A Whisper of Humanity

by Denyse M. Bridger

  Cartier was seducing Faith slowly. That meant he intended to keep her with him and wanted her allegiance to be willingly given. Adrian had no doubt that she'd love the ancient by the time he took her, but as he always had, Cartier would eventually use that love to destroy her.

  It still left him with the quandary he'd started with—how could he stop Cartier? Especially when Faith would be fighting him every step of the way.

  * * * *

  The water soothed as it streamed over her flushed skin. Faith leaned back against the slick tiles of the wall and her eyes closed as a sob rose in her throat. She recognized her mistake an instant too late. Unseen hands closed over her breasts, skimmed the smooth curves of her body, and roused her thwarted passion of earlier. The whisper of a kiss at her throat made her head fall back. She bit her lip to suppress a moan when the feel of a gentle mouth covering first one ripe nipple then the other shot new waves of fierce desire through her entire body.

  "No...” It was a watery gasp of sound. She wasn't sure if it was a plea for the sensations to end, or not to be withdrawn a second time.

  Her knees gradually gave way and she slid down the wall. The water continued its gentle cascade over her as she lay sprawled on the floor of the large shower stall. This time the invisible hands that made love to her didn't relent. She thrust urgently into the demanding touch, her body surrendering to its own needs. She felt a hand between her thighs, expert fingers stroking and probing as she hovered on the edge of euphoria.

  Seconds later, as exquisite pleasure sent her senses reeling, she saw his face. Crystal clear, achingly beautiful, dominated by eyes so blue she felt herself drowning...

  * * * *

  "Faith!"

  Adrian pulled her to her feet, and cut the flow of water in the shower. He bundled her up in a fluffy bathrobe and held her as she coughed and struggled to breathe again. The shaking that assailed her didn't diminish, so he scooped her into his arms and carried her back into the bedroom. When he would have set her on the bed and withdrawn, she clung to him and cried.

  Adrian held her for a long time before the sobs eased, then ceased entirely. A few more moments passed before she hesitantly drew away from him. Dazed brown eyes pleaded for an explanation he knew she was already afraid to hear. He smiled, reassurance in the expression, then rose. “I'm taking you some place safe,” he told her quietly.

  Faith shook her head, the response mechanical, instinctive. She pushed damp tendrils of dark hair away from her face and met his sharp look evenly.

  "I can take care of myself, Adrian,” she said with surprising and welcome steadiness. “I've been doing precisely that for a number of years."

  "You have no defenses against Cartier,” Blackthorne informed her.

  "Cartier,” she repeated. “What is with you and this guy? He's no different from any other man who's tried to—"

  "He's a damn sight ‘different’ than anyone you've ever known, Faith!” Adrian glared at her, his anger clearly telegraphed by his agitation and his tone. “I know him, you don't."

  "So I'm supposed to be a good little girl and do as you tell me, is that it?” She realized as she said the words that she sounded like a complete fool, but he was pissing her off a great deal more than he should be. It didn't help that she'd been exposed to him both physically and emotionally as she had few other men. Faith didn't like feeling vulnerable, and she felt naked in all ways as she stared into Adrian Blackthorne's beautiful blue eyes.

  "If you want to continue living, you'll do exactly as I ask,” Adrian replied with a solemn stare.

  "No."

  His gaze narrowed.

  "Yes.” Adrian sat in front of her, held her gaze, and felt the attempt she made to look away. “You want to go with me, Faith,” he murmured softly, weaving the hypnotic spell that would assure her cooperation. “You know I'm only trying to keep you safe. You want to go with me."

  "Want to go with you,” she repeated softly. Their eyes held each other for an eternity of moments before she wrenched free of the mesmerizing intensity of Adrian's stare. “Damn it, Blackthorne! That's not fair."

  Adrian sighed heavily.

  After a long hesitation, she dared to look at him again and relented when she read the sincere worry in his eyes.

  "Okay, I'll go with you."

  He was immediately wary.

  She smiled.

  "I mean it, if you think it's really necessary, I'll go."

  "Why?"

  "Because I'm afraid,” she admitted with the direct candor that she'd met him with from the moment they'd been introduced in the squad room. There didn't seem much point to pretending with him anyway, considering their present circumstances and the tone of the evening so far. “I want answers that I suspect only you can give me."

  He ignored the undercurrent of subtle warning in the soft words. He knew she had no intention of allowing him to avoid her queries, and he was already concerned about how much he'd have to reveal to satisfy her understandable anxiety.

  * * * *

  It didn't take long to gather together her belongings. She paid the bill and followed Adrian as he headed for his car. He tossed her small case in the trunk and held the passenger door open for her.

  "Chivalry is not dead after all,” she remarked with a grin.

  "Yeah, but don't expect me wear amour,” Adrian winked at her, slammed the door shut, and ran around to his side. Minutes later they were en route to his apartment.

  * * * *

  The call came over the radio less than five minutes after they'd left the hotel. Faith saw the indecision written so plainly on Adrian's features and she bent to take the radio.

  "What's your I.D.? You want to take this call, so let's do it."

  "Thirteen kilo,” he answered with a shake of his head.

  She was giving their location and their E.T.A. as he swung the car into a sharp turn. Whatever else might be going on, he still had a job to do, and it didn't stop because he was having a personal situation.

  * * * *

  Cartier knew the moment she left the hotel. He smiled and continued to lull his enthralled audience, his voice spinning silk into the airwaves as he luxuriated in his own dark fantasy. He ruled supreme, and soon, very soon, he would have a worthy consort to share his reign.

  * * * *

  Shiller strolled over to the car and grinned down at Faith. Adrian had ordered her to stay in the car, and she was still furious with him. He was keeping his distance at the moment, talking to Giselle Lambert near the mouth of the alley that was the crime scene. She pulled her features into some semblance of a smile and returned Shiller's cheerful greeting.

  "I thought you'd be winging your way back to L.A. by now,” he commented as he leaned against Blackthorne's car.

  "I decided to stay for a few days,” she laughed. “It's been about a decade since my last vacation, so I've designated Montreal as the hot-spot of choice."

  Don's mouth opened to answer, but Captain Yvonne Cohen's summons had him heading to her side with only a shrug and a grimace cast in Faith's direction. A few minutes later the vehicles at the scene were moving out, and Adrian rejoined her.

  * * * *

  "Won't you be needed at the station?” she questioned once she saw they were again headed in the direction of his apartment.

  "I told Shiller I'd be in as soon as you were settled in a new hotel.” He smiled.

  "Oh?"

  "Giselle's going to stop by later."

  "Giselle? Why, for God's sake? I'm more than capable of spending a few hours alone, Blackthorne. Not that I'm as convinced of this plan as I was earlier.” She'd been having serious doubts about the entire situation ever since they'd left the hotel.

  His response, if he had intended to make one, was forgotten as the sound of a gunshot whistled in the night air. Adrian felt the car swerve crazily as the left front tire was blown. He managed to bring the car to a halt near the curb, then he and Faith were on the sidewalk and running. He pushed her toward
a partially concealed doorway, and spun to locate the shooter. Another shot shattered the relative quiet. He felt the bullet pass through him, then heard a strangled cry of pain and shock behind him.

  Instinct took over. His fangs extruded and he was on the other side of the street instantly. A flurry of running feet told him which direction his quarry had taken. He winced as a second bullet entered his body. He would have pursued the assailant, but the twinge of pain reminded him of a more pressing emergency. Snarling with impotent fury, Adrian knew he had to lose the shooter, if there was only one, or possibly lose Faith. He had no way of knowing how badly injured she was, and he wasn't foolish enough to not believe she had been the one hit by the bullet that had gone through him.

  * * * *

  "Are you crazy, Adrian?” Giselle gasped when he placed the unconscious woman on one of the lab gurneys. “She needs to go to a hospital, not a morgue. In case you haven't noticed, she's still breathing! None of the other patients are."

  "She wouldn't be safe at a hospital, Giselle,” he told her urgently. “Do what you can, then we'll move her to my apartment."

  "Adrian!” She took a good look at his face, recognized the familiar stubborn set, and relented without a fight. “Fine."

  "I don't think it's serious,” he told her as she worked. After a good look at the wound, a deep graze located just above the waist on the right side, Giselle concurred.

  "What happened?"

  "Drive-by shooting,” Adrian told her. “Shiller's checking into it now. No one knows she was hit."

  "How'd you manage that?” Giselle began, then shook her head and grinned. “Never mind, I probably don't want to know."

  Adrian smiled in agreement.

  * * * *

  Cartier's face clouded with annoyance when he read the news report that had come into the radio station. The two incidents were probably linked—the death in the alley, and the attempt on Adrian's life only a couple of miles away from the crime scene. He was mulling over the implications when the call was transferred to his private line.

  An unknown witness, one of Cartier's, had spotted gang colors. The area of the city would have told Cartier who the would-be assassins were, but his informant supplied the name without hesitation. It was the final piece of news that escalated the ancient vampire's concern to irrational and sudden rage.

  When he calmed the initial spurt of fury, he wanted to see her, to discover if his response was born of fantasy, or if she truly was as appealing as he believed her to be. His attachment bordered on human infatuation, and Cartier would not tolerate humanity, especially in himself.

  * * * *

  "She's going to need rest, Adrian,” Giselle said as they settled Faith into Blackthorne's bed. The coroner tried not to resent the attentiveness in Adrian's manner as he settled the injured officer more comfortably, then kissed her forehead.

  "You guys got pretty close during the investigation,” Giselle murmured before she could stifle the words. She groaned inwardly, cursing herself for the jealousy she knew he'd read into the statement. How could he see anything else when she couldn't deny it to her own conscience? He didn't seem to hear her, and she complied gratefully when he took her by the elbow and led her from the room.

  "I'm worried, Giselle,” Adrian answered once they were back in his living room. “Cartier wants her."

  "Cartier?” Giselle understood his apprehension. She knew that she'd met the master vampire once, though the memory was hazy. Still, the lingering terror his name invoked was anything but vague and indistinct.

  "It's a long story, Giselle. That's why she has to stay here. In a hospital, he'd find her in a matter of hours."

  "And you think he won't look here?” She sounded astonished at his lack of logic. “If he knows she's a friend of yours, this will be the first place he checks when she disappears."

  "No one knows she was hurt. He'll assume she went back to Los Angeles,” Adrian said. He wanted to believe it would be that simple. “Maybe he'll leave to find her?” he added with false optimism.

  You wish! Giselle thought sardonically. She said nothing.

  The phone ringing averted the need for a reply, and she gazed up toward the bedroom as Adrian crossed to answer the call.

  "Shiller's got a lead on the shooters,” Adrian told her minutes later as he hauled on his coat and headed for the door. “Stay with her until I get back."

  He was gone before she could object or acquiesce.

  * * * *

  Giselle's heart rose to her throat when she looked up from the novel she'd been reading. The book slid from suddenly lifeless hands and she stared into dazzling blue eyes as icy terror flooded her veins.

  "Dr. Lambert,” Cartier murmured softly, his tone alluring and seductive. “Lovely as always,” he added as he took one of her hands and raised it briefly to his lips.

  "Adrian's not here,” she whispered, annoyed when her voice shook.

  He smiled.

  "It's not Adrian I wish to see,” he told her quietly.

  Giselle knew exactly who he wanted to see and wondered how she was supposed to stop him from going upstairs. It was a moot point moments later. Cartier's blue eyes flickered in her vision and drew her inward, overwhelming her will. Every part of her wanted to resist, but she fell effortlessly into the peaceful darkness of unconsciousness.

  * * * *

  Cartier caught her as she fell and placed her back on the leather sofa. He didn't spare her further attention as the sound of a second heartbeat told him where he'd find Faith Prentice.

  He entered Adrian's bedroom and stood for a few moments at the foot of the bed. Faith slept, deeply and without dreams. There was a sense of pain lurking beneath the balm of drugs. It was that twinge of awareness that led him to her side. He sat on the edge of the mattress and pulled aside the blankets. His breath escaped in a hiss of relief seconds later when he saw that the injury was a minor one.

  Faith whispered softly, still asleep. Cartier smiled as he discerned his name on her lips, his image within her mind. His nearness had cleared some of the fog from her thoughts. The knowledge should not have pleased him as much as it did, and he was again forced to search his responses.

  * * * *

  Faith knew he was beside her before she opened her eyes to confirm it. His presence was unmistakable. Excitement knotted her stomach, and with it came fear. Her recollections of Cartier were a distortion of images that refused to be made clear. Fangs and glowing eyes accompanied the sensations of unbearable longing and urgent lust.

  Her eyes opened fully and she smiled when she saw him, the response natural in spite of her trepidation. He said nothing. She sighed breathlessly when long fingers smoothed over her forehead, down the curve of her cheek, and came to rest at the pulse that fluttered at the base of her neck.

  "Those responsible for your injury will be dealt with, Faith,” Cartier promised.

  When she would have answered, he silenced her with a tender kiss. She responded instantly. Her mouth softened beneath his, and she invited a more intimate caress. When he began to draw away, she gasped in denial. He laughed before indulging her. His lips covered hers a second time, and his tongue met the restless thrust of hers as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

  The second time he pulled away from her, she didn't attempt to prevent his departure. He smiled down at her, kissed her forehead, then stood.

  "We'll be together, Faith. As soon as I've finished what needs to be done."

  She nodded, completely entranced. Adoration shone in her eyes as she watched him leave.

  * * * *

  Giselle shook herself back to awareness with a muffled curse. Cartier's face loomed within her mind's eye. She felt a moment of pure panic when she recalled how easily she'd fallen under his hypnotic spell. A glance at her watch told her she'd been out for less than an hour. That calculation wasn't important, she berated herself as she climbed to her feet and took a step toward the stairs. How long did it take a vampire to kill someone? Cert
ainly not an hour!

  Her legs didn't want to support her and she fell. The sudden jolt sent her shaken senses reeling and blackness engulfed her a second time.

  * * * *

  Faith heard the low thud that drifted up from the lower floor of the loft. It was then that she remembered Giselle Lambert was in the apartment. It was blurry, but the coroner was there, she was certain of it. Had Cartier hurt Giselle? Her heart rejected the thought. Her mind assured her it was a real possibility. Logic won, and Faith tried to leave the bed.

  Pain rushed through her, and she gasped loudly. She managed to get to her feet and promptly collapsed from the exertion. She moaned in agony as blistering lances of fire shot upward from her side. She was afraid to move, and more afraid not to. When she went down the second time minutes later, at the top of the stairs, she passed out.

  * * * *

  Cartier stood near the rear entrance to the abandoned store-front that acted as headquarters to the group he was hunting. His vampiric senses caught the throb of collective heartbeats, and the scent of warm blood beckoned, inflaming his heightened emotions. These mortal children had dared to injure Cartier's chosen prize, and they were about to learn what the price of their blunder would be.

  Soundlessly, he stepped into the lair.

  There were five young men in the gloomy area, several were drinking, one kept a half-hearted watch, and the final member was in the darkest corner, screwing a girl who was more oblivious to than interested in what was going on.

  For a minute, time stood still. They stared at the vampire in undisguised disbelief. Cartier allowed them their moment of shock, and smiled. The change in his expression seemed to galvanize them into a frenzy of motion.

  One of the three who drank tossed aside his beer, quickly pulled a gun, and fired. Cartier didn't flinch as the bullet tore through his chest. He smiled again, this time revealing gleaming fangs. He was immune to the choked screams of terror as his eyes fastened on the boy who'd shot at him. The vampire was a blur of motion. Cartier seized the youth, smoothly snapping his neck, and then the vampire's fangs descended. Seconds later he tossed aside the drained body.