Chapter 2
Chapter Two
LORI
How could he say no to easing a child’s pain? I’ve lived among monsters since the Great Revelation, and none have made me as angry as Ion Radu. He’s devastatingly handsome and equally irritating. A know-it-all type.
The really annoying part is that while my ex thought he knew everything, Ion might actually know. After all, he’s been alive for a really long time. I heard a thousand years. Maybe that’s an exaggeration.
Even so, I don’t have any idea why I thought I liked him. I even had a weird sense that he might like me. That’s ridiculous. Besides, when I needed him most, he turned me down flat.
He might not think my child’s trauma is serious enough to warrant his intervention, but Livi is suffering, and anyone who can help but won’t is no friend of mine.
“Mommy, what’s wrong?” Dotty asks from where she and Livi are playing a board game on the living room rug. The braided oval rug is worn, but it’s perfect for my twin girls to play on, even if it’s covering up my new wood floors.
For Christmas, I’m going to buy us a new rug. I have no idea why my mind is such a jumble of thoughts. “Nothing’s wrong, baby. I just have a lot on my mind.”
“Can we go to the farmer’s market tomorrow and get pumpkins?” She hops up, excited about the idea.
I can’t believe I didn’t pull out any of the Halloween decorations.
I’m usually better about that kind of thing.
It’s the second week in October, and I’ve done nothing.
Panic starts in my stomach when I think about decorating and buying costumes.
All of this should have been planned weeks ago, but I’ve been so worried about Livi. “That’s a wonderful idea.”
Livi puts away the game pieces and folds the board. “I want a big pumpkin.” Her smile is so rare these days, it fills my heart to the brim.
I level my gaze on them both. “What’s the rule?”
They speak as one. “You can only get a pumpkin you can lift yourself.”
Their sing-song tone makes me smile, and it feels ages since I’ve done that. The clock on the oven says 7:54. My pulse pounds, and I can’t decide if it’s rage or anticipation that’s the cause. “Mr. Radu is going to come over tonight to tell you a story when you go to sleep.”
Livi smiles. “I like Mr. Radu. His voice is nice.”
Bouncing, Dotty makes her way to the front door. “He says funny things about a long time ago, when there were no cars. He told us he rode a horse for fifty days to reach his home. Have you ever ridden a horse for fifty days, Mommy?”
“An hour or two, but no, not that long.” My desire to stay angry with Ion is being overridden by how much my girls like him.
And then he’s standing at the front door as if he popped out of the ether.
He knocks lightly on the glass despite Dotty standing waiting for his arrival.
Meeting my gaze, his stare fills me with a sense of calm.
I want to hate him. I want to avoid him.
Yet, I need his help, and he’s extremely difficult to dislike.
Dotty opens the door, letting in the cool fall air. “Hi, Mr. Radu. Are you going to tell us a story?”
Livi stays by me. “You tell very good stories.”
Smiling at them, he says, “If you wish.” He stays just outside the door, waiting for my invitation.
“Please come in, Mr. Radu. Can I get you something to drink? I have an open bottle of wine.” Don’t be so nice, dammit. He’s not your friend. Shit.
Once inside, he closes the door. “Perhaps after the story, if you’ll join me.”
Taking her sister’s hand, Dotty grins. “We’ll go to bed so you can tell us about horses and carts.” Already in their matching mermaid pajamas, they skip down the hall.
With a look that seems filled with apologies, he watches me. “I’m sorry about our differences, Miss Manning. I didn’t mean to upset you earlier. I truly want to help you, but what you asked is complicated and unwise.”
Holding my temper in check, I fist my hands, letting my nails bite into my palms. “And you get to decide what is wise.”
He widens his hazel eyes. “In some cases, and certainly in this case, yes.”
“Mr. Radu, please, tell us a story,” Dotty bellows from the bedroom.
Laughing makes his gaze soften. He wraps his hands around the back of one of my tall dining room chairs. “May I take this into the bedroom for the story?”
“Of course.” I need to get my emotions under control.
As he carries the chair, I follow behind. When he sits between my daughters’ beds, I stand in the doorway…equally interested to hear what tales of the past our vampire will tell.
“When the world was much younger.” His voice is soothing, and the hint of an accent adds mystery and a sense of travel.
“I lived in a small village in the Carpathian Mountains. People in the village feared anything new, and we lived very small lives. I carved wooden platters and spoons. Sometimes I’d make furniture, but nothing like what you have in your home.
It was a simple life, but also a hard life.
There were often times when war would come, and we’d have to fight or hide.
” He stares out the window, where I’ve had bars installed as well as a security system that will send a notification to the police stating if anyone tries to break in again.
I have no idea if my changes will stop a monster, but I had to do something after that creature kidnapped Livi.
Looking perfectly comfortable in her bed, Livi asks, “Were you a soldier?”
On a short laugh, he shakes his head. “No. I was a peaceful human man making enough money to help my mother and father raise ten children. I was the oldest son, and it was expected that I would work and help them.”
“You were human?” It pops out of my mouth before I have time to think about it.
His shoulders rise and fall, and he looks back at me. “I was a simple man with ideas of seeing more of the world than my little village could offer. However, my family needed me, and that was more important.
“One day, a man came in and paid me to make him a large trunk. He was a wealthy landowner. It took me many weeks to complete the job, and when I’d finished, it was so heavy that I had to borrow horses from my neighbors to pull the cart up the hillside to the large house where the man lived.
With three horses and four men, we trudged up the uneven dirt road, praying that it wouldn’t rain before we completed the journey.
You see, the rain would wash away the road and all of us with it.
” He looks from Livi to Dotty, whose eyes are beginning to shut.
Livi yawns. “Did you get washed away?” She closes her eyes.
“We made it to the house, but then the rain came, and we were stranded for three days.” He rubs his thumb over his incisor and then presses it to Livi’s and then Dotty’s forehead.
They’re both asleep before he lifts the chair and steps out of the bedroom.
Once we’re in the kitchen, he tucks the chair under the table.
“Thank you.” I’m gripping my elbows as if they might get away.
“It was nothing.” Staring at me as if he has more to say, his eyes are mesmerizing. “They should sleep well and without any upsetting dreams.”
“What happened during those three days in the rain?” I step toward him, unable to stop myself.
“That is a longer and stranger story.” He lifts his hand as if to touch me, but stops and keeps his fist by his side.
“If I offer you that glass of wine again, will you tell me?” I must have lost my mind. I’m angry with him. He refused to do the thing that would truly heal my baby.
“I can’t take away Livi’s memories, Miss Manning.” Sorrow practically pulses in the amber and green hues of his stunning eyes.
“Lori.” My heart lodges in my throat. “Why not?” I go to the cupboard, take out two cheap glasses I got at a resale shop, then grab the bottle of red wine from the counter. It’s not good wine, but it’s what I can afford. Once I pour, I hand him one glass and sit at the head of the table.
Sitting at my right, he sips the wine. If he judges its quality, he makes no outward sign.
His gaze meets mine. “To attempt such a thing is drastic under the best of circumstances with an adult. It would require me to bite Olivia, and that might be as distressing as what happened to her. The process is not reliable, and I could take more than just the memories you wish were gone. In the end, she might fear me as much as the boogeyman in the aftermath. I would hate that.”
In my desperation, I asked him to do something he finds abhorrent. Shame washes over me. “But you altered Pierre Brochet’s mind.”
Is that guilt on his face? He looks into the dark red wine.
“Pierre spent many lifetimes doing terrible things. He took away people’s free will.
He enjoyed the pain he caused others. He lost his conscience when he became a vampire.
I gave that part of him back. In the end, he took his own life, but really it was me who killed him, and I shall have to live with that for as long as I survive, which could be a very long time. ”
“I’m sorry, Ion. I shouldn’t have asked that of you or made you tell me about Pierre. I’ve caused you pain.” I brush aside a tear. This entire day, I became someone I don’t like. I just want my baby to be free of fear.
“It’s alright, Lori. I’m stronger than I look.” He drinks more wine, and the gray in his dark hair catches in the light over my table.
“But my Livi is just a little girl. It’s not fair.” Emotions brim and spill over.
Running his cool thumb under my eye, he sighs. “It’s not fair. That’s true, but Olivia is stronger than she looks as well. She gets that from you. Give the therapist time, and give your daughter your love and patience. It’s going to be okay.”
“How do you know?” His touch makes me yearn for more.
He wipes away more of my tears. “I’m extremely old and have seen many things. If there comes a time when there is no other choice, I will do what is necessary to help you and your children.”
Wrapping my hand in his, I draw a shaking breath. “That sounded like a promise.”
Ion presses his lips to my forehead. “I will not forsake you, Lori. Olivia will recover and be happy, and so will you.”
“I’m fine. I wasn’t kidnapped by a monster. It didn’t draw power from my innocence.” I drop his hand and lean back to meet his stare. “This isn’t about me.”
He draws a deep breath and lets it out. Maybe he doesn’t need to breathe, but still, he uses the time watching me. “There is no doubt Olivia suffered a terrible experience. Don’t you think what you suffered was just as terrifying?”
“No.” The moment I walked into the bedroom, and Livi wasn’t there, floods my mind. The terror comes back as if it were happening now. “Yes. I don’t know. I’ve never been more afraid. Losing one of my daughters would end me.”
Eyes filled with sorrow, he sighs. “Or worse, you would survive.”
“That would be worse.” Tears flow freely down my cheeks as the reality that what I asked Ion to do might have been for me more than for Livi.