Night's Mistress

by Amanda Ashley

  “I’m sorry,” she murmured. “So sorry.”

  He didn’t have to ask what she was apologizing for. He knew. “Forget it. It’s yesterday’s news.”

  “You’ve always been so good to me, and I . . .”

  “I said forget it.”

  She looked at him, her heart breaking for all the lost years, for the pain she had caused him. She was hurting inside, aching for her son, filled with frustration and fear. She looked at Logan, and wanted nothing more than to be in his arms, to forget everything, if only for a little while. “Logan . . .”

  He read it all in her eyes, her pain, her loneliness, her fear. Her desire for him. He could have taken her there and then, but cutting in on another man’s territory was where he drew the line.

  Rising, he said, “I asked you not to marry him.” He held up his hand when she started to protest. “You don’t have to explain anything to me. I know why you went with him, maybe better than you do yourself.”

  “Don’t you want me?”

  “You know damn well that I do. I wanted you the first time I saw you, and every night since then. I’ll want you for as long as I draw breath.”

  “I love you.”

  “I’m going to go make those calls. Why don’t you try and get some sleep?”

  She stared after him as he walked out of the room, and then she put her face in her hands and wept for everything she had lost, everything she had thoughtlessly thrown away.

  Chapter Thirty-six

  Kyle sprang to his feet as the door across the way opened and a tall man with graying brown hair and dark eyes entered the room. He wore a white lab coat and carried a notebook in one hand and a tray holding half a dozen bottles and vials in the other. A stethoscope hung from his neck. He placed the tray on the metal table before he approached the cage.

  “So, Mr. Bowden, how are we feeling this evening?”

  “I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling like a rat in a trap.”

  “An apt description,” the man agreed with a faint smile. “I’ll need some information.”

  “Who are you? Where the hell am I? What do you want with me?”

  “All in good time. For now, for your own good, I suggest you answer my questions.”

  “And if I don’t?”

  The man let out an aggrieved sigh. “I can promise you that you’ll regret it.”

  Looking into the other man’s eyes, Kyle had no doubt that he spoke the truth. “What kind of information do you want?”

  “Let’s start with your age.”

  Kyle hesitated a moment, but could think of no good reason not to answer. “I was twenty-eight last November.”

  “Any childhood illnesses?”

  “No.”

  “Have you been sexually promiscuous?”

  “What the hell does that have to do with anything?”

  “Just answer the question.”

  Kyle shrugged. “No moreso than most men my age.”

  “Ever had a blood transfusion?”

  “No.”

  “Any sexually transmitted diseases?”

  “No.”

  “Ever been bitten by a vampire?”

  At the word vampire, alarm bells went off in Kyle’s head. Was this guy one of the Undead?

  “Mr. Bowden?”

  Kyle shook his head. “No.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Hell, yes, I wouldn’t forget something like that.” But even as he said the words, he wondered if it was true. Could Mara have bitten him without his knowledge?

  “Do you know where Mara is?”

  Kyle gripped the bars in both hands, his earlier suspicions surfacing once again. “What does she have to do with any of this?”

  “All in good time.”

  Kyle’s hands tightened on the bars. “Where’s my son?”

  “I need to draw some blood.”

  “Go to hell.”

  “Bowden.” The man’s voice wrapped around him like liquid iron, holding him immobile. “You will do as I say. Roll up your sleeve, then sit down on the floor and make a fist.”

  In spite of his desire to refuse, Kyle discovered he was helpless to disobey. When he was sitting on the floor, the man retrieved the tray from the table, unlocked the door to the cage, and stepped inside.

  Kyle glanced at the open door. He willed himself to lunge at the man, but again his body refused to obey. Unable to move, Kyle watched as the man filled several vials with his blood and then, to Kyle’s horror, the man forced Kyle’s head to one side and sank his fangs into his throat.

  And everything went black.

  Chapter Thirty-seven

  Lou McDonald held the phone to her ear with one hand while she tapped the end of her pencil on the desktop with the other.

  “Anyway,” Cindy said, “he told me I was fired and that he was closing up the office.”

  “Why would he do that?” Lou asked, frowning.

  “I don’t know, but I forgot to take my suede jacket with me when I left, and when I went to get it the next night, the place was locked up tight. I called Ramsden at home, and his wife answered. She doesn’t know where he is, either, or if she does, she’s not telling.”

  “That’s really strange.”

  “Yeah,” Cindy muttered. “Anyway, I’m out of a job and that jacket cost me five-hundred credits. I’ll bet his nurse took it with her. Anyway, I was thinking about coming to stay with you, if that’s all right.”

  “Sure, I’ve got room. Do you think this has anything to do with Mara?”

  “I don’t know,” Cindy said, her frown evident in her tone. “Why?”

  “I called Kyle sometime back to remind him that he still owes me a few hundred credits, and his number’s been disconnected.”

  “So? Do you think he skipped out on you?”

  “I doubt it. He’s too much of a Boy Scout to pull a fast one. Seems an odd coincidence, though. Ramsden and Bowden both having links to Mara and both of them disappearing like that.”

  “Well, you know what Dad always said.”

  “Yeah, that there’s no such thing as coincidence. Mara would have had the baby by now,” Lou said, sorting things out in her mind. “She’s missing. Kyle’s missing. Ramsden’s missing. I think if we find one, we’ll find them all, and . . . holy crap!”

  “What is it?” Cindy asked. “Lou? Lou, are you all right?”

  “You’ll never believe who just walked in the door. I’ve gotta go.”

  “Lou . . .”

  “Call ya later.” Disconnecting the call, Lou gained her feet, one hand delving into the pocket of her slacks, her fingers curling around the bottle of holy water she was never without as a male vampire and a woman entered her office. Lou had never seen Mara before, but she recognized her immediately from the various descriptions she had heard in the past. The ex-vampire was as beautiful as everyone had said. “Mara.” The name whispered past Lou’s lips.

  Mara inclined her head, but said nothing.

  It was true, Lou thought. The one-time Queen of the Vampires had lost her powers. Lou took a deep breath, careful not to look the male in the eyes. Preternatural power radiated from him like thick black smoke from a forest fire. He was old, centuries old.

  “Can I help you?” she asked, pleased that her voice didn’t betray her fear.

  “Only time will tell,” the male said.

  “What do you want?”

  “I want you to find a vampire for me.”

  “I’d think you’d be better at that than I am,” Lou said dryly.

  “Ordinarily, you’d be right, but this one has found a way to mask his presence from our kind.”

  Lou grunted softly. She had heard rumors that some of the vampires had accomplished that during the War. She hadn’t believed it at the time. She’d have to look into it, now that it appeared to be true. “Who are you looking for?”

  “Dr. Thomas Ramsden.”

  Lou glanced at Mara, then back at the male. “I see. Any idea where h
e might be?”

  “If I knew that, I wouldn’t be here.”

  Lou shrugged. “Do you want him dead?”

  “Not now, but you may have him when I’m done with him. I’m also looking for Kyle Bowden.”

  Lou glanced at Mara, then back at the vampire, careful, again, not to meet his gaze. She was dying to know exactly what kind of relationship Bowden had with Mara, and how the male vampire fit into the mix. Instead, she said, “I don’t come cheap.”

  “Name your own price.”

  “Six hundred a day and expenses.”

  Logan nodded. “Now that you’re working for me, do you know anything I should know?”

  “Perhaps. My sister works for Ramsden, or she did until a few days ago when he fired her and closed his office.”

  Mara looked at Logan. Though she didn’t say anything out loud, he knew what she was thinking. Somehow, Ramsden had discovered her whereabouts. When she wasn’t home, he had taken Derek and Kyle and gone into hiding. There was no other answer that made sense.

  Lou’s gaze settled on Mara’s trim figure. She had to know. “Did the baby live? Was it normal?”

  “Yes.” Mara’s voice was little more than a whisper.

  The look in the vampire’s eyes warned Lou not to ask any more questions about the birth or the baby.

  Resting her hip on the edge of her desk, Lou said, “I’m thinking it’s probably not a coincidence that the doctor and Kyle both went missing about the same time.”

  “Agreed,” Logan said.

  Lou nodded. “And I think I know why he wants Kyle.”

  “Because he got Mara pregnant while she was still a vampire,” Logan said impatiently. “Any idiot could figure that out.”

  A flush crawled up Lou’s neck and heated her cheeks. Ignoring the jibe, she said, “I imagine there are a lot of vampires who would pay any price he asked to be able to reproduce. Of course, this is all speculation at this point.” She looked at Mara. “Is there any reason why Kyle would take off without telling you?”

  Mara hesitated a moment, then said, “We haven’t been getting along very well lately.”

  Lou slid a glance at the vampire, wondering if he was the cause of the rift between Mara and Kyle. Although Lou loathed vampires, she couldn’t help thinking that, Undead or not, Mara’s companion was one of the sexiest men she had ever seen. Annoyed with herself, she said, “I’ll need a number where I can reach you.”

  “I’ll contact you,” the vampire said.

  “Are you at least going to give me your name?”

  “Sure,” he said with an easy smile. “Which one would you like?”

  “Whichever one you’re using now.”

  “Logan.”

  “No last name?”

  “We’ll be in touch,” Logan said, taking Mara’s hand in his.

  Before Lou could ask any more questions, the two of them vanished from her sight.

  “Wish I could do that,” Lou muttered.

  Dropping down into her chair, she tapped her fingertips on the edge of her desk. There was more going on here than Logan had told her. But what? Kyle had apparently run off, maybe with another woman. Ramsden had closed his office and no one knew where he was. Was the baby also missing?

  Lou slammed her hand on the desktop. Of course it was. Why else would Mara be looking for Kyle? He hadn’t run off with another woman. He had run off with the baby. But why was Mara looking for the doctor? Surely Kyle and Ramsden weren’t in this together. Or maybe they were. Stranger things had happened.

  Grabbing her cell phone, Lou punched in her sister’s number.

  Cindy answered on the first ring.

  “Hey, Cin, you’re never going to believe who just hired us.”

  Chapter Thirty-eight

  Thomas Ramsden glanced at the women standing on either side of him as he stepped away from the microscope. He had contacted Pearl and Edna the day before and asked them to join him at his hideaway in an abandoned laboratory near Area 51. A witch’s clever spell, combined with his own preternatural wards, effectively cloaked the building and its occupants from both humans and supernatural creatures alike.

  Ramsden had met the two elderly vampires shortly after the end of the War. Neither of them had any fondness for Mara or for the Cordova family, which was neither here nor there. What was important was their knowledge of genetics. He knew their proposed supernatural cure had failed, but that wasn’t important. Had they pursued it, they might have eventually come up with a serum to restore humanity to the vampires and the werewolves, although he doubted such a thing was possible. The women had, in fact, continued their search for a cure for a short time after the War but then, as so often happened to those who had been turned against their will, they had learned to embrace their new lifestyle and eventually abandoned their search for a way to regain their lost humanity.

  No one, looking at them, would ever guess the two elderly women were vampires. Pearl was tall and angular with shoulder-length white hair. She wore designer jeans, a gaudy red silk shirt, and a pair of white leather boots. Edna was short and a trifle plump; her curly red hair was obviously dyed. She wore a green sweater and comfortable sneakers; a green patchwork skirt swirled around her ankles.

  Ramsden gestured at the microscope. “Take a look and tell me what you think.”

  Pearl smiled at the other woman. “After you, dear.”

  Edna peered through the eyepiece for several moments, nodded once, and moved to the side so that Pearl could have a look.

  “Well?” Ramsden asked impatiently.

  “It seems impossible,” Pearl said, “but the proof is right there. Don’t you agree, Edna?”

  Edna nodded, then looked into the microscope again. “You know, if we’d had these samples to work with during the War, I’ll bet our serum would have worked.”

  “Yes, I think you’re right, dear.”

  Ramsden shook his head. “It doesn’t make sense. Why would a dormant werewolf gene produce fertility in a vampire?”

  “I have no idea,” Edna said, moving away from the microscope, “but there it is.”

  Ramsden peered through the microscope again. “Do you think mating with a werewolf had anything to do with her reverting to mortality?”

  Edna and Pearl exchanged glances, then Edna shook her head. “No. It’s our opinion that her reverting to mortality was just a result of her long existence. To my knowledge, no vampire has ever survived as long as she has. With the passage of time, she gradually overcame her aversion to sunlight. She needed to feed less often, and her need for blood waned until she was able to digest mortal food.”

  “Yes,” Pearl said, nodding. “After a great deal of study, we’ve come to the conclusion that all vampires, if they exist long enough, will gradually revert to mortality and die. Of course, for the lucky ones, reverting may take thousands of years. But no creatures, not even vampires, are truly immortal.”

  “An interesting hypothesis, ladies.” Ramsden dragged a hand over his jaw. “Bowden seems completely unaware of the fact that he carries the werewolf gene. How do you account for that?”

  Edna tapped her finger against her lips for a moment. “You said he’s never shown any symptoms. If that’s true, he’d have no reason to suspect he was infected.”

  “That’s true.” Pearl picked up one of the other slides and studied it through the microscope. “Have you taken the baby’s blood? Was the gene passed on?”

  Ramsden shook his head. “I’ve tested his blood, but the baby appears to be normal.”

  “I don’t see how that could be possible,” Edna said, frowning. “With a vampire for a mother, even one now mortal, and a father who carries the werewolf gene, even a dormant one . . . What do you think, Pearl?”

  “Look at the Cordova twins,” Pearl said. “They appeared to be normal until they reached puberty, and then all hell broke loose.”

  “Of course,” Edna said, “but as far as we know, no blood tests were ever taken. We don’t know if abnor
malities in their blood would have shown up sooner . . .”

  Ramsden swore softly. “Are you saying we’ll have to wait until the baby reaches puberty to find out if he has any preternatural powers?”

  “I’m afraid so, Doctor,” Pearl said. “Although there’s no way to know for certain. An abnormality could surface at any time.”

  Edna clapped her hands together. “Won’t it be exhilarating to see which way he goes?” she asked, her voice rising with excitement. “Will he become a vampire or a werewolf? Fanged or furry?”

  “Or perhaps a combination of the two, dear,” Pearl mused. “Wouldn’t that be remarkable?”

  “That’s all we need,” Ramsden muttered irritably. “Hairy vampires!”

  “Hairy vampires,” Edna repeated, and burst out laughing.

  “You know,” Pearl remarked, “if Bowden’s sperm is effective in impregnating other vampires . . .”

  “We could make a fortune!” Edna exclaimed, finishing Pearl’s thought.

  “My idea exactly,” Ramsden said. “I plan to use his sample to artificially inseminate my wife just as soon as she gets here.”

  Janis Ramsden arrived at her husband’s secret lair the following night. She was not in a good mood.

  “What’s going on, Tom?” she asked, tossing her fur coat over a chair. “Why did you want me to come here?” She glanced around, her nose wrinkling in distaste as she took in her surroundings. The walls were gray stone and cement. There were no lights; a black leather couch and a wooden table were the room’s only concessions to comfort. “This is where you’ve been hiding?” she asked disdainfully. “It certainly isn’t the Ritz.”

  “Janis, shut up.”

  At his tone, her head snapped back as if he had slapped her. “How dare you . . .”

  “I said shut up. I brought you here for a couple of reasons, and I think you’ll like both of them.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “One, I’ve got a baby that needs looking after . . .”

  “A baby!” she squealed. “Is it here? Is it ours? Can we keep it?”

  “Yes, to all three questions. You can see him in a minute.”