“Good thing we got a thirty-day escrow,” Nick remarked as Abbey signed the final papers that made the house theirs. “I’m not sure you could have waited another hour, let alone another thirty days.”
Abbey stuck her tongue out at him. “I’m sure this is old hat to you. You have lots of houses. But this is my first.”
He kissed her cheek. “It’s the first one I’ve ever bought for a woman I loved.”
“You’ve bought houses for other women?”
Nick cleared his throat. “Not lately.”
Abbey experienced a sudden, unexpected twinge of jealousy. No matter what she and Nick did together, he would have done it with some other woman first. She told herself that it didn’t matter, that it was all in the past, that there was no point in dwelling on things that had happened before she had even been born. But it didn’t work.
“Why did you put the house in my name and not in both of our names?” she asked as they left the real estate office.
“I wanted you to have a place of your own, just in case.”
She looked up at him, her brow furrowed. “In case of what?”
“You never know,” he said, giving her hand a squeeze. “Just humor me, okay?”
“Okay.” Her husband might have purchased many houses for many women, but he had never given one to a wife, she thought with a smile of satisfaction, because he had never been a husband before.
Marriage was a first for them both.
With the deed tucked in Abbey’s purse, they drove to their new home. Hand in hand, they climbed the steps to the front porch.
Abbey grinned when Nick swung her into his arms and carried her across the threshold.
After closing and locking the door, he brushed a kiss across her lips.
Abbey moaned a soft protest when he set her on her feet. But he wasn’t through with her. Taking her in his arms, he drew her down on the braided rug in front of the fireplace.
“Welcome to your new home, Mrs. Desanto,” he whispered, and kissed her again, more deeply this time.
It took only moments to shed their clothing and soon they were locked in each other’s arms. He aroused her quickly, almost desperately, covering her body with kisses, his hands boldly caressing her as he whispered that he loved her, would always love her.
She welcomed his caresses, kissing him in return as her own hands roamed over his back and shoulders. She loved the feel of his bare skin against hers, the silk of his hair brushing her cheek, his low groan of pleasure as he carried her to paradise and back again.
Much later, after a long shower that ended in more lovemaking, Nick left Abbey sitting on the floor of their bedroom in her nightgown, making diagrams of where to put the living-room furniture that was to arrive in the morning.
While dressing, he had told her he needed to go buy a good razor, now that he was shaving on a regular basis. It wasn’t exactly a lie. He needed the razor. But the real truth was that he had felt a sudden, undeniable urge to be alone in the darkness of the night.
Nick drove to the city, parked behind the bank, and started walking. The darkness wrapped around him, welcoming him home like an old friend. Hands shoved into his pockets, he strolled down the street, acutely aware of each man and woman he passed. He was pretty much the same as other men, he thought. He smelled like they did. Why did he feel so distant? So different? Like an alien lost among humans?
Gradually, he became aware of a low throbbing emanating from the people he passed. It was a sound that had once been all too familiar, a sound that awakened an old, familiar hunger.
After entering the store, Nick blinked against the bright lights as he searched for a razor. He plucked one from the rack, then paused in front of a display of sunglasses. He tried on several, selected a pair, and headed toward the door. There were several bunches of flowers in a display near the checkout stand. He chose a bouquet of blood-red roses, paid the clerk, and left the building, refusing to acknowledge what he feared was true.
Nick’s fears were reinforced in the course of the next few days. Food began to sit heavily on his stomach, and no matter how much he consumed, he was always hungry. He developed a craving for steak, blood rare. The sun hurt his eyes. He avoided Abbey during the day, making one excuse after another for why he no longer accompanied her when she worked with the horses, why he slept late in the mornings, stayed awake later at night.
His hellish thirst was growing stronger, harder to resist. Soon the pain would grow unbearable and he would have to feed before it became excruciating, before he buried his fangs in the curve of Abbey’s throat and drained her dry.
If Abbey was aware of the changes taking place, she never said a word, but she had to know, he thought.
She had to realize the cure was failing.
The big question now was, would it make a difference?
Chapter Thirty-Two
Edna sighed, and when Pearl didn’t respond, she sighed again, more loudly this time.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, what’s the matter?” Pearl asked irritably. “Can’t you see I’m trying to read this stupid book?”
“I’m tired of reading,” Edna snapped. “I’m tired of playing chess. I’m tired of being cooped up in this drafty old castle!”
Pearl laid her book aside and blew out a sigh of her own. “I know, dear.”
“What are we supposed to do, now that Mara has hired all these contractors to come in and modernize this place? We won’t have a moment’s peace, with men knocking out walls and hammering all day and all night. It wouldn’t be so bad if we could feed off them, but of course she’s forbidden it.”
“I think we had best find a new hideout ASAP,” Pearl remarked. “Although we’ll never find a place as safe and secure as this one.”
“Do you think Mara would let us stay with her and Logan?”
Pearl snorted. “I doubt it.”
“I don’t know why not. We don’t take up much room.”
“You know how she and Logan value their privacy,” Pearl said. “She barely tolerates us as it is.”
“What about Nick? He said if there was ever anything he could do for us, to let him know. Besides, I don’t know about you, but I’m sick and tired of Transylvania.”
“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to ask. If he’s like most vampires, he probably has a lot of different lairs. And now that he’s human again, he really doesn’t need them.” Pearl nodded as she made a decision. “Pack your things, dear. We’re off to California again.”
“We should have just stayed in the state while we were there for the wedding,” Edna declared. “I don’t know how we’ll find Nick, now that he’s mortal.”
Pearl frowned a moment, then smiled. “We’ll go to Rane’s place. He’ll know where to find him.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Sitting up in bed, Abbey studied Nick while he slept. Hard to believe they had already been married for three months. The days and nights had flown by. She had never been happier, and yet something wasn’t right. She had asked Nick several times what was wrong. Each time, he had assured her she was imagining things.
But she wasn’t. The last few weeks, he had been sleeping later and later every day. He had taken to wearing sunglasses when he went outside, even when the day was overcast. He ate less and didn’t seem to enjoy it as much. Last night, he had skipped dinner. When they made love, she knew he was holding back. Most disturbing of all was the fact that he continually made excuses to go off alone at night.
Was he having an affair? She thrust the thought aside as soon as it crossed her mind. Nick loved her. If she was sure of nothing else, she was sure of that.
She wished she had someone to talk to, someone she could confide in. Time and again she had started to go to her parents’ house, only to turn back. She couldn’t discuss her fears with her mom and dad, couldn’t let them know how worried she was.
The most troublesome thing of all had happened last night while they were making love. On the brink of climax, she ha
d felt the scrape of Nick’s teeth against her neck. It hadn’t felt like a love bite, though she adamantly refused to think it could have been anything else.
Frowning, Abbey ran her fingertips lightly over his jaw. For the first time since they had been married, there were no prickly morning bristles on his chin.
She had been blind, she thought. For the last few weeks, the evidence had been staring her in the face and she had refused to acknowledge it.
A sudden coldness started in the pit of her stomach and slowly spread to her limbs, leaving her feeling numb inside and out.
It couldn’t be true!
Stifling a cry of denial, she grabbed a change of clothes and fled the room. In the den, she quickly changed out of her nightgown and into a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. Her work boots were waiting by the back door. She jammed her feet into her boots, grabbed her cell phone and her car keys, and ran out of the house.
Outside, she took several deep breaths.
What was she so afraid of? Mortal or vampire, she knew in her heart that Nick would never hurt her.
But what if she was wrong? What if he was no longer the Nick she had fallen in love with? What if reverting was like becoming a fledgling all over again? What if he couldn’t control his hunger or his need to feed? What if . . . ?
She unlocked the car door and slid behind the wheel. After backing out of the driveway, she stomped on the gas. She needed time alone to sort out her disquieting feelings, and she could think of no better place to do that than on the back of a horse.
Abbey was weary but relaxed when she drove home that evening. After pulling into the driveway, she shut off the engine, then frowned as a bright red sports car pulled in behind her. She felt a sudden panic as she recalled that hunters had been in the area not long ago.
She blew out a sigh of relief when the doors opened and two women stepped out. Only Edna and Pearl would be caught wearing those gaudy blouses, long skirts, and tennis shoes.
Abbey frowned as she climbed out of the car. What were they doing here?
“Hello, dear,” Pearl said.
“Hi.”
“Is Nick home?”
“I don’t know. I guess so.” Abbey bit down on her lower lip. The polite thing to do would be to invite them in. And still she hesitated. It was one thing to entertain her immediate family, but Edna and Pearl? She really didn’t know them very well. They seemed friendly enough, but they were vampires.
The decision was taken out of her hands when Nick came striding toward them.
Edna stared at him, a murmured “uh-oh,” escaping her lips as he drew closer.
“Ladies,” he said, inclining his head to Pearl and then Edna. “What brings you here?”
Edna grabbed Pearl’s hand. “We need to go.”
“What’s wrong with you? We just—” Pearl glanced at Nick, her eyes widening with understanding. “Oh, my.”
“It’s all right, Pearl,” Nick said, taking Abbey’s hand. “No hard feelings. Come on in, you two.”
Heads together, Edna and Pearl followed their hosts into the house.
After inviting their guests to sit down, Nick and Abbey sat on the other sofa. “So,” Nick asked again, “what brings the two of you here?”
“Well, you see,” Pearl began, “we got tired of living in Transylvania, and I thought, that is, we thought, that since you said if there was ever anything you could do . . . but maybe you’re not feeling all that grateful anymore.”
“Why don’t we cut to the chase,” Nick said. “Just tell me what you want.”
“Well,” Edna said, “we know you have a lot of houses and we were wondering if we could stay in one of them for a while. We can’t go home to Texas, and the wards on your houses are sure to be stronger than anything we could come up with.”
“I’ve got places all around the world. You can use any one you want.”
Edna and Pearl looked at him, their expressions of astonishment almost comical.
“You mean it?” Edna asked.
“I said it, didn’t I?”
Pearl leaned forward, her gaze intense. “If you don’t mind my asking, what happened?”
Nick glanced at Abbey, sitting silently beside him. One look at her face and he knew what he was about to say wouldn’t come as a surprise. “I don’t know what went wrong. It’s your serum. What I do know is that a part of me—the mortal part—is dying a little at a time. The sun bothers me now. Food makes me sick to my stomach.” He glanced at Abbey again, watched the color drain from her face. “The lust for blood is growing stronger.”
“I’m sorry, dear,” Pearl said quietly.
He nodded. “You said there were no guarantees. It was fun while it lasted. Where are you staying?”
“With Rafe and Kathy for the time being,” Edna replied.
“I’ll text you a list of my houses,” Nick said. “Pick the one you want and let me know.”
“Thank you, dear.”
Edna leaned forward, her brow furrowed. “Rafe told us that Rane and Savanah were attacked by hunters a while back. Is that true?”
“Yeah. They were looking for Savanah’s books.”
“We should be going,” Edna said, obviously disturbed by the thought of hunters in the area. “I’m sure you newlyweds want to be alone.”
Nick walked Edna and Pearl to the door. He stood there a moment, watching them drive away. Abbey had been unusually quiet during their visit with the old ladies. Never a good sign.
He raked his fingers through his hair, thinking that the upcoming conversation with his bride was not one he wanted to have.
Abbey was sitting on the sofa where he had left her.
She looked up when he entered the room. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I wasn’t sure, until last night.” He shoved his hands into his pants pockets, then went to stand in front of the fireplace. “Where does this leave us?”
“What do you mean?”
He lifted one brow. “You married a mortal, not a vampire.”
“You seem to forget that when you proposed to me, I told you I’d marry you whether you were mortal or not.”
“Do you still feel that way?”
Rising, she closed the distance between them. Folding her hands over his shoulders, she went up on her tiptoes and kissed him. “What do you think?”
He blew out a breath. “To tell you the truth, I was a little worried about how you’d react. You were so happy that the cure seemed to be working.”
“So were you.”
“I was, at first.”
“At first?”
Taking her by the hand, Nick led her back to the sofa and drew her down beside him. “I was a vampire for a very long time. I thought I was tired of that way of life, tired of living, but being human made me realize just how wrong I was. Being a vampire is what I am, who I am. I don’t know how to be human anymore. Being mortal again made me feel like I was wearing clothes that weren’t mine. Do you know what I mean?”
“I think so.”
“I missed the power being a vampire gave me. The strength.” He gave her hand a squeeze. “I missed the blood bond between us.”
“I did, too. And . . .”
“Go on.”
“I don’t know how to explain it.” She traced his lips with her fingertips. “I didn’t love you any less, but you weren’t really you.”
“I didn’t feel like me, either.”
“And now? Is it like being turned the first time?” she asked, unable to keep a little tremor of fear out of her voice.
“No. It’s nothing like that.” If he started to lose control . . . he couldn’t let that happen.
She looked up at him, her eyes luminous. “We’re all right, then?”
He nodded. “I’m not looking forward to telling your parents, though,” he said, then muttered, “Oh, hell, they’re here.”
You had to hand it to Rane Cordova, Nick thought as he ushered Abbey’s parents into the living room. The man cut right
to the chase. “What the hell’s going on?”
“Dad, why don’t you sit down?” Abbey said. “You too, Mom. We have a lot to talk about.”
Looking worried, Savanah took a place on the sofa next to Abbey.
Rane continued to stand.
As did Nick.
“Pearl’s serum worked,” Nick said curtly. “But only briefly.” He swore under his breath. Shit, half the family was about to show up. “Abbey, why don’t you get the door?”
Abbey welcomed Rafe and Kathy, politely asked after Vince and Cara and Roshan and Brenna.
Mara and Logan followed Kathy and Rafe into the house. As always, Mara entered the room like a queen granting favors. Clad in a long crimson gown, her hair trailing down her back like a river of ebony, she looked every inch the part.
Appearing more than a little frightened, Edna and Pearl trailed behind Mara. They sat in the chairs she indicated, their hands tightly clasped in their laps.
Nick frowned when he saw the elderly vampires. “Why did you bring them here?”
Mara shrugged. “They’re part of this. I’m sure Rane has questions. I know I do.”
Moving to Nick’s side, Abbey took his hand in hers in a clear gesture of support.
Mara sat down with a sigh. “Nicky, why didn’t you get in touch with me before you tried that ridiculous cure? I could have told you it wouldn’t work.”
“How could you know that?”
“It only works on fledglings, and then only because they still have a small amount of human fluids left in their system. It’s how Vince was able to father children. Ancient vampires can’t be cured. Pearl’s serum might have dampened your powers and your instincts temporarily, but you were always a vampire.”
“You married my daughter under false pretenses,” Rane muttered.
“Daddy, I would have married him anyway,” Abbey said. “Vampire or mortal or . . . or zombie, I love Nick. Nothing will change that and the sooner you accept it, the better.”
With a huff of resignation, Rane went to sit beside his wife.