by Devon, Cat
“I appreciate the effort.”
“Do you?”
She nodded. “But I can’t believe anything you’re telling me right now.”
“Because I’m a vampire?”
“Because it’s too weird. Look, I’m still trying to wrap my brain around the fact that I live in a coven of vampires.”
“Covens are for witches.”
“Witches like me.”
“Actually you have druid blood, which is different.”
She waved her hands. “Witch, druid, what does it matter? It’s all crazy.”
“Not really. It makes sense.”
“To you maybe. Not to me.”
“Morgana’s story checks out.”
“How do you know that? Is there some kind of druid registry or something?”
“Not that I know of,” he said.
“Then how do you know it isn’t all just a wild story?”
“What does your gut tell you?” Nick asked.
She clutched her stomach. “It tells me that I am under too much stress.”
“You’ve hinted that you felt different growing up.”
“Because I was adopted. Not because I was some sort of weird thing.”
“You aren’t weird. You’re a hybrid.”
“Which is fine if you’re a car,” she retorted. “Not if you’re a person. Oh wait, I’m not a person after all. I’m a druid hybrid.”
“And damn proud of it, too, right?”
She glared at him. “Not funny.”
“Come on.” He nudged her lightly. “It’s a little bit funny.”
“If you have a warped vampire sense of humor maybe.”
“Wait, does that mean you think I’m warped or my humor is?”
“I’m glad you’re finding this all amusing.”
“You’re not going to cry, are you?” He eyed her in alarm.
“I might. So just deal with it. Unless you tough vampires can’t deal with a druid’s tears?”
“I can’t deal with your tears,” he growled. “I can deal with the fact that you’re cheerful and chatty but not with you crying.”
“What’s wrong with being cheerful and chatty?” she demanded, offended by his words for some reason. Maybe because he didn’t make those two traits sound like a compliment but rather a flaw.
Instead of answering, he said, “You never wondered about your birth mother?”
“I didn’t want to know.”
“Why not?”
“My mom said my birth mother died when I was born. She cried when she told me that. My mom didn’t cry. Ever. When I saw how distraught she got, I didn’t ask about it again.”
“What about after she died?”
“My dad was so torn up by her death that I didn’t have the heart to upset him further. And then I went away to college and trained in New York City. I was too busy living my life to look back. My parents were my parents as far as I was concerned.”
“And your birth father?”
“I was going to look into that someday. When I had time. There was no urgency. I had other things on my mind. The fact that I was adopted didn’t seem that relevant. I’d known it for a long time. Even if they hadn’t told me, I always sensed that I didn’t quite fit in. Not that I wasn’t loved a lot, because I was. And not that I was treated any differently, because I wasn’t.”
“But you had an ability that no one else had.”
“It wasn’t an ability I wanted. I didn’t want to see a vision of my mom dying before it happened. I didn’t want to believe it was true.” She slapped her hand over her mouth. She’d never confessed that to anyone. Visualizing her company logo was one thing. Seeing the future was another, especially when it involved her mother’s death. She’d convinced herself that she’d merely had a dream or something. That image of the car crash had been horrendous.
She should have said something to her mom. Warned her. And the fact that she hadn’t filled her with a guilt that had taken her years to recover from. She’d had to shove it so deep inside of her that it couldn’t be retrieved. Until today.
She couldn’t open that Pandora’s box of emotions so intense she was afraid it would destroy her. So she focused on her anger and once again shoved the guilt back into the depths of her mental vault.
“You didn’t want to believe you had a special talent just like you don’t want to believe what’s in that letter now,” he said “Why is it hard for you to accept?”
“Aw gee, I don’t know. Maybe the fact that we’re talking about druids here.”
“You already know vampires exist. Why not druids?”
“How many druids do you know?”
He shrugged. “It’s unlikely they’re going to tell me what they are.”
She reached for her iPad.
“What are you doing?” he said.
“Checking out what you said about nine-two-five and the silver mark.”
“I lied about that. Your tea strainer is really silver. Not enough silver to bother me, but not a fake.”
“What else have you lied about? Never mind. I downloaded Vampires for Dummies and I’m checking the index to see if druids and vampires have a history.”
“You’re not going to find that kind of information there.”
“You’re right. I should Google it.”
“No, don’t do that.”
But it was too late. She’d already clicked on a link. “Listen to this.” She read aloud, “‘Legend has it that Irish druids kept vampires locked in the hollows of ancient oak trees. Twice a year, during their druid celebrations, they’d feed unlucky people to these starving vampires. This practice was featured in Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles.’”
“I never read her books,” Nick said.
“Me neither because they are too damn scary. And now we find out that druids and vampires are not BFFs. More like mortal enemies.”
“That’s a little strong.”
“Really? You don’t think that locking vampires up and torturing them was twisted? Not to mention feeding people to them twice a year.” She shuddered.
“What are you doing now?”
“Checking the definition of druid. It says a druid is a priest, magician, or soothsayer in the ancient Celtic religion or a member of a present-day group claiming to represent or be derived from that religion. And under soothsayer, it says a person able to foresee the future.” She looked up from her iPad. “Great. That’s just great. I always wanted to be a soothsayer when I grew up,” she said sarcastically.
“So what does your soothsayer self say about your future?”
“That I’m about to freak out.” What if her mother believed that Daniella was able to see into the future? If Daniella had told her she’d had a dream about her mother dying in a car accident, maybe she would have stayed home that day and would still be alive today.
“Do not freak out,” Nick said. “There’s more to your story.”
“I don’t want to hear it.” She slapped her hands over her ears.
He gently lowered them “You have to hear it.”
“Does it involve oak trees or feeding tortured vampires?”
He paused.
“I knew it.” She shook her head vehemently. “I don’t want to know.”
“There’s no violence involved. Legend has it that if a vampire mates with a druid hybrid like you, their powers will increase.”
“So they can eat more people?”
Before Nick could say a word in response, the afternoon was shattered by the blast of a huge explosion.
Chapter Eighteen
Nick instantly had Daniella in his arms. She could feel the tension in his body as he assessed the situation. There were no flames in her apartment. The explosion had occurred elsewhere, but nearby.
“What … what was that?” Her voice was unsteady. The sound of car alarms going off filled the night air. “The funeral home? My dad and brother? My shop?” She frantically tried to get free.
He relea
sed her and glanced out the front window. “That was my car.”
“Who would blow up your car?”
“Someone who doesn’t like black Jaguars.”
“You drive a Jaguar?”
“I used to drive a Jaguar,” he said.
“But fire is deadly to vampires.”
“Which is why it’s a good thing I wasn’t driving it,” Nick noted drily. “It was meant to send a message.”
“What kind of a message?”
“That the war has progressed to the next level.” His voice was grim.
“So I guess this means the truce talks between your factions didn’t work out?”
“I’d concur with that assessment, yes.”
“How can you be so calm about all this? Someone just blew up your car!”
“Which is unfortunate. We have some vamps on the police force, but none in the fire department.”
“That’s understandable,” she said. “Fire and vampires do not mix.”
“True. But now we know why Miles is so intent on taking you. Because of the legend.”
“So now I’m not only dealing with a bunch of vampires and the fact that I may have weird druid blood, but there’s also a legend wrapped around the entire thing? Why am I not surprised?”
“Because you’re a soothsayer.”
“Don’t start with me,” she warned.
“Mating with you would increase a vampire’s powers. That’s why Miles wants you,” Nick said.
“And here I thought it was because of my sexy smile and sweet disposition,” she retorted.
“No, that’s why I want you,” he said with a slow grin. “I care about you.”
“You care about getting me in bed,” she said. “So this is all my fault.”
“Me wanting you? Okay, I’ll go along with that. It is all your fault.”
“I meant this war between you and Miles. Your car going up in flames. It was a Jaguar.”
“I can get another one.”
“You realize how this once again points out the differences between us. Not only are you a vampire and I’m supposedly some kind of druid hybrid, but you drive a Jaguar and I drive a Vespa. I didn’t even know you owned a car.”
“I fail to see what our vehicles have to do with anything.”
“We are total opposites. From different worlds.”
“And different vehicle dealerships. So what?”
“So what? So people are blowing things up because of me.”
“Not people.”
“Vampires are blowing things up because of me. Maybe this proves that vampires and druids don’t mix.”
“No, it proves that Miles would do anything to get you.”
“I’m just so glad that no one was hurt. No one was in the car, right?”
“No, no one was hurt.”
“It’s Halloween. What if people had been out on the street? Innocent bystanders just taking a walk could have been injured—or worse, killed by that explosion. I don’t think I can do this,” she said raggedly.
“Do what?”
“Any of this.”
“There is a way to end it.”
“Tell me what it is.”
“Have sex with me.”
* * *
Nick welcomed the fact that a loud pounding on the door prevented Daniella from replying to his comment. He could easily read the shock on her face, however. And perhaps a bit of interest as well? Or was that wishful thinking on his part?
The pounding continued.
“It’s Pat,” Nick said.
“How can you tell?” Daniella asked.
“His scent.” Nick went to open the door.
“You’re needed elsewhere,” Pat curtly told Nick.
“I can’t leave Daniella.”
“You can’t bring her with you,” Pat said. “I’ll watch over her until you return.”
“Where are you going?” she asked Nick.
“It’s better you don’t know,” Pat said. “We’re at Code Red,” he told Nick.
Nick nodded, but kept his eyes focused on Daniella as she answered a phone call from her father, no doubt wanting to make sure that she was okay. He watched the play of emotions race across her face: concern for her family, relief that they were fine, worry about the explosion.
Worry wasn’t an emotion that Nick had experienced very often since he’d been turned. It took a great deal to worry him. He’d displayed no emotion upon seeing his Jaguar in flames, other than relief that he had Daniella safe in his arms.
Normally an explosion of that magnitude would have blown out the windows on the block, but they’d had special windows put in during the last flare-up of hostilities with the Gold Coast clan. Unbeknownst to Daniella, they’d had the same specialty glass installed in her windows as well.
She completed her call with her father and turned to Nick. “What about my shop? I need to go downstairs and check it out.”
“No way.” Nick firmly took her by the shoulders and looked her right in the eye. “Your shop is fine.” Nick held up his smartphone and showed her a feed from the surveillance camera of the front of her shop. “You need to stay here with Pat.”
“You can’t compel me,” she reminded him.
“I’m trying to appeal to your common sense.”
“If I’m such a damn good soothsayer, then why didn’t I see that explosion coming?”
“Your skills aren’t as strong when it comes to vampires.”
“Great. That’s just great. What’s the point in having visions of the future if you can’t do anything about it? That sucks.”
“Soothsaying is not a perfect art.” Nick said.
“Clearly it’s not.” She tried to make sense of it all. “Could every one of my visions come true? What if a dream is just a dream or a nightmare just a nightmare and not some indication of an event yet to come?”
“I’m not certain of the way all this works,” he said. “I wish I was.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“Have you had any visions lately?” he asked.
She shook her head.
“So that’s a good thing, right?”
“Says the man whose Jaguar was just blown up.”
Nick valued the slight smile she gave him ten times more than he valued his luxury vehicle. And that was a problem.
“We’re at Code Red,” Pat reminded Nick.
“Understood.”
What Nick had yet to understand was exactly how he was going to convince Daniella that having sex with him was a good idea. He hadn’t wooed a woman since his Regency days.
Yes, they were definitely at Code Red here. Which meant Nick had better come up with a plan. And it had better be a damn good one for it to get Daniella into bed.
* * *
Daniella sat in her favorite chair and stroked the soft linen, proud to see that her fingers barely trembled at all. Nick had left her alone with Pat, which wasn’t a problem. Not really. After all, she’d been alone with Bruce and that had been fine. But that had also been in her shop and not her living room.
Not that Pat was intimidating. Okay, he was a little intimidating. “I assume you know about this legend business?” she said.
Pat nodded.
“Pretty weird, huh?” Now she was strumming her fingers nervously on the arm of the chair.
“My definition of weird is no doubt different from yours.”
“Probably. But even you have to admit that this druid thing is kind of out there.”
“The facts have been confirmed.”
“It’s a legend.”
“It was a legend,” Pat said. “Now it’s a fact.”
His certainty was giving her the willies. Time to change the subject. “I’m sick of talking about myself and this mess. Let’s talk about you instead. Nick told me a little about his background.”
“He did?”
“He’s a Regency vampire. What about you?”
“I go back farther than that,” Pat said.
“No.”
“What about when you first came to Chicago,” she asked. “Or is that off limits, too?”
“This car explosion tonight reminds me of my arrival in the city,” he admitted.
“It does? Why?”
“It was 1865. I was hanging out with the elite of the city. The Palmers, the Fields, the McCormicks. Those were exciting days. Or nights.”
“Were you able to go out in the sunshine as you can now?”
Pat shook his head. “My activities were restrained to the after-dark hours.”
She wasn’t sure she wanted to hear about those activities. “Is this going to get icky?”
“Icky?”
“You know, bloody?”
“Not if you choose not to learn about those episodes.”
“I’d rather not if you don’t mind,” she said.
He gave her a very direct look. “You do understand that vampires drink blood, correct?”
“Of course I know that. And I know you’re getting it from my family’s funeral home.”
“That’s where we are currently getting it,” Pat said. “Obviously we didn’t get it from there when I first came to Chicago.” He paused and once again gave her a look, only this time it was tinged with disapproval. “I fear you have a romantic idea of what our life is like.”
“I do not have a romantic bone in my body where vampires are concerned,” she said. She did have plenty of lusty hormones where one particular vampire named Nick was concerned, however. Not that she had any intention of telling Pat that.
“Have you seen Nick feed?” Pat said bluntly.
She gulped. “No. Some things should remain private.”
“Hmm.” Pat stared at her so long she started to squirm. Was he eyeing her as a meal? Okay, she really needed to stop being so paranoid. But that was difficult to do when banker vampires were blowing up cars on her block.
Like that Jennifer Lopez song, Daniella considered herself to just be Dani on the Block. She didn’t appreciate all this attention, especially from pissed-off bloodsuckers. She just wanted to bake her cupcakes in peace and quiet.
Clearly that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. Unless she had sex with Nick.
Yeah, right. Like that was going to simplify her life. Not.
“Do you know the difference between feelings and emotions?” Pat asked.