Chapter Four
Saintcrow fled Morgan Creek. Transporting into the desert a few miles away, he ran naked through the night, heedless of where he went, his mind closed to everything but the feel of the wind in his face, the scents of cactus and earth, of scat and the decaying corpse of a wild dog.
He ran for miles, never tiring. Ran until the lights of a small town came into view.
He slowed, then stopped. And swore under his breath.
He couldn’t very well go hunting sans clothing.
And then, dissolving into mist, he grinned.
A thought took him into the heart of the town. It was late. Most of the businesses were closed. He scanned the shops until he found one that sold menswear and slipped inside. He sifted through shirts and jeans until he found something he liked, dressed quickly, and slipped out again.
Regaining his own form, he strolled down the sidewalk.
Though most of the businesses were closed, the bars remained open.
He passed one and then another. The sound of soft jazz drew him into a saloon at the end of the block.
Stepping inside, he paused to glance around.
The crowd was small, mostly middle-aged men and women and a few elderly couples.
He strode to the bar and ordered a glass of pinot noir. He spoke to the man’s mind, telling him the drink had been paid for, then turned and watched the crowd. A few couples were dancing, a few were making out in the booths in the back, most were just enjoying the music.
He was on his second drink when a young woman with fiery red hair and gray eyes sashayed toward him.
“Care to dance?” she asked. “Or maybe buy me a drink?”
“Either one,” he said, with a shrug.
Holding out her hand, she said, “Let’s dance. First.”
Taking her hand, he led her onto the dance floor and drew her into his arms. She smelled of woman, of shampoo and perfume.
And lust. She gazed up at him, her eyes hot.
With a faint smile, he captured her gaze with his, lowered his head to her throat, and bit her.
Her blood was hot on his tongue. A little voice in the back of his mind urged him to take it all.
Remember what it was like in the old days?
the seductive voice whispered. The ecstasy of drinking until you were sated?
Fighting the temptation to take it all, he pictured Kadie in his mind. She would be horrified if she knew what he was thinking. Lifting his head, he took several deep breaths, and released the woman from his thrall. After escorting her back to the bar, he bought her a gin and tonic.
“I’m Melinda,” she said.
“Saintcrow.”
She smiled a sultry smile. “Do you come here often?”
“No.”
“Too bad.”
He grunted softly. “Are you a working girl?”
She batted her eyelashes at him. “Sometimes. For the right man.” Never taking her gaze from his, she sipped her drink and licked her lips. “I think you might be the right man tonight.”
She was lovely, he thought, her breasts high and full, her hips nicely rounded. But instead of admiring her feminine attributes, Saintcrow found himself wondering how many times she had used that line.
Draining his glass, he set it on the bar top. “Unfortunately,” he drawled. “You’re not the right woman.” With a shake of his head, he left her standing there, mouth agape with surprise and disappointment.
Outside, he took a deep breath. He didn’t know how to handle the unrest he was feeling, but one thing he knew for sure. It would take more than a high-class whore to fix it.
Kadie was in bed, asleep, when he returned to Morgan Creek.
He stood gazing down at her for a long while, remembering the years they had shared.
She loved him unconditionally. The least he could do was leave her before he lost control of whatever demon was driving him to violence.
Pain slashed through him at the thought of never seeing her again, never holding her close.
He loved her beyond reason, wasn’t sure he could survive a life without her in it.
And yet he wasn’t sure he was strong enough to control the wildness inside him.
Even now, the scent of her blood, the lingering musk of their earlier lovemaking, was urging him to possess her, to arouse her until she begged him to take her, and then bury his fangs in the warm, sweet curve of her throat and drink until there was nothing left.
Bending down, he kissed her lightly. She wouldn’t be alone when he was gone. Kincaid and the others would look after her, not that she needed help. She was a strong, vibrant woman, capable of taking care of herself.
He kissed her again, his eyes burning with unshed tears. Then, murmuring, “Forgive me, darlin’,” he left the house.
~ * ~
Izabela blew out a sigh when she opened the door and saw Saintcrow standing on the porch. “What do you want now, vampire?”
“Can you concoct a potion of some kind that will make me forget Kadie?”
Stunned by the request, Izabela unlocked the screen door. “You’d better come in,” she said.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?”
She made a vague gesture with her hand. “I know you don’t mean me any harm,” she said. “You aren’t the only one who can read minds.”
“Then why bother to ask me every damn I’ve come here.”
“Because it annoys you,” she said, leading the way into the living room. “And that amuses me.” She gestured for him to sit down as she settled into her rocker. “Why do you want to forget Kadie? Is she...she’s not....?”
‘No. She’s fine. I’m just afraid I won’t be able to control whatever it is that’s driving me. Have you found anything?”
“Sadly, no. There’s something in your blood, some strange element that I can’t seem to identify.
It’s almost as if an enchantment of some kind is hiding its true nature.
I’ve checked all my books, contacted several witches, but to no avail.
Until I can remove the enchantment, it will remain a mystery. ”
Saintcrow swore under his breath. “How the hell is that possible? I thought there was nothing new under the sun.”
“Quoting Ecclesiastes now?” Izabela asked with a wry grin.
Saintcrow glared at her. “What am I gonna do?”
“I’ll keep looking, but I don’t hold out much hope. I suppose.... never mind.”
“What?” he asked sharply.
“Perhaps if you were to become human again....”
Saintcrow sprang to his feet. “Forget it!”
“It was just a thought.”
He shook his head. When the plague had hit Wyoming, it had affected Kadie and all the young vampires in the state.
When they finally found a cure, it had not only cured her of the sickness but made her human again.
She had begged him to let Izabela see if she could duplicate it with him.
And for Kadie’s sake, he had considered it.
In the end, Kadie had changed her mind, and decided to become a vampire again.
He paced the floor for several moments, thinking what it would mean to be human again, to consume mortal food and drink, to be subject to illness, disease, and old age.
He would be vulnerable. He could die by being hit by a car, a fall, a mugging.
Mortals were weak, powerless, subject to pain and death.
As a vampire, he felt pain but few things could destroy him.
True, he could always ask Jake or Kadie to turn him later, but it would take centuries to regain the strength and power he had now.
Dropping back down on the sofa, he said, “There has to be another way.”
“I’ll keep looking. In the meantime, you look like hell.”
“Yeah. And that’s how I feel.”
“Have you talked to Kincaid?”
“No.” Saintcrow took a deep breath. “He was here recently, wasn’t he?”
“Worried about you, he is.”
“Yeah,” Saintcrow said, with a faint smile. “Me, too.” He stood, then looked at her, waiting.
“No charge,” Izabela said, rising to walk him to the door. “If I find anything, anything at all, I will call you.”
“Thanks.” Outside, he stood on her porch staring into the distance. What if becoming human again was the only answer? He muttered an oath, thinking he’d rather be dead.
When he reached the road in front of Izabela’s house, Jake materialized beside him.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Saintcrow asked.
“Just checking up on an old friend. So, how are you, old friend?”
“How do you think?”
“Not good, if you’re thinking about becoming human again, if it’s even possible for someone as old as you are. Things are that bad, huh?”
“Worse. I’m losing control. I left Kadie.”
Kincaid stared at him. “I don’t believe it.”
“It’s true. She’s not safe with me.”
Jake shook his head. “I don’t believe that, either. I’ve known you for centuries. You’d never hurt her, no matter what. You’d die first.”
“It’s not a risk I’m willing to take.”
Jake clapped Saintcrow on the shoulder. “We’ve been to hell and back together,” he said. “Dispatched a necromancer. Took down an ancient vampire. Hell, there’s nothing we can’t do.”
Saintcrow laughed in spite of himself. “I hope you’re right, old friend. I hope to hell you’re right.”
They walked in silence for a while, each lost in his own thoughts.
“Jake, do you know any other witches, or warlocks? Any other powerful vampires besides the ones we contacted during the plague?”
“I don’t know any vampires more powerful than you. As for warlocks, what about Izabela’s boyfriend. What was his name?”
“Romar?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t think he knows much more than Izabela,” Saintcrow said, with a shrug.
Kincaid frowned. “There was this one witch I met when I was first turned. She was scary as hell. She did things....” Jake shook his head. “She scared the crap out of me.”
“Do you know where she is?”
“Last time I saw her she was cheating people out of their life’s saving by raising the dead.”
“No shit?”
“It was just a trick. The dead rose, all right, but only for about half an hour, just long enough for her to get paid and get out of town.”
“Can you find her again?” Saintcrow asked. “Dammit, Jake, she sounds like a necromancer. Maybe that’s just what we need!”
“Well, damn. I never thought of that. But she can’t be the real thing. The dead went back to being dead.”
“Maybe some of them stayed alive. It doesn’t matter. She might know the answer to Luca’s curse, if that’s what it is. At least she might be able to tell us if it is a curse or it’s something else.”
“I guess you’re right.”
“When am I ever wrong?”
“Nothing wrong with your ego,” Jake said dryly. “In the meantime, don’t do anything you’ll regret. And don’t give up hope. Not yet. Go home and make love to Kadie,” he advised, and vanished.
Saintcrow stood there for a long time staring into the darkness, feeling the night wrap around him.
He was a powerful vampire, one of the oldest in existence.
He had fought and won numerous battles, physical and mental.
Was he going to let a dead necromancer send him away from the best thing in his life?
If he felt himself getting out of control, he would leave the house until it passed.
If necessary, he could call on Jake for help.
They had been friends for a long, long time.
Saintcrow swore softly. If worse came to worst, if he got to where he couldn’t control himself, Jake would do what needed to be done and put him out of his misery.
He’d been out of his mind to think about leaving Kadie.
She anchored him, believed in him. Loved him as no one else ever had.
Or would. And he loved her more than life itself.
Needed her strength, her faith in him, her courage.
A thought took him home. It was near dawn when he undressed and slid into bed beside her.
“Rylan?” she murmured sleepily.
“Were you expecting someone else?”
“I was afraid you’d left for good.” Her gaze searched his.
“That’s what you were thinking when you left, isn’t it?
You were going to be noble and leave me for my own good.
” She had paced the floor for hours, terrified that he was never coming back, afraid that his fear for her safety would drive him away.
The very thought made her blood run cold.
She couldn’t imagine her life without him, didn’t know if she would want to go on living if he left her.
He was her whole world. She loved everything about him.
At times he could be cruel, callous, but never to her.
“Kadie–”
She covered his mouth with her fingertips.
“I need you, Rylan. And you need me, whether you like it or not. If you abandon me, I’ll never forgive you.
Not in this life or the next!” She turned onto her side and put her arms around him.
“We belong together,” she said with quiet conviction.
“And that’s how we’ll beat this thing. Together. ”
Saintcrow brushed a kiss across her lips. How could he have ever thought of leaving her? After a moment, he said, “Kincaid knows a powerful witch.”
“More powerful than Izabela?”
“So he says. He’s going to see if he can find her.”
“I’ll get in touch with the family,” she said, propping up on one elbow. “I know they’re all still relatively young vampires, but they’ve been traveling the world for the last few years. Maybe they’re heard of someone who can help.”
He snorted. “We don’t even know what we’re up against.”
“It doesn’t matter. We need all the help we can get. Now, no more negative thoughts,” she said. “Not when there are other, more enjoyable things to think about.” A thought made her nightgown disappear. “Stop worrying, my brave knight, and make love to your lady fair.”
Saintcrow grinned wryly. “Always my pleasure,” he growled, as he rose over her and trapped her hands in his. “Nothing I like better than having my wicked way with you.”
“Then have at it,” she purred, grinding her hips against his arousal.
And moaned with pleasure as he fulfilled her every desire.