by Ann Cory
A sexy smirk passed her lips. “You’re good, you know that? Do you use these lines on all the women you bring home?”
Offended, he sent her a sharp look. “They aren’t lines. I speak from my heart. And, there aren’t any other women. Only you.”
Aubrey pressed her lips together and arched her eyebrows. “I have a hard time believing that. I mean, you’re a very handsome man.”
His pulse sped up. “I’m flattered you think so, but there is a very real and important reason I don’t see other women.”
She broke eye contact and his breath stilled. “More riddles and secrets. You say I know you, and at the same time, you speak in these cryptic words that leave me more confused. If you want me to stay, then explain yourself. Give me a reason to believe anything you say. Tell me why you would come into my dreams like some twisted sandman.”
Impressed by her bravery, Varick decided he owed her the truth, even if it drove her away. This secret would always hang over them and would likely draw them further apart. If there was even the slightest chance of her trusting in him, he’d have to be real with her. “I will do my best, but you need to have an open mind.”
Her expression softened. “I’m very open-minded.”
“Yes well, this will be a stretch. Ten years ago, I made a promise that no harm would come to you. The same promise was made between my mentor, Dante, and your mother.”
She gasped. “My mother?”
Her body trembled, and he resumed circling his hands along her calves.
“Yes. Dante and your mother were lovers, soul mates they claimed. He didn’t want any other woman, but his presence wasn’t welcome by those who knew your mother.”
Her brows knitted together and etched a new crease along her forehead. “I don’t remember her mentioning the name Dante.”
He shrugged. “To protect you, she wouldn’t have.”
The crease deepened and he longed to kiss it away.
“Protect me from what, exactly?”
Varick rested his tongue at the corner of his mouth a moment then continued. “I need you to ignore what makes sense for a moment. Dante wasn’t like you or your mother. He was a vampire. It wasn’t his intention to fall in love with a mortal woman, but he followed his heart.”
Aubrey snorted. “A vampire?”
He didn’t really expect her to believe him. “Yes.”
She shot him a sceptical look. “Give me a break. How could my mother love some repulsive fictional creature?”
Varick resisted the urge to overreact or get defensive. She was naïve and frightened. Hell, she was only human.
“Tell me something. Do I look like a creature to you?”
Her gaze moved along his features, driving his pulse up several notches.
“Of course not.”
“I appear to you as Dante appeared to your mother. I am a vampire. We are from the same coven.”
She jerked her legs away from his touch, her body poised to leave. “What?”
Desperation flowed through Varick’s veins. He couldn’t lose her now, not after revealing himself. His mind struggled with words, to say something that would soothe her fears.
“Please, you asked me to explain, and I’m doing my best. Vampires are real, and very misunderstood. We are not the bloodthirsty vermin you see in movies. In fact, the lifestyle is subdued and peaceful. It is my duty as coven leader to keep it that way.”
Her head moved slowly from side to side. “You can’t be a vampire.”
He arched his brows. “You expected me to look a certain way, I presume.”
Arm bent, she rested her head into her palm. “Well...I mean, I don’t know. Where are your fangs?”
Varick laughed and shook his head. “I don’t wish to feed on you, so they’re well hidden. Let me ask you a question, and I mean no disrespect. Do you remember the night your mother died?”
Aubrey gasped. Even after twenty years she found it difficult to hear those words strung together. She’d never truly dealt with the loss of her mother. No one had given her the chance. In a single night her world had changed, and she’d struggled ever since to find a sense of reality. Now this beautiful man stood before her, challenging her reality again. With his haunting eyes and provocative presence, he stirred her emotions. She should be afraid, but her body remained curious. Her mind was too.
“I know the night my mother died. I was ten years old and that day I grew up. How my mother died has always been fuzzy. People told me she was ill, others said it was an accident. I’ve had the oddest feeling neither is the truth. My instincts tell me otherwise.”
“You’d do well to trust those instincts. I’ve watched you toss and turn at night with sheets wrapped around your body, beads of sweat along your forehead. Your nightmares show you the truth of what befell that tragic night.”
Goose bumps spread up her spine. She swallowed hard, afraid to ask her next question. “Do you know what happened to my mother?”
He sat at the edge of the lounge. His close proximity made her heart pound.
“Yes, as do you. Your mind has sheltered you. The scene you witnessed as a little girl could have scarred you for life.”
Helplessness, that’s what she remembered most. “I think that I remember bits and pieces, but mostly I remember I was scared and couldn’t do anything. I’ve always wanted to know… Um. Never mind.”
He leaned forward and she glanced briefly at his broad shoulders and sculpted chest. It was difficult to ignore the way her body had heated up since he’d entered the room. She flushed and felt herself go wet between her thighs. Why did she act like a kid in a candy store?
“Please, what do you want to know?”
She chewed her lip, afraid of the answer. “Did she go in peace?”
He replied with a solemn nod. Aubrey reached out her hand and touched his shoulder. “Please, would you tell me what happened?”
The sadness in his expression seeped into his voice. “I’m not sure you want to hear it from me.”
Who else would ever be so bold and honest? “No one else will tell me the truth. I’ve been lied to for most of my life.”
His hesitation made her pulse pound. “It’s upsetting…”
She sighed. The one person who knew and he was being resistant. “I’m an adult. Twenty years have passed. I should be able to handle it better than I could at ten. Please, I beg you.”
Aubrey took hold of both his hands. Warm. Inviting. Strangely familiar. She resisted the urge to reach out and touch his face, press her lips to his.
After an extended pause he finally spoke. “Very well. I’ll stop any time you want.”
She nodded and prompted him with a look to continue.
“There had been a string of murders in the neighbourhood where you used to live. Because of the manner in which the people were found, rumours spread of a rabid animal or an evil monster. I’ll spare you the grisly details, for they’re unnecessary.”
Her chest tightened. “Was it an animal?”
His lip twitched briefly. “No, the newspapers would later declare the person a serial killer. At the time, no one cared about facts. Drama sells papers. The truth doesn’t. People sought to put blame on anything or anyone seeming even the slightest bit out of place. Acquaintances and friends of your mother claimed the nights Dante was seen in her home were the same nights the reported deaths occurred.”
Shivers feathered down her spine. “Is that true?”
He shrugged. “If they were it was merely coincidental. Close friends betrayed your mother and went to the police. They said a strange man visited her at night and was gone well before the sun rose, prompting suspicion. They said he had white, pasty skin and devil red eyes, and that they feared for their lives. Once word got around, the rumours spread like wildfire. They screamed vampire and pointed fingers at Dante.”
Aubrey shook. It all sounded frightening and ridiculous at the same time. Something from a late-night movie, not real life. “What did my moth
er do?”
He reached out for her, but she cowered. Not so much out of fear, but more for what his touch did to her.
“As Dante relayed it to me, he told your mother he would stop seeing her until the panic died down, but she wouldn’t have it. They were truly in love. He always said it was love at first sight. Your mother refused to let others tear them apart. On the night your mother passed away, Dante had just left when several men broke into your home. She hid you in the closet and told you to stay put, no matter what.”
Blood drained from her face, the memory, a faded picture in her mind. “She must have been frightened.”
Varick stood and paced in front of her. “Love was her strength. You see, Dante could have changed her into an immortal, but he loved her too much and didn’t want to make her choose. Didn’t want her to regret anything. She wanted to raise you the right way. The men who came to her meant to use her as bait, a way to lure the creature they had fixed in their minds. She refused to divulge Dante’s identity to anyone and paid for it with her life. Your mother sacrificed herself for him.”
Small blips of her nightmares flashed in her mind. Tears streamed down the sides of her face as reality hit her.
“I remember her screams. At one point I stood and peered out the slits of the closet door. Oh God, and they beat her. She cried and screamed, but they continued to hurt her. I wanted to help but didn’t know how. Then everything went quiet.” Aubrey paused a moment, her chest so tight it hurt to breathe. “When did she ask Dante to watch over me?”
He stopped pacing and sat beside her again. “She said in the beginning of their relationship that if something happened to her, he would be your guardian. To watch over you, make sure you remained safe. Dante promised and swore an oath to her.”
Aubrey covered her face in her hands and sobbed. Varick rested his hand on her knee, but this time she didn’t pull away. It comforted her.
“I’m sorry. I’ll leave you alone to grieve.”
“No.” She leaned forward and pulled him close. “I’m tired of being alone.” God she wanted to kiss him. Tear his clothes off and fuck him right there. Anything to keep from dealing with the ache inside her chest. Her gaze passed from his eyes to his lips, but he didn’t seem to take notice.
With a thoughtful brow, he smiled. “You’ve never really been alone.”
She tasted the salt in the corner of her mouth as the tears continued to fall.
“Tell me where your part is in all of this. Why were you left to watch me if Dante made the promise to my mother? Did he ever feel remorse?”
He cast a prideful glance. “Yes, I can assure you, he did. Every single day. In fact her death ate away at him. The pain of losing the one woman he loved more than anything else made him ill, and every day he faded away until he died. He gave up.”
Aubrey scrunched her face up. “But, shouldn’t he have lived forever?”
His tone softened. “He didn’t wish to. The day your mother died, something inside him died as well. I watched the changes, subtle at first, but the blackness in his heart overtook him in a matter of months. Believe me, he put all the blame on himself.”
“Good.” She’d meant it as a thought, but instead she voiced it. Immediately she felt bad.
If she’d hurt him, she couldn’t tell. His gaze had turned downward. “I understand why you feel that way, and I won’t try to make you see things differently. You lost your mother and have a right to all the anger and hatred you hold.”
Backtracking, she tried a different approach. “You say this Dante was a mentor?”
She watched his gaze drift in remembrance. “Yes. A mentor. A father. My friend. He helped raise me when my real father abandoned the coven. Dante said I would one day take over the coven in his place and prepped me. I never wanted it. At the same time he prepared me to look after you. Even in death he refused to let your mother down. I promised him I would keep watch. I’ve never stopped.”
Aubrey heard his words, but she had difficulty digesting them. Age and maturity hadn’t helped her mentally prepare for hearing the truth about her mother. If anything it made her wish she’d been brave enough to do something that night.
Grief-stricken, she shook her head and stood. Right now she needed to be alone. She knew what it was to be alone. It was safe. If she stayed here, she might do something she’d regret.
“I’m sorry. I want to go home. You said I could leave whenever I wanted.”
A look of anguish streaked his handsome face. “Now?”
Her heart said yes, but her body created conflict. If this is what he did to her, she couldn’t be around him. She felt exposed, irrational, and dangerously close to giving herself to him. How could she even think about sex with a—a vampire? Look where it had gotten her mother.
Aubrey’s voice shook as she tried to sound confident in her decision. “Yes. Take me home. As of tonight I want you to leave me alone. I don’t want you in my thoughts, or in my dreams. I want to be my own person, and I can’t if I know someone is watching my every move.”
Several minutes of silence passed, and she didn’t know what else to say.
Finally he spoke in his deep, rich tone. “You don’t understand.”
Why did she feel like an invisible string holding them together had suddenly broken apart? They weren’t bound. Despite what he’d shared with her or the familiarity of his touch and face from her dreams, she didn’t know him.
Aubrey averted her gaze from his tortured stare. “Yes, I do understand. The promise you made, you’ve more than fulfilled it. You don’t have to concern yourself with my life or my choices, poor as they usually are. It isn’t that I don’t appreciate what you’ve tried to do, but I’m an adult. I’m not the little girl who had her mother ripped from her. I can take care of myself.”
“Please, I—”
Hand up, she put considerable distance between them. “Thank you for being the first person to tell me the truth. I will always be grateful. From here on out, we go our separate ways.”
He took a step toward her. “You don’t know what you’re asking of me.”
Aubrey almost wished her car had gone over the cliff after all. With a sigh she went to the doorway and spoke to him over her shoulder. “No more. Now, take me home.”
Chapter Four
Varick paced in the corridor. It pained him to leave Aubrey after everything she’d been through. A near fatal accident, betrayal by a lover, learning the truth of her mother and meeting a man who practically admitted he was a stalker. For years he’d practiced how their initial meeting would go, and none of it had gone according to plan. He’d blown it by revealing too much at once. While not a child, she was still fragile.
He smoothed his hand over his face. He’d almost opened up about his feelings. Almost spoken of his love for her. What had he expected would happen? That she’d spread her arms and welcome him without hesitation? Look into his eyes and fall madly in love with a stranger, a monster in her eyes? His life had been full all these years only because it held purpose—guarding her life. Her request to part ways didn’t sit well. Without her to look after, he lacked…meaning.
Varick stepped into the Grieving Hall and knelt beside Dante’s tomb, his head bowed in shame. “I’ve failed you, and by doing so, I’ve failed Laura, Aubrey, this coven, and myself. I’m sorry.”
Everything he touched turned to failure. No one wanted him as leader, they’d rather serve under Luke. Much as he disliked his coven brother, Luke had come before him and had expected to be the next in line. It seemed a day didn’t go by where he wasn’t reminded of that fact. He missed Dante’s guidance. His great mentor had a flawless way of putting their family’s best interests first while keeping balance. Varick knew he would never be as wise and experienced. What good was being leader if he lacked the ability to lead? Try as he might, thoughts of righting the coven were overshadowed by his emotions for Aubrey. More than his craving to kiss her lips and taste the apex between her thighs, he needed to
be sure she stayed out of harm’s way.
Varick rose and paced the room. He forced himself to not use his mind’s eye to see into her thoughts. The night would torture him, not having the beauty of her dreams to slip into. In the dreams they were lovers. In the dreams she welcomed him and wanted him. But not now. Now that she knew what he really was.
How could he separate himself from her after all this time? How could he pretend not to care? He stalked up and down the floor, cursing his own stupidity. At one time he had the strength of ten men. Dante’s death sapped him of everything. His courage, his confidence, and his honour. What good was he to anyone?
Frustrated, Varick left the Grievance Hall and descended the marble staircase to the lower level. Blake, one of his coven brothers, sat in the commons room, a thick book sprawled open in his lap.
With a glance upwards, he nodded. “Ah, my brother, you look troubled.”
Of all his coven brothers, Varick trusted Blake the most. “I’m afraid my mind is reeling tonight.”
The silver-haired vampire closed his book and smiled. “I’d be happy to listen if it will help.”
Varick sat across from him, his leg propped on his opposite knee.
“It’s Aubrey.”
“Ah yes, females—they’re the devil.”
He winced. While loyal to his coven, he couldn’t bear to have anyone speak unkindly about Aubrey. “Not so. Not her. She’s different.”
Blake cast him a comical look and laughed. “Brother, I only meant it in jest. I’m referring to all females and the hold they have over us, whether we like it or not.”
Varick feigned amusement, not wanting to alienate the one person he could confide in right then. “I apologise. Touchy subject, I guess.”