for now, he’d have to make do by shoving it into his back pocket and letting the tails of the flannel shirt Zoe had bought for him hide it from Lambert.
He forced thoughts of her out of his mind as he walked. Why did everything remind him of her and the words he’d never expected to hear? I fell in love with you… If only she knew what a mistake it was to love a vampire.
One disturbing question haunted him as he crossed the deserted grounds of Fairmont. What if he gave it all up? He could still walk away and do just as she suggested. How hard would it be to forget Lambert’s betrayal and his own well-orchestrated undead existence, and embrace the humanity he’d so willingly given away? It had seemed such a small sacrifice back when Anton Brae had promised him a never-ending life of privilege in exchange for his loyalty.
All he had to do was turn around now, before it was too late.
And when he did, Hester stood before him. Her eyes were dark with emotion, and her lustrous skin was pale in the moonlight.
“Julian. Thank God I found you.”
He glanced around and then pulled her into the deep shadows beneath the unkempt willow trees that lined the property. “How did you get here?”
She gave him a wilting look. “Rickshaw, of course. What do you think?” Rather than wait for an equally sarcastic response, she held out a small bottle of brown liquid. Her hand trembled. “Here. A permanent cure.”
He swallowed hard and took the bottle gingerly, as if it were the most precious thing in the world. “Drac came through. I should have expected he would hold out on me until the bitter end.”
Hester tossed her hair and scoffed. “A simple thank you would be a little more appropriate under the circumstances. Without that potion, you can look forward to social security and early bird specials. Or has the idea of growing old begun to appeal to you?”
He stared at her for a second, then transferred his gaze back to the bottle. She’d given him his life back, and all he could muster was a snide shot at the Draconus. Apparently, being human hadn’t changed him that much after all. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I appreciate this more than I’ll ever be able to tell you. Like I said, name your price. Once I get my power back, you can have anything you desire.”
The night breeze stirred her hair and the flowing hem of her long, dark skirt. She didn’t look like a woman about to get whatever she wanted. “My price might be too high for you, Julian. I’m not sure you’ll agree to it.”
“Money isn’t an issue, Hester.” He laughed, though he felt no humor. “Hell, I’ll make installment payments if I have to. Whatever pleases you, my dear.”
Oddly, he saw nothing in the proud tilt of her head to acknowledge the full depth of the power she held over him. In fact, she looked fragile, as though she was about to break.
“I want a promise. That’s all.”
“A promise? That is a high price. Wouldn’t you prefer a car? I know you have a weakness for the classics. Or maybe you’d like your bungalow moved to Hawaii or the Riviera?”
“I want you to promise me that you won’t hurt Zoe Boyd once you’ve transformed. I want your word that you’ll leave her alone.”
Julian’s throat closed, and his fingers clenched dangerously tight around the thin glass cylinder in his palm. A high price indeed.
“Julian?”
“Hmm, I didn’t realize you two had bonded.”
Her mouth flattened into a hard line, and her gaze went icy. “Please, don’t assume I’m asking on her behalf or my own. I know that as you are now, you wouldn’t want to see her destroyed. I’m asking for you.”
He could never repay her for the one gift she’d already given him, let alone this as well. He nodded. “Thank you. I know you’ll hold me to my word.”
“I will.”
“Now, what do I do? Pour this on myself?”
Hester crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back. She looked regal and powerful and just slightly wicked. “You drink it.”
“I’m sure it tastes vile.”
“Would you like me to list the ingredients for you?”
“No. I’d rather not know.” He checked his watch. It was ten minutes to four. “You’d better go. I don’t want you caught in the crossfire. Your car is parked at the back gate, if you can’t find a rickshaw at this hour.”
>
Hester turned quickly, obviously eager to leave. She took one step and stopped. When she turned around again, her eyes were bright and her expression reminded him of Zoe’s when he’d found her in the kitchen the day before, sobbing over the salad. “The change will be permanent. Nothing will turn you human again once you take the potion, and nothing will free your soul from vampirism. Not even death.”
Something in his chest twinged at the words. The finality of it should have pleased him—he’d never be at Lambert’s mercy this way again. So why was he overcome with such a sense of dread? “I understand,” he whispered.
In response, she shook her head just slightly. “I’m not sure you do.” She didn’t pause to explain herself, but she didn’t have to. Julian watched her walk away in long, determined strides, her skirt whirling around her legs.
When she’d disappeared in the shadows, he brought the potion bottle up to inspect it in the feeble light.
Freedom, power and immortality once again rested in the palm of his hand—his for the taking as he’d come to expect all things should be.
He closed his fingers protectively around the vial and headed toward his rendezvous with Lambert.
“I think you’re out of your mind.” Bryan’s obedience had extended to picking Zoe up at her apartment and driving her halfway to Fairmont, the abandoned golf course on Route 26.
Once they hit the highway, though, he launched into a barrage of questions she didn’t want to answer. “What do you really know about this guy? What kind of man has a meeting with his worst enemy at four o’clock in the morning in the middle of nowhere? A mobster, that’s who. A drug lord, a…a pimp for heaven’s sake.”
Zoe sat ramrod straight in Bryan’s passenger seat and let him rant. She wanted to tell him everything about Julian and make him understand why it was so important that she be there when he defeated Enoch Lambert. She wanted to, but she had no idea how to make Bryan understand that she needed Julian to know she still cared about him, no matter what he was. How should she explain it to him when she didn’t understand it herself? Rather than fumble for inadequate words, she kept silent and stared at the empty road ahead.
“Zoe, are you listening to me?”
She nodded. “Yes, Bry. I’m out of my mind. I know that. But I’m in love with him, and that’s making me stark raving insane.”
Bryan bobbed his head absently, though he flicked his gaze toward Zoe. “You’ve known him what, five days? How could you be in love with him?”
That was the question she’d been asking herself all week. Did love really happen that fast? When it came out of nowhere and consumed you before you knew what was happening, was it real?
She fisted her hands in her lap and leaned forward as if that could make the car go faster. “I can’t analyze it right now, Bryan. I just know he can’t do this alone. I need to be there for him.”
“To watch him get himself killed?”
“To save him, if I can.”
Julian cursed the uneven flutter in the middle of his chest. For a century, fear had been nothing more than an existential concept to him, something he could manipulate and exploit. Now with his heart racing and his palms sweating, making the wooden stake slippery and damp, he felt like a schoolboy again, preparing to confront the class bully in a back alley after lessons. He’d spent the week plotting his own death, so to speak, and now the prospect of success terrified him even more than the possibility of failure.
If he downed Hester’s potion now, what would he become? The look of defeat in her eyes told him everything he needed to know. He’d move beyond vampire to something stronger, darker. A week ago he’d have begged for such an evolution.
Resting in the front pocket of his jeans, the potion bottle seemed warm, as if it were burning to get to him, refusing to allow him to forget it was there. He reached toward it and closed his fingers around the thin cylinder of glass just as Enoch appeared on the walkway ahead.
Julian froze.
His former ally, by the loosest definition of the term, stood in the dappled shadows, his dark suit and silver hair blending into the color scheme of the spring night. He smiled graciously and spread his arms wide in a mock greeting when his piercing gaze fell on Julian.
“Right on time, old friend. I’ve always admired your punctuality and…until now, your wardrobe. What happened? You didn’t eat your tailor, did you?”
Julian ignored the snide comment. A hundred and seventy years a vampire, Enoch was older and more sophisticated, perhaps, but a bit less fluid. His pride was his downfall. It was the obstacle that had stood between him and Anton Brae’s inheritance, clearing the way for Julian to take over for his sire. That pride would have to serve Julian now. Aside from the stake, it was his only real weapon against Lambert.
“I understand you’re angry,” Enoch went on. “My methods were extreme. But I’ve been existing in your shadow for too long, Julian. I’m not in the mood for an excruciating wrestling match. I wanted the tables turned quickly and permanently.”
Julian inched forward, his hand tightening around the stake. Finally he found the inner calm to be able to speak. He held Lambert’s gaze and forced out the words he knew the vampire wanted to hear. “I should have known it would come to this one day. We’re vampires, after all. How can I blame you for acting true to form?”
“You’d have done the same, after seventy-five years of riding shotgun,” Lambert responded.
“I doubt I’d have waited so long. Then again, I’d have simply killed you, but that’s not enough for you, is it? What more do you want?”
Enoch’s smile flattened, and his jovial voice took on a serious tone. “I’m glad you realize the depth of my conviction, Julian. I can see in your eyes that you’ve accepted your defeat, and I commend you for not attempting to make this messy.”
Fool. Julian held his breath. At least not breathing made him feel more like a vampire.
Lambert’s shoulders sagged a bit. “What’s wrong, Julian? Don’t tell me there really isn’t any fight left in you.”
Julian fought to control his rising fury. “What. Do. You. Want?”
Dark gray brows shot up. “Nothing. You needn’t lift a finger. Let me do all the work. I’ll give you back your vampire life—”
“How?” Rise to the bait he would, but on his own terms.
“I’ll sire you, of course. Then your loyalty to me will be innate and irrefutable, like it was for Anton. You’d have done anything for him. I believe if you’d been there at his end, you might have died for him—again. I respect that. I want that.”
“How do I know you won’t drain me? You can’t expect me to trust you after this kind of a betrayal.” Another inch forward while Lambert studied the sky and made grand gestures.
“I give you my word. Isn’t that enough? If I’d wanted you dead, you’d be dead, and I’d be trying to piece together Anton’s empire on my own. I need you, Julian. Truly. I only want you to step aside and let me steer the helm now. I’m the one who should have inherited Anton’s power in the first place. Not you. It was his impetuous decision, based on a childish misunderstanding that put you in my place to punish me. I’ve been patient and rather indulgent of you, the bastard son, if you will, because you were good at what you did. You kept us safe and well-hidden, but I’m tired of skulking in the shadows.”
“So the moment you found a way to shift the balance of power you jumped at it.” Julian prepared himself while Enoch contemplated this. He’d get only one chance.
“Of course. As you said, I’m a vampire. It’s what we do. I’m not trying to steal what’s yours, Julian. I’m merely reclaiming what should have been mine all along. It took me all these years to find a way to hurt you, and now I’m offering to reverse the pain I’ve caused you.” Lambert’s smile returned. “Come, I’ll make it quick, and then we can get back to work.”
Julian held Lambert’s gaze for a full minute before dropping his shoulders in defeat. “Very well, Enoch. You win,” he said
, and then he lunged.
“Are you sure he’s here?” Bryan asked. He held a flashlight in one hand and a broken willow branch in the other.
The security chain at the back gate of the old golf course had been left unlocked, probably in preparation for Julian’s arrival. That was Zoe’s only clue they were on the right track. As much of a long shot as it seemed, she wanted to believe she would find Julian, and she would be able to give him a reason to stay human. “This is what the note said.”
Up ahead of her, Bryan froze in his tracks, and Zoe stopped short, the hair on the back of her neck prickling. “Did you hear that?” he asked. He lifted his face to the light wind that stirred the low hanging branches of the willows under which they walked.
“I didn’t hear—” Something rustled in the underbrush, but it didn’t sound like footsteps. Again Zoe felt the whispering brush of something cold against her skin. Her scalp tingled. “Bryan, shine the light over he—”
Blood dripped from Julian’s split lip, the crimson drops landing in black spatters on Enoch Lambert’s tailored shirt.
Lambert lay beneath him on the walkway, his bloody hands clamped around Julian’s throat. Several of his lackeys hovered in the shadows, at the edge of perception, ready to swoop in on command. No doubt Lambert had ordered them not to interfere with the game, so they watched and waited.
The fight that had brought them to this point had been swift and bitter. Lambert had been expecting an attack, and he’d countered Julian’s lunge with a vicious roundhouse punch.
The tip of the wooden stake had shattered against an armored breastplate Lambert wore beneath his suit. The blow had knocked him down, though, and the two men had rolled on the ground, grappling like school boys.
Now they lay suspended in time, Julian panting from honest fatigue and the constriction of his throat, and Lambert grinning drunkenly from the thrill of finally getting the fight he wanted.
In another moment, the conflict would be over. The splintered stake was no threat to Lambert, and the lack of oxygen made colored spots appear before Julian’s eyes. He’d played his hand and lost, and now he was ready to relinquish his human existence.
Uncross My Heart Page 16