Dark Destiny (10 page)

"MaryAnn—" His voice washed over her. Gentle. Compelling. "I will take care of Destiny. I give you my word of honor."

"I honestly don't think she will get better. I think she'll try, but you won't be able to help her overcome what's happened to her."

"I lived through it with her."

"I know," she said quietly. "I see the same things in your eyes that I see in hers."

"I understand her, understand what she needs. And we are meant to be together. Two halves of the same whole."

"She isn't whole, Nicolae; she's fragmented and lost. She can't go into a relationship that way and have it work. I think you know that or you wouldn't be talking with me. You would have already removed my memories."

"If I leave you with this knowledge, I will have to be able to monitor you at will. I am responsible for the safety of my people. I have to know that you are capable of keeping our secret at all times, and I will have to make sure that the undead cannot use you to get to Destiny."

Mary Ann swallowed her fear. "I think that's fair enough."

"It entails my taking your blood, MaryAnn. Not converting you, simply taking a small amount of your blood so that I can touch your mind at any time. It wouldn't hurt and you wouldn't be in danger, but the idea of it is uncomfortable to humans."

MaryAnn was silent, leaning her chin in her hand while she studied his face. "Destiny wasn't given a choice, was she?"

Nicolae shook his head. "She was converted by the vilest of creatures. The undead. A vampire lives for the pain of others. He made her suffer for years. He subjected her to every humiliating degradation he could think of. He murdered men, women and children in front of her and forced her to drink their blood. He used her body for years in the most painful ways possible although she was an innocent child."

MaryAnn rubbed the heel of her hand over her face. "And you want me to desert her because I might be uncomfortable for a moment or two? I owe her more than that. Take my blood if you feel it is necessary, Nicolae, and let's find a way to help her."

Destiny rushed out into the night, dragging great gulps of air into her lungs. It was humiliating to be shaking like a child just because she was in such close proximity to so many people. She wouldn't admit her distress had been caused by anything else. How could she want to touch a man's skin? Be held in his arms? Breathe him into her body?

She knew about men, what they did, what they wanted from a woman… a girl… a child. A scream welled up from her soul, the terror of a child trapped with a monster. She pressed the scream back with her hand, as if to shove it back down her throat and bury the terror where she would never have to look at it. See it. Think of it.

The night is so beautiful, Destiny. Clear and cold and crisp. Look above you at the stars
. His voice came like magic. Soothing. Gentle. Out of nowhere, simply there in her mind. Pushing away the memories of hard, hurting hands, rivers of blood, the faces of the damned.
There is nothing so beautiful as the night. Even the leaves are a shimmering silver. I did not remember that. Did you notice the color? Silver and gold tonight. The wind is whispering to us. Hear? Just listen to it, little one. It speaks to us of the secrets of the earth
.

She closed her eyes, listened to his voice, found her heartbeat, knew she was alive and whole. Knew she could make it through another minute. Another hour. Even another night. Destiny knew the truth then, accepted the truth. If she were to survive, then so must Nicolae. The nightmares haunting her were far too strong to conquer on her own. She might fight and win every other battle, but not the one for her sanity. Not the one for her soul. That was Nicolae's battle.

She took a deep breath and looked up at the sky, at the stars glittering like gems over her head. The tension was slowly draining out of her body, but the need was there, crawling through her with insistence. A craving she couldn't ever escape.

Your craving is natural, Destiny, like breathing. We are of the earth. We do not eat the flesh of living things. Is it so terrible what we sustain ourselves on? Weharm no one. We see
to the protection of humans. We live among them, do business with them. Just as you have learned to care for the people who live along these blocks, so will you care for our people
.

Her first reaction was denial. More of them? Vampires? She shook her head, forcing herself to consider his words. Carpathians. A race of beings she now belonged to. Beings with special powers. Beings who could enter churches and stand under strings of garlic. She suddenly laughed, the sound flowing down the street like music. She had a reflection. She knew what she looked like.

The tension began to drain out of her. Destiny inhaled deeply, thankful to be alone. A movement down the street caught her eye and she swung her gaze in that direction.

"Come here, girl!" Velda was imperiously waving at her, beckoning her up the street.

Destiny had forgotten to make herself invisible to the human eye. Velda shrieked again, waving so enthusiastically she nearly fell from her chair at Inez's side. Knowing she did not have it in her to deny the old lady, Destiny jogged along the sidewalk until she was a few feet from the two sisters. They were smiling at her with open, welcoming smiles, without guile, hiding nothing.

"At last! I've spotted you several times," Velda said with satisfaction, "haven't I, Sister? Haven't I told you such a pretty young woman shouldn't be out be herself so late at night? You need a young man. Don't worry, Inez and I have been giving it some thought, figuring just what man you should be with."

Destiny's eyebrow shot up and she blinked rapidly trying to assimilate what Velda was saying. Were the two women looking to hook her up with someone? "You don't even know me. I could be a horrible person. You wouldn't want to stick some poor unsuspecting man with me, now would you?"

Velda and Inez looked at each other, then beamed at her. "Now, dearie, you're a nice little thing. You need a man and a place to stay. We've been thinking about the little apartment across the street there. We think it would suit you just fine. I'm Velda, and this is my sister Inez. Ask anyone—we have a reputation as matchmakers."

Destiny had never thought of herself as being a "little thing," and a reluctant smile found its way briefly to her eyes.

"There, dear, so much better when you smile." Velda's pink-tipped hair swung breezily as her head bobbed. "I have the second sight, you know. I see a young man for you. Quite handsome, with nice manners."

"Rich, dear," Inez added. "Velda told me he's rich and handsome." She beamed, her purple hair glowing in the dark. "That should make you happy. Settle down, dear, have two or three children. You'll be happy. I wanted ten, but Velda stole my beau right out from under my nose."

Destiny gaped at the two elderly women as they patted an empty lawn chair insistently. They clearly expected her to join them. Not knowing how to decline graciously, she slid gingerly into the chair. She was aware of Nicolae's amusement at her uncomfortable predicament. Aware of the warmth of his laughter brushing her mind. Turning her attention to the two sisters, she determinedly ignored him, wondering fleetingly how they could be so closely connected. How could he touch her mind when he had not taken her blood?

Velda snorted, patting Destiny's arm. She didn't seem to notice Destiny wincing or drawing away. "Inez was such a beauty. All the men wanted her. She wouldn't choose, you know. She liked having them chase her. She's making up a story about my stealing her beau. I'm a true spinster. I never wanted a man in my life, and she certainly didn't want ten babies! Did you, Inez? You wanted to sing in a bar."

"I did sing in a bar," Inez returned haughtily. She patted Destiny's knee, unaware that Destiny was squirming to get out of reach. "I was a raving beauty, dear, not unlike you. But I had a real figure. I was no stick like you girls now. And I had a voice like an angel. Didn't I, Sister?"

"An angel," Velda agreed solemnly. She leaned close to Destiny. "Don't look at me, dearie. Pretend you're interested in the apartment over the dress shop there." She waved airly, so Destiny followed the direction of her pointing finger. Immediately Velda lowered her voice to a conspirator's whisper. "We're thinking of hiring a private eye. We've been discussing it. I think we need someone hard-boiled like Mike Hammer, but Inez thinks an intellect like Perry Mason would be better. What do you think?"

Destiny gaped at her. She had no idea what or whom the sisters were referring to. "Why do you think you need a private detective?" It was the only thing she could think of to say. She had no idea how she had ended up sitting between these two eccentric women. The thought of two seventy-year-old women needing a "hard-boiled" detective was laughable. Destiny had watched the women for the last few months. They were open and honest and so much a part of the neighborhood, she couldn't imagine the streets without them.

Velda looked around. Inez did the same. Simultaneously they hitched closer to Destiny. "There've been strange goings-on around here."

Inez nodded solemnly. "That's right, Sister, you tell her. Listen to her, dear—it's mojo. Bad, bad mojo."

Laughter bubbled up in Destiny's throat, but she blinked rapidly, battling to stay solemn. The two women deserved respect. They were gossips, but they were sharp. Destiny settled back into her chair. "I'm Destiny, by the way." She felt she owed them her name because they had spotted her on the streets often enough to recognize her. If they could see her as she moved rapidly along the streets at night, they had sharp eyes to go with their sharp minds. And more than that, they had restored a semblance of balance in her world. "Please do tell me."

"No one believes us, Sister," Inez cautioned. "They think we have bats in the belfry." She parted her bright hair, and Destiny noticed that her nails matched the amazing shade of purple. So did her tennis shoes. The laces were coiled and metallic purple.

"I doubt that," Destiny answered decisively. "You're very well respected by everyone. If you say something is going on, it probably is. I'd have to hear some details, though, before determining what sort of detective you'd need."

The sisters exchanged a long, satisfied look. It was Velda who took up the challenge. "It started a month or so ago. We began to notice small things, but at first we didn't connect them."

Inez nodded wisely. "Small things, you know?" she echoed solemnly while her head glowed purple and red from the odd lighting of the streetlamp.

Velda shushed her. "Sister, let me tell her."

"I was just verifying. An account must be verified or no one takes it seriously. Isn't that right, dear, don't you want verification? Two eyewitnesses are better than one, don't you think?"

Destiny didn't know if she reached out or if Nicolae was already a shadow in her mind. Or maybe she was a shadow in his. All she knew for certain was that she wanted to share with someone the extraordinary relationship these two wonderful women had. They were everything she had always wanted in a grandmother. They made her smile inside and lightened the burden she always carried.

She was pleased with Nicolae's reaction. Warmth flooded her, amusement, but not mocking laughter. He saw the sisters the way she saw them. It was the first time she could remember sharing something fun, lighthearted, a connection of warmth rather than pain and degradation. She knew that the moment would be etched in her memory forever.

Destiny took in every detail of the two women—their open, honest faces, their eccentric hair and attire. Even the green-and-white striped lawn chairs. The way the wind was riffling the leaves in the bushes and blowing small bits of dust and debris along the streets. This was as close to happiness as she had ever come.

"Destiny?" Inez prompted. "Velda's right about this. She has the second sight, you know."

"Do you, Velda?" Destiny asked curiously. She had never run across another person who had special gifts.

Velda nodded sagely. "I know things about people," she whispered. "That's how I can match people up. And that's why I know something's wrong." The whisper was dramatic, the voice theatrical. Destiny automatically scanned the minds of the two sisters, even though she knew it was an invasion of privacy. Velda was worried and so was her sister. They believed something had crept into their neighborhood, but no one would listen to them. They fully expected Destiny to laugh at them.

"I know things about people, too," she admitted, seeking to reassure the sisters. "It can be frightening to have information and not know how to convey it so that others listen. Please tell me what you've observed, Velda."

Velda patted her arm. Inez patted her knee. Neither seemed to notice that she squirmed uncomfortably, but Destiny knew them now. They were both good at reading people; they knew she didn't like to be touched, and they were determined to push past the protective barrier she erected around herself.

"You're a good girl, dearie," Velda said approvingly. "You were right, Sister—she's the one who will listen to us."

Destiny considered screaming in frustration. Couldn't they get on with it? This close proximity to others was unnerving. Her head was beginning to throb, and she was afraid there was danger of it exploding.

Male laughter echoed softly in her mind. Gentle. Teasing. So typical of Nicolae, amused by her self-inflicted predicament, but never malicious about it. Why was she softening toward him? Why was she noticing little things to love about his character? Vampires were deceivers, sweet-talking, cunning deceivers.

I do not like your thinking I am the undead. My heart is very much alive and in your hands. Do your best not to destroy it.

You are very lucky it isn't in my hands
. She responded to him immediately. To his words that turned her heart over and left her helpless and vulnerable.
The only thing I know to do with hearts is incinerate them
!

Ouch
! His laughter swept through her mind, moved through her body with the heat of her blood. Turned her to jelly right there in the silly lawn chair. His laughter should be outlawed. She'd thought that more than once over the years.