Not Another Vampire Book (31 page)

Damien
regarded her seriously.  “I know.”  He still wasn’t letting her go.  He lay
down, adjusting their bodies so she was cradled beside him.  Big arms came around
her, holding tight.  “You are the only one who is unafraid of me.  Who sees me
how I wish I was.  A protector and not a creature.”

“You’re
not a creature, Damien.  Not at all.”  Kara loved his sinister edge, and his casual
badness, and his propensity to hold her captive, sure.  But, inside where it
counted, Damien was a good man.  He’d always protected her.  That was why she
had to protect him, right back.  Her fingers threaded through his, drawing his
palms up to cover her nipples, again.  He seemed to like having her breasts in
his hands whenever possible.  “I wouldn’t have fallen in love with a creature. 
I wouldn’t mate with him.  And I wouldn’t feel this safe and connected with
anyone but you.  Just you.”

He
buried his face in her hair and exhaling a shuddery breath.  “I’ve waited
twelve hundred years for you and I am still not prepared.  I know, I don’t
scare you.”  His hands caressed her slowly, like the softness of her body
mesmerized him.  “But, Kara Lynn, you truly scare me.”

Melessa was the happiest bride in the world.  Today,
all her dreams would come true.  Everything would be perfect from this day on. 
She adjusted the white veil over her stunning face and fluffed out her shiny
black hair.  Every girl should have a wedding day so lovely, knowing she was
loved and that the reception would be outrageously beautiful and expensive and
the envy of all.  It was like a beautiful dream.

Which was why Melessa was so understandably upset when
the helpful servant helping her dress, suddenly drugged her, tied her in
magically reinforced golden rope, and sold her to Damien for eleven rubies and
a fancy feathered hat.

Eternal
Passion at Sunset- Chapter Fifteen

Kara
came awake, aware of Damien’s absence beside her.  She automatically glanced
towards the nightstand, thinking it might have been morning, but there were no
alarm clocks here in 1892.  Whatever time it was, it was still mostly dark
out.  Still mostly dark meant sorcerers should still be in bed, next to her.  Where
the hell had he wandered off to?  “Damien?”  She said, sleepily, scanning
around for him.  She didn’t trust him on his own.  He’d get into trouble.

She
spotted him almost instantly on the far side of the room.  He was standing
there staring at Amalie’s portrait, the flickering of candles highlighting the
menacing angles of his face.

“Damien?” 
This time it was a whisper.

“My
sister was a Witch, you know.”  He didn’t look at her.  “It’s not a species. 
It’s a calling.  Some women are just born with amazing gifts for prophesy or
healing or magic.  They hone their talents and…”  He shook his head.  “Amalie’s
powers were incredible.  Vast.  I doubt even she knew the extent of them.  And
she was so
good
.  So tragically good.  Just like you.  Purity straight
down to her soul.”

He’d
never been willing to discuss his sister before.  Karalynn slowly sat up, not
wanting to say anything for fear he’d stop talking.

“She’d
be a thousand, tomorrow.”  He glanced towards the window and the nearly imperceptible
dawn.  “
Today
.  That’s the most important birthday for supernatural
beings.  The day we come into our full powers.  Do you think it’s fate that
Slade and Amalie share the date?  Both of them born on the same day?  That kind
of confluence means something.”

Kara
held the sheet up to her chest and waited for him to go on.

He
finally turned his eyes in her direction.  “How old are you?”

“Thirty-two.”

Damien
just stared at her.

Kara
cleared her throat.  “But, I’ll be thirty-three in May.”

He
started chuckling, a hollow, humorless sound.  “My Gods, I truly am the
villain.”  His hand came up to cover his eyes and he released a long, tired
sigh.  “You’re only thirty-two years old.  I don’t even remember what that was
like.  I don’t think I ever was that young.”

“You
didn’t do anything wrong in sleeping with me.  I promise you, I was a willing
participant.  There’s nothing for you to feel guilty about.”

“Isn’t
there?”  He sounded lost.  “I wanted you so badly.  I still do.  But, I
shouldn’t have been so selfish.  My instincts and thoughts conflict so greatly,
I grow confused.  I don’t know what I’m doing.  What good will it do you to be
linked with me?  I forced it upon you because I need you so badly.  I should never
have taken you.”

“Damien,
you didn’t take.  I gave.  There’s a difference.”

Black
eyes met hers briefly, longing reflected in the ebony depths.  “You make me so
confused.”  He whispered.  “I have never questioned my choices before.  And now
I feel some new emotion pushing in, coloring everything else, burning through
the fog.  Why do I feel this way?  What is it?”

Kara
wasn’t sure how to answer that.

He
glanced away, again.  “I’m sorry.  I shouldn’t be…”  He closed his eyes. 
“You’re just so young.”

“Thirty-two
is an adult for humans.

“It’s
more than just the number of years, Kara Lynn.  That would be bad enough.”  He
shook his head.  “No, age isn’t pages on a calendar.  It’s something you feel. 
Inside.”  He pointed at his chest.  “Inside of me, I’ve always been older than
you.  I can’t touch the places you see.  The belief and innocence that fills
you.  It was burned out of me long ago.”

“Vlad…”

“You
would not have liked my homeland, Kara Lynn.  I’m glad that you will never have
to see it.  It was…”  He shook his head.  “Grey.  Very shadowed and harsh.  It
was not a place for anyone innocent.”  His face turned back to the picture of
his sister.  “After my parents died, I did everything I could to protect her. 
I tried.  But, the wars kept going and the Vampires kept coming.”  His voice
was far away.  “I was a doctor, at the time.  If you spend your days fighting
and your nights trying to heal the wounded, soon it all seems pointless.  No
peace.  I wasn’t able to sleep, from the pain of my wounds and then taking on
theirs.  Always awake and it…”

She
pushed her hair back from her face.  “Taking on theirs?”  She interrupted.
“What do you mean?”

Silence.

“Vlad?”

He
exhaled a reluctant sigh.  “When I heal, I take on some of the patient’s pain. 
It’s a simple thing.  Just a…”

“You
what?
”  Kara gasped.  “You take on the pain
yourself?
  Oh my
God.”  Her mind went to the times he’d healed her.  Her burned hands.  The
scratches from Nestor.  The zombies’ screaming.  “
Damien
.  You did that
for me, didn’t you?  You took away the pain.”

He
lifted a shoulder like he was uncomfortable with the open admiration on her
face.

God,
how she loved this man.  “I didn’t know.  Thank you.  Don’t do it, again,
though.  Don’t hurt yourself for me.”

He
disregarded that order.  “My sister was young.  Inside she was so young, but she
saw how tired I was.  She always cared too much for others and not enough for
herself.  And that fucking hospital was never quiet.  Never any peace.  She
just wanted to help and I…
Shit
.  Why did I let her help?”  He squeezed
his eyes closed.  “She always wanted us to be together.  If I couldn’t come to
her, she’d come to me.  Even when we were children.  After my parents died, she
needed me more than ever.”

“What
was she like?”

“Mischievous.” 
His mouth almost curved.  “She would play pranks on me.  Never malicious.  She
just liked to tease.  And to have her own way.  She and I share that trait.  We
were both obsessed with having what we wanted, no matter what we had to do. 
But, I was always more straightforward about it.  Amalie would come up with
roundabout ways to get what she desired.”  The near-smile faded, completely.  “I
should have stopped her from coming to the hospital, though.  It was too close
to the fighting.  I should have forced her to hide somewhere safe.  Amalie was
powerful, but she was just too young.  When the Vampires came, I wasn’t there
and she was just too young.”

Tears
began to burn the back of Kara’s eyes.

“They
destroyed the hospital, of course.  The Vampires destroy everything.  My sister
was a Wizard Warlock and Witch.  I imagine she must have tried to stop them,
but she couldn’t.  I don’t know which of them killed her.  It doesn’t even
matter.  They were all guilty.  She died.  One more unrecognizable body to
bury.  And I was alone.  I couldn’t be a doctor, after that.  I couldn’t do
anything but hate.  If I don’t have the Vampires to hate, who could I blame,
except…?”  He couldn’t go on, but the word hung there unsaid.

Himself
.

“It
wasn’t your fault.”  That was at the root of this entire vendetta.  His festering
hate for the Vampires came from guilt and grief.  This damaged man would always
blame himself for the evils of the world.  Make them out to be his own.  “It
wasn’t your fault that she died.”

Nothing.

“Beloved?” 
Kara climbed out of the bed, sweeping the sheet along with her as she crossed
to him.  The word got him to look at her, at least.  The human translation of
cari
.
 
Kara stopped in front of him and met his gaze.  Black eyes glittered,
reflecting the dancing candle flames and unshed tears.  “Did you love your
sister?”

“Yes.” 
The word was stark.

“And
she loved you.  She would not want you to do this to yourself.  She’d want you
to stop this revenge, before you died.”

“I
can’t
.”  His hands came up to grip her shoulder.  “That’s why I am
telling you this.  I can’t give up my vengeance.  I feel it like a compulsion. 
But, I also can’t stop thinking of what might happen if I die.”  He looked
desperate, the sentences tumbling out too fast.  “This new emotion tells me
that I have to do
anything
to keep you safe.  And, if I die, you will be
alone.”

“So
don’t die, idiot.”

He
dismissed that order with an emphatic head shake.  “Listen to me.  You will have
to protect yourself.  I can teach you much.  But, Kara Lynn, you must take more
care for your safety.  You can’t just run into danger as you did today. 
Repeatedly.  If I’m gone, you will be alone and you are so
young
.”  His
voice broke on the word.

“Damien,
we’ve been over this before.  If you die, I’m not going to stay here, anyway. 
I’d never stay in this time period without you.”  Kara frowned as she realized
that, implicit in that statement, was the idea that
with
Damien around…
she might stay.  If he asked, she might give up her old life to be with him.  More
than “might.”  Her connection with this man felt realer than anything back in
reality.

If
he asked, she’d stay.  Only he wasn’t going to ask.

Damien
missed the tacit admission in her words.  “Fate brought you here, Kara Lynn. 
Brought you to me.  It
wants
you here.  You think it was a mistake? 
That it will just take you back, because you wish it?”

“Yes.” 
She had to believe that.  “I’m going home.”

His
jaw ticked.  “What if this
is
your home now?”

“I
don’t know.  I’ll figure something out, I guess.”  She pulled free of his
hands.  “What do you care?  You’re just an empty, vengeance seeking robot,
remember?  I don’t want to talk about this.”

He
ignored that.  Apparently, he’d been thinking of a plan to fix everything for
her after his funeral and he wasn’t giving it up.  Such a thoughtful mate. 
Kara’s tender feelings for him turned on a dime.  It was always like that
around Damien.  The man created his own emotional rollercoaster.  Now, she was
ready to kill him herself.

 “You
will need a place to live, don’t you see?  You must take this hotel.”  He nodded,
like that would solve all her troubles.  “You will be safe here.  I know you
don’t care for the decor, but you can sell the furnishings and buy whatever you
want.  And I can provide enough money that you never…”

“It’s
not your responsibility to set up my retirement fund.  I’ll be fine without your
wonderful generosity.”  Bastard.  Did he think he could just buy her off? 
Assuage his guilt over abandoning her with some cash and prizes?

“After
tonight, it
is
my responsibility to ensure you will be taken care of.”

Unbelievable
bastard.

“No,
it’s not.  You don’t have to pay me for sex!  You’re about to cross some lines
here, Damien.  Seriously.  Let it drop.  I’m not a prostitute.”

“You
are my
wife
.”  He shouted the word.  “That is the human equivalent. 
Perhaps you should think of it in those terms, if you’re not understanding what
it means to be a mate.”

For
one blinding second, she’d never been so angry.  So utterly furious with
another person.  “Perhaps
you
should think about it, Damien.  You’re the
one planning on making your ‘wife’ a widow.”  She headed back to the bed.  “And
we might have mated or whatever, but that’s not a real marriage.”

“The
hell it’s not.”  His tone went icy cold.  “You consented and it’s done.”

“I
don’t have a ring and my honeymoon apparently consists of you killing
yourself.  That’s not a damn marriage!”

“Yes,
it is.”  He sounded so definite that her stomach dipped.

Hang
on…

Had
she really married him?

Was
that really all it took in his culture?

Terror
and shock and an annoying spark of happiness shot through her.

Damien
stalked towards her.  He’d put on a pair of black pants at some point, but his
chest and feet were bare.  “I do not want to argue over what has already been
decided.  I merely want to prepare you for the future.”

Kara
shook her head, still processing this new twist.  “My future’s back in the
twenty-first century.  You wanna stay up late writing your will, be my guest. 
I’m going to sleep.”

“Kara
Lynn, you must listen.  Mating with me has given you certain… changes.”