Courted by the Vampire (4 page)

“I keep my relationships with the opposite sex to a minimum. I do not
encourage behavior that would result in a romantic liaison.” He frowned but continued to stare at his companion. “I do not wish to perpetuate my blood line and further the curse of my family.” With slow, gentle movements, Edwin tapped into her mind. He grunted as dark gray streams of self-loathing scuttled across her consciousness to blend with a sickly green swath of fear. She hid a secret, but would not let herself forget it. “You sympathize with me.”

She gasped and tightened her fingers on the steering wheel until her
knuckles turned white. “Yes, I feel for you and your decision not to reproduce. However, genetics is a funny thing. It could be another three generations before the vampire genes resurface. Why deny yourself a bit of happiness in the meantime?”

“I would ask you the same question, Hannah.” He strengthened his
mental guards in case she decided to delve into his mind. Power Enhancers had a tendency to tap into another’s thoughts and add their own intensity to such thing. He relaxed a bit when he did not feel a probe. He did not need her to muck about in things he despised about himself.

She kept her
gaze on the darkened road. “With me it’s different. My ‘gifts’ get stronger with each generation. I have to really concentrate not use them. It’s a constant challenge and a struggle. I wouldn’t want to inflict it on someone else.”

A small rodent darted across the highway. Hannah flinched then swerved
the vehicle in order to avoid the animal.

One corner of his mouth lifted in a smile. She had enough compassion for
others to temper the stubbornness. “Thank you, by the way.”

“For what?”

“For thinking I am sexy. I find your observations amusing.”

“How the hell did you read my mind? Is it specific to you or is it a vamp
thing?”

“You are correct. It is a vampire trait
, but I also feel a strong connection to you, which makes the ability easier.”

“Well, knock it off.” She avoided his gaze. “Since we’re forced to interact
with each other, that’s going to have to stop right now. I find it extremely disturbing and invasive. My mind is my sanctuary. I would thank you to stay out unless I invite you in.” She licked her full lips, leaving them wet and shiny in the dim light.

“I apologize.” Edwin bit back a groan. In addition to everything else, the
woman was oblivious to how attractive she was. This mission had just become dangerous to his peace of mind.

She ignored him.

He shoved thoughts of Hannah’s humanity to the very back recesses of his mind. He had a job to do. Anything outside of the mission was not welcome. “I also know you are tired. If you would like, I can take over the driving so you can sleep. Would that be acceptable?”

Surprise lit her face. “That sounds like heaven, actually. I haven’t been
sleeping well these last couple of nights.” Just as quickly, haunted shadows replaced the surprise.

Edwin slipped once more into her mind to see vivid cerulean streaks of
terror. Ah, she was chased by powerful nightmares. It was not uncommon for an Enhancer to have such a problem, but Hannah’s potential power meant she was dangerous to certain people in the demon world. Good or bad, she was a valuable commodity. Her situation was much worse than he thought. “Pull over at the next exit and we will exchange places.” He shifted in his seat again, uncomfortable at the forced inactivity. “The last time you used your powers, were you plagued by nightmares?”

“Strangely enough, no.” She frowned. “It’s only when I feel threatened
that they surface. They may be some sort of a warning.”

“You are correct in your assumptions.
” Best tell her part of the truth now. “You are being hunted by a demon lord. I suspect he prods your mind while you sleep in an effort to try and determine how powerful you are.” He checked his watch. “Pull over here.”

“Are you out of your semi-undead mind? I’m not stopping on the
highway. It’s too dangerous.” Her grip on the steering wheel tightened. “And what do you mean a demon lord is after me? There’s no such thing.”

“There is.” He ignored the tightly wound anxiety in her voice. “Woman,
spare me your excuses. Pull over!”

“I think not. It’s my car, and I’m driving. I’ll stop at the next exit.”

Edwin laid a hand on her thigh. He grinned when her heartbeat increased, fast as a hummingbird’s wing. “Pull over now or else I will be forced to do something unpleasant to you.” He could use her attraction toward him against her if the situation necessitated it.

She licked her lips again. Obviously a nervous gesture. “Or
what, you’ll kiss me?”

“I can do much worse than kiss you.” He let his
gaze travel the length of her body. Her curves practically begged for attention. “Much worse.” This one woman threatened the tight control of his emotions and urges. Yes, his mission would be fraught with danger, and only a part of it came from the paranormal world.

He felt the shiver that ran through her, but she soon brought the car to a
safe halt. Her eyes were large and round under the street lamp, and clouded with muted fear. He did not wish to alleviate those fears as they exchanged places.

Sometimes fear was a good learning tool. “The night lives around us, Hannah,
and holds countless trials. I urge you to sleep now before the darkness encroaches.” He breathed a tiny sigh of relief when her eyes fluttered close.

Edwin gripped the steering wheel and listened to her even breathing.
Another concession to keeping up with the times was a valid credit card, which would ensure he could deliver her safely to a hotel.

Nothing else mattered at the moment.

Chapter Three

Whispers
came from everywhere to flood her mind. They said her name and urged her forward as their pleas for help echoed in her brain. Blindly moving through the trees, she was only aware of the urgency that guided her. She needed to find something… someone... She had to hurry, but fog swirled around her to cling to her body, so thick it slowed her movement. Twigs and branches snapped behind her, encouraged her flight. Fear clogged her throat as she ran. She couldn’t let the evil catch her…

Hannah awoke to the aroma of coffee. The smell of the dark brew brought back memories of time spent in her grandmother’s kitchen. She opened her eyes and stared at an unfamiliar ceiling, the spackle shaped into floral designs. With a gasp, she scrambled into a sitting position. She darted her gaze around the room, the remembered snatch of dream still haunted her thoughts.

“You are safe, Hannah Weybourne
. Do not worry.”

His odd formal form of speech cleared the remaining cobwebs. Two
questions sprang into her mind - Why did Edwin have to look even sexier in the morning than he did at night? She spoke the second thought aloud. “Safe from whom?” Him? She swung her legs over the side of the bed, grateful to see she was still fully clothed.

“Andre Valkaret.”

The unidentified name bounced around her brain like a bubble. She noted the rumpled bed linens on the other full bed in the room. Relief flooded through her to know she and the bounty hunter hadn’t slept together. He might be as sexy as any Hollywood hunk, but she didn’t trust him. A man as dark and mysterious as Edwin didn’t inspire that type of emotion. Lust definitely, passion perhaps, but not confidence.

“You can trust me. I will keep you safe while we are on this quest.”

Can I?
At the last moment, she remembered his penchant for popping into her mind. Hannah quickly schooled her wayward thoughts into white nothingness. It would be a difficult task to remember. She accepted a cup of hot tea from him. “Thanks.” As she inhaled the fragrant steam, she studied him.
How did he know I would prefer tea to coffee?
She frowned and absently dunked the tea bag into the water.

The red satin ribbon that tied his black hair on the nape of
his neck put her in the mindset of a Revolutionary War hero. Dark-wash blue jeans clung to his lower half in all the right places while a gray button-down silk shirt skimmed over his muscled chest.

“That’s so wrong.”

“You do not like your beverage?” His dark eyes held a question.

Hannah waved a hand in dismissal, irritated. “Oh, the tea’s fine. I just
can’t believe you brought clean clothes with you.” She narrowed her eyes as an image of the lumpy shadow in the back of her car came to mind. It was a duffle bag.
Damn.
“You broke into my car.”

“I did no such thing. You have a bad habit of leaving it unlocked.
Therefore, I had no reason to break in. I merely opened the door and deposited my bag. I did mention I was on a mission.”

“You’re so annoying.”

“I am unable to understand your misgivings. I knew I would require the clothing and packed for that need.”

She huffed. “Are we running to or from Andre Valkaret,
because it seems to me we’re definitely running and by the way, who the hell is he?” The hot tea warmed her throat. She savored the faint spicy aroma and took another sip.

There was nothing in life that couldn’t be made better with a cup of tea.

“Unfortunately, we are running toward Andre. I believe he is the one behind the disturbances in the paranormal world, unless I find out Duncan has truly gone on a rampage.”

“Why? What’s the big deal about this Andre person?”

Edwin’s gaze wavered. “Do you truly want to know?”

“Do I?”

“You will sometime during this quest. Andre is a demon lord who has gotten a taste for the wealth and prestige power can bring.”

“A paranormal dictator. Just perfect.” Hannah chewed the inside of
her lip. “Do I even want to know who Duncan is? You keep throwing names at me, and I don’t know any of them. I need information, bounty hunter.”

He sighed. “Duncan is my friend
. I have known him for years. I do not believe he would lose all reason and embark on a killing spree. I will not know for certain until we talk to Marilyn McAvis, the Witch of the North Forest.” He stared at her in the mirror over the dresser, but his blue eyes betrayed no emotion. “We will use the daylight hours to rest, buy the supplies we need, and plan our strategy. We will resume travel at dusk.”

She lifted a
n eyebrow. “Hmm, let’s see, sleep by day, travel by night. It seems you’re more of a vampire than you want to admit.” After setting the mug of tea on the nightstand, Hannah padded to the mirror to examine her appearance. “Perfect.” Her short-layered hair stood up in spiky disarray, the red wisps hopelessly out of whack. She leaned closer to the glass, horrified to discover a piece of pretzel embedded into her cheek. It was part of her late night snack from the vending machine. She met Edwin’s gaze in the mirror. Mortification washed over her. Faint amusement lurked in those frozen blue depths. Was he trying to develop a sense of humor? “Just perfect.”

“Your flirtation with sarcasm will not get you very far in life.”

In annoyance, Hannah picked the offending snack from her cheek. She stuck her tongue out at him then belatedly realized it must look terrible after a full night’s sleep. “Yeah, well, that’s how I deal with abnormal situations, and this one takes the cake.” She turned to the mirror, determined to make sense of her situation.

The splash of freckles over her nose stood out in sharp relief, her green
eyes appeared faded from lack of sleep. Why couldn’t I be one of those women who looked great when they woke up? “What you see is what you get.”

“Vanity is wasted emotion.” His lips twitched. “I am not a vampire. I only
have a quarter of those genes. I have found when I am on the hunt of a criminal it is best to travel at night. The darkness is good for concealing movement, and the criminal element, whether they are human or not, do most of their illicit activity when the sun goes down.” He brushed at a speck of lint on his shirt.

“Will there be any more questions?”

“I can’t think of any at the moment but give me time. I’m still attempting to absorb all of this.” After a brief rummage in her bag, she procured a green toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste. “Good ole magic bag.” She glanced at him again. “Look, I’m sorry I teased you. This situation is bizarre. I still don’t understand what I’m doing in the middle of it.”

“
If at any time you feel uncomfortable then you may leave. My mission will suffer, but I cannot bind you to me. I will not force you to do something you do not want to do.”

“I doubt that.” She snort
ed. “Powerful men like you have probably done your fair share of creative detainment.” The baby fine hairs at the back of her neck quivered at the thought of being “detained” by him. “In spite of the fact I feel death and destruction will show up at any time, I’m intrigued by your quest. Killing is wrong, no matter who does it.” She tapped her toothbrush against the palm of her hand. “Besides, it’s not like my life was at a pinnacle of success.” Tears filled her eyes as despair washed over her.

“Success is only how you measure yourself, Hannah.”

She swallowed past the tears then watched him slip a slim brown wallet into his back pocket. “Okay, so let’s get a couple things straight. You can’t be ordering me around all the time. You may ask me, but not order me. We are now a partnership. Equal responsibility, equal effort. And, you have to loosen up because you’re too anal for your own good.”

“Anal?” He sipped his coffee and lifted a glossy
eyebrow. “I am not familiar with that term. Please explain.”

“You’ll need to know some slang of this century. Anal means straight-laced or stiff.”

“As in my body? I will become rigid?”

Warmth heated Hannah’s cheeks at the images his words provoked. “Uh,
no. As in, an unbending will. Or unable to compromise.”

“I see.” The corners of his mouth tipped up in a tentative smile. “Agreed.”
He held out his hand. “Partner.”

“Partner.” As soon as
she took his hand to shake on their deal, emotions flashed through her mind. Pain, sadness, and anger echoed through the corners of her brain, and rocked her senses with bright flashes of white light. She yanked her hand from his grasp. Blinking, she stared at him in apprehension as her vision returned to normal. “Who
are
you?” Her voice was barely a whisper. “What are you not telling me?” She itched to touch him a second time just to see if she’d experience the same sort of reaction.

Sadness clouded his eyes for a moment before he retreated behind the
façade of calm indifference. “If I told you now, you would not believe me. I have held onto the secret for more than a century, one more night will not make a difference.”

She took a big gulp of now tepid tea, disheartened when her hand
trembled. “Fine, I get it. It’s sort of a need-to-know basis, right? I’ll accept that. However, I have learned, over the years, to accept all sorts of things. Call me Alice if you want, but you’d be surprised what I would find normal.”

“Why would I call you Alice when that is not your name?” He shot her a
pointed glance. “But I would caution you to remember normality is relative.”

*****

Hannah stared morosely at the thick expanse of woods before them. The car’s headlights illuminated the first leafy sentries, while moths and bugs flittered in the beams. “I’m not going in there, especially now. It’s midnight!” She gnawed on a thumbnail. “Do you know what lurks in the woods at night?” She shivered at the thought and frowned at the irony. A half-vamp had marched into her life, and she wasn’t afraid, but the thought of spiders made her quake in fear.

“You will accompany me inside. The Forest Witch lives in a cottage in the
middle of the forest. There is no way to access her by vehicle. We must go on foot.”

“Excuse me?”
She glared at him pointedly.

The tips of his ears turned pink in the faint interior light. “I meant to say
please accompany me inside.”

A smug grin marched across
her face as she unbuckled her seat belt. “That’s better, but we’ll definitely need to work on it.” She returned her gaze to the edge of the Indiana Dunes State Park forested area.

The park itself
had closed two hours ago, but Edwin unlocked a service road barricade near the Nature Center and they slipped inside. Hannah frowned at her companion. The criminal element at work in Edwin was something that bore a closer look.

He had directed
her to drive the car into some bushes and low hanging tree limbs for camouflage. She complied, and fervently hoped suspicious park rangers didn’t find the car. “Tell me again why this woman lives deep in the heart of a national forest? Isn’t that illegal?”
If my car is gone when we get back, I’ll give the bounty hunter an earful.

Edwin’s eyes sparkled in the dim dome light. “Marilyn is an oddity. I
believe the forest service is aware she is out here, but they have not been able to track her down. If they did, I am fairly certain she would appear to them much differently than she will appear to us.”

“A shape shifter lives in the middle of a national forest in northern
Indiana. Perfect.” Hannah chewed again on her thumbnail until Edwin knocked the digit out of her mouth. “It would’ve been helpful if you told me about the possibility of hiking when you hijacked me yesterday. I don’t even have bug spray.”

“You do not appear to be the type of woman who constantly worries
about little things,” he commented as he opened his door.

“You’d be surprised if I revealed all of my flaws to you.” She joined him
as he gathered his duffle bag from the back seat.

“They are character traits, not flaws, Hannah.”

Tiny curls of pleasure tickled her gut at his words. “Thanks.” Just as quickly, the moment was thrust aside as the proposition of going into the forest loomed once more. “Are there bats in there? Or what about spiders?” Annoyed when the bounty hunter didn’t answer, she wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans then followed Edwin’s tall form into the tree line.

At once, the oppressive night swallowed them. Weak moonlight filtered
through the canopy of the trees. The humidity made the atmosphere inside the forest heavy and moist. The hoot of an owl freaked her out so much she stumbled over a tree root. Edwin darted a hand out to catch her arm. Her breath caught and her skin tingled.

“Careful,
spatzi
, watch your footing. The woods are only hostile to those who are afraid of it.”

I’m not afraid—much.
Hannah’s mind whirled over remembered snatches from
Grimm’s Fairy Tales
, to recall the very unhappy and scary endings to those stories. Always an avid reader in her childhood, that trait hadn’t lessened as she progressed into adulthood. Oftentimes the old fairy tales were warnings or admonishments to keep children’s behavior in check. She shivered, glad her mother had read her the watered-down versions of those fairy tales—mostly.