The Vampire...In My Dreams (6 page)

Touching my shoulders, he leaned over then kissed my lips. “Goodnight, sweet angel of mercy.”

The heartrending tenderness of his gaze nearly undid me. Not wanting him to have any illusions that I was some perfect angel, I warned, “I can be really cranky if I don’t get enough sleep.”

Amusement flickered across his face. “Until we wake, then.” Stepping into the dark room, he didn’t turn on the light. He didn’t need to, I belatedly realized, and I wondered if the changes had come easily to him, or if he’d had to adjust to them. I shut the door, my mind groggy but full of questions.

Morning would come way too soon.

I headed down the hall to my room and stepped inside. It took me some time to realize in the middle of my changing into an oversized T-shirt, that Dominic was speaking in the room next to me.

My heart plummeted while the blood in my veins burst into overdrive. Had he let Lynetta in after all? Had she willed him to do so?

I ran for the guest bedroom and jerked the door open. Dominic sat on the edge of the bed, wearing only a pair of black satin boxers decorated in bright red lips while he spoke into a cell phone.

I gulped to see him nearly naked, and me wearing only a T-shirt. “Sorry,” I whispered, wondering what in the world I thought I would have done had I found Lynetta in the room with him. Slapped her silly?

He winked at me, then took in my appearance and grinned. “Yes, Mom, I’ll be at a friend’s. I’ll be safe for tonight. Call you tomorrow.” He snapped the phone shut. “Did you need another goodnight kiss?” Looking sinfully wicked, he smiled again.

I pointed back to my room. “I worried when I heard voices in here.” I poked a loose curl dangling at my cheek behind my ear, feeling guilty for thinking badly of him. “You…you have a mother?”

His mouth quirked with humor. “Yep. And a father, too. Every kid normally has one of each to begin with.”

He was teasing me in an affectionate way, and I realized how ridiculous I must sound. “I…I never thought that you might have a family nearby. You didn’t tell them about me? About…us?”

“I don’t want to get their hopes up. They’re still pretty shaken up about this. Afraid the human population would want my head on a stake, or under the knife to figure out how I became this way, my parents intend to keep my secret. They told my high school that I was injured in a bad accident, and I would be homeschooled the rest of the year. I can’t see any of my friends now. Everything has to be kept a big secret.”

Not knowing what else to say, I nodded. I could just imagine my parents’ upset if I had been turned. But I couldn’t imagine how hard it must be for him to have to give up his friends and live a life of secrecy like this. “Can Lynetta get into your house?”

“No. I met her at the Hamburger Spot.”

“And you still go there?”

“Best grilled burgers in town.” He winked, his eyes full of mirth.

I wondered how he could take his situation with such good humor. I didn’t think I would be able to fare as well. Stepping back in the direction of the doorway, I wished I could help him regain his former state of being, instantly. But for now, I had to get out of the guest bedroom where a nearly naked male vampire sat on the purple ruffled bed. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Sweet dreams.”

“Uhm, yes. Well, you too.”

I hurried out of the guestroom, wondering if he had seen the blush rise to my cheeks as hot as they’d become when I saw him so undressed. But when I reached my bedroom, a horrible thought filled my brain. If he could see me in the dark, that was normal for him, being that he was a vampire and all. But I hadn’t turned on the light to see him. In fact, when I changed into my nightshirt in my own bedroom, and even now when I walked through the hallway, I hadn’t turned on any of the lights.

Walking into my bedroom, I reached up and flipped up the light switch. The lights glowed, but didn’t further illuminate the bedroom.

“Dominic!” I screamed, anger filling every cell of my body.

Instantly, he appeared at my doorway. A look of puzzlement stretched across his face. He seemed totally unaware of what had happened to me.

“What’s wrong, Marissa? I feared the worst—that Lynetta had somehow gained entrance—”

I folded my arms. “How come I can see everything in the dark?”

His face fell. “I tried to tell you.”

My mouth dropped open before I could stop it. “Tell me what? That you lied?” My mind tried to go over every detail of what had just occurred. I didn’t remember drinking his blood. Had he wiped the experience from my thoughts?

“I bit my tongue, by accident.”

“What?”

He stuck his tongue out at me. I raised my brows. He pulled his tongue back in. “My cell phone vibrated just as I was kissing you, and I bit my tongue in surprise. When I kissed you deeply, I had no idea I had cut my tongue and drawn blood.”

“You shared your blood with me? You said—”

“I meant what I said. I made a mistake. But—”

Betrayed by a deceiving vampire!
I grabbed one of my heart-shaped velvet pillows and threw it at him, unable to curb my fury. “Get out!”

“If I go outside, Lynetta will be waiting for me.”

My heart instantly stopped, and I swallowed convulsively. “I meant, out of my bedroom.” Jeez, no way had I wanted him to be at the mercy of the sick vamp. The thought of throwing him outside and her bloody fangs ripping at his throat…I shuddered.

He looked so miserable that I reconsidered my actions and harsh words. But he had shared his blood with me, and now I could see in the dark like a vampire could. What else had he done to me with that one kiss?

“I don’t think I could have changed you much more than that, Marissa, if it eases your mind any. You couldn’t have had much of my blood.”

My temperature was still elevated with irritation. He was supposed to give me a choice.

“I didn’t do it on purpose. I swear it. I would never have done that to you without asking you to go along with it. If you want me to leave, I will.” Though he was sincere, I sensed he hoped with all his heart I would not send him out to face the vamp.

The idea he’d leave the house and be at Lynetta’s mercy terrified me and bile rose in my throat. I shook my head. “Not the house. I don’t want you to leave the safety of the house.”

“I’m so sorry, Marissa. Truly, I am.”

“All right.” I tried to rein my anger in, realizing on some other level that he hadn’t planned what had happened. “Somehow, we’ll beat her,” I tried to reassure him and myself.

He nodded, though he still looked terribly disconcerted.

“Goodnight.”

He hesitated, seemingly wanting to comfort me, but I wasn’t in the mood to tolerate his touch. He seemed to sense how I felt and left the room, shutting the door behind him.

I sat on my bed, wrapped my arms tightly around me, trying to comfort myself. Knowing I had been changed now, too, I wondered if he knew what he was talking about. Had he transferred other strange abilities to me that I was still unaware of?

One thing I couldn’t do was read his mind. Maybe he was right, then. Perhaps the only thing that had changed about me was my ability to see in the dark. That certainly wasn’t a bad thing. Could save on electricity. Would help when I drove at night.

I crawled under my covers and hugged them underneath my chin. Still the notion nagged at me…what had we truly done?

“Know this, sweet Marissa. I truly love you with all my heart.”

I stared at the wall that hid him from my view. He hadn’t spoken a word…not out loud. I could read his mind?

“Dominic!”

Chapter 6

THE DREAMS

Furious with Dominic, but unable to stay awake any longer to hold the grudge, my eyes closed and my world collided, shifted and collapsed. In its place, I saw a new world, time past, alien, fleeting glimpses—totally weird.

Through Dominic’s eyes, I saw visions of the past and like an outsider looking in, I watched history reveal itself—at least a fraction of Dominic’s history.

A slightly older version of Dominic, his hair as dark but spiked, his eyes more hazel, his lips thinned in a scowl. “How many times do I have to tell you, Dominic? Don’t mess with witches!”

“Hey, James, she smiled at me. She’s interested.”

He was wrong. I knew he was wrong.

James shook his head. “She was smiling at a warlock eating a burger across the restaurant. Not at you.”

Yes, listen to James. He’s right.

Dominic slapped his brother on the shoulder. “Says you. Just watch this.”

Every nerve taut, I could see where this was leading, but I was unable to stop the forward motion.

The three witches sat at a yellow table. The redhead, Carissa Merriweather, swirled a French fry in a blob of ketchup, the brunette, Linnie Armstrong, licked the mustard off a hamburger, coating her tongue yellow, and the blonde, Little Miss Perfect Debbie Damint—the one that had stolen Dominic’s interest—flipped her hair back, then took a bite of a chicken sandwich.

I have to back away. None of these girls will put up with an annoying human boy. But I was moving like a train without brakes into the path of an unyielding girl—with unknown powers—and I was sure I would dearly suffer the consequences.

“Hey,” Dominic said to Debbie. Her blue eyes sparkled in the fluorescent lights and he thought she was the most beautiful girl he’d seen in a long time. Especially when she smiled at him.

But as soon as he opened his mouth to speak further, the witch stood, her face turning hard. “What do you want?” Her words and eyes were icy.

I’d never seen her react so vehemently, but then again, she put the charms on warlocks and not humans. Immediately, I wanted to move out of her way before she did anything nasty. I wanted to, but I was frozen to the tile floor.

Dominic should have taken the cue. He should have listened to his brother, but he was certain she had smiled at him, not at some warlock. “Would you like to go to a movie with me later tonight?”

“Get lost,” she snarled.

Yes, get lost. Good advice. And if I could, I’d heed it.

Dominic wasn’t buying it. As far as he was concerned the witch didn’t mean it. The other girls laughed and he knew it was because of them that she’d changed her attitude.

He was wrong. If I didn’t back off, something bad was going to happen.

“Turn him into a toad,” Carissa said, her green eyes narrowed.

“Yeah, a warty, slimy thing,” Linnie, the parrot of the three, agreed, nodding her head, then taking another sip of her soda.

I hoped and prayed the witches weren’t any good at spells. Debbie wasn’t in any of my classes except P.E., though I’d heard she was a whiz at potions. I had no idea about the other girls and their spell-casting abilities.

Dominic smiled. The blue-eyed blonde would not do such a dastardly thing.

I knew better. The look in Debbie’s chilly eyes, the way her lips began to move silently. I tried to counteract the spell, but I didn’t succeed. The spell worked its way through every molecule of my body, the shrinking and changing of cells. My heart rate changed from beating like a scared rabbit’s to something much smaller.

In a heartbeat, Dominic found himself looking up from the floor, his voice croaking, his skin covered in olive drab bumps and definitely slimy. The witches laughed.

“Oh, God,” I squeaked out. Everyone had turned into giants, towering over me, staring at me. The girls wore hideous grins, their eyes black with humor, while James looked like he was ready to be sick. I felt incredibly flat, as my round, fat body hugged the floor. Worse, a fly flitting about caught my attention and I had the worst urge to zap him with my tongue. Ewww.

James pleaded with Debbie. “You’ve taught him a lesson. Please turn him back.”

“Nah,” Carissa said, twirling a red curl around her fingers. “Leave him like that at least overnight.”

A girl screamed when she saw Dominic. The scrawny manager, who appeared to be a college student trying to earn some extra money, wiped his greasy hands on a dishtowel and hurried over. His brow furrowed and he motioned to Dominic. “Take the frog out of here.”

“Toad,” Carissa said, sneering. “Frogs can turn into handsome princes. Toads are only meant to be one thing—mud-dwelling toads.”

“Please, I promise I’ll take him home with me and that’s the last you’ll see of him,” James said.

Please,
listen to James.

Debbie’s lips curved up. Dominic knew she’d change him back.

I knew she wouldn’t.

But Dominic thought she’d only turned him in the first place because of her friends.

I knew it wasn’t true.

For half an hour, the manager insisted they take him outside, James pleaded with the witch, and Dominic craved a mud bath for his itchy, dry skin.

And I couldn’t wait to get out of the nightmare as another fly buzzed nearby and I was losing control of my hunger pangs.

Then an older witch and her kids entered the restaurant and as soon as she did, Debbie and the other girls looked concerned.

Yeah, using magic on humans for a witch’s or warlock’s amusement wasn’t allowed. And if I could, I’d teach Debbie some spells of my own, if I could remember them.

Debbie quickly wiggled her fingers in the air and said some incantation under her breath.

Instantly, I felt release. I was nearly eye level with James again, my skin nice and smooth, my voice back to normal.

Before Dominic could speak, James yanked him outside. “Of all the harebrained schemes of yours. I can’t believe you pulled this.”

“Don’t tell Mom and Dad, okay?”

I had the sinking feeling he might. Please, please don’t tell them about this. I figured they’d ground me for a good month.

James shook his head.

Kids laughing at an outdoor table, the spicy aroma of grilled burgers drifting from the restaurant, the feel of the hot air pressing against me faded into nothingness.

Then as if the lights in a theater were suddenly turned on and the play was about to begin again, I found myself back inside the burger place, different cars parked out front, a different scrawny college-age manager and a girl who looked like real trouble.