“All this because you’re afraid your uncle will find you if you are together?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t you think that after three hundred years, he has better things to do?”
She stared at her knotted fingers. “It’s hard to explain how time changes us, Nick. My siblings and I have endured wars, the advancement of technology, new identities, the rise of cities, the fall of empires. We’ve endured this intimately but also at a distance, our hearts breaking from loss after loss while remaining immortal. We are like stones in a sea of human history. Time and distance have a way of becoming their own beast. Every year, our bond lessened. Our ways of communicating ended. We lost touch with each other.”
“Forgive me for saying so, Rowan, but that is the saddest story I’ve ever heard. Maybe sadder than having no family at all.”
“Do you share turkey with Doug and Judy?”
He smiled. “As often as possible. They live in Arizona now. Both retired. I only get out there once or twice a year.”
She sighed. “I wouldn’t relive my childhood for anything, but it would be nice to have a real family. I run Sunrise House and am trying to save it because I know the feeling of having no control over your lot in life. I try my best to make things better for those kids.”
He played with his fork. “That’s an incredible story. Thank you for sharing it with me.”
“I’d like to share more with you. I want to know everything about you.”
He swallowed. This was getting to be too much, too intimate. All his old insecurities scurried to the surface. If he let her in, he’d be vulnerable. It would destroy him if she left him. She couldn’t abandon something that never existed. Casual was safe. Intimacy was war. “First, I need you to teach me how to kill vampires.”
The corner of her mouth lifted. “Vampire lessons. You’re not going to let that go, are you?”
“No,” he said. “I need to be able to protect myself.”
She licked her bottom lip. “The first thing you should know about vampires is that ordinary bullets won’t do a thing against them. That gun of yours is useless under most circumstances. You can’t stab them to death either, and they can’t die of hanging or drowning. They don’t even need to breathe.”
He folded his arms across his chest and leaned back in his chair, studying her.
“Crosses don’t work either,” she said.
“What does work?”
“Sunlight, always. That folklore is true.”
He thanked God. At least he’d given Regine good advice. “Safe during the day. That’s good.”
“Safe from vampires, but they can compel humans to do their will.”
“I can handle humans.”
She played with the corner of her napkin, twisting it around her finger. “Silver works, but it’s not like in the movies. If you hold something silver against a vampire’s skin, it won’t do much damage. But if you can trick a vampire into drinking silver or shoot them with silver bullets, it will weaken them. The silver has to be in the bloodstream to do its job. You can sometimes kill a vampire with a silver or wooden bullet directly to the heart or brain. It slows their ability to heal and can kill them if you do enough damage and the vamp is unable to remove it.”
He nodded. “Silver and wood, but they aren’t reliable. Got it.”
She chewed her lip. “There are only two foolproof ways I know of to kill a vampire that don’t involve tossing them into the sun: cut out their heart or decapitate them. That goes for all supernaturals. In general, nothing can live without a head or a heart. Even dragons.” She rubbed her palms in circles against each other. “Oh, it’s also possible to burn vampires to death. That’s my preferred choice as a dragon. Everything burns if the fire is hot enough. Everything other than us.”
“You’re completely fireproof?”
She turned and placed her hand in the candle’s flame. It didn’t seem to bother her at all. The hair on the back of her hand didn’t singe. There was no smell, no blistering or blackening of her skin. “Which brings me to the most important thing about vampires.”
“What’s that?”
“You may get lucky and kill one, but they live in covens and will swarm you like ants. Vampires are killing machines, lethal predators. If they come for you, you should run.”
“I understand what you’re saying, but—”
“I’m glad you understand.” A fierce determination narrowed her eyes. “Now, I hope you’ll let me do what I need to do.” She rose and moved to the window, her ruby ring glowing like a star. He could feel the air spark. The entire place was instantly charged with static electricity. Rowan raised her ring and drew an X through the air in front of his window.
Nick got to his feet. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Rowan swallowed against a rising ache in her chest. What Nick had said was true. Her story was sad, and sometimes she missed her brothers so much she couldn’t sleep at night. But it had been a long time since she’d let that sadness in, and part of her resented that Nick had raised those feelings inside her. She channeled that confusing emotional energy into her ring and began muttering her protection spell.
“What the hell are you doing?” Nick asked again.
Rosco had risen from his bed and was hugging Nick’s side, panting nervously as the smell of magic filled the room.
“I’m warding your apartment against vampires and others who would seek to do you harm. If Rosco is sensitive, take him outside. I’ll be done in thirty minutes.” Her ring pulsed with red light.
“Wasn’t the point of me learning about vampires so that I could protect myself?” he asked defensively.
She didn’t turn her head. “Were you listening to what I said? Your chances of surviving an attack by a vampire are next to nothing. More than one vampire and you’re doomed!”
“In your opinion,” he said sharply. “Were you listening to me? I can take care of myself, Rowan.”
“Like I said before, you got lucky. I need to do this, Nick. Dragons protect what is theirs. It’s in our blood.” She drew the symbols in the air and whispered the incantation. Rosco growled.
“I need you to stop.”
She sensed anger in his voice. She ignored it. “No.”
“No?”
“You can try to stop me.” She flashed him her most dangerous smile. “We’ll see what happens.”
He didn’t try to stop her, which was good because she would have hated to have to use brute force against him. The spell she was laying down was the same one that protected her treasure room under the gallery. It protected against all supernatural threats. Humans could walk right through it, which was why she would remind him to continue to lock his doors and why her treasure room was inside a vault.
Nick was hers, and she would keep him safe. Only he wasn’t, was he? He’d never claimed her, not officially. It ate at her, that lack of ownership. She’d felt the bond, but he seemed indifferent to it.
Her mind wandered to Nick’s story about his past. Thinking about the abuse he suffered turned her stomach. The thought of anyone treating a child like he’d been treated struck rage into her heart, and she desperately wanted revenge on the evil prick who’d done that to him. But Stan was dead. That demon had already been slain.
She muttered her spell over and over as she walked the boundary of his apartment. She should have followed him back then, kept him safe. Now she’d make up for it. She vowed to protect Nick, whether he wanted her to or not.
The ache started in her chest again. She wanted him to be hers. As they’d made love, a bond had formed between them, one she hadn’t entirely expected. Her dragon had chosen Nick as her mate. Only, she’d been foolish. Nick clearly did not share her feelings of attachment. If he’d felt the bond, he’d denied it. The physical draw she felt for him was belied by the emotional push he was giving her now. Everything was too confusing. All she had to hold on to was her ability
to keep him safe.
“It’s done.” She turned to him.
Nick’s expression was impassive, and he didn’t thank her. “I enjoyed myself tonight, Rowan. You didn’t have to do this out of guilt or whatever. You don’t owe me anything. What happened between us, it doesn’t have to mean anything. Maybe it’s better if it doesn’t.”
His words were like a dagger straight to her heart. She physically recoiled from them.
“I mean, you must think I’m damned weak and helpless to feel you have to use magic to protect me.”
“I don’t think you’re weak at all. For a human, you are a remarkable warrior.”
“For a human?” He stood up, his face red.
“You are human. Supernaturals are faster and stronger. It’s not like you can make yourself invisible! You’re not a ghost.”
Nick grabbed his head as if it hurt and moaned. His eyes squeezed shut and he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
“Nick? Are you all right?”
Through narrowed eyes, he looked at her. “You become invisible,” he murmured softly as if every word hurt. “Invisible like a ghost.”
Her stomach twisted, and bile burned in her throat. “Nick?”
His palms pressed against his temples as if he were trying to keep his head from splitting open. “You’re. A. Ghost.”
The memory came back to Nick in a rush. “I’m a ghost,” she’d said before she’d disappeared, and then an invisible force had wrapped around him, forced his mouth open, and poured a bitter liquid down his throat. His next waking moment, he’d been standing in the Stevensons’ kitchen.
“You… You stole the Raindrop of Heaven from Camilla Stevenson’s closet. You rumpled the bed when you threw her shoes down on it. Then you used magic to make me forget.” He felt like he was going to be sick.
She spread her upturned palms beseechingly. “I’m sorry I had to wipe your memories, but you weren’t supposed to be in that room that night. Every other night the guards stay in the guardhouse unless the alarm goes off. How was I to know you’d do rounds?”
“Are you suggesting you had no choice but to drug me?”
“I didn’t drug you. Harriet’s potions are all-natural and totally safe.”
“What about the part where you stole millions of dollars of jewels?”
“You weren’t supposed to see me!”
“You weren’t supposed to be there.”
“Gerald Stevenson had it coming. He bought the land under my building for the vampires! Those kids are going to be out on the street if I can’t find an alternate arrangement. Worse, what do you think the NAVAK vampires will eat when they move in? Huh? Those children’s lives are in danger.”
Nick dug his fingers into his hair. “Do you even realize that I could be blamed for the theft?”
Rowan frowned, her lips thinning. “What are you talking about?”
“Camilla knows the jewels are gone, and I was the last one in that closet. My partner, Soren, spoke with Gerald at Wicked Divine. He said Gerald is considering pressing charges against me. I thought the thief was a member of their cleaning crew or regular security detail. To think it was you all along.”
“No,” Rowan said. “That’s not possible.”
He shook his head. “Of course it is. Because you took the jewels!”
“But I replaced them,” Rowan said, “with replicas enchanted to look like the real thing. Unless they had a gemologist assess them, there is no way they would assume they weren’t.”
Nick closed his eyes. “I remember. I checked. I saw them there.” He shook his head. “Obviously you fooled no one… No one but me.”
Rowan swallowed. “So I’ll return them. I’ll sneak in and replace them.”
A low grunt came up his throat. “Are you kidding me? As soon as I’m accused, the jewels mysteriously appear again? No.”
“I just don’t understand how they know for sure the jewels are missing and you took them. It doesn’t make any sense.”
He shook his head. “I think you should leave.”
“Nick, you don’t mean that.”
“I hate lies, and this is the third time you’ve lied to me. You lied to me at Sunrise House when I asked you about NAVAK. You lied to me in the car about Wicked Divine, and now I find out you wiped my memory.”
“I had to. I didn’t have a choice.”
“We always have choices.” He stilled, his hands balling into fists. “Ironically, you taught me that.” He shook his head slowly. “I. Can’t. Trust. You. You need to leave.”
Without another word, she grabbed her purse and her shoes. She paused in the open door.
“How many people have you told about your past? That’s a lie of omission, Nick. You hide things about yourself because it’s not safe to share them.” Her amber eyes drilled into him. “Now imagine you had a secret like mine.”
She slipped into the hall and closed the door behind her, seeming to take all the air in the room with her. Nick stared at the closed door, rubbing Rosco’s head as the dog whimpered softly beside him.
Chapter Twenty-Five
New Orleans, Louisiana
“I can’t believe Gabriel didn’t stay for your birthday party!” Avery said.
The music and the din of partygoers had filled the Three Sisters with life. Raven smiled over her virgin mango mojito and tried to think of something to tell Avery that wasn’t a complete lie. Gabriel and Tobias had flown to Sedona to search for Alexander, leaving her behind to meet her familial obligations. Neither Gabriel nor Raven liked the idea of being apart, but Gabriel needed to find his siblings before someone else did, someone like a vampire or another Paragonian guard who wanted him dead. This was the best lead they’d had in weeks.
“Family business,” she offered with a shrug. “But he gave me this. We had our own celebration before he had to leave.” Raven held out her wrist and showed Avery the bracelet of brilliant-cut diamonds Gabriel had fastened around her wrist.
Avery studied the bracelet, pulling Raven’s wrist closer to her face. “Well then…” Her eyebrows slid toward her hairline. She released Raven’s wrist and swigged her beer.
The Three Sisters was packed with family and friends. Her mother had gone all out and catered the event herself, complete with a devil’s food cake with creamy white frosting. She thought every single person she knew was there, aside from Gabriel and Tobias. But the door opened and in walked the one person she hadn’t expected to see.
“Avery?”
Her sister glanced toward the door and grimaced at the sight of their father heading for the bar. “Don’t look at me. I didn’t invite him. I swear, Raven, I didn’t.”
Raven slid deeper into their booth and lowered her head. No doubt he was looking for her, but it was dark in this corner of the bar. If she played her cards right, he’d leave without ever talking to her. She was suddenly glad Gabriel was gone. It removed the added complication of Gabriel’s protective dragon instincts interfering with what was already an awkward situation. Gabriel didn’t like to hide. He liked to breathe fire.
David Tanglewood was a hardheaded pragmatist who had divorced her mother during Raven’s battle with brain cancer and stopped coming to visit her when the doctors gave her no chance of survival. He’d tried to reconnect after Gabriel’s dragon magic had cured her, but she’d rejected his efforts. She hadn’t spoken to her father much since then, mostly because he was an asshole and had never given her the slightest indication of changing his overtly assholistic behavior.
“I didn’t invite him,” Avery repeated firmly, “but maybe this is the time to tell him about, you know.” Her gaze jumped between her engagement ring and her ever-growing abdomen. “I mean, come on, Raven. He can’t find out from a stranger. It’s wrong.”
Raven swore under her breath. Maybe Avery was right. For the sake of family peace and her mother’s and sister’s sanity, she needed to at least tell the man that she was getting married and expecting a baby.
&n
bsp; “Okay. I’m going to do this, and then I never want to hear about it again.”
Avery nodded. “Agreed.”
Raven rose from the booth and moved toward the place where her father stood at the bar. His full head of gray hair had thinned since she’d seen him last, and the tanned, leathery skin of his face wrinkled with his smile when he saw her.
“Well, if it isn’t my long-lost daughter.” He opened his arms. She stood perfectly still, her arms crossed over her chest. He lowered his arms. “Happy birthday.”
“We need to talk.”
“Do you want something to drink first? I just ordered, but I can call the bartender over again.” His voice was a muted roar over the chatter in the bar.
“No. No. I’m fine.”
“It’s so good to see you. Avery said you were vacationing in Chicago with that guy you’ve been seeing.”
That guy. He knew who Gabriel was. “Gabriel. Gabriel Blakemore.”
“Right. The one who owns Blakemore’s Antiques. How’s that working out?”
The bartender arrived with her dad’s beer.
“Let’s talk in mom’s office. It’s loud out here.”
“If you’re sure your mom will be okay with that.”
Raven nodded once. In fact, her mom might be a little pissed about it, but she was working in the kitchen at the moment, and Raven was hoping to keep this short and sweet. He followed her to the small office at the back of the restaurant, past the bartender schedules and OSHA-required posters. She closed the door behind them.
“Should I be worried that you can’t talk about Gabriel in public?” Her father sipped his beer.
She rolled her eyes. “I can talk about him in public. Give me a little credit. I just thought this was a better place to…” She flashed her engagement ring, the oversized emerald glinting in the light. “We’re getting married.”
His face fell. “When did this happen?” He asked it as if she’d just told him someone had died.
Manhattan Dragon (The Treasure of Paragon Book 3) Page 16