Night's Mistress (Children of the Night) (22 page)

 

Thomas Ramsden stormed out of the house, afraid if he stayed another minute, he would do something he might regret. The sound of Janis’s wailing followed him into the night. Damn the woman! Would she never shut up? For the last six months, she had talked of nothing but wanting a baby. She needed a baby. She didn’t feel complete without a baby. She would never be happy until she had a baby.

Hell, maybe he should just go to the nearest hospital and grab one. He could be in and out of the maternity ward before anyone realized he had been there. The thing was, an ordinary baby wouldn’t do. He wanted Mara’s child, sired by a mortal man on a woman who had once been the most powerful vampire on Earth. Now, there was a child worth having.

Reluctant to go back home, Ramsden headed for his office. He had an emergency lair in the basement. Perhaps he would spend a day or two there. He could use the peace and quiet.

After letting himself into the office, he went downstairs to the lab and opened the refrigerator. He kept several packets of blood on hand for those times when he was too busy or simply not in the mood to hunt. He was reaching for the nearest container when he saw the vials filled with blood he had taken from Mara during her pregnancy. He had done several tests on her blood, hoping to find the secret of her transformation, but to no avail. What had wrought the change in her, he wondered yet again, and where in hell had she gone?

Grunting softly, he picked up one of the vials. Unlike vampire blood, which was dark, the blood inside the glass tube was bright red. Mara’s blood. He removed the cork, his nostrils flaring as the rich coppery scent swirled through the air.

Had he preyed upon her when he’d had the chance, he would have been able to track her whereabouts with ease . . . He stared at the vial in his hand. This was her blood. He grunted thoughtfully. Perhaps there was a way to find her, after all.

Murmuring, “I wonder . . . ?” he tilted his head back and let the thick crimson liquid trickle down his throat.

Now, there was just one more thing he had to do.

 

Kyle stared at the canvas in front of him, but instead of seeing Old Town Porterville, he saw Mara’s face. She was beautiful, so beautiful, but the inner glow, the fire that had first attracted him, was gone. Her eyes were always sad now, except for those times when she held their son in her arms.

He had tried to be understanding and supportive, but how could any mortal truly understand what she was going through? Not long ago, she had been a monster who preyed on the innocent, and now she was human, with a fine, handsome son and a man who adored her, yet it wasn’t enough. Why anyone would want to go back to being a vampire was beyond his comprehension. He had seen what vampires did the night the police drove him to the morgue to identify his father’s body. Having seen that, he was somewhat amazed that he could love Mara, but love her he did. And she wasn’t a vampire now. She was human, the mother of his child . . .

He raked a hand through his hair. A child that might very well be a vampire, something they might not know for years. In talking with Rane, he had learned that Rane and his brother had been like any other boys until they reached puberty, when their vampire natures overcame their humanity. Would that happen to his son? Hard to imagine that his pink-cheeked little boy might one day turn into a blood-drinking fiend. In all fairness, Rane and his brother didn’t seem like monsters, yet he knew they preyed on humans, as did the rest of the family, save for Savanah. How long until she, too, joined the ranks of the Undead? Would she wait until Abbey was grown?

His son, a vampire. Kyle shook his head. He wouldn’t think of that now. Until he knew otherwise, he would believe that Derek would grow up to be like any other child. He loved the boy beyond belief, knew that he would willingly lay down his life for his son. Not for the first time, Kyle thought of taking the boy and leaving his wife. He knew Mara would grieve for the child but he thought that, in the long run, she would be happier. If Derek was gone, Mara would have no reason to remain human. She could get her vampire lover to bring her across and go back to being one of the Undead . . .

Damn! If he lived to be a hundred, he would never forget the night she had told him what she was, shown him what she was. He didn’t know what he had been expecting her to show him. Certainly not what he had seen. Not that she had looked like a monster. Even sprouting fangs and with a faint reddish glow in her eyes, she had been beautiful. No, the horror had been in knowing what she was, knowing that he had made love to the same kind of monster that had preyed upon his father and left his mother barely clinging to life.

Shaking off his morbid memories of the past, Kyle put brush to canvas, but the thought of taking his son far away lingered in the back of his mind.

 

A week later, Savanah insisted on taking Mara out to lunch and a movie.

“I don’t know about you,” Savanah said, “but I need a little R and R. It’s amazing, how exhausting motherhood can be. I don’t know how women who have more than one kid manage to stay sane. Come on, my treat.”

So it was that Mara reluctantly left Derek with Kyle, and Savanah left Abbey Marie with Rane.

“This was a good idea,” Mara admitted over lunch.

“Do you feel any better about being human again?”

“The truth?”

“Of course.” Savanah took a sip of her iced tea.

“I don’t think I’ll ever like it,” Mara said. “Although I do like this.” Using her fork, she gestured at her dessert, a large slice of seven-layer chocolate cake with chocolate fudge icing. “We never had anything like this when I was mortal the first time,” she said, taking a bite.

“No doubt about it, chocolate is a woman’s best friend,” Savanah remarked, grinning. “I don’t know how we’d get through life or PMS without it.”

“So true.” Mara closed her eyes, savoring the rich taste. She might be able to survive being human, as long as there was chocolate. “I wonder if Kathy ever misses mortal food.”

“I don’t know, I’ve never asked.” Savanah plucked the cherry off the top of her hot fudge sundae and popped it into her mouth. “I was surprised when she asked Rafe to bring her across. I mean, she was barely twenty-four. I thought she’d wait a few years, you know?”

“I guess so,” Mara agreed. But it wasn’t really hard for her to understand. Why get older if you didn’t have to? Why take a chance on coming down with some horrible disease? Or being crippled? Or killed in an accident? After all, people died in cars and planes every day, and even a vampire couldn’t bring the dead back to life.

“She’s going to be a vampire for a very long time,” Savanah went on. “I would have thought she’d want to enjoy being human a little, at least until she was closer to thirty, anyway. Oh, well, to each his own.”

“I take it you’re not looking forward to becoming a vampire, then,” Mara remarked.

“Not really, although sometimes it appears very appealing. After all, no one wants to get old, or sick.”

“And the other times?”

“I’m sure it’s wrong, but there’s no other way to stay with Rane. He says it doesn’t matter, that he’ll love me no matter what I do, but . . .”

“You don’t believe him?”

“It’s not that. I know he’ll always love me, no matter what, but”—she leaned across the table—“I don’t want to saddle him with an old woman. He’s young and virile, and he always will be.”

Mara nodded. Savanah didn’t have to spell it out.

“Besides, I don’t want people to see us together and think I’m his grandmother.”

They went to the multiplex after lunch. Mara tried to enjoy the movie, but her thoughts kept wandering toward her son. She told herself there was nothing to worry about. She had left the baby with Kyle before, though not for this long. It was all she could do to keep from calling home. She was relieved when the end credits rolled and she and Savanah left the theater.

Outside, Savanah said, “It’s a good thing it wasn’t a double feature.”

“What do you mean?”

Savanah shook her head. “I saw the way you kept glancing at your watch. I’ll bet you don’t have any idea who was in the movie or what it was even about.”

Mara grinned sheepishly. “I guess I’m just being silly, but I worry every time I’m away from the baby.”

“Trust me, you’ll get over it. I’d suggest we do a little shopping, but I think I’d better get you home before you have a nervous breakdown.”

They chatted amiably on the way home. This was what girlfriends did, Mara thought. They went to lunch, they exchanged recipes, they bragged about their children, complained about their husbands, and shared their dreams for the future. It was a good feeling, having someone to talk to, someone to confide in.

“We’ll have to do this again soon,” Mara said as Savanah pulled up in front of the house.

Savanah nodded. “I’ll give you a call next week. Tell Kyle hello for me.”

“Yes, I will. Give my love to Rane.” Mara waved as Savanah backed out of the driveway, then stood on the porch for a few minutes, thinking how lucky she was to have Savanah for a friend. With Savanah’s help, she just might get the hang of being human again after all.

Mara glanced around the front yard. Maybe she would try her hand at gardening. She could plant some red roses on either side of the front porch, and maybe some daisies along the fence. She wanted to paint the inside of the house, too. All those white walls were driving her crazy. And since it seemed they were going to be here for a while, she might as well have some of the furniture from the Hollywood house shipped here. If this was going to be their home, it would be nice to have some of her favorite things around her.

Leaning against one of the porch uprights, she gazed into the distance. Unbidden, an image of Logan rose in her mind. What was he doing now? Was he still living in Hollywood, surrounded by beautiful starlets, or had he fled the country? The thought of never seeing him again sat like a heavy weight on her heart. Was he still angry? Did he truly hate her now? Could she blame him if he did?

Shaking his image from her mind, she opened the front door and went inside. Kicking off her shoes, she called, “Kyle, I’m home. Did the baby give you any trouble?” She frowned when there was no reply. “Kyle?”

Thinking he might be putting Derek down for a nap, Mara dropped her handbag on the sofa and made her way to the nursery, but Kyle wasn’t there, and the crib was empty.

“Kyle?” She walked through the house calling his name, a tendril of fear expanding in her chest when each room she looked in proved to be empty.

Quickening her pace, she hurried outside. There was no one in the backyard. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Kyle’s car was in the garage. So, he hadn’t gone far. It was such a nice day, he had probably decided to take the baby for a walk.

Chiding herself for overreacting, she went into the kitchen for a drink of water, then went into the den and booted up the computer.

Calling up the file that held her life story, she read through what she had written the day before. It wasn’t long before she was completely caught up in the past, her fingers flying over the keyboard as she wrote about a liaison she’d had with a handsome young Italian back in 1750. Lucian had courted her with music and poetry, sent her flowers every day. She had been contemplating bringing him across when he was killed by a highwayman.

Sitting back in her chair, Mara lifted her arms over her head and stretched her back and shoulders, only then noticing that night had fallen.

Rising to switch on the light, she glanced at the clock. It was after five.

Fear twisted her insides when she realized Kyle and the baby still hadn’t come home. Where could they be?

Going out onto the front porch, she glanced up and down the street, surprised to see that a sudden storm had swallowed up the sunshine. She wrapped her arms around her midriff as lightning split the skies, followed by an ominous roar of thunder. Not long ago, she had been able to control the weather. She had called lightning from the skies. If only she had her powers now, she would be able to find Derek with no trouble at all.

Where were they? She rubbed her hands up and down her arms. It wasn’t like Kyle to do something like this. He knew how she worried whenever the baby was out of her sight. Why didn’t he call? Had he been in an accident? Was he lying hurt in a ditch somewhere? And what of her son? Was he hurt? Should she call the police?

Mara shivered as her imagination ran wild. Kyle could have been mugged and left for dead. Her son could be out there in the rain, crying and afraid.

She stood on the porch until the cold drove her back inside. She paced the living room floor, her worry increasing with every passing moment. Never had time moved so slowly. She told herself not to worry. Maybe Kyle had run into an old friend. Maybe he had holed up somewhere to wait out the storm. Maybe he was having an affair. Not that she could blame him. She hadn’t been much of a wife, but even as the thought crossed her mind, she thrust it aside. A man having an affair didn’t take a baby with him.

At eight o’clock, she picked up the phone and punched in Rane’s phone number. He answered on the first ring.

She had barely finished asking for his help when he materialized in her living room.

Mara stared at him, overwhelmed by memories of her vampire life. She had once been able to will herself anywhere she wished to go. She had been able to dissolve into mist, move faster than the human eye could follow, drift on the wind. She had been lighter than air then. Now, her body felt heavy, earthbound.

“Mara?”

She blinked up at him. “Oh, Rane! Kyle’s gone. He’s taken the baby. I don’t know where they are.”

“Has he ever done this before? Taken the baby somewhere without telling you?”

“No. He was gone when I got home.” She crossed her arms under her breasts, breasts now heavy with milk. “It’s past Derek’s feeding time. Where can they be?”

“I don’t know. I’ll go outside and sniff around, see what I can find.”

With a nod, she followed him out the door, stood on the porch while he walked around the yard, then around the house. Lightning slashed through the clouds; thunder rolled across the skies.

Dripping wet, Rane returned to the porch a few minutes later.

“Did you find anything?” she asked anxiously.

“I’m not sure.”

“What do you mean?”

“I followed his scent out the back door to the side gate. And then it just disappears.”

“What do you mean, it disappears? That’s impossible. What about my baby? Where’s Derek?”

“His scent ends at the gate, the same as Kyle’s. I don’t want to pry into your private life, but did you and Kyle have a fight or anything?”

“No.”

“Can you think of any reason why he’d leave?”

Her gaze slid away from his. She could think of a dozen reasons, and all of them her fault.

“Mara? This is no time for secrets.”

“We haven’t been intimate for a long time.” The truth was, they hadn’t been intimate since Derek was conceived. She took a deep breath. Might as well tell Rane the rest. “I think Kyle knows that I’m in love with Logan.”

Rane scrubbed his hands over his face, then ran his fingers through his hair. “Women,” he muttered. “If I live forever, I’ll never understand them.” He looked at her, his eyes filled with frustration. “If you’re in love with Blackwood, why the devil did you marry Bowden?”

She lifted her chin defiantly. “You know why.”

“Yes, I guess I do, but you must have seen this coming. Hell, it doesn’t matter now. You stay here, by the phone. I’ll get hold of Rafe and my old man and see if we can find anything. All right?”

Mara nodded. There was a faint shimmer in the air, and then Rane was gone.

Fighting back her tears, Mara went inside. She closed the door, then leaned back against it for a moment. If Kyle had left her, wouldn’t he have packed a suitcase for himself and the baby? Wouldn’t he have taken the car?

She went into their bedroom. Kyle’s clothes were still in the closet, their suitcases were still on the shelf. She looked into the baby’s room, but everything seemed to be in place.

Frowning, she ran out to the garage and checked the car. It was spotlessly clean, as always. Kyle’s sunglasses were tucked away on the visor, the baby’s car seat was in its usual place.

Returning to the house, she went into the living room and curled up on the sofa, feeling more alone than she ever had in her life. She hadn’t prayed since Dendar forced the Dark Gift on her, but she prayed now, promising Heaven that she would be the best wife any man ever had if only Kyle would bring their son safely home.

 

 

Rafe and Vince showed up at Rane’s house at the same time he did.

Savanah greeted her father-in-law with a smile, gave her brother-in-law a hug, and sent a questioning glance at her husband. “What’s going on?”

“Bowden and the baby are gone.”

“Gone?” Savanah asked. “Gone where?”

“I don’t know.” Rane ran his hand through his still-damp hair. “Neither does Mara. She thinks he’s left her.”

“And he took the baby?” Savanah asked incredulously.

“That’s what Mara thinks.”

“Sounds like a lover’s quarrel to me,” Vince remarked. “So, what are we doing here?”

“I just came from Mara’s place. I didn’t say anything to Mara, didn’t want to worry her more than she was, but I don’t think Bowden left of his own accord.”

“What makes you think that?” Rafe asked.

“I walked around the house. Bowden’s scent disappeared at the gate. I think someone took him. Someone who knew how to mask not only Bowden’s scent, but his own, as well.”

“A handy talent,” Vince muttered. “But if whoever it was masked his scent, how do you know there was anyone else there?”

“It’s hard to explain. It was more a sense of something out of place than anything else. I tried to follow the trail, but it disappeared once I got out of the yard.”

“So, what do we do now?” Rafe asked. “If there’s no trail . . .” He shrugged.

Rane shook his head. “I don’t know. Put the word out on the street, I guess. Ask our people to keep an eye out for Bowden and the baby. Bowden’s car was in the garage. If he intended to leave Mara, and he left under his own power, he wouldn’t have left the car behind.”

“Good point,” Rafe remarked. “Doesn’t make much sense to take off on foot lugging a six-month-old baby.”

“That’s true, but why would anyone kidnap Kyle and Derek?” Savanah asked.

Vince shoved his hands in his pants’ pockets. “If we knew why, we might know who.”