Bound by Blood (Vampire Romance) (28 page)

Alex didn’t say anything, just let the man talk.

“Then one day, not long after Barbara met some new friends, she started talking about a child. We had been having some problems, so I thought this was her way of patching things up.” He shrugged and glanced at Alex before looking away. “Sorry. I don’t even know why I’m telling you all this.”

“You can tell me anything. It’s over now.” There was a reason they detectives had gone through counseling, he thought. But in this case, it wasn’t just about Jason, Alex really wanted to know.

Jason gave him a tight smile, and rolled his glass between his palms, no longer looking at him. “After she had Sandy, I really didn’t understand why Barbara had bothered. She practically ignored the baby. I let Barbara hire a succession of nannies and caretakers, but Sandy was
my
child.”

Alex knew the feeling of being on the outside looking in. He had done much the same when his son had been born to Katherine. Watching his child being raised by another man was torture. Seeing him learn to ride and care for the horses that were Alex’s passion was more than he could stand. That was the first time he left the country and tried to put distance between them. It had helped, but not solved the situation.

Standing, he paced until he finally stopped near the window, and Jason. “So the baby was what—a goodwill token?” Although from the sequence of events, he suspected she was more than that. His voice was soft so as not to disturb the man’s train of thought, but prompt him on. Jason glanced at him, seeming surprised to see him so close but it didn’t stop him from speaking.

“Never to me. She was my baby from the beginning.” He took a sip of his drink. “Barbara made sure I knew she wanted nothing to do with her. You know, she never changed Sandy’s diaper -- not once. That was why she hired a nanny almost immediately.” He turned and put his glass down on the bar, and braced his hands on the edge. “How am I supposed to deal with this?”

The question was rhetorical, but Alex felt compelled to answer anyway. “The best way you can.” He would do his best to suppress any of Cassandra’s memories that he could. He would have done it immediately, but Philip had convinced him it would be best to let the girl remember then it could be pushed into the recesses of her mind. Her father though knew very little of what actually occurred aside from the kidnapping and that his wife had been involved with some underhanded business with Janelle. Alex would do his best to make sure it stayed that way.

Facing Jason, he extended his hand for the other man to shake. There was nothing more he could do here. His official business was done and he had the answer to the question that plagued him: How could a mother use her own child in such a fashion?  In Barbara’s eyes, Sandy had never been her child, merely a means to an end. It still chilled him.

“I am sorry for your loss,” he said the words by rote. Mentally, he thanked God. It was evident Barbra only had Cassandra for one reason, for her to meet the needs of Janelle. He couldn’t imagine how Barbara thought she would come out ahead in such a devilish deal. Janelle had only ever watched out for Janelle.

“Cassandra will return to you shortly, but Lisa will not be staying.”

“Not --  I depended on her!” Jason pushed himself away from the bar, standing straight. “I can certainly understand her concerns, but Barbara is gone. I will need someone to help care for Sandy.”

“Perhaps Lisa will have a recommendation. Someone will bring Cassandra by shortly, Mr. Morgan.”

But it wouldn’t be him. He would be with Lisa – he hoped. Abruptly, he turned and headed for the door, not waiting to see if the man planned on showing him out.

He was not interrupted during the rest of his shift. That was not necessarily a good thing; it gave him too much time to think while he shuffled papers and did routine tasks. There had been no word from Philip or Louis. Not that he expected them to call. He told himself this was good too. If they had it might have been to tell him Lisa had left their care.
Left him
. He wouldn’t go there. If he could have perspired, he would have been drenched in it by the time he made it home with all of the scenarios running through his mind. It was one thing for him to tell Jason Lisa would not be returning, but actually, there was nothing to prevent her from doing so.

Pulling into his driveway he could see the few lamps he had set on a timer were lit, telling him nothing. No one stood at the door to greet him. He couldn’t tell if that meant something or not. He could detect no movement. The house was eerily silent after the past several days of activity.

Calling himself foolish, he let himself into the house. Immediately, he raised his face, trying to catch a scent of her, and he did, but realized it was fruitless because he had no idea if it was fresh or not.

A quick search showed she was not the only one gone. The rest of them had left too, confirming what he already knew.

Walking to the kitchen and grabbing a glass, he helped himself to nourishment, calling himself all kinds of fool the entire time. What had he expected? Last night she had turned to him because he was the good guy. Today he was what he had been for centuries – a vampire. She was probably on her way back to England right now. Setting his glass in the sink, he headed to the corner of the great room where he kept his small desk. Philip was to have given her the tickets and money she would need to get to her parents. The tickets were still there; so was the bulk of his money. He folded himself into the desk chair, wondering what that indicated. Was she angry and insulted and left it, or was there something else?

Leaning forward, he rested his head in his hand, his elbow propped on the desk. He was tired. He had been so for some time, but for a short while, with Lisa, he hadn’t been so weary, and that was in spite of the danger surrounding them. The danger was gone and so was Lisa. He let himself ruminate for a few more minutes, then shaking his head dismissing his own foolishness, stood and headed to his room. If he wasn’t careful he would get maudlin, something he accused Louis of often enough.

When he heard light footsteps on the driveway he closed his eyes to better concentrate on the sound.

He was at the door and had it open before she had a chance to knock. Before Lisa could acknowledge him, he pulled her into his arms. She looked up in surprise, only to be greeted with a crushing kiss, one that she participated in quite nicely. Finally, he released her, but framed her face with his hands, not letting her step too far from him.

“I thought you were gone.”

She placed her hands on his wrists, holding him in place as she studied his face. “No, only for a short while. Philip took Sandy back to her father.”

“Did you go with them? You weren’t here.”

“No, although I do have to go back to the Morgan’s at some point. I mean, all of my things are there.”

He drew her further into the house, crowding her so her back was against the foyer wall. She looked at him questioningly, but he merely leaned in, kissing her again, devouring her, wanting her to know this was the only place she needed to be.

Finally she put her hands up to his shoulders and pushed gently, then harder. He wasn’t moving.

“I like where I am,” he said in between kisses, resting his forehead against hers.

“I like where you are too,” she said, smiling at him, “but I wanted to show you something.”

He stopped and gave her the slightest bit of room. “Unless it’s your gorgeous body, I’m not sure I care.”

“Alex!” She slipped away from him, and he turned, watching her, confident she wasn’t going far.

Shoving her hand into the front pocket of her jeans, she withdrew it, keeping her fist clenched. She turned and held her hand out to him, unfurling her fist. “I thought you might want this.”

Stepping closer to her, he studied her offering before reaching out to take the ring from her hand. Holding it between his forefinger and thumb, he rubbed the stone against his jacket before slipping it on his finger.

“How did you ever find it?”

“I went to the site this afternoon. I waited until the investigators were finished, then I was there for a few hours. Louis joined me later. He’s the one who actually uncovered it from the ashes.”

“I thank you,” he said simply, clenching his fist around the ring. He had never thought to see it again. He would have mourned its loss, but in comparison to his worry over Lisa and Cassandra, it had been a trifle.

“You know, Philip once said that you walk closer to the light than you thought. I didn’t understand him before, but I think I do now.”

“You do?” He draped his arm about her shoulders and guided her into the great room.

“It could have gone a lot of different ways there with Janelle, but you never wavered, not once, not even when she offered you immortality. I think that says a tremendous amount about your character.”

“Do you indeed? Perhaps I just didn’t believe her.”

“There is that, but I don’t think that was the case.”

“No, the case is that I prefer mortality over being a vampire, so I can imagine being undead would win hands down over immortality.”

“I guess.”

She hadn’t sounded too believing and he tried to make her understand. “All of the world’s great battles have been fought by mortal men – and women – who had seen things greater than themselves. They didn’t have the option of immortality, yet they achieved unbelievable heights.”

“It all comes down to war, then.”

He gave her a half smile. “No. Think of the scientists and artists, Da Vinci, Edison, Curie, all who have achieved more in one lifetime than others could have in several.”

“True.” She canted her head to one side looking at him. “Think you could be one of the great ones if you only had one lifetime?”

“I’ll never know, at least not right now.” He pulled her into his arms again. “Frankly, at the moment, I really didn’t care.”

#   #  #

Soul Guardian

by Tara Manderino

Lucien’s desire for mortality is within his reach if he obtains the secrets found in an ancient book held by Althea, a psychic mortal. The book’s secrets are within his grasp, at least until Adrian DiBartholomew, a much older, more powerful vampire, gets to the book first. When Adrian starts playing psychic cat and mouse games with Althea, games that risk her life, Lucien’s no longer sure the book’s worth the price. Too bad Althea doesn’t agree with him, and is determined to beat Adrian at his own game.

Excerpt

“That’s the third person this week.”

“Maybe you should hang out a shingle.”

Althea glared at her grandfather. “Very funny. You know I--.”

“I know, I know. You came up here to escape all the talk.”  He patted his granddaughter on the shoulder. “The talk will die down. It always does.”

Althea shrugged. Tired of the whole episode, she’d been glad enough to leave it behind.

A shadow, passing in front of the store window, distracted her for a moment.

 “So, are you going into town or not?” Althea asked, as she stepped closer to the door, and looked out. She saw nothing.

“Yeah, I’m going, I have a few errands to run. Thought I’d wait and see if that guy was coming in or not.”

Althea looked to where her grandfather pointed. So he had seen him too. She could just make out a tall figure near the shadow of the trees across the street.

“Why wait? He probably just wants his palm read too.”

Tom chuckled. “Now, now. It could be a real customer.”  Picking up his tote bag, and checking for his wallet, he headed for the door. He stopped to look at her before heading out.  “Why don’t you go unpack that box you eyed up earlier?  If anyone comes in you’ll hear the bell.”

Taking his advice, she headed for the back, leaving the curtains that separated the two rooms open.

~*~

Quickly, Lucien crossed the street, careful to keep to the shadows cast by the trees.

A small store, Descendants stood nestled between two larger storefronts, its doorway nearly obscured by two large topiaries flanking it. Lucien paused a moment before pulling the door open. This could lead to nothing, he reminded himself. He had been searching for this information for months. Ironically, all his current leads on the book pointed to this little antique store practically in his backyard. If only he had known Damon possessed the book earlier. But he hadn't. He hadn't known until Damon's solicitor delivered the other man's letter posthumously.

~*~

Althea tucked her hair behind her ear before reaching into the trunk. Such carefully packed possessions rarely came their way, and when they did they deserved the special attention she lavished on them. Each new shipment was a treasure to her; one she fully enjoyed exploring. So far, she had come across a silver baby rattle from the last century, a tortoiseshell hair comb that had once been an engagement gift, and a pocket watch that had definitely seen better days. Carefully unpacking each item, Althea laid it on the designated shelf, and made a quick note on her inventory sheet. Once done, she would carefully go over each item and mark all the pertinent information.