Bound by Blood (Vampire Romance) (27 page)

She pulled back, looking at him from instinct, but still unable to actually see him. “I’m curious though, didn’t you ever want that for yourself?”

He shook his head. “That much power is a frightening thing,” he told her, “whether it’s used for good or for evil. Some things are not meant to be disturbed, and the order of the universe is one of them.”

Leaning away from him, she looked into his clear blue eyes. “How can you believe that, Alex? You, I mean vampires, are not in the normal order of the universe.”

Chuckling, he agreed, but he didn’t answer immediately. “That is precisely one of the reasons some of us desperately want to become mortal. There are other reasons, but that is one.”

“Louis doesn’t seem to mind.”

“No, he doesn’t, but he has the gift of being happy with whatever situation he finds himself. And so far, he has been delighted with the twentieth and now the twenty-first century.”

“You’re not?”

“I am,” he assured her, giving her a slight hug, “but it doesn’t change the reality of my existence.”

He stood in silence, letting his cheek rest on her head as he spoke. “You know this cannot be kept a secret. The world will know of the night’s events.” 

She struggled to step away from him, but he held fast. Finally, she just remained where she was. “Is that true? Does everyone have to know?”

“We can hope they do not learn the entire truth, but we have no way of knowing until the news is out.” Suddenly, he stopped. Fire alarms from different areas of the city pealed through the night. She felt him relax against her. “I think it is safe to say not much will get about.”

“How can you be sure?”

He straightened and pushed her an arm’s length away. “Those alarms.”

She shook her head. What did fire alarms have to do with anything? Slowly, it dawned on her. “You mean someone set fire to the warehouse.”

“Yes. Barbara’s remains will be found there, as will any other mortals, but the vampires will…vanish.”

“Right. Vampires and fire. I get it.” She couldn’t stop the shiver that ran up her spine. She certainly wasn’t mourning the loss of anyone in that group, but it was still a bit unnerving.

“Come, you need to get a warm shower and call your father.”

“Why would I need to call him now?”

“Because he’s very aware of the dates too, and he will be worried. Ease his mind, Lisa and let him know you are fine.”

Nodding, she let him lead her into the shower. When she was done, she found a large sweat suit waiting for her. The shirt was long enough to provide enough modesty to wear on its own, nevertheless she donned the pants and pulled them up, then rolled up the legs before making her way to the Great Room.

They all looked up when she entered. Alex patted the spot next to him on the loveseat and she joined him there. Philip pressed a cup of hot chocolate into her hand. “Warm milk in any form is soothing,” he said. “Alex only has instant.”

Yeah, she believed that.

Shooting Philip a disgruntled look, Alex reached for his phone, dialed then handed it to her.

“I’m fine, Dad. We’re all fine. She listened for a moment then answered. “No, we don’t know what really happened. It must have just been a myth after all. Besides, according to Philip, it can’t happen again for hundreds of years, so I think we’re safe.” And according to Alex, it would never happen again. “Perhaps you would like to talk to Philip,” she said, and handed the phone over.

“Chicken.” Alex whispered in her ear as she settled back against him and he wrapped his arms about her.

“Got that right.” She looked at the clock, startled at the time. It seemed they had been gone for the entire night, yet it was only two o’clock. “Do you need to go into work for a few hours?”

“I’m good until tomorrow,” he assured her. “Speaking of which. I want you and Sandy to stay with Philip tomorrow until I come for you.”

“Shouldn’t Sandy get back to her father? I mean, it’s safe now, isn’t it?”

“Probably, but I want to make sure. I’ll have all of the reports by the time I go in tomorrow.”

She raised her hand to her lips and gasped. “Barbara!”

“Exactly. Now, do you want to sleep here with Sandy, or in one of the other rooms?”

“Not here,” she said.

Nodding, he led her to one of the guest rooms, but rather than leaving her, he closed the door and leaned against it, drawing her to him. “Do you want me to stay?”

“Please. Just to be close, Alex.” She leaned into him and kissed his lips, savoring their smooth coolness beneath her own.

She didn’t expect him to be attracted to a plain looking mortal, but she was attracted to him, and had been from almost the start. Once he returned to the office tomorrow, or more officially, to the Morgan’s house, they would have no reason to meet again. It was a sobering thought.

When he used both hands to grasp her waist she was sure he meant to set her aside. She hooked one leg tightly around his. “Please stay,” she whispered between kisses.

Alex chuckled as he walked her toward the bed. “And how did you think you were going to get me to leave?”

“Never leave, Alex.” She bit her lip as soon as the word escaped, then bent forward to kiss his jaw, hoping he hadn’t heard, but of course he had.

He framed her face with his strong hands, letting his forehead rest against hers. “I never make promises I can’t keep.”

“I understand.” She reached her hands up to hold his in place. “I didn’t mean it; please just stay now, Alex. All I’m asking is for you to hold me, nothing more. That doesn’t require a promise, does it?”

“No, but it is one I can make.” Turning, he sat at the top of the bed, his back against the headboard, and cradled her between his thighs.

Turning on her side, she leaned into him, allowing herself to wrap her arms around his waist. Then she slid her hands up to his shoulders; touched his face. He kissed her hand, and dropped light kisses along the top of her head, but no more. His arms circled her ribcage and rested under her breasts, but she knew he wouldn’t move any closer. She had to be content with the present. He was a vampire for heaven’s sake, she would do well to remember it.

She didn’t know when she had fallen asleep, but when she awoke, Alex was gone. Since it was full daylight, it didn’t surprise her. He would have had to seek darkness somewhere. No doubt he would need complete rest after the night’s events. Making her way to the Great Room, she found Louis gone too. Again, no surprise.

She could hear Philip in the kitchen talking. From the things he said, and the clink of metal and glass, she figured he must be making lunch for Sandy. She had barely made it to the doorway when Sandy scrambled off the chair and flew to her arms.

Hugging the child, she kept her arm around her as they made their way back into the kitchen. She had no way of knowing how much the others had already told the girl.

“I know everything,” Sandy immediately told her once she was settled back in her seat.

Lisa’s gaze flew to Philip.
How much was everything?

He merely nodded in agreement. “Louis and Alex talked to her this morning.”

Lord, she couldn’t imagine a vampire with a gentle touch, yet Sandy seemed resigned to whatever they had told her.

“My daddy doesn’t know yet,” Sandy told her, “That’s why I have to wait for Alex to come back for me.”

“He told you everything?” Lisa ran her hand over the girl’s hair in a soothing motion.
“I think he had to,” Philip said quietly. “It’s not as if she were a bystander at the event.”

Lisa hugged the child close then took a seat next to her. “It will be all right, Sandy. Your daddy is a very good man.” She stretched her am along the back of Sandy’s chair.

The little girl nodded sadly. “That’s what Alex said too. But I’ll miss you, Lisa.” This time, she looked down but not before Lisa saw the tears trickle down her face.

“What is she talking about?” She kept her arm near Sandy, but her question was clearly delivered to Philip who was mixing pancake batter near the stove.

“Alex said you were going to go away for a while too, and it would probably be best if it was just daddy and me together.”

“I…” she almost said hadn’t made any plans, but a warning look from Philip made her keep her own counsel. “I have to talk to your daddy, too, Sandy,” she said, running her hand across the child’s shoulders.

When Philip placed a plate of pancakes in front of Sandy, Lisa encouraged the girl to eat. “How did you know blueberry pancakes are Sandy’s favorite?” she asked, trying to keep her voice light and infusing some sense of normalcy to the late morning.

“I told him!” Sandy answered without looking up from her task of drowning her pancakes in maple syrup.

Seeing that Sandy was settled for the moment, Lisa announced she was going to change her clothes. Returning to Alex’s room, she slipped on the pants she wore yesterday then looked through Alex’s dresser drawers for a smaller fitting t-shirt. She felt a bit guilty looking through his things without his knowledge, but there really wasn’t much of an alternative. As she passed through the Great Room again she noticed Sandy’s overnight bag from the other night. Directing Sandy to the bag when she was done eating, she was glad the child at least had a few clean clothes to wear. Urging her to change, she insisted they would feel better after a walk in the fresh air.

Indeed it seemed to do wonders for the child. Even Philip commented on it once they returned. She was far from bubbly, not that Lisa expected her to be, but she had a healthy tiredness by the time they returned to Alex’s, and the shadows seemed to have been pushed to the back of her mind, at least for the moment.

While Sandy seemed content, Lisa was not. She passed some time playing simple card games with Sandy and an equal amount of time discussing ancient customs with Philip; subjects she knew her father would find fascinating. “You will have to meet with him someday,” Lisa said. “He has expressed a tremendous amount of interest in your work.”

Alex arrived sometime after they had finished a late dinner of delivered pizza and salad.

He stooped down next to Sandy and asked if she was feeling all right. All of the questions Lisa had expected from Sandy earlier came tumbling out for Alex. The only one of concern was when Sandy asked point blank if they had really been going to kill her.

“I heard them talking, you know. My mommy…” her voice broke and she started to cry. She pushed Alex away when he tried to comfort her. Lisa figured this was a good time to intervene, so she did, wrapping the child in her arms and smoothing her hair as the girl cried. When the tears finally slowed, Lisa used her hands to wipe away the child’s tears. She struggled to find the right words, but couldn’t imagine what they would be. Instead, Sandy started talking again after taking a shuddering breath. “My mommy gave me some icky stuff to drink, so I don’t remember a lot. It made me sleepy. When I woke up, I was tied up. I saw that mean lady, mommy’s friend—Janelle, and I was scared, then you and Alex came.” She sniffled as she looked at Lisa.

Immediately, Lisa’s gaze flew to Alex. If that was all that she remembered, it would be all right. His look said there was much more, but apparently that was all she was going to express at the moment.

 “It won’t be long and you can be at your own house with your daddy,” he assured Sandy.

“But not with Lisa?”

Alex didn’t meet her gaze. The wretch knew he had said nothing to her yet. “Not right now.”

Rising, he spoke to Philip, caressed Lisa’s cheek and then left.

Typical. He raised many more questions than he had answered.

Chapter 28

“Where in the hell have you been?” Nick barked nearly the same time as his supervisor when Alex strolled into his office.

“Exactly there.” He walked to his desk, knowing they followed him.

“What does that mean?”

“Know that fire over on the warehouse block?”

Both men nodded. “Four alarm,” his partner said. “Once it was started, they were afraid it would spread to all of them. You know how that goes.”

He did. So had Louis, who had assumed that was the best way to keep them all busy and not suspicious. “I was over there. Messy business.”

“Why were you there?” his supervisor barked, not asked.

“I had business nearby. When I heard the alarms I headed that way to see what needed done since I was in the vicinity.” No one questioned it, as he expected. Any of them would have done the same.

“Fortunately there weren’t many people involved,” his partner said. “They’re still trying to identify the remains of one woman they found there. They suspect it was Barbara Morgan – you know the one who heads all those charities. No one knows what she was doing there.”

“I don’t suppose we’ll ever know,” Alex said. If he still prayed, he would have added that to the list.

“Hey, wasn’t that the name of the little girl who was kidnapped last week?”

Alex nodded.

“Man, tough break for the guy.”

Or a lucky one indeed, but aloud Alex agreed with his partner. “I’m heading over there now to talk to him.”

“Good idea,” the captain said. “The IDs just came through so no one has been to see him yet. He’s familiar with you from the kidnapping.”

His partner offered to accompany him, but before Alex could think of a good way to dissuade him, the captain told him he should get caught up on paperwork.

Alex made it to the Morgan residence in record time. This was always a distasteful aspect of the job, more so in this case, although Morgan would not be aware of it.

Once all of the facts were laid before him, minus a few pertinent details such as the vampire community, Jason Morgan seemed fairly accepting of what had occurred. Not nearly as surprised as Alex would have expected. Either that or the man was still in shock. He could hardly be blamed if that was the case.

Moving stiffly, Jason stood and made his way to the bar and poured himself a whisky, neat. Taking another glass from the shelf he held it out to Alex, silently asking if he wanted any. Alex shook his head.

Downing a healthy swallow, Jason poured another shot before turning to face Alex. He sipped at his drink before speaking. “Barbara never wanted children,” he finally said. He leaned against the bar, holding his drink and talking into the glass more than to Alex. “I was all right with that. I thought so, anyway.”