“Where do you live?” he asked.
Trapped in the web of his gaze, she gave him her address.
Outside her house, Ethan wiped all memory of what had happened from her mind, then carried her to the front door and rang the bell. When he heard footsteps, he willed himself back to the tavern. He dragged Mateo’s body outside, where the morning sun would quickly disintegrate the remains. He left the dead man inside. Sooner or later, someone would find him.
Ethan thought briefly of going back to Sofia’s to make sure she was all right, but then he remembered how she had looked at him, the revulsion in her eyes.
* * *
Sofia closed the door, shot the dead bolt home, then placed a chair under the knob. For a moment, she just stood there, wondering if she would ever again feel safe in her apartment, or anywhere else for that matter. She longed for a hot bath to wash away Mateo’s touch but couldn’t abide the thought of being naked and vulnerable.
She settled for washing her hands, face, and arms, then slipped into her nightgown. Leaving all the lights burning in the living room and bedroom, she crawled into bed, where she huddled under her blankets.
But every time she closed her eyes, she saw Mateo’s friend coming through the door, remembered trying to fight him off, the sickly sweet scent of the drug on the rag he had pressed over her mouth and nose, waking up in the dark. She remembered using a hairpin to unlock the door, then creeping up the stairs.
And into the middle of a nightmare. She had never seen so much blood.
She had been relieved to see Ethan and yet repelled as well. She knew he had killed Mateo and the other man. She had little doubt that the night would have ended differently if Mateo had won the battle. Ethan had likely saved her from a horrible death. And yet . . . she knew the memory of what she had seen would stay with her forever.
Micah had tried to tell her what it was like to be a vampire.
Tonight, she had seen it with her own eyes.
It was a lesson she would never forget.
Chapter Nine
Ethan strolled the dark streets of Morgan Creek. After last night, he was pretty sure Sofia wasn’t in any itching hurry to be with him again. He’d seen the look of revulsion in her eyes, sensed her horror at what had happened. Not that he blamed her. She’d seen things no mortal should ever see.
With a pithy curse, he shut her out of his mind. So much for dating, he mused glumly. He had given it a try. Now what? He had been a vampire only a couple of months. What did vampires do with their time? It didn’t take long to hunt for prey, and once that was done, what was left? Sure, Saintcrow had suggested Ethan travel the world. Easy for him to say. The master vampire could be awake during the day. He had a beautiful wife who adored him. He was richer than Donald Trump. He had lairs all over the world.
Comparing himself to Saintcrow was ludicrous. Ethan shook his head. He had sold his home, which would leave him with a few thousand dollars after he’d paid off the Realtor and his loan. True, Saintcrow had said he could stay here as long as he wanted, but there wasn’t a helluva lot to do in Morgan Creek, other than run old films in the movie theater.
He dragged a hand across his jaw as he passed the old gas pump. When he had first seen the town, he’d thought that, if it was his, he would level all the buildings and start from scratch. But now, with a second look, he changed his mind. He had dabbled a little in real estate, enough to realize that there was a certain rustic charm to Morgan Creek. The old gas pump was vintage. The tavern reminded him of a Roaring 20s speakeasy. The houses were good-sized and had been well cared for. If someone added a few modern conveniences, upgraded the carpets and the appliances, repainted the houses inside and out, they would make great summer rentals. The theater had recently been updated. With a good hotel and restaurant, and a pool that wasn’t cracked, Morgan Creek could be turned into a profitable vacation resort. But, again, he didn’t have that kind of money.
But Saintcrow did.
Pulling his cell phone from his pocket, Ethan called the master vampire.
* * *
Saintcrow answered on the second ring. “What’s wrong now?”
“You said I could stay here as long as I like, right?”
“Yeah.”
Ethan didn’t miss the wariness in Saintcrow’s voice. “How would you feel about giving me a loan?”
“For what?”
“I’d like to turn this place into a resort. Swimming in the summer. Skiing in the winter. I thought I’d renovate that old hotel and all the other buildings, especially the restaurant. The pool needs some work, too. The theater looks pretty good.”
“So, after you turn the town into Shangri-la, who’s gonna run it? You?”
“I guess I’d have to hire some help to work during the day, and . . .” Ethan paused when he heard Kadie’s voice asking questions in the background.
“Kadie says do whatever you want, we’ll pay the bills.”
Ethan blinked several times, unable to believe his ears. “You mean it?” It was too easy, he thought. There had to be a catch.
“Just one thing,” Saintcrow said. “Make that two things.”
Ethan blew out a sigh. Here it comes.
“Don’t touch my lair or tear down Blair House. Do whatever you want with the rest of the town. Oh, and Kadie says don’t get rid of the old gas pump. And don’t mess with the cemetery.”
“About the cemetery—would it be okay if I replaced the old wooden fence with a wrought-iron one, and maybe replace some of the markers? Might make an interesting attraction for tourists.”
Ethan heard the phone change hands, and then Kadie’s voice came over the line. “If you make it modern and replace all the old markers, it will just look like any other cemetery. I think you should leave it alone.”
“You heard the boss,” Saintcrow said. “Keep us up-to-date.”
“Send photos!” Kadie called as Saintcrow disconnected the call.
Ethan slipped his phone back into his pocket, unable to believe the master vampire had pretty much given him the go-ahead to do whatever he wanted, except for sprucing up the old graveyard. And perhaps Kadie was right about that. It did have a certain rustic charm.
Whistling softly, he started toward the house he had stayed in after Saintcrow turned him, then paused. None of the houses in the residential area offered any kind of security while he was trapped in the dark sleep. If he was going to be here a while, he needed a secure lair, a place where he could rest without worrying about someone breaking in.
He glanced at the three-story mansion on the hill. Blair House. The Morgan Creek vampires had once lived there. Grunting softly, he ran effortlessly up the road to the house. There were a lot of things he didn’t like about being a vampire, but being able to run faster than the human eye could follow wasn’t one of them.
The door opened easily enough. The interior was dark and musty. The scents of the house’s previous occupants, though faint, lingered in the drapes and the carpets, in the very air, as did the smell of old blood and death. People had died here, both human and vampire.
He strolled along the dark corridors, peering into the rooms he passed. They were little more than jail cells, he thought glumly, furnished only with narrow beds and antique dressers. The floors were cold and bare, the windows were covered with heavy drapes. From talking to Saintcrow, he knew the vampires had spent their waking hours in the town.
Eventually, he came to a narrow set of stairs that led downstairs. There was nothing at the bottom but an iron-barred door. It opened on silent hinges, revealing a large, square room. There was no lock on the outside of the door, but several on the inside. The floor down here was cement. An old-fashioned coffin lined in white silk stood against the far wall. A twin bed was pushed against the wall opposite. There was nothing else in the room. He certainly didn’t want to spend his waking hours here, but definitely his days. He’d bring a bigger, more comfortable bed from one of the houses below.
Leaving Blair
House behind, he strolled down the hill to the house he had used before, his mind filled with ideas for modernizing the town.
Chapter Ten
Sofia picked up her phone, looked at it a minute, then dropped it back on the table. Five days had passed since she had last seen or heard from Ethan. Several times a day, she had been tempted to call him, but she always resisted the urge. She wasn’t sure why. Yes, she had been shocked at the carnage she had seen. Yes, she had known Ethan was a vampire and capable of almost anything. And yes, she liked being with him, and she had known what he was when she agreed to go out with him. Had he been human, she might easily have fallen in love with him. But he wasn’t human, and even though she had known what he was capable of, knowing and seeing it in living color were two different things. And she just wasn’t sure she could handle it.
Falling back on the sofa, she closed her eyes. She reached for her phone again but didn’t pick it up, afraid if she did, it would start something she might regret.
* * *
Ethan sat on the front porch of the house in Morgan Creek. He had made a lot of progress in the last five nights. He had found a contractor in a nearby city who had been willing to drive out, look the town over, and meet with him later, after dark. They met, and Ethan had outlined his ideas.
The contractor, who had introduced himself as Alan Reed, had made a few rough sketches, said he could handle the work and knew people who could manage anything he couldn’t. He also said he knew someone who could replaster the pool.
Ethan had been happy with Reed. With his preternatural senses, he knew the man was telling the truth. Reed had said he would need a deposit up front and Ethan had assured him the money would be in the man’s account the following day.
“I’ll get my crew together,” Reed said. “It’ll take me a couple of days to line up the permits and purchase the supplies we’ll need.”
They shook hands, and the contractor hopped in his truck and drove over the bridge to the highway.
A couple of days, Ethan mused. So far, so good, he thought, but he needed someone who could look after things while he was at rest. Someone to pay the bills, make decisions if necessary. Dammit, he hated being dead to the world when the sun was up!
He pulled his phone from his pocket and checked his messages. Not that he expected Sofia to call him after what had happened a week ago. He had started to call her a dozen times, but he’d chickened out every time. But damn, he missed her! He longed to hear her voice, see her smile, taste her kisses, inhale the warm womanly scent of her skin. He wanted to take her in his arms and make slow, sweet love to her until the sun came up.
Biting back an oath, he slammed his fist on the porch step, so hard he cracked the wood.
Lurching to his feet, he stalked into the darkness, his anger stirring the desire to hunt. To bury his fangs in human flesh and to hell with the consequences. He was a monster and he always would be. Better to end it now than spend the rest of his existence alone.
A thought took him to the next town. Saintcrow had vowed to destroy him if he took a life. And tonight was as good a time as any. He found his prey standing on a corner, waiting for the light to change. He hypnotized her with a glance and carried her to a deserted part of town, away from prying eyes.
“Come and get me, Saintcrow!” he bellowed, and lowered his head to her neck.
* * *
“Dammit!”
Kadie glanced up from the book she had been reading, startled by the vehemence in Rylan’s voice. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s that damn-fool cousin of Holly’s. He wants to die.”
“What? Why?”
“No time to explain,” he said.
Moments later, he stood at Ethan’s side. One look at the deathly white pallor of his prey’s face and Saintcrow knew he’d barely arrived in time. Without a word, he pulled Ethan away from the woman, caught her before she fell facedown in the dirt.
Fangs bared, Ethan growled at him.
Saintcrow let his own fangs run out, let his eyes go red. Let his power wash over the other vampire.
Ethan reeled back under the onslaught, then turned his head to the side. “Go on; what are you waiting for?” Before his sire could answer, Ethan’s phone rang.
“You wanna take that before I rip your heart out?” Saintcrow asked.
Ethan yanked his phone from his pocket.
It was Sofia.
Taking a deep breath, he growled, “Hey, Sofie.”
“Ethan, are you all right?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Why?”
“I was watching TV and I had this terrible feeling you were in danger. I know it sounds silly. At first, I tried to ignore it, but it just got stronger. Are you sure you’re all right?”
“Yeah.” The sound of her voice washed over him, calming the monster within. “Can I call you right back?”
“Sure.”
“All right,” Saintcrow said as Ethan ended the call. “What the hell is this all about?”
“I want to finish this. Now. Tonight.”
Saintcrow shook his head. “Last week you were gung ho to rebuild Morgan Creek.” He shifted the woman in his arms. He’d have to give her some blood soon. “What happened between then and now?”
Voice curt, Ethan told him about his run-in with Mateo. “Sofia saw it all. She’s never going to think of me as anything but a monster now.”
“Is that why she called? To tell you that you’re a monster?”
“You know why she called.” There was no such thing as privacy when a master vampire was around.
“She was worried about you.” Saintcrow bit into his wrist, pried the woman’s mouth open, and dribbled some blood inside.
Guilt ate at Ethan’s soul as he watched the woman swallow once, twice, three times. Color returned to her cheeks, but she didn’t wake up.
Saintcrow sealed the shallow gash in his wrist. “It’s been my experience that the female of the species doesn’t worry about a man if she doesn’t have feelings for him.”
“Then why didn’t she call sooner?”
“Why didn’t you call her?”
“How do you know that I didn’t?”
Saintcrow snorted. “You damn fool! I know everything you do.” He glanced down at the woman in his arms, then spoke a few quiet words. Her eyelids fluttered open and she stared at him, her expression blank. When he set her on her feet, she walked away without a backward glance.
“How’d you get here so fast? I thought you were still in Scotland.”
“Kadie wanted to be in New Orleans for Mardi Gras. Great place to be a vampire,” Saintcrow remarked with a grin. “Easy pickings among the tourists. A real smorgasbord.”
Ethan shook his head in wry amusement.
“So, are we done here?”
“Yeah.”
“Give yourself some time,” Saintcrow said quietly. “And call Sofia. She’s a good influence on you, like Kadie was—and still is—on me.” He grinned again. “Never underestimate the power of a good woman.”
Ethan laughed despite himself. “All right, Dad.”
“Or the power of good blood.” Lifting his arm, Saintcrow bit into his wrist and held it out. His eyes took on a faint red glow. “Drink.”
Ethan tensed as Saintcrow’s preternatural power rolled over him with all the strength of a tsunami. It was a fearsome thing, that ancient power, dark and heavy and compelling. There were centuries behind that power, yet it was more than age.
“Why?”
“Just do it.”
Ethan stared at the dark red blood oozing from the shallow gash. He didn’t remember much about the night Saintcrow had turned him, except gagging on the blood. Did he really want to drink it again? But Saintcrow seemed insistent, so he took hold of his sire’s arm and drank.
The sheer power of Saintcrow’s ancient blood exploded through every nerve and fiber of his being, more potent than anything he had ever known. It burned through his veins like hellfire. One taste and he want
ed more. Wanted it all. If he drank enough, he would be invincible. Perhaps even able to walk in the daylight again.
“Enough.”
Ethan heard the word, but it meant nothing to him.
And then Saintcrow’s power slammed into him again.
Ethan dropped his sire’s arm and reeled back. “You should bottle that stuff. Vampires would pay millions for it.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Saintcrow said dryly.
Ethan licked the last drops of blood from his lips. It sizzled through him like heat lightning.
Saintcrow slapped Ethan on the shoulder. “You’ll be all right now, fledgling. Call the girl.”
And with that last bit of advice, the master vampire was gone.
Ethan stood there for several minutes, gathering his courage, then he pulled out his phone and called Sofia.
“Ethan. Hi.”
“Did you want something?”
“I thought I did.” Her annoyance came through loud and clear.
“I’m sorry, Sofie. I’ve just been going through a bad time.”
“Is that why you never called me?”
“After what happened with Mateo, I didn’t figure you’d ever want to see me again.”
“At first, I didn’t think I would,” she admitted. “But then . . .”
“Then what?” He clenched his hands while waiting for her answer.
“I started missing you.” Her voice was so quiet, only a vampire could have heard it.
“I miss you, too, Sofie. You have no idea how much.”
“Are you coming back here?”
“I don’t know. I had this idea about Morgan Creek.”
“That place in Wyoming?”
“Yeah. I got to thinking it would make a great resort. Hiking and swimming in the summer, skiing in the winter.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. I talked to Saintcrow about it and he gave me the green light. Said he’d foot the bill.”
“Wow, that’s really generous of him.”
“Well, I don’t know about that. It’s his town, after all.”
“I never knew anyone who owned a whole town.”
“Me either.” He stared into the darkness a moment, gathering his courage. “Would you like to see it?”
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