He didn’t answer her.
“Tell me!” She had remembered choking on blood, spitting the foul, coppery taste from her mouth. Had it been hers? “Why didn’t I die after you drank my blood?”
“Vampire blood is very powerful.” He looked up at her now, and in his gaze she felt the import of his words. “I gave you mine.”
She struggled to keep the fear from her voice. “Why would you do that?”
“You had died. I fed you my blood, in the hopes that—”
A prickle of understanding crept up her spine. “You were going to turn me into a vampire?”
“I thought it was the only way. I could not lose you again.” He closed his eyes and turned back to the fire.
“You didn’t want to lose me, but you’re sending me away now?” She shook her head. He had to realize how ridiculous that sounded. Please, God, let him realize how ridiculous it sounded.
“I was willing to condemn you to this life, Cassandra. I do not know why the Minions did not also turn you when we were attacked in Prague. For many years, I wished that they had. But time…it does not heal, but it gave me a new perspective. How could I have lived with myself if you, Melina, had lost your humanity and become a monster? Wasn’t it better that we were separated, if only to protect you from what I am?
“Now that I have you again, the temptation to hold on to you forever is far too great. I was willing to give you my blood and snatch you back from Death himself. I was willing to sacrifice your soul just to keep you. By the grace of God, you received only enough to restore you, but not enough to turn you. Knowing that I am capable of doing that to you… I would rather be apart, than risk giving in to the temptation to make you what I am.”
Tears coated her eyes, and she blinked them back. Fine, if that was how it would be, that was how it would be. She could live with disappointment. She had before. Even as she thought it, she knew it was a lie. After everything that had happened between them, he would just throw her away? He’d had decades to get used to his broken heart, but she hadn’t. She couldn’t adapt to the pain that froze her lungs. But she couldn’t make him love her, either. Desperately clutching the last shred of cold detachment that lingered in her soul, she strove to connect with the old Cassandra, the one who didn’t need anyone but herself. The persona didn’t fit as well now, but she forced her voice to sound bored and unaffected. “I’ll need an apartment.”
“You have your pick of any in Manhattan.”
She wetted her lips. “And I’ll need a job. A legit one. I’m not going back to the club.”
He nodded, still gazing into the fire. “There are openings in my company. Or, if you prefer—”
“I don’t want to work for you.” She’d declared that a little too stridently. Now was the time to get a bit of the old Cassie back, to use her pretend strength to get through the next few minutes, possibly the next few hours and days. “If it’s all the same to you, I think we should make this a clean break.”
“Of course.”
“And until I have a place to stay, I should stay in a hotel or something.”
“I’ve already had my new assistant make arrangements. You’ll be staying at the Waldorf-Astoria. From what I understand, the suites there are very tasteful, nothing like being in a hotel room.” He swallowed the rest of the liquid in his glass. “I’ll send someone over to show you apartments.”
They said nothing for a long time. Cassie had never felt quite so numb before, at least not without sedatives and pain killers. She stared into the flames right along with him, wishing she were anywhere else but stupidly, hopelessly unable to leave his side.
“You deserve better than a vampire,” he said quietly. “Someday, I will lose my humanity. Something happened, I don’t know how or why, to give me a second chance. But I won’t put you in danger again.”
He had a point. When he’d been that monster, he hadn’t recognized her. He’d been willing to kill her, to slowly bleed her dry. If it happened again, what would stop him? Whatever miracle had happened this time? She didn’t really feel like testing it out.
“I went to a psychic,” she said, not knowing why she felt she should share the information. “I guess I thought, since vampires are real, you know…anyway, I found out some interesting stuff.”
“I’m sure you did.” He looked at her finally, sorrow etched into every line on his face. “You’re wearing your wedding ring.”
“You noticed.” She looked down, suddenly embarrassed, and twisted the gold band off her finger. “I don’t know what any of this means—”
“It means nothing.” He shook his head and stood, going to the bar for another drink. “I have cost you your life once, almost twice. I will not be the cause of your death again.”
“I’m not asking you to! I just…” She exhaled angrily. “You’re so ready to tell me what I deserve. You haven’t bothered to ask me what I want.”
“Because I cannot give it to you.”
She searched her mind for something else to say, some magic word that would convince him of the mistake he made, that they both made, if she walked out of this apartment and never came back. But she knew it didn’t exist, and she had no choice but to nod silently and hold out the ring.
“Keep it, please.” He stepped closer, setting his drink aside, and slid the ring back on her finger. His skin seemed warmer now, and that small touch of humanity mocked her. “I gave it to you as a symbol of the love between us then. I would not wish for you to forget that.”
And the love I have for you now? she silently seethed. A tear finally escaped, and a soft sob. As though they were as repellent to him as sunlight, he stepped back.
“I’ll call you a car.” He took his drink with him as he headed to the hallway.
On legs that felt like lead, she went to the guest room, where the clothes that Anthony had stolen from her apartment waited for her. She supposed she should be happy she didn’t have to replace absolutely everything. Just your whole life.
After she dressed and packed the rest of her clothes, she returned to the living room, but Viktor had not come back. The door to his office was closed and within moments the elevator opened and a smartly dressed driver appeared at the top of the stairs. “Mr. Novotny called for a car?”
“Yeah, that’s for me.” She wondered if she should tell Viktor she was leaving. Then, anger and hurt pride won out over the stupid, tender feelings she’d developed for him. Anger had more practice, anyway.
She pulled her bag over her shoulder and headed up the stairs.
Chapter Eleven
Without Cassandra, the apartment was a tomb.
Viktor stood at the windows, watching the sun unroll its deadly blanket over the park. One morning. He’d had one morning after Cassandra had left. The sun had touched his skin, and he’d looked on it in wonder. He’d gone onto the terrace and felt the rays soak the early morning cold with warmth. Tears of joy had leaked, crimson, from his eyes, but there had been no one to share the experience with.
The next morning, the sun had burned him.
He held out his hand, longing to feel the touch of the light through the window for just a moment. His skin blistered and cracked, smoke wafting from the fissure that widened under the golden light. His reflection, pale white hair and skin, squinted back at him like a sickly ghost. He hit the button to close the shades and turned.
Stephanie, his new assistant, stood silently at the bottom of the stairs. Waiting, like a work-hungry vulture. “Is there anything I can assist you with, Mr. Novotny? Do you need your infusion?”
Without Anthony, Viktor had been forced to make some difficult changes. Namely, faking a disease that required him to ingest mysterious “infusions” and avoid sunlight. The Conclave had yet to send him word of another watcher’s arrival, and he did not wish to call their attention to his continued existence. They would find him, eventually, but in the meantime, he had to pretend for the benefit of his mousy new assistant.
Worse, he coul
dn’t feed from anyone, and that was what he blamed for the rapid loss of his humanity. He could drink all the blood he wanted, but he would not touch another human. He couldn’t stomach the thought of being with anyone but Cassandra. “Did the realtor have any luck finding an apartment for my friend?”
Frowning, Stephanie consulted her smart phone. “Mmm…looks like no luck yet. Another week at the Waldorf?”
He made a noise to confirm, and she sighed loudly.
“It is not your money I am spending, Stephanie,” he snapped. Then, walking to his office, he called over his shoulder, “See that I am not disturbed this morning.”
“In just a moment, sir,” his assistant called, her heels clacking on the marble as she hurried to catch up with him.
He didn’t slow his steps and slumped in the chair behind his desk to wait for her to catch up. When she came through the door, she smirked and said, “Catch,” before throwing something in his direction.
Without thinking, he caught the object. When he opened his hand, the ring, Melina’s ring, sparkled in his palm.
“She sent it back with me when I dropped off the credit card you gave her.” Stephanie nodded toward the ring. “She said she didn’t want it anymore.”
“Thank you.” He waved a hand to dismiss the woman and waited until he was alone to look at the ring again. By all accounts, it should have burned the flesh from his hands. As he turned it from palm to palm, it remained cool, but he found himself imagining a bit of heat there. Not the scourging fire that should have assailed him from the holy object, but the gentle warmth of Cassandra’s skin.
Christ have mercy, what was he doing? For so many years, he’d prayed to have Melina back. He’d avoided any real entanglements with humans and isolated himself because he could not have her. Now she had returned to him, and he rejected her?
But it wasn’t Melina. Cassandra was more outspoken, harder and less approachable. Wasn’t she? He scoured his short memory of Cassandra, and all he found was a woman who had trusted him when she shouldn’t have, who had struggled under the weight of enormous pain, alone, but who had risked her life in the hope of saving him. He crushed the ring in his palm, willing it to mark his flesh, but it remained as harmless as it ever had been. Harmless, but not powerless. It was the symbol that had bound their souls together that day in the small village church. Their souls, and not their bodies.
He reached for the intercom and pressed the button, but Stephanie didn’t answer. Damn the woman, he would fire her and replace her as soon as the downtown office opened.
He strode to his bedroom and hit the button that controlled the shades. The moment the sunlight had filtered a hazy line through the air, he thrust his hand into it. His sleeve ignited almost immediately and, with a shout of despair, he closed the blinds.
He couldn’t leave yet. But when he could, he would go to Cassandra. He’d made a terrible mistake. He could only hope she felt the same way.
The knock at the door startled Cassie. The realtor wasn’t stopping by today, and she’d already politely declined maid service. She pushed back the room service tray on the ottoman she’d rested it on and hopped to her feet, hitting the button on the remote. She didn’t need whoever it was on the other side of the door judging her trashy daytime TV picks.
“Ugh,” she intoned under her breath as she checked the peephole. Viktor’s new assistant—his latest, female assistant—stood on the other side of the door, preoccupied with the phone in her hand. Cassie flipped the lock and opened the door. “Come in.”
“This won’t take long,” Stephanie said, stepping smoothly into the room as though she’d been born in four-inch heels. She pressed a hand to her hair to pat it into place and holstered her phone. “Mr. Novotny wishes to know if the credit card he sent over works.”
Cassie’s cheeks flamed. “I haven’t used it.”
Stephanie arched an eyebrow. “It’s been two days.”
As if Cassie couldn’t control her gold-digging ways for two whole days! “I guess I haven’t been in a rip-off-a-rich-guy mood.”
The fake laugh that issued from Stephanie could have sliced bread. “You don’t have to prove anything to me. It’s just that if I were you, I’d take the money and run.”
Cassie tilted her head. “What are you talking about?”
Stephanie sat in one of the delicate Queen Anne chairs in the suite’s living area. “I do not doubt that you are acquainted with Mr. Novotny’s…affliction?”
If she’d had anything in her mouth, Cassie would have choked. “Excuse me?”
“His vampirism.” Stephanie reached into her jacket and pulled out a card. “I’m an agent of the Conclave. Has Mr. Novotny told you about that?”
“Yes, he has.” Was that the wrong answer? The last thing she wanted to do was get Viktor in trouble. She had no idea what those Conclave people would do to him if they were angry. Her stomach dropped. “Oh God, he’s not—”
“Rapidly losing his humanity once again?” Stephanie withdrew her phone and pursed her lips as she browsed the screen. “At an alarming rate, I’m afraid.”
In her anger, Cassie had assumed that Viktor had gone back to life as normal for him, without any thought of her. “Is he feeding?”
“Blood, yes. But I’m sure you’re aware that he has other…needs. A connection with a human can sustain a vampire’s humanity for decades. Now that your relationship with Mr. Novotny has ended, it seems he will not seek other human companionship.”
“That’s not what you are?” Cassie couldn’t help her jealous sniff.
Stephanie looked a bit taken aback by her answer. Good. “As a Conclave member, it is my duty to monitor Mr. Novotny’s decline. Nothing more.”
“That’s very comforting.”
“It wasn’t meant to be.” Stephanie trained her ice blue eyes on Cassie, making her feel the distinct need to squirm. “The Conclave has a particular interest in Mr. Novotny. He’s the most prominent vampire figure in human society. If he were to become a Minion, it would raise public suspicion. We’ve monitored him closely in the years following his considerable financial and business success and, until he met you, his humanity had been in precipitous decline.”
“But he’s not now,” she corrected the woman. “After what happened at my apartment. He’s back to almost human.”
Stephanie shook her head. “He was back to almost human. Unfortunately, his progress has reversed. The Conclave feels it was something to do with you.”
“I would never hurt Viktor!” The nerve of this woman! It was one thing to imply Cassie was a gold-digger, another altogether to suggest she would want Viktor to turn into one of those.
“We believe he got better because of you, not worse,” Stephanie clarified calmly. “He met you and made an almost total reversal. Now that you’ve parted, his condition has worsened.”
“Worsened?” Worse than he had been when they’d first met? When he’d been just days away from turning into a Minion?
“He has a day, two, at best.” Stephanie didn’t attempt to sugarcoat it. Cassie doubted that Conclave types ever did. The way both Stephanie and Anthony had talked about Viktor had been as though they’d described some kind of dangerous animal instead of a man. “We plan to neutralize him in forty-eight hours, to prevent any messy public spectacle.”
In two days, Viktor would die? Cassie clenched her fists. She wanted to lunge at this woman and rip her hair out, more than she had just minutes before. “You’re going to murder him. Don’t use a fancy word to cover it up.”
A flicker of warning passed over Stephanie’s face. She stood, smoothing her skirt back into place. “I realize this must be difficult for you, but I urge you to accept whatever financial help Mr. Novotny has offered in the timeframe I’ve given you. The Conclave will not offer any support to you once he’s dead.” At the door, Stephanie paused. “Have a nice day, Ms. Connely.”
Her heart pounding, Cassandra stared at the closed door. What could she do? Viktor had made it c
lear he didn’t want her in his life, but he wouldn’t want to die, either. And if there was some way to stop the Conclave, he would be a Minion in just a few days.
He’d been willing to buy her out of his life and never see her again, but this wasn’t right. She couldn’t let him do this, no matter what his wishes were where she was concerned. Hands trembling, she lifted the phone receiver from its cradle and punched the number for the front desk. “I need a car!”
“Stephanie, call me a damned car!” Viktor released the button on the intercom so his assistant could reply, but no reply was forthcoming. He wasn’t surprised, but he was angry. The woman had been out almost all day. Now it was finally safe to leave, he couldn’t get a car. He supposed he could use the subway. Or just walk. He didn’t imagine the Waldorf-Astoria was terribly far away. They were on an island, after all.
He closed his eyes. He needed to calm himself. When he opened his eyes, he looked at his reflection in the mirror over his dresser. It was missing. Wonderful. Back to asking his assistant to straighten his tie and hoping all his buttons were done up correctly before strolling into public. What he wouldn’t give for Melina’s calming influence, the gentle energy he’d relied upon year after year as he’d pressed her ring against his skin and let his memories soothe him. Now that he’d found her again, her essence deserted him.
Or had it? Like a wave, her soul seemed to crash over him, and the feeling was so achingly familiar he pressed a hand to his chest to cover the ring he had returned to the chain around his neck.
From the foyer, he heard the click of the elevator doors, and then Cassandra’s voice, loaded with panic as she shouted his name.
He hurried from his room, worries about his appearance forgotten. When he reached the living room, she stood at the top of the stairs, her eyes wide and red from crying, her hair tousled over the shoulders of her leather jacket. Torn between wanting to run to her and wariness that she might flee him, he chose to stand where he was, the space between them like miles. “I thought you did not wish to see me again.”
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