“You wanna try to take me down?” Aedan opened his arms wide, towering over Brian, trying to make light of the moment. “You wanna piece a dis?”
The teen, who seemed to be maturing by the day since Peigi’s death, laughed and backed away. “No way, man. I own the house. You’re the housekeeper. You answer the door.”
The teens roared with laughter.
Aedan threw the hand towel at Brian and walked out of the kitchen. When he opened the door, Kenzie was standing there, holding a plate covered in foil.
Brownies, the little girl telepathed, eyes downcast.
“Terrific! You make them?”
Mom.
Aedan grinned and let Kenzie duck under his arm so he could lean forward and kiss Dallas on the lips. “How are you doing?” he whispered.
She was paler than she had been before, but she looked good. Most of her wounds had already healed due to her vampire blood, including Jay’s signature on her left breast. In a few weeks, she would be unblemished, physically, by Jay’s attack. Aedan was unsure how long it would be before the emotional scars faded.
“I’m good.” She looked up at him, her eyes tearing over. She kissed him again, stroking his cheek, and laughed with embarrassment. “I . . . I still don’t know what to say to you. How to thank you for what you did, for what you did for Kenzie.”
He ushered her in the door. Kenzie waited in the hall for them. “Don’t thank me yet. This isn’t going to be easy. You’re going to be making some of the same transitions the teens are going through. We’ve got a lot to talk about.”
“Like the fact that you failed to tell me you’re a shape-shifter who can appear as different humans,” she whispered. She gave him a light punch in the bicep.
He frowned. “Kaleigh should keep her mouth shut.”
Dallas smiled up at him and rubbed his arm where she’d just thumped him. “She’s helping me understand how this all works. And I don’t care about what you did and didn’t tell me. You gave up a lot for me, for us. Your job, your—”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It does matter.” She grabbed his hands, looking into his eyes. “You play this off however you like. I know how much your job in Paris meant to you. Kaleigh said it could be lifetimes before they let you go back to work.”
He shrugged. “I’ll get fit working at the gym.”
“Aedan, this is serious.” She searched his gaze.
“I’m not worried about me. I’m worried about us,” he confessed.
“What do you mean?”
He looked down at the pretty, bright carpet at their feet. “I just . . . I hope you . . . don’t come to hate me.”
“Hate you? How could I ever hate you? You sacrificed so much for us.”
He shook his head. “But I cursed you, Dallas. You can’t forget that. We can never forget it.” He lifted his gaze to meet hers. “And with time, you’re going to realize how . . .” He stopped and started again. “I just hope you don’t come to hate me for what I did. For making you a vampire.”
“I could never hate you,” she breathed, lifting up to press a kiss to his lips. “Never.”
We’ll see, Aedan thought, his heart heavy. We’ll see in a hundred years, a thousand.
Then he leaned down and kissed Dallas again, lowering his mental barriers and letting her see who he was, who he had been.
“I love you,” she whispered, trembling. “And . . . and I know we can’t marry, but I think we could become a family.”
Kenzie slid her small hand into Aedan’s. We’re already a family, she telepathed.
Aedan laughed, and Dallas looked at him and then her daughter. “I don’t know what’s up with you two,” she said suspiciously. “But we’re going to have a talk. Very soon.”
Aedan put one arm around each of them and led them into the kitchen to meet the rest of his family. He wasn’t like Kenzie. He didn’t know what the future would bring, but tonight he felt as if he had, at last, come home.
Have you read all of the Clare Point
Vampire novels?
Take a trip to the Delaware beach town populated
with vampires, and get to know
the Kahills from the beginning.
Don’t forget your SPF 100. . . .
ETERNAL
Centuries ago, the shipwrecked vampire clan known as the Kahills came ashore on the sleepy Delaware peninsula of Clare Point. In Eternal, V.K. Forrest introduces readers to the ravishing, undead Fia Kahill, an FBI agent who’s in danger from a vampire-slayer—and the one man she must resist but can’t. . . .
FBI Agent Fia Kahill has just learned her cousin Bobby McCathal is dead. His body is found burned, and his head and hands are missing—the unmistakable calling card of a vampire-slayer. When more vampires’ corpses surface, Fia knows it’s only a matter of time before the killer catches up to her. But that’s not her only worry. She’s been assigned to work with FBI Agent Glen Duncan, who is the spitting image of Ian, the man she once loved—and the man who betrayed her. . . .
Four hundred years ago, Ian used his relationship with Fia to infiltrate the clan and kill as many of them as he could. Fia promised herself she would never make the mistake of loving a human again. With the murders in Clare Point escalating, Fia has no choice but to trust Glen even as her promise is becoming more difficult to keep. Fia wants Glen like no other man she’s ever desired—and before she knows what’s happening, she is deeply immersed in a forbidden love affair. But this time the consequences could be far graver than Fia ever could have imagined. For a killer has her in his sights as his next victim....
UNDYING
The Kahill vampire clan has lived among humans for hundreds of years in Delaware’s peaceful village of Clare Point. In Undying, V.K. Forrest introduces readers to Arlan, a fierce member of the clan who must fight his desire for a love most forbidden....
As part of the Kahill clan’s special operations “Kill Team,” Arlan is devoted to ridding the world of its most depraved human members. He’s been asked by fellow clan member and FBI Agent Fia Kahill to assist in one of her investigations: the notorious Buried Alive Killer case. Arlan agrees to meet with one of Fia’s key informants, Macy Smith, but he’s completely unprepared for his response to the young woman. Blond, petite, and achingly beautiful, Macy is everything Arlan could want in a woman—and it’s clear the attraction is mutual. Although Arlan once vowed he would never again let himself fall in love with a human being, he surrenders to his overpowering desire for Macy. . . .
Soon, Arlan and Macy keep mysteriously crossing each other’s paths, even in Clare Point. In Macy, Arlan can sense a loneliness that reminds him of his own and a vulnerability that tugs at his soul. But Macy is a drifter with a past far darker than even Arlan can imagine. And when the Buried Alive Killer strikes again, he learns that Macy has a deep connection to the case—one that will put her in the crosshairs of the killer if Arlan can’t find a way to protect her....
IMMORTAL
For centuries, the Kahill vampire clan has lived quietly among locals and tourists in the tranquil beachfront village of Clare Point. In Immortal, V.K. Forrest weaves the unforgettable tale of Fin, a Kahill clan leader who discovers that the woman he loves may harbor a secret too dark to comprehend. . . .
Magnetic, fearless Fin Kahill has dedicated his life to ridding the world of its most vicious serial killers. Fin is used to roaming the earth freely—not getting stuck in sleepy Clare Point. But when the clan needs him close by, Fin agrees to take a summer job on the town’s tiny police force. He expects little excitement—until he meets Elena, an ethereal Italian beauty.
As Fin struggles against his feelings for Elena, the peace in Clare Point is shattered by the inexplicable murder of a tourist. The young man’s throat has been cut, his body eerily posed. When the killer strikes again, Fin wonders if a member of his own clan is responsible. The only one he can turn to is Elena, but he knows that falling in love with a human can be a deadly mistake. Yet just
as Fin edges closer to solving the murders, he discovers Elena may not be exactly who, or what, she appears....
RAVENOUS
Welcome to the quiet coastal town of Clare Point, Delaware, where the Kahill vampire clan has made its home for centuries . . . and where one vampire’s love for a human woman could put their entire world at risk....
As a member of his clan’s “Kill Team,” Liam McCathal helps rid the world of undesirables. It’s the perfect job for a vampire of his talents—except that lately, Liam is getting a little too good at it. Which is why he’s back home to “cool off,” when Mai walks into his antique store and changes everything.
Liam’s not in the habit of making friends—least of all with beautiful, exotic human females. But something about Mai ignites a spark he hasn’t felt in over a century. When Mai’s uncle is killed and her father threatened, Liam takes on a ruthless crime boss and puts every vampire in Clare Point in danger of discovery. Because Mai’s father has secrets, too, and Liam is edging ever closer to losing his reputation, his clan, and the woman he would do anything to protect....
All available from Kensington Publishing in paperback and as eBooks.
ZEBRA BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 2012 by Colleen Faulkner
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the Publisher and neither the Author nor the Publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
Zebra and the Z logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.
ISBN: 978-1-4201-1711-0
eISBN-13: 978-1-4201-3395-0
eISBN-10: 1-4201-3395-0
First Zebra Books Electronic Edition: September 2013
Voracious - (Claire Point Vampire 5) Page 27