Dark Mate (MATE series) (10 page)

“
Have you ever...invited
a vampire into your home?”

“
Huh? No.” She
chewed her lip. “I...don't really have any paranormal friends.
I just never...” She shrugged and admitted, “You're my
first.”

She caught the heat in his
eyes and gulped, “I mean, you're my first paranormal...friend.”

“
Friend?”

She stared at him for a
moment, then lowered her eyes. “Maybe not. You...you're not
even my friend, are you?” she mumbled. “There may be a
blood bond between us, but...there's still a lot I don't know about
you, Gabriel King. I am a police officer, and you...you're a wanted
vampire. You are a rogue vampire, misting in and out of the city,
hiding from the PAC Enforcers. This...” She gestured back and
forth between them. “Us...”

“
What about us?”
he snarled.

“
This may be...”
She turned away suddenly. “What was I thinking? Well, I
wasn't thinking, that's the trouble,” she muttered angrily.

“
Eva.”

With a shake of her head, she
turned to him. “I can't, Gabriel. This is not going to work.
I...I can't be mated to a...a rogue, a criminal. I can't be with
you, Gabriel.”

“
You can't be with me,”
he repeated, his voice very low and quiet.

Eva looked into his eyes, but
saw nothing there. No anger, no sadness, no pain. His eyes were
just flat and cold.

“
No.” Her voice
was clear and strong, even though her heart broke. “Even if
you kidnap me again, force me to stay with you, I won't truly...”

“
I won't force you, Eva.
I will never force my mate.” His lips curled almost
derisively.

“
Gabriel...”

His eyes burned golden as he
growled, “I won't lose you, Eva.”

With that, he turned and
strode to the door. “You are mine. And you will be with me,”
he said over his shoulder.

She started, and in a blink,
he was gone.

He had misted away before her
eyes. Out of her home, out of her life.

Eva sunk to the floor, staring
at the door. It felt almost as if she could will him back to her if
she stared hard enough. Was she hoping that he would walk through
the door and take her in his arms again?

She pushed herself up and
released a long sigh. No, she wouldn't think of him. It would never
work. Now that she had returned to her world, to reality, she saw
too clearly that they were from different worlds. She walked in the
light, on the side of the law, while he moved in the dark, a lethal,
remorseless predator.

One of her ex-boyfriends had
complained that Eva was too guarded, too afraid of her heart. But
now she had real reason to be afraid. She feared that her heart no
longer belonged to her.

Eva turned away from the door
and felt a hand close around her throat. Her scream was choked off
as long, cool fingers dug into her neck.

She gasped and stared at the
woman in front of her. The woman was smiling as she held Eva by the
neck. Eva felt her feet lift off the ground as the dark-haired woman
smiled wider, baring her sparkling, sharp fangs.

The woman had flowing, black
hair and blood red eyes, and she was wearing a figure hugging,
see-through crimson gown. She was tall and voluptuous, her skin
smooth and flawless. Eva could see her naked body under that sheer,
shimmering gown. Her breasts were high, round and full, her curves
sexy, perfect. Her arms were slender, but there was no mistaking the
strength and power in them.

There was a cold, savage
beauty about her, and Eva sensed that the woman was no ordinary
vampire.

Eva tried to aim a kick at the
woman's face, but she only laughed and tightened her fingers around
Eva's neck.

“
Come,” she cooed
seductively. “This won't hurt.”

Eva stared helplessly into
those red eyes as the woman licked a drop of blood from Eva's neck.
Eva gasped, as she felt herself plummeting into those swirling red
depths. Eva blinked hard, unable to look away from those hypnotic
eyes that were the color of blood. In a few blinks, Eva saw the
woman's eyes fade to hazel, and she saw her as she was two hundred
years ago.

Eva saw the woman lying on a
slab of stone, naked and bleeding, her eyes wide open with fear and
loathing. She was staring into a cage, staring at...an animal, a
monster. No, it wasn't an animal. It was a bloodied vampire,
slamming against the bars of the cage, trying to reach her. He
wanted her blood, wanted to drink her. She made a sound of disgust
as the vampire fell back to the corner of the cage, slipping on the
blood on the floor. With a roar, he threw himself to the floor and
started lapping up the fresh blood at his feet. That was her blood,
her blood that had been spilled all over the floor of the cage for
him.

For Gabriel.

Eva gasped. She had looked
into the woman's eyes, and she had seen her past. Hers and
Gabriel's.

“
You...” Eva
wheezed. “You're Vonetta, Gabriel's...” What? What was
she to Gabriel?

The woman cocked her head at
Eva.

“
I see you have access
to his memories. That means you have his blood in you.” She
smiled. “I knew he had taken you. And now, I can smell him on
you,
in
you.”

Eva clawed hard at the hand
holding her by the throat. When Vonetta's grip loosened, Eva's hand
shot out and she raked her nails across Vonetta's face, narrowly
missing her eyes. Sniffing, Vonetta flung Eva to the floor and
pressed her sharp, stiletto heel into her chest. The point was
sharp, and Eva felt the sharp point stabbing into her chest, twisting
slowly through her flesh.

Vonetta bent down, showing the
swell of her creamy, bountiful breasts. Her hair brushed against
Eva's skin, and Eva suddenly felt relaxed and calm, like she was
being massaged and stroked by soft, gentle fingers. She sighed and a
strange high-pitched giggle bubbled from her throat.

Eva jerked, and forced herself
to stay alert. Why was she giggling like a schoolgirl when there was
a blade burrowing into her chest towards her heart?

She glared up at Vonetta's
smiling face, and saw that the scratches across her face had already
vanished completely.

“
You...you're not a
vampire...” she stammered.

“
Oh, I am. I am most
certainly a vampire. But I am more than just a vampire.”
Vonetta's beautiful face twisted and she spat, “I am what I am.
Because of Gabriel King.”

“
W-what do you want?”

“
I think you know that
already, but I'll humor you. I want Gabriel,” Vonetta answered
lazily, but Eva saw the glint in her eye. “He's been looking
for me. I wasn't interested in letting him find me then. But
now...” She jerked Eva to her and dragged a fingernail down
her cheek, slicing it open. She licked her finger and smiled. “Now,
I have something he wants. And he has become something I want.”

“
So, I think now, I will
let him find me, through you.”

Gabriel stood outside Eva's
door. That was the farthest he had managed to mist.

Outside her apartment, in
front of her goddamn door.

He raised his fist, and held
it for a second before pressing it against her door.

“
Come in, Gabriel,”
a female voice said.

Gabriel started. The voice
was familiar, but it wasn't Eva.

He inhaled sharply. It
couldn't be.

Before he could move, the door
swung open.

He could smell Eva's blood but
she wasn't in the hall. The door closed soundlessly behind him.

A hand lighted on his shoulder
and slid languidly down his back. “Gabriel King.”

He turned at her voice.

She was wearing a long,
see-through red gown, her black hair rippling around her as if blown
by a slight breeze. Her face was fair and flawless, and she prowled
towards him with the swaying gait of a woman practiced in the art of
seduction.

Her deep red lips were curved
in a smile, and he saw her lick her fangs as she traced the tip of
his ear and ran her finger down his jaw.

“
What's wrong?”
she purred. “Don't you remember me, Gabriel? You don't seem
too happy to see me.”

Gabriel's lips parted but his
voice seemed to have fled. How could this be? He had been dreaming
of this moment all his life.

“
Vonetta,” he
finally managed.

He stared at her as she smiled
wider. He remembered her all right. How could he forget her? But
she was right. He felt no happiness, no joy. For so long, he had
only imagined how happy he would feel to see her again.

But now that she was standing
right in front of him, he felt...nothing.

No joy, no happiness, no love.

He stared into those red eyes
which had once been hazel, and filled with hope and innocence.

He took a step back, and her
hand fell away from his cheek.

He looked deep into her eyes,
trying to find a flicker of warmth and affection. But he saw
nothing.

It was like he was staring
into the dark, bottomless eyes of a stranger.

“
Where is she?”

Vonetta's eyes flashed.

“
Where is Eva? What
have you done to her, Vonetta?” Gabriel grabbed her arm. The
scent of Eva's blood was fresh in the air, and he could sense her
fear and her pain.

Vonetta winked at him, and he
released her immediately, almost against his will. Gabriel shook his
head hard. It felt as though she could command him with just one
look, one smile.

It was like he was being
compelled to obey her, to please her.

“
Where is Eva?” he
snarled.

She clucked her tongue and
waved towards the sofa. “She's right here.”

Gabriel started towards
Vonetta, then turned suddenly. Eva was lying on the sofa, her eyes
closed, with a cut on her cheek and a patch of red blossoming over
her chest. But she was alive.

He made a strained sound. He
had just glanced at the sofa barely a second ago, and he didn't see
her there. And now, there she was.

He breathed in slowly. Just
because he didn't see her there didn't mean that she wasn't there.
Vonetta had managed to hide her from his sight. That was how she had
managed to avoid him all this time. She had hidden herself from his
sight. Until now.

Slowly, Gabriel pivoted to
face Vonetta. He stared into the chasm of her dark, red eyes. They
were just a few feet apart, yet more than two hundred years separated
them. The sleek, sophisticated, overtly sensual woman standing
before him was not the innocent, suffering young woman that he had
been searching and yearning for all this time.

There was only one woman in
that room with whom he felt an undeniable, overpowering connection.

And it wasn't her.

Vonetta had changed.

So had he, Gabriel realized.
He had changed from a naïve, helpless young man to a cold, cruel
vampire. And he had grown strong and ruthless enough to kill his
Master.

The last time he had stared
into Vonetta's eyes was through the bars of his cage. His violent
grief and rage served only to heighten his Master's sadistic
pleasure. Even after two hundred years, the guilt still weighed
heavily on his shoulders. He had been helpless to save his betrothed
from his Master's evil clutches. She had suffered, and she blamed
him for it. He had seen the hate and contempt in her eyes as she lay
on the cold stone slab in the middle of the dungeon. She hadn't
uttered a single cry even as her body was being ravaged by his
Master. Her eyes were dry, showing no emotion as the Master savagely
fed from her.

Gabriel's eyes flicked to
Vonetta's throat, expecting to see the horrific reminders of her
ordeal. Her long, slender neck was completely smooth, flawlessly
white against her black hair.

Vonetta smiled when he finally
met her eyes. “You look different, Gabriel. You've changed.”
She laughed at her own little joke. “You've grown...bigger,
older, more powerful. And...more handsome.” She lowered her
eyelids and smiled. “We have both grown older and more
powerful. Am I not more beautiful now, Gabriel?”

Her tone was playful,
flirtatious but Gabriel heard the challenge and veiled hostility in
her words.

“
Vonetta, I never
thought I'd see you again,” he said honestly. “It's...”

“
It's been more than two
hundred years,” she laughed, waving her long, manicured fingers
in the air, as if she could magically erase two whole centuries worth
of pain and suffering.

Her fingers were adorned with
diamonds and precious stones. Like him, she had grown older,
wealthier and more powerful. There was a strange cold power
emanating from her, and it seemed entirely possible that she had
erased her past and rebuilt herself. In fact, it was obvious that
she had. The woman standing before him was rich, confident and
powerful.